Claims
- 1. A method for measuring the extent of cure of a coating, comprising:
operating a metal-containing substrate coating operation to provide a coated metal-containing substrate; positioning an investigative apparatus near the coated metal-containing substrate; and operating the investigative apparatus to obtain an extent of cure reading, the reading corresponding to an area on the coated metal-containing substrate.
- 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
connecting the investigative apparatus to a data analysis system; and communicating the extent of cure reading to the data analysis system.
- 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the coating operation comprises at least one process variable and the method further comprises the steps of:
obtaining at least one output value from the data analysis system, the output value being capable of correlating to the at least one process variable; and optionally adjusting the at least one process variable.
- 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the metal-containing substrate is formed.
- 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the metal-containing substrate is substantially planar.
- 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the coating comprises a compound selected from a group consisting of acrylic, polyester, urethane, epoxy, polyurea and combinations thereof.
- 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the coating comprises a chemically reactive functionality selected from a group consisting of an acid, an amine, an isocyanate, a hydroxyl and a UV-curable moiety.
- 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the investigative apparatus is selected from a group consisting of an optical probe, an acoustic probe, a dielectric probe, a contact device, a gaseous sensor, and combinations thereof.
- 9. The method according to claim 4, wherein the formed substrate is in the form of a cylinder having an open top, a side wall, and a bottom, wherein the area is located on the side wall near the bottom.
- 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one process variable is selected from a group consisting of dwell time, machine temperature, machine pressure, line speed, volumetric flow rate, flow gas composition, coating thickness, energy wavelength, spray pattern, and spray volume.
- 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the steps are performed sequentially.
- 12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
repeating the step of operating the investigative apparatus to obtain a plurality of extent of cure readings; and identifying the lowest reading from the plurality of extent of cure readings.
- 13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the investigative apparatus is a spectroscopic probe positioned at an angle relative to a measurement area, the angle being sufficient to provide an extent of cure reading.
- 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the angle of the spectroscopic probe is about 90 degrees perpendicular to the area of measurement.
- 15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the angle of the spectroscopic probe is between about 1 degree to about 45 degrees perpendicular to the area of measurement.
- 16. The method according to claim 13, wherein the angle of the spectroscopic probe is between about 1 degree to about 30 degrees to the area of measurement.
- 17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the coating on the metal containing substrate comprises a taggant.
- 18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of operating the investigative apparatus is performed after the coating on the metal-containing substrate hardens.
- 19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of operating the investigative apparatus is repeated to obtain a plurality of extent of cure readings.
- 20. A method for monitoring a metal-containing substrate manufacturing operation, wherein the operation comprises at least one process variable, the method comprising:
a) establishing an acceptable range for at least one output characteristic of the metal-containing substrate; b) retrieving at least one value corresponding to the at least one output characteristic; c) analyzing the information; and d) identifying areas on the metal-containing substrate having a value of the at least one output characteristic lying outside the acceptable range.
- 21. The method according to claim 20, further comprising:
modifying the at least one process variable of the operation.
- 22. The method according to claim 20, further comprising:
repeating steps b) thru d) until the value of the at least one output characteristic is within the acceptable range.
- 23. The method according to claim 20, wherein the step of retrieving at least one output characteristic value is performed off-line from the manufacturing operation.
- 24. The method according to claim 20, wherein the output characteristic is selected from a group consisting of extent of cure, hardness, and mechanical modulus.
- 25. The method according to claim 20, wherein the output characteristic is the extent of cure of a coating, and wherein a plurality of values are obtained from areas on the surface of the coated substrate, the method further comprising:
obtaining a profile charting the obtained output values against the location of the measured area.
- 26. The method according to claim 20, wherein the process variable is selected from a group consisting of resin flow rate, oven temperature, machine pressure, spray pressure, oven dwell time, and line speed.
- 27. The method according to claim 20, wherein the step of retrieving at least one output characteristic is performed using a technique selected from spectroscopy, acoustics, electrical, and combinations thereof.
- 28. The method according to claim 20, wherein said step of analyzing information is performed by a computer processor.
- 29. The method according to claim 20, wherein said step of analyzing information is performed manually.
- 30. A system for monitoring a coating operation, comprising:
a spectroscopic probe positioned near a coated metal-containing substrate; a spectrophotometer connected to the spectroscopic probe; and a data processing unit connected to the spectrophotometer.
- 31. The system according to claim 30, wherein the spectroscopic probe is positioned at an angle sufficient to provide an extent of cure value.
- 32. The system according to claim 30, wherein the spectroscopic probe is positioned at an angle of about 90 degrees perpendicular to a sample area.
- 33. The system according to claim 30, wherein the spectroscopic probe is positioned at an angle between about 1 degree to about 45 degrees perpendicular to a sample area.
- 34. The system according to claim 30, wherein the spectroscopic probe is positioned at an angle between about 1 degree to about 30 degrees perpendicular to a sample area.
- 35. The system according to claim 30, further comprising a control unit communicatively connected to the data processing unit.
- 36. The system according to claim 35, wherein the control unit is a process controller for the coating operation.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/330,135, filed Oct. 16, 2001.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60330135 |
Oct 2001 |
US |