Apparatus for sensing the decay rate of radio-active materials

Claim 1

IN AN APPARATUS FOR INSERTION IN A FLOW PATH TO SENSE THE HALF LIFE OF RADIO-ACTIVE MATERIALS, THE APPARATUS INCLUDING A SAMPLE CHAMBER, MEANS FOR ISOLATING A SAMPLE ADMITTED INTO THE CHAMBER AND PERMITTING THE FLOW TO CONTINUE PAST THE CHAMBER, AND A DECAY RATE SENSING MEANS, SAID DECAY RATE SENSING MEANS COMPRISING ELECTRICAL MEANS FOR COMPARING ELECTRICAL VALUES APPLIED RESPECTIVELY AT FIRST AND SECOND INPUTS THEREOF, A RADIATION MEASURING DEVICE CONNECTED TO SAID COMPARING MEANS SO AS TO APPLY AT SAID FIRST INPUT AN ELECTRICAL OUTPUT OF WHICH THE MAGNITUDE IS REPRESENTATIVE OF A LOGARITHMIC SCALE OF THE RADIOACTIVITY OF A SAMPLE ISOLATED IN SAID CHAMBER, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID RADIATION MEASURING DEVICE FOR TIMING A PREDETERMINED DELAY FOLLOWING ISOLATION OF THE SAMPLE, ELECTRICAL STORAGE MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID COMPARING MEANS FOR APPLYING AT SAID SECOND INPUT THE INSTANTANEOUS OUTPUT, LESS A FIXED DECREMENT, OF THE RADIATION MEASURING DEVICE WHEN SAID DELAY EXPIRES, AND MEANS ACTUATED BY SAID COMPARING MEANS FOR PROVIDING A SIGNAL INDICATIVE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE VALUES AT SAID FIRST AND SECOND INPUTS.