Abstract: A sheet coating machine in which sheets are fed along a bed through a working area where they are given a coating of a volatile substance to an adjoining oven where the coating is cured. At least one cover is moveable to provide access when necessary to the working area and which enables vapors produced by evaporation from the substance to be contained within the working area. Air inlet means enable the vapors to be extracted for incineration, and suction means which are arranged to extract the vapors downwardly from within the working area.

Abstract: In a high speed sheet printing or coating machine there is a tendency for the sheets to move about as they are being fed to the datum stops, so that precise registration is not achieved. This is remedied by exerting a damping force which pulls each sheet continuously towards a fixed support surface 12 before and during registration and during printing or coating. The damping force comprises vacuum and/or magnetic forces which settle each sheet rapidly on the fixed support surface as it is fed into contact with the datum stops. The vacuum force is provided by drawing air through an array of holes 26 in the fixed support surface into an underlying chamber 24 evacuated through a pipe 28 by a vacuum pump, and is adjustable either by controlling the flow rate through the pump or by controllably venting the chamber or pipe to atmosphere.