JP4011744B2 - Tea strainer - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a tea strainer used for a tea dispenser.
[0002]
[Prior art]
An example of a tea dispenser using tea leaves is known as follows. This is a tea leaf feeder that can be driven in reverse at the pouring position facing the hot water outlet and attached to the funnel so that it can be driven in reverse. Tea is poured by discharging a certain amount of hot water from the hot water outlet toward the tea strainer containing the tea leaves, and the tea strainer is inverted after a predetermined number of times of pouring, and the tea husk is lateral The tea is discarded in a tea-discarding container, and new tea leaves are put in the tea strainer and returned to the original position, so that the dispensing is resumed.
[0003]
Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 11, a tea strainer used for this type of tea dispenser is known. This tea strainer a is formed by forming a substantially hemispherical tea strainer net b with a metal mesh made of stainless steel or the like, and sandwiching and caulking a metal plate such as a stainless steel plate around the periphery of the opening of the tea strainer mesh b, A flange c is formed. The flange c functions as a reinforcing material for maintaining the shape of the tea strainer a and as an attachment member for attachment to the funnel.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the tea dispenser, the tea pod is reversed as described above, and the tea husk is discarded. However, in the conventional tea masher a, the flange c is formed when the tea husk is discarded. There is a possibility that the tea leaves may be caught on the inner edge d of the metal plate and remain. In the case of a tea dispenser, the cleaning of the tea strainer a is performed only once a day at most, so the tea pods remain in the tea strainer a for a long time, which is not good for hygiene. There was a problem.
On the other hand, if the flange c is simply made small, the reinforcing function is insufficient, so that no effective solution has yet been found.
The present invention has been completed based on the above situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tea strainer that can sufficiently retain the strength and can eliminate the catch of the tea shell. Still another object is to prevent the opening edge of the tea strainer net from being detached from the flange.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention of claim 1 is used for a tea dispenser in which tea is poured out by discharging hot water from a hot water outlet toward a tea strainer containing tea leaves, and tea husk is discarded by reversing the tea strainer. In the tea strainer, a flange is formed by sandwiching a metal plate around the opening periphery of the tea strainer net having a container shape with the upper surface open, and the opening periphery of the tea strainer net is rounded at the corner And the inner edge of the metal plate constituting the flange is outside the extended portion of the inner surface of the main body portion of the tea strainer and the peripheral edge of the opening is rounded. It is characterized in that it is configured to be located where it covers the corner marked with.
[0009]
[Action and effect of the invention]
<Invention of Claim 1 >
Since the inner edge of the metal plate that constitutes the flange is positioned so as to cover the rounded corner of the opening edge of the tea strainer net, for example, when picking to narrow the opening side of the tea strainer net In addition, the inner edge of the metal plate is caught and the opening edge of the tea strainer net is prevented from coming out of the flange. Moreover, since the inner edge of the metal plate is located outside the extended portion of the inner surface of the main body of the tea strainer net, when the tea shell is discarded by the reversing operation of the tea strainer, the tea shell becomes a metal plate. It is prevented from being caught by the inner edge of the sword.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
<First Embodiment>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of a tea machine, which is formed in a vertically long box shape with the upper side protruding to the front surface, and is supported by legs 2 provided at the four corners of the bottom surface. A door 3 is attached to the opening through a hinge 4 so as to be opened and closed. In the main body 1, an L-shaped panel 5 is provided from the right front surface to the back surface, the inside (right side) of the panel 5 is a machine room, and the water supply cassette 7 can be accommodated in the bottom of the outside. It is said that. A hot water storage tank 9 for storing hot water with a built-in heater is disposed in the upper part on the back side of the machine room, and fresh water is supplied from the water supply cassette 7 through a pump (not shown). It has come to be.
[0011]
A canister 11 for storing tea leaves is provided at an upper position of the front surface portion 5 </ b> A of the panel 5. At the bottom of the canister 11, a tea leaf supply unit 13 having a fixed quantity drum that can be rolled up and dropped by a predetermined amount is provided, and a tea leaf supply port 14 at the lower end thereof is covered with a shutter 15 that can be opened and closed. . A hot water supply pipe 16 provided with a solenoid valve (not shown) is drawn out from the hot water storage tank 9 and protrudes from the front surface portion 5A of the panel 5, and a shower type hot water supply port 17 is attached to the protruding end of the hot water supply port. 14 are arranged side by side.
[0012]
As will be described in detail later, a tea strainer 19 that accommodates tea leaves is attached to the funnel 20 at a position below the tea leaf supply port 14 and the hot water supply port 17 in the front surface portion 5A of the panel 5 and is centered on the shaft 21. Inversion is possible on the left side of FIG. A mounting table 22 on which a container A such as a cup is placed is attached below the funnel 20, and a tea discarding container 23 is provided on the front surface of the water supply cassette 7. A drive mechanism for performing reverse driving of the funnel 20, rotational driving of the metering drum of the tea leaf supply unit 13, and opening / closing driving of the shutter 15 is provided at the front side position in the machine room. An auxiliary hot water supply pipe 27 for pouring white hot water drawn from the hot water storage tank 9 faces the side of the pouring outlet 20A of the funnel 20. A receiving tray 28 is detachably attached around the spout 20A and the auxiliary hot water supply pipe 27.
[0013]
Next, the structure of the tea strainer 19 according to this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the tea strainer 19 is composed of a tea strainer 31 and a flange 32. The tea strainer net 31 is made of a metal mesh knitted with a stainless steel wire and is substantially hemispherical. The flange 32 is formed by using a ring-shaped stainless steel plate 33 as a raw material and caulking it on the opening peripheral edge 31 </ b> A of the net 31. Specifically, the stainless steel plate 33 is caulked so that the opening periphery 31A of the tea strainer net 31 is sandwiched from both the inner and outer sides, so that the opening periphery 31A of the tea strainer net 31 is bent outward and the flange 32 spreading outward. Is formed.
[0014]
Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the inner portion 34 (the portion forming the upper surface of the flange 32) of the annular stainless steel plate 33 constituting the flange 32 is shorter than the outer portion 35. The edge 34 </ b> A of the inner portion 34 remains slightly outside the bent portion 37 of the opening peripheral edge 31 </ b> A of the tea strainer 31, while the edge 35 </ b> A of the outer portion 35 is considerably lower than the bent portion 37. It extends to.
[0015]
The funnel 20 to which the tea strainer 19 is attached is made of synthetic resin. As shown in FIG. 7, the shaft 21 described above is attached to one edge (left side as viewed from the front) of one side of the substrate 40 having a square shape. A bearing portion 42 provided with a bearing hole 41 inserted so as to be integrally rotatable is formed. A receiving recess 43 for receiving the tea strainer 19 with a clearance is formed in the center of the substrate 40. A stepped surface that is one step lower is provided around the mouth edge of the housing recess 43, and this stepped surface serves as a seat surface 44 on which the flange 32 of the tea strainer 19 is placed. The spout 20 </ b> A described above is formed at a position on the near side of the bottom of the housing recess 43. The tip of the spout 20A is formed obliquely so that tea flows smoothly. A wall 45 is erected on the front and back edges extending from the substrate 40 to the bearing portion 42.
[0016]
Further, a holder 47 for fixing the tea strainer 19 to the funnel 20 is provided. This holder is also made of synthetic resin, and has a shape in which a receiving portion 49 that is open in a square shape is integrally formed on the upper surface of a ring-shaped pressing portion 48 that fits on the seating surface 44 of the housing recess 43 of the funnel 20. is there. A pair of locking legs 50 project from the outer periphery of the pressing portion 48 with an interval of 180 degrees, and a pair of locking holes 51 are formed corresponding to the mouth edge of the housing recess 43. .
[0017]
The procedure for mounting the tea strainer 19 is as follows. First, the tea strainer 19 is placed in the housing recess 43 of the funnel 20, and the flange 32 is placed on the seat surface 44. Next, when the locking leg 50 of the holder 47 is inserted into the locking hole 51 and the holder 47 is rotated in one direction, the holder 47 is mounted on the substrate 40 of the funnel 20 in a predetermined posture and is held in place. When the portion 48 presses the flange 32 against the seating surface 44, the tea strainer 19 is fixed. The funnel 20 is attached in a horizontal posture by inserting the bearing hole 41 through the shaft 21 and pushing it in from the front.
[0018]
This embodiment has the structure as described above, and the operation thereof will be described subsequently.
When pouring tea, after placing the container A on the mounting table 22 and operating the tea switch 25 provided on the front surface of the door 3, the tea pot 19 filled with tea leaves is directed from the hot water inlet 17. A predetermined amount of hot water is discharged, and tea is put into the container A from the spout 20A of the funnel 20. In this case, since the spout 20A of the funnel 20 is provided eccentrically on the front side, the container A may be placed on the front side of the mounting table 22 as shown in FIG. The container A can be easily placed, and the subsequent operation of the tea switch 25 can be performed smoothly.
[0019]
When tea is poured out a predetermined number of times (for example, 5 times), the funnel 20, that is, the tea strainer 19 is driven in reverse to the tea discarding container 23 side, and the tea husk is discarded in the tea discarding container 23. At this time, the edge 34A of the inner portion 34 of the stainless steel plate 33 constituting the flange 32 of the tea strainer 19 is retracted slightly outside the bent portion 37 of the opening peripheral edge 31A of the tea strainer 31. When the tea husk is discarded along with the reversal, it is smoothly discarded without being caught by the edge 34A of the inner portion 34 of the stainless steel plate 33.
[0020]
Subsequently, the tea strainer 19 returns to the original position, but in the middle of the operation, the tea strainer 19 stops in an oblique posture immediately below the tea leaf supply port 14, and a predetermined amount of new tea leaves are supplied into the tea strainer 19. Since the receiving portion 49 of the holder 47 is open above the tea strainer 19, the tea leaves are smoothly guided into the tea strainer 19. After that, the funnel 20 and the tea strainer 19 are returned to their original positions, and the next tea can be dispensed.
When the hot water switch 26 is operated, the electromagnetic valve provided in the auxiliary hot water supply pipe 27 is opened, and a predetermined amount of white hot water can be poured into the container A.
[0021]
As described above, according to this embodiment, the edge 34A of the inner portion 34 of the stainless steel plate 33 constituting the flange 32 of the tea strainer 19 is further outside the bent portion 37 of the opening peripheral edge 31A of the tea strainer 31. Therefore, when the tea leaves are discarded by the reversing operation of the tea strainer 19, the tea leaves are prevented from being caught by the edge 34A of the inner portion 34 of the stainless steel plate 33, and the tea strainer 19 is kept clean. be able to. On the other hand, since the outer portion 35 of the stainless steel plate 33 is long, the strength required for forming the flange 32 can be sufficiently ensured.
[0022]
Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the tea strainer 19 exemplified in the first embodiment, in the case of washing with water, etc., as shown by the dashed line arrow in FIG. In addition, there is a concern that the opening peripheral edge 31 </ b> A comes out of the flange 32 and comes off. The second embodiment has been improved with the intention of preventing the opening edge of such tea strainer nets from coming off.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 9, the tea strainer 60 of the second embodiment is caulked with an annular stainless steel plate 63 sandwiched from both the inner and outer sides of the opening peripheral edge 61 </ b> A of a metal mesh tea strainer 61, so that the flange 62 is Is formed.
In this case, the opening peripheral edge 61A of the tea strainer net 61 is bent substantially at a right angle toward the outside in a state where the corner portion 67 is rounded to form a quarter circle. Here, the inner portion 64 (the portion forming the upper surface of the flange 62) of the annular stainless steel plate 63 constituting the flange 62 is shorter than the outer portion 65 in the first embodiment. In particular, the edge 64A of the inner portion 64 is positioned so as to cover a part of the rounded corner portion 67 of the opening peripheral edge 61A of the tea strainer 61. However, it remains outside the extended line X of the inner surface of the main body portion 68 of the tea strainer 61.
[0024]
According to the tea strainer 60 of the second embodiment, for example, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 9, the end of the inner portion 64 of the stainless steel plate 63 when picked to narrow the opening side of the tea strainer net 61. The edge 64 </ b> A is caught and the opening peripheral edge 61 </ b> A of the tea strainer 61 is prevented from coming out of the flange 62. Moreover, since the edge 64A of the inner portion 64 is located outside the extension line X of the inner surface of the main body portion 68 of the tea strainer 61, when the tea shell is discarded by the reversing operation of the tea strainer 60, The tea leaves are not caught by the edge 64A of the inner portion 64 and remain.
[0025]
<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 10 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In the third embodiment, the end edge 64B of the inner portion 64 of the stainless steel plate 63 constituting the flange 62 is crushed so as to be tapered during caulking. Similarly, the edge 64B is positioned so as to cover a part of the rounded corner portion 67 of the opening peripheral edge 61A of the tea strainer net 61, and the inner edge of the main body portion 68 of the tea strainer net 61. It remains outside the extension line X.
According to the tea strainer 60A of the third embodiment, in addition to obtaining the same operational effects as the tea strainer 60 of the second embodiment, the edge 64B of the inner portion 64 is tapered and crushed, It is possible to more reliably prevent catching of tea leaves and the like.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tea machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view with a door opened. FIG. 3 is a front view with the door removed. FIG. 4 is a side view with a side plate removed. [Fig. 5] Cross-sectional view of tea strainer [Fig. 6] Partial enlarged cross-sectional view showing the portion where the flange is formed [Fig. 7] Exploded perspective view showing the structure for mounting the tea strainer on the funnel [Fig. FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a portion of a tea strainer flange according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged cross-section showing a portion of the tea strainer flange according to the third embodiment. [Figure 11] Cross-sectional view of a conventional tea strainer [Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Tea leaf supply part 17 ... Hot water supply port 19 ... Tea strainer 20 ... Funnel 23 ... Tea discarding container 31 ... Tea strainer net 31A ... Opening edge 32 ... Flange 33 ... Stainless steel plate 34 ... (Stainless steel plate 33) inner part 34A ... ( Edge 35 of inner part 34 ... Outer part 37 (of stainless steel plate 33) 37 ... Bent part 60 ... Tea strainer 61 ... Tea strainer 61A ... Opening edge 62 ... Flange 63 ... Stainless steel plate 64 ... (inside of stainless steel plate 63) Part 64A ... Edge (of inner part 64) 67 ... Corner part 68 ... Body part X ... Extension line 60A ... Tea strainer 64B ... Edge of (inner part 64)

Claims (1)

The tea strainer used in a tea dispenser in which tea is poured out by discharging hot water from the hot water outlet toward the tea strainer containing tea leaves, and the tea husk is discarded by reversing the tea strainer, In what has a flange formed by sandwiching a metal plate around the opening periphery of a tea strainer net that forms a container shape with the upper surface open,
The opening edge of the tea strainer net is bent at a substantially right angle toward the outside with rounded corners, while the inner edge of the metal plate constituting the flange is formed on the body part of the tea strainer net. A tea strainer that is located outside the extended portion of the inner surface and that covers a rounded corner of the peripheral edge of the opening.

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