Liquid Cartridge Protrusions for Impact Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ink cartridges are prone to posture change upon collision with a flat surface, leading to ink scattering and contamination, as existing designs lack effective mechanisms to maintain stability during such impacts.
Innovation Solution
The liquid cartridge design incorporates a housing with a circuit board and a liquid supply portion featuring upward protrusions that position the liquid supply opening below an imaginary plane defined by these protrusions, reducing the likelihood of posture change and ink leakage upon impact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the liquid cartridge is designed with a simple housing structure, then the manufacturing cost is reduced, but the stability during collision is insufficient causing ink scattering
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is segmented into multiple functional portions: a body portion, a protrusion portion extending upward, and a liquid supply portion. This segmentation allows each part to serve its specific function - the protrusion portion acts as a collision stopper while the liquid supply portion remains protected, resolving the contradiction between simple manufacturing and collision stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The protrusion portion extends in the height direction (vertical dimension) from the top surface of the housing. This dimensional extension creates a protective structure that prevents posture change during collision without significantly increasing the horizontal footprint or manufacturing complexity.
2Productivity
If the liquid supply opening is positioned at the front of the housing, then the liquid supply function is optimized, but the opening becomes vulnerable to direct impact during drops
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusion portion serves as an intermediary protective structure between the collision source and the liquid supply opening. It absorbs and redirects collision forces, protecting the liquid supply opening from direct impact while maintaining its frontward positioning for optimal liquid supply function.
3Volume of moving object
If the housing is made taller to accommodate components, then the internal space utilization is improved, but the center of gravity rises increasing posture change during collision
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusion portion is positioned asymmetrically at the rear of the housing, creating a balanced center of gravity. This asymmetric placement provides collision protection while maintaining stability, resolving the contradiction between increased height for component accommodation and center of gravity stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid cartridge includes a housing, a circuit board including an electrode, and a liquid supply portion extending from the housing in a depth direction. The housing includes a top wall, and first and second protrusions protruding upward from the top wall. The first protrusion is positioned rearward but the second protrusion is positioned frontward relative to the circuit board. The first protrusion is higher than an upper edge of a front end of the second protrusion. No part of the liquid cartridge is positioned higher than an imaginary plane in a height direction in a region between a first point on the first protrusion and a second point on the second protrusion (the upper edge of the front end of the second protrusion) in the depth direction. The imaginary plane passes through the first and second points, and extends perpendicularly to the depth direction.