JP2535201B2 - Multi semiconductor laser light source device - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the reading of image information recorded on an image information sheet such as a stimulable phosphor sheet and the reading of the read image information on the recording sheet by the same scanning system. The present invention relates to a multi-semiconductor laser light source device used in an image information reading / reproducing device that reproduces the image.

(Prior Art) Light including image information obtained by two-dimensionally scanning a light beam such as a laser beam on a sheet on which image information has been recorded and irradiating the sheet with the light beam. An image information reading device that detects (for example, reflected light, transmitted light, or emitted light) by a photodetector including a photomultiplier tube and reads image information recorded on a sheet is a plate-making scanner, a computer, or a facsimile. It is widely used as an input device, etc.

Radiation (X-ray, α-ray, β-ray, γ
Radiation, electron beams, ultraviolet rays, etc.), a part of this radiation energy is accumulated in the phosphor, and when this phosphor is irradiated with excitation light such as visible light, the phosphor is converted into energy according to the accumulated energy. It is known to exhibit stimulated emission, and a phosphor having such a property is called a stimulable phosphor (stimulable phosphor). Using this stimulable phosphor, the radiation image information of a subject such as a human body is once recorded on a sheet-shaped stimulable phosphor, and the stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned with excitation light such as laser light to stimulate the irradiation. Generates emitted light, photoelectrically reads the obtained stimulated emission light to obtain an image signal, and based on this image signal, outputs a radiation image of the subject as a visible image on a recording material such as a photographic light-sensitive material or CTR. The applicant has already proposed a radiation image information recording / reproducing system for this. (JP-A-55-12429, JP-A-56-11395, JP-A-55-1634)
72, 56-104645, 55-116340, etc. ) The image information accumulated and recorded on the stimulable phosphor sheet in the above system is
The excitation light is deflected to perform main scanning on the stimulable phosphor sheet, and the stimulable phosphor sheet and the excitation light are relatively moved in the sub-scanning direction to scan the entire surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet with the excitation light. , Is read by photoelectrically detecting the stimulated emission light emitted from the scanning position with a photodetector.

On the other hand, the image information read by a reading device such as the radiation image information reading device described above is modulated on the recording sheet relatively moved in the sub-scanning direction based on the image signal obtained by the reading device. The light beam is subjected to main scanning for recording and the like to be reproduced as a visible image. Therefore, conventionally, in order to form a final visible image of image information recorded on an image information sheet such as a stimulable phosphor sheet on a recording sheet, a recording device other than a reading device for reading the image information is used. A reproducing device for recording the image information on the sheet is required.

In particular, in the radiation image information recording / reproducing system, various improvements have been made in recent years in response to requests for simplifying the entire system as much as possible, downsizing the entire apparatus, and reducing manufacturing cost. Therefore, we integrated a conventional reading device that performs scanning with a light beam and a reproducing device together,
An apparatus for reading and reproducing by the same scanning system is proposed by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 184677/58.

However, in the reading and reproducing apparatus as described above, scanning is performed with a light beam having a constant light amount during reading,
Since scanning must be performed with a light beam modulated based on image information during reproduction, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-18
In 4677, insert a light modulator into the light beam during playback,
At the time of reading, the light beam is retracted from the light beam, but in that case, a mechanism for moving the light modulator is required, which complicates the configuration. Therefore, acousto-optic modulator (AOM)
The optical modulator such as is fixedly provided in the light beam,
The present applicant has already proposed a reading / reproducing apparatus that simplifies the mechanism and obtains a suitable light beam during reading and recording (Japanese Patent Application No. 62-335505).

By the way, it has been conventionally known to use a semiconductor laser as a means for generating reading light for reading image information or recording light for reproducing image information. Semiconductor lasers have the advantages of smaller size, lower cost, and lower power consumption than gas lasers, and because they can change the output by controlling the drive current, so-called analog direct modulation, an optical modulator such as AOM can be used. It is not necessary to separately provide the above, and even when used in the above-mentioned reading / reproducing apparatus, there is no problem such as taking the AOM in and out of the optical path.

However, while the semiconductor laser has the advantages as described above, in the case of continuous oscillation, at present, the output is as small as 20 to 30 mW, and therefore the radiation image information reading apparatus which requires high energy scanning light as excitation light. It is difficult to use as a means for generating reading light in such cases.

Therefore, in order to obtain a scanning beam of sufficiently high energy from a semiconductor laser having a low optical output as described above, it is possible to use a plurality of semiconductor lasers and combine the laser beams emitted from these semiconductor lasers into one beam. Conceivable.

In order to combine the laser beams emitted from a plurality of semiconductor lasers into a single laser beam as described above and use it as scanning light, usually, the laser beams emitted from each semiconductor laser are collimated by a collimator lens. After that, the light is generally guided to parallel optical paths that are close to each other and made incident on the optical deflector.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the image information reading / reproducing apparatus for reading and reproducing image information in the same apparatus,
When reproducing an image, scanning light having a large output as in the above-described image reading is not required. Therefore, when a multi-semiconductor laser light source device including a large number of semiconductor lasers is used as a light source for generating the reading light, this light source device is used. In addition to this, a separate light source that emits recording light with a relatively low output must be provided,
There is an inconvenience that the structure of the device becomes complicated and increases in size.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
(EN) Provided is a multi-semiconductor laser light source device which is used in an image information reading / reproducing apparatus which performs reading and reproducing by the same scanning system and which can emit reading light and recording light without making the apparatus complicated and large. It is intended.

(Means for Solving the Problems) A multi-semiconductor laser light source device according to the present invention includes a plurality of reading semiconductor lasers, one or more reproducing semiconductor lasers, the reading semiconductor lasers, and the reproducing semiconductor lasers. The collimator optical system that makes the laser beams emitted from the respective parallel beams, and the optical path adjusting element that emits the laser beams to the parallel optical paths that are close to each other are supported by the same support, and at the time of reading the image information. A control unit for driving the semiconductor laser for reading to oscillate a laser beam and driving the semiconductor laser for reproducing to oscillate a laser beam at the time of reproducing the image information. Is.

Here, the laser beams being emitted to parallel optical paths that are close to each other means that the laser beams are incident on the same reflecting surface of the optical deflector to be deflected or can be focused at the same position by one scanning lens. This means that each laser beam is emitted in a state in which it can be handled as one light flux collectively. In that case, some laser beams may be emitted to the same optical path.

(Operation) In the multi-semiconductor laser light source device of the present invention, the semiconductor laser for reading and the semiconductor laser for reproducing are fixed to the same support, only the semiconductor laser for reading is driven at the time of reading, and the semiconductor for reproduction is reproduced at the time of reproducing. Since the reading light and the recording light can be emitted to the respective predetermined optical paths by driving only the laser, the reading light source and the recording light source can be compactly integrated into one, and the entire apparatus in the image information reading and reproducing apparatus can be realized. Suitable reading light and recording light can be emitted without increasing the size.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multi-semiconductor laser light source device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the illustrated multi-semiconductor laser light source device 1, eight reading semiconductor lasers 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E, 3F, 3G whose laser emission axes are parallel to each other are provided on the upper plate 2A of the support 2.
3H and two semiconductor lasers 3I and 3J for reproduction are fixedly attached to each other, and the support 2 is provided so as to face the semiconductor lasers 3A to 3J.
Ten concave lenses 4 are fixed to the middle plate 2B, and ten prism mirrors 5 which are optical path adjusting elements are fixed to the lower plate 2C. The semiconductor lasers 3A to 3J, the concave lens 4,
And the prism mirror 5 are the upper plate 3A and the middle plate, respectively.
3B and the lower plate 3C are arranged symmetrically with respect to the wall portion 2D of the support body that integrally supports the lower plate 3C.

A convex lens 6 is arranged inside the upper plate 2A so as to face the semiconductor lasers 3A to 3J. (As an example, a convex lens 6 facing the semiconductor laser 3A is shown in FIG. 2 which is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 1). In this apparatus, the concave lens 4 and the convex lens 6 form a collimator optical system. As shown in FIG. 2, the laser beam 3a emitted from the semiconductor laser 3A becomes a parallel beam by passing through this collimator optical system, and other semiconductor lasers
Similarly, the laser beams 3b to 3j emitted from 3B to 3J are also collimated by the collimator optical systems arranged on the respective optical paths.

Laser beams 3a, 3c, 3e, 3g, 3i converted into parallel beams
Are reflected by the prism mirrors 5 arranged below, and then enter the deflecting beam splitter 7. The semiconductor lasers 3A, 3C, 3E, 3G, 3I are laser beams 3a,
3c, 3e, 3g, and 3i are arranged so as to be emitted on the same plane, and the prism mirrors 5 on the optical path of these laser beams are gradually displaced vertically as shown in the drawing. Laser beam 3a, 3c, 3g, 3i
The reflection position of the prism mirror 5 is slightly shifted only in the vertical direction, and the laser beams 3a, 3c, 3e, 3g, 3i reflected by the prism mirrors 5 have parallel optical paths which are very close to each other in the vertical direction. Further, on the back side of the wall 2D, the laser beams 3b, 3d, 3f, 3h, 3j emitted from the semiconductor lasers 3B, 3D, 3F, 3H, 3J are reflected by the prism mirror 5 in exactly the same manner, Take parallel optical paths that are very close to each other in the vertical direction. The heights of the laser beams (for example, the laser beams 3a and 3b and the laser beams 3e and 3d) emitted from the semiconductor lasers arranged at the positions facing each other through the wall portion 3D are reflected by the prism mirror 5 are equal to each other. Further, in all the semiconductor lasers 3A to 3J, the upper plates are arranged so that the polarization directions of the laser beams 3a to 3j reflected by the prism mirror 5 are uniform (direction of arrow a in FIG. 1). It is fixed at 2a.

The eccentric beam splitter 7 has a characteristic of reflecting light which is deflected in the direction of arrow a, and
3a, 3c, 3e, 3g and 3i are reflected by this deflecting beam splitter. On the other hand, the laser beams 3b, 3d, 3f, 3h and 3j are reflected by the mirror 8 to deflect the optical path by about 90 °, and then 1 /
By passing through the two-wave plate 9, the deflection direction is changed by 90 °, and the light is deflected in the direction of arrow b. The deflecting beam splitter 7 transmits the light which is deflected in the direction of the arrow b, so that the laser beam 3b,
3d, 3f, 3h, 3j pass through the deflecting beam splitter 7,
The laser beam 3b is a laser beam 3a, the laser beam 3d is a laser beam 3c, and the laser beam 3f is a laser beam 3e.
, Laser beam 3h, laser beam 3g, laser beam
3j is emitted to the same optical path as the laser beam 3i.
The beam cross-sections of the ten laser beams 3a to 3j which are emitted close to each other in the parallel optical path are as shown in FIG.

For the sake of convenience, the structure of the light source device has been described above assuming that the laser beams are emitted from the ten semiconductor lasers 3A to 3J at one time, but the light source device is used in a reading and reproducing device for reading and reproducing image information. The semiconductor lasers 3A to 3H for reading are driven only during reading, and the semiconductor lasers 3I and 3J for reproducing are driven only during reproducing. The operation of the present light source device will be described below with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 which are perspective views showing the outlines at the time of reading and reproducing image information of the radiation image information reading and reproducing device using the present light source device, respectively. explain.

The semiconductor lasers 3A to 3J of the multi-semiconductor laser 1 are
Driving is turned on and off by light source drive circuits 10A to 10J, respectively.
Be punished. A control circuit 11 is connected to the light source drive circuits 10A to 10J, and the light source drive circuits 10A to 10J and the control circuit 11 constitute a control unit of the light source device 1. The control circuit 11 sends drive signals to the eight light source drive circuits 10A to 10H at the time of the fourth reading, and the light source drive circuit 10A
A to 10H cause only the reading semiconductor lasers 3A to 3H to oscillate the laser beam. The laser beams 3a to 3h oscillated from the semiconductor lasers 3A to 3H are emitted from the light source device 1 into parallel optical paths close to each other as described above, and the laser beams 3a to 3h apparently become one light beam are the light beams. It is incident on the rotary polygon mirror 21 which is a deflector, and is reflected and deflected by the rotary polygon mirror 21 rotating in the direction of the arrow in the figure. On the other hand, below the rotary polygon mirror 21, an endless belt device 23, which is a sub-scanning unit, conveys a stimulable phosphor sheet 22 on which radiation image information has been stored and recorded in the direction of arrow Y to be sub-scanned. As described above, the laser beams 3a to 3h reflected and deflected by the rotary polygon mirror 21 are focused on the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 by a scanning lens such as an fθ lens, and the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is covered with the sub-beams. Arrow X that is substantially orthogonal to the scanning direction
Repeat main scanning in the direction. Thus, the entire surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is formed by combining eight laser beams.
It is two-dimensionally scanned by a high-power laser beam.

This combined laser beam is used as the stimulable phosphor sheet 22.
To act as an excitation light for, with the scanning by the laser beam, the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 irradiated with the laser beam, stimulated emission according to the image information stored and recorded therein, The emitted light (not shown) is incident on the incident end face that is arranged parallel to the main scanning line near the stimulable phosphor sheet.
Enter the transparent collector 24 having 24a. The condensing body 24 has a front end portion 24b located near the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 formed in a flat plate shape, and is formed so as to gradually become a cylindrical body toward the rear end side, and at the rear end portion 24c is almost formed. Photomultiplier 25, which is a photodetector in a cylindrical shape
The stimulated emission light incident from the incident end face 24a is condensed on the rear end 24c and is received by the photomultiplier 25. In the photomultiplier 25, the stimulated emission light is converted into an electric signal, and the obtained electric signal is sent to the image information processing circuit 26 for image processing.

When the reading of the image information is completed, in order to reproduce the read image information, a recording sheet 27 such as a photographic photosensitive film or a photographic paper is conveyed in the direction of arrow Y by the endless belt device 23 as shown in FIG. . Further, prior to this, the control circuit 11 stops sending drive signals to the light source drive circuits 10A to 10H, and instead sends drive signals to the light source drive circuits 10I and 10J, and semiconductor lasers 3I and 3J for reproduction. Drive only. At the same time, a modulation signal is input to the light source driving circuits 10I and 10J based on the image signal read previously, and the semiconductor lasers 3I and 3J emit laser beams 3I and 3J having outputs according to the modulation signal. These laser beams 3I and 3J are deflected by the rotary polygon mirror 21, pass through the scanning lens 29, and then are repeatedly main-scanned in the arrow X direction as recording light on the recording sheet 27 which is sub-scanned in the arrow Y direction. The image information read from the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is recorded / reproduced on the entire surface of the recording sheet 27. The recording sheet 27 on which the image information has been recorded and reproduced is sent to an automatic developing machine (not shown) for development processing.

As described above, according to the multi-semiconductor laser light source device of the present embodiment, the plurality of semiconductor lasers for reading and the semiconductor lasers for reproducing are supported by the same support, and only the semiconductor laser for reading is read at the time of reading by the controller. Since only the reproducing semiconductor laser is driven during reproduction, the reading light generating means and the recording light generating means can be made compact.
In summary, it is possible to oscillate high-output read light during reading and relatively low-output recording light during reproduction.

The number of reading semiconductor lasers and the number of reproducing semiconductor lasers can be arbitrarily changed as long as the number of reading semiconductor lasers is plural. Needless to say, the arrangement of lenses, mirrors, etc. in the light source device can be changed as appropriate.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a practical apparatus in which the above-described radiation image information reading / reproducing apparatus is incorporated as a reading / reproducing unit, and a more specific usage mode of the above-mentioned radiation image information reading / reproducing apparatus will be described.

The apparatus shown in the drawing is a cassette holding unit 110 that detachably holds a cassette 102 that can store a stimulable phosphor sheet 22, reads image information stored and recorded in the stimulable phosphor sheet, and reproduces the read image information. Read / playback section
120, an erasing unit 130 for erasing the radiation energy remaining in the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 that has been read by the reading / reproducing unit 120, a plurality of stimulable phosphor sheets can be stored, and the stored stimulable phosphor sheets A stacker 140 that carries out the recording sheets one by one, and a recording sheet supply unit 150 that detachably holds the magazine 103 that stores a plurality of recording sheets 27 are provided. The above-mentioned respective parts are arranged side by side in the vertical direction, and a sheet conveying means 100 for conveying a stimulable phosphor sheet and a recording sheet is provided on the side of these respective parts so as to extend in the vertical direction. It is connected to this sheet conveying means 100.

In an external photographing device (not shown), the cassette 102, which has been photographed with respect to the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 housed inside, is loaded into the cassette holder 110. The cassette 102 has a light-shielding property in order to prevent the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 from being exposed to external light when irradiating the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 with radiation to record (shoot) image information. The cassette main body 102a for accommodating the stimulable phosphor sheet and the lid 102b which can be opened and closed. The lid 102b is closed when the cassette 102 is loaded into the cassette holder 110, but the cassette holder 110b is closed.
Inside, when the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 inside is taken out, the lid opening means 111 such as a suction cup is opened as shown in the figure.
Open 02b. When the lid portion 102b is opened, the stimulable phosphor sheet take-out means 112 such as a suction plate enters the cassette 102 to adsorb the stimulable phosphor sheet 22, and the cassette 102 which is a part of the sheet conveying means 100. To the nip roller 100a in the vicinity of. The stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is held in the cassette 102 so that the front surface on which the stimulable phosphor layer is formed faces downward.

The sheet conveying means 100 includes an endless belt, a guide plate,
The stimulable phosphor sheet 22, which is composed of a roller, a movable sheet distribution plate, etc., and whose tip is gripped by the nip roller 100a, is conveyed in the direction of arrow C ₁ by the sheet conveying means 100, and then the position indicated by the solid line in the figure. The sheet is guided in the direction of arrow C ₂ by being guided by the sheet distribution plate 100b in FIG. 1, is further conveyed in the directions of arrows C ₃ and C ₄ , and is carried into the reading and reproducing section 120. Reference numeral 180 provided in the conveying path of the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is a secondary erasing unit for performing a secondary erasing described later by the erasing light source 181, and the stimulable phosphor sheet taken out from the cassette holding unit 110. The erasing light source 18 when it is transported from above.
1 is erased. In addition, the secondary erasing unit 180 and the reading and reproducing unit
The sheet distribution plates 100c and 100d between 120 are the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 extracted from the cassette 102 as described above.
Is immediately sent to the reading / reproducing unit 120, the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is allowed to be conveyed downward at the position shown by the solid line in the figure.

In the reading / reproducing unit 120, as described above, the multi-semiconductor laser light source device 1 outputs high-power laser beams 3a to 3h to the stimulable phosphor sheet 22, and outputs low-output laser beams to the recording sheet 27. 3i and 3j are shot respectively. Among the members in the reading / reproducing unit 120, the above-mentioned FIG.
The same parts as those of the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The reading / reproducing unit 120 is provided with a galvanometer mirror 21 'as an optical deflector. Further, of the sheet conveying means 100, a portion arranged in the reading / reproducing section 120 serves as a sub-scanning means.

The stimulable phosphor sheet 22 carried into the reading / reproducing unit 120
Is scanned the entire two-dimensionally by the laser beam 3a~3h while being conveyed in the arrow C ₅ direction by the sheet conveyance means 100. The stimulated emission light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is photoelectrically detected by the photomultiplier 25 via the light collector 24, sent to the image information processing circuit 26, and subjected to image processing and then stored in the memory 28. Remembered. After the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is read in its entirely completed, is conveyed backward to the arrow C ₆ direction by a switchback from contact with its position in the tip guide plate 100f in a state that is gripped by the nip rollers 100e rear end . Also, when reading radiation image information,
Prior to the reading (main reading) for obtaining the image signal for the visible image output described above, pre-reading is performed to read out the outline of the radiation image information accumulated and recorded in the stimulable phosphor sheet in advance, and the pre-reading is performed. Determine the reading conditions when performing the main reading based on the image information,
A method of performing the main reading according to the reading conditions is known.

As a method for performing such pre-reading, for example, the stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned by using excitation light having an energy lower than that of the light beam (excitation light) used for the main reading, and the photostimulable light emitted by this scanning is used. A method of reading the emitted light by a photoelectric reading means (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
58-67240) and the like.

The reading / reproducing unit in the present invention may be a part that performs both main reading and pre-reading, in addition to the part that performs only main reading. For example, the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is conveyed in the direction of arrow C ₅ to perform prefetching first, and then the stimulable phosphor sheet is switched back in the direction of arrow C ₆ by switchback, returned to the reading start position, and again indicated by arrow C. _It may be conveyed in ₅ directions and then the main reading may be performed. Each optical member arranged in the reading / reproducing unit is not limited to the above-mentioned one. For example, as a photoelectric reading unit, a long photomultiplier is arranged along the main scanning line, and Detection may be carried out (see JP-A-62-16666).

By the way, since reading the image information in the reading / reproducing unit 120 takes a relatively long time, after waiting for the processing in the reading / reproducing unit 120 of the preceding stimulable phosphor sheet to be completed, the cassette holding unit 110 is newly updated. If the cassette 102 containing the photographed stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is loaded, the stimulable phosphor sheet may not be processed efficiently. Therefore, this device is provided with the stacker 140, and the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 taken out from the cassette holding unit 110 is temporarily stacked before being sent to the reading and reproducing unit 120 depending on the situation of the reading and reproducing unit 120. It can be loaded into 140 and stand by.

The stacker 140 includes a plurality of stimulable phosphor sheet storage chambers 142 partitioned by a partition plate 141, and can move up and down in the direction of the arrow from the position shown by the solid line to the position shown by the broken line in the figure. In every seat storage room
142 can be adjacent. When carrying the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 taken out from the cassette holder 110 into the stacker 140, the sheet distribution plate 100d is moved to the position shown by the broken line in the figure, and the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is conveyed from above.
To the stacker 140 direction. The stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is carried into a predetermined sheet storage chamber 142 of the stacker 140, the rear end of the stacker 140 leaves the nip roller 100g and then falls by its own weight, and the front end contacts the stopper 143 in the sheet storage chamber 142. Held in. When taking out the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 from the stacker 140, the stacker 140 is moved so that the desired sheet storage chamber 142 is adjacent to the nip roller 100g, and then the stopper 143 is moved to the position shown by the broken line in the figure. Then, the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is pushed up and the tip thereof is held by the nip roller 100g. The stimulable phosphor sheet 22 gripped by the nip roller 100g is temporarily guided by the sheet distribution plate 100d at the position shown by the broken line in the figure while the sheet conveying means 10
After being conveyed upward by 0, it is conveyed in the directions of the arrows C ₃ and C ₄ and is carried into the reading / reproducing unit 120. Stacker 140
The stimulable phosphor sheet taken out from is once conveyed upward so that the surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 on which the stimulable phosphor is formed faces the upper side (excitation light irradiation side) in the reading / reproducing unit 120. This is because.

As described above, the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 that has been read by the reading and reproducing section 120 is conveyed by the sheet conveying means 100 in the directions of arrows C _{7 to} C ₉ and is sent to the erasing section 130. At that time, the sheet distributing means 100b is in the position shown by the broken line in the figure, and the sheet distributing plates 100c, 100d are in the position shown by the solid line in the figure.

The erasing unit 130 is configured to store the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 after the above reading is completed.
It is for erasing the radiation image information remaining in 2 (releasing the radiation energy remaining in the stimulable phosphor). That is, the radiation image information accumulated and recorded in the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is still partially stored in the stimulable phosphor sheet after reading, so that the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 can be reused. The erasing unit 130 erases the residual image information. The erasing unit 130 of this device includes a fluorescent lamp, a tungsten lamp, a sodium lamp,
An erasing light source 131 such as a xenon lamp or an iodine lamp is provided, and the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is conveyed along the guide plate 132 in the direction of the arrow C ₁₀ and is irradiated with light from the erasing light source 131 to accumulate. The residual radiant energy on the phosphor sheet is released. Any known method may be used for erasing in the erasing section 130, and the erasing may be performed by heating or using both light irradiation and heating. Although the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is conveyed to the position shown by the broken line in the figure, it is fed back in the direction of arrow C _11, but the end of the stimulable phosphor sheet is supported outside the erasing section 130. It is preferable to provide a guide plate for As will be described later, the storage phosphor sheet storage tray 10 is placed close to the erasing section.
When 6 is provided, this tray 106 can also be used as a guide.

The stimulable phosphor sheet 22 that has been erased in the erasing section 130 is conveyed by the sheet conveying means 100 in the directions of arrows C ₁₂ and C ₁₃ , and is moved to the position shown by the broken line in the figure. Guided by the stacker 140
It is stored in an empty sheet storage chamber 142 inside. The erasable phosphor sheet that has been erased in the stacker 40 in this way
If some 22 are stored in advance, immediately after the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is taken out from the cassette 102 in the cassette holder 110, the erased stimulable phosphor sheet is emptied into an empty cassette.
It can be loaded into 102. When the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is taken out from the stacker 140 and conveyed to the cassette holding unit 110, the sheet distribution plate 100d is moved to the position indicated by the broken line, and the sheet distribution plates 100b and 100c are moved to the positions indicated by the solid line, respectively. The sheet conveying means 100 conveys the stimulable phosphor sheet in the directions of the arrows C ₁₄ and C ₁₅ and carries it into the cassette 102.
Note that the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 carried out from the stacker 140
The number 2 may be the one that has been kept waiting in the stacker 140 for a long time, and that a long time has elapsed since the erasing unit 130 erased the data. The stimulable phosphor sheet is a layer of radiation that is emitted from radioisotopes such as ²²⁶ Ra and ⁴⁰ K, which are contained in trace amounts in the stimulable phosphor, and cosmic rays after a certain time has passed even after erasing. Radiation energy may be accumulated by environmental radiation such as X-rays from other X-ray sources or the like, and this radiation energy may become noise for the next captured image.
A secondary erasing unit 180 for irradiating the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 with erasing light again is provided in the conveying path up to 10. The secondary erasing unit 180 turns on the erasing light source 181 only when the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 taken out from the stacker 140 is conveyed toward the cassette holding unit 110, so that the erasing light source 181 is housed in the stacker 140. The radiation energy accumulated in the stimulable phosphor sheet is released. In this way, the cassette 102, into which the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 has been carried in, can be taken out of the apparatus and supplied for new imaging. Further, in this apparatus, the stimulable phosphor sheet that has been erased by the erasing unit 130 can be immediately carried into the cassette 102. In that case, the stimulable phosphor sheet conveyed from the erasing unit 130 in the direction of the arrow C ₁₂ may be conveyed once downward, and then may be switched back upward and then conveyed into the cassette 102. If it is conveyed, the surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet on which the phosphor layer is formed when it is stored in the cassette 102 can face downward.

By the way, in the external photographing device, in addition to photographing the stimulable phosphor sheet held in the cassette,
When performing continuous photographing, there is a case where a plurality of stimulable phosphor sheets contained in a sheet supply magazine are taken out one by one and photographing is performed. The stimulable phosphor sheets for which photographing has been completed are sequentially stored in a sheet storing magazine, and the sheet storing magazine storing the sheets is sent to a reading device to be read. This device is provided with a cassette holding unit described above and a magazine holding unit for detachably holding the above-mentioned sheet storage magazine on the side of the sheet conveying means, and reading and erasing of the stimulable phosphor sheet taken out from the magazine are also possible. It may be something that can be performed. The magazine holding unit can be provided at any position as long as it is vertically aligned with the above-described respective units such as the reading / playing unit 120 and the erasing unit 130, which are connected to the sheet conveying unit 100, but are shown by a chain line in the figure. As cassette holder
The cassette holding unit and the magazine holding unit may be integrated so that 110 can be loaded with both the cassette 102 and the magazine 107. Further, when the magazine holding unit is provided, a tray holding unit for holding the trays sequentially storing the stimulable phosphor sheets that have been read out and erased one by one from the magazine is required. Like the magazine holding unit, this tray holding unit can also be provided at any position where it is connected to the sheet conveying means 100, but as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in the figure, the tray can be positioned adjacent to the erasing unit 130. If a tray holding unit is provided outside the erasing unit 130, the tray 106 functions as a guide for erasing the stimulable phosphor sheet taken out from the cassette, and the stimulable fluorescent sheet taken out from the magazine is used. The body sheet can be dropped and stored in the tray as it is after erasing, which is extremely convenient.

By the way, when the reading and reproducing unit 120 finishes reading one stimulable phosphor sheet 22 and the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is unloaded from the reading and reproducing unit 120, the recording sheet in the recording sheet supply unit 150 is recorded. One sheet of the recording sheet 27 is taken out from the supply magazine 103 by the suction means 151 and is delivered to the nip roller 100h in the vicinity. The recording sheet 27 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow D ₁ along the guide plate 100i by the nip roller 100h, and then is conveyed into the reading / reproducing unit 120 by the sheet conveying means 100, similarly to the stimulable phosphor sheet. Read / play section
At 120, the recording sheet 27 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow D ₂ , and the image information previously read from the stimulable phosphor sheet 22 is recorded.

When the recording sheet 27 is conveyed, the reading / reproducing unit 120 oscillates the low-power laser beams 3i and 3j from the light source device. Further, this laser beam is modulated based on the image information stored in the memory 28, and the recording sheet 27 is scanned by the laser beam as recording light to be stored on the entire surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 22. The image information is reproduced.

The recording sheet 27 whose image information has been reproduced by the reading / reproducing unit 120 is conveyed by the sheet conveying means 100 in the directions of arrows D _{3 to} D ₅ . The recording sheet 27 that has been reproduced in this way
There when it is conveyed, the sheet distributing means 100d sheet distributing means 100c together in the position shown by the solid line in the figure guides the recording sheet 27 in the arrow D ₆ direction moves to the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. Then, the discharge roller 100j is made to grasp the tip thereof. The discharge roller 100j may carry the recording sheet 27 into the automatic developing machine 170 which is connected to the reading device in advance, or a tray or the like may be arranged in the vicinity of the discharge roller 100j and the recording sheet 27 may be sequentially arranged. It may be discharged into this tray. Further, a holding portion for a tray for storing recording sheets may be provided inside the apparatus, and the recording sheets may be stored in the tray inside the apparatus, and the tray together with the tray may be taken out from the apparatus and appropriately conveyed to an external automatic developing machine.

In the reading / reproducing unit 120, as described above,
Immediately after reading one stimulable phosphor sheet, the read image information is recorded on one recording sheet. In addition, the capacity of the memory 28 is increased and then a plurality of stimulable phosphor sheets are first recorded. It is also possible that reading is performed continuously, all the read image information is temporarily stored in the memory, and then the image information is continuously reproduced for a plurality of recording sheets. Further, it is also possible to temporarily display the image information on a CRT display device or the like without reproducing all the read image information as a hard copy on a recording sheet, and to reproduce only necessary images as a hard copy on the recording sheet.

As the recording sheet, in addition to the above-mentioned ordinary silver salt photographic film, dry silver suitable for heat development can be used. In addition to these photosensitive recording materials, heat sensitive materials can also be used. Further, as a developing method using a silver salt film, there are an instant method and the like in addition to the above-mentioned wet developing method. Further, the light source device of the present invention has been described above as an example in which the light source device of the present invention is attached to a radiation image information reading / reproducing device using a stimulable phosphor sheet as an image information sheet. It may be used in an apparatus of a type that detects reflected light or transmitted light emitted to read image information.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the multi-semiconductor laser light source device of the present invention, a plurality of semiconductor lasers for reading and a semiconductor laser for reproducing are fixed to the same support, and both semiconductors are read and read. Since the laser can be switched and used,
By combining the reading light source and the recording light source compactly, it is possible to obtain a suitable amount of light during reading and during reproduction. Therefore, if this light source device is used in an image information reading and reproducing device, good reading light and recording light can be generated without increasing the size of the entire device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multi-semiconductor laser light source device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line XX, and FIG. 3 shows a beam cross section of a laser beam emitted from the light source device. Schematic views, FIGS. 4 and 5 are perspective views of a radiation image information reading / reproducing apparatus including the light source device, and FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of an apparatus including the reading / reproducing device as a reading / reproducing unit. is there. 1 ... Multi-semiconductor laser light source device 2 ... Supports 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E, 3F, 3G, 3H ... Read semiconductor lasers 3I, 3J ... Read semiconductor lasers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e , 3f, 3g, 3h, 3i, 3j ... Laser beam 4 ... Concave lens 5 ... Prism mirror 6 ... Convex lens 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 10E, 10F, 10G, 10H, 10I, 10J ...
Light source drive circuit 11 ... Control circuit, 21 ... Rotating polygon mirror 22 ... Storage phosphor sheet 23 ... Endless belt device 27 ... Recording sheet

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image information sheet on which image information is recorded by the same sub-scanning means or a recording sheet for reproducing the image information is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, and the image information sheet is main-scanned with reading light. The image information is read by detecting the light emitted from the image information sheet, and the image information is recorded by causing the recording sheet to perform main scanning with the recording light modulated according to the image information. A multi-semiconductor laser light source device used in a reading / reproducing apparatus, comprising: a plurality of reading semiconductor lasers, one or more reproducing semiconductor lasers, the reading semiconductor laser, and the reproducing semiconductor laser. Collimator optical system for converting laser beams into parallel beams, and parallel optical paths in which the laser beams are close to each other The optical path adjusting element to be emitted to the optical disk is supported by the same support, and the semiconductor laser for reading is driven to oscillate a laser beam at the time of reading the image information, and the semiconductor laser for reproduction is reproduced at the time of reproducing the image information. A multi-semiconductor laser light source device having a control unit for driving a laser to oscillate a laser beam.