Tri-Tronics Wheeled Encoder
Tri-Tronics Wheeled encoders; an incremental encoder that uses precision measuring wheels to directly measure the movement of a conveyor belt, or to accurately measure moving material.
Wheeled encoders more accurately track the conveyor belt or other material than shaft encoders. Two problems with shaft encoders in this application are: slippage of the conveyor belt on the roller, and inaccuracy of roller diameters. Both of these contribute to inaccuracies that reduce the overall efficiency of a material handling sortation system or precision measuring system. Wheeled encoders ride directly on the moving material, use a wheel tread having a high coefficient of friction, and have a very low starting torque resulting in virtually no slippage of the wheels on the belt. In addition, the wheels are precision ground with exacting tolerances, versus a roller which has a much larger tolerance and its circumference seldom translates into an integral number of encoder pulses per unit of linear movement.