Patents by Inventor Erich Hell

Erich Hell has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6426997
    Abstract: The invention concerns an x-ray tube having a thermionic emitter and a warning means, which exhibits means for measuring as least one electrical property of the thermionic emitter and produces a signal during analysis of the measured electrical property, if the measured electrical property shows a value indicating an impending failure of the thermionic emitter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2002
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Manfred Fuchs, Erich Hell, Markus Schild, Detlef Mattern, Peter Schardt
  • Patent number: 6426998
    Abstract: An x-ray radiator has a housing containing a fluid coolant wherein a rotating bulb x-ray tube is rotatably seated, the rotating bulb x-ray tube having an evacuated vacuum housing containing a cathode and an anode, with the anode forming a wall of the vacuum housing and having an exterior charged by the coolant. The anode has a profiling at its exterior that enlarges the surface area contact between the exterior of the anode and the coolant. The profiling can be in the form of at least one channel proceeding from as a spiral from a central region of the anode toward its periphery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2002
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Erich Hell, Detleff Mattern, Thomas Ohrndorf, Peter Schardt
  • Patent number: 6419389
    Abstract: An x-ray generating system has an x-ray source arranged in a coolant-filled housing, and a phase change store which contains a phase change material disposed in the coolant in the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2002
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Manfred Fuchs, Erich Hell, Wolfgang Kutschera, Thomas Ohrndorf
  • Patent number: 6412979
    Abstract: A computed tomography system has a gantry rotating around a patient acceptance space in a stationary gantry housing, the gantry carrying an x-ray radiator connected to a cooling device. The x-ray tube is a directly cooled rotating bulb tube whose coolant serves as an intermediate heat store and which is cooled in standstill periods of the gantry by a likewise co-rotating heat exchanger via a coolant pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2002
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Erich Hell, Detlef Mattern, Thomas Ohrndorf, Peter Schardt
  • Patent number: 6396901
    Abstract: An X-ray source is proposed having a rotating piston tube (2) which is mounted such that it can rotate, in which a stationary guide body (12), which at least partially surrounds the tube, is provided for cooling the anode plate (4). The guide body (12) is designed such that a liquid coolant, which is supplied to the tube (2) from a reservoir (15) concentrically with respect to the anode-bearing shaft (17), is initially positively guided along the tube outside of the anode plate (4) and along the beam outlet window (20) of the tube forming narrow gaps (18, 19), and is then passed out radially via at least one baffle plate (21) which is arranged on the tube (2) and engages in a correspondingly designed gap in the guide body (12). The high-voltage parts have an insulating gas applied to them, which is physically not separated from the liquid coolant in the source housing (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2002
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Erich Hell, Wolfgang Knüpfer, Detlef Mattern, Peter Schardt
  • Patent number: 6339635
    Abstract: An x-ray tube has a vacuum housing containing a cathode arrangement that emits electrons and an anode having a target surface on which the electrons, accelerated by an electrical field and forming an electron beam strike in a focal spot, and having a quadrupole magnet system including a coil, for focusing and deflection of the electron beam. A control unit is connected to the quadrupole magnet system. The control unit is supplied with, or has stored therein various parameter sets of predetermined coil currents that can be activated, so that, dependent on the respective parameter set, the focal spot can be displaced discretely in azimuthal fashion onto particular locations of the target surface of the anode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2002
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Peter Schardt, Erich Hell, Detlef Mattern
  • Publication number: 20010052743
    Abstract: A directly thermionic flat emitter is presented whose emitting surface contains meandering conductor tracks. The conductor tracks are formed by slots in the emitting surface. The slots are arranged as claimed in a pattern of cuts which comprises a multiplicity of straight slots (3; 8, 9) which run at least transverse to the course of the main current direction and are arranged in a plurality of rows offset from one another. Meandering current paths (4) are thereby produced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2001
    Publication date: December 20, 2001
    Inventors: Erich Hell, Detlef Mattern, Markus Schild
  • Patent number: 6310357
    Abstract: An apparatus for reading out a storage luminophore plate has a holder for the storage luminophore plate as well as for a detector line, and a device for setting the spacing between the storage luminophore plate and the detector line such that this spacing is controlled or regulated to be substantially constant with reference to the storage luminophore plate, at least over the region of the detector line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2001
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Manfred Fuchs, Erich Hell, Detlef Mattern
  • Patent number: 6292538
    Abstract: X-ray tube with flying focus has a magnet system for deflecting and focusing the electron beam, whereby the magnet system including a carrier that is constructed as an iron yoke and that has four pole projections that are arranged around the axis of the electron beam offset from one another by 90°, on which two pairs of coils (z-coils and &phgr;-coils) are arranged so as to be offset from one another 90°. The individual coils of each pair supplied with a common high-frequency alternating current that deflects the electron beam in the &phgr;-and z-directions, respectively, in a pulsed manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2001
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Erich Hell, Detlef Mattern, Peter Schardt
  • Patent number: 6272205
    Abstract: An X-ray radiator with a rotating bulb X-ray tube, with an allocated deflecting magnet system having at least one current-supplied coil for generating a magnetic deflecting field, has a circuit for tapping at least one reference signal representative of the high voltage existing at the X-ray tube. The coil current is adjusted by a control unit depending on this reference signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2001
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Erich Hell, Peter Schardt
  • Publication number: 20010010831
    Abstract: In a method for improving the optical separation of needle-shaped fluorescent layers, made from a fluorescent material, which are formed by vapor deposition on a substrate, vapor deposition is controlled so that the fluorescent layer is deposited on the substrate with a density which is reduced in comparison to the density that the fluorescent material has as a solid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 17, 2001
    Publication date: August 2, 2001
    Applicant: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Manfred Fuchs, Erich Hell, Detlef Mattern, Bernhard Schmitt
  • Publication number: 20010007352
    Abstract: A binderless storage phosphor screen with needle shaped crystals, wherein the phosphor is an alkalihalide phosphor and the needles show high [100] unit cell orientation in the plane of the screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 26, 2000
    Publication date: July 12, 2001
    Inventors: Erich Hell, Manfred Fuchs, Detlef Mattern, Bernhard Schmitt, Paul Leblans
  • Publication number: 20010007697
    Abstract: In a method and evaporation chamber for generating a continuous vapor stream containing a compound in which gallium is present in monovalent form of a vacuum coating method for vacuum coating a substrate, an evaporation substance containing gallium in bivalent or trivalent form, is arranged together with metallic gallium in the evaporation chamber, that is closed on all sides and has a vapor exit opening. The evaporation substance is evaporated, and the vapor is brought into contact with the metallic gallium, causing the bivalent or trivalent gallium to be reduced to monovalent gallium in a vapor stream which subsequently exits in the direction of the substrate via the vapor exit opening.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2001
    Publication date: July 12, 2001
    Inventors: Manfred Fuchs, Erich Hell, Detlef Mattern
  • Patent number: 6213639
    Abstract: An x-ray radiator has a rotary-bulb tube, whose vacuum enclosure rotates inside a radiator housing, which is filled with a liquid cooling medium, and a cooling medium conducting body is arranged between the vacuum enclosure and the radiator housing, at a distance from both of these. The cooling medium conducting body produces a flow of the cooling medium along the vacuum enclosure in the inner gap and a return flow of the cooling medium along the radiator housing in the outer gap, promoted by the rotation of the rotary-bulb tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Erich Hell, Detlef Mattern, Thomas Ohrndorf, Peter Schardt
  • Patent number: 6210755
    Abstract: In a method and evaporation chamber for generating a continuous vapor stream containing a compound in which gallium is present in monovalent form of a vacuum coating method for vacuum coating a substrate, an evaporation substance containing gallium in bivalent or trivalent form, is arranged together with metallic gallium in the evaporation chamber, that is closed on all sides and has a vapor exit opening. The evaporation substance is evaporated, and the vapor is brought into contact with the metallic gallium, causing the bivalent or trivalent gallium to be reduced to monovalent gallium in a vapor stream which subsequently exits in the direction of the substrate via the vapor exit opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Manfred Fuchs, Erich Hell, Detlef Mattern
  • Patent number: 6212257
    Abstract: A modular X-ray radiator system includes at least one base X-ray radiator with a rotating bulb tube with a cathode that emits an electron beam, an anode, and an arrangement for variably deflecting the electron beam and for adjustment of the size of the focal spot of the electron beam on the anode, and a number of drive mechanisms of varying drive powers which can be selectively attached to one of the base X-ray radiators for the rotating of the rotating bulb tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Detlef Mattern, Erich Hell, Peter Schardt
  • Patent number: 6181771
    Abstract: An X-ray source has an emitter for the production of an electron beam and an anode on which the electron beam strikes in an X-ray focal spot, and a magnet system that produces a dipole field and a quadrupole field that is superimposed on this dipole field, for deflecting and focusing the electron beam onto the anode. In addition, an arrangement is provided that operates together with the magnet system for the adjustment of the size of the X-ray focal spot. This arrangement, in order to set a desired size of the X-ray focal spot, adjusts the quadrupole field in so that the X-ray focal spot has a width corresponding to the desired size of the X-ray focal spot, and supplies to the magnet system a wobble signal that influences the dipole field, this wobble signal effecting a periodic displacement of the electron beam in a direction transverse to the extension of the width of the X-ray focal spot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2001
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Erich Hell, Detlef Mattern, Peter Schardt
  • Patent number: 6178226
    Abstract: In a method and x-ray system for controlling the electron current in an x-ray tube emitted from a continuously heated electron emitter with an allocated focussing electrode to an anode, the potential of the focussing electrode is pulsed between a conducting-state voltage, selected dependent on the desired size of the focal spot and/or the tube voltage of the electron beam on the anode, and a blocking voltage interrupting the electron current to the anode, the pulsewidth being modulated to control the electron current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2001
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Erich Hell, Peter Schardt
  • Patent number: 6164820
    Abstract: X-ray examination installation, particularly for computed tomography for mammography, has a rotating bulb x-ray tube with a cathode-side drive as its x-ray source, with the tube being oriented so that its anode faces toward the exposure side or actuation side of the system. The distance between the x-ray beam exit window of the tube, and the exposure side or actuation side of the system, thus is made small.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2000
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Erich Hell, Detlef Mattern, Peter Schardt
  • Patent number: 6141400
    Abstract: A fluorescent X-ray emitting source has an unfocused, omni-directionally radiating electron source and an anode target for the generation of X-ray bremsstrahlung, which releases mono-energetic X-rays in a fluorescent target. The electron source and the fluorescent target are arranged in a vacuum housing with an X-ray exit window. The housing has an interior wall surface forming the anode target and the fluorescent target is aligned with the X-ray exit window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2000
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Peter Schardt, Erich Hell, Detlef Mattern