Medical scales in a hospital or clinic cover far more than patient weighing. Linen carts, supply pallets, regulated medical waste, instrument trays, gas cylinders, and dispensary materials all cross a scale somewhere in the building, and most of that work calls for industrial weighing equipment rather than a clinical balance.
Arlyn has designed and manufactured weighing equipment in the United States since 1978 and sells its medical and industrial scales factory direct.
Start with where the scale will work and what it will weigh. A patient weight belongs in a chart, a laundry weight sets a washer load, and a waste weight supports billing, so each area leads to a different scale family.
| Area | What you weigh | Selection focus | Starting route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patient care | Patients in wheelchairs | Ramp access, portability, and a records connection | Portable wheelchair scale |
| Patient care | Hoist-based weighing | Complete suspended weight, headroom, attachment method, and Therap connection | Therap-connected hanging scale |
| Patient care | Bariatric or specialized patients | Combined patient and chair weight, platform size, and transfer access | Bariatric patient scales |
| Laundry | Linen carts and soiled linen | Cart tare, roll-on access, and washer load limits | Laundry scales |
| Receiving and waste | Supply pallets and regulated medical waste | Pallet or container footprint, pallet jack access, and weight records | Floor scales |
| Central supply and sterile processing | Cases, instrument trays, and consumables | Bench space, readability for tray checks, and counting by weight | Bench scales or counting scales |
| Pharmacy and dispensary | Compounding and dispensed materials | Finer readability at practical bench capacities | Ultra Precision scales |
| Facilities | Liquefied medical gas cylinders | Cylinder footprint, stable support, and remaining contents by weight | Cylinder scales |
Capacity must cover the complete loaded weight: the patient and the wheelchair, the cart and its heaviest linen load, or the container and its contents, plus a working margin. Taring shows net weight but does not restore capacity used by the cart, chair, or container.
The required readability, or smallest displayed increment, comes next. A tenth of a pound suits patient and cart weighing, while dispensary work needs much finer readings. Platform size and loading method then narrow the choice: a roll-on ramp for chairs and carts, a low-profile floor scale for pallet jacks, and a bench scale for trays and cases.
Finally, match construction to the cleaning chemicals used in the area and decide where each reading must go.
For wheelchair users, Arlyn’s portable wheelchair scale weighs up to 500 lb with 0.1 lb readability on a 30 x 32 inch low-profile platform with ramps, fold-up handrails, and locking casters. With the REST Web API option, software can request the current weight over Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Therap users can collect weights through the Therap Connect Mobile App. The product page lists the full specifications and options.
For hospitals and care programs that use hoist-based weighing, Arlyn also offers a Therap-connected hanging scale in 500 lb x 0.1 lb and 1,000 lb x 0.2 lb configurations. Staff can collect the reading through the Therap Connect Mobile App and send it to Therap Connect and Therap Services Health Tracking. Capacity must cover the complete suspended load before tare.
View the Therap-Connected Hanging Scale
Placement matters as much as capacity. Check the doorways, hallways, and elevators the scale will travel through, and pick a level, firm floor area for weighing. Our guide to patient and wheelchair weighing systems covers access and setup in more detail.
When the combined patient and chair load exceeds 500 lb, or the chair requires more than a 30 x 32 inch platform, use a higher-capacity or larger-platform bariatric or specialized patient scale.
Hospital laundries roll linen carts onto platform scales and tare the cart to see net weight, so washers are filled to capacity without overloading. Facilities that run their own laundry can also compare the laundry scales Arlyn offers for commercial and industrial operations.
Floor scales handle palletized supply deliveries and regulated medical waste containers. Facilities can record container weights for internal tracking, reporting, or comparison with a waste hauler’s billing records.
In central supply and sterile processing, bench scales check incoming cases and instrument tray weights, while counting scales estimate quantities of identical packaged items such as gloves, syringes, and other consumables when each item has a consistent piece weight.
Facilities teams can use cylinder scales to monitor liquefied medical gases such as nitrous oxide or carbon dioxide by weight, because cylinder pressure can remain relatively stable while liquid remains. Hospital kitchens and laboratories have their own routes through Arlyn’s food and beverage and laboratory and research scales.
Dispensary and compounding tasks often need finer readability than a general industrial scale provides. Ultra Precision scales for medical dispensaries use Arlyn Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology to deliver fine readings at practical bench capacities.
For lower-capacity milligram or submilligram samples in controlled conditions, High Resolution Balances are the secondary route.
Construction should match the cleaning method and chemicals in each area. Where repeated cleaning exposes the scale to specific disinfectants or other chemicals, use a corrosion-resistant configuration selected for those exposure conditions. Stainless or coated construction applies only to the designated configuration.
Hand-copied weights invite transcription errors. Depending on the indicator and selected options, Arlyn scales can send readings to a printer, PC, database, patient software, PLC, or facility control system through communication options such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB communication, RS-232, or RS-485. Selected configurations also provide scalable 4-20 mA analog output for PLC inputs and industrial protocols such as Modbus, EtherNet/IP, and PROFINET. USB data logging is a separate workflow from USB communication.
Where a printed label helps, such as on a weighed waste container or laundry cart, an UpScale indicator with the Barcode & QR Print Function can send weight and record fields to the Arlyn PR-A90. For broader background, see medical and clinical weighing equipment.
Tell us the area, what you weigh, the heaviest loaded weight, the cart, chair, or container involved, the required displayed increment, and where the reading needs to go. Arlyn can recommend a standard medical or industrial scale, or build a configuration around the equipment your facility already uses.
Contact Arlyn ScalesCall 800-645-4301
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