Syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus

Abstract: The object of the present invention is to provide a syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus with improved maintainability and nozzle functions. This object is achieved by a syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus, constructed by assembling a syrup nozzle head 19 having multiple syrup nozzles 19b corresponding to various syrups, with a removable syrup removable nozzle cover installed on the outer periphery of the syrup nozzle head; a removable diluent nozzle head 21 installed on the outer periphery of the syrup nozzle head so as to form a diluent passage corresponding to cold water or carbonated water, and a removable spout nozzle 22 fitted on the outer periphery of the diluent nozzle head 21. The syrup nozzle head has a tip formed into a spherical surface, and the syrup nozzles each have an ejection port disposed in a peripheral area of the tip of the syrup nozzle head and opened toward an inner wall surface of the spout nozzle. The diluent nozzle head is comprised of an upper head 21a having a conical inner surface and a lower head 21b having a conical outer surface, with the upper and lower heads being fitted together in the vertical direction and having a conical diluent pressure-reducing passage formed between the fitting surfaces thereof.

Description: The present invention relates to a syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus installed in a drink dispenser or a cup drink vending machine for business use, to mix a syrup selected based on an instruction with cold water or carbonated water, and then to supply the mixture to a cup. First, a drink dispenser such as that described above is taken as an example, with its drink system shown in Figure 11. In this figure, 1 is a drink dispenser, 2 is a drink supply nozzle provided in a vend stage 1a of the drink dispenser 1, 3 is a cooling-water bath built into the drink dispenser 1, 3a is an agitator for agitating the cooling water, 4 is a cooling unit for the cooling-water bath 3, 5 is a carbonator for producing carbonated water, 6 is a water supply pump connected to a water service pipe, 7A to 7D are syrup tanks for accommodating corresponding syrups of various flavours and colours, and 8 is a carbon-dioxide bomb. A syrup line 9, a carbonated-water line 10, and a cold-water line 11 are disposed between the drink supply nozzle 2 and each of the syrup tanks 7A to 7D, between the drink supply nozzle 2 and the carbonator 5, and between the drink supply nozzle 2 and the supply pump 6, respectively, via the cooling-water bath 3 of the drink dispenser 1. A cooling coil is interposed in each of the syrup lines 9A to 9D and cold water line 11 and immersed in the water of the cooling-water bath 3, and the cold-water line 10 branches on its way to feed water to the carbonator 5 immersed in the cooling-water bath. Each line has a corresponding syrup solenoid valve 12, carbonated-water solenoid valve 13, cold-water solenoid valve 14, and carbonator-water supply solenoid valve 15 connected thereto. In addition, pressurized carbon dioxide is supplied from the carbon-dioxide bomb 8 to each syrup tank 7A to 7D and the carbonator 5 through a carbon-dioxide line 16. A drink dispenser of such a configuration is well known. When an operator presses a drink selection button (not shown) with a cup 17 set on the vend stage 1a of the drink dispenser 1, a solenoid valve corresponding to the selected drink is opened according to an instruction from a control section in order to feed the drink supply nozzle 2 with the selected type of syrup and a diluent, that is, cold water (for a non-carbonated drink) or carbonated water (for a carbonated drink). The syrup and the diluent are mixed inside the nozzle and then ejected and supplied to the cup 17. Next, Figure 12 shows the construction proposed by the applicant in Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 7-309398, as a conventional example of the drink supply nozzle 2 provided in the above drink dispenser. The syrup supply nozzle 2 consists of an assembly of a nozzle head 2a and a cylindrical spout nozzle 2c installed on the outer periphery of the nozzle head 2a via an O-ring 2b. The nozzle head 2a has multiple syrup nozzles 2d formed therein so as to project downward from its tip and corresponding to each of the syrups, syrup introduction passages 2d-1 formed therein so as to lead to the corresponding syrup nozzles 2d, and a diluent passage 2e. The diluent passage 2e consists of a combination of a vertical hole 2e-1 formed in the centre of a top portion of the nozzle head 2a and horizontal holes 2e-2 radially branching from the terminal of a vertical hole 2e-1 and opened in a peripheral surface of the nozzle head. On the other hand, the spout nozzle 2c has a tip portion contracted into the form of a circular arc, and has a drink ejection port 2c-1 formed in its centre. In this drink supply nozzle 2, the syrup lines 9 corresponding to the various syrups as shown in Figure 11 are connected to the inlets of the corresponding syrup introduction passages 2d-1 leading to the corresponding syrup nozzles 2d. In addition, the carbonated-water line 10 and the cold-water line 11 converge at the diluent passage 2e. With such a construction, when a syrup drink is supplied, a syrup flowing from the syrup nozzle 2d and cold water or carbonated water ejected into the spout nozzle 2c through the diluent passage 2e are mixed together and then ejected from the drink ejection part 2c-1 of the spout nozzle 2c toward the cup 17 (see Figure 11) for supply. In the conventional drink supply nozzle 2, the opening of the drink ejection port 2c-1 of the spout nozzle 2c is larger than the diameter of the circle enclosing all the syrup nozzles 2d so as to prevent the syrup dripping from the tip of the syrup nozzle 2d following drink supply from adhering to an inner wall surface of the spout nozzle 2c, thereby preventing the syrup from mixing into the next drink sold. In addition, as shown in Figure 13, the multiple syrup nozzles projecting from a lower end surface of the head 2a have their tips bent inward toward the centre of the head 2a so that the locus of the syrup ejected from each syrup nozzle 2d generally passes the centre of the drink ejection port 2c-1 formed in the tip of the spout nozzle 2c in order to prevent the syrup from adhering to the spout nozzle 2c, as is well known from Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 10-72099. Further, carbonated water fed from the carbonator 5 following pressurization in the carbonated-gas bomb 8 as described in Figure 12 is ejected, with its pressure maintained, into an inward space (at the ambient atmospheric pressure) in the spout nozzle 2c from the diluent passage 2e formed in the head 2a of the drink supply nozzle 2. The pressure then fluctuates rapidly to cause carbon dioxide dissolved in the carbonated water to substantially separate from the water, thereby reducing the gas volume of the carbonated water to be mixed with the concentrated syrup. This degrades the quality of the carbonated drink. Thus, a pressure-reducing valve 18 is connected to a carbonated-water inlet extended from the drink supply nozzle 2 as shown in Figure 12, so that carbonated water supplied from the carbonator through the carbon-dioxide line can have its pressure reduced to some degree before being introduced into the drink supply nozzle 2, as is well known from Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 10-81398. The pressure-reducing valve 18 is structured so as to have a resistance piece 18b accommodated in a case 18a, and the resistance piece 18b has multiple pressure-reducing grooves formed on its outer peripheral surface, the grooves having an angular cross section. The syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus installed in a drink dispenser to selectively supply a cup with various syrup drinks of different flavours, as described above, is required to have the structures and functions specified below. (a) Since drink dispensers for business use in restaurants or the like must have their drink systems washed as part of daily maintenance work for sanitation purposes, the drink supply nozzle has a structure that enables it to be simply disassembled and reassembled, and that can be washed easily by the user. (b) In order to obtain high-quality drinks, a syrup and a diluent such as cold water or carbonated water supplied to the drink supply nozzle can be sufficiently mixed together inside the spout nozzle before the mixture is supplied to a cup, thereby allowing the diluent ejected into the spout nozzle to flow thoroughly and evenly over the entire periphery, with no local bias. (c) In the supply of a carbonated drink, the level of gas separation can be minimized while carbonated water is passing through the drink supply nozzle, thereby maximizing the gas content of the carbonated water and enabling the supply of high-quality carbonated drinks. (d) During supply, drink can be prevented from remaining in the spout nozzle due to the surface tension of the liquid, and can thus flow out smoothly from the nozzle. Analysis of the conventional drink supply nozzle 2 shown in Figure 12 in view of the above points has revealed the following problems: (1) When the multiple syrup nozzles 2d corresponding to various syrups, the syrup introduction passages 2d-1, and the diluent passage 2e are all formed in the unitary head 2a, the structure is complicated and manufacturing costs are high. (2) Since the tip of the head 2a is flat and the syrup nozzles 2d collectively project therefrom toward the centre of the head, syrup residue is likely to adhere to the flat tip surface of the head 2a and to remain thereon. In addition, this portion is difficult to clean due to the close arrangement of the syrup nozzles 2d. (3) In addition, the diluent passage 2e formed in the head 2a by drilling is connected to a water service pipe via the cold-water line, so that foreign matter contained in city water may block the diluent passage inside the head. In such a case, it is also difficult to clean the inside of the diluent passage and to remove foreign matter from the passage. The pressure-reducing valve 18 connected to the carbonated water inlet of the drink supply nozzle 2 may similarly be blocked with foreign matter, and a large amount of time and labour is required to remove this foreign matter due to the difficulty in disassembling the pressure-reducing valve. (4) Despite the use of the pressure-reducing valve 18 connected to the inlet side of the drink supply nozzle 2 to reduce the pressure of supplied carbonated water, the amount of gas separated from the carbonated water increases due to repeated pressurization and pressure reduction during flow through the subsequent diluent passage (bent into the form of an inverted T) formed inside the nozzle. Consequently, high-quality carbonated drinks with a high gas content cannot be obtained. The results of various experiments on this point conducted by the inventor indicate that the optimal conditions for supplying high-quality carbonated water are those in which pressure reduction is carried out in the channel immediately prior to ejection into the spout nozzle, and in which minimization of rapid variations in pressure is carried out within the diluent passage. (5) When the diluent passage 2e formed in the head 2a is composed of holes that are dispersed in the peripheral surface of the head and are opened toward the spout nozzle 2c, the flow of the diluent is partially biased, thereby preventing the diluent from flowing uniformly over the entire inner peripheral surface of the spout nozzle 2c. (6) The multiple syrup nozzles 2d are collectively arranged so as to face the centre of the head in order to prevent syrup dripping from the nozzle from adhering to the spout nozzle 2c, so that syrup ejected from the syrup nozzle 2d and a diluent flowing down along the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle 2c may flow out from the drink ejection port 2c-1 toward the cup without being sufficiently mixed. (7) When the cold-water line and the carbonated-water line converge on the diluent inlet of the head 2a, a pressure increase associated with drink remaining in the spout nozzle may cause carbonated water to flow backward into the cold-water line during the dispensing of a carbonated drink, whereas cold water may flow backward into the carbonated-water line during the dispensing of a non-carbonated drink. In particular, during the dispensing of a carbonated drink, the backward flow of carbonated water into the cold-water line may increase the gas loss in the carbonated water. (8) The remaining drink in the spout nozzle is the result of the surface tension of the liquid. In the conventional spout nozzle structure, however, the drink ejection port 2c-1 formed in the tip of the nozzle has a flat and continuous peripheral edge, whereby the surface tension of the liquid may contribute to occluding the drink ejection port 2c-1. Consequently, drink is likely to remain in the spout nozzle. International Patent Publication WO 91/13827 (The Coca-Cola Company) discloses a nozzle, preferably a multiflavour nozzle, for a postmix beverage dispenser and a method for dispensing including a nozzle body, a water passageway and one or a plurality of separate syrup passageways therethrough, wherein the water passageway includes a water inlet chamber, a plurality of small holes leading into a water stream shaping passageway which includes a first, radially extending annular chamber leading into a second axially extending annular chamber and then to an annular exit port to produce an even, uniform, hollow cylindrical stream of water surrounding a syrup stream. The C02 comes out of solution in the water passageway to prevent foaming and no mixing occurs in the nozzle to prevent flavour carry-over, while providing high carbonation retention and minimizing brix stratification. Analysis of the drink supply nozzle shown in WO 91/13827 and corresponding to the preamble of cl.1 has revealed the following points. (1) In the supply of a carbonated drink, the level of gas separation is reduced while carbonated water is passing through the drink supply nozzle, because the pressure reduction is carried out in the channel immediate prior to ejection from the drink supply nozzle. However, high quality carbonated drinks with a high gas content cannot be obtained because no measures have been taken to minimise variations in pressure within the diluent passage. (2) During supply the streams of water and syrup are mixed outside the nozzle, thereby preventing any syrup dripping from the nozzle adhering to an inner wall surface of a spout nozzle, thereby preventing any syrup mixing in the next drink supplied. However, during supply the streams of water and syrup are not sufficiently mixed together before the mixture is supplied to a cup because the two streams do not come into contact with any surface portion for mixing, for example the inner wall surface of a spout nozzle. (3) The drink supply nozzle does not have a structure that enables it to be simply dismantled and reassembled so it can be washed easily by the user as is required for business use in restaurants or the like. Further, if foreign matter contained in city water blocks the diluent passage it is difficult to remove due to the difficulty in disassembling the nozzle. The present invention has been provided in view of the above points, and it is an object thereof to solve each of the above problems in order to provide a syrup drink supply apparatus with improved maintainability in terms of parts washing or the like, as well as improved nozzle functions such as the mixing of a syrup and a diluent and maintenance of the gas content of carbonated water. According to the present invention, to attain this object, there is provided a syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus included in a drink dispenser or the like to mix a syrup selected from among multiple types, based on an instruction, with cold water or carbonated water, and then to eject and supply the mixture to a cup, comprising an assembly of a syrup nozzle head having multiple syrup introduction passages formed therein and individually corresponding to the various syrups, and also having syrup nozzles formed therein; a removable cylindrical syrup nozzle cover installed so as to encircle a peripheral area of a tip of the syrup nozzle head; a removable diluent nozzle head; and a removable cylindrical spout nozzle installed so as to encircle said syrup nozzle cover and said diluent nozzle head and in which the syrup nozzle cover forms with the spout nozzle a diluent passage characterized in that said diluent nozzle head is located on the outer periphery of said syrup nozzle head and has a diluent pressure reducing passage which is defined by separate parts which can be separately dismantled and which leads to said diluent pasage; and in that said spout nozzle has a drink ejection port formed at its tip. (Claim 1) As described above, the present invention is constructed by forming the syrup nozzle head and the diluent nozzle head as two separate parts and combining these heads with the syrup nozzle cover and the spout nozzle to enable assembly and disassembly of these parts. This construction simplifies daily maintenance work, including parts cleaning, to improve serviceability for users. According to the present invention, in order to further improve nozzle functions and maintainability, each of the above parts may be constructed as described below. (1) The syrup nozzle head has its tip formed into a spherical surface and multiple syrup nozzles dispersed on its peripheral surface area so as to project therefrom, and each syrup nozzle has its tip opened toward an inner wall surface of the spout nozzle (Claim 2). (2) The syrup nozzle is pipe-shaped and has an open end cut in an oblique direction toward the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle (Claim 3). (3) The syrup nozzle is pipe-shaped and has an open end inclined toward the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle (Claim 4). (4) The syrup nozzle has a slit-shaped syrup ejection port opened in the horizontal direction toward the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle so as to dispersively eject a syrup in the form of a fan (Claim 5). (5) The syrup nozzle has multiple syrup ejection holes dispersed and opened toward the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle so as to eject a shower of syrup (Claim 6). (6) The removable syrup nozzle cover is threaded and so coupled to the syrup nozzle head to enable simple disassembly for maintenance (Claim 7). (7) The diluent nozzle head is a divided body comprising an upper head having a conical inner surface and a lower head having a conical outer surface, with the upper and lower heads fitted together in the vertical direction and having a conical diluent pressure-reducing passage formed between the fitting surfaces thereof. Thus, the heads can be disassembled to enable direct washing of the diluent pressure-reducing passage. The upper head has a gutter-shaped peripheral groove constituting a diluent introduction passage, and multiple diluent passage holes dispersed along the peripheral groove so as to connect the peripheral groove to the diluent pressure-reducing passage. Thus, the diluent can be evenly spread and supplied to the diluent pressure-reducing passage through the passage holes (Claim 8). (8) In (7), the lower head is threaded to allow installation on an outer peripheral surface of the syrup nozzle head and to allow the thread to be used to adjust the passage gap in the diluent pressure-reducing passage formed between the fitting surfaces of the upper and lower heads installed on an outer periphery of the syrup nozzle head (Claim 9). (9) In (7), the diluent passage holes formed in the upper head are tapered so that their cross section gradually decreases from their inlet to their outlet, so that a diluent (carbonated water) can be evenly spread and supplied to the subsequent diluent pressure-reducing passage without a rapid change in pressure (Claim 10). (10) In (7), the lower head has rib-shaped projections formed on its outer peripheral surface so as to radially extend along its conical surface, and the rib-shaped projections are used as spacers to form the diluent pressure-reducing passage between the fitting surfaces of the upper and lower heads (Claim 11). (11) In (10), the rib-shaped projections are formed downstream of the diluent passage holes formed in the upper head, thereby preventing the open ends of the outlets of the diluent passage holes from being occluded by the rib-shaped projections following assembly (Claim 12). (12) In (9), the gap in the diluent pressure-reducing passage formed in the conical fitting surface between the upper head and the lower head with the rib-shaped projections gradually decreases toward the outlet side of the passage, and the passage cross section along the diluent pressure-reducing passage is generally constant (Claim 13). (13) The spout nozzle has a flat staged portion formed on its wall-surface site, against which a syrup is ejected from the syrup nozzle, thereby effectively mixing a diluent flowing down along the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle with the syrup (Claim 14). (14) The spout nozzle has a water-deflector projection (Claim 15) or a water-deflector notch (Claim 16) in a peripheral edge of the drink ejection port formed in the tip of the spout nozzle. This construction prevents the surface tension of the liquid from acting on the peripheral edge, thereby preventing drink from remaining in the spout nozzle. (15) Check valves are connected to a cold-water introduction port and a carbonated-water introduction port extended from the diluent nozzle head, thereby preventing, during drink supply, carbonated water from flowing backward into the cold-water line or cold water from flowing backward into the carbonated-water line (Claim 17). An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the examples shown in the Figures in which: Figure 1 shows the structure of an example of a syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to the present invention. Figure 1(a) is a vertical sectional view and Figure 1(b) is a sketch drawing of a tip portion of a syrup nozzle head; Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the drink supply nozzle shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sketch of an applied example for the syrup nozzle head in Figure 1; Figure 4 shows the structure of an example different from that shown in Figure 3. Figures 3(a) and (b) are a sketch and a sectional view, respectively, of the tip portion of the syrup nozzle head; Figure 5 shows the structure of an example different from that shown in Figure 4. Figures 4(a) and (b) are a sketch and a sectional view, respectively, of the tip portion of the syrup nozzle head; Figure 6 is a perspective sketch showing how an upper head of a diluent nozzle head and a syrup nozzle head are assembled together; Figure 7 is a sectional view of an applied example of the upper head shown in Figure 6, showing its essential parts; Figure 8 is a partial sectional side view of an applied example of the diluent nozzle head shown in Figure 1; Figure 9 is a sectional view of essential parts of an embodiment different from that shown in Figure 8; Figure 10 shows the structure of an applied example for the spout nozzle shown in Figure 1. Figures 10(a) and (b) are partial sectional side views of spout nozzle tip portions according to different examples; Figure 11 shows a drink system of a drink dispenser to which the syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to the present invention is applied; Figure 12 is a sectional view of the construction of a conventional syrup drink supply nozzle in Figure 11; and Figure 13 is a sectional view of a conventional example different from that shown in Figure 12; Referring now to the Figures, Figures 1(a), 1(b), and 2 show the assembly structure of a basic example of a syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus. A drink supply nozzle 2 is roughly composed of an assembly of a syrup nozzle head 19, a syrup nozzle cover 20, a diluent nozzle head 21, a spout nozzle 22, and an assembly base 23, each of which is an independent part. Further, the diluent nozzle head 21 is composed of a divided body of an upper head 21a, a lower head 21b, and a head cover 21c, wherein the upper head is fitted on the lower head in the vertical direction, and a diluent pressure-reducing passage with a conical surface formed in a fitting surface between the heads. The syrup nozzle head 19 is comprised of a substrate consisting of a cylindrical body with its lower tip formed into a spherical surface, multiple syrup introduction passages 19a individually corresponding to the various syrups described above, and pipe-shaped syrup nozzles 19b connected to the corresponding syrup introduction passages 19a and dispersed in a peripheral area of the spherical surface of the head tip so as to project therefrom. Each of the syrup nozzles 19b has an open end surface cut in an oblique direction so as to face an inner peripheral wall surface of the spout nozzle 22. The syrup nozzle head 19 has an external thread formed on its outer peripheral surface to allow another part to be coupled by threading onto the head. In addition, the syrup nozzle cover 20 is composed of a cylinder that encircles the syrup nozzles 19b and has an outer peripheral surface opposed to the inner peripheral wall surface of the spout nozzle via a gap forming a diluent passage. An internal thread is formed in an inner peripheral surface of a boss portion of the syrup nozzle cover 20 so that the cover 20 can be threaded onto the outer periphery of the syrup nozzle head 19. On the other hand, the diluent nozzle 21 consists of a combination of the upper head 21a, the lower head 21b, and the head cover 21c. The upper head 21a consists of a deformed cylinder having a conical inner surface and has a gutter-shaped peripheral groove 21a-1 that is formed in a top surface thereof and acts as a diluent introduction passage, and multiple drilled diluent passage holes 21a-2 dispersed along the peripheral groove 21a-1 and extending obliquely downward toward the centre of the head so as to connect the peripheral groove 21a-1 to the conical inner peripheral surface. In addition, the lower head 21b consists of a deformed cylinder that is umbrella-shaped and has a conical outer peripheral surface to enable the lower head 21b to be fitted from below and upward to the conical inner peripheral surface of the upper head 21a. The lower head 21b has an upper end coupled in a liquid-tight manner to the upper head 21a via O-rings 24. When the lower head 21b is fitted to the upper head 21a, a diluent pressure-reducing passage 21d is formed in a fitting surface between these heads to function as a diffuser for a diluent (carbonated water or cold water). The lower head 21b has an internal thread that is formed on an inner peripheral surface of a boss portion of the lower head 21b and is threaded onto the outer periphery of the syrup nozzle head 19. Thus, after the head cover 21c is placed on the upper head 21a and the upper head is then fitted on the outer periphery of the syrup nozzle head 19 from below, the lower head 21b is threaded onto the outer periphery of the syrup nozzle head 19 from below to hold the upper head 21a between a flange portion 19c extending from the upper end of the syrup nozzle head 19 to the outer periphery of the head and the lower head 21b. The head cover 21c has pipe joints 26, 27 provided at locations opposed to the peripheral groove 21a-1 of the upper head 21a for allowing a cold-water line or a carbonated-water line to be connected thereto in order to introduce cold or carbonated water. The pipe joints 26, 27 are fitted in the upper head 21a via the O-rings 24 in a liquid-tight manner. In addition, the spout nozzle 22 has a horizontal staged portion 22a at a location against which syrup is ejected from the corresponding syrup nozzle 19b of the syrup nozzle head 19. Thus, a syrup ejected from the syrup nozzle 19b and a diluent flowing down along the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle can be sufficiently mixed together at this staged portion 22a before the mixture flows out downward through a drink ejection port 22b at the tip of the nozzle. To assemble the drink supply nozzle 2 of the above construction, the assembly of the upper head 21a and head cover 21c of the diluent nozzle head 21 is inserted into the outer periphery of the syrup nozzle head 19 from below, and the lower head 21b is threaded onto the syrup nozzle head 19 and fixed in position. Furthermore, the syrup nozzle cover 20 is threaded onto to the syrup nozzle head 19 and coupled thereto, then the spout nozzle 22 is placed on the outer periphery of the upper head 21a, and finally the assembly base 23 is inserted into the outer periphery of the spout nozzle 22 from below. Arm portions extending in a lateral direction from the upper head 21a and head cover 21c of the diluent nozzle head 21 are then coupled using bolts 25 to support arms 23a extending upward from the assembly base 23, in order to fix each part in its assembly position. In addition, during assembly, the passage gap in the conical diluent pressure-reducing passage 21d formed in the fitting surface between the upper and lower heads 21a and 21b of the diluent nozzle head 21 can be varied by adjusting the amount of threading with which the lower head 21b is threaded onto the upper head 21a. Thus, the channel resistance can be adjusted so that carbonated water fed from the carbonator can have its pressure reduced to an appropriate value. Furthermore, in the illustrated example, a check valve 28 is connected to the above cold-water inlet and carbonated-water inlet so as to prevent carbonated water from flowing backward into the cold-water line or cold water from flowing backward into the carbonated-water line due to drink remaining in the spout nozzle 22. With the above construction, when a desired syrup-based carbonated drink is selected during a drink sale, the selected syrup and carbonated water are supplied to the drink supply nozzle 2. The syrup is then ejected from the tip of the syrup nozzle 19b toward the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle 22 through the corresponding syrup introduction passage 19a of the syrup nozzle head 19. On the other hand, the carbonated water introduced into the diluent nozzle head 21 is dispersed to a peripheral area of the diluent pressure-reducing passage 21d from the peripheral groove 21a-1 in the upper head 21a via each diluent passage hole 21a-2. Further, the carbonated water has its pressure reduced to an appropriate value while flowing down through the diluent pressure-reducing passage 21d, and is then ejected inward of the spout nozzle 22 from an outer peripheral terminal of the passage 21d. The carbonated water flows downward through the gap between the syrup nozzle head and the syrup nozzle cover 20, and mixes with the syrup at the staged portion 22a. It then flows downward from the drink ejection port 22b so as to be supplied to the cup. In this case, since the syrup nozzle head 19 has a tip formed into a spherical surface with the syrup nozzles 19b dispersed on a peripheral surface area thereof, virtually no syrup ejected from the selected syrup nozzle 19b splashes on and adheres to the other syrup nozzles 19b, and drink adhering to the head tip is dropped smoothly along the downward spherical surface, thereby preventing syrup residue from adhering to the nozzle head. In addition, the diluent (carbonated water) pressure-reducing passage 21d is formed in the passage area immediately before the location at which the diluent is ejected inward of the spout nozzle 22, so that the ejection of the carbonated water occurs immediately after its pressure has been reduced to an appropriate value. This construction enables a cup to be supplied with a high-quality carbonated drink with a high gas content, compared to the construction with the pressure-reducing valve 18 connected to the introduction side of the drink supply nozzle 2 as in the conventional example shown in Figure 12. In addition, the spout nozzle 22 has its staged portion 22a formed at the location against which the concentrated syrup is ejected from the corresponding syrup nozzle 19b, thereby more effectively mixing the syrup with the diluent. On the other hand, to enable the syrup supply nozzle 2 to be washed during maintenance work, the set setting screws for the assembly base 23 are loosened and removed to allow the spout nozzle 22, the syrup nozzle cover 20, and the lower head 21b, upper head 21a, and head cover 21c of the diluent nozzle head 21 to easily be removed manually from the syrup nozzle head 19 so that the individual parts can be washed. In addition, since the spherical-surface-shaped head tip is exposed by removing from the syrup nozzle head 19 the syrup nozzle cover 20 encircling the periphery of the syrup nozzles 19b, the syrup nozzles 19b dispersed on a peripheral area of the head tip can be washed easily thoroughly. In addition, after washing, the parts can be simply reassembled by performing the disassembly procedure in reverse order. Furthermore, even if the narrow diluent pressure-reducing passage 22d formed inside the diluent nozzle head 21 is blocked with foreign matter from a water service pipe, the foreign matter in the passage can easily be removed by pulling the lower head 21b out from the upper head 21a. Next, an applied example of each part based on the above construction will be described. First, Figures 3, 4, and 5 show an applied example for the syrup nozzles 19b. In Figure 3, the syrup nozzle head 19 has its tip inclined outward toward the spout nozzle 22 so that a syrup ejected from the corresponding syrup nozzle 19b in the direction indicated by the arrow collides with a diluent flowing down along the wall surface of the spout nozzle 22, resulting in mixture. In addition, in Figures 4 and 5, each of the syrup nozzles 19b has a spherical tip, and in Figure 4 each of the syrup nozzles 19b has a slit-shaped syrup ejection port 19b-1 formed in its outer peripheral surface like a single line extending in the horizontal direction of the nozzle, whereby the syrup is ejected toward the spout nozzle 22 while fanning out, as indicated by the arrow. In Figure 5, the nozzle 19b has multiple syrup ejection holes 19b-2 formed and scattered toward the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle 22 so that a syrup is ejected in the form of a shower, thereby effectively mixing a syrup ejected from the syrup nozzle 19b with a diluent flowing down along the spout nozzle 22. In addition, Figure 6 shows the upper head 21a of the diluent nozzle head 21 installed on the outer periphery of the syrup nozzle head 19. In the example shown in Figure 7, each of the diluent passage holes 21a-2 formed along the peripheral groove 21a-1 in the upper head 21a has a tapered hole with a cross section gradually decreasing from its inlet to its outlet, so that the holes 21a-2 have the same diameter at their outlet end area. Thus, a diluent (carbonated water) introduced into the gutter-shaped peripheral groove 21a-1 can be guided smoothly to the subsequent diluent pressure-reducing passage 21d (see Figure 1) through the diluent passage holes 21a-2, with no rapid variation in the pressure of the introduced diluent (carbonated water). Next, Figure 8 shows an applied example for the lower head 21b of the diluent nozzle head 21. In this example, the lower head 21b has multiple radially extending rib-shaped projections 21b-1 formed along its outer peripheral conical surface. The rib-shaped projections 21b-1 operate as both spacers for forming the diluent pressure-reducing passage 21d in a fitting surface between the upper head 21a and the lower head 21b when they are fitted together, and as straightening vanes for evenly dispersing the flow of a diluent. The rib height corresponds to such a passage gap (g) so as to provide the channel resistance required to reduce the pressure of the carbonated water to an appropriate value in the diluent pressure-reducing passage 21d, and the distance between centres of the rib-shaped projections 21b-1 arranged on the conical surface is the same as the distance between centres of the diluent passage holes 21a-2 formed in the upper head 21a. The rib-shaped projections 21b-1 are formed downstream of the open ends of the diluent passage holes 21a-2 so that the rib-shaped projections 21b-1 will not occlude the outlets of the diluent passage holes 21a-2 when fitted on the upper head 21a. In addition, Figure 9 shows an example obtained by improving the above structure. That is, if each of the rib-shaped projections 21b-1 is of the same height over its entire length as shown in Figure 8, the cross section along the channel of the diluent pressure-reducing passage 21d with a conical surface necessarily increases from the inlet to the outlet of the passage. On the other hand, it is advantageous to minimize rapid variation in the cross section of the diluent passage in order to maintain a high gas content while restraining the separation of gas from carbonated water as described above. Thus, according to this example, the height of the rib-shaped projections 21b-1 formed on the outer peripheral conical surface of the lower head 21b decreases toward the outlet of the diluent pressure-reducing passage 21d. Correspondingly, the size of the gap in the diluent pressure-reducing passage 21d formed between the upper head 21a and the lower head 21b gradually decreases toward the outlet of the passage, resulting in a generally constant passage cross section along the channel. Next, Figures 10(a) and (b) show an applied example for the shape of the drink ejection port 22b formed in the tip of the spout nozzle 22 shown in Figure 1. When the drink ejection port 22b of the spout nozzle 22 has a small opening and a flat and continuous opening peripheral edge as shown in Figure 1, the surface tension of the liquid may contribute to occluding the drink ejection port 22b to cause drink to remain inside the spout nozzle 22 after solenoid valves for the syrup and diluent lines have been closed during a drink supply operation. Thus, in the illustrated example, the drink ejection port 22b formed in the tip of the spout nozzle 22 has a water-deflector projection 22c (see Figure 10(a)) or a V-shaped water-deflector notch 22d (see Figure 10(b)) formed in a portion of its peripheral edge so as to prevent surface tension, thereby effectively preventing a drink from remaining in the spout nozzle as described above. As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, a syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus can be provided that is highly practical and enables the parts to be assembled and disassembled easily in order to improve maintainability in terms of cleaning and foreign-matter removal, and that has functions enabling it to efficiently mix a syrup with a diluent and to supply a high-quality syrup drink with a reduced decrease in the gas volume of the carbonated water.

Claims: A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus (2) included in a drink dispenser or the like to mix a syrup selected from among multiple types, based on an instruction, with cold water or carbonated water, and then to eject and supply the mixture to a cup, comprising an assembly of a syrup nozzle head (19) having multiple syrup introduction passages (19a) formed therein and individually corresponding to the various syrups, and also having syrup nozzles (19b) formed therein; a removable cylindrical syrup nozzle cover (20) installed so as to encircle a peripheral area of a tip of the syrup nozzle head (19); a removable diluent nozzle head (21); and a removable cylindrical spout nozzle (22) installed so as to encircle said syrup nozzle cover (20) and said diluent nozzle head (21) and in which the syrup nozzle cover (20) forms with the spout nozzle (22) a diluent passage characterized in that said diluent nozzle head (21) is located on the outer periphery of said syrup nozzle head (19) and has a diluent pressure reducing passage (21d) which is defined by separate parts which can be separately dismantled and which leads to said diluent passage; and in that said spout nozzle (22) has a drink ejection port (22b) formed at its tip. A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the syrup nozzle head (19) has a tip formed into a spherical surface and multiple syrup nozzles (19b) dispersed on its peripheral area so as to project therefrom, and wherein each syrup nozzle (19b) has a tip opened toward an inner wall surface of the spout nozzle (22). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the syrup nozzle (19b) is pipe-shaped and has an open end cut in an oblique direction toward the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle (22). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the syrup nozzle (19b) is pipe-shaped and has an open end inclined toward the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle (22). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the syrup nozzle (19b) has a slit-shaped syrup ejection port opened in the horizontal direction toward the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle (22). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the syrup nozzle (19b) has multiple syrup ejection holes (19b-2) dispersed and opened toward the inner wall surface of the spout nozzle (22). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the removable syrup nozzle cover (20) is threaded to couple to the syrup nozzle head (19). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the diluent nozzle head (21) is a divided body comprising an upper head (21a) having a conical inner surface and a lower head (21b) having a conical outer surface, with the upper and lower heads (21a, 21b) being fitted together in the vertical direction and having a conical diluent pressure-reducing passage (21d) formed between the fitting surfaces thereof, and wherein the upper head (21a) has a gutter-shaped peripheral groove (21a-1) constituting a diluent introduction passage and multiple diluent passage holes (21a-2) dispersed along the peripheral groove (21a-1) so as to connect the peripheral groove (21a-1) to said diluent pressure-reducing passage (21d). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 8 wherein the lower head (21b) is threaded onto an outer peripheral surface of the syrup nozzle head (19), and wherein the amount of threading is used to adjust the passage gap in the diluent pressure-reducing passage (21d) formed between the fitting surfaces of the upper and lower heads (21a, 21b) installed on an outer periphery of the syrup nozzle head (19). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 8 wherein the diluent passage holes (21a-2) formed in the upper head (21a) are tapered in such a manner that their cross section gradually decreases from their inlet to their outlet. A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 8 wherein the lower head (21b) has rib-shaped projections (21b-1) formed on its outer peripheral surface so as to radially extend along its conical surface, with the rib-shaped projections (21b-1) being used as spacers to form the diluent pressure-reducing passage (21d) between the fitting surfaces of the upper and lower heads (21a, 21b). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 11 wherein the rib-shaped projections (21b-1) are formed downstream of the positions at which the diluent passage holes (21a-2) are formed in the upper head (21a). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 11 wherein the gap in the diluent pressure-reducing passage (21d) formed in the conical fitting surface between the upper head (21a) and the lower head (21b) with the rib-shaped projections (21b-1) gradually decreases toward the outlet side of the passage, and wherein the passage cross section along the diluent pressure-reducing passage (21d) is generally constant. A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the spout nozzle (22) has a flat staged portion (22a) formed on its wall-surface site, against which a syrup is ejected from the syrup nozzle (19b). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the spout nozzle (22) has a water-deflector projection (22c) on a peripheral edge of the drink ejection port (22b) formed in the tip of the spout nozzle (22). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the spout nozzle (22) has a dewatering notch (22d) in a peripheral edge of the drink ejection port (22b) formed in the tip of the spout nozzle (22). A syrup drink supply nozzle apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein check valves (28) are connected to a cold-water introduction port and a carbonated-water introduction port extended from the diluent nozzle head (21).

Inventors: TACHIBANA MANABU, TACHIBANA, MANABU, Tachibana, Manabu, c/o Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.
Applicants: FUJI ELECTRIC CO LTD, FUJI ELECTRIC CO. LTD.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: B67D1
IPC codes: B67D1, G07F13