Example printer finishing apparatus are described herein. An example printer disclosed herein includes an alignment guide, a track to align a sheet relative to the alignment guide, a clamp to move between a raised position and a lowered position relative to the sheet, and a force applicator coupled to the clamp. The force applicator is to cause the sheet to engage the alignment guide when the clamp is in the lowered position.

A paper stacking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a stacking table, a first sensor, and a hardware processor. The stacking table includes an upper face on which papers are stacked, the stacking table being capable of being elevated and lowered by a drive mechanism. The first sensor is disposed at a first position and configured to detect the upper face of the stacking table or an upper face of stacked objects stacked on the stacking table. The hardware processor is coupled to the drive mechanism and the first sensor. The hardware processor is configured to determine that the stacking table is excessively elevated when an elapsed time after starting to detect the object by the first sensor is at least a first excessive-elevation determination value of time.

In one example, a media puller device can include a snowplow device coupled to a first end of a hinge, a leading end of the media puller device coupled to a second end of the hinge, and a tension device coupled between the snowplow device and the media puller device.

In some examples, a die-cutting machine includes a transport system configured as a chain gripper system. The chain gripper system includes a chain gripper carriage including a holding element for holding a sheet. The chain gripper carriage is arranged to be attached to at least one chain that is arranged to guide the chain gripper carriage on a guide path through at least part of the die-cutting machine. The chain gripper carriage includes a contact element functionally connected to the holding element. A chain gripper opener includes a contact surface at which, in the presence of the gripper carriage at the contact surface, the contact element cooperates with the chain gripper opener. The holding element is transferred at least from a closed position into an open position by cooperation of the chain gripper opener with the contact element. The chain gripper opener is adjustable by at least one drive.

A sheet stacking apparatus includes a sheet alignment mechanism configured for aligning a sheet in a predetermined reference position; a gripper arrangement configured to grip the aligned sheet at at least two spaced-apart points of the sheet and to release the sheet on a stack; and a holder configured to hold the sheet in position on the stack while the gripper arrangement releases the sheet. The gripper arrangement is movable along a predetermined trajectory for moving the sheet from the reference position to a stacking position.

Example printer finishing apparatus are described herein. An example printer disclosed herein includes an alignment guide, a track to align a sheet relative to the alignment guide, a clamp to move between a raised position and a lowered position relative to the sheet, and a force applicator coupled to the clamp. The force applicator is to cause the sheet to engage the alignment guide when the clamp is in the lowered position.

A medium stacking device includes an intermediate stacker that receives a medium treated by a treatment portion, and a first alignment member as an example of a contact portion, that is configured to move between a first position for performing an alignment operation on the medium on the intermediate stacker, and a second position that is separated further from the leading edge of the medium than is the first position. Furthermore, the medium stacking device is provided with a stacking portion that stacks the medium discharged from the intermediate stacker. The medium discharged from the intermediate stacker is stacked on the stacking portion after a leading edge contacts the first alignment member positioned at the second position.

The invention relates to a method for separating and categorizing at least one substrate (02; 03) that originates from a sheet source (47) or is transported in the form of a material web (02) to a cross-cutting apparatus and is separated into a multiplicity of sheets (03) there, wherein the respective sheets (03) are inspected in respective inspection operations with regard to at least one property that the substrate (02; 03) already had before the particular separating operation or severing operation, and wherein the sheets (03) are each assigned to one of at least three categories in an assigning operation on the basis of the result of the inspection carried out in the particular inspection operation, and wherein each of the sheets (03) is deposited on a delivery pile (06; 07; 08) corresponding to its category, and to a substrate categorizing machine (01), which has a sheet source (47) or a material-web source (09) and a cross-cutting device (11), wherein the substrate categorizing machine (01) has, downstream of the sheet source (47) or downstream of the cross-cutting device (11), a sheet transport device (12) having a gripper system (13), and an inspection device (14; 16; 17; 18), and, downstream of the inspection device (14; 16; 17; 18), a delivery apparatus (19), which has at least three depositing stations (21; 22; 23).

The invention relates to an inspection device (6) for inspecting sample blanks (P) for a processing machine (1) for processing elements in sheet form, the processing machine (1) comprising a plurality of work stations (300, 400, 500, 600) including at least one waste removal station (600) comprising a removal belt (93; 94), the inspection device (6) being characterized in that it comprises an optical monitoring device (7) configured to determine a fault with the quality of a sample of blanks (P) laid flat on the removal belt (93; 94).

The present invention also relates to a waste removal station, a processing machine for processing elements in sheet form, and to a method for the quality control of sample blanks.

A finisher apparatus includes an actuator to control a component of the finisher apparatus to perform a finishing operation on a print medium. A sensor is provided to sense the print medium in a print-medium path in the finisher apparatus. A processor is coupled to the actuator and the sensor. The processor is to execute instructions. The instructions are to actuate the actuator to eject the print medium from the print-medium path in response to a signal from the sensor indicative of a jam of the print medium in the finisher apparatus.