System and methods for multi-beam inspection of cargo in relative motion

摘要

X-ray inspection of moving cargo based on acquiring multiple image lines at one time or substantially at one time. An X-ray source with multiple-beam electron beam targets creates multiple parallel X-ray fan beams. X-ray inspection systems and methods employ such multiple-beam sources for purposes of inspecting fast moving cargo.

主权项

1. A cargo inspection system employing a plurality of concurrent fan beams of penetrating radiation, for inspecting cargo in motion relative to the cargo inspection system, the cargo inspection system comprising:
a. a single source of a pulsed beam of accelerated electrons; b. a plurality of Bremsstrahlung targets for emitting penetrating radiation upon impingement by a spatial entirety of the pulsed beam during each of a plurality of pulses of the accelerated electrons; c. a plurality of collimators for forming the emitted penetrating radiation into a plurality of substantially parallel fan beams; d. a plurality of linear detector arrays, each linear detector array for receiving penetrating radiation transmitted through the cargo in a corresponding fan beam of the plurality of fan beams; and e. a processor for deriving a material characteristic of the cargo for each of a plurality of lines of sight through the cargo.