Patent ID: 8291798

Claim:
An apparatus for producing small, thin sheets from an active-ingredient film, the apparatus comprising: a reel configured to hold the film; a first feeding device positioned downstream from the reel to pull the film off the reel in a feeding direction; a first cutting device positioned downstream from the first feeding device, the first feeding device feeding the film to the first cutting device, the first cutting device being arranged to cut the film into long, narrow strips of predeterminable width; a stacking device positioned downstream from the first cutting device to receive the long strips from the first cutting device, the stacking device being configured to arrange the long strips on top of one another in the form of a stack of individual strips; a second feeding device positioned downstream from the first cutting device to feed the stack of individual strips through a slideway to a second cutting device to cut through the stack of individual strips at predetermined intervals, the slideway having two side walls and a bottom wall to provide a U-shaped cross-section, the slideway being bent convexly around an axis which lies transversely to the feeding direction to produce a prestress in the stack of individual strips to smooth the strips, and the width between the two side walls substantially corresponds to the width of the stack of individual strips, wherein the second feeding device includes a pair of guide jaws arranged between the slideway and the second cutting device such that the stack of individual strips slides between the pair of guide jaws, one guide jaw of the pair of guide jaws being arranged above the stack of individual strips, and the other guide jaw of the pair of guide jaws being arranged below the stack of individual strips.