Method and apparatus for remote detection of alcohol vapor in the atmosphere
First Claim
1. A method for remote detection of alcohol vapor in the atmosphere, useful for determination of a concentration of ethanol vapor in air exhaled by humans, comprisinggenerating from a laser light source a beam of laser light with a wavelength corresponding to the absorption spectrum of alcohol in a wavelength range of 3.28-3.52 μ
- m, or in one or several wavelength ranges of 6.49-7.46 μ
m, 7.74-8.33 μ
m, 8.84-10.10 μ
m, and 10.7-12.00 μ
m,sending the laser light beam outside of a device in which the laser light source is housed and across a measurement space outside and separate from the device, the laser light beam being received by a detector,subsequently measuring a light intensity of the laser light after the beam has passed through the measurement space and has been received by the detector, andsubsequently, based on spectral analysis of the dependence of the measured light intensity on an alcohol level, determining a concentration of alcohol vapor in the measurement space.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A light beam generated by a light source having a wavelength corresponding to the ethanol absorption spectrum, preferably in the wavelength range of 3.28-3.52 μm or in one or more wavelength ranges 6.49-7.46 μm, 7.74-8.33 μm, 8.84-10.10 μm, 10.7-12.00 μm, is sent through a measuring space containing a sample of exhaled breath, and then the intensity of the light beam passing through the measuring space is measured. Based on the spectral analysis of the dependence of the light intensity to the alcohol concentration, the concentration of ethanol vapor is determined and the information about the level of the ethanol content is provided to a suitable display or device.
16 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for remote detection of alcohol vapor in the atmosphere, useful for determination of a concentration of ethanol vapor in air exhaled by humans, comprising
generating from a laser light source a beam of laser light with a wavelength corresponding to the absorption spectrum of alcohol in a wavelength range of 3.28-3.52 μ - m, or in one or several wavelength ranges of 6.49-7.46 μ
m, 7.74-8.33 μ
m, 8.84-10.10 μ
m, and 10.7-12.00 μ
m,sending the laser light beam outside of a device in which the laser light source is housed and across a measurement space outside and separate from the device, the laser light beam being received by a detector, subsequently measuring a light intensity of the laser light after the beam has passed through the measurement space and has been received by the detector, and subsequently, based on spectral analysis of the dependence of the measured light intensity on an alcohol level, determining a concentration of alcohol vapor in the measurement space. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- m, or in one or several wavelength ranges of 6.49-7.46 μ
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8. A method of remote detection of ethanol vapor concentration in the exhaled breath from persons inside a cabin of a vehicle, comprising generating a beam of laser light at a wavelength range around 3.345 μ
- m, said wavelength range covering a whole or a part of a sharp absorption feature of ethanol at a wavelength of 3.345 μ
m, sending the laser light beam through the cabin of the vehicle, and then measuring the light intensity of the laser light after the beam is passed through the cabin of the vehicle and determining the concentration of ethanol vapor by means of spectral analysis of the dependence of the light intensity on the ethanol concentration. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
- m, said wavelength range covering a whole or a part of a sharp absorption feature of ethanol at a wavelength of 3.345 μ
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13. A method for detecting the presence of ethanol vapor in air from an exhaled breath of a human, comprising
generating from a laser light source a modulated beam of laser light at a wavelength corresponding to an absorption feature of ethanol within the wavelength range of 3.28-3.52 μ - m, or within one or more of the wavelength ranges of 6.49-7.46 μ
m, 7.74-8.33 μ
m, 8.84-10.10 μ
m, 10.7-12.00 μ
m,passing the modulated beam of laser light outside of a device in which the laser light source is housed and through a space, outside and separate from the device, containing the exhaled breath, and measuring the light passing through the space using the Wavelength Modulation Spectroscopy (WMS) method, and determining a level of ethanol vapor in the exhaled breath based on the light detected after the beam is passed through the space. - View Dependent Claims (14)
- m, or within one or more of the wavelength ranges of 6.49-7.46 μ
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15. A system for remote detection of ethanol vapor concentration in exhaled air, comprising a laser light source in a housing, and a detector for detecting the intensity of laser light from the laser light source emitting at a wavelength corresponding to the spectrum of ethanol absorption, wherein the which the laser light source is contained and across a measurement space outside and separate from the housing, wherein the system is equipped with a synchronizing-calculating module for determination of the concentration of ethanol by means of spectral analysis which is connected to the detector for detecting the light intensity, and wherein the laser light source emits a beam of laser light in the wavelength range of 3.28-3.52 μ
- m, or within one or more of the wavelength ranges of 6.49-7.46 μ
m, 7.74-8.33 μ
m, 8.84-10.10 μ
m, 10.7-12.00 μ
m. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
- m, or within one or more of the wavelength ranges of 6.49-7.46 μ
Specification