JPH0439116B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] This invention is a hot or cold beverage made by adding hot or cold water or ice to various powdered raw materials such as coffee, cocoa, or black tea and stirring the mixture and selling it in a cup. This invention relates to a raw material stirring device for a cup-type beverage vending machine.

[Conventional technology]

First, the general structure of the conventional cup-type beverage vending machine will be explained with reference to FIG. In the figure, 1 is a powder raw material box containing various types of powder raw materials, 2 is a hot water tank, 3 is a cold water tank, 4 is an ice maker, and 5
1 is a cup feeding mechanism that accommodates a large number of cups 6, and 7 is a bending stage that leads to a product outlet.A cup-type beverage vending machine is constructed by disposing these main parts in a cabinet.

When a sales command is given in this configuration, first, one cup 6 is delivered from the cup supply mechanism 5 to the bending stage 7 via the cup shooter 5a. Subsequently, a predetermined amount of the powder raw material of the selected type is carried out from the powder raw material box 1 through the raw material chute 1a into a mixing bowl as a raw material stirring mechanism indicated by reference numeral 8, and at the same time, in the case of selecting a hot beverage, the hot water tank 2 is The hot water supply valve 2a opens and the hot water supply hose 2b
Hot water is supplied into the mixing bowl 8 through the
Here, the powdered raw material and hot water are stirred to prepare a hot beverage. Further, the stirred and blended beverage flows down a hose 9 from a mixing bowl 8 and is poured into a cup 6.

In addition, when a cold beverage is selected, the powdered raw material and a small amount of hot water necessary to dissolve the raw material are supplied into the mixing bowl 8, and the powdered raw material is dissolved in the hot water by stirring. The supply valve 3b of the cold water hose 3a drawn out from the cold water tank 3 is opened at the appropriate timing to additionally supply cold water to the raw material stirring mechanism 8, thereby preparing a cold beverage. Note that 3c is a water pump installed in the cold water hose 3a,
3d is a water cooling coil;
is immersed in a cooling water tank 11 cooled by a refrigerator 10. Further, at the same time as the raw materials are carried out, ice is carried out from the ice storage chamber of the ice making machine 4 and is directly supplied into the cup 6 through the ice shooter 4a.

By the way, as mentioned above, in the conventional cup-type beverage vending machine that mixes drinks using powdered raw materials, the cup 6 is taken out to the bend stage and placed on standby in response to a sales command, and the raw material stirring mechanism separates the powdered raw materials and hot water. The beverage is supplied to a mixing bowl, stirred and mixed to prepare a beverage, and the beverage is poured from a raw material stirring mechanism through a beverage hose into a cup carried to a bending stage for sale. ing. However, this type of cup-type beverage vending machine has the following problems. In other words, during the beverage preparation and supply process, undissolved beverage residue remains on the inside of the mixing bowl of the raw material stirring mechanism and the beverage hose that follows it. Bacteria develops and multiplies in the slag, causing hygiene problems such as contamination with beverages the next time they are sold. Furthermore, especially when selling viscous beverages such as soup or miso soup with ingredients, the amount of adhesion remaining in the system increases because the beverage does not flow easily and is difficult to cut out. Conventionally, this problem has been dealt with by frequently cleaning the raw material stirring mechanism and the beverage hose, but this cleaning process is time-consuming and cumbersome, and highly viscous beverages There were problems with sales management, such as having to abandon sales due to the large amount of residual adhesion in the product.

On the other hand, as a sales method to solve the above problems,
A cup containing powdered raw material containing powdered raw material is stored in the cup supply mechanism in advance, and hot water is supplied from a straight nozzle to the cup containing powdered raw material carried out from the cup supplying mechanism to the bending stage according to a sales command to powder the powder. A sales method has been proposed in which a beverage is prepared by stirring and mixing raw materials and hot water. In this case, since the powdered raw materials are stirred directly within the cup, the mixing bowl 8 shown in Fig. 7 and the beverage hose 9 following it, etc., are not required, and the hygiene problem caused by residual adhesion of beverage dregs is therefore eliminated. Ru.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in this method of stirring, the powder raw material is directly dissolved by hot water injected from the nozzle, and the powder raw material in the vicinity of the nozzle injection is dissolved by the jet pressure of the nozzle and the water flow generated by the pressure. Therefore, if the nozzle diameter is small, the injection force is strong and it is possible to dissolve the powdered raw material at the bottom of the cup, but on the other hand, the melting range near the injection point where it is directly exposed to hot water is narrow, and the flow rate is also low. Dissolution time increases. On the other hand, if the nozzle diameter is larger, the time it takes for the entire amount of hot water to be injected into the cup will be faster, but the injection pressure will be weaker and it will be difficult to dissolve the powdered raw material at the bottom of the cup. Therefore, this method is limited to powder raw materials with relatively high solubility.

This invention was made in consideration of the above points, and is aimed at the raw material stirring device of a cup-type beverage vending machine that uses the above-mentioned in-cup raw material stirring method, and improves the conventional device to solve the hygiene problem. It is an object of the present invention to provide a raw material stirring device that can eliminate the above problems.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, by injecting high-pressure hot or cold water from a nozzle into a cup containing powdered raw materials,
In a raw material stirring device for a cup-type beverage vending machine that mixes and stirs a powdered raw material and hot or cold water in a cup to prepare a beverage, the nozzle is configured as a flat spray nozzle with a fan-shaped spray shape. The hot or cold water sprayed from the nozzle is moved and sprayed onto the powdered raw material in the cup.

[Effect]

By injecting high-pressure hot or cold water from a nozzle into the cup containing powdered raw materials,
Hygiene problems can be solved by eliminating the need for a mixing bowl and subsequent drinking hose. In addition, by using a flat spray nozzle with a fan-shaped spray shape to move and spray hot or cold water onto powder raw materials, the stirring effect can be enhanced and the method can also be applied to powder raw materials with relatively low solubility. can.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention are shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 below.
The present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, the overall structure of a cup-type beverage vending machine incorporating a raw material stirring device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. are doing. On the other hand, above the interior of the cabinet 12 are a powder raw material box 1 containing various raw materials, a hot water tank 2, a cold water tank 3, an ice maker 4, and a cup supply mechanism 5.
are installed side by side as shown in the figure, and the water cooling tank 11 and the refrigerator 10 are arranged in the lower part of the refrigerator. Furthermore, a cup conveyance mechanism 13, which is a horizontally movable conveyor, is arranged in the warehouse from the cup discharging end of the cup supply mechanism 5 to the product take-out port 7.
3, along with the cup supply mechanism 5 described above and various powder raw material boxes 1, a raw material stirring device consisting of a flat spray nozzle 14 and a nozzle rocking device 15 is arranged in sequence.

When a sales command is given in this configuration, one cup 6 is first delivered from the cup supply mechanism 5 to a point A on the conveyor of the cup transport mechanism 13. Subsequently, the cup supply mechanism 13 is started, transfers the cup 6 to point B, which is set directly below the raw material shooter 1a, and stops once, and at this position, the powder raw material of the selected beverage is carried out from the powder raw material box 1. , into the cup 6 through the raw material shooter 1a. Next, when the cup transport mechanism 13 transports the cup 6 to point C, the hot water valve 2a of the hot water tank 2 is opened in advance, and the hot water circulating in the hot water hose 2b by the hot water pump 2c is transferred to the hot water supply valve 2d when the hot water valve 2d is opened. is injected into the cup 6 through the flat spray nozzle 14. At the same time, as shown in detail in Figure 1, the flat spray nozzle 1
4 is a rod 15b that is connected to a pulley 15d that is directly connected to the drive motor 15a through rotation of the drive motor 15a.
and swings as shown by arrow E via the hinge 15c. As shown in the front view in FIG. 5, the nozzle 14 has a single groove 14a and a hole 1 in the center
4b. When the hot water injected from this nozzle 14 is viewed from the top of the cup, as shown in Fig. 2, the center part becomes a straight line with a slight thickness, and hits the powdered raw material inside the cup, and when viewed from the side, it forms a fan as shown in Fig. 4. It has a shape. As shown in Figure 3, the hot water injected into the raw material has a strong injection pressure, so it reaches the powdered raw material at the bottom of the cup and dissolves the powdered raw material in the vicinity. Creates a vortex to improve the stirring effect of powdered raw materials and hot water. Furthermore, since the nozzle swings as shown by arrow E in FIG. 1, the hot water is sprayed over the entire surface of the powdered raw material in the cup and stirred with the powdered raw material, as shown by arrow F in FIG. 2. In addition, hot beverages,
Depending on the selection of the cold beverage, hot or cold water or ice is additionally supplied to the cup 6, and at the same time stirring is performed to prepare a prescribed amount of beverage. When the beverage is prepared in this way, the cup transport mechanism 13 starts moving again, transports the cup 6 containing the beverage to the desired point D to the product outlet 7, and stops, thereby completing the sales operation. do. The series of sales operations described above are program-controlled by instructions from a controller (not shown).
Note that, within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention, hot or cold water may be sprayed movingly by rotating or translating the flat spray nozzle relative to the powder raw material in the cup without being limited to this embodiment. good.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to this invention, hot or cold water is sprayed into a cup containing powdered raw materials using a nozzle, and the hot or cold water and the powdered raw materials are mixed and stirred to prepare a beverage. Since it is possible to mix and stir without contact, hygiene problems can be solved. In addition, by using a flat nozzle and making a translational, rotational, or oscillating motion, the hot or cold water is concentrated on the powdered raw material and sprayed over the entire surface, which dissolves all the powdered raw material at the bottom of the cup. At the same time, the injected hot or cold water becomes a strong vortex flow in the vertical direction within the cup, improving the stirring effect.This effect is carried out throughout the entire cup, making stirring possible in a short time.
It is also possible to solve the problem that the raw materials that can be used in conventional stirring devices of this type are limited.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 6 are drawings showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram thereof, and FIG. 2 is a view of hot water injected from a nozzle, which is the main part, from above a cup. Fig. 3 is a side view of the state shown in Fig. 2 when viewed from the side;
Figure 6 is a plan view of the nozzle, which is the main part of this invention, seen from the tip side, Figure 6 is a block diagram of the entire cup-type beverage vending machine incorporating a raw material stirring device which is an embodiment of this invention, and Figure 7 The figure is an overall configuration diagram of a conventional cup-type beverage vending machine. 1... Powder raw material box, 1a... Raw material shooter, 2
...Hot water tank, 2a...Hot water supply valve, 2b...Hot water supply hose, 2c...Pump, 2d...Hot water supply valve, 3...Cold water tank, 3a...Water supply hose, 3b...Water supply valve, 3
c...Pump, 3d...Water cooling coil, 4...Ice maker, 4a...Ice shooter, 5...Cup supply mechanism, 6...Cup, 7...Product outlet, 10...
Refrigerator, 11...Water cooling tank, 12...Cabinet, 13...Cup conveyance mechanism, 14...Flat spray nozzle, 14a...Single groove, 14b...
Hole, 15... Nozzle rocking device, 15a... Drive motor, 15b... Rod, 15c... Hinge, 1
5d...Pulley, 16...Powder raw material, 17...Sprayed hot water.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. By injecting high-pressure hot or cold water from a nozzle into a cup containing powdered raw materials,
In a raw material stirring device for a cup-type beverage vending machine that mixes and stirs a powdered raw material and hot or cold water in a cup to prepare a beverage, the nozzle is configured as a flat spray nozzle with a fan-shaped spray shape. 1. A raw material stirring device for a cup-type beverage vending machine, characterized in that hot or cold water sprayed from a nozzle is moved and sprayed onto a powdered raw material in a cup. 2. The cup-type beverage according to claim 1, characterized in that it is equipped with a swinging device that swings the flat spray nozzle in a direction substantially perpendicular to the flat spray surface from the nozzle. Raw material stirring device for vending machines.