JP5526394B2 - Powdered food quantitative server - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a quantitative server that supplies a predetermined amount of powdered food.

There are various powdered foods that are the basis of beverage foods such as coffee, tea, juice, corn soup, and miso soup. A beverage food can be prepared simply by dissolving such powdered food in a liquid such as water, hot water, milk, etc., so that a desired beverage food can be easily and quickly prepared.
Here, since the concentration of beverage food varies depending on the amount of powdered food and liquid, it is necessary to accurately measure powdered food dissolved in a predetermined amount of liquid in order to obtain beverage food of constant quality (thickness) It becomes.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an invention of an automatic beverage supply apparatus provided with a capsule supply mechanism that supplies a predetermined amount of capsules filled with powdered beverage ingredients.

JP 2011-224242 A

  An object of this invention is to implement | achieve the fixed_quantity | quantitative_assay server which can supply a powdered food for every predetermined amount with a simple mechanism.

In the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the powdered food quantitative server has the following configuration.
That is, the powdered food quantification server according to the present invention is a member that forms a weighing chamber for storing a predetermined amount of powdered food, an upper opening for taking the powdered food into the weighing chamber, and a powdered food in the weighing chamber And a shutter member that closes the upper and lower openings of the metering member, and the shutter member is movable in a predetermined direction, An upper opening portion and a lower side that have an upper opening portion that opens an upper opening portion of the measuring member and a lower opening portion that opens a lower opening portion of the measuring member, and which are displaced as the shutter member moves. The opening part has a larger interval in the movement direction than the width of the weighing chamber in the movement direction.

According to said structure, only the upper side opening part of a measurement chamber is open | released and the lower side opening part is closed by displacing the position of the upper side opening part provided in the shutter member, and the upper side opening part by movement of a shutter member. The first state, the second state in which the upper and lower openings of the weighing chamber are both closed, and the third state in which only the lower opening of the weighing chamber is opened and the upper opening is closed. be able to.
In the first state, only the upper opening of the weighing chamber is opened, so that the powdered food is taken into the weighing chamber from the upper opening.
In the second state, since the upper opening and the lower opening of the weighing chamber are both closed, a state where powdered food for the space volume is secured in the weighing chamber is maintained.
In the third state, since only the lower opening of the weighing chamber is opened, the powdered food secured in the weighing chamber is discharged.

And since the second state is always passed during the transition from the first state to the third state, a state in which both the upper opening and the lower opening are opened (including partial opening) should not occur. In addition, the intake of the powdered food into the measuring chamber and the discharge of the powdered food from the measuring chamber are not performed simultaneously. Therefore, the amount of powdered food discharged in the third state is always fixed (for the space capacity of the weighing chamber).
Furthermore, when switching from the first state to the third state, the fine vibration generated by the movement of the shutter member is transmitted to the powdered food, assisting the smooth movement of the powdered food, and effective for accurate measurement of the powdered food. Act on.
Thus, in this invention, the state which ensured the powdered food for the space capacity in the measurement chamber between the 1st state which takes in powdered food into a measurement chamber, and the 3rd state which discharges powdered food from a measurement chamber The second state is maintained, and a simple mechanism of controlling the switching between the first state to the third state by moving the shutter member is employed so that the powdered food can be accurately supplied by a predetermined amount. .

  Moreover, the present invention is characterized in that, in the powder food quantification server, at least one of the side surfaces of the weighing chamber of the weighing member is movable. With such a configuration, the space capacity of the weighing chamber, that is, the amount of powdered food to be supplied can be easily changed.

  The powder food quantification server may further include a powder container for storing the powdered food to be supplied to the weighing member, and the powder container may supply the powdered food to the weighing chamber. In the lower part of the container, and the diameter is reduced toward the supply port. With such a configuration, the powdered food in the powder container can be efficiently guided to the supply port.

  The powder food quantification server may further include a biasing member that biases the shutter member in one of the moving directions. With such a configuration, the operation of the shutter member by the user can be simplified. Moreover, the vibration generated from the urging member further assists the smooth movement of the powdered food. That is, the action of smoothly guiding the food powder in the powder container from the supply port to the measuring chamber is enhanced.

  The powder food quantification server may further include a lid that covers the powder container, wherein the lid includes a storage space for storing a desiccant and the storage space for storing the powder. It has the 1st communication part connected with a body, and the 2nd communication part which connects the said storage space with the exterior, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. With such a configuration, when the powder in the powder container moves into the measuring chamber, the air in the powder container smoothly flows, and the powder moves smoothly. Further, as the air in the powder container moves into the measurement chamber, the air in the desiccant storage space is taken into the powder container as the air moves, so moisture is effectively removed from the powder in the powder container. Can be removed.

  According to the present invention, the process of transitioning from the state in which only the upper opening is opened to the state in which only the lower opening is opened while the opening and closing of the upper and lower openings in the weighing chamber is controlled by the movement of the shutter member. Thus, since the upper and lower openings are both closed, the powdered food can be accurately supplied in predetermined amounts, and the mechanism can be realized by a simple mechanism.

It is a figure which shows the example of installation of the powder server which is an example of the fixed quantity server of the powdered food which concerns on this invention. (A) is a right front perspective view of the powder server according to the present example, and (b) is a left rear perspective view of the powder server according to the present example. It is a figure which illustrates each component which comprises the powder accommodating part of the powder server which concerns on this example. It is AA sectional drawing of the powder server which concerns on this example. It is a perspective view of the measuring member of the powder server concerning this example. It is a perspective view of the shutter member of the powder server concerning this example. It is a figure explaining the positional relationship of the shutter member and the measurement chamber in the powder server concerning this example. It is a figure explaining adjustment of the measurement room in the powder server concerning this example. It is BB sectional drawing of the cover part of the powder server which concerns on this example.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an installation example of a powder server 1 which is an example of a powder food quantitative server according to the present invention. The powder server 1 of this example can be installed in various places such as homes, workplaces (offices), restaurants and restaurants. The powdered food handled in this example includes those that can be used for food as they are, in addition to those that are the basis of beverage foods such as coffee, tea, juice, corn soup, and miso soup. In the following description, powdered food is abbreviated as powder.

  In the example of FIG. 1, four powder servers 1 are installed in a rack 2. If each type of powder server 1 contains different types of powder, the user operates the powder server 1 by placing a container 3 such as a cup below the powder server 1 containing the desired powder. By simply doing, a predetermined amount of the desired powder can be taken out into the container 3.

FIG. 2A shows a right front perspective view of the powder server 1, and FIG. 2B shows a left rear perspective view of the powder server 1.
The powder server 1 of this example has a structure in which the powder container 6 is stacked on the dropping mechanism unit 7, and the powder stored in the powder container 6 is measured and discharged by the dropping mechanism unit 7 by a predetermined amount. It is structured.

In FIG. 3, each component which comprises the powder accommodating part 6 of the powder server 1 is illustrated. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the powder server 1 taken along the line AA.
The powder container 6 of this example supports a container (powder container) 13 that stores powder on the drop mechanism unit 7 by a container support unit 14, and the upper opening of the container 13 is an upper lid 11 a and an inner lid 11 b. It is the structure covered with the cover part 11 which consists of. Further, a card holding portion 15 capable of holding a card describing the contents (powder) of the container 13 is attached to the front side of the container support portion 14.

  The container 13 has an inclined portion 16 that is reduced in diameter in a funnel shape on the lower side of the container, and a tip portion of the container 13 serves as a supply port 17 that supplies powder to the dropping mechanism unit 7 located below the container 13. The inclined portion 16 includes a first inclined portion 16a that is reduced in diameter at a predetermined inclination angle, and a second inclined portion 16b that is reduced in diameter at a steeper inclination angle than the first inclined portion 16a, and a powder container. The powder in 6 can be efficiently guided to the supply port 17 and discharged.

The lid 11 has a structure in which an upper lid 11a further covers an inner lid 11b serving as a lid of the upper opening of the storage container 13, and is in a space formed by the upper lid 11a and the inner lid 11b (hereinafter referred to as a desiccant accommodating space). A desiccant (for example, silica gel) can be disposed on.
In addition, a plurality of communication holes 19 are provided on the bottom surface of the inner lid 11 b, and the desiccant storage space in the lid portion 11 is communicated with the space in the storage container 13 through the plurality of communication holes 19.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 9 which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B of the lid portion of the powder server 1, the upper lid 11a is formed with a plurality of protrusions 18 on the edge portion to be placed on the inner lid 11b. The plurality of protrusions 18 support the upper lid 11a slightly lifted from the inner lid 11b, thereby providing a vertical gap in the overlapping portion of the upper lid 11a and the inner lid 11b. Further, by making the inner diameter of the portion of the upper lid 11a facing the inner lid 11b slightly larger than the outer diameter of the portion of the inner lid 11b facing the upper lid 11a, the overlapping portion of the upper lid 11a and the inner lid 11b is set in the horizontal direction. The gap is provided. Thereby, the desiccant accommodation space in the cover part 11 is connected with the exterior.

Next, the structure of the dropping mechanism unit 7 will be described.
The drop mechanism unit 7 of the present example includes a measuring member 22 that forms a measuring chamber S for measuring powder, and a shutter member 31 that is formed so as to wrap the measuring member 22 in a casing 21 that forms the outer shape thereof. It has a structure.
The casing 21 is provided with openings on the upper and lower surfaces thereof in accordance with the position of the measuring chamber S of the measuring member 22 so as not to hinder the intake of the powder into the measuring chamber S and the discharge of the powder from the measuring chamber S. It is.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the measuring member 22.
The measuring member 22 of this example has a space in which the side surface is covered with a face and the top and bottom are open, and the space becomes a measuring chamber S for measuring powder. The upper opening of the measuring chamber S is aligned with the position of the supply port 17 provided in the storage container 13 and functions as an intake port for taking in powder from the storage container 13. In addition, the lower opening of the measuring chamber S is aligned with the arrangement position of the container 3 such as a cup and functions as a discharge port for discharging the powder to the container 3.
The face 22a that forms one of the side surfaces of the measuring chamber S is movable in a direction in which the space capacity of the measuring chamber S is enlarged or reduced (left-right direction in FIG. 5). An operation portion 24 is joined to the face body 22a via a connecting rod 23. By operating the operation portion 24, the face body 22a can be moved. That is, the space capacity of the measuring chamber S can be changed according to the position of the face piece 22a.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the shutter member 31.
The shutter member 31 of this example has a U-shaped cross section composed of a vertical planar base and two plates extending horizontally from the upper and lower sides of the base. It is arranged so that it wraps around. The shutter member 31 is provided so as to be movable in the depth direction (left-right direction in FIG. 6) of the powder server 1, and the shutter 35 is operated by operating an operation unit 35 joined to the shutter member 31 via a connecting rod 34. The member 31 can be moved.

  Here, the shutter member 31 of this example is provided with openings 32 and 33 in the upper and lower plate materials, respectively. For this reason, by moving the shutter member 31 so that the position of the upper opening 32 matches the position of the measuring chamber S of the measuring member 22, the upper side of the measuring chamber S can be opened. By shifting, the upper side of the measuring chamber S can be closed. Similarly, by moving the shutter member 31 so that the position of the lower opening 33 matches the position of the measuring chamber S of the measuring member 22, the lower side of the measuring chamber S can be opened. By shifting the position, the lower side of the weighing chamber S can be closed.

Further, the upper opening 32 and the lower opening 33 are shifted in the moving direction of the shutter member 31 (left and right direction in FIG. 6), and the interval d is in the moving direction of the shutter member 31. It is larger than the width D of the measuring chamber S. This is because each of the upper opening 32 and the lower opening 33 forms a state in which the measurement member 22 is out of the position of the measurement chamber S.
With the above configuration, according to the position of the shutter member 31, an upper open state in which only the upper side of the measuring chamber S is opened and the lower side is closed as shown in FIG. The upper and lower closed states in which the upper and lower sides of the measuring chamber S are closed together, and the lower open state in which only the lower side of the measuring chamber S is opened and the upper side is closed as shown in FIG. Can do.
In this example, since the width D of the measuring chamber S can be changed according to the position of the face 22a, the upper and lower closed states can be obtained even when the width D of the measuring chamber S is the maximum value. The distance d between the opening 32 and the lower opening 33 is larger than the maximum value of the width D of the measuring chamber S.

  Further, in this example, the upper opening 32 is provided on the front end side of the plate material, and the lower opening is provided on the base side (base side) of the plate material. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, when the weighing chamber S is in the upper open state, the shutter member 31 is pushed in (moved in a direction approaching the measuring member 22), thereby opening the upper open state. Can be switched to a lower open state through a vertically closed state. On the contrary, when the measuring chamber S is in the lower open state, the shutter member 31 is pulled out (moved in a direction away from the measuring member 22), so that the upper open state is passed from the lower open state to the upper and lower closed states. You can switch to

  In this example, an urging member 36 (in this example, a spring) that urges the shutter member 31 in the pull-out direction (a direction away from the measuring member 22) is provided in the casing 21 of the dropping mechanism unit 7. When the user does not operate, the weighing chamber S is opened upward. That is, the user only needs to push the shutter member 31 in order to obtain a predetermined amount of powder.

Here, the arrangement in which the positional relationship between the upper and lower openings 32 and 33 of the shutter member 31 is reversed, that is, the upper opening 32 is provided on the base side (base side) of the plate material, and the lower opening is formed of the plate material. The metering chamber S may be provided on the front end side. In this case, by providing a biasing member 36 that biases the shutter member 31 in the pushing direction (direction approaching the metering member 22), the metering chamber S is not operated by the user. Can be opened upward. That is, the user only needs to perform the pull-out operation of the shutter member 31 in order to obtain a predetermined amount of powder.
The urging member 36 may not be provided. In this case, the shutter member 31 must be pushed and pulled out in order to obtain a predetermined amount of powder.

Next, operation | movement of the powder server 1 of this example is demonstrated.
In a state before the user operates, as shown in FIG. 4A, the shutter member 31 is urged away from the measuring member 22 by the urging member 36, and the measuring chamber S is in the upper open state. It has become. That is, the upper side of the weighing chamber S is opened and connected to the supply port 17 of the container 13, while the lower side of the weighing chamber S is closed. Thereby, the powder for the space capacity of the measuring chamber S is taken into the measuring chamber S from the storage container 13.

  When the operation unit 35 is pushed in from this state, the shutter member 31 is pushed in conjunction, and the measuring chamber S is closed up and down as shown in FIG. 4B. That is, the upper side of the measuring chamber S is closed and the lower side of the measuring chamber S is also closed. Thereby, the state which ensured the powder for the space volume in the measurement chamber S is maintained.

  When the operation unit 35 is further pushed in from this state, as shown in FIG. 4C, the measuring chamber S is in a lower open state. That is, the lower side of the measuring chamber S is opened while the upper side of the measuring chamber S is closed. Thereby, the powder ensured in the measurement chamber S is discharged into a container 3 such as a cup disposed under the powder. That is, a predetermined amount (space capacity of the measuring chamber S) of powder is taken out into the container 3.

  Thus, in the powder server 1 of this example, during the transition from the upper open state in which the powder is taken into the measuring chamber S to the lower open state in which the powder is discharged from the measuring chamber S, the space capacity in the measuring chamber S is increased. Therefore, the upper and lower openings of the measuring chamber S are not opened together (including partially opened). For this reason, taking-in of the powder into the measuring chamber S and discharging of the powder from the measuring chamber S are not performed simultaneously. Therefore, the amount of powder discharged in the lower open state is always a fixed amount (for the space capacity of the measuring chamber S).

Thereafter, when the user releases the operation unit 35, the shutter member 31 returns to the direction away from the measuring member 22 by the urging force of the urging member 36, and the measuring chamber S, which is in the lower open state, is in the upper and lower closed state. After that, it returns to the upper open state. As a result, the powder corresponding to the space capacity of the measuring chamber S is again taken into the measuring chamber S from the storage container 13.
Further, the vibration generated by the movement of the shutter member 31 (and the urging force of the urging member 36) propagates to the container 13 and is also transmitted to the powder in the container 13 to supply the powder in the container 13. There is an effect of smoothly leading from the mouth 17 to the measuring chamber S.

Here, the space in the storage container 13 communicates with the outside through the communication hole 19 provided in the inner lid 11b and the gap between the upper lid 11a and the inner lid 11b, and the powder in the storage container 13 is transferred to the outside. Since the air in the container 13 flows smoothly when moving into the measuring chamber S, the powder moves smoothly.
In addition, the air in the desiccant storage space formed inside the lid 11 is kept in a dry state by the desiccant, and the air when the powder in the storage container 13 moves into the measuring chamber S. It is taken into the storage container 13 with the movement. Thereby, moisture can be effectively removed from the powder in the container 13.

As described above, in the powder server 1 of this example, a mechanism for accurately supplying a predetermined amount of powdered food is realized by a simple mechanism.
In this example, the upper and lower openings in the measuring chamber S of the measuring member 22 are aligned in the vertical direction, and the shutter member 31 is horizontally moved to open and close, but these directions are practically effective. It may be slanted, and the point is that the powder may be taken into the measuring chamber S and discharged without any trouble in the measuring chamber S.

Next, adjustment of the space capacity of the measuring chamber S formed by the measuring member 22 will be described.
FIG. 8 shows a state in which the measuring member 22 is viewed in cross section in the plane direction. In this example, one end of the connecting rod 23 is rotatably provided to the face body 22 a forming one of the side surfaces of the measuring chamber S, and the operation portion 24 is joined to the other end of the connecting rod 23. The connecting rod 23 is passed through a hole provided in the connecting rod support portion 25 and supported by the connecting rod support portion 25. Further, a thread is formed on the connecting rod 23, and a thread groove is formed in the hole of the connecting rod support 25, so that the rotation of the connecting rod 23 is converted into movement in the axial direction (left-right direction in FIG. 8). It is.
For this reason, by operating the operation part 24 and rotating the connecting rod 23, the connecting rod 23 moves in the axial direction, and the face body 22a also moves accordingly. Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the width D of the measuring chamber S can be changed, so that the space capacity of the measuring chamber S can be arbitrarily adjusted.

In this example, the surface of the shutter member 31 facing the operation unit 35 is movable, but other surfaces may be moved.
In this example, the shape of the measuring chamber S is a cubic shape so that the space capacity of the measuring chamber S can be easily adjusted. However, the shape is not limited to this shape, and other shapes may be adopted.

  In this example, the shutter member 31 is manually moved. However, the shutter member 31 may be automatically moved using an electrically driven component. That is, for example, a mechanism that moves the shutter member 31 using a driving unit such as a motor or a solenoid, a switch unit that receives a pressing operation from a user, and a control unit that controls the operation of the driving unit are provided. By controlling the operation of the drive unit by the control unit in response to receiving the pressing operation, the shutter member 31 has a predetermined movement (for example, an upper open state (initial state), an upper and lower closed state, a lower open state, A series of movements of transition in the order of the up / down closed state and the upper open state) may be performed.

  1: powder server, 2: rack, 3: container, 6: powder container, 7: drop mechanism, 11a: upper lid, 11b: inner lid, 13: container (powder container), 14: container support, 15: Card holding portion, 21: Housing, 22: Measuring member, 23: Connecting rod, 24: Operating portion, 25: Connecting rod supporting portion, 31: Shutter member, 34: Connecting rod, 35: Operating portion, 36: Biasing member

Claims (4)

A powder container that has a supply port at the lower part thereof and has a shape that decreases in diameter toward the supply port;
Located in the lower part of the powder container and opened in a substantially vertical direction aligned with the supply port by the upper opening and the lower opening in order to drop the powdered food stored in the powder container. A weighing member having a weighing chamber,
A shutter member that covers the upper surface side of the measuring member; a plate member that covers the lower surface side of the measuring member; and a base that connects the two plate members; and a shutter member that moves the two plate members in a substantially horizontal direction; With
An opening for opening the upper opening of the weighing chamber is provided in the plate member on the upper surface side of the shutter member, and an opening for opening the lower opening of the weighing chamber is provided in the plate member on the lower surface side of the shutter member,
Further, the opening provided in the plate member on the upper surface side of the shutter member and the opening provided in the plate material on the lower surface side of the shutter member are arranged so as to be shifted in a substantially horizontal direction, and the interval between these openings is measured by the measurement. Set larger than the width of the room in the horizontal direction,
By moving the shutter member in a substantially horizontal direction, the upper opening of the weighing chamber is opened and the lower opening is closed via the upper and lower closed states in which the upper opening and the lower opening of the weighing chamber are both closed. A powder food quantification server characterized in that it can be switched between an upper open state in which the opening is closed and a lower open state in which the lower opening of the weighing chamber is open and the upper opening is closed . 2. The powder food quantification server according to claim 1, wherein a part of the weighing member forming at least one of the side surfaces of the weighing chamber can be moved, and the volume of the weighing chamber can be adjusted . 3. The powdered food quantitative server according to claim 1, further comprising an urging member that urges the shutter member to return the lower open state to the upper open state . A lid that covers an opening provided in the upper part of the powder container;
The lid includes a storage space for storing a desiccant, a first communication portion for communicating the storage space with the interior of the powder container, and a second communication portion for communicating the storage space with the outside of the powder container. The quantification server for powdered food according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by comprising:

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