JPH09211349A - Scanning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a scanning device capable of detecting a scanning starting point in a main scanning direction at a low cost and whose assembly and maintenance are facilitated. SOLUTION: The device is provided with a slender concave cylindrical mirror 13 for deflecting light to a sheet to be scanned S placed below, and scanning starting point detecting means 17 and 18 for receiving the light which is reflected by the concave cylindrical mirror 13 after being made incident near the scanning starting point side end part of the concave cylindrical mirror 13. And a plane tilt compensation system is constituted of a 1st cylindrical lens 7, a 2nd cylindrical lens 12 and the mirror 13, and the scanning starting point detecting means 17 and 18 are mounted on an optical surface plate 16 with the 1st cylindrical lens 7, a polygon mirror 9, the 2nd cylindrical lens 12 and the concave cylindrical mirror 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a scanning device, and in particular, a photostimulable phosphor that accumulates an image of light, radiation or an electron beam in the form of energy is scanned by an electromagnetic wave to produce a bright image. Excitation of the stimulable phosphor, causing the energy of light, radiation or electron beam to be emitted in the form of light, and by photoelectrically detecting the emitted light, the light accumulated in the stimulable phosphor, the radiation Alternatively, the present invention relates to a scanning device for an image reading device suitable for reading an image of an electron beam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When irradiated with light, radiation or an electron beam, its energy is accumulated, and when it is subsequently irradiated with an electromagnetic wave, a quantity of light proportional to the energy of the accumulated light, radiation or electron beam is emitted. Using a stimulable phosphor sheet provided with a stimulable phosphor layer containing a stimulable phosphor,
Image data is recorded by recording an image of light, radiation or electron beam, scanning with electromagnetic waves, releasing the energy of light, radiation or electron beam in the form of light, and detecting the emitted light photoelectrically. A method and system for reproducing an image of light, radiation or an electron beam on a display means such as a CRT or a photographic film based on the generated image data are widely known. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
No. 12429, JP-A-55-12145, etc., the energy of radiation transmitted through a subject is accumulated and absorbed in a stimulable phosphor layer provided on a stimulable phosphor sheet, and thereafter, the stimulable phosphor layer is stimulated. The fluorescent fluorescent layer with electromagnetic waves,
The stimulable phosphor is excited, and the stimulable light emitted from the stimulable phosphor is photoelectrically detected to generate a digital image signal, which is subjected to predetermined signal processing, and a display means such as a CRT. Alternatively, a method of reproducing an image on a photographic film has been proposed, and this method is widely used in the field of radiation diagnosis.

Further, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 1-60784, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 1-60782, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 43952, etc., after administering a substance with a radioactive label to an organism, A part of the tissue of the organism is used as a sample, and this sample is overlapped with the stimulable phosphor layer provided on the stimulable phosphor sheet for a certain period of time so that the stimulable phosphor absorbs radiation energy. After that,
Scanning the stimulable phosphor layer with electromagnetic waves to excite the stimulable phosphor, stimulated light emitted from the stimulable phosphor is photoelectrically detected to generate a digital image signal, Proposed is an autoradiography detection method in which predetermined signal processing is performed and reproduced as an image on a display means such as a CRT or a photographic film to obtain position information of a radiolabeled substance in a sample. Furthermore, JP-A-3-205550
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 232864/1992 discloses a method of selectively labeling a polymer, such as a protein or a nucleic acid sequence, with a chemiluminescent substance to cause chemiluminescence. By providing a chemiluminescent substance and a polymer selectively labeled with a substance in contact with each other, the chemiluminescent energy in the visible light wavelength region generated by the contact between the chemiluminescent substance and the labeling substance is provided in the stimulable phosphor sheet. The stimulable phosphor layer is accumulated in the stimulable phosphor layer contained in the stimulable phosphor layer, and thereafter, the stimulable phosphor layer is scanned with an electromagnetic wave to excite the stimulable phosphor layer. The bright light emitted from
By photoelectrically detecting, generating a digital image signal, performing a predetermined signal processing, and reproducing it as an image on a display means such as a CRT or a photographic film, information about a macromolecule such as gene information can be obtained. We have proposed a chemiluminescence detection method to be obtained. In addition, JP-A-61-5
1738 and 61-93538 disclose that energy of an electron beam diffracted by a sample of a metal, a non-metal sample, a biological tissue sample, or the like, which is diffracted by the sample or transmitted through the sample is accumulated fluorescence. Accumulated in the stimulable phosphor contained in the stimulable phosphor layer provided on the body sheet, and then scanned with electromagnetic waves to excite the stimulable phosphor, emitted from the stimulable phosphor. The photostimulated photostimulable light is photoelectrically detected to generate a digital image signal, which is subjected to predetermined signal processing, and reproduced as an image on a display means such as a CRT or a photographic film to reproduce the element of the sample. A detection method using an electron microscope has been proposed for performing analysis, composition analysis, structural analysis, structure observation, and the like.
No. 15843, etc., irradiates a sample with radiation, causes the energy of an electron beam diffracted by the sample to be accumulated in a stimulable phosphor, and then scans with an electromagnetic wave to excite the stimulable phosphor. Then, the photostimulable light emitted from the photostimulable phosphor is photoelectrically detected to generate a digital image signal,
A radiation diffraction image detection method has been proposed in which a predetermined signal processing is performed and reproduced as an image on a display means such as a CRT or a photographic film to analyze the structure of a sample.

In each of these methods, light,
A stimulable phosphor sheet provided with a stimulable phosphor layer containing a stimulable phosphor that stores the energy of radiation or electron beams is scanned by electromagnetic waves, excited, and stored. It is essential to emit light, radiation or electron beam energy as photostimulable light and read it photoelectrically, and an image reading apparatus for that purpose has been proposed. As a scanning device used in such an image information reading device, a stimulable phosphor sheet containing a stimulable phosphor layer containing a stimulable phosphor is prepared by using excitation light from a light source as a scanning device. It was common to lead to the surface of, and thereby scan the surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet.

[0005]

A scanning device using such a polygon mirror compensates for the so-called surface tilt correction optical system for compensating the variation in the tilt of each mirror surface and the variation in the rotation of the polygon mirror. Therefore, a scanning start point detecting means for detecting the scanning start point in the main scanning direction is provided. Since it is necessary to make the scanning start point detection unit receive light under substantially the same conditions as the scanning light applied to the surface to be scanned, the surface tilt correction optical system applied to the scanning light applied to the surface to be scanned is used. It is necessary to perform the same face tilt correction as the face tilt correction. Therefore, when the scanning start point detecting means is arranged so as to detect the light branched from the middle of the surface tilt correction optical system through which the scanning light applied to the surface to be scanned passes, the branching portion and the scanning start An optical system equivalent to the optical system of the surface tilt correction optical system after the branching portion must be separately provided between the point detecting means and the manufacturing cost is increased. On the other hand, in order to facilitate the assembly work and the maintenance, it is desirable that the scanning start point detecting means is mounted on the optical surface plate together with other optical components constituting the scanning optical system. To
When the scanning light is mounted on the surface to be scanned that has passed through the surface tilt correction optical system, the scanning start point detection means cannot be mounted on the optical surface plate, and the assembling work and maintenance cannot be performed easily. was there.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a scanning device which can detect the scanning start point in the main scanning direction at low cost and which can be easily assembled and maintained.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is as follows.
A light source, a first cylindrical lens on which the light emitted from the light source is incident, a polygon mirror for scanning the light transmitted through the first cylindrical lens, and a second on which the light scanned by the polygon mirror is incident. Cylindrical lens, an elongated concave cylindrical mirror for deflecting the light transmitted through the second cylindrical lens to the lower scanned sheet, and the concave cylindrical mirror is incident on the vicinity of the end of the concave cylindrical mirror on the scanning start side, and the concave cylindrical mirror Scanning start point detecting means for receiving the light reflected by the first cylindrical lens, the second cylindrical lens and the concave cylindrical mirror constitute a surface tilt correction system, and the scanning start point detecting means , The first cylindrical lens, the polygon mirror, the second Is achieved by the scanning device mounted on the optical surface plate with Lind helical lens and the concave cylindrical mirror. According to the present invention, since the scanning light that has passed through the surface tilt correction optical system is guided to the scanning start point detecting means mounted on the optical surface plate, the scanning start point in the main scanning direction can be detected. It is possible to provide a scanning device that can detect the scanning start point in the main scanning direction at low cost and that is easy to assemble and maintain.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the scanning start point detecting means is incident on the scanning start point detection sensor and the vicinity of the scanning start side end of the concave cylindrical mirror, and is reflected by the concave cylindrical mirror. And a scanning start point detecting mirror for reflecting light toward the scanning start point detecting sensor. According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the scanning light is reflected by the scanning start point detection mirror and guided to the scanning start point detection sensor, so that the reflection angle of the scanning start point detection mirror should be set appropriately. For example, the scanning start point detection sensor can be placed at an arbitrary position, and the scanning device can be made compact.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the scanning start point detection mirror is arranged outside one end in the longitudinal direction of the concave cylindrical mirror, and the scanning start point detection sensor is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the concave cylindrical mirror. It is located outside the other end. According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the scanning light is reflected by a scanning start point detecting mirror disposed outside one end of the concave cylindrical mirror in the longitudinal direction, and the other end of the concave cylindrical mirror in the longitudinal direction is reflected. Since it is guided to the scanning start point detection sensor arranged on the outer side of, the optical path from the concave cylindrical mirror to the scanning start point detection sensor is shortened,
The scanning device can be made compact.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an autoradiographic image reading device 100 including a scanning device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view thereof. The image reading apparatus 100 scans a stimulable phosphor sheet S provided with a stimulable phosphor layer containing a stimulable phosphor on which position information of a radiolabeled substance is recorded, with a laser beam to stimulate the stimulable phosphor. Of the stimulable phosphor and photoelectrically detecting the light emitted from the stimulable phosphor to generate a digital image signal. As shown in FIG. 1, the scanning device of the image reading apparatus 100 according to this embodiment includes a laser light source 1. The laser light 2 emitted from the laser light source 1 has its optical path deflected by the first mirror 3, passes through the filter 4, and is cut off light of an unnecessary wavelength.
After passing through the first beam expander 5 and the second beam expander 6 to be expanded into a predetermined beam diameter, it is incident on the pre-cylindrical lens 7. The laser light passing through the pre-cylindrical lens 7 has its optical path deflected by the second mirror 8 and enters one of the reflecting surfaces of a polygon mirror 9 which is a regular hexagonal polygon mirror.
The polygon mirror 9 is rotated clockwise by the polygon motor 10, and the laser light 2 incident on the reflecting surface 2
Is rotated in the clockwise direction as the polygon mirror 9 rotates, passes through the fθ lens 11 and the concave cylindrical lens 12, and enters the concave cylindrical mirror 13. The laser light is a concave cylindrical mirror 13
As a result, below the scanning optical system, it is deflected downward toward the surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet S which is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction scanned by the laser beam,
The stimulable phosphor layer (not shown) provided on the stimulable phosphor sheet S reaches the surface. As a result, the laser light is scanned in the main scanning direction by the polygon mirror 9, and the stimulable phosphor sheet S is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction. Therefore, the stimulable phosphor layer provided on the stimulable phosphor sheet S is scanned. The surface of
Two-dimensional scanning is performed by the laser light 2.

The fθ lens 11 is a strip-shaped lens 11a.
And a plurality of strip-shaped lenses 11
The second lens group consisting of b and 11c is made up of three elements in two groups. A lens 11a constituting the first lens group,
A first light shielding plate 14 is arranged between the polygon mirrors 9. The first light shielding plate 14 is a polygon mirror 9
Of the laser light reflected by the lens 1 that constitutes the first lens group of the fθ lens 11 without passing through the lens 11a.
The component reflected by the surface 11a ′ of the polygon mirror 9 side of 1a and the surface 11a ″ of the lens 11a of the fθ lens 11 on the lens 11b side that constitutes the second lens group is reflected again by the polygon mirror 9 and is scheduled. No route,
The portion of the stimulable phosphor layer that is to be excited by the components of the laser light by being incident on the surface of the stimulable phosphor layer of the stimulable phosphor sheet S and exciting the stimulable phosphor. Other than that, stimulating stimulus light is emitted, and based on the image data obtained by photoelectrically reading the stimulating stimulus light, when an image is reproduced, the generation of a ghost that occurs in the reproduced image is prevented.
The first light shielding plate 14 is provided with a slit 14a that allows the laser beam 2 scanned by the polygon mirror 9 to pass therethrough. The portions of the first light-shielding plate 14 on both sides of the slit 14a mainly form the first lens group of the fθ lens 11 without passing through the lens 11a in the laser light reflected by the polygon mirror 9. 11a polygon mirror 9
The stray light other than the stray light generated as a result of being reflected by the surface 11a ′ on the side and the surface 11a ″ on the lens 11b side that constitutes the second lens group of the lens 11a of the fθ lens 11 is shielded.

Further, with respect to the scanning direction, the fθ lens 1
The lens 11 constituting the second lens group of the first lens 11a
A second light blocking plate 15 is provided to cover both ends of the b-side surface 11a ″. This second light blocking plate 15 constitutes a second lens group of the laser light reflected by the polygon mirror 9. Surface 11 on the polygon mirror 9 side of the lens 11b of the fθ lens 11 without passing through the lenses 11b and 11c
At b ′, a part of the laser light reflected toward the lens 11a is scattered by the end surface of the lens 11a, and the scattered laser light is stimulated by the stimulable phosphor sheet S through an unscheduled route. Incident on the surface of the stimulable phosphor layer, exciting the stimulable phosphor, as a result, stimulable light is emitted from other than the portion of the stimulable phosphor layer to be excited by the component of the laser light, Based on the image data obtained by photoelectrically reading the stimulated emission, when the image is reproduced, the generation of a ghost that occurs in the reproduced image is prevented. Second light shield 15
Is the polygon mirror 9 of the lens 11b of the fθ lens 11.
Part of the laser light reflected by the side surface 11b ′ is the lens 1
The lens 1 constituting the second group lens of the lens 11a in the scanning direction so that the light does not enter the end surface of the lens 1a.
It covers both ends of the surface on the 1b side. For example, as the second light shield plate 15, the second
It is possible to use a lens having a dimension and shape that cover both ends in the scanning direction of the substantially rectangular surface 11a ″ having a width of about 50 mm on the side of the lens 11b forming the lens group by about 5 mm.

In this scanning device, the so-called surface tilt correction optical system is constituted by the pre-cylindrical lens 7, the fθ lens 11, the concave cylindrical lens 12 and the concave cylindrical mirror 13, and the reproduced image is caused by a scanning line pitch error. It is attempted to prevent unevenness. Each component of the scanning optical system from the laser light source 1 to the concave cylindrical mirror 13 is attached to the optical surface plate 16 so as to be located in the same plane. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a scanning start point detecting mirror 17 is provided on the optical surface plate 16 on the side of the upstream end of the concave cylindrical mirror 13 in the scanning direction.
A scanning start point detection sensor 18 is mounted on the optical surface plate 16 on the side of the end portion on the downstream side with respect to the scanning direction.
The scanning start point detection mirror 17 is arranged at a position where the laser light 2 reflected near the upstream end of the concave cylindrical mirror 13 in the scanning direction is incident, and the laser light 2 scanned by the polygon mirror 9 is reflected by the concave cylindrical mirror 13. When reflected near the upstream end of the mirror 13 in the scanning direction,
The laser light 2 is configured to be reflected toward the scanning start point detection sensor 18 arranged at the downstream end of the concave cylindrical mirror 13 in the scanning direction. Therefore, the scanning start point detection mirror 18 scans the scanning light that has passed through the surface tilt correction optical system composed of the plenary cylindrical lens 7, the fθ lens 11, the concave cylindrical lens 12, and the concave cylindrical mirror 13. Will be led to.

In the scanning start point detecting mirror 17 and the scanning start point detecting sensor 18, the scanning light reflected by the scanning start point detecting mirror 17 is scanned by the scanning start point detecting sensor 18.
Concave cylindrical mirror 13 so as to focus on the above
The optical path length from the vicinity of the upstream end in the scanning direction to the scanning start point detection sensor 18 via the scanning start point detection mirror 17 is from the concave cylindrical mirror 13 to the stimulable phosphor sheet S which is the scanning surface. It is arranged so as to be almost equal to the optical path length. Therefore, the surface tilt correction is effective, the stable scanning start point can be detected even on the scanning start point detection sensor, and the occurrence of unevenness due to the scanning line pitch error can be suppressed. The stimulable phosphor contained in the stimulable phosphor layer (not shown) provided on the stimulable phosphor sheet S is the laser light 2
When it is irradiated with, the energy indicating the positional information of the radio-labeled substance that is excited and accumulated in advance is emitted as stimulated light 19 having a light amount proportional to the intensity of the energy. The photostimulable light 19 is emitted as omnidirectional light from the portion scanned by the laser light 2, and therefore, in order to detect the positional information of the radiolabeled substance with high accuracy, the photostimulable light 19 is emitted from the photostimulable phosphor. It is necessary to efficiently collect the non-directional stimulated stimulating light 19 and photoelectrically detect it. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the light is emitted from the stimulable phosphor by the light collecting guide 20 arranged at a position separated from the surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet S by a predetermined distance. The omnidirectional stimulated stimulating light 19 that has been collected is collected, and a photodetector 21
And is photoelectrically detected.

As shown in FIG. 4, the light collection guide 20.
Exposes the linear end 20b to the scanning portion of the stimulable phosphor layer of the stimulable phosphor sheet S by the laser light 1, and collects the stimulable light 19 emitted from the stimulable phosphor. Then, it is arranged so as to be guided to the photodetector 21 while undergoing total internal reflection. According to this embodiment, the scanning start point detecting mirror 17 and the scanning start point detecting sensor 18 are the optical surface plate 16
The scanning start point detection mirror 17, which is mounted on the upper side, starts scanning the scanning light that has passed through the surface tilt correction optical system configured by the plenary cylindrical lens 7, the fθ lens 11, the concave cylindrical lens 12, and the concave cylindrical mirror 13. Since the light is reflected toward the point detection sensor 18 and is guided to detect the scanning start point, it is not necessary to separately provide a surface tilt correction optical system to detect the scanning start point, and the scanning device is also provided. It is possible to easily assemble and maintain. Further, the scanning light that has passed through the surface tilt correction optical system is reflected by the scanning start point detection mirror 17, and the scanning start point detection sensor 18 is provided.
Therefore, the scanning device can be made compact. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and within the scope of the invention described in the claims,
It goes without saying that various modifications are possible and they are also included in the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the position information of the radioactive labeling substance is stored and recorded in the form of radiation energy on the surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet S provided with the stimulable phosphor layer, and the surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet S is converted into laser. The image is read by scanning with the light 2 and receiving the photostimulable light 19 emitted from the photostimulable phosphor layer, guiding it to the photodetector 21 by the focusing guide 20, and photoelectrically detecting it. However, the present invention is not limited to the autoradiography detection method for reading the positional information of the radiolabeled substance as an image, a chemiluminescence detection method, a radiation diffraction image detection method, a detection method by an electron microscope, a fluorescence image detection method, light, etc. A stimulable phosphor sheet S provided with a stimulable phosphor layer containing a recorded stimulable phosphor is recorded with an electromagnetic wave to scan a radiation or electron beam image in the form of these energies. , It is possible to excite the stimulable phosphor, the stimulated emission released from the stimulable phosphor is condensed and applied to the case where read photoelectrically. Furthermore, not only the photostimulable light emitted from the photostimulable phosphor, but also when scanning a sheet-shaped document with light, when scanning a photographic film with light, and further when proteins, nucleic acid sequences, etc. are fixed. The present invention can also be applied to a fluorescence image detection method in which a polymer is selectively labeled with a fluorescent dye, the labeled polymer is scanned with light, and the emitted fluorescence is detected.

[0016]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a scanning device which can detect the scanning start point in the main scanning direction at low cost and which can be easily assembled and maintained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an autoradiographic image reading apparatus including a scanning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an optical path of the scanning device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing an optical path of the scanning device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a positional relationship between a light collecting guide of an image reading apparatus including a scanning device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a stimulable phosphor sheet.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Laser Light Source 2 Laser Light 3 First Mirror 3 Filter 5 First Beam Expander 6 Second Beam Expander 7 Pre-Cylindrical Lens 8 Second Mirror 9 Polygon Mirror 10 Polygon Motor 11 fθ Lens 12 Concave Cylindrical Lens 13 Concave cylindrical mirror 14 First light-shielding plate 15 Second light-shielding plate 16 Optical surface plate 17 Scanning start point detection folding mirror 18 Scanning start point detection sensor 19 Photostimulated light 20 Focusing guide 21 Photodetector

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A light source, a first cylindrical lens on which the light emitted from the light source is incident, a polygon mirror for scanning the light transmitted through the first cylindrical lens, and a light scanned by the polygon mirror. Is incident on the second cylindrical lens, an elongated concave cylindrical mirror for deflecting the light transmitted through the second cylindrical lens to the lower sheet to be scanned, and incident on the vicinity of the scanning start side end of the concave cylindrical mirror. A scanning start point detecting means for receiving light reflected by the concave cylindrical mirror, and a plane tilt correction system is configured by the first cylindrical lens, the second cylindrical lens and the concave cylindrical mirror, and the scanning is performed. The starting point detecting means includes the first cylindrical lens and the polygon mirror. A scanning device, which is mounted on an optical surface plate together with the second cylindrical lens and the concave cylindrical mirror. 2. The scanning start point detection means detects the scanning start point detection sensor and the light reflected by the concave cylindrical mirror, which is incident near the scanning start side end of the concave cylindrical mirror and is reflected by the concave start cylindrical mirror. The scanning device according to claim 1, further comprising: a scanning start point detecting mirror that reflects toward the output sensor. 3. The scanning start point detecting mirror is arranged outside one end in the longitudinal direction of the concave cylindrical mirror, and the scanning start point detection sensor is outside the other end in the longitudinal direction of the concave cylindrical mirror. The scanning device according to claim 2, wherein the scanning device is arranged in