Inkjet Printer Ink Reservoir Vertical Stacking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inkjet printing apparatuses with large capacity ink reservoirs face challenges in maintaining a compact size due to the need for a larger waste liquid reservoir, which often results in increased size and interference with other components.
Innovation Solution
The inkjet printing apparatus is designed with the ink reservoir positioned not to overlap with the carriage in a perpendicular direction and at least partially outside the carriage's moving range, allowing the waste liquid reservoir to be placed without expanding the device's size in the left and right direction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the waste liquid reservoir is increased in size to accommodate more waste ink from frequent use, then the capacity to store waste liquid is improved, but the device size in the left and right direction increases
Solution Approach 1:
The waste liquid reservoir is repositioned from a conventional horizontal arrangement to a vertical arrangement, utilizing the up-down dimension instead of expanding in the left-right direction. The reservoir is disposed to overlap with the ink reservoir in the up-down direction while remaining outside the carriage moving range in the left-right direction, thereby increasing waste liquid capacity without increasing device width.
Solution Approach 2:
The waste liquid reservoir is positioned to overlap with the ink reservoir in the up-down direction, effectively nesting the waste liquid storage space within the vertical profile of the existing ink reservoir area. This allows the waste liquid reservoir to utilize otherwise underutilized vertical space, accommodating more waste liquid without encroaching on the horizontal space required for carriage movement.
2Quantity of substance
If the ink cartridge attachment unit is increased in size to accommodate larger ink cartridges, then the ink storage capacity is improved, but the waste liquid tank must also be increased in size which interferes with other components
Solution Approach 1:
The waste liquid reservoir is arranged vertically to overlap with the ink reservoir in the up-down direction, converting a horizontal space conflict into a vertical arrangement. This dimensional change allows larger ink cartridges to be accommodated in the left-right direction without forcing the waste liquid tank to expand horizontally, thereby avoiding interference with other components such as the carriage and paper supply cassette.
Solution Approach 2:
The ink storage system is segmented into two distinct vertical zones: the ink reservoir for fresh ink and the waste liquid reservoir for waste ink collection. This segmentation allows each reservoir to be optimized independently in the vertical direction, enabling larger ink cartridges without proportionally increasing waste liquid tank size in the horizontal direction, thus reducing component interference.
Data Source
AI summary
An inkjet printing apparatus, comprising: a carriage to move in a 1st direction; a recording head; an ink reservoir; an ink receiver; and a waste liquid reservoir configured to be connected to the ink receiver to let the ink move between the ink receiver and the waste liquid reservoir, wherein: the ink reservoir is disposed not to overlap with the carriage in a 2nd direction perpendicularly intersecting with the 1st direction and an up and down direction, and at least a part of the ink reservoir is disposed at a position outside of a moving range of the carriage in the 1st direction; and in the 1st direction, the waste liquid reservoir is disposed to overlap with the ink reservoir and is disposed at a position outside of the moving range of the carriage.