Apparatus for the cutting of stacked sheet-like material

An apparatus for cutting stacked sheet-like material, comprising:

• a table (1) having a surface upon which said material may be laid, said table surface comprising an entry zone which is an area of the table surface where material to be cut first enters the table, and a work zone (2) which is an area of the table surface where the material is cut;
• a cutting knife (5) and a press bar (6) located above said work zone, wherein said cutting knife is operatively arranged to cut the material;
• an advance device for advancing the stack of material into the work zone in the direction of the cutting knife;
• a further table part (9) having a slide (10) slidably mounted thereto;
• a first straight guide (17), tiltably mounted to said slide about a horizontal axis, and physically located between said table and said further table part, said guide being movable relative to the work zone to form a gap therebetween, and operatively arranged to support the stack of material during cutting and to subsequently maintain the cut stack in an erect position;
• a second straight guide (29) initially located under said further table part and operatively arranged to be raised into a working position between said work zone and said first guide after said gap has been formed, to form a transverse channel between said first and second straight guides within which channel the cut material is located;
• a holding-down device (26) for securing the cut material in place upon said first guide;
• and
• an ejector element (33) movable within said transverse channel, said ejector element being operatively arranged to remove the cut material from said transverse channel.