JPH09115052A - Automatic cup-type beverage vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To change the taste of a blend by changing the use ratio of beans from its original ratio when beans are increased/decreased in blended coffee. SOLUTION: The standard raw material amount of beans set for every beverage by a vending quantity setting means 54 is stored in a vending quantity storage means 55 and when an increase/decrease selecting means 56 is operated for increasing/decreasing the amount of beans to be used, an increase/decrease amount arithmetic means 57 increases/decreases the amount of beans a prescribed amount corresponding to each standard raw material amount as mentioned above. Then, each increased/decreased amount of raw materials in ejected from each bean raw material ejecting means 58 to a coffee extracting means 59, and coffee is extracted. When a beverage blending plural kinds of beans is selected by a merchandise selecting means 52, this increase/decrease amount arithmetic means 57 increases/decreases the amounts of respective kinds of beans corresponding to the blend ratio of beans in this beverage.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cup vending machine for selling cupped coffee drinks made from coffee beans.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic vending machine of this type is provided with a button for increasing or decreasing the amount of bean raw material for selecting dark or light eyes according to the preference of the purchaser. If the beverage to be sold is made of one type of beans as a raw material, the standard amount of the bean raw material used in the beverage is increased or decreased according to "dark" or "thin". On the other hand, there are two types of beans to be sold, Bean I and Bean II.
In the case of blending using as a raw material, only one of the beans is increased or decreased.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In that case, Bean I and Bean II
The ratio of the amount of raw materials used with
The taste of the blend changes. Further, none of the conventional cup vending machines can select a sour or bitter flavor.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in a blended beverage, the taste of the blend is not changed even if the amount of beans is increased or decreased, and a flavor with a sour or bitter taste is also selected. The purpose is to provide a cup vending machine that can do this.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a hot water discharging means 51 for discharging a prescribed amount of hot water at the time of sale, a product selecting means 52 for selecting a beverage, and a plurality of beans for each type are stored. Individual raw material box 53, sales amount setting means 54 for presetting the standard raw material amount of beans for each beverage, and sales amount setting means 5
Sales amount storage means 55 for storing the standard raw material amount set in 4.
And an increase / decrease selection unit 56 for increasing / decreasing the amount of beans to be used to obtain a beverage having a desired strength, and an increase / decrease amount calculation for increasing / decreasing a predetermined amount with respect to the standard raw material amount when the increase / decrease selection unit 56 is operated. Means 57, a bean material discharging means 58 for discharging the standard material amount or the increased or decreased material amount from the corresponding material box 53, and a bean material and hot water discharging means 51 discharged from the bean material discharging means 58. A coffee extract means 59 for extracting a coffee drink from the discharged hot water, and when the product selection means 52 selects a drink blended with a plurality of beans, the increase / decrease amount calculation means 57 causes the increase / decrease amount calculation means 57 to The feature is that the amount of each bean is increased or decreased according to the blend ratio.

The second aspect of the present invention is a hot water discharging means 51 for discharging a prescribed amount of hot water at the time of sale, and a product selection button 52 for selecting a beverage.
And a plurality of raw material boxes 53 that store beans by type,
The sales amount setting means 54 for presetting the standard raw material amount of beans for each beverage and the standard raw material amount set by the sales amount setting means 54 are stored, and whether each bean is sour or bitter The sales amount storage means 61 for storing what is stored, the flavor selection means 62 for selecting a desired sour or bitter taste, and the product selection means 52 select a beverage blended with a plurality of beans. At times, when a flavor is selected by the flavor selection means 62, with respect to the standard raw material amount, an increase / decrease amount calculation means 63 for increasing the sour bean amount and decreasing the bitter bean amount, or vice versa, From the bean material discharging means 58 for discharging the standard material amount or the increased or decreased material amount from the corresponding material box 53, and the bean discharged from the bean material discharging means 58 and the hot water discharged from the hot water discharging means 51. Extract coffee drink Characterized in that a coffee extraction unit 59 that.

In the first invention, for example, 2 g of beans
I, 3 g of Beans II and 2 g of Beans III, a standard beverage blended with three kinds of beans, I, Beans II, Beans III, when the total amount is increased by, for example, 1 g in order to obtain a darker taste. The respective increase amounts ΔI, ΔII, and ΔIII are the original use ratios (2 g: 3 g:
It is distributed as follows according to 2g). ΔI = 1 × 2 / (2 + 3 + 2) = 0.29g ΔII = 1 × 3 / (2 + 3 + 2) = 0.43g ΔIII = 1 × 2 / (2 + 3 + 2) = 0.29g If the same)
The usage ratio of each bean is the same as in the original beverage, so the taste of the original blend is not changed.

In the second invention, as shown below, the amount of the sourness and bitterness component of each bean used in the blend is investigated, and the use of each bean so that the ratio of the sourness and the bitterness is changed in the blended beverage. The amount is adjusted. For example, when blending two types of beans I and beans 2, beans I and beans II
Assuming that the ratio of sourness and bitterness was 4 to 6 for beans I and 7 to 3 for beans II, 1 g of beans I and beans II
The following table shows the sourness and bitterness per unit in grams.

[0009]

[Table 1]

Like this. The beans are classified in advance as to whether they are bitter or sour, and for example, blended beverage C (bean I = 5)
g, beans II = 2 g), if the bitter bean I is increased and the sour bean II is decreased, the blended beverage has a bitter taste, and conversely, the bitter bean I is decreased and the sourness is decreased. Beans II
When the blending ratio is increased, the blended beverage has a sour flavor and a desired flavor can be obtained.

It should be noted that even when only the bitter bean I is added, the flavor becomes bitter, but the total amount of beans used changes from the original total amount, and the richness changes. . Therefore,
In order not to change the total amount of beans used, if one bean is added,
Try to reduce the other beans by the increased amount. However, when one is increased and the other is decreased, the use ratio of the beans is changed, and the taste of the blend is lost. Therefore, it is preferable to reduce or increase the amount by a small amount, for example, about 1 g.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the device of the first invention. A hot water tank 1 heats the water supplied through a water valve 2 to a constant temperature by a heater 3. Reference numeral 4 is a hot water valve that discharges 1 cup of hot water at the time of sale. Reference numeral 5 is a canister for storing beans I and beans II in a ground state, and a screw type bean material discharging machine 6 for discharging the bean material is provided at a lower portion of each canister. When the bean raw material is stored in the canister 5 as it is, a mill for grinding the beans is provided.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a coffee extractor for extracting a coffee drink from the hot water discharged from the hot water valve 4 and the beans discharged from the bean raw material discharger 6 and discharging it into the cup 8. The coffee extractor 7 includes a piston for extraction and a filter paper that is automatically supplied. 9 is a push button panel operated by the purchaser,
A product selection button for selecting the beverages A to E and an increase / decrease button for increasing / decreasing the bean amount are provided. 10 is a standard raw material amount x of beans I, a standard raw material amount y of beans II, and
3 is an operation panel including a ten-key 10A for setting an increase amount m and a decrease amount n when the increase button and the decrease button are operated, and a liquid crystal display 10B for displaying display data thereof.

As shown in the liquid crystal display 10B, in the present embodiment, beverage A has x = 7 g, y = 0 g, beverage B has x = 0 g, y = 7 g, and beverage C has x = 5 g. , Y = 2g Beverage D is x = 1g, y = 6g Beverage E is x = 3g, y = 3g, and beverages C to E are blends. The amount of increase m and the amount of decrease n are 2 g and 1.2 g, respectively.

Here, "increased amount 2g" means 7g (standard amount of raw material) + 2 = 9g in total when the increase button is turned on for the beverage A made of one type of beans, and in the blended beverage C, the beans I ,
Beans II are added up respectively, and the total amount of these additions is 2 g.

Reference numeral 11 is a CP for controlling the vending machine as a whole.
U is provided with an increase / decrease amount calculation unit that functions when the increase / decrease button is operated. The CPU 11 and each of the above-mentioned devices are connected via the input / output unit 12. 13 is the CPU 11
Is a ROM that stores the control program, and 14 is a RAM that stores the set amount of raw materials used for each beverage.

The control of the cup vending machine shown in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When a predetermined amount of coins are inserted into a money counter (not shown), the process proceeds from step S1 to step S2. If, for example, the beverage C is pressed on the push button panel 9, the process proceeds to step S3 to press the bean amount increase / decrease button. Wait for movement. Here, if the increase / decrease button is not operated even after 5 seconds have passed, the process proceeds from step S4 to step S5, and the standard raw material amount x (= 5 g) of beans I and beans II of the beverage C,
y (= 2g) is read from the RAM 14. Then, in step S11, the bean material discharger 6 of each canister 5
Bean I, bean II
Are discharged to the coffee extractor 7 by 5g and 2g respectively.
In parallel with this, the hot water valve 4 is opened for a predetermined time, so that one cup of hot water is also discharged to the coffee extractor 7.

Accordingly, in step S12, the coffee is extracted by the extraction operation of the coffee extractor 7, and is discharged into the cup 8 as a coffee beverage in step S13.

On the other hand, if the increase button is operated among the increase / decrease buttons before the elapse of the above 5 seconds, steps S3 and S6 are performed.
The standard raw material amounts x (= 5 g) and y (= 2 g) of beans I and beans II, and the increase amount m (= 2 g) and decrease amount n (= 1.2 g) are read out. . In the next step S9, the raw material amounts x ′ and y ′ of the beans I and II after being increased are calculated. x ′ = x + x × m / (x + y) = 6.4 g y ′ = y + y × m / (x + y) = 2.6 g In step S11, beans I and beans II are 6.4 g and 2.
6 g of each is discharged, hot water of 1 cup is discharged, and a rich coffee drink is extracted and discharged to the cup 8.

On the other hand, when the down button is operated, step S7
From step S8, the standard raw material amounts x (= 5 g) and y (= 2 g) of beans I and beans II, and the increase amount m (= 2 g) and decrease amount n (= 1.2 g) are similarly read out. In the next step S10, the raw material amounts x ″ and y ″ of the beans I and II after the weight reduction are calculated. x ″ = x−x × n / (x + y) = 4.1 g y ″ = y−y × n / (x + y) = 1.6 g In step S11, beans I and beans II are 4.1 g and 1.
A predetermined amount of hot water is discharged at the same time as 6 g is discharged, and a thin coffee drink is extracted and discharged into the cup 8.

[0021] Thus, the amount added to the blended beverage is increased.
When the (m = 2g) button is operated,
No. 2 depending on the amount of standard raw materials x and y of beans I and beans II
Since the g is distributed (the same applies to the case of weight reduction), the taste of the blend does not change even if the amount of beans is increased or decreased because the usage ratio of beans I and beans II is constant. Even if there are three kinds or three or more kinds of coffee beans to be blended, the same increase can be achieved by allocating the increased amount (reduced amount) according to the amount of raw material used.

Beverage A or B made of one type of bean raw material
It is understood that when is selected, the same control as that of the conventional machine is performed in the flow of FIG. 4 regardless of whether the increase / decrease button is operated. For example, when beverage A (bean I = 7 g) is selected, x = 7, y =
From 0, increase m = 2, decrease n = 1.2, when the increase button is operated, x '= 7 + 2 = 9g When the decrease button is operated, x "= 7-1.2 = 5.8g Become.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the device according to the second aspect of the present invention. What is different from FIG. 3 is a push button panel 9 '.
In that, instead of the above-mentioned bean amount increase / decrease button, a flavor selection button for selecting sourness or bitterness is provided.

Using the operation panel 10A, each of the beverages A to E
On the other hand, in the same manner as in the case of FIG. 3, the raw material amounts x and y of beans I and beans II are input, and component data of sourness and bitterness are input in advance for beans I and beans II, and further, Enter 0.5g as the increase / decrease amount p when increasing or decreasing. As described above, in the beans used here, Bean I is a bitter type and Bean II is a sour type.

The control operation of the vending machine will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Beverages A and B
As in the case of one type of bean drink, it is not possible to change the sourness and bitterness by simply increasing or decreasing the amount of raw materials used, so the only sourness and bitterness flavor buttons are the blends of drinks C to E. validate.

For the beverages A to E, if the flavor selection button is not operated within 5 seconds after the beverage is selected, step S
At 5, the beverage is formulated according to standard ingredient amounts. On the other hand, when beverages C to E (here, C) are selected and the sourness button of the flavor buttons is operated, the process proceeds from step S6 ′ to step S8, and the standard raw material amount x (=
5g), y (= 2g) and the increase / decrease amount p (= 0.5g) are read. As described above, when Bean I is a bitter type, Bean II is a sour type, when a sour drink is desired, reduce Bean I,
If Bean II is increased, the increase and decrease are reversed in the case of a drink with a bitter taste.

Therefore, in step S9 ', the bitter bean I
X '= x-p = 5-0.5 = 4.5 g The raw material amount y'of the sour beans II is y' = y + p = 2 + 0.5 = 2.5 g.

On the other hand, when the bitterness button is operated, step S
7 ′, proceeding from step S8 to step S10 ′, the raw material amount x of bitter bean I is x ″ = x + p = 5 + 0.5 = 5.5 g The raw material amount y of sour bean II is y ″ = Yp = 2-0.5 = 1.5 g.

Amount of raw material used determined in step S9 '
By blending based on (x ′, y ′) or the amount of raw material used (x ″, y ″) obtained in step S10 ′, a sour drink or a drink with a bitter taste is provided.

In order to make such a flavor selection, if one bean is sour, it is preferable to use a bitter bean as the other bean. When preparing a blended beverage containing three or more types of beans, one is selected on behalf of sour beans and bitter beans, and the control described in FIG. 6 is performed for those two beans. Should be applied.

[0031]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the amount of beans used is increased or decreased with respect to the blended beverage, according to the ratio of the standard raw material amount of each bean in the beverage, Since the amount of increase / decrease of each bean is set, the taste of the blend does not change because the ratio is constant even if the amount is increased / decreased.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is checked whether each bean to be used in the blend is a sour type or a bitter type, and when the sourness is desired, the sour type beans are added to increase the bitterness type beans. On the other hand, when bitterness is desired, the reverse operation is performed, so that a beverage having a desired flavor can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for responding to a claim of the first invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for responding to a claim of the second invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the first invention.

6 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 hot water tank 2 water valve 3 heater 4 hot water valve 5 canister 6 bean raw material discharge machine 7 coffee extractor 8 cup 9 push button panel 10 operation panel 11 CPU 12 input / output section 13 ROM 14 RAM

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A hot water discharging means 51 for discharging a specified amount of hot water at the time of sale, a product selecting means 52 for selecting a beverage, a plurality of raw material boxes 53 for storing beans by type, and each beverage. Sales amount setting means 5 for presetting the standard raw material amount of beans
4, a sales amount storage unit 55 for storing the standard raw material amount set by the sales amount setting unit 54, an increase / decrease selection unit 56 for increasing / decreasing the amount of beans used in order to obtain a beverage having a desired strength, and the increase / decrease selection. When the means 56 is operated, an increase / decrease calculation means 57 for increasing or decreasing a predetermined amount with respect to the standard raw material amount, and a bean raw material for discharging the standard raw material amount or the increased or decreased raw material amount from the corresponding raw material box 53. A discharging means 58 and a coffee extracting means 59 for extracting a coffee beverage from the beans raw material discharged from the beans raw material discharging means 58 and the hot water discharged from the hot water discharging means 51 are provided. The cup vending machine, wherein when the blended beverage is selected, the increase / decrease amount calculation means 57 increases or decreases the amount of each bean according to the blend ratio of the beans in the beverage. 2. A hot water discharging means 51 for discharging a prescribed amount of hot water at the time of sale, a product selection button 52 for selecting a beverage, a plurality of raw material boxes 53 for storing beans by type, and each beverage. Sales amount setting means 54 for presetting the standard raw material amount of beans
And a sales amount storage means 61 that stores the standard raw material amount set by the sales amount setting means 54 and stores whether each bean is a sour type or a bitter type, and a desired sourness or bitterness Flavor selecting means 62 for selecting an effective flavor
When a beverage in which a plurality of beans are blended is selected by the product selection unit 52, and a flavor is selected by the flavor selection unit 62, the amount of sour beans is increased with respect to the standard raw material amount, and a bitterness-based Increase / decrease calculation means 63 for reducing the bean amount or vice versa, bean raw material discharging means 58 for discharging the standard raw material amount or the increased or decreased raw material amount from the corresponding raw material box 53, and the bean raw material discharging A cup vending machine comprising: a coffee extract means 59 for extracting a coffee drink from the beans discharged from the means 58 and the hot water discharged from the hot water discharge means 51.