JP4903513B2 - Beverage mixing device and vending machine using the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a beverage mixing apparatus that mixes raw materials and hot water to produce a beverage, and a vending machine using the same.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a beverage mixing apparatus used in a beverage vending machine or the like, a device that generates a mixed beverage by introducing raw materials and hot water into a mixing ball is generally used.

However, if the raw material and hot water are simply put into the mixing ball, the mixing of the two may be non-uniform. Then, the drink mixing apparatus which installed the hot water diffuser which diffuses hot water uniformly, and the stirrer which forcibly mixes hot water and a raw material like the invention described in patent document 1 is proposed.
JP-A-9-50577

  However, since the hot water diffuser diffuses hot water toward the inner wall surface of the mixing ball by centrifugal force, the hot water collides with the inner wall surface of the mixing ball to cause turbulence, and the stirrer forcibly stirs, This also causes a turbulent flow in the mixing ball, which causes the resulting beverage to foam and reduce the commercial value of the beverage. Moreover, since the drive source of the hot water diffuser and the stirrer is a motor, it is expensive in terms of cost.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a beverage mixing apparatus capable of uniformly mixing hot water and raw materials without using a driving source such as a motor, and a vending machine using the same, in view of the conventional problems. .

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention of claim 1 introduces hot water guided through the hot water passage and the raw material guided through the raw material passage from the upper part, mixes the hot water and the raw material, and leads out from the lower part. In the beverage mixing apparatus provided with a mixing ball, a mixing member is provided near the upper part in the mixing ball to generate mixed beverage by receiving hot water and raw materials and to flow the mixed beverage toward the inner wall surface of the mixing ball. It has a structure.

  According to invention of Claim 1, hot water and a raw material are supplied to a mixing member, and a mixed drink is produced | generated. The mixed beverage generated by the mixing member is flowed toward the inner wall surface of the mixing ball and mixed again on the inner wall surface. In this way, the hot water and the raw material are mixed in advance by the mixing member and then mixed again on the inner wall surface of the mixing ball, so that the hot water and the raw material are uniformly mixed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the beverage mixing apparatus of the first aspect, the mixing member is formed in a substantially disc shape, the raw material passage is arranged so that the raw material is led out to the approximate center of the mixing member, and It has a structure in which a hot water passage is arranged so as to be poured vertically at the approximate center of the mixing member.

  According to invention of Claim 2, a raw material is supplied to the approximate center of a mixing member, and hot water is poured with respect to this raw material toward a mixing member from right above. Thereby, hot water and a raw material flow evenly toward the radial direction from the center of the upper surface of the mixing member while being mixed uniformly. Thereby, hot water and a raw material are mixed uniformly by a mixing member.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the beverage mixing apparatus of the first aspect, the mixing member is formed so as to gradually increase from the peripheral edge toward the center.

  According to invention of Claim 3, hot water and a raw material flow smoothly along the upper surface of a mixing member, and a residue does not remain on the upper surface of a mixing member.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the beverage mixing device of the first aspect, the upper surface of the mixing member is formed so as to be lowered from one of the upper surfaces toward the other, and the hot water passage is arranged so that hot water is poured into one of the upper surfaces. It has a structure.

  According to the invention of claim 4, since hot water flows from one side of the upper surface of the mixing member to the other side, the path for mixing the hot water and the raw material becomes long. As a result, the hot water and the raw material are uniformly mixed. . Moreover, since the upper surface of the mixing member is inclined, no residue remains on the upper surface of the mixing member.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the beverage mixing device according to the first to fourth aspects, since the mixing member is suspended from the mixing ball, the connecting portion between the mixing member and the mixing ball is closer to the upper portion of the mixing ball. . Therefore, the portion where the residue is less likely to remain than the lower side of the mixing ball is a connecting portion, and even if the residue remains in the connecting portion, it can be easily cleaned from above the mixing ball.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the beverage mixing apparatus according to the first to fourth aspects, the mixing ball has a substantially funnel-like shape in which the hot water and the raw material are introduced, and the hot water and the raw material flowing out of the introducing portion are mixed. And a mixing member. The mixing member is suspended from the introduction portion, and the introduction portion is detachably provided on the upper portion of the mixing portion.

  According to invention of Claim 6, a mixing member can be easily cleaned by removing an introduction part from a mixing part.

  A seventh aspect of the present invention is a vending machine using the beverage mixing apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the hot water supply means for supplying hot water, the raw material supply means for supplying raw material, the hot water supply means and the raw material supply And a control means for controlling the means.

  According to the invention of claim 7, the hot water supply amount and the raw material supply amount can be arbitrarily set so as to correspond to various raw materials, and a desired beverage can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, since hot water and raw materials are mixed in advance by the mixing member and then mixed again on the inner wall surface of the mixing ball, a uniformly mixed high quality beverage is obtained without using a stirring device or the like. be able to.

  1 to 8 show a first embodiment of a beverage mixing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vending machine provided with the beverage mixing apparatus, and FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the beverage mixing apparatus. 3 is a plan view of the beverage mixing device, FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the beverage mixing device, FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the beverage generation state, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the beverage generation state, and FIG. The block diagram which shows a circuit, FIG. 8 is a flowchart which shows drink production | generation control.

  First, a schematic configuration of a vending machine including a beverage mixing device will be described with reference to FIG. The vending machine includes a hot water storage tank 1 that generates hot water, a raw material canister 2 that stores raw materials for beverages (such as coffee powder), and a beverage mixing device 3 that mixes hot water and raw materials.

  Here, the hot water storage tank 1 incorporates an electric heater (not shown) and the like, and hot water is generated in the hot water storage tank 1 by the electric heater, and this hot water is supplied to the beverage mixing device 3 through the hot water pipe 11. ing. The hot water storage tank 1 has a hot water storage opening / closing valve 12, and the amount of hot water in the hot water pipe 11 can be adjusted by changing the opening / closing time of the hot water storage opening / closing valve 12. The raw material canister 2 is provided with a screw transfer device 21 therein, and transfers the raw material to the beverage mixing device 3 through the raw material pipe 22. Moreover, the raw material supply amount can be adjusted by changing the drive time of the screw conveyor 21. The beverage mixing device 3 mixes hot water and raw materials, and supplies the mixed beverage to the cup C through the beverage pipe 4.

  The structure of the beverage mixing device 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. The beverage mixing device 3 includes a mixing ball 31 and a mixing plate 32 (corresponding to a mixing member according to the claims).

  The mixing ball 31 has a cylindrical introduction portion 311 bent in a mountain shape, and a substantially funnel-shaped mixing portion 312 connected to the lower portion of the introduction portion 311. The introduction portion 311 has an annular mounting plate 311a extending in the vertical direction and an inner plate 311b extending obliquely downward from the upper end of the mounting plate 311a, and has a circular shape at the center of the inner plate 311b. Through-hole 311c is formed. On the other hand, the mixing portion 312 has a rib 312a projecting annularly toward the outside near the upper end, the lower end of the mounting plate 311a is placed on the upper surface of the rib 312a, and the inner surface of the mounting plate 311a is the outer surface of the mixing portion 312. It is detachably fitted in. In addition, a beverage outlet 312 b connected to the beverage pipe 4 is provided at the lower portion of the mixing unit 312.

  The mixing plate 32 is formed in a disc shape, is located below the through hole 311c, and is arranged concentrically with the through hole 311c. Further, the peripheral edge of the mixing plate 32 is connected to a plurality of hanging pieces 321 extending from the inner peripheral edge of the through hole 311 c, whereby the mixing plate 32 is suspended from the introduction portion 311. Further, the outlet 11 a of the hot water pipe 11 is opposed to the upper center of the mixing plate 32 so that hot water is supplied vertically toward the center of the mixing plate 32. Furthermore, the outlet 22a of the raw material pipe 22 is located above the mixing plate 32, and the raw material is supplied toward the approximate center of the mixing plate 32 through the outlet 22a.

  The beverage mixing apparatus 3 configured as described above mixes hot water and raw materials as shown in FIGS.

  That is, when producing a beverage, as shown in FIG. 5, hot water Y in the hot water storage tank 1 is supplied to the upper surface of the mixing plate 32 through the hot water pipe 11, while the raw material G is supplied to the mixing plate 32 through the raw material pipe 22. Is done. At this time, since both the hot water Y and the raw material G are supplied to the approximate center of the mixing plate 32, both are mixed efficiently.

  Moreover, since the hot water Y reaching the upper surface of the mixing plate 32 flows radially uniformly from the center of the mixing plate 32 as shown by the arrows in FIG. 6, the hot water Y and the raw material G are mixed evenly, and then mixed. It flows over the entire inner wall surface 312c of the portion 312 and the two are further efficiently mixed at the inner wall surface 312c.

  In this way, the generated beverage mixed by the mixing plate 32 and the mixing unit 312 flows into the beverage pipe 4 through the beverage outlet 312b, and then poured into the cup C.

  The mixing process of the hot water Y and the raw material G as described above is driven and controlled as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8 using the drive control circuit shown in FIG. That is, the vending machine provided with the beverage mixing device 3 has a CPU 51 and a memory 52 constituted by a microcomputer 5 (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer), and the memory 52 has opening / closing time data (hot water supply) of the hot water on / off valve 12. Amount data) and operating time of the screw conveyor 21 (raw material supply amount data) are stored for each type of raw material. In addition, the first to third beverage switches 6 a, 6 b, 6 c are provided for each type of ingredient, and beverage setting signals of the beverage switches 6 a, 6 b, 6 c are input to the microcomputer 5. On the basis of the beverage setting signals, the hot water storage on / off valve 12 is controlled to open / close, and the screw conveyor 21 is controlled to be driven.

  Control of these devices 12 and 21 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. That is, it is determined which of the first to third beverage switches 6a, 6b, 6c is turned on when the beverage is generated (S1 to S3). Here, when it determines with the 1st drink switch 6a being ON, 1st drive control, for example, the open time of the hot water storage opening / closing valve 12, and the drive time of the screw conveyance machine 21 are made into a normal setting (S4). When it is determined that the second beverage switch 6b is turned on, the second drive control, for example, the opening time of the hot water storage opening / closing valve 12 is set to a time longer than the normal setting, and the driving time of the screw conveyor 21 is set. Normal setting is made (S5). When it is determined that the third beverage switch 6c is on, the third drive control, for example, the opening time of the hot water storage on / off valve 12 is normally set, and the drive time of the screw transporter 21 is longer than the normal setting. (S6).

  As described above, according to the beverage mixing apparatus 3 according to the present embodiment, the hot water Y and the raw material G are mixed in advance by the mixing plate 32 and then mixed again by the inner wall surface 312c of the mixing ball 31. Y and raw material G are mixed uniformly.

  Moreover, since the hot water Y and the raw material G can be efficiently mixed without using a stirrer as in the past, the produced beverage does not foam, and a high-quality beverage with high commercial value can be provided. A driving source is also unnecessary, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

  Further, since the mixing plate 32 is suspended from the introduction portion 311 via the suspension piece 321, the connecting portion between the mixing plate 32 and the mixing ball 31 is closer to the upper portion of the mixing ball 31. Accordingly, since the portion where the beverage residue is less than the lower side of the mixing ball 31 is the connection portion, the residue hardly remains on the hanging piece 321, and even if the residue remains, the upper portion of the mixing ball 31 It can be easily cleaned from (through hole 311c).

  Furthermore, since the introduction part 311 is detachable with respect to the mixing part 312, the introduction part 311 can be removed, the mixing plate 32 can be easily cleaned, and the inner wall surface 312c of the mixing part 312 is also provided. This can also be easily cleaned.

  Furthermore, since the hot water supply amount and raw material supply amount corresponding to various raw materials can be set based on the beverage setting signals of the first to third beverage switches 6a, 6b, 6c, the quality of various beverages can be improved. it can.

  In this embodiment, the hot water supply amount data of the hot water storage opening / closing valve 12 and the raw material supply amount data of the screw transporter 21 are controlled. You may make it control the time of a drive start and the time of a drive stop. For example, when controlling to open the hot water storage opening / closing valve 12 earlier than the drive of the screw conveyor 21, the melting efficiency of the raw material G is improved. In addition, for example, when a beverage with a small amount of hot water is supplied, the screw conveyor 21 is controlled so that the hot water storage opening / closing valve 12 is opened earlier, thereby preventing a decrease in the melting efficiency of the raw material G. You may make it do.

  FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of the beverage mixing apparatus according to the present invention. Note that the same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  Although the upper surface of the mixing plate according to the first embodiment is flat, the mixing plate 33 according to the present embodiment is formed so that the upper surface 331 gradually increases from the peripheral edge toward the center. .

  According to the present embodiment, the hot water that has flowed down to the upper surface 331 of the mixing plate 33 smoothly flows toward the peripheral edge of the mixing plate 33 along the inclination of the upper surface 331, so that foaming on the upper surface 331 is prevented, Does not reduce the commercial value of beverages. Further, the residue does not remain on the upper surface 331 because the hot water flows smoothly.

  In this embodiment, since the outlet 22a of the raw material pipe 22 is arranged directly above the center of the mixing plate 33, the raw material G is uniformly supplied to the entire upper surface 331 of the mixing plate 33, and the hot water Y and the raw material G are supplied. Mix evenly.

  Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 10 shows a third embodiment of the beverage mixing apparatus according to the present invention. Note that the same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  Although the upper surface of the mixing plate according to the first embodiment is a horizontal surface, the upper surface 341 of the mixing plate 34 according to the present embodiment is from one side to the other (from the left side to the right side in FIG. 10). The outlet 11a of the hot water pipe 11 is arranged on one side of the upper surface 341, and the hot water Y is poured along the inclination of the upper surface 341.

  According to the present embodiment, hot water Y flows from one side of the upper surface 341 of the mixing plate 34 toward the other, and the path for mixing the hot water Y and the raw material G (distance reaching from one to the other) becomes longer. Hot water Y and raw material G are mixed more uniformly. Further, since the upper surface 341 is inclined, no residue remains on the upper surface 341. Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In each of the above embodiments, the raw material pipe 22 and the hot water pipe 11 are arranged at the center or obliquely above the mixing plates 32, 33 and 34, respectively, but the present invention is limited to these arrangement examples. However, the raw material pipe 22 and the hot water pipe 11 may be arranged in any way as long as the hot water Y and the raw material G can be mixed efficiently and uniformly.

Schematic diagram of vending machine with beverage mixing device installed 1 is an external perspective view of a beverage mixing apparatus according to a first embodiment. The top view of the drink mixing device concerning a 1st embodiment. Sectional drawing of the beverage mixing apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the drink production | generation state of 1st Embodiment. The top view which shows the drink production | generation state of 1st Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the drink production | generation control circuit of 1st Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the drink production | generation control of 1st Embodiment. Partially omitted sectional view of a beverage mixing apparatus according to a second embodiment Sectional drawing of the beverage mixing apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Hot water storage tank, 2 ... Raw material canister, 3 ... Beverage mixing apparatus, 5 ... Microcomputer, 11 ... Hot water pipe, 11a ... Outlet port, 12 ... Hot water storage opening / closing valve, 21 ... Screw conveyance machine, 22 ... Raw material pipe, 31 ... Mixing Ball, 32, 33, 34 ... mixing plate, 331, 341 ... upper surface, 311 ... introduction part, 312 ... mixing part, 312c ... inner wall surface, 321 ... hanging piece, Y ... hot water, G ... raw material.

Claims (7)

In a beverage mixing apparatus provided with a mixing ball that introduces hot water guided through a hot water passage and raw materials guided through a raw material passage from the upper part, mixes the hot water and the raw materials and leads out from the lower part,
A mixing member that receives the hot water and the raw material to produce a mixed beverage and flows the mixed beverage toward the inner wall surface of the mixing ball is provided near the upper portion in the mixing ball. Beverage mixing device. The mixing member is formed in a substantially disc shape, the raw material passage is arranged so that the raw material is led out to the approximate center of the mixing member, and the hot water is vertically directed toward the approximate center of the mixing member. The beverage mixing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hot water passage is arranged to be poured. The beverage mixing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the mixing member is formed so as to gradually increase from the peripheral side edge toward the center. The beverage according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the mixing member is formed so as to be lowered from one of the upper surfaces toward the other, and the hot water passage is arranged so that hot water is poured into one of the upper surfaces. Mixing device. The beverage mixing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the mixing member is suspended from the mixing ball. The mixing ball has an introduction portion for introducing the hot water and the raw material, and a substantially funnel-shaped mixing portion for mixing the hot water and the raw material flowing out from the introduction portion, and the mixing member is suspended from the introduction portion. The beverage mixing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the introduction unit is detachably provided on an upper portion of the mixing unit. The vending machine using the beverage mixing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the hot water supply means for supplying the hot water, the raw material supply means for supplying the raw material, and the hot water supply means, Vending machine comprising control means for controlling the raw material supply means.

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