JPS6259966B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a carbonated beverage production apparatus that produces a carbonated beverage by mixing and cooling a liquid mixture containing water and carbon dioxide gas.

In conventional carbonated beverage manufacturing equipment, for example,
As disclosed in Publication No. 46909, a mixing tank that mixes carbon dioxide gas with a liquid mixture of water, syrup, etc. to make a carbonated drink, and a cooling tank that cools this carbonated drink to make a product are separated. established to manufacture carbonated beverage products. In such conventional devices, if the temperature of the liquid mixture supplied to the mixing tank changes, the amount of carbon dioxide gas dissolved in the liquid mixture in the mixing tank changes, and as a result, the carbon dioxide content in the carbonated beverage changes. changes. Moreover, since the mixed liquid is generally not at a low temperature, unless the carbon dioxide gas pressure is set high, a carbonated beverage with sufficient carbon dioxide content cannot be supplied to the cooling tank, and as a result, it is poured out from the cooling tank. The carbon dioxide content of the carbonated beverage product is also low, making it impossible to provide a suitable product with good texture. In addition, if the pressure of carbon dioxide gas is set too high, when the spout provided in the cooling tank is opened to pour out the carbonated beverage, the carbon dioxide itself will gush out from the spout with great force. Since this problem, which is even more undesirable than a decrease in the carbon dioxide content, occurs, the decrease in the carbon dioxide content has had to be accepted.

Therefore, the present invention provides a compact and lightweight carbonated beverage production device with stable carbon dioxide content, which can sufficiently absorb and dissolve carbon dioxide gas into a liquid mixture even if the pressure of carbon dioxide gas is set to a low value. The purpose is to provide

For this purpose, the carbonated beverage manufacturing device according to the invention is connected to a cooling device and receives carbon dioxide gas from a carbon dioxide gas cylinder, and a mixture of concentrate from a concentrate tank and weakly carbonated water from a weakly carbonated water storage tank. A production tank for producing a carbonated beverage and having a relatively large volume compared to the volume of the weakly carbonated water storage tank, the production tank being connected at one end to the carbon dioxide gas cylinder and supplied with the carbon dioxide gas. The other end of the supply pipe and the other end of a supply pipe that is connected at one end to the raw solution tank and the weakly carbonated water storage tank and supplies the mixed liquid are separately connected, and the weakly carbonated water storage tank is connected to the other end of the supply pipe that supplies the mixed liquid. It is characterized in that a pressurizing pipe branched from the gas supply pipe is connected.

Since the carbonated beverage production apparatus according to the present invention has the above-mentioned characteristics, the temperature of the liquid mixture supplied to the production tank equipped with a cooling device decreases as the cooling device operates. Generally, the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide gas depends on the pressure of carbon dioxide gas and the temperature of the solvent, that is, the mixed liquid.In particular, the lower the temperature, the greater the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide gas, so the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide gas in the carbonated beverage in the production tank is Even if the carbon dioxide pressure is lowered, the amount of carbon dioxide can be increased compared to the conventional method. Moreover, in the present invention, primary mixing of carbon dioxide gas is performed in the weakly carbonated water storage tank, and secondary mixing of carbon dioxide gas is performed in the production tank, so that the carbon dioxide content in the product is stabilized as a result. Therefore, it can be seen that the above objects are suitably achieved by the present invention.

Next, a preferred embodiment of the carbonated beverage manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The carbon dioxide gas cylinder 1 is connected to a storage tank 8 for storing weakly carbonated water via a pressurizing pipe 6 branched from a carbon dioxide gas supply pipe 2, and via a pipe 7'.
It communicates with the stock solution tank 7 that stores the stock solution, and pressurizes the stock solution and weakly carbonated water in these tanks 7 and 8 by the pressure of carbon dioxide gas from the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 1.
It is designed to be supplied to a production tank 18 which will be described later. Further, the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 1 communicates with a production tank 18 via a carbon dioxide gas supply pipe 2, and pressurizes the inside of the production tank 18 in which carbonated beverages are produced by a method that will be described later. The carbon dioxide gas supply pipe 2 is provided with a pressure reducing valve 3, a check valve 4 that prevents backflow of carbonated beverage from the production tank 18, a three-way gas venting valve 5, and the like. The pressure reducing valve 3 is connected to the production tank 18
In addition to determining the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas sent to the production tank 18, the carbon dioxide content in the carbonated beverage in the production tank 18 is determined.

On the other hand, storage tank 8 pressurized with carbon dioxide gas
The weakly carbonated water in the tank and the stock solution in the stock solution tank 7 are mixed through check valves 12 and 10 after the flow rate is adjusted by flow regulators 11 and 9 provided in supply pipes 16 and 15, respectively. The mixture is sent to a vessel 20, where it is mixed at a predetermined ratio to form a mixed liquid.
This mixed liquid is passed through the supply pipe 17 to the manufacturing tank 18.
sent to. The supply pipe 17 is provided with a solenoid valve 13 for determining the amount of mixed liquid supplied to the production tank 18 .

The production tank 18 is equipped with a well-known cooling device and agitation device (not shown), and supplies the mixed liquid to the production tank 18 and reduces the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas passing through the carbon dioxide gas supply pipe 2 to a predetermined value using the pressure reducing valve 3. When the cooling device and stirring device are operated in the predetermined conditions, the mixed liquid and carbon dioxide gas in the production tank 18 become a carbonated beverage. Here, the amount of carbon dioxide gas absorbed and dissolved in a solvent is generally determined by the pressure value of carbon dioxide gas applied to the solvent and the solvent temperature, and is particularly highly dependent on the solvent temperature. That is, when the temperature of the liquid mixture in the production tank 18 decreases, carbon dioxide gas becomes easier to dissolve in the liquid mixture. Therefore, at the same time that the mixed liquid in the production tank 18 begins to be cooled by the cooling device, carbon dioxide gas becomes easily absorbed into the mixed liquid, and therefore the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas in the production tank 18 decreases from the predetermined value. When the carbon dioxide gas has decreased to a certain level, the mixed liquid is saturated with carbon dioxide gas. In this state, the pressure of carbon dioxide gas supplied to the production tank 18 is maintained at a predetermined value. As the cooling operation continues, the mixed liquid in the manufacturing tank 18 begins to freeze, but the temperature does not reach a low enough temperature to liquefy carbon dioxide, so carbon dioxide is released from the frozen mixed liquid, and the carbon dioxide in the manufacturing tank 18 is The pressure gradually increases, and the supply of carbon dioxide gas to the production tank 18 is thereby stopped by the action of the check valve 4.

Production tank 18 which is a mixed liquid containing carbon dioxide gas
The carbonated beverage inside can be poured out through the pouring pot 19 by operating the pouring pot 19 provided in the production tank 18. The gas pressure in the production tank 18 when dispensing the carbonated beverage is higher than the initial predetermined carbon dioxide gas pressure, and decreases as the carbonated beverage is dispensed. Then, when the gas pressure in the production tank 18 drops below the initial predetermined pressure, carbon dioxide gas is again supplied to the production tank 18 via the pressure reducing valve 3.

As described above, according to the carbonated beverage production apparatus of the present invention, the carbonated beverage production tank connected to the cooling device is connected to the mixed liquid supply pipe that communicates with the weakly carbonated water storage tank and the stock solution tank, and the carbon dioxide gas cylinder. Since the carbon dioxide gas supply pipe is connected separately, the mixed liquid that has been primarily mixed with carbon dioxide gas can be cooled.
Carbon dioxide gas is dissolved in this cooled mixed liquid, and even if the pressure of carbon dioxide gas supplied to the production tank is set to a lower value than before, not only can more carbon dioxide gas be dissolved, but also In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a pressure reducing valve is provided in the carbon dioxide gas supply pipe to the production tank, so that the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas supplied to the production tank can be changed to reduce the carbon dioxide gas in the carbonated beverage. The content can be easily changed, and the speed at which the carbonated beverage is dispensed from the production tank can also be adjusted.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a system diagram showing a preferred embodiment of the carbonated beverage manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention. 1... Carbon dioxide cylinder, 2... Carbon dioxide gas supply pipe, 3... Pressure reducing valve, 6... Pressurizing pipe, 7... Stock solution tank, 8... Weakly carbonated water storage tank, 17... Mixed liquid supply pipe , 18... Production tank.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The weakly carbonated water storage tank that is connected to a cooling device and receives carbon dioxide gas from a carbon dioxide gas cylinder, a mixed solution of stock solution from a stock solution tank, and weakly carbonated water from a weakly carbonated water storage tank to produce a carbonated drink. The production tank includes a supply pipe connected at one end to the carbon dioxide gas cylinder and supplying the carbon dioxide gas, the other end of the supply pipe connected to the carbon dioxide gas cylinder at one end, and the raw solution tank and the carbon dioxide gas cylinder. One end of the supply pipe is connected to a weak carbonated water storage tank and the other end of the supply pipe for supplying the mixed liquid is connected separately, and a pressurizing pipe branched from the carbon dioxide gas supply pipe is connected to the weak carbonated water storage tank. A carbonated beverage manufacturing device characterized by: