JPH071510B2 - Stirring device in cup of cup type beverage vending machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an automatic vending machine for cup type beverages in which various powder ingredients such as coffee, cocoa and tea are put into a cup and hot water, cold water, ice and the like are poured into the cups and at the same time the ingredients are stirred to prepare hot or cold beverages. The invention relates to a stirring device in a cup of a machine.

[Prior art and its problems]

As a cup-type beverage vending machine of this type, a cup feeder, a powder raw material feeder, a drinking water supplier, an agitator, an ice maker, which are dispersed in the machine, and a product passing through these devices. Equipped with a cup transport mechanism laid between the outlets, the cup discharged from the cup supply device in response to a sales order, the powder of the type selected from the powder raw material supply device on the way of the cup transfer route. Put the raw material into the cup, inject the hot water required to dissolve the powder raw material as drinking water into the cup at the subsequent position, stir in the cup to dissolve the powder raw material, and further dilute hot water or cold water, For example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 58-190783 proposes a system in which ice is additionally supplied to prepare a drink and finally a drink-containing cup is delivered to a product outlet. On the other hand, after the powdered raw material is put into the cup, the drinking water is directly supplied into the cup, and the stirring method in the cup for mixing the raw material and the drinking water to prepare the beverage is stirred from above in the cup. There is a method of stirring the blades by descending and advancing, or a method of simultaneously injecting water and stirring in the cup by jetting and supplying drinking water into the cup through the injection nozzle, but especially the latter water injection and stirring at the same time. Regarding the method to be performed, various proposals have been made in the past in order to prevent the powder raw material from being scattered and to improve the stirring property accompanying the injection of drinking water. As a method to be carried out, JP-A-58
-68191, JP-A-59-232076 and the like are known. Such a known raw material stirring method is such that a spray nozzle for drinking water is fixedly arranged in advance at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the cup, and a vertical swirl flow is applied in the cup by spraying the drinking water to powder. Although the raw materials are mixed and stirred at the same time, in this method, the swirl flow generated in the cup is in a fixed direction, so a blind spot is generated at the corner of the bottom of the rabbit cup, There are many cases where there is a problem that the remaining powdered raw material remains stagnant in some parts, and if the pressure of the jetted water is increased to prevent this, the droplets of the beverage will splash outside the cup and contaminate the surroundings. The problem arises.

[Object of the Invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, by injecting the drinking water necessary for melting the powder raw material through the injection nozzle into the cup with the powder raw material charged, injecting the drinking water and stirring the raw material. Aiming at a stirring device in a cup that allows simultaneous progress of and, it provides a stirring device with a high stirring performance that can mix and satisfactorily mix and drink beverages without generating undissolved powder raw materials. The purpose is to do.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention is directed to a drinking water jet nozzle arranged facing the opening surface of a cup and a drinking water supply line connected to the nozzle, and a raw material. It is equipped with a nozzle driving means for changing the injection point of the drinking water ejected from the nozzle in the stirring step within the opening surface area of the cup, and stirring the raw materials while changing the injection point of the drinking water ejected from the nozzle by the nozzle driving means. It is characterized by performing. That is, the present invention, by performing the raw material stirring while changing the injection point of the drinking water ejected from the nozzle by the nozzle driving means, the powder raw material and the drinking water without generating a blind spot of the stirring flow in the cup. It is designed so that mixing and stirring can be performed evenly and effectively.

Examples of the invention

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
First, referring to FIG. 6, an overall structure of a cup type beverage vending machine equipped with an in-cup stirring device according to the present invention will be described. In the figure, 1 is a cabinet of an automatic vending machine, 2 is a product outlet opening at the front thereof, and inside the cabinet 1, for example, a conveyor type cup transport mechanism 3 leading to the product outlet 2 is installed, In addition, each station A designated on the transfer route of the cup transfer mechanism 3
At a position corresponding to D, a cup feeder 4, a raw material shooter 7 of a canister 6 containing powder raw materials 5 by type, an injection nozzle 8 for injecting hot water as a drinking water for dissolving the powder raw materials into the cup, dilution A cold water supply line 9 for supplying cold water, an ice shooter 12 for an ice making machine 11, and the like are provided. Reference numeral 13 is a water reservoir for supplying water to the cold water supply line 9 and the ice making machine 11, 14 is a cold water pump, and 15 is a cooling water tank equipped with a refrigerator 16. A hot water supply line 19 drawn from a hot water tank 17 with a built-in heater through a pressurized water supply pump 18 is connected to the injection nozzle 8, and a nozzle drive mechanism 20 whose details will be described later is connected to the nozzle 8. . With this configuration, when a sales command is given, one cup 21 is delivered from the cup supply device 4 to the cup transport mechanism 3 at the station A. During the subsequent cup conveying process, in the station B, the powdered raw material 5 of the designated type is put into the cup from the canister 6, and in the next station C, the amount of hot water necessary for melting the powdered raw material into the cup is pumped. Water is jetted out through the jet nozzle 8 by the liquid supply,
At the same time, the powder material is stirred and mixed in the cup. When the hot beverage is selected here, the hot water is additionally supplied at the position of the station C to prepare the hot beverage with a predetermined finish amount, and then the beverage-containing cup is conveyed to the station E facing the product outlet 2. On the other hand, when a cold beverage is selected, hot water is poured and the raw materials are stirred at the station C to dissolve the powder raw material, and then the cup 21 is transferred to the station D, where diluted cold water and ice are added. The cold beverage having a predetermined finished amount is supplied and prepared, and then the beverage-containing cup is conveyed to the station E and sent to the product outlet 2. Next, the detailed structure of the stirring device in the cup described above is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Hot water supply line drawn from hot water tank 17
19 is divided into an upstream side piping hose 19a and a downstream side piping hose 19b with the pump 18 as a boundary, and the upstream side piping hose 19a is provided with a heat retaining heater 22 for preventing the temperature drop of the hot water stagnating in the hose during standby. The downstream piping hose 19b is provided and connected to the injection nozzle 8 as a flexible hose. In addition, the injection nozzle 8
Has a structure in which one or a plurality of injection holes 8a are opened at its tip surface, and is arranged above the opening surface of the cup 21 at a point of the station C on the way of the cup transport path described in FIG. ing. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle drive mechanism 20 connected to the injection nozzle 8 includes a crank cam 23, a swing-type connecting link 24 for connecting the crank cam 23 and the injection nozzle 8, and a crank cam. It is composed of a drive motor 25 connected to 23 and a fixed guide pin 27 fitted in a long groove 26 of the link 24. Drive motor here 25
And crank crank 23 is rotated in the direction of arrow P,
Through the link 24, the injection nozzle 8 revolves along a circular movement locus Q indicated by a chain line. As a result, the injection nozzle 8 carries out a circular movement from the solid line position to the dotted line positions as shown in FIG. In this case, the nozzle drive mechanism 20 limits the movement range of the injection nozzle 8 so that the orbit of the circular movement of the injection nozzle 8 does not deviate from the opening surface area of the cup 21. The water supply pressure of the pressurized water supply pump 18 is selected so that the hot and cold water sprayed from the spray nozzle 8 does not scatter the powder raw material 5 contained in the cup 21 to the surroundings. When the cup containing the powdered raw material is conveyed to a predetermined position (station C) with such a configuration, the pump 18 of the hot water supply line 19 is started and the nozzle drive mechanism 20 is operated, so that the hot water supply line from the hot water tank 17 is supplied. The hot water that has been pressurized and sent to the injection nozzle 8 through the nozzle hole 8a
Through the nozzle 21 into the cup 21 as indicated by arrows A and B in FIG. 1, and the mixture is stirred and mixed with the powder raw material 5 in the cup. Moreover, during this stirring process, the injection nozzle 8 moves around as shown in FIG. 3 to change its hot water injection point to various positions within the cup. Therefore, the hot and cold water can be sprayed and evenly distributed in every corner of the cup without causing blind spots, and the synergistic effect with the pressurized water injection makes it possible to stir and mix the powder raw material with the hot and cold water without leaving any residue. Is done
The powder raw material will surely dissolve. In the nozzle drive mechanism of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the injection nozzle 8 is shown to be moved circularly along a circular movement locus, but the movement of the nozzle is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. The same effect can be achieved by moving the spray nozzle 8 along the movement locus indicated by the arrow R so as to draw a vertical and horizontal crosshair in the opening surface area of the cup 21. This movement can be easily achieved by the combination of the cam and the link. Further, as a modified embodiment, the upper end of the injection nozzle may be rotatably supported by a bearing, and the direction of the nozzle may be tilted in various directions by using this as a fulcrum to change the injection direction of the hot water. Further, FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which a part of the hot water supply line 19 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 is modified. Instead of omitting the heat retention heater 22 in the embodiment of FIG.
A three-way switching valve 28 is interposed between the pump 18 and the injection nozzle 8 at 19, and the branch port and the hot water tank 17 are connected by a piping hose 19c. Cup 21 here
Prior to the start of hot water supply to the hot water tank, the hot water is circulated between the hot water tank 17 and the hot water tank 17 by the operation of the pump 18 via the hoses 19a and 19c. Replace with high temperature hot water inside. Then the three-way switching valve 28
Is switched to the hot water supply position, and hot water is jetted and supplied into the cup 21 through the jet nozzle 8 to stir the raw material.

【The invention's effect】

As described above, according to the present invention, a jetting nozzle for drinking water, which is disposed facing the opening surface of the cup, and a drinking water supply line connected to the nozzle, and jetting from the nozzle in the raw material stirring step. A nozzle drive means for changing the injection point of the drinking water to be changed in the opening surface area of the cup, and by changing the injection point of the drinking water ejected from the nozzle by the nozzle drive means to stir the raw material, In the stirring process, the drinking water can be spouted and evenly injected into every corner of the cup containing the powdered raw material, which makes the powdered raw material and the drinking water effective without unmelting of the powdered raw material in the cup. The stirring performance can be improved so that the beverage can be prepared by mixing and stirring the mixture.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an agitator in a cup, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the nozzle driving mechanism in FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a movement locus diagram of the ejection nozzle in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a movement locus diagram of the ejection nozzle according to an embodiment different from FIG. 3, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is a piping system diagram of a modified embodiment of the figure, and FIG. 6 is a layout diagram of the inside of the entire cup-type beverage vending machine equipped with an in-cup stirring device. In each figure, 3: cup transport mechanism inside the machine, 8: injection nozzle, 17: hot water tank, 18: pump for pressurized water supply, 19: hot water supply line as drinking water supply line, 20: nozzle drive mechanism, 21: cup ,twenty three:
Crank cam of nozzle drive mechanism, 24: Connection link, 25: Drive motor, Q: Orbital movement locus of injection nozzle, R: Vertical and horizontal movement locus of injection nozzle.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cup agitator for a cup-type beverage vending machine for directly injecting and agitating beverage water for dissolving a powder ingredient into a cup charged with the powder ingredient,
Within the opening surface area of the cup, the injection nozzle for drinking water, which is arranged facing the opening surface of the cup, and the drinking water supply line connected to the nozzle, and the injection point of the drinking water ejected from the nozzle in the raw material stirring step And a nozzle drive means for changing the injection rate of the beverage water to change the injection point of the drinking water ejected from the nozzle by the nozzle drive means. . 2. A cup-type automatic beverage machine according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle driving means orbitally moves the spray nozzle along a circular locus on a horizontal plane. Stirrer in cup of vending machine. 3. A cup-type beverage vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle driving means moves the injection nozzle forward, backward, leftward and rightward on a horizontal plane. Stirrer in cup. 4. An agitating device in a cup according to claim 2, wherein the nozzle driving means has a crank cam connected to a drive motor, and an oscillating connection connecting the crank cam and the injection nozzle. An in-cup stirring device for a cup-type beverage vending machine, which is a drive mechanism including a link.