Digital scale and method

Claim 2

In a digital display system for a scale of the type in which the weight of an object being weighed is indicated by the position of a movable member, said scale having a normal range of operation in which said member moves between predetermined limiting positions corresponding to zero and full-scale weight readings, encoder means operably connected to the movable member for generating a digital signal indicative of the position of said member, means for converting the digital signal from said encoder means to a binary coded decimal signal, scaler means for receiving said binary coded decimal signal and scaling it by a predetermined factor, digital display means connected to said scaler means for displaying the scaled signal to provide a digital indication of the weight of the object being weighed, and overscale/underscale means connected to said movable member for detecting when the scale is outside its normal range of operation aNd conditioning said display means to display the complement of the scaled signal as a negative quantity when said member is in a position corresponding to a weight less than zero.

Claim 3

A system as in claim 1 together with selectively operable memory latch means connected for receiving and selectively storing the digital signal from said encoder means.

Claim 4

A system as in claim 1 wherein said overscale/underscale means is connected to said display means for conditioning the same to display an overscale digit when said movable member is in a position corresponding to a weight greater than the full-scale reading.

Claim 5

In a digital display system for a scale of the type in which the weight of an object being weighed is indicated by the rotational position of a rotatably mounted member, said scale having a normal operating range of zero to full-scale weight readings corresponding to one revolution of said member, encoder means operably connected to the rotatably mounted member for producing a digital signal indicative of the rotational position of said member, converter means for converting said digital signal to a binary coded decimal signal, digital display means for displaying said binary coded decimal signal to provide a visual digital indication of the weight of the object being weighed, and overscale/underscale means connected for sensing the position of said rotatably mounted member and conditioning said display means to display the complement of said binary coded decimal signal as a negative quantity when said member is in a position corresponding to a weight less than zero.

Claim 6

In a digital display system for a scale of the type in which the weight of an object being weighed is indicated by the rotational position of a rotatably mounted member, said scale having a normal operating range of zero to full-scale weight readings corresponding to one revolution of said member, encoder means operably connected to the rotatably mounted member for producing a digital signal indicative of the rotational position of said member, converter means for converting said digital signal to a binary coded decimal signal, digital display means for displaying said binary coded decimal signal to provide a visual digital indication of the weight of the object being weighed, and overscale/underscale means connected for sensing the position of said rotatably mounted member and conditioning said display means to display the complement of said binary coded decimal signal as a negative quantity when said member is in a position corresponding to a weight less than zero.

Claim 7

A system as in claim 4 together with scaler means connected intermediate said converter means and said digital display means for scaling said binary coded decimal signal by a predetermined factor.

Claim 8

A system as in claim 4 together with memory latch means connected for receiving and storing the digital signal from said encoder means.

Claim 9

A system as in claim 4 wherein said overscale/underscale means includes means connected to said rotatably mounted member for producing a control signal when said member is in certain predetermined positions toward the ends of the revolution corresponding to the normal operating range of the scale.

Claim 10

A system as in claim 4 wherein said digital display means includes means for displaying a minus sign when said overscale/underscale means senses that said rotatably mounted member is in a position corresponding to a weight less than zero.

Claim 11

A system as in claim 4 wherein said overscale/underscale means is connected to said digital display means for conditioning the same to display an overscale digit when said rotatably mounted member is in a position corresponding to a weight greater than the full-scale reading.

Claim 12

A system as in claim 4 wherein said digital display means includes a multidigit display comprising a plurality of digital display elements and means for blanking said display elements to prevent the display of zeros in digits of greater significance than the most significant digit in which a non-zero digit is displayed.

Claim 13

In a digital display system for a scale of the type in which the weight of an object being weighed is indicated by the rotational position of a rotatably mounted member, said scale having a normal operating range of zero to full-scale readings corresponding to one complete revolution of said member, encoder means operably connected to the rotatably mounted member for producing a binary coded signal indicative of the position of said member, decoder means connected for converting said binary coded signal into an excess-3 coded binary signal, converter means for converting said excess-3 coded binary signal into a binary coded decimal signal, digital display means for displaying said binary coded decimal signal to provide a visual digital indication of the weight of the object being weighed, and overscale/underscale means for sensing the position of said rotatably mounted member and cOnditioning said decoder, converter and display means in such manner that said display means displays the complement of said binary coded decimal signal as a negative quantity when said member is in a position corresponding to a weight less than zero.

Claim 14

In a digital display system for a scale of the type in which the weight of an object being weighed is indicated by the rotational position of a rotatably mounted member, said scale having a normal operating range of zero to full-scale readings corresponding to one complete revolution of said member, encoder means operably connected to the rotatably mounted member for producing a binary coded signal indicative of the position of said member, decoder means connected for converting said binary coded signal into an excess-3 coded binary signal, converter means for converting said excess-3 coded binary signal into a binary coded decimal signal, digital display means for displaying said binary coded decimal signal to provide a visual digital indication of the weight of the object being weighed, and overscale/underscale means for sensing the position of said rotatably mounted member and cOnditioning said decoder, converter and display means in such manner that said display means displays the complement of said binary coded decimal signal as a negative quantity when said member is in a position corresponding to a weight less than zero.

Claim 15

A system as in claim 11 together with scaler means connected intermediate said converter means and said digital display means for scaling said binary coded decimal signal by a predetermined factor.

Claim 16

A system as in claim 11 wherein said overscale/underscale means is connected wherein said overscale/underscale means is connected to said digital display means for conditioning the same to display an overscale digit when said rotatably mounted member is in a position corresponding to a weight greater than the full-scale reading.

Claim 17

In a method for digitally displaying the weight of an object on a scale of the type in which the weight of the object is indicated by the position of a rotatable member, said scale having a normal operating range of zero to full-scale readings corresponding to one revolution of said member, the steps of generating by means of an encoder operably connected to the rotatable member a digital signal indicative of the position of said member, converting the digital signal to a binary coded decimal signal, visually displaying said binary coded decimal signal in digital form, sensing the position of the rotatably mounted member to determine whether the scale is outside its normal operating range, and displaying the complement of said binary coded decimal as a negative quantity when said member is in a position corresponding to a reading less than zero.

Claim 18

In a method for digitally displaying the weight of an object on a scale of the type in which the weight of the object is indicated by the position of a rotatable member, said scale having a normal operating range of zero to full-scale readings corresponding to one revolution of said member, the steps of generating by means of an encoder operably connected to the rotatable member a digital signal indicative of the position of said member, converting the digital signal to a binary coded decimal signal, visually displaying said binary coded decimal signal in digital form, sensing the position of the rotatably mounted member to determine whether the scale is outside its normal operating range, and displaying the complement of said binary coded decimal as a negative quantity when said member is in a position corresponding to a reading less than zero.

Claim 19

A method as in claim 14 together with the additional step of displaying an overscale digit in the digital display when the rotatably mounted member is in a position corresponding to a weight greater than the full-scale reading.

Claim 20

A method as in claim 14 wherein said digital signal is converted to excess-3 coded binary form before it is converted to a binary coded decimal signal and wherein the excess-3 coded binary form of signal is complemented when scale is below its normal range.

Claim 21

A method as in claim 14 together with the additional step of scaling said binary coded decimal signal by a predetermined factor before said signal is displayed.

Claim 22

A method as in claim 14 together with the additional step of storing the digital signal from said encoder.