JP6423638B2 - Beverage cooler - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a beverage cooling apparatus that cools a beverage such as beer by passing it through a spiral beverage cooling pipe in a cooling water tank.

  Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a beverage cooling device that cools a beverage such as beer. The beverage cooling device of Patent Document 1 includes a cooling water tank that stores cooling water, a refrigeration device that cools cooling water using an evaporation pipe provided along the inner peripheral surface of the cooling water tank, and a vertical direction that spirals in the cooling water tank. A spiral beverage cooling pipe wound as the direction of travel of the agitator, a stirring blade provided inside the helical beverage cooling pipe in the cooling water tank and generating a flow of cooling water from the top to the bottom of the cooling water tank; It has. In this beverage cooling device, the cooling water in the cooling water tank circulates inside and outside the spiral beverage cooling pipe by the rotation of the stirring blade, and the beverage passing through the beverage cooling pipe is in the spiral beverage cooling pipe. It cools by exchanging heat with the cooling water which circulates inside and outside. In addition, the beverage cooling device has an ice detection electrode disposed around the evaporation pipe in the upper part of the cooling water tank, and the ice detection electrode is covered with ice formed around the evaporation pipe. Is provided with an ice thickness detection sensor for detecting that the ice formed around the evaporation tube has a predetermined thickness. In the beverage cooling device, the operation of the refrigeration device is controlled based on the detection result of the ice thickness detection sensor, and ice having an appropriate thickness is formed so that the ice formed around the evaporation tube does not cover the beverage cooling tube. It is controlled so that

  The beverage cooling apparatus of Patent Document 2 is a cooling water tank that stores cooling water, a refrigeration apparatus that cools cooling water using an evaporation pipe provided along the inner peripheral surface of the cooling water tank, and a vertical direction in the cooling water tank. A spiral beverage cooling pipe wound as the direction of travel of the agitator, a stirring blade provided inside the helical beverage cooling pipe in the cooling water tank and generating a flow of cooling water from the top to the bottom of the cooling water tank; It has. In this beverage cooling apparatus, the spiral beverage cooling pipe has a rough winding portion in which the winding portions are spaced apart from each other in the upper and lower portions, and the winding portions are closely attached to each other in the vertical direction in the middle portion. It has a winding part.

  The cooling water in the cooling water tank flows between the winding portions of the coarse winding portion at the top of the spiral beverage cooling pipe when the stirring blades are rotated, and flows into the spiral beverage cooling pipe. The cooling water in the water tank is suppressed from generating abnormal noise due to the entrainment of cooling water called air biting. In addition, the cooling water that has flowed into the spiral beverage cooling pipe is prevented from flowing out by the tightly wound portion in the middle portion in the vertical direction, and is sent to the lower side. It flows out from between. The cooling water flowing out from the lower part of the spiral beverage cooling pipe rises outside the spiral beverage cooling pipe and flows into the inner side again from the upper part of the helical beverage cooling pipe. It circulates inside and outside the spiral beverage cooling tube. As described above, the spiral beverage cooling pipe has the rough winding part at the upper part and the lower part and the dense winding part at the middle part in the vertical direction, so that the generation of noise generated when the cooling water entrains air is generated. In addition, the beverage passing through the beverage cooling pipe is efficiently cooled by the cooling water circulating between the inside and the outside from the upper part to the lower part of the spiral beverage cooling pipe.

JP 2002-321794 A Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-221122

  In the beverage cooling apparatus described in Patent Document 2, when the thickness of ice formed around the evaporator is controlled using an ice thickness detection sensor as in Patent Document 1, the following problems have been encountered. In this type of beverage cooling device, since ice is not easily formed in the upper part of the evaporation pipe in the cooling water tank, an ice detection electrode of an ice thickness detection sensor is often provided in the upper part of the cooling water tank. As in the beverage cooling device described in Patent Document 2, when the rough winding portion is provided on the upper portion of the spiral beverage cooling pipe, the cooling water in the cooling water tank flows into the inside from the rough winding portion of the beverage cooling pipe. The water flow in the upper part of the cooling water tank was particularly fast. For this reason, in the beverage cooling apparatus described in Patent Document 2, if the ice detection electrode of the ice thickness detection sensor is disposed on the upper part of the cooling water tank, even if the ice detection electrode is covered with ice, The ice around the electrode sometimes melted locally due to the rapid flow of cooling water. If the ice detection electrode is frequently covered with ice and locally exposed to cooling water, the compressor will be repeatedly operated and stopped (start / stop), particularly the compressor. May become the upper limit of the number of starts and stops at a timing earlier than usual. The present invention prevents the ice that is formed around the ice detection electrode of the ice thickness detection sensor from being eroded by the water flow of the cooling water in the cooling water tank so that the refrigeration apparatus does not repeatedly operate and stop. The purpose is to do.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention cools cooling water by circulating and supplying refrigerant to a cooling water tank storing cooling water and an evaporator disposed in the cooling water tank to form ice around the evaporator. A cooling beverage tank, a spiral beverage cooling pipe wound up and down in the cooling water tank as a spiral traveling direction, and provided inside the helical beverage cooling pipe in the cooling water tank. It has a stirring blade that generates a flow of cooling water from the top to the bottom, and an ice detection electrode disposed around the evaporator in the cooling water tank, and this ice detection electrode is formed around the evaporator. An ice thickness detection sensor that detects that the ice formed around the evaporator has reached a predetermined thickness by being covered with ice, and operates the refrigeration system based on the detection result of the ice thickness detection sensor. A beverage cooling device to control, the spiral beverage cooling pipe is A densely wound portion in which the pitch of the winding tube is reduced so that the respective wound portions are in close contact with each other vertically, and a coarsely wound portion in which the pitch of the wound tube is increased so that the respective wound portions are spaced apart from each other above and below the densely wound portion And providing an ice detection electrode of the ice thickness detection sensor on the upper side of the tightly wound portion of the beverage cooling pipe below the upper end.

In the beverage cooling apparatus configured as described above, the spiral beverage cooling pipe is formed on the upper side of the tightly wound portion and the tightly wound portion with the winding pitch reduced so that the respective wound portions are in close contact with each other vertically. The cooling water in the cooling water tank flows into the inside of the spiral beverage cooling pipe from the rough winding part by having the coarse winding part in which the pitch of the winding pipe is increased so that the respective winding parts are separated from each other vertically. This makes it difficult to entrain air and suppresses the generation of abnormal noise that occurs when the cooling water entrains air. Since the cooling water in the cooling water tank passes through the coarse winding portion of the beverage cooling pipe, the flow of the cooling water becomes faster around the coarse winding portion, but the ice detection electrode of the ice thickness detection sensor is tightly wound around the beverage cooling pipe. Since it is provided below the upper end at the upper part of the part, it was possible to prevent the ice formed around the ice detection electrode from being affected by the flow of the cooling water generated around the rough winding part. This can prevent the ice detection electrode from being locally exposed to the cooling water due to the local melting of the ice around the ice detection electrode, and the refrigeration unit can be frequently activated and stopped. It was possible not to repeat.

In the beverage cooling apparatus configured as described above, it is preferable that the ice detection electrode of the ice thickness detection sensor is disposed on the upper side of the tightly wound portion of the beverage cooling pipe from the upper end to the lower side by 1 to 5 turns. In this case, the ice formed around the ice detecting electrode of the ice thickness detecting sensor can be further prevented from being affected by the cooling water flow generated around the coarsely wound portion.

It is the longitudinal direction sectional view which cut | disconnected the center part of the left-right direction of the drink dispenser which is one Embodiment of the drink cooling device by this invention along the front-back direction.

  Below, the drink dispenser which is one Embodiment of the drink cooling device by this invention is demonstrated with reference to drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a beverage dispenser 10 according to the present invention includes a cooling water tank 20 that stores cooling water in a front part of a housing 11 and a refrigeration apparatus 30 that cools cooling water in the cooling water tank 20 with a rear part as a machine room 12. And is housed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cooling water tank 20 is provided with a spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 for cooling the beverage, and the beverage cooling pipe 21 is spirally wound with the vertical direction as the spiraling direction. ing. The inlet end of the beverage cooling pipe 21 is connected to a beverage container such as a via barrel (not shown) provided outside the housing 11, and the outlet end is connected to a dispensing cock 22 provided on the front surface of the housing 11. . The spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 has a winding portion (one winding portion) that rotates around a spiral axis extending in the vertical direction and is continuously arranged in the vertical direction. The beverage cooling pipe 21 has a tightly wound portion 21a in which the pitch of the wound tube is reduced so that the respective wound portions are in close contact with each other vertically, and the respective wound portions are spaced apart from each other above and below the densely wound portion 21a. Coarse winding portions 21b and 21c having a larger winding pipe pitch are provided. The tightly wound portion 21a of the beverage cooling pipe 21 is provided in a region of approximately 2/5 of the middle portion in the vertical direction excluding the approximately 1/5 portion of the upper portion of the beverage cooling tube 21 and the approximately 2/5 portion of the lower portion thereof. ing. The upper coarse winding portion 21 b of the beverage cooling pipe 21 is provided in an approximately 1/5 region of the upper portion of the beverage cooling pipe 21, and the lower coarse winding portion 21 c is substantially 2 below the beverage cooling pipe 21. / 5 area. The upper coarse winding portion 21b is narrower than the lower coarse winding portion 21c, but the pitch of the upper coarse winding portion 21b is larger than the winding pitch of the lower coarse winding portion 21c. It is getting bigger.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cooling water tank 20 is provided with a stirring device 23. The stirring device 23 includes a stirring motor 23b on the upper surface of a support plate 23a installed on the upper edge of the cooling water tank 20. The rotating shaft 23c rotated by the stirring motor 23b passes through the support plate 23a and extends into the cooling water tank 20 at a position which becomes the central portion of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21, and a stirring blade 23d for stirring the cooling water is provided at the tip. It is fixed. When the rotating shaft 23c is rotated by the stirring motor 23b, the stirring blade 23d at the tip of the rotating shaft 23c rotates inside the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 in the cooling water tank 20, and the stirring blade 23d is changed to an arrow in FIG. As shown, a flow of cooling water is generated from the top to the bottom inside the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigeration apparatus 30 includes a compressor 31 that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser 32 that cools the compressed refrigerant gas, a capillary tube (not shown) that expands the liquefied refrigerant, and the cooling water tank 20. The refrigerant circuit comprises an evaporation pipe (evaporator) 33 that evaporates and expands the liquefied refrigerant spirally wound around the inner peripheral surface of the gas, and cools the cooling water. doing. The refrigeration apparatus 30 cools the cooling water around the evaporation pipe 33 in the cooling water tank 20 by circulating the refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit, and forms an ice layer I having a predetermined thickness around the evaporation pipe 33. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an ice thickness detection sensor 40 is provided in the cooling water tank 20. The ice thickness detection sensor 40 includes a bracket 41 provided on the front side (periphery) of the evaporation pipe 33 at the rear portion in the cooling water tank 20, the first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43 fixed to the bracket 41, and the above-mentioned. And a ground electrode 21 made of the beverage cooling pipe 21. In this embodiment, the beverage cooling pipe 21 is used as the ground electrode. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the beverage cooling pipe 21 and the beverage cooling pipe 21 are not covered by the ice layer I formed around the evaporation pipe 33. A different ground electrode may be provided separately. The ice thickness detection sensor 40 has a predetermined thickness of ice around the evaporation tube 33 based on a potential difference or electric resistance (electric conductivity) between the first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43 and the ground electrode 21. Is detected. The first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43 are fixed by a bracket 41 at the outermost position in the ice layer I formed around the evaporation tube 33. The first ice detection electrode 42 is a long electrode extending to the outermost side where the ice layer I having a predetermined thickness is formed around the evaporation tube 33, and the second ice detection electrode 43 is formed around the evaporation tube 33. This is a short electrode extending to a position exposed to cooling water in a state where the ice layer I having a predetermined thickness is the thinnest. The first and second ice detecting electrodes 42 and 43 are provided at positions below the upper end of the densely wound portion 21a, that is, at positions facing the densely wound portion 21a of the beverage cooling pipe 21 in the horizontal direction. In this embodiment, the first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43 are arranged at least one turn below the upper end of the densely wound portion 21a, and are arranged at positions 4 to 5 turns below the upper end.

  The beverage dispenser 10 includes a control device 50 that controls the operation of the refrigeration apparatus 30. The control device 50 is connected to the refrigeration device 30 and the ice thickness detection sensor 40, and controls the operation of the refrigeration device 30, particularly the compressor 31, based on the detection of the ice thickness detection sensor 40. The ice layer I formed around the evaporation tube 33 grows to a position covering the first ice detection electrode 42, and a potential difference (electric resistance value) between the first ice detection electrode 42 and the ground electrode 21 is predetermined. When the value exceeds the upper limit value, ice having a predetermined thickness is formed around the evaporation pipe 33, and the control device 50 stops the operation of the compressor 31 of the refrigeration device 30. On the other hand, the ice layer I melts to the position where the second ice detection electrode 43 is exposed to the cooling water, and the potential difference (electric resistance value) between the second ice detection electrode 43 and the ground electrode 21 is a predetermined value. When the lower limit value is reached, the control device 50 operates the compressor 31 of the refrigeration device 30, circulates the refrigerant through the evaporation pipe 33, cools the cooling water around the evaporation pipe 33, and grows ice again.

  The operation of the beverage dispenser 10 configured as described above will be described. By the operation of the refrigeration apparatus 30 of the beverage dispenser 10, the refrigerant gas pumped from the compressor 31 is cooled by the condenser 32 to become a liquefied refrigerant, which expands when the liquefied refrigerant passes through a capillary tube (not shown), When the expanded liquefied refrigerant passes through the evaporation pipe 33, it is vaporized by exchanging heat with the cooling water in the cooling water tank 20, and then returns to the compressor 31. At this time, the cooling water in the cooling water tank 20 is gradually cooled around the evaporation pipe 33, and an ice layer I having a predetermined thickness is formed around the evaporation pipe 33.

  Further, when the stirring motor 23b of the stirring device 23 is operated, the stirring blade 23d rotates in the cooling water tank 20, and the cooling water in the cooling water tank 20 flows from the top to the bottom inside the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21. . At this time, the cooling water in the cooling water tank 20 passes between the respective winding portions of the coarse winding portion 21 b on the upper side of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 and flows into the inside from the outside of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21. Since the cooling water in the cooling water tank 20 passes between the respective winding portions of the coarse winding portion 21b, the generation of noise generated when the cooling water is entrained with air is suppressed. The cooling water flowing into the inside of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 is sent to the lower side while being prevented from flowing out by the densely wound part 21a at the middle part in the vertical direction, and each winding part of the lower coarsely wound part 21c. And flows out from the lower opening of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 to the outside. The cooling water flowing out from the lower part of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 rises outside the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 and flows into the inner side from the upper part of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 again. The cooling water efficiently circulates inside and outside from the top to the bottom of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21.

  The beverage cooling pipe 21 is connected to a beverage container (not shown) such as a beer barrel in a state where the pressure of carbon dioxide supplied from a carbon dioxide cylinder (not shown) is applied. When operated, the beverage pushed out by the pressure of carbon dioxide gas from the beverage container such as a beer barrel is poured out from the dispensing cock 22 through the beverage cooling pipe 21. At this time, the beverage that passes through the beverage cooling pipe 21 is cooled by exchanging heat with the cooling water in the cooling water tank 20.

  In the beverage dispenser 10 configured as described above, the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 includes a tightly wound part 21a in which the pitch of the wound pipe is reduced so that the respective wound parts are in close contact with each other, and the tightly wound part 21a. On the upper side, there is a coarsely wound portion 21b in which the pitch of the wound tube is increased so that the winding portions are separated from each other in the vertical direction. Thereby, when the cooling water in the cooling water tank 20 flows into the inside from the outside of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21, the cooling water passes between the respective winding portions of the coarse winding portion 21 b on the upper side of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21. Therefore, the generation of abnormal noise that occurs when the cooling water entrains the air is suppressed. Further, the cooling water that has flowed into the inside of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 is sent to the lower side while being prevented from flowing out by the densely wound portion 21a in the middle portion in the vertical direction, and the lower coarsely wound portion 21c The beverage that flows between the respective winding portions and from the lower opening of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 flows outward, and the beverage passing through the lower portion of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21 is also efficiently cooled.

  As described above, since the cooling water in the cooling water tank 20 passes through the rough winding portion 21b on the upper side of the spiral beverage cooling pipe 21, the water flow in the vicinity of the rough winding portion 21b of the beverage cooling pipe 21 becomes faster. In addition, the ice formed around the evaporation pipe 33 may be eroded by a water flow locally flowing in the coarsely wound portion 21b at the same height as the coarsely wound portion 21b. In the beverage dispenser 10 of the present invention, the first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43 of the ice thickness detection sensor 40 are provided below the upper end of the tightly wound portion 21a of the beverage cooling pipe 21, so that the first and first It was possible to prevent the ice formed around the two ice detecting electrodes 42 and 43 from being affected by the water flow flowing through the coarsely wound portion 21b. As a result, the first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43 are locally exposed to the cooling water due to the local melting of the ice around the first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43. It was possible to prevent the compressor 31 of the refrigeration apparatus 30 from repeatedly operating and stopping.

  In the cooling water tank 20, the water flow is accelerated by the cooling water passing through the coarsely wound portion 21b also in the vicinity of the boundary portion between the coarsely wound portion 21b and the densely wound portion 21a on the upper side of the beverage cooling pipe 21. In this embodiment, the first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43 of the ice thickness detection sensor 40 are at least one turn lower than the upper end of the tightly wound portion 21a of the beverage cooling pipe 21, and are 4 to 5 turns. Located on the lower side. By doing so, the ice formed around the first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43 is in the vicinity of the boundary portion between the coarsely wound portion 21b and the densely wound portion 21a on the upper side of the beverage cooling pipe 21. Thus, it was possible to reliably avoid the influence of the water flow caused by the cooling water passing through the rough winding portion 21b. As a result, the first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43 are locally exposed to the cooling water due to the local melting of the ice around the first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43. This can be prevented more reliably, and the compressor 31 of the refrigeration apparatus 30 can be prevented from being repeatedly operated and stopped frequently. The first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43 of the ice thickness detection sensor 40 are provided 4 to 5 turns below the upper end of the tightly wound portion 21a of the beverage cooling pipe 21, but this is not limitative. If it is lower than the upper end of the densely wound portion 21a by one turn or more, it can be made less susceptible to the influence of the cooling water flowing through the coarsely wound portion 21b.

  In the embodiment described above, the first and second ice detection electrodes 42 and 43 are used as the ice detection electrodes. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and one ice detection electrode is used. An electrode may be used. In this case, when the ice detection electrode is covered with ice, the operation of the refrigeration apparatus 30 (particularly the compressor 31) is stopped, and when the ice detection electrode is exposed to the cooling water, the refrigeration apparatus 30 (particularly the compression unit 30) is compressed. It is only necessary to control the machine 31) to operate, and the same operation and effect can be obtained even in such a case.

  Moreover, although demonstrated using the drink dispenser 10 as one Embodiment of the drink cooling device of this invention, this invention is not restricted to this, For example, the pouring cock was separately attached to the counter etc., and the note attached to the counter The present invention can also be applied to a beverage cooling apparatus in which a beverage cooling pipe 21 is connected to the outlet cock using a beverage hose or the like.

  Moreover, although demonstrated using the drink dispenser 10 as one Embodiment of the drink cooling device of this invention, this invention is not restricted to this, For example, the water supply which cools and pours out water, tea, etc. as a drink It is also applied to the machine and tea machine.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Beverage cooling device (beverage dispenser), 20 ... Cooling water tank, 21 ... Spiral beverage cooling pipe, 21a ... Close winding part, 21b ... Coarse winding part, 23d ... Stirring blade, 30 ... Refrigeration apparatus, 33 ... Evaporator (Evaporation tube), 40 ... ice thickness detection sensor, 42, 43 ... ice detection electrode.

Claims (2)

A cooling water tank storing cooling water;
A refrigerating apparatus that circulates and supplies a refrigerant to an evaporator disposed in the cooling water tank and cools the cooling water by forming ice around the evaporator; and
A spiral beverage cooling pipe wound in the cooling water tank with the vertical direction as the spiral traveling direction;
A stirring blade provided inside the helical beverage cooling pipe in the cooling water tank, and generating a flow of cooling water from the top to the bottom of the cooling water tank;
An ice detecting electrode disposed around the evaporator in the cooling water tank, and the ice detecting electrode is covered with ice formed around the evaporator, thereby surrounding the evaporator. An ice thickness detection sensor for detecting that the ice formed on the substrate has a predetermined thickness,
A beverage cooling device for controlling the operation of the refrigeration device based on the detection result by the ice thickness detection sensor,
The spiral beverage cooling pipe is wound in such a manner that the winding portion is reduced in pitch so that the winding portions are in close contact with each other vertically, and the winding portions are spaced apart from each other on the upper side of the dense winding portion. A coarsely wound portion with a large pipe pitch,
The beverage cooling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an ice detection electrode of the ice thickness detection sensor is provided above an upper end of the tightly wound portion of the beverage cooling pipe below the upper end. The beverage cooling device according to claim 1, wherein
A beverage cooling apparatus, wherein an ice detection electrode of the ice thickness detection sensor is disposed on the upper side of the tightly wound portion of the beverage cooling pipe and on the lower side of 1 volume to 5 volumes from the upper end.

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