By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2010-09-15 10:39:49 | Word Count: 664
The hanging scale is one of the most familiar kinds of force-measurement instruments available. Everyones seen it at the grocery store, in the produce section. A load is put in a pan or basket at the bottom of the scale, and a mechanical dial on the face of the scale shows you the weight.
For such a familiar, ubiquitous piece of equipment, improving it can seem like reinventing the wheel or building a better mousetrap.
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One improvement, however, is to design a hanging scale or crane scale for industrial, warehouse or scientific applications with a face thats easier to read from a distance. That can mean something as simple as larger numbers on the face of a mechanical dial, or 2" or 4" LED displays on a modern electronic scale. Obviously, there are many applications where the scale needs to be seen from a distance -- outdoors, all-weather situations or just a setting where the observer will need to be some distance from the scale.
Easy-to-read hanging scales should come equipped with an aircraft grade aluminum housing and stainless steel load sensor. Like any good industrial grade scale, you should expect precision to 0.1% of the scales full capacity (or greater). For industrial settings, the crane scale should be overload-tolerant, corrosion- and water-resistant and temperature stable (from roughly -4 F to 140 F). Like most other commercial scales, they should also be load tested to at least 1.3 times the maximum of the scales safe weight range. Remember, of course, that any overload can be dangerous (especially if the equipment is consistently and repeatedly overloaded).
Other things to look for in an easy-to-read crane scale:
* J-hook with a safety catch, rigged to pivot and revolve with the load. The J-hook should be rated for 4 times its maximum load capacity before it starts to deform.
* calibration that can be easily performed by the user
* data hold function to "freeze" the weight readings so it can be recorded
* USB connection and printer connection. Some more sophisticated scales will include software for interface with a PC or laptop
* Tare settings that can be reset by a pushbutton
With a welded steel shackle ring and J-hook to hold the load, crane scales or hanging scales are common for warehouse, scientific, educational or commercial applications. Rather than the mechanical dial and face of the familiar butchers scale, high-capacity hanging scales might have a large LED display, making them easy to read from a distance. They might also have completely wireless remote control for operating all weighing functions. Many come equipped with a J-hook that can pivot and revolve, and a heavy-duty safety catch across the opening of the hook itself. And as with many modern industrial scales, some hanging scales have a USB interface to input information directly to a computer (sometimes with their own software and with a printer interface as well). A good quality scale should also account for damping vibrations and averaging in cases of a wobbly or unstable load.
