WhatisaLoadCell?HowdoLoadCellsWork?

Whatisaloadcell?
Aloadcellisasensororatransducerthatconvertsaloadorforceactingonitintoanelectronicsignal.Thiselectronicsignal
canbeavoltagechange,currentchangeorfrequencychangedependingonthetypeofloadcellandcircuitryused.
LoadcellsorLoadsensorsastheyarecommonlycalledcanbemadeusingresistive,capacitive,inductiveorother
techniques.Mostcommonlyavailableloadcellsarebasedontheprincipleofchangeofresistanceinresponsetoanapplied
load.Thisistermedpiezoresistivei.e.somethingthatchangesinresponsetoanappliedpressure(orsqueezed).Loadstar
Sensorshaspioneeredtheuseofcapacitivetechniquestobuildrugged,smalldigitalloadcellswithhighlevelUSB,WiFi,XBee
WirelessandBluetoothoutputs.Wehaveoveradozenpatentscoveringvariousaspectsofcapacitiveanddigitalloadcells.We
havealsodevelopedavarietyofconvenientlowcosteasytouse,digitalandanaloginterfacesthatenableincorporationofload
cellsandothersensorsintoavarietyofapplications.
Commonlyavailableloadcellsinclude:
SBeamLoadCell
SinglePointLoadCells
ShearBeamLoadCells
PancakeLoadCells
ButtonLoadCells
ThroughholeLoadcellsand
MiniatureandSubMiniatureloadcells

LoadCellsHowTheyWork?
Loadcellsaretraditionallybuiltusingresistivebondedfoilstraingauges(asshowninthepicturebelow).Straingaugesare
essentiallyresistorsbuiltusingstandardsemiconductoretchingtechniquesandarebondedtoametallicmembersuchasa
cantileverbeamordiaphragm.

UsuallyatleastfourstraingaugesareconfiguredinaWheatstoneBridgeconfigurationwithfourseparateresistorsconnected
asshownbelowinwhatiscalledaWheatstoneBridgeNetwork.Anexcitationvoltageusually10Visappliedtoonesetof
cornersandthevoltagedifferenceismeasuredbetweentheothertwocorners.Atequilibriumwithnoappliedload,thevoltage
outputiszeroorveryclosetozerowhenthefourresistorsarecloselymatchedinvalue.Thatiswhyitisreferredtoasa
balancedbridgecircuit.

Whenthemetallicmembertowhichthestraingaugesareattached,isstressedbytheapplicationofaforce,theresultingstrain
leadstoachangeinresistanceinone(ormore)oftheresistors.Thischangeinresistanceresultsinachangeinoutput
voltage.Thissmallchangeinoutputvoltagecanbemeasuredanddigitizedaftercarefulamplificationofthesmallmillivoltlevel
signalstoahigheramplitude05Vor010Vsignal.
Theseloadcellshavebeeninsuseformanydecadesnow,andcanprovideveryaccuratereadingsbutrequiremanytedious
stepsduringthemanufacturingprocess.
Thestepsinvolvedinmanufacturingstraingaugebasedloadcellsinclude:
Machiningofanintricatepatterntooptimizestress&strainonthemechanicalmember
Controllingsurfaceroughnessthroughsurfacepolishingtoensureroughedgesareremovedpriortobondingastrain
gauge
ScoringtomakealignmentmarkstoalignmultiplestraingaugesthatneedtobebondedtocreatetheWheatstonebridge
Applicationofabondingagentwithmatchingtemperaturecoefficientstothemetalbeingused
Applyingevenpressureonthestraingaugeduringthecuringprocesstoavoidlumpinessalongthebond
Curingatanelevatedtemperatureinanoventocurethebondingagentandtemperthebond
Applyingacoatingtoprotectthestraingaugesandwiringfrommoistureandhumidityandenvironmentaleffects
Oncetheloadcellsarebuilt,theyneedtobetestedatdifferenttemperaturesinordertoascertaintheirdriftwithtemperature.
Thermistorsareinstalledtoreducethetemperatureeffectatzeroloadsandthenatfullscaleloadspriortofinaltestand
calibration.
Asyoucanseetheresistiveloadcellsarecumbersometobuildandrequiremanymanualstepsduringtheirmanufacture.
However,whenbuiltproperlyfromatrustedsource,resistiveloadcellsbuiltwithbondedfoilstraingauges,offeraccuraciesas
goodas+/0.02%offullscale!Andwhenproperlycompensatedfortemperaturevariationstheycanbeusedbetween10Cto
40Cgenerallywithverygoodresistancetotemperaturevariations.Finally,theseloadcellsofferexcellentoffcenterload
compensationandhenceareveryusefulforbuildingscaleswheretheweighttobemeasuredcouldbeplacedrandomly
anywhereontheloadingplatform.

WhatareCapacitiveLoadCells?Howdotheywork?
Capacitiveloadcellsarebuiltontheprincipalofachangeincapacitancewhenaforceisappliedontheloadcell.Capacitance
istheabilityofasystemtostoreacharge.Ifacapacitorisbuiltusingtheclassicparallelplateapproachthenitsabilitytostorea
chargeisdirectlyproportionaltotheareabetweenthetwoplatesandinverselyproportionaltothegapbetweentheplates.

Theconstructionofacapacitivesensorismuchsimplerthanconstructingaresistiveloadcell.Inaddition,byoptimizingthe
startinggapsand/oroverlapareasofthetwoplates,oncecanvarythesensitivityandoutputsignaltooptimizeitforvarious
applications.
Capacitivetechniquescanbeusedtomeasuregaps(proximity),humidity,tilt,force,torque,acceleration,fluidqualityandmany
otherphysicalparameters!Itisaveryversatileparameterthatofferstremendoussensitivitiesinasmallpackage.
Thiscapacitivetechnologyismoreruggedthanstraingaugedesignsandcanthereforebeusedinawidervarietyof
engineeringapplications.WhencoupledwithUSBwirelesstechnology,theseloadsensorscanbeusedforeasymeasurement
onaPCandfordatasharingontheInternet.

LoadSensorsAvailableinDigitalandAnalogDesigns
TheiLoadSeriesLoadcellsbuiltonourcapacitancetechnologycomebuiltinwithbothanaloganddigitaloutputs!Usinga
simplehybridadapter,onecansimultaneouslyreadthedigitaloutputonaPCwhilemeasuringtheanalogoutputonavoltmeter
ordataacquisitionsystem!
ThisuniquehybridoutputfeatureenablesdeveloperstomonitorthesensoroutputonaPCwhiledebuggingtheirembedded
applicationwhichsamplestheanalogoutput.
Theseunitshaveavarietyoffeatures,including:
DigitalandAnalog(05VDC)output
Wired(AnalogorDigitalUSB)andWirelessoutputs(XBeeWireless,WiFiorBluetooth)
Ruggedconstruction
Smallsizes
Highdataoutputrates(>500Hz)
Versatileshapesandpatterns
Sensitivereadingsforincreasedaccuracy
Reducedenvironmentaleffects
Loadsensorsareavailableinavarietyofsizesandcapacitiesfrom2lbsto10,000lbstosuitdifferentengineeringapplications.
Somemodelsareonlyaboutahalfinchdiameterandonly0.1incheshigh,sotheycanfitintotightlocationssuchaswhenused
inamedicaldeviceapplication.Whilethestandardcircularshapeworksformostapplications,customfittingsarealsoavailable.
LoadstarSensors,Inc.makescapacitiveloadcellswithbothanaloganddigitaloutputs.WealsosellavarietyofPCfriendly
networkingaccessoriesandindicatorsinadditiontoourweightbasedmeasurementandcontrolsoftware.

LoadCellSelectionGuidelines
Whenyoumeasureforcesorloads,inadditiontothecapacityandsizeoftheloadcell,anumberofapplicationrequirements
needtobecarefullyconsidered.Theseinclude:
OperatingTemperatureConditions(Wellcontrolled,roomtemperatureoroutdoor,harshenvironmentswithchanging
humidityandtemperature)
Durationofmeasurement(ShorttermmeasurementwithaTareorlongertermmeasurementswhereTareisnotfeasible)
AbsoluteAccuracyRequired(asapercentageoffullscaleoutputorasapercentageofreading)
Directionofloading(tensionorcompressionorboth)
CertificationsNeeded(fortradeapplicationsneedingNTEPorOIMLcertificationsortestandmeasurementneeding
ASTME74ORR&D)
MountingOptions(Fastensensoronbothsidesornoneedforfasteningatall)
Outputrequired(AnalogmV/V,05V,420mA,DigitalUSB,DigitalWireless,DigitalRS232/485)
MeasurementSpeed(1Hzorupto100Hzorfasterthan100Hz)
Totalcostofoperation(smallquantityorlargevolumes)
Ingeneral,ourcapacitiveloadcellsareanexcellentintegratedsolutionformeasuringforces/loadsforR&Denvironments.
Theyofferhighsensitivitiesinaveryruggedpackagewitheasymountingoptionstoincorporateintoyourapplication.Our
sensorsofferdirectconnectivitytoPCsandmakeiteffortlesstowritesoftwareapplications.Thesearesuitableforawidevariety
ofgeneralpurposeapplicationswhereaccuraciesrequiredareintherangeof+/0.25%to+/1%offullscaleloadsandwillbe
usedatsteadystateroomtemperatureconditionsaround25Csuchaswhatisfoundintemperaturecontrolledlabs,schools,
R&Dfacilitiesetc.
Whenyouneedveryhighaccuracies,NTEP/OIMLCertificationsandneedlongtermstability,forthoseapplicationswe
recommendyouuseourresistiveloadcellswitheithertheDI1000SeriesDigitalLoadCellInterfacesortheAI1000Series
AnalogInterfacesforyourapplication.Ifyouarestillunsureaboutwhichtypeofloadcellyoumayneedfeelfreetocontactus.