🚀 go-pugleaf

>In article <5907@videovax.tv.tek.com> bill@videovax.tv.tek.com (William K. McFadden) writes:
>In article <25815@unix.cis.pitt.edu> fmgst@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Filip Gieszczykiewicz) writes:
>>	2) I read in Consumer Digest of a advertising scheme that
>>	some companies used in similar scales. Seems some
>>	claimed that THEIR scales could be used on carpets. But
>>	in the fine-print stated otherwise, WHY? Mine seems to
>>	work on a carpet but the directions specify a hard, level
>>	surface, why?

>It seems that since the carpet has a springy pad underneath, the scale will
>read too low.  This is because the scale will only measure the compression of
>its internal spring, and some of that compression gets used up by the carpet.
>Now, if the scale had pointy feet on the bottom, it would have less carpet to
>compress, hence giving a more accurate reading.

More than likely it is the way all scales are designed or at least the 
majority of them anyway. 

Scales usually have 4 pivot points on them to collect weight info from
the platform that you stand on. These pivot points are usually reducing 
in nature (similiar to the way a lever makes it easier to lift a boulder-
but backwards :-).

The pivot points are at each corner of the platform and are in themselves
miniture scales. The trick in weighing is to sum the weight on the four 
corners and produce a consistant weight to (in the case of an electronic
scale) a load cell. 

If the scale is not level there will be more force applied to 2 of the 
pivot points. In manufacturing bathroom scales the ratios of the individual 
pivot points cannot be cheaply calibrated to each other so there will almost 
always be a differant weight reading were the weight concentrated on any 
individual corner. 

When a scale is placed in an environment where it is possible for the level 
to change depending on weight distribution on the platform there will always 
be a differance in readings due to the mismatched corner calibrations. 

The only way to overcome this is to make sure that the scale is perfectly
level at all times and insuring that weight distribution on the four
corners is consistant.

Commercial scales are overseen be the munincipalities that be (Weights &
Measures) and are adjustable at the individual corners. The corners MUST
be within .1% tolerance of the wieght applied on it. The test wieght is
usually about 25% of the full scale rating of the platform. Those that 
don't will be repaired OR put out of service until the repairs have been
performed.
--
 -------------------------------------------------//-------------------------
 (ames att sun)!pacbell! ----> sactoh0!pacengr!americ!erk     Multitasking,
  ucbvax!ucdavis!csusac! --/                    //            Never leave
             uunet!msac! -/   Erick Parsons \Sacramento Ca    Home Without it
 --------------------------------------------\X/-----------------------------
 Please Don't Wait...