Cartridge Positioning Mechanism for Printing System Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing printing systems face challenges in accurately aligning the liquid supply portion and liquid introduction portion of a cartridge with the corresponding components in a printing device, leading to potential misalignment and inefficiencies during the mounting process.
Innovation Solution
The printing system incorporates a cartridge mounting portion with a support member that includes a liquid supply portion positioning mechanism and a terminal positioning mechanism, allowing for precise alignment of the liquid supply and introduction portions with the cartridge side terminal and device side terminal, respectively, through a combination of rotational and directional displacement mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the cartridge is mounted in the printing device without positioning mechanisms, then the mounting process is simple, but the locations of the liquid supply portion and liquid introduction portion or cartridge terminal and device side terminal may be deviated from each other
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by providing positioning mechanisms (terminal positioning portion and supply portion positioning portion) that pre-establish the correct positions of the cartridge terminal and liquid supply portion before mounting. The terminal positioning portion includes a groove that receives the cartridge terminal at a predetermined position, and the supply portion positioning portion includes a recess that receives the liquid supply portion at a predetermined position, ensuring accurate alignment is achieved before the actual mounting operation occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses intermediary elements (the groove in the terminal positioning portion and the recess in the supply portion positioning portion) that mediate between the cartridge components and the printing device. These intermediary structures facilitate precise positioning by providing physical guides that receive and hold the cartridge terminal and liquid supply portion in their correct positions during mounting.
2Manufacturing precision
If positioning mechanisms are added to ensure accurate alignment, then the alignment accuracy improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing positioning mechanisms only at the specific locations where positioning is needed (terminal positioning portion for electrical contacts and supply portion positioning portion for liquid supply), rather than throughout the entire cartridge structure. This allows accurate positioning to be achieved only where necessary, minimizing the addition of overall device complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
A cartridge includes a cartridge side terminal electrically coupled to a device side terminal, a liquid supply portion that is coupled to a liquid introduction portion and that makes a liquid flow to the liquid introduction portion, a terminal positioning portion that performs positioning by receiving a device side terminal positioning portion to regulate movement of the cartridge side terminal with respect to the device side terminal, and a supply portion positioning portion that performs positioning by receiving a device side supply portion positioning portion to regulate movement of the liquid supply portion with respect to the liquid introduction portion. A first direction is a direction intersecting a second direction, the first direction being a direction in which the terminal positioning portion extends, the second direction being a direction in which the supply portion positioning portion extends.