JP2017088226A - Beverage dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a beverage dispenser comprising a foam generation chamber capable of efficiently forming fine foam, and adjusting a pouring amount of foam and beverage.SOLUTION: The beverage dispenser comprises: a beverage container for storing sparkling beverage; a beverage pouring hole; a foam pouring hole; a down tube for pouring the sparkling beverage stored in the beverage container to the outside; an internal space formed into an almost rectangular parallelepiped shape; a foam generation chamber 137 having an inflow orifice 1373 for pouring the sparkling beverage to the internal space and an outflow orifice 1374 for pouring the sparkling beverage which is in a bubbled state from the internal space; a beverage pouring duct for pouring the sparkling beverage from the beverage pouring hole; a foam pouring duct for pouring the sparkling beverage from the foam pouring hole through the foam generation chamber; an opening/closing part for opening and closing passage of the sparkling beverage which passes the beverage pouring duct and foam pouring duct; and a pouring lever for operating the opening/closing part. The internal space of the foam generation chamber is closed from the outside, other than in the inflow orifice and outflow orifice.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

  This invention relates to a small beverage dispenser that replenishes and stores beverages from a commercial beverage server, etc., can be carried to a table of a restaurant, etc., and can be distributed to each restaurant on the table. The present invention relates to a beverage dispenser that includes a foam generation chamber that can efficiently generate fine bubbles from an effervescent beverage, and that can selectively dispense foam and beverage to adjust the amount of each dispensed.

  In restaurants, etc., to provide beverages such as draft beer to customers who eat and drink, drinks are poured into glasses etc. from commercial beverage servers, etc. provided in restaurants, etc. It was common for humans to carry to the table of each person who ordered a drink. However, it is quite difficult to carry a large number of glasses and the like to the table of the person who eats and drinks according to the order of each person. In addition, when the store is crowded, not only is it difficult to transport such glasses, but there is also a risk of dropping or spilling the beverage being transported, which may cause problems with customers. is there.

  In order to reduce the frequency of transporting beverages and the like in the store, a large container with a handle called a pitcher is also used. A drink is accommodated in a large pitcher and carried to a table of the eating and drinking, and each eating and drinking pours out from the pitcher into his own glass and the like for drinking. Conventional pitchers have been made of glass or resin. Glass was heavy and had a problem in handling. Even if it was made of resin, it was quite heavy when the beverage entered, so a considerable amount of force was required to pour the beverage into the glass. In terms of heat retaining properties, some resin-made double containers have improved heat retaining properties. However, since the upper part was open | released in all, the heat insulation / cold insulation effect was limited. Moreover, since the upper part was open in both cases, outgassing of the sparkling beverage was inevitable.

  In order to reduce the frequency of transporting such beverages, it is conceivable to use a small beverage server or beverage dispenser that can be placed on a table and used. As a beverage dispensing device that can be used by being placed on a table, a device as disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. Patent Document 1 describes a beverage dispensing apparatus that uses a can container such as a 2-3 liter canned beer. In this beverage dispensing device, the inside of the can container is pressurized by an electric pump so that the beverage inside the container is poured out.

  Further, in beer-based beverages, the presence of fine bubbles at the top of the beverage affects the taste and taste of the beverage. In dispensing a beverage, it is very important to place a moderate amount of fine foam on top of the beverage. As such a beverage server capable of disposing an appropriate amount of foam on the top of the beverage, the one disclosed in Patent Document 2 below is known. Patent Document 2 describes an effervescent beverage server that can pour out beverage and foam independently. Moreover, in the drink server of patent document 2, it is possible to generate fine bubbles with a uniform diameter by sufficiently pressurizing and blowing out the sparkling beverage.

JP 2000-85890 A Japanese Patent No. 4859757

  With the beverage dispensing device as described in Patent Document 1, the frequency of transporting beverages and the like in the store can be reduced. However, since the beverage dispensing device of Patent Document 1 uses commercially available 2 to 3 liter beer in a large can as it is, it cannot be linked with a commercial beverage server provided in a restaurant or the like. It is necessary to cool 2 to 3 liters of canned beer separately to an appropriate temperature, and the beverage cannot be cooled efficiently.

  Patent Document 1 describes that the amount of beverage and foam dispensed can be adjusted by operating the handle. However, it is difficult to produce fine bubbles with a uniform diameter because the amount of beverage and foam dispensed is adjusted by delicate operation of the handle. Moreover, since the spray pressure of a drink is comparatively low pressure, the production | generation of an efficient fine bubble is difficult.

  Moreover, in the thing like patent document 2 which spouts an effervescent drink toward a collision surface and produces | generates a bubble of a fine diameter, in order to eject a drink, a high pressurization pressure is required. In the beverage server of Patent Document 2, a piston / cylinder or the like is provided to pressurize the beverage for foam generation. Generally, in a commercial beverage server or the like, foam is generated by applying 0.1 to 0.3 MPa (gauge pressure: relative pressure based on atmospheric pressure) to a beverage.

  Thus, in the conventional foam production | generation method, it was necessary to pressurize 0.1-0.3 MPa with respect to a drink. For this reason, a high-pressure gas cylinder for pressurization, a piston / cylinder mechanism for pressurization, and the like are required, and there is a problem that the manufacturing cost of a device such as a beverage server increases.

  In addition to foam generation by ejecting a beverage, the beverage is also irradiated with ultrasonic waves to generate foam. However, the generation of bubbles by ultrasonic waves requires an ultrasonic vibrator and its drive circuit, which increases the manufacturing cost of a device such as a beverage server. In addition, it is necessary to efficiently transmit ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic vibrator to the beverage. However, mounting such a transmission mechanism causes an increase in the manufacturing cost of the apparatus.

  Therefore, the present invention eliminates the need for high-pressure gas for pressurizing beverages and a pressurizing mechanism for foam generation, and efficiently generates fine foam without using an ultrasonic vibrator or its drive circuit. An object is to provide a beverage dispenser that includes a foam generating chamber that can selectively dispense foam and a beverage, and can adjust the amount of each dispensed.

  In order to achieve the above object, the beverage dispenser of the present invention comprises a beverage container for containing a sparkling beverage, a beverage spout for pouring the sparkling beverage, and a sparkling beverage in a foamed state. A foam outlet to be poured out; a down tube for allowing the sparkling beverage inside the beverage container to flow out; a substantially rectangular parallelepiped internal space; and an inflow orifice for allowing the sparkling beverage to flow into the internal space. A foam generating chamber having an outflow orifice for allowing the sparkling beverage in a foamed state to flow out from the internal space, and a beverage pouring for pouring the sparkling beverage flowing out from the down tube from the beverage pouring outlet An effervescent beverage that causes the effervescent beverage that has flowed out of the down tube to be dispensed from the effervescent outlet, and the effervescent beverage that passes through the beverage extraction conduit. Passing The internal space of the foam generating chamber has an open / close section for opening and closing and opening / closing the passage of the sparkling beverage through the foam pouring conduit, and an extraction lever for operating the open / close section. Is closed from the outside except the inflow orifice and the outflow orifice.

  Further, in the beverage dispenser, the foam generating chamber has a direction parallel to the direction of one side of the rectangular parallelepiped shape of the internal space, both of the central axis direction of the inflow orifice and the central axis direction of the outflow orifice, In addition, it is preferable that the center axis of the inflow orifice and the center axis of the outflow orifice are arranged at a predetermined distance so as not to be aligned on the same straight line.

  In the beverage dispenser, it is preferable that the foam generating chamber is disposed such that the inflow orifice and the outflow orifice are located below a central position in the vertical direction.

  In the beverage dispenser, the inflow orifice and the outflow orifice are preferably in a horizontally long shape having a height of 0.5 mm or more and a width of 2 mm or more.

  In the above beverage dispenser, the pressure of the beverage flowing into the foam generating chamber can be set to 30 kPa or less in terms of relative pressure based on atmospheric pressure.

  Since this invention is comprised as mentioned above, there exist the following effects.

  According to the beverage dispenser of the present invention, uniform fine bubbles can be efficiently generated by generating bubbles in the bubble generating chamber. The foam generation chamber has a simple structure and can reduce the manufacturing cost of the beverage dispenser. By using the bubble generating chamber, there is no need for a high-pressure gas cylinder for pressurization, a piston / cylinder mechanism for pressurization, and an ultrasonic vibrator and its drive circuit.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the overall configuration of a beverage dispenser 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the overall configuration of the beverage dispenser 1. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the beverage dispenser 1 as viewed from above. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration of the beverage dispenser 1. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a first procedure for removing the outer lid 14 of the beverage dispenser 1. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a second procedure for removing the outer lid 14. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a third procedure for removing the outer lid 14. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a fourth procedure for removing the outer lid 14. FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing a beverage path from the down tube 131 to the spout. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the configuration of the bubble generation chamber 137. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the bubble generation chamber 137 in FIG. FIG. 12 is a view of the bubble generation chamber 137 as viewed from the right side.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing the overall configuration of a beverage dispenser 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the overall configuration of the beverage dispenser 1, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the beverage dispenser 1 as viewed from above. The beverage dispenser 1 is a small beverage dispenser capable of dispensing a beverage on a table such as a table of a restaurant in a restaurant or the like. Since the beverage can be poured out and distributed from the beverage dispenser 1 to the glass of each restaurant, the frequency of transporting the beverage can be greatly reduced, and the beverage is efficiently provided to each restaurant. be able to.

  Moreover, the part which accommodates the drink of the drink dispenser 1 becomes a sealed vacuum heat insulation container, and can maintain the temperature of the accommodated drink at a suitable temperature for a long time. Moreover, since it is a sealed container, it is difficult for carbon dioxide gas to escape from the beverage even if it contains a sparkling beverage such as draft beer.

  The beverage dispenser 1 includes a dispenser body 11 and an outer lid 14. The outer lid 14 is detachably fixed to the dispenser body 11. The procedure for removing the outer lid 14 will be described in detail later. The dispenser body 11 includes a vacuum heat insulating container 12. In the vacuum heat insulating container 12, the wall surface constituting the container is a double wall, and the middle part of the double wall is in a sufficiently low pressure state. The vacuum heat insulating container 12 is excellent in heat retaining properties, and can maintain the temperature of the beverage at an appropriate temperature for a long time even when a beverage in an appropriate temperature state is accommodated. The vacuum heat insulating container 12 is a substantially cylindrical container and is made of a stainless material.

  A handle 111 is fixed behind the dispenser body 11. By holding the handle 111 by hand, the entire beverage dispenser 1 can be easily transported. The beverage dispenser 1 can pour out and store a beverage at an appropriate temperature from a commercial beverage server in a restaurant. Since the beverage poured out from the commercial beverage server can be used as it is, it is possible to efficiently cool the beer beverage and the like, for example, it is not necessary to separately cool the beer beverage in another container. The beverage dispenser 1 containing the beverage can carry the handle 111 as it is to the table of the restaurant. Since the beverage is contained in a sealed state, the beverage is not spilled.

  A spout 16 is provided in the upper front portion of the dispenser body 11. Further, a dispensing lever 15 protrudes from the top of the beverage dispenser 1. This beverage dispenser 1 is optimized for beer beverages such as draft beer. The outlet 16 is connected to a down tube 131, which will be described later, by a flow path hose made of a soft material (not shown). Will not be poured out. By operating the dispensing lever 15 forward or backward, the closing of the flow path hose by the dispensing lever 15 is released, and the dispensing port 16 and the down tube 131 are communicated.

  In this embodiment, when the pouring lever 15 is operated so as to be tilted forward, a beer beverage substantially free of bubbles is poured out from the pouring port 16. When the pouring lever 15 is operated so as to be tilted backward, the beer beverage with almost only foam is poured out from the pouring port 16. In addition, as a structure for foaming a beer beverage, a structure using an ultrasonic wave or a structure using an orifice principle is known. When each food / beverage person pours beer drinks etc. into a glass etc., the ratio of foam and liquid parts, such as beer drinks, can be made into an optimal state by adjusting each pouring amount.

  Thus, since the property of the beverage poured out from the spout 16 can be switched by the operation direction of the dispensing lever 15, the amount of foam of beer beverage or the like can be adjusted to an optimum state. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the spout 16 is provided with two spouts on the left and right, and a beer beverage substantially free of bubbles is poured out from the beverage spout 161 on the right side, and on the left side. From the foam pouring outlet 162, a beer beverage with almost only foam is poured out. Note that these two spouts may be arranged in the opposite direction, or may be arranged in the front-rear direction.

  A tray portion 112 is disposed at the lower front portion of the dispenser body 11. An elliptical concave portion is formed on the upper surface of the tray portion 112. The beverage dripped or dropped from the spout 16 does not accumulate in this recess and flow out to the surroundings.

  As shown in FIG. 3, an operation unit 1412 and a safety button 143 that are used when the outer lid 14 is removed are disposed on the top of the beverage dispenser 1. The functions of these configurations and the procedure for removing the outer lid 14 will be described in detail later.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration of the beverage dispenser 1. Note that the handle 111 and the tray portion 112 are indicated by dotted lines. A dispenser main body 11 is connected to an open portion at the upper end of the vacuum heat insulating container 12, and a dispensing lid 13 is attached to the open portion of the dispenser main body 11. The vacuum heat insulating container 12 and the dispenser body 11 and the dispenser body 11 and the dispensing lid 13 are sealed with a sealing member or the like so as to be in a sealed state. Thereby, the vacuum heat insulating container 12 is a sealed container.

  The dispensing lid 13 is provided with a down tube 131. The beverage inside the vacuum insulation container 12 is poured out through the down tube 131. A pressure pump 144 and a battery 145 for driving the pressure pump 144 are disposed inside the outer lid 14. By driving the pressurizing pump 144, external air can be pressurized and sent to the inside of the vacuum heat insulating container 12, the pressure inside the container can be increased, and the beverage can be poured out through the down tube 131.

  When the outer lid 14 is attached to the dispenser main body 11, the pressurized gas supply port 1441 of the pressurized pump 144 and the pressurized gas passage 133 provided in the dispensing lid 13 are connected in an airtight state. . The pressurized gas pressurized by the pressurized pump 144 is sent from the pressurized gas supply port 1441 through the pressurized gas passage 133 to the inside of the vacuum heat insulating container 12. Here, the pressure pump 144 and the battery 145 are arranged on the outer lid 14, but they can be arranged not on the outer lid 14 but on the dispensing lid 13, and inside the dispenser main body 11. It can also be arranged.

  The pressurizing pump 144 is driven by the operation of the dispensing lever 15. When the dispensing lever 15 is tilted forward or backward, the driving of the pressure pump 144 is started, and when the dispensing lever 15 is returned to the upright state, the driving of the pressure pump 144 is stopped. That is, the pressurization pump 144 is driven by tilting the extraction lever 15 forward or backward, pressurizing the external air, and passing through the pressurization gas passage 133 from the pressurization gas supply port 1441 to the vacuum heat insulating container 12. It is sent to the inside and the pressure inside the container is increased to guide the beverage from the down tube 131 to the flow path hose.

  Further, by closing the pouring lever 15 forward or backward, the closing of the flow path hose is released and the pouring port 16 and the down tube 131 communicate with each other, so that a beverage can be poured from the pouring port 16. When the dispensing lever 15 is returned to the upright state, the driving of the pressurizing pump 144 is stopped and the flow path hose is closed to stop the dispensing of the beverage. At this time, the vacuum heat insulating container 12 is in a sealed state.

  In addition, a check valve is provided in the pressurized gas passage 133 from the pressurizing pump 144 to the vacuum heat insulating container 12, and even if the pressurizing pump 144 stops, the pressurized gas inside the container flows backward through the passage. It is not released to the outside. That is, if the inside of the vacuum heat insulating container 12 becomes a high pressure state, the high pressure state is maintained for a long time.

  The dispensing lid 13 is provided with an internal pressure release valve 132 for releasing the pressurized gas inside the vacuum heat insulating container 12 to the outside. Since the inside of the vacuum heat insulating container 12 is maintained in a high pressure state, there is a problem in removing the outer lid 14 in that state. That is, when the outer lid 14 is removed in a high pressure state, the dispensing lid 13 is raised by the internal pressure, and the beverage is blown out from the gap generated thereby and scattered around, or the dispensing lid 13 is ejected. There is a fear.

  Therefore, before removing the outer lid 14 from the beverage dispenser 1, it is necessary to release the pressurized gas inside the vacuum heat insulating container 12 to the outside. A safety button 143 provided on the outer lid 14 is a safety mechanism provided for that purpose. When the safety button 143 is pressed downward, the internal pressure release valve 132 can be opened to release the pressurized gas inside the container to the outside. The safety button 143 is biased upward by an elastic member, and the internal pressure release valve 132 is biased in the closing direction (upward) by the elastic member. Therefore, the internal pressure release valve 132 is closed during normal use.

  A rotating member 141 is rotatably provided on the outer lid 14. A fixing claw 1411 is formed at the lower end portion of the rotating member 141, and the fixing claw 1411 engages with the protruding portion of the dispenser main body 11 to fix the outer lid 14 to the dispenser main body 11. The rotating member 141 is urged by an elastic member (not shown) in a direction in which the fixed claw 1411 is engaged with the protruding portion. The outer lid 14 and the dispenser main body 11 are fixed to each other by the engagement of the engaging portion on the front side of the dispenser main body 11 and the fixing claw 1411 on the rear side.

  An operation unit 1412 is provided on the upper end side of the rotating member 141. By pulling up the operation unit 1412 upward, the engagement of the fixed claw 1411 can be released and the outer lid 14 can be removed from the dispenser body 11. In order to operate the operation unit 1412, it is necessary to push the safety button 143 downward before that.

  When the safety button 143 is pushed downward, a finger can be inserted through a gap formed between the upper surface of the safety button 143 and the operation unit 1412 and the operation unit 1412 can be pulled upward. When the safety button 143 is not pushed downward, the operation unit 1412 cannot be pulled upward. With such a configuration, when the outer lid 14 is removed, the pressurized gas inside the vacuum heat insulating container 12 is always released to the outside, and the outer lid 14 can be safely removed.

  Next, a procedure for removing the outer lid 14 will be described with reference to the drawings. When the outer lid 14 is removed, first, the dispensing lever 15 is removed as shown in FIG. The dispensing lever 15 has a structure that can be easily removed from the base. Then, the safety button 143 is pushed downward. At this time, the lower end of the safety button 143 opens the internal pressure release valve 132 to release the pressurized gas inside the container to the outside.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6, a finger is inserted through a gap formed between the upper surface of the safety button 143 and the operation unit 1412, and the operation unit 1412 is pulled up. Then, the rotation member 141 rotates in the disengagement direction, and the fixed claw 1411 at the lower end of the rotation member 141 is disengaged from the protruding portion. In this state, the outer lid 14 can be removed from the dispenser body 11.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the rear end side of the outer lid 14 is pulled up from the dispenser body 11. Thereby, it becomes possible to remove the engaging part of the dispenser main body 11 front side. Then, the engaging portion on the front side of the dispenser body 11 is removed, and the entire outer lid 14 is pulled away from the dispenser body 11 as shown in FIG. The outer lid 14 can be removed from the dispenser body 11 by the above procedure. As described above, when the outer lid 14 is removed, the pressurized gas inside the vacuum heat insulating container 12 is always released to the outside, and the outer lid 14 can be safely removed. If the outer lid 14 is removed, the dispensing lid 13 can be further removed, and the vacuum insulation container 12 can be replenished with a new beverage, and the inside of the container can be cleaned.

  In order to attach the outer lid 14 to the dispenser body 11, the outer lid 14 and the engaging portion on the front side of the dispenser body 11 are first engaged, and then the rear side of the outer lid 14 is engaged with the dispenser body 11. At the start of use of the beverage dispenser 1, the outer lid 14 is removed from the dispenser body 11, and then the dispensing lid 13 is removed to accommodate the beverage inside the vacuum heat insulating container 12. Then, the dispensing lid 13 is attached to the open portion of the dispenser body 11, and then the outer lid 14 is attached to the dispenser body 11. Thus, the beverage dispenser 1 can be used.

  Next, the beverage dispensing path until the beverage is dispensed from the dispensing outlet 16 through the down tube 131 will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing a beverage pouring path from the down tube 131 to the pouring port 16. The beverage that has moved up the down tube 131 reaches the branching portion 134 connected to the upper end of the down tube 131, where it branches into a beverage dispensing line 135 and a foam dispensing line 136.

  The beverage pouring line 135 is a distribution line for pouring beer beverages and the like from the beverage pouring outlet 161 with almost no bubbles. The foam extraction line 136 is a distribution line for foaming beer beverage or the like and pouring out from the foam outlet 162 in a substantially foam-only state. The opening / closing part 138 is a part that is operated by the dispensing lever 15 to open and close the beverage dispensing conduit 135 and the foam dispensing conduit 136 to control the opening and closing of the beverage and foam dispensing.

  The beverage dispensing pipe 135 and the foam dispensing pipe 136 are constituted by a flow path hose made of a flexible material. These channel hoses are individually closed and opened by the cam-like member inside the opening / closing part 138. The channel is closed by crushing the channel hose from the outside with a cam-like member. When the dispensing lever 15 is in the upright state, the beverage dispensing conduit 135 and the foam dispensing conduit 136 in the opening / closing part 138 are closed, so that neither beverage nor foam is dispensed.

  When the dispensing lever 15 is tilted forward (leftward in FIG. 1), the beverage dispensing pipe 135 in the opening / closing part 138 is opened, and the foam dispensing pipe 136 remains closed. Beverages are poured out. When the dispensing lever 15 is tilted backward (rightward in FIG. 1), the bubble dispensing conduit 136 in the opening / closing portion 138 is opened and the beverage dispensing conduit 135 is closed, so that the bubble dispensing outlet 162 is closed. Foam is poured out.

  A bubble generation chamber 137 is disposed at an intermediate position of the bubble extraction pipe line 136. The foam generation chamber 137 can generate fine bubbles efficiently. The detailed configuration of the bubble generation chamber 137 will be described later. In the foam generation chamber 137, the beverage is foamed and sent to the foam outlet 162 through the opening / closing part 138 in a state of only substantially uniform fine foam. By operating the dispensing lever 15, uniform fine bubbles can be poured out from the bubble outlet 162.

  FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the configuration of the bubble generation chamber 137. The bubble generation chamber 137 is configured by coupling a first member 137a and a second member 137b that have a space inside and are open on one side in a liquid-tight state. FIG. 10A shows the first member 137a, and FIG. 10B shows the second member 137b. FIG. 10C shows the bubble generation chamber 137 in a state where the first member 137a and the second member 137b are coupled. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX in the bubble generation chamber 137 of FIG. And FIG. 12 is the figure which looked at the bubble generation chamber 137 of FIG.10 (c) from the right side.

  The first member 137a is provided with a first connection portion 1371 for connecting the bubble extraction conduit 136 on the down tube 131 side. The second member 137b is provided with a second connecting portion 1372 for connecting the foam outlet pipe 136 on the outlet 16 side. An inflow orifice 1373 for allowing the sparkling beverage to flow into the internal space is formed on the central wall surface of the first connection portion 1371, and the sparkling beverage flows out of the internal space on the central wall surface of the second connection portion 1372. An outflow orifice 1374 is formed.

  The internal space of the bubble generation chamber 137 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. Further, the internal space of the bubble generation chamber 137 is closed from the outside except for the inflow orifice 1373 and the outflow orifice 1374. The shape of the inflow orifice 1373 is a horizontally long slit having a wide horizontal width and a narrow vertical width as shown in FIG. The shape of the outflow orifice 1374 is the same as that of the inflow orifice 1373. Both orifices may have a vertically long slit shape in which the slit direction is the vertical direction.

  The central axis direction of the inflow orifice 1373 and the central axis direction of the outflow orifice 1374 are both parallel to the direction of one side of the rectangular parallelepiped shape in the internal space (the left-right direction in FIG. 10). The central axis of the inflow orifice 1373 and the central axis of the outflow orifice 1374 are arranged at a predetermined distance so as not to be aligned on the same straight line. In addition, as shown in FIG. 11, the inflow orifice 1373 and the outflow orifice 1374 are arranged so as to be positioned below the center position in the vertical direction of the bubble generation chamber 137.

  In the foam generation chamber 137 having such a configuration, the beverage is stored below the foam generation chamber 137 when a beverage such as beer does not flow into the internal space. In FIG. 11, the upper surface of the beverage in this state is indicated by a dotted line. The bubble generation chamber 137 above the beverage is filled with gas (carbon dioxide gas) generated from the beverage.

  When the beverage flows in from the inflow orifice 1373 by the operation of the dispensing lever 15, the flow rate of the beverage is increased by the orifice and is ejected toward the opposing wall surface of the foam generation chamber 137. And since the center axis | shaft of the inflow orifice 1373 and the outflow orifice 1374 is arrange | positioned at predetermined distance, the flow of a drink cannot come out of the outflow orifice 1374 linearly, but the internal space of the foam generation chamber 137 It becomes a swirl flow with turbulent flow.

  As such a swirling flow, the sparkling beverage moves through the internal space of the foam generating chamber 137 to efficiently generate uniform fine foam. Moreover, this swirl flow further improves the efficiency of fine bubble generation by entraining the carbon dioxide gas above the bubble generation chamber 137. The beverage that has produced such fine bubbles passes through the outflow orifice 1374 and flows out to the spout 16 side. However, since the beverage is ejected from the outflow orifice 1374 at a high speed, fine bubbles are also generated at this time.

  As described above, in the sparkling beverage that has passed through the foam generation chamber 137, uniform fine bubbles are efficiently generated, and the foamed beverage is almost in the state of only bubbles composed of uniform fine bubbles. Then, the foam is poured out from the foam outlet 162. By generating foam with such a foam generation chamber 137, the pressurized pressure of the beverage can be greatly reduced as compared with a conventional foam generation method in which a beverage is ejected and collided.

  As described above, the conventional foam generation method required a pressure of 0.1 to 0.3 MPa (gauge pressure: relative pressure based on atmospheric pressure), but the foam generation chamber 137 of the present invention was used. In this case, even when the pressure of the beverage flowing into the foam generation chamber 137, that is, the pressure applied to the beverage was about 20 kPa (gauge pressure), uniform fine bubbles could be generated efficiently. That is, the pressure of the beverage flowing into the foam generation chamber 137 is sufficient to be 30 kPa (gauge pressure) or less.

  In addition, the bubble generation chamber 137 of the present invention has a simple structure, and can reduce the manufacturing cost. By using the bubble generation chamber 137, a high pressure gas cylinder for pressure generation, a piston / cylinder mechanism for pressure and the like are not required, and an ultrasonic vibrator and its drive circuit are not required.

  In addition, as an example of dimensions of the bubble generation chamber 137, the dimensions of the inner space are 27 mm in the horizontal direction (left and right direction in FIG. 11), 12 mm in height (up and down direction in FIG. 11), and 18 mm in depth (perpendicular direction in FIG. can do. Further, the inner diameter (diameter) of the first connection portion 1371 can be about 7 mm, and the inner diameter (diameter) of the second connection portion 1372 can be about 5 mm. As an example of dimensions of the inflow orifice 1373 and the outflow orifice 1374, the height may be 0.5 mm and the lateral width may be 3 mm.

  These orifice shapes are preferably a horizontally long slit shape having a height of 0.5 mm or more and a width of 2 mm or more. By setting the orifice shape to such a shape, the efficiency of bubble generation is improved as compared with the case of a normal circular shape.

  As described above, according to the beverage dispenser 1 of the present invention, uniform fine bubbles can be efficiently generated by generating bubbles in the bubble generating chamber 137. The foam generation chamber 137 has a simple structure and can reduce the manufacturing cost of the beverage dispenser. By using the bubble generation chamber 137, a high pressure gas cylinder for pressure generation, a piston / cylinder mechanism for pressure and the like are not required, and an ultrasonic vibrator and its drive circuit are not required.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the drink dispenser which can produce | generate a uniform fine bubble efficiently can be provided by performing the foam production | generation by a foam generation chamber. Furthermore, the manufacturing cost of the beverage dispenser can be reduced.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Beverage dispenser 11 Dispenser main body 12 Vacuum insulation container 13 Outlet lid 14 Outer lid 15 Outlet lever 16 Outlet 111 Handle 112 Tray part 131 Down tube 132 Internal pressure release valve 133 Pressurized gas passage 134 Branch part 135 Beverage extraction pipe 136 Foam extraction pipe line 137 Foam generation chamber 138 Opening / closing part 141 Rotating member 143 Safety button 144 Pressurizing pump 145 Battery 161 Beverage outlet 162 Bubble outlet 1371 First connection part 1372 Second connection part 1373 Inflow orifice 1374 Outflow orifice 137a First member 137b Second member 1411 Fixing claw 1412 Operation unit 1441 Pressurized gas supply port

Claims (5)

A beverage container (12) for containing a sparkling beverage;
A beverage outlet (161) for pouring sparkling beverages;
A foam spout (162) through which a sparkling beverage in a foamed state is poured out;
A down tube (131) for allowing the sparkling beverage inside the beverage container (12) to flow outside;
An internal space having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, an inflow orifice (1371) for allowing a sparkling beverage to flow into the internal space, and an outflow orifice (1372) for allowing the sparkling beverage in a foamed state to flow out from the internal space. Bubble generation chamber (137),
A beverage dispensing conduit (135) for dispensing the sparkling beverage flowing out of the down tube (131) from the beverage dispensing outlet (161);
A foam pouring line (136) for pouring the sparkling beverage flowing out from the down tube (131) from the foam pouring outlet (162) through the foam generating chamber ();
An opening / closing part (138) for opening and closing passage of the sparkling beverage through the beverage pouring duct (135) and opening and closing passage of the sparkling beverage through the foam pouring duct (136);
A dispensing lever (15) for operating the opening / closing part (138),
The beverage dispenser, wherein the internal space of the foam generation chamber (137) is closed from the outside except the inflow orifice (1373) and the outflow orifice (1374). A beverage dispenser according to claim 1, wherein
In the bubble generation chamber (137), the central axis direction of the inflow orifice (1373) and the central axis direction of the outflow orifice (1374) are both parallel to the direction of one side of the rectangular parallelepiped shape of the internal space. The beverage dispenser is arranged at a predetermined distance so that the central axis of the inflow orifice (1373) and the central axis of the outflow orifice (1374) are not aligned on the same straight line. The beverage dispenser according to any one of claims 1 and 2,
The foam generation chamber (137) is a beverage dispenser in which the inflow orifice (1373) and the outflow orifice (1374) are disposed below a central position in the vertical direction. The beverage dispenser according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The inflow orifice (1373) and the outflow orifice (1374) are beverage dispensers having a horizontally long shape having a height of 0.5 mm or more and a width of 2 mm or more. It is a drink dispenser given in any 1 paragraph of Claims 1-4,
The drink dispenser whose pressure of the drink which flows into the said foam generation chamber (137) is 30 kPa or less in relative pressure on the basis of atmospheric pressure.

Images