Patent ID: 7352294

Claim:
An absolute position detector which detects an absolute position of a moving movable member positioned opposing a fixed member, wherein: one of the fixed member and the movable member comprises an absolute track having a pattern of numerical sequence composed of binary numbers recorded at a bit pitch of λ, the pattern forming different codes of consecutive N bits depending on read positions; the other of the fixed member and the movable member comprises a plurality of sensors positioned opposing the absolute track for reading values of at least N consecutive bits; and the absolute position detector comprises a bit value determination circuit that determines a bit value of a read target bit based on an output signal from a read sensor located closest to center of a one-bit width of the read target bit, and an output signal from a compensation sensor which is a sensor, among the plurality of sensors, which is located apart from the read sensor by a distance within a range from λ/2 to 3·λ/2.