A method and an apparatus for laterally aligning a sheet in a processing machine, in particular a printing machine, carries out lateral sheet alignment on a cylinder of the printing machine, e. Environmental conditions, objects andor other road users are recorded via an environmental sensor unit. A gate insulating layer, and a protective layer are further formed on the substrate, and provided with first and second contact holes exposing the first and second gate signal interconnection pads. The slotted ring has a cutting slot, a narrow section and, a wide section.