JP2003162008A - Exposure/development unit, and diagnostic system and diagnostic method for exposure/development unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal development unit which can securely detect deterioration in the sharpness of a film image due to secular changes of an exposure optical system and inform a user of a period of maintenance, and to provide a diagnostic system and a diagnostic method therefor. <P>SOLUTION: An evaluation pattern 11 such as a striped pattern on a film by exposure and thermal development and a densitometer measures mean density; and the mean density is made to quantitatively correspond to the state of an exposure optical system by making good use of the nonlineality of a γcharacteristic of the film and the state of the exposure optical system is judged by comparing the measured mean density with a predetermined reference value or comparing the variation quantity of the mean density with a predetermined value and reported to the user or maintenance service provider. A γcharacteristic of the film is newly generated from the density values of a plurality of solid patterns differing in density to correct the mean density of the evaluation pattern and then diagnosis is enabled even a film having a different photographic speed is used. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exposure / developing apparatus, a diagnostic system and a diagnostic method for the exposure / developing apparatus, and more particularly to a thermal developing apparatus and a thermal developing apparatus for forming an image by heating using a photothermographic film. The present invention relates to a diagnostic system and a diagnostic method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image of a predetermined region inside a human body used for medical diagnosis, it is required to form an image of extremely high gradation so that a doctor or the like can make a more accurate judgment. As a method of forming such a high gradation image, a sheet-shaped heat developing material is continuously supplied to the outer peripheral surface of a heated drum to cause a thermal reaction in the heat developing material, thereby forming a latent image. There is a method of using a heat developing device for forming a formed image as a visible image (Japanese Patent Publication No. 10-500497).

In such a heat developing apparatus, a sheet-shaped heat developing material is supplied to the outer peripheral surface of a drum which rotates at a constant rotation speed, and the drum is rotated by a predetermined rotation angle while holding the heat developing material and then heated. The heat-developable development material is peeled off from the outer peripheral surface of the drum, and at the same time, new heat-development material is supplied to the outer peripheral surface of the drum, so that the sheet-shaped heat-development material can be efficiently heated. It is possible.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned heat developing apparatus, it is necessary to keep the precision of the exposure optical system good and form a high-definition latent image in order to obtain an image with high sharpness. In a highly accurate optical system such as an optical system, a temporal factor (for example, displacement of the optical system due to vibration, shock, environmental temperature, etc., characteristic deterioration of a semiconductor laser as a light source, or temporal characteristic change of optical members) And the like) cause a shift in the exposure optical system, which causes a problem that the resolution of the latent image is deteriorated. Then, the deterioration of the resolution of the latent image leads to the deterioration of the sharpness of the visible image formed by thermal development.

Here, conventionally, there is no method for quantitatively evaluating the deterioration of sharpness due to the deviation of the exposure optical system, and the user observes the heat-developed film and visually judges the deterioration of sharpness. Was. However, it is difficult for a user who uses a heat development device on a daily basis to identify the sharpness of an image that changes subtly, and it is difficult to recognize the change in the sharpness particularly when photographing different parts. It was difficult to perform maintenance at such times.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its main purpose is to reliably and easily detect deterioration of sharpness of a film image due to a change with time of an exposure optical system. Another object of the present invention is to provide a heat developing apparatus, a heat developing apparatus diagnosing system, and a diagnosing method capable of notifying a user or a maintenance company of necessity or timing of maintenance.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the exposure / developing apparatus of the present invention develops the film by exposing the film with an evaluation pattern consisting of a black-and-white pattern having a predetermined shape. Means, means for measuring the average density of the developed evaluation pattern, means for comparing the measured average density with a predetermined reference value, and the state of the exposure optical system is diagnosed by referring to the comparison result. It has at least means and means for notifying the diagnosis result.

Further, the exposure / developing apparatus of the present invention comprises means for exposing an evaluation pattern consisting of a black-and-white pattern of a predetermined shape on the film, and means for developing the film.
Means for measuring the average density of the developed evaluation pattern, means for storing the measured average density as history information, and again the average density of the evaluation pattern measured by exposure and development and the average stored as history information It has at least a means for comparing the density, a means for diagnosing the state of the exposure optical system by referring to the comparison result, and a means for notifying the diagnosis result.

In the present invention, a plurality of solid patterns having different densities are added to the evaluation pattern, the density of the solid pattern measured by exposure and development and the exposure energy applied to the film during the exposure of the solid pattern. And a means for correcting the average density of the evaluation pattern by referring to the sensitivity characteristic, and the state of the exposure optical system using the corrected average density It can be configured to be diagnosed.

In the present invention, the state of the exposure optical system includes the positional relationship of optical members constituting the exposure optical system, the light emitting state of the light source, or the driving state of the scanning system, and the average density is If it is lower than the predetermined value, or
It is preferable to diagnose that the state of the exposure optical system has deteriorated when the change amount of the average density is larger than a predetermined value.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the evaluation pattern has a shape in which a black and white pattern is sequentially repeated in at least one of a main scanning direction and a sub scanning direction of the film, and the evaluation pattern is a stripe pattern. , Mesh pattern, grid pattern,
The configuration may include any one of the arc-shaped patterns.

The diagnostic system of the present invention is a diagnostic system comprising the above-mentioned exposure / developing apparatus, a server for managing maintenance of the exposure / developing apparatus, and a mutual connection through a communication network. The apparatus further comprises means for transmitting the result diagnosed by the diagnosing means to the server, the server referring to the received diagnostic result to determine the necessity of maintenance, and the need for maintenance. And a means for transmitting information instructing maintenance to the maintenance company when it is determined.

The diagnostic system of the present invention is a diagnostic system comprising an exposure / development apparatus and a server for managing maintenance of the exposure / development apparatus, which are interconnected via a communication network. In the developing device,
Further, a means for transmitting the average density measured by the measuring means or the average density corrected by the correcting means to the server is provided, and the server receives the received average density from the exposure / developing apparatus. Means for storing as history information in association with the specified information and date information, means for comparing the newly received average density with a predetermined value or average density stored as history information, and the result of comparison Means for diagnosing the state of the developing device based on the above, a means for deciding whether or not maintenance is required by referring to the diagnosis result, and instructing the maintenance company to perform maintenance when it is determined that maintenance is necessary. And means for sending information.

In the diagnostic method of the present invention, a step of exposing an evaluation pattern consisting of a black-and-white pattern having a predetermined shape on the film, a step of developing the film, and an average density of the developed evaluation pattern are densified. Measuring with a meter, comparing the measured average concentration with a predetermined value or a previously measured average concentration, if the average concentration is lower than the predetermined value, or, When the amount of change between the average density and the previously measured average density is larger than a predetermined value, the step of diagnosing that the state of the exposure optical system has deteriorated and notifying information for prompting maintenance is provided. is there.

In the present invention, a film dedicated to the evaluation pattern is provided in the exposure / development apparatus, and the state of the exposure optical system is diagnosed by appropriately switching between the film and the dedicated film. You can

Further, in the present invention, the state of the exposure optical system may be automatically diagnosed when the power of the exposure / development apparatus is turned on.

Further, in the present invention, in the density measurement, the aperture size of the densitometer or the width of the black-and-white pattern is set so that the aperture of the densitometer contains a black and white pattern of 5 (lp) or more. Preferably.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the film is made of a thermosensitive material and is developed by heat.

Further, the diagnostic service of the present invention is a service using the above-mentioned method of diagnosing an exposure / developing apparatus, in which the maintenance company monitors the average density or the diagnostic result and executes maintenance. .

As described above, according to the present invention, an evaluation pattern such as a stripe pattern or a solid pattern having a different density is exposed at a predetermined position of a film to be heat-developed, and this evaluation is performed by a densitometer provided on a transporting path of the film. The average density of the pattern or the solid pattern is read, and this average density is used to detect the change with time of the exposure optical system related by the γ characteristic of the film. Also, by transmitting the density data detected by the densitometer or the diagnostic result obtained by referring to the density data to the maintenance company via the communication network, the user is concerned about the state of the heat developing device. The heat developing device can always be used in good condition.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In a preferred embodiment of the heat developing apparatus according to the present invention, an evaluation pattern consisting of a black and white pattern such as a stripe pattern is exposed and heat-developed at a predetermined position around the film to obtain a density. The average density of the evaluation pattern is measured by a meter, and the fact that the γ characteristic of the film is nonlinear is used to quantitatively associate the average density with the state of the exposure optical system, for example, the measured average density is predetermined. When it is smaller than the reference value or when the change amount of the average density is larger than a predetermined value, it is determined that the state of the exposure optical system has deteriorated, and the user or maintenance company is notified. In addition, by creating a plurality of solid patterns with different densities, newly generating the γ characteristic of the film from the relationship between the density of the solid pattern and the exposure energy, and by correcting the average density of the measured evaluation pattern, Even when different films are used, the deterioration of the exposure optical system can be reliably diagnosed.

[0022]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings in order to describe the above-described embodiments of the present invention in more detail.

[Embodiment 1] First, a heat developing apparatus and a method for diagnosing the heat developing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. FIG. 1 is a side view showing the overall structure of a heat developing apparatus according to the present invention and a film transport path, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the structure of an exposure optical system. Further, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of the film used in this example, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining the evaluation principle of this example. 6 and 7 are diagrams showing other configurations of the film and the evaluation pattern.

First, the structure and operation of the heat developing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The thermal developing apparatus 100 is an apparatus for developing a film F which is a sheet-shaped silver halide photographic photosensitive thermal developing material.
A feeding unit 110 for feeding the sheets one by one, a conveying direction changing unit 140 for changing the conveying direction of the film, an exposing unit 120 for exposing the conveyed film F, and a heat for thermally developing the exposed film F. The developing unit 130 and a densitometer 150 for measuring the density of the heat-developed film are main components.

In the feeding section 110, trays for accommodating a plurality of deposited films F are provided in two upper and lower stages,
An adsorption unit (not shown) that adsorbs the front end of the film F and moves up and down is provided on the upper portion on the front end side of each tray. Further, in the vicinity of the suction unit, a pair of feeding rollers (not shown) that horizontally feeds the film F supplied by the suction unit is provided. The suction unit can be moved back and forth, and the sucked film F can be carried to the feeding roller pair. Then, the film F is conveyed downward by the plurality of conveying roller pairs that convey the film F fed by the feeding roller pair in the vertical direction.

A transport direction changing section 140 is provided below the heat developing apparatus 100. This transport direction conversion unit 14
0 conveys the film F conveyed vertically downward by the conveying roller pair in the horizontal direction (perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1) and then in the conveying direction in the direction of arrow (1) (the front-back direction of the apparatus). The sheet is converted into a right angle and then conveyed, and further conveyed with the conveying direction changed upward in the vertical direction shown by arrow (2).

A plurality of conveying roller pairs 142 are provided on the path of the film F conveyed from the conveying direction changing section 140, and convey the film F upward in the vertical direction indicated by the arrow (3). During the transportation in the vertical direction, the exposure unit 120 causes the photosensitive surface of the film F to move in the infrared region 780 to 860.
Scanning exposure is performed with a laser beam in the range of nm to form a latent image according to the exposure image signal.

At the upper part of the heat developing device 100, a heat developing section 13 is provided.
0 is provided, and a supply roller pair 143 that supplies the film F conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 142 to the rotating drum 131 is provided in the vicinity of the rotating drum 131 of the heat developing unit 130. The supply roller pair 143 is driven by a motor controlled by the control device, and the film F is rotated through the supply roller pair 143 at random timing.
Supply to 31.

Instead of the random timing supply, the control unit may supply the timing. As an example of supplying with a timing, the supply roller pair 143 is stopped until the next supplied position on the circumference of the rotary drum 131 reaches a predetermined rotation position, and the next supply target on the circumference of the rotary drum 131 is reached. The rotation may be performed when the position reaches the predetermined rotation position. That is, the film F may be supplied to a predetermined supply position of the rotary drum 131 by controlling the rotation of the supply roller pair 143 by the control device.

The rotating drum 131 serving as an overheating member of the heat developing section 130 rotates while the film F and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating drum 131 are in close contact with each other while rotating together in the direction indicated by the arrow (4) in FIG. The drum 131 heats and develops the film F by heat. That is, the latent image of the film F is formed into a visible image. After that, when rotating to the right with respect to the rotating drum 131 of FIG. 1, the film F is separated from the rotating drum 131.

A plurality of conveying roller pairs 144 are provided on the right side of the heat developing section 130, and the film F separated from the rotary drum 131 is slanted downward to the right as shown by an arrow (5) in FIG. Cool while transporting. Then, while the transport roller pair 144 is transporting the cooled film F,
The densitometer 150 measures the density of the evaluation patch, which is a characteristic part of this embodiment, along with the imaged human body part.

After that, the plurality of conveying roller pairs 144 convey the film F separated from the rotary drum 131 to the upper left of the drawing as shown by the arrow (6) in FIG.
00 is discharged to the discharge tray 160 provided on the upper part of the thermal development device 100 so that it can be taken out from the upper part.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the exposure section 120. The exposure unit 120 deflects the laser light L, whose intensity is modulated based on the digital image signal S, by the rotary polygon mirror 127 to perform the main scanning on the film F and the main scanning of the film F on the laser light L. The laser beam L is used to form a latent image on the film F by performing relative scanning in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction.

More specifically, the digital image signal S transmitted from the image signal output device 121 such as a radiation CT apparatus or a scanner is converted into an analog signal by the D / A conversion section 122, and then is sent to the modulation section 123. Is entered. Modulator 1
Reference numeral 23 controls the semiconductor laser 124 based on the analog-converted exposure image signal to irradiate the modulated laser light.

The laser beam L emitted from the semiconductor laser 124 is collimated by the condenser lens 125 and is converged by the cylindrical lens 126 only in one direction (vertical direction in this embodiment), and is indicated by an arrow A in FIG. The light is incident on the rotary polygon mirror 127 rotating in the rotation direction shown as a line image perpendicular to the rotation axis. The rotary polygon mirror 127 reflects and deflects the laser light L in the main scanning direction, and the deflected laser light L includes an fθ lens 128 including a cylindrical lens.
Of the film F, which is reflected by a mirror 129 extending in the main scanning direction on the optical path and is conveyed in the arrow Y direction by the conveying roller pair 142 (sub-scanned). Main scanning is repeatedly performed on the scanning surface in the arrow X direction. In this way, the laser light L scans the entire surface to be scanned on the film.

As described above, the exposure optical system has a large number of optical members such as lenses and mirrors, a light source such as the semiconductor laser 124, a scanning system such as the conveying roller pair 142 and the rotary polygon mirror 127, and these members. A high-definition latent image is formed by accurately adjusting and controlling the positional relationship and operation of the. However, the positions of these optical members, the characteristics of the semiconductor laser 124, the pair of transport rollers 142, and the rotary polygon mirror 1
The driving accuracy of 27 and the like changes with time, resulting in a shift in the exposure optical system.

Conventionally, this time-dependent shift of the exposure optical system is identified as a change in the sharpness of the image by visually observing the heat-developed film, and it is judged that the sharpness of the image is deteriorated. Since I contacted the maintenance company to adjust the position and replace the optical member, the user must always monitor the degree of deterioration of the sharpness of the image,
Further, as described above, it is difficult to appropriately judge the deterioration of the sharpness by the visual judgment.

Therefore, in this embodiment, an evaluation pattern for evaluating the sharpness is exposed at a predetermined position of the film to be heat-developed, and a densitometer provided at the transporting position of the film after the heat development is used. It is characterized in that the deterioration of sharpness is diagnosed by measuring the average density of the evaluation pattern, and the change with time of the exposure optical system is quantified based on the result.

That is, the deviation of the exposure optical system makes the change of the exposure light amount (exposure energy) at the pattern boundary slow, especially in a fine pattern, and the spatial frequency characteristic (MT
F) is deteriorated. The exposure light amount distribution is visible as a density distribution on the film due to the sensitivity characteristics of the film itself (correlation characteristics between exposure energy and density, hereinafter referred to as γ characteristics), but the γ characteristics of the film are not linear. Since the MTF of the exposure light amount distribution deteriorates and the amplitude of the light amount decreases, the shape of the density distribution changes, and as a result, a predetermined correlation occurs between the resolution during exposure and the density after heat development. Therefore, the resolution of exposure, that is, the accuracy of the exposure optical system can be estimated by measuring the average density of the pattern after heat development. The correlation between the accuracy of this exposure optical system and the density of the pattern after heat development is a new finding obtained by the inventor of the present application. The specific method will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, an evaluation pattern 11 having a predetermined shape is formed as a latent image at a predetermined position on a film used for medical diagnosis. As a method of forming, the evaluation pattern 1
The image data of No. 1 is stored in the image recording device, and when the image data of the part of the human body photographed is transmitted from the image signal output device 121, the image data of the evaluation pattern 11 is also D
The data may be transmitted to the A / A conversion unit 122, and the D / A conversion unit 122 may synthesize the image data to create data, which may be converted into analog data and exposed on the film.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the evaluation pattern 11 (here, the vertical direction) having a size of about 5 mm □ is provided at a predetermined position of the film F (here, the upper left end portion of the image forming area 10). A horizontal and horizontal stripe pattern 11a) is formed. In addition, the film used for medical diagnosis is usually a large size such as half-cut (14 × 17 inches), large angle (14 × 14 inches), and large four (14 × 11 inches), and about 5 mm □ at the end. Even if the evaluation pattern 11 is provided, the diagnosis is not hindered.

Then, the film F exposed with the stripe pattern 11a is sent to the heat developing section 130 by the carrying roller pairs 142 and 143, is thermally developed by the rotating drum 131 and converted into a visible image, and then the carrying roller pair 1 is used.
It is sent to the densitometer 150 by 44, and the densitometer 150 detects the average density of the stripe pattern 11a. It should be noted that the aperture size of the densitometer 150 is smaller than the evaluation pattern 11 in order to measure the density of the evaluation pattern 11 only, and needs to include about several (lp) stripes in order to measure the average density of the evaluation pattern 11. Therefore, it is preferable to set the size of the evaluation pattern 11 or the aperture size of the densitometer 150 so as to satisfy the above relationship. The stripe width (width of each of the black and white patterns) may be set according to the spatial frequency to be detected and the beam diameter to be exposed, but normally it is about 40 to 140 μm for a beam diameter of 60 to 70 μm. preferable.

Here, considering the case where the exposure optical system is adjusted with high accuracy and the sharpness of the image is good, the exposure unit 12
The light amount distribution of the exposure irradiated on the film F at 0 has a shape as shown in FIG. 4A when the exposure amounts corresponding to the black and white pattern are normalized to "1" and "0". The horizontal axis of the drawing represents the distance in the scanning direction, and for example, in the case of the stripe pattern 11a in the vertical direction, it represents the distance on the film scanned by the rotary polygon mirror 127. The exposure light amount distribution does not have a rectangular shape because the beam system of the semiconductor laser 124 is approximately 60 to 70 μm, whereas the stripe width of the stripe pattern 11a is 40.
It is about 140 μm, and the influence of the beam system cannot be ignored.

The stripe pattern exposed in the shape shown in FIG. 4A has a density distribution according to the correlation characteristic (γ characteristic) between the exposure energy and the density of the film shown in FIG. 4B. As for the γ characteristic, the change in density is large in the region where the exposure energy is small and the change in the density is small in the region where the exposure energy is large. Therefore, the density distribution is wide in the region where the density value is large as shown in FIG. , The area where the density value is small becomes narrow and the shape changes. For the average density at that time, the density distribution D (x) of FIG.
As shown in (d), it is converted into a transmitted light amount distribution according to the relational expression of I (x) = 1/10 ^{D (x)} , and expressed by the logarithm of the reciprocal of the normalized transmitted light amount average value I _o (ave). You can

On the other hand, considering a state in which the exposure optical system is displaced and the sharpness is deteriorated, for example, the beam diameter of the laser beam spreads due to the displacement of the optical system during the exposure.
Since the spatial frequency characteristics deteriorate, the light intensity distribution of exposure is
As shown in FIG. 5A, the black and white pattern has a small amplitude distribution. Similarly, when converted to the density distribution by the γ characteristic,
The density value significantly increases in a region where the exposure energy has a large slope and is low, and the density value does not decrease so much in a region where the exposure energy has a gentle slope, and as a result, the entire grayscale amplitude as shown in FIG. The shape is shifted upward as compared with the case of FIG. As shown in FIG.
The transmitted light amount average value I ₁ (ave) at that time is smaller than that in the case of FIG. 4D, and as a result, the density is increased. Therefore, the state of the exposure optical system can be estimated by measuring the average density of the evaluation pattern 11.

As a concrete determination method, for example, in a state where the exposure optical system is adjusted, the stripe pattern 11a is exposed on the film, heat-developed, and the average density measured by the densitometer 150 is stored. When the image is output, the average density of the stripe pattern 11a read each time is compared with the stored average density, and the difference in the exposure optical system can be quantitatively evaluated by the difference. Then, it is determined in advance how much the average concentration changes, or what value the average concentration needs to be maintained, and the value is used as a reference to judge and an alarm prompting the maintenance is displayed. Can be executed.

In FIG. 3, the vertical stripe pattern and the horizontal stripe pattern are provided in the vertical stripe, that is, in the stripe extending in the transport direction of the film F, in the scanning optical system in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction. Optical deviation (with respect to beam diameter fluctuation in the longitudinal direction) of the scanning optical system in the conveying direction is detected by detecting optical deviation with respect to lateral beam diameter fluctuation and stripes extending in the direction orthogonal to the film conveying direction. By providing the biaxial stripe pattern 11a, it is possible to simultaneously detect temporal changes in the optical system in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction.

The shape of the evaluation pattern 11 is as follows.
Not only the stripe pattern 11a shown in FIG.
For example, a mesh shape in which vertical and horizontal stripes are united as shown in FIG. 6A, a lattice shape as shown in FIG. 6B, or an oblique shape as shown in FIGS. 6C to 6E. Directional stripes and combinations thereof, arc-shaped or circular patterns as shown in FIG. In this case, in order to accurately evaluate the sharpness, according to an experiment by the inventor of the present application, at least a densitometer 150
5 (lp) or more stripes in the aperture size (measurement area) of the above, and the width of each stripe is the beam system of the exposure optical system (for example, 60 to 70 μm).
m), a width of about 2/3 to 2 times that (for example, 4)
0 to 140 μm) is preferable.

In the above embodiment, the evaluation pattern 11
Was provided at the upper left end of the image forming area 10 of the film F, but the position at which the evaluation pattern 11 is provided is not particularly limited.
It can be provided at any place as long as it does not interfere with the image of the part to be the subject. Further, the number of evaluation patterns 11 is not limited to the configuration shown in the figure. For example, one set may be provided on each of the left and right sides of the film F, or two sets in total, or may be provided at four corners of the film F as shown in FIG. 7A. Of course, by providing the evaluation patterns 11 in a plurality of regions, it becomes possible to detect the deviation of each position of the exposure optical system. Further, as shown in FIG. 7B, the image forming area 1
The evaluation pattern 11 may be continuously formed around 0,
With such a configuration, it is possible to diagnose the state of the exposure optical system in the entire scanning area.

As described above, the evaluation pattern 1 such as a stripe pattern, a mesh pattern or a grid pattern is formed in a predetermined area such as the peripheral edge of the film F, apart from the image of the subject.
1 is exposed and heat-developed, the average density of the evaluation pattern 11 is measured by the densitometer 150, and the deviation of the exposure optical system or the scanning system is quantitatively detected by referring to the value or change of the average density. In comparison with the conventional method of visually diagnosing sharpness deterioration from a heat-developed image,
The deterioration of sharpness can be easily and surely diagnosed.

[Embodiment 2] Next, a heat developing apparatus, a heat developing apparatus diagnostic system and a diagnostic method according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the structure of a film used in this example, and FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the evaluation principle of this example. It should be noted that the present example describes a method for obtaining the γ characteristic for each film.

In the first embodiment described above, the γ characteristic of each film F and the amount of light applied to the film are constant, and the change in sharpness (spatial frequency characteristic) caused by the deviation of the exposure optical system is measured by the densitometer. Although the method of quantitatively evaluating the measured average density has been described, the γ characteristic of the film F actually changes slightly from film to film, and the amount of light irradiated to the film also changes slightly. Therefore, an error occurs when converting the exposure light amount distribution into the density distribution.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the evaluation pattern 11
In place of the evaluation pattern 11 or together with the evaluation pattern 11, at least one or more solid patterns 12 having different densities are provided in the area where the solid pattern 12 is formed. Is obtained and the average density error of the evaluation pattern 11 is corrected.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, solid patterns 12a to 12d having different densities are formed on the upper left end portion of the film F. As the forming method, the solid patterns 12a to 1 are used.
The image data of 2d is stored in the thermal development device, and when the image data of the part of the human body photographed by the image signal output device 121 is transmitted, the image data of the solid patterns 12a to 12d is also converted into the D / A converter 122. To the D / A converter 1
After the data obtained by synthesizing these in 22 is created, it may be converted into analog data and exposed on the film. Then, the densitometer 150 measures the densities of the solid patterns 12a to 12d obtained by heat development. Solid pattern 12a-
By plotting the exposure light amount of 12d, that is, the exposure energy and the density after the heat development, for example, the data indicated by the ◯ marker in FIG. 9 is obtained. The solid line indicates the γ characteristic of a typical film stored in advance.

Then, a continuous γ characteristic is created using this discrete data, but the γ characteristic of the film changes depending on the sensitivity of the film (for example, a film having high sensitivity has a desired density with a small exposure energy). It is compressed to the left of the figure to be obtained) but features of that shape (eg,
The number of inflection points) does not change. Therefore, the γ characteristic of a typical film stored in advance is approximated by an nth-order function, and the measured data is inserted into the approximate expression to obtain a curve. Alternatively, spline interpolation is used to obtain smooth data from discrete data. The γ characteristic for each film can be obtained by a method such as creating a curve.

Then, the average density obtained from the stripe pattern 11a is corrected in consideration of the difference between the γ characteristic of the obtained film and the γ characteristic of the standard film stored in advance. As a correction method, for example, from the exposure light amount distribution data, using the γ characteristics stored in advance and the γ characteristics obtained by the above method, each density distribution is created to calculate the average density, and both By performing processing such as multiplying the ratio by the measured average density, the state of the exposure optical system can be accurately grasped from the average density of the stripe pattern 11a even when the sensitivities of the film F are different.

The method for obtaining the γ characteristic peculiar to the film from the discrete data is not limited to the above method,
Any method can be used as long as it is possible to obtain the γ characteristic of each film by using the density data of the halftone solid pattern 12, and for example, a plurality of γ characteristics of the films F having different sensitivities are stored in advance. It is also possible to use a method of measuring the density of the solid pattern 12 and selecting the γ characteristic closest to the data, or creating a new γ characteristic by interpolating two γ characteristics sandwiching the data.

As described above, according to the heat developing apparatus, the heat developing apparatus diagnosing system, and the diagnosing method of this embodiment, the average density of the evaluation pattern is corrected even when films having different γ characteristics are used. Therefore, it is possible to quantitatively evaluate changes over time such as a shift in the exposure optical system more accurately than in the first embodiment.

[Embodiment 3] A heat developing apparatus, a heat developing apparatus diagnostic system and a diagnostic method according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a diagnostic system of the heat developing apparatus according to this embodiment, and FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a diagnostic processing unit of the thermal developing apparatus. FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the diagnosis method of this embodiment. It should be noted that the present embodiment describes a case where a heat developing apparatus is connected to a network.

As shown in the above-described first and second embodiments, the evaluation pattern 11 such as the stripe pattern 11a at predetermined intervals and the predetermined density are provided at predetermined positions around the image forming area 10 of the film F. By providing the solid pattern 12 and reading the density of the solid pattern 12 with the densitometer 150, it is possible to quantitatively evaluate the change with time of the exposure optical system of the thermal developing apparatus. Therefore, it is complicated to check the density measurement result every time a film is formed.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the heat developing apparatus 100 is used.
And a server managed and operated by a maintenance company are connected via a communication network, and the evaluation data acquired by the heat developing apparatus 100 is automatically transmitted to the server to notify the need for maintenance or maintenance is required. It becomes possible to predict the time when it will be, and further, to store the evaluation data that is periodically transmitted as history information, and provide services such as giving advice on how to use it based on the degree of change in the evaluation data. .

A detailed description will be given below with reference to the drawings.
In the heat developing apparatus determination system of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, a heat developing apparatus 100 installed in a medical field and a server 20 managed and operated by a maintenance company 30 establish a communication network 40 such as the Internet. Connected to each other via. Further, each heat developing apparatus 100 is provided with a diagnostic processing unit 50 that collects the average density measured by the densitometer 150 and diagnoses changes over time such as a shift of the exposure optical system.

As shown in FIG. 11, the diagnostic processing section 50 acquires a reference density storage means 51 for storing an average density serving as a reference for comparison and an average density of the evaluation pattern 11, and stores the acquired average density as history information. Pattern density storage means 52
Then, the average density of the solid pattern 12 is acquired, and the solid pattern density storage means 53 for storing it as history information and the density of the solid pattern are used to create the γ characteristic using the method shown in the second embodiment. A characteristic generation unit 54, an evaluation pattern density correction unit 55 that corrects the average density of the evaluation pattern using the created γ characteristic, and a diagnostic standard such as an allowable value of the reference density and the measured density and an allowable value of the change amount of the measured density. The allowable value storage means 56 for storing the allowable value
Diagnostic means 57 for diagnosing the deterioration condition of the exposure optical system using the reference density, the measured density and the allowable value, and diagnostic data and maintenance request information obtained by the diagnostic means are transmitted to the server 20 via the communication network 40. Communication means 5
8 and.

A procedure for producing the film F using the heat developing apparatus 100 having the diagnostic processing section 50 having the above-mentioned structure will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG.

First, in step S101, an average density which is a reference for diagnosing the state of the exposure optical system is acquired.
As a method of obtaining this reference value, for example, a film F created immediately after maintenance of the exposure optical system is exposed with the evaluation pattern 11 such as the stripe pattern 11a shown in the above-mentioned embodiment, and the densitometer 150 is subjected to thermal development. There is a method in which the average density is measured and the average density is obtained as a reference value, or a preset value is used as a reference value. Then, the acquired reference value is stored in the reference density storage means 51.

Next, in step S102, the film F is re-used by using the heat developing device 100 again after a predetermined time has elapsed.
The evaluation pattern 11 is formed on the film F in order to evaluate the state of the exposure optical system at that time.
The solid pattern 12 is exposed and the densitometer 150 acquires the average density. In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the evaluation pattern 11 and the solid pattern 12 are provided on the film that displays the photographed body part is described.
It is also possible to have a roll film or the like dedicated to the test pattern built in the inside of the heat developing apparatus 100, and to switch the output of the diagnostic image as appropriate to create only the evaluation pattern 11 and the solid pattern 12. The average density may be obtained for each film, but the optical system rarely shifts in a short period of about one day, so a test pattern is created only when the power is turned on. Can be measured to check the sharpness.

Next, in step S103, the average density of the evaluation pattern 11 is corrected using the solid pattern 12 as shown in the second embodiment. It should be noted that this correction is not always necessary when using a roll film dedicated to the test pattern or a film whose γ characteristic is known in advance.

Next, in step S104, the reference density obtained in step S101 is compared with the average density obtained in step S102 or the average density corrected in step S103. Then, in step S105,
As a result of the comparison, it is determined whether or not the difference between the reference density and the measured average density is less than or equal to the allowable value stored in the allowable value storage means 56, and if it is within the allowable range, step S10.
If the value is out of the allowable range, the process proceeds to step S108.

Then, in step S106, the average density obtained by this measurement and the evaluation pattern density storage means 5 are stored.
2 is compared with the previously acquired average density, and in step S107 it is determined whether or not the difference between the average densities is less than or equal to the allowable value. If the difference is within the allowable range, step S102 is executed. If it is outside the allowable range, the process proceeds to step S108.

Then, in step S108, it is judged from the diagnosis using the average density that the sharpness of the image is deteriorated and the exposure optical system is deviated, and the server 20 of the maintenance company is accessed using the communication means 58. Then, the result of the diagnosis made by the diagnosis means and the information requesting the maintenance are transmitted.

In the above flow, the heat developing device 100 is used.
The temporal change of the exposure optical system was quantitatively evaluated from the change of the average density on the side of the heat developing apparatus 100.
The density data obtained by the process is transmitted to the server 20 as it is, and the server 20 stores the density data in association with the information for identifying the heat developing device 100 and the date information, and compares them when new data is transmitted. Then, the necessity of maintenance may be determined, and if necessary, the user may be contacted. Further, the server 20 stores the density data transmitted from the heat developing apparatus 100 as history information, and by performing data processing, changes in the density data, that is, changes over time in the exposure optical system are predicted, and maintenance is required. The time can be known to the user in advance, and it is also possible to confirm the usage environment and give advice on the usage method to the user whose concentration data changes drastically.

As described above, according to the heat developing apparatus, the heat developing apparatus diagnosing system, and the deterioration diagnosing method of this embodiment,
The evaluation pattern 11 and the solid pattern 12 are exposed and heat-developed on the film, measured by the densitometer 150, and the deterioration state of the exposure optical system is automatically diagnosed from the measurement result. Since the data is transmitted to the server 20, the user can always use the heat developing device in a good condition.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the evaluation method of the change with time of the exposure optical system is described, but the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments and can be detected as a change in the average density of the evaluation pattern. It can also be applied to the evaluation of other parts. Further, it is obvious that the present invention can be applied to a developing device using a normal developing method.

[0074]

As described above, according to the heat developing apparatus, the heat developing apparatus diagnosis system and the diagnosis method of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

The first effect of the present invention is that changes over time such as displacement of the exposure optical system can be evaluated easily and reliably.

The reason is that the edge portion of the film to be heat-developed is exposed with an evaluation pattern such as a stripe pattern, a mesh pattern or a grid pattern at predetermined intervals, and the average density of the evaluation pattern is measured by a densitometer after the heat development. This is because the measurement makes it possible to quantitatively evaluate the change with time of the exposure optical system by utilizing the non-linearity of the film γ characteristic.

The second effect of the present invention is that the change with time of the exposure optical system can be accurately evaluated even when films having different sensitivities are used.

The reason is that a plurality of solid patterns having different densities are provided together with the above-described evaluation pattern, and the γ characteristic peculiar to the film to be used can be generated by using the density of the solid pattern and the exposure light amount. This is because the density can be corrected.

The third effect of the present invention is that the user can always obtain an image with good sharpness without being aware of the state of the exposure optical system.

The reason for this is that the heat development apparatus is equipped with a diagnostic processing unit, and the diagnostic processing unit automatically sends the result evaluated using the average density to the server operated and managed by the maintenance company via the communication network. This is because maintenance can be performed as needed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an overall configuration of a heat developing apparatus according to the present invention and a film transport direction.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of an exposure unit of the heat developing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

3A and 3B are diagrams schematically showing the configuration of a film used in the heat developing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, where FIG. 3A shows the configuration of the entire film and FIG. 3B shows the configuration of an evaluation pattern. It is a figure.

FIG. 4 is data in a state where the exposure optical system is in a good state, where (a) is a light amount distribution, (b) is the γ characteristic of the film,
(C) is a density distribution and (d) is a diagram showing light transmittance distribution.

FIG. 5 is data in a state in which the exposure optical system is displaced, where (a) is the light amount distribution, (b) is the γ characteristic of the film, (c) is the density distribution, and (d) is the light transmittance distribution. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another configuration of the evaluation pattern according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another configuration of the film according to the first example of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a structure of a film according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a method of creating the γ characteristic of the film according to the second example of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a diagnostic system using a heat developing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a diagnostic processing section of a heat developing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the procedure of a diagnosis method using the heat developing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Image forming area 11 evaluation patterns 11a stripe pattern 11b mesh pattern 11c grid pattern 11d-e diagonal pattern 11f arc pattern 12, 12a-d solid pattern 20 servers 30 maintenance company 40 communication network 50 Diagnostic processing unit 51 reference density storage means 52 evaluation pattern density storage means 53 solid pattern density storage means 54 γ characteristic generation means 55 Evaluation pattern density correction means 56 Allowable value storage means 57 Diagnostic means 58 Communication means 100 heat development device 110 supply unit 120 exposure section 121 Image signal output device 122 D / A converter 123 Modulator 124 Semiconductor laser 125 condensing lens 126 Cylindrical lens 127 rotating polygon mirror 128 fθ lens 129 mirror 130 heat development section 131 rotating drum 140 Transport direction conversion unit 142-144 transport rollers 150 densitometer 160 output tray

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) A61B 6/03 360 A61B 6/03 360T F term (reference) 2H106 AA76 BA22 BA26 BA47 BH00 2H110 AA01 AA22 AB09 AC17 BA10 BA17 CC11 CD06 CD12 2H112 AA03 BB14 BC32 BC48 4C093 AA26 CA26 FH01 FH03 FH04 FH06 FH07 FH09

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. A means for exposing an evaluation pattern consisting of a black and white pattern of a predetermined shape on a film, a means for developing the film, a means for measuring an average density of the developed evaluation pattern, and a means for measuring the measured density. Exposure having at least means for comparing the average density with a predetermined reference value, means for diagnosing the state of the exposure optical system by referring to the result of the comparison, and means for notifying the diagnosis result・
Development device. 2. A means for exposing an evaluation pattern consisting of a black-and-white pattern having a predetermined shape on a film, a means for developing the film, a means for measuring an average density of the developed evaluation pattern, and a means for measuring the measured density. A means for storing the average density as history information, a means for comparing the average density of the evaluation pattern measured again by exposure and development with the average density stored as history information, and an exposure optical system referring to the comparison result. An exposure / development apparatus comprising at least means for diagnosing the state of the system and means for notifying the diagnosis result. 3. The relationship between the density of the solid pattern measured by exposing and developing by adding a plurality of solid patterns having different densities to the evaluation pattern and the exposure energy applied to the film at the time of exposing the solid pattern. And a means for correcting the average density of the evaluation pattern with reference to the sensitivity characteristic, and the corrected average density is used to diagnose the state of the exposure optical system. The exposure / developing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. The state of the exposure optical system includes a positional relationship of optical members constituting the exposure optical system, a light emitting state of a light source, or a driving state of a scanning system, and the average density is the predetermined value. 4. If it is lower than the above, or if the change amount of the average density is larger than a predetermined value, it is diagnosed that the state of the exposure optical system has deteriorated.
The exposure / developing apparatus according to any one of 1. 5. The evaluation pattern has a shape in which a black-and-white pattern is sequentially repeated in at least one of a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction of the film, according to any one of claims 1 to 4. Exposure and development equipment. 6. The exposure / developing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the evaluation pattern includes any one of a stripe pattern, a mesh pattern, a lattice pattern, and an arc pattern. 7. The exposure / development apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the aperture of said average density measuring means includes a black and white pattern of 5 (lp) or more. 8. The exposure / development apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the film is made of a heat-sensitive material and is developed by heating. 9. A diagnostic system comprising the exposure / development apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, a server for managing maintenance of the exposure / development apparatus, and a mutual connection through a communication network. The exposure / development apparatus further includes means for transmitting the result of diagnosis by the diagnosis means to the server, and means for determining whether maintenance is necessary by referring to the diagnosis result received by the server. And a means for sending information instructing maintenance to a maintenance company when it is determined that maintenance is necessary, a diagnostic system for an exposure / developing apparatus. 10. A diagnostic system comprising the exposure / development apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, a server for managing maintenance of the exposure / development apparatus, and a server connected to each other via a communication network. The exposure / developing apparatus further comprises means for transmitting the average density measured by the measuring means or the average density corrected by the correcting means to the server, and the server receives the average density. The density of the
Means for storing as history information in association with information specifying the developing device and date information, and means for comparing the newly received average density with a predetermined value, or the average density stored as history information, Means for diagnosing the state of the developing device based on the comparison result, means for deciding the necessity of maintenance by referring to the diagnosis result, and maintenance for the maintenance company when the maintenance is determined to be necessary. And a means for sending information instructing the exposure / developing apparatus diagnostic system. 11. A step of exposing an evaluation pattern consisting of a black-and-white pattern of a predetermined shape on a film, a step of developing the film, and a step of measuring an average density of the developed evaluation pattern using a densitometer. And a step of comparing the measured average concentration with a predetermined value or a previously measured average concentration, and if the average concentration is lower than the predetermined value, or the average concentration and previously measured An exposure / development apparatus comprising at least a step of diagnosing that the state of the exposure optical system has deteriorated when the amount of change from the average density is larger than a predetermined value, and notifying information urging maintenance. Diagnostic method. 12. A relationship between the density of the solid pattern measured by exposing and developing by adding a plurality of solid patterns having different densities to the evaluation pattern and the exposure energy applied to the film during the exposure of the solid pattern. And a step of correcting the average density of the evaluation pattern with reference to the sensitivity characteristic, and the state of the exposure optical system is diagnosed using the corrected average density. The method for diagnosing an exposure / developing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein: 13. A film dedicated to the evaluation pattern is provided in the exposure / developing apparatus, and the state of the exposure optical system is diagnosed by appropriately switching between the film and the dedicated film. 11. The diagnostic method for an exposure / developing apparatus according to 11 or 12. 14. The diagnosis of the exposure / development apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the state of the exposure optical system is automatically diagnosed when the power of the exposure / development apparatus is turned on. Method. 15. The evaluation pattern has a shape in which a black-and-white pattern is sequentially repeated in at least one of a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction of the film, according to any one of claims 11 to 14. Exposure of
Diagnostic method for developing device. 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the evaluation pattern includes any one of a stripe pattern, a mesh pattern, a grid pattern, and an arc pattern. 17. In the density measurement, the aperture size of the densitometer or the width of the black and white pattern is set so that an aperture of the densitometer includes a black and white pattern of 5 (lp) or more. The method for diagnosing an exposure / developing apparatus according to claim 15 or 16. 18. The exposure / development apparatus and a server that manages maintenance of the exposure / development apparatus are mutually connected via a communication network, and the exposure / development apparatus transmits the diagnosis result to the server. In the server, referring to the received diagnostic result, determining whether maintenance is necessary, and when determining that maintenance is necessary, sending information for instructing maintenance to a maintenance company. 18. The method for diagnosing an exposure / development apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising: 19. The exposure / development apparatus and a server that manages maintenance of the exposure / development apparatus are connected to each other via a communication network, and in the exposure / development apparatus, the measured average density or the corrected value is corrected. A step of transmitting the average density to the server, wherein the server stores the received average density as history information in association with information specifying the exposure / development apparatus and date information; Comparing the density with a predetermined value, or an average density stored as history information, and if the average density is lower than the predetermined value, or a newly received average density and previously measured If the amount of change from the average density is larger than a predetermined value, it is diagnosed that the state of the exposure optical system has deteriorated and maintenance is required. The exposure according to any one of claims 11 to 17, further comprising: a step of determining that the maintenance is necessary;・ Development device diagnosis method. 20. The server comprises a step of calculating a predicted value of a state change of the exposure / developing apparatus from an average density stored as the history information, and estimates the maintenance time by referring to the predicted value. 20. The method for diagnosing an exposure / development apparatus according to claim 19, wherein: 21. The film comprises a thermosensitive material,
The development is performed by heat, as set forth in claim 11 or 2.
0. A method of diagnosing an exposure / developing apparatus according to any one of 0. 22. A service using the method for diagnosing an exposure / development apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the maintenance company monitors the average density or the diagnostic result and executes maintenance. An exposure / development device diagnostic service characterized by: