MEASUREMENT | COLOUR
Right: Sphere benchtop and hand held spectropho- tometers from Konica Minolta
same value as any other device of the same model. Otherwise, it will be difficult to agree on colour targets and tolerances with suppliers or customers. This Inter Instrument Agreement is a very relevant specification to be considered when colour communication is important. “A second issue is that colour is only one aspect of the visual appearance,” Rath says. “A stable reproduction of the gloss of a sample is also an important indicator of the process quality. There are both portable and benchtop instruments which can measure colour and gloss at the same time and on the same spot of the sample. This saves a lot of measurement time, as well as the need for investing in a separate gloss measurement device.” Rath adds that increasingly companies want to
automate their QC process chain and, because colour measurement is now an established part of this process, this means new requirements for the instrument manufacturer. These include remote operation, automatic reporting and providing indices for all colour standards. Like most technical devices, spectrophotom-
eters require a yearly service to maintain their specifications. “However, in between these service calls, the customer is in the dark regarding actual instrument performance,” Rath says. “Customers may decide to evaluate measured colour values of reference samples regularly — often colour-stable tiles — against historic data. However, there is no option to correct for any deviation besides white/ black calibration. This is why Konica Minolta Sensing has developed Wavelength Analysis & Adjustment (WAA) as the next step in ensuring an
Figure 1: Konica Minolta Sensing says its Wavelength Analysis & Adjustment (WAA) tool ensures instrument accuracy
IMAGE: KONICA MINOLTA SENSING
instrument’s accuracy.” According to the company, WAA will check for any sensor precision deviation (Figure 1). If it identifies a large deviation from the expected value, for example due to a contaminant, the operator is informed that an anomaly was detect- ed. However, small deviations in the detected wavelengths are immediately corrected for and stored within the device, restoring it immediately to its most accurate state. As WAA is automatically performed during the calibration sequence, there are no further actions required by the operator. The company says WAA is already available as an option for its latest benchtop instruments — CM- 36d, CM-36dG and CM-36dGV. It is said to present a big benefit in terms of the accuracy of a device and will also be included in several future models. Rath believes that future developments may also allow colour measurement technology to investi- gate beneath the product surface. “We foresee that hyperspectral imaging will allow us to dive under- neath the surface and determine the internal composition of a sample,” he says. “This will ensure much better detection of production flaws, such as the presence of foreign particles. The technology is already available, but we want to make hyperspec- tral imaging just as easy as any colour measure- ment - one click, one value.” The latest addition to the Colorix product line-up is the Colorcatch Nano 2, which is said to use new features to offer improved colour meas- urement accuracy. “The Nano 2 incorporates a Bluetooth camera connected to a smartphone, and up to now it had not been possible to send a video image via Bluetooth,” says David Maurer, Chief Executive Officer. “There are many advantages to filming colour.
Source: Konica Minolta Sensing
30 COMPOUNDING WORLD | July 2023
You can see where you are measuring. In addition, the Nano 2 enlarges the image by more than six times, allowing the measurement area to be as small as 0.3 by 0.3 mm,” he explains. “This is a large time-saving advantage for the colour measurement of plastics. With masterbatch, for example, it is no
www.compoundingworld.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
