JPS63103230A - Cassette for accumulation type fluorescent material sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To take out and store an accumulation type fluorescent material sheet extremely easily without providing any complex mechanism by providing a lid which is mounted in a free opening/closing state to an enclosure which stores the accumulation type fluorescent material sheet, and projecting the front end part where the lid body is opened and closed toward the enclosure and forming a sheet take-out opening. CONSTITUTION:A cassette 20 consists of the enclosure 24 which forms a chamber 22 for storing accumulation type fluorescent material sheets S, a plate body 26 which covers its one upper end, and the lid body 30 which opens and closes the other upper end of the enclosure 24. The sheet take-out opening 32 is formed at the side wall part 24a of the enclosure 24 on the front end side by cutting the side wall part to larger than the width S of the sheets to be taken out, and a surface part 34 connects with an internal surface part 36 and slants greatly. The plate body 26 closes the upper part of the enclosure 24 and is mounted detachably through a stopper pin, etc., the lid body 30 is mounted on the enclosure 24 in an opening/ closing state through a hinge 28, and a lock part 44 which projects toward the enclosure 24 is formed at the front end part where the lid body 30 is opened and closed. Consequently, the accumulation type fluorescent material sheets are easily taken out and a sheet mechanism is simplified extremely.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet, and more particularly to a cassette for holding a stimulable phosphor sheet in a light-tight manner and loading it into an image reading device or the like. In this way, the mechanism for taking out and/or feeding the stimulable phosphor sheet can be simplified, the loading position of the cassette can be selected from various positions, and the space occupied by the cassette can be made as narrow as possible. The present invention relates to a constructed cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet.

Recently, a radiation image recording and reproducing system that obtains a radiation image of a subject using a stimulable phosphor (stimulable phosphor) has been attracting attention. Here, the storage fluorophore refers to radiation (X-rays, α
When irradiating with rays, β-rays, γ-rays, electron beams, ultraviolet rays, etc., a part of this radiation energy is accumulated, and when excitation light such as visible light is irradiated later, stimulated luminescence occurs depending on the accumulated energy. A phosphor that produces 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 having a layer made of a stimulable phosphor (hereinafter referred to as a stimulable phosphor sheet). (or simply referred to as a "sheet"), 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 read photoelectrically. An electrical signal is obtained, and based on this electrical signal, a radiation image of the subject is outputted as a visible image to a recording IA material such as a photographic light-sensitive material or a display device such as a CRT.

Therefore, in such an 9/1 radiation image recording and reproducing system, the image reading device that reads the radiation image from the stimulable phosphor sheet on which the radiation image is stored and recorded uses the following method. Reading radiographic images.

That is, a stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned two-dimensionally with a light beam such as a laser beam, and the stimulated luminescent light emitted by this is detected in time series with a photodetector such as a photomultiplier to create an image. get information. The two-dimensional scanning of the light beam is usually carried out by mechanically transporting the stimulable phosphor sheet in one direction, and also in a -dimensional direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet. This is achieved by performing main scanning by irradiating a polarized light beam.

In this case, the stimulable phosphor sheet is stored in a cassette and irradiates the subject with radiation, thereby accumulating and recording a radiation image of the subject on the sheet. Then, the sheet is loaded into the image reading device via the cassette, taken out from the cassette via a single sheet mechanism including a suction cup, etc., and conveyed to a scanning position where the light beam is scanned.

Therefore, the general structure of such a cassette is illustrated in FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 2 designates a cassette according to the prior art, which cassette 2 comprises a housing 6 defining a chamber 4 in which a stimulable phosphor sheet 1-3 is housed, and a housing 6 of said housing 6. It includes a lid IO that is swingably attached to one end via a hinge 8.

The cassette 2 configured as described above is loaded into the image reading device 12, for example, and the lid 10 is opened and moved via the suction cup 14 provided in the image reading device 12, so that the chamber 4 is opened to the image reading device. Open within 12. Next, suction cup 1
The stimulable phosphor sheet S housed in the casing 6 is attracted and held under the driving action of a single-sheet mechanism including the stimulable phosphor sheet S, and is sent to the scanning reading section via a transport mechanism (not shown).

By the way, in the cassette 2 according to the prior art, as shown by the broken line in FIG. . That is, this is to prevent the stimulable phosphor sheet S from coming into contact with the open end side wall surface 6a of the housing 6. Therefore, it has been pointed out that there is a disadvantage that the single wafer mechanism itself becomes considerably complicated due to the necessity of displacing the suction cup 16 along a trajectory to provide a desired stirring action.

Furthermore, the lid 10 swings around one end of the housing 6 as a fulcrum, opening the chamber 4 into the image reading device 12 . Therefore, the space available for opening and closing the lid 10 within the image reading device 12 becomes large, and the entire cassette 2 must be housed within the image reading device 12, and the image reading device 12 itself is It becomes large.

Moreover, when reading various stimulable phosphor sheets S of different sizes, it is necessary to prepare a cassette 2 corresponding to each stimulable phosphor sheet S. In this case, if the same suction cup 14 is used to open and close each lid 10, especially if the lid 10 is small in size as shown by the dashed line in FIG. As a result, the suction effect of the suction cup 14 is not properly performed, resulting in a bottom that causes the lid body 10 to fall.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, the image reading device 12 includes:
In addition to those in which the cassette 2 is loaded horizontally, there are also those in which the cassette 2 is loaded vertically downward, depending on various needs. In this case, the cassette 2 shown in FIG. 1 cannot be loaded with such an image reading word ¥H2, and the types of devices that can be loaded are restricted, resulting in a disadvantage of poor versatility.

The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages, and includes a casing for storing the stimulable phosphor sheets 1 to 1 and a lid that can be opened and closed to keep the stimulable phosphor sheets light-tight. The lid is configured to be selectable in length so that at least the stimulable phosphor sheet can be taken out, and the opening/closing tip of the lid protrudes toward the housing so that the sheet can be attached to the housing. By forming the outlet, the stimulable phosphor sheet can be easily taken out, the single-sheet mechanism can be extremely simplified, and the loading position of the cassette can be selected, for example, with the cassette facing downward in the vertical direction; Furthermore, the length of the lid body is suitably selected to ensure the opening and closing operation of the lid body, and the space occupied by the cassette storage section and the opening/closing operation of the lid body in the apparatus is reduced at once. An object of the present invention is to provide a cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet that enables the following.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a housing for storing a stimulable phosphor sheet, a lid attached to a part of the housing so as to be openable and closable, and a lid for the remaining part of the housing. a light-shielding plate disposed to hold the stimulable phosphor sheet together with the lid in a light-tight manner, and configured to lead out the stimulable phosphor sheet from the casing by opening the lid. It is characterized by

Next, preferred embodiments of the stimulable phosphor sheet cassette according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 20 is used for the stimulable phosphor sheet of this embodiment. Indicates sauté. The cassette 20 is basically a chamber 2 for storing a bulk volume 1-1 phosphor sheet +-S.
2, a plate 26 that closes one end of the upper part of the casing 24, and a hinge 2, which are integrally formed and can be opened and closed from the other end of the upper part of the casing 24. body 30.

Among the four side walls 24a to 24d of the housing 24, the side wall 24a on the tip side from which the stimulable phosphor sheet S is taken out is cut out to be larger than at least the width of the sheet S to be taken out to form a sheet take-out port. 32 is formed.

In this case, the surface portion 34 defining the sheet outlet 32 is continuous with the inner surface portion 36 of the housing 24 and is inclined in a direction away from the lid body 30. Further, in the side wall portion 24a, holes 38a and 38b are formed through holes 38a and 38b that are oriented in the horizontal direction in the figure, and a slanted surface that bulges toward the chamber 22 is provided in the second portion of the side wall portion 24a. form a locking protrusion 39a (
(See Figure 4). On the other hand, holes 4Qa and 40b are also formed in the inner surface 36 of the casing 24 in the vertical direction close to the side wall portion 24a. In this case, the holes 38a, 38b and 40a, 40b are holes for inserting a pressing pin for releasing a locking means provided in the lid 30, which will be described later.

Note that holes 4 are formed in the other side walls 24b and 24d of the housing 24.
2a, 42b are formed, and the holes 42a, 42
b is for positioning and fixing the cassette 20, for example, when loading the cassette 20 into an image reading device or the like.

The plate body 26 closes the upper part of the housing 24 and is detachably attached to the housing 24 via a stopper pin (not shown) or the like. Therefore, if the stopper pin is removed and the plate body 26 is removed from the housing 24, the housing 24
It becomes possible to easily carry out cleaning work inside.

Furthermore, as described above, the lid 30 is attached to the housing 24 via the hinge 28 so as to be openable and closable, and the opening/closing tip of the lid 30 has a bulge toward the housing 24. A locking portion 44 is formed. The locking portion 44 fits into the sheet outlet 32 formed in the side wall portion 24a of the casing 24, and the − surface portion 44a thereof is inclined “ζ” corresponding to the surface portion 34. Locking means 46a and 46b are provided on both sides of the housing, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the locking means 46a
A casing portion 48a constituting the casing portion 48a is formed to bulge on the inner surface side of the lid 30, and the casing portion 48a constitutes the 11:1 lid 30.
An opening 50a communicating therein is formed. A claw member 522 is attached to the housing 48a, and in this case, the claw member 52
a is a lever portion 54 exposed to the outside through the opening 50a;
d, a first locking portion 56a extending in a direction perpendicular to the lever portion 54a and facing the hole 38a of the side wall portion 24a, and a - end of the first locking portion 56a. and a second locking portion 5Ra formed on the inner surface 36 facing the hole 40a of the inner surface 36 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The first locking portion 56a projects outward from the second locking portion 582, and the first locking IL portion 5Ga is formed with an inclined surface 57a that engages with the protrusion 39a of the side wall portion 24a. , 1 part 58. to the second person 1. ] is provided with an inclined surface 59a that engages with an I pressing pin (described later) that enters from the hole 40a. The claw member 52a is pressed toward the locking protrusion 39a of the lid 30 through the elastic force of a coil spring 60a interposed within the housing 48a.

Further, the other locking means 46b is the locking means 46 described above.
It is constructed in the same manner as a, and the same reference numerals are given the same reference numerals and the suffix b is attached to the same components, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

Note that a rectangular opening 62 is formed in the lid 30, and the opening 62 is used to read the barcode, etc. of the stimulable phosphor sheet s stored in the cassette 2o. Yes (see Figure 2).

The cassette 20 is basically constructed as described above, and the radiation image information reading device into which the cassette 2o is loaded will be described in detail below.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 64 indicates a radiation image information reading device, and a cassette holding portion 66 for detachably mounting the cassette 20 is provided approximately at the center of the reading device 64. In this case, the cassette holding section 66 is attached to the housing 24.
Fixture 1 including locking pins 68a and 68b that fit into holes 42a and 42b to maintain the position of cassette 20 1.1.
a lock release means 70 for releasing the locking means 46a, 46I of the lid 30, and a lid opening/closing means including a suction cup 72 for opening and closing the lid 30. The lock release means 70 slides and displaces the holding bodies 73a, 73b and the holding bodies 73a, 73b under the action of an actuator (not shown) to release the hole 4 of the housing 24.
It consists of pressing pins 14a and 14b that enter into the insides of the pins 0a and 40b.

Note that the lock release means 70 is provided below the housing 24, and is inserted into the lock means 46a14 through the holes 40a, 401).
The locking means 45a, 6b is released through holes 38a, 38b formed in the housing 24.
Even if it is configured to release 46b, it still costs 3L.

For example, a sheet conveyance mechanism 76 is disposed near the cassette holding section 66. As shown in FIG. 6, the sheet conveyance mechanism 76 basically includes a pair of rollers 78 that nip and convey the stimulable phosphor sheet S, and a roller pair 78 that is interlocked with the roller pair 78 and slides into contact with the sheet S. The cassette 20 includes a conveyance roller 80 that generally conveys the conveyance roller 80, and a swinging means 82 that swings the conveyance roller 80 and displaces it with respect to the cassette 20.

The roller pair 78 includes a roller 84 of the driving brush 1 that is rotatably supported within the reading device 64, and a second roller 86 that is pressed against the tenth roller 84 through the elastic force of an elastic body (not shown). The tenth roller 84 is a drive belt 88.
It is connected to a rotational drive source 90 via. One end side of plate-shaped arms 92a, 92b is engaged with both ends of the tenth roller 84, and the conveyance roller 80 is rotatably supported on the other end side of the arms 92a, 92b. In this case, the first
The 0-roller 84 and the conveyance roller 80 are configured to interlock with each other via a belt 94. Furthermore, the swinging means 82 engages with the arm 92a. One end of a first link 98a is fixed to a rotational drive source 96 constituting the swinging means 82, and the - end of a second link 98b is secured to the other end of the first link 98a. The second link 98I) is supported approximately in the middle of the arm 92a.

Next, a first conveying means 102 including a conveying belt 100 is disposed adjacent to the sheet conveying mechanism 76 . As shown in FIG. 5, below the first conveyance means 102 there is a plurality of sheet storage sections +03 for storing stimulable phosphor sheets S one by one. A first stacker 104 for temporarily storing body sheets S is provided. The first stacker 104 is configured to be movable in the direction of the arrow under the driving action of a motor (not shown) or the like. In addition, each sheet storage section 103
The stimulable phosphor sheet S stored in the is placed on a bottom plate (not shown), and by rotating the bottom plate, the sheet S can be transferred to the second stacker 104 provided below the first stacker 104. The conveyor belt 10 constituting the conveyor means 106 of
8 and the like to the conveyor bell 1-11.0 side.

In this case, a reading section 112 is provided close to the end of the conveyor health l-110.

The reading section 112 includes a third conveyance means 114 for conveying the stimulable phosphor sheet S in the direction of arrow B (sub-scanning direction) and a scanning means 118. The scanning means 118 includes a laser light source 120, and a mirror 124 for scanning the laser light 122 in a sheet shape, a galvanometer mirror 126, and a condensing reflecting mirror 128 are provided on the laser light output side of the laser light source 120. There is. Furthermore, the laser beam 12
A light guide 130 is disposed along the main scanning line at the scanning position on the second sheet, and a photomultiplier 132 is mounted above the light guide 130.

On the other hand, a conveyor belt 133 constituting the third conveyor means 114
A conveyor belt 134 is provided at the end of the conveyor belt 134, and once the conveyor belt eye 34 extends horizontally and then largely extends upward in the vertical direction, another conveyor belt is attached to the vertically extending portion. ) 136 are in sliding contact to form a fourth conveying means 139. A pair of conveyor belt eyes 38a and 138b that are in sliding contact with each other are provided on the second part of the conveyor belt 134, and a pair of rollers 14 are provided above the conveyor belts 138a and 138h.
0 and 142 are provided at a predetermined distance from each other, and an erasing section 144 is provided between the pair of rollers 140 and 142. The erasing section 144 includes an erasing light source 14 such as a sodium lamp, a tungsten lamp, or a xenon lamp.
6 are provided, and the radiation image remaining on the stimulable phosphor sheet S from which the radiation image has been read by the reading section 112 is completely erased by the erasing light source 146.

A fifth conveying means 14 is further provided on the negative side of the roller pair 142.
A conveyor belt 1-148 constituting the conveyor belt 7 is provided, and this conveyor belt 148 extends in the horizontal direction on its two-part side, and is in sliding contact with a short conveyor belt 1-150. At the end of the conveyor bell I-14Fl, there is a conveyor bell I-1,
A sixth conveying means 154 is provided which includes a sixth
The stimulable phosphor sheet S, which is displaced by 1800 degrees in the traveling direction via the conveying means 154, is configured to be conveyed to the second stacker 156.

The second stacker 156 is the same as the first stacker 104 described above.
It is configured in the same manner as above, has a plurality of sheet accommodating portions 158, and is configured to be movable in the direction of arrow C under the driving action of a motor or the like (not shown). A pair of rollers 159 is disposed below the second stacker 156, and a seventh conveyance means 160 is provided adjacent to the pair of rollers 159.
is provided. In this case, the seventh conveying means 160 is a stimulable phosphor sheet S supplied from the second stacker 156.
The auxiliary erasing section 162 is provided with an erasing light source 164. Further, the stimulable phosphor sheet (S) passing through the auxiliary erasing section 162 is stored in the cassette 20 via the sheet transport mechanism 76.

Therefore, the cassette 20 is transferred to the radiation image information reading device 6.
4 will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cassette holding section 6 of the reading device 64
When the cassette 20 is loaded into the cassette 6, a locking pin 68a constituting a fixing means provided on the cassette holding part 66,
68b fits into the holes 42a and 42b of the housing 24, and the cassette 20 is positioned and held. Next, when the lock release means 70 is driven and the press pins 14a, 14b are displaced in one direction in the vertical direction, the respective press pins 74a, 7
4b enters into the holes 40a and 40b to open the second part 5.
8a and 58b.

At this time, since inclined surfaces 59a and 59b which are inclined in the vertical direction are formed on the portions 58a and 58b of the second engaging member 11, the pressing pins 74a and 74b are displaced upward in the vertical direction, so that the claws are engaged. The members 52a, 52b are displaced in the direction of the arrow against the elastic force of the respective coil springs 6Qa, 60b (see FIGS. 3 and 4). Therefore, the locking means 46a, 46b are released, the suction cup 72 constituting the lid opening/closing means is driven, and the lid 30 is opened.
The cassette 20 is opened by the reading device 64. In addition, the lid body 3
0, the lock release means 70 is driven to displace each pressing pin 74a, 74b vertically downward.

Next, the sheet conveyance mechanism 76 is driven. As shown in FIG. 6, when the first link 98a is swung in the direction of the arrow by driving the rotational drive source 96 constituting the ta movement means 82,
The arm 92a swings downward around the tenth roller 84 via the second link 98b that engages with the first link 98a, and the conveying roller 80 moves the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 in the cassette 20. - Abuts on S. Therefore, the rotational drive source 90
When the drive belt 88 is displaced in the direction of the arrow E and the tenth roller 84 constituting the roller pair 78 is rotated in the direction of the arrow E, the heald 9 stretched over the tenth roller 84 is rotated.
4, the conveying roller 80 rotates in the direction of arrow E. Therefore, the stimulable phosphor sheet S on which the conveyance roller 80 is in sliding contact is taken out from the cassette 20 under the rotational action of the conveyance roller 80 and sent out toward the roller pair 78, forming the roller pair 78. It is held between the 10th lug 84 and the 20th lug 86 that engages with an elastic body (not shown).

At this time, the tenth roller 84 is rotating in the direction of the arrow E under the action of the rotational drive source 900, as described above, and the stimulable phosphor sheet S held between the pair of rollers 78 is 78 and the conveyance roller 80, the first conveyance means 102
It will be transported to the side.

When the rotary drive source 96 constituting the swinging means 82 is rotated in the direction of the arrow E, A1. , 92a swing upward, and the conveyance roller 80 supported by this arm 92a and the other arm 92b is separated from the cassette 20.

On the other hand, the stimulable phosphor sheet S is transferred to the first conveying means 102.
The sheets are conveyed vertically downward through the stacker 104 and supplied into the sheet storage section 103 that constitutes the first stacker 104 . Then, the transported stimulable phosphor sheet S or the stimulable phosphor sheet S stored in the other sheet storage section 103 is sent out to the second transport means 106 side,
It is transported to the reading section 112 via the second transport means 106 and transport bell l'llo.

The stimulable phosphor sheet S that has reached the reading section 112 is
The scanning means 118 is driven while being conveyed in the sub-scanning direction (direction of arrow B) via the conveying belt 133 constituting the conveying means 114 . That is, the laser beam 122 derived from the laser light source 120 is
24 to reach a galvanometer mirror 126, and the laser beam 122 is scanned on the sheet S while the galvanometer mirror 126 swings. As a result, the stimulated luminescence light emitted from the sheet S is reflected directly or by the reflecting mirror 128, and the light guide 130
The photomultiplier 132 converts the signal into an electrical signal and sends it to, for example, an image recording device.

In this way, the stimulable phosphor sheet +-S whose radiation image has been read is transferred to the rollers via the fourth conveying means 139 including the conveying belt 134 and the conveying belt 136 in sliding contact therewith, and the conveying belts 138a and 138b. versus 14
It is conveyed to the 0 side, further passes through the pair of rollers 140 and reaches the erasing section 144. In the erasing section 144, a plurality of erasing light sources 146 are turned on, and the irradiation light completely erases the radiation image remaining on the stimulable phosphor sheet S.

M whose radiation image has been erased by passing through the erasing section 144
The integrated fluorescent I sheet-1-S is conveyed in the vertical direction via the conveyor healds 148 and 150 that constitute the fifth conveyor stage 147, and then the conveyance direction is shifted horizontally and the 6 to the conveying means 154.

The sixth conveying means 154 is J, and its conveying direction is 180.
The stimulable phosphor sheet S shifted by the second stunker 156
The sheet is stored in a desired sheet storage section 158.

On the other hand, after the stimulable phosphor sheet s is taken out from the cassette 20, the stimulable phosphor sheet 1-S previously stored in the sheet storage section 158 is transferred from the II-RA pair 159 to the seventh conveying means 160. If you send it out, this accumulative phosphor sea)S
Secondary erasing is performed via the erasing light source 164 of the auxiliary erasing section 162, and the sheet is sent to the sheet conveying mechanism 76 side.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the rotary drive source 90 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow, the tenth roller 84 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow via the belt 88 that engages with the rotary drive source 90. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the cassette 20 is rotated between the L and L pairs 78.
sent to the side. Therefore, when the rotary drive source 96 constituting the swinging means 82 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow, the conveying roller 80 swings into the cassette 20 via the links 98a and 98b, as described above, and the cumulating fireflies are Light sheet S
sliding into contact with. Therefore, the roller pair 78 and the conveyance roller 80
As a result, the stimulable phosphor sheet S is conveyed to the cassette 20 side, and is finally completely housed in this cassette via the conveyance roller 80.

After storing the stimulable phosphor sheet S in the cassette 20 in this way, the swinging means 82 is driven to
0 away from the cassette 20.

Therefore, if the lid body 30 is closed while the suction cup 72 is swinging, the first locking portions 56a, 56b of the claw members 52a, 52b can be closed.
comes into contact with the locking protrusion 39a of the side wall portion 24a, and the claw members 52a, 52b are displaced in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4 against the elastic force of the coil springs 60a, 60b. Then, when the lid body 30 closes the chamber 22 in the housing 24, the first locking parts 56a, 56b separate from the respective protrusions 39a, 39b, and as a result, the claw members 52a, 52b lock the coils. The side wall portion 24a through the elastic force of the springs 60a and 60b.
Displaced to the side, the lid body 30 locks the locking means 46a, 46b.
Then, the locking pins 68a, 68b are fixed in the holes 42a, 42b of the housing 24 by driving the fixing means.
From at r, :t.

Thereafter, the cassette 20 is taken out from the cassette holding section 66, and a new cassette 20 for storing the stimulable phosphor sheet S on which image information is accumulated and recorded is loaded into the cassette holding section 66, if necessary. .

In this case, according to this embodiment, the surface portion 3 defining the film outlet 32 of the casing 24 constituting the cassette 20 is
4 is continuous with the inner surface 36 of the housing 24 and is inclined in a direction away from the lid 30.

Therefore, as described above in FIG. 6, the cassette 2
The stimulable phosphor sheet S can be taken out by sliding it in the horizontal direction.

Therefore, even with a relatively simple structure like the sheet transport mechanism 7G described above, it is not possible to reliably take out the stimulable phosphor sheet +-S from the cassette or feed it into the cassette 20. It becomes possible. For this reason, an effect can be obtained in which, in place of the sheet body conveying mechanism 76, a single sheet mechanism having a simple structure including a suction cup, for example, can be adopted.

Furthermore, the cassette 20 provided with the sheet outlet 32 in the housing 24 can be loaded into an image reading device or the like in an inverted state, for example. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the cassette 20 is inserted into the image reading device 170 in an inverted state for a predetermined length, and the lid 30 is inserted under the action of a suction cup (not shown) provided in the image reading device 170. When the cassette 20 is opened, the stimulable phosphor sheet S stored in the cassette 20 falls, is held between a pair of conveying rollers 172, and is conveyed to a predetermined scanning/reading section.

Furthermore, the length of the lid body 30 can be selected to be sufficient to allow the sheet S to be taken out. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the space occupied by the opening and closing operations of the lid 30 within the reading device 64 can be made as small as possible. Furthermore, if the length of the lid body 30 is selected to be the same length for various cassettes of different sizes, the lid opening/closing mechanism including the suction cup 72 can always perform the same opening/closing operation (as a result, To,
This provides the advantage of avoiding problems such as poor suction caused by differences in the lengths of the lids 30. Also, as shown in Figure 7,
If the cassette 20 is loaded into the image reading device 170 to a length that allows the lid 30 to be opened and closed, the space of the cassette holding section becomes narrow at once, and the entire image reading device 170 can be made smaller. There is also.

As shown in FIG. protrudes toward the casing to form a sheet outlet in the casing.

Therefore, in order to take out the stimulable phosphor sheet from the cassette, the reading device or the like into which the cassette is loaded does not need to be equipped with a single-fed mechanism that requires complicated operations, such as a rotary drive. The sheet can be taken out or stored very easily simply by sliding the conveyor roller that is attached to the stimulable phosphor sheet into sliding contact with the stimulable phosphor sheet. Furthermore, it is possible to select various loading positions of the cassette, and for example, it is possible to suitably correspond to an apparatus configured to load the cassette in an inverted position.

Furthermore, without installing the lid over the entire surface of the housing,
The length is selected so that the stimulable phosphor sheet can be taken out. Therefore, the space required for the opening and closing operations of the lid body is effectively reduced, and there is no need to load the entire cassette into the device, and only the length that allows the lid body to open and close can be loaded into the device. . As a result, there is an advantage that the space for storing the cassettes in the device can be reduced at once, and the entire device can be made smaller.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.
It goes without saying that various improvements and changes in design can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet according to the prior art, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet according to the present invention, and Fig. 3 is shown in Fig. 2. FIG. 4 is a partially omitted vertical sectional view of the cassette not shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a radiographic image reading device in which the cassette according to the present invention is loaded; FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a sheet conveyance mechanism constituting the reading device shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory diagram when loading the cassette according to the present invention into another reading device. 20...Cassette 24...Casing 24a~
24d... Side wall portion 26... Plate body 30... Lid body 32... Sheet outlet 34... Surface portions 38a, 38b, 40a, 40b -... Hole portion 46a
, 46b...Lock means 52a, 52b...Claw member 64...Reading device 6
6...Cassette holding part 7o...Lock release means 76...Sheet body conveyance mechanism 78...Roller pair 80
... Conveyance roller 102.106 ... Conveyance means 112 ... Reading section 114 ... Conveyance means 118 ... Scanning means 139 ... Conveyance means 1
44... Erasing section

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A casing that stores a stimulable phosphor sheet, a lid that is attached to a part of the casing so as to be openable and closable, and a lid that is disposed on the remaining part of the casing and accumulates together with the lid. and a light-shielding plate that holds the stimulable phosphor sheet in a light-tight manner, and the stimulable phosphor sheet is configured to be led out from the casing by opening the lid. Cassette for body sheet. (2) In the cassette according to claim 1,
A protrusion that bulges toward the casing and has a width larger than the width of the stimulable phosphor sheet is formed at the opening/closing end of the lid body, and a notch is formed in the casing with which the protrusion is hermetically engaged. established,
The stimulable phosphor sheet is configured to forcibly open the lid to define a space between the protrusion and the notch, and lead out the stimulable phosphor sheet from the space. Cassette for fluorescent sheet. (3) In the cassette according to claim 1,
The light shielding plate is a cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet that is detachably attached to the housing. (4) A cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet according to claim 1 or 2, which is provided with at least one or more locking means for fixing the lid to the casing.