JP5260713B2 - Beverage production equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a beverage production device whose cap for sealing a cup is hardly soiled during the production, and is easily washed. <P>SOLUTION: The beverage production device includes: a cup holder 13 for holding the cup 15; the cap 31 for sealing the cup 15 held on the cup holder 13; a rotation shaft 19 which penetrates the cap 31, and has a rotary blade 21 under the cap 31; and a rotation mechanism for rotating the rotation shaft 19. The cap 31 includes: a cylinder part 31a which is fitted to an opening of the cup 15; a body part 31b extending upward from the cylinder part 31a; and a lid part 31c for covering the opening part. The axial section shape of the inside of the body part 31b is a circle at the lower end, and becomes substantially polygonal to fit in the circle toward the upper end. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2013,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a production apparatus for pulverizing and mixing beverage liquids such as water and concentrated juice and beverage solids such as ice, vegetables and fruits into soft ice beverages and juice beverages.

  Conventionally, beverages such as water and concentrated juice in a cup and solids such as vegetables, fruits, and ice are placed in a cup, placed on a cup holder, and then mixed and ground by a cutting blade with a cap on. An apparatus is known (for example, Patent Document 1). In this type of beverage production apparatus, since the beverage is produced in the cup without using a special container, there is an advantage that the cup can be removed from the cup holder after production and used for drinking as it is.

  FIG. 11 is a specific example of the beverage production apparatus, and includes a cup holder 101 that holds the cup 100, a cap 102 that covers the cup 100 held by the cup holder 101, and passes through the cap 102 and rotates to the lower end. A rotating shaft 104 having a blade 103 and a motor (not shown) that rotates the rotating shaft 104 are provided. As shown in FIG. 12, protrusions 105 a, 105 b, and 105 c that extend in the axial direction on the inner surface are provided inside the cap 102 at equal intervals.

  When a beverage is produced by this apparatus, a solid beverage material such as ice, vegetables or fruits and a beverage liquid such as water or concentrated juice are placed in a cup 100 and held in a cup holder 101, and rotated. The cap 102 is put on the cup 100 while the blade 103 is inserted into the cup 100. Then, the rotary blade 103 is rotated by driving the motor. As a result, the beverage solids and the beverage liquid rotate together with the rotary blade 103. Further, the liquid level crawls up on the wall surface in the cup 100 by centrifugal force, reaches the inside of the cap 102, collides with the protrusions 105a, 105b, 105c, and disturbs the rotation of the beverage liquid. As a result, the beverage solids that have been rotated together with the beverage liquid are also thrown out in random directions. Of course, when the beverage solids directly collide with the protrusions 105a, 105b, 105c, they are thrown out in random directions. In this way, the three protrusions 105a, 105b, 105c disturb the rotational movement of the liquid, and the beverage solids are discharged in a random direction, so that the rotational speed of the beverage solids and the rotational speed of the rotary blade are increased. A difference occurs and the beverage solids are cut. Thus, the beverage solids are finely cut and mixed with the beverage liquid to produce a beverage such as juice.

JP 2008-301919 A

  However, in the above-described conventional beverage manufacturing apparatus, beverage solids or beverage liquid vigorously hit the protruding portions 105a, 105b, and 105c provided on the inner side of the cap 102 at the time of manufacture and disturb the rotation. As a result, dirt easily accumulates at the bases of the protrusions 105a, 105b, and 105c, and it takes time and effort to clean.

  The beverage production apparatus of the present invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a beverage production apparatus that can be easily washed because dirt does not accumulate on the cap for covering the cup during production. It is a problem to be solved.

The beverage production apparatus of the present invention is
A cup holder for holding the cup, a cap for covering the cup held by the cup holder, a rotating shaft that passes through the cap and has a rotary blade below the cap, and a rotation for rotating the rotating shaft A beverage production apparatus comprising a mechanism,
The cap includes a cylindrical portion that fits into the opening of the cup, a trunk portion that extends upward from the cylindrical portion, and a lid that covers the opening.
The inner cross-sectional shape of the body portion is a circle at the lower end, and is narrowed down to an approximately polygonal shape with a size that fits in the circle toward the upper end.
Here, the term “substantially polygonal shape” means not only a polygon but also a polygon whose corners are chamfered and rounded, and a shape in which each side of the polygon is expanded radially outward.

  When using the beverage production apparatus of the present invention, first put a beverage solid such as ice, fruit or vegetable and a beverage liquid such as water or concentrated juice into a cup and hold it in a cup holder. Cover the top of with a cap. Then, the rotary blade is rotated by the rotation mechanism. At this time, the beverage solids and the beverage liquid in the cup go around with the rotary blade. In this state, the beverage solids and the rotary blade rotate at the same rotational speed, so that the beverage solids are hardly cut. However, due to the centrifugal force caused by the rotation, the liquid surface becomes a paraboloid and scoops up the inner surface of the cup. Finally, the beverage solids and the beverage liquid reach the cap body from the upper end of the cup. Here, the inner diameter of the cross section inside the body of the cap is a circle at the lower end, but is narrowed down to a substantially polygonal shape with a size that fits in the circle toward the upper end. For this reason, the beverage solid matter is forced to move along a substantially polygonal shape from the circular motion, and the rotational motion of the beverage solid matter is disturbed at the corner portion and falls while being thrown out in various directions. For this reason, a difference arises between the rotational speed of the solid for beverages, and the rotational speed of the rotary blade, and the solids for beverage hitting the cutting blade are cut. Thus, the beverage solids are cut and become finer, and are mixed with the beverage liquid by the rotational movement of the rotary blade to produce a beverage.

  Further, in the beverage production apparatus of the present invention, the inner cross-sectional shape of the trunk is a circle at the lower end, and is narrowed down to become a substantially polygonal shape with a size that fits in the circle toward the upper end. The inner surface of the cap is smooth and dirt does not collect easily, and it is easy and easy to clean.

  The shape of the inner diameter of the cross section toward the upper end of the body portion of the cap can be a substantially triangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape. Moreover, it is preferable that the corners of the polygon in the cross-sectional shape of the body portion of the cap are chamfered and rounded. In this way, the inner surface of the cap becomes smoother, dirt is less likely to accumulate, and cleaning is easier and less time-consuming.

It is a perspective view of the beverage manufacturing apparatus of Example 1. It is sectional drawing of the drink manufacturing apparatus of Example 1. FIG. It is a perspective view of the cap concerning the drink manufacturing apparatus of Example 1. FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in each situation in use of the drink manufacturing apparatus of Example 1. FIG. It is a cross-sectional view of the trunk | drum of the cap concerning the drink manufacturing apparatus of Example 1. FIG. It is a cross-sectional view of the cylindrical part of the cap concerning the drink manufacturing apparatus of Example 1. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in the cylindrical part of the cap in use of the drink manufacturing apparatus of Example 1. FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in the trunk | drum of a cap in use of the drink manufacturing apparatus of Example 1. FIG. It is a perspective view of the cap concerning the drink manufacturing apparatus of Example 2. FIG. It is a perspective view of the cap concerning the drink manufacturing apparatus of Example 3. FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the conventional drink manufacturing apparatus. It is XII-XII arrow sectional drawing of the drink manufacturing apparatus of FIG.

Hereinafter, a beverage production apparatus embodying the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Example 1
FIG. 1 shows an appearance of a beverage production apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. The beverage manufacturing apparatus 1 is installed in a coffee shop, a convenience store, or the like, and serves to provide a favorite soft iced beverage in accordance with customer demands, and includes a housing 3 that is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped container. The front panel 5 of the housing 3 is provided with operation buttons 7 for controlling the driving of a motor 17 described later, and an opening 9 is provided below the front panel 5. The work table 11 extends toward the back at the lower end of the opening 9. A cylindrical container-shaped fixing jig 14 having a circular hole in the bottom surface is attached to the front center of the work table 11, and a cup holder 13 is detachably fitted to the fixing jig 14, A cup 15 is held on the cup holder 13.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the beverage manufacturing apparatus 1. Above the cup holder 13, a motor 17, a rotary shaft 19 connected to the motor shaft, and a rotary blade 21 attached to the lower end of the rotary shaft by a screw 22 are provided. The motor 17 is fixed to one end of a rack 23 whose upper end is bent in an inverted L shape, and is movable in the vertical direction by the rack 23 and the pinion 25. One end of the shaft 25a of the pinion 25 protrudes from the side surface of the housing 3, and an operation lever 27 is attached. A cap support member 29 is screwed to the rotary shaft 19 at a position above the rotary blade 21. The cap 31 is held by the cap support member 29. A spring holder 33 is disposed on the cap 31. The spring holder 33 has a recess 33a, and the coil spring 35 is held in the recess 33a. The rotary shaft 19 passes through the axial center of the coil spring 35 and further passes through the cap 31 and the spring holder 33. The rotating shaft 19 extends through the center of the cap 31. A spring pressing member 37 is attached to the upper end of the rotating shaft 19.

  The structure of the cap 31 will be described with reference to FIG. The lower end of the cap 31 is provided with a cylindrical portion 31a that fits into the opening portion of the cup 15 (see FIG. 2), and the body portion is narrowed down so as to form a substantially equilateral triangle shape upward from the cylindrical portion 31a. 31b extends. The upper end of the body portion 31b is covered with a substantially equilateral triangular lid portion 31c, and a hole 31d through which the rotary shaft 19 (see FIG. 2) is inserted is formed at the center of the lid portion 31c. Further, between the cylindrical portion 31a and the body portion 31b, a flange portion 31e that protrudes in a ring shape in the radially outward direction is formed. As shown in FIG. 5, the cross section of the body portion 31 b has a rounded shape with chamfered corners of a regular triangle. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 6, the cross section of the cylindrical portion 31a has an annular shape.

  The material of the cap 31 is preferably made of an elastic material, for example, silicon rubber. However, the cap 31 may be formed of another elastic body such as fluororubber or plastic.

<How to use>
The usage method of the drink manufacturing apparatus of Example 1 comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated.
As shown in FIG. 4A, by manually pulling up the operating lever 27, the pinion 25 rotates and pushes the rack 23 upward, whereby the motor 17, the rotating shaft 19, the coil spring 35, the spring holder 33, and the cap 31 are moved. It is arranged at the upper standby position. Set in this state, take out the cup 15 together with the cup holder 13, put a predetermined amount of concentrated beverage, water and block ice into the cup 15, and again fit the cup 15 and the cup holder 13 into the fixing jig 14, and operate. Press button 7 to turn it on.

  Then, the operation lever 27 is manually lowered. 4B, the motor 17, the rotary shaft 19, the coil spring 35, the spring holder 33, and the cap 31 are lowered, and the flange portion 31e of the cap 31 is in contact with the upper end of the cup 15. At this time, the coil spring 35 is not compressed.

  When the operation lever 27 is further lowered, the rotary shaft 19 continues to descend, but the cap 31 and the spring holder 33 are held on the cup 15. As the rotary shaft 19 is lowered, the spring pressing member 37 is also lowered. As shown in FIG. 4C, the distance between the spring holder 33 and the spring pressing member 37 is shortened, and the coil spring 35 is compressed. The spring holder 33 is pressed downward by the force. Further, the cap 31 is pressed against the upper end of the cup 15 by the pressing force, and the cup 15 is sealed, and a micro switch (not shown) is turned on so that the motor 17 is automatically driven to rotate the rotating shaft. 19 and the rotary blade 21 rotate, and the liquid in the cup 15 rotates with ice.

  The liquid in the cup 15 is pushed outward by centrifugal force, and the liquid level near the center is lowered. As a result, the liquid level becomes a paraboloid. On the inner surface of the cup 15, the liquid crawls up along the inner wall of the cup 15, exceeds the upper end of the cup 15, and climbs along the inner surface of the cap 31. That is, the edge of the rotary parabolic liquid surface climbs the inner surface of the cap 31. And it extrudes to the radial direction outer side by the influence of centrifugal force, and as shown in FIG. 7, it moves to the cylindrical part 31a inner surface of the cap 31, and the liquid W and the ice I rotate together.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the inner diameter shape of the cross section of the body portion 31 b of the cap 31 is a circle at the lower end, but is narrowed down to become a substantially equilateral triangle having a size that fits in the circle toward the upper end. The liquid W and the ice I are forced to move along a substantially equilateral triangle from the circular motion, and the rotational motion of the liquid W and the ice I that hit the vicinity of the corner of the substantially equilateral triangle is severely disturbed. As a result, the liquid W and the ice I fall while being thrown out in various directions. For this reason, a difference arises between the ice I and the rotational speed of the rotary blade 21 (see FIG. 4), and the ice hitting the cutting blade is cut. Thus, the ice I is cut and becomes fine, and is mixed with the concentrated beverage by the rotational movement of the rotary blade, so that a soft ice beverage is completed.

  Then, the operation lever 27 is raised. As a result, the motor 17, the rotary shaft 19, the coil spring 35, the spring holder 33, and the cap 31 are raised, the flange 31a of the cap 31 is separated from the upper end of the cup 15, the micro switch is turned off, and the motor 17, the rotary shaft 19 and the rotary blade 21 stop and return to the state of FIG. 4A. Then, the cup 15 containing the soft ice beverage is taken out and the soft ice beverage is provided to the customer as it is.

<Washing method>
Next, a method for cleaning the beverage production apparatus of Example 1 will be described.
The parts that are mainly soiled in the present apparatus are the inner surface of the cap 31, the rotary shaft 19, and the rotary blade 21 that are parts that directly touch the beverage. In order to clean these, first, the screw 22 that fixes the rotary blade 21 is loosened to remove the rotary blade 21, and the cap support member 29 that is screwed is loosened and removed. Then, the cap 31 made of silicon resin is extracted from the rotary shaft 19, and further, the spring holder 33 and the coil spring 35 are extracted from the rotary shaft 19.
These are carefully washed with a neutral detergent or the like. Here, since the inside of the cap 31 is a smooth curved surface and no protrusion is provided, dirt on the inside of the cap can be easily removed.
The cap 31, the rotary shaft 19 and the rotary blade 21 which have been cleaned in this way are washed with water, dried with a dryer, and then attached to the original state.

  As described above, the beverage production apparatus according to the first embodiment can provide beverages on the spot according to the customer's request. In addition, since only one cup of different beverage can be made each time, it is possible to answer the diverse needs of customers. Furthermore, since it is a desktop size that can be placed on the counter, it can be installed in fast food stores and convenience stores.

In addition, we can provide fresh beverages according to customers' diverse tastes, and caps, rotating blades, etc. when the next customer does not order the same ingredients, or when the customer is disconnected for more than a few hours, etc. Can be removed and cleaned easily and is hygienic. Furthermore, since the inner surface of the cap is smooth and no protrusions are provided to obstruct the rotation of ice, it becomes easy to remove dirt on the inside of the cap, which tends to get dirty.
In addition, since the beverage can be produced with the material in a disposable thin-walled plastic cup or paper cup, there is no need to clean the container, and maintenance becomes very easy.

(Example 2)
In Example 2, instead of the cap 31 (see FIG. 3) in Example 1, a cap 41 shown in FIG. 9 was used. The lower end of the cap 41 is a cylindrical portion 41a that fits into the opening of the cup 15 (see FIG. 2), and the barrel portion 41b is squeezed so as to form a substantially square shape upward from the cylindrical portion 41a. Is extended. The upper end of the body portion 41b is covered with a substantially square-shaped lid portion 41c, and a hole 41d through which the rotary shaft 19 (see FIG. 2) is inserted is formed at the center of the lid portion 41c. In addition, a flange 41e is formed between the cylindrical portion 41a and the body portion 41b so as to protrude in a ring shape in the radially outward direction. The cross section of the body portion 41b has a rounded shape with chamfered square corners, and the cross section of the cylindrical portion 41a has an annular shape.
Others are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

The inner diameter shape of the cross section of the body 41b of the cap 41 is a circle at the lower end, but is narrowed down to become a substantially square of a size that fits within the circle toward the upper end. For this reason, as with the cap 31 of the first embodiment, the rotational motion of the liquid and ice hitting the substantially square corner is severely disturbed and falls while being thrown out in various directions, and the ice I is cut by the rotary blade 21. The soft iced beverage is made by being mixed with the concentrated beverage by the rotational movement of the rotary blade.
Further, since the inner surface of the cap 41 is smooth and no protrusions are provided to obstruct the rotation of the ice, the dirt inside the cap 41 can be easily removed, which is hygienic.

(Example 3)
In Example 3, instead of the cap 31 (see FIG. 3) in Example 1, a cap 51 shown in FIG. 10 was used. The lower end of the cap 51 is a cylindrical portion 51a that fits into the opening of the cup 15 (see FIG. 2), and a body portion 51b that is narrowed down so as to be substantially rectangular from the cylindrical portion 51a upward. It is extended. The upper end of the trunk portion 51b is covered with a substantially rectangular lid portion 51c, and a hole 51d through which the rotary shaft 19 (see FIG. 2) is inserted is formed at the center of the lid portion 51c. A flange 51e is formed between the cylindrical part 51a and the body part 51b so as to project in a ring shape in the radially outward direction. The cross section of the body 51b has a rounded shape with chamfered rectangular corners. Moreover, the cross section of the cylindrical part 51a is made into an annular shape.
Others are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

The inner diameter shape of the cross section of the body 51b of the cap 51 is a circle at the lower end, but is narrowed down to become a substantially rectangular shape with a size that fits in the circle toward the upper end. For this reason, as with the cap 31 of the first embodiment, the rotational motion of the liquid and ice that hit the substantially rectangular corner is severely disturbed and falls while being thrown out in various directions, and the ice I is cut by the rotary blade 21. The soft iced beverage is made by being mixed with the concentrated beverage by the rotational movement of the rotary blade.
Further, since the inner surface of the cap 51 is smooth and no protrusion is provided, the dirt on the inner side of the cap 51 can be easily removed, which is hygienic.

  The present invention is not limited to the description of the embodiment of the invention. Various modifications may be included in the present invention as long as those skilled in the art can easily conceive without departing from the description of the scope of claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Beverage production apparatus 15 ... Cup 13 ... Cup holder 19 ... Rotating shaft 21 ... Rotating blade 31, 41, 51 ... Cap 31a, 41a, 51a ... Cylindrical part 31b, 41b, 51b ... Body part 31c, 41c, 51c ... Lid Part 17: Motor (rotating mechanism)

Claims (2)

A cup holder for holding the cup; a cap for covering the cup held by the cup holder; a rotary shaft that passes through the cap and has a rotary blade below the cap; and for rotating the rotary shaft A beverage production apparatus comprising a rotation mechanism,
The cap includes a cylindrical portion that fits into the opening of the cup, a trunk portion that extends upward from the cylindrical portion, and a lid that covers the opening.
The beverage manufacturing apparatus characterized in that the inner cross-sectional shape of the body portion is a circle at the lower end, and is narrowed down toward the upper end so as to be a substantially polygonal shape that fits in the circle.   The beverage manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substantially polygonal shape is a substantially triangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape.

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