We had an enquiry from a customer who wanted to move a machine from incremental to absolute positioning, but without redesigning the mounting, since the existing incremental encoder was already a tight fit on the equipment.
This is not just a case of swapping the encoder body for one that says absolute on the box. Hengstler’s ACURO AC36 is a true geared multiturn optical absolute encoder built into a compact 36 mm housing with a solid 6 mm shaft, so it is mechanically compatible with common incremental encoders and can go in as a direct replacement without changing the mounting. Because it uses real optical sensing rather than a battery-backed counter, the position is never lost even after power is cut. It reads out over BiSS or SSI, runs continuously up to 10,000 rpm, and is rated for operating temperatures up to +100°C, which matters in equipment that sits close to a motor or gearbox. A hollow-shaft version, the AD36, is also available if the application needs to mount directly on a shaft rather than couple to one.
From our experience, before we quote this, we would normally check whether the application needs a solid or hollow shaft, which interface the controller expects, BiSS or SSI, and the actual resolution needed, since paying for more bits than the application uses adds cost for no benefit. Hope this helps.
