The present invention relates to a non-contact sensor and a shift lever device.
Japanese Patent No. 4146490 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-256693 describe a non-contact sensor including a conductive operation member (actuator) and sensor coils to detect the position of a detection subject without contacting the detection subject. The inductance of the sensor coils changes in accordance with whether or not the sensor coils are covered by the operation member or the amount of the sensor coils covered by the operation member. The non-contact sensor detects the position of the operation member, that is, the detection subject, in accordance with the inductance of the sensor coil.
The sensor coil output of the non-contact sensor is in accordance with the distance of the operation member from the sensor coils. The inventor of the present invention has found that detection errors occur when the distance between the sensor member and the sensor coils changes.