JPH02274208A - Tea supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically prepare tea with desired concentration by providing a concentration sensor in a tea circulating path in a circulating pump to stop the circulating pump when the concentration of tea reaches predetermined concentration. CONSTITUTION:The bottom of an extracting pot 7 is connected to the intake side of a circulating pump 13 through a circulating pipe 17 and a circulating pipe 21 is connected to the discharge side of the circulating pump 13 and in common to the end side of a hot water supply pipe 15 and a hot water supply circulating pipe 18 so that the end of the pipe 21 is opened above an extracting tray 5. The whole or a portion of said pipe 18 is made of a transparent body. A concentration sensor 49 for detecting the concentration of tea extracted and received in the extracting pot 7 detects the concentration of tea according to a light-receiving amount by a light receiving element. The tea in said pot 7 is again conducted above the extracting tray 5 and expelled by the circulating pump 13 to pass through a tea bag 60 on the extracting tray 5 for densifying its concentration. The detecting signal of the sensor is inputted to a microcomputer to stop the circulating pump when the concentration of tea is controlled and reaches desired one.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a tea dispensing device that can easily extract tea of any concentration. It is also applicable to coffee extraction.

(Prior Art) A common method for preparing Japanese tea is to put tea leaves in a teapot, pour hot water over the teapot, and then strain the tea leaves at an appropriate time while pouring them into a teacup. Therefore.

The concentration of the extracted tea must be determined solely by the taste of the person making the tea.
There is a huge variation in strength and taste.

In addition, the above operations are troublesome, and in recent years the demand for Japanese tea has reached a plateau.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a tea serving device that can brew tea of a desired concentration with simple operation. The purpose is to

Another object of the present invention is to provide a tea serving device that can automatically brew tea of a desired concentration.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a tea serving device that can be used not only to brew Japanese tea and black tea but also to brew coffee.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a water boiling pot for storing water and boiling water;
an extractor that supports a tea bag and extracts tea by passing hot water in the kettle pot sent by a hot water pump through the tea bag; an extraction pot that receives the tea extracted in the extractor; The invention is characterized by comprising a circulation pump for passing the tea through the tea bag on the brewing tray and returning it to the brewing pot, and a tea supply valve for discharging the tea in the brewing pot.

A concentration sensor may be provided in the tea circulation path of the circulation pump, and the circulation pump may be stopped when the tea concentration in the circulation path reaches a predetermined concentration.

The concentration of tea may be arbitrarily converted by converting the comparison level of the concentration sensor output.

(Function) The hot water in the kettle is sent to the extractor to be extracted as tea through the tea bag, and then received in the bean extraction pot. The tea in the brewing pot is passed through the tea bags on the brewing tray by a circulation pump. As the tea circulates in this way, the concentration of the tea increases, and when the desired concentration is reached, the circulation pump is stopped. The desired concentration of tea in the brewing pot can be received into a teacup or the like by opening the tea supply valve.

By providing a concentration sensor in the tea circulation path and stopping the circulation pump when the tea concentration reaches a predetermined concentration, tea with a constant concentration can be automatically extracted.

By making it possible to convert the comparison level of the concentration sensor output, tea of any desired concentration can be extracted.

(Example) An example of the tea serving device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to one drawing.

First, the outline of the tea serving device according to the present invention will be explained. 1st
In the figure, the water boiling pot indicated by the reference numeral 3 is used to store water and boil the water.The hot water boiled in the water boiling pot 3 is sent above the extractor 5 by the hot water pump 9, and is placed in the extraction tray 5. released upwards. The extractor 5 supports a tea bag 60, passes the hot water sent through the tea bag 60, and extracts tea. The tea extracted in the extractor 5 is received in the brewing pot 7.

The tea in the brewing pot 7 is again guided above the extractor 5 by the circulation pump 13 and discharged, and is passed through the tea bag 6o on the extractor 5 to increase its concentration. Therefore, it is only necessary to circulate the tea until the desired concentration is achieved. The tea bags 60 are supplied onto the brewing tray 5 in order from among the tea bags 60 stored in advance in the tea bag storage box 25 in large numbers. This tea bag 60 is supplied by a bag supply lever 55. A tea supply valve 11 for discharging the tea in the extraction pot 7 is provided at the bottom of the extraction pot 7. A pot or teapot 23 can be placed below the brewing pot 7, and the teapot 23 or the like receives the tea discharged from the tea supply valve 11. Tea supply valve 1 shown in Figure 1
Although 1 is a valve that is opened and closed manually, it may also be an electromagnetic valve that is opened and closed using a solenoid or the like. In the explanation of the operation described below, it is assumed that an electromagnetic valve is used. Each component described above is integrally provided within the main body of the tea serving apparatus.

Next, each component will be explained in more detail. A hot water pipe 15 is connected to the discharge side of the hot water pump 9, which leads the hot water in the water boiling pot 3 to the upper part of the extractor 5.6 Also, the bottom of the extraction pot 7 and the suction side of the ring pump 13 are connected to a circulation pipe. 17, and a circulation pipe 21 for guiding tea above the extractor 5 is connected to the discharge side of the circulation pump 13. However, the tip side of the hot water supply pipe 15 and the tip side of the circulation pipe 21 are commonly connected to one supply circulation pipe 18, and the tip of the supply circulation pipe 18 is open above the extractor 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, a part of the circulation pipe 17 is drawn into the kettle 3, and constitutes a heat exchange section 19 for warming the tea passing through the pipe 17 with the hot water in the kettle 3. There is. Further, the other circulation pipe 21 and the hot water supply pipe 15 are provided with check valves 41 and 39 to prevent backflow. A heater 47 is provided at the bottom of the kettle 3 to boil the water stored in the kettle 3.

All or part of the hot water circulation pipe 18 is made of a transparent material, and a concentration sensor 49 is provided in this transparent portion to detect the concentration of the tea that has been extracted and received in the brewing pot 7. . The concentration sensor 49 includes, for example, a light emitting element and a light emitted from the light emitting element and the extraction pot 7.
A light-receiving element that receives a light beam that passes through the tea in the container can be configured to detect the concentration of tea using the light-receiving element of the light-receiving element. Note that the concentration sensor does not necessarily need to be provided at the position of the supply circulation pipe 18;
Anywhere in the tea circulation path by the circulation pump 13 may be used. For example, the concentration of tea in the brewing pot 7 may be detected.

In FIGS. 1 and 3, the tea bag storage box 2
A receiving plate 28 is vertically slidably inserted into the interior of the housing 5. The receiving plate 28 is biased upward by a spring 29 and can rise to at least the upper end of the storage box 25. A ceiling plate 26 can be set at the upper end of the storage box 25, and when the ceiling plate 26 is closed, a bag supply opening is provided on the side surface between the ceiling plate 26 and the upper end of the main body of the storage box 25. 27 is formed. A large number of tea bags 60 can be stored in the storage box 25 in a stacked state. The tea bags 60 stored in the storage box 25 are pushed up by the receiving plate 28 based on the biasing force of the spring 29, and the tea bags 60 in the top row
is pressed against the ceiling board 26. Tea bag 60 is
It may be in the form of a generally commercially available tea bag, or it may be, for example, a filter paper molded into a dish shape, in which tea leaves are placed, and the tea leaves are further enclosed in filter paper.

1 to 3, the bag supply lever 5
5 is connected via a horizontal shaft to a lever support 35 fitted and attached to the output shaft 34 of the bag supply/discharge motor 33. Therefore, the lever 55 can reciprocate in a horizontal plane due to the reciprocating rotation of the motor 33, and can also rotate in a vertical plane. The above lever 55
The range of rotation in the horizontal plane is from the position of the tea bag storage box 25 to passing over the receiver 37, as shown in FIG. The extractor 5 is arranged within the rotation range of the lever 55 from the side of the tea bag storage box 25 to the side of the tea leaf receiver 37. The extractor 5 is installed by fitting it into the upper end of the extraction pot 7. The extractor 5 has a plurality of semicircular guides 52 formed concentrically at regular intervals along the rotation locus of the lever 55. Above the center of the rotation range of the lever 55, the supply circulation pipe 18
The outlet is open so that hot water or tea discharged from the outlet can be received into the brewing pot 7 through the gap 53 between the guides 52 of the brewer 5.

The bag supply lever 55 has downward protrusions 56 and 57 at the front and rear in the horizontal rotation direction. This protrusion 56 is inserted into the tea bag supply box 25 when the lever 55 rotates clockwise in FIG.
Through the window hole 31 of the ceiling plate 26, the tea bag 6o climbs onto the topmost tea bag 6o in the box 25, climbs over again, and falls behind the tea bag 60. The position of the lever 55 at this time is the bag receiving position, which is detected by a predetermined sensor. Thereafter, when the lever 55 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction as shown in FIG.

In this way, the position where the lever 55 moves the tea bag 60 directly above the extraction bot 7 is the extraction position, and this position is detected by a predetermined sensor. The lever 55 further rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 2 to move the tea bag 60 from the extraction position toward the tea leaf receiver 37, and the position shifted from the extraction position is the heat retention position, and this position is also Detected by a predetermined sensor. By reversing the motor 33 from this warming position, it can be returned to the extraction position, and at this time, the protrusion 57 at the rear of the lever 55 hooks the tea bag 60 and
Return 0 to the extraction position. The position where the lever 55 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 2 and passes the position of the tea receiver 37 is the tea leaves discharge position, and the tea bag 60 that has been used enough and has no tea leaves is removed from the protrusion 56 of the lever 55. .5
It falls naturally from between 7 and is stored in the tray 37. The above-mentioned discharge position is also detected by a predetermined sensor. 6.The bag supply lever position sensor 5
1 (see Figure 4).

Note that the extraction pot 7 has a handle 74. The water boiler 3 also has a lid 81 with a valve 83. The valve 83 has a function of releasing steam in the bot 3 to prevent the steam pressure from rising abnormally, and also has a function of preventing hot water from spilling out when the bot 3 is turned upside down.

In addition to the bag supply lever position sensor 51 and the concentration sensor 49, each part is provided with various sensors depending on its purpose. Detection signals from each sensor are input to a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as "microcomputer"), and the pump, motor, and other components are controlled by the microcomputer according to the output of each sensor. The fourth @ shows an example of this control system.

In FIG. 4, the water level sensor 43 is used to detect whether the water in the kettle 3 is above a predetermined amount. For example, it detects changes in the water level using a light emitting element and a light receiving element arranged opposite each other. The temperature sensor 45 may be an optical sensor that detects water, or may be a sensor that detects water. ing. The tip sensor 75 is for detecting the presence or absence of a tip or the teapot 23 or the like, and is provided at a portion where the teapot 23 or the like is to be placed. The bag sensor 61 is connected to the tea bag storage box 2.
It is detected whether there is a tea bag 60 in the tea bag 5. The bang sensor 61 may be a mechanical contact type sensor or may be an optical sensor.

The water amount sensor 43. Bag sensor 61, bag supply lever position sensor 51, concentration sensor 49, tip sensor 7
5 and the temperature sensor 45 are input to the microcomputer 67. Back to the microcomputer 67. Signals are also input from a power switch 79, such as a push button, an extraction start switch 77, a tea supply switch 91, and a hot water amount setting means 95.

The microcomputer 67 controls the heater 47. based on the commands from the switches 77.79.91 and the hot water amount setting means 95, and also based on the signals from the sensors 4. hot water pump 9
．． The operations of the circulation pump 13 and the bag supply/discharge motor 33 are controlled via appropriate drive circuits, and the tea supply solenoid 89 for opening and closing the tea supply valve 11 is controlled via an appropriate drive circuit. The microcomputer 67 further includes a power display LED 69, an alarm LED 71, and an alarm sounding body 7.
Controls the operation of 3.

Next, the operation of the embodiment described above will be explained in FIGS. 5 and 6.
This will be explained in conjunction with the figures.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the operation of the above embodiment.
When you press the start switch after setting various values such as concentration, the hot water pump 9 is started and a predetermined amount of hot water is supplied to the extraction pot 7, and then the bag supply and discharge motor 33
When activated, the tea bag 60 is supplied onto the brewing plate S, and the tea bag 60 is supported on the brewing plate 5. Next, the circulation pump 13 is started and hot water is circulated from the brew pot 7 through the circulation pipe 17.21 and the hot water supply circulation pipe 18, and during this time, the hot water is poured into the tea bag 60 on the brewing tray 5.
Tea is extracted by passing through the

Then, the concentration of the extracted tea is detected by a concentration sensor 49, and the extraction is stopped when a predetermined concentration is reached. In addition, by circulating the tea with the tea bag 60 moved to the heat retention position, that is, the position retracted from above the brewing bot 7 by the lever 55, the temperature of the tea is brought to approximately the same temperature as the hot water in the kettle 3. Keep warm. The tea thus maintained at a predetermined concentration and temperature can be prepared by pressing the tea supply switch 91 to drive the tea supply solenoid 89 or by pressing the tea supply lever 92.
By manually operating the tea valve 11 to open the tea supply valve 11, tea is supplied to the cup or teapot 23.

FIG. 6 shows the operation of the above embodiment in more detail.

Now, set the concentration and temperature of the tea you are about to brew,
When the power switch 79 is pressed to turn on the power, there is a step of determining the amount of water in the kettle 3, a step of determining the presence or absence of tea bags in the tea bag storage box 25, and a step in which the circulation pump 13 is turned off and the bag supply/discharge motor 33 is activated. Proceed to the step to turn on.

If the water amount sensor 43 detects that the amount of water in the kettle 3 is below a predetermined amount in the water amount determination step, it lights up the alarm LED 69 and also drives the alarm sounding body 73 to issue an alarm, Encourage replenishment of If the amount of water is more than a predetermined amount, the heater 47 is turned on and the water in the kettle 3 is heated to boil the water. The temperature of hot water is measured by temperature sensor 4
5 and boils water at a preset temperature. Therefore, by setting the temperature arbitrarily, it is possible to boil water at a desired temperature.

On the other hand, when the sensor 61 detects that there is no tea bag in the tea bag storage box 25 in the step of determining the presence or absence of a bag, the warning LED 71 is blinked to indicate this, and the tea bag is refilled. encourage. If there is a tea bag, the bag supply/discharge motor 33 is activated and the bag supply lever 55 is rotated to supply the tea bag onto the extraction tray 5. At this time, the bag supply motor 33 continues until the bag supply lever position sensor 51 detects the extraction position.
is turned on, and when the bag supply and discharge motor 33 reaches the extraction position, the bag supply and discharge motor 33 is turned off.

When the water is boiled in the water boiler bot 3, the brewing start switch 77 is pressed to start brewing tea. Upon start of extraction, the hot water supply pump 9 is first activated to supply hot water from the water boiler 3 to the extraction bottle 1-7. The amount of hot water is
The time is controlled based on the value set in advance by the hot water amount setting means 95, and hot water is supplied until the time required to supply a predetermined amount of hot water has elapsed. However, if a flow rate sensor is used, the amount of hot water supplied can be controlled not by time control but by the flow rate itself.

With the above extraction start, on the other hand, the bag supply lever 5
5 is located, in other words, it is determined where the tea bag 60 is located. As a result of this judgment, if it is at the brewing position, the circulation pump 13 is activated at that position, and tea is extracted while passing hot water in the brewing bot 7 through the tea bag 60 on the brewing plate 5. Further, if the bag supply lever 55 is in the heat retention position, the bag supply and discharge motor 33 is activated to move the bag supply lever 55 to the extraction position.

Then, the circulation pump 13 is started to brew tea. Furthermore, if the bag supply lever 55 is in the ejection position at the start of extraction, the tea bag 60 has been ejected from the extraction tray 5, so the bag supply and ejection motor 33 is reversed to allow the bag supply lever 55 to accept the tea bag. position and press the front and rear protrusions 5 of the bag supply lever 55.
6. Receive 60 tea bags during 57 hours. In this state, the motor 33 is rotated forward to move the bag supply lever 55 and therefore the tea bag 6o to the extraction position, and the motor 3
3 is stopped, and the process proceeds to an extraction step in which the circulation pump 13 is driven.

Tea is extracted by driving the circulation pump 13 while determining whether the concentration of the extracted tea has reached a set concentration based on the detection output of the concentration sensor 49. When the set concentration is reached, the bag supply and discharge motor 33
is activated to move the bag supply lever 55 to the warming position and proceed to the next warming tip. Note that by converting the set value of the tea concentration, the tea concentration can be arbitrarily converted to a desired concentration. For example, in the comparison section,
The density can be arbitrarily converted by converting the comparison level, such as converting the reference level according to the density setting value or converting the actual density signal level obtained by the density sensor 49.

In the heat retention step, the tea is circulated by the circulation pump 13, while the tea in the circulation path is raised to a temperature equivalent to the temperature of the hot water in the kettle 3 by the heat exchanger 19. This heat retention operation is performed only for the time required to raise the temperature of the tea in the circulation path to the same temperature as the hot water in the kettle 3, and after that time, the circulation pump 13
to end the heat retention operation. This heat retention operation is extremely effective for automatic tea dispensing devices. That is, the hot water in the kettle 3 is kept at a temperature suitable for brewing tea, but as this hot water is passed through the tea bag 60 on the extractor 5, the tea bag 6o is heated and the tea is extracted. The temperature of the tea leaves is much lower than the temperature suitable for making tea. In particular, if the tea bag 60 has already been used and is in a wet state, the temperature of the tea bag 60 will drop quickly and a large amount of heat will be taken away when the hot water passes through the tea bag 60. There is also a noticeable drop in the temperature of the tea. However, according to the above embodiment, after brewing tea with a predetermined concentration, the tea is circulated and kept at the same temperature as the hot water in the kettle 3, making it possible to always provide delicious tea at the desired temperature. can.

When the heat retention operation is completed, the presence or absence of a pot is determined based on the signal from the pot sensor 75, and if there is no pot or teapot 23, the alarm LED 71 lights up and the alarm sounding body 73
When activated, an alarm is issued and the user is prompted to set the tip.

If a teacup or the like is set, the tea supply solenoid 89 is turned on by pressing the tea supply switch 91, the tea supply valve 11 is opened, and the tea in the brewing pot 7 is supplied to the teapot 23 or the like. Note that a regular tea bowl may be used instead of the teapot 23.

The circulation time is measured during the extraction operation driven by the circulation pump 13, and if the predetermined concentration is not reached even after the preset circulation time has elapsed, the tea bag 6o on the extractor 5 is used more than enough. Since this means that the water is starting from tea, the circulation pump 13 is stopped and the motor 33 is started.

The bag supply lever 55 is moved to the discharge position, and the tea on the extractor S is discharged into the discharge box 37.

After that, the motor 33 is reversed and the bag supply lever 55
the motor 33 to the tea bag receiving position.
Returning to the above-mentioned bag supply step by driving the . below,
The tea serving operation is performed according to the flow described above.

According to the embodiment described above, tea is brewed by passing the hot water boiled in the water kettle 3 through the tea bag 60 while being circulated by the circulation pump 13, making it possible to brew tea with an extremely simple operation. can. In addition, since the tea can be brewed while heating the hot water until it reaches a predetermined concentration, it is possible to easily brew tea with the desired concentration. Can be supplied automatically.

Note that the supply and discharge of the tea bags 60 may be performed automatically as in the illustrated embodiment, or may be performed manually. Furthermore, the Jft of tea may also be adjusted by visually observing the tea in the circulation path and stopping the circulation when the desired concentration is reached.

The tea dispenser according to the present invention extracts Japanese tea etc. while circulating hot water, so if a tea bag containing regular coffee powder is used, it can also be used as an automatic coffee extractor. can.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, tea is brewed by passing hot water heated in a kettle pot through a tea bag while circulating it with a circulation pump, making it possible to brew tea with an extremely simple operation. . Furthermore, since tea can be brewed while circulating hot water until it reaches a predetermined concentration, it is possible to easily brew tea with the desired concentration.

In addition, by installing a concentration sensor in the tea circulation path and stopping the circulation pump when the tea concentration detected by this concentration sensor reaches a predetermined concentration, we can fully automatically produce tea at a predetermined concentration. can be supplied with

Furthermore, by making it possible to arbitrarily convert the comparison level of tea concentration, it is possible to automatically extract tea of any desired concentration.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a developed front view showing an embodiment of the tea serving device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a developed front view showing a section of the tea bag supply/discharge mechanism in the above embodiment. ,
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a control system applied to the above embodiment, FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an overview of the operation of the above embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation of the above embodiment in detail. be. 3... Water boiling pot, 5... Extraction plate, 7... Extraction pot, 9... Hot water supply pump, 11... Tea supply valve, 13... Circulation pump, 49... Concentration sensor, 60... ·tea bag. CD O LO■

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A tea kettle that stores water and boils the water, and an extraction that supports a tea bag and extracts tea by passing the hot water in the kettle, which is sent by a hot water pump, through the tea bag. a dish; a brewing pot for receiving the tea extracted in the brewing dish; a circulation pump for passing the tea in the brewing pot back through the tea bag on the brewing dish and returning it to the brewing pot; and a circulation pump for returning the tea in the brewing pot to the brewing pot. A tea supply device comprising a tea supply valve that discharges the water. 2. The tea supply device according to claim 1, wherein a concentration sensor is provided in the tea circulation path of the circulation pump, and the circulation pump is stopped when the tea concentration in the circulation path reaches a predetermined concentration. . 3. The tea dispensing device according to claim 2, wherein the concentration of the tea can be arbitrarily changed by converting the comparison level of the concentration sensor output.