Method and apparatus for splicing two sheets of material

A method for splicing two sheets of material, comprising steps of:

• providing a processing line comprising a splicing head and a quality sensor located between an upstream end of the processing line and a downstream end of the processing line;
• providing a first sheet of material and a second sheet of material;
• processing the first sheet on the processing line along a processing direction from the upstream end of the processing line towards the downstream end of the processing line;
• detecting, by the quality sensor, a value of a quality parameter at a detected portion of the first sheet;
• and,
• when the value of the quality parameter falls within a predetermined threshold,
• transporting the first sheet along the processing line such that the detected portion of the first sheet is located prior to getting into the splicing head from the upstream end of the processing line, and
• splicing the first sheet and the second sheet at the splicing head when the detected portion of the first sheet is located prior to getting into the splicing head from the upstream end of the processing line.

An apparatus for splicing two sheets of material, comprising:

• a processing line comprising an upstream end and a downstream end and being configured for processing a first sheet of material and a second sheet of material;
• a splicing head located between the upstream end and the downstream end;
• a quality sensor located between the upstream end and the downstream end and being configured for detecting a value of a quality parameter at a detected portion of the first sheet;
• and
• a controller, configured to:
• evaluate whether the value of the quality parameter detected by the quality sensor falls within a predetermined threshold, and
• when the value of the quality parameter detected by the quality sensor falls within the predetermined threshold, control the processing line to transport the first sheet along the processing line such that the detected portion of the first sheet is located prior to getting into the splicing head from the upstream end of the processing line and control the splicing head to splice the first sheet and the second sheet at the splicing head when the detected portion of the first sheet is located prior to getting into the splicing head from the upstream end of the processing line.