Patent ID: 7123003
Filing Date: 2006-10-17
Classification: G01D

Abstract:
1. A sensor assembly for detecting the position of a magnet which is arranged in a cylinder housing and is movable in relation to the sensor assembly, comprising: a sensor housing; and a sensor element sensitive to magnetic fields, said sensor element being arranged in the sensor housing, wherein a digital output signal is generatable, a switching state of which is dependent on a relative position between the sensor element and the magnet in said cylinder housing; at least one field directing device of a magnetizable material which is fixedly arranged in said sensor housing with respect to the sensor element, said field directing device varying in its geometrical dimensions transversely in relation to a direction of relative movement between the magnet and the sensor element, in such a way that an intensified analog sensor signal which characterizes the relative position between the sensor element and the magnet is generatable, at least in a specific relative positional range; wherein: the sensor housing with said sensor element and said field directing device is positionable as a unit outside said cylinder housing for sensing the relative position of the movable magnet in said cylinder housing; a position of the unit on the outside of the cylinder housing is changeable: the field directing device is of flat shape; a transverse height of the field directing device is less transversely in relation to the direction of relative movement at an end remote from the sensor element than at an end toward the sensor element; and the transverse height of the field directing device monotonically varies between said ends, at least in a subregion.