Patent ID: 6978993

Claim:
A device for use in conjunction with a frictional mechanism in a feeder for releasing substantially flat items from a stack, wherein the feeder has a driving mechanism for driving the flat items at a lower section of the stack through a nip, and the frictional mechanism is disposed near the nip so as to allow one flat item to pass through the nip at a time, wherein the frictional mechanism comprises at least a roller having a frictional surface disposed on a circumference of the roller, and a circumferential section of the frictional surface is in contact with the flat items at the lower section of the stack, said device is used to facilitate replacement of said circumferential section of the frictional surface with another circumferential section of the frictional surface, said device comprising: a locking member having a plurality of facets forming a polygonal outer circumference of the locking member, each facet coving an angular section; a shaft, disposed in relation to the nip, for securely mounting the roller, the shaft having a longitudinal axis substantially parallel to the nip, wherein the shaft has a longitudinal section for slideably mounting the locking member, allowing the locking member to move from a first portion of the longitudinal section to a second portion of the longitudinal section when needed, while preventing the locking member from rotating relative to the shaft; and a blocking mechanism, disposed relative to the first portion of the longitudinal section of the shaft, such that when the locking member is positioned at the first portion of the longitudinal section of the shaft, one of the facets is at least partially in contact with the blocking mechanism, preventing the locking member and shaft from rotating about the longitudinal axis; and when the locking member is positioned at the second portion of the longitudinal section of the shaft, the locking member and shaft are rotatable about the longitudinal axis, causing the shaft to turn, thereby achieving said replacement.