I have seen hoists tested to large loads, as much as a bariatric bed scales would require. This was done with a hand pumped hydraulic plunger pulling down on the hoist through a calibrated electronic strain gauge. Could a frame be used that goes under the scales and a hydraulic ram presses down on the scale foot plate through an electronic strain guage? This could be quite portable and lighter than a lot of weights.
For ceiling hoists they carry around empty barrels and fill them with water. The easy part was filling them the hard part was finding a drain at floor level to empty them.
Obviously this does not help with beds but would it be possible to test the strain guage of the bed alone and then adding a calibration factor for the levers that actuate it?
When I had to check scales we had many smaller (10kg) weights, these were easy to move just a pain in the a**e (I mean back) lifting lots of weights on and off each time. But at least health and safety allowed us to do it.
Robert
