Patent ID: 7102665

Claim:
A system for imaging the underbody of a moving vehicle comprising: a stationary source of radiation adjacent to radiate energy upwardly on an underbody of a moving vehicle; a stationary video camera adjacent said stationary radiation source having an upwardly facing field of view for creating image signals representative of sequential portions of said underbody of said moving vehicle passing overhead; a control station coupled for activating said camera and radiation source to create said image signals, said control station receiving said image signals from said video camera for creating mosaic signals of said underbody; a screen coupled to said control station for displaying a mosaic image of said underbody from said mosaic signals, said control station including a computer activating said radiation source to radiate said energy and said camera to create said image signals, said computer creating said mosaic signals for said screen and storing a copy thereof, and said computer having memory to store earlier mosaic signals of previously taken mosaic images of the underbody of the same vehicle and vehicle manufacturers' data for the same vehicular model for comparison with said copy; and a housing having elongate channels between ridges extending the length of said housing and an elongate hinged lid extending the length of said housing to cover said channels and ridges, said housing containing said stationary camera and said radiation source in said channels, said housing being placed on the center portion of a roadway between the areas where tires of vehicles normally roll, and said housing, said hinged lid, and said ridges protecting said stationary camera and said radiation source in said channels from said moving vehicle and other vehicles.