Measuring Success

Your author highlights the origins, progress, experience and expertise of the HEIDENHAIN brand.

by Abhilash Tripathi

HEIDENHAIN was founded in Berlin in 1889. Today, its products serve the most innovative industries of the 21st century. Technological advances from the company’s early days still play a key role in its market success and positioning within certain fields. The history of the company’s graduation of products paved the way for its leading role in high-accuracy measurement technology. HEIDENHAIN also shaped the machine tool industry as an early pioneer in state-of-the-art technology for Computer Numerical Control (CNC) controls.

HEIDENHAIN, located in Traunreut in southern Bavaria, Germany, offers products and solutions for industries such as machine tools, automation, electronics, robotics, elevators and medical technology.

Demanding positioning tasks in these industries is HEIDENHAIN’s mission, and accuracy is its passion. R&D is part of its DNA, with many employees devoted to the continual development of advanced technologies. A double-digit percentage of revenues is invested in R&D throughout the corporate group.

HEIDENHAIN products are primarily used in high-accuracy machine tools, as well as manufacturing and processing systems for electronic components. Thanks to its extensive expertise in developing and manufacturing encoders and controls, HEIDENHAIN is in an excellent position to automate the production machines and systems of tomorrow, supplying a number of critical and innovative industries.

HEIDENHAIN is an international company with its own sales agencies, service agencies, subsidiaries and distributor networks. Key brands serving its core industries are AMO, ETEL, NUMERIK JENA and RSF. Approximately 8,200 employees worldwide work with the group.

HEIDENHAIN Optics & Electronics India Pvt. Ltd. 

In India, HEIDENHAIN has been represented by its own subsidiary since 2008. HEIDENHAIN (India) provides technical and commercial support to all Indian customers through well-trained sales and service engineers stationed close to customers in Delhi, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai and by offering all the necessary test and repair equipment for HEIDENHAIN controls, as well as for linear and rotary encoders. Most fast-moving products are available in stock at Chennai for quick response. Training and application support for the entire range of products is also available.

Next-Generation Elevator Technology

Demands on elevator complexity and travel height are growing. Today’s elevators have become high-tech passenger transport systems, a far cry from the simple hoists of previous generations.

Safety and comfort are non-negotiable requirements in modern elevators. Vital to meeting these requirements are elevator encoders from HEIDENHAIN. Installed on the main motor, door motor and shaft copying system, HEIDENHAIN encoders work to ensure smooth travel, correct arrival times and efficient door operation. Beyond reliability in these applications, HEIDENHAIN encoders can also monitor other elevator functions.

The biggest factor in an elevator’s speed, comfort and overall performance is its motor control system. More advanced elevator motors, such as gearless designs, require carefully selected encoders and other motion control components. Rotary encoders are also essential in elevator door motors and digital shaft copying systems. With an extensive range of products, HEIDENHAIN offers solutions for customers’ elevator control needs.

Measuring an elevator car’s exact position in the shaft and relaying this data to the controller are essential for guaranteeing smooth braking and accurate car positioning. This is the job of shaft-copying systems, which benefit from HEIDENHAIN rotary encoders.

HEIDENHAIN ERN 1387 — Compact Incremental Encoder for Servo Drives

ERN 1387 is the leading encoder used worldwide by some of the most quality-conscious customers in the elevator industry. The HEIDENHAIN ERN 1387 is a compact, high-precision incremental rotary encoder from HEIDENHAIN’s ERN/ECN 1300 family, designed primarily for servo- and motor-feedback applications (notably elevator and servo-drive systems). It combines a rugged mechanical coupling, sinusoidal (1 Vpp) incremental outputs (with optional TTL/line-driver compatibility depending on wiring), and a single reference mark — all packaged to make installation on small servo motors straightforward. 

Key technical highlights

• Type: Incremental rotary encoder (sin cos outputs, 1 Vpp).   
• Line count (typical ordering): 2,048 counts per revolution is a common configuration for this model.   
• Mechanical coupling: Tapered shaft coupling (e.g., taper ≈ 1:10 with a ~9.25 mm taper in many variants) and integral bearing options for rigid mounting to the motor shaft. High axial tolerance (±0.5 mm) is supported in the ERN 1300 series.   
• Electrical supply and consumption: Typical 5 V DC supply
• Interfaces and connector: 14 pin PCB connector or other mating connector options are used; pinouts for A+/A−, B+/B−, R+/R− (reference), supply and shields are provided in the product documentation.   
• Operating range: Mechanical speeds often specified up to many thousands of rpm (typical mechanical limit listed around 12,000–15,000 rpm for similar ERN models) and wide operating temperatures (e.g., −40°C up to +120°C for the series).

Design and Features That Matter in Practice

• Sinusoidal signals for smooth interpolation: The ERN 1387 provides sinusoidal A/B signals (1 Vpp), which are well suited to interpolation in modern drives — giving very fine effective resolution and smooth commutation for motors when compared to raw TTL signals. Many drives accept the 1 Vpp interface directly or via a matching input stage.   
• Single reference mark (index): Useful for homing/absolute zero detection when commissioning motors or position systems.   
• Robust mechanical mounting: The ERN 1300 family is made for straightforward replacement/integration on servo motors — plane-surface coupling, rigid bearing support and clearly defined mating dimensions help reduce alignment headaches during installation. HEIDENHAIN’s product documents emphasize mounting by qualified technicians and give detailed tolerances.

Typical Applications

• Servo motor feedback for industrial drives and inverters (including elevator drive control)
• Motion control systems requiring smooth motor commutation and precise incremental feedback (machine tools, robotics, handling equipment)

What HEIDENHAIN Stands For

With its products and technologies, HEIDENHAIN seeks to make a significant contribution to its customers, helping them achieve their application goals and making their challenges manageable. The company feels its products stand for exceptional accuracy in the implementation of challenging positioning tasks.

Continuous progress requires ever greater miniaturization and tighter production tolerances. A key factor is the accurate measurement of lengths and angles. Products from HEIDENHAIN enable this position measurement and motion control for demanding applications.