JPH09237383A - Dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide high-quality and delicious beverage. SOLUTION: A beverage extracting device 1 extracts beverage from material, a material housing device 2 houses material packages 3A by stacking by the part for one cup 3A1 and a material package feeding device 4 successively sends the material package 3A by the part for one cup 3A1 from the material housing device 2. A package unsealing device 5 unseals the package sheet of the material package 3A just before the extraction of beverage to feed for the beverage extracting device 1. A waste housing device 6 houses material waste after extraction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine for supplying a beverage extracted from a raw material in a machine for coffee beverages, tea beverages and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional vending machine, it is general that raw materials are stored in a powder state in a container, and when a sales instruction is issued, a certain amount of raw material is discharged and filtered with a filter paper by an extraction device. is there. However, (1) the inside of the refrigerator is contaminated due to the scattering of the raw material powder and the raw material slag during each process such as the charging, discharging, extracting, and discharging of the raw material. (2) Beverage quality differences occur due to variations in the amount of the extracted raw material input (variations in the delivery amount, clogging of the chute due to hot water vapor). (3) There is a risk of extraction failure due to contamination of raw material in the extraction device and clogging of piping.
(4) There is a problem that the flavor of the raw material is impaired when it is on standby for a long time. For this reason, JP-A-64-9594 proposes that one cup of raw material is packaged one by one and the raw material is loaded and extracted for each sale. Further, according to JP-A-7-37158, a brewer for adding hot water to a raw material to extract a beverage, and a large number of raw material cartridges each containing one raw material sealed in a filter pack are stored, and each sale is made. There is shown a vending machine equipped with a raw material supply mechanism that dispenses raw material cartridges one by one and supplies them to a brewer, and a raw material cartridge discharge mechanism that sends the raw material cartridges from the brewer to a slag recovery container after beverage extraction.

[0003]

By the way, according to the above-mentioned publication, since one cup of raw material is sealed in a filter pack state, the raw material is deteriorated due to moisture and the like to impair the flavor, resulting in a delicious aroma. In some cases, it may be difficult to provide a fresh beverage with a certain quality, and there is a problem that the flavor of the raw material is remarkably impaired when the product is on standby for a long time.

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic vending machine which supplies a drink of good quality and good taste while preserving the flavor of the raw material.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a beverage extracting device for extracting a beverage from a raw material, wherein the vending machine adds hot water to the raw material according to a sales command to extract and supply the beverage. A band-shaped raw material package in which a predetermined amount of a beverage raw material is enclosed in a band-shaped filter package, and the upper and lower surfaces thereof are covered with a packaging sheet and the inside is sealed, and the raw material package is supplied to the beverage extraction device immediately before being fed. A packaging opening device for opening the packaging sheet of the package is provided. By this means, the raw material package is opened and the beverage is immediately extracted. Therefore,
It is possible to provide a high-quality delicious beverage without impairing the flavor of the raw material.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the automatic vending machine according to the first aspect, a raw material storage device for storing the raw material packages in a folded manner and a raw material package sandwiching the front end side of the raw material packages are sequentially provided for each sales instruction. A predetermined amount of the raw material package is pulled out from the storage device, and a raw material package supply device that sends the predetermined amount of the filter package opened by the packaging opening device to the beverage extraction device is provided. According to this means, the front end side of the raw material package is continuously pulled out from the raw material storage device by a predetermined amount for each sales instruction and sent to the packaging opening device, and the opened predetermined amount of the filter package is sent to the beverage extraction device. . Therefore,
A continuous operation can always send out fresh raw materials.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the automatic vending machine according to the second aspect, the raw material package supply device detects position marks provided for each predetermined amount of the raw material package by a position sensor, and sequentially for each sales command. A predetermined amount of raw material package is pulled out from the raw material storage device. According to this means, since the positioning can be performed by the position mark attached to the raw material package, it is possible to accurately and surely feed the raw material package by the predetermined amount for each sales command.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the vending machine according to the second aspect, the raw material package supply device is provided with a recess for engaging a predetermined amount of the raw material package according to a sales command, and the recess is rotated by a predetermined angle. Thus, a transfer mechanism for sequentially withdrawing a predetermined amount of raw material packages from the raw material storage device is provided. According to this means, it is possible to accurately and surely send the predetermined amount of the raw material package for each sales instruction.

The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claims 1 to 4.
In the automatic vending machine described above, a trash storage device having a trash can with a sloping bottom is provided, and the extracted filter packages sent through the beverage brewing device corresponding to the sloping bottom of the trash can are sequentially folded and stored. It is provided. According to this means, the filter packages after extraction are sequentially stored by the dust storage device by a predetermined amount. Therefore, the raw material powder, the raw material slag, etc. do not remain in the machine and are not contaminated, and the cleanliness and sanitary condition inside the machine can be maintained and the maintenance can be greatly improved. Also, the storage space can be minimized by folding and storing without any manual labor.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in the vending machine according to the second aspect, the front end side of the raw material package is stored in the raw material storage device by folding the rear end side of the raw material package and the front end side upward. A guide for guiding the raw material package is provided in the passage for pulling out downward. According to this means, the front end side of the raw material package can be smoothly pulled out from the raw material storage device.

The invention of claim 7 is from claim 1 to claim 6.
In any one of the above described vending machines, a heater for drying the filter package after extraction is provided under the extraction table of the beverage extraction device. According to this means, it is possible to dry the moist filter package after extraction, and prevent the generation of mold and the like.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an in-machine system arranged in a vending machine. In FIG. 1, the main parts will be described. 1 is a beverage extraction device for extracting beverages from raw materials, and 2 is a raw material package described later. 3A1 for 1 cup, which is the predetermined amount of 3A
A raw material storage device 4 for stacking and storing the raw material packages 3A1 sequentially from the raw material storage device 2 for feeding one cup 3A1 each to the beverage extraction device 1 and a packaging sheet 5 for the raw material package 3A. A packaging opening device for opening the container, 6 a garbage storage device for storing raw material waste, 7 a hot water tank for storing hot water, 8 a pressurized air pump, 9
Is a raw material storage container, 10 is a raw material chute, 11 is a mixing ball, 12 is a nozzle, and 14 is a cup placed on the sales stand 13.

Here, the beverage extraction device 1 has an extraction valve 1 at the upper end.
8, a beverage extraction container 17 having a connection port 17a connected to a solenoid valve 19 provided in the hot water tank 7 and a connection port 17b connected to the pressurized air pump 8, and a filter opened below the container. It is composed of an extraction table 20 on which one cup 3B1 of the package 3B is placed, a heater 16 for drying provided on the lower side, and an extraction port 21. The extraction port 21 is connected to the mixing ball 11 and an extraction motor (not shown) is provided. The beverage is extracted from one cup 3B1 of the filter package 3B and sent to the mixing ball 11 by the above operations.

Further, the raw material storage device 2 stores a raw material package 3A, which will be described later, in a vertically long storage container 22 from the bottom to the top so as to fold the rear end side downward and the front end side upward. The raw material package 3A passes from the upper side to the lower side of the take-out passage 22a through the guide roller 23 and the guide 24 made of a spring member from above, and the raw material package 3A on the front end side is sandwiched by the raw material package supply device 4 to open the packaging opening device 5 Sent to. In this case, the front end side of the raw material package 3 can be smoothly pulled out from the raw material storage device 2 by the guide 24.

In the raw material package 3A, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 2 and the sectional structure view of FIG. 3, one cup of raw material 3a is sequentially arranged in a row by the lower extraction filter sheet 3c and the upper extraction filter sheet 3b. The outer side of the band-shaped filter package 3B in which a plurality of cups of raw material are enclosed is packaged by the upper packaging sheet 3d and the lower packaging sheet 3e, and the lower packaging sheet 3e has a position mark 3f. . Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the raw material package 3A
In the upper packaging sheet 3d, the back surface of the hatched portion 3d1 in the figure is bonded to the lower packaging sheet 3e.

The filter package 3B has a lower extraction filter sheet 3c and an upper extraction filter sheet each of which is a predetermined amount of raw material 3a as shown in the plan view of FIG. 4 and the sectional structure view of FIG. It is enclosed in 3b and
In the upper extraction filter sheet 3b shown in FIG. 4, the hatched portion 3b1 is adhered to the lower extraction filter sheet 3c.

There are various methods for adhering the upper extraction filter sheet 3b and the lower extraction filter sheet 3c and the upper packaging sheet 3d and the lower packaging sheet 3e. There are also bonding methods such as all bonding methods, and further bonding such as already bonded. The upper packaging sheet 3d and the lower packaging sheet 3e are preferably aluminum sheets, vinyl, or the like that are strong against moisture and do not impair the flavor.

The raw material package supply device 4 includes a transfer mechanism 25 and a position detecting sensor formed so that each Y-shaped concave portion 25a connected to a motor (not shown) is engaged with an upper portion of one cup 3A1 of the raw material package 3A. 26, and the transfer mechanism 2 in the counterclockwise direction 120 degrees from the illustrated state according to a sales command.
5 is rotated to detect the position mark 3f of the raw material package 3A by the position detection sensor 26 and position the raw material package 3A, and the raw material package 3A for one cup is transferred. As a result, since the positioning is performed by the position mark 3f attached to the raw material package 3A, it is possible to accurately and surely feed the raw material package 3A by 3A1 for each sales command.

The package unpacking device 5 comprises an upper package sheet winding roller 27, a lower package sheet feeding roller 28, and guide rollers 29 and 30, and an upper package sheet winding roller 27 and a lower package sheet feeding roller 28. Is synchronously rotated by a motor (not shown), the upper packaging sheet 3d and the lower packaging sheet 3e are peeled off from the raw material package 3A and opened to form a filter package 3B.
Is wound around the upper wrapping sheet winding roller 27, and the lower wrapping sheet 3e is sent out via the feed roller 28 and the guide roller 31.

The dust container 6 has a dust box 34 for sequentially storing the extracted filter packages 3B sent out through the guide roller 33 by rotating the feed roller 32 by a motor (not shown), and the dust box 34 has an inclined bottom. 35 is provided so that the filter packages 3B are sequentially stored.

Next, the operation of selling the beverage having the above-mentioned structure will be described with reference to FIG.

First, prior to waiting for sale, a door (not shown) is opened to store the raw material package 3A in the raw material storage device 2 and the leading end side of the raw material package 3A is pulled out through the guide roller 23 and the guide 24. One cup 3 for each recess 25a of the transfer mechanism 25 of the raw material package supply device 4
A1 is fitted and the upper packaging sheet 3 of the raw material package 3A
d is opened and wound around the upper packaging sheet winding roller 27, the lower packaging sheet 3e is opened and the guide rollers 29,
It is sandwiched between the lower packaging sheet feed rollers 28 via 30 and hung below the guide rollers 31 (S1).

When there is a sales command, the feed roller 32 rotates, while the transfer mechanism 25 of the raw material package supply device 4 rotates to deliver one cup of 3A1 to the package opening device 5 and the upper package sheet winding roller 27. The lower wrapping sheet feed roller 28 rotates in synchronization with each other to open the upper wrapping sheet 3d and the lower wrapping sheet 3e, and the position detection sensor 26 detects the position mark 3f of the raw material package 3A.
To stop (S3). As a result, one cup 3B1 of the opened filter package 3B is placed on the extraction table 20, and one cup 3B1 of the extracted filter package 3B is stored in the trash box 34 (S4).

Subsequently, the brewing motor is operated to lower the beverage brewing container 17 to lower the beverage brewing container 17 and the brewing table 20.
And the solenoid valve 19 is opened by sandwiching one cup 3B1 of the filter package 3B, hot water is poured into the beverage extraction container 17, and the extraction valve 18 is closed. After a certain period of time, pressurized air is supplied from the pressurized air pump 8 into the beverage extraction container 17 to extract the beverage from one cup 3B1 of the filter package 3B, and the extracted beverage is sent to the mixing ball 11. Here, sugar or cream is mixed in the mixing bowl 1 from the raw material storage container 9.
1 and the mixture is stirred and poured from the nozzle 12 into the cup 14 (S5). After that, the beverage extraction container 17 rises and enters a standby state (S1). In this standby state, the humidified filter package 3B after extraction can be dried by the heater 16 and mold or the like can be prevented from occurring.

As described above, since the front end side of the raw material package 3A is continuously withdrawn from the raw material storage device 2 and sent to the packaging opening device 5 one by one for each sales instruction, the continuous raw material is always produced by continuous operation. The beverage can be sent to the beverage extraction device, and the beverage is extracted immediately after opening the raw material package, so that a beverage of good quality and delicious taste can be provided without impairing the flavor of the raw material. And
The filter packages 3B after extraction are sequentially stored in the garbage storage device 6 one by one for each cup, so that the raw material powder, the raw material slag, etc. do not remain in the machine and are not contaminated. You can significantly reduce maintenance.

In the operation procedure described above, the raw material package 3A is opened by the packaging opening device 5 immediately before the beverage is extracted due to the sales instruction.
When the sales frequency is high, one cup 3 of the filter package 3B already opened from the raw material package 3A while waiting for the sales 3
B1 may be placed on the extraction table 20.

[0028]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1, since the raw material package is opened and the beverage is immediately extracted, a beverage of good quality and good taste is provided without impairing the flavor of the raw material. You can

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the front end side of the raw material package is continuously pulled out from the raw material storage device by a predetermined amount for each sales command and is sent to the packaging opening device. The ingredients can be delivered to the beverage extractor.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the positioning is performed by the position mark attached to the raw material package, it is possible to accurately and surely feed the raw material package by the predetermined amount for each sales command.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the predetermined amount of the raw material package can be accurately and surely sent for each sales command.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the extracted filter package can be stored in a predetermined amount in a trash storage device by folding without storing any hands, and the storage space can be minimized. As the raw material slag does not remain inside the machine and is not contaminated, cleaning inside the machine is easy, hygiene can be maintained, and maintenance can be greatly reduced.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, the front end side of the raw material package can be smoothly pulled out from the raw material storage device by the guide.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to dry the moist filter package after extraction by the heater, and prevent the generation of mold and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an in-machine system diagram provided in an automatic vending machine showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a raw material package.

FIG. 3 is a sectional structural view showing the raw material package of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a filter package.

5 is a cross-sectional structural view showing the filter package of FIG.

6 is a flowchart showing a schematic process of the in-flight system shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Beverage Extraction Device 2 Raw Material Storage Device 3A Raw Material Package 3B Filter Package 3a One Cup of Raw Material 3b Upper Extraction Filter Sheet 3c Lower Extraction Filter Sheet 3d Upper Packaging Sheet 3e Lower Packaging Sheet 3f Position Mark 4 Raw Material Package Supply Device 5 Unpacking device 6 Garbage storage device 20 Extraction table 25 Transfer mechanism 26 Position detection sensor 27 Upper packaging sheet winding roller 28 Lower packaging sheet feeding roller

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine comprising a beverage extraction device for extracting a beverage from a raw material and adding hot water to the raw material according to a sales instruction to extract and supply the beverage. And a strip-shaped raw material package which is further sealed with a packaging sheet on the upper and lower surfaces thereof and sealed inside, and a package for opening the packaging sheet of the raw material package immediately before the raw material package is supplied to the beverage extraction device. An automatic vending machine comprising an opening device. 2. A raw material storage device that stores the raw material package in a folded manner, and a front end side of the raw material package is sandwiched to sequentially pull out a predetermined amount of the raw material package from the raw material storage device for each sales instruction, The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising: a raw material package supply device that sends a predetermined amount of the filter package opened by the packaging opening device to the beverage extraction device. 3. The raw material package supply device detects a position mark provided for each predetermined amount of the raw material package by a position sensor, and sequentially withdraws the predetermined amount of raw material package from the raw material storage device for each sales instruction. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The raw material package supply device is provided with a recess for engaging a predetermined amount of the raw material package in response to a sales instruction, and the recess is rotated by a predetermined angle to sequentially supply the predetermined amount of the raw material package from the raw material storage device. The vending machine according to claim 2, further comprising a transfer mechanism for pulling out. 5. A trash storage device having a trash can with a sloping bottom is provided, and the extracted filter packages sent through the beverage brewing device corresponding to the sloping bottom of the trash can are sequentially folded and stored. Claim 1 characterized by the above.
5. The vending machine according to claim 4. 6. The raw material package is guided into a passage in which the rear end side of the raw material package is folded into a bottom portion and the front end side is folded upward into the raw material storage device, and the front end side of the raw material package stored in the raw material storage device is drawn downward. The vending machine according to claim 2, further comprising a guide. 7. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein a heater for drying the filter package after extraction is provided under the extraction table of the beverage extraction device.