High-speed Weighing Using Impact on Load Cells

Many techniques employed in current weighing systems rely on the step response of one or a number of force transducers for making measurements. However, force transducers can have significant settling time, which limits the maximum rate at which measurements can be made. This paper presents a method of weight measurement that utilizes the impact of an object on a load cell. The impact impulse can be approximated by the Dirac delta function and hence the output resembles the impulse response. The size of the impact impulse and the weight of the object can be found from this impulse response. Signal processing is used to eliminate the long oscillatory response of the force transducer, allowing the measurements to be made at a much higher rate.