PURPOSE: To prevent the deposition of a printing ink from adhering on a periphery of a discharging orifice of a printing head by providing means for measuring time and/or frequency related to the printing operations of a printing head, and means of ordering recovery operations on the basis of measured values.

CONSTITUTION: An ink jet printing apparatus has a carriage 21 driven in a direction A by a drive motor, and a printing head 22 discharging an ink from a nozzle 11 to a printing paper S as to perform the printing operation of the printing paper by a printing width p. The carriage 21 is changed to its direction B, and a sheet feeding operation in a direction C is performed within a printing width p of the printing paper. Each time the measured time and/or frequency related to a printing operation reaches a determined value, a control circuit 34 drives the carriage 21 and guides the printing head 22 to a position where the printing head 22 faces capping means 37, and the capping means 37 comes into contact with the ink discharge surface of the printing head 22 by a cap drive means 38. An empty discharge signal is transmitted to a printing head driver 32 from a control circuit 3 to cause the ink discharge orifice to discharge the ink therefrom, thereby removing sticking objects with the ink.