JP2009274767A - Beverage dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a beverage dispenser capable of readily determining the positions of dispensing nozzles of beverages corresponding to beverage selecting buttons. <P>SOLUTION: The beverage dispenser includes the plurality of beverage selecting buttons 40A, 41, and 40B provided on a door 28 of a front surface of a main body and nozzles 6, 7, and 12 provided so as to correspond to the positions above a plurality of beverage supplying positions formed below the door. Based on an operation of the beverage selecting button, the dispenser supplies a beverage to a cup from the nozzle corresponding to the beverage selecting button. The dispenser has position illuminating means 57, 58A, and 58B which illuminate the beverage supplying positions, respectively, and a control means 60 which supplies the beverage from the nozzle corresponding to the beverage selecting button based on the operation of the beverage selecting button. When the beverage selecting button is operated, the control means illuminates only the position illuminating means of the beverage supplying position below the nozzle corresponding to the beverage selecting button or increases the illumination intensity of the position illuminating means more than the other position illuminating means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a beverage dispenser that provides a plurality of beverage selection buttons on the front door of the main body and supplies beverages from a nozzle to a cup disposed at a beverage supply position below the door based on the operation of the beverage selection buttons. is there.

  Conventionally used beverage dispensers are connected to a liquid ingredient tank containing liquid ingredients with high concentrations, and are placed in a cup while mixing the liquid ingredients with a diluent such as diluted water or carbonated water at an appropriate ratio. A tank unit for supplying a fixed amount and a tube derived from a BIB (Bag In Box) are handled by a tube pump to extrude beverage ingredients from the BIB, and a diluent such as dilution water or carbonated water and a machine Some have a BIB unit that is mixed and supplied (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The beverage raw material supplied from the tank unit is mainly a raw material for sugared beverages, and the beverage raw material supplied from the BIB unit is mainly a raw material for sugar-free beverages such as teas.

  In the tank unit, each liquid source supply line and dilution liquid supply line are connected to the multi-nozzle, and multiple types can be selected from one multi-nozzle by controlling the on-off valves provided in each supply line. The supply of beverages is made possible. Therefore, in the beverage dispenser having both of these tank units and BIB units, the tank unit is placed in the center of the apparatus and the BIB units are arranged on both sides in order to realize the beverage supply from each unit in a space-saving manner. There are many.

  And these tank units and the door which can be opened and closed are provided in the front of the BIB unit, and each unit is concealed by the door. And the drink selection button which operates supply of each drink is provided in the front surface of this door. Beverage selection buttons for selecting beverages supplied from the respective BIB units are provided on the front left and right of the door, and buttons (for selecting beverages supplied from the tank unit) are provided at the center of the door. Beverage selection button) is provided.

  And since the area | region of the door front surface other than each beverage selection button provided, for example, the front upper part becomes a vacant space, it is used, for example as sticking spaces, such as an advertisement regarding the drink which can be supplied with the said apparatus. .

  However, in many cases, there is one beverage selection button corresponding to the BIB unit provided on the left and right, whereas the beverage selection button corresponding to the tank unit provided in the center is connected to the tank unit. A large number of beverage ingredients are provided depending on the number of beverage ingredients and combinations thereof.

  At this time, in order to effectively secure the ad affixing space at the upper part of the door, the beverage selection buttons corresponding to the tank unit are provided in a plurality of rows in the left-right direction, for example, two rows, and the beverage selection corresponding to the tank unit as described above. Beverage selection buttons corresponding to the BIB units are provided on the left and right sides of the buttons. On the other hand, the beverage discharge nozzles provided below the door (or the lower part of the door) are the BIB unit beverage supply nozzles provided on the left and right and the tank unit multi-nozzle provided in the center. .

  However, for inexperienced users, especially when the device is provided as a free drink service such as a restaurant, when a desired beverage selection button is operated, from which position the beverage is supplied May be difficult to understand, and the cup may be placed directly under the beverage selection button. In this case, the beverage corresponding to the BIB unit is appropriately supplied, but since the beverage corresponding to the tank unit is almost placed in the wrong position, the beverage is appropriately supplied. There is a problem that it cannot be supplied into the cup.

  Therefore, in order to remind the user of the position of the nozzle where the beverage is supplied, conventionally, the method of partitioning the region of the beverage selection button corresponding to the beverage supply nozzle with a panel and the placement position of the cup are associated. A method of providing a member such as a frame having a simple shape is employed.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-245997

  However, there is a problem that it is difficult to know from which nozzle the selected beverage is supplied even when the user is reminded of the position of each nozzle as described above. Therefore, it is conceivable to arrange each beverage selection button above each nozzle. However, as described above, the beverages supplied from the multi-nozzle provided in the center of the front surface are of a plurality of types, and when all are arranged in a vertical row, the unity feeling of the entire device and the upper part of the front surface of the device There is a problem that the sense of unity such as advertisements provided is impaired. In addition, the beverage selection button formed on the upper part of the door is provided at a position far away from the actually ejected multi-nozzle, and there is a problem that the sense of interlocking of the beverage supply operation with the button operation is reduced.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the conventional technical problems, and provides a beverage dispenser that can easily determine the position of a beverage discharge nozzle corresponding to a beverage selection button.

  The beverage dispenser of the present invention includes a plurality of beverage selection buttons provided on the door on the front surface of the main body, and a plurality of nozzles provided corresponding to the plurality of beverage supply positions above the door, Based on the operation of the above, the beverage is supplied to the cup from the nozzle corresponding to the beverage selection button, the position illumination means for illuminating each beverage supply position, and the beverage selection button corresponding to the operation of the beverage selection button Control means for supplying a beverage from the nozzle, and when the beverage selection button is operated, only the position illumination means at the beverage supply position below the nozzle corresponding to the beverage selection button is turned on, or The illuminance of the position illumination means is higher than that of other position illumination means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to guide which beverage selection button can be used to operate the beverage supply at the position where the cup is actually placed. Further, by providing the position illumination means for illuminating each beverage supply position, it is possible to guide the user where to place the cup by illuminating the beverage supply position with the position illumination means.

It is a front view of the drink dispenser of the present invention. It is a front view of the state which opened the door of the drink dispenser. It is a side view which shows the internal structure of a drink dispenser. It is a front view of the drink dispenser in the state where the decoration member was removed. It is sectional drawing which looked at the AA part of FIG. 4 from upper direction. It is sectional drawing which looked at the BB part of FIG. 4 from the downward direction. It is an electrical block diagram of a control apparatus. It is a front view of a drink dispenser.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view of the beverage dispenser 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the beverage dispenser 1 of the present invention with the door 28 opened, and FIG. 3 is a side view showing the internal configuration of the beverage dispenser 1. .

  The beverage dispenser 1 according to the present embodiment enables a customer or the like to freely supply a beverage at a restaurant or a coffee shop, and the BIB units 32 and 32 that supply a neutral beverage such as oolong tea and coffee. And the apparatus which has the tank unit 31 which supplies a strong and weak non-carbonate type target drink in the main body 2 together. As shown in FIG. 2, the structure of the beverage dispenser 1 includes a tank unit 31 in the center and BIB units 32 and 32 on both sides thereof. The tank unit 31 and the BIB units 32 and 32 are concealed by an openable / closable door 28 located on the front surface.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the tank unit 31 is configured by arranging a solenoid valve 8 and a flow regulator 17 in a beverage ingredient flow path for supplying beverage ingredients. Furthermore, the tank unit 31 is provided with a multi-nozzle 12 that mixes beverage ingredients and dilution water supplied from other tubes and discharges the target beverage. The multi-nozzle 12 is a composite nozzle that discharges different types of target beverages according to the user's selection using different types of beverage ingredients supplied from a plurality of beverage ingredient tanks.

  Next, the BIB unit 32 will be described with reference to FIG. The opaque lead-out tube 4 of the BIB 3 is sandwiched between a rotor 5A and an arm 5B of a pump (peristaltic pump) 5 via a sensor 13 for detecting sold-out, and a pinch solenoid 19 provided below the pump 5. The beverage raw material is configured to be supplied to the nozzle 6 via.

  The pump 5 extrudes beverage ingredients while sequentially handling the outlet tube 4 by a plurality of rollers attached to the rotor 5A. Further, a dilution water nozzle 7 is provided adjacent to the beverage ingredient nozzle 6.

  A table 14 is provided below the nozzles 6 and 7 of the BIB unit 32 and the multi-nozzle 12 of the tank unit 31, and a cup guided by a guide 15 can be disposed on the table 14. In this embodiment, on the table 14, the beverage supply position 10 is located below the multi-nozzle 12 of the central tank unit 31, and beverages from the BIB units 32, 32 provided on the left and right of the tank unit 31 are placed. Beverage supply positions 11A and 11B are respectively provided below the nozzles 6 and 7 where the supply is performed. Therefore, the guide 15 is provided in the guide position of the cup mounted corresponding to each drink supply position 10, 11A, 11B.

  Also, corresponding to each of these beverage supply positions 10, 11A, 11B, cup sensors 20, 21A for detecting the presence or absence of a cup on the front surface of the main body 2 located below the nozzles 12, 6, 7, respectively. , 21B are provided. The cup sensor in this embodiment is an optical distance measuring type light reflection type sensor (light sensor) having a light emitting part and a light receiving part. When the light from the light emitting part hits the side surface of the cup and is reflected, the reflected light is reflected. The light receiving unit receives light and outputs a signal. In this embodiment, the cup sensor uses an optical sensor. However, the present invention is not limited to this as long as it can detect the presence or absence of a cup.

  3 is a compressor constituting a cooling device for cooling dilution water and the like, 34 is a condenser, and 36 is a dilution water pump motor. Reference numeral 37 denotes a water tank.

  Next, the configuration of the front surface of the door 28 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 is a front view of the beverage dispenser 1 with the brand film 43 and the decorative member 22 removed, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the AA portion of FIG. 4 as viewed from above, and FIG. 6 is a BB view of FIG. Sectional drawing which looked at the part from the downward direction is shown. On the front surface of the door 28, a beverage selection button for instructing supply of a beverage corresponding to each of the nozzles 12, 6, and 7 from which the beverage is discharged is provided. This beverage selection button is formed corresponding to each beverage supply position. In the present embodiment, the beverage selection buttons 40A and 40B for beverages supplied from the BIB unit 32 are provided above the left and right beverage supply positions 11A and 11B (the left and right sides of the door 28). The beverage selection buttons 41... For beverages supplied from are provided above the central beverage supply position (in the center of the door 28).

  That is, in the example of FIG. 1, the beverage supplied by one (left side as viewed from the front) BIB unit 32 is oolong tea, and the beverage supplied by the other BIB unit 32 is coffee. Therefore, a beverage selection button 40A for oolong tea is provided above the beverage supply position 11A, and a coffee beverage selection button 40B is provided above the beverage supply position 11B. In addition, the beverages supplied by the tank unit 31 are orange soda, grape soda, orange, grape, lemon and melon beverages, each being positioned above the beverage supply position 10 and vertically aligned. Thus, various beverage selection buttons 41... Are provided. In the present embodiment, the various beverage selection buttons are provided at the lower part of the door 28 closer to each beverage supply position in order to make it easier to recognize the sense of interlock between each beverage supply position and the various beverage selection buttons. .

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each beverage selection button 40 </ b> A, 40 </ b> B, 41 includes a button-side holding portion 42 that has a substantially semi-cylindrical shape formed by bending the front surface with a predetermined curvature, and the button side A brand film 43 held by the holding unit 42, a button illumination (button illumination means) 44 that illuminates the brand film 43 from behind, and a contact switch 45 positioned behind the brand film 43.

  The button side holding part 42 is made of a material having a predetermined flexibility while allowing the inside to be seen through, and the entire button side holding part 42 is detachably fitted to the front surface of the door 28. Is. The brand film 43 held by the button side holding part 42 is formed of a translucent decorative member, for example, a sheet having a predetermined translucency, and can be supplied by operating the beverage selection button. It is assumed that the type of beverage to be expressed is printed. With the button side holding part 42 removed from the front surface of the door 28, the brand film 43 can be inserted and removed from the upper and lower ends of the holding part 42 and is held along the curved shape of the front face of the holding part 42. .

  The button illumination 44 provided behind the brand film 43 is constituted by illumination means such as an LED, for example, and in this embodiment, at least two levels of illuminance (low / high) can be controlled. Similarly, in the present embodiment, two contact switches 45 provided on the rear side of the brand film 43 are provided on the left and right sides of the button illumination 44, and the button side holding portion 42 provided on the front side is pushed toward the door 28. By energizing, it is possible to instruct the supply of the corresponding beverage. The button illumination 44 and the contact switch 45 are both provided on a button substrate 46 provided for each beverage selection button.

  On the other hand, an electric signboard 48 is provided in a region other than the beverage selection buttons 40A, 40B, 41 provided on the front surface of the door 28. This electric signboard 48 is formed over the entire front surface of the door 28 in a form avoiding the beverage selection buttons 40A, 40B, 41, and includes the door-side holding portion 23 and the door-side holding portion. 23 is configured to include a translucent decorative member that is detachably held on the door 23, and door illumination (door illumination means) 49 that illuminates the decorative member from the rear.

  In the present embodiment, the door-side holding portion 23 corresponds to each of the beverage supply positions 10, 11 </ b> A, 11 </ b> B where the beverage is supplied from each unit 31, 32, 32 as described above (actually, the door side holding portion 23 is arranged side by side. Each of the compartments 23A, 23B, 23C extends up and down in such a way as to avoid the beverage selection buttons 40A, 41, 40B (corresponding to each row of beverage selection buttons). In addition, the front surface has a substantially semi-cylindrical shape that is curved with a predetermined curvature. And at least the front surface of the door-side holding portion 23 is formed of a material that allows the inside to be seen through. Moreover, the upper end of the door side holding part 23 in which each section 23A, 23B, 23C is formed is closed with a lid 24 so as to be freely opened and closed.

  In addition, the decorative members 22A to 22C held by the door-side holding unit 23 are formed of, for example, a sheet having a predetermined translucency, and beverage advertisements and image designs supplied by the beverage dispenser 1 It is assumed that a message or the like is displayed by printing or the like. With the lid 24 opened, the decorative members 22A to 22C can be inserted and removed from the upper ends of the sections 23A to 23C of the holding portion 23, and are held along the curved shape of the front surface of the holding portion 23. The

  Similarly to the button illumination 44, the door illumination 49 provided behind the decorative members 22A to 22C is configured by illumination means such as an LED. At this time, the door illumination 49 provided in the same section 23A thru | or 23C shall be provided in the same illumination board | substrate 50. FIG. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the illuminance by the door illumination 49 is substantially the same as the low illuminance of the button illumination 44. Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the beverage selection button 41 provided at the center of the door 28 is provided above the beverage selection buttons 40A and 40B provided on the left and right sides of the door 28. 48, the central section 23B is shorter than the left and right sections 23A and 23C, and is provided so as to be biased upward. The beverage selection buttons 41. Will be placed.

  Next, with reference to FIG.4 and FIG.6, the structure of the position illumination (position illumination means) provided in the lower part of the door 28 is demonstrated. The lower portion of the door 28 is located above each of the beverage supply positions 10, 11A, 11B, and at the same time, located below the beverage selection buttons 41, 40A, 40B. 54A and 54B are formed, and position illumination windows 55, 56A and 56B are formed on the lower surface. A position illumination 57 is provided inside the nozzle position display unit 53 and the position illumination window 55. Similarly, position illuminations 58A and 58B are provided inside the nozzle position display part 54A and the position illumination window 56A, and inside the nozzle position display part 54B and the position illumination 56B, respectively.

  Each of the position lights 57, 58 </ b> A, 58 </ b> B is configured by, for example, an LED like the button illumination 44, and these are provided on the same illumination board 59. As a result, when the position illumination 57 is turned on, light is transmitted forward from the nozzle position display portion 53 formed in the lower center of the door 28, and the beverage supply position 10 located below the position illumination window 55. Is illuminated from above. Similarly, when the position lights 58A and 58B are turned on, light is transmitted forward from the nozzle position display portions 54A and 54B formed at the lower left and right of the door 28, thereby displaying the beverage supply position provided below. The beverage supply positions 11A and 11B located below the position illumination windows 56A and 56B are illuminated from above.

  In FIGS. 5 and 6, reference numeral 52 denotes a packing that is provided at the outer edge of the rear surface of the door 28 and closely contacts the rear surface of the door 28 and the front edge of the main body 2.

  Next, with reference to the electric block diagram of FIG. 7, the control apparatus 60 which controls various illumination and drink supply in a present Example is demonstrated. The control device 60 is constituted by a general-purpose microcomputer and incorporates a timer 61 as a predetermined time limit means. To the input side of the control device 60, the contact switches 45 of the beverage selection buttons 40A, 40B, 41,. On the output side of the control device 60, on-off valves 8 and the like provided in the supply lines for each beverage ingredient in the tank unit 31, pumps 5 and 5 provided in the BIB units 32 and 32, and a dilution water electromagnetic valve (connected to the nozzle 7). ) 64, each button illumination 44, door illumination 49, position illumination 57, 58A, 58B, etc. are connected.

With the above-described configuration, control related to various illuminations and beverage supply of the beverage dispenser 1 will be described.
(Standby status)
In the standby time zone such as business hours, the manager of the beverage dispenser 1 first turns on the sale enable switch 63 provided inside the door 28 to enter the sale standby state. In this sales standby state, the control device 60 turns on the door illumination 49 and also turns on the button illuminations 44 of the beverage selection buttons 40A, 40B, 41 with the same illuminance (low illumination setting). Further, the position lights 57, 58A, 58A are also turned on. Thereby, in the sales standby state, the door decoration member 22 and the brand film 43 each made of a translucent material are illuminated from the rear by the respective lights 49 and 44 on the entire front surface of the door 28, and the beverage dispenser 1 itself The aesthetics can be improved, and the device itself can be positively appealed to customers. In addition, the front of the beverage dispenser 1 can be illuminated by this illumination. Furthermore, since each drink supply position 11A, 10 and 11B is also illuminated from above by the respective position lights 58A, 57 and 58B, the overall lighting effect can be improved.
(Beverage supply control)
When the user supplies a beverage in the sales standby state, first, the beverage to be supplied is selected, and the beverage supply position is located below the beverage selection button to which the brand film 43 of the beverage is attached. Place the cup on. Here, a case where a beverage is supplied from one BIB unit 32 (left side when viewed from the front) will be described as an example.

  In the beverage dispenser 1 shown in FIG. 1, for example, when supplying oolong tea, a nozzle 6 for supplying a beverage ingredient of the oolong tea and a nozzle for supplying dilution water are provided below the beverage selection button 40A. The cup is placed at the beverage supply position 11 </ b> A located below 7.

  Thereby, the cup sensor 21A provided at the beverage supply position 11A detects that the cup is placed at the beverage supply position 11A, and based on the detection, the control device 60 detects the button illumination 44 of the beverage selection button 40A. The illuminance is set to a high setting and the operation of the button 40A is made effective. Furthermore, in the sales standby state, all the beverage supply positions are illuminated by the position lights 57, 58A, 58B, but the controller 60 detects the position of the position corresponding to the cup sensor 21A by detecting the cup of the cup sensor 21A. Only the illumination 58A is turned on, and the other position illuminations 57 and 58B are turned off.

  At this time, since the button illumination 44 of the other beverage selection buttons 41 and 40A is set to a low illuminance together with the door illumination 49, only the brand film 43 of the beverage selection button 40A for which the button operation is valid is used. Illumination will be performed in an emphasized form with a higher illuminance than others. Thereby, when the position where the cup is actually placed is the beverage supply position 11A, the user can operate only the beverage selection button 40A for oolong tea, and can operate the supply of the beverage. It is possible to easily recognize and guide what can be done.

  Further, since only the beverage supply position 11A is illuminated by the position illumination 58A, the light is transmitted to the front nozzle position display portion 54A by the lighting of the position illumination 58A, and only the beverage supply position 11A is illuminated. Therefore, from the user standing in front of the beverage dispenser 1, lighting is emphasized in a vertical line from the beverage selection button 40A to the beverage supply position 11A.

  Therefore, when the position where the cup is actually placed is the beverage supply position 11A, it is much easier to operate only the beverage selection button 40A for oolong tea and to control the supply of the beverage. Can be recognized and guided.

  As a result, when the user desires to supply the oolong tea beverage, the cup has been placed in another beverage supply position, that is, the central beverage supply position 10 and the beverage supply position 11B for coffee supply. The illuminance of the beverage selection button 40A for oolong tea remains low, and the illuminance of the other beverage selection button 41 or 40B is in spite of the position illumination 58A of the corresponding beverage supply position 11A being turned off. It becomes high setting and it becomes possible to alert | report that the position which puts a cup in a user is mistaken easily because the position illumination 57 or 58B of these drink supply positions 10 and 11B is turned on. Further, when the beverage selection button does not have a high illuminance, it is possible to eliminate the disadvantage that the beverage is supplied from a different position because the button operation is invalidated.

  In this case, the position lights 57, 58A, 58B turn on only the position lights corresponding to the detected beverage supply positions and turn off the other position lights by the cup detection of the cup sensors 20, 21A, 21B. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the illuminance of the position illumination corresponding to the detected beverage supply position may be set high, and the illuminance of other position illuminations may be set low.

  In such a case, only the beverage supply position that is not appropriate for the desired beverage supply, in this case, only the beverage supply position 10 or 11A is illuminated by the position lights 57 and 58B, and the beverage selection button 41 or 40B that is not desired is displayed. When the desired beverage selection button 40A is operated even though the illuminance of the button illumination 44 is set high and emphasized, the control device 60 corresponds to the operated beverage selection button 40A. It is determined that a cup is placed at a beverage supply position 10 or 11B other than the beverage supply position 11A, and the position illumination 58A of the beverage supply position 11A corresponding to the operated beverage selection button 40A is blinked. In the placed position, it is informed that the beverage cannot be supplied by the operated beverage selection button 40A, and the correct cup is loaded. Position, i.e., the beverage supply position 11A corresponding to a beverage selection button 40A which is operated to guide the user by the position illuminated 58A provided in the position.

  The position illumination 58A for guiding the correct cup placement position not only blinks, but also the beverage supply position 11A illuminated by the position illumination 58A by periodically changing the illuminance of the position illumination 58A. It may be encouraged to move the cup.

  Thereby, the beverage supply position corresponding to the beverage selection button operated smoothly by the user can be guided, and the inconvenience that the cup is placed at an incorrect position and the beverage cannot be properly supplied can be avoided. Is possible. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably supply a beverage at an appropriate position.

  The BIB is selected by operating the beverage selection button 40A for oolong tea while the cup is placed at the beverage supply position 11A suitable for the supply of oolong tea and the cup sensor 21A is appropriately detecting the cup. When the pump 5 of the unit 32 is operated for a predetermined time, the beverage material of oolong tea is supplied from the BIB 3 into the cup from the nozzle 6, the dilution water electromagnetic valve 64 is opened for a predetermined time, and the dilution water is supplied to the nozzle 7. To be fed into the cup. At this time, beverage raw materials and dilution water are mixed in the cup, and oolong tea (beverage) diluted at a predetermined dilution ratio is supplied.

  Further, while the cup sensor 21A detects the cup, the control device 60 turns on the corresponding position illumination 58A or makes the illuminance higher than those of the other position illuminations 57 and 58B. Thereby, it is also possible to illuminate the beverage supplied from the nozzles 6 and 7, and to improve the effect. Furthermore, while the cup is being detected by the cup sensor 21A even after the beverage is supplied, the position illumination 58A can indicate that the cup is placed at the position, and the user can place the cup at the position. It is possible to prompt the user to move from

  In the beverage supply control, any beverage is selected in a state where no cup is detected by any cup sensor, that is, in a state where no cup is placed at any beverage supply position 10, 11A, 11B. When the button, here, the beverage selection button 40A is operated, the control device 60 does not supply the beverage based on the beverage selection button 40A, and the beverage supply position 11A corresponding to the beverage selection button 40A. Only the position illumination 58A is turned on, or the illuminance of the position illumination 58A is turned on with higher illuminance than the other position illuminations 57 and 58B. At this time, the illuminance of the beverage selection button 40A corresponding to the beverage supply position 11A may be illuminated with an illuminance higher than that of the other beverage selection buttons 41 and 40B. Accordingly, by operating the beverage selection button 40A, it becomes possible to accurately guide the user to the position where the beverage is supplied.

  Thereafter, when the cup sensor 21A provided at a position corresponding to the beverage supply position (in this case, the beverage supply position 11A) detects that the cup is placed, the control device 60 again determines that the beverage selection button 40A is The beverage is supplied as described above on condition that it is operated. Thereby, it becomes possible to supply the beverage into the cup in a state where the cup is reliably placed at an appropriate beverage supply position.

  In the present embodiment, the operation of the beverage selection button 40A is described, but in addition to this, when the beverage selection button 41 is operated in a state where no cup is detected by any cup sensor. The control device 60 lights only the position illumination 57 of the beverage supply position 10 corresponding to the beverage selection button 41, or the illuminance of the position illumination 57 is higher than that of the other position illuminations 58A and 58B. Light. Similarly, when the beverage selection button 40B is operated, the position illumination 58B is turned on or turned on with a high illuminance.

  In the beverage dispenser 1 of FIG. 1, when coffee is supplied, a nozzle 6 that supplies a beverage ingredient of the coffee and a nozzle 7 that supplies dilution water are provided below the beverage selection button 40 </ b> B. It is placed at the beverage supply position 11B located below. Similarly, at this time, based on the detection, the control device 60 sets the illuminance of the button illumination 44 of the beverage selection button 40B to a high setting and makes the operation of the button 40B effective. Furthermore, the control device 60 turns on only the position illumination 58B at the position corresponding to the cup sensor 21B, and turns off the other position illuminations 57 and 58A. In this state, by operating the beverage selection button 40B, the beverage raw material and diluted water of coffee are supplied into the cup.

  On the other hand, in the case of supplying any beverage of orange soda, grape soda, orange, grape, lemon, melon, it is below these beverage selection buttons 41, and the beverage ingredients (including the diluent) of these beverages. The cup is placed at the beverage supply position 10 located below the multi-nozzle 12 that supplies the beverage. Similarly, at this time, based on the detection, the control device 60 sets the illuminance of the button illumination 44 of the beverage selection button 41 to a high level and makes the operation of the button 41 effective. Furthermore, the control device 60 turns on only the position illumination 57 at a position corresponding to the cup sensor 20, and turns off the other position lights 58A and 58B. In this state, when any of the beverage selection buttons 41 is operated, the beverage provided by the corresponding beverage raw material and diluent is supplied into the cup.

  Further, when the control device 60 of the beverage dispenser 1 detects that the beverage corresponding to the beverage selection button is sold out, the button illumination 44 of the beverage selection button is turned off, and the user is notified of the beverage. Informs that the beverage cannot be supplied by the selection button. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A sold-out lamp is separately provided for each beverage selection button, and the button illumination 44 of the beverage selection button is controlled in the same manner as described above. It may be lit to inform the user that the beverage cannot be supplied by the beverage selection button.

  Further, the control device 60 can manually turn on / off the button lights 44 of all beverage selection buttons by using the sale enable switch 63. As a result, in a non-business hours or the like, the user can turn off the sale enable switch 63 and turn off all the button lights 44 so that the beverage supply by each beverage selection button cannot be instructed. It becomes possible. It should be noted that the lighting / extinguishing of the button illumination of the beverage selection button in the non-business hours by the sale enable switch 63 may be controlled by a timer built in the control device 60.

  In the beverage dispenser 1 shown in FIG. 1 as described above, the types of beverages that can be supplied from the tank unit 31 are six types (orange soda, grape soda, orange, grape, lemon, melon), and each beverage is selected. Although the button 41 is provided, when four types of beverages can be supplied from the tank unit 31 as shown in FIG. 8, it is necessary to use all six beverage selection buttons 41. There is no.

  Therefore, for example, the upper part of the row of the beverage selection button 41 is an unusable beverage selection button, and the beverage selection button 41 is provided with a door provided around instead of the brand film 43 showing the type of beverage. The button-side holding portions of the beverage selection buttons 41 include the translucent decorative members 65 on which the symbols and the like appearing on the door decoration member 22 held on the side holding portion 23 are displayed. 43 may be attached. The beverage selection button to which the decoration member 65 is attached is not limited to the beverage selection button 41, and may be beverage selection buttons 40A and 40B corresponding to the BIB units 32 and 32, respectively. .

  As a result, when the beverage selection button is used as an operation invalid button (so-called dummy button), there is no brand label to be displayed, but together with the door decoration member 22, an integrated or continuous pattern is configured. By attaching the decorative member 65 on which the pattern to be displayed is attached, the button part can also display an integrated pattern and the like together with the door decorative member 22 on the front surface of the door 28, and the unity feeling of the entire apparatus can be improved. It becomes.

1 Beverage dispenser 3 BIB
5 Pump 6 Nozzle (For discharging BIB beverage ingredients)
7 Nozzle (for discharging BIB dilution water)
8 Solenoid valve 10, 11A, 11B Beverage supply position 12 Multi-nozzle 14 Table 15 Guide 20, 21A, 21B Cup sensor (cup detection means)
22 Door decoration member 23 Door side holding part 28 Door 31 Tank unit 32 BIB unit 33 Compressor 34 Condenser 36 Dilution water pump motor 40A, 40B, 41 Beverage selection button 42 Button side holding part 43 Brand film 44 Button illumination 45 Contact switch 46 Button Substrate 48 Electric signboard 49 Door illumination (door illumination means)
50 Illumination board 53, 54A, 54B Nozzle position display part 55, 56A, 56B Position illumination window 57, 58A, 58B Position illumination (position illumination means)
60 control device 65 decorative member

Claims (6)

A plurality of beverage selection buttons provided on the front door of the main body, and nozzles provided respectively corresponding to the plurality of beverage supply positions above the door, and based on the operation of the beverage selection button, In a beverage dispenser for supplying a beverage to the cup from the nozzle corresponding to the beverage selection button,
Position illumination means for illuminating each beverage supply position;
Control means for supplying a beverage from the nozzle corresponding to the beverage selection button based on the operation of the beverage selection button;
When the beverage selection button is operated, the control means turns on only the position illumination means at the beverage supply position below the nozzle corresponding to the beverage selection button, or sets the illuminance of the position illumination means to another A beverage dispenser characterized by being higher than the position illumination means. A cup detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the cup at each beverage supply position,
When the beverage selection button is operated, the control means detects that the cup has been placed at the beverage supply position below the nozzle corresponding to the beverage selection button. The beverage dispenser according to claim 1, wherein a beverage is supplied as a condition from the nozzle.   The said control means makes the said position illumination means light while the said cup detection means is detecting the said cup, or makes illumination intensity higher than another position illumination means. Beverage dispenser.   When the cup detecting unit detects that the cup is placed at a beverage supply position other than the beverage supply position corresponding to the nozzle on which the beverage selection button is operated, the control unit selects the beverage selection button. 4. The beverage dispenser according to claim 3, wherein the position illumination means at the beverage supply position corresponding to the nozzle on which the operation is performed blinks or the illuminance of the position illumination means is periodically changed.   5. The beverage dispenser according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of the beverage selection buttons are arranged in a vertical direction on the front side of the door so as to face the beverage supply position.   The beverage dispenser according to claim 5, wherein the position illumination unit illuminates each beverage supply position from above.