JPH06348949A - Cup type automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely wash the blade wheels of a stirring device with simple configuration without sprinkling washing water around by supplying diluent liquid into a dedicated cup for washing during a certain process different from the cooking of beverage and washing the blade wheels of the stirring device by inserting it into the diluent liquid inside the cup for washing. CONSTITUTION:A blade wheel 48 of a stirring device 10 is washed in the process different from the cooking of beverage in a cup CD for vending. First of all, a forward and backward moving mechanism 23 is operated, a cup clamping mechanism 24 is moved forward to the position of a cup for washing pedestal 51, and a cup CR for washing is sandwiched and clamped between clamping arms 38 and 38. Next, the cup CR for washing is conveyed to the position of the stirring device 10 by a right and left moving mechanism 21 and the forward and backward moving mechanism 23. In this case, the blade wheel 48 of the stirring device 10 is inserted to the cup CR for washing adjacently to the bottom part, hot water is supplied from a hot water tank 9, a stirrer 45 is operated, and the blade wheel 48 is rotated in the hot water inside the cup CR for washing so that the blade wheel 48 can be washed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cup-type vending machine in which a raw material and hot water or water are put into a cup and stirred by a stirring device to cook a beverage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, cup-type vending machines of this type are designed so that after the beverage is cooked by the stirrer, the impeller of the stirrer is regularly washed to wash away the deposits. Cleaning of this impeller is necessary for hygiene management,
It is also necessary in order to avoid the situation where the flavor of the beverage sold later is deteriorated due to the residual aroma of the beverage sold before when different types of beverage, such as coffee and tea, are subsequently sold.

As such a cup type automatic vending machine, for example, one described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-100591 is known. In this cup-type vending machine, the pouring of hot water into the cup is divided into multiple times, the impeller of the stirring device is inserted into the cup after the first pouring of the hot water to stir, and then the impeller is placed inside the cup. With the water slightly raised from the drinking water surface of the above, when adding hot water thereafter, pour hot water onto the rotating impeller and slowly lift the impeller so as not to touch the beverage in the cup, thereby cooking the beverage. Immediately after completing the above, the impeller is cleaned.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, this cup-type vending machine is an impeller in which the raw material and a part of the hot water for beverage preparation are agitated by an impeller of an agitator and the rest of the hot water is slightly floated from the beverage in the cup. Since it is washed by pouring into the impeller, there is a problem that the amount of hot water used for washing and the washing time tend to be insufficient, especially for powdered raw materials that tend to stick to the impeller, and the impeller cannot be washed sufficiently. In addition, the operation of pouring hot water into the impeller is required while pulling up the impeller so that it does not touch the beverage in the cup, so the amount and timing of pouring the hot water, the timing of pulling up the impeller, etc. Must be matched appropriately, and there is also a problem that it takes time to set them.

Further, in the above cup type vending machine, when the pouring of the hot water is near the end, the hot water is poured into the rotating impeller near the upper edge of the cup. It easily scatters around and pollutes the surroundings,
There is also a problem that it is not good for hygiene.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an impeller of a stirrer used for cooking beverages has a simple structure and scatters washing water around. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a cup-type vending machine that can be surely washed.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cup storage unit for storing a sales cup and a transfer device for receiving the sales cup from the cup storage unit and transferring it along a transfer path. And a raw material supply device for supplying raw materials to the cup for sale which is conveyed by the conveying device,
The diluting liquid tank that supplies the diluting liquid to the sales cup, the stirring device that stirs the raw materials and the diluting liquid that are supplied to the selling cup with an impeller, and the beverage, the transport device, the diluting liquid tank, and the stirring device. In a cup-type vending machine equipped with a control unit for controlling the operation, a cleaning cup is arranged on the transfer path, and the control unit causes the transfer device to open the cleaning cup at a predetermined timing other than beverage preparation. It is characterized by receiving and transporting, supplying the diluting liquid from the diluting liquid tank to the washing cup, and inserting the impeller of the stirrer into the diluting liquid in the washing cup for washing.

[0008]

According to the automatic vending machine having the above-mentioned structure, under the control of the control unit, the transport device receives and transports the cleaning cup at a predetermined timing other than the cooking of the beverage, and transfers the cleaning cup to the cleaning cup from the diluent tank. The diluent is supplied, and the cleaning is performed by inserting the impeller of the stirring device into the diluent in the cleaning cup. In this way, in a process separate from the cooking of the beverage, the diluent is supplied into the dedicated cleaning cup, and the impeller of the stirring device is inserted into the diluent in the cleaning cup for cleaning. It is possible to secure a sufficient amount of diluting solution and a sufficient cleaning time. Further, since the impeller can be inserted into the cleaning cup and cleaned at this position, even if the impeller rotates, the diluent does not splash around during cleaning. Further, in order to perform the above cleaning, it is sufficient to arrange a cleaning cup on the transfer path of the conventional transfer device and change the control contents of the control unit, for example, the control program, while using the conventional device. Cleaning can be performed by simply adding a simple structure.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a cup type vending machine to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings. This vending machine is different from the conventional one that cooks (mixes) beverages in the vending machine and conveys the cooked beverage in a cup cooked in the vending machine to the vending machine and provides it to the product purchaser. It is of the form. Further, in this vending machine, the stirring device for cooking the beverage is washed using a dedicated washing cup. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a cooking device and a cleaning device for hot instant coffee of this vending machine. As shown in the figure, this vending machine is a cooking device 1 for cooking a product.
And a lifting device 2 that lifts the cooked product in a cup to a sales outlet, and a cleaning device 3 that cleans the stirring device of the cooking device 1.

[0010] As shown in the figure, a cooking device 1 includes a conveyor 4 for transporting the sales cup C _D, sales cup C _D
A cup dispenser (cup storing part) 5 for storing
Canisters 6, 7, and 8 as raw material supply devices for supplying cream, instant coffee, and sugar, which are powder raw materials, to the sales cup C _D , and the sales cup C
A hot water tank (dilution tank) 9 for supplying water to the _D, stirring a powder material and hot water are C _D supplied to the sales cup (cooked)
And a stirring device 10 for mixing.

The carrying device 4 has a left-right moving mechanism 21 for carrying the selling cup _CD in the left-right direction, a guide rail 22 extending in front of the left-right moving mechanism 21 in parallel therewith, a left-right moving mechanism 21, and a guide rail 22. A front-rear moving mechanism 23 that is provided so as to pass between the cups for sale C _D in the front-rear direction, a cup gripping mechanism 24 mounted on the front-rear moving mechanism, the left-right moving mechanism 21, and the front-rear moving mechanism 23.
And control device 2 for controlling the operation of the cup gripping mechanism 24
5 (see FIG. 2). The beverage cup C _D is conveyed in the front-rear direction by the front-rear moving mechanism 23 while being held by the cup holding mechanism 24,
It is guided by the guide rail 22 and is conveyed in the left-right direction by the left-right movement mechanism 21.

The left-right moving mechanism 21 includes a support frame 26 extending linearly in the left-right direction, a drive pulley (not shown) and a driven pulley 27 rotatably supported at both left and right ends of the support frame 26, respectively. An endless conveyor belt 28 hung between both pulleys, and a conveyor motor 29 with an encoder capable of rotating the drive pulley in the forward and reverse directions (see FIG. 2).
(See) and. The front-rear moving mechanism 23 is fixed to a predetermined portion of the conveyor belt 28, and the conveyor motor 28 operates to move the conveyor belt 28, whereby the rollers 30 attached to the front-rear moving mechanism 23 are
The support frame 26 and the guide rail 22 are guided by the upper surfaces of the support frame 26 and roll, and the front-rear moving mechanism 23 moves the cup holding mechanism 24.
Moves left and right with.

Similarly, the front-rear moving mechanism 23 includes a support frame 31 linearly extending in the front-rear direction and a support frame 31.
A drive pulley 32 and a driven pulley 33, which are rotatably supported at the front and rear ends thereof, an endless conveyor belt 34 hung between the pulleys 32, 33, and a drive pulley 3.
It is constituted by a transport motor 35 with an encoder, which can rotate forward and backward to rotate 2. The cup gripping mechanism 24 is fixed to a predetermined part of the transport belt 34, and the transport motor 35 operates to move the transport belt 34, whereby the roller 36 attached to the cup gripping mechanism 24 causes the support frame 26 to move. Rolled while being guided by the upper surface of
The cup gripping mechanism 24 moves in the front-back direction.

As shown in detail in FIG. 3, the cup gripping mechanism 24 has a box-shaped case body 37 and a pair of gripping arms 38, 38 projecting from the upper front part of the case body 37. Each gripping arm 38, 38 has a case body 37.
3 is attached rotatably in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 3, and the cam and link mechanism (not shown) are operated by the operation of the forward / reverse rotatable gripping motor 39 (see FIG. 2) incorporated in the case body 37. Gripping position (FIG. 3) for catching the cup C _D of the beverage so that it is caught by the upper edge of the cup C _D.
The solid line position) and the release position (the broken line position) for releasing the beverage cup C _D are opened and closed.

The control device 25, which constitutes a control portion of the vending machine, is composed of a microcomputer and the like, and as shown in FIG. 2, a conveyance motor 29 of the lateral movement mechanism 21 and a conveyance motor of the longitudinal movement mechanism 23. 35 and the gripping motor 39 of the cup gripping mechanism 24 are connected. Further, the control device 25 is connected to a stirring motor 58 and a stirrer lifting motor 59 of the stirring device 10 described later, and a lifting motor 63 of the lifting device 2 described later. The control device 5 controls the motors 29, 35, 39, 5 according to the sales command based on the stored control program (not shown).
By controlling the operation timing of 8, 59, 63, the rotation direction, the number of rotations, and the like, the operations of the left-right movement mechanism 21, the forward-backward movement mechanism 23, the cup gripping mechanism 24, the stirring device 10, and the lifting device 2 are controlled.

The cup dispenser 5 stores a large number of paper sales cups C _D in stock, and has a delivery mechanism (not shown) for delivering the sales cups C _D to the transport device 4 at the bottom. Have Cup dispenser 5
Is provided above the center of the left end of the transport device 4,
The position directly below the cup dispenser 5 is the home position of the cup gripping mechanism 24 of the transport device 4. When a sales instruction is issued, the selling cups C _D are taken out one by one from the cup dispenser 5 by the delivery mechanism and dropped between the gripping arms 38, 38 of the cup gripping mechanism 24.

The cream canister 6, the coffee canister 7, and the sugar canister 8 are used for stocking powder raw materials such as cream, instant coffee, and sugar, and are provided above and below the transport device 4 side by side. A supply mechanism 41 is provided so as to project from a lower portion of each of the canisters 6, 7, and 8, and a powder shooter 42 is provided below the supply mechanism 41. The powder raw material in the canisters 6, 7, 8 is weighed by a predetermined amount by each supply mechanism 41,
Sales cup C _D conveyed by the conveying device 4
Is supplied via the powder shooter 42.

The hot water tank 9 has a heater (not shown) inside.
And to supply hot water to the sales cup C _D ,
It is provided beside the canisters 6, 7, and 8. The hot water supply port of the hot water tank 9 is provided with a hot water valve 43 formed of an electromagnetic valve and a supply nozzle 44 connected to the hot water valve 43.
A predetermined amount of hot water in the hot water tank 9 is supplied to the selling cup C _D through the supply nozzle 44 by opening the hot water valve 43. The tip of the supply nozzle 44 has a cup C _D for sale.
The impeller 48, which will be described later, of the stirrer 10 inserted in the above is faced, and the hot water is directly applied to the impeller 48.

The stirrer 10 is provided between the canisters 6, 7, 8 and the hot water tank 9 and stirrer 45 for mixing and stirring the powder raw material and the hot water supplied to the cup C _D for sale.
And an elevating mechanism 46 for moving the stirrer 45 up and down. The stirrer 45 is a built-in stirring motor 5
8 (see FIG. 2) is configured such that an impeller 48 is attached to the tip of a rotary shaft 47 of 8 (see FIG. 2).
6 is driven up and down by a belt driven by a stirrer elevating motor 59 (see FIG. 2) built in 6.

The lifting device 2 is attached to the inside of a main door (not shown) of the vending machine, and when the main door is closed, as shown in FIG. Located in. The elevating device 2 includes a device body 61 and a cup holder 62 that is attached to the device body 61 so as to be able to move up and down. An elevating motor 63 (see FIG. 2) built in the device body 61 causes the cup holder to move. 62 moves up and down.

On the other hand, the cleaning device 3 includes the transfer device 4 and the hot water tank 9 of the above-mentioned structure, the cleaning cup mounting base 51 on which the cleaning cup C _R is mounted, and the drain part 52 for draining the cleaning hot water. It is composed by.

The cleaning cup C _R is exclusively used for cleaning the impeller 48 of the stirring device 10,
It is made of plastic, for example, so that it can be reused. Further, the cleaning cup C _R has the same shape and size as the sales cup C _D, and a drain hole 53 is formed in the bottom thereof.

The cleaning cup mounting table 51 is provided above the left end front part of the transfer device 4 and has a cup gripping mechanism 24.
Between the grasping arms 38, 38 of the cleaning cup mounting table 51.
By sandwiching the cleaning cup C _R placed on the cleaning cup C _R is adapted to be delivered into a cup holding mechanism 24. The transferred cleaning cup C _R is transferred by the transport device 4 in the same manner as the sales cup C _D.
The hot water is fed from the hot water tank 9 to a position directly below the stirring device 10, and the impeller 4 of the stirring device 10 is supplied.
The impeller 48 is cleaned by inserting 8 and rotating 8.

The drainage section 52 is composed of a drainage tray 54 for collecting and draining hot water after completion of washing, and a drainage bucket 55 arranged below the drainage tray 54 for receiving drainage. The drainage tray 54 is arranged between the canisters 6, 7 and 8 and the hot water tank 9 between the right half portions of the support frame 26 and the guide rail 22 to receive the hot water after completion of the washing, and the canisters 6 and 7 respectively. It is also possible to receive powdered raw materials that may be spilled when supplied from The drainage tray 54 is provided with a drainage port 56 and a drainage pipe 57 connected to the drainage port 56, and the drainage pipe 57 is a drainage bucket 55.
Facing. The drainage tray 54 is regularly cleaned by a separately provided cleaning nozzle (not shown).

Next, a series of operations of the vending machine having the above-mentioned configuration from cooking of beverage to cleaning of the impeller 48 of the stirring device 10 will be described in detail. These operations are performed by the control device 25 by the motors 29, 35, 39, 58 shown in FIG.
This is done by controlling the operation of 59, 63.
When there is a vending command, first, from the cup dispenser 5, is dropped sold cup C _D to the cup holding mechanism 24 in the home position, sold cup C _D is in a state of being gripped by the cup holding mechanism 24 , Left-right transfer mechanism movement 2
It is transported to the position of the cream canister 6 by the 1 and the forward / backward moving mechanism 23. Where the cup for sale C _D
Is supplied with cream from the cream canister 6 and then conveyed to the right while the coffee canister 7 is supplied.
After receiving the supply of instant coffee from the sugar canister 8 and the sugar from the sugar canister 8, it is conveyed to the position of the stirring device 10. Here, the hot water tank 9 is placed in the sales cup C _D.
The hot water is supplied from the cooking machine, and the impeller 48 of the stirrer 10 is inserted before and after the hot water is supplied, and the stirrer 45 is operated to stir the powder raw material and the hot water, thereby cooking the beverage for sale. Is completed.

Cup C for sale filled with cooked beverage
_D is gripped by the cup gripping mechanism 24, and is transported by the transport device 4 to the position of the elevating device 2 on the left front side, where it is temporarily stopped. Then, the elevating device 2 is activated, the cup cradle 62 thereof, selling cup C _D held by the cup holding mechanism 24 receives and to lift from the lower side. The elevating / lowering device 2 temporarily stops here and enters a standby state. Then, the gripping arm 38 of the cup gripping mechanism 24 is opened to the release position, and the front-rear moving mechanism 2 is moved.
3 operates to retract the cup gripping mechanism 24, and further the left and right moving mechanism 21 operates to move the cup gripping mechanism 24 to the home position. On the other hand, the cup gripping mechanism 2
After the retreat of 4, the cup holder 62 of the elevating device 2 rises to lift the sales cup C _D to a predetermined height and face the sales opening. When the purchaser of the product takes out the sales cup C _D from the sales opening, the cup holder 62 descends,
The lifting device 2 returns to the original position.

Next, the forward / backward moving mechanism 23 is operated to move the cup gripping mechanism 24 forward from the home position to the position of the cleaning cup mounting base 51, and to wash between the gripping arms 38 and 38 which are open to the release position. The cleaning cup C _R is inserted, and then the grasping arms 38, 38 are closed to the grasping position, and the cleaning cup C _R is sandwiched and grasped between them. Next, the cleaning cup C _R is moved to the left / right moving mechanism 2
It is conveyed to the position of the stirrer 10 by the 1 and the front-back movement mechanism 23. Here, the impeller 48 of the stirrer 10 is inserted into the cleaning cup C _R to the vicinity of the bottom thereof, hot water is supplied from the hot water tank 9, and the stirrer 45 is operated, so that the inside of the cleaning cup C _R The impeller 48 is washed by rotating the impeller 48 in the hot water. Is supplied to the cleaning cup C _R yu, after staying in the cleaning cup C _R, wastewater is gradually discharged from the drain hole 53 receiving tray 54
And the powder raw material spilled from the canisters 6, 7, and 8 is discharged to the lower drain bucket 55 via the drain outlet 56 and the drain pipe 57.

After the cleaning is completed, the agitator 45 is stopped, the impeller 48 is pulled up, the agitator 10 is returned to the original state, and the cup gripping mechanism 24 has the left and right moving mechanism 21 and the forward and backward moving mechanism 23. Move to the position of the cleaning cup mounting table 51, open to the open position here, and return the cleaning cup C _R to the cleaning cup mounting table 51,
Move to home position.

As described above, in the present embodiment, hot water is supplied into the dedicated cleaning cup C _R in a separate process from the cooking of the beverage in the sales cup C _D , and the water in the cleaning cup C _R is stored in the cleaning cup C _R. Rotate the impeller 48 of the stirring device 10 in hot water to move the impeller 4
Since 8 is washed, the impeller 48 can be sufficiently washed without running out of hot water for washing and the washing time.
Further, since the impeller 48 can be inserted to the vicinity of the bottom of the cleaning cup C _R and the impeller 48 can be cleaned at this position, hot water may splash around during cleaning even if the impeller 48 is rotated. Absent. Furthermore, on the movement path of the cup gripping mechanism 24,
Washing cup mounting table 5 on which the washing cup C _R is simply placed
3 is arranged and it is only necessary to change the 25 control program of the control device so as to perform a series of operations of receiving, transporting and cleaning the cleaning cup C _R from the cleaning cup placing table 53. The impeller 48 can be reliably washed by simply using the above device and adding a simple configuration.

Further, as in the present embodiment, the cleaning cup C _R
By forming the drainage hole 53 in the
Since the hot water can be added while gradually draining the dirty hot water staying in the cleaning cup C _R , the impeller 48 can be efficiently and reliably cleaned with a smaller amount of hot water. Furthermore, the drainage hole 5 in the cleaning cup C _R Thus
If 3 is formed, the wash water can be naturally drained, and the drain hole 53
There is no need to tilt the cup gripping mechanism 24 that grips the cleaning cup C _R as compared with the case where there is not, and the device configuration is not complicated, and the bottom of the cleaning cup C _R is less likely to have deposits. Cleaning cup C
The hygiene of _R can be preferable.

In the above-described embodiment, the impeller is washed after cooking the beverage for each cooking. However, this is done after the beverage has been cooked a predetermined number of times or after the beverage is cooked. It may be performed every predetermined time at a timing other than cooking, and further, in the case of a vending machine that sells a plurality of types of beverages, the washing is performed only after the sale of a specific beverage, for example, tea with a fragrant scent that is likely to remain. You may do it. Further, in the embodiment, a dedicated cleaning cup, which is separate from the sales cup, is used for cleaning, but it is also possible to share the cleaning cup with the sales cup and make it disposable.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, the impeller of the stirring device used for cooking a beverage can be reliably washed with a simple structure and without scattering the washing water around. And so on.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cooking device and a cleaning device of an automatic vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of a cooking device and a cleaning device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a cup gripping mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cooking device 2 Cleaning device 4 Conveying device 5 Cup dispenser 6 Cream canister 7 Coffee canister 8 Sugar canister 9 Hot water tank 10 Stirring device 24 Cup gripping mechanism 25 Control device 48 Impeller 51 Cleaning cup mounting table C _D Sales cup C _R Cleaning cup

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cup storage unit for storing a sales cup, a transport device for receiving the sales cup from the cup storage unit and transporting the cup along a transport path, and the sales cup transported by the transport device. A raw material supply device for supplying raw materials, a diluting liquid tank for supplying a diluting liquid to the selling cup, and a stirring device for stirring the raw material and diluting liquid supplied to the selling cup with an impeller to cook a beverage. ,
In a cup-type vending machine provided with a control unit that controls the operation of the transfer device, the diluent tank, and the stirring device, a cleaning cup is disposed on the transfer path, and the control unit is other than a beverage cooker. At a predetermined timing, the transfer device receives and transfers the cleaning cup, supplies the diluent from the diluent tank to the cleaning cup, and the stirring device in the diluent in the cleaning cup. A cup-type vending machine, characterized in that the impeller is controlled to be inserted and washed.