DEVICE AND METHOD FOR SINGULATING FLAT ITEMS BY MEANS OF TWO SINGULATORS AND A LENGTH DETECTOR

摘要

The invention relates to a device and a method for singulating flat items, in particular flat postal articles. The device comprises a first and a second singulator. Each singulator draws a plurality of overlapping items apart from each other in a direction parallel to the plane of the items. The second singulator comprises a transport element (10.2) and a retaining element (2). The second singulator can selectively be operated in a singulating mode for singulating items, and in a transport mode. An overlap detecting unit (4) checks whether an object transported by the second singulator is made of a single item or of a plurality of overlapping items. To this end, the overlap detecting unit (4) measures the length of the transported object at each of at least two points in time. If said length changes, then the object is made of a plurality of overlapping items. If an object having a plurality of items is detected, then the second singulator is switched to the singulating mode and singulates said items.