Device for destacking cubic printed products

A device for destacking books, brochures or similar cubic printed products having a printed product format, by separating a bottom printed product from a printed product lying on top of the bottom printed product in a diminishing vertical stack of printed products, in which each of a series of delivered stacks has a front and a rear and each printed product has a top, a bottom, a front edge and a rear edge, comprising:

• a separating belt moveable in a horizontal transport direction, having an infeed portion at its upstream end and powered by a controllable drive, for the separation of successive bottom printed product from a processing stack in a separating position on said supporting belt, by frictionally engaging the bottom of the bottom printed product and transporting the bottom printed product from the processing stack in the transport direction to thereby diminish the processing stack, while a next stack of said series of stacks is upstream of said separating position;
• lateral boundaries that can be adjusted to the format and position of the processing stack on said separating belt;
• a height-adjustable retaining element that forms a passage for the bottom printed product to be separated;
• a support at said infeed portion of said separating belt for supporting only the rear edge of the printed product lying on top of the bottom printed product in the diminishing processing stack during separation of the bottom printed product;
• a feeding belt horizontally aligned with the separating belt for horizontally delivering the next stack of printed product into the separating position on a delivery path along said horizontal transport direction;
• and
• at least one supporting element that extends laterally into said delivery path to a supporting position spaced at a defined distance horizontally upstream from and confronting the rear of all of the printed products in said processing stack when said processing stack is in said separating position, to be engaged by the rear of all of the printed products of said processing stack except said bottom product during horizontal backward movement of said processing stack as the bottom printed product is being separated by the separating belt, said at least one supporting element being laterally movable automatically out of said delivery path by contact with the front of the next stack as the next stack is delivered into the separating position.