Patent ID: 8290275
Filing Date: 2012-10-16
Classification: G01J,G01N

Abstract:
1. A method of identifying an effective pigment comprising: imaging the effective pigment to obtain first image data, wherein the imaged effective pigment imparts a design effect that changes appearance with angle of observation; subjecting, using a computer, the obtained image data to background processing and extracting image data concerning a region containing only one particle of the effective pigment as second image data; calculating, using the computer, characteristic parameters of the effective pigment from the second image data; and identifying the effective pigment based at least in part on the extracted characteristic parameters and a pre-prepared database that stores, in a memory, information indicative of various kinds of effective pigments respectively associated with image data and characteristic parameters of the various kinds of effective pigments, wherein the identified effective pigment imparts a design effect that changes appearance with angle of observation and the various kinds of effective pigments stored in the database each impart a design effect that changes appearance with angle of observation, and wherein the stored image data of the various kinds of effective pigments each contain only one particle and the characteristic parameters of the various kinds of effective pigments are obtained by conducting said subjecting and said calculating, the characteristic parameters including parameters representing a color of the effective pigment, the parameters representing; the color of the effective pigment including sine and cosine values of a dominant color hue angle, intensity of the dominant color, and saturation of the dominant color.