Combination weighing machine

A combination weighing machine comprising a plurality of weighing units each having a weighing cradle for carrying articles to be weighed and a weight sensor for sensing the weight of said articles to produce a weight indicating signal;

• an adder circuit having a plurality of input terminals for summing incoming signals to produce a sum signal;
• a plurality of normally-open switches coupled respectively between said weight sensors and the input terminals of said adder circuit and provided each with a control terminal;
• a judging circuit for comparing said sum signal with a specific range of weight to produce an output signal when said sum falls within said range;
• a switch control circuit having a plurality of output terminals coupled respectively to the control terminals of said normally-open switches for selecting said output terminals successively in accordance with a predetermined set of combinations and producing output signals therefrom to close corresponding ones of said normally-open switches;
• a combination memory having a plurality of input terminals coupled to the outputs of said switch control circuit and corresponding output terminals for storing the inputs in response to the output of said judging circuit;
• and loading means controlled in response to the outputs of said combination memory for feeding articles into said cradles;
• said machine further comprising counting means for counting the number of outputs produced from said combination memory each time to provide a count of said number, comparator means for comparing said count with one half of the number of said weighing units to produce a control signal relating the difference therebetween, and loading control means responsive to said control signal for controlling the amount of articles fed by said loading means to each cradle thereby maintaining said count substantially equal to one half of the number of said weighing units.