JPH0479390B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION FIELD The present invention relates to a CCM (Computer Color Matching) color matching method for color matching paint using a computer. BACKGROUND ART In order to match paint to a given color sample, it is necessary to determine the type and amount of primary colors required. This largely relied on the years of experience and intuition of color mixing engineers, and was a major obstacle to improving productivity. The color matching method by color matching technicians inevitably involves repeated trial and error many times.
Added to this is the phenomenon of optical metamerism, making it difficult to obtain a desired color-correct product. Therefore, the CCM system was conceived.
A colorimeter (generally a spectrophotometer) that usually measures color;
It consists of three components: a computer that calculates color combinations based on the colorimetry results of color samples, and a terminal device that inputs the product name necessary for calculation by the computer or outputs the calculated color combinations. Measure the reflectance of the coated plate using a spectrophotometer and determine the absorption coefficient (k) and scattering coefficient (s) of each primary color.
When calculating the amount of primary colors mixed, there are two methods: one uses a computer and calculates the amount to match the reflectance of the color sample, and the other method calculates the amount to match the tristimulus values X, Y, and Z of the color sample. There is. U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,962, issued October 31, 1967, discloses an automatic paint color dispensing system that utilizes multiple metering pumps and a card reading mechanism. JP-A-52-137378 (corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,287), published November 16, 1972, discloses an automatic fluid measuring and dispensing device that utilizes a plurality of measuring pumps and a digital computer. Devices similar to this are disclosed in JP-A-53-100852, ``Paint color adjustment method'', JP-A-56-136400, ``Method for adjusting blended ink that harmonizes with color sample'', and JP-A-58-204066, ``Paint color adjustment method''. "Preparation Method and Apparatus" and US Pat. No. 4,314,653, "Multiple Types Automatic Measuring Apparatus" issued on February 9, 1982. Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, the automatic weighing machines in these conventional devices pump out the amount indicated by a computer or the like in a volumetric manner using a pump.
Accordingly, the actual weight sampling results for the specified amount are not checked, so if, for example, the primary color contains bubbles, the specified result will not be obtained. Also, since it is not possible to record and store the weight sampling results, the sum of the initial color combination and the corrected color combination (actual color combination) at the time when the correct color product is obtained is recorded and stored. It was not possible to establish a systematic color matching system.
Conventional calculators only instruct weighing values to automatic weighing machines, and do not have the function of feeding back the weighed values to perform corrective calculations. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a computer-based color mixing method that can check the actual weight taken by an automatic computer and make corrections based on the results. Another object of the present invention is to provide a systematic computer color mixing method in which the actual color combinations when a correctly colored product is obtained are recorded and stored as a combination history, and checked and detected at the next color mixing. be. Means for Solving the Problems and Their Effects The above-mentioned object of the present invention is as described in the inventors' earlier application, Japanese Patent Application No. 16887-1987 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Measuring Liquid Coloring Material". equipment (see attached drawing No. 1)
This can be achieved by implementing the method described below using the following figure. That is, the computer color toning method according to the present invention, in its first aspect, is a computer color toning method for manufacturing a toned color product in which the blending amount of each primary color matches a color sample of an unknown paint, a) measuring the reflectance of the color sample; (b) inputting the reflectance data of the color sample into a calculator; and (c) reproducing the color sample with a calculator pre-programmed for the input color sample. Calculate the required blending amount of each primary color, (d) Transmit the blending amount of each primary color calculated by the computer to the automatic weighing machine, (e) Perform the primary color measurement operation on the automatic weighing machine, (f) Automatic weighing The machine records the measurement results, (g) compares the toned product and the color sample, and (h) measures the reflectance of the toned product if the color sample and the toned product do not match according to the above steps. (i) input the reflectance data of the toned product into a computer; (j) compare the color sample and each reflectance data of the toned product;
Next, a pre-programmed calculator calculates the corrected blending amount of each primary color by comparing it with the already measured value of the mixed color product inputted into the automatic weighing machine in (f) above, and (k) calculates each primary color calculated by the computer. The corrected blending amount is transmitted to an automatic weighing machine, and (l) the steps (e) to (k) are repeated until the step (g) where the color sample and the mixed product match. . The computer color toning method according to the present invention is the second
A computer-based color mixing method for producing a color-matched product in which the blending amount of each primary color matches a known paint color sample, comprising: (a) transmitting the blending amount of each primary color to an automatic measuring machine; , (b) carry out the primary color measurement operation using the automatic weighing machine, (c) the automatic weighing machine records the weighing results, (d) compare the toned product with the color sample, and (e) measure the color according to the above steps. If the sample and the mixed color product do not match, measure the reflectance of the mixed color product, (f) enter the reflectance data of the color mixed product into the calculator, (g) calculate each reflection of the color sample and the mixed color product. Compare rate data,
Next, a pre-programmed calculator calculates the corrected blending amount of each primary color by comparing it with the already measured value of the mixed color product inputted into the automatic weighing machine in (c) above, and (h) calculates each primary color calculated by the computer. The corrected blending amount is transmitted to the automatic weighing machine, and (i) the processes from (b) to (h) are repeated until the step (d) where the color sample matches the mixed color product. . The computer color toning method according to the present invention is the third one.
In this embodiment, there is provided a computer-based color mixing method for manufacturing a toned color product that matches a paint color sample, which method includes: (a) recording and storing data on the amount of each primary color of the manufactured toned color product using an automatic measuring machine; , (b) inputting the stored data into a computer to create blending history record data, (c) measuring the reflectance of the color sample, (d) inputting the reflectance data of the color sample into the computer. (e) Compare the blending history record data to detect the blending amount data of each primary color that is the same as or similar to the color sample, and use the data as the blending amount of each primary color, either as is or by processing the color blending from the data. (f) transmit the blending amount of each primary color calculated by the computer to the automatic weighing machine; (g) perform the primary color measurement operation on the automatic weighing machine; (h) ) The automatic weighing machine records the weighing results, (i) compares the toned product and the color sample, and (j) compares the toned product with the reflected color if the color sample and the toned product do not match according to the above steps. (k) Input the reflectance data of the toned product into the calculator; (l) Enter the measured value, color sample, and toned color of the toned product input into the automatic weighing machine in (h) above; (m) transmitting the corrected blending amount of each primary color calculated by the computer to an automatic calculator; (n) It is characterized in that the steps (g) to (m) are repeated until the step (i) in which the color sample and the toned product match. According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the conventional
By linking the CCM system and the automatic weighing machine and mutually sending and receiving data, corrective blending operations can be performed accurately and quickly. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the above-mentioned actual color combinations are recorded and stored as a combination history, and as a result, a planned color mixing system based on data accumulation is realized. Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the embodiments of the accompanying drawings. Embodiment FIG. 1 shows an automatic measuring device for liquid coloring material described in the above-mentioned earlier application of the present inventors, and is shown as an example of the device for carrying out the computer color toning method according to the present invention. In the figure, a large number of primary color containers 12 containing various liquid coloring materials (primary colors) 10 to be collected and measured are placed on a turntable 16 driven by a motor 14. The predetermined primary color container instructed to be weighed is rotated to a predetermined position and placed on the container receiver 18. Next, the threaded rod 24 is raised by the action of the screw device 22 driven by the motor 20 and rotates the container receiver 18. As a result, the primary color container 12 reaches the overturning position 26 shown in the figure.
When the cam 30 driven by the pulse motor 28 comes into contact with the lever 32, the valve member 34 opens and closes the valve. When the valve is opened, the liquid coloring material 10 in the primary color container falls into the collection container 36 disposed below. The collection container 36 is placed on an electronic balance 38, and the weight of the falling liquid coloring material is checked. After repeating the dropping operation of different types of liquid coloring materials, a desired mixed coloring material is created in the collecting container 36. Here, a turntable 42 driven by a motor 40 rotates to send the collected container 36 to the next process and guide the empty collection container to the collection position. The automatic weighing device shown in FIG.
0, 28, and 40 are connected to drive circuits 45, 46, and 40, respectively.
connected to the computer 50 via 47 and 48;
Furthermore, by connecting the electronic balance 38 to a computer 50 via a measuring circuit 49, various computer controls can be performed according to a program. The present invention is a further development of the above-mentioned computer control, and from the perspective of an apparatus, it includes a measuring device 52 and a measuring circuit 53 for measuring the reflectance of a paint color sample 51 and a toned product 54, and the entire system. A central computer 55 for control and a terminal device for handling it are added. In the example of FIG. 1, the computer 50 that controls the automatic weighing machine and the central computer 55 that controls the entire system are shown separately, but it is also possible to replace the two computers with one large computer. . A computer toning method according to the first aspect of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, operate the terminal device to call up the color combination calculation program, and input the product name (for example, Y71) and batch size (for example, 500g). Next, measure the reflectance of the color sample (Munsell 3.9Y8.0/6.9 as an example) using a spectrophotometer. However, the absorption coefficient of each primary color
The values of (k) and scattering coefficient (s) are stored in a computer. When instructed to calculate a color combination based on these values, the calculator calculates a combination of primary color combination amounts, and outputs a combination group consisting of one or more combinations to the terminal as a calculation result. This is because there are cases where multiple combinations are possible for one color sample, and the operator selects one combination by taking into account the performance of the toned product or the stock amount and cost of the primary color.
Select only one and specify its color combination. This color combination is transmitted to the automatic calculator as a measurement instruction value. For example, the contents are as follows.

[Table] What is transmitted to the automatic weighing machine is the product name, primary color identification number, and number of grams. The automatic weighing machine performs the primary color weighing operation in accordance with the above-mentioned weighing instruction values (see FIG. 1).
When the weighing is completed, the weighing instructions and actual weighing results are recorded and stored in the automatic weighing machine. Its contents are as follows.

[Table] Next, mix the measured primary colors and create a painted board for the toned product. Next, it is verified visually or with a meter whether the color of the toned product matches the color of the painted plate in the color sample. If they match, the operation ends, but generally they do not match the first time, so we move on to the color correction process. Operate the terminal device again to call up the color correction calculation program and input the product name and batch size. The recorded values of the weighing results in the above-mentioned process are transmitted from the storage device to the computer. Next, the reflectance of the toned product is measured using a spectrophotometer. The K and S values for each primary color are stored in the computer. The calculator compares the measured value of the toned product and the reflectance of the toned product and the color sample, calculates the color correction blending amount, and outputs it to the terminal. The operator checks whether there are any problems with the formulation and inputs correction instructions into the automatic weighing machine. Its contents are as follows.

[Table] The automatic weighing machine performs the primary color weighing operation according to the correction instruction value, and when the measurement is completed, the measurement instruction value, the cumulative sum of the measurement results, and the number of corrections are input into the computer and stored in the storage device. Its contents are as follows.

[Table] After mixing the measured primary colors again, create a coating board for the toned product and verify whether the toned product and the coating board color of the color sample match. If the colors do not match, repeat the color correction process described above until the colors match. In the computer color mixing method according to the second aspect of the present invention, the blending amount of each primary color in the paint color sample is known, so the reflectance measurement of the color sample, data input, and primary color in the method of the first aspect described above The step of calculating the blending amount is omitted. According to the above-described method of the present invention, the weighing results from the automatic weighing machine are automatically input into the computer, so the input work is reduced compared to the conventional method, and the color matching work is made more efficient while at the same time, it is easy to avoid human mistakes. Input errors are reduced. In addition, not only the measurement instruction value but also the actual measurement result is recorded and fed back to the computer, so it is expected that the accuracy of color correction will be improved and the number of corrections will be reduced. Next, a computer color toning method according to a third aspect of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As can be understood from a comparison with the flowchart in FIG. 2, the flowchart in FIG.
9 and 101 correspond to each process in FIG. In order to implement this method, a recipe history record must be created in advance. The compounding history record is
The sum of the color combination and the corrected color combination when the colors match when the color is actually mixed against the color sample (actual combination)
A list of data is recorded and stored on a computer storage medium such as paper or magnetic tape. The actual combination is the data of the result of color correction and actual color matching, so conventional CCM
This is more accurate than a color combination calculated by a computer based on the K and S values. Assuming that the blending history list is ready, first operate the terminal device to call up the color blending calculation program.
Enter the product name and batch size. Next, the reflectance of the color sample is measured using a spectrophotometer. K and S of each primary color
The value of is input into the calculator in advance. The computer reads the reflectance data of the color sample among the data recorded on the storage medium and determines whether there is any data that is the same as or similar to the current color sample. If it is determined that the current color sample is the first color, the color toning method in steps 90 and below is performed through steps 86 and 87, which is similar to steps 65 and below in the color toning method according to the first aspect described above. Since they are the same, they will be omitted. If it is determined that the current color sample is not the first time color, the process proceeds to step 88, and the data of the actual combination regarding the same or similar color sample in the combination history book is output as is or after being processed. The operator decides on a combination of blending amounts, taking into account the stock amount and cost of the primary colors, and specifies the color blend on the terminal. This color combination is transmitted to the automatic weighing machine as a weighing instruction value, and the following steps 9 in Fig. 3 correspond to steps 68 and below in Fig. 2.
Perform the color toning operation by repeating steps 1 and below until the colors match. When the colors match, the actual combination data is recorded in the combination history book along with the color sample data, and the operation ends. As an example, if the paint used is an acrylic baking primary color (for example, Super Lux E-70, manufactured by Nippon Paint Co., Ltd.) and the color sample is Munsell 2.3Y7.3/2.7, input the product name Y72 and batch size 200g from the terminal. For example, formulation history data based on the following actual formulations can be obtained. In this way, according to the method of the present invention, not only the reflectance of the color sample but also the color name,
It is also possible to search the formulation history data by inputting Munsell values, X, Y, and Z.

[Table] The above data is expressed as a percentage of cumulative g for each primary color for 5 lots. So, calculate the average value of these 5 times and set the batch size to 200.
Since it is g, double it to find the color combination g number. The result is as follows.

[Table] From the results actually carried out by the present inventors, it has been found that the formulation history list can be used extremely effectively. Examples thereof are described below. The color sample was Munsell 3.3PB4.0/5.2, and I decided to match the colors with acrylic printing primary colors. The compounding amount calculated by the computer based on the reflectance of the color sample was as shown in (a) below. The blending amount calculated based on the actual blend in the blending history book was as shown in (b) below. The actual combination when the colors match after actually performing color matching is
It became like (c).

[Table] From the results, it was found that the color combination based on the actual combination was more reliable and accurate in producing a predetermined color than the color combination calculated by a computer. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments and flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made thereto. The apparatus of FIG. 1 is only one example for carrying out the method of the invention. In the above explanation, the reflectance of the color sample was measured, but the tristimulus value X,
It is also possible to measure Y and Z at the same time as additional data. It should be understood that the combinations of the components of the computer, the operating procedures, etc. can be freely selected as necessary, and these are also included within the scope of the present invention. Effects of the Invention As explained in detail above, according to the method of the present invention, the color matching procedure can be carried out accurately and quickly, and the amount of excess is reduced which corresponds to the improvement in the accuracy of the blending amount, thereby reducing the expense of excess. can be suppressed. In addition, a systematic color mixing system has been established based on the accumulation of blending results, and its effects are extremely remarkable, such as further improvements in productivity.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of an apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a process diagram showing the method of the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a method of the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10...Liquid coloring material, 12...Primary color container, 14,
20, 28, 40...Motor, 34...Valve, 38
...Electronic balance, 45,46,47,48...Drive circuit, 49,53...Measuring circuit, 50,55...
Calculator, 51... Color sample, 52... Measuring device, 54
...Toned product.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A computer-based color toning method for producing a toned color product in which the blending amount of each primary color matches a color sample of an unknown paint, comprising: (a) measuring the reflectance of the color sample; (b) inputting the reflectance data of the color sample into a computer; (c) calculating the blending amount of each primary color necessary to reproduce the color sample using a pre-programmed calculator for the input color sample; (d) The amount of each primary color calculated by the computer is transmitted to the automatic weighing machine, (e) The automatic weighing machine performs the primary color measurement operation, (f) The automatic weighing machine records the weighing results, (g) Compare the toned product and the color sample, (h) If the color sample and the toned product do not match according to the above procedure, measure the reflectance of the toned product; (i) Measure the reflectance of the toned product; Input the reflectance data into the calculator, (j) compare the reflectance data of the color sample and the toned product,
Next, a pre-programmed calculator calculates the corrected blending amount of each primary color by comparing it with the already measured value of the mixed color product inputted into the automatic weighing machine in (f) above, and (k) calculates each primary color calculated by the computer. (l) The process from (e) to (k) above is repeated until the step (g) in which the color sample matches the mixed color product. Computer toning method. 2. A computer-based toning method for producing a color-matched product in which the blending amount of each primary color matches a known paint color sample, which method comprises: (a) transmitting the blending amount of each primary color to an automatic measuring machine; (b) ) perform the primary color measurement operation with the automatic weighing machine, (c) the automatic weighing machine records the weighing results, (d) compares the toned product with the color sample, and (e) compares the color sample and the toned product with the above procedure. If the colors do not match, measure the reflectance of the toned product, (f) input the reflectance data of the toned product into the calculator, (g) enter the reflectance data of the color sample and the toned product, Compare,
Next, a pre-programmed calculator calculates the corrected blending amount of each primary color by comparing it with the already measured value of the mixed color product inputted into the automatic weighing machine in (c) above, and (h) calculates each primary color calculated by the computer. The corrected blending amount is transmitted to an automatic weighing machine, and (i) the steps (b) to (h) are repeated until the step (d) where the color sample and the mixed product match. Computer toning method. 3. A computer-based toning method for manufacturing tonal color products that match paint color samples, which includes: (a) Recording and storage of data on the amount of each primary color of the manufactured tonal color products using an automatic measuring machine; (b) ) Input the stored data into a computer to create formulation history record data, (c) measure the reflectance of the color sample, (d) input the reflectance data of the color sample into the computer, ( e) Check the blending history record data to detect the blending amount data of each primary color that is the same as or similar to the color sample, and set the color blending from the data as it is or by processing it to obtain the blending amount of each primary color. Calculate the blending amount with a programmed calculator, (f) transmit the blending amount of each primary color calculated by the computer to the automatic weighing machine, (g) perform the primary color measurement operation on the automatic weighing machine, (h) perform automatic weighing. The machine records the measurement results, (i) compares the toned product and the color sample, and (j) measures the reflectance of the toned product if the color sample and the toned product do not match according to the above steps. (k) Input the reflectance data of the toned product into the calculator; (l) Input the measured value of the toned product, the color sample, and each of the toned product into the automatic weighing machine in (h) above; (m) transmitting the corrected blending amount of each primary color calculated by the computer to an automatic calculator; (n) calculating the corrected blending amount of each primary color by comparing the reflectance data; A computer color mixing method characterized in that the steps from ) to (m) are repeated until the step (i) where the color sample and the color matching product match.