A sheet-fed rotary printing press includes a transfer drum assembly includes a rotatable transfer drum having a sheet-supporting peripheral surface, a gripper device carried by the transfer drum for gripping the leading edge portion of a sheet being transferred, and a suction device secured to the transfer drum at the end of the peripheral sheet-supporting surface, as viewed in rotary direction of the transfer drum, for gripping the trailing edge portion of the sheet. The suction device includes a plurality of suckers having suction surfaces disposed in the peripheral surface of the transfer drum and formed with respective suction orifices. The suction surfaces have respective centers and the suction orifices are located eccentrically to the centers, respectively, each of the suction orifices being adjustable so as to apply suction force to a sheet at successively varying locations eccentric to the respective suction surface center for tensioning the sheet in a direction opposite to the rotary direction of the transfer drum.
展开▼
