JP5088085B2 - Water supply equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a water supply device that is provided in a vending machine, a dispenser, and the like and supplies water to an ice making machine and a hot water tank.

  Conventionally, as this kind of water supply apparatus, what was disclosed by patent document 1, for example is known. This water supply apparatus is applied to a vending machine, and is connected to a faucet of a water supply and stores a reservoir for storing water fed from the faucet, and a switching valve having an inflow port and first and second outflow ports. A main water supply passage connected to the inlet of the reservoir, the ice maker and the switching valve, a pump provided between the ice maker and the switching valve in the main water supply passage, a first outlet of the switching valve and a hot water tank It has a branch passage connected to. The reservoir is disposed at a position lower than the hot water tank, and a cooling pipe for cooling the water is connected to the second outlet of the switching valve.

  In the conventional water supply apparatus having the above configuration, the water stored in the reservoir is supplied to the ice making machine via the main water supply passage. Also, when selling cold beverages using cooling water in the cooling pipe, the main water supply passage and the cooling pipe are connected by controlling the switching valve, and the pump is driven in this state, so that the reservoir, ice making machine, main water supply Water in the passage (hereinafter collectively referred to as “water supply circuit”) is sent to the cooling pipe and supplied. On the other hand, when selling hot beverages using hot water from the hot water tank, the water in the water supply circuit is diverted by connecting the main water supply passage and the branch passage by controlling the switching valve and driving the pump in this state. It is sent to the hot water tank through and supplied. As described above, in the conventional water supply device, even when the cold beverage sales frequency is low, such as in winter, the water in the water supply circuit is sent to the hot water tank and replaced with the sales of hot beverages with a high sales frequency. Therefore, it is prevented from staying for a long time, thereby maintaining the water quality.

  However, as described above, in the conventional water supply device, a pump must be provided in order to send out water in the water supply circuit accompanying water supply to the hot water tank. It will increase. Further, when an electrical failure occurs in the pump, the operation of the apparatus cannot be guaranteed, and its reliability is not high.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and is capable of maintaining the water quality in the ice making machine, achieving downsizing and cost reduction, and providing a highly reliable water supply device. Objective.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-169886

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is a water supply device for supplying water to an ice making machine and a hot water tank, comprising an ice making water supply unit for supplying water to the ice making machine, A water source, a hot water tank water supply passage connected to the water supply source and the hot water tank for supplying water from the water supply source to the hot water tank, and the hot water tank water supply passage has a constricted portion with a narrowed passage area The ice maker is connected to the constricted part of the ice tank and the hot water tank water supply passage, and the negative pressure generated in the constricted part when water is supplied from the water supply source to the hot water tank through the hot water tank water supply passage causes It further has a discharge passage for discharging the water into the hot water tank water supply passage.

  According to this water supply device, water is supplied from the ice maker water supply unit to the ice maker, and water from the water supply source is supplied to the hot water tank via the hot water tank water supply passage. The hot water tank water supply passage is provided with a narrowed portion with a narrowed passage area, and a discharge passage is connected to the narrowed portion and the ice making machine. In the water supply apparatus having the above configuration, when water is supplied to the hot water tank, the flow rate of the water becomes high and a large negative pressure is generated in the constricted portion where the passage area of the hot water tank water supply passage is narrowed. As described above, since the ice making machine is connected to the constricted portion via the discharge passage, a part of the water in the ice making machine is drawn by this large negative pressure, and the hot water tank is passed through the discharge passage. It is discharged into the water supply passage and supplied to the hot water tank together with water from the water supply source.

  As described above, even when the ice machine operation frequency is low, such as in the winter, the water in the ice machine can be discharged to the hot water tank water supply passage and replaced with the hot water supply to the hot water tank. The water in the ice making machine can be prevented from staying for a long time, and the water quality can be maintained. Further, as described above, since the water in the ice making machine is discharged by the negative pressure generated in the constricted portion with the water supply to the hot water tank, the conventional pump described above becomes unnecessary, thereby Device miniaturization and cost reduction can be achieved. Furthermore, since the constricted portion has a very simple configuration in which the hot water tank water supply passage is narrowed down, it is less likely to fail than the pump, so that the reliability of the water supply device can be improved.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the water supply apparatus according to the first aspect, in the hot water tank water supply passage and the discharge passage, the ratio between the amount of water supplied from the water supply source and the amount of water discharged from the ice maker is a predetermined value. It is comprised so that it may become.

  According to this configuration, the ratio between the amount of water supplied from the water supply source to the hot water tank and the amount of discharged water discharged from the ice making machine is a predetermined value. Therefore, by appropriately setting this predetermined value, the water in the ice maker can be discharged without excess and deficiency, thereby maintaining the water quality in the ice maker while ensuring a sufficient amount of water for ice making in the ice maker. can do.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows a water supply apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment together with a cup-type vending machine to which the water supply apparatus 1 is applied. This vending machine includes an ice making machine 21 and a hot water tank 31, and can sell both cold beverages and hot beverages.

  The ice making machine 21 is of the auger type, and is provided with an ice making cylinder 22, an auger motor 23, an auger and a refrigerator (all not shown) for making ice, and the ice making machine 22 is made of ice. An ice storage 24 for storing ice is provided. The auger is provided in the ice making cylinder 22 and is driven by an auger motor 23. Said refrigerator is comprised by the compressor, the condenser, the expansion valve, the evaporator (all are not shown), etc.

  Moreover, the ice making cylinder 22 is arrange | positioned in the position lower than the faucet T mentioned later, The water supply port 22a and the drainage port 22b are provided in the lower end part. Usually, in the ice making cylinder 22, water supplied from a reservoir 9 described later through a water supply port 22a is stored. Further, the water in the ice making cylinder 22 is cooled by the refrigerator and freezes on the inner wall surface of the ice making cylinder 22. The frozen ice is pushed up by the rotation of the auger by the auger motor 23 and pushed into a cutter (not shown) provided above the auger to be formed into a block shape, and then sent to the ice storage 24 described above. The

  The ice storage 24 is provided with an ice delivery port and an opening / closing mechanism (not shown) for opening and closing the ice delivery port. When the cold beverage of the vending machine is sold, the ice delivery port is opened by the opening / closing mechanism. Thereby, the ice in the ice storage 24 is sent to a cup (not shown), while the ice outlet is closed at times other than sales. Further, the ice storage 24 is provided with a drain port 24a for discharging water generated by melting of stored ice.

  The hot water tank 31 includes a tank body 32 for storing hot water (water) and a heater 33 for heating the water (hot water) in the tank body 32, and is disposed at a position lower than the faucet T. . On the upper surface of the tank body 32, a water supply port 32a for supplying water into the tank body 32 is provided. The tank main body 32 is provided with a hot water feed outlet and a delivery valve for opening and closing the hot water feed outlet, and this hot water feed outlet is connected to a mixing bowl and a coffee extractor (both not shown). At the time of selling hot beverages in vending machines, the hot water delivery outlet is opened by the delivery valve, so that the hot water in the hot water tank 31 is delivered to the mixing bowl etc. The hot water outlet is closed.

  Furthermore, a float-type hot water sensor 41 is provided in the tank body 32, and this hot water sensor 41 is turned ON / OFF when the water level in the tank body 32 reaches its predetermined upper limit value and lower limit value. Then, the detection signal is output to the controller 51 described later (see FIG. 5). In response to this detection signal, the hot water supply operation to the hot water tank 31 is performed as described later, so that the hot water amount in the tank body 32 (hereinafter referred to as “hot water amount of hot water tank”) is between a predetermined upper limit hot water amount and a lower limit hot water amount. Be controlled.

  A water supply device 1 includes a tap T (water supply source), a main water supply pipe 2, a first water supply valve 3, a second water supply valve 4, a hot water tank water supply passage 5, a reservoir 9 (ice maker water supply unit), and a discharge pipe 12. (Discharge passage). The faucet T is always kept open.

  One end of the main water supply pipe 2 is connected to a faucet T, and the first water supply valve 3 is provided in the middle of the main water supply pipe 2, and the second water supply valve 4 is provided at the other end. The main water supply pipe 2, the first and second water supply valves 3 and 4 are disposed at a position lower than the faucet T and higher than the ice making cylinder 22 and the hot water tank 31 described above.

  The first water supply valve 3 is constituted by a normally closed type ON / OFF type electromagnetic valve. Normally, the main water supply pipe 2 is closed when the main water supply pipe 2 is closed and excited by the control of the controller 51. To do. The second water supply valve 4 is an electromagnetic three-way valve that has one inflow port 4a, first and second outflow ports 4b, 4c, and selectively opens and closes them. A main water supply pipe 2 is connected to the inlet 4a, a hot water tank water supply passage 5 is connected to the first outlet 4b, and water is supplied to the reservoir 9 to the second outlet 4c. A reservoir water supply pipe 10 to be described later is connected. Further, the second water supply valve 4 closes the first and second outlets 4b and 4c, thereby closing the ice supply machine 21 and the hot water tank 31 without supplying water, and the first outlet 4b. A hot water tank water supply mode in which water is supplied only to the hot water tank 31 by opening and an ice maker water supply mode in which water is supplied only to the ice maker 21 by opening the second outlet 4c. The operation is controlled by the controller 51.

  The hot water tank water supply passage 5 is for supplying water from the faucet T to the hot water tank 31, and the upstream water supply pipe 6 connected to the first outlet 4 b of the second water supply valve 4, as described above. It has a downstream water supply pipe 7 connected to the water supply port 32 a of the hot water tank 31, and these upstream and downstream water supply pipes 6, 7 are connected to each other by a fitting 8.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the fitting 8 is a pipe joint having an inverted T-shaped cross section including three pipes of a first inflow portion 8 a, a second inflow portion 8 b, and an outflow portion 8 c that communicate with each other. A discharge pipe 12 is connected to the first inflow portion 8a extending in the vertical direction, and the second inflow portion 8b and the outflow portion 8c extending from the lower end portion of the first inflow portion 8a to the upstream side of the hot water tank water supply passage 5 are connected to the first inflow portion 8a. A side water supply pipe 6 and a downstream side water supply pipe 7 are connected to each other.

  Further, inside the second inflow portion 8b, a throttle wall 8d is provided in the vicinity of the connection portion with the first inflow portion 8a to narrow the passage area. The throttle wall 8d is provided so as to block a half-strong portion from the lower side of the circular passage having a circular section defined by the second inflow portion 8b, and has a horizontal upper surface. A portion of the passage of the second inflow portion 8b constricted by the constricting wall 8d is a narrowed portion 8e. Further, the throttle wall 8d has a first inflow portion 8a at a connection portion with the second inflow portion 8b at a position P1 on the downstream surface of the throttle wall 8d in the water flow direction (XX direction in FIG. 4). It arrange | positions so that it may correspond to the position P2 of the inner wall surface.

  The fitting 8 is disposed at a position lower than the ice making machine 21 and the hot water tank 31. Further, the downstream water supply pipe 7 extends from the outflow portion 8c to a position higher than the hot water tank 31, and the maximum height thereof is equal to that of the main water supply pipe 2 described above.

  The reservoir 9 described above is for storing the water from the faucet T and supplying it to the ice making machine 21, and is lower than the second water supply valve 4 and higher than the water supply opening 22a of the ice making machine 21. Has been placed. A water supply port 9a and a water supply port 9b are provided at the upper end and the lower end of the reservoir 9, respectively. The water supply port 9a is connected to the second outlet 4c of the second water supply valve 4 through the reservoir water supply pipe 10, and the water supply port 9b is connected to the ice machine water supply pipe 11 (ice machine water supply unit). ) To the water supply port 22a of the ice making machine 21 described above. The interior of the reservoir 9 is in communication with the atmosphere. Hereinafter, the reservoir 9, the ice making water supply pipe 11, the ice making cylinder 22, and the ice storage 24 are collectively referred to as "ice making circuit".

  Further, a float type water amount sensor 42 is provided in the reservoir 9, and this water amount sensor 42 is turned ON / OFF when the water level in the reservoir 9 reaches the predetermined upper limit value and lower limit value, The detection signal is output to the controller 51. Since the ice making cylinder 22 and the reservoir 9 are always in communication, the water level in the reservoir 9 is equal to the water level in the ice making cylinder 22. In response to the detection signal of the water amount sensor 42, the water supply operation to the ice making machine 21 is performed as described later, whereby the amount of water in the ice making cylinder 22 is controlled between a predetermined upper limit water amount and a lower limit water amount.

  The discharge pipe 12 is for discharging water in the ice making circuit to the hot water tank 31 through the hot water tank water supply passage 5 when supplying water to the hot water tank 31. Further, the discharge pipe 12 extends upward from the first inflow portion 8a of the fitting 8 described above and branches into a bifurcated portion from the middle, and this branched one end is connected to the drain port 22b of the ice making machine 21 and the other end. The portions are respectively connected to the drain port 24a. As described above, the discharge pipe 12 is connected to the ice making machine 21 and is connected to the narrowed portion 8e via the first inflow portion 8a.

  The controller 51 is composed of a microcomputer composed of an I / O interface, CPU, RAM, ROM and the like, and according to the detection signals from the various sensors 41 and 42 described above according to the control program stored in the ROM, etc. The operation of the water supply apparatus 1 is controlled.

  Specifically, when the amount of water in the ice making cylinder 22 falls below the lower limit water amount due to ice making operation or maintenance in the ice making machine 21, water supply to the ice making machine 21 is performed as follows. That is, the first water supply valve 3 is opened and the second water supply valve 4 is controlled to open the second outlet 4c. Thereby, water from the faucet T is supplied to the reservoir 9 via the main water supply pipe 2 and the reservoir water supply pipe 10, and further supplied to the ice making machine 21 via the ice maker water supply pipe 11. The water supply to the ice making machine 21 is performed until the water amount in the ice making cylinder 22 reaches the above-described upper limit water amount in accordance with the detection signal of the water amount sensor 42.

  When the hot water volume of the hot water tank falls below the lower limit hot water volume described above due to sales or maintenance of hot beverages, water supply to the hot water tank 31 is performed as follows. That is, the first water supply valve 3 is opened and the second water supply valve 4 is controlled to open the first outlet 4b. Thereby, the water from the tap T is supplied to the hot water tank 31 through the main water supply pipe 2 and the hot water tank water supply passage 5. The water supply to the hot water tank 31 is performed until the hot water amount of the hot water tank reaches the above-described upper limit hot water amount according to the detection signal of the hot water sensor 41.

  Further, when water is supplied to the hot water tank 31 as described above, as the water flows through the hot water tank water supply passage 5, the flow rate of the water is increased in the constricted portion 8e of the fitting 8, and a large negative pressure is generated. And by this big negative pressure, a part of the water in the ice making circuit, that is, the reservoir 9, the ice making water supply pipe 11, the ice making cylinder 22 and the ice storage 24 is drawn in, and the drain port 22b, the drain port 24a, The water is discharged to the hot water tank water supply passage 5 through the discharge pipe 12 and the first inflow portion 8a of the fitting 8 (see FIG. 4), and is supplied to the hot water tank 31 together with the water from the tap T. In addition, the thick arrow in FIG. 4 has shown the flow of water.

  Further, when the amount of water in the ice making cylinder 22 falls below the lower limit due to the discharge of water in the ice making circuit accompanying the water supply to the hot water tank 31, the water supply to the ice making machine 21 is as described above. Done.

  Furthermore, passage areas such as the hot water tank water supply passage 5 and the discharge pipe 12 are set so that the ratio of the amount of water supplied from the tap T to the hot water tank 31 and the amount of water discharged from the ice making circuit is 1: 1. ing.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when water is supplied to the hot water tank 31, a part of the water in the ice making circuit is drawn by the negative pressure generated in the constricted portion 8 e and is discharged via the discharge pipe 12. The hot water tank water supply passage 5 is discharged. Therefore, even when the operating frequency of the ice making machine 21 is low, such as in winter, the water in the hot water tank 31 with high execution frequency is accompanied by the inside of the ice making circuit, that is, the reservoir 9, the ice making water supply pipe 11, and the ice making cylinder. 22 and the water in the ice storage 24 can be discharged to the hot water tank water supply passage 5 and replaced, so that the water in the ice making circuit can be prevented from staying for a long time, and therefore the water quality can be maintained. Can do.

  Further, since the water in the ice making circuit is discharged by the negative pressure generated in the constricted portion 8e when the hot water tank 31 is supplied with water, the conventional pump described above becomes unnecessary, whereby the water supply device 1 size reduction and cost reduction can be achieved. Furthermore, since the narrowed portion 8e has a very simple configuration in which the hot water tank water supply passage 5 is narrowed down, it is less likely to fail than the pump, so that the reliability of the water supply apparatus 1 can be improved. Further, since the throttle wall 8d is arranged as described above, the negative pressure generated in the narrowed portion 8e can be effectively applied to the connection portion between the first inflow portion 8a and the second inflow portion 8b. Therefore, the operation of drawing water in the ice making machine circuit by this negative pressure can be appropriately performed.

  Furthermore, passage areas such as the hot water tank water supply passage 5 and the discharge pipe 12 are set such that the ratio of the amount of water supplied from the tap T to the hot water tank 31 and the amount of discharged water discharged from the ice making circuit is 1: 1. Is set. Thereby, the water quality in the ice making circuit can be maintained while securing a sufficient amount of water for making ice in the ice making machine 21.

  6 and 7 show other examples of the narrowed portion. As shown in these drawings, the narrowed portion 8f is provided symmetrically about the first inflow portion 8a from the middle portion of the second inflow portion 8b to the middle portion of the outflow portion 8c. The diameter is larger than the diameter. The cross sections of the transition portions 8g and 8h between the narrowed portion 8f and the second inflow portion 8b and the outflow portion 8c are gently changing. In this case as well, the passage areas such as the hot water tank water supply passage 5 and the discharge pipe 12 are equal to the amount of water supplied from the tap T to the hot water tank 31 and the amount of water discharged from the ice making circuit, as in the above-described embodiment. The ratio is set to 1: 1.

  With the above configuration, even when this narrowed portion 8f is used, the effect of the above-described embodiment can be obtained similarly. Moreover, since the cross sections of the transition portions 8g and 8h are gently changing, vortex loss in this portion can be suppressed, and water supply to the hot water tank 31 can be performed more appropriately.

  In addition, this invention can be implemented in various aspects, without being limited to the described embodiment. For example, in the embodiment, the reservoir 9 and the ice maker water supply pipe 11 are used as the ice maker water supply unit in the present invention. However, any other means capable of supplying water, for example, a tap T of a water supply, may be used. Of course. This also applies to the water supply source in the present invention, and of course, a reservoir or a pressure tank may be used instead of the tap T of the embodiment.

  Moreover, although the passage area of the hot water tank water supply passage 5 and the discharge pipe 12 is used as a factor for setting the ratio of the supply water amount and the discharge water amount to 1: 1, other factors affecting the supply water amount and the discharge water amount are used. Appropriate factors such as the shape and arrangement of the hot water tank water supply passage 5 and the discharge pipe 12 may be used. Furthermore, the ratio of the amount of supplied water and the amount of discharged water is not limited to 1: 1 in the embodiment, and other appropriate values can be adopted. For example, any predetermined value from 1: 1 to 7: 3 can be adopted. It may be set to a value. Moreover, although the auger type is used as the ice making machine 21, it is not limited to this, and any type of ice making machine, for example, a cell type ice making machine can be used.

  Furthermore, although embodiment is an example which applied this invention to the vending machine, this invention is not limited to this, For example, it is applicable to a dispenser. In addition, it is possible to appropriately change the detailed configuration within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows roughly the water supply apparatus by this embodiment with the vending machine to which this is applied. It is an expansion perspective view of fitting. It is the figure which looked at the fitting from the 2nd inflow part side. It is a figure which shows sectional drawing in alignment with line AA of FIG. 3 with the flow of the water at the time of water supply to a hot water tank. It is a block diagram which shows a controller etc. It is the figure which looked at the fitting which has a narrow part different from what is shown in FIG.3 and FIG.4 from the 2nd inflow part side. It is sectional drawing which follows the line BB of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Water supply equipment T Faucet (water supply source)
5 Hot water tank water supply passage 8e Constriction 8f Constriction 9 Reservoir (ice machine water supply)
11 Ice machine water supply pipe (ice machine water supply section)
12 Discharge pipe (discharge passage)
21 Ice machine 31 Hot water tank

Claims (2)

A water supply device for supplying water to an ice maker and a hot water tank,
An ice making water supply unit for supplying water to the ice making machine;
A water supply,
A hot water tank water supply passage connected to the hot water tank and connected to the hot water tank, for supplying water from the water supply source to the hot water tank,
The hot water tank water supply passage is provided with a narrowed portion with a narrowed passage area,
Due to the negative pressure generated in the constricted portion when water is supplied from the water supply source to the hot water tank through the hot water tank water supply passage, connected to the ice making machine and the constricted portion of the hot water tank water supply passage. The water supply apparatus further comprising a discharge passage for discharging water in the ice making machine to the hot water tank water supply passage.   The hot water tank water supply passage and the discharge passage are configured so that a ratio of a supply water amount supplied from the water supply source and a discharge water amount discharged from the ice making machine becomes a predetermined value. The water supply apparatus according to claim 1.

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