X-ray housing having integrated oil-to-air heat exchanger

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9717137-B2
Application number	US-201414176926-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 10, 2014
Priority date	Nov 19, 2013
Publication date	Jul 25, 2017
Grant date	Jul 25, 2017

Abstract

An x-ray housing can include a tubular unitary body having an external fin array adjacent to an internal fin array through a heat exchanger portion of the unitary body, the internal fin array being on a luminal surface of a housing lumen of the unitary body. The external fin array can extend from a first end of the housing to a second end of the housing. The external fin array may be at a discrete and defined location, and extend around only a portion (e.g., 25%) of a circumference or external surface of the housing. The internal fin array can extends from the first end of the housing to an arced manifold recess at the second end of the housing, and be located in a finned recess that is adjacent to and dimensioned correspondingly with the external fin array.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An x-ray housing comprising:
a tubular unitary body having an elongate external fin array and internal lumen, the external fin array extending between a first end of the tubular unitary body and a second end of the tubular unitary body;
an elongate internal fluid passageway recess formed into a lumen wall of the tubular unitary body across from the external fin array through a heat exchanger portion of the tubular unitary body, the external fin array and internal fluid passageway recess both circumferentially extending partially around the tubular unitary body such that corresponding side edges of the external fin array and the internal fluid passageway recess are radially proximal; and
a manifold recess in the internal lumen at the second end of the tubular unitary body, the manifold recess formed into the lumen wall through the heat exchanger portion of the tubular unitary body, the manifold recess circumferentially extending around the tubular body between the corresponding sides of the external fin array, and wherein the internal fluid passageway extends from the first end of the tubular unitary body to the manifold recess.

2. The x-ray housing of claim 1 , comprising one or more recess covers mounted to the lumen wall of the tubular unitary body over the internal fluid passageway recess so as to form an internal fluid passageway, the one or more recess covers extending from the manifold recess towards the first end of the tubular unitary body so that there is an opening from the internal fluid passageway to the internal lumen proximal to the first end of the tubular unitary body, the internal fluid passageway being configured to allow fluid to flow between the manifold recess and the opening proximal to the first end of the tubular unitary body.

3. The x-ray housing of claim 2 , comprising an internal fin array formed by the tubular unitary body so that the internal fluid passageway is an internal finned fluid passageway.

4. The x-ray housing of claim 3 , wherein:
the internal fin array extends from the first end of the tubular unitary body to the manifold recess in the lumen wall at the second end of the tubular unitary body.

5. The x-ray housing of claim 3 , comprising a manifold in the manifold recess, the manifold having at least one manifold port that fluidly couples the lumen to the internal finned fluid passageway.

6. The x-ray housing of claim 5 , comprising a pump fluidly coupled with the manifold port so as to pump fluid coolant through the internal finned fluid passageway.

7. The x-ray housing of claim 6 , wherein the pump is integrated with the manifold.

8. The x-ray housing of claim 3 , the one or more covers comprising an elongate cover adjacent to the manifold and extending toward the opening proximal to the first end.

9. The x-ray housing of claim 8 , comprising a second cover at the first end of the tubular unitary body with a gap between the elongate cover and second cover, wherein the gap forms the opening proximal to the first end so as to expose the internal fin array to the lumen.

10. The x-ray housing of claim 9 , comprising a mounting bracket mounted in the lumen to the lumen wall between the first end and second end.

11. The x-ray housing of claim 3 , comprising an x-ray housing window aperture formed into the tubular unitary body in a region without the internal fin array that is across from the internal fin array and external fin array.

12. The x-ray housing of claim 3 , wherein the one or more recess covers include edge-flanges that are received into end fin recesses of the internal finned fluid passageway and mounted to shelves that define the end fin recesses.

13. The x-ray housing of claim 3 , wherein:
the external fin array includes a plurality of longitudinal parallel external fins, wherein the external fins are laterally parallel; and
the internal fin array includes a plurality of longitudinal parallel internal fins, wherein the internal fins are laterally radial.

14. The x-ray housing of claim 13 , the plurality of longitudinal parallel fins are directed toward a fan cooling system coupled with the housing with one or more fans oriented to cause air to flow over the longitudinal parallel fins.

15. The x-ray housing of claim 1 , comprising a fan cooling system coupled with the housing with one or more fans oriented to cause air to flow over the external fin array.

16. A method of cooling an x-ray device, the method comprising: providing the x-ray housing of claim 1 having an x-ray tube in the lumen with fluid coolant between portions of the x-ray tube and lumen wall of the x-ray housing; passing the fluid coolant from the lumen through the internal fin array such that heat is transferred from the fluid coolant into the heat exchanger portion of the tubular unitary body; and blowing air across the external fin array such that heat is transferred from the heat exchanger portion of the tubular unitary body into the blown air by the external fin array.

17. An x-ray housing comprising:
a tubular unitary body having an elongate external fin array and internal lumen, the external fin array extending between a first end of the tubular unitary body and a second end of the tubular unitary body;
an elongate internal fin array formed into a lumen wall of the tubular unitary body across from the external fin array through a heat exchanger portion of the tubular unitary body, the external fin array and internal fin array both circumferentially extending partially around the tubular unitary body such that corresponding side edges of the external fin array and the internal fin array are radially proximal; and
a manifold recess in the internal lumen at the second end of the tubular unitary body, the manifold recess formed into the lumen wall through the heat exchanger portion of the tubular unitary body, the manifold recess circumferentially extending around the tubular body between the corresponding sides of the internal fin array, and wherein the internal fin array extends from the first end of the tubular unitary body to the manifold recess.

18. The x-ray housing of claim 17 , comprising one or more covers mounted to the lumen wall of the tubular unitary body over the internal fin array so as to form an internal finned fluid passageway defined by the internal fin array and one or more recess covers, the one or more recess covers extending from the manifold recess towards the first end of the tubular unitary body so that there is an opening from the internal finned fluid passageway to the internal lumen proximal to the first end of the tubular unitary body, the internal finned fluid passageway configured to allow fluid to flow between the manifold recess and the opening proximal to the first end of the tubular unitary body.

19. The x-ray housing of claim 18 , comprising a manifold in the manifold recess, the manifold having at least one manifold port that fluidly couples the lumen to the internal finned fluid passageway.

20. The x-ray housing of claim 19 , comprising a pump fluidly coupled with the manifold port so as to pump fluid coolant through the internal finned fluid passageway.

21. A method of cooling an x-ray device, the method comprising:
providing the x-ray housing of claim 17 having an x-ray tube in the lumen with fluid coolant between portions of the x-ray tube and lumen wall of the x-ray housing; passing the fluid coolant from the lumen through the internal fin array such that heat is transferred from the fluid coolant into the heat e

Assignees

• Varian Med Sys Inc
• Varex Imaging Corp

Inventors

• Hansen Wayne R
• Astle Travis
• Lewis Patrick Kevin

Classifications

• H05G1/025 Primary

  Means for cooling the X-ray tube or the generator · CPC title