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:
Jul. 27, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 03, 1997
John M Andrews, San Diego, CA (US);
Leonard J Martini, San Diego, CA (US);
Stephen H Lieberman, La Mesa, CA (US);
Leon V Smith, San Diego, CA (US);
Gregory W Anderson, San Diego, CA (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A spectroscopic detector suitable for detecting oil spills in an aquatic environment includes a buoyant container having an optical window; an optical energy generator mounted in the container for directing an optical energy beam through the window; an optical detector for generating an output signal in response to detecting a second optical energy beam received in the container through the window; and a beam splitter for directing the second optical energy beam to the optical detector. The generation of the optical energy beam and operation of the optical detector may be time gated to reduce thermal noise and isolate the sampled optical energy from background light. The optical energy beam preferably has UV components which inhibits the formation of biological organisms on the optical window.