Chemical change measuring apparatus

A method of measuring the degree of chemical change that has taken place in a device that undergoes chemical change wherein the reaction products are spatially separated comrpising the steps of:

• a. placing said device on a turntable;
• b. rotating said turntable;
• c. impinging radiation of a known energy level on a surface of said device while said turntable is rotating;
• d. detecting the backscatter of said radiation from said surface of said device;
• e. generating electrical signals in response to said detected backscatter of said radiation;
• f. electronically processing said generated electrical signals to produce measuring signals indicative of the degree of chemical change that has taken place in said device;
• g. providing a read out in response to said measuring signals;
• and
• h. correlating said read out with a known value obtained before said device that undergoes a chemical change has undergone any chemical change to thereby obtain a measure of the change that has taken place in said device that undergoes a chemical change.

A method for measuring the remaining capacity of a battery comprising the steps of:

• a. transmitting gamma radiation of a known energy level through an electrode of said battery;
• b. measuring the attenuation of said gamma radiation by said electrode;
• and
• c. correlating said measured attenuation with a standard value obtained for the type of said battery under test before any discharge has taken place to obtain a measurement of said remaining capacity of said battery.

A method for measuring the remaining capacity of a battery comprising the steps of:

• a. rotating said battery;
• b. directing beta radiation on a surface electrode of said battery while said battery is rotating;
• c. measuring the backscatter of said beta radiation from said surface electrode;
• and
• d. correlating said measured backscatter with a standard value obtained for the type of said battery under test before any discharge has taken place to obtain a measure of the remaining capacity of said battery.

Apparatus for measuring the degree of chemical change in a device that undergoes a chemical change wherein the reaction products are spatially separated comprising:

• a source of gamma radiation enclosed in a shielded housing having an aperture through which a collimated beam of low energy gamma rays is transmitted from said housing;
• a second shielded housing spaced apart from said first shielded housing and having an aperture therein, said aperture in said second shielded housing being aligned with said aperture in said first shielded housing;
• a device whose degree of chemical change is to be measured, said device being located between said first shielded housing and said second shielded housing such that an element of said device is aligned with said aperture in said first housing and said aperture in said second housing;
• a gamma radiation detector secured inside said second housing over said aperture in said second housing;
• a photomultiplier secured in said second housing and operatively associated with said gamma radiation detector;
• and
• electronic processing circuitry coupled to said photomultiplier.

Apparatus for measuring the degree of chemical change that has taken place in a device that undergoes a chemical change wherein the reaction products are spatially separated comprising:

• a rotating turntable;
• a device whose degree of chemical change is to be measured, said device being placed on said rotating turntable;
• a source of radiation directed onto said container;
• a backscatter detection system positioned relative to said device and said source of radiation to detect the backscatter of said radiation from said container;
• and
• an electronic processing system coupled to said detection system.

Apparatus for measuring the remaining capacity of a battery comprising:

• a source of gamma radiation enclosed in a shielded housing having an aperture through which a collimated beam of low energy gamma rays is transmitted from said housing;
• a second shielded housing spaced apart from said first shielded housing and having an aperture therein, said aperture in said second shielded housing being aligned with said aperture in said first shielded housing;
• a battery whose remaining capacity is to be measured, said battery being located between said first shielded housing and said second shielded housing such that an electrode of said battery is aligned with said aperture in said first housing and said aperture in said second housing;
• a gamma radiation detector secured inside said second housing over said aperture in said second housing;
• a photomultiplier secured in said second housing and operatively associated with said gamma radiation detector;
• and
• electronic processing circuitry coupled to said photomultiplier.

Apparatus for measuring the remaining capacity of a battery comprising:

• a rotating turntable;
• a battery whose container is one of its electrodes, said battery being placed on said rotating turntable;
• a source of radiation directed onto said container;
• a backscatter detection system positioned relative to said battery and said source of radiation to detect the backscatter of said radiation from said container;
• and
• an electronic processing system coupled to said detection system.