WEIGHING SCALE WITH A TOUCHSCREEN DISPLAY INCORPORATED IN THE LOAD RECEIVER PLATFORM SURFACE

A weighing scale (1) for use on a retail store counter includes a housing (2), a load-receiving platform (3) that is arranged on top of the housing (2), and operating components (27) that are enclosed in the housing (2). The operating components include at least one weighing cell (24) that is coupled to the load-receiving platform (3) through a load-transmitting mechanical connection (25), analog and digital weighing electronics (27) that convert electrical weight signals of the at least one weighing cell (24) into digital weighing results, and a central processing unit which lends program-controlled functionality to the weighing scale (1). The weighing scale (1) has a touchscreen display panel (7, 22, 23) displaying information to, and receiving input from, a human operator. The touchscreen display panel (7, 22, 23) is configured as a layered assembly in which a liquid crystal display (23), a projected capacitive (PCAP) touch screen (22) with a plurality of touch-sensing points, and a protective glass plate (21) are layered on top of each other. According to the invention, the layered assembly (21, 22, 23) of liquid crystal display (23), projected capacitive (PCAP) touch screen (22) and protective glass plate (21) is integrated in the load-receiving platform (3) in horizontal orientation with a top surface of the glass plate (21) exposed and facing the human operator, and the top surface of the protective glass plate (21) is operable to perform three functions, namely a first function as load-receiving surface (45) of the weighing scale (1) on which merchandise to be weighed can be placed by the human operator, a second function as touch field keyboard (40, 41, 42, 47) through which inputs are communicated to the weighing scale by the human operator, and a third function as display window (43, 46, 48) through which information is delivered by the weighing scale (1) to the human operator. Consequently, the layered assembly (21, 22, 23) forms a combined load-plate/touchscreen/display panel.