JP4693161B2 - Beverage container fitting - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fitting for a beverage container that is attached to a base of a beverage container such as a beer barrel and is connected to a dispense head. More specifically, foreign matter, rainwater, etc. in the gap between the base and the mounting member It is related with the fitting for drink containers which can prevent intrusion of this completely and can reduce maintenance work.

  A fitting is attached to a base of a beverage container such as a beer barrel, and a dispensing head is connected to the fitting. A pressure gas such as carbon dioxide is supplied into the beverage container via the dispense head, and the beverage in the beverage container is poured out of the container. A conventional fitting and the attachment state of the base will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view from the front showing a state where a conventional fitting is attached to a beverage container. FIG. 8 shows a case where the beverage is draft beer and the beverage container is a beer barrel. A fitting mounting member 20 is screwed and fixed inside the base 91 provided at the upper part of the beer barrel 9. Further, the down tube 5 urged upward by a spring is attached to the attachment member 20.

  The gas valve 3 is fixed to the upper end portion of the down tube 5, and the beer valve 4 is urged upward inside the upper end of the down tube 5. The gas valve 3 and the beer valve 4 are closed by an urging force of a coil spring. A dispense head can be attached to the base 91 and the attachment member 20. The dispensing head and the attachment member 20 can be coupled with one touch by a connection mechanism such as a bayonet mechanism by the engagement protrusion 22.

  The dispense head operates the gas valve 3 and the beer valve 4, supplies pressure gas such as carbon dioxide gas into the beer barrel 9, increases the internal pressure of the beer barrel 9, and draws draft beer through the down tube 5 and the beer valve 4. It is a device for pouring out. In order to seal gas leakage from between the base 91 and the mounting member 20, a packing 24 is provided between the lower inner surface of the base 91 and the mounting member 20.

  In the fitting having such a configuration, although the mounting member 20 is screwed and fixed to the base 91, there is a minute gap between the base 91 and the mounting member 20. Rainwater and draft beer enter from the gap. The sewage that has entered from the gap is prevented from entering the beer barrel 9 by the packing 24, but stays between the base 91 and the mounting member 20 for a long time, which is not preferable in terms of hygiene. When the beer barrel is washed and sterilized at a high temperature, the sewage in the gap boils and ejects, so it can be confirmed that the sewage has accumulated in the gap. When the beer barrel is left in the sun, the sewage in the gap may thermally expand and ooze out of the gap, or may enter the base and contaminate draft beer.

Therefore, the inventor of the present application has proposed a fitting described in Patent Document 1 below. In the fitting of Patent Document 1, in addition to the first sealing member that seals the gap between the lower inner surface of the base and the mounting member, a second sealing member is also provided at the uppermost part of the fitting. This makes it difficult for foreign matter, rainwater, etc. to enter the gap.
JP 2000-79991 A

  In the conventional fitting as shown in FIG. 8, foreign matter, sewage or the like enters and accumulates between the base 91 and the mounting member 20, which is not preferable in terms of hygiene. Furthermore, since the packing 24 is a flexible material such as rubber, deterioration due to wear or corrosion is unavoidable and needs to be replaced periodically. As described above, conventionally, as maintenance of fitting, it has been necessary to periodically perform sterilization / cleaning work and replacement work of the packing 24.

  In addition, it is difficult to completely prevent intrusion of foreign matter, sewage or the like even with the fitting as in Patent Document 1. In addition, since the first sealing member and the second sealing member are also made of a flexible material such as rubber, deterioration due to wear or corrosion is inevitable, and periodic replacement is necessary. Therefore, although the frequency of the maintenance work can be reduced also by the fitting of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to periodically perform the sterilization / cleaning work and the replacement work of the first sealing member and the second sealing member.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a beverage container fitting that can completely prevent foreign matters, sewage and the like from entering a gap between a base and an attachment member, and can reduce maintenance work.

  In order to achieve the above object, the beverage container fitting of the present invention comprises a mounting member provided on the outer peripheral side with a male screw threadedly engaged with a female screw provided on the inner peripheral side of the base of the beverage container, and a lower portion of the base A sealing member made of a corrosion-resistant material that seals between the inner surface and the mounting member, and after screwing and fixing the mounting member to the base, the upper surface of the base and the mounting member The gap is welded and sealed, and the mounting member is integrated with the base.

  Further, in the above beverage container fitting, the valve seat portion provided on the inner peripheral side of the attachment member, the tubular down tube whose upper end portion is supported by the attachment member, and the upper end portion of the down tube are fitted. It is preferable to have a gas valve for supplying pressurized gas to the inside of the container and a beverage valve provided inside the upper end of the down tube for pouring the beverage out of the container.

  In the beverage container fitting described above, the gas valve is formed integrally with a metal cored bar formed so that a diameter of a part thereof is smaller than a diameter of the other part, and the cored bar. In addition, it is possible to use a valve member made of a highly flexible valve member. The gas valve can pass through the central hole of the valve seat portion in the inclined state, but cannot pass through the central hole of the valve seat portion in the horizontal state.

  In the above beverage container fitting, the gas valve is formed of a highly flexible valve member and a metal that covers a top surface of the valve member formed such that a diameter of a part thereof is smaller than a diameter of another part. What consists of metal cover metal fittings can be used. The cover fitting can pass through the central hole of the valve seat portion in the inclined state, but cannot pass through the central hole of the valve seat portion in the horizontal state.

  Further, in the above beverage container fitting, the valve member is passed through the central hole of the valve seat portion and fitted to the upper end portion of the down tube, and then the cover metal fitting is inclined and the valve seat portion The gas valve can be assembled by passing through the central hole of the valve member and arranging and fixing it on the upper surface of the valve member.

  In the above beverage container fitting, the sealing member is preferably made of soft stainless steel.

  Since this invention is comprised as mentioned above, there exist the following effects.

  Since the gap between the upper surface of the base and the mounting member is welded and sealed, it is possible to completely prevent foreign matter, dirty water, and the like from entering the gap between the base and the mounting member. As a result, it is possible to reduce the sterilization process of the base part, the work of removing foreign matters, and the like. Further, the packing replacement work can be eliminated, and the maintenance work can be reduced.

  Since the fitting has the same configuration as the conventional one having the down tube, the gas valve, and the beverage valve, the compatibility with the conventional product is sufficient. In addition, the fitting of the present invention can be easily manufactured by effectively using the conventional fitting. Thereby, the introduction cost of the fitting of the present invention can be greatly reduced, and resources can be used effectively.

  The gas valve can pass through the central hole of the valve seat in the inclined state, but cannot pass through the central hole of the valve seat in the horizontal state. Work can be done.

  Since the gas valve has a cover fitting that can pass through the central hole of the valve seat in the inclined state but cannot pass through the central hole of the valve seat in the horizontal state, the gas valve passes through the central hole of the valve seat. Gas valve replacement work can be performed.

  Since the sealing member is made of soft stainless steel, corrosion resistance and sealing performance are sufficient.

  In the case where the attachment portion and the valve seat portion are integrally provided from the beginning on the base of the beverage container, the manufacturing cost in the case of newly manufacturing the beverage container can be further reduced.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the fitting of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion near the fitting base 91 viewed from the front. Here, a draft beer will be described as a drink, and a beer barrel will be described as an example of a beverage container. A female screw 92 is formed on the inner periphery of the base 91 provided at the upper part of the beer barrel 9, and the fitting member 2 of the fitting is screwed and fixed to the female screw 92. That is, the male screw 21 formed on the outer periphery of the mounting member 2 is screwed with the female screw 92.

  A down tube 5 urged upward by a spring is attached to the attachment member 2. A gas valve 3 is fixed to the upper end portion of the down tube 5 by press fitting or the like, and a beer valve 4 is urged upward in the upper end portion of the down tube 5. The gas valve 3 is urged upward by the coil spring 6 together with the down tube 5 and is pressed against the valve seat 23 of the mounting member 2. The beer valve 4 is pressed against the valve seat portion below the gas valve 3 by the urging force of the coil spring 7. The gas valve 3 and the beer valve 4 are normally closed.

  A dispensing head can be attached to the attachment member 2. An engagement protrusion 22 that protrudes inward is provided on the upper inner peripheral side of the attachment member 2, and the dispense head and the attachment member 2 are coupled with each other by a connection mechanism such as a bayonet mechanism by the engagement protrusion 22. be able to. The gas valve 3 and the beer valve 4 are operated by the dispense head, pressure gas such as carbon dioxide gas is supplied into the beer barrel 9, the internal pressure of the beer barrel 9 is increased, and draft beer is placed through the down tube 5 and the beer valve 4. It can be discharged outside.

  In order to seal gas leakage from between the base 91 and the mounting member 2, a sealing member 25 is disposed between the lower inner surface of the base 91 and the mounting member 2. In the present invention, the sealing member 25 is a ring-shaped member made of a corrosion-resistant soft stainless steel. Since it is the stainless steel sealing member 25, it is preferable to increase the screwing force (screw tightening torque) of the mounting member 2 with respect to the base 91 as compared with the case of the conventional rubber packing.

  After the attachment member 2 is screwed into the base 91 with sufficient torque, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper end portion of the base 91 and the upper end portion of the attachment member 2 are fixed and sealed by welding. Welding is made so that the gap between the two is completely closed over the entire circumference. For this reason, it is possible to completely prevent foreign matter or sewage from entering the gap between the base 91 and the mounting member 2 from the outside. Further, the pressure gas inside the beer barrel 9 is also sealed by the sealing member 25 and does not leak outside. Furthermore, since the sealing member 25 is made of corrosion-resistant soft stainless steel, it can be used without being replaced until the end of the life of the beer barrel 9. For this reason, maintenance work such as packing replacement can be reduced.

  The gas valve 3 is formed by integrally forming a valve member 32 made of a flexible member such as rubber and a cored bar 31 made of stainless steel or the like. In the conventional gas valve, the outer peripheral edge of the metal core is circular. However, in the present invention, since the gas valve 3 needs to be exchanged through the central hole of the valve seat portion 23, the shape of the metal core 31 is different from the conventional one. Are different.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view of the gas valve 3 as viewed from above. On the outer peripheral edge of the cored bar 31, flat portions parallel to each other are provided at two positions symmetrical to the center. For this reason, the diameter (short diameter = distance between the flat portions) of the cored bar 31 at the position where the flat portion is provided is smaller than the diameter (major diameter) in the direction orthogonal to this. The portion where the flat portion is provided has a size that can pass through the central hole of the valve seat portion 23. That is, the short diameter dimension of the core metal 31 is smaller than the diameter of the central hole of the valve seat portion 23, and the long diameter dimension of the core metal 31 is larger than the diameter of the central hole of the valve seat portion 23.

  In order to attach the gas valve 3 to the upper end portion of the down tube 5, first, the gas valve 3 is inclined in the major axis direction of the cored bar 31 and passed through the central hole of the valve seat portion 23. Since the valve member 32 is elastically deformed, by setting the minor axis dimension of the cored bar 31 to an appropriate value within a range smaller than the diameter of the central hole of the valve seat part 23, the gas valve 3 is provided with the valve seat part 23. A central hole can be passed. After passing the gas valve 3 to the down tube 5 side, the lower small diameter portion of the gas valve 3 is fitted to the upper end portion of the down tube 5 as shown in FIG.

  When the gas valve 3 is fitted to the upper end portion of the down tube 5, the cored bar 31 is in a horizontal state and cannot be tilted as shown. When the cored bar 31 is in a horizontal state, the long diameter of the cored bar 31 is larger than the diameter of the central hole of the valve seat portion 23, so that the gas valve 3 is in contact with the valve seat portion 23 and cannot pass through the central hole. When removing the gas valve 3 from the upper end portion of the down tube 5, first, the gas valve 3 is removed from the upper end portion of the down tube 5, and the gas valve 3 is inclined in the major axis direction of the cored bar 31. The central hole is removed by passing it upward.

  Thus, the gas valve 3 can be exchanged through the central hole of the valve seat portion 23 by forming the cored bar 31 of the gas valve 3 so that the diameter of a part thereof is smaller than the diameter of the other part. It is. For this reason, even if the attachment member 2 is fixed to the base 91 by welding, the replacement work of the gas valve 3 is not hindered. If the gas valve 3 is removed, all other members such as the beer valve 4, the down tube 5, and the coil springs 6 and 7 can be exchanged through the central hole of the valve seat portion 23.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of fitting using another form of gas valve 3a. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion near the fitting base 91 viewed from the front. Since the configuration of the fitting other than the gas valve 3a is the same as that of FIG. 1, the description thereof is omitted. The gas valve 3a is formed by integrally molding a valve member 34 made of a flexible member such as rubber and a cored bar 33 made of stainless steel or the like. A cover fitting 35 made of stainless steel or the like is disposed on the upper surface side of the valve member 34 and is fixed to the valve member 34.

  FIG. 4 is a plan view seen from above the gas valve 3a. A cover fitting 35 is disposed and fixed on the upper surface of the valve member 34. In this form, the gas valve 3a is exchanged by allowing the valve member 34 and the cover fitting 35 to be separated and passing through the central hole of the valve seat portion 23. The diameter of the cored bar 33 is smaller than the diameter of the central hole of the valve seat part 23. Since the valve member 34 can be elastically deformed, the valve member 34 can pass through the central hole of the valve seat portion 23.

  On the outer peripheral edge of the cover fitting 35, flat portions parallel to each other are provided at two positions symmetrical to the center. For this reason, the diameter of the cover metal fitting 35 at the position where the flat portion is provided (the short diameter = the distance between the flat portions) is smaller than the diameter (the long diameter) in the direction orthogonal thereto. The portion where the flat portion is provided has a size that can pass through the central hole of the valve seat portion 23. That is, the short diameter dimension of the cover metal fitting 35 is smaller than the diameter of the central hole of the valve seat portion 23, and the long diameter dimension of the cover metal fitting 35 is larger than the diameter of the central hole of the valve seat portion 23.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an assembly procedure of the gas valve 3a. In order to attach the gas valve 3 a to the upper end of the down tube 5, first, the valve member 34 is inclined to pass through the central hole of the valve seat 23, and then the lower small diameter portion of the valve member 34 is connected to the upper end of the down tube 5. Fit into the part. In FIG. 5, the down tube 5 is not shown. Next, the cover metal fitting 35 is inclined in the major axis direction to pass through the central hole of the valve seat portion 23.

  Then, as shown in the drawing, after the cover fitting 35 is disposed on the upper surface of the valve member 34, the cover fitting 35 and the valve member 34 are integrally fixed to form the gas valve 3a. The cover metal fitting 35 is fixed by expanding the lower end of the small diameter portion of the cover metal fitting 35 with a dedicated tool. The diameter-enlarged portion of the cover metal fitting 35 engages with the inner periphery of the core metal 33 to prevent the cover metal fitting 35 from falling off. The diameter expansion may be performed on the entire inner circumference, but it is sufficient to increase the diameter only at appropriate plural points.

  When the gas valve 3a is fitted to the upper end of the down tube 5 and assembled, the cover fitting 35 becomes horizontal and cannot be tilted as shown in FIG. When the cover metal fitting 35 is in a horizontal state, the major diameter of the cover metal fitting 35 is larger than the diameter of the central hole in the valve seat portion 23, so that the gas valve 3 a cannot contact the valve seat portion 23 and pass through the central hole.

  When removing the gas valve 3a from the upper end of the down tube 5, the reverse procedure is performed. First, the cover metal fitting 35 is separated from the gas valve 3a using a dedicated tool, and the cover metal fitting 35 is inclined and removed through the central hole of the valve seat portion 23. Next, the valve member 34 is removed from the upper end portion of the down tube 5 and removed through the central hole of the valve seat portion 23.

  As described above, the gas valve 3a is constituted by the cored bar 33, the valve member 34, and the cover fitting 35, and the cover fitting 35 is formed so that the diameter of a part of the cover fitting 35 is smaller than the diameter of the other part. The valve 3 a can be exchanged through the central hole of the valve seat portion 23. For this reason, even if the attachment member 2 is fixed to the base 91 by welding, the replacement work of the gas valve 3a is not hindered.

  In addition, the fitting of FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 can utilize the beer barrel 9 conventionally used. The fitting member 20 of the conventional fitting is removed from the base 91, the down tube 5 and the like are further removed, and the packing 24 is replaced with a sealing member 25 made of soft stainless steel. Then, by replacing the conventional gas valve with the gas valve 3 or the gas valve 3a of the present invention, the mounting member 2 of the present invention is obtained. Next, after screwing the mounting member 2 with sufficient torque onto the base 91, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the upper end portion of the base 91 and the upper end portion of the mounting member 2 are fixed and sealed by welding. do it.

  As described above, since the fitting of the present invention can be effectively used by using the fitting that has been used conventionally, the cost of introducing the fitting of the present invention can be greatly reduced, and the resource can be effectively used. .

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of another form of sealing member 25a. The sealing member 25 of FIGS. 1 and 3 has a rectangular cross section as shown. That is, the upper surface and the lower surface are formed in parallel, and are sealed by a flat portion. For this reason, when the flatness of the step part of the lower inner surface of the base 91 or the step part of the mounting member 2 is poor, the sealing performance may be lowered. The sealing member 25a in FIG. 6 has a top surface as an inclined surface, and obtains stable sealing performance by bringing the inclined surface into contact with the stepped corners of the mounting member 2. Because of the line contact, the sealing member 25a is easily elastically or plastically deformed, and exhibits stable sealing performance. Although the upper surface of the sealing member is an inclined surface here, the lower surface may be an inclined surface.

  FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the fitting according to the present invention. The fitting shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 can use the beer barrel 9 that has been used in the past, but the fitting shown in FIG. 7 is a case where the beer barrel 9 is newly manufactured. The base and the mounting member are manufactured as an integral base 93 from the beginning. The base 93 and the beer barrel 9 as a beverage container are connected by welding in the same manner as in the past to form a sealed container. A mounting portion 94 is integrally formed on the base 93, and a valve seat portion 95 is formed on the inner peripheral side of the base 93.

  A down tube 5 urged upward by a spring is supported on the mounting portion 94. The gas valve 3 is fixed to the upper end portion of the down tube 5, and the beer valve 4 is urged upward inside the upper end of the down tube 5. The gas valve 3 is urged upward by the coil spring 6 together with the down tube 5 and is pressed against the valve seat portion 95 of the mounting portion 94. The beer valve 4 is pressed against the valve seat portion below the gas valve 3 by the urging force of the coil spring 7. The gas valve 3 and the beer valve 4 are normally closed.

  A dispense head can be attached to the base 93. An engagement protrusion 22 that protrudes inward is provided on the upper inner peripheral side of the base 93, and the dispensing head and the mounting member 2 are coupled with each other by a connection mechanism such as a bayonet mechanism by the engagement protrusion 22. Can do. The gas valve 3 and the beer valve 4 are operated by the dispense head, pressure gas such as carbon dioxide gas is supplied into the beer barrel 9, the internal pressure of the beer barrel 9 is increased, and draft beer is placed through the down tube 5 and the beer valve 4. It can be discharged outside.

  The above configuration is similar to the fitting shown in FIGS. The difference is that the base 93 is provided with the mounting portion 94 and the valve seat portion 95 as an integral unit from the beginning. In the fitting of this form, the sealing member 25 is not necessary, and it is not necessary to couple the base and the mounting member by welding. For this reason, when manufacturing newly, the fitting of this form can reduce manufacturing cost.

  Although FIG. 7 shows the fitting using the gas valve 3, the gas valve 3a shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 may be used. The gas valve 3 and the gas valve 3a also need to be replaced periodically. The replacement of the gas valve 3 and the gas valve 3a can be performed in the same manner as described in the fitting of FIGS.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to completely prevent foreign matter, sewage and the like from entering the gap between the base and the mounting member. As a result, it is possible to reduce the sterilization process of the base part, the work of removing foreign matters, and the like. Further, the packing replacement work can be eliminated, and the maintenance work can be reduced.

  In the above embodiments, draft beer is used as a beverage and a beer barrel is used as a beverage container. However, the present invention can be applied to any other beverage and beverage container.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the fitting for drink containers excellent in hygiene can be provided at low cost by completely preventing entry of foreign matter, sewage or the like into the gap between the base and the mounting member. Moreover, the maintenance work of the beverage container fitting can be reduced.

It is sectional drawing of the fitting of this invention. It is the top view which looked at the gas valve 3 from upper direction. It is sectional drawing of the fitting which uses the gas valve 3a of another form. It is the top view seen from gas valve 3a upper direction. It is a figure which shows the assembly procedure of the gas valve 3a. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the sealing member 25a of another form. It is sectional drawing which shows the fitting of the other form of this invention. It is sectional drawing from the front which shows the state which attached the conventional fitting to the beer barrel.

Explanation of symbols

2 Mounting member 3, 3a Gas valve 4 Beer valve 5 Down tube 6, 7 Coil spring 9 Beer barrel 20 Mounting member 21 Male screw 22 Engaging projection 23 Valve seat part 24 Packing 24 Removal packing 25, 25a Sealing member 31, 33 core Gold 32, 34 Valve member 35 Cover metal fitting 91, 93 Base 92 Female thread 94 Mounting part 95 Valve seat part

Claims (6)

An attachment member (2) provided with an external thread (21) screwed with an internal thread (92) provided on the inner peripheral side of the base (91) of the beverage container (9);
A sealing member (25) made of a corrosion-resistant material that seals between the lower inner surface of the base (91) and the mounting member (2);
After the attachment member (2) is screwed and fixed to the base (91), the gap between the upper surface of the base (91) and the attachment member (2) is welded and sealed, and the attachment member ( Beverage container fitting in which 2) is integrated with the base (91). The beverage container fitting according to claim 1,
A valve seat (23) provided on the inner peripheral side of the mounting member (2);
A tubular down tube (5) having an upper end supported by the mounting member (2);
A gas valve (3, 3a) fitted to the upper end of the down tube (5) for supplying pressurized gas into the container;
A beverage container fitting provided inside the upper end of the down tube (5) and having a beverage valve (4) for pouring the beverage out of the container. The beverage container fitting according to claim 2,
The gas valve (3)
A metal cored bar (31) formed so that a part of the diameter is smaller than that of the other part, and a flexible valve member (32) formed integrally with the cored bar (31). )
The fitting for a beverage container that can pass through the central hole of the valve seat (23) in the inclined state but cannot pass through the central hole of the valve seat (23) in the horizontal state. The beverage container fitting according to claim 2,
The gas valve (3a) is formed of a highly flexible valve member (34) and a metal that covers a top surface of the valve member (34), and is formed so that a diameter of a part thereof is smaller than a diameter of another part. Cover metal fittings (35)
The cover metal fitting (35) can pass through the central hole of the valve seat (23) in the inclined state, but cannot pass through the central hole of the valve seat (23) in the horizontal state. . The beverage container fitting according to claim 4,
The valve member ( 34 ) is passed through the central hole of the valve seat portion (23), and is fitted to the upper end portion of the down tube (5).
Thereafter, the cover fitting (35) is inclined and passed through the central hole of the valve seat (23), and is placed and fixed on the upper surface of the valve member (34) to assemble the gas valve (3a). Beverage container fitting. It is a fitting for drink containers given in any 1 paragraph of Claims 1-5,
The sealing member (25) is a beverage container fitting made of soft stainless steel.

Images