Cylinders of liquids, gasses and liquefied gasses are prevalent in various process environments. The cylinder, or drum, or tank may contain chemicals that are used in the water process industry. In the semiconductor industry, they may hold chlorine gas or any number of other gasses that are used for fabricating wafers of integrated circuits. The food industry utilizes these types of containers to hold a wide variety of ingredients, including flavorings, sweeteners, thickening agents, and almost any other type of additive. It is, of course, important to keep track of the amount of material remaining in the cylinder. There are a number of different types of measuring devices. Some very simple types include a sight gage, allowing visual inspection. Another type of gage uses a float to determine the height of the material within the tank. Pressure gages may also be [+]

On a typical commercial jet, on any typical flight, there are some thin people and some heavier people. Some are traveling just for the day and are only taking along hand luggage and some are traveling for weeks with a number of large suitcases. Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration have done studies to determine the average weight of a passenger and their associated luggage. Over time, these averages have been adjusted to take into account that people may be slightly heavier than they were a generation ago. Based on the statistical average, safety margins have been calculated to account for deviations from the average. A flight crew can then determine how much additional cargo they can carry, and how much fuel will be needed to safely reach their destination. This method works as long as there are enough passengers to [+]

Any situation that requires accurate colors can present a difficult problem. The human eye is an excellent instrument for detecting differences in color between items. Very slight changes in the color itself, or in the brightness or saturation of a color can be seen. It is for these reasons that paints must be formulated very accurately to provide customer acceptance and satisfaction. Industrial paints, and most specifically, automotive paints, call for exceedingly high levels of consistency. Today’s high performance automotive paints include many different ingredients. Each of these ingredients must be very accurately measured. The best method of measuring is by weight, using precision industrial scales. The electronic scales used for this purpose must fulfill a number of specifications. Of course, they must have enough weight capacity. The accuracy and the resolution, or readability of the scale must also be high enough. [+]

Unfortunately, the solution to every problem is not the same. If it was, we would only have to solve an issue once, and all our problems would vanish. That also holds true when referring to industrial scales and weighing requirements. Most situations that require something to be weighed can be solved by going to a catalog of standard digital scales. One can find a wide variety of scale capacities, weight resolution, platform size and features. Different options offer the user different styles of weight display indicators and different types of communication. If the standard type of industrial scale technology, known as strain gage load cells, does not offer enough accuracy, then an alternative type can be chosen. But a large number of weighing applications cannot be fulfilled by standard electronic scales. This is especially the case where a specialized piece of [+]

Animals that are raised for their meat are bred to be efficient in the conversion of feed into meat. Especially with the increased costs of corn and grains, it is important to carefully monitor the weight gain of the animal. Furthermore, for certain farm animals, such as pigs, it is desirable for all of the animals that are being raised in a batch to reach their targeted final weights at the same time. Specialty weighing and sorting devices have been designed by Arlyn Scales for this industry. The pig sorter consists of an inner cage with entry doors and exit doors, along with some sorting gates. The inner cage is suspended from load cells and hung from an outer cage. In normal operation, the entry door starts in the open position. An electric eye detects when an animal enters the cage. [+]

Due to the hazardous nature of medical wastes, it is necessary for them to be handled in ways that are safe. Many different collection devices are available to receive hypodermic needles. Secure waste receptacles can accept bandage materials, surgery accessories, gloves, tubing and other similar types of items. There are also specialty containers for tissue and fluids that must be disposed of. There is widespread use of these waste containers throughout the medical field, including doctors’ offices, health care facilities and hospitals. There are also many procedures, regulations and laws that address this type of waste material. This is meant to protect the public, health care professionals, and the patients. It details how the material is collected and handled, and the type of equipment that is required. It also addresses how this material is ultimately disposed of. Often, it must be [+]

A factory floor or manufacturing facility may include many types of industrial scales, including bench scales, parts counting scales, platform scales, drum scales and floor scales. Each of these electronic scales performs specific functions for the people using these instruments. They may read the weight information directly from the digital indicator. The data may be used to determine when some part of a process is finished. There may be containers on the scale platforms that have to be changed when a certain target weight is reached. In all of these cases, the local scale operator is responsible for whatever operations are required. But there may be many situations where this is not practical. For example, a particular type of chemical may be dispensed from a drum, which sits on a scale platform, into a water treatment facility. It may take many [+]

People who are wheelchair bound experience many limitations. It is often difficult to move through homes and buildings. Transportation can require special arrangements. Self care, including the preparation of food, dressing, and other every day activities can be a challenge. Furthermore, many people who use wheelchairs have a variety of medical issues. It is often important to monitor the weight of the patient. This may be to make sure they are receiving the proper nutrition and are not losing weight. Or quite the opposite, it may be important that there is no inappropriate weight gain caused by fluid retention or other issues. For this reason, a wheelchair scale is an important health care device. An important feature that should be included in a wheelchair scale is a platform that is large enough to easily move the wheelchair onto and off of. It [+]

It is very common to use a platform scale to weigh the contents of a tank or drum of liquid. This type of industrial scale includes a platform that is large enough to accommodate a 55 gallon drum, or even larger tanks. Typically the digital scale will incorporate four load sensors, so that the position of the tank on the platform is not critical. Good quality platform scales use stainless steel load sensors for maximum ruggedness, reliability and corrosion resistance. Generally, a drum scale can have a capacity of 1000 lb. This will handle virtually any type of liquid in a 55 gallon drum. The scale has a readability of 0.2 lb. This is useful for obtaining accurate weight information. But it is also possible to use weight data that is acquired over a period of time to calculate flow rate. [+]