JPH08273048A - Beverage supplier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To execute the pouring start of tea at high speed by preventing pow dery raw materials from being left by providing standstill time in hot water supply and finishing the supply of hot water later than the supply of powdery raw materials. CONSTITUTION: Time T1 shows the on-time of a powder discharge motor required for supplying the required quantity of powdery raw materials corresponding to the quantity and concentration of tea. Besides, time T3 shows the ON time of a water valve required for supplying the required quantity of hot water corresponding to the quantity and concentration of tea. Then, time T2 is one time of standstill time in the case of temporarily stopping an operation during hot water supply. Besides, time T4 is minimum delay time until the supply of hot water is stopped after the powdery raw materials are supplied. Further, time T5 is delay time from the turning-on of a beverage pouring switch to the driving start of a stirring motor. Then, time T6 is time from the end of hot water supply to the stop of the stirring motor. Thus, the hot water supplying operation is temporarily stopped and the supply of hot water is finished while being delayed from the end of powdery raw material supply longer than the time T4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a beverage supply device in which a beverage raw material and a drinking liquid are mixed in a mixer and poured out as a beverage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a beverage supply apparatus for supplying beverages such as tea and coffee, powdered beverage raw materials such as tea and coffee are mixed with hot water (or cold water) in a mixer to prepare a beverage. There are things that I tried to pour out. This one is equipped with a raw material supply mechanism for supplying the powder raw material into the mixer and a hot water supply mechanism for supplying hot water into the mixer. The raw material supply mechanism and the hot water supply mechanism respectively supply the necessary amount of powder raw material and hot water. It is designed to be fed into the mixer. Then, when the pouring switch is turned on, each mechanism is operated for a required time by timer control.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above conventional one,
When the pouring switch is turned on, the supply of the powder raw material to the mixer by the raw material supply mechanism and the hot water supply by the hot water supply mechanism are started almost at the same time. However, there is a circumstance in which the time required to supply the powder raw material is longer than the time required to supply the hot water when the concentration is higher than the normal concentration. Therefore, in the conventional apparatus, the powder raw material is supplied until after the hot water supply is completed, and the pouring operation may be completed in a state where the powder raw material is not completely melted. When the powder raw material remains undissolved in this manner, the beverage to be poured becomes thinner than originally intended, and the raw material adheres to the inner wall of the mixer and often sticks to it. Problems such as having to perform cleaning occur.

In order to deal with this, it is conceivable to delay the start of the hot water supply operation so that the hot water supply is ended at the same time as or after the supply of the powder raw material is finished. However, in this configuration, even if the pouring switch is turned on, it takes time before the actual pouring of the beverage is started, and there is a disadvantage that the user feels suspicious or mistaken for a failure. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to mix a beverage raw material and a drinking liquid in a mixer, and to prevent undissolved beverage raw material in advance. It is possible to provide a beverage supply device that can start the dispensing of the beverage immediately after the beverage dispensing switch is turned on.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a beverage supply apparatus of the present invention comprises a raw material supply mechanism for supplying a beverage raw material to a mixer, and a drinking liquid supply for supplying a drinking liquid to the mixer. A mechanism and a beverage pouring switch, in which the beverage raw material and the drinking liquid are mixed in the mixer based on the operation of the beverage pouring switch to be poured out as a beverage, the required amount When supplying the beverage raw material and the drinking liquid into the mixer, the supply of the drinking liquid is terminated later than the supply of the beverage raw material by temporarily suspending and restarting the supply during the supply of the drinking liquid. This is characterized in that it is so arranged (the invention of claim 1).

In this case, it is more effective if the operation of supplying the drinking liquid is paused a plurality of times (invention of claim 2).

[0007]

According to the beverage supply device of the first aspect of the present invention, the required amount of the beverage raw material is supplied to the inside of the mixer by the raw material supply mechanism and the drinking liquid is supplied based on the operation of the beverage pouring switch. The mechanism supplies the required amount of drinking liquid, which is mixed in a mixer and poured out as a beverage. At this time, even if there are circumstances in which the time required to supply the beverage raw material is longer than the time required to supply the required amount of drinking liquid, the supply of the drinking liquid is terminated later than the supply of the beverage raw material. , There is no undissolved beverage ingredient. In addition, the time adjustment for delaying the end of the supply of the drinking liquid does not delay the start of the supply, but rather temporarily suspends the supply of the drinking liquid, so that the start of the pouring of the beverage is started. Can be done promptly.

In this case, the drinking liquid supply operation may be paused only once, but if the drinking liquid supply operation is paused a plurality of times (the beverage supply apparatus of claim 2), 1
The pause time for each time is shortened, and the change in the amount of beverage dispensed with the passage of time can be suppressed to be smaller than in the case where the pause is performed at once.

[0009]

As described above, according to the beverage supply device of the first aspect of the present invention, the beverage raw material and the drinking liquid are mixed in the mixer. By temporarily suspending and resuming the supply of the drinking liquid, the supply of the drinking liquid is terminated later than the supply of the beverage raw material.
This has an excellent practical effect that it is possible to prevent undissolved beverage raw materials from occurring, and moreover, it is possible to start the beverage dispensing immediately after the beverage dispensing switch is turned on.

Further, in this case, if the operation of supplying the drinking liquid is paused for a plurality of times (the beverage supply device of claim 2), the fluctuation of the amount of beverage dispensed with the passage of time can be suppressed to a small level. Therefore, the beverage can be continuously poured out without interruption.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is embodied as a tea supply machine will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG.
[Fig. 3] shows a main configuration of a tea supply machine as a beverage supply device according to the present embodiment. Here, the tea dispenser is provided with a raw material supply mechanism 1 and a drinking liquid supply mechanism (not shown) located in an upper part in a main body case (not shown) having a substantially rectangular box shape, and a mixer 2 in a lower part thereof. And a fine powder / steam removing device 3 and the like. Further, although not shown, a concave beverage receiving portion that opens on the front side is provided on the front surface of the main body case, and this beverage receiving portion is located, for example, above the pedestal on which the cup is placed. There is a spout for pouring out beverages (tea).

The raw material supply mechanism 1 is provided with a raw material container 4 for storing powdered tea beverage raw material (hereinafter referred to as powder raw material), and the lower end portion of the raw material container 4 is located on the front side (left side in the figure). It has integrally the raw material supply path 4a which extends. The tip of the raw material supply path 4a is communicated with a shooter 5 extending in the vertical direction, and the lower end of the shooter 5 has the lower end thereof.
Is communicated with the upper part of the mixing case 6. A delivery coil 7 for delivering the powder raw material through the raw material supply passage 4a is provided at the bottom of the raw material container 4. The delivery coil 7 is rotated by driving a powder discharge motor 8 to drop the powder raw material from the shooter 5 into the mixing case 6. In this case, the supply amount of the powder raw material into the mixing case 6 is an amount according to the drive time of the powder discharge motor 8.

Although not shown, the drinking liquid supply mechanism includes a hot water storage tank for storing hot water as a drinking liquid and a heater for heating the hot water inside the hot water tank to an appropriate temperature. The hot water storage tank is connected to the side portion of the mixing case 6 via a hot water supply pipe, and a water valve is provided at an intermediate portion of the hot water supply pipe. By opening (turning on) the water valve, the hot water in the hot water storage tank is supplied into the mixing case 6. Also in this case, the amount of hot water supplied into the mixing case 6 is an amount according to the on time of the water valve.
The tea dispenser of this embodiment is capable of switching between hot and cold, and although not shown, a cooling tank with a cooling device for storing cold water is provided separately from the hot water storage tank, By opening the water valve, cold water can be supplied into the mixing case 6.

The mixer 2 comprises an impeller 9 at the bottom of the mixing case 6. The mixing case 6 has a box-like shape whose lower end portion is curved in a semicircle shape when viewed from the front, and an upper surface opening portion communicates with the shooter 5.
The front end of the hot water supply pipe is connected to the right side surface thereof.
Thus, the tea powder raw material from the raw material container 4 and the hot water from the hot water storage tank are supplied to the mixing case 6. On the other hand, at the bottom of the mixing case 6, an impeller 9 rotatably driven by a stirring motor 10 is provided in a horizontal axis shape. By the rotation of the impeller 9, the powder raw material and the hot water supplied into the mixing case 6 are stirred and mixed, and the powder raw material is melted in the hot water to prepare a beverage (tea). A beverage outlet 11 is formed on the back surface of the lower end of the mixing case 6, and a filter 12 is provided so as to close the beverage outlet 11. This filter 12
It has a fine mesh-like structure that prevents the powder raw material that is not melted in hot water from passing through. The beverage outlet 11 is
It is connected to the spout of the beverage receiving unit described above, and the tea prepared by the mixer 2 is poured out from the spout.

The upper back surface of the mixing case 6 is connected to the fine powder / steam removing device 3 via a suction hose 13. The fine powder / steam removing device 3 is configured by arranging a removing filter and a fan device in the case, and sucks and collects the fine powder and vapor of the powder raw material remaining in the mixing case 6. Further, an operation panel (not shown) is provided on the front surface of the main body case, and a beverage pouring switch for operating the pouring of beverages, a display lamp for performing necessary display, and the like are provided here. In addition, a setting panel (not shown) is provided inside the main body case, and the user can specify the amount of tea (for example, three levels of high, standard, and low) and the strength of tea (for example, strong) by operating the volume. It is possible to perform three steps (eye, standard, and thin).

A control device having a microcomputer (not shown) for controlling the above-mentioned mechanisms is provided in the main body case. This control device controls the energization of the powder discharge motor 8, the water valve, the agitation motor, etc. based on the operation of the beverage pouring switch, and supplies a required amount of the powder raw material and hot water into the mixing case 6. At the same time as the supply, the impeller 9 is rotated to mix the two, and then the tea is poured out. At this time, the control device, by its software configuration,
By temporarily suspending and restarting the operation during hot water supply, control is performed so that the supply of hot water is finished later than the supply of the powder raw material. The details of this control will be described in the following description of operation.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. The time chart of FIG. 1 shows the timing of on / off control of the powder discharge motor 8, the water valve, and the stirring motor 10 executed by the control device when the beverage pouring switch is turned on. Where T
Reference numeral 1 represents the on-time of the powder discharge motor 8 required to supply the required amount of powder raw material according to the amount and strength of tea. And
T3 represents the on-time of the water valve required to supply the required amount of hot water according to the amount and strength of tea. In this case, the time T3 is shorter than the time T1 above the normal density. Further, T2 is one pause time when the operation is temporarily paused during hot water supply, and is fixedly set to, for example, 1.5 seconds in this embodiment. T4 is the minimum delay time until the supply of the hot water is stopped after the supply of the powder raw material, and is set to 0.5 seconds, for example. T5 is a delay time of the drive start of the stirring motor 10 after the beverage pouring switch is turned on, and is set to, for example, 0.5 seconds.
T6 is the time from the end of the supply of hot water until the stirring motor 10 is stopped, and is set to, for example, 7 seconds.
Although not shown, after the tea supply operation is completed, the fan device of the fine powder / steam removal device 3 is driven for a certain period of time, and the fine powder or steam of the powder raw material remaining in the mixing case 6 is mixed. It is designed to be removed from the case 6.

As can be seen from this time chart, when the beverage pouring switch is turned on, the powder discharge motor 8 and the water valve are simultaneously turned on so that the powder raw material and the hot water are supplied into the mixing case 6. However, while the powder discharge motor 8 is continuously driven after that, the water valve is provided with a plurality of off times (two times in the figure) on the way, and the hot water supply operation is temporarily performed. You will be paused. Then, the supply of the hot water is completed with a delay of at least time T4 (0.5 seconds) after the supply of the powder raw material is completed. The flowchart of FIG. 2 is
The control procedure of the powder discharge motor 8 and the water valve executed by the control device at the time of pouring tea is shown. For the sake of simplicity, the control of the stirring motor 10 is not described in this flowchart, but the stirring motor 10 is driven continuously here. Now, when the beverage pouring switch is turned on (Yes in step S1), the times T1 and T3 are calculated so that the powder raw material and the hot water amount corresponding to the designated tea amount and strength can be obtained. Is performed (step S2).

In the next step S3, it is judged whether or not the time T3 is larger than the sum of the time T1 and the time T4 (constant). If the time T3 is longer (Yes), the end of the hot water supply is delayed than the end of the supply of the powder raw material without stopping the hot water supply in the middle, so the T1 timer and the T3 timer are started as they are (step S4),
The water valve and the powder discharge motor 8 are turned on (step S5). When the T1 timer is up (step S6), the powder discharge motor 8 is turned off (step S6).
7) When the T3 timer is up (step S8), the water valve is turned off (step S).
9).

However, when the normal density is exceeded, time T3
Is shorter than the time T1, so No is obtained in step S3. Then, in the next step S10, the number of divisions n for dividing the ON time T3 of the water valve into several equal parts and performing hot water supply in a plurality of times is obtained. The number of divisions n is calculated by calculating the minimum n (n = 2, 3, 4, ...) That satisfies T3 + (n-1) T2 ≧ T1 + T4. The time chart of FIG. 1 shows an example in which the number of divisions n is 3, and in this case, two pause times T2 are provided. When the division number n is obtained in this way, the division number n is set in the variable N (step S1
1), the T1 timer and the T3 / n timer are started (step S12), and the water valve and the powder discharge motor 8 are turned on (step S13). After this, whether the T1 timer is up (step S14), and
Whether the T3 / n timer is up (step S1
5) is constantly monitored, and when the T1 timer is up (Yes in step S14), the powder discharge motor 8 is turned off (step S16).

When the T3 / n timer is up (Yes in step S15), the value of the variable N is decremented by 1 (step S17), and the value of the variable N is not 0 (No in step S18). , T2 timer is started (step S19), and the water valve is turned off to enter the rest time (step S20). When the hot water supply pause time T2 ends (Yes in step S21)
s). The T3 / n timer is started again (step S
22), the water valve is turned on (step S2).
3) Then, the process returns to step S14. In this way, when hot water supply divided into n times is performed, step S
The value of the variable N becomes 0 at 17 and Y at step S18.
If so, the process proceeds to step S24, the water valve is turned off, and the hot water supply operation ends. At this point, the T1 timer has already increased, the powder discharge motor 8 has been turned off, and the powder raw material supply operation has already ended.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a pause time is provided during the hot water supply so that the hot water supply is finished later than the powder raw material supply. Therefore, even if the time required to supply the powder raw material is longer than the time required to supply the hot water, the pouring operation will not be completed in a state where the powder raw material is not completely melted as in the conventional case. Unmelted residue of raw materials can be eliminated. As a result, it is possible to prevent inconveniences such as the tea to be dispensed becoming thinner than originally intended, or the raw material sticking to the inner wall of the mixing case 6 and sticking to it. Moreover, the time adjustment for delaying the end time of the hot water supply does not delay the start of the supply but temporarily suspends the supply during the hot water supply,
It does not take time to start pouring tea, and it is possible to start pouring tea immediately after the beverage pouring switch is turned on, and the user feels suspicious or mistaken for a malfunction. There is nothing to do.

Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the hot water supply operation is paused a plurality of times, so that one pause time can be shortened, and time elapses as compared with the case where the pause is performed once. It is possible to suppress fluctuations in the amount of tea dispensed due to the above, and it is possible to obtain the advantage that tea can be continuously dispensed without interruption.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Various modifications can be made within the range not to implement. (1) The pause time T2 may be variable instead of being fixed.
In this case, the number of pauses 1 (division number n) can be fixed. The number of hot water supply pauses may be one, that is, the number of divisions n may be two.

(2) The on-time T1 of the powder discharge motor 8 and the on-time T3 of the water valve, as well as the rest time T2, the number of rests (the number of divisions n), etc. are obtained in advance in accordance with the amount and strength of the beverage. Alternatively, it may be converted into data, stored in the memory, and read out as necessary. (3) The present invention may be applied to a beverage supply device of a type in which a liquid concentrated raw material is diluted with drinking water instead of a powder raw material. in this case,
In order to prevent the liquid concentrated raw material from sticking, it is more effective if the supply of drinking water is started before the supply of the concentrated raw material.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of the present invention, which is a time start showing the on / off timing of each mechanism when pouring tea.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control procedure when pouring tea.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing the main configuration of the tea dispenser.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Raw material supply mechanism 2 ... Mixer 4 ... Raw material container 6 ... Mixing case 8 ... Powder discharge motor 9 ... Impeller 1
0 ... stirring motor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A raw material supply mechanism for supplying a beverage raw material to a mixer, a drinking liquid supply mechanism for supplying a drinking liquid to the mixer, and a beverage pouring switch, which is based on the operation of the beverage pouring switch. In such a thing that the beverage raw material and the drinking liquid are mixed and poured out as a beverage in the mixer, when supplying the required amount of the beverage raw material and the drinking liquid into the mixer, A beverage supply device characterized in that the supply of the drinking liquid is terminated after the supply of the drinking liquid is temporarily stopped and restarted so as to finish the supply of the drinking liquid later than the supply of the beverage raw material. 2. The beverage supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation of supplying the drinking liquid is suspended for a plurality of times.