Method and system for selective removal of material coating from a substrate using a flashlamp
First Claim
1. A method for the selective removal of a material from a structure, comprising the steps of:
- (1) irradiating a target area of a structure having at least one layer of material formed on a substrate with a pulse of incident radiant energy generated by a flashlamp, said pulse of radiant energy having an intensity sufficient to ablate said layer of material;
(2) monitoring radiant energy from said flashlamp that is reflected from said target area in order to sense the presence of a prescribed color intensity different from a known color intensity of the layer of material being ablated; and
(3) controlling the irradiation of the target area with said radiant energy in step (1) as a function of the color intensity sensed in step (2).
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Accused Products
Abstract
Pulsed light sources, such as a flashlamp or laser, remove coatings from substrates via the ablation method. A photodetector circuit, sensing reflected light from the surface being ablated, provides a feedback signal that indicates the reflected color intensity of the surface being ablated. The boundary between the coatings or substrate surfaces is distinguished by a change in color intensity between an upper coating and an undercoating, e.g., between a topcoat of paint and a primer coat of paint, or between a coating and the substrate surface itself. The color intensity determination thus provides a measure relative to when one coating has been removed and another coating remains. The photodetector circuit is also useful for providing feedback information relative to the quality of a stripped work surface for quality control or other purposes.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for the selective removal of a material from a structure, comprising the steps of:
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(1) irradiating a target area of a structure having at least one layer of material formed on a substrate with a pulse of incident radiant energy generated by a flashlamp, said pulse of radiant energy having an intensity sufficient to ablate said layer of material; (2) monitoring radiant energy from said flashlamp that is reflected from said target area in order to sense the presence of a prescribed color intensity different from a known color intensity of the layer of material being ablated; and (3) controlling the irradiation of the target area with said radiant energy in step (1) as a function of the color intensity sensed in step (2). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for removing a layer of material from a structure, comprising:
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a source of radiant energy that generates pulses of radiant energy having an intensity sufficient to ablate said layer of material; means for irradiating a target area on said structure with a series of said pulses of radiant energy for the purpose of ablating said layer of material; monitoring means for monitoring radiant energy from said source of radiant energy that is reflected from said target area in order to sense the presence of a prescribed color intensity that is different from a known color intensity of the layer of material being ablated by said irradiating means; and feedback means for controlling the irradiation of the target area with said source of radiant energy as a function of the color intensity sensed by said monitoring means. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification