X-ray system and its driving method

• US 7,336,766 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2003
• Issued: 02/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Electron Tubes & Devices Co., Ltd. (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Electron Tubes & Devices Co. Ltd. (Canon Inc.), Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Kitami, Takayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Yun; Jurie
• Application Number:
  US10/535,676
• Publication Number:
  US 20060233306A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,560 Days
• Field of Search: 378/91, 378/92, 378/101, 378/131, 378/143, 378/144
• US Class Current: 378/131
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2235/10 Drive means for anode (target) substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H05G 1/66 Circuit arrangements for X-ray tubes with target movable relatively to the anode

Abstract

An X-ray apparatus includes a rotary anode X-ray tube, a stator coil, and a drive-power-supply device. The rotary anode X-ray tube has an anode target arranged in a vacuum envelope, a rotary body coupled to the anode target and configured to rotate together with the anode target, and a fixed shaft supporting the rotary body, allowing the same to rotate. The stator coil generates a rotating magnetic field for rotating the rotary body of the rotary anode X-ray tube. The drive-power-supply device controls drive power to be supplied to the stator coil. The apparatus further includes a memory unit that stores a plurality of drive conditions for controlling the drive power to be supplied to the stator coil, and a control unit that selects one drive condition from the plurality of drive conditions and causes the drive-power-supply device to output drive power that matches said one drive condition.

Claims

1. An X-ray apparatus having a rotary anode x-ray tube, comprising;

an anode target arranged in a vacuum envelope, a rotary body mechanically coupled to the anode target and configured to rotate together with the anode target, and a fixed shaft supporting the rotary body, allowing the rotary body to rotate on a bearing;

a stator coil generating a rotating magnetic field for rotating the rotary body of the rotary anode X-ray tube;

a drive-power-supply device controlling a drive power to be supplied to the stator coil;

a memory unit storing drive conditions of various types of a plurality of X-ray tubes for controlling the drive power to be supplied to the stator coil; and

a control unit supplying a lower level drive power than the drive conditions to an X-ray tube to detect a power consumed in the stator coil and determining whether a selected one of the drive conditions stored in the memory unit and a condition of the detected consumed power match or not.

2. The X-ray apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a detector detecting power or current consumed at the stator coil while a lower level drive power than the drive conditions is applied to the stator coil;

a comparator determining whether the power or current detected at the detector falls within a predetermined range; and

a power-supply stopping device stopping supply of power from the drive-power-supply device to the stator coil when the power or current falls outside the predetermined range.