JP2006143271A - Beverage feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a beverage feeder including a cooling water tank for cooling a beverage, capable of continuously supplying the beverage at a predetermined temperature and having small consumption of electric power. <P>SOLUTION: The beverage feeder is equipped with an ultrasonic vibrator 30 for generating ultrasonic waves to vibrate cooling water 4 for promoting heat exchange between an ice bank 22 and the cooling water 4, a vibrator driving part 31 for driving the vibrator 30, and a control part 40 for controlling the driving part 31. A coolant is supplied to an evaporating coil 6, and the heat exchange between the ice bank 22 and the cooling water 4 formed by its evaporation heat is added to convection stirring by a stirring blade 25, to exchange heat by the ultrasonic vibration generated by the ultrasonic vibrator 30. Thus, a quantity of the beverage to be continuously fed is increased while suppressing the ice bank 22 from failing to melt. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a beverage supply device, and more particularly to a beverage supply device capable of continuously and supplying a large amount of a beverage cooled by passing a cooling coil immersed in cooling water stored in a cooling water tank.

For example, a beverage supply apparatus that cools and supplies a beverage is provided with a cooling water tank for cooling the beverage to be supplied. In this cooling water tank, cooling water for cooling beverage is stored, an evaporation coil (evaporator) communicating with the refrigeration system is provided in the cooling water, and the amount of heat stored in the ice bank (ice block) formed around this evaporation coil Is used to keep the cooling water temperature at approximately 0 ° C. And the cooling coil which consists of a coiled metal pipe etc. is immersed in this cooling water, this cooling coil is flowed, and the cooled drink is supplied.
In the ice bank, the thickness of ice formed around the evaporation coil by the ice thickness sensor is kept substantially constant. The cooling water is stirred by a stirring blade provided at the tip of a rotating shaft driven by a stirring motor disposed in the center of the cooling water tank, so that the ice bank is melted and the cooling water temperature is maintained at about 0 ° C. The beverage flowing through the cooling coil is cooled by heat exchange using the cooling water as a heat transfer medium (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-80095

When the beverage is supplied, the cooling water temperature rises due to the amount of heat of the beverage flowing through the cooling coil, but the cooling water is circulated by rotating the stirring blades to exchange heat with the ice bank, and the rise in the cooling water temperature is suppressed. The water temperature is made uniform.
However, the cooling water stirring capacity of the stirring blade is small and the circulation amount of the cooling water is small. When the beverage is continuously supplied, heat exchange that melts the ice bank and cools the cooling water does not proceed, and the ice bank remains undissolved. Regardless, the cooling water temperature rises and it becomes impossible to supply a beverage at a predetermined temperature (for example, 6 ° C.).
Moreover, in order to make the temperature of the cooling water uniform, the stirring motor is continuously rotated, and the power consumption is increased.
In view of the above circumstances, the present invention relates to a beverage supply device including a cooling water tank for cooling a beverage, and can provide a beverage supply device that can continuously supply a beverage at a predetermined temperature and has low power consumption. Objective.

In order to achieve the above object, a beverage supply device according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a cooling water tank in which cooling water is stored and a refrigerant flowing through a pipe wound in a coil shape immersed in the cooling water. An evaporative coil that cools the cooling water by heat exchange with an ice bank that has been iced around the pipe by evaporating heat, a cooling coil that cools a beverage that flows through the cooling water as a heat transfer medium, and the cooling water In a beverage supply device comprising a stirring means for stirring and circulating
An ultrasonic vibrator that generates ultrasonic waves to vibrate the cooling water to promote heat exchange between the ice bank and the cooling water, an ultrasonic vibrator driving unit that drives the ultrasonic vibrator, And a control means for controlling the ultrasonic transducer driving means.
Moreover, the beverage supply apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention is characterized in that, in claim 1 described above, the ultrasonic vibrator is provided on the outer wall of the cooling water tank.

The beverage supply apparatus according to claim 3 of the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-described claim 1 or 2, the control means drives the ultrasonic vibrator and the agitation means for a predetermined time. To do.
A beverage supply device according to claim 4 of the present invention is the beverage supply device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a water temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the cooling water and outputs a water temperature signal is provided, and the control means includes: The ultrasonic transducer driving means is controlled based on a water temperature signal output from the water temperature sensor.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a beverage supply device comprising: a cooling water tank in which cooling water is stored; and evaporative heat of refrigerant flowing through a pipe wound in a coil shape immersed in the cooling water. An evaporating coil that cools the cooling water by heat exchange with an ice bank that is icing on the area, a cooling coil that cools a beverage that flows through the cooling water as a heat transfer medium, and the cooling water is stirred and circulated A beverage supply device comprising:
A bubble generating means for promoting heat exchange between the ice bank and the cooling water by bubbles supplied to the cooling water is provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an ultrasonic vibrator that generates ultrasonic waves and vibrates the cooling water to promote heat exchange between the ice bank and the cooling water, and an ultrasonic vibration that drives the ultrasonic vibrator. By providing the child driving means and the control means for controlling the ultrasonic vibrator driving means, it is possible to continuously supply a beverage at a predetermined temperature and realize a beverage supply device with low power consumption. become.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the ultrasonic vibrator is provided on the outer wall of the cooling water tank, the ultrasonic vibrator can be prevented from being contaminated with the cooling water.
According to the invention of claim 3, the control means drives the ultrasonic vibrator and the stirring means for a predetermined time, so that when there is no nighttime beverage supply, only the ultrasonic vibrator is operated. By performing operations such as intermittent convection stirring by means, power consumption can be reduced and energy can be saved.

According to the invention of claim 4, the water temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the cooling water and outputs a water temperature signal is provided, and the control means controls the ultrasonic transducer driving means based on the water temperature signal output from the water temperature sensor. Thus, when the beverage is continuously supplied and the temperature of the cooling water starts to rise, the ultrasonic vibrator can be driven to promote the melting of the ice bank to suppress the temperature rise of the cooling water.
According to the invention of claim 5, by providing the bubble generating means for promoting the heat exchange between the ice bank and the cooling water by the bubbles supplied to the cooling water, the generated bubbles are swirling flow of the cooling water by the stirring means ( It flows in the vicinity of the surface of the ice bank on the water stream, and when the bubbles come into contact with the ice bank and burst, ultrasonic waves are generated, and the ice bank is melted by the minute vibration. In addition, the temperature boundary layer between the ice bank and cooling water is disturbed to increase the amount of heat exchange. It becomes possible.

Exemplary embodiments of a beverage supply 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: shows schematic structure of the drink supply apparatus which is Embodiment 1 of this invention, (a) is a front view, (b) is a side view, (c) is a top view. As shown in FIG. 1, a cooling water tank 5 for storing cooling water 4, a cooling water tank 5 for storing cooling water 4, and a cooling plate 4 are provided in an exterior plate constituted by a top plate 2 and a side plate 3 of a beverage supply device 1 for cooling and supplying a beverage such as beer. A refrigeration system 10 is provided that includes an evaporation coil (also referred to as an evaporator) 6 immersed in water 4, a compressor 7, a condenser (also referred to as a condenser) 8, a blower fan 9 that cools the condenser 8, and the like. On the front surface of the beverage supply device 1, a beverage dispensing valve 12 communicating with the end portion of the cooling pipe 11 immersed in the cooling water 4 is attached, and the cooling pipe 11 is pressurized and supplied from a carbon dioxide gas cylinder (not shown). It communicates with the supply pipe 13 for supplying the beverage pushed out of the beverage tank with the pressure of the generated carbon dioxide gas. When the operation lever 12a is swung, the beverage dispensing valve 12 opens the valve mechanism that follows the operation lever 12a. For example, in the case of a beer beverage, the beverage dispensing valve 12 passes through the cooling pipe 11 and cools the beer raw material and the carbon dioxide gas cylinder. The supplied carbon dioxide gas is poured out from the dispensing nozzle 12b. In addition, a drain pan 14 provided with a bowl 14a is attached below the beverage dispensing valve 12 to receive a beverage dripping from the dispensing nozzle 12b and to place a container such as a beer mug.

  2 is a cross-sectional side view of the AA portion of FIG. 1 as viewed in the direction of the arrow. As shown in FIG. 2, the cooling water tank 5 for storing the cooling water 4 is formed of a molding material such as plastic, the side surface and the bottom surface thereof are surrounded by a heat insulating wall 21, and is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped water tank that opens upward. On the outer wall, an ultrasonic transducer 30 is provided that generates ultrasonic waves and vibrates the cooling water 4 to promote heat exchange between the ice bank 22 and the cooling water 4. When the ultrasonic transducer 30 generates ultrasonic waves, the cooling water 4 is vibrated, and the temperature boundary layer on the surface of the ice bank 22 is disturbed to promote melting of ice. According to the experiment conducted by the inventors, it has been confirmed that the melting of ice is promoted when used together with the stirring by the stirring blade 25. Furthermore, it has been confirmed by experiments conducted by the inventor that cavitation occurs when ultrasonic waves are generated in water, and ice is melted by an impact force when the cavitation disappears. In the present invention, as the ultrasonic transducer 30, a Langevin type transducer, a ferrite transducer, or the like is used. In the cooling water 4, a water temperature sensor 32 that measures the water temperature and outputs a water temperature signal to the control unit 40 described later is provided.

  Further, the evaporation coil 6 constituting the refrigeration system 10 together with the compressor 7, the condenser 8 and the blower fan 9 is disposed by immersing the pipe in a coil shape and immersing it in the cooling water 4 of the cooling water tank 5. The ice bank 22 is formed by icing the pipe around the area by evaporating heat, and the temperature of the cooling water 4 is maintained at about 0 ° C. by using this heat storage amount. Further, inside the ice bank 22, a stainless steel cooling coil 11 is wound in a coil shape so as to be immersed in the cooling water 4, and the supply side end of the cooling coil 11 is disposed in the cooling water tank 5. It extends from the top and communicates with the supply pipe 13. Above the cooling water tank 5, a stirring motor 23 for stirring and circulating the cooling water 4 is attached to a mounting member 26, and a stirring blade 25 is mounted on the motor shaft 24 (the stirring motor 23, the motor shaft 24, and the stirring blade). 25 constitutes a stirring means). When the stirring motor 23 is driven and the stirring blade 25 rotates, the cooling water 4 in the cooling water tank 5 is circulated by generating convection, and the cooling water 4 is uniformly distributed at approximately 0 ° C. using the heat storage amount of the ice bank 22. The beverage flowing through the cooling coil 11 is efficiently cooled to a predetermined temperature (for example, 6 ° C.) and supplied.

FIG. 3 shows a control block diagram of the beverage supply device 1 of the present invention. The water temperature sensor 32 that measures the temperature of the cooling water 4 and outputs a water temperature signal, and the water temperature signal that the water temperature sensor 32 outputs are super A control unit (control unit) 40 that controls a transducer drive unit (ultrasonic transducer drive unit) 31 that drives the ultrasonic transducer 30, and for driving the ultrasonic transducer 30 and the agitation motor 23 in a predetermined time. A timer 41 that counts clocks generated by a reference clock generation unit (not shown) and measures time is provided. As the vibrator driving unit 31, a vibrator driving circuit whose frequency and amplitude are variable in a band of 20 KHz to 50 KHz is used.
In the above configuration, the ultrasonic vibrator 30 that generates ultrasonic waves and vibrates the cooling water 4 to promote heat exchange between the ice bank 22 and the cooling water 4 even when the beverage is continuously supplied. By providing the vibrator drive unit 31 that drives the ultrasonic vibrator 30 and the control unit 40 that controls the vibrator drive unit 31, the refrigerant is supplied to the evaporation coil 6 and is formed by the heat of evaporation. When the heat exchange between the ice bank 22 and the cooling water 4 is added to the convection stirring by the stirring blade 25 and the heat exchange is performed by the vibration of the ultrasonic wave generated by the ultrasonic vibrator 30, only the convection stirring by the rotation of the stirring blade 25 is performed. Compared to the above, heat exchange is promoted, the remaining unmelted ice bank 22 can be suppressed, and the continuous supply amount can be increased. Further, since the ultrasonic transducer 30 is provided on the outer wall of the cooling water tank 5, it is possible to prevent the ultrasonic transducer 30 from being contaminated with the cooling water 4.

Further, since the control unit 40 is provided with the timer 41 that drives the ultrasonic vibrator 30 and the agitation motor 23 for a predetermined time, the agitation is performed only when the ultrasonic vibrator 30 is operated when no beverage is supplied at night. By operation such as intermittent convection stirring by the motor 23, the power consumption can be reduced as shown in FIG. 4 to save energy. In addition, a water temperature sensor 32 that measures the temperature of the cooling water 4 and outputs a water temperature signal is provided, and the control unit 40 controls the vibrator driving unit 31 based on the water temperature signal output from the water temperature sensor 32, so that the beverage When the temperature of the cooling water 4 starts to rise continuously (for example, when the temperature rise rate becomes 0.5 ° C./min or more), the ultrasonic vibrator 30 is driven to drive the ice bank 22. Melting can be promoted and the temperature rise of the cooling water 4 can be suppressed. Thereby, when a drink is supplied continuously, the temperature rise of the cooling water 4 can be suppressed, and when there is no drink supply at night, power consumption can be reduced to save energy.
(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment described above, a cooling water tank in which cooling water is stored, and ice that has been iced around the pipe by the evaporation heat of the refrigerant flowing through the pipe wound in a coil shape immersed in the cooling water An evaporation coil that cools the cooling water by heat exchange with the bank; a cooling coil that cools a beverage that flows through the cooling water as a heat transfer medium; and a stirring unit that stirs and circulates the cooling water. An ultrasonic vibrator that generates ultrasonic waves to vibrate the cooling water to promote heat exchange between the ice bank and the cooling water, and an ultrasonic vibration that drives the ultrasonic vibrator In the second embodiment, heat exchange between the ice bank and the cooling water is performed by bubbles supplied to the cooling water. Promote bubble generation hands The provided. This makes it possible to realize a beverage supply device that can continuously supply a beverage at a predetermined temperature.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of a beverage supply device 50 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In FIG. 5, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those in the beverage supply device 1 shown in FIG. 2, and description of the reference numerals is omitted.
As shown in FIG. 5, an air pump 52 that pumps air through an air pipe 53 is provided in a bubble generating device 51 disposed at the bottom of the cooling water tank 5 of the beverage supply device 50 (the bubble generating device 51 and the air pump 52 The air pipe 53 constitutes bubble generating means). When the air pump 52 is driven, air is sent from the air pipe 53 to the bubble generating device 51, and bubbles are generated one after another from small holes drilled in the bubble generating device 51. The generated bubbles ride on the swirling flow (water flow) of the cooling water 4 by the stirring blade 25 and flow in the vicinity of the surface of the ice bank 22, and when the bubbles come into contact with the ice bank 22 and burst, ultrasonic waves are generated, and the minute vibrations are generated. The ice bank 22 melts. In addition, the temperature boundary layer between the ice bank 22 and the cooling water 4 is disturbed, the amount of heat exchange increases, the melting of the ice bank 22 is promoted, the undissolved residue of the ice bank 22 can be suppressed, and the continuous supply amount of beverage can be reduced. It can be increased.

The schematic structure of the drink supply apparatus which is Embodiment 1 of this invention is shown. The cross-sectional side view which looked at the AA part of FIG. 1 in the arrow direction is shown. The control block diagram of the drink supply apparatus which is Embodiment 1 of this invention is shown. It is a figure which shows the power consumption of the drink supply apparatus which is Embodiment 1 of this invention. The cross-sectional side view of the drink supply apparatus which is Embodiment 2 of this invention is shown.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Beverage supply apparatus 4 Cooling water 5 Cooling water tank 6 Evaporation coil 10 Refrigeration system 11 Cooling coil 12 Beverage dispensing valve 21 Heat insulation wall 22 Ice bank 23 Stirring motor 25 Stirring blade 30 Ultrasonic vibrator 31 Vibrator drive part 32 Water temperature sensor 40 Control unit 41 Timer 50 Beverage supply device 51 Bubble generating device 52 Air pump 53 Air pipe

Claims (5)

The cooling is carried out by heat exchange between a cooling water tank in which cooling water is stored and an ice bank that is icing around the pipe by the evaporation heat of the refrigerant flowing through the pipe wound in a coil immersed in the cooling water. In a beverage supply apparatus comprising: an evaporation coil that cools water; a cooling coil that cools a beverage that flows through the cooling water as a heat transfer medium; and a stirring unit that stirs and circulates the cooling water.
An ultrasonic vibrator that generates ultrasonic waves to vibrate the cooling water to promote heat exchange between the ice bank and the cooling water, an ultrasonic vibrator driving unit that drives the ultrasonic vibrator, And a control means for controlling the ultrasonic vibrator driving means.   The beverage supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic vibrator is provided on an outer wall of the cooling water tank.   The beverage supply apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control means drives the ultrasonic vibrator and the agitation means for a predetermined time.   A water temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the cooling water and outputs a water temperature signal is provided, and the control means controls the ultrasonic transducer driving means based on a water temperature signal output from the water temperature sensor. The beverage supply apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The cooling is carried out by heat exchange between a cooling water tank in which cooling water is stored and an ice bank that is icing around the pipe by the evaporation heat of the refrigerant flowing through the pipe wound in a coil immersed in the cooling water. In a beverage supply apparatus comprising: an evaporation coil that cools water; a cooling coil that cools a beverage that flows through the cooling water as a heat transfer medium; and a stirring unit that stirs and circulates the cooling water.
A beverage supply device comprising bubble generating means for promoting heat exchange between the ice bank and the cooling water by bubbles supplied to the cooling water.

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