Ribbed Ink Bottle Structure for Leak-Resistant Refilling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ink leakage is a concern when using thinner ink storage containers due to reduced impact resistance, particularly during the process of replenishing ink tanks, which can lead to material waste and environmental impact.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates ribs on the side wall of the ink bottle to reinforce the structure, preventing deformation and ink leakage during handling and insertion into ink tanks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If the thickness of the side wall of the ink storage container is reduced to reduce raw material usage, then the amount of polypropylene or polyethylene terephthalate used is reduced, but the impact resistance decreases and the container is likely to be crushed during handling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing ribs at specific locations on the side wall of the ink storage container. These ribs are positioned at heights of 10mm to 50mm from the bottom end, creating localized reinforcement zones that enhance impact resistance only where needed during handling, while the rest of the container wall can maintain reduced thickness to minimize raw material usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The side wall of the ink storage container is segmented into different thickness zones through the addition of ribs. The ribbed portions have increased thickness for strength, while other portions maintain thinner walls for material reduction. This segmentation allows the container to achieve both reduced overall material usage and localized strength enhancement.
2Loss of substance
If the thickness of the side wall is reduced to achieve sustainability goals, then material consumption decreases, but the container becomes susceptible to crushing and ink leakage during the ink replenishment process
Solution Approach 1:
The ribs are strategically positioned on the side wall to provide localized reinforcement at critical heights (10mm to 50mm from the bottom). This local quality enhancement ensures that the container maintains sufficient strength to prevent crushing and ink leakage during handling and insertion, while allowing the majority of the container wall to remain thin for reduced material consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The ribs act as preemptive reinforcement structures that are built into the container design before use. These ribs provide beforehand cushioning against the crushing forces that may be applied during handling and insertion into the ink tank, ensuring reliability is maintained even with reduced overall wall thickness.
3Strength
If a thick side wall is used to prevent crushing during handling, then impact resistance is improved, but the use amount of raw materials increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly thickening the entire side wall, the patent applies ribs only at specific locations (10mm to 50mm from the bottom end) where reinforcement is most needed during handling. This local quality approach provides the necessary impact resistance at critical zones while keeping the rest of the container wall thin, thereby minimizing raw material usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The side wall is segmented into reinforced ribbed zones and thinner non-ribbed zones. This segmentation allows the container to achieve adequate overall strength through localized thickening rather than uniform thickening, significantly reducing the total raw material required compared to a uniformly thick-walled container.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure suppresses ink leakage while reducing a use amount of a raw material. To this end, the present disclosure is an ink bottle for replenishing an ink tank of a liquid ejection apparatus with an ink, the ink bottle comprising: a main body portion provided with a storage chamber that stores the ink and having a tubular body portion that surrounds at least part of the storage chamber; and a head portion having an opening that allows the storage chamber to communicate with an outside, and a side wall of the body portion is provided with a rib extending between portions near an upper end and a lower end of the side wall, in a direction including a height direction of the side wall as a component. The technique described in the present description can contribute to achieving of a sustainable society such as decarbonized/circulating society.