Apparatus and method for drawing in flat material pieces and in-register transportation of the flat material pieces

A method for pulling in pieces of flat stock and transporting the pieces of flat stock, precisely aligned, into a work station of a machine for processing the pieces of flat stock comprising:

• grabbing a forward edge of a piece of flat stock and accelerating the piece of flat stock with a gripper apparatus, and
• picking up the accelerated piece of flat stock with at least one rotating sheet pick-up roller from the gripper apparatus, whereby the accelerated piece of flat stock is grabbed by at least one roller gripper at a circumference of the sheet pick-up roller, which can move between a closed position, in which the piece of flat stock is held fast, and a open position in which the piece of flat stock is released, wherein
• the piece of flat stock is held, in addition to being held by the roller gripper, by intake air sucked through suction holes at the circumference of the sheet pick-up roller, in which the suction holes are located in a part of the circumference of the sheet pick-up roller which is following behind the roller gripper in a direction of rotation, and
• the piece of flat stock is transferred by the sheet pick-up roller to at least one suction belt charged with intake air of a suction conveyor-belt apparatus, by moving the roller gripper from the closed position into the open position and operating the suction holes beginning with the suction holes lying next to the roller gripper against the direction of rotation of the sheet pick-up roller are operated one after the other at the least without intake air, so that the piece of flat stock is held fast during transfer between the sheet pick-up roller and the suction belt in a dimensionally increasing area without substantial slipping on the suction belt and is transported in a dimensionally decreasing area, still being held on the sheet pick-up roller, in a guiding member.