Patent ID: 7581726

Claim:
A method for collecting flat objects, particularly sheets, fed successively in an intake plane, comprising: stopping a certain number of objects by blocking their front edges at a blocking element arranged in a collecting position, wherein the front edges of the objects are stopped in a reception formed by a recess of a rotational body rotatable around a middle axis, the recess receiving a front part of the objects such that a rear part of the objects is outside the recess, wherein the middle axis of the rotational body and the intake plane are essentially arranged in a common plane, and wherein the recess is formed such that it is symmetrical relative to the intake plane in the collecting position of the rotational body; initially rotating the rotational body by a predetermined rotational angle after having reached a desired collecting amount, to deflect the front edges of the objects out of the intake plane while leaving a rear part of the objects in the intake plane, engaging the front part of the collected objects deflected out of the intake plane between a transport element and a peripheral surface of the rotational body, and further rotating the rotational body for transporting the objects.