The present disclosure teaches an apparatus and a method for providing one or more substance liquids to a microfluidic channel network (30). The microfluidic apparatus includes valves for switching the one or more substance liquids to a microfluidic channel network (30). The apparatus can be used to generate a sequence of the one or more substance liquids as individual droplets in an immiscible separation liquid wherein individual ones of the sequence of droplets are located between the separation liquid.

The present disclosure teaches an apparatus and a method for providing one or more substance liquids to a microfluidic channel network (30). The microfluidic apparatus includes valves for switching the one or more substance liquids to a microfluidic channel network (30). The apparatus can be used to generate a sequence of the one or more substance liquids as individual droplets in an immiscible separation liquid wherein individual ones of the sequence of droplets are located between the separation liquid.

A device for measuring a periodic signal includes: a first control unit for generating an electrical input signal (V1) of the period T; a light source for generating an optical input signal directed to an object being measured from the electrical input signal (V1); an optical receiver for detecting and converting the signal reflected from the object being measured, the signal corresponding to the optical input signal altered in terms of phase and amplitude, into an electrical measurement signal (V2); and a plurality of measurement channels connected in parallel between the optical receiver and a second control unit, each measurement channel being connected in series to a switching element, a filter element, and an analog-to-digital converter, wherein the second control unit is suitable for evaluating the measurement signals from the plurality of measurement channels, and in which the electrical measurement signal (V2) is applied to each of the plurality of measurement channels, the first control unit is connected to the plurality of switching elements and is suitable for actuating the switching elements for different time intervals in each case, and the analog-to-digital converters have a maximum sampling rate of less than 2×1/T.

A method of selecting optimal inks from a plurality of ink candidates for a given color is provided, said method including a) obtaining a measure of spectral reflectance of a print substrate; b) obtaining a measure of the spectral reflectance of a first candidate ink of a first color; c) predicting a color gamut for the first candidate ink based on the spectral reflectance of the ink and the spectral reflectance of the substrate; d) repeating steps b) and c) for a second ink candidate of the first color; e) selecting the ink candidate for which the predicted color gamut includes the most target spot colors as the optimal ink for the first color.

A color-measuring apparatus includes an imaging unit that images a test pattern and obtains image information of the test pattern, a reference color-measuring unit that color-measures the test pattern and obtains a reference color measurement value of the test pattern, and an amending unit that obtains the color measured result of the test pattern in a narrow range in at least one direction in comparison with a measuring range for obtaining the reference color measurement value by the reference color-measuring unit based on at least the image information and the reference color measurement value.

This disclosure is directed to color matching with shade detection. A method of color matching can include: receiving a camera image of a target, the camera image being collected in the presence of flash illumination; receiving a color sensor spectral measurement of the target, the color sensor spectral measurement being collected in the presence of flash illumination; determining specular and diffuse fractions of a flash intensity profile of the camera image of the target; determining parallax based upon a detected location of a flash centroid within the camera image of the target; converting the parallax to a range measurement for the target; calculating an expected white level for the target based upon the specular and diffuse fractions and the range measurement for the target; and calculating a shade of a detected color based upon the color sensor spectral measurement and the expected white level for the target.

A method of determining a recipe for providing a desired color and a desired effect, for example, a pearlescent effect, comprises: i. Providing a group of different effect materials, which suitably includes no more than 20 members, for inclusion in the recipe; ii. Selecting an effect from said group which is closest to the desired effect; iii. Directing a match prediction system to use the selected effect material to determine a recipe, wherein the match prediction system determines a recipe based on the selected effect material and color information relating to the color to be matched. A method of preparing a liquid color/effect formulation for addition to plastics is also described.

This is to provide a photometric apparatus improved in measurement precision by improving the state of light incident to a sensor, which photometric apparatus 1 comprises a photometric sensor 30 into which light which is an object to be measured is incident, a signal processing means for processing a sensor output by the photometric sensor, and optical systems 50, 100, 92, 93 and 150 which introduces external light into the photometric sensor, wherein a columnar fiber rod 100 in which a center axis is provided along a direction perpendicular to a light receiving surface of the photometric sensor is provided at a part of the optical system.

This is to provide a photometric apparatus improved in measurement precision by improving the state of light incident to a sensor, which photometric apparatus 1 comprises a photometric sensor 30 into which light which is an object to be measured is incident, a signal processing means for processing a sensor output by the photometric sensor, and optical systems 50, 100, 92, 93 and 150 which introduces external light into the photometric sensor, wherein a columnar fiber rod 100 in which a center axis is provided along a direction perpendicular to a light receiving surface of the photometric sensor is provided at a part of the optical system.

A method of fabricating and inspecting a part, the method including the following steps a) treating a substrate including aluminum by a chemical conversion method making use of a treatment solution including chromium with a degree of oxidation of +III in order to obtain a part presenting a chemical conversion layer; and b) inspecting the presence of the chemical conversion layer obtained during step a) by using a colorimeter to measure the color of the chemical conversion layer and by comparing the measured color with a reference color.