IED - Encoder Suppliers- Incremental, Absolute, Rotary, Shaft Linear Encoders, Repairs & Services

Incremental Encoders

Incremental shaft encoders also known as Incremental Rotary Shaft Encoders are ideal for monitoring sensing a rotating shaft, or even linear position sensing when used in conjunction with ball screws etc, rollers. When integrated into a control system, they provide speed, position, acceleration & direction feedback data to the system. Incremental encoders produce a series of pulses directly proportional to movement of its shaft. Incremental encoder pulses usually consist of two square-wave signals known as A channel & B channel (also known as 1 channel & 2 channel).

The two digital square-wave signals are identical, but are phase shifted by 90 electrical degrees from each other. One of the square-wave pulses (A or B) could be simply counted measured to provide position and or speed, acceleration etc. However, by using the B signal together with the A signal, with the correct decoding it is possible to determine direction of rotation of the shaft so that pulses can be added in one direct, whilst deducted in the opposite direction. In addition it is possible to use the A & B signals to multiply the resolution by 2x or 4x, again depending on the type of decoding required.

An incremental encoder is also provided with a digital Marker Pulse (also known as a Reference pulse, Z channel, or 0 channel). This is a single pulse per revolution of the shaft. The pulse can be used by the control system counter as a reset, reference, checking pulses, revolution counter as well as many other functions. The Marker channel can usually be supplied in various forms such as, un-gated (of no fixed width), gated with A (only high when A is high), gated with B (only high when B is high), or gated with A & B (only high when A & B are high).

Solid Shaft

Solid shaft encoder suppliers. Industrial Encoders Direct provide emergency repairs & replacement solid shaft encoders, specialists solid shaft encoders as well as brand name encoders. Whatever your encoder requirements our team of encoders specialists can help & advise.

Solid shaft encoders are a more conventional encoder requiring a flexible shaft coupling to link the encoder shaft to the actual shaft that drives the encoder. Because a solid shaft encoder only has a small shaft, rather than a bore, the moving parts including the bearings and seals have a much reduced surface area. Therefore this type of encoder is generally more capable of running at higher speeds, with greater shaft misalignment because the effort is transmitted though the medium of the flexible coupling, which absorbs the axial and radial displacement, rather than transmitting the effects directly through to the encoder itself.