Remote detection of explosive substances
First Claim
1. An apparatus for locating concealed, hostile targets at a remote distance by inducing then detecting gamma rays from the target, said apparatus comprising:
- a neutron source for producing a neutron beam capable of generating gamma rays upon interaction with a target;
a carrier for supporting said neutron source opposite a search area;
a beam former for directing a neutron beam from said neutron source along a vector toward the search area;
a moveable connection operatively associated with said beam former for moveably scanning the neutron beam vector relative to said carrier across a wide search area;
a gamma ray detector for detecting gamma rays emanating from a target in the search area;
at least one position sensor associated with said beam former for monitoring the instantaneous vector of the neutron beam relative to said carrier;
and a detection processing module operatively coupled to said sensor and said gamma ray detector for associating the instantaneous vector of the neutron beam relative to said carrier at the moment said gamma ray detector detects gamma rays from a target in the search area to spatially locate the target from a remote distance.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and methods for effectively detecting and locating explosive substances within remote targets, including improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The detection apparatus includes a neutron beam generator, a gamma ray detector, data collection modules and sensors, and a detection processing module. The neutron beam generator includes a fast neutron source, a neutron moderator to slow some or all of the fast neutrons to thermal energies, a partially enclosing neutron shield, and a rotatable neutron shield surrounding the generated neutrons. The neutron shield has an aperture to form a neutron beam directed at a remote target. If the remote target contains explosive substances, gamma rays radiate isotropically from the remote target when it is bombarded by the neutrons. A portion of these gamma rays are intercepted and detected by the gamma ray detector, which is spaced apart from the neutron source. The detection processing module determines whether the remote target contains explosive substances and further locates the target by processing the collected data from the gamma ray detector, status information collected from the neutron source, and the position sensor(s) associated with the neutron shield.
59 Citations
31 Claims
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1. An apparatus for locating concealed, hostile targets at a remote distance by inducing then detecting gamma rays from the target, said apparatus comprising:
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a neutron source for producing a neutron beam capable of generating gamma rays upon interaction with a target; a carrier for supporting said neutron source opposite a search area; a beam former for directing a neutron beam from said neutron source along a vector toward the search area; a moveable connection operatively associated with said beam former for moveably scanning the neutron beam vector relative to said carrier across a wide search area; a gamma ray detector for detecting gamma rays emanating from a target in the search area; at least one position sensor associated with said beam former for monitoring the instantaneous vector of the neutron beam relative to said carrier; and a detection processing module operatively coupled to said sensor and said gamma ray detector for associating the instantaneous vector of the neutron beam relative to said carrier at the moment said gamma ray detector detects gamma rays from a target in the search area to spatially locate the target from a remote distance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for locating concealed, hostile targets at a remote distance by inducing then detecting gamma rays from the target, comprising the steps of:
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projecting a beam of neutrons along a vector toward a search area; producing gamma rays by the interaction of the projected neutron beam with a target in the search area; monitoring for gamma rays with a gamma ray detector; scanning the neutron beam across the search area; determining when the gamma rays monitored by the gamma ray detector meet at least one predetermined condition; measuring the orientation of the neutron beam vector simultaneously with said determining step; and locating the target in the search area by reference to the neutron beam vector oriented during said measuring step. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification