JP7500487B2 - X-ray inspection equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an X-ray inspection device that has multiple heat sources, including an X-ray generator, inside a housing and cools each heat source with a cooler provided outside the housing, and in particular to an X-ray inspection device that can efficiently guide cold air from the cooler to each heat source, including the X-ray generator, for cooling.

The following Patent Document 1 discloses an invention for an X-ray inspection device. The inside of the first housing 3 of this X-ray inspection device is divided by partitions 16 into a plurality of cooling sections C1, C2, C3, and C4 based on the use limit temperature, and each section C2, C3, and C4 houses a heat source 17, 18, 19, and 20 having its own use limit temperature. The air flow path B is set so that the heat sources 19 and 20 with a low use limit temperature are located upstream of the heat sources 17 and 18 with a high use limit temperature, so that the cooling efficiency is good. The heat absorption section 15a of the heat exchanger 15 is located inside the first housing 3, and the heat dissipation section is located inside the second housing that is connected to the outside air. According to this invention, it is said that a high cooling effect can be achieved without using an expensive air conditioner.

The following Patent Document 2 discloses an invention of an X-ray foreign object detection device. In this X-ray foreign object detection device 1, when the temperature inside the housing 3 detected by the temperature sensor 14 is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, the control means 10 opens the control valve 13 and operates the vortex tube 11 provided on the top surface of the housing 3 to supply cooling air into the housing 3 and cool the X-ray generating means 7. At the same time, the actuator 20 is operated to drive the door 16 and open the exhaust port 15 of the housing 3. According to this invention, the pressure increase inside the housing is suppressed and the cooling efficiency is improved by exhausting the air. In addition, Patent Document 2 discloses an example in which an air conditioner 102 is provided on the back side of the housing 101 of the X-ray foreign object detection device 100 in FIG. 14 to cool the inside of the housing.

JP 2016-109488 A JP 2009-300379 A

According to the invention of the X-ray inspection device disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, an air flow path is provided in the housing so that a heat source with a low usage limit temperature is located upstream of a heat source with a high usage limit temperature. Although a certain cooling effect can be obtained, there is a problem in that a high cooling effect cannot be obtained as in the case of using a cooler.

According to the invention of the X-ray foreign object detection device disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, cooling air is introduced into the housing, which is a single space, by a vortex tube provided on the top surface of the housing. In the X-ray foreign object detection device disclosed in FIG. 14 of the same document, cool air supplied from an air conditioner at the rear of the housing is supplied directly into the housing, which is a single space, from the rear side of the housing. In both configurations, if priority is given to directing cool air to the main heat source such as the X-ray generator, it becomes difficult for the cool air to reach other heat sources such as the X-ray detector and power supply, resulting in a problem of poor cooling efficiency for heat sources such as the X-ray detector.

In addition, with the recent progress in the performance of X-ray inspection devices, the types of devices to be cooled tend to increase. For example, the control unit is divided into a first control unit for image processing and a second control unit for controlling the output of inspection data and image data to external devices and linkage with peripheral devices, and appropriate cooling performance is required for each of the many cooling targets in X-ray inspection devices. In particular, with regard to the control unit described above, as an example of the performance improvement of X-ray inspection devices, there is a demand for improving the resolution of transmitted images, and X-ray detectors with a larger number of elements than before are being used to achieve high resolution, and the load on the CPU of the control unit required for image processing is increasing. Since the performance of the CPU decreases with increasing temperature, attention must be paid to the effect of cooling, especially in the vicinity of the PC (CPU) of the control unit. Furthermore, as another example of the performance improvement of X-ray inspection devices, the addition of deep learning may be required, in which case a GPU is used as an element necessary for deep learning, which further increases the number of heat sources and makes efficient cooling even more necessary.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide an X-ray inspection device that can efficiently cool multiple heat sources, including an X-ray generator, by directing cold air from a cooler.

The X-ray inspection apparatus 1, 1a according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises:
An X-ray inspection apparatus 1, 1a having a housing 4 whose interior is separated into a first chamber R1 on a front side and a second chamber R2 on a rear side, an X-ray generator 2 arranged in the first chamber R1, an X-ray detector 3 arranged in the second chamber R2, and a cooler 12 arranged on the rear side of the housing 4 to supply cool air into the housing 4,
a cool air guide passage 20, 21, 22 for branching a supply direction of the cool air supplied from the air outlet 13 of the cooler 12 and supplying the cool air to the first chamber R1 and the second chamber R2, respectively ;
a hot air guide passage 30 through which hot air generated in the X-ray generator 2 and the X-ray detector 3 returns to the inlet 14 of the cooler 12;
The present invention is characterized in that it has the following features.

The X-ray inspection apparatus 1 according to the second aspect of the present invention is the X-ray inspection apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention,
The cold air guideway is
The cooling system is characterized by having an external cool air guide passage 20 that is provided on the outside of the housing 4 and guides the cool air and supplies it to the first chamber R1.

The X-ray inspection apparatus 1a according to claim 3 is the X-ray inspection apparatus according to claim 1,
The cold air guideway is
The cooling system is characterized by having an internal cool air guide passage 22 that is provided inside the housing 4 and guides the cool air and supplies it to the first chamber R1.

The X-ray inspection apparatus 1, 1a according to claim 4 is the X-ray inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The hot air guide path 30, through which the cold air is heated by the X-ray generator 2 and the X-ray detector 3 and the generated hot air returns to the intake port 14 of the cooler 12, is characterized in that it is configured with a route different from that of the cold air guide paths 20, 21, and 22.

The X-ray inspection apparatus 1, 1a according to claim 5 is the X-ray inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The cooler 12 has an exhaust port 15 for blowing out hot air to the outside and an intake port 16 for taking in outside air.
The cooler 12 has a cover 40 provided on the rear side thereof facing the outside, which covers the exhaust port 15 and the intake port 16 so as to communicate with the outside and also blocks the exhaust port 15 and the intake port 16. The cover 40 has an outlet 44 provided on the rear side thereof for discharging warm air to the outside and an inlet 46 provided on the front side thereof for drawing in fresh air from the outside .

According to the X-ray inspection device of the first aspect, the supply direction of the cool air supplied from the outlet of the cooler is branched by the cool air guide path, and the cool air is supplied to the first chamber and the second chamber, respectively, so that the X-ray generator and the X-ray detector can be reliably cooled. Also, the warm air generated by the X-ray generator and the X-ray detector can be returned to the inlet of the cooler.

According to the X-ray inspection device described in claim 2, the external cool air guide path is provided outside the housing, so the cool air guided by the external cool air guide path passes through a path away from the X-ray generator and X-ray detector, which are heat sources within the housing, and is supplied to the first chamber at a low temperature, resulting in high cooling efficiency, especially for the X-ray generator.

According to the X-ray inspection device described in claim 3, the cold air guided by the internal cold air guide passage arranged inside the housing is supplied from the cooler on the rear side of the housing to the first chamber inside the housing on the front side of the housing in the shortest possible distance, so that high cooling efficiency can be obtained, especially for the X-ray generator.

According to the X-ray inspection device described in claim 4, the hot air generated by the X-ray generator and the X-ray detector returns to the intake port of the cooler via the hot air guide path, which is configured with a route different from the cold air guide path, so that a decrease in cooling efficiency due to mixing of cold air and hot air can be reliably avoided.

According to the X-ray inspection device of claim 5, the exhaust port and the intake port provided on the rear side of the cooler are covered with a covering body, so that water can be prevented from entering the inside from the exhaust port and the intake port during cleaning. Also, since the exhaust port and the intake port are blocked by a shielding body, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience of the warm air discharged to the outside from the exhaust port being sucked into the cooler from the intake port, which reduces the cooling efficiency. Also, the possibility of the newly sucked in outside air and the exhausted warm air being mixed together is small, so that it is possible to prevent the inconvenience of the warm air discharged to the outside from the exhaust port being sucked into the cooler from the intake port, which reduces the cooling efficiency.

1 is a vertical sectional view of an X-ray inspection apparatus according to a first embodiment. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an X-ray inspection apparatus according to a first embodiment. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an X-ray inspection apparatus according to a first embodiment. FIG. FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of an X-ray inspection apparatus according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of an X-ray inspection apparatus according to a second embodiment.

An X-ray inspection apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The X-ray inspection apparatus 1 of the embodiment is an apparatus that irradiates an object to be inspected with X-rays from an X-ray generator 2 and detects the X-rays that have passed through the object with an X-ray detector 3, thereby inspecting the object for the presence or absence of foreign objects therein and the material of the object, etc.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the X-ray inspection device 1 is equipped with a housing 4 that houses various components necessary to perform the functions described above. The housing 4 has a vertically long base 5 that forms the back side, a large box-shaped upper part 6 provided at the top front of the base 5, and a thin small box-shaped lower part 7 provided at the bottom front of the base 5, spaced vertically from the upper part 6. As shown in Figure 1, the overall shape is roughly U-shaped with a recess in which an object to be inspected is placed below the front (left side in the figure).

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, inside the housing 4, a vertically parallel partition plate 8 is provided at the boundary between the base 5 and the upper part 6. This partition plate 8 separates the base 5 and the upper part 6, but does not exist between the base 5 and the lower part 7. Therefore, the inside of the housing 4 is separated into a first chamber R1, which is the internal space of the upper part 6, and a second chamber R2, which is the internal space of the base 5 and the lower part 7 that are connected to each other.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, an X-ray generator 2 is disposed inside the first chamber R1. The X-ray generator 2 has a container 2a that houses an X-ray generation source (not shown) immersed in insulating oil, and a heat dissipation section 2b that is provided on the upper surface of the container 2a and dissipates heat conducted from the insulating oil.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, a first control unit 9 is disposed on the front side inside the first chamber R1. The first control unit 9 has a CPU for image processing. An operation panel 10 is provided on the outer front side of the upper part 6 of the housing 4 adjacent to the first control unit 9.

As shown in FIG. 1, an X-ray detector 3 is disposed inside the lower portion 7 of the second room R2. A second control unit 11 is disposed inside the base portion 5 of the second room R2. The second control unit 11 is a control unit that performs data communication to exchange image information, examination information, and other data with external devices via a communication line, and also controls linkage with peripheral devices, and may also have a power supply unit that drives the X-ray sensor.

In FIG. 1, the center of the top surface of the lower part 7 of the housing 4 is the inspection position of the object to be inspected. Although not shown, if a transport means (such as a belt conveyor) is provided on the top surface of the lower part 7 of the housing 4 for transporting the object to be inspected along a transport direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1, the object to be inspected can be inspected by irradiating X-rays downward from the X-ray generator 2 of the upper part 6 while transporting the object to be inspected by the transport means, and detecting the X-rays that have passed through the object to be inspected by the X-ray detector 3 of the lower part 7.

Next, the cooling system in this X-ray inspection device 1 will be described, in particular the structure of the guideways or paths through which cold and warm air flow. Note that cold air here refers to air that is at a lower temperature than the outside air sent out from the cooler. Warm air refers to air whose temperature has increased as a result of cold air supplied from the cooler removing heat from the object to be cooled, or hot air discharged from the cooler to the outside. In addition, in the figures referred to in the following description, cold air is shown with solid lines, warm air with dotted lines, and outside air taken into the cooler from the outside with dashed and dotted lines. The types of lines indicating cold air etc. in the figures are the same as those in the description of the second embodiment.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, a long, thin, panel-like cooler 12 that supplies cool air into the housing 4 is provided on the rear side of the housing 4, i.e., on the rear side of the base 5 (right side in Figure 1). An outlet 13 that supplies cool air into the housing 4 is provided on the base 5 side of the cooler 12, and an intake port 14 is provided below the outlet 13 to suck in warm air returning from the object to be cooled. In addition, an exhaust port 15 that blows warm air out of the device 1 is provided below the rear side of the cooler 12, which is the opposite side to the base 5, and an intake port 16 that takes in outside air from outside the device 1 is provided below the exhaust port 15.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the X-ray inspection device 1 has a cold air guide path that branches the supply direction of cold air supplied from the cooler 12 to supply it to the first chamber R1 and the second chamber R2, respectively. The cold air guide paths include an external cold air guide path 20 shown in Figures 1 to 3 and a first internal cold air guide path 21 shown in Figures 1 and 2.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the external cold air guide path 20 is a duct-like member attached to one side of the base 5 and the upper part 6 of the housing 4, and connects the second chamber R2 and the first chamber R1. One of the outlets of the blow-out duct 23 attached to the blow-out port 13 of the cooler 12 is connected to the opening of the second chamber R2 of the external cold air guide path 20. The cold air coming out of the blow-out port 13 of the cooler 12 passes through the blow-out duct 23 and enters the external cold air guide path 20 outside the housing 4, and then bypasses the inside of the housing 4 and heads toward the first chamber R1. A fan 24 is provided at the opening of the first chamber R1 of the external cold air guide path 20, and a deflection plate 25 is provided downstream of the fan 24. Near the downstream of the blowing direction of the fan 24, there is the heat dissipation section 2b of the X-ray generator 2. In addition, the first control unit 9 is located in the direction of deflection of the cold air by the deflection plate 25. By appropriately setting the relative positions of the fan 24 and the deflector 25 and the inclination angle of the deflector, the amount of cold air flowing through the external cold air guide path 20 is branched into two directions at an appropriate ratio according to the degree of cooling required by the heat dissipation section 2b and the first control section 9, respectively, to appropriately cool the heat dissipation section 2b and the first control section 9. For example, more cold air is directed toward the heat dissipation section 2b at a ratio of n to 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the first internal cold air guide path 21 is provided vertically in the second chamber R2 in the base 5 of the housing 4. The upper end of the first internal cold air guide path 21 is connected to the other outlet of the outlet duct 23 attached to the outlet 13 of the cooler 12. The lower end of the first internal cold air guide path 21 is bent at a right angle toward the front side at the lower end of the second chamber R2 so that cold air can be supplied to the X-ray detector 3. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a branch portion facing the front may be provided in the approximate center of the first internal cold air guide path 21 so that part of the cold air is blown toward the second control unit 11.

2 and 3, the X-ray inspection device 1 has a hot air guide path 30 for returning the hot air returning from the X-ray generator 2 to the suction duct 26 connected to the suction port 14 of the cooler 12. The hot air guide path 30 is a duct-shaped member attached to the other side (the side opposite to the side to which the external cold air guide path 20 is attached) of the base 5 and the upper part 6 of the housing 4, and connects the first chamber R1 and the second chamber R2. As shown in FIG. 2, fans 24 are provided at the openings of the first chamber R1 and the second chamber R2 of the hot air guide path 30. The hot air in the first chamber R1 generated by passing through the heat dissipation part 2b of the X-ray generator 2 and the first control part 9 enters the hot air guide path 30 by the fan 24 in the first chamber R1, and is further drawn into the second chamber R2 by the fan 24 in the second chamber R2. As shown in FIG. 1, the intake duct 26 connected to the intake port 14 of the cooler 12 has its opening facing upwards, so the warm air that returns to the second chamber R2 enters the intake duct 26 as is. The warm air enters the cooler 12 and becomes cold again, and is then repeatedly circulated and supplied to the housing 4 from the air outlet 13.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cold air supplied to the X-ray detector 3 from the first internal cold air guide path 21 becomes hot air, rises inside the second chamber R2 of the base 5, is sucked in through the suction duct 26, and enters the cooler 12. The vertically long portion of the second chamber R2, which is the space inside the housing 4, can also be considered a hot air guide path in that it is a path that returns the hot air to the cooler 12.

In this way, in this X-ray inspection device 1, the cold air guide path (external cold air guide path 20 and first internal cold air guide path 21) and the hot air guide path 30 are configured as different routes. In particular, the external cold air guide path 20 and the hot air guide path 30 are configured separately on one side and the other side of the housing 4, respectively, and the first internal cold air guide path 21 and the hot air guide path 30 are configured separately within the second chamber R2 of the housing 4 and on the other side outside the housing 4, respectively.

As described above, according to the X-ray inspection device 1 of the first embodiment, the supply direction of the cold air supplied from the cooler 12 is branched by the external cold air guide path 20 and the first internal cold air guide path 21, and cold air is supplied to the first chamber R1 and the second chamber R2, respectively, and multiple heat sources, i.e., the X-ray generator 2 and the first control unit 9 in the first chamber R1, and the X-ray detector 3 in the second chamber R2 (and the first control unit 9, if necessary), can be reliably cooled. Note that although the external cold air guide path 20 and the first internal cold air guide path 21 have different inner diameters (or cross-sectional areas), the amount of cold air that the cooler 12 can supply is constant, so the inner diameter (or cross-sectional area) of the cooling guide path that guides the cold air to the cooling object that requires a higher cooling effect can be set larger as necessary.

In addition, since the external cold air guide path 20 is provided on the outside of the housing 4 in a form that protrudes outward from the side of the housing, the cold air guided thereby passes through a path away from the X-ray generator 2, which is the heat source inside the housing 4, and is supplied to the first chamber R1 while remaining at a low temperature, and is blown directly onto the X-ray generator 2 and the first control unit 9, resulting in high cooling efficiency.

In addition, with this X-ray inspection device 1, the warm air generated by the X-ray generator 2 and the first control unit 9 and the warm air generated by the X-ray detector 3 return to the cooler 12 via the warm air guide path 30, which is a route that is different from and isolated from the external cold air guide path 20 and the first internal cold air guide path 21, so that a decrease in cooling efficiency due to mixing of cold air and warm air can be reliably avoided.

As shown in FIG. 1, a cover 40 that covers the cooler 12 is provided on the back of the base 5 of the housing 4. The cover 40 is a box-shaped member that is large enough to cover the entire cooler 12 so that a gap is created between the cover 40 and the cooler 12 to serve as an air flow path. The cover 40 has an intake box 41 that covers the entire cooler 12, and an exhaust box 42 attached to the back side of the intake box 41.

As shown in FIG. 1, the exhaust box 42 is a relatively thick box member, and has a volume large enough to accommodate an exhaust flow path inside that draws in a significant amount of air. The exhaust flow path 43 has an outlet 44 that connects the exhaust port 15 of the cooler 12 to the outside.

As shown in FIG. 1, the intake box 41 is thin overall, but its lower end protrudes below the base 5 of the housing 4, so that it has a volume large enough to accommodate an intake flow path 45 that draws in a considerable amount of air. The intake flow path 45 has an inlet 46 that connects the intake port 16 of the cooler 12 to the outside and takes in outside air. The inlet 46 may be provided with a mesh to prevent water from entering during cleaning. The inlet 46 opens at the lower end of the front side (base 5 side) of the intake box 41, and the intake flow path 45 extends horizontally from the inlet 46, deflects directly upward, and is connected to the intake port 16 of the cooler 12.

As shown in FIG. 1, inside the exhaust box 42 of the cover 40, multiple deflection plates 50 (three in the illustrated example) are provided at various different angles, forming a curved exhaust flow path 43. In addition, at least one deflection plate 50 is provided at a corner of the intake flow path 45 inside the intake box 41 of the cover 40, closing off a portion of the exhaust flow path 43 to an extent that does not affect the flow of air.

As explained above, according to the structure of the covering body 40 shown in FIG. 1, the exhaust port 15 and the intake port 16 of the cooler 12 are blocked. In other words, the intake flow path 45 from the inlet 46 that takes in outside air to the intake port 16 of the cooler 12 and the exhaust flow path 43 from the exhaust port 15 of the cooler 12 to the outlet 44 that exhausts warm air are isolated from each other. Moreover, the inlet 46 and the outlet 44 are in opposite directions. Therefore, there is little possibility that the newly sucked in outside air and the exhausted warm air will mix, and the inconvenience of the warm air exhausted to the outside from the exhaust port 15 being sucked into the cooler 12 from the intake port 16 and reducing the cooling efficiency can be prevented in advance.

In addition, deflectors 50 are provided in the intake flow path 45 and the exhaust flow path 43, which can prevent water from entering the exhaust port 15 from the outlet 44 during cleaning, and prevent water from entering the intake port 16 from the inlet 46.

An X-ray inspection apparatus 1a according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The X-ray inspection apparatus 1a of the second embodiment differs from the X-ray inspection apparatus 1 of the first embodiment in that, as a cool air guide path, a second internal cool air guide path 22 is provided inside the housing 4 instead of the external cool air guide path 20 described above, and that a warm air guide path is provided inside the housing 4, not outside the housing 4. In the following description, these differences will be mainly described, and the same reference numerals as those in the drawings of the first embodiment will be used to denote the same or substantially the same parts as those of the first embodiment, and the description of the first embodiment will be omitted as appropriate, and the description of the first embodiment will be used.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the X-ray inspection device 1a has a second internal cold air guide path 22 and a first internal cold air guide path 21 as cold air guide paths that branch the supply direction of the cold air supplied from the cooler 12 and supply it to the first chamber R1 and the second chamber R2, respectively. The first internal cold air guide path 21 is the same as that of the X-ray inspection device 1a of the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, the partition plate 8a that separates the inside of the housing 4 into the first chamber R1 and the second chamber R2 does not completely separate the base 5 and the upper portion 6, unlike the first embodiment. The upper edge of the partition plate 8 is approximately at the same height as the upper surface of the container 2a of the X-ray generator 2 (and therefore the lower end of the heat dissipation portion 2b), and at a height above this, the first chamber R1 and the second chamber R2 are connected to each other.

4 and 5, the second internal cold air guide passage 22 is a duct-like member having a rectangular tube shape, and is arranged across the second chamber R2 and the first chamber R1 while in contact with the upper edge of the partition plate 8a, and communicates both chambers R1 and R2. The end of the second chamber R2 of the second internal cold air guide passage 22 is connected to one outlet of the blow-out duct 23 attached to the blow-out port 13 of the cooler 12. Referring to FIG. 5, the end of the first chamber R1 of the second internal cold air guide passage 22 has two openings corresponding to the heat dissipation section 2b of the X-ray generator 2 and the first control section 9, as can be seen from the flow of cold air indicated by the solid arrows, although the details are not shown. In addition, a fan 24 that blows air toward the first chamber R1 is provided inside the second internal cold air guide passage 22, closer to the second chamber R2 than the heat dissipation section 2b. Furthermore, inside the second internal cold air guide path 22, at the most downstream side of the opening corresponding to the heat dissipation section 2b, a deflector plate 25 is provided to direct part of the air blown by the fan 24 toward the heat dissipation section 2b. Therefore, the cold air coming out of the air outlet 13 of the cooler 12 passes through the air outlet duct 23 and enters the second internal cold air guide path 22, part of which hits the heat dissipation section 2b of the X-ray generator 2 to cool it, and the remaining cold air hits the first control section 9 to cool it.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the X-ray inspection device 1a has a hot air guide path for returning the hot air returning from the X-ray generator 2 and the first control unit 9 to the suction duct 26 connected to the suction port 14 of the cooler 12. The hot air guide path is a path that goes over the upper edge of the partition plate 8 and leads from the first chamber R1 to the second chamber R2. As shown in particular in Figure 5, a fan 24 that blows air from the first chamber R1 to the second chamber R2 is provided near the upper edge of the partition plate 8a, which is approximately the center of the hot air guide path. The hot air in the first chamber R1 generated by passing through the heat dissipation unit 2b of the X-ray generator 2 and the first control unit 9 is drawn by the fan 24 in the first chamber R1, enters the second chamber R2, and enters the suction duct 26 as it is. This flow of hot air is the hot air guide path of this embodiment. The hot air enters the cooler 12 and becomes cold air again, and repeats the circulation in which it is supplied from the air outlet 13 into the housing 4 as shown in Figure 5. In addition, the vertically long portion of the second chamber R2, which is the space inside the housing 4, is also a warm air guide path in that it is a path that returns warm air from the X-ray detector 3 to the cooler 12, just like in the first embodiment.

According to the X-ray inspection apparatus 1a of the second embodiment, in addition to obtaining the same effects as those of the first embodiment, the cold air guided by the second internal cold air guide passage 22 arranged in the housing 4 is supplied from the cooler 12 on the rear side of the housing 4 to the first chamber R1 in the housing 4 over the shortest distance, so that there is little loss of air supply and high cooling efficiency is obtained, particularly for the X-ray generator 2.
In the second embodiment described above, in Fig. 5, the second internal cool air guide passage 22 is provided on the left side so that the direction of cool air movement is indicated by a solid arrow, and the hot air guide passage is arranged on the right side so that the direction of hot air movement is indicated by a dashed arrow from the first chamber R1 to the second chamber R2. That is, the air flows in a generally counterclockwise direction. However, when viewed from the viewpoint of Fig. 5, the second internal cool air guide passage through which cool air flows downward in the figure is provided on the right side, and the hot air guide passage through which hot air flows upward in the figure is arranged on the left side, so that the air flows in a generally clockwise direction, and in that case, the same cooling effect can be obtained.

Reference Signs List 1, 1a...X-ray inspection device 2...X-ray generator 3...X-ray detector 4...Housing 12...Cooler 15...Exhaust port of cooler 16...Intake port of cooler 20...External cold air guide path as cold air guide path 21...First internal cold air guide path as cold air guide path 22...Second internal cold air guide path as cold air guide path 30...Hot air guide path 40...Covering body R1...First chamber R2...Second chamber

Claims (5)

An X-ray inspection device (1, 1a) having a housing (4) whose interior is separated into a first chamber (R1) on a front side and a second chamber (R2) on a rear side, an X-ray generator (2) arranged in the first chamber, an X-ray detector (3) arranged in the second chamber, and a cooler (12) arranged on the rear side of the housing for supplying cool air into the housing,
a cool air guide passage (20, 21, 22) for branching a supply direction of the cool air supplied from the air outlet 13 of the cooler to supply the cool air to the first chamber and the second chamber, respectively ;
a hot air guide passage (30) through which hot air generated by the X-ray generator (2) and the X-ray detector (3) returns to an intake port (14) of the cooler (12);
An X-ray inspection device (1), comprising: The cold air guideway is
2. The X-ray inspection apparatus (1) according to claim 1, further comprising an external cool air guide path (20) provided outside the housing (4) for guiding the cool air and supplying it to the first chamber (R1). The cold air guideway is
2. The X-ray inspection apparatus (1a) according to claim 1, further comprising an internal cool air guide path (22) provided inside the housing (4) for guiding the cool air and supplying it to the first chamber (R1). An X-ray inspection device (1, 1a) as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the warm air guide path (30), through which the warm air generated by heating the cold air in the X-ray generator (2) and the X-ray detector (3) returns to the suction port (14) of the cooler (12), is configured as a route different from the cold air guide path (20, 21, 22). The cooler (12) has an exhaust port (15) for blowing out hot air to the outside and an intake port (16) for taking in outside air,
a cover (40) provided on a rear side of the cooler facing the outside, covering the exhaust port and the intake port so as to communicate with the outside and blocking the exhaust port and the intake port;
The X-ray inspection device (1 , 1a) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the covering (40) has an outlet (44) on the rear side for discharging warm air to the outside and an inlet (46) on the front side for drawing in outside air from the outside .

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