Method and apparatus for assessing characteristics of liquids

• US 20100002834A1
• Filed: 09/17/2007
• Published: 01/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vanderlande APC Inc (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Optosecurity Inc. (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Georgiev, Stephan, Pham, Vinh Phuc, Gudmundson, Dan, Doyle, Aidan
• Granted Patent: US 8,116,428 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 378/53
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2223/637 liquid
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2223/639 material in a container
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2223/643 object on conveyor
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 23/04 and forming images of the material
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 23/083 the radiation being X-rays
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 23/10 the material being confined in a container, e.g. in a luggage X-ray scanners
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 5/222 measuring scattered radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 5/226 using tomography

Abstract

A method to perform security screening at an airport on hand-carried baggage. The method includes requesting passengers with hand carried baggage to remove from the baggage a container that holds a liquid and perform an x-ray inspection on the hand carried baggage and on the container while the container remains outside the baggage. According to the method, the results of the x-ray inspection are used to determine if the baggage contains illegal objects and if the liquid is a security threat.

Claims

1. ) Method for performing security screening at a security checkpoint on hand-carried baggage, comprising:

a) requesting passengers with hand carried baggage to remove from the baggage a liquid product comprised of a container holding a liquid;

b) performing an X-ray inspection on the hand carried baggage and on the liquid product while the liquid product remains outside the baggage with a same X-ray imaging device, the X-ray inspection generating X-ray image data of the hand carried baggage and X-ray image data of the liquid product;

c) processing the X-ray image data of the hand carried baggage to render an image of the hand carried baggage on a display to assist an operator in determining if the baggage contains illegal objects;

d) processing with a computer the X-ray image data of the liquid product to;

i) derive information from the X-ray image data conveying at least one characteristic associated with the liquid held in the container;

ii) using the derived information to determine if the liquid held in the container is a security threat.

2. ) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the X-ray imaging device includes a conveyor belt on which objects to be inspected are placed and which transports the objects through the X-ray imaging device, said method including placing the hand carried baggage and the liquid product on the conveyor belt such that the hand carried baggage and the liquid product can be carried through the X-ray imaging device while the liquid product remains outside the hand carried baggage.

3. ) A method as defined in claim 2, including placing the liquid product on the conveyor belt in a tray.

4. ) A method as defined in claim 2, wherein processing the X-ray image data of the liquid product includes communicating with a data storage medium which stores machine readable data conveying information about characteristics of a plurality of liquid products.

5. ) A method as defined in claim 4, wherein processing the X-ray image data of the liquid product includes searching the data storage medium on the basis of the information derived from the X-ray image data of the liquid product.

6. ) A method as defined in claim 5, wherein the data storage medium includes a plurality of entries, each entry containing information about one or more characteristics of a liquid product, and wherein processing the X-ray image data of the liquid product includes attempting to match the liquid product to at least one of the entries on the basis of the information derived from the X-ray image data of the liquid product.

7. ) A method as defined in claim 6, wherein each entry in the data storage medium is associated with a respective liquid product, each entry conveying information about the container of the liquid product to which the entry is associated.

8. ) A method as defined in claim 7, wherein the information about the container includes container shape information.

9. ) A method as defined in claim 7, wherein the information about the container includes container cross-sectional profile information.

10. ) A method as defined in claim 7, wherein the information about the container includes container height information.

11. ) A method as defined in claim 7, wherein the information about the container includes container width information.

12. ) A method as defined in claim 7, wherein the information about the container indicates if the container has a screw cap.

13. ) A method as defined in claim 7, wherein the information about the container includes information about the container wall.

14. ) A method as defined in claim 13, wherein the information about the container wall includes container wall thickness information.

15. ) A method as defined in claim 6, wherein each entry in the machine readable storage medium is associated with a respective liquid product comprised of a container holding a liquid and conveying information about the liquid held in the container.

16. ) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the X-ray image data of the liquid product conveys a two-dimensional image of the container.

17. ) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein processing the X-ray image data of the liquid product includes determining a density of the liquid held in the container on the basis of information conveyed by the X-ray image data of the liquid product.

18. ) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein processing the X-ray image data of the liquid product includes determining an effective atomic number of the liquid held in the container on the basis of information conveyed by the X-ray image data of the liquid product.

19. ) A method as defined in claim 3, wherein processing the X-ray image data of the liquid product includes compensating the X-ray image data of the liquid product for an attenuation of X-rays due to the conveyor belt.

20. ) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein processing the X-ray image data of the liquid product includes compensating the X-ray image data of the liquid product for an attenuation of X-rays due to walls of the container of the liquid product.

21. ) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein processing the X-ray image data of the liquid product includes deriving path length information based at least in part on information conveyed by the X-ray image data of the liquid product, the path length information being an approximation of a distance traveled by an X-ray through the liquid of the liquid product.

97. ) A method as defined in claim 1, wherein processing the X-ray image data of the liquid product includes determining an attenuation coefficient associated with the liquid held in the container on the basis of information conveyed by the X-ray image data of the liquid product.

98. ) A method as defined in claim 3, wherein processing the X-ray image data of the liquid product includes compensating the X-ray image data of the liquid product for an attenuation of X-rays due to the tray.

22. ) A system for performing security screening at a security checkpoint on hand-carried baggage and on liquid products, a liquid product including a container holding a liquid, said system comprising:

a) X-ray imaging device for performing an X-ray inspection on hand carried baggage and on liquid products, said X-ray imaging device generating X-ray image data;

b) a processor module in communication with the X-ray imaging device for receiving X-ray image data generated by said X-ray imaging device, said X-ray image data including X-ray image data of liquid products and X-ray image data of hand carried baggage, said processor module;

i) processing the X-ray image data of hand carried baggage to generate an image signal;

ii) processing X-ray image data of a liquid product including a container holding a liquid to;

(1) derive information conveying at least one characteristic associated with the liquid held in the container;

(2) process the information conveying the at least one characteristic associated with the liquid held in the container to determine if the liquid held in the container is a security threat;

c) an output including a display in communication with the processor module for;

i) rendering an image of the hand carried baggage based on the image signal to assist an operator in detecting an illegal object that may possibly be present in the hand carried baggage; and

ii) conveying results obtained when determining if the liquid held in the container is a security threat.

23. ) A system as defined in claim 22, wherein the X-ray imaging device includes a conveyor belt on which liquid products and hand carried baggage are placed and which transports the objects through the X-ray imaging device.

24_-94. )-94) (canceled)

95. ) A computer readable storage medium storing a program element suitable for execution by a computing apparatus for performing security screening at a security checkpoint on hand-carried baggage holding a liquid product, said computing apparatus comprising:

a) a memory unit;

b) a processor operatively connected to said memory unit, said program element when executing on said processor being operative for;

i) receiving X-ray image data of the hand carried baggage and X-ray image data of the liquid product, said X-ray image data being generated by performing an X-ray inspection with a same X-ray imaging device on the hand carried baggage and on the liquid product while the liquid product remains outside the baggage;

ii) processing the X-ray image data of the hand carried baggage to render an image of the hand carried baggage on a display to assist an operator in determining if the baggage contains illegal objects;

iii) processing the X-ray image data of the liquid product to;

(1) derive information from the X-ray image data conveying at least one characteristic associated with the liquid held in the container;

(2) determine if the liquid held in the container is a security threat using the information derived from the X-ray image data.

96. ) An apparatus for use in performing security screening at a security checkpoint on hand-carried baggage holding a liquid product, said apparatus comprising:

a) an input for receiving X-ray image data of the hand carried baggage and X-ray image data of the liquid product, said X-ray image data being generated by performing an X-ray inspection with a same X-ray imaging device on the hand carried baggage and on the liquid product while the liquid product remains outside the baggage;

b) a processor for;

i. processing the X-ray image data of the hand carried baggage to render an image of the hand carried baggage on a display to assist an operator in determining if the baggage contains illegal objects;

ii. processing the X-ray image data of the liquid product to;

1) derive information from the X-ray image data conveying at least one characteristic associated with the liquid held in the container;

using the derived information to determine if the liquid held in the container is a security threat.