Powder supply device and beverage preparation machine

Abstract

The utility model provides a powder supply device and a beverage preparation machine. The powder feeding device comprises a container containing powder and a stirring assembly, the stirring assembly comprises a rotating component and a cleaning component, the cleaning component is fixedly connected to the rotating component and provided with a wall scraping part connected with the inner wall of the container, and the rotating component drives the cleaning component to rotate. And the wall scraping part is used for removing attached powder in the detection area of the inner wall of the container. According to the powder supply device, the powder attached to the wall part can be removed in time, so that the powder shortage state in the container can be detected in time, and a user is reminded to add the powder or replace the container in time. The utility model also provides a beverage preparation machine using the powder supply device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of food equipment, and particularly relates to a powder supply device and a beverage preparation machine. Background Art

[0002] Existing powder-based beverage preparation machines include a machine body and a powder box disposed inside the machine chamber. When the raw materials in the powder box are exhausted, it is necessary to replenish the materials or replace the powder box in time.

[0003] In the prior art, the patent document "Beverage Machine with Powder Lack Detection Device" (Chinese Utility Model Patent CN215016161U) provides a method: adding a powder lack detection device at the bottom of the powder box. The powder lack detection device includes a light emitter and a light receiver, and its working mode is: when the powder is about to be exhausted, the light emitted by the light emitter penetrates the powder box and is received by the light receiver on the opposite side, and then the machine alarms to indicate the lack of powder.

[0004] After setting the powder lack detection device, for powders with good fluidity and not easy to stick to the wall, the light can be normally detected and the powder lack detection can be judged. However, for powders that are easy to stick to the wall, such as milk powder and soybean milk powder, when such powders adhere to the inner wall, the light emitted by the powder lack detection device cannot penetrate the detection area, resulting in missed judgments and misjudgments, and the powder lack state cannot be identified in time and accurately. In order to overcome the misjudgment caused by the adhered powder, the patent document "Beverage Machine with Powder Lack Detection Device" (Chinese Utility Model Patent CN215016161U) proposes to emit focused infrared light to enhance the penetration of the infrared light, thereby increasing the receiving effect of the light receiver. However, in actual use, the powder adhering to the inner wall of the powder box accumulates over time, and the problem of misjudgment still cannot be solved only by enhancing the penetration of the detection light.

[0005] In view of this, it is necessary to propose a technical solution to effectively improve the accuracy of powder lack detection. Summary of the Utility Model

[0006] The utility model provides a powder supply device and a beverage preparation machine, aiming to solve the technical problem of misjudgment caused by powder sticking to the wall in powder lack detection.

[0007] To achieve the above object, the present utility model provides a powder supply device, which includes a container for placing powder and a stirring assembly disposed in the container; the stirring assembly includes a rotating member and a cleaning member; the rotating member is driven to rotate around a specified axis, and the cleaning member is attached to the rotating member and rotates following the rotating member; wherein, the cleaning member is configured to elastically contact the inner wall of the container, and can remove the powder attached to the inner wall within a set detection area during the rotation of the cleaning member, and the detection area is an area through which detection light for detecting the remaining amount of powder passes.

[0008] The above technical solution can be further improved by the following technical measures.

[0009] Further, the cleaning member is configured as an elastic member, which has a scraping wall portion for elastically abutting against the inner wall. The elastic member is a cylindrical spring, which is fixedly connected to the rotating member and extends toward the side contacting the inner wall to form the scraping wall portion. The elastic member has a closely wound section abutting against the inner wall. The elastic member further has a loosely wound section for breaking up powder lumps.

[0010] Still further, the rotating member is configured in a wheel shape, and the elastic member extends toward the direction of contacting the inner wall in a manner inclined with respect to the side surface of the wheel. An installation portion extending toward the inner wall side is provided on the rotating member, and the elastic member is fixedly connected to the installation portion.

[0011] Another embodiment is provided, at least one end portion of the elastic member is fixedly connected to the rotating member, and a scraping wall portion is formed in the middle thereof. In another embodiment, both ends of the elastic member can be fixed to the rotating member.

[0012] Further, there are at least two elastic members, and the two elastic members are respectively disposed on both sides of the rotating member. During the rotation of the rotating member, the two elastic members respectively form detection areas on two opposite inner walls through which detection light can pass.

[0013] Furthermore, the stirring assembly further includes a feeding screw, and the feeding screw is driven to rotate to output the powder from the container; the rotating member is a gear capable of meshing and driving with the feeding screw. A scraping member for scraping the powder on the feeding screw is further provided on the stirring member, and the scraping member is configured to have elastic wires.

[0014] The present utility model further provides a beverage preparation machine, which includes a machine body and a powder supply device, the powder supply device is the above-mentioned powder supply device, and the stirring assembly further includes a motor for driving the rotating member to rotate.

[0015] Preferably, a light detection module for detecting the remaining amount of powder in the container is arranged on the machine body. The light detection module includes a light emitting device and a light receiving device, and the light emitting device and the light receiving device jointly define the minimum capacity of the powder in the container.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the present utility model has at least the following advantages:

[0017] In the present utility model, since a cleaning member capable of rotating with the rotating member is arranged in the powder supply device, and the cleaning member elastically contacts the inner wall of the container, during the rotation process, the cleaning member can remove the powder adhering to the detection area on the inner wall, so that the light of the light detection module can pass through the detection area, thereby being able to timely and accurately detect the powder shortage state in the container, effectively avoiding the problem of misjudgment of powder shortage detection caused by the adhered powder on the wall blocking the light.

[0018] In addition, since the cleaning member and the inner wall of the container are in elastic contact, it can adapt to the irregular cleaning path in the container. The irregularity of the cleaning path can be caused by the adhered difficult-to-clean powder on the inner wall or the unevenness of the inner wall itself. Therefore, setting the cleaning member with elastic contact can enable it to move freely without being hindered when moving inside the container. Description of the Drawings

[0019] The following drawings are used to assist in the introduction of the embodiments of the present utility model and provide a further understanding of the present utility model. Obviously, the protection scope of the present utility model is not limited to the following drawings and specific embodiments.

[0020] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of a beverage preparation machine according to Embodiment 1.

[0021] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of the powder supply device according to Embodiment 1 connected to the beverage preparation machine.

[0022] Figure 3 It is a cross-sectional view of the powder container according to Embodiment 1.

[0023] Figure 4 It is a cross-sectional view of the powder supply device according to Embodiment 1.

[0024] Figure 5 It is a top view of the powder supply device according to Embodiment 1.

[0025] Figure 6 It is a top view of the stirring member according to Embodiment 1.

[0026] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the rotation plane of the stirring member according to Embodiment 1.

[0027] Explanation of the reference numerals: 1-powder box; 1.1-light emitting area; 1.2-powder accumulation area; 2-light emitting device; 3-light receiving device; 4-stirring member; 4.1-fixed portion; 4.2-installation portion; 5-cleaning member; 6-machine body; 7-powder feeding screw; 8-powder scraping member. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The technical solution of the present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0029] The powder supply device of the utility model comprises a container for placing powder and a stirring assembly built into the container. The stirring assembly comprises: a rotating member driven to rotate around a predetermined axis; and a cleaning member attached to the rotating member and elastically contacting the inner wall of the container. The cleaning member can remove the powder attached to the inner wall of the container in the detection area during the rotation process.

[0030] See also Figures 1 to 7 As shown, the utility model provides a better powder supply device, and is used in a beverage preparation machine.

[0031] like Figure 2 and Figure 4 As shown, in this embodiment, the powder supply device includes a powder box 1 and a stirring assembly built into the powder box 1. The stirring assembly includes a stirring member 4 and a powder feeding screw 7, and a cleaning member 5. Specifically, the stirring member 4 is a wheel shape with a plurality of toothed portions, and the stirring member 4 is meshed with the discharge screw 7 for transmission, and the cleaning member 5 is suitable for removing the powder attached to the detection area on a pair of opposite inner walls of the powder box 1. Among them, the cleaning member 5 uses a cylindrical spring, which is low in cost and easy to install. The elastic contact between the cleaning member 5 and the inner wall can generate vibration during its movement, thereby better removing the powder adhering to the inner wall. In addition, the above-mentioned elastic contact can also prevent the cleaning member 5 from being stuck during the movement.

[0032] In another embodiment, the cleaning component may also be other elastic parts, such as elastic sheets, or elastic brushes. As long as the elastic parts can elastically contact the inner wall and remove adhered powder, they fall within the scope of the patent rights requested for protection by the utility model.

[0033] Further reading Figure 6As shown, one cleaning member 5 is installed on each side of the stirring member 4, thereby forming a detection area on the container through which light can pass. The cleaning member 5 is a cylindrical spring, one end of which is fixedly connected to the stirring member 4 through the mounting portion 4.2. The mounting portion 4.2 is a convex portion extending from the side surface of the stirring member 4 towards the inner wall of the container. The two can be integrally provided or separately provided. The cleaning member 5 has an included angle α with respect to the side surface of the stirring member 4. The existence of this included angle α causes the cleaning member 5 to extend obliquely to the inner wall relative to the side surface of the stirring member 4, but the portion of the cleaning member 5 elastically contacting the inner wall is bent under the extrusion of the inner wall. Combining Figure 5 As shown, the bent portion generated by the cleaning member 5 elastically contacts the two opposite side walls of the powder box 1 to form a scraping wall portion. In this embodiment, the included angle α can be set to 30° - 60°, specifically it can be 30°, 45°, 60° or any other angle suitable for removing the powder in the detection area, and all belong to the protection scope of this patent.

[0034] During the rotation of the stirring member 4, the cleaning members 5 fixedly connected to both sides of the stirring member 4 rotate with the stirring member 4, and its scraping wall portion periodically sweeps across the two opposite side walls to remove the powder adhering to the two side walls, thereby forming a detection area on the two inner walls of the powder box 1. The range of the detection area can be adjusted by changing the included angle α and / or the length of the cleaning member 5 to be suitable for specifically removing the powder in the detection area on the inner wall of the powder box 1.

[0035] Specifically, referring to Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the powder box 1 is configured on the body 6 of the beverage preparation machine. The powder feeding screw 7 inside the powder box 1 is connected to the motor of the body 6. At the same time, the beverage preparation machine is also configured with a light detection module. This light detection module is an infrared detection device, which includes a light emitting device 2 and a light receiving device 3. In addition, the light detection device can also be other types of light detection devices, such as an optocoupler switch. The light emitting device 2 and the light receiving device 3 are respectively arranged outside a pair of opposite side walls of the powder box 1, and its light emitting area 1.1 has the same height as the lower limit line of the powder in the powder box 1. The light detection device defines the lower limit of the powder in the container. The detection area formed by the cleaning member 5 located in the powder box corresponds to the position of the light detection module. When the infrared rays emitted by the light emitting device 2 pass through the detection area and are received by the light receiving device 3, it indicates that the powder remaining in the powder box 1 has fallen below the powder lower limit, and powder needs to be replenished into the powder box 1.

[0036] When the beverage preparation machine is working, the powder feeding screw 7 in the powder box 1 is driven by a motor, and its spiral part drives the stirring member 4 to rotate. The powder inside the powder box 1 flows towards the outlet along with the powder feeding screw 7. Synchronously, the cleaning member 5 rotates around the rotation axis of the stirring member 4 following the stirring member 4, and the scraping wall part of the cleaning member 5 periodically rotates inside the side wall where the optical detection module is located to form an annular detection area. The detection area covers the light emission area 1.1 of the optical detection module. When the cleaning member 5 rotates, it can effectively remove the powder adhering to the inner walls on both sides of the powder box 1, especially the powder in the area corresponding to the light emission area 1.1. When the powder in the powder box 1 is lower than the light emission area 1.1, the light emitted by the light emitting device 2 can pass through the entire powder box 1 and be received by the light receiving device 3, and the control device can then determine that the powder box 1 is in a powder shortage state.

[0037] Compared with the prior art, this embodiment of the present utility model can remove the powder adhering to the inner wall of the powder box 1 while conveying the powder, and is suitable for accurately judging whether the powder in the powder box 1 is in a powder shortage state.

[0038] Preferably, in the embodiment of the present utility model, the cleaning member 5 is also suitable for cleaning the dead corners in the powder box 1 where powder is likely to accumulate. In actual use, some sticky and low-density powders often adhere to and accumulate at the intersection of the front and rear sides of the powder box 1, that is Figure 5 the shown powder accumulation area 1.2. In this embodiment, when the cleaning member 5 rotates, its scraping wall part just passes through the powder accumulation area 1.2 to clean the adhered and accumulated powder, so the emptying rate of the powder in the powder box 1 is improved, and at the same time, the food safety problem caused by powder deposition and mildew can be avoided.

[0039] In this embodiment, the scraping wall part of the cleaning member 5 preferably has a densely wound section, and a sparsely wound section is provided at one end of the cleaning member 5 close to the stirring member 4. In this way, not only can the effect of removing the sticky wall powder when the cleaning member 5 rotates be enhanced, but also the caked powder in the powder box 1 can be elastically dispersed during the operation of the cleaning member 5, and at the same time, it has the beneficial effect of reducing the rotation resistance. However, in other embodiments, it is not limited to the above settings of the densely wound section and the sparsely wound section, and they can also be all set as densely wound sections, or all set as sparsely wound sections.

[0040] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, a powder scraping member 8 for scraping the powder adhering to the feeding screw is also arranged on the stirring member 4. By adjusting the length of the powder scraping member 8, the powder on the other opposite wall can also be scraped. The other opposite wall is the wall part adjacent only to the pair of inner walls forming the detection area. Such as Figure 4 and Figure 7As shown, one end of the powder scraping member 8 is fixedly connected to one on each side of the stirring member 4 through the powder scraping member fixing part 4.1, so as to rotate along with the rotation of the stirring member 4. The powder scraping member 8 can be an elastic metal wire that is bent and fixed to the fixing part 4.1. The powder scraping member 8 can also be an elastic plastic wire with elasticity. When the beverage preparation machine is working, the stirring member 4 rotates under the drive of the powder feeding screw 7, and the powder scraping member 8 rotates around the axis of the stirring member 4. During the rotation process, due to the use of the elastic member, the powder scraping member 8 can easily pass over the thread of the powder feeding screw 7, scrape off the powder adhering to the feeding screw 7, and periodically scrape the front and rear side walls of the powder box 1. In this way, the powder adhering to the front and rear side walls can be effectively removed, and it is suitable for breaking up the powder agglomerates.

[0041] Preferably, in the embodiment of the utility model, the powder supply device also has the advantages of convenient cleaning and easy maintenance. Specifically, the stirring member 4 can be removed from the powder box 1, and the powder box 1 and the stirring member 4 can be maintained and cleaned separately. The cleaning member 5 and the powder scraping member 8 can be removed together with the stirring member 4, which is convenient for regular cleaning and maintenance and replacement.

[0042] It should be noted that in the above embodiment, a cylindrical spring is specifically selected and connected to the stirring member 4 by a fixed connection at one end, which has the advantages of being easy to obtain, easy to install, easy to maintain, and easy to clean. However, the embodiment of the utility model is not limited to this. In order to achieve the purpose of removing the powder attached to the detection area on the inner wall of the powder container, the selection and installation of the cleaning member can also be adjusted according to actual needs.

[0043] For example, the cleaning member can also be made of elastic materials such as rubber. The rubber member is attached to the stirring member 4 and configured to have a lip portion that contacts the inner wall of the powder box 1. The lip portion can effectively remove the powder attached to the detection area on the inner wall of the powder box 1 when the rubber member rotates with the stirring member 4. In addition, when a spring member is selected for scraping powder, the installation method of the cleaning member can be to fix the two ends of the spring member on the rotating member, and the middle section of the cleaning member can be bent to form a wall scraping portion. This wall scraping portion periodically removes the attached powder on the inner wall of the powder box 1 during the process of the cleaning member rotating with the rotating member. As a result, the powder attached to the detection area can be removed in time when the beverage preparation machine is working, ensuring that the residual powder inside the powder box 1 can be accurately identified.

[0044] The above description describes the specific implementation of the utility model in combination with the preferred embodiments. However, the protection scope of the utility model is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of by a technician familiar with the technical field within the technical scope disclosed by the utility model should be included in the protection scope of the utility model. Therefore, the protection scope of the utility model should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A powder supply device, comprising a container for placing powder and a stirring assembly arranged in the container; characterized in that, The stirring assembly includes: a rotating member that is driven to rotate about a specified axis; and a cleaning member that is attached to the rotating member and moves with the rotating member; wherein the cleaning member is configured to elastically contact the inner wall of the container and can remove the powder attached to the inner wall within a set detection area during the rotation of the cleaning member, and the detection area is an area through which detection light for detecting the remaining amount of powder passes.

2. The powder supply device according to claim 1, wherein The cleaning member is a cylindrical spring that is fixedly connected to the rotating member and extends toward the side contacting the inner wall to form a scraping portion.

3. The powder supply device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The cylindrical spring has a closely wound section that abuts against the inner wall.

4. The powder supply device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The cylindrical spring further has a loosely wound section for breaking up powder agglomerates.

5. The powder supply device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that, The rotating member is configured in a wheel shape, and the elastic member extends toward the direction of contacting the inner wall in a manner inclined with respect to the side surface of the wheel.

6. The powder supply device according to claim 5, characterized in that, An installation portion extending toward the inner wall side is provided on the rotating member, and the elastic member is fixedly connected to the installation portion.

7. The powder supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that At least one end portion of the cleaning member is fixedly connected to the rotating member, and a scraping portion is formed in the middle thereof.

8. The powder supply device according to claim 2 or 7, characterized in that, There are at least two cleaning members, and the two cleaning members are respectively arranged on both sides of the rotating member. During the rotation of the rotating member, the two cleaning members respectively form detection areas on two opposite inner walls through which detection light can pass.

9. The powder supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The stirring assembly further includes: a feeding screw that is driven to rotate to output powder from the container; the rotating member is a gear that can be meshed and driven with the feeding screw.

10. The powder supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that, A scraping member for scraping the powder on the feeding screw is further provided on the stirring member, and the scraping member is configured to have elastic wires.

11. A beverage preparation machine, comprising a machine body and a powder supply device, characterized in that, The powder supply device is the powder supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, and the stirring assembly further includes a motor for driving the rotating member to rotate.

12. The beverage preparation machine according to claim 11, characterized in that, The machine body is configured with: a light detection module for detecting the remaining amount of powder in the container.

13. The beverage preparation machine according to claim 12, characterized in that, The light detection module includes a light emitting device and a light receiving device, and the light emitting device and the light receiving device jointly define the minimum capacity of the powder in the container.

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