The Components of a Custom Weighing Kit

platform-scale-2TWhether you are working in a pharmaceutical laboratory helping to create a new generation of antibiotics, or you are running a waste management firm; you can find a scale that is designed with you in mind. However, sometimes the one size fits all standard model doesn’t fit a customer’s needs. The customer may require something that is a little more specifically tailored to their individual needs and expectations. A customized scale can help a business achieve its goals more quickly.

Arlyn Scales has been a leader in the weighing industry for the past thirty years. We attained this position by realizing one key thing: our business may be about creating the best scale possible, but, ultimately, it is about our customers. After all, why should they buy a scale that doesn’t meet their needs? We invest time and money researching the industries we sell to in order to see how we can best create scales that line up precisely with what our customers need. We manufacture our scales at our factory in Long Island, New York. This allows us to ship factory direct to our customers, saving them a substantial amount of money by eliminating distributors and other middle men. We save money in this arrangement as well. Our savings go right back into the company so we can help design scales that meet your expectations, have cutting edge technology, and are extremely reliable.

Should you find one of our standard model scales does not adequately address the needs of your business, we can create a custom weighing kit by using these three major parts.

The MKE-5 Digital Indicator

This digital indicator is our company’s flagship indicator. It fulfills the most basic function of any scale indicator: displaying accurate weight values. However, there is much more to it than that. Our equipment has a large graphic interface which allows the user to easily read the display. It also has the following functions and benefits.

  1. Computer Connectivity Ð Our digital indicator can be customized to connect to a Windows based PC or laptop via a USB connection, or a wired Ethernet network with additional Wi-Fi connectivity. This will allow you to control the scale via your computer, monitor its performance, and extract weight data from the scale’s memory for storage and later analysis on your computer.
  2. Scale Memory Ð Your scale indicator has a large internal memory that can store 100 values for piece counts, tare weight, and other indicators.
  3. Abuse Resistant Design Ð The scale indicator is housed in an extremely durable injection molded enclosure. This also provides moisture resistance via rubber gasket sealants. Should you require something that is more corrosion resistant, we can house the indicator in a stainless steel enclosure as well.

Strain Gauge Load Cells

For your custom weighing kit, Arlyn will make sure that it has some of the finest strain gauge load cells on the market. These are not just any strain gauge load cells. We manufacture our strain gauge load cells in-house to ensure that they are more durable and more accurate than the load cells import for their products.

Strain gauge load cells are generally constructed with some key sections using a thin metal piece, called the spring element. This is because the strain gauges are resistors that are attached to the spring element of the load cell and must be able to stretch. When a load is placed on the scale platform the strain gauges stretch due to the amount of stress and pressure that the load cell absorbs. As the resistors stretch they create a voltage output that the scale indicator converts to a weight measurement. Unfortunately, they’re also made using an inexpensive metal like aluminum.

Because of the design and material choices, these load cells are especially vulnerable to damage from shock loading and over loading. Shock loading is when a load is dropped on to the scale platform from a significant height. Over loading is when a load is placed on the platform and its weight is beyond the scale capacity. These scenarios can result in a broken scale that must either be repaired or replaced. Meanwhile, your firm can be losing time and money due to the disruption in your productivity.

We manufacture our load cells using a special alloy of heat treated stainless steel, which makes them more durable and more accurate. Coupled with our highly sophisticated electronics, we’re able to increase the sensitivity of the load cell and generate very accurate results while reducing the vulnerabilities associated with these types of load cells.

Additionally, since we machine the load cells at our factory, we are able to match electrical outputs before installing the load cells in our scale. This eliminates the need for a summation board, which is manually adjusted using a screw driver to ensure accurate results. However, the summation board is a one of the biggest points of failure in a scale. By eliminating it, your scale will be even less likely to malfunction.

Our strain gage load cells can handle a large capacity as well. Depending on what you need, we can provide you with load cells that can accurately weigh loads of up to 20,000 pounds or more.

A Customer Provided Scale Platform

Here’s where you get even more say in your custom scale’s design. We incorporate a scale platform that you provide into the scale. This platform can be just about any rigid base, i.e. the floor of a cattle chute or the base of a tank or other piece of equipment.

Depending on the material of the scale platform, we can also provide protective coatings that will help prevent rust and other types of corrosion. For steel platforms we can provide a zinc rich epoxy that is scratch resistant and also inhibits the development and spread of rust. For stainless steel platforms, we have a triple epoxy with mica particles that is very resistant to rust and corrosion with added scratch and abrasion resistance.

Customer Service Customized for You

We are sure you will have many questions about how to best create a custom weighing kit that fits your needs. Our highly trained and courteous customer support staff will be more than happy to discuss the best way to custom make the scale to best fit your company’s needs. At Arlyn Scales, we believe that the scale fits the customer, not the other way around. To discuss the specs of your unique weighing kit, contact us today at (800) 645-4301 or through the form on the Contact Us page of our site.