JPH022785B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention allows sheet material to be fed in at arbitrary intervals from a receiving position for receiving the sheet material.
The present invention relates to a sheet material feeding device that feeds the sheet material one by one to a feeding position.

Conventionally, radiographic images of the human body, etc. are photographed and recorded on a stimulable phosphor plate, and the information recorded on the stimulable phosphor plate is read out by laser beam scanning or the like, and the read-out image is 2. Description of the Related Art A radiation image forming apparatus is known in which a recording medium, such as a photographic film, is exposed to a light beam modulated by information. In such image forming apparatuses, a sheet-shaped stimulable phosphor is usually used, and in general, a stimulable phosphor sheet (hereinafter simply referred to as a "phosphor sheet") after a radiation image is formed is used. ) are fed into a sheet supplying section of a radiation image reading machine manually or by a conveyance system such as a conveyor, and from there they are automatically fed one by one to the reading section. Radiographic imaging is often carried out irregularly, especially in the case of medical diagnostic equipment, so even when a radiographic image capturing machine and a radiographic image reading machine are connected via a sheet conveyance system. , without direct communication between the two, the phosphor sheets that are fed one by one are stored at a sheet receiving position, from where they are conveyed in batches to a sheet delivery position, and from this sheet delivery position. It is convenient to configure the device so that the phosphor sheets are fed one by one to the reading section. By supplying the sheet in this manner, it becomes possible to operate the radiation image reading machine in its own efficient operation cycle, completely independent of the timing of supply of the phosphor sheet from the radiation image capturing machine. Furthermore, if the above-mentioned sheet feeding method is used, a failure may occur on the radiation image reader side, or the phosphor sheet may be temporarily fed from the radiation image capture device in excess of the processing capacity of the radiation image reader. Even if something happens,
There is no need to immediately stop radiographic imaging, and it is possible to continue operating the imaging device for a certain period of time.

As mentioned above, conventional sheet material feeding devices that transport the sheet material that has been received and stored at the receiving position to the delivery position for sending out one sheet at a time have been conventionally used to transfer the supplied sheet material to the previous sheet material. While stacking the stacked sheet materials one by one from below, the sheet materials are separated and fed out one by one, or the supplied sheet materials are placed one by one between the partition plates, and the sheet materials are placed between the partition plates. It is known that the gap on the sheet supply side and the gap on the sheet delivery side are appropriately opened and closed by a link mechanism or the like, and the sheet materials are stored and fed out one by one by the fall of the sheet material under its own weight. However, in the case of the former device, the sheet material is taken out from the bottom of the sheet bundle, so it is difficult to reliably separate each sheet one by one. Since the sheet material is fed out while being rubbed by the material receiving plate, there is a problem in that the surface of the sheet material is easily damaged. In particular, the problem of easy scratching is a fatal problem for radiation image forming apparatuses that use phosphor sheets as described above. In addition, for the latter device,
When a large amount of sheet storage is required, not only does it require an extremely large space and a complicated mechanism, but when the sheet material is passed through the partition plate by falling under its own weight, sheet materials with different surface resistances and curling may occur. It has been recognized that sheet materials with marks on them tend to clog inside the partition plates. Furthermore, there is a problem in that it is extremely difficult to form any of the devices in such a way that sheet materials of different sizes can be arbitrarily mixed and handled.

In view of the above-mentioned points, the present invention prevents the surface of sheet materials from being damaged, allows sheet materials to be fed out one by one in the order in which they are supplied, and allows for handling of several sizes of sheet materials at the same time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet material feeding device that has a relatively simple structure, can store a large amount of sheet material, and does not cause sheet material clogging.

As described above, the sheet material feeding device of the present invention is configured to feed sheet materials fed in at arbitrary intervals from a receiving position that receives a plurality of sheet materials to a delivery position that feeds out the sheet materials one by one. a support stand for supporting the sheet material from below in an upright state, and a sheet material fed in an upright state on this support stand at the receiving position,
A first inclined plate that supports the sheet material fed in first in a diagonally stacked state facing downward; and a plurality of sheet materials stacked diagonally stacked and propped up on this support base at the delivery position first. A second inclined plate supports the fed sheet material with it facing up, and a transfer position where the sheet material supporting the support base is transferred from the receiving position to the second inclined plate, and then returns to the receiving position. It is characterized by being comprised of a moving means for circular movement.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

1A to 1C are side views showing a sheet material feeding device according to one embodiment of the present invention in the order of operation of the device, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the device. As shown in these figures, the sheet material feeding device 1 of this embodiment includes sprockets 3a and 3b fixed to both ends of the main shaft 2, and sprockets 5a and 5a supported by bearing members 4a and 4b.
5b, and is fixed to two chains 6a, 6b which are rotated in the direction of arrow A in the figure, and above the sprockets 3a, 3b, approximately in the direction in which the chains 6a, 6b are stretched. The first inclined plate 8 and the sprockets 5a, 5 are arranged diagonally in alignment with the
A second inclined plate 9 is disposed on the side of b in a direction opposite to the vertical direction of the first inclined plate 8 (the lower part of the inclined plate 9 is bent into an L-shape to support the seat). 9') Furthermore, this second
A seat slope switching plate 10 that can be swung in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1B between the slope plate 9 and the first slope plate 8.
have. The sheet material feeding device 1 is located below the sheet feeding device 11, and the sheet feeding device 1 is located below the sheet feeding device 11.
It is placed above 2. The sheet material feeding device of this embodiment is used for feeding a fluorescent sheet between a radiation image capturing machine and a reader in a radiation image forming apparatus as described above, and is used for feeding a fluorescent sheet between a radiation image capturing machine and a reader. After being photographed by a radiographic imaging device, phosphor sheets S (hereinafter simply referred to as "sheets") are fed into the apparatus 11 from above one by one by a known means (not shown). Sheet feeding device 11
A pair of nip rollers 13a, 13b, a pair of nip rollers 14a, 14b provided below these nip rollers 13a, 13b, and a guide plate 1.
It consists of 5a and 15b. Each nip roller 13a, 13b, 14a, 14b is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1A to feed the sheet S supplied from above downward. Sheet feeding device 12
consists of an endless belt 18 hung around pulleys 16 and 17, a roller 19 pressed against the endless belt 18, and a suction cup 20. Five sets of endless belts 18 and rollers 19 are formed as shown in FIG. 2, and the sheets S inserted between these endless belts 18 and rollers 19 are rotated in the directions shown in FIGS. 1A and 1C. Drain downwards. The suction cup 20 is conventionally used to suck light objects by suctioning air using a vacuum pump (not shown) or the like, and is designed to move along a trajectory C shown in FIG. 1C. is formed.

Here, the driving section of the sheet material feeding device 1 will be explained in detail with reference to FIG. A sprocket 21 is fixed to one end of the main shaft 2, and this sprocket 2
1 is connected by a chain 22 to a sprocket 24 fixed to a drive shaft 23. Drive shaft 2
Three position detection cams 25, 26,
27 is fixed, and the end of the sprocket 24 opposite to the fixed side is connected to the motor M via both crank mechanisms 28.
It is connected to the shaft 29 of. Position detection limit switches 30, 31, and 32 are provided at positions facing the three position detection cams 25, 26, and 27, respectively. Five seat receiving rings 33 are fixed to the main shaft 2 between the two sprockets 3a and 3b described above. As clearly shown in FIG. 2, the support base 7 is formed in a shape with five recesses 34 provided at each of its outer and inner ends. The inner end of the support base 7 extends to the inner side of the circumferential surface of the seat receiving ring 33, and the outer end is connected to the five endless belts 18 described above.
Although the recess 34 is extended to a bending position,
is provided, so that the support base 7 can continue to rotate without coming into contact with the seat receiving ring 33 and the endless belt 18. Also,
Similarly, the outer end of the support base 7 is designed to reach the aforementioned seat inclination switching plate 10, but this seat inclination switching plate 10 is centered around the main shaft 2 as shown in FIG. Since it is composed of five thin plate members attached to arms 35a and 35b that are rotatably supported as
Although it intersects with the seat inclination switching plate 10, it does not come into contact with it. Although not shown in FIG. 2, the second inclined plate 9 also includes the seat inclined switching plate 10.
Similarly, it is composed of five thin plate members arranged to face the recess 34 at the outer end of the support base 7, and therefore the support base 7 and the second inclined plate 9 intersect with each other. Do not touch. Figure 3 shows support stand 7.
This figure shows in detail how the parts are attached to the chains 6a and 6b. The support stand 7 is directly connected to the chains 6a, 6
It is not fixed to the chains 6a, 6b, but is fixed to the chains 6a, 6b by having its both ends fixed to the arms 36 fixed to the chains 6a, 6b.
The arm 36 is connected to the chain 6 by a pin 37 at one end.
a and 6b, and another long arm 39 is connected to the other end by a pin 38. The end of this arm 39 opposite to the arm 36 connection side is connected to the chains 6a, 6b by a pin 40.
Fixed.

Hereinafter, the operation of the sheet material feeding device 1 of this embodiment having the above structure will be explained.
Chains 6a, 6b are stopped with support platform 7 in the position shown in FIG. 1A. When the chains 6a and 6b are next rotated, 1
It is stopped after each rotation. In other words, when rotation is applied to the chains 6a and 6b from the state shown in FIG.
It rotates once in the rotational direction of 3b, that is, in the A direction, returns to its original position, and stops. Chain 6 like this
Rotation control of a and 6b is performed by a position detection cam 27 and a limit switch 32 provided on the drive shaft 23. Under the condition of FIG. 1A, the first sheet S ₁ is transferred to the nip roller 14 of the sheet feeding device 11.
After passing through a and 14b, the sheet _S1 falls under its own weight and falls onto the support stand 7. As shown in the figure, the support base 7 is inclined with the outside facing upward, so the seat S ₁ is placed on the support base 7 from the outside to the inside (that is, from the right to the left in the figure). It slides and falls onto the first inclined plate 8 and the seat inclined switching plate 10, which are arranged to be inclined upwardly to the left in the figure, and the lower end thereof abuts on the seat receiving ring 33 and is supported. Hereafter, the second sheet, third sheet... sheet S ₂ , S ₃ ,
When ... is supplied from the sheet supply device 11, these sheets S ₂ , S ₃ ... are stacked in order such as S ₂ on the right side of the first sheet S ₁ , S ₃ on the right side of S ₂ , etc. . When a predetermined number of n sheets S are stacked on the support stand 7 and it is detected that there are no more sheets S at the feeding position, the motor M is driven to rotate the chains 6a and 6b, and the support stand 7 rotates across the seat support portion 9' of the second inclined plate 9 from the receiving position where the seat S is received. At this time,
The sheet inclination switching plate 10, which was supporting n sheets S together with the first inclination plate 8, is swung from left to right in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 2B, and the support base 7
The upper n sheets S ₁ , S ₂ . When the support base 7 rotates across the seat support portion 9' of the second inclined plate 9 and returns to its original receiving position, the chain 6 is rotated as described above.
a, 6b are stopped (FIG. 1C). Counting the predetermined number n and detecting the presence or absence of the sheet S on the sheet support portion 9' of the second inclined plate 9 can be performed by known means. Further, the seat inclination switching plate 10 is oscillated by oscillating the arms 35a and 35b about the main shaft 2 by known means (not shown). After the sheet slope switching plate 10 has turned the n sheets S ₁ , S _{2 .} . . Sn toward the second slope plate 9, it is immediately returned to the position aligned with the first slope plate 8.

Note that although this seat inclination switching plate 10 is illustrated in the present embodiment, it does not necessarily have to be used. For example, when the support stand 7 supports and moves the sheet from the sheet receiving position to the delivery position, the first inclined plate 8, the second inclined plate
It is possible to arrange chains 6a and 6b that circulate and move the inclined plate 9 and the support stand 7,
It is also possible to obtain the same effect by using the seat receiving ring 33.

In the state shown in FIG. 1C, the n sheets S ₁ , _{S 2} , . The sheet is placed on the sheet supporting portion 9' of the sheet and is in a state of waiting for the sheet feeding device 12 to send it out. where n
The sheets S ₁ , S ₂ , ...Sn are the nth sheets
Sn comes into contact with the second inclined plate 9, and the previous sheet Sn _-1 is on the left side of the sheet Sn in the figure, and the following
Sn _-2 , Sn _-3 , . . . S ₂ , S ₁ are layered in this order. n sheets S ₁ stacked in this way,
S ₂ ...Sn is fed one sheet at a time from the left side (upper side) in the figure, that is, from the sheet feeding device 11, by a suction cup 20 that moves in a trajectory as shown by C in FIG. The rotating endless belt 18 and rollers 19 transport the rollers in the order shown above and drop them, and the rotating endless belt 18 and rollers 19 send them downward in the figure to a radiation image reader (not shown). is supplied to At this time, the support stand 7, which has returned to the same position as in FIG.
Regardless of whether or not the sheets S are fed out from above the sheet support portion 9' of the inclined plate 9, the sheets S can be fed one after another onto the support base 7 from the sheet feeding device 11. In this way, in the sheet material feeding device of this embodiment, it is possible to independently feed the sheet S from the image capturing device regardless of the operation of feeding the sheet S to the radiation image reader. On the other hand, if this device is used, it becomes possible to operate the image reading device in its own operating cycle, no matter what period the sheet S is fed from the radiographic imaging device. By using the apparatus of this embodiment, it is possible to discharge the sheet S from the radiographic imaging machine and to supply the sheet S to the radiographic image reader completely independently, so that the sheet S can be discharged while the support base 7 is moving. There is a possibility that the sheet S is supplied from the supply device 11. Therefore, it is better to move the support stand 7 as quickly as possible. However, if the movement is started and stopped too rapidly, problems such as disturbance of the sheet S and overrun when the support stand 7 stops will occur, so the support stand 7 starts movement at the lowest possible speed and then stops. However, it is preferable to increase the speed during movement. In this embodiment, in order to move the support stand 7 at an inconstant speed, a motor M and a drive shaft 2 are used.
Both crank mechanisms 28 are provided between the drive shaft 23 and the drive shaft 23 to obtain non-uniform rotation of the drive shaft 23. Of course, such non-uniform motion can be realized not only by the two crank mechanisms 28 as described above, but also by using a Geneva mechanism, a three-dimensional cam, a planetary gear mechanism, or other link mechanisms. The position detection cam 26 and limit switch 31 are for detecting the movement start timing of the seat inclination switching plate 10, and the position detection cam 25 and limit switch 30 are for detecting the movement start timing of the seat inclination switching plate 10. This is provided to prevent damage to the device and the sheet S due to overrun. Also,
The reason why the second inclined plate 9 is bent into a dogleg shape is to prevent two sheets from being sent out when sending out the sheets.
In other words, since the second inclined plate 9 on which the sheets S fall is bent as described above, a gap D is created between the laminated sheets as shown in FIG. 1C, which prevents the sheets S from coming into close contact with each other. It will be done.

As is clear from the above operation description, in the sheet material feeding device of this embodiment, the sheets S are rubbed against each other, or the first inclined plate 8 and the sheet inclined switching plate 10 are in contact with the surface of the sheet S. Moreover, there is no rubbing movement applied to the second inclined plate 9, and the possibility that the surface of the sheet S will be scratched is extremely low. At the sheet feeding position, the sheets S are fed out one by one starting from the top one, so unlike when stacked sheets are pulled out from the bottom one, there is almost no possibility that two sheets will be fed. do not have. At the sheet receiving position, the sheet S is supported by the support stand 7 and at the sheet sending position, the lower end of the sheet S is placed on the sheet support section 9', so that sheets S of different sizes can be mixed and handled. is also becoming possible. In such a case, the sheet supply device and the sheet delivery device must also be configured to be able to handle sheets S of different sizes. For example, in the sheet material feeding device 1 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. = 354 mm) are both fed so that one side edge is aligned, and the suction cup 20 of the sheet feeding device 12 combined with this sheet material feeding device 1 is arranged at a position where it can suck sheets S of each size. .

The sheet material feeding device of this embodiment described above stacks n sheets S on the support stand (7 in FIG. 1A) at the sheet receiving position, and then moves the support stand 7 to the sheet delivery position. However, with a simple sequence change,
The sheet S is placed on the sheet support section 9' at the sheet feeding position.
If there is no sheet S, if even one sheet S is fed onto the support stand 7 at the sheet receiving position, the support stand 7
It is also possible to move the . The operation of the device in such a case will be explained below.
When the first sheet _S1 is supplied to the support stand 7 at the sheet receiving position, naturally no sheet is placed on the sheet supporting section 9' at the sheet sending position.
Therefore, the support stand 7 in the above-mentioned sheet receiving position
is loaded with one sheet _S1 , immediately moved to the sheet delivery position, and then returned to its original position. The sheet _S1 that has been moved to the sheet delivery position is sent out by a suction cup or the like as described above, for example, in response to a control signal from the radiation image reader. When the second sheet _S2 is fed to the sheet receiving position, the above 1.
If the second sheet S ₁ has already been sent out from the sheet delivery position, the support stand 7 on which the second sheet S ₂ is placed is immediately moved and the second sheet
Send S ₂ to the sheet delivery position. Thereafter, the third sheet S ₃ , fourth sheet S ₄ , etc. can be supplied in the same manner, but at a certain point, the sheet feeding speed to the sheet receiving position is faster than the sheet feeding speed from the sheet feeding position. Naturally, if the speed is high, a situation will occur where some sheets are placed at the sheet receiving position, but there are still sheets left at the sheet sending position, so the support stand 7 is not moved and waits for sheet sending. become. When the sheet is sent out from the sheet delivery position, the support stand 7 that was waiting at the sheet receiving position is moved to the sheet delivery position, but some of the sheets that were fed while waiting are on this support stand 7. sheets are placed thereon, and several sheets are fed to the sheet delivery position at one time.
In this way, the support table 7 can be operated more efficiently by gradually placing a large number of sheets on it and then moving it. By adopting the above operating method, it is possible to eliminate time loss when starting the operation of the entire apparatus.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above by taking as an example a device used for feeding a phosphor sheet between an image capture device and an image reader in a radiation image forming apparatus as described above. As mentioned above, the material feeding device is not limited to the above applications. In addition to the chain, various means such as a belt, a drum, or a link mechanism can be used as a means for moving the support base.
The direction of movement of the support stand 7, that is, the setting of the sheet receiving position and the transfer position, is not limited to that in the embodiment described above. Various settings can be made, such as moving it to . Although not provided in the embodiment described above, the sheet receiving position, the sheet feeding position,
Alternatively, a means for curving the sheet material in the width direction may be provided at a position within the sheet feeding system to remove sheet curls in the length direction of the sheet material. If curls in the sheet material are removed, clogging and tangles of the sheet material in the sheet feeding system are naturally prevented, a well-ordered stack of sheets is obtained, and double-sheet feeding is prevented.
Further, in the embodiment described above, the sheet S is dropped downward by the suction cup 20 at the sheet delivery position, but the sheet may be taken out upward or laterally.

Further, although the seat tilt switching plate 10 is used in the embodiment, this is not necessarily necessary, and the seat S can be tilted by appropriately selecting the transfer position of the support base.

As explained in detail above, the sheet material feeding device of the present invention has an extremely simple structure, supports and conveys the sheet material in an upright state, and can store a large amount of sheet material. It becomes possible to handle sheet materials of various sizes.

In addition, the sheet materials stacked diagonally at the sheet receiving position are conveyed to the delivery position with the inclination reversed, so in order to take out the sheet materials in the order in which they are supplied at the delivery position, it is necessary to move the stacked sheet materials to the upper one. Therefore, the sheet material can be fed out one by one without being scratched. As described above, the sheet material feeding device of the present invention has very high practical value.

Note that the sheet material feeding device of the present invention having such characteristics is extremely suitable as a phosphor sheet conveying means between the radiation image capturing machine and the reader in the radiation image forming apparatus described above. Other applications where it is desired to receive and store sheet materials fed in at intervals at a receiving position and convey them to a delivery position without changing the feeding order of the sheet materials and without damaging the sheet materials, e.g. An automatic machine that prints or attaches a label to sheet material, temporarily stores it, and then sends it to the packaging process, or temporarily stores sheet material such as paper that is subjected to more than one printing or copying process. Printing machines, copying machines, and even X
It is also effective for use in automatic medical equipment, etc., which includes a process of temporarily storing X-ray film after radiography to be sent to a developing machine.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1A to 1C are side views showing a sheet material feeding device according to one embodiment of the present invention in the order of operation; FIG. 2 is an elevational view showing the elevational shape of the device in FIG. 1; The figure is an enlarged side view of a part of the apparatus of FIG. 1. 1... Sheet material feeding device, 3a, 3b, 5a,
5b... Sprocket, 6a, 6b... Chain, 7
...Support stand, 8...First inclined plate, 9... Second inclined plate, 10... Seat inclined switching plate, S... Seat, M...
motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Sheet materials fed in at arbitrary intervals from a receiving position that receives a plurality of sheet materials,
In a sheet material feeding device for feeding sheets one by one to a sending position, there is a support stand that supports a plurality of sheet materials from below in an upright state, and a sheet material is fed in an upright state on this support stand at the receiving position. a first inclined plate that supports the sheet material in a diagonally stacked state with the sheet material sent in first facing down; a second inclined plate that supports the sheet material with the sheet material sent in first facing upward; and a delivery position for transferring the sheet material supporting the support base from the receiving position to the second inclined plate. A sheet material feeding device comprising a moving means for circularly moving the sheet material after passing therethrough and returning to the receiving position.