Piher PST-360 Contactless Sensors

The PST-360 contactless position/angle sensor combines a through-shaft design with 360° absolute position feedback in an extremely thin package. The angle sensor PST-360 is used for measuring angles between 30° and 360°.

Key features include through-hole sensing where the shaft passes directly through the sensor, high accuracy absolute position feedback over 360°, and a true non-contacting sensing element. The new sensor incorporates a proprietary ring magnet with hall chip for the sensor element. This combination does not rely on gears or other rotating parts, maximizing robustness and sensing accuracy. The proprietary design provides a streamlined sensor with only one moving part along with electronics designed for harsh environments. The result is a cost-effective product in an extremely small package.

Measuring just 9.8mm thick with a body diameter of 37mm and 50.0mm mounting hole spacing, engineers can now integrate a fully featured rotary sensor directly on their existing shafts without the packaging issues that typically accompany encoders or other through shaft sensing devices. The exceptionally low profile fits easily in places that were previously too narrow for pre-packaged rotary sensors. The standard models features 14mm or 17mm diameter double flatted shaft design. Custom rotor configurations are available from PIHER to adapt existing OEM shafts to the standard PST-360 Sensor.

The PST-360 uses a patented Hall effect technology to enable true non-contacting through-hole shaft sensing with only one moving part—the proprietary ring magnet. This design is extremely robust with fully encapsulated electronics surrounding the durable ring magnet. Unlike optical encoders it has no sensitivity to dust or dirt and can tolerant high vibration cycles as the ring magnet never comes into contact with the sensing electronics. The device is a true absolute sensor providing high accuracy position feedback at power on.

With its integrated redundancy, this position/angle sensor is ideally suited for use in a wide range of off-highway, construction, agriculture equipment steer-by-wire applications. It can be easily adapted to fit marine outboard steering and throttle control, sport and exercise equipment, wind indicators, automation equipment and medical devices. A wide range of popular mating connectors is available as optional features.