Cooling device for x-ray tube bearing assembly
AssigneePicker International, Inc.
InventorsLester D. Miller, Mark S. Maska, Andrew R. Kaczmarek, Jr.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An x-ray tube is disposed within an x-ray tube housing defining a chamber filled with oil or other cooling medium for cooling the x-ray tube. The x-ray tube includes an envelope enclosing an evacuated chamber in which an anode assembly is rotatably mounted to a bearing assembly and interacts with a cathode assembly for production of x-rays. The bearing assembly includes a bearing housing and a plurality of bearings disposed on a surface of the bearing housing. A heat sink is coupled to the bearing assembly and provides a thermally conductive path between the bearing assembly and the cooling medium in the x-ray tube housing for providing direct cooling of the bearing assembly during operation.
Claims24
An x-ray apparatus comprising:
- a housing filled with a cooling medium;
- an x-ray tube disposed within the housing and surrounded by the cooling medium, the x-ray tube including:
- an envelope defining an evacuated chamber;
- a cathode assembly disposed in the envelope, said cathode assembly including a filament which emits electrons when heated;
- an anode assembly disposed in the envelope, the anode assembly defining a target for intercepting the electrons such that collision between the electrons and the anode assembly generate x-rays from an anode focal spot;
- and
- a bearing assembly rotatably supporting the anode assembly;
- and
- means for providing a direct thermal connection between the bearing assembly and the cooling medium.
An x-ray apparatus comprising:
- a housing filled with a cooling medium;
- an x-ray tube disposed within the housing and surrounded by the cooling medium, the x-ray tube including:
- an envelope defining an evacuated chamber;
- a cathode assembly disposed in the envelope, said cathode assembly including a filament which emits electrons when heated;
- an anode assembly disposed in the envelope, the anode assembly defining a target for intercepting the electrons such that collision between the electrons and the anode assembly generate x-rays from an anode focal spot;
- and
- a bearing assembly rotatably supporting the anode assembly;
- and
- a heat sink for providing a direct thermal connection between the bearing assembly and the cooling medium, wherein the heat sink includes a receiving cavity for receiving an end of the bearing housing.
A device for providing a thermally conductive path between a bearing assembly disposed within an x-ray tube and a cooling medium disposed outside of the x-ray tube, the device comprising:
- a heat sink coupled to the bearing assembly, the heat sink providing a thermally conductive path between the bearing assembly and the cooling medium, wherein the heat sink includes a receiving cavity for receiving an end of the bearing assembly.
A method of cooling a bearing assembly disposed within an x-ray tube, the method comprising the steps of:
- rotatably supporting an anode assembly with the bearing assembly for rotation around an axis of rotation of the anode assembly;
- pumping a cooling medium across a surface of a thermally conductive heat sink coupled to the bearing assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.