JPH0734785B2 - Tea break detector - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tea leaf breakage detecting device which is installed in a tea supply machine and accurately detects the presence or absence of tea leaves.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional tea leaf breakage detecting device is provided with a pressure sensor consisting of a microswitch and a contactor, etc., on the lower inner surface of a tea can provided in a tea supply machine, and the tea leaves remaining in the tea can by the pressure sensor. The presence or absence of tea leaves was judged by detecting the weight of the leaves.

[0003]

However, since tea leaves are extremely light and have a complicated shape, it is easy to form a partial cavity in the tea can. Therefore, as in the conventional tea leaf break detection device, when the weight of the tea leaf that presses the contactor tries to detect the presence or absence of a slight remaining amount, false detection increases, and the tea leaf breaks while the tea leaf remains sufficiently. There was a problem that it was judged or that there was enough tea leaves due to the partially left tea leaves.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tea leaf breakage detecting device capable of accurately detecting the presence or absence of tea leaves having such peculiarities.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 supplies tea from the outside in a predetermined amount while holding tea leaves to be replenished from the outside, and pours out tea. In the tea dispenser, a cylindrical tea leaf storage portion for storing tea leaves having an opening surface for replenishing tea leaves in the upper portion and an opening surface for discharging the tea leaves in the lower portion, and the tea leaf storage portion are traversed. From the light emitting element to the light receiving element, a light emitting element that emits detection light in a direction, a light receiving element that receives the detection light that has crossed the tea leaf storage portion and detects the presence or absence of a light blocking object in the tea leaf storage portion, A light scattering member interposed in the path to scatter the detection light, and a determination unit for determining the presence or absence of tea leaves in the tea leaf storage unit based on the detection result of the light receiving element are provided.

[0006]

In the invention according to claim 1 configured as described above, the light emitting element emits the detection light in the direction traversing the tea leaf storage portion, and up to a position higher than the mounting position of the light emitting element. When the tea leaves are stored, the detection light does not reach the light receiving element. Conversely, when the tea leaves are stored only at a position lower than the mounting position of the light emitting element, the detection light reaches the light receiving element. . At this time, the detection light passes through the light scattering member on the way and reaches the light receiving element.

On the other hand, the judging means inputs the detection result of the light receiving element, and when the light receiving element detects the detection light, it judges that the tea leaves in the tea leaf storage portion are less than a predetermined amount, and the light receiving element detects the light. When no light is detected, it is determined that the number of tea leaves in the tea leaf storage unit is larger than the predetermined amount. Here, it is assumed that a tea leaf is caught in the tea leaf storage unit and the tea leaf blocks part of the detection light. In such a case, if the light receiving element receives the detection light that is not scattered, if the tea leaves block the detection light corresponding to the light receiving area of the light receiving element, the light receiving element cannot detect the detection light at all. However, by making the scattered light incident on the light receiving element, the detection light is not completely shielded by only the slightly left tea leaves, and the average amount of light transmitted through the tea leaf storage unit is detected. Therefore, the presence or absence of the remaining tea leaves can be accurately detected.

[0008]

As described above, according to the present invention, when detecting the presence or absence of tea leaves, it is determined whether or not the detection light that traverses the tea leaf storage portion is blocked by the tea leaves based on the average transmission amount. Therefore, it is possible to provide a tea leaf breakage detecting device capable of accurately detecting the presence or absence of tea leaves. Therefore, even if the trapped tea leaves remain in the tea leaf storage unit, it is possible to prevent a situation in which it is erroneously detected that the tea leaves are present.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a tea dispenser to which a tea leaf breakage detecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the tea dispenser.

The tea dispenser 10 is provided with a removable canister 20 shown in FIG. 3, and the canister 20 is a canister body in which an opening 21a is formed by partially cutting a side surface of a hollow short cylindrical body. 21 and the canister body 2
The canister body 21 is rotatably supported in a state in which the axis center of 1 is substantially horizontal, and is composed of an outer shell case 22 having an opening at the upper and lower portions.

The outer shell case 22 includes a case body 22a having locking projections 22a1 and 22a2 extending horizontally on both sides, and a case lid 22b for closing the front opening surface of the case body 22a. The outer shell case 22 is housed in the recess 11 provided inside the tea dispenser 10 main body, and the locking projection 22 of the case main body 22a is formed.
side walls 12a forming the same recess 11 by a1 and 22a2,
It engages with guide grooves 12a1 and 12b1 provided in 12b.

Incidentally, the canister body 21 having the above-mentioned short cylindrical body.
A knob 21b is provided on the upper surface of the canister main body 2 of the case lid 22b.
A circular hole 22b1 is provided at a position corresponding to the knob 21b.
Is provided, and the knob 21b is provided through the hole 22b1.
Is exposed to the outside.

Below the recess 11 of the tea supply machine 10,
A tea leaf receiving portion 30 having a wide opening toward the upper side where the recess 11 is provided and an opening narrowing toward the lower side is installed, and the lower part ¼ of the canister 20 is the tea leaf. It is accommodated in a wide opening facing upward of the receiving portion 30. The opening is the canister 2.
It is formed along the shape of 0, and the canister 20 is housed in the tea leaf receiver 30 without a gap.

The tea leaf receiving portion 30 is made of a translucent resin, and a tea leaf constant amount replenishing portion 40 is integrally formed thereunder as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6.

The tea leaf constant amount replenishing section 40 supplies a predetermined amount of tea leaves to the tea passing portion 51, and has a fan-shaped section in the middle of the route from the wide opening to the narrow opening of the tea leaf receiving section 30. A cylinder 41 having an opening 41a is rotatably arranged to close the same path, and a drive motor 42 for rotating the cylinder 41 by 360 degrees is provided on the back surface of the tea leaf receiver 30. Here, the capacity of the opening 41a having a fan-shaped cross section in the cylinder 41 can be changed,
When the drive motor 42 makes the cylinder 41 rotate once, the tea leaves replenished to the upper side of the tea leaf receiver 30 enter the fan-shaped opening 41a by a predetermined amount and are fed to the lower side of the tea leaf receiver 30. On the lower side, the tea leaves are discharged from the narrow opening of the tea receiver 30.

On the other hand, below the tea leaf receiving portion 30, there is provided a tea passing portion 50 for reciprocating the tea tray 51 left and right in FIG. 1 in synchronization with the rotation of the cylinder 41. The over-movement unit 50 first moves the tea tray 51 at the center position in the figure to the left position in the figure to discharge the tea leaves in the tea tray 51 to the tea discharge tank 52, and then moves it to the right position in the figure to move the tea leaves. The tea leaves discharged from the receiving portion 30 are replenished and finally returned to the tea pouring position at the center position in the figure.

As for the more detailed constructions of the regular tea leaf quantity replenishing unit 40 and the over-the-tea moving unit 50, the application publication of a patent application filed by the same applicant as the applicant of the present application (Japanese Patent Publication No.
No. 38487 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-38488).

Further, engaging protrusions 31a and 31b having a U-shaped cross section are provided on both side surfaces of the tea leaf receiving portion 30, and the light emitting element 60a and the light receiving element are provided on the front side of the engaging protrusions 31a and 31b. Screw hole slits 31a1 and 31b1 for screwing and fixing 60b and 60b are provided.

The light emitting element 60a has a light emitting surface on the tea leaf receiving portion 30.
After being inserted into the U-shaped engaging projection 31a in a state of being directed toward the inner surface, the screw 31 is inserted through the screw hole slit 31a1.
The light receiving element 60b is fixed by a2, and the light receiving element 60b is inserted into the U-shaped engaging projection 31b with the light receiving surface facing the inner surface of the tea leaf receiving portion 30, and then the screw hole slit 31b1.
The two elements 60a and 60b are arranged so as to face each other in a straight line.
The detection light emitted and received between the elements 60a and 60b is visible light, and the detection light emitted by the light emitting element 60a forms a semitransparent wall surface when the light passes through the wall surface of the tea leaf receiver 30 twice. Light receiving element 60b, which is scattered by the transparent resin
Incident on.

The light emitting element 60a is composed of a light emitting diode, and the light receiving element 60b is composed of a phototransistor, which are respectively connected to the control unit 70 as shown in FIG. The control unit 70 is composed of a microcomputer and supplies power to the light emitting element 60a to emit detection light and inputs a detection signal of the light receiving element 60b to determine the presence or absence of tea leaves in the tea leaf receiver 30. ing. The detection signal of the light receiving element 60a has a high level when the detection light is incident, and has a low level when the detection light is not incident.

Further, various sensors (not shown), switches, a heater, an electromagnetic water stop valve, etc. are connected to the control unit 70, and the control unit 70 controls the detection results of the sensors and the instruction state of the switches. Based on the above, the heater and electromagnetic stop valve are driven to perform general control of the tea supply machine.

Next, the operation of this embodiment having the above configuration will be described. First, the canister main body 21 exposed from the hole 22b1 of the outer shell case 22 is pulled out to the front while removing the canister 20 while moving the canister 20 upward.
The knob 21b is rotated to align the opening 21a of the canister body 21 with the opening on the upper side of the outer shell case 22. In this state, tea leaves are replenished to the canister body 21 through the opening.

When the canister body 21 is replenished with sufficient tea leaves, the locking projections 22a1, 22a2 of the canister 20 are provided.
Is aligned with the guide grooves 12a1 and 12b1 in the tea dispenser 10 and the canister 20 is inserted obliquely downward so that the tea dispenser 1
It is mounted in the recess 11 of 0.

When the canister 20 is completely installed in the recess 11, the upward opening of the tea leaf receiving portion 30 is connected to the lower portion of the canister 20 without any gap, and the knob 21b of the canister body 21 is connected. When the canister body 21 is gripped and rotated by 180 degrees, the opening 21a of the canister body 21 faces downward and the tea leaves replenished in the canister body 21 enter the tea leaf receiver 30.

When tea leaves are replenished in the tea leaf receiver 30,
The detection light emitted by the light emitting element 60a is blocked by the tea leaves and thus does not enter the light receiving element 60b. Therefore, the detection signal of the light receiving element 60b becomes low level, and the control unit 7
For 0, the same detection signal is input and it is determined that there are tea leaves.

When there are tea leaves, the control unit 70 supplies tea according to the operation of an operation panel (not shown), and replaces the tea leaves as needed. The exchange of tea leaves is performed by the control unit 70 rotating the drive motor 42 once. That is,
When the cylinder 41 of the tea leaf constant supply unit 40 is rotated by the drive motor 42, tea leaves are replenished in the opening 41a provided in the cylinder 41 on the upper side of the tea leaf receiver 30 and then on the lower side of the tea leaf receiver 30. The replenished tea leaves are discharged toward the downward opening of the tea leaf receiver 30 and rotated to the first standby position and stopped.

On the other hand, in synchronization with the rotating operation of the cylinder 41, the over-the-coast moving unit 50 also starts its operation, and first, the over-the-chassis 51 is moved to the left side in FIG. After discharging the tea leaves to the tea discharge tank 52, the tea tray 51 is moved to below the narrow opening in the tea leaf receiving portion 30, and the tea leaves discharged from the opening portion 41a of the cylinder 41 are received in the tea tray 51, and finally. Move to the tea pouring position in the center of the figure.

In this way, the tea leaf constant amount supplying section 40 gradually discharges the tea leaves in the tea leaf receiving section 30, but while the canister body 21 contains the tea leaves, the canister body 21 concerned.
The tea leaves therein are replenished in the tea leaf receiver 30. Therefore, tea leaves are filled in the tea leaf receiver 30, and the detection light emitted by the light emitting element 60a is blocked by the tea leaf and cannot enter the light receiving element 60b.

However, when the tea leaves are consumed and the tea leaves in the canister body 21 are exhausted, the tea leaf receiver 3 is gradually removed.
The amount of tea leaves in 0 decreases. Then, the light emitting element 60
When the amount of tea leaves is smaller than the line connecting a and the light receiving element 60b, there is nothing that blocks the detection light emitted by the light emitting element 60a, and the detection light traverses inside the tea leaf receiving portion 30 and receives light.
It is incident on 0b.

When the detection light is incident on the light receiving element 60b, the detection signal of the light receiving element 60b becomes high level, and the control section 70 judges that the tea leaves in the tea leaf receiving section 30 have disappeared based on the detection signal. Then, the tea exchange and tea supply after that are prohibited, and the warnings etc. provided on the operation panel etc. are turned on if necessary.

By the way, since the shape of tea leaves is complicated,
In many cases, the tea leaves in the tea leaf receiver 30 are not evenly reduced. In addition, some tea leaves may stand and remain.

However, as described above, the detection light emitted from the light emitting element 60a passes through the wall surface of the translucent resin forming the tea leaf receiving portion 30, so the detection light is scattered by the wall surface and the detection light is received. When the light enters the element 60b, the shadow of the tea leaves remaining in the tea leaf receiver 30 becomes dim. Therefore, even if some tea leaves remain on the straight line connecting the light emitting element 60a and the light receiving element 60b, the light receiving element 60b outputs the detection signal corresponding to the average transmission amount according to the degree of the remaining tea leaves. The output is prevented, and it is possible to prevent the situation where it is judged that the tea leaves remain by reacting to the shadow of the tea leaves.

Although only one set of the light emitting element and the light receiving element is used in the above embodiment, a plurality of sets are used and a warning or the like is provided so that the warning is gradually issued before the tea leaves are completely consumed. May be. Further, although the detection light is scattered by the wall surface of the tea leaf receiving portion made of a semitransparent resin, a scattering plate having minute irregularities or a scattering plate in which a large number of lenses are combined may be used. Further, instead of facing the light emitting element and the light receiving element, the detection light emitted from the light emitting element may be reflected and the detection light reciprocating in the tea leaf receiving portion may be incident on the light receiving element.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the tea leaves are stored by the canister and the tea leaf receiving portion, but they may be configured as an integral storage portion. Further, although the tea leaf constant amount replenishing portion is integrally incorporated in the tea leaf receiving portion, it may be configured separately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a tea dispenser to which a tea leaf breakage detecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the tea feeding machine.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a canister.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of the vicinity of a tea leaf receiving portion.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the vicinity of the tea leaf receiver.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a tea leaf receiver.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a tea leaf break detection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 ... Canister 30 ... Tea leaf receiving portion 40 ... Tea leaf quantitative replenishing portion 50 ... Tea moving portion 60a ... Light receiving element 60b ... Light receiving element 70 ... Control portion

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A tea supply machine for holding tea leaves to be replenished from the outside and pouring tea by feeding a predetermined amount of the tea leaves through the tea, and having an opening surface on the upper portion for replenishing the tea leaves and a lower portion. A cylindrical tea leaf storage part for storing tea leaves having an opening surface for discharging the tea leaves, a light emitting element for emitting detection light in a direction crossing the tea leaf storage parts, and the tea leaf storage part A light receiving element that receives the detection light and detects the presence or absence of a light blocking object in the tea leaf storage portion, a light scattering member that is interposed in a path from the light emitting element to the light receiving element and scatters the detection light, and the light receiving element And a determination means for determining the presence or absence of a tea leaf in the tea leaf storage portion based on the detection result of 1. 2. The tea leaf breakage detection device according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical tea leaf storage portion is formed of a resin that can transmit the detection light, and the light emitting element is provided on the outer surface side thereof. A configuration is provided that includes a light emitting element fixing member that holds the tea leaf storage portion toward the inner surface side, and a light receiving element fixing member that holds the light receiving element while facing the inner surface side of the tea leaf storage portion. Tea leaf breakage detection device characterized by: 3. The tea leaf break detecting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a light scattering member for scattering the detected light is interposed in a path from the light emitting element to the light receiving element. Characteristic tea leaf breakage detection device.