POSITAL Measuring Wheels Turn Rotary Encoders into Linear Position Sensors

When one of these wheels is mounted on the shaft of an encoder, the result is an accurate and reliable instrument for measuring linear motion and position. “Rotary encoders do a great job of measuring rotary motion in shafts and other machine components,” comments Jarrod Orszulak, Product Manager at POSITAL-FRABA Inc. “However, for many motion control systems, accurate linear positioning is the main objective. With the new measuring wheels, we have a very convenient way of making linear displacement measurements while taking advantage of the proven performance of our extensive line of rotary encoders. This is a great solution for equipment positioning tasks or for cut-to-length applications.”

The new measuring wheels are available in circumferences of 200 mm and 500 mm. When fitted to multi-turn IXARC absolute encoders, this would translate into a linear measurement range of up to 500 kilometers! Three rim treatments are available – knurled aluminum, smooth polyurethane and textured (knobby) polyurethane – to ensure good traction between the wheel and a variety of surfaces.

Orszulak continues: “We are very excited about the combination of measuring wheels and our programmable incremental encoders. With this arrangement, a user could define exactly how many pulses the instrument would produce for a defined unit of linear motion”. IXARC programmable encoders can be easily calibrated at the job site using POSITAL’s convenient UBIFAST programming tool.

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