Glossmeters from Elcometer

Citation

(2002), "Glossmeters from Elcometer", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 31 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.2002.12931bad.005

Glossmeters from Elcometer

Keywords: Gloss, Paints, Instruments

Elcometer Instruments Ltd., the UK, Manchester based equipment manufacturer for coating process quality control, has announced the launch of new Glossmeters to augment its existing range of micro-gloss, micro-tri-gloss and mirror-tri-gloss instruments. The new Elcometer 400 NOVOCURVE, Elcometer 401 and 402 NOVO-GLOSS Glossmeters are said to provide a comprehensive choice of simple Glossmeters, statistical Glossmeters and a Glossmeter for measurement on curved surfaces for a wide range of applications (Plate 6).

Plate 6

The measurement of gloss is increasingly part of the assessment of a product finish as appearance is often important to the Customer and the User but also the gloss values, over time, can be a valuable pointer toward the performance of a coating or finish in a given environment. For example, the effects of accelerated weather testing on a coating can be assessed by the effect on the gloss value before and after exposure to the weathering conditions.

The Elcometer 401 NOVO-GLOSS is described as a simple-to-use, low-cost Glossmeter, available in single, dual and triple measurement angle options. Calibration adjustment is accomplished using the gloss standard provided with the instrument. This ensures that the instrument is always set to read correctly before use.

Available for coating applications as single angle-units, 20^°, 60^° and 85^° options, as dual- angle 20^°/60^° or as a triple-angle, 20^°/60^°/85^° options. There are also 45^° and 75^° single angle units and 20^°/60^°/75^°for applications such as measurement of gloss on paper or ceramics.

The Elcometer 401 has a range from 0–199.9 Gloss Units (GU) with a claimed accuracy of 0.5 GU, traceable to BAM Standards (Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing in Germany) and is powered by a rechargeable battery pack with UK, Europe or US mains adapter options making this a Glossmeter for use anywhere in the world.

The Elcometer 402 is described as a statistical Glossmeter with push-button controls and a capacity for up to 200 readings, with calculation of mean, standard deviation, maximum, minimum and coefficient of variation from the readings stored. The unit has a display that can be set by the User to read in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch and the 402 is available in all the measurement angle options of the 401.

The 402 Glossmeters have auto ranging up to 1,000 GU for optimum measurement resolution and a claimed accuracy of 0.5 GU also traceable to BAM.

The Elcometer 400 NOVO-CURVE is a bench-top instrument designed in conjunction with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and is said to be able to measure gloss on curved surfaces using a small measurement area and a special optical configuration. The Elcometer 400 has four adjustable jigging posts which are said to allow consistent positioning of the curved samples over the measurement aperture and a foot switch is provided to simplify the measurement process allowing hands free operation if required.

Like the Elcometer 402, the Elcometer 400 has auto-ranging up to 1,000 GU allowing surfaces from matt through high gloss to mirror finish to be measured with a claimed accuracy of 0.5 GU also traceable to BAM. The unit has a single measurement angle of 600.

The Elcometer 402 statistical Glossmeter and the Elcometer 400 NOVO-CURVE Glossmeter are both supported by the powerful and flexible Elcometer NOVO- SOFT software package for report generation, results charting, data archiving or to transfer data to a spreadsheet for further analysis. The Elcometer NOVO-SOFT Software is said to be simple to use and has an automatically generated directory tree corresponding to the angle at which the measurements are taken keeping the results of tests in individual directories to avoid confusion.

All the Glossmeters are supplied with a mains unit appropriate to the region in which the unit is to be used, with a calibration standard and a calibration certificate for that standard.

With a wide range of applications, the Elcometer NOVO-GLOSS Glossmeters can be used on such diverse items as domestic appliances or vehicles, plastic or ceramics, metal finishes or paper, mirrors surfaces and reflectors, flooring and furniture.

Details available from: Elcometer Instruments Ltd, Tel: +44 (0) 161 371 6000; Fax: +44 (0) 161 371 6010; E-mail: sales@elcometer.com ; Website: http://www.elcometer.com