Patent ID: 8348381

Claim:
A recording apparatus comprising: a carriage that is supported reciprocatingly movably in a predetermined direction and mounted with a recording head for forming a dot on a recording surface of a recording material, the reciprocatingly movable range of the carriage includes a dot formation area in which a dot is formed on the recording surface of the recording material by the recording head and a recording head maintenance area which is disposed adjacent to the dot formation area and in which a maintenance operation of the recording head is performed; and a driving force transmission changeover mechanism engageable with the carriage, the engagement of the driving force transmission changeover mechanism and the carriage selectively transmitting a driving force of a driving force source to a driven mechanism, the driving force transmission changeover mechanism having a state in which the driving force of the driving force source is transmitted to the driven mechanism and a another state in which the driving force is not transmitted to the driven mechanism the driving force transmission changeover mechanism also having a changeover operation mode in which a state of transmission of the driving force changes and a maintenance operation mode in which the state of transmission of the driving force is maintained throughout movement of the carriage, the changeover operation mode being executed when the carriage moves from the dot formation area to a first changeover position within the recording head maintenance area and then returning to the dot formation area, and the maintenance operation mode being executed when the carriage moves from the dot formation area to a second changeover position within the recording head maintenance area and then returning to the dot formation area.