Patent ID: 6883299

Claim:
Apparatus for use in an agricultural implement for measuring the height of said agricultural implement above the soil as said agricultural implement traverses a field, said apparatus comprising: a shaft mounted to the agricultural implement; rotation sensing means coupled to said shaft and responsive to rotation of said shaft for providing an output signal representing rotational displacement of said shaft; and a curved flexible arm having a proximal end connected to said shaft and a distal end engaging the soil, wherein said arm is concave in an upward direction and rotates in a first direction when said arm contacts upraised soil and rotates in a second opposed direction when said arm contacts a depression in the soil, and wherein a point of contact of said arm with the soil moves forward in a direction of travel of the implement toward the proximal end of said arm as the height of the implement above the soil is reduced to provide an increasingly early indication of contact with the soil of the implement as its height above the soil decreases.