JP3978055B2 - Coffee mill equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a coffee mill apparatus attached to a coffee extractor.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As an example of a drip coffee extractor, the following is known. The coffee beans stored in the hopper are introduced into the mill and ground to produce coffee powder. After the coffee powder is stored in the filter container, it is poured into the coffee powder from the pouring spout. Coffee is extracted by boiling water.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Here, the hopper is appropriately removed when coffee beans are replenished or when the vicinity of the introduction part to the mill is cleaned, but if the extraction switch is accidentally operated with the hopper removed, for example, to the mill There was a problem that the coffee beans remaining in the introduction part of the splattered were scattered due to the driving of the mill and soiled the surroundings.
The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to prevent a malfunction of the mill.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Kohimiru apparatus according to the invention of 請 Motomeko 1 has a hopper to be mounted removably, in that so as to produce a coffee powder by grinding it led coffee beans stored in the hopper to the mill, The hopper is provided with a shutter that opens and closes the outlet thereof, and whether or not the shutter is properly opened to detect whether or not the hopper is mounted at a normal position at a hopper mounting position in the apparatus main body. A detecting member is provided, and control means is provided that enables the mill to be driven only when it is detected by the detecting member that the shutter has been normally opened . The mounting position is provided with a locking means that is always locked to the shutter and is unlocked only when the shutter is normally closed, Holding means for holding the serial shutter in the closed position of the normal with the characterized in that it is configured to provided.
[0005]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the detection member is a reed switch sensitive to a magnet provided on the shutter, and the holding means is a magnet provided on the shutter. And a stopper plate that is provided in the hopper and attracts the magnet, and the magnet is characterized in that it is used as a single unit .
[0006]
[Action and effect of the invention]
Ho Tsu path is opened the shutter after being mounted to the mounting position, that open to legitimate if it is detected by the detection member, are considered hopper is attached to the normal position. Thereby, the coffee beans are guided from the hopper to the mill side through the outlet, and the mill can be driven.
The hopper is removed when coffee beans are refilled or cleaned, but the drive of the mill is restricted until the hopper is mounted in the proper position. In other words, the mill is not driven with the hopper removed, and for example, coffee beans remaining in the introduction part to the mill are prevented from being scattered due to the drive of the mill.
Also, the hopper can be removed from the mounting position only after the shutter is properly closed. Therefore, for example, when the hopper is removed while the coffee beans remain in the hopper, or when the coffee beans are supplemented with the coffee beans, the coffee beans can be prevented from spilling from the outlet.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, a coffee mill apparatus attached to a drip coffee extractor is illustrated.
The overall structure of the coffee extractor will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. A box-shaped main body 10 supported by four legs 11 is provided, and one side of the upper surface of the main body 10 (left side as viewed from the front). As will be described in detail later, two sets of hoppers 13 and mills 14 are mounted side by side, and hot water is heated to a predetermined temperature at a position close to the other side of the main body 10. A hot water storage tank 15 is stored.
A stage 16 for placing the cup C is provided across the entire width of the lower portion of the front surface of the main body 10, and a table 18 for the two left and right drippers 17 is provided above the stage 10 so that the height can be adjusted. This cradle 18 also has two extraction ports 19 on the lower surface and serves also as a shunt.
[0008]
A machine room 20 is formed on the upper surface of the front surface of the main body 10 so as to protrude toward the front side. In the machine room 20, an extraction mechanism 21 is provided corresponding to the upper side of the table 18 of each dripper 17. Is provided. The extraction mechanism unit 21 is provided with a supply unit 22 for the coffee powder Cp on the back side and a pouring unit 23 on the front side.
The supply part 22 of the coffee powder Cp is sequentially provided with a receiving part 25 connected to the supply port of each mill 14, a shooter 26, and a lid plate 27 that can be opened and closed.
In the pouring part 23, a hollow rotating shaft 29 provided with a spray head 30 at its tip is rotatably provided by a motor 31, and hot water pumped up from a hot water storage tank 15 by a pump (not shown). It can be supplied into the rotary shaft 29 via a hot water supply pipe.
[0009]
When extracting the coffee, the dripper 17 on which the paper filter F is set is placed on the placing table 18 and the cup C is placed on the stage 16. When the extraction switch 34 is operated by the operation panel 33, a predetermined amount of coffee powder Cp ground by the mill 14 passes through the shooter 26 from the receiving portion 25, and the lid plate 27 is opened as shown by a chain line in FIG. Then, it drops and accumulates in the paper filter F of the dripper 17. On the other hand, the motor 31 is driven for a predetermined time to rotate the rotary shaft 29 and the spray head 30 around the axis, and the pump is driven for a predetermined time to supply hot water in the hot water storage tank 15 into the rotary shaft 29. Is sprayed in the shape of a shower while being rotated and sprayed toward the coffee powder Cp in the dripper 17. As a result, coffee is extracted and poured into the cup C from the extraction port 19.
[0010]
Next, the structure of the installation part of the hopper 13 will be described in detail.
As described above, two hoppers 13 are arranged side by side on the top plate 40 of the main body 10. The hopper 13 is made of a synthetic resin, and as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, is formed in a box shape having an elongated upper surface in the depth direction, and a lid 41 is covered on the upper surface opening. The inner bottom surface of the hopper 13 is formed in an inclined shape with a downward slope toward a predetermined position close to the front end (the right end in FIG. 3), and the outlet cylinder 43 projects downward from the lowest position. Yes. On the upper surface side of the outlet tube 43, a cover 44 having a truncated cone shape and a rough bowl shape as a whole is formed by assembling four ribs. The cover 44 also serves as a guide for smoothly guiding the coffee beans Cb stored in the hopper 13 toward the outlet tube 43.
[0011]
On the other hand, on the top plate 40 of the main body 10, as shown in detail in FIG. 7, two left and right insertion ports 46 are opened at positions close to the front edge side, and rubber bushes 47 are formed at the mouth edges, respectively. It is inserted. In addition, immediately below the insertion port 46, an introduction cylinder 48 projecting from the upper surface of the mill 14 faces. Therefore, when the hopper 13 is placed on the top plate 40, the outlet cylinder 43 is tightly inserted into the bush 47, and its lower end is fitted into the upper end of the introduction cylinder 48 of the mill 14. ing. In addition, a screw 49 for sending coffee beans Cb to the mill 14 side is provided in the introduction cylinder 48 of the mill 14 so as to be rotatable around the vertical axis. For example, the screw 49 is driven to rotate together with the drive of the mill 14. It has become so.
[0012]
The hopper 13 is equipped with a shutter 50 that opens and closes the outlet cylinder 43 described above. As shown in FIG. 5, the shutter 50 is formed in a shape in which an elongated rectangular shallow dish having a depth dimension slightly shorter than the depth of the hopper 13 is faced down, except that only the front side plate faces upward. A handle 51 is formed by being bent.
An opening 52 is formed in the upper surface plate 50A of the shutter 50 from a position near the front edge to a position slightly behind the center in the depth direction, and the inner edge of this opening 52 (the edge on the other side in FIG. 5). A tongue piece 53 protrudes toward the front, and a tip portion of the tongue piece 53 serves as an opening / closing portion 54 for opening and closing the outlet tube 43.
[0013]
On the upper surface plate 50A of the shutter 50, a guide groove 55 having a predetermined length along the depth direction is formed at a position close to the front edge on the left and right side edges and a position slightly closer to the front edge. Yes. On the other hand, from the inclined outer bottom surface of the hopper 13, four leg bodies 57 are formed to hang down as shown in FIG. 3, and a guide pin 58 with a head screwed into the lower end of each leg body 57 is provided. It is slidably fitted in the guide groove 55 of the corresponding shutter 50.
An insertion groove 59 through which the opening / closing portion 54 of the tongue piece 53 of the shutter 50 can be inserted is cut in the rear wall of the upper end portion of the outlet cylinder 43.
[0014]
Then, the shutter 50 relatively slides the guide pin 58 along the guide groove 55, and as shown in the upper side of FIG. 4, the shutter 50 is in an open position where the guide pin 58 hits the front end of the guide groove 55. As shown on the lower side, the guide pin 58 is movable between the closed position where it hits the back end of the guide groove 55. When the shutter 50 is in the open position, the opening / closing part 54 retracts to the rear of the insertion groove 59 to fully open the outlet cylinder 43, and when it is in the closed position, the opening / closing part 54 enters from the insertion groove 59 to exit the outlet cylinder. 43 is closed.
As shown in FIG. 3, an operation port 60 is provided in the front wall of the hopper 13 so that the handle 51 of the shutter 50 can be accommodated and a finger can be put on the handle 51.
[0015]
A slit 62 having a predetermined width is formed on both sides of the tongue piece 53 of the shutter 50 described above, and a hole 63 having a diameter larger than the width of the slit 62 is continuously provided behind the slit 62. .
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, two locking pins 65 with heads 65 </ b> A that are slidably fitted into the slits 62 are erected at approximately the center position in the depth direction of the top plate 40. The head 65A of the locking pin 65 is locked to the slit 62, and has a size that can be inserted into the punch hole 63. During the opening and closing of the shutter 50, the locking pin 65 slides along the slit 62, and particularly when the shutter 50 reaches the closed position, the locking pin 65 (head 65A) and the punching hole 63 Are consistent settings.
[0016]
A magnet 67 is attached to the back surface of the upper surface plate 50 </ b> A of the shutter 50 on the back edge side at the center in the width direction. On the other hand, the left and right reed switches 68 are attached to the top plate 40 and operate in response to the magnetic force of the magnet 67 described above. Specifically, the attachment position of each reed switch 68 is a position directly below the magnet 67 when the hopper 13 is properly attached and the shutter 50 reaches the open position. The reed switch 68 is, for example, a normally open type, and is interposed in series with the extraction switch 34 in the drive circuit of the drive unit 70 of the mill 14 and the screw 49, as schematically shown in FIG.
Further, on the hopper 13 side, a stopper plate 72 made of a magnetic metal plate is passed between the left and right guide pins 58, and when the shutter 50 reaches the closed position, the magnet 67 stops the stopper. It is set to abut against the plate 72.
[0017]
Then, the effect | action of this embodiment is demonstrated. At the time of operation, as shown in FIG. 7, the hopper 13 needs to be installed at the normal position, and the shutter 50 needs to be fully opened. When the shutter 50 is in the open position, the reed switch 68 is in an on state because the magnet 67 is immediately above the reed switch 68 and is closest.
When the extraction switch 34 is turned on from this state, the mill 14 and the screw 49 are driven for a predetermined time, and the coffee beans Cb stored in the hopper 13 pass through the outlet cylinder 43 from the cover 44 and the introduction cylinder 48 of the mill 14. To the mill 14 by the screw 49 to generate the coffee powder Cp, which is supplied into the dripper 17 as described above. At the same time, hot water is spouted from the spray head 30 in a shower-like manner and blown toward the coffee powder Cp in the dripper 17 to extract the coffee.
[0018]
The hopper 13 is removed when the remaining amount of the coffee beans Cb in the hopper 13 is reduced and replenished. In that case, a finger is inserted from the operation port 60 of the hopper 13 and hooked on the handle 51, and the shutter 50 is pulled to the near side (right side in FIG. 7). When the shutter 50 is pulled to the closed position, the head 65A of the locking pin 65 is aligned with the punching hole 63 as shown in the lower side of FIGS. As described above, the head 65 </ b> A of the locking pin 65 passes through the hole 63, and the outlet cylinder 43 is removed from the bush 47 and removed.
Here, if the shutter 50 is not normally pulled to the closed position, the locking pin 65 remains in the slit 62 in front of the punching hole 63, and the side edge of the slit 62 faces the head 65 </ b> A of the locking pin 65. The hopper 13 cannot be lifted because it is locked. In this case, the hopper 13 may be lifted after pulling the shutter 50 to the closed position again.
[0019]
When the shutter 50 is pulled to the closed position as described above, since the magnet 67 hits the stopper plate 72 and is attracted, the shutter 50 is held in the closed state, and the shutter 50 is easily opened even if the hopper 13 is tilted. There is nothing. Therefore, the coffee beans Cb do not spill from the hopper 13. In addition, also when cleaning the upper surface of the top plate 40, the hopper 13 is removed in the same manner as described above.
When the hopper 13 is removed, the reed switch 68 is turned off because the magnet 67 is separated from the reed switch 68. Therefore, even if the extraction switch 34 is mistakenly turned on with the hopper 13 removed, the reed switch 68 is off in FIG. 6, so the mill 14 and the screw 49 are not driven. Therefore, for example, the coffee beans Cb remaining in the introduction cylinder 48 of the mill 14 are prevented from being scattered in the vicinity due to the rotation of the screw 49 or foreign matter being caught in the screw 49.
[0020]
When installing the hopper 13 again, from the state of FIG. 9, the outlet tube 43 is inserted into the bush 47, and the hole 63 in the shutter 50 is inserted into the head 65 </ b> A of the locking pin 65. When the installation of the hopper 13 is finished as shown in FIG. 8, the shutter 50 is pushed toward the open position against the attractive force of the magnet 67. When the magnet 67 is pushed to the normal opening position, the magnet 67 reaches a position immediately above the reed switch 68, so that the reed switch 68 is turned on. Therefore, the extraction switch 34 is subsequently turned on to generate coffee powder Cp and extract coffee.
[0021]
On the other hand, if the shutter 50 is not properly returned to the open position or the installation position of the hopper 13 is deviated, the magnet 67 is kept away from the reed switch 68 and turned off. Even if 34 is turned on, the mill 14 or the like is not driven.
As a result, it can be seen that the opening of the shutter 50 is incomplete or the installation position of the hopper 13 is shifted. In this case, the installation of the hopper 13 is performed again or the shutter 50 is pushed again to the opening position. That's fine.
[0022]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the hopper 13 is removed for the purpose of refilling or cleaning the coffee beans Cb, the drive of the mill 14 and the screw 49 is restricted. It is possible to prevent the coffee beans Cb remaining in the cylinder 48 from being scattered in the vicinity due to the rotation of the screw 49 and foreign matters being caught in the screw 49. It is also possible to detect whether or not the hopper 13 is installed at a normal position or whether or not the shutter 50 is normally opened.
The hopper 13 can be removed only after the shutter 50 is moved to the normal closed position, and can be held in the closed position using the attractive force of the magnet 67. Therefore, when the hopper 13 is removed, the outlet cylinder 43 prevents the coffee beans Cb from spilling.
[0023]
<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention, and further, within the scope not departing from the gist of the invention other than the following. Various modifications can be made.
(1) As a means for detecting opening and closing of the shutter, other means such as a mechanical switch may be employed.
(2) The present invention is not limited to the one attached to the coffee extractor, and can be similarly applied to a coffee mill apparatus used alone.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a coffee extractor according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway right side view. FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway left side view in the vicinity of a hopper installation position. Top view [Fig. 5] Perspective view of shutter [Fig. 6] Schematic diagram of drive circuit [Fig. 7] Partial cutaway left side view showing a state where the hopper is properly installed [Fig. 8] The shutter is pulled out to the closed position Partially cutaway left side view with the hopper removed [Fig. 9] Partially cut away left side view with the hopper removed [Explanation of symbols]
Cb ... Coffee beans Cp ... Coffee powder 10 ... Main body 13 ... Hopper 14 ... Mill 34 ... Extraction switch 40 ... Top plate 43 ... Outlet tube 48 ... Introduction tube 49 ... Screw 50 ... Shutter 53 ... Tongue piece 54 ... Opening / closing part 55 ... Guide Groove 58 ... Guide pin 62 ... Slit 63 ... Punching hole 65 ... Locking pin (locking means) 65A ... Head of (locking pin 65) 67 ... Magnet (detection means) 68 ... Reed switch (detection member; Detection means) 70 ... Drive unit

Claims (2)

In what has a hopper equipped so as to be detachable, and the coffee beans stored in this hopper are guided to a mill and ground to produce coffee powder,
The hopper is provided with a shutter that opens and closes the outlet thereof, and whether or not the shutter is properly opened to detect whether or not the hopper is mounted at a normal position at a hopper mounting position in the apparatus main body. A detecting member is provided, and control means is provided that enables the mill to be driven only after the detecting member detects that the shutter is normally opened .
In addition, the hopper mounting position in the apparatus main body is provided with locking means that is always locked to the shutter and is released only when the shutter is normally closed. A coffee mill apparatus, characterized in that a holding means for holding in a normal closed position is provided . The detection member is a reed switch that is sensitive to a magnet provided on the shutter, and the holding means includes a magnet provided on the shutter and a stopper plate that is provided on the hopper and attracts the magnet. 2. The coffee mill apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the two magnets are used as a single unit.

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