Patent ID: 7046768

Claim:
A shutter-shield system, for reducing potential human risk of cumulative effects from extraneous x-radiation, applied to a collimator including a collimator housing configured with a fixed working aperture and deployed in conjunction with an x-ray tube for a designated inspection purpose conducted totally within an overall shield housing, comprising; a shutter-shield plate configured with a shutter aperture made generally similar to the fixed working aperture in size and shape; a shutter support structure made and arranged to retain said shield shutter plate constrained with ability to shift within a predetermined travel range between (1) an open-shutter condition wherein the shutter aperture is aligned with the fixed working aperture so as to allow x-radiation through a thus combined aperture for the designated inspection purpose and (2) a closed-shutter condition for standby purposes wherein offset displacement of the shutter-shield plate causes the shutter aperture to be similarly displaced offset from the fixed working aperture so as to in effect close the combined aperture and thus substantially contain x-ray radiation within a region of the collimator housing bounded by the shutter-shield plate; and a drive mechanism attached to the collimator and operationally connected to said shutter-shield plate, made and arranged to actuate transition between the two shutter conditions in response to a control signal, said drive mechanism comprising: an electrical solenoid, having a plunger operationally connected to said shutter-shield plate; and spring biasing means, operationally connected to said shutter-shield plate, made and arranged to urge said shutter-shield plate to move to a first end of the travel range whenever said electrical solenoid is not powered, said electrical solenoid being made and arranged to urge said shutter-shield plate to move to a second end of the travel range, opposite the first end, whenever said electrical solenoid is powered.