JP7380247B2 - beverage dispensing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a beverage dispensing device, and more particularly, to a beverage dispensing device that supplies a beverage in a state in which it is placed in a cup, for example.

Conventionally, for example, as a beverage supply device that supplies beverages after being poured into a cup, a stirring mechanism is used to feed beverage raw materials such as powdered raw materials and raw beverage water such as hot water or water into a cup that is conveyed by a conveying mechanism. There is a device that supplies a cooked beverage by stirring the beverage (for example, see Patent Document 1).

In this type of beverage supply device, first, a conveying mechanism transports a cup to the position of a canister containing beverage raw materials, and the beverage raw materials are introduced into the cup. Next, the cup is transported to the cooking position by the transport mechanism, and after the raw beverage water is put into the cup, the paddle member is rotated inside the cup by the stirring mechanism to stir and mix the beverage raw material and the raw beverage water. Thereafter, the beverage is supplied by transporting the cup to the serving position by the transport mechanism.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-309679

BACKGROUND ART In such a beverage supply device, one in which a beverage raw material contains a high viscosity component (thickening component) that improves the viscosity of the beverage is known. Beverages prepared using such high-viscosity components as beverage raw materials have improved viscosity and are therefore useful for some people with dysphagia, such as the elderly, from the perspective of preventing aspiration.

By the way, in a conventional beverage supply device, at the cooking position, after stirring and mixing the beverage raw material and the beverage raw water using the paddle member, hot water constituting the beverage raw water is discharged as rinsing water to the paddle member. Generally, cleaning is performed.

However, as described above, if the beverage ingredients contain high viscosity components, simply discharging rinsing water onto the paddle member will leave the high viscosity components attached to the paddle member, and cleaning the paddle member There was a risk that the process could not be carried out properly.

In addition, in conventional beverage supply devices, hot water constituting drinking raw water is poured into the cup transported to the cooking position by the transport mechanism as washing water, and the paddle member is lowered and rotated with the tip immersed in the washing water. By doing so, the inside of the cup is cleaned periodically to clean the paddle member.

However, if the paddle member continues to rotate with the tip part immersed in the cleaning water, centrifugal force will cause the water level of the cleaning water in the central area inside the cup to be lower than in the surrounding area, and as a result, the paddle member will There was a risk that the members could not be cleaned properly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a beverage dispensing device that can effectively clean a paddle member.

In order to achieve the above object, the beverage supply device according to the present invention, when a beverage supply command is given, causes a conveyance mechanism to transport a cup to a cooking position, and a paddle member to feed beverage raw materials inside the cup. A beverage supply device comprising: a control unit that generates a beverage by stirring raw beverage water; and supplies the beverage by transporting the generated beverage into the cup to a serving position by the conveying mechanism, , a powder tray having an opening at the top and a drainage hole formed at the bottom, and arranged in such a manner that the upper end portion of the wall forming the opening surrounds a part of the conveyance path of the cup by the conveyance mechanism. The beverage raw material includes a high viscosity component that improves the viscosity of the beverage, and the control unit controls the beverage raw water to the paddle member when the cup is conveyed to the serving position. While discharging hot water constituting the powder tray as rinsing water, the paddle member is lowered from a standby position to an advanced position that is an area below the opening of the powder tray, and after discharging the rinsing water is completed, the paddle member is rotated. Afterwards, the paddle member is raised to the standby position, hot water constituting the raw drinking water is discharged to the paddle member as post-rinsing water, and after discharge of the post-rinsing water is completed, a cleaning operation is performed in which the paddle member is rotated. It is characterized by

Further, the beverage supply device according to the present invention, when a beverage supply command is given, causes the conveyance mechanism to convey the cup to the cooking position, and stirs the beverage raw material and the beverage raw water inside the cup using the paddle member. A beverage supply device comprising: a control unit configured to produce a beverage, and supply the beverage by transporting the produced beverage into the cup to a serving position by the transport mechanism, the beverage raw material comprising: The controller includes a high viscosity component that improves the viscosity of the beverage, and when an instruction to clean the inside of the cup is given, the controller causes the transport mechanism to transport the cup to the cooking position and clean the inside of the cup. Inserting hot water constituting the raw drinking water as washing water, lowering the paddle member into the cup to immerse the tip of the paddle member in the washing water, and rotating the paddle member intermittently. It is characterized by causing

The present invention also provides the above-mentioned beverage supply device, which has an opening at the top and a drainage hole at the bottom, and the upper end portion of the wall forming the opening serves as a part of the conveyance path of the cup by the conveyance mechanism. The control unit includes a powder tray disposed in a surrounding manner, and after intermittently rotating the paddle member in response to the instruction to clean the inside of the cup, the control unit controls the transfer mechanism with the paddle member in a lowered state. The present invention is characterized in that the cup is disposed of in the powder tray by conveying the cup.

According to the present invention, the wall has an opening at the top and a drainage hole at the bottom, and the upper end portion of the wall forming the opening is arranged in such a manner that it surrounds a part of the conveyance path of the cup by the conveyance mechanism. The powder tray is provided, the beverage raw material contains a high viscosity component that improves the viscosity of the beverage, and the control unit supplies hot water constituting the beverage raw water to the paddle member when the cup is conveyed to the serving position. While discharging rinsing water, the paddle member is lowered from a standby position to an advanced position that is an area below the opening of the powder tray, and after discharging the rinsing water is completed, the paddle member is rotated, and after rotation, the paddle member is placed on standby. After raising the drinking water to a certain position, the hot water constituting the drinking raw water is discharged as post-rinsing water onto the paddle member, and after the post-rinsing water has been discharged, the cleaning operation of rotating the paddle member is performed, so that high viscosity that has adhered to the paddle member is removed. The slag containing the components can be removed together with the rinsing water, and the paddle member can be effectively cleaned.

Further, according to the present invention, the beverage raw material contains a high viscosity component that improves the viscosity of the beverage, and when a cup cleaning command is given, the control section causes the conveyance mechanism to convey the cup to the cooking position. hot water constituting drinking raw water is poured into the cup as washing water, and the paddle member is lowered into the cup to immerse the tip of the paddle member in the washing water, and the paddle member is intermittently Since the cleaning hot water inside the cup is rotated in a constant manner, it is possible to prevent the water level from continuing in the central area of the cup to be low and the water level to be high in the peripheral area near the inner wall surface of the cup. This has the effect that the paddle member can be cleaned well.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the external configuration of a beverage supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the internal structure of the beverage supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing a characteristic control system of the beverage supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a front view showing an enlarged main part inside the main body cabinet shown in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the discharge main body shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the discharge main body shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the powder tray shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 and a paddle member constituting the stirring mechanism. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the powder tray shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state in which the powder tray shown in FIG. 8 is attached. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing how the powder tray shown in FIG. 8 is attached. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing how the powder tray shown in FIG. 8 is attached. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the procedure for removing the powder tray shown in FIGS. 9 to 11. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure for removing the powder tray shown in FIGS. 9 to 11. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure for removing the powder tray shown in FIGS. 9 to 11. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the contents of the beverage cooking control process executed by the control section shown in FIG. FIG. 16 is a time chart for explaining the operation of the beverage raw water supply unit and the stirring mechanism during beverage cooking in FIG. 15. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of cooking the beverage in FIG. 15. FIG. 18 is a sectional view for explaining the operation of cooking the beverage in FIG. 15. FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of cooking the beverage in FIG. 15. FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the cleaning operation in FIG. 15. FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the cleaning operation in FIG. 15. FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the cleaning operation in FIG. 15. FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the cleaning operation in FIG. 15. FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the cleaning operation in FIG. 15. FIG. 25 is a sectional view for explaining the operation of cleaning the inside of the cup. FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of cleaning the inside of the cup.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a beverage supply device according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 3 each show a beverage dispensing device that is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view showing the external structure, and FIG. 2 is a front view showing the internal structure. , FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing a characteristic control system. The beverage supply device illustrated here is installed, for example, in a store, a nursing care facility, etc., and includes a main body cabinet 1 .

The main body cabinet 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape with an opening (hereinafter also referred to as front opening) 2 on the front surface. The front opening 2 of the main body cabinet 1 is opened and closed by a front door 3 provided swingably around the center axis of a shaft extending vertically at the front right edge of the main body cabinet 1. Ru.

This front door 3 has an opening/closing door 4. The opening/closing door 4 is a door body that opens and closes the outlet 5a constituted by the outlet forming part 5 provided on the front door 3, and is made of a translucent material such as transparent resin, for example. The opening/closing door 4 has a left end portion pivotally supported by the front door 3, and is swingable in the front-rear direction. That is, the opening/closing door 4 can close the outlet 5a when swinging backward, and can open the outlet 5a when swinging forward.

Such a beverage supply device includes a selection section 11, a conveyance mechanism 12, a beverage raw material supply section 13, a high viscosity component supply section 14, a beverage raw water supply section 15, a stirring mechanism 16, a door opening/closing detection section 17, and a door opening/closing locking mechanism 18. and a control section 20.

The selection section 11 is provided above the outlet forming section 5 in the front door 3 . This selection section 11 is a selection means for selecting a beverage, and is composed of a plurality of push buttons. The selection section 11 provides a selection signal to the control section 20 when any of the push buttons is pressed.

The transport mechanism 12 includes a holding section 121, a transport drive section 122, and a position detection section 123. The holding part 121 is for holding the cup C which is a container. The conveyance drive section 122 is configured to include a conveyance motor (not shown), and is driven by a command given from the control section 20 to generate a holding section that receives the cup C from the cup storage section 19 and holds the cup C. 121 is conveyed along a predetermined conveyance path 12a. The position detection section 123 detects the rotation speed of the conveyance motor, etc., and detects the position of the cup C conveyed by the conveyance drive section 122, that is, the position of the holding section 121.

The conveyance path 12a of such a conveyance mechanism 12 is on a straight line along the left-right direction. Incidentally, the cup storage section 19 is installed on the leftmost side in FIG. 2.

The beverage raw material supply section 13 includes a raw material canister 131 and a raw material supply drive section 132. A plurality of raw material canisters 131 (two in the illustrated example) are arranged side by side. These raw material canisters 131 are storage boxes that store powdered raw materials of different types (for example, green tea and roasted tea).

A plurality of raw material supply drive units 132 are provided, and are provided corresponding to the raw material canisters 131. These raw material supply drive units 132 are driven by commands given from the control unit 20, and when driven, discharge a predetermined amount of powdered raw material from the corresponding raw material canister 131, and transfer it to the transport mechanism 12 through the raw material chute 133. It is dispensed into a cup C which is conveyed by.

The high viscosity component supply section 14 includes a high viscosity component canister 141 and a high viscosity component supply drive section 142. The high-viscosity component canister 141 is installed on the right side of the raw material canister 131, more specifically, in the upper region on the rightmost side of the conveyance path 12a. The high-viscosity component canister 141 is a storage box that stores a high-viscosity component called a thickening component in a powder state, such as starch, for improving the viscosity of a beverage.

The high viscosity component supply drive section 142 is provided corresponding to the high viscosity component canister 141. This high viscosity component supply drive unit 142 is driven by a command given from the control unit 20, and when driven, it discharges a predetermined amount of high viscosity component from the high viscosity component canister 141 and drives the high viscosity component supply drive unit 143. , and is dispensed into a cup C that is transported by the transport mechanism 12.

The drinking raw water supply unit 15 is for supplying drinking raw water such as hot water or cold water, and includes a water supply valve 151 and a hot water supply valve 152. The water supply valve 151 is a valve body that opens and closes according to commands given from the control unit 20. When the water supply valve 151 is in an open state, the water supply valve 151 sends out cooling water from a water tank 153 that stores cooling water toward the discharge main body 22 installed on the left side of the raw material canister 131. , when it is in the closed state, the delivery of cooling water is regulated.

The hot water supply valve 152 is a valve body that opens and closes according to commands given from the control unit 20. When the hot water supply valve 152 is in the open state, it sends out hot water of, for example, 85° C. or higher from the hot water tank 154 for storing hot water toward the discharge main body 22, and when it is in the closed state, , which regulates the delivery of hot water.

Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the discharge main body part 22 is installed in the upper region of the cooking position S1 in the conveyance path 12a of the cup C in the conveyance mechanism 12. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the discharge main body 22 has a substantially cylindrical shape with openings at an upper part 22a and a lower part 22b, and the opening area of the lower part 22b is larger than that of the upper part 22a. is also getting bigger. This discharge main body portion 22 is provided with a water discharge port 221 and a hot water discharge port 222 so as to be lined up one after the other. The water discharge port 221 is an opening that discharges the sent cooling water when the water supply valve 151 is in an open state. The hot water discharge port 222 is an opening through which hot water is discharged when the hot water supply valve 152 is in an open state.

The stirring mechanism 16 is installed near the discharge main body section 22 and includes a paddle member 161 and a paddle drive section 162. The paddle member 161 is a conventionally known member in which a stirring blade 161b is attached to the lower end, which is the tip of a rod 161a extending in the vertical direction, and is provided so as to penetrate the discharge main body 22.

The paddle drive section 162 includes an elevation drive section 162a and a rotation drive section 162b. The lift drive section 162a is driven in response to a command given from the control section 20, and when driven, moves the paddle member 161 in the vertical direction. To explain in more detail, the lifting drive unit 162a has a standby position (see FIGS. 5 and 6), which is the upper limit position where the stirring blade 161b is housed inside the discharge main body 22, and a waiting position (see FIGS. 5 and 6) where the stirring blade 161b is housed inside the discharge main body 22, and 161b is for moving the paddle member 161 in the vertical direction between an advanced position, which is a lower limit position located below the discharge main body 22.

The rotation drive unit 162b is driven in response to a command given from the control unit 20, and when driven, rotates the paddle member 161 around the central axis of the rod 161a.

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, a powder tray 23 is disposed below the conveyance path 12a of the cup C by the conveyance mechanism 12. As shown in FIG. 8, the powder tray 23 has a tray opening 23a at the top, a drainage hole 23b at the bottom, and has a substantially box-like shape with the left-right direction being the longitudinal direction. In the powder tray 23, the upper end portions of the front wall 231, the rear wall 232, the left wall 233, and the right wall 234 forming the tray opening 23a pass through a part of the transport path 12a of the cup C by the transport mechanism 12. They are arranged in a surrounding manner. That is, the powder tray 23 is arranged such that the upper end portions of the front wall 231, the rear wall 232, the left wall 233, and the right wall 234 are arranged above the stirring blade 161b of the paddle member 161 that has moved to the advanced position. It is located in

A first notch opening 231a whose upper end is open is formed on the left side of the front wall 231 of the powder tray 23, which is the rear side of the outlet 5a. A position on the rear side of the first notch opening 231a and on the left side of the cooking position S1 is a serving position S2 (see FIG. 4). Further, a second notch opening 234a whose upper end portion is open is formed in a portion of the right side wall portion 234 of the powder tray 23 facing the conveyance path 12a.

The powder tray 23 is for guiding the beverage overflowing from the cup C, hot water used for washing, etc., to a waste container 24 (see FIG. 2) provided in the main body cabinet 1 through a drain hole 23b.

Such a powder tray 23 is provided in the main cabinet 1 by being supported by tray support members 25 disposed on the left and right surfaces of the main cabinet 1, as shown in FIGS. 9 to 11.

On the outer surfaces of the left side wall 233 and right side wall 234 of the powder tray 23, rectangular parallelepiped supported parts 235 are provided spaced apart from each other in the front and rear, respectively, in a manner that projects outward. On the other hand, the tray support member 25 is provided with a placing section 251, a rear regulating section 252, and a stopper section 253. Two placing parts 251 are provided, each of which extends in the front-rear direction so as to protrude inward from the inner surface of the tray support member 25, and is spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction. . The rear restricting portion 252 is provided in a region behind the placing portion 251 on the rear side of the inner surface of the tray support member 25 so as to extend in the vertical direction so as to protrude inward. The stopper portion 253 has a rear end portion pivotally supported on the front side of the tray support member 25, and a front end portion thereof is arranged to be swingable in the vertical direction about the rear end portion. This stopper portion 253 is formed with a protrusion 253a that protrudes downward.

When the supported part 235 is placed on the corresponding placing part 251 and the stopper part 253 is swung downward, the powder tray 23 is moved in the front-back direction by the rear regulating part 252 and the protruding part 253a. It is supported by the tray support member 25 and disposed in a regulated state.

Then, the powder tray 23 can be removed from the main body cabinet 1 in the following manner. That is, as shown in FIG. 12, the stopper portion 253 is swung upward so that a portion of the stopper portion 253 is locked to a portion of the tray support member 25. As a result, the protrusion 253a of the stopper portion 253 is retracted from the front area of the supported portion 235 on the front side of the powder tray 23. Then, as shown in FIG. 13, by displacing the powder tray 23 forward, the supported part 235 on the front side is placed in the front upper area of the placing part 251 on the front side, and the supported part 235 on the rear side is placed in the front area. The powder tray 23 is located in the upper region between the side placing part 251 and the rear side placing part 251, and can be separated from the tray support member 25 by displacing the powder tray 23 downward, as shown in FIG. . Therefore, by displacing the powder tray 23 spaced apart from the tray support member 25 toward the front, it can be removed from the main body cabinet 1. That is, the powder tray 23 is removably provided in the main body cabinet 1.

The door opening/closing detection section 17 is provided in the vicinity of the outlet forming section 5, and is composed of, for example, an optical sensor. The door opening/closing detection unit 17 detects the opening/closing of the outlet 5a by the opening/closing door 4, and more specifically, detects whether the outlet 5a is closed, that is, the opening/closing door 4 is closed. It is something. The door opening/closing detection section 17 provides the control section 20 with a detection result as to whether or not the opening/closing door 4 is closed.

The door opening/closing locking mechanism 18 is provided near the outlet forming part 5. This door opening/closing locking mechanism 18 has two states: a locked state in which the opening/closing door 4 that closes the outlet 5a is held in a closed state and prevents the opening/closing door 4 from swinging forward; 4 can be selectively switched between a released state and a released state that allows the member 4 to swing forward. Such switching of the door opening/closing locking mechanism 18 is performed according to a command given from the control section 20.

The control unit 20 includes the above-mentioned selection unit 11, conveyance mechanism 12, beverage raw material supply unit 13, high viscosity component supply unit 14, beverage raw water supply unit 15, stirring mechanism 16, door opening/closing detection unit 17, and door opening/closing locking mechanism 18. It is electrically connected and controls the operation of each of these parts in an integrated manner according to programs and data stored in a storage section 21 that is also electrically connected.

The control unit 20 may be realized by, for example, causing a processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) to execute a program, that is, by software, or may be realized by hardware such as an IC (Integrated Circuit). Alternatively, it may be realized using a combination of software and hardware.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the contents of the beverage cooking control process executed by the control unit 20 shown in FIG. The operation of the beverage supply device will be explained while explaining the beverage cooking control process. Note that the explanation is based on the assumption that the door opening/closing locking mechanism 18 is in a locked state.

In this beverage cooking control process, the control unit 20 determines whether any push button of the selection unit 11 has been pressed based on whether or not a selection signal has been input (step S101). If it cannot be determined that the selection unit 11 has been pressed (step S101: No), the control unit 20 repeats this process and waits for the selection unit 11 to be pressed.

If it is determined that the selection unit 11 has been pressed (step S101: Yes), the control unit 20 cooks the beverage (step S102). The beverage is prepared as follows. Note that in step S101, it is assumed that a hot beverage containing a high viscosity component is selected. In the case of a hot beverage containing a high viscosity component, the serving temperature thereof is set at 60° C. or higher, which is lower than that of a normal hot beverage (for example, 85° C. or higher).

The control unit 20 drives the conveyance drive unit 122 to hold the cup C received from the cup storage unit 19 in the holding unit 121, and conveys it to the right toward a region below the raw material canister 131 that stores the powdered raw material. When the position detection unit 123 detects that the holding unit 121 (cup C) is placed in the lower area of a predetermined raw material canister 131, the control unit 20 drives the corresponding raw material supply drive unit 132 to a specified position. Pour a certain amount of powdered raw material into cup C. Next, the control unit 20 drives the conveyance mechanism 12 to convey the cup C to the right toward the area below the high-viscosity component canister 141. When the position detection unit 123 detects that the holding unit 121 (cup C) is placed in the lower area of the high viscosity component canister 141, the control unit 20 drives the high viscosity component supply drive unit 142 to supply a predetermined amount of the high viscosity component. The high viscosity component of is added to Cup C.

Then, the control unit 20 drives the conveyance drive unit 122 to convey the cup C to the left toward the cooking position S1. When the position detection section 123 detects that the holding section 121 (cup C) is placed at the cooking position S1, the control section 20 performs cooking as follows.

FIG. 16 is a time chart showing the operations of the beverage raw water supply section 15 and the stirring mechanism 16 during beverage cooking. As shown in FIG. 16, at time t1, the control section 20 drives the elevation drive section 162a to lower the paddle member 161 as shown in FIG. 17. Then, at time t2, the control unit 20 opens the hot water supply valve 152 and the water supply valve 151, so that hot water and cooling water are introduced into the cup C from the hot water outlet 222 and the water outlet 221 in the discharge main body 22. do. When the paddle member 161 descends to the advanced position at time t3 after time t2, the tip of the paddle member 161, such as the stirring blade 161b, is placed inside the cup C, and the control unit 20 stops the lifting drive unit 162a. At the same time, the rotation drive section 162b is driven. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 18, the paddle member 161 rotates around the central axis of the rod 161a. Thereafter, when a predetermined amount of hot water and cooling water are supplied at time t4 after time t3, the control unit 20 closes the hot water supply valve 152 and the water supply valve 151. At this time, the paddle member 161 continues to rotate, and the powder raw material, high viscosity component, and drinking raw water (hot water and cooling water) are stirred. Thereafter, at time t5, the control unit 20 stops the rotation drive unit 162b to stop the rotation of the paddle member 161, and drives the lift drive unit 162a to raise the paddle member 161 as shown in FIG. Then, when the paddle member 161 rises to the standby position at time t6, the control section 20 stops the lifting drive section 162a. As a result, the stirring blade 161b, which is the tip portion of the paddle member 161, is retracted from the cup C and the conveyance path 12a.

Thereafter, the control unit 20 drives the conveyance drive unit 122 to convey the cup C leftward from the cooking position S1 to the serving position S2, and the position detecting unit 123 causes the holding unit 121 (cup C) to be moved to the serving position S2. When it is detected that the beverage has been placed, cooking of the beverage is finished.

The control unit 20 that has cooked the beverage in this way unlocks the closed state of the opening/closing door 4 by the door opening/closing locking mechanism 18 (step S103), and responds to the input of the detection result from the door opening/closing detection unit 17. , it is determined whether the door opening/closing detection unit 17 detects an opening→closing state (step S104).

If the door opening/closing detection section 17 determines that the door opening/closing has not been detected as open→closed (step S104), the control section 20 repeats this process. On the other hand, when it is determined that the door opening/closing detection section 17 detects the change from open to closed (step S104: Yes), the control section 20 determines that the cup C transported to the providing position S2 has been taken out through the takeout port 5a, The opening/closing door 4 is locked in the closed state using the door opening/closing locking mechanism 18 (step S105).

After that, the control unit 20 cleans the paddle member 161 (step S106). This cleaning will be explained. As shown in FIG. 20, the control unit 20 opens the hot water supply valve 152 to discharge a predetermined amount (for example, about 40 milliliters) of hot water from the hot water outlet 222 as rinse hot water. Then, as shown in FIG. 21, the control unit 20 drives the lift drive unit 162a to lower the paddle member 161 from the standby position to the advanced position. When the paddle member 161 is lowered to the advanced position, the control unit 20 closes the hot water supply valve 152 to stop discharging the rinsing hot water, and as shown in FIG. The member 161 is rotated, and the slag adhering to the stirring blade 161b and the like is scattered around by centrifugal force together with the rinsing water, thereby draining the water. In this case, since the stirring blade 161b that has descended to the advanced position is surrounded by the front wall 231, rear wall 232, etc. of the powder tray 23, there is no risk of it scattering to the outside of the powder tray 23. When draining is completed, the control unit 20 causes the rotation drive unit 162b to stop driving and drives the elevation drive unit 162a to raise the paddle member 161 from the advanced position to the standby position. When the paddle member 161 has risen to the standby position, the control unit 20 stops the lifting drive unit 162a and then opens the hot water supply valve 152 to allow hot water to flow from the hot water outlet 222, as shown in FIG. is discharged as post-rinsing water. Thereafter, after discharging a predetermined amount (for example, about 60 milliliters) of the post-rinsing hot water, the control unit 20 closes the hot water supply valve 152 to stop discharging the post-rinsing hot water, and as shown in FIG. The rotation drive unit 162b is driven to rotate the paddle member 161, and after adhering to the stirring blade 161b etc., the rinsing water is scattered around by centrifugal force and drained. In this case, since the stirring blade 161b that has risen to the standby position is surrounded by the discharge main body 22, there is no risk of the post-rinsing hot water being scattered outside the powder tray 23. When draining of the post-rinsing water is completed, the control unit 20 stops the rotation drive unit 162b and finishes cleaning the paddle member 161.

After cleaning the paddle member 161 in this manner, the control unit 20 then returns to the procedure and ends the current beverage cooking control process.

According to this, it is possible to supply the beverage in the cup C to the user who has swung the opening/closing door 4 forward.

By the way, when an operator such as a manager of the beverage supply device issues a cup cleaning command to the control unit 20 by operating the selection unit 11 according to a predetermined time schedule, the control unit 20 Clean the inside of the cup as follows.

The control section 20 drives the conveyance drive section 122 to hold the cup C received from the cup storage section 19 in the holding section 121, and conveys it to the cooking position S1. When the position detection unit 123 detects that the holding unit 121 (cup C) is placed at the cooking position S1, the control unit 20 opens the hot water supply valve 152 to supply hot water from the hot water outlet 222. is discharged into cup C as washing water. At this time, the control section 20 drives the elevation drive section 162a to lower the paddle member 161 to the advanced position. Then, when a predetermined amount of cleaning hot water is discharged, the control section 20 closes the hot water supply valve 152. Further, when the stirring blade 161b is lowered to the advanced position, the stirring blade 161b is immersed in the cleaning water, and the control unit 20 stops the lifting drive unit 162a. Thereafter, the control section 20 repeatedly drives and then stops the rotation drive section 162b, thereby intermittently rotating the paddle member 161 and cleaning the stirring blade 161b, as shown in FIG. 25.

After intermittent rotation of the paddle member 161 is performed for a predetermined period of time, the control unit 20 causes the rotation drive unit 162b to stop driving, and drives the conveyance drive unit 122 with the paddle member 161 placed in the advanced position. The holding part 121 holding the cup C is conveyed, for example, toward the right. In this case, since the paddle member 161 is placed in the advanced position, the paddle member 161 and the cup C collide with each other, and as shown in FIG. I can do it.

After discarding the cup C, the control section 20 drives the lift drive section 162a to raise the paddle member 161 to the standby position, and places the holding section 121 at a predetermined position.

As explained above, in the beverage supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the beverage raw material contains a high viscosity component that improves the viscosity of the beverage, and the control unit 20 controls the cup C at the cooking position S1. After lowering the paddle member 161 into the inside of the cup C, the paddle member 161 is rotated while pouring drinking raw water (hot water and cooling water) into the cup C to stir the beverage raw materials and the drinking raw water to produce a beverage. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the formation of small lumps called clumps due to melting of a portion of the beverage raw material by the raw beverage water, and it is possible to suppress deterioration in the quality of the supplied beverage.

In particular, since the paddle member 161 is rotated while simultaneously injecting the hot water and cooling water that make up the drinking raw water to stir the beverage raw water and the drinking raw water, the temperature can be kept constant and the viscosity of the beverage can be kept constant. can do. Moreover, since there is no need to stir the beverage ingredients containing high viscosity components and hot water and then lower the temperature with cooling water, the serving time can be shortened.

According to the above-mentioned beverage supply device, when the cup C is transported to the serving position, the control unit 20 causes the paddle member 161 to stand by while discharging hot water constituting drinking raw water to the paddle member 161 as rinsing water. The paddle member 161 is lowered from the position to the advance position, which is an area below the tray opening 23a of the powder tray 23, and after the discharging of the rinsing water is completed, the paddle member 161 is rotated, and after the rotation, the paddle member 161 is raised to the standby position. Hot water constituting drinking raw water is discharged as post-rinsing water to the paddle member 161, and after completion of discharging the post-rinsing water, a cleaning operation is performed in which the paddle member 161 is rotated. The slag can be removed together with the rinsing water, and the paddle member 161 can be cleaned well.

Furthermore, since the slag and the like are scattered using centrifugal force, the amount of hot water supplied for rinsing water, post-rinsing water, etc. can be reduced compared to simply supplying hot water to the paddle member 161 for cleaning. In addition, the time required for cleaning can be shortened.

In particular, since the upper end portion of the powder tray 23, such as the front wall 231, is disposed above the stirring blades 161b of the paddle member 161 that has been lowered to the advanced position, even if the paddle member 161 is rotated during cleaning, it will not be used for cleaning. It is possible to prevent hot water etc. from scattering outside the powder tray 23, which is sanitary.

According to the above-mentioned beverage supply device, when a cup cleaning command is given, the control unit 20 causes the conveyance mechanism 12 to convey the cup C to the cooking position S1 to clean the hot water constituting the raw beverage water inside the cup C. At the same time, the paddle member 161 is lowered into the inside of the cup C to immerse the stirring blade 161b of the paddle member 161 in the washing hot water, and the paddle member 161 is intermittently rotated. It is possible to suppress the situation in which the water level of the internal cleaning hot water in the center area of the cup C is low and the water level in the peripheral area near the inner wall surface of the cup C is high, and the paddle member 161 can be cleaned. can be performed well.

According to the above-mentioned beverage supply device, after the controller 20 intermittently rotates the paddle member 161 in response to an instruction to clean the inside of the cup, the conveyor mechanism 12 moves the cup C while the paddle member 161 is lowered. By conveying, the cup C is disposed of in the powder tray 23, so there is no need to remove the cup C used for cleaning the inside of the cup, and an opportunity to serve a beverage is lost due to not removing the cup C. can be prevented.

According to the above-mentioned beverage supply device, the conveyance mechanism 12 conveys the cup C to the serving position S2 after cooking the beverage at the cooking position S1. It is possible to prevent burns on hands and fingers caused by dripping of attached hot water.

According to the above-described beverage supply device, the powder tray 23 supported by the tray support member 25 can be moved forward, then moved downward, and then moved forward to be removed from the main body cabinet 1. The moving distance of the powder tray 23 in the front-back direction can be shortened.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various changes can be made.

In the embodiment described above, the paddle member 161 was rotated intermittently when a cup cleaning command was given, but in the present invention, the paddle member 161 is rotated in one direction around the central axis of the rod. After that, forward and reverse rotation may be repeated so as to rotate it in the other direction. This also prevents the washing water inside the cup from continuously being in a state where the water level in the central area of the cup is low and the water level in the peripheral area of the cup is high, and the paddle member can be cleaned effectively. can be done.

In the embodiment described above, when the inside of the cup is cleaned, the cup C is disposed of in the powder tray 23 by being conveyed by the conveyance mechanism 12 with the paddle member 161 being lowered. However, in the present invention, after the inside of the cup has been cleaned, the cup is once transported to the serving position, and if the opening/closing door is not swung in the opening direction for a predetermined period of time, the cup is transported to the cooking position. After lowering the paddle member, the cup may be transported by the transport mechanism and disposed of in the powder tray.

In addition, since the cup C used for cleaning the inside of the cup is disposed of in the powder tray 23, an operator such as a manager of the beverage supply device instructs the control unit 20 to clean the inside of the cup, as in the above-described embodiment. In addition, the control section can automatically clean the inside of the cup after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, assuming that the control section has been given a command to clean the inside of the cup. According to this, even if the operator forgets to operate the instruction to clean the inside of the cup, hygiene can be ensured by automatically cleaning the inside of the cup.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Main cabinet, 2...Front opening, 3...Front door, 4...Opening/closing door, 5...Takeout port component, 5a...Takeout port, 11...Selection part, 12...Transportation mechanism, 12a...Transportation path, 121...Holding Part, 122... Conveyance drive unit, 123... Position detection unit, 13... Beverage raw material supply unit, 131... Raw material canister, 132... Raw material supply drive unit, 14... High viscosity component supply unit, 141... High viscosity component canister, 142... High viscosity component supply drive unit, 15... Drinking raw water supply unit, 151... Water supply valve, 152... Hot water supply valve, 16... Stirring mechanism, 161... Paddle member, 162... Paddle drive unit, 17... Door opening/closing detection unit, 18 ...Door opening/closing lock mechanism, 20...Control unit, 22...Discharge main unit, 23...Powder tray, 25...Tray support member, C...Cup, S1...Cooking position, S2...Providing position.

Claims (3)

When a beverage supply command is given, the conveyance mechanism transports the cup to the cooking position, and the paddle member stirs the beverage raw material and beverage raw water inside the cup to produce a beverage, and the resulting beverage is A beverage supply device comprising a control unit that supplies the beverage by transporting the beverage into the cup by the transportation mechanism to a serving position, the beverage supply device comprising:
The powder tray has an opening at the top and a drainage hole at the bottom, and the upper end portion of the wall forming the opening surrounds a part of the conveyance path of the cup by the conveyance mechanism. ,
The beverage raw material contains a high viscosity component that improves the viscosity of the beverage,
When the cup is transported to the serving position, the control unit moves the paddle member from the standby position through the opening of the powder tray while discharging hot water constituting the raw drinking water to the paddle member as rinsing water. The paddle member is lowered to an advancing position which is a lower area, and after the discharge of the rinsing water is completed, the paddle member is rotated, and after rotation, the paddle member is raised to the standby position, and then the hot water constituting the raw drinking water is post-rinsed. A beverage dispensing device characterized in that a cleaning operation is performed in which hot water is discharged onto the paddle member and the paddle member is rotated after the discharge of the post-rinsing hot water is completed. When a beverage supply command is given, the conveyance mechanism transports the cup to the cooking position, and the paddle member stirs the beverage raw material and beverage raw water inside the cup to produce a beverage, and the resulting beverage is A beverage supply device comprising a control unit that supplies the beverage by transporting the beverage into the cup by the transportation mechanism to a serving position, the beverage supply device comprising:
The beverage raw material contains a high viscosity component that improves the viscosity of the beverage,
When a cup interior cleaning command is given, the control unit causes the conveyance mechanism to convey the cup to the cooking position and injects hot water constituting the drinking raw water into the cup as cleaning hot water; A beverage dispensing device characterized by lowering a paddle member into the inside of the cup, immersing a tip portion of the paddle member in the washing water, and rotating the paddle member intermittently. The powder tray has an opening at the top and a drainage hole at the bottom, and the upper end portion of the wall forming the opening surrounds a part of the conveyance path of the cup by the conveyance mechanism. ,
The control unit rotates the paddle member intermittently in response to the instruction for cleaning inside the cup, and then transports the cup with the transport mechanism while the paddle member is lowered, thereby transporting the cup. The beverage dispensing device according to claim 2, wherein the powder is disposed of in the powder tray.

Images