Possible applications for both the UV PowerMAP® and UV MAP Plus™ include:

• Document, measure and maintain the performance of an individual UV system or entire manufacturing line from start to finish.
• Document, measure, confirm and maintain the spatial geometry and original design specifications of your UV system. Easily evaluate lamp-bulb configuration and focus, reflector shape, and focus and reflector efficiency.
• Compare reflector materials and shapes, wavelengthspecific degradation, and uniformity over time or to other systems.
• Easily identify the type of bulb in the system. Compare spectral output, degradation, and uniformity of one or more UV lamps.
• Measure and document substrate temperatures during the cure process to prevent damage to temperature-sensitive materials.
• Track and store data for statistical quality control, regulation compliance or historical comparisons.
• Print run data to attach to work orders, reports, or quality audits.
• Archive measurement data to track system performance over time.

General Overview of UV PowerMAP® and UV MAP Plus™

EIT’s UV PowerMAP and UV MAP Plus are advanced profiling systems that measure and store UV energy density, UV irradiance, and temperature information derived from their optics and thermocouple probes in UV curing processes. The UV PowerMAP simultaneously measures all four UV channels while the UV MAP Plus measures one channel. The information is transferred to a PC where it is presented in graph and data format for viewing, analysis manipulation and comparison. The information is characteristic of the same energy and irradiance that would be impinged on an actual work piece passing through the curing process.

The UV PowerMAP and the UV MAP Plus are essential tools for developing, documenting, monitoring, and maintaining UV curing processes. Formulators and suppliers (raw material, equipment, UV systems, substrates) can easily monitor the process conditions and speed the transfer from the laboratory to a production environment. Communication, sharing and the transfer of system information both within a company and between different companies can be done very easily with the PowerView files that are generated with this measurement system. The UV PowerMAP provides information on one to four UV bandwidths and is most useful for industry suppliers, R&D applications and customers with additive (mercury-iron, mercury-gallium) bulbs. The single channel UV MAP Plus was designed for use on a production floor, and it is an economical alternative to the UV PowerMAP.

The UV PowerMAP and the UV MAP Plus offer two distinct advantages over previous mapping systems:

• Data sampling rate and storage is greatly increased which leads to far better resolution on up to four UV bandwidths.
• Comparison, analysis, manipulation, sharing and archiving of the data is greatly improved with the PowerView program.

The user inserts the unit into a stationary or conveyorized UV process for data collection in the same manner that an actual work piece would be inserted. The unit’s low, narrow profile of only 0.5”H and 3.5”W allows usage in a wide range of demanding physical environments. The unit’s optics are offset so it can collect data at the ends of the bulbs where lamp degradation tends to occur first. Upon exiting from the curing environment, the unit is connected to a PC serial port via cable so that the “run” information can be uploaded into the PowerView application software.

Unit Operation

A Type J thermocouple probe is used for substrate temperature measurement. Temperatures from 0o to 500oC are recorded at 32 samples per second. This is an important function if curing is taking place on temperature sensitive substrates.

The UV PowerMAP and the UV MAP Plus are powered by nickel hydride (NiNH) batteries, which can be recharged approximately 500 times before needing replacement. An audible alarm sounds when the batteries need recharging.

Routine maintenance for the units consists of battery charging, cleaning, and returning the optics head for routine calibration. Recharging is accomplished by a one-hour “quick” charge. Keeping the optics clean is essential for getting proper measurement results, and it requires only cotton swabs and acetone. The case can be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth.

Since the optics head disconnects from the DCU, only the optics head has to be returned for periodic calibration. It is connected to the collection unit by two mechanical pins and a row of electrical contacts, and locked into place by two setscrews. Another optics head may be purchased to avoid down time during recalibration or to upgrade from single to four-channel capability.

Five areas where the PowerMAP System excels:

• Multi-lamp UV systems - run the instrument through one time and:
  • View each lamp individually instead of turning lamps on and off one at a time to get readings.
  • Confirm and check the type of bulb in each UV station when using additive bulbs.
• Comparisons made over time and between different equipment systems.
• Improving communication internally within a company and between suppliers, vendors and end users – in Graph View screen, comparing a sample and reference file sent electronically is worth a thousand typed email words when trying to explain system changes or performance.
• At fast production speeds with an adjustable sample rate up to 2048 Hz.
• Evaluating power supplies - the fast sample rate allows you to check for repeatability, uniformity and performance.

Summary

The UV PowerMAP and the UV MAP Plus have an enormous advantage over other UV measurement instruments on the market. Both allow the user to evaluate the entire lamp system to see how well it delivers UV light to the actual cure surface.

The collected data allows the user to adjust the curing process to ensure that the UV system is operating at maximum efficiency. The data that is graphed can be archived for future reference or printed and attached to work orders for ISO or FDA compliance.

General Overview of PowerView™ software

Electrical Specifications

Mechanical Specifications

PowerView Software