Device and method for inspection of baggage and other objects
First Claim
1. A method of detecting a target object of a specific material of interest in a continuously moving ensemble of initially unidentified objects, comprising:
- providing a stationary X-ray exposure system, a stationary X-ray detection system, and a computer operatively connected to said detection system,continuously moving said ensemble of objects on a conveyor through an inspection station,at said inspection station, progressively exposing said initially unidentified ensemble of objects to X-ray radiation by continuous movement of said ensemble through a beam produced by said stationary X-ray exposure system.detecting the X-ray radiation transmitted through said ensemble of objects with said stationary X-ray detection system, and providing to said computer X-ray data corresponding to the intensity of transmitted radiation,over the area of the thus-exposed ensemble, calculating a value characteristic of said target object of said specific material of interest in said ensemble of objects, and therewith identifying said target object,systematically utilizing in said calculations X-ray transmission data of rays from said stationary X-ray exposure system passing through said ensemble of objects, including rays passing through said target object of said specific material of interest as well as rays passing near but not through said target object to remove the contribution of overlying and underlying material from the calculated value characteristic of said target object of said specific material of interest, andautomatically indicating the presence of said target object while said ensemble of objects progresses on said conveyor,and wherein the calculating step further includes choosing at least one target region and successively examining a plurality of regions in the neighborhood of said at least one target region.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A device and method is provided for finding a specific material superimposed on an unknown background when the locations of the specific material and the background are unknown, for example, inside an item of baggage. The invention comprises exposing an area of an item to be inspected to x-rays of two substanitally different energies, making effective use of the characteristic material specific differences in photoelectric effect scattering and Compton scattering, and comparing the pairwise differential attenuation of the x-rays at nearby exposed subareas to determine whether differences in attenuation can be attributed to the presence of different amounts of the specific material overlying the respective subareas. The most probable subareas are indicated on a standard image on a monitor as being the most likely location of the overlying specific material.
326 Citations
73 Claims
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1. A method of detecting a target object of a specific material of interest in a continuously moving ensemble of initially unidentified objects, comprising:
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providing a stationary X-ray exposure system, a stationary X-ray detection system, and a computer operatively connected to said detection system, continuously moving said ensemble of objects on a conveyor through an inspection station, at said inspection station, progressively exposing said initially unidentified ensemble of objects to X-ray radiation by continuous movement of said ensemble through a beam produced by said stationary X-ray exposure system. detecting the X-ray radiation transmitted through said ensemble of objects with said stationary X-ray detection system, and providing to said computer X-ray data corresponding to the intensity of transmitted radiation, over the area of the thus-exposed ensemble, calculating a value characteristic of said target object of said specific material of interest in said ensemble of objects, and therewith identifying said target object, systematically utilizing in said calculations X-ray transmission data of rays from said stationary X-ray exposure system passing through said ensemble of objects, including rays passing through said target object of said specific material of interest as well as rays passing near but not through said target object to remove the contribution of overlying and underlying material from the calculated value characteristic of said target object of said specific material of interest, and automatically indicating the presence of said target object while said ensemble of objects progresses on said conveyor, and wherein the calculating step further includes choosing at least one target region and successively examining a plurality of regions in the neighborhood of said at least one target region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A device for detecting a target object of a specific material of interest in a continuously moving ensemble of initially unidentified objects, comprising a conveyor arranged to move said ensemble of objects continuously through an inspection station,
a stationary X-ray exposure system and a stationary X-ray detection system both constructed to operate cooperatively with said conveyor, and a computer operatively connected to said detection system, said stationary X-ray exposure system constructed and positioned to progressively expose, at said inspection station, said ensemble of initially unidentified objects to X-ray radiation by continuous movement of said ensemble through a beam produced by said X-ray-exposure system, said stationary X-ray detection system positioned to detect X-ray radiation transmitted through said ensemble of objects, and constructed to provide to said computer X-ray data corresponding to the intensity of transmitted radiation, said computer programmed to calculate, over the area of the thus-exposed ensemble, a value characteristic of said target object of said specific material of interest in said ensemble of objects, and therewith identifying said target object, said computer programmed to systematically utilize in said calculations X-ray transmission data of rays from said stationary X-ray exposure system passing through said ensemble of objects, including rays passing through said target object of said specific material of interest as well as rays passing near but: - not through said target object to remove the contribution of overlying and underlying material from the calculated value characteristic of said target object of said specific material,
said computer programmed so that the removal of the contribution of overlying and underlying material from said calculated value is dependent upon determining an edge of the target object, and said computer programmed to indicate the presence of said target object. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
- not through said target object to remove the contribution of overlying and underlying material from the calculated value characteristic of said target object of said specific material,
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71. A method of detecting a target object of a specific material of interest in a continuously moving article of luggage or package the contents of which are initially unidentified, comprising:
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providing a stationary X-ray exposure system capable of producing at least one fan beam of X-ray radiation, a stationary X-ray detection system capable of detecting fan beam radiation, and a computer operatively connected to said detection system, continuously moving said ensemble of objects on a conveyor through an inspection station, at said inspection station, progressively exposing said article of luggage or package to x-ray radiation by continuous movement of said article of luggage or package through said fan beam produced by said stationary X-ray exposure system, detecting the X-ray radiation transmitted through said article of luggage or package with said stationary X-ray detection system, and providing to said computer X-ray data corresponding to the intensity of transmitted radiation, over the area of the thus-exposed article of luggage or package, calculating values characteristic of said target object of said specific material of interest in said luggage or package and therewith identifying said target object, systematically utilizing in said calculations X-ray transmission data of rays from said stationary x-ray exposure system passing through said article of luggage or package, including rays passing through said target object of said specific material of interest as well as rays passing near but not through said target object to remove the contribution of overlying and underlying material from the calculated value characteristic of said target object of said specific material of interest, the removal of the contribution of overlying and underlying material from said calculated value being dependent upon determining an edge of the target object, and automatically indicating the presence of said target object while said article of luggage or package progresses on said conveyor. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73)
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Specification