JP7380120B2 - beverage dispensing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a beverage dispensing device, and more particularly to a beverage dispensing device such as a coffee machine installed in a store such as a convenience store.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, beverage supply devices such as coffee machines have been installed in stores such as convenience stores. When a beverage is selected by a user, the beverage supply device generates a beverage by, for example, grinding coffee beans and extracting dripping, and supplies the beverage to a cup disposed in the beverage supply section. It is something.

Among such beverage supply devices, one has been proposed that detects whether or not a cup is placed in the beverage supply section and supplies a beverage only when a cup is detected (for example, a patent (See Reference 1).

JP2009-274767A

By the way, in the above-mentioned beverage supply device, it is common for the user to place the cup in the beverage supply device in an upright position. Although the location of the cup is roughly determined based on the relationship with the location of the nozzle, it varies depending on the user and has a wide range of locations. Therefore, in order to detect whether or not a cup is placed in the beverage supply section, the detection area needs to cover the entire area where the cup is placed, which may require multiple detection means or expensive detection means. This results in an increase in manufacturing costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a beverage supply device that can reduce manufacturing costs.

In order to achieve the above object, the beverage supply device according to the present invention supplies the beverage produced in the beverage production section to a bottomed cylindrical cup disposed in the beverage supply section. A beverage supply device that discharges and supplies a beverage downward from a nozzle, wherein the beverage supply section is configured such that, at least when the inside of the cup is empty, the central axis of the cup is inclined with respect to the discharge direction of the nozzle. The placing part is provided with a placing part on which the cup is placed in an inclined posture, and the placing part has a bottom part that contacts the bottom surface of the cup, and a left and right pair of the bottom parts, and the placing part has a bottom part that is in contact with the bottom surface of the cup, and a pair of left and right parts of the bottom part. The cup is characterized in that the cup is provided with a rear wall portion which is provided so that the distance therebetween gradually increases and is in contact with a part of the outer circumferential wall portion of the cup.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned beverage supply device, the rear wall portions are provided on the bottom portion in a manner that they are spaced apart from each other.

According to the present invention, at least when the inside of the cup is empty, the mounting part for placing the cup in an inclined posture in such a manner that the central axis of the cup is inclined with respect to the discharge direction of the nozzle, the bottom part is The rear wall portions, which are in contact with the bottom surface of the cup and are provided on the bottom portion in such a manner that the distance between them gradually increases toward the front, are in contact with a part of the outer circumferential wall portion of the cup, so that the cup is The cup can be held in a positioned state by restricting rolling. As a result, the detection area of the cup can be made narrower, eliminating the need for multiple detection means, as well as the need for expensive detection means with large detection areas, thereby reducing manufacturing costs. It has the effect of being able to do it.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of a beverage supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a control system of a beverage supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of the beverage supply device shown in FIG. 1 in an enlarged manner. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the mounting section shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a side view showing the mounting section shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state in which a cup is placed on the placing portion shown in FIG. 3. FIG. FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the mounting section shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view of the mounting section shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 9 is a side view showing a state in which a cup is placed on the placing portion shown in FIG. 3. FIG. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional side view of the mounting section shown in FIG. 3. FIG. FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing a detection state of the posture detection section shown in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view showing a detection state of the attitude detection section shown in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the contents of the beverage supply control process executed by the control section shown in FIG. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the contents of the cup determination process in FIG. 13. FIG. 15(a) schematically shows a state in which a beverage is discharged into a cup in an inclined position, and FIG. 15(b) is a schematic diagram schematically showing a state in which a beverage is discharged into a cup in an upright position. be.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a beverage supply device according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 each show a beverage supply device that is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external configuration, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the control system. It is.

The beverage supply device illustrated here is, for example, a coffee machine installed in a store such as a convenience store, and performs, for example, grinding coffee beans and extraction processing of drippings into a cylindrical cup C with a bottom, which is a container. For example, coffee drinks containing milk drinks such as cafe latte are supplied. Such a beverage supply device includes a device main body 1.

Here, there are two types of cup C: one exclusively for cold beverages and one exclusively for hot beverages. The cup C exclusively for cold beverages is made of colorless and transparent transparent resin, and has ice (not shown) already placed inside it before the beverage is dispensed. This cup C exclusively for cold beverages is stored frozen inside a freezer to prevent the ice inside from melting. The cup C exclusively for hot beverages is made of white, opaque paper, and is formed in approximately the same shape and size as the cup C exclusively for cold beverages. This hot beverage cup C is stored at room temperature in an empty state.

The device main body 1 includes a main body cabinet 10 and a front door 20. The main body cabinet 10 has a substantially rectangular shape with an open front. Inside the main body cabinet 10, a beverage generating section 11 is provided that generates a beverage (for example, a coffee beverage such as a cafe latte).

The front door 20 is a door body having a size sufficient to close the front opening of the main cabinet 10. The front door 20 is provided at one edge on the front side of the main body cabinet 10 so as to be swingable around the central axis of a shaft portion (not shown) extending along the vertical direction. It is possible to open and close the opening.

The front surface of the front door 20 constitutes a customer service surface, and is provided with a display section 21 and an opening/closing door 22. The display unit 21 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal touch panel, and has an input unit 21a that displays various information and allows input operations such as touch operations.

The opening/closing door 22 is made of a translucent material such as transparent resin, and has a size sufficient to cover the entrance 231 of the beverage supply section 23, as shown in FIG. . The opening/closing door 22 has a left end portion pivotally supported by the front door 20, and is swingable in the front-rear direction. In other words, the opening/closing door 22 can swing in the front-rear direction in a manner approaching and away from the beverage supply section 23, and when swinging backward in a manner approaching the beverage supply section 23, the opening/closing door 22 can swing at the entrance of the beverage supply section 23. 231 can be closed and the inlet 231 can be opened when swinging forward away from the beverage supply 23.

The beverage supply section 23 is configured by providing a recessed portion below the display section 21 . This beverage supply section 23 has a nozzle 232, a stage 233, a rear wall 234, a side wall 235, and a mounting section 236.

The nozzle 232 discharges the beverage produced by the beverage production section 11 downward in the vertical direction. The stage 233 is provided below the nozzle 232 . This stage 233 is formed with a passage hole 233a through which the beverage discharged from the nozzle 232 and not supplied to the cup C passes, and a tray (not shown) for storing the beverage is provided below the passage hole 233a. There is. The rear wall 234 covers the rear surface of the stage 233. The side walls 235 cover both sides of the stage 233.

As shown in FIG. 4, the mounting portion 236 is molded, for example, from a resin material, and includes a swing shaft member that passes through a mounting hole formed in a mounting piece 236a that projects upward in a pair of left and right pairs. 2361 is installed on the side wall 235 so that it can swing together with the swing shaft member 2361 around the central axis of the swing shaft member 2361.

This mounting portion 236 has a bottom portion 236b and rear wall portions 236c and 236d. The bottom portion 236b is for placing the cup C thereon. The rear wall portions 236c and 236d are provided as a left and right pair with respect to the bottom portion 236b and are spaced apart from each other. These rear wall portions 236c and 236d are provided so that the distance between them gradually increases toward the front.

In a normal state, the mounting section 236 is biased by a biasing means (not shown) or by its own weight, so as to be in an inclined position (a first state). As shown in FIG. 6, this placing portion 236 maintains the inclined posture even when a cup C dedicated to hot beverages is placed on the bottom portion 236b. That is, the placing portion 236 assumes an inclined posture when the inside of the placed cup C is empty.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 6, when a cup C exclusively for hot beverages is placed, the bottom portion 236b is in contact with the bottom surface of the cup C. Further, since the rear wall portions 236c and 236d are provided so that the distance between them gradually increases toward the front, each of the rear wall portions 236c and 236d is in contact with a portion of the outer circumferential wall portion of the cup C, as shown in FIG. Thereby, the mounting portion 236 can hold the cup C in a tilted position and in a state where rolling is restricted, that is, in a positioned state.

When such a mounting portion 236 is in an inclined position, a bottom portion 236b is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane G at an inclination angle α, as shown in FIG. That is, since the nozzle 232 discharges the beverage downward in the vertical direction, the placing portion 236 has an angle in which the central axis C1 of the cup C exclusively for hot beverages is tilted backward with respect to the discharge direction (vertical direction) H of the nozzle 232. It is tilted at α (20° to 45°). When the cup C is in a tilted position with such a tilt angle α, the beverage discharged from the nozzle 232 is allowed to come into contact with any arbitrary location on the inner circumferential wall of the cup C.

As shown in FIG. 9, such a placing part 236 has a cup C exclusively for cold drinks on the bottom part 236b, that is, a cup C having a weight of a predetermined size (for example, about 100 g; hereinafter also referred to as a predetermined value) or more. When the cup C is placed, the cup C assumes an upright position (second state) in which the central axis C1 is parallel to the discharge direction H (vertical direction) of the nozzle 232. In addition, as shown in FIG. 10, the placing unit 236 is configured such that as a result of the beverage being introduced from the nozzle 232 into the cup C dedicated to hot beverages, the weight of the cup C becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined value as the amount of input increases. In this case, the cup C is in an upright position in which the central axis C1 is parallel to the discharge direction H of the nozzle 232.

In other words, the placing part 236 is provided so as to be able to swing between a tilted position and an upright position, and is in the tilted position when the inside of the cup C is empty, but when the weight of the cup C exceeds a predetermined value. In this case, it is a standing posture. As shown in FIG. 4, etc., a damper member 2362 is linked to the left end portion of the swing shaft member 2361, so that the swing speed is reduced when swinging from the tilted position to the standing position. be.

As shown in FIG. 2, the beverage supply device includes a cup detection section 31, a posture detection section 32, a door opening/closing detection section 33, a door opening/closing locking mechanism 34, and a control section 40.

The cup detection unit 31 is composed of, for example, an optical sensor, and detects whether or not the cup C is placed in the beverage supply unit 23, that is, whether or not the cup C is placed on the placement unit 236. . The cup detection section 31 provides the detection result of the presence or absence of the cup C to the control section 40.

The posture detection section 32 detects whether the mounting section 236 is in a tilted posture or in an upright posture. To explain in more detail, the attitude detecting section 32 is constituted by, for example, an optical sensor, and is provided in the rear region of the mounting section 236 as shown in FIG. 5 and the like. Then, when the placement section 236 is in the inclined posture, the posture detection section 32 detects that the detected portion 236e of the placement section 236 is not interposed between the light emitting element 321 and the light receiving element 322, as shown in FIG. It is turned on and provides an attitude detection signal to the control section 40. On the other hand, when the mounting section 236 is in the upright position, the posture detection section 32 is turned off due to the presence of the detected section 236e between the light emitting element 321 and the light receiving element 322, as shown in FIG. This is to stop outputting the attitude detection signal to the control unit 40.

The door opening/closing detection section 33 is provided near the entrance 231 of the beverage supply section 23, and is composed of, for example, an optical sensor. The door opening/closing detection section 33 detects whether the entrance 231 is opened or closed by the opening/closing door 22, and more specifically, it detects whether the entrance 231 is closed, that is, whether the opening/closing door 22 is closed. be. The door opening/closing detection section 33 provides the control section 40 with a detection result as to whether or not the opening/closing door 22 is closed.

The door opening/closing locking mechanism 34 is provided near the entrance 231 of the beverage supply section 23. The door opening/closing lock mechanism 34 has two states: a locked state in which the opening/closing door 22 that closes the entrance 231 is held in a closed state and restricts the opening/closing door 22 from swinging forward; It is possible to selectively switch between a release state in which the lever is allowed to swing forward. Such switching of the door opening/closing locking mechanism 34 is performed according to a command given from the control section 40.

The control unit 40 is electrically connected to the above-mentioned beverage production unit 11, display unit 21, cup detection unit 31, posture detection unit 32, door opening/closing detection unit 33, and door opening/closing locking mechanism 34, and is also electrically connected to the door opening/closing locking mechanism 34. The operation of each of these parts is controlled in an integrated manner according to programs and data stored in a connected storage part 41, and a characteristic feature is a determination part 40a.

Note that the control unit 40 may be realized by causing a processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) to execute a program, that is, by software, or may be realized by hardware such as an IC (Integrated Circuit). Alternatively, it may be realized using a combination of software and hardware.

The determination unit 40a determines the type of cup C based on the presence or absence of a posture detection signal from the posture detection unit 32 in a cup determination process to be described later.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the contents of the beverage supply control process executed by the control unit 40 shown in FIG. The operation of the beverage supply device will be explained while explaining the contents of the beverage supply control process.

In this beverage supply control process, the control unit 40 determines whether the cup detection unit 31 detects that the cup C is placed on the placement unit 236 (step S101). That is, it is determined whether the cup C is detected to be in the beverage supply section 23 or not.

If it is detected that the cup C is present (step S101: Yes), the control unit 40 determines whether the opening/closing door 22 is closed based on the detection result of the door opening/closing detection unit 33 (step S102). ). If the opening/closing door 22 is not closed (step S102: No), the determination process of step S102 is repeated.

On the other hand, if the opening/closing door 22 is closed (step S102: Yes), the control unit 40 performs a cup determination process (step S103).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the contents of the cup determination process in FIG. 13. In this cup determination process, the control section 40 determines whether or not there is an input of a posture detection signal from the posture detection section 32 (step S103a).

If the posture detection signal is input (step S103a: Yes), the control unit 40 determines that the placed cup C is for hot drinks only (step S103b), and then returns the procedure. This process ends.

On the other hand, if the posture detection signal is not input (step S103a: No), the control unit 40 determines that the cup C placed thereon is for cold drinks only (step S103c), and then performs the procedure. Return and end the current process.

The control unit 40 that has performed the cup determination process in this way displays on the display unit 21 a beverage corresponding to the type of cup C determined in the cup determination process, that is, a beverage to be supplied (a hot cafe latte drink or an iced cafe latte drink). (beverage) and a guidance display that guides the user to touch the input section 21a on which a confirmation message is displayed (step S104).

After that, the control unit 40 determines whether the input unit 21a is touched (step S105). If the input unit 21a is not touched (step S105: No), the control unit 40 repeats the determination process of step S105. On the other hand, if the input unit 21a is touched (step S105: Yes), the control unit 40 locks the opening/closing door 22 in a closed state using the door opening/closing locking mechanism 34 (step S106), and Then, the process of generating and supplying the beverage to be supplied is performed (step S107).

After that, the control unit 40 determines whether or not the beverage supply by the beverage production unit 11 has ended (step S108). If the beverage supply has not been completed (step S108: No), the control unit 40 returns to step S107 and continues the beverage generation and supply process.

On the other hand, if the beverage supply has ended (step S108: Yes), the control unit 40 unlocks the closed door 22 by the door locking mechanism 34 (step S109), and then returns the procedure. This process ends.

As explained above, in the beverage supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the placing part 236 is provided so as to be swingable between the inclined position and the upright position, and the inside of the placed cup C is When the cup C becomes empty, the cup C assumes an inclined position as shown in FIG. The falling distance (discharge distance) L1 of the beverage discharged from the nozzle 232 can be reduced. Moreover, if the weight of cup C becomes more than a predetermined value due to an increase in the amount of beverage added to cup C, the drink will be placed in a standing position as shown in FIG. 15(b). The falling distance L2 of the beverage discharged from the nozzle 232 will not increase and become excessive due to the beverage discharged from the nozzle 232. As a result, it is possible to reduce the discharge distances L1 and L2 of the beverage discharged from the nozzle 232 and prevent them from increasing more than necessary, and even if the beverage contains a milk beverage, the liquid level of the beverage in cup C can suppress the formation of large bubbles. Thereby, according to the above-mentioned beverage supply device, deterioration in the quality of the beverage in cup C can be suppressed.

According to the above-mentioned beverage supply device, when the inside of the cup C is empty, the cup C is tilted so that the central axis C1 of the cup C is tilted with respect to the discharge direction H of the nozzle 232. The placing part 236 is placed in a position in which the cup C is positioned because the bottom part 236b is in contact with the bottom surface of the cup C, and the respective rear wall parts 236c and 236d are in contact with a part of the outer peripheral wall of the cup C. can be retained. Thereby, the detection area of the cup C by the cup detection section 31 can be made narrower, and manufacturing costs can be reduced.

According to the above-mentioned beverage supply device, the placing part 236 is provided so as to be swingable between the inclined position and the upright position, and when the inside of the placed cup C becomes empty, the placed part 236 is placed in the inclined position. If the weight of the placed cup C is equal to or greater than a predetermined size, the cup C assumes a standing posture, and the posture detecting section 32 detects that the placing section 236 is in either a tilted posture or a standing posture. However, when the posture detecting section 32 detects that the placing section 236 is in the tilted posture, the determining section 40a determines that the cup C does not contain ice; If it is detected that the placing unit 236 is in the upright position, the type of the cup C is determined by determining that ice is placed in the cup C. The type of cup C can be determined satisfactorily without being affected by the surface condition and without requiring expensive imaging means such as a camera.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Apparatus main body, 10... Main body cabinet, 11... Beverage production part, 20... Front door, 21... Display part, 22... Opening/closing door, 23... Beverage supply part, 231... Inlet, 232... Nozzle, 233... Stage, 234 ...Rear wall, 235...Side wall, 236...Placement part, 236b...Bottom part, 236c, 236d...Rear wall part, 236e...Detected part, 31...Cup detection part, 32...Position detection part, 33...Door opening/closing detection part , 34... Door opening/closing locking mechanism, 40... Control section, 40a... Judgment section, 41... Storage section, C... Cup.

Claims (1)

A beverage supply device that supplies a beverage produced in a beverage generation section to a bottomed cylindrical cup disposed in a beverage supply section by discharging it downward from a nozzle constituting the beverage supply section. ,
The beverage supply unit includes a placement unit that places the cup in an inclined position such that the central axis of the cup is inclined with respect to the discharge direction of the nozzle, at least when the inside of the cup is empty. Prepare,
The aforementioned placement section is
a bottom portion in contact with the bottom surface of the cup;
a rear wall portion that is provided on the bottom portion in a pair of left and right pairs such that the mutual distance gradually increases toward the front, and that is in contact with a part of the outer peripheral wall portion of the cup;
The beverage dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein the rear wall portions are provided in the bottom portion so as to be spaced apart from each other by forming notches therebetween.

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