JPH0227713B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) This invention relates to a vending machine that dispenses coffee liquid.

(Conventional technology) The best way to enjoy the aroma and taste of authentic coffee is to grind roasted coffee beans in a coffee mill and use the freshly ground coffee powder to obtain coffee liquid. The demand for this has also increased for vending machines. For example, as seen in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 52-83291,
Roasted coffee beans are stored in the case of the vending machine in advance, and each time a customer requests a vending machine, the roasted beans are crushed into coffee powder in an appropriate amount, which is supplied to the extractor and the coffee is extracted. Some are equipped with a coffee extractor with a mill that pours boiling water into the powder and extracts and sells the coffee liquid. These products are superior in that the coffee liquid is immediately extracted from freshly ground coffee powder each time a cup of coffee is sold, allowing flavorful coffee liquid to be provided directly to customers. On the other hand, the coffee beans used as raw materials naturally differ in their origin.
It is well known that the unique bitterness of coffee can vary slightly, especially depending on the depth of roasting, even if the coffee beans are made from the same raw material. In addition, since it can be said that customers have various taste preferences, they are divided into types according to the above-mentioned production area and depth of roasting, and customers can select the roasted coffee beans according to their taste. If it becomes possible to choose, it becomes more desirable from a taste standpoint.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, the hardness of raw material beans for coffee differs depending on the taste, the place of origin, and the depth of roasting of the beans mentioned above. If they are ground in the same coffee mill under the same conditions, hard roasted beans tend to be coarser and softer roasted beans tend to be finer, so the grain size is also compatible with the extractor that accepts this. If the particles do not have a predetermined particle size, the extraction efficiency of the extractor will be impaired.

In other words, coffee powder is introduced into the extractor, but if the coffee powder that is ground by the mill has coarse particles, the extract will not be extracted sufficiently and the flavor will deteriorate; Coffee powder has the problem of unnecessarily prolonging the extraction time. In this invention, when selecting one of multiple types of roasted coffee beans and selling coffee liquid,
This is aimed at solving the problems mentioned above.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a housing, a plurality of coffee canisters provided in the housing, and a plurality of coffee canisters inside these coffee canisters. Introducing a plurality of types of roasted coffee beans stored separately according to types of different hardness, a selection button for separating and selectively discharging the roasted coffee beans into each of the coffee canisters, and coffee beans discharged from the coffee canister. The coffee mill is equipped with a coffee mill that grinds coffee powder, and a coffee extractor that receives coffee powder ground by the coffee mill and extracts its extract through hot water. A cutter is supported so as to be movable toward and away from the other cutter, and one cutter is provided rotatably relative to the other cutter, roasted coffee beans are introduced between the opposing cutters, and one cutter is moved toward and away from the other cutter. It has a structure in which the roasted coffee beans are ground by rotating it relative to the other cutter, and this coffee mill has a
When using the selection button above to introduce hard roasted coffee beans from the plurality of types mentioned above, the width of the facing interval between the cutters will be narrowed, and when soft roasted coffee beans are introduced, it will be made wider. By linking each of them, coffee powder pulverized to a constant particle size is supplied to the coffee extractor.

(Function) Hard types of roasted coffee beans cannot be crushed into fine particles unless they are crushed with a strong pressing force, and conversely, soft types of roasted coffee beans cannot be crushed into fine particles unless they are crushed with a light pressing force, but the selection operation using the selection button Relatedly, when sorted hard roasted coffee beans are introduced into a coffee mill, the gap width between the cutters becomes narrower, and the roasted coffee beans are crushed with a strong pressing force and the fineness becomes a predetermined particle size. When soft roasted coffee beans are introduced into the coffee mill, the distance between the cutters increases, the pressure on the roasted coffee beans is reduced, and the grain size is adjusted to a predetermined fineness that is not too fine and is almost the same as in the above case. be done. The extractor is constantly supplied with coffee powder of uniform particle size that has been pulverized as described above when extracting coffee liquid.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a casing that is open at the front and provided with an opening/closing door 2 at the opening. On the front surface of the opening/closing door 2, there are a plurality of selection buttons 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, and 4a as operating means in two rows in the horizontal direction.
4b, 4c, and 4d are provided. The selection buttons 3a in the upper row are pressed to obtain a coffee liquid with a strong bitterness, and the selection buttons 4a in the lower row are pressed to obtain a coffee liquid with a light bitterness.
By selecting one of them, it is possible to determine whether sugar or milk is added or not. Furthermore, on the front of the opening/closing door 2,
Coin slot 5, change return slot 6, coffee sales slot 7
etc. are provided.

Inside the casing 1, two coffee canisters 8 and 9 are provided in parallel as shown in FIG. Inside the box 8 are deeply roasted and soft roasted coffee beans.
Inside the other canister 9, shallowly roasted and hard type roasted coffee beans are stored. Below the coffee canisters 8 and 9, there is a coffee mill 1.
0, a coffee extractor 11, and a trough 12 are arranged in this order. A water heater 1 is placed on the side of the coffee extractor 11.
3 is provided, and a hot water pipe 14 led out from this water heater 13 is connected to the coffee extractor 11. A guide pipe 15 is introduced from the lower surface of one end of the trough 12, and this guide pipe 15 is introduced into the sales port 7. A sugar canister 17 containing sugar and a milk canister containing milk are placed above the one end of the trough 12. 18 are provided.

The coffee mill 10 is constructed as shown in FIG.
A pair of cutters 21 and 22 are housed in the cutter 0 spaced apart from each other and facing each other. One cutter 21 is case 2
0, and the other cutter 22 is fixedly supported by a drive shaft 23. case 20
An introduction tube 24 projects integrally from one end surface, the drive shaft 23 is inserted through the introduction tube 24, and a spiral blade 25 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drive shaft 23 at the insertion portion.
is formed. One end of the drive shaft 23 has a bearing 26
The bearing 26 consists of an inner ring 27, an outer ring 28, and a plurality of balls 29 disposed between the inner ring 27 and the outer ring 28 so as to be rotatable between them. It is fitted into the inner periphery of a holding cylinder 30 formed on the other end surface of the case 20 so as to be slidable in the axial direction of the rotation and drive shaft 23 . An operating screw 31 is screwed into the end surface of the holding cylinder 30, and the operating screw 31 is connected and fixed to the outer ring 28 via a connecting member 31a. The other end of the drive shaft 23 rotatably and slidably passes through the end surface of the introduction tube 24, and the penetrating end is connected to a drive source 33 such as a motor via a joint 32.

The cutters 21 and 22 have crushing blades 34 and 35 on their opposing surfaces, respectively, and an introduction port 36 communicating with the inside of the introduction tube 24 is formed in the center of one cutter 21 fixed to the case 20. A funnel-shaped supply port 37 is formed on the upper surface of the introduction tube 24,
A magnet 38 is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the supply port 37, for example, over the entire circumference thereof, and a discharge port 39 is further formed in the lower end surface of the case 20.

An operating plate 40 is fixedly attached to the end of the operating screw 31 protruding from the end surface of the holding cylinder 30, and an engaging pin 41 is implanted in the peripheral edge of the operating plate 40 as shown in FIG. There is. 42 is the operating lever,
This is rotatably supported at one end via a pin 43, and has an engagement groove 44 at the other end, which engages the engagement pin 41. 45 is a solenoid, a plunger 46 of this solenoid 45 is connected to the intermediate portion of the operating lever 42 via a connecting rod 47, and the operating lever 42 is connected to a spring 47.
5 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 5, and comes into elastic contact with the stopper 48.

Next, the effect will be explained. Now, suppose that among the plurality of selection buttons provided on the front surface of the opening/closing door 2, for example, the button 4d in the lower row is pressed. In this case, the spacing between the cutters 21 and 22 is maintained at a narrow width of t ₁ in advance. Since the selection button 4d is a button to be operated when obtaining a coffee liquid with a weak taste, the coffee canister 9
The lightly roasted and hard roasted coffee beans stored therein are measured by a measuring device 9a to a certain amount and supplied to the supply port 37 of the coffee mill 10. Along with this supply, the drive shaft 23 and the cutter 22 integrated therewith rotate, and the roasted coffee beans are passed through the introduction tube 24 and the introduction port 36 by the spiral blades 25 on the outer periphery of the drive shaft 23 between the opposing surfaces of the cutters 21 and 22. sent to. The roasted coffee beans sent in this manner are crushed by the crushing blades 34 and 35 of the respective cutters 21 and 22 into coffee powder, and this coffee powder is discharged into the extractor 11 from the discharge port 39. After the coffee powder has been discharged, the operation of the coffee mill 10 is stopped, and then a certain amount of hot water heated to a high temperature from the water heater 13 is supplied to the extractor 11 at a certain pressure through the water supply pipe 14, and this hot water is Extractor 1
The coffee powder in 1 is penetrated to extract its extract, and this extract is introduced into trough 12. The introduced extract flows through the trough 12 and the guide pipe 15
, and flows into the cup a installed at the sales outlet 7 in advance. Since the selection button 4d is a button for instructing the addition of sugar and milk, when the extract flows through the trough 12, sugar and milk are added to the extract in fixed quantities from the sugar canister 17 and the milk canister 18, respectively. Ru. At this time, if the selection button 4c is operated, only milk will be added, and if it is 4d, only sugar will be added.
Furthermore, if it is 4a, only coffee liquid is supplied to the outlet 7 without addition. When the selection buttons 4a in the lower row are operated in this manner, a coffee liquid with a light bitterness is supplied to the outlet 7 based on lightly roasted coffee beans.

On the other hand, in order to obtain a bitter coffee liquid, one of the selection buttons 3a in the upper row is pressed. In this case, the solenoid 45 is first excited in response to the operation. Due to this excitation, the plunger 46 is attracted downward in FIG. 5, and the operating lever 42 rotates clockwise about the pin 43 against the spring 47, and as a result of this rotation, the operating lever 42 is fixed to the operating plate 40. The operating screw 31 rotates counterclockwise as one unit. As the operating screw 31 rotates, the bearing 26 connected thereto rotates and moves to the left in FIG. 4. Thereafter, the deeply roasted and soft coffee beans stored in the coffee canister 8 are measured in a fixed amount and supplied to the coffee mill 10 as in the case described above, and are passed through the introduction tube 24 and the introduction port 36 to the cutters 21, 22. is sent between the opposing surfaces of the At this time, since the bearing 26 is shifting to the left, the cutter 22 moves to the left together with the drive shaft 23 due to the pressure of the roasted coffee beans until it comes into contact with the bearing 26. The facing interval width is expanded to _t2 .
In this state, the roasted coffee beans are crushed by the crushing blades 34 and 35 of the cutters 21 and 22,
Becomes coffee powder. In this case, the roasted coffee beans are deeply roasted and the fibers of the raw material are highly burnt, making them brittle.
Since the width of the facing interval between the cutters 1 and 22 is widened, the crushing pressure by the cutters 21 and 22 is relaxed, and although the beans themselves are fragile, the crushed particle size is maintained at an appropriate level. In other words, if the width of the facing interval between the cutters 21 and 22 remains as narrow as the initial width of _t1 , the grain size of the crushed beans will become finer due to the brittleness of the beans. Since the width of the opposing gap is expanded, the grain size can be maintained at an appropriate level without becoming too fine. The coffee powder thus ground is discharged into the extractor 11 in the same manner as in the previous case, and its extract is extracted through hot water, and the extract is passed through the trough 12 and the guide pipe 15 into the cup a of the outlet 7. It is supplied as a bitter coffee liquid. In addition, the coffee liquid has a trough 12.
During distribution, sugar and milk are added as appropriate based on the operated selection button 3a. When the discharge of coffee powder from the coffee mill 10 is completed, the operation of the coffee mill 10 is stopped, the solenoid 45 is deenergized, and the operating lever 42 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 5 by the tension of the spring 47. The operating plate 40 and operating screw 31 rotate clockwise accordingly. The rotation of the operating screw 31 causes the entire bearing 26 to move to the right in FIG. 4, and the cutter 22 is pushed by the bearing 26 to move to the right and return to its original position. A magnet 38 is attached to the supply port 37 of the coffee mill 10.
For this reason, if metal pieces such as nails or pins are mixed into the roasted coffee beans,
The metal pieces are attracted to the magnet 38 and removed, so there is an advantage that the crushing blades 34, 35 of the cutters 21, 22 are not damaged by such metal pieces.

Note that the solenoid 45, the operating lever 42, the operating screw 31, etc. constitute a determining mechanism that determines the width of the facing interval between the cutters 21 and 22, but the structure is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified in various ways. .

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, multiple types of roasted coffee beans with different hardnesses can be ground to a constant particle size and supplied to the extractor, regardless of the difference in hardness. Therefore, the coffee liquid selected according to the customer's preference can be efficiently provided without degrading the flavor or unnecessarily prolonging the extraction time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an overall front view, FIG. 2 is a layout of selection buttons, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the coffee mill, and FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a determining mechanism that determines the width of the facing gap between the cutters. 1... Housing, 8, 9... Canister, 3a, 4a...
Selection button, 10...Coffee mill, 21, 22...Cutter.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A housing, a plurality of coffee canisters provided in the housing, a plurality of types of roasted coffee beans stored in each of the coffee canisters according to types of hardness, and the roasted coffee beans are divided into the coffee canisters. A selection button for selectively discharging the beans, a coffee mill for introducing and grinding the roasted coffee beans discharged from the coffee canister, and a coffee extractor for receiving the coffee powder ground by the coffee mill and extracting its extract through hot water. The coffee mill is equipped with a pair of cutters arranged opposite to each other, one cutter supported so as to be movable toward and away from the other cutter, and one cutter rotated relative to the other cutter. The coffee mill has a structure in which roasted coffee beans are introduced between the opposing cutters, and one cutter is rotated relative to the other cutter to crush the roasted coffee beans.
When the hard roasted coffee beans of the plurality of types are introduced by the selection operation of the selection button above, the width of the facing interval between the cutters is narrowed, and when the soft roasted coffee beans are introduced, it is widened. A vending machine for coffee liquid, characterized in that coffee powder, which has been ground and adjusted to a certain particle size, is supplied to the coffee extractor.