Granted Patent B2

US 8,755,491 · App. 13/259,943 · Granted Jun 17, 2014

Abstract

Claims (16)

1. An X-ray generator for generating a fast rise-time pulse, said generator comprising:

a n-phase poly-phase transformer having at least one primary winding and at least one secondary winding per phase;

n rectifier circuits, each one of said n rectifier circuits being electrically coupled to each of said at least one secondary winding per phase, each of said n rectifier circuits comprising at least a first capacitor electrically coupled to at least a first rectifier, said first rectifier electrically disposed between said at least one secondary winding and said first capacitor and configured to provide a fast rise time of a leading edge of a fast rise-time pulse, and at least a second capacitor electrically coupled to at least a second rectifier, said second rectifier being electrically disposed between said at least one secondary winding and said second capacitor configured to provide a filtered n-phase pulse flat-top; and

at least n active control switches, each of said active control switches being electrically coupled to at least one of said primary winding and configured to set a selected one of rectifier mode: 1) a fast pulse rise-time mode and 2) a flat-top low ripple mode, and

wherein each of said first capacitors is charged by a rectified phase ripple of less than n at or before a leading edge of said fast rise-time pulse, and each of said second capacitors is configured to operate with an n-phase ripple to provide a substantially flat top of said fast rise-time pulse.

2. The x-ray generator according to claim 1 , wherein each of said first capacitor and said second capacitor are pre-charged before the leading edge of said fast rise-time pulse.

3. The x-ray generator according to claim 1 , wherein a peak pulse amplitude of said fast rise-time pulse is generated by a series combination of a plurality of rectified voltages, each one of said plurality of rectified voltages being output from each of said n-rectifiers.

4. A method for generating a fast rise-time X-ray pulse, said method comprising:

providing an n-phase x-ray generator, said generator including an n-phase transformer having at least one primary winding and at least one secondary winding per phase;

providing n sections of rectifiers, each rectifier having at least a fast pulse rise-time mode and a n-phase ripple flat-top mode;

charging at least a first capacitor in each of said n sections of rectifiers at a ripple of less than n-phases to create a fast leading edge of said fast rise-time X-ray pulse; and

charging at least a second capacitor in each of said n sections at an n-phase ripple to create a substantially flat-top of said fast rise-time X-ray pulse.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising pre-charging said first capacitor prior to the act of charging said first capacitor.

6. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising pre-charging said second capacitor prior to the act of charging the first capacitor.

7. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising discharging said first capacitor to create a fast fall time of a falling edge of said fast rise-time pulse prior to said act of charging at least the second capacitor.

8. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising discharging said second capacitor prior to said act of charging at least the second capacitor.

Assignments (9)