Liquid Container Scale Mark Visibility and Spill Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid containers, such as inkjet printer cartridges, face issues with ink level visibility due to scale mark deterioration and ink spillage, making it difficult for users to accurately check the ink level, as scale marks on both inner and outer walls can become worn or obscured by spilled ink.
Innovation Solution
The liquid container design features scale marks on both inner and outer walls, a liquid-receiving portion to contain spills, a lid member to prevent leakage, and a convex wall portion to guide liquid flow, ensuring the ink flows to the bottom and preventing adhesion to the visual recognition area, thus maintaining visibility and preventing accidental spills during injection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If scale marks are provided on the outer wall surface, then the user can visually recognize the ink level, but the scale marks may become worn and deteriorated in visibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dimensionality change by providing scale marks on both the inner wall surface and outer wall surface of the container. This multi-dimensional approach ensures that even if scale marks on one surface become worn or obscured, the user can still check the ink level through the scale marks on the other surface, thereby resolving the contradiction between visibility and durability
2Ease of operation
If the injection port accepts ink injection, then the user can refill the container, but ink may spill out and adhere to the scale marks decreasing visibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful effect of spilled ink by introducing a liquid-receiving portion that specifically captures and contains any ink that spills during injection. This separate structure prevents the ink from reaching and adhering to the scale marks, thus maintaining their visibility while preserving the ease of liquid injection operation
3Measurement precision
If the lid member prevents liquid spillage, then scale mark visibility is maintained, but the lid member may interfere with user injection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by designing the lid member to be rotatable rather than fixed. The lid can be rotated to an open position that does not interfere with the user's injection operation, and then rotated to a closed position to prevent liquid spillage and protect the scale marks. This dynamic design resolves the contradiction between protection and accessibility
4Measurement precision
If scale marks are on the inner wall surface, then visibility is maintained, but the scale marks may be obscured by liquid adhering to the inner wall
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces the liquid-receiving portion as an intermediary structure between the injection port and the inner wall scale marks. This intermediary component captures spilled liquid before it can reach and obscure the scale marks on the inner wall, thereby maintaining their visibility while preserving the functionality of the injection port
Data Source
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AI summary
The liquid container includes: a container main body that includes a containment chamber containing a liquid and has a plurality of wall parts including a front-end wall part, a rear-end wall part, and an upper-surface wall part; a liquid outlet that is connected to a liquid-consuming device to flow out the liquid from the containment chamber to the liquid-consuming device; a liquid inlet that is provided on the upper-surface wall part at a position closer to the rear-end wall part and accepts injection of the liquid from outside of the container main body into the containment chamber; and a visual recognition portion that is provided on the rear-end wall part and is see-through so that a position of a liquid surface of the liquid contained in the containment chamber is visually recognizable from the outside of the container main body. The rear-end wall part has at least part of scale marks as indexes of an amount of the liquid contained in the containment chamber on an outer wall surface outside the containment chamber in the visual recognition portion and an inner wall surface inside the containment chamber in the visual recognition portion.