JP6711587B2 - Storage device for radiation imaging equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a storage device for a radiation imaging apparatus.

Currently, a portable digital radiation imaging apparatus (electronic cassette) is commercialized. Most of these are designed according to the outer shape of a standard-sized film cassette defined in JIS Z 4905 (ISO4090). In recent years, wireless electronic cassettes have also been developed that wirelessly exchange data with external devices and incorporate a secondary battery. Also, a storage device dedicated to these wireless electronic cassettes has been developed.

Patent Document 1 proposes a cassette accommodating device that can accommodate electronic cassettes of various sizes. Further, in the accommodating device of Patent Document 1, a configuration has been proposed in which the electronic cassette is inserted and removed from the upper surface of the valley-shaped recessed insertion groove.

JP, 2009-237293, A

However, the cassette housing device described in Patent Document 1 can house a plurality of radiation imaging devices, but a user who has only one radiation imaging device consumes a wasteful installation space. In addition, the operability of the user when inserting/removing the electronic cassette has not been sufficiently studied. Therefore, it is difficult to improve the insertion/extraction operation of the radiation imaging apparatus while effectively utilizing the installation space.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a storage device in which an installation space is effectively used and insertion/removal operation of a radiation imaging apparatus is favorable.

In order to achieve the above object, a storage device according to one aspect of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
A storage device for storing a radiation imaging device,
A storage portion having a bottom surface, a first wall surface adjacent to the bottom surface, and a second wall surface adjacent to the bottom surface and provided at a position facing the first wall surface,
The horizontal length when the radiation imaging apparatus is housed is W, the horizontal length of the first wall surface is L1, the horizontal length of the second wall surface is L2, and the first wall surface is included. When the thickness of the first wall surface portion is D1 and the thickness of the second wall surface portion having the second wall surface is D2,
D2/(L1-L2)<(D1+D2)/(W-L2), W>L1>L2, D1<D2
It is characterized by having a relationship of .

Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a storage device in which the radiation imaging apparatus can be inserted/removed favorably while effectively utilizing the installation space.

FIG. 3 is a plan cross-sectional view of the radiation imaging apparatus (electronic cassette) according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the storage device (cradle) according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the storage device (cradle) according to the first embodiment. The side view of the storage device (cradle) which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The top view of the storage device (cradle) which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. The perspective view of the storage device (cradle) concerning a 3rd embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the configurations shown in the following embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the illustrated configurations.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a plan sectional view showing a radiation imaging apparatus (electronic cassette) according to this embodiment from a surface facing a radiation incident surface. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a cradle (storage device) for charging in the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the configuration in which the electronic cassette according to the present embodiment is housed in a charging cradle as seen from above. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the configuration in which the electronic cassette according to the present embodiment is housed in a cradle for charging as seen from the side.

The electronic cassette 1 has the same outer size as a cassette standardized by JIS Z 4905. A radiation detection panel 14 and a holding base 21 are arranged in order from the radiation incident surface side in the housing 13 made of a material having a high radiation transmittance on the radiation incident surface side.

The radiation detection panel 14 is a pixel having, on an insulating substrate (for example, a glass substrate), a conversion element for converting a radiation dose into a charge amount and a switch element for transferring an electric signal based on the charge amount. The device is a photographing panel in which a plurality of devices are arranged two-dimensionally. The radiation detection panel 14 is provided with a scintillator (not shown) as a configuration for converting a radiation dose into a charge amount. The radiation detection panel 14 is connected via a flexible circuit board 19 to a readout circuit 15 for reading out an electric signal from the pixel device of the radiation detection panel 14. The flexible circuit board 20 is also connected to a drive circuit 16 for supplying a drive signal having a voltage for conducting the switch element to the switch element.

On the first surface, which is the radiation incident surface side of the holding base 21, or on the second surface opposite to the first surface, for example, a heavy metal of any one of Pb, Ba, Ta, Mo, and W. The radiation detection panel 14 is held via a radiation shielding member (not shown) having a radiation shielding material such as a material containing a. Further, on the second surface of the holding base 21 opposite to the first surface, the read circuit 15, the drive circuit 16, various control circuits 17 and 18 for controlling electric signal control, DC voltage conversion, etc. A secondary battery 11 for supplying power for power supply, a wireless module unit 23 that functions as a wireless transmission unit and a wireless reception unit that wirelessly transmit an image signal to an external device, and the like are arranged. In addition, on a surface (for example, a side surface) of the housing 13 other than the radiation incident surface, an external connection terminal portion 12 and an antenna portion 24 for performing power supply and data communication from an external device, a power ON/OFF switch, and a status display. A user IF unit 22 and the like in which the units are mounted are arranged.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cradle 2 is a storage device for storing the electronic cassette 1, and includes a bottom surface portion B, a first wall surface A adjacent to the bottom surface portion B, and a first wall surface A adjacent to the bottom surface portion B. And a storage portion having a second wall surface B provided at a position opposed to. The storage section may further include a third wall surface D that is adjacent to the bottom surface portion B, the first wall surface A, and the second wall surface C.

By storing the electronic cassette 1 in the slot portion (storage portion) of the cradle 2 shown in FIG. 2, the power supply connector 31 provided on the cradle 2 and the external connection terminal portion 12 of the electronic cassette 1 are connected, and the electronic cassette 1 The secondary battery 11 of FIG. In this case, the power supply connector 31 functions as a power supply unit that supplies power to charge the electronic cassette 1. In addition, the cradle 2 is provided with an LED display unit 30 and can display the state of charge of the secondary battery 11. The arrangement position of the LED display unit 30 is not limited to the example of FIG. 2, and the LED display unit 30 can be provided at any position of the cradle 2. Further, when the electronic cassette 1 has a configuration capable of non-contact power feeding, the cradle 2 has a power feeding unit corresponding to this. In this case, the cradle 2 can configure a power feeding coil or a power feeding antenna instead of the power feeding connector 31 as a power feeding unit having a power feeding function.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the lengths L1 (horizontal length of the first wall surface A) and L2 (horizontal length of the second wall surface C) of the cradle 2 for holding the electronic cassette 1 are , L is shorter than the length L3 of the bottom surface portion B. When the length L1 and the length L2 are different and the user operates from a vertical position in the insertion/removal direction, when the user pulls it out, it is operated with one hand and pulled out to L2, and the bottom portion B supports the electronic cassette 1 in the direction of the angle θ. Since it is possible to change the direction and hold with both hands, it is possible to smoothly perform the operation from the pulling out to the holding. Also during insertion, the operation of inserting between the walls L1 and L2 is facilitated by touching the bottom surface portion B and the wall L1. Further, the end portion of the side of the second wall surface C on the side where the electronic cassette 1 is inserted/removed has an inclined portion E. By having the inclined portion E, the operation of changing the direction of the electronic cassette 1 in the direction of the angle θ in a state of being in contact with the second wall surface C can be made smoother.

Using FIG. The relationship between the length of the wall of the cradle 2 and the length W of the electronic cassette 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the length L1 of the wall of the cradle 2 and the length W of the electronic cassette 1 satisfy the relationship of W>L1, and/or the height H of the wall of the cradle 2 and the electron The height Hy of the cassette 1 up to the center line Xc is configured to satisfy the relationship of Hy>H. That is, the vertical length H of the first wall surface A and the second wall surface B is shorter than half the vertical length Hy when the electronic cassette 1 is stored, and/ Alternatively, the horizontal length L2 of the second wall surface C is shorter than the half length Hx of the horizontal length when the electronic cassette 1 is stored. It suffices if at least one of these relationships holds.

Considering the stability when the electronic cassette 1 is stored, the length L2 of the shorter wall is preferably at least half the length Hx of the electronic cassette 1 or more (L2>Hx). Accordingly, even when the user holds and operates the vicinity of the center of the side of the electronic cassette 1, it is possible to prevent the user's hand from coming into contact with the cradle 2 at the time of insertion/removal, and improve the operability. Further, even if a plurality of cradle 2 accommodating the electronic cassette 1 are installed adjacent to each other, the electronic cassette 1 can be moved within the range of the angle θ, so that the influence on the operability is reduced. Therefore, the installation space can be effectively utilized.

As described above, according to the configuration of the first embodiment, even if there are a plurality of radiation imaging apparatuses (electronic cassettes), the installation space can be effectively utilized, and the storage apparatus that is easy to insert and remove the radiation imaging apparatus ( Cradle) can be provided.

(Second embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the charging cradle in which the operability is improved by making the lengths of the two walls holding the electronic cassette different has been described. In the second embodiment, the operability of inserting and removing the electronic cassette when a plurality of cradles are installed adjacent to each other will be described more specifically with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the configuration in which the electronic cassette 1 according to the present embodiment is housed in the cradle 2 for charging and two units are installed adjacent to each other when observed from above.

The width (thickness) of the wall having the length L1 of the cradle 2 holding the electronic cassette 1 is D1, and the width (thickness) of the wall having the length L2 is D2. That is, the thickness of the first wall surface portion having the first wall surface A is D1, and the thickness of the second wall surface portion having the second wall surface C is D2. Further, the angle when the electronic cassette 1 is inserted and removed is θ1.

When L1>L2, D1<D2. On the other hand, when L1<L2, D1>D2. When L1>L2, tan θ1=D2/(L1-L2) and tan θ2=(D1+D2)/(W-L2). The dimensions and shape are such that the relationship of tan θ1=D2/(L1−L2)<tan θ2=(D1+D2)/(W−L2), that is, the relationship of θ1<θ2.

Further, it is desirable that the dimensions satisfy the relation of θ1>25 degrees. When the electronic cassette 1 is attached or detached, even if the electronic cassette 1 is tilted by the angle θ1, the electronic cassette 101 can be inserted or removed without coming into contact with the electronic cassette 101 stored in the adjacent cradle. It will be possible.

As described above, according to the configuration of the second embodiment, even when there are a plurality of radiation imaging apparatuses (electronic cassettes), the installation space can be effectively utilized, and the storage apparatus that allows the radiation imaging apparatus to be inserted and removed easily ( Cradle) can be provided.

(Third Embodiment)
In the first and second embodiments, the charging cradle in which the operability is improved by making the lengths of the two walls holding the electronic cassette different has been described. However, the operability is not taken into consideration when the user's operation position does not have the intended positional relationship with respect to the cradle storage direction due to the installation environment and the user's dominant arm. In the third embodiment, a cradle in which the left-right length relationship of the portion holding the electronic cassette can be changed will be described.

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B are perspective views showing the charging cradle 300 in a state where the electronic cassette 1 according to the present embodiment is stored. The cradle 300 includes a first housing portion 301 in which the wall of the portion that holds the electronic cassette has the same length, and an LED display portion 303. The housing 302 is provided. In the first housing part 301, connector parts 304 that can be electrically connected to the second housing part 302 are arranged at two positions on the left and right wall surfaces, and the connection position of the second housing part 302 Can be arbitrarily selected according to the usability of the user.

As described above, according to the configuration of the third embodiment, it is possible to provide the storage device (cradle) in which the length of the wall of the portion that holds the electronic cassette can be changed from side to side according to the usability of the user. .. As a result, the installation space can be effectively utilized even when there are a plurality of radiographic imaging devices (electronic cassettes) without being affected by the installation environment or the dominant hand of the user, and the storage device which is easy to insert and remove the radiographic imaging device ( Cradle) can be provided.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program. It can also be realized by the processing. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

1: electronic cassette 1, 2: cradle, 30: LED display part, 31: power supply connector, 301: first housing part, 302: second housing part, A: first wall surface, B: bottom surface part, C: second wall surface, D: third wall surface

Claims (6)

A storage device for storing a radiation imaging device,
A storage portion having a bottom surface, a first wall surface adjacent to the bottom surface, and a second wall surface adjacent to the bottom surface and provided at a position facing the first wall surface,
The horizontal length when the radiation imaging apparatus is housed is W, the horizontal length of the first wall surface is L1, the horizontal length of the second wall surface is L2, and the first wall surface is included. When the thickness of the first wall surface portion is D1 and the thickness of the second wall surface portion having the second wall surface is D2,
D2/(L1-L2)<(D1+D2)/(W-L2), W>L1>L2, D1<D2
A storage device having the following relationship. The storage section further includes a third wall surface adjacent to the bottom surface, the first wall surface and the second wall surface,
The storage device according to claim 1, wherein the third wall surface includes a power supply unit that supplies power to the radiation imaging apparatus when the radiation imaging apparatus is stored in the storage unit. The storage device according to claim 2 , wherein the power supply unit is a power supply connector and supplies power in a state of being connected to the radiation imaging apparatus. Storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a display unit for displaying the charged state of the radiation imaging apparatus. The vertical length of the first wall surface and the second wall surface is configured to be shorter than half the vertical length of the radiation imaging apparatus when the radiation imaging apparatus is housed. storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized. The storage section includes a first housing section and a second housing section that is attachable to and detachable from both the first wall surface section having the first wall surface and the second wall surface section having the second wall surface. ,
The length of the first wall surface in the horizontal direction and the length of the second wall surface in the horizontal direction can be changed according to attachment/detachment of the second housing part to/from the first housing part. The storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 .

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