Weight scales and strain gauge assemblies useable therein
First Claim
1. In a weight scale having a housing and a display responsive to a strain gauge signal for visually indicating weight measured by the scale, an improved strain gauge assembly, comprising:
- a flexible member with a strain gauge attached thereto to provide an electrical signal in response to the flexing of the flexible member;
a foot member in underlying relationship with the flexible member;
a load receiving member in overlying relationship with the flexible member;
a pair of support members connected with the foot member for supporting the flexible member at a pair of spaced locations associated therewith; and
a pair of load transmitting members connected with the load receiving member for transmitting a load therefrom to the flexible member at two locations spaced from one another and from the pair of locations associated with the foot member, at least one of said support members and load transmitting members having one end pivotally connected to the flexible member to pivot at a fixed location thereof and another end connected to the associated one of the foot member and load receiving member for relative lateral movement with respect thereto.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A strain gauge assembly of the type having an elongate flexible member (12) with attached strain gauges (36, 38) has forces applied thereto at points (48, 50) spaced from its central neutral plane (52) by means including members mounted to a foot (10) and force receiving (14) members for non-sliding lateral movement relative thereto. In another embodiment strain gauges are attached to a flexible diaphragm (68) which is in communication with a fluid contained within a flexible sealed container (78) that is restrained against lateral movement by a hollow restraint member (62) therearound but which has a portion (80) protruding from a lower open end (66) thereof to receive a load to pressurize the fluid for flexing the diaphragm (68). A weight scale suitable for employment of the above strain gauge assemblies has an electronic adder (91) summing the loads of a plurality of strain gauge assemblies (92) or load modules to produce a total load signal which is applied to an electronic display (90) for provision of a visual indication of weight.
-
Citations
62 Claims
-
1. In a weight scale having a housing and a display responsive to a strain gauge signal for visually indicating weight measured by the scale, an improved strain gauge assembly, comprising:
-
a flexible member with a strain gauge attached thereto to provide an electrical signal in response to the flexing of the flexible member; a foot member in underlying relationship with the flexible member; a load receiving member in overlying relationship with the flexible member; a pair of support members connected with the foot member for supporting the flexible member at a pair of spaced locations associated therewith; and a pair of load transmitting members connected with the load receiving member for transmitting a load therefrom to the flexible member at two locations spaced from one another and from the pair of locations associated with the foot member, at least one of said support members and load transmitting members having one end pivotally connected to the flexible member to pivot at a fixed location thereof and another end connected to the associated one of the foot member and load receiving member for relative lateral movement with respect thereto. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. In a weight scale having a housing and a display responsive to a strain gauge signal for visually indicating weight measured by the scale, an improved strain gauge assembly, comprising:
-
a flexible member with a strain gauge attached thereto to provide an electrical signal in response to the flexing of the flexible member; a foot member in underlying relationship with the flexible member; a load receiving member in overlying relationship with the flexible member; a pair of support members connected with the foot member for supporting the flexible member at a pair of spaced locations associated therewith; a pair of load transmitting members connected with the load receiving member for transmitting a load therefrom to the flexible member at two locations spaced from one another and from the pair of locations associated with the foot member; and means connected with the load receiving member, flexible member and foot member for retaining them together in the absence of a load, said retaining means including a plurality of retaining members, one of said retaining members being attached to the load receiving member and engaging the flexible member adjacent one of the load transmitting members, and another of said retaining members being attached to the foot member and engaging the flexible member adjacent one of support members. - View Dependent Claims (18)
-
-
19. A strain gauge assembly, comprising
a foot member; -
a load receiving member; a flexible member with a strain gauge attached thereto; and means for interconnecting the flexible member with the foot member and the load receiving member including a rigid interconnecting member movably mounted between the flexible member and at least one of the foot member and the load receiving member for lateral movement relative thereto, said interconnecting member having a relatively narrow end pivotally connected to the flexible member at a fixed connection point thereon at a preselected fixed distance from the strain gauge, and another end for laterally moving along the surface of the at least one of the foot member and the load receiving member to which it is connected in response to relative lateral movement of the fixed connection point during bending of the flexible member in response to application of a load. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
-
-
43. A strain gauge assembly, comprising:
-
a foot member; a flexible member overlying said foot member having a pair of opposite horizontal upper and lower surfaces substantially equidistant from a central horizontal neutral plane thereof, a first notch extending upwardly away from said foot member into the lower one of said surfaces to within a non-zero preselected distance from said central plane, and a second notch extending downwardly toward said foot member into the other of said surfaces to within another non-zero preselected distance from said central plane; a strain gauge mounted to one of said horizontal surfaces; a support member underlying the flexible member and mounted to said foot member and extending into said first notch to support said flexible member at said one non-zero preselected distance from the central neutral plane intermediate the lower one of said surfaces and the central plane; and means directly unidirectionally transmitting a vertically directed load to said flexible member including a force receiving member in overlying relationship with said flexible member and said foot member, and a force transmitting member mounted to said force receiving member and extending downwardly into said second notch to transmit vertical force received by the force receiving member directly to the flexible member at said other non-zero preselected distance from the central neutral plane intermediate the upper one of said surfaces and the central plane. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
-
-
49. In a weight scale having a housing, a power supply and a weight indicator responsive to a strain gauge, the improvement being a self-contained strain gauge module mounted within the housing, comprising:
-
an elongate force receiving member having an open face opposite a main horizontal wall between a pair of spaced, downwardly extending sidewalls; an elongate frame member having an open face opposite a main horizontal wall between a pair of upwardly extending sidewalls; an elongate flexible member with a strain gauge attached to a horizontal surface thereof for measuring flexing in a vertical plane; and means connected with the main walls of the frame member and force receiving member for mounting the flexible member in force receiving relationship therebetween and for protection thereof by both of said pairs of sidewalls, said sidewalls overlapping to protectively contain the flexible member therebetween in adjacent parallel relationship therewith when mounted in force receiving relationship between the main walls, said mounting means including a pair of spaced, rigid support members connected between the frame member for supporting the flexible member sufficiently above the main wall of the frame at a pair of spaced locations to enable downward flexing when weight is applied to the main wall of the force receiving member, a pair of spaced, rigid force transmitting members connected between the flexible member and the frame receiving member for supporting the force receiving member above the main wall of the force receiving member at two spaced locations to directly transmit a vertical weight load from the main wall of the force receiving member to the flexible member at said two locations to cause flexing of the flexible member. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
-
-
55. A strain gauge sub-assembly, comprising:
-
an elongate, flexible rectangular member having a relatively wider pair of surfaces equidistant from a central neutral plane thereof and a relatively narrower pair of surfaces interconnecting the relatively wider surfaces; a strain gauge mounted to one of said pair of relatively wider surfaces, and a pair of notches in each of said pair of relatively wider surfaces extending into the flexible member to a non-zero preselected distance from the central neutral plane. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
-
-
61. In an electric weight scale having a housing and a display mounted to the housing for providing a visual indication of weight, the improvement comprising:
-
a plurality of separate self contained load modules contained within the housing and each of which includes a strain gauge for sensing weight, each of said modules including its own switch actuated only in response to receipt of a weight thereby to enable provision of a visual indication of weight, an electric adder connected with each of the strain gauges of said plurality of load modules for producing a total weight signal proportional to the total weight sensed by the strain gauges; and means for connecting the total weight signal to the display to cause visual display of the total weight represented thereby.
-
-
62. In an electric weight scale having a housing and a display mounted to the housing for providing a visual indication of weight, the improvement comprising:
-
a plurality of separate self contained load modules contained within the housing and each of which includes a strain gauge for sensing weight, said plurality of load modules including two load modules located alongside one another and spaced a distance from one another by a distance substantially equal to the distance between a person'"'"'s feet when standing normally, each one of said two load modules providing a weight signal in response to the force applied thereto by one foot independently of the force applied by the other foot to the other module, an electric adder connected with each of the strain gauges of said plurality of load modules for producing a total weight signal proportional to the total weight sensed by the strain gauges; and means for connecting the total weight signal to the display to cause visual display of the total weight represented thereby.
-
Specification