Multi-stage printer

In a multi-stage printer having paper moving means for moving a printing paper along a paper moving direction, a plurality of type belts including at least an upper and a lower type belt spaced apart in successive stages along said paper moving direction, each type belt having a group of types arranged thereon, means for selecting one of said plurality of type belts for printing at a line position, successive line positions being spaced apart by an inter-line pitch on said paper, hammer means for pushing out type from said selected belt to effect a desired printing operation on the paper at a line position in front of the selected belt, hammer moving means for moving said hammer means to a printing position with respect to a selected one of said plurality of type belts, and type belt moving means for moving the types on a selected belt to the printing position to be pushed out by said hammer means for printing selected characters,

• the improvement comprising control means connected to said paper moving means for advancing the paper to a visually confirmable position above said belts after printing from a first selected one of said belts at a first line position on the paper, and subsequently computing a paper moving amount and moving said paper by said computed paper moving amount for printing from a next selected one of said plurality type of belts at a second line position spaced from the first line position by said inter-line pitch, wherein said computed paper moving amount is the distance from the visually confirmable position to the second line position subtracted from the inter-line pitch, said computed paper moving amount is a variable depending upon which of the plurality of type belts is selected for printing at each of said first and second line positions.