JPH03132896A - Drinking water sterilizing device for automatic drink vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always give stable and correct chlorine concentration to storage water by responding to every city water replenishing operation and bringing a chlorine generating electrode to electric conduction control, and setting a single electric conduction control, based on the replenishing water quantity as a reference. CONSTITUTION:When a water level of a water reservoir 1 drops to an ON level and a water level switch 3 is brought to turn-on operation, a feed water valve 2 is opened and city water is replenished to the water reservoir 1, and when the water level is recovered to an OFF level and the water level switch 3 is brought to turn-off operation, the feed water valve 2 is closed again. In such a state, the water quantity corresponding to a water level difference DELTAH between the ON level and the OFF level of the water level switch 3 is set in accordance with the water quantity consumed for one sale of a drink. When the water level switch 3 is brought to turn-on operation, its operating signal is given to an electric conduction control part 9, and based thereon, a chlorine generating electrode 8 is brought to electric conduction control and by its electrolytic action, chlorine is generated in the water of the water reservoir 1. Also, the electric conduction control in this case is set so that prescribed underwater chlorine concentration is obtained. In such a way, after the replenishment, the water is recovered to prescribed residual chlorine concentration again and it can be maintained stably.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a drinking water sterilization device applied to a cup-type beverage vending machine.

[Conventional technology]

In the above-mentioned cup-type beverage vending machine, tap water introduced from the water supply is temporarily stored in a water reservoir on board the aircraft, and the water taken out from there is used as water for diluting the drinks sold, water for making ice in the ice machine, etc. as drinking water on the aircraft. Supply pipe i! I try to distribute it to various places according to the situation.

By the way, tap water generally has a concentration of 0. It contains residual chlorine of about lppm, but while the tap water remains inside the vending machine, the chlorine self-decomposes and the residual chlorine concentration in the water gradually decreases, and if left undisturbed, it will no longer be sterilized. The capacity decreases, leading to deterioration in the quality of drinking water.

Therefore, in recent years, a chlorine generating T8i has been installed in the water reservoir to generate chlorine through electrolysis of tap water by applying electricity to the electrodes, thereby sterilizing the drinking water stored in the water reservoir. Sterilization equipment has been put into practical use in some areas.

In this case, in the conventional device, the amount of chlorine generated by one-time energization control of the chlorine generating electrode is set to a predetermined water chlorine concentration (1 to
21) energization of the chlorine generating electrode is controlled in response to each sales operation or operation of replenishing tap water to the water reservoir.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the following problems remain in the conventional control method for the drinking water sterilizer described above.

In other words, the water reservoir supplies not only water for diluting the drinks on sale, but also to the ice maker and the carbonator that produces carbonated water.
In addition, the water reservoir is replenished with new tap water each time these water supplies are made.

Therefore, the amount of dilution water consumed in one operation is different from the amount of water supplied to the ice maker, carbonator, etc.

Here, to give an example of actual numerical values for a cup-type beverage vending machine, ■The dilution water consumed for vending (for one cup) is about 160cc, while the ice maker's operation requires 1.
The amount of water supplied each time is about 50cc. On the other hand, the water reservoir is equipped with a water level adjustment means that controls the opening and closing of the tap water supply valve by operating a water level switch such as a float switch to keep the stored water level constant at all times. Assuming that the capacity is 800 cc, the amount of tap water introduced into the water reservoir via the water supply valve as the stored water level drops (the amount of water corresponding to the differential of the water level switch) is set to about 50 cc.

For this purpose, as mentioned above, the amount of chlorine generated by one energization control is set to match the amount of water consumed for one sale, and chlorine is generated in response to each sales operation or tap water replenishment operation to the water reservoir. If the energization of the electrodes is controlled, the amount of water taken out from the water reservoir differs when selling drinks and when water is being supplied to the ice maker, so the amount of tap water supplied to the water reservoir may not match the amount of chlorine generated. However, the residual chlorine concentration in the water in the water reservoir will vary.

In other words, if the amount of water replenished into the water reservoir is equivalent to one sale, the stored water will have an appropriate chlorine concentration due to the generation of chlorine. The amount of newly introduced tap water will be 1 for drinking water.
If the amount of water consumed is small compared to the amount of water consumed for sales, the amount of chlorine generated will be excessive compared to the amount of replenishment water, and the residual chlorine concentration in the water will exceed the specified concentration.As a result, the chlorine odor in drinking water will become stronger and the beverages sold will be affected. The flavor of the product will be impaired.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and provides a beverage that can always provide a stable and appropriate chlorine concentration to the water stored in the water reservoir, regardless of the operation of the beverage vending machine or the operation of the ice maker. The purpose is to provide a water sterilization device.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, the water level adjusting means is set so that the amount of replenishing water for one time of tap water introduced into the water reservoir is at least the amount of water consumed in one sales operation, and The energization of the chlorine generating electrode is controlled in response to each tap water replenishment operation to the water reservoir, and the amount of chlorine generated by one energization control is set so as to obtain a predetermined water chlorine concentration based on the amount of replenishment water mentioned above. It shall be.

(Function) In the above, the amount of tap water supplied to the water reservoir can be adjusted by adjusting the differential for on/off operation of the water level switch, which is the water level adjustment means attached to the water reservoir, or by Two water level switches are installed to set the upper and lower water levels corresponding to the start and end of replenishment.

At this point, if the ice maker operates while waiting for beverage sales,
The amount of water supplied from the water reservoir to the ice maker is small compared to the amount of water consumed for one sale of beverages, so the water level in the water reservoir will drop somewhat, but it will not reach the lower limit level, so new tap water will need to be replenished. If no operation is performed and there is no energization control for the chlorine generating electrode, on the other hand, if the water level in the water reservoir drops to the lower limit level due to beverage sales operations or repeated operations of the ice maker, tap water is refilled by operating the water level switch. As the operation is performed, energization of the poles for chlorine generation is controlled in response to this replenishment operation.

Moreover, in this case, the amount of chlorine generated by one energization control is set based on the amount of tap water refilled to the water reservoir once, so after the tap water is replenished, the water stored in the water reservoir is returned to the specified level. The residual chlorine concentration will recover.

In other words, regardless of the amount of water taken out from the water reservoir, chlorine is generated in proportion to the amount of tap water newly replenished into the water reservoir, so the residual chlorine concentration in the stored water can always be stably maintained at a predetermined concentration.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows a drinking water sterilizer according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a water reservoir, 2 is a tap water supply valve (electromagnetic on-off valve), and 3 is a water sterilizer that responds to the displacement of a float 4. A water level switch serves as a water level adjusting means for controlling the opening and closing of the water supply valve 2; 5 is a water supply pipe that draws drinking water from the water reservoir 1 and distributes it to various parts of the machine; 6 is a water pump; and 7 is an ice maker. Furthermore, inside the water reservoir 1, a pair of chlorine generation quantities Fj8 are installed immersed in water, facing each other with a gap in between, and the electrodes 8 are connected to the DC K11o via the energization control section 9. There is.

Here, when the water level of the water reservoir 1 drops to the ON level (lower limit level) shown in the figure and the water level switch 3 turns on, the water supply valve 2 opens and supplies tap water to the water reservoir l, replenishing tap water. When the water level recovers to the OFF level (upper limit level) and the water level switch 3 is turned off, the water supply valve 2 is closed again. Here, the amount of water corresponding to the water level difference ΔH between the ON level and OFF level of the water level switch 3 is set in accordance with the amount of water consumed for one sale of the beverage. In other words, the amount of water consumed in one sale of a beverage is, for example, 1
If it is 60cc, the amount of water newly introduced into the water reservoir in one tap water replenishment operation should also be set to 160cc (corresponding to ΔH x cross-sectional area of the water reservoir), and the water level switch 3 should be turned on. Then, the operation signal is given to the energization control section 9, which controls the energization of the chlorine generating electrode 8 based on the signal, and generates chlorine in the water in the water reservoir 1 by its electrolysis action. Moreover, in this case, the voltage applied to the electrode 8 is set at one energization so that the amount of chlorine generated in one energization control is a predetermined water chlorine concentration (1 to 2 PPM>) with the amount of supplementary tap water as the reference water amount. current.

The power-on time is set. In addition, the normal voltage.

Under the current setting conditions (voltage 30V, current approximately 0.4A), the residual chlorine concentration in 160cc of tap water will be approximately 1 pm.The current application time to generate chlorine will vary depending on the quality of the tap water, but will vary from 10 to 20 seconds. It's enough.

According to such setting conditions, the chlorine generating electrode is energized B only when the tap water is replenished due to a drop in the water level of the water reservoir, regardless of the amount of water consumed due to the beverage sales operation or the ice maker operation. Moreover, the amount of chlorine generated by one energization control is set based on the amount of newly replenished tap water, so after tap water is replenished, the residual chlorine concentration returns to the predetermined level and remains stable. will be done.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the drinking water sterilization device of the present invention, the chlorine concentration of the water stored in the water reservoir is always maintained regardless of the amount of water taken out from the water reservoir during the beverage vending machine operation or the ice maker operation. It is possible to maintain a predetermined concentration without excess or deficiency, and thereby the quality of drinking water can be stably maintained without adversely affecting the flavor of the beverage.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a piping diagram of a beverage system of a beverage vending machine, which also represents a drinking water sterilizer according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure,

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A drinking water sterilization device for a beverage vending machine that introduces tap water into a water reservoir equipped with water level adjustment means and stores it, and then distributes the water taken out from there to the in-flight beverage supply system. In a device that is equipped with a generation electrode and sterilizes drinking water by electrolyzing water by energizing the electrode, the amount of replenishing water for one time of tap water introduced into the water reservoir is at least the amount of water consumed in one vending operation. The above-mentioned water level adjusting means is set so that the amount of replenishment water is equal to the amount of replenishment water. A drinking water sterilization device for a beverage vending machine, characterized in that the device is set to obtain a predetermined water chlorine concentration as a standard.