JP2001118141A - Cup type vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cup type vending machine capable of selling a coffee beverage having excellent bitter taste and sour taste and having a stable quality. SOLUTION: A ground bean canister 8 is provided adjacent to a scale 5 to supply parched ground beans different from roasted ground beans crushed by a coffee mill 7C to the cylinder 32 of an extracting machine 30 from a discharging port 80B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cup-type vending machine, and more particularly to extracting coffee liquor from ground coffee beans with hot water supplied at a predetermined pressure, and adding sugar, cream, dilute hot water and the like to the coffee liquor. And a cup-type vending machine which mixes and sells as a coffee beverage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional cup-type vending machine, ground coffee beans are supplied to an extraction chamber having a pressure-resistant structure, and a predetermined high-temperature hot water pressurized by a pump is passed through the ground beans. Some extract liquid.

In this cup-type vending machine, coffee beans dispensed from a coffee bean canister based on a sales request are ground in a coffee mill and supplied to an extraction chamber. After the supply of the ground beans, a predetermined high-temperature hot water is supplied to the extraction chamber to extract the coffee liquid from the ground beans. This coffee liquid is diluted with a predetermined amount of diluting water according to the sales form of the coffee beverage, and is further sold as a coffee beverage by supplying supplementary ingredients of sugar and cream as desired. The coffee beverage produced in this way has a feature that it is superior in taste and aroma as compared to a coffee beverage produced using instant ingredients.

[0004] The taste of coffee beverages is generated based on the type of coffee beans, bitterness, sourness, and aroma based on the degree of roasting.
Extraction is performed using ground beans having a degree of roasting and a particle size according to the type of coffee beverage).

[0005] When roasting coffee beans, when the coffee beans are roasted deeply (deep roasting), the cells of the coffee beans swell and are easily extracted, so that a strongly bitter coffee liquid (for example, espresso) is extracted. In addition, when lightly roasted (lightly roasted), organic acids such as formic acid, acetic acid, malic acid, and citric acid and caffeine that constitute sourness remain without being thermally decomposed, so that a coffee liquid rich in acidity (eg, mocha, kilimanjaro ) Is extracted.

[0006] Further, under the same roasting degree of coffee beans, the finer the grain size of the ground bean, the better the extractability of the coffee liquor is. However, since the ground bean expands by absorbing hot water, if the grain size is too fine, the hot water becomes too hot. And the extraction time becomes longer.

[0007]

However, according to the conventional cup-type vending machine, in order to extract the coffee liquid at a predetermined concentration without increasing the extraction time, a deep roasted coffee bean is ground to a fine grain size. Since the beans must be used as beans, there is a problem that the sourness of coffee beans is lost by deep roasting. It is also conceivable to mix and store deeply roasted coffee beans and sour roasted coffee beans at a predetermined ratio in order to compensate for sourness. When the ground coffee is changed, the ratio of deep roasting and light roasting when ground beans are changed, and the taste of the extracted coffee liquid changes, so that the quality of the coffee drink sold varies. In addition, when deep roasted and lightly roasted coffee beans are mixed, there is a problem that, for example, a coffee liquid mainly containing sourness or bitterness cannot be selectively extracted, so that types of coffee beverages that can be sold are limited.

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a cup-type vending machine capable of selling coffee beverages having excellent bitter and sour tastes and a stable quality.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a cup-type vending machine capable of selling coffee beverages mainly containing acidity or bitterness in response to a sales request.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention crushes coffee beans into ground beans having a predetermined particle size, supplies the ground beans to an extractor, and supplies a predetermined high-temperature hot water pressurized by a pump. In a cup-type vending machine for producing a coffee beverage by supplying a coffee beverage by supplying the coffee beverage from a hot water tank to the extraction machine via a pipe, containing coffee beans and other ground coffee beans different from the coffee beans, according to the type of the coffee beverage. A ground bean storage unit that supplies the ground coffee beans to the extractor and adds the ground coffee beans to the ground coffee beans; the ground beans supplied to the extractor according to the type of the coffee beverage; A cup-type vending machine having a control unit for controlling the supply of ground coffee beans to the extractor is provided.

According to the cup-type vending machine described above, by setting the ratio of ground beans and other ground beans to be supplied to the extractor based on the type of coffee beverage, the difference in the grain size and roasting degree of the ground beans can be improved. The taste of coffee, such as bitterness, acidity, and aroma, is adjusted based on the taste. In addition, by making it possible to independently supply ground beans having different roasting degrees and particle sizes, it is possible to increase the types of coffee beverages that can be sold.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A cup-type vending machine according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1A shows a cup-type vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a cistern 2 is connected to an intake pipe 1 and a change in the water level of drinking water provided and stored in the cistern 2. , A float switch 2A that outputs a water level lowering signal when the water level falls below a predetermined level, a water intake valve 1A provided in the water intake pipe 1, and heating of drinking water supplied from the cistern 2 via the pipe 3A. A hot water tank 10 for storing hot water at a predetermined temperature, a solenoid valve 20 provided in the pipe 3A, a pump 60 fixed to the outer periphery of the hot water tank 10 for supplying hot water by pressurizing, and the pump 60 and hot water A bypass pipe 60A connected to the tank 10, a valve 60B for returning hot water in the pump 60 to the hot water tank 10 by opening the bypass pipe 60A, and grinding coffee beans to a predetermined particle size to form ground beans. A ground bean supply unit 7, a ground bean canister 8 that discharges ground beans crushed to a predetermined particle size from a discharge port 80B and supplies the ground bean to an extractor described later, and receives a ground bean falling from the ground bean supply unit 7. Measuring instrument 5
And an extractor for extracting coffee beans having a predetermined particle size supplied from the measuring instrument 5, the coffee beans canister 8, or both of them with hot water to produce a coffee liquid, and supplying the coffee liquid to the cup 9 via the beverage supply pipe 30A. 30, a pressure adjusting solenoid valve 90 provided in the beverage supply pipe 30A and opened and closed at a predetermined timing;
A pipe 6A for supplying hot water from the pump 60 to the extractor 30,
A pressure sensor 25 provided in the pipe 6A to output a pressure signal corresponding to the pressure in the pipe, a flow sensor 19 provided in the pipe 6A to output a flow signal according to the flow rate of the hot water, and a flow sensor 19 provided to the pipe 6A. Check valve 21 for preventing backflow of hot water to the upstream side, pipe 6B branched from pipe 6A upstream of check valve 21 and connected to hot water tank 10, and extracted hot water valve provided in pipe 6B 22, a slag bucket 17 for receiving the extracted slag of coffee beans generated by the extractor 30, a drainage bucket 18 arranged at the lower part of the cup 9, a sugar container 11 for storing sugar, and a cream for storing cream ingredients Container 12A
A cream container 12B for storing cream ingredients for cappuccino, a mixing bowl 14 for receiving sugar and cream via a chute 13, dissolving with a predetermined amount of hot water, and supplying to a cup 9 via a supply pipe 14A. A pipe 15A for supplying hot water from the hot water tank 10 to the mixing bowl 14 disposed at the lower part of the cream container, a hot water valve 23A provided at the pipe 15A, and a hot water tank at the mixing bowl 14 disposed at the lower part of the sugar container 11 A pipe 15B for supplying hot water from the pipe 10 and a hot water valve 23B provided in the pipe 15B
At the downstream side of the check valve 21 from the pipe 6A.
4 is provided with a pipe 6C for discharging the waste liquid to the drainage bucket 18 through the pipe 4.

The ground bean supply unit 7 includes a bean storage container 7A for storing coffee beans, a coffee mill 7B for grinding coffee beans with a grinding blade (not shown) rotating at high speed, and a grinding blade for the coffee mill 7B. It has a mill motor 7C to be rotated and a chute 7D that is supplied from the weighing device 5 and guides the ground beans crushed and weighed based on the volume by the coffee mill 7B to the extractor 30. In the present embodiment, which is filled with deep-roasted coffee beans (eg, Brazil), the particle size (hereinafter, referred to as the most frequent particle size) that is most contained in the ground beans after the coffee beans are crushed. Is 500 μm to obtain ground beans.

The ground bean canister 8 is made of roasted coffee beans (eg, Kilimanjaro) from lightly roasted to medium roasted.
Is stored in advance with ground beans having the most frequent particle size of 750 μm.

The hot water tank 10 includes a heater H for heating drinking water.
A power supply unit 10A for supplying a current to the power supply ₁ , a float switch 10B for detecting a change in the water level of the hot water in the tank and outputting a water level lowering signal when the water level falls below a predetermined water level, Hot water temperature sensor 10 that outputs a temperature detection signal
D. Water amount of the hot water tank 10 is 5 liters output of the heater H ₁ is kept at about 97 ° C. water temperature of the hot water tank 10 with 1 kw.

The extractor 30 includes a cylinder 32 to which the ground beans are supplied via the chute 7D, a piston drive motor 33 for raising and lowering a piston 39 in the cylinder 32, and a torque transmission for transmitting the drive torque of the piston drive motor to the piston 39. A cylinder unit D integrally provided with a slide guide (described later) provided on the upper portion of the cylinder 32 and engaged with a guide rail (not shown) formed on the extractor main body; Cap 37 for supplying a predetermined high-temperature hot water into cylinder 32 through 6A
And a gear 36 for transmitting the driving torque of the cap motor 35 to tilt the cylinder unit D about the fulcrum 34A and to engage the cap 37 with the cylinder 32. A beverage supply pipe 30A for supplying the extracted coffee liquid to the cup 9 is attached to a lower portion of the cylinder 32 of the cylinder unit D, and a pressure adjusting solenoid valve 90 is attached to the beverage supply pipe 30A.

The pressure adjusting solenoid valve 90 is opened and closed based on a pressure value detected by a pressure sensor 25 provided in the pipe 6A or a predetermined timing according to an extraction operation.

In the cup-type vending machine having the above-described structure, for the sake of simplicity, the cup supply section for supplying the cup 9, the power supply section for supplying current to the mill motor 7C, and the beverage in the cup 9 are agitated. The components such as the stirrer, the cold beverage piping, and the raw material storage unit are not shown.

FIG. 1B shows a pump 60, which forms a gear pump that supplies hot water from the hot water tank 10 to the downstream side by rotating a pair of gears 60D and 60E in the direction of the arrow. The pair of gears 60D, 60E is
Hot water is sent out to the pipe 6A with a supply amount corresponding to the rotation speed by rotating F by the pump drive motor 60G.

FIG. 2 shows a weighing machine 5, which includes a measuring chamber 51 having an introduction section 5 A for introducing ground beans, and a measuring chamber 51.
Hinge part 52 for rotatably supporting front lid 5B at the end of
And a piston rod 56 integrally formed with a piston 56D slidably housed inside the measuring chamber 51 and having a rack portion 56A on a side surface, and a spring portion 56B formed at a rear end of the piston rod 56. A notch 56C formed near the spring portion 56B, protrusions 50A and 50B attached to the measuring chamber 51 and abutting on the spring portion 56B to restrict the movement of the piston rod 56, and a notch in the spring portion 56B. An optical sensor 57 for optically detecting 56C and a driving gear 5 meshing with a rack 56A of the piston rod 56
The motor includes a drive shaft 58 having a drive shaft 8A, a weighing motor 59A for driving the drive shaft 58 via a torque transmission unit 59, and a weighing encoder 59B attached to the rotation shaft of the weighing motor 59A to detect the amount of rotation. The diameter of the drive gear 58A is 17.5 mm, and the outer peripheral length of the gear portion that meshes with the rack 56A is about 55 mm. The open end of the lid support member 5C reaches the side of the measuring chamber 51, and has a light detecting section 5E at the end that engages with an optical sensor 5D provided on the side of the measuring chamber 51.

FIG. 3A shows a state in which the front lid 5B of the weighing device 5 is closed. The pivot axis of the hinge portion 52 is provided in the vertical direction, and the front lid 5B is rotated in the horizontal direction to measure the measuring chamber. The hinge 51 is provided above the opening of the front lid 5B so that the ground beans do not adhere thereto. The front lid 5B is fixed from the hinge portion 52 via a lid support member 5C formed in an inverted “H” shape.

FIG. 3B shows a state in which the front lid 5B of the weighing device 5 is opened, and ground beans are supplied from the introduction portion 5A to the weighing chamber 51. When the weighing chamber 51 is filled with the ground beans, The lid 5B rotates slightly. Based on this rotation, when light is emitted from the light emitting unit 5a of the optical sensor 5D that has been shielded from light by the light detecting unit 5E and is received by the light receiving unit 5b, the power supply to the mill motor 7C is stopped and the weighing chamber is stopped. The supply of the ground beans to 51 stops. After the stop, the metering motor 59A is energized, and the drive gear 58A rotates to move the piston rod 56 forward. At the tip of the piston 56D, there is provided a projection 56a that comes into contact with the front lid 5B, and holds the front lid 5B in an open state after extruding the ground beans.

In the present embodiment, the amount of the deep-roasted ground bean pushed out of the measuring device 5 by the piston 56D is 8 g.
It is set to be.

FIG. 4 shows the piston rod 56 in a state where the measuring chamber 51 is omitted from the drawing.
In the state where the projection 56a of D
Moves forward to rotate counterclockwise on the paper surface against the reaction force of the spring 55A provided coaxially with the hinge 52 as an axis. At this time, the front lid 5
B and the tip of the measuring chamber 51 are separated, and the ground beans easily fall without being caught between the front lid 5B and the measuring chamber 51.

FIG. 5 shows the ground bean canister 8,
(A) is a perspective view, and (b) is a cross section in the A direction of (a).
The ground bean canister 8 includes a lower main body 80A, a discharge port 80B for discharging the ground beans from the lower main body 80A, an upper main body 80C provided so as to be dividable from the lower main body 80A, and a lower main body 80A provided on the upper main body 80C. , An engaging claw 81 that integrally fixes the cap 83, a cap 83 that can be freely opened and closed by a hinge 82 on the upper body 80 </ b> C, a claw 84 for fixing the cap 83 in an open state, and
A gasket 85 interposed at the joint between the upper body 80C and the upper body 80C; a ground bean auger 86 provided inside the lower body 80A and rotated by an auger motor (not shown);
An agitator 89 for agitating the ground beans mounted inside the upper main body 80C, a first wheel 87 having a gear portion that comes into contact with the blade portion of the ground bean auger 86, and rotating based on the rotation of the ground bean auger 86; A pin 88A is provided on the side surface at a predetermined interval, and has a second wheel 88 that rotates by contacting the first wheel 87. The agitator 89 contacts the pin 88A when the second wheel 88 rotates. To stir the ground beans (not shown) stored in the canister.

In the present embodiment, the amount of the ground beans discharged from the discharge port 80B based on the rotation of the ground bean auger 86 is set to 4 g per second. 2 g of ground beans are discharged from the discharge port 80B.

FIG. 6 shows a cylinder unit D,
(A) shows the front side and (b) shows the back side. Cap 37
Has a sealing member 37A for sealing a gap when inserted into the cylinder 32, and is connected to the gear 36 by a rod 38. A guide plate 31 having a guide groove g having a predetermined guide pattern is fixed to a fixed portion of the rod 38. A lower portion of the guide groove g is engaged with an engagement formed outside the side wall of the cylinder 32. The projection 32A is engaged. The lower part of the piston 39 accommodated in the cylinder 32 is connected to a beverage supply pipe 30A for supplying the extracted coffee liquid to the cup. A wiper W is provided on the lower side wall of the chute 7D to separate the extraction residue (not shown) pushed up by the piston 39 from the piston 39. Drop along the inclined part S.

[0029] The cylinder unit D, when the driving torque of the cap motor 35 is transmitted through the gear 35A to drive the gear 36 to r ₁ direction, the guide grooves g of about the fulcrum 34A based on the guide pattern r ₂ cap 37 with inclined about 30 degrees direction is inserted into the cylinder 32 is displaced in the r ₃ direction.

FIG. 7 shows the torque transmitting section 34, in which (a)
Indicates a side, and (b) indicates a front. Piston drive motor 33
Is transmitted from the gear 341 attached to the rotation shaft of the piston drive motor 33 to the gear 342A,
The power is transmitted to the gear 344A of the shaft 343 via a gear (not shown) provided coaxially with the gear 342A. A worm gear 344B is provided below the shaft 343. The driving torque transmitted to the gear 344A is equal to the worm gear 344.
B is transmitted to a gear 345A of a shaft 345 disposed in a direction orthogonal to the shaft 343, and transmitted to a gear 345B provided coaxially with the gear 345A. The driving torque transmitted to the gear 345B is transmitted from the gear 346A of the shaft 346 to the gear 3
The power is transmitted to gear 347A that meshes with gear 346A and is transmitted to gear 347B provided coaxially with gear 347A. A rack 348 is attached to the lower part of the piston 39, and the rack 34
Gears 346B and 347B are meshed with both surfaces of 8. The gears 346B and 347B are connected to the rack 348.
The piston 39 moves up and down in the cylinder 32 by receiving a driving torque corresponding to the rotation direction of the piston drive motor 33 and rotating in opposite directions.

Worm gear 344 provided on shaft 343
B prevents the piston 39 from lowering when an external force in the direction of lowering the piston 39 is applied.

The piston 39 has a piston head 39A having a predetermined pressure resistance, a piston base 39B fixed to the rack portion 348 by a screw 39C and fixed to the piston head 39A, and a cylinder 32 attached to the piston head 39A. A delivery section 39D for delivering the coffee liquid from the inside to the beverage supply pipe 30A, and a piston head 39
The piston head 39A has an O-ring 39E mounted on the outer periphery of the piston head 39A and a filter 39F formed of a thin corrosion-resistant metal plate and mounted on the piston head 39A.
A and the piston base 39B are locked so as to have a predetermined clearance in a state where no pressure acts on the piston head 39A.

FIG. 8 shows a state in which the cylinder unit D is inclined. When the cap motor 35 is driven from the upright state to rotate the gear 36, the cylinder unit D
Incline counterclockwise around A. The cap 37 is lowered and inserted into the cylinder 32 in synchronization with the tilting operation. Although not shown in the figure, a predetermined amount of ground beans previously measured is supplied to the cylinder 32 via the chute 7D before tilting.

FIGS. 9A and 9B show a current detection circuit 74 for detecting the current supplied to the piston drive motor 33. FIG. 9A is a circuit diagram, and FIG. 9B is a diagram showing the detected current value and the compression load applied to the piston 39. Show the relationship. Power supply line (24 VDC) 71
Is connected to a motor drive circuit 70 for controlling the rotation of the piston drive motor 33, and has signal terminals A and B for inputting an energization signal from a main control unit (described later). The piston drive motor 33 is fixed to the ground potential via a detection resistor 72 and connected to a current detection circuit 74 via an A / D converter 73. The energizing signal input to the signal terminal A of the motor drive circuit 70 is H, and the energizing signal input to the signal terminal B is L
, The piston drive motor 33 rotates in the forward direction, and when the energization signal input to the signal terminal A is L and the energization signal input to the signal terminal B is H, the piston drive motor 3
3 rotates in the reverse direction, the piston drive motor 33 stops when the energization signal input to the signal terminals A and B is L, and stops when the energization signal input to the signal terminals A and B is H. The brakes are applied. Piston 3 by compressing ground beans
When the load on 9 increases, the current supplied to the piston drive motor 33 increases as shown in (b).

In the extractor 30 of the present embodiment, when a current of 0.5 A is detected by the current detection circuit 74, the compression load applied to the piston 39 is 12.5 kgf, and 2 A
Is detected, the compression load applied to the piston 39 is 50 kgf. In general, if the compressed amount of the ground beans is large, the interval between the ground bean particles is small, the hot water passing speed is small, and a strong coffee liquid is extracted, and if the compressed amount is small, the ground beans are small. The distance between the particles is increased, the passing speed of the hot water is increased, and a thin coffee liquid is extracted. By controlling the energization of the piston drive motor 33 based on the relationship between the current value and the compression load, the compression amount of the ground beans corresponding to the coffee liquid to be sold is set.

FIG. 10 shows the energization characteristics of the piston drive motor 33. The current value in the initial stage of energization from the stop state of the motor to the start of rotation is large. The corresponding current value is shown. The current rise characteristics of such motors differ from motor to motor,
This hinders detection of a current change according to the load applied to the piston 39. For example, thereby avoiding the current rise characteristics of initial energizing by starting the measurement of the ground tamping (before extraction compression) beans when a current value after Δt seconds the start of the energization time t ₁ is. In the present embodiment, the same measurement is performed at the time of energization of packing (compression during extraction) and pushing up of slag with Δt set to 0.1 second. In addition, since the amount of energization increases due to the sliding resistance between the O-ring 39E mounted on the piston 39 and the cylinder 32, the current detection circuit 74 supplies the current value obtained by subtracting the current value corresponding to the sliding resistance to the main control unit 100. Output.

FIG. 11 shows a control block in the cup-type vending machine according to the first embodiment.
1. Flow meter 19, pressure sensor 25, float switch 2A of cis-turn 2, float switch 1 of hot water tank 10.
0B, hot water temperature sensor 10D of hot water tank 10, measuring encoder 59B of measuring device 5, optical sensor 5D for detecting rotation of front cover 5B of measuring device 5, cap 3 provided on extractor 30.
7, an optical sensor 36B for detecting the top dead center, an optical sensor 36C for detecting the bottom dead center of the cap 37, an optical sensor 36D for detecting the waste disposal position, and a piston 3 provided in the extractor 30.
9, an optical sensor 39G for detecting the top dead center of the piston 39, an optical sensor 39H for detecting the bottom dead center of the piston 39, an optical sensor 57 of the measuring device 5, and a main control unit 100 for controlling each unit based on the output of the current detection circuit 74. And a memory 102 for storing control data of each section of the cup-type vending machine, and a timer 103 for counting a clock generated by a reference clock generator (not shown) and measuring time.

Light sensors 36B, 36C, and 36D
Is a transmission-type optical sensor that is provided on a gear 36 driven by a cap motor 35 and has a pair of light-receiving units and a light-emitting unit that shields the optical path with a disk having a slit for light transmission. When the cap 37 is at the top dead center, the bottom dead center, and the waste disposal position, the light receiving (ON) state is provided. The optical sensors 39G and 39H are
For example, it is a transmission-type optical sensor having a pair of light-receiving portions and a light-emitting portion whose light path is shielded by a light-shielding portion formed in the rack portion 348. The position of the piston 39 is detected based on the light-shielded output pattern.

FIGS. 12A to 12H schematically show the extraction operation of the extractor 30. FIG. In the following operation, a case will be described where two different types of ground beans A (deep roast) and B (light roast) are used to extract the coffee liquid for the blended coffee.

FIG. 12 (a) shows a process of supplying the ground beans, wherein the cylinder unit D is upright, and the ground beans A supplied from the measuring device 5 are supplied to the cylinder 3 via the chute 7D.
Feed to 2. Further, the auger motor (not shown) of the ground bean canister 8 is rotated so that the ground bean B is discharged from the discharge port 80B.
Is supplied to the cylinder 32 via the chute 7D.

FIG. 12 (b) shows the first state of the extraction preparation step. After supplying the ground beans A and B to the cylinder 32, the cap motor 35 is energized to drive the gear 36 in the direction of the arrow, and The unit D is rotated counterclockwise about the fulcrum 34A.

FIG. 12C shows a second state of the extraction preparation step, in which the cap 37 is lowered and inserted into the cylinder 32 in synchronization with the inclination of the cylinder unit D, and the driving of the cap motor 35 is stopped. . At this time, the gear 36 stops at a position rotated by 180 degrees from the state shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 (d) shows a first state of the extraction step. When the cap 37 is inserted into the cylinder 32, the piston drive motor 33 is energized to raise the piston 39 in the direction of the arrow to grind. Tamping beans A and B. At this time, the pressure adjusting solenoid valve 90 is closed, so that the liquid in the beverage supply pipe 30A does not flow toward the cup 9 during tamping. As the compression of the ground beans A and B progresses, the load on the piston 39 increases, so that the current value of the piston drive motor 33 increases. When this current value reaches a predetermined value, the piston drive motor 33 is braked, and thereafter, the energization is stopped and the piston 3
By stopping the step 9, the ground beans A and B are brought into a desired compressed state. After compression, hot water is supplied into the cylinder 32 via the pipe 6A.

The pressure adjusting solenoid valve 90 is opened when hot water is supplied, and the coffee liquid extracted from the coffee component by passing the ground beans A and B in the cylinder 32 is supplied to the cup 9 via the beverage supply interval 30A. (Not shown). When pressure is applied to the piston 39 during the extraction of the ground beans A and B, the piston head 39A moves in the pressure acting direction, and the O-ring 39E provided between the piston head 39A and the piston base 39B is elastically deformed based on this movement. The airtightness of the cylinder 32 is maintained by pressing the piston 39 against the cylinder 32.

FIG. 12 (e) shows a second state of the extraction step. After the pipe 6A is opened to the atmosphere and the atmospheric pressure is reached, the piston drive motor 33 is driven to move the piston 39 to the cylinder 3
2. Raise in 2 and pack the extraction slag containing the coffee liquor. Thereby, the squeezed coffee liquid is sent out to the beverage supply pipe 30A.

FIG. 12 (f) shows a suction step of sucking air into the cylinder 32, in which the piston drive motor 33 is driven in reverse to lower the piston 39. This piston 39
The coffee liquid staying in the beverage supply pipe 30A is sucked into the cylinder 32 and absorbed by the extraction scum due to the lowering operation of. At this time, the hot water staying in the pipe 6A due to the negative pressure in the cylinder 32 is also sucked.

FIG. 12 (g) shows a process of preparing the waste for disposal of the extracted slag.
The cap 37 is separated from the cylinder 32 by rotating the cap 37 by 90 degrees in the direction of the arrow from the state shown in FIG. After separation,
By raising the piston 39, the extraction residue remaining in the cylinder 32 is pushed up and stopped.

FIG. 12 (h) shows a process of discarding the extracted slag C. By driving the cap motor 35 to further rotate the gear 36 by 90 degrees in the direction of the arrow, the cylinder unit D is removed.
Rotates and stops in an upright state. During this rotation, the extraction residue C pushed up by the piston 39 is scraped off by the wiper W provided on the lower side wall of the chute 7D, falls as indicated by the arrow, and enters a residue bucket (not shown).

FIG. 13 shows a timing chart when the above-mentioned cup-type vending machine sells blended coffee (mixed beans A and B are mixed and supplied). In the same figure, optical sensors 36B, 36C, 36D for detecting the top dead center, bottom dead center, and the waste disposal position of the cap 37, and an optical sensor 39 for detecting the positions of the top dead center, bottom dead center of the piston 39.
The outputs of G and 39H are ON (H) during light reception and OFF (L) during light blocking.

When the purchaser inserts a coin, a control signal is output from the sales control unit 101 to the main control unit 100 to open the extraction hot water valve 22, and the pump 60 is driven at a low speed to supply a small amount of hot water to the pipe 6A. Is sent. At this time, the pump 60 is driven at a low speed so as to send out hot water of a pumping amount without pushing and opening the check valve 21 provided in the pipe 6A. As a result, the hot water staying in the pipe 6A is pumped to the pipe 6B and returned to the hot water tank 10, and the hot water of about 90 to 95 ° C.
Heat A.

When the warm-up of the pipe 6A is completed, the operation of the pump 60 is stopped, and the extraction hot water valve 22 is closed after a predetermined time. The reason for delaying the timing of closing the extraction hot water valve 22 is that when the extraction hot water valve 22 is closed at the same time as the pump is stopped or before the pump 60 is stopped, the pressure in the pipe 6A increases, and the check valve 21 is pushed and opened. This is to prevent hot water from being supplied to the extractor 30 and being absorbed by the ground beans in the cylinder 32.

In addition to driving the pump 60 at a low speed, for example, the piping resistance of the piping 6B including the extraction hot water valve 22 is reduced by the piping 6A.
A pipe line is formed so as to be smaller than the pipe resistance of the pump 6.
The extraction hot water valve 22 may be opened at the start of the zero drive.

Here, if the purchaser presses the selection button of the blended coffee containing sugar and cream before the pump 60 is stopped and before the extraction hot water valve 22 is closed,
A sales signal is output from the sales control unit 101 to the main control unit 100. The main controller 100 closes the extracted hot water valve 22 based on the input of the sales signal and starts the sales operation.

When the purchaser presses the selection button of the blended coffee containing sugar and cream after the extraction hot water valve 22 is closed, a sales signal is output from the sales control unit 101 to the main control unit 100, and the main control unit 100 weighs. An energization signal is output to the power supply of the motor 59A. The metering motor 59A is rotated based on the energization signal, and the ground beans A having an average particle diameter of 500 μm stored in the metering chamber 51 are pushed out by the piston 56D and supplied to the cylinder 32 of the extractor 30 via the chute 7D. . The piston 56D moves backward by an amount corresponding to the volume (bulk) to measure the ground beans A to be used at the next sale with the foremost portion as a reference position (measurement origin).
This movement amount is set by counting the pulses output from the weighing encoder 59B and stopping the rotation of the weighing motor 59A when a predetermined count value is reached.

Further, the ground bean auger 86 of the ground bean canister 8 rotates in synchronization with the operation of supplying the ground bean A, and the discharge port 8
From 0B, ground beans B having a most-frequent particle size of 750 μm are discharged and supplied to the cylinder 32 of the extractor 30 via the chute 7D. As a result, the cylinder 32 is supplied with 8 g of ground beans A and 2 g of ground beans B.

After supplying the ground beans A and B, the cap motor 3
5, the cylinder unit D of the extractor 30 is tilted to the extraction position. After the pressure adjusting solenoid valve 90 is closed and the hot water valve 24 is opened in synchronization with the inclination, the cylinder 3
The cap 37 is inserted into 2. As a result, the optical sensor 36C is turned on, and the main control unit 100 outputs an energization signal to the motor drive circuit 70 to
Drive. The piston 39 is driven by the piston drive motor 33 to rise in the cylinder 32 and tamping the ground beans A and B. The current value of the piston drive motor 33 at the time of this tamping is detected by a current detection circuit 74, and when a predetermined current value corresponding to the coffee liquid to be sold is detected, the piston drive motor 33 is braked, and thereafter, the energization is stopped. I do. The pressure adjusting solenoid valve 90 is opened in synchronization with the stop of the piston drive motor 33.

The ground bean supply unit 7 is provided with a bean storage container 7A.
Is ground in a coffee mill 7B so as to have a most frequent particle size of 500 μm, and is supplied to the measuring device 5 as ground beans A used in the extraction operation at the time of the next sale.

After tamping of ground beans A and B, hot water tank 1
The hot water valve 23B of the pipe 15B connected to 0 is opened to supply hot water to the mixing bowl 14, and the sugar supplied from the sugar container 11 is dissolved with the hot water. For blended coffee, the amount of hot water that dissolves sugar is about 95 cc. Similarly, the hot water valve 23A of the pipe 15A is opened to supply hot water to the mixing bowl 14, and the cream raw material supplied from the cream container 12A is dissolved with the hot water.

Subsequently, the pump 60 is driven to about 90 to 9
Hot water heated to 5 ° C. is supplied to the cylinder 32 at a pressure of about 8 atm and a pressure of 10 cc per second. By exposing the ground beans A and B in the cylinder 32 to hot water pressurized to a predetermined pressure, a coffee liquid in which coffee components are sufficiently eluted from the initial stage of extraction is extracted. This coffee liquid is supplied to the beverage supply pipe 3
Pour into cup 9 via OA. The amount of coffee liquor extracted is about 40 cc. When the flow signal input from the flow meter 19 reaches a predetermined value, the main control unit 100
Stop driving. The coffee liquid poured into the cup 9 is supplied with hot water in which sugar is dissolved from a mixing bowl 14 of a sugar supply system, and further supplied with hot water in which cream is dissolved from a mixing bowl 14 of a cream supply system and mixed. You. By mixing the hot water in which the sugar and the cream are dissolved, a coffee beverage having a dilution ratio corresponding to the sales amount (about 150 cc) is produced.

If the purchaser selects a blended coffee without sugar and cream, the piping 15B
From the mixing bowl 14 of the sugar supply system to about 95
Only cc of dilution water is poured into cup 9.

After the pump 60 is stopped, a predetermined time (0.5
Second), the hot water valve 24 is opened, and the piston drive motor 3
3 is driven to further raise the piston 39. After the coffee squeezed in the slag is squeezed by packing the slag based on the upward movement of the piston 39, the hot water valve 24 is closed and the piston drive motor 33 is driven in reverse to drive the piston 3 out.
9 is lowered. As a result, the coffee liquid staying in the beverage supply pipe 30A is sucked into the cylinder 32. The sucked coffee liquid is absorbed by the extraction residue.

The waste scrap is discarded by driving the cap motor 35 to separate the cap 37 from the cylinder 32, and then driving the piston drive motor 33 to rotate forward to raise the piston 39, thereby pushing up the waste scrap. The cylinder unit D is exposed from the top of the cylinder 32, and in this state, the cap motor 35 is driven to rotate the cylinder unit D to the upright position. By this rotation, the extracted residue comes into contact with the wiper W provided on the lower side wall of the chute 7D and is removed from the cylinder unit D. After the removal of the extracted slag, the vending operation is completed by driving the piston drive motor 33 in the reverse direction to lower the piston 39.

According to the above-described configuration, the ground bean canister 8 is provided adjacent to the measuring device 5 so that the lightly roasted ground bean different from the deeply roasted ground bean pulverized by the coffee mill 7C is supplied from the discharge port 80B. As a result, it is possible to extract a coffee liquid having a balanced bitterness and acidity. In this extraction operation, the amount of lightly roasted beans to be supplied as the sour component is very small, so that an increase in the selling cost can be minimized. By diluting the coffee liquid to a predetermined dilution ratio, it is possible to stably sell a blended coffee having no variation in quality.

The ground bean canister 8 includes not only ground beans having the same roasting degree and different grain size as the coffee beans stored in the bean storage container 7, but also roasts having the same particle size as the coffee beans stored in the bean storage container 7. Ground beans having different degrees of roasting may be stored. In addition to using the ground beans supplied from the coffee mill 7C, extraction can also be performed using stored ground beans.

In the above-described cup vending machine, since the pressure adjusting solenoid valve 90 provided in the beverage supply pipe 30A can be arbitrarily opened and closed, for example, the opening and closing timing can be adjusted according to the degree of coffee liquid extraction. Will be possible. For example, when selling regular coffee or espresso coffee, the pressure regulating solenoid valve 90 is closed so that the pressure of hot water becomes large from the start of extraction, and is opened by opening when the pressure in the pipe reaches a predetermined value. Fine and high-quality foam can be formed in the obtained coffee liquid. In addition, when extracting coffee liquid that does not form bubbles as in American coffee, by opening the pressure regulating solenoid valve 90 and performing the extraction operation, it is possible to perform appropriate extraction according to the coffee beverage to be sold. Become.

Further, by using a gear pump as the pump 60 for pumping the hot water from the hot water tank 10, it is possible to select a small-sized pump with a low pressure feeding amount without causing the poor pumping of the hot water due to the pressure increase in the piping. Become. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the cup-type vending machine and improve the degree of freedom in designing. In the pump 60 described above, the gear 6
By changing the rotation rate of the pump drive motor 60G, which is the drive source of 0E, based on the setting of the energization ratio, the pressure in the pipe can be easily controlled with high accuracy.

Further, according to the cup vending machine described above, since the deep roasted beans and the lightly roasted ground beans can be supplied to the cylinder 32 independently, the coffee with rich acidity can be obtained by using the lightly roasted ground beans. Alternatively, it is possible to selectively sell highly bitter coffee using deep roasted ground beans.

FIG. 14 is a timing chart for extracting a sour-based coffee liquid. When there is a sales request, the ground bean auger 86 of the ground bean canister 8 is driven to drive 10 g of lightly roasted ground bean ( Kilimanjaro)
Is supplied to the cylinder 32. By extracting the lightly roasted ground beans based on the extraction operation described above, it is possible to extract a coffee liquid containing a large amount of sourness.

FIG. 15 is a timing chart for extracting a coffee liquid mainly composed of bitterness. When there is a sales request, 8 g of deep-roasted ground beans (Brazil) are supplied to the cylinder 32 from the measuring device 5. By extracting the ground roasted beans based on the above-described extraction operation, a coffee liquid (espresso) containing a large amount of bitterness can be extracted.

In the above-described embodiment, the operation in the case of producing hot coffee with the cup-type vending machine has been described. However, the coffee liquid is mixed with ice made by an ice maker (not shown) in the cup to form ice. It can also be sold as coffee. Also, a plurality of canisters for ground beans can be installed, and a plurality of types of ground beans can be selectively supplied.

[0071]

As described above, according to the cup-type vending machine of the present invention, different types of ground beans different from ground beans ground in a coffee mill are supplied to the extractor.
It is possible to sell a coffee drink of stable quality that is excellent in bitterness and sour taste. In addition, coffee beverages mainly containing sourness or bitterness can be sold according to sales requests.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is an explanatory view showing a cup-type vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is an explanatory view of a pump mounted on the cup-type vending machine.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the measuring device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

3A is an explanatory diagram of a front portion (closed state) of the measuring device. FIG. 3B is an explanatory diagram of a front portion (open state) of the measuring device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the measuring device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a ground bean canister according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view in the A direction of FIG.

FIG. 6 (a) is a front view in which a part of the extractor according to the embodiment of the present invention is cut away, and FIG. 6 (b) is a rear view of the extractor according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7A is a side view of the torque transmitting unit according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7B is a front view of the torque transmitting unit according to the embodiment of the present invention, with a portion cut away.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an extractor according to the embodiment of the present invention.

9A is an explanatory diagram illustrating a current detection circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9B is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship between a compression load and a current value of a motor.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing energization characteristics of a piston drive motor.

FIG. 11 is a control block of a cup-type vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 12A to 12H are explanatory diagrams showing the operation of the extractor according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a timing chart of the cup-type vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is another timing chart of the cup-type vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is another timing chart of the cup-type vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Intake pipe 1A Intake valve 2 Systan 2A Float switch 3A Piping 5, Meter 5A Introducing part 5B Front lid 5C Lid support member 5D Optical sensor 5E Light detecting part 5a Light emitting part 5b Light receiving part 6A piping 6B piping 6C piping 7 Bean supply part 7A Bean storage container 7B Coffee mill 7C Mill motor 7D Chute 8 Ground bean canister 9 Cup 10 Hot water tank 10A Power supply unit 10B Float switch 10D Hot water sensor 11 Sugar container 12A Cream container 12B Cream container 13 Chute 14 Mixing bowl 14A Pipe 15A Pipe Piping 17 Slag bucket 18 Drain bucket 19 Flow sensor 19 Flow meter 20 Solenoid valve 21 Check valve 22 Extraction hot water valve 23A Hot water valve 23B Hot water valve 24 Hot water valve 25 Pressure sensor 30 Extractor 30A Drinking supply pipe 31 32 Cylinder 32A Engagement protrusion 33 Piston drive motor 34 Torque transmission part 34A Support point 35 Cap motor 35A Gear 36 Gear 36B Optical sensor 36C Optical sensor 36D Optical sensor 37 Cap 37A Seal member 38 Rod 39 Piston 39A Piston head 39B Piston base 39C Screw 39D Sending portion 39E O-ring 39F Filter 39G Optical sensor 39H Optical sensor 40 Slide guide 50A Projection 51 Metering chamber 52 Hinge 55A Spring 56 Piston rod 56A Rack 56B Spring 56D Piston 56a Projection 57 Optical sensor 58 Drive shaft 58A Drive gear 59 Torque transmission unit 59A Metering motor 59B Metering encoder 60 Pump 60A Bypass pipe 60B Valve 60C Rotary shaft 60D, 60E 60F Rotary shaft 60G Pump drive motor 70 Motor drive circuit 72 Detecting resistor 73 Converter 74 Current detection circuit 80 Check valve 80A Lower body 80B Discharge port 80C Upper body 81 Engagement claw 82 Hinge 83 Cap 84 Claw 85 Gasket 86 Bean auger 87 wheel 88 wheel 88A pin 89 agitator 90 pressure adjusting solenoid valve 100 main control unit 101 sales control unit 102 memory 103 timer 341 gear 342A gear 343 shaft 344A gear 344B worm gear 345 shaft 345A gear 345B gear 346 A 346 A 346 A Gear 348 Rack

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Uehara 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Yamamoto 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka No. Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3E047 AA02 AA03 BA01 DA01 DA06 DB03 DB06 DC04 EC01 EC05 EC07 ED04 GA08

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A method in which coffee beans are ground into ground beans having a predetermined particle size and supplied to an extractor, and predetermined high-temperature hot water pressurized by a pump is supplied to the extractor from a hot water tank via a pipe. In a cup-type vending machine that generates a coffee beverage according to the above, containing ground beans of other coffee beans different from the coffee beans, the ground coffee beans of the other coffee beans in the extractor according to the type of the coffee beverage. A ground bean storage unit to be supplied and added to the ground beans of the coffee beans; and a ground bean and the other ground bean of the other coffee beans to be supplied to the extractor in accordance with a type of the coffee beverage. A vending machine having a control unit for controlling a vending machine. 2. The cup-type vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the ground bean storage section is configured to store ground beans of another coffee bean of a different type from ground bean of the coffee bean. 3. The cup automatic according to claim 1, wherein said ground bean storage section is configured to store ground beans of said another coffee bean roasted at a different roasting degree from ground of said coffee bean. Vending machine. 4. The cup vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said ground bean accommodating portion is configured to store the ground bean of said another coffee bean ground to a particle size different from that of said ground bean of said coffee bean. 5. The cup vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the ground bean storage section is configured to store the ground beans of another coffee bean having a roasting degree and a grain size different from those of the ground bean of the coffee beans. . 6. The cup-type automatic vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said pump is a gear pump for pressurizing and feeding said hot water from said hot water tank based on rotation of a pair of gears provided in a housing. Machine. 7. The extracting machine according to claim 1, further comprising: a cylinder containing the ground coffee beans and the ground coffee beans, a piston provided in the cylinder so as to be movable up and down,
And a cylinder unit having driving means for driving the piston; a tilting means for tilting the cylinder unit from a first attitude to a second attitude; and relatively engaging with the cylinder in the second attitude. The cup-type vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising a cap configured to supply the hot water having the predetermined temperature from the hot water tank into the cylinder.