Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Tamotsu Minamitani

Koji Shinmura

Masanaga Nishikawa

Masaya Ueda

A magnetoresistive device disposed in an elongated magnetic sensor, for example, has two parallel arrays of magnetosensitive elements arranged at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction. The magnetosensitive elements are connected in series through connection conductors, in a meandering pattern. The magnetoresistive device is disposed between two other magnetoresistive devices. The magnetoresistive devices are arranged such that the intervals between the magnetosensitive elements disposed at the ends of a magnetoresistive in the longitudinal direction and the opposed magnetosensitive elements of the magnetoresistive devices, respectively, are equal to the intervals between the magnetoresistive elements within the magnetoresistive devices.

Elongated magnetic sensor

A plurality of magnetosensitive portions of a plurality of magnetic resistance elements and a plurality of magnets are aligned substantially linearly to be perpendicular to a moving direction of a detection object, and directions of magnetic poles of the magnets are alternately inversed, such that directions of magnetic fluxes, which are perpendicular to a surface on which the magnetosensitive portions of the magnetic resistance elements are arranged, of the continuously disposed magnets, are alternately inverse.

Long magnetic sensor

A magnetic sensor includes a plurality of rows of elements in each of which a plurality of magnetoresistive elements are aligned in a direction which intersects at a predetermined angle the passing direction of an object to be detected, the object including magnetic patterns, the plurality of rows of elements being staggered in the passing direction of the object to be detected. Each of the magnetoresistive elements includes a magnetic sensitive region, and each of the magnetoresistive elements in one of the rows of elements is aligned so that the magnetic sensitive region overlaps the magnetic sensitive region of the magnetoresistive element in another row in the passing direction of the object to be detected. Accordingly, the whole region passed by the object in the alignment direction of the magnetoresistive elements is a magnetic sensitive region.

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Hakusan, Japan

Tamotsu Minamitani