JP2517822Y2 - Automatic dispensing device for sparkling beverages - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to an automatic metering and dispensing apparatus for sparkling beverages, and in particular, extrudes a beverage from a beverage container by carbon dioxide pressure like draft beer. Automatic dispensing apparatus for sparkling beverages to be dispensed and dispensed.

(Prior Art) There are various types of sparkling beverages containing carbon dioxide gas handled by the automatic metering and dispensing apparatus, such as draft beer, cola, and juice. Here, draft beer will be described as an example.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an automatic quantitative dispensing apparatus for dispensing draft beer from a draft beer barrel serving as a beverage container, an automatic quantitative dispensing apparatus as shown in FIG. 9 is known.

That is, the refrigeration apparatus 2 and the cooling water tank 3 are provided in the pouring device main body 1.

The cooling water 4 in the cooling water tank 3 is cooled by the refrigerating device 2. In the cooling water tank 3, a beer cooling pipe 5 as a beverage cooling pipe is provided, and exchanges heat with the cooling water 4.

One end of the beer cooling pipe 5 is connected to the discharge valve 6,
An outlet 7 is attached to the outlet valve 6. The other end of the beer cooling pipe 5 is connected to a beer introduction pipe 8 as a beverage introduction pipe outside the dispensing device main body 1.

Also, a beverage outlet 10 of a draft beer barrel 9 serving as a beverage container.
, A dispense head 11 is detachably mounted. The dispense head 11 is connected to a siphon pipe (not shown) provided in the draft beer barrel 9, and the upper end of the dispense head 11 is connected to the beer introduction pipe 8.
Is in communication with

Further, a pressure reducing valve 14 attached to a carbon dioxide gas cylinder 13 serving as a carbon dioxide gas supply source is connected to a gas inlet 16 of the dispense head 11 via a gas conduit 15.

On the other hand, below the spout 7, there is a mounting table 18 on which a container 17 such as a mug can be mounted.

In addition, a control device 19 composed of, for example, a timer device is provided in an upper portion of the inside of the dispensing device main body 1 and a pouring button 20 is provided on an upper front portion of the dispensing device main body 1.
Then, when the dispensing button 20 is pressed, the control device 19 controls the dispensing valve 6.
The valve driving device 21 is controlled to open the valve for a time corresponding to the size of the container 17.

Next, the operation of pouring draft beer B, which is a carbonated beverage, in the above apparatus will be described.

First, in order to inject the raw beam B, the pressure reducing valve 14 is used to reduce the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas in the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 13, and the gas conduit 1
5. Supply the draft beer 9 via the dispense head 11. As a result, the inside of the draft beer barrel 9 is pressurized by the carbon dioxide pressure. By opening the pouring valve 6, the draft beer B stored in the draft beer barrel 9 passes through the beer introduction pipe 8 and the draft beer cooling pipe 5 and is discharged into the container 17 from the pouring port 7.

It is preferable that a predetermined amount of liquid and foam be poured into the container 17 of the poured draft beer B, which greatly affects the flavor of the draft beer B.

If the carbon dioxide gas pressure acting on the draft beer B in the draft beer barrel 9 is kept constant (the adjusting pressure of the pressure reducing valve 14 is kept constant), the draft beer B is poured out through the beer introduction pipe 8 and the beer cooling pipe 5. When pouring out through the valve 6, the pipe resistance is constant, and therefore the pouring speed is constant.

Only by setting the dispensing time from the control device 19 in accordance with the size of the container 17 such as a mug, the dispensing button 20 can be operated to constantly dispense a fixed amount.

Although not shown, when dispensing and dispensing draft beer B by using containers 17 of different sizes in combination, dispensing buttons (sorting switches) 20... Corresponding to the number of containers 17 of different sizes are provided. By operating the buttons 20..., The dispensing valve 6 is opened for a time commensurate with the size of the container, so that a constant amount can be poured into each container.

However, in the conventional apparatus, a container 17 such as a mug is required.
Each time the container 17 is poured, the positional relationship (height, inclination angle) between the container 17 and the outlet 7 of the discharging valve 6 is different, and the control of the foam of the draft beer B is eventually performed by the attendant. It was taking care.

As a method of manually adjusting the foaming condition of draft beer B, that is, as a good pouring method, the container 17 and the spout 7 are brought closer to each other and the container 17 is tilted at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the spout 7. Hold it and pour the draft beer B along the inner wall of the container 17, gradually erect the container 17 so that it does not overflow from the container 17, and pour it until it is full.

At this time, when the foam amount is small, the distance (head) between the container 17 and the spout 7 is increased during the pouring, and the draft beer B is dropped from a high position to arbitrarily foam and reduce the foam amount. A way to control was taken.

For this reason, even if the dispensing valve 6 is opened for a time corresponding to the size of the container 17, the amount of foaming differs depending on how the container 17 is received.

As another method of pouring draft beer B from a high position into the container 17 to adjust the amount of foaming artificially is difficult, the container 17 is inclined with respect to the spout 7 to be erect as soon as the draft beer B is discharged. Then, the amount of foam is poured out as much as possible, and while not shown, the pouring valve 6 is controlled to be in a half-open state, and the draft beer B is poured out in a foam state, and when the container 17 is full, the pouring valve 6 is turned off. The method of closing was taken.

A method of adjusting the foam amount by forcibly foaming draft beer B with the discharge valve 6 in a half-open state is a method generally adopted, but the taste is significantly deteriorated, and ideally, draft beer B It is considered desirable to perform a pouring control in which a certain amount of carbon dioxide gas is spontaneously released from draft beer B during the pouring process to control the foam amount.

As is well known, draft beer B contains 2.4 to 2.9 carbon dioxide.
It contains vol., and if the pressure that is adapted to the temperature of draft beer B is not applied, carbon dioxide gas will be liberated and foamed, or conversely carbon dioxide gas will be excessively absorbed in draft beer B, resulting in a significant deterioration in taste. It will be.

In general, 10 ℃ 1kg / cm ² for draft beer B of the 20 ° C. draft beer B 2 kg / cm ^2, also, the draft beer B of 30 ° C. 3
By applying a carbon dioxide pressure of kg / cm ^2, the carbon dioxide content can be maintained. As described above, the temperature and pressure conditions are stable under certain conditions, but when the beer B is put in a fluidized state as in the case of pouring, the balance of the conditions is broken and carbon dioxide gas is liberated to foam.

In addition, when pouring into the container 17 such as a mug, the outlet 7 of the pouring valve 6 is brought close to the container 17 so that the draft of the draft beer B is reduced and the head is dropped. The amount increases. The degree of foaming is related to the flow rate and the flow condition of draft beer B. When the flow rate is slow, the foaming is mild, and when the speed is high, the foaming is rapid.

In view of the above, in the case of quantitatively pouring out a sparkling beverage such as draft beer B, it is not sufficient to simply open the pouring valve 6 for a time commensurate with the container 17 as the control device 19. It is necessary to change the carbon dioxide gas pressure supplied to the draft beer barrel 9 according to the temperature, and accordingly, the “open” time of the spout valve 6 also needs to be changed.

Also, it is necessary to adjust how the draft beer B is received, such as the inclination angle of the container 17, and it is a very troublesome operation to re-adjust them artificially.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) As described above, in the conventional device, when the draft beer is poured into the container, the container is held by hand and the container is poured every time it is poured.
The positional relationship (height, inclination angle) between 17 and the outlet 7 of the discharge valve 6 was different, and the control of the draft beer foam was dependent on the attendant.

Therefore, there is a problem in that the ratio of the liquid amount to the foam amount is not appropriate (there are many foams) as a result of pouring the draft beer into the container 17.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to automatically perform a simple operation without holding the container even if the carbon dioxide pressure applied to the sparkling beverage in the drink container changes. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic quantitative dispensing device for a sparkling beverage in which the ratio of the liquid amount and the foam amount can be appropriately controlled and poured into the container.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problem) As a means for solving the problem, the present invention supplies carbon dioxide gas into a beverage container containing a sparkling beverage containing carbon dioxide gas, and In the automatic quantitative dispensing device of the foamed beverage to dispense and drink the beverage from the dispensing valve into the container by the pressure of, a mounting table for mounting the container, and a table tilt drive device for inclining this mounting table, A pouring start input means for inputting a signal for starting the pouring of the beverage into the container placed on the table, a pressure detecting means for detecting the carbon dioxide pressure supplied to the beverage container, and A valve drive device for opening and closing the pouring valve; and a control device for controlling the valve drive device and the platform tilt drive device by signals from the pouring start input means and the pressure detection means, The device is the pouring start input By receiving the signal from the pressure detecting means when the stage is turned on, the tilt drive holding time of the mounting table is calculated according to the carbon dioxide gas pressure supplied into the beverage container, and the container is tilted for the calculated time, and then stands upright. In order to achieve this, the table tilt drive device is controlled and the drive time of the valve drive device is calculated, and the pouring valve is opened for the calculated time so that the beverage is poured into the container. Is.

(Operation) That is, according to the present invention, unlike the conventional example, a container such as a jug is held by hand and the container is not tilted or provided with a drop from the spout, but a mounting table on which the container is mounted is preset. Hold at an inclined angle, bring the container wall close to the pouring port of the pouring valve, and let it flow down so that it follows the container wall to suppress foaming and then pouring, then erect the container to obtain the required amount of foam. In this way, the difference in pouring from the pouring port of the pouring valve is set to be large and foaming is performed, and the liquid amount and the foam amount in the container can be controlled to an appropriate ratio. In particular, according to the present invention, the pouring pressure of a sparkling beverage such as draft beer can be detected, and the inclination holding time of the container and the opening time of the pouring valve can be automatically controlled appropriately in accordance with them. That is, when the pouring pressure of the sparkling beverage is high, the container is poured while suppressing the foaming by lengthening the inclination holding time of the container and minimizing the pouring difference. On the contrary, when the pouring pressure of the sparkling beverage is low, the foaming is difficult to foam, and therefore the container is tilted and held for a short time, and the container is quickly put upright so that the pouring difference is large and the foaming is promoted. These are automatically controlled by the control device.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a pouring device main body, in which a refrigerating device 2 and a cooling water tank 3 are provided.

The cooling water 4 in the cooling water tank 3 is cooled by the refrigerating device 2. In the cooling water tank 3, a beer cooling pipe 5 as a beverage cooling pipe is provided, and exchanges heat with the cooling water 4.

One end of the beer cooling pipe 5 is connected to the discharge valve 6,
An outlet 7 is attached to the outlet valve 6. The other end of the beer cooling pipe 5 is connected to a beer introduction pipe 8 as a beverage introduction pipe outside the dispensing device main body 1.

Also, a beverage outlet 10 of a draft beer barrel 9 serving as a beverage container.
, A dispense head 11 is detachably mounted. The dispense head 11 is connected to a siphon pipe (not shown) provided in the draft beer barrel 9, and the upper end of the dispense head 11 is connected to the beer introduction pipe 8.
Is in communication with

Further, a pressure reducing valve 14 attached to a carbon dioxide gas cylinder 13 serving as a carbon dioxide gas supply source is connected to a gas inlet 16 of the dispense head 11 via a gas conduit 15.

On the other hand, the spout 7 faces a recess 1a formed at the center of the front side of the spouting device main body 1, and a container supporting means 25 on which a container 17 such as a mug can be placed is provided below the recess 1a. I have. The container supporting means 25 is composed of a mounting table 26 and a table tilt drive device 27 composed of a stepping motor with a linear head for tilting the mounting table 26.

The mounting table 26 has an L shape and is rotatable by pivotally attaching the upper end of the back surface of the vertical plate portion 26a to the vertical wall surface of the recess 1a via a shaft 28. The table tilt drive device 27
Is a linear head 27a which can be retracted and this linear head 27a
And a stepping motor 27b for driving. And
By driving the stepping motor 27b of the table tilt drive device 27, the linear head 27a protrudes and pushes the back surface of the vertical plate portion 26a of the mounting table 26, and the mounting table 26 rotates the shaft 28 as shown by the chain double-dashed line in the figure. It is designed as a fulcrum and tilts.

In addition, a control device 30 is disposed in an upper part in the main body 1 of the dispensing device. As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 30 is electrically connected to a valve drive device 21 including an electromagnetic valve for opening and closing the table tilt drive device 27 and the discharge valve 6. Can be controlled. Further, the control device 30 has a pouring button 20 which is a pouring start input means arranged on the front surface of the upper portion of the pouring device body 1 and a pressure detecting means which is arranged on the rear surface of the upper portion of the pouring device body 1. The pressure sensor 36 is electrically connected, and each detection signal can be input to the control device 30.

A gas tube 37 branched from the middle of the gas conduit 15 is connected to the pressure sensor 36, and the pressure of carbon dioxide gas supplied to the draft beer barrel 9 is detected.

Although not shown in detail, the control device 30 is provided with a microcomputer, which reduces the carbon dioxide gas in the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 13 using the pressure reducing valve 14, and the draft beer barrel through the gas conduit 15 and the dispensing head 11. 9 receives a signal from a pressure sensor 36 that detects the pressure of carbon dioxide gas supplied to 9, and calculates the drive time of the tilting table driving device 27 and the valve driving device 21 in accordance with the pressure.
That is, the inclination of the container 17 and the pouring valve 6 are controlled to open.

Next, the operation of the automatic fixed amount dispensing device configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 to 5 and FIG.

First, the carbon dioxide gas in the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 13 is decompressed in advance using the pressure reducing valve 14, and is supplied to the draft beer barrel 9 via the gas conduit 15 and the dispensing head 11. Then, the draft beer B in the draft beer barrel 9 is made ready to be poured out by the carbon dioxide gas pressure.

Then, when pouring out draft beer B, the mounting table 26
A container 17 such as a mug is placed on the container. At this time, the mounting table
The container 26 is not inclined as shown in FIG. 3, and the container 17 is placed upright. After this, the spout button 21 is pressed as shown in step S1 of FIG.

As shown in step S2 of FIG. 6, the pressure sensor 36 detects the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas supplied to the draft beer barrel 9 and inputs it to the control device 30 provided with a microcomputer. As a result, the controller 30 causes step S3 in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the container tilt holding time of the platform tilt drive device 27 is calculated, and the platform tilt drive device 27 operates as shown in step S4 of FIG. 6 to move the mounting table 26 as shown in FIG. The container 17 is tilted and held so that the container 17 is tilted with respect to the spout 7 of the spout valve 6.

Then, the controller 30 calculates the pouring valve opening time as shown in step S5 of FIG. 6, and the step of FIG.
As shown by S6, the valve driving device 21 is operated to control the opening of the dispensing valve 6, so that the draft beer B passes through the draft beer introduction pipe 8 and the beer cooling pipe 5 into the container 17, and from the outlet 7 into the container 17. Is poured out. Draft beer B poured into the container 17 is the container 17
The liquid slowly flows down along the inner wall of the container, and is stored in the container 17. At this time, at the time of pouring, a part of carbon dioxide gas is liberated from draft beer B, and a foam layer is formed on the upper surface side in the container 17. Then, the liquid level and the foam level rise.

Then, according to the detection result of the pressure sensor 36, the control device 30
When the container tilt holding time calculated by the above elapses, a signal is sent from the control device 30 to the table tilt drive device 27, and the drive of the table tilt drive device 27 is controlled as shown in step S7 of FIG. Then, the mounting table 26 is returned so that the container 17 is in an upright state as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the dispensing valve 6 is also controlled to be opened by the valve driving device 21 for a time calculated by the control device 30, and continues to dispense draft beer B. After the time is over, as shown in step S8 of FIG. Is controlled to close, and the pouring cycle ends.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, foamed draft beer B can be obtained at the height of Δh.

The reason for changing the drive time of the platform inclination drive device 27 according to the carbon dioxide gas pressure supplied to the draft beer barrel 9 is that the dissolved amount of carbon dioxide gas in the draft beer B in the draft beer B in the draft beer barrel 9 is changed as described above. In order to pour out by applying a carbon dioxide gas pressure suitable for the temperature to maintain, for example, when low-temperature draft beer B is poured out at a low pressure, the flow rate in the beer cooling pipe 5 and the pouring outlet of the pouring valve 6 The draft speed of draft beer B from 7 becomes slow, and the foaming amount of draft beer B poured into the container 17 becomes small.

Conversely, when high-temperature draft beer B is poured at a high pressure, the flow velocity in beer cooling pipe 5 and the drafting rate of draft beer B from pouring port 7 of pouring valve 6 increase, and the draft beer B is discharged into container 17. The amount of foaming of draft beer B is large.

As described above, draft beer B has a characteristic that it is difficult to foam at low temperatures and easily foam at high temperatures. Therefore, in order to properly pour the liquid-to-foam ratio of draft beer B into the container 17, the pouring difference as described above is required. Control is important.

When the hot draft beer B is to be poured out at a high pressure, it is necessary to tilt the container 17 closer to the pouring outlet 7 to make the pouring difference as small as possible and suppress the foaming. This means that the tilt drive time of the table tilt drive device 27, that is, the tilt time of the container 17, needs to be maintained as long as possible.

When pouring low-temperature draft beer B at a low pressure, it is difficult to foam, and conversely, the inclination time of the container 17 is shortened and the container 17 is drive-controlled to the upright state to increase the pouring amount to optimize the foaming amount. This is because it needs to be controlled.

In addition, the container size and the relationship between them are input to the microcomputer of the control device 30 in advance, and the inclination time of the container 17 and the opening time of the pouring valve 6 are automatically adjusted according to the pressure for pouring the draft beer B and the container size. Is controlled, ideal pouring control is possible.

7 and 8 show a modified example of the container supporting means 25, which has a structure suitable for using a plurality of containers 17a and 17b having different sizes together. That is, the intermediate table 40 is attached to the mounting table 26 via the hinge 41. At this time, it is necessary to set the relational position between the mounting table 26 and the intermediate table 40 so that the distance H between the spout 7 and the upper edges of the containers 17a and 17b is the same.

When containers of different sizes are used together, a plurality of spout buttons 20... Corresponding to the containers 17 of different sizes are provided as means for selecting the containers 17 (not shown) and are connected so that they can be input to the control device 30. Keep it.

When pouring draft beer B into a large container 17a such as a large mug, the container 17a is placed directly on the mounting table 26 as shown in FIG.
When the draft beer B is poured into the container, as shown in FIG. 8, the intermediate table 40 is raised with the hinge 41 as the pivotal fulcrum, and the container 17b is placed on the intermediate table 40.
Is placed.

Then, according to the size of the containers 17a, 17b, a predetermined pouring button 2
By selectively pressing 0 to open the spout valve 6 for a predetermined time, regardless of the size of the container 17a, 17b
Draft beer B can be poured out without overflowing.

In this way, the outlet 7 of the outlet valve 6 and each container 17
In order to obtain a stable pouring result, it is important to set the relative positions of the mounting table 26 and the intermediate table 40 so that the distance H from the upper edges of a and 17b is the same. The intermediate table 40 is effective for the container 17b such as a small mug in that the head drop is reduced as much as possible to suppress foaming. Also, container 1
When mounting 7a on the mounting table 26, the intermediate table 40 needs to be configured so as not to interfere.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the table tilt drive device 27 is configured by the stepping motor 27b with the linear head 27a, but may be, for example, a solenoid with a pusher, an air cylinder, or another mechanical mechanism. Further, the valve driving device 21 is an electromagnetic valve, but may be another device such as an air cylinder.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[Effects of the Invention] With the above-mentioned configuration, the present invention has the following effects.

According to the automatic quantitative dispensing device for a sparkling beverage according to claim 1, even if the dispensing pressure of the sparkling beverage such as draft beer (carbon dioxide gas pressure to act on the sparkling beverage) fluctuates, the sparkling beverage is stored in a container with a liquid amount and foam. Since the ratio of the amount is automatically controlled properly, the pouring operation is easy.

Especially when controlling the amount of foam, in order to adjust the foaming amount by automatically adjusting the dropping head with the injection valve fully open and adjusting the foaming amount, in terms of taste, the injection valve is half-opened like a conventional device. Due to the throttle of the valve, deterioration is less than that of the foaming method. Further, since the container is not held and poured out, there is no control of manual operation, and there is an effect that even if anyone operates, the container can be accurately poured out.

In addition, according to the automatic dispensing device for a sparkling beverage according to claim 2, even if one device or a combination of a plurality of containers of different sizes is used together, the container does not overflow the sparkling beverage from each container. It can be poured in a fully filled state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control system, and FIGS.
FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the dispensing operation state, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the dispensing operation state, FIGS.
The figure shows a modification of the main part, and FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional example. B ... Draft beer (foamed beverage), 6 ... Spout valve, 7 ... Spout, 9 ... Draft beer barrel (beverage container), 17 ... Container, 20
…… Pour button (pour start input means), 21 …… Valve drive device,
26: mounting table, 27: table tilt drive device, 30: control device, 36: pressure sensor (pressure detection means), 40: intermediate table (auxiliary table).

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An automatic quantitative injection of an effervescent beverage in which carbon dioxide is supplied into a beverage container containing an effervescent beverage containing carbon dioxide, and the beverage is dispensed from the spout valve into the container by the pressure of the carbon dioxide. In the dispensing device, a mounting table on which the container is mounted, a table tilt drive device for inclining the mounting table, and a signal for starting the pouring of the beverage into the container mounted on the mounting table are input. Pouring start input means, pressure detecting means for detecting the pressure of carbon dioxide gas supplied into the beverage container, a valve driving device for driving the pouring valve to open and close, the valve driving device, and the platform inclination driving device And a control device that controls the pouring start input means and a signal from the pressure detection means, wherein the control device receives a signal from the pressure detection means by turning on the pouring start input means, Supplied in a beverage container The tilt drive holding time of the mounting table is calculated according to the carbon dioxide gas pressure to be controlled, and the table tilt drive device is controlled so that the container is in an upright state after tilting for the calculated time, and the drive time of the valve drive device is set. An automatic quantitative dispensing device for a sparkling beverage, which is controlled by performing a calculation and opening a dispensing valve for the calculation time to dispense the beverage into a container. 2. The automatic dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein the mounting table has auxiliary mounting tables having different heights that can be selectively used.