High precision inline colour measurement in the plastics industry

The colorCONTROL ACS7000 inline colour measurement system is used in many different fields, amongst others for demanding measurement tasks in the plastics industry. The system is considered to be one of the most precise inline colour measurement systems in the world. Different sensor models are available to suit various measurement tasks in the plastics industry, e.g. for structured surfaces and transparent film.
 
Conventional colour sensors struggle to provide accurate measurement results on curved or structured surfaces. The colorCONTROL ACS7000 inline colour measurement system is specifically designed for these measurement tasks. Unlike conventional technologies, this system recognises colours not just by comparing them to reference values, but also by using the reflection spectrum to ensure unique identification. Due to its very high measurement speed, the colorCONTROL ACS7000 is suitable for applications where colours and shades have to be examined on-the-fly and to very high accuracies like in the plastics and textile production, automotive industry and medical engineering. Due to the extremely high measurement accuracy, the system is also applied in laboratories.
 
In plastics injection moulding, the exact colour shade of the product is a critical factor. However, the colour of the injection-moulded part changes during cooling. The colorCONTROL ACS7000 inline colour measurement system can, together with the ACS2 circular sensor, 100% inspect the warm, injected part as it is extracted from the mould. The system uses an empirically determined correlation of the colour between warm and cold pieces which enables to determine the target colour directly on the freshly injected part.
 
The inline colour measurement system is also applied in non-contact monitoring of continuously produced, transparent film. It ensures that each millimetre of strip produced is identical in colour. As well as colour fluctuations, streaks can occur during production.
 
As these films are translucent, the colour is measured in transmission using the high speed, high precision colorCONTROL ACS7000 inline colour measurement system, which is connected to a transmission sensor head (ACS3) comprising a transmitter unit (TT) and a receiver unit (TR). By traversing over the entire width of the strip, this system enables the early detection of any slight changes in colour and streaks, allowing production parameters to be modified accordingly.