JP4549037B2 - Beverage supply apparatus and beverage supply method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a beverage supply apparatus and a beverage supply method, and for example, relates to an apparatus and method for diluting a liquid raw material using at least a diluent such as water and supplying it as a beverage.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The beverage supply device is also called a beverage dispenser, and is a device that supplies a liquid raw material such as syrup for juice, for example, as a beverage by mixing with diluted water or carbonated water immediately before sale. In order to make a carbonated beverage, carbon dioxide is injected into diluted water to form carbonated water, which is mixed with syrup.
[0003]
When tap water is supplied through a large storage tank with a beverage supply device, the tap water stays in the large storage tank for a long time, the chlorine concentration of the retained water decreases, and the number of bacteria increases compared to general tap water. There was a problem. Therefore, a small storage tank is used for the beverage supply device, and an activated carbon filter or the like is disposed in the tank to remove the chlorine or the like in order to improve the quality of water used at the same time.
[0004]
However, when chlorine is removed with an activated carbon filter, the sterilizing action of microorganisms is lost. Therefore, when purified water that has passed through the activated carbon filter and has been removed of chlorine is not used for a long time, the downstream water line (carbonated beverage is There was also the possibility that unsanitary water in which microorganisms grew in the case of providing carbonated water supply lines) was used for beverages. Moreover, although it cannot be said that it is unsanitary, a change in taste may occur.
[0005]
Although not a beverage supply device, in order to cope with such problems, in the water purification device, when water is not supplied for a certain period of time, if a faucet is opened thereafter, a bypass pipe directly connected to the secondary side of the water purifier Some are sterilized and washed through a path (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-263638
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
None of the beverage supply devices have taken effective measures against this problem.
[0008]
As a conventional measure, there is a method of manually discharging the beverage first after turning on the power of the beverage supply device at the time of opening the store, thereby allowing the accumulated water to be discharged and discarded as a beverage. However, in this method, syrup having a low possibility of bacterial growth is also discarded as a beverage, resulting in disposal loss.
[0009]
Even when the store is open, if the beverage is not supplied for a long time, it may not be noticed that the water stays for a long time.
[0010]
Furthermore, depending on the structure of the activated carbon filter, bacteria may grow inside the activated carbon filter, and the accumulated water in the activated carbon filter may cause a problem in terms of hygiene.
[0011]
It is desirable to discharge these water that stays for a long time, but whether or not to discharge is left to the judgment of the user of the beverage supply device. In some cases, the beverage was wasted by discharging.
[0012]
In view of the above-described problems, the present invention provides a beverage supply device and a beverage supply method that can reliably discharge water remaining in a beverage supply device when beverage supply is continuously stopped for a predetermined time or more. Objective.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the beverage supply apparatus or the beverage supply method using the filtered water as a part of the beverage, the present invention prohibits the supply of the beverage when the beverage is not supplied for a predetermined time. In this way, it is possible to reliably tell the user when to discharge the staying water, and it is possible to prevent the staying water from being erroneously used as a beverage.
[0014]
Moreover, according to this invention, when supply of a drink is prohibited, stagnant water can be discharged manually. Thereby, the administrator of the beverage supply apparatus can be aware of the drainage operation, and there is no possibility of using the drainage by mistake. Furthermore, the prohibition of the supply of beverage can be canceled after the discharge of the accumulated water is completed. In this way, according to the present invention, since almost all of the water that contains stagnant water is discharged and replaced with fresh water, it can be sold, so there is no concern about hygiene and the flavor may be impaired. Absent.
[0015]
Further, according to the present invention, even when the supply of beverage is stopped continuously for a long time and microorganisms grow in the water staying in the supply pipe such as diluted water, the staying water is discarded and fresh water is purified. And can be used to supply a beverage, thereby providing a sanitary beverage.
[0016]
Furthermore, the device according to the present invention is provided with a time measuring means for measuring a continuation time during which no beverage is supplied, and the time until the beverage supply is prohibited can be measured by comparing with a predetermined time. This predetermined time can be arbitrarily set. Therefore, the optimum time for the supply prohibition can be selected in consideration of the device configuration, the pipe length, and the like.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0018]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an input / output relationship of a control unit of the beverage supply device of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and is common to FIG. A reference is attached.
[0019]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a beverage dispenser body, which is a device that can supply a plurality of types of non-carbonated beverages such as juice and oolong tea and carbonated beverages such as cola. The tap water that has passed through the water supply valve 210 is supplied as dilution water to the beverage dispenser main body 100 through the water filter 200 made of, for example, activated carbon, and the carbon dioxide gas is supplied from the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 300 through the carbon dioxide gas regulator 310. It is supplied to the carbonator 17 in the dispenser body 100 and used for the production of carbonated water. In addition, the liquid raw material used as the origin of the supplied drink should just be used as a drink, For example, whiskey, shochu, etc. may be sufficient.
[0020]
In FIG. 1, only a supply path for dilution water and carbonated water is shown, a supply path for beverage liquid ingredients such as syrup is omitted, and a BIB (bag in box) for storing the liquid ingredients is also omitted.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 2, in this example, as an input device, there are a selection button 3, a keyboard 10, a sale enable switch 2, and an opening switch 9 arranged on a selection panel, and a main power switch as a power line. There is one. The output device includes a water inlet electromagnetic valve 4, a water pump 5, a carbonator water supply electromagnetic valve 7, a dilution water electromagnetic valve 6, a carbonated water electromagnetic valve 8, a saleable lamp 21, and an opening lamp 91. The control device includes a control unit 13 including a microprocessor and a memory. A relay circuit 12 (FIG. 1) may be added as a control device. One feature of the present invention is that the input device includes an opening switch 9 and various outputs can be controlled by manual input of the opening switch 9. The features of the control according to the invention are described in detail below.
[0022]
When a beverage is sold, a store clerk places a cup (not shown) on the drip tray 18 below the sales nozzle 20 in FIG. 1 and presses a selection button 3 such as juice corresponding to the order when the customer orders. As a result, dilution water, and if necessary, carbonated water, are poured into the cup together with the liquid raw material. Here, although only one switch is illustrated as the selection button 3, a plurality of selection buttons are provided corresponding to the type of beverage that is normally sold.
[0023]
The control device has a plug 19 connected to a commercial power supply and is connected to a power supply circuit 11 controlled by the main power switch 1. The main power switch 1 is normally always turned on. For example, at the end of one day of sales, the dispenser manager or the like turns off the sales enable switch 2. The sellable switch 2 is usually arranged so as to be covered with a cover or lid so that it cannot be turned on or off by mistake. The operation of the beverage dispenser is turned on / off by turning on / off the sale enable switch 2. A sale enable lamp 21 indicating sale availability is disposed on the front surface of the beverage dispenser main body 100, and generally lights up when the sale enable switch 2 is turned on to indicate sale availability. However, in the present invention, as will be described in detail below, even if the sale enable switch 2 is turned on at the time of sale preparation, the sale enable lamp 21 hardly illuminates immediately.
[0024]
The sale enable switch 2 is a change-over switch, and is turned off to turn off the water pump 5, the dilution water solenoid valve 6, the carbonator feed water solenoid valve 7, and the carbonated water solenoid valve 8 to make the sale impossible state. . In this state in which the sellable lamp 21 is turned off, maintenance of equipment other than beverage sales can be performed. One aspect of the present invention is to measure the duration of time during which no beverage is supplied, but even if the sale enable switch 2 is turned off during the duration measurement, the duration measurement is not affected. Absent. In the following description, the sale enable switch 2 is assumed to be on.
[0025]
With the power switch 1 turned on and the sale enable switch 2 turned on (the sale enable lamp 21 is lit), for example, in response to an order for a carbonated beverage, a store clerk places the cup under the sale nozzle 20 and selects the button. When 3 is pressed, a control signal is output from the control unit 13 including a microprocessor, a memory, and the like, and a dilution water electromagnetic valve 6 for supplying dilution water by the relay circuit unit 12 and a carbonic acid for supplying carbonated water. The water solenoid valve 8 and the water inlet solenoid valve 4 are energized to open each valve. At the same time, the water pump 5 operates to pressurize water from the water inlet solenoid valve 4. The pressurized water is cooled through a cooling coil 16a disposed in a water tank 15 containing cooling water. One of the cooled water is supplied to the dilution water electromagnetic valve 6 via the flow rate regulator 14a. The other water is sent to the carbonator 17 via the carbonator water supply electromagnetic valve 7, and the carbon dioxide gas from the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 300 is dissolved and supplied to the carbonated water electromagnetic valve 8 via the cooling coil 16b. At this time, the diluted water and carbonated water to be sent are controlled to a constant flow rate by the flow rate regulators 14a and 14b, and are supplied from the sales nozzle 20 through the diluted water electromagnetic valve 6 and the carbonated water electromagnetic valve 8. Although not shown, raw liquid such as juice is also supplied to the sales nozzle 20 at the same time, and a desired carbonated beverage is supplied to a cup (not shown) on the drip tray 18. The beverage supply time is controlled by a sales time timer or the like of the control unit 13.
[0026]
Here, at the same time as controlling the selling operation, the control unit 13 detects that the selection button 3 is pressed, resets the counter, and time t1 after the selection button 3 is pressed (see FIG. 2). ). This monitors the time from the current sale to the beginning of the next sale. It goes without saying that even if a sale stop signal is issued, for example, the sale enable switch 2 is turned off during the count, and the sale is stopped, the count does not stop and is not reset.
[0027]
On the other hand, a predetermined time t <b> 2 (see FIG. 2) is set in advance using the keyboard 10 and is input to the control unit 13. The predetermined time t2 can be arbitrarily set, but is set to a time shorter than the time when the germs in the water normally staying through the water filter 200 increase and the taste is deteriorated or unsanitary. This time varies depending on conditions such as the device configuration and seasons. As an example, setting to about 5 hours is conceivable.
[0028]
When the time t1 after the selection button is pressed becomes equal to or longer than the set time t2, the input from the selection button 3 is not read by the control unit 13. That is, if there is no beverage sales by the beverage dispenser main body 100 for a predetermined time, the beverage can no longer be sold. At this time, the sale possible lamp 21 is turned off to indicate to the store clerk or manager that the sale is impossible. As means for making it impossible to sell beverages, the solenoid valve may be closed, the sales nozzle itself may be closed, or other appropriate means can be adopted.
[0029]
In this embodiment, since such a configuration is adopted, it is said that the diluted water in that state is used without knowing or mistakenly even though a problem time has passed due to an increase in various germs in the diluted water. Can be prevented.
[0030]
Then, after the input of the selection button 3 is not accepted, the opening lamp 91 is turned on to indicate that the staying water needs to be discharged. The manager or the store clerk confirms that the opening lamp 91 is turned on and turns on the opening switch 9 to drain most of the remaining dilution water or part of the carbonated water and simultaneously pipe the dilution water. The road is washed to return the beverage to a state where it can be sold. The opening switch 9 is arranged so as to prevent erroneous operation by covering it with a cover or lid. Moreover, you may arrange | position in appropriate places, such as the side surface and back surface of an apparatus main body.
[0031]
In this example, a case has been described in which a predetermined time has passed since the beverage was once sold, but the duration of the time when the beverage was not sold is counted regardless of whether the sale enable switch 2 is turned on or off. Therefore, usually, the opening switch 9 is often performed at the stage of preparation for start of beverage sales.
[0032]
That is, at the time of preparation for the start of beverage sales, as a result, the sale is not continuously performed for a predetermined time, and even if the sale enable switch 2 is turned on, the sale ready lamp 21 does not light up and the selection is made. The input of button 3 is not accepted and is not available for sale. This indicates that the opening operation by turning on the opening switch 9 is necessary, and the administrator turns on the opening switch 9 after confirming that the opening lamp 91 is turned on.
[0033]
When the opening switch 9 is turned on, a drainage signal is output, the dilution water electromagnetic valve 6 and the water inlet electromagnetic valve 4 are opened, the water pump 5 is operated, and tap water passes through the water filter 200 and the dilution water electromagnetic valve 6. The staying water is discharged from the sales nozzle 20. The staying water is discharged only for a predetermined set time input to the control unit 13. This discharge time can be appropriately set by the keyboard 10. For example, you may set corresponding to the piping length between the apparatus 100 and the water filter 200. FIG. Therefore, almost all of the water remaining in the water filter 200 and the piping of the apparatus is discharged, and after washing with fresh water, almost all of the retained water is replaced with fresh water. When the drainage time is over, the diluted water electromagnetic valve 6 is closed by a signal from the control unit 13.
[0034]
Next, the control unit 13 opens the carbonated water electromagnetic valve 8 and discharges carbonated water in the piping after the carbonator 17. Again, the release time can be set as appropriate and is managed by the controller 13. Along with the discharge of carbonated water in the pipe, the water pump 5 operates to supply new filtered water to the carbonator 17 and newly send carbonated water to the pipe. Although the carbonated water of the carbonator 17 is not completely discharged, the carbonated water is acidic so that the growth of microorganisms is not a problem. In this way, almost all the water staying in and downstream of the water filter 200 is discharged and can be replaced with new water. In this water draining operation, the water filter 200 and piping are also cleaned at the same time.
[0035]
When the drainage operation is completed, the control unit 13 cancels the input prohibition of the selection button 3 and lights the sale enable lamp 21 to return to a normal saleable state.
[0036]
In the present invention, after prohibiting beverage sales, the dispenser manager or the like manually performs the drainage operation. For example, in a vending machine using a cup, a beverage is not supplied unless the cup is arranged. On the other hand, unlike the vending machine, the beverage dispenser is in an open state, and therefore the beverage dispenser may use drainage without being recognized that drainage is being performed in automatic drainage treatment. There is. In the present invention, since the manager performs the drainage work by being aware of the manual operation, the drainage is not erroneously used.
[0037]
The operation flow of one embodiment according to the present invention is shown in FIG.
[0038]
In the flow of FIG. 3, when the selection button 3 is turned on or the drainage process by the opening operation is finished, the sale ready lamp 21 is turned on, and the sale is possible. The predetermined time t2 has already been set.
[0039]
In step S1, when the selection button 3 is turned on or the drainage process is completed, the counter is reset and the duration t1 is started.
[0040]
In step S2, it is monitored whether or not the next sale has been performed, that is, whether or not the selection button 3 (the selection button 3 is usually composed of a plurality of switches, one of which is pressed). When the selection button 3 is turned on, beverage sales are performed, the process returns to the start time, proceeds to step S1 , the duration is reset, and a new count is started.
[0041]
If the selection button 3 is not turned on, it is determined in step S3 whether or not the duration t1 is smaller than a predetermined time t2. If it is smaller, the process returns to step S2 and returns to the state where the selection button 3 is monitored. When t1 is equal to or larger than t2 (t1 ≧ t2), in step S4, it is prohibited to accept an ON input to the selection button 3, and the sellable lamp 21 is turned off to indicate that the sale is stopped.
[0042]
Next, in step S5, the administrator turns on the opening switch 9 to discharge the remaining water.
[0043]
First, in step S6, as described above, the dilution water solenoid valve 6 and the water inlet solenoid valve 4 are opened for a predetermined time, the water pump 5 is operated, and tap water passes through the water filter 200 and the dilution water solenoid valve 6. And discharged from the sales nozzle 20. When the predetermined time has passed and the discharge is completed, the diluted water solenoid valve 6 and the water inlet solenoid valve 4 are closed.
[0044]
Then, for example, at intervals of about 5 seconds (configurable timer), in step S7, open the carbonated water electromagnetic valve 8, a predetermined time, the water in the carbonator 1 in 7 is discharged. The discharged water is discarded using a drip tray. When release of the carbonator is completed, open the water inlet solenoid valve 4 and the carbonator water supply electromagnetic valve 7, water pump 5 is operated to supply the new water and filtered carbonator 1 7. In this way, the accumulated water is replaced with fresh water, and at the same time, the process returns to the start point, proceeds to step S1 , the counter is reset, and a new count is started.
[0045]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the described embodiment.
[0046]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably tell a manager or the like when to discharge the accumulated water, and the retained water is not erroneously used as a beverage.
[0047]
In addition, since the drainage operation can be performed manually, the administrator can be aware of the drainage operation and prevent the drainage from being used by mistake.
[0048]
Furthermore, since the stagnant water can be replaced with fresh purified water and supplied as a beverage, a sanitary beverage can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of a beverage supply device of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an input / output relationship of a control unit of the beverage supply device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of one embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Beverage dispenser main body 200 ... Water filter 300 ... Carbon dioxide gas cylinder 1 ... Main power switch 2 ... Sellable switch 3 ... Selection button 4 ... Water inlet solenoid valve 5 ... Water pump 6 ... Dilution water solenoid valve 7 ... Carbonator water supply solenoid valve 8 ... carbonated water solenoid valve 9 ... opening switch 10 ... keyboard 17 ... carbonator 20 ... sale nozzle 21 ... sale enable switch 91 ... opening lamp

Claims (6)

Water filtration means for filtering the water used;
A liquid raw material supply means for supplying a liquid raw material to be a raw material for beverage; a beverage supply means for simultaneously supplying a liquid containing at least the filtered water and the liquid raw material;
A beverage supply instruction means for giving a beverage supply instruction to the beverage supply means;
Control means for controlling the beverage supply means in accordance with an instruction input by the beverage supply instruction means;
An open beverage supply,
A beverage supply device comprising:
Time measuring means for measuring a continuation time during which the beverage supply means does not supply a beverage without an instruction by the beverage supply instruction means ;
Drainage means for draining a liquid containing at least the filtered water, which operates for a predetermined drainage time ;
The control means prohibits the beverage supply by the beverage supply means when the duration is equal to or longer than a set predetermined time ,
When the beverage supply by the beverage supply means is prohibited, the discharge means is manually operated, and the liquid is discharged for the predetermined discharge time,
A beverage supply device that releases the beverage supply prohibition of the beverage supply means in conjunction with the completion of the discharge of the liquid by the discharge means .   The beverage supply apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising carbonated water supply means that generates carbonated water using the filtered water and supplies the carbonated water to the beverage supply means. The beverage supply apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the draining unit discharges the liquid while discharging the filtered water while supplying water to the water filtering unit. The drink supply apparatus of any one of Claims 1-3 provided with the predetermined time setting means which can set arbitrarily the predetermined time which does not supply the said drink .   The drink supply apparatus of any one of Claims 1-4 provided with the discharge time setting means which can set arbitrarily the discharge time discharged by the said discharge means. Water filtration means for filtering the water used;
  Liquid raw material supply means for supplying a liquid raw material as a raw material for beverages;
  A beverage supply means for simultaneously supplying a liquid containing at least the filtered water and a liquid raw material;
  A beverage supply instruction means for giving a beverage supply instruction to the beverage supply means;
  Control means for controlling the beverage supply means in accordance with an instruction input by the beverage supply instruction means;
  An open beverage supply,
  A beverage supply method in a beverage supply device comprising:
  A step of prohibiting the supply of a beverage when the beverage is not supplied for a predetermined time; and
  Discharging the liquid containing at least the filtered water for a predetermined discharge time based on a manually input signal after prohibiting the supply of the beverage;
  And a step of canceling the beverage supply prohibition of the beverage supply means in conjunction with the completion of the discharge of the liquid by the discharge means.

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