Optical fiber type colorimeter

Claim 1

An optical fiber colorimeter comprising: a light source for generating a light beam; a first optical fiber; a first lens interposed between said light source and said first optical fiber, said first optical fiber and said first lens positioned so as to direct said light beam into said fiber; a sample placed at a 45° angle from an exit end of said first optical fiber so as to have said light beam incident on a surface thereof; a shade for defining a measuring region around said sample; a second optical fiber perpendicular to the sample, positioned so as to receive light scattered from the surface; a second lens interposed between an exit end of said second optical fiber and a front side of a single slit; a diffraction grating; a third lens positioned after a backside of said single slit for directing light passing through said slit toward said diffraction grating; a detector array; a fourth lens for focusing light diffracted by said grating onto said detector array which converts a spectrum from the grating to electronic signals; a driver circuit including a multiplexer and a high speed integrator; and an analog/digital (A/D) converter connecting said driver circuit to a computer which analyzes the electronic signals; said optical fiber colorimeter able to measure a chrominance of the sample and a value obtained is used as a reference standard, to be stored in the computer, which will be used for later comparisons thereby making it unnecessary to consider chromatic differences due to surroundings.