JPS6260690B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sheet film supply device capable of detecting the number of unexploited films remaining in a film storage magazine of a cassette-less type X-ray imaging apparatus.

Hereinafter, a general cassette-less type X-ray imaging apparatus will be explained with reference to FIG.

That is, in the figure, numeral 1 is a film storage magazine that stores sheet film 2 that has not yet been photographed, and a plurality of sheet films 2 stored in this film storage magazine 1 are arranged in order from the upper film to the upper and lower arrows U--. A suction rubber cup 3, which is movable in the D direction and the left-right arrow L-R direction, suctions and takes out one film at a time from an opening provided at the top of the film storage magazine 1. When the suction rubber cup 3 is moved to the position of the pair of transport rollers 4, the sheet film 2 can be held by the transport rollers 4. As a result, the sheet film 2 is held between the conveying rollers 4 and conveyed between the contact holders 5 which are placed open at the standby position 6.
When the sheet film 2 is fed in, the close contact holder 5
For example, the upper lid 5A closes in the direction of arrow B to sandwich the sheet film 2. The camera waits at this standby position 6A until a photographing command is given.

When an imaging command is received, the contact holder 5 is sent to the imaging position 7A, which is the irradiation field position of the X-ray tube XT, and after the imaging is completed, it is returned to the standby position 6A. Here, the close contact holder 5 is opened, and at the same time, the conveyance roller 4 is reversely rotated. Then, the photographed film in the close contact holder 5 is picked up by the reversing conveyance roller 4 and taken out.
At this time, the direction switching plate 8 provided on the exit side of the conveyance roller 4 moves with the pivot 8A as a fulcrum,
The photographed sheet film that is being fed upward in the direction is guided to the guide 9 side by this direction switching plate 8.
As a result, the photographed sheet film is placed in the guide 9.
The photographed film storage magazine 10 is guided inside the film storage magazine 1 and is stored therein. Note that PA is the subject and BT is the bed.

In the caseless X-ray imaging system with the above configuration, the film storage magazine usually contains 50~
It stores approximately 70 sheets of unphotographed sheet film, but conventional devices did not have a mechanism to display how many sheets of sheet film remained. Therefore, in the past, the operator did not know how many more shots could be taken during shooting. Alternatively, record the number of sheets initially stored in the film storage magazine by some means, count the number of shots each time you take a picture, and when necessary, the operator can subtract the counted number from the number recorded in advance. I knew it, but it wasn't a surefire way. Particularly when performing imaging while injecting a contrast medium into a subject while observing the timing of when the contrast medium reaches the target area, there is a risk that unexploited film may remain at the moment the operator wishes to take the image. In some cases, there was a problem in that the contrast medium had to be injected again after the film was added again and the image was taken again. This means that contrast-enhanced imaging of the digestive organs, etc., does not cause much pain to the patient, but contrast-enhanced imaging using a cardiac catheter, etc., involves a major surgery, so it is unlikely that the patient will be in much pain. Needless to say, in some cases, there was a risk that it could be life-threatening.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and provides a sheet film supply device having a function of detecting when the number of remaining unshot films in a film storage magazine has become less than a predetermined number and notifying the operator. The purpose is to provide.

Hereinafter, the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

A magazine insertion outer casing 11 formed in a magazine insertion portion 11I for unexposed sheet film in a cassetteless type X-ray imaging apparatus as shown in FIG. Support and fix. Incidentally, photodetectors 14 and 14' are fixed to both side walls of the magazine insertion outer casing 11 at predetermined heights, which will be described later. Furthermore, when the film storage magazine 13 is completely stored in this magazine insertion outer casing 11, the above-mentioned photodetector 14 on the side wall of this film storage magazine 13,
Optical paths 15 and 15', in which optical fibers are embedded, for example, are formed at positions opposite to 14'. This optical path 1
5 and 15' may be simply formed through holes.
Reference numeral 16 denotes a film suction cylinder 16 for suctioning and transporting unphotographed sheet films 12 stacked and stored in the film storage magazine 13 one by one. This film suction tube 16 has a suction pipe 17 formed therein, a plurality of ends of which are open toward the film side (lower surface in the figure), and a suction rubber cup 18 is fixed around the pipe. The suction pipe 17 suctions the unphotographed sheet films 12 one by one by operating a vacuum pump (not shown) connected to the opening at the other end. In addition, two optical fibers 19 and 19' are disposed at both ends of the film suction cylinder 16 along with the suction pipe 17, respectively. A light emitter 20 is arranged at the other end of the optical fibers 19, 19'. In addition, the optical paths 15 and 15' are as follows:
When the movement of the film suction 16 reaches the lowest point, it is positioned so as to face the two optical fibers 19, 19' formed therein. If the lowest point of the film adsorption tube at this time is set to be when the remaining amount of unphotographed sheet film is, for example, 10, then when the remaining amount reaches 10, the optical fibers 19, 19' and the optical paths 15, 1
5' is the opposite one. Moreover, the photodetector 14,
14' indicates the optical path 1 when the film storage magazine 13 is properly inserted into the magazine insertion outer casing 11.
5 and 15'. It is preferable that the optical paths 15, 15' and the photodetectors 14, 14' have an elongated oval shape in the direction of insertion into the film storage magazine. The output lines 21 and 21' of the two photodetectors 14 and 14' are connected to a discrimination circuit 2 formed by an AND circuit.
The output from this discrimination circuit 22 is connected to a display circuit 23 which uses a buzzer or a lamp as a display medium and has a hold function. In FIG. b, 24 is a handle for carrying the film storage magazine 13 of the X-ray imaging device 25, and 26 is a lid of the film storage magazine 13.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. 2 as well.

When performing X-ray imaging, an operator first stores a predetermined number of unexposed sheet films in the film storage magazine 13 and properly inserts them into the outer casing of the magazine insertion portion of the X-ray imaging apparatus. Next, when entering the photographing stage and closing a predetermined switch, the film suction tube 16 descends in the direction of arrow X, and the stacked unphotographed sheet film 1 is removed.
A suction rubber cup 18 is pressed into contact with 2. Note that the light emitter 20 is already lit when performing these operations. When the suction rubber cup 18 is pressed and the film suction cylinder 16 reaches its lowest point, a vacuum pump (not shown) operates to remove air through the suction pipe 17 and suction one unphotographed sheet film 12. In this case, since a sufficient number of unphotographed sheet films 12 are stored, the optical fiber 1
The optical paths 9 and 19' and the optical paths 15 and 15' do not face each other and do not display any information. Next, the film suction cylinder 16 moves upward in the direction of arrow Y, and conveys the unphotographed sheet film 12 to a close contact holder (not shown). After that, the camera operates in the same manner as described in FIG. 1 to take pictures.

When the remaining amount of stored sheet film 12 that has not been photographed reaches 10 after the photographing operation is repeated, the following operation is performed. As before, the film suction cylinder 16 descends in the direction of the arrow X, and the suction rubber cup 18 is brought into pressure contact with the unphotographed sheet film 12. At this lowest point, the optical paths 15, 15' formed in the film storage magazine 13 and the optical fibers 19, 19' arranged in the film suction tube 16 are opposed to each other, and the light emitting device 20 transmits the optical fibers 19, 19'. The light reaches the photodetectors 14, 14'. Then, the detection signals from the photodetectors 14, 14' are transmitted to the output lines 21, 2.
1', and input to a discriminating circuit 22 composed of an AND circuit. This discrimination circuit 22 receives input from the output lines 21 and 21' and outputs it to the next stage display circuit 23.
For example, by using a buzzer, the operator is made aware that the remaining amount of film has reached 10 sheets. Furthermore, since the display circuit 23 is provided with a hold function, the buzzer continues to sound even when the remaining amount of film becomes less than 10 sheets. Of course, the ship may be equipped with a switch to cancel this buzzer. The accuracy of this remaining amount detection method is that if the diameter of the optical paths 15, 15' and the optical fibers 19, 19' are 100 μm, the detector can be detected with an error of ±100 μm, so it can be converted to the number of films (about 200 μm thick). The detection accuracy is about ±0.5 sheets. In addition, since the end of the film suction tube 16 and the film storage magazine are sufficiently close to each other, there is no risk of exposure of the film at the ends of the optical fibers 19, 19'.

According to the present invention described above, since it is equipped with a mechanism that detects the remaining amount of unphotographed sheet film with very high accuracy and makes the operator aware of it in advance, it is possible to perform continuous imaging by performing contrast imaging using a cardiac catheter or the like. The film is extremely effective in that it suddenly disappears during the treatment and does not have any adverse effects on the patient.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, if the optical path formed in the film storage magazine and the height of the photodetector arranged in the outer casing of the magazine insertion part are made variable, the recognition can be adjusted as necessary. You can change the amount of film remaining. Furthermore, by forming a plurality of pairs of optical paths and photodetectors, it is possible to display the amount of remaining film that is gradually decreasing.
It is convenient to use a liquid crystal or a light emitting element as the display means at this time so that the number of remaining sheets can be displayed numerically. Furthermore, if there is a concern about the sensitivity of the film, such concern can be eliminated by using a film that emits light at a wavelength to which the film is less sensitive. It goes without saying that various other modifications can be made without changing the gist. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining a general caseless type X-ray imaging device, Fig. 2 a is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 b is a direction in the direction of arrow α in Fig. 2 a. This is a diagram seen from. 12...Unphotographed sheet film, 13...Film storage magazine, 14, 14'...Photodetector,
15, 15'... Optical path, 16... Film suction cylinder, 19, 19'... Optical fiber, 20... Light emitter, 22... Discrimination circuit, 23... Display circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Insert a film storage magazine containing a large number of unexposed sheet films into the film magazine insertion section of a cassette-less type X-ray imaging device, and then insert the unexposed sheet films in the film storage magazine one by one into the film suction cylinder. A sheet film supply device that moves up and down to take out and prepare for photographing includes a pair of optical fibers each having one end disposed at both ends of the film adsorption tube and the other end facing a light emitting device; a pair of optical paths each having one end formed at at least one location on a side wall of the film storage magazine so as to face the other end of the optical fiber when the film suction tube reaches its lowest point by the film suction operation; a pair of photodetectors facing each other in correspondence with the other end of the optical path section; and a discrimination display section that receives signals from the pair of photodetectors to discriminate and display the remaining amount of the unphotographed sheet film. A sheet film feeding device characterized by comprising: