JP2022048805A - Residual amount detection device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a residual amount detection device that is advantageous in further accurately detecting a residual amount of a beverage inside a beverage barrel connected to a beverage server.SOLUTION: A residual amount detection device DT detects the residual amount of the beverage inside a beverage barrel 120 connected to a beverage server 150. The residual amount detection device DT comprises: a pressure sensor 12 for detecting the pressure of a passage 130 that supplies carbon dioxide gas to the beverage barrel 120; and a control part 20 for obtaining the residual amount of the beverage inside the beverage barrel 120 based on a change in the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a remaining amount detecting device for detecting the remaining amount of a beverage.

Patent Document 1 describes a beverage dispenser in which a beverage in a beverage container is extruded into a dispensing means and dispensed by sending gas from a gas supply source to a closed beverage container. This beverage dispenser is a gas flow rate measuring means for measuring the flow rate of gas sent from the gas supply source to the beverage container, and the remaining amount of beverage in the beverage container or the beverage container from the cumulative flow rate of gas measured from the gas flow rate measuring means. A calculation means that calculates the cumulative amount of beverages delivered to the dispensing means, and a display that displays the remaining amount of beverages in the beverage container calculated by the calculation means or the cumulative amount of beverages delivered from the beverage container to the dispensing means. Have a means.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-45503

The pressure in the path between the gas source and the beverage container can vary during the beverage pouring period from the pouring tap. For example, the pressure may decrease once the beverage pouring begins and then increase. Therefore, the cumulative flow rate of the gas measured by the gas flow rate measuring means includes a considerably large error due to the change in the pressure, and is sent from the remaining amount of the beverage calculated from the cumulative flow rate or the beverage container to the pouring means. The cumulative amount of beverages can also include errors.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an advantageous remaining amount detecting device for more accurately detecting the remaining amount of a beverage in a beverage barrel connected to a beverage server.

One aspect of the present invention relates to a remaining amount detecting device for detecting the remaining amount of a beverage in a beverage barrel connected to a beverage server, and the remaining amount detecting device is a path for supplying carbon dioxide gas to the beverage barrel. A pressure sensor for detecting the pressure of the beverage and a control unit for obtaining the remaining amount of the beverage based on the change in the pressure detected by the pressure sensor are provided.

According to the present invention, there is provided an advantageous remaining amount detecting device for more accurately detecting the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel connected to the beverage server.

The figure which shows the structure of the beverage pouring system which incorporated the residual quantity detection device of one Embodiment. The figure which shows the result of having measured the change of the pressure in the supply path of carbon dioxide gas to the beverage barrel when the beverage is poured into the beverage container through the injection tap. The figure which shows the result of having measured the change of the pressure in the supply path of carbon dioxide gas to the beverage barrel when the beverage is poured into the beverage container through the injection tap. The figure which shows the result of having measured the change of the pressure in the supply path of carbon dioxide gas to the beverage barrel when the beverage is poured into the beverage container through the injection tap. The figure which shows the result of having measured the change of the pressure in the supply path of carbon dioxide gas to the beverage barrel when the beverage is poured into the beverage container through the injection tap. The figure which exemplifies the relationship between the empty size in a beverage barrel and the change in pressure (change amount per unit time) in the supply path of carbon dioxide gas to the beverage barrel during the pouring period of the beverage. The schematic diagram which shows the change of the state of a beverage barrel.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential to the invention. Two or more of the plurality of features described in the embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. In addition, the same or similar configuration will be given the same reference number, and duplicated explanations will be omitted.

FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of a beverage dispensing system SS incorporating the remaining amount detection device DT of one embodiment. The beverage dispensing system SS is supplied from the beverage barrel 120 through a dispense head 30 mounted on the mouth of a beverage barrel 120 filled with a beverage (for example, beer-based beverage such as beer and sparkling liquor) and a beverage head 30. It may include a beverage server 150 that cools the beverage and dispenses it through a dispensing tap 152 into a beverage serving container such as a jug or glass. The gas cylinder 110 supplies carbon dioxide to the beverage barrel 120 through the route 130 and the carbon dioxide port GP of the dispense head 30 so that the beverage is supplied from the beverage barrel 120 to the beverage server 150. A pressure reducing valve 10 for reducing the pressure of carbon dioxide gas supplied from the gas cylinder 110 to a set pressure and supplying it to the carbon dioxide gas port GP of the dispense head 30 is attached to or connected to the gas cylinder 110.

The carbon dioxide gas supplied to the carbon dioxide gas port GP of the dispense head 30 is supplied to the internal space of the beverage barrel 120 by the dispense head 30, and the beverage is discharged from the supply port SP of the dispense head 30 by applying pressure to the liquid level of the beverage. send out. Beverages are supplied to the beverage server 150 through route 140.

The remaining amount detecting device DT detects the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 connected to the beverage server 150. The remaining amount detecting device DT is a pressure sensor 12 that detects the pressure of the path 130 that supplies carbon dioxide gas to the drinking barrel 120, and the remaining amount of the beverage in the drinking barrel 120 based on the change in the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 12. A control unit (or calculation unit) 20 for obtaining an amount may be provided. The pressure sensor 12 may be arranged, for example, to detect the pressure on the secondary side (dispens head 30 side) of the pressure reducing valve 10. The pressure sensor 12 may be incorporated on the secondary side of the pressure reducing valve 10 (the housing that houses the pressure sensor 12).

The control unit 20 is based on the conversion information 22 preset for converting the change in the pressure of the path 130 into the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 and the change in the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 12. , The remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 can be obtained. The remaining amount detecting device DT may further include a temperature sensor 40 for detecting the temperature of the beverage supplied from the beverage barrel 120, and the control unit 20 may include a temperature sensor in addition to the change in pressure detected by the pressure sensor 12. The remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 may be determined based on the temperature detected by 40. In this case, the conversion information 22 may include information for converting the pressure change in the path 130 and the temperature of the beverage supplied from the beverage barrel 120 into the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120. Then, the control unit 20 can obtain the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 based on the conversion information 22, the change in the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 12, and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 40. .. The temperature sensor 40 may be arranged, for example, to detect the temperature of the beverage in the path 140, may be arranged to detect the temperature of the beverage barrel 120, or the space in which the beverage barrel 120 is arranged. It may be arranged to detect the temperature of. The control unit 20 can obtain the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 based on the change in the pressure of the path 130 during the injection period in which the beverage is being dispensed in the beverage server 150.

The control unit 20 can notify (for example, display on the display unit) information indicating the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120. The control unit 20 may convert the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 into the number of cups of the beverage serving container and notify the notification. The control unit 20 may notify when the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 is less than a predetermined amount. The control unit 20 may be configured to perform notification according to the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120. When the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 is more than the predetermined amount, the control unit 20 notifies at the first level, and when the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 is not more than the predetermined amount. Can perform notification at the second level, which is more stimulating to the operator than the first level. If the notification includes a sound notification, the second bell notification may be, for example, a louder sound notification than the first level notification. When the notification includes light or display notification, the first level notification may be, for example, a non-blinking notification, and the second level notification may be, for example, a blinking notification. The control unit 20 may include a notification unit 24 attached to the beverage server 150, in which case the control unit 20 can notify the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120b by the notification unit 24.

The control unit 20 may be configured to transmit information regarding the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120b to the information collecting device 70. The information collecting device 70 may be provided in, for example, a control unit that controls a plurality of stores. The information collecting device 70 is connected to the control unit 20 of the remaining amount detection device DT of each store via a communication line or the like, and is in the beverage barrel 120 in each store based on the information provided by the control unit 20. It is possible to manage the remaining amount of beverages or the number of beverage barrels 120 in each store. Here, the information collecting device 70 increases the number of beverage barrels 120 in the store each time the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 reaches a predetermined value (for example, zero) and then the remaining amount reaches the maximum value. Can be decremented by 1.

2 to 5 illustrate the change in pressure in the path 130 when the beverage is poured into the beverage serving container through the pouring tap 152. In FIGS. 2 to 5, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents pressure (MPa). Here, the beverage barrel 120 has a capacity of 19 L, and 19 L of the beverage is housed in the beverage barrel 120 in the initial state. 2 (a), (b), and (c) show the pressure of the path 130 detected by the pressure sensor 12 when the beverage is poured into the first, fifth, and tenth beverage serving containers. Illustrates the changes. 3 (a), (b), and (c) show the pressure of the path 130 detected by the pressure sensor 12 when the beverage is poured into the 15th, 20th, and 25th beverage serving containers. Illustrates the changes. 4 (a), (b), and (c) show the pressure of the path 130 detected by the pressure sensor 12 when the beverage is poured into the 30th, 35th, and 40th beverage serving containers. Illustrates the changes. 5 (a), (b), and (c) show the pressure of the path 130 detected by the pressure sensor 12 when the beverage is poured into the 45th, 50th, and 53rd beverage serving containers. Illustrates the changes. The beverage barrel 120 was almost empty when the beverage was poured into the 53rd beverage container. In this example, the amount of beverage per cup is about 0.35 L.

In the dispensing period in which the beverage is poured into the beverage serving container through the dispensing tap 152 as the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 decreases, that is, as the empty size (volume of carbon dioxide gas) in the beverage barrel 120 increases. It can be seen that the change in pressure in the path 130 is small. FIG. 6 illustrates the relationship between the empty size in the beverage barrel 120 and the change in pressure (change amount per unit time) of the path 130 during the infusion period of the beverage. It can also be seen from FIG. 6 that as the empty size in the beverage barrel 120 increases, the change in pressure in the path 130 during the period of pouring the beverage into the beverage serving container through the pouring tap 152 becomes smaller. Here, the value obtained by subtracting the empty volume from the volume of the beverage barrel 120 is the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120. Therefore, it can be understood that FIG. 6 indirectly shows the relationship between the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 and the change in the pressure of the path 130.

The conversion information 22 described above is preliminarily based on the relationship between the change in pressure of the path 130 during the pouring period and the empty size (or the remaining amount of the beverage) in the beverage barrel 120, for example, as illustrated in FIG. It can be generated and stored in the control unit 20. Here, when the temperature that can be detected by the temperature sensor 40 is taken into consideration, for example, conversion information 22 may be generated for each of the plurality of temperatures and stored in the control unit 20, the amount of change in pressure, and the amount of change in pressure. The conversion information 22 may be generated and stored in the control unit 20 as a function of temperature. The conversion information 22 may be given in consideration of other variables (pressure in the initial state of carbon dioxide gas provided from the pressure reducing valve 10 to the drinking barrel 120). The conversion information 22 may be given by the function Q = f (k), where k is the amount of change in pressure per unit time of the path 130 and Q is the remaining amount of the beverage. Alternatively, the conversion information 22 is given by a function Q = f (k, T), where k is the amount of change in pressure per unit time of the path 130, T is the temperature, and Q is the remaining amount of the beverage. May be good.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2-5, the dosing period during which the beverage is poured out in the beverage server 150 is the first period in which the pressure in the route 130 decreases, and after the first period, in the route 130. It may include a second period in which the pressure increases. The control unit 20 can obtain, for example, the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 based on the change (decrease amount or rate) of the pressure of the path 130 in the first period. Alternatively, the control unit 20 can obtain, for example, the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage barrel 120 based on the change (increase amount or rate) of the pressure of the path 130 in the second period.

Hereinafter, a theoretical interpretation will be made regarding the relationship between the amount of beverage in the beverage barrel 120 and the change (change amount) in the pressure of the route 130 during the pouring period. As shown in FIG. 7, the empty pressure of the beverage barrel 120 is P1, the empty volume of the beverage barrel 120 is P2, and the empty volume is V2 after a lapse of time Δt from the state where the empty volume is V1. It shall be in the state of. It is assumed that the beverage is delivered from the beverage barrel 120 to the external space of the atmospheric pressure P0 at the flow velocity v.

First, from Boyle's law, equation (1) holds.

・・・（１）

... (1)

Here, ΔP and ΔV are defined as in Eq. (2).

・・・（２）

... (2)

Equation (3) can be obtained from equations (1) and (2).

・・・（３）

... (3)

The equation (4) is obtained by modifying the equation (3).

・・・（４）

... (4)

ΔV can be considered as the injection amount in the period of time Δt, and assuming that ΔV is constant in the period of time Δt, the equation (5) holds.

・・・（５）

... (5)

Here, C is a flow coefficient, and A is the cross-sectional area of the path 140.

Assuming that the pressure changes linearly from P1 to P2 during the period of time Δt, the relationship between the flow velocity v and the pressure difference is given by the flow velocity = √ (2 × pressure difference) according to Bernoulli's theorem. can get.

・・・（６）

... (6)

Further, the equation (7) can be obtained from the equations (5) and (6).

・・・（７）

... (7)

Further, assuming that the rate of change in pressure is k, k is given by (8) from Eqs. (4) and (7).

・・・（８）

... (8)

Here, when the empty volume V1 is sufficiently large, the equation (9) holds.

・・・（９）

... (9)

Therefore, when the empty volume V1 becomes large, the rate of change k of the pressure gradually approaches 0 as shown by the equation (10). This is consistent with the event described with reference to FIGS. 2-6.

・・・（１０）

... (10)

The invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the gist of the invention.

SS: Beverage pouring system, DT: Remaining amount detector, 10: Pressure reducing valve, 12: Pressure sensor, 20: Control unit, 22: Conversion information, 24: Notification unit, 30: Dispens head, 40: Temperature sensor, 70 : Information gathering device, 110: Gas bomb, 120: Beverage barrel, 130: Route, 140: Route, 150: Beverage server, 152: Pouring tap, GP: Carbon dioxide gas port, SP: Supply port

Claims (10)

It is a remaining amount detection device that detects the remaining amount of beverage in the beverage barrel connected to the beverage server.
A pressure sensor that detects the pressure in the path that supplies carbon dioxide to the beverage barrel,
A control unit that obtains the remaining amount of the beverage based on the change in pressure detected by the pressure sensor, and
A remaining amount detecting device characterized by being provided with. The control unit has the remaining amount of the beverage based on the conversion information preset for converting the change in the pressure of the path into the remaining amount of the beverage and the change in the pressure detected by the pressure sensor. Ask,
The remaining amount detecting device according to claim 1. Equipped with a temperature sensor
The control unit obtains the remaining amount of the beverage based on the change in pressure detected by the pressure sensor and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor.
The remaining amount detecting device according to claim 1. The control unit determines the conversion information preset for converting the change in pressure in the path and the temperature of the beverage supplied from the beverage barrel into the remaining amount of the beverage, and the pressure detected by the pressure sensor. The remaining amount of the beverage is determined based on the change and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor.
The remaining amount detecting device according to claim 3. The control unit obtains the remaining amount of the beverage based on the change in the pressure of the route during the pouring period during which the beverage is poured in the beverage server.
The remaining amount detecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The pouring period includes a first period in which the pressure in the path decreases and a second period in which the pressure in the path increases after the first period.
The control unit obtains the remaining amount of the beverage based on the change in the pressure of the path in the first period.
The remaining amount detecting device according to claim 5. The pouring period includes a first period in which the pressure in the path decreases and a second period in which the pressure in the path increases after the first period.
The control unit obtains the remaining amount of the beverage based on the change in the pressure of the path in the second period.
The remaining amount detecting device according to claim 5. The pressure sensor detects the pressure on the secondary side of the pressure reducing valve for reducing the pressure of carbon dioxide gas supplied from the gas cylinder and supplying it to the beverage barrel.
The remaining amount detecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The pressure sensor is incorporated in the pressure reducing valve.
The remaining amount detecting device according to claim 8. A notification unit for notifying information indicating the remaining amount of the beverage obtained by the control unit is further provided.
The remaining amount detecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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