A method and system can measure the weight of a bulk material within a container by applying excitation in the form of vibrational energy and interpreting the container's response to the vibration.

A method for configuring a calibration mechanism in a force sensor (100) has the steps of: coupling an end of the calibration lever (1071) to a loading end (102) of the force sensor; adjusting, in a no-load condition, the center of gravity (G.sub.0) of the unloaded calibration lever (1071), so that the center of gravity (G.sub.0) lies on a horizontal line (H) through the center of a calibration lever fulcrum (1031) at a fixed end (103) thereof; and adjusting, in a full-load condition, the center of gravity (G.sub.1) of the calibration lever (1071) loaded with the calibration weight (106), so that the center of gravity (G.sub.1) lies on the horizontal line (H) through the center of the calibration lever fulcrum. The calibration error caused by inclination in the force sensor is reduced by practice of this method.

A weighing sensor for a scale, includes a mainland body, a load receiver articulated on the mainland body by parallelogram guiding, and a lever mechanism having at least two levers which are supported on the mainland body by supporting joints, a first lever being arranged closer to a load receiver than a second lever, and the at least two levers being connected to each other via coupling rods and load joints, a calibration weight assembly including a calibration weight rest and a calibration weight being arranged on one lever, the calibration weight rest being connected to at least one coupling element.

A weighing scale has a housing accommodating a load cell, having fixed, deformation, movable portions. The fixed portion is connected to the housing, and the movable portion bears a spider having a platter. The deformation portion has a strain gauge measuring a weight acting on the platter. A strip light is attached to an external wall of the housing. A state machine of a controller depicts states of the weighing scale. The controller either: applies a voltage to the strip light in a pulsed manner when the state machine is in a first state, and applies a voltage to the strip light constantly in a second state; or applies a voltage to a third group of LED lamps of the strip light constantly in the first state, and applies a voltage to a second group of LED lamps of the strip light constantly in the second state.

Systems, devices, and methods are disclosed herein for monitoring physiological data of subjects seated on a toilet, including systems, devices, and methods for monitoring loads and forces on a scale device. In some embodiments, systems, devices, and methods disclosed herein include a set of sensors that can measure loads and forces present at a scale device receiving the feet of an individual seated in a toilet.

A scale calibration device and method of use. The device may include a base supportable on and movable along a surface to a location. The base further includes a base surface for supporting a scale to be calibrated proximate the location. The device includes a frame assembly connected to the base and operable to support, in a position over the base surface, means for simulating a dead weight, the means being operable to apply a force to the scale supported on the base surface.

A patient support apparatus includes a load cell, disposed between a base and a litter, that is configured to generate an output representative of a load acting on the patient support surface. The load cell is associated with a calibration reference symbol assigned to the load cell to define a calibration value for a parameter of the load cell. A user interface is configured to receive user input of a virtual symbol corresponding to the calibration reference symbol. A controller is configured to store a plurality of calibration reference symbols and a plurality of representative calibration values each associated with one of the plurality of calibration reference symbols, initiate a calibration procedure, determine a representative calibration value for each calibration reference symbol, calibrate the parameter of the load cell based on the representative calibration value determined based on the virtual symbol, and determine weight acting on the litter.

Systems and methods for scale calibration. One example embodiment provides a system for calibrating a scale. The system may generally include an actuator for applying force to a platform of the medical scale, and an electronic processor communicatively coupled to the actuator. The electronic processor may be configured to control an actuator to apply, for a first interval, a first applied force having a first value greater than a target force value, and control the actuator to apply, for a second interval, a second applied force having a second value substantially equal to the target force value.

A patient support apparatus includes a load frame, a support frame, and a plurality of load cells supporting the load frame on the support frame such that a load supported by the load frame is supported by the load cells, each load cell configured to produce a signal indicative of a load weight bearing upon that load cell. The load cells are calibrated after installation.

Methods and systems for eccentric load error correction are disclosed. A plurality of weighing data sets for a weight having a mass value are obtained, where the weight is loaded at different positions on a weighing platform of a weighing device. Differences between each of the weighing data sets and the average value of the plurality of weighing data sets or the mass value of the weight are calculated. Sensor correction coefficients are calculated and updated when the maximum absolute value of the differences exceeds a pre-set threshold. The weighing data sets are updated. The above steps are repeated until the absolute values of all the differences are less than the pre-set threshold.