Deere + Company

Eugenio Espiritu Santo

Gary R Bluem

Kenneth D Baxter

Carl E Kittle

Douglas J Kluge

Jeffrey A Jackson

A snap-in LVDT force sensor includes a housing having separate chambers for enclosing an LVDT and an assembly of circuit components. One end of the housing is coupled for movement with one link of a two-link frame which is subject to the forces to be measured. A plunger is coupled for movement with the other link and includes a shaft which extends into one of the chambers to support an LVDT core for reciprocal movement within the LVDT coil assembly. A bellows is sealingly and flexibly coupled between the plunger and housing to provide protection from the environment. An optional spring may provide additional stiffness between the plunger and housing.

Snap-in force sensor with bellows

A draft sensor includes a frame with an opening between a pair of spaced-apart portions which have a variable separation depending upon the force applied to the ends of the frame. Recesses or bores in the spaced-apart portions receive projections which project from the cap and base which form opposite ends of a transducer which contains a linear variable differential transformer. The transducer is spring-loaded to facilitate assembly or replacement of the transducer in the frame.

Snap-in draft sensor

A load transducer for sensing longitudinal tension includes a pair of deformable members with spaced-apart central portions, the spacing between which varies as a function of the longitudinal tension applied to the ends of the deformable members. The plates of a variable parallel plate capacitor are carried by insulating supports attached to each of the central portions. Alignment rods maintain the plates in parallel alignment. A circuit produces an output signal with a frequency proportional to the tension sensed by the draft sensor.

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Cedar Falls, IA, United States of America

Eugenio Espiritu Santo