|
PatentVote.com: Vote on your favourite invention!
|
|
 |
Title: X-ray film-handling arrangement for x-ray diagnostic apparatus
Claims: What we claim is: 1. An X-ray film-handling arrangement using roll-film, comprising: means for supplying film from a roll including a first pair of contiguous feeding rollers driven by a first motor; means for transferring the film including two pairs of flat superposed and contiguous conveyor belts respectively stretched on a second and a third pair of transfer rollers driven by a second motor, the two pairs of belts being so arranged as to grip the lateral edges of the film, said second motor having a shaft coupled, by means of a clutch to one of said second pair of transfer rollers whose shaft being provided with a brake; means for cutting said film including a pair of blades arranged between said supplying means and said transferring means to cut the film when it has been transferred to its the exposure position; and a movable member including a leaded mask displaceable by means of a third motor for limiting the length of the film format being irradiated to any length whatsoever between predetermined maximum and minimum lengths; and means for reproducing the displacement of the film including an indexing belt held in parallel with the conveyor belts on a pair of pulleys respectively located beyond the extreme positions of the said movable member, one of said pulleys being coupled to the shaft of said second motor so that a random point on the indexing belt can be moved for a distance identical to the length of film which is transferred by said conveyor belts, said indexing belt being provided with a marker for co-operating with at least one detection device secured to the end of said movable member, said detection device delivering a first electrical control signal, when the said marker passes adjacent thereto, transmitted to the said clutch and/or brake for controlling the displacements of said conveyor belts, to stop said latter when the end of the film reaches that of the movable member. 2. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1, further provided with a magazine to store exposed film including a parallelepiped light-proof casing provided with an elongated slot through which the exposed film is inserted therein, and within the said casing: a central cylinder roller; four peripheral rollers which are arranged in respective corners of the casing parallel to said slot; a movable roller having a shaft movably mounted in a pair of curvilinear seatings and urged towards said central roller by elastic means; two or more parallel belts tended in such a way that one of their faces passes around said central roller and the other one of their faces passes around each of the said peripheral rollers and the movable roller, one of said peripheral rollers having a shaft coupled to one of the transfer rollers adjacent said magazine, to drive the magazine belts at substantially the same speed as the said conveyor belts, the exposed film being stored between the belts and the central roller. 3. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1, of the type in which the unexposed film is wound on a spool, wherein the shaft of said first motor driving the feeding rollers is further coupled to a rotary element rotating in the same direction as the said spool, at a speed higher than the maximum speed of rotation of the latter while the film is unrolled, said spool being coupled to a shaft coupled, in its turn, to said rotary element by a unidirectional coupling device, whereby allowing said spool to turn relatively to said element only in the direction opposite to the direction of rotation for which the film is unwound from said spool. 4. An X-ray diagnostic apparatus including an arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said apparatus further includes an X-ray tube carrying arrangement for holding the X-ray tube in a fixed position and, adjacent to the X-ray tube, a movable diaphragm for limiting the X-ray beam having its position controlled by a fourth motor fed by means of a servo-amplifier circuit, said position being made to correspond to that of the said movable member, so as to match the area of the irradiated field to the variable length of the film. 5. An X-ray diagnostic apparatus including an arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said apparatus further includes: a tube-carrying column mounted on said arrangement for displacements parallel to the direction of the film motion in the exposure field; an arm for carrying an X-ray tube mounted on and movable along said column, the position of the column relatively to the film and of the arm along the column being controlled to correspond to the position of the movable member, whereby to direct the central ray of the X-ray beam onto the centre of the film format selected by means of said movable member and to limit the area of the irradiated field to a length appropriate to this format. Other info: Inventors: Lajus, Pierre (Paris, FR) Chambron, Edmond (Paris, FR) Application Number: 513510 Filing Date: 1974-10-09 Publication_date: 1976-02-03 Assignee: Compagnie Generale de Radiologie (Paris, FR) Primary Class(es): 378/171 378/151, 378/177 Other Classes: US Patent Ref:
Other Refs:
Primary Examiner: Lawrence, James W. Assistant Examiner: Grigsby, T. N. Attorney: Cushman, Darby & Cushman |
|