JPH0332614A - Coffee extractor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To keep a temperature of dripping water uniform and to thoroughly extract a coffee element by detecting a temperature of dripping water, and controlling a heating body for heating the dripping water in accordance with its information. CONSTITUTION:On a discharge port 5, a water temperature detecting means 13 such as a thermistor and a thermometer, etc., is provided, and on a water feeding passage 3, a suitable heating body 14 for heating water is provided, and this heating body 14 adjusts an input value and an energizing cycle, etc., by a heating control means 15. Information from the water temperature detecting means 13 is processed by a water temperature detecting circuit 16, sent to a heating body control means 15 and controls the heating body 14. When a water temperature of dripping water heated by the heating body 14 does not rise to the extent that wettability to coffee powder 6 is made satisfactory enough due to a fact that a temperature of water put into a water container 2 is too low, the information from the water temperature detecting means 13 works so as to increase the input value of the heating body 14 or to extend the energizing cycle, and when a temperature of dripping water is high, said information works on its reverse direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a cold brew coffee extractor for extracting coffee using cold water or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, this type of cold brew coffee extractor has generally been shown, for example, in FIG. 4, and its configuration is as follows.

That is, water is poured into the water container 21, and the regulating valve 22 is adjusted to drip the water little by little into the coffee powder 24 housed in the filtration chamber 23. The dropped water passes through the coffee grounds 24 over a long period of time, extracts coffee components, and then becomes coffee liquid and drops into the coffee container 25.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, this configuration has the following problems.

In other words, the important points in this kind of coffee brewer are:
The question is whether the dripped water can penetrate sufficiently evenly into the coffee grounds, that is, whether the dripping water and the coffee grounds have good wettability.

It has become experimentally clear that the wettability of coffee powder with water is greatly influenced by (1) the temperature of the dripping water, (2) the temperature of the coffee powder, (2) the flow rate (flow velocity) of the dripping water, etc.

For example, as the temperature of dripping water decreases, the surface tension of the water increases, and the water itself becomes inert, resulting in extremely poor wettability. Furthermore, when using coffee powder that has been stored at a low temperature in a refrigerator or the like, the fats and oils contained in the coffee powder become inactive, resulting in poor wettability.

As described above, if the wettability between the dripping water and the coffee powder is poor, the dripping water will not penetrate sufficiently into the coffee powder, making it impossible to extract coffee components, and the coffee extractor will not be able to perform its role satisfactorily.

Furthermore, if the amount of dripping water is too large than the amount of water that can permeate into the coffee powder, the portion of the dripping water that cannot penetrate may overflow from the filtration chamber.

Conventional cold brew coffee extractors do not take into account how to improve the wettability of dripping water and coffee grounds, or how to adjust the amount of dripping water, and rely on the intuition and experience of the user. It was large and extremely difficult to use.

Therefore, the present invention solves these conventional problems, and when the temperature of the dripping water is low, the dripping water is automatically heated to the optimal temperature by a heating element for heating the dripping water. It is something.

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve the above objects, the coffee extractor of the present invention comprises a water container containing water, a flow control valve for controlling the dripping flow rate of water in the water container, and this flow control valve. A heating element for heating dripping water from a filter, a filtration chamber for accommodating coffee powder, a water temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the dripping water, and a water temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the dripping water, and a water temperature detection means for controlling the heating body in response to information from the water temperature detection means. It has heating element control means for controlling.

action The effect of this technical means is as follows.

In other words, even when the water temperature in the water container is low, if the heating element automatically heats the dripping water to the optimum temperature, the wettability between the dripping water and coffee grounds will be improved, and the dripping water will sufficiently penetrate into the coffee grounds. This makes it possible to extract all coffee components.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, a water container 2 provided above the extractor main body 1
The water inside is sent from the water supply passage 3 at the bottom to a flow rate control valve 4 that controls the dripping flow rate of water, and is throttled down to a minute amount and drips from the discharge port 5, and is passed to a filtration chamber 7 that accommodates coffee powder 6. sent to.

The water dropped into the coffee powder 6 passes through the coffee powder 6 over time, extracts coffee components, becomes coffee liquid, drops from the outlet 8, and is stored in the coffee container 9.

The flow rate control valve 4 has a ring shape with a valve hole 10 formed therein, and the valve hole 10 is arranged so as to intersect with the water supply passage 3. When the crossing angle α0 is small as shown in FIG. 2(a), the flow rate is as follows. Conversely, the larger the intersection angle α, the lower the flow rate (Figure 2)).

Numeral 11 is a seal for watertightly fitting the flow rate control valve 4 and the water supply passage 3, and 12 is a knob provided on the flow rate control valve 4, which is used when manually controlling the dripping flow rate.

The discharge port 5 is equipped with a water temperature detection means 13 such as a thermistor or a thermometer, and the water supply passage 3 is provided with an appropriate heating element 14 for heating the water. Input values, energization cycles, etc. can be adjusted by the heating element control means 15.

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram showing the relationship between the water temperature detection means 13 and the heating element 14. Information from the water temperature detection means 13 is processed by the water temperature detection circuit 16 and sent to the heating element control means 15. and controls the heating body 14.

In the above configuration, the water put into the water container 2 is too low temperature, and the temperature of the dripping water heated by the heating element 14 is lower than that of the coffee powder 6.
When the water temperature cannot be raised sufficiently to improve wettability with water, the information from the water temperature detection means 13 acts to increase the input value of the heating element 14 or lengthen the energization cycle, and the temperature of the dripping water increases. When it is high, it acts in the opposite direction.

By doing this, regardless of the temperature of the water stored in the water container 2, the temperature of the water dripping from the outlet 5 will be lower than that of the coffee powder 6.
Since the coffee is constantly heated to a temperature that provides sufficient wettability with the coffee, it is possible to extract all of the coffee components.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention detects the temperature of the dripping water and adjusts the power of the water heating element according to the detected temperature, so that the temperature of the dripping water can be kept constant. Therefore, sufficient wettability with coffee powder can be ensured, and all coffee components can be extracted.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

3 is a circuit block diagram of the same coffee extractor, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a conventional example. 2...Water container, 4...Flow rate control valve, 7
......Filter, 13...Water temperature detection means,
14... Heating body, 15... Heating body control means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] It includes a water container that stores water, a flow rate control valve that controls the dripping flow rate of water in the water container, a heating element that heats the dripping water from the flow rate control valve, and a filtration chamber that stores coffee powder. A coffee extractor comprising: water temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the dripping water; and heating element control means for controlling the heating element in response to information from the water temperature detection means.