Digital measuring system utilized in standardizing a nucleonic measuring gauge

Claim 2

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means including a nucleonic source and detector unit for establishing a nucleonic radiation path from said source to said detector, wherein the material moves through said path to be measured and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source-detector unit are relatively movable away from each other so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizing pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means for supplying reference pulses at a rate effectively determined by the said standardizing pulse recurrence rate, and means operative during successive pEriods of time determined in length by the said standardizing pulse rate, for combining with said reference pulses the said output pulses that are issued from the detector while the system is measuring said material to provide a standardized indication of the measure of said material during each such period.

Claim 3

Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said combining means includes a pulse-accumulating subtractor for providing a signal indicating the difference in rate between said output and reference pulses.

Claim 4

Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the reference pulse supplying means includes a pulse generator and means for changing the pulse rate of said generator to compensate for changes in said standardizing pulse rate, and wherein said combining means includes a gated pulse accumulator for counting the difference between the detector output pulses and reference pulses, gating means for resetting the count in said accumulator to zero periodically, and means for changing the length of the counting periods for said accumulator to compensate for changes in said standardizing pulse rate.

Claim 5

Apparatus as in claim 3 wherein said pulse rate and counting period compensating means includes means for providing pulses at a rate indicating an initial standardizing rate which is correlated to the actual initial standardizing recurrence rate aforesaid, means for counting said initial standardizing rate pulses for a predetermined time while said material and source-detector unit are relatively moved away from each other, means for counting said detector output pulses for said predetermined time while said material and source-detector unit are relatively moved away from each other, means for decreasing the rate of pulses from said generator by the ratio of the counted detector pulses to the counted initial standardized pulses and for increasing the period of said gating means by the inverse of that ratio.

Claim 6

A nucleonic, material thickness, measuring gauge comprising: a nucleonic source and detector unit positionable adjacent a sheet of material to be gauged in thickness while the sheet is moving lengthwise, means for providing for a recurrent standardizing period including means for moving said source-detector unit off sheet so that said sheet is out of the source-detector radiation path, means connected to said detector for deriving pulses having a standardizing rate when said source-detector unit is moved off sheet and a measuring rate of recurrence when said unit is adjacent said sheet as aforesaid and operating to effect measurement of the material, a pulse generator having an initial pulse production rate correlated to a desired thickness for said material, means for subtracting, and accumulating the difference of, during successive periods of time, the detector derived pulses when produced at the said measuring rate from the pulses from said pulse-generating means, means for effectively comparing the instant standardizing pulse rate, while said source-detector unit is moved off sheet, with a pulse rate representing a previous standardizing rate, and means for decreasing the rate of pulses from said pulse generating means by the ratio of the instant standardizing pulse rate to the previous standardizing pulse rate and for lengthening said accumulator periods of time by the inverse of that ratio.

Claim 7

A nucleonic, material thickness, measuring gauge comprising: a nucleonic source and detector unit positionable adjacent a sheet of material to be gauged in thickness while the sheet is moving lengthwise, means for providing for a recurrent standardizing period including means for moving said source-detector unit off sheet so that said sheet is out of the source-detector radiation path, means connected to said detector for deriving pulses having a standardizing rate when said source-detector unit is moved off sheet and a measuring rate of recurrence when said unit is adjacent said sheet as aforesaid and operating to effect measurement of the material, a pulse generator having an initial pulse production rate correlated to a desired thickness for said material, means for subtracting, and accumulating the difference of, during successive periods of time, the detector derived pulses when produced at the said measuring rate from the pulses from said pulse-generating means, means for effectively comparing the instant standardizing pulse rate, while said source-detector unit is moved off sheet, with a pulse rate representing a previous standardizing rate, and means for decreasing the rate of pulses from said pulse generating means by the ratio of the instant standardizing pulse rate to the previous standardizing pulse rate and for lengthening said accumulator periods of time by the inverse of that ratio.

Claim 8

Apparatus as in claim 5 wherein said means for comparing said instant and previous standardizing pulse rates include a second pulse generator for producing pulses at a predetermined rate which is said previous standardizing rate, means for counting the pulses from said second generator and those from said detector while said source-detector unit is off sheet, and means for effectively dividing the resulting counts to effect a ratio therebetween.

Claim 9

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means including a nucleonic source and detector unit for establishing a nucleonic radiaTion path from said source to said detector, wherein the material moves through said path to be measured and then causes an output from the detector having pulse rates indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source-detector unit are relatively movable away from each other so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides a pulse output of standardizing pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means for supplying reference pulses at a rate effectively determined by the said standardizing pulse recurrence rate, and means for combining with said reference pulses the said output pulses that are issued from the detector while the system is measuring said material to provide a standardized indication of the measure of said material.

Claim 10

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means including a nucleonic source and detector unit for establishing a nucleonic radiaTion path from said source to said detector, wherein the material moves through said path to be measured and then causes an output from the detector having pulse rates indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source-detector unit are relatively movable away from each other so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides a pulse output of standardizing pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means for supplying reference pulses at a rate effectively determined by the said standardizing pulse recurrence rate, and means for combining with said reference pulses the said output pulses that are issued from the detector while the system is measuring said material to provide a standardized indication of the measure of said material.

Claim 11

Apparatus as in claim 7 wherein the reference-pulse-supplying means includes an operating point pulse generator and means for changing the pulse rate of said generator to compensate for changes in said standardizing pulse rate.

Claim 12

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means including a nucleonic source and detector unit for establishing a nucleonic radiation path from said source to said detector, wherein the material moves through said path to be measured and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source-detector unit are relatively movable away from each other so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizing recurrence rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means operative during successive periods of time for counting the said output pulses that are issued from the detector while the system is measuring said material, and means for determining the length of said time periods in accordance with the said standardizing pulse recurrence rate to provide a standardized indication of the measure of said material during each such period.

Claim 13

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means including a nucleonic source and detector unit for establishing a nucleonic radiation path from said source to said detector, wherein the material moves through said path to be measured and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source-detector unit are relatively movable away from each other so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizing recurrence rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means operative during successive periods of time for counting the said output pulses that are issued from the detector while the system is measuring said material, and means for determining the length of said time periods in accordance with the said standardizing pulse recurrence rate to provide a standardized indication of the measure of said material during each such period.

Claim 14

Apparatus as in claim 9 wherein said counting means includes a gated pulse accumulator and said determining means includes gating means for resetting the count in said accumulator to zero periodically, and means for increasing the length of the accumulator counting periods as the said standardizing pulse rate decreases.

Claim 15

A nucleonics radiation gauge comprising a source and radiation pulse detector whose measurement of a single physical variable depends upon the average count rate of radiation pulses measured at said detector, said nucleonics radiation gauge further comprising: means for counting output pulses from the radiation detector for a predetermined counting period, and means for modifying the counting period in accordance with changes in the radiation pulse rate caused by extraneous changes in variables other than the measured variable, said change in counting period being of such value that the totalized count of pulses for each counting period will be equal to the total pulses determined for a given value of the measured variable at the time of original radiation gauge calibration.

Claim 16

A nucleonics radiation gauge comprising a source and radiation pulse detector whose measurement of a single physical variable depends upon the average count rate of radiation pulses measured at said detector, said nucleonics radiation gauge further comprising: means for counting output pulses from the radiation detector for a predetermined counting period, and means for modifying the counting period in accordance with changes in the radiation pulse rate caused by extraneous changes in variables other than the measured variable, said change in counting period being of such value that the totalized count of pulses for each counting period will be equal to the total pulses determined for a given value of the measured variable at the time of original radiation gauge calibration.

Claim 17

In a nucleonics-measuring system in which a property such as thickness or density of a material is measured by subjecting the measured material to radiation from a nucleonic radiation source and by detecting the resulting radiation received at a radiation pulse detector after said radiation has interacted with the said measured material, means for supporting said nucleonic source and pulse detector with respect to the measured material and for removing said source and detector at predetermined times in order to determine the radiation received At said detector for the condition in which the measured material no longer interacts with the radiation and in which the detected radiation pulse rate depends only on nonmaterial factors such as foreign material between the source and detector and the source strength existing at a given time, means operative during successive counting periods to count and totalize pulses issuing from the radiation pulse detector so as to provide an output reading of the measured characteristic in terms of the number of pulses received by the detector during each counting period, and means for determining the required length of said counting periods and for changing the said length of these counting periods in such a manner that the totalized number of counts received during each counting period will remain equal to the number of totalized counts for each value of measured characteristic determined during the original calibration of the measuring system.

Claim 18

In a nucleonics-measuring system in which a property such as thickness or density of a material is measured by subjecting the measured material to radiation from a nucleonic radiation source and by detecting the resulting radiation received at a radiation pulse detector after said radiation has interacted with the said measured material, means for supporting said nucleonic source and pulse detector with respect to the measured material and for removing said source and detector at predetermined times in order to determine the radiation received At said detector for the condition in which the measured material no longer interacts with the radiation and in which the detected radiation pulse rate depends only on nonmaterial factors such as foreign material between the source and detector and the source strength existing at a given time, means operative during successive counting periods to count and totalize pulses issuing from the radiation pulse detector so as to provide an output reading of the measured characteristic in terms of the number of pulses received by the detector during each counting period, and means for determining the required length of said counting periods and for changing the said length of these counting periods in such a manner that the totalized number of counts received during each counting period will remain equal to the number of totalized counts for each value of measured characteristic determined during the original calibration of the measuring system.

Claim 19

Apparatus as in claim 12 wherein means operative during successive counting periods include a gated pulse accumulator and said means for determining the necessary length of said counting periods include time gating means for periodically resetting the count in each accumulator to zero and means for increasing the length of the accumulator counting periods as the detected radiation pulse rate changes due to nonmaterial characteristics such as foreign material between the source and detector, changes in source strength, and changes in efficiency of the radiation pulse detector.

Claim 22

The method, as described in claim 14, wherein said steps comprise: arranging said nucleonics system with said given value of said variable being measured, counting the pulses in said counting period to obtain the standardizing pulse count, counting pulses after calibration for said given value of said variable, and adjusting said counting period to maintain the standardizing pulse count for said given value of said variable.

Claim 25

A nucleonic device for measuring material, comprising means for providing a nucleonic radiation path including a radiation source and a radiation detector, means for causing said material to be in said path during measurement thereof and out of said path at other times, means for accumulating a total of pulses related to the radiation reaching the detector from the material during each predetermined measuring period, and means for modifying the total of pulses accumulated in accordance with the detected radiation when the material is out of the path to cause the accumulated total of pulses to be substantially the same each measuring period for a given measurement of saId material regardless of the amount of radiation then detected, the detected radiation being dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and the amount of foreign matter between the source and the detector.

Claim 26

A nucleonic device for measuring material, comprising means for providing a nucleonic radiation path including a radiation source and a radiation detector, means for causing said material to be in said path during measurement thereof and out of said path at other times, means for accumulating a total of pulses related to the radiation reaching the detector from the material during each predetermined measuring period, and means for modifying the total of pulses accumulated in accordance with the detected radiation when the material is out of the path to cause the accumulated total of pulses to be substantially the same each measuring period for a given measurement of saId material regardless of the amount of radiation then detected, the detected radiation being dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and the amount of foreign matter between the source and the detector.

Claim 27

A device according to claim 17 including a pulse generator for providing pulses at a rate representative of the detected radiation at a time when the material is out of said path before as said measuring period and in which the accumulated total comprises the difference between the number of pulses corresponding to radiation received by the detector during a said predetermined measuring period and the number of pulses received from said pulse generator during the same period, said modifying means being effective to modify said accumulated total by modifying the said pulse generator rate in accordance with changes in the radiation detected at a later time while the material is out of the path.

Claim 28

A device according to claim 18 in which the time of said predetermined period is also varied by said modifying means to modify the said total of pulses accumulated.

Claim 29

A device according to claim 18 and in which said means for accumulating a total of pulses comprises means operative during successive measuring periods determined in length by the radiation detected while the material is out of said path, for combining with said generator pulses the output pulses that are issued from the detector while the system is measuring said material to provide a standardized indication of the measure of said material during each such period.

Claim 30

A device according to claim 17 in which the accumulated total includes the number of pulses received from the detector in said predetermined time period and said means for modifying the accumulated total of pulses includes means for modifying said period to compensate for changes in the detected radiation of the device.

Claim 31

A device according to claim 21 and in which said means for accumulating a total of pulses consists of a gated or resettable counter the gating or resetting of which is controlled in accordance with said predetermined period of time.

Claim 32

A device according to claim 22 and in which said predetermined time period is modified by multiplying the initial period by a factor No1/No2 where No1 is an initial detected radiation pulse rate while the material is out of said path and No2 is a subsequent detected radiation pulse rate while the material is out of said path.

Claim 33

In a nucleonic measuring system in which a property of a material is measured by subjecting the measured material to radiation from a nucleonic radiation source and by detecting the resulting radiation received at a radiation pulse detector after said radiation has interacted with the said measured material, said material being removable from said source and detector at predetermined times in order to determine the radiation received at said detector for the condition in which the measured material no longer interacts with the radiation and in which the detected radiation pulse rate depends only on nonmaterial factors such as foreign material between the source and detector and the source strength existing at a given time, means operative during successive counting periods to count and totalize pulses issuing from the radiation pulse detector so as to provide an output reading of the measured characteristic in terms of the number of pulses received by the detector during each counting period, and means for determining the required length of said counting periods and for changing the said length of these counting period in such a manner that the totalized number of counts received during each counting period will remain equal to the number of totalized counts for each value of measured characteristic determined during the original calibration of the measuring system.

Claim 34

In a nucleonic measuring system in which a property of a material is measured by subjecting the measured material to radiation from a nucleonic radiation source and by detecting the resulting radiation received at a radiation pulse detector after said radiation has interacted with the said measured material, said material being removable from said source and detector at predetermined times in order to determine the radiation received at said detector for the condition in which the measured material no longer interacts with the radiation and in which the detected radiation pulse rate depends only on nonmaterial factors such as foreign material between the source and detector and the source strength existing at a given time, means operative during successive counting periods to count and totalize pulses issuing from the radiation pulse detector so as to provide an output reading of the measured characteristic in terms of the number of pulses received by the detector during each counting period, and means for determining the required length of said counting periods and for changing the said length of these counting period in such a manner that the totalized number of counts received during each counting period will remain equal to the number of totalized counts for each value of measured characteristic determined during the original calibration of the measuring system.

Claim 35

Apparatus as in claim 24 wherein the means operative during successive counting periods incLude a gated pulse accumulator and said means for determining the necessary length of said counting periods include time-gating means for periodically resetting the accumulated count to zero and means for increasing the length of the accumulator counting periods as the detected radiation pulse rate changes due to nonmaterial characteristics such as foreign material between the source and detector, changes in source strength, and changes in efficiency of the radiation pulse detector.

Claim 36

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means for establishing a nucleonic radiation path including a nucleonic source and detector unit, wherein the material moves through said path during a measuring time and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source detector unit are relatively movable away from each other during a standardizing time so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizing pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means for counting said detector output pulses for a predetermined interval during a standardizing time to provide a standardized count, and means operative during a said measuring time for counting said detector output pulses in relation to said standardized count.

Claim 37

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means for establishing a nucleonic radiation path including a nucleonic source and detector unit, wherein the material moves through said path during a measuring time and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source detector unit are relatively movable away from each other during a standardizing time so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizing pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means for counting said detector output pulses for a predetermined interval during a standardizing time to provide a standardized count, and means operative during a said measuring time for counting said detector output pulses in relation to said standardized count.

Claim 38

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means for establishing a nucleonic radiation path including a nucleonic source and detector unit, wherein the material moves through said path during a measuring time and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source detector unit are relatively movable away from each other during a standardizing time so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizing pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means for recounting said detector output pulses for the same predetermined interval during successive standardizing times to provide respective standardized counts, second means for counting said detector output pulses during successive measuring times, and means for operating said second counting means during each of the said measuring times in accordance with the said standardized count provided from the immediately preceding standardizing time.

Claim 39

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means for establishing a nucleonic radiation path including a nucleonic source and detector unit, wherein the material moves through said path during a measuring time and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source detector unit are relatively movable away from each other during a standardizing time so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizing pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means for recounting said detector output pulses for the same predetermined interval during successive standardizing times to provide respective standardized counts, second means for counting said detector output pulses during successive measuring times, and means for operating said second counting means during each of the said measuring times in accordance with the said standardized count provided from the immediately preceding standardizing time.

Claim 40

A nucleonic-measuring system as in claim 27 wherein said second counting means counts said detector output pulses for predetermined counting periods during each of said successive measuring times and wherein said operating means regulates the length of said counting periods in inverse accordance with said standardized counts.

Claim 41

A nucleonic-measuring system as in claim 27 wherein said second counting means counts said detector output pulses during successive counting periods within each of said successive measuring times and wherein said operating means causes said second counting means to take the difference between the number of detector output pulses each counting period and a count effected by said immediately preceding standardized count.

Claim 42

A nucleonic-measuring system as in claim 29 wherein said operating means regulates the length of said counting periods in inverse accordance with the immediately preceding standardized count.

Claim 43

A nucleonic device for measuring material on the basis of weight per unit area comprising: means for providing a nucleonic radiation path, including a radiation source and a radiation detector, said material being in said path during measurement thereof and out of said path at other times, means for counting pulses related to the radiation reaching the detector from the material during each predetermined measuring period, and means for modifying the pulse count each period in accordance with the detected radiation when the material is out of the path to cause the pulse count to be substantially the same each measuring period for a given measurement of said material regardless of the amount of radiation then detected, the detected radiation being dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and the amount of foreign matter between the source and the detector.

Claim 44

A nucleonic device for measuring material on the basis of weight per unit area comprising: means for providing a nucleonic radiation path, including a radiation source and a radiation detector, said material being in said path during measurement thereof and out of said path at other times, means for counting pulses related to the radiation reaching the detector from the material during each predetermined measuring period, and means for modifying the pulse count each period in accordance with the detected radiation when the material is out of the path to cause the pulse count to be substantially the same each measuring period for a given measurement of said material regardless of the amount of radiation then detected, the detected radiation being dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and the amount of foreign matter between the source and the detector.

Claim 45

A device as in claim 31 in which the time of said predetermined measuring periods is varied by said modifying means to modify the pulse count for each such period.

Claim 46

A device as in claim 31 wherein said modifying means causes the counting means to count pulses in a subtractive manner in relation to the number of pulses corresponding to the radiation reaching the detector for a given interval while the material is out of the said path.

Claim 47

A device as in claim 33 in which the time of said predetermined measuring periods is also varied by said modifying means to modify the said pulse count during each said period.

Claim 48

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means for establishing a nucleonic radiation path including a nucleonic source and detector unit, wherein the material moves through said path during a measuring time and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source detector unit are relatively movable away from each other during a standardizing time so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizing pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means for recounting said detector output pulses for the same predetermined interval during each of a series of standardizing times to provide respective standardized counts, means for counting said detector output pulses for counting periods occurring during a series of measuring times, and means responsive to said standardized counts for controlling the length of each of the said counting periods in accordance with the said standardized count provided from the immediately preceding standardizing time so that the count of detector output pulses obtained during each of said measuring periods provides a standardized representation of the measure of said material during each such period.

Claim 49

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means for establishing a nucleonic radiation path including a nucleonic source and detector unit, wherein the material moves through said path during a measuring time and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source detector unit are relatively movable away from each other during a standardizing time so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizing pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means for recounting said detector output pulses for the same predetermined interval during each of a series of standardizing times to provide respective standardized counts, means for counting said detector output pulses for counting periods occurring during a series of measuring times, and means responsive to said standardized counts for controlling the length of each of the said counting periods in accordance with the said standardized count provided from the immediately preceding standardizing time so that the count of detector output pulses obtained during each of said measuring periods provides a standardized representation of the measure of said material during each such period.

Claim 50

A nucleonic-measuring system as in claim 35 comprising second counting means for counting said detector output pulses during said successive measuring times and wherein said controlling means comprises means for regulating the length of said counting periods in inverse accordance with said standardized counts.

Claim 51

A nucleonic system as in claim 35 including means for decreasing the count of pulses obtained during said measuring periods by a number of pulses representative of a desired operating point value for said measure of said material, whereby said standardized indication is obtained with respect to said operating point value.

Claim 52

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means including a nucleonic source and detector unit for establishing a nucleonic radiation path from said source to said detector, wherein the material moves through said path to be measured and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source-detector unit are relatively movable away from each other so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizIng pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means operative during a series of time periods for producing an accumulation of said output pulses that are issued from the detector while the system is measuring said material, means for determining the length of said time periods in accordance with the said standardizing pulse recurrence rate, and means for decreasing said accumulation by a number of pulses correlated with the length of said time periods and said standardizing pulse rate so as to be representative of a desired operating point value for said material weight per unit area whereby said decreased accumulation of pulses provides a standardized representation of the measure of said material with respect to said operating point value during each such period.

Claim 53

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means including a nucleonic source and detector unit for establishing a nucleonic radiation path from said source to said detector, wherein the material moves through said path to be measured and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source-detector unit are relatively movable away from each other so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizIng pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising: means operative during a series of time periods for producing an accumulation of said output pulses that are issued from the detector while the system is measuring said material, means for determining the length of said time periods in accordance with the said standardizing pulse recurrence rate, and means for decreasing said accumulation by a number of pulses correlated with the length of said time periods and said standardizing pulse rate so as to be representative of a desired operating point value for said material weight per unit area whereby said decreased accumulation of pulses provides a standardized representation of the measure of said material with respect to said operating point value during each such period.

Claim 56

A device as claimed in claim 39 comprising a memory device, and wherein the control means comprises a control comparator which receives from said memory a quantity related to a pulse count produced during the said previous standardizing period and compares with said quantity the pulse count produced during said last preceding standardizing period so as to control the operation of the first counting means according to said comparison.

Claim 57

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means including a nucleonic source and detector unit for establishing a nucleonic radiation path from said source to said detector, wherein the material moves through said path to be measured and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source-detector unit are relatively movable away from each other so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizing pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising means operative during a series of time periods for producing an accumulation of said output pulses that are issued from the detector while the system is measuring said material, means for determining the length of said time periods in accordance with the said standardizing pulse recurrence rate, and means for decreasing said accumulation by a number of pulses which is directly proportional to the product of the length of said time periods and said standardizing pulse recurrence rate to provide a standardized indication of the measure of said material during each such period.

Claim 58

In a nucleonic material-measuring system of the type that has means including a nucleonic source and detector unit for establishing a nucleonic radiation path from said source to said detector, wherein the material moves through said path to be measured and then causes an output from the detector of pulses having rates of recurrence indicating weight per unit area of the moving material and wherein said material and source-detector unit are relatively movable away from each other so that none of said material is in said radiation path and said detector then provides an output of pulses having a standardizing pulse rate dependent on various factors including the amount of source decay and foreign matter between the source and detector, the improvement comprising means operative during a series of time periods for producing an accumulation of said output pulses that are issued from the detector while the system is measuring said material, means for determining the length of said time periods in accordance with the said standardizing pulse recurrence rate, and means for decreasing said accumulation by a number of pulses which is directly proportional to the product of the length of said time periods and said standardizing pulse recurrence rate to provide a standardized indication of the measure of said material during each such period.