Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

The Timken Company

Michael David Drory

Richard J Fowler

A coupling () for the introduction of a bias voltage into a vacuum chamber. The coupling consists of a metallic ball bearing assembly (), a bearing sleeve or cup (), and an EMI shielding gasket () seated within the bearing sleeve or cup. The ball bearing assembly is fitted within the EMI shielding gasket, about a metallic shaft () which, in turn, is coupled to a source of the bias voltage. The bearing sleeve or cup is, in turn, coupled to a rotating component such as a platen, for receiving the bias voltage within the vacuum chamber.

Rotating vacuum chamber coupling assembly

The present invention refers to hybrid anode disk structures for use in X-ray tubes of the rotary anode type and is concerned more particularly with a novel light weight anode disk structure (RA) which comprises an adhesion promoting protective silicon carbide (SiC) interlayer (SCI) deposited onto a rotary X-ray tube's anode target (AT), wherein the latter may e.g. be made of a carbon-carbon composite substrate (SUB'). Moreover, a manufacturing method for robustly attaching a coating layer (CL) consisting of a high-Z material (e.g. a layer made of a tungsten-rhenium alloy) on the surface of said anode target is provided, whereupon according to said method it may be foreseen to apply a refractory metal overcoating layer (RML), such as given e.g. by a tantalum (Ta), hafnium (Hf), vanadium (V) or rhenium (Re) layer, to the silicon carbide interlayer (SCI) prior to the deposition of the tungsten-rhenium alloy. The invention thus leverages the tendency for cracking of the silicon carbide coated carbon composite substrate (SUB&#x2032;) during thermal cycling and enhances adhesion of the silicon carbide/refractory metal interlayers to the carbon-carbon composite substrate (SUB&#x2032;) and focal track coating layer (CL) by an interlocking mechanism. Key aspects of the proposed invention are: a) controlled formation of coating cracks (SC) in the silicon carbide layer (SCI) and b) conformal filling of SiC crack openings with a refractory metal.

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Dublin, NH, United States of America

Michael David Drory