KR100972848B1 - Liquid drink ejector using red LED sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a liquid beverage ejector using a red LED sensor, the liquid beverage ejector using the red LED sensor, the main body having a cup support, a door and an operation button mounted to open and close; A liquid beverage storage container detachably fixed inside the main body and accommodating a liquid beverage; A liquid beverage amount measuring unit connected to the liquid beverage storage container to measure and output a liquid beverage amount; A liquid beverage discharging means mounted inside the main body and driven when the operation button is pressed to discharge the liquid beverage from the liquid beverage storage container by a predetermined amount into a cup seated on the cup support through the discharge port; A cup recognition sensor unit for outputting red light to the liquid beverage dispensing position of the cup support, receiving light reflected from an object, and determining whether the cup is present and outputting it to the controller; And a control unit for discharging the liquid beverage by controlling the liquid beverage discharging means so that the liquid beverage can be dispensed when the cup is determined to be located in the cup support according to the signal input from the cup recognition sensor unit. Liquid beverage ejector using a red LED sensor comprising a.

According to the present invention, a brown cup or a transparent cup can be recognized, and the user can adjust the output pulse signal of the controller to adjust the sensitivity of the cup recognition sensor unit.

Liquid drink, ejector, vending machine, dispensing time, solenoid valve

Description

Dispenser of liquid beverage using red LED sensor

The present invention relates to a liquid beverage ejector using a red LED sensor, and more particularly, to a liquid beverage ejector capable of recognizing the presence or absence of a cup using a red LED for general display.

In the liquid beverage dispenser, the cup recognition sensor unit is a sensor that determines whether a cup exists at a designated dispensing position before dispensing a liquid beverage.If there is no cup at a designated position, the cup beverage dispensing machine stops the operation of the liquid beverage dispenser. It is a device to prevent shipping.

According to the prior art, the cup recognition sensor unit is configured as an infrared LED (IRLED) transmitting unit (light emitting unit). However, according to the conventional technology, proper sensitivity cannot be controlled and is affected by an external object, or a brown or transparent cup. There was a problem that does not recognize.

In addition, the liquid beverage ejector according to the prior art is installed in the center of the circular arc formed by a flexible hose, a hose for conveying a liquid beverage such as coffee, the rotating body rotated by a drive motor, both ends of the rotating body It is rotatably installed in a left-right symmetric type, and consists of a pressing roller for pressing a flexible hose during rotation of the rotating body to discharge the liquid beverage contained in the hose by a predetermined amount.

The liquid beverage ejector according to the prior art as described above, because the hose is repeatedly pressed by the pressing roller to discharge the liquid beverage, the elasticity of the hose is lowered, the discharge amount of the liquid beverage is not constant. As a result, the concentration of the liquid beverage (for example, liquid coffee) mixed with water is diluted, and the taste is halved, thereby reducing the reliability and shortening the service life of the hose, thereby increasing maintenance costs due to frequent replacement. Have

In addition, since the discharge amount of the liquid beverage is determined by the hose length between the pressing rollers, the discharge amount cannot be repeatedly and constantly controlled. Therefore, when the converter and the separate parts are added to the above-described driving motor to control the liquid beverage discharge amount by the pressurization of the pressing roller, the cost cost is increased due to the increase in the number of parts, and the power consumption is increased to maintain the maintenance cost. This has an increasing problem.

On the other hand, in order to solve this problem has been proposed an ejector capable of dispensing a liquid drink of a certain amount using a motor and a pump. That is, the driving time of the motor and the pump is set to discharge a certain amount of liquid beverage, and the motor and the pump are driven for a predetermined driving time, so that the liquid beverage of the fixed quantity is discharged.

However, when the liquid beverage discharger is configured using the motor and the pump as described above, the liquid beverage that is not discharged may remain in the pump, and thus the liquid beverage may be deteriorated, and thus the taste of the liquid beverage may be deteriorated. There was this. In addition, since a separate pump must be used, the cost is additionally generated, and the structure of the ejector has been complicated.

In order to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid beverage ejector capable of identifying the presence or absence of a cup by using a red LED for general display.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid beverage discharger capable of adjusting the sensitivity of the cup recognition sensor unit by adjusting the band of the output pulse signal of the control unit in order to solve the problems of the prior art as described above.

In order to achieve the object described above, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the main body having a cup support, a door and an operation button mounted to be opened and closed; A liquid beverage storage container detachably fixed inside the main body and accommodating a liquid beverage; A liquid beverage amount measuring unit connected to the liquid beverage storage container to measure and output a liquid beverage amount; A liquid beverage discharging means mounted inside the main body and driven when the operation button is pressed to discharge the liquid beverage from the liquid beverage storage container by a predetermined amount into a cup seated on the cup support through the discharge port; A cup recognition sensor unit for outputting red light to the liquid beverage dispensing position of the cup support, receiving light reflected from an object, and determining whether or not a cup exists; And a control unit for discharging the liquid beverage by controlling the liquid beverage discharging means so that the liquid beverage can be dispensed when the cup is determined to be located in the cup support according to the signal input from the cup recognition sensor unit. Provided is a liquid beverage discharger using a red LED sensor comprising a.

Here, the cup recognition sensor unit may include a light emitting unit configured to receive a pulse signal output from the controller and output red light; And a light receiving unit that receives the light reflected from the light emitting unit and is reflected by the object, and receives the reflected light and determines whether or not the cup is present and outputs it to the controller.

In addition, the above-described light emitting unit may be composed of a red LED, the above-described control unit may be configured to adjust the pulse signal band output to the light emitting unit according to the user's operation.

As described above, according to the liquid beverage ejector using the red LED sensor according to the present invention has the advantage that the brown cup or transparent cup can be recognized.

In addition, according to the present invention has the advantage that the user can adjust the sensitivity of the cup recognition sensor by adjusting the output pulse signal of the control unit.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the liquid beverage discharger using a red LED sensor.

1 is a perspective view of a liquid beverage ejector using a red LED sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Figure 1, the liquid beverage discharger according to an embodiment of the present invention, the coaster 10, the door 11 and the operation button 12, 12 (12); A main body 15 having a first operation button 12a for coffee, a second operation button 12b for ordinary coffee, a third operation button 12c for soft coffee, and the like;

A liquid beverage storage container (not shown) fixedly detachably fixed to the inside of the main body 15, containing a liquid beverage (eg, liquid coffee), and having a discharge port (not shown) formed at a lower side thereof (for example, Disposable liquid beverage pack),

A liquid beverage amount measuring unit 220 connected to the liquid beverage storage container described above and measuring and outputting the liquid beverage amount;

The cup 17 mounted inside the main body 15 and driven when the operation button 12 is pressed to seat the liquid beverage from the liquid beverage storage container (not shown) on the cup support 10 through an outlet (not shown). ) (For example, a disposable cup or a mug, etc.) and a liquid beverage discharging means (not shown) for discharging by a predetermined amount,

A cup recognition sensor unit 22 for outputting red light at the liquid beverage dispensing position of the cup support 10, receiving light reflected from an object, and determining the presence or absence of a cup;

When it is determined that the cup is located in the cup support 10 according to a signal input from the cup recognition sensor unit 22, the liquid beverage discharge means is controlled so that the liquid beverage can be dispensed in a fixed amount. The shipment may include a control unit.

That is, the controller 200 according to the present invention determines whether the operation button 12 is pressurized, and when the operation button 12 is pressurized, the liquid beverage is discharged by a predetermined amount by controlling the above-described liquid beverage discharge means. Control as possible. In this case, various control methods may be used, but the control unit 200 according to the present invention controls the dispensing time according to the amount of the liquid beverage or the number of times the liquid beverage is dispensed according to a preset algorithm so that the quantitative liquid beverage is dispensed. To control. The configuration and function of the liquid beverage amount measuring unit 220 and the control unit 200 according to the present invention will be described later with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4.

On the other hand, the liquid beverage ejector according to the present invention may be configured to further include a cup recognition sensor unit 22 for detecting the presence or absence of the cup 17 in the above-described cup support 10. The cup recognition sensor unit 22 outputs a signal only when the cup 17 is seated on the cup support unit 10, and the control unit 200 generates a liquid only when a signal is input from the cup recognition sensor unit 22. It may be configured to dispense a beverage (ie, even when the operation button 12 is pressed while the cup 17 is not seated on the cup support 10, the liquid beverage is not discharged).

2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a liquid beverage ejector using a red LED sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a cup recognition sensor unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Is a block diagram showing the configuration of the liquid beverage amount measuring unit of the liquid beverage discharger using the red LED sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Figure 2 attached to the liquid beverage discharger according to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 200, the operation button 12, the current drive 207, the solenoid valve 208, the display unit 206 and The cup recognition sensor unit 22 may be included.

As described above, the operation button 12 is a button 12 for selecting a liquid drink desired by the user, and when the operation button 12 is pressed according to the user's operation, the control unit 200 recognizes this and discharges the liquid beverage. The process begins.

The display unit 206 is a means for displaying information (temperature, liquid beverage remaining amount, etc.) generated during the operation of the liquid beverage ejector, it may be composed of various commercially available display means such as LED or LCD.

The cup recognition sensor unit 22 detects whether the cup 17 is seated on the cup support 10 and outputs it to the control unit 200 before discharging the liquid beverage. The cup recognition sensor unit 22 according to the present invention is provided. The block diagram of Fig. 3 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the cup recognition sensor unit 22 according to the present invention includes a light emitting unit 230 and a light receiving unit 240.

The light emitter 230 receives a pulse signal output from the controller 200 and outputs the pulse signal through a red LED. The pulse signal output from the controller 200 may be set as a pulse signal of various bands according to a user's operation, but the default setting is configured to output a pulse signal of 30 to 38KHz band. The user may appropriately adjust the band of the pulse signal output from the control unit 200 to adjust the sensing sensitivity of the cup presence sensor 22 according to the type of cup to be used.

On the other hand, the light emitting unit 230 of the present invention is preferably composed of a red LED for general display that is commonly used instead of infrared LED (IRLED). In the case of using the infrared LED, it is not possible to adjust the appropriate sensing sensitivity is affected by the external object, or there is a problem that does not recognize the brown or transparent cup, in the present invention, the light emitting unit 230 using the red LED for general display The problem of the prior art is solved.

The light receiver 240 receives the light reflected from the light emitter 230 and is reflected by an object, and receives the reflected light, analyzes the received signal, determines whether there is a cup, and outputs the light to the controller 200. That is, the light receiving unit 240 receives the light reflected on the object, analyzes the received signal and determines that there is a cup if it is determined to be a preset code, and the light is not received or the wrong code is determined as a result of analyzing the signal. If it is recognized, it is determined that there is no cup and outputs it to the controller 200.

The control unit 200 recognizes the presence or absence of the cup according to the signal input from the light receiving unit 240, and performs the liquid beverage discharge process only when the cup is in the designated position.

On the other hand, the liquid beverage discharger according to the present invention may be configured to discharge a predetermined amount of liquid beverage using natural pressure without using a pump in order to solve the above problems of the prior art. For this quantitative administration, the present invention proposes two methods.

The first method is a method for controlling the dispensing time to be dispensed with a liquid beverage of quantitative, when the liquid beverage ejector according to the present invention is configured to control the discharging time, the above-mentioned liquid beverage amount measuring unit 220 is not necessary Will not. Hereinafter, the quantitative dispensing method using the dispensing time control will be described.

The control unit 200 according to the present invention does not depend on the pressure of the pump to dispense the liquid beverage, so that the liquid beverage storage container (liquid pack) and dropping the discharge port so that the liquid beverage can be dispensed using natural pressure Control. In order to perform such a function, the control unit 200 according to the present invention resets the dispensing setting time according to the liquid beverage dispensing frequency after dispensing the liquid beverage.

That is, since the use of the dispensing method by the natural pressure, it is necessary to set the operation time of the liquid beverage discharging means for dispensing according to the amount of the liquid beverage, the control unit 200 according to the present invention first After dispensing the set time of the discharge, after the first liquid beverage dispensing is performed, the additional dispensing time is added to the initial dispensing set time to reset it to the dispensing set time required for the next dispensing.

Therefore, the liquid beverage is discharged as long as the solenoid valve 208 operates by discharging the solenoid valve 208 to the discharge port. In the dispensing method using natural pressure, the liquid beverage is discharged at the same time when the amount of the liquid beverage is large and small. Since the amount is different, the control unit 200 is to control the operation time of the solenoid valve 208 so that the same amount of liquid beverage is always discharged. This control method will be described in more detail below.

Measure the minimum dispensing time (T_min) required for quantitative dispensing when the amount of liquid beverage is maximum, and measure the maximum dispensing time (T_max) required for quantitative dispensing time when the amount of liquid beverage is minimum. Next, calculate the number of possible dispensing of the liquid pack. The number of times that can be dispensed can be calculated as the total volume of the liquid pack / one dose.

After the above-described process is performed, the discharging time (additional discharging time) to be increased for each use is calculated. The additional dispensing time may be determined by (maximum dispensing time (T_max)-minimum dispensing time (T_min)) / dispensing frequency.

The maximum dispensing time (T_max), the minimum dispensing time (T_min), the additional dispensing time calculated by the above-described process is stored in the control unit 200 according to the present invention, the control unit is the minimum dispensing time (T_min at the time of the first liquid beverage dispensing) Set the discharge set time to control the operation of the solenoid valve 208 to dispense the liquid beverage, and then add the additional discharge time to the current discharge set time (minimum discharge time T_min) to reset the discharge set time. Each time the dispensing of the liquid beverage is performed, the dispensing setting time gradually increases. Therefore, when the nth discharging is performed, the dispensing setting time is determined as the minimum dispensing time (T_min) + (n-1) * additional dispensing time, and the control unit 200 determines the minimum discharging time (T_min) + (n-1). * Solenoid valve 208 is opened during the 'additional discharge time' to discharge the liquid beverage.

In this case, when the liquid pack is used up to replace the liquid pack, the user operates the reset button (not shown) after replacing the liquid pack, and the control unit 200 controls the stored discharge setting time when the reset button is operated. The above process is performed again by resetting to the minimum discharging time T_min.

On the other hand, the second method for dispensing a liquid beverage in a quantitative manner is to control the dispensing time according to the remaining amount of the liquid beverage using the liquid beverage amount measuring unit 220 so that the liquid beverage in the quantitative liquid can be dispensed. Hereinafter, the liquid beverage ejector using the liquid beverage amount measurement unit 220 will be described in detail.

The liquid beverage amount measuring unit 220 is connected to the liquid beverage storage container to measure and output the liquid beverage amount. More preferably, the liquid beverage amount measuring unit 220 according to the present invention may be configured using the load cell 300 as shown in Figure 4a or may be configured using a variable resistor as shown in Figure 4b.

As shown in Figure 4a, when configuring the present invention using the load cell 300, the liquid beverage amount of the measurement can be secured, more accurate liquid beverage dispensing can be performed.

The load cell 300 is a kind of electronic balance, and the load cell 300 is deformed by being compressed or stretched according to the weight of the liquid beverage, and the deformation amount is detected by the strain measuring device (not shown) as an electric signal and then output.

The electrical signal (current amount of liquid beverage) output from the load cell 300 is input to the differential amplifier 302, the differential amplifier amplifies the signal and outputs it to the control unit 200, the control unit 200 of the liquid beverage The current amount is input to control the liquid beverage dispensing time.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 4b, when configuring the liquid beverage amount measuring unit 220 using the variable resistor and the bridge circuit 310 and the differential amplifier 312, there is an advantage that the production cost can be lowered.

The variable resistor is connected to the liquid beverage storage container and the resistance value is changed according to the amount of liquid beverage, and the bridge circuit 310 is connected to the variable resistor to measure and output the current resistance value of the variable resistor. The resistance value output from the bridge circuit 310 is amplified by the differential amplifier 312 and input to the controller 200. The controller 200 determines the remaining amount of the current liquid beverage using the input resistance value, and controls the liquid beverage dispensing time according to the remaining amount.

Here, the control unit 200 according to the present invention is configured to receive the current amount (when the precision scale is not used) of the liquid beverage roughly calculated in order to increase the accuracy of the dispensing time calculation, and to calculate the dispensing time according to a predetermined algorithm. May be That is, it may be configured to calculate a more accurate dispensing time through a kind of correction algorithm. The algorithm used for this can be measured and used experimentally as a kind of dispensing time calculation formula.

The control unit 200 according to the present invention does not depend on the pressure of the pump to dispense the liquid beverage, so that the liquid beverage storage container (liquid pack) and dropping the discharge port so that the liquid beverage can be dispensed using natural pressure Control. In order to perform this function, the control unit 200 according to the present invention determines the dispensing time according to the amount of the current liquid beverage when the liquid beverage is dispensed.

That is, since the use of the dispensing method by the natural pressure, it is necessary to set the operation time of the liquid beverage discharging means to be dispensed according to the amount of liquid beverage. Therefore, the liquid beverage is discharged as long as the solenoid valve 208 is operated by installing the solenoid valve 208 at the discharge port. In the dispensing method using natural pressure, the liquid beverage is discharged at the same time when the amount of the liquid beverage is large and small. Since the amount is different, the control unit 200 is to control the operation time of the solenoid valve 208 so that the same amount of liquid beverage is always discharged.

Accordingly, the control unit 200 according to the present invention determines the dispensing time according to the current liquid beverage amount input from the liquid beverage amount measuring unit 220. In order to perform such a function, the control unit 200 according to the present invention stores the discharge setting time or the discharge setting time calculation formula according to the liquid beverage amount.

Here, the formula for calculating the dispensing setting time according to the amount of liquid drink may be derived experimentally or mathematically.

For example, if the minimum amount of liquid dispensing time (T_min) is measured when the amount of liquid beverage is the maximum, and the maximum amount of dispensing time (T_max) required for the fixed amount of liquid beverage is measured, the dispensing time is measured. The following linear equations can be derived: That is, the dispensing time = a * current liquid beverage volume + b dispensing set time calculation formula can be derived, where a, b is an arbitrary constant measured by the experimental results.

In addition, the amount of liquid beverage is calculated by mathematically calculating the dispensing rate according to the amount of liquid beverage using the amount, density, pressure, temperature, etc. of the liquid beverage, and the amount of liquid beverage to be dispensed at one time. It is also possible to derive and use an equation for calculating time. Since a method for deriving the equation is already known, a description thereof will be omitted, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various known techniques may be used in addition to the above-described method.

In addition, the control unit 200 according to the present invention described above may be configured to add or subtract a dispensing time in a predetermined amount in order to correct the nonlinearity of the dispensing.

Meanwhile, the liquid beverage discharging means for discharging the liquid beverage may be configured in various ways, but in one embodiment according to the present invention, the hose and the current drive 207 and the solenoid valve 208 are configured.

The hose (not shown) is detachably connected by a connector coupled to the discharge port of the liquid beverage storage container installed at a relatively high position to supply the liquid beverage passage through the discharge port.

The solenoid valve 208 is connected between the hose and the discharge port so as to open and close when the operation button 12 is pressed, and discharges the liquid beverage by a predetermined amount under the control of the controller 200. The present invention is configured to use the current drive 207 to control the operation of the solenoid valve 208, the current drive 207 supplies power to the solenoid valve 208 under the control of the control unit 200, the solenoid The opening and closing of the valve 208 is controlled.

Also more preferably, the liquid beverage discharger according to the present invention may further include a temperature sensor 210, the cooling element 212 and the fan 214. The temperature sensor 210, the cold element 212, the fan 214 is to minimize the deterioration of the liquid beverage in summer, the temperature sensor 210 measures the liquid beverage temperature of the liquid beverage storage container and outputs to the control unit 200 Done. When the temperature output from the temperature sensor 210 rises above a predetermined temperature, the control unit 200 operates the cold element 212 and the fan 214 connected to the liquid beverage storage container to adjust the temperature of the liquid beverage to an appropriate temperature. Will be maintained. In this case, the cooling device 212 may be configured using a semiconductor device.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention described above are disclosed for purposes of illustration, and those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications, changes and additions within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Additions should be considered to be within the scope of the following claims.

1 is a perspective view of a liquid beverage ejector using a red LED sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a block diagram of a cup recognition sensor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a block diagram of the internal configuration of the liquid beverage discharger using the red LED sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the liquid beverage amount measuring unit of the liquid beverage discharger using the red LED sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: coaster 11: door

12: operation button (12) 15: main body

17: cup 22: cup recognition sensor unit

200: control unit 206: LCD

207: current drive 208: solenoid valve

210: temperature sensor 212: cold element

214: fan 220: liquid beverage amount measurement unit

230: light emitting unit 240: light receiving unit

Claims (4)

A main body having a cup support, a door and an operation button mounted to be opened and closed; A liquid beverage storage container detachably fixed inside the main body and accommodating a liquid beverage; A temperature sensor provided in the liquid beverage storage container for measuring and storing the stored liquid beverage temperature; Cooling means connected to the liquid beverage storage container and operated under control of a controller; A liquid beverage amount measuring unit connected to the liquid beverage storage container to measure and output a liquid beverage amount; A liquid beverage discharging means mounted inside the main body and driven when the operation button is pressed to discharge the liquid beverage from the liquid beverage storage container by a predetermined amount into a cup seated on the cup support through the discharge port; A cup recognition sensor unit for outputting red light to the liquid beverage dispensing position of the cup support, receiving light reflected from an object, and determining whether the cup is present and outputting it to the controller; And When it is determined that the cup is located in the cup support part according to the signal input from the cup recognition sensor unit, the liquid beverage is discharged by controlling the liquid beverage dispensing means so as to discharge the liquid beverage, and the temperature sensor When the temperature output from the temperature rises above a predetermined temperature includes a control unit for driving the cooling means, The liquid beverage discharge means, A hose detachably connected by a connector coupled to an outlet of the liquid beverage storage container; And It is connected to the hose to open and close when the operation button is pressed, and includes a solenoid valve for discharging the liquid beverage by a predetermined amount, under the control of the controller, The cup recognition sensor unit, A light emitting unit which receives a pulse signal output from the controller and outputs red light; And It includes a light receiving unit for receiving the light reflected from the light emitting unit is reflected by the object receives the input light and determines the presence or absence of the cup to the control unit, The light emitting portion is composed of a red LED, The control unit is a liquid beverage ejector using a red LED sensor, characterized in that the pulse signal band output to the light emitting unit is adjusted according to the user's operation. delete delete delete

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