Roll or roller – Concentric layered annulus – Specific composition
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-31
2004-05-04
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Roll or roller
Concentric layered annulus
Specific composition
C492S029000, C226S193000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06730009
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet member guide mechanism having a guide roller for guiding a sheet member.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a system for recording radiation image information of a subject such as a human body with a stimulate phosphor, and reproducing the recorded radiation image information on a photosensitive medium such as a photographic film, or displaying the recorded radiation image information on a display unit such as a CRT or the like.
The stimulate phosphor is a phosphor which, when exposed to a radiation (X-rays, &agr;-rays, &ggr;-rays, electron beams, ultraviolet radiation, or the like), stores a part of the energy of the radiation, and, when subsequently exposed to stimulating rays such as visible light, emits light in proportion to the stored energy of the radiation. Usually, a sheet provided with a layer of the stimulate phosphor is used as a stimulate phosphor sheet.
The above known system includes an image information reading apparatus which comprises a reading unit for reading the recorded radiation image information carried on the stimulate phosphor sheet, and an erasing unit for erasing residual radiation image information remaining on the stimulate phosphor sheet after the recorded radiation image information has been read from the stimulate phosphor sheet. The image information reading apparatus also includes a loading unit for accommodating a cassette which stores a stimulate phosphor sheet with the radiation image information of a subject being recorded thereon by an external exposure device.
When the cassette is opened, a sheet picking mechanism removes the stimulate phosphor sheet from the cassette, and the stimulate phosphor sheet is fed to the reading unit by a sheet feed mechanism. The reading unit reads the recorded radiation image information from the stimulate phosphor sheet. Thereafter, the erasing unit erases residual radiation image information from the stimulate phosphor sheet, which is then stored back into the cassette in the loading unit.
There has recently been a demand for efficiently reading the energy stored in a stimulate phosphor sheet in order to reproduce the recorded radiation image information of a subject with high image quality. Such a demand is particularly growing in the field of mammography or the like. One attempt to meet the demand is to use a transparent base in a stimulate phosphor sheet. When stimulating light is applied to the outer surface of a phosphor layer (recording surface) of the stimulate phosphor sheet, light is emitted from both surfaces of the phosphor sheet, i.e., light is emitted is from the outer surface of the phosphor layer and the outer surface of the transparent base (reverse surface). Therefore, the stimulate phosphor sheet serves as a double-side-readable stimulate phosphor sheet.
The sheet feed mechanism employs a roller for preventing the stimulate phosphor sheet from rising off a curved feed path to smoothly guide the stimulate phosphor sheet along the curved feed path. The roller has a damping member applied to an area thereof which will be contacted by the reverse surface or recording surface of the stimulate phosphor sheet. The damping member is effective to prevent the reverse surface or recording surface of the stimulate phosphor sheet from being damaged by contact with the roller.
The damping member is attached to the roller by an adhesive tape or the like. However, the adhesive tape fails to keep the damping member bonded smoothly to the entire surface of the roller. In order to bond the damping member smoothly to the entire surface of the roller, it is necessary to repeatedly detach and bond the damping member. As a result, the process of attaching the damping member appropriately to the roller is considerably complex.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a sheet member guide mechanism which has a simple structure and is capable of feeding a sheet member smoothly and reliably along a desired feed path without causing damage to the sheet member.
According to the present invention, there is provided a sheet member guide mechanism comprising a guide roller for guiding a sheet member which is being fed, the guide roller comprising a roller core and a fabric tube fitted under pressure over the roller core. Since it is not necessary to attach the fabric tube to the outer circumferential surface of the roller core by an adhesive tape or the like, the guide roller can be assembled highly efficiently. The fabric tube is woven or knit of fibers such as nylon filaments or the like, so that there is no joint formed in the outer circumferential surface of the fabric tube, and hence the fabric tube which is held against a sheet member does not cause damage to the sheet member.
The sheet member guide mechanism also has a pair of pressers mounted respectively in axial ends of the roller core to hold and secure respective ends of the fabric tube in the axial ends of the roller core. The ends of the fabric tube are kept out of sliding contact with the sheet member, and are prevented from being unraveled.
The roller core comprises a hollow roller which is rotatably supported on a shaft by a pair of bearings. Therefore, even if foreign deposits such as dust particles are applied to the fabric tube, since the fabric tube does not slide against the sheet member, the sheet member is effectively prevented from being damaged by those foreign deposits.
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 a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
REFERENCES:
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patent: 2840888 (1958-07-01), Guglielmo et al.
patent: 3710470 (1973-01-01), Krake
patent: 4098631 (1978-07-01), Stryjewski
patent: 4125851 (1978-11-01), Krehbiel
patent: 4317270 (1982-03-01), Watanabe et al.
patent: 4759284 (1988-07-01), Haggard et al.
patent: 4944089 (1990-07-01), Flamig et al.
patent: 4977828 (1990-12-01), Douglas
patent: 5-237541 (1993-09-01), None
Sugizaki Iwao
Tuyuki Mikio
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