Device to handle and to orient flat workpieces arranged in batches

In a device to handle and orient flat workpieces arranged in batches, said device having a carrier plane surface located between lateral walls of a support structure, said carrier plane surface being actuated by control means arranged therebeneath, the improvement comprising the carrier plane surface consisting of a first assembly and a second assembly, the first assembly being a series of driven rollers spaced one from another, the second assembly being a table equipped with driven balls, which are arranged between the rollers of the first assembly, said table including a circular element having an upper surface for engaging the balls, first means for rotating the circular element to drive the balls, second means for producing a relative vertical shifting between the upper surfaces of the balls of the table and the rollers of the first assembly between a position with the plane of the upper surface of the balls being below a contact surface of the rollers to a second position with the balls being above the plane of the contact surface of the rollers, and third means for relative lateral shifting of the second assembly with the balls relative to the first assembly in a direction extending parallel to the rollers so that a batch of flat workpieces transported onto the device can be rotated and shifted laterally as desired.