JPH06119990A - Rotating anode X-ray tube device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make recovery from deterioration in the degree of vacuum and improve the lifetime of an X-ray tube by removing a high voltage cable from a receptacle of an X-ray tube capacity upon interrupting X-ray irradiation when the degree of vacuum in the X-ray tube is to be measured, and replacing with a measuring plug which is connected with external power supply for measuring the degree of vacuum and heating the getter. CONSTITUTION:An external power supply 1 is composed of a power supply 1A for measuring the degree of vacuum, power supply 1B for heating a filament, and power supply 1C for getter heating/grid, wherein an ammeter A. getter 8p, plate, and a gas adsorbent attached to the oversurface of the plate are further furnished. To know the degree of vacuum in the X-ray tube according to this constitution, the current between an anode 3 and cathode 4 is determined by reading the current of the ammeter A. A different point therein from a conventional X-ray tube is that cathode filament 4 is insulated from a convergence electrode 5, i.e., convergence electrode 5 of nickel or stainless steel and tungsten filament 4 are insulated by an insulator 4b made of ceramic etc. Thereby feeding current to the getter is made practicable to lead to facilitating the measurement of the degree of vacuum.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention finds application in the field of X-ray tubes. The present invention relates to a rotary anode X-ray tube device, and more particularly to an improved cathode structure of a rotary anode X-ray tube, an improved cathode side socket of a tube container and a combination with a novel plug corresponding to this socket.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional X-ray tube is checked for the vacuum degree in the tube and quality control is performed in the manufacturing process. However, when the X-ray tube is put in a tube container and actually used, the X-ray tube is used. It becomes impossible to measure the degree of vacuum in the wire tube, and it is not possible to judge an abnormality due to deterioration of the degree of vacuum, for example. Similarly, the operation of the conductive getter, which is also effective for maintaining the degree of vacuum of the X-ray tube, is limited to the manufacturing process.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to enable measurement of the degree of vacuum in an X-ray tube even when the X-ray tube is placed in an X-ray tube container, and to increase the degree of vacuum. It is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary anode X-ray tube device that can also be used for getter energization.

[0004]

The above-mentioned object is to provide a rotating anode X-ray tube having a structure in which a cathode portion insulates a filament and a focusing electrode, and a getter for adsorbing gas in the tube, and an X-ray tube. In addition to having a considerable number of terminals which are accommodated in the cathode side recessable socket of the high voltage cable and which are provided with the getter current-carrying terminals, and a terminal which corresponds to the socket, This is achieved by providing such a terminal with a measuring plug to which an external power source for measuring the degree of vacuum in the X-ray tube and for heating the getter is connected.

[0005]

The high voltage device and the X-ray tube container are connected through the high voltage cable to heat the filament of the X-ray tube to expose the X-ray, and the high voltage is applied. A vacuum in the X-ray tube is removed by interrupting the exposure to remove the high voltage cable from the receptacle of the X-ray tube container, and by replacing the measurement plug connected to the external power source for vacuum degree / getter energization according to the present invention. Measurement and getter energization are performed.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exemplary circuit diagram of an external power source and an X-ray tube showing the first embodiment.

The external power source 1 comprises a vacuum degree measuring power source 1A, a filament heating power source 1B and a getter heating / grid power source 1C. A is an ammeter and 8p is a getter, which is composed of a plate and a gas adsorbent attached to the upper surface thereof. In addition,
2 is an X-ray tube, 3 is an anode, 4 is a filament, and 5 is a grid.

When the filament is turned on in the state of the illustrated example, the degree of vacuum in the tube can be known from the ammeter A of the current between the anode 3 and the cathode 4. That is, an ionization vacuum gauge is constructed by using the anode as the collector, the cathode filament as the filament, and the focusing electrode as the grid.

What is different from an ordinary X-ray tube is that the cathode filament 4 is insulated from the focusing electrode 5, and as shown in FIG. 2, the focusing electrode 5 made of nickel, stainless steel or the like and tungsten (W). The filament 4 has a structure insulated by an insulator 4b such as ceramic. This means a so-called triode structure. In addition, 4a is a support part which supports filament 4, and is usually made of molybdenum.

X having the above-mentioned cathode portion and getter in FIG.
An X-ray tube container containing a ray tube is illustrated. Reference numeral 2 is the X-ray tube, 2C is an X-ray emission window, 3R is an anode-side resector, 4R is a cathode resector, and 6 is a stator.
In the present invention, a getter terminal and a grid terminal are provided on the cathode side (cathode part) side recess 4R in addition to the normal filament heating terminal.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the X-ray tube has one focal point, a four-terminal rescue loop (socket) 4S is provided.
Is used. Terminal C is one end of the filament, terminal L
Is connected to the other end, filament heating is performed by the terminals C (COMMON) to L (LARGE), and the terminal S (original SMALL) is used as a grid. Separately, getter heating is performed by terminals C (COMMON) to terminal Getter.

When the X-ray tube is normally used, only the filament heating between the terminals C and L is used, so that the plug side of the high voltage cable can use the general standard product 4P 'as shown in the drawing. At this time, if a structure in which C and S are connected on the high voltage generator side is used, unnecessary stray voltage is not generated.

When measuring the degree of vacuum in the X-ray tube and the getter heating according to the present invention, the ordinary plug 4P 'is removed and replaced with a 4-pin plug 4P for measurement as shown in FIG. The getter heating power source 1C and the external power source 1 including the ammeter A shown in FIG. 1 are connected to the plug 4P, and the vacuum degree inside the X-ray tube and the getter heating can be performed. FIG. 5 shows the connection relationship between the measuring plug and two circuits included in this external power supply.

In order to measure the degree of vacuum, the anode to
Since a high voltage is applied between the cathodes, an insulating transformer is used for the filament heating transformer on the cathode side to prevent contact. As a result, the getter can be energized simultaneously with the measurement of the degree of vacuum.

Further, in the above embodiment, the X-ray tube having a single focus is shown, but even if the X-ray tube has two or more focal points,
If you use resector pull with (focus number + 2) terminal,
A similar circuit can be constructed.

[0016]

[Effect] By measuring the degree of vacuum in the X-ray tube, an X-ray tube defect due to deterioration of the degree of vacuum can be detected, and at the same time getter energization is performed to restore the deteriorated degree of vacuum and prolong the life of the X-ray tube. It becomes possible.

[0017]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exemplary connection diagram of an external power supply and an X-ray tube showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a cathode portion according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a tube container containing an X-ray tube.

FIG. 4 is an end view of a cathode plug on the cathode side of the tube container according to the present invention and an ordinary plug used for a high voltage cable.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram showing a correspondence between a measuring plug and an external power source according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 External power supply 2 X-ray tube 3 Anode 4 Filament 5 Focusing electrode or grid 4R Cathode side resector 4S Cathode side resector with getter terminal 4P Measurement plug

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotating anode X-ray tube having a cathode part having a structure in which a filament and a focusing electrode are insulated from each other and having a getter for adsorbing gas in the tube, and a cathode-side recessable coil for accommodating the X-ray tube. The socket has a tube container in which the getter current-carrying terminal is provided in addition to a considerable number of terminals corresponding to the plug of the high-voltage cable, and a terminal corresponding to the socket. A rotary anode X-ray tube device, comprising: a measuring plug connected to an external power source for measuring the degree of vacuum and for heating the getter.