Patent ID: 7672434

Claim:
An X-ray tube, comprising: an enclosure; and in the enclosure, a cathode, an anode situated opposite the cathode and rotating on a shaft, and a fixed anode shaft support, wherein the fixed anode shaft support comprises a chamber, wherein the shaft of the anode is maintained in the chamber, wherein the fixed anode shaft support is in the form of a removable cartridge, wherein the chamber of the support is filled with an alloy, wherein the chamber is equipped with a sealing joint at the shaft outlet to prevent the alloy leaking outside of the chamber, wherein the fixed anode shaft support comprises, at the position of an outlet of the anode shaft outside of the fixed anode shaft support, a surface of a ring in contact with a surface attached to the shaft, wherein the surface of the ring and the surface of the shaft in the region directly in line with the ring comprise grooves, enabling a double sided joint to be obtained, and wherein the fixed anode shaft support comprises, at the location of the two surfaces, two spaces narrower than a natural flow clearance of the alloy due to the surface tension of the alloy.