Adaptive Draft Shield for Electronic Scale Weighing Chamber
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
High-precision electronic scales face challenges in measurement accuracy due to external influences like air movement, buoyancy, and temperature fluctuations, leading to increased measurement times and potential damage from uncontrolled loading forces, especially when handling small loads in microgram or submicrogram ranges.
Innovation Solution
An automated loading system for electronic scales with a draft shield that adapts to the dimensions of the goods to be weighed, featuring a transfer device and a drive mechanism for controlled positioning and loading, minimizing direct force contact and optimizing the weighing chamber's volume to reduce settling time for external parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If the weighing chamber volume is reduced to improve measurement speed, then measurement time is reduced, but measurement precision may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The draft shield creates a localized controlled environment within the weighing chamber, providing stable atmospheric conditions (temperature, humidity, air pressure) specifically where the load carrier is positioned. This localized control allows for faster measurements while maintaining precision by concentrating the stable environment exactly where needed rather than requiring the entire chamber to be large and fully stabilized.
2Manufacturing precision
If manual loading with tweezers is used to place small loads, then loading precision is improved, but measurement repeatability deteriorates due to varying mechanical forces
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual mechanical loading with an automated transfer device that uses a lifting movement mechanism. The load carrier is lifted vertically into the weighing chamber without requiring manual manipulation, thereby eliminating the varying mechanical forces introduced by different operators using tweezers. This automation ensures consistent, repeatable loading conditions while maintaining precision through controlled, force-minimizing transfer.
3Productivity
If the weighing chamber is kept open for quick loading, then loading speed is improved, but measurement accuracy deteriorates due to air movement and external influences
Solution Approach 1:
The draft shield is pre-positioned within the weighing chamber before loading begins. The transfer device is pre-configured to lift the load carrier vertically into the chamber. This preliminary preparation allows the chamber to remain effectively closed during weighing (maintaining accuracy) while enabling rapid, automated loading through the pre-arranged transfer mechanism, thus resolving the contradiction between speed and precision.
4Productivity
If multiple measurements are performed consecutively, then productivity is improved, but measurement time increases due to repeated settling periods
Solution Approach 1:
The automated transfer device enables continuous operation by rapidly transferring load carriers into and out of the weighing chamber. The draft shield maintains stable atmospheric conditions throughout, allowing consecutive measurements to be performed without repeated long settling periods. The system keeps the weighing environment continuously stabilized while automating the loading/unloading cycle, thereby increasing throughput without proportionally increasing total measurement time.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4A~5
AI summary
The machine (1) has a transfer device (6) movable relative to a load carrier (3). A wind deflector (16) surrounds a weighing chamber (15) that adapts to a dimension of goods to be weighed. A locking unit (13) opens and closes a feeding opening (14), and a drive actuates the locking device. The drive has an actuating unit (12), and works together with the actuating unit. A transmitting unit (18) causes a lifting movement of the transfer device relative to the load carrier. The actuating unit is formed for positioning the transfer device and/or the carrier in a set of defined positions. An independent claim is also included for a method for feeding an electronic weighing machine.