Pre-heating of the filament of an xray tube
AssigneeSpellman High Voltage Electronics Corp.
InventorsRaymond BOWKER, Nelson REYES, William BRASCH, Barry SCHNEIDER
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Abstract
An apparatus includes an Xray tube that has a filament serving as a cathode and an anode. The apparatus is configured to perform a method of driving the filament that includes pre-heating the filament by flowing a current through the filament before a high-voltage is applied between the filament and the anode. The method includes increasing an effective value of the current and the high-voltage, preferably by stepping the effective value of the current and the high-voltage essentially simultaneously. The method includes emitting Xrays in response to increasing the effective value of the current through the filament and the high-voltage.
Claims5
A method of driving a filament of an Xray tube having a filament serving as a cathode and an anode, comprising:
- pre-heating the filament by flowing a current through the filament before a high-voltage is applied between the filament and the anode;
- increasing an effective value of the current and the high-voltage;
- and
- emitting Xrays in response to increasing the effective value of the current through the filament and the high-voltage.
(canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.