AN ENHANCED WEIGHT CALCULATING UTENSIL

Abstract

An apparatus comprising a force and orientation measuring sensors, and a calculating module.

Said calculating module comprising a processing unit, a memory, and a code designed to calculate the accurate weight of the content of a utensil while held in any angle and orientation or rest upon any surface.

Claims

1. A weight calculating utensil comprising: a content collecting member (2) (CCM) a touchable member a weighing means an orientation means (7) a calculating module, wherein said CCM is designed to contain a material, and wherein said touchable member (1) is designed to be in direct or in direct touch with the ground, and wherein said weighing means (7) designed to measure and output the force applied by gravity of said CCM and said material, and wherein said orientation means (7) designed to measure and output the angles of said utensil with regard of two axis parallel to the ground, and wherein said calculating module (8) is designed to receive the output from said weighing means (7) and said orientation means (7), and to calculate the net weight of said material.

2. A weight calculating utensil according to claim 1, wherein said touchable member (1) is formed by a handle, a bottom, spikes, an envelope or any combination thereof.

3. A weight calculating utensil of claim 1, wherein said touchable member (1) is designed to be held by hand laid on a surface, lean on an object or any combination thereof.

4. A weight calculating utensil of claims 1-3, wherein the weighing means (7) is selected from a spring, a balance, a sensor, a force motor type load cell, a strain gouge, an accelerometer a vibrating wire, a capacitive load cell or any combination thereof.

5. A weight calculating utensil of claims 1-4, wherein said orientation means (7) is selected from a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a magnetomoeter or a combination thereof.

6. A weight calculating utensil of claims 1-5 to be used with bulk commodities.

7. A weight calculating utensil of claims 1-5, to be used to collect cut food.

8. A weight calculating utensil of claims 1-5, to be used with cooking and baking ingredients.

9. A weight calculating utensil of claims 1-5, to be used with chemical substances.

10. A weight calculating utensil of claims 1-5, to be used with constructing materials.

11. A weight calculating utensil of any pf previous claims, comprising at least one button, wherein said at least one button is assigned to: lock output, change system, balance, transmit or receive data or any combination thereof.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] FIG. 1 depict the problem of inaccurate measurement by a utensil of the prior art.

[0027] FIG. 2 describes examples of utensils that could be adjusted with accordance to the present invention.

[0028] FIG. 3 Represent a utensil in various orientations affecting the read of a weighing sensor.

[0029] FIG. 4 Depict an example of a utensil with accordance of the present invention.

[0030] FIG. 5 Depict another embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] FIG. 6 describes a utensil with accordance to the present invention, where the touchable member (1) is in a form of two spikes alongside the bottom of the content collecting member (2) slightly exceeding it.

[0032] FIG. 7 describes a utensil with accordance to the present invention, where the touchable member (1) is a handle on side of the content collecting member (2), and stretching in a form of flat surface under the bottom of the content collecting member (2) slightly exceeding it.

[0033] FIG. 8 depict a utensil similar to the previous comprising a different location and possibly different type of the weighing means.

[0034] FIG. 9-10 depict yet other embodiment and utensils of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM

[0035] To those who skilled in the art, it is apparent that an accurate measurement of materials is needed in many circumstances and fields. Such measurement is needed in trade and commerce for selling and buying certain goods, it is also needed it the art of manufacturing, pharma and chemical industries cooking and baking and many more actions.

[0036] Usually, the measurement is of weight, and it is especially needed when a certain amount of material is being taken or otherwise removed from a bulk a pile or other form of large quantity material.

[0037] Usually, such materials are collected by a tensile, be it a scoop, catcher, ladle, spatula or other.

[0038] The material could be collected from a container, a jar, a pile or a sack, and then either packed or being used by itself or with other ingredients or materials.

[0039] Usually when held in the vicinity of said pile or package the posture of the utensil is not leveled, thus its' orientation related to the ground varies.

[0040] While prior art teaches how to eliminate rapid movement of the utensil while repeatedly filing containers with a predetermined same quantity, there is a need in the art to enable the exact measurement of a material while it is in vicinity of the pile or bulk it was collected from, and to avoid the need of taking out the utensil, leveling up it's orientation and then weighing or reading its contents weight.

[0041] This need is not limited to indicating a predetermined portion, but rather to know what is the actual weight, in order to allow different uses or different quantities to be allowed with accordance to the material and the action it is needed for.

[0042] Leveling a weighing device is a fundamental requirement, that derives from the fact that the force we call weight Is force directed to the center of earth (i.e. is perpendicular to the ground) and follows the simple formula; force=mass×acceleration, where the acceleration is that of gravity which is approximately 9.7 meter (32 feet) per second. In order to measure weight accurately the weight mechanism, be it a spring a balance, a sensor such as a force motor type load cell, or any other, must have its weighing axis aligned with the gravitational field. Therefore the weighing pan or surface must be orthogonal (90 degrees) to the gravitational field. In ail directions and dimensions. If the surface of the weighing mechanism is not orthogonal to the weigh axis of the force motor, i.e. not leveled with the ground, the weight measured wouldn't be accurate.

[0043] When the weighing apparatus is combined with a utensil that is either handheld or put, in or on, a pile of material, the orientation is usually not leveled with the ground on two dimensions. The utensil could be tilt up or down and could be tilt left or right.

[0044] Each position or orientation reduces the output of the weighing mechanism in accordance with the angle it tilts.

[0045] The reduction in weight as the weighing surface deviates from the orthogonal axis to the ground, follows a cosine curve shape. If the angle of error is 0 degrees (perfect alignment) the cosine of 0 degrees=1.000 and there is no weight error. If the angle of error is 30° then the cosine=0.866, which is nearly 15% of force reduction. If the angular error is 45° then the cosine=0.707, which is nearly 30% of force reduction.

[0046] A tilt of a utensil, in such degrees, is quite frequent when it is inserted into a sack or a container, large or small, or when put next to a pile or skewer in order to load it. Furthermore, if said utensil is tilt on both dimensions or axis the reduction is exponential, i.e. if the utensil is 20° downwards which results in a reduction of over 6% (cos20°=0.939) and 20° to the left, then the reduction of the force is the product of (cos20°)2 or 0.94×0.94=0.88 which reflects 12% reduction of weight. If the tilt is 25° forward and 20° sidewards, the reduction is (cos25°)×(cos20°)=0.906×0.939=0.851 or 15%. If the tilt is 35° backward, and 25° sideward then the reduction in weight would be cos35°×cos25°=0.819×0.906=0.742, which is over 2.5% of force reduction.

[0047] Moreover, to ensure a quick and easy measurement, the handler of the utensil should be able to establish the accurate weight without the need of taking the utensil of the bulk, sack, skewer or pile and lift it in the air, by hand. Yet, all prior art weighing scoops require to hold the scoop in its handle and keep it in the air preventing it from touching anything.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0048] Some embodiments of the invention are herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of embodiments of the invention. In this regard, the description taken with the drawings makes apparent to those skilled in the art how embodiments of the invention may be practiced.

[0049] The present invention pertains to an inventive apparatus, allowing the accurate measurement of the content of a utensil. The apparatus being a smart utensil, is particularly useful for collecting material and determine the exact amount collected.

[0050] The present invention could be used, but not limited to, commodities, food, chemicals, industrial compounds and more.

[0051] In the food industry, the apparatus according to the present invention could be used for precooked ingredients, such as, but not limited to, sugar, flour, baking soda or other powders. It can be used for rice and other types of grains or legumes. It can also be used for cooked food served to plates or take-away bags, or for shawarma or doner kebab that is sliced from a turning skewer.

[0052] In the chemistry field, it can be used for the preparation of lab compounds and mixtures. It could be used for small scale constructing materials such as cement, gypsum, asphalt or other.

[0053] It is therefore understood to those skilled in the art that the present invention is of use for any material that can be collected manually with a utensil and should be of an exact quantity.

[0054] The content of said utensil could be collected from a pile, bulk, sack, box, barrel, container or being cut from skewer, chunk, block, wheel of cheese, or from jars, bottles or other boxes.

[0055] In an aspect of the present invention, the apparatus is a form of utensil and contains weighing means, orientation means (7), and a calculating module. Said utensil comprising also a content collecting member (2) and a touchable member.

[0056] The content collecting member (2) and the touchable member (1) are assembled in a manner that allows relative movement thereof and allows the weighing means (7) to be located in or close to both members joint or to perform as said joint.

[0057] The weighing means (7) is designed to measure the force applied by the content of the utensil towards the ground.

[0058] The weighing means (7) could be any sensor or weight measuring mechanism, having an output that reads an injective value representing the force applied on it by gravity.

[0059] The orientation means (7) could be any orientation sensor such as gyroscope, accelerometer, manometers or a combination thereof. It could be an attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), or any other component designed to provide the output as set forth herein.

[0060] The orientation means (7) is designed to measure the orientation of the utensil with respect to the dimension orthogonal (leveled dimension) to earth gravity. Said orientation means (7) having an output of two values. The first value indicates the angle of the utensil with respect to the leveled dimension on an X-axis (up-down or forward-backward), and the second value indicates the angel of the utensil with respect to the leveled dimension on a Y-axis (left-right).

[0061] The calculating module (8) receives input from both weighing means, and orientation means (7) outputs. The calculating module (8) is designed to run a script that calculates the exact weight: of the content of the utensil by way of compensating for the weight reduction caused by any of the tilt angles, and by subtracting the tare weight of the utensils content collecting member (2).

[0062] Attention is drawn now to Fig. x, that depict the forces and the orientation of a utensil with accordance to the present invention. The utensil comprising a weighing means, orientation means (7), calculating module, a content collecting member (2) and a touchable member. Said utensil is tilted up by an angle of α°.

[0063] The weight of the content collecting member (2) is “Mccm.Math.g”. The weight of the content collected on it is “Mcont.Math.g”

[0064] The equivalent force of both forces “Mcont.Math.g” and “Mccm.Math.g” is the force “Mtotal.Math.g” “α” is the pitch angle.

[0065] “β” is the roll angle. The only force measured by the weighing means (7) is of the total mass of the contents collecting member and the content collected, reduced by the cosine of the pitch angel multiplied by the cosine of the roll angel hence: M total.Math.g×cosα×cos β=Weighing means (7) Output (WMO). The orientation means (7) output consist on two values ‘α’ and ‘β’.

[0066] The calculating module (8) receives an input comprising of WMO, ‘α’ and ‘β’. And perform a calculation to find the actual weight of the content collected, that is Mcont.Math.g. At first it finds the gross weight of the content:

[00001]$\mathrm{Mtotal}.Math.g=\frac{WMO}{\cos \alpha \times \cos \beta }$

[0067] Next, the calculating module (8) subtracts the weight or the content collecting member (2) from the gross weight and get the weight of the content collected:

[00002]$‘\mathrm{Mtotal}.Math.g’-‘\mathrm{Mccm}.Math.g’=‘\mathrm{Mcont}.Math.g’$

[0068] in some embodiments of the present invention, the output of both weighing and orientation means (7) are continuous while in others it is of a predetermined frequency.

[0069] In some embodiment, the output of the calculating module (8) is of the same frequency of its' input while in others it is of a lower frequency.

[0070] Optionally when the output of the calculating module (8) is less frequent than its' input, the calculating module (8) could be designed to compare, adjust or calculate an arithmetic mean of predefined numeral Mtotal.Math.g outputs.

[0071] In an aspect of the present invention, it comprises means for reading the output of said calculating module, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the output means is a led or other screen (9) embedded into the touchable member (1) of the utensil, showing the numeral value of the weight (Mcont.Math.g).

[0072] In other embodiment, the utensil could be designed to allow connectivity such as RF, IDRF, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or any other, that allows the receipt of the calculating module (8) output in a detached screen or speaker.

[0073] Optionally in some embodiment of the present invention, a connectivity feature allows for connecting with other device and exchange data such as prices, level of total or partial stock and other values regarding the overall material collecting activities.

[0074] In some of the embodiment of the present invention at least one button (99) is attached to said calculating module. Said button could be assigned to any of said tasks: lock the reading of the calculated weight on the screen, balance the apparatus before use, choose a measurement system (metric, pounds etc.) or transmit data to or from the utensil.

[0075] Attention is drawn now to Figs. Y-z. In an aspect of the present invention, the touchable member (1) of the utensil is designed in a manner that allows to hold it, lay it on a surface leaning it on an object such as a chunk a skewer or a counter, or even having it inside a pile, a sack or other container.

[0076] The assembly of the content collecting member (2) and the touchable member (1) is designed to allow the free measured movement of the content collecting member (2) in relation to said touchable member (1) in a manner that eliminates the need for holding the utensil in the air and allows an accurate weight reading even when touched or laid as described.

[0077] It is therefore understood to those skilled in the art that the shape, design, and features of said touchable member (1) could vary and depends on different uses. In some embodiments of the present invention, the touchable member (1) consists of a handling part. Designed to be held by hand.

[0078] In other embodiments of the present invention, the touchable member (1) is located under the content collecting member (2), being of a full surface or of numeral stripes or rods.

[0079] In yet other embodiments of the present invention the touchable member (1) is designed to be under, or aside of the content collecting member (2) and longer towards the front, to allow the lean of the utensil against a wall, a counter or a skewer while cutting from it.

[0080] In more embodiments, the touchable member (1) is placed around and under the content collecting member (2), surrounding it and allows the accurate weighing while being touched both by the sides and the bottom, like when put in a pile a container or a sack.

[0081] It is therefore emphasized that both members can be of any suitable shape and role, as long as they allow touching one of them and a free weighing movement of the other.

[0082] In some embodiment of the present invention there could be numeral touchable members, (e.g. a handle and a bottom) Yet it is required that the assembly of the utensil would prevent any movement between said touchable members, by having them be made from one piece or have a solid joint.