EP0373705B1 - Tube à rayons X à anode tournante à lubrifiant liquide - Google Patents

Tube à rayons X à anode tournante à lubrifiant liquide Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0373705B1
EP0373705B1 EP89203122A EP89203122A EP0373705B1 EP 0373705 B1 EP0373705 B1 EP 0373705B1 EP 89203122 A EP89203122 A EP 89203122A EP 89203122 A EP89203122 A EP 89203122A EP 0373705 B1 EP0373705 B1 EP 0373705B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
lubricant
ray tube
anode
rotary
bearing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP89203122A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0373705A3 (fr
EP0373705A2 (fr
Inventor
Axel Vetter
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Philips Intellectual Property and Standards GmbH
Koninklijke Philips NV
Original Assignee
Philips Patentverwaltung GmbH
Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken NV
Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Philips Patentverwaltung GmbH, Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken NV, Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV filed Critical Philips Patentverwaltung GmbH
Publication of EP0373705A2 publication Critical patent/EP0373705A2/fr
Publication of EP0373705A3 publication Critical patent/EP0373705A3/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0373705B1 publication Critical patent/EP0373705B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J35/00—X-ray tubes
    • H01J35/02—Details
    • H01J35/04—Electrodes ; Mutual position thereof; Constructional adaptations therefor
    • H01J35/08—Anodes; Anti cathodes
    • H01J35/10—Rotary anodes; Arrangements for rotating anodes; Cooling rotary anodes
    • H01J35/101—Arrangements for rotating anodes, e.g. supporting means, means for greasing, means for sealing the axle or means for shielding or protecting the driving
    • H01J35/1017—Bearings for rotating anodes
    • H01J35/104—Fluid bearings
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J2235/00—X-ray tubes
    • H01J2235/10—Drive means for anode (target) substrate
    • H01J2235/1046—Bearings and bearing contact surfaces
    • H01J2235/106—Dynamic pressure bearings, e.g. helical groove type
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J2235/00—X-ray tubes
    • H01J2235/10—Drive means for anode (target) substrate
    • H01J2235/1046—Bearings and bearing contact surfaces
    • H01J2235/1066—Treated contact surfaces, e.g. coatings

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a rotating anode X-ray tube with at least one slide bearing which is filled with a liquid lubricant.
  • a rotating anode X-ray tube with at least one slide bearing which is filled with a liquid lubricant.
  • Such an X-ray tube is among others known from EP-A-0 141 476.
  • the slide bearings for mounting the rotating anode are formed by so-called spiral groove bearings, which have a narrow gap and a pattern of grooves on one of their bearing surfaces.
  • the lubricant is located in the bearing gap, which is delimited on one side by a smooth bearing surface and on the other side by the surface with the groove pattern.
  • the grooves are shaped so that the lubricant remains in the bearing during operation of the rotating anode X-ray tube with a predetermined direction of rotation.
  • the spiral groove bearing is adjoined by a surface which is prepared in such a way that it cannot be wetted by the lubricant, e.g
  • the surfaces in the opening area, via which the spiral groove bearing is connected to the rest of the vacuum space of the X-ray tube consist of a material which can be wetted by the lubricant and can thus form mixed phases or alloys.
  • the surface of the opening area, through which the lubricant has to pass in order to get out of the bearing into the remaining vacuum space which is filled with an electric field in the operating state consists of a material which can be wetted by the lubricant and thus forms mixed phases.
  • the lubricant can therefore not escape into the space filled with an electric field in the operating state, because it adheres to the surface in the opening area and diffuses into it.
  • the area up to the high-voltage vacuum space should be designed as a labyrinth if possible.
  • gallium alloys are suitable as lubricants for slide bearings in X-ray tubes. These alloys form a mixed phase with many metals, ie a new alloy, but often only when the surfaces of the metals passivated by oxides or carbides have been destroyed. Only metals that do not form such boundary layers (noble metals) or in which these boundary layers are destroyed by the pumping and heating processes associated with the conditioning of X-ray tubes, for example copper, are therefore suitable.
  • the lubricant is made of a gallium alloy and the surface in the opening area consists of a precious metal. A drop of lubricant made of a gallium alloy spreads on an eg gold-plated metal surface due to the wetting and alloying and diffuses into the base material, especially at elevated temperatures, but also at room temperature.
  • the surfaces provided according to the invention which are wettable by the lubricant and thus form mixed phases, directly adjoin the slide bearing surfaces, the lubricant would pass relatively easily from the slide bearing to these surfaces, which would result in an undesirable loss of lubricant.
  • This can be reduced in a further embodiment of the invention in that the surfaces immediately adjacent to the spiral groove bearing consist of a material that is not wettable by the lubricant and that the surfaces wettable by the lubricant and thus forming mixed phases are connected.
  • non-wettable surfaces can be e.g. Titanium oxide carbide coatings or silicon oxide carbide coatings are generated.
  • the X-ray tube shown in the drawing has a metal piston 1, in which a radiation exit window 2, for example made of beryllium, is provided and which carries the cathode 4 on a first insulator 3 and the rotating anode 6 on a second insulator 5.
  • the rotating anode 6 comprises an anode disk 7, of which the X-ray radiation during operation goes out, and which is connected to the second insulator 5 via a bearing.
  • the fixed part of the bearing comprises an axis 8 made of a molybdenum alloy, which is connected to the insulator 5 via a carrier body 9 made of an iron-nickel-cobalt alloy (Vacon).
  • the positive high voltage for the rotating anode is supplied via part 9.
  • the rotating part 10 of the bearing 6 comprises a bearing bush 10 which is concentric with the axis 8 and which likewise consists of a molybdenum alloy and is adapted to the dimensions of the axis 8, so that only a narrow gap remains between the axis 8 and the bush 10, which gap is considerably narrower is shown as in the drawing and is eg 20 »m thick.
  • the bearing is a plain bearing in the form of a spiral groove bearing.
  • the axis 8 is provided with two herringbone groove patterns 12 which are offset from one another in the axial direction and act as radial bearings.
  • the axis 8 also contains a cylindrical thickening 13, the end faces of which are also provided with a groove pattern, not shown, and therefore act as a spiral groove bearing for the axial mounting of the anode 6. Because of the thickening 13, the bushing 10 cannot be in one piece - as shown in the drawing - but must consist of at least two parts which are connected to one another in such a way that the lubricant cannot escape through the connection areas.
  • a gallium alloy (GaInSn) is located as a lubricant 14 in the space between the axis 8 and the bushing 10. This lubricant is liquid at room temperature and wets the surfaces of the axis 8 and the bushing 10 without entering into alloys.
  • the surfaces in the opening area through which the lubricant emerging from the bearing passes into the remaining vacuum space of the X-ray tube are gold-plated. This is indicated by thick solid lines 15 on the outer surface of the carrier body 9 and the surface of the bushing 10 facing it and the inner surface of the rotor 11.
  • the gallium alloy that forms the lubricant wets gold-plated metal surfaces and thus forms a new alloy at room temperature. A drop of lubricant therefore adheres to these metal surfaces in the field-free area and cannot escape into the vacuum space of the X-ray tube that is filled by the field.
  • the surfaces in the opening area are advantageously arranged like a labyrinth.
  • the surface in the opening area must be such that it can be easily wetted by the lubricant and forms an alloy with it.
  • this includes precious metals - including gold - but also other metals.
  • the surface of the non-precious metals is mostly passivated by oxides or carbides, so that a drop of gallium is not on it sticks.
  • these metals e.g. copper
  • these layers are largely destroyed by the pumping and baking processes, which an X-ray tube must be subjected to before the first start-up. Wetting occurs on an approx. 100 ° C hot copper surface and thus traps a lubricant drop.
  • the gold plating of the inner surface of the copper rotor 11 could therefore be omitted provided that the copper surface is not contaminated and is kept at at least 100 ° C.
  • This carrier body also gradually absorbs the leaked lubricant, which has the particular advantage that the expensive gold layer can be very thin. If this carrier body came into contact with the lubricant without gold plating, the oxide or carbide boundary layers on the surface would prevent the lubricant from sticking.
  • the gold layer must be anchored to the carrier body in such a way that the disruptive boundary layers are destroyed, e.g. through known galvanic preparation methods.
  • the surfaces wettable by the lubricant - and this also includes the surfaces of the bearing bush 10 and the axis 8 in the lower region - would reach right up to the slide bearings, then the lubricant could wet these surfaces relatively easily and would be removed from the bearing.
  • the surfaces are in the lower area of axis 8 and of the bearing 10, as indicated by the dotted lines, provided with a layer which prevents wetting by the lubricant.
  • a suitable layer consists, for example, of titanium oxide carbide. It prevents lubricant from running out of the bearing during normal operation. It is only when the lubricant has overcome this non-wettable, capillary-effective area through strong mechanical impacts or the like that it hits the layer according to the invention, to which it adheres.

Landscapes

  • Sliding-Contact Bearings (AREA)

Claims (7)

  1. Tube à rayons X à anode tournante comportant au moins un palier lisse rempli d'un lubrifiant liquide, caractérisé en ce que les surfaces (15) dans la zone d'orifice, par l'intermédiaire de laquelle le palier lisse (8, 10, 12) est en liaison avec le reste de l'espace sous vide du tube à rayons X, sont faites d'un matériau qui peut être mouillé par le lubrifiant et peut ainsi former des phases mixtes ou des alliages.
  2. Tube à rayons X à anode tournante selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que les surfaces (15) dans la zone d'orifice sont formées par des couches appliquées sur un corps de support (9).
  3. Tube à rayons X à anode tournante selon la revendication 1 ou 2, caractérisé en ce que le lubrifiant se compose d'un alliage de gallium et les surfaces (15) dans la zone d'orifice d'un métal précieux.
  4. Tube à rayons X à anode tournante selon la revendication 3, caractérisé en ce que les surfaces (15) se composent d'or.
  5. Tube à rayons X à anode tournante selon l'une quelconque des revendications 2 à 4, caractérisé en ce que le corps de support (9) se compose d'un matériau, qui forme également une phase mixte ou un alliage avec le lubrifiant.
  6. Tube à rayons X à anode tournante selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 5, caractérisé en ce que les surfaces directement adjacentes au palier à rainures spiralées se composent d'un matériau qui ne peut pas être mouillé par le lubrifiant et que les surfaces qui peuvent être mouillées par le lubrifiant et forment ainsi des phases mixtes, y sont adjacentes.
  7. Tube à rayons X à anode tournante selon la revendication 6, caractérisé en ce que le lubrifiant se compose d'un alliage de gallium et que les surfaces directement adjacentes au palier à rainures spiralées sont recouvertes de carbure à base d'oxyde de titane.
EP89203122A 1988-12-14 1989-12-08 Tube à rayons X à anode tournante à lubrifiant liquide Expired - Lifetime EP0373705B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE3842034 1988-12-14
DE3842034A DE3842034A1 (de) 1988-12-14 1988-12-14 Drehanoden-roentgenroehre mit fluessigem schmiermittel

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0373705A2 EP0373705A2 (fr) 1990-06-20
EP0373705A3 EP0373705A3 (fr) 1991-01-30
EP0373705B1 true EP0373705B1 (fr) 1994-06-15

Family

ID=6369117

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP89203122A Expired - Lifetime EP0373705B1 (fr) 1988-12-14 1989-12-08 Tube à rayons X à anode tournante à lubrifiant liquide

Country Status (4)

Country Link
US (1) US5077776A (fr)
EP (1) EP0373705B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP2960085B2 (fr)
DE (2) DE3842034A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (20)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5169243A (en) * 1990-09-28 1992-12-08 Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd. Dynamic pressure bearing for an x-ray tube having a rotary anode
DE69121504T2 (de) * 1990-10-01 1997-02-06 Toshiba Kawasaki Kk Drehanoden-Röntgenröhre
CN1022007C (zh) * 1990-10-05 1993-09-01 东芝株式会社 旋转阳极型x射线管
CN1024235C (zh) * 1990-10-05 1994-04-13 株式会社东芝 旋转阳极型x射线管
US5737387A (en) * 1994-03-11 1998-04-07 Arch Development Corporation Cooling for a rotating anode X-ray tube
DE19523163A1 (de) * 1994-07-12 1996-01-18 Siemens Ag Gleitlagerteil für ein Flüssigmetallgleitlager
JP3093581B2 (ja) 1994-10-13 2000-10-03 株式会社東芝 回転陽極型ｘ線管及びその製造方法
DE19510067A1 (de) * 1995-03-20 1996-10-02 Siemens Ag Gleitlager mit einem mit Flüssigmetall gefüllten Lagerspalt
DE19510068A1 (de) * 1995-03-20 1996-10-02 Siemens Ag Flüssigmetall-Gleitlager
DE19606871C2 (de) * 1996-02-23 1998-12-10 Siemens Ag Gleitlager mit einem mit Flüssigmetall gefüllten Lagerspalt
DE19630351C1 (de) * 1996-07-26 1997-11-27 Siemens Ag Röntgenröhre mit einem Gleitlager
US7127035B2 (en) 2001-08-29 2006-10-24 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Rotary anode type X-ray tube
US6891928B2 (en) * 2003-05-07 2005-05-10 Ge Medical Systems Liquid metal gasket in x-ray tubes
US20090103684A1 (en) * 2004-10-26 2009-04-23 Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V. Molybdenum-molybdenum brazing and rotary-anode x-ray tube comprising such a brazing
US8848875B2 (en) 2010-10-29 2014-09-30 General Electric Company Enhanced barrier for liquid metal bearings
US8503615B2 (en) 2010-10-29 2013-08-06 General Electric Company Active thermal control of X-ray tubes
US8744047B2 (en) 2010-10-29 2014-06-03 General Electric Company X-ray tube thermal transfer method and system
DE102013215977B4 (de) * 2013-08-13 2021-02-04 Siemens Healthcare Gmbh Flüssigmetall-Gleitlager
US9500226B2 (en) * 2014-08-13 2016-11-22 General Electric Company Method and systems for texturing liquid bearing surfaces in X-ray tubes
US9911570B2 (en) 2015-12-14 2018-03-06 Varex Imaging Corporation Antiwetting coating for liquid metal

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
NL7713634A (nl) * 1977-12-09 1979-06-12 Philips Nv Roentgenbuis met draaianode.
NL8303832A (nl) * 1983-11-08 1985-06-03 Philips Nv Roentgenbuis met spiraalgroeflager.
NL8303833A (nl) * 1983-11-08 1985-06-03 Philips Nv Spiraalgroeflager met metaalsmering en antibevochtigingslaag.
NL8601414A (nl) * 1986-06-02 1988-01-04 Philips Nv Roentgenbuis met een draaianode.

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0373705A3 (fr) 1991-01-30
DE3842034A1 (de) 1990-06-21
EP0373705A2 (fr) 1990-06-20
DE58907890D1 (de) 1994-07-21
JPH02244545A (ja) 1990-09-28
US5077776A (en) 1991-12-31
JP2960085B2 (ja) 1999-10-06

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