Patent Application
20080165934
This invention relates to a field of detecting air containers, and more particularly, to a delivery device used in an air container detection system.
At present, manual check and X-ray transmission detection using X-ray machine (which only small scale air containers is allowed to pass through) are still the main detecting manners in the field of detecting air cargo (for example air containers). There are also devices for detecting cargo using CT (computed tomography) technology, for example the products of Smith Company (which uses X-ray machine) and HuaLiXing Company (which uses radiation source). Relatively low penetration capacity of the X-ray machine and strict control over the use of radiation source cause many limits to use of these two kinds of products.
Especially, all these detection systems adopt a horizontal pass way of scanning to carry out CT imaging for detection. That is, the articles to be detected horizontally pass through a scanning passage, and the scanning system rotates around said scanning passage. The CT detection system that works in such a way has problems when checking relatively large scale air cargo (for example air container that is more than 2 meters in length and width, respectively). When air container is of relatively large size, the radius of the scanning passage should also be increased correspondingly. This requires that the scanning system that rotates around the scanning passage should also has relatively large radius of rotation. However, the structural design of a scanning system that has relatively large radius of rotation is difficult and complicated due to the strict limit of the structural size and penetration capacity. Further, the aforesaid CT detection system that works in a horizontal pass way of scanning requires occupying identical areas at the left and right sides of the cargo scanning passage. Therefore, such system occupies relatively large space. As a result, the present CT detection system usually cannot detect air container that is more than 2 meters in length and width. Besides, the throughput of cargo in such CT detection system is usually relatively low.
Therefore, in order to reduce the difficulty and complexity of the structural design of the scanning system, it is desirable to avoid the rotary motion of the scanning system and thus to enable the air container to rotate when it passes through the scanning passage.
The object of this invention is to provide a composite rotary-delivery worktable for an air container detection system, which is not only capable of delivering an air container through a scanning passage but also capable of driving the air container to rotate within the scanning passage. Besides, said composite rotary-delivery worktable is preferably adapted to deliver large scale air containers.
In order to achieve the aforesaid object, this invention provide a composite rotary-delivery worktable for an air container detection system, which is installed within a scanning passage of the air container detection system. Said composite rotary-delivery worktable comprises:
a delivery assembly for carrying and delivering said air container; and
a rotary assembly rotatable about a rotary axis,
wherein said delivery assembly is attached to said rotary assembly such that said delivery assembly is rotatable with said rotary assembly when said rotary assembly rotates.
In one embodiment, said composite rotary-delivery worktable further comprises a delivery drive means for driving said delivery assembly.
In one embodiment, said delivery assembly comprises a roller delivery mechanism. Said roller delivery mechanism comprises a plurality of rollers made of a stainless steel.
In one embodiment, said delivery drive means comprises a first electrical motor for driving said roller delivery mechanism. Said composite rotary-delivery worktable further comprises a first drive-control circuit for driving/controlling said first electrical motor.
In one embodiment, said rotary assembly comprises a rotary mount onto which said delivery assembly is attached. In one embodiment, said rotary mount is a rectangular table.
In one embodiment, said delivery drive means is disposed at said rotary mount.
In one embodiment, said composite rotary-delivery worktable further comprises a rotary drive means for driving said rotary assembly. Preferably, said rotary drive means drives said rotary assembly in a gear transmission manner to rotate. In one embodiment, said rotary assembly comprises a gear ring structure, and said rotary drive means comprises a second electrical motor having a driving gear which engages said gear ring structure. In one embodiment, said rotary assembly comprises a round rotary table, said gear ring structure is arranged at the periphery of said round rotary table. In one embodiment, said rotary mount is fixedly connected to said round rotary table.
In one embodiment, said composite rotary-delivery worktable further comprises a second drive-control circuit for controlling/driving said second electrical motor to rotate for a predetermined angle or to rotate continuously.
In one embodiment, said composite rotary-delivery worktable further comprises a positioning mechanism for holding the air container in position when said air container is on the delivery assembly and is rotating. Said positioning mechanism is preferably an electrical positioning mechanism. In one embodiment, said composite rotary-delivery worktable further comprises a third drive-control circuit for controlling/driving said electrical positioning mechanism. Preferably, said positioning mechanism is disposed on said rotary mount.
Said composite rotary-delivery worktable may further comprise a base fixed on the ground of the scanning passage, said rotary assembly being disposed on said base.
In one embodiment, said composite rotary-delivery worktable further comprises a conductive slip ring for electrical connecting of said delivery assembly and said rotary assembly to exterior. Preferably, said conductive slip ring is disposed in said rotary assembly and along said rotary axis A.
The composite rotary-delivery worktable of this invention enables large scale air containers to not only pass the scanning passage but also rotate within the scanning passage. This makes it possible to keep the scanning system stationary, thereby increasing the operation reliability of the scanning system and reducing the design difficulty and complexity of the scanning system. This invention can realize straight line delivery, central rotation, positioning of container body, and precisely controlling and positioning of rotation angle. It is possible to reduce the whole size of the air container detection system by using the composite rotary-delivery worktable of this invention.
The following embodiments are used for describing this invention, not for limiting the scope of this invention.
In the shown embodiment, the rotary assembly comprises a rotary mount 4 and a round rotary table 2 which are fixedly connected to each other and rotatable about a rotary axis A. As best shown in
The delivery assembly is used to carry and deliver air containers. Further, the delivery assembly is fixedly attached to the rotary assembly and rotatable with the rotary assembly when the rotary assembly rotates. In this way, the delivery assembly is not only capable of delivering an air container, but also capable of driving the air container to rotate when the air container is on the delivery assembly.
In the shown embodiment, the delivery assembly comprises a roller delivery mechanism attached to the rotary mount 4. The roller delivery mechanism comprises a plurality of rollers 5 that may be made of stainless steel. In the embodiment as shown in
In one embodiment, the composite rotary-delivery worktable of this invention may further comprise a positioning mechanism 6 for holding the air container in position when the air container is on the delivery assembly and rotating, thereby preventing the air container from displacing from its correct position due to translation or angular displacement. The positioning mechanism 6 is, for example, an electrical positioning mechanism. The positioning mechanism 6 may also be attached to the rotary mount 4.
The composite rotary-delivery worktable may further comprise a conductive multiplex slip ring 7 for power and/or signal transmissions between the electrical devices of the rotary and delivery assemblies, such as the first electrical motor 3 and the electrical positioning mechanism 6, and external circuits (for example, as referred to
The composite rotary-delivery worktable can further comprise a base 1 fixed on the ground of the scanning passage, and the rotary assembly is disposed on the base 1.
Though all the controllers in
The composite rotary-delivery worktable of this invention has two functions. One is to deliver an air container to be detected from the entrance of the scanning passage to the exit of the scanning passage. The other is to carrying out multi-angle scanning and continuous rotary CT scanning of the air container to be detected. In operation, the rotary assembly is kept stationary at first. The delivery assembly moves the air container to be detected to a predetermined position (stop position) on the delivery assembly. Then, the delivery assembly stops delivering. Subsequently, the electrical positioning mechanism 6 rises to confine the air container in its stop position. Then, the rotary assembly starts to rotate, and brings the delivery assembly and the air container thereon to rotate in multiple angles or to rotate continuously.
These are the most preferred embodiments of this invention. Those ordinarily skilled in the art can obviously conceive of some identical or substitute solutions according to the content disclosed in this invention. However, all of them should fall into the scope of this invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200610169797.3 | Dec 2006 | CN | national |
