Method and apparatus for the manufacture of freshly printed, numbered security papers cut to format

Method for the manufacture of freshly printed, numbered security papers cut to format, according to which sheets of security papers with security paper impressions arranged in the form of a matrix are printed, numbered and placed one on the other to form piles and with a step-wise feed, the piles of sheets formed in this way are cut automatically first of all into layers of strips and then into bundles of security papers, in which case the printed number or in the case of numbers printed at several points on a security paper, a number always located at the same position of the security papers is intended to be read later for control purposes automatically by a number-reading unit, whilst the security paper bears against a positioning stop by a reference edge adjacent this number, characterised in that the position of the cutting lines determining the reference edges of all security papers is defined by cutting marks, which are applied during numbering of the sheets together with the number, at a predetermined constant distance from this number, so that these cutting lines always have the same spacing with respect to the position of the number of the respective security paper and that the length of the feed movements, which provide guidance into the cutting positions corresponding to these cutting lines, is controlled automatically as a function of the cutting marks read by a reading unit.