In the pursuit of environmental resistance and high precision, magnetism was the answer.

The history of Magnescale, which is also the name of our company, began with the invention of a magnetic head with magnetic flux response in 1965 by Mr. Mitsuyoshi Uemura of Sony and others. More than 50 years have passed since then, and today we have magnetoresistive (MR) heads, and the magnetic materials have changed, but the essence is the same: a position detection system that is resistant to adverse environments due to its magnetic detection method. They are not affected by condensation or oil, which are common to machine tools, and they continue to have high vibration resistance and shock resistance characteristics.
It also follows the thermal expansion and contraction of the machine tool table. The evolutionary form of Magnescale is SmartSCALE, which was released in 2015. This system uses a tunnel magnetoresistive (TMR) device as the magnetic sensor and completely separates the scale from the head by developing new magnetic materials, signal processing circuits, and interpolation algorithms. This is the first system in the industry to achieve both IP67 environmental resistance and high resolution of 5 nm for NC machine tools.

MR sensor

Precise magnetic recordings are applied to a special proprietary magnetic material.
Using a MR (Magneto Resistive) sensor with a unique detecting pattern allows for high accuracy, and also allows for high environmental resistance and strong resistance to temperature changes.

Resistance to condensation and oil

Magnescale employs magnetic detection principle that is resistant to the effects of condensation and oil inherent to machine tools. This principle allows for the achievement of high positioning accuracy even in severe environments.

Detection principle of absolute Magnescale

Two track patterns are recorded on the scale. SN pitch signals at regular intervals are marked on the incremental track, with addresses marked on the other track to enable absolute (M-code) position measurement. For magnetic detection, special magnetoresistive elements developed for scales are used, affording high sensitivi ty with low distortion.

Achieves high resolution with the interpolation processing technology developed by Magnescale

Interpolation processing technology is a technology that accurately divides the signal waveform detected from a magnetic scale to the required pitch (fineness). For example, in the case of a SmartSCALE, two sine waves with a phase shift of 90 degrees are detected from a magnetic scale engraved with a pitch of 400μm. If the signal contains distortion, accurate position information (true value) cannot be obtained. The DC component is removed from the signal detected from the scale, and level and phase adjustments are made in real time, and the position information with a resolution of 5nm is obtained by dividing the signal into 80,000 segments through advanced signal processing.