JPH047812Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (a) Industrial application field The present invention relates to a dining table, a so-called eating and drinking counter, in which a conveyor line for carrying food and drinks is provided along the counter or table. The present invention also relates to a device for transferring food and drink containers between a food and drink supply conveyor and a food and drink conveyor provided along the counter in a food and drink counter system.

(b) Conventional technology Conventionally, an endless conveyor that circulates in the horizontal direction is formed between customer seats such as counters or tables.
Tableware with food and drinks placed on it is placed on an endless conveyor, and the endless conveyor moves the food and drinks in circulation between customer seats, moving both the customers sitting at the counter and the cook at the counter. Eating and drinking systems such as dining tables that do not require food and drink and have a conveyor path for food and drinks where customers select their favorite food and drink while eating and drinking, mechanize the process of picking food and drinks to the customer's seats, making it easier for restaurants to use food and drink systems. It promotes labor saving and helps resolve labor shortages, from food such as sushi that is served on its own to food such as yakiniku that customers prepare and eat themselves. Widely used.

(c) Problems that the invention aims to solve However, in such a food and drink system, the supply of food such as sushi is carried out exclusively by the hands of the craftsman, for example, by the craftsman making the sushi. Since there is a limit and the number of customers eating and drinking is not always constant, for example, when eating or not eating, it is easy to overeat and undereat, which is a problem in restaurants in terms of freshness and hygiene.

However, it is labor-intensive and troublesome to constantly check the number of customers and adjust the amount of food and drink transported by the endless conveyor.

Therefore, a dining table was proposed in which a short path was provided between the outbound and return sides of an endless food and beverage conveyor so that the distance of the food and beverage conveyance path could be adjusted depending on the number of customers.

However, in order to use the short-circuit path in this way, it is necessary to install guides for changing the course of containers carrying food and drink on both the outbound and return sides of the endless conveyor transport process, and in addition, , the need to shut down the conveyor transfer path and remove excess food and beverage containers remains a problem.

The present invention aims to solve the problem that the supply of food and drink such as sushi in the conventional food and drink system cannot meet the demand of customers.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a food and beverage counter equipped with a device for transferring food and beverage containers so that it can meet the demands of customers.

That is, the present invention provides a food and beverage counter equipped with an endless flat-top conveyor, in which at least a part of the conveying stroke of the endless flat-top conveyor is parallel to the conveying stroke of the endless flat-top conveyor below the endless flat-top conveyor. a lower conveyor,
a lower floor member provided adjacent to the parallel portion of the conveyance stroke of the lower conveyor and having holes; and a lower floor member provided adjacent to the parallel portion of the conveyance stroke of the endless flat top conveyor and above the lower floor member. an upper floor member having apertures having a larger profile than the food and beverage containers provided and conveyed on the flat top conveyor, and each of said upper and lower floor members, respectively;
a food and beverage container moving member configured to be able to reciprocate through the area of the hole to the conveying area of an adjacent conveyor, an upper stop position in the hole in the upper floor member and a lower stop in the hole in the lower floor member; The food and drink counter is characterized by comprising a food and drink container push-up member that is provided so as to be able to reciprocate between positions.

In the present invention, the lower conveyor is a dedicated conveyor for supplying food and drink to the upper endless flat top conveyor, and if food and drink can be transported,
Although any conveyor can be used, an endless flat-top conveyor similar to the upper endless flat-top conveyor allows food and beverages to be constantly circulated while maintaining storage conditions, while also providing a transfer station. It is preferable that food and drinks can be provided at a plurality of locations, so that food and drinks can be supplied from the lower conveyor to the upper endless flat top conveyor at any time and quickly, depending on the number of customers. However, in this case, although the routes of the upper endless flat top conveyor and the lower stage flat top conveyor can be formed on the same route, they do not necessarily need to be formed on the same route. In this case, it is preferable to surround the entire route of the upper and/or lower endless flat-top conveyor with an enclosure wall having an opening and closing port to maintain the atmosphere within the enclosure in a state suitable for preserving food and drink.

In the present invention, the movement of food and drink from the lower conveyor to the upper endless flat top conveyor is as follows:
A station dedicated to transferring food and drink containers that protrudes from the same position beside each conveyor is formed by vertically arranging floor members having a floor surface on the same level as the transportation path of each conveyor. The upper floor member is provided with a hole penetrating from the upper surface to the lower surface so that the food and drink container pushed up from the lower step can pass through. There is. The lower floor member is provided with a hole large enough to accommodate the top of the food and beverage container push-up member. In both the upper and lower floor members, it is preferable that the gap between the hole, the food container push-up member, and the top be as small as possible so that the food container can be moved smoothly. Therefore, the shape of the hole is determined in correspondence with the shape of the top of the food/beverage container push-up member, and can be made into various shapes such as circular or rectangular.

The food and drink container pushing up member is connected to a reciprocating part of a reciprocating device of a gear mechanism, such as a piston rod or a pinion rack of an air cylinder, and is configured to be able to reciprocate.

The upper and lower floor members are each provided with a food container moving member that reciprocates at least horizontally on a line passing through the center of the hole and ending on the endless flat top conveyor. The food and drink container moving member of the upper floor member moves the food and drink container placed on the top of the food and drink container push-up member located in the hole of the floor member onto the endless flat top conveyor. On the other hand, the food and drink container moving member of the lower floor member places the food and drink container fed on the endless flat top conveyor onto the top of the food and drink container pushing member located in the hole of the floor member. Move food and drink containers accordingly.

In the present invention, the food and drink container moving member has a rotating shaft connected to the air cylinder mounted on the floor, and the rotating shaft has a length that extends from the rotating shaft to the outside of the hole in the floor member. A swinging arm member can be attached and formed. In this case, the rotation shaft can be connected, for example, to a forward and reverse rotation shaft that transmits the rocking motion of the rocking device. Further, the food/drink container moving member may be a pusher such as a piston rod of an air cylinder. In this case, the stroke of the pusher of the upper floor member is at least the length from the front of the hole in the floor member to the endless flat top conveyor, that is, the pusher stroke of the pusher of the upper floor member is at least the length from the front of the hole in the floor member to the endless flat top conveyor. The length is such that it can be moved onto the top conveyor, and the pusher stroke of the lower floor member is
It is at least the length from the lower conveyor to the hole in the floor member, ie, the length that allows the food and drink containers to be moved from the lower conveyor to the top of the food and drink container push-up member in the hole.

In addition, the upper floor member is provided with, on the upstream side thereof, so that the food and drink containers sent from the upstream side do not obstruct the feeding of the food and drink containers from the upper floor member.
For example, a food container stopper of a rotating arm type, a gate type, etc. can be provided.

(E) Function The present invention provides a station exclusively for transferring food and drink containers equipped with a food and drink container moving member and protruding from the same position next to the endless flat top conveyor on the upper stage and the conveyor on the lower stage. Since both the upper and lower stations are connected by the food container pushing member, the food container loaded with food is supplied from the kitchen room or the cooking station to the lower conveyor, and the food container transfer station is activated. In other words, by activating the food and drink container moving member and the food and drink container pushing member, the food and drinks conveyed on the lower conveyor are transferred to the endless flat top conveyor on the upper stage by a simple switch operation. Can be sent.

Therefore, according to the present invention, if the lower conveyor is constantly conveyed with a fixed amount of food and drink containers, the supply of food and drinks to the endless flat top conveyor on the upper level is controlled by the food and beverage containers in the store. This can be easily done by operating the operating switch of the transfer station depending on the number of passengers.

(f) Examples An example of an embodiment of the eating and drinking counter of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited in any way by the following description and examples.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front sectional view of one embodiment of the eating and drinking counter of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plane view on the surface of the upper endless flat top conveyor in the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the lower conveyor surface in the embodiment of FIG. 1.

In this example, the food and beverage counter 1 is provided with an endless flat top crescent chain conveyor 2 along the counter 3 at the upper stage. Similarly to the upper conveyor 2, the lower conveyor 4 is formed of an endless flat top crescent chain conveyor, and is arranged vertically to form a transport path for the food and drink containers 5. In this example, the lower conveyor 4 is
It is separated from the counter side by a side wall 6.

The transfer station 7 for the food and drink containers 5 is formed by providing an upper floor plate 8 and a lower floor plate 9 adjacent to the sides of the conveyors 2 and 4, respectively, at positions overlapping the upper and lower conveyors 2 and 4. There is.

A connecting hole 10 is provided in the upper floor plate 8, and a guide tube 11 is inserted into the connecting hole below the connecting hole 10 so as to correct the position of the food and drink container 5 and at the same time guide the lifting process of the food and drink container 5. 10 downwardly from the edge 12. A rotating shaft 13 is pivotally supported near the upper conveyor 2 of the upper floor plate 8, and this rotating shaft 13 has a curved contact portion 14 of the food and drink container 5 so as to hold the food and drink container 5. A food/beverage container feeding arm 15 formed as follows is fixed.

On the upstream side of the connection hole 10, the food and drink container feeding arm 15
A food/beverage container stop arm 16 is fixed to a rotation shaft 17 outside the rotation area of the container. The food container stopping arm 16 is rotated onto the upper conveyor 2 by the rotation of the rotation shaft 17, and temporarily stops the food container 5 being sent on the upper conveyor. The food and drink containers 5 can be easily fed onto the upper conveyor 2 by the arm 15.

On the other hand, the lower floor board 9 is equipped with a device 1 for pushing up food and drink containers.
A hole 20 is formed with a size that can accommodate eight food and drink container receiving parts 19. Located near the lower conveyor 4 on the lower floor plate 9, the rotating shaft 2
1 is pivotally supported, and this rotating shaft 21 has a food and drink container abutment part 22 formed in a curved manner so as to hold the food and drink container 5, as in the case of the upper stage. The object container intake arm 23 is fixed. This food and drink container taking-in arm 23 is provided so that the opening side of the curved food and drink container contact portion 22 can be placed toward the upstream side of the lower conveyor 4.

On the other hand, the upper curved food/drink container feeding arm 15 is provided so that the curved opening side thereof is directed toward the downstream side of the upper stage conveyor.

Rotation shaft 13 supported by the upper and lower floor plates
and 21 are respectively rotated in the forward or reverse direction by rotating a rotation shaft operating lever (none of which is shown) connected to the piston rod of the air cylinder by reciprocating movement of the piston rod of the air cylinder. Rotates in both forward and reverse directions. The food and drink container sending arm 15 and the food and drink container taking-in arm 23 are swung.

The food and drink container lifting device 18 has an air cylinder 26 installed by aligning the food and drink container receiving portion 19 with the holes 20 of the connection holes 10 and 9 of the upper and lower floorboards 8 and the shaft 25 of the piston rod 24. We are prepared. Piston rod 24 of air cylinder 26
A food/beverage container receiving portion 19 is provided at the end of the container. In this example, the food and drink container receiving portion 19 is formed into a plate shape.

Since the present example is configured as described above, the food container 5 containing the food and drink sent on the lower conveyor 4 is detected by the sensor 27, and the air cylinder (not shown) is activated. When actuated, the food and beverage container uptake arm 23 is moved onto the conveyor 4.
By this movement of the food and drink container taking-in arm 23, the food and drink container 5 is held by the curved food and drink container contact portion 22 and moved onto the food and drink container receiving portion 19. When the food and drink container 5 is moved to this food and drink container receiving part 19, in this example, the food and drink container stop arm 1
6 is activated to stop the transfer of the food and drink containers 5 on the upstream side of the transfer station on the upper stage conveyor 2. In order to smoothly stop the transfer of the food and drink container 5 by the rotating operation of the food and drink container stop arm 16,
In this example, a roller 29 is placed on the guide rail 28.
is provided. Thus, in this example,
Although food container stop arms 16 are provided on one side of the conveyor path, food container stop arms 16 may be provided on both sides of the conveyor 6. In this case, the roller 29 can be omitted. Further, in conjunction with the operation of the food container stop arm 16, the air cylinder 26 is activated to cause the piston rod 24 to protrude upward, and the food container receiving portion 19 is moved into the connection hole 10 of the upper floor plate 8. The food container receiving part 19 is connected to the upper floorboard 8
An air cylinder (not shown) for the upper rotating shaft 13 is located in the connecting hole 10 of the upper stage.
is activated, the food and drink container sending arm 15 is operated to hold the food and drink container 5 from outside the connection hole 10 where the food and drink container receiving part 19 is located, and the food and drink container 5 is transferred to the upper conveyor 2. move it up. In this way, the food and drink container 5 loaded with food and drink transported on the lower conveyor 4 can be transferred to the upper conveyor 2 via the food and drink container transfer station 7. In this example, the movement of the food and beverage containers 5 from the lower conveyor to the upper conveyor 2 is exclusively carried out by an air cylinder.
This can be done simply and easily by turning on or off an on/off switch that operates the air cylinder.

In this example, an air cylinder is used as a power source, but a reciprocating device using a stepping motor or the like as a power source can be used in place of the air cylinder, and various power transmission mechanisms such as a rack and pinion mechanism can also be used. can be applied.

In addition, in this example, the lower stage conveyor was used as a food and drink supply conveyor, and the upper stage was used as a food and beverage counter conveyor, but this is because food and drinks are placed on the conveyor from the level of the floor of the kitchen or cooking room. Although,
It is performed from the bottom row where it is suitable. Of course, if the height of the floor of the kitchen room or cooking station is changed, or if the conveyor inside the food and beverage counter is arranged in three or more stages, the upper stage will be used for food and beverage supply, and the lower stage will be used for the food and beverage counter. It can be used as a conveyor path.

Furthermore, in this example, the lower conveyor 4
The counter side and the opposite side shall be equipped with an opening/closing door to shut off the external atmosphere, and shall be equipped with a temperature and humidity control device so that food and drinks can be stored for a long period of time. I can do it.

(g) Effects of the invention This invention provides a station exclusively for transferring food and drink containers, which is equipped with a food and drink container moving member, at the same position beside the endless flat top conveyor on the upper stage and the conveyor on the lower stage. Since both the upper and lower stations are connected to each other by providing a food container push-up member, compared to conventional food and drink counters, it is possible to easily move the food and drink counters according to the number of customers in the store. Supplies and adjusts food and drinks. Moreover, since the supply conveyor is not visible to the public, it can be equipped with sufficient equipment for food and drink storage, and compared to conventional food and drink counters, food and drink can be stored more effectively. Therefore, it is possible to more easily supply food and drink according to the number of customers, and it is also economically advantageous.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front sectional view of one embodiment of the eating and drinking counter of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the upper endless flat top conveyor surface in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the lower conveyor surface in the embodiment shown in FIG. Regarding the symbols in the figure, 1 is the food and drink counter, 2
is an upper conveyor, 3 is a counter, 4 is a lower conveyor, 5 is a food and drink container, 6 is a side wall, 7 is a transfer station, 8 and 9 are floor plates, 10 is a connecting hole, 1
1 is a guide cylinder, 12 is an edge, 13, 17 and 21 are rotating shafts, 14 and 22 are food container contact parts, 15 is a food container feed arm, 16 is a food container stop arm, 1
Reference numeral 8 denotes a food and drink container pushing device, 19 a food and drink container receiving portion, 20 a hole, 23 a food and drink container taking-in arm, and 24
is the piston rod, 25 is the axis of the piston rod,
26 is an air cylinder, 27 is a sensor, 28 is a guide rail, and 29 is a roller.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a food and beverage counter equipped with an endless flat-top conveyor, a lower conveyor is provided below the endless flat-top conveyor and at least a part of its conveying stroke is parallel to the conveying stroke of the endless flat-top conveyor; a lower floor member provided adjacent to the parallel portion of the conveyance stroke of the lower conveyor and having holes; and a lower floor member provided adjacent to the parallel portion of the conveyance stroke of the endless flat top conveyor and above the lower floor member. an upper floor member having a hole penetrating from the upper surface to the lower surface and having a larger profile than the food and beverage containers conveyed on the flat top conveyor, and each of the upper and lower floor members;
food and drink container moving members each provided to be reciprocally movable through the hole region to the conveying region of an adjacent conveyor; A food and beverage counter comprising a food and drink container pushing member that is provided so as to be able to reciprocate between a lower stop position.