JPH09267896A - Carbonated drink supplier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lengthen a service life of a driving motor and improve reliability in an apparatus for mixing soda and cold water for dilution with syrup based on an instruction for supplying in a cup by supplying required amounts of soda and cold water with respective valves alternately opened and closed repetitively while continuously driving a water pump. SOLUTION: A water pump 2a is activated based on a drink supply instruction, and while the water pump 2a is continuously operated until a cycle of drink supply operation is completed, a soda valve 3c, a carbonator water-feed valve 3a and a cold water valve 2c are alternately opened/closed at a cycle of short time (2.4sec for example). Thus soda and cold water for dilution are alternately dispensed to a drink mixing nozzle by small amounts through a soda circuit 3 and a cold water circuit 2, so that carbonated syrup drink prepared by mixing with condensed syrup supplied from a syrup circuit 1 is poured into a cup 8. By thus continuously operating the water pump 2a, operating conditions for a driving motor can be relaxed, thereby improving reliability and durability.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carbonated beverage supply device mounted on a beverage dispenser or a cup-type beverage vending machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, a beverage dispenser and a beverage circuit system of a cup type beverage vending machine, which are objects of the present invention, are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. First, FIG. 3 is a system diagram of a carbonated beverage circuit installed in a beverage dispenser which is installed in a restaurant or the like and sells beverages. In the figure, the beverage circuit is roughly classified into a syrup circuit 1, a cold water circuit 2, and a carbonated water. It consists of three systems of circuit 3. Here, syrup circuit 1
Is connected between the syrup tank 1a containing the concentrated syrup and the beverage mixing nozzle 4 via the syrup valve 1b. In addition, the cold water circuit 2 is a water cooling coil 2 which is immersed in a water pump 2a and a cooling water tank 5 from a water supply source (water supply).
b, the pipe is connected to the beverage mixing nozzle 4 via the cold water valve (electromagnetic valve) 2c. Further, the carbonated water circuit 3 branches off from the cold water distributor 6 connected to the outlet side of the water cooling coil 2b in the cold water circuit, and the carbonator water supply valve 3a,
It is connected to the beverage mixing nozzle 4 through the carbonator 3b and the carbonated water valve 3c. A carbon dioxide gas cylinder 7 supplies carbon dioxide, which is a raw material of carbonated water, to the carbonator 3b, and applies gas pressure to the syrup tank 1 to pour out the syrup.

With such a configuration, when the cup 8 is set on the beverage mixing nozzle 4 and a beverage supply command (button operation) is given, the syrup valve 1b is opened and the syrup is poured from the syrup tank 1a and discharged to the beverage mixing nozzle 4. . At the same time, carbonated water and diluted cold water are discharged to the beverage mixing nozzle 4 through the cold water circuit 2 and the carbonated water circuit 3 as described below, and the carbonated syrup beverage prepared by mixing with the syrup is supplied to the cup 7. As the beverage mixing nozzle 4, for example, the beverage distributor proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-309398 can be adopted.

On the other hand, in the system diagram of the carbonated beverage circuit installed in the cup type beverage vending machine shown in FIG. 4, a water reservoir 9 connected to water as a water supply source is provided inside the machine, and a water cooling coil of the cold water circuit 2 is provided. A three-way switching valve 10 is connected to the outlet side of 2b, and the carbonated water circuit 3 is branched via the valve. The three-way switching valve 10 is a solenoid valve, a is a normally open port b is a normally closed port, and the three-way switching valve 10 is energized (O
N) to flow the water from the water pump 2a to the cold water circuit 2,
When the water pump 2a is started to supply water to the carbonator 3b in the non-energized state (OFF), the water sent from the water pump flows through the port a of the three-way switching valve 10 to the carbonator 3b of the carbonated water circuit 3. . Further, 11 is a three-way switching valve for replenishing drinking water to a hot water tank (for hot beverage) in the machine.

With this configuration, when a carbonated water drink sales command is given, the syrup valve 1a is opened based on a command from a control unit (not shown), and the cold water circuit 2 and the carbonated water circuit 3 are used as described later. Carbonated water and diluted cold water are discharged to the beverage mixing nozzle 4, and the carbonated syrup beverage prepared by mixing with the syrup is supplied to the cup 7.

Next, the operation of supplying diluted cold water and carbonated water conventionally performed to the beverage dispenser of FIG. 3 and the cup type beverage vending machine of FIG. 4 will be shown in the time charts of FIGS. 5 and 6, respectively. The carbonated water valve, the cold water valve, the water pump, the carbonator water supply valve, and the three-way switching valve in the figure correspond to the beverage circuits shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively. That is, in the beverage dispenser, if diluting cold water and carbonated water are supplied through the cold water circuit 2 and carbonated water circuit 3 of the beverage circuit at the time of selling the beverage, if cold water and carbonated water are simultaneously supplied at the same timing, the water pump 2a Since the water is divided into two parts and split into the carbonator 3b of the cold water circuit 2 and the carbonated water circuit 3, the water pressure in each circuit is not constant, which changes the discharge ratio of carbonated water and diluted cold water. As a result, the carbonated water concentration of the finished beverage supplied to the cup 8 changes, and the quality of the beverage becomes unstable. In this regard, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, if the carbonated water and the diluted beverage are separately supplied with staggered timing, unexpected water pressure fluctuations will be eliminated, and therefore the carbonated water and diluted cold water supply ratio will be stable only by controlling the time. To do.

Further, in the beverage dispenser and the cup type automatic vending machine, the customer selects the large and small cups having different inner volumes by the push button, and the beverage is finished according to the inner volume of the cup. The amount, and therefore the supply amount of carbonated water and diluted cold water for one time, also differs. Further, in the beverage dispenser, in addition to the push buttons for the large and small cups, push buttons for continuous supply are prepared, and the beverage is supplied only while the push button is pressed according to the taste of the customer.

Therefore, in order to correspond to the large, small cup, and continuous supply modes as described above, when the beverage is sold, the carbonated water valve and the cold water valve are alternated in a short cycle as shown in FIGS. Then, the carbonated water and diluted cold water are discharged little by little and mixed with the syrup to stabilize the quality of the finished beverage with respect to the carbonic acid concentration. In the actual product, the amount of water sent by the water pump is set to 20 ml / sec, and the time T for one cycle between times T1 and T2 and T2 and T3 in FIGS. 5 and 6 is set to 2.4 seconds. The carbonated water valve and the cold water valve are alternately switched at regular intervals, so that the supply of carbonated water and cold water is repeated for two cycles in the small cup and three cycles in the large cup to obtain the desired amount of finished beverage. Further, during continuous supply, the carbonated water and cold water supply operations shown in the figure are repeated until the customer releases the push button and stops the beverage supply operation.

In this case, in the conventional case, the diluting cold water supply operation, that is, the opening cycle of the cold water valve in FIG. 5 is synchronized with the operation, and the water pump is repeatedly operated in synchronization with the switching of the three-way switching valve in FIG. A method of controlling the operation in an intermittent cycle such as stopping was adopted.

[0010]

By the way, as described above, when the beverage is sold, the carbonated water,
When the diluted cold water is discharged and supplied alternately little by little, the conventional method of controlling the operation of the water pump so that the water pump is repeatedly operated and stopped at short intervals in accordance with the switching operation of the carbonated water valve and the cold water valve, There is a switching operation of the drive motor relay due to the operation and stop of the water pump, a large drive current flows through the motor when the drive motor is started, and a large mechanical force is also applied to the coupling that connects the water pump and the drive motor. Severe conditions such as repeated loading.
For this reason, there has been a problem in terms of reliability and durability that the life of the drive motor is shortened and failures frequently occur during operation.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and improves the operation control system of the water pump for the above-mentioned beverage dispenser and the carbonated beverage supply device mounted on the cup type vending machine. By doing so, it is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and prolong the life and reliability of the drive motor of the water pump.

[0012]

The above object can be achieved by the present invention as follows. 1) Carbonated beverage supply device mounted on a beverage dispenser: A beverage circuit branches from a water source to a beverage mixing nozzle through a water pump, a water cooling coil, and a cold water valve, and a water cooling coil outlet side of the cold water circuit. , A carbonator water supply valve, a carbonated water circuit that goes through the carbonator and a carbonated water valve to the beverage mixing nozzle, and a syrup circuit that pours out the syrup from the syrup tank and supplies the syrup to the cup through the mixing nozzle. In this configuration, the carbonated water and the diluted cold water are alternately discharged to the mixing nozzle in a short time period, and the carbonated water valve, while continuously operating the water pump started based on the beverage supply command,
Also, the carbonator water supply valve and the cold water valve are alternately opened and closed to supply the required amount of carbonated water and diluted cold water.

2) A carbonated beverage supply device mounted on a cup type beverage vending machine: a cold water circuit from a water supply source through a water pump, a water cooling coil, a three-way switching valve to a beverage mixing nozzle, and the above three-way switching It consists of a carbonated water circuit that branches from the valve and goes to the beverage mixing nozzle through the carbonator and carbonated water valve, and a syrup circuit that supplies the syrup poured from the syrup tank to the cup through the mixing nozzle, based on the beverage sales instruction. In this system, carbonated water and diluted cold water are alternately discharged to the mixing nozzle in a short time cycle.The water pump started based on the beverage supply command is continuously operated, and the three-way switching valve and the cold water valve are alternately repeated. Open and close to supply the required amount of carbonated water and diluted cold water.

3) In the above 1) and 2), the carbonated water valve is first opened for a predetermined time based on the beverage supply command or the beverage sales command, and the cold water pump is started when the valve is closed. It is possible to adopt such a control method. As described above, by continuously operating the water pump started based on the carbonated beverage supply command (beverage dispenser) and the sales command (cup type beverage vending machine) until one beverage supply operation is completed, The harsh operating conditions of the drive motor due to the start and stop in a time cycle can be eliminated, and the reliability and durability of the drive motor can be improved by avoiding shortening of the life of the drive motor and frequent occurrence of failures.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. [Embodiment 1] FIG. 1 is a time chart showing a supply operation of carbonated water and diluted cold water according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is intended for the carbonated beverage supply beverage circuit shown in FIG. 3 mounted on a beverage dispenser. is there. Each reference numeral in the following description corresponds to FIG.

That is, as can be seen by comparing the time charts of FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 of the conventional method, according to the present invention, the water pump 2a is started at time T1 based on the beverage supply command, and the carbonated water valve 3c is started. Then, the carbonator water supply valve 3a is opened, and thereafter, the carbonated water valve 3c, the carbonator water supply valve 3a, and the cold water valve 2c are operated for a short time T (for example, while the water pump 2a is continuously operated until one beverage supply operation is completed). 2.4
Second cycle) open and close alternately, carbonated water circuit 3, cold water circuit 2
The carbonated syrup and diluted cold water are alternately discharged little by little to the beverage mixing nozzle 4 through the syrup circuit 1, and the carbonated syrup beverage prepared by mixing with the concentrated syrup supplied through the syrup circuit 1 is supplied to the cup 8.

When a small cup is selected for this beverage supply, carbonated water and cold water supply operations are alternately repeated twice, for example, and when a large cup is selected, it is repeated three times. Further, when the continuous drink delivery is selected, the carbonated water and cold water supply operations are alternately repeated until the customer stops the beverage supply push button operation, and the water pump 2a is continuously operated during this period. In the above operation, when the cold water valve 2c is closed, the water sent from the water pump 2a is sent to the carbonator 3b through the carbonator water supply valve 3a (cold water inflow rate: 20 ml / sec), but at the same time, the carbonator 3b.
Since the carbonated water is discharged through the carbonated water valve 3c (carbonated water outflow rate: 30 ml / sec), the carbonator 3b is never filled with water.

As a result, unlike the conventional method, the water pump 2a does not frequently start and stop repeatedly in a short period of time, and the operating conditions for the drive motor of the water pump are relaxed to that extent, thereby improving reliability and durability. Is improved. In FIG. 1, the timing for starting the water pump 2a based on the beverage supply command is as follows:
After opening at T1, even if the time is shifted so that the water pump is started at the time when the carbonated water valve and the cold water valve are switched at time T2, there is no functional problem.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 2 shows the operation of supplying carbonated water and diluted cold water according to an embodiment of the present invention for the carbonated beverage supply beverage circuit shown in FIG. 4 mounted on a cup type beverage vending machine. It is the figure represented by the time chart. Each reference numeral in the following description corresponds to FIG. That is, FIG.
As can be seen by comparing the time chart of FIG. 6 with the conventional method, according to the present invention, the time T1
The water pump 2a is started at the same time, the carbonated water valve 3c is opened, and thereafter, the carbonated water valve 3c, the cold water valve 2c, the carbonated water valve 2c, while continuously operating the water pump 2a until one beverage supply operation is completed.
The three-way switching valve 10 is alternately opened and closed in a short time T cycle in accordance with the time chart shown in the figure, and carbonated water and diluted cold water are alternated little by little through the carbonated water circuit 3 and the cold water circuit 2 as described in the first embodiment. Then, it is discharged to the beverage mixing nozzle 4.
Further, the number of repetitions of the alternating supply operation of carbonated water and cold water in this case is determined by the vending machine by discriminating whether the cup selected by the customer in selling the beverage is a large cup or a small cup. Note that, as described in the first embodiment, there is no functional problem even when the start timing of the water pump is shifted to the time T2 in FIG.

Also in this embodiment, since the water pump is continuously operated regardless of the alternate switching operation of the carbonated water valve and the cold water valve during the sales operation, the drive motor for the water pump is the same as in the first embodiment. The operating conditions for the drive motor are not severe, and the life of the drive motor can be extended.

[0021]

As described above, in the conventional carbonated beverage supply device, when the carbonated beverage is supplied and sold, the water pump is operated in synchronism with the alternate discharge of carbonated water and diluted cold water in a short cycle. In contrast to the intermittent operation, in the present invention, since the water pump is continuously operated until the beverage supply operation is completed, frequent switching operations of the relay due to repeated start and stop of the water pump drive motor, and Since the starting current of the motor is eliminated, the life of the drive motor of the water pump can be prevented from being shortened at an early stage, and reliability and durability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a first embodiment of the present invention mounted on a beverage dispenser.
Chart showing the operation of supplying carbonated water and diluted chilled water in the carbonated beverage supply system that supports

FIG. 2 is a time chart diagram showing a supply operation of carbonated water and diluted cold water in a carbonated drink supply device corresponding to the second embodiment of the present invention mounted on a cup type beverage vending machine.

FIG. 3 is a beverage circuit diagram of a carbonated beverage supply device mounted on a beverage dispenser.

[Fig. 4] Beverage circuit diagram of a carbonated beverage supply device installed in a cup-type beverage vending machine

FIG. 5 is a time chart diagram showing a conventional carbonated water / diluted cold water supply operation performed by the carbonated drink supply device of FIG.

6 is a time chart diagram showing a conventional carbonated water / diluted cold water supply operation which is carried out by the cup type beverage vending machine of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Syrup Circuit 2 Cold Water Circuit 2a Water Pump 2b Water Cooling Coil 2c Cold Water Valve 3 Carbonated Water Circuit 3a Carbonator Water Supply Valve 3b Carbonator 3c Carbonated Water Valve 4 Beverage Mixing Nozzle 7 Carbon Dioxide Cylinder 8 Cups

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A carbonated beverage supply device which is mounted on a beverage dispenser and which mixes carbonated water and diluted cold water discharged in accordance with a command with a syrup to supply to a cup, the beverage circuit of which is a water pump, a water pump, and a water pump. A cold water circuit that reaches the beverage mixing nozzle via the cooling coil and the cold water valve, and a branch from the water cooling coil outlet side of the cold water circuit,
It consists of a carbonated water circuit that goes through the carbonator and the carbonated water valve to the beverage mixing nozzle, and a syrup circuit that pours out syrup from the syrup tank and feeds the syrup to the cup through the mixing nozzle. With cold water alternately discharged to the mixing nozzle in a short time period, the carbonated water valve and the carbonator water supply valve and the cold water valve are alternately repeated while continuously operating the water pump started based on the beverage supply command. A carbonated beverage supply device, which is opened and closed to supply a required amount of carbonated water and diluted cold water. 2. A carbonated beverage supply device which is mounted on a cup-type beverage vending machine and which mixes carbonated water and diluted cold water discharged according to a command with a syrup to supply to a cup, the beverage circuit of which is from a water supply source. A cold water circuit leading to the beverage mixing nozzle via the water pump, the water cooling coil, and the three-way switching valve, and a carbonated water circuit branching from the three-way switching valve to the beverage mixing nozzle via the carbonator and carbonated water valve, and the syrup tank. A syrup circuit that supplies the poured syrup to the cup through the mixing nozzle, and carbonated water and diluted cold water are alternately discharged into the mixing nozzle in a short time period based on the beverage sales instruction. While continuously operating the water pump that was started based on the supply command, open and close the three-way switching valve and the cold water valve alternately repeatedly to open the required amount of charcoal. Water, carbonated beverage supply device being characterized in that so as to provide a dilution of cold water. 3. The carbonated beverage supply apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the carbonated water valve is first opened for a predetermined time based on a beverage supply command or a beverage sales command, and when the valve is closed, the cold water pump is turned on. A carbonated beverage supply device characterized by being started.