JP2517823Y2 - Automatic dispensing device for sparkling beverages - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to an automatic metering and dispensing apparatus for sparkling beverages, and in particular, extrudes a beverage from a beverage container by carbon dioxide pressure like draft beer. Automatic dispensing apparatus for sparkling beverages to be dispensed and dispensed.

(Prior Art) There are various types of sparkling beverages containing carbon dioxide gas handled by the automatic metering and dispensing apparatus, such as draft beer, cola, and juice. Here, draft beer will be described as an example.

Conventionally, as an automatic fixed amount pouring device for pouring fixed amount of draft beer from a draft beer barrel as a beverage container, an automatic fixed amount pouring device as shown in Fig. 6 is known.

That is, the refrigeration apparatus 2 and the cooling water tank 3 are provided in the pouring device main body 1.

The cooling water 4 in the cooling water tank 3 is cooled by the refrigerating device 2. In the cooling water tank 3, a beer cooling pipe 5 as a beverage cooling pipe is provided, and exchanges heat with the cooling water 4.

One end of the beer cooling pipe 5 is connected to the discharge valve 6,
An outlet 7 is attached to the outlet valve 6. The other end of the beer cooling pipe 5 is connected to a beer introduction pipe 8 as a beverage introduction pipe outside the dispensing device main body 1.

Also, a beverage outlet 10 of a draft beer barrel 9 serving as a beverage container.
, A dispense head 11 is detachably mounted. The dispense head 11 is connected to a siphon pipe (not shown) provided in the draft beer barrel 9, and the upper end of the dispense head 11 is connected to the beer introduction pipe 8.
Is in communication with

Further, a pressure reducing valve 14 attached to a carbon dioxide gas cylinder 13 serving as a carbon dioxide gas supply source is connected to a gas inlet 16 of the dispense head 11 via a gas conduit 15.

On the other hand, below the spout 7, there is a mounting table 18 on which a container 17 such as a mug can be mounted.

In addition, a control device 19 composed of, for example, a timer device is provided in an upper portion of the inside of the dispensing device main body 1 and a pouring button 20 is provided on an upper front portion of the dispensing device main body 1.
Then, when the dispensing button 20 is pressed, the control device 19 controls the dispensing valve 6.
The valve driving device 21 is controlled to open the valve for a time corresponding to the size of the container 17.

Next, the operation of pouring draft beer B, which is a carbonated beverage, in the above apparatus will be described.

First, in order to pour out draft beer B, the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas in the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 13 is reduced using the pressure reducing valve 14, and the gas pipe 1 is discharged.
5. Supply the draft beer 9 via the dispense head 11. As a result, the inside of the draft beer barrel 9 is pressurized by the carbon dioxide pressure. By opening the pouring valve 6, the draft beer B stored in the draft beer barrel 9 passes through the beer introduction pipe 8 and the draft beer cooling pipe 5 and is discharged into the container 17 from the pouring port 7.

It is preferable that a predetermined amount of liquid and foam be poured into the container 17 of the poured draft beer B, which greatly affects the flavor of the draft beer B.

If the carbon dioxide gas pressure acting on the draft beer B in the draft beer barrel 9 is kept constant (the adjusting pressure of the pressure reducing valve 14 is kept constant), the draft beer B is poured out through the beer introduction pipe 8 and the beer cooling pipe 5. When pouring out through the valve 6, the pipe resistance is constant, and therefore the pouring speed is constant.

Only by setting the dispensing time from the control device 19 in accordance with the size of the container 17 such as a mug, the dispensing button 20 can be operated to constantly dispense a fixed amount.

Although not shown, when dispensing and dispensing draft beer B by using containers 17 of different sizes in combination, dispensing buttons (sorting switches) 20... Corresponding to the number of containers 17 of different sizes are provided. By operating the buttons 20..., The dispensing valve 6 is opened for a time commensurate with the size of the container, so that a constant amount can be poured into each container.

However, in the conventional apparatus, a container 17 such as a mug is required.
Each time the container 17 is poured, the positional relationship (height, inclination angle) between the container 17 and the outlet 7 of the discharging valve 6 is different, and the control of the foam of the draft beer B is eventually performed by the attendant. It was taking care.

As a method of manually adjusting the foaming condition of draft beer B, that is, as a good pouring method, the container 17 and the spout 7 are brought closer to each other and the container 17 is tilted at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the spout 7. Hold it and pour the draft beer B along the inner wall of the container 17, gradually erect the container 17 so that it does not overflow from the container 17, and pour it until it is full.

At this time, when the foam amount is small, the distance (head) between the container 17 and the spout 7 is increased during the pouring, and the draft beer B is dropped from a high position to arbitrarily foam and reduce the foam amount. A way to control was taken.

For this reason, even if the dispensing valve 6 is opened for a time corresponding to the size of the container 17, the amount of foaming differs depending on how the container 17 is received.

As another method of pouring draft beer B from a high position into the container 17 to adjust the amount of foaming artificially is difficult, the container 17 is inclined with respect to the spout 7 to be erect as soon as the draft beer B is discharged. Then, the amount of foam is poured out as much as possible, and while not shown, the pouring valve 6 is controlled to be in a half-open state, and the draft beer B is poured out in a foam state, and when the container 17 is full, the pouring valve 6 is turned off. The method of closing was taken.

A method of adjusting the foam amount by forcibly foaming draft beer B with the discharge valve 6 in a half-open state is a method generally adopted, but the taste is significantly deteriorated, and ideally, draft beer B It is considered desirable to perform a pouring control in which a certain amount of carbon dioxide gas is spontaneously released from draft beer B during the pouring process to control the foam amount.

As is well known, draft beer B contains 2.4 to 2.9 carbon dioxide.
It contains vol., and if the pressure that is adapted to the temperature of draft beer B is not applied, carbon dioxide gas will be liberated and foamed, or conversely carbon dioxide gas will be excessively absorbed in draft beer B, resulting in a significant deterioration in taste. It will be.

In general, 10 ℃ 1kg / cm ² for draft beer B of the 20 ° C. draft beer B 2 kg / cm ^2, also, the draft beer B of 30 ° C. 3
By applying a carbon dioxide pressure of kg / cm ^2, the carbon dioxide content can be maintained. As described above, the temperature and pressure conditions are stable under certain conditions, but when the beer B is put in a fluidized state as in the case of pouring, the balance of the conditions is broken and carbon dioxide gas is liberated to foam.

In addition, when pouring into the container 17 such as a mug, the outlet 7 of the pouring valve 6 is brought close to the container 17 so that the draft of the draft beer B is reduced and the head is dropped. The amount increases. The degree of foaming is related to the flow rate and the flow condition of draft beer B. When the flow rate is low, foaming is slow, and when the speed is high, foaming is rapid.

In view of the above, in the case of quantitatively pouring out a sparkling beverage such as draft beer B, it is not enough to simply open the pouring valve 6 for a time commensurate with the container 17 as the control device 20. It is necessary to change the carbon dioxide gas pressure supplied to the draft beer barrel 9 according to the temperature, and accordingly, the “open” time of the spout valve 6 also needs to be changed.

Also, it is necessary to adjust how the draft beer B is received, such as the inclination angle of the container 17, and it is a very troublesome operation to re-adjust them artificially.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) As described above, in the conventional device, when the draft beer is poured into the container, since the container is held by hand and poured out, the container 17 and the pouring valve 6 are dispensed each time. The positional relationship (height, tilt angle) with the spout 7 was different, and the foam control of draft beer B depended on the staff. Therefore, as a result of pouring the draft beer B into the container 17, there is often a problem that the ratio of the liquid amount and the foam amount is not appropriate (there are many foams).

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to open a container with a simple operation even if the temperature of the sparkling beverage such as draft beer or the carbon dioxide pressure acting on the sparkling beverage in the beverage container changes. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic quantitative dispensing device for a sparkling beverage in which the ratio of the amount of liquid to the amount of foam can be appropriately controlled and dispensed automatically without holding it.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problem) As a means for solving the problem, the present invention supplies carbon dioxide gas into a beverage container containing a sparkling beverage containing carbon dioxide gas, and In the automatic quantitative dispensing device for a foamed beverage that dispenses and drinks the beverage from the dispensing valve into the container by the pressure of, a mounting table on which the container is mounted, a table tilt drive device that tilts the mounting table, and this table. Table tilt holding time setting input means for inputting the tilt holding time of the container by the tilt drive device, and a pouring start input for inputting a signal for starting the pouring of the beverage into the container placed on the mounting table Means, a valve driving device for driving the opening and closing of the pouring valve, a valve driving time setting input means for inputting a valve driving time of the valve driving device, the valve driving device and the platform inclination driving device Start input means and tilt support for the platform And a control device for controlling a signal from the time setting input means and said valve drive time setting input unit, in which a structure capable of controlling the amount of foaming of the beverage by adjusting said platform tilt holding time.

(Effect) That is, the present invention does not manually hold the container such as a jug and tilt the container manually or make a head with respect to the spout as in the conventional example, but the tilt of the mounting table on which the container is mounted is set in advance. Hold it at an angle, bring the container wall close to the spout of the pouring valve, and let it flow down so that it conforms to the container wall to suppress foaming, then pour out, and then erect the container to obtain the required amount of foam. A large amount of pouring difference from the pouring port of the pouring valve is used for foaming so that the amount of liquid in the container and the amount of foam can be controlled to an appropriate ratio. Particularly, according to the present invention, the inclination holding time of the container and the opening time of the pouring valve can be easily and manually adjusted according to the temperature, the pouring pressure, and the container size of the sparkling beverage such as draft beer.

That is, when the temperature of the sparkling beverage is high and the pouring pressure is high, the container is tilted for a long time, and the pouring is controlled while the pouring difference is minimized to suppress foaming. When the value is low, it is difficult to foam, so the time for holding the container inclined is shortened, the container is quickly erected upright, and pouring is performed so that foaming can be promoted with a large pouring difference. In this way, it becomes possible to easily control the foaming of the sparkling beverage.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a pouring device main body, in which a refrigerating device 2 and a cooling water tank 3 are provided.

The cooling water 4 in the cooling water tank 3 is cooled by the refrigerating device 2. In the cooling water tank 3, a beer cooling pipe 5 as a beverage cooling pipe is provided, and exchanges heat with the cooling water 4.

One end of the beer cooling pipe 5 is connected to the discharge valve 6,
An outlet 7 is attached to the outlet valve 6. The other end of the beer cooling pipe 5 is connected to a beer introduction pipe 8 as a beverage introduction pipe outside the dispensing device main body 1.

Also, a beverage outlet 10 of a draft beer barrel 9 serving as a beverage container.
, A dispense head 11 is detachably mounted. The dispense head 11 is connected to a siphon pipe (not shown) provided in the draft beer barrel 9, and the upper end of the dispense head 11 is connected to the beer introduction pipe 8.
Is in communication with

Further, a pressure reducing valve 14 attached to a carbon dioxide gas cylinder 13 serving as a carbon dioxide gas supply source is connected to a gas inlet 16 of the dispense head 11 via a gas conduit 15.

On the other hand, the spout 7 faces a recess 1a formed at the center of the front side of the spouting device main body 1, and a container supporting means 25 on which a container 17 such as a mug can be placed is provided below the recess 1a. I have. The container support means 25 includes a mounting table 26 and a table tilt driving device 27 including a stepping motor with a linear head for tilting the mounting table 26.

The mounting table 26 has an L shape and is rotatable by pivotally attaching the upper end of the back surface of the vertical plate portion 26a to the vertical wall surface of the recess 1a via a shaft 28. The table tilt drive device 27
Is a linear head 27a which can be retracted and this linear head 27a
And a stepping motor 27b for driving. And
By driving the stepping motor 27b of the table tilt drive device 27, the linear head 27a protrudes and pushes the back surface of the vertical plate portion 26a of the mounting table 26, and the mounting table 26 pivots the shaft 28 as shown in FIG. And it is designed to incline.

Further, on the front surface of the upper part of the pouring device main body 1, there is provided a first table as a table tilt time setting input means for setting a tilt drive time of a table tilt drive device 27 for tilt-driving the table 26 on which the container 17 is mounted.
Of the valve drive device 21 for opening and closing the time limiter (TA) 30 and the pouring valve 6, that is, the valve driving for setting the time for opening the pouring valve 6 and pouring the draft beer B from the pouring port 7 into the container 17 A second time limiter (BT) 31 as a time setting input means is arranged. Furthermore, a pouring button 20 as a pouring start inputting means and a third timing device (CT) 33 are arranged here.

In addition, these first timing device (TA) 30, second timing device (BT) 31, third timing device (CT) 33, valve drive device 21,
As shown in FIG. 2, the platform tilting drive device 27, the pouring button 20, etc. are electrically connected to the first relay (R1) 35, the second relay (R2) 36, etc. and the power source 37 in a predetermined state. Has been done.

Next, the operation of the automatic fixed quantity dispensing device configured as described above will be described.

First, the carbon dioxide gas in the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 13 is decompressed in advance using the pressure reducing valve 14, and is supplied to the draft beer barrel 9 via the gas conduit 15 and the dispensing head 11. Then, the draft beer B in the draft beer barrel 9 is made ready to be poured out by the carbon dioxide gas pressure.

Then, when pouring out draft beer B, the mounting table 26
A container 17 such as a mug is placed on the container. In this initial state, the mounting table 26 is not in an inclined state, and the container 17 is placed in an upright state as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

When pouring draft beer B, a container is placed on the table 26.
17 is placed, and then the pouring button 20 is pressed.

Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to the electric circuit connection diagram of FIG. 2 and FIGS. 3 to 5.

In FIG. 2, when the pouring button 20 is pressed, the relay (R1) 35 is excited, and the pouring button 20 is held by the a contact 35a ₁ of the relay (R1) 35. 36b is a b contact of the relay (R2) 36. Relay (R
1) By holding 35, the other a of relay (R1) 35
The first timing device (TA) 30 and the third timing device (TC) 33 are excited by the contact 35a ₂ . Then, the first timing device (T
The base contact drive device 27 is excited by the b contact 30b of A) 30 for the set time of the first time limiter (TA) 30.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the mounting table 26 is rotationally driven around the support shaft 28 by the table tilting drive device 27 for a period of time set by the first timing device (TA) 30, and is held tilted. Then, the container 17 on the mounting table 26 is inclined and held with respect to the spout 7 of the spout valve 6.

Next, after the time set by the third timing device (TC) 33 has passed by the a contact 33a of the third timing device (TC) 33,
The second timing device (TB) 31 is excited. By exciting the second timing device (TB) 31, the valve drive device 21 is excited by the b contact 31b for the time set by the second timing device (TB) 31.

This is because the second time limiter (TB) 31 in FIG.
The setting time of the third timing device (TC) 33 in which the spout valve 6 is driven to be opened by the valve drive device 21 is set so that the spout valve 6 is opened after the container 17 is held inclined. This is to do so, and is not always necessary.

Draft beer B poured from the spout 7 of the spout valve 6 is a container
The beer B is gently flown down along the inner wall of 17 and is stored in the container 17. At this time, the draft beer B is suppressed from foaming and is poured out. When the set time of the first time limiter (TA) 30 elapses, the table tilt drive 27 causes the container 17 and the mounting table 26 to move to the support shaft 28.
It is driven to rotate centering around and is controlled to the upright state as shown in FIG.

Draft beer B is continuously poured out from the spout 7 of the spout valve 6, and when the pouring difference from the spout 7 becomes large and foaming is promoted to rise near the upper edge of the container 17, the second time limit is reached. When the set time of the device (TB) 31 has passed, the relay (R2) 36 is excited by the a contact 31a of the second timed device (TB), and the relay (R1) 35 opens the b contact 36b of the relay (R2) 36. , The excitation is released, the relay (R1) 35 is held by the contact a 29a _1, and the pouring cycle is completed. It is necessary to appropriately change the driving time of the above-described platform tilt drive device 27 and valve drive device 21 depending on the pouring pressure (pressure of carbon dioxide gas acting on the draft beer barrel 9), the temperature of draft beer in the draft beer barrel 9 and the size of the container 17. There is.

The reason why the change is necessary is to maintain the dissolved amount of carbon dioxide gas in the draft beer B in the draft beer B in the draft beer barrel 9 as described above. Flow rate and spout 7 of spout valve 6
The flowing speed of the draft beer B from the above becomes slow, and the foaming amount is poured out in a small amount.

On the contrary, when the hot draft beer B is extracted at a high pressure, the flow rate in the beer cooling pipe 5 and the outflow rate from the spout 7 of the spout valve 6 are increased, and the foaming amount of the draft beer B poured into the container 17 is increased. It will increase.

As described above, draft beer B has a characteristic that it is difficult to foam at low temperatures and easily foams at high temperatures. Therefore, in order to properly pour the liquid-to-foam ratio of draft beer B into the container 17, the pouring as described above is necessary. The control of the head becomes important. When pouring hot draft beer B at high pressure, it is necessary to incline the container 17 to the pouring outlet 7 so as to be close to the pouring outlet 7 so that the pouring difference is as small as possible and foaming is suppressed.

This means that the tilt drive time of the platform tilt drive device 27, that is, the set time of the first timing device (TA) 30 needs to be as long as possible, and the tilt holding of the container 17 and the mounting table 26 needs to be lengthened.

When pouring low-temperature draft beer B at a low pressure, it is difficult to foam, so conversely, the inclination holding time of the container 17 is shortened, and the container 17 is quickly controlled to be upright to increase the pouring difference. It is necessary to properly control the foaming amount Δh (see FIG. 5).

This means that the tilting drive time of the platform tilting drive device 27, that is, the setting time of the first timing device (TA) 30 is set to be short and a large pouring difference is secured to promote foaming and pouring.
When the bubble layer has risen to the upper edge of the container 17, the pouring valve 6 is closed to complete pouring.

The driving time of the valve driving device 21 that drives the opening and closing of the pouring valve 6 is set by the second timing device (TB) 31. The set time of the second time limiter (TB) 31 needs to be set longer than the set time of the first time limiter (TA) 30, but the set time of the first time limiter (TA) 30 correlates with the set time. There is the temperature of draft beer B, the pouring pressure, the setting time of the first time limiter (TA) 30,
Considering the size of the container 17, the time is set so that the draft beer B can be fully filled without overflowing from the container 17 while the container 17 is upright.

The temperature of the above-mentioned draft beer B for appropriately pouring the ratio of the liquid amount to the foam amount into the container 17, the pouring pressure, the set time of the first time limiter (TA) 30, the second time limiter. The setting time of (TB) 31 and the correlation of the size of the container 17 are acquired in advance as data of empirical pouring conditions, and are set each time the new beer barrel 9 is replaced according to the data. Need to change.

The first timing device (TA) 30, the second timing device (TB) 31, and the third timing device (TC) 33 according to the present invention are implemented by, for example, a timer that can be artificially and easily changed from outside the device. To be done.

Regarding the determination of the above-mentioned pouring conditions, although not shown, a temperature sensor is provided on the surface of the draft beer barrel 9 or the beer introduction pipe 8 to detect the temperature of the draft beer B, or carbon dioxide gas to act on the draft beer barrel 9. The pressure is detected by a pressure sensor, and these signals are calculated by a microcomputer programmed on the basis of empirical data, and each of the timing devices 3
It is also possible to attach a display device such as an arithmetic unit and a display device capable of displaying the set time of 0, 31, and 33 to display the data. These devices can be implemented with existing technology.

The staff can easily set the dispensing condition based on the data displayed on the display device.

In this way, by storing the dispensing conditions as data, the staff can easily dispense the beer B into the container 17 while appropriately controlling the ratio of the liquid to the foam.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the table tilt drive device 27 is configured by the stepping motor 27b with the linear head 27a, but may be, for example, a solenoid with a pusher, an air cylinder, or another mechanical mechanism. Further, the valve driving device 21 is an electromagnetic valve, but may be another device such as an air cylinder.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[Advantage of Invention] With the above-mentioned configuration, even if the temperature of the sparkling beverage or the dispensing pressure (carbon dioxide gas pressure acting on the sparkling beverage) fluctuates, the container is not handheld and dispensed, so that the control of the adjustment can be performed. It is possible to accurately pour the ratio of the liquid amount and the foam amount into the container accurately.

The dispensing conditions can be easily changed from the outside and the dispensing operation is easy.

Especially when controlling the amount of foam, the amount of foam is adjusted by adjusting the pouring head difference while the pouring valve is fully opened. As compared with the method of foaming by squeezing, there is an effect that the taste is less deteriorated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is also a circuit diagram, FIG. 3 to FIG. 5 are diagrams for explaining the pouring operation state, and FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional example. B ... Draft beer (foamed beverage), 6 ... Spout valve, 7 ... Spout, 9 ... Draft beer barrel (beverage container), 17 ... Container, 20
…… Pour button (pour start input means), 21 …… Valve drive device,
26: mounting table, 27: table tilt drive device, 30: first time limit device TA (table tilt holding time setting input means), 31: second
Time limit device TB (valve drive time setting input means).

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Creator Haruji Oguro 2068-3 Ooka, Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture Numazu Plant, Toshiba Machine Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-4-6083 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An automatic quantitative injection of an effervescent beverage in which carbon dioxide is supplied into a beverage container containing an effervescent beverage containing carbon dioxide, and the beverage is dispensed from the spout valve into the container by the pressure of the carbon dioxide. In the dispensing device, a mounting table for mounting the container, a table tilt drive device for tilting the table, a table tilt holding time setting input means for inputting a container tilt holding time by the table tilt driving device, A pouring start input means for inputting a signal for starting pouring of a beverage into a container placed on a table, a valve drive device for opening and closing the pouring valve, and a valve of the valve drive device. A valve drive time setting input means for inputting a drive time, the valve drive device and the table tilt drive device from the pouring start input means, the table tilt hold time setting input means and the valve drive time setting input means. Controlled by signal An automatic quantitative dispensing device for a sparkling beverage, comprising a control device for controlling a foaming amount of the beverage by adjusting the platform tilt holding time.