PURPOSE: To prevent defective printing such as color mixture by constituting a ribbon changing mechanism by providing a control means controlling so as to feed an ink ribbon while being interlocked with the changeover operation of the printing color of the ink ribbon.

CONSTITUTION: When a carrier 1 is stopped at a left end and a ribbon is changed, an oscillator frame 3 is rotated in the direction of the arrow F, and a ribbon guide 4, in which the ink ribbon 8 is housed, and a clamping arm 5 are moved in the direction of the arrow F. Since a ribbon-feed motor conducts the winding of the ink ribbon 8 in the same manner as the movement, tension is applied to the ink ribbon 8 while the ink ribbon is kept in a straight line. Consequently, tracks are changed over smoothly from a black track to a red track. Accordingly, the generation of defective printing such as the color mixture of black and red due to printing between the black track or the black track and the read track can be prevented.