The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 11, 1998
Filed:
Mar. 31, 1997
Sheldon J Cytron, Mountain Lakes, NJ (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for detecting a leak by mixing an amount of odorant ith the contents of a sealed container. An amount of odorant having a detectable odor is mixed with the contents of a sealed container. The sealed container with the odorant is placed within a detection zone which is monitored to detect the presence of the odorant which would indicate leakage of the container's contents. The detection zone defines an area within which leakage of the contents will produce a detectable quantity of the odorant. The odorant may be a gas. Preferred odorants are selected from the group consisting of sulfides, cyclic sulfides and mercaptans. In a sealed light source device having radioactive tritium gas, the preferred odorant is hydrogen sulfide which is detectable by individuals in concentrations of at least 5 parts-per-billion (ppb). Individuals, which may be part of a scheduled roving sentry or a patrol, monitor for the presence of the odorant in the detection zone. Mechanical, optical-mechanical, or other such devices may also be used to monitor the presence of the odorant within the detection zone.