JP2001302052A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of printing even in the vicinity of both end parts of a continuous paper while keeping satisfactory printing position precision and reducing running cost when printing is done using the continuous paper. SOLUTION: At the initial time when printing is started and a tip part 5A of the continuous paper 5 does not reach a conveyance roller 7 while a printing position in the continuous paper 5 opposes to a printing unit 2, a tractor 6 and the conveyance roller 7 are fed in the forward direction so that the continuous paper 5 advances up to a position where the tip part 5A of the continuous paper 5 is conveyed by the conveyance roller 7. By feeding the tractor 6 in the reverse direction, the continuous paper 5 which advances once is retracted up to a position where the printing position opposes to the printing unit 2 and is stopped temporarily. Then, printing in at least second line or after among printing by the printing unit 2 at the initial time when printing is started is done when the continuous paper 5 is stopped temporarily.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus which prints a continuous paper on a line-by-line basis while conveying the continuous paper as a whole in a fixed direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a printing apparatus using continuous paper, such as a slip or a form, connected at perforations, prints one line at a time by the dot impact method while conveying the continuous paper at high speed. There is a so-called line printing system.
In such a printing apparatus, a printing unit, an ink ribbon, a platen roller, and the like are provided as a printing unit in the middle of the continuous paper conveyance path. Also, in order to improve the printing position accuracy, a number of feed holes are provided at regular intervals on both sides in the width direction of the continuous paper, and on the upstream side near the printing portion, these feed holes are provided. A tractor that feeds the continuous paper to the printing unit while engaging is provided. On the other hand, on the downstream side in the vicinity of the printing unit, there is provided a transport roller for feeding the continuous paper further downstream in conjunction with the feed operation of the tractor.

That is, the continuous paper in the vicinity of the printing section passes through the printing section while being conveyed in a certain direction from the upstream side to the downstream side mainly by the feeding operation of the tractor. At this time, if the continuous paper is printed in the printing section in a loosened state, good printing quality cannot be obtained. Therefore, the feeding operation by the downstream transport roller is made slightly faster than that of the tractor on the upstream side, and the continuous paper in the vicinity of the printing section is transported while being restrained by the tractor and being stretched by a certain amount of tension.

[0004]

By the way, at the beginning of printing, when the leading end of the continuous paper is located at the printing portion, the leading end of the continuous paper is not reached to the downstream conveying roller. In other words, the leading end of the continuous paper is likely to be slack because it is a free end. If printing is performed in the vicinity of the leading end in such a state, the printing position accuracy will deteriorate. In addition, continuous paper such as slips and forms is stapled, glued, or bent at multiple perforations. There was a possibility that the position accuracy was adversely affected.

On the other hand, immediately before the end of printing, when the rear end of the continuous paper is positioned at the printing portion, the rear end of the continuous tractor has already passed the upstream tractor. In other words, the trailing end of the continuous paper is no longer constrained by the tractor on the upstream side and moves according to the transport roller that performs a faster feeding operation than the tractor, so that the printing interval for each line is extended. And the printing position accuracy changes.

For this reason, conventionally, in order to avoid printing on the leading edge and the trailing edge of the continuous paper, the continuous paper is temporarily stretched from the tractor on the upstream side to the transport roller on the downstream side, and after the preparation, The printing of the continuous paper is started, and printing is performed for each line. In short, since the first page and the last page of the continuous paper are not used as areas where no printing is performed, there is a problem that the running cost increases due to waste.

[0007]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been conceived in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it has been proposed that printing is performed while maintaining good printing position accuracy even near the leading edge or the trailing edge of continuous paper. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus which can perform printing on continuous paper and can reduce running cost when printing using continuous paper.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical measures.

That is, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus having a transport unit for transporting the continuous paper upstream and downstream of a printing unit through which the continuous paper passes in the continuous paper transport direction. At the beginning of printing when the leading end of the continuous paper does not reach the downstream transport unit in a state where the printing position on the continuous paper faces the printing unit, the upstream and downstream transport units are fed in the forward direction. By operating, the forward operation control means for advancing the continuous paper to a position where the leading end of the continuous paper is transported by the downstream transport means, and the upstream transport means for feeding in the reverse direction. The retreating operation control means for retreating the continuous paper advanced by the advancing operation control means to a position where the printing position is opposed to the printing portion and temporarily stopping the continuous paper. , And the forward movement control means and the retracting operation control means is operated alternately among the printing by the print unit in the print beginning, at least a second
There is provided a printing apparatus including printing operation control means for performing printing on the line and thereafter when the continuous paper is temporarily stopped by the retreat operation control means.

According to such a printing apparatus, at the beginning of printing, the leading end of the continuous paper is not brought to the downstream transport means, but the continuous paper is temporarily transported from the upstream to the downstream transport means. It is said that it is stretched to the means, and then
By retreating in the opposite direction, a posture without slack is achieved. While repeating such an operation, printing is performed line by line near the leading end. Therefore, the vicinity of the leading end immediately before printing is not slackened, so printing is continuously performed from the vicinity of the leading end, and even in a normal state in which the leading end completely passes through the downstream conveying means. In addition, printing can be continued while maintaining a constant accuracy without changing the printing position accuracy. Thus, the first page of the continuous paper can be used without wasting, and the running cost can be reduced when printing the continuous paper.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conveying means for conveying the continuous paper on an upstream side and a downstream side in a continuous paper conveying direction of a printing unit through which the continuous paper passes,
The transport speed of the downstream transport unit is set to be slightly higher than the transport speed of the upstream transport unit, and while the continuous paper is constrained by the upstream transport unit, the continuous paper is conveyed every predetermined length. A printing device that intermittently conveys, when the rear end of the continuous paper reaches the vicinity of the upstream conveyance unit, the upstream conveyance unit can not restrain the continuous paper until the continuous paper cannot be restrained. By controlling the downstream transport means, a rear end transport control means for intermittently transporting the continuous paper at the predetermined length at least until a final printing position on the continuous paper faces the printing section is provided. A printing device provided with the same.

According to such a printing apparatus, just before the end of printing, if the rear end of the continuous paper has completely passed through the upstream conveying means, after the passing, the downstream conveying means The feeding operation by the means is made slower than before, and the conveying speed of the continuous paper is kept constant before and after passing. In other words, before and after the trailing edge completely passes through the upstream conveying means, the printing interval of each line is constant without change, and the trailing edge is maintained while maintaining a constant printing position accuracy. Printing can be continued line by line in the vicinity. As a result, the last page of the continuous paper can be used without wasting, and the running cost can be reduced when printing the continuous paper.

According to a preferred embodiment of the printing apparatus, the printing unit includes a printing unit for hitting an ink ribbon toward the surface of the continuous paper, and the continuous paper facing the printing unit. And a ribbon separator that biases a part of the continuous paper passing between the platen roller and the printing unit against the platen roller. can do.

According to such a configuration, the continuous paper in the printing section is conveyed while being pressed against the platen roller by the ribbon separator with an urging force. The continuous paper is maintained in a proper posture without slackening even when it is located just below
Printing can be performed in the vicinity of the front end and the rear end while maintaining good printing position accuracy.

[0015] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an essential part of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an essential part of the printing apparatus. The invention of the present application is characterized by the control of continuous paper transport,
Since the basic configuration is almost the same as the conventional one, some members are appropriately omitted in each drawing.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an ink ribbon 1, a printing unit (printing means) 2, a platen roller 3, a ribbon separator 4, a continuous paper 5, and a continuous paper 5 are provided around a printing section of the printing apparatus. A pair of tractors (upstream transport means) 6 and 6 for transport, and a pair of transport rollers (downstream transport means) 7 and 7, a leading edge detection sensor 8, a trailing edge detection sensor 9, and the continuous paper 5 A plurality of guide plates 10 for guiding along the transport path are provided. Among these, a portion where the ink ribbon 1, the printing unit 2, and the platen roller 3 are arranged is a printing portion. Although not shown in these drawings, the printing apparatus includes a microcomputer for controlling various operations. This microcomputer, as described later,
While functioning as control means for controlling the forward operation, the backward operation, and the printing operation at the start of printing, the operation immediately before and after the rear end of the continuous paper 5 passes the tractor 6 on the upstream side immediately before the end of printing is performed. It functions as control means for controlling.

The ink ribbon 1 has an endless annular shape, and can run along a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction F of the continuous paper 5, and is continuously connected to the printing unit 2 as shown in FIG. Paper 5 is drawn through. The ink ribbon 1 has one surface impregnated with ink, and is hit by the printing unit 2 with the surface impregnated with the ink facing the continuous paper 5 side. Thereby, the ink ribbon 1 is strongly pressed against the continuous paper 5, and the ink is transferred to the surface of the continuous paper 5 to perform printing. Such a running operation of the ink ribbon 1 is performed by a microcomputer controlling a running mechanism (not shown).

The printing unit 2 is also called a hammer bank, and has a large number of printing heads (not shown) mounted at regular intervals on the side facing the ink ribbon 1. One print head is provided with, for example, 24 needle pins in a staggered arrangement. Printing is performed on the continuous paper 5 by each of these needle pins directly striking the ink ribbon 1. Such a printing unit 2 interlocks with a shuttle mechanism (not shown) composed of a linear motor or the like, and periodically reciprocates in a direction substantially orthogonal to the transport direction F of the continuous paper 5. During the reciprocating movement, a needle pin is driven out of the print head, whereby printing is performed on the printing paper 5. Such a printing operation of the printing unit 2 is performed by a microcomputer controlling a shuttle mechanism and a print head.

The platen roller 3 is disposed so as to face the printing unit 2 and to be in contact with the back side of the continuous paper 5. That is, the continuous paper 5 passes between the platen roller 3 and the printing unit 2. The ink ribbon 1 struck on the surface of the continuous paper 5 in such a positional relationship comes into close contact with the continuous paper 5 for a moment, and such adhesion is removed by the ribbon separator 4. The ribbon separator 4 is attached to the print unit 2 at a position where it does not interfere with the print head. Further, the ribbon separator 4 can be elastically displaced with the attachment point as a fulcrum, and the leading end thereof is brought into a state of lightly touching the vicinity of both sides of the continuous paper 5. Therefore, the ribbon separator 4 urges the continuous paper 5 extremely slightly against the platen roller 3, but does not apply an urging force enough to hinder the conveyance of the continuous paper 5.

The continuous paper 5 is formed by continuously connecting slips and forms at perforations. On both sides in the width direction,
The perforation holes 50 are opened at regular intervals. A projection 6a of the tractor 6, which will be described later, is engaged with the feed hole 50. When the continuous paper 5 is viewed on the basis of a printing portion where the printing unit 2 and the like are located, the tractor 6 is disposed on the upstream side while the transport roller 7 described below is disposed on the downstream side. It is transported from upstream to downstream in the transport direction F.

The tractor 6 feeds the continuous paper 5 while restraining the continuous paper 5 by rotating a plurality of projections 6a arranged at intervals corresponding to the feed holes 50 via a stepping motor or the like (not shown). According to the tractor 6, the continuous paper 5 does not shift with respect to the printing unit 2 or the like.
It is conveyed at exactly fixed line feed intervals. In addition, the tractor 6 can not only advance the continuous paper 5 in the transport direction F by moving the projection 6a in a fixed direction, but also reversely move the projection 6a in the reverse direction. 5 can be retracted along the transport direction F.
Such a reversing operation of the tractor 6 is performed in a state where the vicinity of the leading end of the continuous paper 5 reaches the printing section at the beginning of printing.
In addition, the printing is temporarily performed when printing is performed in a state where the leading end does not reach the transport roller 7 on the downstream side. The operation of the tractor 6 is controlled by a microcomputer, and the detailed operation will be described later.

The transport roller 7 is configured such that a plurality of rubber rollers 7a rotate while being in close contact with each other by a predetermined pinch pressure, and feed the paper while sandwiching the continuous paper 5 between the opposing rubber rollers 7a. It is. The transport roller 7 normally rotates in conjunction with the paper feed operation of the tractor 6 and at a slightly higher paper feed speed. Thereby, the continuous paper 5 passing from the tractor 6 to the transport roller 7 is transported in a state where the continuous paper 5 is pulled by a certain amount of tension. On the other hand, immediately before the end of printing, the rear end of the continuous paper 5 completely passes through the tractor 6 and is no longer constrained, but the paper feed speed of the transport roller 7 is slightly reduced. Is switched to decelerate. In short, in a state where the rear end portion of the continuous paper 5 has reached the printing portion and the rear end portion has deviated from the tractor 6 on the upstream side and has completely passed, the paper feed speed of the transport roller 7 is reduced.
Is controlled so as to be equal to the paper feed speed. As a result, even immediately before and immediately after the trailing edge of the continuous paper 5 is separated from the tractor 6, the transport speed of the continuous paper 5 is kept constant without change, and printing can be performed in the vicinity of the trailing edge as it is. The operation of the transport roller 7 is controlled by a microcomputer, and the detailed operation will be described later.

A front end detection sensor 8 and a rear end detection sensor 9
Is composed of, for example, a photocoupler,
The front end detection sensor 8 is located in the vicinity of the downstream conveying roller 7 and further downstream therefrom, while the rear end detection sensor 9
Is disposed near the tractor 6 on the upstream side and further upstream thereof. When the leading edge of the continuous paper 5 is detected by the leading edge detection sensor 8, a leading edge detection signal corresponding thereto is notified to the microcomputer, and the leading edge portion may completely pass through the downstream conveying roller 7. Be recognized. On the other hand, when the trailing edge of the continuous paper 5 is detected by the trailing edge detection sensor 9, a corresponding trailing edge detection signal is notified to the microcomputer, and the state in which the trailing edge leaves the tractor 6 on the upstream side is near. It will be recognized. The microcomputer controls the transport operation at the beginning of printing and the transport operation immediately before the end of printing based on such detection signals.

The guide plate 10 includes a section from the tractor 6 on the upstream side to the printing section, and a conveying roller 7 on the downstream side from the printing section.
The section up to is provided to keep the continuous paper 5 in the transport state in a stable posture. It is desirable that such a guide plate 10 has a width dimension along the transport direction F as short as possible, that is, the transport section around the printing section should be a short path, but from the necessity of disposing various movable parts around the printing section, Some length is required.

Next, the operation of the printing apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 3 to 6 are illustrations for explaining the movement of the continuous paper 5 at the beginning of printing. First, as shown in FIG. The continuous paper 5 is fed only by the tractor 6, and the leading end 5 A of the continuous paper 5 is fed to the ribbon separator 4 and the platen roller 3.
Stop temporarily while sliding in between. In this state, printing of one line is performed in the vicinity of the leading end 5A in accordance with the printing operation of the printing unit 2.

Next, the continuous paper 5 may be fed by a predetermined line feed interval in order to print the next line. However, the leading end 5A is advanced slightly by the paper feed operation of the tractor 6, and the downstream transport is performed. If the state before reaching the roller 7 is reached, as shown in FIG. 4, the vicinity of the front end portion 5A is likely to be loosened due to a frictional load on the platen roller 3 or the like. If printing is performed in the vicinity of the tip portion 5A in the loose state in this manner, good printing quality cannot be obtained.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 5, immediately after printing one line, the tractor 6 performs a considerable amount of paper feeding operation and rotates the downstream conveying roller 7 in conjunction therewith. Thus, the leading end 5A of the continuous paper 5 is sandwiched between the pair of transport rollers 7, 7. In this way, the vicinity of the leading end portion 5A of the continuous paper 5 is pulled straight by a certain amount of tension, and is stretched from the tractor 6 to the transport roller 7.

As described above, when the leading end 5A is temporarily sandwiched between the transport rollers 7, 7 and is detected by the leading end detecting sensor 8 as the leading end 5A further advances, as shown in FIG. When the paper feed operation of the tractor 6 is reversed, the continuous paper 5 is moved backward in the reverse direction of the transport direction F. At this time, the continuous paper 5 is moved backward by a distance obtained by subtracting the line feed interval from the distance the continuous paper 5 has moved forward. Then, the vicinity of the front end portion 5A reaches the printing portion while maintaining a straightly extended posture, and the portion to be printed on the next line near the front end portion 5A is stopped immediately below the printing unit 2. After that, the printing of the next line is performed by the printing operation of the printing unit 2 around the front end portion 5A. Such a series of operations is performed by the leading end 5 of the continuous paper 5.
A is repeated very quickly until A completely passes through the downstream transport roller 7, whereby printing is performed at a constant line feed interval on the first page including the vicinity of the leading end 5A of the continuous paper 5. Becomes

If printing is continued for a while after printing is started as described above, the continuous paper 5 is completely stretched between the tractor 6 and the transport roller 7, and the continuous paper 5 is no longer inverting as described above. It is not necessary to perform the operation, and printing is performed line by line while the continuous paper 5 is fed in the transport direction F at a constant speed. At this time, the transport speed of the continuous paper 5 is
Since the continuous paper 5 is constrained by the tractor 6 whose paper feeding operation is slower than that of the downstream transport roller 7, the continuous paper 5 mainly matches the paper feeding speed of the tractor 6. That is, the continuous paper 5 is always conveyed while maintaining a constant line feed interval, regardless of whether or not the leading end 5A is sandwiched between the conveyance rollers 7. Therefore, even when printing is started near the leading end 5A, the line feed interval does not become narrow or wide, and good printing quality can be obtained while maintaining a constant printing position accuracy.

Next, FIGS. 7 to 9 are explanatory views for explaining the movement of the continuous paper 5 just before the end of printing. First, as shown in FIG. Is continued, the rear end portion 5B of the continuous paper 5 is detected by the rear end detection sensor 9 just before the end of printing.

In this manner, the rear end 5 is detected by the rear end detection sensor 9.
When B is detected, the microcomputer operates the tractor 6
Counting is started for the paper feed amount of. When the counting result of the paper feed amount exceeds a predetermined level, as shown in FIG. The rotation speed of the conveying roller 7 has been reduced. That is, since the continuous paper 5 is transported only by the downstream transport roller 7 without being restrained by the tractor 6 on the upstream side, even after the rear end portion 5B is separated from the tractor 6, the continuous paper 5 is maintained at a constant line feed interval. The paper feed operation of the transport roller 7 is switched to feed the paper. When the paper feeding operation is switched, the conveying roller 7 performs the same paper feeding operation as the tractor 6, so that the conveying speed of the continuous paper 5 is kept constant.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the rear end portion 5B is conveyed at a constant speed only by the conveying roller 7, and the vicinity of the rear end portion 5B is temporarily stopped immediately below the printing unit 2. . Then, printing of one line is performed by the printing operation of the printing unit 2 around the rear end portion 5B,
After the trailing end 5B is continuously transported at a constant line feed interval,
A similar operation is repeated. When printing is finally completed in the vicinity of the rear end 5B, the rear end 5B
Is passed over to a discharge location (not shown), and the printing operation over the entire length of the continuous paper 5 is completed. As a result, printing is performed at a constant line feed interval on the last page including the vicinity of the rear end 5B of the continuous paper 5.

In short, near the rear end 5B of the continuous paper 5,
Immediately before the end of printing, the paper is fed only by the transport roller 7 without being restrained by the tractor 6, but the paper is always transported while maintaining a constant line feed interval as in the previous state. Therefore, the rear end 5
Even when printing is performed in the vicinity of B, the line feed interval does not become narrow or wide, and good printing quality can be obtained while maintaining a constant printing position accuracy.

Therefore, according to the printing apparatus having the above configuration and operation, the leading and trailing portions of the continuous paper 5 included in these pages are not wasted without wasting the first and last pages.
Printing can be performed in the vicinity of A and in the vicinity of the rear end portion 5B, and the running cost can be suppressed when printing the continuous paper 5.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

For example, the print head of the print unit 2 is not limited to the one described above, but may be a pin having 12 pins or a slightly larger number of pins. Is not limited.

The printing method is as follows.
The method is not limited to the dot impact method using the image forming method, but may be an ink jet method or a thermal method.

The tractor 6 and the transport roller 7 as the transport means are not limited to those described above. In particular, the transport means on the upstream side may be provided with a printing position as long as it can perform the reversing operation while feeding the continuous paper 5. Although it is inferior in accuracy, it may be transported by a roller method.

In addition, matters and the like other than the features of the present invention described above can be appropriately changed. For example, if the relative positional relationship between the tractor 6 and the transport roller 7 with respect to the printing unit is satisfied, the control of the microcomputer becomes complicated, but the leading end 5A of the continuous paper 5 is moved downstream by the paper feed amount by the tractor 6. It may be determined whether or not the sheet has reached the transport roller 7 on the side. Also, at the beginning of printing, when printing the first one line near the leading end 5A, the continuous paper 5 is temporarily stretched from the tractor 6 on the upstream side to the transport roller 7 on the downstream side before printing. The first line may be printed in the vicinity of the leading end 5A after the paper is advanced and then the continuous paper 5 is stopped from retreating.

On the other hand, immediately before the end of printing, the trailing edge sensor 5 does not detect the trailing end portion 5B of the continuous paper 5 and the paper feed amount of the May be counted continuously from the beginning of printing to determine whether or not the rear end portion 5B has separated from the tractor 6 according to the paper feed amount. Further, even when the rear end portion 5B separates from the tractor 6, the conveyance speed by the conveyance roller 7 is kept constant, and the paper feeding time for each intermittent paper feeding is changed, so that the paper is intermittently moved by a predetermined length. Paper may be fed.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, printing can be continued while maintaining a constant accuracy without changing the printing position accuracy even in the vicinity of the leading edge and the trailing edge of the continuous paper. Therefore, the first page and the last page of the continuous paper can be used without wasting, and the running cost when printing the continuous paper can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.
It is the schematic perspective view which showed the principal part.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a main part of a printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the movement of continuous paper at the beginning of printing.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the movement of continuous paper at the beginning of printing.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the movement of continuous paper at the beginning of printing.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the movement of continuous paper at the beginning of printing.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the movement of the continuous paper immediately before the end of printing.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the movement of continuous paper immediately before the end of printing.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the movement of continuous paper immediately before the end of printing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Ink ribbon 2 Printing unit (printing means) 3 Platen roller 4 Ribbon separator 5 Continuous paper 5A Leading end 5B Trailing end 6 Tractor (upstream transporting means) 7 Transporting roller (downstream transporting means) 8 Leading edge detection sensor 9 Rear end detection sensor 10 Guide plate

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C058 AC02 AE04 CA01 3F105 AA02 AB04 BA13 BA41 CA11 DA22 DA68

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus comprising a transport unit for transporting the continuous paper upstream and downstream of a printing unit through which the continuous paper passes in a continuous paper transport direction, wherein a printing position on the continuous paper is the printing unit. At the beginning of printing when the leading edge of the continuous paper does not reach the downstream transport unit in a state where the continuous paper is opposed to the leading edge of the continuous paper, the upstream and downstream transport units are operated to feed in the forward direction. Advancing operation control means for advancing the continuous paper to a position where it is conveyed by the downstream conveying means; and Reversing operation control means for retreating the continuous paper to a position where the printing position thereof faces the printing section and temporarily stopping the continuous paper; advancing operation control means and the retreating operation And the control means are operated alternately, and at least the second and subsequent lines of the printing by the printing unit at the beginning of the printing are performed when the continuous paper is temporarily stopped by the retreat operation control means. A printing operation control means for causing the printing device to perform the printing operation. 2. A printer according to claim 1, further comprising a transport unit for transporting the continuous paper at an upstream side and a downstream side of a printing unit through which the continuous paper passes in a continuous paper transport direction. A printing device that intermittently conveys the continuous paper at predetermined intervals while setting the transport speed by a transport unit to be slightly higher and constraining the continuous paper by the upstream transport unit; When the rear end of the sheet reaches the vicinity of the upstream conveying means, by controlling the downstream conveying means by the time the continuous paper cannot be restrained by the upstream conveying means, at least the continuous paper is controlled. A printing apparatus, comprising: a rear end conveyance control unit that intermittently conveys the continuous paper at the predetermined length until a final printing position on the paper faces the printing unit. 3. A printing unit for hitting an ink ribbon toward a front surface of the continuous paper, a platen roller opposed to the printing unit and supporting the continuous paper from a back side, the printing unit includes: 3. The printing method according to claim 1, further comprising a ribbon separator that urges a part of the continuous paper passing between the platen roller and the printing unit against the platen roller. apparatus.