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Color control and color measurement
16 February 2021
 The color tone is decisive: the color tone measurement of various colored fiber bundles.The color tone of textile fibers should, as far as possible, be measured at the start of the textile dyeing process using inline measurement. The information about the actual color tone (the actual value) can be compared with the color tone target using the PLC. The difference between these two color values provides information as to whether a more or less color should be added to the color bath. A SPECTRO-3-28-45°/0°-MSM-ANA-DL is suitable for measuring the color of the fiber strand which is fitted with a 45° illumination and detects the color under 0°. It is thus possible to avoid the great majority of direct reflection as comes from dye which is still damp during measurement. The distance between the sensor and the color strand is typically 28 mm and the detection range assumes a diameter of c. 10 mm with this clearance. ► Press release (Word/pdf) |
 SPECTRO-3-28-45°/0°-MSM-ANA-DL SPECTRO-3-MSM-ANA Series |
8 February 2021
| Color differentiation of second hand clothes in the recycling process. Different colored second hand clothes, transported on a conveyor belt, should be differentiated. At this, the orientation of the respective textile is randomly, which means randomly folded, flat or exaggerated positioned. Furthermore, the clothes will be transported serial on the conveyor belt, normally with a certain gap between the respective textiles, thus, the surface of the conveyor belt can be seen from the top side. Additionally, the speed of the conveyor belt is constant and approximately 1m/s. Once the color is detected, a special high-pressure nozzle is blowing the respective clothing item out from the conveyor belt and into a foreseen container. For the preliminary studies a color measurement sensor type SPECTRO-3-1000-COF-d50.0-CL-MSM-DIG is used. ► Press release (Word/pdf) |
 SPECTRO-3-1000-COF-d50.0-CL-MSM-DIG SPECTRO-3-MSM-DIG Series |
25 January 2021
| Differentiating the tin side from the fire side in float glasses. Float glasses develop their form, thickness and surface properties through the transport of the glass melt on liquid tin. The glass melt floats on the tin bath and develops a plane surface adapted to the tin bath (tin side). The glass surface facing away from the tin bath (fire side) is heated by a gas burner until a certain temperature profile develops so that the glass melt can cool gradually and thereby assume its later form. When processing the float glass further, it is important to know where the tin side is located and where the fire side is located. Tin microinclusions can influence a number of issues such as the electrical resistance of the glass surface (the application of metal contact strips on a car rear window). It is also of decisive importance in other matters such as the application of further layers on the glass surface (e.g. nano layers) as to which side of the float glass is coated. The SPECTRO-1-20-UVC-DIL UVC contrast sensor from Sensor Instruments GmbH permits control of the glass surface in terms of its tin or fire side. ► Press release (Word/pdf) |
 SPECTRO-1-20-UCV-DIL SPECTRO-1 Series |
26 October 2020
| Sustainable v. virgin! The arrival of plastic recyclates.
A difficult birth! After standing in the shadow of virgin materials for many years, plastic recyclates have now come into their own. There are many reasons for this: whilst the complex technical procedures to which recycled plastic must be subjected rendered them uneconomic, technological improvements mean that the quality could be improved whilst reducing costs. Despite these advances, without the decision on the part of the EU to change the legal framework to effect the sustainable use of plastics, recyclates would have remained uneconomic. For example, an EU directive has established a minimum amount of plastic recyclates to be used in plastic bottles. Despite their improved properties, plastic recyclates still do not approach the quality of virgin material. For example, color deviations in comparison to the target state are still common. Color value targets can only be reached by the targeted addition of virgin material. Determining the exact quantity of new material to be added requires color measurement of the plastic recyclate. Color measurement is performed INLINE. The high ambient temperature means that color measurement system is realized as a fiber optic system (KL-D-0°/45°-85-1200-A3.0-VIS) and works in accordance with the 0°/45° color measurement procedure. When using a white light spot diameter of 25 mm, an average is ascertained optically over a large number of pellets, so that the evaluation unit connected to the fiber optic front end SPECTRO-3-FIO-MSM-ANA-DLcan determine a precise color value (L*a*b* or xyY). The color values are transmitted to the control of the metering unit and depending on the color deviation from the target, the metering unit will add virgin material as required. ► Press release (Word/pdf) |
 SPECTRO-3-FIO-MSM-ANA-DL + KL-D-0°/45°-85-1200-A3.0-VIS SPECTRO-3-MSM-ANA Series |
| Color Measurement of Painted Metal Plates The color of metal plates should be measured immediately after the painting process. It must be taken into account here that there are both high-gloss surfaces and very dull surfaces, and that the color value must be determined irrespective of the gloss factor. Furthermore, measurement must be performed inline, on the one hand to satisfy the requirements of 100% inspection, and on the other hand to be able to quickly respond to a possible color drift. The recommended color sensor for this application is a sensor of the SPECTRO-3 series operating with the 45°/0° method (SPECTRO-3-28-45°/0°-MSM-ANA-DL). ► Press release (Word/pdf) |
 SPECTRO-3-28-45°/0°-MSM-ANA-DL SPECTRO-3-MSM-ANA Series |
4 March 2020
| Do not overstep the red line Plastic wires with various thicknesses, colors, forms and surface properties are used for a range of different purposes. Examples include tennis rackets with polyester monofilaments; the triangular profile of the racket strings produces greater spin. Flat material is most suitable for the monofilaments used in the production of large plastic bags (big bags). Transport filter belts used in the wet areas of paper production are made of round plastic monofilaments; the plastic wires used in toothbrushes have abrasive material added to them. Plastic monofilaments are now also used in 3-D printing procedures. This process also uses round wires with various diameters. In addition to the form, color consistency is decisive, as color deviations in plastics are often interpreted as quality inconsistencies. Woven products such as plastic sieves, big bags and tennis rackets are especially prone to this phenomenon as even very small color nuances (usually from a color difference of dE=1) are perceptible. Manufacturers need to inspect the color of the monofilaments during production, i.e. inline. The object size, form and gloss of the plastic monofilaments have previously impeded the use of inline color measuring devices, especially as a color deviation of > dE = 0.7 needs to be detected reliably. ► Press release (Word/pdf) |
 SPECTRO-3-12-DIF-MSM-ANA-DL SPECTRO-3-MSM-ANA Series |
7 November 2019
| Perfect Light for the Car Interior Light Guide Rods More and more cars today are equipped with light guide rods in their interior, the so-called ambiance area, for example in door panels, dashboard, center console, and roof lining. Through semi-transparent flat strips these light guide rods guide the light into the interior of the car. Any inhomogeneity in the light guide rod would influence the scattering behaviour of the output light. When driving in the dark, a passenger in the car interior would notice this as a bright or dark position along the light strip and would be disturbed by it. ► Press release (Word/pdf) |
 SPECTRO-3-FIO-ANA-LEDCON-HA SPECTRO-3-ANA Series |
22 March 2019
| Choose the Right Side 95% of all the industrially produced flat glass today is made using the float glass process. In this process, molten glass is continuously fed into a bath of molten tin. Due to its lower specific weight the molten glass floats on the smooth tin surface, and on a long tin bath forms a uniformly thick and extremely smooth film. The glass side that faces the molten tin is slightly contaminated with tin, which has corresponding effects on subsequent float glass processing steps such as coating of the glass surface. For the further processing of float glass it is therefore important that the surface that is contaminated by the tin bath can be distinguished from the so-called fire side (fire polishing, during float glass production the glass side facing away from the molten tin is heated).. |
 Contrast sensor SPECTRO-1-FIO-UVC/UVC |
9 November 2018
| INLINE Color Measurement of Paint Through a 15mm Thick Inspection Glass Usually the color checking of color paint during production primarily is done in a laboratory. A paint sample is taken, and the color of this sample is then checked by way of a thin paint layer in dry condition. This process of course takes some time, time in which paint production might run out of the permissible tolerances and thus might require time-consuming and expensive follow-up treatment. ► Press release |
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| Color measurement sensor SPECTRO-3-28-45°/0°-MSM-ANA-DL |
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