Disclosed herein is a destacking device for dispensing planar food
products, such as tortillas, from a stack bottom. In some embodiments of
the invention, the device includes a frame and a carriage assembly
configured for linear reciprocation with respect to the frame. The
carriage assembly has a drum that rotates in response to linear
reciprocation of the carriage assembly, and a suction lip is positioned
proximal a wall of the drum. A stack of tortillas can be disposed on the
suction lip, and a negative pressure is applied to close the suction lip
and "suck" a bottommost tortilla against the lip. A movable arm has a
leading edge for cooperating with the suction lip to separate the
bottommost tortilla from a next bottommost tortilla. The drum rotates the
suction lip and tortilla, and the vacuum is released to allow the
tortilla to fall downwardly onto an endless belt.