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:
Feb. 27, 2001
Filed:
Sep. 05, 1997
Erik E. Magnuson, Cardiff, CA (US);
Charles R. Moeller, Cardiff, CA (US);
Julian D. Shaw, Sebastopol, CA (US);
Alan G. Sheldon, San Diego, CA (US);
Quantum Magnetics, Inc., San Diego, CA (US);
Abstract
A system for detecting a target substance within a class of explosives and narcotics containing quadrupolar nuclei through the use of nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR). The system applies an RF signal to a coil (,) to excite the substance under test. If the target material is present, an NQR signal will be picked up by the same coil, That signal is compared with known NQR signals in frequency and amplitude. A signal is displayed in an appropriate way if a threshold value of the NQR signal is equalled or exceeded. The empty coil is statically tuned by means of adjusting the location or capacitance values, or both, of static tuning capacitors (,) in the coil. The coil is tuned after the specimen is inserted into the coil by means of an auto-tune feature (,). Effective RFI shielding (,) is provided to prevent external contaminating signals from being detected by the coil and to prevent RF signals from escaping from the scanner. The invention also includes the method for performing tests with the system.