Tray for assessing the threat status of an article at a security check point

• US 20100027741A1
• Filed: 10/01/2007
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vanderlande Industries BV (VIVE BV)
• Original Assignee: Optosecurity Inc.
• Inventors: Gudmundson, Dan, Doyle, Aidan
• Granted Patent: US 8,009,799 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 378/57
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 5/20 Detecting prohibited goods, e.g. weapons, explosives, hazardous substances, contraband or smuggled objects

Abstract

A tray for holding a material while the material is being subjected to penetrating radiation. The tray has a surface on which the material rests while subjected to penetrating radiation. The surface has at least two areas, namely a first area and a second area, the first and second areas characterized by first and second signatures, respectively when exposed to penetrating radiation, wherein the first signature is different from the second signature.

Claims

1. ) A tray for holding a material while the material is being subjected to penetrating radiation, the tray comprising:

a) a surface on which the material rests while subjected to penetrating radiation;

b) the surface having at least two areas, namely a first area and a second area, the first and second areas characterized by first and second signatures, respectively when exposed to penetrating radiation, wherein the first signature is different from the second signature;

c) the second area constituting a reference and allowing to identify the material based at least in part on a comparison between the signature of the material to penetrating radiation and the second signature.

2. ) A tray as defined in claim 1, wherein the penetrating radiation includes X-rays.

3. ) A tray as defined in claim 2, wherein the tray has raised edges.

4. ) A tray as defined in claim 5, wherein the tray includes a third area, the third area characterized by an X-ray signature that is distinct from the X-ray signatures of the first area and of the second area.

5. ) A tray as defined in claim 1, wherein the second area manifesting an X-ray signature that matches an X-ray signature of a liquid product on the tray, wherein the liquid product includes a container holding a liquid material, the liquid material being selected from the group consisting of water, carbonated beverage, fruit juice, toothpaste and a cosmetic liquid.

6. ) A tray as defined in claim 4, wherein the liquid product is a first liquid product, wherein the third area characterized by an X-ray signature that matches an X-ray signature of a second liquid product on the tray that is different from the first liquid product, wherein the second liquid product includes a container 102 holding a liquid material, the liquid material of the second liquid product being selected from the group consisting of water, carbonated beverage, fruit juice, toothpaste and a cosmetic liquid.

7. ) A tray as defined in claim 4, wherein the tray includes a wall defining the surface, the wall defining the first area.

8. ) A tray as defined in claim 7, wherein the wall includes a plurality of recesses therein, one of the recesses holding an insert defining the second area and another one of the recesses holding an insert defining the third area.

9. ) A tray as defined in claim 8, wherein the inserts are removably mounted in the respective recesses.

10. ) A tray as defined in claim 9, wherein the first second and third areas are visually indistinguishable from one another.

11. ) A tray for holding a liquid product during an X-ray inspection of the liquid product performed to determine if the liquid product presents a security threat, the tray comprising;

a) a surface on which the liquid product rests while being subjected to X-rays;

b) the surface having at least two areas, namely a first area and a second area, the first area characterized by a first X-ray signature and the second area characterized by a second X-ray signature that is different from the first X-ray signature;

c) the second X-ray signature matching the X-ray signature of a liquid product, wherein the liquid product includes a container holding a liquid material, the liquid material being selected from the group consisting of water, carbonated beverage, fruit juice, toothpaste and a cosmetic liquid.

12. ) A tray as defined in claim 11, wherein the tray has raised edges.

13. ) A method for performing security screening at a security checkpoint, comprising;

a) placing a liquid product in a tray which has a reference area;

b) performing an X-ray inspection of the tray holding the liquid product;

c) comparing the X-ray signature of the liquid product to the X-ray signature of the reference area;

d) determining if the liquid product is a security threat based at least in part on results obtained by comparing the X-ray signature of the liquid product to the X-ray signature of the reference area.

14. ) A method as defined in claim 13, wherein the tray has a plurality of reference areas, the reference areas having different X-ray signatures.

15. ) A method as defined in claim 14, wherein each reference area has an X-ray signature that matches an X-ray signature of a liquid product susceptible of being carried through the security checkpoint.

16. ) A method as defined in claim 15, wherein at least one of the reference areas has an X-ray signature that matches the X-ray signature of a liquid product suitable for human consumption.

17. ) A method as defined in claim 16, wherein the liquid product suitable for human consumption is selected from the group consisting of water, carbonated beverage and juice.

18. ) A method as defined in claim 17, wherein at least one of the reference areas has an X-ray signature that matches the response to X-rays of a liquid product having a cosmetic usage.

19. ) A method as defined in claim 13, wherein the comparing is done by a computer.

20. ) A method as defined in claim 19, wherein the X-ray inspection is performed by an X-ray imaging system.

21. ) A method as defined in claim 20, wherein the X-ray imaging system produced X-ray image data, the method including performing an analysis of the X-ray image data with the computer in determining if the liquid product is a security threat.

22. ) A security screening system to determine if an article presents a security threat, the screening system comprising:

a) an input for receiving image data conveying an image of the article and of a reference area produced when the article and the reference area are subjected to penetrating radiation;

b) a logic module for;

i) processing the image data to compare a signature to penetrating radiation of the article to a signature to penetrating radiation of the reference area;

ii) processing the image data at least in part based on results obtained by processing the image data in i) to assess if the article poses a security threat.

23. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 22 wherein the article is a liquid product and the penetrating radiation includes X-rays.

24. ) A tray for holding an article while the article is being subjected to penetrating radiation, the tray comprising:

a) a surface on which the article rests while subjected to penetrating radiation;

b) the surface having at least one area which when exposed to penetrating radiation produces a predetermined signature;

c) a machine readable indicia conveying information associated with the predetermined signature.

25. ) A tray as defined in claim 24, wherein the penetrating radiation includes X-rays.

26. ) A tray as defined in claim 25, wherein the tray has raised edges.

27. ) A tray as defined in claim 25, wherein the indicia conveys the predetermined signature of the area.

28. ) A tray as defined in claim 25, wherein the indicia conveys an identifier allowing to locate an entry in a database that conveys the predetermined signature of the area.

29. ) A tray as defined in claim 24, comprising a plurality of areas characterized by different signatures to penetrating radiation.

30. ) A tray as defined in claim 29, wherein the tray includes a plurality of machine readable indicia, each associated with a respective area.

31. ) A security screening system to determine if an article presents a security threat, the screening system comprising:

a) an input for receiving image data conveying an image of the article and of a reference area produced when the article and the reference area are subjected to penetrating radiation;

b) a logic module for;

i) deriving a nominal signature of the reference area to penetrating radiation;

ii) processing the image data to derive an actual signature to penetrating radiation of the reference area;

iii) comparing the nominal signature to penetrating radiation to the actual signature to penetrating radiation

iv) processing the image data at least in part based on results obtained in iii) to assess if the article poses a security threat.

32. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 31 wherein the penetrating radiation includes X-rays.

33. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 32 wherein the deriving includes reading the nominal signature from a database.

34. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 32, wherein the deriving includes reading the nominal signature from a machine readable indicia in the image data.

35. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 32, wherein the logic module performs a compensation of the image data to produce compensated image data using the results of the comparing.

36. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 35 wherein the logic module processes the compensated image data in assessing if the article poses a security threat.

41. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 35 wherein the logic module processes the compensated image data in assessing if the article poses a security threat.

37. ) A security system for implementation at a check point to screen hand carried baggage for articles that potentially pose a security threat, comprising:

a) a set of trays for receiving the hand carried baggage of passengers as the passengers arrive at the check point;

b) an X-ray apparatus including;

i) a screening area;

ii) a conveyor belt on which the trays with hand carried baggage are placed, the conveyor belt being movable to advance the trays with hand carried baggage through the screening area where the trays and the hand carried baggage are subjected to X-rays;

c) at least one of the trays in the set of trays having a reference area characterized by a nominal X-ray signature;

d) the X-ray apparatus further including a logic module for;

i) processing image data of the at least one tray to derive from the image data an actual X-ray signature of the reference area;

ii) performing a comparison between the actual X-ray signature and the nominal X-ray signature and processing the image data of the at least one tray at least in part based on results of the comparison to assess if hand carried baggage contains articles that pose a security threat.

38. ) A security system as defined in claim 37, wherein the logic module reads the nominal signature from a database to derive the nominal X-ray signature.

39. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 37, wherein the logic module reads the nominal signature from machine readable indicia in the image data.

40. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 37, wherein the logic module performs a compensation of the image data to produce compensated image data using the results of the comparison.

42. ) A security screening system to determine if an article presents a security threat, the screening system comprising:

a) an X-ray imaging system;

b) a reference device including at least one reference area characterized by a nominal X-ray signature;

c) the X-ray imaging system having a logic module for;

i) processing X-ray image data generated when the reference device is subjected to X-rays to determine if the nominal X-ray signature of the reference area matches an actual X-ray signature of the reference area;

ii) processing the X-ray image data at least in part based on results obtained when processing the X-ray image data to determine if the nominal X-ray signature of the reference area matches the actual X-ray signature of the reference area to assess if an article X-rayed by the X-ray imaging system at the same time as the reference device or thereafter poses a security threat.

43. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 42, wherein the logic module derives the actual X-ray signature from the image data.

44. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 43, wherein the logic module compares the nominal X-ray signature to the actual X-ray signature.

45. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 44, wherein the logic module has a database, the logic module reading the nominal X-ray signature from the database.

46. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 45, wherein the database holds the nominal X-ray signatures of a plurality of different reference areas.

47. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 44, wherein the logic module using the results of the comparison between the nominal X-ray signature and the actual X-ray signature to perform compensation of the image data and generate compensated image data.

48. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 47, wherein the logic module using the compensated image data to assess if an article appearing in the image data poses a security threat.

49. ) A security screening system as defined in claim 48, wherein the reference device is a tray in which the article to be screened is placed while the article is being X-rayed by the X-ray imaging system.