Fluid Container Regulator for Common Interface
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fluid containers with varying fluid storage capacities within the same family face obstacles in creating a common interface due to regulator unit variations, leading to increased manufacturing costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A fluid container design featuring a regulated chamber and a free-fluid chamber, where a regulator unit within the regulated chamber can isolate or communicate with the free-fluid chamber based on its state, allowing the same regulator unit type and size to be used across different capacities, reducing part variations and manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If regulator units are varied to accommodate different fluid storage capacities, then each container can be optimized for its specific capacity, but the number of regulator part variations increases, leading to increased manufacturing costs and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a regulator unit that can function across multiple fluid container capacities within the same family. The regulator unit is configured to work with different chamber volumes through selective isolation of the free-fluid chamber, allowing a single regulator design to serve multiple capacity requirements without modification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the fluid container into two distinct chambers: a regulated chamber containing the regulator unit and a free-fluid chamber that can be selectively isolated. This segmentation allows the regulator unit to maintain consistent operation while the free-fluid chamber provides capacity variation, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple regulator unit types are used for different fluid storage capacities, then each regulator can be precisely matched to its container size, but manufacturing costs increase due to increased part variations
Solution Approach 1:
The regulator unit is designed as a universal component that can be used across different fluid container capacities. By incorporating a selectively isolatable free-fluid chamber, the same regulator unit design achieves precise matching for multiple container sizes, eliminating the need for multiple regulator types and reducing manufacturing costs.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a common interface is created for fluid containers with varying capacities, then interoperability is improved, but regulator unit variations create obstacles to achieving this common interface
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a common interface for fluid containers with varying capacities by using a universal regulator unit design. The regulator unit, combined with the selectively isolatable free-fluid chamber, provides interface compatibility across the container family while accommodating different storage capacities without requiring regulator variations.
Solution Approach 2:
By segmenting the container into a regulated chamber with the universal regulator unit and a separately isolatable free-fluid chamber, the patent enables a common interface design. The segmentation allows the interface to remain consistent while the free-fluid chamber accommodates capacity variations, removing obstacles to interoperability.
Data Source
AI summary
An example apparatus includes a housing including a first chamber and a second chamber, the housing defining a first port to fluidly couple the first chamber to a printer, the housing including a second port to fluidly couple the first chamber and the second chamber; a bladder disposed in the first chamber, the bladder being inflatable to increase a pressure within the first chamber; and a regulator to regulate fluid flow from the second chamber to the first chamber and to deter fluid flow from the first chamber to the second chamber.