Patent ID: 8271164

Claim:
A guidance system for positioning an agricultural implement having a hitch and being towed by a work vehicle on a preferred path for operating between rows of growing crops or standing stalks or stubble, said hitch being pivotally attached to the distal end of a hitch plate and the work vehicle being pivotally attached to the proximal end of the hitch plate, comprising: (a) a sensor having a paddle-like shape, the sensor having a distal end wider than a proximal end, the distal end having a right edge and a left edge, the sensor being operably mounted on the implement such that the sensor is substantially parallel to, but does not engage, the ground; (b) a sensing device that senses when a force is being applied to one of the right edge or left edge of the sensor by one or the other of the rows and produces a corresponding signal; and (c) a signal receiver for receiving the signal and effecting the lateral rotation of the hitch plate in response to the signal, thereby causing the hitch and the towed implement to laterally move either to the right or left relative to the work vehicle.