JP3696637B2 - Vending machine beverage cooking equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
The present invention relates to a beverage cooking apparatus for a vending machine that makes regular coffee or the like by stirring and mixing powder raw materials and hot water based on a sales instruction.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as this type of beverage cooking apparatus, for example, the one described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-30188 is known. The beverage cooking device is a so-called mixing ball, and includes a fixed lid, a ball body detachably attached to the fixed lid, and a stirring mechanism. The fixed lid is formed with a raw material introduction port for introducing powder raw material into the ball body and a hot water supply port for introducing hot water, and the ball body exhausts steam and overflows the hot water during rinsing. An opening is formed.
[0003]
When cooking beverages, hot water is poured into the ball body from the hot water supply port, and powder raw materials are charged from the raw material input port, and these are stirred by a stirring mechanism. On the other hand, when rinsing (auto-rinsing) is performed, hot water that overflows from the steam vent is poured from the hot water supply port, and this is stirred by the stirring mechanism.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In such a conventional beverage cooking device, the powder raw material is likely to adhere to the inner surface of the ball body corresponding to the liquid level during cooking, and the powder raw material scattered during cooking is the upper part of the ball main body. It adheres to the inner surface, and accumulates and settles. In particular, since the steam is exhausted, the drying of the powder raw material is promoted, and the powder raw material becomes hard and firmly attached. For this reason, even if auto-rinsing is performed regularly, the dirt due to the powder raw material cannot be completely washed away, and there is a trouble that the ball body must be removed and frequently washed manually.
[0005]
Moreover, since the hot water for rinsing overflows from the steam vent, it is easy to control the amount of hot water, but the hot water is consumed wastefully and there is a space between the liquid surface for rinsing and the fixed lid. It is difficult to clean the powder raw materials that are generated and scattered and adhered during cooking on the lower surface of the fixed lid and the upper end of the ball body during rinsing. Therefore, similarly to the above, there is a problem that the dirt due to the powder raw material cannot be completely washed away.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and can automatically prevent the powder raw material from adhering to the steam vent and can rinse the inside of the stirring vessel well without unevenness. The object is to provide a beverage cooking device for a vending machine.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a beverage cooking apparatus of a vending machine that introduces raw materials and hot water into a stirring vessel and stirs this while exhausting steam generated from the hot water to make a beverage. By providing a steam vent at the upper end of the stirring vessel and providing an exhaust passage connected to the upper portion of the steam vent, the steam in the stirring vessel is exhausted upward from the steam vent through the exhaust passage, The hot water passage for introducing the water into the stirring vessel is opened on the peripheral surface of the exhaust passage, and the opening of the hot water passage is disposed above the hot water vent.
[0010]
In this case, it is preferable that the stirring container is detachably attached to a fixed lid that supports the stirring container, and at least a hot water supply pipe for introducing hot water and an exhaust pipe for exhausting steam are preferably attached to the fixed lid. .
[0011]
Furthermore, the invention of claim 3 introduces a raw material and hot water into a stirring vessel, stirs this to cook a beverage, and introduces only hot water into the stirring vessel and stirs this to stir the inside of the stirring vessel. In a beverage cooking apparatus of a vending machine that performs a rinsing operation for rinsing, the control unit includes a hot water valve that introduces hot water into the stirring vessel, and a control unit that controls the amount of hot water introduced from the hot water valve according to the opening time of the hot water valve. Is a hot water adjustment means for adjusting the amount of hot water for cooking introduced from the hot water valve for each vending machine, and the characteristics of the hot water valve obtained when adjusting the hot water amount for cooking by the hot water adjustment means for cooking. The amount of hot water introduced from the hot water valve during the rinsing operation is set to be the amount of hot water that completely fills the stirring vessel by setting the open time of the hot water valve during the rinsing operation based on the hot water data representing the variation in Rinsing hot water amount setting means, Characterized in that it has.
[0013]
[Action]
According to the beverage cooking apparatus of claim 1, by providing a steam vent at the upper end of the stirring vessel and providing an exhaust passage connected to the upper portion of the steam vent , the steam in the stirring vessel is removed from the steam vent. By exhausting upward through the exhaust passage, the hot water does not overflow from the hot water vent during rinsing as in the prior art, and the stirring container can be completely filled with hot water for rinsing. For this reason, not only the upper end of the stirring vessel but also the portion corresponding to the lid of the stirring vessel can be reliably washed. In addition, a hot water passage for introducing hot water into the stirring vessel is opened in the peripheral surface of the exhaust passage, and the hot water passage is disposed above the hot water vent, so that the hot water is opened in the hot water passage. After flowing into the exhaust passage, the steam flows down into the stirring vessel through the steam vent, and when passing through the steam vent, the steam vent and its peripheral surface are washed. Therefore, the adhering powder material can be washed away for each cooking with hot water for cooking from the steam vent where the powder material is easy to adhere and difficult to clean.
[0015]
According to the beverage cooking apparatus of claim 2 , at least the hot water supply pipe for introducing hot water and the exhaust pipe for exhausting steam are attached to the fixed lid, so that the stirring container is removed from the fixed lid and manually cleaned. When doing so, the trouble of removing the hot water supply pipe and the exhaust pipe can be omitted, and when recovering this, an unexpected situation such as forgetting to attach the hot water supply pipe or the exhaust pipe can be avoided.
[0016]
According to the beverage cooking apparatus of claim 3, the control unit adjusts the amount of hot water for cooking introduced from the hot water valve for each vending machine, and the amount of hot water for cooking by the hot water amount adjusting means for cooking. Based on the hot water volume data that shows the variation in hot water valve characteristics obtained when adjusting the hot water valve, the open time of the hot water valve during the rinsing operation is changed to the amount of hot water that the hot water introduced from the hot water valve completely fills the stirring vessel. By having the rinsing hot water amount setting means for setting so as to become, first, the amount of hot water for cooking introduced from the hot water valve is adjusted. That is, the amount of hot water for cooking is roughly adjusted at the time of shipment from the factory, and when installed, the vending machine is adjusted in consideration of the bottle of the vending machine. Further, when the rinsing operation is obtained during the adjustment, based on the quantity of water data representing the variation in characteristics of the hot water valve, hot water completely agitating vessel opening time of the hot water valve is introduced from the hot water valve It is set so that the amount of hot water to fill is reached. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the amount of hot water for rinsing from becoming insufficient and excessive while correcting variations in the characteristics of the hot water valve, etc. It can be rinsed well.
[0017]
【Example】
Hereinafter, a beverage cooking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This beverage cooking apparatus cooks regular coffee or the like, and is mainly mounted on a cup-type vending machine. FIG. 1 is a cut side view of a beverage cooking apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. As shown in both drawings, the beverage cooking apparatus 1 is composed of a mixing ball 2 and a chute lifting mechanism 3 disposed on the upper side of the mixing ball 2. The mixing ball 2 includes a ball main body (stirring container) 4 and a lid (fixed lid) 5 to which the ball main body 4 is attached, and is supported in the vending machine by the lid 5. The lid 5 is composed of a lid body 6 and a base body 7 provided on the upper side of the lid body 6, and the mixing ball 2 eventually has a three-part structure of the ball body 4, the lid body 6 and the base body 7. (See FIG. 3).
[0018]
A stirring motor 8 is attached to the base body 7 at the center, and an exhaust elbow 9 connected to a fan (not shown) and a hot water supply elbow 10 connected to a hot water tank (not shown) are attached to the edge. . The chute raising / lowering mechanism 3 is provided with a raw material chute 11 for supplying a powder raw material, which is a regular coffee draw, into the mixing ball 2.
[0019]
According to the sales command, a predetermined amount of powder raw material is supplied to the ball body 4 from the raw material container (not shown) via the raw material chute 11 and at the same time, a predetermined amount of hot water is supplied from the hot water tank via the hot water supply elbow 10. Then, the powder raw material and hot water are stirred. Further, steam generated in the ball main body 4 is exhausted to the outside of the ball main body 4 through the exhaust elbow 9 by the fan. In this way, when the powder raw material and hot water are stirred for a predetermined time, the stirring is stopped, and regular coffee is supplied from the discharge port 12 of the ball body 4 to the cup through a filter (not shown). On the other hand, when the ball body 4 is auto-rinsed, the hot water is filled up to a position where the lower surface of the lid body 6 is immersed (see FIG. 4), and the hot water is stirred.
[0020]
The ball body 4 has a stirring mechanism 14 housed in a transparent resin container 13, and the resin container 13 is formed in a deformed funnel shape so that stirring can be performed efficiently. The upper end portion of the resin container 13 is widely opened and is detachably attached so as to be fitted to the lid 5. The lower part of the ball body 4 is constituted by another member having the discharge port 12, thereby covering the shaft end of the vertical shaft 22 described later, and guiding the mixed liquid of the powder raw material and hot water to the filter side.
[0021]
The stirring mechanism 14 includes a vertical shaft 22 having an upper end connected to the stirring motor 8 via a joint 21, and a rinsing stirring blade 23, a cooking stirring blade 24, and a valve blade 25 attached to the vertical shaft 22, respectively. It is configured. The stirring blade 24 for cooking is disposed at a position where it is buried in the mixed solution, and the valve blade 25 is disposed at the lowermost portion of the vertical shaft 22. The cooking agitation blade 24 and the valve blade 25 have a valve function of preventing the flow of the mixed liquid as it rotates, and also have a function of mixing (cooking) the powder raw material and hot water. Further, the rinsing stirring blade 23 is disposed at a position higher than the liquid level of the mixed solution, and normally rotates idly. However, when the resin container 13 is filled with rinsing hot water, the rinsing hot water is used as rinsing hot water. The inner surface of the resin container 13 is cleaned as it is buried and rotated.
[0022]
The lid body 6 is formed with a raw material introduction port 31 through which the raw material chute 11 faces, a hot water supply port 36 (see FIG. 2) connected to the hot water supply elbow 10, and a hot water vent 32 connected to the exhaust elbow 9. Further, a hot water flow lower groove 33 connected to the hot water supply port 36 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lid body 6, and an annular hot water passage 34 is formed between the hot water flow lower groove 33 and the inner peripheral surface of the upper end portion of the resin container 13. Is configured. A number of small holes 34 a are formed in the hot water passage 34 in the circumferential direction, and the hot water flows down from the small holes 34 a along the inner peripheral surface of the resin container 13. Further, a hot water outlet 35 connected to the hot water supply port 36 is formed on the peripheral surface of the steam vent 32, and the hot water flows from this portion so as to wash the peripheral surface of the steam vent 32. The lower part of the steam vent 32 extends downward, and the flow of steam is largely bent at this portion so that the powder material is sucked into the steam vent 32 together with steam as much as possible. It has become.
[0023]
On the other hand, a second steam vent 41 is formed in the base body 7 so as to face the lower end portion of the raw material chute 11, and the second steam vent 41 bypasses the joint 21 of the stirring motor 8. It communicates with the exhaust elbow 9 through the provided sub exhaust passage 42 (see FIG. 2). The second steam vent 41 opens close to the raw material chute 11 and sucks (exhausts) air (steam) in the lower space of the raw material chute 11 that has moved up as will be described later. In this case, the back plate 11a of the material chute 11 also serves as a gate for opening and closing the second steam vent 41. When the material chute 11 is moved downward, the second steam vent 41 is closed and moved upward. It is designed to be opened. More specifically, at the time of rinsing shown in FIG. 3, the level of the hot water reaches the steam vent 32 and the raw material inlet 31, so that the main exhaust passage 43 constituted by the exhaust elbow 9 has the raw material inlet 31 side. It becomes impossible to vent steam. For this reason, the sub-exhaust passage 42 connected to the second steam vent 41 can vent steam on the raw material inlet 31 side.
[0024]
On the other hand, the exhaust elbow 9 is bent at an angle smaller than 90 degrees so that the fan side is inclined downward, and the steam vent 32 side is formed with a small diameter and the fan side is formed with a large diameter. Therefore, the water droplets mixed with the powder raw material generated in the obliquely downward portion of the exhaust elbow 9 flow down to the fan side. In addition, water droplets generated in the bent portion also flow down to the boundary between the large diameter portion and the small diameter portion, and then flow down to the fan side along this boundary line (being inclined downward). As a result, water droplets mixed with the powder material generated on the inner surface of the exhaust elbow 9 can flow to the fan side as much as possible without staying in this portion.
[0025]
Next, the chute lifting mechanism 3 will be described with reference to the side view of FIG. 5 and the front view of FIG. The chute raising / lowering mechanism 3 moves the raw material chute 11 up so as to be detached from the raw material introduction port 31 at the time of rinsing, and prevents the tip of the raw material chute 11 from getting wet with hot water splashed during rinsing. The chute raising / lowering mechanism 3 includes a holder 51 that holds the raw material chute 11, a support rod 52 that supports the holder 51, a crank mechanism 53 that moves the support rod 52 up and down, a gear motor 54 that operates the crank mechanism 53, and these supports. The rod 52, the crank mechanism 53, and the frame 55 that supports the gear motor 54 are configured.
[0026]
The holder 51 is formed in a “U” cross section and holds the material chute 11 so as to hold it. At the base of the holder 51, an attachment fitting 56 for attaching the holder 51 to the support rod 52 is provided, and a roller 57 projects from the lower side of the attachment fitting 56. The roller 57 is in rolling contact with the guide groove 55a of the frame 55. When the support rod 52 moves up and down, the holder 51 moves up and down along the guide groove 55a. As a result, the raw material chute 11 held by the holder 51 moves up and down between a downward movement position where the lower end portion faces the raw material introduction port 31 and an upward movement position where the lower end portion is disengaged upward from the raw material introduction port 31.
[0027]
The crank mechanism 53 includes a crank disc 58 that is directly connected to the gear motor 54, a crank arm 59 that is engaged with the crank disc 58, and a rotary arm 60 that is rotatably attached to the intermediate portion. Has been. The rotating arm 60 is rotatably attached at one end to the support shaft 61, the support rod 52 is fixed to the other end, and the support arm 61 is attached to the intermediate portion by the crank arm 59 attached to the intermediate portion. It is pivoted up and down around the center. That is, the rotating arm 60 moves the support rod 52 up and down around the support shaft 61.
[0028]
A lower end portion of the crank arm 59 is engaged with a pin 62 of the crank disc 58 through a long hole 59 a formed in the crank arm 59. When the crank disk 58 starts to rotate from the state shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 1, the pin 62 initially moves in the long hole 59a, but when the pin 62 reaches near the top dead center, the pin 62 moves to the upper end of the long hole 59a. The crank arm 59 is pushed up (see FIG. 4). On the other hand, when the pin 62 passes through the top dead center, the crank arm 59 moves down to a position where it comes into contact with the stopper 63 with the weight on the rotating arm 60 side. Thereafter, the crank disk 58 rotates until the pin 62 reaches the bottom dead center.
[0029]
The rotation of the crank disk 58 is controlled via a micro switch 64 provided adjacent to the crank disk 58. The switch end of the micro switch 64 falls into two cam grooves 58a and 58a formed at two locations on the outer peripheral surface of the crank disc 58, thereby turning the micro switch 64 on and off. The two cam grooves 58a and 58a are arranged with a phase difference of 180 degrees from each other. From the state shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 1, the crank disk 58 starts rotating, and the pin 62 is at the top dead center. When the position is reached, the switch end falls into one cam groove 58a, the micro switch 64 is turned on (or turned off), and the gear motor 54 is stopped (state shown in FIG. 4). Next, when the crank disk 58 starts rotating again from the state of FIG. 4 and the pin 62 reaches the bottom dead center position, the switch end falls into the other cam groove 58a and the gear motor 54 stops (see FIG. 4). 1 state). That is, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the state where the pin 62 reaches the top dead center position and stops corresponds to the upward movement position of the raw material chute 11, and the state where the pin 62 reaches the bottom dead center position and stops is the raw material. It corresponds to the downward movement position of the chute 11.
[0030]
Here, the sales operation (cooking operation) will be described with reference to FIG. 1, and the rinse (auto-rinse) operation will be described with reference to FIG.
[0031]
As shown in FIG. 1, according to the sales command, the agitation motor 8 first starts to be driven, and at the same time, hot water and powder raw material are introduced into the ball main body 4, and steam exhausting operation is started at the same time. The Hot water is supplied so as to wash the inner surface of the ball body 4 from a hot water passage 34 formed in an annular shape, and is supplied so as to wash the steam vent 32 from a hot water outlet 35. On the other hand, the powder raw material is dropped through the raw material introduction port 31 from the raw material chute 11 in the downward movement position. Further, steam is exhausted by sucking outside air from the raw material inlet 31 and exhausting it from the steam vent 32. Then, when a predetermined amount of hot water and powder raw material are supplied and stirring of the mixed solution is performed for a predetermined time, the stirring motor 8 stops and the mixed solution automatically flows down from the discharge port 12. In this way, the selling operation is repeated, but the selling operation is performed a predetermined number of times, or the ball body 4 is periodically rinsed by an operator's switch operation.
[0032]
As shown in FIG. 4, when the apparatus shifts to the rinse mode, the agitation motor 8 starts to be driven, and at the same time, hot water is supplied into the ball main body 4 and the steam exhausting operation is started. Prior to supplying hot water, the raw material chute 11 is moved to the upward movement position. In this case, the hot water is filled in the ball body 4 up to the water level (liquid level) reaching the raw material introduction port 31 and the steam vent 32, and the shallow portion of the hot water is stirred by the rinsing blade 23 and the deep portion is stirred for cooking. Stirring for rinsing is performed by the blade 24 and the valve blade 25. On the other hand, since the steam vent 32 is filled (closed) with hot water, the second steam vent 41 is opened as the raw chute 11 moves upward, so that the lower space of the raw chute 11, That is, steam in the raw material inlet 31 is exhausted from the second steam vent 41 so that it does not rise toward the raw material chute 11.
[0033]
The amount of hot water required for rinsing is defined by the opening time of the solenoid valve 15 provided on the outlet side of the hot water tank shown in FIG. In this case, if the opening time of the solenoid valve 15 is uniformly set (stored in the control unit 16) at the factory stage, the amount of hot water may be insufficient or the hot water may overflow from the ball body 4 due to variations in the solenoid valve 15 or the like. Therefore, the opening time (hot water amount) of the solenoid valve 15 in the control unit 16 is set based on the hot water data at the time of cooking. That is, the amount of hot water for cooking affects the taste of beverages sold, so when a vending machine is installed, it is finely adjusted for each vending machine. For this reason, the amount of hot water data at the time of cooking sufficiently considers the variation of the solenoid valve 15 as a product, and the hot water for rinsing based on this data is supplied with high quantitative accuracy.
[0034]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, when hot water is supplied to the ball body 4, the hot water flows down along the inner surface of the ball body 4. It can be washed, and the powder raw material adhering to the inner surface of the ball body 4 can be washed away during the preceding sales operation. Accordingly, even if the powder raw material is not completely washed away, the powder raw material is prevented from sticking, and the dirt due to the powder raw material can be easily and reliably washed away during the subsequent rinsing. Similarly, since the hot water outlet 35 is provided at the steam vent 32 to wash the steam vent 32, the powder material adhering to this portion can be washed away when the steam is vented.
[0035]
Further, since steam is drawn out to the upper side of the ball body 4, the ball body 4 can be filled with hot water at the time of rinsing, and in combination with the stirring blades 23 for rinsing, The upper surface as well as the lower surface of the lid body 6 can be completely cleaned.
[0036]
On the other hand, since the hot water supply elbow 10 and the exhaust elbow 9 are provided on the lid 5 side, the hot water supply hose and the exhaust elbow 9 connected to the hot water supply elbow 10 are used when the ball body 4 is removed from the lid 5 and hand-washed. It is possible to save the trouble of attaching and detaching the exhaust hose and the like. Therefore, mistakes such as forgetting to attach these hoses can be avoided.
[0037]
In this embodiment, the hot water is allowed to flow into the ball main body through a large number of small holes from the annularly formed hot water passage. However, this portion may be replaced with a slit. Alternatively, a hot water passage may be formed in the lid body, and hot water may be sprayed toward the inner surface of the ball body.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
According to the drink preparation device of the present invention as described above, since the hot water to be introduced into the cooking and so as to flow down through the steam vent port, you can wash the inner surface of the steam vent openings for each sale, steam The adhesion and sticking of the powder raw material to the inner surface of the outlet can be suppressed. Further, since the hot water can be filled in the stirring container during rinsing, the inside of the stirring container including the lid of the stirring container can be cleaned well without unevenness.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cut side view of a beverage cooking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the beverage cooking apparatus according to the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a cut side view showing an exploded state of the mixing ball of the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a cut side view illustrating a rinsing operation of the beverage cooking apparatus according to the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a side view of the chute raising / lowering mechanism of the embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a plan view of the chute raising / lowering mechanism of the embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Beverage cooking apparatus 2 Mixing ball 4 Ball | bowl main body 5 Cover body 9 Exhaust elbow 10 Hot water supply elbow 15 Solenoid valve 16 Control part 32 Hot water outlet 34 Hot water passage 35 Hot water outlet

Claims (3)

In a beverage cooking device of a vending machine that introduces raw materials and hot water into a stirring container and stirs this while exhausting steam generated from the hot water,
The steam vent port provided at an upper end portion of the stirring vessel, by providing an exhaust passage communicating with this above the steam vent port, the steam in the stirring vessel upward through the exhaust passage from the steam vent port as well as exhaust, the hot water passage for introducing the hot water into the stirring vessel is opened to the circumferential surface of the exhaust passage, vending machines the opening of the hot water passage, characterized in that disposed above said steam vent port Beverage cooking equipment.   The stirring vessel is detachably attached to a fixed lid that supports the stirring vessel, and at least a hot water supply pipe for introducing hot water and an exhaust pipe for exhausting steam are attached to the fixed lid. The beverage cooking apparatus of the vending machine according to claim 1. A cooking operation of introducing raw materials and hot water into the stirring vessel and stirring them to cook a beverage and a rinsing operation of introducing only hot water into the stirring vessel and stirring and rinsing the stirring vessel are performed. In beverage cooking equipment of vending machines,
A hot water valve for introducing hot water into the stirring vessel;
A control unit that controls the amount of hot water introduced from the hot water valve according to the open time of the hot water valve,
The control unit
A hot water amount adjusting means for adjusting the amount of hot water for cooking introduced from the hot water valve for each vending machine ;
Obtained in adjusting the amount of hot water for cooking by the cooking hot water adjustment means, based on the quantity of water data representing the variation in characteristics of the hot water valve, setting the open time of the hot water valve during the rinsing operation And a hot water amount setting means for rinsing that sets the amount of hot water introduced from the hot water valve during the rinsing operation to be the amount of hot water that completely fills the stirring vessel. Machine beverage cooking equipment.

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