Patent ID: 8317297

Claim:
An ink-jet recording apparatus which jets liquid droplets of an ink onto a medium to perform recording, comprising: an ink-jet head having a jetting surface on which a plurality of nozzles through which the ink is jetted is formed; a first carriage on which the ink-jet head is mounted; a guide member which extends in a first direction parallel to the jetting surface; a moving mechanism which reciprocatively moves the first carriage in the first direction along the guide member; a transport mechanism which transports the medium in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction along a transport surface which faces the jetting surface and which is parallel to the first direction; and a second carriage which is reciprocatively movable in the first direction while following movement of the first carriage and which is relatively movable in a third direction perpendicular to the transport surface with respect to the first carriage, the second carriage including: a protective member which is arranged on one side of the ink-jet head in the first direction to protect the jetting surface from the medium; and a regulating member which regulates movement of the second carriage in the third direction so that a nearest portion of the protective member, which is provided with respect to the transport surface, is always disposed nearer to the transport surface as compared with the jetting surface in the third direction.