Y-Shaped Light Guide for Roaster Color Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing color monitoring devices for roasting chambers are complex, prone to errors due to a hot and dusty atmosphere, and lack accuracy, making them unsuitable for market acceptance.
Innovation Solution
A compact, simple color monitoring arrangement with a Y-shaped light guide and purge air system, using LEDs or lasers for precise wavelength generation, and a converging lens to feed emitted and reflected light into a fiber optic probe, ensuring accurate color value determination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a color monitoring device with multiple light guides and complex optical means is used, then measurement precision can be improved, but device complexity increases and ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple light guides (first light guide for emitted light, second light guide for reflected light) into a single integrated light guide that transmits both light paths. This merging reduces the number of separate components and simplifies the overall device structure while maintaining the capability to perform accurate color monitoring through wavelength ratio calculation.
Solution Approach 2:
The single light guide serves multiple functions: it transmits both the emitted light from the light source and the reflected light from the roasting material to the optical means. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate dedicated light guides for each function, reducing device complexity while preserving measurement precision.
2Ease of operation
If optical means are introduced into the hot and dusty roasting chamber atmosphere, then color monitoring can be performed, but measurement precision deteriorates due to errors from boundary conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces direct physical contact measurement with optical measurement using light transmission through a single light guide. The optical means detect color changes of the roasting material without being directly exposed to the harsh thermal and particulate environment, substituting mechanical/optical detection for direct sensing in adverse conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The single light guide acts as an intermediary that transmits light between the safe external environment and the hot roasting chamber. By using the light guide as a mediator, the optical measurement system remains protected from direct exposure to the harmful hot and dusty atmosphere, maintaining measurement precision while enabling monitoring capability.
3Productivity
If light injection into the roasting container and light guide is performed, then color monitoring is enabled, but reliability deteriorates due to error-prone light transmission
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the emitted light path and reflected light path into a single light guide, the patent reduces the number of light injection and collection points. This consolidation minimizes potential error sources related to light transmission alignment and coupling, thereby improving the reliability of color monitoring while maintaining productivity.
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 reliable color monitoring in roasting containers by maintaining optical clarity and precision, allowing for easy maintenance and integration with existing roaster control systems.
Implementation Method 1
at least one LED or at least one laser as the light source
Implementation Method 2
at least one LED or at least one laser as the light source
Implementation Method 3
The optical means at the end of the single light guide are provided for feeding a light beam emitted by the light source as well as a light beam reflected by the roasting material into a second opening
Implementation Method 4
a fiber optic arrangement which is designed as a Y-shaped light guide
Implementation Method 5
the luminous intensity of the incident light relative to the luminous intensity of the reflected light
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a color-monitoring assembly for a roasting material (14), comprising: - a light emitter (18) having at least one light source (20, 22) for illuminating the roasting material (14); - optical means (52) for feeding a reflected light beam into a light guide assembly (24); and - an evaluation unit (36); wherein: the light guide assembly (24) is connected, with respect to control, to the evaluation unit (36) for the calculation of at least one color value for the roasting material (14), which color value can be determined by calculating the quotient between the reflection measurements of the light intensity L1 of the incident light and of the light intensity L2 of the reflected light for at least two light wavelengths λ1, λ2; a measurement probe (26) is provided, which comprises the light guide assembly (24), which is fed into the measurement probe (26) through a first opening (46) at a first end (48) of the measurement probe; the light guide assembly (24) comprises a first light guide (40) for transferring the light emitted by the light emitter (18) and a second light guide (42) for transferring the reflected light to a light receiver (34); optical means for feeding a light beam emitted by the light source (20, 22) and a light beam reflected by the roasting material (14) are provided at a second opening (54) at a second end (50) of the measurement probe (26). The invention also relates to a roaster assembly (2) and a method for roasting the roasting material (14).