JP2012091795A - Dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dispenser which reduces a possibility of a trouble caused by a washing frequency of a drain pan and also reduces product cost.SOLUTION: A water level sensor 50 and an overflow pipe 53 are provided in a water storage tank 3 of a chip ice dispenser 1. The water storage tank 3 and the drain pan 40 are connected to each other through the overflow pipe 53 and an overflow connection pipe 54. When the water level sensor 50 detects that the water level of ice cube-making water in the water storage tank 3 reaches a lower limit water level, a controller 7 of the chip ice dispenser 1 opens a water supply valve 6 to start the operation of water supply to the water storage tank 3. When the water level sensor 50 detects that the water level of the ice cube-making water reaches an upper limit water level, the controller 7 delays the opening of the water supply valve 6 until a predetermined time T elapses.

Description

  The present invention relates to a dispenser including a drain pan that can generate ice pieces and beverages from generated water and can receive the ice pieces and beverages.

  Examples of this type of dispenser conventionally used include a chip ice dispenser and a beverage dispenser. The chip ice dispenser discharges ice pieces in response to a user's operation. The beverage dispenser dispenses beverages such as water, juice, and soup in accordance with user operations. These dispensers are often installed in places where users can freely operate, such as drink bar corners of family restaurants, for example, and customers themselves pour out ice pieces and favorite beverages. Yes.

  Generally, these dispensers are provided with a drain pan provided below the ice or beverage outlet. When the dispenser is installed in a drink bar corner or the like, the ice pieces and beverage left by the user are discarded in the drain pan. Often done. Here, if the components contained in the discarded juice or soup adhere to the drainage channel of the drain pan, the drainage channel may be clogged by the adhered components. Therefore, in these dispensers, it is necessary to perform cleaning by supplying cleaning water to the drain pan at a predetermined frequency.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a chip ice dispenser that cleans a drain pan based on the number of ice pieces discharged. According to this, one end of the cleaning water supply path is connected to the main water supply pipe for supplying tap water to the ice making water tank, and a drain pan is connected to the other end of the cleaning water supply path. A cleaning water supply valve is provided in the middle of the cleaning water supply path, and the opening and closing of the cleaning water supply valve is controlled by the control means. The control means counts the number of discharges of ice pieces, and opens the cleaning water supply valve when the number of discharges set in advance is reached. When the cleaning water supply valve is opened, tap water from the main water supply pipe is supplied to the drain pan through the cleaning water supply channel, whereby the inside of the drain pan is cleaned.

JP 2010-132314 A

  However, since the dispenser described in Patent Document 1 cleans the drain pan on the basis of the number of ice pieces discharged, when the ice piece discharge frequency is extremely high, the frequency of opening and closing of the cleaning water supply valve is increased. Had the problem that the possibility of failure increased. Moreover, since the washing water supply valve in Patent Document 1 is a dedicated part for supplying washing water to the drain pan, there is also a problem that the cost of the product increases as the number of parts increases.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and is a dispenser that reduces the possibility of a failure caused by the frequency of drain pan cleaning and reduces the cost of the product. The purpose is to provide.

  A dispenser according to the present invention generates at least one of ice pieces and beverage from generated water supplied through a water supply pipe, and includes a drain pan capable of receiving the ice pieces and the drink, through the water supply pipe. A water storage tank that stores the generated water to be supplied inside, a water supply valve that opens and closes the water supply pipe, a water level sensor that detects the water level of the generated water inside the water storage tank, and the generated water that exceeds the upper limit water level of the water storage tank, By starting the water supply operation to supply the generated water to the water storage tank by opening the water supply valve so that the water supply pipe opens and the overflow pipe that discharges to the outside of the water storage tank, and the water supply valve is closed so that the water supply pipe is closed A control unit that terminates the water supply operation by closing the valve, and the overflow pipe connects the water storage tank and the drain pan, When the water level sensor detects that the generated water level in the water tank has reached the lower limit water level, the control unit starts the water supply operation and the water level in the water tank reaches the upper limit water level. When the water level sensor detects, the closing of the water supply valve is delayed until a predetermined time set in advance, and then the water supply operation is terminated.

  According to the dispenser of the present invention, when the water level sensor detects that the generated water level in the water storage tank has reached the upper limit water level, the control unit closes the water supply valve until a predetermined time elapses. In order to end the water supply operation after delaying the valve, the generated water exceeding the upper limit water level of the water storage tank is supplied to the drain pan through the overflow pipe, thereby washing the drain pan. That is, the timing at which the drain pan is cleaned is synchronized with the timing at which the water supply operation to the water storage tank is performed, and the water supply valve is not opened and closed only for cleaning the drain pan. Doing so does not increase the possibility of the water supply valve failing. Also, since the water tank of the dispenser is usually provided with a water level sensor and an overflow pipe, the drain pan can be washed as described above only by changing the program of the control unit for opening and closing the water supply valve. Can be done. Therefore, in the dispenser, it is possible to reduce the possibility of a failure that occurs due to the frequency of drain pan cleaning, and to reduce the cost of the product.

It is a cross-sectional side view which shows the structure of the dispenser which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a partial expanded sectional side view which shows the structure of the water storage tank in the dispenser which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a drain pan in the dispenser according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a water supply operation in the dispenser according to the first embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
With respect to the configuration of the dispenser according to the first embodiment of the present invention, a case where it is applied as a chip ice dispenser 1 that generates ice pieces from generated water (hereinafter abbreviated as dispenser 1) is taken as an example based on FIGS. explain. In addition, the front-back direction and the up-down direction in the dispenser 1 are prescribed | regulated by each arrow shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the dispenser 1 includes a housing 2, and a water storage tank 3 that stores generated water for generating ice pieces is accommodated on the rear side of the housing 2. . One end of a water supply pipe 4 is connected to the upper part of the water storage tank 3, and the other end of the water supply pipe 4 is connected to an external water system 5. A water supply valve 6 that opens and closes the water supply pipe 4 is provided in the middle of the water supply pipe 4. When the water supply valve 6 is opened and the water supply pipe 4 is opened, tap water from the external water system 5 is supplied. The water is supplied to the inside of the water storage tank 3 through the water supply pipe 4. That is, the dispenser 1 is a device that generates ice pieces using the tap water supplied from the external water system 5 as generated water. The water supply valve 6 opens when energized to open the water supply pipe 4, and closes the water supply pipe 4 when not energized.

  An auger type ice making machine 10 that generates ice pieces from the generated water in the water storage tank 3 is accommodated on the front side inside the housing 2. The auger type ice making machine 10 has a refrigeration casing 11 having a substantially cylindrical shape. The lower part of the refrigeration casing 11 and the bottom part of the water storage tank 3 are connected via the generated water supply path 12 so that the generated water in the water storage tank 3 can be supplied into the refrigeration casing 11. A cooling pipe 21 is wound around the outer periphery of the refrigeration casing 11. A compressor 22, a condenser 23, and an expansion valve 24 are sequentially connected to the cooling pipe 21 via a refrigerant passage 25, and a refrigeration circuit 20 is formed in which the refrigerant circulates therebetween. The cooling pipe 21 constitutes an evaporator in the refrigeration circuit 20, and when the refrigerant flowing through the cooling pipe 21 evaporates, the generated water in the refrigeration casing 11 is cooled and frozen to form ice that is the source of ice pieces. Is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the refrigeration casing 11.

  Inside the freezing casing 11, an auger 13 having a spiral blade 13a is rotatably provided. The auger 13 is connected to a geared motor 14 provided below the refrigeration casing 11, and when the auger 13 is driven by the geared motor 14 and rotates, the spiral blade 13 a rotates along the inner peripheral surface of the refrigeration casing 11. Moving. The ice formed on the inner peripheral surface of the refrigeration casing 11 is scraped off by the rotating spiral blade 13 a and sent to the upper side of the refrigeration casing 11. Further, on the upper part of the freezing casing 11, a pressing head 15 for compressing ice sent by the spiral blade 13a, and a cutter 16 for generating ice pieces by folding the ice compressed by the pressing head 15 into an appropriate size. Is provided. A hollow ice storage chamber 30 is provided around the pressing head 15 and the cutter 16, and ice pieces generated by the cutter 16 are stored in the ice storage chamber 30. The upper end portion of the auger 13 passes through the pressing head 15 and is connected to the cutter 16 so that the auger 13 and the cutter 16 can rotate together. An agitator 17 for stirring the ice pieces in the ice storage chamber 30 is fixed to the outer periphery of the cutter 16 as a unit.

  An opening 31 is formed in a portion of the side surface of the ice storage chamber 30 located on the front side and the lower side, and a shutter 32 is provided in the opening 31. An actuator 33 is provided in front of the ice storage chamber 30, and the opening 31 is opened and closed when the actuator 33 drives the shutter 32. Further, a discharge port 34 communicating with the opening 31 and opening downward is formed on the lower side of the actuator 33, and a lever 35 operated by the user of the dispenser 1 is attached to the discharge port 34. It has been. When a container such as a cup (not shown) is rotated to a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1 while abutting the lever 35, the actuator 33 drives the shutter 32 to open the opening 31. As the opening 31 opens, the ice pieces in the ice storage chamber 30 are discharged into the container through the opening 31 and the discharge port 34 sequentially.

  On the lower side of the discharge port 34, a drain pan 40 is provided that can receive ice pieces that have fallen due to the user failing to receive them in the container. The drain pan 40 is a box-shaped member whose upper side is open, and a discharge port 42 that is a hole that communicates the inside and the outside of the drain pan 40 is formed at the bottom 41 thereof. An external drainage system 43 is connected to the discharge port 42, and water generated by melting ice pieces in the drain pan 40 can be discharged to the external drainage system 43 through the discharge port 42. Further, the refrigeration casing 11 is connected to the external drainage system 43 via the discharge pipe 18, and the generated water in the refrigeration casing 11 can be discharged to the external drainage system 43. The generated water in the refrigeration casing 11 contains components such as calcium and magnesium, for example, and these components are concentrated in the generated water as the ice making time proceeds and remain in the refrigeration casing 11. That is, by allowing the generated water in the refrigeration casing 11 to be discharged, the remaining components may adhere to the inner peripheral surface of the refrigeration casing 11 and cause a malfunction or abnormal noise in the auger type ice making machine 10. It is prevented. In the middle of the discharge pipe 18, an open / close valve 18a for opening and closing the discharge pipe 18 is provided.

  A front panel 2a is attached to a portion of the front portion of the housing 2 that is located around the ice storage chamber 30, and the inside of the housing 2 can be exposed by opening and closing the front panel 2a. Yes. A controller 7 for controlling the operation of the dispenser 1 is provided on the back side of the front panel 2a. On the other hand, on the front side of the front panel 2 a, there is provided an operation unit 8 that has a switch (not shown) that is operated by the user of the dispenser 1 and inputs a predetermined signal to the control unit 7. The control unit 7 operates the water supply valve 6, the geared motor 14, the on-off valve 18 a, the actuator 33, and the like based on a signal input from the operation unit 8 according to a user operation, a program stored in advance, or the like. To control.

  In the dispenser 1 configured as described above, the water storage tank 3 is provided with a water level sensor 50 that detects the water level of the generated water in the water storage tank 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the water level sensor 50 includes a stem 51 that extends along the height direction inside the water storage tank 3, and a float 52 that moves along with the surface of the generated water while being guided by the stem 51. The stem 51 has an upper limit switch 51a provided near the upper limit water level A in the water tank 3, and a lower limit switch 51b provided near the lower limit water level B. The upper limit switch 51a and the lower limit switch 51b are, for example, It is constituted by a reed switch or the like. On the other hand, a magnet (not shown) is provided inside the float 52, and the upper limit switch 51a and the lower limit switch 51b are turned ON / OFF by the magnetic force of the magnet. Further, the upper limit switch 51 a and the lower limit switch 51 b are electrically connected to the control unit 7, and when the position of the float 52 reaches the upper limit water level A or the lower limit water level B, a signal indicating them is output to the control unit 7. It has become.

  Further, when the amount of generated water exceeding the upper limit water level A is supplied into the water storage tank 3 due to, for example, a failure of the water supply valve 6 or the water level sensor 50, the upper limit water level A is set inside the water storage tank 3. An overflow pipe 53 is provided to discharge the generated product water to the outside. The overflow pipe 53 is a member having a cylindrical shape, and an upper end portion thereof is disposed so as to be located at the same height as the upper limit water level A in the water storage tank 3. On the other hand, the lower end portion of the overflow pipe 53 passes through the bottom portion of the water storage tank 3 and extends to the outside, and is connected to the drain pan 40 via the overflow connection pipe 54. That is, when the amount of generated water exceeding the upper limit water level A is supplied into the water storage tank 3, so-called overflow occurs in which generated water exceeding the upper limit water level A is discharged. The generated water discharged by the occurrence of overflow is supplied to the drain pan 40 through the overflow pipe 53 and the overflow connection pipe 54 in order, and the inside of the drain pan 40 is washed with the supplied generated water. Here, the overflow pipe 53 and the overflow connection pipe 54 constitute an overflow pipe in the dispenser 1.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a cleaning water discharge port 45 is formed in the rear wall surface 44 of the drain pan 40, and an overflow connection pipe 54 is connected to the cleaning water discharge port 45 (see FIG. 1). Further, the discharge port 42 and the cleaning water discharge port 45 are formed so as to be disposed on opposite sides in the width direction of the drain pan 40 indicated by an arrow W in FIG. Therefore, the generated water supplied into the drain pan 40 through the cleaning water discharge port 45 does not flow directly into the discharge port 42, and a wider area of the bottom 41 of the drain pan 40 can be cleaned with the generated water. It has become.

  Returning to FIG. 1, when the control unit 7 receives from the lower limit switch 51 b of the water level sensor 50 a signal indicating that the water level in the water storage tank 3 has reached the lower limit water level B (see FIG. 2), the control unit 7 Is set to start energization. Further, when the control unit 7 receives a signal indicating that the water level in the water storage tank 3 has reached the upper limit water level A (see FIG. 2) from the upper limit switch 51a of the water level sensor 50, a predetermined time T has elapsed. Until it is done, it sets so that electricity supply with respect to the water supply valve 6 may be continued. That is, the control unit 7 is set to intentionally generate an overflow when the water supply operation to the water storage tank 3 is started by opening the water supply valve 6 and opening the water supply pipe 4.

Next, the operation of the dispenser 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, when the operation of the dispenser 1 is started, the control unit 7 controls energization and de-energization of the water supply valve 6 according to the detection result of the water level by the water level sensor 50, The water level is maintained within a predetermined range. Further, the generated water in the water storage tank 3 is supplied into the refrigeration casing 11 via the generated water supply path 12, and the level of the generated water in the refrigeration casing 11 is also maintained within a predetermined range. When generated water is supplied into the refrigeration casing 11, the control unit 7 starts the operation of the auger type ice making machine 10 and the refrigeration circuit 20. The refrigerant circulating in the refrigeration circuit 20 cools the refrigeration casing 11 when evaporating in the cooling pipe 21, and ice is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the refrigeration casing 11.

  The auger 13 that is rotated by being driven by the geared motor 14 scrapes off the ice formed on the inner peripheral surface of the refrigeration casing 11 by the spiral blade 13a and sends the scraped ice upward. The ice sent upward by the spiral blade 13a of the auger 13 is compressed into a stick-shaped ice when passing through the pressing head 15. The cutter 16 folds the rod-shaped ice into an appropriate size to generate ice pieces, and the generated ice pieces are stored in the ice storage chamber 30. When the shutter 32 opens the opening 31 according to the operation of the lever 35 by the user of the dispenser 1, the ice pieces stored in the ice storage chamber 30 are discharged downward through the discharge port 34 and provided to the user. Is done.

  In the dispenser 1 that operates as described above, when the generated water in the water storage tank 3 decreases as the ice pieces are generated and discharged, a water supply operation into the water storage tank 3 is started. Below, the water supply operation | movement in the dispenser 1 is demonstrated based on FIG.

  First, it is determined whether or not the water level sensor 50 has detected that the level of generated water in the water storage tank 3 has reached the lower limit water level B (S1). When the water level of the generated water does not reach the lower limit water level B, the lower limit switch 51b of the water level sensor 50 is not switched ON, and thus a signal indicating that is not output to the control unit 7. The control unit 7 continues the standby state until a signal indicating that the lower limit switch 51b is switched ON is input. On the other hand, when the water level of the generated water reaches the lower limit water level B, a signal indicating that the level has been switched to ON is output from the lower limit switch 51b to the control unit 7. When the control unit 7 receives a signal indicating that the lower limit switch 51b has been turned ON, the control unit 7 starts energizing the water supply valve 6 to open the water supply valve 6 (S2). When the water supply valve 6 is opened and the water supply pipe 4 is opened, tap water from the external water system 5 is supplied into the water storage tank 3 through the water supply pipe 4.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the water level sensor 50 has detected that the water level of the generated water in the water storage tank 3 has reached the upper limit water level A (S3). When the water level of the generated water does not reach the upper limit water level A, the upper limit switch 51a of the water level sensor 50 is not switched ON, and thus a signal indicating that is not output to the control unit 7. In this case, when the control unit 7 continues energization of the water supply valve 6, water supply into the water storage tank 3 is also continued. On the other hand, when the water level of the generated water reaches the upper limit water level A, a signal indicating that it has been switched to ON is output from the upper limit switch 51a to the control unit 7. When the control unit 7 receives the signal indicating that the upper limit switch 51a has been turned ON, the control unit 7 continues to open the water supply valve 6 until a preset time T elapses from that point (S4). ). Therefore, since the storage water 3 continues to be supplied with surplus product water until the predetermined time T elapses after reaching the upper limit water level A, the surplus product water has been supplied. Overflow occurs.

  Next, when a predetermined time T elapses after the water level of the generated water in the water storage tank 3 reaches the upper limit water level A, the control unit 7 ends energization of the water supply valve 6 and closes the water supply valve 6 (S5). When the water supply valve 6 is closed and the water supply pipe 4 is closed, the water supply operation into the water storage tank 3 is completed. Thereafter, the same operation is repeated each time the level of the generated water in the water storage tank 3 reaches the lower limit water level B. Here, the water storage tank 3 is connected to the drain pan 40 via the overflow pipe 53 and the overflow connection pipe 54. Therefore, the generated water discharged while the overflow occurs in the water storage tank 3 is supplied into the drain pan 40, and after the inside of the drain pan 40 is washed, it is discharged to the external drainage system 43 through the discharge port 42. .

  Thus, according to the dispenser 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, the control unit 7 detects that the water level sensor 50 has detected that the water level of the generated water in the water storage tank 3 has reached the upper limit water level A. The water supply operation is terminated after delaying the closing of the water supply valve 6 until a predetermined time T elapses from that point. Therefore, the generated water that exceeds the upper limit water level A of the water storage tank 3 is supplied to the drain pan 40 via the overflow pipe 53 and the overflow connection pipe 54, thereby washing the drain pan 40. That is, in the dispenser 1, the timing at which the drain pan 40 is cleaned and the timing at which the water supply operation to the water storage tank 3 is performed are synchronized, and the water supply valve 6 is opened and closed only for cleaning the drain pan 40. Therefore, the possibility that the water supply valve 6 breaks down due to the cleaning of the drain pan 40 will not increase. In addition, since a water tank of a general dispenser is provided with a water level sensor and an overflow pipe, it is possible to clean the drain pan only by changing the program of the control unit 7 for opening and closing the water supply valve 6. It is not necessary to provide a dedicated member for cleaning the drain pan. Therefore, in the dispenser 1, it is possible to reduce the possibility of a failure that occurs due to the frequency of cleaning the drain pan 40, and to reduce the cost of the product.

In Embodiment 1, although the case where the dispenser which concerns on this invention was applied as a chip | tip ice dispenser was demonstrated as an example, the structure of a dispenser is not limited. Any dispenser provided with a water storage tank and a drain pan may be used, for example, a beverage dispenser that produces a beverage by diluting syrup or powdered raw material with produced water, or a dispenser that can produce both ice pieces and beverages. Is also possible.
Moreover, although the water level sensor in Embodiment 1 was demonstrated as what detects a water level with a float, an upper limit switch, and a lower limit switch, the kind of water level sensor is not limited. Other types of sensors can be used as long as the water level in the water storage tank can be detected.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dispenser, 3 Water storage tank, 4 Water supply pipe, 6 Water supply valve, 7 Control part, 40 Drain pan, 50 Water level sensor, 53 Overflow pipe (overflow pipe), 54 Overflow connection pipe (overflow pipe), A upper limit water level, B lower limit water level , T Predetermined time.

Claims (1)

In a dispenser comprising a drain pan capable of receiving at least one of ice pieces and beverages from generated water supplied via a water supply pipe and receiving the ice pieces and the beverages,
A water storage tank for storing the generated water supplied through the water supply pipe;
A water supply valve for opening and closing the water supply pipe;
A water level sensor for detecting the water level of the generated water in the water storage tank;
An overflow pipe for discharging the generated water above the upper limit water level of the water storage tank to the outside of the water storage tank;
By opening the water supply valve so that the water supply pipe opens, the water supply operation for supplying the generated water to the water storage tank is started, and the water supply valve is closed so that the water supply pipe is closed. A control unit for terminating the water supply operation,
The overflow pipe connects the water storage tank and the drain pan,
The controller is
When the water level sensor detects that the generated water level in the water storage tank has reached the lower limit water level, the water supply operation is started,
When the water level sensor detects that the water level of the generated water in the water storage tank has reached the upper limit water level, after delaying the closing of the water supply valve until a predetermined time has elapsed, A dispenser characterized by terminating a water supply operation.

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