| 摘要 |
An arrangement for controlling the height above or depth below an irregular surface of a body moving over or below the surface includes a rotation sensor coupled to a controller responsive to an angular deflection signal output by the rotation sensor. The rotation sensor and controller are mounted to a vehicle moving over the surface such as an agricultural vehicle traversing a field. A semi-rigid, flexible arm has a first end coupled to the rotation sensor with a ground engaging member attached to a second opposed end of the arm. In one embodiment, the flexible arm includes an elongated coil spring attached to a rigid shaft and the ground engaging member is a spherical ball attached to the shaft's distal end. The coil spring is pre-loaded to a selected bending or flexure force and permits the ground engaging member to impact obstructions in the field without damage to the rotation sensor. The coil spring also prevents damage to the rotation sensor when the vehicle is reversed in direction. The flexible arm may be urged downwardly to ensure that the ground engaging member contacts the soil and upward and downward rotation stops may be provided to limit rotation of the rotation sensor and flexible arm combination. When a plurality of rotation sensors and flexible arms are employed such as along the length of a combine header, each rotation sensor may be individually calibrated by rotating the sensor relative to the head unit to which it is mounted to permit all sensors to uniformly measure the height above or depth below the soil surface.
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