Reusable Pouch-and-Casing Liquid Container for Rigid Leak-Safe Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Liquid containers, such as ink cartridges, face challenges in maintaining rigidity to prevent leakage and stable mounting due to reduced plastic usage, leading to increased plastic waste and environmental impact.
Innovation Solution
A liquid container design comprising a rigid casing and a flexible pouch, where the casing has higher rigidity than the pouch, with the spout dimensions minimized to facilitate stable mounting and efficient liquid discharge, using materials like polypropylene or polyethylene for the casing and metallic or plastic films for the pouch.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If the amount of plastic used to form the liquid container is reduced, then plastic waste is reduced, but the rigidity of the liquid container deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid container is divided into two distinct parts: a rigid casing that maintains structural integrity and mounting stability, and a flexible pouch that contains the liquid. This segmentation allows each part to be optimized independently - the casing provides necessary rigidity while the pouch minimizes plastic usage, resolving the contradiction between reducing plastic waste and maintaining rigidity.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible pouch is nested inside the rigid casing, creating a hierarchical structure where the pouch is contained within the casing. This nesting arrangement allows the outer casing to provide structural support and rigidity while the inner pouch holds the liquid with minimal material, effectively resolving the contradiction between plastic waste reduction and rigidity maintenance.
2Ease of manufacture
If the liquid container is made entirely of plastic, then manufacturing is simple and cost-effective, but environmental impact increases due to plastic waste
Solution Approach 1:
The design enables selective discarding and recovering by making the pouch removable from the casing. The rigid casing can be retained and reused for a new pouch, reducing overall plastic waste. This approach maintains ease of manufacture through simple assembly while mitigating environmental impact through partial material recovery.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the material parameter distribution within the container - using rigid material for the casing and flexible minimal-material material for the pouch. This parameter change allows the structure to maintain manufacturing simplicity while reducing total plastic consumption and environmental impact.
3Productivity
If the spout dimension is minimized, then mounting stability and liquid discharge efficiency are improved, but the pouch structure becomes more constrained
Solution Approach 1:
The pouch is designed with dynamic flexibility to accommodate the constrained spout geometry. The flexible material allows the pouch to adapt its shape and movement around the minimized spout, maintaining liquid discharge efficiency while managing the structural constraints through material dynamics rather than rigid geometric constraints.
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid container to be mounted on a liquid discharge apparatus includes a casing, a pouch, and a spout. The pouch is removable and contained in the casing. The spout is connected to the pouch. The casing has a rigidity that is higher than a rigidity of the pouch. The pouch and the spout each have a dimension in a direction of gravity in a posture of the liquid container that is taken when the liquid container is mounted on the liquid discharge apparatus, and the dimension of the spout is less than or equal to half the dimension of the pouch.