JP3136795B2 - 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 coffee extractor for extracting coffee by boiling hot water in ordinary households.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional coffee extractor, as shown in FIG. 9, a water pipe 3 is connected to a bottom of a tank 1 for storing water through a check valve 2, and the water led to the water pipe 3 is heated. 4, the heated and boiled water is pushed out by the steam pressure through the upper switching valve 5, and when the water pipe 3 becomes empty, water is newly discharged through the check valve 2. ing. The switching valve 5 returns the water from the valve port 7 to the tank 1 until the water in the tank 1 reaches about 70 ° C. by the shape memory alloy 6 installed in the tank 1, and discharges the water when the temperature exceeds about 70 ° C. 8 is urged to extract boiling water to the extraction section 9. A power switch 10 and a thermostat 11 for keeping heat are connected in series to the heater 4. When the power switch 10 is turned on, the heater 4 generates heat.
Is equilibrated at about 90 ° C to 110 ° C. Eventually, when all the water in the tank 1 is discharged to the extraction unit 9 and the water pipe 3 is emptied, the temperature of the thermostat 11 rises rapidly, and the
It turns off at 80 ° C., and then performs on / off operation.

[0003]

However, the conventional coffee brewer having the above-described structure has a problem that the user must constantly monitor when the brewing is completed, which is inconvenient. In addition, although the temperature is maintained after the completion of the coffee extraction, if the power switch 10 is forgotten to be turned off, the power is continuously supplied forever, which is dangerous and shortens the life of the heater 4.

[0004] The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its first object to provide a user-friendly coffee extractor that automatically detects and informs of completion of coffee extraction. It is a second object of the present invention to provide a highly safe coffee brewer in which the power is automatically turned off when a predetermined time has elapsed in the warming state, and the power is not continuously supplied even if the user forgets to turn off the power. . A third object of the present invention is to provide a coffee extractor that detects the addition of water to the tank 1 when adding coffee while keeping the temperature warm, detects the addition of water, displays the operation of boiling water and extraction, and performs additional extraction. It is a fourth object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable coffee brewer that detects when a relay contact is turned off during operation and takes recovery measures.

[0005]

In order to achieve the first object, the present invention provides a water pipe which communicates with a bottom of a tank containing water through a check valve to reach an extraction section, and a water pipe in the water pipe. A heater for heating the derived water, a relay and a thermostat connected in series to the heater, display means for displaying the operation from the kettle to coffee extraction and the operation for keeping the heat, notification means, and turning on the thermostat A first problem solving means comprises on / off detecting means for detecting whether or not coffee is extracted, and end detecting means for detecting the end of coffee extraction from the output of the on / off detecting means.

In order to achieve the second object,
A second means for solving the problem is to have a timer means for measuring the heat retention time in response to the output of the coffee extraction completion detection means, and to turn off the relay when the heat retention time reaches a predetermined time.

Further, in order to achieve the third object,
With the output of the on / off detection means as an input, a water addition detection means for detecting the addition of water to the tank from the on state of the thermostat for a predetermined time or more during the heat insulation operation, and adding water to the tank during the heat insulation operation A third solution to the problem is to switch the display to hot water / extraction and start the hot water / extraction operation.

In order to achieve the fourth object,
Equipped with a relay abnormality detection means that receives the output of the on / off detection means as input, detects the abnormality of the relay from the on state of the thermostat for more than a predetermined time, turns off the relay once, then turns it on again to avoid the abnormality This is the fourth problem solving means.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the completion of coffee extraction can be automatically detected and notified by the first means for solving the problems. Further, according to the second problem-solving means, even if the user forgets to turn off the power, the power can be automatically turned off after a predetermined time has elapsed in the warm state. In addition, the third
According to the problem solving means, when water is added to the tank 1 in order to add coffee while the temperature is kept warm, the water can be detected and the operation of water heating / extraction can be displayed to perform additional extraction. According to the fourth means for solving the problem, when the relay contact is turned off during operation, this can be detected and a recovery measure can be taken.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The same components as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be partially omitted.

In FIG. 1, a heater 4 for heating a water pipe 3 is shown.
, A thermostat 11 for keeping warm and a relay 20 are connected in series. When the start switch 21 is pressed, the relay control means 22 turns on the relay 20 to start water heating. The thermostat 11 remains on while the water is continuously supplied from the tank 1 as in the conventional example, and the switching valve 5 is opened when the water in the tank 1 is about 70 ° C. or less, as in the conventional example. The water is returned from the tank 7 to the tank 1, and when the water in the tank 1 reaches 70 ° C., the water boiled by the heater 4 is dropped from the discharge port 8 and extraction starts. Eventually tank 1
The temperature of the thermostat 11 rises rapidly when both the water pipe 3 and the water pipe 3 become empty, and when the temperature exceeds about 180 ° C., the temperature of the thermostat 11 increases.
Is turned off and turned on when the temperature falls below about 110 ° C., and the coffee extracted and stored in the decanter 23 is kept at 85 ° C. to 90 ° C. The on / off detecting means 24 detects on / off of the thermostat 11, and detects the end of the thermostat 11.
Tell 5

FIG. 2A is a specific circuit diagram of the ON / OFF detecting means 24, and FIG. 2A shows the waveform thereof. When the relay 20 or the thermostat 11 is off, the heater 4 is turned on. The AC voltage applied between the inputs a and c of the on / off detection means 24 is rectified by the rectification bridge 241, smoothed by the capacitor 242, applied to the photocoupler 243, and the output d becomes low (L). On the other hand, relay 20
When both the thermostat 11 and the thermostat 11 are on, no voltage is applied between the inputs a and c of the on / off detection means 24, so that the output d remains high (H). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2A, the output of the on / off detecting means 24 becomes high (H) because both the relay 20 and the thermostat 11 are on at the time of water heating / extraction, and when the thermostat 11 is off at the time of warming. High only when low and on.

The end detecting means 25 monitors the output d of the on / off detecting means 24 and detects the end of the extraction when it becomes low (L) for the first time after starting the water heating / extraction. However, at this time, since the hot water of the extraction unit 9 has not been formed yet, the end means is notified by the notifying means (buzzer) 26 after the drop has run out. In this embodiment, the time from when the output d of the on / off detecting means 24 becomes low (L) to when the end is notified is one minute. And the display means 27
Until the end detection means 25 detects the end of extraction and gives notification of the end, an LED (light-emitting diode) of "Boiler / extraction"
Is turned on, and after the completion notification is made, the "warming" LED is turned on.

As described above, in this embodiment, the on / off of the thermostat 11 is detected by the on / off detecting means 24, and the end detecting means 25 detects and notifies the end of the extraction based on the output thereof. There is no need for the user to monitor the completion of the extraction, which is convenient.

It is needless to say that the time from the end detecting means 25 detecting the end of extraction to the end notification need not be limited to one minute.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The same components as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. In FIG. 3, the timer means 28 measures the elapsed time of the heat retention after receiving the output of the end detection means 25, and instructs the relay control means 22 to turn off the relay 20 when a predetermined time is reached. In the present embodiment, two types of two hours, one hour and one hour, can be selected as the predetermined time for the heat retention. That is, the relay 20 is normally turned off two hours after the water heating / extraction is completed and the heat is transferred, and if the selector switch 29 connected to the timer means 28 is set on the way, the relay is turned on for one hour after the heat is transferred. 20 can be changed to a mode of turning off. By pressing the off switch 30, the relay 20
You can also turn off the power supply. Further, the predetermined time of the heat retention is not limited to the above one hour or two hours, and may be set as appropriate.

As described above, in this embodiment, the coffee is kept warm after the coffee is extracted, and even if the user forgets to turn off the power, the power is automatically cut off after a predetermined time, which is safe.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Also in this case, the same components as those in the above-described embodiment are given the same numbers, and the description is omitted. In FIG. 4, the water addition detecting means 31 detects the addition of water to the tank 1 based on the output d of the on / off detecting means 24. FIG.
Is a diagram for explaining the operation of the on / off detecting means 24. In the case where 10 cups (about 1200 cc) of coffee are extracted and then kept warm while being served for drinking, and when the amount is reduced, 5 cups are additionally extracted. It is shown. In this example, the first coffee extraction takes about 10 minutes. In addition, at the time of heat retention, thermostat 1 every 20 minutes every 5 minutes
1 turns on.

When 5 cups of water are added to the tank 1, water is drawn out to the water pipe 3 through the check valve 2, cools the thermostat 11, and is continuously energized to perform the second extraction. The time required for extracting the additional 5 cups is about 5 minutes, during which time the output d of the on / off detecting means 24 is high (H), and the water detecting means 31 is the output of the on / off detecting means 24. If the high (H) of d continues for 40 seconds or more, it is determined that water is added. Then, a signal is sent to the display means 27, and the display means 27 switches the display from "warming" to "boiler / extraction". Here, it is needless to say that the set time is not limited to the above value.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the coffee is kept warm, not only the water can be added to the tank but the additional extraction can be performed again.
The display is switched to a display indicating the convenience.

Further, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram for driving the relay 20 according to the present embodiment.
Rectifies the AC power supply with the
23 is charged, and when the relay 20 is turned on, the transistor 224 is turned on to attract the movable contact 20a by the discharge current of the capacitor 223, and thereafter, is held by the slight current supplied through the diode 221 and the resistor 222. Configuration. With the above configuration, heat generation in the relay coil 20b can be suppressed while the relay 20 is held in the ON state, which is advantageous. However, when a voltage drop of the AC power supply occurs due to a wide area power failure or temporary overload due to a lightning strike on the high voltage overhead line of the AC power supply, the relay coil 20b may not be able to hold the movable contact 20a and may be opened. In this case, even when the power supply voltage is restored, the contact 20a of the relay remains off. Therefore, in this embodiment, the relay abnormality detecting means 32 for detecting abnormality of the relay 20 based on the output d of the on / off detecting means 24 is provided, and when it is detected that the relay 20 is off, the relay 20 is temporarily turned off. After turning off and waiting for the capacitor 223 to be charged, the transistor 224 is driven again to turn on the relay 20 to avoid an abnormality. FIG. 8 is for explaining the operation of the relay abnormality detecting means 32. It is assumed that the water heater / water extraction is started at the time (A) and the contact of the relay 20 is turned off at the point (A) due to a voltage drop or the like. ,on·
Since the output d of the off detecting means 24 becomes low (L), first, the end detecting means 25 determines that the point (a) is the end of the extraction, notifies the end of the extraction, and keeps the display warm. However, since the contact of the relay 20 is actually turned off, the temperature of the thermostat 11 is low and remains on. Then, when the output d of the on / off detecting means 24 becomes low (L) for 10 minutes (C), the relay abnormality detecting means 32
Works to transmit a signal to the relay control means 22, and the relay control means 22 turns off the relay 20, temporarily charges the capacitor 223 for one second, and then turns on the relay 20, so that the water is extracted and extracted again ( D) End extraction at point and move to heat retention.

As described above, even if the relay 20 is turned off during the operation, the relay abnormality is detected by the relay abnormality detecting means 32 and recovery is taken, so that the reliability is improved. Note that, although an abnormality occurred during water heating / extraction has been described as an example, an abnormality during heat retention can be similarly detected and recovery measures can be taken.

[0023]

As described above, the present invention provides a water pipe which communicates with the bottom of a tank containing water through a check valve to reach an extraction section,
A heater that heats the water led out into the water pipe, a relay and a thermostat connected in series to the heater, display means for displaying operations from water heater to coffee extraction and heat retention operations, and notification means, It has on / off detection means for detecting on / off of the thermostat, and end detection means for detecting the end of coffee extraction from the output of the on / off detection means. It is not necessary for the user to monitor the end of the coffee extraction, and a convenient coffee extractor can be provided.

Also, there is provided timer means for measuring the warming time in response to the output of the coffee brewing completion detecting means, and the relay is turned off when the warming time reaches a predetermined time. Even if the user accidentally forgets to turn off the power, the power is automatically turned off after a predetermined time, which is safe.

Further, there is provided water addition detecting means for detecting the addition of water to the tank from the ON state of the thermostat for a predetermined time or more during the warming operation by using the output of the on / off detecting means as an input. When water is added, the display is switched to hot water / extraction and the hot water / extraction operation is started, so that it is not necessary to turn on the power every time when adding and extracting coffee while keeping the temperature, so that it is convenient and convenient.

A relay abnormality detecting means which receives the output of the on / off detecting means as an input is provided. When the abnormality of the relay is detected from the ON state of the thermostat for a predetermined time or more, the relay is once turned off and then turned on again. Since abnormalities are avoided, even if the relay is turned off due to a drop in the voltage of the AC power supply during extraction or during heat retention, this is detected and normalized, so that a highly reliable coffee extractor can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a coffee extractor according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an on / off detection unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a coffee extractor according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a coffee extractor according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the water addition detecting means in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relay drive circuit according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a coffee extractor in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the relay abnormality detecting means in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a configuration block diagram of a conventional coffee extractor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tank 2 Check valve 3 Water pipe 4 Heater 9 Extraction part 11 Thermostat 20 Relay 24 On / off detection means 25 End detection means 26 Notification means 27 Display means 28 Timer means 31 Water addition detection means 32 Relay abnormality detection means

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A water pipe communicating with a bottom of a tank containing water via a check valve and reaching an extraction section, a heater for heating water drawn into the water pipe, and connected in series to the heater. A relay and a thermostat, display means for displaying operations from water heater to coffee extraction and heat retention operation, a notifying means, on / off detecting means for detecting on / off of the thermostat, and the on / off detecting means And an end detecting means for detecting the end of coffee extraction from the output of the coffee extractor, and informing the end of coffee extraction. 2. The coffee extractor according to claim 1, further comprising timer means for receiving the output of the coffee extraction completion detection means and counting the warming time, and turning off the relay when the warming time reaches a predetermined time. 3. An additional water detecting means for detecting the addition of water to a tank from an on state of a thermostat for a predetermined time or more during a warming operation by using an output of the on / off detecting means as an input. 3. The coffee extractor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the water is added, the display is switched to hot water / extraction and the hot water / extraction operation is started. 4. A relay abnormality detecting means which receives an output of the on / off detecting means as an input, detects an abnormality of the relay from an on state of the thermostat for a predetermined time or more, turns off the relay once, and then turns on the relay again. 4. The coffee brewer according to claim 1, wherein an abnormality is avoided.