JP4218485B2 - Beverage extractor - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a beverage extraction apparatus for extracting a beverage from a mixture obtained by blowing air into a powder raw material and hot water supplied to an extraction container and stirring them.

For example, in a vending machine or a beverage dispenser that sells coffee beverages obtained by grinding coffee beans into powdered raw materials, a beverage extraction device is provided therein. As this type of beverage extraction apparatus, an apparatus including an extraction container, a filter, a filter block, and a valve mechanism is generally used. The extraction container is called a so-called cylinder, and has a shape in which both upper and lower end surfaces are opened. This extraction container is provided with an air passage for supplying air therein. A filter is arrange | positioned in the aspect which obstruct | occludes the lower end opening of an extraction container, for example, the thing made from paper is applied. The filter block is a bottomed cylindrical container that is attached to the lower end portion of the extraction container via a filter, and has an extraction passage in the inner bottom thereof. The valve mechanism opens and closes the upper end opening of the extraction container.
In this beverage extraction device, first, the lower end portion of the extraction container is attached to the filter block through the filter, and then the powder raw material is charged from the powder raw material receiving port provided in the upper end opening of the extraction container with the valve mechanism opened. Then, hot water stored in a hot water tank and heated by a tank heater is introduced from a hot water introduction port to form a powder raw material and hot water mixture, and air is blown into the mixture. Here, the mixture is forcibly agitated by the air blowing wave, and the coffee component oozes out from the powdered raw material of coffee beans into hot water. The air discharged into the extraction container becomes bubbles and exits from the powder raw material receiving port provided at the upper end opening of the extraction container after exiting on the liquid surface. Thereafter, the upper end opening of the extraction container is closed by a valve mechanism, and air is supplied to the upper part of the mixture of the extraction container from this state. As a result, the coffee beverage is extracted to the filter block through the filter by the pressure of the air supplied to the extraction container, and the extracted coffee beverage is poured into the cup through the extraction passage.

When the extraction of the coffee beverage is completed, the supply of air is stopped, and then the extraction container is separated from the filter block, and the filter is sent out to discard the coffee beverage extraction basket, and the standby state is prepared for the next beverage extraction. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP-A-1-158592

  This type of beverage extraction device was originally developed and embodied so as to be able to provide a high quality beverage that can be served at a coffee shop even in a vending machine or beverage dispenser. For example, in recent years, for the purpose of ensuring flavor, powder raw materials are stored in the beverage extraction device in the form of coffee beans, and this is ground at the stage when a sales instruction is given, that is, immediately before the beverage is extracted. Some powder materials are used. In addition, vending machine users have become increasingly diversified in recent years, with lightly-boiled American coffee and conversely rich coffee such as café au lait and various types of coffee that differ in their strength. Therefore, as a vending machine, it is required that the user can freely select various coffees with different strengths in response to such diversification of tastes. In order to make a thick coffee, air is blown into the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water and the time for stirring is increased to obtain a thick coffee. However, the air that is released into the mixture in the extraction container and becomes bubbles and exits from the liquid surface causes condensation on the wall surface when it escapes from the powder raw material receptacle provided at the upper end opening of the extraction container. Phenomenon that adheres will be seen.

In particular, this phenomenon is likely to occur if the amount of powder raw material and hot water is increased to increase the capacity to be extracted at one time, or if the supply time of the air blown into the mixture is increased in order to extract rich coffee. When beverage extraction is repeated continuously, condensation occurs on the attached powder material, and further powder material adheres and accumulates, so that the opening of the powder material receptacle becomes narrower, the powder material supply amount becomes unstable, and There is a risk of causing a problem of providing a coffee beverage with an unstable thickness.
In view of the above circumstances, the present invention relates to a beverage extraction apparatus for extracting a beverage from a powdered raw material supplied to an extraction container and a mixture obtained by blowing air into hot water and stirring, and adheres due to condensation of the powder raw material receiving port by blowing air. An object of the present invention is to provide a beverage extraction apparatus that can remove a powder raw material for each extraction operation of a beverage supply apparatus, stabilize a supply amount of the powder raw material, and extract a coffee beverage having a constant strength.

In order to achieve the above object, a beverage extraction apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention includes an extraction container, a filter, a filter block, and a valve mechanism for extracting a coffee beverage using ground beans as a powder raw material. The lower end of the filter was attached to the filter block via a filter, and the coffee beverage was extracted from the mixture of the powder raw material supplied from the powder raw material receiving port of the extraction container via the raw material shooter and hot water introduced from the hot water inlet through the filter. Then, in the beverage extraction device that raises the extraction container and separates it from the filter block, and discards the coffee beverage extraction basket on the filter,
A scraper is projected below the raw material shooter, and the powder raw material adhering to the wall surface of the powder raw material receiving port when the extraction container is raised is scraped off by the scraper.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the beverage extraction apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising a vibrating means for vibrating the scraper when the extraction container is raised.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the scraper protrudes below the raw material shooter and the powder raw material adhering to the wall surface of the powder raw material inlet when the extraction container is raised, the scraper scrapes off the air. The powder raw material adhering due to the dew condensation of the powder raw material receptacle by blowing is removed for each extraction operation of the beverage supply device, the supply amount of the powder raw material is stabilized, and the coffee beverage with a certain strength can be extracted.
According to the invention of claim 2, since the vibration means for vibrating the scraper when the extraction container is raised is provided, the powder raw material adhering to the powder raw material receiving port can be scraped more efficiently.

  The present invention includes an extraction container, a filter, a filter block, and a valve mechanism for extracting a coffee beverage using ground beans as a powder raw material, and a lower end portion of the extraction container is attached to the filter block via a filter, and the extraction After extracting the coffee beverage through the filter from the mixture of the powder raw material supplied from the powder raw material receptacle of the container through the raw material shooter and the hot water introduced from the hot water inlet, the extraction container is raised and separated from the filter block, In the beverage extraction device for discarding the coffee beverage extractor on the filter, a powder raw material adhered to the wall surface of the powder raw material receiving port when a scraper is projected below the raw material shooter and the extraction container is raised Was scraped off with the scraper. As a result, the powder raw material adhering due to the condensation of the powder raw material receptacle due to the blowing of air can be removed for each extraction operation of the beverage supply device, the supply amount of the powder raw material can be stabilized, and a coffee beverage of a certain strength can be extracted A beverage extraction device was realized.

Exemplary embodiments of a beverage extraction device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a beverage extraction apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The beverage extraction apparatus illustrated here is applied to a cup-type beverage vending machine as shown in FIG. 2, and particularly illustrates a beverage extraction apparatus for extracting a coffee beverage.
The cup-type beverage vending machine A shown in FIG. 2 includes a product selection button D and a product sales opening E on the front door C of the device casing B. The product selection button D is for the user to select a product, and is provided corresponding to a plurality of product samples G displayed in the product display section F. Further, the front door C is provided with a coin insertion slot H for inserting coins, a coin return lever I for returning the inserted coins, and a coin return opening J for returning coins. The merchandise sales opening E is an opening for providing the selected merchandise, and a sales tray L for placing the cup K on the inner bottom thereof is disposed.

The beverage extraction apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is provided inside the device casing B, and an extraction unit 2 that extracts a coffee beverage from a mixture of powdered raw material and hot water obtained by crushing coffee beans to a predetermined particle size, , A raw material shooter 50 that supplies the powder raw material obtained by grinding coffee beans with the mill 57 to the extraction unit 2, and an air pump 30 that sends air to each part of the extraction unit 2.
The extraction unit 2 is supported by an elevating means (not shown) so as to be movable up and down, and both upper and lower end surfaces are respectively open and mixed to receive the powder raw material supplied from the raw material shooter 50 and hot water supplied from the hot water tank 60. The communication port 13 connects the chamber 11 and the extraction chamber 12 forcibly stirring the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water by the jet wave of the air supplied from the air pump 30 to ooze the coffee component from the powder raw material into the hot water. It has the cylinder 10 (extraction container) formed in communication. The communication port 13 is opened and closed by a valve 20 (valve mechanism), and is attached to a crank mechanism 22 driven by a motor 21 with a ring 23 and moves up and down. The extraction chamber 12 has an air introduction port 14 for introducing pressurized air from the air pump 30.

Formed above the cylinder 10 are a powder raw material receiving port 16 for introducing the powder raw material supplied from the raw material shooter 50 into the mixing chamber 11 and a runner inlet 17 for introducing hot water supplied from the hot water tank 60 into the mixing chamber 11. A covered cover 15 is arranged. The cover 15 is provided so as to move up and down with respect to the filter block 40 integrally with the cylinder 10 by lifting means. When the cylinder 10 moves up with respect to the filter block 40, the cylinder 10 is disposed at a position separated from the filter block 40. When the cylinder 10 moves down, the cylinder 10 is fitted into the filter block 40 and the lower end opening is closed.
The filter block 40 has a bottomed cylindrical shape. When the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water is agitated, the filter block 40 supplies air and the coffee beverage from the mixture in which the coffee component has oozed from the powder raw material into the hot water. A filter block opening 41 to be extracted is connected.

The filter 42 is a filter paper made of paper wound in a roll shape, and is sequentially drawn out between the cylinder 10 and the filter block 40, and the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water is filtered to obtain a coffee beverage. Extract.
Passages 32, 33, and 34 are piped between the air pump 30, the air inlet 14, and the filter block opening 41 via a three-way switching valve 31. Further, the passage 34 communicates with passages 35 and 36 branched in the middle, and the passage 36 is provided with an extraction nozzle 38 via an extraction valve 37.
The raw material shooter 50 is formed in a cone shape in which the powder raw material such as ground beans crushed by the mill 57 is gradually decreased downward to guide the extraction unit 2, and the lower end opening is from the powder raw material receiving port 16 inner diameter. Also, a scraper 51 formed of a wire material having elasticity such as a stainless steel wire is projected below. The scraper 51 scrapes off the powder material adhering in contact with the wall surface of the powder material receiving port 16 when the cylinder 10 is raised. Note that the scraper 51 may be formed of a plate material such as a stainless steel plate.

  FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of vibration means for vibrating the material shooter 50. The piston 52 that vibrates and vibrates the raw material shooter 50, the spring 53 that stretches the piston 52 in the direction of the raw material shooter 50, and moves in the direction opposite to the tension of the spring 53 by rotating in the direction of the arrow in the figure. And a drive motor 55 that rotationally drives the cam 54. When the drive motor 55 is driven, the cam 54 rotates in the direction of the arrow to separate the piston 52 from the material shooter 50 against the tension of the spring 53. When the cam 54 further rotates, the piston 52 is disengaged from the cam 54 and strikes the raw material shooter 50 by the tension of the spring 53 to vibrate the raw material shooter 50 and the scraper 51. While the cam 54 is rotationally driven by the drive motor 55, the piston 52 continues to strike the material shooter 50, and the material shooter 50 and the scraper 51 continue to vibrate.

4A and 4B are diagrams showing another embodiment of the vibration means for vibrating the raw material shooter 50. FIG. 4A is a front view, and FIG. 4B is a side view. A spring 53b that pushes the raw material shooter 50 in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and a rack 59 that drives and rotates the raw material shooter 50 in a direction opposite to the spring 53b and a pinion gear 58 that is provided coaxially with the cam 54b. When the rack 59 moves up and down in conjunction with the vertical movement of the cylinder 10, the pinion gear 58 rotates and the cam 54b pushes the raw material shooter 50, so that the scraper 51 vibrates.
5-7 is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating extraction operation | movement of the drink extracting device mentioned above. Hereinafter, operation | movement of a drink extraction apparatus is demonstrated, referring FIG. 1, FIG. 5-FIG. 7 suitably.
First, when no beverage extraction instruction is given, the beverage extraction device 1 is in a standby state as shown in FIG. In this standby state, the cylinder 10 is in a state of being separated from the filter block 40 and the filter 42, and the valve 20 opens the communication port 13. Further, the hot water valve 62 is kept closed, while the extraction valve 37 is kept open. In the hot water tank 60, the tank heater 61 provided inside is driven, and the hot water stored inside is maintained at a desired temperature state, for example, 94 ° C.

When a coffee beverage is selected by the product selection button D by the user or the like from the standby state described above and a beverage extraction instruction is given, the lifting / lowering means is driven, and the cylinder 10 is moved via the filter 42 as shown in FIG. The filter block 40 is fitted and the extraction valve 37 is closed. Thereafter, the coffee beans are crushed by driving the mill 57, and the powder raw material, which is the coffee raw material, is introduced into the mixing chamber 11 from the raw material shooter 50 through the powder raw material receiving port 16, and at the same time the hot water valve 62 is opened to open the hot water inlet. Introduce hot water from 17. The introduced hot water is mixed with the powder raw material in the mixing chamber 11 and flows into the extraction chamber 12 from the communication port 13.
When the powder raw material and hot water supplied to the extraction unit 2 reach a preset amount, the mill 57 is stopped and the hot water valve 62 is closed as shown in FIG. The air pump 30 is driven so as to communicate with each other, and air is supplied from the filter block 40 to the inside of the cylinder 10 through the filter block opening 41 from the passage 35, so that the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water stored in the cylinder 10 can be obtained. Perform air agitation. As a result, coffee components such as flavor and umami ooze out from the powder raw material into hot water, and a coffee drink is generated inside the cylinder 10.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7, when the three-way switching valve 31 is switched to connect the passage 32 and the passage 33 and the extraction valve 37 is opened to keep the communication port 13 closed by the valve 20, the air pump 30. The air fed from the air supply port 14 is supplied from the air introduction port 14 to increase the pressure on the upper part of the mixture of the powder raw material and hot water inside the cylinder 10, so that the generated coffee drink passes through the filter 42 and passes through the filter block opening 41 to the passage 35. , 36 and supplied to the cup K placed on the sales tray L from the extraction nozzle 38 via the extraction valve 37.
After supplying the coffee beverage to the cup K, the cylinder 10 is moved up by driving the lifting means to feed out a certain amount of the filter 42, and the used filter 42 and the extraction basket adhering to the used filter 42 are shown in a bucket (not shown). )).

  However, if the amount of powder raw material and hot water is increased to increase the capacity to be extracted at one time, or if the supply time of air blown into the mixture is increased in order to extract rich coffee, the mixture in the cylinder 10 When the air that has been released into the air and is discharged onto the liquid surface exits from the powder raw material receiving port 16, dew condensation occurs on the wall surface, and as shown in FIG. 8, the phenomenon that the powder raw material adheres to this dew condensation is likely to occur. . Further, when beverage extraction is repeated continuously, condensation occurs on the attached powder material, and further powder material adheres and accumulates, and the powder material supply amount is unstable due to narrowing of the opening of the powder material receiving port 16. However, a scraper 51 is provided below the raw material shooter 50 so that the powder raw material attached to the wall surface of the powder raw material receiving port 16 is scraped by the scraper 51 when the cylinder 10 is raised as shown in FIG. Then, since the powder raw material adhering by the dew condensation of the powder raw material receptacle 16 by air blowing is removed for every extraction operation of the beverage supply device 1, the supply amount of the powder raw material is stabilized and the coffee beverage having a constant strength is extracted. Will be able to. Further, at this time, if the scraper 51 is vibrated by the vibrating means, the powder raw material attached to the powder raw material receiving port can be scraped more efficiently.

Thereafter, when the above-described operation is repeatedly performed each time a beverage extraction instruction is given, the powder material adhering to the wall surface of the powder material receptacle 16 is also scraped each time, so that the powder material is deposited on the wall surface of the powder material receptacle 16 and powder The opening of the raw material receiving port 16 is narrowed, and the supply of the powder raw material does not become unstable.
As described above, according to the beverage extraction device, the cylinder 10, the cover 15, the filter 42, the filter block 40, and the valve 20 for extracting a coffee beverage using ground beans as a powder raw material are provided. The portion is mounted on the filter block 40 via the filter 42, and the coffee beverage is passed through the filter 42 from the mixture of the powder raw material supplied from the powder raw material receiving port 16 of the cover 15 via the raw material shooter 50 and the hot water introduced from the hot water introducing port 17. , The cylinder 10 is moved up and separated from the filter block 40, and a scraper 51 is projected below the raw material shooter 50 of the beverage extractor configured to discard the coffee beverage extraction basket on the filter 42. The powder raw material adhering to the wall surface of the powder raw material receptacle 16 when 10 is raised is scraped. It was scraped Toriotosu way 51. As a result, it is possible to remove the powder raw material adhering due to dew condensation at the powder raw material receiving port by air blowing for every extraction operation of the beverage supply device, to stabilize the supply amount of the powder raw material, and to extract a coffee beverage of a certain strength It becomes like this.

  In addition, in embodiment mentioned above, although the apparatus for extracting the coffee drink which uses ground beans as a powder raw material is illustrated, this invention is naturally applicable also to what extracts a drink from other powder raw materials. Is possible.

It is the conceptual diagram which showed the drink extracting device which is embodiment of this invention. It is an external view of the vending machine to which the beverage extraction apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is applied. It is the figure which showed the Example of the vibration means to vibrate a raw material shooter It is the figure which showed another Example of the vibration means to vibrate a raw material shooter, (a) is a front view, (b) shows a side view. It is a conceptual diagram which shows operation | movement of the drink extracting device shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows operation | movement of the drink extracting device shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows operation | movement of the drink extracting device shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows operation | movement of the drink extracting device shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows operation | movement of the drink extracting device shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Beverage supply apparatus 2 Extraction part 10 Cylinder 11 Mixing chamber 12 Extraction chamber 13 Communication port 14 Air inlet 15 Cover 16 Powder raw material inlet 17 Hot water inlet 20 Valve 21 Motor 22 Crank mechanism 23 Ring 30 Air pump 31 Three-way switching valve 32 Passage 33 Passage 34 passage 35 passage 36 passage 37 extraction valve 38 extraction nozzle 40 filter block 41 filter block opening 42 filter 50 raw material shooter 51 scraper 52 piston 53 spring 54 cam 55 drive motor 57 mill 60 hot water tank 61 tank heater 62 hot water valve A cup type Beverage vending machine B Device casing C Front panel D Product selection button E Product sales slot F Product display section G Product sample H Coin insertion slot I Coin return lever J Coin return slot K Cup L Sales tray

Claims (2)

An extraction container, filter, filter block, and valve mechanism for extracting coffee beverages using ground beans as a powder raw material are attached to the filter block via a filter at the lower end of the extraction container, and the powder raw material for the extraction container After extracting the coffee beverage through the filter from the mixture of the powdered raw material supplied from the receptacle through the raw material shooter and the hot water introduced from the hot water inlet, the extraction container is raised and separated from the filter block, and the coffee on the filter In the beverage extraction device that discards the beverage extraction basket,
A beverage extraction device characterized in that a scraper is provided below the raw material shooter and the powder raw material adhering to the wall surface of the powder raw material receptacle when the extraction container is raised is scraped off by the scraper. The beverage extraction apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a vibration unit that vibrates the scraper when the extraction container is raised.

Images