The development of a multi-turn absolute encoder—a new concept in accordance with a design insensitive to accuracy

A new design concept of a multi-turn absolute rotary encoder which is insensitive to the accuracy of encoder components is proposed. This new design does not demand high accuracy of the encoder structure other than the fundamental pattern to produce the least significant digit. The allowable error in the encoder structure is compensated by electronic light circuits. This absolute encoder has been applied to the measurement of height position in a cylindrical form-measuring system. The new encoders can be connected in series by reduction gears whose accuracy is fairly rough, so that a multi-turn device in realized. The allowable tolerances in the encoder structure are presented.