Apparatus for opening and further transporting printed products

An apparatus for opening and further transporting folded printed products wherein the printed products include first and second product parts joined at a fold and having free edges opposite the fold, comprising:

• a conveying device including a plurality of transporting clips which are driven in a conveying direction, arranged at intervals one behind the other and adapted to hold individual printed products suspended at their fold and convey them with the folds transverse to the conveying direction;
• a supporting element arranged below the conveying device, the supporting element forming a conveying plane moving substantially in the conveying direction and supporting the printed products in a border region, along their free edges with their border region bent forward in the conveying direction;
• an opening unit arranged below the conveying device, and driven in time with the conveying device, the opening unit having an opening element and a holding element, the opening element circulating along a closed path of movement and engaging above the supporting element between successive printed products to come to bear from above against the upper product part of the printed product in the border region and to hold the upper product part firmly, the holding element moving along a closed circulating path and running along with the respective printed product to come to bear from below against the lower product part, bearing against the supporting element in the border region and holding the lower product part firmly, the circulating opening element and holding element moving away from each other for lifting the product parts off each other in an opening section downstream of the supporting element;
• and
• a holding-open element, running approximately in the conveying direction, the opening element and the holding element releasing the product parts when the holding-open element has entered between the product parts to hold open the opened printed product during further transport.