| US 7,539,286 B1 | ||
| Filament assembly having reduced electron beam time constant | ||
| Steve Bandy, Sunnyvale, Calif. (US); Gary F Virshup, Cupertino, Calif. (US); Michael Curzon Green, Palo Alto, Calif. (US); James Russell Boye, Salt Lake City, Utah (US); Dennis Runnoe, Salt Lake City, Utah (US); Robert Clark Treseder, Lynchburg, Va. (US); and David Humber, Los Gatos, Calif. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Palo Alto, Calif. (US) | ||
| Filed on Nov. 19, 2007, as Appl. No. 11/942,656. | ||
| Int. Cl. H01J 35/06 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 378—136 [378/121] | 59 Claims |
| 1. An x-ray tube, comprising:
a vacuum enclosure;
an anode positioned within the vacuum enclosure and including a target surface; and
a cathode positioned with respect to the anode, the cathode including a filament assembly comprising:
a plurality of filament segments each configured for simultaneous emission of a beam of electrons for impingement on the target
surface of the anode, wherein each filament segment includes a thermal dissipation path to a heat sink.
|