Radiographic examination apparatus comprising a plurality of collimated sources

Claim 1

A DEVICE FOR USE IN RADIOGRAPHIC EXAMINATION COMPRISING A RECTANGULAR BODY OF A MATERIAL RELATIVELY OPAQUE TO PENETRATIVE RADIATION, SAID BODY HAVING A PLURALITY OF OPENINGS OF LIKE SIZE IN ONE SURFACE THEREOF, A SOURCE OF PENETRATIVE RADIATION MOUNTED IN EACH OF SAID OPENINGS, EACH SAID SOURCE COMPRISING A CAPSULE HAVING WALLS OF UNIFORM, PREDETERMINED THICKNESS OF A MATERIAL TRANSPARENT TO SAID RADITION DEFINING A CAVITY, AN EMITTER OF SAID RADIATION IN EACH SAID CAVITY, SAID BODY HAVING A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL PASSAGES THERETHROUGH CONCENTRIC ONE WITH EACH OF SAID CAVITIES, SAID PASSAGES HAVING A CROSS-SECTION SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL AND ALIGNED WITH SAID CAPSULE CAVITIES, SAID BODY HAVING A THICKNESS SUCH THAT SAID PASSAGES HAVE A LENGTH AT LEAST SEVERAL TIMES THEIR WIDTH, SAID OPENINGS AND PASSAGES BEING POSITIONED IN SAID BODY IN SUCH AN ARRAY THAT BETWEEN PREDETERMINED PARALLEL LIMITS SAID OPENINGS AND PASSAGES DEFINE AN EQUAL VOLUME IN ANY INCREMENT OF SAID BODY OF A GIVEN WIDTH LYING BETWEEN AND PARALLEL TO SAID LIMITS AND EXTENDING THE FULL LENGTH OF SAID BODY.