New system for high-speed, accurate, inline colour measurement

Colour measurement applications

This system is therefore suitable for a wide range of applications where colours and shades must be examined on-the-fly and to very high accuracies. Typical applications include automotive paint inspection, colour measurement of car interiors, coloured glass, transparent film and sheet production, printing, packaging, medical technology, food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and in the processing of plastics, food, wood, paper, veneer and textiles. The system is equally suitable for offline research and development applications.

True colour measurement is required in many industry sectors, enabling companies to select, monitor, grade and sort various types of coloured objects involved in manufacturing, automated handling, warehousing, packaging, wrapping and other production processes. Measured objects can take the form of solids or liquids and the user may also need to recognise the colours of transparent surfaces such as coatings or labels, as well as LEDs or lamps.

Chris Jones, Managing Director at Micro-Epsilon UK, comments: "The accuracy of most inline colour sensors in the marketplace is typically defined with a "E of 1-1.5, which represents similar performance to the human eye. However, as the ACS7000 uses a spectrometer for colour measurement/evaluation, its performance is typically a "E of 0.1, which is ten times greater! This enables users to solve applications that were previously not possible. Traditionally, high-performance colour measurement systems are only able to measure at slow speeds, meaning the product usually has to be measured offline. However, with the ACS7000 having a measurement speed of up to 2kHz, it is now possible to integrate the system into the production processes, improving automation, quality control, production efficiencies and product quality, whilst also reducing operational costs and waste."

The addition of the colorCONTROL ACS7000 to the existing range of colour measurement sensors means that Micro-Epsilon is now able to offer customers in the UK one of the widest ranges of colour measurement systems and sensors in the world - from standard to mid- and high performance requirements - all available from a single source.

Three sensor families

Micro-Epsilon's colorCONTROL ACS7000 series has a choice of three different sensor families: the ACS1, circular sensor (ACS2) and a transmission sensor (ACS3). Designed for different measurement tasks, each family has specific optical angles, spot geometries and focal distances.

The ACS1 sensor (pictured right) houses the transmitter and receiver inside one sensor head. The optics are arranged at an angle of 30deg/0deg to each other, producing a working distance of 50mm from the target. An optional adapter enables the sensor to be used manually, whereby the operative holds the sensor in their hand and rests the sensor head onto the target to be measured.

Micro-Epsilon's ACS2 circular sensor is used for colour measurement of structured and highly reflective surfaces, including lustrous metals. In the sensor, 24 lighting optics are arranged in a circular fashion around the receiving optics, providing a constant light output. This means the measurement is independent of the angular position of the measurement object. Two versions of the ACS2 are available with different spot sizes and measuring distances.

The ACS3 transmission sensor is used for measuring the colour of self-luminous, translucent or transparent objects. The ACS3 family can be supplied in three different versions, each of which has specific transmitter-to-receiver distances and measurement spot diameters.

A key advantage of the ACS3 sensor is its ability to produce very stable and accurate inline colour measurements in high-speed production processes, making it well suited to measuring the colour of transparent and translucent materials such as films and foils. For measuring the colour of self-luminous objects, only the receiver unit is required, enabling a more conventional one-sided colour measurement set-up.

Follow the link for more information about the colorCONTROL ACS7000 inline high-speed colour measurement system from Micro-Epsilon and to request a free onsite consultation.