Nonintrusive inspection apparatus
AssigneeInVision Technologies, Inc.
InventorsGerhard Renkart, François A. Mesqui, David E. Kresse, William H. Baylis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An x-ray technique-based nonintrusive inspection apparatus is provided which is capable of inspecting 600 containers an hour which is small, and which is easily maintainable. Features of the apparatus include “radiation locking” with “active curtains”, “continuous scanning” utilizing an x-ray line scanner subsystem and a CT scanner subsystem, good structural integrity, radiation containment in a self-shielding manner, an easily maintainable driving arrangement, shielding curtains that can be raised and lowered quickly, a container jam release mechanism, and efficient air conditioning.
Claims9
An x-ray technique-based nonintrusive inspection apparatus (8) which includes:
- a support frame (10);
- a CT scanner subsystem (38) rotatably mounted to the frame, the CT scanner subsystem having a gantry (148) defining at least one air passage (542), and a radiator (534) mounted to the gantry;
- a plenum (532) which is mounted to the frame so that the gantry rotates relative to the plenum, the plenum and the gantry jointly defining a confined volume;
- a housing (512) located over the CT scanner subsystem;
- an air conditioning unit (528);
- and
- a fan (538), wherein, when the fan is operated, air follows a recirculation path into the confined volume, from the confined volume into the air passage, from the air passage through the radiator which heats the air, from the radiator into the housing, from the housing to the air conditioning unit which cools the air, and back to the confined volume.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.