Transport device for transporting objects in a circulating manner

A transport apparatus configured for circumferentially transporting textiles along a circumferential transport lane of a printing machine, comprising:

• a plurality of transport slides, each configured to support a textile to be printed, and
• at least two processing units for processing textiles, at least one of said at least two processing units being a printing unit;
• wherein said at least two processing units are arranged along the circumferential transport lane, wherein each transport slide comprises an individual drive configured for moving the respective transport slide along the circumferential transport lane,
• wherein each individual drive comprises a stepper motor configured for moving the respective transport slide along the circumferential transport lane and for positioning the transport slide at least at said printing unit,
• the transport apparatus further comprising a central control unit configured for moving the transport slides and for positioning the transport slides at least at said printing unit,
• said central control unit being configured to output a digital positioning instruction for the stepper motors,
• wherein each transport slide comprises an identification number,
• the central control unit being configured to output positioning instructions together with identification numbers,
• each transport slide comprising drive control means that are configured to control the stepper motor, when a positioning instruction with an identification number is received that matches the identification number of the transport slide, by a step number that corresponds to the positioning instruction.