SHEET FILM PACKAGE AND METHOD AND DEVICE FOR LOADING SHEET FILM

Abstract: A sheet film package comprises a tray for storing a stack of sheet films and a flexible cover member peelably attached to the tray in covering relation to a film access opening in the tray for shielding the sheet films in the tray from extraneous light. By inserting the cover member into a cover member peeling passage defined in an image recording apparatus, the cover member is peeled off the tray to open the film access opening.

Description: The present invention relates to a sheet film package according to the pre-characterizing part of claim 1, an opening device for opening such package and a method of loading such package. X-ray films are widely used in the medical field for photographing objects such as human bodies with X-rays for medical diagnosis. For photographing an object on such an X-ray film, it has been customary to load the X-ray film into an X-ray photographing device under a light-shielded environment and expose the emulsion layer of the film directly to an X-ray having passed through the object for recording the image of the object thereon. There has recently been developed and widely used especially in the medical field a radiation image recording an reproducing system for producing the radiation-transmitted image of an object using a stimulable phosphor material capable of emitting light upon exposure to stimulating rays. When a certain phosphor is exposed to a radiation such as X-rays, α-rays, β-rays, γ-rays, cathode rays, or ultraviolet rays, the phosphor stores a part of the energy of the radiation. When the phosphor exposed to the radiation is subsequently exposed to stimulating rays such as visible light, the phosphor emits light in proportion to the stored energy of the radiation. The phosphor exhibiting such a property is referred to as a "stimulable phosphor". In the radiation image recording and reproducing system employing such a stimulable phosphor, the radiation image information of an object such as a human body is stored in a sheet having a layer of stimulable phosphor, and then the stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned with stimulating rays to cause the stimulable phosphor sheet to emit light representative of the radiation image. The emitted light is then photoelectrically detected to produce an image information signal that is electrically processed for generating image information which is recorded on a recording medium such as a photosensitive material or displayed as a visible image on a CRT or the like. The visible image thus produced may be recorded on a recording medium by an image recorder such as an image output laser printer, for example. In the image output laser printer, photographic films stored as a recording material in a magazine are loaded, and taken out one by one by a sheet delivery device such as a suction disk. Thereafter, the film is exposed to a laser beam modulated by an electric signal produced from the stimulable phosphor sheet for recording an image on the film. The exposed film is then transferred into an automatic developing device and processed thereby to develop the image. The film is thereafter placed on a stack of previously processed films. When loading the films into the image output laser printer, they must not be exposed to extraneous light. There is however a strong demand for the loading of films under bright conditions such as in an ordinary bright room, and various methods have been proposed for loading films in bright environments. Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model publication No. 56(1981)-5141 discloses a system according to the pre-characterizing part of claim 1. The proposed system will be described with reference to FIGS. 1a and 1b of the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1a shows a film package 2 to be loaded into an X-ray photographing device. The film package 2 includes a light-shielded or sunproof container 6 in the form of a box having an opening 4. The light-shielded container 6 contains a plurality of unexposed films 10 protected by cardboard 8. A flexible light-shielding member 12 is applied over the opening 4 in light-shielding relation to protect the unexposed films 10 from exposure to extraneous light. One end of the flexible light-shielding member 12 is curved upwardly and has an engagement hole 12a defined near its edge. The film package 2 of the above construction is housed in a magazine 14 as shown in FIG. 1b and positioned by a storage unit 16. The magazine 14 has a shutter 18 having an engagement pin 20 mounted on one end thereof. After the engagement pin 20 has engaged in the hole 12a of the flexible light-shielding member 12, the magazine 14 is loaded into an X-ray photographing device (not shown), and the other end of the shutter 18 is pulled out of the magazine 14 by fingers. As a result, the flexible light-shielding member 12 is peeled off the container 6 by the pin 20 engaging the hole 12a, and the opening 4 is opened in the X-ray photographing device. The uppermost unexposed film 10 is then attracted by a suction device 22 and delivered through the opening 4 into a given photographing position. With the illustrated conventional method, however, the dedicated magazine 14 must be used to store the film package 2. This magazine must be of a rugged construction capable of withstanding stresses due to repeated attachment and removal thereof, and hence is considerably heavy. Therefore, it is laborsome for the operator to load and unload the magazine. The magazine is also considerably expensive since it has a shutter mechanism. Where various films of different sizes are to be employed, there must be used as many dedicated magazines as the number of those different film sizes, and the cost of manufacture is so high that they are economically infeasible in reality. The problem underlying the present invention is to provide a sheet film package of the above defined type which can easily and automatically be opened when inserted into an opening device. According to the present invention, the above problem is solved by the characterizing feature of claim 1. The arrangement of the package is such that by inserting the cover member into an image recording apparatus, the cover member is forcibly peeled off the tray to open the film access opening. According to the present invention, there is also provided a method of loading a sheet film package into an image recording apparatus (claim 7). The method comprised the steps of inserting the tray into the loading passage, and moving the tray to force the flexible cover member into the passage for thereby peeling the flexible cover member off the tray to open the film access opening, so that the sheet films can be delivered one by one therefrom by the sheet delivery mechanism. According to the present invention, there is also provided an opening device for opening the sheet film package according to claim 4. The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown by Leerseite way of illustrative example. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1a is a cross-sectional view of a conventional film package; FIG. 1b is a cross-sectional view showing the manner in which the film package of FIG. 1a is loaded; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a sheet film package; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the sheet film package and an image recording apparatus according to the invention, into which the sheet film package is to be loaded; FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing the sheet film package loaded into the image recording apparatus; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a sheet film package according to another embodiment; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the sheet film package of FIG. 5, showing a cover member being peeled off; FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating a sheet film package of another embodiment loaded into an image recording apparatus according to the invention. FIG. 8a is an exploded perspective view of a sheet film package according to the invention, which can be accommodated in a sheet film loading device of the present invention; FIG. 8b is a side elevational view of the sheet package shown in FIG. 8a; FIG. 9 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating the sheet film package of FIG. 8a loaded into an image recording apparatus; and FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the sheet film package of FIG. 8a, showing a cover member being peeled off a tray. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Identical parts are denoted by identical reference characters throughout several views. FIG. 2 shows a sheet film package, generally designated by the reference numeral 30, according to the present invention. The sheet film package 30 comprises a tray 32 made of a synthetic resin material or cardboard having a desired degree of hardness, and a cover member 34 made of a flexible but slightly rigid material. The tray 32 has a height H₁ for housing a predetermined number of films A and includes a film access opening 38 of a certain width which is defined in an upper panel 36 near an end 36a thereof. The cover member 34 is peelably attached by adhesive or the like to the upper panel 36 in covering relation to the opening 38. One end of the cover member 34 projects outwardly from the end 36a of the tray 36. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an image recording apparatus 40 such as an image output laser printer includes a casing constructed to accommodate the sheet film package 30. The image recording apparatus 40 includes a front panel 42 having a first opening 44 of a rectangular cross section having a width H₂ in the direction of the height of the sheet film package 30 and a length which is the same as the width of the sheet film package 30. As shown in FIG. 4, the inner end of the first opening 44 communicates with a second opening 46 having a width equal to the height H₁ of the tray 32. The second opening 46 is defined in and extends inwardly from the front panel 42. The first and second openings 44, 46 are defined partly by a continuous bottom surface 47 lying at a constant height. The front panel 42 also includes a passage 48 extending arcuately upwardly from the boundary between the first and second openings 44, 46 and directed back and opening at the front surface of the front panel 42, the passage 48 having a cross section which is substantially the same as that of the cover member 34. The passage 48 includes an inlet opening into the openings 44, 46 and inclined upwardly at a certain angle to the horizontal direction. A vertical engagement surface 50 extends upwardly from the terminal end of the bottom surface 47 and is spaced from the front surface of the front panel 42 by a distance H₃ that is selected as a function of the length of the sheet film package 30. The image recording apparatus 40 has an inner chamber 52 in which a sheet delivery mechanism (not shown) including a suction disk 54 is disposed. Raised fabric materials 45 are preferably applied to wall surfaces which define the first and second openings 44, 46 for increasing light-shielding capability in these openings 44, 46 when the sheet film package 30 is loaded as shown in FIG. 4. Operation and advantages of the sheet film package 30 with respect to the image recording apparatus 40 will be described below. The projecting distal end of the cover member 34 is inserted into the first opening 44 of the image recording apparatus 40 in the direction of the arrow Xa so that the cover member 34 is pressed slightly upwardly against the upper wall surface which partly defines the first opening 44. When the distal end of the cover member 34 reaches the inlet of the passage 48 which is inclined slightly upwardly, the cover member 34 enters the passage 48 since it is pressed slightly upwardly, and can move along the curved passage 48 by being pushed on. Further displacement of the package 30 in the direction of the arrow Xa causes the tray 32 to be inserted into the second opening 46, and forces the cover member 34 through the passage 38 out of the front surface of the front panel 42, while at the same time the cover member 34 is being peeled off the upper panel 36 of the tray 32. The cover member 34 may be peeled off more smoothly by the operator gripping the emerging end of the cover member 34 and pulling it in the direction of the arrow Xb that is opposite to the direction of the arrow Xa in which the package 30 is inserted. It is also possible to force the tray 32 into the opening 46 by pulling the cover member 34 in the direction of the arrow Xb. Inasmuch as the opening 44 has the width that is the same as the height H₂ of the package 30 and has a certain depth into the image recording apparatus 40, no extraneous light enters the opening 38 of the tray 32 when the cover member 34 is peeled off the tray 32. The package 30 is continuously inserted in the direction of the arrow Xa until its distal end engages the engagement surface 50. When the distal end of the package 30 engages the surface 50, the loading of the package 30 is finished. With the surface 50 and the front surface of the front panel 42 being spaced apart from each other by the distance H₃, the opening 38 of the tray 32 opens into the chamber 52 upon completion of the loading of the package 30. The sheet delivery mechanism including the suction disk 54 is actuated to deliver the films A one by one from the tray 32 into a recording section (not shown) for recording radiation image information thereon. When all of the films A have been removed from the tray 32, the tray 32 is displaced in the direction of the arrow Xb to remove the package 30 out of the image recording apparatus 40. The tray 32 and the cover member 34 are now moved together out of the image recording apparatus 40. Where the tray 32 is made of an inexpensive synthetic resin, cardboard or the like, the used package 30 may be discarded, and the provision of many different packages which meet various films of different sizes does not involve a substantial increase in the cost. Where various different films are employed, corresponding packages should preferably be provided with bar codes or magnetic tapes recording film types, film sizes, film lot numbers, and other data. When any of these packages is loaded into the image recording apparatus, such recorded data can be read and displayed by suitable readout means mounted in the image recording apparatus for giving the operator information necessary for image recording. FIG. 5 shows a sheet film package according to another embodiment. The sheet film package 30 includes a cover member 60 comprising a panel portion 62 having the same dimensions as those of the upper panel 36 of the tray 32 and a projecting portion 64 formed integral with and narrower than the panel portion 62. The panel portion 62 has two lines of break-off portions in the form of perforations 66a, 66b extending over a certain length and spaced a distance equal to the width of the projecting portion 64. The width of the projecting portion 64, i.e., the distance between the perforations 66a, 66b, is selected to be larger than the width of an opening 68 of the tray 32. The length of the projecting portion 64 is larger a prescribed dimension than the length of the cover member passage 48 in the image recording apparatus 40. The cover member 60 is peelably attached by adhesive to the tray 32. By coating a peelable adhesive layer 70 between the perforations 66a, 66b (FIG. 6), the cover member 60 can easily be peeled off along the perforations 66a, 66b as described later, while preventing entry of extraneous light more reliably. The distal end of the projecting portion 64 of the cover member 60 may be bent slightly upwardly for easier separation of the cover member 60 at the time the package 30 is loaded. In operation, the projecting portion 64 of the cover member 60 of the package 30 is inserted into the opening 44 of the image recording apparatus 40 until the distal end of the projecting portion 64 is positioned in the inlet of the passage 48. Continued displacement of the package 30 in the direction of the arrow Xa causes the tray 32 and the cover member 60 to be inserted together into the opening 44, while at the same time the projecting portion 64 is pushed through the passage 48 out of the front surface of the front panel 42. The distal end of the projecting portion 64, which emerges from the passage 48, is gripped by the operator and pulled in the direction of the arrow Xb opposite to the direction of insertion of the package 30 to peel the cover member 60 off the tray 32, as illustrated in FIG. 4. At this time, the panel portion 62 of the cover member 60 can easily and reliably be separated along the perforations 66a, 66b by pulling the projecting portion 64, since the adhesive layer 70 is peelable. In each of the foregoing two embodiments, the cover member emerges out of the front surface of the front panel of the image recording apparatus. However, the cover member may be stored in the image recording apparatus as shown in FIG. 7 that illustrates still another embodiment in which some parts corresponding to those of FIGS. 3 and 4 are denoted by corresponding reference characters with a suffix a . In FIG. 7, the passage 48a defined in an image recording apparatus 40a extends arcuately from the boundary 51 between the first and second openings 44a, 46a and upwardly into the chamber 52a. A partition 72 is disposed vertically in the chamber 52a substantially along the passage 48a. The inlet of the passage 48a is partly defined by a sharp wedge-shaped edge at the boundary 51 for smoothly peeling the cover member 34 off the tray 32. The package 30 may be loaded into the image recording apparatus 40a in substantially the same manner as described with reference to the image recording apparatus 40. However, the cover member 34 does not emerges out of the image recording apparatus 40a, but is stored in a space defined in the chamber 52a by the partition 72. When the cover member 34 is introduced into the space defined by the partition 72, the cover member 34 is guided by the partition 72 out of physical interference with the suction disk 54a as it delivers the films one by one. To remove the empty package 30 out of the image recording apparatus 40a, the tray 32 and the cover 34 are pulled out together in the direction of the arrow Xb in the same manner as described with reference to the first embodiment. The opening 38 is shown as defined in a portion of the upper panel 36 of the tray 32. However, the opening may be defined in the entire area of the upper panel 36 of the tray 32, and the cover member 34 may be peeled off to open only a portion of the opening for successive delivery of the films. FIGS. 8a, 8b, 9 and 10 illustrate an embodiment of the present invention in which some parts corresponding to those of the previous embodiments are denoted by corresponding reference characters with a suffix b . One end of the cover member 34b does not project outwardly from the distal end of the tray 32. The upper panel 36 of the tray 32 has at its distal end a slanted surface 74 inclined downwardly toward its frontal edge. The cover member 36 is peelably attached by adhesive or the like to the upper panel 36 in covering relation to the opening 38 of the tray 32. The cover member 34b is of substantially the same dimensions as those of the upper panel 36. The cover member 34b has a distal end 76 positioned over and confronting the slanted surface 74 of the tray 32, the distal end 76 being bent or curved slightly upwardly away from the slanted surface 74. The distal end 76 and the slanted surface 74 cooperate with each other in allowing a peeling means (described later) to enter easily between the upper panel 36 and the cover member 34b. The image recording apparatus 40b in which the sheet film package is to be loaded will be described below. The image recording apparatus 40b is of essentially the same construction as that of the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 7, except that a blade 80 is fixed to an upper wall surface 46b which defines the second opening 46 for forcibly peeling the cover member 34 off the tray 32. The blade 80 has a length that is substantially the same as the width of the package 30. The blade 80 has an upper surface 82a and a lower surface 82b which lie parallel to each other, and a cutting edge 84 formed on one end of the lower surface 82b and inclined at an angle to the upper surface 82a. The upper surface 82a of the blade 80 is fixed as by brazing to the upper wall surface 46b with the cutting edge 84 positioned in the passage 48b having a cross-sectional shape that is substantially the same as that of the cover member 34b. The blade 80 and the second opening 46 are dimensionally selected such that the distance between the lower surface 82b of the blade 80 and a bottom surface 47b is the same as the height H₁ of the tray 32. The sheet film package and a device for loading same into the image recording apparatus 40b will operate as follows: The package 30 is inserted from its distal end portion with the opening 38 defined therein into the opening 44b of the image recording apparatus 40. The package 30 is moved in the direction of the arrow Xa until the distal end of the package 30 abuts against the blade 80. Since the distance between the lower surface 82b and the bottom surface 47b is equal to the height H₁ of the tray 32, the cutting edge 84 is forcibly wedged between the distal end 76 of the cover member 34b and the slanted surface 74 upon insertion of the package 30 in the direction of the arrow Xa, thus separating the cover member 34b from the tray 32, as shown in FIG. 10. After being peeled off the tray 32, the cover member 34 which is made of a flexible material is inserted arcuately into the passage 48b. Because the opening 44b has the same width as the height H₂ of the package 30 and extends a certain distance into the image recording device 40b, extraneous light is prevented from entering the opening 38 of the tray 32 when the cover member 34b is peeled off the tray 32. When the distal end of the package 30 engages an engagement surface 50b and the cover member 34 is introduced via the passage 48b into a room defined by the partition 72b, the process of loading the package 30 is finished. The opening 38 of the tray 32 can appropriately be positioned with respect to the chamber 52b inasmuch as the engagement surface 50b is spaced the distance H₃ from the front surface of the front panel 42b. The cover member 34b in the chamber 52b is guided by the partition 72b out of physical interference with the suction disk 54b. The sheet deliver mechanism includding the suction disk 54b is then operated to deliver the sheet films A one by one from the tray 32 into the recording section (not shown). The opening 38 is shown as defined in a portion of the upper panel 36 of the tray 32. However, the opening may be defined in the entire area of the upper panel 36 of the tray 32, and the cover member 34b may be peeled off to open only a portion of the opening for successive delivery of the films. With the arrangement of the present invention, as described above, the film access opening is defined in the tray which stores a stack of sheet films, and the cover member is peelably attached to the tray in covering relation to the film access opening. The image recording apparatus has a peeling means such as the blade for peeling the cover member off the tray. When the package is loaded into the image recording apparatus, the cover member can automatically be peeled off the tray by the peeling means. Therefore, the films can easily be loaded into the image recording apparatus in a bright environment. Since the package is directly loaded into the image recording apparatus, any special dedicated magazine which has been employed heretofore is not required. The device for loading the films can thus be manufactured inexpensively, and is lightweight for simpler film loading operation. Although certain preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it should be understood that many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: A sheet film package (30), comprising: a tray (32) including on the upper side thereof a panel (36) having a film access opening (38) therein, a stack of sheet films disposed within said tray (32); a cover member (34b) made of a flexible but slightly rigid material covering said film access opening (38), said cover member (34b) being peelably attached to said panel (36), said sheet film package being adapted to be loaded into a sheet film loading device, which has a loading opening and a blade for peeling off the cover member from said panel while the tray (32) is moved into the loading opening, characterised in that said panel (36) comprises a planar major surface portion and at one end thereof an edge portion having a surface (34) slanted with respect to the major surface portion; and said cover member (34b) has substantially the same peripheral dimensions as said panel (36) and comprises at the end positioned over said slanted surface (74) an edge bent or curved away from said slanted surface (74). A sheet film package according to claim 1, wherein said cover member has break-off portions (66a, 66b) for separating the cover member (60) to open that film access opening (68). The sheet film package of claim 2, wherein said break-off portions (66a, 66b) being discretely arranged in the direction in which the tray is moved into the loading opening on opposite sides of that film access opening (68), the arrangement being such that that cover member (60) can be broken along said break-off portions (66a, 66b) through a projecting portion (64), which projects outwardly in the direction in which the tray is moved, thereby to open said film access opening (68) upon loading said tray (32). An opening device suitable for opening the sheet film package of claim 1, said opening device comprising: a wall (42), a loading passage extending through said wall and having a front section (44) and a rear section (46), whose bottom surfaces are coplanar; the front section having a first height (H2), which corresponds to that of the passage; the rear section (46) having a second height (H1), which corresponds to that of the tray of the passage, blade (80) mounted in the loading passage at the boundary between the front section (44) and the rear section (46) in such a manner that the cutting edge of the blade (80) faces the front section (44) and that the cutting edge has a height, which corresponds to the second height (H1), a cover member passage (48) which extends from an inlet opening at the position of the cutting edge in the surface opposite to the bottom surface into the interior of the wall (42), the cross section of the cover member passage being substantially the same as that of the cover member of the package. The opening device of claim 4, including a partition (72,72b) disposed in a chamber communicating with said loading passage. The opening device of claim 4, wherein the cover member passage (48) has an opposite end communicating with the exterior of the wall (42) such that the tray can be moved through the loading passage by pulling the end of the flexible cover member which is exposed out of the cover member passage (48). A method of loading a sheet film package by using the opening device of claim 4, comprising the steps of: inserting the tray (32) into the loading passage and moving the tray to force the flexible cover member into the cover member passage for thereby peeling the flexible cover member (34) off the tray (32).

Inventors: ARAI, NOBORU FUJI PHOTO FILM CO. LTD., TAJIMA, KENJI FUJI PHOTO FILM CO. LTD.
Applicants: FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
Application year: 1986
Main classification: G03B17
IPC codes: G03B42