JP2019218076A - Cooling structure of beverage server - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a cooling structure of a beverage server capable of efficiently cooling a plurality of beverages without increasing a size of a cooling tank (water tank).SOLUTION: The cooling structure comprises: a water tank filled with cooling water; an agitator for agitating the cooling water; a refrigerant pipe fixed in a spiral shape in the water tank along an inner wall thereof; a spiral beverage pipe installed inside the refrigerant pipe; and an ice guard provided in a non-contact state on an outer periphery of the beverage pipe. The beverage pipe and the ice guard are fixed on a base plate to form a beverage cooling unit, a unit side positioning part made of pins or pin holes is formed on a rear face of the base plate, a plurality of water tank side positioning parts made of the pins or the pin holes corresponding to the unit side positioning part are formed on a bottom face of the water tank, and the number of units of the beverage cooling units equal to the number of pairs of water tank side positioning parts can be simultaneously installed in the water tank.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an ice-cooled cooling structure in a beverage server for beer or the like.

  BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, beverage servers represented by beer servers have been known. As for the basic structure, when the dispenser cock is opened, the beverage is pushed out from the beverage tank containing the beverage by pressurizing carbon dioxide gas, passed through the cooling tank filled with cooling water, cooled, and cooled to the appropriate temperature. It is provided cold. The cooling water is cooled to a constant temperature by ice made by an ice making device provided in the cooling tank.

  The type of beverage to be provided is only beer if it is a beer server, but Patent Documents 1 to 3 provide one to two to three types of beverages.

  The thing of patent document 1 is provided with three coil-shaped cooling pipes in order to provide three kinds of drinks, and these coil-shaped cooling pipes have different diameters with large, medium and small diameters and maintain a predetermined circumferential interval. It is erected in the center of the water tank in a concentric arrangement.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a cooling system for a beverage having a double winding (double) structure in which two pipes through which two lines of beverage are passed are concentrically wound in a coil shape having the same diameter in a cooling tank body. With a tube.

  The thing of patent document 3 has the structure which arranged the 1st drink pipe and the 2nd drink pipe wound in the shape of a coil in the upper and lower two steps in the water tank.

JP 2005-221122 A JP 2010-143611 A JP, 2018-52511, A

  When several kinds of beverages are cooled by one, a cooling pipe is required for each beverage, and Patent Literatures 1 to 3 disclose the arrangement of the cooling pipes. That is, Patent Literatures 1 and 2 dispose a plurality of coiled cooling pipes for beverage concentrically, and Patent Literature 3 disposes them vertically.

  However, when a plurality of coiled cooling pipes are arranged concentrically, the space between the cooling pipes is narrowed, so that the cooling water is prevented from flowing freely in this space, and even if the cooling water is stirred by the agitator, the cooling water is cooled. A temperature gradient occurs in the cooling water in the tank, making it difficult to efficiently cool the beverage.

  On the other hand, if the coil-shaped cooling pipes are arranged in two upper and lower stages, the size of the cooling tank is inevitably increased, and a large space is required for the installation place.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to cool a beverage server that can efficiently cool a plurality of beverages without increasing the size of a cooling tank (water tank). It is to disclose the structure.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, in the present invention, a water tank filled with cooling water, an agitator for stirring the cooling water, a refrigerant pipe fixed in a spiral shape along the inner wall of the water tank, and an inner side of the refrigerant pipe A spiral beverage pipe installed in the, and an ice guard placed in a non-contact state on the outer periphery of the beverage pipe, the beverage pipe and the ice guard are fixed to a base plate as a beverage cooling unit, A pin or a pin hole corresponding to the unit-side positioning portion is formed on a bottom surface of the water tank on the back surface of the base plate. Alternatively, a plurality of sets of the water tank side positioning portions made of pins are formed, and the same number of the beverage cooling units as the number of the sets of the water tank side positioning portions can be simultaneously installed in the water tank. Using the means of.

  A refrigerant for making ice is circulated inside the refrigerant pipe by a compressor, and ice grows on the outer periphery of the refrigerant pipe. On the other hand, the beverage passes through the interior of the beverage pipe, and the beverage is cooled to an appropriate temperature by heat exchange with the stirred cooling water. In addition, by the presence of the ice guard, ice growing on the outer periphery of the refrigerant pipe is restricted from growing when it reaches the ice guard, and does not reach the beverage pipe. Thereby, the circulation of the cooling water is not hindered. Based on this, in the present invention, the beverage pipe and the ice guard are unitized, and a plurality of beverage cooling units can be arranged side by side along the bottom surface of the water tank. By arranging a plurality of beverage cooling units side by side in this way, dead space in the water tank is eliminated, and the water tank is not enlarged. Further, in the present invention, since a plurality of beverage pipes do not closely contact each other as in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the circulation of cooling water is not hindered, and the beverage can be efficiently cooled by the heat exchange described above. .

  When a plurality of beverage cooling units are installed, all the beverages supplied to the beverage pipes of each unit may be of the same type, or a multi-server in which some or all of the beverages are different beverages may be used. At this time, each set of the water tank side positioning portions has at least two pins or pin holes formed at different intervals from each other, and a unit side positioning portion individually corresponding to each of these water tank side positioning portions. It is preferable to provide a plurality of provided beverage cooling units. This is because the plurality of water tank side positioning portions and the beverage cooling units correspond one to one, and the beverage cooling unit can be correctly installed at a predetermined position in the water tank according to the type of beverage.

  Further, in the present invention, one set of the water tank-side positioning portions includes a plurality of pin holes that can selectively rearrange one of the beverage cooling units between the center of the water tank and another position along the center line. , Or pins, and two sets of other water tank-side positioning portions are provided diagonally left and right, so that a maximum of three beverage cooling units can be installed. In this means, in addition to the layout in which only one beverage cooling unit is installed at the center of the water tank, the beverage cooling unit is shifted to the different position, so that three beverage cooling units can be arranged in a triangular layout. The dead space in the aquarium can be efficiently eliminated.

  Further, in the present invention, the beverage cooling units use different means in which the cooling capacities of the beverage pipes are different from each other, and the unit-side positioning portion uses means in which the intervals between the pins or the pin holes are different depending on the cooling capacity. In this means, the cooling capacity, that is, the water flow capacity of the beverage pipe of each beverage cooling unit can be changed by changing the diameter and length of the pipe according to the nature of the beverage to be passed through and the frequency of pouring. . And about what has a large cooling capacity, by increasing the space | interval of the pin of the unit side positioning part, or a pin hole, a drink cooling unit can be stably installed in a water tank. However, in the present invention, it is not excluded that all of the plurality of beverage cooling units have the same cooling capacity.

  In addition, one of the beverage cooling units may be configured with a combination of the beverage tank and the ice guard by replacing the beverage pipe with a beverage tank. It is also possible to employ a carbonator tank as this replaced beverage tank.

  According to the present invention, a beverage pipe and an ice guard are unitized, and a surplus space of a water tank when one unit is installed can be used to further install a beverage cooling unit of another unit. Without increasing the size, a multi-server that could be installed in existing locations could be created.

The top view which shows the cooling structure of the beverage server which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. Bottom view of the base plate of the beverage cooling unit in the embodiment Bottom view of base plate of another beverage cooling unit in the embodiment Bottom view of a base plate of still another beverage cooling unit in the embodiment Plan view of the water tank in the same embodiment End view of the center line cut part of the water tank in the same embodiment Another arrangement view of the beverage cooling unit in the same embodiment

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a beverage server according to one embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a water tank filled with cooling water, 2 is a refrigerant pipe through which a refrigerant circulates, and 3 to 5 are beverage cooling units. It is. The beverage cooling units 3 to 5 are configured by combining the beverage pipes 3a to 5a through which the beverage passes and the ice guards 3b to 5b provided in a non-contact state on the outer periphery thereof, and fixing them to the base plates 3c to 5c. Unitized.

  Ice is generated on the outer periphery of the refrigerant pipe 2 by circulating the refrigerant in the refrigerant pipe 2, and the ice is used to cool the cooling water, and the beverage passing through the interior of the beverage pipes 3a to 5a of each of the beverage cooling units 3 to 5. The water is indirectly cooled to a suitable temperature.

  The cooling water is constantly stirred by an agitator provided in the water tank 1 so as not to generate a temperature gradient as a whole. However, since this is a known structure, illustration of the agitator is omitted.

  In this embodiment, the refrigerant pipe 2 is a copper pipe which has a substantially rectangular spiral shape in plan view and is provided along the inner periphery of the water tank 1 in order to take a sufficient length. On the other hand, the beverage pipes 3a to 5a are spiral stainless steel pipes having a circular shape in plan view. The reason why the refrigerant pipe 2 is made of copper is that it has high thermal conductivity and is easy to work. On the other hand, the reason why the beverage pipes 3a to 5a are made of stainless steel is to avoid corrosion due to the type of beverage flowing inside. However, the shapes of the refrigerant pipe 2 and the beverage pipes 3a to 5a in plan view are not limited to these embodiments, and the beverage pipes 3a to 5a may be similar to the refrigerant pipe 2 if the manufacturing cost permits. Is also possible.

  According to this configuration, ice and cooling water formed on the outer periphery of the refrigerant pipe 2 exchange heat while melting the ice, thereby cooling the cooling water to an appropriate temperature. Further, since the temperature of the cooling water is increased by the temperature of the beverage passing through the interior of the beverage pipes 3a to 5a, the ice is easily melted by that much. Accordingly, the thicker the ice formed on the outer periphery of the refrigerant pipe 2, the higher the operation efficiency. However, if the ice is too thick, it contacts the beverage pipes 3a to 5a, and the circulation path of the cooling water is blocked, so that the cooling water cannot be sufficiently circulated even if the agitator stirs the cooling water. Therefore, in the present invention, the ice guards 3b to 5b are employed in the beverage cooling units 3 to 5.

  The ice guards 3b to 5b are provided in an arc shape in a non-contact manner with each of the beverage pipes 3a to 5a. The shape of the arc is to ensure a circulation path of the cooling water. The length of the arc is determined according to the cooling capacity of the present apparatus. Further, it is preferable that the installation location is a location where the distance from the refrigerant pipe 2 is reduced. The number per unit may be two or more, and the distance between the outer periphery of the beverage pipes 3a to 5a and the inside of the ice guards 3b to 5b is not particularly limited. In order to prevent the ice from coming into contact with the beverage pipes 3a to 5a during the heating, the distance is set to about 5 to 10 mm. The material of the ice guards 3b to 5b is not particularly limited, but a heat insulating material such as urethane foam is fixed to the metal plate in order to prevent ice from wrapping around the ice guards 3b to 5b and growing inside. Is preferable.

  Subsequently, an installation structure of the beverage cooling units 3 to 5 with respect to the water tank 1 will be described. Each of the three beverage cooling units 3 to 5 is a unit formed by fixing the beverage pipes 3a to 5a and the ice guards 3b to 5b to the base plates 3c to 5b as described above. 2 to 4, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, unit-side positioning portions 7 to 9 are provided on the back surface thereof by at least two pin holes 6. Among them, as for the base plate 3c constituting the beverage cooling unit 3, as shown in FIG. 2, a total of five pin holes 6 are formed linearly to constitute the unit-side positioning portion 7, and three of these are provided. Constitute a first positioning part 7a and a second positioning part 7b. On the other hand, as for the beverage cooling units 4 and 5, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, two pin holes 6 form unit-side positioning portions 8.9. In addition, the fixing method of the beverage pipes 3a to 5a and the ice guards 3b to 5b to the base plates 3c to 5c is arbitrary. If it is a method, it may be in a state of being temporarily fixed to the base plates 3c to 5c. The interval between the pin holes 6 differs for each of the beverage cooling units 3 to 6. This prevents misplacement. Further, the interval and the number of pin holes are different depending on the size of the cooling capacity (water passing capacity) of the beverage pipes 3a to 5a. In this embodiment, the number of the pin holes 6 for the beverage cooling unit 3 having the largest cooling capacity is provided. And the maximum distance is the largest. In this way, a more stable installation is achieved.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, three sets of water tanks including pins 10 are provided on the bottom surface 1 a of the water tank 1, corresponding to the unit-side positioning portions 7 to 8 of the beverage cooling units 3 to 5. Side positioning portions 11 to 13 are provided. Of these, the water tank-side positioning portions 12 and 13 corresponding to the beverage cooling units 4 and 5 are configured by two pins 10, but the water tank-side positioning portion 11 corresponding to the beverage cooling unit 3 is a first positioning portion. 7a and three pins 10 individually engaging with three pin holes 6 forming the second positioning portion 7b.

  More specifically, the three pins 10 constituting the water tank side positioning section 11 are provided along the center line C of the water tank 1, and the two pins 10 forming the water tank side positioning section 12 are provided with the water tank side positioning section 11. The two pins 10 constituting the water tank side positioning section 13 are provided diagonally right of the water tank side positioning section 11 and the water tank side positioning section 12. Is provided in the horizontal direction in a plan view on the right side of. In FIG. 1, the beverage cooling unit 3 is installed using the first positioning part 7a with respect to the water tank side positioning part 11.

  With such a configuration, the beverage cooling units 3 to 5 can be arranged in the water tank 1 with the layout shown in FIG. In this layout, since there is no dead space in the water tank 1, a multi-server capable of cooling three types of beverages by one can be provided without increasing the size of the water tank 1. In addition, although the amount of heat exchange is larger than that of one unit by cooling the three beverage cooling units 3 to 5 at the same time, the beverage pipes 3a to 5a of each unit 3 to 5 do not come into close contact, and Since ice does not reach the beverage pipes 3a to 5a by the ice guards 3b to 5b, the circulation of the cooling water is favorably performed, and the beverage in the beverage cooling units 3 to 5 can be cooled to an appropriate temperature.

  By the way, in FIG. 1, three beverage cooling units 3 to 5 are installed in the water tank 1 at the same time, but it is also possible to selectively install two units. Furthermore, it is also possible to install only one unit. In this case, if the second positioning portion 7b is used for the beverage cooling unit 3, the beverage cooling unit 3 can be installed at the center of the water tank 1, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the beverage can be efficiently cooled without a temperature gradient.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the base plate 5 c constituting the beverage cooling unit 5 is formed by three third circular plates 21 radially extending from the outer periphery of the circular plate 20 provided with the pin holes 6 in a two-third arc shape. And a cylindrical beverage tank (not shown) inside the ice guard 5b using the circular plate 20 and the bridge plate 21 as bottom receiving plates instead of the spiral beverage pipe 5a. ) Can also be fixed. The beverage tank may be a carbonator tank (carbonated water producing apparatus) having a cylindrical tank body.

  In addition, about the pin and pin hole which comprise the positioning part of the drink cooling units 3-5 and the water tank 1, it is needless to say that a pin and a pin hole can be exchanged not only in the said embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Water tank 2 Refrigerant pipe 3-5 Beverage cooling unit 3a-5a Drinking pipe 3b-5b Ice guard 3c-5c Base plate 6 Pin hole 7-9 Unit side positioning part 10 Pin 11-13 Water tank side positioning part

Claims (6)

A water tank filled with cooling water, an agitator for stirring the cooling water, a refrigerant pipe fixed in a spiral shape along the inner wall of the water tank, a spiral beverage pipe installed inside the refrigerant pipe, An ice guard disposed in a non-contact state on the outer periphery of the beverage pipe, wherein the beverage pipe and the ice guard are fixed to a base plate to form a beverage cooling unit, and a pin or a pin hole is formed on a back surface of the base plate. A plurality of sets of the water tank-side positioning portions formed of the pins, or the pin holes or the pin holes that engage the pin holes, corresponding to the unit-side positioning portions are formed on the bottom surface of the water tank. A cooling structure for a beverage server, wherein the same number of the beverage cooling units as the number of the water tank side positioning portions can be simultaneously installed in the water tank. Each of the sets of the tank-side positioning portions has at least two pins or pin holes formed at different intervals, and a plurality of unit-side positioning portions provided individually corresponding to the respective tank-side positioning portions of each set. The cooling structure for a beverage server according to claim 1, further comprising a beverage cooling unit of the unit. One set of the water tank-side positioning portions is constituted by a plurality of pin holes or pins that can selectively rearrange one of the beverage cooling units between the center of the water tank and another position along the center line. The cooling structure of a beverage server according to claim 1 or 2, wherein two sets of other water tank-side positioning portions are provided diagonally left and right, respectively, so that a maximum of three beverage cooling units can be installed. 4. The cooling structure for a beverage server according to claim 1, wherein the beverage cooling units have different cooling capacities of the beverage pipes, and the unit-side positioning portions have different pin or pin hole intervals according to the cooling capacities. The cooling structure for a beverage server according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein one of the beverage cooling units is configured by replacing the beverage pipe with a beverage tank and combining the beverage tank with an ice guard. The cooling structure for a beverage server according to claim 5, wherein the beverage tank is a carbonator tank.

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