Weighing and dispensing unit

摘要

Food is fed onto a weighing platform inside a dispensing chamber and carried by a parallelogram weighing support disposed outside the dispensing chamber and supported by four parallelogram arms from an upright frame, the platform being retained in a position to receive the food by a releasable electrically operated latch. When a weigh beam detects a weight set by a control circuit, it sends an electrical signal to the control circuit which causes feed to stop and provides a condition in which an electrical signal can be sent to the latch to release the weighing platform into a position in which a weighed portion of food can be discharged therefrom. In one embodiment, at least one switch is manually operated from outside the unit to cause the control circuit to apply the releasing signal to the latch either immediately or after an interval of time.