JPH0313886B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention provides an automatic beverage dispensing device for tea, etc., which has a simple structure and is capable of efficiently extracting and providing beverages such as tea, black tea, and coffee in a short time. Regarding.

[Conventional technology]

In the past, various automatic beverage dispensing devices of this type have been proposed, one example of which is the
An automatic tea dispenser disclosed in Publication No. 33325 is known. This involves feeding a predetermined amount of tea leaves into a crusher and pulverizing them.
The crushed tea leaves are placed in a tea strainer and the tea strainer is immersed in hot water in a heat-insulating container for a certain period of time to obtain tea.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

This kind of automatic tea dispenser has the great advantage of being able to shorten the time it takes to brew tea by crushing the tea leaves and replacing them every time, as well as being able to provide fresh, delicious tea with the same taste every time. On the other hand, the tea infuser is supported by radially protruding arms,
This tea infuser is lowered at the hot water supply position, and when disposing of the used tea leaves in the tea infuser, the arm is rotated and then the tea infuser is reversed, which makes the structure and control complicated and expensive. Not only that, but it also had the disadvantage of being prone to breakdowns.

[Means for solving problems]

The automatic beverage dispensing device for tea, etc. according to the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned inconveniences, and includes a stirring container whose interior is divided into a tea leaf storage section and an agitator storage section by a tea strainer net. The tea leaf storage section is provided with an outlet for discharging used tea leaves, and the stirrer storage section is provided with a stirrer that stirs hot water and tea leaves in the tea leaf storage section.

[Function] In the present invention, since the tea leaves and hot water are stirred with a stirrer, the tea brewing time can be shortened.
The structure can be simplified because the tea leaves and hot water are supplied through two stirring vessels that are partitioned.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a stirring section showing an embodiment of an automatic beverage dispensing apparatus for tea or the like according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view thereof, and FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the apparatus. In Fig. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a box-shaped housing. Inside this housing 1, a stirring container 12, a tea leaf crushing mechanism 60, etc., which will be described later, are arranged. A push button 2 for dispensing beverages, a push button 3 for cleaning the inside of the stirring container, etc. are provided, and a container 4 (see Fig. 1) for receiving beverages such as tea obtained by the stirring container is located at the lower part of the front. Container receiver 5 to be set
A storage section 7 for storing a tea caddy 6 is further provided on the top surface.

Describing the structure of the stirring section in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the stirring section 10 includes a bottomed cylindrical stirring container 12 that is removably installed on a base 11,
A tea leaf storage section 14 whose interior is defined by a tea strainer net 13 to which the tea leaves 25 crushed by the tea leaf crushing mechanism 60 are supplied, and an agitator storage section 15 that stores the stirrer 30. It is divided into. A small mesh is used as the tea strainer net 13, and its peripheral edge is attached so as to close an opening 17 of a tea strainer net holding frame 16 made of a metal plate. The tea strainer net holding frame 16 is curved into a substantially semicircular shape as shown in FIG.
8b are respectively inserted from above into grooves 21 formed between a pair of left and right fixing members 19, 20 disposed on the inner circumferential surface of the stirring container 12 and the inner circumferential surface of the container 12. It is detachably attached to the inner peripheral surface of the stirring container 12. If the tea strainer net 13 is detachably attached in this manner, it is convenient to periodically clean the net 13, remove clogged tea leaves, or replace the tea strainer net 13 itself with a new one. Tea leaf storage section 1 surrounded by the inner surface of the tea strainer net 13 and the inner peripheral surface of the stirring container 12
4 is smaller than the agitator storage section 15 outside thereof,
The stirring container 1 has a sufficient volume to accommodate the crushed tea leaves 25 each time, and corresponds to the storage section 14.
A discharge port 27 is formed in the bottom plate 26 of No. 2 to dispose of the used tea leaves 25 in the storage section 14 while stirring and cleaning them with hot water for cleaning. The discharge port 27 is normally closed by a discharge valve 28 which is vertically rotatable and biased in the closing direction (counterclockwise in FIG. 2) by a spring 29. 28, when a lever 31 rotated by the drive of the tea leaf discharge solenoid 40 pushes up an operator 32 (not shown in FIG. 2), it rotates counterclockwise in FIG. The outlet 27 is configured to open.
Note that a container (not shown) for accommodating discarded used tea leaves is provided below the outlet 27.

The stirrer 30 is attached to the upper end of a rotating shaft 33 that passes through the bottom plate 26 and is located in the stirrer housing 15, and is connected to the output shaft 34 of the drive motor 34.
The rotation of a is transmitted to the rotating shaft 33 through gears 35, 36, 37, and 38 (37 is omitted in FIG. 2), so that the stirring vessel is rotated forward and backward at regular intervals. A predetermined amount of hot water 39 poured into the tea leaf container 12 and the crushed tea leaves 25 supplied into the tea leaf storage section 14 are stirred for a predetermined period of time.

The tea obtained by this stirring is poured into the container through a spout 41 formed in the bottom plate 26 corresponding to the stirrer housing 15 and through a funnel 42 disposed at the lower part of the stirring container 12. It is supplied to the container 4 set in the receiving part 5. Like the discharge port 27, the spout 41 is vertically rotatable and is normally closed by a spout valve 43 that is biased in the closing direction (counterclockwise in FIG. 2) by a spring 44. When a lever 46, which is rotated by the drive of a tea pouring solenoid 45, pushes up an operator (not shown), the spout valve 43 releases the spring 4.
4 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 2 to open the spout 41.

As shown in FIG. 1, the bottom plate 26 has a top bottom, and is bent into a substantially inverted shape to form a portion where the tea leaf storage section 14, the discharge port 27, and the spout 41 are formed. is almost horizontal,
The part where the agitator 30 is disposed is the discharge port 2.
7. It is inclined to be higher than the spout 41.
This is effective and effective in dispensing the tea in the stirring container 12 faster than the spout 41 and quickly soaking the tea leaves in the tea leaf storage section 14 in the hot water poured into the container 12.

A lid/funnel 5 is provided at the upper end opening of the stirring container 12.
0 is removably disposed, and the hot water 39 pours the crushed tea leaves 25 through the funnel 50 into the container 1.
Supplied within 2 days. The lid/funnel 50 has its opening 5
1 is provided at an eccentric position, the cross-sectional shape in the eccentric direction is approximately in the shape of an inverted shoe, and the opening 51 is inserted into the tea leaf storage portion 14 from above. Further, a surface 52 of the lid/funnel 50 that receives the tea leaves 25 and hot water 39 is inclined toward the mouth 51.
The tea leaves 25 and hot water 39 are supplied to the approximate center of the lid/funnel 50, in other words, to a position offset from the opening 51, so that the hot water 39 flows the tea leaves 25 into the opening 51 along the surface 52. There is. This is said to be effective in prolonging the time it takes for the tea leaves 25 to be poured into the tea leaf storage section 14 by the hot water 39, soaking the tea leaves 25 well in the hot water 39 during that time, and speeding up the tea. .

Next, the tea leaf crushing mechanism 60 will be explained in detail based on FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. Tea leaf crushing mechanism 60
is equipped with a crushing case 61, and the upper part of this case 61 is arranged so that the tea leaves 62 before being crushed are placed in the tea caddy 6 (the third
A cylindrical crusher 65 and a crushing block 66 constituting a crusher 64 are arranged in the center of the interior, and a conveyor is provided below the crusher 64. A supply device 67 consisting of a screwdriver and supplying a fixed amount of tea leaves 25 crushed by the crusher 64 to the lid/funnel 50.
is installed. The crusher 65 has a horizontal shaft 68
A large number of crushing pins 69 are protruded from the circumferential surface, and a plurality of long grooves 70 in the axial direction are cut in the circumferential direction. The crushing pins 69 are equally spaced in the circumferential direction and protrude at predetermined pitches in the axial direction, for example, four in each row. The horizontal axis 68
One end is connected to the output shaft 71a of the drive motor 71 via a coupler 73, and the other end is connected to the case 61.
The shaft is supported by a bearing hole 75 provided in a cover 74. The crushing block 66 is fixed within the case 61 and faces the circumferential surface of the crusher 65 with a slight distance therebetween, and four vertical grooves 76 are formed on the opposing surface to crush each row of the crusher 65. pin 69
For example, three horizontal grooves 7 are formed corresponding to the
7 is formed. These lateral grooves 77 are inclined as shown in FIG. 6, thereby changing the friction between the crusher 65, the tea leaves 62, and the crusher block 66 in the axial direction of the crusher 65. This prevents large loads from being applied to the The tea leaves 62 supplied to the tea leaf receiving part 63 fall through the crusher 65 onto the crushing block 66, and
As the crusher 65 rotates, the crusher 65 and the vertical grooves 76 and lateral grooves 77 crush the particles into sufficiently small pieces, and the particles fall into the supply device 67. Since the amount of the crushed tea leaves 25 to be fed is determined by the rotation speed of the feeding device 67, only the amount necessary for one service is discharged from the tea leaf outlet 80 of the cover 74 and placed in the lid/funnel. 50 drops. In addition,
A shaft 81 provided on one side of the supply device 67 is connected to a shaft 82a of a motor 82 via a coupler 83, and is rotated by the motor 82 for a certain period of time when tea leaves are supplied. Motors 71 and 82 are push buttons 2
It is driven by pressing (Fig. 3). Further, when the push button 2 is pressed, hot water 39 is simultaneously supplied from a hot water supply tank (not shown).

In this case, the motor 7 by pressing the push button 2
1 and 82 (uniformity and delivery of tea leaves), supply of hot water 39, drive of motor 34 (stirring of tea leaves),
Driving the solenoid 45 (supplying tea by operating the pouring valve 43), supplying hot water 39 for washing, re-driving the motor 34 (stirring for washing), and driving the solenoid 40 (disposing of used tea leaves by operating the discharge valve 28) ) etc. are performed sequentially by sequence control, but by pressing the push button 3 as necessary, the supply of hot water 39 for cleaning, stirring for cleaning by driving the motor 34, and activation of the solenoid 40 can be performed. It is also possible to perform independent operations such as cleaning operations such as disposal of used tea leaves by driving.

Furthermore, the switching timing of the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor 34 can be arbitrarily set, such as during tea feeding and washing, every cycle from tea feeding to washing, or time-divided switching during stirring operation. be.

The automatic beverage supply device according to the present invention is configured as described above and supplies tea leaves to the tea leaf storage section 14 every time, so it can provide fresh tea with the same taste every time, and moreover, the tea leaves are not crushed. This reduces the time it takes to prepare tea and provides prompt service.
In addition, since the tea is ground, the amount of tea leaves used is small, making it economical. Further, since the hot water 39 and the tea leaves 25 are stirred by the stirrer 30, the time required to brew the tea can be further shortened. Furthermore, stirring container 1
2 has a simple configuration, and disposing of used tea leaves is quick and easy. In addition, since the agitator 30 is reversed at regular intervals, the tea leaves in the tea leaf storage section 14 can be effectively agitated. This also makes it possible to shorten the time it takes to prepare tea.

It should be noted that although the above-mentioned embodiment describes the provision of green tea, the present invention is not limited to this and can of course be applied to beverage services such as black tea, coffee, and oolong tea.

Further, in the above embodiment, a spout 41 is provided on the bottom plate 26 of the stirring container 12, and the tea is poured from the spout 41, but the tea may be sucked through a pipe and supplied to the container 4.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the automatic beverage dispensing device for tea and other beverages according to the present invention is configured to supply tea leaves and hot water into a stirring container and stir them with a stirrer, so that There is no need to move the tea strainer up and down or rotate it, which simplifies the structure. In addition, used tea leaves are disposed of through the outlet provided in the stirring container.
Disposal of tea leaves is also quick and easy.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a stirring section showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view thereof, Fig. 3 is an external perspective view of an automatic beverage supply device, and Fig. 4 shows a cover of a tea leaf crushing mechanism. The removed front view, Figure 5, is Figure 4-
The line sectional view and FIG. 6 are exploded perspective views of the same mechanism. 12... Stirring container, 13... Tea strainer, 14...
Tea leaf storage section, 15... Stirrer storage section, 25... Tea leaves, 27... Discharge port, 30... Stirrer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A stirring container whose interior is divided into a tea leaf storage part and a stirrer storage part by a tea strainer, and the tea leaf storage part is provided with an outlet for discharging used tea leaves,
An automatic beverage dispensing device for tea or the like, characterized in that the stirrer storage section is provided with a stirrer for stirring hot water and tea leaves in the tea leaf storage section.