Characteristic discriminating landmine hand prodder
First Claim
1. A prodding rod having a driver end and a sensing end for contacting an object of unknown material comprising:
- means at the support end for imparting mechanical energy into the rod which travels as an incident elastic wave from the driver end towards the sensing end and reflects from the object as a reflected elastic wave traveling towards the driver end;
means for analyzing the reflected elastic wave for its acoustical characteristics and emitting electrical signals indicative of the acoustical characteristics of the object; and
means for processing the signals for comparing the object'"'"'s acoustic characteristics against stored values representative of the acoustic characteristics of known materials so as to categorize the object'"'"'s material.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A hand-held prodder capable of distinguishing inert rock from potentially hazardous landmines or other unknown objects. The prodder comprises a rod which is placed into contact with an object. A high frequency acoustic or incident wave is introduced into rod and travels along the rod to the object where it is reflected back towards the piezoelectric crystal. The piezoelectric crystal converts the reflected wave to an electric signal and a signal processor determines values representative of the frequency-time-amplitude characteristics of the object. Different materials exhibit different mechanical impedances and frequency damping characteristics. By comparing reflected wave characteristics to pre-determined characteristics for known materials, inert rocks and potentially hazardous plastic or metallic objects are distinguishable. Visual or audible signals inform the user whether rock (safe) or unidentified or known hazardous object were contacted.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A prodding rod having a driver end and a sensing end for contacting an object of unknown material comprising:
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means at the support end for imparting mechanical energy into the rod which travels as an incident elastic wave from the driver end towards the sensing end and reflects from the object as a reflected elastic wave traveling towards the driver end; means for analyzing the reflected elastic wave for its acoustical characteristics and emitting electrical signals indicative of the acoustical characteristics of the object; and means for processing the signals for comparing the object'"'"'s acoustic characteristics against stored values representative of the acoustic characteristics of known materials so as to categorize the object'"'"'s material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A hand-held, non-magnetic prodding rod used for the detection of land mines, the rod having a driver end and a sensing end for contacting an object of unknown material comprising:
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means at the support end for imparting mechanical energy into the rod which travels as an incident elastic wave from the driver end towards the sensing end and reflects from the object as a reflected elastic wave traveling towards the driver end; means for analyzing the reflected elastic wave for its acoustical characteristics and emitting electrical signals indicative of the acoustical characteristics of the object; and means for processing the signals for comparing the object'"'"'s acoustic characteristics against stored values representative of the acoustic characteristics of known materials so as to categorize the object'"'"'s material. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of determining the nature of the material of an object prodded by a rod having first and second ends, comprising the steps of:
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(a) placing the second end of the rod in contact with the object; (b) imparting an incident elastic wave into the first end of the rod so that it travels longitudinally along the rod to the second end where the wave reflects to form a reflected wave travelling back towards the first end; (c) measuring the acoustic characteristic of the reflected wave and emitting electrical signals indicative thereof; and (d) processing the signals so as to establish measurements characteristic of the material of the object. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification