Surface acoustic wave scale that automatically updates calibration information

• US 9,477,638 B2
• Filed: 01/16/2013
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/1995
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Circuits & Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Circuits & Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Kats, Vyacheslav D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gibson, Randy W
• Application Number:
  US13/742,713
• Publication Number:
  US 20130185011A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,378 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 23/01 Testing or calibrating of weighing apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 3/13 having piezoelectric or piezoresistive properties
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 3/16 measuring variations of frequency of oscillations of the body
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 3/165 Constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 3/18 Temperature-compensating arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00

Abstract

Apparatus and related methods are provided for automatically recalibrating a SAW scale for changing environmental factors. During a period of time when there is no change to a weight applied to the scale, readings of SAW transducers which relate to weight indications and environmental factor indications are taken for two adjacent operating modes of the scale, and two calibrated weight calculations are made utilizing those readings. The difference in calibrated weight calculations is then related to a variable utilized to transform the readings into weights, which is updated, thereby recalibrating the scale.

Claims

1. An electronic weighing apparatus comprising:

a) a displaceable elastic member that receives a load is displaced by the load such that the displacement of said elastic member is related to the weight of the load;

b) a first piezoelectric transducer having a first substrate and one of a first surface acoustic wave (SAW) transmitter and a first SAW receiver, said first piezoelectric transducer being coupled to said elastic member;

c) a second piezoelectric transducer having a second substrate and the other of said first SAW transmitter and said first SAW receiver, said second piezoelectric transducer being mounted in close proximity to said first piezoelectric transducer such that said displacement of said elastic member causes a corresponding displacement of one of said first and second piezoelectric transducers relative to each other;

d) a first amplifier having an input and an output, said input of said first amplifier being coupled to said first SAW receiver and said output of said first amplifier being coupled to said first SAW transmitter such that said first SAW receiver, said first amplifier and said first SAW transmitter form a first oscillator having a first output, said first oscillator adapted to operate in a plurality of modes including a first mode and a second mode adjacent said first mode;

e) a second SAW receiver;

f) a second SAW transmitter;

g) a second amplifier having an input and an output, said input of said second amplifier being coupled to said second SAW receiver and said output of said second amplifier being coupled to said second SAW transmitter such that said second transducer, said second amplifier, and said second SAW transmitter form a second oscillator having a second output, and said second amplifier output being indicative of environmental factors of said electronic weighing apparatus;

h) a processor coupled to said output of said first amplifier and to said output of said second amplifier, said processor storing initial calibration information for said electronic weighing apparatus, said processor determining from said initial calibration information and from indications of said first oscillator output and said second oscillator output an indication of the weight (P) of the load at a first time, said processor further adapted to determine that the load is static and to receive indications of said first oscillator output in each of said first and second modes and indications from said second oscillator output and to generate therefrom updated calibration information which is stored by said processor and used to determine an indication of the weight of the load at a subsequent second time.

2. An electronic weighing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a push oscillator coupled to processor and to said first SAW receiver and to said second SAW receiver, said push oscillator causing said first oscillator to operate in said plurality of modes.

3. An electronic weighing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said plurality of modes are numbered,

said initial calibration information includes an inverse of the slope of a weight/frequency-function function (W) of the first mode, the number of wavelengths between said first and second piezoelectric transducers when there is no weight on said weighing apparatus (N0), a beat period for the weighing apparatus (Dp), a temperature coefficient AW of the inverse slope, a temperature coefficient AP of the beat period, an initial frequency function value X0, and the temperature at the time of initial calibration of the scale t0, and

said processor determines said indication of weight P according to

P=[W*(X−

X0)*{(N0+S)/N0}*AW*(t−

t0)]+[Dp*S*AP*(t−

t0)]

where X is the value of a frequency function X(f) at weight P=P where said frequency function X(f) =Ft/Fw, with Ft being the frequency indication output by said second amplifier and Fw being the frequency indication output by said first amplifier, said X0 is a value of X(f) when there is no weight on the weighing apparatus, S is the number of the mode, and t is the current temperature.

4. An electronic weighing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:

said updated calibration information which is stored by said processor is an updated calibration information for the inverse of the slope, and said processor generates said updated calibration information according to W′

=W * [1−

(∂

P/Dp)], where W′

is said updated calibration information for the inverse of the slope, and ∂

P is the difference in said indications of weight of the load between said first and second modes.

5. An electronic weighing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said plurality of modes comprises at least five modes.

6. An electronic weighing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said plurality of modes includes a zero mode, and said first mode is said zero mode.

7. An electronic weighing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an auxiliary displacement sensor electrically coupled to said processor.

8. A method using an electronic weighing apparatus where the electronic weighing apparatus includes (i) a displaceable elastic member that receives a load and is displaced by the load such that the displacement of said elastic member is related to the weight of the load, (ii) a first piezoelectric transducer having a first substrate and one of a first surface acoustic wave (SAW) transmitter and a first SAW receiver, said first piezoelectric transducer being coupled to said elastic member, (iii) a second piezoelectric transducer having a second substrate and the other of said first SAW transmitter and said first SAW receiver, said second piezoelectric transducer being mounted in close proximity to said first piezoelectric transducer such that said displacement of said elastic member causes a corresponding displacement of one of said first and second piezoelectric transducers relative to each other, (iv) a first amplifier having an input and an output, said input of said first amplifier being coupled to said first SAW receiver and said output of said first amplifier being coupled to said first SAW transmitter such that said first SAW receiver, said first amplifier and said first SAW transmitter form a first oscillator having a first output, said first oscillator adapted to operate in a plurality of modes including a first mode and a second mode adjacent said first mode, (v) a second SAW receiver, (vi) a second SAW transmitter, (vii) a second amplifier having an input and an output, said input of said second amplifier being coupled to said second SAW receiver and said output of said second amplifier being coupled to said second SAW transmitter such that said second transducer, said second amplifier, and said second SAW transmitter form a second oscillator having a second output, and said second amplifier output being indicative of environmental factors of said electronic weighing apparatus, and (viii) a processor coupled to said output of said first amplifier and to said output of said second amplifier, said processor storing first calibration information for said electronic weighing apparatus, the method comprising:

a) using the processor, determining over a period of time that there is no change to a first load applied to the weighing apparatus;

b) using the processor, determining from said first calibration information and from indications of said first oscillator output and said second oscillator output a first indication of the weight of the first load, said first oscillator functioning in a first mode;

c) causing said first oscillator to move from said first mode to a second mode adjacent said first mode;

d) using the processor, and with said first oscillator functioning in said second mode, determining from said first calibration information and from indications of said first oscillator output and said second oscillator output a second indication of the weight of the load;

e) taking a difference between said first indication of the weight of the first load and second indication of the weight of the first load; and

f) using said difference, updating said first calibration information to provide updated calibration information; and

g) storing said updated calibration information in memory.

9. A method according to claim 8, further comprising:

h) using said updated calibration information stored in the memory to determine an indication of the weight of a second load applied to said electronic weighing device.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein:

said first load is a null load.

11. A method according to claim 9, wherein:

said updated calibration information comprises updated calibration information for an inverse of a slope of a weight to frequency-function function, and said updating is according to W′

=W * [1−

(∂

P/Dp)], where W′

is said updated calibration information for the inverse of the slope, Dp is a beat period for the weighing apparatus, and ∂

P is said difference.

12. A method according to claim 9, further comprising:

with said updated calibration information instead of said first calibration information, repeating steps a) through h) for one of said second load and a new load.

13. A method according to claim 9, wherein:

said electronic weighing apparatus further includes a push oscillator coupled to said processor and to said first SAW receiver, and said causing said first oscillator to move from said first mode to a second mode adjacent said first mode is accomplished by a change of frequency of said push oscillator.