JPH03188639A - Stacker for cassettes for image recording carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a stacker for cassettes which reduces the waiting time of an operator and the manhour of process, by making it possible to insert simultaneously a plurality of cassettes to be processed into an equipment, and making it possible for an operator to leave the equipment after insertion. CONSTITUTION:Necessary cassettes 2 accommodating imaging plates IP are inserted into a stacker main body 21, which is made to reach an image reading equipment 22 by the aid of a linear slide 25, and inserts the cassettes into a cassette inserting inlet 40 of a cassette sending part 26 situated in the depth of the equipment 22. When the cassettes are inserted into the stacker main body 21, they are inserted, in order from the depth, between a plurality of protrusions 31 formd on the side surface of a belt 30. The stacker main body 21 successively carries the cassettes 2 toward the depth, with a belt driven by a driving roller 32 rotated by a motor 34. During the above period, the lower parts of the cassettes are retained by a belt 36. Since said belt 36 is retained by a roller 37, the cassettes 2 are sent to the cassette sending part 26 without resistance, and then sent to the next reading part through a sending outlet 41.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an improvement in a stacker for accommodating photographed sheets on which images have been recorded.

(Conventional technology) A method of detecting bone abnormalities or the presence of tumors within the body is to utilize the transmission characteristics of X-rays to irradiate the subject with X-rays, and record the images by projecting them onto a photosensitive material. is used. Conventionally, an X-ray film has been used as such a photosensitive material. In this case, the photographed X-ray films are stored one by one in a cassette and sent to an automatic processor for development.
A mono feeder is a mechanism that feeds the photographed film in this cassette to an automatic developing machine. This monofeeder is shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a mono feeder that supplies the photographed X-ray film contained in cassette 2 to the automatic processor 3, and 4 is the X-ray film that is being sent from the cassette 2 to the automatic processor by the mono feeder 1. ing. Reference numeral 5 designates an empty cassette after the X-ray film 4 is supplied from the cassette 2 to the monofeeder 1.

CR (Com-pu
ted Radiography).

This involves exposing an IP (imaging plate), which is a plate coated with a stimulable phosphor on a polyester support, to transmitted X-rays, and then irradiating it with red laser light in an image reading section to emit blue light. This is a device that reproduces and observes X-ray images. An example of the IP reading section 11 of this system is shown in FIG. In the figure, parts equivalent to those in FIG. 5 are given the same reference numerals. Reference numeral 12 denotes a feed rod section into which the cassette 2 containing the photographed IP is inserted, and the operator carries the cassette 2 and stores it therein. The IP stored in the cassette 2 inserted into the feed/load section 12 is taken out and stored in the first stacker 3. The first stacker 13 is provided with a partition wall for accommodating IPs, and can accommodate 10 IPs.

The IPs are taken out one by one from the first stacker 13 in order from the one inserted later, and are irradiated with a laser 15 in the reading section 14 to emit light and read the recorded data. The IP that has been read has its X-ray image erased in the erasing section 16, is stored in the second stacker 17, is stored again in the empty cassette 2 in the feed/load section 12, and is taken out. In this series of operations, the feed load section 1
Everything except loading and unloading cassette 2 into and out of cassette 2 is done automatically.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, since the mono feeder 1 described above can only process one cassette at a time, processing a plurality of cassettes requires a lot of time and labor. It takes. In addition, the IP reading section 11 of the CR takes out the IP stored in the cassette 2 and then puts the IP into the first stacker 13 for processing, but the processed cassette 2 is stored in the feed/load section 12. To do this, it must be done one by one, and therefore, like the mono feeder 1 described above, it requires a lot of time and labor.

Furthermore, the naked IP taken out from Cassette 2 is transferred to the first stacker 13.
When the IP is housed in a storage space, there is a risk that the IP may be damaged by the partition wall, which shortens the life of the IP, which is said to be able to be reused over 1,000 times.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to be able to simultaneously insert multiple cassettes to be processed, and to allow the operator to leave the device without having to wait for each cassette to be processed after insertion. To realize a stacker for cassettes which can reduce an operator's waiting time and work effort.

Another object of the present invention is to realize a stacker for cassettes that is capable of first-in, first-out and random processing of cassettes.

(Means for Solving the Problems) A first invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is a stacker for image recording carrier cassettes, which is composed of a stacker main body and a cassette delivery section, wherein the stacker main body moves the cassettes vertically. The cassette feeding section includes a holding means for holding the cassette in position, and a cassette conveying means for feeding the cassette to the cassette feeding section, and the cassette feeding section has a cassette insertion opening into which the cassette sent from the stacker main body is inserted, and a cassette feeding section into which the cassette is inserted. The apparatus is characterized in that it includes a delivery port mechanism for delivering the cassette to the next stage.

Further, the second invention is characterized in that the conveying means for sending out the cassettes is placed on a belt forming an inclined surface, so that gravity is generated.

(Operation) The cassette is inserted into the stacker body and held by the cassette holding means. Next, insert the stacker body into the cassette insertion opening of the cassette delivery section. The cassette conveying means of the stacker body delivers the cassettes to the cassette delivery section. It is also possible to send the cassette to the cassette delivery section by its own weight by using the gravity of the cassette conveying means due to the slope.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a stacker for image recording carrier cassettes used in a CR image reading apparatus will be described.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the main parts of a cassette stacker according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the main parts of an image reading apparatus equipped with the cassette stacker. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 denotes a stacker body into which the cassette 2 is stored and inserted into the image reading device 22, and a front plate 23
and a housing 24. Reference numeral 25 denotes a linear slide that slides on a rail attached to the image reading device 22 to hold the stacker body 21 and allow the stacker body 21 to be taken in and out of the image reading device 22, and is provided on both sides of the housing 24. There is. Inside the image reading device 22, there is a cassette delivery unit 2.
6 is housed therein, and the stacker is composed of a stacker body 21 and a cassette delivery section 26.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the internal structure of the stacker main body 21. As shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 30 has a plurality of protrusions 31 attached to its side surface for holding the cassette 2, and a belt for feeding the cassette 2 to the cassette delivery section 26, which is provided on both sides of the cassette 2 and driven. A rotational force is applied by a roller 32 and supported by a large number of rollers 33.

34 is a motor that directly rotates one drive roller 32 and rotates the other drive roller 32 via a drive belt 35. 36 is a belt 3 provided at the bottom of the cassette 2.
This belt carries and moves the cassette 2 which is fed into the cassette delivery section 26 by the movement of the roller 37, and can be freely moved by the rollers 37. 38 and 39 are support rods that support the belt 30 and the belt 36. 4
0 is a cassette insertion opening for feeding the cassette 2 into the cassette feeding section 26, and 41 is a feeding mechanism (not shown) for sending the fed cassette 2 to the next reading section 14. This is the outlet that sends out the liquid to the top surface.

Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be explained.

A necessary number of cassettes 2 containing IP are inserted into the stacker body 21. Then, the stacker main body 21 is inserted into the image reading device 22 with the help of the linear slide 25, and then inserted into the cassette insertion opening 40 of the cassette delivery section 26 located at the back thereof. The stacker main body 21 sequentially sends the cassettes 2 to a cassette delivery section 26. The feeding of the cassette 2 is carried out as follows. When the cassettes 2 are inserted into the stacker main body 21, they are sequentially inserted from the back between the plurality of protrusions 31 on the side of the belt 30, and the cassettes 2 are sequentially moved by the belt 30 driven by the drive roller 32 rotated by the motor 34. carried to the back. During this time, the lower part of the cassette 2 is supported by the belt 36, and the belt 36 is supported by the roller 3.
7, the cassette 2 is fed into the cassette delivery section 26 without resistance. Cassette 2 sent in
is delivered from the delivery port 41 to the next reading section 14 by another delivery mechanism (not shown).

The procedure for processing the cassette 2 using the above-mentioned apparatus will be described below.

(1) Pull out the stacker body 21 from the image reading device 22.

(2) The operator places the cassettes 2 to be processed into the stacker body 2.
Insert between the protrusions 31 in 1 from the back. This order can be freely changed as necessary, and random processing is possible.

(3) Insert the stacker main body 21 into the image reading device 22.

(4) The cassettes 2 are automatically sent one by one to the cassette delivery section 26 by the belts 30 and 36. This operation is continued until there are no more cassettes 2 in the stacker body 21, until the next processing section issues a signal indicating that cassette processing is not required, or until it becomes necessary to insert a new cassette 2 into the stacker body 21.

Among the above steps, items (1) and (3) can be performed automatically using a drive mechanism such as a motor.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, multiple cassettes to be processed can be inserted at the same time, and the operator can then leave the device, saving waiting time and effort for processing multiple cassettes. You can do it without spending anything. Furthermore, the insertion order of the cassettes can be freely changed and can be processed at random, and the cassette removal order is rational, first in, first out. Also, since the radiation image conversion panel is handled in the stacker while still in the cassette,
There is little chance of damage to the conversion panel.

Furthermore, there is no need for the operator to directly handle the radiation image conversion panel by hand, leading to improved work efficiency.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of main parts of a stacker body 21 according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, parts equivalent to those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals. In the figure, 42 is a stopper provided at the final end of the cassette 2, and 43 is a stopper 4 provided by the rotation of the motor 34.
2 and feeds the cassette 2 to the cassette delivery section 26. In this embodiment, the protrusion 31 is not provided on the belt 30, and the cassette 2 is advanced only by a stopper 42 pulled by a drive belt 43 driven by a motor 34, and both the belt 30 and the belt 36 have no drive mechanism. , rotate freely.

Furthermore, instead of pulling this stopper 42 with the drive belt 43, the belt 36 is made to be inclined as shown in FIG.
2 may be a method used to prevent the cassette 2 from falling over.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the present invention, multiple cassettes to be processed can be inserted at the same time, and the operator can leave the device after insertion, reducing waiting time and work effort. Furthermore, the cassettes can be inserted in a random order and the cassettes can be inserted first in first out, which has great practical effects.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a cassette stacker according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 shows an image reading device that includes a built-in cassette delivery section and into which the stacker body is inserted, constituting the cassette stacker. FIG. 3 is a diagram of another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a diagram of still another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a diagram of a conventional radiation image conversion panel delivery device using a monofeeder; FIG. 6 is a diagram of a conventional stacker for processing stimulable phosphor sheets. 2...Cassette 21...Stacker body 22
...Image reading device 25...Linear slide 30.
36... Heald 31... Protrusion 32... Drive roller 3B, 37... Roller 34... Motor
35, 43... Drive belt 40... Cassette insertion slot 42... Stopper Fig. 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Stacker main body (21) and cassette delivery section (26)
A stacker for image record carrier cassettes, comprising: a stacker body (21); holding means (31, 42) for holding the cassette (2) in a vertical position; and a stacker for holding the cassette (2) in a vertical position; a cassette conveying means for sending out a cassette to a sending out section (26), the cassette sending out section (26) has a cassette insertion opening (40) into which the cassette (2) sent from the stacker main body (21) is inserted; A stacker for cassettes for image recording carriers, characterized in that the cassette stacker for image recording carriers is equipped with a delivery port (41) mechanism for sending out the inserted cassette (2) to the next stage. (2) A stacker for image recording carrier cassettes, characterized in that the conveying means for feeding out the cassettes (2) is gravity generated by being placed on a belt (36) forming an inclined surface.