JPH08113295A - Pump for drink - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a pump for drink capable of stably supplying drink without causing a tension in a delivery tube. CONSTITUTION: A pump for drink 13 for squeezingly delivering drink contained in a delivery tube 12 by squeezing a part of the delivery tube 12 and moving the squeezing point to the direction of delivery is provided with a pump body 15 and a tube-receiving member, that are opposed to each other with the delivery tube 12 in between. The pump body 15 is provided with a peristaltic movement mechanism for peristaltically moving the delivery tube 12 in the direction of delivery by moving each part of the delivery tube 12 forward and backward with a shift of a phase in the direction of delivery with respect to the tube- receiving member.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bag-in-box (BIB (BAG IN BO
X)) to a beverage pump for supplying the concentrated stock solution to a cup.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a beverage pump for supplying a concentrated stock solution from a BIB (bag-in-box) to a cup for sale, for example, a peristaltic pump described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-213396 is known. This peristaltic pump is composed of a pump main body having an equilateral triangular rotary plate attached to the output shaft of a drive motor, and a tube receiving member that faces the pump main body with a BIB discharge tube interposed therebetween. Rollers are rotatably attached to the three corners of the rotating plate, and by rotating the rotating plate, the tube receiving member is received to move the crushing point of the discharge tube by the roller in the discharge direction, The undiluted solution is squeezed out.

[0003]

In such a conventional beverage pump, since the roller is structured to discharge the stock solution by squeezing the discharge tube in the discharge direction,
Even if a roller is used for the contact portion, a force that pulls the discharge tube in the discharge direction works. On the other hand, the BIB detects the remaining amount by weight measurement. Therefore, when the BIB is pulled downward through the discharge tube, the weight measurement is misaligned, and there is a problem that the alarm lamp for replacement is turned on although the remaining amount is sufficient. In addition, since the discharge tube is bent and attached in a semicircular shape along the rotation path of the rotating plate, a restoring force acts on the discharge tube and wrinkles occur on the contact surface of the roller, so that the amount of undiluted solution supplied is large. There was a problem that was not constant.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a beverage pump capable of stably supplying a beverage without generating a pulling force on the discharge tube. I am trying.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention squeezes the beverage in the discharge tube by crushing a part of the discharge tube and moving the crushing point in the discharge direction. A beverage pump that discharges has a pump main body and a tube receiving member that face each other with the discharge tube sandwiched between them, and the pump main body moves the discharge tube forward and backward by shifting the phase of each part in the discharge direction relative to the tube receiving member. It is characterized by having a peristaltic movement mechanism.

In this case, it is preferable that the peristaltic movement mechanism is composed of a large number of pressing members arranged in parallel in the discharge direction and cam means for moving the pressing members forward and backward by shifting the phases.

In these cases, the tube receiving member preferably has elasticity in the advancing / retreating direction of the peristaltic motion mechanism.

[0008]

According to the beverage pump of the present invention, the peristaltic motion mechanism of the pump body causes the peristaltic motion of the perforated motion of the pump tube in the discharge direction by using the tube receiving member as a receiving member, so that the parts of the peristaltic motion mechanism crush the discharge tube. The point moves in the discharge direction, and the beverage in the discharge tube is discharged in the discharge direction. In this case, since the peristaltic movement mechanism has a structure in which, while sandwiching the discharge tube, each portion in the discharge direction is moved forward and backward with respect to the tube receiving member, the beverage is delivered in the discharge direction by the peristaltic movement. However, each part of the peristaltic movement mechanism simply moves back and forth,
No wrinkles are formed on the surface of the discharge tube, and no tensile force acts in the discharge direction. Also, since it is possible to set the discharge tube linearly,
Peristaltic movement of the free discharge tube is possible.

According to another aspect of the beverage pump of the present invention, the peristaltic movement mechanism is composed of a large number of pressing members arranged in parallel in the discharge direction and cam means for moving the pressing members forward and backward by shifting their phases. By simply moving each pressing member forward and backward, the pressing member as a whole can be made to perform a peristaltic motion, and can be reliably operated with a simple structure.

According to the beverage pump of the third aspect, since the tube receiving member has elasticity in the advancing / retreating direction of the peristaltic movement mechanism, even if there is unevenness in the advance position of each part of the peristaltic movement mechanism, The receiving member absorbs this and can reliably hold the crushed state of the discharge tube, that is, the closed state of the discharge tube (movement of the crushing point).

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A case where a beverage pump according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a beverage dispenser equipped with a BIB will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This beverage dispenser can be used for cola, juice, oolong tea, etc.
Sold in cups, these beverages are
The concentrated undiluted solution and the dilution water are directly supplied to the cup, where they are cooked (mixed) as products.

FIG. 1 is a cut side view showing the internal structure of a beverage dispenser. As shown in FIG. 1, this beverage dispenser 1 has a refrigerating box 2 for accommodating a BIB 3 in the upper half and a front side. An opening / closing door 4 of a refrigerating box 2 having an operation panel (not shown) is provided, and the lower half portion is provided with B
A stock solution pouring device 5 for supplying the concentrated stock solution in the IB 3 to the cup C; a cooling unit 6 for cooling the inside of the refrigeration box 2;
A cup stage 7 on which the cup C is placed is provided. After setting the cup C on the cup stage 7 and pressing a portion switch (not shown, which is composed of a plurality of switches corresponding to the cup size) on the operation panel, the stock solution pouring device 5 causes the BIB 3 to be stored in the BIB 3. The concentrated stock solution is supplied to the cup C, and the dilution water is supplied to the cup C from a nozzle (not shown).

The refrigerating box 2 is provided with a residual amount detecting device 8 for detecting the residual amount of concentrated concentrated liquid in the BIB 3 so as to support the BIB 3, and an evaporator 9 extending from the cooling unit 6 on the inner wall. It is arranged. BIB
3 is a cardboard outer container 10 containing a stock solution container 11 filled with a concentrated stock solution.
Discharge tube 1 extending downward toward the stock solution dispensing device 5
2 are attached integrally. The stock solution container 11 is a bag body (bag) that shrinks so that air does not enter inside as the concentrated stock solution is poured out.
3 is discarded as a whole (disposable).

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the undiluted solution dispensing device 5 includes a pump unit (beverage pump) 13 for undiluting the concentrated undiluted solution in the BIB 3 and supplying it to the cup C, and a drive for operating the pump unit 13. And the mechanism 14. The pump unit 13 is composed of a pump main body 15 and a presser lid 16 that face each other with the discharge tube 12 interposed therebetween. The presser lid 16 is a body 17 of the pump unit 13 so that the discharge tube 12 can be taken into the front surface of the pump main body 15. It is rotatably attached to the door (see Fig. 3).

The pump body 15 includes an upper base 21 and a lower base 22, which extend rearward and parallel to each other from a body 17 of the pump unit 13, and an upper base 21 and a lower base 22.
10 pressing plates 23 arranged so as to be laminated between them, 10 eccentric cam plates 24 engaging with each pressing plate 23, a cam shaft 25 serving as a rotation shaft of each eccentric cam plate 24, and Pressing plate 2
A pair of front and rear guide rods 26, 26 for guiding the forward / backward movement of 3
It consists of and. A tube holder 18 is attached to the front of the body 17 of the pump unit 13,
The tips of the ten pressing plates 23 are attached to the tube holder 18
The discharge tube 12 is exposed from the opening formed in the. The cam shaft 25 is rotatably fixed to upper and lower bearings 27, 27 attached to the upper base 21 and the lower base 22, and has a shaft end projecting upward from the upper base 21 and a drive mechanism 14 to be described later. The driven pulley 43 of is fixed.
Further, the pair of guide rods 26, 26 have their upper and lower end portions fixed to the upper base 21 and the lower base 22, respectively, and function as guides for the pressing plate 23, and also make the upper base 21 and the lower base 22 parallel to each other. Hold.

As shown in FIG. 4, each pressing plate 23 has a rectangular plate member whose front portion is narrowly cut and whose front end for pressing the discharge tube 12 is chamfered into a semicircle (see FIG. 2).
Is formed. On the center line of each pressing plate 23, a rectangular cam hole 23a and elongated holes 23b, 23b arranged in front of and behind the cam hole 23a are formed.
An eccentric cam plate 24 engages with 3a to form a positive motion cam (cam means), and guide rods 26, 26 engage with the long holes 23b, 23b, respectively, so that each pressing plate 23 by the positive motion cam. Will be informed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, each eccentric cam plate 24 is a disc fixed to the cam shaft 25 in an eccentric state, and is formed to have a thickness corresponding to that of the pressing plate 23. That is, in the eccentric cam plate 24, the circular portion 25a around the cam shaft 25 is formed to have the same thickness as the pressing plate 23, and
The eccentric portion 25b except the circular portion 25a is slightly ground from both front and back sides, and this portion is thinly formed. As a result, when the eccentric cam plates 24 of 10 sheets are mounted on the pressing plates 23 of 10 sheets, each pressing plate 23 and each eccentric cam plate 24 corresponding thereto are accurately engaged, and
The eccentric cam plate 24 does not interfere with the adjacent upper and lower pressing plates 23.

The peripheral surface of each eccentric cam plate 24 having the largest eccentric radius is formed by an arc centered on the cam shaft 25 over an angle of 36 degrees. That is, the rotation section of this angle of 36 degrees is the portion 25c where the pressing plate 23 crushes the discharge tube 12, and in this rotation section, even if the eccentric cam plate 24 rotates, the pressing plate 23 stops in the advanced state. The crushed state of the discharge tube 12 by the pressing plate 23 is maintained for a predetermined time. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the ten eccentric cam plates 24 thus configured are
They are fixed to the cam shaft 25 with an angle of 36 degrees and a phase shift.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the above-mentioned ten pressing plates 23 are stacked without a gap, and ten eccentric cam plates 24 are mounted on this. As shown in the figure, since the ten eccentric cam plates 24 are fixed to the cam shaft 25 with their phases shifted, the curve formed by the tips of the ten pressing plates 23 draws a sine curve. . When the cam shaft 25 is rotated in this state, each pressing plate 23 is advanced and retracted by each eccentric cam plate 24, and eventually the phase of the sinusoidal curve formed by the tips of the ten pressing plates 23 advances in the discharge direction. As it moves, it makes a peristaltic motion with respect to the discharge tube 12 in a wavy manner.

On the other hand, the pressing lid 16 is, as shown in FIG.
The lid main body 31, a receiving plate 32 provided so as to contact the discharge tube 12, and a pair of upper and lower coil springs 33, 33 for biasing the receiving plate 32 toward the discharge tube 12 side. The receiving plate 32 is biased by the coil spring 33, but the movement toward the discharge tube 12 side by the lid main body 31 is flush with the lid main body 31 so that the discharge tube 12 can be received vertically without bending. Is regulated. In this state, the receiving plate 32 is sandwiched between the discharge tubes 12 and
Zero pressing plates 23 face each other, and the receiving plate 32 is adapted to elastically receive each advancing pressing plate 23 via the discharge tube 12. Therefore, even if the forward positions of the ten pressing plates 23 do not coincide with each other with high accuracy, the crushed state of the discharge tube 12 by each pressing plate 23, that is, the closed state of the discharge tube 12 is surely and constant. It is held by the power of.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the driving device 1
4 is a motor 41 suspended from the rear of the upper base 21,
Drive pulley 42 fixed to drive shaft 41a of motor 41
And a driven pulley 43 fixed to the cam shaft 25,
It is composed of a belt 44 that is stretched between a drive pulley 42 and a driven pulley 43. The rotational power of the motor 41 is decelerated by the pulleys 42 and 43 and then transmitted to the cam shaft 25 to move the pressing plate 23 back and forth via the eccentric cam plate 24. Further, a photo sensor 45 for controlling the home position of the entire ten pressing plates 23 is provided in the driven pulley 43. The driven pulley 43 has a notch portion (not shown) formed therein. When the notch portion reaches the position of the photo sensor 45, a signal is input from the photo sensor 45 to the control unit 19 and the motor 41 is stopped. To do.

That is, the arrangement state of the pressing plates 23 shown in FIG. 2 is its home position, and the pump body 15 is
The operation is started from this state and stopped in this state.
As a result, the amount of the concentrated stock solution supplied from the discharge tube 12 is stably maintained with the amount discharged by one peristaltic movement of the pump body 15 as a unit.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 19 is connected to a photo sensor 51 for capturing the concentrated stock solution discharged from the discharge tube 12. The photo sensor 51 faces directly under the tip of the discharge tube 12 and captures the flow of concentrated stock solution. On the other hand, the control unit 19 is provided with a timer 52 composed of a counter or the like for measuring the capture time of the flow shadow captured by the photo sensor 51. Then, the control unit 19 compares the operating time of the pump unit 13 for one sale with the capturing time at that time, and determines whether or not the supply amount of the concentrated stock solution to the cup C has reached a predetermined amount. Is determined. When the supply amount is insufficient, an alarm device (not shown) is activated. Thereby, the abnormality of the pump unit 13 or the like is confirmed, and the supply amount of the concentrated stock solution is compensated.

Next, the remaining amount detecting device 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 7. The remaining amount detection device 8 is BIB
3 is composed of a bellows 61, a pressure tube 62 connected to the bellows 61, and a converter 63 connected to the tip of the pressure tube 62. The converter 63 is connected to the control unit 19. . Bellows 61 is a box 64
And a mounting plate 66 provided on the upper side of the bellows main body 65. The mounting plate 66 doubles as the lid of the box 64,
The BIB 3 is placed directly, and the load of the BIB 3 is transmitted to the bellows body 65. Bellows body 65, pressure tube 6
The closed space formed by 2 and the converter 63 is filled with a liquid such as low-viscosity silicone oil that is not easily affected by pressure fluctuation due to temperature change, and the pressure in the bellows body 65 based on the load of the BIB 3 is It can be accurately transmitted to the transducer 63 via the pressure tube 62.

The converter 63 converts pressure into an electric signal, and converts the pressure inside the bellows body 65 into an electric signal and outputs the electric signal to the controller 19. Based on this electric signal, the controller 19 displays the remaining amount of concentrated undiluted solution in the BIB3, and when the remaining amount reaches a certain value, lights a lamp to prompt replacement of the BIB3 or gives an alarm. Emit. The remaining amount detecting device 8 has an extremely simple structure so that a detection error can be reduced, and a converter 63 which is an electric component is provided outside the refrigerating box 2 so as to prevent malfunction. It is arranged.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the pump main body 15 is composed of ten pressing plates 23 and the corresponding ten eccentric cam plates 24, and the pressing plates 23 are out of phase with each other. The peristaltic motion of the discharge tube 12 is performed by advancing and retracting the
Unwanted wrinkles are generated on the surface of the discharge tube 12 and the BIB 3 is not pulled through the discharge tube 12, so that the supply amount of the concentrated stock solution can be stabilized and the residual amount detection device 8 is not affected. It can be surely prevented. Moreover, since the discharge tube 12 can be set in a straight line which is a free state, the restoring force or the like does not act on the discharge tube 12 itself, and the supply amount can be stabilized also in this respect.

Since the ten pressing plates 23 and the ten eccentric cam plates 24 may have the same structure and shape, they can be inexpensively constructed. Further, the pump main body 15 has a simple structure with the advancing / retreating pressing plate 23 and the eccentric cam plate (positive cam) 24, and the pressing plate 23 is received by the receiving plate 32 having elasticity. Therefore, the pump operation can be reliably performed without requiring high accuracy, and the supply amount of the concentrated stock solution can be kept constant. Therefore, the accuracy of the dilution ratio can be increased for various beverages.

In this embodiment, the pump main body is composed of 10 pressing plates and 10 eccentric cam plates corresponding thereto, but the number of them is arbitrary. However, the pump main body is not limited to the above structure as long as each part of the pump main body moves back and forth and moves as a whole in peristaltic motion.

[0029]

As described above, according to the beverage pump of the present invention, it is possible to perform a peristaltic motion on the discharge tube without causing a pulling force or wrinkles on the discharge tube and in a state where the discharge tube is straightened. In addition, it is possible to prevent malfunction of the remaining amount detecting device and to stably supply the beverage quantitatively.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cut side view of a beverage dispenser equipped with a beverage pump according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cut side view around the beverage pump according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view around the beverage pump according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a pressing plate.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where an eccentric cam plate is attached to a cam shaft.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state where a pressing plate and an eccentric cam plate are assembled.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a remaining amount detection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Beverage dispenser 3 BIB 12 Discharge tube 13 Pump unit 15 Pump main body 23 Pressing plate 24 Eccentric cam plate 32 Receiving plate 33 Coil spring C cup

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A beverage pump that squeezes a part of a discharge tube and moves the crushing point in the discharge direction so as to squeeze out the beverage in the discharge tube, and a pump that faces the discharge tube. The pump main body includes a tube receiving member, and the pump main body has a peristaltic movement mechanism that moves the respective portions in the discharge direction forward and backward by shifting the phases in the discharge direction with respect to the tube receiving member. Beverage pump. 2. The peristaltic movement mechanism is composed of a large number of pressing members arranged in parallel in the discharge direction, and a cam means for moving the pressing members forward and backward by shifting their phases. The beverage pump according to 1. 3. The beverage pump according to claim 1, wherein the tube receiving member has elasticity in a moving direction of the peristaltic movement mechanism.