JPH03129597A - Intra-cup stirring device for cup type automatic drink vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten a drink blending time by preparing a nozzle aperture area varying means and connecting an ice feeding line to a nozzle. CONSTITUTION:When a powder material is injected into a cup 8c by a vending command and the cup 8c is set up on the lower part of the nozzle 8, hot water pressured through a pressured hot water feeding line 9c is injected from the nozzle 8 into the cup 8c. At that time, a needle valve 11 is set up on a position where a gap between the outer face of the valve 11 and the inner face of an aperture part 8a is reduced by a driving means 13, the projection shape of injection is like an approximate ring and the injection water is radially discharged. Since a large injection area can be obtained, the efficiency of stirring is improved. Since dilution water and ice can be simultaneously injected from the same nozzle 8 in the case of producing a cold drink, a tasty cold drink reducing a temperature difference between the upper and lower parts of a cup can be obtained.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Field of Application The present invention involves putting various powdered raw materials such as coffee, cocoa, black tea, etc. into a cup, and then stirring the raw materials at the same time while pouring hot water, cold water, ice, etc. This invention relates to an in-cup stirring device for a cup-type beverage vending machine that dispenses hot or cold beverages.

Conventional technology In recent years, as the demand for cup-type vending machines has increased, the need for built-in raw material stirring devices that are highly hygienic to prevent contamination of beverages and space-saving structures with simplified mechanisms has increased. The demand for

As a conventional technique, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 613-30997
There is an in-cup stirring device for a cup-type vending machine as shown in the above publication.

An example of the in-cup stirring device of the conventional cup-type vending machine mentioned above will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of a stirring device in a cup of a conventional cup-type beverage vending machine and one state of the stirring process.

1 is a flat spray nozzle, which is connected to a pressurized hot water hose 2a that supplies pressurized hot water and a cold water hose 2b;
Pressurized hot or cold water is injected into a cup 3a placed below and supplied with powder raw material 3 in advance. Further, the flat solenoid nose /L/1 is configured to swing in the direction of arrow E by the drive device 4. 6 is a fixed nozzle fixed toward the inside of the cup 3a, which is connected to a hot water supply hose 6, and supplies unpressurized hot water to the cup 3a.

7 is an ice chute that supplies ice into the cup 3a when producing a cold beverage.

The operation of the in-cup stirring device of the cup-type vending machine configured as described above will be described below.

When the cup 3 supplied with the powder raw material is set in accordance with a sales command, the flat spray nozzle 1 starts a swinging motion by the driving device 4. At the same time, pressurized hot water is injected from the flat spray nozzle 1 through the pressurized hot water supply hose 2a to stir the powder raw material 3. After the stirring is completed, the pressurized hot water injection described above is stopped and dilution is then performed. Therefore, when producing hot beverages, normal pressure hot water is injected into the cup 3a from the fixed nozzle 6 through the hot water supply hose 6 to reach a predetermined amount. The injection is then stopped and the preparation of the hot beverage is completed. In addition, when producing a cold beverage, after stopping the pressurized source injection from the flat spray nozzle/I/1, the cold water cup 3 is similarly supplied from the flat spray nozzle/L/1 through the cold water hose 2b.
At the same time, ice is supplied from the ice chute 7 into the cup 3, and when a predetermined amount is reached, the injection is stopped and the preparation of the cold beverage is completed. The series of operations described above is program-controlled by commands from a controller (not shown).

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-mentioned Senbo, in addition to the flat spray nozzle 1 for stirring and mixing, there is a fixed nozzle /I15 for pouring the molten metal.
Since the flat spray nozzle 1 swings in order to achieve optimal agitation, the installation location of the fixed nozzle 6 is limited, and the installation space becomes large due to complicated edging. However, the opening area could not be made larger, and the pouring flow rate was reduced, making it time consuming to mix drinks. In addition, especially when producing cold beverages, the entire process of stirring and pouring is performed using a flat spray nozzle, which takes more time to prepare than for a single hot beverage, and when adding water, the sprayed water hits the ice and breaks the cup. It was scattered outside and contaminated the surrounding area. In addition, since the ice is simply put in from the chute 7, mixing with the beverage is not done effectively, resulting in the upper part of the cup being thin and cold, and the lower part being thick and lukewarm, making it unpalatable.

Furthermore, since the fixed nozzle/I/6 cannot vary the flow rate, it was not possible to reduce the flow rate just before the end of injection, which resulted in hot water scattering outside the cup.

Furthermore, both the flat spray nozzle 1 and the fixed nozzle/I15 were not equipped with a nozzle sealing mechanism, and had the disadvantage of causing liquid dripping and contaminating the surrounding area.

In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to provide another cold water nozzle with a large opening area, but this is not appropriate because the powder raw material stirring device has a complicated structure.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a powder raw material stirring device for a cup-type vending machine that has a simple configuration, a space-saving structure, a short beverage preparation time, and a high degree of hygiene without causing beverage scattering to the surrounding area. It is.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the in-cup stirring device of the cup-type vending machine of the present invention is provided with a nozzle opening area variable means, and an ice supply line is connected to the nozzle. It is composed of

Effects of the present invention With the above-described configuration, the flow rate can be increased by increasing the opening area of the nozzle during pouring or pouring water for dilution following the completion of mixing and stirring of the powder raw material and hot water. Achieves a fixed amount in a short time, reducing beverage preparation time. Furthermore, since dilution water and ice can be simultaneously introduced from the same nozzle during cold beverage production, the mixing efficiency of the beverage and ice is high, resulting in a unique cold beverage with a small concentration difference between the top and bottom of the cup. By pouring into the cup and reducing the flow rate by reducing the opening area just before pouring water, there is no splashing of the beverage outside the cup, and by closing the opening after pouring, there is no dripping, ensuring a high level of hygiene. is expensive. In addition, all beverage preparation processes such as stirring, spraying, pouring, and pouring can be performed with one nozzle, which simplifies the configuration and saves space in the vending machine.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an in-cup stirring device of a cup-type beverage vending machine according to an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a piping diagram showing the configuration of an in-cup stirring device of a cup-type vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, its positional relationship with a cup, and connection relationships with a hot water tank, a water tank, etc.

8 is a nozzle body having an opening 8a. 8C is a cup. The nozzle body 8 is connected to a hot water supply line 9 from a hot water tank 9
It is connected to a pressurized hot water supply line that supplies pressurized hot water through a pump 9a and a pump 9b, a water supply line 10a from a water supply tank 1o, and an ice supply line 14b from an ice supply device 14a. In addition, there is a roughly conical needle inside the nozzle/L/8.
L/11 is inserted and Sinield 11 is 7) 12
a, and is reciprocably movable in the vertical direction within the multi-nozzle 11 by a driving means 13 located at the upper part. Also, the second
The figure shows a view of the nozzle body shown in FIG. 1 in the direction of arrow A.

The operation of the in-cup stirring device configured as above will be explained below using FIGS. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the beverage preparation process.

When the powdered raw material is put into the cup 8C and set below the nozzle 8 according to the sales instruction, pressurized hot water is injected into the cup 8C from the nozzle A/8 through the pressurized hot water supply line 9C. At this time, the position of the needle valve 11 is
It is set by the driving means 13 at a place where the gap between the outer surface of the opening 8a and the inner surface of the opening 8a becomes small, and the projected shape of the jet is approximately ring-shaped, and the jet water is radial. For this reason, the agitation efficiency is high because a spraying area equal to or larger than that of the conventional nozzle spraying while moving within the opening area of the cup can be obtained. Next, when the stirring of the powder raw material and the hot water is completed, the injection is stopped, and then the driving means 13
increases, and the closed area of the nozzle increases dramatically. At the same time, hot water at normal pressure is injected into the cup 8a through the hot water supply line 9a from the nozzle L/8 as shown in 2-a in FIG. 3 for dilution. At this time, since the opening area is large, a sufficient flow rate of hot water is supplied, so that the predetermined amount of hot water can be poured in a short time. Also, it does not foam when exposed to normal pressure hot water.

Thereafter, just before the end of the injection, the υ needle valve 11 is lowered again by the driving means 13, and the opening area of the nozzle/L/8 becomes smaller. Finish the formulation. In addition, when preparing a cold beverage, after the mixing and stirring with the powdered raw materials is completed, the supply of the pressurizing source is stopped, and then the driving means 13 moves the needle valve 11 upwardly to increase the opening area of the nozzle 8, and at the same time water is supplied. As shown in 2-b of FIG. 3, cold water and ice are supplied into the cup 8C through the line 10a and the ice supply line 14b for dilution, and when a predetermined amount is reached, the supply of water and ice is stopped and a cold beverage is prepared. ends. At this time, since the water is diluted with normal pressure water, the amount of water that splashes off the ice is extremely small, and since the water is supplied at a large flow rate, the cold beverage preparation time is also short. Moreover, since ice and water are simultaneously mixed and injected from the same nozzle, the mixing efficiency of ice and water is high. The opening area is made small and the opening 8a is sealed when the preparation is finished, as in the case of hot beverage preparation. As a result, when the cup is filled with hot water or water and the liquid level rises, the flow rate is restricted, so there is no liquid splashing from the liquid level, and after the mixing in the cup is completed, the nozzle/L/8 is opened. Since the portion 8a is sealed, there is no chance of liquid dripping and staining the surrounding area.

In addition, since the entire beverage mixing process can be performed with one nozzle as described above, the configuration of the raw material stirring device is simple.
It has the advantage of contributing to space saving inside cup-type vending machines, such as requiring a small installation space.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides powder raw materials in a cup,
A raw material stirring device for a cup-type beverage vending machine that mixes and stirs the powdered raw material and drinking water in the cup to prepare a beverage by injecting the powdered raw material into the cup by injecting drinking water from the nozzle. In this method, the opening area of the nozzle is increased when pouring or pouring water for dilution following the completion of mixing and stirring of the powdered raw material and hot water. As a result, the flow rate can be increased, the predetermined amount can be reached in a short time, and the beverage preparation time is shortened. Furthermore, when transporting a cold beverage, dilution water and ice can be injected from the same nozzle when opening the cup, resulting in high mixing efficiency of the beverage and ice, resulting in a delicious cold beverage with a small difference in concentration between the top and bottom of the cup.

Pour hot water again.

By reducing the opening area and restricting the flow rate just before the end of pouring water, there is no splashing of the beverage outside the cup, and by closing the opening after mixing, there is no dripping, ensuring a high level of hygiene. Moreover, since all beverage preparation processes such as stirring, spraying, pouring, and pouring can be performed with one nozzle, the configuration is simplified and the space of the vending machine can be saved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a piping diagram showing the configuration of the stirring device in the cup of a cup-type vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, the positional relationship with the cup, and the connection relationship with the hot water tank, water tank, etc. 1 is a view from arrow A of the nozzle body shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the configuration of an internal stirring device and one state of a stirring process. 8... Nozzle, 11... Needle valve,
13... Drive means, 9C... Pressurized hot water supply line, 14b... Ice supply line.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a raw material stirring device for a cup-type beverage vending machine that mixes and stirs the powdered raw material and drinking water in the cup to prepare a beverage by putting the powdered raw material into the cup and injecting drinking water from the nozzle. . An in-cup stirring device for a cup-type beverage vending machine, comprising means for varying the opening area of the nozzle, and an ice supply line connected to the nozzle. (2) The cup according to claim 1, wherein the opening area variable means comprises a needle valve inserted into a nozzle, and a drive means for reciprocating the needle valve in the axial direction of the nozzle. A stirring device inside the cup of a beverage vending machine.