Apparatus and method for remotely sensing hydrocarbons and other pollutants in vehicle emissions
First Claim
1. An apparatus for remotely sensing the amount of pollutants in the exhaust plume of a vehicle, comprising:
- an ultraviolet light source for propagating ultraviolet light through the exhaust plume;
an output lens for collimating the ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light source before it propagates through the exhaust plume; and
an ultraviolet light spectrometer for receiving said ultraviolet light after it has passed through the exhaust plume of a vehicle and producing a hydrocarbon signal representative of the amount of absorption of the ultraviolet light by selected hydrocarbons in the vehicle exhaust plume.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for measuring pollutants in a vehicle exhaust by remotely sensing hydrocarbons and nitric oxide using ultraviolet light, and measuring carbon dioxide and other pollutants using infrared light. A collimated beam of ultraviolet and a near-infrared light is propagated across the road through the exhaust plume of a vehicle. After the light beam has passed through the exhaust, a retroreflector reflects the light beam back. A beam splitter passes the infrared light to an infrared detector and deflects the ultraviolet light to an ultraviolet spectrometer. The ultraviolet spectrometer produces ultraviolet signals representative of the amount of hydrocarbons and nitric oxide in the vehicle exhaust. The infrared detector produces an infrared signal representative of the amount of carbon dioxide and other pollutants in the exhaust plume. The spectrometer and detector send the respective signals to a processor for calculation of the amounts of pollutants in the exhaust. A camera is used to take a picture of the license plate of a vehicle that emits too many pollutants.
26 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus for remotely sensing the amount of pollutants in the exhaust plume of a vehicle, comprising:
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an ultraviolet light source for propagating ultraviolet light through the exhaust plume;
an output lens for collimating the ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet light source before it propagates through the exhaust plume; and
an ultraviolet light spectrometer for receiving said ultraviolet light after it has passed through the exhaust plume of a vehicle and producing a hydrocarbon signal representative of the amount of absorption of the ultraviolet light by selected hydrocarbons in the vehicle exhaust plume. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for remotely sensing the amount of pollutants in a plume of vehicle exhaust, comprising:
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an ultraviolet light source for propagating ultraviolet light through the exhaust plume;
a tunable infrared light source for propagating near-infrared light through the exhaust plume;
an ultraviolet light spectrometer for receiving said ultraviolet light after it has passed through the exhaust plume of a vehicle and producing a hydrocarbon signal representative of the amount of absorption of the ultraviolet light by selected hydrocarbons in the vehicle exhaust plume and a nitric oxide signal representative of the amount of absorption of the ultraviolet light by nitric oxide;
an infrared detector for receiving said near-infrared light after it has passed through the exhaust plume of a vehicle and producing a near-infrared signal representative of the amount of absorption of near-infrared light by the exhaust plume; and
a processor, responsive to said ultraviolet signal and said near-infrared signal, for determining the relative amounts of said selected hydrocarbons, selected nitric oxide, and carbon dioxide in the exhaust plume. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of remotely sensing the amount of pollutants in the exhaust plume of a vehicle comprising:
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propagating a collimated ultraviolet light beam through the exhaust plume; and
determining the intensity of predetermined wavelengths of ultraviolet light corresponding to absorption lines of selected hydrocarbons after said ultraviolet light beam has passed through the exhaust plume, said intensity of said predetermined wavelengths of ultraviolet light corresponding to the amounts of respective selected hydrocarbons in the exhaust plume. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification