Printhead Supply Tube Layout to Prevent Kinking in Motion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing printing apparatuses face issues with supply tubes bending and kinking during reciprocal movement, leading to reduced flexibility in arrangement and increased size due to the need for guide portions, which compromises reliability and compactness.
Innovation Solution
A configuration where supply tubes transition from a connected tube state to a single tube state, passing across other tubes, and are regulated by a frame-shaped regulating section, eliminating the need for dedicated guide members, thereby enhancing rigidity and maintaining compactness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If supply tubes are routed in parallel with a guide portion, then the tubes can smoothly follow reciprocal movement, but the arrangement flexibility is reduced and the apparatus size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the guide portion from the liquid storage body, extracting the constraint mechanism that limited arrangement flexibility. The supply tubes are instead routed directly from the front surface, eliminating the need for a dedicated guide structure and reducing apparatus complexity while maintaining tube stability through the front-surface connection approach
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the routing dimension by connecting supply tubes to the front surface of the liquid storage body rather than routing them through the rear side. This dimensional shift allows tubes to be arranged more flexibly in the horizontal direction without requiring vertical space for guide portions, thus reducing apparatus size while improving arrangement flexibility
2Reliability
If supply tubes are routed in parallel with a guide portion, then the tubes can smoothly follow reciprocal movement, but the apparatus size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the guide portion structure that occupied space in the apparatus. By eliminating this dedicated guide mechanism and routing tubes directly from the front surface, the overall apparatus volume is reduced while maintaining sufficient tube stability for reciprocal movement
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the tube routing function directly into the liquid storage body structure by providing connection ports on the front surface. This integration eliminates the need for separate guide portions and reduces the overall apparatus size while maintaining tube stability through the integrated design
Data Source
AI summary
A printing apparatus includes a liquid tank unit, a printing head, and a supply tube unit. The liquid tank unit includes first and second liquid tanks that store liquid and are arranged in parallel to each other. The printing head ejects liquid from the first and second tanks while moving in a main scanning direction. The supply tube unit includes a first supply tube connecting the first liquid tank to the printing head and includes a second supply tube coupled in parallel to the first supply tube and connecting the second liquid tank to the printing head. The second supply tube transitions from a connected tube state in which the second and first supply tubes are coupled in parallel to a single tube state by being separated from the first supply tube, passes across the first supply tube, and is connected to a connection port of the second liquid tank.