X-ray inspection system
First Claim
1. An X-ray inspection system that examines an item under inspection located at an inspection region, the system comprising:
- an X-ray source located at the inspection region that exposes the item under inspection to X-ray radiation, and that is constructed and arranged to be movable in any of a first dimension, a second dimension and a third dimension;
an X-ray detector located at the inspection region that detects X-ray radiation as modified by the item under inspection, and that is constructed and arranged to be movable in the first dimension and the second dimension;
a controller coupled to each of the X-ray source and the X-ray detector, that controls movement of the X-ray source and the X-ray detector in the first and second dimensions;
a processor coupled to the controller that receives detection information from the X-ray detector, to process the detection information, and to provide processed information;
wherein the controller also controls movement of the X-ray source and the X-ray detector independently of each other in any of collinear directions and different directions to provide a plurality of X-ray views of the item under inspection at varying examination angles of the X-ray radiation;
wherein the processor further receives information about the item under inspection from a remote inspection device and to locate a region of interest in the item under inspection based on the information received.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An X-ray inspection system and methodology is disclosed. The system comprises a conveyor, an X-ray source that exposes an item under inspection to X-ray radiation and at least one X-ray detector that detects X-ray radiation modified by the item. The X-ray source and X-ray detector may be movable in any of first and second dimensions. The X-ray source may also be moved in a third dimension to zoom in and out on regions of interest in the item order inspection. The system further comprises a controller that controls movement of the X-ray source and X-ray detector, independently of each other, in any of collinear and different directions, to provide a plurality of X-ray views of the item at varying examination angles of the X-ray radiation. A processor coupled to the controller may be configured to receive and process detection information from the X-ray detector and to provide processed information to an operator interface. The operator interface may also receive instructions from an operator input and provide the instructions to the controller.
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Citations
54 Claims
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1. An X-ray inspection system that examines an item under inspection located at an inspection region, the system comprising:
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an X-ray source located at the inspection region that exposes the item under inspection to X-ray radiation, and that is constructed and arranged to be movable in any of a first dimension, a second dimension and a third dimension;
an X-ray detector located at the inspection region that detects X-ray radiation as modified by the item under inspection, and that is constructed and arranged to be movable in the first dimension and the second dimension;
a controller coupled to each of the X-ray source and the X-ray detector, that controls movement of the X-ray source and the X-ray detector in the first and second dimensions;
a processor coupled to the controller that receives detection information from the X-ray detector, to process the detection information, and to provide processed information;
wherein the controller also controls movement of the X-ray source and the X-ray detector independently of each other in any of collinear directions and different directions to provide a plurality of X-ray views of the item under inspection at varying examination angles of the X-ray radiation;
wherein the processor further receives information about the item under inspection from a remote inspection device and to locate a region of interest in the item under inspection based on the information received. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An X-ray inspection system, comprising:
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an X-ray source located at an inspection region that exposes an item under inspection to X-ray radiation, and that is constructed and arranged to be movable in any of the first dimension, a second dimension and a third dimension;
an X-ray detector located at the inspection region that detects X-ray radiation as modified by the item under inspection, and that is constructed and arranged to be movable in the first dimension and the second dimension;
a controller coupled to each of the X-ray source and the X-ray detector, that controls movement of the X-ray source and the X-ray detector in the first and second dimensions; and
a processor coupled to the controller that receives detection information from the X-ray detector, to process the detection information, and to provide processed information;
wherein the controller is also configured to control movement of the X-ray source in the third dimension so as to provide varying levels of zoom of the processed information;
wherein the processor further receives information about the item under inspection from a remote inspection device and to locate a region of interest in the item under inspection based on the information received. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A high resolution X-ray inspection system constructed and arranged to examine an item under inspection located at an inspection region, the high resolution X-ray inspection system comprising:
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a high resolution X-ray source located at the inspection region that exposes the item under inspection to X-ray radiation, the X-ray source having a focal spot size that is less than 100 μ
m, the X-ray source being constructed and arranged to be movable in any of a first dimension, a second dimension, and a third dimension;
an X-ray detector located at the inspection region that detects X-ray radiation as modified by the item under inspection, and that is constructed and arranged to be movable in the first dimension and the second dimension;
a controller coupled to each of the X-ray source and the X-ray detector, controlling movement of the X-ray source and the X-ray detector in the first and second dimensions; and
a processor that;
i) receives information on a region of interest in the item under inspection from a remote inspection system;
ii) provides input to the controller whereby the controller positions the x-ray source and x-ray detector to image the region of interest; and
iii) receives detection information from the X-ray detector on the region of interest, processes the detection information, and provides processed information. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method of inspecting an item with an X-ray system, the method comprising acts of:
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receiving from a remote inspection device information about the item;
locating a region of interest in the item based on the information received;
exposing the item to X-ray radiation from an X-ray source;
detecting the X-ray radiation modified by the item with an X-ray detector;
processing information provided by the X-ray detector to provide processed information;
moving the X-ray source in any of a first dimension and a second dimension to expose the item to X-ray radiation at a plurality of positions; and
moving the X-ray detector, independently of the X-ray source, in any of the first dimension and the second dimension to detect the X-ray radiation at a plurality of examination angles. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A method of operating an inspection system to form an image of an item, the system having a conveyor moving in a first direction and a source and detector that can be controlled such that the point at which a path of radiation between the source and detector intersects an item on the conveyor moves in a second direction, transverse to the first direction, the method comprising:
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a) gathering image data from a plurality of regions of the item in successive time intervals;
b) between successive time intervals moving the conveyor in the first direction and the point at which the path intersects the item in the second direction;
c) displaying a first image of at least a portion of the item with a first resolution using the gathered image data;
d) selecting a region of the item appearing in the first image;
e) using data acquired with the source and detector to display to a second image of the region of the portion of the item, the second image having a higher resolution than the first image;
wherein the source is a microfocus x-ray source. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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Specification