Patents by Inventor John Lightfoot

John Lightfoot has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8275567
    Abstract: A method of correcting a measure of radioactive material within a body of material includes measuring a characteristic of the radioactive material to provide a measure, such as gamma emissions; detecting muons and/or electrons generated by muons which have not passed through the body of material to give a first value; detecting muons and/or electrons generated by muons which have passed through the body of material to give a second value; processing the first value and second value to give a factor, for instance indicative of the density of the body of material; and correcting the measure using the factor to obtain a corrected measure of the radioactive material with the body of material, for instance to correct for the density of the body of material and attendant issues such as attenuation and shielding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2012
    Assignee: VT Nuclear Services Limited
    Inventor: John Lightfoot
  • Publication number: 20100010764
    Abstract: A method of correcting a measure of radioactive material within a body of material includes measuring a characteristic of the radioactive material to provide a measure, such as gamma emissions; detecting muons and/or electrons generated by muons which have not passed through the body of material to give a first value; detecting muons and/or electrons generated by muons which have passed through the body of material to give a second value; processing the first value and second value to give a factor, for instance indicative of the density of the body of material; and correcting the measure using the factor to obtain a corrected measure of the radioactive material with the body of material, for instance to correct for the density of the body of material and attendant issues such as attenuation and shielding.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2007
    Publication date: January 14, 2010
    Applicant: VT NUCLEAR SERVICES LIMITED
    Inventor: John Lightfoot
  • Publication number: 20080042072
    Abstract: Monitoring radioactive emissions includes providing a processor having a plurality of potential data input channels, providing data input to the processor the potential data input channels, that data being generated by an instrument, and combining all the data inputs in the processor. The processor is configured to handle data input from at least two of each of the following groups: (i) a gamma detector, a low resolution gamma detector, a high resolution gamma detector, a beta detector, an alpha detector, an ion detector, an X-ray detector, a neutron detector, a detectors responding to passive emissions, a detector responsive to active emissions, a detector responsive to a transmission source; and (ii) a distance measurer, such as a range finder, a visual radiation detector, such as a still camera and/or digital camera and/or video camera, a measurer of weight, a measurer of mass, a measurer of size.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2007
    Publication date: February 21, 2008
    Applicant: BIL Solutions Limited
    Inventors: John Ronaldson, John Lightfoot
  • Publication number: 20060249684
    Abstract: A method of collecting data on radioactive material includes: positioning a detector unit at a first position relative to the environment; collecting at least a part of a first set of data from a first position using a detector unit; and collecting at least a part of one or more subsequent sets of data on the environment from one or more subsequent positions using the detector unit; wherein one or more of the subsequent positions is determined, at least in part, by considering at least a part of the data of one or more of the sets of data previously collected. The subsequent positions are determined so as to improve the information on the radioactive material provided as a result of the data collected from that position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2006
    Publication date: November 9, 2006
    Inventors: John Ronaldson, John Lightfoot
  • Publication number: 20060224364
    Abstract: A method and data processing system for monitoring radioactive emissions includes providing a processor, the processor having a plurality of potential data input channels, providing data input to the processor through two or more of the potential data input channels, that data input being generated by an instrument, combining all the two or more data inputs in the processor, the processor being capable of handling data input from at least two of each of the following groups: (i) a gamma detector, a low resolution gamma detector, a high resolution gamma detector, a beta detector, an alpha detector, an ion detector, an X-ray detector, a neutron detector, a detectors responding to passive emissions, a detector responsive to active emissions, a detector responsive to a transmission source; and (ii) a distance measurer, such as a range finder, a visual radiation detector, such as a still camera and/or digital camera and/or video camera, a measurer of weight, a measurer of mass, a measurer of size; the method furth
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2006
    Publication date: October 5, 2006
    Inventors: John Ronaldson, John Lightfoot
  • Publication number: 20060219518
    Abstract: A method of monitoring radioactive emissions includes: obtaining a data set, the data set including a record of an event, together with an indication of the time of the event and/or the detector which detected the event; and processing the data set, the processing including the analysis of at least a part of the data set according to a first set of criteria to provide a first analysed data set and analysing at least a part of the data set according to a second set of criteria to provide a second analysed data set, one or more criteria of the second set being different to the criteria of the first set.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2006
    Publication date: October 5, 2006
    Inventors: John Ronaldson, John Lightfoot
  • Publication number: 20060208154
    Abstract: A method of obtaining information about radiation arising from within an environment includes providing a directionally sensitive radiation detector which has a field of view and providing a visual image capturing device which has an area of vision. The radiation for a field of view is measured, the field of view including a part of the environment. The measurement of radiation is recorded together with an indication of the space or position of the respective field of view relative to the detector. A visual image of an area of vision is obtained, the area of vision including the part of the environment within the field of view. The image is recorded together with an indication of the spatial position of that field of view relative to the detector. Selecting the set of data from the measurement of radiation according to a criteria set after completion of the measurements of radiation. The information is overlaid from one or more of the measurements of radiation with one of the visual images.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2002
    Publication date: September 21, 2006
    Inventors: Karl Hughes, John Lightfoot, Andrew Chesterman
  • Patent number: 7095030
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for measuring activity of radioactivity at a source location within an environment provided. The method in particular includes measuring emissions using an instrument as a measurement location, which instrument includes a detector, the instrument considering a detector field of view of the environment, which field of view includes a source location and providing an indication of detected emissions for that field of view, correcting the detected emissions to give emitted emissions in respect of that field of view, the correction being achieved by using a correction factor specific for that field of view, the correction factor accounting for one or more field of view format and/or the attenuation between the source location and the detector and/or the distance between the source location and the detector, the emitted emissions being indicative of the activity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2006
    Assignee: British Nuclear Fuels plc
    Inventors: Karl Anthony Hughes, John Lightfoot
  • Patent number: 7058648
    Abstract: Techniques are provided for implementing and using a hierarchy-based secured document repository. The invention, the repository allows each user access to documents based on the position(s) held by the user in the hierarchy of a company. In one embodiment, the repository includes data that reflects the hierarchy of a company (“hierarchy data”), where the hierarchy includes nodes and relationships between nodes. The repository also includes user-to-node mapping data that maps users to one or more nodes, and document-to-node mapping data that maps documents to nodes. An access mechanism is provided that determines which document a user is able to access based on the hierarchy data, the user-to-node mapping data, and the document-to-node mapping data. In one embodiment, a user is allowed to access only those documents that are (1) mapped to the same node as the user, or (2) mapped to nodes that are below (relative to the hierarchy) any of the nodes to which the user is mapped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2006
    Assignee: Oracle International Corporation
    Inventors: John Lightfoot, Jarrod Anderson, James Christopher Livingston, Greg Jones
  • Publication number: 20050015219
    Abstract: An event monitoring system has a plurality of detector units for detecting neutrons or other emissions from radioactive materials (i.e., events). At least one of the detector units has a detector for the events and an amplifier to amplify signals generated by the detector. A signal handler receives the amplified signals and an adder adds to the signals an indication of the detector unit from which the signals originated. A combiner combines the signals. A serial link conveys the combined signals from the signal handler to a signal processor which includes a signal receiver for the combined signals. A time stamper applies to the signal an indication of time of the generation of the signal by the detector unit, and a computer processes the signals, including the time and detector unit indications, using software to produce information on the signals or events they represent.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2002
    Publication date: January 20, 2005
    Inventors: John Lightfoot, Neil Pritchard, David Strawbridge, David Bailey, Robert Sharpe, John Ronaldson
  • Publication number: 20030164455
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for measuring activity of radioactivity at a source location within an environment provided. The method in particular includes measuring emissions using an instrument as a measurement location, which instrument includes a detector, the instrument considering a detector field of view of the environment, which field of view includes a source location and providing an indication of detected emissions for that field of view, correcting the detected emissions to give emitted emissions in respect of that field of view, the correction being achieved by using a correction factor specific for that field of view, the correction factor accounting for one or more field of view format and/or the attenuation between the source location and the detector and/or the distance between the source location and the detector, the emitted emissions being indicative of the activity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2002
    Publication date: September 4, 2003
    Applicant: British Nuclear Fuels plc
    Inventors: Karl Anthony Hughes, John Lightfoot
  • Patent number: 5572326
    Abstract: An arrangement for the measurement of the height of a layer of a first liquid floating on a second liquid which comprises projection means for projecting a beam of optical radiation along an inspection path which is horizontal when the arrangement is in use, detector means for detecting radiation of the said beam after transmission along the inspection path, means for providing relative displacement in a direction which is vertical when the arrangement is in use between the said layer and the said inspection path whereby the said layer traverses the inspection path, the detector means being capable of observing the upper and lower surfaces of the said layer by detecting changes in an optical transmission property of the said beam occurring at the said surfaces and means for measuring the said relative displacement between the locations of the observed upper and lower surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 5, 1996
    Inventors: John A. Lightfoot, Richard Smith, Joseph W. Spencer
  • Patent number: 5371370
    Abstract: A gamma radiation camera system that utilizes a gamma blocking object which is removably located in the field of view of a gamma detector and blocks at least a portion of gamma radiation, emitted from a scene, from the detector and thereby forming a two-dimensional image of the scene. Further, individual components received by the detector from the scene provide an output signal to respective processing circuitry. The difference is then determined between components of a first output signal obtained when the object is present in the field of view of the detector and components of a second output signal obtained when the object is not present in the field of view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 6, 1994
    Assignee: British Nuclear Fuels plc
    Inventor: John A. Lightfoot