Encoder

Abstract

The utility model discloses an encoder, and relates to the field of encoders, and the encoder comprises a housing assembly, a rotating wheel which is comparably installed in the housing assembly, and an elastic damping mechanism which abuts against and cooperates with the rotating wheel. Wherein the shell assembly is composed of a base and a cover plate, and a mounting groove used for mounting the rotating wheel and the elastic resistance mechanism is formed in the base; the outer circumferential face of the rotating wheel is provided with an annular wave-shaped meshing interface, the wave-shaped meshing interface is continuously formed by protruding units which are arranged at equal-angle intervals, and the adjacent protruding units are matched to form a V-shaped groove. According to the encoder, rigid contact is converted into a flexible contact mechanism of the elastic balls, so that the interface abrasion rate is reduced while the tactile feedback precision is maintained, and the stable mechanical property of the encoder can be maintained in a ten million operation period.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of encoders, and in particular to an encoder. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of rotary encoder technology, traditional mechanical encoders generally employ a contact friction structure between a spring and a plastic gear to achieve torque feedback. This design generates tactile feedback and signal output through the elastic deformation of the spring and the periodic meshing of the gear teeth. Its simple structure and low manufacturing cost have led to its widespread application in industrial control, consumer electronics, and other fields. In existing technologies, the spring is typically made of high-hardness metal materials such as stainless steel, and its sharp-angled end directly slides and rubs against the surface of the plastic gear, maintaining stable operating feel through a preset elastic pressure.

[0003] However, long-term testing and practical applications show that when the encoder operates at the million-cycle level, significant wear occurs at the contact interface between the spring and the plastic gear. This phenomenon stems from two factors: First, the Rockwell hardness of the spring material (typically HRC40-50) is much higher than that of the plastic gear material (e.g., the Rockwell hardness of POM engineering plastic is approximately HRC20-30). This hardness difference leads to progressive abrasive wear on the plastic surface during friction. Second, the sharp edges formed by the spring stamping process exhibit irregular geometric contours at the microscale, causing stress concentration in the contact area and further exacerbating the peeling and indentation of the plastic material. As wear accumulates, the contact depth between the spring and the gear gradually deviates from the design threshold, causing problems such as deterioration of torque feedback linearity and loose operating feel, severely affecting the control performance of high-precision equipment. Although existing improvement solutions attempt to slow down the wear rate through surface coating or replacement with wear-resistant materials, they have failed to fundamentally solve the interface compatibility problem between the hard spring and the soft plastic.

[0004] To address the aforementioned technical bottlenecks, developing novel elastic contact structures has significant engineering application value. Utility Model Content

[0005] The purpose of this application is to overcome at least one deficiency of the prior art and to provide an encoder that reduces the interface wear rate while maintaining tactile feedback accuracy by transforming rigid contact into a flexible contact mechanism of elastic balls, thereby enabling the encoder to maintain stable mechanical properties over tens of millions of operating cycles.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, this application discloses an encoder comprising a housing assembly, a comparable wheel mounted in the housing assembly, and an elastic damping mechanism that engages with the wheel.

[0007] The housing assembly consists of a base and a cover plate, and the base has an installation groove for mounting the rotating wheel and the elastic resistance mechanism.

[0008] The outer circumferential surface of the wheel has an annular wave-shaped meshing interface, which is continuously formed by protruding units arranged at equal angular intervals, and adjacent protruding units cooperate to form a V-shaped groove.

[0009] The elastic damping mechanism includes a preloaded spring and a steel ball that cooperates with it. The steel ball forms a rolling contact with the outer circumferential surface of the wheel through the axial preload of the preloaded spring. When the transmission wheel rotates, the steel ball rolls along the raised unit to the V-groove, completing the periodic displacement from the crest to the trough. During this process, a step-type damping feedback is generated through the elastic deformation of the preloaded spring.

[0010] The encoder further includes a signal output module that outputs encoded signals through a rotating wheel linkage.

[0011] Furthermore, the mounting groove includes a circular groove and a strip groove. The circular groove is used to accommodate the rotating wheel, and the strip groove is arranged along the radial extension line of the circular groove and communicates with the circular groove. The strip groove is used to install the elastic damping mechanism.

[0012] Furthermore, the top edge of each protruding unit and the bottom edge of the V-shaped groove have an arc transition section.

[0013] Furthermore, the signal output module includes a set of conductive spring contacts fixed within a base and a conductive encoder disk coaxially connected to the rotating wheel. The end face of the conductive encoder disk is provided with conductive contacts evenly distributed circumferentially. The conductive spring contact set includes at least one pair of elastic contact arms that are connected to an external circuit, and the ends of each elastic contact arm maintain axial sliding contact with the conductive contacts. When the rotating wheel rotates, the conductive encoder disk causes the conductive contacts and elastic contact arms to periodically switch on and off, generating a pulse signal corresponding to the rotation angle.

[0014] Compared with existing technologies, this application solves the problems of plastic wear and tactile feedback degradation caused by hard contact friction in traditional spring-type encoders through the coordinated design of elastic damping mechanism and waveform meshing interface. Compared with the sliding friction structure of spring and gear in the prior art, this application adopts a steel ball rolling contact mechanism, combined with the arc transition characteristics of waveform meshing interface, to transform the sliding friction of hard contact interface into rolling friction, significantly reducing the wear rate of contact surface, so that the encoder can maintain stable damping feedback performance under long-term high-frequency use.

[0015] The beneficial effects listed above are not exhaustive of all advantages. Other potential beneficial effects and detailed technical implementation methods will be further disclosed in the embodiments or other descriptive sections of this application. Attached Figure Description

[0016] A better understanding of various aspects of this disclosure will be achieved by reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The positions, dimensions, and extents of the structures shown in the drawings, etc., do not always represent actual positions, dimensions, and extents. In the drawings:

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the cover plate in the separated state according to an embodiment of this application.

[0018] Figure 2 This is an exploded view of the structure after removing the cover plate in one embodiment of this application.

[0019] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a separate impeller and elastic damping mechanism in one embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate several embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be presented in many different ways and is not limited to the embodiments described below; in fact, the embodiments described below are intended to make the disclosure more complete and to fully illustrate the scope of protection of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. It should also be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in various ways to provide further additional embodiments.

[0021] It should be understood that the same reference numerals denote the same elements in all the accompanying drawings. For clarity, the dimensions of certain features may be modified in the drawings.

[0022] It should be understood that the terminology used in this specification is for describing specific embodiments only and is not intended to limit this disclosure. All terms used in this specification (including technical and scientific terms) have the meanings commonly understood by those skilled in the art, unless otherwise defined. For the sake of brevity and / or clarity, techniques, methods, and apparatus known to those skilled in the art may not be discussed in detail; however, where appropriate, such techniques, methods, and apparatus should be considered part of this specification.

[0023] Unless otherwise specified, the singular forms “a,” “the,” and “the” used in this specification include the plural forms. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “containing” used in this specification indicate the presence of the claimed feature but do not exclude the presence of one or more other features. The term “and / or” used in this specification includes any and all combinations of one or more of the relevant listed items.

[0024] See attached document Figures 1 to 3This embodiment discloses an exemplary structure of an encoder, which includes a housing assembly 1, a rotating wheel 2, an elastic damping mechanism 3, and a signal output module 4.

[0025] The housing assembly 1 consists of a base 101 and a cover plate 102. The base 101 has a mounting groove inside for mounting the rotating wheel 2 and the elastic damping mechanism 3.

[0026] The outer circumferential surface of the rotating wheel 2 has an annular wave-shaped meshing interface, which is continuously formed by protruding units arranged at equal angular intervals, with adjacent protruding units engaging to form V-grooves. The elastic damping mechanism 3 includes a preload spring and a steel ball that engages with it. The steel ball forms rolling contact with the outer circumferential surface of the rotating wheel 2 through the axial preload force of the preload spring. The signal output module 4 includes a conductive spring assembly fixed in the base 1 and a conductive encoder disk coaxially connected to the rotating wheel.

[0027] Specifically, the housing assembly 1 is the basic support structure of the encoder. The base 101 is made of insulating plastic and manufactured by stamping or CNC machining. The internal mounting groove has high precision and can accurately accommodate the rotating wheel 2 and the elastic damping mechanism 3. The cover plate 102 is also made of insulating plastic and fits tightly with the base 101 to form a sealed structure, preventing dust and debris from entering and affecting the operation of the internal components. The mounting groove includes a circular groove and a strip groove. The circular groove is used to accommodate the rotating wheel 2, and the strip groove extends radially along the circular groove and communicates with the circular groove for mounting the elastic damping mechanism 3.

[0028] It should be understood that details such as the connection method between the base 101 and the cover plate 102 are well-known and existing technologies to those skilled in the art, and will not be elaborated further.

[0029] More specifically, the roller 2 is injection molded from high-precision engineering plastic and is installed in a circular groove in the housing assembly 1, allowing it to rotate. Its outer circumferential surface has a wave-shaped meshing interface continuously formed by protruding units arranged at equal angles, with adjacent protruding units forming a V-shaped groove. The top edge of each protruding unit and the bottom edge of the V-shaped groove have arc-shaped transition sections, facilitating the rolling of the steel balls, reducing impact wear, and ensuring stable step-damping feedback during rotation.

[0030] More specifically, the elastic damping mechanism 3 includes a preloaded spring and steel balls, installed in the strip groove of the base 102. The preloaded spring is made of high-strength spring steel wire, processed and heat-treated, exhibiting good elasticity and stability, and providing a continuous and stable axial preload to the steel balls. The steel balls are made of high-precision bearing steel, with a smooth surface, high hardness, and good wear resistance. Under the action of the preloaded spring, the steel balls roll into contact with the outer circumference of the rotating wheel 2. When the rotating wheel 2 rotates, the steel balls roll along the raised unit to the V-shaped groove, completing the periodic displacement from crest to trough. The elastic deformation of the preloaded spring generates step-type damping feedback, solving the hard contact friction problem of traditional spring-type encoders.

[0031] In this embodiment, the signal output module 3 includes a conductive spring assembly and a conductive encoder disk. The conductive spring assembly is fixed in the base isolation chamber and includes at least one pair of elastic contact arms that are connected to the external circuit, with their ends making axial sliding contact with conductive contacts. The conductive encoder disk is coaxially connected to the rotating wheel and has circumferentially equidistant conductive contacts on its end face. When the rotating wheel 2 rotates, the conductive encoder disk causes the contacts to periodically switch on and off with the elastic contact arms, generating a pulse signal corresponding to the rotation angle. The deformation direction of the elastic contact arms of the conductive spring assembly is orthogonal to the axial direction of the preload spring of the elastic damping mechanism 3, avoiding mechanical vibration interference with the electrical signal output.

[0032] It should be noted that the more specific structure, working principle, and specific conduction method of the conductive spring assembly are well-known and existing technologies in the field of those skilled in the art, and will not be elaborated further.

[0033] When the user rotates the encoder knob, the rotating wheel 2 rotates within the circular groove of the base 101. Under the action of the elastic damping mechanism 3, the steel ball rolls along the wave meshing interface on the outer circumference of the rotating wheel, from the crest of the raised unit to the trough of the V-shaped groove, and then to the crest of the next raised unit, repeating the cycle. The preloaded spring undergoes elastic deformation, generating step-like damping feedback, allowing the user to clearly feel the damping change when rotating, obtaining a stable, precise, and comfortable rotation experience. Even under long-term high-frequency use, it can still maintain stable damping feedback performance.

[0034] Simultaneously, the conductive encoder disk of signal output module 4 rotates coaxially with the rotating wheel. The conductive contacts on its end face periodically switch on and off with the elastic contact arm of the conductive spring assembly, generating a pulse signal corresponding to the rotation angle of the rotating wheel, thus achieving accurate detection of the rotation angle and output of the electrical signal. The deformation direction of the elastic contact arm of the conductive spring assembly is orthogonal to the axial direction of the preload spring of the elastic damping mechanism, effectively avoiding interference from mechanical vibration on the electrical signal output and ensuring stable operation of the encoder in complex environments.

[0035] While exemplary embodiments of this disclosure have been described, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes and modifications can be made to the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Therefore, all changes and modifications are included within the scope of protection of this disclosure as defined by the claims. This disclosure is defined by the appended claims, and equivalents of those claims are also included.

Claims

1. An encoder, characterized in that, It includes a housing assembly, a comparable wheel mounted in the housing assembly, and an elastic damping mechanism that engages with the wheel; The housing assembly consists of a base and a cover plate, and the base has an installation groove for mounting the rotating wheel and the elastic resistance mechanism. The outer circumferential surface of the wheel has an annular wave meshing interface, which is continuously formed by protruding units arranged at equal angular intervals, and adjacent protruding units cooperate to form a V-shaped groove. The elastic damping mechanism includes a preloaded spring and a steel ball that cooperates with it. The steel ball forms a rolling contact with the outer circumferential surface of the wheel through the axial preload of the preloaded spring. When the transmission wheel rotates, the steel ball rolls along the protruding unit to the V-groove, completing the periodic displacement from the crest to the trough. During this process, a step-type damping feedback is generated through the elastic deformation of the preloaded spring. The encoder further includes a signal output module that outputs encoded signals through a rotating wheel linkage.

2. An encoder as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The mounting groove includes a circular groove and a strip groove. The circular groove is used to accommodate the rotating wheel, and the strip groove is arranged along the radial extension line of the circular groove and communicates with the circular groove. The strip groove is used to install an elastic damping mechanism.

3. An encoder as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The top edge of each raised unit and the bottom edge of the V-shaped groove have an arc transition section.

4. An encoder as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The signal output module includes a set of conductive spring contacts fixed in the base and a conductive encoder disk coaxially connected to the rotating wheel. The end face of the conductive encoder disk is provided with conductive contacts evenly distributed along the circumference. The set of conductive spring contacts includes at least one pair of elastic contact arms that are connected to an external circuit. The end of each elastic contact arm maintains sliding contact with the conductive contact in the axial direction. When the rotating wheel rotates, the conductive encoder disk causes the conductive contact and the elastic contact arm to periodically switch on and off, generating a pulse signal corresponding to the rotation angle.

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