Ink jet recording apparatus

An ink jet recording apparatus able to simultaneously mount plural recording heads to a carriage and performing a recording operation by discharging ink, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of caps for protecting nozzles of said respective recording heads;
• a cap holder for holding the plural caps;
• a cap slider for holding the cap holder and slid by contact with said carriage;
• and
• a cam face for moving the cap slider toward each of said recording heads in a capping position,
• wherein said cap holder and said cap slider are fitted to each other in a scanning direction of said carriage;
• and said cap slider has a first positioning member hitting against said carriage in the scanning direction of said carriage;
• and the first positioning member is fitted to said cap holder and positions said cap holder and said cap slider in the scanning direction of said carriage, said cap slider further has a second positioning member;
• and the second positioning member positions said cap holder and said cap slider in a direction different from the scanning direction of said carriage;
• and the second positioning member is fitted to said carriage in the capping position and positions said carriage and said caps, and said caps are further arranged in the vicinity of said first and second positioning members on said cap holder;
• and said cap holder is pressurized by a spring approximately from just below said caps to press said caps against said recording heads in the capping position.

An ink jet recording apparatus constructed such that recording heads on a carriage can be exchanged in accordance with a using object, said ink jet recording apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of caps for protecting nozzles of said respective recording heads;
• a cap holder for holding the plural caps;
• a cap slider for holding the cap holder and slid by contact with said carriage;
• and
• a cam face for moving the cap slider toward each of said recording heads in a capping position,
• wherein said cap holder and said cap slider are fitted to each other in a scanning direction of said carriage;
• and said cap slider has a first positioning member hitting against said carriage in the scanning direction of said carriage and also has a third positioning member hitting against said carriage in a vertical direction with respect to a sheet face of recording paper;
• and the first positioning member is fitted to said cap holder and positions said cap holder and said cap slider in the scanning direction of said carriage, said cap slider further has a second positioning member;
• and the second positioning member positions said cap holder and said cap slider in a direction different from the scanning direction of said carriage;
• and the second positioning member is fitted to said carriage in the capping position and positions said carriage and said caps, and said cap holder is further pressurized by springs approximately from just below said third positioning member and approximately from just below the caps according to said recording heads to press said caps against said recording heads in the capping position.