JPS62193358A - Light beam scanner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To read or record image information more accurately and smoothly by sliding and separating freely a nip roll on and from a driving roll and giving pre-rotation when the nip roll will be slid on the driving roll. CONSTITUTION:When a storage type phosphor sheet A carried by a pair of rollers 26 is transported by a prescribed distance, an arm 42 is displaced by the action of a motor 62 to press a rotating nip roll 50 against the front end part of the storage type phosphor sheet A. That is, the storage type phosphor sheet A is positioned and carried easily and surely without giving a shock especially even if the sheet is scanned with laser light. Since the nip roller 50 is rotated preliminarily, the storage type phosphor sheet A is led to the smooth transporting operation in the state where the shock is reduced as much as possible under the buffering action of a coiled spring 60 even if the front end part of the storage type phosphor sheet A is brought into contact with the surface of the nip roll 50.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a light beam scanning device that scans a sheet-shaped object to be scanned with a light beam, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a light beam scanning device that scans a sheet-shaped object to be scanned with a light beam. When scanning and reading by irradiating a light beam such as light, or
When recording image information on the photographic material by irradiating the photographic material with a light beam, the stimulable phosphor sheet or the photographic material is transported smoothly without causing impact or the like. The present invention relates to a light beam scanning device that makes it possible to read or record image information by ensuring accurate irradiation of a light beam.

Recently, a radiographic image recording and reproducing system that obtains a radiographic image of a subject using a stimulable phosphor has been attracting attention. Here, stimulable fluorophores (ff) extrinsic fluorophores are radiation (X-rays,
When irradiated with alpha rays, beta rays, gamma rays, electron beams, ultraviolet rays, etc.
A phosphor that accumulates a portion of this radiation energy and then emits stimulated luminescent light according to the accumulated energy by irradiating it with excitation light such as visible light.

The radiation image recording and reproducing system described above utilizes this stimulable phosphor, and once the radiation image information of a subject such as a human body is recorded on a sheet (hereinafter referred to as "
This stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned with excitation light such as a laser beam to generate stimulated luminescent light, and the stimulated luminescent light is is read photoelectrically to obtain an electrical signal, and based on this electrical signal, the radiation image of the subject is recorded on a recording material such as a photographic light-sensitive material,
Alternatively, it is outputted as a visible image on a display device such as a CRT.

Therefore, in such a radiation image recording and reproducing system, the image reading device that reads the recorded radiation image from the stimulable phosphor sheet specifically uses the following method when reading the image. ing. That is, a stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned two-dimensionally with a light beam such as a laser beam, and the spontaneously emitted stimulated luminescence light is detected in time series with a photodetector such as a photomultiplier to obtain image information. I am getting . The two-dimensional scanning of the light beam is usually carried out by transporting the stimulable phosphor sheet in a -dimensional manner using a belt conveyor, etc., thereby performing sub-scanning and substantially orthogonal to the transport direction of the phosphor sheet. This is achieved by deflecting the light beam in the direction of main scanning.

The image information obtained as described above is then sent to an image recording device.

When recording an image, a photosensitive material, which is a recording material, is irradiated with laser light modulated based on the image information obtained from a stimulable phosphor sheet, so as to record a predetermined image on the photosensitive material. It is configured. After the photographic light-sensitive material on which the new image has been recorded is subjected to development processing, it is stored at a predetermined location and used for medical diagnosis, etc., as necessary.

Incidentally, in an image reading device, the stimulable phosphor sheet conveyed by a belt conveyor must be firmly positioned on the belt conveyor. That is, if the stimulable phosphor sheet moves on the belt conveyor during scanning, the irradiation position of the light beam on the stimulable phosphor sheet shifts from the desired position, and as a result, the belt conveyor moves as described above. If the laser beam continues to scan the stimulable phosphor sheet that has been displaced, the resulting image information will be inaccurate. In other words, it is no longer possible to obtain accurate radiation image information from the stimulable phosphor sheet that has caused the positional shift, and therefore, if the subject is a patient, there is a possibility of making a medical diagnosis error, etc. to expose.

Conventionally, therefore, a suction box, for example, has been used to prevent the stimulable phosphor sheet from being displaced with respect to the belt conveyor during scanning. That is, the suction box is disposed in a space of an endless belt conveyor, and the belt conveyor is provided with a plurality of suction holes. When the stimulable phosphor sheet is conveyed to the belt conveyor, a vacuum generator connected to the suction box starts suction, and the stimulable phosphor sheet is suctioned onto the belt conveyor. It is positioned and fixed on the belt and is transported as the belt conveyor is displaced in the sub-scanning direction.

However, in this type of conventional technology, since the suction box is used as described above, the mechanism is complicated and large, and the vacuum generator that sucks the sheet through the suction box and this device are required. A control system is required to drive and control the Moreover, the means for positioning and transporting such a stimulable phosphor sheet is quite expensive, and the cost of the entire radiation image recording and reproducing system also rises considerably.

Furthermore, in order to suitably adsorb the stimulable phosphor sheet onto the belt conveyor, it is necessary to provide a conveyance path for conveying the stimulable phosphor sheet in parallel to the belt conveyor. Therefore, the radiation image recording and reproducing system itself becomes larger. For this reason, particularly when the system is placed in a hospital or the like, there is a drawback that it is difficult to effectively utilize a narrow room.

On the other hand, an image recording apparatus performs main scanning by deflecting and irradiating a photosensitive material with a modulated laser beam. Sub-scanning is performed by holding the paper between a pair of rollers and conveying it in a direction substantially perpendicular to the main-scanning direction.

However, in this case, when transporting the photographic light-sensitive material, load fluctuations may occur in a rotary drive source, such as a motor, which rotationally drives the drum, and the photographic light-sensitive material may not be subjected to suitable sub-scanning. .

Therefore, conventionally, support stands are provided before and after the drum in the sub-scanning direction to minimize load fluctuations on the motor during sub-scanning. Therefore, it is necessary to provide support stands having a length equal to or longer than the length of the photosensitive material being conveyed in the sub-scanning direction at least in front of and behind the drum, which increases the size of the image recording apparatus itself. The shortcomings that can occur are exposed. Further, in order to stably transport the photosensitive material, the drum has a width larger than the width of the photosensitive material, and a motor for rotating the drum is provided in the width direction of the drum. Therefore, the image recording device has no choice but to extend largely in the main scanning direction.

Furthermore, in order to perform highly accurate scanning of photographic materials,
It is necessary to strictly control the motor to convey the photosensitive material at a constant speed in the correct direction with high precision, and since high-precision motors that can be controlled as described above are expensive, There is also the problem that the cost increases significantly. In addition, in order to stably convey the photographic material, it is essential to provide a pair of rollers that come into sliding contact with the drum. Scanning cannot be performed at both ends in the scanning direction, for example, a black frame around the image, so-called
This causes the inconvenience of not being able to meet the demand for black edges.

In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings in conventional image reading devices and image recording devices, the applicant of the present application performed main scanning by irradiating a sheet-shaped object to be scanned with a light beam deflected in a one-dimensional direction. In a light beam scanning device that performs sub-scanning by transporting the object to be scanned in a direction substantially perpendicular to the main scanning direction and scans the object to be scanned two-dimensionally, a pair of light beam scanners that sandwich and convey the object to be scanned Two sets of rollers are arranged at an interval shorter than the length of the object to be scanned in the conveyance direction, and the two pairs of rollers are rotated synchronously to perform sub-scanning, and deflection is performed between the pair of rollers. The patent application No. 60-234182 has been filed for a light beam scanning device characterized in that it is configured to perform main scanning by irradiating a light beam that is emitted by the user.

The present invention relates to the above-mentioned invention "light beam scanning device"
In particular, the load fluctuation caused when the object to be scanned is held between a pair of rollers is reduced as much as possible, and for this reason, the conveyance of the object to be scanned in the sub-scanning direction is improved. It is an object of the present invention to provide a light beam scanning device that can read or record image information more accurately and smoothly without causing unevenness.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes two pairs of rollers, each consisting of a drive roller and a nip roller, which nip and convey a sheet-like object to be scanned, and are arranged at an interval shorter than the length of the object to be scanned in the conveying direction. The two pairs of rollers perform transport in the sub-scanning direction, and main scanning is performed by irradiating a light beam deflected in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sub-scanning transport direction between the pair of rollers. In the light beam scanning device that scans the object to be scanned two-dimensionally, a nip roller constituting at least a pair of rollers on the downstream side in the sub-scanning direction of the two roller pairs is configured to be able to slide into and away from the drive roller. In addition, when the 2.7 propeller is brought into sliding contact with the drive roller, it is characterized in that it is configured to give a pre-rotation.

Next, preferred embodiments of the light beam scanning device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 designates a radiation image recording and reading device incorporating a light beam scanning device according to the present invention. A supply magazine 14 for supplying a stimulable phosphor sheet as an image recording carrier is mounted inside a chamber 12 defined in the image recording/reading device 10, and generally, this supply magazine 14 Inside, stimulable phosphor sheets A on which radiation images have been stored and recorded are stored in a stacked manner. A single wafer mechanism including a suction cup 16 connected to a vacuum generator (not shown) is provided in the chamber 12 in the vicinity of the supply magazine 14 . Further, below this suction cup 16, an endless first conveyor belt 18 is provided for conveying the stimulable phosphor sheet A toward an image reading section, which will be described later.

The first conveyor belt 18 extends vertically downward and is bent at a lower corner of the image recording/reading device 10 so as to be oriented in the horizontal direction. rollers 20a to 20d are provided. Furthermore, a large-diameter roller 22 is disposed at the lower bent portion of the conveyor belt 18 .

Therefore, a sub-scanning conveyance mechanism 24 is provided at a slight distance from the terminal end of the first conveyor belt 18.゛The sub-scanning conveyance mechanism 24 includes a drive roller 26A and a nip roller 26B.
and a drive roller 28, and a roller pair 27 consisting of a nip roller 50.
A guide member 30 for holding the stimulable phosphor sheet A being conveyed and a guide member 32 spaced apart from the guide member 30 by a predetermined distance are disposed between the roller pair 27 and the guide member 30. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, a relatively short transmission roller 34 is in frictional sliding contact with the drive roller 28 of the roller pair 27. A first pulley 38 is rotatably attached to a shaft 36 extending from the transmission roller 34, and the tip of the shaft 36 has a smaller diameter than the end of the pulley 38, forming a shaft 40. A bending arm 42 is provided at the tip of the shaft 40.
is pivotally mounted around a shaft 54 so as to extend upward, and the shaft 44 is engaged with the other end portion of the arm 42 .

A second pulley 46 is attached to the shaft 44, and on the opposite side of the pulley 46 is a large-diameter shaft 48, on which a nip roller 50 is attached and held. That is, arm 42
extends upward from the side of the drive roller 28, and the nip roller 50 is located above the drive roller 28. Note that a second roller is similarly provided on the opposite side of the nip roller 50.
An arm 52 is pivotably mounted around a shaft 54.

In this case, the downstream drive roller 28 is connected to the rotational drive shaft of the motor 29, and the rotational force of the motor 29 is also transmitted to the upstream drive roller 26A via a power transmission means (not shown). One end of a swing rod 56 is attached to an intermediate portion between the shaft 54 and the arm 42 that pivotally supports the shaft 44. Substantially, a pin member 58 is installed at one end of this swing rod 56, and the pin member 58 presses a coil spring 6o whose one end is attached to the arm 42, and this coil spring 60 is configured to buffer the pressing force of the nip roller 50 against the stimulable phosphor sheet A via the arm 42. The other end of the swing rod 56 is connected to a rotational drive source, that is, a motor 62.
The cam plate 66 is rotatably supported by a peripheral portion of a disc-shaped cam plate 66 held by a rotating shaft 64 .

In the figure, reference numeral 68 indicates a belt suspended between the eleventh pulley 38 and the second pulley 46.

Next, an endless second conveyance belt 70 is provided adjacent to the downstream side of the sub-scanning conveyance mechanism 24 . The second conveyor belt 70 extends a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction, then rises significantly in the vertical direction in the figure, and furthermore, its tip portion descends slightly after passing through the horizontal portion. In this case, a large-diameter roller 72 is disposed at the lower bent portion of the second conveyor belt 70, and a plurality of rollers 74a to 74e are disposed at the vertically extending portion of the first conveyor belt 70. Set it up.

Moreover, a large-diameter roller 76 and rollers 78a and 78b are provided at the upper bent portion of the 211th feeding bell) 70, so that the stimulable phosphor sheet A is conveyed vertically downward. are doing. A receive magazine 8o for storing the stimulable phosphor sheet A is provided adjacent to the roller 78b.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, an image reading section 82 is arranged above the sub-scanning transport mechanism 24. The reading section 82 includes a laser light source 84, and a mirror 8 for scanning the laser light 86 onto the sheet A and a galvanometer mirror 90 are provided on the laser light output side of the laser light source 84. Further, a light guide 94 and a condensing reflection mirror 92 are disposed along the main scanning line at the scanning position of the laser beam 86 on the sheet A, and a light guide 94 is provided above the light guide 94 to convert the optical signal into an electrical signal. A photo multiplier 96 is installed. Furthermore, within the chamber 12, for example, a second
Rollers 74b and 74c provided on Wi feed bell 1-70
An erasing section 98 is arranged between the two. Inside the erasing section 98, a plurality of erasing light sources (not shown) are arranged.

The radiation image recording/reading device incorporating the light beam scanning device of this embodiment is basically constructed as described above, and its operation and effects will be explained next.

First, the image recording/reading device 10 includes a supply magazine 14.
is loaded. In this case, the X-ray magazine 14 stores, for example, a plurality of stacked stimulable phosphor sheets A on which radiographic images of a subject such as a human body are stored. Therefore, the stimulable phosphor sheets A are taken out one by one from the supply magazine 14 under the action of a single sheet mechanism including a suction cup 16, and a first conveyor belt 18 provided below the suction cup 16 and a plurality of rollers 20a to 20
d and the rollers 22 to the sub-scanning conveyance mechanism 24 side. Here, the motor 29 is started and the stimulable phosphor sheet A is captured by the roller pair 26, and the guide member 3
It is transported in the direction of arrow B while being guided by 0.32.

When the stimulable phosphor sheet A reaches a predetermined position by the roller pair 26, the image reading section 82 is driven.

That is, the laser beam 86 led out from the laser light source 84 by driving the image reading section 82 is once reflected by the mirror 88 and then reaches the galvanometer mirror 90 . As is well known, since the galvanometer mirror 90 performs an oscillating operation, the laser beam 86 scans over the stimulable phosphor sheet 1-A by the reflection action of the galvanometer mirror 90, thereby causing the sheet A to Stimulated luminescent light is generated in accordance with the accumulated radiation image, and as a result, the stimulated luminescent light is reflected directly or by the reflecting mirror 92 and enters the light guide 94 . Next, the stimulated luminescence light is converted into an electric signal by a photomultiplier 96, and is sent to an image display device such as a CRT (not shown) or an image recording means such as a magnetic tape (not shown).

In this way, the stimulable phosphor sheet A is two-dimensionally scanned by the laser light source 84, and the stimulable phosphor sheet A is further conveyed to the end side of the guide member 30.32. be done. As a result, all of the image information passes through the image reading section 82 and is read.

By the way, when reading this image, the light beam scanning device according to the present invention performs the following functions. That is, the stimulable phosphor sheet A, which is conveyed while being guided by the guide members 30 and 32, reaches the drive roller 28. At this time, the drive roller 2 driven by the motor 29
A shaft 36 is rotated by a transmission roller 34 that is in sliding contact with the shaft 8, and the rotation of this shaft 36 rotates a pulley 38. This rotation of pulley 38 in turn causes pulley 46 to rotate via belt 68, which rotation causes nip roller 50 to rotate in a direction opposite to drive roller 28. That is, as the drive roller 28 rotates, the nip roller 50 continues to rotate in synchronization with the drive roller 28 and in the opposite direction.

Therefore, when the stimulable phosphor sheet A is conveyed to the image reading section 82, that is, when the end of the stimulable phosphor sheet conveyed by the roller pair 26 reaches a predetermined position, it is not shown. It is detected by a sensor and the motor 62 is slowly driven to rotate. The rotational drive of this motor 62 is transmitted to a cam plate 66 via a rotating shaft 64, and this cam plate 66
6 also slowly rotates as shown by the arrow. Therefore, the swinging rod 56 gradually lowers the arm 42 about the shaft 54, bringing it closer to the drive roller 28.

When the leading end of the stimulable phosphor sheet A reaches the drive roller 28, the nip roller 5o rotatably supported by the arm 42 rotates at the same speed as the drive roller 28 and moves the stimulable phosphor sheet A. The tip is captured and pressed against the upper surface of the drive roller 28 under the damping effect of the coil spring 60. Moreover, at this time, as mentioned above, since the nip roller 50 is rotating at the same speed as the drive roller 28, the stimulable phosphor sheet A does not appear at all even when it is sandwiched between the nip roller 50 and the drive roller 28. The paper is conveyed as it is to the erasing section 98 side without receiving any impact. Of course,
During this time, similarly to the above, the image reading section 82 scans the upper surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet A with the laser beam 86 to obtain stimulated luminescence light and image information thereof.

The stimulable phosphor sheet A is thus transferred to the drive roller 28.
, the nip roller 50 continues the conveyance, and finally the rear end of the stimulable phosphor sheet A separates from the roller pair 26. However, the impact caused by this detachment is particularly severe because the tip of the stimulable phosphor sheet A is held between the drive roller 28 and the nip roller 50.
This does not cause any positional shift or the like, and therefore, the image information caused by stimulated luminescence is not disturbed.

Then, the stimulable phosphor sheet A that has left the roller pair 26
The rear end side is simply placed on the guide members 30 and 32 and is conveyed in the direction of arrow B, finally reaching the second conveyor belt 70. At this time, the rotation of the motor 62 causes the arm 42 to be separated from the stimulable phosphor sheet A via the swing rod 56. Then, the stimulable phosphor sheet A is connected to the second conveyor belt 70, the roller 72 and the stimulable phosphor sheet A. Rollers 74a, 7
4b to the erasing section 98. In the erasing section 98, a plurality of erasing light sources (not shown) are turned on, so that the irradiated light completely erases the radiation image remaining on the stimulable phosphor sheet A.

The stimulable phosphor sheet A from which the radiation image has been erased in this way is transferred to the second conveyor belt 70, the rollers 74c to 7.
4e to the upper part of the image recording/reading device 10,
The moving direction is displaced via the roller 76 and rollers 78a and 78b, and the receiving magazine 80 is housed therein.

In this embodiment, as described above, when the stimulable phosphor sheet A conveyed by the pair of rollers 26 is conveyed a predetermined distance, the arm 42 is displaced under the action of the mokro 2 to rotate the nip roller 50. The stimulable phosphor sheath) is pressed against the tip of A. That is, as a result, even when the stimulable phosphor sheet A is being scanned by a sheet metal or a laser beam, it can be easily and reliably positioned and conveyed without giving any particular impact. Since the nip roller 50 is in a pre-rotated state, even if the tip of the stimulable phosphor sheet A comes into contact with the surface of the nip roller 50, it will not be affected by the buffering action of the coil spring 60. This will result in a smooth transfer operation with as little impact as possible.For this reason,
This prevents the stimulable phosphor sheet A from violently contacting the roller on the downstream side and imparting unnecessary impact to the stimulable phosphor sheet A. Moreover, at that time, the stimulable phosphor sheet A
is in a state where its leading end and trailing end are firmly held and conveyed by the roller pair 26, the drive roller 28, and the nip roller 50. Therefore, the stimulable phosphor sheet A will not be displaced from the transport direction. In the end, the stimulable phosphor sheet A was not misaligned and the reading section 8
2, main scanning and sub-scanning are performed, and as a result, it becomes possible for the reading section 82 to read the radiation image of the stimulable phosphor sheet A extremely accurately. Furthermore, since the stimulable phosphor sheet A is conveyed while being sandwiched between the roller pair 26 and the roller pair 27 (drive roller 28, nip roller 50), the conveyor belt 18 in the front stage of this reading section 82 and the conveyor belt in the rear stage There is no need for the belt 70 to intentionally extend the portion facing the drive roller 28 and the nip roller 50 long in the horizontal direction;
The radiation image recording/reading device 10 can be made as small as possible.

By the way, the radiation image recording and reproducing system employs an image recording device as described above, and irradiates the photographic material with a laser beam while conveying the photographic material in a sub-scanning manner to record a predetermined image on the photographic material based on the radiation image information. It is configured to record images of Therefore, if the sub-scanning conveyance mechanism is used in this type of image recording apparatus, it is possible to accurately and smoothly convey an image recording carrier such as a photosensitive material without causing impact or the like as in the embodiment described above. As a result, the image information recorded on the photographic light-sensitive material becomes clearer and better. Furthermore, since images can be recorded well even on the edges of the photographic material in the sub-scanning direction, there is an advantage that it can meet the demand for black edges.

Next, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show another embodiment of the light beam scanning device according to the present invention. In this case, the same reference numerals as in the embodiment described above indicate the same components, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

As can be easily understood from these FIGS. 6 and 7, in this embodiment, the arm 42a is configured in a Y-shape, and the transmission roller 34a and the nip roller 50 are pivotally attached to the tip of the arm 42a. At the same time, a large-diameter transmission roller 100 is mounted between the nip roller 50 and the transmission roller 34a. Therefore, in this embodiment, unlike the previous embodiment, pulley 38, pulley 46
and the belt 6 suspended from these pulleys 38, 46.
8 does not exist.

As a result of this configuration, the rotational force of the transmission roller 34a that is in sliding contact with the driving roller 28 is transmitted to the nip roller 50 via the transmission roller 100, and eventually the driving roller 28 is
The nip roller 50 is rotated at the same speed as the rotational force of 8. In this case, a swinging port rad 56 is pivotally attached to the arm 42a in the same way as in the embodiment described above, and this swinging rod 5
The nip roller 50 is moved closer to or separated from the drive roller 28 by swinging the nip roller 6 around the transmission roller 34a side by the rotational force of the motor 62, as in the embodiment described above.

FIG. 8 shows still another embodiment of the sub-scanning conveyance mechanism according to the present invention, and in this embodiment, the same reference numerals as in the above embodiment indicate the same components, and detailed description thereof will be given below. Omitted.

In this case, unlike the embodiment described above, the first transmission roller 34
b is arranged above the drive roller 28, and slides into contact with the transmission roller 34b to move the nip roller 5° to the drive roller 28.
It is placed directly above 8. Moreover, the first pulley 102 is pivotally attached to the drive roller 28, and the second pulley 104 is disposed apart from the drive roller 28. 1st pulley 10
A bell l-106 is suspended between the second pulley 104 and the second pulley 104.

On the other hand, above the second pulley 104 is a third pulley 108.
A second belt 110 is suspended between the third pulley 108 and the second pulley 104. Furthermore, a fourth shaft is coaxially attached to the transmission roller 34b.
between the pulley 112 and the 31-17108.
The belt 114 is suspended. In this case, although not shown, the nip roller 50 is configured to be vertically movable between a position in sliding contact with the transmission roller 34b and a position in sliding contact with the drive roller.

Therefore, in the above configuration, when the stimulable phosphor sheet 1-A is conveyed by the roller pair 26 and reaches a predetermined position, the nip roller 50 is moved by the position detection signal.
descends while rotating, captures the stimulable phosphor sheet A, and continues its conveyance. That is, the drive roller 2
The rotational force of the first boot 8 causes the first boot 102 to rotate, and the rotational force is further transmitted to the 21st boot 104 via the belt 106. The rotational force of the second pulley 104 is applied to the belt 11.
The rotational force is further transmitted to the third pulley 10 through the belt 114, and the rotational force is transmitted to the transmission roller 34 through the belt 114.
Rotate b in the direction of the arrow.

Therefore, the nip roller 50 slidingly contacts the transmission roller 34b.
continues to rotate in the opposite direction to the transmission roller 34b.

Therefore, when the stimulable phosphor sheet A reaches a predetermined position as described above, the nip roller 50 moves to the transmission roller 34b.
It descends away from the point until it reaches the position indicated by the dashed line. At this time, the stimulable phosphor sheet A reaches directly above the driving roller 28 by the roller pair 26, and is therefore captured by the nip roller 50, which rotates at the same speed as the conveyance speed of the stimulable phosphor sheet A. , the transport continues.

According to this embodiment, a belt and a pulley are used to transmit the rotational force of the drive roller 28 to the nip roller 50. Therefore, the configuration of the rotational force transmission mechanism is simplified, and the rotational force of the drive roller 28 is reliably transmitted to the nip roller 5.
This has the effect of being able to transmit data to 0.

Still another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 9 and FIGS. 10a to 10C.

Therefore, in this embodiment, transmission pulleys are provided between the upstream drive roller and the downstream drive roller, and between the upstream nip roller and the downstream nip roller, respectively.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the drive roller 28 to which the motor 29 is connected is configured to transmit its rotational force to the upstream drive roller 26A via the first transmission pulley 206.

On the other hand, a nip roller 26B is disposed above the drive roller 26A so as to be in sliding contact with the drive roller 26A, and a transmission pulley 212 is further in sliding contact with the nip roller 26B. In this case, the transmission boolean 17212 is provided with a nip roller 50 located directly above the drive roller 28.

In the above configuration, first, the motor 29 is driven with the upstream drive roller 26A and the nip roller 26B in sliding contact and the downstream drive roller 28 and the nip roller 50 separated, and the rotational force of the motor 29 is The signal is transmitted to the drive roller 26A via the drive roller 28 and the transmission pulley 206. At this time, since the drive roller 26A and the nip roller 26B are in sliding contact, the nip roller 26B is rotated, and this rotational force is transmitted to the nip roller 50 on the downstream side via the transmission boolean 17212. In this state, the stimulable phosphor sheet A is attached to the drive roller 26A.
When the stimulable phosphor sheet A reaches the space between the drive roller 26A and the nip roller 26B, the stimulable phosphor sheet A is captured while rotating between the drive roller 26A and the nip roller 26B, and sub-scanning conveyance is started (
(See Figure 10a).

Next, when the stimulable phosphor sheet A is further conveyed and its leading end reaches the position of the downstream roller pair 27, the nip roller 50 is lowered, and therefore the stimulable phosphor sheet A is transferred to the rollers 26A, 26B. and rollers 28.50 (see Figure 10).

Then, the stimulable phosphor sheet A is placed on the downstream drive roller 2.
8 and the nip roller 50, the nip roller 26B moves upward and separates from the drive roller 26A, releasing the stimulable phosphor sheet A held between it and the nip roller 26B. Therefore, from then on, the stimulable phosphor sheet A will be transported by the rollers 28.50.

In this embodiment, the rotational force of the motor 29 is transmitted to the downstream drive roller 28, the transmission pulley 206, the upstream drive roller 26A,
It is transmitted to the downstream nip roller 50 via the upstream nip roller 26B and the transmission pulley 212, and this nip roller 50 is pre-rotated before capturing the sheet A. Therefore, there is an advantage that smooth conveyance of the stimulable phosphor sheet can be achieved with a simple configuration.

As described above, according to the present invention, when an object to be scanned, such as a stimulable phosphor sheet, is sub-transported while being held between two pairs of rollers, the object to be scanned after passing through the image reading section or the image recording section is The tip portion is configured to be held between one drive roller and the other nip roller that rotates in advance at the same rotational speed.

Therefore, the impact when the object to be scanned is held between the pair of rollers on the downstream side is reduced as much as possible, so that the object to be scanned can be smoothly transported. Therefore, for example, when irradiating a stimulable phosphor sheet with excitation light or when recording an image by irradiating a photographic window light material with laser light, the light beam scanning device can be used to provide clear and clear images. It becomes possible to obtain good image information or visible images. Furthermore, since the structure of the present invention is simple, it can be manufactured at low cost and can be made as compact as possible.

Although the light beam scanning device according to the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not particularly limited to this embodiment (various improvements can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention). Of course, the design can also be changed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of an image reading device incorporating a light beam scanning device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of a sub-scanning conveyance mechanism in the light beam scanning device according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing the swinging portion of the sub-scanning conveyance mechanism; FIG. 4 is a side view showing the structure of the rotational force transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotational force of the rotation drive roller to the nip roller; FIG. FIG. 6 is a front view showing another embodiment of the sub-scanning conveyance mechanism in the light beam scanning device according to the present invention; FIG. The figure is a side view of the main part of the sub-scanning transport mechanism shown in Fig. 6, Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the sub-scanning transport mechanism incorporated in the light beam scanning device according to the present invention, and Fig. 9 is the present invention. A perspective explanatory view of another embodiment of the sub-scanning transport mechanism incorporated in the light beam scanning device according to FIG. IO... Image recording/reading device 12 Middle chamber 14...
Supply magazine 18...Transport belt 24...
Sub-scanning conveyance mechanism 26.27...Roller pair 28.
・・Drive roller 34・・Transmission roller 42・
...Arm 5o...Nip roller 56
... Swinging rod 62 ... Motor 66 ...
・Cam plate 82...image reading section 90...
・Galvanometer mirror 98... Erasing section

Claims (12)

[Claims] (1) Two pairs of rollers consisting of a drive roller and a nip roller that sandwich and convey a sheet-like object to be scanned are arranged at an interval shorter than the length of the object to be scanned in the conveyance direction, and the two pairs of rollers are The object to be scanned is transported in the sub-scanning direction by a pair of rollers, and main scanning is performed by irradiating a light beam deflected in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sub-scanning transport direction between the pair of rollers. In the light beam scanning device, the nip roller constituting at least the pair of rollers on the downstream side in the sub-scanning direction of the two pairs of rollers is configured to be able to slide into and away from the drive roller, and the nip roller is slidable against the drive roller. A light beam scanning device characterized in that it is configured to give pre-rotation when making contact. (2) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a light beam scanning device is provided between the downstream drive roller and the nip roller, and includes a rotational force transmitting means for transmitting the rotational force of the drive roller to the nip roller. Device. (3) A light beam scanning device according to claim 2, wherein the rotational force transmission means includes a transmission roller that slides on the drive roller and transmits the rotational force to the nip roller. (4) In the device according to claim 3, the nip roller and the transmission roller are held by an arm member,
Furthermore, the light beam scanning device further includes a separate rotational force transmitting means for transmitting the rotational force of the transmission roller rotated by the drive roller between the nip roller and the transmission roller. (5) In the device according to claim 4, the different rotational force transmitting means include a first pulley that is pivotally supported on the rotational shaft of the transmission roller, and a second pulley that is pivotally supported on the rotational shaft of the nip roller.
A light beam scanning device comprising: a pulley; and a belt stretched between the first pulley and the second pulley. (6) A light beam scanning device according to claim 4, wherein the separate rotational force transmission means includes a transmission roller that slides in contact with the transmission roller and the nip roller. (7) In the device according to any one of claims 4 to 6, the arm member has a bending shape,
When the object to be scanned, which is fed by the upstream pair of rollers, reaches a predetermined position by swinging the arm member by a swinging arm that is pivotally attached to the rotation shaft of the rotational drive source and rotates eccentrically,
A light beam scanning device configured to capture the object to be scanned together with the downstream drive roller while rotating the downstream nip roller at the same speed as a conveying speed of a belt conveyor. (8) A light beam scanning device according to claim 2, wherein a rotational force transmitting means consisting of a belt and a pulley is provided between the drive roller and the nip roller. (9) In the device according to claim 1, a first transmission roller is in sliding contact with the downstream drive roller, and the first transmission roller is in sliding contact with the downstream drive roller.
An upstream drive roller is in sliding contact with the transmission roller, and an upstream nip roller is disposed with a distance narrower than the thickness of the scanned object from the upstream drive roller, and the upstream nip roller A light beam scanning device configured to transmit rotational force to a downstream nip roller via a second transmission roller. (10) In the device according to claim 9, the upstream nip roller is configured to be freely displaceable relative to the upstream drive roller, and the downstream nip roller is configured to be freely displaceable relative to the downstream drive roller. A light beam scanning device. (11) A light beam scanning device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the object to be scanned is a stimulable phosphor sheet. (12) A light beam scanning device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, in which the object to be scanned is made of a photosensitive material.