JPS6288749A - Stop and discharge device for sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform the stop and discharge of a sheet so speedily and accurately, by using a sheet stopping roller pinching and positioning the sheet and a device which separates this stopping roller from the sheet to be held between a sheet receiving plate and the roller. CONSTITUTION:A phosphor sheet A is pinched and positioned at its end part between a stopping roll 94 and a receiving plate 78, while a radiation image is projected to this phosphor sheet A. When a cam plate rotates, a crank arm 90 turns with a rod 88 as the center, and this rod 88 is displaced within the range of a long hole 72. A cam follower 102 to be frictionally engaged with a peripheral wall surface of the cam plate 92 also rotates and comes into contact with a peripheral wall surface of a projection part 92a of the cam plate 92 so that a rod 100 is displaced somewhat in an arrow (b) direction within the range of a groove 74. The stopping roll 94 is separated from the phosphor sheet A held between the receiving plate 78 and the roll 94. At that time, the crank arm 90 is further displaced under turning action of the cam plate 92, so that a discharge lever 86 comes into contact with an end part of the phosphor sheet A, pushing out this sheet in an arrow (a) direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sheet stopping and discharging device, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a sheet stopping and discharging device, and more particularly, for example, for buffering a stimulable phosphor sheet for radiographic imaging that is continuously fed at a high speed from a supply magazine. The present invention relates to a sheet stopping and discharging device that allows a sheet to be stopped and then quickly and accurately delivered to a storage unit after photographing.

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a radiation image recording and reproducing system that uses a stimulable phosphor to obtain a radiographic image of a subject has been attracting attention. Here, a storage phosphor is a material that, when irradiated with radiation (X-rays, α-rays, β-rays, T-rays, electron beams, ultraviolet rays, etc.), stores a portion of this radiation energy and later emits visible light, etc. A phosphor that exhibits stimulated luminescence according to the energy accumulated by irradiation with excitation light.

The radiation image recording and reproducing system described above utilizes this stimulable phosphor, and once the radiation image information of the human body etc. is recorded on a sheet having a layer of stimulable phosphor (hereinafter referred to as stimulable phosphor sheet or simply This stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned with excitation light such as a laser beam to generate stimulated luminescent light, and the resulting stimulated luminescent light is read photoelectrically to obtain an image signal. Based on this image signal, a visible image is output to a recording material such as a photographic light-sensitive material, a CRT, or the like. Regarding this type of technology, please refer to JP-A No. 55-12.
No. 429, No. 56-11395, etc.

However, this system has the practical advantage of being able to record images over an extremely wide range of radiation exposure compared to conventional radiographic systems using intensifying screens and X-ray film.

That is, in a stimulable phosphor, it is recognized that the amount of emitted light that is stimulated to emit light due to excitation after accumulation is proportional to the amount of radiation exposure over an extremely wide range. Therefore, even if the amount of radiation exposure varies considerably due to various imaging conditions, the amount of emitted light can be read by the photoelectric conversion means by setting the reading gain to an appropriate value and converted into an electrical signal. If this is used to output a visible image to a recording material such as a photographic light-sensitive material or a display device such as a CRT, a radiation image that is not affected by fluctuations in radiation exposure can be obtained.

Furthermore, according to this system, radiation image information stored and recorded in a stimulable phosphor is converted into an electrical signal and then subjected to appropriate signal processing. It is also possible to output the image as a visible image to a display device such as , etc., thereby producing an extremely effective radiographic image suitable for observation and interpretation (appropriate for diagnosis).

Therefore, if a radiographic image recording and reproducing system using this stimulable phosphor sheet employs a high-speed imaging platform similar to that used in conventional This makes it possible to take pictures, which has an extremely large diagnostic effect.

Conventionally employed high-speed X-ray transmission imaging tables include a first film storage section for storing unexposed X-ray film; an X-ray film is taken out from the first film storage section and conveyed to the imaging position; In addition, it generally includes a conveyance mechanism that sends out the photographed X-ray film from the photographing position, and a second film storage section that stores the photographed X-ray film. Therefore, a radiographic image recording device using a stimulable phosphor sheet also has the essential mechanism of the conventional a conveying mechanism for feeding the stimulable phosphor sheet to the photographing section and transporting the photographed stimulable phosphor sheet from the photographing section; It is equipped with a receive magazine that stores the light sheet.

By the way, in radiographic image information recording and reproducing systems using stimulable phosphor sheets or conventional X-ray imaging devices, the imaging device itself must be made as compact as possible in order to utilize a narrow space as effectively as possible. ing. Therefore, the supply magazine and the receive magazine incorporated in this photographing device are efficiently arranged in relation to the photographing section within the narrow housing. For this reason, especially when performing high-speed imaging, the unexposed stimulable phosphor sheet or X-ray film supplied from the supply magazine is fed at high speed to the imaging unit, where it is once positioned and then taken. After that, it is stored in the receive magazine again at high speed. That is, in this imaging device, as described above, regardless of whether the stimulable phosphor sheet or X-ray film has not yet been imaged or the stimulable phosphor sheet or X-ray film that has been imaged, it is conveyed within the housing at high speed, It is configured so that a large number of radiographic images can be taken continuously and in a short period of time.

Therefore, in order to meet the demand for making the apparatus itself more compact, the transport path of the transport system from the supply magazine used for radiographic imaging to the receive magazine via the imaging section is bent.

For this reason, in particular, in the photographing section, the stimulable phosphor sheet or the X&9 film is received and positioned in advance, and the stimulable phosphor sheet is conveyed at high speed from the supply magazine, and the ↑most shadow is taken. A stop and discharge device for the stimulable phosphor sheet or X-ray film is required to transport it to the storage section.

However, as mentioned above, if the stimulable phosphor sheet or X-ray film that is transported at high speed is simply stopped by a plate or the like, the edges of the stimulable phosphor sheet or X-ray film There is also a concern that the stress may be applied to the stimulable phosphor sheet or the X-ray film, causing unnecessary cracks or the like. Furthermore, if the purpose is simply to stop the stimulable phosphor sheet or X-ray film being conveyed vigorously as described above, the stimulable phosphor sheet or X-ray film will be moved from the stopping plate. It can easily bounce back, making accurate positioning difficult when photographing. In other words, this means that the stimulable phosphor sheet or X-ray film that is positioned corresponding to the subject and is to be irradiated with radiation may shift its position, resulting in the inability to obtain a radiographic image of the desired area or the area to be imaged. Therefore, there is a problem in that even if an attempt is made to reproduce an accurate radiographic image of the photographed region, it is completely impossible.

The present invention has been made in order to overcome all of the above-mentioned disadvantages, and the present invention has been made to continuously position the stimulable phosphor sheet or X-ray film fed from the supply magazine at an accurate imaging position, It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet stopping and discharging device that makes it possible to reliably transport the sheet to a storage section.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a sheet receiving plate disposed corresponding to the sheet feeding direction, and a sheet receiving plate that is provided so as to be press-contacted with the receiving plate and that is connected to the receiving plate when the sheet is conveyed. a sheet stopping roller that clamps and positions the sheet between the sheets; and a sheet stopping roller that clamps and positions the sheet between the sheet receiving plate and the sheet stopping roller within a predetermined range when the sheet is separated from the sheet receiving plate and the sheet stopping roller. and separating means.

Next, preferred embodiments of the sheet stopping and discharging apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a high-speed radiation image capturing apparatus using a stimulable phosphor sheet, in which reference numeral 10 designates a casing that is horizontally placed and fixed, constituting this image capturing apparatus. A patient to be photographed is placed in the upper part of this housing 10 and photographed.

Inside the casing 10, a stimulable phosphor shea) A is placed in the photographing section 12.
A supply magazine 14 for feeding is fixedly arranged, and the stimulable phosphor sheets 1-A are stacked and stored inside this supply magazine 14.

Furthermore, at the upper part of this supply magazine 14, there is a take-out mechanism 16 for feeding the sheet A to the ↑most shadow part 12.
will be placed. The take-out mechanism 16 includes a crank arm 20 rotated by a disc 18 and the crank arm 2.
The rod 22 is connected to the tip of the rod 22, and a single leaf claw 24 is fixed to one end of the rod 22. The leading end of the supply magazine 14 faces a pair of rollers 26, 28. The supply magazine 1 is centered around the rollers 26 and 28.
A switching plate 30 is disposed on the opposite side of 4. Near one end of the switching plate 30 is a rod 34 that is swingably supported by a column 32.
supported by. One end of the rod 34 engages with the switching plate 3o through a long hole, while a shaft 36 faces the long hole bored at the other end of the rod 34, and the shaft 36 is connected to the rotational drive source 38. Under the rotational action of the rod 34, the rod 34 is displaced in the vertical direction using the support 32 as a fulcrum.

The other end of the switching Fi 30 is swingably supported by one end of a support member 40 which is bent into an angular shape and is supported by a shaft.

Therefore, a sheet stopping and discharging device 50 according to the present invention is provided at the end of the switching plate 30 to stop the stimulable phosphor sheet A being conveyed in a buffer manner.

A detailed explanation of this sheet stopping and discharging device 50 will be explained later.

On the other hand, a top plate 52 that faces the switching plate 30 when it is raised is arranged to extend horizontally between the roller 26 and the sheet stopping and discharging device 50. A roller 54 in close sliding contact with the roller 26 is rotatably supported. Next, a pair of guide plates 56a and 56b are arranged so as to face the sliding contact portion of the roller 26.54, and a roller 58.6° is arranged at one end side of the guide plates 56a and 56b so as to come into sliding contact with each other. It is arranged. These rollers 58 , 60 further face a sheet storage device 64 containing a receive magazine 62 . In the figure, reference numeral 66 indicates a rotary drive source, that is, a motor, for providing driving force to various mechanisms that swing, move up and down, or rotate inside the housing 10, and furthermore, Reference numeral 68 indicates a button arranged above the top plate 52 to prevent scattering of radiation emitted from a radiation source (not shown).

Next, the sheet stopping and discharging device 50 according to the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to FIG.

For convenience of explanation, a mechanism provided on one side wall of the casing 10 will be described, but there is also a mechanism with the same configuration and symmetrically arranged on the other side of the casing 10.

Reference numeral 70 indicates a side plate installed inside the housing 10, and this side plate 70 has an elongated hole 72 extending horizontally near the end thereof and an elongated hole 72 extending vertically away from the elongated hole 72. It includes a semi-elliptical groove 74 formed so as to Furthermore, a support plate 76 extending in the horizontal direction is fixed to the inner side of the side plate 70 below the elongated hole 72 . When the switching plate 30 is in an inclined position away from the support plate 76, a receiving plate 78 having the same inclination angle is provided.

Therefore, the support plate 76 has a set of holders 80a, 80.
b is erected. A guide rod 82 extending in the horizontal direction is bridged between the holders 80a and 80b, and a slide member 84 is slidably provided on the guide rod 82. A sheet ejection lever 86 is provided on the top surface of the slide member 84.
is fixed with screws etc. A rod 88 is inserted from the side wall of the slide member 84 into the side plate 70 through the elongated hole 72.
One end of the crank arm 90 is engaged with the end of the rod 88 , and the rod 88 extends outward from the crank arm 90 .
The other end is swingably supported by a cam plate 92 for raising a stop roll and displacing the discharge lever 86, which will be described later. In this case, the cam plate 92 is formed with a protruding portion 92a. Note that a rod 96 extending from the sheet stopping roll 94 is loosely fitted into the groove 74 . A bearing 98 having a flange 98a on the outside of the side plate 70 is fitted into the rod 96, and then a cam follower 102 is fitted with a predetermined spacing therebetween. This cam follower 10
The peripheral wall surface of No. 2 is in contact with the peripheral wall surface of the cam plate 92.

The apparatus of this embodiment is basically constructed as described above, and its operation and effects will now be explained.

When the rotary drive source 66 is driven to rotate the disk 18, the crank arm 20 is displaced, and the sheet pawl 24 fixed to the tip of the rod 22 moves the stimulable phosphor sheet A to the roller 26.
Send it to the 28th side. The sheet A held between the rollers 26 and 28 is transferred to the switching plate 3 under the rotational action of the rollers.
It is transported in the 0 direction. That is, the stimulable phosphor sheet A is vigorously fed out at high speed by the rollers 26, 28, and the stimulable phosphor sheet A is buffered and received by the sheet stopping and discharging device 50 (see FIG. 3). )
.

In other words, the end of the stimulable phosphor sheet (A) that is fed at high speed to the corner defined by the receiving plate 78 having the same inclination angle as the switching plate 30 and the peripheral wall surface of the stopping roll 94 is In particular, the stop roll 94 receives the end of the stimulable phosphor sheet A directly on its peripheral wall surface in a cushioning manner. In this case, the stimulable phosphor sheet 1-A abuts against the stop roll 94 in an impactful manner. However, in the apparatus of the present invention, the stopping roll 94 is firmly pressed against the receiving plate 78 due to its own weight. For this reason, the stimulable phosphor sheet 1-A, together with its high-speed feeding, once lifts the stop roll 94 against its gravity (see the broken line in Figure 5), and as a result, the stimulable phosphor sheet 1-A The end portion of the fluorescent sheet A is held between the stopping roll 94 and the receiving plate 78 and positioned. Here, the support member 40 rotates, the switching plate 30 is displaced to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, and the stimulable phosphor sheet A is positioned between it and the top plate 52.

In such a state, when radiation is emitted from a radiation source (not shown) to the subject lying on the top surface of the housing 10,
This radiation is prevented from being scattered by the button key 68 and projects its radiation image onto the stimulable phosphor sheet 1-A on the switching plate 30.

Next, when the cam plate 92 is rotated by a rotational drive source (not shown), the crank arm 90 rotates around the rod 88 and displaces the rod 88 within the range of the elongated hole 72. That is, this displacement directly displaces the slide member 84, and as a result, the ejection lever 8
6 is displaced in the direction of arrow a. At the same time, the cam plate 9
The cam follower 102 that frictionally engages with the peripheral wall surface of the cam plate 92 also rotates, and the rod 100 is slightly displaced in the direction of the arrow mark within the range of the groove 74 in order to contact the peripheral wall surface of the protrusion 92a of the cam plate 92. (See Figure 2). For this reason, the stop roll 94 is held between the receiving plate 78 and the stimulable phosphor sheet 1-.
Move away from A. At this time, the crank arm 90 is further displaced under the rotational action of the cam plate 92, and the ejection lever 86 comes into contact with the end of the stimulable phosphor sheet A and pushes it out in the direction of arrow a (see Fig. 4). . As a result, the stimulable phosphor sheet A is held between the rollers 54.26, and the stimulable phosphor sheet A, on which the radiographic image has been taken, is rotated by the rollers 26.54 and passes between the guide plates 56a and 56b. Sheet storage device 6 at high speed under the rotational action of rollers 58, 60
4. The sheet storage device 64 forcibly seats the fed photographed stimulable phosphor sheets A in the receive magazine 62, stacks them, and when a predetermined number of sheets is reached, waits for the operation to take out the entire receive magazine. It turns out.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the sheet stopping and discharging device according to the present invention. In this case, a plate 110 is further attached to the outside of the bearing 98 fitted to the rod 96, and coil springs 112a and 112b are extended from both ends of the plate 110 toward the bottom of the side plate 70. Its end portion is engaged with the horizontal surface portion of the side plate 70.

That is, the rod 96 is connected to this coil spring 112a.
, 112b, and as a result, the stopping roll 94 is brought into pressure contact with the receiving plate 78 by the tensile force of the coil spring. Therefore, in this embodiment, rather than simply pressing down the stimulable phosphor sheet A conveyed at high speed by the gravity of the stopping roll 94, the stimulable phosphor sheet A is stopped by the tensile force of the coil springs 112a and 112b. It is configured to do so.

According to this embodiment, even if the transport speed of the stimulable phosphor sheet A increases or the thickness of the stimulable phosphor sheet A increases, the coil springs 112a, 112
By adjusting the tensile force b, at least there is no risk of the stimulable phosphor sheet being conveyed more protrudingly toward the elongated hole 72 side than necessary. As mentioned above, if the stimulable phosphor sheet A is transferred too far in the direction of the elongated hole 72 than necessary, the imaging area of the stimulable phosphor sheet A decreases, and as a result, the radiation image There may also be cases where some parts of the image are not photographed.

FIG. 7 shows a preferred embodiment of the stopping roll 94 described above. That is, the stopping roll 94 is composed of a low-hardness rubber roll 120 and a high-hardness rubber roll 122 fitted onto the rubber roll 120. Generally, the low hardness rubber roll 120 is made of neoprene or the like, and in this case, the rubber hardness is selected from 15 degrees to 30 degrees. On the other hand, as for the high hardness rubber roll 122, butadiene, styrene, or acrylic rubber is used, and the rubber hardness thereof is 80 degrees to 90 degrees. It is also possible to use urethane or the like for this high hardness rubber roll 122.

When the stopping roll 94 is configured in a double structure in this way,
For example, a stimulable phosphor sheet A that is fed at high speed
is received covertly by the low hardness rubber roll 120 disposed inside the high hardness rubber roll 122, and since the outer side is constituted by the high hardness rubber roll 122 as described above, the stimulable phosphor sheet A An effective stopping action can be performed without damaging the end portion of the holder. For example, if the stopping roll 94 is made of a high-hardness rubber roll, the stimulable phosphor sheet A may be damaged during stopping.
In some cases, cracks may occur on the surface or inside.

On the other hand, if the stopping rolls 94 are all made of low-hardness rubber rolls, the stopping action of the stimulable phosphor sheet 1-A will not damage the sheet itself; It turns out.

As mentioned above, by disposing a low-hardness rubber roll on the inside and disposing a high-hardness rubber roll on the outside to cover it, the advantages of both can be fully utilized and the stimulable phosphor sheet A can be The stimulable phosphor sheet A can be stopped in the best condition while avoiding damage.

According to the present invention, the stimulable phosphor sheet or the X-ray film that is conveyed at high speed as described above and then fed at high speed to the imaging section can be accurately received and positioned without being damaged; Furthermore, it is possible to reliably carry out an unloading operation to the storage section. In this case, since the positioning of the sheet is accurate, radiation image information can be captured within the desired range, and it is possible to sufficiently cope with continuous high-speed imaging. It is also possible to achieve a sufficient buffering effect on the sheet or X-ray film.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.
For example, the receiving plate that the stop roll contacts can be integrated with the switching plate, and the application can be applied not only to stimulable phosphor sheets but also to all other types of sheets that are transported at high speeds. Of course, various improvements and changes in design are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially omitted longitudinal sectional view of a radiographic high-speed imaging device incorporating the device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a sheet stopping and discharging device according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway explanatory view of a sheet stopping and discharging device according to the present invention. In the relationship between the roller, the receiving plate, and the sheet A,
FIG. 4 is an explanatory side view showing a state in which the ejection bar is waiting to eject a sheet. FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic front view showing the receiving state of the roller, receiving plate, switching plate, and stimulable phosphor sheet according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the sheet stopping and discharging device according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective explanatory view of another embodiment in which the incorporated roller is forcibly pressed. FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway explanatory view showing a preferable type B of the stopping roll used in the apparatus of the present invention. 10... Housing 12... Photographing section 14
...Supply magazine 16...Ejecting mechanism 24.
...Single leaf nail 26.28...Roller 30
...Switching plate 50...Stopping and discharging device 62...Receive magazine 78...Brace plate 86...
・Sheet ejection lever

Claims (8)

[Claims] (1) A sheet receiving plate disposed corresponding to the sheet feeding direction, and a sheet stop that is provided so as to be able to press against the receiving plate and positions the sheet by sandwiching it between the receiving plate and the receiving plate when the sheet is conveyed. and means for separating the sheet stopping roller within a predetermined range from the sheet held between the sheet receiving plate and the sheet stopping roller when the sheet is separated from the sheet receiving plate and the sheet stopping roller. Characteristic sheet stopping and ejecting device. (2) In the apparatus according to claim 1, the means for separating the sheet stopping roller from the sheet includes a cam plate and a cam follower that comes into contact with the cam plate, and the cam follower is attached to the axis of the sheet stopping roller. A sheet stopping and discharging device which is fitted into a cam plate and displaces a sheet stopping roller via the cam follower under the rotational action of a cam plate. (3) In the apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, when the sheet is separated from the sheet receiving plate and the sheet stopping roller, the sheet is forcibly removed from the sheet receiving plate and the sheet stopping roller. A sheet stopping and discharging device comprising a sheet discharging means for discharging sheets. (4) In the apparatus according to claim 3, the sheet discharging means includes a sheet discharging bar that is displaced along a guide member, and the tip of the sheet discharging bar is displaced along one surface of the sheet receiving plate. A sheet stopping and discharging device consisting of: (5) In the device according to claim 4, the sheet ejection bar is connected to a crank arm that is pivotally supported by a cam plate, and is reciprocated by the crank arm that is displaced under the rotational action of the cam plate. A sheet stopping and discharging device consisting of: (6) In the apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, an elastic member that pulls the shaft of the sheet stopping roller in a predetermined direction is engaged, and the sheet stopping roller is moved to the sheet receiving side. A sheet stopping and discharging device configured to constantly press against a plate. (7) In the device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the sheet stopping roller has an inner side made of low hardness rubber, and an outer side made of high hardness rubber. A sheet stopping and discharging device having a two-layer structure, wherein the low hardness rubber preferably has a rubber hardness of 15 to 30 degrees, and the high hardness rubber has a rubber hardness of 80 to 90 degrees. (8) In the apparatus according to claim 7, the low hardness rubber is made of neoprene rubber, and the high hardness rubber is selected from any one of butadiene, styrene, acrylic, and urethane. Device.