Patent ID: 7612338

Claim:
A real time monitoring system for the detection of threat material in one of a plurality of containers as each one of said containers is being hoisted by a container crane, said container crane having a hoist attachment and a control computer operative to develop a twist lock control signal, said hoist attachment having twist locks that are actuated between an engaged position and a disengaged position in response to said twist lock control signal, said monitoring system: a plurality of radiation sensors carried by said hoist attachment, each of said radiation sensors in response to detected radiation being operative to develop an electrical signal conveying information commensurate with said detected radiation; a data collection computer, said twist lock control signal and said electrical signal from each of said radiation sensors being applied to said data collection computer wherein, during a time duration in which said twist lock control signal is indicative that said twist locks are in said engaged position such that a current one of said containers is grasped by said hoist attachment, said data collection computer is operative to store at least once said information conveyed by said electrical signal from each of said radiation sensors as container digital data; and a data analysis computer in communication with said data collection computer wherein said container digital data when stored in said data collection computer is made available in real time at said data analysis computer, said data analysis computer being operative to analyze said container digital data to determine whether said container digital data upon analysis thereof is indicative of said threat material being present in said current one of said containers.