PURPOSE: To effectively recover ink without the use of a pipe connecting a gutter with a tank by providing an auxiliary tank with a valve in which ink particles received in the gutter are temporarily stored to an ink jet printer of a charge- deflecting type.

CONSTITUTION: During the period when printing is performed by the sidewise running of a head 9, unnecessary ink particles are received by a gutter 6 provided on the head 9 side and then stored in an auxiliary tank 10 below the gutter 6. Then, when the head 9 goes back to a head waiting position, a fixed lever 11 of a recovery tank 12 provided at the waiting position comes into contact with a valve driving pin 17 inside the auxiliary tank 10 and pushs downwards the pin 16, whereby the valve 18 opens against the spring 17 and then ink inside the auxiliary tank 10 is recovered into the recovery tank 12. The ink so recovered is filtered through a filter and then again supplied to the head 9 by a pump.