Patent ID: 7358519

Claim:
A multicassette autoloader for vertically oriented storage phosphor cassettes, said autoloader having a front, back, and opposite sides, comprising: an input bin for receiving multiple vertically oriented storage phosphor cassettes stacked together in face-to-face contact such that said cassette faces face front and back; wherein each of said cassettes contains a storage phosphor which is removable from said cassette; an output bin located beside but spaced from said input bin; and a storage phosphor read location at which a storage phosphor is removed from and replaced in a cassette positioned at said storage phosphor read location; wherein said storage phosphor read location is located at the back of said autoloader and located in a linear path in line with the backs of said input bin and said output bin, wherein said cassette is moved along a horizontally planar, U-shaped path in an ambient light environment from said input bin, to said storage phosphor read location, and to said output bin.