Patent ID: 7637494

Claim:
A device for separating sheets of a recording medium, in which the sheets are stored in a stack that is essentially arranged horizontally; comprising: a feed head that can be placed on a top sheet of the stack; at least one feed roller supported in the feed head, which can be driven in order to catch the top sheet of the stack by means of friction and, for single-feeding, push its leading edge against an incline that is contiguous to the stack and slopes upward in relation to the plane of the sheet, wherein the feed roller, while being driven in the feed head, moves away from the incline against a spring force on the top sheet until the leading edge of the sheet runs up the incline; and an arm that is designed to swivel, that is supported lateral to the stack of sheets, that juts out above the stack lateral to the feeding direction of the sheets, and that bears the feed head on its free end, wherein a plane in which the arm swivels, in relation to a plane that is perpendicular to the plane of the sheet and parallel to the sheet's leading edge, is slanted toward the incline, and wherein the feed head is movable parallel to the surface of the stack during the swiveling motion of the arm and the at least one feed roller in the feed head can be moved parallel to the surface of the stack during the swiveling motion of the arm.