JPS61195486A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention supplies coffee raw materials from a coffee raw material supply mechanism and hot water from a hot water supply mechanism to an extraction mechanism to obtain coffee,
This invention relates to a vending machine that sells coffee in cups.

[Technical Background of the Invention II] Conventionally, in this type of vending device, the extraction mechanism is composed of a puller, a cylinder, and a filter interposed between them.
A known brewer is one in which a predetermined amount of coffee raw material and a predetermined amount of mist are supplied to a puller, and a piston within the cylinder is moved up and down, thereby sucking and extracting coffee into the cylinder through a filter. However, this method had the problem that extraction took too long because the piston reciprocated. For this reason, recently, the extraction mechanism has been constructed with only a cylinder, and hot water is supplied into the cylinder by a hot water pump.First, a predetermined amount of hot water is placed between the piston inside the cylinder and the filter installed at the tip of the cylinder. The coffee raw material is supplied, and in this state, the piston is moved downward to compress the coffee raw material, and at the same time, the hot water supply pump operates to supply a certain amount of water contained in the tank under pressure into the cylinder. A device that extracts coffee in a short time has been developed.

[Problems with the background art] However, even in the vending machine using the coffee brewing mechanism as described above, there are still problems to be improved as described below. That is, the concentration of coffee extracted from the coffee extraction port of the coffee extraction mechanism generally exhibits characteristics as shown in FIG.

In Fig. M7, the vertical axis represents the coffee concentration, and the horizontal axis represents the elapsed time t after the hot water pump is started and coffee starts to be extracted from the coffee extraction port of the extraction mechanism. Note that the amount of coffee extracted per unit time is a constant value determined by the hot water supply capacity of the hot water pump. Therefore, by driving the hot water pump for a predetermined period of time To, one cup of coffee is extracted. Further, as shown in the figure, the coffee concentration reaches its maximum value at a very short time (t-tl) after the extraction start time, and then rapidly decreases. Then, near the time point (t-t2) at which the hot water supply period To has elapsed during which one cup of coffee is extracted, the coffee concentration has a very small value.

Therefore, during the last period of the hot water supply period To during which coffee is being extracted into the cup set in the vending spout, the cup is supplied with very low concentration coffee that is similar to hot water.

On the other hand, as for a vending machine, the shorter the sales time for one customer, the less the customer's waiting time is, the better the service to the customer, and the more coffee the vending machine can sell per unit time. Therefore, it is desired that the coffee brewing time per cup (hot water supply period Ta) be further shortened.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention was devised to solve such problems, and its purpose is to provide an additive hot water supply device that directly supplies hot water to a cup without passing it through a separate coffee extraction mechanism. To provide a vending device that can shorten coffee extraction time without substantially reducing coffee concentration, shorten sales time per cup of coffee, improve service to customers, and improve sales efficiency. be.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention provides a vending machine equipped with a coffee extraction mechanism in which coffee raw materials and hot water are supplied from a coffee raw material supply mechanism and a hot water supply mechanism having a hot water supply pump, respectively, in which hot water is passed through the extraction mechanism. A predetermined amount of hot water is supplied from the main soaking supply mechanism out of the total amount of hot water supplied to the cup through the extraction mechanism, and the remaining amount of hot water is supplied as added hot water. It is supplied from the mechanism.

[Embodiments of the invention] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is an external view, in which 1 is a signboard advertising goods for sale, 2 is an on-sale indicator lamp that indicates the sale status, 3 is an operation,
4 is an out-of-change indicator lamp that indicates the state of out-of-change change; 5 is a digital display that displays the amount of money inserted; 6 is a money slot for the coin mechanism; It is a return lever. 8 is cafe au lait, instant coffee with sugar and cream, American coffee, regular A coffee, regular C coffee, regular C coffee, special coffee, instant coffee with sugar, American coffee, regular A coffee, Recu 5-8 coffee, Selection switch group for selecting a total of 14 items: regular C coffee, special coffee, and cocoa. 9 specifies increase in hot water, decrease in hot water, increase in sugar, 11 decrease in sugar, no sugar, increase in cream, and decrease in cream as necessary. 7 function switch groups, 10 is money return slot,
Reference numeral 11 is a sales opening into which a cup is set.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of each part housed in the housing, in which 12 is a water inlet joint connected to a water outlet, 13
14 is a water strainer, 14 is a water filter, 15 is a water supply solenoid valve, 16 is a system tank, and 17 is a water heating tank. Water is supplied from the water outlet to the lower part of the water heating tank 17 via the water strainer 13, water filter 14, water supply solenoid valve 15, and system tank 16 in this order. The system tank 16 is provided with a float 18 and a water level switch 19, and the water boiling tank 1 is maintained at a constant water level at all times.
The water level of 7 is kept constant.

An upper heater 20 and a lower heater 21 are provided in the water boiling tank 17. Also, on the outer wall of the central part of the water boiling tank 17, there is a hot water supply solenoid valve 22 for instant coffee.
, a hot water supply solenoid valve 23 for cocoa, a hot water supply solenoid valve 24 for regular coffee, and a first temperature sensor 25 are provided. In addition, a limiter 26 is installed at the top of the water boiling tank 17.
, a steam vent pipe 27 is provided, and a second concentration sensor 28 and a temperature fuse 2 are installed in the middle of the steam vent pipe 21.
9 is provided. Further, a limiter 30 and a third temperature sensor 31 are provided on the lower outer wall of the water heating tank 17, and a fourth temperature sensor 32 is provided on the upper outer wall.

The regular coffee hot water supply electromagnetic valve 24 supplies hot water in the water boiling tank 17 to the measuring tank 33.

A float 34 is housed in the metering tank 33, and the hot water in the metering tank 33 is supplied through a check valve 36 into a cylinder 37 that constitutes a coffee extraction mechanism by the operation of a procon pump 35 serving as a hot water supply pump. The configuration is such that A piston 38 that moves up and down is provided in the cylinder 37, and the hot water supplied by the procon pump 35 passes through the piston 38 to the cylinder 37.
supplied within.

39.40141 are a regular C coffee canister, a regular C coffee canister, and a regular C coffee canister, which constitute the coffee raw material supply mechanism, respectively. Further, 42 is an instant coffee canister, 43 is a cream canister, 44 is a sugar canister, and 45 is a cocoa canister. A raw material discharge motor is housed in each of these canisters 39 to 45, and each raw material is discharged by the operation of the motor.The amount of raw material discharged at this time is approximately equal to the operating time of the motor. When the piston 38 rises, the coffee raw material discharged from the regular coffee canisters 39 to 41 passes through a chute (not shown) in the cylinder 37 between the piston 38 and the filter 46. The filter 46 is wound from the supply roll 47 side through the lower part of the cylinder 37 to the take-up roll 48 side.

Coffee obtained through a filter 46 located at the bottom of the cylinder 37 is supplied into a mixing bowl 50 through a pipe 49. Raw materials discharged from the instant coffee canister 42, cream canister 43, and sugar canister 44 are directly supplied to the mixing bowl 50 via a shooter 51. The mixing bowl 50 also includes the instant coffee hot water solenoid valve 22 and a pipe 52.
Hot water from the water boiling tank 17 is supplied through the water heater tank 17. Coffee mixed with sugar and cream in the mixing bowl 50 is supplied to a cup 53 set in the outlet 11.

The cocoa raw material discharged from the cocoa canister 45 is supplied to the blender funnel 54. Further, hot water from the water boiling tank 17 is supplied to the blender fume 7 channel 54 via the cocoa hot water supply electromagnetic valve 23 and the pipe 55. The mixture of cocoa raw material and hot water in the blender 7 channel 54 is stirred by a motor 57 in the blender housing 56 and supplied to the cup 53.

A drainage bucket 58 is provided below the sales outlet 11! is,
The liquid leaking into the sales port 11 is stored.

The amount of liquid accumulated in the drain bucket 58 is detected by a drain switch 59. A bucket 60 for storing coffee grounds is installed below the take-up roll 48.

A fifth temperature sensor 61 is provided at the outlet of the procon pump 35, and a sixth temperature sensor 62 is provided near the check valve 36.

In addition, the regular coffee hot water supply solenoid valve 24° metering tank 33. Procon pump 35. A hot water supply mechanism for supplying hot water to the coffee brewing mechanism includes a check valve 36 and the like, and a hot water solenoid valve 22 for instant coffee and a pipe 52 supply hot water in the water boiling tank 17 to the direct sales outlet 11 via the mixing bowl 50. This constitutes an additional hot water supply mechanism that supplies hot water to the cup 53 set in the cup 53.

FIG. 3 shows the circuit configuration, in which an earth leakage breaker 72 is connected to a plug 71 connected to a commercial AC power source, and the earth leakage breaker 7
2, the output terminal of the first solid state relay 13 is connected to the limiter 26 and the upper heater 20 in series, and the output terminal of the second solid state relay 74 is connected to the limiter 30 and the lower heater 21 in series. Connected. In addition, a power switch 75 is connected to the earth leakage breaker 72.
A control circuit 76 is connected thereto, and a series circuit of the water supply solenoid valve 15, water level switch 19, and drain switch 59 is also connected thereto.

The control circuit 76 includes the selection switch group 8,
A plurality of display lamps 77 and a function switch group 9 are incorporated into each switch of the function switch group 9 and the selection switch group 8, respectively.
A plurality of indicator lamps 78, the on-sale indicator lamp 2, and the process indicator lamp 3 incorporated in each switch are connected to each switch. In addition, the control circuit 7
6 is a water outage detection switch, a paper feed detection switch,
Various detection switches 79 such as a pump float detection switch, a cup out detection switch, and a door switch are connected, and the temperature sensors 25, 28, 31, and 3 are connected to each other.
2.61.62 are connected. In addition, the control circuit 76
The above-mentioned procon pump 35, each hot water supply solenoid valve 22, 23
．． 24, motor 51 and instant coffee raw material discharge motor 80, cocoa raw material discharge motor 81, regular C coffee raw material discharge motor 82, regular C coffee raw material discharge motor 83, regular C coffee raw material discharge motor 84, cream raw material discharge A motor 85 for discharging sugar raw material, a motor 86 for discharging raw sugar raw material, and the like are connected, and a coin mechanism 87 is also connected.

The control circuit 76 also includes the solid state relay 7.
3.74 input terminals are connected, and a start switch 88 and a reset switch 89 are also connected. Further, connected to the 111111 circuit 7B are a keyboard 90 having function keys such as a numeric keypad, an input key 1 erase key, and an operation key, a code display 91, a data display 92, a cassette interface 93, and various counters 94. The start switch 88, reset switch 89, keyboard 90, code display 9
1. The data display 92 is used when setting codes and data in the RAM, which will be described later. Further, the cassette interface 93 is a terminal for connecting a cassette tape, and by connecting the cassette tape here, it becomes possible to input/output programs and programs and output data. Further, various counters 94 are used to count the number of sales for each item and to count the total number of sales.

The control circuit 76' includes a CPU (central processing unit) 101 and a ROM (read-only) as shown in FIG.
Memory) 102, RAM (Random access
Memory) 103, an oscillator 104, an interface circuit 105, a stabilized power supply 106, etc., and the CPU 101, ROM 102, and RAM 103
and an interface circuit 105 are connected via a pass line. The CPU 101 controls each section using the clock from the clock oscillator 104 as a timing base. The stabilized power supply 106 stabilizes the AC power from the commercial AC power supply 107 into DC power and supplies it to each part. The interface circuit 105
includes the coin mechanism 87 and each of the motors 57.80 to 8.
6 and other various motors 108, each of the above-mentioned solenoid valves 15.22~
24 and other various solenoid valves 109, the solid state relay 13.74, the various indicator lamps 110 such as the lamps 2.3.77.78, the selection switch group 8, the function switch group 9, and the various detection switches 79. , each temperature sensor 25.28.31.3
Various temperature sensors 111 and the like of 2.61.62 are connected.

As shown in FIG. 5, the RAM 103 stores the standard amount of raw materials, standard amount of sugar, and standard amount of cream to be released at one time for each sales item. , Ii, and the amount of added hot water B when hot water is directly supplied to the cup 53 without passing through the coffee brewing mechanism. A hot water amount memory 113 that temporarily stores the standard hot water amount A read out from the data memory 112 of the sales item selected by the selection switch group 8 after a coin is inserted. Added amount memory 114 for temporarily storing the added hot water amount B of the sales item also selected. An actual amount memory 115 for temporarily storing the actual amount C of hot water actually supplied to the coffee extraction mechanism is formed.

Note that the standard amount of raw materials, standard amount of sugar, and standard amount of cream set in the data memory 112 are raw materials, standard amounts of cream, respectively.
The driving time of each raw material discharge motor 80 to 86 of each canister 39 to 45 that stores sugar and cream is stored, and the standard 11 mA is the opening time of the hot water supply solenoid valve 24 for regular coffee, and the amount of added hot water B is for instant coffee. The open time of the hot water supply solenoid valve 22 is stored respectively.

When selling regular coffee, the CPU 101 specifically performs the processing shown in FIG. 6 based on the program data in the ROM 102.

That is, when a predetermined amount of coins is inserted into the coin mechanism 87 and the selection switch 8 is operated while the on-sale display lamp 2 is lit (in this case, if the function switch 9 is operated in advance, the hot water is turned off). ), the coin mechanism 87 is controlled to accept coins, return change, etc. Next, the standard amounts of raw materials, sugar, and cream of each data of the sales item selected with the selection switch 8 are stored in RAM 1.
03 data memory 112. The drive circuits for the raw material discharge motors 80 to 84 for the canisters 39 to 42 and 45 of the corresponding types of raw materials, and the raw material discharge motors 86 for the sugar and cream canisters 44 and 43, respectively.
The above-mentioned drive time corresponding to the above-mentioned standard amount is set in each of the drive circuits of .85°. Next, the standard amount IA of the corresponding item is read from the data memory 112 and temporarily stored in the hot water amount memory 113.

Next, it is checked at Pl whether or not the added hot water amount B is set in the added hot water amount storage area for the corresponding item. If the added hot water amount B is set, it is determined that the sales item selected by the selection switch 8 is regular coffee A to C, and the added hot water amount B is read and stored in the added amount memory 114. do. Then, the added hot water amount B in the added amount memory 114 is subtracted from the standard hot water amount A in the hot water amount memory 113 to obtain the actual hot water amount C to be supplied to the coffee extraction mechanism, and the result is stored in the actual hot water amount memory 115. Note that if addition 11B is not set in the area for storing the amount of added hot water in Pl, it is determined that the selected sales item is other than regular coffee, and the standard hot water amount A in the hot water amount memory 113 is stored in the actual hot water amount memory 1.
15.

When the actual amount of hot water has been stored in the memory 115, the cup 53
After supplying the raw material to the sales port 11, the raw material discharge motor of each canister is driven to dispense a standard amount of raw material.

Release sugar and cream. If the selling item is regular coffee, a standard amount of coffee raw material is supplied from the corresponding canisters 39 to 41 into the cylinder 37 of the coffee extraction mechanism. When the supply of regular coffee raw materials is completed, the regular coffee hot water supply solenoid valve 24 is opened for a time corresponding to the actual hot water amount C in the actual hot water amount memory 115. At the same time, the instant coffee hot water supply solenoid valve 22 is opened for a time corresponding to the amount of added hot water B in the added hot water amount memory 114.

When the regular coffee hot water supply solenoid valve 24 is opened,
Hot water is supplied to the metering tank 33, the procon pump 35 is activated, and hot water is supplied through the check valve 36 into the cylinder 37 of the coffee extraction mechanism. Then, the piston 38 is driven downward, and coffee is extracted through the filter 52 and supplied to the mixing bowl 50 through the vial 9. Incidentally, the time change in the concentration of coffee extracted from the coffee extraction mechanism follows the concentration characteristic shown in FIG. 7 described above. In addition, instant coffee hot water solenoid valve 22
When opened, hot water is supplied to the mixing bowl 50 via the vibrator 52. Thus, sugar is supplied from canisters 44 and 43 to this mixing bowl 50.

Cream, added hot water with a hot water amount B supplied from the hot water supply electromagnetic valve 22 for instant coffee, and coffee with an approximate actual hot water amount C supplied from the coffee extraction mechanism are stirred and discharged into a cup 53 set in the vending spout 11. be done.

In the vending machine configured as described above, the amount of hot water B added to the standard amount of hot water A for the regular coffees A to C in the data memory 112 in FIG. -B), that is, the hot water supply period shown in FIG. 7 is set so that it is a hot water supply period T1 that sufficiently covers the section where the coffee concentration is high.

In this case, the supply of hot water to the coffee extraction mechanism is stopped when the hot water supply period T1 has elapsed (1-ts) after the start of supply of hot water. Then, the insufficient amount of hot water B obtained by subtracting the actual hot water supply period T1 from the standard hot water supply period To is supplied from the instant coffee hot water supply solenoid valve 22 during the actual hot water supply period T1. Therefore, the cup 53 is supplied with a standard amount of coffee. As a result, the coffee extraction period is (T
o −TI > will be shortened.

Note that in FIG. 7, hot water is supplied from time t3 to coffee with a concentration corresponding to time t2, but since the coffee concentration of the coffee extracted during this period is extremely low as described above, hot water is Even if it is replaced with , the concentration of the entire coffee supplied to the cup 53 hardly decreases.

In this way, the coffee extraction time can be shortened without almost reducing the coffee concentration, so the sales time for one customer can be shortened and the customer will not have to wait for a long time. Also,
Sales efficiency can be improved.

In addition, in the embodiment, the conventional instant coffee heating solenoid valve 22 and pipe 52 are used as the additive hot water supply mechanism, so the mechanical structure is more complicated than that of a conventional vending machine. There's nothing to do.

In addition, when installing this vending machine in a place where customers do not use it frequently, set the value of added hot water amount B set in the data memory 112 in FIG. 5 to a small value, and set it in a place where customers use it frequently. In this case, the amount of added hot water B may be set to a large value within a range that does not significantly reduce the coffee concentration in the entire cup.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, there is provided an additional hot water supply device that separately supplies hot water directly to the cup without passing it through the coffee extraction mechanism. Therefore, the coffee extraction time can be shortened without almost reducing the coffee concentration, and the coffee 1
The sales time per cup can be shortened, customer service can be improved, and sales efficiency can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figures show a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is an external view, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the internal configuration, Fig. 3 is a circuit configuration diagram, and Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the internal configuration. 3 is a block diagram showing the main part configuration of the control circuit, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the main memory configuration of the RAM, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing regular coffee sales control processing by the CPU, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the coffee concentration control process. It is a characteristic diagram. 8...Selection switch, 9...Function switch, 11...Sales outlet, 17...Kettle tank, 20...Upper heater, 21...Lower heater, 22...
...Hot water supply solenoid valve for instant coffee, 24...Hot water supply solenoid valve for regular coffee, 35...Procon pump (hot water pump), 37...Cylinder, 38...
Piston, 39.40.41...Canister for regular coffee, 46...Filter, 53...Cup, 76...Control circuit, 82.83.84...Motor for discharging regular coffee raw materials , 87... coin mechanism, 101 ・CPU (central processing unit), 102...
ROM (read only memory), 103...
RAM (Random Access Memory), 112...
・Data memory, 113... Hot water amount memory, 114...
-Additional amount memory, 115...Actual hot water amount memory. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 7 Tomoma 1 ((Kyokai H Chikinari amount)

Claims (1)

[Claims] By inserting a predetermined amount of money into the coin mechanism and operating a switch, a predetermined coffee raw material supply mechanism is operated for a predetermined time based on preset data to supply coffee raw materials to the coffee extraction mechanism, and the main hot water having hot water supply hops is supplied. In a vending machine, a supply mechanism is operated for a predetermined time based on preset data to supply hot water to the extraction mechanism, and coffee extracted from the extraction mechanism is supplied to a cup set in a vending spout. an additive hot water supply mechanism that directly supplies hot water to the cup without passing through the extraction mechanism; and a predetermined constant amount of hot water out of the total amount of hot water supplied to the cup from the main hot water supply mechanism through the extraction mechanism. and hot water supply control means for supplying the remaining amount of hot water from the added hot water supply mechanism.