Displacement detector for detecting an amount of displacement of an object to be measured

Abstract

A displacement detector in accordance with the present invention is for detecting the amount of displacement of an object to be measured, and comprises sensing means arranged side by side with predetermined spacing whose states change in response to the changes in electromagnetic energy such as light energy, magnetic energy, and electrical energy, an electromagnetic energy generating means for generating electromagnetic energy, an electromagnetic energy transmitting means that is linked to the motion of the object to be measured, for transmitting the electromagnetic energy from the electromagnetic energy generating means to the sensing means that is situated at the position that corresponds to the displacement of the object to be measured, a conversion unit for outputting the detection signal obtained from the sensing means at the position where the electromagnetic energy is changed by the electromagnetic energy generating means, as a displacement detection signal, by converting the detection signal to a coded signal that is characteristic corresponding to the position of the sensing means for the position where there was a change in the electromagnetic energy, a trouble shooting unit for diagnosing malfunctions by examining whether or not the change in the displacement detection signal is within the range of specified values, a rotation number measuring unit for counting the number of rotations of the object to be measured based on the detection signal from the sensing means, and a maximum value screening unit for screening the maximum value from among the sensor outputs when the electromagnetic energy is incident upon a plurality of sensing means.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.