Patent ID: 7475606

Claim:
A load cell comprising: an elastically deformable membrane force transducer for receiving pressure and tensile forces to be determined; a sensor arrangement for detecting the deformation of the membrane force transducer and its conversion into an electric weight signal, wherein the sensor arrangement comprises a sensor arrangement for a contact-free distance measurement and the sensor arrangement is a sensor arrangement operating inductively; and a multipart housing resistant to bending and having an interior space for accommodating and holding the membrane force transducer and the sensor arrangement, wherein the housing surrounds the force transducer essentially on all sides; wherein the housing has an opening, the membrane force transducer being able to be acted upon with the force to be determined through said opening; wherein the membrane force transducer comprises a force introduction member arranged centrally; wherein the membrane force transducer comprises a membrane having surfaces and at an edge area an edge part projecting beyond at least one of the membrane surfaces; wherein the projecting edge part of the membrane force transducer is held via the housing; wherein one or several stop surfaces are formed in the interior of the housing, said stop surfaces limiting the elastic deformation of the membrane force transducer when acted upon by tensile and/or pressure forces; and wherein the force introduction member has a projection interacting with the one or the several stop surfaces in the sense of limiting tensile and/or pressure forces.