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Sleek new scale
weighting for you
By PAMELA MAYHEW
Cltiaa Scleace Wriltr
Ctu..-llJJ-a.-.
Can you spare a dime?
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That's what It may take to have your weight electronlcaily reported
to you on the ne• sleek and racy Watling sure. Designer of the new
model, University of Arizona eflllneenng graduate Keith Moser
(forearouod), won a contest sponsored by Watling International and
Its owner Carlton VanGroder (background). VaoGorder is perched
on the old cast-Iron model that Is to be replaced by Moser's model.
The weight-for.a-penny scale that has
guarded many a street comer, drugstore
and five.and-dime for decades, is about
to step aside for a new space.age replace-
ment with a sleek space.age price tag -
probably a dtme.
The older, chunky scale, a fixture
smce 1889, will undergo streamlining, its
creaking counterbalance and spring
weighing mechanism replaced with elec·
Ironic components, its cylindrical weight
meter displaced by a digital viewing
screen.
Creator of the new design is Kei. ..
Moser, a recent graduate of the Universi-
ty of Ariz0fl3 aerospace and mechanical
engineering department. He won a scale
design contest sponsored by Carlton
YanGorder, owner-president of Watling
International Co., manufacturer of the
old-style model.
"Everybody's got to change some-
time," sighed YanGorder, a Tucson resi·
dent. He admitted that the high cost of
casting parts for the old scales played a
major role in the design change.
Moser was awarded $1,500 and offered
~ position at Watling lntemational's plant
in Puerto Rico where the new scales will
be manufactured.
Watling's Tucson operation, at ™'I E.
Wieding Road, will not be affected by the
plans to manufacture the new scale. The
local facility primarily deals with storage
of parts for Watling.
"It's all pretty exciting," said the
young designer. "It's nice to think of
something you made being out on the
streets and seen by the public."
VanGorder left the appearance of the
scale to Moser, but set a few guidelines.
He requested a scale that would please
old customers like Woolworth Co. and
Grant Department Stores and attract
new clientele like supermarkets and
hospitals.
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He also wanted a scale that could be
built for about $350; be short enough for
an 11 year-0ld to use; and have a digital
readout screen that would be clear, but
discreet.
''You don't want the printout screen to
be tro big," said Ya.nGorder. "You want
it so a lady can step onto the scale with-
out being afraid that everyone can see
how much she weighs."
Moser, assisted by classmates from
professor Marvin D. Martin's mechanical
.::ngineeril • design class, came up with a
scale that met all these requirements and
me;re. The scale has a tapered red and
black body and gently tilted digital print-
out screen. The screen gives weight in
pounds and metric system kilos.
To this basic scale plan Moser added
places where stamp and plastic laminat-
ing machines can be attached.
"It's a very modem looking scale -
much better than the designs that were
suggested by the commercial engim:enng
companies I went to befort: going to the
UA for help," said YanGorder, whose
firm sells the scales to distributors who,
in tum, place them in stores and main-
tain them.
Watling's new, improved scale has
entered the space age in terms of coin
cost, too. Instead of the old-fashioned
penny, it will probably cost a dime to
operate.
"Look at it this way," said YanGord-
er. "A penny ~ years ago was probably
worth IO cents today."
appeared in the "Tucson (Arizona.) Daily Citizen" 2/5/76. The same story also appeared in The Miami Herald
~ ~other newspapers all over the country. For many, many years coin operated personal weighing scales were knovn
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e Gold Bonds of the Industry." Perhaps the new 10¢ scale by Carlton Van Gorder of Watling International, Inc.,
-4' hnom that has long been neglected by the industry.
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