The cover sheet which is to be placed, is brought into a waiting position above a predetermined conveying path of the stacks of flat articles. The cover sheet is displaced from this waiting position onto one stack by means of a placing element arranged at the end of a piston rod of a piston cylinder unit. The piston-cylinder unit is pivotably mounted about an axis which extends at right angles to a predetermined travel or movement direction of the stack. In its rest position the piston-cylinder unit lies against a pad or buffer which keeps the piston-cylinder unit in an inclined position. By extending the piston rod, the cover sheet is placed onto a stack. The placing element which presses on the stack, is entrained by the further moving stack. Thus the piston-cylinder unit is deflected from its rest position. As soon as a detector detects such a deflecting movement, the detector generates a signal which triggers retraction of the piston rod. The reversal of the movement of the piston rod is thus effected in a simple manner. The inclination of the piston-cylinder unit together with the placing element permits positionally correct placement of cover sheets onto stacks of various heights without requiring a special control arrangement.
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