JPH0616151B2 - Image recording and developing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image recording / developing apparatus, and more specifically, to an image recording section for irradiating a photographic light-sensitive material with a laser beam to store an image, and an image recording section connected to the image recording section after image recording. And an automatic developing section for automatically developing the photographic light-sensitive material.

Recently, a radiation image recording / reproducing system for obtaining a radiation transmission image of a subject by using a stimulable fluorescent substance (stimulable fluorescent substance) has been developed, and in particular, it is being widely spread in the medical field. Here, the stimulable phosphor means radiation (X-ray, α-ray, β-ray, γ
Line, electron beam, ultraviolet ray, etc.) is a fluorescent substance that accumulates a part of this radiation energy, and stimulates emission in response to the accumulated energy by subsequently irradiating excitation light such as visible light. .

The above-mentioned radiation image recording / reproducing system uses this stimulable phosphor, and the radiation image information of the human body or the like is once recorded on a sheet having a layer made of the stimulable phosphor, and this stimulable phosphor sheet. To generate stimulated emission light by scanning with excitation light such as laser light, to obtain an image signal by photoelectrically reading the obtained stimulated emission light, recording material such as a photographic photosensitive material based on the image signal, It is output as a visible image on a CRT or the like.

Here, in order to permanently record the radiation image information once accumulated on the stimulable phosphor sheet on a recording material such as a photographic photosensitive material, an image recording device, for example, an image output laser printer device is adopted. There is. That is, this apparatus stores a film, which is a recording material, through a magazine or the like and stores the film, and the films are taken out one by one by a sheet-fed mechanism such as a suction plate, and then obtained from a stimulable phosphor sheet. The film is irradiated with a laser modulated based on an image signal to record a predetermined image.

Then, the film on which the new image is recorded is conveyed to the automatic developing device. In the automatic developing device, first, the film is conveyed into a developing tank that stores a developing solution, then passes through a fixing tank that stores a fixing solution, and then is conveyed into a water tank that stores cleaning water, Alternatively, the developing treatment of the film is performed by spraying cleaning water directly onto the film by spraying or the like.

Next, after removing water adhering to the film with a roller or the like constituting the squeeze part, this film is conveyed to a drying part and dried by being blown with warm air of a predetermined temperature (about 55 ° C.), and then, , It is stored in a predetermined place and used for medical diagnosis, etc. as needed.

By the way, in the prior art, an image output laser lintering device that exposes an image signal obtained from a stimulable phosphor sheet to a film, and an automatic developing device that develops and fixes the film, further cleans it, and then dries it, respectively. Exists as an independent component. Therefore, if it is desired to effectively utilize the limited space in a hospital or the like, it is preferable to dispose the laser printer device and the automatic developing device as close to each other as possible. For this reason, it is necessary to bring these two components close to each other, and employ a mechanism for automatically loading a film on which an image has been recorded by an image output laser printer into an automatic developing device.

However, if such a configuration is to be adopted, it is necessary to connect these devices with a conveyor or the like, and there is a wasted space for the transport system arranged between these devices. As a result, there is an inconvenience that a large space is occupied in a hospital or the like and the space is not effectively used.

Further, since the film transferred between the devices is in a state before development, it must be kept light-tight. Therefore, a light-shielding means is required for a conveyor or the like that connects these devices, and the structure is complicated, which is a drawback.

On the other hand, in the case where the image output laser printer device and the automatic developing device are completely separated and individually operated, there is an advantage that the above-mentioned conveyor, the light shielding means, etc. are unnecessary. However, the film on which the image is recorded by the image output laser printer device must be manually conveyed to the automatic developing device by a worker who replaces the conveyor, which requires a wasteful labor and cost, and There was a drawback that significantly deteriorated work efficiency.

The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned inconveniences, and it is possible to effectively use the remaining space by reducing the occupied space as much as possible, and further improve the working efficiency of the device. It is also an object of the present invention to provide an image recording / developing device capable of maintaining an image recording unit in a good condition for a long period of time and recording a highly accurate multi-gradation image using a laser beam. .

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is directed to a photographic light-sensitive material, which is sub-scanned and conveyed, in which a laser beam surrounded by a first casing and modulated based on image information is deflected by an optical deflector. Is surrounded by an image recording unit that exposes and records a predetermined multi-gradation image by main scanning with a second casing that is independently configured with respect to the first casing. Between the first casing and the second casing, an automatic developing unit that conveys the conveyed photographic light-sensitive material through a developing unit, a fixing unit, a cleaning unit, and a drying unit in order, and discharges it to the outside of the second casing. A vibration absorbing means that is sandwiched and a shutter that is provided at a communication opening for conveying the photographic photosensitive material from the image recording section to the automatic developing section and that opens and closes the communication opening. And the member is disposed in the vicinity of the communication port, and detects the presence or absence of the photographic light-sensitive material, characterized in that it comprises a detecting means for outputting a signal for driving and controlling said shutter member.

Next, preferred embodiments of the image recording end device according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates an image recording / developing apparatus according to the present invention, and the image recording / developing apparatus 10 includes an image recording unit 12
And an automatic developing unit 14, and the image recording unit 12 and the automatic developing unit 14 are integrally connected.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a film loading port 18 is provided in the upper front portion of the image recording unit 12, and a chamber 20 defined in the image recording unit 12 is provided through the film loading port 18. Communicates with the outside. A film magazine 22 is removably attached to the image recording unit 12 through the film loading port 18.

A plurality of films A are stacked and stored in the film magazine 22, and a film take-out opening 24 provided in the film magazine 22 is opened in the chamber 20.
A single-wafer mechanism including a suction plate 26 facing the opening 24 is provided in the chamber 20, and two sets of roller pairs 28 and 30 for transporting the film A are provided below the suction plate 26. A drum 32 is arranged vertically below the roller pair 30, and a pair of rollers 34 and 36 arranged in parallel on the drum 32 are arranged to face each other in the vertical direction. Further, an endless conveyor belt 40 is provided extending vertically from below the drum 32. In this case, the upper and lower sides of the conveyor belt 40 extend by bending in the horizontal direction and in the opposite directions, respectively, and the rollers 42 are formed on the lower bent portion of the conveyor belt 40.
Abut. Further, an endless transfer belt 44 is in sliding contact with the transfer belt 40. In this case, the upper end portion side of the conveyor belt 44 is bent and extended in the horizontal direction and faces the film carrying-out port 45 communicating with the adjacent automatic developing section 14. A detection sensor 43 for detecting the presence / absence of the film A being conveyed is arranged at the film discharge port 45, and a discharge port closing means, that is, a shutter member 47 is arranged,
The recording section controller (not shown) is configured to open and close the film outlet 45 as needed. If a guide plate or the like is provided between the roller pair 30 and the drum 32 and between the drum 32 and the conveyor belts 40 and 44, the film A can be suitably conveyed.

Furthermore, in the image recording unit 12, a laser device 46 for irradiating the film A conveyed to the drum 32 with laser light from between the rollers 34 and 36 is provided. The laser device 46
Is basically a laser tube 48, an optical modulator 50 and an oscillating mirror
52, a condenser lens 54, and reflection mirrors 56 and 58.

The image recording unit 12 thus configured includes the first vibration absorbing means, that is, the packing member 60 made of an elastic body.
Are provided in parallel with the automatic developing unit 14 through the.

On the other hand, the automatic developing section 14 is provided with a film detecting section 66 adjacent to the upper end side of the conveyor belt 44. The film detection unit 66 includes an insertion roller 68, a detection roller 70, and a micro switch 72. The detection roller 70 is used when the conveyed film A is inserted between the detection roller 70 and the insertion roller 68. In addition, it is configured to be displaced vertically upward. The micro switch 72 includes a detection roller 70 and an insertion roller 68.
It is detected that one film A has been inserted between and.

A first rack 74 is provided adjacent to the detection unit 66.
The first rack 74 includes a curved guide plate, and shifts the traveling direction of the film A passing through the detecting portion 66 by 90 ° and sends it to the developing portion 76.

A developing solution is stored in a tank 78 that constitutes the developing section 76, and a developing rack 80 including a plurality of rollers and guide plates is provided in the tank 78. The developing rack
A second rack 82 composed of rollers and guide plates is provided at the end of 80, and a fixing unit is provided on the exit side of the second rack 82.
It is close to a fixing rack 86 that constitutes 84 and has a plurality of rollers and a guide plate. The fixing rack 86 is mounted in the fixing liquid stored in the tank 88, and a third rack 90 including rollers and guide plates is arranged at the end of the fixing rack 86. On the outlet side of the third rack 90, a washing rack 94 that constitutes a washing section 92 is arranged, and the washing rack is
94 is immersed in the washing water stored in the tank 96, and its outlet side faces the squeeze portion 98. The squeeze section 98 is composed of rollers and guide plates, and the film A conveyed vertically upward from the water washing section 92 is deviated by 90 ° and conveyed to the drying section 100.

The drying unit 100 includes a roller group 102a composed of a plurality of rollers contacting one surface side of the film A, and a plurality of rollers contacting the other surface side of the film A and alternately arranged with the roller group 102a. And a roller group 102b. On the side of the roller group 102a, a plurality of air blowing tubes 104a facing the respective rollers of the roller group 102b are provided, and the roller group 10a is provided.
On the 2b side, a plurality of air blow-out pipes 104b facing the respective rollers of the roller group 102a are arranged. In this case, slit-like dry air blowing openings 106a, 106b for ejecting warm air toward the film A conveyed between the roller groups 102a, 102b are formed in the air blowing tubes 104a, 104b. .

A pair of rollers 108 is provided on the outlet side of the drying unit 100, and a pair of rollers 108 is arranged vertically below the pair of rollers 108.
110 are provided. A film accommodating section 112 is provided below the roller pair 110.

The automatic developing unit 14 thus configured is installed on the floor surface 116 via the leg portions 114a and 114b including the elastic body as the second vibration absorbing means.

The image recording / developing apparatus according to the present invention is basically constructed as described above. Next, its operation and effect will be described.

Therefore, first, the film magazine 22 is loaded into the film loading port 18
When attached to the image recording unit 12 from, this film magazine
The openings 24 of 22 are opened into the chamber 20. Then, the sheet-fed mechanism including the suction plate 26 is driven under the driving action of the control unit for the recording unit (not shown), and the film A is taken out from the film magazine 22 one by one by the suction plate 26. The taken-out film A is conveyed by the roller pairs 28 and 30 and held between the drum 32 and the rollers 34 and 36.

Here, an image signal obtained from the accumulative phosphor sheet in an image reading unit (not shown) is previously sent to the recording unit control unit (not shown), and the control unit of the control unit is based on this image signal. The laser device 46 preferably operates under driving action. That is, the laser light emitted from the laser tube 48 by the image signal reaches the vibrating mirror 52 via the light modulator 50, and is further condensed by the condenser lens 54, and then via the reflection mirrors 56, 58. The film A is irradiated from between the rollers 34 and 36. At that time, the vibration mirror 52, the condenser lens
A predetermined image is recorded on the film A by making a predetermined displacement of the mirror 54, the reflecting mirrors 56, 58, and the like.

Next, the film A after the image recording is completed is
After being sandwiched by 44 and transported vertically upward from the lower side of the image recording unit 12, it passes through a film discharge port 45 formed between the image recording unit 12 and the automatic developing unit 14 and then a detecting unit 66. Leading to.

Next, the film A is detected by the detection sensor 43, and the shutter member 47 is driven to open the film carry-out port 45. Further, when the detection sensor 43 detects the completion of passage of the film A, that is, when the film A is completely conveyed to the automatic developing section 14, the shutter member 47 closes the film discharge port 45 again. In this way, the image recording unit 12 and the automatic developing unit 14 are isolated except when necessary.

When the film A passes through the detecting section 66, the micro switch 72 is turned on and the film A is automatically developed.
Determine that it has been loaded into And the detection unit
The film A that has passed through 66 is transferred vertically downward through the first rack 74 under the driving action of the control unit for the developing unit (not shown), and then is sandwiched between the developing racks 80 and into the developing solution in the tank 78. Be immersed. Further, the film A is conveyed to the side of the second rack 82 with the traveling direction in the tank 78 deviated by 180 °. The film A reaching the second rack 82 is transferred to the fixing rack 86 with its traveling direction deviated by 180 ° via a guide plate and rollers provided therein, and stored in a tank 88 in the fixing section 84. Introduced into the fixer. Then, the film A is transported in the vertically upward direction similarly to the developing unit 76, and is further transported in the vertically downward direction via the third rack 90, and then is washed through the water washing rack 94.
It is washed in the tank 96 of 92. Film A after cleaning
Is conveyed to the squeeze unit 98, water adhering thereto is squeezed, and then introduced into the drying unit 100.

In this case, the film A has roller groups 102a and 102b on both side surfaces.
And is transferred to the both sides of the film A by warm air (about 55 ° C.) ejected from the dry air blowing openings 106a and 106b of the plurality of air blowing tubes 104a and 104b. All water evaporates. Therefore, when the film A is finally stored in the film storage portion 112 via the roller pair 108 and 110, the film A is suitably dried at the end of the developing process.

Here, while the film A is being developed in the automatic developing section 14, each rack 74, 82, 90, etc., or the drying section
A blower fan or the like (not shown) for supplying warm air to the air blowing pipes 104a, 104b of 100 is rotated under the driving action of the controller for the developing unit (not shown), and a small vibration occurs in the automatic developing unit 14. There is. Therefore, this minute vibration may be transmitted to the image recording unit 12 connected to the automatic developing unit 14.

However, since the elastic packing member 60 is disposed between the image recording unit 12 and the automatic developing unit 14, the image recording unit
12 does not vibrate by the automatic developing unit 14. Also,
Since the automatic developing unit 14 is installed on the floor surface 116 via the leg portions 114a and 114b including the elastic body, the vibration is not transmitted to the image recording unit 12 via the floor surface 116. As a result, when a predetermined image is recorded on the film A by the laser device 46 of the image recording unit 12 during the developing process of the film A, the problem is that the laser light is disturbed by the vibration and the recorded image becomes inaccurate. Avoided. Therefore, the development work of the film A and the image recording work on the other film A can be simultaneously progressed, and a large amount of image recording and development work can be performed in a short time.

Further, in the automatic developing section 14, gas is generated from the developing section 76, the fixing section 84, etc. during the developing process of the film A, and this gas enters the chamber 20 of the image recording section 12 through the film carry-out port 45. There is fear. The gas that has entered the chamber 20 is, for example,
The mirrors 56 and 58 of the laser device 46 are damaged, and the problem that the image recording on the film A cannot be achieved occurs.

However, since the shutter member 47 that opens the film outlet 45 only when the film A passes through is provided at the film outlet 45, the gas generated in the automatic developing unit 14 is stored in the chamber 20 of the image recording unit 12. Therefore, the laser device 46 can be used with high accuracy for a long period of time.

As described above, according to the present invention, the photographic light-sensitive material is scanned and exposed by the light beam modulated based on the image information to the image recording unit for storing the image, and the photographic light-sensitive material after the image recording is automatically developed. The developing section is integrally connected. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, there is no useless space between the image recording unit and the automatic developing unit, and it is possible to minimize the area occupied by the image recording and developing apparatus in a hospital or the like. . In addition, since the photographic light-sensitive material on which an image is recorded by the image recording unit is automatically conveyed to the automatic developing unit for development processing, the photographic light-sensitive material is conveyed by an operator between the image recording unit and the automatic developing unit. There is an advantage that a complicated process such as work is not required and cost is directly reduced. Further, between the image recording unit and the automatic developing unit, since a shutter member that detects the presence or absence of a photographic photosensitive material by a detection unit and opens a communication port only when the photographic photosensitive material passes, is provided. The problem that the gas generated in the automatic developing unit enters the image recording unit and deteriorates the function of the main device in the image recording unit is solved. Furthermore, the image recording unit and the automatic developing unit are surrounded by first and second casings that are independently configured, and a vibration absorbing unit is interposed between the first and second casings. Therefore, the vibration generated in the automatic developing section is transmitted to the image recording section and the image recording work is not hindered, and the multi-gradation image can be recorded with high accuracy.

Hereinafter, the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments,
It is needless to say that various improvements and design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image recording / developing apparatus according to the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a side view longitudinal sectional view of the image recording / developing apparatus according to the present invention with a part thereof omitted. 10 …… Image recording / developing device, 12 …… Image recording part 14 …… Automatic developing part, 22 …… Film magazine 26 …… Suction plate, 40, 44 …… Conveyor belt 46 …… Laser device, 47 …… Shutter member 60: Elastic packing member, 66: Detection unit 76: Development unit, 84: Fixing unit 92: Washing unit, 98: Squeeze unit 100: Drying unit, 112: Film storage unit 114a, 114b ... …leg

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A laser beam which is surrounded by a first casing and which is modulated based on image information is deflected by an optical deflector, and a photographic light-sensitive material that is sub-scanned and conveyed is subjected to main scanning by the laser beam. An image recording unit that exposes and records a multi-tone image, and a photographic photosensitive material that is surrounded by a second casing that is independently configured with respect to the first casing and that is conveyed from the image recording unit after image recording is completed. An automatic developing unit that sequentially conveys through a developing unit, a fixing unit, a cleaning unit, and a drying unit, and discharges to the outside of the second casing; and a vibration absorbing unit sandwiched between the first casing and the second casing. A shutter member which is provided at a communication port for transporting the photographic light-sensitive material from the image recording unit to the automatic developing unit, and which opens and closes the communication port, and in the vicinity of the communication port. An image recording / developing apparatus, comprising: a detection unit that is provided and that detects the presence or absence of the photographic light-sensitive material and that outputs a signal for driving and controlling the shutter member.