DE20004503U1 - Personal scales in which electrical energy is generated during the weighing process - Google Patents

Description

Markus Dammann
Mottelerstr.22
04155 Leipzig

Description:

Personal scales in which electrical energy is generated during the weighing process.

State of the art:

Personal scales are measuring devices for determining body weight. This measurement can be done mechanically or electronically. Due to the innovative nature of mechanical scales, reference will be made below to scales where the weight measurement is determined electronically. Conventional electronic scales consist of a step surface; the body underneath contains the feet, pushbuttons, pressure sensors, strain gauges and the components for determining and displaying the measured value, i.e. cables, circuit boards (chips), liquid crystal displays and batteries (or lithium cells).

Problem:

Due to the need to provide electrical energy for the measuring process in electronic scales, batteries or lithium cells are mainly used in personal scales. Although these have a lifespan of several years (with a certain number of weighing processes per day), they cause problems from an ecological point of view in the post-use phase. The company Soehnle, Murrhardt, already offers a solution in which electrical energy is generated mechanically from the vertical movement of the step surface when it is placed on it. This means that a rack is placed vertically under the step surface, which then drives a gear when a force is applied and the associated downward movement occurs. This gear sits on the drive shaft of a small electric motor, which acts as a generator in this application, and the energy generated in this generator is stored in a capacitor so that it is available for future measuring processes. With this mechanical solution, however, a large part of the energy gained is lost again as friction.

Solution:

This problem is solved by the features listed in claim 1.

Benefits achieved:

The advantages achieved with the invention are in particular that instead of conventional batteries or lithium cells, which are used to supply the bathroom scales with electrical energy, there is now a possibility of supplying the bathroom scales with inductively generated electrical energy. This concept, which is explained in more detail in claim 1, makes it possible to manufacture bathroom scales without batteries or lithium cells as power supply elements, thus reducing maintenance costs and

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Markus Dammann
Mottelerstr.22
04155 Leipzig

Description: Personal scales in which electrical energy is generated during the weighing process.

To significantly reduce the follow-up costs for such products and at the same time improve the ecological balance.

Further embodiment of the invention:

An advantageous embodiment of the invention is specified in claim 2.

Description of an example:

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings and is described in more detail below.

Show it

Fig. 1 the top view of the bathroom scale

Fig. 2 the section A - A* through the personal scale (in normal condition) Fig. 3 the section A-A' through the personal scale (in loaded condition) Fig. 3a the section through one of the coils

Fig. 4 the further embodiment of the invention with only one coil 3 Fig. 5 the section B - ET through the bathroom scale (in the loaded state)

The figures show the tread 1 and the body 2 underneath. In Fig. 2, the coils 3 can be seen in the body 2, which are firmly connected to the lower part of the body 4. The upper part of the body 5 is firmly connected to the tread 1 and together they are spring-mounted relative to the lower part of the body by the spring mechanisms 6. Furthermore, the ferrite cores 7 can be seen on the underside of the upper part of the body 5, which are placed exactly above the coils 3. The coils 3 are connected to a capacitor 9 via cable connections 8.

If a person now wants to weigh themselves and stands on the step surface 1 of these bathroom scales, the electrical energy required for the next weighing process is generated parallel to the weighing process that is currently taking place. The step surface 1 is pressed downwards by the weight of the user ( Fig. 3 ). This of course also presses the upper part of the body 5 and the lower part of the body 4 together. This of course also means that the ferrite cores 7 move downwards and exactly into the interior 10 of the coils 3 ( Fig. 3a ). The changes in the magnetic fields in the coils induce voltages in the same. The circuit made up of the coils, the cable connections and the capacitor allows this electrical energy to be stored in the capacitor 9 until the next weighing process.

Claims (2)

1. Electronic personal scales with a step surface, a body placed underneath in which the components for determining the measured value are placed and can be shown in a display provided for this purpose, characterized in that - that the tread 1 is firmly connected to the upper part of the body 5 , - that the upper part of the body 5 (and thus also the tread 1 ) is spring-mounted relative to the lower part of the body 4 by the spring mechanisms 6 , - that these spring mechanisms 6 consist of a suitable selection and arrangement of different springs, - the coils 3 are placed on the top of the body base 4 , - the ferrite cores 7 are placed on the underside of the upper part of the body, - that these ferrite cores 7 are placed above the coils 3 , - that when a weight force acts on the scale, the tread 1 , the upper part of the body 5 and the ferrite cores 7 move downwards, - that each of the ferrite cores 7 moves into the interior of a coil 3 , - that this movement of the ferrite core 7 changes the magnetic field of the coil 3 , - that this change in the magnetic field induces a voltage in the coil 3 , - that this electrical energy can be stored in the capacitor 9 by the circuit constructed from the coils 3 , the cable connections 8 and the capacitor 9 until the next weighing process. 2. Electronic personal scale according to claim 1 ( Fig. 5 and 6), characterized in that - that a coil 3 is placed on the upper side of the lower body part 4 , - that the turns of this coil 3 are wound so that they follow the contour of the body base 4 , - that the upper body part 5 in its entirety forms the ferrite core 7 , - that the upper part of the body 5 is shaped in such a way that when a weight force acts on the tread 1, it moves downwards and exactly into the interior of the coil 3 , - that a voltage is induced in the coil 3 by the vertical movement of the tread 1 and the upper body part 5 (= the ferrite core 7 ) and the resulting change in the magnetic field in the coil 3 , - that this electrical energy can be stored in the capacitor 9 until the next weighing process.