JPS6188395A - Fresh brewed coffee extractor - 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] [Technical field to which the invention pertains]

This invention relates to a fresh brew coffee extractor for an automatic coffee machine that uses regular coffee powder as a raw material and adds hot water to extract coffee.

[Prior art and its problems]

The coffee extractor used in the above-mentioned coffee vending machine adds hot water to a predetermined amount of regular coffee powder to make the coffee powder 1.1, and then pressurizes this coffee raw material to extract coffee through a filter. A pressurized extraction method that performs extraction filtration is widely used. Next, the conventional configuration of the coffee extractor of the above method is shown in the 3rd Ug.
In Figure 0 shown in J, ] is a lower end open type cylinder containing a pressurizing piston 2, and the pressurizing piston 2 is directly connected to a piston operating rod 3, not shown in the figure, via this piston operating rod 3. It is raised and lowered by the drive mechanism A in accordance with the coffee extraction operation. Also, the cylinder l
A raw material inlet 4 is opened laterally from the upper end thereof, and a hot water supply nozzle 6 which receives hot water from a tank 5 and discharges the hot water into the inlet 4 above the raw material inlet 4, and, for example, a coffee mill 7, etc. A coffee powder input hopper 8 facing the coffee powder transport lower is open and arranged. On the other hand, a filter block 9 is installed opposite to and below the cylinder 1. This filter block 9 has a dish-shaped base 11 with a coffee spout 10 opening at the center bottom.
, a filter 12 installed on the upper surface of the base 11, and a packing 13 installed around the filter 12 facing the lower edge of the cylinder l. The coffee extraction operation with the above configuration is performed as follows. That is, when a sales command is given to the vending machine, coffee powder is introduced into the raw material input port 4 through the coffee powder input hopper 8, and at the same time hot water is poured through the hot water supply nozzle 6. As a result, the coffee powder and hot water flow into the cylinder 1 together.Then, the piston 2 begins to descend from the illustrated position in the direction of the arrow, pressurizing the hot water and coffee powder introduced into the cylinder. As a result, the coffee powder swells with hot water, and the coffee is extracted and filtered to the base side through the filter 12 by pressurization of the piston, and from there to the beverage cup 20 which is carried out to the bending stage of the vending machine through the spout 10. Supplied. Note that the coffee grounds remaining on the upper surface of the filter 12 are scraped off laterally by a scraper (not shown) after the cylinder 1 and the filter block 9 are separated from each other. Generally, when making coffee using regular coffee powder at home, etc., a sufficient brewing time of about 1 to 3 minutes is required to sufficiently swell the coffee powder and bring out the flavor and density of the coffee. However, in vending machines, it is necessary to extract coffee and provide it to customers in the shortest possible selling time, and for this purpose, the pressurized extraction method using the piston described above is adopted.On the other hand, coffee The properties of the powdered raw material vary depending on the type of coffee beans, the degree of roasting, the degree of grinding by the coffee mill, etc. On the other hand, the piston 2 in the cylinder 1 is driven with a substantially constant downward stroke speed. For this reason, especially if the coffee powder raw material contains a large proportion of fine powder or the powder is soft, the filter is likely to be clogged with coffee grounds during pressurized extraction of coffee, and in this state, pressure must be applied to the piston with a large force. If this continues, the coffee liquid may not pass through the filter smoothly, or coffee grounds may escape from the filter and get mixed into the coffee liquid.Furthermore, if the piston continues to stroke with the filter clogged, the internal pressure of the cylinder l will drop. may increase more and more, eventually causing piston lock.According to the knowledge obtained by the inventor through various experiments in such cases,
By controlling the stroke speed of the piston to prevent the internal pressure of the cylinder from rising excessively and maintaining the extraction pressure at an appropriate level, and by extracting coffee with a slightly longer extraction time, the filter will become clogged. It has been confirmed that it is possible to smoothly extract and supply coffee that is satisfactory in terms of flavor, richness, and concentration. However, in order to maintain the coffee extraction pressure constant and control the stroke motion of the piston as described above, the control system is extremely complicated and expensive, which is impractical.

[Purpose of the invention] This invention was developed in consideration of the above points, and while maintaining the drive system of the conventional coffee extractor, improvements were made to the configuration of the coffee extractor to prevent the filter from clogging with coffee grounds. To provide a fréche plié coffee extractor capable of smoothly extracting and filtering delicious coffee that is satisfactory in terms of flavor and degree. [Key points of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention separates the pressure piston that moves up and down in the cylinder and the piston operation rond, inserts a compression spring between them, and uses the action of the spring to control the piston pressure during the coffee extraction process. The pressure is maintained at approximately a predetermined level so that coffee can be extracted and filtered.

[Embodiments of the invention]

1 and 2 show different embodiments of the invention, and the same members as in FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals. First of all, in the embodiment shown in FIG.
Compression spring 1 inserted between 1r a and piston 2
5 is installed. Of these, the sliding guide support mechanism J4 includes a guide cylinder 16 connected to the piston operating rod 3, and a connecting shaft 1.
The cylinder 16 is connected to the piston 2 via the cylinder 7.
The compression spring 15 is comprised of a guide piston 18 that slides in the direction of arrow B within the guide cylinder 16.
The piston 2 is suspended between the lower surface of the piston 2 and the upper surface of the piston 2. Next, the coffee extraction operation with the above configuration will be explained. Due to coffee sales directive, input to raw material input port 4? j
4 / When four people load the cylinder 1 with the coffee raw materials inputted through the glue 6 and the coffee powder input hopper 8, and in this state the piston 2 is lowered via the piston operating rod 3, the raw materials accumulated in the cylinder are first removed. Until the compression starts, the spring 15 is actuated, and the piston 2 and piston operating rod 3 move down together.Then, the piston 2 reaches the liquid level of the raw material and starts pressurizing, and as a result, the cylinder When the internal pressure of 1 increases, the piston operating rod 3 continues to move downward by the operation of its drive system, but the piston 2 remains at its stroke position due to the cylinder internal pressure P acting on the piston surface. The spring 15 is activated by the operating force of the piston operating rod 3.
only will be compressed. In other words, in this shape, the downward operating force applied from the outside via the piston operating rod 3 is absorbed by the compression of the spring 15, and no excessive pressure is applied to the coffee ingredients via the piston 2. The coffee raw material is pressurized with a substantially constant pressure set by a spring 15, and is extracted and filtered through a filter 12. When the internal pressure of the cylinder begins to decrease due to the outflow of coffee, the piston 2 descends again due to the spring force accumulated in the spring 15 and pressurizes the coffee raw material, so that the coffee continuously passes through the filter 12 and is extracted and filtered. will be done. That is, as is clear from the above operation description, the piston 2 and the piston operating rod 3 move down together while the cylinder internal pressure is low during the coffee extraction process, and when the cylinder internal pressure becomes higher than the set pressure of the spring 15, the piston 2 The spring 15 is compressed while the coffee is stopped, and the operating force applied from the piston operating rod is absorbed and accumulated, and as a result, the pressure is maintained at a substantially constant level during the entire process of coffee extraction. Therefore, compared to the conventional structure in which the piston 2 and the piston operating rod 3 are directly connected as shown in FIG. 3, there is no generation of excessive pressure inside the cylinder, and extraction is performed under constant pressure conditions. Also, as a result, the coffee extraction time is not primarily regulated by the downward stroke speed of the piston operation port 7d3.
By selecting the spring force of the spring 15, it is possible to stretch the spring 15 appropriately, thereby extracting coffee that is satisfactory in terms of flavor, firmness, and consistency.At the same time, it also prevents clogging of the filter with coffee grounds and allows the coffee liquid to flow smoothly. can be extracted and filtered. FIG. 2 shows an applied embodiment that is slightly modified from the embodiment shown in FIG. It is inserted between.

【Effect of the invention】

As described above, according to the present invention, a compression spring is inserted between the pressurizing piston for coffee extraction and the piston operating rod. Coffee can be extracted and filtered by keeping the extraction pressure constant during the process.
This prevents clogging of the filler while preserving the flavor.
Body. R that can extract and supply coffee that is satisfactory in terms of concentration.
It is possible to provide a Frefushi-1 Preyu coffee extractor with excellent performance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an actual 3'i! Configuration sectional view of part 7 of example i, 3rd
Figure 0 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of a conventional Freson Yupuru coffee extractor.
6. Hot water nozzle, 8: Coffee powder input hopper, 9: Filter block, 12: Filter, 14: Piston sliding guide support mechanism, 15: Compression spring. Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A cylinder with a piston is placed on top of a filter block equipped with a filter on the top surface, and a hot water pipe nozzle and a coffee powder input hopper are placed opposite to the raw material input port opening on the upper side of the cylinder. In the fresh brew coffee extractor, coffee is extracted and filtered through a filter by pressurizing the piston while regular coffee powder and hot water are introduced into the cylinder through the raw material input port, wherein the piston and A fresh brew coffee extractor characterized by a compression spring inserted between a piston operating rod.