Image reading and printing unit

An image reading and printing unit comprising:

• a carriage movable in a scan direction perpendicular to a transport direction of a sheet that is transported;
• carriage moving means for moving said carriage in the scan direction;
• transfer means, arranged parallel to the scan direction with the transported sheet interposed between said transfer means and said carriage, for cooperating a transfer of an image onto the sheet;
• printing means, mounted on said carriage, for printing the image on the sheet in a printing mode by moving from a receded position to a print position towards the sheet on said transfer means under the cooperation of said transfer means;
• image reading means, mounted on said carriage together with said printing means, for reading an image printed on the transported sheet in a reading mode;
• and
• moving means for moving said image reading means to make contact with the sheet on said transfer means in the reading mode so as to read the image printed on the sheet.