A Load Cell is a sensor or a tool that measures the force (load, mass, etc.) at a point when a force is applied to an object.
It is also called a load transducer because it converts the magnitude of the force applied to the sensor part into an electrical signal.
Please refer to the figure for a detailed mechanism.
Check load from a single point
Check the pressure applied against the surface with the surface
Pressure measuring films are used to measure the load per unit area when force is applied to an object.
Fujifilm offers these films under the name of "Prescale”.
Load Cells and pressure measuring films are sometimes used together.
Load cells are used in the manufacturing industry to consider manufacturing conditions or adjust manufacturing equipment.
Their role is to measure the load value of a press machine to determine if a specified force is being applied.
Load cells contain an internal sensor called a "strain gauge", that changes their electrical resistance value as they are deformed by force.
By converting this electrical resistance value into electrical output, force can be measured.
When the microcapsules coated on Prescale are destroyed by pressure, the colorless dye inside adsorbs to the color developer, causing a chemical reaction that results in a reddish coloration.
The intensity of the pressure can be visualized and quantified by the darkness of this color.
Load cells are used in a variety of applications.
The following are some examples. For details on each application, please refer to the explanation page on "Strain gauges.
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Roller (nip) load value
E.g. Dry film lamination adhesion process in substrate manufacturing -
Load value at stacking
E.g. Stacking process in substrates or multilayer ceramic devices manufacturing -
Contact condition
E.g. Crimping process with wafer bonding equipment in semiconductor manufacturing
E.g. Sealing process of outer packaging materials or activation process in lithium-ion battery manufacturing
A Load Cell can measure the force applied to that one point (one-dimensional), but it cannot see the pressure applied to a surface (two-dimensional).
If the pressure value on a surface is not measured, it is not able to check the inclination of the equipment or the overall trend, which may lead to product defects.
This is where the pressure measurement film "Prescale" comes in.
Prescale, sometimes called as “pressure indicating film”, “pressure inspecting film” or “pressure paper”, is a film that enables visualization and quantification of pressure on a surface.
Surface pressure can be easily measured simply by inserting the film between the desired areas.
