Find load cells including digital load cells, interface load cells, pressure sensors and more. From force load sensors to strain force gauges, you will find the load cell you need. Use the time-saving Request for Quote tool to submit your inquiry to all the load cell manufacturers and suppliers you select.
Since 1979, Transducer Techniques®, a designer and manufacturer, has provided a complete line of load cell products, force sensors, torque sensors and special-purpose transducers, as well as related instrumentation. Transducer Techniques® serves various industries with high-quality products.
Strainsert Co. is a manufacturer of forced transducers and load cells for research, testing, weighing and control applications. We also make force sensing transducers, sensors, pins and bolts. We will custom design and manufacture products to your exacting specifications.
Stamotech specializes in manufacturing products for customers who need to monitor, proof and document the quality in production—used in press inserting, crimping, riveting and so on. Our testing equipment includes load cells, distance and torque sensors, force displacement and many others.
For over 20 years, Dytran Instruments has been an industry leader in the manufacturing of force sensors. We offer 34 models of force sensors that can gauge force from milli-pounds to thousands of pounds. We also offer calibration and repair of load cells and force sensors. Contact us today!
Our in-house facility incorporates strain gage manufacturing, machining, heat treatment, assembly and calibration. From factory automation to retail scales, Flintec offers innovation and dedication in providing the best strain gauges, gaging services, load cells, force sensors and other electronics.
Load cells are measuring devices that monitor and gauge
forces of compression, tension and shear. Known by other names—such
as load control, force sensor and transducer—these load cells are
used widely in mechanical testing, ongoing system monitoring and as components
in devices such as industrial
scales. The measuring of levelness and tension of these devices is
the main purpose of load cells. The information that load cells monitor
is then signaled to a recorder or other computerized data collection system.
Load cells can utilize analog or digital technology for the recording
and transferring of information. When load cells are used to measure any
variance in certain ongoing systems, the load cells can sound an alarm
or shut down the system itself until the discrepancy is corrected.
Load cells can vary greatly in size and shape depending on type of use.
The two basic components of a load cell are the sensing element and circuit.
The sensing element is most often a strain gauge, which is comprised of
coil; the circuit is the connection of these gauges throughout the load
cell. Load cell outputs include analog voltage, analog current, analog
frequency, switch or alarm, serial and parallel. The most basic designs
consist of four gauges, which make up the measuring circuit. More complex
and detailed cells can have up to thirty gauges as part of the measuring
circuit. The more gauges inside the load cell, the more sensitive the
cell is in recording and monitoring variance in measurement.
Many types of industries benefit from the accuracy of load cells. For
example, they are used in warehouse environments where pallets of inventory
are shuffled around often, and the accurate weight of the pallet is crucial
for the filling and accepting of orders. Another example of the use of
load cells is in the testing of bridge building materials such as beams
for their tension strength. Load cells are essential components in many
calibration
systems, as well. Load cells are commonly used in series with a standard
hydraulic actuator in various testing applications. Load cells are also
used for fatigue testing material specimens in a precise, controlled manner.
Several pieces of information are needed in order to determine the proper
load cell for the application. In figuring out the right capacity of a
load cell, the maximum force value, the dynamics of the system (i.e. frequency
response), the effect that placing the transducer in the force path will
have and the maximum extraneous loads that the load cell will see are
determining factors. Evaluate the system in which the load cell will be
placed. In other words, will the load cell be in the primary load path
or will it see the forces indirectly, and are there any physical constraints
that should be met for size and mounting? Also, know what accuracy is
required and what environmental elements the load cell will be subjected
to that may cause special problems.
Types of Load Cells including: Digital Load Cells, Miniature
Load Cells, Force Sensors, and Load Cell Suppliers.
Absolute pressure transducers or sensors have an internal reference chamber sealed at vacuum or
near
vacuum and typically
provide increasing output voltage for increases in pressure.
Bending beam
load cells have low profile construction for integration into restricted
areas.
Canister load cells may feature an all stainless steel design and
are hermetically sealed for washdown and wet area. Canister
load cells
are utilized in both single and multi-weighing applications.
Compression load cells are used for measurement of a straight line
pushing force along a single axis. This pushing force is
often denoted as negative force.
Digital load cells utilize digital technology, as opposed to the
more commonly used analog voltage, to measure tension,
compression and shear.
Force gauges are devices inside a load cell that measure and monitor and compression and tension.
Hydraulic load cells are force-balance devices, measuring weight as a change in pressure
of the internal filling fluid.
Typical hydraulic load cell applications include tank, bin and
hopper weighing.
Interface load cells are used as part of a larger system that constantly
measures force and torque.
Load sensors communicate to
a computer how heavy the load is.
Low profile load cells are compression and tension/compression load
cells often used in weighing and in-line force
monitoring.
Multi load cell scales are the most accurate scales, as they take
readings from more than one point of the
scale.
Platform or single
point load cells provide accurate readings regardless
of the positioning of the load on the platform.
Pneumatic load cells operate on the force-balance principle. These
devices use multiple dampener chambers
to provide higher accuracy than a hydraulic device and contain
no fluids
that might contaminate
the
process should the diaphragm rupture.
S-beam load cells are S-shaped and provide superior side load rejection
and an output if under tension or compression.
Strain gauges are devices that measures strain when stress is applied.
Shear cells are often attached to a bending beam to measure a deformation
in which planes of material slide
with respect to one another.
Silicon pressure sensors contain four piezoresistors located within
the face of a thin, chemically-etched
silicon diaphragm. The diaphragm flexes with changes in pressure,
causing
a stress or strain in
the diaphragm and the buried resistors;
the resistor values are
proportionally related to the stress
applied and produce
an electrical output.
Strain gauge load cells convert the load acting on them into electrical
signals. The gauges themselves
are bonded onto a beam or structural member that is deformed when
weight
is applied.
Tension load cells are used for measuring the pulling apart or positive
force along a single axis.
Torque sensors measure the torque transferred along the driveline
axis at the place where the sensor
is positioned.
Common Load Cell Terms including: Digital Load Cells,
Miniature Load Cells, Force Sensors, and Load Cell Suppliers
Axial Load – The load
applied to the length of, or parallel to, the primary axis with which it shares
a common axis.
Calibration –
Load cells output comparison against standard test loads.
Creep – The output change of load cells that occurs
over time while the load cell is under load, while all environmental conditions
and other variables have remained constant.
Dead Volume – The volume inside the pressure port of
force sensors, or transducers, at room temperature and barometric pressure.
Deflection – The change of
length along the primary axis of load cells involving no-load and rated-load
conditions.
Diaphragm – The
membrane part of force sensors that changes its value under pressure-induced
displacement.
Drift – An
unexpected change in output under constant load conditions.
Driveline Shaft – A steel tube with a u-joint at
each end of load cells that transfer torque from the output of the transfer case
to the axle.
Eccentric Load – A
load, which is applied parallel to, but not having a common axis with, the
primary axis of load cells.
Electrical
Excitation –The current or voltage that is applied to the input terminals
of a transducer.
Flush
Diaphragm – A sensing device of load cells that is located on the very
end of a transducer with no pressure port.
Full Scale – The amount produced equivalent to the
maximum load for a specific load cell application or test.
Full Scale Output – The numerical distinction
between the least output and the rated capacity of load cells.
Hysteresis – The greatest difference
between load cell output readings for the same applied load. One load cell
reading is obtained by escalating the load from zero, the other load cell
reading by lessening the load from rated output.
Input Impedance – The resistance measured across the
excitation terminals of a transducer at room temperature at the point where
there is no load applied and the load cell output terminals are open-circuited.
Load – The force, weight or
torque that is applied to the transducer, load cell or force sensors.
Load Cell – The round shape of the top
surface of load cells, transducers or load sensors where the load is applied.
Measured Media – The physical
number, property or circumstance that is measured by load cells, such as
acceleration, force, mass or torque.
Piezoresistance – The change in resistance caused by
an applied strain of the load cell diaphragm.
Primary Axis – The geometric centerline (axis) along
which load cells are designed to be loaded.
Pull Plate – An attachment to load cells, which
allows tension or compression forces to be directed at the center line of load
cells through a threaded center hole.
Safe Overage – The maximum pressure or load that may
be applied to the transducer, load cells or force sensors without causing
permanent damage or a change in the load cell performance specifications.
Shear – Force that tends to
divide an object along a plane parallel to the opposing stresses within load
cells.
Strain Measurement – The
ratio of the change of the length of a structure when force is applied to it to
the dimension of the original length.
Zero Balance – The output signal rated excitation of
load cells with no load applied, usually expressed in percent of rated output.