zero or tare electronically by means of potentiometers the load beam 7 is preferably made of stainless steel and the total deflection for weighing up to 400 pounds on the platform 2 is preferably a maximum of 0 01 34 10 mils as previously indicated the taper 37 38 in the load beam assists in providing load beam stress throughout germanium strain gauges are preferably 5 mils thick by 30 mils long and have resistance values of 120 ohms or 350 ohms gold leads are spot welded to the strain gauges and the strain gauges are bonded by suitable resins to the load beam the lever reduction from the weighing mechanism in the base 1 is 10 1 for a 400 pound maximum weight and the unit operates on 6 volts direct current thus for counts or gradients of 0 1 pound the current variation is 20 microvolts per count and the load beam moves 1 10 of a millionth of an inch per count the wiring diagram in fig8 is believed to be self explanatory current from a source of electricity such as a 6 volt d c battery or a rectifier connected to an alternating current 120 volt outlet passes through two half wheatstone bridge circuits to strain gauges 15 and 16 and thence through output line 18 to digital voltmeter 17 in the digital read out unit where a signal is recorded and displayed the zero potential is adjusted at 26 by means of knob 25 in a conventional manner through the circuitry in the read out unit the units of weight can be displayed either in pounds or kilograms by moving the slide switch knob 23 to the left or right the critical part of the invention resides in.