JPH0785363A - Cup type automatic beverage vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a cup type automatic beverage vending machine of high vending efficiency which has regular coffee, red tea (leaf tea), etc., as vending objects and efficiently presents a thick and tasty beverage to customer in a short venging time. CONSTITUTION:With respect to the cup type automatic beverage vending machine which is internally provided with a material box (coffee beans) 1, a coffee mill 2, a coffee extracting mechanism 3, and a hot water tank 4 and supplies regular coffee, which is made by throwing powdery materials milled by the coffee mill 2 and hot water into the coffee extracting mechanism 3, to a cup 9 placed on a vend stage 8 to vend it, a coffee reservoir 14 with a heater where plural cups of coffee are stored is connected to the succeeding stage of the coffee extracting mechanism 3, and coffee extracted and made any time by the extracting mechanism 3 is stored in the reservoir 14 during wait for vending, and a fixed quantity of coffee is fed from the coffee reservoir 14 and is supplied to the cup at each time of vending, and the beverage is presented to customer in a short time without waiting time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cup-type beverage vending machine for manufacturing and selling regular coffee, tea (leaf tea), etc., equipped with a raw material box, a beverage extraction mechanism and a hot water tank in the machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, an example of a regular coffee vending machine is shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a raw material box that stores roasted coffee beans by brand (Mocha, Blue Mountain, etc.), 2 is a coffee mill, 3 is a coffee extraction mechanism called brewer, 4 is a hot water tank, 5 is sugar,
A powder raw material box containing milk, instant coffee, etc., 6 is a mixing bowl, 7 is a cup supply mechanism, 8 is a bend stage, 9 is a cup, and is between the hot water tank 4 and the coffee extraction mechanism 3 and the mixing bowl 6. Is the hot water supply pipe 10 drawn from the hot water tank via the hot water supply valves V1 and V2,
11 is provided, and beverage supply pipes 12 and 13 are provided between the coffee brewing mechanism 3 and the mixing bowl 6, and between the mixing bowl 6 and the bend stage 8, respectively. The hot water supply pipe 11 is used when a powder raw material such as instant coffee is supplied to the mixing bowl 6 to manufacture and sell a beverage.

The operation of manufacturing and selling regular coffee with such a configuration is well known. When a sales instruction is given, first, the cup 9 is carried out from the cup supply mechanism 7 to the bend stage 8 and the selected brand is selected. A cup of coffee beans is discharged from the raw material box 1 to the coffee mill 2, ground into powder, and then introduced into the coffee extraction mechanism 3. At the same time, a certain amount of hot water is supplied to the coffee extraction mechanism 3 from the hot water tank 4 through the valve V1 and the hot water supply pipe 10.
The coffee extracted and produced by the extraction mechanism is the beverage supply pipe 1
It is spit out to the mixing bowl 6 through 2. Then, in the mixing bowl 6, the sugar, milk and the like added from the powder raw material box 5 and coffee are stirred and then supplied through the beverage supply pipe 13 to the cup 9 waiting on the bend stage 8.

When manufacturing and selling black tea (leaf tea), a black tea extraction mechanism is used to extract black tea, as is the case with regular coffee.

[0005]

By the way, as described above, the coffee mill and the coffee extraction mechanism are equipped in the machine, and the regular coffee is manufactured and sold one by one through the crushing of the coffee beans and the coffee extraction process for each sale. In the system, the raw material is stored in the state of beans, which has a long shelf life, but at least 30 seconds or more is required to sell a cup of coffee. For this reason, not only the waiting time of a customer becomes long when continuous sales are made or when the next customer is waiting, but also the sales efficiency as an automatic vending machine becomes low.

Therefore, conventionally, in order to shorten the sales time, coffee beans are roughly ground with a mill, and compressed air is blown into the coffee extraction mechanism to forcefully agitate the raw materials so as to shorten the coffee production time as much as possible. I have to. However, if the coffee is roughly ground or the raw materials are agitated during coffee extraction, the coffee production time can be shortened, but the extraction concentration will be lower than coffee extracted for a sufficient time, and it will be rich and tasty. I can't get coffee.

Further, in the conventional regular coffee vending machine, since the type of coffee is limited to the type of coffee beans stored in the raw material box according to the brand, it is not possible to sell blended coffee in which different brands of coffee are mixed. I can't respond immediately. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is possible to efficiently provide a rich and delicious beverage to customers in a short sales time for regular coffee, tea (leaf tea), etc., and also to sell Brent coffee. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cup-type beverage vending machine with high sales efficiency that can be easily handled.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the cup-type beverage vending machine of the present invention has a beverage reservoir connected to the latter stage of the beverage extraction mechanism and is waiting for sale of the beverage extracted by the extraction mechanism. It is configured such that it is stored in the reservoir, and a fixed amount of beverage is delivered from the beverage reservoir and supplied to the cup for each sale.

Further, the beverage reservoir having the above construction can be implemented in the following manner. (1) A plurality of beverage reservoirs are provided corresponding to the types of raw materials. (2) The beverage reservoir is provided with a heater for keeping the beverage warm. (3) A drainage pipeline is connected to the beverage reservoir so that the beverage stored in the reservoir is discarded through the drainage pipeline when a certain period of time elapses while the beverage is stored.

(4) The beverage reservoir is connected to the drainage pipe and the hot water supply pipe drawn from the hot water tank, and when a certain time has elapsed while the beverage is stored, the beverage stored in the reservoir is discarded through the drainage pipe. , Furthermore, hot water is poured into the reservoir for cleaning. (5) In addition, in order to support the sale of blended beverages,
Beverages sent from multiple reservoirs among the beverage reservoirs are blended and supplied to the cup based on the sales order.

[0011]

In the above structure, instead of supplying a cup of raw material to the beverage extraction mechanism to produce a beverage for each sale, the beverage produced at any time is transferred to the reservoir by utilizing the standby time for sale, etc. Keep it warm and keep it warm. Then, when a sales instruction is given, a fixed amount of beverage is sent out from the beverage reservoir and supplied to the cup. In other words, the sales time from the coin insertion to the beverage supply to the cup does not include the processing time of crushing and extracting the raw material (coffee beans), so it is almost the same as the sales time of instant coffee, etc. Beverages can be provided to customers. Further, by continuously storing a plurality of cups of beverage in the beverage reservoir, continuous sales can be handled with almost no waiting time. In particular, the production of the beverage is not limited in connection with the operation of selling the beverage, and it is possible to extract the raw material for a sufficient time, whereby a high-concentration extraction is achieved.

Further, a plurality of beverage reservoirs are provided to store different brands of beverages (regular coffee), and the beverages delivered from the plurality of reservoirs at a predetermined ratio at the time of sale are blended and supplied to a cup. This makes it easy to deal with sales of blended regular coffee. On the other hand, if the sales standby time from when the beverage extracted by the extraction mechanism is transferred to the reservoir to when it is actually sold becomes long, the quality of the beverage stored in the reservoir may deteriorate. After a certain period of time has passed, the beverage is drained from the beverage reservoir, washed, and then replenished with a newly-produced beverage, so that quality deterioration of the sold beverage can be eliminated and proper sanitary management can be performed.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings by taking a regular coffee vending machine as an example. In the drawings of each embodiment, the same parts corresponding to those in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals. Example 1 In FIG. 1, the beverage system is basically the same as that in FIG. 4, but the coffee extraction mechanism 3 and the mixing bowl 6 are used.
According to the present invention, a coffee reservoir 14 is newly provided in the middle of the beverage supply pipe 12 provided between The coffee reservoir 14 has a capacity for storing a plurality of cups of beverage, and is additionally provided with a heater 14a for keeping the beverage warm and a liquid amount sensor (for example, an ultrasonic level gauge) 14b. In addition, a drainage pipe 16 leading to a drainage container 15 and a hot water supply pipe 17 for cleaning are piped between the coffee reservoir 14 and the hot water tank 4, and each pipe has a valve V.
3, V4, V5 are connected.

With such a configuration, the coffee extracted by the coffee extraction mechanism 3 is transferred to the coffee reservoir 14 at any time by using the sales standby time or the like regardless of whether or not there is a sales instruction, and a fixed amount of the coffee is stored and stored by the heater 14a. Keep it at a suitable temperature for sale. Then, when a sales command is given from this state, the outlet valve V3 of the reservoir 14 is opened to send out a cup of coffee, and the coffee is supplied to the cup 9 waiting on the bend stage 8 via the mixing bowl 6.
In this case, the reservoir 14 detects the stored amount of coffee with the liquid amount sensor 14b, and if the opening time of the outlet valve V3 is controlled very finely based on the detection signal of this liquid amount sensor,
By compensating for the difference in the liquid level height in the reservoir (the water head pressure of the reservoir is proportional to the liquid level height), it is possible to accurately deliver the drink supply amount for one cup. Further, when the amount of beverage stored in the reservoir 14 decreases due to the selling operation, new coffee is produced and replenished in the reservoir 14 each time based on the detection signal of the liquid volume sensor. . It should be noted that these series of controls are performed by a command from a control unit (computer control) not shown.

On the other hand, when the coffee produced by the coffee brewing mechanism 3 and sent to the reservoir 14 is not sold but is stored for a long time as it is, the reservoir 14 is controlled by a timer control in the control unit when a predetermined time elapses. Open the outlet valve V5 of the machine and drain the coffee stored in the reservoir 1
The water is discarded in the drainage container 15 through 6, and then the hot water supply valve V4 of the hot water tank 4 is opened, and hot water is poured into the reservoir 14 through the hot water supply pipe 17 for cleaning. And drainage,
When the washing is completed, the valves V4 and V5 are closed, and new coffee is produced and replenished in the reservoir 14.

It should be noted that the flow chart of the above-mentioned coffee manufacturing and selling operations, and regular drainage and washing operations is as shown in FIG. Example 2: FIG. 3 shows a plurality of raw material boxes 1-1, 1-2, which store coffee beans classified by brand as a raw material box 1 of coffee beans.
It is an application example of the first embodiment corresponding to the case of including 1-3. In this embodiment, the raw material box 1-
Corresponding to 1, 1-2, 1-3 individually, three coffee reservoirs 14-1, 14-2 are provided in the middle of the beverage supply pipe 12 connected between the coffee extraction mechanism 3 and the mixing bowl 6. , 14-3 are connected in a branched manner, and the inlet valve V6-1,
It is equipped with V6-2, V6-3 and outlet valves V3-1, V3-2, V3-3. Although not shown, a drain pipe and a hot water supply pipe for cleaning are connected to each of the reservoirs in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

With the above construction, the coffee produced from the coffee beans in the raw material box 1-1 is stored in the reservoir 14-1 by opening the inlet valve V6-1, and similarly, the coffee in the raw material boxes 1-2 and 1-3 is stored. The coffee made from beans is divided into reservoirs 14-2 and 14-3 and stored in a fixed amount. Then, when a sales command is given, the outlet valve of the reservoir corresponding to the selection signal is opened to send out a cup of coffee, and the coffee is supplied to the brewing cup 9 via the mixing bowl 6. Further, when the amount of coffee stored in the reservoir decreases as the coffee is sold, based on the detection signal of the liquid amount sensor 14b, coffee beans are carried out from the raw material box corresponding to the reservoir at any time, and the produced coffee is replenished in the reservoir. To do.

Further, as described above, by separately storing coffee manufactured from different brands of coffee beans in the reservoir, it is possible to easily deal with the sale of blended coffee as described below. In other words, the control unit sets a blended coffee program that combines different brands of coffee in advance, and when the blended coffee is selected at the time of sale, the control unit issues a command to send the coffee from a designated reservoir at a predetermined ratio and blend it. Supply and sell coffee in cups.

[0019]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a beverage is extracted from a regular coffee, black tea (leaf tea), etc., which is installed in the machine by a beverage extraction mechanism, and a mill (only for coffee). Targeting a cup-type beverage vending machine that extracts, manufactures, and sells beverages, the sales time from coin insertion until the beverage is supplied to the cup is manufactured and sold for each drink as before. It can be drastically shortened compared to the one served and the beverage can be provided to customers efficiently. Specifically, it takes about 30 seconds to manufacture and sell one cup of regular coffee according to the conventional selling method, but according to the present invention, the selling time is 10 seconds. It has been confirmed that it can be shortened to some extent. Also,
Continuous production can be supported by always manufacturing and storing multiple drinks in the beverage reservoir. Moreover, since the production of beverages can be performed at any time without being restricted in relation to the sales operation, it is possible to extract the raw materials for a sufficient time, which enables high-concentration extraction of beverages to be achieved. it can.

Further, by providing a plurality of beverage reservoirs and storing beverages (regular coffee) for each brand, it is possible to easily sell blended coffee in which a plurality of types of brands are combined. Can deal with Furthermore, by adding a function to the beverage reservoir to discard and wash the beverage from the reservoir when the stored state of the beverage has passed a certain time, it is possible to maintain the quality of the beverage to be sold and properly manage hygiene. Can be planned.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a beverage system diagram of a cup-type beverage vending machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention which sells regular coffee.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow chart of the manufacturing and sales of the beverage according to FIG. 1, and the drainage and cleaning operation of the beverage reservoir.

FIG. 3 is a beverage system diagram of a cup-type beverage vending machine according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Fig. 4] Beverage system diagram of a conventional regular coffee vending machine

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Raw material box (coffee beans) 2 Coffee mill 3 Coffee extraction mechanism 4 Hot water tank 6 Mixing bowl 8 Bend stage 9 Cup 14 Coffee reservoir 14a Heat retention heater 14b Liquid level sensor 15 Drainage container 16 Drain pipe 17 Washing hot water supply pipe

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A cup provided with a raw material box, a beverage extraction mechanism, and a hot water tank, and a hot beverage produced by pouring powder raw material and hot water into the beverage extraction mechanism is supplied to a cup placed on a bend stage for sale. In a beverage automatic vending machine, a beverage reservoir is connected to the latter stage of the beverage extraction mechanism, the beverage extracted by the extraction mechanism is stored in the reservoir while waiting for sale, and a fixed amount of beverage is sent from the beverage reservoir for each sale. A cup-type beverage vending machine characterized by being supplied to a cup. 2. A cup-type beverage vending machine according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of beverage reservoirs are provided corresponding to the types of raw materials. 3. The cup-type beverage vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the beverage reservoir is provided with a heater for keeping the beverage warm. 4. The cup-type beverage vending machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a drain pipe is connected to the beverage reservoir, and the beverage stored in the reservoir is drained when a certain period of time elapses while the beverage is stored. A cup-type beverage vending machine characterized by being disposed of through the street. 5. The cup-type beverage vending machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the beverage reservoir is connected to a drainage pipe and a hot water supply pipe drawn from a hot water tank, and a certain period of time has elapsed while the beverage was stored. At this time, the beverage stored in the reservoir is discarded through the drainage pipe, and hot water is further poured into the reservoir to wash the cup-type beverage vending machine. 6. The cup-type beverage vending machine according to claim 2, wherein beverages sent from a plurality of reservoirs among the beverage reservoirs are blended and supplied to the cup based on a sales instruction. A cup-type beverage vending machine that does.