Patent ID: 8179277

Claim:
A device for maintaining a flagstaff at a desired position, the device comprising: (a) a position transducer having a conical shaped body and a ball, the conical shaped body comprising a concave transducer cup having a floor and a sidewall, the ball disposed within and moveable about the cup, the ball making contact with a plurality of multi-contact sensors positioned around the conical shaped body including a floor contact sensor positioned on the floor of the cup and two or more sidewall contact sensors positioned at intervals along the sidewall, the contact of the ball and one or more of the contact sensors indicates a current position within one of a plurality of positions including a forward position, a rearward position, a center position, a right position, a left position and a position that is a combination thereof; (b) a member supporting said position transducer on the flagstaff such that the position transducer indicates the current position of the flagstaff; and (c) a multi-mode alarm for indicating a deviation in the current position of the flagstaff from said desired position by producing a plurality of signals corresponding to the plurality of positions, the signals including a first signal that indicates the forward position, a second signal that indicates the rearward position, a third signal that indicates the center position, a fourth signal that indicates the right position, and a fifth signal that includes the left position.