JPH0653533B2 - Sheet body transport mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet conveying mechanism, and more particularly, to a sheet conveying mechanism for irradiating a sheet with a light beam to record or read image information. By displacing both ends of the roller for use by the actuators via the elastic members toward the sheet body, the sheet body is pressed and clamped with a constant pressure, whereby the sheet body is sub-scanned and conveyed without meandering or the like. The present invention relates to a sheet conveying mechanism that enables the above.

Recently, a radiation image recording / reproducing system that obtains a radiation image of a subject using a stimulable phosphor (stimulable phosphor) has attracted attention. Here, the stimulable phosphor means radiation (X-ray, α
Radiation, β rays, γ rays, electron rays, ultraviolet rays, etc.) accumulates a part of this radiation energy, and when excitation light such as visible light is subsequently irradiated, it stimulates luminescence in accordance with the accumulated energy. A light body.

The above-mentioned radiation image recording / reproducing system uses this stimulable phosphor, and is a sheet having a layer of the stimulable phosphor for temporarily storing the radiation image information of a subject such as a human body (hereinafter referred to as "accumulative phosphor sheet"). Or simply referred to as a "sheet"), the accumulative phosphor sheet is scanned with excitation light such as laser light to generate stimulated emission light, and the stimulated emission light is photoelectrically read to generate electricity. A signal is obtained, and the radiation image of the subject is recorded on the basis of this electric signal.
The image is output as a visible image on a display device such as an RT.

Therefore, in such a radiation image recording / reproducing system, when the radiation image is read from the accumulative phosphor sheet in which the radiation image is accumulated and recorded, specifically, the following method is used.

That is, the accumulative phosphor sheet is two-dimensionally scanned with a light beam such as a laser beam, and stimulated emission light emitted from the sheet is detected in time series by a photodetector such as a photomultiplier. Get image information. In this case, the two-dimensional scanning of the light beam is carried in the sub-scanning direction by sandwiching the stimulable phosphor sheet by two pairs of rollers arranged at intervals shorter than the length in the carrying direction. This can be achieved by deflecting the light beam in the main scanning direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction.

By the way, the accumulative phosphor sheet that is nipped and conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the roller pair has a predetermined thickness, and when the sheet tries to enter or leave between the rollers,
It is feared that the roller may cause a considerable impact on the sheet. Then, when the stimulable phosphor sheet vibrates due to the impact, a situation occurs in which the sheet is not accurately irradiated with laser light, and when the radiation image is read from the stimulable phosphor sheet as described above, it is reproduced. The image may not be accurate or may be unclear.

Further, when the roller pair clamps the stimulable phosphor sheet, if the clamping force of the roller pair on both sides of the sheet is different, the sheet may not be accurately conveyed in the sub-scanning direction. In this case, since the irradiation position of the laser light on the stimulable phosphor is displaced from the predetermined position, the reproduced image obtained from this becomes inaccurate, and based on this image information, for example, when performing medical diagnosis. There is a risk of causing misdiagnosis.

The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned inconveniences, and at least one of a sheet body such as a stimulable phosphor sheet or a photographic light-sensitive material is pinched and conveyed by a roller pair and scanned by a light beam. By sandwiching the sheet body by displacing both ends of the roller by the actuator through the elastic member, it is possible to accurately convey the sheet body in the sub-scanning direction without causing the sheet body to meander, and to obtain or record a good image. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet body transport mechanism that enables the sheet body transport mechanism.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, when a sheet-shaped object to be scanned is deflected and irradiated with a light beam to perform main scanning, the object to be scanned is arranged at intervals shorter than the length in the transport direction. In a sheet body transport mechanism for sandwiching and transporting in a sub-scanning manner by two sets of paired rollers, at least one of the two pairs of rollers is provided at both ends of a rotary shaft of one roller. A first elastic member for urging the one roller in a direction of separating from the other roller, and a second elastic member for urging the one roller in a direction of displacing the one roller toward the other roller, respectively. It is configured to be engaged and to displace the one roller toward the other roller via the second elastic member against the elastic force of the first elastic member under the action of the actuator. Characterize.

Preferred embodiments of the sheet conveying mechanism according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates an image reading device incorporating the sheet conveying mechanism of the present embodiment. A supply magazine 14 is loaded in the chamber 12 in the image reading apparatus 10, and the storage magazines A in which the radiation images have been stored and recorded are stacked and housed in the supply magazine 14. A single-wafer mechanism including a suction plate 16 is provided in the chamber 12 in the vicinity of the supply magazine 14. Below the suction plate 16, an endless first conveyor belt for conveying the stimulable phosphor sheet A is provided. 18 are provided. The first conveyor belt 18 extends downward in the vertical direction and is bent so as to be oriented in the horizontal direction at the internal corner of the image reading device 10. The first conveyor belt 18 is slightly separated from the end portion of the sheet according to the present invention. A body transport mechanism 20 is provided.

The sheet conveying mechanism 20 includes a first roller pair 22 and a second roller pair 24 for holding the accumulative phosphor sheet A conveyed between these roller pairs 22, 24. The guide members 26a and 26b are disposed. The first roller pair 22 is a roller 30a which is rotationally driven and a roller which is arranged above this.
On the other hand, the second roller pair 24 is composed of a roller 30b which is rotationally driven and a roller 32b which is arranged above the roller 30b.

Therefore, the first roller pair 22 is driven and controlled by the mechanism shown in FIG.

That is, both ends of the roller 30a are rotatably supported by support plates 38a and 38b provided upright in the image reading apparatus 10, and the shaft 40a of the roller 30a is rotated by a rotation drive source, for example, a motor 42. Engage with the drive shaft. The shafts 44a and 45a protruding from both ends of the roller 32a are fitted into the long holes 46a and 47a formed in the support plates 38a and 38b. In this case, Laura
Coil springs 48a and 49a are attached to the shafts 44a and 45a of the shaft 32a and urge the roller 32a in a direction to separate it from the roller 30a.

Leaf springs 51a are attached to the shafts 44a and 45a of the roller 32a,
One end of 53a abuts each. The other end of each of the leaf springs 51a and 53a is fixed to both ends of a rotary shaft 55a arranged parallel to the roller 32a. Here, the rotary shaft 55a is rotationally driven by a rotary solenoid 56a which is an electromagnetic actuator attached to the support plate 38a. That is, one end of the arm member 60a is pivotally supported by the rotary drive shaft 58a of the rotary solenoid 56a, and the pin member 62a is planted at the other end. Then, the other end of the link member 64a, one end of which is fixed to the rotary shaft 55a, is engaged with the pin member 62a. The rotary solenoid 56a rotates the rotary shaft 55a against the tensile force of the coil springs 48a, 49a via the arm member 60a and the link member 64a, and displaces the roller 32a toward the roller 30a.

On the other hand, since the drive mechanism of the second roller pair 24 is configured similarly to the case of the first roller pair 22, the corresponding reference numeral is attached with b and its description is omitted.

Then, the second conveyor belt 66 is brought close to the second roller pair 24.
Is provided. The second conveyor belt 66 once extends horizontally, and then extends largely vertically upward in the drawing,
It is bent horizontally at its end, and the tip is directed slightly downward. A receive magazine 68 for accommodating the stimulable phosphor sheet A is disposed in the vicinity of the tip of the second conveyor belt 66.

A reading unit 70 is arranged above the sheet conveying mechanism 20 of this embodiment. The reading unit 70 includes a laser light source 72, and a laser light 74 is provided on the laser light deriving side of the laser light source 72.
A mirror 76 and a galvanometer mirror 78 for scanning the sheet on the sheet are provided. In addition, the laser light 74
At the scanning position on the sheet of the light guide 80 along the main scanning line.
And a photomultiplier 82 is mounted on the light guide 80.

Furthermore, in the chamber 12, for example, an erasing unit 84 is arranged at an intermediate portion of the conveyor belt 66. A plurality of erasing light sources (not shown) are provided inside the erasing section 84.

The image reading apparatus incorporating the sheet conveying mechanism according to the present embodiment is basically constructed as described above. Next, its operation and effect will be described.

First, the supply magazine 14 is attached to the image reading device 10. In this case, in the supply magazine 14, for example, a plurality of stimulable phosphor sheets A on which radiation images of a subject such as a human body are accumulated and recorded are stacked and accommodated.

Therefore, the stimulable phosphor sheet A is taken out one by one from the supply magazine 14 under the action of the sheet-fed mechanism including the suction plate 16, and is passed through the first conveyor belt 18 provided below the suction plate 16. And is conveyed to the sheet conveying mechanism 20 side.

Then, the stimulable phosphor sheet A is nipped between the first roller pair 22, that is, the roller 30a and the roller 32a, and is conveyed in the direction of arrow B under the action of the motor 42 as a rotation drive source. At that time, the reading unit 70 is driven to reflect the laser light 74 emitted from the laser light source 72 by the mirror 70 to reach the galvanometer mirror 78.
The laser beam 74 is scanned on the sheet A in the main scanning direction under the swinging action of 78. As a result, the stimulated emission light emitted from the sheet A is incident on the light guide 80, converted into an electric signal by the photomultiplier 82, and sent to an image recording device or the like. In this way, the stimulable phosphor sheet A is two-dimensionally scanned by the laser light 74,
The front end of the second roller pair 24 is
It comes to be clamped by 30b and 32b.

Therefore, based on FIGS. 2 and 3, the first roller pair 22
The operation of the second roller pair 24 will be described.

In this case, before the stimulable phosphor sheet A reaches the first roller pair 22, the rotary solenoid 56b in the subsequent stage is in the sadly energized state. Therefore, the rotary solenoid
One end of the leaf springs 51b and 53b connected to 56b does not push the shafts 44b and 45b of the roller 32b toward the roller 30b, so that the roller 32b is supported by the coil springs 48b and 49b. Long hole formed in
It is displaced along 46b and 47b, and a predetermined space is secured between the rollers 30b and 32b.

On the other hand, the rotary solenoid 56a is a stimulable phosphor sheet A.
Before reaching the first roller pair 22, is already energized. That is, the rotary solenoid 56a
The rotary drive shaft 58a of the arm rotates, and along with that, the arm member 60
a through the pin member 62a and the link member 64a
55a rotates in the direction of the arrow. In this case, one ends of leaf springs 51a and 53a are fixed to the rotary shaft 55a, and the other ends of the leaf springs 51a and 53a are coil springs 48a and 49a due to the rotating operation of the rotary shaft 55a.
The shafts 44a and 45a of the roller 32a are pressed against the tensile force of the roller 32a. As a result, the roller 32a is displaced and displaced along the long holes 46a and 47a, and is brought into a state of being close to the roller 30a.

Therefore, first, the accumulative phosphor sheet A is the first conveyor belt.
It is transported by 18 and its front end portion is inserted between the rollers 30a and 32a of the first roller pair 22 and is clamped. Then roller
The sheet A is conveyed toward the second roller pair 24 in the direction of arrow B by the rotating operation of the motor 42 of 30a (third part).
See figure).

Here, the leaf springs 51a and 53a have substantially the same elastic modulus, and the roller 32a is directed and pressed against the roller 30a by the rotation operation by the rigid common rotating shaft 55a. Therefore, the stimulable phosphor sheet A is attached to the support plate 38a.
The side portion on the side and the side portion on the side of the support plate 38b are clamped by the first roller pair 22 with substantially equal clamping force. Therefore, the sheet A is accurately conveyed while being directed toward the second roller pair 24 without meandering due to the imbalance of the holding force, and during this time, the image reading operation of the sheet A is performed very well by the reading unit 70.

Then, the front end portion of the stimulable phosphor sheet A is moved to the second roller pair.
When reaching between the rollers 30b and 32b of 24, the drive current is supplied to the rotary solenoid 56b. Rotary solenoid
56b displaces the leaf springs 51b and 53b against the tensile forces of the coil springs 48b and 49b, and the roller 32b resists the tensile forces of the coil springs 48b and 49b to the roller 30b.
Orient to and displace. And the stimulable phosphor sheet A
As shown in FIG. 3, the rollers are sandwiched by rollers 30b and 32b, and the transfer in the sub-scanning direction is smoothly continued. Also in this case, since the sheet A is nipped with a uniform nip force in the main scanning direction orthogonal to the sub scanning direction (arrow B direction), the transfer in the sub scanning direction is performed very accurately.

On the other hand, the rear end portion of the accumulative phosphor sheet A has the first roller pair 22.
Before the drive current is reached, the supply of the drive current to the rotary solenoid 56a is stopped. In this case, the leaf spring 51a,
The pressing force of the shafts 44a and 45a by 53a disappears,
The roller 32a is separated from the roller 30a by the tensile force of the coil springs 48a and 49a. After the rear end of the sheet A passes through the second roller pair 24, the supply of the drive current to the rotary solenoid 56b is stopped and the roller 32b is separated from the roller 30b.

Next, the stimulable phosphor sheet A reaches the erasing section 84 via the second conveyor belt 66. In the erasing unit 84, a plurality of erasing light sources (not shown) are turned on, and the irradiation light thereof completely erases the radiation image remaining on the stimulable phosphor sheet A. The storage phosphor sheet A from which the radiation image has been erased is the second
After being conveyed to the upper part of the image reading device 10 by the conveying belt 66, it is stored in the receive magazine 68.

By the way, the radiation image recording / reproducing system employs the image recording apparatus as described above, and while the photographic photosensitive material is nipped and conveyed by the drum and the roller, the modulated laser light is applied to the photographic photosensitive material to convey the photographic photosensitive material. A predetermined image is recorded on the basis of the radiation image information. Therefore, if the sheet conveying mechanism according to the present invention is used in the image recording apparatus, the photographic photosensitive material can be conveyed in the sub-scanning direction extremely accurately, and as a result, the image recorded on the photographic photosensitive material is It will be even better.

As described above, according to the present invention, when a sheet body such as a stimulable phosphor sheet is sandwiched and conveyed by two pairs of rollers, at least one of both ends of the roller is interposed by elastic members. The actuator is displaced so that the sheet body is nipped by the pair of rollers and conveyed. For this reason, the image information is read or recorded over the entire surface of the sheet, and moreover, the roller abuts by the elastic member with a uniform pressing force in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the sheet, so that the sheet is It will be conveyed very accurately in the conveying direction without meandering. As a result, good and efficient image information reading or recording can be performed.

The sheet conveying mechanism according to the present invention has been described above with reference to the preferred embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various improvements and designs within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course, it is possible to change.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of an image reading apparatus incorporating a sheet body conveying mechanism according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a sheet body conveying mechanism according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a sheet body conveying according to the present invention. It is a side surface explanatory view of a mechanism. 10 ... Image reading device, 20 ... Sheet conveying mechanism 22, 24 ... Roller pair 30a, 30b, 32a, 32b ... Roller 42 ... Motors 51a, 51b, 53a, 53b ... Leaf springs 55a, 55b ... Rotating shafts 56a, 56b ... Rotary solenoid 70 ... Reading unit, 84 ... Erase unit A ... Accumulable fluorescent sheet

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. When a sheet-shaped object to be scanned is deflected and irradiated with a light beam to perform main scanning, the object to be scanned is arranged in two pairs at intervals shorter than the length in the carrying direction. In a sheet body conveying mechanism which is sandwiched by rollers and conveys in a sub-scanning manner, at least one of the two pairs of rollers is provided on one end of the rotation shaft of one roller of the pair of rollers, A first elastic member that biases the roller in a direction away from the roller and a second elastic member that biases the one roller in a direction in which the roller is displaced toward the other roller are engaged with each other, and are acted by the actuator. A sheet conveying mechanism, characterized in that the one roller is displaced toward the other roller via the second elastic member against the elastic force of the first elastic member. 2. The sheet conveying mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the pair of second elastic members engaging with both ends of the rotary shaft are leaf springs having substantially the same elastic modulus. 3. The mechanism according to claim 1, wherein an end portion of the second elastic member is fixed to the rotating member, and the link member extends from the rotating member so that the link member can be connected to the actuator. The rotary member is rotated by acting to rotate the rotary member, which presses the second elastic member against the one roller to force the roller against the elastic force of the first elastic member. A sheet body transport mechanism configured to be displaced toward a roller.