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. 21, 2009
Filed:
Apr. 23, 2004
Edward James Morton, Guildford, GB;
Russell David Luggar, Dorking, GB;
Paul DE Antonis, Horsham, GB;
Edward James Morton, Guildford, GB;
Russell David Luggar, Dorking, GB;
Paul De Antonis, Horsham, GB;
Rapiscan Systems, Inc., Hawthorne, CA (US);
Abstract
An X-ray scanning apparatus comprises a number of multi-focus X-ray tubes () spaced around an axis X and arranged to emit X-rays through an object on the axis which are detected by sensors (). Each tube () can emit X-rays from a plurality of source positions. In each scanning cycle, in which each of the source positions in each of the tubes is used once, the ordering of the positions used is arranged so as to minimize the thermal load on the tubes (). This is achieved by ensuring that each source position is non-adjacent to the previously active one and the next active one.