Weight measuring apparatus using a plurality of sensors
First Claim
1. A weighing apparatus for measuring a load weight, the apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of load sensing transducers each producing an output;
a switching means connected to receive the sensing transducer outputs for selecting a predetermined sequence of the transducer outputs;
converting means following the switching means for converting the output sequence to a digital representation;
processing means coupled to the converting means for processing the digital representation to derive a weight measurement result; and
means for providing a reference signal to the processing means, wherein the processing means includes means for utilizing the digital representation of the output sequence together with a system error model to derive a corrected weight measurement result thereby for reducing errors in the derived weight result.
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Abstract
A weight measuring apparatus comprising a plurality of load sensors, together with an input network, a multiplexer, a reference, an analog to digital converter, and a processor, wherein the input network includes an analog summing network and direct sensor connections to the multiplexer. The multiplexer is arranged to permit measurement of the sum signal, a reference signal, and each direct load sensor signal in a prescribed sequence. The multiplexed signals are converted to digital and processed to derive a weight estimate based on the multiplexed measurements and a system error model. The prescribed measurement sequence permits measurement of the sum signal more frequently than each of the direct signals. A method is described for deriving correction factors for the error model comprising the placing of calibration weights primarily on each weight sensor and solving the system of simultaneous equations for the resulting correction factors.
35 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A weighing apparatus for measuring a load weight, the apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of load sensing transducers each producing an output; a switching means connected to receive the sensing transducer outputs for selecting a predetermined sequence of the transducer outputs; converting means following the switching means for converting the output sequence to a digital representation; processing means coupled to the converting means for processing the digital representation to derive a weight measurement result; and means for providing a reference signal to the processing means, wherein the processing means includes means for utilizing the digital representation of the output sequence together with a system error model to derive a corrected weight measurement result thereby for reducing errors in the derived weight result. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A weighing apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of load sensing transducers that, in use, are coupled to a load, the plurality of load sensing transducers each generating an output signal, the output signals of the transducers having a known relationship to the load weight; a reference circuit providing a reference signal; a switch electrically coupled to the plurality of load sensing transducer output signals and the reference signal, the switch selecting among the transducer output signals and the reference signal according to a prescribed sequence and producing a corresponding switched output; a converter coupled to the switch output, the converter converting the switch output to digital representation; and a processor connected to receive the digital representation, the processor processing the digital representation to derive a weight measurement result and using the reference signal to reduce errors in the derived weight result. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification