JP2000051102A - Coffee maker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a convenient coffee maker which can efficiently make such cups of coffee as requested by a user from raw coffee beans. SOLUTION: This coffee maker has a parcher 7 to parch raw coffee beans, a storage part 23 to store the parched coffee beans tentatively, a cooling part 24 to cool the coffee beans, a grinding part 25 to grind the coffee beans, a hot water supply part 30 to heat and supply water from a water tank 4 all housed in an outer case, and a brewing part 5 to brew coffee from water supplied from the hot water supply part 30 together with the coffee powder ground in the grinding part 25. A window is formed on the outer case so that the volume of coffee beans remaining in the storage part 23 can be confirmed from outside.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a coffee maker which can perform roasting of green coffee beans to extraction of coffee.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of coffee makers of this type have conventionally been known. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-224
No. 719 discloses a temporary storage tank for cooling roasted coffee beans, and further includes a series of operations from roasting to cooling of green coffee beans and a series of operations from grinding to extraction and filtration. A coffee maker having a configuration that can be operated separately is disclosed. With such a configuration, roasting of green coffee beans, grinding of roasted coffee beans, and extraction of coffee are performed.

[0003]

However, in the coffee maker provided with the temporary storage tank as described above, since the inside of the temporary storage tank cannot be checked from the outside, the roasted coffee is stored in the temporary storage tank. It was not easy to know if there were coffee beans, and even if there were roasted coffee beans, it was not possible to know the approximate number of cups of coffee that could be extracted from the coffee beans. Therefore, if only the operation from crushing to extraction and filtration is performed using coffee beans that have been roasted and stored in a temporary storage tank in advance, it is conceivable that coffee beans may run short on the way. In such a case, further roasting time is required, which is inconvenient for the user.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such a situation,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an easy-to-use coffee maker that can efficiently produce the required number of cups of coffee from green beans.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a roaster for roasting green coffee beans, a storage section for temporarily storing the roasted coffee beans, and a method for storing coffee beans. A cooling unit for cooling, a grinding unit for grinding coffee beans,
In a coffee maker, which has a hot water supply unit for heating and supplying water from a water tank in an outer case and an extraction unit for extracting coffee from hot water supplied from the hot water supply unit and ground coffee powder, The present invention relates to a coffee maker, wherein a remaining amount confirmation window is provided in the outer case so that the remaining amount of coffee beans in the storage unit can be confirmed from outside.

[0006] Further, a storage portion within a visible range from a remaining amount confirmation window provided in the outer case is made transparent, and a scale is provided as a guide for the remaining amount of coffee beans, and the scale can be extracted from the coffee beans. 2. A coffee maker according to claim 1, wherein the number of cups of coffee is displayed.

[0007]

According to this structure, coffee beans roasted by a roaster are temporarily stored in a storage unit, and how many coffee beans are stored in the storage unit is determined. Since it can be confirmed from the remaining amount confirmation window provided in the outer case, if there is no coffee bean in the storage unit, roasted coffee beans can be replenished in advance, and the user will receive a coffee extraction request In some cases, coffee can be supplied in a short time only by the operation of grinding and extracting coffee beans. Further, the number of cups of coffee that can be extracted from the coffee beans in the storage unit can be confirmed by the scale within the visible range from the remaining amount confirmation window.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view of a coffee maker according to the present embodiment. It is composed of a free decanter 6.

Next, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a coffee maker of the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing details of the roaster 7. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the inside of the roaster 7 viewed in the direction of arrow V in FIG. A roasting machine 7 in the shape of a pot for roasting green coffee beans is provided on the upper part of the outer case 1, and a stirring body 10 in which a plurality of spouts 9 extend around a rotating shaft 8 is provided inside.
And a second electric heater 11 having a ring shape. In addition, the bottom wall of the roaster 7 is provided with a first electric heater 12.
The first temperature sensor 14 is embedded in an appropriate position of the plate 13.

The amounts of heat generated by the first electric heater 12 and the second electric heater 11 can be arbitrarily set, and are 430 W and 160 W, respectively. As described above, if the amount of heat generated by the second electric heater 11 is suppressed, the charring of beans can be effectively prevented by itself, which is convenient.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a second temperature sensor protruding from the inner wall of the roaster 7, and a lid 2 is provided with a deodorizing catalyst 17 provided adjacent to the outside of the exhaust port 16. 20 is a solenoid 18
Is a drop port that opens when the opening / closing member 19 is sucked. Reference numeral 21 denotes a motor for rotationally driving the agitator 10, which is engaged with and connected to the rotary shaft 8 via a spring 22, thereby reducing heat conduction from the agitator 10 to the motor 21.

Reference numeral 23 denotes a transparent plastic storage unit disposed immediately below the drop port 20. The storage unit 23 has a cooling unit 24 provided with a fan at the bottom. A mortar type pulverizing unit 25 communicates with the lower part of the storage unit 23, and the extraction unit 5 below the pulverizing unit 25
6 and a filter 27. Further, the exterior case 1 adjacent to the side surface of the transparent plastic storage unit 23 is provided with a remaining amount confirmation window 35 so that the coffee beans in the storage unit 23 can be confirmed, as shown in FIGS. A scale indicating the remaining amount of coffee beans is printed in the visible range from the remaining amount confirmation window 35. This scale indicates the number of coffee cups indicating how many cups of coffee can be extracted from the coffee beans in the storage unit 23.

The decanter 6 is detachably mounted on a heat retaining base 29 provided with a heat retaining heater 28. Reference numeral 30 denotes a hot water supply unit, which includes a hot water supply pipe 31, a water tank 4, and the like in addition to the above-described heat retention heater 28. The hot water supply pipe 31 is routed so that a part of the hot water supply pipe 31 is adjacent to the warming heater 28, and a tap hole 32 at the tip is open toward the extraction unit 5. Reference numeral 34 denotes a chaff receiver for collecting chaff falling from a slit 33 formed in the opening / closing member 19.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. First, the lid 2 is lifted and a predetermined amount (for example, 60 g) of green coffee beans is put into the roaster 7. Then, the power switch 36 of the operation panel 3 is turned on, and the roasting switch 3 is turned on.
When the switch 7 is turned on, the power supply to the second electric heater 11 and the motor 21 is started, and the temperature of the deodorizing catalyst 17 heated by the second electric heater 11 gradually increases. After the deodorizing catalyst 17 reaches a predetermined temperature, the first electric heater 1
2 is energized. When the power supply to the first electric heater 12 is started, the temperature of the bottom of the roaster 7 gradually rises, and the green coffee beans are heated while being stirred by the stirring body 10. Then, the first electric heater 12 quickly raises the temperature of the first temperature sensor 14 provided on the plate 13.

When the temperature in the roasting machine 7 rises, since the green coffee beans contain about 12 to 13% of moisture, steam is first generated from the heated green coffee beans. This time, odorous smoke is generated with the steam. At this time, since the deodorizing catalyst 17 has already been activated by receiving the radiant heat of the second electric heater 11, the steam and odor components flowing out from the exhaust port 16 are oxidized and decomposed by the deodorizing catalyst 17. Deodorized.

When the first temperature sensor 14 detects a predetermined temperature suitable for roasting, the amount of power supplied to the first electric heater 12 is controlled thereafter to maintain the predetermined temperature. On the other hand, when the second temperature sensor 15 detects a predetermined temperature, the power supply amount of the second electric heater 11 is similarly controlled. In addition, for the control of the power supply amount, an appropriate method such as conventionally known on / off control and phase control can be adopted.

By controlling the amount of power supplied to the first electric heater 12 and the second electric heater 11, the whole roaster 7 is maintained at an ideal roasting temperature. In this case, the green coffee beans receive excessive radiant heat from a specific direction,
Unlike conventional equipment where the temperature varies, it is evenly heated to be wrapped. Therefore, green coffee beans have a small temperature difference between the inside and the surface, and heat penetrates into the inside from the center crack, so that the inside expands and shatters, and is roasted uniformly. Further, since the heat generated by the heater is efficiently used for roasting, the roasting time can be shortened.

In the course of roasting, chaff is peeled off from coffee beans. The chaff removes the flavor after the coffee is extracted without removing the chaff, so that it naturally falls from the slit 33 during roasting, and is shaken off by the operation of the solenoid 18 through the inclined surface of the opening / closing member 19. And is collected in the chaff receiver 34.

When the water content of the coffee beans becomes about 2 to 3% and the roasting is completed, the energization of the first electric heater 12 and the second electric heater 11 is stopped, and at the same time, the solenoid 18 is energized. When power is supplied to the solenoid 18, the opening / closing member 19 rotates as shown in FIG. Therefore, the coffee beans fall into the storage unit 23 through the drop port 20 by the stirring of the stirring body 10 (in the direction of the arrow). When the discharge of the coffee beans to the storage unit 23 is completed,
The energization of the motor 21 and the solenoid 18 is stopped, while the fan of the cooling unit 24 operates for a predetermined time. Cooling unit 2
4 forcibly cools the hot coffee beans, thereby preventing the progress of carbonization and deterioration of the coffee aroma.

The coffee beans temporarily stored in the storage section 23 can be selected by a switch disposed on the operation panel 3 when the user requests coffee extraction. When the pulverizing switch 38 is pressed after selecting the number of coffee cups, the coffee beans are pulverized by the pulverizing unit 25 and the coffee powder is supplied to the extracting unit 5.

In the roaster 7 of this embodiment, the maximum amount of green coffee beans that can be roasted at one time is about 60 g (10 cups).
The amount of coffee beans that can be stored in the storage unit 23 is set to a maximum of 180 g (30 cups). That is, the coffee beans obtained by roasting three times can be stored. This is because the coffee beans are always stored in the storage unit 23, so that when the user requests coffee, the coffee is supplied in a short time only by the operation of grinding and extracting. In addition, how much coffee beans are stored in the storage unit 23 can be confirmed from the remaining amount confirmation window 35 provided in the outer case 1, and further, by a scale within a visible range from the remaining amount confirmation window 35, You can check the number of cups of coffee that can be extracted from the remaining coffee beans.

When the coffee powder accumulates in the extraction section 5, power is supplied to the warming heater 28. The heat retention heater 28 heats the heat retention base 29 to heat the decanter 6, while heating the water in the adjacent hot water supply pipe 31.

The water in the hot water supply pipe 31 is heated and eventually generates bubbles and steam to increase its volume.
Is discharged as hot water. The extraction unit 5 extracts coffee by discharging the hot water, and the extracted coffee is dropped onto the decanter 6. When the water in the water tank 4 runs out, the temperature of the heat-retaining base 29 rises. If the temperature is detected by an appropriate sensor, the completion of the extraction can be known. After the completion of extraction is detected, the temperature of the coffee in the decanter 6 is controlled by the temperature maintaining heater 28 to the optimal temperature.

[0024]

As described above, the coffee maker of the present invention temporarily stores coffee beans roasted by a roaster in a storage section, and stores how much coffee beans are stored in the storage section. Can be checked from the remaining amount confirmation window provided on the outer case.If there is no coffee bean in the storage unit, roasted coffee beans can be replenished in advance and coffee , The coffee can be supplied in a short time only by the operation of grinding and extracting the coffee beans. Therefore, excellent effects such as improvement of the usability of the user are achieved.

Further, since the number of cups of coffee that can be extracted from the coffee beans in the storage section can be confirmed by the scale of the remaining amount confirmation window provided in the outer case, the usability of the user is improved and the above-mentioned effects are reliably achieved. Become an excellent coffee maker.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view illustrating a coffee maker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram illustrating a coffee maker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating details of a roaster according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the inside of the roaster seen in the direction of arrow V in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a storage unit and a remaining amount confirmation window according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a storage unit and a remaining amount confirmation window according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram illustrating an operation of the opening / closing member according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outer case 4 Water tank 5 Extraction part 7 Roaster 23 Storage part 24 Cooling part 25 Crushing part 30 Hot water supply part 35 Remaining amount confirmation window

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A roaster for roasting green coffee beans, a storage unit for temporarily storing the roasted coffee beans, a cooling unit for cooling the coffee beans, a crushing unit for crushing the coffee beans, In a coffee maker, which has a hot water supply unit for heating and supplying water from a water tank in an outer case and an extraction unit for extracting coffee from hot water supplied from the hot water supply unit and ground coffee powder, A coffee maker, wherein a remaining amount check window is provided in the outer case so that the remaining amount of coffee beans in the storage unit can be checked from outside. 2. The storage section within a visible range from a remaining amount confirmation window provided on the outer case is transparent, and a scale is provided as a measure of the remaining amount of coffee beans, and the scale is extracted from the coffee beans. 2. The coffee maker according to claim 1, wherein the number of possible cups of coffee is displayed.