American Science and Engineering, Inc.

US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Other

The United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of

Roderick D Swift

Andrew P Tybinkowski

Lee Grodzins

Peter John Rothschild

Martin Annis

Alfred R DeCaprio

Peter A Tybinkowski

Alan M Swett

A device for inspecting a cargo container such as a motor vehicle or freight pallet, with penetrating radiation. A source of penetrating radiation is mounted on a moveable bed, thereby allowing a beam of penetrating radiation to sweep the large container. At least one detector is also mounted on the bed, either on the side of the source or on a boom, so that, as the beam is scanned across the container, the container and any contents of the container are characterized by transmitted or scattered radiation, or both.

Mobile x-ray inspection system for large objects

A system and method for inspecting an object, the system and method comprising a source for generating a penetrating radiation beam for irradiating the object, the beam having, for each instant of time, an instantaneous energy spectrum of intensity, a shaper for modulating the generated beam, thereby creating a shaped beam, the shaper comprising at least a first section and a second section, the first section attenuating the intensity of a portion of the generated beam by a first attenuation factor and the second section attenuating the intensity of another portion of the generated beam by a second attenuation factor, and at least one detector for detecting the shaped beam after the shaped beam interacts with the object. The source may scan a beam across an object while the source and at least one detector are moving on a platform capable of highway travel or on an inspection module movable with respect to the object.

X-ray inspection using spatially and spectrally tailored beams

Mobile X-ray inspection system for large objects

An inspection system for inspecting an enclosure and its contents using temporally gated sources of penetrating radiation. A first source produces an intermittent first beam having a duration of inactivity while a second sources produces a second beam, which may have an energy spectrum differing from that of the first beam, during the inactivity of the first beam. One detector generates a transmission signal based on penetrating radiation transmitted through the enclosure while a scatter detector generates a scatter signal based on penetrating radiation scattered by the contents of the enclosure. The scatter detector may be gated for non-detection during the pulsing of the transmission beam. A processor derives properties of the contents of the enclosure on the basis of the transmission signal and the scatter signal.

Gated transmission and scatter detection for x-ray imaging

A device for inspecting a cargo container such as a motor vehicle or freight pallet, with penetrating radiation. A source of penetrating radiation is mounted on a moveable bed, thereby allowing a beam of penetrating radiation to sweep the large container. At least one detector is also mounted on the bed, ether on the side of the source or on a boom, so that, as the beam is scanned across the container, the container and any contents of the container are characterized by transmitted or scattered radiation, or both.

A wheel lock assembly for an in-line skate includes an axle assembly for supporting a skate wheel and defining an enclosed cavity, and an actuator assembly comprising an actuator member disposed in the cavity movable by a control member disposed externally of the axle assembly. The lock assembly further includes a lock pad assembly comprising a lock pad adapted to engage an inside surface of the skate wheel mounted on the axle assembly, a support beam extending from the pad inwardly through a portion of the axle assembly and into the cavity, and a spring urging the lock pad and support inwardly to bias a free end of the support against the actuator member. Manipulation of the control member causes movement of the actuator member in the cavity, to cause movement of the support, to cause radial movement of the lock pad selectively into and out of engagement with the skate wheel inside surface.

Lock assembly for in-line skate

Tomographic imaging is implemented by providing a source of penetrating radiation, means for forming a pencil beam and sweeping the pencil beam over a line in space, a radiation detector and a beam length collimator. The beam length collimator lies outside of the sweep plane defined by the sweeping motion of the pencil beam and has a plane of symmetry which intersects the sweep plane at an angle which may or may not be a right angle. The beam length collimator defines a sensitive volume which has a dimension along the length of the pencil beam where the selected slice is defined by (or partly by) a dimension of the pencil beam. The combination of the beam length collimator and the pencil beam define a sensitive volume from which scattered energy can pass the collimator and be detected. The beam length collimator preferentially detects energy scattered by the sensitive volume. The sweep of the pencil beam allows a line image representing a plurality of sensitive volumes within the sweep plane at a focal distance from the beam length collimator. By providing relative motion between the object and the source/detector/collimator arrangement, a tomographic image of the selected slice can be created. The beam length collimator allows the sensitivity of the imaging arrangement to be tailored to anomalies or cracks lying parallel to a surface of a longitudinally extending object or parallel to a circumference of a cylindrical object.

Tomographic imaging with improved collimator

A radiant energy imaging apparatus for obtaining CT scans employs an X-ray unit operative to produce a pencil beam of X-ray radiant energy which is caused to scan in a horizontal plane through an angle, sufficiently great to embrace a cross section of a human body being examined, along a single, elongated, horizontally oriented detector forming a portion of the X-ray unit and located on the side of the body opposite to an X-ray source in the unit. A supporting structure, adapted to be rotated about a vertical axis, supports a human body in a vertical orientation; and when the system is scanning in the CT mode, the supporting structure rotates the human body smoothly and continuously about a vertical axis while the X-ray unit is held at a fixed position adjacent a horizontal section of interest of the human body. In addition to being used as a CT scanner, the system can be used to generate its own localization images and to perform digital radiography on those images and can be employed in this mode of operation to obtain anterior-posterior, lateral or oblique images at any desired angle. In addition, when used as a CT scanner, the apparauts can be provided with several contiguous linear detectors all of which are associated with the same scanning beam, so that several CT scans are generated simultaneously. The effective slice width of a particular region of interest can be adjusted by combining the outputs of one or more detectors in a contiguous group.

X-Ray computed tomography using flying spot mechanical scanning mechanism

A CT scanner having a rotating X-ray source and a stationary circular array of 600 contiguous detectors includes a sliding shutter mechanism incorporated in the precollimator system that prevents detectors at the beginning and at the end of a scan from receiving radiation while progressively increasing and decreasing, respectively, the current to the X-ray tube.

Reduced dose CT scanning

A fast, large aperture, electrically actuated shutter mechanism capable of ithstanding high power densities. The shutter's ability to withstand high power densities is achieved by making the shutter plate highly reflective on one side and providing cooling means on the opposite side.

Fast shutter mechanism for high power thermal radiation

A cable handling mechanism for an X-ray tomographic scanner having a rotor assembly for making a scan of about two revolutions and then rewinding to an initial position includes two axially displaced drums. One drum is attached to the rotor housing and rotates with it; the other is fixed to the stationary structure. A pulley carrier between the two drums is rotatable about the same axis and carries large and small idler pulleys. At one extreme end position one or more individual cables inside a loose-fitting flexible tube are wound around the rotating drum for two turns, around the large idler pulley and in the opposite direction around the fixed drum for a single turn, and a control cable is attached to the rotating drum wound in a direction opposite to that of the flexible tube but for only one turn, around the small idler pulley and in the opposite direction on the fixed drum for two turns to which the other end of the control cable is attached.

Cable handling

A system by which in situ observations of optical damage induced in optical omponents by intense thermal radiation may be made. The process includes the determination of the spectral transmission wherein a scanning monochromator is used to illuminate the sample elements with a light beam of monotonically changing wavelength, and the transmitted light is detected and its intensity recorded as a function of wavelength. Optical damage is detected by the resultant changes in the spectral transmission curve.

Growing community of inventors

Belmont, MA, United States of America

Roderick D Swift