JP2538448Y2 - Beverage supply device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Purpose of the invention]

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a beverage supply device used for vending machines and the like.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art A beverage supply device used in a vending machine or the like is disclosed , for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-227794.
As described, a pump that suctions and discharges the undiluted beverage by changing the volume of the pressure chamber by reciprocating operation , a motor that rotates forward and reverse, and converts the forward and reverse rotating operation of this motor into a reciprocating operation to a pump With a transmission mechanism for transmitting, every time a supply command is input, the forward rotation of the motor reduces the volume of the pressure chamber of the pump and discharges the beverage undiluted solution,
The volume of the pressure chamber of the pump is expanded by the reverse rotation of the motor, and the undiluted beverage is sucked.

[0004] The pump is in a standby state in a suction state so as to be able to supply the undiluted beverage immediately upon input of the supply command. That is, during the suction operation of the pump by reverse rotation of the motor, the motor is in a predetermined standby state. When the return to the rotational position is detected by a limit switch or the like, the motor is stopped and the motor stands by in that state.

[0005]

The transmission mechanism for transmitting the driving force from the motor to the pump is composed of a plurality of members such as a rotating member and a link. There are moving parts such as parts and sliding parts,
The movable portion is provided with a floating gap to allow smooth movement.

Therefore, when the next supply operation is performed immediately after returning to the standby state after the suction operation by the reverse rotation of the motor, even if the motor rotates forward, the idle gap of the transmission mechanism is absorbed. Until the driving force of the motor is not transmitted to the pump, that is, since the transmission mechanism has a non-responsive band,
The start of the supply operation is slightly delayed.

On the other hand, during the suction operation by the reverse rotation of the motor, the pressure chamber of the pump is brought into a negative pressure state from the atmospheric pressure to suck the undiluted beverage, and immediately after the motor is stopped, the pressure chamber of the pump is kept in the negative pressure state. is there. Immediately after this suction operation, since there is a non-responsive zone due to the floating gap of the transmission mechanism, the pressure chamber of the pump can be expanded and displaced within the non-responsive zone. Is gradually sucked, the pressure chamber expands and displaces, and eventually the pressure chamber comes to atmospheric pressure and stops. In particular, this tendency becomes more remarkable as the temperature of the beverage stock solution is lower and the viscosity is higher because the responsiveness is lower.

In addition, the beverage concentrate is refrigerated (usually 10 ° C. or lower) in the tank, and the pump is used to suck and supply the beverage concentrate. As the temperature of the pump and the beverage concentrate rise to near room temperature, the beverage concentrate expands,
Since the pressure chamber of the pump can be expanded and displaced within the non-responsive zone of the transmission mechanism, the pressure chamber of the pump is expanded and displaced.

Therefore, if there is a long time from the return to the standby state until the next supply operation is performed, as described above, the pressure chamber of the pump expands and displaces, and the non-responsive zone of the transmission mechanism decreases. In this state, when the motor is rotated forward, the driving force of the motor is immediately transmitted to the pump, and the supply operation is immediately started.

Therefore, when the supply operation is performed continuously, the discharge amount of the beverage undiluted liquid is small due to the large non-responsive band, while when the supply operation time is long, the non-responsive band is small. As a result, the discharge amount of the beverage undiluted solution has increased, and it has been difficult to always supply a constant beverage undiluted solution.

[0011] The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and it is possible to always supply a constant undiluted beverage solution regardless of the case where the supply operation is performed continuously and the case where the interval between the supply operations is long. It is an object of the present invention to provide a beverage supply device that can perform the above.

[Structure of the device]

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a pump for sucking and discharging a beverage undiluted by changing the volume of a pressure chamber by reciprocating operation, a motor rotating forward and reverse, and a forward and reverse rotating operation of the motor are performed. And a transmission mechanism for converting the pressure into a pump and transmitting the same to the pump.The forward rotation of the motor reduces the volume of the pressure chamber of the pump to discharge the undiluted beverage, and the reverse rotation of the motor increases the volume of the pressure chamber of the pump. In a beverage supply apparatus for sucking a beverage undiluted solution, a detecting means for detecting the completion of the suction operation of the pump when the motor rotates in reverse, and after the reverse rotation of the motor is stopped when the detecting means detects, the motor is rotated by a predetermined amount. Non-responsive to the idle clearance of the transmission mechanism with forward rotation
Control means for absorbing the band and returning to the standby state.

[0014]

According to the present invention, when the suction operation is completed when the motor rotates in the reverse direction, the motor is stopped and then rotated forward by a predetermined rotation to return to the standby state, thereby transmitting the driving force from the motor to the pump. The non-responsive zone of the idle gap of the transmission mechanism is absorbed.

Therefore, even when the next supply operation is performed immediately after returning to the standby state, the driving force of the motor is immediately transmitted to the pump via the transmission mechanism, and the supply operation can be started immediately. In addition, even if there is a long time from the return to the standby state until the next supply operation is performed, the expansion and displacement of the volume of the pump pressure chamber due to the suction negative pressure or thermal expansion of the undiluted beverage solution is regulated, and the next During the supply operation, it is possible to prevent the discharge amount of the beverage stock solution from increasing.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The construction of an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows the overall configuration of the beverage supply device,
Is a cooling tank filled with cooling water 2, which is controlled by a cooling cycle 3 so that the cooling water 2 has a constant cooling temperature, and the stirring means 4 allows the cooling water 2 in the cooling tank 1 to have a constant temperature distribution. Circulate to become.

In this cooling tank 1, a tank 5 containing a beverage concentrate is put in cooling water 2 to cool and store the beverage concentrate.

The tank 5 is connected to a suction port of a pump 7 through a pipe 6, and a discharge port of the pump 7 is connected to a pipe 9 of a discharge path 8 that guides the undiluted beverage to an extraction unit such as a paper cup.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pump 7 has a pump structure in which a piston 12 reciprocates in a cylinder 11, and a pressure chamber 13 in which the pipes 6, 9 communicate with each other is formed in the cylinder 11.

Then, the pump 7 is driven by a motor 14 via a transmission mechanism 15.

The rotation of the motor 14 is controlled by a control means 31 which will be described later.

The transmission mechanism 15 includes a cam 16 which is rotated by a motor 14 via a gear mechanism (not shown), a substantially L-shaped lever 17, and a link 18 connected to a rod 12a of a piston 12. The cam 16 has a pin 16a protruding from the outer peripheral portion, and the lever 17 has a central rotating hole 17a fitted to a fixed position pin 19 so as to be swingable.
a and a pin 17c at the other end.
And the link 18 has a pin 17 of the lever 17 at one end.
A fitting hole 18a for fitting with c is provided, and a fitting hole 18b for fitting with the pin 12b of the rod 12a is provided at the other end. Floating gaps are respectively set at the connection points of the cam 16, the lever 17, and the link 18, and at the swing fulcrum of the lever 17 to allow smooth movement. Therefore, the transmission mechanism 15 has a non-responsive zone corresponding to the idle gap.

The cam 16 is provided with a concave portion 16b on the peripheral surface of the cam, and a detection switch 20a is engaged with the concave portion 16b so as to detect the completion of suction of the pump 7 by a limit switch. Twenty are arranged.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a pipe 9 communicated with the discharge port of the pump 7 passes through the cooling water 2 of the cooling tank 1 and protrudes from the cooling water 2 as shown in FIGS. A flexible hose 21 is connected to the end of the pipe 9, and a nozzle 22 for extracting the undiluted beverage to a paper cup or the like is connected to the end of the hose 21. Along with the pipe 9, the hose 21 and the nozzle 22, a heat conductive member 23 such as aluminum having a high heat conductivity is in contact, and a heat insulating material 24 is wound around a portion protruding from the cooling water 2.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control system of the pump 7. Reference numeral 31 denotes a control means. The control means 31 has a supply start signal which is separately commanded, and a detection signal from the limit switch 20 as the detection means. A pulse signal is input from a pulse generator 32 that generates a pulse according to the rotation of the motor 14, and controls a motor driving unit 33 that supplies power to the motor 14 and inverts the polarity.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the timing chart of FIG. 6, and the operation diagrams of FIGS.

In a standby state of the supply operation, as shown in FIG.
a has been rotated by a predetermined amount in the forward rotation direction from the engagement position, and the non-responsive band of the transmission mechanism 15 has been absorbed.

When a supply start signal separately instructed by a selling operation or the like is inputted (step 1), the control means 31 rotates the motor 14 forward through the motor driving means 33 (step 2, timing t). ₁ ) Start the discharge operation.

At this time, since the non-responsive band of the transmission mechanism 15 has been absorbed, the driving force of the motor 14 is immediately transmitted to the pump 7 via the transmission mechanism 15, and the supply operation is started immediately.

As shown in FIG. 8, the forward rotation of the motor 14 pushes the rod 12a of the piston 12 via the transmission mechanism 15 to reduce the volume of the pressure chamber 13 of the pump 7 and discharge the undiluted beverage. During the normal rotation of the motor 14, the number of pulses input from the pulse generator to the control means 31 is counted.

When a predetermined number of pulses corresponding to a predetermined discharge amount of the stock beverage is counted (step 3), the motor 14 is stopped (step 4, timing t ₂ ), and a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds) is reached. Thereafter, the motor 14 is rotated in the reverse direction (step 5, timing t ₃ ) to start the suction operation.

The reverse rotation of the motor 14 causes the transmission mechanism 15
, The rod 12a of the piston 12 is pulled to increase the volume of the pressure chamber 13 of the pump 7 to suck the undiluted beverage.

When the suction of the beverage ingredient into the pressure chamber 13 of the pump 7 is completed, as shown in FIG.
The detection piece 20a engages with the concave portion 16b of the limit switch 20
Is turned on (step 6). When the limit switch 20 is turned on, the motor 14 is stopped (step 7, timing t ₄ ), and after a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds), the motor 14 is stopped.
14 is a positive rotation (Step 8, the timing t _5), to initiate a return operation to the standby state of the supply operation.

When a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the normal rotation of the motor 14 (step 9), the motor 14 is stopped (step 10, timing t ₆ ), and the supply operation waits as shown in FIG. It is returned to standby for the next supply operation. The predetermined time is a time during which the non-responsive band of the transmission mechanism 15 can be absorbed.

As described above, since the non-responsive band of the transmission mechanism 15 is absorbed when returning to the standby state of the supply operation, even if the next supply operation is immediately performed after returning to the standby state, The driving force of the motor 14 is immediately transmitted to the pump 7 via the transmission mechanism 15, and the supply operation can be started immediately. Also, even if there is a long time from the return to the standby state to the next supply operation, the expansion and displacement of the volume of the pressure chamber 13 of the pump 7 due to the suction negative pressure of the stock beverage or the thermal expansion is restricted. In the next supply operation, it is possible to prevent the discharge amount of the beverage stock solution from increasing, and it is possible to always supply a constant beverage stock solution.

The undiluted beverage discharged from the pump 7 is extracted through a discharge path 8 into a paper cup disposed in an extraction unit. At this time, the pipe 9, the hose 21 and the nozzle projecting from the tip of the discharge path 8, ie, the cooling water 2,
The heat conductive member 23 is brought into contact with the
Is wound, so that the temperature of the beverage undiluted solution in the nozzle 22 can be prevented from rising even during intervals of the supply operation, the temperature of the beverage product extracted and formed in the paper cup increases, and the tip of the nozzle 22 It is possible to prevent deterioration of the quality of the beverage material that comes into contact with the outside air from the opening. In addition, this heat conduction member
The structure of the heat insulating material 23 and the heat insulating material 24 may be applied to all the pipe routes of the stock beverage and the pump 7.

It should be noted that a bellows-shaped pump that expands and contracts may be used as the pump, and this pump may be expanded and contracted to suck and discharge the undiluted beverage.

As the transmission mechanism, the lever may swing along a cam groove provided on the cam, and the swing of the lever may be transmitted to the pump as reciprocating motion.

[0040]

According to the present invention, when the completion of the suction operation is detected during the reverse rotation of the motor, the motor is stopped and then rotated forward by a predetermined rotation to return to the standby state, thereby driving the motor to the pump. The idle clearance of the transmission mechanism that transmits the force
Since it is possible to absorb the non-response band worth of, even when the next supply operation is performed immediately after returns to the standby state, the driving force of the motor is immediately transmitted to the pump via a transmission mechanism, the supply operation Even if it can be started immediately, and even if there is a long time from the return to the standby state until the next supply operation is performed, the volume of the pressure chamber of the pump expands and displaces due to the negative pressure of suction of the beverage solution or the thermal expansion. This can prevent the discharge amount of the beverage stock solution from increasing at the next supply operation, and can constantly supply a constant beverage stock solution regardless of the interval between the supply operations.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control system showing one embodiment of a beverage supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a pump portion.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the entire apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a discharge path.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a supply operation.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart of a supply operation.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a standby state.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a discharge operation state.

FIG. 9 is a side view of a suction operation state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 pump 13 pressure chamber 14 motor 15 transmission mechanism 20 detection means 31 control means

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A pump for changing the volume of a pressure chamber by a reciprocating operation to suction and discharge a beverage stock solution, a motor rotating forward and reverse, and converting the forward / reverse rotating operation of the motor into a reciprocating operation and transmitting it to the pump. A beverage supply device that includes a transmission mechanism and discharges a beverage concentrate by reducing the volume of the pump pressure chamber by forward rotation of the motor, and expands the volume of the pressure chamber of the pump by reverse rotation of the motor to suck the beverage concentrate. A detecting means for detecting the completion of the suction operation of the pump at the time of reverse rotation of the motor; and stopping the reverse rotation of the motor at the time of detection of the detection means, then rotating the motor forward by a predetermined rotation to allow the transmission mechanism to move freely. while
Control means for absorbing a non-responsive zone of the gap and returning to a standby state.