Systems and methods for determining compliance of moving vehicles with emission-concentration standards
US5719396A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 1, 1996 |
| Grant date | Feb 17, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 1, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N21/3504
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An emission-concentration monitoring system (20)includes first and second monitor stations (22,32) which are separated by a sensing space (40) along a path (28) of a moving vehicle (26). Each station has a source of electromagnetic radiation (64) which is directed through the vehicle's exhaust plume. Each station also has a set of detectors (66) which are positioned to receive the radiation and configured to measure transmittances at wavelengths which are absorbed by molecular species of exhaust plume (e.g., hydrocarbons, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide). These sensed transmittances are converted to emission concentrations by a data processor (50) and compared to a set of emission-concentration standards. The vehicle is determined to be in violation only if its emission concentrations at both the first and second monitor stations exceeds the standards. To insure visual identification of the vehicle, images of it are formed at both stations with video cameras (42, 44) and a license plate reader (46). It has been found that the monitoring system improves testing accuracy because the first and second stations essentially form a check against each other to remove error…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.