Patent Application
20130016810
The present invention relates to a radiation generating apparatus which is applicable to a non-destructive X-ray photography or the like in the fields of medical equipment and industrial equipment, and a radiation imaging apparatus in which the radiation generating apparatus is used.
In general, a radiation tube accelerates, at a high voltage, electrons emitted from an electron emitting source, and then irradiates the accelerated electrons to a target, thereby generating a radiation such as an X-ray or the like. At this time, the radiations are generated in all directions. In the circumstances, a transmission-type radiation tube in which shielding members are arranged on an electron incident side of a target and a radiation emitting side has been proposed to shield redundant radiations (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-265981). In the radiation tube like this, it is unnecessary to cover, by a shielding member such as a lead member or the like, the entirety of the radiation tube or the entirety of an envelope holding therein the radiation tube, whereby it is possible to achieve reduction of size and weight of an overall apparatus.
To cause a radiation imaging apparatus to generate a suitable radiation, it is necessary to irradiate a high-energy electron beam to a target by applying a high voltage of 40 to 150 kilovolts between an electron emitting source and the target. For this reason, high voltage differences of several tens of kilovolts or more resultingly occur between the electron emitting source and the target and between the radiation tube and the envelope thereof. Here, as a means for securing withstand voltage performance in regard to such high voltage, a constitution of filling the portion between the radiation tube and the envelope thereof with an insulating oil and a constitution of arranging an insulating member within the envelope of the radiation tube have been proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-080568).
In the transmission-type radiation tube, it is possible to further reduce the radiation generating apparatus in size and weight by adopting a neutral grounding system as a voltage applying means. Here, it should be noted that the neutral grounding system is the system in which the voltage of the target is set to +(Va−α) volts, and the voltage of the electron emitting source is set to −α volts (where, Va>α>0). Although the value of “α” is an arbitrary value to be selected within the range of Va>α>0, this value is generally selected as a value which is close to Va/2. When the neutral grounding system like this is adopted, the absolute value of the voltage to the ground can be made small, whereby a creeping distance which is necessary to secure the withstand voltage performance can be shortened. Thus, it is possible to reduce the apparatus in size and weight.
In the meanwhile, a high voltage difference occurs between the radiation shielding member electrically connected to the target and the envelope generally grounded to have ground potential. Here, as a method for securing the withstand voltage performance between the radiation shielding member and the envelope, the present inventors found that a method of drenching the transmission-type radiation tube in an insulating liquid and further arranging the insulating member in the envelope so as to face a radiation passing hole of the radiation shielding member was effective.
However, when the insulating member is arranged so as to face the radiation passing hole of the radiation shielding member, a transmission hole to be used to extract the radiation out of the envelope is covered by the insulating member, whereby an amount of the radiation capable of being extracted out of the envelope is reduced. Consequently, as a method of preventing the reduction of the amount of the radiation capable of being extracted, it is conceivable to use a method of providing an opening for passing the radiation on the insulating member. However, in this method, a high potential difference occurs between the radiation shielding member and the envelope. For this reason, when the opening is provided on the insulating member, the withstand voltage performance is reduced at the provided opening. Thus, there is a case where an electric discharge occurs during long-time driving of the apparatus or the like.
Here, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-080568 discloses that the insulating member is arranged around the radiation tube except for a radiation emitting hole. However, in the X-ray generating apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-080568, since the reflection-type radiation tube is used, a high potential difference does not easily occur between the radiation tube and the envelope thereof at the opening of the insulating member.
In the radiation generating apparatus of which the radiation tube was drenched with the insulating liquid, the present invention aims to provide the radiation generating apparatus which can secure the withstand voltage performance to a high voltage without reducing the amount of the radiations, and of which the size and the weight can be reduced, and to provide a radiation imaging apparatus in which the radiation generating apparatus is used.
In order to achieve such an object as described above, the present invention provides a radiation generating apparatus which comprises: an envelope which has a first window through which a radiation is transmitted; a radiation tube which is held in the envelope, and has, at a position facing the first window, a second window through which the radiation is transmitted; a shielding member which has a radiation passing hole which is in communication with the second window; an insulating liquid which is filled between the envelope and the radiation tube; and a solid insulating member which is arranged between the shielding member and an inner wall of the envelope, and has an opening at a position corresponding to the first window, wherein a shortest length of a supposed strait line stretching from the shielding member to the first window or the inner wall of the envelope through the opening of the insulating member without intersecting the insulating member is longer than a shortest length of a supposed strait line stretching from the shielding member to the first window or the inner wall of the envelope as intersecting the insulating member.
According to the present invention, the first window which is provided on the envelope in which the insulating liquid has been filled and the second window which is provided on the radiation tube which is arranged within the envelope are arranged so as to face each other, and the insulating member is arranged between the shielding member which has the radiation passing hole which is in communication with the second window and the inner wall of the envelope. Here, since the insulating member has the opening of the insulating member at the position corresponding to the first window, it is possible to prevent that the radiations which are emitted from the radiation tube are absorbed by the insulating member and thus the amount of the radiations is reduced. Further, since the solid insulating member is provided, the withstand voltage performance is improved at the opening of the insulating member. Furthermore, since the shortest length of the supposed strait line stretching from the shielding member to the first window or the inner wall of the envelope through the opening of the insulating member without intersecting the insulating member is made longer than the shortest length of the supposed strait line stretching from the shielding member to the first window or the inner wall of the envelope as intersecting the insulating member, it is possible to suppress that the withstand voltage performance at the opening of the insulating member is deteriorated. Thus, the withstand voltage performance between the radiation tube and the envelope can be secured even if the distance between the shielding member and the envelope is shortened, whereby it is possible to achieve reduction of size and weight of the apparatus.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. Incidentally, it should be noted that, with respect to parts not specifically illustrated or described in the present application, widely known or publicly known technique in a technical field to which the present invention belongs is applied.
First of all, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
The radiation generating apparatus according to the present embodiment is equipped with a transmission-type radiation tube (called a radiation tube, hereinafter) 10, and the radiation tube 10 is held within an envelope 1.
Here, the radiation tube 10 includes a vacuum container 17, an electron emitting source 11, a target 14, a second window 15 for transmitting a radiation, and the shielding member 16.
In the envelope which has held therein the radiation tube 10, an extra space is filled with an insulating liquid 8. Incidentally, a voltage controlling unit (voltage controlling means) 3 which consists of a circuit board, an insulating transformer and the like all not illustrated may be provided within the envelope 1 as in the present embodiment. In a case where the voltage controlling unit 3 is provided, for example, voltage signals are applied from the voltage controlling unit 3 to the radiation tube 10 respectively through terminals 4, 5, 6 and 7, whereby it is possible to control generation of the radiation.
It is desirable that the envelope 1 has a sufficient intensity as a container and also has excellent heat dissipation. More specifically, a metallic material such as brass, iron, stainless steel or the like is used as the envelope.
The insulating liquid 8 only has to have an electrical insulation property. For example, it is desirable that an electrical insulating oil which serves as an insulating medium and a cooling medium of the radiation tube 10 is used as the insulating liquid. Here, it is desirable that a mineral oil, a silicone oil or the like is used as the electrical insulating oil. In addition, a fluorine-based electrical insulating liquid is also usable as the insulating liquid 8.
The first window 2 which is used to transmit and extract the radiation out of the envelope is provided on the envelope 1. Thus, the radiation which was emitted from the radiation tube 10 is further emitted outwardly through the first window 2. Here, glass, aluminum, beryllium, polycarbonate or the like is used as the first window 2.
In the envelope 1, the solid insulating member 21 is arranged between the shielding member 16 and the inner wall of the envelope 1 so that the solid insulating member faces a radiation passing hole 24 of the shielding member 16, in order to secure withstand voltage performance between the shielding member 16 and the envelope 1. Here, a material of which the electrical insulation is high and also of which the withstand voltage performance is high is desirable as the material for constituting the insulating member 21. More specifically, polyimide, polycarbonate, glass epoxy or the like can be used as the material for constituting the insulating member. In general, although the insulating liquid such as an electrical insulating oil has high electrical insulation and high withstand voltage performance, there is a case where the withstand voltage performance is deteriorated by impurities, moisture, air bubbles or the like which are included in the insulating liquid or occur due to time degradation. For this reason, it is possible, by providing the solid insulating member 21, to more certainly maintain the high withstand voltage performance. Here, from the viewpoint of securing the withstand voltage performance between the shielding member 16 and the envelope 1, it is suitable that the thickness of the insulating member 21 is about 0.1 mm to 10 mm. Incidentally, a material of which the electrical insulation is higher than that of the insulating liquid 8 may be used as the insulating member 21. In any case, on the insulating member 21, an opening 22 is provided at the position corresponding to the first window 2. Thus, it is possible to prevent that an amount of the radiation (e.g., an X-ray) emitted from the radiation tube 10 is absorbed by the insulating member 21 and thus reduced.
An extraction electrode 12 and a lens electrode 13 may be provided in the radiation tube 10 as in the present embodiment. In a case where the extraction electrode and the lens electrode are provided, electrons are first emitted from the electron emitting source 11 by the electric field formed by the extraction electrode 12, the emitted electrons are converged by the lens electrode 13, and the converged electrons are entered to the target 14, whereby the radiation is generated.
The vacuum container 17, which is used to maintain the inside of the radiation tube 10 as a vacuum, is composed of a glass material, a ceramic material or the like. A degree of the vacuum in the vacuum container 17 may be about 10−4 Pa to 10−8 Pa. Further, a not-illustrated exhaust tube may be provided on the vacuum container 17. Here, in a case where the exhaust tube is provided on the vacuum container, for example, after exhausting the inside of the vacuum container 17 for vacuumization through the exhaust tube, it is possible to vacuumize the inside of the vacuum container 17 by sealing a part of the exhaust pipe. Besides, a not-illustrated getter may be arranged within the vacuum container 17 to maintain the inside thereof as a vacuum. Incidentally, the opening is provided on the vacuum container 17, and the shielding member 16 having the radiation passing hole 24 is joined to the opening. Therefore, the vacuum container 17 is tightly sealed up when the second window 15 is joined to the inner wall of the radiation passing hole 24 of the shielding member 16.
In the vacuum container 17, the electron emitting source 11 is arranged so as to face the target 14. Here, a tungsten filament, a hot cathode such as an impregnated cathode, or a cold cathode such as a carbon nanotube or the like can be used as the electron emitting source 11. The extraction electrode 12 is arranged in the vicinity of the electron emitting source 11. Thus, the electrons emitted by the electric field formed by the extraction electrode 12 are converged by the lens electrode 13, and the converged electrons are entered to the target 14, whereby the radiation is generated. At this time, a voltage Va to be applied between the electron emitting source 11 and the target 14 is approximately 40 kV to 150 kV although it is different depending on intended use of the radiation.
The target 14 is arranged on the electron emitting source side (i.e., the inner side) of the second window 15. It is desirable that a material of which the melting point is high and of which the radiation generation efficiency is high is used to constitute the target 14. For example, tungsten, tantalum, molybdenum or the like can be used as the material of the target.
The second window 15, which supports the target and through which at least a part of the radiation generated in the target 14 is transmitted, is provided within the radiation passing hole 24 of the shielding member 16. Here, as the material which constitutes the second window 15, it is desirable to use a material which has an intensity capable of supporting the target 14, a less absorption factor of the radiation generated in the target 14, and high thermal conductivity for enabling to quickly release heat generated in the target 14. It is possible to use, for example, diamond, silicon nitride, aluminum nitride or the like.
The shielding member 16 has, at the outer side of the vacuum container 17, the radiation passing hole 24 which is in communication with the second window 15, so as to shield an unnecessary radiation included in the radiation emitted from the target 14. More specifically, the shielding member 16 is joined to the opening of the vacuum container 17, and the second window 15 is joined to the inner wall at the inner end of the radiation passing hole 24. Here, the target 14 does not need to be joined to the inner wall of the radiation passing hole 24. At the inner side of the vacuum container 17, the shielding member 16 has an electron passing path which is in communication with the second window 15. In
As the material which constitutes the shielding member 16, it is desirable to use a material which has a high radiation absorption factor and high thermal conductivity. For example, a metallic material such as tungsten, tantalum or the like can be used as the material of the shielding member. Incidentally, it is suitable that the thickness of the shielding member 16 is 3 mm or more so as to shield the unnecessary radiation.
Here, it is assumed that the shortest distance which stretches from the shielding member 16 to the first window 2 or the inner wall of the envelope 1 as intersecting the insulating member 21 is d1, and that the shortest distance which stretches from the shielding member 16 to the first window 2 or the inner wall of the envelope through the opening 22 of the insulating member 21 without intersecting the insulating member 21 is d2. That is, a shortest length of a supposed strait line stretching from the shielding member 16 to the first window 2 or the inner wall of the envelope 1 through the opening of the insulating member 21 without intersecting the insulating member 21 is equivalent to the shortest distance d2, and a shortest length of a supposed strait line stretching from the shielding member 16 to the first window 2 or the inner wall of the envelope 1 as intersecting the insulating member 21 is equivalent to the shortest distance d1. In the present embodiment, the shape of the shielding member is set as illustrated in
Here, it should be noted that the shape of the shielding member 16 is not limited to that illustrated in
For the purpose of extracting the more radiations out of the envelope 1, it is desirable as illustrated in
Further, it is desirable that the cross-section area at the end of the radiation passing hole 24 on the side of the first window is larger than the area of the opening 22 of the insulating member 21 and also lager than the area of the first window 2. Furthermore, it is desirable that the respective centers of the first window 2, the opening 22 of the insulating member 21, and the second window 15 are arranged on the same straight line.
As just described, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide the radiation generating apparatus which can secure the withstand voltage performance to the high voltage without reducing the amount of the radiations, and of which the size and the weight can be reduced.
Incidentally, as illustrated in
In the present invention, the shape of the shielding member 16 is not limited to that illustrated in
Therefore, another example of the shape of the shielding member 16 which can be adopted in the present invention will be described with reference to
The present embodiment is characterized in that the opening area of the radiation passing hole 24 of the shielding member 16 becomes gradually large from the middle of the radiation passing hole 24 toward the side of the first window 2. In any case, the shape of the shielding member 16 is set as illustrated in
As just described, according to the present embodiment, since such a constitution as above is provided, it is possible to have the effect same as that in the first embodiment.
Incidentally, the opening 22 of the insulating member 21 may not be in communication with the first window 2. Further, the insulating member 21 may be apart from the first window 2 and the inner wall of the envelope 1 when the condition of (shortest distance d1)<(shortest distance d2) is satisfied. Furthermore, the opening 22 of the insulating member 21 may be formed outside the boundary of the first window 2 and the envelope 1.
In the present invention, the shape of the insulating member 21 is not limited to that illustrated in
Therefore, another example of the shape of the insulating member 21 which can be adopted in the present invention will be described with reference to
The present embodiment is characterized in that the opening 22 of the insulating member 21 is formed inside the boundary of the first window 2 and the envelope 1, and thus the boundary of the first window 2 and the envelope 1 is covered by the insulating member 21. That is, when the relevant portion is viewed from the side of the shielding member 16, the opening 22 of the insulating member 21 is positioned inside the boundary of the first window 2 and the envelope 1. Further, the shape of the insulating member 21 is set as illustrated in
As just described, according to the present embodiment, since such a constitution as above is provided, it is possible to have the effect same as that in the first and second embodiments. In addition, it is possible to have the effect of further improving the withstand voltage performance between the radiation tube 10 and the envelope 1.
Incidentally, the opening 22 of the insulating member 21 may not be in communication with the first window 2. Further, the insulating member 21 may be apart from the first window 2 and the inner wall of the envelope 1 when the condition of (shortest distance d1)<(shortest distance d2) is satisfied. Since the present invention aims to suppress the occurrence of the electric discharge due to the concentration of the electric field by covering the boundary of the first window 2 and the envelope 1 with the insulating member 21, it is desirable that the insulating member 21 is made not so apart from the first window 2 and the inner wall of the envelope 1. This is because the boundary cannot be covered by the insulating member if the insulating member is made too apart from the first window and the inner wall of the envelope.
Subsequently, a radiation imaging apparatus in which the radiation generating apparatus according to the present invention is used will be described with reference to
The processes to be performed in the radiation generating apparatus 30 are totally controlled by the device controlling unit 33. For example, a radiation imaging process to be performed by the radiation generating apparatus 30 and the radiation detector 31 is controlled by the device controlling unit 33. A radiation to be emitted from the radiation generating apparatus 30 is detected by the radiation detector 31 through an object 35, whereby a radiation transmission image obtained from the object 35 is imaged. Then, the imaged radiation transmission image is displayed on the displaying unit 34. Further, for example, driving of the radiation generating apparatus 30 is controlled by the device controlling unit 33, and also a voltage signal to be applied to the radiation tube 10 through the voltage controlling unit 3 is controlled by the device controlling unit 33.
As just described, according to the present embodiment, since the above radiation generating apparatus is used, it is possible to have the above-described effects of the present invention. In addition, it is possible to provide the radiation imaging apparatus which is suitable for the radiation imaging and excellent in reliability for a long period of time.
While the present invention has been described with reference to the exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-152757, filed Jul. 11, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-152757 | Jul 2011 | JP | national |
