JP2006001642A - Beverage dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem wherein, while beverage is cooled by the use of cooling water in a conventional instantaneous cooling system dispenser (server), the cooling water cannot be cooled to a freezing temperature of 0°C or lower, thus delivering a slow cooling velocity, causing a heat exchanger to become large, and making it necessary to preserve water in advance in a pre-cooled state, and furthermore, residual beverage such as beer, etc., left over in cooling equipment is feared to become decomposed, thus causing deterioration of taste, requiring the residual beverage to be removed and the equipment to be cleaned, while it is extremely difficult to clean the interior of present thin and long tube. <P>SOLUTION: In order to gain a cooling velocity and improve the capability of cooling, refrigerant tube and beverage coolant tube are either: integrally molded into a shape of a cube, etc., together with such high heat conductive materials as metals, etc., by the processes of enveloped casting or HIP treatment, etc.; or independently molded for cooling with contact surfaces. Beverage cooling equipment is of such a structure that a groove is provided in a plane plate, etc., or a thin plane-shaped flow passage is formed therein for a lid to cover the equipment, with at least its one surface being brought in contact with one surface of refrigerant cooling equipment for cooling. The removing of the beverage cooling equipment and of the lid facilitates an easy cleaning. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

    Conventional techniques are shown in FIGS. The model numbers and model names of typical manufacturers and dispensers are shown at the bottom of each figure.

    FIG. 13 shows a beverage dispenser (300) called water-cooled or ice-cooled. The beverage in the barrel (210) is pressurized with the high-pressure carbon dioxide gas supplied from the carbon dioxide cylinder (110), passes through the beverage supply pipe (230), and goes through the stainless steel coil (310) in the cold plate (315). It is cooled with ice or water in the cooling chamber (330) that comes into contact with the outside and is poured from the cock (320) into a mug or the like. The cold plate (315) installed in the cooling chamber (330) is cooled by ice placed on the top, and the water that has melted the ice is drained through a water distribution pipe. This type of beverage dispenser is mainly cooled using ice latent heat (80 kcal / kg), so when cooling a 30 ° C beverage to 4 ° C with 1 kg (about 1 liter) ice, Has cooling capacity. To supply a large amount of cold beverage is insufficient capacity, has the disadvantage that ice is required and the treatment of water that has melted ice is necessary. Further, the cold plate (315) is formed by casting a beverage cooling pipe inside, and is difficult to clean.

    FIG. 14 shows a beverage dispenser (300) called barrel cooling or air cooling. The barrel (210) and the beverage inside thereof are cooled in the cooling chamber (330), and the beverage in the barrel (210) is pressurized with a high-pressure carbon dioxide gas supplied from the carbon dioxide gas cylinder (110), and the beverage supply pipe Through (230), it is poured from the cock (320) into a mug or the like. The air in the cooling chamber (330) is cooled by the refrigerator (355), and the barrel (210) placed in the cooling chamber (330) and the beverage inside are cooled. This type of beverage dispenser cools the air with a refrigerator and cools the barrel with that air. Since the heat transfer coefficient of air is an order of magnitude smaller than that of liquid, it is necessary to take a large temperature difference or to use a heat exchanger having a large heat transfer area. When the heat transfer is hindered, there is a disadvantage that it takes a long time for cooling in order to cool the beverage mainly by heat transfer from the surface of the barrel. Moreover, since the heat transfer of the air cooler and air of a refrigerator and the air and the surface of a barrel pass through poor heat transfer rates, the responsiveness is poor and temperature control in a short time is difficult. On the other hand, since there is no beverage cooler, only the beverage supply pipe (230) needs to be cleaned, so cleaning is easy.

    FIG. 15 shows a beverage dispenser (300) called an instantaneous cooling type (short cooling type). The beverage in the barrel (210) is pressurized with high-pressure carbon dioxide supplied from the carbon dioxide cylinder (110), passes through the beverage supply pipe (230), enters the stainless steel coil (310), and enters the cooling chamber (330). ) Is cooled with water in the inside and poured into a mug or the like from the cock (320). The water in the cooling chamber (330) is a refrigerant cooling pipe (cooling pipe provided in the cooling chamber) with a low-temperature refrigerant cooled by a refrigerator composed of a compressor (350), an air cooling condenser (370), and a fan (360). 340) and cooled. In order to improve heat transfer between the coolant cooling pipe (340) and the stainless steel coil (310) and water, the water is constantly stirred by a screw (390) driven by a motor (380). FIG. 16 shows an overview photograph of the instantaneous cooling dispenser actually used. The left of the figure is for one type of beverage, the right is for three types of beverage, and several types can be poured out by one. In Japan, it is most commonly used for business purposes, and there is a merit that many beverages can be poured out in business. However, it takes a lot of time and time to clean the long and thin stainless steel coil (310). is necessary. Moreover, since water is used as an intermediate cooling source, a relatively large amount of water and a tank for storing the water are necessary, and it is necessary to cool the water before cooling the beverage. Furthermore, since the minimum temperature of water is 0 ° C. and a temperature difference from the beverage cannot be made large, it is necessary to take a large heat transfer area, and it is difficult to control the beverage supply amount.

    FIG. 17 uses a plate heat exchanger (5) for cooling to cool a beverage with cold water. The cold water is made by the refrigerator (2), stored in the cooling water tank (3), and fed into the plate heat exchanger (5) by the cooling water feed pump (14). The plates are various non-toxic brazing or welded joints. This device has basically the same structure as that of the instantaneous cooling type, and is characterized in that a plate heat exchanger is adopted. Since the plate heat exchanger is adopted, it becomes more difficult to clean the heat exchanger, and it is necessary to newly provide a cooling water tank and a cooling water feed pump, the structure becomes complicated and large, and there is no merit to use as a beverage dispenser. .

Problems to be solved by the invention

    Beverage dispensers do not require cans or bottles, and all equipment is reusable, so it is effective for resource conservation. However, handling such as washing is complicated and the price is high. It has become.

The problems with beverage dispensers are: (1) easy cleaning of supply lines (especially pipes or flow paths in beverage coolers), shorter time, (2) lower cost, and (3) energy consumption reduction, (4) Reduction of installation area, (5) Reduction in size and weight. The problem of (1) is a serious problem for business use. It takes 30 minutes or more for each pouring cock for daily cleaning, and cleaning with chemicals and tap water is performed to prevent corruption and deterioration. Efforts have been made to prevent the deterioration of taste, and a great deal of manpower and time are required after the end of work, which is a great expense.
Many dispensers are priced at 100,000 yen or more, and small-scale sales cannot be depreciated, and their use for home use has been delayed. Recently, ice-cooled simple dispensers and thermoelectric element types have been released, and over 1 million units are sold or presented by building manufacturers. These are very energy inefficient.
In addition, the instant cooling method, which is mainly used for business purposes, is heavy and large to cool the water once and cool the beverage with water. In order to transfer heat between beverages, the heat input from the large heat dissipation area of the aquarium that stores low-temperature water, the motor power to stir the water, and the temperature difference cannot be taken large. It is necessary to lengthen the pipe for circulating the produced refrigerant and the pipe for cooling the beverage in the water tank.

Means for solving the problem

    The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the disadvantages of the conventional technology, particularly the quick cooling method, (1) no use of water as an intermediate cooling medium, (2) a small installation area, and easy transportation. (3) Make beverage cooling systems such as beverage cooling pipes easy to wash, and (4) Make the intermediate cooling medium a highly heat conductive material with high efficiency and good controllability, To save energy. Specific means for achieving these objects will be described below.

    The beverage is directly cooled by the refrigerant without passing through water by a heat exchanger having a shape such as a cube in which the refrigerant tube and the beverage cooling tube are integrated with the high heat conductive material by casting or HIP treatment.

    Adhering one side of a heat exchanger in the shape of a cube or the like in which a refrigerant pipe is integrated with a high thermal conductivity material by casting or HIP treatment, and making it closely contact with a beverage cooler of the same shape, without using water To cool the beverage directly.

    Equipped with a grooved beverage channel in the high thermal conductivity material on the flat plate to form a beverage cooler that prevents leakage together with the lid on the flat plate, facilitating cleaning of the channel in the cooler by the beverage To.

    A tubular beverage supply path, a part of the beverage supply path, and a beverage take-out path are communicated with a wide thin plate-shaped flow path to a high heat conductive material on a flat plate, and heat exchange with a refrigerant is performed on at least one surface of the flow path. I do.

    A lid that is in communication with a part of the tubular refrigerant supply path and refrigerant discharge path and a wide thin plate-shaped flow path to the high heat conductive material on the flat plate, and is in contact with a part of the supply path and discharge path and the plate-shaped flow path The heat exchanger comprised by is used.

    In the conventional instantaneous cooling method, cold heat stored in water is stored in a heat storage material having high heat conductivity such as a material forming a heat exchanger or a metal.

The configuration of Example 1 is shown in FIG.
The beverage dispenser (1000) includes a compressor (2000) that compresses a refrigerant, a condenser (2200) that cools and condenses the refrigerant that has been compressed and heated, and a fan unit that sends air to the condenser (2200) to assist cooling. 2300), an expansion valve (2500) that expands the refrigerant discharged from the condenser (2200) to produce a low-temperature wet gas, a refrigerant inlet pipe (3100) connecting the expansion valve (2500) and the refrigerant cooler (3000), refrigerant cooling The refrigerant outlet pipe (3200) for returning the refrigerant from the container (3000) to the compressor (2000), the beverage pipe (4100) for feeding the beverage to the beverage cooler (4000), and the cooled beverage to the dispensing cock (1100) The beverage pour pipe (4200) to be sent is stored in the case (1200).

    The structure of the refrigerant cooler (3000) of Example 1 is shown in FIG. The refrigerant pipe (3320) is formed into a flat plate shape by casting or HIP processing, and a refrigerant inlet (3310) and a refrigerant outlet (3390) are provided.

    The structure of the drink cooler (4000) of Example 1 is shown in FIG. The beverage cooler (4000) is composed of a beverage cooler main part (4300) having a beverage flow path (4320), a beverage inlet (4310), a beverage outlet (4390), and a beverage cooler lid (4400). The channel (4320) can be sealed and opened with a beverage cooler lid (4400).

    In FIG. 4, the structure of the drink cooler (4000) of Example 2 is shown. The beverage enters from the inlet (4310), and passes through a plate-like cooling part (4330) formed by a beverage cooler main part (4300) and a lid (4400) from a part of the beverage inlet flow path (4320). It flows to the flow path (4340) and exits from the beverage outlet (4390). If the thickness of the plate-like cooling part (4330) is reduced in order to reduce the weight of the beverage cooler (4000), the deformation of the plate-like cooling part (4330) may be adversely affected. Use a curved surface to reduce the amount of deformation of the surface.

    The configuration of Example 3 is shown in FIG. Example 3 is the structure which used the drink cooler (4000) shown in Example 2 also for the refrigerant cooler (3000). The refrigerant is provided in the main part of the refrigerant cooler (3300) and flows from the refrigerant inlet channel (3330) to the plate-like cooling unit (3340) and the refrigerant inlet channel (3350). The beverage is provided in the beverage cooler main part (4300) and flows from the beverage inlet channel (4330) to the plate-like cooling unit (4340) and the beverage inlet channel (4350). Both lids (3400) and lid (4400) are installed so that the surfaces of the lids (4400) are in close contact. The refrigerant cooler main part (3300) and the lid (3400) may be joined by brazing or welding for sealing.

    In Example 4 shown in FIG. 6, the portion that has been cut out for weight reduction in Example 3 is left for cold storage. For cold storage, measures such as increasing the thickness of at least one of the lid (3400) and the lid (4400) or newly adding a member having a large heat capacity can be taken.

    In Example 5 shown in FIG. 7, a beverage cooler (4000) is installed on both sides of the refrigerant cooler (3000), and two kinds of beverages can be dispensed.

    In Example 6 shown in FIG. 8, two beverage coolers (4000) are installed on one side of the refrigerant cooler (3000), and two types of beverages can be poured out.

    In Example 7 shown in FIG. 9, one beverage cooler (4000) is installed on each side of the refrigerant cooler (3000), and four types of beverages can be dispensed. When the volume of the refrigerant cooler (3000) is large and the weight is heavy, the structure can be reduced in weight as a hollow structure and the beverage cooler (4000) can be in close contact with the inner surface.

    By combining Example 4 to Example 7, one or more beverage coolers (4000) closely contacting each side of a polygonal refrigerant cooler (3000) can be installed to dispense a variety of beverages. Obviously.

    Examples 8 and 9 relate to an assembly part for easily installing and removing the refrigerant cooler (3000) and the beverage cooler (4000) in consideration of removing the beverage cooler (4000) for cleaning. Is. In Example 8 shown in FIG. 10, two opposite sides opposite to the contact surfaces of the refrigerant cooler (3000) and the beverage cooler (4000) are cut obliquely and assembled with a V clamp (7100). . The two V clamps (7100) are tightened with screws (7200), nuts (7210), springs (7220), and nuts (7230) fitted in the notches (7110) provided on both sides thereof. ing.

    In Example 9, the refrigerant cooler (3000) and the beverage cooler (4000) are assembled by the spring clamp (7300).

    Example 10 considers removing and washing the beverage cooler (4000), the beverage supply pipe (4100) and the beverage dispensing pipe (4200) connected to the beverage inlet (4310) and the beverage outlet (4390). ) Is related to a connecting part for easy attachment and removal. The protrusion (8300) is inserted into the hole (4800) provided in the beverage inlet (4310) of the beverage cooler (4000), the arm (8400) provided in the outer peripheral portion of the flange (8200), the leaf spring ( The spring protrusion (8600) at the tip of 8500) is fixed by entering the groove (4900). The pipe (8100) is joined to the tip of the beverage supply pipe (4100). A combination of the arm (8400) and the spring protrusion (8600) at the tip of the leaf spring (8500) is referred to as a spring clamp (8800).

The invention's effect

The effects of the invention will be described below for each example.
The effect of Example 1 is that the refrigerant cooler (3000) is brought into close contact with the beverage cooler (4000), so that unlike conventional beverage dispensers, water can be effectively cooled without using water as an intermediate refrigerant. is there. Moreover, a drink can be cooled in a short time, without cooling water beforehand at the time of drink supply. Further, since a copper alloy or the like of a high heat conductive material is used between the refrigerant cooler (3000) and the beverage cooler (4000), the temperature of the refrigerant cooler (3000) can be controlled by a refrigerator. . For example, when the beverage supply is small, it is easy to save energy because the power consumption of the refrigerator can be reduced, and when it is large, the refrigerant temperature of the refrigerator is lowered to efficiently cool at a high temperature difference. it can.

    The refrigerant cooler (3000) of Example 1 is a high heat transfer rate material in which the refrigerant pipe (3320) is integrated by a method such as casting, and the temperatures of the surfaces of the refrigerant pipe (3320) and the refrigerant cooler (3000) are integrated. The difference is small, and high heat transfer performance can be easily obtained between those closely contacting the surface.

    The beverage cooler (4000) of Example 1 is made of a metal such as stainless steel that does not adversely affect the beverage with a high heat conductive material, like the refrigerant cooler (3000), and the surface of the beverage cooling channel (4320). And the beverage cooler (4000) have a small temperature difference, and high heat transfer performance is easily obtained between the refrigerant cooler (3000) and the beverage cooler (3000) in close contact with the surface. Further, since the lid (4400) can be removed and the beverage cooling channel (4320) is opened, it can be easily cleaned without using a special tool.

    In the beverage cooler (4000) of Example 2, the beverage is cooled by a plate-shaped cooling part (4340) mainly formed by a beverage cooler main part (4300) and a lid (4400). It is cooled by the refrigerant cooler (3000) installed in close contact with the surface of the lid (4400) substantially parallel to the portion (4340) or the surface of the beverage cooler main part (4300). Since the lid (4400) can be easily separated from the beverage cooler main part (4300), the plate-like cooling part (4340), the beverage inlet channel (4330), and a part of the beverage outlet channel (4350) Can be opened and cleaned easily.

    Example 3 uses what used the cooler which has the plate-shaped cooling part (3340) and plate-shaped cooling part (4340) which were shown in Example 2 for both a refrigerant | coolant cooler (3000) and a drink cooler (4000). Therefore, it can be manufactured in a lightweight and compact manner, and the beverage cooler (3000) can be easily cleaned.

    In Example 4, since the heat-storing material is added by eliminating both the plate-like cooling part (3340) and the plate-like cooling part (4340), usually a small amount of beverage is supplied and only for a short time. When supplying a large amount, it can be sufficiently cooled by the stored cold energy.

    Examples 5 to 7 are application examples in the case of supplying many types of beverages. In Example 5, the beverage cooler (4000) is in close contact with both sides of the refrigerant cooler (3000), and a beverage dispenser that can supply two types of beverages with one refrigerant cooler (3000) can be configured. In Example 6, two beverage coolers (4000) are brought into close contact with one side of the refrigerant cooler (3000), and a beverage dispenser capable of supplying two types of beverages with one refrigerant cooler (3000) is provided. Can be configured. In Example 7, the beverage cooler (4000) is in close contact with the four side surfaces of the cubic refrigerant cooler (3000), and four types of beverages can be supplied. From these examples, when the refrigerant cooler (3000) is configured as a polygon, the number of polygonal surfaces in which at least one beverage cooler (4000) is closely attached to each surface, or a plurality of beverage coolers (4000). ) Can be fed several times as much.

    With the attachment of the V clamp (7100) or the spring clamp (7300) of Examples 8 and 9, the refrigerant cooler (3000) and the beverage cooler (4000) can be easily attached and detached, which is effective for shortening the washing time. is there.

    With the spring clamp (8800) of Example 10, the beverage supply pipe (4100) and the beverage dispensing pipe (4900) can be easily attached and detached, which is effective for shortening the washing time.

    The description of the present invention describes the case where the beverage is cooled by the beverage dispenser, but the present invention can also be applied to the case where the beverage is heated by changing the refrigerator to a heating machine.

  Overall structure of beverage dispenser   Refrigerant cooler   Beverage cooler   Plate type beverage cooler   Combination of plate-type refrigerant cooler and beverage cooler   Combination of plate-type refrigerant cooler with cold storage function and beverage cooler   Example of beverage coolers installed on both sides of the refrigerant cooler   Example of installing two beverage coolers on one side of the refrigerant cooler   Example of four beverage coolers installed on each side of a cubic refrigerant cooler   Configuration of conventional ice-cooled beverage dispenser   Composition of barrel-cooled beverage dispenser   Composition of instant cooling type (instant cooling type) beverage dispenser   Overview photo of actual chilled beverage dispenser   Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-1989

Explanation of symbols

(28) Valve seat (1) Dispenser (29) Valve box (2) Refrigerator (30) Seat part (3) Cooling water tank (31) Valve body (4) Mug (32) Coil type cooling lead pipe (5) Plate heat exchanger (33) Cooling water return pipe (6) Plate cooling water (34) Insulation (7), (8) Plate (35) High turbulent uplift pattern (9) Beverage outlet (110) Carbon dioxide gas cylinder ( 10) Cooling water return outlet (120) Pressure reducing valve (11) Beverage inlet (130) Carbon dioxide pipe (12) Cooling water inlet (210) Barrel (13) Cooling water suction pipe (220) Head (14) Cooling water feed pump (230) Beverage supply pipe (15) Pouring cock (300) Beverage dispenser (16) Beverage hose (310) Stainless steel coil (17) Storage tank (315) Cold plate (18) Dispenser head (320) Dispensing cock (19) Regulator (330) Cooling chamber (20) Carbon dioxide gas cylinder (340) Refrigerant cooling pipe (21) Cooling outlet pipe (350) Compressor (22) Agitator (355) Refrigerator (23 ) Evaporating pipe (360) Fan (24) Coil cooling water (370) Condenser (25) Cooling water tank (380) Motor (26) Refrigerator (390) Stirrer (27) Outlet (1000) Beverage dispenser (1100) Cock (7110) Notch (1200) Case (7200) Screw (2000) Compressor (7210) Nut (2100) Capacitor inlet pipe (7220) Spring (2200) Capacitor (7230) Nut (2300) Fan unit (7300) Spring clamp (2400) Condensate Outlet pipe (8100) Pipe (2500) Expansion valve (8200) Flange (3000) Refrigerant cooler (8300) Projection (3100) Refrigerant inlet pipe (8400) Arm (3200) Refrigerant outlet pipe (8500) Leaf spring (3300) ) Refrigerant cooler main part (8600) Spring protrusion (3310) Refrigerant inlet (8700) O-ring (3320) Refrigerant pipe (8800) Spring clamp (3330) Refrigerant inlet flow path (3340) Plate-like cooling part (3350) Refrigerant Outlet channel (3360) Meat extraction part (3390) Refrigerant outlet (4000) Beverage cooler (4100) Beverage supply pipe (4200) Beverage extraction pipe (4300) Beverage cooler main part (4310) Beverage inlet (4320) Beverage Pipe (4330) Beverage inlet channel (4340) Plate-like cooling part (4350) Beverage outlet channel (4 360) Meat extraction part (4390) Beverage outlet (4800) Hole (4900) Groove part (6000) Controller (7100) V clamp

Claims (13)

  In a beverage server that compresses refrigerant with a compressor, cools with a condenser, and cools beverage with a refrigerant that has become low temperature using a refrigerator composed of an expansion valve, a highly heat-conducting material is closely attached to the refrigerant pipe and the beverage cooling channel A beverage dispenser characterized by being integrally molded.   Refrigerant cooler in which a high heat conductive material is closely formed in a refrigerant pipe in a beverage server that cools a refrigerant with a compressor, cools with a condenser, and cools the beverage with a refrigerant that has become low temperature by using a refrigerator composed of an expansion valve. A beverage dispenser characterized in that heat exchange is performed by closely contacting a beverage cooler in which a high heat conductive material amount is closely molded to the beverage cooling channel.   3. The beverage dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the beverage cooler is constituted by a beverage cooler main portion having a beverage flow path and a lid so that the beverage flow path can be opened.   The beverage cooler according to claim 2, wherein the beverage cooler is constituted by a beverage cooler main part having a beverage inlet channel, a plate-like cooling unit, and a beverage outlet channel, and a lid, so that the beverage channel can be opened. Beverage dispenser to do.   The beverage dispenser according to claim 2, wherein a refrigerant cooler having the same shape as the beverage cooler of claim 4 is used.   The beverage dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the beverage cooler is closely attached to both surfaces of the refrigerant cooler.   3. The beverage dispenser according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of beverage coolers are brought into close contact with one surface of the refrigerant cooler.   3. The beverage dispenser according to claim 2, wherein at least one beverage cooler is closely attached to a plurality of surfaces of the refrigerant cooler.   The beverage dispenser according to claim 2, wherein a cavity is provided in the refrigerant cooler.   10. A beverage dispenser according to claim 9, wherein at least one beverage cooler is brought into close contact with the outer surface of the refrigerant cooler and the surface of the cavity.   3. The beverage dispenser according to claim 2, wherein a high heat conduction member is added to at least one of the refrigerant cooler and the beverage cooler.   The beverage dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the refrigerant cooler and the beverage cooler are assembled by a V clamp or a spring clamp.   In Claim 1 and 2, the protruding pipe | tube which has a spring clamp in a part of flange part and protruded from the flange is inserted in the hole provided in the drink cooler, and the protrusion part of the spring clamp tip is provided in the drink cooler. A beverage dispenser, wherein the beverage inlet pipe and the beverage outlet pipe are fixed to the beverage cooler by being inserted into the recessed portion.