JP2003088471A - Hot water storage tank - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently remove generated scales. SOLUTION: A drain pipe 26 provided with a switch valve is suspended in the center of the bottom plate 25 of a tank main body 20, and the bottom plate 25 is formed tilting downward toward the drain pipe 26 from the outer peripheral edge. A heater plate 28 is stuck in a tilting posture on the lower surface of the bottom plate 25. When hot water is boiled, bubbles B are generated on the bottom plate 25. Then, the bottom plate 25 is vibrated as the result of being shocked. When scales S are deposited, they slip to the side of the drain pipe 26 trembling corresponding to tilting of the bottom plate 25 by the vibration. When there are the scales S floating from the bottom plate 25 with raising of the bubbles B, the scale moves like jumping toward the side of the drain pipe 26 in the case of dropping onto the tilting bottom plate 25. The scales to be moved are made to fall into the drain pipe 26 in order and discharged to the outside of equipment speedily with drain water as a switch valve is opened.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hot water storage tank equipped in a beverage feeder or the like, and more particularly to a hot water storage tank having a function of effectively removing scale accumulated on the bottom surface of the tank.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a hot water storage tank equipped in a tea dispenser has a structure in which a drain outlet having an opening / closing valve is opened at the center of the bottom surface of the tank main body and a heater is provided. When water is supplied to the tank body with the valve closed, hot water is generated and stored by being heated by the heater, and when the pouring switch is operated, the water is discharged from the discharge port to the tea generation part, etc. It is designed to be discharged toward.
By the way, in such a hot water storage tank, when water containing a large amount of calcium ions is used as raw water, a scale is generated and accumulated on the bottom surface of the tank body. If the accumulated scale is left as it is, it will float due to convection in the tank that occurs during heating, etc., and it will enter the pouring valve at the time of pouring, causing malfunction and making the taste of tea or white hot water worse. There was a fear. Also,
If the scale is deposited on the heater installation area, the bubbles generated near the heater installation area when the boiling water boiled out of the scale or disappeared. Along with this, there was a problem that abnormal noise was generated from the bottom of the tank.

[0003]

Therefore, it is necessary to properly clean the inside of the tank, but it is neglected or the delay is delayed, and the above-mentioned problems must be accepted. When cleaning, wait for a long time before it can be reused, such as stopping the tea supply machine, cleaning the inside of the tank while draining water, and then adding new water and boiling water again. Since it is necessary, it is necessary to select a time period in which the tea supply machine is not used frequently, which also causes a delay in the cleaning work, which is a cause of delay. The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a hot water storage tank having a function of efficiently removing generated scale.

[0004]

As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a hot water storage tank in which water supplied into the tank body is heated by a heater and stored as hot water. A drain outlet provided with an opening / closing valve is opened at approximately the center of the bottom surface of the tank body, and the bottom surface is formed in a downward slope from the outer peripheral edge toward the drain outlet, and the lower surface of this inclined portion is formed. It is characterized in that the heater is arranged along the above. The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, a predetermined region around the drainage port on the bottom surface is formed in an inclined shape having a steeper slope than other regions. .

[0005]

<Advantages and effects of the invention><Invention of claim 1> Since the heater is arranged below the inclined bottom surface of the tank main body, bubbles are generated from the bottom surface when the boiling water is boiled.
When the bubbles are generated, the bottom surface is impacted and vibrates, so that the scale accumulated on the bottom surface slides toward the drain port following the inclination. Moreover, the scale floating from the bottom surface along with the bubbles falls again on the inclined bottom surface, and thus the scale moves toward the drain port side. The scale thus moved is sequentially dropped into the drain port, and is quickly discharged outside the machine by opening the opening / closing valve. By utilizing the bubbles generated when the hot water is boiled and the inclination of the bottom surface, the accumulated scale can be dropped into the drain port and quickly removed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the scale from entering the pouring valve and causing a malfunction, or making the taste of tea or white hot water bad. In particular, it is possible to always keep the inside of the tank clean by simply draining it periodically. In addition, by arranging the heater along the inclined portion of the bottom surface, it is possible to positively generate bubbles from the bottom surface. The inclination of the bottom can be kept small. Therefore, when the height of the tank main body is constant, the internal volume can be increased.

<Invention of Claim 2> Since a heater cannot be provided at the drainage port, bubbles are less likely to be generated in the area around the drainage port, and the function of moving the scale accompanying bubble generation tends to be difficult to be exhibited. Therefore, the area around the drainage port has a steep slope to facilitate the movement of the scale due to gravity fall. It is possible to quickly move and eliminate the scale over the entire bottom surface while minimizing the decrease in the internal volume of the tank body.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. <First Embodiment> A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, the hot water storage tank 10 equipped in the tea dispenser is illustrated. The tea or white hot water pouring system in this tea dispenser will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 1. Raw water such as tap water is supplied into a hot water storage tank 10 through a water supply pipe 11, and the raw water is heated by a heater plate 28. When it is stored as hot water and the pouring switch of tea or white hot water is operated, in the case of tea, the hot water discharged from the discharge port 23 is supplied to the mixing container 13 by opening the corresponding hot water supply valve 12. , The tea is produced by being mixed with the powdered tea discharged from the canister 14 and poured out from the pouring outlet 15, while in the case of white hot water, the corresponding hot water supply valve 12 is opened to discharge the tea from the discharge outlet 23. The prepared hot water is directly poured out from another pouring outlet 16 as white hot water.

Next, the structure of the hot water storage tank 10 will be described.
The hot water storage tank 10 is provided with a tank body 20 made of a stainless steel plate. The tank body 20 is formed into a bottomed cylindrical shape as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and a lid plate is attached to the upper opening. The outer peripheral surface is covered with a heat insulating wall 21. A water supply port 22 connected to the water supply pipe 11 is provided on the upper side of the peripheral surface of the tank body 20, and the above-described discharge port 23 is provided on the lower side of the same peripheral surface.

A drain pipe 26 is hung and connected to the center of the bottom plate 25 of the tank body 20, and an on-off valve 27 is provided in the drain pipe 26 and a drain hose connected to the drain pipe 26 (see FIG. (Not shown) is led to the drainage point outside the machine. As shown in FIG. 2, the above-mentioned bottom plate 25 is formed in an inclined shape having a downward slope from the outer peripheral edge toward the vertical position of the drain pipe 26 at the center. This tilt angle is 10
-30 degrees is preferable, and is set to about 15 degrees in this embodiment. Further, the heater wire 29 is provided on the lower surface of the bottom plate 25.
The aluminum heater plate 28 in which the
It is stretched in close contact with a slanted posture that follows the inclination of.

The operation of this embodiment is as follows. The water supplied into the tank main body 20 is heated by the heater plate 28. However, since the heater plate 28 is disposed in close contact with the lower surface of the bottom plate 25, as shown in FIG. At times, water vaporizes on the bottom plate 25 and bubbles B are generated. For example, the bubbles B are more positively generated from the bottom plate 25 as compared with the case where the heater is arranged on the peripheral surface. When the bubble B is generated, the bottom plate 25 vibrates due to the impact applied to the bottom plate 25, and when the scale S is deposited here, the bottom plate 25 vibrates as shown in detail in FIG. Upon receipt, the scale S slides in small steps toward the drain pipe 26 following the inclination of the bottom plate 25 (broken line arrow in the figure).

Further, as shown in FIG. 6 (A), if there is a scale S floating from the bottom plate 25 as the bubble B moves toward the water surface, the scale S is re-assembled as shown in FIG. 6 (B). When it falls on the inclined bottom plate 25, it moves so as to bounce toward the drain pipe 26 side, as indicated by the thick solid arrow in the figure. The scale S moved in this manner is sequentially dropped into the drain pipe 26, including the scale that directly drops from the floating state. The scale S is the drain pipe 26.
By opening the on-off valve 27 provided in the, the water is quickly discharged out of the machine together with the drainage.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the bubble B generated when the hot water is boiled and the inclination of the bottom plate 25 are utilized,
The scale S accumulated on the bottom plate 25 of the tank body 20 can be dropped into the drain pipe 26 to be removed, and the bottom plate 25 of the tank body 20 can be kept clean. Therefore, if the drainage from the tank main body 20 is regularly performed, it is always kept clean. As a result, it is possible to prevent the scale S from being mixed in when pouring out tea or white hot water, eliminating the influence on the flavor of hot tea, and preventing clogging of the hot water supply valve 12 and the like. In addition, it is possible to prevent the bubble B from rising out of the scale S or the generation of an abnormal noise accompanying the disappearance of the bubble B.

Structurally, since the bottom plate 25 of the tank body 20 is inclined and the heater plate 28 is arranged in a slanting posture in accordance with the inclination, it is possible to deal with the problem relatively easily. Further, since the heater plate 28 is arranged along the inclined portion of the bottom plate 25, the bubbles B can be positively generated from the bottom plate 25, so that the scale S accompanying the generation of the bubbles B is generated.
Is effectively exhibited, and the inclination of the bottom plate 25 can be suppressed to that extent. Therefore, the tank body 2
When the height of 0 is fixed, the internal volume can be increased. Since the bottom plate 25 of the tank body 20 is only inclined, the inside of the tank body 20 can be easily cleaned. When the bottom plate 25 is inclined, it functions like a funnel when draining water, and the drainage speed is increased, that is, the drainage capacity is increased, and the drainage can be performed cleanly without leaving any residue. .

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In the above-described first embodiment, since the heater plate 28 cannot be arranged in the bottom plate 25 of the tank body 20 at the position where the drain pipe 26 is vertically provided, the bubbles B are less likely to be generated in the region around the drain pipe 26. The movement function of the scale S accompanying the generation of the bubbles B tends to be difficult to be exhibited. In view of this point, the second embodiment is modified in the shape of the bottom plate 25A of the tank body 20A. In the following, changes from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and portions having the same functions as those of the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the tank body 20A
Region 30 of the bottom plate 25A around the vertical position of the drainage pipe 26, for example, approximately 1/3 of the entire bottom plate 25A in diameter.
In the region 30 corresponding to, the inclination angle is about 45 degrees, which is steeper than the outer peripheral side. The heater plate 28A is stretched in close contact with the lower surface of the bottom plate 25A. That is, in the region 30 around the drainage pipe 26 where it is difficult to obtain the effect of moving the scale S by the bubbles B, the scale S is easily moved by gravity fall by forming a steep slope, and the scale S is quickly moved in the entire area of the bottom plate 25A. It is possible to move it and eliminate it. Further, since only a part of the bottom plate 25A is made steep, the decrease in the internal volume of the tank body 20A can be suppressed to the minimum.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition to the above, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) The present invention can be widely applied to hot water storage tanks for beverage dispensers other than tea tea dispensers, in general, to hot water storage tanks in which supplied water is heated by a heater and stored as hot water. Is possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an internal structure of a tea feeding machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the bottom side of the tank body.

[Figure 3] Bottom view of the tank body

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a scale removing operation.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a movement operation of the scale accompanying the vibration of the bottom plate.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a moving operation accompanied by the scale falling on the bottom plate.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the bottom side of the tank body according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

B ... Air bubbles S ... Scale 10 ... Hot water storage tank 20 ... Tank body 25 ... Bottom plate (of tank body 20) (bottom surface)
26 ... Drain pipe (drain port) 27 ... Open / close valve 28 ... Heater plate (heater) 20A ... Tank body 25A ... Bottom plate (bottom surface) of tank body 20A 28A ... Heater plate (heater) 30 ... (Steep) area

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Tatsuo Saeki             16 Hoshizaki, 3rd South Building, Sakaemachi, Toyoake City, Aichi Prefecture             Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomio Suyama             16 Hoshizaki, 3rd South Building, Sakaemachi, Toyoake City, Aichi Prefecture             Electric Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 4B004 BA03 BA06 CA11

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A hot water storage tank in which water supplied to the inside of a tank body is heated by a heater and stored as hot water, and a drain outlet having an opening / closing valve is opened at a substantially central portion of a bottom surface of the tank body, A hot water storage tank, wherein the bottom surface is formed in an inclined shape having a downward slope from the outer peripheral edge toward the drainage port, and the heater is arranged along the lower surface of the inclined portion. 2. The hot water storage tank according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined region on the bottom surface around the drain port is formed to have a steeper slope than the other regions.