JPH0370487B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical field to which the invention pertains] The present invention relates to a hot water supply device for a beverage extraction device for extracting coffee, black tea, green tea, etc.

Beverages such as coffee can be extracted using hot water and a simple strainer, but it requires skill and effort to extract deliciously. Beverage brewing devices for coffee and other beverages have been used in order to save the skill and effort and always brew delicious beverages. By the way, in order to brew delicious coffee, etc., (1) the temperature of the hot water used for brewing must be appropriate. (2) The amount of hot water supplied must match the amount of raw materials such as coffee powder, that is, the amount of hot water must be accurately measured. (3) The extraction time is appropriate. (Four)
Raw materials such as coffee powder are new. (5) The way the coffee powder is ground matches the extraction method. etc. are important.

[Prior art]

Among these items, items (4) and (5) are not directly related to the beverage extraction device, but items (1) to (3) are important for the extraction device. Even in conventional coffee brewing devices, etc., the water temperature is controlled to an appropriate temperature using a thermostat, etc., but for metered hot water supply, a flow control valve is installed in the water supply pipe of the closed water boiling tank, and the water supply time is controlled by a timer to control the amount of water supplied. There are two methods: measuring the amount of hot water and pumping up the same amount of hot water, and another method using a heat-resistant pump to supply hot water in a water boiling tank and controlling the hot water supply time with a timer. There is a method in which a measuring tank is installed at the top of a water boiling tank, and the volume of water measured in the measuring tank is introduced into the bottom of the water boiling tank by a drop, and the hot water is then metered out.

In the first method, the tap water pressure is approximately 0.5Kg/cm ² to approximately 10
It is difficult to maintain a constant flow rate with a flow control valve because it varies by region, up to Kg/ ^cm2 , and also varies widely depending on the time of day. In the second method, since the water temperature is over 90 degrees, near the boiling point, the negative pressure created when sucking into the pump causes a boiling phenomenon in the pump chamber, making the pump discharge amount extremely unstable and the amount of hot water supplied fluctuating. do. If accurate metered hot water supply is not possible, the taste and amount of coffee liquid, etc. will change with each extraction, and since the brewing time is closely related to the amount of hot water supplied, fluctuations in the amount of hot water supplied will The extraction time also changed, deviating from the optimal extraction conditions and reducing the taste of the beverage. The third method uses a measuring tank to measure the volume, so it is not affected by the water supply pressure and provides accurate measurement.
Hot water can be supplied, but the measuring tank must be installed above the water heating tank, and in the case of a large-capacity extraction device, the amount of hot water supplied at one time is 10 or more, making the measuring tank very large, which increases the height of the device. In addition to being very expensive and causing trouble in terms of installation dimensions as store equipment, stability and operability are also poor, and the expansion of water due to boiling in the water tank is absorbed into the bottom of the measuring tank. The bottom part and the water boiling tank must be kept in communication when on standby, and the measuring tank measures the entire amount each time it is brewed, so when a large amount of hot water is supplied, the measuring time takes longer, and the waiting time before brewing the beverage. It has the disadvantage that it takes a long time. Furthermore, large beverage brewing devices that can extract a large amount at a time are convenient for serving drinks to a large number of people, but when serving drinks to a small number of people, especially coffee liquid, if the liquid is kept warm for a long time, it will oxidize and taste bad. Therefore, there is a need for something that can change the amount of extraction at least in two stages, large and small, or more. Although it is possible to change the amount of hot water supplied using conventional devices, the flow rate of hot water supply cannot be changed to ensure an optimal brewing time commensurate with this change, and the taste of the brewed beverage will be sacrificed.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention eliminates these drawbacks, and its purpose is to obtain the best possible beverage by sprinkling a stable amount of hot water onto the beverage ingredients at a predetermined sprinkling time, and to reduce the height of the device. We have developed a hot water supply device for a beverage brewing device that not only enables large-capacity extraction, but also shortens measuring time to enable speedy brewing, and allows for easy changes in the amount of brewing per batch depending on the number of customers, etc. It is about providing.

[Key points of the invention]

The water supply device for a beverage brewing device according to the present invention includes a measuring tank equipped with a water level detector, a water supply pipe that leads water from a water supply source to the measuring tank, and a water supply pipe provided in the middle of the water supply pipe that is opened and closed by the water level detector. a water supply solenoid valve that is controlled by a water supply solenoid valve, a water boiler tank that is equipped with a heater that is controlled by a temperature control device, a pump that sends water from the metering tank to the bottom of the water boiler tank, and a water tank that is connected in series to the pump. a solenoid valve and a flow rate control valve; a hot water outlet pipe having one end connected to the top surface of the water boiling tank, the middle thereof being higher than the top surface of the water boiling tank, and the discharge port of the other end facing downward; A hot water storage cylinder that is erected with its interior communicating with the outside air and whose top surface is connected to the outside air, one end of which is connected to the bottom of the water boiling tank, a communication solenoid valve is provided in the middle, and the other end is inside the metering tank and is connected to the top surface of the water boiling tank. When the water level in the metering tank reaches a predetermined upper level, the water level detector closes the water supply solenoid valve and starts operating the pump. The pump is characterized in that it is configured to stop when the water level drops to a lower predetermined level, and to open the water solenoid valve and close the communication solenoid valve while the pump is in operation.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The present invention will be explained below using coffee as an example with reference to figures showing one embodiment. In Figure 1,
A measuring tank 11 and a hot water tank 12 are housed inside the case (not shown), and inside the measuring tank 11, from the top, there are an upper limit water level LV ₁ , a standby water level LV ₂ , and a lower limit water level.
LV ₃ is set and a water level detector 14 with a float 13 is provided to detect this water level. Further, on the top surface of the measuring tank 11, the base end is connected to a water supply source (not shown) such as water supply, and a water supply solenoid valve 15 is connected in the middle.
One end of the water supply pipe 16 provided with the water supply pipe 16 is opened, and this end is opened at a certain distance from the water surface in the measuring tank 11 so that the water in the measuring tank 11 does not flow back when the water supply source becomes negative pressure. ing.

The suction side of the pump 17 is connected to the bottom of the metering tank 11, and the discharge side of the pump 17 is divided into two parts, each of which is connected in series with water solenoid valves 18 and 19 and flow rate adjustment valves 20 and 21, and then connected again. The rising pipes 22 pass through the water boiling tank 12 and open above the water boiling tank 12 to prevent backflow from the water boiling tank 12 to the metering tank 11. The water flowing out from the riser pipe 22 hits the upper end of the outer pipe 23, which has one end closed and the other end extended close to the bottom of the water boiling tank 12, and then flows inside the outer pipe 23 and flows into the bottom of the water boiling tank 12. . A heater 25 controlled by a temperature control device 24 is provided below the water boiling tank 12, and a filter 27 is provided on the top surface of the water boiling tank 12 to direct the hot water in the water boiling tank 12 into an extractor 26.
One end of a hot water pipe 29 for sprinkling hot water onto the coffee powder 28 introduced through the hot water tank 2 is attached.
The middle of 9 is located higher than the above-mentioned one end, and a water sprinkler 30 having a large number of small holes is attached to the other end.

A hot water storage cylinder 31 with a relatively large inner diameter and an upper end open to the atmosphere is attached to the top surface of the hot water tank 12 in order to maintain the hot water level higher than the hot water tap pipe 29 during hot water taping.
The other end of an overflow pipe 32, which has one end opened on the top surface of the metering tank 11, is provided at the top of the hot water storage cylinder 31 in case the amount of water supplied by the pump 17 becomes excessive and the liquid level in the hot water storage cylinder 31 rises too much. is installed. Also, on the bottom of the water boiling tank 12, a communication pipe 3 is provided with a communication solenoid valve 33 that is closed when the pump 17 is energized.
4 is attached, and the other end of the communication pipe 34 passes through the inside of the metering tank 11 and opens at a position higher than the top surface of the water boiling tank 12 and lower than the water sprinkler 30. As a result, each time one extraction is completed, the standby water level in the water boiling tank 12 is kept constant, and the volume expansion due to the water boiling during standby is absorbed into the measuring tank 11.
This prevents the water level of the hot water from changing and keeps the amount of hot water sprinkled on the coffee powder 28 constant at each extraction. At the upper opening of the hot water storage tank 31, there is a water supply pipe 36 whose base end is connected to a water supply source and a water supply solenoid valve 35 is provided in the middle.
One end is open, and a float switch 37 for controlling the amount of water supplied from the water supply pipe 36 is provided near the wall of the hot water storage cylinder 31 . Further, drain pipes 38 and 39 are provided at the bottoms of the metering tank 11 and the water boiling tank 12.

Next, the operation of the embodiment described above will be explained with reference to FIG. First, when this device is connected to the power supply, the contact RSO of the float switch 37 is closed, so the relay 1R is energized, and the contact 1R1 is closed, and the solenoid WV1 of the water supply solenoid valve 35 is energized, so that hot water is removed from the water supply pipe 36. After water is supplied to the boiling tank 12, when the water level rises to a certain level, the contact RSO of the float switch 37 opens and the water supply is stopped. During water supply, B contact 1R2 of relay 1R is open, so heater H (heater 25 in Figure 1)
B is not energized and dry heating is prevented, and when the water supply is stopped and a predetermined amount of water is stored in the water boiling tank 12, B
Contact 1R2 is closed and relay 5R is energized via contact TH of temperature control device 24, and its A contact 5R1
When the heater H is closed and the heater H is energized, the cold water in the water boiling tank 12 is heated to a predetermined temperature.

Most of the volume expansion that occurs when the cold water is heated during this initial water boiling is discharged into the metering tank 11 through the communication pipe 34 that communicates the bottom of the water boiling tank 12 with the top of the metering tank 11 . At this time, the communication pipe 34
The communication solenoid valve 33 provided in the middle is open because the pump 17 is not in operation. In this way, the liquid level of hot water in the water boiling tank 12 is adjusted to the level in the communicating pipe 3 in the measuring tank 11.
It is kept at the same level as the opening of No. 4 and is always constant.

On the other hand, for the measuring tank 11, the lower limit water level detection element RS3 and the standby water level detection element RS2 are initially closed, so the relays 4R and 3R are closed, and their A contacts 4R2 and 3R2 are closed.
While exciting R and closing its A contact 8R1,
Water is supplied from the conduit 16 to the measuring tank 11 by closing the other A contact 8R2 and energizing the solenoid WV2 of the water supply solenoid valve 15 to open the valve. As the water supply progresses, the water level rises and the lower limit water level detection element RS3 opens, and A
Contact 4R2 is open, but parallel A contact 8R1 is closed, so water supply continues. When the water level further rises and the standby water level detection element RS2 opens, the A contact 3R2 opens and the relay 8R becomes de-energized.As a result, the A contact 8R2 opens and the solenoid WV2 also becomes de-energized, so the water supply solenoid valve 15 closes. and goes into standby mode.

Next, large-capacity extraction will be explained. When brewing, first set the selection switch SW1 to the large capacity side (the position shown in Figure 2), then set the extractor 26 containing the coffee powder 28 and paper filter 27 directly below the water sprinkler 30. Press push button PB. By operating push button PB, relay 6R is energized and self-held by A contact 6R1, and A
The solenoid WV2 is excited by the contact 6R2, the water supply solenoid valve 15 is opened, and water is supplied to the measuring tank 11. When the water level rises and closes the upper limit water level detection element RS1, the relay 2R is energized and its B contact 2R1 is opened, the relay 6R is de-energized, the water supply solenoid valve 15 is closed, and the water supply is stopped.

When the relay 2R is energized, its A contact 2R2 closes, energizing the relay 7R, which closes its A contact 7R4 and operates the solenoid WV3.
At the same time, when closing 3 and making the communication pipe 34 non-communicating,
The solenoid WV4 is operated to open the water solenoid valve 18 and rotate the electric motor PM of the pump 17. The water coming out of the pump 17 is adjusted to a flow rate suitable for large-capacity extraction by the flow rate adjustment valve 20, and then flows into the riser pipe 22.
The hot water flows from the inside of the outer pipe 23 to the bottom of the hot water tank 12 and pushes the hot water with a lighter specific gravity upward into the hot water storage cylinder 31, and when the hot water level exceeds the top of the hot water outlet pipe 29, the hot water is discharged from the water sprinkler 30. The coffee powder 28 is sprinkled with hot water, turned into coffee liquid, and flows down into the container 41.

Furthermore, the hot water level in the hot water tank 12 continues to rise in the hot water storage cylinder 31 until the water level reaches a level where the flow rate flowing through the hot water outlet pipe 29 and the flow rate sent from the pump 17 to the hot water tank 12 through the flow rate adjustment valve 20 match. rise and stabilize. As a result, the head difference between the water sprinkler 30 and the liquid level in the hot water tank 31 becomes a substantially constant value, and the water sprinkler 3
Stable hot water is sprayed at the required flow rate from zero. On the other hand, in the metering tank 11, water is sent to the hot water tank 12 by the pump 17, so the water level decreases, and when the water sprinkler 30 sends out an amount of cold water equivalent to the amount of hot water to be sprinkled on the coffee powder 28, the water level reaches the lower limit. Water level detection element RS3 is closed, relay 4R is energized, its B contact 4R1 is opened, and relay 7R is de-energized. As a result, the motor PM of the pump 17 is stopped, the water electromagnetic valve 18 is closed, and at the same time, the communication electromagnetic valve 33 provided in the middle of the communication pipe 34 is opened, and a part of the hot water in the water boiling tank 12 is transferred to the metering tank 11. flows into. As a result, the liquid level in the hot water storage tank 31 quickly drops below the level of the water sprinkler 30, and hot water from the water sprinkler 30 is stopped.

When the lower limit water level detection element RS3 is closed in the measuring tank 11, the relay 8R is also energized, which activates the solenoid WV2 and opens the water supply solenoid valve 15.
Water is supplied from the water supply pipe 16 to the measuring tank 11,
The water level in the tank 11 is raised, and the standby water level detection element RS2 is opened, and the relay 3R is de-energized.
The contact 3R2 opens and the relay 8R becomes de-energized, and the water supply solenoid valve 15 is closed to stop the water supply and enter a standby state.

In the above extraction, the inside of the water boiling tank 12 is the measuring tank 11.
The temperature sensing part of the temperature control device 24 installed in the water boiling tank 12 detects a drop in the water temperature and starts energizing the heater 25 to bring the water temperature up to a predetermined temperature. raise. The volume expanded in the water boiling tank 12 due to this heating passes through the communication pipe 34 and is transferred to the measuring tank 11 through an opening located higher than the top surface of the water boiling tank 12 and lower than the water sprinkler 30.
The liquid level in the water boiling tank 12 is kept constant.

Next, the case of brewing a small amount of coffee will be explained.
After switching the selection switch SW1 to the small capacity side, install the extractor 26 and press the push button PB. By operating this push button PB, the relay 6R is energized, operating the solenoid WV2 and opening the water supply solenoid valve 15.
Water is then supplied from the water supply pipe 16 to the measuring tank 11, raising the water level in the tank 11, and eventually closing the upper limit water level detection element RS1. Then, the relay 2R is energized, its b contact 2R1 is opened, the relay 6R is de-energized, the water supply solenoid valve 15 is closed, and the water supply is stopped. At the same time, relay 7R is energized and the solenoid
The solenoid WV3 is activated to close the communication solenoid valve 33 and the communication pipe 34 is blocked, and the solenoid WV5 is activated to open the water solenoid valve 19 and the motor of the pump 17 is activated.
Rotate PM. As a result, the water leaving the pump 17 is adjusted to a flow rate suitable for small-volume extraction by the flow rate control valve 21, and flows into the bottom of the water boiling tank 12 via the riser pipe 22 and outer pipe 23, and is then flowed into the bottom of the water boiling tank 12 through the riser pipe 22 and the outer pipe 23. The hot water in the water boiling tank 12 is sprayed onto the coffee powder 28 from the water sprinkler 30 in substantially the same manner as in the case of the present invention. However, during this small volume extraction, the flow control valve 20 during large volume extraction
Since water is supplied to the water boiling tank 12 via a flow rate control valve 21 with a different set flow rate, the water supply cylinder 31 balances the water supply and the amount of hot water output from the water sprinkler 30 when hot water is discharged.
The liquid level inside is different from when brewing large volumes, and hot water is drawn out at a flow rate suitable for small volume extraction, extracting a good coffee liquid.

On the other hand, in the metering tank 11, water is sent to the water boiling tank 12 by the pump 17, so the water level decreases.
When the water sprinkler 30 sends out an amount of cold water equivalent to the amount of hot water to be sprinkled on the coffee powder 28 during small-capacity brewing, the standby water level is reached and the standby water level detection element RS2 closes, energizing the relay 3R and opening its B contact 3R1, opening the relay 7R. becomes de-energized. As a result, pump 17
motor PM stops, water solenoid valve 19 closes,
The communication solenoid valve 33 provided in the middle of the communication pipe 34 opens. As a result, the hot water storage cylinder 31 in the upper part of the water boiling tank 12
The liquid level inside the sprinkler quickly fell below the 30 level,
Hot water from the sprinkler 30 is stopped.

In this device, the temperature of the water in the water boiling tank 12 is controlled within a predetermined temperature range by a temperature control device 24. In other words, the temperature of the water in the water boiling tank 12 reaches the maximum set temperature immediately after the heater 25 in the water tank 12 is energized, and as time passes, the water temperature decreases due to heat radiation from the wall of the water boiling tank 12, and eventually reaches the lowest temperature. When the set temperature is reached, the heater 25 starts energizing again and raises the temperature of the water. This operation is repeated during standby.

When brewing small-capacity coffee, when the heater 25 in the water boiling tank 12 starts brewing immediately after energization ends, that is, when the water temperature in the water boiling tank 12 is at the maximum set temperature, the temperature control device 24 controls the temperature inside the water boiling tank 12. It takes a long time to detect a drop in the water temperature because the amount of cold water sent from the metering tank 11 to the bottom of the water boiling tank 12 by the pump 17 is small. For this reason, the heater 25 is not energized during hot water dispensing, and the heater 25 starts energizing a while after hot water is dispensed. However, if extraction is started immediately before the heater 25 starts energizing, hot water is dispensed from the water boiling tank 12. The heater 25 in the tank 12 starts energizing, and the cold water supplied into the water boiling tank 12 is heated and expands in volume. Furthermore, due to the bubbles generated from the surface of the heater 25, the amount of stored hot water increases by the volume of the bubbles, and the volumetric expansion described above increases compared to when the heater 25 is not energized during hot water dispensing. For this reason, when brewing a small amount of water, when hot water is being dispensed from the tap pipe 29, that is, when cold water is being supplied from the metering tank 11 to the bottom of the water boiling tank 12 by the pump 17, the temperature set in the water boiling tank 12 is determined from the electric circuit. Even if the temperature sensing part of the control device 24 detects a decrease in the temperature of the hot water in the tank 12, the heater 2
5 is controlled so as not to be energized, and the cold water supplied to the water boiling tank is heated after hot water is dispensed. That is, the pump 1 is included in the excitation circuit of the relay 5R that controls the energization of the heater 25 (H in FIG. 2).
B of relay 7R controls the operation of motor PM 7.
Since the contact 7R1 is connected, the heater 25 is not energized while the pump 17 is operating.

By controlling the heater 25 in this way, the heater 25 is not energized during the taping in small volume extraction, so volume expansion due to cold water heating by the heater 25 and volume increase due to air bubbles generated from the surface of the heater 25 can be avoided. This makes it possible to obtain an extremely stable amount of hot water. Furthermore, in the case of large-capacity extraction, the amount of cold water supplied is large, so a boiling process is included during each tap, so the effect of boiling the water is the same each time, and there is almost no change in the amount of hot water. Further, since the amount of hot water stored in the water boiling tank 12 is larger than the amount of cold water supplied, the temperature of the hot water discharged from the water boiling tank 12 hardly decreases.

In the above explanation, the amount of hot water dispensed was explained as being switched in two steps, large and small.However, by setting multiple lower limit water levels detected by the water level detector in the measuring tank and switching these with a selection switch, the amount of hot water dispensed can be changed in multiple steps. can. In addition, the flow rate regulating valve for controlling the flow rate of cold water sent by the pump may be a system in which a plurality of fixed regulating valves are provided and switched in conjunction with the selection switch as in this embodiment, or a variable regulating valve is provided and switched in conjunction with the selection switch. It is also possible to adopt a system in which the degree of throttling of this valve is changed in conjunction with each other.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention has the following features. Namely, (1) To dispense the hot water to be sprinkled onto the coffee powder from the hot water tank, the volume of the hot water is accurately measured in a measuring tank as cold water, and then this is sent to the bottom of the hot water tank at a flow rate controlled by a flow rate adjustment valve. As a result, a precise amount of hot water at an appropriate temperature can be extracted from the top of the water boiling tank in place of the cold water and sprinkled on the coffee powder, etc. in the extractor at a predetermined sprinkling time, resulting in the best taste and aroma at all times. coffee liquid etc. can be obtained.

(2) The measurement of cold water in the measuring tank is accurate because it is volumetric and is not affected by the water supply pressure, and since the process after cold water measurement is insulated from the water source such as tap water, the hot water output from the water boiling tank is not affected by the water supply pressure. An accurate amount of hot water can be sprayed in a predetermined hot water supply time without being affected by fluctuations in water supply pressure.

(3) A pump is used to supply water from the metering tank to the hot water tank, and the discharge pressure of the pump remains constant once the flow rate is determined, so the flow rate of hot water supply can be adjusted to the amount of coffee liquid etc. extracted by adjusting the flow rate adjustment valve. Since the optimal flow rate is set and kept constant, it is possible to always perform extraction in the optimal extraction time and obtain the best quality coffee liquid, etc., regardless of the amount extracted.

(4) During standby, the temperature and volume expansion of hot water due to boiling in the water boiling tank is absorbed by the measuring tank, and the measuring tank pre-measures cold water that is somewhat smaller than the amount to be measured and waits for the extraction operation. Since the method is such that the amount that is insufficient to reach a predetermined measurement value is additionally measured, the volumetric expansion of the hot water absorbed is used as part of the additional measurement, and does not affect the cold water measurement value at all.
Another advantage is that the time required from the extraction operation to the start of hot water supply is short.

(5) Hot water is supplied by pumping accurately measured cold water in a measuring tank and replacing it with this cold water, so the pump used does not need to be as heat resistant as in the past. This also eliminates the drawback that the negative pressure generated on the suction side of the pump when high-temperature water is transferred causes boiling and foaming within the pump housing, causing significant fluctuations in flow rate.

(6) Since a pump is used to send water from the measuring tank to the water boiling tank, the measuring tank can be installed at the same height as the water boiling tank, so even if the volume of the measuring tank is made large, it is possible to The height of the device can be kept low, making it possible to provide a large-capacity beverage brewing device with low flow and good stability and operability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Each figure shows an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a mechanical diagram, and FIG. 2 is an electrical wiring diagram. 11...Measuring tank, 12...Water boiling tank, 14...Water level detector, 15...Water supply solenoid valve, 16...Water supply pipe, 17...Pump, 18, 19...Water solenoid valve, 20, 21... Flow rate adjustment valve, 24... Temperature control device, 25... Heater, 29... Hot water tap, 31
...Hot water storage cylinder, 33...Communication solenoid valve, 34...Communication pipe.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A measuring tank equipped with a water level detector, a water supply pipe that leads water from a water supply source to the measuring tank, a water supply solenoid valve installed in the middle of the water supply pipe and whose opening and closing are controlled by the water level detector, and a temperature a water boiling tank equipped with a heater controlled by a control device; a pump for feeding water from the metering tank to the bottom of the water boiling tank; a water solenoid valve and a flow rate control valve connected in series to the pump; is connected to the top surface of the water boiling tank, the middle thereof is higher than the top surface of the water boiling tank, and the outlet at the other end is directed downward. and a hot water storage cylinder whose upper surface is connected to the outside air, one end of which is connected to the bottom surface of the water boiling tank, a communication solenoid valve is provided in the middle, and the other end of which is higher than the top surface of the water boiler in the metering tank. When the water level in the measuring tank reaches a predetermined upper level, the water level detector closes the water supply solenoid valve and starts operating the pump, and when the water level in the measuring tank reaches a predetermined upper level, A hot water supply device for a beverage brewing device, which is configured to stop when the water temperature drops to a lower predetermined level, and to open the water solenoid valve and close the communication solenoid valve while the pump is in operation.