TITLE OF THE INVENTION: A HYBRID COLOUR MATCHING DEVICE FOR OFFSET PRINTING
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present disclosure is generally related to a device for colour matching in the offset print industry. Particularly, the present disclosure is related to a device that helps to produce a colour which matches an original colour in offset printing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Colour is the main test of quality in printed products. With a vast array of equipment, software, and technical support available to printers on colour matters, it has never been easier for them to avoid mistakes with colour.
The science of colour mixing and matching is a fascinating one, because perception and interpretation of colour are highly subjective. As a result, objectively communicating a particular colour to someone without some type of standard is difficult.
Initially, the colour matching is performed entirely by individuals/persons with special skill in the art using human eye colour perception. The results may not be accurate if the person performing this task has vision problems such as colour blindness. Further, the human colour perception can be influenced by many factors such as mood, background, and/or fatigue.
The most commonly used instrument for measuring colour today is the Spectrodensitometer. The Spectro technology measures reflected or transmitted light at many points on the visual spectrum, which results in a curve. In the Spectrodensitometer, colour matching is done either by measuring the Lab* values or by measuring the contrast value. The Lab* values can identify only the ink contamination during continuous print run and the contrast measurement can really give a good contrast to the print.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for a hybrid colour matching device that overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks and shortcomings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A hybrid colour matching device for offset printing is disclosed. The device comprises: a control/processing unit that monitors and controls the entire functionality of the device; a

first memory which is read-only; a second memory which is volatile; a third memory which is a flash memory; a crystal oscillator that facilitates the flow of data within the device and helps in coordinating the performance of all the components in the device; an indicator that facilitates the identification of the current state of the device; a communication unit that facilitates the communication of the device with one or more external devices or with a network; a cover/casing that facilitates the protection of the device and its components; a Universal Serial Bus Connector that facilitates the connecting of the device with a Spectrodensitometer directly or through an offset printer and helps the device to override the functionalities and the interface of the Spectrodensitometer, said Universal Serial Bus Connector being covered with a closing case; and a Hybrid Colour Matching (HCM) module that is permanently embedded in the first memory and facilitates the production of a colour which matches an original colour, said hybrid colour matching module comprising one or more driver modules and a controller module, said one or more driver modules being operated from within the kernel layer of a computer to which the Spectrodensitometer or the offset printer is connected with, with the one or more driver modules: sending commands to the Spectrodensitometer to take a minimum of ten contrast and l, a, b readings from a sample print patch provided for testing; finding the highest print contrast level with the delta E values of less than or equal to 4 within the readings; and displaying the results to a user after storing the results in the third memory and in the internal memory of the Spectrodensitometer to which the device is connected.
The disclosed device accurately records both l, a, b and contrast at the same time.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 illustrates a hybrid colour matching device for offset printing, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Throughout this specification, the use of the word "comprise" and “include” and variations such as "comprises", "comprising", “includes”, and “including” may imply the inclusion of an element or elements not specifically recited.
A hybrid colour matching device (100) for offset printing is disclosed. As illustrated in Figure 1, the device (100) comprises a control/processing unit (200) that monitors and

controls the entire functionality of the device (100); a first memory (300) which is read-only, a Hybrid Colour Matching (HCM) module that is permanently embedded in the first memory (300) and facilitates the production of a colour which matches an original colour, a second memory (400) which is volatile, a third memory (500) which is a flash memory, a crystal oscillator (700) that facilitates the flow of data within the device (100) and helps in coordinating the performance of all the components in the device (100), an indicator (800) that facilitates the identification of the current state of the device (100), a communication unit (900) that facilitates the communication of the device (100) with one or more external devices or with a network, a cover/casing that facilitates the protection of the device (100) and its components, and a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Connector (600) that facilitates the connecting of the device (100) with other devices such as a Spectrodensitometer or an offset printer, said USB Connector (600) being covered with a closing case. The first memory (300), the second memory (400), and the third memory (500) are password encrypted.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cover/casing is made of a material such as Bakelite or Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS).
In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the third memory (500) is a NAND memory.
In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the USB connector (600) is a USB – A connector.
In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the indicator is a small, blue Light Emitting Diode (LED) indicator.
The HCM module that is embedded in the first memory (300) of the device (100) comprises one or more driver modules and a controller module. If the device (100) is connected with any other device, such as the Spectrodensitometer or the offset printer (that, in turn, is connected with the Spectrodensitometer), the device (100) overrides the functionalities and the interface of the Spectrodensitometer. The device (100) can run both either in a kernel mode or in a user mode. The one or more driver modules of the device (100) are operated from within the kernel layer of a computer to which the Spectrodensitometer or the offset printer is connected with. Hence, an operating system of the computer loads the one or more driver modules and calls the specific functions in the

one or more driver modules in order to execute specific tasks on the device (100), instead of accessing the device (100) directly. Each driver module comprises specific instructions required to carry out specific actions on the device (100).
Operation of a Spectrodensitometer for l, a, b measurement activates a monochromator, a light detector, a light source and a silicone photodiode. When contrast measurement is required, the Spectrodensitometer activates all the sensors required for l, a, b measurement, in addition to activating a photomultiplier and a cuvette. On the other hand, the disclosed device (100), being a device to record both l, a, b and contrast, activates all of the sensors and the relevant parts of the spectrophotometer, including the photomultiplier and the cuvette, at the same time. When the Spectrodensitometer takes contrast and l, a, b values, the one or more driver modules of the device (100) give commands to take a minimum of ten readings for finding the consistent results.
Within the ten readings, the highest print contrast reading is recorded and delta E which is the lowest is recorded. While doing so, the one or more driver modules look for the highest print contrast level with the lowest delta E values, typically less than or equal to 4, and give the best correlated CIE Lab values and print contrast values. These results are displayed to a user. Further, the results are stored in the third memory (500) of the device (100), as well as in the internal memory of the Spectrodensitometer to which the device (100) is connected. The option to delete and transfer the data stored in the third memory (500) of the device (100) is also provided. The one or more drivers can also facilitate the detection of other systems, including, but not limited to, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, smart phones, and wearable devices, when the device (100) is either directly connected with them or indirectly connected through the Spectrodensitometer or the offset printer. No separate power is required for the device (100); it can receive power through the USB connection.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the device (100) is connected with a cloud computing network. The data which are stored on the device (100) are backed up to the cloud whenever the device (100) is connected with the network. This helps the user of the device (100) to recover the data if the data stored on the device (100) are damaged or lost or deleted accidentally. Further, the device manufacturer can assist in troubleshooting the device (100) remotely based on the device log backed up to the cloud.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the delta E value is less than 5.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the device (100) triggers the Spectrodensitometer to measure the solid density (SD), solid relative density (SRD), contrast %, Delta E values from the sample print patch provided for testing. The measurements are taken from different regions of the sample print patch provided for testing and thus generate a good amount of random data. The data are then segmented for SD, SRD, contrast %, and Delta E. From the listed random values, the device (100) identifies the best correlated values for SD, SRD, contract %, and Delta E. The required nominal SD for Magenta is 1.35 – 1.45, for Cyan is 1.35 – 1.45, for Black is 1.7 – 1.9 and for Yellow is 1.2 – 1.3. Similarly, the required nominal SRD for Magenta/Cyan is 0.77 – 0.85, for Yellow/Black is 0.74 – 0.85. The normal range of Delta E is below 5. For print contrast, the highest value is considered. The one or more driver modules in the device (100) is/are configured to calculate the best matching Delta E with highest print contrast value with nominal SD and SRD values. The results are then displayed to the user as output.
It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the above description is for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered as limiting. Various modifications, additions, alterations and improvements without deviating from the spirit and the scope of the disclosure may be made by a person skilled in the art. Such modifications, additions, alterations and improvements should be construed as being within the scope of this disclosure.

1. A hybrid colour matching device (100) for offset printing, comprising:
a control/processing unit (200) that monitors and controls the entire functionality of the device (100); a first memory (300) which is read-only; a second memory (400) which is volatile; a third memory (500) which is a flash memory; a crystal oscillator (700) that facilitates the flow of data within the device (100) and helps in coordinating the performance of all the components in the device (100); an indicator (800) that facilitates the identification of the current state of the device (100); a communication unit (900) that facilitates the communication of the device (100) with one or more external devices or with a network; a cover/casing that facilitates the protection of the device (100) and its components; a Universal Serial Bus Connector (600) that facilitates the connecting of the device (100) with a Spectrodensitometer directly or through an offset printer and helps the device (100) to override the functionalities and the interface of the Spectrodensitometer, said Universal Serial Bus Connector (600) being covered with a closing case; and a Hybrid Colour Matching (HCM) module that is permanently embedded in the first memory (300) and facilitates the production of a colour which matches an original colour, said hybrid colour matching module comprising one or more driver modules and a controller module, said one or more driver modules being operated from within the kernel layer of a computer to which the Spectrodensitometer or the offset printer is connected with, with the one or more driver modules: sending commands to the Spectrodensitometer to take a minimum of ten contrast and l, a, b readings from a sample print patch provided for testing; finding the highest print contrast level with the delta E values of less than or equal to 4 within the readings; and displaying the results to a user after storing the results in the third memory (500) and in the internal memory of the Spectrodensitometer to which the device (100) is connected.
2. A hybrid colour matching device (100) for offset printing as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the cover/casing is made of Bakelite or Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene
(ABS).

3. A hybrid colour matching device (100) for offset printing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the third memory (500) is a NAND memory.
4. A hybrid colour matching device (100) for offset printing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the universal serial bus connector (600) is a USB – A connector.
5. A hybrid colour matching device (100) for offset printing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the indicator is a small, blue Light Emitting Diode (LED) indicator.
6. A hybrid colour matching device (100) for offset printing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the device (100) is connected with a cloud computing network.