“Jewelry shops have a lack of space.”
　 “My workplace is cluttered with so much equipment.”


These were some of the comments our sales guys were hearing after the release of the GF/GX Series Balances. However at the same time they also reported that the GF Balance equipped with our SHS sensor was extremely well received by customers so they were quick to point out that, “the reliability and accuracy provided by the Super Hybrid Sensor were essential.”

It became clear to us that we had to develop a new balance series with a smaller footprint than the GF but which was still equipped with an SHS (super hybrid sensor) for superior accuracy and performance. The GF balance is a little bigger than A4 size, so we chose to design our next balance as a B5 size model, meaning a volume reduction of 25%. We could have accomplished this by using one of the existing sensors and simply fitting it into a smaller housing, but we took the typical A&D route, and worked on our core technology and a new sensor in order to offer a clearer differentiation for this new product. This new sensor had to be compact but offer the same or better performance and accuracy compared with the existing sensors we had developed.

Our R&D team chose SHS technology for this challenge because of its manufacturing cost advantages on top of its superior accuracy and robust performance. To make the unit smaller they decided to work with a smaller magnet or force coil, which in return meant a higher lever ratio. How to accomplish bigger lever ratios without incurring additional factors for errors became the biggest challenge, and at one point seemed an impossible hurdle. In fact, the team had to scrap their ideas and samples several times making our sales team very concerned about the launch schedule.

However, their approach of using basic SHS technology paid off when they completed the FX-i with a miniaturized SHS, effectively reducing SHS volume by 50%.


The mechanical challenge of using a bigger lever ratio was resolved by the patent pending double lever mechanism, which is comprised of one piece of a metal sheet. The new miniaturized SHS has a total lever ratio of 1 to 340 with double levers, which is a 2.2 times larger ratio than that of the GF but yet offers the same accuracy and stability because of the one-piece metal sheet design (patent pending).


The miniaturization of the sensor brought other added benefits. With a smaller magnetic force coil, the new SHS consumes only half of electrical current compared with the GF model. This means that when it is run with a battery, it will last four times longer. With highly integrated circuitries, the size of the printed circuit board was also developed to be half the size of the GF board. The realization of a B5 size balance with SHS technology was about to become a reality.

But our R&D team did not stop there…their creativity made them rethink the casing structure itself. While they were working on the overload and shock load protection mechanism, they came up with the idea of one-piece casing by attaching the miniaturized SHS sensor to the upper case. They found that if the upper case was rugged enough, the lower case was unnecessary with this new structure. Furthermore, the adjusting of the overload spacing mechanism became much easier and virtually trouble free as the sensor became an integrated part of the case housing. With the conventional structure of a sensor situated in the lower case, the overload spacing must be readjusted every time when the upper case is removed and reattached. The new miniaturized SHS attached to the upper case creates extra space making the lower case simply a cosmetic cover. They had a paradigm shift when they turned the sensor upside down!

New Miniaturized SHS Sensor

The innovative move of miniaturizing the SHS and electronic circuitries, as well as the decision to house the sensor in the upper case of the unit has brought this high performance compact B5 size balance to a reality. It also provides extra space for batteries (as an option), which many of our agents had highlighted as a drawback of the GF since we discontinued our epoch-making FX of the 1990’s.

The pursuit for a compact FX-i model has resulted in 8 patent applications for our innovative designs and ideas. We have achieved a compact balance, which is 40% lighter, has a 25% smaller footprint and a 47% reduction in volume for the SHS, while maintaining the high performance and accuracy of the GF, along with ease of use and a bright fluorescent display. This is further proof of A&D’s philosophy in facing a challenge; we redo the whole thing when we want to design a product which advances A&D’s technological edge.