PURPOSE: To perform a paper feeding efficiently at a high speed by feeding paper at a speed corresponding to a feed of a paper to be fed calculating it to eliminate hunting in a paper feeding mechanism.

CONSTITUTION: When the paper feed is small, for example, when a signal for line feed is received continuously, the feeding of a paper is started by accelerating action 7 based on the first line feed signal to perform a constant rate feeding 8 at a low speed. When the second line feed signal is received in the course of this operation, the residual amount of paper to be fed based on the first line feed signal and the paper feed based on the second line feed signal are totalized. If the summed up value exceeds a specified value, the accelerating action 9 is further done to feed paper by a given length by a constant rate feeding 10 at a high speed. Subsequently, the decelerating action 11 is started to complete the specified paper feeding operation as early as possible.