JP2006053710A - Beverage brewer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive beverage brewer easy to maintain at low cost, the beverage brewer being adapted to stir a mixture of a powdery raw material and hot water while supplying air to extract a beverage component such as flavor or taste from the powdery raw material to the hot water, and to perform extraction of beverage from the mixture while generating a negative pressure. <P>SOLUTION: This beverage brewer 1 comprises an extraction pump 30 including a cylinder 31 opened at one end and closed at the other end, and having an inflow and outflow port 32 on the closed side 33, a piston 35 sliding forward and backward within the cylinder 31 to close the open side 34 of the cylinder 31, and a driving means 38 for rotating a crank mechanism 36 by a drive motor 37 to slide the piston 35 forward and backward; a passage 23 allowing an outlet port 21 of a filter block 20 to communicate with the inflow and outflow port 32 through an opening and closing valve 22; a passage 25 allowing the inflow and outflow port 32 to communicate with an outlet nozzle 26 through an opening and closing valve 24; and an extraction control part 91 controlling the extraction pump 30 and the opening and closing valves 22 and 24 to extract the beverage from the mixture of the powdery raw material and hot water. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a beverage extraction device for extracting a beverage from a powder raw material and hot water mixture charged in an extraction container.

For example, vending machines and beverage dispensers that extract and sell coffee beverages from coffee raw materials that use ground beans as a powder raw material are provided with a beverage extraction device therein. Some beverage extraction devices of this type are equipped with an extraction container, a filter, a filter block, and an extraction pump. The extraction container has a cylindrical shape with both ends open. A filter is arrange | positioned in the aspect which obstruct | occludes the lower end opening of an extraction container, for example, the thing made from paper is applied. The filter block is a bottomed cylindrical container that is mounted in contact with the lower end opening of the extraction container with a filter interposed therebetween, and has a delivery port at the inner bottom thereof. The extraction pump is a pump that operates as an air pump when the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water is stirred with air, and operates as a liquid pump when the beverage is extracted from the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water.
In order to extract a coffee beverage with this beverage extraction device, first, after a filter block is attached to the lower end opening of the extraction container, a powder raw material as a coffee raw material is charged from the upper end opening of the extraction container and hot water is added. Hot water stored in a tank and heated by a tank heater is supplied, an extraction pump is driven, air is supplied from a filter block, and the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water is stirred with air. As a result, flavor and umami are extracted from the powder raw material, which is a coffee raw material, into hot water, and a coffee beverage is generated inside the extraction container. After that, a negative pressure is generated by the extraction pump, the filtered coffee drink is extracted from the mixture stored in the extraction container through the filter, and sent to the cup by the extraction pump through the outlet of the filter block. .

  After extracting the coffee beverage, the filter block is separated from the extraction container, and a certain amount of filter is fed out to discard the raw material koji, and enter a standby state to prepare for the next beverage extraction (for example, see Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-002160). ).

However, when stirring the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water, air is supplied, and when a beverage is extracted from the mixture, a pump having a function of sending a liquid by generating a negative pressure is expensive. Due to the complicated structure, maintenance required skill.
In view of the above circumstances, the present invention supplies air to a mixture of a powder raw material and hot water and stirs, extracts beverage components such as flavor and umami from the powder raw material into hot water, and extracts a beverage from the mixture. It is an object of the present invention to provide a beverage extraction device that facilitates maintenance of a beverage extraction device that generates a negative pressure and extracts it at low cost.

In order to achieve the above object, a beverage extraction apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a powder raw material charged from an upper end opening of an extraction container in which a lower end opening of a cylinder whose both ends are open is closed by a filter block with a filter interposed therebetween. In the beverage extraction device for extracting the filtered beverage by supplying air to the hot water mixture and stirring, and then passing the filter from the powder raw material and hot water mixture by applying a negative pressure,
One end is opened and the other end is closed, and a cylindrical body provided with an outflow inlet on the closed side, a sliding body that reciprocally slides inside the cylindrical body so as to close the open side of the cylindrical body, and the slide An extraction pump comprising: a driving means for reciprocatingly sliding the moving body;
A first passage that communicates the filter block and the outflow inlet via a first on-off valve, and a second passage that communicates the outflow inlet and the dispensing nozzle via a second on-off valve When,
Control means for controlling the extraction pump, the first on-off valve, and the second on-off valve to extract a beverage from the powder raw material and hot water mixture is provided.

The beverage extraction device according to claim 2 of the present invention is the above-described beverage extraction device according to claim 1,
Open the first on-off valve and the second on-off valve, and let the sliding body stand by on the open side of the cylindrical body,
After closing the second on-off valve and charging the powder material and hot water into the extraction container,
A stirring step in which the sliding body is slid from the open side of the cylindrical body to the closed side and air is supplied to the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water and stirred;
An extraction step of extracting the filtered beverage by sliding the sliding body from the closed side to the open side of the cylindrical body and passing the filter from the powder raw material and hot water mixture,
A delivery stroke in which the first on-off valve is closed and the second on-off valve is opened, and the sliding body is slid from the opening side of the cylindrical body to the closing side to deliver the beverage to the dispensing nozzle;
According to the procedure, the beverage is extracted by controlling the extraction pump, the first on-off valve, and the second on-off valve.

In addition, the beverage extraction device according to claim 3 of the present invention is the above-described claim 1, wherein the control means includes:
Open the first on-off valve and the second on-off valve, and let the sliding body stand by on the closed side of the cylindrical body,
After closing the second on-off valve and charging the powder material and hot water into the extraction container,
An extraction step of extracting the filtered beverage by sliding the sliding body from the closed side to the open side of the cylindrical body and passing the filter from the powder raw material and hot water mixture,
A delivery stroke in which the first on-off valve is closed and the second on-off valve is opened, and the sliding body is slid from the opening side of the cylindrical body to the closing side to deliver the beverage to the dispensing nozzle;
According to the procedure, the beverage is extracted by controlling the extraction pump, the first on-off valve, and the second on-off valve.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the beverage extraction device has one end opened and the other end closed, the cylinder provided with an outflow inlet on the closed side, and the cylinder opened so as to close the open side. A first passage that communicates the filter block and the outflow port with a first on-off valve interposed therebetween, and an extraction pump comprising a sliding body that reciprocally slides inside the body, and a drive means that reciprocates the sliding body. And controlling the second passage that connects the outflow inlet and the extraction nozzle through the second on-off valve, the extraction pump, the first on-off valve, and the second on-off valve, And a control means for extracting the beverage from the hot water mixture, supplying air to the powder raw material and hot water mixture and stirring to extract the beverage ingredients such as flavor and umami from the powder raw material into the hot water. When a beverage is extracted from the mixture, negative pressure is generated to extract The nonce to facilitate it is possible to provide a beverage brewing apparatus inexpensive.

According to the invention of claim 2, during the extraction of the beverage component from the powder raw material to hot water, by supplying air to the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water and stirring, the flavor, umami, etc. from the powder raw material to the hot water in a short time Beverage components can be extracted.
According to the invention of claim 3, when extraction is performed without stirring when extracting beverage components from powdered raw material to hot water, it does not include astringency and miscellaneous taste, and has high quality that sufficiently brings out flavor and umami. Beverages can be extracted.

Exemplary embodiments of a beverage extraction device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a beverage extraction apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The beverage extraction apparatus illustrated here is applied to a cup-type beverage vending machine as shown in FIG. 2, and particularly illustrates a beverage extraction apparatus for extracting a coffee beverage.
The cup-type beverage vending machine A shown in FIG. 2 includes a product selection button D and a product sales opening E on the front door C of the device casing B. The product selection button D is for the user to select a product, and is provided corresponding to a plurality of product samples G displayed in the product display section F. Further, the front door C is provided with a coin insertion slot H for inserting coins, a coin return lever I for returning inserted coins, and a coin return slot J for returning coins. The merchandise sales opening E is an opening for providing the selected merchandise, and a sales tray L for placing the cup K on the inner bottom thereof is disposed.

The beverage extraction device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is provided inside the equipment casing B, and includes an extraction container 10, a filter block 20, and an extraction pump 30.
The extraction container 10 has a cylindrical shape with both ends open, and is supported by an elevating means (not shown) so as to move up and down. When the extraction container 10 is moved upward, the extraction container 10 is disposed at a position separated from the filter block 20 and moved downward. In this case, the lower end opening 12 is closed by coming into contact with the filter block 20 via the filter 28, and powder raw material and hot water are supplied from the upper end opening 11.
Above the extraction container 10, there is provided a mill 51 that pulverizes the coffee beans supplied from the canister 50 into ground beans, and a powder raw material that is ground coffee beans by the mill 51 is put into the extraction container 10. A hot water supplier provided with a raw material inlet 16 and a hot water inlet 17 for supplying hot water stored in a hot water tank 60 and heated by a tank heater 61 (eg, 94 ° C.) from a hot water nozzle 63 through a hot water valve 62. 15 is attached to the upper end opening 11.

The filter block 20 is a cylindrical container with a bottom, and has a delivery port 21 at its inner bottom. The filter 28 is a filter paper made of paper wound in a roll shape, and is successively drawn out between the extraction container 10 and the filter block 20, and a negative pressure is applied to the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water as the coffee raw material. Is passed through a filter and filtered to obtain a coffee beverage.
The extraction pump 30 has one end opened and the other end closed, and a cylinder (cylinder) 31 having an outlet 32 on the closed side 33 and an open side 34 of the cylinder 31 are closed. And a driving means 38 that reciprocally slides the piston 35 by rotationally driving the crank mechanism 36 with a drive motor 37.
The delivery port 21 of the filter block 20 includes a passage (first passage) 23 communicating with the outflow / inlet 32 via an on-off valve (first on-off valve) 22 and an on-off valve (second on-off valve) 24. A passage (second passage) 25 is provided to communicate with the outflow inlet 32 and the extraction nozzle 26 by interposing them.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control system of the cup-type beverage vending machine A. As shown in FIG. 3, the cup type beverage vending machine A includes a vending machine control unit 90 and an extraction control unit (control means) 91. The vending machine control unit 90 controls operations of the product selection button D and the coin processing unit N. Specifically, when a coin is inserted from the coin insertion slot H of the cup-type beverage vending machine A, the vending machine control unit 90 determines whether the coin is true or not through the coin processing unit N, and further inserts it if it is a genuine coin. Recognize the amount. When coins of an amount necessary for product sales are inserted, the vending machine control unit 90 activates the product selection button D, and when the activated product selection button D is pressed, the product selection signal is extracted and controlled by the control unit 91. To give.
When the product selection signal is given from the vending machine control unit 90, the extraction control unit 91 controls each part of the beverage extraction device 1 of the cup-type beverage vending machine A according to programs and data stored in the memory 92 in advance. . When the extraction control unit 91 outputs a signal, the canister 50 supplies coffee beans, the mill 51 supplies ground beans obtained by pulverizing the coffee beans supplied from the canister 50, and the hot water valve 62 is stored in the hot water tank 60. The on-off valve 22 closes the passage 23, the on-off valve 24 closes the passage 25, and the drive motor 37 rotates the crank mechanism 36 to reciprocate the piston 35.

4-7 is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the drink extraction apparatus 1 mentioned above. Hereinafter, the operation of the beverage extraction device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4 to 7 as appropriate.
First, when the product selection button D is not pressed, the beverage extraction device 1 is in a sales standby state as shown in FIG. In this sales standby state, the extraction container 10 is separated from the filter block 20 and the filter 28. In this sales standby state, the hot water valve 62 is kept closed, while the on-off valves 22 and 24 are kept open. In the hot water tank 60, the hot water stored in the tank heater 61 is maintained at a predetermined temperature, for example, 94 ° C.
When a coin is inserted by the user or the like from the above-described sales standby state and an arbitrary product selection button D is pressed, the extraction control unit 91 outputs a signal to drive the lifting / lowering means, as shown in FIG. Thus, the filter 28 is interposed, the lower end opening 12 of the extraction container 10 is attached to the filter block 20, and the on-off valve 24 is closed. Thereafter, the canister 50 and the mill 51 are driven to supply a powder raw material, which is a coffee raw material obtained by pulverizing coffee beans, into the extraction container 10 from the raw material inlet 16, and the hot water valve 62 is opened to supply hot water from the hot water nozzle 63. To do.

When the supplied powder raw material and hot water reach a preset amount, the extraction controller 91 closes the hot water valve 62 and then drives the crank mechanism 36 to rotate with the drive motor 37 (see FIG. 5). The piston 35 is slid from the open side 34 to the closed side 33, and the air in the cylinder 31 is discharged from the outlet 21 of the filter block 20 through the passage 23 and the on-off valve 22 from the outlet 32. The filter 28 is passed through and supplied to the inside of the extraction container 10, and air is supplied to the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water stored in the extraction container 10 to perform stirring. As a result, flavor and umami are extracted from the powder raw material into hot water, and a coffee beverage is generated inside the extraction container 10.
Thereafter, the extraction controller 91 slides the piston 35 from the closed side 33 to the open side 34 by rotating the crank mechanism 36 (in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure) by the drive motor 37 as shown in FIG. The coffee beverage generated inside the extraction container 10 is filtered through the filter 28, and the coffee beverage is fed from the outlet 21 of the filter block 20 to the cylinder 31 through the opening / closing valve 22 and the passage 23 to the cylinder 31. Extract.

As shown in FIG. 7, the extraction controller 91 closes the on-off valve 22 and opens the on-off valve 24, and then rotates the crank mechanism 36 with a drive motor 37 (as shown in FIG. 7). The piston 35 is slid from the open side 34 to the closed side 33 by moving the piston 35 from the open side 34 to the sales tray L through the open / close valve 24 and the passage 25 through the opening / closing valve 24 and the passage 25. Pour into the placed cup K.
When the extraction of the coffee beverage is completed, the extraction control unit 91 drives the elevating means to move the extraction container 10 upward to feed out a certain amount of the filter 28, so that the used filter 28 and the extracted slag adhering thereto are removed. It is stored in a bucket (not shown), the opening / closing valve 22 is opened, and the crank mechanism 36 is driven to rotate by the drive motor 37 to slide the piston 35 from the closing side 33 to the opening side 34 to enter a sales standby state.

According to the beverage extraction apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention as described above, the extraction pump 30 and the on-off valves 22 and 24 configured by the cylinder 31, the piston 35, and the driving means 38 that reciprocally slides the piston 35. Since beverage extraction can be performed, air is supplied to the mixture of powdered raw material and hot water and stirred, and beverage components such as flavor and umami are extracted from the powdered raw material to hot water, and beverages are extracted from the mixture. It is possible to provide a beverage extraction device that facilitates maintenance of the beverage extraction device that generates and extracts pressure and makes it inexpensive.
In addition, when extracting beverage components from powdered raw material to hot water, by supplying air to the mixture of powdered raw material and hot water and stirring, the beverage components such as flavor and umami can be extracted from the powdered raw material in hot water in a short time. Can do.
(Embodiment 2)
Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 8, the same components as those in the beverage extraction apparatus shown in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description of the reference numerals is omitted. In the beverage extraction device according to the first embodiment described above, the piston 35 is placed on the open side 34 of the cylinder 31 and the powder material and hot water are put into the extraction container 10, and then the crank mechanism 36 is driven to rotate by the drive motor 37. The piston 35 is slid from the open side 34 to the closed side 33, and the air in the cylinder 31 is supplied from the outlet port 21 of the filter block 20 to the inside of the extraction container 10 through the passage 23 and the on-off valve 22 from the outflow port 32. In this embodiment, air is supplied to the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water stored in the extraction container 10 and stirred to extract the flavor and umami from the powder raw material into hot water to produce a coffee beverage. In the beverage extraction apparatus according to the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the piston 35 is placed on the closed side 33 of the cylinder 31 and the powder raw material and hot water are put into the extraction container 10 so that the flavor from the powder raw material to hot water To extract the flavor.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6, the crank mechanism 36 is rotationally driven by the drive motor 37, and the piston 35 is slid from the closed side 33 to the open side 34, so that the coffee beverage generated inside the extraction container 10 is obtained. The filter 28 is passed through and filtered, and the coffee beverage is extracted from the outlet 21 of the filter block 20 through the opening / closing valve 22 and the passage 23 into the cylinder 31 from the outlet 32.
Next, as shown in FIG. 7, after the coffee beverage extracted into the cylinder 31 is closed, the on-off valve 22 and the on-off valve 24 are opened, and then the crank mechanism 36 is driven to rotate by the drive motor 37 to open the piston 35. Then, the coffee beverage in the cylinder 31 is poured from the outlet 32 into the cup K placed on the sales tray L through the opening / closing valve 24 and the passage 25.

In this way, when extracting beverage ingredients from powdered raw material to hot water, extraction without stirring will extract a high quality beverage that does not contain astringency and miscellaneous taste and that sufficiently draws out the flavor and umami. Can do.
In addition, in embodiment mentioned above, although the apparatus which extracts a coffee drink from the coffee raw material which uses ground beans as a powder raw material is illustrated, this invention is applicable to what extracts a drink from other powder raw materials. it can.

It is the conceptual diagram which showed the drink extracting device which is embodiment of this invention. It is an external view of the vending machine to which the beverage extraction apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the vending machine shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows operation | movement of the drink extracting device shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows operation | movement of the drink extracting device shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows operation | movement of the drink extracting device shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows operation | movement of the drink extracting device shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows operation | movement of the drink extracting device shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Beverage extraction apparatus 10 Extraction container 11 Upper end opening 12 Lower end opening 15 Hot water feeder 16 Raw material inlet 17 Hot water inlet 20 Filter block 21 Outlet 22 Open / close valve 23 Passage 24 Open / close valve 25 Passage 26 Extraction nozzle 28 Filter 30 Extraction pump 31 Cylinder 32 Outlet / Inlet 33 Closed Side 34 Open Side 35 Piston 36 Crank Mechanism 37 Drive Motor 38 Drive Means 50 Canister 51 Mill 60 Hot Water Tank 61 Tank Heater 62 Hot Water Valve 63 Hot Water Nozzle 90 Vending Machine Control Unit 91 Extraction Control Unit 92 Memory A Cup Beverage vending machine B Device housing D Product selection button E Product sales port K Cup L Sales tray N Coin processing unit

Claims (3)

After supplying and stirring air to the mixture of the powdered raw material and hot water introduced from the upper end opening of the extraction container closed with a filter block at the lower end opening of the cylinder with both ends open, a negative pressure is applied. In a beverage extraction apparatus for extracting a filtered beverage that has passed through a filter from a mixture of powdered raw material and hot water,
One end is opened and the other end is closed, and a cylindrical body provided with an outflow inlet on the closed side, a sliding body that reciprocally slides inside the cylindrical body so as to close the open side of the cylindrical body, and the slide An extraction pump comprising: a driving means for reciprocatingly sliding the moving body;
A first passage that communicates the filter block and the outflow inlet via a first on-off valve, and a second passage that communicates the outflow inlet and the dispensing nozzle via a second on-off valve When,
Beverage extraction comprising: a control means for controlling the extraction pump, the first on-off valve, and the second on-off valve to extract the beverage from the powder raw material and hot water mixture apparatus. The control means includes
Open the first on-off valve and the second on-off valve, and let the sliding body stand by on the open side of the cylindrical body,
After closing the second on-off valve and charging the powder material and hot water into the extraction container,
A stirring step in which the sliding body is slid from the open side of the cylindrical body to the closed side and air is supplied to the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water and stirred;
An extraction step of extracting the filtered beverage by sliding the sliding body from the closed side to the open side of the cylindrical body and passing the filter from the powder raw material and hot water mixture,
A delivery stroke in which the first on-off valve is closed and the second on-off valve is opened, and the sliding body is slid from the opening side of the cylindrical body to the closing side to deliver the beverage to the dispensing nozzle;
The beverage extraction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the beverage is extracted by controlling the extraction pump, the first on-off valve, and the second on-off valve according to the procedure. The control means includes
Open the first on-off valve and the second on-off valve, and let the sliding body stand by on the closed side of the cylindrical body,
After closing the second on-off valve and charging the powder material and hot water into the extraction container,
An extraction step of extracting the filtered beverage by sliding the sliding body from the closed side to the open side of the cylindrical body and passing the filter from the powder raw material and hot water mixture,
A delivery stroke in which the first on-off valve is closed and the second on-off valve is opened, and the sliding body is slid from the opening side of the cylindrical body to the closing side to deliver the beverage to the dispensing nozzle;
The beverage extraction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the beverage is extracted by controlling the extraction pump, the first on-off valve, and the second on-off valve according to the procedure.

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