JPS6366554A - Cassette for image recording carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily send a recording medium to a carrying system without providing a complicated sheet mechanism by providing the bottom wall part of a cassette so that it can be bent with the pressing force from the external. CONSTITUTION:A cassette 10 where storage type phosphor sheets S are stored consists of an enclosure 14 demarcating a chamber 12 and a cover body 16. Plate bodies 22 and 28 of a bottom wall part 20 are bendably connected by a hinge 26 and are provided freely shakably through fulcrum pins 24a and 26b. In case of supply of the phosphor sheet S from the cassette 10, a pressing pin 46 pushes the bottom wall part 20 upward to bend it and displaces plate bodies to the side of a pair of rolls with pins 24a and 26b as fulcrums to catch the sheet S between a pair of rolls 48. Consequently, the sheet S is automatically and easily sent to the carrying system without using a complicated sheet mechanism.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cassette for an image recording carrier, and more particularly to a cassette for holding an image recording carrier such as a stimulable phosphor sheet in a light-tight manner, and a cassette that can be opened and closed with respect to the casing. The image recording carrier is conveyed by bending a wall plate on which the image recording carrier is placed using pressing force while opening the lid in an image reading device or the like. The present invention relates to a cassette for an image recording carrier that can be accessed into a system.

Recently, a radiation image recording and reproducing system that obtains a radiation image of a subject using a stimulable phosphor (stimulable phosphor) has been attracting attention. Here, the storage fluorophore refers to radiation (X-rays, α
When irradiated with rays, β rays, T rays, electron beams, ultraviolet rays, etc., a part of this radiation energy is accumulated, and when excitation light such as visible light is irradiated later, stimulated luminescence light is produced according to the accumulated energy. Refers to the phosphor that is produced.

The radiation image recording and reproducing system described above utilizes this stimulable phosphor, and the radiation image information of a subject such as a human body is stored on a sheet having a layer made of a stimulable phosphor (hereinafter referred to as a ``stimulable phosphor sheet''). (or simply referred to as a "sheet"), this stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned with excitation light such as a laser beam to generate stimulated luminescent light, and the stimulated luminescent light is read photoelectrically. An electrical signal is obtained, and based on this electrical signal, a radiation image of the subject is output as a visible image to a recording material such as a photographic light-sensitive material or a display device such as a CRT.

Therefore, in such a radiographic image recording and reproducing system, an image reading device that reads a radiographic image from a stimulable phosphor sheet on which the radiographic image is stored and recorded specifically reads the radiographic image using the following method. ing.

That is, a stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned two-dimensionally with a light beam such as a laser beam, and the stimulated luminescent light emitted by this is detected in time series with a photodetector such as a photomultiplier to create an image. get information. The two-dimensional scanning of the light beam is usually carried out by mechanically transporting the stimulable phosphor sheet in one direction, and also in a -dimensional direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet. This is achieved by performing main scanning by irradiating a light beam that is deflected.

In this case, the stimulable phosphor sheet is stored in a cassette in advance, and radiation is irradiated through the cassette, so that a radiation image of the subject is stored and recorded on the sheet. Then, the sheet is stored in a cassette and loaded into the above-mentioned image reading device, and is taken out from the cassette via a sheet feeding mechanism including a suction cup and conveyed to a scanning position.

However, in the single-fed mechanism, it is necessary to displace the suction cup along a desired trajectory in order to remove the stimulable phosphor sheet from the cassette.

Therefore, it has been pointed out that the single wafer mechanism itself has become considerably complicated. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide such a single wafer mechanism in various devices such as an image reading device, resulting in an inconvenience that the manufacturing cost of the entire device increases.

In addition, even in systems that perform radiographic images using conventional X-ray film, the exposure recording of radiographic images is
The line film is stored in a cassette and loaded into an automatic developing device or the like, and then taken out from the cassette. As a result, this X-ray film cassette also exhibits the same drawbacks as the aforementioned cassette.

The present invention has been made in order to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages, and has a structure in which a wall plate that accommodates an image recording carrier such as a stimulable phosphor sheet and on which the image recording carrier is placed is bendable. It consists of a casing and a lid that can be opened and closed to hold the image recording carrier in a light-tight manner. Inside the device, the wall plate is pressed and bent toward the lid, and the image recording carrier placed on it is By configuring it so that it faces the conveyance system, there is no need to provide a single wafer mechanism with a complicated structure in the device as in the past, and therefore, the image recording carrier can be easily taken out and the structure of the device itself can be simplified. An object of the present invention is to provide a cassette for an image recording carrier that can be manufactured at a low cost.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a casing for accommodating an image recording carrier, and an openable and closable lid body for holding the image recording carrier in a light-tight manner. The wall plate on which the jF1! The apparatus is characterized in that the image recording carrier placed therein is configured to face a conveying system provided in the apparatus and be led out.

Next, preferred embodiments of the image recording carrier cassette according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates a cassette for an image recording carrier according to the present embodiment, and the cassette 10 includes a casing 14 defining a chamber 12 for storing a stimulable phosphor sheet S, and a cassette 14 for storing the stimulable phosphor sheet S. The cover body 16 includes a lid body 16 that can be opened and closed to hold the body sheet S in a light-tight manner.

The casing 14 has four side walls 18a to 18d configured in a rectangular shape, and a bottom wall part on which the stimulable phosphor sheet S is placed and which is bent toward the chamber 12 side of the casing 14 by external pressing force. 20
It consists of. That is, the first
The first plate body 22 is swingably engaged with one end of the side walls 18b and 18d via fulcrum pins 24a and 24b, and a swingable plate is attached to the first plate body 22 via a hinge 26. In addition, a second plate 28, which is longer than the first plate 22, is engaged. Furthermore, the end portion of the second plate body 28 is located on the chamber 12 side.
In addition to protruding to form the locking portion 30, the side wall portion 18b,
Engagement pins 32a and 32b protruding toward the 18d side are implanted. The engagement bins 32a, 32b are connected to the side wall portions 18b, 18.
Light shielding plates 36a and 36b are provided on the side wall portions i8b and 18d, which fit into the ellipses 34a and 34b formed at d, and close off the ellipses 34a and 34b.

Note that the oval 34 is not provided with the light shielding plates 35a and 36b.
A, 34b can be filled with light-shielding hair, and in place of the ellipses 34a, 34b, the respective side wall portions L8b, 1
A groove portion into which the locking pins 32a and 32b fit may be formed on the inner side surface of the portion 8d.

Next, the lid 16 is attached to the upper side of the end portions of the side walls 18b and 18d having the ellipses 34a and 34b via fulcrum pins 38a and 38b so as to be openable and closable.

Note that this lid 16 is provided with a locking means (not shown) that locks onto the housing 14 in the closed position.

The cassette 10 is basically constructed as described above, and the radiation image information reading device into which the cassette 10 is loaded will be described in detail below.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 40 indicates a radiation image information reading device, and inside the reading device 40, there is a case/note 10.
A cassette holding part 42 is provided for detachably attaching the cassette. In this case, the lid 1 is attached to the cassette holding section 42.
A lid opening/closing means including a suction cup 44 for opening and closing the lid 6 and a pressing means including a pressing pin 46 for pressing the bottom wall portion 20 and bending it toward the lid body 16 are provided.

In the vicinity of the cassette holding part 42, when the bottom wall part 20 is bent, the cassette 10 is fed out so as to swing (
A pair of rollers 4 that pinch and convey the stimulable phosphor sheet S
A first conveyance means 52 including a printing belt 50 is disposed adjacent to the pair of rollers 48 .

Below the first conveyance means 52 is a stimulable phosphor sheet s.
A first stacker 54 is provided for temporarily storing the stimulable phosphor sheets s taken out from the cassette 1O. The first stacker 54 is configured to be movable in the direction of arrow A under the driving action of a motor (not shown) or the like. Also,
The stimulable phosphor sheets S stored in the respective sheet storage sections 53 are placed on a bottom plate (not shown), and by rotating the bottom plate, the sheets S are placed in the first stacker 5.
4 is sent out to the side of the conveyor belt 62 which constitutes the third conveyor means 60 via the conveyor belt 58 and the like which constitutes the second conveyor means 56 provided below.

In this case, a reading section 64 is provided close to the end of the conveyor belt 62.

The reading section 64 includes a fourth transport means 6G for transporting the stimulable phosphor sheet S in the direction of arrow B (sub-scanning direction) and a scanning means 68. The scanning means 68 includes a laser beam 8.70, and a mirror 74 for scanning the laser beam 72 in a sheet form, a galvanometer mirror 76, and a condensing reflection mirror 78 are provided on the laser first output side of the laser light source 70. It is provided. Furthermore, a light guide 80 is disposed along the main scanning line at the scanning position of the laser beam 72 on the sheet.1. A photomultiplier 82 is installed on the top of the light guide 80.

On the other hand, a conveyor belt 86 is provided at the end of the conveyor belt 84 constituting the fourth conveyor means 66.
The conveyor belt 88 first extends in the horizontal direction and then largely extends upward in the vertical direction, and another conveyor belt 88 slides into this vertically extending portion to form a fifth conveyor means 90.

An erasing section 92 is disposed above the SS sending means 90. The erasing section 92 is provided with a plurality of erasing light sources 94 such as sodium lamps, tungsten lamps, or xenon lamps, and the radiation image remaining on the stimulable phosphor sheet S after the radiation image is read by the reading section 64. is completely erased by the erasing light source 94.

A conveyor belt 98 constituting a sixth conveyor means 96 is further provided above the erasing section 92, and this conveyor belt 98 extends in the horizontal direction on its upper side, and a short conveyor belt 100 slides. are in contact with each other. Conveyor belt 98
A seventh conveying means 10 including a conveying belt 102 is provided at the end of the seventh conveying means 10 .
4, and the stimulable phosphor sheet S, which is deflected by 180 degrees in the traveling direction, is conveyed to a second stacker 106 via the seventh conveying means 104.

The second stacker 106 is constructed in the same manner as the first stacker 54 described above, is provided with a plurality of sheet accommodating portions 108, and is configured to be movable in the direction of arrow C under the driving action of a motor (not shown) or the like. and the second stacker 1
A pair of rollers 1)0 is disposed below the roller pair 06, and the first conveying means 52 described above is close to the pair of rollers 1)0. In this case, the stimulable phosphor sheet S is conveyed to the auxiliary erasing section 1) 2 immediately before being stored in the cassette 10 again via the first conveying means 52. It is configured to perform secondary erasing with the provided erasing light source 1)4.

Furthermore, in addition to the cassette 10, the reading device 40 can be loaded with a magazine 120 that stores a plurality of stimulable phosphor sheets S. That is, in FIG. 2, a magazine holding part 122 is provided below the cassette holding part 42, into which the magazine 120 is loaded so as to be oriented vertically and inclined.
A single wafer mechanism including 4 is provided. Then, the suction cup 1
The stimulable phosphor sheet S held by suction 24 is sent out to the third conveyance means 60.

On the other hand, magazines 126a and 126b are arranged above the cassette holding section 42 for stacking the stimulable phosphor sheets S after image reading and erasing.
The sheets S are delivered to each magazine 1 via the feeding means 104.
26a, 126b so as to be stored therein.

Therefore, the cassette 10 is transferred to the radiation image information reading device 4.
The work of loading 0 will be explained.

When the cassette 10 is loaded into the cassette holding section 42 of the reading device 40, the lid 16 of the cassette 10 is unlocked by a lock release means (not shown), and the suction which constitutes the lid opening/closing means provided on the cassette holding section 42 is released. The disk 44 is driven to open the lid 16, and the cassette 10 is opened within the reading device 40 (see FIG. 3a).

Next, when the pressing means is driven to displace the pressing pin 46 upward in the vertical direction, the pressing pin 46 presses the bottom wall portion 20 of the housing 14 upward. Therefore, the first plate 22 swings upward using the fulcrum pins 24a and 24b as fulcrums, and the second plate 28 engages with the first plate 22 via the hinge 26.
Also, the hinge 26 side swings upward, and the second
Engagement pins 32a and 32b provided at one end of the plate body 28
is the side wall portion 18b.

The roller pair 48 is guided by the oval circles 34a and 34b of 18d.
Displace to the side. Therefore, each of the plates 22 and 28 constituting the bottom wall portion 20 is bent and deformed so as to enter the chamber 12, and the locking portion 3 formed at one end of the second plate 28 is bent.
0 is displaced to the roller pair 48 side. In the end, the locking portion 30
The stimulable phosphor sheet S, whose one end is engaged with the stimulable phosphor sheet S, is displaced toward the roller pair 48 while swinging its tip end side upward.
Eventually, it will be pinched by this pair of rollers 48 (
(See Figure 3).

When one end of the stimulable phosphor sheet S is thus held between the pair of rollers 48, the pair of rollers 48 rotates under the driving action of a rotational drive source (not shown). Therefore, the stimulable phosphor sheet S is transferred to the first
The IFIL is sent to the IFIL sending means 52 side, and further the first
The sheets are conveyed vertically downward via the conveying means 52 and supplied into the sheet storage section 53 constituting the first stacker 54 .

Therefore, the stimulable phosphor sheet S that has been conveyed or the stimulable phosphor sheet S stored in the other sheet storage section 53 is sent out to the second conveying means 56 side, and the second conveying means 56 It is also transported to the reading section 64 via the third transport means 60.

The stimulable phosphor sheet S that has reached the reading section 64 is transported in the sub-scanning direction (direction of arrow B) via a transport belt 84 constituting the fourth transport means 66, and the scanning means 68 is driven. That is, the laser beam 72 emitted from the laser light source 70 is reflected by the mirror 74 to reach the galvanometer mirror 76.
) The laser beam 72 is scanned on the sheet S under the driving action. As a result, the concentrated emitted light emitted from the sheet S is made to enter the light guide 80 either directly or by being reflected by the reflecting mirror 78, and is sent to the photomultiplier 80.
2, the signal is converted into an electrical signal and sent to, for example, an image recording device.

In this way, the stimulable phosphor sheet S whose radiation image has been read reaches the erasing section 92 via the fifth conveying means 90 including the conveying belt 86 and the conveying belt 88 in sliding contact therewith. In the erasing section 92, a plurality of erasing light sources 94 are turned on, and the irradiated light completely erases the radiation image remaining on the stimulable phosphor sheet S. The stimulable phosphor sheet S from which the radiation image has been erased by passing through the erasing section 92 is transferred to a transport heald 98 that constitutes the 68th transport means 96.
After being conveyed vertically upward via the seventh conveying means 100, the conveying direction is shifted to the horizontal direction and the seventh conveying means 104
leading to. The stimulable phosphor sheet S whose conveying direction has been shifted by 180'' by the seventh conveying means 104 is stored in a desired sheet storage section 108 of the second stacker 106.

On the other hand, after the stimulable phosphor sheet S) is taken out from the cassette 10, the stimulable phosphor sheet S previously stored in the sheet storage section 108 is sent out from the roller pair 1) 0 to the first conveying means 52. For example, this stimulable phosphor sheet S is subjected to secondary erasing by the erasing light source 1) 4 of the auxiliary erasing section 1) 2, and is sent out to the conveyance roller pair 48 side.

In this case, the roller pair 48 is rotated in the opposite direction, and the stimulable phosphor sheet S held between the roller pair 48 is conveyed to the cassette 10 side, and the stimulable phosphor sheet S that forms the bottom wall portion 20 is The back surface thereof is placed on the two-plate body 28. The stimulable phosphor sheet S is finally applied to the rotating roller pair 4.
After separating from the second temporary square body 8, the second temporary square body 28 slides into the housing 14 along the inclination, and its end comes into contact with the locking part 30.

Then, when the pressing pin 46 is displaced vertically downward,
The first plate body 22 and the second slope body 28 that are supported by pressure swing downward, and the respective plate bodies 22 and 28 are on the same plane, and the stimulable phosphor sheet S is attached to the housing 14. room 12
It has come to be stored inside.

Therefore, if the lid 16 is closed while the suction cup 44 is rocking, the stimulable phosphor sheet S in the chamber 12 is held light-tight through the lid 16.

Therefore, the cassette IO can be taken out from the cassette holding section 42, and a predetermined radiation image can be accumulated and recorded again on the stimulable phosphor sheet S from which the image has been erased using the radiation image capturing device.

In this case, according to the present embodiment, simply by pressing the bottom wall portion 20 constituting the casing 14 with the pressing pin 46, the stimulable phosphor sheet S stored in the cassette 10 can be moved into the cassette 14. The paper can be automatically sent out from inside 14 and held between a pair of conveying rollers 48. Therefore, the reading device 40
It is only necessary to provide a pressing means including a pressing pin 46 for advancing and retracting, and as in the conventional method, the stimulable phosphor sheet is held by suction with a suction cup and the suction cup is displaced onto a desired trajectory. Therefore, for example, it is not necessary to provide a single sheet feeding mechanism to the roller pair 48. In this way, in order to take out the stimulable phosphor sheet S from the cassette 10, there is no need to provide a complicated single-fed mechanism, and as a result, the manufacturing cost of the reading device 40 can be kept low. It becomes possible. Moreover, the second
As shown in the figure, the cassette holding section 42 can be provided close to the conveying roller pair 48, making it possible to easily downsize the reading device 40.

As described above, according to the present invention, the casing includes a casing that houses an image recording carrier such as a stimulable phosphor sheet, and a lid that is attached to the casing so as to be openable and closable. The bottom wall portion on which the image recording carrier is placed is configured to be bendable by external pressing force. Therefore, by simply loading the cassette into an image reading device or the like, opening the lid, and pressing and bending the bottom wall, the image recording carrier can be exposed to the transport system. Therefore, it becomes possible to automatically and easily feed the image recording carrier to the conveyance system without providing a single-fed mechanism that requires complicated operations, as in the past, and the device for loading the cassette becomes economical. It can be manufactured as follows. Furthermore, since a single wafer mechanism is not provided, it is possible to effectively downsize the device.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.
For example, it can be used as an X-ray film cassette for loading conventional X-ray film into a developing device, and various improvements and changes in design are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cassette for an image recording carrier according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a radiation image reading device in which the cassette according to the present invention is loaded, and FIGS. b is an explanatory diagram of the operation when taking out the stimulable phosphor sheet from the cassette according to the present invention.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) Consisting of a casing that houses an image recording carrier and a lid that can be opened and closed to hold the image recording carrier in a light-tight manner, the wall plate that constitutes the casing and on which the image recording carrier is placed is placed on the lid side. The image recording carrier is configured to be foldable, and when the lid is opened within the device, the wall plate is pressed and bent toward the lid, and the image recording carrier is placed on the wall plate. What is claimed is: 1. A cassette for an image recording carrier, characterized in that the cassette is configured to be guided out facing a conveyance system in which a cassette is provided. (2) In the cassette according to claim 1,
The wall plate is composed of a first plate that is swingably engaged with one end of the casing, and a second plate that is swingably engaged with the first plate. A cassette for an image recording carrier, which is configured such that the wall plate is bent toward the lid by pressing two plates, and the image recording carrier placed on the wall plate is tilted so as to face a conveyance system. . (3) In the cassette according to claim 2,
The second plate has one end engaged with the first plate, and the other end is provided with a locking protrusion, the protrusion is fitted into a groove formed in the housing, and the second plate is engaged with the first plate through a pressing force. A cassette for an image recording carrier, wherein the other end of the second plate is guided through the groove when the wall plate is bent. (4) In the cassette according to claim 2 or 3, a locking portion is formed at the end of the second plate so as to protrude toward the lid, and the wall plate is bent through a pressing force. A cassette for an image recording carrier, which is configured to push out the image recording carrier from the casing via the locking portion.