PURPOSE: To enhance maintainability, by enabling a flat plate platen to be tilted around a support shaft to release a recording liquid-ejecting surface of a recording head from a position for facing the platen, at non-recording times.

CONSTITUTION: With a maintenance switch turned ON in a maintenance mode, s cap 2 is retracted, a recording head 1 is moved in a main scanning direction together with a carriage to the position of a position detector 14, and is stopped there. Then, a platen 12 is tilted to the operator's side by turning it on a horizontal shaft 13, whereby the head 1 can be cleaned and taken care of, from the side of an ejecting surface thereof. By opening a top cover for maintenance, it is possible to carry out replacement of the head 1, supply of a recording liquid or the like. Therefore, the head 1 and the vicinity of the carriage can be cleaned and taken care of with markedly enhanced easiness, which contributes to maintenance.