Radiant energy – Radiant energy generation and sources – With container for radioactive source and radiation...
Patent
1998-07-24
2000-12-26
Anderson, Bruce C.
Radiant energy
Radiant energy generation and sources
With container for radioactive source and radiation...
2505191, G21F 502, G21F 302
Patent
active
061663883
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to improvements in or relating to radiography source projector systems such as are used for non-destructive testing of structures.
In general, these systems comprise a housing within which a radiation source, e.g. a radioactive isotope, is located when out of use, a source guide tube attached to the housing and through which the source is advanced in operation to the desired point of use, and drive means for advancing the source out of the housing through the tube to the point of use and retracting the source back through the tube and into the housing. The housing is provided with a radiation shield such as depleted uranium to protect operators from radiation when the source is not in use.
Any suitable drive means may be used. By way of example, the drive means may be a cable wound on to a rotatable drum and having a holder for the radiation source attached to its free end. The source may thus be advanced from the housing along the tube by rotating the drum in a direction to unwind the cable and may be retracted back into the housing by rotating the drum in the reverse direction.
The source guide tube, which may be several meters long, is usually detachable from the housing for ease of transport.
An example of such a system is the Amersham Sentinel system (Sentinel is a Registered Trade Mark).
As stated above, when the source is not in use, it is located in the housing which is provided with a radiation shield which protects the operator from radiation.
Where the source guide tube is rigid, it has been proposed to encase it in radiation attenuating material such as lead so as to provide shielding from radiation while the radiation source is being advanced along the tube to the point of use.
However, in many cases it is desired for the source guide to be flexible so as to enable the source to be positioned in locations remote from the housing where access is difficult and it is necessary, for example, to bend the tube round corners to avoid obstacles. Despite the availability of these systems for several years, it has not been found possible hitherto to provide the tube with any significant level of shielding. Thus, while the source is being moved along the tube there tends to be an unacceptable level of radiation. This is a serious cause for concern, especially if, for example, the source jams in the tube. The current practice when this happens is to provide temporary shielding, e.g. by burying a length of tube within which the source is located in a pile of lead shot.
The present invention is designed to overcome this problem.
According to the present invention, there is provided a flexible source guide tube assembly for use with a radiography source projector system, said assembly comprising a flexible source guide tube within a radiation shield in the form of a flexible sleeve for the tube, said sleeve comprising elastomeric material containing particles of radiation attenuation material.
Where a collimator is attached to one end of the source guide tube, the sleeve may extend over the collimator, if desired.
The invention further provides a radiography source projector system including such an assembly.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the radiation shield comprises an axial assembly of axially overlapping tubular units of elastomeric material containing particles of radiation attenuating material.
The invention thus also provides a radiation shield for a flexible tube such as a source guide tube of a radiography source projector system, said shield comprising a flexible sleeve on said tube, said sleeve comprising an axial assembly of axially overlapping tubular units of elastomeric material containing particles of radiation attenuating material.
Preferably the tubular units are plugged together axially. For example, the tubular units may each comprise a female section and a male section disposed respectively at opposite ends of the unit, said male section being adapted to be a push fit into the female section of a like unit.
The invention will now be illustrated wit
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Hare John Thomas
Weir Donald
Anderson Bruce C.
Illinois Tool Works Inc.
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