JP2005026958A - Aligner for reading - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve utilization efficiency of a reading light to be emitted from a light-emitting element without causing deterioration in reliability of read image information, in an aligner for reading. <P>SOLUTION: LIghts outputted from each of LED chips 101a, 101b and so on are limited in luminous image of LEDs by a slit 102a, limited in angle of divergence by elliptic pin holes of a pin hole array 103, and condensed in a Y direction by cylindrical lenses 104, 105 to linearly irradiate an electrostatic recorder 10 with the condensed light. The pinhole formed on the pin hole array 103 has an opening length in the Y direction of approximately two times the opening length in a Z direction, the angle of divergence of the reading light L emitted from the LED chips 101a, 101b and so on are limited to about 20° in the Y direction and 10° in the Z direction. Since the angle of convergence of the reading light L in the Z direction is not widened, deterioration in reliability of read image information is not caused. Also, since the angle of convergence in the Y direction is large, the utilization efficiency of the reading light L is improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a reading exposure apparatus that exposes the reading light to the image recording medium when reading the image information by scanning and exposing an image recording medium on which image information has been recorded in advance with the reading light. In particular, the present invention relates to a reading exposure apparatus having a pinhole array.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in medical X-ray imaging, a photoconductor such as a selenium plate made of a-Se, which is sensitive to X-rays, is used to reduce the exposure dose received by the subject and improve diagnostic performance. The electrostatic recording body is irradiated with radiation such as X-rays carrying radiation image information, and latent image charges carrying radiation image information are accumulated in the electrostatic recording body, and then the electrostatic recording body is irradiated with a laser beam. A system for reading an electrostatic latent image carried by a latent image charge, that is, radiation image information, by detecting current generated in the electrostatic recording body by scanning the plate electrode or stripe electrode on both sides of the electrostatic recording body Is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, Patent Document 3, and Non-Patent Document 1).
[0003]
In addition, the applicant of the present invention provides a first conductive layer that is transmissive to recording radiation, a recording photoconductive layer that exhibits photoconductivity when irradiated with recording radiation, and a first conductive layer. A charge transport layer that acts as a substantially insulator for charges having the same polarity as the charge charged to the body layer, and that acts as a conductor for charges of the opposite polarity to the charge, and irradiation of reading light Receiving the photoconductive layer for reading that exhibits photoconductivity, and the second conductive layer that is transparent to the read light, and the electrostatic recording body and the radiographic image information are recorded in this order. A reading device that reads radiation image information from the electrostatic recording material has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 4).
[0004]
The reading apparatus described in Patent Document 4 scans an electrostatic recording body with reading light emitted from a light source, and reads an electrostatic latent image recorded on the electrostatic recording body. As a reading exposure apparatus which is a light source for outputting reading light, there are those using spot light exposure means for performing main / sub scanning exposure of spot light such as a laser beam, line light exposure means for scanning exposure of line light, etc. Are listed. Further, as the line light source, for example, a light source in which a large number of light emitting elements are arranged in a line is cited.
[0005]
As one of line light sources in which a large number of light emitting elements are arranged in a line, a method using a line light source in which LEDs are arranged in an array is known (for example, see Patent Document 5). LEDs have high light output efficiency with respect to input energy, and can reduce costs compared to lasers and the like. When such a line light source is used, the light emitted from each LED is orthogonal to the LED arrangement direction by optical means such as a cylindrical lens arranged in parallel with the LED arrangement direction ( (Hereinafter referred to as the scanning direction) and is irradiated onto the electrostatic recording body as line-shaped reading light. With this reading light, the electrostatic recording medium is scanned and exposed to read image information.
[0006]
However, in such a reading exposure apparatus, the spread angle of the light emitted from each LED is not limited with respect to the LED arrangement direction. Variations occur. Therefore, on the electrostatic recording medium, focused light and unfocused light are mixed, and as a result, the unfocused light increases flare and widens the line width.
[0007]
Further, there is a problem that the light intensity in the LED arrangement direction is not uniform in the reading light condensed in a line on the electrostatic recording body. That is, the central portion on the electrostatic recording body has a high light intensity because the light emitted from a large number of LEDs is collected. On the other hand, as it approaches the end of the electrostatic recording body, the light is emitted from a smaller number of LEDs. The collected light is collected and the light intensity is reduced. For this reason, the reliability of the read image information may be reduced.
[0008]
In order to solve these problems, the present applicant has disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-260078 a line light source having a large number of light emitting elements arranged in a straight line, and reading light emitted from each of the light emitting elements. Optical means for focusing in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the light emitting elements are arranged, and the spread angle of the reading light emitted from each light emitting element is set in an arrangement of the light emitting elements with respect to the optical axis of the optical means. An exposure apparatus for reading an image recording medium having a pinhole array that limits the angle in the direction is proposed.
[0009]
An example of the reading exposure apparatus 200 using the pinhole array as described above is shown in FIG. FIG. 7A is a side view of the reading exposure apparatus 200 as viewed from the scanning direction (hereinafter referred to as Y direction). Hereinafter, the LED arrangement direction is defined as the Z direction, and the direction perpendicular to the YZ plane is defined as the X direction. FIG. 7B is an XY sectional view of the exposure apparatus 200 for reading. The reading exposure apparatus 200 includes a line light source 101 in which a plurality of surface emitting LED chips 101a, 101b, 101c,... Are linearly arranged, and a slit 102 having an opening extending in the longitudinal direction of the line light source 101. And pinhole array 201 in which pinholes are formed at equal intervals with the arrangement pitch of LED chips 101a, 101b,... And cylindrical lenses 104 and 105 that focus reading light L in the Y direction. is there.
[0010]
The slit 102 is a field stop that restricts the light emission image of the LED of the line light source 101. Further, as shown in FIG. 8A, the pinhole array 201 has circular pinholes 201a, 201b,... Formed at equal intervals with the arrangement pitch of the LED chips 101a, 101b,. Yes, it has a predetermined thickness, and isotropically limits the spread angle of light emitted from the LED chips 101a, 101b,... To about 10 degrees. A pinhole array in which square pinholes as shown in FIG. 8B are formed can also be used.
[0011]
The light emission image of each LED chip 101a, 101b,... Is restricted at the opening of the slit 102, the spread angle is restricted by the pinholes 201a, 201b, etc. of the pinhole array 201, and collected in the Y direction by cylindrical lenses 104 and 105. It is irradiated and irradiated onto the electrostatic recording body 10.
[0012]
Since the light distribution characteristic of the LED chip is very wide as shown in FIG. 9, when the pinhole array 201 does not limit the spread angle in the Z direction, the light emitted from one LED chip has a very wide range. Although it has an irradiation range, in the exposure apparatus 200 for reading, since the spread angle in the Z direction is narrowed, the irradiation range by the light emitted from one LED chip is one-several to several tens of minutes 1 range.
[0013]
For this reason, the number of LED chips corresponding to one irradiation point in the central portion of the electrostatic recording body 10 is reduced as compared with the conventional case. Therefore, the same light intensity as that of the central portion of the electrostatic recording body 10 can be obtained at the irradiation point near the end of the electrostatic recording body 10. That is, in the reading light L collected in a straight line, the portion where the light intensity decreases is reduced only to the vicinity of the end of the electrostatic recording body 10, so that the light intensity in the LED chip arrangement direction is uniform. Once improved, the reliability of the read image information is improved.
[0014]
Further, when the reading light L that is generally emitted from one point and spreads in the Z direction is condensed in the Y direction by the cylindrical lenses 104 and 105, the condensing position varies depending on the emission angle. For example, if the electrostatic recording body 10 is arranged on the focal point, when the exit angle is 0 degree, the focus is on the electrostatic recording body 10, but when the exit angle is different, the in-focus position Is also different. For this reason, the in-focus light and the out-of-focus light are mixed on the electrostatic recording body 10, and flare of the read light L condensed in a straight line is generated. (Y direction) becomes wider. The larger the divergence angle of the reading light L in the Z direction, the larger the flare of the reading light L and the wider the line width. That is, in the reading exposure apparatus 200 1, by limiting the spread angle of the reading light L in the Z direction, the flare of the reading light L condensed linearly on the electrostatic recording medium 10 is reduced, and the line width is reduced. The reliability of the read image information can be improved.
[0015]
[Patent Document 1]
US Pat. No. 4,176,275 specification
[Patent Document 2]
US Pat. No. 5,440,146 specification
[Patent Document 3]
US Pat. No. 5,510,626 specification
[Patent Document 4]
JP 2000-105297 A
[Patent Document 5]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-290228
[Non-Patent Document 1]
“A Method of Electronic Readout of Electrophotographic and Electroradiographic Image”; Journal of Applied Photographic Engineering 4, Pal.
[0021]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the reading exposure apparatus provided with the pinhole array as shown in FIG. 7, since a pinhole array in which a large number of circular or square pinholes are arranged is used, the reading light emitted from the line light source is used. There is a problem that the use efficiency of is low. Increasing the shape of the pinhole can improve the utilization efficiency of the reading light emitted from the line light source, but on the other hand, the spread angle in the longitudinal direction of the line light source increases, and the light intensity in the longitudinal direction of the line light source There is a problem that the reliability of read image information is reduced due to a decrease in the uniformity of the image, an increase in flare accompanying an increase in in-focus position variation, and the like.
[0022]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and can perform reading that can improve the utilization efficiency of reading light emitted from a line light source without degrading the reliability of read image information. It is an object to provide an exposure apparatus for a machine.
[0023]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A reading exposure apparatus of the present invention includes a line light source that emits reading light;
Optical means for focusing the reading light emitted from the line light source in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the line light source;
A pinhole array having a plurality of pinholes for limiting the spread angle of the reading light emitted from the line light source in the longitudinal direction of the line light source with respect to the optical axis of the optical means;
In a reading exposure apparatus that exposes the reading light to the image recording medium when reading the image information by scanning and exposing an image recording medium in which image information is recorded in advance with the reading light,
An opening length of the pinhole in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the line light sources are arranged in the longitudinal direction is longer than an opening length in the longitudinal direction of the line light sources.
[0024]
The opening length in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the line light source is preferably 1.5 times or more, more preferably 2 or more times the opening length in the longitudinal direction of the line light source.
[0025]
In addition, the “pinhole” is not limited to a hole formed by a space, and the divergence angle of the reading light emitted from each line light source is set to be equal to the optical axis of the optical means. Any optical opening that limits the angle in the longitudinal direction may be used. For example, a density distribution filter array composed of a plurality of density distribution filters may be used.
[0026]
The line light source may be composed of a large number of LEDs arranged in a straight line. Moreover, you may consist of 1 or multiple inorganic EL or organic EL.
[0027]
The image recording medium may be an electrostatic recording body that records image information as an electrostatic latent image and generates a current corresponding to the electrostatic latent image by scanning exposure with the reading light. The image recording medium may be an accumulative phosphor that accumulates and records image information, and generates stimulated emission light according to the image information by scanning exposure with the reading light.
[0028]
In the above, “reading light” is not limited to so-called light such as infrared light, visible light, or ultraviolet light, but may be any electromagnetic wave that can be used when reading recorded image information. It may be of any wavelength. That is, when the image recording medium is an electrostatic recording material, any wavelength can be used as long as it can be used for reading the “electrostatic latent image”. In this case, any wavelength may be used as long as it acts as excitation light for emitting stimulated emission light.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
According to the reading exposure apparatus of the present invention, the divergence angle of the reading light emitted from each line light source is limited in the longitudinal direction of the line light source, and the opening length in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the line light source is By providing a pinhole array having a large number of pinholes longer than the opening length in the longitudinal direction of the light source, the reading light emitted from the line light source can be read without increasing the longitudinal spread angle of the line light source. Therefore, the use efficiency of the reading light emitted from the line light source can be improved without degrading the reliability of the image information.
[0030]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a radiation image reading system using a reading exposure apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1A is a perspective view, and FIG. 1B is an XZ sectional view. As shown in FIG. 1, this system includes an electrostatic recording body 10 formed on a glass substrate 6, and a reading exposure apparatus 100 that irradiates the electrostatic recording body 10 with reading light L when reading an image. And current detection means 50 for detecting a current flowing out of the electrostatic recording body 10 by scanning of the reading light L.
[0031]
The electrostatic recording body 10 which is an image recording medium records radiation image information as an electrostatic latent image, and generates a current corresponding to the electrostatic latent image when scanned with reading light. Includes a first conductor layer 11 having transparency to recording radiation (for example, X-ray or the like; hereinafter referred to as “recording light”), and exhibits conductivity by being irradiated with recording light. The recording photoconductive layer 12 and the first conductor layer 11 act as an insulator for charges (latent image polar charge; for example, negative charges) charged to the recording conductive layer 12 and have a polarity opposite to the charges ( For the transport polar charge (positive charge in the above example), the charge transport layer 13 acting as a substantially conductive material, the read photoconductive layer 14 that exhibits conductivity when irradiated with the read light, and the read light And a second conductive layer 15 having transparency is laminated. . The second conductor layer 15 is a stripe electrode in which a large number of elements (linear electrodes) 15a are arranged in stripes at a pixel pitch, as indicated by hatching in the figure.
[0032]
The current detection means 50 has a large number of current detection amplifiers 51 connected to each element 15a of the second conductor layer 15, and the current flowing through each element 15a by the exposure of the reading light is parallel to each element 15a. It is to detect automatically. The first conductor layer 11 of the electrostatic recording body is connected to one input of the connection means 52 and the negative electrode of the power supply 53, and the positive electrode of the power supply 53 is connected to the other input of the connection means 52. Although not shown, the output of the connection means 52 is connected to each current detection amplifier 51. The details of the configuration of the current detection amplifier 51 are not related to the gist of the present invention, so that the description thereof is omitted here, but various known configurations can be applied. Of course, depending on the configuration of the current detection amplifier 51, the connection mode of the connection means 52 and the power source 53 is different from the above example.
[0033]
The operation of the radiation image reading system having the above-described configuration will be described below. When recording an electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic recording body, first, the connection means 52 is switched to the power source 53, and a direct current is connected between each element 15a of the first conductor layer 11 and the second conductor layer 15. A voltage is applied to charge both conductor layers. As a result, a U-shaped electric field having the element 15a as a U-shaped recess is formed between the first conductor layer 11 and the element 15a in the electrostatic recording body.
[0034]
Next, the recording light is blown onto a subject (not shown), and the recording light transmitted through the subject, that is, radiation carrying the radiographic image information of the subject is irradiated onto the electrostatic recording body. Then, positive and negative charge pairs are generated in the recording photoconductive layer 12 of the electrostatic recording body, and the negative charges are concentrated on the element 15a along the electric field distribution described above. Negative charges are accumulated at the interface with the charge transport layer 13. Since the amount of the negative charge (latent image charge) accumulated is substantially proportional to the irradiation radiation dose, the latent image charge carries the electrostatic latent image. In this way, the electrostatic latent image is recorded on the electrostatic recording body. On the other hand, the positive charge generated in the recording photoconductive layer 12 is attracted to the first conductive layer 11 and recombines with the negative charge injected from the power source 53 and disappears.
[0035]
When reading the electrostatic latent image from the electrostatic recording body, the connecting means 52 is first connected to the first conductor layer 11 side of the electrostatic recording body.
[0036]
The line-shaped reading light L output from the reading exposure apparatus 100 passes through each element 15a of the glass substrate 6 and the conductor layer 15 of the electrostatic recording body. Then, positive and negative charge pairs are generated in the photoconductive layer 14, and the positive charges are attracted to the negative charges (latent image charges) accumulated at the interface between the recording photoconductive layer 12 and the charge transport layer 13. In this way, the charge transport layer 13 moves rapidly and recombines with the latent image charge at the interface between the recording photoconductive layer 12 and the charge transport layer 13 and disappears. On the other hand, the negative charge generated in the reading photoconductive layer 14 is recombined with the positive charge injected from the power source 53 into the conductor layer 15 and disappears. In this way, the negative charges accumulated in the electrostatic recording body disappear due to charge recombination, and a current is generated in the electrostatic recording body due to the movement of the charge during the charge recombination. The current detection amplifier 51 connected to each element 15a detects this current in parallel for each element 15a. Since the current flowing in the electrostatic recording body during reading corresponds to the latent image charge, that is, the electrostatic latent image, the electrostatic latent image can be read by detecting this current. Note that the reading exposure apparatus 100 performs scanning exposure in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and thereby the entire surface of the electrostatic recording body 10 is exposed.
[0037]
Next, the reading exposure apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention applied to the radiation image reading system will be described with reference to FIG. 2A is a side view showing the detailed configuration of the exposure apparatus 100 for reading shown in FIG. 1 as seen from the Y direction (direction orthogonal to the LED chip arrangement direction). These are XY sectional drawing of the exposure apparatus 100 for reading. Note that the X direction is the traveling direction of the reading light L, and the Z direction is the LED chip arrangement direction.
[0038]
As shown in FIG. 2, the exposure apparatus 100 for reading includes a line light source 101 composed of a plurality of LED chips 101a, 101b,... Arranged linearly in the Z direction, and a slit 102 having an opening extending in the Z direction. And pinhole array 103 in which pinholes are formed at equal intervals with the arrangement pitch of LED chips 101a, 101b,... And cylindrical lenses 104 and 105 functioning as optical means for focusing read light L in the Y direction. It consists of
[0039]
The slit 102 is a field stop that restricts the light emission image of the LED of the line light source 101. It should be noted that the slit 102 only needs to limit the light emitting area of each LED chip 101a, 101b,..., And not only a mechanical slit having an opening as in the present embodiment, but also an optical element such as a density distribution filter. It may be a gap.
[0040]
Further, as shown in FIG. 3A, the pinhole array 103 is formed with elliptical pinholes 103a, 103b,... At equal intervals with the arrangement pitch of the LED chips 101a, 101b,. The opening length in the Y direction of the pinholes 103a, 103b,... Is approximately twice the opening length in the Z direction. The pinhole array 103 has a predetermined thickness and limits the spread angle of light emitted from the LED chips 101a, 101b,... To about 20 degrees in the Y direction and to about 10 degrees in the Z direction. is there. Further, the pinhole array 103 is subjected to an antireflection treatment to prevent reflection of light in the pinhole. In addition, as a pinhole array, you may use the thing in which the rectangular pinhole is formed as shown in FIG.3 (B). In addition, a pinhole having an optical opening formed by a density filter or the like can be used.
[0041]
The light emission image of each LED chip 101a, 101b,... Is limited at the opening 102a of the slit 102, and the reading light L emitted from each LED chip 101a, 101b,. ..., the divergence angle in the Z direction is limited to about 10 degrees and the divergence angle in the Y direction is limited to about 20 degrees, and the light is condensed in the Y direction by the cylindrical lenses 104 and 105 and irradiated onto the electrostatic recording body 10. If the reading light L emitted from each of the LED chips 101a, 101b,... Has a wide divergence angle in the Y direction, it is preferable to use aspherical lenses with corrected spherical aberration as the cylindrical lenses 104 and 105. .
[0042]
As is clear from the above description, the reading exposure apparatus 100 1 uses the pinhole array 103 in which a large number of elliptical or rectangular pinholes are arranged, so that there are many conventional circular or square pinholes. Compared with a reading exposure apparatus using a pinhole array arranged in a row, the spread angle in the Y direction of the reading light L emitted from each LED chip 101a, 101b,... Is widened, and the LED chips 101a, 101b,. The utilization efficiency of the reading light L emitted from is improved. Further, since the spread angle in the Z direction of the reading light L emitted from each of the LED chips 101a, 101b,... Does not change from the conventional one, a decrease in the uniformity of the light intensity in the LED chip arrangement direction or the in-focus position There is no increase in flare or the like due to the increase in variation. That is, it is possible to improve the utilization efficiency of the reading light emitted from the light emitting element without causing a decrease in the reliability of the read image information.
[0043]
Note that the above-described reading exposure means 100 may include a second pinhole array 110 in addition to the pinhole array 103 as shown in FIG. By providing the pinhole array 110 with an elliptical pinhole that is slightly smaller than the pinhole of the pinhole array 103, the reflected light in the pinhole of the pinhole array 103 can be reliably shielded, and flare is generated. Can be prevented. The thickness of the pinhole array 110 is set to be thinner than that of the pinhole array 103. For example, when the thickness of the pinhole array 103 is 2 mm, the thickness of the pinhole array 110 is set to 0.05 mm. Thus, reflection of light in the pinholes of the pinhole array 110 can be suppressed, and flare can be further prevented. Further, when the utilization efficiency of the reading light is sufficiently large, the occurrence of flare can be further prevented by reducing the size of the pinhole provided in the pinhole array 110.
[0044]
In the reading exposure apparatus of the present invention, an electrostatic recording body using stripe electrodes is used as an image recording medium, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the present invention can be applied to any image recording medium as long as it scans with a reading electromagnetic wave and generates a current corresponding to an electrostatic charge carrying radiation image information.
[0045]
Next, another embodiment to which the reading exposure apparatus of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows an example in which the reading exposure apparatus 100 of the present invention is applied to an image reading system for reading an image from a stimulable phosphor sheet. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the detailed configuration of the exposure apparatus of FIG. 5 and the detection portion of the stimulated emission light M.
[0046]
The present image reading system includes an exposure apparatus 100 for reading according to the present invention that irradiates readable light L to a stimulable phosphor sheet 210 on which radiation image information is stored and recorded in advance, and stores the light by receiving the excitation light L. That detects and outputs the photostimulated luminescent light M emitted from the phosphor sheet 210 and that extends in the direction of the arrow X, and that the reading light L, which is excitation light, does not enter the photodetector 220. A reading light cut filter 221 disposed on the incident end face side of the detector 220 and an arrow X direction that is provided on the surface side of the stimulable phosphor sheet 210 and efficiently guides the stimulated emission light M to the incident end face of the photodetector 220. Condensing mirror 230 extended, sheet conveying means 240 as a belt conveyor for conveying the stimulable phosphor sheet 210 in the direction of arrow Y, and signal processing (not shown) connected to the photodetector 220 It consists of parts. The photodetector 220 is composed of a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements 222 arranged in the length direction (arrow X direction), and each photoelectric conversion element 222 corresponds to a corresponding portion of the stimulable phosphor sheet 210 1. Detect the stimulated emission light (for each pixel). Specifically, an amorphous silicon sensor, a CCD sensor, a MOS sensor, or the like is applied as the photoelectric conversion element 222.
[0047]
Next, the operation of the image reading system of this embodiment will be described. The line-shaped reading light L output from the reading exposure apparatus 100 is irradiated onto the stimulable phosphor sheet 210, but the stimulable phosphor sheet 210 is moved in the direction of arrow Y by the sheet conveying means 240 and accumulates. Reading light L is irradiated over the entire surface of the phosphor sheet 210.
[0048]
From the portion of the stimulable phosphor sheet 210 irradiated with the reading light L, the amount of stimulated emission light M corresponding to the radiation image information stored and recorded therein is emitted. The emitted stimulated emission light M diffuses in all directions, part of which is incident on the incident end face of the photodetector 220, and part of it is reflected by the condenser mirror 230 and incident on the incident end face of the photodetector 220. The At this time, the reading light L reflected on the surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 210 that is slightly mixed in the stimulated emission light M is cut by the reading light cut filter 221. The stimulated emission light M condensed on the photodetector 220 is amplified and photoelectrically converted in each photoelectric conversion element 222 and output to an external signal processing apparatus as an image signal S of a corresponding pixel of each photoelectric conversion element 222. The
[0049]
Note that the reading exposure apparatus 100 includes an LED chip that outputs light having an appropriate wavelength for emitting stimulating light from the stimulable phosphor sheet.
[0050]
In each embodiment, as the pinhole array 103, the pinhole array 103 in which elliptical pinholes 103a, 103b,... Are formed at equal intervals to the arrangement pitch of the LED chips 101a, 101b,. However, the pinhole formation pitch is not necessarily equal to the arrangement pitch of the LED chips 101a, 101b,..., And the spread angle of the reading light L in the Z direction can be limited to a desired angle. I just need it. For example, a pinhole array in which pinholes having a shape twice as large as the pinholes 103a, 103b,... Are formed at intervals twice the arrangement pitch of the LED chips 101a, 101b,.
[0051]
Further, in each embodiment, the line light source 101 in which LED chips are arranged in a straight line is used as the line light source, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a single linear inorganic EL or organic EL is used. It is also possible to use a line light source made of In such a case, pinholes can be formed at a desired pitch.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an image reading system equipped with an electrostatic recording body using the reading exposure apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a reading exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a pinhole array. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a reading exposure apparatus. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an image reading system from a stimulable phosphor sheet using the reading exposure apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a detailed configuration of a reading exposure apparatus in an image reading system from a stimulable phosphor sheet. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conventional reading exposure apparatus. FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a pinhole array. 9] Diagram showing light distribution characteristics of LED chip 【Explanation of symbols】
6 Glass substrate 10 Electrostatic recording body 11 First conductive layer 12 Recording photoconductive layer 13 Charge transport layer 14 Reading photoconductive layer 15 Second conductive layer 15a Element 50 Current detection means 51 Current detection amplifier 52 Connection Means 53 Power supply 100, 200 Reading exposure apparatus 101 Line light source 101a, 101b,... LED chip 102 Slit 103, 110, 201 Pinhole array 103a, 103b,... Pinhole 104, 105 Cylindrical lens 210 Storage phosphor sheet 220 Light Detector 221 Reading light cut filter 222 Photoelectric conversion element 230 Condensing mirror 240 Sheet conveying means

Claims (4)

A line light source for emitting reading light;
Optical means for focusing the reading light emitted from the line light source in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the line light source;
A pinhole array having a plurality of pinholes for limiting the spread angle of the reading light emitted from the line light source in the longitudinal direction of the line light source with respect to the optical axis of the optical means;
In a reading exposure apparatus that exposes the reading light to the image recording medium when reading the image information by scanning and exposing an image recording medium in which image information is recorded in advance with the reading light,
An exposure apparatus for reading, wherein an opening length of the pinhole in a direction orthogonal to a line direction in the longitudinal direction of the line light sources is longer than an opening length in the longitudinal direction of the line light sources. 2. A reading exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the line light source comprises a plurality of LEDs arranged in a straight line. The image recording medium is an electrostatic recording body that records image information as an electrostatic latent image and generates a current corresponding to the electrostatic latent image by being scanned and exposed with the reading light. The exposure apparatus for reading according to claim 1 or 2. 2. The storage phosphor according to claim 1, wherein the image recording medium is an accumulative phosphor that accumulates and records image information and scans and exposes with the reading light to generate stimulated emission light according to the image information. The reading exposure apparatus according to 1 or 2.

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