US2454525A

US2454525A - X-ray apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2454525A
Application number: US702138A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas H Rogers; William W Fengler
Original assignee: Machlett Laboratories Inc
Current assignee: Machlett Laboratories Inc
Priority date: 1946-10-09
Filing date: 1946-10-09
Publication date: 1948-11-23
Anticipated expiration: 1965-11-23
Also published as: BE476181A; FR953151A; GB644602A

Description

2 Sheets-Shet 1 z m ATTOR N NTOR &4. B & .4 &mos

Nov. 23, 1948. H. ROGIERS ETAL x-RAY APPARATUS Fiied Oct. 9, 1946 T. H. .ROGERS ET AL X-RAY APPARATUS Filed ooh 9, 1946- v 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 ATTORN EYS Patented Nov. 23, 1948 X-RAY APPARATUS Thomas H. Rogers, New Caraan, and William W. Fengler, Glenbrook, Conn., assignors to Machlett Laboratories Incorporated, Springdale, Conn., a corporation o'f Connecticut `Application October 9, 1946, SerialNo.?702,138

i 5 Claims. (01.250-89) This invention relates to X-ray apparatus of the type that includes a table upon which the patient reclines while undergoing examination, and is concerned more particularly with a novel shockproof X-ray tube unit especially adapted for installaton beneath the table of such apparatus. The new unit may be readily mounted for movement lengthwise and transversely of the table, and it is so constructed as to permit it to be moved to the extent necessary to permit the beam issuing from the unit to reach any part of the table.

In X-ray apparatus of the kind above referred to, an X-ray tube employed for radiographic examination of the patient is mounted above the table in a tube stand, and many tables have been provided with a second tube beneath the table, which is used for producing a fluoroscopic image of the patient on a screen above the table, where it can be readily seen by the operator. The tube carried by the tube stand is commonly shockproofed, that is, the tube is mounted within a groun-ded metallic housing containing insulating fluid in which the tube is immersed, but shockproof tubes have not ordinarily been employed be neath the table and, instead, reliance has been placed on the metal enclosure of the lower `part of the table to take care of the shock hazard. i One reason for the failure to employ a shockproof tube beneath the table is that a tube housing of the kind heretofore available is provided with extensions at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the tube for receiving the ends of the cables supplying energy to the tube and, when the unit is mounted beneath the table with its long axis parallel to that of the table, as is desirable, the housing extensions or the cables interfere with the structural parts of the table and prevent the desired movement of the unit.

Recently, it has become increasingly desirable to utilize shockproof tubes beneath tables in X-ray apparatus in order, for example, to simplify the Construction of the table, which must otherwise provide protection against shock. Another important advantage of shockproof tubes is that they are of greater reliability and capacity under busy Operating conditions than those that are not shockproof. A shockproof unit for use beneath the table of such apparatus should be so constructed for radiological reasons that the long axis of the tube is parallel to the long axis of the table and, for similar reasons, it is desirable to have the dimension of the unit in a direction perpendicular to the table top as short as possible. Moreover, the long dimension of the unit should be as short as possible 'in order ,to permit maximum longitudinal travel, and adequate lateral travel places a practical limitation on the trans- Verse dimension of the unit.

The ,present invention is directed to the pro- Vision of a shockproof X-ray unit, which is so constructed that, when employed beneath the table in an X-ray apparatus, it fu'lfills the ,conditions above pointed out and can be moved both lengthwise and across the table to the full extent required. The new unit `includes a housing containing insulating fluid, such as oil, in which the tubing is immersed, and the housing is mounted with the long axis of the tube parallel to the long axis .of the table. The cable terminal members are mounted within the housing at one end thereof andon either side of the long axis of the tube, and the usual collapsible chamber, which permits expansion of the oil, is also mounted within the housing `and preferably at its other end at one side of the long axis ofthe tube and in alignment with one of the cable terminal members. The high tension .connection to the terminal of the tube remote from the cable members extends from the other cable terminal member through the oil .along the tube at the other side of the long axis thereof, and adequate insulation for thsconnection is thereby provided. With this arrangement, the housing is symmetrical about its longitudinal axis, the lengthwise dimension of the housing can be kept to thedesiredminimum, ,and adequate lateral movement of the -unit is permitted, because there are no .housing extensions or portions of the cables which would restrict such movement.

For a. better understanding ,of the invention reference may be ihadlto theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of one form of the new unit with parts shown in section and broken away;

Figs. 2 and 3 ,are ,sectional views on .the lines 2--2 .and 3-3 of Fig. 1;.an-d

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view through a modified form of the unit.

The unit illustrated in Fig. 1 comprisesalhousing o ordinarilymade of a suitable metal such as aluminum. The-housing is generally rectangular in horizontal section and it is .formed with a circular opening in its bottom wall, which is closed by aplate Ll heldin place by screws !2, agasket 13 'being interposed between .the .plate ..and the wall of the housing adjacent the opening. The plate H has a central opening, whichis 'closed :by a re-entrant window IA formed with a flange, which is clamped against .a gasket l5 by an tann'lar nut I 6 threaded into the wall of the opening closed by the window. At its inner end, the window extends into an opening in a tubular rayproof shield l' and terminates close to the wall of an X-ray tube !8 lying within the shield and held in place by spacers I 9 interposed between the wall of the tube and the shield. The shield is held in place by a pair of stirrups 20, the ends of the stirrups being secured by screws 2| to bosses 22 ormed on the inner wall of the housing opposte the opening closed by plate l I. The longitudinal axis of the tube lies in the longitudinal axis of the housing.

At one end, the housing lll is formed with a pair of openings through which pass the terminal members on the cables 23, through which energy'is supplied to the tube. In the construction illustrated, the cables are detachably connected to the unit and a socket member 24 of insulating material is mounted in each opening. Each socket member is provided with a flange 25 encircling its outer end and the fiange rests against the outer wall of the housing around the opening and is engaged by an annular nut 26 threaded into a flange 2'! on the housing encircling the opening. Each cable is provided with a terminal sleeve 28 receivable in one of the socket members and the outer end of the sleeve enters a bell-sh aped collar 28a. Collar 28a lies within a bell-shaped clamping collar 29 which is engaged by an annular nut %ta threaded on the outside of flange 27. Each socket member is provided with terminals 30 at its inner end, which are engageable with correspo'ding terminals projecting from the terminal sleeve 28 on the cable and connected to the conductors in the cable. As illustrated, the socket members 24 lie parallel and in symmetrical arrangement on either side of the longituclinal axis of the tube, at least in part on opposte sides of the tube, and the longitudinal axes of the socket members lie in a plane through the longitudinal axis of the tube.

The tube illustrated is so disposed within the housing that its anode lies at the end of the tube remote from the socket members 24 and the anocle shank 3! projecting out of the tube is connected by a metal strap 32 to the terminals 30 exposed beyond the inner end of one of the socket members 24. shank parallel to the end wall of the housing and then through the space along one side of th'e tube. The strap is at a considerable distance from the housing at all points so that it is adequately insulated by the insulating fluid with which' the completed unit is filled through the opening in plate ll closed by plug 33. The connections 34 from the cathode of the tube pass around the end of the tube and the shield !1 to be connected to terminals 35 on a, plate 36 mounted in the end of the oth'er socket member 24. Connections 34 are enclosed within an insulating sleeve 31, where they extend around the end of the tube and shield and to the end of the socket member.

During the operation of th'e unit, its oil contents become heated and expand, and it is, therefore, necessary to provide collapsible means defining a part of the space occupied by the oil and acting upon collapse to increase the Volume of that space. In th'e construction shown, such means take the form of a chamber 38 of cup shape and made preferably of a suitable syn thetic rubber compound. The chamber lies within a perforated metal enclosure 39 and the chamber and enclosure lie within th'e housing The strap extends from the anode.

axes of the socket members and are supported by a disc 40 having a peripheral flange 4l. The rim of the chamber is seated against fiange 4| and held in place by a flange 42 on the enclosure 39, which is spun over th'e rim of the chamber and flange 4l on the disc. The disc is Secured to the head of a fitting 43 having a threaded shank 44 which extends through an opening in a re-entrant portion 45 of housing ID. A nut 46 is threaded on the shank and serves to secure the fitting in place against the inner face of portion 45 of the housing. The projecting end of the shank and the nut are concealed by a plate 47 attach'ed to the housing and the fitting has a passage 48 through it and plate 41 is perforated, so that air can be expelled from within the chamber 38 as the latter is collapsed.

It' will be noted that the chamber 38 and its enclosure 39 lie in axial alignment with' the socket member 24 to which the cathode connections lead, such chamber and enclosure lying in part transversely opposte the tube and in a space, which, in a symmetrical housing, would otherwise be unoccupied. It is to be understood that, if desired, the position of the tube in the housing could be reversed and the tube could be placed with its ancde end adjacent the socket members. In that case, the chamber 38 and its enclosure would lie on the side of the tube opposite to that in which' it is now shown.

With the construction described, the housing is approximately square and its vertical dimension is a minimum. The cables extend in parallel from one end of the housing and there are no necks on the housing extending at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the tube as in prior constructions. The housing has the minimum horizontal dimension consistent with proper insulation for the connection 32, and by mounting the collapsible chamber wholly within the housin and in alignment with member to which Connections 34 lead, a saving in the overall dimensions of the unit is effected.

Some X-ray tables may require a reduction in the transverse dimensions of the unit while permitting an increase in its vertical dimension, and for such' an installation, the unit illustrated in Fig. 4 may be employed. In this construction, the housing 49 is so formed that the socket members 50 lie with their longitudinal axes parallel to one another and to the longitudinal axis of the tube 5I but the axes of the socket members lie' in a plane ofiset from th'e horizontal plane through the longitudinal axis of the tube. The

collapsible chamber and its housing 52 lie with their longitudinal axes in alignment one of the socket members. tween the axes of the socket members 56 is substant'ally smaller than the distance between the 24 in the construction With that of shown in Fig. 1, and the mension of the housing is, accordingly, substantially less th'an that of the Fig. 1 housing. In'

the construction shown in Fig. 4, planes passing through the axes of the respective socket members and the longitudinal axis of the tube lie at right angles to one another, but the enclosed angle between the planes may be Varied within the limits permitted by the requirements of the installation.

The new shockp-roof unit may be advantageously employed for serialographic X-ray work because of the possibility of moving the um't lengthwise and across the table to the extent necessary to permit all parts of the table to be reached by the beam issuing from the unit. For' the socket Th'e distance be-V overall transverse disuch use the unit is provided with a double focus tube, one focal spot being employed for producing the fiuoroscopic image, and the other for radiography.

We claim:

1. A shockproof X-ray unit which comprises a housing containing insulating fluid, an X-ray tube mounted within the housing with its longitudinal axis generally parallel to the side walls of the housing, the tube having terminals at its opposite ends, a pair of ca'ble terminal members mounted within the housing at one end and eX- tending generally parallel to the longitudinal aXis of the tube and on opposite sides of said axis and at least in part on opposite sides of the tube, a, collapsible chamber mounted within the housing at the other end thereof and aligned with one of the cable terminal members, the chamber lying in part -transversely opposite the tube, a connection extending through the space at the op posite side of the tube between the other cable terminal member and the tube terminal at the remote end of the tube, and a connection between the other cable terminal member and the tube terminal at the adjacent end of the tube.

2. A shockproof X-ray unit which comprises a housing containing insulating fluid, an X-ray tube mounted within the housing with its longitudinal axis generally parallel to the side walls of the housing, the tube having an anode terminal at one end and a cathode terminal at the other, a pair of cable terminal members mounted within the housing at the end, to which the cathode terminal of the tube is adjacent, and extending generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube and on op posite sides of said axis and at least in part on opposte sides of the tube, a collapsible chamber mounted within the housing at the other end thereof and aligned with one of the cable terminal members, the chamber lying in part transversely opposite the tube, a connection extending through the space at the opposte side of the tube between the other cable terminal and the anode terminal of the tube, and a connection between the first cable terminal and the cathode terminal of the tube.

3. A shockproof X-ray unit which comprises a, housing containing insulating fluid, an X-ray tube mounted within the housing with its longitudinal axis generally parallel to the side walls of the housing, the tube having terminals at its opposite ends, a pair of cable terminal members mounted within the housing at one end and extending generally parallel to the longitudinal aXis of the tube and on opposite sides of said axis and at least in part on op posite sides of the tube, the longitudnal axes of the tube and cable terminal members lying in substantially the same plane, a collapsible chamber mount d thin the housing at the other end thereof and aligned with one of the cabie terminal members, the chamber lying in part transversely opposite the tube, a connectio-n extending through the space at the opposite side of the tube between the other cable terminal member and the tube terminal at the remote end of the tube, and a connection between the other cable terminal member and the tube terminal at the adjacent end of the tube 4. A shockproof X-ray unit which comprises a housing containing insulating fluid, an X-ray tube mounted within the housing with its longitudinal axis generally parallel to the side walls of the housing, the tube having terminals at its opposite ends, a pair of cable terminal members mounted within the housing at one end and extending generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube and on opposite sides of said axis and at least in part on opposite sides of the tube, the longitudinal axes of the cable terminal members lying substantially in a horizontal plane offset from that of the longitudinal axis of the tube, a collapsble chamber mounted within the housing at the other end thereof and aligned with one of the cable terminal members, the chamber lying in part transversely opposite the tube, a connection extending through the space at the opposite side of the tube between the other cable terminal member and the tube terminal at the remote end of the tube, and a connection between the other cable terminal member and. the tube terminal at the a'djacent end of the tube.

5. A shockproof X-ray unit which comprises a housing containing insu'lating fluid, an X-ray tube mounted within the housing with its longitudinal axis generally parallel to the side walls of the housing, the tube having terminals at its opposite ends, a pair of cable terminal members mounted within the housing at one end and eX- tending generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube on opposite sicles of said axis and at least in part on opposite sides of the tube, the longitudinal axes of the ca'ble terminal members lying in a horizontal plane offset from a horizontal plane through the longitudinal aXis of the tube.

THOMAS H. ROGERS. WILLIAM W. FENGLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,290,322 Goldfiel-d July 21, 1942 `2,320,559 Bouwers June 1, 1943