St. Leonards-on-Sea, England — Quality control equipment manufacturer Rhopoint Instruments Ltd. developed a new way to quantify the see-through qualities of materials with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, a public research university, in Zurich.
The partners came up with a method to measure the transparent appearances of small sample sizes and curved surfaces that can't be done with a traditional haze meter, according to a news release.
Called Rhopoint ID, the new technology can be used in place of ASTM D1003 haze meters for bottle and film applications where the transparent appearance is important.
The technology's ability to measure curved surfaces makes it the first instrument of its kind that can be used by the PET bottle industry, according to a press release from Rhopoint.
The company's staff worked with the materials department staff at the institute, which is also known as Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule University (ETH).
The patented measurement technique represents a breakthrough in transmission measurement developed in one of the world's most prestigious materials analysis departments, the release says.
In addition to PET bottles, this new technology can be used by any current user of ASTM D1003 haze meters or for any application where the measurement of transparent appearance is important, including blown film and films for food and medical uses, the release also says.
A backlit reference target graticule functions as the viewed object, creating a defined pattern of light intensities with sharp transitions between the backlit and masked areas, the release says.
The camera quantifies changes in the transmission of the light caused by a test material. Then, image analysis techniques are used to characterize the effects into parameters.
The instrument measures haze by quantifying the loss of contrast for objects viewed through a material and sharpness by quantifying the loss of perceived detail.
The technology is available in the U.S. through Rhopoint Americas, a sales and support office for Rhopoint Instruments based in Troy, Mich.
For an online presentation, or to send in a factory sample of material for testing, email [email protected] or call +44 (0)1424 739622.