JP2008050051A - Dispensing head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dispensing head capable of pouring remaining beverages left over in a server or beverage tube without blowing them out, in a state the lever of the dispensing head is positioned at a closing position. <P>SOLUTION: The dispensing head is mounted on a mouthpiece of a beverage barrel and is equipped with a main introduction portion that introduces a normal gas pressure from a compressed-air cylinder so as to spout the beverages from the beverage barrel, while the main introduction portion is made to be opened/closed by way of the up-and-down movement of a plunger in linkage with the raising/lowering of the lever, and is equipped with a subsidiary introduction portion that can introduce a gas which has a lower pressure than the normal gas pressure when the main introduction portion is closed. The gas pressure from the compressed-air cylinder is separated into two routes to be switchable, one of the separated route is connected with the main introduction portion for a normal gas pressure, the other separated route being linked to the subsidiary introduction portion through a pressure-regulating valve for a gas lower in pressure than the normal gas pressure. The subsidiary introduction portion may be separated in a by-passing state within the main introduction portion. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  More particularly, the present invention relates to a dispense head capable of discharging beverages remaining on a server or a tube even after the barrel is empty. .

  As is well known, a server system for beer or the like installed in a restaurant or the like has a dispense head that can be connected to both a pressure cylinder such as carbon dioxide gas and a server attached to a beverage barrel, and the pressure cylinder is connected through the dispense head. By applying this gas pressure to the beverage barrel, the beverage in the barrel is sent to the server. When the beverage is beer, the gas pressure is set to 0.25 to 0.35 Mpa by a regulator (pressure regulator) attached to the pressure cylinder. In addition, the dispensing head has a mechanism for opening and closing a beverage passage by opening and closing a built-in spear valve as well as opening and closing a gas pressure passage for the beverage barrel by raising and lowering the lever. Such a general structure of the dispense head is widely known from Patent Document 1 or the like, and normally, the state where the lever is raised is set to the closed state, and the lever is lowered from this state to be opened.

  By the way, the server system needs to be cleaned every day after the end of business from the viewpoint of hygiene. At this time, the beverage remaining in the server and the tube connecting the server and the dispense head cannot be completely discharged. Remains. For example, in the case of beer, an amount equivalent to one glass of mug remains in one system, and if this is seen nationwide, several hundred kiloliters of beer were washed away as it is every year. However, even if the remaining beverage was used up, even if it was pressurized with a normal working pressure, the beverage spouted out at a rate that could not be poured into a mug or the like, and eventually did not become usable.

  In the past, attempts have been made to reduce the gas pressure by finely adjusting the regulator of the pressure cylinder and the lever of the dispense head. However, this operation requires skill.

  In view of this, as shown in Non-Patent Document 1, a dispensing head having a “residual beer pouring” function has been developed. As shown in FIG. 4, this dispense head has a valve 52 on a gas introduction part 51 provided on the side of the head body 50, and the valve rod 53 can be brought into contact with the plunger 54 of the dispense head. The opening degree of the gas introduction part 51 is adjusted by the entry / exit of the valve stem 53. As a premise, both are connected so that the plunger 54 is moved up and down by raising and lowering the lever 55, and the plunger 54 is formed with a reduced diameter portion 58 between two stepped portions 56 and 57. The head main body 50 is provided with seal portions 59 and 60 by O-rings at two positions above and below the gas introduction portion 51. By changing the position of the reduced diameter portion 58 by raising and lowering the lever 55, the lower seal portion is provided. The basic function of the conventional dispensing head in which the gas introduction part 51 is opened and closed so that the sealing function of 60 can be released is followed. On the other hand, the valve 52 built in the gas introduction part 51 urges the valve rod 53 in a direction to protrude toward the plunger 54 so that the valve 52 is normally closed by a built-in coil spring 61. In the closed state in which the lever 55 is raised, the valve rod 53 protrudes from the reduced diameter portion 58 of the plunger 54 to maintain the closed state of the gas introduction portion 51, while in the open state in which the lever 55 is lowered. Then, the valve rod 53 comes into contact with the side wall of the plunger 54 and is pushed in against the urging force, so that the gas introduction part 51 is opened. In the dispensing head, in addition to the opening / closing valve operation, the opening degree of the valve 52 can be adjusted by adjusting the pushing degree of the valve rod 53 by the step 56 above the reduced diameter portion 58. That is, when the lever 55 is set to the intermediate position in the open / closed state, the degree of pushing of the valve rod 53, that is, the opening of the valve 52 is adjusted, and the gas pressure reduced from the normal use pressure can be applied to the beverage barrel. . As described above, according to the dispensing head shown in Non-Patent Document 1 (FIG. 4), the lever 55 can be switched to three stages including the fully closed and fully opened positions and the intermediate decompression position. Beer (beverage) can be poured out without spouting.

JP 2002-80092 A (see FIGS. 4 and 5) Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, August 2006, "No draft beer left, Suntory, new equipment for restaurants"

  However, the dispensing head of Non-Patent Document 1 has a problem that the lever operation becomes heavy because the valve rod is pushed in by the plunger. In addition to this, since the valve rod 53 protruding obliquely with the tapered step 57 is operated, this adjustment is difficult.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a dispense head that can be dispensed without blowing out a remaining beverage with the lever of the dispense head in a closed position.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention includes a main introduction part that introduces a normal gas pressure that is attached to a base of a beverage barrel and that can dispense the beverage in the beverage barrel from a pressure cylinder. A dispensing head that can be opened and closed by moving the plunger up and down in conjunction with the raising and lowering of the lever, and when the main introduction part is in a closed state, a gas pressure lower than the normal gas pressure can be introduced The means of providing a sub-introduction unit was used. According to this means, the main main introduction part is shut off by setting the lever to the closed position, but in this state, by introducing a low gas pressure to the sub introduction part, the server The remaining beverage in the beverage tube can be poured out. Further, since the remaining beverage is poured out by a low gas pressure, there is no blowout.

  There are one and two gas pressure supply paths from the pressure cylinder to the dispense head. In other words, if there are two systems, the gas pressure from the pressure cylinder can be branched and switched to two systems, one branch path is connected to the main introduction part as a normal gas pressure, and the other branch path is regulated And connected to the sub-introduction section as a gas pressure lower than the normal gas pressure.

  On the other hand, in the case of one system, the gas pressure from the pressure cylinder is directly connected to the main introduction part, and the main introduction part is branched into a bypass shape inside to form a sub introduction part. Further, in this one system, when the sub-introduction part is provided in a bypass shape in the main introduction part, a pressure regulating valve and a shut-off valve are provided in the sub-introduction part, a throttle valve and a shut-off valve are provided in the sub-introduction part, or further branched At this time, the above-described object can be achieved by any means of forming a sub-introduction section with a narrowed flow path and providing an open / close valve in the sub-introduction section.

  In the above-described means, the pressure regulating valve is embodied by a pressure reducing valve or a flow rate adjusting valve.

  According to the dispensing head of the present invention adopting the above means, since the sub-introduction portion for introducing a low-pressure gas pressure that does not blow out the remaining beverage is provided, it is not necessary to finely adjust the lever, and the structure The remaining beverage can be easily dispensed.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a pressure cylinder of carbon dioxide gas and 2 is a dispensing head according to the present invention. R is a regulator (pressure reducing valve) attached to the pressure cylinder. In the case of this first embodiment, the gas supply path 3 is branched by the switching device 4 into two systems, that is, a normal use pressure system branch path 5 and a low pressure system branch path 6 used only when the remaining beverage is poured out. The low-pressure branch 6 is configured to have a gas pressure lower than the normal working pressure by a pressure regulating valve 7 composed of a pressure reducing valve or a flow rate adjusting valve.

  On the other hand, the dispensing head 2 includes a main body 8 that can be attached to a base of a beverage barrel (not shown) so that the plunger 9 can be moved up and down, and a main introduction portion 10 on the side wall of the main body 8. A normal working pressure branch 5 is connected to the main introduction part 10. More specifically, the inside of the main body 8 is provided with a slide hole 8a of the plunger 9 passing through up and down, and seal portions 8b and 8c made of O-rings are provided at two places above and below the slide hole 8a. And the main introducing | transducing part 10 is provided so that it may open between upper and lower seal part 8b * 8c. On the other hand, the plunger 9 is closely inserted into the slide hole 8a of the main body 8, but includes a reduced diameter portion 9c that narrows the gap between the steps 9a and 9b. For this reason, when the reduced diameter portion 9c of the plunger 9 is positioned between the seal portions 8b and 8c, the seal portions 8b and 8c are brought into close contact with the plunger 9 and the main introduction portion 10 is blocked. By lowering the plunger 9 from this state, the close contact between the lower seal portion 8c and the plunger 9 is released, and the main introduction portion 10 is opened. As a result, the reduced-diameter portion 9c becomes a gas in the slide hole 8a. It becomes a pressure passage, pressurizes the beverage barrel, and pours the beverage in the barrel to the server side through the through hole in the plunger 9. The plunger 9 is moved up and down by the lever 13, and when the lever 13 is raised, the plunger 9 is lowered and the above-described dispensing operation is performed. On the other hand, when the lever 13 is lowered, the plunger 9 is raised and shuts off. It becomes.

  The structure of the dispensing head 2 so far is the same as that of the prior art. However, if the features of the present invention are described, the sub-introducing portion 11 is bypassed so as to open below the lower seal portion 8c of the main body 8. Yes. Then, the low pressure branch 6 is connected to the sub-introduction section 11 through a joint 12 as appropriate. Therefore, if the gas supply path 3 is switched to the low-pressure branch path 6 while the lever 13 is lowered and the main introduction section 10 on the working pressure system branch path 5 side is shut off, the low-pressure gas pressure passes through the sub-introduction section 11. Then, it is introduced into the dispensing head 2 and the residual beverage in the server or tube on the secondary side of the dispensing head 2 can be poured out by the low pressure gas pressure.

  Next, FIG. 2 shows the second embodiment of the present invention. The basic structure is the same as that of the first embodiment in the basic structure. Therefore, while showing the same structure with the same reference numerals as the first embodiment, the configuration will be described with emphasis on the features of the second embodiment. In the dispensing head 2 according to the second embodiment, the main introduction part 20 on the side of the normal working pressure system branch path is branched inside, and the branch path is bypassed below the lower seal part 8c so as to bypass the sub introduction part 21. Is forming. At this time, the main introduction part 20 on the use pressure system branch path side opens between the seal parts 8b and 8c, and the sub introduction part 21 opens below the lower seal part 8c as in the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, first, the gas pressure supply path is one system, and the gas pressure supply path is directly connected to the main introduction unit 20. The sub-introducing portion 21 is provided with a pressure regulating valve 22 and a shut-off valve 23. It should be noted that the front-rear relationship between the pressure regulating valve 22 and the shutoff valve 23 may be opposite to the illustrated state.

  According to the second embodiment, the shut-off valve 23 is operated during normal use to close the sub-introducing portion 21, while the plunger 9 is closed when the remaining beverage is dispensed. The valve 23 is opened. As a result, the gas pressure directly supplied by one system is introduced into the sub-introduction section 21, is decompressed by the pressure regulating valve 22, and is sent to a beverage barrel (not shown).

  Subsequently, FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, in which the main introduction part 30 on the side of the normal use pressure system branch path is internally branched to form the sub introduction part 31, which is used at this time. The main introduction part 30 on the pressure system branch path side opens between the upper and lower seal parts, the sub-introduction part 31 is bypassed so as to open below the lower seal part, and the gas pressure supply path is one system. The direct connection to the main introduction part 30 is the same as in the second embodiment. In addition, the same code | symbol is used about the same structure as 1st or 2nd. If the feature point is described on that, in this 3rd embodiment, the throttle valve 32 is adopted as a decompression mechanism in sub introduction part 31. The throttle valve 32 inserts a spindle 32a into the flow path, and adjusts the insertion depth of the spindle 32a, that is, the opening degree of the flow path, by moving the lever 32b to the left and right. Therefore, the gas pressure supplied to the sub-introduction unit 31 is reduced by the throttle valve 32 in a state where the main main introduction unit 30 is shut off, and thereafter, the remaining beverage is poured out according to the same principle as in the second embodiment. Can do.

  In the third embodiment, if the throttle valve 32 is throttled to the maximum, the valve itself can function as a cutoff valve, so that the cutoff valve can be omitted. On the other hand, if the flow path of the sub-introduction part is made smaller than the main main introduction part, the gas pressure is naturally reduced by this small-diameter flow path. It is also possible to adopt a configuration that narrows down. However, in this case, since there is no shut-off function like the throttle valve 32, it is necessary to provide an opening / closing valve in the sub-introduction section.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a dispensing head according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The longitudinal cross-sectional view which showed the dispensing head which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention. The top view which showed the dispensing head which concerns on 3rd embodiment of this invention. Longitudinal section showing a conventional dispensing head

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pressure cylinder 2 Dispense head 3 Gas supply path 4 Switching apparatus 5 Normal use pressure system branch path 6 Low pressure system branch path 7, 22 Pressure regulating valve 8 Main body 9 Plungers 10, 20, 30 Main introduction part (main)
11, 21, 31 Sub-introducing section 23 Shut-off valve 32 Throttle valve

Claims (6)

A main introduction part that is attached to the base of the beverage barrel and introduces a normal gas pressure capable of pouring out the beverage in the beverage barrel from a pressure cylinder, and the upper and lower parts of the plunger interlocking with the raising and lowering of the lever. A dispensing head that can be opened and closed by movement, comprising: a sub-introducing portion capable of introducing a gas pressure lower than the normal gas pressure when the main introducing portion is in a closed state. head. The gas pressure from the pressure cylinder is bifurcated into two systems and can be switched. One of the branch passages is connected to the main introduction portion as a normal gas pressure, and the other branch passage is connected to the normal gas pressure via a pressure regulating valve. The dispensing head according to claim 1, wherein the dispensing head is connected to the sub-introduction section as a lower gas pressure. 2. The dispensing head according to claim 1, wherein the sub-introduction section has a branch path branched inside the main introduction section, and a pressure regulating valve and a shutoff valve are provided in the branch path. 2. The dispensing head according to claim 1, wherein the sub-introduction section has a branch path branched inside the main introduction section, and a throttle valve is provided in the branch path. 2. The sub-introducing portion is branched inside the main introducing portion and has a branch passage in which the flow path is narrowed so that the gas pressure can be reduced, and an opening / closing valve is provided in the branch passage. Dispensing head. The dispense head according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the pressure regulating valve is a pressure reducing valve or a flow rate adjusting valve.

Images