JPH0691868B2 - Automatic tea supply device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automatic tea supply device for automatically supplying tea.

(Prior Art) FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic tea supply device. In the figure, 1 is a hopper that stores tea leaves (tea leaves) 2.
The lower part of the hopper 1 has a conical shape, and the diameter thereof becomes smaller as it goes downward. A motor 3 for supplying tea leaves 2 is provided below the hopper 1, and when the motor 3 makes one rotation, the tea leaves 2 are supplied from the hopper 1 to the tea strainer 4 by a predetermined amount. . The tea strainer 4 is provided with a tea strainer net 5. Further, a hot water supply port 6 is disposed diagonally above the tea strainer 4, and hot water 8 for one cup 7 is supplied from the hot water supply port 6.

In this device, when the tea leaves 2 are supplied to the tea strainer 4 by one rotation of the motor 3, one cup of hot water 8 of the cup 7 is supplied to the tea strainer 4 from the hot water supply port 6 each time the tea is instructed. It And if you supply tea for multiple cups, for example, 10 cups,
The tea leaves 2 of the tea strainer 4 are discarded, and a new tea leaf 2 is supplied from the hopper 1 to the tea strainer 4 by one rotation of the motor 3 again.

However, in the apparatus having such a configuration, the hot water is supplied to the tea leaves 2 supplied to the tea strainer 4 a plurality of times, for example, 10
We are supplying a cup of tea. For this reason, the first few cups of tea have a good taste and are easy to drink, while teas after that are gradually less concentrated.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, the tea concentration decreases as the number of times of tea supply increases.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic tea supply device that can supply tea with a uniform concentration even when a plurality of teas are supplied.

[Means for Solving the Problems] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention relates to an automatic tea supply device for supplying tea leaves to a tea strainer and supplying hot water to the tea leaves a plurality of times to obtain a plurality of cups of tea. A hopper for storing the tea leaves, a tea leaf supply means for feeding the tea leaves from the hopper and supplying it to the tea strainer, a hot water tank for storing hot water, and a hot water for hot water in the hot water tank to the tea strainer A solenoid valve for hot water supply provided in the pipe, a tea leaf exchanging means for rotating the tea strainer to discard the tea leaves in the tea strainer, and a predetermined percentage amount of the total tea leaf amount required to obtain the plurality of cups of tea. The amount of tea leaves for the first time is calculated by subtracting the amount of tea leaves for the first time from the total amount of tea leaves, and the remaining amount of tea leaves is divided by the number of cups for the second time and thereafter to obtain the amount of tea leaves for the second time and thereafter Depending on the The tea leaf supply calculation means for controlling, the hot water supply control means for opening the hot water supply solenoid valve every time the tea leaf supply calculation means controls the operation of the tea leaf supply means, and the hot water supply amount by the hot water supply control means for the first tea leaf. When the specified amount is reached, or when at least one of the specified time elapsed after hot water supply is satisfied,
An automatic tea supply device, which comprises the tea leaf exchange control means for driving the tea leaf exchange means, and which aims to achieve the above object.

(Operation) By providing such a means, the tea leaf amount of the first time can be obtained from a predetermined ratio amount to the total tea leaf amount necessary for obtaining a plurality of cups of tea, and the remaining tea leaf amount of the second and subsequent tea leaves can be calculated. By dividing by the number of cups, the amount of each tea leaf from the second time onward can be obtained.

When the amount of each tea leaf is obtained in this manner, the operation of the tea leaf supply means is controlled in accordance with the amount of each tea leaf, and each tea leaf amount corresponding to the number of cups, that is, a predetermined proportion of tea leaves at the first time, and the number of cups after that. At that time, the amount of tea leaves added to the amount of tea leaves in each case is supplied from the hopper to the tea strainer, and at the same time the hot water solenoid valve is opened to supply the hot water from the hot water tank to the tea strainer. .

After this, when the amount of hot water supplied to the tea leaves for the first time reaches a predetermined amount, or at least either one of the predetermined time elapses after hot water supply is satisfied, the tea leaf changing means is driven to make the tea strainer. The bowl rotates, and the tea leaves in the tea strainer are discarded.

(Example) Hereinafter, one example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automatic tea supply device. This apparatus comprises tea leaf supply means A, hot water supply means B and tea leaf exchange means C. Explaining the tea leaf supply means A, the hopper 10 stores tea leaves 11. A delivery port 12 is provided in the lower part of the hopper 10, and a delivery screw 13 is arranged corresponding to the delivery port 12. This delivery screw 13 is connected to a tea leaf supply drive circuit 14,
The tea leaves 11 are delivered to the outlet 12 by being rotated by the drive of 14
To send to.

A tea strainer 15 is provided below the outlet 12 of the hopper 10. This tea strainer 15 is rotated by a tea leaf exchange drive circuit 16 which constitutes the tea leaf exchange means C, and the tea strainer
The tea leaves 11 in 15 are now thrown away. A cup 17 is arranged below the tea strainer 15 for each tea supply.

On the other hand, the hot water supply means B will be described. A hot water supply port 21 is provided at the lower part of the hot water supply tank 20 and a hot water supply port 22 is provided at the upper part thereof. A water supply pipe 24 provided with a water supply solenoid valve 23 is provided at the water supply port 21, and a hot water supply pipe 26 provided with a hot water supply solenoid valve 25 is provided at the hot water supply port 22. Further, a heater 27 is arranged below the hot water supply tank 20, and electric power is supplied from a heater power supply circuit 28. Further, hot water temperature detecting elements 29, 30 are provided on the upper and lower portions of the hot water supply tank 20, respectively, and the hot water temperatures of the upper and lower portions of the hot water supply tank 20 are sent to the hot water temperature detector 31. Also, hot water tank
Water level detection elements 32, 33, 34 are arranged at predetermined intervals above and below the hot water supply tank 20, and the water levels detected by these water level detection elements 32, 33, 34 are sent to a water level detector 35. ing.

The main controller 40 controls the tea supply operation according to the program of the tea supply flow chart shown in FIG. 2, and has the following respective functions. That is, when the tea supply instruction from the tea supply indicator 41 is received, the amount of tea leaves to be supplied to the tea strainer 15 is initially a predetermined percentage of the total amount of tea leaves required to obtain a plurality of cups of tea. And a tea leaf supply calculation function that divides the remaining amount of tea leaves into a plurality of times after the second time, and a hot water supply solenoid valve every time the tea leaves 11 are supplied to the tea strainer 15 by this tea leaf supply calculation function.
A hot water supply control function of giving an opening command to 25 to supply hot water to the tea strainer 15, and when the amount of hot water supplied by this hot water supply control function reaches a predetermined amount and when a predetermined time, for example, 1 hour has elapsed after hot water supply A tea leaf exchange control function for giving an exchange instruction to the tea leaf exchange drive circuit 16 to exchange the tea leaves 11 of the tea strainer 15 is provided. The supply amount of the tea leaf 11 in the tea leaf supply calculation function is set as follows. Here, the amount of hot water stored in the hot water supply tank 20 corresponding to a preset number of cups of the cup 17 is V (cc), and the amount of hot water supplied to the cup 17 per cup is W.
(Cc), tea leaves required to obtain a certain number of cups of tea
Assuming that the total supply amount of 11 is Q (g) and the supply ratio of the first tea leaf 11 is P (%), the number of times of tea supply N is N = V / W The supply amount E of the first tea leaf 11 is E = Q -P (g) The supply amount Ea of the tea leaves 11 after the second cup is Ea = Q (100-P) / (N-1) (g). Specifically, for example, if the amount of hot water is 800 (cc), the amount of supply to the cup 17 is 100 (cc), the amount of tea leaf 11 is 8.0 (g), and the first tea leaf 11 supply rate is 60 (%), The number of times of tea supply is 8 times, the supply amount of the first tea leaf 11 is 4.8 (g), and the supply amount of the second and subsequent tea leaves 11 is 0.46 (g).

Next, the operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to the tea supply flow chart shown in FIG. The main controller 40 determines the water level detector 35 in step s1.
In response to the water level detection signal from the hot water supply tank 20, it is determined whether the water level in the hot water supply tank 20 is at a predetermined water level or not. Supply water to. If the water level is the prescribed water level,
The main controller 40 closes the water supply solenoid valve 23 in step s3. Next, main controller 40 determines the hot water temperature detector in step s4.
Upon receiving the hot water temperature detection signal from 31, it is determined whether the hot water temperature in the hot water supply tank 20 has reached the set temperature, and if the hot water temperature is below the set temperature, a heating command is sent to the heater power circuit 28. As a result, electric power is supplied to the heater 27 to heat the water in the hot water supply tank 20. If the hot water temperature is the set temperature, the main controller
At step s6, the power supply to the heater 27 is cut off at step s6, and at the next step s7, a tea supply instruction is waited for.

When the tea supply indicator 41 is operated and there is a tea supply instruction in the state of waiting for the tea supply instruction, the main controller 40 determines the elapsed time from the previous tea supply in step s8. If the predetermined time, for example, 1 hour, has not elapsed by the determination of the elapsed time, the main controller 40 moves to the next step s10 and determines the number of times of tea supply. Here, when the previous tea supply is the eighth cup, the hot water supply amount becomes the predetermined amount, so main controller 40 replaces tea leaf 11 in step s14 in the previous cycle. That is, the main controller 40 sends to the tea leaf supply drive circuit 14 a command to supply 4.8 (g) which is 60% of the total leaf tea amount in step s14. In response to this instruction, the tea leaf supply drive circuit 14 rotates the delivery screw 13 to rotate the 4.8 (g) tea leaf 1.
1 is supplied to the tea strainer 15. If the number of times of tea supply is, for example, the fourth cup in the determination in step s10, the main controller
In step s11, 40 sends a command for supplying 0.46 (g) of tea leaf 11 to the tea leaf supply drive circuit 14. This allows
0.46 (g) of tea leaves 11 are supplied to the tea strainer 15. In this way, when the tea leaves 11 are supplied to the tea strainer 15, the main controller 40
Sends an opening command to the hot water solenoid valve 25 in step s12. Then, hot water is supplied to the tea strainer 15 through the hot water supply pipe 26, and as a result, the tea 42 is supplied to the cup 17.

Next, the main controller 40 determines in step s13 whether the total hot water supply amount after replacing the tea leaves 11 is 8 cups,
If the total amount of hot water supply reaches 8 cups, step s14
Then, the tea leaf 11 exchange operation described above is performed. If the elapsed time has passed the set time of 1 hour in step 8, the main controller 40 performs the same tea leaf 11 replacement operation in step s9 as in step s14.

As described above, in the above-described embodiment, the tea strainer 15 is supplied with a tea leaf amount of 60% at a predetermined ratio of the total tea leaf amount for the first time, and the remaining tea leaf amount is divided and supplied for the second time and thereafter. When hot water is supplied and the number of times of hot water supply reaches a predetermined number of times 8 and when a predetermined time of 1 hour has elapsed after hot water is supplied Tea strainer
Since the tea leaves 11 of 15 are exchanged, it is possible to always supply tea of a uniform concentration until the tea leaves 11 of the tea strainer 15 are exchanged, and to obtain tea that does not impair the aroma. It is hygienic as it does not leave the tea leaves 11 for a long time. Further, the amount of tea 11 supplied to the tea strainer 15 can be changed even by a slight amount by adjusting the rotation speed of the delivery screw 13, and can be adjusted according to the taste. In addition, the supply amount of the first tea leaf 11 to the tea strainer 15 and the supply amount after that can be varied according to the different types of tea leaves 11, so that even the different types of tea leaves 11 can always be supplied with the same concentration of tea. I can have tea.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be modified without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the determination of the elapsed time in step s8 is based on tea leaves.
You may make it replace 11 and judge the elapsed time from the time when the first hot water supply was performed. Further, the tea leaves 11 may be applied not only to Japanese tea but also to black tea.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automatic tea supply device that can supply tea with a uniform concentration even when a plurality of teas are supplied, and that can obtain tea that does not impair the aroma. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic tea feeding apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a tea feeding flow chart of the apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional apparatus. 10 …… Hopper, 11 …… Tea leaf, 13 …… Delivery screw,
14 …… tea leaf supply drive circuit, 15 …… tea strainer, 16 …… tea leaf exchange drive circuit, 17 …… cup, 20 …… hot water supply tank, 21…
… Water inlet, 22 …… Hot water inlet, 27 …… Heater, 28 …… Heater power supply circuit, 29,30 …… Hot water temperature detection element, 31 …… Hot water temperature detector, 32,33,34 …… Water level detection element , 35 …… Hot water temperature detector, 40
...... Main controller, 41 …… Tea supply indicator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic tea supply apparatus for supplying tea leaves to a tea strainer and supplying hot water to the tea leaves a plurality of times to obtain a plurality of cups of tea, a hopper for storing the tea leaves, and the tea leaves from the hopper. Tea leaf supply means for feeding the tea strainer to the tea strainer, a hot water supply tank for storing hot water, a hot water supply solenoid valve provided in a hot water supply pipe for supplying hot water in the hot water supply tank to the tea strainer, and the tea strainer A tea leaf exchanging means for rotating the container to discard the tea leaves in the tea strainer, and a predetermined ratio amount of the total tea leaf amount necessary to obtain a plurality of cups of the tea as the first-time tea leaf amount, from the total tea leaf amount The remaining tea leaf amount obtained by subtracting the tea leaf amount at the first time is divided by the number of cups after the second time to obtain each tea leaf amount after the second time, and the tea leaf supply for controlling the operation of the tea leaf supply means according to each tea leaf amount. Operation means and supply of this tea leaf Hot water supply control means for opening the hot water supply solenoid valve every time the tea leaf supply means is operated and controlled by the calculation means, and when the hot water supply amount by the hot water supply control means for the first-time tea leaves reaches a predetermined amount, or hot water supply is performed. An automatic tea supply device, comprising: a tea leaf exchange control means for driving the tea leaf exchange means when at least one of the two is satisfied when a predetermined time has passed after the operation.