Patent ID: 7543687

Claim:
A piston damper assembly comprising: a) a piston damper including: (1) a damper body; and (2) a piston rod which is axially movable within the damper body; b) a relative position sensor including: (1) an axially-extending magnetic core which is movable with the piston rod, which is disposed outside the damper body, and which has first and second protrusions extending toward the damper body; (2) an excitation coil wound around the first protrusion; and (3) a position-sensing coil wound around the second protrusion; and c) a relative velocity sensor including: (1) an axially-extending permanent magnet attached to the magnetic core and disposed between, and spaced apart from, the first and second protrusions; and (2) a velocity-sensing coil wound around the permanent magnet.