Patent ID: 8215475

Claim:
An apparatus for separating flat articles extending in an article plane, the apparatus comprising: a transport element; a retention element; a controller; a drive for said transport element; a displaceably mounted base; an actuating drive for displacing said base; one of said transport element and said retention element being mounted on said base; said controller configured for activating said actuating drive such that said actuating drive displaces said base such that a distance between said transport element on said base and said retention element is varied; the apparatus configured for introducing each of the flat articles to be separated between said transport element and said retention element such an article comes into contact with a surface of said transport element; said drive configured for driving said transport element such that said transport element is moved in relation to said retention element, and as a result of the relative movement, a drawing apart of at least partially overlapping articles disposed between said transport element and said retention element is brought about; said transport element configured such that contact between said surface of said transport element and the article to be separated causes abrasion of particles from said surface of said transport element; a range sensor configured for measuring a length of a section from a fixed point to said surface of said transport element coming into contact with the articles during the drawing apart; and said controller configured for activating said actuating drive in dependence on a measured section length in such a way that said actuating drive displaces said base in such a way that displacement of said base one of completely and at least partially compensates for the abrasion of the particles from said surface of said transport element.