Abstract: A displacement sensor for acquiring the position of two parts that can be moved relative to one another is described. A sequence of markings are placed on the first part and a plurality of sensors are placed on the second part. The sensors detect each of the sequence of markings as they pass each sensor. To determine the absolute position of the two parts relative to one another without additional, special reference markings, each individual marking has a specific distance from neighboring markings and the absolute position is calculated from the phase shift of the signals of sensors as movement of the sequence of markings is detected. If the speed of movement is not known, this can be determined by means of additional secondary sensors, which are provided at a certain axial distance from the first sensors. The speed of movement of the two parts relative to one another can be calculated using the time delay of the signals from the sensors and secondary sensors.