Fairbanks platform scale
Báscula de plataforma de Fairbanks
- Date
- 1830-1831 · confidence high
- Place
- St. Johnsbury, Vermont, United States
- Credited to
- Thaddeus Fairbanks
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
A platform on a system of levers that transmits the weight of large loads, such as carts or livestock, to a small steelyard with weights, so they can be weighed without lifting. It was patented in 1830-1831 and became the standard scale of commerce and the railways.
Fairbanks had started in hemp manufacturing and went into scale-making with his brothers, and the company E. & T. Fairbanks remained active for over a century.
What it led to
- weighing of carts, livestock and wagons without unloading
- railway and dock scales
- modern truck scales and weighbridges