Patent US754039A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent US4064954A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US4064954A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Computing postal scale and method with taring capability
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1975-12-19
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Granted: 1977-12-27
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Expires: 1995-12-19
Abstract
Abstract Highly accurate and versatile computing scale which is particularly suitable for postal use. The platform of the scale is mounted on and supported by a single load cell in a system requiring no levers, pivots or other moving parts. Weight readings are averaged on a moving average basis, and in one preferred embodiment the scale has an accuracy on the order of 1/32 ounce over a range of 70 pounds. With no load on the scale, any drift is cancelled by increasing or decreasing the net weight reading in small increments during successive counting cycles to maintain an accurate zero reference. The scale includes a keyboard through which a postal clerk can enter information about the destination and type of service desired, and a zip code to postal zone converter is included for automatically determining the postal zone from the zip code. Digital displays indicate the weight and postage to both the clerk and customer. The scale can readily be interfaced with other machines such as postage meters and label/ticket printers so that output data from the scale is available to the other machines.
Inventors
- 👤 Frank C. Rock
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 07:00
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01G; G01G3/00; G01G3/12; G01G3/14; G01G3/1402; G01G3/1406; B; B07; B07C; B07C1/00; G01G19/00; G01G19/40; G01G19/413; G01G19/414; G01G19/4148; G01G21/00; G01G21/23; G01G21/28; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S177/00; Y10S177/03
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
177 words
In a computing postal scale: a base, a load cell mounted on the base and adapted to provide an electrical signal corresponding to the force applied thereto, load receiving means mounted on the load cell and supported thereby, said load receiving means having an area substantially larger than the load cell for receiving objects to be posted, means responsive to the signal from the load cell for providng digital signals representative of the weight of an object received by the load receiving means, means for storing postal rate information in digital form, means for storing a signal corresponding to the weight on the load receiving means at a predetermined time, means for combining the stored signal with the signals representative of weight to effect subtraction of the weight represented by the stored signal from the weight represented by the signals representative of weight and provide a signal representative of net weight, and means for combining the signal representative of net weight with the rate information to provide a signal representative of the cost of sending the object.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
177 words
In a computing postal scale: a base, a load cell mounted on the base and adapted to provide an electrical signal corresponding to the force applied thereto, load receiving means mounted on the load cell and supported thereby, said load receiving means having an area substantially larger than the load cell for receiving objects to be posted, means responsive to the signal from the load cell for providng digital signals representative of the weight of an object received by the load receiving means, means for storing postal rate information in digital form, means for storing a signal corresponding to the weight on the load receiving means at a predetermined time, means for combining the stored signal with the signals representative of weight to effect subtraction of the weight represented by the stored signal from the weight represented by the signals representative of weight and provide a signal representative of net weight, and means for combining the signal representative of net weight with the rate information to provide a signal representative of the cost of sending the object.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
260 words
In a computing postal scale: a base, a load cell mounted on the base and adapted to provide an electrical signal corresponding to the force applied thereto, load receiving means connected to the load cell for receiving objects to be posted, means responsive to the signal from the load cell for providing digital signals representative of the weight of an object received by the load receiving means, means for storing postal rate information in digital form, means for storing a signal corresponding to the weight on the load receiving means at a predetermined time, means for combining the stored signal with the signals representative of weight to effect subtraction of the weight represented by the stored signal from the weight represented by the signals representative of weight and provide a signal representative of net weight, means for combining the signal representative of net weight with the rate information to provide a signal representative of the cost of sending the object, means for repeatedly checking the net weight signal and changing said signal by a predetermined increment each time that the net weight signal is found to differ from a reference level by less than a predetermined amount, the predetermined amount corresponding to a weight less than the net weight of an object to be weighed and the predetermined increment being substantially less than the predetermined amount, whereby the net weight signal is returned to the reference level in a plurality of discrete steps in the event of drift from said level in the absence of an object to be weighed.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
260 words
In a computing postal scale: a base, a load cell mounted on the base and adapted to provide an electrical signal corresponding to the force applied thereto, load receiving means connected to the load cell for receiving objects to be posted, means responsive to the signal from the load cell for providing digital signals representative of the weight of an object received by the load receiving means, means for storing postal rate information in digital form, means for storing a signal corresponding to the weight on the load receiving means at a predetermined time, means for combining the stored signal with the signals representative of weight to effect subtraction of the weight represented by the stored signal from the weight represented by the signals representative of weight and provide a signal representative of net weight, means for combining the signal representative of net weight with the rate information to provide a signal representative of the cost of sending the object, means for repeatedly checking the net weight signal and changing said signal by a predetermined increment each time that the net weight signal is found to differ from a reference level by less than a predetermined amount, the predetermined amount corresponding to a weight less than the net weight of an object to be weighed and the predetermined increment being substantially less than the predetermined amount, whereby the net weight signal is returned to the reference level in a plurality of discrete steps in the event of drift from said level in the absence of an object to be weighed.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
34 words
The scale defined by claim 2 wherein the predetermined amount corresponds to a weight on the order of 3/128 ounce and the predetermined increment corresponds to a weight on the order of 1/1024 ounce.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
139 words
In a computing postal scale; a base, a load cell mounted on the base and adapted to provide an electrical signal corresponding to the force applied thereto, load receiving means mounted on the load cell and supported thereby, said load receiving means having an area substantially larger than the load cell for receiving objects to be posted, means responsive to the signal from the load cell for providing digital signals representative of the weight of an object received by the load receiving means, means for averaging a plurality of the digital signals to obtain a signal representative of the average weight of the object, means for storing postal rate information in digital form, and means for combining the rate information with the signals representative of average weight to provide a signal representative of the cost of sending the object.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
139 words
In a computing postal scale; a base, a load cell mounted on the base and adapted to provide an electrical signal corresponding to the force applied thereto, load receiving means mounted on the load cell and supported thereby, said load receiving means having an area substantially larger than the load cell for receiving objects to be posted, means responsive to the signal from the load cell for providing digital signals representative of the weight of an object received by the load receiving means, means for averaging a plurality of the digital signals to obtain a signal representative of the average weight of the object, means for storing postal rate information in digital form, and means for combining the rate information with the signals representative of average weight to provide a signal representative of the cost of sending the object.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
244 words
In a computing scale: a load receiving member, means including a load cell connected to the load receiving member for providing an electrical signal corresponding to the weight of a load on said member, means responsive to the electrical signal for providing successive digital signals representative of the instantaneous weight of the load at a predetermined clock rate, means storing a digital signal corresponding to the weight of the load at a predetermined time, means for combining the stored signal with successive ones of the instantaneous weight signals to effect subtraction of the weight corresponding to the stored signal from the instantaneous weight of the load and thereby provide successive signals representative of the net weight of the load, means for determining whether each of the successive net weight signals differs from a reference level by less than a predetermined amount, said predetermined amount corresponding to a weight less than the expected net weight of the load, means for changing the stored signal by a predetermined increment substantially less than the predetermined amount each time that one of the net weight signals differs from the reference level by less than the predetermined amount, thereby tending to maintain the net weight signals at the reference level in the absence of a load, means for storing postal rate information in digital form, and means for combining the rate information with the net weight signals to provide a signal representative of the cost of mailing the load.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
244 words
In a computing scale: a load receiving member, means including a load cell connected to the load receiving member for providing an electrical signal corresponding to the weight of a load on said member, means responsive to the electrical signal for providing successive digital signals representative of the instantaneous weight of the load at a predetermined clock rate, means storing a digital signal corresponding to the weight of the load at a predetermined time, means for combining the stored signal with successive ones of the instantaneous weight signals to effect subtraction of the weight corresponding to the stored signal from the instantaneous weight of the load and thereby provide successive signals representative of the net weight of the load, means for determining whether each of the successive net weight signals differs from a reference level by less than a predetermined amount, said predetermined amount corresponding to a weight less than the expected net weight of the load, means for changing the stored signal by a predetermined increment substantially less than the predetermined amount each time that one of the net weight signals differs from the reference level by less than the predetermined amount, thereby tending to maintain the net weight signals at the reference level in the absence of a load, means for storing postal rate information in digital form, and means for combining the rate information with the net weight signals to provide a signal representative of the cost of mailing the load.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
29 words
The scale of claim 5 further including means responsive to the net weight signals and the cost signal for displaying the net weight and cost of mailing the load.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
37 words
The scale of claim 5 further including a keyboard for receiving additional information and presenting the same to be combined with the postal information and the net weight signals in determining the cost of mailing the load.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
219 words
In a method for determining the weight of a load, the steps of: providing an electrical signal corresponding to the weight of the load, converting the electrical signal to digital signals representative of the instantaneous weight of the load at a predetermined clock rate, storing a digital signal corresponding to the weight of the load at a predetermined time, combining the stored signal with successive ones of the instantaneous weight signals to effect subtraction of the weight corresponding to the stored signal from the instantaneous weight of the load and thereby provide successive signals representative of the net weight of the load, determining whether each of the successive net weight signals differs from a reference level by less than a predetermined amount, said predetermined amount corresponding to a weight less than the expected net weight of the load, changing the stored signal by a predetermined increment substantially less than the predetermined amount each time that one of the net weight signals differs from the reference level by less than the predetermined amount, thereby tending to maintain the net weight signals at the reference level in the absence of a load, storing postal rate information in digital form, and combining the rate information with the net weight signals to provide a signal representative of the cost of mailing the load.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
219 words
In a method for determining the weight of a load, the steps of: providing an electrical signal corresponding to the weight of the load, converting the electrical signal to digital signals representative of the instantaneous weight of the load at a predetermined clock rate, storing a digital signal corresponding to the weight of the load at a predetermined time, combining the stored signal with successive ones of the instantaneous weight signals to effect subtraction of the weight corresponding to the stored signal from the instantaneous weight of the load and thereby provide successive signals representative of the net weight of the load, determining whether each of the successive net weight signals differs from a reference level by less than a predetermined amount, said predetermined amount corresponding to a weight less than the expected net weight of the load, changing the stored signal by a predetermined increment substantially less than the predetermined amount each time that one of the net weight signals differs from the reference level by less than the predetermined amount, thereby tending to maintain the net weight signals at the reference level in the absence of a load, storing postal rate information in digital form, and combining the rate information with the net weight signals to provide a signal representative of the cost of mailing the load.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 8 further including the steps of displaying the net weight and cost of mailing the load.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1980-12-26 | 1981-06-27 | 1981-12-27 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1984-12-26 | 1985-06-27 | 1985-12-27 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1988-12-26 | 1989-06-27 | 1989-12-27 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |