An upgraded CottonscanTM instrument for measuring the average fiber linear density (fineness) of cotton lint samples

We have previously described Cottonscan^TM and its performance in determining the average fiber linear density of cotton lint samples in detail. The previous work was focused on demonstrating that a reliable and sufficiently precise measurement was technically feasible. However, the measurement cycle time was 6 min. Thus the focus has now shifted to reducing the measurement cycle time in order to increase the sample throughput and demonstrate that the instrument is likely to be useful to the industry. Here we describe the engineering improvements made to bring the cycle time down to 1 min and provide results to show that the measurement is unaffected.