Patent ID: 7438108

Claim:
A method of separating and transporting flexible, two-dimensional products, the method comprising: providing a product supply stack including a separation device and at least one conveyor element to separate products stabilized only at a portion thereof and to convey the products to a transfer location; wherein the conveyor element has a direction of movement parallel to a plane of the product supply stack and moves in a direction from a free region of the products to a stabilized region of the products; wherein the conveyor element moves beneath a frontmost product of the product supply stack and subsequently seizes the frontmost product with a non-positive fit on a distant side of the frontmost product; wherein the products are moved such that portions of the products at a stabilized edge experience a force effect perpendicular to the product supply stack plane and experience a movement component in the longitudinal direction of the products only in the last phase of the separation of the products; and wherein the products at their stabilized regions are supported by a stabilizer having moving parts to reduce friction forces in the last phase of the separation of the products.