The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 16, 1994
Filed:
Nov. 02, 1992
William F Wirth, Sullivan, WI (US);
Jonathan R Schmidt, Wales, WI (US);
General Electric Company, Milwaukee, WI (US);
Abstract
An x-ray tube rotor controller uses the main high voltage inverters for acceleration. The rotor controller includes a DC voltage source, and a rotary anode drive circuit including a rotary anode motor designed as an induction motor. A first inverter circuit has a full bridge arrangement for accelerating the anode using a first switch to connect the induction motor to the full bridge output, and also generates high voltage for the x-ray tube. Once the anode is up to operating speed, the first switch is disconnected from the rotor causing the rotor to coast. Alternatively, a second small inverter may be employed for maintaining the rotor at speed during x-ray exposure, rather than allowing the rotor to coast. In such an instance, the first switch is disconnected from the rotor when the motor reaches a rated anode speed, and a second switch then connects the motor to the second inverter to maintain the rated anode speed. Finally, if the x-ray generator has separate anode and cathode inverters, a third small two-phase inverter may be employed in the system for driving the second phase of the anode driver motor.