OPTICAL POSITION SENSOR UTILIZING A SINUSOIDAL PATTERN

摘要

A position sensor (42) and a method of creating the same which sensor has an incoherent light source (32), multiple light detectors (34 and 36) and a sinusoidal pattern (40) that can be directly installed to the sensor. The light source and detectors are positioned along the axis of motion of the element whose position is to be determined. In a device containing such a movable target element (22), light from the sensor is directed through the sinusoidal pattern to and reflected from a periodic reflection profile (24) to create detectable sinusoid signals that can be used for positioning purposes.