JP2940310B2 - Coffee extractor - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drip coffee extractor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a coffee extractor is a so-called drip type in which ground coffee beans (hereinafter referred to as coffee powder) are put into an extraction chamber in which a paper filter is placed, and hot water is poured from above.

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show a conventional drip-type coffee brewer of this type, and its structure and operation will be described below.

[0004] The main body 25 of the coffee extractor includes a water storage tank 26, an extraction chamber 27, a coffee container 28 positioned below the extraction chamber 27, a heater for heating water in the water storage tank 26, and keeping the coffee in the coffee container 28 warm. 29.

The water in the water storage tank 26 is taken out from the bottom through a check valve 30 by a pipe 31 and is pushed up to an upper piece by a water rising pipe 32 through a heater 29, and is guided above the extraction chamber 27 to form a dome. The hot water is discharged toward the sprinkling cover 33, passes through the purification unit 34 disposed above the extraction chamber 27, and is evenly poured into the coffee powder in the extraction chamber 27. Reference numeral 35 denotes activated carbon for purification filled in the purification unit.

Further, in this conventional coffee extractor, the hot water poured into the coffee powder is circulated through the heater section 29 several times in order to raise the temperature to a temperature suitable for extraction.
Is discharged from the discharge pipe 36. Therefore 7
The temperature of 0 ° C. is detected by a sensor, and the temperature can be switched from a hot water circulation flow path to a discharge flow path by a flow path switching casing.

[0008] That is, as shown in FIG. 8, a temperature sensor 38 is provided in the water storage tank 26, and an operating member 41 in which an operating body 39 made of a coil-shaped shape memory alloy and an urging spring 40 are combined is vertically And can be moved up and down freely. The upper portion of the operating member 41 is inserted into a valve port 42 formed on the bottom plate of the flow path switching casing 37, and the valve port 42 is opened by a valve element 43 provided above the operating member 41.

[0008] A water rising pipe 32 is connected to a first connection port 37a of the bottom plate portion of the flow path switching casing 37,
The discharge pipe 36 is connected to the second connection port 37b on the side of the discharge pipe 36. The tip of the discharge pipe 36 is folded upward in the watering cover 33, that is, above the flow path switching casing 37. Note that the valve port 42 is provided in the water tank 26.
Is communicated to.

In the above configuration, the water in the water storage tank 26 is drawn out, heated by the heater unit 29, and guided through the rising pipe 32 into the flow path switching casing 37. When the temperature of the hot water is lower than 70 ° C., the working body 39 made of the shape memory alloy is in a contracted shape, and the operating material 41 is moved upward by the biasing spring 40.
The valve element 43 has an opening 42. Therefore, the hot and cold water guided to the flow path switching casing 37 is supplied from the valve port 42 to the water storage tank 26.
Returned. That is, the water in the water storage tank 26 circulates until it reaches 70 ° C. Here, the second connection port 37b of the flow path switching case 37, that is, the discharge pipe 36 side is open without a valve, but the tip of the discharge pipe 36 is located above the flow path switching case 37. Therefore, hot water does not discharge from the discharge pipe 36.

Next, when the temperature of the hot water reaches 70 ° C., the working body 39 made of a shape memory alloy is extended, and the operating material 41 is moved to the urging spring 4.
It moves downward by overcoming zero and closes the valve port 42 with the valve element 43.
Therefore, the circulation flow path returning from the flow path switching casing 37 to the water storage tank 26 is cut off, and the hot water raised from the water rising pipe 32 is discharged from the discharge pipe 36.
It will discharge more. That is, the switching between the circulation flow path and the discharge flow path is performed by one valve element.

[0011]

The problem with the conventional coffee extractor is that the working body 39 is a shape memory alloy containing Ni-Ti as a main component (hereinafter referred to as a binary SMA). As a characteristic of the binary SMA, as shown in FIG. 4, the relationship between the temperature and the generated force when the coil spring length is kept constant has no difference between the generated force at the time of temperature rise and the generated force at the time of temperature decrease. That is, after the water temperature in the water storage tank rises and the flow path is switched to the discharge port side,
When the amount of hot water in the water storage tank is reduced and the operating body 39 is exposed to the air and the temperature is lowered, the generation force of the operating body 39 is rapidly reduced, and the valve body 43 in the flow path switching casing 37 is switched to the circulation side, and coffee is discharged. The extraction was sometimes interrupted.

An object of the present invention is to provide a coffee extractor capable of stably extracting coffee while paying attention to the above-mentioned conventional problems.

[0013]

According to the present invention, as a means for solving this problem, a valve operating mechanism for switching a flow path between circulation and discharge is operated by a shape memory alloy mainly composed of Ni-Ti-Cu. It is configured.

[0014]

In the above construction, when the hot water temperature is low, the valve element opens the circulation side, and when the hot water temperature reaches a predetermined value, the valve element opens the discharge side with the deformation of the shape memory alloy. At this time, even if the temperature is lowered, Ni-Ti-Cu is a main component, and the valve body is not inadvertently switched to the circulation side.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a coffee extractor body, 2 is a water storage tank, 3 is an extraction chamber, 4 is a heater section, 5 is an extraction chamber lid, 6 is a coffee container, 7 is a filter, and 8 is a sprinkling cover. In addition, the water in the water storage tank 2 is drawn out from the lower part of the water storage tank 2 by a pipe 10 through a check valve 9, heated by a heater unit 4, and the hot water is pushed up by a water rising pipe 12 and discharged toward the sprinkling cover 8. Let it. The purification unit 11 filled with the activated carbon 11a is arranged above the extraction chamber 3, and the hot water discharged from the discharge pipe 13 hits the sprinkling cover 8 and flows on the water collecting slope 14 formed on the main body 1 by the water collecting wall 8a. After passing through the purification unit 11, the hot water is poured into the extraction chamber 3.

The purifying unit 11 is formed in a cartridge shape and is detachably engaged with an engaging portion 15 provided below the water collecting slope 14. And the purification unit 11 has water passage nets 11b and 11c on the upper surface and the lower surface, and the activated carbon 11a uses crushed coconut shell activated carbon.
A waterproof wall 16 is formed around the locking portion 15, and a water collecting wall 8 a formed on the inner surface of the water spray cover 8 is formed on the outer periphery of the waterproof wall 16. The discharged hot water all joins on the water collecting slope 14 and passes through the purification unit 11 without leaking to the locking portion 15.

Here, activated carbon 11a in purification unit 11
Contributes to the extraction of delicious coffee by adsorbing kalki and musty odors.

As described in the prior art, the structure of the flow path switching section is such that the water in the water storage tank 2 is passed through the heater section 4 several times and reaches a temperature of about 70 ° C. suitable for coffee extraction.
It is discharged from. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an operating mechanism 24 is provided in the water storage tank 2, and an operating member 20 in which an operating body 18 made of a coil-shaped shape memory alloy and an urging spring 19 are combined is vertically moved. , And slidably provided up and down.

The upper portion of the operating member 20 is opened by a valve provided above a valve port 22 formed on the bottom plate of the flow path switching casing 21. The riser pipe 12 is connected to the first connection port 21a of the bottom plate portion of the flow path switching casing 21, and the discharge pipe 1 is connected to the second connection port 21b on the side of the flow path switching casing 21.
3 are connected. The tip of the discharge pipe 13 is bent in the direction of the watering cover 8, that is, upward, and is positioned above the flow path switching casing 21. In addition, valve mouth 2
2 is connected to the water storage tank 2.

In the above configuration, the water in the water storage tank 2 is drawn out through the check valve 9, heated by the heater section 4, and guided through the water rising pipe 12 into the flow path switching casing 21. Hot water is 70
When the temperature is lower than 0 ° C., the acting body 1 made of a shape memory alloy containing Ni—Ti—Cu as a main component (hereinafter referred to as a ternary SMA)
Reference numeral 8 denotes a contracted shape, the operating body 20 is moved upward by the biasing spring 19, and the valve body 23 has the valve port 22 opened.

Therefore, the hot and cold water guided to the flow path switching casing 21 is returned to the water storage tank 2 through the valve port 22. That is, the water in the water storage tank 2 is circulated until it reaches 70 ° C. Here, the second connection port 21a of the flow path switching casing 21, ie,
Although there is no valve on the discharge pipe 13 side and it is open, hot water is not discharged from the discharge pipe 13 because the tip of the discharge pipe 13 is located above the flow path switching casing 21.

Next, when the water in the water storage tank 2 is heated to 70 ° C., the working body made of the ternary SMA extends, and the working material 2
0 moves downward by overcoming the biasing spring 19 and closes the valve port with the valve element 23. Therefore, the flow path returning to the water storage tank 2 from the flow path switching casing 21 is closed, and the hot water rising from the water rising pipe 12 is discharged from the discharge pipe 13. Discharge proceeds and water tank 2
The working body 18 made of a shape memory alloy containing Ni-Ti-Cu as a main component is exposed in the air and the temperature of the working body 18 is reduced even if the amount of hot water in the inside is reduced, so that the generating force of the coil spring does not decrease.

This is because the relationship between the temperature and the generated force when the coil spring length is kept constant, that is, as shown in FIG. 4, the generated force at the time of temperature decrease is 5 to 10 ° C. lower than the generated force at the time of temperature rise. This is because the valve 2
3 will no longer close the valve port 22.

Furthermore, the shorter the time until the working body 18 is exposed to the air and the discharge of the hot water in the water storage tank 2 is shorter, the lower the temperature of the working body is, and thus the lower the working body 18 is near the bottom of the water storage tank 2. It is provided in.

The second characteristic configuration of the present embodiment is a mounting mechanism of the purification unit 11. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the main body 1 has the locking portion 15 of the purification unit 11 as one end, and the other end is guided to the outer surface of the main body 1.
a is provided.

As described above, when the purifying unit 11 is mounted in this embodiment, if the purifying unit 11 is pressed against the guide groove 1b of the main body 1 and is slid along the guide rail 1a, the locking claw 11d of the purifying unit 11 is moved. It is guided by the locking portion 15 and can be easily mounted.

A third characteristic configuration of the present embodiment is a waterproof configuration of the locking portion 15 of the purification unit 11. That is, a waterproof wall 16 is provided in the direction of the watering cover 8 around the locking portion 15 of the purification unit 11 provided on the water collecting slope 14, and a water collecting wall 8 a is provided on the outer circumference of the waterproof wall 16 from the watering cover 8. Therefore, the hot water discharged to the sprinkling cover 8 flows down the curved surface of the sprinkling cover 8 and falls from the collecting wall 8a to the collecting slope 14.
And does not flow out of the locking portion 15.

In this embodiment, there are two functions of purifying water. The first purification action is activated carbon 11 in purification unit 11.
The second purification action is to decompose and ozone ozone catalytically. In order to sufficiently perform the second purification operation, it is desirable to increase the volume in the watering cover 8 and diffuse the discharged hot and cold water into the air.

According to the above configuration, even if there is no special waterproof device (for example, a rubber stopper) for the locking portion 15 of the purification unit 11 provided on the water collecting slope 14 of the main body 1, the watering cover 8 can be enlarged to purify air diffusion. A highly effective coffee extractor can be provided.

[0031]

As is clear from the description of the above embodiment,
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The coffee extractor of the present invention can stably extract water in a water storage tank by circulating the water to a temperature suitable for coffee extraction.

It is possible to provide an easy-to-use coffee extractor with a simplified purging unit attaching / detaching operation, and to simplify the waterproof structure while increasing the purifying action by enlarging the watering cover.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a coffee extractor according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a flow path switching unit of the coffee extractor.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a purifying unit locking portion of the coffee extractor.

FIG. 4 is a graph of the temperature and generated force of a coil spring of a binary SMA and a ternary SMA.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a purifying unit locking portion of the coffee extractor.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional coffee extractor.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional coffee extractor.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a flow path switching unit of the coffee extractor.

[Description of Signs] 1 Coffee extractor main body 1a Guide rail 2 Water storage tank 3 Extraction chamber 4 Heater section 6 Coffee container 8a Water collecting wall 10 Purification unit 13 Discharge pipe 14 Water collecting slope 16 Waterproof wall 21 Channel switching casing 24 Operating mechanism

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A47J 31/057 A47J 31/46

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A main body, a water storage tank, an extraction chamber for extracting coffee, a heater for heating water flowing from a bottom of the water storage tank through a check valve to a water riser, and an upper end of the water riser. Is connected to the flow switching housing, the discharge pipe connected to the flow switching housing, the valve port connected to the flow switching housing to the storage tank, and one of the discharge pipe and the valve opening. A valve body for flowing hot and cold water, and an operating mechanism for moving the valve body so as to form a flow path toward the discharge pipe when the hot water reaches a set temperature, and the operating mechanism has a shape mainly composed of Ni-T-Cu. Coffee kettle operated by memory alloy. 2. A main body, a water storage tank, an extraction chamber for extracting coffee, a water rising pipe led out from a bottom of the water storage tank through a check valve, and means for heating water flowing to the water rising pipe. A discharge pipe having a discharge port above the extraction chamber in conjunction with the riser pipe, a purification unit having activated carbon between the discharge port and the extraction chamber is detachably locked to the main body, and the purification unit is mounted on the main body. A coffee extractor with a guide rail leading to the locking part. 3. A water sprinkling cover covering an upwardly directed discharge port, a water collecting slope provided on a main body below the water sprinkling cover, and a locking part for locking a purification unit on the water collecting slope. 3. The coffee extraction method according to claim 2, wherein a waterproof wall protruding above the water collecting slope is provided around the water collecting slope, and a water collecting wall formed from the watering cover toward the water collecting slope is provided on the outer periphery of the waterproof wall. vessel.