JP2000142893A - Beer dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively clean and sterilize pipes of a beer supply line of a dispenser without leaving a stench by using carbonated water as cleaning water. SOLUTION: The beer dispenser supplies beer poured out of a beer barrel 2 by pressurizing carbon dioxide gas supplied from a carbon dioxide gas cylinder 4 to a cup 10 through a beer supply line 8 via a cooling coil 6 and a dispense valve 7 which are provided on a dispenser body 1. In this case, a carbonator 11 which prepares carbonated water from carbon dioxide gas supplied from the cylinder 4 and tap water is mounted on the dispenser body 1, and the carbonated water extracted from the carbonator 11 is made to flow in the beer supply line 8 at the time of cleaning the line 8 for cleaning its pipes. The carbonator 11 is placed to be soaked in a cooling water reservoir 5 for the cooling coil 6 provided in an apparatus, and further a switch valve comprising a combination of a sanitation valve 12 and a beer valve 16 is connected to the beer supply line 8, wherein a channel is connected to the beer barrel normally and switched to the carbonator 11 when cleaning is done.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a beer dispenser for draft beer, and more particularly to a sanitization system for the dispenser.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, a piping system of a conventional beer dispenser is shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a dispenser body, 2 is a beer barrel connected to the dispenser body 1 via an external hose 3, 2a is a dispensing head connected to a spout of the beer barrel 2, and 4 is a carbon dioxide gas added to the beer barrel 2. This is a carbon dioxide gas cylinder that pressurizes and extracts beer in a pressure rise manner.

Here, the dispenser body 1 is equipped with a cooling water tank 5 cooled by a refrigerator (not shown), and a dispenser with an operating lever disposed on the front of the body via a cooling coil 6 immersed therein. A beer supply line 8 is connected to the valve 7 and is connected to the external hose 3 connected to the beer barrel 2. Reference numeral 9 denotes a bend stage on which a cup (such as a beer mug) 10 is placed.

The beer supply operation of such a beer dispenser is well known, and the beer contained in the beer barrel 2 is pressurized with carbon dioxide supplied from the carbon dioxide cylinder 4 during standby for sale. Here, the bend stage 9 and the cup 10
Is set and the dispense valve 7 is opened, the beer pressure-controlled by the carbon dioxide pressure is extracted from the beer barrel 2 through the dispense head 2a, cooled to an appropriate temperature while passing through the cooling coil 6, and the beer is dispensed from the dispense valve 7. 10 and supplied.

In the illustrated beer dispenser, the beer supply line 8 connected to the dispenser body 1 is always filled with beer during the beer sale.
If the beer is used for a long period of time, the beer's yeast and other germs will propagate, thereby contaminating the pipes of the beer supply line including the cooling coil 6 and the dispense valve 7, thereby deteriorating the beer's flavor and becoming unsanitary. Therefore, as daily maintenance, for example, once a day, a sanitation operation for cleaning the beer supply line connected to the dispense valve 7 after the business is closed is performed.

[0006] In this case, conventionally, the sanitation of the beer supply line is performed by the following method. (1) Remove the beer barrel 2, replace the dispense head 2 a with a separately prepared washing water tank, and use the carbon dioxide gas pressure from the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 4 to wash the washing water (chlorinated tap water in the tap water) Is added to the beer supply line 8 to wash the pipeline, and the washing waste liquid is drained from the dispense valve 7.

(2) A water supply line connected to a water supply is connected in the middle of the beer supply line 8 via a water supply pump and a valve, and a sanitization command (for example, a push for giving a sanitation command to the dispenser body) at the time of washing. The water supply pump is started by a button (provided with a button), the valve is switched, and tap water is pumped to the beer supply line 8 to clean the pipeline.

[0008]

By the way, the conventional sanitation method for cleaning the piping system of the beer dispenser using chlorine-based washing water or tap water as described above has the following disadvantages. .

(1) When chlorine-based washing water is used,
Chlorine-specific off-flavors are likely to remain on the pipeline after cleaning.For this reason, in the past, ordinary tap water was replaced in the cleaning water tank after cleaning, and the pipeline was rinsed. (2) Washing with tap water only has a low washing effect on dirt adhering to the pipeline in the hose and has almost no sterilizing effect, so it is necessary to keep running water for a long time in one washing. Consumes a large amount of washing water. For this reason, the amount of waste water is increased, and the waste water treatment is troublesome.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to use a carbonated water as the washing water so that the beer supply line can be effectively washed and sterilized without leaving an unpleasant odor. It is to provide a beer dispenser equipped with a circuit.

[0011]

According to the present invention, a beer extracted from a beer keg by pressurizing carbon dioxide gas supplied from a carbon dioxide gas cylinder is provided in a dispenser body, according to the present invention. In a beer dispenser that supplies a cup through a beer supply line via a dispense valve, a carbonator that produces carbonated water with carbon dioxide supplied from a carbon dioxide gas cylinder and tap water is mounted on the dispenser body, and the carbonator is used to clean the beer supply line when washing the beer supply line. The extracted carbonated water is allowed to flow through a beer supply line to clean the pipeline (claim 1). Specifically, a cleaning circuit is configured in the following manner.

(1) A carbonator is immersed and disposed in a cooling water tank for a cooling coil so that carbonated water having a high concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide can be obtained. (2) A switching valve is connected to the beer supply line so that the flow path is always switched to the beer barrel side and to the carbonator side during washing, and the dispenser is switched from the beer selling mode to the sanitation mode only by giving an external command. (Claim 3).

[0013] By using the sterilized carbonated water as the washing water as described above, various bacteria adhering to the pipeline of the beer supply line are sterilized, and the carbon dioxide dissolved in the carbonated water is removed. The cavitation effect is added in the process of flowing into the pipe as bubbles, thereby effectively removing dirt attached to the pipe wall. In addition, there is no unpleasant odor as seen in the chlorine-based washing water, and there is no risk of impairing the flavor of the beer sold after washing. Moreover, by supplying carbon dioxide from the carbon dioxide gas cylinder attached to the beer dispenser to the carbonator, carbonated water for cleaning can be easily produced, and the carbonator is immersed in the cooling water tank for the cooling coil installed inside the machine. By keeping the solution cooled, carbonated water having a high concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide gas can be produced.

The cleaning and disinfecting effects of the carbonated water have been confirmed from the results of experiments conducted by the inventors and the like, and the amount of consumption required for one washing is smaller than that of washing with tap water alone. It has been confirmed that the consumption can be reduced to about 1/3.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
An example will be described with reference to FIG. In the drawings of the embodiment, the same members corresponding to FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

That is, in the illustrated embodiment, a carbonator 11 for producing carbonated water immersed in the cooling water tank 5 provided in the dispenser body 1 is additionally provided.
Carbonated water supply line 11a drawn from carbonator 11
Are connected to a beer supply line 8 upstream of the cooling coil 8 via a sanitation valve 12. The carbonator 11 includes a check valve 13 and a water pump 1.
4. Water supply line 1 leading to water supply through water supply valve 15
1b, and a carbon dioxide gas supply line 11c communicating with the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 4. Further, a beer valve 16 is connected to the beer supply line 8 on the upstream side of a branch point with the carbonated water supply line 11a, and sanitation from a push button 17 arranged on the dispenser body 1 together with the above-mentioned sanitation valve 12. Each valve is switched and controlled by a command.

With this configuration, the sanitation valve 12 is normally closed and the beer valve 17 is open, and the beer extracted from the beer barrel 2 is discharged from the dispense valve 7 to the cup 10 through the beer supply line 8 at the time of sale. Supply. Further, in the carbonator 11, carbon dioxide produced by injecting water supplied through the water supply line 11c into carbon dioxide supplied through the carbon dioxide supply line 11b is stored.

When the push button 17 is pressed during sanitation, for example, after the business of beer sales has ended, the dispenser switches from beer sales mode to sanitation mode, and the beer valve 16 is closed and instructed by the control unit. The sanitation valve 12 opens. Thus, the supply of beer from the beer barrel 2 is stopped, and the state is switched to a state in which the carbonated water stored in the carbonator 11 is pressure-fed to the beer supply line 8 through the carbonated water supply line 11a by carbon dioxide gas pressure. When the dispense valve 7 is opened, carbonated water extracted by receiving carbon dioxide gas pressure from the carbonator 11 flows into the beer line 8 through the cooling coil 6 and the dispense valve 7 to clean the pipeline, and then the cleaning waste liquid is discharged. Is drained from the dispense valve 7. When the stored amount of carbonated water in the carbonator 11 decreases, the water pump 14 is started to supply tap water to the carbonator to supplement the carbonated water, and this control is automatically performed. When the mode is switched to the beer selling mode after the end of the sanitation, the sanitation valve 12 is closed and the beer valve 16 is opened. By opening the dispense valve 7, the carbonated water remaining in the beer supply line 8 is removed. The beer is supplied from the barrel 2 and is discharged from the dispense valve 7.

In the illustrated example, the sanitation command is given by manual operation of the push button 17. However, this is replaced with a timer control so that the sanitation can be performed automatically, for example, once a day. Is also possible. In addition, the sanitation valve 12 and the beer valve 1
It is also possible to replace 6 with one three-way switching valve.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the washing of the beer supply line of the dispenser is performed by using the carbonated water produced by the carbonator mounted on the machine.
It is possible to effectively clean and sterilize dirt and germs attached to the piping. In addition, the amount of carbonated water consumed in one wash is only about one-third that of washing with tap water only, and the flavor of beer deteriorates due to the off-flavor remaining when using chlorine-based washing water. Problem can be solved.

By immersing the carbonator in a cooling water tank equipped in the machine, carbonated water having a high concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide can be produced, and beer and carbonated water can be switched to a beer supply line by a switching valve. By
Switching between the beer selling mode and the sanitation mode can be performed by push button operation or fully automatic.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a piping diagram of a beer dispenser according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a conventional beer piping system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dispenser main body 2 Beer barrel 4 Carbon dioxide gas cylinder 5 Cooling water tank 6 Cooling coil 7 Dispense valve 8 Beer supply line 10 Cup 11 Carbonator 12 Sanitation valve 14 Water pump 16 Beer valve

Claims (3)

[Claims] A beer dispenser for supplying beer extracted from a beer barrel by pressurizing carbon dioxide supplied from a carbon dioxide gas cylinder to a cup through a beer supply line passing through a cooling coil and a dispense valve provided in a dispenser body. The main unit is equipped with a carbonator that produces carbonated water from the carbon dioxide gas supplied from the carbon dioxide gas cylinder and tap water, and when the beer supply line is washed, the carbonated water extracted from the carbonator flows into the beer supply line to clean the pipeline. A beer dispenser characterized in that: 2. The beer dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the carbonator is immersed in a cooling water tank for a cooling coil. 3. The beer dispenser according to claim 1, wherein a switching valve is connected to the beer supply line, and the flow path is normally switched to the beer barrel side and to the carbonator side during washing. .