JP2003231592A - Apparatus and method for manufacturing gas dissolved beverage - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and a method for manufacturing a carbonated beverage with which a required amount of carbonic acid can be poured at a bar or the like. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus includes a pressure tank 1 for storing sake to be processed, an aerating membrane module 2 for accepting the sake in the tank 1 at one of internal and external sides of a hollow fiber membrane, a carbon dioxide gas tank 4 for feeding a carbon dioxide gas to the other of the internal and external sides of the hollow fiber membrane, and a self-priming pump 3 for cyclically feeding a beverage output from the pressure tank 1 and processed by the module 2 to the tank 1. The pressure tank is movable, and it is constructed so that a tank body 11 and an input/output part 12 are detachable. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus and a method for manufacturing carbonated beverages easily in an izakaya or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been said that sake should be heated after being moderately heated, and it is generally offered in a tasting state at taverns and the like. However, in recent years, the consumption of sake has been declining, and in particular, there has been a tendency for young people to dislike it. It should be noted that although sake called cold drink, which is appropriately cooled, is also offered, the reality is that consumption has not increased so much.

Contrary to the actual situation of sake, draft beer has been steadily increasing in consumption in recent years, and has been well received by young people. As for beer, draft beer with a good taste is preferred to the conventional type that has a strong bitterness, and it is understood that sake also needs a refreshing feeling to some extent.

[0004] When examining such a situation, it is expected that the injection of carbon dioxide gas into sake will improve the taste of the sake to make it refreshingly easy to drink, and will be greatly supported by the younger people who prefer carbonated drinks.

[0005]

However, it is a fact that there are many sake fans who prefer the original way of drinking, mainly among the elderly, and although it can be expected that the consumption of young people will increase, the production line of the manufacturing plant will be increased. I don't feel the need to build a new product. There is also a need for a device that can inject carbonic acid close to the end user so as to maintain freshness and quickly respond to customer preferences.

Further, not only sake but also wine, shochu, beer and the like are extremely preferable as long as the required amount of carbonic acid can be injected according to the customer's preference. Furthermore, water in which oxygen gas is dissolved at a predetermined high concentration can be effectively used for water splitting and other purposes if it can be easily produced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for producing a gas-dissolved beverage capable of injecting a necessary amount of carbon dioxide gas or oxygen gas in a pub or the like. And

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, the apparatus for producing a gas-dissolved beverage according to the present invention comprises a storage tank for storing a beverage to be treated and a hollow fiber membrane for storing the beverage in the storage tank. An air supply membrane module that receives one side inside and outside, a gas tank that supplies carbon dioxide gas or oxygen gas to the other side inside and outside the hollow fiber membrane, and a beverage that has been output from the storage tank and processed by the air supply membrane module. The storage tank is movable, and the tank body and the input / output unit are detachably configured.

Further, the method for producing a gas-dissolved beverage according to the present invention comprises: a storage tank for storing a beverage to be treated; A gas tank for supplying carbon dioxide gas or oxygen gas to the other side of the hollow fiber membrane is provided, and the tank body and the input / output unit are configured to be removable by using the movable storage tank, and the storage tank and the Carbon dioxide gas or oxygen gas is injected by circulating the liquid to be treated between the gas supply membrane modules.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in more detail based on the following examples. FIG. 1 shows a front view and a back view of a device for producing a gas-dissolved beverage. The apparatus shown in the figure is composed of a pressure tank 1 and a processing unit EQ, and can dissolve oxygen gas and carbon dioxide gas in water and liquor at a predetermined high concentration. Here, sake containing carbon dioxide gas is used. (Hereinafter, it may be referred to as carbonated cold liquor) It will be described as an apparatus for manufacturing.

As shown in FIG. 2, this manufacturing apparatus sucks sake from a pressure tank 1, an air supply membrane module 2 composed of a large number of hollow fiber membranes, and an inner cylinder 10 inserted in the pressure tank 1. Self-priming pump 3 for supplying air to the air supply membrane module 2, a gas tank 4 for supplying carbon dioxide gas at a predetermined pressure to the air supply membrane module 2, and a pressure gauge 5, which indicates the pressure of each part.
6 and 6.

In this embodiment, about 10 liters of sake is preliminarily injected into the pressure tank 1 in a separate process, but it is preferable to control the temperature to about 5 ° C. by an appropriate cooling mechanism. Further, carbon dioxide gas is supplied from the carbon dioxide gas tank 4 toward the gas supply membrane module 2 at a pressure of about ² to 3 kg / cm ² .

In the carbonated beverage manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 2, when the detection value of the pressure gauge 6 provided in the circulation flow path reaches a predetermined value, the operation of the self-priming pump 3 is stopped and the output of the carbon dioxide gas tank 4 is stopped. Is to be stopped. Then, in the case of this embodiment, the operation of about 10 minutes, 600
Carbon dioxide of about 0 ppm can be injected into sake.

The air supply membrane module 2 is specifically a hollow fiber membrane module, and while the sake supplied from the self-priming pump 3 is passed through, carbon dioxide gas is supplied from the outside of the hollow fiber membrane to generate carbon dioxide. It manufactures cold sake. This hollow fiber membrane module is formed by bundling thousands to tens of thousands of hollow fiber membranes 20 as shown in FIG. 3 (a), and putting this in a support case. In addition, this hollow fiber membrane module
It has the characteristics that it has a long life under normal use conditions and requires almost no maintenance.

Hollow fiber membrane 2 constituting the air supply membrane module 2
As 0, it is possible to use a three-layer composite membrane structure in which a non-porous membrane 21 is sandwiched between porous membranes 22 and 22 and formed into a tubular shape as shown in FIG. 3 (a). . Since this non-porous membrane 21 blocks the permeation of water while having selective gas permeability, when gas is applied from the outside of the hollow fiber membrane, the gas is mixed into the water inside the hollow fiber membrane. be able to.

It should be noted that the structure is not particularly limited to the one having a three-layer composite membrane structure, and a polypropylene hollow filter having a single-layer structure having gas degassing performance may be used. For example, 0.
Even if a hollow fiber capsule filter having an absolute filtration accuracy of 03 μm is used, 6 hours can be obtained by operating for about 10 minutes.
It has been confirmed that about 000 ppm of carbon dioxide can be injected into sake.

In any of the above membrane structures, in this apparatus, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), while sake is passed through the inside of the hollow fiber membrane 20, carbon dioxide gas is introduced from the outside of the hollow fiber membrane 20. The cold soda is manufactured by supplying while heating. However, it is also possible to produce carbonated cold liquor by supplying carbon dioxide from the inside of the hollow fiber membrane 20 while pressurizing it while allowing sake to pass through the outside of the hollow fiber membrane 20.

In any case, in this apparatus, by generating a pressure gradient inside and outside the hollow fiber membrane 20, the dissolution efficiency of carbon dioxide gas in the hollow fiber membrane 20 becomes very high, and the saturation concentration with respect to the raw water is increased. It is possible to easily produce cold carbonated sake that has been dissolved.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing the input / output section of the pressure tank. This pressure tank is composed of a tank main body 11 having a cylindrical inner cylinder 10 for drawing out the internal liquid, and an input / output unit 12 detachably attached to the tank main body 11. The inner cylinder 10 is inserted and fixed to the neck portion 13 of the tank body 11, and the body 1 of the inner cylinder 10 is fixed.
0a has a length from the upper end to the vicinity of the lower end of the tank body 11 (see FIGS. 2 and 3 (a)).

The upper end of the inner cylinder 10 has a housing 15 in which a plurality of round holes are formed in the outer circumference, a first spring member SP1 held by the housing 15, and an upper outer circumference of the inner cylinder body 10a. And a sealing member SE that is provided. Further, a second spring member SP2 held by the inner cylinder body 10a and an opening / closing valve 14 biased upward by the second spring member SP2 are provided on the inner peripheral side of the inner cylinder body 10a.

The opening / closing valve 14 is the second spring member SP.
By ascending to the limit position by the urging force of 2, the outlet of the inner cylinder body 10a is reliably closed (FIG. 3).
(A)). Further, the inner cylinder body 10a is raised to the limit position by the urging force of the first spring member SP1, the seal member SE comes into contact with the seal member of the housing 15, and the pressure tank 1 is hermetically sealed.

The input / output unit 12 has a lead-out cylinder 16 for leading out the liquid from the pressure tank 1, an operation handle 17 for lowering the lead-out cylinder 16 according to a rotating operation, and a grip handle 19 integrated with an inlet 18. It consists of and. The inlet 18 is provided with a rubber check valve 18a, and the outlet cylinder 16 is also provided with a rubber ball body 16a.
Prevents backflow of fluid.

A pressure tank 1 having the structure shown in FIG.
In use, the I / O unit 12 is mounted on the tank body 11 and the inlet 18 and the outlet of the air supply membrane module 2 are connected by an appropriate connecting hose during use. Further, the lead-out cylinder 16 and the suction port of the self-priming pump 3 are connected by an appropriate connecting hose.

After that, by rotating the operation handle 17, the lead-out cylinder 16 is lowered. Then, FIG. 3 (b)
As shown in (1), the inner cylinder body 10a is first lowered in response to the lowering of the lead-out cylinder 16, and when the lead-out cylinder 16 is further lowered, the opening / closing valve 14 is lowered.

As a result of this operation, the lowermost end of the guiding cylinder 16 is introduced into the inner cylinder body 10a of the pressure tank 1, and the guiding cylinder 1
The inner cylinder body 10a and the lead-out cylinder 16 communicate with each other through a gap formed on the outermost portion of the lowermost end of 6. Also, the inner cylinder body 1
The seal member SE of 0a separates from the seal member of the housing 15, and the inlet 18 and the inside of the pressure tank 1 communicate with each other.

When the self-priming pump 3 is operated in the state shown in FIG. 3 (b), the sake in the pressure tank 1 is output through the outlet cylinder 16 communicating with the inner cylinder body 10a. , Is supplied to the air supply membrane module 2 by the self-priming pump 3.

Then, the output treatment liquid (carbonated cold liquor) after being treated by the air supply membrane module 2 is supplied to the inlet port 18 and introduced into the pressure tank 1 through the round hole formed on the outer periphery of the upper housing 15. (See FIG. 3B). The output treatment liquid introduced from the air supply membrane module 2 is
It is introduced from the lowermost part of the inner cylinder body 10a to the inside of the inner cylinder body 10a (see FIG. 2), and is again circulated in the route of the discharge cylinder 16 → the self-priming pump 3 → the air supply membrane module 2 to inject carbon dioxide The process is executed.

The sake contained in the pressure tank 1 can be injected with carbon dioxide up to a limit level by repeating such a circulation operation. After that, when the carbon dioxide gas is injected to a predetermined level, the operation of the self-priming pump is stopped based on the detection value of the pressure gauge 6, so that the input / output unit 12 may be subsequently separated from the tank body 11. In separating the input / output unit, if the operation handle 17 is rotated in the reverse direction to raise the lead-out cylinder 16, the on-off valve 14 and the inner cylinder body 10a are raised to the limit position, and the pressure tank 1 is It is sealed (FIG. 3 (a)).

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of providing sake to a customer who has completed the injection process of carbon dioxide gas. The sake into which carbon dioxide gas is injected is stored in the pressure tank 1 as it is, but at the time of use, the tank body 11 is equipped with an input / output unit 12 'different from that used at the time of the air supply operation. Then, the inlet 18 and the carbon dioxide gas tank 40 are connected, and the outlet cylinder 16 and the cooling mechanism 30 are connected.

When the flow path is opened in this state, carbon dioxide gas is introduced into the pressure tank 1, the carbonated cold liquor is pushed out from the discharge cylinder 16 by the gas pressure, and is cooled by the cooling mechanism 30 and supplied to the customer side. It Specifically, carbonated cold sake that has been appropriately cooled is poured out from a faucet of a server or the like.

Although the method for producing and providing cold carbonated liquor has been described above, the same device can dissolve carbon dioxide gas of a desired concentration in wine, shochu, and beer. In addition, although the above-mentioned embodiment illustrated the production in an izakaya, it can be effectively utilized in the case of manufacturing microbrewery on an extremely small scale, or in a vending machine for carbonated water. Further, it is not limited to carbon dioxide gas, and oxygen gas can be dissolved in a desired high concentration.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize an apparatus and method for producing carbonated drinks in which a required amount of carbonic acid can be injected in a pub or the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance state of a carbonated beverage manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a carbonated beverage manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a main part of an air supply module.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view illustrating a main part of a pressure tank.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a method for providing a carbonated drink after production.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Storage tank (pressure tank) 2 Air supply membrane module 3 Drive unit (self-priming pump) 4 Carbon dioxide tank (carbon dioxide tank) 11 Tank body 12 Input / output section

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A storage tank for storing a beverage to be processed,
An air supply membrane module that receives the beverage in the storage tank on one side inside and outside the hollow fiber membrane, a gas tank that supplies carbon dioxide gas or oxygen gas to the other side inside and outside the hollow fiber membrane, and the air supply that is output from the storage tank. A drive unit that cyclically supplies the beverage after being processed by the membrane module to the storage tank, the storage tank is movable, and the tank body and the input / output unit are detachably configured. An apparatus for producing a gas-dissolved beverage, characterized in that 2. The manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a pressure gauge is provided in the pressurizing flow passage, and the operating time is managed based on the detection value of the pressure gauge. 3. The tank main body is provided with an inner cylinder extending from the uppermost part to the lowermost part of the tank main body, and the inner cylinder forms the tank main body with a sealing material biased upward by a first biasing force. In addition to sealing, the outlet of the inner cylinder is sealed by a valve that is biased upward by a second biasing force, and when the input / output unit is mounted, according to this mounting,
2. The seal member descends to connect the inlet of the input / output unit with the tank body, and the valve descends to open the outlet of the inner cylinder. Or the manufacturing apparatus according to 2. 4. The beverage as claimed in claim 1, wherein the beverage is sake, wine, beer, shochu, or water.
The manufacturing apparatus according to any one of 1. 5. A storage tank for storing a beverage to be processed,
An air supply membrane module that receives the beverage in the storage tank on one side inside and outside the hollow fiber membrane, and a gas tank that supplies carbon dioxide gas or oxygen gas to the inside and outside the other side of the hollow fiber membrane are provided. Using the movable storage tank configured to be detachable, carbon dioxide gas or oxygen gas is injected by circulating the liquid to be treated between the storage tank and the gas supply membrane module. A method for producing a characteristic gas-dissolved beverage.