Color measurement engine with UV filtered illumination
View Patent ↗A color measurement instrument includes a housing and illuminators, a two-dimensional photodetector array, and an optics system within the housing. A UV filter wheel closes the housing to prevent contaminants from entering the housing. The filter wheel supports UV filters and non-UV glass that can be selectively aligned with the illuminators. The photodetectors can be read in parallel, and each photodetector includes a unique spectral filter. The optics system delivers light from the sample target area equally to each of the photodetectors.
1. A color measurement instrument comprising:
a housing having an opening;
illuminator means within said housing for illuminating a sample;
detector means within said housing for detecting light reflected from the sample;
an optical path extending from said illumination means to the sample and from the sample to said detector means, said optical path passing through said opening;
a first optical element having a first property;
a second optical element having a second property; and
an element support means for supporting said first and second optical elements, said support means being movable between a first position in which said first optical element is aligned with the optical path and covers the opening and a second position in which said second optical element is aligned with said optical path and covers the opening, wherein said housing has a plurality of said openings, and wherein said illuminator means includes a plurality of illuminators each directing illumination through one of said openings.
2. A color measurement instrument as defined in claim 1 wherein said element support means comprises a rotatable wheel.
3. A color measurement instrument as defined in claim 1 wherein said illuminator means includes a source of illumination and a direction system directing the illumination onto the sample.
4. A color measurement instrument as defined in claim 1 wherein one of the properties is spectral filtering.
5. A color measurement instrument as defined in claim 4 wherein said filtering is UV filtering.
6. A color measurement instrument as defined in claim 1 wherein said detector means comprises a two-dimensional array of photodetectors.
7. A color measurement instrument comprising:
a housing defining a substantially enclosed space having an opening;
an illuminator supported by said housing;
a detector system supported by said housing;
a filter wheel assembly supported by said housing and covering said opening, said filter wheel assembly including a wheel supporting a UV-filtering element and a non-UV-filtering element, said filter wheel being movable between a first position in which the UV-filtering element is optically aligned with said illuminator and a second position in which the non-UV-filtering element is optically aligned with said illuminator; and
wherein said housing has a plurality of said openings and said instrument comprises a plurality of said illuminators each directing illumination through one of said openings.
8. A color measurement instrument as defined in claim 7 further comprising a mirror for directing light from said illuminator through said filter wheel assembly.
9. A color measurement instrument as defined in claim 7 wherein said detector system comprises a two-dimensional array of photodetectors.
10. A color measurement instrument as defined in claim 9 further comprising a plurality of spectral filters each associated with one of said photodetectors.
11. A color measurement instrument comprising:
a housing defining a substantially enclosed space having an opening;
an illuminator supported by said housing;
a detector system supported by said housing, wherein said detector system comprises a two-dimensional array of photodetectors;
a plurality of spectral filters each associated with one of said photodetectors; and
a filter wheel assembly supported by said housing and covering said opening, said filter wheel assembly including a wheel supporting a UV-filtering element and a non-UV-filtering element, said filter wheel being movable between a first position in which the UV-filtering element is optically aligned with said illuminator and a second position in which the non-UV-filtering element is optically aligned with said illuminator.
12. A color measurement instrument as defined in claim 11 further comprising a mirror for directing light from said illuminator through said filter wheel assembly.
13. A color measurement instrument as defined in claim 11 wherein: said housing has a plurality of said openings; and said instrument comprises a plurality of said illuminators each directing illumination through one of said openings.