Ge Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC

John M Warren

Douglas J Snyder

Craig William Higgins

Thomas Gerard Ebben

Paul E Neitzke

Steve Hansen

An x-ray tube and x-ray system including an anode assembly having a shaft with a first end and a second end, a target connected to the first end of the shaft, and a rotor connected to the second end of the shaft. The anode assembly further having spaced-apart bearings rotatably supporting the shaft. The shaft, target, and rotor positioned relative to each other such that the center of gravity of the combination of the shaft, the target, and the rotor is positioned between the bearings. Additionally, the target and rotor may be flexibly interconnected allowing the beneficial use of gyroscopic effects.

X-ray tube anode assembly and x-ray systems incorporating same

A joining method designed to minimize the temperature needed to obtain a high strength braze joint between a molybdenum alloy substrate and a graphite disk used in a rotating anode X-ray tube target used for computed tomography applications. The method consists of two separate brazing operations. The first brazing operation joins a thin molybdenum sheet to the graphite disk using a pure metal braze to form a plated graphite subassembly. The second brazing operation joins the plated graphite subassembly to the molybdenum alloy substrate using a highly specialized braze alloy having a melt temperature below the recrystallization temperature of said molybdenum alloy substrate and a remelt temperature after brazing above the recrystallization temperature of said molybdenum alloy substrate. This two step brazing reduces the probability of fracture in the graphite by maintaining the elevated temperature yield strength normally developed in forged molybdenum alloy substrates by avoiding the deleterious yield strength reduction associated with recrystallization of the molybdenum alloy substrate.

Two-step brazed X-ray target assembly

Two-step brazed x-ray target assembly

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North Reading, MA, United States of America

John M Warren