Inkjet Head Unit Relay Adapter for Compact Tube Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ink jet recording apparatuses are limited by the need for a significant space to accommodate ink tubes, leading to increased size and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
The use of a relay adapter within the head unit to redirect and extend ink tubes, allowing them to be compactly integrated within the apparatus, utilizing the height difference in the adapter accommodating portion to route the tubes and reduce overall size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the ink tube is connected directly from the ink accommodating portion to the head unit, then the ink supply function is simple, but the apparatus size increases due to the space required for the ink tube extension
Solution Approach 1:
The relay adapter is accommodated within the head unit, and the ink tube is routed through the adapter accommodating portion. This nesting arrangement allows the ink tube connection structure to be integrated within the existing head unit volume, eliminating the need for external space and reducing overall apparatus size while maintaining the ink supply function
Solution Approach 2:
The ink tube is extended through the adapter accommodating portion in the height direction rather than horizontally. This dimensional change in tube routing allows the ink supply path to utilize vertical space within the head unit, avoiding increased apparatus width or length while achieving compact integration
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided is a recording apparatus allowing for a reduction in size of an ink jet recording apparatus. An ink jet recording apparatus includes a head unit that has a recording head which ejects ink and a relay adapter which relays an ink accommodating portion where ink is accommodated with the recording head, and is movable in a scanning direction of the recording head, and an ink tube that is connected to the relay adapter, guides ink which is sent from the ink accommodating portion to the relay adapter, and has flexibility, in which a height difference is formed in an upper portion of an adapter accommodating portion, where the relay adapter is accommodated, of the head unit, and the ink tube extends outside the head unit by using a space between a high position and a low position of the adapter accommodating portion.