Patent ID: 7038443

Claim:
A position sensor, comprising: a moving coil part, having a first coil form that is constructed of a non ferromagnetic material, and a coil element having an electrical connection part, formed around said first coil form, said moving coil part constrained to move in a linear direction, and said moving coil part including a connection element adapted for connection to a moving object of interest; a stationary coil part, having a second coil form also constructed of a non ferromagnetic material, and a second coil element wound on said second coil form, with said second coil element having at least first and second electrical connections which produce an output signal indicative of a moving relationship between said moving coil part and said stationary coil part, said stationary coil part sufficiently close to said moving coil part such that magnetic flux from said moving coil part is induced into said stationary coil part, wherein said first and second coil forms are formed of solid, non-ferromagnetic material, further comprising signal processing electronics, connected to said first and second electrical connections of said stationary coil part, and receiving voltages from said first and second stationary coil part induced by movement of said moving coil part, wherein said signal processing electronics including a differential amplifier which differentially amplifies signals from said first and second electrical connections of said stationary coil parts, respectively, and further comprising a multiplier circuit, connected to an output of said differential amplifier, and a phase shift circuit, receiving first waveform from excitation electronics, and producing a phase shifted version of said first waveform coupled to another input of said multiplier circuit, said multiplier multiplying said signals to provide a synchronous signal proportional to a position of the moving primary coil.