JP7484128B2 - Beverage supply equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a beverage supply device, and more specifically to a beverage supply device such as a coffee machine installed in a store such as a convenience store.

Conventionally, beverage dispensers such as coffee machines are installed in stores such as convenience stores. When a beverage is selected by a customer, the beverage dispenser produces the beverage by, for example, grinding coffee beans and performing an extraction process such as dripping, and dispenses the beverage into a cup placed in the beverage dispenser.

In such a beverage supply device, a device has been proposed that detects whether or not a cup is placed in the beverage supply section, and supplies a beverage only when a cup is detected (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-274767 A

Some modern beverage dispensers change the type of cup they use depending on the type of beverage they are dispensing. For example, some beverage dispensers use paper cups when dispensing hot beverages, and transparent plastic cups with ice inside when dispensing cold beverages.

In such a beverage supply device, it is desirable to configure it so that it will not supply a beverage if the type of cup placed in the beverage supply unit and the type of beverage instructed to be supplied are not an appropriate combination. In other words, if the beverage supply unit has the function of determining the type of cup placed in the beverage supply unit, it will be possible to prevent a situation in which a beverage brewed for a cold beverage is mistakenly supplied to a paper cup.

In view of the above, the present invention aims to provide a beverage dispenser that can accurately determine the type of cup.

In order to achieve the above object, the beverage supply device according to the present invention is a beverage supply device that supplies a beverage prepared in a beverage preparation unit to a cup placed in a beverage supply unit, and is characterized by comprising a distance detection unit that is installed in an area above the cup and detects the distance to an exposed portion of its own detection area inside the cup through an opening of the cup, and a determination unit that determines the type of cup by determining that no ice is contained in the cup if the detection value detected by the distance detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and determining that ice is contained in the cup if the detection value is less than the threshold.

The present invention also provides a beverage supplying device, in which the distance detection units are installed in a horizontally symmetrical manner around a nozzle that ejects the beverage produced by the beverage production unit downward into the cup, and each detects the distance along the vertical direction with respect to the exposed portion of the detection area, and the determination unit determines that the cup does not contain ice if all detection values detected by the distance detection units are equal to or greater than the threshold value, and determines that the cup contains ice if any detection value is less than the threshold value, thereby determining the type of cup.

The present invention is also characterized in that in the beverage supply device, the distance detection unit detects the distance using light or sound waves.

According to the present invention, the distance detection unit installed in the upper area of the cup detects the distance to the exposed part of its own detection area inside the cup through the opening of the cup, and the determination unit determines that the cup does not contain ice if the detection value detected by the distance detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and determines that the cup contains ice if the detection value is less than the threshold, thereby determining the type of the cup. This has the effect of being able to accurately determine the type of cup without being affected by the material or surface condition of the cup.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of a beverage supplying device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic diagram of a control system of the beverage supplying device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a front view conceptually showing the beverage supply unit shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view showing a schematic view of a main part of the beverage supply unit shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a front view showing a schematic view of a main part of the beverage supply unit shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a front view showing a schematic view of a main part of the beverage supply unit shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the beverage supply control process executed by the control unit shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the cup determination process in FIG. FIG. 9 is a front view showing a schematic view of a main part of a beverage supplying device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a front view showing a schematic view of a main part of a beverage supplying device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a front view showing a schematic view of a main part of a beverage supplying device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The following describes in detail a preferred embodiment of the beverage supply device according to the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.

Figures 1 and 2 each show a beverage supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention, with Figure 1 being a perspective view showing the external configuration and Figure 2 being a block diagram showing the control system.

The beverage supply device exemplified here is a coffee machine installed in a store such as a convenience store, and for example, grinds coffee beans and performs an extraction process by dripping to supply a beverage such as coffee to a container, a cup C. Such a beverage supply device includes a device main body 1.

Here, there are cups C that are specifically for cold beverages and cups C that are specifically for hot beverages. Cups C that are specifically for cold beverages are made of a colorless, transparent resin, and have ice IC (see Figure 5, etc.) inside before the beverage is dispensed. These cups C that are specifically for cold beverages are stored frozen in a freezer to prevent the ice IC inside from melting. Cups C that are specifically for hot beverages are made of white, opaque paper, and are formed in approximately the same shape and size as cups C that are specifically for cold beverages. These cups C that are specifically for hot beverages are stored at room temperature with the inside empty.

The device main body 1 comprises a main body cabinet 10 and a front door 20. The main body cabinet 10 has a generally rectangular shape with an open front. Inside the main body cabinet 10, a beverage preparation section 11 that prepares a beverage (e.g., coffee) is provided.

The front door 20 is a door body that is large enough to close the front opening of the main cabinet 10. This front door 20 is provided at one edge of the front side of the main cabinet 10 so as to be able to swing around the central axis of an axis part (not shown) that extends in the vertical direction, and is capable of opening and closing the front opening of the main cabinet 10.

The front of the front door 20 constitutes the customer service surface and is provided with a display unit 21, a beverage supply unit 22, and an opening/closing door 23. The display unit 21 is, for example, a liquid crystal touch panel, and displays various information and has an input unit 21a that allows input operations such as touch operations.

The beverage supply unit 22 is configured by providing a recess below the display unit 21. As shown in FIG. 3, the beverage supply unit 22 has a nozzle 221, a stage 222, a rear wall 223, and side walls 224L and 224R. The nozzle 221 ejects the beverage produced by the beverage production unit 11 downward. The stage 222 is provided below the nozzle 221. The stage 222 is provided for placing the cup C and is provided with an arc-shaped stopper 222a. The stage 222 also has a number of passage holes (not shown) formed therein to allow the beverage that was ejected from the nozzle 221 but not supplied to the cup C to pass through, and a tray (not shown) for storing the beverage is provided below the nozzle 221.

The rear wall 223 covers the rear surface of the stage 222. The side walls 224L, 224R cover both side surfaces of the stage 222. These side walls 224L, 224R are arranged so that the distance between them gradually increases from both side edges of the rear wall 223 toward the front.

The opening/closing door 23 is made of a translucent material such as a transparent resin, and is large enough to cover the entrance 225 of the beverage supply unit 22. The left end of the opening/closing door 23 is pivotally supported by the front door 20, and is capable of swinging in the front-to-rear direction. In other words, the opening/closing door 23 can swing in the front-to-rear direction in a manner approaching and moving away from the beverage supply unit 22, and can close the entrance 225 of the beverage supply unit 22 when it swings backward in a manner approaching the beverage supply unit 22, and can open the entrance 225 when it swings forward in a manner moving away from the beverage supply unit 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the beverage dispenser includes a cup detection unit 31, a first distance detection unit 32, a second distance detection unit 33, a door opening/closing detection unit 34, a door opening/closing lock mechanism 35, and a control unit 40.

The cup detection unit 31 is, for example, composed of an optical sensor, and detects whether or not a cup C is placed in the beverage supply unit 22, i.e., whether or not a cup C is placed on the stage 222. The cup detection unit 31 provides the detection result of the presence or absence of a cup C to the control unit 40.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first distance detection unit 32 and the second distance detection unit 33 are installed symmetrically around the nozzle 221 in the upper area of the beverage supply unit 22, i.e., the upper area of the cup C placed on the stage 222. The first distance detection unit 32 and the second distance detection unit 33 detect the vertical distance to the exposed part of each detection area inside the cup C through the opening C1 of the cup C, for example, using light or sound waves.

To explain in more detail, as shown in FIG. 4, the first distance detection unit 32 and the second distance detection unit 33 detect the vertical distance to the area directly below (detection area) on the bottom surface of the cup C through the opening C1 of the cup C when the cup C is dedicated to hot beverages. Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the first distance detection unit 32 and the second distance detection unit 33 detect the vertical distance to the surface (exposed portion) of the area directly below (detection area) of the contents of the cup C (ice IC) through the opening C1 of the cup C when the cup C is dedicated to cold beverages.

Depending on the storage conditions of the cup C for cold beverages, the ice IC, which is the contents, may be biased, for example, to the left side, as shown in FIG. 6. In this case, the first distance detection unit 32 detects the vertical distance to the surface of the area directly below the ice IC, and the second distance detection unit 33 detects the vertical distance to the surface of the area directly below the ice IC (the bottom surface of the cup C or the surface of a part that is close to the bottom surface of the cup C). Although not shown in the figure, if the ice IC, which is the contents, is biased, for example, to the right side, the first distance detection unit 32 detects the vertical distance to the surface of the area directly below the ice IC (the bottom surface of the cup C or the surface of a part that is close to the bottom surface of the cup C), and the second distance detection unit 33 detects the vertical distance to the surface of the area directly below the ice IC.

The first distance detection unit 32 and the second distance detection unit 33 output the detection results (detection values) to the control unit 40 as detection signals.

The door open/close detection unit 34 is provided near the entrance 225 of the beverage supply unit 22, and is composed of, for example, an optical sensor. This door open/close detection unit 34 detects the opening and closing of the entrance 225 by the opening/closing door 23, and more specifically, detects whether the entrance 225 is closed, i.e., whether the opening/closing door 23 is closed. The door open/close detection unit 34 provides the control unit 40 with the detection result of whether the opening/closing door 23 is closed.

The door lock mechanism 35 is provided near the entrance 225 of the beverage supply unit 22. This door lock mechanism 35 can be switched between a locked state in which the door 23 that closes the entrance 225 is kept closed and the door 23 is prevented from swinging forward, and an unlocked state in which the door 23 is allowed to swing forward. The door lock mechanism 35 is switched in response to a command given by the control unit 40.

The control unit 40 is electrically connected to the beverage production unit 11, display unit 21, cup detection unit 31, first distance detection unit 32, second distance detection unit 33, door opening/closing detection unit 34, and door opening/closing lock mechanism 35 described above, and controls the overall operation of each of these units according to the programs and data stored in the memory unit 41, which is also electrically connected to the control unit 40. Characteristically, the control unit 40 has a determination unit 40a.

The control unit 40 may be realized, for example, by having a processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) execute a program, i.e., by software, or may be realized by hardware such as an IC (Integrated Circuit), or may be realized by a combination of software and hardware.

In the cup determination process described below, the determination unit 40a determines the type of cup C based on the detection values of the first distance detection unit 32 and the second distance detection unit 33, and threshold information stored in the memory unit 41, including a threshold for determining the type of cup C. Here, the threshold is determined taking into consideration the distance to the bottom of the cup C (e.g., 230 to 280 mm) and the distance to the ice IC inside the cup C (e.g., 40 to 60 mm), and is set to, for example, 100 mm.

Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the contents of the beverage supply control process performed by the control unit 40 shown in Figure 2. The operation of the beverage supply device will be explained while explaining the contents of the beverage supply control process.

In this beverage supply control process, the control unit 40 determines whether the cup detection unit 31 detects that the cup C is present in the beverage supply unit 22 (step S101). In other words, the cup detection unit 31 detects whether the cup C is placed on the stage 222.

If the presence of cup C is detected (step S101: Yes), the control unit 40 determines whether the opening and closing door 23 is closed or not based on the detection result of the door opening and closing detection unit 34 (step S102). If the opening and closing door 23 is not closed (step S102: No), the determination process of step S102 is repeated.

On the other hand, if the opening and closing door 23 is closed (step S102: Yes), the control unit 40 performs a cup determination process (step S103).

Figure 8 is a flowchart showing the process of the cup determination process in Figure 7. In this cup determination process, the control unit 40 determines whether or not there is an input of a detection signal from the first distance detection unit 32 and the second distance detection unit 33 (step S103a). If there is no input of a detection signal (step S103a: No), the process of step S103a is repeated.

On the other hand, when a detection signal is input (step S103a: Yes), the control unit 40 reads the threshold information from the memory unit 41 and determines whether the detection value of the first distance detection unit 32 and the detection value of the second distance detection unit 33 are equal to or greater than the threshold through the determination unit 40a (step S103b). In other words, the control unit 40 determines whether all detection values are equal to or greater than the threshold.

If all the detection values are equal to or greater than the threshold (step S103b: Yes), i.e., if the detection values by the first distance detection unit 32 and the second distance detection unit 33 are equal to or greater than the threshold, the determination unit 40a of the control unit 40 determines that the cup C does not contain ice IC and is a cup C for hot beverages only (step S103c), and then returns to the procedure to end the current process.

On the other hand, if all the detection values are not equal to or greater than the threshold (step S103b: No), that is, if either the detection value by the first distance detection unit 32 or the detection value by the second distance detection unit 33 is less than the threshold, the determination unit 40a of the control unit 40 determines that the cup C contains ice IC and is a cup C exclusively for cold beverages (step S103d), and then returns to the procedure to end the current process.

The control unit 40, having performed the cup determination process in this manner, displays on the display unit 21 the beverage corresponding to the type of cup C determined in the cup determination process, i.e., the beverage to be dispensed (hot coffee beverage or iced coffee beverage), and displays a guide to touch the input unit 21a on which a confirmation message is displayed (step S104).

Then, the control unit 40 judges whether the input unit 21a has been touched (step S105). If the input unit 21a has not been touched (step S105: No), the control unit 40 repeats the judgment process of step S105. On the other hand, if the input unit 21a has been touched (step S105: Yes), the control unit 40 locks the opening and closing door 23 in a closed state using the door opening and closing lock mechanism 35 (step S106), and causes the beverage preparation unit 11 to prepare and supply the beverage to be supplied (step S107).

The control unit 40 then determines whether or not the beverage supply by the beverage preparation unit 11 has ended (step S108). If the beverage supply has not ended (step S108: No), the control unit 40 returns to step S107 and continues the process of preparing and supplying the beverage.

On the other hand, if the beverage supply has finished (step S108: Yes), the control unit 40 unlocks the door 23 from the closed state using the door lock mechanism 35 (step S109), and then returns to the procedure to end the current process.

As described above, in the beverage supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the first distance detection unit 32 and the second distance detection unit 33 detect the vertical distance to the exposed portion of each detection area inside the cup C through the opening C1 of the cup C, for example, using light or sound waves, and the determination unit 40a of the control unit 40 determines that the cup C does not contain ice IC and is a cup C exclusively for hot beverages if the detection value by the first distance detection unit 32 and the detection value by the second distance detection unit 33 are equal to or greater than a threshold value, while determining that the cup C contains ice IC and is a cup C exclusively for cold beverages if either the detection value by the first distance detection unit 32 or the detection value by the second distance detection unit 33 is less than the threshold value, thereby making it possible to accurately determine the type of cup C without being affected by the material or surface condition of the cup C.

In particular, the first distance detection unit 32 and the second distance detection unit 33 are installed symmetrically around the nozzle 221 in the area above the cup C placed on the stage 222, so that the type of cup C can be accurately determined even if the ice IC inside the cup C is unevenly distributed.

The above describes a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this and various modifications can be made.

In the above-described embodiment, the first distance detection unit 32 and the second distance detection unit 33 are installed symmetrically with respect to the nozzle 221 in the upper area of the cup C placed on the stage 222, but in the present invention, they may be installed symmetrically with respect to the front and rear of the nozzle, or may be installed in a manner that is horizontally symmetric with respect to the nozzle.

In the above-described embodiment, a first distance detection unit 32 and a second distance detection unit 33 are provided, but in the present invention, three or more distance detection units may be provided, or a single distance detection unit may be provided.

If there is only one distance detection unit, the determination unit will determine that the cup does not contain ice if the detection value detected by the distance detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and will determine that the cup contains ice if the detection value is less than the threshold, thereby determining the type of cup.

When there is only one distance detection unit, it may be installed as shown in FIG. 9. The distance detection unit 36 shown in FIG. 9 is installed on the left side of the nozzle 221 in the upper area of the beverage supply unit 22, i.e., in the upper area of the cup C placed on the stage 222. This distance detection unit 36 detects the distance inclined in the vertical direction toward the area (detection area) close to the bottom surface on the left inner circumferential surface of the cup C, by passing through the opening C1 of the cup C and passing through the beverage dispensing direction of the nozzle 221, for example, using light or sound waves.

To explain in more detail, when cup C is for hot beverages only, distance detection unit 36 detects the distance to the exposed part of the detection area on the left inner circumferential surface of cup C through opening C1 of cup C. Also, when cup C is for cold beverages only as shown in FIG. 10, distance detection unit 36 detects the distance to the surface (exposed part) of the contents of cup C (ice IC) through opening C1 of cup C.

Even with a configuration including such a distance detection unit 36, the type of cup C can be accurately determined without being affected by the material or surface condition of the cup C. Moreover, since the distance detection unit 36 detects the inclined distance toward the area (detection area) close to the bottom surface of the left inner circumferential surface of the cup C as it passes through the beverage discharge direction of the nozzle 221, as shown in FIG. 11, the distance can be accurately detected and the type of cup C can be accurately determined even if the ice IC, which is the content, is biased to the left side, for example.

In the example shown in Figures 9 to 11, the distance detection unit 36 is provided on the left side of the nozzle 221, but in the present invention, the distance detection unit may be provided on the right side of the nozzle, or on the front or rear side.

1... device body, 10... body cabinet, 11... beverage preparation section, 20... front door, 21... display section, 22... beverage supply section, 221... nozzle, 222... stage, 223... rear wall, 224L, 224R... side walls, 225... entrance, 23... opening and closing door, 31... cup detection section, 32... first distance detection section, 33... second distance detection section, 34... door opening and closing detection section, 35... door opening and closing lock mechanism, 40... control section, 40a... determination section, 41... memory section, C... cup, C1... opening.

Claims (2)

A beverage supplying device that supplies a beverage prepared in a beverage preparation unit to a cup for hot beverages with no ice therein or a cup for cold beverages with ice therein in advance, the cup being disposed in a beverage supplying unit,
a plurality of distance detection units are installed in an upper region of the cup in a horizontally symmetrical manner about a nozzle that ejects the beverage produced by the beverage production unit downward into the cup, and each distance detection unit detects a distance along a vertical direction to its own detection region inside the cup through an opening of the cup;
a judgment unit that, if all detection values detected by the distance detection unit are equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, judges the cup to be a cup for hot beverages only with no ice inside, and, if any detection value is less than the threshold, judges the cup to be a cup for cold beverages only with ice inside. The beverage supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that the distance detection unit detects the distance using light or sound waves.

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