Cartridge and printing material supply system

A cartridge configured to be detachably attached to a printing apparatus including a cartridge mounting structure configured to have:

• (i) an apparatus-side bottom wall member;
• (ii) a first apparatus-side side wall member provided to intersect the apparatus-side bottom wall member;
• and (iii) a second apparatus-side side wall member provided to intersect the apparatus-side bottom wall member opposed to the first apparatus-side side wall member;
• a printing material supply tube structured to have a base end provided on the apparatus-side bottom wall member and a peripheral end to be connected with the cartridge and configured to supply a printing material contained in the cartridge to a head;
• a plurality of apparatus-side terminals provided in an apparatus-side corner section where the apparatus-side bottom wall member intersects the first apparatus-side side wall member;
• and
• a lever provided on the first apparatus-side side wall member in a rotatable manner and configured to be used to attach and detach the cartridge to and from the printing apparatus, wherein
• a Z axis represents an axis parallel to a central axis C of the printing material supply tube, a Y axis represents an axis along a main scanning direction of the printing apparatus, an X axis represents an axis orthogonal to both the Z axis and the Y axis, wherein a +Z-axis direction represents a direction along the Z axis from the base end to the peripheral end of the printing material supply tube, a −Z-axis direction represents a reverse direction to the +Z-axis direction, a +X-axis direction represents a direction along the X axis from the printing material supply tube to the apparatus-side terminals, a −X-axis direction represents a reverse direction to the +X-axis direction, a +Y-axis direction represents a direction along the Y axis to one end, and −Y-axis direction represents a direction along the Y axis to the other end, wherein
• the apparatus-side terminals are configured and adapted to be in contact with the cartridge to apply a force to the cartridge in a specified direction including the +Z-axis direction component when the cartridge is attached to the cartridge mounting structure, and
• the lever has an operating member at the +Z-axis direction end and a first apparatus-side restriction element at the −Z-axis direction end to lock the cartridge and thereby restrict motion of the cartridge in the +Z-axis direction, the lever rotating about a specified position between the operating member and the first apparatus-side restriction element as an axis of rotation, wherein
• the X axis, the Y axis and the Z axis with respect to the cartridge in the attached state respectively correspond to an X axis, a Y axis and a Z axis of the cartridge,
• the cartridge comprising:
• a first face located on the −Z-axis direction side and a second face located on the +Z-axis direction side, as two faces opposed to each other in the Z-axis direction;
• a third face located on the +X-axis direction side and a fourth face located on the −X-axis direction side, as two faces opposed to each other in the X-axis direction and intersecting the first face and the second face;
• a corner section arranged to connect the first face with the third face;
• a sloped surface provided to form part of the corner section and inclined in a specific direction including the +X-axis direction component and the −Z-axis direction component;
• a printing material supply structure provided on the first face to be connected with the printing material supply tube;
• a plurality of cartridge-side terminals provided in locations corresponding to the respective apparatus-side terminals when the cartridge is attached to the cartridge mounting surface and located on the sloped surface to receive a force in a specified direction including the +Z-axis direction component from the apparatus-side terminals;
• and
• a first cartridge-side restriction portion configured to be locked by the first apparatus-side restriction element and thereby restrict motion of the cartridge in the +Z-axis direction, wherein
• the first cartridge-side restriction portion is located on the +X-axis direction side, and
• the cartridge-side terminals comprise:
• a first terminal including a first outer part located at the most +Y-axis direction end;
• and
• a second terminal including a second outer part located at the most −Y-axis direction end, wherein
• the first cartridge-side restriction portion is located not outside but inside a range between the first outer part and the second outer part in the Y-axis direction.