JP2002145395A - Method of controlling beverage feed of beverage feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a carbonated beverage and an additive liquid to sufficiently mix while preventing the beverage from excessively bubbling in a cup when the carbonated beverage such as cola and the additive liquid such as shochu are poured and sold in the cup. SOLUTION: The beverage feeder dispenses and feeds a predetermined amount of the carbonated beverage and an alcoholic additive liquid into a cup through a beverage feed line and an additive liquid feed line in the machine according to control of opening/closing of a valve based on an instruction. In this feeder, a beverage valve and an additive liquid valve are controlled to open/close so that the carbonated beverage is continuously poured out and the additive liquid is intermittently poured out by a small quantity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a beverage dispenser or a cup-type beverage vending machine, in which a fixed amount of a sparkling beverage and alcohol are added through a beverage supply line provided in the machine and an additive liquid supply line. The present invention relates to a beverage supply control method for a beverage supply device that pours a liquid into a cup.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the types of beverages sold by beverage dispensers and cup-type beverage vending machines have tended to become more and more diversified. Has appeared. Next, FIG. 7 shows a beverage supply system of the beverage supply device that also supports the sale of the above-mentioned cocktail-based beverage. In the figure, 1 is a beverage dispenser or a bend stage of a cup-type beverage vending machine, 2 is a spout nozzle for beverage supply installed above the bend stage 1, and 3 is a carbonated water such as a cola prepared in the machine. Beverage supply line for feeding a sparkling beverage to the spout nozzle 2 as a base beverage, 4 for an additive liquid supply line for sending an alcoholic beverage such as shochu as an additive liquid to the spout nozzle 2, 5 for a flow regulator, 6 for a beverage valve, Reference numeral 7 denotes an additive liquid valve, 8 denotes a control unit that opens and closes the valve based on a sales command, and 9 denotes a cup set on the bend stage 1.

[0003] The selling operation of such a beverage supply apparatus is well known. When a cocktail drink is selected at the time of selling the beverage and a supply instruction is given to a control unit (microcomputer) 8, the control unit 8 controls the total finished amount of the beverage, Based on the information on the supply amount of the sparkling beverage and the supply amount of the additive liquid, the opening and closing of the beverage valve 6 and the additive liquid valve 7 are controlled to dispense a fixed amount of the base beverage and the additive liquid, and then wait at the bend stage 1 through the spout nozzle 2. And discharge it to the cup 9.

Here, in the conventional beverage supply apparatus, as shown in FIG. 8, the beverage valve 6 and the additive liquid valve 7 are simultaneously opened at the start of the spouting of the sparkling beverage, and the beverage valve 6 is opened simultaneously with the end of the beverage ejection. The control pattern for closing the additive liquid valve 7 is generally used.

[0005]

As described above, when an alcoholic beverage such as shochu is added to a sparkling beverage (carbonated beverage) such as cola as described above, and the beverage is simultaneously supplied to the cup, the beverage rapidly drops in the cup. Foaming causes a large amount of foaming, which may cause problems such as overflowing from the cup, wetting the peripheral surface of the cup, and soiling the bend stage. Also, as a tendency in this case, the foaming amount increases as the speed of discharging the beverage and the additive liquid discharged from the spout nozzle toward the cup increases.

[0006] On the other hand, when the beverage and additive liquid are poured into the cup at a low rate and slowly poured, or when the sparkling beverage and the additive liquid are separately supplied to the cup, the beverage foams. It has been found that it is less. Therefore,
In order to suppress excess foaming and prevent the beverage from overflowing the cup, the beverage valve 6 is opened in the first half of the beverage supply operation as shown in the control pattern shown in FIG. In some cases, a supply method of separately discharging the sparkling beverage and the additive liquid has been attempted.

However, in the method in which the sparkling beverage and the additive liquid are separately poured out and supplied to the cup, the sparkling beverage and the additive liquid are not sufficiently mixed in the cup. The beverage concentration varies between the lower layer portion and the brix (Brix) representing the sugar content is not averaged, and the taste unevenness occurs. Therefore, a post-process of forcibly stirring the beverage in the cup is required to eliminate the taste unevenness. However, if the stirring is performed in the cup after the supply of the beverage, the carbon dioxide gas dissolved in the beverage is released, and therefore, the carbonated volume of the beverage is reduced, and the quality as a soft drink is reduced.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to suppress the occurrence of excessive foaming of a beverage in a cup and to sufficiently mix an effervescent beverage and an additive liquid. It is an object of the present invention to provide a beverage supply control method for a beverage supply device that is adapted.

[0009]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a fixed amount of sparkling beverage and alcohol are supplied through a beverage supply line in the machine and an additive liquid supply line by opening and closing control of a valve based on a command. In a beverage supply device that discharges and feeds additive liquids into a cup, (1) effervescent beverage is continuously dispensed, and the additive liquid supplied in parallel with this is dispensed in small portions and intermittently dispensed Valve control is performed as described above (claim 1).

(2) The effervescent beverage is continuously dispensed, and the additive liquid is divided into a first half process in which the additive liquid is supplied before the start of the beverage dispensing and a second half process in which the additive liquid is supplied after the beverage is dispensed. Valve control is performed so that the amount of the second half of the process is set smaller than the amount of the solution to be dispensed (claim 2). (3) The effervescent beverage is continuously dispensed, the first step of supplying the additive liquid before the start of dispensing the beverage, the second step of supplying the beverage in parallel with the dispensing of the beverage, and the third step of supplying the additive liquid after the dispensing of the beverage. In the second step, the valve is controlled so that the additive liquid is divided into small portions and the mixture is discharged intermittently (claim 3).

(4) The effervescent beverage is continuously poured, and the additive liquid supplied in parallel with the brewing beverage is divided into the first half process and the second half process. Valve control is performed such that the flow rate is reduced to a small value (claim 4). (5) The effervescent beverage is continuously dispensed, the first step of supplying the additive liquid before the start of dispensing the beverage, the second step of supplying the beverage in parallel with the dispensing of the beverage, and the third step of supplying the additive liquid after the dispensing of the beverage. After dividing the process into steps, the valve is controlled so that the flow rate in the second step is made smaller than the flow rate in the first and third steps (claim 5).

By controlling the opening and closing of the beverage valve and the additive liquid valve by the method described in each of the above items, excessive bubbling of the beverage in the cup can be suppressed to prevent the beverage from overflowing from the cup, and the beverage can be added to the effervescent beverage. The liquid mixes with the average in the entire area of the cup, resulting in a high quality beverage with no uneven taste.
In addition, this point has been sufficiently proved from actual machine tests performed by the inventors.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 shows a valve control pattern according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, from the start to the end of the beverage supply operation, the beverage valve 6 shown in FIG. 7 is opened to continuously dispense the effervescent beverage (cola) serving as the base beverage, and the additive liquid supplied in parallel with this. The additive liquid valve 7 is intermittently opened and closed so that (shochu) is dispensed in small portions.

According to this control method, the operation of simultaneously injecting the sparkling beverage and the additive liquid into the cup and the operation of injecting only the sparkling beverage into the cup are alternately repeated.
As a result, compared to the conventional control pattern shown in FIG. 8, the foaming of the beverage in the cup is suppressed to a low level, and while the beverage overflows from the cup due to excessive foaming, it is possible to reduce the foaming of the beverage. The mixture is sufficiently mixed with the additive liquid to produce a high-quality beverage without uneven taste. This point has also been confirmed from the results of actual machine tests performed by the inventors.

FIG. 2 shows a valve control pattern according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the effervescent beverage is continuously poured, while the additive liquid is divided into a first half step of supplying the beverage before the start of the beverage discharge and a second half step of supplying the beverage after the beverage is discharged, and furthermore, the first half step. Valve control is performed such that the amount of the second-stage process is set smaller than the amount of the process to be discharged.

That is, based on the beverage supply command, first, the additive liquid valve 7 described with reference to FIG. 7 is opened, and when most of the supply amount of the additive liquid to be supplied is poured into the cup in the first half of the process, the additive liquid valve 7 is temporarily stopped. Close and then open the beverage valve 6 to continuously dispense a quantity of sparkling beverage and close the valve. Next, in the latter half of the process, the additive liquid valve 7 is opened again to discharge the remaining amount of the additive liquid.

According to this control method, the sparkling beverage and the additive liquid to be poured in the first half step are discharged at different timings and before the start of pouring of the sparkling beverage, and are discharged and supplied to the cup. Therefore, foaming of the beverage in the cup is suppressed to a low level. In addition, by mixing the additive liquid again in the latter half of the process after dispensing the sparkling beverage, the mixing of the beverage in the cup is effectively performed. In addition, since the supply amount of the additive liquid to be poured out in the latter half of the process is set to a small amount, even if the beverage foams in the cup due to the addition of the additive liquid, the foaming amount is small and does not overflow from the cup. .

FIG. 3 shows a valve control pattern according to a third embodiment of the present invention. This example is a combination of Example 1 and Example 2 described above. For the continuous pouring of the sparkling beverage, the additive liquid is supplied before the start of the beverage pouring, The process is divided into a second process for supplying the beverage in parallel and a hitting process for supplying the beverage after pouring the beverage. In the second process, the valve control is performed so that the additive liquid is divided into small portions and the solution is discharged intermittently. .

That is, based on the beverage supply command, first, the additive liquid valve 7 described with reference to FIG. 7 is opened, a part of the additive liquid to be supplied is poured into the cup in the first step, and then the beverage valve 6 is opened. In parallel with this, the additive liquid valve 7 is intermittently controlled to open and close in the second step while dispensing the additive liquid little by little while opening and continuously discharging the fixed amount of sparkling beverage. When a certain amount of the sparkling beverage is dispensed, the beverage valve 6 is closed, and the additive liquid valve 7 is opened again to dispense the remaining amount of the additive liquid.
This makes it possible to effectively mix the sparkling beverage and the additive liquid while suppressing the foaming in the cup, taking advantage of the features of the above-described first and second embodiments.

FIG. 4 shows a valve control pattern according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the effervescent beverage is continuously poured, and the additive liquid supplied in parallel is divided into the first half process and the second half process. Valve control is performed so that the flow rate is reduced.

In this embodiment, a beverage system having the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 6 is used. That is, the additive liquid supply line 4 is divided into two branch lines 4a and 4b from the middle and connected to the spout nozzle 2 and each branch line 4a, 4b has a flow regulator 5 and an additive liquid, respectively. The valves 7a and 7b are connected. The flow rate of the flow regulator connected to each of the branch lines 4a and 4b is set smaller than that of the flow regulator of FIG.

At the time of selling the beverage, the additive liquid valves 7a and 7b are simultaneously opened together with the beverage valve 6 based on the sales command. In the first half of the process, branching is performed in parallel with the discharging of the sparkling beverage from the beverage supply line 3. The additive solution is discharged from the lines 4a and 4b. Here, after the first half step has elapsed, the additive liquid valve 7a is closed, and in the second half step, the additive liquid is discharged only through the branch line 4b. As a result, the flow rate of the additive liquid in the second half of the process is reduced to about half that of the first half of the process.

According to this control method, the flow rate of the additive liquid is large in the first half of the additive liquid dispensing performed in parallel with the dispensing of the sparkling beverage. The foaming increases due to the mixing, but at this time, the amount of the beverage poured into the cup is still less than half, and the foamed foam disappears sequentially, so that it does not overflow from the upper surface of the cup. On the other hand, in the latter half of the process, the flow rate of the additive liquid is reduced by half, so that the sparkling beverage and the additive liquid are mixed while suppressing foaming in the cup. Therefore,
Even when the drinking water level in the cup rises, the foamed foam does not overflow from the upper surface of the cup.

FIG. 5 shows a valve control pattern according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the effervescent beverage is continuously dispensed, the first step of supplying the additive liquid before the start of the dispensing of the beverage, the second step of supplying the beverage in parallel with the dispensing of the beverage, and the supplying step after the dispensing of the beverage. To the third step, and the second and third steps correspond to the discharge flow rate in the first and third steps.
Valve control is performed so that the discharge flow rate in the process is reduced.

In this embodiment, a beverage system having the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 6 is used as in the fourth embodiment. Then, at the time of selling the beverage, the additive liquid valves 7a and 7b are simultaneously opened in the first step before the beverage valve 6 is opened, and the additive liquid is discharged from both the branch lines 4a and 4b. In the subsequent second step, while the additive liquid valve 7b is open, the valve 7a is closed, and the beverage valve 6 is opened to start pouring the sparkling beverage through the beverage supply line 3 and, in parallel with this, the branch line. Continue to pour out the additive from 4a. Further, when a certain amount of the sparkling beverage is dispensed, the beverage valve 6 is closed, and the additive liquid valve 7a is opened again to discharge the remaining amount of the additive liquid from the branch lines 4a and 4b.

According to this control method, in the second step of supplying the additive liquid in parallel with the dispensing of the sparkling beverage, since the dispensing flow rate of the additive liquid is set to a small amount, foaming in the cup is prevented. It is kept low and the additive liquid poured out in the first step before the start of pouring out the sparkling beverage mixes in the cup. And
By pouring out the remaining additive liquid in the third step performed after the pouring of the sparkling beverage, the sparkling beverage and the additive liquid are sufficiently mixed while suppressing foaming in the cup.

[0027]

As described above, according to the beverage supply control method of the present invention, a beverage dispenser or a cup-type beverage vending machine is prepared by adding an additive liquid such as shochu to a sparkling beverage such as a cola. Even if you sell a mixed cocktail beverage, the foaming beverage and the additive liquid are mixed on average while suppressing excessive foaming of the beverage in the cup to avoid overflowing from the cup, and good quality without uneven taste It can sell and provide drinks.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a valve control pattern of a beverage supply device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a valve control pattern of a beverage supply device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a valve control pattern of a beverage supply device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a valve control pattern of a beverage supply device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a valve control pattern of a beverage supply device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a beverage system circuit diagram of a beverage supply device applied to the embodiments 4 and 5 shown in FIGS.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of a beverage system of a beverage supply apparatus applied to the first to third embodiments and a conventional beverage supply.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a valve control pattern of a conventional beverage supply device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional valve control pattern different from FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 bend stage 2 spout nozzle 3 beverage supply line 4 additive liquid supply line 4a, 4b branch line 6 beverage valve 7, 7a, 7b additive liquid valve 8 control unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A beverage supply apparatus which discharges a fixed amount of an effervescent beverage and an alcoholic additive liquid into a cup through a beverage supply line and an additive liquid supply line in the machine by opening and closing control of a valve based on a command. A beverage supply control method for a beverage supply device, comprising: continuously dispensing beverage, and performing valve control so as to dispense the additive liquid to be supplied in parallel in small amounts at a time and intermittently. 2. A beverage supply apparatus which discharges a fixed amount of an effervescent beverage and an additive liquid of alcohol to a cup through a beverage supply line and an additive liquid supply line in the machine by opening and closing control of a valve based on a command. The beverage is continuously dispensed, and the additive liquid is divided into the first half process, which is supplied before the start of beverage dispensing, and the second half process, which is supplied after the beverage is dispensed. A beverage supply control method for a beverage supply device, wherein a valve control is performed so as to set a small amount to dispense. 3. A beverage supply device for supplying a fixed amount of a sparkling beverage and an alcoholic additive liquid to a cup through a beverage supply line and an additive liquid supply line in the machine by opening and closing control of a valve based on a command. The beverage is continuously dispensed, and the additive liquid is divided into a first step of supplying the beverage before the start of the beverage, a second step of supplying the beverage in parallel with the beverage, and a hitting step of supplying the beverage after the beverage is discharged. A method of controlling the supply of drinks in a beverage supply apparatus, wherein the control is performed such that the additive liquid is dispensed in small amounts in small increments in a second step and the liquid is intermittently dispensed. 4. A beverage supply apparatus which discharges a fixed amount of an effervescent beverage and an additive liquid of alcohol into a cup through a beverage supply line and an additive liquid supply line in the machine by opening and closing control of a valve based on a command. Beverage is continuously dispensed, and the additive liquid to be supplied in parallel with this is divided into the first half process and the second half process, and then the dispensed flow rate in the second half process is set smaller than the dispensed flow rate in the first half process. A beverage supply control method for a beverage supply device, comprising performing valve control as described above. 5. A beverage supply apparatus for supplying a fixed amount of a sparkling beverage and an alcoholic additive liquid to a cup through a beverage supply line and an additive liquid supply line in the machine by opening and closing control of a valve based on a command. The beverage was continuously dispensed, and the additive liquid was divided into a first step of supplying the beverage before the start of the beverage, a second step of supplying the beverage in parallel with the beverage, and a third step of supplying the beverage after the beverage was poured. The first and third
A beverage supply control method for a beverage supply device, comprising: performing valve control so as to make the dispensing flow rate in the second step smaller than the dispensing flow rate in the process.