Patent ID: 8684658

Claim:
An apparatus for aligning an entire stack of flexible sheets resting on a transport substrate, with respect to said transport substrate, wherein a lowermost outer edge portion of said entire stack projecting laterally past at least one edge of said transport substrate, said apparatus comprising: a substantially vertically disposed aligning element moveable linearly horizontally toward and away from said one edge of said transport substrate, said aligning element having a flat face directed toward said entire stack; and a resilient and compressible slip-preventing layer attached to said flat face of said aligning element and extending below said lowermost outer edge portion of said entire stack so that engagement occurs between said resilient slip-preventing layer of said aligning element and said entire stack of said flexible sheets beneath said laterally projecting lowermost outer edge portion of said entire stack of said flexible sheets; said resilient slip-preventing layer is oriented relative to said entire stack so that, when said aligning element is shifted horizontally toward said entire stack and engages said projecting lowermost outer edge portion of said entire stack, said slip-preventing layer apples a force to said projecting lowermost outer edge portion; said force having a vertical component providing a supporting and lifting force acting to said projecting lowermost outer edge portion of said entire stack and a horizontal component pushing said entire stack inward on said transport substrate, thereby altering the respective alignment of said entire stack on said transport substrate without downwardly bending or deflecting said flexible sheets that form said lowermost outer edge of said entire stack.