APPARATUS FOR DETECTION OF TRACE EVIDENCE

Related Technical Field The present invention is related to an apparatus for being used in criminal investigation activities and for detecting the body traces (finger, palm, ear, shoe and item traces) without being spoiled, in a more efficient manner. Prior Art

The anatomy of skin has a structure protecting our body against cosmic rays and outer effects and comprising corpuscles sensitive to several stimulations. The upper layer of the skin is not smooth and has some indents, ridges, troughs and loops thereon. The skin of palms, soles and fingertips have some curved lines. These nipple-like structures are called papilla lines. The papillae are formed with the arrangement of holes called pore and some traces occur by excreting some body oils through said holes together with sweating.

The figures and details in fingerprints are completely personal. The fingerprints of all the people having lived throughout the history and living currently are totally different from one another.

The fingerprint takes its final shape on the fetus before birth and remains unchanged for a lifetime, except for permanent _. scars. Therefore, fingerprint is accepted as a vital personal identity. Thus, it has become crucial trace evidence in criminal investigations. The fingerprint is the trace formed by the last joint of the fingers and the loops at the ends thereof. It is formed as a result of contact of the papilla lines between the first joint and nail tips with the surface. Said trace is present in the DNA of each person and occurs by formation of the skin covering the tips of fingers during embryonic term. No people have similar fingerprints including maternal twins and thus, the fingerprint is a main element used frequently for detecting the guilty in criminal cases. The patterns created by the skin ridges at the fingertips are formed with the movement of cross or parallel, ovoid or circular lines. If the finger touched to a sponge soaked with ink presses on a paper later on, the pattern at the tip of the finger is left on the paper thanks to ink. The fingerprints recorded in this way are evaluated by comparing with the new prints in suspicious cases that may occur in the future.

The fingerprints are left on the items touched as follows. The sweat glands spreading throughout the body have different densities in each area of our body. Many sweat glands are provided at the fingertips. 99 percent of sweat is water and the remaining 1 percent has fatty acids, amino acids and salts. When we touch any object with our finger, the mixture excreting from the pores of sweat glands remains on the place touched and the fingerprint leaves the pattern on said surface.

As described above, detection period of fingerprints benefited frequently in criminal investigations is of utmost importance. Although detection of track evidence with the brush and related powder in the state of art is a common method used in criminal investigations, it has some disadvantages due to the fact that its quality depends on the sensitivity of human hand. The disadvantages of said method are listed below in order;

• Detection of trace evidence is performed in such a manner that the brush sunk into powder is moved by the fingers of the operator bi-directionally as right and left and then, the powder poured from the bristles of brush is transferred onto the trace evidence. However, the angle of bristles to the center of brush is required to be increased in order for effective transfer of powder on the trace evidence. Thus, the powder particles perform circular motion around the brush with the expansion of bristles and they are released from the rotation axis and thrown onto the surface with the centrifugal force. However, pouring powder cannot be performed in an effective manner in the investigation made manually due to the fact that the operator cannot rotate the brush quickly enough and the hand loses its sensitivity in time. In addition, as the operator changes the height of brush with respect to the ground, the trace evidences are spoiled before being revealed. Thus, the present traces and evidences are lost.

• As hand sensitivity is lost in time, the operator needs some time for relaxing until the next trace evidence detection, and so total working period is prolonged.

· As each operator has different hand sensitivity and ability, detection of trace evidence becomes dependent on said personal features.

• As no light source is provided around the brush in the areas with insufficient light, the detection of present trace evidences becomes difficult.

Object of the Invention The characteristics of "apparatus for the detection of trace evidence" that is developed in order to eliminate the above mentioned disadvantages are as follows.

• The brush is attached at drill bit and rotates at a certain speed by moving rightwards and leftwards; therefore, the powder transferred to the bristles of brush is spread onto the surface more effectively.

• Thanks to support attached around the drill bit, the working distance between the brush and surface is fixed and the back and forth hits applied on the drill are prevented from changing the distance between the surface and brush; therefore, the apparatus is enabled to work at the same distance to the surface.

• Thanks to the lamp attached on the drill, more lighting on the working surface and detection of trace evidence are aimed.

• Thanks to powder box attached under the drill, the powder is released through the working area as the outer cover is opened by the operator. As said box is fixed to the drill, the operator does not need to carry an additional powder box any longer and the powder particles stick to the bristles more easily since the powder particles penetrate into the expanded bristles easily thanks to rotation after the cover of powder box is opened during working. Thus, the trace evidences are revealed more easily by means of the brush enriched in powder.

Description of the Figures Figure 1. The demounted left perspective view of the apparatus for detection of trace evidence

Figure 2. The mounted side view of the apparatus for detection of trace evidence Figure 3. The mounted left perspective view of the apparatus for detection of trace evidence

Figure 4. The right perspective view of powder box in an opened manner

Figure 5. The right perspective view of powder box in a half- closed manner

Figure 6. The side view of brush in an expanded manner

Figure 7. The right perspective view of support

The members in the above mentioned figures are enumerated and the descriptions thereof are as follows.

Drill

1.1 On-off button

1.2 Rotation button

1.3 Chamber

Lamp

2.1 Housing

Support

3.1 Leg

Brush

Box

5.1 Perforated cover

5.2 Outer cover

5.3 Slide

5.4 Hinge

Description of the Invention

The apparatus for detection of trace evidence mentioned in the sections above is disclosed as an integration of novelties such as drill (1), brush (4), support (3), powder box (5) and lamp (2) . The powder box (5) and the lamp (2) are mounted to the drill (1) via the screws provided thereon. In the following sections, the novelties on the apparatus for detection of trace evidence are described in a more detailed manner. The apparatus for detection of trace evidence according to the present invention comprises a drill (1), which is the main element of the apparatus and serves as bearing for the other novel elements, an on-off button (1.1) that is provided on the drill (1) and rotates the brush (4) 1.5 rev per second, a rotating button (1.2) provided again on the drill (1) and rotating the brush (4) rightwards when pushed one level and leftwards when pushed two levels, a brush (4) attached to the chamber (1.3) provided at the drill (1) bit and transferring powder to the working surface, a support (3) attached around the drill (1) bit and adjusting the working height of brush (4) thanks to its legs (3.1), a lamp (2) located within the housing (2.1) provided on the drill (1) and illuminating the working area, a box (5) provided under the drill and storing the powder, the slides (5.3) provided as two pieces successively at the front of said box (5) and serving as rail, a perforated cover (5.1) attached through said slides (5.3) and fitting in the front of said box (5) and pouring powder by means of holes provided thereon, and an outer cover (5.2) attached to said box (5) with hinges (5.4) and closing and protecting the box (5) when powder releasing process is not performed .

As clearly seen in Figures 1 and 2, the working area is illuminated thanks to the lamp (2) located into the housing (2.1) provided on the drill (1) and thus, the body traces are revealed. The lamp (2) is used as being mounted through the housing (2.1) to which it is attached, and led is preferred in accordance with the power of light source. The box (5) , the open and closed states of which are illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 respectively, is mounted to the apparatus for detection of trace evidence beneath the drill (1). Powder particles used for detecting trace evidences are provided within the box (5). The outer cover (5.2) fixed to the front of box (5) with hinges (5.4) keeps the powder particles. The powder particles are stuck to the brush (4) firstly and then spread on the working surface by means of perforated cover (5.1) provided just beneath the outer cover (5.2) and mounted to the box (5) by being passed through the slides (5.3) at the front of the box (5). In the case that powder is over, the outer cover (5.2) is opened, the perforated cover (5.1) that can move bi-directionally on the slide (5.3) is pushed leftwards, the box (5) is fully opened and powder is supplied. After supplying, the perforated cover (5.1) is pulled rightwards, the outer cover (5.2) is closed and the powder is made ready for use.

The brush (4) shown in Figure 6 can be attached to or released from the chamber (1.3) provided at drill (1) bit. Therefore, if the working area is too narrow for the apparatus for detection trace evidence, the brush (4) is dismounted from the apparatus and working is continued on the related surface. In Figure 7, the support (3) attached around drill (1) bit is shown. Similar to the brush (4), the support (3) can also be mounted and dismounted. This is because the topography of some working areas is not suitable for working together with support (3) since related surfaces may have protrusions and recesses thereon, or they can be narrow. Due to different topographic features of working surfaces, the support (3) can be mounted to or dismounted from the apparatus. The working principle of the apparatus for detection of trace evidence shown in Figures 2 and 3 is as follows. Firstly, brush (4) and support (3) are attached to drill (1) bit, said drill being adequately charged. When on-off button (1.1) of drill (1) is pushed, the brush (4) starts to rotate 1.5 rev per second approximately. In some working areas, the brush (4) is required to rotate leftwards or rightwards for a better powder release. Therefore, when the rotation button (1.2) provided at the side section of the drill (1) is pushed one level and two levels, the brush (4) rotates rightwards and leftwards, respectively. The powder is released to the brush (4) as follows; the powder particles pass through the perforated cover (5.1) mounted to the box by fitting in the slides after the outer cover (5.2) provided at the opening of the box (5) is opened and they reach to the brush (4) first, and then to the working area with the rotating effect of the brush (4) .

The way of applying the invention to the industry The apparatus for detection of trace evidence, which provides successful solutions for the technical problems mentioned above, can be manufactured as the other trace evidence detection apparatuses and be used commonly in the related technical field.