JP3052222B2 - Coffee kettle - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coffee machine used in ordinary households.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional general coffee brewer.
Is a commercial AC power supply, 2 is a bean container containing coffee beans and provided with a hole in the bottom having a size large enough to allow the ground beans to pass through, 3 is a blade for grinding coffee beans, and the blades are beans. It is rotatably provided in the container 2. Reference numeral 4 denotes a motor for rotating the blades 3, and reference numeral 5 denotes a filtration chamber provided at the lower portion of the bean container 2 for storing crushed beans and having an opening at the bottom thereof. Is used with a paper filter 5a set.

[0003] Reference numeral 6 denotes a water container for containing water for boiling coffee, and 7 denotes a heating means, and a water pipe 7 connected to the water container 6.
a, a heater 7b for heating water in the water pipe 7a, and a check valve 7c for preventing hot water boiling in the water pipe 7a from flowing back to the water container 6. And 8 is the filtration room 5
2 is a coffee container for accommodating coffee liquid dripped from an opening provided at a lower portion of the container.

Reference numeral 13 denotes switching means for switching the power supply from the motor 4 to the heater 7b. The timing of the switching operation by the switching means 13 is set by a timer 17.

[0005] The operation of this conventional coffee machine will be described with the above configuration. First, the user puts an appropriate amount of coffee beans into the bean container 2, sets the timer 17 in accordance with the amount of coffee beans, and sets an appropriate time according to a predetermined scale. Thereafter, when the timer operation is started, energization of the motor 4 is started by the switching means 13 and when the blades 3 rotate, the beans contained in the bean container 2 are crushed. The ground coffee powder passes through a hole provided at the bottom of the bean container 2 and is stored in a paper filter 5a set in a filtration chamber 5 provided at a lower portion of the bean container 2. .

When the time set by the timer 17 elapses, the power is switched from the motor 4 to the heater 7b by the switching means 13, and the water in the water pipe 7a starts to be heated. A check valve 7c is provided at a connection portion between the water pipe 7a and the water container 6, and the water heated in the water pipe 7a is not returned to the water container 6 by the pressure of the partially evaporated steam. It is pushed up to the other end not connected to the check valve 7c of 7a. The opening at the other end of the water pipe 7a is directed to the inside of the bean container 2, and is washed from the hole provided at the bottom of the bean container 2 into the filtration chamber 5 while washing away the ground coffee powder remaining in the bean container 2. Supplied. The heated hot water poured into the coffee powder in the filter 5 a of the filtration chamber 5 becomes coffee liquid, drops from an opening provided at the bottom of the filtration chamber 5, and is stored in the coffee container 8.

[0007]

However, in the configuration of the conventional coffee brewer shown in FIG. 6 described above, when the timer time is set according to the amount of beans, the timer of the user is set based on a preset reference scale. Since the time is set by judgment, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. 7, in the case of hard coffee beans that are difficult to grind, the timer time ends without the beans being crushed, or conversely, the timing chart of FIG. As shown, in the case of soft beans (characteristic A1), the time T
There was a problem that the motor continued to rotate even though the pulverization of the beans was completed at six points. The time characteristic for hard beans is indicated by A2, and the pulverization of the beans ends at time T7 longer than time T6.

[0008] In this conventional coffee machine,
Regardless of the type of coffee beans, when the user tried to boil the coffee, he only judged the amount of beans in advance and put the appropriate amount of water in the water container before starting the operation of the coffee brewer. At this time, even if a large amount of water was added, it was impossible to continue extracting the coffee liquid until all the water was exhausted from the water container, and to perform extraction according to the type of coffee beans.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a coffee stove capable of extracting a coffee liquid with an appropriate amount of water depending on the type of coffee beans.

[0010]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a grinding control means for starting and stopping the rotation of a motor for rotating a blade for grinding coffee beans,
Heating means for extracting coffee liquid by discharging the ground coffee beans housed in the filtration chamber, heating control means for starting and stopping the operation of the heating means, and housed in the bean container by the motor. A current detecting means for measuring a current supplied to the motor at predetermined time intervals when the coffee beans are ground; and a current value measured at predetermined time intervals by the current detecting means for a predetermined number of times in a series of previous measurements. When the current has changed within a predetermined current value range from the time, the end detection means for stopping the rotation of the motor by the crushing control means, and after the rotation of the motor is stopped in the end detection means, the heating control means Switching means for operating and starting the extraction of coffee liquid by the heating means,
The current detecting means compares the current at the start of rotation of the motor with the current after a lapse of a predetermined time, determines the type of beans according to the ratio, and increases or decreases the operation time of the heating means by the heating control means. And a bean quality measuring means.

[0011]

According to the present invention, by providing the current detecting means and the end detecting means, the rotation of the motor can be stopped immediately upon completion of the grinding of the coffee beans, and the extraction of the coffee liquid can be started. good. Also, when grinding coffee beans, the load on the motor changes depending on the hardness of the ground beans, and the current flowing through the motor changes. The current at the start of rotation and the current after a predetermined time are compared, the type of coffee beans is determined according to the ratio, and the operation time of the heating means for extracting the coffee liquid by the heating control means is increased or decreased.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a coffee brewer according to one embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those shown in FIG. 6 of the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 9 denotes a current detecting means for measuring a current flowing through the motor 4, and when the load applied to the motor 4 increases, this current value also increases in proportion to the load.

Numeral 10 denotes a crushing control means for controlling the supply of electric current to the motor 4 to rotate and stop the motor 4.
Numeral 11 denotes a heating control means for controlling the supply of electric current to the heater 7b as the heating means to heat the water in the water pipe 7a or to stop the heating.

Numeral 12 is an end detecting means. When the current value measured at predetermined time intervals by the current detecting means 9 changes continuously within a predetermined current value range from the previous measurement for a predetermined number of times, the pulverization control is performed. An operation of controlling the means 10 and stopping the rotation of the motor 4 is performed by this means. Reference numeral 13 denotes a switching unit, which operates the heating control unit 11 to start the extraction of the coffee liquid by the heating unit 7 after the rotation of the motor 4 is stopped by the end detection unit 12. Numeral 14 denotes an anti-slip means for comparing the current at the start of rotation of the motor 4 with the current after a lapse of a predetermined time by the current detection means 9 and controlling the crushing control means 10 when the ratio is equal to or more than a predetermined value. Performs the operation of stopping the rotation of the motor 4.
Numeral 15 is a bean amount measuring means, which measures the time from the start of pulverization of coffee beans by the pulverization control means 10 to the end of pulverization of coffee beans by the end detection means 12, and determines the time according to the measured time. The extraction operation of the coffee liquid by the heating means 7 is performed for the predetermined time. Numeral 16 is a soybean measuring means. The current detecting means 9 compares the current at the start of rotation of the motor 4 with the current after a lapse of a predetermined time, and controls the heating according to the ratio.
An operation of increasing or decreasing the operation time of the heating means 7 by 11 is performed.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. As a result of measuring the current flowing through the motor 4 at regular intervals by the current detecting means 9, the change in the current of the motor 4 is determined by the previous measurement. If the current value falls within the range of the predetermined current value, it is determined that the rotation of the motor 4 is stable.
Then, when the condition that can be determined to be stable is continuously satisfied a predetermined number of times, the end detecting means 12 determines that the motor 4 has finished grinding the coffee beans and is running idle. At this time, the current is measured, for example, about every 0.5 seconds, the predetermined current range is about 5% of the current value of the motor 4, and the number of times considered to be stable is about 5 times.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing a change in the motor current value in this case. At the start of rotation, a large current for starting the motor 4 is required.
Until the time point, the current value I is constantly changing due to the load at the time of pulverizing the coffee beans. When the pulverization of the beans is completed at the point of time T0, the motor 4 starts idling, so that the current value I is stable. After the predetermined number of measurements have been completed at time T1, the end detecting means 12 determines that the grinding of the coffee beans has been completed.

After judging that the grinding of the coffee beans has been completed, the end detecting means 12 controls the switching means 13, and the switching means 13 controls the motor 4 by the grinding control means 10.
Then, the heating control means 11 is operated by the switching means 13 and the power supply to the heater 7b of the heating means 7 is switched to start heating the water in the water pipe 7a. A check valve 7c is provided at the connection between the water pipe 7a and the water vessel 6, and the hot water heated in the water pipe 7a is not returned to the water vessel 6 by the pressure of the partially evaporated steam. It is pushed up to the other end not connected to the check valve 7c of 7a.

The opening at the other end of the water pipe 7a is directed into the bean container 2, and is filtered from a hole provided at the bottom of the bean container 2 while washing away the ground coffee powder remaining in the bean container 2. It is supplied to the chamber 5. Filter 5a of filtration room 5
The heated hot water poured into the coffee powder inside becomes a coffee liquid, drops from an opening provided at the bottom of the filtration chamber 5, and is stored in the coffee container 8.

Next, the idling prevention means 14 will be described.
The current flowing through the motor 4 is measured by the current detecting means 9 at regular intervals, and the idling prevention means 14 compares the current of the motor 4 at the start of rotation with the current after the motor 4 rotates for a predetermined time. If it is equal to or more than the predetermined value, it is determined that no load is applied to the motor 4 at the time of pulverizing beans, and the motor 4 is determined to be idling with a small current. The rotation of the motor 4 is stopped by 10.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing a difference in current change between when the beans are crushed and when the beans are idling without beans. First, the rotation of the motor 4 is started at time 0 in FIG. The current at the time is measured and then compared with the measured result at time T2. In other words, the current I0 measured at the time point 0 is the current when the motor 4 starts to rotate, and is constant by each motor regardless of the load. The current I1 after the time T2 in ()) has a small change, and the current I2 in the case of idling without beans (characteristic B) is greatly reduced. The difference in the magnitude of the change is used to determine whether the beans are present or idle. After it is determined that the motor 4 is idling, the pulverizing control means 10 is operated by a signal from the idling preventing means 14 to stop the rotation of the motor 4.

Next, the heating control based on the amount of coffee beans will be described. Pulverization control means by the bean amount measurement means 15
The time from the start of the grinding of the coffee beans by the operation 10 to the stop of the grinding of the coffee beans by the end detecting means 12 is measured. At this time, since the time required for this pulverization changes in proportion to the amount of beans, this time is considered in proportion to the amount of the finished coffee liquid to be extracted, and the heating control means
After starting the extraction of the coffee liquid by the operation of 11, after a predetermined time determined according to the measured time, the check valve 7c of the heating means 7 is forcibly closed to move the water container 6 to the water pipe 7a. The extraction of the coffee liquid is stopped by stopping the supply of water.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing a difference between a change in the current of the motor 4 when pulverizing an amount of beans capable of extracting three cups of coffee and a change in two cups. In the case of minute beans (characteristic C), the grinding of the beans is terminated after time T3 from the start of rotation of the motor 4, and the motor 4 starts to spin. In the case of beans for three cups (characteristic D), the grinding of the beans is ended after a time T4 longer than the time T3. By judging this difference, the check valve 7c of the heating means 7 is closed a predetermined time after the heating is started by the heating control means 11 so that the coffee liquid is extracted with a water amount corresponding to the amount of each coffee bean. Then, the supply of water from the water container 6 to the water pipe 7a is stopped.

Next, the heating control based on the type of coffee beans will be described. The current flowing through the motor 4 is compared by the current detection means 9 with the current at the start of rotation of the motor 4 and the current after a predetermined time has elapsed. At this time, when crushing the coffee beans, the load on the motor 4 changes according to the hardness of the crushed beans, and the current flowing through the motor 4 changes. Therefore, the type of the coffee beans is measured according to the ratio. means
Judgment is made by 16 to increase or decrease the operation time of the heating means 7 by the heating control means 11.

Here, since the coffee beans roasted shallowly are hard, a large load is applied to the motor 4 at the time of pulverization, the current increases, and the pulverization time is also long. On the other hand, well-roasted beans for iced coffee and the like are soft, so that a large load is not applied to the motor 4 even when crushed, and the current is small. In other words, it takes less time to grind the same amount of beans as hard beans. Utilizing this, when it is determined that the beans are hard, even if the time until the end of grinding is long, the amount of coffee liquid to be extracted is smaller than when the grinding of the standard beans is finished in the same time, and conversely, it is soft When it is determined that the beans are beans, the amount of coffee liquid to be extracted is larger than when the standard beans are ground in the same time even if the time until the completion of the grinding is short.

The change in current at this time is shown in the timing chart of FIG. At time T5, the current of I3 flows in the case of two cups of hard beans (characteristic E), and the current of I4 flows in the case of three cups of soft beans (characteristic F). By comparing this current value with the current I0 at the start of rotation of the motor 4, the bean quality measuring means 16 determines the hardness of the beans.

Even if the pulverization of the beans has been completed at the same time T6, it can be determined that there are only 2 cups of beans with hard beans and 3 cups of beans with soft beans. Based on the determination result, the extraction time of the coffee liquid by the heating means 7, that is, the extraction amount of the coffee liquid is determined.

[0029]

As described above, the coffee brewer of the present invention is provided with the current detecting means and the end detecting means, so that the rotation of the motor is stopped immediately upon completion of the grinding of the coffee beans, and the coffee liquid is discharged. Extraction can be started and it is convenient.

Further, by providing a soybean measuring means,
Even without paying attention to the quality of the beans and the amount of water, the coffee liquid can always be extracted with an appropriate amount of water according to the quality of the coffee beans, which is convenient.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a coffee brewer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart of the detection of the end of pulverization based on a change in a motor current value when pulverizing beans.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing a difference between changes in motor current when beans are crushed and when the beans are running without beans.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart for measuring the amount of beans based on a change in a motor current value.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart of measurement of a soybean substance according to a change in a motor current value.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional coffee machine.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart in the case where the timer is ended without ending the pulverization of the beans in the conventional coffee machine.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart in a case where hard beans and soft beans are pulverized by a conventional coffee machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... commercial AC power supply 2 ... beans container 3 ... feathers 4 ...
Motor, 5 ... Filtration chamber, 5a ... Filter, 6 ...
Water container, 7: heating means, 7a: water pipe, 7b: heater, 7c: check valve, 8: coffee container, 9: current detection means, 10: crushing control means, 11: heating control means,
12 ... end detection means, 13 ... switching means, 14 ... idling prevention means, 15 ... beans amount measurement means, 16 ... beans quality measurement means,
17… Timer.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-61-220621 (JP, A) JP-A-57-110217 (JP, A) JP-A-62-102719 (JP, A) JP-A-63-621 19116 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A47J 31/42 A47J 31/057

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A grinding control means for starting and stopping the rotation of a motor for rotating blades for grinding coffee beans, and a heating device for discharging coffee ground coffee beans contained in a filtration chamber to extract coffee liquid. Means, a heating control means for starting / stopping the operation of the heating means, and a current supplied to the motor at the time of grinding the coffee beans contained in the bean container by the motor at predetermined time intervals. Current detection means, and when the current value measured at predetermined time intervals by the current detection means changes continuously within a predetermined current value range from the previous measurement a predetermined number of times, the motor by the pulverization control means End detection means for stopping the rotation of the motor, and after the rotation of the motor is stopped by the end detection means, the heating control means is operated, and the coffee liquid is heated by the heating means. Switching means for starting extraction of
At the start of rotation of the motor by the current detection means
And the current after the lapse of a predetermined time, and according to the ratio,
To determine the type of bean and the heating by the heating control means.
A coffee brewer comprising: a bean quality measuring means for increasing or decreasing the operation time of the means .