Method of and an apparatus for aligning sheets advancing in an overlapping array to a printing machine

Apparatus for aligning individual sheets of an elongated array of such sheets which advances longitudinally thereof to a printing machine and in which each succeeding sheet partially overlaps the preceding sheet, comprising means displacing a respective sheet of the array substantially in a plane of the latter by a distance having at least a component in a direction transverse to the elongation of the array to thereby expose a lateral marginal portion of the respective sheet;

• means aligning the respective sheet at a front edge thereof;
• means engaging the exposed lateral marginal portion of the frontwardly aligned sheet and applying thereto a force which shifts the frontwardly aligned sheet substantially in said plane by a further distance only in said direction into an aligned position of a lateral edge delimiting the exposed lateral marginal portion of the respective sheet;
• means releasing the frontwardly and laterally aligned sheet for further advancement to the printing machine;
• and means operative subsequent to the releasing for advancing the frontwardly and laterally aligned sheet to the printing machine.

A method of aligning individual sheets of an elongated array of such sheets which advances longitudinally thereof to a printing machine and in which each succeeding sheet partially overlaps the preceding sheet, comprising the steps of displacing a respective sheet of the array substantially in a plane of the latter by a distance having at least a component in a direction transverse to the elongation of the array to thereby expose a lateral marginal portion of the respective sheet;

• aligning the respective sheet at a front edge thereof;
• engaging the exposed lateral marginal portion of the frontwardly aligned sheet and applying thereto a force which shifts the frontwardly aligned sheet substantially in said plane by a further distance only in said direction into an aligned position of a lateral edge delimiting the exposed lateral marginal portion of the respective sheet;
• releasing the frontwardly and laterally aligned sheet for further advancement to the printing machine;
• and subsequent to the releasing step advancing the frontwardly and laterally aligned sheet to the printing machine.

An apparatus for aligning individual sheets of an elongated array of such sheets which advances longitudinally thereof over an in-feed table to a printing machine and in which each succeeding sheet partially overlaps the preceding sheet, comprising means for displacing a respective sheet of the array substantially in a plane of the latter by a distance having at least a component in a direction transverse to the elongation of the array to thereby expose a lateral marginal portion of the respective sheet;

• means for aligning the respective sheet at a front edge thereof;
• means for engaging the exposed marginal portion of the frontwardly aligned sheet and for applying thereto a force which shifts the frontwardly aligned sheet substantially in said plane by a further distance only in said direction into an aligned position of a lateral edge delimiting the exposed lateral marginal portion of the respective sheet;
• means for releasing the frontwardly and laterally aligned sheet for further advancement to the printing machine;
• and further comprising separately adjustable brushes contacting an upper major surface of the respective sheet.