JP2002090923A - Filter structure for image processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the removal of dust, etc., easily executable with a simple constitution. SOLUTION: The filter structure 10 has a sponge filter 76 which is mounted in an air intake side filter section 74 of a device body 14 and plastic filters 78 which are removably arranged by a fixing means 88 to the front of the sponge filters 76. The plastic filters 78 are made capable of removing the relatively large distribution, etc., and effectively evading the clogging of the sponge filters 76.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for reading or recording an image by irradiating a scanning light onto a sheet-shaped recording medium, and for preventing dust and the like from entering the apparatus body. And a filter structure for an image processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, stimulable phosphors (stimulable phosphors)
There is known a system that once records radiation image information of a subject such as a human body, reproduces the radiation image information on a photographic photosensitive material such as a photographic film, or outputs a visible image on a CRT or the like. I have.

The stimulable phosphor is composed of radiation (X-ray, α-ray, γ
(Rays, electron beams, ultraviolet rays, etc.), a part of this radiation energy is accumulated, and after irradiation with excitation light such as visible light, a phosphor that emits stimulated emission according to the accumulated energy is referred to. The stimulable phosphor is usually used as a sheet-shaped stimulable phosphor sheet (sheet-shaped recording medium) because of its easy handling.

In the above-mentioned system, for example, a loading section for loading a cassette containing a stimulable phosphor sheet in which radiation image information is recorded in advance, and the stimulable phosphor sheet taken out of the cassette are carried on the stimulable phosphor sheet. An image information reading device (image processing device) incorporating a reading unit for reading the radiation image information and an erasing unit for erasing the radiation image information remaining on the stimulable phosphor sheet is employed.

Further, in the above-mentioned system, an image information reproducing apparatus (image processing apparatus) for recording radiation image information read from a stimulable phosphor sheet on a photographic film (sheet-shaped recording medium) is used. This image information reproducing apparatus includes a loading section for loading a container such as a cassette or a magazine in which a photo film is stored, and a recording section for recording radiation image information on the photo film.

Incidentally, in the above-mentioned image processing apparatus, a cooling structure is employed in order to avoid the influence of heat generated in the power supply unit. In general, a cooling fan is used as this type of cooling structure, and an air intake filter is mounted on the main body of the apparatus in correspondence with an air inlet.

[0007]

However, only a sponge filter is usually used as an intake filter, and when clogging occurs in the sponge filter, the sponge filter is removed from the apparatus body and cleaned. Processing needs to be performed. As a result, a problem has been pointed out that the cleaning operation of the sponge filter becomes complicated and time-consuming.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a filter structure for an image processing apparatus capable of easily removing dust and the like with a simple structure and operation.

[0009]

In a filter structure for an image processing apparatus according to the present invention, a sponge filter is mounted on an intake-side filter portion of the apparatus main body, and a plastic filter is disposed in front of the sponge filter. . Therefore, the entry of dust and the like under the action of the plastic filter is effectively prevented, and the dust and the like adhering to the plastic filter can be removed while the plastic filter is mounted on the apparatus main body.
Thereby, the operation of removing the dust and the like is simplified at a stroke as compared with the conventional technique of removing the dust and the like adhering to the sponge filter by removing the sponge filter.

The plastic filter has a first mesh portion, while the sponge filter has a second mesh portion finer than the first mesh portion. Therefore, after removing relatively large dust and the like by the plastic filter, fine dust and the like are removed by the sponge filter. Therefore, the relatively large dust and the like adhere to the sponge filter and the sponge filter is clogged. Can be effectively prevented. This, in particular,
There is no need to frequently clean the sponge filter,
Workability can be improved.

Further, the plastic filter is made of a liquid crystal polymer. Therefore, the first mesh portion having a relatively fine mesh can be reliably formed by a simple operation, and the thickness thereof can satisfy the flame-retardant standard UL94HB.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image information reading apparatus 12 in which a filter structure 10 for an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is incorporated, and FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the internal configuration of the device.

A cassette loading section 20 to which a cassette 18 can be attached and detached is provided on the front surface (operation surface) 14a of the apparatus main body 14 constituting the image information reading apparatus 12.
Below the cassette loading section 20, a filter structure 10 according to the present embodiment is provided corresponding to a cooling fan (not shown) (see FIG. 1).

As shown in FIG. 2, the cassette 18 includes a housing 24 for accommodating the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 and a housing 2 for storing the stimulable phosphor sheet 22.
4 has a lid 28 that can be opened and closed freely.
The cassette loading section 20 is provided with a support 30 on which the cassette 18 is placed. Inside the cassette loading section 20, a sheet unit 36 for taking out the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 from the cassette 18 and returning the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 after the reading process and the erasing process described later into the cassette 18 is provided. Be attached. The single-wafer portion 36 includes a suction disk 40 that can freely enter the cassette 18 in which the lid 28 is opened in the cassette loading portion 20.

An erasing unit 44 and a reading unit 46 are disposed below the sheet unit 36 via a transport system 42. The transport system 42 includes a plurality of pairs of rollers 48 that are paired with each other, and the erasing unit 44 is disposed on a vertical transport path formed by the roller pairs 48. In the erasing section 44, a plurality of erasing light sources 50 are vertically arranged to irradiate erasing light on the recording surface side of the stimulable phosphor sheet 22.

A reading section 46 is arranged along a horizontal transport path constituted by a pair of rollers 48. The reading unit 46 includes a sub-scanning transport mechanism 52 that transports the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 taken out of the cassette 18 in the sub-scanning direction (the direction of the arrow X), and the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 that is transported in the sub-scanning direction. A laser beam irradiating mechanism 54 irradiates a laser beam (scanning beam) L to the main scanning direction (arrow Y direction substantially orthogonal to the sub-scanning direction), and the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is irradiated by the laser beam L. A reading mechanism 56 for photoelectrically reading the stimulated emission light;

The sub-scanning transport mechanism 52 includes first and second pairs of rollers 58 and 60 which are driven to rotate in synchronization with each other. The first and second pairs of rollers 58 and 60 are connected to driving rollers 58a and 60b. , The drive rollers 58a, 60a
And nip rollers 58b and 60b which can be opened and closed.

The reading mechanism 56 includes a light-condensing guide 62 disposed along the main scanning line at the irradiation position of the laser light L on the recording surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 22, and a light-condensing guide 62.
And a photomultiplier 64 mounted on the top of the camera. An electrical unit 70 including various substrates and a power supply is provided at a lower portion in the apparatus main body 14.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the filter structure 10 includes a sponge filter 76 mounted on the intake-side filter portion 74 of the apparatus main body 14 and the sponge filter 7.
6 and a plastic filter 78 disposed in front of the plastic filter 78. The intake-side filter portion 74 has a concave portion 80 provided in a part of the apparatus main body 14, and the wall surface 8 that forms the concave portion 80 is provided.
2, a plurality of holes 84 are formed through.

The sponge filter 76 is inserted into the concave portion 80, and the plastic filter 78 is detachably fixed to the apparatus main body 14 via fixing means 88. The fixing means 88 includes an upper frame 92 and a lower frame 94 attached to the apparatus main body 14 by welding or the like.
4 is configured by bending a plate material.

The upper and lower ends of the plastic filter 78 are provided with guide members 98a and 98b slidably supported by the upper frame 92 and the lower frame 94, respectively. The plastic filter 78 is made of a liquid crystal polymer, and has a predetermined dimension, for example, a first dimension whose vertical dimension and horizontal dimension are set to 4 mm × 0.8 mm or less.
A mesh portion 100 is provided.

The sponge filter 76 has a second mesh portion 102 having a finer mesh than the first mesh portion 100. The first mesh portion 10 of the plastic filter 78
0 preferably satisfies the flame retardancy standard UL94HB.

The image information reading apparatus 1 thus configured
Operation 2 will be described below.

First, a cassette 18 accommodating a stimulable phosphor sheet 22 in which photographic image information of a subject such as a human body is stored and recorded by a photographic device (not shown) constitutes a cassette loading section 20 of the image information reading device 12. It is introduced into the apparatus main body 14 along the table 30. Therefore, the distal end of the cassette 18 is inserted into the apparatus main body 14, and the cover 28 is opened to a predetermined position.

Therefore, the suction disk 40 constituting the sheet-fed portion 36 is provided.
Move along a locus that is inclined obliquely downward from above with respect to the base surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 in the cassette 18. For this reason, the suction disk 40 is provided with the stimulable phosphor sheet 2.
2 while holding the base surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 in the cassette 18 toward the transport system 42 side,
Is pinched by the roller pair 48. The stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is transported from a horizontal direction to a vertically downward direction under the rotation of a plurality of roller pairs 48 constituting the transport system 42, and is sent to the reading unit 46 after passing through the erasing unit 44 once. .

In the reading section 46, the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is sub-scanned and conveyed in the direction of arrow X under the action of the first and second roller pairs 58 and 60 constituting the sub-scanning conveyance mechanism 52. The laser light L is main-scanned (in the direction of arrow Y) from the laser light irradiation mechanism 54 on the recording surface side of the luminescent phosphor sheet 22. Thereby, the stimulable phosphor sheet 22
The stimulating light emitted from the recording surface side of the reading mechanism 5
6 is read photoelectrically.

The stimulable phosphor sheet 22 after the reading process
The stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is switched back by the sub-scanning transport mechanism 52, and is conveyed vertically upward to irradiate the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 with erasing light via the erasing light source 50 constituting the erasing section 44. An erasing process of the radiation image information remaining on the body sheet 22 is performed. After the erasing process, the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is fed into the empty cassette 18 under the suction action of the suction disk 40 constituting the sheet unit 36.

In this case, the inside of the apparatus main body 14 tends to become considerably high in temperature with the operation, and the heat generating portion is cooled through a cooling fan (not shown). At this time, the intake-side filter portion 74 provided corresponding to the cooling fan (not shown)
Then, the sponge filter 7 constituting the filter structure 10 will be described.
6 and a plastic filter 78 are mounted. For this reason, when external air is sucked into the apparatus main body 14 via the intake-side filter portion 74, dust and the like floating outside
First, relatively large dust and the like guided by the plastic filter 78 are prevented by the first mesh portion 100 of the plastic filter 78 and do not enter the apparatus main body 14.

The air from which relatively large dust and the like have been removed by the plastic filter 78 is guided to the sponge filter 76, and is introduced into the apparatus main body 14 through the second mesh portion 102 of the sponge filter 76. At this time, small dust and the like contained in the air are
Thus, only clean air is introduced into the apparatus main body 14 without being blocked by 02 and entering the apparatus main body 14.

Thus, for example, in the apparatus body 14,
There is no defect in the read image due to dust or the like adhering to the surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 22, and the effect of reliably and efficiently performing the high-precision image reading process is obtained.

The plastic filter 78 is provided with a first mesh portion 100.
0 is set to, for example, a vertical dimension and a horizontal dimension of 4 mm × 0.8 mm or less, while the second mesh portion 102 of the sponge filter 76 is set to a smaller size than the first mesh portion 100. I have. Therefore, even relatively fine dust and the like are reliably removed through the plastic filter 78, and it is possible to effectively prevent the sponge filter 76 from being clogged. For this reason, the sponge filter 76 is replaced with the concave portion 8 forming the intake-side filter portion 74.
The sponge filter cleaning work, which is rather complicated to remove dust and the like by removing the sponge filter from the zero, is greatly reduced as compared with the related art.

Here, when removing dust or the like adhering to the plastic filter 78, the plastic filter 78 is directly attached to the apparatus main body 14 using a vacuum cleaner or the like with the plastic filter 78 attached. 78 cleaning operations can be performed. Thereby, there is an advantage that the cleaning operation of the entire filter structure 10 is simplified at a stroke. When cleaning the sponge filter 76,
After removing the plastic filter 78 by sliding it laterally from the upper frame 92 and the lower frame 94, the sponge filter 76 may be taken out and washed by water or the like.

Furthermore, the plastic filter 78
Is composed of a liquid crystal polymer. Therefore, the first mesh portion 100 having a desired dimension can be reliably formed by a simple operation, and the thickness of the first mesh portion 100 can satisfy the flame-retardant standard UL94HB.

In the present embodiment, the image information reading device 12 in which the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is attached and detached via the cassette 18 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to use a built-in type image information reading apparatus in which the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is circulated or reciprocated. Further, although the description has been made using the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 as the sheet body, the present invention is not limited to this, and a photographic film may be used instead of the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 and the image information reading device 12 may be used. Alternatively, an image information reproducing device may be used.

[0035]

According to the filter structure for an image processing apparatus of the present invention, since the sponge filter and the plastic filter are provided, clogging of the sponge filter can be effectively avoided. Moreover, it is only necessary to remove dust and the like adhering to the plastic filter in a state where the plastic filter is attached to the apparatus main body, and the dust and the like can be removed at a stroke as compared with the dust removal of the sponge filter. Simplified. Furthermore, it is only necessary to dispose the sponge filter and the plastic filter in the apparatus main body, so that the configuration is simplified and the apparatus is economical.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image information reading apparatus in which a filter structure for an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is incorporated.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an internal configuration of the image information reading apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the filter structure.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the filter structure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the filter structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Filter structure 12 ... Image information reading device 14 ... Device main body 18 ... Cassette 22 ... Storable phosphor sheet 36 ... Sheet-feeding unit 42 ... Transport system 44 ... Erasing unit 74 ... Intake side filter unit 76 ... Sponge filter 78 ... Plastic Filter 80 recessed part 88 fixing means 92 upper frame 94 lower frame 98a, 98b guide member 100, 102 mesh part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A filter for an image processing apparatus, which is provided in an image processing apparatus for reading an image or recording an image by irradiating a scanning light onto a sheet-like recording medium, and for preventing dust and the like from entering the apparatus main body. A filter structure for an image processing device, comprising: a sponge filter mounted on an intake-side filter portion of the device main body; and a plastic filter disposed in front of the sponge filter. 2. The filter structure according to claim 1, wherein said plastic filter is provided with a first mesh portion, and said sponge filter is provided with a second mesh portion finer than said first mesh portion. Characteristic filter structure for an image processing device. 3. A filter structure according to claim 1, wherein said plastic filter is made of a liquid crystal polymer.