Abstract: The present invention relates to a shear for shearing laminar elements, flat material. This shear comprises at least one pair of blade-holders and associated blades which move substantially parallel to each other along straight lines which are spaced apart a predetermined distance from each other. The predetermined distance is computed as a function of the thickness of the material and the nature of the material which is to be sheared. The blades have cutting edges which, at the time of shearing, apply a pair of mutually perpendicular forces Fx and Fy to the material being sheared. The force Fy acts along a straight line perpendicular to a plane or surface through the material or upon which the material rests. It is along the straight line of the force Fy that the blade-holders and blades move during the shearing operation.

Abstract: A machine slows down a series of sheets which are conveyed in close spaced succession to each other by conveying the sheets between a pair of rolls defining a gap of predetermined size therebetween. The rolls are disposed with their axes transverse to the direction of travel of the sheets and are rotated at a peripheral speed less than the speed at which the sheets are conveyed into the gap between the rolls. A mechanism is provided for moving the rolls to close the gap and bring the rolls into contact with the sheet whereupon the speed of the sheet is reduced.