JP2006166951A - Hot water feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hot water feeding device which can reduce the power consumption. <P>SOLUTION: This hot water feeding device 20 is equipped with a water tank 21 which stores water for cooking tea beverages, a water pump 22 which pressure-feeds water of the water tank 21 to a hot water storage tank 40, a low meter 23 which measures the water amount being pressure-fed by the water pump 22 and outputs a signal, a check valve 24 which prevents the hot water from reversing, and a relief valve 25 which releases the water pressure. The hot water feeding device 20 is also equipped with a gas discharging valve 26 which discharges an gas in the hot water storage tank 40, and a hot water valve 27 which feeds the hot water being heated and stored in the hot water tank 40 to a mixing bowl 28. The hot water storage tank 40 is equipped with a heating heater 41 inside, and stores water as hot water being heated to a desired hot water feeding temperature, and is sealed with a tank main body 42 constituting a vacuum heat-insulating layer 43, and a tank lid 46 constituting a vacuum heat-insulating layer 47. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a hot water supply apparatus that includes a hot water storage tank that stores hot water heated to a desired temperature, and that supplies hot water for beverage cooking from the hot water storage tank.

For example, in a beverage supply device such as a tea dispenser that supplies tea beverages, a hot water supply device is provided inside the equipment casing. The hot water supply device is for supplying hot water required when cooking a hot beverage, and includes a hot water storage tank and a hot water supply pipe line. The hot water storage tank is provided with heating means such as a heater, for heating the supplied water to a desired temperature and storing it. The hot water supply pipe is a passage for supplying hot water stored in the hot water storage tank to a mixing bowl (hot water tea mixing unit), and is connected to the hot water storage tank via a hot water supply valve.
In this type of hot water supply device, when a supply command is given, the corresponding hot water supply valve of the hot water supply pipe is opened for a predetermined time. When the hot water supply valve is opened, the hot water stored in the hot water storage tank is supplied to the mixing bowl, and the tea beverage mixed and cooked in the mixing bowl is poured into the cup (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP-A-5-207935

By the way, in the hot water supply apparatus as described above, in order to prevent the influence of the temperature distribution due to convection, only hot water stored in the upper part of the hot water storage tank is supplied from the hot water supply pipe line. Specifically, the hot water stored in the upper part is supplied by opening the hot water supply pipe in the upper part of the hot water storage tank. For this reason, in this type of hot water supply apparatus, the capacity of the hot water storage tank is increased to ensure a sufficient amount of hot water supply.
Moreover, the hot water in the hot water storage tank that has decreased along with the hot water supply is replenished with water at an appropriate timing, and heated by the heating means to prepare for the hot water supply. Since the water to be replenished is remarkably low at around 10 ° C. compared to the hot water stored in the hot water storage tank (for example, 94 ° C.), it becomes a factor for lowering the hot water temperature in the hot water storage tank. For this reason, in this type of hot water supply apparatus, the capacity of the hot water storage tank is increased so as to reduce the influence of the temperature drop due to the replenishment of water as much as possible.

Thus, when the capacity of the hot water storage tank is increased, a sufficient amount of hot water can be ensured even when hot water is continuously supplied, and the temperature of the hot water storage tank can be reduced by replenishing water. It becomes possible to reduce as much as possible.
However, in a large-capacity hot water storage tank, the heat dissipation area increases, resulting in a large amount of heat dissipation, and the amount of power consumed to maintain the hot water stored inside at a desired temperature state is significant. It will increase.
An object of this invention is to provide the hot water supply apparatus which can aim at reduction of power consumption in view of the said situation.

In order to achieve the above object, a hot water supply apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a hot water storage tank that stores hot water heated to a desired temperature, and supplies hot water for beverage cooking from the hot water storage tank. A wall that seals the hot water storage tank is formed of a vacuum heat insulating layer, a water pump that pumps water into the hot water storage tank, a gas release valve that discharges gas accumulated in the hot water storage tank, and hot water in the hot water storage tank. A hot water supply valve to be supplied and control means for opening the hot water supply valve and then supplying hot water after opening the gas release valve and releasing gas from the hot water storage tank are provided.
A hot water supply apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention includes a hot water storage tank for storing hot water heated to a desired temperature, and in the hot water supply apparatus for supplying hot water for beverage cooking from the hot water storage tank, the hot water storage tank is hermetically sealed. A water pump that circulates a vacuum heat insulating material around the wall to pump water into the hot water storage tank, a gas release valve that discharges gas accumulated in the hot water storage tank, and a hot water supply valve that supplies hot water in the hot water storage tank; And a control means for opening the gas discharge valve and releasing the gas from the hot water storage tank, and then opening the hot water supply valve to supply hot water.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hot water supply apparatus according to the first or second aspect described above, wherein a flow meter is disposed in a delivery pipe for pumping water to the hot water storage tank, and a signal output from the flow meter is provided. Based on this, the opening time of the gas discharge valve and the hot water supply valve is controlled.

According to the hot water supply apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention, the wall for sealing the hot water storage tank is constituted by the vacuum heat insulating layer, so that the wall of the hot water storage tank is made of a heat insulating structure using hard urethane foam or the like. As a result, higher heat insulation performance can be obtained, and even when the capacity of the hot water storage tank is increased, the amount of heat radiation can be suppressed and the power consumption can be reduced.
According to the hot water supply apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention, since the vacuum heat insulating material is provided around the wall that seals the hot water storage tank, compared to the case where the wall of the hot water storage tank has a heat insulating structure with hard urethane foam or the like. High heat insulation performance can be obtained, and even when the capacity of the hot water storage tank is increased, it is possible to suppress the heat radiation amount and reduce the power consumption.
Further, according to the hot water supply apparatus according to claim 3 of the present invention, since the control means controls the opening time of the gas release valve and the hot water supply valve based on the signal output from the flow meter, Hot water can be supplied accurately, and the amount of power consumption can be reduced by preventing the hot water from being discharged unnecessarily after releasing the gas from the gas release valve.

Exemplary embodiments of a hot water supply apparatus 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 an internal view of an equipment housing of a tea machine to which a hot water supply apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a piping path of the hot water supply apparatus, and FIG. It is the cross-sectional side view which showed the hot water storage tank.
The tea machine illustrated here prepares a tea drink according to the user's request and pours it into a container placed on a tea supply stage. A pump, flow meter, hot water storage tank, mixing bowl, etc. are provided.
The tea dispenser 1 is provided with doors 4a and 4b that can be opened and closed in openings on the front surface of the device housing 2 supported by legs 3 provided at the four corners of the bottom surface. The inside of the device housing 2 is divided into two layers, the upper part being a cooking part 5 and the lower part being a tank part 6. The tank part 6 is stored in a water tank 21 for storing tea beverage cooking water and in the water tank 21. A water pump 22 for pumping the water being discharged and a waste water bucket 29 can be accommodated. The cooking unit 5 is provided with a flow meter 23 that measures the flow rate of the water pumped by the water pump 22 and outputs a signal, and the door 4a is provided with a control device 80, and the water stored in the water tank 21 is supplied with water. The pump 22 pumps and heats in the hot water storage tank 40 to supply hot water to the mixing bowl 28. In the mixing bowl 28, the supplied tea leaves and hot water are mixed and poured into a container.

A canister 7 for storing tea leaves is provided above the mixing bowl 28, and the tea leaves supplied through the raw chute 8 are mixed and cooked with hot water supplied from the hot water storage tank 40 in the mixing bowl 28 to become a tea beverage. . Further, a tea supply stage 9 on which a container for pouring tea beverage is placed is attached to a position below the spout 28a (see FIG. 2) of the mixing bowl 28. Furthermore, the cooling water tank 10 which cools the water pumped from the water tank 21 to produce cold water for cooking a cold tea beverage, and forms ice blocks in the cooling water of the cooling water tank 10 to maintain the cooling water at approximately 0 ° C. A refrigeration system 11 is provided.
When a beverage selection button (not shown) provided on the front surface of the door 4a is operated, the tea leaves of the selected tea beverage are supplied from the canister 7 via the raw material chute 8, and hot water is supplied from the hot water storage tank 40. Alternatively, the chilled water that has passed through the cooling water tank 10 is mixed and cooked in the mixing bowl 28 to become a tea beverage, which is poured into the container placed on the tea supply stage 9 from the spout 28a.

  FIG. 2 shows a conceptual diagram of a piping path to which the hot water supply apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is applied. The hot water supply device 20 is connected to the water tank 21 for storing tea beverage cooking water and the water tank 21 via a water supply tube (delivery pipe) T1, and is a signal output from the control device 80. A water pump 22 for pumping water in the tank 21 to the hot water storage tank 40 and a water pump 22 connected to the water supply tube T1 between the water pump 22 and the hot water storage tank 40 and measuring the amount of water pumped by the water pump 22 Pumped by the water pump 22, the flow meter 23 that outputs to the control device 80, the check valve 24 that prevents hot water from flowing back from the hot water storage tank 40 side to the flow meter 23 and the water pump 22 side in the water supply tube T 1. And a relief valve 25 that opens the valve to release the water pressure when the water pressure in the water supply tube T1 exceeds a predetermined pressure (for example, 0.5 atm) in the hot water storage tank 40. The check valve 24 is configured to maintain the internal pressure of the hot water storage tank 40, and is set so that the relief valve 25 is opened when the internal pressure exceeds a predetermined pressure. When the drain tube T3 is connected and the relief valve 25 is opened, hot water is discarded into the waste water bucket 29 via the drain tube T3.

The gas (air, etc.) generated from the hot water heated in the hot water storage tank 40 increases the pressure in the hot water storage tank 40 and opens the gas release valve 26 when the water pump 22 is driven to pump water into the water supply tube T1. Then, it is discharged from the discharge tube T4 into the waste water bucket 29. Hot water heated and stored in the hot water storage tank 40 is supplied to the mixing bowl 28 from the hot water supply tube T2 by driving the water pump 22 and opening the hot water supply valve 27, and mixed with the tea leaves supplied from the canister 7 for cooking. It is poured into the cup C from the spout 28a. The water pump 22 supplies a predetermined amount (for example, 200 cc) of water required for cooking a cup of tea beverage by releasing the gas in the hot water storage tank 40 to the hot water storage tank 40 via the water supply tube T1.
FIG. 3: has shown the cross-sectional side view of the hot water storage tank to which the hot water supply apparatus which is Embodiment 1 of this invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 3, the hot water storage tank 40 includes a heater 41 inside, and by driving the heater 41, the water supplied by the water supply tube T <b> 1 is brought to a desired hot water supply temperature (for example, 94 ° C.). It is for storing as heated hot water, and is sealed with a tank body (wall) 42 constituting the vacuum heat insulating layer 43 and a tank lid (wall) 46 constituting the vacuum heat insulating layer 47. The tank body 42 is configured by forming a vacuum heat insulating layer 43 by making a vacuum state (for example, 1.0 Torr or less) between a tank inner wall 44 and a tank outer wall 45 of a metal plate such as a stainless steel plate. Similarly, the vacuum heat insulating layer 47 is configured by putting a vacuum between the lid inner wall 48 and the lid outer wall 49. The heater 41 is controlled by the control device 80, and various heaters such as one that generates heat by electric resistance and one that generates heat by induction heating can be applied. The temperature of the hot water in the hot water storage tank 40 is detected. A hot water temperature sensor (not shown) is provided, and the detection signal is output to the control device 80. The tank body bottom part 42b is connected to the water supply tube T1 and is provided with an introduction port 51 for introducing the water pumped by the water pump 22 into the hot water storage tank 40. The tank lid 46 has a hot water supply port 52 for supplying hot water from the hot water storage tank 40. The hot water supply tube T2 for supplying hot water to the mixing bowl 28 when the hot water supply valve 27 is opened is connected to the discharge tube T4 for releasing the gas accumulated in the hot water storage tank 40 when the gas release valve 26 is opened. .

When the wall of the hot water storage tank 40 is constituted by the vacuum heat insulating layers 42 and 47, it has a heat insulating performance that is approximately five times higher than that of a conventional heat insulating material using hard urethane foam. Therefore, even when the capacity of the hot water storage tank 40 is increased in order to ensure a sufficient amount of hot water supply, an increase in the amount of heat dissipation due to an increase in the heat dissipation area can be suppressed, and the hot water stored inside can be reduced to the above-described hot water supply temperature. It is possible to reduce the amount of power consumption for maintaining the power. Specifically, when the hot water storage tank 40 having an internal volume of 3600 ml was configured, the amount of power consumption could be reduced by about 50% compared to the case where a conventional heat insulating material was applied.
In the above-described embodiment, the hot water storage tank 40 whose wall is constituted by the vacuum heat insulating layers 42 and 47 is illustrated, but a heat insulating material such as hard urethane foam is used for the tank lid and the bottom of the tank body. Also good.

  FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of a tea machine to which the hot water supply apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is applied. A flow meter 23 that measures the amount of water pumped by the water pump 22 and outputs a signal, a hot water temperature sensor 50 that detects the temperature of the hot water in the hot water storage tank 40 and outputs a signal, and for supplying hot water A control device 80 (control means) that performs control, a water pump 22 that pumps water, each operated by a signal output from the control device 80, and a gas release valve that releases the gas in the hot water storage tank 40 by opening the valve 26, a hot water supply valve 27 that opens the valve and supplies hot water heated in the hot water storage tank 40 to the mixing bowl 28, a heater 41 that heats the water in the hot water storage tank 40, and each part of the tea machine 1 It has a memory (storage means) 81 for storing control data, and a timer 82 for counting a clock generated by a reference clock generator (not shown) and counting a hot water supply stop time of the hot water supply apparatus 20.

Next, control for heating the water stored in the water tank 21 to a desired hot water supply temperature and supplying hot water to the mixing bowl 28 using the hot water supply apparatus 20 configured as described above will be described using the timing chart of FIG. . First, when a beverage selection button provided on the front surface of the door 4a is pressed, the control device 80 drives the water pump 22 to pump the water stored in the water tank 21. At the same time, the gas release valve 26 is opened to release the gas in the hot water storage tank 40. Next, the hot water supply valve 27 is opened, and hot water that is pumped by the water pump 22 and heated to a desired hot water supply temperature by the heater 41 is supplied to the mixing bowl 28. When the amount of water measured and output by the flow meter 23 reaches the amount of hot water stored in the memory 81, the hot water supply valve 27 is closed to end hot water supply. The hot water supplied to the mixing bowl 28 is mixed with the tea leaves supplied from the canister 7 and poured into the cup C.
The time for opening the gas release valve 26 is determined by the measurement signal of the amount of water output from the flow meter 23. The amount of water is determined based on the hot water supply stop time counted by the timer 82. When the hot water supply stop time is lengthened, the amount of gas generated in the hot water storage tank 40 is increased, but the amount of water output by the flow meter 23 based on the hot water supply stop time counted by the timer 82 is obtained from the experimental results. By determining the opening time of the gas release valve 26, the amount of hot water stored in the hot water storage tank 40 when the gas is released is wasted to the waste bucket 29, so that the amount of power consumption can be reduced. Can do.
(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment described above, the hot water storage tank 40 is configured by sealing with the tank main body 42 configured by the vacuum heat insulating layer 43 and the tank lid 46 formed by the vacuum heat insulating layer 47. In the second embodiment, the hot water storage tank 60 is hermetically sealed with a tank body 62 configured by surrounding a wall with a vacuum heat insulating material 63 and a tank lid 66 configured by providing a hard urethane foam 67. As a result, it becomes possible to obtain high heat insulation performance compared to the case where the hot water storage tank has a heat insulating structure by surrounding with rigid urethane foam, etc., and even when the hot water storage tank has a large capacity, the heat radiation amount is suppressed, Reduction in power consumption can be achieved.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view showing hot water storage tank 60 of the hot water supply apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same component as the hot water storage tank 40, and description of the code | symbol is abbreviate | omitted.
The hot water storage tank 60 stores supplied water as hot water heated to a desired hot water supply temperature (for example, 94 ° C.), and includes a tank body (wall) 62 configured by surrounding a vacuum heat insulating material 63, and a hard body. It is hermetically sealed with a tank lid 66 that is provided with a urethane foam 67. The tank body 62 is configured by surrounding a vacuum heat insulating material 63 between a tank inner wall 64 and a tank outer wall 65, and a rigid urethane foam 67b is provided on the tank body bottom 62b. The tank lid 66 is provided with a hard urethane foam 67 between the lid inner wall 68 and the lid outer wall 69. As the vacuum heat insulating material 63, a material in which a core material such as silica (silicon dioxide) powder is wrapped in a bag and the inside is in a vacuum state (for example, 1.5 Torr or less) may be applied.

The hot water storage tank 60 formed by surrounding the wall with the vacuum heat insulating material 63 has a heat insulating performance of about three times as high as that of a conventional heat insulating material using hard urethane foam. Therefore, even when the capacity of the hot water storage tank 60 is increased in order to ensure a sufficient amount of hot water supply, an increase in the amount of heat dissipation due to an increase in the heat dissipation area can be suppressed, and the hot water stored in the hot water storage temperature can be reduced. It is possible to reduce the amount of power consumption for maintaining the power. Specifically, when the hot water storage tank 60 having an internal volume of 3600 ml is configured, the amount of power consumption can be reduced by approximately 30% as compared with the case where a conventional heat insulating material is applied.
In addition, in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 mentioned above, although the hot water supply apparatus of a tea machine is illustrated, it does not necessarily need to apply to a tea machine and supplies the hot water stored in the hot water storage tank. If present, the present invention can be applied to other hot water supply devices such as cup-type beverage vending machines and coffee beverage dispensers.

It is an apparatus housing | casing internal view of the tea machine to which the hot water supply apparatus which is Embodiment 1 of this invention is applied. It is a conceptual diagram of the piping path | route of the hot water supply apparatus shown in FIG. It is a cross-sectional side view of the hot water storage tank to which the hot water supply device shown in FIG. 1 is applied. It is a control block diagram of the hot water supply device shown in FIG. It is a timing chart of the hot-water supply apparatus shown in FIG. It is a cross-sectional side view of the hot water storage tank to which the hot water supply apparatus which is Embodiment 2 of this invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tea supply machine 2 Equipment housing | casing 5 Cooking part 6 Tank part 7 Canister 8 Raw material chute 9 Tea supply stage 20 Hot water supply apparatus 21 Water tank 22 Water pump 23 Flowmeter 24 Check valve 25 Relief valve 26 Gas release valve 27 Hot water supply valve 28 Mixing bowl 40 Hot water storage tank 41 Heating heater 42 Tank main body 43 Vacuum heat insulating layer 46 Tank lid 47 Vacuum heat insulating layer 50 Hot water temperature sensor 60 Hot water storage tank 62 Tank main body 63 Vacuum heat insulating material 66 Tank cover 67 Rigid urethane foam 80 Control device 81 Memory 82 Timer C cup

Claims (3)

In a hot water supply apparatus comprising a hot water storage tank for storing hot water heated to a desired temperature, and supplying hot water for beverage cooking from the hot water storage tank,
The wall for sealing the hot water storage tank is composed of a vacuum heat insulating layer,
A water pump for pumping water to the hot water storage tank;
A gas release valve for releasing the gas accumulated in the hot water storage tank;
A hot water supply valve for supplying hot water in the hot water storage tank;
Control means for opening the gas discharge valve and releasing the gas from the hot water storage tank to open the hot water supply valve and supplying hot water;
A hot water supply apparatus comprising: In a hot water supply apparatus comprising a hot water storage tank for storing hot water heated to a desired temperature, and supplying hot water for beverage cooking from the hot water storage tank,
A vacuum heat insulating material is provided around the wall that seals the hot water storage tank,
A water pump for pumping water to the hot water storage tank;
A gas release valve for releasing the gas accumulated in the hot water storage tank;
A hot water supply valve for supplying hot water in the hot water storage tank;
Control means for opening the gas discharge valve and releasing the gas from the hot water storage tank to open the hot water supply valve and supplying hot water;
A hot water supply apparatus comprising:   2. A flow meter is disposed in a delivery line for pumping water to the hot water storage tank, and an opening time of the gas discharge valve and the hot water supply valve is controlled based on a signal output from the flow meter. Or the hot water supply apparatus of 2.

Images