Weighing system

Claim 2

Weighing apparatus comprising: a weighing pan, four groups of loops of wire, each of said loops having an electrical resistance which is proportional to the force stretching said loops, a first loop of each of said groups being situated so that an increase in the weight in said pan increases the force stretching said first loop, and a second loop of each of said groups being situated so that an increase in the weight in said pan decreases the force stretching said second loop, an electrical bridge comprising a plurality of elements one of said elements being all of said first loops of all of said groups connected serially and a second of said elements being all of said second loops of all of said groups connected serially, means to apply an electrical potential across at least one of said groups, and means to determine the changes of resistance of at least one loop from said four groups of loops, said changes being proportional to changes in weight in said pan.

Claim 3

Weight apparatus as in claim 1 wherein each of said four groups of loops are located approximately above a different cover of said pan and said first loops support said pan.

Claim 4

A weighing system comprising: a plurality of weighing pans, means to feed material to be weighed into each of said weighing pans, a plurality of wires, at least one wire supporting each said weighing pan, said wires having an electrical resistance which is proportional to the weight each supports, a plurality of bridges with a plurality of elements, at least one of said elements in each bridge being one of said wires, and means to determine the resistances of each of said wires.

Claim 5

A weighing system comprising: a plurality of weighing pans, means to feed material to be weighed into each of said weighing pans, a plurality of wires, at least one wire supporting each said weighing pan, said wires having an electrical resistance which is proportional to the weight each supports, a plurality of bridges with a plurality of elements, at least one of said elements in each bridge being one of said wires, and means to determine the resistances of each of said wires.

Claim 6

In a blending machine with a plurality of weighing pans, a plurality of feeders loading different materials into said pan, means to weigh said pans, means to cut off the loading of said pans when said pans contain the desired weight of material, and means to empty said pans, the improvement in said weighing means of at least one piece of wire supporting each of said pans, said wire having an electrical resistance which varies with the weight said wire supports.

Claim 7

In a blending machine with a plurality of weighing pans, a plurality of feeders loading different materials into said pan, means to weigh said pans, means to cut off the loading of said pans when said pans contain the desired weight of material, and means to empty said pans, the improvement in said weighing means of at least one piece of wire supporting each of said pans, said wire having an electrical resistance which varies with the weight said wire supports.

Claim 8

The improvement of claim 4 including electrical bridges associated with each said pan with at least four elements, at least one of said elements being said wire.

Claim 9

The improvement of claim 4 wherein said wire is a Nickel-chromium-Iron alloy.

Claim 10

The improvement of claim 5 including means to apply an electrical potential to at least one of said elements of each of said bridges to produce an output signal at each bridge which is a continuous function of the weight in the pan associated with that bridge.

Claim 11

The improvement of 7 wherein said means to cut off the loading of said pans is controlled by said output signals.

Claim 12

The improvement of 7 wherein said means to cut off the loading of said pans is controlled by said output signals.

Claim 13

A system as in claim 3 wherein each of said wires is an alloy of nickel, chromium and iron.

Claim 14

A system as in claim 3 wherein each said support wire has first and second sections with the resistance of each first section increasing with increases in weight of material in the respective pan and the resistance of the corresponding second section of each support wire decreases with increases in the weight of material in the respective pan.

Claim 15

A weighing system as in claim 3 wherein for each of said weighing pans the support wires includes four groups of loops of wire, each of said loops having an electrical resistance which is proportional to the force stretching said loops, a first loop of each of said groups being situated so that an increase in the weight in the respective pan increases the force stretching said first loop, and a second loop of each of said groups being situated so that an increase in the weight in the corresponding respective pan decreases the force stretching said second loop, each of said electrical bridges comprising as one of said elements all of said first loops of the respective four groups connected serially and a second of said elements being all of said second loops of the corresponding four groups connected serially, means to apply an electrical potential across at least one of said groups in each bridge, and means to determine the changes of resistance of at least one loop from said four groups of loops in each bridge, said changes being proportional to changes in weight in the respective said pan.

Claim 16

A weighing system as in claim 3 including means for selecting the weight of material to be fed into each of said pans.

Claim 17

A weighing system as in claim 11 wherein each of said four groups of loops for each pan is located approximately above a different corner of the respective pan and said first loops of each respective group support their respective pan.

Claim 18

A weighing system comprising a plurality of weighing pans each having: two pieces of wire which have an electrical resistance which is proportional to the force stretching said pieces, at least one insulated block attached to the respective weighing pan, a first and second stationary support piece of said wire having both ends attached respectively to said first stationary support and attached in approximately the middle of said block and a second piece of said wire attached in approximately the middle of said block and attached at both ends to said second stationary support, said wires being situated so that an increase in the force stretching said first piece causes a decrease in the force stretching said second piece, means for feeding material for weighing into said pans, increasing the force stretching said first piece and decreasing the force stretching said second piece, an electrical bridge comprising a plurality of elements, two of said elements being said two pieces of wire, means to apply an electrical potential across at least one of said elements, and means to determine the changes of Resistances of at least one of said two pieces of wire, said changes being proportional to changes of weight in said pan.

Claim 19

A weighing system comprising a plurality of weighing pans each having: two pieces of wire which have an electrical resistance which is proportional to the force stretching said pieces, at least one insulated block attached to the respective weighing pan, a first and second stationary support piece of said wire having both ends attached respectively to said first stationary support and attached in approximately the middle of said block and a second piece of said wire attached in approximately the middle of said block and attached at both ends to said second stationary support, said wires being situated so that an increase in the force stretching said first piece causes a decrease in the force stretching said second piece, means for feeding material for weighing into said pans, increasing the force stretching said first piece and decreasing the force stretching said second piece, an electrical bridge comprising a plurality of elements, two of said elements being said two pieces of wire, means to apply an electrical potential across at least one of said elements, and means to determine the changes of Resistances of at least one of said two pieces of wire, said changes being proportional to changes of weight in said pan.

Claim 20

A weighing system as in claim 14 including means for selecting the weight of material to be fed into each of said pans.

Claim 21

Weighing apparatus as in claim 14 wherein the length of said pieces of wire is adjustable.

Claim 22

A weighing system as in claim 15 wherein said selecting means includes a removable weight coded insert for each of said bridges.

Claim 23

A weighing system as in claim 15 wherein said selecting means includes an adjustable resistance element in said bridge.

Claim 24

A weighing system comprising: a plurality of weigh pans, means for feeding material to be weighed into each of said weighing pans, four insulated blocks associated with each said pan, four wires, associated with each said pan, each connecting a different corner of said pan to one of said blocks so that said pan is supported by said blocks, a first and second stationary support, four groups of loops of wire associated with said pan between said supports and blocks, each of said loops having an electrical resistance proportional to the force stretching said loops, and a plurality of bridges respectively for said pans and containing the respective four groups of loops to measure said resistance and provide a weight indicating output signal.

Claim 25

A weighing system comprising: a plurality of weigh pans, means for feeding material to be weighed into each of said weighing pans, four insulated blocks associated with each said pan, four wires, associated with each said pan, each connecting a different corner of said pan to one of said blocks so that said pan is supported by said blocks, a first and second stationary support, four groups of loops of wire associated with said pan between said supports and blocks, each of said loops having an electrical resistance proportional to the force stretching said loops, and a plurality of bridges respectively for said pans and containing the respective four groups of loops to measure said resistance and provide a weight indicating output signal.

Claim 26

A weighing system as in claim 19 including recording means associated with each said bridge to receive said output signal thereof and record the measured weight.

Claim 27

A weighing system comprising: a plurality of weigh pans, means for feeding material to be weighed into each of said weighing pans, four insulated blocks associated with each said pan, four wires, associated with each said pan, each connecting a different corner of said pan to one of said blocks so that said pan is supported by said blocks, a first and second stationary support, four groups of loops of wire associated with said pan between said supports and blocks, each of said loops having an electrical resistance proportional to the force stretching said loops, a first loop of each of said groups having both ends attached to said first stationary support and disposed about one of said blocks in approximately the middle of said first loop of wire so that each said first loop of wire supports one of said blocks and so that an increase in the weight in said pan, increases the force stretching said first loop of wire, a second loop of each of said groups having both ends attached to said second stationary support and disposed about one of said blocks in approximately the middle and insulated from all of said first loops so that an increase in the weight in said pan decreases the force stretching said second loop of wire, an electrical bridge associated with each said pan comprising four resistive elements, one of said elements being all of said first loops of said groups associated with that pan connected in series and a second of said elements being all of said second loops of said groups connected in series, means associated with each said bridge to apply an electrical potential to said bridge, means associated with each said bridge to amplify the output of said bridge, and means associated with each said bridge to vary the resistance of a third of said elements to change the weight of material in said pan necessary to balance said bridge.

Claim 28

A weighing system comprising: a plurality of weigh pans, means for feeding material to be weighed into each of said weighing pans, four insulated blocks associated with each said pan, four wires, associated with each said pan, each connecting a different corner of said pan to one of said blocks so that said pan is supported by said blocks, a first and second stationary support, four groups of loops of wire associated with said pan between said supports and blocks, each of said loops having an electrical resistance proportional to the force stretching said loops, a first loop of each of said groups having both ends attached to said first stationary support and disposed about one of said blocks in approximately the middle of said first loop of wire so that each said first loop of wire supports one of said blocks and so that an increase in the weight in said pan, increases the force stretching said first loop of wire, a second loop of each of said groups having both ends attached to said second stationary support and disposed about one of said blocks in approximately the middle and insulated from all of said first loops so that an increase in the weight in said pan decreases the force stretching said second loop of wire, an electrical bridge associated with each said pan comprising four resistive elements, one of said elements being all of said first loops of said groups associated with that pan connected in series and a second of said elements being all of said second loops of said groups connected in series, means associated with each said bridge to apply an electrical potential to said bridge, means associated with each said bridge to amplify the output of said bridge, and means associated with each said bridge to vary the resistance of a third of said elements to change the weight of material in said pan necessary to balance said bridge.