Hi-technology is helping to simplify the difficult task of measuring shade differences across a roll of fabric during final inspection. Traditionally, textile manufacturers would use a spectrophotometer or the human eye. However, the use of a spectrophotometer is complicated and time-consuming, involving lots of moving parts and cables which need high maintenance. As for human eyes, even the keenest sighted are not always accurate. These problems can now be a thing of the past as Sew Access Far East is exhibiting a real-time shade detection system called 'Eye-Opener' in the new CAD/CAM technology pavilion at this year's Autumn Inter stoff. Mikael Arhelger, managing director of the company, said that Eye- Opener, launched recently at Hong Kong's Fashion Week in July, could help save costs by reducing claims made by buyers because of shade variations in the fabric. 'Eye-Opener continuously scans for shade deviations in a roll of fabric at speeds of up to 120 metres per minute. Connected to a PC configuration running the software, Eye-Opener is able to scan the fabric width 3,000 times per second,' Mr Arhelger said. 'This means that the production process does not have to be stopped for measurements to be taken. 'Also, any shade deviation can be compared to a predetermined and user-defined shade standard,' he said. The results are displayed in an easy-to-understand format on an adjacent monitor. Apart from displaying the measurement results on screen in real-time, the software also corrects the signals to match them to the same sensitivity as the human eye. Perfect match
