JPS62184450A - Radiation image information reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the circulation and reuse of sheets efficient by executing the reading and erasing of image information by he same device, quickly carrying an erased sheet to a cassette and reerasing a sheet which is not sufficiently erased. CONSTITUTION:A photographed accumulative fluorescent sheet 1 fetched from the cassette 2 is stored in the 1st stacker 40 and then carried to a reading part 20 to read out an image from the sheet 1. A residual image is erased from the read sheet 1 by an erasing part and the erased sheet is stored in the 2nd stacker. Since the level of residual radiation energy on the sheet 1 is different in accordance with a photographing condition, unsufficiently erased sheets may be mixed in the 2nd stacker. The unsufficiently erased sheet 1 is carried again to the erasing part 30 by a carrying part 51 for erasing. On the other hand, the erased sheet 1 is carried to the empty cassette 2. Consequently, the circulation and reuse of the sheets can be efficiently executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of the Invention) The present invention relates to a radiation image information reading device used in a line image information recording and reproducing system. This relates to a radiation image information reading device that can be used in combination.

(Technical day before the invention and prior art) Copper wires (X-rays, α-rays, β-rays.

Therefore, when irradiated with T-ray, electron beam, ultraviolet ILF), 04
F,! It is known that part of the energy is accumulated in the phosphor, and when this phosphor is irradiated with excitation light such as visible light, the phosphor emits exhaustive light according to the accumulated energy. A phosphor exhibiting such properties is called a stimulable phosphor (stimulable phosphor).

You can use this 〃r bamboo phosphor to photograph subjects such as the human body! The 8-line image information is once recorded on a sheet of stimulable phosphor, and this stimulable phosphor sheet (hereinafter simply referred to as a sheet) is scanned with excitation light such as a laser beam to illuminate the stimulated luminescent light. A radiation image in which the obtained stimulated luminescence light is read photoelectrically to generate an image signal 1:1, and a radiation image of the subject is output as a visible image to a recording material such as a photographic light-sensitive material, a CRT, etc. based on this image signal. Information recording and reproducing systems have already been proposed by the applicant. (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 55i2429, No. 5B-11395, No. 55-163472, No. 56-104645.

No. 55-116340 etc. ) The stimulable phosphor sheet in the above system accumulates and records radiation image information and temporarily carries the recorded image information until it is read by the excitation light scanning, so that reading of the image information is difficult. It is desirable to delete the image information remaining on the sheet and reuse the sheet after the sheet has been used.

Based on these demands, a radiation image information reading device has been proposed, which is equipped with a reading section that reads image information recorded on a sheet, and an erasing section that erases image information remaining on sheets 1 to 1. has been done.

In the radiation image information reading device, a cassette containing a stimulable phosphor sheet that has been imaged by an external imaging device is loaded into the cassette holding section, and the stimulable phosphor sheet is taken out from the cassette. The sheet is sent to a reading section to read the image information, and the sheet that has been read is further sent to an erasing section to erase the image information remaining on the sheet. The sheets that have been erased are taken out of the reading device and are in a state where image information can be recorded again, but these erased sheets are temporarily stored in the stacking tray inside the reading device. Hit and seat 1! Generally, the whole tray that has been scooped out is taken out of the device3.The sheets 1~ accumulated in the accumulation tray need to be stored in the cassette as described above when taking a new image. Therefore, the images must be loaded one by one into the cassette before shooting.

This q-loading is performed using a dedicated loader or manually, but using a dedicated loader increases the cost of the entire system, and manual loading increases the Since the phosphor sheet must be touched directly with the hands, there is an inconvenience in that it is not preferable in terms of handling the sheet.

Therefore, it may be possible to eliminate the need for the sheet taken out from the cassette to be sent to a reading section and an erasing section for reading and erasing, and then to be carried into the cassette again for loading within the apparatus. However, in this case, after one sheet has been read and erased in the device, the device will be occupied exclusively by this sheet until it is returned to the cassette, resulting in a significant reduction in the processing capacity of the device. There is a problem.

On the other hand, in the erasing section, out of the radiation energy accumulated in the stimulable phosphor during imaging with an external imaging device, the residual radiation energy that remains on the sheet even after the reading in the reading section is completed is removed at the next @shading time. It is necessary to emit it to a level that does not cause noise. The level of this residual radiation energy differs for each sheet depending on the conditions at the time of imaging, etc., and the erasing section performs erasing according to the sheet, and even sheets with high residual radiation energy are erased with sufficient amount. You must make sure to erase it. Therefore, for a sheet with a high level of residual radiation energy, it is necessary to increase the amount of erasing energy applied per unit area of the sheet in the erasing section. In order to increase the erasing energy per unit area of the sheet, there are methods such as increasing the irradiation power of the erasing light source when performing optical erasing, and decreasing the speed of sheet conveyance in the erasing section. Adjustment of the erasing light source is troublesome and impractical, and in the case of post-setting, the processing speed of the sheet decreases, making it impossible to process the sheet efficiently, which is undesirable.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems.
After erasing is completed, the device returns the sheets to the cassette in the device, where the sheets from the erasing section are promptly carried into the cassette from which the photographed sheets were taken out, and the sheets are efficiently circulated and reused. erase enough
It is an object of the present invention to provide a radiation image information reading device that is equipped with a mechanism that can perform processing without reducing sheet processing efficiency.

(Structure of the Invention) The radiation image information reading device of the present invention includes the above-mentioned reading section,
a cassette holding section capable of detachably holding a cassette capable of accommodating a stimulable phosphor sheet together with the erasing section, and capable of taking out the sheet stored in the cassette; a stacker capable of receiving the sheets that have been erased in the erasing section and selectively transporting the held sheets one by one; and a stacker that receives the sheets taken out from the cassette of the cassette holding section; conveying the sheet to the reading section and the erasing section, and then conveying the sheet to the stacker,
an erasing conveyor comprising a sheet conveying means for conveying the sheet carried out from the stacker into a cassette held in the cassette holding section, and the sheet conveying means conveys the sheet carried out from the stacker to the erasing section; The apparatus is characterized in that the sheet conveyed from the stacker is distributed and conveyed to either the cassette holding section or the erasing section (11).

That is, in the apparatus of the present invention, when a photographed sheet is taken out from the cassette held by the cassette holding section,
One of the sheets held in the stacker can be selected and carried out and carried into the cassette by the sheet conveying means, so that the cassette into which the sheet has been carried is immediately taken out from the cassette holding section. It can be sent to an external contouring device and a new image taken. Therefore, there is no need to load sheets outside the apparatus, and efficient sheet circulation and reuse is realized. In addition, even when cassettes holding sheets of various sizes are loaded into the cassette holding section, the stacker can be made to hold sheets of various sizes in advance, and the stacker can be loaded in accordance with the cassettes held in the cassette holding section. You can select a sheet of different size and load it into the cassette.
Even when there are a plurality of sheet sizes, it is possible to efficiently circulate and reuse sheets without any problem.

Further, in the apparatus of the present invention, the sheet that has been erased in the erasing section is temporarily held in the stacker, and the sheet conveying means has an erasing conveyance section that conveys the sheet carried out from the stacker to the erasing section. After reading, each sheet is passed through the erasing unit at a constant speed and transported to the stacker, regardless of the amount of radiation energy remaining on the sheet, and the erasure is insufficient when there is time. It is possible to take out only the blank sheet and send it again to the erasing section by the erasing conveyance section to perform erasing again. Therefore, according to the present apparatus, sufficient erasure can be performed according to the amount of radiation energy remaining on the sheet without slowing down the processing speed of the entire sheet.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, an actual mgIA embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an outline of a radiation image information reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The reading device of the present invention includes a cassette holding section 10 that removably holds a cassette 2 that can accommodate a stimulable phosphor sheet (hereinafter simply referred to as a sheet) 1, and a reader that reads image information stored and recorded on the sheet. section 20, and an erasing section 30 for erasing image information remaining on the sheet after reading is completed, and the cassette 2 in which the sheet 1 held internally was photographed in an external imaging device (not shown) is removed from the cassette holding section. 10 is loaded. This cassette 2 has a light-shielding property to prevent the sheet from being exposed to external light when recording (photographing) image information by irradiating the sheet with radiation. As shown in the figure, a lid portion 2a having a capacity of 171]m is formed. This lid part 2a is opened when the cassette 2 is loaded into the cassette holding part 10, but when the loading of the cassette 2 is finished, it opens upward as shown in the figure, and the end of the sheet 1 inside is opened. to expose.

Near the tip of the cassette 2 held in the cassette holder 10, a transport roller 11, which is movable in the direction of arrow B, is provided as a sheet removal means.

When the lid 2a of the cassette 2 is opened, the conveyance roller 11 moves to the position shown by the solid line in the figure, rotates while pressing the sheet 1 against the lower inner wall surface of the cassette 2, and takes the sheet 1 out of the cassette 2. The sheet 1 is held in the cassette 2 so that the front surface on which the stimulable phosphor layer is formed faces downward.

The illustrated reading device includes a sheet conveying means 50 consisting of an endless belt, a roller, a guide plate, etc., which receives the sheet 1 taken out from the cassette 2 as described above and conveys it to the reading section 20 and the erasing section 30 in this order. The sheet 1 taken out by the conveyance roller 11 is conveyed in the direction of arrow Δ1 by the sheet conveyance means 50. In the conveying direction of the sheet 1, there is a first roller which is part of the sheet conveying means 50 and moves in the direction of arrow 01 so as to assume a first position indicated by a dashed line in the figure and a second position indicated by a solid line in the figure.
A movable conveyance section 51 is provided, and the sheet 1 conveyed in the direction of arrow Ar is moved to the movable conveyance section 5 at the first position.
1, it is transported in the direction of arrow A2. When the leading edge of the sheet 1 conveyed in the direction of arrow A2 is gripped by the roller 52 at the end of the movable conveyance section 51, the movable conveyance section 51
The sheet 1 is moved to the position indicated by the arrow A3 by switchback.

The sheet 1 is further conveyed in the direction of arrow A4 by a sheet conveying means 50, and is transported to a first stacker 4 provided in the conveying path.
0.

That is, in the apparatus of the present 1M embodiment, a plurality of trays 41 for storing sheets one by one are provided between the cassette holding section 10 and the reading section 20 of the sheet conveying means 50,
A first stacker 40 is provided to temporarily accommodate the sheets 1 carried out from the cassette holding section 10. This first stacker 40 has the same structure as the second stacker which will be described in detail later, and as mentioned above, the sheets 1 fed in the direction of arrow A4 are transferred to each tray of the stacker 40 which is movable in the direction of the arrow. 41. The upper end of the tray 41 into which the sheet 1 is carried is expanded, and is closed again when the sheet is carried in. Furthermore, when carrying out sheets from the first stacker 40, the stacker moves in the direction of the arrow, and transfers a predetermined tray 41 holding the sheet to be carried out to a conveyance roller 53A provided below the stacker. , 53B, the lower end of the tray 41 is opened, and the sheet 1 is passed to the conveying rollers 53A, 53B. The sheet 1 is further conveyed in the direction of arrow As by the sheet conveying means 50 and carried into the reading section 20 .

The reading unit 20 scans the sheet 1 on which image information is accumulated and recorded with an excitation light 21 such as a laser beam, and converts the stimulated luminescence light emitted from the sheet 1 during the scanning into a photoelectric device such as a photomultiplier. The reading means 22 photoelectrically reads the image to obtain an electrical image signal for outputting a visible image. In the figure, 23 is an excitation light source, 24 is a light deflector such as a galvanometer mirror, and 26 is a light guide 22a of photoelectric reading means for detecting the stimulated luminescence light emitted from the sheet 1 (the light guide 22a totally reflects the stimulated luminescence light). This is a reflecting mirror that reflects the light toward a photodetector 22b such as a photomultiplier.

The sheet 1 carried into the reading section 20 is transferred to the sheet conveying means 50
The entire surface of the sheet is two-dimensionally scanned by the excitation light 21 which is conveyed in six directions in the direction of the arrow and deflected substantially perpendicularly to this conveyance direction to generate stimulated luminescence light, and this stimulated luminescence light is The image information is detected by the photodetector 22b via the guide 22a, and the image information is read.

In addition, when reading radiation image information, reading to obtain image signals for visible image output as explained above (main reading)
Prior to this, pre-reading is performed to read the outline of the radiographic image information stored and recorded on the sheet 1, and based on the image information obtained by this pre-reading, the reading conditions etc. for performing the main reading are determined. A method of performing the main reading according to reading conditions is known.

As a method of performing f-ahead reading in this way, for example, the sheet 1 is scanned using excitation light with an energy lower than that of the excitation light used for the above-mentioned main reading, and the stimulated luminescence light emitted by this scanning is also photoelectrically read. There are methods of reading by means (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-67240).

The reading section in the present invention may be a section that performs only main reading as described above, or a section that performs both main reading and pre-reading. For example, sheet 1 is conveyed in the direction of arrow A6 and pre-reading is performed first, and then the sheet is switched back to the direction indicated by arrow A6.
Move backward in the y force direction, return to the reading n starting position, and move to the arrow G again.
It is only necessary to convey the paper in the direction of the paper and perform the main reading. Note that the optical members disposed in the reading section are not limited to those described above; for example, as a photoelectric reading means, a long photomultiplier is arranged along the main scanning line, and a light guide sheet 22a is used. Detection of stimulated luminescence light may also be performed without using the method.

Reading the image information in the reading section 20 takes a relatively long time, but since the apparatus of this embodiment is provided with the first stacker 40 as described above,
Even while a single sheet is being read, the sheets 1 whose outlines have been completed can be sequentially carried into the stacker 40, and the sheets 1 can be processed extremely efficiently.

Further, it is also possible to preferentially send a specific sheet among the sheets 1 stored in the stacker 40 to the reading section for reading. Note that the cassette 2 containing a new sheet is always loaded into the cassette holding section 10 after the reading of one sheet is completed in the reading section 20, and the sheet taken out from the cassette 2 is sent to the reading section 20. If there is no need to wait in advance, the first stacker 40 does not necessarily need to have a set number.

As mentioned above, the sheet 1 whose image information has been read in the reading section 20 is moved to the arrow 8 by the sheet conveying means 50.
~A# direction and is transported toward the erasing section 30.

The erasing section 30 is for erasing the radiation image information remaining on the sheet 1 after the reading is completed (for emitting the radiation energy remaining in the stimulable phosphor). That is, the radiation image information accumulated and recorded on sheet 1 is
After reading, some of the image information still remains on the sheet, and in order to reuse the sheet 1, this residual image information is erased in the primary erasing section 30. The erasing section 30 is provided with an erasing light source 3 such as a fluorescent lamp, a tungsten lamp, a sodium lamp, a xenon lamp, an iodine lamp, etc., and the sheet 1 is irradiated with light by these erasing light sources 31 while being conveyed in the direction of arrow A11. The remaining radiation energy on the sheet is then released.

Note that the method of erasing the sheet 1 in the erasing section 30 is not limited to the above-mentioned light irradiation, but it is also possible to use a method such as erasing by heating or a combination of light irradiation and heating.

There are cases where sheets with different levels of residual radiation energy after reading are conveyed to the erasing section 30 depending on imaging conditions, etc.; however, in this erasing section 30,
All sheets are transported at a constant speed by the sheet transport means 50. Therefore, sheets with a relatively low level of residual radiation energy are sufficiently erased, but sheets with a relatively high level of residual radiation energy are carried out of the erasing section 30 with some of the radiation energy remaining.

The sheet 1 that has been erased in the erasing section 30 as described above is indicated by the arrow A! The paper is transported in the direction from t to A, and loaded into the second stacker 100 provided in the transport direction. The second stacker 100 has the same structure as the first stacker described above, and includes a plurality of trays 103 and moves in the direction of arrow E to receive the sheet 1 in any one of the trays 103. It is.

A plurality of sheets are already held in the second stacker 100 before this sheet 1 is carried in. Hereinafter, the details of the structure and function of the second stacker 100 will be explained with reference to the drawings from FIG. 1 onwards.

As shown in FIG. 2, the second stacker 100 includes four
A plurality of trays 103 each capable of holding one sheet 1 are held in parallel at equal intervals in a housing 102 consisting of two side walls.
are each tilted diagonally upward. Tray 1
03 is each composed of a support plate 103A and a bottom plate 103B that is substantially perpendicular to the support plate 103A, and the sheet accommodating portion 101 is formed by the space formed by the support plate 103A and the bottom plate 103B. Note that this support plate 10
As will be described in detail later, the right end of the tray 3A is inclined so that the width becomes narrower toward the top so that the spacing between the trays can be widened by the guide member 110. These trays 1
A pinion 105 engages with a rack 104 installed on one side wall of the housing 102, and the pinion 105 is driven and rotated by a motor 106. The attached wheels 107 move on the rails 108 in the direction of the arrow. The position of each tray 103 shown in FIG.
is the position when it is closest to the right side, and each tray 103 is accommodated in the housing 102 and can move to the position shown by the dashed line in the figure. As described above, the housing 102
1 and 2 by moving in the direction of arrow E.
As shown in the figure, a tray 103 is located below the carry-in rows 554A and 54B that carry the sheets 1 into the stacker 100.
The conveying rollers 54A and 5413 carry the sheet 1 into the tray 103 located below the conveying rollers 54A and 54B. Sheet 1 is loaded onto the carry-in rollers 53A, 5
3B, the sheet 1 falls along the support plate 103A of the tray 103 and is received in the tray 103, as shown in FIG. A cushioning material 109 is attached.

In addition, the tray 103 that receives the sheet 1 is
In order to facilitate the loading of trays 103, the inclination is changed to widen the distance between adjacent trays 103, as shown in FIG. In order to displace the tray 103, a guide member 110 is provided on the side of the housing 102. This guide member 110 has a wedge shape that gradually increases in thickness toward the top, and has a chamfered portion 110a at the lower end, and is in contact with the inclined right end of the support plate 103A of the tray 103 that receives the sheet 1. Contact sheet storage section 101
The sheet accommodating portion 101 is expanded by being inserted therein.

Further, since sheets of various sizes can be carried into the tray 103, the guide member 110 also positions the sheets within the tray 103 according to the size of the sheets to be carried. Hereinafter, the drive mechanism of the guide member 110 and its operation will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the tray 103 and the guide member 110 viewed from a direction parallel to the direction of arrow E, which is the moving direction of the housing 102.

The guide member 110 is rotatably supported at the center part 112a on the upper part of the support member 110b, and has a swing arm in which a long hole 112b provided at one end engages with a bin 111a provided on the rotary plate 111. The other end 112C of 112 is attached to the lower part of the support member 110b.
The other end 113b of the link member 113 is rotatably supported at 3a. The rotating plate 111 is rotated in the direction of arrow F by a driving means (not shown) such as a motor, and when the housing 102 moves as described above, the tray 103 is rotated as shown in FIG. It is in a retreated position from above.

Next, when the housing 102 stops at the sheet 1 loading position and the tray 103 into which the sheet 1 is loaded is positioned on the side of the guide member 110, the rotary plate 111 moves counterclockwise (in the direction of arrow F) to a predetermined position. The guide member 110 presses the tray 103 and expands the sheet storage section 101 while moving the fourth sheet to the fourth sheet.
It reaches the position shown in Figure (b). At the position shown in FIG. 4(b), the guide member 110 presses the tray 103 to widen the distance between the trays 103 and adjacent trays, thereby facilitating the loading of the sheets 1 and regulating the position of the sheets 1 being loaded. . That is, the side surface 110C of the guide member 110 contacts the side edge of the sheet 1 to regulate the position of the sheet 1 in the width direction according to the size of the sheet 1 to be carried in, and the rise of the sheet 1 is relatively large. In this case, a guide member 110
is stopped at the position shown in FIG. 4(,b), but if the size of the sheet 1 to be carried in is relatively small, it is stopped deeper inside the tray 103 as shown in FIG. 4(C). Enter and stop. The sheet 1 is carried into the tray 103 where the distance between adjacent trays is widened by the guide member 110, and the carried sheet 1 is guided into the tray 103 along the side surface 110C of the guide member. At the same time, its location is also regulated.

When the sheet 1 is carried into the tray 103 as described above, the guide member 110 returns to the position shown in FIG. 4(a) as the rotating plate 111 rotates clockwise.
The tray 103 carrying the sheet 1 returns to a state parallel to the adjacent tray 103 again.

The sheet 1 that has been erased is carried into the stacker 100 as described above, but the sheets accommodated in each tray 103 in the stacker 100 are selected one by one and carried out of the stacker 100, and placed in the cassette. It is transported into an empty cassette 2 held in the holding section 10. The sheets are carried into the cassette 2 by the stacker 10.
A sheet suitable for the cassette 2 is selected from among the sheets stored in the cassette 2, and immediately after the aforementioned sheet is taken out from the cassette 2. Stacker 100
As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of conveying rollers 55A and 55B are provided at the lower end of the stacker 100 to receive the sheet 1 discharged from the stacker 100 and convey it to the outside of the stacker 100. 1 is moved in the direction of the arrow so that it is positioned above the conveyance rollers 55A, 55B. The discharge of the sheet 1 from the stacker 100 after the positioning of the housing 102 is completed will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

The bottom plate 103B of the tray 103 is connected to the support plate 103A by a spring 114, and is normally positioned substantially perpendicular to the support plate 103A. Furthermore, a protrusion 103b is formed at the side end of the bottom plate 103B. The conveyance rollers 55A, 5
5B, there is a lever 115 that has a protrusion 115a and is rotated in the direction of arrow G by a drive means 116 such as a rotary solenoid. 115 protrusions 115
a engages with the protrusion 103b, and the lever 115 moves in the direction of arrow G.
By rotating the bottom plate 103B in the direction of the spring 11
4 and rotate it in the direction of arrow G while extending the bottom plate 103B.
is moved onto substantially the same plane as the support plate 103A, as shown by the broken line in FIG. When the bottom plate 103B rotates to the above position, the sheet 1 in the tray 103 falls due to its own weight, and the sheet 1 falls to the conveyance roller 55A.

55B grips the leading end of the falling sheet 1 and conveys the sheet 1 to the outside of the stacker 100. Stacker 10 for sheet 1
When the unloading from 0 is completed, the lever 115 returns to the position shown in the figure, and the bottom plate 103B returns to the position not shown by the solid line in the figure due to the return force of the spring 114.

The sheet 1 discharged from the second stacker 100 is moved by the sheet conveying means 50 as shown in FIG.
An auxiliary erasing unit 6 that is transported in the & direction and provided in the transport path
Pass through 0. the second stacker i o o hs
The sheet 1 carried out from the stacker 100 is stored in the stacker 100 for a long time and is erased in the erasing section 30 (primary erasing).
In many cases, a long period of time has passed since the sheet 1 was exposed to radiation, so the auxiliary erasing unit 60 performs erasure (secondary erasure) in which the sheet 1 releases the radiation energy accumulated while it was stored in the stacker 100. ) is now being carried out. In other words, the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 is
- Even after mouth erasing, after a certain period of time, radiation emitted from radioactive isotopes such as Ra and Radiation energy may be accumulated due to environmental radiation such as X-rays, and this radiation energy may become noise in the next photographed image.In order to prevent the generation of this noise, the sheet 1 is The sheet 1 is erased by releasing the radiation energy accumulated in the sheet during the waiting time in the stacker 100.In the apparatus of this embodiment,
The erasing light source of the auxiliary erasing section 60 is the same as the erasing light source 3 of the erasing section 30, and by doing so, the apparatus can be made more compact.

The sheet 1 that has undergone secondary erasure in the auxiliary erasing section 60 as described above is conveyed in the direction of the arrow A1 and force, and is carried into the empty cassette 2 held in the cassette holding section 10. When the sheet 1 is carried into the cassette 2, the conveyance roller 11 is at the position shown by the solid line, and rotates in the opposite direction to the direction of rotation when the sheet 1 is carried out from the cassette 2. be brought inside. The sheet 1 carried into the cassette 2 in this manner can be taken out of the apparatus while being held within the cassette 2 and can be immediately photographed.

As described above, the apparatus of this embodiment is capable of holding a plurality of sheets, and includes a second stacker that receives sheets that have been erased, selects and transports them one by one, and has a sheet conveying means. , a reading section 20 and an erasing section 30 receive the sheet from the cassette containing the photographed sheet.
After being conveyed to the second stacker 100, the sheet 1 is carried into the stacker 100, and the sheets 1 are selected and taken out one by one from the second stacker 100, and then carried into the cassette 2 in the cassette holding section 10. Immediately after the sheet 1 is taken out from the cassette 2 in the cassette holding section 10, another sheet can be taken out from the stacker 100 and carried into the cassette 2. Therefore, after a cassette holding a photographed sheet is loaded into the cassette holder 10, the cassette 2 carrying a new sheet is taken out from the cassette holder 10 within a short time and carried to an external photographing device. You can take pictures. Furthermore, even if the size of the sheets held in the cassettes 2 differs from cassette to cassette, various sheets are held in the stacker 100 in advance, and the size of the sheets loaded in the cassette holding section is adjusted accordingly. Since it is only necessary to select a sheet from among the 100 sheets and carry it out, the sheet can be efficiently circulated and reused regardless of the size of the sheet. Note that in order to hold various sheets in the stacker 100 in advance, it is necessary to hold the stacker 100 for a while after starting to use the device.
stacker 1 without taking out sheets from stacker 100.
The sheets may be collected in the stacker 00, or unused sheets of various sizes may be stored in the stacker before the apparatus starts to be used. Note that in order to take out sheets of a desired size from the stacker 100 according to the cassettes loaded in the cassette holding section 10, the sizes of the sheets stored in each tray 103 of the stacker 100 are memorized, and the cassettes are A control means is required to control the operation of selecting and taking out a sheet of a desired size according to the cassette loaded in the holding section 10,
The apparatus of this embodiment has the above-mentioned 11 above the reading section 20.
A control section 70 that performs one control is provided. Note that each tray in the stacker 100 may have a predetermined size of sheets to be stored, or may sequentially store sheets regardless of the size of the sheets. Also, in the stacker 100, there is an erasing section 3 as described above.
0, there are sheets that have been sufficiently erased and sheets that have not been sufficiently erased, and the control section 70 also stores the erasure state of each sheet and transfers only the sheets that have been sufficiently erased to the cassette 2. 1.13 control will be carried out to ensure the delivery.

By the way, the insufficiently erased sheets once carried into the second stacker 100 are conveyed to the erasing section 30 again to be erased when the erasing section 30 becomes empty. Reference numeral 50 serves as an erasing transport section that directly transports sheets discharged from the stacker 100 to the erasing section.

Hereinafter, erasing of a sheet using the erasing transport section will be described with reference to FIG. 6, which is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1.

The level of radiation energy remaining on the sheet even after reading is completed depends on the amount of radiation energy accumulated on the sheet at the time of imaging, assuming the reading conditions are approximately constant. Therefore, by knowing the imaging conditions such as the area to be imaged and the imaging method for each sheet, the level of residual radiation energy can be predicted. In addition to knowing the imaging conditions, it is also possible to predict the level of residual radiation energy based on the image information obtained by the above-mentioned pre-reading.

A sheet that is determined to have a high level of residual radiation energy by any of the above methods is read and erased for the first time in the erasing section 30, and then transported to the second stacker 100 for a convenient time. Stacker 1 at a good time
00 and sent to the erasing unit 30 again.

In other words, the erased data ejected from the stacker 100
After the blank sheet 1 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow A st within the auxiliary erasing section 60 (at this time, the erasing light source 3 may be turned on or off), it is placed at the position shown by the broken line in the figure. certain second
is transported in the direction of arrow A1τ by the moving transport section 56.

If the transported sheet is to be carried into the cassette 2, the second movable transport section 56 is moved by the roller 5G.
The O-ra 56A protrudes outward and takes the first position shown by the solid line in the figure, but when the sheet is to be sent to the erasing section 30, the O-ra 56A retreats and takes the second position shown by the broken line. Further, when the second movable conveyance means 5G takes the second position, the first movable conveyance section 51 described above moves and the roller 51A moves toward the arrow C2.
direction, the first and second positions (indicated by a solid line and a dashed-dotted line in FIG. It is in contact with the moving transport i56.

In this embodiment, the second movable conveyance section 56 at the second position and the first movable conveyance section 51 at the third position constitute an erasing conveyance section. The sheet 1 is transported in the directions of arrows Att and At8 by this erasing transport section,
Further, the sheet is conveyed in the direction of arrow A14 by the sheet conveying means 50 and sent to the erasing section 30.

When the second erasing is completed in the erasing section 30, the sheet is carried into the second stacker 100 by the sheet conveying means 50 in the same way as after the first erasing is completed.

It goes without saying that if erasing is still insufficient even after two erasing operations, the sheet may be passed through the erasing unit 30 two or more times.

As described above, in the apparatus J3 of this embodiment, since the stacker 100 is provided, all the sheets that have been erased for the first time in the erasing unit 30 are stored in the one-loss stacker 100, thereby saving time. In addition to being able to take out only the sheets that are not sufficiently erased one by one when the sheet is erased, the provision of an erasing transport section allows the taken out sheets to be immediately sent to the erasing section for subsequent erasing. be able to. Therefore, when performing the first erasing in the erasing section, all sheets are conveyed at a speed that matches the sheet with a low level of residual emitted t141m energy so as not to reduce the processing speed of the entire sheet.
In addition, all sheets can be erased sufficiently according to the residual radiation energy level of the sheet.

In addition to erasing the residual radiation energy of the sheet,
If all the sheets stored in the stacker 10o are sent to the erasing section 30 by the erasing transport section after a certain period of time has passed since they were accommodated in the stacker 100,
Secondary erasing can be performed periodically, and the auxiliary erasing section 60
It is also possible to exclude

(Effects of the Invention) As described above in detail, the radiation image information reading device of the present invention includes the stacker that can hold a plurality of sheets, so that when a photographed sheet is taken out from the cassette, the stacker Since one sheet can be selected and taken out and carried into the cassette, the cassette containing the sheet can be immediately sent to the photographing device to take a new photograph. Therefore, there is no need to load sheets outside the apparatus, and the sheets can be efficiently circulated and reused. Also, when cassettes holding sheets of various sizes are loaded into the cassette holding section, sheets of various sizes are held in the stacker in advance, and the force of holding sheets in the cassette holding section is adjusted. Since a sheet of a size corresponding to the C tray can be selected and carried into the cassette, even when there are multiple sheet sizes, it is possible to efficiently circulate and reuse the sheets without any problem.

Further, according to the apparatus of the present invention, the sheet t, which has been erased in the erasing section, is temporarily held in the stacker, and the sheet conveying means includes an erasing conveying section that conveys the sheet carried out from the stacker to the erasing section. By having
After reading, regardless of the amount of radiation energy remaining on the sheet, each sheet is passed through the erasing section at a constant speed and delivered to the stacker, and when there is time, only the sheets that have not been sufficiently erased can be removed. The data can be taken out and sent to the erasing section again by the erasing transport section to be erased again. Therefore, according to the present apparatus, sufficient erasing can be performed according to the amount of radiation energy remaining on the sheet without slowing down the processing speed of the entire sheet.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a radiation image information reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the device without showing the second stacker structure, and FIG. 3 is a sheet of the tray of the stacker. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the function of the guide member of the stacker, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the ejecting mechanism without taking out sheets from the stacker, and FIG. 6 is a side view showing the state at the time of delivery. 2 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1. FIG. 1...Stormable phosphor sheet 2...Cassette 10.
...Cassette holding section 20...Reading section 30.
...Sheet conveyance means 51...First movable conveyance section 56...Second movable conveyance section 100...Second stacker Revision 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A reading unit that reads radiation image information stored and recorded on a stimulable phosphor sheet; an erasing unit that erases radiation image information remaining on the sheet after reading has been completed; and a storage unit that accommodates the sheet. Holds a detachable cassette,
a cassette holding section capable of taking out the sheets stored in the cassette; a cassette holding section capable of holding a plurality of sheets; receiving the sheet that has been erased in the erasing section; a stacker capable of selectively transporting sheets one by one; and a cassette holding unit that receives sheets taken out from the cassette, transports them to the reading unit and the erasing unit, and then transports the sheets to the stacker. With,
an erasing conveyor comprising a sheet conveying means for conveying the sheet carried out from the stacker into a cassette held in the cassette holding section, the sheet conveying means conveying the sheet carried out from the stacker to the erasing section; What is claimed is: 1. A radiographic image information reading apparatus, comprising: a radiation image information reading apparatus, wherein the sheet carried out from the stacker is distributed and conveyed to either the cassette holding section or the erasing section.