JP3789717B2 - Coffee mill equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a coffee mill device used in a coffee beverage extraction device such as a cup vending machine, and in particular, prevents a reduction in the safety of a coffee beverage based on supply of ground beans adhering to a bearing portion to the extractor. The present invention relates to a coffee mill device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a coffee beverage extraction device such as a cup vending machine has a coffee mill that pulverizes coffee beans to a predetermined particle size to produce ground beans and supplies the ground beans to the extractor. This coffee mill has, for example, a pair of crushing blades formed in a disk shape and arranged to face each other, and the coffee beans stored in the coffee bean storage unit are fed between the rotating crushing blades for crushing. As a result, ground beans are formed and supplied to the extractor.
[0003]
The rotating shaft to which the crushing blade is fixed is rotatably supported on the main body by a bearing member such as a ball bearing or an oil-impregnated bearing, and mineral grease or oil is used as the lubricating oil for such a bearing member. Coffee drinks value the taste, and the inclusion of mineral oil impairs the quality of the drinks, so felt beans and other partitions at the boundary with the space where coffee beans are crushed to form ground beans There is a member provided to absorb the lubricating oil from the bearing member and prevent ground beans from entering the portion where the bearing member is provided.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to the conventional coffee mill device, when the ground beans adhere to the partition member soiled with the lubricating oil, the ground beans are contaminated with the lubricating oil, and when the contaminated ground beans are supplied to the extractor, the quality of the coffee beverage is improved. Damaged. In order to prevent this, the partition member must be periodically replaced, and there is a problem that maintenance work such as disassembly, cleaning, and assembly is required.
[0005]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a coffee mill apparatus that can prevent ground beans from entering a bearing portion without providing a partition member and can eliminate troublesome maintenance work.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has a fixed blade fixed to a main body and a rotary blade rotatably supported by the main body opposed to each other, and the coffee blade supplied to the main body is driven to rotate the rotary blade. In a coffee mill device that is ground to form ground beans,
A bearing portion that rotatably supports the rotary blade on the main body;
An airflow forming part that generates airflow that circulates around the bearing part by supplying air between the rotary blade and the bearing part;
The airflow forming part provides a coffee mill device that prevents the ground beans from entering the bearing part and discharges the airflow circulating around the bearing part in the discharging direction of the ground beans.
[0007]
According to the coffee mill device described above, air current is generated by introducing air from the outside of the coffee mill main body, and the air flow is supplied between the rotary blade and the bearing portion to block the bearing portion from the atmosphere. Prevents ground beans from getting around the bearings.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a coffee mill device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0009]
FIG. 1 shows a coffee beverage extraction apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, a coffee bean storage unit 1 that stores coffee beans, and a coffee bean induction unit 2 that guides coffee beans falling from the coffee bean storage unit 1 downward. A coffee mill 3 that crushes coffee beans supplied via the coffee bean induction unit 2 into ground beans, a mill motor 4 that rotates a grinding blade (described later) provided inside the coffee mill 3, and a coffee mill 3 and a ground chute 6 that guides ground beans discharged from the discharge unit 5 to an extractor (described later), and high-temperature hot water is passed through the ground beans introduced through the powder chute 6 at a predetermined high pressure. Receiving the coffee beverage produced by mixing the extractor 16 for extracting the coffee liquor and the auxiliary ingredients such as diluting water, cream, sugar and the like according to the sales form. Having a cup 17.
[0010]
FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the coffee mill 3, a main body 30 formed of metal or the like, a coffee bean introduction portion 31 fixed by screw engagement with an upper portion of the main body 30, and the coffee bean introduction portion 31. Fixed blade 32, seal member 33 that seals the gap between main body 30 and coffee bean introduction portion 31, rotary blade holder 35 that fixes rotary blade 34, and holder rotary shaft that rotates together with rotary blade holder 35 36, ball bearings 37 and 38 that rotatably support the holder rotating shaft 36 on the main body 30, a gear 39 fixed to the holder rotating shaft 36, and a driving force applied to the gear 39 by being fixed to the rotating shaft 4A of the mill motor 4. , A ball bearing 4B that rotatably supports the rotating shaft 4A on the main body 30, an impeller 41 fixed to the rotating shaft 4A, and a rotation of the impeller 41. Having an inlet 30A for sucking air into the main body 30 from the outside based on.
[0011]
In the coffee mill 3 having the above configuration, the coffee beans introduced from the coffee bean storage unit (not shown) are always filled in the coffee bean introduction unit 31, but the illustration is omitted.
[0012]
The main body 30 supplies coffee beans from a vertical direction between a rotating blade 34 that rotates in a horizontal direction and a fixed blade 32 that is fixed to the coffee bean introduction unit 31, and pulverizes the coffee beans to form the ground beans. An annular shape is formed in the rotary blade holder 35, a discharge port 3 </ b> A for discharging to the left, a ventilation portion 30 </ b> B for guiding an airflow generated based on the rotation of the impeller 41 to a gap between the rotary blade holder 35 and the main body 30, and the rotary blade holder 35. A vent groove 30C that is formed along the projected portion 35A to guide the airflow, and an exhaust portion 30D that allows the airflow induced in the gap between the rotary blade holder 35 and the main body 30 to escape toward the discharge port 3A. .
[0013]
The coffee bean introduction unit 31 has a bean introduction port 31A to which coffee beans are supplied from a coffee bean storage unit (not shown), and between the fixed blade 32 and the rotary blade 34 located below the bean introduction port 31A. Supply coffee beans.
[0014]
The rotary blade holder 35 is formed so that the air flow induced inside the convex portion 35A formed in an annular shape stays around the ball bearing 37 based on the shape of the convex portion 35A. The pressure in the portion 37 is made larger than the pressure in the other portions.
[0015]
Since the ball bearing 37 is disposed inside the main body 30, it is preferable to use a ball bearing 37 with less lubricating oil leakage (seepage). Further, a bearing structure such as a roller bearing or an oilless metal may be used.
[0016]
The impeller 41 introduces air from the air inlet 30A by rotating at high speed based on the rotation of the mill motor 4, generates an airflow according to the rotational speed, and supplies the airflow to the ventilation portion 30B.
[0017]
FIG. 3 shows the drive system of the rotary blade 34, and the impeller 41 rotates based on the rotation of the rotating shaft 4 </ b> A of the mill motor 4 and the rotational torque decelerated from the gear 40 with a predetermined reduction ratio is transmitted to the gear 39. As a result, the rotary blade 34 fixed to the holder rotary shaft 36 rotates.
[0018]
Below, operation | movement of the coffee mill apparatus of this invention is demonstrated, referring drawings.
[0019]
By rotating the mill motor 4, rotational torque decelerated at a predetermined reduction ratio is transmitted from the gear 40 of the rotation shaft 4 </ b> A to the gear 39, and the rotary blade 34 fixed to the holder rotation shaft 36 rotates.
[0020]
FIG. 4 shows the operation of forming the drawn beans in the coffee mill 3, and the ground beans supplied into the main body from the bean introduction port 31A are ground between the rotating blade and the fixed blade, and the ground beans having a predetermined particle size. Is formed. In this coffee bean crushing operation, the impeller 41 attached to the rotating shaft 4A of the mill motor 4 rotates, whereby air is sucked into the main body 30 from the air inlet 30A and flows as indicated by an arrow. When the airflow pressurized by the impeller 41 is accelerated based on the cross-sectional area of the ventilation portion 30B and supplied to the gap between the rotary blade holder 35 and the main body 30, the inside of the convex portion 35A formed in an annular shape A layer of air having a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure is formed on the ball bearing 37 so that the portion of the ball bearing 37 is shielded from the portion outside the convex portion 35A. This layer of air is maintained by the air flow continuously supplied through the ventilation part 30B, and the air leaking from the convex part 35A is exhausted from the exhaust part 30D. The air pressurized by the impeller 41 is supplied to the accommodation space of the gear 39 and circulates to cool the gear 39.
[0021]
According to the coffee mill apparatus described above, the impeller 41 that rotates based on the rotation of the mill motor 4 is provided, and the airflow generated based on the rotation of the impeller 41 flows through the gap between the rotary blade holder 35 and the main body 30. Thus, the ground beans can be prevented from flowing around the ball bearing 37 from the rotary blade 34 side, and this prevents the ground beans from being contaminated by touching the lubricating oil that has oozed out around the ball bearing 37.
[0022]
In addition, by cooling the rotary blade 34 with an air stream, the heat dissipation of the rotary blade 34 at the time of bean pulverization is improved, heat can be prevented from being transmitted to the ground beans, and thermal degradation of the ground beans can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the taste of the coffee beverage. The airflow is exhausted in the discharge direction of ground beans from an exhaust portion 30D provided at the discharge port 3A, thereby preventing the ground beans from adhering around the discharge port 3A. With such a configuration, ground beans do not adhere to the periphery of the ball bearing 37 or the discharge port 3A, so that maintenance work such as disassembly, cleaning, and assembly becomes unnecessary.
[0023]
In the coffee mill apparatus described above, the configuration in which the rotating shaft 4A of the mill motor 4 is arranged in the vertical direction has been described. However, for example, the present invention can be applied to a configuration in which the rotating shaft 4A of the mill motor 4 is arranged in the horizontal direction. .
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the coffee mill apparatus of the present invention, the impeller is rotated based on the rotation of the mill motor, and the airflow generated based on the rotation of the impeller is caused to flow between the rotary blade holder and the main body. In addition, it is possible to prevent the ground beans from entering the bearing portion without providing a partition member, and to make troublesome maintenance work unnecessary.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a coffee mill device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the coffee mill according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the coffee mill apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Coffee bean storage part 2 Coffee bean guidance part 3 Coffee mill 3A Discharge port 4 Mill motor 4A Rotating shaft 4B Ball bearing 5 Discharge part 6 Powder chute 16 Extractor 17 Cup 30 Main body 30A Inlet 30B Ventilation part 30C Ventilation groove 30D Exhaust part 31 Coffee Bean Introducing Portion 31A Bean Introducing Port 32 Fixed Blade 33 Sealing Member 34 Rotary Blade 35 Rotary Blade Holder 35A Convex Portion 36 Holder Rotating Shaft 37 Ball Bearing 39 Gear 40 Gear 41 Impeller

Claims (4)

A fixed blade fixed to the main body and a rotary blade rotatably supported by the main body are arranged opposite to each other, and coffee beans supplied to the main body are pulverized by rotating the rotary blade to form ground beans. In coffee mill equipment,
A bearing portion that rotatably supports the rotary blade on the main body;
An airflow forming part that generates airflow that circulates around the bearing part by supplying air between the rotary blade and the bearing part;
The airflow forming unit is configured to discharge the airflow circulating around the bearing portion while preventing the ground beans from entering the bearing portion in the discharging direction of the ground beans. The airflow forming unit includes an impeller attached to a rotation shaft of a motor that rotates the rotary blade,
The structure of the structure which has the airflow guidance | induction part which circulates between the said rotary blade and the said bearing part, and exhausts the said airflow generated by introducing the said air from the exterior of the said main body based on rotation of the said impeller. The coffee mill apparatus of Claim 1. The coffee mill device according to claim 1, wherein the rotary blade has a convex portion that retains the airflow supplied from the airflow forming portion around the bearing portion. The airflow guide portion is provided at a discharge port for discharging the ground beans from the main body, and exhausts the air from between the rotary blade and the bearing portion in the same direction as the discharging direction of the ground beans. The coffee mill apparatus of Claim 2 of the structure to carry out.

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