Andrea R Anderson

US Patent:

20030208345, Nov 6, 2003

Filed:

Apr 25, 2003

Appl. No.:

10/423441

Inventors:

Julia O'Neill - Glenside PA, US
Andrea Anderson - Reading PA, US
Irene Danenhower - Mohrsville PA, US
James Fotiou - Reading PA, US
Elizabeth Francis - Birdsboro PA, US
Judith Greth - Temple PA, US
Michael Hummel - Reading PA, US
John Reffner - N.Wales PA, US

International Classification:

G06G007/48

US Classification:

703/006000

Abstract:

A method for simulating the final finish of a multi-component finish material comprises submitting or receiving a request describing a desired single or multicolor surface appearance in a finish simulator to generate one or more simulated appearance samples, obtaining feedback on said simulated appearance sample and, if necessary, modifying said sample to simulate said desired surface appearance. The finish simulator comprises a library of finish templates that have been produced and software or processing means to apply rules to adjust the simulated finish for known changes in chemistry, composition, and application conditions. In addition, the appearance of an actual multicolor sample is reproduced by separating the sample into areas of different individual colors, identifying the individual color of each of said areas, translating said individual area colors into color values that correspond to those in a database of colors that have been produced, and searching the database for existing colors that are close matches for those in the sample. The final finish of the closely matching colors is preferably simulated and assessed electronically using a finish simulator. The method of the present invention reduces the total time necessary to generate a multi-component color finish to match a given sample and can eliminate the need for making trial finishes in assessing color finishes for matching.