EP0471206B1 - Intensificateur d'images de rayons X et sa méthode de fabrication - Google Patents

Intensificateur d'images de rayons X et sa méthode de fabrication Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0471206B1
EP0471206B1 EP19910112129 EP91112129A EP0471206B1 EP 0471206 B1 EP0471206 B1 EP 0471206B1 EP 19910112129 EP19910112129 EP 19910112129 EP 91112129 A EP91112129 A EP 91112129A EP 0471206 B1 EP0471206 B1 EP 0471206B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
envelope
ray image
image intensifier
supporting means
focusing electrodes
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
EP19910112129
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German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0471206A1 (fr
Inventor
Syozo C/O Intellectual Property Divison Sato
Shiheharu C/O Intellectual Property Div Kawamura
Kiyohito C/O Intellectual Property Div. Kawasumi
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.)
Toshiba Corp
Original Assignee
Toshiba Corp
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 Toshiba Corp filed Critical Toshiba Corp
Publication of EP0471206A1 publication Critical patent/EP0471206A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0471206B1 publication Critical patent/EP0471206B1/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
    • H01J31/00—Cathode ray tubes; Electron beam tubes
    • H01J31/08—Cathode ray tubes; Electron beam tubes having a screen on or from which an image or pattern is formed, picked up, converted, or stored
    • H01J31/50—Image-conversion or image-amplification tubes, i.e. having optical, X-ray, or analogous input, and optical output
    • H01J31/501—Image-conversion or image-amplification tubes, i.e. having optical, X-ray, or analogous input, and optical output with an electrostatic electron optic system
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J29/00—Details of cathode-ray tubes or of electron-beam tubes of the types covered by group H01J31/00
    • H01J29/46—Arrangements of electrodes and associated parts for generating or controlling the ray or beam, e.g. electron-optical arrangement
    • H01J29/82—Mounting, supporting, spacing, or insulating electron-optical or ion-optical arrangements

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an X-ray image intensifier and a method of manufacturing the same, and more specifically to those having an improved assembly accuracy.
  • An X-ray image intensifier according to the preamble of Claim 1 is known from EP-A-0 258 940.
  • an X-ray image intensifier includes a metal-made or glass-made hollow vacuum envelope, an input window formed on the side where an X-ray is made incident, an input screen provided close to the input window, an anode designed for accelerating the electron beam converted from an X-ray by the input screen, a plurality of, for example, three hollow-cylindrical focusing electrode, arranged between the input screen and the anode, for focusing electrons, and an output screen made of optical glass material, for converting the electron beam into a visible light image, and for outputting this image to outside.
  • an X-ray which is supplied from an external X-ray source and transmitted through an object, etc. is made incident through the input window onto the input screen and the X-ray image thus obtained is converted into a visible image by the fluorescent (phosphor) screen provided on the input screen.
  • the visible image is made incident onto the photoelectric surface also provided on the input screen, and converted into an electron image.
  • the electrons forming this electron image is concentrated by means of an electron lens consisting of a plurality of focusing electrodes.
  • the electrons are accelerated by the anode, and are made incident on the output screen, which is composed of phosphor material on optical glass, and on which a visible image is formed of the light emitted from the luminescent material when the incident electrons hit thereon.
  • the metal-made or glass-made hollow vacuum envelope is formed of a plurality of envelope elements welded or bonded with each other.
  • This envelope has been evacuated and is maintained at the vacuum state, in which the envelope is pressurized from outside by a force working thereon, which may deform the envelope itself.
  • the joint portions, in particular, welding or bonding the envelope elements with each other are structurally weak.
  • these envelope elements must be arranged accurately in a coaxial manner around the axis of the tube.
  • the above-mentioned focusing electrodes, made of a metal are formed into a hollow-cylindrical shape, and must be also placed accurately around the tube axis. Further, since different voltages are applied to these focusing electrodes, the electrodes must be electrically separated from each other. Therefore, conventionally, focusing electrodes are fixed by electrode supporters welded to the inner wall of a vacuum envelope.
  • the electrode supporters must be accurately welded to the inner wall of the vacuum envelope; however, with the conventional method, it is not possible to arrange the electrode supporters with a satisfactory accuracy, or even if it is, very expensive jigs are needed. In addition, such an accurate welding process requires very high techniques, and therefore can be performed only by highly skilled technicians.
  • the present invention has been proposed to solve the above-described problem, and a purpose thereof is to provide an X-ray image with a high assembling accuracy.
  • Another purpose of the present invention is to provide an X-ray image intensifier with an improved quality, which can be achieved by the high assembling efficiency.
  • An X-ray image intensifier comprises, an X-ray input window, input means including a fluorescent screen for converting and X-ray image having passed the input window into a visible image , and a photoelectric screen, a vacuum envelope formed of a plurality of envelope elements welded with each other by joint portions thereof, output means including a fluorescent screen for transmitting a signal converted from the X-ray image, and a plurality of focusing electrodes, the X-ray image intensifier being characterized in that it comprises supporting means sandwiched between the neighboring joint portions of the envelope elements constituting the vacuum envelope, said plurality of focusing electrodes being supported by the supporting means for concentrating the electrons from the X-ray input window.
  • an X-ray image intensifier including a vacuum envelope formed of a plurality of envelope elements whose joint portions are welded together; supporting means, each sandwiched between joint portions of envelope elements of said envelope elements ; and a plurality of focusing electrodes, each supported by one of said supporting means; the method comprising the steps of arranging the focusing electrodes on supporting means, forming the vacuum envelope by sandwiching the supporting means between joint portions of the envelope elements, and then welding the neighboring joint portions of the envelope elements with each other.
  • Such an X-ray image intensifier has a high assembly efficiency and an improved positioning efficiency of the focusing electrodes, because of the supporting means.
  • An X-ray image intensifier includes a vacuum envelope 10 formed of a plurality of steel-made envelope elements 12, 14, and 16, welded with each other, an input window 18 provided on the input side, which has a large diameter, of the vacuum envelope 10, an input screen 20 located close to the input window 18, an anode 22 provided on the output side, which has a small diameter, of the vacuum envelope 10, an output screen 24 for detecting an optical image converted from an X-ray image, and a plurality of, for example, three focusing electrodes 26, 28, and 30 arranged between the input screen 20 and the anode 22.
  • flat donut-shaped supporters 40 and 42 are welded between each of the joint surfaces of metal-made envelope elements 12, 14, and 16. These supporters 40 and 42 are provided for a reinforcement purpose, and thus the joint portions, which are structurally weak, are strengthened thereby so that the vacuum envelope 10 can withstand the external pressure.
  • Mount rings 32 and 36 are provided for mounting the focusing electrodes 26 and 28, and are placed on a ceramic ring 34 fixed on the supporter 40 and 42. With these mount rings 32 and 36, the focusing electrodes 26 and 28 are supported in the vacuum envelope 10, as can be seen in Fig. 1.
  • the input window 18 is made of aluminum (Al), or an aluminum alloy which contains, for a reinforcement purpose, at least one of Si, Cu, Mn and Mg at about 5% or more.
  • the thickness of the input window is 0.5-2.0mm. It should be noted there that the input window 18 is formed into a convex shape in this embodiment, but the shape of the window is not stricted to this, and the window made of the Ti or Ti-alloy can be formed into, for example, a flat shape or a concave shape.
  • This input window 18 is welded to the first envelope element 12, and the surface of the first envelope element 12 is plated with nickel.
  • the thickness of the Ni plate layer is 100 »m or less, and should preferably be 5-20 »m.
  • the steel alloy-made first envelope element 12 and the aluminum-made input window 18 are heat-pressed and then air-tight jointed with each other.
  • the input screen 20 is made of aluminum (Al), and a fluorescent (phosphor) layer 20a made of CsI/NaI is evaporated thereon. Further, a photoelectric screen 20b is formed on this fluorescent (phosphor) layer 20a directly or through a conductive layer.
  • the output screen 24 is formed of a ceramic material, and an output fluorescent (phosphor) screen 24a is coated thereon. And aluminumback layer is formed on the output fluorescent screen.
  • the procedure is likewise in jointing the first and second envelope elements 12 and 14, and the supporter 40 is sandwiched therebetween such that the ends are flush with each other, and then welded.
  • the envelope 10 can withstand such an external pressure because of the supporter provided for the joint portion 50, and thus the envelope is not deformed very much.
  • the hollow-cylindrical focusing electrodes 26 and 28 must be arranged coaxially with the center axis of the image intensifier tube.
  • the supporters 40 and 42 on which the focusing electrodes are fixed are designed not only to prevent deformation of the vacuum envelope 10, but also to ensure the locations of to-be-welded portions for a successful positioning.
  • the drift of the center axes of the focusing electrodes 26 and 28 from the tube axis of the vacuum envelope 10 can be suppressed as little as 0.5mm or even less.
  • focusing electrodes arranged in a vacuum envelope are once fixed on supporters and then welded to the envelope along with envelope elements. In this way, arrangement of the focusing electrodes is very easily performed unlike in the case where they are directly welded to the inner wall of a vacuum envelope. Since the positioning of the focusing electrodes is completed when the supporter is arranged between the envelope elements, the focusing electrodes can be very accurately welded to the vacuum envelope.
  • the second embodiment has substantially the same structure as that of the first embodiment except for the shape of the joint portions.
  • the supporter 42 is sandwiched between the flanges 46 and 48 to joint the second and third envelope elements 14 and 16 with each other by welding.
  • a cutout 160 is formed in a flange 146 of the second envelope element 114, and a supporter 142 is placed on this cutout 160. With the supporter 142 being placed on the cutout 160, the supporter 142 is sandwiched between the flange 146 of the second envelope element 114 and the flange 148 of the third envelope element 116, and then all of them are welded with each other by a joint portion 150.
  • the supporter 142 Since the supporter 142 is already placed at the cutout 160 before the welding, the positioning thereof is rarely missed. In this case, the flanges 146 and 148 are welded with each other by the joint portion 150, whereas the supporter 142 is not welded along with the others, but the end portion of the supporter 142 is set into the cutout 160.
  • each of the supporters provided at each of the joint portions serves to reinforce the structurally weak portions, and thus the vacuum envelope is not deformed very much. Consequently, the center axis of the focusing electrodes can be set accurately coaxially with the axis of the tube. This will lead to a further advantage that since the external pressure is evenly applied to the envelope, a positioning drift can be suppressed to the minimum degree.
  • the supporters are set to the cutouts, and then the flanges are welded.
  • the supporter are set to the cutouts, the positioning of the focusing electrodes is completed. Therefore, it is only required that the focusing electrodes be accurately located at the supporters, and thus it is very easy to arrange the focusing electrodes accurately in the vacuum envelope. Furthermore, tube characteristic can be good.
  • metal-made supporters are employed, but, of course, many types of supporters, for example, ceramic-made, heat-proof-resin-made, and the like, can be also used.
  • the focusing electrodes are fixed to the supporters by means of various kinds of mount rings, but they can be directly fixed to supporters of, for example, ceramic-made.
  • the X-ray image intensifier according to the present invention has a structure in which each of supporting means is provided for each of joint portions by which envelope electrodes are welded with each other to form a vacuum envelope.
  • the vacuum envelope reinforced by the supporters, can withstand an external pressure. Therefore, the degree of deformation of the envelope can be suppressed to the minimum, and thus the positioning efficiency for the focusing electrodes set on the supporters significantly improves.

Landscapes

  • Image-Pickup Tubes, Image-Amplification Tubes, And Storage Tubes (AREA)
  • Manufacture Of Electron Tubes, Discharge Lamp Vessels, Lead-In Wires, And The Like (AREA)

Claims (9)

  1. Intensificateur d'image rayons X comprenant :
       une fenêtre d'entrée de rayons X (18) ;
       un moyen d'entrée (20) incluant un écran fluorescent, pour convertir une image rayons X transmise au travers de ladite fenêtre d'entrée de rayons X en une image visible, et un écran photo-électrique ;
       une enveloppe sous vide (10) formée en soudant des parties de jonction d'une pluralité d'éléments d'enveloppe (12, 14, 16) ;
       un moyen de sortie (24) incluant un écran fluorescent pour guider un signal converti à partir d'une image rayons X jusqu'à l'extérieur ; et
       une pluralité d'électrodes de focalisation (26, 28),
       caractérisé en ce qu'il comprend :
       des moyens de support (40, 42) pris en sandwich entre les parties de jonction voisines des éléments d'enveloppe constituant ladite enveloppe sous vide ;
       ladite pluralité d'électrodes de focalisation (26, 28) étant supportées par lesdits moyens de support, pour concentrer les électrons provenant de ladite fenêtre d'entrée de rayons X.
  2. Intensificateur d'image rayons X selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que chacun desdits moyens de support est réalisé en métal.
  3. Intensificateur d'image rayons X selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que chacun desdits moyens de support est conformé selon une forme de disque muni d'un trou central.
  4. Intensificateur d'image rayons X selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce qu'une découpe est formée sur chacune desdites parties de jonction desdits éléments d'enveloppe et chacun desdits moyens de support est prévu au niveau de chacune des découpes.
  5. Intensificateur d'image rayons X selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que chacun des moyens de support comporte un moyen de bague grâce auquel chacun des moyens de support peut supporter une pluralité d'électrodes de focalisation.
  6. Intensificateur d'image rayons X selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que ladite pluralité d'électrodes de focalisation présentent une forme cylindrique creuse.
  7. Intensificateur d'image rayons X selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce qu'il y a au moins trois électrodes de focalisation.
  8. Intensificateur d'image rayons X selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce qu'il y a au moins trois éléments d'enveloppe qui constituent l'enveloppe sous vide.
  9. Procédé de fabrication d'un intensificateur d'image rayons X incluant :
       une enveloppe sous vide (10) constituée par une pluralité d'éléments d'enveloppe (12, 14, 16) dont des parties de jonction sont soudées ensemble ;
       des moyens de support (40, 42) dont chacun est pris en sandwich entre des parties de jonction d'éléments d'enveloppe desdits éléments d'enveloppe ; et
       une pluralité d'électrodes de focalisation (26, 28) dont chacune est supportée par l'un desdits moyens de support,
       caractérisé en ce qu'il comprend les étapes de :
       agencement des électrodes de focalisation sur lesdits moyens de support ;
       formation de l'enveloppe sous vide en prenant en sandwich les moyens de support entre des parties de jonction des éléments d'enveloppe puis en soudant les parties de jonction des éléments d'enveloppe les unes aux autres.
EP19910112129 1990-07-20 1991-07-19 Intensificateur d'images de rayons X et sa méthode de fabrication Expired - Lifetime EP0471206B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP19069490A JPH0479136A (ja) 1990-07-20 1990-07-20 Ｘ線イメージ管及びその製造方法
JP190694/90 1990-07-20

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0471206A1 EP0471206A1 (fr) 1992-02-19
EP0471206B1 true EP0471206B1 (fr) 1995-03-22

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19910112129 Expired - Lifetime EP0471206B1 (fr) 1990-07-20 1991-07-19 Intensificateur d'images de rayons X et sa méthode de fabrication

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EP (1) EP0471206B1 (fr)
JP (1) JPH0479136A (fr)
DE (1) DE69108322T2 (fr)

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE69301487T2 (de) * 1992-03-31 1996-08-08 Sumitomo Light Metal Ind Röntgenbildverstärker
DE4213906A1 (de) * 1992-04-28 1993-11-04 Siemens Ag Roentgenbildverstaerker
JP4696991B2 (ja) * 2006-03-22 2011-06-08 日産自動車株式会社 動き検出方法および動き検出装置
JP6495100B2 (ja) * 2015-05-25 2019-04-03 キヤノン電子管デバイス株式会社 イメージ管

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3356851A (en) * 1963-10-22 1967-12-05 Picker X Ray Corp Division Inc Image intensifier tube with separable optical coupler
NL8602212A (nl) * 1986-09-02 1988-04-05 Philips Nv Modulair opgebouwde roentgenbeeldversterkerbuis.
JP2523531B2 (ja) * 1986-09-29 1996-08-14 株式会社東芝 Ｘ線像増倍管

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0471206A1 (fr) 1992-02-19
DE69108322D1 (de) 1995-04-27
JPH0479136A (ja) 1992-03-12
DE69108322T2 (de) 1995-09-21

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