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- Skills
& Expertise
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The designers asked new questions: How
do you reduce the cost of truck scale ownership?
As
they began the development of the new BridgeMont truck scale,
Weigh-Tronix designers recognized that their strength was
building truck scales with long service life. Now they need to
ask, "How do we build the same quality into a scale for
general use? How do we provide the product that gives long
years of service without over-building? What design choices do
we make that will reduce the cost of truck scale
ownership?"
BridgeMont preserves the best elements
of proven Weigh-Tronix design
BridgeMont installs
anywhere. Depending on your state regulations, space
requirements and environmental conditions, you can use it as a
pit type scale, place it on a concrete slab, or simply set it
on concrete piers. The heart of the BridgeMont Steel Truck
Scale is the Weight Bar weight sensor. Weigh-Tronix machines
Weigh Bars from high quality aircraft alloy steel bar stock.
Each Weigh Bar goes through a three-step process of heat
treating, quenching and then tempering. The process has two
benefits. First, it increases the weight sensor's resistance
to corrosion, and secondly, it enhances the performance of the
Weigh Bar, ensuring its high degree of repeatability by
minimizing hysteresis. The Weigh Bar has proven to be the most
dependable and long lasting electronic weight sensor in the
industry. |
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Structural integrity, the biggest
variable in cost of ownership
Weigh-Tronix
designers employed a technology called Finite Element Analysis
(FEA) to the design of the BridgeMont to substantially reduce
the cost of the standard truck scale without sacrificing
structural integrity.
The FEA technology permitted
Weigh-Tronix engineers to create proposed designs. They
measured critical stress factors on virtually every component
of the scale.
As a result, they developed a new
configuration for their proven sandwich steel deck that
reduced the weight of the deck but maintained the strength.
Their test also reaffirmed the choice of sandwich steel
construction. When they tested several designs that eliminate
the broom plate, they found that the bottom plate serves as a
critical load stabilizer. Designs tested without bottom plates
were subject to high fatigue stresses and premature failure
when improperly loaded. The second value the bottom plate adds
to the BridgeMont is that is allows for a 100% seal weld of
the deck structure. This lengthens the life of the scale,
protecting it from exposure to moisture and early corrosion.
Simplified Installation cuts
cost
Another significant choice that Weigh-Tronix
designers made was to simplify the installation of the
BridgeMont.
The traditional truck scale installation
uses grout plates as bases for the stands that hold the load
cells. Grout plates require precise positioning and must be
perfectly level to ensure that all load cells are level.
Anchor bolts, positioned in the foundation to tight
tolerances, secure each grout plate.
In contrast, the
BridgeMont positions its Weigh Bars in the deck sections
instead of on stands which need to be perfectly level. It has
no need for grout plates.
Installers simply drill and
insert anchor bolts at the time of installation. This saves
hours of highly skilled precision foundation preparation.
BridgeMont's 20- and 23-foot deck sections are longer
than the industry standard. Therefore, the BridgeMont truck
scale will often have one less deck section that a competitive
scale of the same length. This results in a three-time
savings. One less deck section saves the cost of load cells,
cable and junction boxes. One less deck section speeds the
installation process and simplifies calibration. One less deck
eliminates one pier, lowering the cost of the foundation.
In addition, each deck section arrives with Weigh Bars
already mounted in the deck. The cables are hard wired to the
Weigh Bars (no connectors to corrode or fail from dampness).
Protective conduits for the wiring and junction boxes are
already in place. |
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