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AssigneeValspar Sourcing, Inc.
InventorsPaul S. Sara, Robert W. Springate, Sanford Lee Hertz, Andrew Ubel
Estimating the term…
The present invention relates to color matching and, more specifically, an apparatus and method for preparing a stain to match a target color of a selected substrate (e.g., wood species). In one embodiment a system is provided that comprises (i) a computer (e.g., a stand-alone PC or a networked computer), (ii) hardware and/or software to store a database of stain records, (iii) hardware and/or software to create or load spectral data (e.g., a digital image) of a target sample, and (iv) hardware and/or software to display images and/or process spectral data. The system preferably facilitates the selection of a desired stain, and in preferred embodiments may also include hardware and/or software to dispense colorant agents and/or vehicles to create the desired stain. The system of the present invention may be used in a “manual” mode (whereby a human compares database and target images and makes a selection); an “automatic” mode (whereby the computer system uses spectral data to suggest a closest match based on the selected substrate); or a “combination” mode (whereby the computer system uses spectral data to suggest a closest match and the user can then compare the suggested match with various images to achieve a final selection).
1-36. (canceled)
A method, comprising the steps of:
An apparatus, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.