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. 13, 2002
Filed:
Oct. 03, 2000
Stanley Kronenberg, Skillman, NJ (US);
George J. Brucker, West Long Branch, NJ (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A Geiger-Mueller triode directional sensor is provided to detect the direction of incident ionizing gamma radiation, comprising a housing divided into two subchambers, or GM counters, separated by a partition composed of a high Z layer of tungsten, the tungsten partition having an aperture for gas to freely communicate between the subchambers and maintain an identical gas mixture in both subchambers, radiation windows, external layers of a second material in the sidewall and a sensor. Incident gamma rays generate electrons within the tungsten partition, housing and the sidewall based on the photoelectric, Compton and pair effects. The electrons penetrate the radiation windows and are accelerated by an applied electric field in the housing, causing the electrons to ionize the gas within the housing and produce electrical discharges. A rotating sensor and signal detecting means receives the electrical charges and the electronic signals are counted to determine angle of rotation and locate the unknown sources of gamma radiation. Another embodiment of the present invention provides a method for sensing the direction of ionizing gamma radiation.