Patent ID: 6084369
Filing Date: 2000-07-04
Classification: G01D

Abstract:
An incremental travel encoder comprising a movable encoder part (11) and a stationary sensor part (12), along which the encoder part (11) can be moved past in increments, and one electrical counting pulse can be picked up from each increment of the encoder part (11), in which the sensor part (12) has at least one electric switch (18, 19) with one fixed and one movable switch element (181, 191 and 182, 192), respectively for opening and closing a circuit for generating counting pulses; the encoder part (11) has a plurality of indexing members (21), which are disposed one after the other at the spacing of an increment in the direction of motion (16, 17) of the encoder part and upon each increment of the encoder part (11) actuates the movable switch element (182 or 192) in the sense of a temporary opening or closure of the electric switch (18, 19), the encoder part (11) is movable in two directions (16, 17) opposite one another, and that the sensor part (12) has two electric switches (18, 19), each assigned to one direction of motion (16 or 17), whose movable switch elements (182 or 192) are disposed in the path of motion (16, 17) of the encoder part (11) in such a way that the indexing members (21) on the encoder part (11) in the one direction of motion (16) of the encoder part (11) actuate only the one switch, and in an inverse direction of motion (17) of the encoder part (11) only the other switch (18, 19) is activated.