Load cell having a hollow and a strain gauge formed on a substrate attached inside the hollow

A weighing apparatus comprising a load cell and a scale table, said load cell being operatively coupled with said scale table to detect a load applied to the scale table, said load cell comprising:

• a strain inducing means having a longitudinal axis and including a strain generating area for generating a strain as a function of the load,
• said strain inducing means comprising a fixed rigid body adapted to be connected to a base;
• a movable rigid body spaced apart from the fixed rigid body in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the strain inducing means and adapted to receive the load through said scale table;
• first and second beams spaced apart from each other in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the strain inducing means and connecting the fixed rigid body and the movable rigid body together;
• and an intermediate plate structure fixed to the fixed rigid body and the movable rigid body and positioned intermediate between the first and second beams, said intermediate plate structure having a cut space defined therein at a location intermediate between the fixed rigid body and the movable rigid body;
• said strain inducing means being of a symmetrical profile with respect to a geometric center point of the load cell and having a hollow defined therein and delimited by the fixed rigid body, the movable rigid body, the first and second beams and the intermediate plate structure;
• and
• a strain sensor including a substrate having a pair of the strain generating areas positioned apart from each other in the longitudinal axis of the strain inducing means for facilitating stress build-up on said substrate and a strain detecting element formed on the strain generating areas of the substrate, said substrate disposed on a horizontal plane and attached to said intermediate plate structure within said hollow so as to straddle said cut space, and positioned substantially in alignment with a mid-center line extending past the geometric center point and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the strain inducing means.