JPH0617181B2 - Sheet body transport mechanism - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet conveying mechanism, and more specifically, for example, in an image recording apparatus that records a radiation image of a subject by irradiating the radiation image on a sheet-shaped image recording carrier, The present invention relates to a sheet conveying mechanism configured to convey a radiation image to a radiographing unit side through a predetermined path without damaging the image recording carrier taken out from a magazine in which the record carriers are stacked and stored.

Radiation is applied to a subject such as a human body and a radiation image is recorded on an X-ray film, which is useful for medical diagnosis X
The radiographic apparatus has been widely used conventionally. In this case, the X-ray film is loaded in the X-ray imaging apparatus in a light-shielded state, and the emulsion surface of the film is directly irradiated with X-rays to record a radiation image of the subject.

By the way, recently, a radiation image recording / reproducing system for obtaining a radiation transmission image of an object using a stimulable phosphor (stimulable phosphor) has been developed, and in particular, it has been widely spread in the medical field as described above. is there. Here, the stimulable phosphor means that, when irradiated with radiation (X-rays, α-rays, β-rays, γ-rays, electron beams, ultraviolet rays, etc.), a part of this radiation energy is accumulated and later, visible light etc. It refers to a phosphor that produces stimulated emission light according to the energy accumulated by irradiating with excitation light.

The above-mentioned radiation image recording / reproducing system uses this stimulable phosphor, and a sheet having a layer made of a stimulable phosphor for temporarily storing the radiation image information of a human body (hereinafter, a stimulable phosphor sheet or simply Sheet), scan the stimulable phosphor sheet with excitation light such as laser light to generate stimulated emission light, and photoelectrically read the obtained stimulated emission light to obtain an image signal. Based on this image signal, it is output as a visible image on a recording material such as a photographic light-sensitive material or a CRT.

Here, the radiation image recording / reproducing system includes an image recording device that records a radiation image of a subject on the accumulative phosphor sheet. As this device, the sheets are stored via a supply magazine or the like, and the sheets are taken out one by one by a sheet-fed mechanism including a suction plate or the like, and then conveyed to a photographing unit by a conveyance mechanism. It is known that a desired image is recorded by irradiating the sheet with radiation through a subject in the photographing unit, and subsequently, the sheet with the image information recorded is stored in a receive magazine. . Thereafter, the image information recorded on the sheet is photoelectrically read by the image information recorded by the image reading device, and the image information is converted into a visible image by the image reproducing device and used for medical diagnosis or the like. Will be.

The image information on the sheet after the visible image is obtained is erased by an erasing device including an erasing light source, and then the sheet is used again for new image recording. That is, the stimulable phosphor sheet can be used many times by repeating recording and erasing of the radiation image.

By the way, in the above-mentioned image recording apparatus and the like, a sheet transfer mechanism using rollers, belts and the like is adopted, but the apparatus itself is desired to be downsized in order to further reduce its installation space. As a result, the sheet conveying path in the apparatus is generally not linear but curved at a predetermined portion. Therefore, if the flexible sheet is slidably contacted with the curved guide member to guide the sheet, the sheet can be conveyed along a predetermined path.

However, in such a configuration, the sheet is repeatedly scratched because it slides on the guide member every time the sheet is repeatedly used, and the scratch becomes noticeable with the number of image recordings. If the sheet is scratched in this way, it becomes impossible to record an accurate image, and furthermore, the sheet itself using the stimulable phosphor is expensive,
A construction in which the sheet cannot withstand multiple uses has the disadvantage of being economically unacceptable.

Further, a driven belt having a width corresponding to the sheet width is provided through a plurality of stretching rollers so as to come into contact with an arc portion of a driving belt or roller, and the sheet is provided between the driven belt and the arc portion. It is also possible to change the conveying direction by advancing the sheet and curving the sheet under the pressing action of the driven belt. However, in such a case, it is extremely difficult to maintain a constant degree of tension of the entire tensioning roller that pulls the wide driven belt from the inner side to the outer side. There is a tendency for the tension roller to be displaced toward one end and displaced. As a result, there is a drawback that the sheet cannot be accurately positioned and conveyed in a desired posture. Further, while the sheet is being sandwiched between the driving roller and the driven belt, there is a problem that the sheet conveying speed and the driven belt moving speed differ due to the thickness of the sheet itself, and the sheet is damaged.

The present invention has been made in order to overcome the above-mentioned inconvenience, and provides at least two or more prime movers, which are driven conveyor belts or conveyor rollers, in parallel with each other,
A plurality of mutually parallel rollers are pivotally supported in the vicinity of the driving body, and a pressing belt is fitted around the rollers in a relaxed state, and the pressing belt is inserted between the driving bodies. When a flexible sheet such as a stimulable phosphor sheet is conveyed, the flexible sheet is conveyed by being sandwiched between a driving body and a pressing belt, and at that time, the pressing belt is pulled by the roller. The flexible sheet is pressed, and the flexible sheet is bent under this pressing action to send out the sheet, whereby a conventional curved guide member for guiding a sheet that causes scratches is generated. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet body conveying mechanism which is not necessary and can prevent the displacement of the pressing belt and the damage caused by the pressing belt to convey the flexible sheet in a stable posture in a predetermined direction. When That.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is a sheet body transporting mechanism for transporting a flexible sheet while curving it while sandwiching the flexible sheet. A driving body composed of a conveyor belt or roller, and a rotation driving means for driving the driving body,
A plurality of movable rollers extending in parallel with the rotation axis, and a pressing belt suspended in the plurality of movable rollers, which is provided in a separating portion defined by a conveyor belt or rollers forming the prime mover, When the driving body is driven by the rotation driving means and the sheet is conveyed, the pressing belt is deformed along the sheet, and the resulting pulling force of the pressing belt presses and bends the sheet to convey the sheet. It is characterized by doing.

Next, the sheet conveying mechanism according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to preferred embodiments in relation to a radiation image recording apparatus incorporating the same, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates an image recording device. An elevating table 14 is erected on a base 12 which constitutes the image recording apparatus 10 so as to be vertically movable. The device body 16 is provided with a supply magazine loading port 18 and a receiving magazine device port 20 that are inclined with respect to the vertical direction. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus main body 16 includes the supply unit 100, the transport unit 200, and the photographing unit.
It is basically composed of 300 and a storage unit 400.

A supply magazine 102 is removably loaded into the supply unit 100 via a loading port 18 of the apparatus body 16. In this supply magazine 102, a plurality of flexible stimulable phosphor sheets S are stored.
A sheet feeding mechanism 110 is provided so as to be able to enter the opening for sheet conveyance defined by 102. A servo motor 112 constituting this single-wafer mechanism 110 is fixed in the main body 16 of the apparatus, and a crank pin 120 is provided on the outer peripheral edge of a disk 118 that rotates with the drive of the servo motor 112. The crank pin 120 is inserted into the elliptical hole 126 of the first arm 122, which is swingably supported via a fulcrum pin 124. further,
A second arm 130 is attached to the tip of the first arm 122. A tube 140 is attached to the tip of the second arm 130, and a suction plate 142 is attached to the tip of the tube 140 so as to face the sheet S. In this case, the coil spring 144 is externally fitted to the pipe body 140 to apply the elastic force to the suction plate 142, and when the suction plate 142 is pressed to the pipe body 140 side, the coil spring 144 is Compressed suction cup 142
Is configured to be displaced toward the second arm 130 side. The tube 140 is connected to a vacuum generator (not shown).

Furthermore, a torque motor 160 is fixed to the main body 16 of the apparatus above the suction plate 142, and a first gear 164 is fixed to a rotary drive shaft 162 extending from the torque motor 160. A second gear 166 meshes with the first gear 164.
An L-shaped swing arm 170 is attached to the gear 166 via a shaft 168. A roller 174 is rotatably supported on a short portion below the swing arm 170.

The transport unit 200 is provided with a transport mechanism 202 according to the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A and 4B, the transport mechanism 202 includes the roller 174, the driving unit 204, and the driving unit.
A first driven portion 206a and a second driven portion 206a located on both end sides of 204.
Includes a follower unit 206b.

The driving unit 204 includes two rotating shafts 208a and 208b which are rotatably supported by the casing 207 of the apparatus body 16 and which are parallel to each other. On the way of the rotary shaft 208a, two disk-shaped auxiliary rollers 210a and 210b are rotatably attached at a predetermined distance. In this case, the auxiliary rollers 210a, 210b are
Discs 212a, 212b through which 8a is inserted, and the discs 212a, 212b
Ring members 214a and 214b fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the ring members 214a and 214b. The ring members 214a and 214b are formed of a relatively soft synthetic resin material having a large frictional force. Furthermore, the rotary shaft 208a
A belt wheel 218a having circumferential grooves 216a and 216b on both end sides of
218b is fixed to the auxiliary rollers 210a and 210b with a predetermined distance therebetween. The rotary shaft 208a on the side to which the belt wheel 218b is fixed
A sprocket (not shown) is fixed to the end of the sprocket, and the sprocket is configured to transmit a rotational force from a motor (not shown) serving as a rotation driving means fixed to the casing 207 to the sprocket via a chain (not shown). .

On the other hand, the part on the rotary shaft 208b side is also configured similarly to the rotary shaft 208a side. That is, auxiliary rollers 210c and 210d similar to the auxiliary rollers 210a and 210b are rotatably fitted on the rotating shaft 208b with a predetermined gap therebetween. Also in this case, relatively soft ring members 214c and 214d are fixed to the outer peripheral portions of the disks 212c and 212d of the auxiliary rollers 210c and 210d. Further, a belt wheel having circumferential grooves 216c formed on both ends of the rotary shaft 208b.
218c and a belt wheel 218d having a circumferential groove (not shown) are fixed to each other. Belt wheels 218a, 218b and 218c, 21
The interval of 8d is selected to be narrower than the width of the stimulable phosphor sheet S.

Conveyor belts 220a and 220b as prime movers that fit in the respective circumferential grooves (216a to 216c) are suspended on the two pairs of belt wheels 218a, 218c and 218b and 218d. Furthermore, the rotary shaft 20
Pulleys 226a and 226b formed with circumferential grooves 224a and 224b are rotatably fitted on both ends of a pulley shaft 222 supported by the casing 207 and located between 8a and 208b. In this case, the conveyor belts 220a and 22a are provided on the upper sides of the circumferential grooves 224a and 224b, respectively.
When 0b is fitted and the pulley shaft 222 is fixed at a position displaced upward, a predetermined tension is applied to the conveyor belts 220a and 220b. In addition, the outer peripheral portions of the conveyor belts 220a and 220b are configured to slightly project outward from the outer peripheral portions of the belt wheels 218a to 218d.

The driving unit 204 is configured as described above. Next, the first driven unit 206a will be described.

The first driven portion 206a includes a movable roller 228a and the movable roller 22a.
Movable roller 230a located above 8a, and movable roller 230a
And a fixed roller 232a positioned substantially in the horizontal direction. In this case, the movable rollers 228a and 230a and the fixed roller 232a are parallel to the rotary shaft 208a, and the fixed roller 232a is the casing 20.
It is rotatably installed on 7. Further, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, holes 234a and 236a are formed in the casing 207, and one end of the movable roller 228a is inserted into the hole 234a while the movable roller 230a has a hole 234a. One end is inserted into the hole 236a. Further, one end of the movable roller 228a has a swing member 23.
8a is pivotally supported on the lower end of the swing member 238a, and
It is swingably supported by the casing 207 via 0a. Then, one end of the coil spring 242a as an elastic body is engaged along the swinging member 238a, and the coil spring 24
The other end of 2a is attached to the casing 207. On the other hand, annular guide members 244a to 244d are fitted onto the movable roller 230a at positions corresponding to the belt wheels 218a and 218b and the auxiliary rollers 210a and 210b. Further, one end of the movable roller 230a is rotatably supported by one end of the swing member 246a, and the swing member 24a
The other end of 6a is swingably supported by a casing 207 via a support shaft 248a. Further, the lower end of the coil spring 250a is engaged with the swing member 246a, and the upper end of the coil spring 250a is engaged with the casing 207. In addition,
The other ends of the movable rollers 228a and 230a are configured in the same manner as the one ends of the movable rollers 228a and 230a, respectively. Composed. Furthermore, the movable roller
228a, 230a and the fixed roller 232a are fitted with relatively wide pressing belts 252a through 252c, and guide portions 244a through 244a.
It is placed between 4d. At that time, the inclined portions of the pressing belts 252a to 252c on the side of the rotary shaft 208a enter the separating portion defined by the belt wheel 218a, the auxiliary rollers 210a and 210b, and the belt wheel 218b. Moreover, in this case, the stimulable phosphor sheet S
In the state where the
The movable roller 228a, 230a and the fixed roller 232a are configured so that the movable roller 252c is not pulled but is in a sufficiently relaxed state.

The first driven portion 206a is configured as described above,
On the other hand, the second driven portion 206b has the same configuration as the first driven portion 206a. Therefore, the same components as those of the second driven unit 206b and those of the first driven unit 206a are designated by the same reference numerals with different alphabetical symbols.

The second driven portion 206b has a hole 23 formed in the casing 207.
Movable rollers 228b and 23, one end of which is inserted into 4b and 236b.
0b and a fixed roller 232b rotatably installed on the casing 207. Further, guide members 244e to 244h are fitted to the movable roller 230b with a predetermined space therebetween. Further, pressure belts 252d to 252f are loosely fitted over the movable rollers 228b and 230b and the fixed roller 232b, and these pressure belts 252d to 252f are guide members 244e to 244h.
It is arranged between. At that time, the inclined portions of the pressing belts 252d to 252f on the rotary shaft 208b side are inserted between the belt wheel 218c, the auxiliary rollers 210c and 210d, and the belt wheel 218d. Furthermore, one end of the movable roller 228b is rotatably supported by one end of a swing member 238b, and the other end of the swing member 238b is a support shaft.
It is swingably supported by the casing 207 via 240b.
The upper end of the coil spring 242b is engaged with the swing member 238b, and the lower end of the coil spring 242b is engaged with the casing 207. On the other hand, one end of the movable roller 230b is rotatably supported by one end of a swing member 246b, and the other end of the swing member 246b is swingably supported by a casing 207 via a support shaft 248b. Further, the lower end of the coil spring 250b is engaged with the swing member 246b, and the upper end of the coil spring 250b is engaged with the casing 207.
The other ends of the movable rollers 228b and 230b are similarly configured by using a swing member and a coil spring (not shown).

An erasing means 256 is provided above the pulley shaft 222. The erasing means 256 substantially includes a lamp 258 for secondarily erasing the afterimage of the stimulable phosphor sheet S which has been once erased. In this case, as the lamp 258, for example, a halogen lamp can be preferably used.

The photographing section 300 is formed to bulge relatively long on the subject side, and rack members 302a and 302b are provided on both sides of the photographing section 300.
Are fixed in parallel. Further, guide bars 304a, 304b and 304c are provided above and below the rack members 302a, 302b,
304d is provided, and the holding unit 306 moves forward and backward through the guide bars 304a to 304d and the rack members 302a and 302b. In this case, the holding unit 306 is the first plate body 308.
And a second plate 310. Support members 312a to 312d into which the guide bars 304a to 304d are fitted and inserted in the first plate 308.
And the second plate body 310 is pressed against the first plate body 308 through the pressing members 316a to 316d engaging with the springs 314a to 314d. Furthermore, the second plate
A motor 318 is fixed to 310. The rotation drive shaft of the motor 318 is engaged with the rotation shaft 324 via a gear (not shown),
Pinions 326a and 326b meshing with the rack members 302a and 302b are attached to both ends of the rotary shaft 324. The device body 16 is provided with locking members 328a to 328d, and the support members 312a to 312d are brought into contact with the locking members 328a to 328d to move the first plate 308 inwardly of the device body 16. Displacement is blocked. In this case, at the lower part of the sandwiching unit 306, the accumulative phosphor sheet S is positioned and placed, and at the same time, a swingable placing member (for dropping the sheet S after the image recording is finished to the storage section 400 side ( (Not shown). In addition, the bar code reading unit 33 is provided on the second plate 310.
A sheet number provided on the stimulable phosphor sheet S which defines an opening (not shown) corresponding to the position 2 and through which the bar code reading unit 332 is housed in the sheet holding unit 306. It is configured to read a discrimination barcode.

Further, a lattice-shaped Bucky 334 for reducing scattered irradiation of X-rays is attached to the entire surface of the imaging unit 300 via a leaf spring or the like (not shown), and the Bucky 334 is a driving means 336 such as a rotary solenoid. It is configured to vibrate under the driving action of.

Below the holding unit 306, a transfer system 402 constituting the storage section 400 is arranged. A first sprocket 406 is fixed to a rotary drive shaft (not shown) extending from the motor 404 that constitutes the transport system 402.
A chain 410 is suspended between 6 and the second sprocket 408. In this case, the roller 41 is attached to the second sprocket 408.
1 is integrally fastened, and the conveyor belt 412 is a roller.
It is suspended on 411, 414 and 416. A nip roller 418 is close to the roller 416 side of the transport belt 412, and the nip roller 418 defines a gap between the nip roller 418 and the roller 416 under the action of an actuator (not shown) and falls from the photographing unit 300. The sheet S is configured to be captured. A nip roller 420 is in contact with the roller 414 side of the conveyor belt 412. Below this nip roller 420, a receive magazine 422 is loaded.

The receive magazine 422 is arranged so as to incline at a predetermined angle, and a lid member 42 that swings on its upper portion and can be opened and closed freely.
4 is provided, and an engaging portion is provided on the upper end of the lid member 424.
Form 426. The engaging portion 426 has a swinging member.
One end of 428 is engaged, and in this case, the other end of the swinging member 428 is swingably supported via a fulcrum pin 430.
A rod 432a extending from a solenoid 432 is engaged with a substantially middle portion of the swing member 428.

The image recording apparatus incorporating the sheet conveying mechanism according to the present embodiment is basically configured as described above,
Next, its operation and effect will be described.

First, the supply magazine 102 containing a predetermined number of accumulative phosphor sheets S is loaded into the apparatus main body 16 from the loading port 18. Next, the servo motor 112 that constitutes the single-wafer mechanism 110.
When you drive the disc 11
8 rotates, and the first arm 122 and the second arm 130 with which the crank pin 120 provided on the disc 118 engages swings around the fulcrum pin 124 toward the supply magazine 102 side. Therefore, the suction plate 142, which is integrally displaced with the second arm 130, comes into contact with the uppermost sheet S in the supply magazine 102. Further, when the disc 118 rotates, the first arm 122 and the second arm 130 move to the supply magazine.
The suction plate 142 swings toward the 102 side and is pressed against the sheet S by the elastic force of the compressed coil spring 144, so that the suction plate 142 is moved by the driving action of a vacuum generator (not shown).
Adsorb.

That is, the suction plate 142 is configured to be swingably displaced by the drive of the servo motor 112, and sucks the sheet S at the forward position on the arrow A side. And the sheet S
When the suction plate 142 that has absorbed the sheet is displaced away from the supply magazine 102, the sheet S is curved because its upper end is locked by the roller 174 at the position shown by the chain line in FIG. The second sheet that is trying to come into close contact cannot follow the curved deformation and is separated from the sheet S.

In the subsequent single-wafer process, the suction plate 142 is finally displaced to the retracted position shown by the chain line so that the upper end side of the sheet S is conveyed to the conveyor belts 220a and 220b and the auxiliary roller 210.
It contacts a and 210b.

Next, when the torque motor 160 is driven to rotate the rotary drive shaft 162, the first gear fixed to the rotary drive shaft 162 is fixed.
164 rotates, and the second gear 166 meshing with this rotates. Therefore, the shaft 168 engaged with the second gear 166 rotates, the swing arm 170 swings, and the roller 174 moves the conveyor belt 22.
The sheet S is nipped together with 0a and 220b and the auxiliary rollers 210a and 210b. Then, when the driving of the vacuum generator (not shown) is stopped, the suction action of the suction plate 142 on the sheet S is released.

Therefore, when the rotating shaft 208a is rotated in the direction of arrow B under the driving action of a motor (not shown) of the transport mechanism 202, the rotating shaft 208a
The conveyor belts 220a and 220b are rotationally displaced by the belt wheels 218a and 218b that rotate integrally with the belt wheels 218c and 218d, and the belts 218c and 218d also rotate in the same manner as the belt wheels 218a and 218b. As a result, the conveyor belts 220a and 220b and the auxiliary rollers 210a and 210b and the rollers
The sheet S nipped by the 174 conveys the conveyance belts 220a, 22a.
The sheet S is conveyed upward under the displacement operation of 0b and pushes up the inclined portion of the pressing belts 252a to 252c on the rotating shaft 208a side to the movable roller 230a side. The sheet S is curved along the transport belts 220a and 220b and the auxiliary rollers 210a and 210b, and the pressing belts 252a to 252c are in close contact with the curved surface portion of the curved sheet S. At that time, the movable roller 22
8a is displaced outward by the thickness of the sheet S about the support shaft 240a, and as a result, the coil spring 242a is pulled.
The contraction force of the movable roller 228a causes the pressing rollers 252a to 252a to
The sheet S is pressed against the conveyor belts 220a and 220b and the auxiliary rollers 210a and 210b via the sheet 2c. In addition, the pressing belt 25
As the inclined portions of 2a to 252c are curved and deformed toward the movable roller 230a side as described above, the pressing belts 252a to 252c are pulled. The pulling force at that time displaces the movable roller 230a toward the rotating shaft 208a side, and the contracting force of the coil spring 250a pulled by this causes the pressing belt 25a.
2a to 252c are movable rollers 228a and 230a and a fixed roller 23.
It is pulled to 2a. That is, the sheet S is bent along the transport belts 220a and 220b and the auxiliary rollers 210a and 210b while being displaced upward, whereby the pressing belts 252a to 252c are pulled, and the sheet S is pressed and bent by the pulling force. (See Figure 4b).

In this way, the sheet S is curved on the side of the first driven portion 206a, the conveying direction thereof is changed to the horizontal direction, and is conveyed to the side of the second driven portion 206b. At this time, the erasing light is emitted from the lamp 258 of the erasing means 256. That is, the supply magazine 102
The stimulable phosphor sheet S housed in the sheet is irradiated with erasing light in advance to erase the radiation image remaining on the sheet S, but the image is not completely erased or the erasing is completed. However, there is a possibility that the image will rise again after a predetermined time has elapsed. Therefore, the sheet S just before the image recording is ramped.
By irradiating the erasing light 258, the afterimage of the sheet S is completely erased.

Further, the forward end portion of the sheet S in the traveling direction that moves to the second driven portion 206b first enters the lower part of one end of the pressing belts 252d to 252f, and the movable roller 228b is displaced upward by the thickness of the sheet S. To do. This displacement causes the coil spring 24
2b is pulled, and the pulling force pushes the sheet S toward the transport belts 220a and 220b and the auxiliary rollers 210c and 210d. Then, the sheet S is curved as in the case of the first driven portion 206a side, and the pressing belts 252d to 252f are deformed along the curved shape of the sheet S. That is, as shown in FIG. 4b, the pressing belts 252d to 252f are moved by the contracting force of the coil spring 250b to move the movable rollers 228.
By being stretched between b, 230b and fixed roller 232b,
The sheet S is pressed by the pressing belts 252d to 252f and is curved and conveyed to the lower side of the photographing unit 300.

As described above, the sheet S taken out from the supply magazine 102 is conveyed upward and then horizontally.
Then, it is conveyed downward. When the conveyance direction is switched in this way, the sheet S is fed to the auxiliary rollers 210a, 210b or
Although the auxiliary rollers 210a to 210d are provided with relatively soft ring members 214a to 214d on their outer peripheral portions, the sheets S are not damaged by the pressing action of the pressing belts 252a to 252f. Absent. Also, a circulating pressing belt
Since 252a to 252f are guided by the guide members 244a to 244h, the displacement of the pressing belts 252a to 252f is prevented.

In this way, the sheet S conveyed by the conveying mechanism 202 forms the first holding unit 306 from the second driven portion 206b side.
It is dropped and supplied between the plate body 308 and the second plate body 310, and is placed on a placing member (not shown) in the lower part of the holding unit 306. On the other hand, after the sheet S passes through the transport mechanism 202, the movable rollers 228a, 228b, 230a, 230b return to their original positions under the contraction action of the coil springs 242a, 242b, 250a, 250b.
The pressing belts 252a to 252f are in the relaxed state as they were originally. That is, when the sheet S is not being conveyed, the pressing belts 252a to 252f are relaxed, and unnecessary pulling force does not continuously act.

As described above, after the sheet S is dropped and supplied into the holding unit 306, the motor 318 is driven to engage the rotary shaft 32.
When 4 is rotated, the pinions 326a and 326b fixed to both ends of the rotating shaft 324 roll on the rack members 302a and 302b, and as a result, the second plate 31 to which the motor 318 is attached.
0 is displaced to the first plate 308 side. Because of this, the spring
The stimulable phosphor sheet S includes a first plate body 308 and a second plate body 310 via pressing members 316a to 316d pressed by 314a to 314d.
Holds in pressure contact with. Further, when the motor 318 is driven, the holding unit 306 holding the sheet S is displaced in the direction of the arrow, and the driving of the motor 318 is stopped when it reaches the shooting position of the shooting unit 300. Then, by irradiating a subject in front of the imaging unit 300 with radiation by a radiation generator (not shown), the radiation image of the subject is sandwiched by the sandwiching unit 30.
It is recorded on the stimulable phosphor sheet S sandwiched between the six. During the photographing, the bucky 334 is vibrated by driving the driving means 336 to prevent the scattering of the radiation.

After the image is recorded on the accumulative phosphor sheet S in this manner, the motor 318 is driven to rotate the pinions 326a and 326b to displace the pinching unit 306 in the direction opposite to the arrow. Supporting members 312a to 31 provided on the body 308
2d contacts the locking members 328a to 328d of the apparatus body 16. At that time, the barcode information provided on the sheet S is read by the barcode reading unit 332. Furthermore, the second plate
The reference numeral 310 designates springs 314a to 31a under the driving action of the motor 318.
It independently displaces against the elastic force of 4d, and forms a predetermined gap with the first plate 308 to stop. Therefore, the placing member on which the sheet S is placed is swung under the action of a driving unit (not shown), and the sheet S is dropped to the storage section 400 side.

On the other hand, by driving the motor 404 that constitutes the transport system 402, the first
When the sprocket 406 is rotated, the second sprocket 408 is rotated through the chain 410 suspended on the sprocket 406, and the roller 411 engaged with the second sprocket 408 is rotated. Therefore, the sheet S is nipped by the conveyor belt 412 and the nip rollers 418 and 420, and is received by the receive magazine 42.
It is transported to the 2 side.

Next, when the solenoid 432 is driven to displace the rod 432a in the direction of the arrow, the swinging member 428 swings around the fulcrum pin 430, and the swinging member 428 engages with the engaging portion 426.
The lid member 424 swings through the. As a result, the sheet storage port 423 of the receive magazine 422 is opened, and the stimulable phosphor sheet S is stored in the receive magazine 422 via the sheet storage port 423. Then, the solenoid 432 is driven to displace the rod 432a in the direction opposite to the arrow, and the cover member 424 closes the sheet storage port 423 under the displacement action of the swinging member 428.

The stimulable phosphor sheet S after the radiation image recording thus stored in the receive magazine 422 is transferred to an image reading device (not shown) together with the receive magazine 422, and the recorded image information is photoelectrically converted. And the image information is output as a visible image by an image reproducing device such as a laser printer or a CRT. On the other hand, when all the stimulable phosphor sheets S stored in the sub-lai magazine 102 have been sent out, the supply magazine 102
Taken out of 16 and if needed, this supply magazine
A predetermined number of accumulative phosphor sheets S, which have undergone the image erasing process, may be housed in 102 and supplied to the apparatus body 16.

According to the present invention, as described above, since the accumulative phosphor sheet is configured to be curved in the course of being conveyed by the conveying belt and the pressing belt, a desired conveying path can be obtained by selecting the degree of the curve. It is possible to configure. Further, since the pressing belt is pulled only when the sheet is conveyed, and unnecessary tensile force does not act when the sheet is not conveyed, the service life of the pressing belt itself can be extended. Further, since the pressing belt is guided by the guide member, the pressing belt is not displaced, and as a result, the sheet can be accurately conveyed in a predetermined posture. Moreover, in the configuration of the present invention, since the guide member for guiding the sheet that slides on the sheet being conveyed is not required, it is possible to prevent the sheet from being damaged due to friction, and therefore, the same sheet is conveyed many times. Even in this case, the effect that the performance of the sheet as the image record carrier is not deteriorated can be obtained.

By the way, in the present embodiment, the conveyor belts 220a and 220b are used as the prime movers driven by the rotation driving means for conveying the sheet S. However, instead of such conveyor belts, two disc-shaped members are used. It is also possible to bend the flexible sheet and convey the sheet by using the conveying roller. For example, auxiliary rollers are provided at the positions of the belt wheels 218a and 218b on the rotary shaft 208a of the present embodiment.
If the conveying rollers having the same diameter as 210a and 210b are arranged and the conveying rollers are rotated, the sheet S
It is possible to bend and convey the sheet under the pressing action of the pressing belts 252a to 252c.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment,
For example, the sheet conveyed by the conveying mechanism is not limited to the accumulative phosphor sheet, and various sheets can be configured to be conveyed as long as they have appropriate flexibility. It goes without saying that various improvements and design changes can be made within the range.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image recording apparatus in which a sheet conveying mechanism according to the present invention is incorporated, FIG. 2 is a side view of the image recording apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4A is a schematic side view of the sheet body transport mechanism according to the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a sheet body transport mechanism according to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view illustrating the state of FIG. 10: image recording device, 16: device main body 100: supply unit, 200: transport unit 202: transport mechanism, 210a-210d ... auxiliary rollers 218a-218d ... belt wheels 220a, 220b ... transport belt 228a, 228b, 230a, 230b ...... Movable rollers 232a, 232b ...... Fixed rollers 244a to 244h ...... Guide members 252a to 252f ...... Press belt 300 ...... Shooting unit, 400 ...... Storage unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sheet transporting mechanism for transporting a flexible sheet while curving it while sandwiching the flexible sheet, the transporting mechanism comprising a plurality of transport belts or rollers which are supported via a rotary shaft and are parallel to and spaced from each other. A motive body, a rotation driving means for driving the motive body, a plurality of movable rollers extending in parallel with the rotation axis, and a separation portion defined by a conveyor belt or rollers forming the motive body. The pressing belt is provided so as to be suspended from the plurality of movable rollers, the driving body is driven by the rotation driving means, and when the sheet is conveyed, the pressing belt is deformed along the sheet,
A sheet body conveying mechanism, which is configured so that the sheet is pressed and curved by the tensile force of the pressing belt, which is generated as a result, and is conveyed. 2. The transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the movable rollers is displaceably supported by a swing member biased by an elastic body. Sheet body transport mechanism. 3. The transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein an auxiliary roller is fitted onto a rotary shaft for supporting a prime mover composed of a plurality of conveyer belts or rollers while being separated from the prime mover. , A plurality of pressing belts are provided at a plurality of spaced portions defined by the driving body and the auxiliary roller, and when the sheet is conveyed, the driving body and the auxiliary rollers and the pressing belt press and sandwich the sheet. A sheet conveying mechanism configured to bend and bend. 4. The conveying mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the pressing belt is supported from the inside of the pressing belt by a plurality of movable rollers, and the pressing belt is A sheet conveying mechanism in which a guide member for positioning and guiding the pressing belt is externally fitted to at least one roller.