Dual Housing Weighing Scale Impact Moisture Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Weighing scales often lack the necessary robustness to withstand harsh environments, such as exposure to moisture and rough handling, particularly in settings like kitchens and laboratories, where they may be subjected to spills and frequent cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A dual-housing design for weighing scales, featuring an outer housing that encloses a force transducer and an inner housing containing user-interface electronics, providing enhanced impact resistance and moisture resistance while facilitating ease of manufacture and low cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single housing design is used, then the device complexity is low, but the robustness and resistance to impact and moisture are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into an inner housing and an outer housing, creating a dual-housing structure. The inner housing contains the force transducer while the outer housing provides additional protection against impact and moisture, resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and robustness.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner housing is nested within the outer housing, forming a protective enclosure system. This nested configuration allows the scale to achieve enhanced robustness and environmental resistance without significantly increasing overall device complexity, as the inner housing utilizes the space within the outer housing.
2Reliability
If the force transducer is exposed, then the manufacturing is simple, but the protection against moisture and impact is inadequate
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is segmented into inner and outer components, with the inner housing specifically designed to protect the force transducer from moisture and impact. This segmentation allows for targeted protection of critical components while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through modular assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner housing is nested within the outer housing, creating a protective enclosure for the force transducer. This nested structure provides enhanced protection against environmental factors while allowing for relatively simple manufacturing and assembly processes.
3Reliability
If additional protective structures are added, then the robustness improves, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into functional segments - the inner housing for component containment and the outer housing for environmental protection. This segmentation achieves improved durability through targeted protection while avoiding unnecessary complexity by keeping each housing layer focused on its specific protective function.
Solution Approach 2:
The nested dual-housing configuration provides enhanced durability by placing the inner housing within the outer housing, creating multiple barriers against environmental damage. This approach achieves robustness without excessive complexity, as the nested structure efficiently uses available space and provides progressive protection.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic weighing scale that includes an inner housing and an outer housing surrounding the inner housing. In one embodiment, the inner and outer housings are not secured to one another and are spaced apart by shock-absorbing spacers designed to absorb shock of impact loads such as may be caused by the scale being dropped. The inner housing includes a chassis defining a load cell cavity that contains a load cell. The inner housing also includes an electronics compartment closure that together with the chassis define an electronics compartment that contains electronics of the scale, including display electronics and user-controls electronics. In one embodiment, the electronics compartment is hermetically sealed to protect the electronics from moisture.