JPH01198740A - Radiographic information reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To put parts together in a small space and to miniaturize a reader by arranging a sheet supply magazine, a 1st sheet conveying system, a platen, a 2nd sheet conveying system and a sheet housing magazine in the U-shape. CONSTITUTION:The supply magazine 41 is arranged so that a sheet port 42 is oriented toward the platen 1 in the 1st stop position where move for subscanning with excited light starts. The 1st sheet conveying system 50 conveying accumulable phosphor sheets from the supply magazine 41 to the platen 1 is arranged so that the system 50 can convey accumulable phosphor sheets linearly and orthogonally to the moving direction of the platen 1. The housing magazine 61 using the accumulable phosphor sheet which has completed reading graphic information is arranged so that a sheet inlet 60 is oriented toward the platen 1 lying in the 2nd stop position after the platen 1 ends its action. The 2nd sheet conveying system 70 conveying accumulable phosphor sheets from the platen 1 to the housing magazine 61 is arranged so that it can convey sheets in parallel with the direction in which the 1st sheet conveying system 50 conveys sheets. Thus, the 1st and 2nd sheet conveying systems form almost a U-shape, and they can be put in a small space.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a radiation image information reading device that reads radiation image information by scanning excitation light onto a stimulable phosphor sheet on which radiation image information is accumulated and recorded. In particular, we improved the layout of the transport system that transports the stimulable phosphor sheet from the magazine to the excitation light scanning section, and the transport system that transports the stimulable phosphor sheet taken out from the excitation light scanning section to the magazine. The present invention relates to a radiation image information reading device that is miniaturized.

(Conventional technology) Certain phosphors are exposed to radiation (X-rays, α-rays, β-rays.

When irradiated with γ-rays, electron beams, ultraviolet rays, etc., a part of this radiation energy is accumulated in the phosphor, and when this phosphor is irradiated with excitation light such as visible light, the phosphor changes depending on the accumulated energy. is known to exhibit stimulated luminescence, and phosphors exhibiting this property are called stimulable phosphors (stimulable phosphors).

Using this stimulable phosphor, radiation image information of a subject such as a human body is partially recorded on a sheet of stimulable phosphor, and this stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned with excitation light such as a laser beam to make it shine. The resulting stimulated luminescent light is generated and photoelectrically read to obtain an image signal, and based on this image signal, the radiation image of the subject is recorded as a visible image on a recording material such as a photographic light-sensitive material, a CRT, etc. The applicant has already proposed a radiation image information recording and reproducing system for outputting (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1983-1999)
No. 12429, No. 5B-11395, No. 55-183
No. 472, No. 5B-104845, No. 55-1163
No. 40, etc.).

Furthermore, the above-mentioned stimulable phosphor sheet is used not only as a means for recording medical images in the radiation image information recording and reproducing system described above, but also in various fields. , previously proposed an electron microscope image recording and reproducing method using the above-mentioned stimulable phosphor sheet (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 51738-1982 and 1989-61-1).
No. 93539, etc.). This electron microscope image recording and reproducing method basically involves irradiating a stimulable phosphor sheet that stores electron beam energy with an electron beam that has passed through a sample in a vacuum state, and then irradiating the stimulable phosphor sheet with excitation light. The accumulated energy is released as stimulated luminescence light, the emitted light is detected photoelectrically to obtain an image signal, and this image signal is used to reproduce the electron microscope image of the sample.

In the method for recording and reproducing radiation image information (including electron microscope image information) explained above, a cylindrical platen (sheet holding means)
A stimulable phosphor sheet is fixed to the stimulable phosphor sheet, and the excitation light irradiation system is rotated with the central axis of the cylindrical surface as the rotation axis to main scan the excitation light beam over the stimulable phosphor sheet, and the platen is rotated along the central axis. An apparatus has been proposed in which sub-scanning of the excitation light beam is performed by linearly moving the excitation light beam in a direction parallel to the excitation light beam (an example thereof is shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 189539/1983).

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) On the other hand, the above-mentioned stimulable phosphor sheets are often stored in a magazine and handled as a unit, but the stimulable phosphor sheets described above are often handled as a magazine unit. In the radiation image information reading device, which performs sub-scanning of the excitation light beam by moving the Since a sheet conveyance system for conveying the stimulable phosphor sheet from the platen to another storage magazine is required, there is a problem in that the apparatus tends to be large in size.

The above-mentioned problem is not limited to radiographic image information reading devices having a cylindrical platen. This is generally recognized in radiation image information reading apparatuses in which the sub-scanning of the excitation light beam is performed by moving the excitation light beam linearly in a direction substantially perpendicular to the main-scanning direction.

Therefore, the present invention includes a sheet conveyance system that conveys a stimulable phosphor sheet from a supply magazine to a platen, and a conveyance system that conveys a stimulable phosphor sheet after image information has been read from the platen to a storage magazine. It is an object of the present invention to provide a radiation image information reading device that is formed in a small size.

(Means and Effects for Solving the Problems) As described above, the radiation image information reading device of the present invention is a radiation image information reading device in which the platen is linearly moved for sub-scanning of the excitation light beam. In the apparatus, the supply magazine containing the stimulable phosphor sheet before image information is read is moved to the first stage for starting the movement for excitation light sub-scanning.
A first sheet conveyance system that conveys the stimulable phosphor sheet from this supply magazine to the platen is arranged in a straight line almost perpendicular to the direction of movement of the platen. A storage magazine for storing the stimulable phosphor sheet whose image information has been read is arranged so as to convey the sheet, and the sheet entrance is directed toward the platen at the second stop position where the movement has been completed; A second sheet conveyance system for conveying the stimulable phosphor sheet from the platen to the storage magazine is arranged so as to convey the sheet in a direction substantially parallel to the sheet conveyance direction of the first sheet conveyance system. That is.

In the above configuration, the movement range of the platen and the first and second sheet conveyance systems form a substantially U-shape and fit within a small space.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall arrangement of a radiation image information reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. It is a partial side view which shows the state seen from C direction and D direction. This radiation image information reading device basically includes a reading section 30, a supply magazine holding section 40, a first sheet conveying system 50 disposed between the supply magazine holding section 40 and the reading section 30, and a storage magazine. A holding section 60 , a second sheet conveying system 70 disposed between the storage magazine holding section 60 and the reading section 30 , and an erasing section 80 disposed above the second sheet conveying system 70
It is composed of.

In the reading section 30, the platen 1 is linearly moved in the direction of arrow A between a first stop position shown by a solid line in FIG. 1 and a second stop position shown by a dashed line. As described above, while the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 held on the platen 1 is being moved in this manner, radiation image information is read from the sheet 2.

As mentioned above, there are multiple stimulable phosphor sheets 2 on which radiation image information is accumulated and recorded by, for example, irradiating radiation that has passed through an object such as a human body, or by irradiating an electron beam that has passed through a sample in an electron microscope. is stored in the supply magazine 41 and loaded into the radiation image information reading device. That is, the supply magazine 41 is held by the supply magazine holding section 40 with its sheet outlet 42 facing toward the platen 1 at the first stop position.

The stimulable phosphor sheets 2 in the supply magazine 41 are taken out of the magazine one by one by a sheet take-out means 43 consisting of, for example, a moving arm equipped with an air suction cup at the lower end, and placed on the first sheet conveyance system 50. It will be placed.

The first sheet conveyance system 50 includes, for example, a plurality of endless belts 53 stretched around a pair of rollers 5L 52, a motor 54 that rotates the rollers 52 and rotates the endless belt 53, and a guide roller 55. , and a seat position defining plate 56. When a portion of one stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is placed on the endless belt 53, the motor 54 is driven by a command from a control circuit (not shown), the endless belt 53 rotates, and the sheet 2 is read. It is transported toward the section 30. In this example, the position defining plate 56 is fixed perpendicularly to the direction of movement of the platen 1 (direction of arrow A), while the endless belt 53 is arranged slightly diagonally with respect to the position defining plate 56. Therefore, the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 comes into contact with the position defining plate 56 during conveyance, and thereafter is conveyed along this position defining plate 5B. By performing such so-called "width adjustment", each stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is fed into the platen 1 while always maintaining a constant horizontal position.

Next, reading of radiation image information from the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4.5 and 6, which show the reading section 30 in detail. The platen 1 has an inwardly convex cylindrical surface 1
A drive roller 6 and a roller 7 driven by the drive roller 6 are provided close to the lower end of the cylindrical surface 1a. When the front end of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is fed to the bottom of the platen 1 as described above, the roller 6 rotates to feed the sheet 2 to a predetermined position along the cylindrical surface 1a. In this way, the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is held on the platen 1 at the first stop position as shown by the dashed line in FIG. Platen 1 is
Its lower part is screwed into a screw rod 3, and when the screw rod 3 is rotated by the motor 4, it moves from the first stop position shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 to the second stop position shown by the dashed line in the figure. It is possible to move in the direction of arrow A at a constant speed along two guide rails 5 until the stop position. In this apparatus, the screw rod 3, motor 4, and guide rail 5 constitute a sub-scanning means.

A scanning optical system 8 as shown in FIG. 5 is disposed above the platen 1, and this scanning optical system 8 reads image information stored and recorded on the stimulable phosphor sheet 2. It will be done. In the scanning optical system 8 described above, a laser beam IO as excitation light is emitted from a He-Ne laser 9 as an excitation light source. This laser beam 10 passes through a filter 11 that cuts unnecessary wavelengths of light, passes through an acousto-optic modulator (AOM) 12 for adjusting the intensity, and then enters two reflection mirrors 13 and 14. to change the optical path. Note that the mirror 14 receives the incident laser beam 10.
The laser beam 10a transmitted through this mirror 14 is configured to transmit a small portion of the light at a constant rate.
The intensity of is detected by the photodetector 15.

The photodetector 15 controls the AOM 12 according to the intensity of the detected laser beam 10a so that the intensity of the laser beam IO emitted from the AOM 12 is always constant.

The laser beam lO reflected by the mirror 14 passes through the beam expander 16 and is expanded to a predetermined beam diameter, and then transmits light in the wavelength range of the stimulated luminescent light, which will be described later. is a reflecting dichroic mirror 1
7. Note that the laser light incident surface 17a of this dichroic mirror 17 is subjected to surface treatment so as to reflect a small portion of the incident laser light 10, and the reflected laser light 10b is , is focused by the focusing lens 18, passes through the aperture 19a of the aperture plate 19, and is detected by the photodetector 20. The photodetector 20 detects the incident position of the laser beam lOb to determine whether its optical axis is at a predetermined position.
A signal is generated to finely adjust the position of the mirrors 13 and 14 in accordance with the position of b.

Laser light lO transmitted through the dichroic mirror 17
is incident on a spinner 21 placed in the optical path and is reflected and deflected. This spinner 21 has an incident laser beam 10
A deflection mirror 22 having a reflecting surface 22a having an inclination of 45 degrees with respect to the deflection mirror 22 is continuously rotated at high speed in the direction of arrow B by a spindle motor 22A. Note that this deflection mirror 22 is arranged so as to reflect the laser beam 10 on the central axis of the cylindrical surface 1a of the platen 1.
The optical path length of the laser beam from this reflection position to the top of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is always constant. Further, a condenser lens 23 is provided on the optical path of the laser beam IO reflected and deflected by the mirror 22 to focus the laser beam IO incident as parallel light onto a desired spot on the stimulable phosphor sheet 2. There is. This condensing lens 23 is a part of the spinner 21 and is rotated at high speed integrally with the deflection mirror 22.

The laser beam lO reflected and deflected by the spinner 21 repeatedly travels on the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 in the direction of arrow B (the fifth
(see figure). At the same time, sub-scanning is performed by moving the platen 1 at a constant speed in the direction of arrow A as described above, and the laser beam 10 is transmitted to the stimulable phosphor sheet 2.
Scan the top two-dimensionally.

A portion of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 irradiated with the laser beam 21 emits stimulated luminescence light 24 corresponding to the image information (5) stored in that region. Although it is emitted as non-directional light from the position, it becomes parallel light by passing through the condensing lens 23 arranged at a distance of focal length f from the excitation light irradiation position.The stimulated luminescence light 24 that has become parallel light After being reflected by the deflection mirror 22 of the spinner, it enters and is reflected by the dichroic mirror 17.The stimulated luminescent light 24 reflected by the dichroic mirror 17 is focused on the optical path of the stimulated luminescent light 24. A detection lens 25 is provided, and the stimulated luminescence light 24 is focused by the detection lens 25 and enters the photomultiplier 26. Furthermore, at the position where the stimulated luminescence light 24 is focused by the detection lens 25, An aperture plate 27 is provided which has an aperture 27a having a size that allows only the focused stimulated luminescence light 24 to pass through.A part of the laser light 10 incident on the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is reflected on the sheet surface.
When this reflected light hits a member in the device such as a condensing lens and is reflected again and excites parts of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 other than the predetermined laser beam irradiation position, stimulated luminescence light is generated from these parts. These stimulated luminescent lights pass through the condenser lens 23 and the detection lens 25 and are guided to a different position from the stimulated luminescent light emitted from a predetermined position. Therefore, these stimulated luminescence lights are cut by the aperture plate 27 and are prevented from entering the photomultiplier 28. Note that the laser beam 10 reflected on the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 and passed through the condenser lens 23 may pass through the aperture 27a of the aperture plate 27 together with the stimulated luminescent light 24. Pliers-26
A filter 28 that selectively transmits only light in the wavelength range of the stimulated luminescence light 24 is provided on the light-receiving surface of the filter 28 to cut off the laser light IO that has passed through the aperture 27a.

The photomultiplier 26 photoelectrically reads the incident stimulated luminescent light 24 and outputs a read image signal.

After this read image signal is processed in an image reading circuit (not shown), it is input to a reproducing device such as a CRT or an optical scanning recording device, and the radiation image is displayed on the CRT as a visible image or reproduced as a hard copy.

At the time when the reading of the radiation image information is completed as described above, the platen 1 has moved to the position shown by the dashed line in FIGS.
second stop position). The roller 6 is then rotated in the opposite direction to that described above, and the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is fed from the platen 1 onto the second sheet transport system 70. Then, the second sheet conveyance system 70 is driven to convey the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 toward the storage magazine holding section 80. As shown in FIG.
Consisting of a pair of rollers 71 and 72, an endless belt 73 stretched between them, and a motor 74 that rotates the rollers 72 and rotates the endless belt 73,
Move the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 in the moving direction of the platen 1 (arrow A
direction).

At this time, the erasing unit 80 irradiates the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 with light in the excitation wavelength range of the sheet 2 . As a result, the radiation energy remaining in the sheet 2 even after the radiation image information has been read is released, and the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 becomes ready to store and record new radiation image information. Further, when the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is taken out from the platen 1, the platen 1 is moved in the opposite direction to the direction in which the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is read.
Return to the stopping position and prepare for the next reading.

In the storage magazine holding section 60, the storage magazine 61 is
platen 1 with its seat population 62 in the second stop position;
The second sheet conveying system 70 transports the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 from the platen 1 toward the storage magazine 61 in a straight line (in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the platen 1). to) transport. Further, the height of the storage magazine holding section 60 can be changed as appropriate by the lifting device 63. For example, each time one stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is stored, the height of the storage magazine holding section 60 is adjusted to the height of the sheet receiving plate of the magazine 61. By raising or lowering the storage magazine 61 one pitch at a time, the empty portion of the storage magazine 61 is aligned with the upper surface of the endless belt 73. Therefore, when the endless belt 73 is rotated by a predetermined amount, the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 placed thereon enters the empty part of the storage magazine 61.

After most of one stimulable phosphor sheet 2 has entered the storage magazine 61 in this way, the end portion of the sheet 2 is held by the sheet feeding means 75 similar to the sheet take-out means 43, and the end portion of the sheet 2 is held on the side of the storage magazine 61. As a result, the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is completely stored in the storage magazine 61.

Note that the above-mentioned supply magazine holding section 40 also has a height that eliminates the height difference between the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 to be taken out from the supply magazine 41 and the upper surface of the endless belt 53, especially when the supply magazine 41 is for a large number of sheets. It is preferable to form it so that it can be changed.

Further, the erasing section 80 as described above may not be provided in particular, and the storage magazine holding section 60 may be arranged at a small distance from the platen 1 at the second stop position. In that case, the sheet conveyance system in node 2 can have an extremely simple configuration, such as a pair of nip rollers, for example. Similarly, the first sheet conveyance system does not need to be particularly long if the above-mentioned "width adjustment" is not required. can be placed.

Furthermore, since the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 held on the platen 1 is often in a somewhat curled state even after being removed from the platen 1, the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is It is also possible to remove curls from the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 by incorporating a conveying section that curves the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 in the opposite direction to the state on the platen 1.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above in detail, the radiation image information reading device of the present invention has a sheet supply magazine, a first sheet conveyance system, a platen, a second sheet conveyance system, and a sheet storage magazine that are arranged in a roughly "U" shape. Since these elements are arranged to form a shape, each of these elements can be gathered in a small space, and therefore, it is possible to reliably achieve miniaturization compared to the conventional device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a radiation image information reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are partial side views of the device according to the embodiment, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams showing the embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the apparatus. FIG. 6 is a front view showing the main parts of the apparatus according to the above embodiment. 1...Platen 1a...Cylindrical surface 2...
Storable phosphor sheet 3...Screw rod 4.54.74...Motor 8...Scanning optical system 9...He-Ne laser lO...Laser beam 21...Spinner 22...・Deflection mirror 22A...Spindle motor 23・
...Condensing lens 24...Stimulated luminescence light 25...
・Detection lens 28... Photo multiplier-3
0... Reading section 40... Supply magazine holding section 41... Supply magazine 42... Sheet outlet 43.
...Sheet take-out means 50...First sheet conveyance system 5
3.73...Endless belt 56...Seat position regulation plate 60...Storage magazine holding section 6■...Storage magazine 62...Seat population 70...Second sheet conveyance system 75... Sheet feeding means 80... erasing section Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3111,! Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] One stimulable phosphor sheet taken out from a magazine containing a plurality of stimulable phosphor sheets is held on a platen, and an excitation light beam is applied to the stimulable phosphor sheet on the platen. One-dimensional main scanning is performed, and the platen is moved in a direction substantially perpendicular to the main scanning direction to perform sub-scanning of the excitation light beam, and the excitation light beam is emitted from the portion of the sheet irradiated with the excitation light beam. In a radiation image information reading device that photoelectrically detects stimulated luminescence light, a supply magazine storing a stimulable phosphor sheet before image information is read is placed on the platen side at a first stop position where the movement starts. A first sheet transport system is arranged with the sheet exit facing toward the platen, and a first sheet transport system for transporting the stimulable phosphor sheet from the supply magazine to the platen is arranged to transport the sheet substantially perpendicular to the direction of platen movement, A storage magazine for storing the stimulable phosphor sheet from which the information has been read is arranged with the sheet entrance facing the platen at the second stop position where the movement has finished, and the stimulable phosphor sheet is stored from the platen to this storage magazine. A radiation image information reading device characterized in that a second sheet conveyance system that conveys the sheet is arranged so as to convey the sheet in a direction substantially parallel to the sheet conveyance direction of the first sheet conveyance system.