Patent ID: 7074125

Claim:
A system for sensing the presence of tailings in a combine, comprising: a tailings sensor disposed adjacent a laterally-extending tailings auger between adjacent sidewalls of the combine, the sensor having a sensing element and an actuator, the actuator operably associated with the sensing element, the actuator is in close proximity to the periphery of flightings on the tailings auger, the actuator configured to generate a signal indicative of a flow rate of tailings, wherein the generated signal includes a first noise component and a second noise component, the first noise component is generated from the deflection of the actuator caused by the cyclical pressure from the rotation of the tailings auger and the second noise component is generated from transient excursion noise caused by uneven flow of tailings that impact the actuator; and a first microcontroller module coupled to the tailings sensor and configured to receive the signal, the first microcontroller module configured to notch filter the signal to remove the first noise component from the signal and the first microcontroller module configured to further filter the signal by clipping the second noise component from the signal.