JPH045481B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to a coffee extraction device used in vending machines, etc., and unlike instant coffee, the operation of pouring hot water over ground coffee beans or tea etc. is fully automatic. However, the present invention particularly relates to its drive mechanism.

U.S. Patent No. 3,349,690 for such an extraction device
There are some items listed in the specification.

In this known device, a coffee container is attached to a moving frame that moves from side to side, coffee powder is poured into this container, the container is moved to the bottom of the cylinder, and then the lower end of the lowered cylinder and the upper end of the coffee container are brought into close contact. Afterwards, hot water is poured into the container, and then the piston in the cylinder descends to pressurize the mixture of hot water and powder in the container to extract coffee liquid, and then the piston and cylinder rise to remove the squeezed scum. Perform an operation to move the container containing it to the side.

In such a known device, a coil spring is attached to a guide rod that guides the movable frame to push the movable frame to one end, and the movable frame is moved by winding a cable connected to the movable frame with a pulley. It is a mechanism that moves the piston to the bottom of the cylinder, and the winding pulley is linked via gears and belts to a cam mechanism that drives the piston, making it an extremely complex mechanism.

This invention differs from the conventional devices as mentioned above;
Since a piston is not used to discharge the hot water in the cylinder, it is only necessary to mechanically link the movement of the moving frame and the vertical movement of the filter block at the bottom, but this linkage can be performed only with a suitable endless chain. It was designed so that

The details of the present invention will be explained below based on an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a case surrounding an extraction device embodying the present invention, the upper end of which is open, and a discharge port 3 located in the center of a shallow funnel-shaped bottom plate 2 at the bottom.
There is.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a pair of guide rods whose ends are fixed to both end walls 5 of the case 1.A vertically open movable frame 6 is slidably attached to the guide rods 4, and a pair of guide rods is also installed below both guide rods 4. The guide rods 7 are arranged in parallel, and both ends of the guide rods 7 are loosely fitted into vertical holes provided in the end wall 5 so as to be movable up and down. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the filter block 10 attached to the guide rod 7 is funnel-shaped and has an extraction port 11 at the bottom and a mesh filter 12 at the top.

Inside the moving frame 6 is a cylindrical chamber 1 that is open at the top and bottom.
A gasket is attached to the upper outer periphery of the filter block 10 to tightly contact the lower end of the chamber 14, and the chamber 14 is pulled downward by a tension spring.

A downward spring piece 9 is fixed to the front end of the moving frame 6 as shown in FIG. A tension spring 13 is stretched between the ends, and a scraper 15 for sliding on the filter 12 is provided at the rear of the moving frame 6.

Reference numeral 16 in Figures 1 to 3 indicates a pair of support frames fixed to both sides of the upper part of the case 1 near one end.
A cylinder 18 is provided between the vertical guide rods 17 fixed to the vertical guide rods 17, and the two or outwardly facing pieces 19 on both sides of the cylinder 18 are slidably engaged with the guide rods 17, and A lower valve body 22 that closes the valve port 21 from below always keeps the valve port 21 closed by a spring 24 inserted into a horizontal hole of a valve stem 20 projecting upward.

An annular wall 25 is provided on the lower surface of the bottom plate of the cylinder 18, and the lower end of the annular wall 25 is provided with the chamber 14.
A gasket is provided in close contact with the upper end of the guide rod 17, and a spring 23 is provided on the guide rod 17 to press down the outwardly facing piece 19.

30 is fixed to the support frame 16 and the cylinder 1
The cylinder head is slidably fitted into the upper opening of the cylinder 18, and a packing is attached to the outer periphery of the cylinder head so as to be in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 18. A recess 27 is provided in the center of the lower surface of the head 30, and a hot water supply port 28 and an air vent hole 29 provided in the head 30 are opened in the recess 27.

Reference numeral 32 designates an upper valve body, and a spring 33 is provided between the valve body 32 and a seat provided at the lower end of the valve rod that passes through this valve body. When the cylinder 18 rises, the cylinder on the bottom part of the valve body springs through the seat plate. 33 is pushed up to close the recess 27 with the valve body 32. The outer springs of the springs 33 are for pushing down the seat plate. 3
Reference numeral 4 denotes a compressed air port provided in the head 30, which communicates with an air compression source via a pressure-resistant hose, a solenoid valve, and a pressure regulating valve (not shown).

35 in Figure 1 is a powder supply pipe for coffee beans, etc.
6 is a feeding device like a coffee bean canister on the top thereof.

A lifting lever 39 that lifts up the protruding shafts 38 on both sides of the upper end of the chamber 14 is swingably attached to both side walls 40 of the case 1 by a shaft 41.
A spring 42 is provided to hold the head diagonally downward.

Reference numeral 43 in FIG. 1 is a push-up plate of the filter block 10, which is swingably attached to the outer support piece of the side wall 40 by a shaft 37, enters the case 1 through the opening of the side wall 40, and is inserted into the cylinder as shown in FIG. It is located directly below 18.

A push-up lever 44 at the lower part of the push-up plate 43 is swingably mounted in the case 1 by a shaft 45, and a roller 46 that contacts the lower surface of the push-up plate 43 is attached to the front end of this lever 44.

Reference numeral 47 in FIG. 2 is an elevating member, which is attached to a vertical guide hole provided in the side wall 40 so as to be able to rise and fall freely.
It is engaged with a pin 49 at the rear end of.

A machine box is provided outside the side wall 40 to which the lifting member 47 is attached, and sprockets 51 and 52 are attached to both ends of the machine box as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Below the sprocket 51, a drive shaft 55 is installed. Install the sprocket 53 to be driven, and
Install the sprocket 54 diagonally below No. 1, and
As shown in FIG. 5, an endless chain 56 is engaged with each sprocket 51 to 54 so as to form an inverted L shape.

Reference numeral 58 in FIG. 4 is a sliding member that is attached to a horizontally long guide hole formed in the side wall 40 so as to be able to move freely. is the engaging piece 5 as shown in Figure 4.
An engagement notch 60 that engages with the hole 9 is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a plurality of pins 6 are provided in a part of the endless chain 56 as an example of a driving piece.
1, and the outer side of the sliding member 58 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, an engagement recess 62 is provided as an example of an engagement portion with which the pin 61 engages and disengages, and an engagement protrusion 63 as an engagement portion with which the pin 61 engages and disengages also on the upper and lower sides of the outside of the elevating member 57; 64 is provided.

Reference numeral 65 in FIG. 1 is a drawing waste discharge chute, the lower end of which penetrates the bottom plate 2 and protrudes downward, and the lower end is open.

In the above configuration, FIG. 1 shows the position where a fixed amount of coffee bean powder is supplied from the supply pipe 35 into the chamber 14, and the sliding member 58 is engaged with the notch 60 of the moving frame 6 as shown in FIG. The coupling piece 59 is engaged, the chain 56 is stopped, and the elevating member 47 is in the raised position.

At this time, the valve port 21 at the bottom of the cylinder 18 is closed by the lower valve body 22 as shown in FIG.
is connected to the inside of the cylinder 18, so the hot water supply port 28
A fixed amount of hot water is supplied into the cylinder 18 from the above.

In this state, the drive shaft 55 starts and the sprocket 5
3, when the chain 56 moves in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 5,
The movable frame 6, together with the chamber 14 and the filter block 10, moves directly below the cylinder 18 as shown in FIG. 2 via the pin 61 and the sliding member 58.

The pin 61 continues to move with the chain 56, but the chain 56 is moved downwardly by the sprocket 51. Therefore, the pin 61 comes out of the recess 62 and moves downward, and the moving frame 6 stops directly below the cylinder 18.

The pin 61 that has descended together with the chain 56 engages with the protrusion 64 at the bottom of the elevating member 47, and the elevating member 47
Since the notch 48 is pressed down, the push-up lever 4
Push down pin 49 of 4.

Therefore, the roller 46 of the lever 44
3, this plate 43 pushes up the filter block 10 together with the chamber 14 and presses its upper end to the lower packing of the cylinder 18, thereby also pushing the cylinder 18 upward.

When the cylinder 18 is raised, the valve body 32 is raised to close the hot water supply port 28 and the air vent hole 29.

Under the above conditions, the solenoid valve of the compressed air supply device (not shown) opens, and compressed air is supplied into the cylinder 18 from the compressed air supply port 34. For this reason,
Air pressure is applied to the hot water level in the cylinder 18, and this pressure pushes open the lower valve body 22, and hot water is injected into the chamber 14 from the valve port 21, passing through the powder in the chamber 14 and containing components such as coffee. The extracted liquid passes through the filter 12 and passes through the filter block 10.
It is sent out from the extraction port 11 through the supply pipe.

During this time, the chain 56 is stopped, but after a certain period of time, the pressure from the compressed air port 34 stops, and the chain 56 starts running in the same direction again under the condition that the extraction is completed.

As a result, the pin 61 comes off the protrusion 64 and begins to rise, turning around the lower part of the sprocket 53 and starting to rise, but on the way, the pin 61 engages with the protrusion 63 and raises the elevating member 47. Therefore, the pin 49 engaged with the notch 48 of the elevating member 47 is pushed up, the lever 44 rotates, and the roller 46
moves down the push-up plate 43, so that the cylinder 18, chamber 14, and filter block 10 return to their original positions in FIG.

During this time, the chain 56 continues to run, and when the pin 61 begins to move to the left in FIG. 5 along the sprocket 54, the pin 61 moves into the recess of the sliding member 58 at the position indicated by the chain line on the right in FIG. 62 and moves this member 58 to the right in FIG. 4 and to the left in FIG.

Therefore, the movable frame 6 begins to return to its original position, and when it reaches the position shown in FIG. 1, the filter block 10 is stopped by a stopper 26 provided on the guide rod 7. However, since the chain 56 continues to travel, the movable frame 6 moves further to the right in FIG. 1 together with the chamber 14, but at this time the spring 13 is stretched.

When the movable frame 6 moves as described above, the scraper 15 at its end scrapes off the squeezing residue on the filter 12 and drops it into the chute 65. Also, the protruding shafts 3 on both sides of the chamber 14 that move together with the moving frame 6
8 rests on the lifting lever 39 and rises, and when it passes this lever 39, it falls from the end of the lever 39 due to the tension spring and its own weight, and the shock removes the residue that had adhered to the inner surface of the chamber 14. The waste is dropped into the chute 65.

When the pin 61 that runs together with the chain 56 begins to rotate along the sprocket 52, it comes off the recess 62, and when the pin 61 that has been rotating on the top of the sprocket 52 begins to move in the opposite direction, the pin 6
1 again engages the recess 62 and begins to move the moving frame 6 towards the filter block 10. At this time, the protruding shaft 38 passes under the lever 39, lifts the lever and moves, and when the protruding shaft 38 passes the lever 39, the lever 39 returns to its original position by the spring 42, and the chamber 14 is positioned above the block 10, and the chamber 14 is positioned above the block 10. 56 stops.

Note that the conditions for each of the above actions are set using a position detector such as a limit switch, a timer, or the like.

The drive mechanism of the present invention is characterized in that the moving frame of the extractor, which performs the above-mentioned functions, is moved laterally by an endless chain, and the chamber inside the moving frame is moved up and down at accurate timing.

That is, the present invention provides a chamber in which an endless chain having a driving piece such as a pin that engages with and disengages from a reciprocating frame that moves forward and backward together with the movable frame of an extractor is arranged in an inverted L shape by a plurality of sprockets, and is fitted into the movable frame so as to be able to move up and down. The chamber is raised and lowered by engaging and disengaging driving pieces such as pins to the upper and lower protrusions of the lifting member that lifts and lowers the filter block at the bottom of the chamber. The drive and control mechanism is extremely simple, as the chain only needs to be driven in a fixed direction and stopped only during extraction and during the introduction of powder into the chamber. The timing is extremely accurate as the chamber is raised and lowered. In addition, in the example, one chain was
In some cases, two endless chains are arranged in an inverted L shape, one running in the horizontal direction and the other running in the vertical direction, and both chains are interlocked.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partially longitudinal front view of an extractor implementing the drive mechanism of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional side view of the same as above, Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the same, and Fig. 4 is a lifting member and a moving frame. FIG. 5 is a rear view showing the engaged state of the drive chain, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional side view showing the engaged state of the moving frame and the sliding member. 6...Moving frame, 10...Filter block, 1
4...Chamber, 18...Cylinder, 21...Valve port, 35...Powder supply pipe, 47...Elevating member, 5
6...Endless chain, 58...Sliding member, 61...
Pin as a driving piece, 62... recess as an engaging part, 63, 64... protrusion as an engaging part, 65...
... Squeezed waste discharge chute.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A movable frame that moves between the lower part of the cylinder, which has a mechanism for discharging hot water from the valve opening at the lower part by compressed air pressure, the lower part of the powder supply pipe on the side thereof, and the upper part of the squeezed waste discharge chute on the side thereof, is equipped with an elevator. Equipped with a freely adjustable chamber and a filter block at the bottom,
After the movable frame moves to the bottom of the cylinder together with the chamber supplied with powder at the bottom of the powder supply pipe and stops, the compressed air pressure applied inside the cylinder moves the inside of the chamber under the condition that the chamber and filter block are connected to the cylinder. In an extraction device configured to supply hot water and discharge powder components in a chamber to a predetermined part through a filter block,
A drive means for an endless chain is provided extending from near both ends of the moving range of the moving frame to below the cylinder mounting portion, and the moving frame is moved by engaging and disengaging from an engaging portion provided on a side surface of a sliding member that moves together with the moving frame. A drive piece is provided in a part of the endless chain, which functions to move the member forward and backward, and to engage and disengage the engaging portion of the lifting member that raises and lowers the filter block and the chamber in the movable frame, thereby raising and lowering the lifting member. Drive mechanism in the device.