Patent ID: 8177307

Claim:
A braking system for a positioner of a medical imaging apparatus, the braking system comprising: a brake coil of the positioner coupled to a power supply of the medical imaging apparatus; a first control circuit of the positioner coupled to a top side of the brake coil of the positioner, wherein the first control circuit of the positioner is configured to control the power supplied to the brake coil of the positioner, wherein the first control circuit of the positioner is coupled to a first side of the power supply of the medical imaging apparatus, wherein the first control circuit includes at least one control device and at least one switching device that enables the first control circuit, that disables the first control circuit, and that issues an alarm indicative of first control circuit failure; a second control circuit of the positioner coupled to a bottom side of the brake coil of the positioner, wherein the second control circuit of the positioner is configured in series to the first control circuit of the positioner to control the power supplied to the brake coil of the positioner, wherein the second control circuit of the positioner is coupled to a second side of the power supply of the medical imaging apparatus, wherein the second control circuit includes at least one control device and at least one switching device that enables the second control circuit if the brake current of a first measuring is less than a minimum current required to activate the brake coil for brake release operation, that disables the second control circuit if a first measuring of the brake current is less than a maximum current required to activate the brake coil for brake apply operation, that confirms brake release if a second measuring of the brake current is more than or equal to the minimum current required to activate the brake coil for brake release operation and that issues an alarm indicative of a fault in the second control circuit if the second measuring of brake current is less than the minimum current required to activate the brake coil for brake release operation; and a current sensor of the positioner coupled to at least one of the first control circuit of the positioner and the second control circuit of the positioner, wherein the first control circuit is configured to supplement the function of the second control circuit in the event of a single point failure of the second control circuit, wherein the second control circuit is configured to supplement the function of the first control circuit in the event of a single point failure of the first control circuit, wherein the first control circuit and the second control circuit are enabled or disabled in sequence respectively for brake release and brake apply operations.