JPH04319941A - Cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically house a sheet-like article in a vertical condition by making the sheetlike articel abut on an inner wall surface, and retaining the sheet-like article by friction force in the dropping direction. CONSTITUTION:An elastic member 20 is fixed to the inner wall surface of the back surface 16a of a cassette 10 rear end part, and a phosphor sheet 12 is retained by froce stronger than dropping force due to the empty weight of the phosphor sheet 12 because the rear end part is held between the elastic member 20 and a recording surface 16b. This eliminates the drop of the housed phosphor sheet 12 even in a condition where an end part 14, aq discharge end, is made downward. Consequently the second housing of the phosphor sheet 12 of which reading is finished in the cassette 10, when even mounted in a vertical direction, causes the rear end part of the phosphor sheet 12 to be pushed into between the elastic member 20 and the recording surface 16b to be held, accordingly the phosphor sheet 12 of which reading is finished can be housed and retained in an intact condition without moving, etc., of the cassette 10.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cassette for storing sheet materials such as stimulable phosphor sheets and X-ray films. More specifically, the present invention relates to a cassette having a holding function capable of storing a sheet-like object even in a vertical state with the discharge port facing downward.

0002

[Prior Art] Certain types of phosphors are exposed to radiation (X-rays, α-rays,
When the phosphor is irradiated with β-rays, γ-rays, electron beams, ultraviolet rays, etc., it accumulates some of this radiation energy, and then when this phosphor is irradiated with excitation light such as visible light, the accumulated energy is It is known that it exhibits stimulated luminescence depending on the
A phosphor exhibiting such properties is called a stimulable phosphor (stimulable phosphor).

[0003] Using this stimulable phosphor, radiation image information of a subject such as a human body is temporarily recorded on a sheet having a layer of stimulable phosphor (hereinafter referred to as a phosphor sheet),
This phosphor sheet is scanned two-dimensionally with excitation light such as a laser beam to generate stimulated luminescent light, and this stimulated luminescent light is read photoelectrically to obtain an image signal, and based on this image signal, photosensitive The present applicant has proposed a radiation image information recording and reproducing system that outputs a radiographic image of a subject as a visible image to a recording material such as a recording material and a display device such as a CRT (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 55-12429 and 56). -11395, etc.).

[0004] In such a radiation image information recording and reproducing system, image recording and reading on a phosphor sheet have conventionally been carried out as follows.

First, radiation image information can be accumulated and recorded on a phosphor sheet by storing the phosphor sheet in a light-shielding storage member called a cassette and irradiating radiation through the subject, or by exposing a radiolabeled material to a phosphor sheet. This is done by coming into close contact with a specimen that contains

The phosphor sheet on which the image has been recorded is loaded into a radiation image information reading device (hereinafter referred to as a reading device) while being housed in the cassette. When the cassette is loaded into the reading device, the phosphor sheet is taken out from the cassette by the single sheet mechanism of the reading device and conveyed to the image reading section.

In the image reading section, excitation light of a constant intensity emitted from an excitation light source such as a He-Ne laser is reflected and deflected in the main scanning direction by an optical deflector such as a galvanometer mirror, and is reflected and deflected in the main scanning direction by an optical deflector such as a galvanometer mirror. The phosphor sheet is irradiated through various optical elements.

[0008] Here, the phosphor sheet is conveyed on a belt conveyor,
It is transported by a transport means such as a nip roller in a sub-scanning direction that is substantially perpendicular to the previous main-scanning direction. Therefore, the excitation light deflected in the main scanning direction can two-dimensionally scan the entire surface of this phosphor sheet.

[0009] Stimulated luminescence light corresponding to the radiation image information accumulated and recorded there is generated from the part of the phosphor sheet irradiated with the excitation light. This stimulated luminescence light is directly incident on the incident surface of the light guide, or is reflected by a condensing mirror disposed opposite to this incident surface, enters the incident surface of the light guide, is transmitted by the light guide, and is excited. After passing through a filter that cuts light in the wavelength range, it enters a photomultiplier tube, where it is photoelectrically converted into an electrical signal, processed, and reproduced as a visible image on a CRT or photosensitive material, or as a visible image on a CRT or photosensitive material. Recorded and stored on a recording medium.

[0010] As described above, in the radiation image information recording and reproducing system, the phosphor sheet is basically handled while being housed in a light-shielding case called a cassette. This is because when the phosphor sheet is irradiated with light, the accumulated and recorded image information is erased, and the ultraviolet rays contained therein are also accumulated and recorded as image information.

[0011] Therefore, it is preferable to handle the phosphor sheet in a state where it is shielded from light as much as possible. Therefore, in a normal reading device, the phosphor sheet on which image information has been stored is placed in a cassette as described above. Load it while it is stored,
Inside the device, the phosphor sheet is taken out from the cassette and the image information is read. Further, the stimulable phosphor sheet that has been read is configured to be stored in the cassette again after the remaining radiation image information is erased.

0012

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Here, a cassette that stores a phosphor sheet is usually composed of a casing and a lid, and one side of the lid is supported by the casing, so that the cassette can be opened and closed. It can be configured.

In conventional reading devices using such cassettes and phosphor sheets, when the cassette containing the phosphor sheet is loaded in a predetermined position, it is opened and closed by an opening/closing means using a link mechanism or by a suction cup or the like. The lid is opened by attracting the suction means to the lid, and then the phosphor sheet is taken out of the cassette (casing) by the suction means, and placed in a designated position on the conveyance means consisting of a pair of rollers, a belt conveyor, a conveyance guide, etc. The paper was transported to the reading position. In addition, as mentioned above, the phosphor sheet that has been read is erased from any remaining radiation image information and then stored in the cassette again for use in the next image recording (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-90641, 62- 164039, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-12232, etc.).

That is, in the conventional reading device, in order to take out the phosphor sheet from the cassette and store it again, a cassette opening mechanism using a link mechanism or suction means,
A single-fed phosphor sheet mechanism using adsorption means, and a control device to perform these functions are required.
The device has become complicated and large-scale, and the device has also become expensive.

[0015] In order to solve these problems, the present applicant proposed a method in which the cassette is loaded in a substantially vertical direction with the opening (discharge port) facing downward in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 62-90643 and 62-92934. Accordingly, the authors have proposed a reading device and a sheet ejecting mechanism that have a structure in which the phosphor sheet falls under its own weight by opening the cassette using a wedge, a solenoid, or the like. According to these devices, there is no need to use a link mechanism, suction means, etc. as a lid opening mechanism and a single-wafer mechanism, and the device can be simplified.

However, in these devices (mechanisms), the cassette is loaded with the open end facing downward, so it is very difficult to store the phosphor sheet that has been read into the cassette if it is left as is. To do this, it is necessary to move the cassette to another location with the open end facing upward, or to manually store the phosphor sheet that has been read by the operator into the cassette.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to store a phosphor sheet or the like while it is loaded in a reading device or the like in a substantially vertical direction with the sheet discharge port facing downward. An object of the present invention is to provide a cassette capable of storing a sheet-like object and having a function of holding the sheet-like object.

[0018]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a casing for storing a sheet-like object, a lid body provided to be openable and closable with respect to the casing, and a lid body that can be opened and closed with respect to the casing. A cassette is provided, comprising: a holding means disposed on an inner wall surface of the cassette for holding the sheet-like object by frictional force by coming into contact with the sheet-like object stored therein.

[0019] Furthermore, it is preferable that the holding means is disposed on the inner wall of the casing so as to come into contact with the back surface of the sheet-like object.

[0020]

[Operation of the invention] The cassette of the present invention can be
It stores a sheet-like object such as a line film, and has the holding means that comes into contact with the sheet-like object on the inner wall surface and holds the sheet-like object by frictional force in the falling direction.

Such a cassette of the present invention stores, for example, a phosphor sheet and is loaded vertically into a radiation image information reading device with the ejection port facing downward, and after the phosphor sheet to be stored is ejected, it can be used as it is. Even if the phosphor sheet is stored in a state where reading has been completed, the phosphor sheet can be held without falling.

Therefore, by applying the cassette of the present invention, it is possible to eject and store a sheet-like object loaded vertically into a radiation image information reading device, etc. Not only does this make the mechanism for taking out phosphor sheets easier, but it also enables automatic storage of sheet-like objects in the vertical direction without the need to move the cassette, greatly improving work efficiency. It is.

[0023]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The cassette of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of an example in which the cassette of the present invention is applied to a cassette for a phosphor sheet.

The cassette 10 shown in FIG. 1 stores a phosphor sheet 12, and basically includes a part of the surface facing the phosphor sheet 12, which stores the phosphor sheet 12, and It is comprised of a housing 16 whose transversal end surface 14 connected thereto is open, and a lid 18 that closes the open portion of the housing 16. Further, the inner wall surface of the surface 16a on which the lid 18 of the casing 16 is disposed (hereinafter, this surface is referred to as the back surface 16a and the other surface is referred to as the recording surface 16b) is in contact with the phosphor sheet 12, and the falling direction An elastic member 20 (see FIG. 2) capable of holding the phosphor sheet 12 is fixed thereto.

The casing 16 and the lid 18 are made of various known materials such as various resins and metals such as aluminum. It is constructed so that it can be opened and closed on one side in the direction of arrow a in the figure. The casing 16 and the lid 18 may be constructed as separate members, or may be integrally molded of resin or the like so that the lid 18 can be opened and closed.

In the illustrated cassette 10, the lid 1
A lock mechanism (not shown) is formed on the open end surface 28 of the housing 16, and this lock mechanism lightly engages the open end surface of the housing 16, thereby preventing the cassette 10 from being opened inadvertently. .

The phosphor sheet 12 is attached to such a cassette 1.
0, with the recording layer facing the recording surface 16b of the cassette 10.
is stored in. Here, as described above, the elastic member 20 that holds the phosphor sheet 12 is provided on the inner wall surface of the back surface 16a of the cassette 10. That is, the elastic member 20 comes into contact with the back surface of the phosphor sheet 12 and holds the phosphor sheet 12.

FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually showing a cross section of the cassette 10 taken along the line II-II, and FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the rear end portion (hereinafter referred to as the rear end portion) in the ejection direction. shown.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an elastic member 20 is provided on the inner wall surface of the back surface 16a of the rear end portion of the cassette 10.
is fixed, and the rear end portion of the phosphor sheet 12 is held between the elastic member 20 and the recording surface 16b, so that the phosphor sheet 12 is held with a force greater than the falling force due to its own weight. Therefore, the stored phosphor sheet 12 will not fall even if the end 14, which is the discharge end, is placed downward (in the vertical direction).

Therefore, even when the phosphor sheet 12 is loaded vertically into a radiation image information reading device or the like, when the phosphor sheet 12 that has been read is stored in the cassette 10 again, the rear end of the phosphor sheet 12 will be As shown in FIGS. 3(a) → (b), the cassette is pushed in between the elastic member 20 and the recording surface 16b and held, so there is no need to move the cassette. The phosphor sheet 12 that has been read (erased) can be stored and held.

Furthermore, since the elastic member 20 is disposed on the back side of the recording layer of the phosphor sheet 12, it does not interfere with the recording of radiation image information. Furthermore, since the recording layer of the phosphor sheet 12 is pressed toward the recording surface side, image quality can also be improved.

There are no particular limitations on the material and shape of the elastic member 20. For example, even when the phosphor sheet 12 is sandwiched together with the inner wall of the cassette 12 and the end face 14 serving as the discharge port is placed downward, the phosphor sheet 12 remains The material and shape may be appropriately selected to obtain a frictional force that prevents the material from falling due to its own weight.

Specific examples of the elastic material that can be suitably used include rubber materials such as PEF (manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.), urethane rubber, and porous resin materials such as sponge.

[0035] Furthermore, there is no particular limitation on the shape, and a shape capable of holding the phosphor sheet 12 may be appropriately set depending on the elastic material used.

In the illustrated example, the elastic member 20 is
Although the phosphor sheet 12 is placed on the inner wall surface of the cassette 6a to sandwich the phosphor sheet 12 between it and the recording surface 16a, the present invention is not limited to this. A configuration may also be adopted in which members are arranged to hold the phosphor sheet by frictional force.

Further, the position where the elastic member 20 is provided is not limited to the rear end portion of the illustrated example, but may be near the center of the cassette, near the discharge port, etc.

Although the illustrated cassette 10 has a structure in which the phosphor sheet 12 is held using the elastic member 20, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the phosphor sheet 12 may be held using a plate spring 22 made of metal or resin. The shape, strength, placement position, etc. of the leaf spring are determined by the phosphor sheet 12.
It may be set appropriately so that the frictional force is obtained so that the material does not fall due to its own weight.

In the illustrated cassette 10 of the present invention, since the recording layer of the phosphor sheet 12 comes into contact with the inner wall surface of the recording surface 16b, it is preferable that a protective member for the recording layer be disposed on this surface. As a protective member, it has moderate activity,
Various known materials can be used as long as they do not damage the recording layer of the phosphor sheet 12 even if they come into sliding contact with the recording layer. (manufactured by) are exemplified.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic sectional view of a radiation image information reading device (hereinafter referred to as a reading device) to which the cassette 10 of the present invention is applied, and the operation of the cassette 10 of the present invention will be explained.

The illustrated reading device 30 has a phosphor sheet 1
2, and basically consists of a cassette loading section 32 that loads the cassette 10, a reading section 34 that reads the radiation image information recorded on the phosphor sheet, and a cassette loading section 32 that loads the cassette 10. A conveying device 36 that conveys the phosphor sheet discharged from the section 32 to the reading section 34
and an erasing section 38 for erasing radiation image information remaining on the phosphor sheet after reading. In addition,
In FIG. 5, the dashed line indicates the conveyance path of the phosphor sheet 12.

In the reading device 30, the cassette 10 is loaded into the cassette loading section 32 through the loading port 40 with the end surface 14, which is the discharge port for the phosphor sheet 12, facing downward.
It is supported in a predetermined position by support rollers 42,42.

When the cassette 10 is loaded, the suction means,
A not-shown opening means, such as a wedge, opens the lid 18 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. Here, phosphor sheet 1
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3(b), the rear end portion of 2 is held by an elastic member 20, so that the lid body 1
Even when the cassette 8 is opened, the phosphor sheet 12 does not fall freely and remains held within the cassette 10.

When the lid 18 is opened, the take-out roller 44 moves in the direction of the arrow a, comes into contact with the back surface of the phosphor sheet 12, and rotates to transport the phosphor sheet 12 downward, thereby removing the phosphor sheet 12 from the cassette. Discharge from 10.

The ejected phosphor sheet 12 is received by a roller pair 46, guided by guide members 48 and 50, conveyed downward by roller pairs 52 and 54, and further guided by guide members 56, 58, and 60. While being conveyed to the reading section 34 by a pair of rollers 62 and 64.

[0046] Phosphor sheet 12 carried into reading section 34
is supported by the conveyance guide 66, and is supported by the sub-scanning roller pair 68.
and 70, the entire surface is irradiated with excitation light L while being held and conveyed at a predetermined reading speed in the sub-scanning direction indicated by arrow d.

The excitation light L is emitted from an excitation light source 72 such as a He-Ne laser, is reflected in a predetermined direction by mirrors 74 and 76, and enters a galvanometer mirror 78, and is directed in the main scanning direction approximately perpendicular to the direction of arrow d. The light is reflected and deflected and enters the phosphor sheet 12. Here, since the phosphor sheet 12 is being conveyed in the direction of the arrow d as described above, the entire surface is irradiated two-dimensionally with the excitation light. Note that the portion of the phosphor sheet 12 where reading has been completed is as follows:
It is further conveyed and is supported by the guide member 84.

Stimulated luminescence light is emitted from the position of the phosphor sheet 12 irradiated with the excitation light L in accordance with the accumulated and recorded radiation image information. This stimulated luminescence light is collected by the condensing guide 8
The light is focused by 0, enters a photodetector 82 such as a photomultiplier tube, and is photoelectrically converted. This electrical signal is sent to a control circuit (not shown), processed, transferred to an image forming device, CRT, etc., and reproduced as a visible image.

When the image reading is completed, the phosphor sheet 1
2 is conveyed in a direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction (direction of arrow d), guided by guide members 60, 58, and 56, raised, and carried into the erasing section 38. In the erasing section 38, the phosphor sheet 12 is irradiated with erasing light from the erasing light source 86, and the remaining radiation image information is erased after the reading is completed.

The phosphor sheet 12 from which the remaining radiation image information has been erased in the erasing section 38 is moved to the guide member 4.
While being guided by rollers 8 and 8 , the roller pair 52 and 46 further transport the paper upward, and the paper is carried into the cassette 10 from the end surface 14 .

When the phosphor sheet 12 is carried into the cassette 10, the take-out roller 44 contacts the phosphor sheet 12 and rotates to convey the phosphor sheet 12 upward, completely removing the phosphor sheet 12. It is stored in the cassette 10.

At this time, the rear end portion of the phosphor sheet 12 is inserted between the elastic member 20 and the recording surface 16b and held between them, as shown in FIGS. 3(a)→(b). Retained. Therefore, even if the take-out roller 44 separates from the phosphor sheet 12, the phosphor sheet 12 is retained within the cassette 10 without falling, and can be taken out from the reading device 30 by closing the lid 18.

In the above description, the cassette of the present invention was applied to a cassette for phosphor sheets, but the cassette of the present invention can also be suitably applied to X-ray films and the like.

Although the cassette according to the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various improvements and changes may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course.

[0055]

Effects of the Invention As described above in detail, the cassette of the present invention can be used even when a phosphor sheet is stored and loaded into a radiation image information reading device with the opening (ejection port) facing downward. , the phosphor sheet can be stored and held in this state. Therefore, by applying the cassette of the present invention, it is possible to eject and store a sheet-like object loaded vertically into a radiation image information reading device, etc. This not only simplifies the sheet take-out mechanism, but also allows sheet-like objects to be automatically stored in the vertical direction without the need to move the cassette, thereby greatly improving work efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually showing a cross section taken along line II-II of the cassette shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of another example of the cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a radiation image information reading device to which the cassette shown in FIG. 1 is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Cassette 12 Phosphor sheet 14 End surface 16 Housing 18 Lid 20 Elastic member 22 Leaf spring 30 Radiographic image information reading device 32 Cassette loading section 34 Reading section 36 Conveying device 38 Erasing section 40 Loading port 42 Support roller 44 Take-out roller 46, 52, 54, 62, 64 Roller pair 48, 50
, 56, 58, 60, 84 Guide member 72 Excitation light source 74, 76 Mirror 78 Galvanometer mirror 80 Condensing guide 82 Photodetector

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A housing for storing a sheet-like object, a lid provided to the housing so as to be openable and closable, and a lid arranged on an inner wall surface of the housing and abutting against the stored sheet-like object. and a holding means for holding the sheet-like material by frictional force.