A device has laterally mobile pressure devices on belt sanders in throughfeed, which are brought into position so that workpieces detected by detectors are sanded in a laterally limited area in the longitudinal direction. An arrangement of such pressure arrangements represents, for example, a segmented sanding pad. The method of lateral movement of its segments and the devices created for this purpose enable, among other things, the sanding of frames in the wood grain direction of their individual parts and/or their center panel as well as the application of sanding patterns to workpiece surfaces.