JP4256557B2 - Beverage blending equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a beverage preparation device used in a cup-type beverage vending machine or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a cup-type beverage vending machine, a beverage blending device is provided in the housing. This beverage preparation device includes a mixing ball for preparing a beverage, and a powder raw material such as coffee and hot water for melting the same are supplied into the mixing ball.
[0003]
6 to 8 show a conventional beverage preparation device, wherein 1 is a mixing ball, the mixing ball 1 has an oval shape when viewed from above, an outlet 2 at the bottom, and an opening on the top surface. Each has a ceiling member 3, and a motor 4 is installed on the ceiling member 3.
[0004]
A shaft 6 is connected to the output shaft of the motor 4 via a coupling 5, and this shaft 6 passes through the ceiling member 3 and is inserted into the mixing ball 1. The lower end of the shaft 6 is connected to the outlet 2. Opposing agitator 7 is provided. The stirring tool 7 is rotatably supported via a pivot shaft 8 provided at the center of the outlet 2 and is driven by the motor 4 to rotate.
[0005]
An exhaust unit 10 is provided on the mixing ball 1. The exhaust unit 10 communicates with the outside of the vending machine through an exhaust duct (not shown), and is driven by an exhaust unit (not shown) through the exhaust unit 10. The air in the mixing ball 1 is discharged to the outside.
[0006]
The ceiling member 3 is formed with a raw material supply port 11 as a raw material charging portion. The raw material supply port 11 is located on the opposite side of the exhaust portion 10 and is provided so as to be separated from the exhaust portion 10. . A raw material shooter 12 is inserted into the raw material supply port 11, and a predetermined amount of powder raw material is introduced into the mixing ball 1 through the raw material shooter 12. Further, a hot water supply hose 13 led out from the water heater is connected to the upper part of the side surface of the mixing ball 1.
[0007]
When a predetermined sales command is input, the powder raw material is supplied into the mixing ball 1 through the raw material shooter 12, hot water is supplied through the hot water supply hose 13, and the agitator 7 is driven by the motor 4.
[0008]
The hot water supplied into the mixing ball 1 is swung along the inner circumferential direction of the mixing ball 1 by the rotation of the stirring tool 7, and the swirling of the hot water from the outlet 2 is suppressed by this swirling.
[0009]
If hot water is supplied into the mixing ball 1, the steam may flow into the raw material shooter 12 and solidify the powder raw material. For this reason, the exhaust means is driven in accordance with the hot water supply timing. By this driving, the air in the mixing ball 1 is exhausted through the exhaust part 10, and the flow of steam into the raw material shooter 12 is suppressed by this air flow.
[0010]
The hot water and the powdered raw material are stirred and mixed by the swirling of the hot water supplied into the mixing ball 1, and the powdered raw material is dissolved in the hot water along with the stirring and mixing to prepare a predetermined beverage. As the stirring tool 7 stops rotating, the beverage flows out of the outlet 2 under its own weight and is supplied into the cup of the sales outlet.
[0011]
The introduction of the powder raw material into the mixing ball 1 and the supply of hot water start at substantially the same timing, and the supply of hot water continues after the supply of the powder raw material is completed, and when a predetermined amount of hot water is supplied, Supply stops.
[0012]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional beverage blending apparatus, when the powdered raw material is charged into the mixing ball 1 from the raw material shooter 12 provided in the raw material charging unit, the mixing ball 1 is driven from the raw material charging unit by driving the exhaust means. Since an airflow flowing toward the exhaust unit 10 is generated, a part of the charged powder raw material floats on the airflow and adheres to the inner wall surface and the top surface of the mixing ball 1.
[0013]
The raw material powder adhering to the lower part of the inner wall surface of the mixing ball 1 is washed away by the hot water when stirring the hot water supplied into the mixing ball 1, but the raw material powder adhering to the upper part of the inner wall surface including the top surface of the mixing ball 1 It is difficult to wash away, and it remains attached as it is, which causes problems in terms of hygiene and beverage flavor.
[0015]
Hot water is automatically supplied into the mixing ball 1 as a regular cleaning process every fixed number of sales, and the mixing ball 1 is cleaned by stirring the hot water. If the water level of the hot water is too high, the exhaust section Therefore, there is a limit to the water level of the hot water, and it is difficult to effectively clean the entire upper part of the inner wall surface of the mixing ball 1. And in this regular cleaning process, since a lot of hot water is used, the post-treatment of the hot water after the cleaning becomes troublesome.
[0016]
Moreover, the powder material which floats adheres from the center part of the top | upper surface of the mixing ball | bowl 1 to the downward direction, and the stain | pollution | contamination which extends in an icicle shape arises. The stirrer 7 is disposed at a position deviated from the central axis of the mixing ball 1, but the hot water in the mixing ball 1 swirls along the inner peripheral surface thereof, so that the center of the mixing ball 1 is on the liquid surface of the hot water. A dent which is recessed downward about the shaft is generated, and it is difficult to remove the icicle-shaped dirt with the hot water.
[0017]
Thus, although the powder raw material adheres and remains on the upper part of the inner wall surface of the mixing ball 1, if such a powder raw material is left as it is, there arises a problem in terms of hygiene and beverage flavor. However, in practice, the traveling service is frequently performed and the mixing ball 1 is washed each time by the manual operation of the service person, and the management is considerably troublesome.
[0018]
The present invention has been made paying attention to such points, and the object of the present invention is to reduce the number of manual cleaning operations by reducing dirt on the upper part of the inner wall surface of the mixing ball with a simple structure. An object of the present invention is to provide a beverage preparation device that can achieve efficient management.
[0019]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve such an object, the present invention includes a mixing ball to which hot water is supplied. The mixing ball has an outlet at the bottom and a ceiling member at the top. A stirrer is provided opposite to the outlet, and further, a raw material charging part and an exhaust part are provided at an upper part of the mixing ball so as to be separated from each other. In the beverage blending apparatus, in which air is sequentially discharged to the outside through the exhaust unit, and the powder raw material is charged from the raw material input unit, and the hot water and the powder raw material are mixed by stirring with the stirring tool, the raw material input parts and the shield toward the said ceiling member so as to separate between the exhaust portion on the inner bottom of the mixing bowl plate is formed to extend, the shielding plate Lower edge is characterized in that the hot water into the mixing bowl has reached about half of the height and comprising level position of total water level when supplied.
[0020]
In particular, in the invention of claim 2, a raw material shooter for charging the powder raw material into the mixing ball is provided in the raw material charging portion, and this raw material shooter is inclined so that its tip side faces away from the exhaust portion of the mixing ball. It is characterized by that.
[0021]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the part corresponding to the conventional structure, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.
[0022]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a cup-type beverage vending machine as viewed from the side, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration as viewed from a plane. The vending machine 15 has a casing 16 whose front is open. An opening / closing door 17 is pivotally attached to the front surface of the housing 16 via a hinge 18 so as to be pivotable in the front-rear direction, and a sales opening 19 is formed in the opening / closing door 17.
[0023]
In the upper part of the housing 16, a raw material chamber 22 whose upper and lower sides, right and left except for the front surface and the rear surface are closed is provided, and in the raw material chamber 22, a plurality of raw material containers 23 are installed side by side. A predetermined powder raw material is accommodated in each of 23.
[0024]
A cup case 25 is pivotally attached to the front surface of the raw material chamber 22 via a hinge 26 so as to be pivotable in the front-rear direction, and the front surface of the raw material chamber 22 is closed by the cup case 26.
[0025]
A heater 27 is provided on the inner bottom surface of the raw material chamber 22, and the inside of the raw material chamber 22 is heated to an appropriate temperature by the heater 27, and the inside of the raw material chamber 22 is managed to maintain a low relative humidity by this heating.
[0026]
A water heater 30, an ice maker 31, a water reservoir 32, and the like are provided in the housing 16 at the side of the raw material chamber 22, and a cooler bath, a drain bucket, and the like (not shown) are provided below the raw material chamber 22. It is arranged.
[0027]
Each raw material container 23 in the raw material chamber 22 has a discharge port 33 at the front lower portion thereof, the raw material shooter 12 is connected to the discharge port 33, and the lower end portion of the raw material shooter 12 is provided below the raw material chamber 22. It is inserted into the mixing ball 1 of the beverage preparation device.
[0028]
An exhaust port 35 is provided in the back of the housing 16, and the exhaust port 35 and the exhaust unit 10 of the mixing ball 1 are connected via an exhaust duct 36. An electric fan 37 is provided in the exhaust port 35 as an exhaust means. By the operation of the electric fan 37, the air in the mixing ball 1 is discharged from the exhaust duct 36 to the outside of the housing 16 through the exhaust port 35. ing.
[0029]
A cup station 38 is provided inside the sales outlet 19. A cup of a predetermined size in the cup case 25 is discharged into the cup station 38 one by one through the cup discharge mechanism 39 for each predetermined sales command.
[0030]
An injection hose 40 is connected to the outlet 2 of the mixing ball 1, the injection hose 40 is introduced into the cup station 38, and the beverage after preparation is fed into the cup a disposed in the cup station 38 through the injection hose 40. Injected.
[0031]
1 to 3 show a beverage preparation device, and a shielding plate 41 extending downward is integrally formed on the ceiling member 3 of the mixing ball 1 in this beverage preparation device. The shielding plate 41 is formed from the middle portion of the ceiling member 3 so as to separate the raw material supply port 11 as a raw material charging portion into which the raw material shooter 12 is inserted and the exhaust portion 10 to which the exhaust duct 36 is connected. It is formed to extend substantially vertically toward the inner bottom.
[0032]
The horizontal width of the shielding plate 41 is about 80% of the dimension between both side walls of the mixing ball 1, and the lower end edge is almost half of the total water level when hot water is supplied into the mixing ball 1. Has reached the level position that is the height of.
[0033]
The raw material shooter 12 is inserted into the raw material supply port 11 of the ceiling member 3 with an inclination of an angle θ (θ <90 °) smaller than 90 ° with respect to the horizontal. That is, the raw material shooter 12 is inserted into the raw material supply port 11 so as to be inclined so that the tip side thereof faces away from the exhaust portion 10 of the mixing ball 1.
[0034]
In such a beverage preparation device, hot water is supplied into the mixing ball 1 through the hot water supply hose 13 in accordance with a predetermined sales command, and the powder raw material is supplied through the raw material shooter 12, and the electric fan 37 and the stirring tool 7 are provided. Each is driven.
[0035]
By driving the electric fan 37, air in the mixing ball 1 is sequentially discharged from the exhaust unit 10 through the exhaust duct 36 to the outside of the housing 16 together with steam, and external air sequentially flows into the mixing ball 1 along with this discharge. .
[0036]
Here, a shielding plate 41 is provided in the mixing ball 1 so as to separate the raw material supply unit and the exhaust unit 10, so that an air flow from the raw material supply unit to the exhaust unit 10 is generated in the mixing ball 1. It flows into the exhaust part 10 through the space on the lower side. Therefore, the powder raw material that floats in the airflow and flows together with the airflow is drawn from the raw material supply unit to the lower space portion of the mixing ball 1 without passing through the upper space portion of the mixing ball 1. For this reason, adhesion of the powder raw material to the inner wall surface of the upper part of the mixing ball 1 is reduced.
[0037]
The water level of the hot water in the mixing ball 1 gradually increases, and the powder raw material drawn into the lower side of the mixing ball 1 dissolves in the hot water and is absorbed.
[0038]
The raw material shooter 12 is inclined so that the tip side thereof faces away from the exhaust part 10 of the mixing ball 1. Therefore, the raw material powder introduced into the mixing ball 1 through the raw material shooter 12 moves away from the exhaust part 10. It falls in an oblique direction, and therefore, the adhesion of the powder raw material to the inner wall surface of the upper part of the mixing ball 1 is further reduced. And since the adhesion of the powder raw material to the upper part of the mixing ball 1 is reduced, the adhesion of the powder raw material does not cause a stain that hangs in an icicle shape from the ceiling member 3.
[0039]
The hot water supplied into the mixing ball 1 is stirred by driving the stirring tool 7, and the hot water and the powdered raw material are mixed to prepare a beverage. A powder raw material adheres to the lower part of the inner wall surface of the mixing ball 1, and this powder raw material is washed away with hot water stirred in the mixing ball 1.
[0040]
The blended beverage flows out from the outlet 2 in response to the stop of the rotation of the stirring tool 7 and is injected into the cup a previously disposed in the cup station 38 through the injection hose 40.
[0041]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, since the raw material charging portion of the mixing ball and the exhaust portion are separated by the shielding plate, adhesion of the powder raw material to the inner wall surface of the upper portion of the mixing ball can be reduced, and therefore Efficient management can be achieved by reliably reducing the number of manual cleaning performed by service personnel. Furthermore, the automatic regular cleaning process of the mixing balls can be reduced, and the amount of hot water used in the regular cleaning process can be reduced, so that the post-treatment and the like of the hot water can be easily managed.
[0042]
In the invention of claim 2, since the raw material shooter is inclined so that the tip side thereof faces the direction away from the exhaust part of the mixing ball, the raw material powder introduced through the raw material shooter falls in an oblique direction away from the exhaust part. Thus, the adhesion of the powder raw material to the inner wall surface of the upper part of the mixing ball can be further reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side configuration diagram of a cup-type beverage vending machine provided with a beverage preparation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the beverage preparation device as seen from the front.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view similarly viewed from the side.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view seen from the same plane.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional beverage preparation device as seen from the front.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view similarly viewed from the side.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view similarly seen from the plane.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Mixing ball 2 ... Outlet 3 ... Ceiling member 7 ... Stirrer 10 ... Exhaust part 11 ... Raw material supply port (raw material supply part)
12 ... Raw material shooter 16 ... Housing 23 ... Raw material container 35 ... Exhaust port 36 ... Exhaust duct 41 ... Shielding plate

Claims (2)

A mixing ball to which hot water is supplied is provided, the mixing ball has an outlet at the bottom and a ceiling member at the top, and a stirring tool is provided inside the mixing ball so as to face the outlet. A raw material charging part and an exhaust part are provided on the upper part of the mixing ball so as to be separated from each other, hot water is supplied into the mixing ball at the time of beverage preparation, and the air in the mixing ball is sequentially discharged to the outside through the exhaust part, and In a beverage blending apparatus for charging a powdered raw material from the raw material charging unit and mixing the hot water and the powdered raw material with the stirring tool to prepare a beverage,
A shielding plate extends from the ceiling member toward the inner bottom portion of the mixing ball so as to separate the raw material charging portion and the exhaust portion, and the lower end edge of the shielding plate supplies hot water into the mixing ball. A beverage blending device characterized in that it has reached a level position that is approximately half the height of the total water level when it is applied.   The raw material charging part is provided with a raw material shooter for charging the powder raw material into the mixing ball, and this raw material shooter is characterized in that its tip side is inclined so as to face away from the exhaust part of the mixing ball. The beverage preparation device according to claim 1.

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