Shaft rotary position sensor

Abstract

A position sensor assembly for sensing the rotary position of a rockshaft of a hitch mechanism includes a rotary potentiometer coupled to the rockshaft. The rockshaft is enclosed in a rockshaft housing and a sensor housing is attached to the rockshaft housing. The potentiometer is attached to an outside surface of the sensor housing and has a sensor shaft which extends through a portion of the sensor housing. The position sensor has a first set of gear teeth on the rockshaft meshing with a second set of gear teeth on the sensor shaft. The sensor housing at least partially encloses the second set of gear teeth. The first and second sets of gear teeth are preferably configured as gear segments. The sensor shaft is supported for rotation by the sensor housing. The potentiometer is preferably a spring-pre-loaded potentiometer. A second spring is mounted on the second set of gear teeth and is engagable with a wall of the sensor housing to define an assembly position.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.