Device for conveying a stream of sheets from a sheet pile to a sheet-processing machine

A device for conveying an imbricated stream of sheets from a sheet pile to a sheet-processing machine, comprising:

• a conveying table including a top runner board and a continuous bottom partition spaced apart from said top runner board by spacer crosspieces located between said partition and said runner board;
• at least one revolvingly drivable, air-permeable conveyor belt, said belt having a top strand with an underside slidable over said conveying table and guided by said top runner board;
• three suction chambers disposed behind one another and being of different length, said suction chambers including a first suction chamber located adjacent the sheet pile, a third suction chamber located adjacent the sheet-processing machine, each of said first and third suction chambers having a length and a corresponding chamber volume, and a second suction chamber located between said first and third suction chambers, said second suction chamber extending over a length greater than said length of each of said first and third suction chambers and having a corresponding chamber volume larger than said volume of each of said first and third suction chambers, said second suction chamber having a plurality of suction-chamber regions disposed behind one another, said suction-chamber regions and said suction chambers being formed in said conveying table between said runner board and said partition by said spacer crosspieces;
• a common negative-pressure supply provided for negative-pressure activation of all of said suction chambers;
• and
• a plurality of throttles formed in said partition, each of said suction-chamber regions being pneumatically connected to said common negative-pressure supply via a respective throttle.