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Sick Develops the DBV50 - Easy fit, All-in-One Measuring Wheel Solution

Sick has developed a new Measuring Wheel Encoder for precision measurement of continuous and sheet fed materials. The DBV50 is an easy-mount, plug-and-play unit suitable for conveying applications such as logistics, textiles, timber or paper and card processing.

In a competitively-priced all-in-one unit, the DBV50 comprises a Sick encoder, measuring wheel and patented spring assembly for measuring the passage of a moving material to resolutions of less than 0.1mm. It can easily be integrated with printing, registration, cut to length and inspection systems and is easy to retrofit to existing production lines. 


Video: The Sick DBV50 is highly flexible and easy to install.

Already Hundreds of Hours of In-use Trialling

Encoder technology specialists at Sick developed this combination of wheel, encoder, arm and mount for a leading logistics integrator. The DBV50 has already undergone hundreds of hours of in-use trialling to ensure its robustness and performance.

The key is the patented, spring loading mechanism that adjusts the spring to the correct 15N tension for the degree of vertical travel every time. It can easily be reset for different material thicknesses.

Easy to Setup...

Darren Pratt, Sick UK’s Encoder Product Manager explains:  “Setting up an encoder mounted on a separate spring-loaded friction-wheel with the correct degree of vertical travel poses many difficulties for the plant engineer that the DBV50 now completely avoids.

“With separate components, selecting the right balance of encoder, spring and moving arm can be a matter of trial and error. It can also be difficult to achieve the right force on the wheel for non-slip contact; it’s all too easy to over-weight it so that the encoder bearing is overloaded and soon burns out.

“Over-tensioning of the spring to achieve down force, or poor arm travel adjustment, soon weakens the spring so it needs replacement. The DBV50 overcomes all that in a precision-engineered package.”

... and Easy to Mount

The Sick DBV50 is a compact measuring wheel system with 63.5mm centre distance and a 200mm circumference wheel. The encoder and wheel have a resolution of down to 0.08mm. For added convenience, the encoder can be mounted in 30 degree steps, on both sides, with the wheel located top or bottom.

The maximum spring travel is 14mm, with integrated limits to prevent over stretching, and the patented adjustable pre-tensioning mechanism ensures quick adjustment to the optimum 15N load/10mm travel. The measuring wheel system is available with a high number of electrical interface and electrical connection options, as well as resolutions for different applications.

Darren Pratt concludes: “The DBV50 Measuring Wheel costs about the same as typical off-the-shelf separate components, yet saves all the time of a trial and error set up, as well as being much more reliable in operation.  All the mechanical variables are already taken care of and it’s easy to mount in a number of ways to suit the application.”

Looking for more information? We can help with that...

If you would like more information about Sick Measuring Wheel Encoders or need to discuss another sensor application you may have, call 01254 685900 and speak to a Technical Support Engineer or your FIeld Sales Engineer, they will be happy to answer your questions.

Sick DVB50 Measuring Wheel Encoder

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