Patent ID: 7192024

Claim:
An apparatus for processing sheet material comprising: a set of rotatable rolls provided with one or more circumferentially spaced sheet-processing tooling sets for engagement with the sheet material in a nip zone between the rolls; a first drive for rotating the roll set; a second drive upstream of the nip zone for effecting feed of the sheet material to and beyond the nip zone; means programmable in dependence upon a configuration of tool operations to be performed on the sheet, the programmable means being operable to co-ordinate operation of the second drive with rotation of the roll set in such a way that sheet feed through the nip zone: is effected by the roll set when there is engagement between at least one of the tooling sets and the sheet material, and is effected by the second drive when the sheet material is not engaged by the at least one of the tooling sets; and wherein the second drive imparts feed to the sheet material through drive transmitting means when the sheet material is not engaged by the at least one of the tooling sets and the drive transmitting means freewheels while in engagement with the roll driven sheet material when the sheet material is engaged by the at least one of the tooling sets.