Inductive proximity detector with switched windings

Abstract

The invention relates to an inductive proximity detector comprising an oscillating circuit (1) excited with resonance by a generator (2) and comprising a detection coil (10) sensitive to a metal target (4) to be detected, characterized in that: the oscillating circuit (1) comprises a reference coil (11) arranged to present a mutual inductance with respect to the metal target (4) to be detected that is substantially lower than that of the detection coil (10) with respect to the metal target (4), the oscillating circuit (1) comprises a switch (13) able to assume two positions to connect each coil (10, 11) alternately, the detector comprises processing means (3) connected to the coils (10, 11) making it possible to determine the presence or absence of the metal target (4) close to the detector.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.