
10 | PaintChecker Industrial
3. Product Description
3.1 Operating principle of photothermal coating
thickness measurement
Non-contact, fast and efficient: Photothermal coating
thickness measurement is a contactless method for
lacquers, powder coatings and glazes on metallic and
non-metallic substrates. The different thermal prop-
erties of the coating and the substrate are used to
determine the coating thickness.
The surface of the coating is heated up by a few de-
grees with a short, intense light pulse and then cools
down again by dissipating the heat into deeper areas.
The thinner the coating, the faster the temperature
drops. The temperature curve over time is recorded
with a highly sensitive infrared sensor and converted
into the coating thickness.
The light pulse can be generated in different ways.
Compared to xenon flash lamps, LEDs and diode
lasers offer all the advantages of semiconductor
technology here, such as long service life, high effi-
ciency and absolute vibration resistance.
Fig. 2: Operating principle of photothermal coating
thickness measurement
Due to the tiny measuring spot, the method is also
suitable for the smallest components. The coating
thickness can even be determined at bending edges,
corners and curved surfaces where conventional
measurement technology reaches its limits. Disturb-
ances caused by rough surfaces or material grain are
compensated by optical averaging, so that even
pastes and powders can be checked before curing.
The measurement is carried out without contact from
a distance of several centimetres. This means that wet
and sticky layers can be measured just as easily as
soft and sensitive surfaces. Contamination of the
component or carry-over of coating material is ex-
cluded in principle.
3.2 LARES® – safety redefined
LARES® stands for LAser Radiation Eye
Safety technology and is the intelligent
answer to the continuously increasing re-
quirements in the area of personal and
eye protection. Especially when working directly with
lasers, these safety requirements always have the
highest priority. By using the new LARES® techno-
logy in the manufacturing and process industry,
people, machines and the environment are reliably
protected. The handling and application of the
devices can be carried out without the user having to
be trained and instructed in a way that requires doc-
umentation. Thanks to LARES® technology, the
devices can be used directly and without any restric-
tions in almost all areas of application.
The LARES® logo on the corresponding
OptiSense products make the safe laser
technology immediately recognisable. All
devices with the LARES® logo are safe for
the eye – even during prolonged irradiation.
3.3 Features and area of application
The PaintChecker industrial is a photothermal coating
thickness measurement system for automated oper-
ation in production. It builds on OptiSense's many
years of experience in the manufacture of reliable
and durable coating thickness measurement systems
for production-accompanying component testing as
well as the production of small and thus flexibly ap-
plicable sensors.
The underlying photothermal measuring method is
standardised according to DIN EN 15042-2 and is
suitable for the examination of moist, powdery and
dry coatings on various substrates such as metal, rub-
ber and ceramics. The PaintChecker industrial meas-
uring system is designed for customer integration
into automatic coating systems and consists of the
following components:
• 1-8 sensors (depending on controller variant)
• controller
The PaintChecker industrial systems can be flexibly
integrated into the production line. There, they de-
tect process deviations immediately after coating and
thus help to avoid returns and unnecessary material
waste. The measurements can be carried out both in
stop-and-go operation on the stationary object and
directly on the moving part when using active motion
compensation.