Liquid Container Protection Member Alignment and Sealing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid containers, such as ink cartridges, face challenges in protecting internal components during transportation and attachment to printers, including ink leakage and difficulty in attaching the cap member effectively due to complex configurations and alignment issues.
Innovation Solution
A liquid container design featuring a protection member with engaging parts that align easily with contact parts on the container body, ensuring secure attachment and protection, while maintaining sealability and preventing leakage through strategic placement and dimensions of engaging and sealing components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the cap member is designed to protect the ink cartridge and its components, then the protection capability is improved, but the attachability and alignment become more difficult due to complex configurations
Solution Approach 1:
The protection member is divided into multiple functional segments: a cap body for covering the ink cartridge, a sealing part for preventing leakage, and multiple engaging parts for secure attachment. This segmentation allows each part to perform its specific function independently while simplifying the overall attachment process through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The engaging parts are pre-configured with engagement-target parts that automatically align with corresponding features on the ink cartridge during attachment. The sealing part is pre-positioned to face the liquid supply port, ensuring proper alignment before the cap member is fully attached, thereby eliminating complex alignment procedures.
2Reliability
If the cap member is designed to prevent ink leakage through sealing, then the sealability is improved, but the complexity of the configuration increases making attachment more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing part is integrated directly into the cap member structure, merging the sealing function with the protective covering function. This combination eliminates the need for separate sealing mechanisms, reducing overall configuration complexity while maintaining effective sealability against ink leakage.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing part is strategically positioned only at the critical interface where the liquid supply port contacts the cap member. This localized sealing approach provides effective leakage prevention at the most vulnerable point without requiring complex sealing structures throughout the entire cap member.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the cap member includes multiple engaging parts for secure attachment, then the attachment stability is improved, but the alignment difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The engaging parts are asymmetrically positioned on the cap member, with each engagement-target part having a unique spatial relationship to the others. This asymmetric configuration creates a natural alignment path during attachment, ensuring that the cap member can only be properly attached in the correct orientation, thereby simplifying the alignment process while maintaining attachment stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid container includes a liquid container body and a protection member that is attached to the liquid container body. The liquid container body includes: a liquid supply port; a plurality of contact parts that are to be in contact with an electrode part; a first engagement-target part; and a second engagement-target part. The protection member includes: a sealing part that faces the liquid supply port; a first engaging part that engages with the first engagement-target part; and a second engaging part that engages with the second engagement-target part. A first direction denotes a direction in which the sealing part faces the liquid supply port, a second direction denotes a direction that is orthogonal to the first direction and is a direction from the liquid supply port to the plurality of contact parts, and a third direction denotes a direction that is orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction. The plurality of contact parts viewed in the first direction are located between the first engaging part and the second engaging part in terms of the third direction.