CHAMBER APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE THEREOF
A chamber apparatus comprises a chamber housing for maintaining a vacuum. The housing has a bore tube bounded by a substantially cylindrical wall formed at least in part from a coil suspended in a substantially non-metallic material.
1 . A chamber apparatus comprising:
a chamber housing with a vacuum maintained therein;
a bore tube proceeding into an interior of the housing, said bore tube having a substantially cylindrical wall formed at least in part by a coil suspended in a substantially non-metallic material; and
said chamber housing comprising a head part and an end part, said head part having a first peripheral return portion and a bore tube portion defining said bore tube.
2 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said head part is substantially mushroom-shaped.
3 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said end part is in sealing connection with said head part to prevent loss of said vacuum.
4 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising a support structure connected in a sealing relationship with said housing.
5 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said head part is in sealing relation with a portion of said support structure.
6 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said portion of said support structure is a first portion of said support structure, and wherein said end part is in sealing relationship with a second portion of said support structure.
7 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing is comprised in part of a substantially non-metallic material.
8 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said coil is a magnetic resonance gradient coil.
9 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said coil is a first coil, and comprising a second coil suspended in a substantially non-metallic material, said second coil being radially adjacent at least a part of said first coil.
10 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said first coil is a magnetic resonance radio frequency coil, and said second coil is a magnetic resonance gradient coil.
11 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said first coil is a body coil.
12 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said return portion comprises a void space substantially bounded by a periphery surface of said return portion.
13 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein said void space is a first void space, and wherein said end part comprises a second void space bounded by a periphery surface of said end part.
14 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 13 comprising an electrical conductor extending through said first void space.
15 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 13 comprising an electrical conductor proceeding through said second void space.
16 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 13 comprising a conduit carrying a coolant extending through said first void space.
17 . An apparatus as claimed in claim 13 comprising a conduit carrying a coolant extending through said second void space.
18 . A method for manufacturing a chamber apparatus, comprising the steps of:
forming a head part of a chamber housing having a peripheral return portion and a bore tube portion defining a bore tube, said bore tube having a substantially cylindrical wall bounding the bore tube, and forming the substantially cylindrical wall at least in part by a coil suspended in a substantially non-metallic material;
forming an end part of the chamber housing having a second peripheral return portion; and
sealingly coupling at least part of said head part with at least part of said end part.
19 . A method as claimed in claim 18 comprising evacuating said chamber housing to form a vacuum in an interior thereof, and maintaining loss of said vacuum by sealing said head part with said end part.
20 . A method as claimed in claim 19 comprising placing said housing in sealing relation with a support structure.
21 . A method as claimed in claim 20 comprising placing said head part in sealing relation with a portion of said support structure.
22 . A method as claimed in claim 21 wherein said portion of said support structure is a first portion of said support structure, and comprising placing said end part in sealing relation with a second portion of said support structure.