Electron Tube Positioning Member for Precise Spectroscope Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing photomultiplier tubes face challenges in achieving mechanical precision due to manufacturing tolerances and assembly accuracy, leading to individual differences in optical positional relationships when attached to external devices, resulting in variations in output signals for the same input signal.
Innovation Solution
The electron tube includes a housing with a light incident window, a photoelectric conversion portion, an electron multiplier portion, and a positioning member with a reference portion for mechanical positioning. The positioning member is fixed to the light incident surface, allowing for high-precision positioning by using the reference portion, which is not affected by manufacturing influences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the photomultiplier tube is fixed using conventional mounting methods with bolts and through-holes, then the assembly is simple to manufacture, but the mechanical precision and optical positioning accuracy deteriorate due to manufacturing tolerances and assembly variations
Solution Approach 1:
A positioning member is introduced as an intermediary component between the photomultiplier tube and the external device. This positioning member includes a reference portion that interfaces with the external device and a positioning portion that interfaces with the photomultiplier tube, thereby mediating the connection and achieving high-precision optical positioning while keeping the overall structure manageable
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning system is segmented into distinct functional parts: the positioning member with its reference portion and positioning portion, the reference mark on the photomultiplier tube, and the external device mounting structure. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently for its specific function while maintaining overall system precision
2Reliability
If individual photomultiplier tubes are manufactured with standard tolerances, then the manufacturing cost and complexity remain low, but the optical positional relationship with external devices varies between individual units
Solution Approach 1:
A reference mark is pre-formed on the photomultiplier tube during manufacturing, and a positioning member with a corresponding reference portion is prepared in advance. This preliminary preparation of reference features allows for precise optical positioning to be achieved during assembly without requiring complex post-manufacturing adjustment procedures
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces reliance on purely mechanical tolerance stacking with an optical-mechanical hybrid positioning system. The reference mark and reference portion create an optical reference system that supplements mechanical positioning, ensuring consistent optical alignment across individual units while maintaining simple manufacturing processes
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration enables easy and highly precise positioning of the electron tube with respect to external devices, such as spectrometers, ensuring consistent output signals by minimizing the impact of manufacturing variations.
Implementation Method 1
a photoelectric conversion portion disposed inside the housing to face the light incident window and configured to emit electrons in response to the light incident from the light incident window
Data Source
AI summary
An electron tube used by being attached to an external device, including a housing having a light incident window including a light incident surface and allowing light from the external device to be incident thereon through the light incident surface, a photoelectric conversion portion disposed inside the housing to face the light incident window, and configured to emit electrons in response to the light incident from the light incident window, an electron multiplier portion disposed inside the housing and configured to multiply electrons emitted from the photoelectric conversion portion, and a positioning member formed separately from the light incident window and fixed to the light incident surface, the positioning member having a light passing portion passing the light from the external device toward the light incident surface, in which the positioning member has a reference portion serving as a reference for mechanical positioning with respect to the external device.