| The distinction between
tachometers and
encoders has blurred. Most
industrial vendors and customers use: tach,
tachometer,
digital tachometer,
encoder, and
incremental encoder interchangeably. Some may use the term
encoders to refer to a heavier duty encoder; Avtron uses the terms
encoder
and
tachometer interchangeably.
The original distinction between
tachometers
and
encoders was that tachometers were used for velocity indication
and
control only, and could not provide position
information.
Only the (older) DC/analog tachogenerator style of
tachometer (examples:
BC42 or
BC46)
had this limitation; all modern tachometers have
quadrature outputs which
are used for velocity, position, and direction measurements, making them
effectively
encoders.
Avtron also offers
digital to analog converters such as the K660A, K661, and
K662 to provide analog output from modern digital
encoders. This enables customers who have older analog drives to connect
Avtron digital encoders to their drives. Replacing analog tachogenerators eliminates the maintenance associated
with brushes and bearing wear. For more details, see
Special Encoder
Applications.
|
