Hazardous material detection system

• US 20040245449A1
• Filed: 07/09/2004
• Published: 12/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Fujita, Hiroyuki, Tanaka, Seiji, Nishikawa, Yoshihiro, Iwasaki, Toshio, Nakashige, Keiko
• Granted Patent: US 6,940,067 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/281
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2001/024 passengers or luggage
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/68 using electric discharge to ionise a gas
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 49/04 Arrangements for introducing or extracting samples to be analysed, e.g. vacuum locks; Arrangements for external adjustment of electron- or ion-optical components

Abstract

A hazardous material detection system that can suppress occurrence of contamination due to ionization. When a sensor detects that a test sample has entered an inspection region of an X-ray inspection device as a belt conveyor moves, a corona discharge power supply in a hazardous material detection device is turned on for a constant time, to introduce a gaseous sample containing a substance stuck to the test sample into the hazardous material detection device via a sucking section and gaseous sample introduction piping, in order to ionize the gaseous sample and analyze it at an analyzer, based on a result of which analysis, a data processor decides whether the gaseous sample contains a hazardous material, to display a decision result on a screen. When the test sample is detected by an exit side sensor, the corona discharge power supply is turned off.

Claims

1. A hazardous material detection system comprising:

gaseous sample introduction means for introducing a gaseous sample containing a substance stuck to a detection object;

ionization means for ionizing the gaseous sample introduced by the gaseous sample introduction means, in response to an instruction;

mass analysis means for analyzing mass of the gaseous sample ionized by the ionization means; and

decision means for deciding whether the gaseous sample contains a hazardous material, based on an analysis result from the mass analysis means,

wherein the ionization means ionizes the gaseous sample only for a time specified by the instruction.

11. A hazardous material detection system according to claim 1, wherein:

the gaseous sample introduction means is provided with a main path which introduces the gaseous sample from the detection object to the ionization means and a bypass path which discharges the gaseous sample from the detection object as bypassing the ionization means; and

a flow rate of the gaseous sample passing through the bypass path is set larger than a flow rate of the gaseous sample passing through the main path.

2-9. -9. (Canceled).

10. A hazardous material detection system comprising:

gaseous sample introduction means for introducing a gaseous sample containing a substance stuck to a detection object, in response to an instruction;

ionization means for ionizing the introduced gaseous sample only in the case where the gaseous sample has been introduced by the gaseous sample introduction means and, in the other cases, stopping ionization of the introduced gaseous sample;

mass analysis means for analyzing mass of the gaseous sample ionized by the ionization means; and

decision means for deciding whether the gaseous sample contains a hazardous material, based on an analysis result from the mass analysis means.

12. A hazardous material detection system according to claim 10, wherein

the gaseous sample introduction means is provided with a main path which introduces the gaseous sample from the detection object to the ionization means and a bypass path which discharges the gaseous sample from the detection object as bypassing the ionization means;

and

a flow rate of the gaseous sample passing through the bypass path is set larger than a flow rate of the gaseous sample passing through the main path.

13. A hazardous material detection system according to claim 12, wherein:

the gaseous sample introduction means is provided with a main path which introduces the gaseous sample from the detection object to the ionization means and a bypass path which discharges the gaseous sample from the detection object as bypassing the ionization means; and

a flow rate of the gaseous sample passing through the bypass path is set larger than a flow rate of the gaseous sample passing through the main path.

wherein;

the gaseous sample introduction means is provided with a main path which introduces the gaseous sample from the detection object to the ionization means and a bypass path which discharges the gaseous sample from the detection object as bypassing the ionization means; and

a flow rate of the gaseous sample passing through the bypass path is set larger than a flow rate of the gaseous sample passing through the main path, wherein

the gaseous sample introduction means is provided with a main path which introduces the gaseous sample from the detection object to the ionization means and a bypass path which discharges the gaseous sample from the detection object as bypassing the ionization means; and

a flow rate of the gaseous sample passing through the bypass path is set larger than a flow rate of the gaseous sample passing through the main path.