CN1115126C - Automatic coffee maker - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a coffee machine (100) which has a small structural height, and the coffee machine (100) can be designed into a beautiful lovely shape. A melting body (32) provided with coffee melting chambers (25, 26) is guided on a circular rail (R) and has three different working positions; in the process of the three working positions, melting pistons (29, 30) and a filtering /draining piston axially move in the coffee melting chambers (25, 26); melting components (1) are driven and controlled by a spur gear and a cam and are arranged in two cam shells (59) which are oppositely arranged. According to the method of the present invention, the rotation to the three positions occurs in steps of 30 DEG, and in this instance, the rotation for resetting occurs in 60 DEG.

Description

Coffee machine and method of operating same

technical field

The invention relates to a coffee machine and a method of operating the same.

Background technique

Coffee machines, also known as coffee automatic machines, are mainly used in the catering industry. Such machines are generally bulky products, occupy a disproportionately large space in the beverage area, and in any case do not match the trendy and attractive design of restaurants. In addition, such machines require a high maintenance effort, resulting in a considerable service interruption in the event of a failure. Also, its mechanical components are often soiled by ground coffee and/or escaping water and coffee due to their design.

Therefore created a kind of coffee machine (EP-A1-154206), and it has a removable brewing part and can be put into so that clean. All drive means and feed members are housed in the housing of the machine and can be operatively connected to the brewing part designed as a push-in module by means of an engageable and detachable connection mechanism. During the preparation of ground coffee, the only brewing chamber is filled with ground coffee in a first position and then rotated to a second position by means of a central crank drive, in order to move there into a closing mechanism where heat is used. water under pressure completes the brewing process. After dispensing only one portion of coffee, the brewing chamber is still moved out of the closing mechanism by a crank mechanism movement, and the coffee filter grounds formed are discharged; the brewing chamber is then swiveled back to the first position and can be refilled.

The disadvantage of this design is the structure of the coffee machine made of the central crank transmission, which requires long connecting rods and guide rods and side guides that cause severe friction, and only allows low spinning speed. Furthermore, the discharge of ground coffee filter grounds at the site of the brewing process causes contamination, so that a thorough cleaning of the machine is required in a short time.

EP-A2-380450 describes a coffee machine with a coffee bean container for two coffee varieties for selectively feeding coffee beans to a common grinder. The rotary brewing body with the rocker on the side fills the coffee grounds in a vertical filling position, then rotates in the same direction to the second brewing position and finally to the third coffee grounds ejection position. In this case the entire rotation angle is almost equal to 360°. The brewing piston working in the axial direction is driven by the control cam. The aforementioned rocker is used to lock the group in its brewing position. A brewing chamber is formed by inserting a spring between the brewing piston and its push rod, which can adapt to changes in the amount of coffee powder within a small range.

The large swivel stroke required for the brewing chamber and the fact that it has to be locked and unlocked by means of a rocker in the brewing position are disadvantages, which result in a reduced supply capacity for kinematic reasons. Furthermore, the structural height of the coffee machine is high due to the rotation of the brewing chamber; visually attractive openings are not possible in the machine. A brewing chamber designed to be elastic causes the ground coffee to be subjected to different mechanical pressures, which can have a detrimental effect on the reproducibility of the coffee quality.

Another brewing device is known from EP-A1-486433, which also has a variable brewing cylinder volume, for which purpose a filter plate in the brewing cylinder can be adjusted in height by a cord. The brewing chamber is pivoted by means of a spindle drive via levers and guidance in lateral grooves.

A more compact design is described in EP-A1-407365, in which a geared motor with a cam acts as the drive for the brewing chamber for serving the same serving of coffee.

The coffee machines operating according to the above two latter publications have high frictional losses and so likewise cannot achieve a high supply capacity.

Contents of the invention

It is therefore the object of the present invention to create a coffee machine which has a lower overall height and/or which has a visible opening at the front compared to the known ones. As a result, the machine can be attractive in appearance and easy to operate and maintain. Furthermore, its structure should be designed to be free of coffee grounds and unhygienic areas where coffee resides, in which case proper media routing should be completely free of contamination. In addition, the coffee machine should allow two and more than two cups of coffee to be served at the same time.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method for operating a coffee machine according to the invention.

For realizing the above-mentioned purpose according to the apparatus aspect of the present invention, provide such a kind of coffee machine, it has at least one cylindrical coffee brewing chamber and a device for preparing and distributing ground coffee, and brewing chamber can be respectively by means of an upper and A lower axially movable piston is closed and hot water can be introduced under pressure into it, wherein the brewing chamber is formed in the brewing body, which can be guided partly on a circular track around a The horizontally arranged shaft swivels to the vertical first filling position, then to the second brewing position, where hot water is added and coffee is dispensed, and to the third coffee grounds discharge position, and this brewing body indirectly or directly drives a or a plurality of axially working pistons of the same type, characterized in that the brewing body is rotated 30° around the axis in one direction from its initial position in the first feeding position to the second brewing position, from the brewing position Continue to rotate 30° to the third discharge position, and then rotate 60° in the opposite direction to return to its original position; and at least two brewing chambers are arranged side by side in the axial direction, and they have different diameters and volumes.

The coffee machine according to the invention has the advantage that it is a compact device that is properly placed on a circular track, although it only requires a small construction height, it still has a defined working position, and its kinematics above is beneficial. The selected optimal angular position can be implemented starting from an arbitrarily configured starting position. This machine is suitable for applications where large retail beverage outputs are required, especially for continuous supply in the catering industry. There is no increase in cycle time when serving two cups at the same time, since a larger brewing chamber is used here. Likewise, the brewing process can be carried out simultaneously in both brewing chambers, which again increases output.

The concept of indirect piston actuation used in this application includes solutions in which the movement of the brewing body is only used as a basis for actuating the stroke of the piston.

The preferred embodiment consists in that the flow of the medium proceeds from above to the bottom; however, it is also possible to conduct the medium in any other way in a similar manner, as long as this is required, for example, by other beverage retail installations.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object according to the method aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of operating the above-mentioned coffee machine according to the invention, characterized in that after the coffee is dispensed at the second brewing position, the brewing piston moves upward until it removed from the brew chamber; and, then in the discharge position the filter/discharge piston is moved all the way to the upper end of the brew chamber and completely expels the clumps of coffee grounds; and, the filter/discharge piston is at least part of the way back to the first filling position Leave it in its upper position; and, at the same time, rest the scraper against the flat surface of the brewing body.

The method according to the invention for operating the coffee machine has proven to be particularly successful, according to which its advantageous kinematics ensure economical operation of the machine.

Description of drawings

An exemplary embodiment of the object of the invention is described below with the aid of the drawings. in:

Figure 1. A simplified perspective view of a coffee machine;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of components of the brewing part according to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the coffee automatic machine shown in Fig. 1 from the front;

Fig. 4 is a partial sectional view of the coffee automatic machine shown in Fig. 1 from the side;

Figure 5 According to Figure 3 and Figure 4, a filter/discharge piston enlarged view;

Fig. 6 is a structural diagram of the motion process in the coffee automatic machine brewing part according to Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 Kinematics of the movement process according to Fig. 6, wherein Fig. 7a shows the movement of the brewing head, the rotation of the brewing body, the lifting movement of the filter/discharging piston in the brewing body, and Fig. 7b shows the time sequence of the movement control and switching functions; and

FIG. 8 is a preferred solution for realizing the movement process shown in FIG. 7 by means of cams and transmission elements, wherein FIGS. 8a and 8b respectively show one side of a spur gear.

Detailed ways

The same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals in all the figures.

Inside the machine housing indicated by 100 is an automatic coffee machine with a brewing unit 1 with a coffee powder preparation device.

Coffee beans are contained in a known manner in a coffee bean container 2, which container 2 has a partition 3, as shown in Figure 3, which allows the use of two different types of coffee.

In the upper part of the machine housing 100 there is a known water pump 4 which supplies water to electric boilers 5, 6, 7 which themselves are wound with spiral heating wires 8, 9, 10. The coffee grinders 11 and 12 are arranged at an angle of 90° to each other, and they include charging funnels 13,14; coffee powder outlets and electric motors 18,19. Only the ground coffee outlet 15 is visible in FIG. 1 . Between the coffee grinders 11, 12 there is a controllable oscillating funnel 22 which selectively feeds ground fresh coffee powder into the brewing chamber 25 or 26 located below it.

Inside a so-called brewing head 27 there is a brewing stand 28 to which a larger and a smaller brewing piston 29 or 30 is fastened. The brewing body 32 with a flat surface 33 is shown in the filling position in the figure, in which the brewing chambers 25 , 26 mentioned above are accommodated.

Furthermore, a side cover 34 can be seen, below which are the spindle drives 42 and 43 and their transmission housings 44 and 45 , which will be described later.

The whole unit is housed in a flat housing frame 51, 52, which are held together by screwed spacers 55. In FIG. 1 it can be seen that the brewing unit is supported on two guide rails 56 in the pulled-out state. The guide rails 56 fit positively in mutually corresponding grooves 57 in the housing supports 51 , 52 .

Also visible are the cam housings 58 , 59 which are provided with the brewing stand guide 49 located above.

The machine housing 100 indicated by dotted lines is provided in its lower region with a schematically represented base plate 101 including cup holders;

The schematic diagram in Figure 2 is used to better understand the detailed diagrams drawn.

FIG. 2 shows the brewing head 27 which can be raised and lowered in the direction of the arrow with its brewing stand 28 and the brewing pistons 29 and 30 mounted therebeneath. Inside the brewing body 32, axially displaceable filter/discharging pistons 36 and 37 are inserted into the brewing chambers 25 and 26, wherein each piston rod 38 or 39 has an internal thread. Flanges 46, 47 are mounted on the side of the brewing body 32, and they are used to rotate the brewing body around the axis A-A.

The partial sectional view of FIG. 3 shows again the machine housing 100 with its brewing unit 1 and its equipment for preparing and dispensing ground coffee.

Furthermore, the grinder 17 and the second ground coffee outlet 16 , the angle α between the electric motors 18 , 19 , and the swivel positions I-III of the brewing body 32 are also shown here.

The first feed position is indicated with I and corresponds to the position shown in FIG. 3 . Turned 30° counterclockwise is the second so-called brewing position II, while the coffee grounds discharge position III is located counterclockwise on the circular track R by 60° relative to the starting position (filling position I) The place.

The hot water inlet 31 can also be seen, which is connected to the electric boiler 5 , 6 , 7 in FIG. 1 via a valve not shown in the figure and leads into the brewing piston 30 .

It can be seen that the brewing body 32 is designed in one piece with its side covers 34 and 35 .

Next to the brewing frame 28, a slag scraper 50 that can swing in the direction of the arrow is arranged. It is actuated by a swivel movement of the brewing head 27, for which purpose an actuation cam (not shown for clarity of view) is provided on the side cover 35, which turns the spring-tensioned slag scraper 50 clockwise , or cause it to tip over, as indicated by the arrows around the axis of rotation.

A removable drawer (not shown) for coffee grounds is provided in a known manner on the left side of the machine housing 100 .

A hot water outlet 103 and a steam outlet 104 are respectively provided on the sides of the brewing unit, which are well known.

The coffee mills 11 and 12 are charged through a closing disc 20 with two coffee bean outlets 21 .

The coffee bean container 2 can also be removed from the machine in a full state and transported; for this purpose, the closing disc 20 is rotated, thereby closing the coffee bean outlet 21 .

There is height-adjustable coffee outlet 105 in the center of the arc-shaped slot 102 that can be seen through the coffee machine.

The partial sectional view of Figure 4 shows further details from the side. For example, it can be seen that the height of the coffee outlet 105 can be adjusted via the guide 107 .

The arrangement of the flanges 46 and 47 and their shaft bearings 53 , 54 relative to the brewing body 32 can likewise be seen. Furthermore, brewing chambers 25 and 26 of different diameters can be seen, with the larger brewing chamber 25 being used to prepare two cups of coffee at the same time. The necessary selective distribution of the ground coffee into the brewing chambers 25, 26 takes place via the controllable pivoting funnel 22, which rotates the funnel 22 about the pivoting axis 22' by means of the pivoting drive 23 and the toothed rack 24.

The swivel drive 23 has a commercially available electric motor with a drive pinion.

The necessary rotation of the screw 87 visible in FIG. 4 for the axial movement of the piston takes place via the two transmission housings 44 and 45 .

The filter/exhaust piston 36 shown representatively in FIG. 5 has a filter plate 80 on the end face, which serves as a well-known brewing filter. It is fixed on the piston body 81 with a central screw 82 . There is an annular groove 83 along the circumference in the piston body 81, in which a sealing ring 84, that is, a Neoprene (trademark) O-ring is inserted. An annular groove 85 can be seen below the filter plate 80, which communicates with an outlet 86 having an internal thread 88, into which a hose connection 41 with a hose 40 serving as a coffee outlet is connected.

The internally threaded piston rod 38 acts centrally on the piston body 81 ; the piston rod 38 is driven by the screw 87 already mentioned for FIG. 4 .

The kinematics of the movement process can be analyzed with the aid of the block diagram in FIG. 6 . The cams necessary for the central mechanical transmission are symbolized by a single cam K; the same goes for the drive D.

According to Fig. 6, the cam rotation a is performed first, followed by the first movement b of the brewing body turning 30°, the second movement c of turning 30°, the piston movement d passing through the first section upwards, and the second section moving upwards The piston movement e; In addition, the driving device f of the cam K and the driving device g of the piston are required.

The actual execution of the cam K is explained below with the aid of FIG. 8 .

FIG. 7 shows the actual motion sequence as a function of time t, wherein the motion m and the function S listed below can be determined. The time t from 0 to Z corresponds to a complete duty cycle.

According to Figure 7a:

vm37 Movement of the brewing head m (vertical movement)

cm32 Movement of brewing body in m (circular motion)

sm36, 37 Lifting movement of filter/discharge piston (stroke movement)

According to FIG. 7b, the following sequence of control and switching functions S corresponds to the motion sequence according to FIG. 7a:

i Electrical equipment, location and hot water initiation

ii Select the coffee powder channel, a small amount or a large amount (indicates a large amount)

iii Select the relevant mill

iv Grinding time - determine the amount of coffee

v go to a small amount of routes, short grinding time

vi The brewing valve from the electric boiler to the brewing chamber

vii pump delivery time, record the flow rate with the aid of a flow meter

viii Brewing process in the brewing chamber and dispensing of coffee

ix Brew valve in discharge position

x Stroke movement to discharge remaining water into outlet (repressurization)

xi Eject coffee residues and scrapings

xii Swivel back to starting position, limit switch monitoring

The simplest kinematic execution in mechanical control is realized according to FIG. 8 by two cams mounted opposite one another on the axis A-A, which are assigned to a spur gear 60 with teeth 61 .

Grooves 64 are provided on the periphery, and they are used for the entry and exit of the transmission member 69, which is an integral part of the brewing head 27 described above. The cams are realized by means of curved grooves 62 and 63, so that the transmission element pins 69 and 70 are guided on both sides.

Thus, in Fig. 8a the outer curved groove 63 is visible, while in Fig. 8b the inner curved groove 62 of the spur gear 60 is visible in solid lines. In addition to this, a switch plate 66 is visible inside the spur gear 60 (FIG. 8a), which actuates a microswitch (not shown).

Central bearing bore 68 allows spur gear 60 to rotate about axis B-B.

The construction of the spur gear 60 is designed to use identical parts in the cam housings 58 and 59 on both sides of the brewing unit. See Figure 4.

The above described preferred embodiments have been achieved by means of commercially available components and common techniques, especially the drive and control mechanisms. For example, a wiper drive known from the automotive industry by means of a worm gear and a 24 V DC motor is used for the drive of the spur gear. Likewise, electric motor drives other than coffee mills are also known to be used in the automotive industry. Time-sequential process control is likewise implemented with conventional microprocessors and control and switching elements.

The automatic coffee machine realized by the present invention has the ability to supply 200 cups of delicious coffee per hour with a 3kW electric boiler. A larger supply is also possible, as long as a greater connection power is provided and corresponding measures are taken to remove the coffee grounds.

The entire brewing unit 1 can be pulled out from the coffee machine on the guide rail 56 (see FIG. 1 ), so maintenance is particularly convenient. The pulled out position also facilitates access to other components and components of the machine, so that in the event that repairs are required, the least amount of time and downtime can be minimized.

Using special stepping motors and other driving devices combined with electronic servo controllers can further reduce the structural height of the entire brewing unit, so that the function of the cam can actually be realized by software design.

Of course, in an exemplary embodiment, the functions triggered by means of commercially available microswitches can also be realized in a non-contact manner, which is technically advantageous especially through software design.

The above-mentioned improvements and technical further developments of the object of the invention can be realized by specialists without additional inventive work; it is mainly a matter of outlay and thus of the number of pieces to be produced.

In the parallel patent application PCT/CH9700106, a preferred embodiment of a coffee grinder which can be installed in the above-mentioned coffee automatic machine in a particularly space-saving manner is described in detail. It is of course also possible to use known coffee grinders.

List of Symbols 1 Brewing unit with ground coffee preparation equipment 2 Coffee bean container 3 Partition (2 types) 4 Water pump (cold end) 5, 6, 7 Electric boiler 8, 9, 10 Spiral heating wire (coil) 11, 12 Coffee grinding 13, 14 Installed ingredients 15, 16 coffee powder exports 17 crushing machines 18, 19, electric motor 20 closed disk 21 coffee beans exit 22 swinging funnel (controllable) 22 ′ swing shaft 23 swing driver (with active small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small Electrical motor of gear) 24 tooth strips 25 large brewing room 26 small brewing room 27 bubble head 28 bubble rack 29 large brewing piston 30 small brewing 31 hot water entrance 32 bubble 33 square meters of bubbles 33 square meters Surface 34, 35 Side cover 36 Large filter/discharge piston 37 Small filter/discharge piston 38, 39 Piston rod with internal thread 40 Outlet hose 41 Hose connector, 5 Spindle drive 4 (reduction gear) Transmission housing 46, 47 Flange 48, 49 Brewing stand guide (seam-guide) 50 Slag scraper with rubber lip 51, 52 Housing support 53, 54 Shaft support (A-A) 55 Spacer ( Screw fixed) 56 guide rail 57 56 slot 58 and 59 camsur shell 60 positive gears; cam 61 with external teeth 62 internal curve groove (cam) 63 outer curve groove (cam) 64 slot 65 convex 66 switch plate 68 use 68 use In the holes (B-B) 69, 70 driven parts-sales of 80 filter plates (brewing filter) 81 Pistons 82 Central Circle 83 Glets 84 Sealing Circle (O-sealing Round) 85 Ring Tank 86 Exit 87 Screw 88 88 Inner thread 100 Machine Shell 101 Bring the bottom plate of the cup holder 102 arc -shaped groove 103 hot water export 104 steam export 105 coffee export (height adjustable) 106 coffee powder loading 107 coffee exports between α 18 and 19 and 19 A-A 32's Rotary Axis B-B 60 Rotating Axis K cams (structural diagram) D drive device (structural diagram) F supports R circular orbital S function (control and switch function) Z cycle duration (0 to Z) A cam rotation motion B The first motion to 30 ° C The second motion to the 30 ° D piston upward movement (first paragraph) E piston upward movement (second paragraph) F cam driver G piston driver T Time (time coordinate) I electrical equipment, Location and hot water initiation ii Select the coffee ground channel, small or large (indicates a large amount) iii Select the relevant grind iv Grinding time - determine the amount of coffee v Go to the small amount route, short grinding timevi Brewing valve from electric boiler to brewing chamber vii Water pump delivery time, flow rate recorded by means of flow meter viii Brewing process in brewing chamber and release of coffee ix Brewing valve in discharge position x Stroke of discharge of remaining water into outlet movement (repressurization) xi expulsion of coffee residues and scrapings xii return to starting position, limit switch monitoring vm37 movement of brewing head m (vertical movement) cm32 movement of brewing body m (circular movement) sm36, 37 filtration /Lifting movement of the discharge piston (stroke movement)

Claims (8)

1. A coffee machine having at least one cylindrical coffee brewing chamber (26) and a device for preparing (2; 17) and distributing (15, 16) coffee powder, each brewing chamber (26) being accessible by means of an upper ( 30) and a lower (37) axially movable piston are closed and hot water can be introduced into it under pressure, wherein the brewing chamber (26) is made in the brewing body (32), and the brewing body can Partially guided on a circular track (R) around a horizontally arranged axis (A-A) to a vertical first feeding position (I) and then to a second brewing position (II) for adding hot water and Emit the coffee, and to the third coffee grounds discharge position (III), and this brewing body (32) drives one or more axially working pistons (30; 37) of the same type indirectly or directly, which The feature is that the brewing body (32) turns around the axis (A-A) along one direction from its starting position at the first feeding position (I) to the second brewing position (II) by 30°, from the brewing position (II) ) to the third discharge position (III) and continue to turn 30°, and then rotate 60° in the opposite direction to return to its original position; and, at least two brewing chambers (25, 26 ), which have different diameters and volumes. 2. The coffee machine as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the brewing body (32) is mounted rotatably between two laterally arranged flanges (46, 47); and the brewing body ( 32) has a part-cylindrical shape which includes a flat surface (33) perpendicular to its walls in the region where the coffee brewing chamber (25, 26) is located. 3. The coffee machine as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the two flanges (46, 47) are driven by means of spur gears (60) which are non-positively connected on the outside. 4. The coffee machine as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the spur gear (60) is provided with cams (62, 63) which make the brewing body (32) and its upper brewing piston (29, 30) movement, and in addition they also operate a scraper (50), which scrapes off debris as it discharges the slag. 5. The coffee machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the manipulation of the pistons (29, 30; 36, 37) and of the scraper (50) which removes residues when discharging the residues passes through Electrical, electromechanical and/or hydrodynamic means. 6. The coffee machine with two coffee grinders according to claim 1, characterized in that: a grinder (17) is set above the coffee brewing chamber (25, 26); and their motors (18, 19 ) form an angle (α) of 180° to 30° with each other. 7. The coffee machine as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that a controllable oscillating funnel (22) is arranged above between the coffee brewing chambers (25, 26) for the oscillating supply of ground coffee. 8. A method of operating a coffee machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, after coffee has been dispensed in the second brewing position (II), the brewing piston moves upwards until it moves away from the brewing chamber; and, Then in the discharge position (III) the filter/discharge piston moves all the way to the upper end of the brewing chamber and completely discharges the coffee grounds; upper position; and, at the same time, place the scraper against the flat surface of the brewing body.

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