JPH0283543A - Structure and method for discriminating kind of film - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid in advance the charge of an unsuitable film due to a mistake by setting a reflection type light sensors in an image recording device at a position corresponding to the identification mark of a package and a position away from the mark. CONSTITUTION:Reflection type light sensors 50a, 50b are set on a bottom plate forming the setting table 48 of an image recording device. The sensor 50a is set at a position confronting an identification mark stuck to the rear side of the light shielding member 12 of a package 10 contg. a film when the package 10 is set on the table 48. The sensor 50b is set at a position not relative to the mark. The output of the sensor 50a is connected to the input A of an EX.OR circuit 54 and the output of the sensor 50b to the input B of the circuit 54 and the output D of an AND circuit 56. The erroneous charge of a package can be prevented and film charging work can surely by performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a film type discrimination structure and its discrimination method. In this case, the present invention relates to a film type discrimination structure and a discrimination method thereof, which make it possible to reliably load a film in a photosensitive wavelength range suitable for each model of an image recording apparatus without erroneous loading.

[Background of the Invention] Recently, a radiation image recording and reproducing system that obtains a radiographic image of a subject using a stimulable phosphor (stimulable phosphor) has been developed and is becoming widespread in the medical field. Here, a stimulable phosphor refers to a stimulable phosphor that, when irradiated with radiation (X-rays, α-rays, β-rays, T-rays, electron beams, ultraviolet rays, etc.), accumulates a portion of this radiation energy and later excites it with visible light, etc. A phosphor that exhibits stimulated luminescence according to the energy accumulated by irradiation with light.

The radiation image recording and reproducing system described above utilizes this stimulable phosphor, and radiation image information of the human body, etc. is recorded on a sheet having a layer of stimulable phosphor, and then this stimulable phosphor sheet is exposed to a laser beam. The stimulated luminescence light is generated by scanning with an excitation light of This is to output it as a visible image.

Here, when recording an image on a recording material, an image recording device, for example, an image output laser printer device is used. This device stores film, which is a photosensitive material, through a magazine or the like, takes out the film one by one using a sheet-fed mechanism such as a suction cup, and then uses the electrical signals obtained from the stimulable phosphor sheet to It is configured to scan a film with a laser beam and record a predetermined image.

In this case, in the image output laser printer device, when loading the film into the device, the film must be handled so as not to be exposed to external light in order to prevent exposure to light. Therefore, film loading work is generally performed in a darkroom, but the efficiency of the loading work naturally deteriorates.

In order to improve the workability, it has become strongly desirable to load film in a normal bright room, and the technical idea to make this possible has been developed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-2059.
It is disclosed in No. 1.

The film to be loaded in a bright room is enclosed in a package made of a light-shielding member, and each package is loaded into an image recording apparatus via a magazine or the like. In this case, the package consists of a bag and a film laminated together, as well as a backing plate for protecting the bag, and when the package is loaded into a magazine, the bag is opened and removed for loading in a bright room. It has been realized.

By the way, in the case of an image recording device such as the image output laser printer device, the laser used as the light source contains He-
There are Ne lasers, semiconductor lasers, etc., and different laser light sources are provided depending on the use and purpose of the image recording apparatus. The image recording device is loaded with a film whose photosensitive wavelength peaks at a value corresponding to the wavelength of the laser light source. Therefore, malfunctions such as an operator accidentally loading an unspecified film may often occur. In particular, films manufactured by the same manufacturer generally have the same packaging form, and the possibility of mishandling the films cannot be denied.

If the above-mentioned inapplicable film is mistakenly loaded, this will become clear after the development process. During this time, the images that should be recorded will be lost, and in some cases, the situation may become irreversible. Further, although the film is a consumable item, it is a fairly expensive item, and the economic loss cannot be ignored.

Therefore, it is conceivable to attach an identification mark to the film package and to optically read this identification mark with an optical sensor to prevent incorrect loading of an unsuitable film. In this case, an optical sensor is installed at a position corresponding to the identification mark, and when the sensor detects reflected light at a predetermined reflectance set for each film type, it is determined whether the correct film can be loaded. I can do it.

However, if the reflectance of the package is the same as the reflectance of the identification mark even though the film is made by a different manufacturer and no identification mark is attached, the optical sensor will detect that the desired film is laminated. The packaging may be mistakenly detected as being In other words, there still exists the disadvantage that a single sensor alone cannot detect incorrect loading of an inapplicable film.

[Purpose of the Invention] The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned inconvenience, and is to provide identification marks that have different light reflectances to the paper forming the package, etc., depending on the type of the film. The film is pasted at a predetermined position, and optical sensors provided on the device are installed at positions corresponding to the identification mark and at unrelated positions, respectively, and the film is activated by a digital output signal of the optical sensor corresponding to the reflected light. It is an object of the present invention to provide a film type discrimination structure and a discrimination method that make it possible to avoid the inconvenience of loading an inapplicable film due to misidentification by determining whether it is a genuine film or not. purpose.

[Means for Achieving the Object] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a structure for determining the type of film when loading the film into an image recording device in a bright room. A film type identification mark with a light reflectance different from that of other parts of the packaging body is affixed to a predetermined part of the packaging body in which the film is to be placed, and on the other hand, the reflection between the identification mark and other parts is The present invention is characterized in that reflective optical sensors that output at least two or more types of signals depending on the level of the rate are provided in the image recording device at a position corresponding to the identification mark of the package and at a position spaced apart from the identification mark.

The present invention also provides a structure for determining the type of film when loading the film into an image recording device in a bright room, and in which the packaging is placed at a predetermined portion of the plate that protects the film depending on the photosensitive wavelength range of the film. A reflector in which a film type identification mark with a light reflectance different from that of other parts of the body is affixed, and at least two or more types of signals are output depending on the level of reflectance between the identification mark and other parts. The present invention is characterized in that a type optical sensor is provided in the image recording device at a position corresponding to the identification mark of the package and at a position spaced apart from the identification mark.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the identification mark is displayed so as to have a lower light reflectance than other parts of the package or the plate.

The present invention also provides a method for determining the film type when loading a film into an image recording device in a bright room, the method comprising: irradiating light onto an identification mark for determining the film type;
The reflected light from the identification mark and the reflected light from sources other than the identification mark are detected by optical sensors, respectively, and it is determined whether the film type is a desired one based on the levels of the two signals detected by the optical sensors. It is characterized by

Furthermore, the present invention provides that among the signals outputted by each optical sensor,
It is characterized in that it is determined that a desired film is loaded when there is at least one high level signal and at least one low level signal.

[Embodiments] Next, preferred embodiments of the film type discrimination method according to the present invention in relation to a mechanism for implementing the method will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates a package for sheet film, and this package 10 includes a light shielding member 12 and a cover plate 14 for protecting the film F1 disposed inside the light shielding member 12. include. The light shielding member 12 has a bag shape, and both ends 16 and 18 of the light shielding member 12 are sealed. In this case, the film F+ is a film whose photosensitive wavelength peak is the wavelength of the He-Ne laser beam and whose photosensitive region is the visible region.

On the other hand, the contact plate 14 is formed by bending, for example, cardboard or the like. That is, the relevant plate 14 has a lower surface portion 20.
A side surface portion 22 is formed on one end side of the lower surface portion 20 and is oriented vertically upward and bent at a substantially right angle to stand up. An upper surface portion 24 that extends substantially parallel to the lower surface portion 20 and is shorter than the lower surface portion 20 is provided at the upper end portion of the side surface portion 22 .
A holding portion 26 is formed which bends downward toward the direction.

This holding portion 26 is present on one end 16 side of the light shielding member 12. The right side of the upper surface part 24 and the presser part 26 are swingable about a joint 28 between the upper surface part 24 and the side surface part 22 as a fulcrum. The film F is stacked and stored between the lower surface portion 20 and the upper surface portion 24 of the contact plate 14 formed as described above.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2a, an identification mark 30 is pasted on the back surface of the light shielding member 12 at a predetermined position to indicate that the film F is embedded therein. in this case,
As will be described later, the identification mark 30 is for digitally processing and identifying a discrimination signal outputted by a reflective optical sensor, and is based on the reflectance of the ground portion of the light shielding member 12 and the identification. The reflectance of the mark 30 is set to be different from each other.

Incidentally, the sheet film package 10 may include a film F2 whose photosensitive wavelength region is a near-infrared region corresponding to semiconductor laser light, and in this case, as shown in FIG. , Identification marks 32 having the same reflectance as the identification mark 30 are pasted on the back surface of the light shielding member 12 at different positions. Furthermore, in the case where the sheet film package 10 includes a film F3 having a wide range of photosensitive wavelength ranges that can respond to both He-Ne laser light and semiconductor laser light, the identification mark 30.3 is included.
Attach the same type of identification marks 34 and 36 in the same position as both of 2 and right (see Figure 2C).

Next, a device into which the package 10 is loaded is provided with He
-Ne laser is arranged as its light source and the film F+
An image recording device in which a special film is provided will be described.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 40 indicates an image recording device;
The image recording device 40 is provided with an automatic developing device 42 indicated by a two-dot chain line in the figure. The image recording device 40 includes a housing 44, and one side of the housing 44 defines an opening 46 for loading a film. A mounting table 48 is removably attached to the opening 46, and the sheet film package 10 is loaded onto this mounting table 48. The above-mentioned mounting stand 4
Reflective optical sensors 50a and 50b are provided on the bottom plate constituting 8.
will be provided. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the optical sensor 50a is an identification mark 30 attached to the back surface of the light shielding member 12 when the package 10 containing the film F is loaded on the mounting table 48. The other optical sensor 50b is provided at a position unrelated to the identification mark 30.

H-level and L-level output signals output by the optical sensors 50 a and 50 b, which indicate the presence or absence of the identification mark 30 , are outputted to a film type detection circuit 52 . That is, the output of the optical sensor 50a placed facing the identification mark 30 is E.
The output of the optical sensor 50b, which is connected to the human power A of the X/OR circuit 54 and placed at a position unrelated to the identification mark 30, is connected to the input B$ of the EX/OR circuit 54 and the input of the AND circuit 56. be done. The output of the EX/OR circuit 54 is connected to the input C of an AND circuit 56. In this case, the output of the AND circuit 56 is introduced into a discrimination circuit 58, and the discrimination circuit 58 detects whether or not the film contained in the package 10 is the predetermined film F1. In addition, film F2 shown in Figure 2
Needless to say, in the case of an image recording apparatus to which this is applied, at least one optical sensor is provided so as to face the identification mark 32.

Therefore, when loading the package 10 on the mounting table 48, one end 1 of the light shielding member 12 constituting the package 10 is
6 is exposed to the outside from the mounting table 48. Also,
Needless to say, when the mounting table 48 is inserted into the image recording device 40, the interior of the image recording device 40 is completely shielded from light.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, a suction cup 60 constituting a single wafer mechanism is disposed near the mounting table 48. The suction cup 60 is displaced on a predetermined trajectory and approaches the pair of film conveying rollers 62, as shown by the broken line in the figure. That is, the film F1 loaded on the mounting table 48 is conveyed in sheets in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the mounting table 48 is pulled out.

A sprocket (not shown) is pivotally attached to one of the rollers constituting the roller pair 62, and one end of a chain 64 is stretched around the sprocket. The other end of the chain 64 is engaged with a sprocket 68 that is pivotally attached to a rotational drive shaft (not shown) of a rotational drive source 66 . In the vicinity of the roller pair 62, there is a film F1 conveyed by the roller pair 62.
a guide plate 70a that guides the image to a scanning recording section (not shown);
170b is provided. In this case, in this image recording device 40, the guide plate? The film Fl guided by Oa and 70b and conveyed to a scanning recording section (not shown) is scanned by a laser beam using a He-Ne laser as a light source to record a desired image, and then conveyed to the automatic developing device 42. .

Next, the operation of loading the sheet film package 10 into the image recording device 40 will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 3, the mounting table 48 constituting the image recording device 40 is pulled out, and the package 10 is loaded onto the mounting table 48. As mentioned above, the film F+ dedicated to the image recording device 40 is housed inside the package 10, and the identification mark 30 is affixed at a predetermined position on the back side of the light-shielding member 12. One end 16 of the light shielding member 12 is exposed to the outside from the mounting table 48 .

Therefore, the identification mark 30 is transferred to the film type detection circuit 52.
By making this determination, it is detected whether the film contained in the package 10 is the film F1 applicable to the image recording device 40. That is, the reflective optical sensor 50a150b irradiates the identification mark 30 attached to the light shielding member 12 with detection light, and generates an identification signal having an H level or L level voltage corresponding to the intensity of the reflected light. This identification signal is input and EX
- The film type detection circuit 52, which is composed of a combination of an OR circuit 54 and an AND circuit 56, determines whether or not the loaded film is of a predetermined type based on the logical operation shown in Table 1.

In this case, it is assumed that the light reflected from the identification mark 30 is set to be weaker than the light reflected from the bottom portion of each light shielding member 12. Optical sensor 50a, 5
0b outputs an H level voltage when the reflected light from the bottom part of the light shielding member 12 is detected, and on the other hand, when the reflected light from the identification mark 30 enters the optical sensor 50a, 50b, the corresponding light is output. The sensors 50a and 50b output an L level voltage.

In FIG. 4, when a regular film is loaded, the optical sensor 50a outputs an L-level signal, and the optical sensor 50b outputs an H-level signal. When the signals from these optical sensors 50a and 50b are input to the film type detection circuit 52, the arithmetic processing shown in Table 1 is performed and an H level signal is output to the discrimination circuit 58.

Since the H level signal is introduced into the discrimination circuit 58 only in the above case, as a result, the film is discriminated as genuine.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6a, when the package 10 in which the film F2 for semiconductor laser light is wrapped is loaded, the position of the identification mark 32 of the film F2 when the package weight is 0 is the reflective optical sensor. The positions are different from those of 50a and 50b. Since all the reflected light incident on the optical sensor 50a150b is reflected light with a high reflectance from the light shielding member 12,
The outputs of the optical sensors 50a and 50b both become H level,
It is determined that the film F2 is not applicable to the image recording device 40. In this case, the determination circuit 58 notifies the operator of this by, for example, activating a buzzer or the like.

In addition, in the package 10 in which the regular film F1 is inserted,
For example, consider a case where packages manufactured by other manufacturers are mixed together. In this case, the film of the package made by another manufacturer is not applicable. The packaging of other manufacturers does not have an identification mark, and the reflectance of this packaging and the identification mark 30 of the packaging lO
Assume that the zero reflectances are the same. When such a package made by another company is loaded, both the optical sensor 50a and the optical sensor 50b output an L level signal, which is distinguished from when a regular film is loaded. In this case, the optical sensor 50
This kind of distinction is possible because the mark b is provided regardless of the position of the identification mark 50, and the level of the reflected light is detected by the sensor 50b.

As described above, when the film is of a type compatible with the image recording device 40, no alarm sound or the like is generated. Therefore, the operator cuts the other end 18 of the light shielding member 12 with a cutter means (not shown), inserts the mounting table 48 into the image recording device 40, and then pulls the one end 16. Then, an operation is performed to remove the light shielding member 12 from the image recording device 40.

In this way, the predetermined film F1 is transferred to the image recording device 40.
Once the film F1 is loaded into the container, the suction cup 60 separates the film F1 into sheets. The film F is a suction cup 60
However, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 5, by displacing on a predetermined trajectory, it is held between the pair of rollers 62. At this time, the sprocket 68 is rotated under the driving action of the rotational drive source 66, and the pair of rollers 62 is rotated in the direction of the arrow via the chain 64 stretched thereon.

As a result, the film F+ held between the pair of rollers 62 is guided by the guide plates 70a and 70b and conveyed to a scanning recording section (not shown). A desired image is recorded on the film F in the scanning recording section, and then the film F is conveyed to an automatic developing device 42 located adjacent to the image recording device 40 . In the automatic developing device 42, the film F is subjected to processing such as development, fixing, washing with water, and drying, and then is used as a film original for various purposes.

By the way, the package 10 containing the film F3 having a wide photosensitive wavelength range compatible with the image recording device 40 is
is loaded, as shown in FIG. 6, the reflected light incident on the optical sensor 50a is reflected light with a low reflectance from the identification mark 34, and therefore, as in the case of FIG. The sensor 50a outputs an L level signal, and the optical sensor 50b outputs an H level signal, and as a result, it is determined that the film is within the applicable range.

Note that the identification mark may be provided on the lower surface of the backing plate 14 inside the light shielding member 12, and in this case, after the package 10 is loaded and the light shielding member 12 is taken out, the film type is determined in the same manner as above. Ru. In addition, the mark that identifies the reflectance is high,
Even if the light shielding member is set to be low, the film type can be determined in the same way.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, an identification mark whose reflectance is different from that of the light-shielding member is provided on a light-shielding member for light-tightly accommodating a plurality of sheet films; Reflective optical sensors are installed on the device side at positions corresponding to the identification mark and at unrelated positions, and a signal that can be converted into a binary digital signal is output depending on the strength of the reflected light incident from the sensor. and performs logical operations to determine whether the correct film has been loaded. Therefore, when a package containing a sheet film other than a sheet film compatible with the apparatus is loaded, the discrimination circuit can reliably detect incorrect loading of the package and notify the operator. In other words, it is possible to substantially prevent the packaging from being erroneously loaded, and the sheet film loading operation can be carried out reliably and quickly, and it is possible to realize that the erroneous loading has occurred after the image recording operation has started. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of an accident in which valuable images are lost.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.
Of course, various improvements and changes in design are possible without departing from the gist of the invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view of a sheet film package used in the film type discrimination method according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the package shown in FIG. 1, showing the type of film contained therein. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of an image recording apparatus to which the film type discrimination method according to the present invention is applied, and FIG. 4 is a circuit for determining film type. Figure 5 is a partial cross-sectional diagram of the image recording device shown in Figure 3, and Figure 6 is an illustration of how to distinguish between non-compliant film and film with a wide range of applications. be. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Packaging body 12... Light shielding member 14... Placing plate 30.32.34.36... Identification mark 40... Image recording device 48... Placing table 50a, 50b
... Optical sensor 52 ... Film type detection circuit 60 ... Suction cup (
b)

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A structure for determining the film type when loading a film into an image recording device in a bright room; A reflective type in which a film type identification mark with a light reflectance different from that of other parts is attached, and at least two or more types of signals are output depending on the level of reflectance between the identification mark and other parts. 1. A film type discrimination structure, characterized in that an optical sensor is provided in an image recording device at a position corresponding to the identification mark of the package and at a position spaced apart from the identification mark. (2) A structure for determining the type of film when loading the film into an image recording device in a bright room, in which a predetermined part of the plate that protects the film is attached to the package according to the photosensitive wavelength range of the film. A reflective light that is attached with a film type identification mark that has a different light reflectance from other parts, and outputs at least two or more types of signals depending on the level of reflectance between the identification mark and other parts. A film type discrimination structure, characterized in that a sensor is provided in an image recording device at a position corresponding to the identification mark of the package and at a position spaced apart from the identification mark. (3) The film type discrimination structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the discrimination mark is displayed in such a manner that the light reflectance is lower than that of other parts of the package or the backing plate. (4) A method for determining the film type when loading a film into an image recording device in a bright room, in which light is irradiated to an identification mark for determining the film type, and the reflection from the identification mark is The light and the reflected light from sources other than the identification mark are detected by optical sensors, respectively, and it is determined whether the film type is a desired one based on the levels of the two signals detected by the optical sensors. How to determine film type. (5) The method according to claim 4, characterized in that it is determined that a desired film is loaded when there is at least one high level signal and one low level signal among the signals output by each optical sensor. How to determine the type of film.