JPS61115884A - Mixer for drink - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a liquid mixing device for mixing liquid base substances, in particular carbonated water and beverage concentrate.

[Conventional technology]

Such devices can be used, for example, in beverage vending machines for selectively mixing a beverage concentrate, or one of a plurality of beverage concentrates, in the form of carbonated water and a soft drink immediately before offering it for consumption. has been done.

The carbonated water required for this purpose is cooled and stored under pressure. This carbonated water is removed in a known manner for the mixing process via a shut-off valve and, where appropriate, an expansion valve connected downstream thereof. The quality of mixed beverages is greatly influenced by the mixing ratio of beverage concentrate and carbonated water. For this reason, it is important to take measures to ensure the necessary mixing ratio under the various conditions prevailing in normal operation.

For example, it is known to determine the quantity of beverage concentrate in portions via a brewing chamber.

However, especially carbonated water, because its supply is extremely large,
It is drawn off in a continuous manner in a known manner, the amount being determined by the discharge rate per unit time and the discharge time. The discharge time can be easily controlled using well-known control techniques. However, there are problems with the mechanical evacuation unit, and traditional techniques cannot produce very accurate flow rates per unit time.
The large discrepancy in the discharge rate is due to the fact that the liquid in the discharge device is introduced at different pressures.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The object of the invention is to obtain a beverage mixing device which allows the liquid output to be determined accurately.

[Means for solving problems]

According to the invention, this object is achieved by connecting a once-through regulating valve directly behind the once-through shutoff valve, which controls the flow rate to be constant regardless of the pressure of the introduced liquid, and to which a time control device is attached to the once-through shutoff valve. This is achieved by being present.

[Function and effect of the invention]

The device constructed according to the invention follows the concept of matching different functional requirements with different functional units and arranging these units functionally close to each other. One functional condition is that the outlet shutoff valve is arranged so that the opening time of the outlet valve, which is given by time control, is as precise as possible and fully taken into account. However, this structural unit does not take part in regulating the flow rate. For this purpose, a flow regulating valve is arranged which controls the flow rate to be constant regardless of the pressure of the liquid introduced. This flow regulating valve is able to fully meet the conditions imposed on it. However, it is also important to arrange both functional units close to each other in order to avoid liquid spills that occur during the switching process of the outlet shutoff valve. In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the pressure-sensitive flow regulating valve has a piston chamber in which a piston is arranged which divides it into two subareas and is provided with a restoring force. , a restriction is provided between the two sub-areas of the piston chamber, the first sub-area of the piston chamber being in the direction on which the restoring force acts and having a constant inlet opening;
has an outlet opening whose cross-sectional area changes depending on the stroke of the piston. This is especially true for pressure fluctuations. Haa Iiii & Yo 17 Machihiro 7. - 卆 h mu wide!・−
Since the flow rate is at the same time, a particularly uniform flow rate can be obtained.

It is advantageous if the inlet opening to the pressure-sensitive flow regulating valve is designed as a throttle bore. As a result, a pressure reduction already takes place in this range, so that the regulating action takes place in a range close to the outlet pressure.

It is advantageous if a number of holes are arranged on the circumferential surface of the piston chamber in the range of piston movement. A slight offset of these holes in the direction of piston movement provides particularly good control properties for the flow rate.

A spring is preferably arranged to provide a return force to the piston. Advantageously, the return force is adjustable in order to adjust the flow rate to a desired predetermined amount and to readjust the device. For this purpose, an adjusting screw is used which acts on the return spring.

Furthermore, it is advantageous if the return force of the control piston is conducted via a thermal expansion compensation rod.

In the once-through regulating valve used in the present invention, for example, the regulating valve casing is made of synthetic resin, and the control piston is made of metal. This choice of material has manufacturing and guidance advantages. By using thermal expansion compensation rods, the thermal expansion of these functional parts can be compensated, not only for varying conditions due to length changes, but also for different diameters. The corresponding material of the thermal expansion compensation rod is determined empirically.

〔Example〕

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

A vending machine for mixing various beverage concentrates with chilled carbonated water in the form of a mixed beverage comprises a mixer 1 in which the mixing step is prepared or carried out, a beverage concentrate being passed through a dispensing device 3 It has as main components a beverage concentrate tank 2 which feeds the mixer 1 in portions, and a storage tank 4 for cooled carbonated water which feeds carbonated water to the mixer 1 as required via an outlet valve 5. are doing. The mixed beverage exits the mixer l through an outlet 6.

The carbonated water is cooled by a coolant guided through a pipe 7 wrapped around the storage tank 4. The amount of carbonated water in the storage tank 4 taken out via the outlet valve 5 is replenished as follows. That is, fresh water is introduced through a pipe 8 under the control of a valve 9 and introduced by a pump 10, and carbon dioxide gas is introduced through a pipe 11 from a carbon dioxide gas cylinder 11 under the control of a valve 12.

The quality of mixed beverages is greatly influenced by the mixing ratio of beverage concentrate and carbonated water. The determination of the amount of beverage concentrate takes place in a known compounding device 3, which is manufactured with a sufficiently high precision. A corresponding amount of carbonated water is mixed with the respective beverage concentrate. An outlet valve 5 shown in FIG. 2 is used to control the discharge of carbonated water from the storage tank 4. The time control is performed by a control circuit 13, which is not shown in detail.

The outlet valve 5 in FIG. 2 is basically composed of two functional units, and more specifically, it is composed of an electromagnetic flow-through cutoff valve 14 and a flow-through regulating valve 15 that controls the flow rate independently of the introduced liquid pressure. .

The flow-through cutoff valve 14 has an electromagnetic coil 16 .

When it is excited by a current, the iron core 17 is attracted against the force of the spring 18. The diaphragm 19 connected to the iron core 17 is then lifted from its valve seat, and the carbonated water introduced from the storage tank 4 through the line 21 flows through this through-flow cut-off valve 14 almost unimpeded. This carbonated water passes through the flow path 22 and the casing hole 23 and reaches the area of the once-through regulating valve 15, specifically, the inlet side area 24 of the piston chamber of the once-through regulating valve 15. A piston 25 arranged in this piston chamber is biased by the pressure of a spring 26 in the direction of the carbonated water inlet region. A throttle hole 27 is provided in the end face of the piston 25, so that the introduced carbonated water reaches the second partial area 28 from the first partial area 24 of the piston chamber. When the flow passes through, the pressure is reduced in this throttle hole 27.

The cylinder wall 30 of the second partial region 28 of the piston chamber is provided with an outlet channel 3 via an annular channel 35 in the housing wall.
A large number of aperture holes 29 are arranged, which communicate with each other. If there is a high pressure in the first partial region 24 of the piston chamber, the piston 25 is pressed against the pressure of the spring 26 and moves to a large extent, so that the bore 29 is covered by the circumferential surface of the piston. In this case, a strong throttling effect occurs at this location. first subrange 24
When only a small amount of pressure is applied to the piston 25, the spring 2
6, the hole 29 is largely opened.

The throttling effect of the flowing liquid in this region is therefore reduced. By dimensioning accordingly,
The throttling effect in the area of the bore 29 can be varied in proportion to the hydraulic pressure present in the first partial area 24 of the piston chamber.

Thereby, the flow rate of carbonated water can be constantly adjusted regardless of the liquid pressure introduced into the pipe 21.

With appropriate time control, the amount of carbonated water discharged can therefore be determined very precisely.

In order to be able to adjust and readjust the flow rate, the force of the spring 26 can be varied by varying its tightness via the adjusting screw 32. Inside this adjustment screw 32,
A thermal expansion compensating rod 33 covered with a bushing 34 is incorporated. The return spring 26 is supported indirectly on this bushing 34, ie on the valve housing. By this procedure, the flow regulating valve 15, the cylinder wall 30, the piston 25
and adjusting screw 32 can be made of materials with different coefficients of thermal expansion. This thermal expansion compensating rod 33 prevents changes in operating temperature from affecting the once-through regulating valve.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a schematic side view of the mixing device of a beverage vending machine;
The figure is a sectional view of an outlet valve device for carbonated water according to the present invention. 1: Mixed species, 2: Beverage concentrate tank, 3: Blending device, 4
: Carbonated water tank, 5: Outlet valve, 13: Time control circuit, 1
4: Cross-flow cutoff valve, 15: Cross-flow adjustment □ valve, 23:
Casing hole (inlet opening), 24: first partial range of the piston chamber, 25: piston, 26: spring, 27: throttle hole, 28: second partial range of the piston chamber, 29: throttle hole (
(Exit opening), 32: Adjustment screw, 33: Thermal expansion compensation rod.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) In a liquid mixing device for mixing a liquid basic substance, especially carbonated water, and a beverage concentrate, there is provided a through-flow regulating valve (15) that controls the flow rate to be constant regardless of the pressure of the introduced liquid. Beverage mixing device, characterized in that it is connected immediately after a flow-through cut-off valve (14), and a time control device (13) is attached to this flow-through cut-off valve (14). 2) The pressure-sensitive flow regulating valve (15) has a piston chamber into which it is divided into two partial regions (24,
The piston (25) is divided into two parts (28) and is given a return force.
) is arranged and a throttle (2
7) is provided, the first sub-area (24) of the piston chamber
is in the direction in which the restoring force acts and has a constant inlet opening (23
), and the second sub-region (28) is the piston (15).
An exit opening (29) whose cross-sectional area changes depending on the stroke of
). The device according to claim 1, characterized in that it has: 3) Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the inlet opening (23) is a throttle hole. 4) Device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the outlet opening (29) is a number of throttle holes (29) arranged on the circumferential surface of the piston chamber. 5) Device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the return force is provided by a spring element (26). 6) The device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the return force acting on the piston (25) is adjustable. 7) Device according to claim 6, characterized in that an adjusting screw (32) is arranged which acts on the spring element (26) in order to vary the return force. 8) a control piston (2) acting against the supply pressure of the liquid;
8. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the restoring force of step 5) is conducted via a thermal expansion compensation rod (33). 9) Claim 8, characterized in that the thermal expansion compensating rod (33) is integrated into the adjusting screw (32).
Apparatus described in section. 10) Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the valve casing is made of synthetic resin and the control piston (25) is made of metal.