JP5116461B2 - Beverage dispenser - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a beverage dispenser, and more particularly to a structure for automatically dispensing a predetermined amount of beverage.

  Cited Document 1 discloses a beverage dispenser that dispenses a fixed amount of beverage by automatically operating an operation lever for dispensing beverage from a dispensing nozzle by a driving device. According to this, the drive device includes a slider that can move in the front-rear direction and engage with the operation lever. A rack extending along the moving direction is attached to the slider, and a pinion that rotates while meshing with the rack is provided in the drive device. The drive device includes a motor, and the motor drives the slider via a drive gear connected to the motor, a plurality of intermediate gears, a driven gear connected to the pinion, and a rack meshing with the pinion.

  When the beverage is dispensed, the motor rotates forward to move the slider forward, and the operation lever engaged with the slider is tilted from the neutral position to the dispensing position. When the operating lever is tilted to the pouring position, the valve mechanism for opening and closing the pouring nozzle is opened, and the pouring of the beverage is started. When the dispensing of the beverage is started, the motor stops until a preset dispensing time elapses and holds the operation lever at the dispensing position. When the dispensing time elapses, the motor reverses and the slider is moved backward, and the operation lever is returned to the neutral position to complete the dispensing of the beverage.

JP 2002-96898 A

  However, since the beverage dispenser described in Patent Document 1 tilts the operation lever by moving the slider in the front-rear direction, it is necessary to provide a guide rail in the drive device for movably supporting the slider, It is necessary to provide a rack and a pinion for moving the slider, and there is a problem that the structure in the drive device becomes complicated.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object thereof is to provide a beverage dispenser that can automatically dispense a predetermined amount of beverage without requiring a complicated structure. And

A beverage dispenser according to the present invention includes a beverage tank for storing a beverage therein, a spout for dispensing the beverage in the beverage tank, a spout cock having a lever that rotates to open and close the spout, and a beverage is poured. A beverage dispenser that opens and closes the spout and rotates the lever to rotate the lever about the rotation axis. A dispensing unit having a lever cam that can be engaged with the lever, a gear motor that drives and rotates the lever cam via a rotating shaft, a plurality of cup sensors that detect the presence of a container disposed on the mounting table, and a mounting table a weight detecting unit for detecting the weight of the placed container, both to control the operation of the gear motor, further comprising a control unit that receives a detection result of the cup sensors and weight detector, pouring cock Has a valve body that is connected to the lever and opens and closes the spout by rotating the lever, and a spring that biases the valve body so as to close the spout, and the outer peripheral surface of the lever cam is circumferential. And a non-pouring region formed by a surface closer to the rotating shaft side than the circumferential surface, and the gear motor rotates the lever cam so that the lever cam pour region is When facing the lever, the lever cam presses and rotates the lever, the valve body opens the spout and the beverage is poured out.When the non-pouring area of the lever cam faces the lever, the lever cam moves to the lever. The pressure is released, the spring moves the valve body together with the lever and the water inlet is automatically closed, and the control unit determines the size of the container placed on the mounting table based on the detection results received from the plurality of cup sensors. In a container The amount of the beverage to be dispensed is determined and the rotational speed of the gear motor is controlled, and the control unit is based on the amount of the dispensed beverage calculated from the rotation time of the gear motor and the detection result received from the weight detection unit. The rotation speed of the gear motor is controlled by comparing with the amount of beverage dispensed .
The dispensing unit is provided so as to be movable with respect to the dispensing cock, and by moving the dispensing unit, the lever of the dispensing cock may be exposed so that it can be manually operated.

  According to the beverage dispenser of the present invention, the lever cam that is driven and rotated by the gear motor opens and closes the spout by rotating the lever, so that the beverage is poured out and stopped. By simply rotating for a period of time, a series of dispensing operations such as starting dispensing, maintaining a valve open state during dispensing, and stopping dispensing are completed. That is, if a lever cam, that is, a gear motor is rotated at a preset time, a fixed amount of beverage is automatically dispensed. Therefore, in the beverage dispenser, it is possible to automatically dispense a fixed amount of beverage without requiring a complicated structure.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 shows a beverage dispenser 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
The beverage dispenser 1 includes a dispenser main body 2 made of a box. A beverage tank 3 for storing a beverage to be dispensed is provided inside the dispenser body 2, and a coil 4 made of a hollow tubular member surrounds the outer peripheral surface of the beverage tank 3. The coil 4 is connected to a heat exchanger (not shown) to form a heat exchange circuit, and the beverage in the beverage tank 3 is cooled or heated by the refrigerant circulating in the coil 4 and kept at a predetermined temperature. . On the front surface of the dispenser main body 2, there are a pouring cock 21 for pouring the beverage in the beverage tank 3, and a pouring unit 41 that is arranged on the top of the pouring cock 21 and automatically operates the pouring cock 21. It is attached. The dispensing cock 21 is attached to the dispenser body 2 via a union nut 22, and the beverage tank 3 and the dispensing cock 21 are connected to each other via an dispensing pipe 5 provided in the dispenser body 2. Yes.

Here, the structure of the pouring cock 21 will be described with reference to FIG.
The dispensing cock 21 includes a cock body 23 that is attached to the dispenser body 2 via a union nut 22. Inside the cock body 23, a cavity 23a that opens upward and a spout 23b that extends downward from the cavity 23a and opens are formed. A tubular portion 23c connected to the dispensing pipe 5 in the dispenser body 2 is formed on the side of the hollow section 23a, and the dispensing pipe 5 and the cavity 23a communicate with each other through the tubular section 23c. ing. That is, the beverage in the beverage tank 3 is poured out from the spout 23b through the pour pipe 5, the tubular portion 23c of the cock body 23, and the hollow portion 23a in this order. A nut 24 that closes the opening on the upper side of the cavity 23 a is attached to the upper portion of the cock body 23.

  A valve body 25 made of a flexible material is accommodated in the hollow portion 23a. The valve body 25 has a substantially cylindrical shape with a bottom having an upper end opened and a bottom 25a formed at the lower end, and the upper end of the valve body 25 and the nut 24 are engaged with each other. On the other hand, the bottom portion 25a of the valve body 25 is in contact with the peripheral portion of the spout 23b of the cock body 23, and the hollow portion 23a and the spout 23b are blocked by the valve body 25. One end of a substantially cylindrical shaft 26 is embedded in the bottom 25a of the valve body 25, and the bottom 25a of the valve body 25 and the shaft 26 are fixed so as to be integrated. The other end of the shaft 26 extends upward and penetrates the nut 24, and a lever 27 is connected to the shaft 26 extending to the outside of the cock body 23. The shaft 26 and the lever 27 are connected via a pin 28, and the lever 27 is rotatable in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. Here, the nut 24 and the lever 27 are in contact at a point P not located on the central axis of the shaft 26. That is, when the lever 27 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow A, the lever 27 moves the shaft 26 and the bottom 25a of the valve body 25 connected to the tip of the shaft 26 up and down with the point P as a fulcrum. It has become.

  A coil spring 29 is provided on the outer periphery of the shaft 26 inside the valve body 25. The upper end portion of the coil spring 29 is in contact with the bottom surface of the nut 24, and the lower end portion of the coil spring 29 is in contact with the bottom portion 25 a of the valve body 25. That is, when the lever 27 is pressed and rotated downward, the bottom 25a of the valve body 25 is pulled up via the shaft 26, the cavity 23a of the cock body 23 and the spout 23b communicate with each other, and the beverage is poured. It has a structure poured out from the outlet 23b. When the pressure on the lever 27 is released, the bottom 25a of the valve body 25 is pulled down by the action of the coil spring 29 and pressed against the peripheral edge of the spout 23b, and the communication between the cavity 23a and the spout 23b is blocked. Thus, the structure is such that beverage dispensing is stopped.

Next, the structure of the extraction unit 41 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 2, the pouring unit 41 includes a cover 42 disposed therein so that the lever 27 of the pouring cock 21 is accommodated therein. Inside the cover 42, a lever cam 43 for operating the lever 27 and a gear motor 44 for driving the lever cam 43 are provided. A rotation shaft 45 is connected to the lever cam 43, and the lever cam 43 and the rotation shaft 45 can rotate integrally in a direction indicated by an arrow B in FIG. The lever cam 43 is a member in which a part of a disk having a certain thickness is cut out, and on its outer peripheral surface, a circular extraction region 43a and a linear non-extraction region 43b are provided. Is formed. The radius of the extraction region 43a is a radius that allows the extraction region 43a to press the lever downward when the distal end portion 27a of the lever 27 and the extraction region 43a come into contact with each other. The non-pouring region 43b rotates the lever pressed by the pouring region 43a upward so that the valve body 25 in the pour cock 21 blocks communication between the cavity 23a and the spout 23b. ing.

  That is, in the beverage dispenser 1, the beverage is dispensed and the dispensing is stopped by rotating the lever cam 43 once and engaging the lever 27 and the lever cam 43. If the distal end portion 27a of the lever 27 and the extraction area 43a of the lever cam 43 are in a position facing each other during the rotation of the lever cam 43 (see FIG. 3), the lever 27 is pressed downward by the lever cam 43 and discharged. The cock 21 is opened, and the beverage is poured out as shown by the arrow C in FIG. On the other hand, when the distal end portion 27a of the lever 27 and the non-pouring region 43b of the lever cam 43 are opposed to each other (see FIG. 2), the lever 27 is rotated upward by the action of the coil spring 29 in the cock body 23. The dispensing cock 21 is closed to stop the dispensing of the beverage.

  Therefore, by controlling the rotation speed of the gear motor 44, a desired amount of beverage can be dispensed. Further, when the lever cam 43 makes one rotation, a series of dispensing operations such as starting dispensing, maintaining a valve open state during dispensing, and stopping dispensing are completed. That is, when a certain amount of beverage is repeatedly dispensed, each time the dispensing is performed, if the gear motor 44 is rotated so that the lever cam 43 rotates once in a predetermined time, the tip 27a of the lever 27 and the lever cam 43 The time during which the dispensing area 43a is engaged also becomes constant. If the time during which the distal end portion 27a of the lever 27 is engaged with the dispensing region 43a of the lever cam 43 becomes constant, the time during which the dispensing cock 21 is opened also becomes constant, It is possible to automatically and repeatedly dispense.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the dispensing unit 41 includes a pair of guides 46 arranged to face each other, and a gear motor 44 passes through these guides 46. A drive gear 44 a that rotates integrally with the gear motor 44 is provided at the tip of the gear motor 44 that penetrates one of the guides 46. Is provided. The driven gear 45a is connected to a rotating shaft 45 (see FIG. 2) and rotates integrally with the lever cam 43 and the rotating shaft 45. Although not visible in FIG. 4, the lever 27 of the pouring cock 21 and the lever cam 43 of the pouring unit 41 are accommodated between a pair of guides 46.

  A switch cam 47 and a detection switch 48 that is turned ON / OFF by the switch cam 47 are provided on the side of the guide 46 opposite to the side on which the drive gear 44a and the driven gear 45a are provided. . The switch cam 47 is connected to a rotating shaft 45 (see FIG. 6), and the lever cam 43 and the switch cam 47 are rotated as a unit. The detection switch 48 is a switch for confirming whether the dispensing cock 21 is open / closed, and can be configured using, for example, a mechanical micro switch, an electronic Hall element, or the like. Further, the lever 27 is rotatable in the horizontal direction of the arrow in FIG. 4 because the shaft 26 has a substantially cylindrical shape, but the rotation in the horizontal direction is restricted by a pair of guides 46. It is designed to rotate only in the vertical direction indicated by arrow A.

  On the front surface of the cover 42 (see FIG. 2), an operation unit 49 for the user to operate the beverage dispenser 1 is provided. The operation unit 49 has a dispensing switch for dispensing a predetermined amount of beverage, and a dispensing switch that can dispense any amount of beverage while the beverage is being dispensed while being pressed. Etc., a plurality of dispensing switches are provided.

Next, the attachment structure of the extraction unit 41 to the dispenser body 2 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, a rail 6 extending above the upper surface 42 a of the cover 42 is attached to a portion 2 a of the dispenser body 2 to which the dispensing unit 41 is attached. As shown in FIG. 4, the rail 6 has a cross-sectional shape in which both end portions of the U-shaped cross section are further bent inward. On the other hand, a slide bearing base 51 that is a flat plate having an L-shaped cross section is attached to the guide 46 of the dispensing unit 41, and a slide bearing 52 that engages with the rail 6 is attached to the slide bearing base 51. It has been. The slide bearing 52 is slidable along the rail 6 and is accommodated between the pair of guides 46 by moving the dispensing unit 41 upward as indicated by an arrow E as shown in FIG. The lever 27 that has been exposed can be exposed. Therefore, when it becomes impossible to automatically dispense beverages, such as when the dispensing unit 41 fails or when a power failure occurs, the user manually moves the dispensing unit 41 by moving the dispensing unit 41 upward. It is possible to go out. Here, when the pouring unit 41 is moved upward, the lever 27 of the pouring cock 21 is not regulated by the pair of guides 46, and therefore the lever 27 can be rotated (see arrow D in FIG. 4). ing. That is, when the beverage is poured out manually, the tip 27a can be directed toward the user so that the user can easily operate. Moreover, since the dispensing cock 21 can be removed from the dispenser body 2 by moving the dispensing unit 41 upward and loosening the union nut 22, maintenance such as cleaning of the dispensing cock 21 can be easily performed. Is also possible.

  As shown in FIG. 6, one guide 46 of the dispensing unit 41 is provided with a slide lock pin 53 that penetrates the guide 46 and the slide bearing base 51. The distal end portion of the slide lock pin 53 is inserted into a hole 2b formed in the front surface of the dispenser main body 2, whereby the upward movement of the dispensing unit 41 is restricted. The slide lock pin 53 is movably provided in a direction indicated by an arrow F in FIG. 6 and is urged by a coil spring 54 in a direction toward the dispenser body 2. The slide lock pin 53 has a knob 53a that extends downward. That is, the user picks the knob 53 a, moves the slide lock pin 53 forward against the coil spring 54, and pulls the slide lock pin 53 out of the hole 2 b of the dispenser body 2. It has a structure that can be moved upward.

  Returning to FIG. 1, on the front surface of the dispenser main body 2 located below the dispensing cock 21, a mounting table 8 for arranging a container 7 for dispensing the beverage, and a beverage overflowing from the container, etc. A drain pan 9 is provided. The mounting table 8 is connected to a weight detection mechanism 10 provided inside the dispenser body 2, and the weight detection mechanism 10 detects the weight of the beverage dispensed from the dispensing cock 21 into the container. A plurality of cup sensors 11 are provided on the front surface of the dispenser body 2 located above the mounting table 8. Each cup sensor 11 detects whether or not the container 7 is present in front of the cup sensor 11, and the size of the container is determined based on the detected value, and an amount of beverage corresponding to a plurality of size containers is automatically added. It is possible to pour into

  In the upper part on the front side in the dispenser body 2, a display unit 12 for displaying the operation state of the beverage dispenser 1, the remaining amount of the beverage in the beverage tank 3, and the operation of the beverage dispenser 1 are controlled. A control unit 13 is arranged. The control unit 13 is input with the weight detection mechanism 10, the detection value of the cup sensor 11, the input signal to the operation unit 49, the detection value of the detection switch 48, and the like. The rotation speed is controlled. The rotational speed of the gear motor 44 is set in advance according to the size of the container 7 and the extraction switch of the operation unit 49 operated by the user. In addition, the control unit 13 compares the beverage dispensing amount calculated from the time when the gear motor 44 is operated with the beverage weight detected by the weight detection mechanism 10, and corrects the dispensing amount when there is an error. I do.

Next, the operation of the beverage dispenser 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 1, when the container 7 is placed on the mounting table 8, the size of the container 7 is detected by the cup sensor 11. Next, based on the output from the detection switch 48 (see FIG. 6) of the dispensing unit 41, it is confirmed that the dispensing cock 21 is in a closed state, and when the user operates the dispensing switch of the operation unit 49, Beverage starts to be dispensed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when the dispensing of the beverage is started, the control unit 13 is set according to the detected size of the container 7 or the type of the dispensing switch of the operation unit 49 operated by the user. The gear motor 44 is rotated at the set speed. As the gear motor 44 starts to rotate, the lever cam 43 is driven by the gear motor 44 and rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. When the lever cam 43 rotates to a position (see FIG. 3) where the extraction area 43a formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lever cam 43 is opposed to the distal end portion 27a of the lever 27, the extraction area 43a presses the lever 27 downward. When the lever 27 is pressed downward, the bottom 25a of the valve body 25 is pulled up via the shaft 26, the cavity 23a of the cock body 23 and the spout 23b communicate with each other, and the beverage is poured out from the spout 23b. It is.

When the lever cam 43 further rotates and the tip end portion 27a of the lever 27 and the non-pouring area 43b of the lever cam 43 are opposed to each other, the lever 27 is released from being pressed. When the pressure on the lever 27 is released, the bottom 25a of the valve body 25 is pulled down by the action of the coil spring 29 and pressed against the peripheral edge of the spout 23b, and the communication between the cavity 23a and the spout 23b is cut off. The beverage is stopped. The time until the rotation position of the lever cam 43 is switched from the position where the dispensing area 43a and the tip 27a of the lever 27 face each other to the position where the non-pickup area 43b and the tip 27a of the lever 27 face each other is as follows. Since it is set in advance, a fixed amount of beverage is poured into the container 7.
Here, the control unit 13 calculates the beverage dispensing amount based on the time during which the gear motor 44 is rotating, and receives the beverage weight detected by the weight detection mechanism 10 as an input. When there is a difference between the beverage dispensing amount calculated from the rotation time of the gear motor 44 and the beverage dispensing amount output from the weight detection mechanism 10, the control unit 13 determines that the gear motor 44 is based on the difference. Change the rotation speed of and correct the dispensing amount.

  Thus, according to the beverage dispenser 1, the lever cam 43, which is driven and rotated by the gear motor 44, rotates the lever 27, whereby the spout 23b is opened and closed, and the beverage is dispensed and stopped. Therefore, by simply rotating the gear motor 44 for a predetermined time, a series of dispensing operations such as starting dispensing, maintaining a valve open state during dispensing, and stopping dispensing are completed. That is, if the lever cam 43, that is, the gear motor 44 is rotated for a preset time, a fixed amount of beverage is automatically dispensed. Therefore, the beverage dispenser 1 can automatically dispense a fixed amount of beverage without requiring a complicated structure.

  Further, the pouring unit 41 is provided so as to be movable with respect to the pouring cock 21, and by moving the pouring unit 41, the lever 27 of the pouring cock 21 is exposed so that it can be manually operated. As a result, even when a failure or a power failure occurs in the dispensing unit 41, it is possible to easily switch between automatic dispensing and manual dispensing.

  Further, the weight detection mechanism 10 is connected to the mounting table 8, and the dispensing amount is corrected according to the difference between the dispensed beverage amount and the beverage dispensing amount calculated from the rotation time of the gear motor 44. Since it was made to carry out, it becomes possible to dispense a fixed quantity of beverage automatically more accurately.

  In the first embodiment, the beverage is stored in the beverage tank provided inside the dispenser body, but the beverage dispenser is not limited to having the beverage tank inside. For example, a beverage tank may be provided outside the dispenser body, and the beverage stored in the dispenser body may be passed through a heat exchange pipe or the like provided in the dispenser body to instantaneously heat or cool the beverage. Is possible. In this case, if the pressure of the beverage flowing through the heat exchange pipe is made constant using a pressure reducing valve or the like, a fixed amount of beverage can be dispensed without the need to correct the dispensed amount.

  In the first embodiment, the rotation angle of the lever cam is determined by rotating the gear motor for a preset time. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the gear motor is a pulse motor or the like, and the gear motor itself It is also possible to determine the rotation angle of the lever cam by detecting the rotation angle.

It is a cross-sectional right side view which shows the drink dispenser which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a partial expanded cross section right view for demonstrating the structure of the drink dispenser which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a partial expanded cross section right view for demonstrating the structure of the drink dispenser which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the extraction cock and extraction unit which concern on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a partial expanded cross section right view for demonstrating the structure of the drink dispenser which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a partial expanded sectional left side view for demonstrating the structure of the drink dispenser which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  1 beverage dispenser, 3 beverage tank, 21 dispensing cock, 23b dispensing port, 27 lever, 41 dispensing unit, 43 lever cam, 44 gear motor.

Claims (2)

A beverage tank for storing beverages inside,
A spout for dispensing the beverage in the beverage tank, and a spout cock having a lever that pivots to open and close the spout ;
A mounting table on which a container from which the beverage is poured is disposed;
In the beverage dispenser which opens and closes the spout by rotating the lever to pour out the beverage and stop dispensing,
A lever cam that rotates about a rotation axis and is engageable with the lever;
A dispensing unit having a gear motor that drives and rotates the lever cam via the rotating shaft ;
A plurality of cup sensors for detecting the presence of a container disposed on the mounting table;
A weight detector for detecting the weight of the container placed on the mounting table;
A control unit that controls the operation of the gear motor, and that receives a detection result of the cup sensor and the weight detection unit , and
The pouring cock is
A valve body connected to the lever and opening and closing the spout by rotating the lever;
A spring that biases the valve body so as to close the spout,
The outer peripheral surface of the lever cam has an extraction region formed by a circumferential surface, and a non-extraction region formed by a surface closer to the rotating shaft side than the circumferential surface,
When the gear motor rotates the lever cam,
When the dispensing region of the lever cam faces the lever, the lever cam presses and rotates the lever, the valve body opens the dispensing port, and the beverage is dispensed,
When the non-pouring region of the lever cam faces the lever, the lever cam is released from pressing the lever, the spring moves the valve body together with the lever, and the water inlet is automatically closed ,
The control unit determines a size of the container disposed on the mounting table based on detection results received from the plurality of cup sensors, determines an amount of the beverage to be dispensed according to the container, and the gear motor Control the rotation speed of
The control unit compares the amount of the dispensed beverage calculated from the rotation time of the gear motor with the amount of the dispensed beverage based on the detection result received from the weight detection unit, and the rotational speed of the gear motor A beverage dispenser characterized by controlling .   The dispensing unit is provided so as to be movable with respect to the dispensing cock, and by moving the dispensing unit, the lever of the dispensing cock is exposed so that it can be manually operated. The beverage dispenser according to claim 1.

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