Conveyor and conveying method

A conveyor comprising:

• a conveyor section configured to convey a belt-shaped work having a plurality of reference points arrayed discontinuously on a surface;
• a controller programmed to selectively operate the conveyor section for intermittently conveying the work for each prescribed interval as a first conveying mode and continuously conveying the work as a second conveying mode;
• a confirming part configured to confirm the reference points on the work from a fixed position when the work is intermittently stopped in the first conveying mode;
• and
• a detecting part configured to monitor the work conveyed while the conveyor section is in the second conveying mode and to detect the reference points;
• and
• the controller being further programmed to selectively operate the conveyor section for continuing the first conveying mode when the reference points are confirmed by the confirming part during the first conveying mode and switching to the second conveying mode when the reference points are not confirmed by the confirming part, and
• the controller being further programmed to selectively operate the conveyor section for continuing the second conveying mode until the reference points are detected by the detecting part during the second conveying mode and switching to the first conveying mode when the reference points are detected by the detecting part.