Apparatus for textile color analysis

Claim 1

In apparatus for analyzing the color of a textile sample, the combination comprising: a housing of opaque material having a flat side, a cylindrical chamber therein opening through said flat side, a first cylindrical bore intercepting said chamber at a point opposite to said opening and extending substantially perpendicular to said opening, and a plurality of second cylindrical bores intersecting said chamber along the walls thereof, said second bores having axes that converge substantially to a point coincident with an extension to the axis of said first bore, the walls of said chamber and said first and second bores being blackened to minimize reflectance therefrom; a first fiber optic bundle having one end mounted in said first bore, the other end being operative to receive light for directly illuminating a test sample positioned against said housing at said opening; a plurality of second fiber optic bundles each having one end mounted in a different one of said second bores for receiving primarily diffuse light reflected from said sample, said ends of said second bundles being recessed in said second bores and located relative to said opening so that the only direct specular rays received by such ends are rays that have been reflected at least twice from said housing; a transparent glass plate mounted in said housing and covering said opening and providing a reference surface located a fixed distance from said ends of said fiber optic bundles; and support means adapted to press said test sample against said glass plate with a pressure in a range wherein the reflectance of said sample remains substantially constant with limited changes in pressure.