JPH09180051A - Beverage dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely drop and supply ice from the ice dropping opening of an ice stocker to a cold plate by automatically breaking bridge of ice formed at the ice dropping opening. SOLUTION: This dispenser A has an ice feed opening 12a, an ice discharge opening 11a, and the ice dropping opening 11b and also has the ice stocker 10 in which an agitator 20 is installed and an ice supply opening 31a and a water discharge opening 31b which are arranged below the ice stocker 10 and connected to the ice dropping opening 11b, and is equipped with a beverage cooler 30 including the cold plate 32 which receives ice D dropped and supplied from the ice stocker 10 and cools beverage liquid L circulating inside, thereby supplying the ice in the ice stocker 10 and the beverage liquid L cooled by the cold plate 32. In this case, a nearly vertical arching prevention member 70 which extends to the ice dropping opening 11b is arranged in the ice stocker 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a beverage dispenser capable of supplying drinkable liquid such as cooled juice and ice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one of beverage dispensers, an ice stocker having an ice input port, an ice discharge port, and an ice drop port, and a built-in agitator, and arranged below the ice stocker, are connected to the ice drop port. In the ice stocker, the ice stocker is provided with a cold plate having a cold plate for cooling the beverage liquid flowing therein by receiving the ice dropped and supplied from the ice stocker. There is one which makes it possible to supply the drink liquid cooled with the ice and the cold plate described above in US Pat. No. 4,300,359.

[0003]

In the beverage dispenser shown in the above-mentioned U.S. Patent, an ice bridge may be formed at the ice drop port of the ice stocker, and this ice bridge causes the ice stocker to be formed. The supply of ice from the drop onto the cold plate of the beverage cooler may be impeded. If the supply of the ice drop onto the cold plate is hindered, the drink liquid is not sufficiently cooled by the ice on the cold plate, and the drink liquid cannot be cooled accurately.

[0004]

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has an ice stocker having an ice input port, an ice discharge port, and an ice drop port, and an internal agitator. A cold plate that is arranged below the ice stocker and has an ice supply port and a drain port that are connected to the ice drop port, and that receives the ice that is dropped and supplied from the ice stocker and that cools the beverage liquid flowing inside the cold plate. A beverage dispenser having a built-in beverage cooler, which is capable of supplying ice in the ice stocker and a beverage liquid cooled by the cold plate for drinking, and extends substantially vertically into the ice stocker to the ice drop port. A unique arching prevention member is provided. It is desirable that the arching prevention member is not in contact with the ice drop opening, and that the arching prevention member is detachable or can swing horizontally by a predetermined amount.
Further, it is desirable that the lower end portion of the arching prevention member is configured to come into contact with and engage with the cold plate.

[0005]

In the beverage dispenser according to the present invention, since the substantially vertical arching prevention member extending to the ice drop opening is arranged in the ice stocker, even if an ice bridge is formed at the ice drop opening, One end of this ice bridge is in contact with a substantially vertical surface of the arching prevention member and easily slips off, and the operation of the agitator in the ice stocker (for example, to release the ice from the ice discharger of the ice stocker for drinking) The movement of ice caused by the action of (1) does not easily push and destroy the ice bridge, and the ice drop supply from the ice stocker to the cold plate is not hindered. Therefore, the ice is always accurately dropped and supplied from the ice stocker to the cold plate, and the drink liquid is sufficiently cooled by the ice on the cold plate. Further, the above-mentioned action of destroying the ice bridge is automatically obtained by the movement of the ice due to the operation of the agitator in the ice stocker, and it can be performed hygienically without any trouble.

Further, in the present invention, when the arching prevention member is disposed in the ice drop opening in a non-contact manner, in addition to the action by the movement of ice described above, the movement of ice by the operation of the agitator in the ice stocker is performed. As a result, the arching prevention member is struck and vibrated, and the pushing force generated by the vibration and movement of the ice breaks the ice bridge formed at the ice drop opening more easily.

Further, in the present invention, when the arching prevention member is detachable, the type and shape of the ice stored in the ice stocker (thereby the degree of bridge formation and strength of ice at the ice drop opening, etc. It is possible to attach and detach the arching prevention member according to different) or attach the arching prevention member having a different shape to carry out the operation.
It can be carried out in an optimum state according to the shape. Further, since the arching prevention member can be detached at the time of regularly cleaning the inside of the ice stocker, the inside of the ice stocker can be easily cleaned.

Further, in the present invention, when the arching prevention member can be swung by a predetermined amount in the horizontal direction, in addition to the action by the movement of the ice described above, the movement of the ice by the operation of the agitator in the ice stocker is performed. As a result, the arching prevention member swings, and the pushing force generated by the swinging and movement of the ice positively and easily destroys the ice bridge formed in the ice drop port.

Further, in the present invention, when the lower end portion of the arching preventing member is constituted so as to be in contact with and engaged with the cold plate, the heat of the beverage liquid which is circulated in the cold plate and cooled is potentially contained. Can be transferred from the cold plate to the arching prevention member, and this heat can melt the ice contacting the arching prevention member to form a film of water on the substantially vertical surface of the arching prevention member. The membrane can make the substantially vertical surface of the arching prevention member slippery. As a result, the strength of the ice bridge formed at the ice drop port can be weakened, and the movement of the ice due to the operation of the agitator in the ice stocker causes the ice bridge to be extremely easily broken.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1-9 shows 1st Embodiment of this invention, The drink dispenser A of this 1st Embodiment is equipped with the ice stocker 10 and the drink cooler 30 which were heat-insulated and protected by the heat insulating material S, respectively, An ice making machine B (various types are adopted) is automatically attached to the upper portion of the ice stocker 10 and automatically supplies the ice to the ice stocker 10. The ice making machine B is a known one,
The operation and stop are controlled by the ice storage detection switches (not shown) assembled inside and above the ice stocker 10, and the operation is started (restarted) when the ice storage detection switch below detects that there is no ice. ), And when the upper ice storage detection switch detects the presence of ice, it stops operating.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ice stocker 10 is a box-shaped main body 11 having an upper opening, and is detachably attached to the main body 11 to close the upper opening of the main body 11. The agitator 2 is composed of the upper lid 12.
0 is built in, and an ice discharge port 11a for discharging ice for drinking is formed in the center of the lower front part of the main body 11.
An ice dropping port 11b for dropping and supplying the ice used for cooling in the beverage cooler 30 is formed in the rear lower center of 1, and the ice from the ice making machine B is in the center of the upper lid 12 of the main body 11. An ice charging port 12a for forming the inside is formed.
A groove 11c, which communicates with the ice discharge port 11a and the ice drop port 11b at both ends and guides the melted water to the ice drop port 11b, is formed at the center of the lower part of the main body 11 of the ice stocker 10.

As shown in FIG. 4, the agitator 20 includes a rotary shaft 21 rotatably supported by the main body 11 of the ice stocker 10 and a rotary shaft 21 assembled at substantially the center of the rotary shaft 21. It rotates integrally and mainly uses ice to release ice 11.
a pair of T-shaped guides 22 that move toward a, and the T-shaped guides 22 are attached to the rotary shafts 21 on the left and right sides of the T-shaped guides 22 and rotate integrally with the rotary shafts 21 to mainly center the ice from the left and right ends. Pair of spiral guides 23 to move toward
As shown in FIG. 2, it is connected to a rotary drive shaft 41 of an electric motor 40 with a speed reducer mounted on the ice stocker 10 via a pair of large and small sprockets 42 and 43 and a chain 44. , An ice release button 51 arranged in the center of the front surface of the beverage dispenser A (see FIG. 1)
The electric motor 40 is operated by the pushing operation of, and is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction in FIG.

The beverage cooler 30 is arranged below the ice stocker 10 as shown in FIG.
A housing 31 having an ice supply port 31a connected to the ice drop port 11b of the above via a connector 39 and a drain port 31b for discharging the ice water melted in the beverage cooler 30 to the outside; The cold plate 32 is built in the housing 31 and receives the ice D dropped and supplied from the ice stocker 10 on its upper surface to cool the beverage liquid L such as juice flowing therein.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cold plate 32 has an inclined surface 32 which descends from right to left when viewed from the front.
a has an upper part, and a weir 32b is formed on the peripheral edge of the inclined surface 32a excluding the lower end, and is framed.
A drain groove 32c is formed at the lower end of the inclined surface 32a for guiding ice-melted water to the drain port 31b of the housing 31. Further, a large number of cooling pipes 32d through which a beverage liquid L such as juice flows are embedded in a meandering manner inside the cold plate 32 in the vicinity of the inclined surface 32a.

As shown in FIG. 2, each cooling pipe 32d is connected to a tank 62 containing a drink liquid L such as juice via an inflow pipe 61 and an outflow pipe 63.
Connected to a normally-closed type dispensing valve 64 (see FIG. 1) through a tank 62 for storing a beverage liquid L such as juice.
The gas cylinder 66 is passed through the upper space of the gas pipe 65.
Is supplied with a predetermined pressure of carbon dioxide gas. For this reason,
The beverage liquid L such as juice cooled in the cold plate 32 is placed on the drain grill 67 below the pouring valve 64 by the pressure of carbon dioxide gas by pushing and opening each pouring valve 64. Pour into C.

By the way, in the first embodiment,
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an arching prevention member 70 is arranged at the rear of the main body 11 of the ice stocker 10.
As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the arching prevention member 70 is composed of a vertical plate 71 made of a stainless steel plate (other materials such as synthetic resin can be used) and a mounting plate 72. The main body 1 of the ice stocker 10 on the plate 72
It is fixed to 1 by welding or fixing means (not shown) such as a screw. The vertical plate 71 is a substantially vertical plate that penetrates the ice drop port 11b and extends into the housing 31 of the beverage cooler 30, has a smooth surface, and has a lower end portion that is not in contact with the ice drop port 11b or the like. It is possible to vibrate.

In the beverage dispenser A of the first embodiment configured as described above, the arching prevention member 70 having the substantially vertical vertical plate 71 extending to the ice drop port 11b is arranged in the ice stocker 10, so that As shown in FIG. 9, even if a bridge of ice D is formed at the ice drop port 11b,
One end of the bridge of the ice D is in contact with the vertical surface of the substantially vertical vertical plate 71 of the arching prevention member 70 and easily slips off, and the operation of the agitator 20 in the ice stocker 10 (for example, ice release of the ice stocker 10 is performed). The movement of the ice due to the release of the ice D from the outlet 11a) causes the bridge of the ice D to be easily pushed and destroyed, and the drop supply of the ice D from the ice stocker 10 to the cold plate 32 is hindered. There is no such thing. Therefore, the ice is always accurately dropped and supplied from the ice stocker 10 to the cold plate 32, and the beverage D is sufficiently cooled by the ice D on the cold plate 32. Further, the above-mentioned action of destroying the bridge of the ice D is automatically obtained by the movement of the ice due to the operation of the agitator 20 in the ice stocker 10, so that it can be performed in a sanitary manner without any trouble. it can.

Further, in the first embodiment, the lower end of the vertical plate 71 of the arching prevention member 70 is the ice drop port 11a.
In addition to the above-mentioned action due to the movement of ice, the agitator 2 in the ice stocker 10 is not contacted.
Arching prevention member 70 due to movement of ice due to operation of 0
The action of vibrating the lower end of the vertical plate 71 in particular due to the knocking is obtained, and the bridge of the ice D formed in the ice drop port 11a is more easily broken by the pushing force generated by the vibration and movement of the ice.

In the first embodiment, the arching prevention member 70 is composed of the vertical plate 71 and the mounting plate 72,
The mounting plate 72 is fixed to the main body 11 of the ice stocker 10 by welding or a fixing means such as a screw, but as in the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 to 14, this is an arching prevention member. 170 is composed of a vertical plate 171 and a mounting plate 172, and is detachably fixed to the main body 11 of the ice stocker 10 by a hook 172a formed at the upper end of the mounting plate 172. It is also possible to implement it so that it can be inserted into and removed from the mouth 12b. The removable port 12b can be opened and closed by the opening / closing lid 13. Since the other configurations of the second embodiment are the same as the configurations of the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the beverage dispenser A of the second embodiment configured as described above, the arching prevention member 170 is used.
In addition to the above-described effects of the first embodiment, the type of ice stored in the ice stocker 10,
The arching prevention member 170 can be attached or detached according to the shape (depending on the type of the ice making machine B employed, and thus the degree of formation of the bridge of the ice D at the ice drop port 11b, the strength, etc.), or the arching prevention member having a different shape. It is possible to carry out by mounting, and it can carry out in the optimal state according to the kind and shape of ice. Further, since the arching prevention member 170 can be removed when the ice stocker 10 is regularly cleaned, the ice stocker 1
It is possible to easily clean the inside of 0.

Further, in the first embodiment, the arching prevention member 70 is constituted by the vertical plate 71 and the mounting plate 72. However, this arching is performed as in the third embodiment shown in FIGS. The prevention member 270 includes a vertical plate 271, a mounting plate 272, a hinge 273 that allows the vertical plate 271 to swing horizontally with respect to the mounting plate 272, and a pair of stoppers 274 and 275 that define the swing amount of the vertical plate 271. It is also possible to carry out. Further, in the third embodiment, the ice drop port 11a of the ice stocker 10 is formed in a size that allows the vertical plate 271 to swing.
Since the other configurations of the third embodiment are the same as the configurations of the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the beverage dispenser A of the third embodiment constructed as described above, the arching prevention member 270.
Since the vertical plate 271 can be horizontally swung by a predetermined amount,
In addition to the action of the movement of the ice and the action of the vibration described above, the movement of the ice by the operation of the agitator 20 in the ice stocker 10 causes the vertical plate 2 of the arching prevention member 270 to move the ice.
The action of swinging 71 is obtained, and the bridge of the ice D formed in the ice drop port 11a is positively and easily broken.

Further, in the first embodiment, the arching prevention member 70 is composed of the vertical plate 71 and the mounting plate 72. However, as in the fourth embodiment shown in FIGS. It is also possible to implement by implementing the prevention member 370 by the vertical plate 371 and the attachment plate 372. The vertical plate 371 has a bent portion 371a at the lower end, and the bent portion 371a is the cold plate 32.
It is configured so as to come into contact with and engage with the inclined surface 32a.
Since the other configurations of the fourth embodiment are the same as the configurations of the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the beverage dispenser A of the fourth embodiment configured as described above, the bent portion 371a provided at the lower end of the vertical plate 371 has the inclined surface 3 of the cold plate 32.
Since it is configured to come into contact with and engage with 2a, the above-mentioned first
In addition to the function and effect of the embodiment, the anti-arching member 370, which has the latent heat of the beverage liquid L that is circulated and cooled in the cold plate 32, from the cold plate 32.
The heat can be transferred to the vertical plate 371 of the vertical plate 371, and the heat can melt the ice that contacts the vertical plate 371 to form a water film on the substantially vertical surface of the vertical plate 371. The substantially vertical surface of the plate 371 can be made slippery. As a result, the strength of the bridge of the ice D formed in the ice drop port 11a can be weakened, and the movement of the ice by the operation of the agitator 20 in the ice stocker 10 causes the bridge of the ice D to be extremely easily broken. It

In each of the above-described embodiments, the arching prevention member has the vertical plate. However, the arching prevention member has a substantially vertical member (a member corresponding to the vertical plate) extending to the ice drop port. The shape does not have to be plate-like, and may be rod-like or another shape.
Further, in the above-described first embodiment, the lower end of the vertical plate 71 can be vibrated without contact with the ice drop port 11b or the like.
When the invention of claim 1 is carried out, it is also possible to carry out the invention by bringing the lower end portion of the vertical plate 71 into contact with the ice drop port 11b or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a first embodiment of a beverage dispenser according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a central longitudinal section of an essential part of the beverage dispenser shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the relationship between the main body of the ice stocker shown in FIG. 2 and an arching prevention member.

4 is a perspective view of the agitator shown in FIG. 2. FIG.

5 is a perspective view of the cold plate shown in FIG. 2. FIG.

6 is a front view of the arching prevention member shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG.

7 is a plan view of the arching prevention member shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG.

8 is a side view of the arching prevention member shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG.

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a central longitudinal side view of a main part of a beverage dispenser according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a plan view showing the relationship between the main body of the ice stocker shown in FIG. 10 and an arching prevention member.

FIG. 12 is a front view of the arching prevention member shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of the arching prevention member shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.

14 is a side view of the arching prevention member shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG.

FIG. 15 is a plan view showing the relationship between the main body of the ice stocker and the arching prevention member showing the third embodiment of the beverage dispenser according to the present invention.

16 is a front view of the arching prevention member shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a plan view of the arching prevention member shown in FIG.

18 is a side view of the arching prevention member shown in FIG.

FIG. 19 is a central longitudinal side view showing the central portion of a beverage dispenser according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a front view of the arching prevention member shown in FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is a plan view of the arching prevention member shown in FIG.

22 is a side view of the arching prevention member shown in FIG. 19. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Ice stocker, 11 ... Main body, 11a ... Ice outlet, 1
1b ... ice drop port, 12 ... top lid, 12a ... ice input port, 12
b ... Desorption opening, 13 ... Opening / closing lid, 20 ... Agitator, 30 ...
Beverage cooler, 31 ... Housing, 31a ... Ice supply port, 3
1b ... Drainage port, 32 ... Cold plate, 70 ... Arching prevention member, 71 ... Vertical plate, 72 ... Mounting plate, 170, 2
70, 370 ... Arching prevention member.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An ice stocker having an ice input port, an ice discharge port, and an ice drop port, and a built-in agitator, and an ice supply port and a drainage disposed below the ice stocker and connected to the ice drop port. A beverage cooler having a mouth and having a cold plate for receiving the ice supplied by dropping from the ice stocker and cooling the beverage liquid flowing through the inside, and the ice in the ice stocker and the cold plate are provided. A beverage dispenser capable of supplying a cooled and cooled beverage liquid for drinking, wherein a substantially vertical arching prevention member extending to the ice drop opening is provided in the ice stocker. 2. The beverage dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the arching prevention member is arranged in non-contact with the ice drop port. 3. The beverage dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the arching prevention member is removable. 4. The beverage dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the arching prevention member is horizontally swingable by a predetermined amount. 5. The beverage dispenser according to claim 1, wherein a lower end portion of the arching prevention member is configured to come into contact with and engage with the cold plate.