Patent ID: 7502280

Claim:
A position indicator for indicating a relative position of two components, the position indicator comprising: a first component and a second component which are displaceable relative to each other; a first indicator pattern fixedly disposed on the first component, and a second indicator pattern fixedly disposed on the second component, wherein the first indicator pattern extends in a direction of extension over a first length, and wherein the first indicator pattern is composed of a plurality of substantially identical first partial patterns, wherein the first partial patterns are substantially periodically arranged in the direction of extension, wherein the second indicator pattern extends in the direction of extension over a second length, and wherein the second indicator pattern is composed of a plurality of substantially identical second partial patterns, wherein the second partial patterns are substantially periodically arranged in the direction of extension, wherein the first partial pattern is composed of a plurality of sub-patterns, wherein the sub-patterns of the first partial pattern are disposed adjacent to one another in the direction of extension of the indicator patterns, and wherein the sub-patterns of each pair of the plurality of sub-patterns of the first partial pattern are different from each other, and wherein the second partial pattern is composed of a plurality of sub-patterns, wherein the sub-patterns of the second partial pattern are disposed adjacent to one another in the direction of extension of the indicator patterns, and wherein the sub-patterns of each pair of the plurality of sub-patterns of the second partial pattern are different from each other.