Inductive incremental displacement sensor, method for determining the displacement of a first object relative to a second object, and inductive sensor unit

A method for determining a displacement of a first object relative to a second object, wherein at least one graduated track having periodically alternating conductive regions and insulating regions is mounted on the first object, wherein a scanning unit for scanning the graduated track is mounted on the second object, wherein the scanning unit has at least one first sensor unit and one second sensor unit spaced from each other at a lateral distance d=n*(p/2)+q, wherein n is an integer or zero, p is a pitch of the graduated track, and 0<|q|<p/2, and wherein the displacement is determined from switching signals delivered by the sensor units,

• wherein sensor units having in each case a first inductive sensor and a second inductive sensor disposed at a distance therefrom are used, the conductive regions and the insulating regions have different damping properties for the first inductive sensors and the second inductive sensors and can be differentiated by the first inductive sensors and by the second inductive sensors based on the different damping properties, and the sensor units are operated such that they provide a switching signal allocated to a conductive region of the graduated track when a difference or a ratio of the detection signals from the first inductive sensor and from the second inductive sensor allocated to the respective sensor unit as generated by the conductive region is smaller than a specifiable threshold.

An inductive sensor unit for distance-independent determination of a lateral position of an object, comprising:

• a first inductive sensor and a second inductive sensor disposed at a distance therefrom;
• a processing unit for processing the detection signals from the first inductive sensor and from the second inductive sensor;
• wherein the first inductive sensors and the second inductive sensors are adapted to differentiate between conductive regions and insulating regions based on different damping properties of the conductive regions and the insulating regions for the first inductive sensors and the second inductive sensors;
• and
• wherein the processing unit delivers a switching signal relevant to a lateral movement of the object when a difference or a ratio of the detection signals generated by the object in the first inductive sensor and the second inductive sensor is below a specifiable threshold.