Color Measurement Device for Coating Flake Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current color measurement devices struggle to accurately distinguish between reflective flakes and interference effect pigments in coatings, leading to challenges in matching the appearance of damaged coatings, as they confound reflected light from these effects.
Innovation Solution
A color measurement device and method using a spherical coordinate system to illuminate the coating with electromagnetic radiation at a specific entrance angle, with detectors positioned at different polar angles to measure the intensity of radiation reflected from populations of flakes with varying flake normal azimuth angles, allowing for separation of reflective and interference effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If light is measured at + and -15 degrees from the specular line in a specular plane, then the device can measure reflected light intensity, but it confounds reflected light from reflective flakes and interference effects, making separation of the different effects difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from measuring light in a single specular plane (2D approach) to measuring light in multiple planes around the specular line (3D spherical coordinate approach). By adding the azimuth angle dimension to the traditional polar angle measurement, the device can distinguish between light reflected from flakes at different orientations, thereby separating reflective flake effects from interference effects.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the measurement into multiple discrete angular positions around the specular line. Instead of a single plane measurement, the device measures at multiple azimuth angles (e.g., 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°) to segment the total reflected light into components from different flake populations, enabling separate characterization of reflective and interference effects.
2Measurement precision
If multiple measurement angles are used to approximate color match, then the overall appearance matching improves, but the different effects produced by reflective flakes and interference effect pigments remain difficult to match
Solution Approach 1:
The patent systematically varies two parameters simultaneously: the polar angle (distance from specular line) and the azimuth angle (rotation around specular line). This dual-parameter approach allows the device to map the three-dimensional reflectance behavior of the coating, providing sufficient data to characterize both reflective flake and interference effect pigments without requiring overly complex measurement geometries.
3Measurement precision
If light is shone on the target coating at an angle to define a specular line, then reflectance measurement is enabled, but devices measuring in the specular plane only measure flakes with different angles relative to the surface normal, confounding the measurement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces the azimuth angle as an intermediary parameter that provides additional information about flake orientation. By measuring at multiple azimuth angles, the device acts as an intermediary that decouples the relationship between flake orientation and measured reflectance, allowing separate determination of reflective flake properties and interference effect properties.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables accurate measurement and differentiation of reflective flakes and interference effect pigments, facilitating an accurate appearance match for coatings, including determining the amount and type of interference flakes, thereby improving the matching process.
Implementation Method 1
A first detector is connected to the housing and positioned to measure the electromagnetic radiation reflected by a target population of flakes within the target coating
Data Source
AI summary
Devices and methods for measuring color of a target coating are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, a color measurement device includes a housing configured for placement on a target coating. A source connected to the housing directs a beam of electromagnetic radiation towards the target coating at an entrance angle. A spherical coordinate system is used, where the entrance angle is a polar angle measured from a zenith that is normal to the target coating surface. First and second detectors are connected to the housing at a first and second polar angle, respectively, to measure the electromagnetic radiation reflected by a target population of flakes within the target coating, where all the flakes in the target population of flakes have the same angled flake normal polar angle. The first polar angle is different than the second polar angle.