Balance with a weighing compartment

#The present invention relates to a balance with a weighing compartment that borders on a stationary part of the balance and is otherwise enclosed by at least one side wall, a front wall, and a top cover panel, where at least one of the walls and/or the top cover panel is slidable by means of a guiding device to open and close the weighing compartment.

#A known balance of this kind, as described for example in the European patent application EP-A-0 234 008, has a weighing pan and a weighing compartment that encloses the weighing pan on all sides, with a stationary front glass wall, rearward-sliding side walls, a rearward-sliding top cover panel, and a connector that joins the side walls with the top cover panel. The connector is configured so that when a side wall and/or the top cover panel is opened or closed, the connector moves together with the side wall and/or the top cover panel, so that the weighing compartment is freely accessible without being obstructed by frame members on the sides. Furthermore, the side walls can be opened and closed individually or together, with or without moving the top cover panel at the same time. The movement can be motorized or manual. With manual operation, the walls that are to be moved are uncoupled from the motorized drive mechanism.

#The European patent application EP-A-0 574 668 discloses a balance that has a draft-protection housing with a top cover panel that can be attached or taken off by means of a manually operated locking arrangement. After the top cover panel has been taken off, the front wall as well as the side walls can be completely removed from the housing for cleaning. In this known design of a balance, the top cover panel is part of a frame that holds the draft-protection housing together. To a certain extent, the walls are unobstructed by the frame members so that the operator has a better view of the interior of the housing, but for some applications, this design is still not entirely satisfactory. One drawback is that the upper part of the frame is still a required element, and another concern is that the locking elements, which have to be manufactured with high precision, require a certain amount of manipulation in order to align them with the recesses in which they are received.

#Further details of the invention may be learned from the following description of embodiments that are illustrated in the drawings, wherein

#FIG. 1 represents a perspective frontal view of a balance according to the invention;

#FIGS. 2a and 2b represent sectional views of an edge portion of the weighing compartment in an area where two walls meet;

#A balance according to FIG. 1 has a stationary part with a floor compartment 2 that contains a portion of the working system of the balance, a housing 3 that essentially contains the drive mechanism, and a weighing compartment 4. The rear wall 9 and the floor 8 of the weighing compartment 4 are formed by the stationary part. The weighing compartment 4, which serves as a draft shield, is further enclosed by the side walls 5, 6, the front wall 7, and the top cover panel 12. The floor 8 has a pass-through opening for the carrier of the weighing pan 10. However, the weighing pan can also be supported by an L-shaped cantilever arm that is attached to a coupling arrangement that passes through the rear wall of the weighing compartment, as described in the parallel patent application CH-1957/00. The different designs of the weighing pan and/or the features of the weighing compartment described in the reference just mentioned are likewise applicable to the balance described herein.

#Preferably, the balance 1 stands on three feet 22.

#The side walls 5, 6, the front wall 7, and the top cover panel 12 consist of a transparent material, preferably glass. It is also possible to use tempered glass, especially to make the balance safer for applications in rough environments or to make the walls less delicate to handle, so that they can, e.g., be washed in a machine.