Patent ID: 7506538

Claim:
A suspension and weigh system for use with a vehicle having axles, comprising: a support beam connectable to the axles of the vehicle, the support beam being an equalizing beam having at least one of a boxed beam construction and a fabricated beam construction, the equalizing beam having a sidewall with a length and a neutral axis along at least a portion of the length of the sidewall; and a weigh system coupled to the support beam and configured to measure and/or determine weight carried by the axles, the weigh system comprising a load sensor mounted on the sidewall of the equalizing beam and positioned along the neutral axis to detect a deflection in the support beam in a plane substantially parallel to the sidewall and to provide an output signal related to at least one of the deflection and the weight; and a data processor coupled to the load sensor and configured to receive the output signal from the load sensor for determining the weight carried by the axles.