JPH06100788B2 - Cassette for storage phosphor sheet - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a cassette which is a container for storing a stimulable phosphor sheet, and more particularly to a cassette having an erasing function, particularly a secondary erasing function.

<Prior art and its problems> As a method of obtaining a radiographic image as an image, a so-called radiographic system using a combination of a radiographic film having an emulsion layer made of a silver salt photosensitive material and an intensifying screen has been conventionally used. ing. Recently, as a substitute for the radiographic system, a radiographic image information recording / reproducing system using a stimulable phosphor has been attracting attention.

Here, the stimulable phosphor means radiation (X-ray, α-ray, β-ray,
When gamma rays, electron beams, ultraviolet rays, etc.) are irradiated, a part of the energy of this radiation is accumulated, and when excitation light such as visible light is then irradiated, it stimulates emission depending on the accumulated energy. Is referred to as a phosphor.

Using this stimulable phosphor, the radiation image information of a subject such as a human body is once stored and recorded on a sheet having a layer of the stimulable phosphor (hereinafter referred to as "accumulative phosphor sheet"), and this sheet is excited. Scanning with light causes stimulated emission, the generated stimulated emission is read by an optical element and converted into an electrical signal to obtain an image signal, and the image signal is processed to obtain a radiation image of a subject with a good diagnosis diagnosis. A radiation image information recording / reproducing system has been proposed (for example, JP-A-55-12429).
No. 56, No. 56-11395, No. 55-163472, No. 56-104645, No. 56-104645
55-116340).

In such a radiation image recording / reproducing system, the image reading device for reading the radiation image from the stimulable phosphor sheet on which the radiation image is accumulated and recorded is specifically configured as follows.

That is, the stimulable phosphor sheet on which a radiation image is stored and recorded is loaded into the image reading apparatus in a state of being housed in the cassette, and after closing the cassette, the stimulable phosphor sheet is removed from the cassette by a single sheet. Take it out. Next, the separated stimulable phosphor sheet is transported to the reading unit by a transport mechanism such as a belt conveyor. The reading unit performs sub-scanning by mechanically transporting the storage phosphor sheet in one direction, and emits a light beam such as a laser beam deflected in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction of the storage phosphor sheet. Irradiation is performed and main scanning is performed, and photostimulated luminescent light emitted thereby is detected in time series by a photodetector such as a photomultiplier to obtain image information. The obtained image information is
Finally, it is reproduced as a hard copy or on a display device such as a CRT. Then, the stimulable phosphor sheet after completion of reading is conveyed to the erasing section, and the radiation image remaining on the stimulable phosphor sheet is erased by irradiating erasing light emitted from a light source such as a sodium lamp,
After that, they are accumulated in the accumulation tray.

By the way, after the end of reading using the erasing device as described above, erasing (hereinafter referred to as primary erasing) that emits residual radiation energy is performed, and then the stimulable phosphor sheet accumulated in the accumulating tray is Before it is used again, it is exposed to radiation, such as exposed X-rays and natural radiation, that enters the collecting tray, and unnecessary energy is accumulated.
This appears as noise when the sheet is reused and adversely affects the image information. Therefore, erasing is performed again before using the sheet (hereinafter, referred to as secondary erasing).

This secondary erasing is conventionally performed by the following method.

It is carried out by the erasing device used for temporary erasing, and the stimulable phosphor sheet is conveyed to the erasing section by the conveying mechanism on the same line as the reading (the reading is not carried out).
After erasing, it is returned to the stacking tray and stored in the cassette.

Before using the sheet, the sheet is taken out from the stacking tray, and the sheet is secondarily erased by an erasing device separately provided outside the image reading device.

Secondary erasing is performed by the erasing device for secondary erasing installed near the loader section for inserting the accumulative phosphor sheet into the cassette from the accumulating tray.

However, in the above method, before reusing a sheet, the sheet has to be circulated once in the same line as reading, which is time-consuming, and during this time, the apparatus is occupied and another sheet is used. Cannot be read, and the efficiency of use of the device deteriorates.

Further, there is a drawback that the cassette has to be loaded into the apparatus one by one, and this work is troublesome.

Further, in the above methods (1) and (2), it is necessary to separately provide an erasing device outside the image reading device or in the loader portion, and in the above method, there is a disadvantage that the secondary erasing takes time and labor.

Furthermore, in the above method, since the secondary erasing is performed when the stimulable phosphor sheet is stored in the cassette, the sheet is not used immediately after it is stored in the cassette, and when the sheet is used for a long time, it is re-recorded again. Next, it becomes necessary to perform erasure.

<Object of the Invention> The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, to save the time and labor required for erasing the stimulable phosphor sheet, particularly in the secondary erasing, and to perform the independent secondary erasing It is an object of the present invention to provide a cassette having an erasing function, which can eliminate the installation of a erasing device for erasing and can surely perform erasing regardless of the time when it is stored in the cassette.

<Simple Description of the Invention> In order to achieve such an object, as a result of intensive research by the present inventors, the cassette storing the stimulable phosphor sheet has an erasing function, and immediately before photographing. The inventors of the present invention have found that the erasure is performed in the first and second aspects of the present invention.

That is, the present invention provides a cassette comprising a housing for accommodating a stimulable phosphor sheet and a lid body which is openably and closably attached to the housing, wherein The present invention provides a cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet, which has a light-emitting body arranged corresponding to at least an image recording area of the phosphor sheet.

Further, it is preferable that the luminous body is arranged on the inner surface side of the lid body or on the inner surface side of the lid body.

The light emitting body is preferably a light emitting diode.

Here, the image recording area refers to the entire surface of the sheet when effective image information is recorded on the entire surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet, and when effective image information is recorded on a part of the sheet, For example, when a subject is placed in the center of the sheet for recording, that portion is referred to.

<Structure of the Invention> The cassette of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cassette of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partial sectional side view thereof.

As shown in these drawings, the cassette 1 of the present invention has a housing 2 in which an internal space 4 capable of housing the stimulable phosphor sheet 24 is formed, and one side of the housing 2 has, for example, a hinge 5. The lid 3 is rotatably attached by. This lid 3
Is preferably configured to rotate and open and close with respect to the housing and hold the stimulable phosphor sheet 24 in a light-tight manner when the lid 3 is closed. The opening / closing of the lid 3 is not limited to the opening / closing.

Further, a lock mechanism 6 for locking the lid 3 in a closed state is provided. This lock mechanism 6 is, for example, the second
As shown in the drawing, an L-shaped claw member 7 having a lever portion 71 and a claw portion 72, and a guide for sliding the claw member 7 in the front-rear direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 2) when viewed from the front surface 10 of the cassette. A member 8 and a spring 9 housed in the guide member 8 for urging the claw member 7 toward the front of the cassette,
The lever portion 71 of the claw member projects to the outside from the opening 32 formed in the upper surface of the lid body, and the claw portion 72 of the claw member penetrates the locking portion 31 of the lid body, and the tip thereof is the cassette of the housing 2. It is inserted into a hole 101 formed in the inner portion on the front surface 10 side.

In this lock mechanism 6, when the lever portion 71 is pressed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 against the elastic force of the spring 9, the claw member 7 slides along the guide member 8 and the tip of the claw portion 72 moves. Hole 10
It is designed to be unlocked after exiting from 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a light-emitting body 11 as a light source is arranged over substantially the entire bottom portion 21 in the housing 2. The light-emitting body 11 may be any one as long as it can be used for erasing the stimulable phosphor sheet 14, but a light-emitting diode (LED) is convenient because it is convenient to lay it in a thin plate shape on the bottom portion 21 of the housing. It is preferable to use electroluminescence as described above, and as shown in FIG. 1, it is preferable that a large number of light emitting diodes 11 are densely arranged in a predetermined area of the housing bottom portion 21.

It is preferable that the light emitting body 11 is energized from the outside of the cassette through the terminals 13 arranged on the sides of the housing 2.

The surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 as shown in FIG.
A transparent protective plate 12 may be provided on the light emitting body 11 to protect the light emitting body 15.

When the lid 3 is closed, a pressing member 17 for pressing the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 and preventing the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 from being displaced or floating is attached to the inner surface 33 side of the lid 3. It is good to keep it. The pressing member 17 is preferably made of an elastic material such as rubber, urethane or sponge.

In such a cassette 1, as shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to confirm a bar code or the like marged on the back surface 16 of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 with the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 housed in the cassette 1. It is preferable to form a window 18 for doing so at a predetermined position of the lid 3.

In the cassette 1 having such a structure, the stimulable phosphor sheet is used.
The stimulable phosphor sheet 14 is housed with the surface 15 of 14 to be described later on the side on which the light emitter 11 is disposed. That is, the surface 15 of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 and the light emitter 11 face each other, and the erasing light emitted from the light emitter 11 is applied to at least the entire recording surface 151 of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 to perform erasing. It is like this.

Here, the structure of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 is generally composed of a support a, a phosphor layer b provided thereon, and a surface of the phosphor layer b, as shown in FIG. A protective layer c for physical or chemical protection and a back layer d provided on the back surface of the support a are laminated (for example,
(See JP-A-55-146447).

In this case, the support a is formed of an organic polymer material such as polyethylene terephthalate, paper or the like, and the phosphor layer b is a binder made of an organic polymer material such as nitrocellulose, and is dispersed in the binder. It is formed by stimulable phosphor particles. Further, the protective layer c is formed of a film of polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polyvinylidene chloride, polyamide, cellulose derivative or the like, and the back layer d is preferably polypropylene or the like.

In this specification, the protective layer c side is described as the front (front) surface 15 of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14, and the back layer d side is described as the back surface 16 of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14. A portion of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 on which image information is substantially recorded is referred to as an image recording area 151 (inside an area shown by a dotted line in FIG. 4), and this image recording area 151 stores the image as described above. Phosphor sheet 14
May correspond to almost the entire surface, or may correspond to a predetermined portion.

In the cassette 1 of the present invention, when the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 is housed in the cassette, the light-emitting body 11 may be disposed corresponding to at least the image recording area 151 of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14.

For example, if the image recording area 151 is almost the entire surface of the sheet 14, the light-emitting body 11 is provided almost all over the bottom portion 21 (or the inner surface of the housing) of the housing, and the image recording area 151 is a predetermined portion of the sheet 14. If so, it may be arranged corresponding to this portion.

In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the light emitting body 11 is arranged on the inner surface side (bottom portion 21) of the housing 2 has been described, but in the cassette of the present invention, as shown in FIG. The light emitting body 11 may be arranged on the side. Even in this case, the luminous body
The type and the like of 11 may be the same as those described above, and the light emitting body 11 may be arranged corresponding to at least the image recording area 151 of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 accommodated therein.

In the cassette 1 having the structure shown in FIG. 3, the back surface 16 of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 is on the bottom 21 side of the housing 2, that is, the front surface 15 is the inner surface 33 of the lid on which the light emitter 11 is arranged. The stimulable phosphor sheet 14 is housed on the side.

<Operation> The operation of the cassette of the present invention will be described below.

The stimulable phosphor sheet 14 is stored in the internal space 4 of the cassette 1.

The stimulable phosphor sheet 14 is accommodated in the cassette 1 having any one of the structures shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 in which the surface 15 (image recording area 151) of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 is provided with the light emitter 11. Do so that you are on the side where you are.

When the stacking phosphor sheet 14 is stored in the cassette 1, the lever portion 71 of the claw member 7 is pushed in the direction of the arrow in the figure from the state where the lid 3 of the cassette 1 is closed (the state shown in FIG. 2). Then, the tip of the claw portion 72 is pulled out from the hole 101 to unlock the lock mechanism 6, and at the same time, the lid body 3 is opened by sucking and lifting the lid body 3 with a suction plate (not shown) having a suction mechanism. Then, the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 is inserted into the internal space 4 of the cassette 1, the suction plate is then moved to close the lid 3, and the lock mechanism 6 locks the lid 3 again.

Note that such work may be performed automatically or manually.

In the cassette 1 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 is pressed by the pressing member 15 having an elastic force with the lid 3 closed, so that the stimulable phosphor sheet is formed. 14 Misalignment or floating does not occur.

Next, the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 stored in the cassette 1
Erase just before using.

Each light-emitting body 11 is energized from the terminal 13 to illuminate it. Luminous body 11
The emitted light is applied to the entire image recording area 151 of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14, and an unnecessary image due to natural radiation or the like is erased. In this case, since the image recording area 151 of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 and the light emitting body 11 face each other at an extremely short distance, the erasing is surely performed, and the light emitting body 11 should be arranged uniformly. For example, the entire image recording area 151 is erased uniformly.

The irradiation time of the erasing light is appropriately adjusted and determined by the lighting time of the light emitting body 11.

In this way, after the erasing is completed, the stimulable phosphor sheet 14 in the cassette 1 is used again.

Although the cassette of the present invention is suitable for performing secondary erasing of the stimulable phosphor sheet 14, it increases the amount of erasing light to be emitted by selecting the light-emitting body 11 and / or irradiating the erasing light. If the time is extended, it can be applied to the primary erase. In this case, there is no need to provide an erasing section in the reading device, and there is an advantage that the reading device can be made compact.

<Effects of the Invention> According to the cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet of the present invention, the cassette that stores and holds the stimulable phosphor sheet also has the erasing function, so that the following effects are exhibited.

Conventionally, in the secondary erasing, the stimulable phosphor sheet is conveyed to the erasing device for primary erasing built in the image reading device by circulating it along the same line as the reading, or the erasing is performed, or the outside of the image reading device is used. Alternatively, the erasing was performed by an erasing device separately provided in the vicinity of the loader portion for inserting the stimulable phosphor sheet into the cassette.However, when the cassette of the present invention is used, the cassette is stored before the stimulable phosphor sheet is used. Since it is only necessary to light the illuminant and irradiate the erasing light on the sheet which is stored in advance in the sheet, there is no need to circulate or convey the stimulable phosphor sheet as in the above conventional method. The time and labor are eliminated, and it is not necessary to separately provide an erasing device dedicated to the secondary erasing, so that the system can be made compact. Even if the cassette of the present invention is used for primary erasing, it is not necessary to install an erasing device in the image reading device, and the device can be made compact.

Further, in the cassette of the present invention, since the erasing (primary or secondary erasing) is performed in the cassette immediately before using the stimulable phosphor sheet, even if the cassette is stored for a long time, the exposure received during that It is possible to completely eliminate noise caused by X-rays and the like, and accurate image information can be obtained when the stimulable phosphor sheet is reused.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a structural example of a cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet of the present invention in which a light emitting body is arranged on the inner surface side of the housing. FIG. 2 is a partial sectional side view of the cassette shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing a structural example of the cassette for the stimulable phosphor sheet of the present invention in which the light emitting body is arranged on the inner surface side of the lid. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the stimulable phosphor sheet. Explanation of reference numerals 1 ... Cassette, 2 ... Casing, 21 ... Bottom part, 3 ... Lid, 31 ... Locking part, 32 ... Opening, 33 ... Inner surface, 4 ... Internal space, 5 ... … Hinges, 6 …… Lock mechanism, 7 …… Claw member, 71 …… Lever part, 72 …… Claw part, 8 …… Guide member, 9 …… Spring, 10 …… Cassette front, 101 …… Hole, 11 ...... Luminescent material, 12 ...... Transparent protective plate, 13 ...... Terminal, 14 ...... Storable phosphor sheet, 15 ...... Front surface, 151 ...... Image recording area, 16 ...... Back surface, 17 ...... Pressing member, 18 ……window

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cassette comprising a housing for accommodating a stimulable phosphor sheet and a lid body attached to the lid body so as to be openable and closable, wherein the stimulable phosphor body accommodated therein. A cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet, characterized in that it has a luminescent material arranged corresponding to at least an image recording area of the sheet. 2. The cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet according to claim 1, wherein the luminous body is arranged on the inner surface side of the housing. 3. The cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet according to claim 1, wherein the luminous body is arranged on the inner surface side of the lid body. 4. The cassette for a stimulable phosphor sheet according to claim 1, wherein the light emitter is a light emitting diode.