Abstract: A contact piece for a rotary encoder is an unitary piece having a terminal, a thin plate spring, and a bent-back section on the tip of the thin plate spring. The bent-back section is bent at an angle of approximately 180 degrees in the plane. The contact brush is located on the bent-back section. In one embodiment, the terminal, thin plate spring, bent-back section and contact brush are stamped from the same metal plate. In another embodiment, the terminal, thin plate spring and bent-back section are stamped from the same metal plate and a separate contact brush is connected to the bent-back section. The contact piece is pushed in from the bottom side of the rotary encoder housing, and the contact brush is set such that contact is made with an electrode pattern. When a rotating plate turns, a pulse having a low or high signal is generated. This configuration provides the rotary encoder with an adequately long span S, which can be precisely set and easily produced.