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In the context of load cells, Multi-Cell Installations are defined as those installations where one or more load cell is connected mechanically through a common load frame or structure.

Each load cell therefore carries part of the load and the output signals from each load cell are summed electrically to give the total load.

This differs from Multi-Head Weighing where several load cells are involved in the weighing process but each one has an independent load platform or load bucket.

There are many cases where it is more convenient to use several load cells mounted together on a common platform or framework. An example would be a storage tank, where the legs of the tank can simply be shortened and placed on individual load cells rather than have the whole tank mounted onto a platform scale or floor scale.

In general, any weighing application where the distance between load cells is more than 1 metre will almost certainly be built using multiple load cells sharing a common framework. For smaller applications, the use of a single point load cell is more typical due to the cost savings, although part of the cost saving is often offset by the need to provide stronger frameworks to cope with the higher bending moments and turning forces involved in focusing a load to a single point. A cost and size driven exception is the use of low profile cantilever load cells to support small platforms in counting scales and other small scale designs.

Multiple load cell outputs are wired in parallel and their outputs are then summed to give the total load result. In the case of floor scales and other applications where the load can be positioned off-center, then it may be necessary to trim the outputs of the individual load cells so that the load result is the same, regardless of load position on the scale. Such devices are known as summing junction boxes or trimming boxes, and can be found in the OTHER PRODUCTS selection on the Mantracourt website.