Patent ID: 6014222
Filing Date: 2000-01-11
Classification: G01N,Y10S

Abstract:
A reflection measuring device for determining quality properties of items, said device comprising: a measuring head with a housing which is optically open in one side, said housing being designed to be placed on the item from which the reflection factor is to be measured; one or more light emitters arranged to illuminate the surface of the item adjacent to the open side of the housing; a plurality of optical fibres, one end of which lead to the interior of the housing and lie a distance from the housing's open side to receive light reflected from the surface of the item and to conduct it to a detector system, said detector system comprising: a plurality of filter elements each positioned adjacent to the other end of one or more of the optical fibres and each allowing passage of near infra-red light in a predetermined wavelength range; a plurality of photodetectors each positioned by a filter element and arranged so as to measure the strength of the light passing through the filter element; a plurality of amplifiers each connected to a photodetector and each set to a predetermined amplification, the optical fibres, filter elements, photodetectors and amplifiers forming a plurality of channels through which optical and electrical signals pass from the light entry point in the fibres within the housing to the signal output of the amplifiers as separate analog signals; one or more A/D converters for converting the analog signals from the signal outputs of the amplifiers into equivalent digital signals; and a calculation unit for processing the digital signals and converting them into an expression of a quality property of the item.