Hand-held spectrophotometer
Hand-held spectrophotometerKeywords:Minolta, Photometers, Colour
Minolta Industrial Instruments has introduced a new hand-held spectrophotometer claiming unrivalled ease-of-use (Plate 11). By featuring a novel navigation wheel, a large display and sophisticated on-board software it enables intuitive on-site use for colour measurement and matching with minimal training. The precision instrument is thought to be ideal for use in design,production and quality control in a wide range of industrial applications for all types of surface finishes.
Plate 11 Minolta introduces a revolutionary hand-held spectrophotometer offering unprecedented ease-of-use on the shop-floor
The new Minolta CM-2600d Portable Spectrophotometer is said to be lightweight and ergonomically designed for on-site hand-held operation. The navigation wheel scrolls the user through the operation menu and the only other button initiates the 1.5-2s measurement cycle. Showing data graphically or numerically, the display provides all the colour information at a glance. Captured information may be displayed as calorimetric data with descriptive colour difference, L*a*b colour graph with box or elliptical tolerances, or simple pass/fail indications when matching colours against pre-set tolerances and stored colour data. The instrument claims consistent measurement of reflected colour and colour difference in all the standard international chromatic systems, for wavelength measurement between 360nm and 740nm with a 10nm pitch. The internal software contains all the usual calorimetric equations to cover different tasks along with numerous industry and application-specific indices. The accurate inter-instrument agreement between these and Minolta's other spectrophotometers and the facility to communicate in five languages, enable companies to utilise them for an international colour communication network. The software also provides a recalibration reminder to ensure that users maintain a continued traceability, as recommended in ISO 9000 procedures.
The CM-2600d is equipped with an exclusive "Task Function". When used in conjunction with Minolta's quality control software SpectraMagic, measurement routines on the production line can be pre-defined. These are established in the software and downloaded to the instrument. Six different tasks, containing up to ten sequences each, can be stored. The operator then simply follows the instructions on the large clear display. Up to 700 sets of measurement data may be stored and later uploaded to SpectraMagic for further manipulation and preparation of reports.
In common with the Minolta bench-top CM-3600d, the portable CM-2600d features Minolta's patented Innovative Optical System. This includes Numerical Gloss Control and Numerical UV Control (NUVC), said to ensure fast and accurate calibration and simultaneous specular component included (SCI) and excluded(SCE) measurements. Two interchangeable measurement apertures offer MAV 8mm and SAV 4mm, enabling measurement of all shapes and sizes.
The CM-2600d meets the ISO and DIN standards for reflectance measurements,utilising d/° geometry (diffuse illumination and 80 viewing). Inter-instrument agreement has a typical mean 
E*ab 0.2. Repeatability for spectral reflectance has a standard deviation of within 0.10 percent (0.2 percent for 360nm to 380nm) and, for calorimetric values, standard deviation is within E*ab 0.04.
Details available from: Industrial Instruments Operation, Minolta (UK)Limited. Fax: +44 (0)1908 618662; E-mail: twalker@minolta.co.uk
