Hot? Cold? Dirty? New Cooling Cabinet Keeps the Spectro System Stable

The global climate crisis has led to increasingly unpredictable conditions, challenging both people and machinery. Extreme temperatures, dust, and other environmental stressors can impact sensitive equipment in manufacturing sites worldwide. As production floors grow hotter, the need for robust, climate-resilient solutions for delicate systems, like those involving optics and electronics, becomes critical.
At LIAD, we have tackled this challenge head-on with our real-time color reading systems. We recently developed an innovative temperature-controlled cabinet for our Spectro and SpectroMetric systems, ensuring precise operation regardless of external environmental conditions.
“ (Source: Dipl.-Ing. Aboud, LIAD company). LIAD is a subsidiary of Ampacet Corporation

SPECTRO- system with Peltier air conditioner for precise color measurements(Source: LIAD ).

Precise Color Control in Any Environment

At the heart of the Spectro 4.0 system lies an advanced spectrophotometer-based optical sensor that reads product color with exceptional accuracy. The system delivers precise color measurements independent of texture, directionality, or part geometry. Any deviation from set standards triggers immediate alerts, enabling quick responses and minimizing waste in production.
The more sophisticated SpectroMetric system takes this a step further – not only detecting color variations but automatically adjusting the masterbatch dosage to maintain color consistency.

Controlled Cooling for Stable Color Reading

Production environments face a dual challenge: ambient temperature fluctuations and the heat generated by manufacturing equipment. Add to this the thermal output from the Spectro system’s light source and power supplies, and internal temperatures can quickly rise to levels that compromise performance.
The new control cabinet addresses these challenges with a sophisticated cooling solution: a sealed environment featuring a cooling plate with internal fans for optimal temperature distribution. That way, the Spectro is safely protected from overheating.

Dust Resistance Alongside Easy Maintenance

The cabinet’s design prioritizes both protection and accessibility. Its fully sealed inputs shield sensitive electronic components from dust infiltration, significantly reducing maintenance needs and enhancing system reliability.
A dedicated mount for the probe provides mechanical protection when the system is idle, while strategically placed access points allow quick light source and electronics replacement.

Mobile and Flexible Solution

Understanding the dynamic nature of modern manufacturing environments, the cooling cabinet features a wheel-based design for effortless mobility between workstations and production lines. Its space-efficient profile minimizes floor space requirements, and the modular construction allows for easy disassembly when needed – even fitting into a standard vehicle for transportation.
The enhanced Spectro and SpectroMetric systems, complete with the new cooling cabinet, represent a significant advancement in color control technology for manufacturing facilities. By ensuring precise, real-time color control with minimal maintenance requirements and complete mobility, this solution meets the demanding needs of modern industry while adapting to challenging environmental conditions.

Mobiles SPECTRO- System zur Qualitätssicherung in Produktionslinien (Source: LIAD )

Background information on air conditioning with Peltier technology

What are the advantages of air conditioning with Peltier technology? There are a variety of applications that can be ideally solved with Peltier technology, especially when high demands are placed on the:

High control accuracy
Peltier appliances This achieves control accuracies that are not possible with compressor cooling. Application examples:
- Medical lasers require a control accuracy of less than 0.05 °C in order to guarantee the quality of the application.
- In outdoor measuring control cabinets, temperatures must be kept within a narrow corridor to ensure the operation of sensitive measuring devices.
Reversibility – cooling and heating
Peltier elements are easily reversible. By simply reversing the polarity of the DC voltage, heat can be generated where cold was first generated and vice versa. Application examples:
- Outdoor and offshore enclosures. The temperature of the enclosures is controlled by a controller that activates the Peltier modules so that they heat and cool as required.
- Pharmaceutical technology: the process temperature is changed with a Peltier air conditioning unit via the Peltier controller.
Robustness
Peltier air conditioners can operate in the most adverse environmental conditions, e.g. high ambient temperatures or heavily polluted ambient air, even vibrations and strong accelerations are no problem. Application examples:
- Outdoor and offshore switch cabinets on wind turbines.
  Storm, rain, ice, heat: our Neumann Peltier technology devices can withstand harsh environmental conditions – with an IP67 protection class.
- Outdoor applications on trains and vehicles.
  Wherever compressor coolers cannot be used, Peltier air conditioners are usually used..

Peltier technology is often used in vehicles (Source: DNPT )

Enclosure size
The trend towards miniaturization of enclosures and housings is constantly placing new demands on temperature management.
Application examples:

Outdoor control cabinets for solar power plants, which have housing dimensions of only 800 mm x 400 mm x 300 mm and therefore require a compact Peltier cooling unit that can be easily integrated.

Miniature cooling
Peltier coolers can provide precisely defined cooling capacities where they are needed. Sensor temperature control for laser measuring systems with PROTEMP surface coolers.

Peltier technology for cooling small enclosures (source: DNPT)