Abstract: A shear beam, single-point load cell is provided. The load cell includes a shear beam with a pair of shear strain gauge sensors mounted on opposing sides thereof for measuring strain within a small portion of the shear beam. The strain gauges are isolated within sealed pockets from moisture or harsh chemicals. The use of a shear beam, rather than a bending cantilevered beam of conventional load cells, allows the load cell to be sturdier and more robust than conventional load cells, to thereby measure and detect greater amounts of load. The provision of the strain gauges positioned for measuring strain within a small portion of the shear beam allows the load cell to accurately and precisely measure loads regardless of the mounting position of the load on the load cell. Further, the provision of closely adjacent strain gauges renders the load cells relatively immune to thermal gradients inherent in conventional load cells having widely separated strain gauges.

Abstract: Correction circuitry connectable in parallel with a conventional load cell output for compensating for various errors resulting from nonlinearity, creep, and temperature effects. Such circuitry includes an operational amplifier circuit employing the nonlinear characteristic of a diode to create a nonlinear correction signal and an operational amplifier circuit employing a long time constant RC circuit to correct creep.