Patent ID: 7082829

Claim:
A Ferraris sensor for measuring an acceleration of a moving body along a direction, comprising: a flat eddy current body; a scanning head arranged on one side of said eddy current body, said scanning head comprising: N magnets that generate an external magnetic field that extends approximately perpendicular to a surface of said eddy current body, wherein N=1, 2, 3, . . . ; M detector coils, wherein M=1, 2, 3, . . . and each detector coil comprises an axis and detects changes of an interior magnetic field that are caused by an acceleration of said eddy current body and a resulting change of eddy currents, wherein said axis is approximately perpendicular with respect to said surface of said eddy current body, each detector coil lacks a ferromagnetic core and said N magnets and said M detector coils are arranged alternatingly next to each other in a direction that said acceleration is to be measured; and a printed circuit board that includes said M detector coils.