JP2002367797A - X-ray tube device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an X-ray tube device having higher efficiency of cooling and a downsized cooling device. SOLUTION: The X-ray tube device consists of an X-ray tube device body 10 containing an X-ray tube in a tube container and an insulation oil cooler 11 cooling insulation oil, of which, the insulation oil cooler 11 is equipped with an insulation oil cooling part 14, an insulation oil pump 12 and an insulation oil piping 16. The insulation oil cooling part 14 contains an insulation oil path 20 having a rectangular tubular body, to one of the outside faces of which, a thermoelectric element 21 is joined, and a thermal storage material container 23 filled with a thermal storage material 22 is joined the other, and a thermoelectric element 24 is joined on a surface of the thermal storage material container 23. Insulation oil of the insulation oil path 20 is cooled by the thermoelectric element 21 and the thermal storage material 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an X-ray tube apparatus in which a rotating anode X-ray tube is inserted, and more particularly to an X-ray tube apparatus in which a cooling device for insulating oil has a small size and high efficiency.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 9 to 11 show conceptual diagrams of a configuration example of a conventional cooling device for insulating oil of an X-ray tube device. FIG. 9 is an example of a cooling device using an insulating oil-air heat exchanger. In FIG. 9, a first insulating oil cooling device (hereinafter, referred to as an air cooling type cooling device) 51 includes an insulating oil pump 52 and an insulating oil-air heat exchanger.
53, a blower 54, and an insulating oil pipe 55. In the air-cooled cooling device 51, the insulating oil led out from the X-ray tube device main body 50 through the insulating oil pipe 55 is sent to the insulating oil-air heat exchanger 53 by the insulating oil pump 52 as an oil transfer device. , Insulating oil-air heat exchanger 53, blower inside
After being cooled by 54, it is returned to the X-ray tube apparatus main body 50 through the insulating oil pipe 55.

[0003] The air-cooled cooling device 51 is mainly used for cooling an X-ray tube device which generates heat of about 1 to 4 kW, but its cooling capacity varies significantly depending on the ambient temperature. For example, in an air-cooled cooling device 51 having a cooling capacity of 1 kW under conditions of an insulating oil temperature of 75 ° C. and an ambient temperature of 25 ° C., the ambient temperature is 65 ° C.
When it rises, its cooling capacity drops to about 300W. In the current X-ray diagnostic apparatus, the X-ray tube apparatus is dedicated to preventing burns due to a rise in temperature of its surface, and for keeping the X-ray tube apparatus clean from scattering of blood during surgery. Installed inside the cover. But X
If the X-ray tube device is installed inside the cover, heat dissipation is poor, so that the temperature around the X-ray tube device may rise to 50 ° C. or more. Therefore, as a countermeasure, it is necessary to improve the performance of the air-cooled cooling device 51. However, if the performance of the air-cooled cooling device 51 is to be improved, the outer shape of the device will be increased.

FIG. 12 shows an external view of an example of a conventional X-ray diagnostic apparatus. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus 70 includes a C-arm 71. At both ends of the C-arm 71, an X-ray generating unit 72 and an X-ray receiving unit 73 each having a built-in X-ray tube device are attached.
In such an X-ray diagnostic apparatus 70, when the size of the X-ray tube device is increased, the size of the X-ray generator 72 containing the X-ray tube device is increased, and the large-sized X-ray generator 72 is attached to the tip.
There is a need for the C-arm 71 to have a robust structure, and it becomes difficult for a doctor or a radiological technologist who handles the C-arm 71 (hereinafter, both are collectively referred to as an operator) to be difficult to handle.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a cooling device using an insulating oil-cooling water heat exchanger. In FIG. 10, a second insulating oil cooling device (hereinafter, referred to as a water-cooled cooling device) 58 includes an insulating oil pump 52, an insulating oil-cooling water heat exchanger 59, a cooling water pump 60, and a cooling water pump. Air heat exchanger 62, insulating oil pipe 55,
And a cooling water pipe 61. This water-cooled cooling device 58
Then, the insulating oil carried out by the insulating oil pump 52 from the X-ray tube device main body 50 is cooled by the cooling water in the insulating oil-cooling water heat exchanger 59, and then is passed through the insulating oil pipe 55 to the X-ray tube device main body 50. Will be returned. On the other hand, the cooling water that has exchanged heat with the insulating oil in the insulating oil-cooling water heat exchanger 59 is conveyed to the cooling water-air heat exchanger 62 through the cooling water pipe 61 by the cooling water pump 60, and is blown by the blower 53. Cooled.

The water-cooled cooling device 58 is mainly used for cooling an X-ray tube device that generates heat of about 2 kW or more. Since cooling oil is used to cool insulating oil, high cooling capacity is required. As well as the fluctuation of the cooling capacity is small. But,
Since the cooling water-air heat exchanger 62 is used, the entire cooling device becomes large, and the cooling water-air heat exchanger 62 needs to be installed as a separate unit outside the X-ray diagnostic device. It is difficult to mount on a device.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a cooling device using a refrigerator as a heat exchanger. In FIG. 11, a third insulating oil cooling device (hereinafter referred to as a cooling device using a refrigerator) 65 includes an insulating oil pump 52, an insulating oil-cooling water heat exchanger 59, a cooling water pump 60, and a refrigerator. 66, insulating oil piping 55, and cooling water piping
It consists of 61. In this refrigerator using cooling device 65,
A refrigerator 66 is used in place of the cooling water-air heat exchanger 59 of the water-cooled cooling device 58 in FIG. 10, and the cooling water is cooled by the refrigerator 66. In the cooling device 65 using a refrigerator, the refrigerator 66
The cooling water generation unit (hereinafter, referred to as a chiller unit) can be reduced in size by using the cooling water, and the cooling water can be generated at a lower temperature than the water-cooled cooling device 58. The heat exchanger 59 can be downsized. For this reason, it has been considered that the entire cooling device 65 using the refrigerator can be installed in the X-ray generating unit 72 attached to the tip of the C-arm 71 of the X-ray diagnostic device 70 shown in FIG.

[0008]

However, the C-arm 71
Is moved in an arbitrary direction at the time of X-ray diagnosis, and at this time, the attitude of the compressor included in the refrigerator 66 may be inclined. If the refrigerator 66 is used in a state where the attitude of the compressor is inclined, lubricating oil inside the compressor may be mixed into the refrigerant, which may cause a decrease in the performance of the refrigerator 66 and a shortened life. In order to solve this, it is necessary to separately provide a mechanism for controlling the attitude of the compressor, or to install the chiller unit as an external unit outside the X-ray diagnostic apparatus 70, which leads to an increase in the size of the entire cooling device. There is a problem.

As described above, in the conventional cooling apparatus for the X-ray tube apparatus, in order to sufficiently cool the heat generated by the large-capacity X-ray tube apparatus, it is inevitable that the cooling apparatus is enlarged. For this reason, the present invention utilizes the fact that the calorific value during use of the X-ray tube device is not constant over time but fluctuates greatly, and responds to the change in the calorific value of the X-ray tube device with good response. An object of the present invention is to increase the efficiency of cooling the X-ray tube device and to reduce the size of the cooling device by cooling the X-ray tube device.

[0010]

To achieve the above object, an X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention comprises an X-ray tube, an X-ray tube container containing the X-ray tube (hereinafter referred to as a tube container), and an X-ray tube. A support member for insulatingly supporting the X-ray tube on the inner wall of the tube container, a stator coil for rotating an anode of the X-ray tube, an X-ray tube device main body including insulating oil for insulating and cooling the X-ray tube; In an X-ray tube apparatus provided with an insulating oil cooler that guides the insulating oil inside the tube container to the outside, cools the outside of the tube container, and then returns the oil to the inside of the tube container, the insulating oil cooler passes the insulating oil through the insulating oil pipe. Insulating oil conveying means for leading out to the outside of the tube container, and an insulating oil cooling unit for cooling the insulating oil, and for cooling the insulating oil flowing through the insulating oil flow path included in the insulating oil cooling unit, Thermoelectric power is applied to the outer surface of the insulating oil flow path and at least one of its peripheral parts. Child is placed (claim
1).

In this configuration, since the thermoelectric element is provided in the insulating oil flow path constituting the insulating oil cooling section of the insulating oil cooler, the cooling of the insulating oil is efficiently performed by operating the thermoelectric element. It can be carried out. In addition, since the thermoelectric element is small and lightweight, the size of the insulating oil cooling unit provided with the thermoelectric element can be reduced. In addition, since the thermoelectric element has no portion that generates sound, the noise of the device can be reduced.

In the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention, a turbulence generating mechanism for generating a turbulent flow in the flow of the insulating oil is provided on a part or all of the inner surface of the insulating oil flow path. . Further, the turbulence generating mechanism has a plurality of rod-shaped protrusions provided on the inner surface of the insulating oil flow path. Further, the turbulence generating mechanism has a plurality of baffle plates provided on an inner surface of the insulating oil flow path.

In this configuration, since a plurality of rod-shaped projections and baffles are provided as a turbulent flow generation mechanism on the inner surface of the insulating oil flow path, the turbulent flow of the insulating oil flows in the insulating oil flow path. As a result, the heat exchange rate between the insulating oil and the inner wall of the insulating oil flow path is improved, and the heat radiation efficiency of the insulating oil is improved.

In the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention, the insulating oil flow path has at least one flat plate, the flat plate is made of a material having high thermal conductivity, and at least one of the flat plates is formed.
The thermoelectric element is installed on one outer surface.
3).

In this configuration, the thermoelectric element is installed on the outer surface of the flat portion of the insulating oil flow path of the insulating oil cooling section, and the flat plate portion is made of a material having a high thermal conductivity. Since heat is efficiently transmitted from the insulating oil inside to the heat-absorbing surface of the thermoelectric element and is absorbed, the insulating oil can be efficiently cooled by the thermoelectric element.

In the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention, the insulating oil flow path has at least one flat plate, and the flat plate is made of a material having high thermal conductivity.
A heat storage material container containing a heat storage material utilizing latent heat of fusion is joined to one outer surface, and the thermoelectric element is provided on at least one outer surface of the heat storage material container (claim 4).
Further, as the heat storage material, polyethylene glycol,
Calcium chloride solution, paraffin, water, etc. from 0 ℃ to 3
At least one material that melts at temperatures up to 0 ° C. and has a high latent heat of fusion is used. Further, at least a surface of the heat storage material container to be joined to the insulating oil flow path is made of a material having high thermal conductivity.

In this configuration, since the heat storage material container containing the heat storage material having a large latent heat of fusion, such as polyethylene glycol, is joined to the outer surface of the insulating oil flow path of the insulating oil cooler, the heat generated by the large latent heat of the heat storage material is used. The insulating oil that has risen to a high temperature is cooled efficiently. Since the heat capacity due to the latent heat of fusion of the heat storage material is very large, the insulating oil whose temperature has risen to a high temperature can be rapidly cooled, so that it is possible to appropriately cope with the temperature rise of the insulating oil during the imaging load of the X-ray tube device .

In the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention, the insulating oil flow path has at least two flat portions, and the flat portions are made of a material having a high thermal conductivity. The thermoelectric element is installed on the outer surface, and a heat storage material container containing a heat storage material using latent heat of fusion is joined to the other outer surface of the flat plate portion, and at least one outer surface of the heat storage material container The said thermoelectric element is installed. Further, at least a joint surface of the heat storage material container with the insulating oil flow path and a mounting surface of the thermoelectric element are made of a material having high thermal conductivity.

In this configuration, by joining both the thermoelectric element and the heat storage material container containing the heat storage material to the outer surface of the insulating oil flow path of the insulating oil cooler, cooling by the thermoelectric element and cooling by the heat storage material are performed. Since they are used in combination, it is possible to cool the insulating oil corresponding to various heat load fluctuations on the X-ray tube device.
The see-through load can be handled by a thermoelectric element, and the imaging load can be handled by a heat storage material.

In the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention, a plurality of fins are provided inside the heat storage material container, and the heat storage material container and the fins are made of a material having a high thermal conductivity.
Further, the fin is a plate-like body and is installed so as to partition the heat storage material container into a plurality of chambers.

In this configuration, since a plurality of fins are provided inside the heat storage material container, heat exchange between the heat storage material, the insulating oil flow path, and the thermoelectric element is performed through the fins having good heat conductivity. In addition, the melting time and the solidification time of the heat storage material are reduced, and the cooling efficiency of the heat storage material is improved.

In the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention, a heat radiating member such as a heat sink is further provided on the heat radiating surface of the thermoelectric element.
In addition, a small blower for heat dissipation is installed on the heat dissipation member. In this configuration, a heat radiating member such as a heat sink is provided on the heat radiating surface of the thermoelectric element, and is further cooled by a small blower, so that the heat radiating efficiency of the thermoelectric element is improved.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a conceptual diagram of the configuration of a first embodiment of the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention. The first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 differs from the conventional example in the configuration of the insulating oil cooler. In FIG. 1, an insulating oil cooler 11 includes an insulating oil pump 12, an insulating oil cooling unit 14, and an insulating oil pipe 16. This embodiment is characterized by the configuration of the insulating oil cooling unit 14,
12, the insulating oil pipe 16 has substantially the same configuration as the conventional product.

In FIG. 1, the insulating oil cooling section 14 includes an insulating oil flow path 20 having a flow path wider than the insulating oil pipe 16 and an insulating oil flow path.
First thermoelectric element 21 attached to one outer surface of 20
And a heat storage material container coupled to the other outer surface of the insulating oil flow path 20
The heat storage material 22 accommodated in the heat storage material container 23 and a second thermoelectric element 24 attached to the outer surface of the heat storage material container 23.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the structure of the insulating oil cooling section 14 of the first embodiment. In FIG. 2, the insulating oil flow path 20 is mostly composed of a rectangular tubular body 20a, and an insulating oil pipe 1 is provided at both ends thereof.
6, the insulating oil 26 carried out by the insulating oil pump 12 from the X-ray tube apparatus main body 10 flows therein. The insulating oil flow path 20 is made of a metal having good heat conductivity, the first thermoelectric element 21 is directly attached to one of the wide outer surfaces of the rectangular tubular body 20a, and the heat storage material 22 is attached to the other. The filled heat storage material container 23 is connected. Rectangular body of heat storage material container 23
A second thermoelectric element 24 is attached to the outer surface of the surface facing the surface coupled to 20a.

In the above description, the first thermoelectric element 21 and the second thermoelectric element 24 are used to secure a low heat source necessary for performing cooling. As usable thermoelectric elements, for example, a plurality of Peltier elements having a cooling capacity of about 60 W are used. In the illustrated example, five pairs of the first thermoelectric elements 21 and the second
As a thermoelectric element 24, a total of 10 sets of Peltier elements are used. Peltier elements having a cooling capacity of 60 W class are generally used in the market, and the dimensions as a plate-like body can be about 40 mm × 40 mm. Further, the cooling surface (heat absorbing surface) of the Peltier element can create a temperature lower by about 30 ° C. than the ambient temperature.

In this embodiment, a heat storage material 22 is used to supplement the cooling capacity of the first thermoelectric element 21.
The heat storage material 22 is accommodated in a heat storage material container 23 connected to one surface of the insulating oil flow path 20, and cools the insulating oil 26 through the wall surface of the heat storage material container 23. As the heat storage material 22, for example, polyethylene glycol having a molecular weight of 600 (hereinafter abbreviated as PEG) is used. The melting point of this PEG is 20.3 ° C,
The latent heat of fusion is 162.95 kJ / l (1 is liter). As described above, the second thermoelectrons 24 composed of five sets of Peltier elements are attached to the outside of the surface of the heat storage material container 23 facing the insulating oil flow path 20.

The insulating oil 26 of the X-ray tube device is filled with the thermoelectric elements 21 and 24 composed of Peltier elements and the heat storage material 22 composed of PEG.
When cooling using, to make the structure easy to cool, most of the insulating oil flow path 20 is, for example, 50 mm in width and 5 m in height
m, a rectangular tubular body 20a having a length of 200 mm, and a first thermoelectric element 21 composed of the above-mentioned five sets of Peltier elements is attached to one outer side of the rectangular tubular body 20a having a width of 50 mm x a length of 200 mm, and the rectangular tubular body 20a is formed. A heat storage material container 23 is connected to the outer facing surface of the body 20a having a width of 50 mm and a length of 200 mm. The heat storage material container 23 is a metal hermetic container having an inner dimension of, for example, 50 mm in width, 50 mm in height, and 200 mm in length, and is filled with PEG as the heat storage material 22. As described above, the second thermoelectric element 24 including the five sets of Peltier elements is attached to the outer surface of the heat storage material container 23 facing the insulating oil flow path 20.

In the above embodiment, polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been described as an example of the heat storage material 22, but an aqueous solution of calcium chloride, paraffin, water, or the like may be used as the heat storage material 22. As the heat storage material 22, for example, a material having a melting point between 0 ° C. and 30 ° C. and a large latent heat of fusion is desirable.

The materials constituting the rectangular tubular body 20a of the insulating oil flow path 20 and the heat storage material container 23 are used to enhance the cooling effect of the thermoelectric element, and the speed of heat release and heat absorption of the heat storage material 22 such as PEG. In order to increase the temperature, it is desirable that at least the joining surface of both of them and the installation surface of the thermoelectric element are formed of a metal material having high thermal conductivity such as copper or aluminum.

The shape of the insulating oil flow path 20 and the shape of the heat storage material container 23 are rectangular in the above example, but are not limited thereto, and may be other shapes. It is desirable that the joining surface of both of them and the joining surface with the thermoelectric element are flat for the joining operation, so it is convenient that these joining surfaces are flat, but the other surfaces are flat. It is not necessary. In consideration of heat radiation, it is better to provide unevenness on these other surfaces.

As will be described later in detail, a metal-made material is provided inside the heat storage material container 23 in order to improve the efficiency of heat exchange between the heat storage material 22 and the insulating oil passage 20 or the thermoelectric element. It is effective to provide fins.

1 and 2, when a Peltier element as the thermoelectric element 21 is used for cooling, it is necessary to apply a DC voltage to the Peltier element. FIG. 3 shows an example of a circuit for applying a DC voltage to a Peltier device. In FIG. 3, a plurality (here, n
Peltier elements 38 are connected in parallel, and a DC voltage is applied from a DC power supply 39. Each Peltier element is provided with a terminal 42 for applying a DC voltage.

In a Peltier element having a cooling capacity of about 60 W,
A DC voltage of about 20 V is applied. Since the current capacity of the DC power supply 39 requires about 4 A per Peltier element, 4 nA is required when n Peltier elements are used.

In the Peltier element 38, the heat absorbing surface is connected to the outer surfaces of the insulating oil flow path 20 and the heat storage material container 23, which are the objects to be cooled. I have. However, the cooling efficiency is poor only by naturally cooling the heat radiation surface, so that the ventilation cooling is performed as shown in FIG. 4 to increase the cooling capacity.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a ventilation cooling method for a Peltier element. FIG. 4 shows the case of one Peltier element. In FIG. 4, a heat-receiving surface 38a of the Peltier element 38 is coupled to a cooled object (not shown) such as the insulating oil flow path 20 and the heat storage material container 23, and a heat sink 40 is coupled to a heat radiation surface 38b as a heat radiation member. Have been. A lead 42 of a DC power supply is connected to one end surface 38c of the Peltier element 38.
DC voltage is applied to 38.

The heat sink 40 is made of a metal material having good heat conductivity, such as aluminum or copper, and has a corrugated surface 40a on the surface that comes into contact with air in order to increase the heat radiation area. On the corrugated surface 40a side of the heat sink 40, a small blower 4
1 is attached, and the heat sink 40 is blown and cooled. The small blower 41 has a diameter of about 30 to 50 mm, and the blow sound is small.

As another example of the cooling method of the Peltier element, there is a method using an air-cooled heat pipe. In this cooling method, an air-cooled heat pipe is provided on the heat-dissipating surface of the Peltier element, and the heat-dissipating portion of the air-cooled heat pipe is subjected to ventilation cooling by a small blower.

In the insulating oil cooling section 14 configured as described above,
The high-temperature insulating oil 26 flowing into the insulating oil flow path 20
After being cooled by the heat storage material 22 filled in the first thermoelectric element 21 and the heat storage material container 23 directly attached to the outer surface of 20,
The low-temperature insulating oil 27 is returned to the X-ray tube apparatus main body 10 through the insulating oil pipe 16. The heat storage material 22 whose temperature has increased by cooling the high-temperature insulating oil 26 is cooled by the second thermoelectric element 24 attached to the outer surface of the heat storage material container 23.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the insulating oil cooler 11
Although the case where both the first thermoelectric element 21 and the heat storage material container 23 are attached to the outer surface of the insulating oil flow path 20 as the insulating oil cooling section 14 has been described, the insulating oil cooling section 14 is not limited thereto. , It is also possible to independently cool the insulating oil 26,
The function as the insulating oil cooling unit 14 can be exhibited independently. That is, one in which the first thermoelectric element 21 is attached to one outer surface of the insulating oil flow path 20 is also used.
A heat storage material container 23 filled with a heat storage material 22 is attached to one outer surface of the heat storage material container 23, and a second thermoelectric element 24
Can be used as the insulating oil cooling unit 14. The former is suitable for cooling under a thermal load with little fluctuation such as an X-ray fluoroscopic load, and the latter is suitable for cooling under a large thermal load such as an X-ray imaging load.

Next, FIG. 5 shows a structural diagram of a main part of a second embodiment of the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 5 shows the structure of the insulating oil flow path constituting the insulating oil cooling section of the second embodiment. In FIG. 5, the outer shape, material, and the like of the insulating oil flow path 30 indicated by broken lines are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the structure is such that turbulent flow is likely to occur by changing the width of the insulating oil 26 in the width direction inside the rectangular tubular body 30a of the insulating oil flow path 30 alternately. By installing the turbulence generation structure inside the rectangular tubular body 30a in this manner, turbulence is easily generated in the flow of the insulating oil 26, and the heat exchange efficiency between the insulating oil 26 and the wall surface of the rectangular tubular body 30a is improved. Can be improved.

Next, FIG. 6 shows the main structure of an X-ray tube apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows the structure of the insulating oil flow path that constitutes the insulating oil cooling section of the third embodiment. In this embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the internal structure of the insulating oil flow path is changed. In FIG. 6, a plurality of tripping wires 33 are arranged inside a rectangular tubular body 32a of an insulating oil flow path 32 indicated by a broken line, so that a turbulent flow is easily generated in the flow of the insulating oil. In this embodiment, the same effects as in the second embodiment can be obtained.

Next, the operation of the insulating oil cooler of the first embodiment of the X-ray tube device according to the present invention will be described. A load for normal X-ray fluoroscopy (hereinafter referred to as fluoroscopy) and a load for X-ray imaging (hereinafter referred to as radiography) are repeatedly applied to the X-ray tube apparatus of this embodiment. FIG. 7 shows an example of a thermal load applied to the X-ray tube device. In FIG. 7, the horizontal axis represents the passage of time, and the vertical axis represents the heat load. In FIG. 7, a photographing heat load of about 5 kW for about 15 seconds is applied during photographing, and an average of 200 W, 2
A see-through heat load 35 for about a minute is applied. In addition to the above-mentioned heat load, heat generation of the stator coil is added to the X-ray tube device. The average heat load on the X-ray tube device due to these series of heat loads is about 800 W.

In the insulating oil cooling section 14 of the present embodiment, 300 W of cooling is always performed by the first thermoelectric element composed of five sets of Peltier elements installed directly on the outer surface of the insulating oil flow path 20. . From this, the see-through heat load of about 200 W on average
With respect to the amount of heat radiated to the insulating oil in the X-ray tube device by the heat generated by the stator coil 35 and the stator coil, the insulating oil 26 can be cooled only by the five Peltier elements of the first thermoelectric element 21.

On the other hand, during this see-through, the heat storage material 22 made of PEG is cooled by five sets of Peltier elements of the second thermoelectric element 24 installed on the outer wall surface of the heat storage material container 23. When the photographing is performed after the fluoroscopy and the photographing heat load 36 of 5 kW and 15 seconds (75 kJ) is input on average, the photographing heat load 36 of 75 kJ is input.
Is a heat storage material 22 consisting of 0.5 l of PEG cooled during fluoroscopy.
It can be absorbed by the latent heat of fusion of 81.4 kJ.

The heat storage material 22 liquefied by the absorption of the photographing heat load 36 is made up of a second set of five Peltier elements installed on the outer wall surface of the heat storage material container 23 during the see-through operation.
Is cooled and solidified by the thermoelectric element 24.

Next, the solidification time of the heat storage material 22 will be described. An important matter when solidifying the heat storage material 22 made of PEG is the solidification time of the PEG. Metal heat storage material container 23 described above
Is filled with a heat storage material 22 made of PEG, and one surface of the heat storage material container 23 is covered with a second thermoelectric element 24 composed of five sets of Peltier elements.
Let us consider the solidification time of PEG taking as an example the case of cooling to ℃ (assuming room temperature is 30 ℃).

The PEG is melted by cooling the insulating oil 26 heated by the photographic heat load, and then melts at an average temperature of 40.
Rise to about ° C. During the see-through heat load after the photographing heat load, PEG is mainly cooled by the second thermoelectric element 24,
It is solidified from a molten state. In the design of the present example, for PEG 0.5 l in a molten state at an average temperature of 40 ° C., the heat storage material container 2
3 cooling surface (surface cooled at 0 ° C by Peltier element)
, The insulating oil flow path of the heat storage material container 23
It was set so that the PEG in the position close to the surface in contact with 20 was cooled to the freezing point of 20.3 ° C. or less in about 20 minutes or less. Even if it takes about 20 minutes to solidify PEG, X
Under general use conditions of a radiographic apparatus, it is possible to perform cooling corresponding to a change in the amount of heat generated by the X-ray tube apparatus.

FIG. 8 shows an improved embodiment for shortening the setting time of PEG. FIG. 8 shows an example of an improved structure of the heat storage material container. In FIG. 8, a plurality of fins 45 are arranged inside a heat storage material container 44 in parallel. Fins 45
Is made of a metal material having good heat conductivity. By disposing the plurality of fins 45, the inside of the heat storage material container 44 is divided into a plurality of chambers 46, and each of the chambers 46 has a heat storage material 2 made of PEG.
2 will be housed separately. For this reason, the apparent thermal diffusivity in the heat storage material container 44 is significantly improved.

As a specific example of the fin structure, 0.3 mm is inserted into the heat storage material container 23 (44) having the structure shown in FIG.
When the fins 45 made of a copper plate with a thickness are arranged, the thermal diffusivity inside the heat storage material container 44 is improved by about two orders, and the initial state is necessary to solidify the molten PEG with an average temperature of about 40 ° C. Time can be reduced to about 2 minutes.

In a conventional general air-cooled cooling device,
When it had a cooling capacity of 1 kW, it had dimensions of about 250 mm in width, 100 mm in depth and 350 mm in height. In contrast,
In the insulating oil cooler according to the present invention, when having an average cooling capacity of 800 W, the heat exchanger part and the standard insulating oil pump are combined into a size of approximately 200 mm in width, 100 mm in depth and 150 mm in height. It is possible to reduce the size of the insulating oil cooler.

As described above, in the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention, although the insulating oil cooler is small and compact, since the insulating oil is directly cooled by the thermoelectric element, the efficiency is high, and
Cooling can be performed in response to a change in the calorific value of the tube device with good response. Further, even in the case where the thermoelectric element is cooled by blowing air, noise can be extremely reduced because the blower is small.

Further, in the insulating oil cooler of the X-ray tube device according to the present invention, it is desirable that the temperature around the insulating oil cooler be lower because the cooling capacity increases. In an X-ray diagnostic apparatus or the like having a C-shaped arm, the above-described insulating oil cooler is installed together with the X-ray tube apparatus main body in a state where the X-ray generating section at the tip of the C-shaped arm is covered with a cover. For this reason, it is necessary to provide a small blower in the cover of the X-ray generation unit and to ventilate the interior of the cover by discharging the heated air inside the cover to the outside of the cover.

However, if warm air is directly discharged to the outside of the cover of the X-ray generation unit, the operator or the subject will be uncomfortable. For this reason, in the present embodiment, a ventilation path communicating with the X-ray generation unit is provided in the C-arm so that warm air inside the cover of the X-ray generation unit can be discharged into the C-arm. The exhaust port of the C-arm may be provided at a position where warm air is not applied to the operator or the subject. As a result, X
Since warm air is ventilated inside the cover of the line generating part, it is possible to prevent the temperature inside the cover from rising,
The high cooling capacity of the insulating oil cooler can be maintained.

[0055]

As described above, in the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention, the thermoelectric element is installed on the outer surface of the insulating oil flow path included in the insulating oil cooling section of the insulating oil cooler and on the periphery thereof. Since the insulating oil is cooled, by operating and controlling the thermoelectric element, the insulating oil can be efficiently cooled in the insulating oil flow path. Further, since the thermoelectric element is small and lightweight, the size of the insulating oil cooler in which the thermoelectric element is installed can be reduced. In addition, since the thermoelectric element has no portion that generates sound, the noise of the device can be reduced.

In the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention, the turbulence generating mechanism is provided on the inner surface of the insulating oil flow path of the insulating oil cooler. Is generated, the heat exchange rate between the insulating oil and the inner wall of the insulating oil passage is improved, and the heat radiation efficiency of the insulating oil can be improved.

Further, in the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention, since the surface of the insulating oil flow path on which the thermoelectric elements are installed is made flat and made of a material having a high thermal conductivity, the insulating oil flow path in the insulating oil flow path is insulated. Since heat is efficiently transmitted from the oil to the heat absorbing surface of the thermoelectric element and absorbed, the insulating oil can be efficiently cooled by the thermoelectric element.

In the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention, the heat storage material container filled with the heat storage material is joined to the insulating oil flow path, and the thermoelectric element is installed on the surface of the heat storage material container. The insulating oil that has been raised to a high temperature by the large latent heat of fusion can be rapidly cooled, and can appropriately cope with the rise in the temperature of the insulating oil when the imaging load of the X-ray tube apparatus is increased.

Further, in the X-ray tube device according to the present invention, by joining the thermoelectric element and the heat storage material container filled with the heat storage material to the outer surface of the insulating oil flow path, cooling by the thermoelectric element can be achieved.
Since the cooling with the heat storage material is also used, it is possible to cope with the see-through load with the thermoelectric element and to cope with the imaging load with the heat storage material, and to cope with various heat load fluctuations to the X-ray tube device. The corresponding insulating oil can be cooled.

Further, in the X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention, fins are provided inside the heat storage material container to partition the heat storage material container into a plurality of chambers. Since the heat exchange with the thermoelectric element is performed via the fins, the melting time and the solidification time of the heat storage material are reduced, and the cooling efficiency by the heat storage material is improved.

In the X-ray tube device according to the present invention, a heat radiating member such as a heat sink is provided on the heat radiating surface of the thermoelectric element.
Since the heat radiating member is cooled by the small blower, the heat radiating effect of the thermoelectric element is improved, and the cooling rate can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of the configuration of a first embodiment of an X-ray tube apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a structure of an insulating oil cooling unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an example of a circuit for applying a DC voltage to a Peltier device.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a ventilation cooling method for a Peltier element.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a structure of an insulating oil flow path included in an insulating oil cooling unit of a second embodiment of the X-ray tube device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a structure of an insulating oil flow path constituting an insulating oil cooling unit of a third embodiment of the X-ray tube device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a thermal load applied to the X-ray tube device.

FIG. 8 shows an example of an improved structure of a heat storage material container.

FIG. 9 is an example of a cooling device using an insulating oil-air heat exchanger.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a cooling device using an insulating oil-cooling water heat exchanger.

FIG. 11 is an example of a cooling device using a refrigerator as a heat exchanger.

FIG. 12 is an external view of an example of a conventional X-ray diagnostic apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 50: X-ray tube device body 11: Insulating oil cooler 12, 52: Insulating oil pump 14: Insulating oil cooling unit 16, 55: Insulating oil pipe 20, 30, 32 ... Insulating oil flow path 20a, 30a, 32a ... Rectangular tubular body 21 ... First thermoelectric element 22 ... Heat storage material 23,44 ... Heat storage material container 24 ... Second thermoelectric element 26 ... High temperature insulating oil 27 ... Low temperature insulating oil 31 ... Baffle plate 33 ... Tripping wire 35 ... see-through heat load 36 ... photographing heat load 38 ... Peltier element 38a ... heat-absorbing surface 38b ... heat-dissipating surface 38c ... end surface 39 ... DC power supply 40 ... heat sink 40a ... corrugated surface 41 ... small blower 42 ... lead (terminal) 45 ... fin 46 ... Room 70 X-ray diagnostic apparatus 71 C-arm 72 X-ray generator

Claims (4)

[Claims] An X-ray tube, an X-ray tube container enclosing the X-ray tube (hereinafter referred to as a tube container), a support member for insulatingly supporting the X-ray tube on an inner wall of the tube container, and an anode of the X-ray tube X-ray tube device body composed of a stator coil for rotating the X-ray tube, insulating oil for insulating and cooling the X-ray tube, and guiding the insulating oil inside the tube container to the outside, cooling the tube outside the tube container, In an X-ray tube apparatus provided with an insulating oil cooler returned to the inside of the container, the insulating oil cooler is provided with an insulating oil conveying means for leading the insulating oil to the outside of the tube container through the insulating oil pipe, and for cooling the insulating oil. An insulating oil cooling section is provided, and a thermoelectric element is provided on at least one of the outer surface of the insulating oil flow path and its peripheral portion to cool the insulating oil flowing through the insulating oil flow path included in the insulating oil cooling section. An X-ray tube device which is installed. 2. The X-ray tube apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a turbulence generating mechanism for generating a turbulent flow in the flow of the insulating oil is provided on a part or all of the inner surface of the insulating oil flow path. X-ray tube device. 3. The X-ray tube device according to claim 1, wherein
The insulating oil flow path has at least one flat portion, the flat portion is made of a material having high thermal conductivity, and the thermoelectric element is installed on at least one outer surface of the flat portion. An X-ray tube device characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. The X-ray tube device according to claim 1, wherein
The insulating oil flow path has at least one flat portion, and the flat portion is made of a material having high thermal conductivity, and at least one outer surface of the flat portion contains a heat storage material using latent heat of fusion. An X-ray tube apparatus, wherein the heat storage material container described above is joined, and the thermoelectric element is installed on at least one outer surface of the heat storage material container.