JP2000076541A - Cup type automatic coffee vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problems of coffee deterioration caused by the elapse of time for keeping coffee and material loss owing to the disposal of residual coffee due to a conventional sales system in which regular coffee extracted with hot water is kept and is sold and to keep and sell regular coffee that is excellent in both taste and smell without quality change. SOLUTION: A water-extraction type coffee extracter 16 is mounted on this cup type automatic coffee vending machine which supplies coffee extracted and manufactured with regular coffee powder as a source material inside the machine and offers it for sales, the coffee is extracted with water for a long time by dropping the water to ground coffee beans 26 little by little, also the coffee extracted with water by the extracter is kept in a coffee tank 17 in an ordinary temperature state, the coffee is taken out of the coffee tank bit by bit in fixed quantity to be supplied into a cup 15 ejected on a vending stage 10 and it is sold as hot coffee or iced coffee when the coffee is sold.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cup-type coffee vending machine for supplying regular coffee extracted in a machine using ground coffee beans (ground coffee beans) to a cup for sale. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, a conventional beverage system of a cup-type coffee vending machine described above is shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a raw material box for accommodating roasted coffee beans, 2 is a coffee mill for grinding coffee beans, 3 is a coffee extractor called brewer, 4 is a hot water tank, 5 is a powdered raw material such as sugar and milk. A powder material box called a canister accommodated therein, 6 is a mixing ball for mixing and stirring coffee and powder materials, 7 is a coffee heater called a diffuser, 8 is a cup supply device, 9 is an ice machine, 10 is a bend stage, and A hot water supply pipe 11 is provided between the tank 4 and the coffee extractor 3, and a coffee supply pipe 13 is provided between the coffee extractor 3 via a mixing ball 6 and a discharge nozzle 12 disposed above the bend stage 10. Is plumbed. In addition, 14 is a collection container of the coffee residue generated in the coffee extractor 3.

[0003] The operation of producing and selling regular coffee in such a configuration is well known, and when a hot coffee sales command is given, first, the cup supply device 8 to the cup 15.
Is carried out to the bend stage 10 and a cup of coffee beans is carried out from the selected raw material box 1 to the coffee mill 2, and ground coffee grounds which have been pulverized are put into the coffee extractor 3. You. At the same time, a fixed amount of hot water is supplied from the hot water tank 4 to the coffee extractor 3, and the coffee extracted and filtered here is guided to the mixing bowl 6 at the subsequent stage. In the mixing ball 6, the sugar and milk powder raw materials carried out of the powder raw material box 5 and the coffee are agitated, and then discharged through the beverage supply pipe 13 through the discharge nozzle 12.
It is further discharged and supplied to the cup 15 waiting on the bend stage 10.

[0004] When selling iced coffee, before the coffee is poured into the cup 15 in the above-mentioned process, the ice making machine 9 in the machine is installed.
The ice carried out of the ice is put into the cup 15, and coffee is poured over the ice to finish the iced coffee.

[0005]

By the way, a coffee mill 2 and a coffee extractor 3 are provided in the machine as described above,
In a vending machine of the type in which regular coffee is manufactured and sold one by one through a coffee bean crushing and coffee extraction process at each sale, it takes at least 30 seconds to sell one cup of coffee. For this reason, in the case of continuous sales or when the next customer is waiting for a turn, not only the waiting time of the customer becomes long, but also the sales efficiency of the vending machine is lowered and it is difficult to increase the profit.

On the other hand, in order to shorten the sales operation time of one regular coffee to about 10 seconds and to improve the sales efficiency, the regular coffee continuously manufactured in the machine is supplied to a coffee reservoir with a heater (coffee storage tank). )
JP-A-7-85363 discloses a cup-type coffee vending machine in which coffee is stored in a heat-retaining state at a suitable temperature for sale, coffee is taken out from a coffee reservoir in small quantities according to a sales order, and supplied to a cup. It is publicly known in gazettes and the like.

[0007] However, in the vending machine of the storage type, the selling operation time and the waiting time for customers can be shortened, but there are the following problems. In other words, coffee extracted by adding hot water to ground coffee beans can be extracted in a short time, but the aroma peculiar to regular coffee is lost in a short time because the ground beans are exposed to high-temperature hot water, and it is kept warm in the coffee reservoir If left in the state for a long time, the quality will deteriorate and the flavor of regular coffee will be lost. In order to maintain the quality of coffee provided to customers, the above-mentioned storage type vending machine transfers coffee produced inside the machine to a coffee reservoir, and after a predetermined period of time (about 30 minutes) elapses, the reservoir is replaced with a coffee reservoir. Although the remaining coffee is discarded to produce new coffee, the loss of raw materials increases and the profit of the vending machine decreases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to reduce the quality of coffee even when storing for a long time while shortening the selling operation time by adopting a storing and selling method. Another object of the present invention is to provide a cup-type coffee vending machine capable of selling regular coffee that is excellent in taste and aroma compared to regular coffee extracted by adding hot water to coffee powder.

[0009]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a water brewing type coffee extractor is mounted in the machine, and the coffee extracted by the extractor is stored in a coffee tank at room temperature. At the time of selling coffee, the coffee is supplied in small quantities from the tank in small quantities and supplied to a cup carried out to a bend stage (Claim 1). The container and the coffee supply system are configured in the following manner.

(1) A water-drainable coffee extractor is composed of a drip-type extractor main body for containing ground coffee beans, and a funnel-type water tank for supplying water from above to the ground beans contained in the extracted main body. The coffee outlet opening at the bottom of the main body of the extractor is connected to a coffee tank arranged below the coffee outlet (claim 2). (2) Connect the coffee supply line drawn from the coffee tank to
A pipe is provided between the liquid feeding pump and a discharge ball disposed above the bend stage via a mixing ball for adding sugar and milk to coffee and stirring the mixture.

(3) A coffee heater is interposed in the middle of the coffee supply pipe, and when hot coffee is sold, coffee heated by the coffee heater is supplied to the cup (claim 4). (4) A cold-only branch supply pipe that is directly connected to the coffee supply line via a cooling coil immersed in a cooling water tank inside the machine, or directly to a discharge nozzle arranged above the bend stage, bypassing the mixing ball. When the iced coffee is sold, the coffee cooled by the cooling coil is supplied to the cup through the branch supply pipe, and the ice carried out from the ice making machine is supplied into the cup. ).

(6) The bend stage is equipped with an agitator for stirring the coffee and ice in the cup, so that the coffee can be quickly cooled to a suitable selling temperature when selling iced coffee. (7) A see-through window is provided at a part of the front door of the vending machine, and through the see-through window, the water-discharge type coffee extractor in the machine can be seen from the outside so as to appeal the sales of the watered coffee to customers. (Claim 7).

[0013] The watered coffee is obtained by dripping a very small amount of water on ground coffee beans and dripping it over a long period of time (several to several tens of hours). In addition to being superior in taste and aroma, it has the characteristic that the taste and aroma peculiar to coffee do not disappear even if stored for a long time. , And is also listed as one of the menus in specialized coffee shops.

Therefore, as described above, the coffee vending machine is equipped with a water brewing type coffee extractor, and the water brewed coffee extracted over a long period of time is stored and stored in a coffee tank at room temperature, and a sales command is issued. By heating or cooling the coffee taken out of the coffee tank in small quantities from the coffee tank and supplying it to the cup as hot coffee or iced coffee, there is almost no deterioration in the quality of the coffee even after long storage. In some cases, regular coffee with good taste and fragrance can be offered for sale in a short selling operation time without making the customer wait for a long time.

Since cold coffee is also provided at a coffee shop or the like at a high rate in distinction from normal hot coffee, an increase in the profit of a vending machine can be greatly expected by promoting this cold coffee. .

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the drawings of the embodiment, the same members corresponding to FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, instead of the conventional hot-water-type coffee extractor (brewer) 3 shown in FIG. 3, a cold-water-type coffee extractor 16, which can extract at least tens of cups of cold-water coffee at a time. And a coffee tank 1 for storing coffee extracted by the extractor 16
And a coffee supply pipe 13 drawn from a coffee tank 17, a solenoid valve 18, a coffee feed pump 19, a pipe switching valve (solenoid valve) 20, and a coffee heater (heater) 21. After being interposed, it is connected to the mixing ball 6. In addition, a cooling water tank 22 provided in the machine is provided between the switching valve 20 and the mixing ball 6 (in a cup-type vending machine for selling soft drinks in parallel, the syrup and the carbonated water produced by the carbonator are cooled). (A cooling water tank combined with a refrigerator for cooling) is provided. Further, the bend stage 10 has an agitator 25 (a vertical stirrer that drives stirring blades by a motor) for stirring the coffee supplied to the cup 15 and the ice supplied from the ice maker 9 in the cup as described later.
Equipped.

Here, the above-mentioned watering type coffee extractor 1
Reference numeral 6 denotes a flask-shaped extractor body 16a for accommodating a large amount of ground coffee beans 26 (coffee beans ground into a powder) at once, and a very small amount of water dripped from above onto the extraction body 16a. An outlet pipe 16a-1 drawn from the bottom of the extractor body 16a has a coffee tank 17 disposed below the combination with a funnel type water tank 16b to be supplied.
Leads to.

In order to manufacture the brewed coffee with such a configuration, a large amount of ground coffee corresponding to at least several tens of cups is stored in the extractor body 16a, and then the water tank 16 is prepared.
Water is dropped from b, and the coffee is drained in a drip manner over a period of one night (ten and several hours), and the extracted coffee is stored in the coffee tank 17 at room temperature and stored.

When a coffee sales command is given from the storage state, a fixed amount of coffee is taken out of the coffee tank 17 and dispensed as follows.
Is supplied to the cup 15 carried out and sold. (1) Hot coffee sales: When hot coffee is sold, the switching valve 20 is switched to the coffee heater 21 (the coffee heater is held in a heated state in advance), and the electromagnetic valve 18 is opened to feed liquid. The pump 19 is started and a fixed amount of coffee is sent from the coffee tank 17 to the mixing bowl 6, where the powdered raw material box 5 is selected according to the customer's selection.
After mixing and stirring with the sugar and milk discharged from the container, the mixture is carried out from the cup supply device 8 and supplied to the cup 15 waiting on the bend stage 10.

(2) Sale of iced coffee: When a customer selects iced coffee, it can be sold in the following manner. (a) First, ice is supplied from the ice maker 9 to the cup 15 carried out from the cup supply device 8 to the bend stage 10. Then, in the same process as hot coffee sales, coffee tank 1
Mixing the coffee taken out from 7 into a small bowl
And the mixture is supplied to the cup 15 and poured over ice to finish the iced coffee.

(B) With the ice and coffee supplied to the cup 15 in the procedure of the above (a), the stirring blade of the agitator 25 inserted into the cup 15 by rotating down from the upper standby position is rotationally driven. Stir coffee and ice and quickly cool to the right temperature for ice coffee sales. (c) The switching valve 20 is switched to the branch supply pipe 24 side, the coffee delivered from the coffee tank 17 is cooled by the cooling coil 23, and then supplied to the cup 15 via the mixing ball 6, and the coffee is supplied to the cup 15 in the same manner as described above. Pour the coffee on the supplied ice to make iced coffee. In this case, the use of the agitator 25 is more effective.

(D) As an application example of the above item (c), the branch supply pipe 24 is connected to a discharge nozzle (bifurcated nozzle) 12 opened to the bend stage 10 by bypassing the mixing ball 6 as shown by a dotted line in the drawing. When the customer selects black ice coffee (no sugar or milk), the coffee cooled by the cooling coil 23 of the branch supply pipe 24 is directly passed from the discharge nozzle 12 to the cup 15 without passing through the mixing ball 6. Feed and pour on ice.

Although the illustrated embodiment is shown as a dedicated machine for brewing regular coffee, an ordinary cup-type beverage vending machine sells instant coffee and various soft drinks in addition to regular coffee. Therefore, it is a matter of course that such a cup-type beverage vending machine can be implemented by mounting a water brewing type coffee extractor, and furthermore, a vending machine is equipped with a water brewing type coffee extractor and a normal hot water coffee brewer. Equipped with an extractor, it is also possible to sell regular coffee with cold water and regular coffee with hot water.

Next, the structure of an embodiment according to claim 7 of the present invention is shown in FIG. That is, a see-through window 28 in which transparent glass or the like is fitted is provided in a part of the front door 27 of the vending machine, and the water-discharge type coffee extractor 16 installed in the machine can be seen through the see-through window 28 from the front. .
In the drawing, reference numeral 29 denotes a product outlet which leads to the bend stage 10 described above, reference numeral 30 denotes a display room where a sample of a beverage to be sold and a product selection button are arranged, and reference numeral 31 denotes an operation panel provided with a slot for coins and bills. It is.

[0025] According to this configuration, it is possible to appeal the sales of the brewed coffee to the customers and increase the ability to attract customers.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) Reservoir of regular cold-water coffee that has superior taste and aroma compared to normal hot-water coffee extracted using hot water, and has the characteristic that the unique flavor and aroma of coffee will not be lost even after long storage. It can be sold in the form of coffee, which reduces the flavor due to the deterioration of the coffee during the storage time, which is a problem in the conventional cup-type coffee vending machine that sells the regular coffee with hot water in the storage method, and discards the residual coffee. Problems such as material loss due to disposal can be solved.

(2) In addition, the regular watered coffee is
Since it is possible to sell at a higher price, which is one rank higher than that of regular hot-water regular coffee, the profit of vending machines can be expected to increase. (3) By providing a see-through window on the front door of the vending machine so that you can see the brewing type coffee extractor installed inside the machine, you can promote the sales of brewing coffee to customers and increase the ability to attract customers .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a regular coffee system for watering a cup-type coffee vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front external view of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a regular coffee system diagram of a conventional cup-type coffee vending machine.

[Description of Signs] 5 Raw material box for sugar, milk, etc. 6 Mixing ball 8 Cup supply device 9 Ice maker 10 Bend stage 13 Coffee supply line 15 Cup 16 Drained coffee extractor 16a Extractor body 16b Water tank 17 Coffee Tank 19 Liquid feed pump 21 Coffee heater 22 Cooling water tank 23 Cooling coil 24 Branch supply line 25 Agitator 26 Coiled beans 27 Front door of vending machine 28 Perspective window

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A cup-type coffee vending machine for supplying regular coffee extracted in a machine using ground coffee beans to a cup for sale, wherein a coffee brewing type water extractor is mounted in the machine. The coffee extracted by the extractor is stored in a coffee tank at a normal temperature state, and when the coffee is sold, a fixed amount of coffee is sent from the tank in small quantities and supplied to a cup taken out to a bend stage. Cup-type coffee vending machine. 2. The coffee vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the water brewing type coffee extractor includes a drip-type extractor main body into which the ground coffee beans are put, and a ground bean stored in the main body. A cup-type coffee vending machine, comprising a funnel-type water tank for supplying water dropwise from a container, wherein a coffee outlet opened at the bottom of the coffee extractor body is connected to a coffee tank arranged below the coffee outlet. 3. The cup-type coffee vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the coffee supply pipe drawn from the coffee tank is passed through a liquid feed pump and a mixing bowl for adding sugar and milk to the coffee and stirring the coffee. A cup-type coffee vending machine characterized by being piped to a discharge nozzle arranged above a bend stage. 4. A cup-type coffee vending machine according to claim 3, wherein a coffee heater is interposed in the middle of the coffee supply pipe, and when hot coffee is sold, coffee heated by the coffee heater is supplied to the cup. A cup-type coffee vending machine, characterized in that the vending machine is a coffee vending machine. 5. A cup-type coffee vending machine according to claim 3, wherein a mixing ball is connected to a coffee supply pipe via a cooling coil immersed in a cooling water tank in the machine and to a bend stage bypassing the mixing ball. A cold dedicated branch supply line directly connected to the arranged discharge nozzle was provided, and at the time of selling iced coffee, the coffee cooled by the cooling coil was supplied to the cup through the branch supply line, and was also discharged from the ice machine into the cup. A cup-type coffee vending machine characterized by supplying ice. 6. The cup-type coffee vending machine according to claim 5, wherein the bend stage is provided with an agitator for stirring coffee and ice in the cup. 7. A cup-type coffee vending machine according to claim 1, wherein a see-through window is provided on a part of a front door of the vending machine so that a water-discharge type coffee extractor in the machine can be seen from the outside through the see-through window. A coffee vending machine with a cup.