US3711736A - X-ray tube having a rotary anode - Google Patents

X-ray tube having a rotary anode Download PDF

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Publication number
US3711736A
US3711736A US00121078A US3711736DA US3711736A US 3711736 A US3711736 A US 3711736A US 00121078 A US00121078 A US 00121078A US 3711736D A US3711736D A US 3711736DA US 3711736 A US3711736 A US 3711736A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
metal
ray tube
anode
alloy
ray
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
US00121078A
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English (en)
Inventor
E Gabbay
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.)
Compagnie Generale de Radiologie SA
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Compagnie Generale de Radiologie SA
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Publication date
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Publication of US3711736A publication Critical patent/US3711736A/en
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Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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    • 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
    • H01J35/105—Cooling of rotating anodes, e.g. heat emitting layers or structures
    • H01J35/106—Active cooling, e.g. fluid flow, heat pipes

Definitions

  • liquid state or melting at a relatively low temperature such as sodium
  • the present invention relates to X-ray tubes having disk-shaped rotary anodes these anodes comprising a thin outer wall, closed and filled with a liquid metal or alloy.
  • a rotary anode of this type can be of solid design and made of a refractory metal or two such metals or refractory bodies which facilitate heat transmission to a greater or lesser extent.
  • the aim is towards achieving very high power emission for short times (ranging from some few milliseconds to some few seconds), this giving rise to a heat flow which results in a very rapid local rise in temperature at the bombarded surface, which can damage this surface and indeed the entire body of the anode.
  • the X-ray tube in accordance with the invention enables these drawbacks to be overcome.
  • an X-ray tube which contains within the anode body a liquid metal or alloy, there is added to the phenomenon of conduction a convection phenomenon due to the movement of the liquid metal.
  • This convection mechanism promotes more rapid distribution of the heat and more rapid dissipation through surfaces which are more quickly raised to the radiation temperature.
  • an X- ray'tube having a disk-shaped rotary anode said anode comprising a hollow body having a thin, outer wall made of a refractory metal or an alloy of such metals, one of the outer surfaces of said wall being subjected to electron bombardment forming a so-called focal track; said hollow body being filled with a metal or an alloy, which is in liquid state at least at a temperature well below the normal operating temperature of the anode.
  • the anode takes the form of a hollow body or closed capsule, with thin outer walls 1. These walls can be made of a refractory metal such, for example, as tungston.
  • the interior of the hollow body 1 is filled with a liquid metal or alloy or one which becomes liquid i.e., melts at a relatively low temperature i.e., well beneath the anode operating temperature.
  • This metal or alloy should be selected for its coefficient of thermal conductivity as well as for its specific heat and specific weight, in order to make it possible to lighten the parts which are to be rotated and achieve a relatively short start-.up time.
  • sodium is an advantageous one, its properties, which are doubtless well known to those skilled in the art, being listed in the following table and compared with those of tungsten which is most often used as a refractory metal in rotary anodes.
  • the significance of filling the anode (which has a thin closed wall) with a liquid metal resides in the fact that in the liquid metal an exchange of liquid takes place between the hot and cooler parts thereof and that there is added to the mechanism of heat diffusion by conduction, that of diffusion by convection, this contributing to acceleration of the establishment of thermal equilibrium between different parts of the anode. In turn, this acceleration makes it possible to increase the load applied to the tube during the relatively short periods involved.
  • the wall of the anode which forms a cover and is opposite the wall on which the focal track 2 is formed presents annular and concentric undulations (in the manner of a pressure bellows), in order to enable this wall to distort as a consequence of differential expansion between the metal envelope and the liquid metal contained therein, under the effect of rise in temperature.
  • the wall 1 can advantageously be made entirely of a refractory metal of high atomic number or of an alloy of two or more such metals, which are X-ray emissive under electron bombardment. It is equally possible to make this wall of some other refractory metal, in this case the focal track 2 at least must be covered by an X-ray-emitting metal layer.
  • the anode in accordance with the invention can advantageously be manufactured from preshaped sheet metal blanks forming two cheeks which are subsequently placed together and welded at their ends by v electron bombardment, in a manner known per se.
  • the filling of the hollow body thus obtained with for example liquid sodium is carried out under vacuum and sealing of the walls-is effected after filling has been completed.
  • the anode thus obtained is assembled on a spindle fixed to the rotor, in the same way as prior art anodes.
  • an anode in accordance with the invention makes it possible to increase the X- ray tube load by about 1.5 times as compared with a solid tungsten anode of the same size.
  • the rotary anode in accordance with the invention can be utilized in X-ray tubes for X-ray diagnostic applications, which have to carry substantial loads, as for example in examinations requiring sequences of exposures involving substantial numbers thereof over a relatively short time.
  • X-ray tube having a disk-shaped rotary anode; said anode comprising a hollow body having a thin outer wall made of a refractory metal or an alloy of such metals, one of the outer surfaces of said wall being subjected electron bombardment forming a so-called focal track; track hollow body being filled with a metal or an alloy, which is in liquid state at least at a temperature well below the normal operating temperature of the anode and a boiling point above the latter and which has a thermal conductivity close to or above that of the metal or alloy forming the wall and a specific weight much lower that the latter one.
  • X-ray tube as claimed in claim 1, wherein said refractory metal or alloy is a metal or an alloy of metals having a high atomic number which are X-ray emissive under electron bombardment.
  • X-ray tube as claimed in claim 3, wherein said refractory metal is tungsten.
  • X-ray tube as claimed in claim 1, said hollow body being made of a refractory metal or an alloy of such metals which do not emit X-rays having a desired spectrum, wherein at least said focal track is covered by a layor of an X-ray emissive refractory metal or alloy.
  • X-ray tube as claimed in claim 1, wherein the part of the outer wall opposite said focal track contains concentric annular undulations, like a pressure bellows, enabling it to be deformed under the influence of the difference between the coefficients of expansion of the metal forming the hollow body and the liquid metal filling same, without deforming the rest of the anode body.
  • X-ray tube as claimed in claim I, wherein said anode is manufactured from pre-shaped sheet metal blanks, the space between the blanks being filled with a liquid metal and the sealing of the walls being effected after filling by welding them together by means of electron bombardment.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
  • X-Ray Techniques (AREA)
  • Image-Pickup Tubes, Image-Amplification Tubes, And Storage Tubes (AREA)
US00121078A 1970-03-13 1971-03-04 X-ray tube having a rotary anode Expired - Lifetime US3711736A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR7009101A FR2082406A5 (de) 1970-03-13 1970-03-13

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3711736A true US3711736A (en) 1973-01-16

Family

ID=9052238

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US00121078A Expired - Lifetime US3711736A (en) 1970-03-13 1971-03-04 X-ray tube having a rotary anode

Country Status (4)

Country Link
US (1) US3711736A (de)
DE (1) DE2111689C3 (de)
FR (1) FR2082406A5 (de)
GB (1) GB1305666A (de)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3959685A (en) * 1975-02-18 1976-05-25 Konieczynski Ronald D Heat sink target
US4146815A (en) * 1977-01-10 1979-03-27 Eurotungstene Revolving anode for an x-ray tube filled with liquid metal
US4953191A (en) * 1989-07-24 1990-08-28 The United States Of America As Represented By The United States Department Of Energy High intensity x-ray source using liquid gallium target
US5138645A (en) * 1989-11-28 1992-08-11 General Electric Cgr S.A. Anode for x-ray tubes
WO2003069650A1 (en) * 2002-02-11 2003-08-21 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. A device for generating x-rays

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2618235C3 (de) * 1976-04-26 1983-01-13 Siemens AG, 1000 Berlin und 8000 München Röntgenröhren-Drehanode
DE3635901A1 (de) * 1986-10-22 1988-04-28 Licentia Gmbh Roentgenroehre
DE19854484C1 (de) * 1998-11-25 2000-05-04 Siemens Ag Röntgenröhre
DE102011079878A1 (de) * 2011-07-27 2013-01-31 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Röntgenröhre und Verfahren zu deren Herstellung

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2468942A (en) * 1943-03-15 1949-05-03 Hartford Nat Bank & Trust Co X-ray tube cooling apparatus

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2468942A (en) * 1943-03-15 1949-05-03 Hartford Nat Bank & Trust Co X-ray tube cooling apparatus

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3959685A (en) * 1975-02-18 1976-05-25 Konieczynski Ronald D Heat sink target
US4146815A (en) * 1977-01-10 1979-03-27 Eurotungstene Revolving anode for an x-ray tube filled with liquid metal
US4953191A (en) * 1989-07-24 1990-08-28 The United States Of America As Represented By The United States Department Of Energy High intensity x-ray source using liquid gallium target
US5138645A (en) * 1989-11-28 1992-08-11 General Electric Cgr S.A. Anode for x-ray tubes
WO2003069650A1 (en) * 2002-02-11 2003-08-21 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. A device for generating x-rays
JP2005518071A (ja) * 2002-02-11 2005-06-16 コーニンクレッカ　フィリップス　エレクトロニクス　エヌ　ヴィ Ｘ線生成装置
US20060256923A1 (en) * 2002-02-11 2006-11-16 Lothar Weil Device for generating x-rays
US7164751B2 (en) 2002-02-11 2007-01-16 Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V. Device for generating X-rays

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE2111689B2 (de) 1979-06-28
GB1305666A (de) 1973-02-07
DE2111689A1 (de) 1972-09-14
FR2082406A5 (de) 1971-12-10
DE2111689C3 (de) 1980-03-06

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