JPH0740998B2 - Coffee extractor - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a coffee extractor for extracting coffee liquid by intermittently supplying hot water from a hot water generator to coffee powder.

[Technical Background of the Invention] Conventionally, in order to extract a rich and delicious coffee liquid, hot water is intermittently supplied to the coffee powder during the entire extraction period of the coffee liquid, and the coffee powder is steamed every time the hot water supply is stopped. It is known to be good to extract coffee liquid.
For this reason, a hot water storage tank equipped with a siphon mechanism is provided above the coffee extraction unit, hot water from the hot water generator is once supplied to the hot water storage tank, and when a predetermined amount of hot water is stored in this hot water storage tank, a coffee siphon phenomenon occurs each time. There is one configured to supply hot water to the coffee powder in the extraction section.

[Problems of the background art] However, in the configuration of intermittent hot water supply using the siphon phenomenon, an amount of hot water that does not cause the siphon mechanism to cause the siphon phenomenon in the hot water storage tank after the hot water generation by the hot water generator is completed. Since the remaining hot water will cool down after a while, the hot water supplied to the hot water tank will mix with the cold remaining hot water when the coffee liquid is extracted again, and the temperature of the hot water will drop. As a result, the taste of the coffee liquid is deteriorated due to this. Moreover,
If hot water remains in the hot water storage tank after extraction of the coffee liquid, it is not preferable in terms of hygiene. For this reason, it is desirable to discard the remaining hot water in the hot water storage tank each time after extracting the coffee liquid, but this work is very troublesome for the user and easy to forget.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a coffee extractor capable of reliably discharging the residual hot water in the hot water storage tank without the user's hand. To provide.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention is to form a residual hot water discharge hole, which is always closed by a valve, at the bottom of a hot water storage tank, and to generate high temperature steam in the hot water storage tank at the end of heating of water by a hot water generator. By providing a heat responsive body that is deformed into a predetermined shape by being heated to a predetermined temperature by the above, the valve body is moved to a position where the residual hot water discharge hole is opened by the deformation of the heat responsive body,
Therefore, the remaining hot water in the hot water storage tank is automatically discharged after the heating of the water is completed.

[Embodiment of the Invention] An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a coffee making machine will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. First, referring to FIG. 2 showing the overall configuration, reference numeral 1 is a main body of a coffee making machine, 2 is a heating base provided at the bottom of the main body 1, and this heating base 2
Is provided with a hot water generating device 5 including a heating pipe 3 and a heater 4, and water in a hot water storage tank 6 is supplied into the heating pipe 3 to be hot water. 7 is a bottle for storing a coffee liquid placed on the heating table 2, 8 is a case storage section which is erected on the left side of the heating table 2 in the drawing, and 9 is coffee extraction which is detachably stored in the case storage section 8. In the case of a part, the filter 10 is attached to the bottom of the case and the receiver 11 is attached to the lower part. The extraction port formed on the right side of the receiver 11 in the figure
11a is exposed in the bottle 7. Reference numeral 12 denotes a shallow-bottom container-like diffusion lid that is detachably attached to the top of the case 9, and has a plurality of pouring holes 13 formed in the bottom thereof. Reference numeral 14 denotes a crushed body disposed in the lower part of the case 9, which is removably connected to a rotating shaft of a motor 15 provided in the lower part of the case 9. A hot water storage tank 16 is provided above the diffusion lid 12, and a tank lid 17 is placed on the upper surface of the hot water storage tank. Reference numeral 18 denotes a hot water supply pipe, one end of which is inserted into the hot water storage tank 16 through an insertion hole 19 (see FIG. 1) provided on the side wall of the hot water storage tank 16 to form a hot water outlet 18a, and the other end of which is provided with the heating pipe 3 Is connected to a rising pipe 20 connected to the via a joint 21. On the other hand, at the center of the bottom of the hot water storage tank 16, a hot water outlet pipe 22 is integrally projected upward with its lower end facing the diffusion lid 12 from above, and the hot water outlet pipe 22 is slightly extended from above. A tubular body 23 is provided so as to cover it through a gap, and a siphon mechanism 24 is composed of the hot water outlet pipe 22 and the tubular body 23. A hot water inlet 23a is formed at the lower end of the tubular body 23, and the hot water outlet pipe 22 and the tubular body 23 are passed through the hot water inlet 23a.
Hot water can flow in between. 25 is a hot water storage tank 16
The residual hot water discharge hole formed at the lowermost part of the bottom portion of the valve is a valve body for opening and closing the residual hot water discharge hole 25, which is attached to the lower end of the support rod 27. The support rod 27 is vertically movably inserted into an insertion hole 28a of a support portion 28 provided on the side wall of the hot water storage tank 16, and the upper end thereof is inserted into a cylindrical opening 17a formed in the tank lid 17. 29 is a collar 27a at the bottom of the support rod 27 and a support 2
A compression coil spring provided between the support rod 27 and the valve body 26 is urged downward by the elastic force of the compression coil spring so that the valve body 26 always closes the residual hot water discharge hole 25. There is. In this closed state, the upper end of the support rod 27 is located slightly below the upper surface of the tank lid 17. Reference numeral 30 denotes a heat responsive body provided between the collar portion 27b above the support rod 27 and the support portion 28, which is formed of, for example, a shape memory alloy in a coil shape. The heat responsive body 30 is arranged above the tubular body 23 so as not to be immersed in the hot water stored in the hot water storage tank 16, and the high temperature steam generated at the end of the heating of the water by the hot water generator 5 It has the property of being deformed so as to elongate into a predetermined shape when heated to a predetermined temperature, for example, 80 ° C to 110 ° C.
Reference numeral 31 is a guide member provided so as to be annularly arranged around the residual hot water discharge hole 25, and the guide member 31 guides the vertical movement of the valve body 26. Reference numeral 32 denotes a lid detachably attached to the upper surface of the main body 1.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. In order to extract the coffee liquid, first, water is poured into the water storage tank 6 and the coffee beans are housed in the case 9 and set in the state shown in FIG. Then, the motor 15 is energized and the crushed body 14
Rotate to crush the coffee beans. After crushing, when the heater 4 of the hot water generator 5 is energized, the water in the water storage tank 6 passes through the heating pipe 3 to become hot water in sequence, and this hot water is discharged from the hot water outlet 18a of the hot water supply pipe 18 into the hot water storage tank 16. . At this time, since the residual hot water discharge hole 25 is closed by the valve body 26, the hot water discharged from the hot water outlet 18a is stored in the hot water storage tank 16. The hot water stored in the hot water inlet 23a of the tubular body 23 is raised while raising the hot water surface as shown in FIG.
Penetrates into the gap between the tubular body 23 and the hot water outlet pipe 22. Then, as shown in FIG.
When the siphon mechanism 24 causes a siphoning phenomenon when it exceeds the upper end of the pipe, it is discharged from the lower end opening of the tap pipe 22 onto the diffusion lid 12 as shown by the arrow A, and is diffused by the diffusion lid 12 and poured into the pouring hole. Drop from 13 to the case 9 and spread evenly throughout the coffee grounds. On the other hand, in the hot water storage tank 16, when the stored hot water flows out and the level of the hot water drops to the position of the hot water inlet 23a of the tubular body 23 as shown in FIG. 5, air flows from the hot water inlet 23a into the tubular body 23. Being sucked in, the outflow of boiling water stops. After that, the hot water is not supplied to the coffee powder until the hot water level stored in the hot water storage tank 16 rises again to cover the upper end of the tapping pipe 22, and therefore the coffee powder is not supplied during this time. Is sufficiently steamed by the hot water already supplied, so that the coffee extract can be easily extracted. After this, when hot water is again supplied to the coffee powder by the siphon phenomenon, so-called rich coffee liquid is extracted, and this is received by the receiver 11 and the extraction port 11
It flows down from a and is stored in the bottle 7. After that, the intermittent hot water supply as described above is performed on the coffee powder, and the coffee liquid is extracted.

By the way, when all the water in the water tank 6 is heated,
Since the supply of hot water to the hot water storage tank 16 is stopped, an amount of hot water that does not cause the siphon phenomenon remains in the hot water storage tank 16. Thus, when the heating of the water by the hot water generator 5 is completed, the relatively small amount of water remaining in the heating pipe 3 is heated by the heating pipe 3, so that the water suddenly becomes a large amount of high temperature steam. Then, it is jetted from the hot water supply port 18a into the hot water storage tank 16. Then, the high-temperature steam fills the hot water storage tank 16 and heats the heat responding body 30.
When 30 is heated to a predetermined temperature or more, it deforms so as to expand upward, and as shown in FIG.
It moves upwards against the elastic force of the
Open 25. As a result, the residual hot water in the hot water storage tank 16 flows out from the residual hot water discharge hole 25 and drops on the coffee powder in the case 9. When the valve body 26 moves to a position where the residual hot water discharge hole 25 is opened at the end of heating the water, the upper end of the support rod 27 of the valve body 26 opens the tank lid 17 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Part 17a
The shape protrudes upward from. Therefore, the user can confirm whether or not the heating of the water is completed by checking whether or not the upper end of the support rod 27 projects from the opening 17a.

On the other hand, after a short time after the heating of the water, the temperature inside the hot water storage tank 16 and further the temperature of the heat responsive body 30 falls below a predetermined temperature due to natural cooling, so that the heat responsive body 30 is restored to its original state by the elastic force of the compression coil spring 29. The valve body 26 is contracted into a shape, and the valve body 26 is a residual hot water discharge hole.
25 is closed. After that, even when the coffee liquid is extracted again, there is no remaining hot water in the hot water storage tank 16 as in the conventional case, so there is no fear that the hot water temperature will drop due to the remaining hot water and the taste of the coffee liquid will deteriorate. Without
Definitely a good coffee liquid is obtained. Moreover, after extraction,
It is not necessary for the user to perform a troublesome work such as discarding the remaining hot water in the hot water storage tank 16 one by one, and it is easy to clean up after extraction.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the lower end of the support rod 33 is projected downward from the residual hot water discharge hole 25, and the valve element 34 is attached to the lower end of the support rod 33. The valve body 34 is attached and positioned below the hot water storage tank 16, and the valve body 34 is pressed against the residual hot water discharge hole 25 from below to close it. In this case, the compression coil spring 27 is arranged between the support portion 28 and the collar portion 33a above the support rod 33 in order to urge the valve element 34 upward, and, on the other hand, for example, a thermal response made of a shape memory alloy. Body 35
Is arranged between the collar portion 33a and the tank lid 17. Then, when the heat-responsive body 35 is heated to a predetermined temperature or higher by the high temperature steam ejected into the hot water storage tank 16 at the end of the heating of the water, the heat-responsive body 35 is deformed so as to extend downward so that the valve body 34 is indicated by a two-dot chain line. The residual hot water discharge hole 25 is opened by moving the compression coil spring 27 downward against the elastic force.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings. For example, the thermal responsive body may be configured by using bimetal other than the shape memory alloy, and the siphon mechanism is an inverted U-shape. It can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the invention, such as a pipe.

[Effects of the Invention] As is apparent from the above description, the present invention allows the residual hot water discharge hole to be opened by the valve body that opens and closes, and the heat responsive body that is deformed by being heated by the high temperature steam generated at the end of heating of water. Since it is configured, the remaining hot water in the hot water storage tank can be automatically discharged from the residual hot water discharge hole at the end of heating the water, so that the taste of the coffee liquid deteriorates even when the coffee liquid is extracted many times in succession. This has an excellent effect that the remaining hot water in the hot water storage tank can be surely discharged without any fear of the occurrence of heat and without the user's hand.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an enlarged vertical side view of a main portion, FIG. 2 is an overall vertical side view, and FIGS. 3 to 6 explain the operation. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a hot water storage tank portion, and FIG. 8 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 5 is a hot water generating device, 9 is a case (coffee extraction unit), 16 is a hot water storage tank, 24 is a siphon mechanism, 25 is a residual hot water discharge hole, 26 is a valve body, 30 is a heat responsive body, and 34 is a valve body. , 35 are thermo-responsive bodies.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A hot water producing device for heating water to produce hot water, and a hot water producing device for producing a siphoning phenomenon when a predetermined amount of hot water is stored to supply the hot water to a coffee extraction unit containing coffee powder. What is provided with a hot water storage tank having a siphon mechanism for supplying the residual hot water discharge hole formed at the bottom of the hot water storage tank, and the residual hot water discharge hole is provided to open and close the residual hot water discharge hole at all times. And a valve element present in the hot water storage tank, the valve element is deformed into a predetermined shape by being heated to a predetermined temperature or higher by high temperature steam generated at the end of heating of water by the hot water generator, and the valve element is A coffee extractor comprising: a heat responsive body that moves a residual hot water discharge hole to an open position.