Heidenhain Sales

Northwest Metrology is proud to be an authorized full service HEIDENHAIN distributor and service center for the greater Pacific Northwest. Northwest Metrology provides the full line of HEIDENHAIN and Acu-Rite products including scales, encoders, digital readouts and controls. We install and service all Heidenhain products as well.   

Sealed linear encoders from HEIDENHAIN are protected from dust, chips and splash fluids and are ideal for operation on machine tools.

• Accuracy grades as fine as ± 2um
• Measuring steps as fine as 0.001um
• Measuring lengths up to 30m (to 72m upon request) 
• Fast and simple installation 
• Large mounting tolerances
• High acceleration loading 
• Protection against contamination   

Sealed linear encoders are available with: 

• Full-size scale housing 
  • For high vibration loading 
  • Up to 30m measuring length
• Slimeline scale housing 
  • For limited installation space 
  • Up to 1240mm measuring length, up to 2040mm with mounting spar or tensioning elements   

The aluminum housing of a HEIDENHAIN sealed linear encoder protects the scale, scanning carriage, and its guideway from chips, dust, and fluids. Downward-oriented elastic lips seal the housing. The scanning carriage travels along the scale on a lowfriction guide. It is connected to the external mounting block by a coupling that compensates unavoidable misalignment between the scale and the machine guideways.

Exposed linear encoders are designed for use on machines and installations that require high accuracy of the measured value.

Typical applications include:

• Measuring and production equipment in the semiconductor industry
• PCB assembly machines 
• Ultra-precision machines
• High-accuracy machine tools
• Measuring machines and comparators, measuring microscopes, and other precision measuring devices
• Direct drives

HEIDENHAIN angle encoders are characterized by high accuracy values in the arc second range and better. Areas of application include:

• Rotary tables on machine tools
• Swivel heads on machine tools
• C axes on lathes 
• Gear-testing machines
• Printing units of printing machines
• Spectrometers
• Telescopes

Rotary encoders are used in applications where accuracy requirements are less stringent, e.g. in automation, electrical drives, and many other applications. 

Length gauges from HEIDENHAIN offer high accuracy over the entire measuring range, are mechanically rugged, and can be used in a great variety of applications. They have a wide range of applications in production metrology, in multipoint inspection stations, measuring equipment monitoring, and as position measuring devices. 

Robust design - HEIDENHAIN length gauges are built for an industrial environment. They feature consistently high accuracy over a long period of time as well as high thermal stability. They can therefore be used in production equipment and machines. 

High accuracy -  The high accuracy specified for HEIDENHAIN length gauges applies over the entire measuring length. Whether the part measures 10 mm or 100 mm, its actual dimension is always measured with the same high quality. The high repeatability of HEIDENHAIN length gauges comes into play during comparative measurements, for example in series production. 

Large measuring ranges -   HEIDENHAIN length gauges are available with measuring ranges from 12 mm to 100 mm, so that you can measure very different parts in one measuring setup and avoid frequently changing setups with expensive gauge blocks or masters. 

• Form a complete product line with their various features
• Control machines with up to 18 axes
• Their Klartext conversational programming capability is suited for the workshop floor
• Can also be programmed externally
• Are also suited for automated production
• Are the correct choice for everything from simple milling procedures to high-speed milling

• Ideal for both CNC and cycle lathes
• Enable the familiar manual production of simple workpieces
• Supports programming with many cycles
• Its smart.Turn feature offers form and graphics supported programming for complicated workpieces
• Performs complementary milling and drilling operations in a single fixture
• Also supports vertical lathes
• Suited for digital or analog drive control

Interface electronics from HEIDENHAIN adapt the encoder signals to the interface of the subsequent electronics. They are used when the subsequent electronics cannot directly process the output signals from HEIDENHAIN encoders, or if additional interpolation of the signals is necessary.  

HEIDENHAIN interface electronics are available in various mechanical designs.

Digital readouts serve to visualize the values measured with linear encoders, length gauges, rotary encoders or angle encoders. Areas of application include:

• Measuring and inspection equipment
• Dividing apparatuses
• Monitoring of measuring equipment
• Manual machine tools
• Measuring machines

Typical characteristics of the user-friendly designed digital readouts:

• Highly readable, alphanumeric display
• Simple, logically arranged keypad
• Ergonomically designed push-button keys
• Splash-protected front panel
• Sturdy die-cast housing

Evaluation electronics for metrology applications offer numerous functions for measured data acquisition and statistical evaluation of measured values.

HEIDENHAIN encoders provide all information necessary for commissioning, monitoring and diagnostics. PWM inspection devices and PWT testing devices are available specifically for analyzing the encoders.

HEIDENHAIN has been developing and manufacturing touch probes for workpiece and tool measurement on machine tools for over 30 years now, in particular for milling machines and machining centers. The setup, measuring and monitoring functions of the touch probes can be fully automated—in conjunction with most NC controls they can even be controlled by the program—and help to reduce costs. TS triggering touch probes handle the measurement of workpieces, while TT touch probes and TL laser systems are available for the measurement of tools.

 Touch probes from HEIDENHAIN have a whole series of technologically convincing features, such as the contact-free optical sensors, the integrated blower/flusher jets for cleaning the measuring point, or the large deflection path with a rated break point in the stylus. Some milestones of these products’ technology include the SE 540, which was the first transceiver unit for full integration in the spindle housing; the TS 444, which was the first touch probe without a battery; and the TS 460 with its additional collision protection.

Effective collision protection

A mechanical adapter on the TS 460 between the touch probe and the taper shank provides additional collision protection by also protecting the touch probe’s housing. In the event of a light collision against a fixture or workpiece, the touch probe can absorb the shock. At the same time, an integrated switch deactivates the ready signal and the control stops the machine. This way an incorrect tilting movement does not lead to serious damage. The collision protection of the TS 460 compensates smaller collisions, and prevents greater damage to the spindle or other parts of the machine.

Signal transmission via radio or infrared signals

The combined signal transmission in the TS 460 and TT 460 touch probes brings together the advantages of infrared and wireless transmission into one system. Infrared transmission is ideal for compact machines with an enclosed work envelope, whereas wireless transmission is mainly used on large machine tools. 

The KGM grid encoders dynamically tests the contouring accuracy of CNC-controlled machine tools. It can perform, for example, circular interpolation tests with radii ranging from 115 mm down to 0.1 mm at feed rates up to 80 m/min. The KGM can also perform free-form tests in two axes. The advantages of the KGM include its contact-free measurement, which eliminates the influence of ball bearings such as with the DBB. Also, the error resulting from the machine's geometry has no influence on the results of circular interpolation tests with very small radii.

Measuring assembly and signal evaluation

The KGM consists of a grid plate with a waffle-type graduation, which is embedded in a mounting base, and a scanning head. During measurement, the scanning head moves over the grid plate without making mechanical contact. For setup, the mounting base is fixed onto the workpiece-holding element (such as the table of a machining center) and aligned. The scanning head is mounted in the locked toolholding element (for example, the spindle of a machining center) and is also approximately aligned. A spacer foil is used to set the scanning gap to 0.5 ±0.05 mm. A finer setting is then attained by turning a set of screws on the scanning head to optimize the measuring signals displayed with the aid of the ACCOM evaluation software.
For each of the two perpendicular axis directions the KGM outputs two 90°-phase-shifted signals with a signal period of 4 µm. The measuring signals are sent to a PC for further processing. The EIB 741 interface box (Ethernet) and the IK 220 counter card (PCI bus) are available from HEIDENHAIN to interface the KGM to the PC. Both devices can subdivide the sinusoidal measuring signals 4096-fold to provide measuring steps down to approx. 1 nm in each axis. The HEIDENHAIN software ACCOM evaluates the measured values in accordance with the DIN ISO 230-4 standard. ACCOM makes it very easy to program circular interpolation tests and free-form tests for the KGM. The ACCOM evaluation software asks for all the necessary parameter information and generates the corresponding NC program, which can be immediately loaded into the CNC control through its communications interfaces (serial or Ethernet TCP/IP).