Other

The Titan Corporation

L-3 Services, Inc.

Richard C Miller

Gary K Loda

John Thomas Allen

George Michael Sullivan

Kenneth Whitham

Anthony Alexander Zante

Michael Scott Brazell

Richard Joseph Mendonsa

Harrold Brook Knowles

Opposite sides of an article are irradiated to sterilize the article. The cumulative irradiation should be above a first value, and below a second value greater than the first value, at all of the positions in the article to provide the article with desired radiation benefits. Any amount of cumulative radiation between the first and second values is considered as optimal values. For a first range of article thicknesses, the cumulative radiation in the article is at the optimal values. For article thicknesses in a second range greater than in the first range, the cumulative radiation at positions in the article is greater than the optimal values. For article thicknesses in a third range greater than the second range, the cumulative radiation at the different positions in the article is at the optimal values. For the thicknesses in the second range, a member disposed in the radiation path weakens the radiation passing to the article, thereby reducing the cumulative radiation to an optimal value. For each thickness in the second range, a different amount of cumulative radiation above the optimal value may occur when the member is not disposed in the radiation path. The member may accordingly be provided with different thicknesses, dependent upon the amount of the cumulative radiation in the article for the different positions in the second thickness range, to reduce the cumulative radiation in the article to an optimal value. A system may automatically position the member properly for article thicknesses in the second range.

System for, and method of, irradiating opposite sides or articles with optimal amounts of cumulative irradiation

System for, and method of, irradiating opposite sides of articles with optimal amounts of cumulative irradiation

An article irradiation system includes a radiation source for scanning a target region with radiation; a first conveyor system for transporting articles from a loading area though the target region to an unloading area; and radiation shielding material defining a tunnel closely encompassing portions of the conveyor system extending away from the target region toward the loading and unloading areas for shielding the loading and unloading areas from radiation derived from the radiation source. The first conveyor system is disposed in a path having curved turns of such degree between the target region and the loading and unloading areas that the closely encompassing radiation shielding material precludes a direct line of sight between the target region and the loading and unloading areas and thereby facilitates a compact embodiment in which the first conveyor system may be included in an assembly line. A second conveyor system is coupled to the first conveyor system for transporting the articles from a first position on the first conveyor system that is past the target region and at which the path of the first conveyor system has a given alignment to a second position on the first conveyor system that is before the target region and at which the path of the first conveyor system has an alignment that is one-hundred-and-eighty degrees different than the given alignment to thereby reorient the articles transported by the first conveyor system by one-hundred-and-eighty degrees with respect to the path of the first conveyor system for retransportation through the target region. In a radiation shielding assembly having a radiation shield defining a corridor through which the electron beam is scanned and further defining a tunnel through which articles may be transported through the target region, a beam stop is disposed within a recess in a portion of the radiation shield on the opposite side of the target region from the radiation source so that photons emitted from the beam stop toward the radiation source but obliquely thereto are inhibited from entering the tunnel by such portion the radiation shield.

Article irradiation system in which article-transporting conveyor is

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Castro Valley, CA, United States of America

Richard C Miller