Patent ID: 8181870

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a sheet path transporting sheets, said sheets having a code line and said code line having magnetic ink markings and a blank region aligned with said magnetic ink markings; a treatment station positioned along said sheet path, said treatment station applying a chemical treatment to said blank region as said sheets pass along said sheet path; at least one read head, said read head being positioned along said sheet path such that said sheets pass said read head before said sheets pass said treatment station and said read head further being mechanically aligned with said treatment station so that, when said read head is centered on said code line, said treatment station is centered on said code line; and a controller operatively connected to said read head, said controller analyzing signals from said read head to determine whether said read head is centered on said magnetic ink markings in said code line as said sheets pass said read head and, based on said analyzing, automatically adjusting a position of said read head to ensure that said treatment station is centered on said code line when said sheets subsequently pass said treatment station.