Inductive position sensor and method for detecting a movement of a conductive target

An inductive position sensor for detecting a position of a conductive target, the inductive position sensor comprising:

• a first transmitter coil and a second transmitter coil, wherein the first transmitter coil and the second transmitter coil comprise respective pairs of partially overlapping loops and the first transmitter coil and the second transmitter coil are phase-shifted 90° relative to each other;
• at least one oscillator configured to generate a first transmitter signal and a second transmitter signal, wherein the first transmitter signal and the second transmitter signal have a same shape and are phase-shifted relative to each other and are concurrently applied to the first transmitter coil and second transmitter coil respectively;
• at least one receiver coil surrounding the first transmitter coil and the second transmitter coil that is configured to receive a receiver signal;
• a zero-crossing comparator configured to detect zero-crossings of the first transmitter signal, the second transmitter signal, and the receiver signal;
• and
• a processing unit configured to, when the conductive target is placed above the inductive position sensor:
• cause the oscillator to change the phase of the first transmitter signal and the second transmitter signal until the first transmitter signal or the second transmitter signal and the receiver signal have identical zero-crossings;
• and
• determine the position of the conductive target based on the change of the phase of the first transmitter signal and the second transmitter signal.