US Patent 7635169 Tuft picker device for a brush making machine

A tuft picker device for a brush making machine has a bristle magazine for holding a supply of loose bristles, a tuft picker having a tuft picking notch being movable past an open side of the bristle magazine in a working stroke. A shield member is adapted to be shifted across the tuft picker notch to change the effective depth thereof. The shield member can be adjusted by an adjusting device in each working stroke in order to vary the effective depth of the tuft picking notch from one working stroke to the next to change the size of a tuft engaged in the notch.