JP3457869B2 - Tea machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tea dispenser, and more particularly to a tea dispenser having an improved portion for supplying tea leaves to a tea strainer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an example of a tea feeding machine, Jitsuko Sho 51-
The one described in Japanese Patent No. 10941 is known. This is schematically shown in FIG. That is, the tea strainer a containing the tea leaves is reciprocally movable between a pouring position in which the tea leaves are in a horizontal position and a reversing position in which the tea strainer a in the horizontal position is reversed. This is a structure in which a tea leaf supply part b for supplying a predetermined amount of tea leaves by a natural drop and a shower type hot water supply port c for discharging hot water are juxtaposed. Then, as shown in FIG. 3A, a predetermined amount of tea leaves are supplied from the tea leaf supply unit b into the tea strainer a, and subsequently hot water is discharged from the hot water supply port c as shown in FIG. By doing so, tea is poured out and can be enjoyed with a cup of water. When the tea is poured out a predetermined number of times, the tea strainer a is inverted and the tea pieces are discarded as shown by the chain line in the figure, and the tea strainer returns to the pouring position again and new tea leaves are supplied as described above. Then, hot water is discharged and tea is poured out.

[0003]

In the above, however, the tea strainer a has a structure in which both the supply of tea leaves and the discharge of hot water are carried out when the tea strainer a is in the horizontal pouring position. There's a problem. First, it is preferable that both the supply of tea leaves and the discharge of hot water are performed toward the central portion of the tea strainer a located at the pouring position.
It is not possible to point the center portion of the tea strainer a with both of them facing straight down. Therefore, the tea leaf supply part b for supplying the tea leaves by natural fall is arranged corresponding to almost the center of the tea strainer a, while the hot water supply port c capable of discharging hot water vigorously.
Is provided so as to be inclined to the side of the tea leaf supply section b and directed toward the central portion of the tea strainer a.

However, since the tea leaf supply part b has to take a space below it for the tea strainer a to be driven in reverse, it has to be arranged at a proper distance from the tea strainer a. By the time the tea leaves fall from the supply part b and are received by the tea strainer a, fine powder of the tea leaves particularly floats and scatters, and the surroundings are easily soiled. Also, the hot water supply port c
Is placed in a diagonal position at a position off the center of the tea strainer a, so if the water level in the hot water tank drops or the hot water supply c is clogged, As shown in FIG. 12C, there was a problem that the hot water did not reach the central portion of the tea strainer a and the tea leaves could not be used up effectively.
The present invention was completed based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to suppress the scattering of tea leaves when they are supplied to a tea strainer, and to use the tea strainer as much as possible regardless of the momentum of the hot water. It's where you can turn to the center.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] As a means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is such that a tea strainer for storing tea leaves has a substantially horizontal posture at a pouring position and at a side thereof. The tea leaves are arranged so as to be capable of reciprocating between an inversion position that takes an inverted posture, and a tea leaf supply unit that supplies tea leaves and a hot water outlet that discharges hot water are juxtaposed above the tea strainer. The tea is poured out by discharging hot water from the hot water supply port toward the tea strainer containing the tea, and the tea strainer is discarded by reversing the tea strainer, and new tea leaves are supplied to the tea strainer. In a tea dispenser that is adapted to restart pouring, it should be placed on a single plane between the pouring position and the reversing position.
In the middle of the reciprocating path of the tea strainer , a tea leaf supply position where the tea strainer takes an oblique posture and stops is set, and the tea leaf supply unit is provided above the tea strainer at the tea leaf supply position. There is a feature in that. Claim 2
The invention of claim 1 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the hot water supply port is provided above the tea strainer at the pouring position. According to the invention of claim 3, in the invention of claim 1 or 2, the tea strainer is provided with an abutting member that abuts the tea strainer when the tea strainer returns from the tea leaf supply position to the pouring position. It has characteristics.

[0006]

<Operation and effect of the invention><Invention of claim 1> After the tea scraps were discarded at the reversing position, the tea strainer was once stopped at the tea leaf supply position while the tea strainer returned to the pouring position, and the tea strainer took an oblique posture. In the state, tea leaves are received in the vicinity of the tea leaf supply unit. After that, the tea strainer returns to the pouring position where it takes an almost horizontal posture, and the tea is poured by discharging hot water from the hot water supply port. Since the tea strainer can receive the tea leaves in the state where the tea strainer is near the tea leaf supply unit, the scattering of fine powder can be minimized and the surroundings can be kept clean. <Invention of Claim 2> Since the tea leaf supply unit is arranged above the tea strainer at the tea leaf supply position, the upper portion of the tea strainer at the pouring position is vacant, so the hot water supply port is located there. Will be distributed. Then, even if the momentum of the discharged hot water has diminished, the hot water can be poured toward the center of the tea strainer, so that the entire tea leaves stored in the tea strainer can be effectively used. You can

<Invention of Claim 3> Since the tea strainer receives the tea leaves in an oblique posture at the tea leaf supply position, the tea leaves may be biased toward the edge of the tea strainer, but the tea strainer is poured. Since it hits the abutting member when returning to the exit position,
The impact causes the tea leaves to move toward the center of the tea strainer.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
Or, it demonstrates based on FIG. First, the overall structure and function of the tea dispenser according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a box-shaped tea dispenser main body, which is supported by legs 2 provided at the four corners of the bottom surface, and a door (not shown) is openably and closably attached to the front opening. . A storage space is defined by a partition wall 3 on the upper right-hand side of the main body 1, and a hot water storage tank 5 for storing hot water therein is arranged therein with a heater built therein.

A machine box 6 equipped with a drive mechanism, which will be described later in detail, is arranged below the partition wall 3, and a tea leaf storage tank 7 for storing tea leaves is provided at an upper position on the front surface thereof.
Are provided so as to project to the front surface of the partition wall 3.
As shown in FIG. 11, at the lower part of the tea leaf storage tank 7, there is provided a tea leaf supply unit 9 incorporating a metering drum 8 capable of scooping tea leaves and dropping them by a predetermined amount.
A tea leaf supply port 10 facing downward is provided and is covered with a lid plate 11 that can be opened and closed. Further, a hot water supply pipe 13 provided with an electromagnetic valve (not shown) is pulled out from the hot water storage tank 5 to project to the front of the machine box 6, and a shower type hot water supply port 15 is attached to the projecting end to supply the tea leaves. Mouth 10
Are arranged side by side. A tea strainer 17 for storing tea leaves is provided below the tea leaf supply port 10 and the hot water supply port 15 on the front surface of the machine box 6, and a placing portion 18 for placing a container A such as a cup of tea is provided at the lower position. It is set.
The tea strainer 17 can be driven to invert around the second shaft 31 toward the tea discard container 19 side housed on the side of the placing portion 18.

First, the drive mechanism of the tea leaf supply portion will be described. 2 and 3, a drive motor 22 with a reduction mechanism is housed in the upper part of the machine box 6,
To one end of the output shaft 23, a metering drum 8 incorporated in the tea leaf supply unit 9 is integrally rotatably connected. On the outer peripheral surface of the metering drum 8, as shown in FIG. 11, a housing recess 24 is formed over a predetermined angle range. As shown in FIG. 3, a first cam 25 having a small diameter portion 25A and a large diameter portion 25B is fixed to the output shaft 23 described above.
On the other hand, the lid plate 11 that opens and closes the tea leaf supply port 10 includes the first shaft 2
7 is swingably supported, and the first shaft 27
It is closed and urged by the urging force of the torsion coil spring 28 attached to. The rear protruding end of the first shaft 27 is bent at a substantially right angle to form a follower portion 29.
9 is abutted and biased against the first cam 25.

The metering drum 8 described above is initially shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), the accommodating recessed portion 24 is oriented to the right in the figure, and the follower portion 29 of the first shaft 27 is in contact with the starting end of the small diameter portion 25A of the first cam 25. Here, when the drive motor 22 is started, the metering drum 8 moves to
1 (B) rotates counterclockwise, and the tea leaves T are put into the accommodating recess 24 on the way. As shown in FIG. 7A, when the storage recess 24 is oriented downward so as to correspond to the tea leaf supply port 10, the follower portion 29 of the first shaft 27 causes the follower portion 29 of the first shaft 27 to move.
5, the lid plate 11 is opened against the urging force of the torsion coil spring 28, so that the accommodation recess 24
A certain amount of the tea leaves T stored in is dropped from the tea leaf supply port 10. The metering drum 8 continues to rotate, and the drive motor 22 stops when it makes one revolution up to the posture shown in FIG. 2B. Immediately before that, the follower portion 29 of the first shaft 27 causes the large diameter portion 25B of the first cam 25 to move. The lid 11 is closed by the urging force of the torsion coil spring 28 when the lid 11 is removed.

Next, the drive mechanism K of the tea strainer 17 will be described. At the position on the left side of the lower end of the machine box 6 when viewed from the front, the above-mentioned second shaft 31 is rotatably supported so as to pass through both front and rear surfaces, and the front protruding end of this second shaft 31 is shown in FIG. As shown in, the left side edge of the tea strainer 17 is integrally rotatably attached. The tea strainer 17 initially takes a horizontal posture so as to open upward as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, and this position is the pouring position X. A second cam 32 having a small diameter portion 32A and a large diameter portion 32B is fixed to the end portion of the output shaft 23 of the drive motor 22 protruding to the rear surface of the machine box 6 (see FIG. 4). On the rear surface side of the second cam 32, an arm 33 projecting in a predetermined direction is attached so as to be rotatable integrally with the output shaft 23, and an upper end of the operation link 35 is attached to a tip end of the arm 33 by a swing shaft 36. It is swingably connected. A pin 37 is fixed to the lower end of the operation link 35 so as to penetrate in the thickness direction.

On the other hand, the second with the above tea strainer 17 attached
An actuator 39 is integrally rotatably provided at an end portion of the shaft 31 protruding from the rear surface of the machine box 6. The actuator 39 has a substantially right-angled triangular front surface, and a recess is formed in the bottom portion thereof, and locking grooves 40 into which the pins 37 of the operation link 35 are fitted are formed at both ends thereof. There is. This actuator 3
9 is when the tea strainer 17 is in the pouring position in the horizontal posture,
As shown in FIG. 4, the apex is oriented downward, and the pin 37 of the operation link 35 has the first locking groove 40A on the right side of FIG.
It fits into. In addition, the actuator 39
A toggle spring 44 is provided between the latching shaft 42 (FIG. 3) that is provided on the rear side of the machine box 6 and the retaining shaft 43 that is provided on the rear surface of the machine box 6.
Is installed. As shown in FIG. 5, the toggle spring 44 has a neutral position where the apex of the actuator 39 is directed to the left in FIG. 5, and the actuator 39 is rotated clockwise relative to the neutral position. Is a toggle for biasing the actuator 39 in the clockwise direction, and conversely for biasing the actuator 39 in the counterclockwise direction when the actuator 39 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction from the neutral position. It is designed to function.

A lever 46 is provided on the left side of the operation link 35 as viewed from the back side, and a substantially central portion in the length direction is supported by a support shaft 47. This lever 46
The rotational force in the clockwise direction of FIG. 4 is urged by its own weight, and the upper end of the rotational force contacts the second cam 32. At the lower end of the lever 46, an engaging portion 48 that is bent at a right angle toward the back side is formed, and the engaging portion 48 is the first side which is the hypotenuse of one of the actuators 39 (left side in FIG. 4). It can come into contact with the mating surface 49A. Further, at a position below the lever 46, a stopper 50 that abuts a second engaging surface 49B that is the other oblique side of the actuator 39 is attached.

The Nacha strainer 17 will be described in detail below.
After being driven from the pouring position X to the reversing position Y, which is reversed and faces the upper part of the tea discard container 19, the tea strainer 17 at the tea leaf supplying position Z shown in FIG. Takes an oblique posture and is temporarily stopped. Then, the tea leaf supply port 10 of the tea leaf supply unit 9 described above.
Is located at a position close to directly above the central portion 17A of the tea strainer 17 when the tea strainer 17 is at the tea leaf supply position Z. One hot water supply port 15 is on the right side as close as possible to the tea leaf supply port 10 described above, in other words, slightly right above the central portion 17A of the tea strainer 17 when the tea strainer 17 is at the pouring position X. In, the tea strainer 17 is provided in a slightly oblique posture with the central portion 17A thereof oriented. Also, on the front of the machine box 6,
When the tea strainer 17 is returned to the pouring position X in a horizontal posture, the abutting member 52 is provided to abut the side edge of the tea strainer 17 on the side opposite to the shaft support side.

This embodiment has the structure as described above,
Next, the operation will be described mainly with reference to the operation explanatory diagrams of FIGS. 4 to 10, the tea strainer 1
The drive mechanism K of FIG. 7 is shown from the back side. When the tea pouring operation is performed, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the tea strainer 17 containing the tea leaves is in the horizontal position at the pouring position X and the hot water supply port 15 The tea is poured out by pouring hot water from the container into the container A. When the pouring of tea for a predetermined number of times is completed, the mode is changed to the waste tea mode. Then, the drive motor 22 is activated and the output shaft 23 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. Along with this, the arm 33 rotates together with the second cam 32 in the same direction, the operation link 35 is pushed downward, the pin 37 pushes the first locking groove 40A, and the actuator 39 resists the biasing force of the toggle spring 44. Rotate it clockwise.
At the same time, the tea strainer 17 is rotated in the direction in which it gradually occurs. It should be noted that when the drive motor 22 is activated, the metering drum 8 of the tea leaf supply unit 9 starts rotating.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the tea strainer 17 and the actuator 39 are rotated 90 degrees to take a vertical posture and, after that, the biasing direction of the toggle spring 44 acting on the actuator 39 is exceeded. When the actuator 39 is urged by the rotational force in the clockwise direction in the figure and the weight of the tea strainer 17 is added to the actuator 39, the actuator 39 separates from the pin 37 of the operation link 35 and rapidly moves together with the tea strainer 17. Rotate clockwise to
As shown in FIG. 6, when the actuator 39 is in the downward posture and the second locking surface 49B contacts the stopper 50, the rotation thereof is stopped. At this time, the tea strainer 17 is positioned downward at the reversal position Y rotated 180 degrees from the pouring position X, and the tea leaves inside are discarded in the tea discard container 19 (see the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1).

Subsequently, the output shaft 23 and the second cam 32
When is rotated clockwise, the starting end of the large diameter portion 32B gradually presses the upper end portion of the lever 46, so that the lever 46
Rotate counterclockwise around the support shaft 47,
When rotated by a predetermined angle, the engaging portion 48 at the lower end of the lever 46 is displaced to a position close to the operation link 35 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 7. The position of the engaging portion 48 is maintained while the upper end of the lever 46 rides on the large diameter portion 32B. With the rotation of the output shaft 23 described above, the arm 33 rotates in the clockwise direction, so that the operation link 35 is pulled up from the middle, and as shown in FIG. 7, the pin 37 causes the second engagement of the actuator 39. When it is fitted in the stop groove 40B and is further rotated, the actuator 39 is rotated counterclockwise as the actuation link 35 is pulled up, and the tea strainer 17 is poured out from the reversal position Y along with it. Gradually get up to return to position X.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the tea strainer 17 and the actuator 39 take a vertical posture and then exceed the posture, the biasing direction of the toggle spring 44 is switched again, and the actuator 39 is shown in FIG. The rotational force for rotating the tea strainer 17 in the counterclockwise direction is urged, and the own weight of the tea strainer 17 is added thereto, so that the actuator 39 is separated from the pin 37 of the operation link 35 and rapidly moves in the counterclockwise direction together with the tea strainer 17. Turn to. However, tea strainer 1
7 does not return to the pouring position X at once, and as shown in FIG. 9, the first engaging surface 49A of the actuator 39 abuts on the engaging portion 48 of the lever 46 which is displaced as described above. Motion is stopped. This makes the tea strainer 17
Takes an oblique posture and stops at the tea leaf supply position Z, and the stop of the tea strainer 17 at the tea leaf supply position Z is continued while the upper end of the lever 46 rides on the large diameter portion 32B of the second cam 32. . During this period, the metering drum 8 of the tea leaf supply unit 9 is moved to
As shown in (A), since the storage recess 24 is rotated downward and the lid plate 11 is opened against the urging force, a certain amount of tea leaves T stored in the storage recess 24 are transferred to the tea supply port 10. Through it, it is dropped toward the tea strainer 17 in the oblique position at the tea leaf supply position Z.

Further, immediately before the output shaft 23 rotates one revolution, as shown in FIG. 10, the upper end of the lever 46 reaches the end of the large diameter portion 32B of the second cam 32 and finally the large diameter portion 32B. As shown in FIG. 4 at the beginning, the lever 46 suddenly swings back to its original position while contacting the upper end of the lever 46 with the small diameter portion 32A by its own weight. Then, since the restriction of the counterclockwise rotation with respect to the actuator 39 is removed, the actuator 39 and the tea strainer 17 rapidly rotate in the counterclockwise direction by the urging force of the toggle spring 44, and the tea strainer 17 rotates that time. While abutting against the abutting member 52, the edge on the side opposite to the dynamic support shaft side is brought into the initial horizontal posture and stopped at the pouring position X. After that, when the output shaft 23 of the drive motor 22 makes one rotation, the drive motor 22 is stopped. At the tea leaf supply position Z, the tea strainer 17 receives the tea leaf in an inclined posture, so that the tea leaf T is accommodated in a state in which it is biased to one side as shown in FIG. 11A. When 17 returns to the pouring position X, the abutting member 5
Since the tea leaves T are returned while receiving an impact force, the tea leaves T are gathered from the biased position shown by the chain line in the same figure (B) to the vicinity of the central part as shown by the solid line by the impact force.

When a tea supply button (not shown) is operated, hot water is discharged from the hot water supply port 15 toward the center of the tea strainer 17, as shown in FIG. During the tea pouring operation, for example, the water level in the storage tank 5 is lowered, the hot water supply port 15 is clogged, and so on, the momentum of the hot water is reduced, and the tea is obliquely discharged as shown in FIG. If it is not, there may be a case where it flows almost directly below. However, since the hot water supply port 15 is provided very close to the position just above the central portion 17A of the tea strainer 17 at the pouring position X, even when the hot water flows down directly as described above. Hot water will be splashed around the center of the tea strainer 17.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
Since the tea leaf supply position Z is set separately from the pouring position X so that the tea strainer 17 can receive the tea leaves in the state of being near the tea leaf supply unit 9, the tea leaf supply unit 9 and the tea strainer 17
As the distance between them becomes shorter, scattering of fine powder is minimized, and the surroundings can be kept clean. Therefore, daily care becomes easier. Further, by separately setting the tea leaf supply position Z as described above, the hot water supply port 15 can be provided close to the position directly above the central portion 17A of the tea strainer 17 at the pouring position X. That is, the tea leaf supply position Z
By setting, the tea leaf supply unit 9 may be arranged near the central portion 17A of the tea strainer 17 at the tea leaf supply position Z. Since the position is displaced from the position directly above the central portion 17A when the tea strainer 17 is at the pouring position X, the central portion 1 of the tea strainer 17 at the dispensing position X is
The position directly above 7A will be vacant, and there is a hot water supply port 15 there.
It will be possible to arrange them so that they are placed almost directly underneath. Then, even when the momentum of the hot water discharged from the hot water supply port 15 declines and flows right down, the tea strainer 1
Hot water can be poured over almost all of the tea leaves in 7. Therefore, delicious tea can be served and waste of tea leaves can be avoided.

Further, at the tea leaf supply position Z, the tea strainer 17 receives the tea leaf in an inclined posture, so that the tea leaf is placed in the tea strainer 17.
The tea strainer 1
When 7 returns to the pouring position X, it abuts on the abutting member 52, so that the impact collects the tea leaves in the central portion of the tea strainer 17. It is more suitable for effective use of tea leaves.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings, and can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a tea dispenser according to an embodiment of the present invention with a door removed.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the drive mechanism portion as viewed from the rear side.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view seen from the front.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the drive mechanism when the tea strainer is in the dispensing position.

FIG. 5 is a view of the tea strainer standing upright while being displaced to the reverse position.

FIG. 6 is the same view of the tea strainer reaching the inverted position.

FIG. 7 is the same figure with the lever displaced.

FIG. 8 is a view showing the tea strainer standing upright while returning to the pouring position.

FIG. 9 is a view showing the tea strainer stopped at the tea leaf supply position.

FIG. 10 is a view just before the hook is released at the tea supply position.

FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view showing the operation of supplying tea leaves and discharging hot water.

FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an operation of supplying tea leaves and discharging hot water in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

6 ... Machine box 9 ... Tea leaf supply part 10 ... Tea leaf supply port 15 ... Hot water supply port 17 ... Tea strainer K ... Drive mechanism T ... Tea leaf X ... Pouring device Y ... Inversion position Z ... Tea leaf supply position

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Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tea strainer for storing tea leaves is reciprocally arranged between a pouring position in which the tea leaves are in a substantially horizontal position and an inversion position in which the tea leaves are in a substantially inverted position. Above the tea strainer, a tea leaf supply unit for supplying tea leaves and a hot water outlet for discharging hot water are juxtaposed, and tea is poured out by discharging hot water from the hot water outlet toward the tea strainer containing the tea leaves. In the tea dispenser in which tea leaves are discarded by reversing the tea strainer, new tea leaves are supplied to the tea strainer and tea pouring is restarted, the pouring position and the reversing position. On a single plane between
In the middle of the reciprocating path of the tea strainer , a tea leaf supply position where the tea strainer takes an oblique posture and stops is set, and the tea leaf supply unit is provided above the tea strainer at the tea leaf supply position. Characteristic tea machine. 2. The tea dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the hot water supply port is provided above the tea strainer at the pouring position. 3. The feed according to claim 1, further comprising an abutting member that abuts the tea strainer when the tea strainer returns from the tea leaf supply position to the pouring position. Tea machine.