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:
Sep. 04, 2001
Filed:
Oct. 07, 1999
Colin Brian Williams, La Jolla, CA (US);
John Thomas Allen, San Diego, CA (US);
George Michael Sullivan, Jr., San Diego, CA (US);
The Titan Corporation, San Diego, CA (US);
Abstract
Articles are transported by a conveyor system in a loop from a loading area past a target region to an unloading area adjacent the loading area. A first side of the article is irradiated by a radiation source in the target region during the article movement through the target region. The radiation source may be substantially parallel or perpendicular to the conveyor system. The loop has curved portions and straight portions between the curved portions. Radiation shielding material substantially fills the space within the loop. The conveyor system and the radiation source are disposed within a chamber made from a radiation shielding material (e.g. concrete). The shielding material inside and outside the loop defines a radiation-free loop portion having straight portions with a relatively close spacing. A bridge having no radiation shielding and a relatively short length is disposed in this radiation-free area as are the loading and unloading areas. The bridge rotates the articles through an 180° angle after the irradiation of the first side of the article and transfers the articles to the conveyor system at a position before the target region to obtain another movement of the articles past the radiation source and an irradiation of the second side of the articles. After such irradiation, the articles are transferred to the unloading area.