Printing Fluid Cartridge Protrusion Protects Electrical Interface

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Solution Overview

Problem

Ink cartridges are prone to damage when dropped or collided with, causing electrical interfaces to break or deform, leading to issues with data retrieval and functionality.

Innovation Solution

A printing fluid cartridge design with protective protrusions and a specific arrangement of components to safeguard the electrical interface, allowing easy attachment and protection from impacts while ensuring proper functionality.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If protection walls are added around the IC board or other members, then the electrical interface is protected from damage, but the attachment process becomes more difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprotection of electrical interfaceVSAvoidattachment ease

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The IC board is extracted from the cartridge body and mounted separately on the protection wall. This allows the protection wall to be pre-installed on the cartridge body without interfering with subsequent IC board attachment, resolving the contradiction between protection and ease of attachment.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The protection wall is pre-installed on the cartridge body before the IC board is mounted. This preliminary action ensures that the protection structure is already in place to protect the electrical interface, while not hindering the subsequent attachment of the IC board.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Ease of operation

If the IC board is disposed at the surface of the cartridge body, then the attachment is simple, but the electrical interface is vulnerable to impact damage

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveattachment simplicityVSAvoidimpact damage to electrical interface

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The IC board is nested within a recessed area formed by the protection wall on the cartridge body surface. This nesting structure provides protection for the electrical interface while maintaining a compact design that does not significantly increase the overall cartridge size.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Solution Approach 2:

The protection wall creates a localized protected area around the electrical interface, providing enhanced protection only where needed rather than requiring complete enclosure of the entire IC board. This maintains attachment simplicity while protecting the vulnerable electrical interface.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentUS11027555B2Printing-fluid cartridge including protrusion and interface

Publication Date: 2021.06.08 BROTHER KOGYO KK

AI summary

A printing fluid cartridge a printing fluid cartridge is configured to be inserted into a printing fluid consuming apparatus in an insertion direction. The printing fluid cartridge includes: a storage chamber, a supply portion, a rear surface, an upper surface, an electrical interface, a locking surface, one protrusion, and another protrusion. The storage chamber is configured to store printing fluid. The one protrusion and the another protrusion define a plurality of imaginary planes each of which passes through the one protrusion and the another protrusion. The plurality of imaginary planes includes a specific imaginary plane. The specific imaginary plane is positioned higher than any other imaginary plane between the one protrusion and the another protrusion. The electrical interface is positioned downward relative to the specific imaginary plane in the gravitational direction in the attached posture.