X-Rite Gets Patent And Unveils In-Line Spectrophotometer For Industry

Grand Rapids, MI - X-Rite Inc. is introducing its VeriColor® Spectro instrument that provides highly accurate, colormetric measurements under demanding factory environments for a price less than $20,000.

X-Rite, the world's largest designer and manufacturer of color measuring instruments, believes that its new spectrophotometer is appropriately priced and rugged enough for manufacturers to place the highly accurate instrument on each production line to closely monitor color quality.

The instrument uses technologies covered under U.S. patent 7,262,853 assigned to X-Rite last week by inventors Steven H. Peterson and Mark A. Cargill that allows it to measure colors accurately under harsh shop floor conditions.

"Any company that has a tight tolerance on the color of its products – automotive interiors, vinyl siding, office furniture trim – should see a very favorable rate of return by using the VeriColor® Spectro," said Kenneth Phillips, product manager for X-Rite's Non-Contact Industrial division. "Companies that employ this instrument will have a competitive advantage because it promotes first-time quality and provides data for highly efficient manufacturing."

The VeriColor® Spectro can:

• Provide real-time or continuous data that matches lab quality accuracy;
  
• Measure colors at a distance of 10 cm (+/- 5 mm) from the test surface;
  
• Read colors accurately in a shop floor environment with fluctuating temperatures, vibration, high humidity and variable lighting conditions;
  
• Measure accurately without frequent calibration, which can be accomplished easily in seconds if the optics of the instruments are accessible;
  
• Measure the color of products with varied textures.

When programmed to take regular and frequent measurements, the VeriColor® Spectro can markedly reduce scrap and rework because it provides an immediate signal when a process is making parts outside of specifications. In addition, companies can see a quicker return on investment of their purchase of VeriColor® Spectro instruments by using its Color iScan® software to analyze and correlate the instrument's measurements with process data such as gloss, film thickness, temperature and other process parameters to improve statistical process control and first-time quality.

SOURCE: X-Rite, Inc.