Atmospheric contaminant detector
US5443793A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 5, 1993 |
| Grant date | Aug 22, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 5, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2021/1793
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
This invention provides a means for detecting local atmospheric contaminants from safe distances. The invention means of a detector system comprise a pulsed laser, a sensitive photo-detector, various optical filters, and necessary digital control circuitry. The detector system employs laser technology in combination with a sensitive photo-detector to achieve detection of any hazardous gas elements or other pollutants remotely located from personnel who may subsequently be exposed. In operation, a pulsed laser or a tunable dye laser is employed as an excitation source for the contaminant or pollutant to achieve excitation of the contaminant or pollutant. When the excited molecule of the contaminant or pollutant returns to ground-state it emits a photon at a given (measurable) frequency. A sensitive photo-detector is filtered to permit detection of only the frequency at which a harmful gas (as an example of a contaminant or pollutant) fluoresces. Various filters can be utilized at once to enable the detector to detect more than one pollutant at a time. A timer in the system determines time elapse from the time the laser is pulsed to the time a photon is detected, the location of the …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.