JPH09198570A - Automatic beverage dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic beverage dispenser capable of storing beverage extracted from a raw material while suppressing degradation and efficiently selling and providing merchandise of excellent quality at all times. SOLUTION: This dispenser is provided with a beverage storage device for extracting the beverage from a beverage raw material and hot water in high concentration and supplying and storing the high concentration beverage inside a tank 17, the tank 17 of the device is provided with a selling means 32 operated at the time of selling the beverage and/or an abandoning means 33 operated at the time of abandoning the beverage and a hot water tank 7 for storing boiling water for diluting the high concentration beverage is provided. The high concentration beverage stored inside the tank 17 and the boiling water stored inside the tank 7 are poured for a prescribed amount, mixed and sold.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vending machine for beverages such as coffee.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this kind of vending machine,
For example, as shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-354912 as an extraction device, after extracting a beverage such as coffee from a raw material such as coffee beans and mixing it with other sugar or milk,
It is designed to be poured into cups for sale. Also,
Up until now, it was not possible to store a predetermined amount of extracted beverages in advance with an automatic vending machine due to the regulations of the Food Sanitation Law, and in the past, one cup of coffee was always extracted from the raw material for each sale. The method of selling was adopted.

According to the extraction for each sale, although there is an advantage that fresh coffee can be extracted and sold every time, the extraction takes time, so that it takes a relatively long time (40 seconds / cup) from selection of a product to sale. The customer has to wait. In addition, since the consumption of consumables such as paper filters necessary for extraction increases, there is a problem that efficient sales cannot be performed.

With the revision of the Food Sanitation Law, it is possible to adopt a system in which this type of vending machine extracts a predetermined amount of a beverage in advance, stores it, stores it, and injects it into a cup for each sale. A device has been proposed in which a predetermined amount of coffee is collected in advance, kept warm in a beverage tank, and one cup is discharged from the beverage tank for each sale (Japanese Patent Application No. 6-244265). ).

However, it is well known that the extracted coffee undergoes various changes during heat storage and its quality is deteriorated. Therefore, there is a proposal to prevent deterioration due to storage by adding L-ascorbic acid alkali metal salt to the extraction solvent or the coffee liquid after extraction (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-44137), but various artificial substances are added to beverages. It is not preferable to add it. Further, there is a proposal to extract a concentrated beverage, store it in a cold state, and reheat and dilute it at the time of drinking (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-2491), but if cooling and reheating are repeated, energy and time loss occurs. Therefore, it is not an effective method. In order to improve this problem, a method of heating the entire tank of the storage device with a hot water bath may be considered, but there is a problem that the cost is high and the structure is complicated. There is a strong demand for a good beverage vending machine because there is a problem that selling deteriorated beverages causes a great deal of damage to customers and damages the credibility of the selling side.

[0006]

The object of the present invention is to suppress deterioration (such as suppression of increase in sourness) even when storing and placing coffee extracted from a raw material in advance, and always providing good quality coffee. An object of the present invention is to provide a beverage vending machine capable of efficiently selling and providing products.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] As a result of intensive studies for solving the above problems, the present inventors have found that a high-concentration beverage extracted from a raw material is unlikely to deteriorate, It has been found that the above object can be achieved by suppressing the deterioration of quality, and by diluting and providing this high-concentration beverage with hot water for sale, the present invention has been accomplished.

That is, the invention of claim 1 of the present invention comprises a beverage storage device for extracting a high concentration beverage from a beverage raw material and hot water, and supplying and storing this high concentration beverage in a tank. Is equipped with a selling means that operates when a beverage is sold and / or a discarding means that operates when a beverage is discarded, and a hot water tank for storing hot water for diluting a high-concentration beverage, and the high concentration stored in the tank A beverage vending machine for injecting and mixing a predetermined amount of hot water stored in a hot water tank with a drink for sale.

A second aspect of the present invention is the beverage vending machine according to the first aspect, further comprising a sensor for detecting the amount of the high-concentration beverage in the tank.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the beverage vending machine according to the first or second aspect, a high-concentration beverage having a concentration not more than three times the normal concentration is supplied and stored in the tank. Characterize.

The invention according to claim 4 of the present invention is the beverage vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a plurality of the beverage storage devices are provided.

Beverages such as coffee are hot (80 ° C or higher)
If it is stored in, the quality will deteriorate rapidly and it will not be delicious in about 30 minutes. On the other hand, in order to put fresh coffee in a cup and feel hot and delicious, the temperature of the coffee is usually required to be 80 ° C. or higher. The present invention has been made to solve this contradiction. That is, the beverage such as coffee extracted from the raw material has a high concentration of 2 times, 3 times or more than the concentration when actually drunk, and if this high concentration beverage is stored (for example, , Storage temperature 63-80
℃), deterioration of quality can be suppressed to a minimum. And when selling this high-concentration beverage, for example, 95 ℃
By diluting with the above boiling water, for example, a 2-fold high-concentration beverage, a 2-fold dilution, and a 3-fold high-concentration beverage, a 3-fold dilution, to obtain a delicious coffee at 80 ° C or higher. Can be provided. The concentration of the high-concentration beverage varies depending on the type of beverage and is not particularly limited, and it is preferable to determine it appropriately. A concentration not more than 3 times the normal concentration can be preferably used.

According to the beverage vending machine of the first aspect of the present invention, the beverage is extracted from the beverage raw material and the hot water at a high concentration, and the high-concentration beverage is supplied and stored in the tank. Based on this, it is possible to inject and mix a predetermined amount with hot water stored in the hot water tank to sell delicious coffee, shorten the time required for sales, and use consumables efficiently. Become. Since the beverage is extracted at a high concentration from the beverage raw material and the hot water and the high concentration beverage is supplied and stored in the tank, deterioration of quality such as taste and aroma can be suppressed.

According to the beverage vending machine of the second aspect of the present invention, when the amount of the high-concentration beverage in the tank runs out or decreases, a signal from the sensor is sent to the control device, and the control device outputs the signal. According to the signal of 1, the beverage is extracted from the beverage raw material and hot water in a high concentration again, the high concentration beverage is supplied and stored in the tank, and this is repeated, so that the product can be immediately sold.

According to the beverage vending machine of the invention of claim 4, coffee extracted from different kinds of raw materials can be sold by one vending machine.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The vending machine of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this vending machine, coffee cooked in the vending machine is provided to a product purchaser in a cup, and FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of a cooking section of the coffee. As shown in the figure, the cooking unit 1 is roughly divided into a hot water supply unit 2 and an extraction sales unit 3.

The hot water supply unit 2 includes a hot water tank 5 having a heater 4 for heating tap water to store hot water, and a hot water tank 7 for storing hot water in the hot water tank 5 via a pipe 6. On the other hand, tap water is supplied to a steam generator 9 described later via a water supply pipe 8. The hot water tank 5 heats the supplied water with the heater 4 to make hot water of 90 ° C. or higher, and stores the hot water. The hot water of 90 ° C. or higher in the hot water tank 5 is also stored in the hot water tank 7 through the pipe 6. Reference numeral 35 is a hot water valve. The hot water stored in the hot water tank 5 passes through the hot water valve 10,
Hot water is supplied to the extracting device 11 described later. The hot water stored in the hot water tank 7 is poured into a mixing ball 21 described later via the hot water valve 12. It is preferable to dispose a heater, a heat insulating material, etc. in the hot water tank 7 in order to store hot water.

The brewing and selling section 3 comprises a cup supply device 13 for supplying a cup C, a coffee canister 14 for storing a coffee powder raw material (beverage raw material), and an extraction device for extracting coffee by mixing the powder raw material and hot water. 11, a high-concentration coffee extracted by the extracting device 11 is supplied through a pipe 16, and a batch tank (a tank for storing a high-concentration beverage) 17 for storage, a cream canister 18 for storing a cream, A sugar canister 19 for storing sugar, and a mixing ball 21 for mixing sugar and cream respectively supplied from the sugar canister 19 and the cream canister 18 according to the sales order with the extracted high-concentration coffee and hot water from the hot water tank 7. Mixing the extraction device 11 by evaporating the water supplied from the water supply pipe 8 through the filter 22. Steam generator 9 for feeding the Lumpur 21
And a cup holder 23 on which the cup C is placed, and a waste bucket 24 arranged below the cup holder. The filter 22 removes magnesium and calcium contained in the water flowing in the water supply pipe 8 to generate pure water, and a compound such as magnesium adheres to a heat storage body (not shown) of the extraction device 11. Prevent from doing.

A steam pipe 25 for guiding the steam generated here is connected to the steam generator 9 and is branched into two steam pipes, one of which is connected to the extraction device 11 via an extraction valve 27. The other steam pipe 28 is guided to the mixing ball 21 via the mixing valve 29. Further, a sales pipe 30 and a waste pipe 31 are connected to the lower portion of the batch tank 17, and the sales pipe 30 has a tip facing the mixing ball 21 via a sales valve 32, while the waste pipe 31 has a waste valve. The tip thereof faces the waste bucket 24 via 33.

In the brewing and selling section 3, several cups of high-concentration coffee which have been collectively extracted in advance by the brewing apparatus 11 are stored in a batch tank 17 via a beverage supply pipe 16 (for example, 6 cups).
3 to 80 ° C.) and when a coffee product selection switch (not shown) is pressed, the cup supply device 13 supplies the cup C to the cup holder 23. At the same time, the mixing bowl 21 is supplied with one cup of high-concentration coffee from the batch tank 17, sugar from the sugar canister 19, and cream from the cream canister 18, respectively.
A predetermined amount of hot water is supplied from the above, these are mixed in the mixing ball 21, and then this mixed liquid is supplied to the cup C.

Here, the batch tank 17 is a storage tank for high-concentration coffee, and an overflow tube 34 is connected to an upper portion of the batch tank 17. The tip of the overflow tube 34 is not shown, but is discarded. Beverage that overflows the batch tank 17 facing the bucket 24 is discarded through the tube 34 and discarded into the bucket 24.
It is led to. Further, the overflow tube 34 also acts as an air inlet when the coffee is made to flow down from the batch tank 17 by opening the sales valve 32 and the disposal valve 33, whereby the coffee flows out of the batch tank 17 promptly. Like

A heater (heating means) (not shown) is wound around the batch tank 17, and is controlled so that the high-concentration coffee stored in the batch tank 17 is maintained at a constant temperature (for example, 63 to 80 ° C.).

In the vending machine having the above-described structure, the hot water valve 10 and the coffee canister 14 start to operate almost at the same time before the start of sales. The hot water valve 10 extracts a predetermined amount of hot water, and the coffee canister 14 extracts a predetermined amount of powder raw material.
Feed to 1. As a result, about 3 cups of high-concentration coffee are extracted by the extracting device 11. The extracted high-concentration coffee is sent to and stored in the batch tank 17 via the pipe 16 by the pump (not shown) in the extracting device 11.

When the sales valve 32 is opened by operating a sales button (not shown) to energize an electromagnetic coil (not shown) of the sales valve 32, the high-concentration coffee is supplied to the mixing ball 21 through the sales pipe 30. It On the other hand, the hot water stored in the hot water tank 7 is supplied to the mixing ball 21 by opening the hot water valve 12 by a predetermined amount. If necessary, sugar or cream is put into the mixing ball 21 from the sugar canister 19 or the cream canister 18, and the mixture is mixed with the cup C.
Supplied to At this time, according to the purchaser's preference, the batch tank 1
The amount supplied from 7 to the mixing ball 21 is also different.
Further, the amount of hot water supplied from the hot water tank 7 naturally depends on the preference of the purchaser. Therefore, it is necessary to detect the amount of high-concentration coffee in the batch tank 17, newly extract the shortage, and guide it to this batch tank 17. Batch tank 17
The means for detecting the amount of high-concentration coffee inside is not particularly limited. For example, a method of using a strain gauge type sensor or a level gauge, a method of detecting with an air pressure applied to a beverage, and the like can be mentioned. In the above example, the vending machine provided with the hot water tank 7 for storing the hot water in the hot water tank 5 through the pipe 6 is shown, but the hot water tank 7 is not provided and the hot water in the hot water tank 5 is directly fed to the hot water valve 12. It may be injected into the mixing ball 21 via the via.

The selling valve 32 and the discard valve 33 will be described. The selling valve 32 is opened by energizing an electromagnetic coil (not shown) at the time of supplying the high-concentration coffee, and is closed by de-energizing the electromagnetic coil when the supply is stopped. On the other hand, the discard valve 33 is closed by energizing an electromagnetic coil (not shown) when the coffee is not discarded, and is opened by deenergizing the electromagnetic coil when the coffee is discarded. These specifications are used to ensure the hygiene of vending machines during a power outage. That is,
When the power is cut off (blackout), it is impossible to maintain the function of the vending machine, and the flavor is lost depending on the flavor of the beverage such as coffee which is important. There are also drinks that rot worst. If the time from power interruption to re-energization (power recovery time) is short, there is no concern as described above, but in general the power recovery time is not necessarily short. Therefore, in such a vending machine for beverages to which a preservative such as coffee has not been added or subjected to antiseptic treatment, it is necessary to discard the beverage stored in the vending machine when the power is cut off. is there. Therefore, the discard valve has a structure that opens when the power is not supplied.

[0026]

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. (Example) Coffee ground bean mocha blend for vending machine (AR
Made by T) as a raw material, usually one spoon (about 10 g)
Therefore, coffee extracted with 150 cc of extracted water (tap water) at 80 ° C. is put on the market for sale. With this normal concentration coffee, about 15 g of coffee raw material is used in this embodiment.
1.5 times concentrated coffee extracted with 150 cc of extracted water (tap water) at 80 ° C.
1. Extracted using 150 cc of extracted water (tap water) at 2.degree.
0x concentrated coffee, about 25 g of coffee raw material was extracted with 150 cc of 80 ° C extracted water (tap water) 2.5x concentrated coffee, about 30 g of coffee raw material was extracted with 80 cc of 80 ° C extracted water (tap water) The extracted 3.0 times concentrated coffee is prepared and stored at 80 ° C. for 2 hours. The coffee immediately after preparation (0 hour), after 0.5 hour storage, after 1 hour storage and after 2 hour storage are taste sensors. (Product name: SA
401 taste recognition device, manufactured by Anritsu Corporation, a lipid film taste sensor sensitive to sourness was used. The measurement result is obtained at a voltage value of mV, and the voltage value of the coffee having the normal concentration is 0 m.
Expressed as V. The higher the voltage value is, the higher the voltage value is.) Is used to measure the voltage value. Table 1 shows the measurement results.
Shown in

The pH of each of the above coffees is measured by a pH meter (F
-16, manufactured by Horiba Ltd.). The results are shown as a value (Po-P) obtained by subtracting the pH value (P) of the coffee liquid after each storage time from the pH value (Po) of the coffee liquid immediately after preparation (storage time 0). The larger this value is, the more the deterioration is progressing. The results are shown in Table 2.

A sensory test of quality such as taste of coffee was conducted by 20 panel members. As a result, the quality is the same as that of the coffee immediately after preparation (storage time 0) → (A), the quality is slightly changed → (B), the quality is considerably changed → (C). Expressed as Table 3 shows the number of panel members at each evaluation stage.

[0029]

[Table 1]

[0030]

[Table 2]

[0031]

[Table 3]

From Tables 1 to 3, when the coffee is stored at a high temperature, the coffee concentrated 1.5 to 3 times less than the normal concentration coffee is less deteriorated, and the coffee concentrated about 2 times is most effective. I know there is.

[0033]

According to the beverage vending machine of the present invention, since a high-concentration beverage is stored, the quality such as taste and aroma is not deteriorated so much.
We can provide delicious coffee above ℃. A high-concentration beverage is extracted from the beverage raw material and hot water, this high-concentration beverage is supplied and stored in a tank, and a predetermined amount is poured and mixed with the hot water stored in the hot water tank based on a predetermined sales instruction. hand,
Since it is possible to sell delicious coffee of 80 ° C or higher, it is possible to shorten the time required for sales and use consumables efficiently.
If the amount of high-concentration beverage in the tank is gone, or if it becomes low, send a signal from the sensor to the control device, according to the signal from this control device, extract the beverage high concentration from the beverage raw material and hot water again, If this high-concentration beverage is supplied in a tank and stored, and this is repeated, it can be immediately sold. According to the beverage vending machine of the present invention, coffee extracted from different types of raw materials can be sold by one vending machine.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall configuration of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cooking Department 2 Hot Water Supply Department 3 Extraction Sales Department 7 Hot Water Tank 17 Batch Tank (Tank, High Concentration Beverage Storage Tank) 32 Sales Valve (Sales Means) 33 Disposal Valve (Disposal Means)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A high-concentration beverage is extracted from beverage raw materials and hot water,
A beverage storage device for supplying and storing the high-concentration beverage in a tank is provided, and the tank of the device is provided with a selling means that operates when the beverage is sold and / or a disposal means that operates when the beverage is discarded, and A hot water tank for storing hot water for diluting a beverage is provided, and a predetermined amount of the high-concentration beverage stored in the tank and the hot water stored in the hot water tank are injected / mixed and sold. Beverage vending machine. 2. The beverage vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor for detecting the amount of the high-concentration beverage in the tank. 3. A high-concentration beverage having a concentration not more than 3 times the normal concentration is supplied and stored in the tank.
Alternatively, the beverage vending machine according to claim 2. 4. The beverage vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of the beverage storage devices.