X-ray tube

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of X-rays, and particularly relates to an X-ray tube which comprises a tube core shell, an anode assembly, an anode bearing, a cathode assembly, a cathode bearing and a cathode sealing assembly. One end of the anode assembly sleeves the anode supporting structure through an anode bearing, the other end of the anode assembly can be fixedly connected with one end of the tube core shell in a sealed mode, and the cathode sealing assembly can define a vacuum cavity with the cathode assembly, the tube core shell and the anode assembly. The tube core shell is a tubular component with two open ends, a vacuum cavity can be formed under the action of the cathode sealing assembly, the cathode assembly, the tube core shell and the anode assembly, the end, away from the tube core shell, of the anode assembly is connected with the anode bearing, and at the moment, the anode bearing is located outside the vacuum environment, namely, the anode bearing is located in the atmospheric environment. Therefore, the anode bearing can be suitable for a liquid lubricant, so that the phenomena of noise increase and failure of the anode bearing due to abrasion and consumption of solid lubricants such as lead or silver and the like are avoided.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of X-ray technology, in particular to an X-ray tube. BACKGROUND

[0002] The X-ray tube currently comprises a tube core shell, an anode assembly, an anode bearing and a cathode assembly. The tube core shell can provide a vacuum environment. The anode assembly is rotatably arranged in the vacuum environment through the anode bearing. The cathode assembly is fixed in the vacuum environment and faces the anode assembly, so that the anode assembly can receive electrons emitted from the cathode assembly, and the vacuum environment can avoid the occurrence of sparking phenomenon.

[0003] The anode bearing is usually a ball bearing. A lubricant needs to be added between the balls and the track of the ball bearing to reduce the wear of the balls and the track. When the ball bearing is in a vacuum environment, a conventional liquid lubricant cannot be used, and only a solid lubricant such as lead or silver can be used. However, the solid lubricant such as lead or silver will be worn and consumed after a period of use. After the electron bombards the target disc, the temperature of the target disc rises and the temperature of the anode bearing also rises through heat conduction. Usually, the working temperature of the anode bearing can be higher than 300℃. The high-temperature working environment of the anode further aggravates the wear of the solid lubricant. The particles worn off will increase the noise of the ball bearing during operation and cause the ball bearing to fail.

[0004] Therefore, the above problems need to be solved. SUMMARY

[0005] The purpose of the present application is to provide an X-ray tube to avoid the noise and failure caused by the wear and consumption of the solid lubricant such as lead or silver.

[0006] To achieve the above purpose, the present application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0007] The X-ray tube comprises a tube core shell, an anode assembly, an anode bearing, a cathode assembly, a cathode bearing and a cathode sealing assembly.

[0008] One end of the anode assembly is sleeved on an anode support structure through the anode bearing, and the other end can be sealingly and fixedly connected to one end of the tube core shell.

[0009] One end of the cathode assembly is rotatably connected to the other end of the tube core shell through the cathode bearing.

[0010] The cathode sealing assembly is arranged between the cathode assembly and the tube core shell, and can form a vacuum cavity together with the cathode assembly, the tube core shell and the anode assembly.

[0011] Preferably, the cathode bearing is in the vacuum cavity, and the cathode bearing is a liquid metal bearing.

[0012] The cathode bearing is outside the vacuum cavity, and the cathode bearing is a ball bearing.

[0013] Preferably, the cathode sealing assembly is a magnetic fluid sealing structure or a dry gas vacuum sealing structure.

[0014] Preferably, the anode assembly comprises:

[0015] An anode target disc in the shape of a ring is sealingly connected to one end of the tube shell, and the thickness of the anode target disc is greater than the thickness of the tube shell.

[0016] An anode rotor is sealingly covered by a cover at the end of the anode target disc away from the tube shell, and is sleeved on the anode support structure through the anode bearing.

[0017] Preferably, the anode assembly comprises:

[0018] An anode rotor is arranged inside the anode bearing;

[0019] An anode target disc in the shape of a disc is fixedly connected to the anode rotor and coaxially arranged with the anode rotor, and the anode target disc is sealingly covered at one end of the tube shell.

[0020] Preferably, the anode target disc is connected to the tube shell by laser welding or argon arc welding.

[0021] Preferably, the cathode assembly comprises a mounting, a cathode shaft arranged on the mounting, and a cathode head obliquely arranged on the cathode shaft.

[0022] The mounting is connected to the tube shell through the cathode bearing, and is used to coaxially arrange the cathode shaft with the tube shell.

[0023] Preferably, the mounting comprises:

[0024] A mounting portion is arranged in the shape of a ring and coaxially arranged with the tube shell;

[0025] A connecting portion is sealingly arranged inside the mounting portion and is used to connect the cathode shaft.

[0026] Preferably, the tube shell has a convex portion; the mounting portion is sleeved outside the convex portion.

[0027] Preferably, a center hole is arranged on the connecting portion and is shaped to fit the cathode shaft; the middle part of the cathode shaft is sealingly fixed to the hole wall of the center hole.

[0028] The beneficial effects of the invention are:

[0029] The X-ray tube of the present application, the cathode sealing assembly, the cathode assembly, the tube core shell and the anode assembly constitute a vacuum cavity, and the end of the anode assembly away from the tube core shell is connected with the anode bearing, under the action of the anode bearing, the anode assembly can be installed on the anode support structure and can rotate around its own axis, at this time, the anode bearing is outside the vacuum environment, that is, the anode bearing is in the atmospheric environment, so that the anode bearing can be suitable for liquid lubricant, to avoid the increased noise and failure phenomenon of the anode bearing due to the wear and consumption of solid lubricant such as lead or silver. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0030] Figure 1 is one of the structure schematic diagrams of the X-ray tube in the embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 2 is Figure 1 is the local enlarged view of A in the figure;

[0032] Figure 3 is one of the structure schematic diagrams of the X-ray tube in the embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Figure 4 is one of the structure schematic diagrams of the X-ray tube in the embodiment of the present application.

[0034] In the figure:

[0035] 1, tube core shell; 11, convex part;

[0036] 2, anode assembly; 21, anode rotor; 22, anode target disc;

[0037] 3, anode bearing;

[0038] 4, cathode assembly; 41, mounting piece; 411, mounting part; 412, connecting part; 42, cathode shaft; 43, cathode head;

[0039] 5, cathode bearing; 6, cathode sealing assembly. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The present application will be further described in detail below in combination with the drawings and embodiments. It can be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application, but not to limit the present application. In addition, it should be noted that, in order to facilitate the description, only the parts related to the present application are shown in the drawings, but not all the structures.

[0041] In the description of the invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "connected", "connected", "fixed" should be understood broadly, for example, it can be fixedly connected, or it can be detachably connected, or it can be integrated; it can be mechanically connected, or it can be electrically connected; it can be directly connected, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium; it can be the internal communication of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the invention can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0042] In the invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, "on" or "under" the first feature of the second feature can include that the first and second features are in direct contact, or that the first and second features are not in direct contact but are in contact through another feature between them. Moreover, the first feature "on", "above" and "above" the second feature includes that the first feature is directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or only indicates that the horizontal height of the first feature is higher than that of the second feature. The first feature "below", "below" and "below" the second feature includes that the first feature is directly below and obliquely below the second feature, or only indicates that the horizontal height of the first feature is less than that of the second feature.

[0043] In the description of the embodiment, the terms "up", "down", "left", "right" and other orientation or position relationships are based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of description and simplification of operation, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second" are only used to distinguish in description, and have no special meaning.

[0044] Embodiment 1

[0045] Please refer to Figure 1 With Figure 2 , the present embodiment proposes an X-ray tube, which includes a tube core shell 1, an anode assembly 2, an anode bearing 3, a cathode assembly 4, a cathode bearing 5 and a cathode sealing assembly 6; one end of the anode assembly 2 is sleeved on the anode support structure through the anode bearing 3, and the other end can be sealingly connected with one end of the tube core shell 1; one end of the cathode assembly 4 is rotatably connected with the other end of the tube core shell 1 through the cathode bearing 5; the cathode sealing assembly 6 is arranged between the cathode assembly 4 and the tube core shell 1, and can form a vacuum cavity with the cathode assembly 4, the tube core shell 1 and the anode assembly 2.

[0046] It can be understood that the tube shell 1 is a tubular component with open ends, which can form a vacuum cavity under the action of the cathode sealing assembly 6, the cathode assembly 4, the tube shell 1 and the anode assembly 2, and the end of the anode assembly 2 away from the tube shell 1 is connected with the anode bearing 3, which can install the anode assembly 2 to the anode support structure and make the anode assembly 2 rotate around its own axis under the action of the anode bearing 3. At this time, the anode bearing 3 is outside the vacuum environment, that is, the anode bearing 3 is in the atmospheric environment, so that the anode bearing 3 can be suitable for liquid lubricant to avoid the increased noise and failure phenomenon due to the wear and consumption of solid lubricants such as lead or silver.

[0047] In addition, since the anode bearing 3 and the cathode bearing 5 are in the atmospheric environment, the anode bearing 3 and the cathode bearing 5 can be selected as the ball bearing in the prior art. Compared with the gallium indium tin liquid metal bearing in the prior art, the selection of the ball bearing can reduce the production cost of the X-ray tube. Moreover, the anode bearing 3 can be directly contacted with the cooling oil outside the tube shell 1, so that the heat dissipation effect of the anode bearing 3 is increased, the operating temperature of the anode bearing 3 is reduced, the service life is prolonged, and the X-ray tube can withstand higher power.

[0048] In the embodiment, the cathode bearing 5 is outside the vacuum cavity, that is, in the atmospheric environment, so that the cathode bearing 5 can also be suitable for liquid lubricant to avoid the increased noise and failure phenomenon due to the wear and consumption of solid lubricants such as lead or silver during the rotation of the tube shell 1 with the anode bearing 3. In this way, the cathode bearing 5 can be a ball bearing, thereby reducing the production cost.

[0049] In addition, the cathode sealing assembly 6 is preferably a magnetic fluid sealing structure or a dry gas vacuum sealing structure in the prior art. The magnetic fluid sealing structure and the dry gas vacuum sealing structure can be arranged as a dynamic seal between the tube shell 1 and the cathode assembly 4 to ensure that the vacuum degree of the vacuum cavity is still guaranteed during the rotation of the tube shell 1, thereby avoiding the phenomenon of sparking. In some other feasible embodiments, other existing dynamic sealing structures can also be selected, which will not be described here.

[0050] In the embodiment, the cathode assembly 4 comprises a mounting member 41, a cathode shaft 42 arranged on the mounting member 41, and a cathode head 43 arranged on the cathode shaft 42 in an inclined manner; the mounting member 41 is connected with the tube core shell 1 through a cathode bearing 5 and is used to arrange the cathode shaft 42 coaxially with the tube core shell 1. It can be understood that the cathode shaft 42 can be arranged coaxially with the tube core shell 1 under the action of the mounting member 41 to ensure excellent dynamic balance of the tube core shell 1 during high-speed rotation, thereby ensuring the stability of the cathode assembly 4 during rotation of the tube core shell 1, which makes the position and angle of the inclined cathode head 43 relative to the anode target remain highly constant, so that the electron beam emitted by the cathode head 43 can continuously and accurately bombard the predetermined focal point track of the anode assembly 2, thereby ensuring higher imaging clarity. In addition, stable rotation of the tube core shell 1 can avoid damage to the fragile sealing structure caused by violent vibration, thereby ensuring the vacuum degree of the vacuum cavity and further improving safety.

[0051] The mounting member 41 comprises a mounting portion 411 and a connecting portion 412; the mounting portion 411 is arranged in an annular manner and coaxially with the tube core shell 1; and the connecting portion 412 is arranged in a sealed manner in the interior of the mounting portion 411 and is used to connect the cathode shaft 42. It can be understood that the mounting portion 411 is connected with the tube core shell 1 through the cathode bearing 5 and is sealed between the two through a cathode sealing assembly 6 to ensure the vacuum degree of the vacuum cavity; and the connecting portion 412 serves as a connecting structure between the mounting portion 411 and the cathode shaft 42 and needs to ensure the sealing between the connecting portion 412 and the mounting portion 411 and between the connecting portion 412 and the cathode shaft 42, so the connecting mode between the connecting portion 412 and the mounting portion 411 and between the connecting portion 412 and the cathode shaft 42 is preferably laser welding or argon arc welding.

[0052] For example, the connecting portion 412 is provided with a central hole which is shaped to fit the cathode shaft 42; and the middle part of the cathode shaft 42 is fixedly sealed with the hole wall of the central hole. It can be understood that when the cathode shaft 42 is mounted, the cathode shaft 42 is passed through the central hole; since one end of the cathode shaft 42 needs to be mounted with the cathode head 43, the middle part of the cathode shaft 42 is fixedly sealed with the hole wall of the central hole, so that the cathode shaft 42 can be kept balanced to ensure the stability of the electron beam emitted by the cathode head 43.

[0053] In addition, the tube core shell 1 has a convex portion 11; and the mounting portion 411 is sleeved on the outside of the convex portion 11. It can be understood that the inner ring of the cathode bearing 5 is fixedly connected with the convex portion 11, the outer ring of the cathode bearing 5 is fixedly connected with the mounting portion 411, and the balls of the cathode bearing 5 are arranged to roll between the inner ring and the outer ring, so that the cathode assembly 4 is allowed to rotate with the anode assembly 2 relative to the cathode assembly 4 in a fixed state. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the cathode shaft 42 is arranged coaxially with the tube core shell 1, and the cathode head 43 is arranged on the cathode shaft 42 in an inclined manner. Figure 2As shown, the cathode sealing assembly 6 is located on the right side of the cathode bearing 5 so that the cathode bearing 5 is in an atmospheric environment.

[0054] In this embodiment, the anode assembly 2 includes an anode rotor 21 and an anode target disk 22. The anode rotor 21 is disposed inside the anode bearing 3. The anode target disk 22 is disc-shaped and is fixedly connected to the anode rotor 21, and is coaxially arranged with the anode rotor 21. The anode target disk 22 is sealed and covered at one end of the core shell 1. It can be understood that the disc-shaped anode target disk 22 can seal the opening at one end of the core shell 1, and the anode target disk 22 and the core shell 1 are connected by a sealed connection, such as laser welding or argon arc welding. At this time, the anode target disk 22, the core shell 1, the mounting part 411, and the cathode sealing assembly 6 can form a vacuum cavity.

[0055] Example 2

[0056] The difference between this embodiment and Embodiment 1 is that, as Figure 3 As shown, the anode assembly 2 has a different configuration. Specifically, the anode assembly 2 includes an anode target disk 22 and an anode rotor 21. The anode target disk 22 is annular and is sealed to one end of the core shell 1. The thickness of the anode target disk 22 is greater than the thickness of the core shell 1. The anode rotor 21 is sealed at the end of the anode target disk 22 away from the core shell 1 and is connected to the anode bearing 3.

[0057] Understandably, one end of the annular anode target disk 22 is connected to the core shell 1, and the other end can be connected to the anode rotor 21. At this time, the anode rotor 21 can cover the annular anode target disk 22, so that the anode rotor 21, anode target disk 22, core shell 1, mounting part 411, and cathode sealing assembly 6 form a vacuum chamber. This arrangement can reduce the overall weight of the anode target disk 22, thereby further reducing the weight of the entire X-ray tube and making it easier to achieve rapid start-up and shutdown of the rotating structure.

[0058] Example 3

[0059] The difference between this embodiment and Embodiment 1 is that, as Figure 4 As shown, the cathode bearing 5 is located in the vacuum chamber. The cathode bearing 5 is a liquid metal bearing. This configuration can reduce the noise of the X-ray tube during operation and further improve the service life of the X-ray tube.

[0060] Obviously, the above embodiments of the application are only examples for clearly explaining the application, and are not intended to limit the implementation modes of the application. Those skilled in the art can make various obvious changes, re-adjustments and substitutions without departing from the protection scope of the application. It is unnecessary and impossible to enumerate all the implementation modes here. Any modification, equivalent substitution and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the application shall be included in the protection scope of the claims of the application.

Claims

1. An X-ray tube, characterized in that, It includes a core shell (1), an anode assembly (2), an anode bearing (3), a cathode assembly (4), a cathode bearing (5), and a cathode sealing assembly (6); One end of the anode assembly (2) is sleeved on the anode support structure through the anode bearing (3), and the other end can be sealed and fixed to one end of the core shell (1); One end of the cathode assembly (4) is rotatably connected to the other end of the core shell (1) via the cathode bearing (5); The cathode sealing assembly (6) is disposed between the cathode assembly (4) and the core shell (1), and can form a vacuum cavity with the cathode assembly (4), the core shell (1) and the anode assembly (2).

2. The X-ray tube according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cathode bearing (5) is located in the vacuum cavity, and the cathode bearing (5) is a liquid metal bearing; or; The cathode bearing (5) is located outside the vacuum cavity, and the cathode bearing (5) is a ball bearing.

3. The X-ray tube according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cathode sealing assembly (6) is a magnetohydrodynamic sealing structure or a dry gas vacuum sealing structure.

4. The X-ray tube according to claim 1, characterized in that, The anode assembly (2) includes: The anode target disk (22) is annular and is sealed to one end of the core shell (1), and the thickness of the anode target disk (22) is greater than the thickness of the core shell (1). The anode rotor (21) is sealed at one end of the anode target disk (22) away from the core shell (1) and is sleeved on the anode support structure through the anode bearing (3).

5. The X-ray tube according to claim 1, characterized in that, The anode assembly (2) includes: The anode rotor (21) is disposed inside the anode bearing (3); The anode target disk (22) is disk-shaped. The anode target disk (22) is fixedly connected to the anode rotor (21) and is coaxially arranged with the anode rotor (21). The anode target disk (22) is sealed and covered at one end of the core shell (1).

6. The X-ray tube according to any one of claims 4 or 5, characterized in that, The anode target disk (22) is connected to the core shell (1) by laser welding or argon arc welding.

7. The X-ray tube according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cathode assembly (4) includes a mounting component (41), a cathode shaft (42) disposed on the mounting component (41), and a cathode head (43) inclinedly disposed on the cathode shaft (42); The mounting component (41) is connected to the core shell (1) via the cathode bearing (5) and is used to make the cathode shaft (42) coaxial with the core shell (1).

8. The X-ray tube according to claim 7, characterized in that, The mounting component (41) includes: The mounting part (411) is arranged in a ring shape and is coaxially arranged with the core shell (1); The connecting part (412) is sealed inside the mounting part (411) and is used to connect the cathode shaft (42).

9. The X-ray tube according to claim 8, characterized in that, The core shell (1) has a protrusion (11); the mounting part (411) is sleeved on the outside of the protrusion (11).

10. The X-ray tube according to claim 8, characterized in that, The connecting part (412) is provided with a central hole that conforms to the shape of the cathode shaft (42); the middle part of the cathode shaft (42) is sealed and fixed to the hole wall of the central hole.

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