US Patent 7329859 Photoelectric encoder

A photoelectric encoder that has a lens optical system including a lens inserted between a main scale and a light receiving element. In the photoelectric encoder, three planes extended from a surface of the main scale, a principal plane of the lens, and an image plane of the light receiving element are disposed so as to intersect at a single point and satisfy the Scheimpflug rule. Focus can thereby be obtained over the entire image plane, so that a reduction in contrast is prevented, even if the optical axis is inclined to make an optical system smaller.