Coffee Bean Grinding Machine

Abstract

To provide a coffee bean grinder capable of responding easily to more grind processing requests than a conventional coffee bean grinder, concerning a coffee bean grinder for grinding coffee beans.SOLUTION: In a coffee bean grinder GM including multiple grinders (a first grinder 5A and a second grinder 5B in a series relation, or multiple second grinders 5B in a parallel relation), a grinder for grinding coffee beans can be selected from multiple grinders 5A, 5B.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 47

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a coffee bean grinder for grinding coffee beans. [Background technology]

[0002] A coffee bean grinder for grinding coffee beans has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1). The coffee bean grinder proposed in Patent Document 1 is equipped with a coffee bean grinding device (grinder) and a coffee beverage extraction device. Coffee bean grinders equipped with only a grinder are also known. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-30433 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Conventional coffee bean grinders have difficulty meeting the diverse needs of grinding processes.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a coffee bean grinder that can more easily meet the demands for grinding than conventional coffee bean grinders. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention solves the above object. First The coffee bean grinder is The first grinder grinds the coffee beans, a second grinder disposed downstream of the first grinder for grinding the coffee beans ground by the first grinder; a guide passage for guiding the coffee beans ground by the first grinder to the second grinder; A coffee bean grinder comprising: the second grinder includes a plurality of grinders; a passage switching means for switching the guide passage, The passage switching means is The guide passage is switched so that the coffee beans ground by the first grinder are guided to any one of the plurality of grinders included in the second grinder. It is characterized by: Also, a separation area for separating waste matter from the coffee beans ground by the first grinder; The passage switching means is a passage switching of the guide passage so that the ground coffee beans from which the unnecessary substances have been separated by the separation area are guided to any one of the plurality of grinders included in the second grinder; The present invention may be characterized in that: The second coffee bean grinder of the present invention that solves the above object is: The first grinder grinds the coffee beans, a second grinder disposed downstream of the first grinder for grinding the coffee beans ground by the first grinder; a guide passage for guiding the coffee beans ground by the first grinder to the second grinder; A coffee bean grinder comprising: the second grinder includes a plurality of grinders; a grinder switching means for switching the position of a grinder included in the second grinder; The grinder switching means is a position of a grinder included in the second grinder is switched so that the coffee beans ground by the first grinder are guided to any one of the plurality of grinders included in the second grinder through the guide passage; It is characterized by: Also, a separation area for separating waste matter from the coffee beans ground by the first grinder; The grinder switching means is a position of a grinder included in the second grinder is switched so that the ground coffee beans from which unnecessary substances have been separated by the separation area are guided to any one of the plurality of grinders included in the second grinder through the guide passage; The present invention may be characterized in that: or, A coffee bean grinding machine having multiple grinders, A grinder for grinding coffee beans can be selected from the plurality of grinders. Characterized by It may be a coffee bean grinder.

[0007] The number of grinders to be selected may be one or more.

[0008] In addition, in the above coffee bean grinder, the plurality of grinders includes a first grinder and a second grinder, It is possible to select whether to grind coffee beans with one or both of the first grinder and the second grinder. The present invention may be characterized in that:

[0009] In addition, in the above coffee bean grinder, The first grinder is capable of grinding coffee beans more coarsely and accurately than the second grinder, The second grinder is capable of grinding coffee beans finer and more precisely than the first grinder. The present invention may be characterized in that:

[0010] In addition, in the above coffee bean grinder, When the coffee beans are ground by both the first grinder and the second grinder, the coffee beans ground by the first grinder are further ground finely by the second grinder. The present invention may be characterized in that:

[0011] In addition, in the above coffee bean grinder, When the coffee beans are ground by one of the first grinder and the second grinder, the coffee beans are guided to the one grinder. The present invention may be characterized in that:

[0012] That is, one of the first grinder and the second grinder may be provided with a guide passage for guiding the coffee beans [for example, guide passage 6C shown in FIG. 47(b)]. The guide passage may move relative to the one grinder to guide the coffee beans to the one grinder, the one grinder may move relative to the guide passage to guide the coffee beans to the one grinder, or the guide passage moves and the one grinder moves to guide the coffee beans to the one grinder. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to the present invention, a coffee bean grinder can be provided that can more easily meet the demands of grinding than conventional coffee bean grinders. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is an external view of a beverage production device 1. FIG. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a partial front view of the beverage production device 1. [Diagram 3] 1 is a schematic diagram of the functions of the beverage production device 1. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a separation device 6. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a drive unit 8 and an extraction vessel 9. [Figure 6] 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the extraction container 9 in a closed state and an open state. [Figure 7] 4 is a front view showing the configuration of a portion of an upper unit 8A and a lower unit 8C. FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view of FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a middle unit 8B. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control device 11. [Figure 11] 13A is a flowchart of a control process related to one coffee beverage production operation, and FIG. 13B is a flowchart of the extraction process of S3. [Figure 12] FIG. [Figure 13] 13 is a vertical sectional view of the crushing device 5 shown in FIG. 12. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a separation device 6. [Figure 15] FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a forming unit 6B. [Figure 16] 13 is a perspective view and a partially enlarged view of a forming unit 6B. FIG. [Figure 17] FIG. 13 is a plan view of the forming unit 6B, illustrating the cross-sectional areas thereof for comparison. [Figure 18] FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a coffee bean grinder. [Figure 19]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control device for the coffee bean grinder. [Figure 20] 19(a) is a diagram showing a coffee bean grinder GM in which a hopper unit 402 is attached instead of the canister storage unit 401 shown in FIG. 18, and FIG. 19(b) is a diagram showing a coffee bean grinder GM in which a funnel unit 403 is attached. [Figure 21] FIG. 1A is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of a state in which a measuring unit 404 is attached to an option attachment section GM11, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view showing an electric screw conveyor ESC. [Figure 22] 13A and 13B are views showing several aspects of a covering member 460 arranged at a downstream end opening 4042o of a conveying passage 4042. [Figure 23] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing yet another embodiment of a covering member 460. [Figure 24] 1A is a diagram showing a state in which the lid unit GM21 for opening and closing the bean outlet GM20 provided in the center casing GM10 of the coffee bean grinder GM is closed, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a state in which the lid unit GM21 is open. [Diagram 25] 2 is a diagram showing the main components of the grinding device 5 built into the coffee bean grinder GM with the guide path forming member GM22 facing forward. FIG. [Figure 26] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a first grinder 5A. [Figure 27] 20 is a flowchart showing a grinding process of a first grinder 5A executed by a processing unit 11a shown in FIG. 19. [Figure 28] 1A is a diagram showing a separation device 6, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a state in which an outer peripheral wall 61a of an upper portion 61 of a collection container 60B has been removed. [Figure 29] 13A is a perspective view of the separation device 6 with the outer case 60Bo removed, viewed obliquely from below, and FIG. 13B is a view showing the positional relationship between the outer case 60Bo and the inner case 60Bi by seeing through the outer case 60Bo. [Diagram 30]30(a) is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of phenomena such as air flow within the separation device shown in FIG. 29, and (b) is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of phenomena such as air flow within the separation device of a modified example. [Diagram 31] 26 is a diagram in which the manual setting disk dial 695 shown in FIG. 25 has been removed so that the entire connecting duct 661 can be seen. [Diagram 32] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a second grinder 5B. [Diagram 33] 11 is a flowchart showing a calibration process executed in an initial operation. [Diagram 34] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a calibration process in stages. [Diagram 35] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a second grinder 5B in a grinding process. [Diagram 36] 6A is a diagram showing the manual setting disk dial 695 and the fine adjustment knob dial 696 together with the second motor 503a, and FIG. 6B is a diagram showing the connecting dial 697 and the rotating shaft 6961 of the fine adjustment knob dial 696 with the manual setting disk dial 695 and the second motor 503a removed. [Figure 37] 13 is a flowchart showing a control process of a processor 11a in a grind process. [Figure 38] 13 is a flowchart showing a control process executed by a processing unit 11a when a grind process is executed according to order information. [Figure 39] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in the server 16. [Diagram 40] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for order information. [Diagram 41] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen in which order information has been input. [Diagram 42] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a state when order information is input. [Diagram 43] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a state when order information is changed. [Diagram 44] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of control parameters of a second grinder 5B for an order. [Diagram 45] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display during execution of a grind process. [Diagram 46] FIG. 1(a) is a diagram showing an example of a porta filter used in producing an espresso beverage; FIG. 1(b) is a diagram showing how the handle PFh is being held to place the basket PFb held in the holding part PFr on the chute GM31 of the coffee bean grinder; and FIG. 1(c) is a schematic diagram showing how ground beans that have been ground from fine to coarse are packed into the basket PFb and then leveled and tamped. [Figure 47] 25 and 26. FIG. 25(a) is a perspective view showing a rotary blade 58a constituting a first grinder 5A by itself, and FIG. 25(b) is a view showing a modified example of the crushing device 5 shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0016] <1. Overview of beverage production equipment> Fig. 1 is an external view of a beverage production apparatus 1. The beverage production apparatus 1 shown in Fig. 1 is an apparatus that automatically produces a coffee beverage from roasted coffee beans and liquid (water in this case), and is capable of producing one cup's worth of coffee beverage per production operation. The roasted coffee beans that serve as the raw material can be stored in a canister 40. A cup placement section 110 is provided at the bottom of the beverage production apparatus 1, and the produced coffee beverage is poured into the cup from a pouring section 10c.

[0017] The beverage production device 1 includes a housing 100 that forms the exterior of the device and encloses the internal mechanism. The housing 100 is broadly divided into a main body 101 and a cover 102 that covers part of the front and part of the side of the beverage production device 1. The cover 102 is provided with an information display device 12. The information display device 12 shown in FIG. 1 is a touch panel display that is capable of displaying various types of information and also accepting input from the device manager and beverage consumers. The information display device 12 is attached to the cover 102 via a movement mechanism 12a, and can be moved up and down within a certain range by the movement mechanism 12a.

[0018] The cover portion 102 is also provided with a bean insertion port 103 and an opening / closing door 103a for opening and closing the bean insertion port 103. By opening the opening / closing door 103a, it is possible to insert roasted coffee beans other than the roasted coffee beans contained in the canister 40 into the bean insertion port 103. This makes it possible to provide a special cup of coffee to the beverage consumer.

[0019] The cover unit 102 shown in Fig. 1 is made of a light-transmitting material such as acrylic or glass, and constitutes a transparent cover whose entirety is a translucent part. Therefore, the mechanism inside covered by the cover unit 102 can be seen from the outside. In the beverage production device 1 shown in Fig. 1, a part of the production unit that produces a coffee beverage can be seen through the cover unit 102. The main body unit 101 shown in Fig. 1 is made entirely of a non-translucent part, and its inside is difficult to see from the outside.

[0020] 2 is a partial front view of the beverage production machine 1, showing a part of the production unit that is visible to a user when viewed from the front of the beverage production machine 1. The cover unit 102 and the information display device 12 are shown by imaginary lines.

[0021] The housing 100 at the front of the beverage production device 1 has a double structure made up of a main body 101 and an outer (front) cover 102. Some of the mechanisms of the production unit are disposed between the main body 101 and the cover 102 in the front-to-rear direction, and can be seen by the user through the cover 102.

[0022] Some of the mechanisms of the manufacturing unit that can be seen by the user through the cover unit 102 are the collecting and conveying unit 42, the first grinder 5A, the second grinder 5B, the separating device 6, the extraction container 9, etc. A rectangular recess 101a recessed toward the back side is formed in the front part of the main body unit 101, and the extraction container 9, etc. are located at the back side of this recess 101a.

[0023] By making these mechanisms visible from the outside through the cover portion 102, it may be easier for a manager to inspect and check the operation. Also, it may be possible for a beverage consumer to enjoy the process of making a coffee beverage.

[0024] The cover part 102 is supported at its right end on the main body part 101 via a hinge 102a so as to be freely opened and closed in a sideways manner. An engagement part 102b that keeps the main body part 101 and the cover part 102 in a closed state is provided at the left end of the cover part 102. The engagement part 102b is, for example, a combination of a magnet and iron. By opening the cover part 102, an administrator can inspect part of the above-mentioned manufacturing part inside.

[0025] 1 is of a horizontal opening type, it may be of a vertical opening type (vertical opening type) or a sliding type. Also, the cover 102 may be configured not to be openable or closable.

[0026] 3 is a schematic diagram of the functions of the beverage production apparatus 1. The beverage production apparatus 1 includes a bean processing apparatus 2 and an extraction apparatus 3 as a coffee beverage production section.

[0027] The bean processing device 2 produces ground beans from roasted coffee beans. The extraction device 3 extracts coffee liquid from the ground beans supplied from the bean processing device 2. The extraction device 3 includes a fluid supply unit 7, a drive unit 8 (see FIG. 5 ), which will be described later, an extraction container 9, and a switching unit 10. The ground beans supplied from the bean processing device 2 are fed into the extraction container 9. The fluid supply unit 7 feeds hot water into the extraction container 9. Coffee liquid is extracted from the ground beans in the extraction container 9. The hot water containing the extracted coffee liquid is sent to cup C as a coffee beverage via the switching unit 10.

[0028] <2. Fluid supply unit and switching unit> The configuration of the fluid supply unit 7 and the switching unit 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 3. First, the fluid supply unit 7 will be described. The fluid supply unit 7 supplies hot water to the extraction container 9 and controls the air pressure inside the extraction container 9. In this specification, when the air pressure is exemplified by a number, it means absolute pressure unless otherwise specified, and the gauge pressure is the air pressure with the atmospheric pressure being 0 atmospheres. The atmospheric pressure refers to the air pressure around the extraction container 9 or the air pressure of the beverage production device 1. For example, when the beverage production device 1 is installed at a point at 0 m above sea level, the atmospheric pressure is the reference air pressure (1013.25 hPa) at 0 m above sea level of the International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) established in 1976 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

[0029] The fluid supply unit 7 includes pipes L1 to L3. The pipe L1 is a pipe through which air flows, the pipe L2 is a pipe through which water flows, and the pipe L3 is a pipe through which both air and water can flow.

[0030] The fluid supply unit 7 includes a compressor 70 as a pressurized source. The compressor 70 compresses and sends out atmospheric air. The compressor 70 is driven, for example, by a motor (not shown) as a drive source. The compressed air sent out from the compressor 70 is supplied to a reserve tank (accumulator) 71 via a check valve 71a. The air pressure inside the reserve tank 71 is monitored by a pressure sensor 71b, and the compressor 70 is driven so as to maintain a predetermined air pressure (for example, 7 atmospheres (6 atmospheres in gauge pressure)). The reserve tank 71 is provided with a drain 71c for draining water, which makes it possible to drain water produced by the compression of the air.

[0031] Hot water (water) for making a coffee beverage is stored in the water tank 72. The water tank 72 is provided with a heater 72a for heating the water in the water tank 72 and a temperature sensor 72b for measuring the temperature of the water. The heater 72a maintains the temperature of the stored hot water at a predetermined temperature (e.g., 120 degrees Celsius) based on the detection result of the temperature sensor 72b. For example, the heater 72a is turned ON when the temperature of the hot water is 118 degrees Celsius and turned OFF when it is 120 degrees Celsius.

[0032] The water tank 72 is also provided with a water level sensor 72c. The water level sensor 72c detects the level of hot water in the water tank 72. When the water level sensor 72c detects that the water level has dropped below a predetermined level, water is supplied to the water tank 72. Tap water is supplied to the water tank 72 shown in FIG. 3 via a water purifier (not shown). An electromagnetic valve 72d is provided in the middle of the pipe L2 from the water purifier. When the water level sensor 72c detects a drop in the water level, the electromagnetic valve 72d is opened to supply water, and when the water level reaches a predetermined level, the electromagnetic valve 72d is closed to cut off the supply of water. In this way, the hot water in the water tank 72 is maintained at a constant water level. Water may be supplied to the water tank 72 every time hot water used to make a coffee beverage is discharged.

[0033] The water tank 72 is also provided with a pressure sensor 72g. The pressure sensor 72g detects the air pressure in the water tank 72. The air pressure in the reserve tank 71 is supplied to the water tank 72 via a pressure regulating valve 72e and an electromagnetic valve 72f. The pressure regulating valve 72e reduces the air pressure supplied from the reserve tank 71 to a predetermined air pressure. For example, the pressure is reduced to 3 atmospheres (2 atmospheres in gauge pressure). The electromagnetic valve 72f switches between supplying and blocking the air pressure adjusted by the pressure regulating valve 72e to the water tank 72. The electromagnetic valve 72f is controlled to open and close so that the air pressure in the water tank 72 is maintained at 3 atmospheres, except when tap water is supplied to the water tank 72. When tap water is supplied to the water tank 72, the electromagnetic valve 72h reduces the air pressure in the water tank 72 to a pressure lower than the water pressure of the tap water (for example, less than 2.5 atmospheres) so that the water tank 72 is smoothly replenished with tap water by the water pressure of the tap water. The solenoid valve 72h switches whether or not to open the inside of the water tank 72 to the atmosphere, and opens the inside of the water tank 72 to the atmosphere when the pressure is reduced. In addition, the solenoid valve 72h opens the inside of the water tank 72 to the atmosphere when the air pressure inside the water tank 72 exceeds 3 atmospheres, other than when tap water is being supplied to the water tank 72, and maintains the inside of the water tank 72 at 3 atmospheres.

[0034] Hot water in the water tank 72 is supplied to the extraction container 9 via the check valve 72j, the solenoid valve 72i, and the pipe L3. Hot water is supplied to the extraction container 9 by opening the solenoid valve 72i, and the supply of hot water is cut off by closing it. The amount of hot water supplied to the extraction container 9 can be managed by the opening time of the solenoid valve 72i. However, the opening and closing of the solenoid valve 72i may be controlled by measuring the supply amount. A temperature sensor 73e that measures the temperature of the hot water is provided in the pipe L3, and the temperature of the hot water supplied to the extraction container 9 is monitored.

[0035] The air pressure in the reserve tank 71 is also supplied to the extraction container 9 via the pressure regulator valve 73a and the solenoid valve 73b. The pressure regulator valve 73a reduces the air pressure supplied from the reserve tank 71 to a predetermined air pressure. For example, it reduces the pressure to 5 atmospheres (4 atmospheres in gauge pressure). The solenoid valve 73b switches between supplying the air pressure adjusted by the pressure regulator valve 73a to the extraction container 9 and blocking it. The air pressure in the extraction container 9 is detected by a pressure sensor 73d. When the extraction container 9 is pressurized, the solenoid valve 73b is opened based on the detection result of the pressure sensor 73d, and the extraction container 9 is pressurized to a predetermined air pressure (for example, up to 5 atmospheres (4 atmospheres in gauge pressure)). The air pressure in the extraction container 9 can be reduced by the solenoid valve 73c. ​​The solenoid valve 73c switches whether or not to open the extraction container 9 to the atmosphere, and opens the extraction container 9 to the atmosphere when the pressure is abnormal (for example, when the pressure in the extraction container 9 exceeds 5 atmospheres).

[0036] After one coffee beverage has been produced, the inside of the extraction container 9 is washed with tap water. The solenoid valve 73f is opened during washing, and tap water is supplied to the extraction container 9.

[0037] Next, the switching unit 10 will be described. The switching unit 10 is a unit that switches the destination of the liquid delivered from the extraction container 9 to either the pouring section 10c or the waste tank T. The switching unit 10 includes a switching valve 10a and a motor 10b that drives the switching valve 10a. The switching valve 10a switches the flow path to the pouring section 10c when delivering the coffee beverage in the extraction container 9. The coffee beverage is poured from the pouring section 10c into a cup C. When discharging waste liquid (tap water) and residue (ground beans) during cleaning, the flow path is switched to the waste tank T. The switching valve 10a shown in FIG. 3 is a three-port ball valve. Since residue passes through the switching valve 10a during cleaning, a ball valve is suitable for the switching valve 10a, and the motor 10b switches the flow path by rotating its rotating shaft.

[0038] <3. Bean processing equipment> The bean processing device 2 will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The bean processing device 2 includes a storage device 4 and a grinding device 5.

[0039] <3-1. Storage device> The storage device 4 includes a plurality of canisters 40 in which roasted coffee beans are stored. Three canisters 40 are provided as shown in Fig. 1. Each canister 40 includes a cylindrical main body 40a that stores roasted coffee beans and a handle 40b provided on the main body 40a, and is configured to be freely attached to and detached from the beverage production device 1.

[0040] Each canister 40 may contain different kinds of roasted coffee beans, and the type of roasted coffee beans used to produce a coffee beverage may be selected by an operation input to the information display device 12. Different kinds of roasted coffee beans are, for example, roasted coffee beans of different varieties. Different kinds of roasted coffee beans may be roasted coffee beans of the same variety but with different roast degrees. Different kinds of roasted coffee beans may be roasted coffee beans of different varieties and roast degrees. At least one of the three canisters 40 may contain roasted coffee beans in which a plurality of varieties of roasted coffee beans are mixed. In this case, the roasted coffee beans of each variety may have the same roast degree.

[0041] Although multiple canisters 40 are provided in the beverage production device 1 shown in Fig. 1, a configuration in which only one canister 40 is provided may also be provided. Furthermore, when multiple canisters 40 are provided, the same type of roasted coffee beans may be stored in all or multiple canisters 40.

[0042] Each canister 40 is detachably attached to a conveyor 41, which is a weighing and conveying device. The conveyor 41 is, for example, an electric screw conveyor, and automatically weighs a predetermined amount of roasted coffee beans contained in the canister 40 and sends it downstream.

[0043] Each conveyor 41 discharges roasted coffee beans downstream to a collecting and conveying section 42. The collecting and conveying section 42 is composed of a hollow member, and forms a conveying passage for the roasted coffee beans from each conveyor 41 to the grinding device 5 (particularly the first grinder 5A). The roasted coffee beans discharged from each conveyor 41 move inside the collecting and conveying section 42 by their own weight and flow down to the grinding device 5.

[0044] A guide portion 42a is formed in the collecting and conveying section 42 at a position corresponding to the bean insertion port 103. The guide portion 42a forms a passage that guides the roasted coffee beans inserted from the bean insertion port 103 to the grinding device 5 (particularly the first grinder 5A). This makes it possible to produce a coffee beverage using the roasted coffee beans inserted from the bean insertion port 103 as an ingredient, in addition to the roasted coffee beans stored in the canister 40.

[0045] <3-2.Crushing equipment> The grinding device 5 will be described with reference to Figures 2 and 4. Figure 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the separating device 6. The grinding device 5 includes a first grinder 5A, a second grinder 5B, and the separating device 6. The first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B are mechanisms for grinding the roasted coffee beans supplied from the storage device 4. The roasted coffee beans supplied from the storage device 4 are ground by the first grinder 5A, and then further ground into powder by the second grinder 5B, and are fed into the extraction container 9 from the discharge pipe 5C.

[0046] The first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B have different grinding sizes. The first grinder 5A is a grinder for coarse grinding, and the second grinder 5B is a grinder for fine grinding. The first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B are each electric grinders, and include a motor as a driving source and a rotary blade driven by the motor. The size (particle size) of the ground roasted coffee beans can be changed by changing the rotation speed of the rotary blade.

[0047] The separator 6 is a mechanism for separating unnecessary materials from ground beans. The separator 6 includes a passage 63a disposed between the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B. The passage 63a is a hollow body that forms a separation chamber through which ground beans that freely fall from the first grinder 5A pass. A passage 63b that extends in a direction (e.g., left-right direction) that intersects with the passing direction of the ground beans (e.g., up-down direction) is connected to the passage 63a, and a suction unit 60 is connected to the passage 63b. The suction unit 60 sucks in the air in the passage 63a, thereby sucking in light objects such as chaff and fine powder. This allows unnecessary materials to be separated from the ground beans.

[0048] The suction unit 60 is a centrifugal separation mechanism. The suction unit 60 includes a blower unit 60A and a collection container 60B. The blower unit 60A shown in Fig. 4 is a fan motor, and exhausts the air in the collection container 60B upward.

[0049] The collection container 60B includes an upper portion 61 and a lower portion 62 which are separably engaged with each other. The lower portion 62 is shaped like a cylinder with an open top and a bottom, forming a space for accumulating unwanted materials. The upper portion 61 constitutes a lid portion which is attached to the opening of the lower portion 62. The upper portion 61 includes a cylindrical outer peripheral wall 61a and an exhaust tube 61b formed coaxially therewith. The blower unit 60A is fixed to the upper portion 61 above the exhaust tube 61b so as to suck in air from within the exhaust tube 61b. A passage portion 63b is connected to the upper portion 61. The passage portion 63b opens to the side of the exhaust tube 61b.

[0050] Driving the blower unit 60A generates air currents as shown by arrows d1 to d3 in FIG. 4. This air current causes air containing unwanted materials to be sucked from the passage 63a through the passage 63b into the collection container 60B. Because the passage 63b opens to the side of the exhaust tube 61b, the air containing unwanted materials swirls around the exhaust tube 61b. Unwanted materials D in the air fall due to their own weight and are collected in a part of the collection container 60B (accumulated on the bottom surface of the lower part 62). The air passes through the inside of the exhaust tube 61b and is exhausted upward.

[0051] A plurality of fins 61d are integrally formed on the circumferential surface of the exhaust tube 61b. The plurality of fins 61d are arranged in the circumferential direction of the exhaust tube 61b. Each of the fins 61d is inclined obliquely with respect to the axial direction of the exhaust tube 61b. The provision of such fins 61d promotes the swirling of the air containing the unwanted matter D around the exhaust tube 61b.

[0052] The lower part 62 shown in Fig. 4 is made of a light-transmitting material such as acrylic or glass, and constitutes a transparent container with the entire part being a translucent part. The lower part 62 is also covered with a cover part 102 (Fig. 2). A manager or a beverage consumer can see the unwanted objects D accumulated in the lower part 62 through the cover part 102 and the peripheral wall of the lower part 62. For the manager, it may be easy to check when the lower part 62 should be cleaned, and for the beverage consumer, being able to see that the unwanted objects D have been removed may increase their expectations for the quality of the coffee beverage being produced.

[0053] In this way, the roasted coffee beans supplied from the storage device 4 are first coarsely ground by the first grinder 5A, and as the coarsely ground beans pass through the passage 63a, unwanted materials are separated by the separator 6. The coarsely ground beans from which unwanted materials have been separated are finely ground by the second grinder 5B. The unwanted materials separated by the separator 6 are typically chaff and fine powder. These can degrade the taste of a coffee beverage, and so removing the chaff and the like from the ground beans can improve the quality of the coffee beverage.

[0054] The roasted coffee beans may be ground using one grinder (single-stage grinding). However, by using two-stage grinding using the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B, the grain size of the ground beans is more likely to be uniform, and the degree of extraction of the coffee liquid can be made constant. When grinding the beans, heat may be generated due to friction between the cutter and the beans. By using two-stage grinding, heat generation due to friction during grinding can be suppressed, and deterioration of the ground beans (e.g., loss of flavor) can also be prevented.

[0055] In addition, by going through the stages of coarse grinding → separation of unwanted materials → fine grinding, the mass difference between the unwanted materials and the ground beans (necessary part) can be increased when separating unwanted materials such as chaff. This not only increases the efficiency of separating the unwanted materials, but also prevents the ground beans (necessary part) from being separated as unwanted materials. In addition, by having an unwanted material separation process that uses air suction between the coarse grinding and the fine grinding, heat generation from the ground beans can be suppressed by air cooling. This also prevents deterioration of the ground beans (for example, loss of flavor).

[0056] <4. Drive unit and extraction vessel> <4-1. Overview> The drive unit 8 and the extraction vessel 9 of the extraction device 3 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the drive unit 8 and the extraction vessel 9. Most of the drive unit 8 is enclosed in a main body 101.

[0057] The drive unit 8 is supported by a frame F. The frame F includes upper and lower beams F1, F2 and a column F3 supporting the beams F1, F2. The drive unit 8 is broadly divided into three units: an upper unit 8A, a middle unit 8B, and a lower unit 8C. The upper unit 8A is supported by the beam F1. The middle unit 8B is supported by the beam F1 and column F3 between the beams F1 and F2. The lower unit 8C is supported by the beam F2.

[0058] The extraction container 9 is a chamber including a container body 90 and a lid unit 91. The extraction container 9 may be referred to as a chamber. The middle unit 8B includes an arm member 820 that detachably holds the container body 90. The arm member 820 includes a holding member 820a and a pair of shaft members 820b spaced apart on the left and right. The holding member 820a is an elastic member such as resin formed into a C-shaped clip, and holds the container body 90 by its elastic force. The holding member 820a holds the left and right sides of the container body 90, and the front side of the container body 90 is exposed. This makes it easier to see the inside of the container body 90 when viewed from the front.

[0059] The container body 90 is attached to the holding member 820a by pressing the container body 90 backward in the front-to-rear direction against the holding member 820a. The container body 90 can be separated from the holding member 820a by pulling the container body 90 forward in the front-to-rear direction from the holding member 820a.

[0060] The pair of shaft members 820b are rods extending in the front-rear direction, and are members that support the holding member 820a. Although the number of shaft members 820b is two, it may be one or three or more. The holding member 820a is fixed to the front end of the pair of shaft members 820b. The pair of shaft members 820b advances and retreats in the front-rear direction by a mechanism described later, which causes the holding member 820a to advance and retreat in the front-rear direction, thereby performing a moving operation that moves the container body 90 in parallel in the front-rear direction. The middle unit 8B can also perform a rotating operation that inverts the extraction container 9 up and down, as described later.

[0061] <4-2.Extraction container> The extraction container 9 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing the extraction container 9 in a closed state and an open state. As described above, the extraction container 9 is turned upside down by the middle unit 8B. The extraction container 9 in Fig. 6 shows a basic position in which the lid unit 91 is located on the upper side. In the following description, when the vertical positional relationship is mentioned, it means the vertical positional relationship in the basic position unless otherwise specified.

[0062] The container body 90 is a bottomed container, and has a bottle shape having a neck portion 90b, a shoulder portion 90d, a body portion 90e, and a bottom portion 90f. A flange portion 90c that defines an opening 90a that communicates with the internal space of the container body 90 is formed at the end of the neck portion 90b (the upper end portion of the container body 90).

[0063] Both the neck portion 90b and the body portion 90e have a cylindrical shape. The shoulder portion 90d is a portion between the neck portion 90b and the body portion 90e, and has a tapered shape such that the cross-sectional area of ​​the internal space therein gradually decreases from the body portion 90e side toward the neck portion 90b side.

[0064] The lid unit 91 is a unit that opens and closes the opening 90a. The opening and closing operation (raising and lowering operation) of the lid unit 91 is performed by the upper unit 8A.

[0065] The container body 90 includes a body member 900 and a bottom member 901. The body member 900 is a cylindrical member that is open at the top and bottom and forms a neck portion 90b, a shoulder portion 90d, and a body portion 90e. The bottom member 901 is a member that forms the bottom portion 90f, and is inserted and fixed to the lower portion of the body member 900. A seal member 902 is interposed between the body member 900 and the bottom member 901 to improve airtightness inside the container body 90.

[0066] The main body member 900 shown in Fig. 6 is made of a light-transmitting material such as acrylic or glass, and constitutes a transparent container with the entire body being a translucent portion. The manager and beverage consumers can see the brewing status of the coffee beverage in the container body 90 through the cover portion 102 and the main body member 900 of the container body 90. The manager may find it easy to check the brewing operation, and the beverage consumer may enjoy the brewing status.

[0067] A protrusion 901c is provided at the center of the bottom member 901, and this protrusion 901c is provided with a communication hole that connects the inside of the container body 90 with the outside, and a valve (valve 903 in FIG. 8) that opens and closes this communication hole. The communication hole is used to discharge waste liquid and residue when cleaning the inside of the container body 90. A seal member 908 is provided on the protrusion 901c, and the seal member 908 is a member for maintaining airtightness between the upper unit 8A or the lower unit 8C and the bottom member 901.

[0068] The lid unit 91 includes a hat-shaped base member 911. The base member 911 includes a protrusion 911d and a flange portion 911c that overlaps with the flange portion 90c when closed. The protrusion 911d has the same structure as the protrusion 901c in the container body 90, and includes a communication hole that connects the inside of the container body 90 to the outside and a valve (valve 913 in FIG. 8) that opens and closes the communication hole. The communication hole of the protrusion 911d is mainly used to pour hot water into the container body 90 and to deliver the coffee beverage. The protrusion 911d is provided with a seal member 918a. The seal member 918a is a member for maintaining airtightness between the upper unit 8A or the lower unit 8C and the base member 911. The lid unit 91 is also provided with a seal member 919. The seal member 919 improves airtightness between the lid unit 91 and the container body 90 when the lid unit 91 is closed. The lid unit 91 holds a filter for filtration.

[0069] <4-3. Upper unit and lower unit> The upper unit 8A and the lower unit 8C will be described with reference to Figures 7 and 8. Figure 7 is a front view showing the configuration of a portion of the upper unit 8A and the lower unit 8C, and Figure 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view of Figure 7.

[0070] The upper unit 8A includes an operation unit 81A. The operation unit 81A performs opening and closing (raising and lowering) operations of the lid unit 91 relative to the container body 90 and opening and closing operations of the valves of the convex portions 901c and 911d. The operation unit 81A includes a support member 800, a holding member 801, a lifting shaft 802, and a probe 803.

[0071] The support member 800 is fixed so that its relative position with respect to the frame F does not change, and houses the holding member 801. The support member 800 also includes a communication part 800a that communicates the piping L3 with the inside of the support member 800. Hot water, tap water, and air pressure supplied from the piping L3 are introduced into the support member 800 via the communication part 800a.

[0072] The holding member 801 is a member capable of removably holding the lid unit 91. The holding member 801 has a cylindrical space into which the convex portion 911d of the lid unit 91 or the convex portion 901c of the bottom member 901 is inserted, and is equipped with a mechanism for removably holding them. This mechanism is, for example, a snap ring mechanism, which engages with a certain pressing force and disengages with a certain separation force. Hot water, tap water, and air pressure supplied from the pipe L3 can be supplied into the extraction container 9 through the communication portion 800a and the communication hole 801a of the holding member 801.

[0073] The holding member 801 is also a movable member that is provided so as to be able to slide vertically within the support member 800. The lift shaft 802 is provided so that its axial direction is the vertical direction. The lift shaft 802 airtightly penetrates the top part of the support member 800 in the vertical direction, and is provided so as to be able to move up and down relative to the support member 800.

[0074] The top of the holding member 801 is fixed to the lower end of the lifting shaft 802. The lifting shaft 802 moves up and down to slide the holding member 801 up and down, and the holding member 801 can be attached to and detached from the protrusions 911d and 901c. In addition, the lid unit 91 can be opened and closed relative to the container body 90.

[0075] A screw 802a that constitutes a lead screw mechanism is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the lift shaft 802. A nut 804b is screwed onto this screw 802a. The upper unit 8A is equipped with a motor 804a, and the nut 804b is rotated in place (without moving up and down) by the driving force of the motor 804a. The lift shaft 802 moves up and down due to the rotation of the nut 804b.

[0076] The lift shaft 802 is a tubular shaft having a through hole in its central axis, and a probe 803 is inserted into this through hole so as to be slidable up and down. The probe 803 passes through the top part of the holding member 801 in an airtight manner in the vertical direction, and is provided so as to be able to lift up and down relative to the support member 800 and the holding member 801.

[0077] The probe 803 is an operator that opens and closes the valves 913, 903 provided inside the convex portions 911d, 901c. By lowering the probe 803, the valves 913, 903 can be changed from a closed state to an open state, and by raising the probe 803, the valves can be changed from an open state to a closed state (by the action of a return spring not shown).

[0078] A screw 803a constituting a lead screw mechanism is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the probe 803. A nut 805b is screwed onto this screw 803a. The upper unit 8A is equipped with a motor 805a, and the nut 805b is provided so as to rotate in place (without moving up and down) by the driving force of the motor 805a. The probe 803 moves up and down by the rotation of the nut 805b.

[0079] The lower unit 8C includes an operation unit 81C. The operation unit 81C is configured by inverting the operation unit 81A upside down, and opens and closes the valves 913, 903 provided inside the protrusions 911d, 901c. The operation unit 81C is also configured to be able to open and close the lid unit 91, but is not used to open and close the lid unit 91.

[0080] The operation unit 81C includes a support member 810, a holding member 811, a lift shaft 812, and a probe 813. ...

[0081] The support member 810 is fixed so that its relative position with respect to the frame F does not change, and houses the holding member 811. The support member 810 also has a communication part 810a that communicates between the switching valve 10a of the switching unit 10 and the inside of the support member 810. The coffee beverage, tap water, and ground bean residue in the container body 90 are introduced into the switching valve 10a via the communication part 810a.

[0082] The holding member 811 has a cylindrical space into which the convex portion 911d of the lid unit 91 or the convex portion 901c of the bottom member 901 is inserted, and is equipped with a mechanism for detachably holding them. This mechanism is, for example, a snap ring mechanism that engages with a certain pressing force and disengages with a certain separation force. The coffee beverage, tap water, and ground bean residue in the container body 90 are introduced into the switching valve 10a through the communication portion 810a and the communication hole 811a of the holding member 811.

[0083] The holding member 811 is also a movable member provided so as to be able to slide vertically within the support member 810. The lift shaft 812 is provided so that its axial direction is the vertical direction. The lift shaft 812 airtightly penetrates the bottom of the support member 800 in the vertical direction, and is provided so as to be able to move up and down relative to the support member 810.

[0084] The bottom of the holding member 811 is fixed to the lower end of the lift shaft 812. The lift shaft 812 moves up and down to slide the holding member 811 up and down, allowing the holding member 811 to be attached to and detached from the convex portion 901c and the convex portion 911d.

[0085] A screw 812a that constitutes a lead screw mechanism is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the lift shaft 812. A nut 814b is screwed onto this screw 812a. The lower unit 8C is equipped with a motor 814a, and the nut 814b is rotated in place (without moving up and down) by the driving force of the motor 814a. The lift shaft 812 moves up and down due to the rotation of the nut 814b.

[0086] The lift shaft 812 is a tubular shaft having a through hole in its central axis, and a probe 813 is inserted into this through hole so as to be slidable up and down. The probe 813 airtightly penetrates the bottom of the holding member 811 in the vertical direction, and is provided so as to be able to lift up and down relative to the support member 810 and the holding member 811.

[0087] The probe 813 is an operator that opens and closes the valves 913, 903 provided inside the convex portions 911d, 901c. By raising the probe 813, the valves 913, 903 can be changed from a closed state to an open state, and by lowering the probe 813, the valves can be changed from an open state to a closed state (by the action of a return spring not shown).

[0088] A screw 813a constituting a lead screw mechanism is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the probe 813. A nut 815b is screwed onto this screw 813a. The lower unit 8C is provided with a motor 815a, and the nut 815b is provided so as to rotate in place (without moving up and down) by the driving force of the motor 815a. The probe 813 moves up and down by the rotation of the nut 815b.

[0089] <4-4. Central Unit> The middle unit 8B will be described with reference to Fig. 5 and Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of the middle unit 8B. The middle unit 8B includes a support unit 81B that supports the extraction container 9. The support unit 81B includes a unit main body 81B' that supports a lock mechanism 821 in addition to the arm member 820 described above.

[0090] The locking mechanism 821 is a mechanism for maintaining the lid unit 91 in a closed state relative to the container body 90. The locking mechanism 821 includes a pair of gripping members 821a that vertically sandwich the flange portion 911c of the lid unit 91 and the flange portion 90c of the container body 90. The pair of gripping members 821a has a C-shaped cross section that sandwiches and fits the flange portion 911c and the flange portion 90c, and is opened and closed in the left-right direction by the driving force of the motor 822. When the pair of gripping members 821a is in a closed state, as shown by solid lines in the enclosed diagram of FIG. 9, each gripping member 821a fits into the flange portion 911c and the flange portion 90c so as to sandwich them from above and below, and the lid unit 91 is airtightly locked to the container body 90. In this locked state, even if the holding member 801 is raised by the lifting shaft 802 to open the lid unit 91, the lid unit 91 will not move (the lock is not released). In other words, the locking force of the locking mechanism 821 is set stronger than the force for opening the lid unit 91 using the holding member 801. This makes it possible to prevent the lid unit 91 from being opened relative to the container body 90 in the event of an abnormality.

[0091] Furthermore, when the pair of gripping members 821a are in an open state, as shown by dashed lines in the enclosed diagram of Figure 9, each gripping member 821a is separated from the brim portion 911c and the flange portion 90c, and the lock between the lid unit 91 and the container body 90 is released.

[0092] When the holding member 801 is holding the lid unit 91 and is raised from the lowered position to the raised position, if the pair of gripping members 821a is in the open state, the lid unit 91 is separated from the container body 90. Conversely, if the pair of gripping members 821a is in the closed state, the engagement of the holding member 801 with the lid unit 91 is released, and only the holding member 801 is raised.

[0093] The middle unit 8B also includes a mechanism for horizontally moving the arm member 820 in the front-rear direction using the motor 823 as a drive source. This allows the container body 90 supported by the arm member 820 to move between a rear extraction position (state ST1) and a front bean input position (state ST2). The bean input position is a position where ground beans are input into the container body 90, and ground beans ground by the second grinder 5B are input through the discharge pipe 5C shown in FIG. 2 into the opening 90a of the container body 90 from which the lid unit 91 has been separated. In other words, the position of the discharge pipe 5C is above the container body 90 which is positioned at the bean input position.

[0094] The extraction position is a position where the container body 90 can be operated by the operation unit 81A and the operation unit 81C, is a position on the same axis as the probes 803, 813, and is a position where coffee liquid is extracted. The extraction position is a position further back than the bean input position. Figures 5, 7, and 8 all show the container body 90 in the extraction position. In this way, by making the positions of the container body 90 different for inputting ground beans and extracting coffee liquid and supplying water, it is possible to prevent steam generated during coffee liquid extraction from adhering to the discharge pipe 5C, which is the supply part for ground beans.

[0095] The middle unit 8B also includes a mechanism for rotating the support unit 81B around a shaft 825 in the front-rear direction using a motor 824 as a drive source. This allows the attitude of the container body 90 (extraction container 9) to be changed from an upright attitude (state ST1) in which the neck portion 90b is on the upper side to an inverted attitude (state ST3) in which the neck portion 90b is on the lower side. During the rotation of the extraction container 9, the locking mechanism 821 maintains the state in which the lid unit 91 is locked to the container body 90. The extraction container 9 is inverted upside down between the upright attitude and the inverted attitude. In the inverted attitude, the convex portion 911d is located at the position of the convex portion 901c in the upright attitude. In the inverted attitude, the convex portion 901c is located at the position of the convex portion 911d in the upright attitude. Therefore, in the inverted attitude, the operation unit 81A can perform the opening and closing operation of the valve 903, and the operation unit 81C can perform the opening and closing operation of the valve 913.

[0096] <5. Control device> The control device 11 of the beverage production machine 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a block diagram of the control device 11.

[0097] The control device 11 controls the entire beverage production device 1. The control device 11 includes a processing unit 11a, a memory unit 11b, and an I / F (interface) unit 11c. The processing unit 11a is, for example, a processor such as a CPU. The memory unit 11b is, for example, a RAM or a ROM. The I / F unit 11c includes an input / output interface that inputs and outputs signals between an external device and the processing unit 11a. The I / F unit 11c also includes a communication interface that is capable of data communication with a server 16 via a communication network 15 such as the Internet. The server 16 is capable of communicating with a mobile terminal 17 such as a smartphone via the communication network 15, and is capable of receiving information such as reservations for beverage production and impressions from the mobile terminal 17 of a beverage consumer, for example.

[0098] Processing unit 11a executes a program stored in storage unit 11b, and controls actuator group 14 based on instructions from information display device 12, detection results from sensor group 13, or instructions from server 16. Sensor group 13 is various sensors (e.g., hot water temperature sensors, sensors for detecting the operating position of mechanisms, pressure sensors, etc.) provided in beverage production apparatus 1. Actuator group 14 is various actuators (e.g., motors, solenoid valves, heaters, etc.) provided in beverage production apparatus 1.

[0099] <6. Operation control example> An example of the control process of the beverage production apparatus 1 executed by the processing unit 11a will be described with reference to Figures 11A(A) and (B). Figure 11(A) shows an example of control related to one coffee beverage production operation. The state of the beverage production apparatus 1 before a production instruction is issued is called a standby state. The states of each mechanism in the standby state are as follows:

[0100] The extraction device 3 is in the state shown in FIG. 5. The extraction container 9 is in an upright position and in the extraction position. The locking mechanism 821 is in a closed state, and the lid unit 91 closes the opening 90a of the container body 90. The holding member 801 is in a lowered position and is attached to the convex portion 911d. The holding member 811 is in a raised position and is attached to the convex portion 901c. The valves 903 and 913 are in a closed state. The switching valve 10a connects the communication portion 810a of the operation unit 81C with the waste tank T.

[0101] In the standby state, when an instruction to produce a coffee beverage is received, the process of Fig. 11(A) is executed. In S1, a preheating process is executed. This process is a process in which hot water is poured into the container body 90 to preheat the container body 90. First, the valves 903 and 913 are opened. This places the pipe L3, the extraction container 9, and the waste tank T in a communication state.

[0102] The solenoid valve 72i is opened for a predetermined time (e.g., 1500 ms) and then closed. This allows hot water to be poured into the extraction container 9 from the water tank 72. Next, the solenoid valve 73b is opened for a predetermined time (e.g., 500 ms) and then closed. This pressurizes the air in the extraction container 9, accelerating the discharge of the hot water into the waste tank T. Through the above process, the inside of the extraction container 9 and the pipe L2 are preheated, and the cooling of the hot water can be reduced in the subsequent production of a coffee beverage.

[0103] In S2, the grinding process is performed. Here, the roasted coffee beans are ground, and the ground beans are put into the container body 90. First, the locking mechanism 821 is opened, and the holding member 801 is raised to the raised position. The lid unit 91 is held by the holding member 801 and rises together with the holding member 801. As a result, the lid unit 91 is separated from the container body 90. The holding member 811 is lowered to the lowered position. The container body 90 is moved to the bean input position. Next, the storage device 4 and the grinding device 5 are operated. As a result, a cup of roasted coffee beans is supplied from the storage device 4 to the first grinder 5A. The roasted coffee beans are ground in two stages by the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B, and the unnecessary materials are separated by the separation device 6. The ground beans are put into the container body 90.

[0104] The container body 90 is returned to the extraction position. The holding member 801 descends to the descended position and the lid unit 91 is attached to the container body 90. The locking mechanism 821 is closed, and the lid unit 91 is airtightly locked to the container body 90. The holding member 811 ascends to the ascended position. Of the valves 903 and 913, the valve 903 is closed and the valve 913 is open.

[0105] In S3, an extraction process is performed. Here, coffee liquid is extracted from the ground beans in the container body 90. Fig. 11(B) is a flowchart of the extraction process in S3.

[0106] In S41, in order to steam the ground beans in the extraction container 9, hot water in an amount less than one cup is poured into the extraction container 9. Here, the solenoid valve 72i is opened for a predetermined time (e.g., 500 ms) and then closed. This allows hot water to be poured from the water tank 72 into the extraction container 9. After that, the process of S41 is terminated after waiting for a predetermined time (e.g., 5000 ms). This process allows the ground beans to steam. Steaming the ground beans releases carbon dioxide gas contained in the ground beans, improving the subsequent extraction effect.

[0107] In S42, the remaining amount of hot water is poured into the extraction container 9 so that one cup of hot water is contained in the extraction container 9. Here, the solenoid valve 72i is opened for a predetermined time (for example, 7000 ms) and then closed. This causes hot water to be poured from the water tank 72 into the extraction container 9.

[0108] The process of S42 allows the inside of the extraction container 9 to be at a temperature exceeding 100 degrees Celsius (for example, about 110 degrees Celsius) at 1 atmosphere. Next, in S43, the inside of the extraction container 9 is pressurized. Here, the solenoid valve 73b is opened for a predetermined time (for example, 1000 ms) and then closed, and the inside of the extraction container 9 is pressurized to an atmosphere at which hot water does not boil (for example, about 4 atmospheres (about 3 atmospheres in gauge pressure)). Thereafter, the valve 913 is closed.

[0109] Next, this state is maintained for a predetermined time (e.g., 7000 ms) to perform immersion-type coffee extraction (S44). This results in extraction of coffee liquid by immersion under high temperature and pressure. The following effects can be expected from immersion-type extraction under high temperature and pressure. First, high pressure makes it easier for hot water to penetrate into the ground beans, promoting the extraction of coffee liquid. Second, high temperature promotes the extraction of coffee liquid. Third, high temperature reduces the viscosity of the oil contained in the ground beans, promoting the extraction of the oil. This allows the production of a highly fragrant coffee beverage.

[0110] The temperature of the hot water (high-temperature water) may be above 100 degrees Celsius, but a higher temperature is advantageous in terms of extracting the coffee liquid. On the other hand, increasing the temperature of the hot water generally increases costs. Therefore, the temperature of the hot water may be, for example, 105 degrees Celsius or higher, 110 degrees Celsius or higher, or 115 degrees Celsius or higher, and may be, for example, 130 degrees Celsius or lower, or 120 degrees Celsius or lower. The air pressure may be such that the hot water does not boil.

[0111] In S45, the pressure inside the extraction container 9 is reduced. Here, the pressure inside the extraction container 9 is switched to an air pressure at which hot water boils. Specifically, the valve 913 is opened, and the solenoid valve 73c is opened for a predetermined time (for example, 1000 ms) and then closed. The inside of the extraction container 9 is opened to the atmosphere. After that, the valve 913 is closed again.

[0112] The pressure inside the extraction vessel 9 is suddenly reduced to an atmospheric pressure lower than the boiling point pressure, and the hot water inside the extraction vessel 9 boils all at once. The hot water and ground beans inside the extraction vessel 9 are explosively scattered inside the extraction vessel 9. This allows the hot water to boil evenly. It also promotes the destruction of the cell walls of the ground beans, further promoting the subsequent extraction of the coffee liquid. This boiling also stirs the ground beans and hot water, promoting the extraction of the coffee liquid. In this way, the extraction efficiency of the coffee liquid can be improved.

[0113] In S46, the extraction container 9 is inverted from the upright position to the inverted position. Here, the holding member 801 is moved to the raised position, and the holding member 811 is moved to the lowered position. Then, the support unit 81B is rotated. After that, the holding member 801 is returned to the lowered position, and the holding member 811 is returned to the raised position. In the inverted extraction container 9, the neck portion 90b and the lid unit 91 are positioned on the lower side.

[0114] In S47, a permeation type coffee liquid extraction is performed, and a coffee beverage is delivered to cup C. Here, switching valve 10a is switched to communicate pouring section 10c with passage section 810a of operation unit 81C. Also, both valves 903 and 913 are opened. Furthermore, solenoid valve 73b is opened for a predetermined time (e.g., 10,000 ms) to set the inside of extraction container 9 to a predetermined pressure (e.g., 1.7 atm (0.7 atm gauge pressure)). In extraction container 9, the coffee beverage in which coffee liquid is dissolved in hot water passes through a filter provided in lid unit 91 and is delivered to cup C. The filter prevents ground bean residue from leaking out. This completes the extraction process.

[0115] The extraction efficiency of the coffee liquid can be improved by combining the immersion extraction in S44 and the permeation extraction in S47. When the extraction container 9 is in the upright position, the ground beans are piled up from the body 90e to the bottom 90f. On the other hand, when the extraction container 9 is in the inverted position, the ground beans are piled up from the shoulder 90d to the neck 90b. The cross-sectional area of ​​the body 90e is larger than the cross-sectional area of ​​the neck 90b, so the ground beans are piled up thicker in the inverted position than in the upright position. In other words, the ground beans are piled up relatively thinly and widely when the extraction container 9 is in the upright position, and relatively thickly and narrowly when the extraction container 9 is in the inverted position.

[0116] In the immersion extraction of S44, the extraction vessel 9 is in an upright position, so the hot water and the ground beans can come into contact over a wide area, improving the extraction efficiency of the coffee liquid. However, in this case, the hot water and the ground beans tend to come into partial contact. On the other hand, in the permeation extraction of S47, the extraction vessel 9 is in an inverted position, so the hot water passes through the accumulated ground beans while coming into contact with a larger amount of the ground beans. This allows the hot water to come into contact with the ground beans more evenly, further improving the extraction efficiency of the coffee liquid.

[0117] Returning to FIG. 11(A), after the extraction process of S3, a discharge process of S4 is performed. Here, a process for cleaning the inside of the extraction container 9 is performed. The extraction container 9 is cleaned by returning the extraction container 9 from an inverted position to an upright position and supplying tap water (purified water) to the extraction container 9. Then, the inside of the extraction container 9 is pressurized, and the water in the extraction container 9 is discharged into the waste tank T together with the ground bean residue.

[0118] This completes one coffee beverage production process. Thereafter, the same process is repeated for each production instruction. The time required to produce one coffee beverage is, for example, approximately 60 to 90 seconds.

[0119] <7. Summary of device configuration> As described above, the beverage production device 1 includes the bean processing device 2 and the extraction device 3 as a production section. More specifically, the bean processing device 2 includes the storage device 4 and the grinding device 5, and the extraction device 3 includes the fluid supply unit 7, the drive unit 8, the extraction container 9, and the switching unit 10 (see Figs. 2 and 3). The grinding device 5 receives a cup of roasted coffee beans from the storage device 4 and performs two-stage grinding of the beans using the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B. At this time, unnecessary substances such as chaff are separated from the ground beans by the separation device 6. After the ground beans are put into the extraction container 9, hot water is poured into the extraction container 9 by the fluid supply unit 7, the position of the extraction container 9 is reversed by the drive unit 8, and the liquid is sent from the extraction container 9 to a cup C by the switching unit 10, and then a cup of beverage is provided.

[0120] A part of the production unit is covered by a cover unit 102 configured as a transparent cover that is entirely transparent, and is visible to a user (e.g., an administrator of the beverage production device 1, a beverage consumer, etc.) from outside the beverage production device 1. Of the production unit, a plurality of canisters 40 that are part of the storage device 4 are exposed, and other elements are substantially housed within the housing 100, but the entire production unit may be housed within the housing 100. In other words, the cover unit 102 may be provided so as to cover at least a portion of the production unit.

[0121] At least a part of the production unit is covered by the cover unit 102 so as to be visible from the outside of the beverage production device 1. For example, if the user is a manager of the beverage production device 1, the manager may be able to prepare for the production of the beverage and inspect the operation of the device. If the user is a purchaser of the beverage, the purchaser may be able to wait for the completion of the production of the beverage while increasing his / her expectations for the beverage. For example, the extraction container 9 of the extraction device 3 is visible from the outside of the beverage production device 1 through the cover unit 102, and the extraction process, which is of relatively high interest to the user among several processes for producing the beverage, can be observed. The drive unit 8 acts as a posture change unit that changes the posture of the extraction container 9, and as described above, the extraction container 9 is a movable part that can be turned upside down in the production unit. Therefore, the inversion operation of the extraction container 9 is relatively likely to attract the user's interest, and by making it possible for the user to observe this, it may be possible to entertain the user.

[0122] Next, a modified example of the crushing device 5 will be described. In the following description, components having the same names as those described so far will be assigned the same reference numerals as those used so far. The crushing device 5 described here has a different appearance from the crushing device shown in FIG. 2, but is functionally the same.

[0123] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the crushing device 5, and FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view of the crushing device 5 shown in FIG.

[0124] The grinding device 5 shown in FIG. 12 includes a first grinder 5A, a second grinder 5B, and a separation device 6, as in the grinding device shown in FIG. 2. The first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B are mechanisms for grinding the roasted coffee beans supplied from the storage device 4 shown in FIG. 2. The first grinder 5A is a grinder for crushing the coffee beans to a certain size (for example, about 1 / 4) in order to make it easier to separate unwanted substances attached to the coffee beans. The second grinder 5B is a grinder for turning the coffee beans crushed by the first grinder 5A into ground coffee beans of a desired grain size. For this reason, the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B have different grain sizes for grinding beans, and the second grinder 5B is a grinder for grinding beans of a finer grain size than the first grinder 5A. The grain size of the ground beans in the second grinder 5B can be adjusted by adjusting the distance between the rotary blade 58b and the fixed blade 57b, although there may be an error (about ±5 μm).

[0125] The first grinder 5A includes a motor 52a (see FIG. 12) and a main body 53a. The motor 52a is a drive source for the first grinder 5A. The main body 53a is a unit that houses a cutter, and has a built-in rotating shaft 54a as shown in FIG. 13. A gear 55a is provided on the rotating shaft 54a, and the driving force of the motor 52a is transmitted to the rotating shaft 54a via the gear 55a.

[0126] As shown in FIG. 13, the rotary shaft 54a is provided with a rotary blade 58a which is a cutter. A fixed blade 57a which is a cutter is provided around the rotary blade 58a. The inside of the main body 53a is connected to the inlet 50a (see FIG. 12) and the outlet 51a (see FIG. 13). The roasted coffee beans supplied from the storage device 4 shown in FIG. 2 enter the main body 53a from the inlet 50a formed at the top of the main body 53a, and are ground by being sandwiched between the rotary blade 58a and the fixed blade 57a shown in FIG. 13. As shown in FIG. 13, a suppression plate 56a is provided above the rotary blade 58a of the rotary shaft 54a, and the suppression plate 56a suppresses the roasted coffee beans from escaping to the upper side. In the first grinder 5A, the roasted coffee beans are ground to, for example, about 1 / 4. The ground beans are discharged from the outlet 51a to the separation device 6.

[0127] The roasted coffee beans supplied to the inlet 50a may be supplied at a height that hits the side of the rotary blade 58a, rather than from above. In that case, the rotary blade 58a prevents the roasted coffee beans from escaping upward, so there is no need to provide the suppression plate 56a.

[0128] The first grinder 5A may change the size of the roasted coffee beans discharged after grinding by changing the rotation speed of the rotary blade 58a, or by manually adjusting the distance between the rotary blade 58a and the fixed blade 57a.

[0129] The separator 6 shown in Fig. 12 has the same configuration as the separator 6 described with reference to Fig. 4, and is disposed between the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B, and is a mechanism that separates unwanted materials such as chaff and fine powder from ground beans by the suction force of air. Roasted coffee beans supplied from the storage device 4 are first coarsely ground by the first grinder 5A, and unwanted materials are separated from the coarsely ground beans by the separator 6. The coarsely ground beans from which the unwanted materials have been separated are then finely ground by the second grinder 5B.

[0130] The second grinder 5B includes a motor 52b (see FIG. 12) and a main body 53b. The motor 52b is a drive source for the second grinder 5B. The main body 53b is a unit that houses a cutter, and has a built-in rotating shaft 54b as shown in FIG. 13. A pulley 55b is provided on the rotating shaft 54b, and the driving force of the motor 52b is transmitted to the rotating shaft 54b via a belt 59b and the pulley 55b.

[0131] As shown in FIG. 13, the rotating shaft 54b is also provided with a rotating blade 58b, and a fixed blade 57b is provided above the rotating blade 58b. The inside of the main body 53b is connected to the inlet 50b shown in FIG. 12 and the outlet 51b also shown in FIG. 12. The ground beans dropping from the separator 6 enter the main body 53b from the inlet 50b and are further crushed by being sandwiched between the rotating blade 58b and the fixed blade 57b. The ground beans crushed into powder are discharged from the outlet 51b. The grain size of the ground beans in the second grinder 5B can be adjusted by adjusting the distance between the rotating blade 58b and the fixed blade 57b.

[0132] Next, the separation device 6 will be described again, although some of the description will overlap with the above description. FIG. 14 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the separation device 6. The separation device 6 includes a suction unit 6A and a forming unit 6B. The forming unit 6B is a hollow body that forms a separation chamber SC (see FIG. 13) through which ground beans that freely fall from the first grinder 5A pass. The suction unit 6A is a unit that communicates with the separation chamber SC in a direction (left-right direction in this example) that intersects with the passing direction of the ground beans (up-down direction in this example), and sucks in the air in the separation chamber SC. By sucking in the air in the separation chamber SC, lightweight objects such as chaff and fine powder are sucked in. This allows unnecessary objects to be separated from the ground beans.

[0133] The suction unit 6A is a centrifugal separation mechanism. The suction unit 6A includes a blower unit 60A and a collection container 60B. The blower unit 60A is a fan motor, and exhausts the air in the collection container 60B upward.

[0134] The collection container 60B includes an upper portion 61 and a lower portion 62 that are separably engaged with each other. The lower portion 62 is a cylindrical shape with an open top and a bottom, forming a space for accumulating unwanted materials. The upper portion 61 constitutes a lid portion that is attached to the opening of the lower portion 62. As shown in FIG. 14, the upper portion 61 includes a cylindrical outer peripheral wall 61a and an exhaust tube 61b formed coaxially therewith. The blower unit 60A is fixed to the upper portion 61 above the exhaust tube 61b so as to suck air from the exhaust tube 61b. The upper portion 61 also includes a cylindrical connecting portion 61c that extends in the radial direction. The connecting portion 61c is connected to the forming unit 6B, and communicates the separation chamber SC with the collection container 60B. The connecting portion 61c opens to the side of the exhaust tube 61b.

[0135] Driving the blower unit 60A generates air currents as shown by arrows d1 to d3 in FIG. 14. These air currents suck air containing unwanted materials from the separation chamber SC through the connection part 61c into the collection container 60B. Because the connection part 61c opens to the side of the exhaust tube 61b, the air containing unwanted materials swirls around the exhaust tube 61b. Unwanted materials D in the air fall due to their own weight and are collected in a part of the collection container 60B (accumulated on the bottom surface of the lower part 62). The air passes through the inside of the exhaust tube 61b and is exhausted upward.

[0136] A plurality of fins 61d are integrally formed on the peripheral surface of the exhaust tube 61b. The plurality of fins 61d are arranged in the peripheral direction of the exhaust tube 61b. Each of the fins 61d is inclined obliquely with respect to the axial direction of the exhaust tube 61b. The provision of such fins 61 promotes the circulation of the air containing the waste matter D around the exhaust tube 61b. The fins 61 also promote the separation of the waste matter D. As a result, the vertical length of the suction unit 6A can be reduced, which contributes to the miniaturization of the device.

[0137] In addition, the forming unit 6B is disposed in the falling path of the ground beans by the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B, and the suction unit 6A of the centrifugal separation type is disposed on the side of the falling path. Although the mechanism of the centrifugal separation type is likely to be long in the vertical direction, by displacing the suction unit 6A from the falling path and disposing it on the side, the suction unit 6A can be disposed in parallel in the horizontal direction to the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B. This contributes to reducing the vertical length of the device. In particular, when performing two-stage grinding using the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B, the vertical length of the device tends to be long, so such an arrangement of the suction unit 6A is effective in making the device smaller.

[0138] The forming unit 6B will be described with reference to Figures 12 to 17. Figure 15 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the forming unit 6B. Figure 16 is a perspective view and a partially enlarged view of the forming unit 6B. Figure 17 is a plan view of the forming unit 6B, illustrating the cross-sectional areas for comparison.

[0139] The forming unit 6B shown in Fig. 15 is formed by joining two members that are split into upper and lower halves. The forming unit 6B includes a pipe section 63 and a separation chamber forming section 64, and has a spoon shape in a plan view. The pipe section 63 is a cylinder that forms a communication passage 63a with the suction unit 6A, and extends in the horizontal direction (a direction intersecting with a center line CL described later). The separation chamber forming section 64 is connected to the pipe section 63, and is a hollow ring-shaped body with a center that is open in the vertical direction and forms a separation chamber SC.

[0140] In the separator 6 shown in Fig. 14, when separating unwanted materials from ground beans, a method is adopted in which lateral wind pressure is applied to the ground beans dropping from the first grinder 5A to suck up the unwanted materials. This has the advantage that the vertical length can be made shorter than the centrifugal separation method.

[0141] The separation chamber forming section 64 shown in FIG. 15 includes a cylindrical section 65 extending in the vertical direction. The cylindrical section 65 protrudes from its vertical center to its lower part into the separation chamber SC. The cylindrical section 65 has an opening 65a at one end on the upper side, and the opening 65a forms an inlet for ground beans that communicates with the separation chamber SC. The opening 65a is located outside the separation chamber SC and is connected to the discharge port 51a (see FIG. 13) of the first grinder 5A. This allows the ground beans that fall from the discharge port 51a to be introduced into the separation chamber forming section 64 without leakage. The cylindrical section 65 has an opening 65b at the other end on the lower side. The opening 65b is located inside the separation chamber SC. Since the opening 65b faces the separation chamber SC, the ground beans that fall from the discharge port 51a are introduced into the separation chamber SC without leakage.

[0142] The tubular portion 65 has a cylindrical shape, and the openings 65a and 65b have concentric circular shapes located on the center line CL. This makes it easier for the ground beans falling from the discharge port 51a to pass through the tubular portion 65. The tubular portion 65 has a tapered shape in which the cross-sectional area of ​​the internal space gradually decreases from the opening 65a side to the opening 65b side. Since the inner wall of the tubular portion 65 has a mortar shape, the falling ground beans are more likely to collide with the inner wall. The ground beans falling from the first grinder 5A may fall in clumps with the grains sticking together. If the ground beans are in a clumped state, the separation efficiency of the unnecessary materials may decrease. In the tubular portion 65 shown in FIG. 15, the clumped ground beans collide with the inner wall of the tubular portion 65, breaking the clumps and making it easier to separate the unnecessary materials.

[0143] In terms of breaking up the lumps of ground beans, the inner wall of the cylindrical part 65 is not limited to a mortar shape. If there is a portion in the middle of the cylindrical part 65 where the cross-sectional area of ​​the inner space is smaller than the opening 65a, and there is an inner wall that is inclined (not horizontal) with respect to the center line CL, the ground beans can be smoothly dropped while promoting collision with the lumps. In addition, the cylindrical part 65 does not need to protrude into the separation chamber SC, and may have only a portion that protrudes upward from the outer surface of the separation chamber forming part 64. However, by having the cylindrical part 65 protrude into the separation chamber SC, the wind speed around the cylindrical part 65 can be improved. Therefore, in the area R1 that is relatively far from the pipe part 63, the effect of separating unnecessary objects by wind pressure can be improved.

[0144] The separation chamber forming section 64 has a discharge port 66 communicating with the separation chamber SC, through which the ground beans after separating the unnecessary materials are discharged. The discharge port 66 shown in FIG. 15 is located below the opening 65b, and the ground beans that have passed through the cylindrical section 65 pass through the separation chamber SC and fall freely from the discharge port 66. The discharge port 66 is a circular opening located on the center line CL, and is an opening concentric with the openings 65a and 65b. This makes it easier for the ground beans to pass through the separation chamber forming section 64 by free fall, and prevents the ground beans from accumulating in the separation chamber forming section 64.

[0145] As shown in Fig. 17, the cross-sectional area SC2 of the discharge port 66 is larger than the cross-sectional area SC1 of the opening 65b. The opening 65b and the discharge port 66 overlap each other when viewed in the vertical direction. Therefore, when the opening 65b is projected in the vertical direction relative to the discharge port 66, the opening 65b is contained inside the discharge port 66. In other words, the opening 65b is contained within a region obtained by extending the discharge port 66 in the vertical direction. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the opening 65b and the discharge port 66 overlap but are not on the same center line, or a configuration in which at least one of the openings 65b and the discharge port 66 overlap but is not circular.

[0146] The ratio of the cross-sectional area SC1 to the cross-sectional area SC2 is, for example, 95% or less, or 85% or less, and, for example, 60% or more, or 70% or more. The opening 65b and the discharge port 66 are concentric circles, so they overlap each other when viewed in the direction of the center line CL. This makes it easier for the ground beans that fall freely from the opening 65b to be discharged from the discharge port 66. In addition, the falling ground beans are prevented from colliding with the edge of the discharge port 66 and bouncing toward the tube part 63, and the necessary ground beans are prevented from being sucked into the suction unit 6A. Although the opening area of ​​the one end opening (for example, 65a) is smaller than the opening area of ​​the discharge port (for example, 66), the opening area of ​​the discharge port (for example, 66) and the opening area of ​​the one end opening (for example, 65a) may be the same, or the opening area of ​​the one end opening (for example, 65a) may be larger than the opening area of ​​the discharge port (for example, 66). Although the opening area of ​​the other end opening (e.g., 65b) has been illustrated as being smaller than the opening area of ​​the exhaust port (e.g., 66), the opening area of ​​the exhaust port (e.g., 66) and the opening area of ​​the other end opening (e.g., 65b) may be the same, or the opening area of ​​the other end opening (e.g., 65b) may be larger than the opening area of ​​the exhaust port (e.g., 66). Although the suction unit (e.g., 6A) has been illustrated as sucking air from the exhaust port 66 and the inlet (e.g., 65a, 65a'), the amount of air sucked from the exhaust port 66 may be greater than the amount of air sucked from the inlet (e.g., 65a, 65a'). This may be achieved by having the other end opening (e.g., 65b) protruding into the separation chamber, or by having the cross-sectional area of ​​the exhaust port 66 larger than the opening area of ​​the one end opening (e.g., 65a), or by having the cross-sectional area of ​​the exhaust port 66 larger than the opening area of ​​the other end opening (e.g., 65b), or by having the distance from the exhaust port 66 to the separation chamber closer than the distance from the one end opening (e.g., 65a) to the separation chamber, or by having the distance from the exhaust port 66 to the exhaust stack 61b closer than the distance from the one end opening (e.g., 65a) to the exhaust stack 61b, or by having the distance from the exhaust port 66 to the blower unit 60A closer than the distance from the one end opening (e.g., 65a) to the blower unit 60A.The forming unit 6B or any of the inner wall parts of the members (63-65) constituting the separation chamber SC, the cylindrical part 65, or the other end opening (e.g., 65b) may be configured to be in direct or indirect contact with the grinder (at least one of 5A and 5B) via another member, and to vibrate due to the vibration caused by the rotation of the grinder. For example, in the case of the coffee bean grinder 1 in the embodiment, since they are in direct or indirect contact with each other, during the operation of the grinder, any of the inner wall parts of the members (63-65) constituting the forming unit 6B or the separation chamber SC, the cylindrical part 65, or the other end opening (e.g., 65b) vibrates, and the turbulent air generated in the separation chamber SC by the vibration brakes the light unwanted matter entering the separation chamber SC from the other end opening (e.g., 65b), making it easier for the unwanted matter to be sucked in by the suction unit (e.g., 6A). In particular, like the coffee bean grinder 1 in the embodiment, the forming unit 6B is in direct contact with the first grinder 5A of the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B, but by making it in direct contact with one of the grinders in this manner, it is possible to apply a moderate vibration to the forming unit 6B, making it easier to suck up light unwanted matter.

[0147] The air sucked by the suction unit 6A is mainly sucked from the outlet 66. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 13, a gap is provided between the outlet 66 and the inlet 50b of the second grinder 5B, which promotes the suction of air. The arrow d4 shown in FIG. 15 shows a schematic direction of the airflow of the air sucked by the suction unit 6A. By sucking air from the outlet 66, it becomes difficult for unwanted matter to be discharged from the outlet 66, and the performance of separating the ground beans from the unwanted matter can be improved. The air sucked by the suction unit 6A is also sucked from the opening 65a.

[0148] A turbulence promoter 67 is formed on the surrounding wall that defines the discharge port 66. The turbulence promoter 67 generates turbulence in the air drawn from the discharge port 66 into the separation chamber SC. By forming the turbulence promoter 67, turbulence is more likely to occur, particularly in the region R2 between the discharge port 66 and the opening 65b. In the forming unit 6B shown in FIG. 15, the wind speed increases around the cylindrical portion 65, so that the generation of turbulence in the region R2 can be synergistically promoted.

[0149] The ground beans fed into the inlet 65a are agitated by the turbulent flow as they pass through the region R2. In particular, since the cross-sectional area SC2 of the outlet 66 is larger than the cross-sectional area SC1 of the opening 65b as described above, the ground beans always pass through the region R2. The turbulent flow makes it easier for unwanted materials such as chaff and fine powder to be separated from the ground beans. Therefore, even if the separation chamber SC is a small space, the separation efficiency of unwanted materials can be improved, and in particular, this contributes to reducing the vertical length of the separation chamber SC, which is advantageous for downsizing the device when performing two-stage grinding with the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B.

[0150] As shown in Figures 15 and 16, the turbulence promotion section 67 includes a plurality of turbulence promotion elements 67a. The turbulence promotion elements 67a are protrusions that protrude downward in the vertical direction. The protruding direction of the turbulence promotion elements 67a may be in any direction, but a direction within the range from the downward direction to the radially inward direction is preferable in terms of making it easier to generate turbulence in the separation chamber SC. If the protruding direction is downward, the ground beans that fall will not get caught, which is more preferable.

[0151] The cross-sectional shape of the turbulence promotion element 67a is a trapezoidal rectangular prism arranged with the upper base of the cross section facing the center line CL, and has a chamfered edge 67b on the inside of the tip, as shown in Fig. 16. The shape of the turbulence promotion element 67a is not limited to this shape, but a shape that makes the shape of the outlet 66 three-dimensionally complex is preferable.

[0152] As shown in Fig. 16, the turbulence promotion elements 67a are repeatedly formed in the circumferential direction d5 of the outlet 66. This allows air to be blown into the region R2 from multiple directions, promoting the generation of turbulence. The pitches of adjacent turbulence promotion elements 67a are equal, but may be different. Also, although 12 turbulence promotion elements 67a are formed, the number of turbulence promotion elements 67a is arbitrary.

[0153] The grinding device 5 described above using Figures 12 to 17 is incorporated into the beverage production device 1 shown in Figure 1, but the grinding device 5 can also be used alone as a coffee bean grinder. In this case, a storage device that stores roasted coffee beans and supplies the coffee beans to the inlet 50a, a control device that controls the grinding device 5, and an information display device are added.

[0154] Fig. 18 is an external perspective view of the coffee bean grinder, and Fig. 19 is a block diagram of a control device for the coffee bean grinder. The basic configuration of the coffee bean grinder shown in Fig. 18 is substantially the same as the basic configuration of the grinding device 5 described using Figs. 12 to 17. Below, components having the same names as those described so far are given the same reference numerals as used so far, and the following description will focus on the differences from the grinding device 5 described using Figs. 12 to 17.

[0155] The coffee bean grinder GM shown in Fig. 18 has a storage device 4 and a grinding device 5, and a control device 11 shown in Fig. 19 that controls them. The coffee bean grinder GM also has an information display device 12 (see Fig. 19) wirelessly connected to the control device 11. The information display device 12 is a touch panel display for inputting various control instructions and setting values ​​for the coffee bean grinder GM, and is capable of displaying various information as well as accepting input from an administrator or user. The information display device 12 is also provided with a speaker and a camera.

[0156] The control device 11 controls the entire coffee bean grinder GM. The control device 11 includes a processing unit 11a, a storage unit 11b, and an I / F (interface) unit 11c. The processing unit 11a is, for example, a processor such as a CPU. The storage unit 11b is, for example, a RAM or a ROM. A recipe is stored in the storage unit 11b. The recipe includes information on various conditions for grinding coffee beans, bean information, recipe creator information, comments from the recipe creator, and the like. The I / F unit 11c includes an input / output interface for inputting and outputting signals between an external device and the processing unit 11a. The I / F unit 11c also includes a communication interface capable of data communication with an external terminal such as a server 16 and a mobile terminal 17 via a communication network 15 such as the Internet. The server 16 is capable of communication with a mobile terminal 17 such as a smartphone via the communication network 15, and can receive information such as reservations for coffee grind production and impressions from the mobile terminal 17 of a consumer, for example. The coffee bean grinder 1, the server 16, and the mobile terminal 17 constitute a coffee bean grinding system GS for grinding coffee beans.

[0157] The processing unit 11a executes a program stored in the memory unit 11b and controls the storage device 4 and the crushing device 5 according to a recipe. More specifically, the processing unit 11a controls the actuator group 14 according to a recipe, and controls the actuator group 14 based on instructions from the information display device 12, detection results from the sensor group 13, or instructions from the server 16. The sensor group 13 is various sensors (e.g., sensors for detecting the operating position of a mechanism, etc.) provided in the storage device 4 and the crushing device 5. The actuator group 14 is various actuators (e.g., motors, etc.) provided in the storage device 4 and the crushing device 5.

[0158] The storage device 4 shown in FIG. 18 has a cylindrical canister storage unit 401 and a removable cap 401c that screws onto the upper end of the canister storage unit 401 and covers the upper surface of the canister storage unit 401. A canister storage chamber (not shown) is provided inside the canister storage unit 401. A plurality of canister storage chambers are provided in the circumferential direction, and a plurality of canisters can be stored inside the canister storage unit 401. The canister (not shown) here has the same structure as the canister shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, except that the handle 40b is not provided. In the storage device 4, a plurality of stored canisters can be selectively used. Therefore, roasted coffee beans of different varieties or roasted coffee beans of different roasting degrees can be selected and ground, or a plurality of types of roasted coffee beans of different varieties or roasting degrees can be mixed and ground.

[0159] The canister storage unit 401 is detachably attached to an option mounting part GM11 provided on the upper part of a center casing GM10 of the coffee bean grinder GM. In addition to the canister storage unit 401, multiple types of units can be attached to the option mounting part GM11. The upper part of the center casing GM10 covers the lower part of the unit attached to the option mounting part GM11. An external terminal such as a mobile terminal 17 capable of communicating with the coffee bean grinder GM may be configured to display the type of unit attached to the option mounting part GM11.

[0160] Figure 20(a) shows a coffee bean grinder GM in which a hopper unit 402 is installed instead of the canister storage unit 401 shown in Figure 18, and Figure 20(b) shows a coffee bean grinder GM in which a funnel unit 403 is installed.

[0161] FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the coffee bean grinder GM seen from the left diagonal front, while FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the coffee bean grinder GM seen from the right diagonal front.

[0162] The option mounting part GM11 shown in Fig. 18 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the center casing GM10. The method of mounting each unit to this option mounting part GM11 may be a screw-fitting method, a method in which a locking claw provided on each unit locks onto the option mounting part GM11, or a method in which a locking claw provided on the option mounting part GM11 locks onto each unit.

[0163] 20(a) is a transparent container in which roasted coffee beans are stored, and the upper surface of which is covered with a removable cap 402c. This hopper unit 402 corresponds to a large single canister.

[0164] On the other hand, funnel unit 403 shown in Fig. 20(b) is funnel-shaped with an inner side tapered toward option mounting part GM11 and an open upper end. Roasted coffee beans are also stored in funnel unit 403. Compared to canister and hopper unit 402, funnel unit 403 supplies roasted coffee beans to the downstream side more smoothly. Canister storage unit 401, hopper unit 402, and funnel unit 403 are all storage units capable of storing roasted coffee beans. These storage units (401 to 403) are provided with a supply port for supplying roasted coffee beans to the downstream side.

[0165] In addition, a weighing unit can also be attached to the option mounting section GM11.

[0166] FIG. 21(a) is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of a state in which a measuring unit 404 is attached to the option attachment section GM11.

[0167] The coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 21(a) is equipped with a canister storage unit 401 shown in FIG. 20 attached to a measuring unit 404 attached to an option mounting part GM11. Storage units (401-403) capable of storing roasted coffee beans can be detachably attached to the measuring unit 404. The method of mounting the storage units to the measuring unit 404 may be a screw-fitting method, as in the method of mounting each unit to the option mounting part GM11, or a method in which a locking claw provided on each unit locks onto the measuring unit 404, or a method in which a locking claw provided on the measuring unit 404 locks onto the storage unit. In the example shown in FIG. 21(a), a locking claw 404k provided on the measuring unit 404 locks onto a protrusion GM11t of the option mounting part GM11. Further, a locking claw 401k provided on the canister storage unit 401 is locked to a protrusion 404t provided on the upper part of the inner circumferential wall of the weighing unit 404.

[0168] The weighing unit 404 has a receiving port 4040, a guide passage 4041, a conveying passage 4042, and a delivery port 4043. When the storage unit (401-403) is attached to the weighing unit 404, the supply port USP of the storage unit is connected to the receiving port 4040 of the weighing unit 404, and the roasted coffee beans stored in the storage unit are supplied to the receiving port 4040. The receiving port 4040 and the upstream side of the conveying passage 4042 are connected by a guide passage 4041. In the conveying passage 4042 shown in FIG. 21(a), the right side is the upstream side and the left side is the downstream side. An electric screw conveyor ESC is arranged in the conveying passage 4042, and the roasted coffee beans are conveyed in the conveying passage 4042 and sent out from the delivery port 4043 toward the grinding device 5. That is, roasted coffee beans supplied to the receiving port 4040 are guided through a guide passage 4041 to a conveying passage 4042, and are conveyed from the right side to the left side of the conveying passage 4042 shown in Fig. 21(a). The conveying path 4042 shown in Fig. 21(a) is provided horizontally, but a downstream end opening 4042o of the conveying path 4042 is formed so as to open facing diagonally upward. Note that the conveying path 4042 may be inclined so that the downstream side is higher than the upstream side.

[0169] FIG. 21(b) is a perspective view showing the electric screw conveyor ESC.

[0170] In the electric screw conveyor ESC shown in FIG. 21(b), the far right side is the upstream side, and the near left side is the downstream side. The electric screw conveyor ESC has a screw shaft ESC1 and a screw blade ESC2 spirally provided on the outer circumferential surface of the screw shaft ESC1. A motor ESC3 that rotates and drives the screw shaft ESC1 is built into the upstream end of the electric screw conveyor ESC. The roasted coffee beans guided to the conveying passage 4042 are conveyed in the conveying passage 4042 by the rotating screw blade ESC2. The control device 11 controls the rotation of the motor ESC3, and the amount of roasted coffee beans is automatically measured depending on the amount of rotation of the screw shaft ESC1. The electric screw conveyor ESC automatically measures the roasted coffee beans stored in the storage units (401 to 403) and conveys them downstream.

[0171] 21(a), a cover member 460 is provided at the downstream end opening 4042o of the transport passage 4042. As described above, the downstream end opening 4042o is formed facing obliquely upward, and the cover member 460 is also disposed obliquely. The cover member 460 has a cover plate 461 and a belt-shaped member 451.

[0172] FIG. 22 is a diagram showing several aspects of the cover member 460 disposed at the downstream end opening 4042o of the transport passage 4042. As shown in FIG.

[0173] 22(a), the upper half of the downstream end opening 4042o is covered by a cover plate 461. The cover plate 461 is a rigid body made of resin.

[0174] In addition, an outlet section 45 is provided at the downstream end of the conveying passage 4042. This outlet section 45 is formed by arranging flexible belt-shaped members 451 in the horizontal direction at intervals W1. The belt-shaped members 451 are more flexible than the cover plate 461. The interval W1 between the belt-shaped members 451 is narrower than the size of typical roasted coffee beans B. The upper end of the belt-shaped member 451 is fixed to the lower edge of the cover plate 461, but the lower end of the belt-shaped member 451 is a free end. The lower end of the belt-shaped member 451 is located inside the edge 4042e that defines the downstream end opening 4042o by a length that is shorter than the size of the roasted coffee beans B. The belt-shaped member 451 narrows the area of ​​the downstream end opening 4042o, but its flexibility allows the passage of the roasted coffee beans B conveyed by the rotating screw blade ESC2. That is, the area of ​​the downstream end opening 4042o is narrowed to about half by the cover plate 461, and the roasted coffee beans B are less likely to fall from the downstream end opening 4042o from the time when the screw blade ESC2 stops rotating. Moreover, the area of ​​the downstream end opening 4042o is further narrowed by the belt-shaped member 451, and the roasted coffee beans B are even less likely to fall from the downstream end opening 4042o. Therefore, the roasted coffee beans B are prevented from inadvertently entering the downstream side. On the other hand, the belt-shaped member 451 is flexible and the lower end is a free end, so that it is turned outward by the pushing force (corresponding to the conveying force) of the roasted coffee beans B conveyed by the rotating screw blade ESC2. As a result, the interval W1 of the belt-shaped member 451 and the gap between the lower end of the belt-shaped member 451 and the edge 4042e that defines the downstream end opening 4042o are expanded, and the roasted coffee beans B are sent out from the expanded interval and gap.

[0175] Furthermore, in the covering member 460 arranged facing diagonally upward, the belt-shaped member 451 is also inclined, and the outlet portion 45 also faces diagonally upward. The outlet portion 45 shown in Figures 22(a) to (f) faces diagonally upward. Since the outlet portion 45 faces diagonally upward in this manner, the roasted coffee beans B are less likely to fall from the outlet portion 45. However, the outlet portion 45 shown in Figures 22(a) to (f) may also face straight to the side.

[0176] 22(a), the upper half of the downstream end opening 4042o is covered by a cover plate 461. The cover plate 461 is a rigid body made of resin.

[0177] The covering member 460 shown in FIG. 22(b) and FIG. 22(c) is the same as the covering member 460 shown in FIG. 22(a) except that the strip member 451 is longer. The strip member 451 shown in FIG. 22(b) extends downward beyond the edge 4042e that defines the downstream end opening 4042o, and the lower end of the strip member 451 is located outside the edge 4042e. The strip member 451 shown in FIG. 22(c) extends downward just to the edge 4042e that defines the downstream end opening 4042o, and the lower end of the strip member 451 overlaps the edge 4042e. Therefore, in both of the covering members 460 shown in FIG. 22(b) and FIG. 22(c), the area of ​​the downstream end opening 4042o can be narrowed more than the covering member 460 shown in FIG. 22(a), and the allowance of the passage of the roasted coffee beans B is reduced. However, both the belt-shaped member 451 shown in Fig. 22(b) and the belt-shaped member 451 shown in Fig. 22(c) are flexible and have free lower ends, so they are turned outward by the pushing force of the roasted coffee beans B transported by the rotating screw blade ESC2. As a result, the roasted coffee beans B are sent out by the pushing force from both the outlet portion 45 shown in Fig. 22(b) and the outlet portion 45 shown in Fig. 22(c).

[0178] The covering members 460 shown in Fig. 22(d) and Fig. 22(e) are the same as the covering member 460 shown in Fig. 22(a) except for the size of the covering plate 461. In the covering member 460 shown in Fig. 22(d), the upper part corresponding to 1 / 3 of the size of the downstream end opening 4042o is covered by the covering plate 461. In the covering member 460 shown in Fig. 22(e), the upper to middle part corresponding to 2 / 3 of the size of the downstream end opening 4042o is covered by the covering plate 461. Therefore, in the covering member 460 shown in Fig. 22(d), the area of ​​the downstream end opening 4042o is not narrowed compared to the covering member 460 shown in Fig. 22(a), and the allowance of the passage of the roasted coffee beans B is increased. However, if the strip-shaped member 451 is also included, the area of ​​the downstream opening 41h is narrowed by more than half, and the roasted coffee beans B are less likely to fall from the outlet portion 45 from the point when the rotation of the screw blade ESC2 stops. 22(e) has a narrower area of ​​the downstream end opening 4042o than the covering member 460 shown in Fig. 22(a), and has a significantly lower tolerance for the passage of roasted coffee beans B. For this reason, it is preferable to use a belt-shaped member that is more flexible than the belt-shaped member 451 shown in Fig. 22(a).

[0179] The covering member 460 shown in FIG. 22(f) does not include the covering plate 461 and is composed only of the outlet portion 45 made of the belt-shaped member 451. Both ends of the belt-shaped member 451 are fixed to the edge 4042e that defines the downstream end opening 4042o. In the covering member 460 shown in FIG. 22(f), the belt-shaped member 451 narrows the area of ​​the downstream end opening 4042o. In addition, since both ends of the belt-shaped member 451 are fixed, one end does not turn outward. However, the spacing W2 of the belt-shaped member 451 is expanded by the pushing force of the roasted coffee beans B conveyed by the rotating screw blade ESC2. The belt-shaped member 451 shown in FIG. 22(f) is thinner than the belt-shaped member 451 shown in FIG. 22(a). 22(f) is narrower than the size of typical roasted coffee beans B, but is wider than the spacing W1 of the belt-shaped member 451 shown in FIG. 22(a). For this reason, the belt-shaped member 451 shown in FIG. 22(f) is more likely to have the spacing W2 expanded by the pushing force of the transported roasted coffee beans B than the belt-shaped member 451 shown in FIG. 22(a), and the expanded spacing is also larger. Therefore, the roasted coffee beans B are also sent out from the outlet portion 45 shown in FIG. 22(f) by the pushing force.

[0180] FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram illustrating yet another embodiment of a cover member 460. As shown in FIG.

[0181] The covering member 460 shown in FIG. 23(a) is the same as the covering member 460 shown in FIG. 22(a) except for the configuration of the outlet portion 45. That is, the upper half of the downstream end opening 4042o is covered by a covering plate 461, and the outlet portion 45 is provided in the lower half. The outlet portion 45 shown in FIG. 23(a) is composed of a horizontally extending rotation shaft 452 and a lid member 453 that rotates in the vertical direction around the rotation shaft 452. The lid member 453 covers the entire lower half of the downstream end opening 4042o and has a rectangular outer shape. The lid member 453 shown in FIG. 23(a) is in a state in which it covers the entire lower half of the downstream end opening 4042o, and the roasted coffee beans B are less likely to fall from the outlet portion 45 from the point when the screw blade ESC2 stops rotating. Moreover, each outlet portion 45 shown in FIG. 23 also faces diagonally upward. For this reason, the lid member 453 also faces diagonally upward, making it difficult for it to rotate upward. However, the pushing force of the roasted coffee beans B conveyed by the rotating screw blade ESC2 causes the lid member 453 to rotate upward as shown by the arrow in the figure, and the roasted coffee beans B are also discharged from the outlet portion 45 shown in Figure 23(a).

[0182] The covering member 460 shown in FIG. 23(b) is the same as the covering member 460 shown in FIG. 23(a) except for the size and shape of the lid member 453. The lid member 453 shown in FIG. 23(b) covers a part of the lower half of the downstream end opening 4042o and has a semicircular outer shape. Therefore, a gap W3 is generated between the edge 4042e that defines the downstream end opening 4042o and the lid member 453, but the gap W3 is narrower than the size of typical roasted coffee beans B. Even with the covering member 460 shown in FIG. 23(b), the roasted coffee beans B are less likely to fall from the point when the screw blade ESC2 stops rotating. Meanwhile, the pushing force of the conveyed roasted coffee beans B causes the lid member 453 to rotate upward as indicated by the arrow in the figure, and the roasted coffee beans B are also discharged from the outlet portion 45 shown in FIG. 23(b). In particular, in the outlet portion 45 shown in FIG. 23(b), because there is a gap W3, the permissibility of the passage of the roasted coffee beans B is higher than that of the outlet portion 45 shown in FIG. 23(a).

[0183] The cover member 460 shown in FIG. 23(c) does not include the cover plate 461, and is composed only of the outlet section 45 having two rotating shafts 452L, 452R and a pair of left and right lid members 453L, 453R. The two rotating shafts 452L, 452R are inclined from the vertical direction because the downstream end opening 4042o faces diagonally upward. The left lid member 453L covers the entire left half of the downstream end opening 4042o and has a semicircular outer shape. The right lid member 453L covers the entire left half of the downstream end opening 4042o and has a semicircular outer shape. Even in the outlet section 45 shown in FIG. 23(c), the roasted coffee beans B are less likely to fall from the point when the screw blade ESC2 stops rotating. Meanwhile, due to the pushing force of the transported roasted coffee beans B, the left lid member 453L rotates to the left and the right lid member 453R rotates to the right, as indicated by the arrows in the figure, and the roasted coffee beans B are also discharged from the outlet portion 45 shown in Figure 23(c).

[0184] Although each outlet 45 shown in FIG. 23 also faces diagonally upward, it may face straight to the side.

[0185] In the above description, "A coffee machine for preparing coffee using coffee beans, A conveying mechanism (e.g., an electric screw conveyor ESC) that conveys the coffee beans toward an opening (e.g., a downstream end opening 4042o); an outlet portion (e.g., outlet portion 45) that narrows the area of ​​the opening and allows the coffee beans conveyed by the conveying mechanism to pass through; A coffee machine (e.g., beverage manufacturing device 1, coffee bean grinder GM) characterized by having the above. He explained:

[0186] In addition, the conveying mechanism may be disposed within a cylindrical body, and the cylindrical body may have an upstream side as a storage side in which the coffee beans are stored, and the opening may be on the downstream side.

[0187] Here, the coffee machine may be characterized by having a storage section that stores coffee beans, a conveying mechanism that conveys the coffee beans from the storage section toward an opening, and an outlet section that narrows the area of ​​the opening and allows the coffee beans conveyed by the conveying mechanism to pass through.

[0188] Also, The outlet portion is a flexible belt-shaped member [e.g., belt-shaped member 451] spaced apart [e.g., , W1, W2] apart in one direction (for example, horizontally), A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0189] The one direction may be a horizontal direction, a vertical direction, or a diagonal direction. It's fine.

[0190] The outlet portion may be in the shape of comb teeth.

[0191] The belt-shaped member may also be one whose both ends are fixed (for example, belt-shaped member 451 shown in FIG. 22(f)).

[0192] Also, The belt-shaped member has one fixed end and the other free end (for example, belt-shaped member 451 shown in Figs. 22(a) to (e)). A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0193] Also, "The other end is located inside the edge that defines the opening [for example, the belt-shaped member 451 shown in Figures 22(a), (d), and (e)]. A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0194] In addition, the other end is spaced inwardly from the edge that defines the opening (e.g., edge 4042e) by a first length, and the first length may be shorter than the size of a coffee bean.

[0195] Also, "The belt-shaped member has a portion of the other end (e.g., the free end) overlapping the edge (e.g., edge 4042e) that defines the opening (e.g., belt-shaped member 451 shown in Fig. 22(b) and Fig. 22(c)). A beverage manufacturing device characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0196] That is, the other end may be located outside the edge [for example, the tip of belt-shaped member 451 shown in FIG. 22(b)], or may be located at the edge [for example, the tip of belt-shaped member 451 shown in FIG. 22(c)].

[0197] Also, "The intervals [for example, intervals W1, W2] are narrower than the size of the coffee beans, A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0198] Also, "A coffee machine characterized in that it is provided with a cover portion [e.g., a cover plate 461] that covers a part of the opening, separate from the outlet portion." He also explained:

[0199] The cover portion may be fixedly disposed along the outer periphery of the opening. The cover portion may be in the form of a plate.

[0200] Also, The outlet portion is a lid member [e.g., the lid member 453 shown in FIG. 23, the left lid member 453L and the right lid member 453R] that opens by the conveying force of the coffee beans by the conveying mechanism [e.g., the pushing force of the roasted coffee beans B conveyed by the rotating screw blade ESC2]. A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0201] Also, "The outlet portion faces obliquely upward (see, for example, the downstream end opening 4042o shown in FIG. 21(a)). A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0202] Next, the bean outlet will be described.

[0203] Figure 24(a) shows a state in which the lid unit GM21 for opening and closing the bean outlet GM20 provided in the center casing GM10 of the coffee bean grinder GM is closed, and Figure 24(b) shows a state in which the lid unit GM21 is open.

[0204] As described above, the upper part of the center casing GM10 of the coffee bean grinder GM is provided with the option attachment part GM11. In addition, a start button GM15 that is pressed to start the grinding process is provided in the middle of the height direction of the center casing GM10. Furthermore, the lower part of the center casing GM10 covers the first grinder 5A. The bean outlet GM20 shown in FIG. 24(b) is provided downstream of the option attachment part GM11 and upstream of the first grinder 5A. That is, when the measuring unit 404 is attached to the option attachment part GM11, the position of the bean outlet GM20 is downstream of the delivery port 4043 (see FIG. 21(a)) of the measuring unit 404, and when the storage unit (401-403) is attached to the option attachment part GM11, the position of the bean outlet GM20 is downstream of the supply port USP (see FIG. 21(a)) of the storage unit. From the bean outlet GM20, the roasted coffee beans stored in the storage units (401-403) are discharged. In addition, when a weighing unit 404 is attached to the option mounting part GM11, the beans remaining as a result of weighing may be discharged from the bean outlet GM20. In order to prevent the roasted coffee beans discharged from the bean outlet GM20 from scattering, a guide path forming member GM22 is attached to the center casing GM10. As shown in FIG. 24(b), the roasted coffee beans B discharged from the bean outlet GM20 are guided by this guide path forming member GM22 and slide down diagonally downward. If a collection container is placed near the tip of the guide path forming member GM22, the discharged roasted coffee beans can be easily collected in the collection container.

[0205] As shown in Fig. 24(b), the lid unit GM21 has an inner lid GM211 and an outer lid 212. In the closed state shown in Fig. 24(a), the inner lid GM211 is a part that constitutes a peripheral wall of a bean conveying path (not shown) provided inside the center casing GM10. On the other hand, in the closed state shown in Fig. 24(a), the outer lid GM212 is a member that constitutes a part of the center casing GM10. The bean removal opening GM20 provided in the center casing GM10 is blocked by this outer lid GM212.

[0206] For example, after the weighing by the weighing unit 404 is completed and the weighed roasted coffee beans are sent to the first grinder 5A, the lid unit GM21 is automatically opened from the closed state under the control of the control device 11. When the lid unit GM21 is opened, the screw blade ESC2 resumes rotation, and the remaining roasted coffee beans are transported and discharged from the bean outlet GM20 before reaching the first grinder 5A. If roasted coffee beans remain in the electric screw conveyor ESC, the different types of roasted coffee beans will be mixed when different types of roasted coffee beans are next ground. For this reason, it is necessary to take out the remaining roasted coffee beans from inside the electric screw conveyor ESC to the outside. In addition, even if the weighing unit 404 is not installed and the same type of roasted coffee beans are ground, the bean outlet GM20 functions effectively. Usually, roasted coffee beans are not supplied to the first grinder 5A until the rotation speed of the first motor of the first grinder 5A reaches a constant speed, but the remaining beans in front of the first grinder 5A are ground by the first grinder 5A and must be discarded. However, if there is a bean outlet GM20, the remaining beans in front of the first grinder 5A can be collected from the bean outlet GM20, and no beans are wasted. When the driving of the first grinder 5A stops, the lid unit GM21 is automatically changed from the closed state to the open state under the control of the control device 11. When the lid unit GM21 is automatically changed to the open state, a notification is given in advance that the lid unit GM21 will be changed to the open state. In addition to the remaining roasted coffee beans, the lid unit GM21 can be opened to take out the roasted coffee beans from inside the coffee bean grinder GM to the outside when the grinding process is stopped midway. Furthermore, the lid unit GM21 may be manually changed to the open state. For example, when the first grinder 5A is in operation, the lid unit GM21 is automatically locked and cannot be opened, but when the first grinder 5A is stopped, the automatic lock is released and the lid unit GM21 can be opened manually at any time. Alternatively, the lid unit GM21 may be opened by an instruction from an external terminal such as the mobile terminal 17.

[0207] In the grinding method in the coffee bean grinder GM described above, first, a storage unit (401-403) capable of storing coffee beans is attached to the option attachment part GM11 provided upstream of the first grinder 5A (attaching step). Next, the coffee beans stored in the storage unit attached to the option attachment part GM11 are supplied to the first grinder 5A (supply step). Then, the supplied coffee beans are ground by the first grinder 5A (grinding step). Finally, the coffee beans remaining between the storage unit (401-403) and the first grinder 5A are removed to the outside from the bean removal port GM20 (removal step).

[0208] The bean outlet GM20 and the outer lid 212 for opening and closing the bean outlet GM20 can also be applied to the beverage production device 1 shown in Fig. 1. The bean outlet GM20 may be provided below the bean inlet 103, upstream of the grinding device 5, by changing the mounting position of the information display device 12.

[0209] According to the above description, "A coffee bean grinder having a grinder [e.g., a grinding device 5] for grinding coffee beans, An option mounting part [e.g., option mounting part GM11] is provided upstream of the grinder, A storage unit capable of storing coffee beans (e.g., a canister storage unit 401 shown in FIG. 18 and a hopper unit 402 shown in FIG. 20(a)) can be attached to the option mounting portion. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above (for example, the coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 18). He explained:

[0210] According to this coffee bean grinder, various optional units can be attached to the option mounting portion, and the machine has excellent expandability. One example of the optional unit is a storage unit that can store roasted coffee beans to be supplied to the grinder.

[0211] Also, "A funnel unit for introducing coffee beans (e.g., funnel unit 403 shown in FIG. 20(b)) can be attached to the option attachment portion. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0212] Also, "A weighing unit (e.g., weighing unit 404 shown in FIG. 21) that weighs coffee beans and transports them downstream can be attached to the option mounting portion. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0213] Also, " An outlet (e.g., bean outlet GM20) through which coffee beans can be taken out is provided upstream of the grinder and downstream of the option mounting portion. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0214] Also, "A lid [e.g., an outer lid 212] is provided to open and close the outlet. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0215] moreover, "A coffee bean grinding system (e.g., Fig. 10 or Fig. 19) characterized by including an external device (e.g., a server 16, a mobile terminal 17) capable of communicating with the coffee bean grinder." He also explained:

[0216] Also, "A method for grinding coffee beans in a grinder for grinding coffee beans, comprising: a mounting step of mounting a storage unit capable of storing coffee beans (e.g., a canister storage unit 401 shown in FIG. 18, a hopper unit 402 shown in FIG. 20(a), or a funnel unit 403 shown in FIG. 20(b)) to an option mounting part (e.g., option mounting part GM11) provided upstream of the grinder; a grinding step of grinding the coffee beans stored in a storage unit attached to the option mounting portion with the grinder; A method for grinding coffee beans, comprising the steps of: He also explained:

[0217] According to the above description, "A coffee bean grinder having a grinder [e.g., a grinding device 5] for grinding coffee beans, An outlet (e.g., bean outlet GM20) for removing coffee beans to the outside is provided upstream of the grinder. A coffee bean grinder (for example, the beverage production device 1 shown in FIG. 1 or the coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 18) characterized by the above. He explained:

[0218] According to this coffee bean grinder, the coffee beans that do not need to be fed to the grinder can be taken out from the outlet, and as a result, the coffee beans that do not need to be ground can be collected.

[0219] Also, "A lid [e.g., an outer lid 212] is provided to open and close the outlet. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0220] Also, "A storage section (e.g., a storage device 4) capable of storing coffee beans is provided upstream of the grinder, The coffee beans stored in the storage section can be taken out from the outlet. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0221] Also, "A cover body [e.g., a center casing GM10] is provided to cover at least a part of the grinder, When the lid is in an open state, a part of the cover body is also in an open state, so that the coffee beans can be taken out. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0222] Also, "A cover body [e.g., a center casing GM10] is provided to cover at least a portion of the storage section, When the lid is in an open state, a part of the cover body is also in an open state, so that the coffee beans can be taken out. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0223] Also, "A guide path for guiding the coffee beans taken out from the outlet [for example, a guide path formed by a guide path forming member GM22] is provided, A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0224] moreover, "A coffee bean grinding system (e.g., Fig. 10 or Fig. 19) characterized by including an external device (e.g., a server 16, a mobile terminal 17) capable of communicating with the coffee bean grinder." He also explained:

[0225] Also, "A method for grinding coffee beans in a grinder for grinding coffee beans, comprising: a supplying step of supplying coffee beans to the grinder; a grinding step of grinding the coffee beans supplied in the supplying step with the grinder; a step of removing the coffee beans from an outlet provided upstream of the grinder; A method for grinding coffee beans, comprising the steps of: He also explained:

[0226] Next, the grinding device 5 of the coffee bean grinder GM will be described. The basic configuration of this grinding device 5 is the same as that of the grinding device 5 described using Figures 12 to 17, and includes a first grinder 5A, a second grinder 5B, and a separating device 6. Below, differences from the grinding device 5 described using Figures 12 to 17 will be mainly described, and overlapping descriptions may be omitted.

[0227] FIG. 25 is a diagram showing the main components of the grinding device 5 built into the coffee bean grinder GM with the guide path forming member GM22 shown in FIG. 24 facing forward.

[0228] In Fig. 25, the first grinder 5A, the forming unit 6B, and the second grinder 5B are arranged from the upstream side. That is, the forming unit 6B is provided downstream of the first grinder 5A and upstream of the second grinder 5B. The first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B are mechanisms for grinding the roasted coffee beans supplied from a storage unit such as the canister storage unit 401, the hopper unit 402, or the funnel unit 403. In addition, when the measuring unit 404 shown in Fig. 21(a) is attached, the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B become mechanisms for grinding the roasted coffee beans transported by the electric screw conveyor ESC. The connection structure between the first grinder 5A and the forming unit 6B is the same as the connection structure described using Figure 13. That is, the forming unit 6B is provided with a cylindrical portion 65 (see Figure 13) not shown here, and the discharge outlet 51a (see Figure 13 or Figure 26) of the first grinder 5A is connected to an opening 65a (see Figure 13) at the upper end of the cylindrical portion 65.

[0229] The upper end of a connecting duct 661 is connected to the outlet 66 of the forming unit 6B. In Fig. 25, the lower part of this connecting duct 661 is hidden by a manual setting disk dial 695. The connecting duct 68 and the manual setting disk dial 695 are provided only in the coffee bean grinder GM, and will be described in detail later.

[0230] FIG. 25 also shows a fixed blade 57b arranged on the upper side and a rotary blade 58b arranged on the lower side, which constitute the second grinder 5B.

[0231] In addition, the fixed blade 57b can be raised and lowered relative to the rotary blade 58b, and the grain size of the ground beans can be adjusted by adjusting the distance between the rotary blade 58b and the fixed blade 57b. Figure 25 also shows a worm wheel 691 and a worm gear 692 meshed with the worm wheel 691 as part of the lifting mechanism for the fixed blade 57b. The lifting mechanism for the fixed blade 57b will also be described in detail later.

[0232] First, the first grinder 5A will be described.

[0233] FIG. 26 is a perspective view showing the first grinder 5A.

[0234] The first grinder 5A shown in FIG. 26 is a grinder for crushing coffee beans to a certain size (for example, about 1 / 4) in order to make it easier to separate unwanted matter adhering to the coffee beans. A rotating shaft, not shown in FIG. 26, extends from above, and a rotating blade 58a, which is a cutter, is provided on the rotating shaft. A fixed blade 57a, which is a cutter, is provided around the rotating blade 58a. The fixed blade 57a shown in FIG. 26 is provided on the inner circumferential surface of the main body 53a. The rotating shaft is rotated by a first motor (not shown) (see motor 52a shown in FIG. 12), and the rotating blade 58a rotates.

[0235] Roasted coffee beans introduced into the bean conveying path provided inside the center casing GM10 pass through the portion blocked by the inner lid GM211 shown in FIG. 24(b) and reach the first grinder 5A.

[0236] FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing the grinding process of the first grinder 5A executed by the processing unit 11a shown in FIG.

[0237] The grinding process of the first grinder 5A shown in Fig. 27 is started in response to pressing the start button GM15 shown in Fig. 24. Also, when the measuring unit 404 shown in Fig. 21 is attached to the option mounting part GM11, it may be started in response to the start of rotation of the screw blade ESC2. On the other hand, when a predetermined time has elapsed after the electric screw conveyor ESC has finished conveying a set amount of roasted coffee beans, the end condition is satisfied and the grinding process of the first grinder 5A ends. Note that a sensor may be provided to detect roasted coffee beans passing through the inlet of the first grinder 5A, and the grinding process of the first grinder 5A may be started or ended in response to the detection result of this sensor.

[0238] First, the processing unit 11a starts the forward rotation of the first motor (step S11), and the rotary blade 58a starts the forward rotation. Next, it is determined whether or not to continue the forward rotation of the first motor depending on whether the above-mentioned end condition is satisfied (step S12). If the end condition is satisfied, the determination result is No, the forward rotation of the first motor is stopped (step S17), and the grinding process of the first grinder 5A is terminated. On the other hand, if the end condition is not satisfied, the determination result is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S13, where the forward rotation of the first motor is continued.

[0239] The upper surface 58a1 of the rotary blade 58a is inclined downward toward the downstream side in the forward rotation direction. At least, the highest position of the upper surface 58a1 of the rotary blade 58a is higher than the fixed blade 57a. The roasted coffee beans that reach the first grinder 5A are guided by the upper surface 58a1 of the rotating rotary blade 58a and move toward the fixed blade 57a by centrifugal force, or move toward the fixed blade 57a without being guided by the upper surface 58a1 of the rotary blade 58a, and are ground by being sandwiched between the fixed blade 57a and the rotating rotary blade 58a. The ground beans are discharged from the discharge port 51a (see FIG. 26(a)) to the forming unit 6B.

[0240] Although it is rare, the roasted coffee beans B that reach the first grinder 5A may contain foreign objects, such as stones or nails, that are harder than the roasted coffee beans B. Such foreign objects cannot be ground between the fixed blade 57a and the rotary blade 58a and remain caught between them, preventing the rotary blade 58a from rotating normally.

[0241] In FIG. 26(a), a stone St is caught between the fixed blade 57a and the rotating blade 58a, and the rotating blade 58a cannot rotate normally in the forward direction. That is, the rotation stops or the rotation speed is significantly slowed. The processing unit 11a shown in FIG. 19 monitors the current value flowing through the first motor. When the rotating blade 58a cannot rotate normally in the forward direction, the current value becomes an abnormal value (a value exceeding a reference value). In step S13 shown in FIG. 27, the processing unit 11a judges whether the current value is an abnormal value or not, and if the current value is a normal value, returns to step S12. On the other hand, if it is judged that the current value is an abnormal value, the first motor is rotated in the reverse direction (step S14), and the rotating blade 58a starts to rotate in the reverse direction.

[0242] In Fig. 26(b), the first motor starts rotating in the reverse direction, and the stone St caught between the fixed blade 57a and the rotating blade 58a falls. The processing unit 11a may monitor the rotation torque in addition to the current value, and determine whether the value of the rotation torque is an abnormal value. Alternatively, the processing unit 11a may monitor the number of rotations and the rotation speed of the rotating blade 58a, instead of monitoring the first motor, and determine whether these values ​​are abnormal values.

[0243] In step S15 following step S14 shown in FIG. 27, an instruction is given to output a notification regarding the detection of an abnormal value. The notification here is an error display (for example, a text display of "A bean jam error has occurred in the first grinder 5A") displayed on the display screen of the information display device 12, but an error notification sound may also be output from a speaker provided in the information display device 12. In addition, the processing unit 11a records a log indicating that an abnormal value has been detected in the memory unit 11b (step S16). Note that the abnormality notification and the abnormality log recording may be executed first or simultaneously. Alternatively, only one of them may be executed, or neither may be executed.

[0244] When the execution of step S16 is completed, the process returns to step S11, and the processing unit 11a outputs an instruction to start the forward rotation of the first motor.

[0245] FIG. 26(c) shows that the first motor has returned to normal rotation and roasted coffee beans B have been ground normally. The reverse rotation of the first motor shown in FIG. 26(b) is instantaneous, and the return to normal rotation is immediate. The reverse rotation of the first motor may be continued for a certain amount of time. For example, the first motor may continue to rotate in reverse while the abnormality notification is being issued, and when normal rotation is restored, an error resolution notification may be output stating that "the bean jam error has been resolved."

[0246] In addition, the stone St that has fallen in FIG. 26(b) reaches the second grinder 5B. Since the second grinder 5B is a fine grinding grinder, the gap between the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b is narrow, and the stone St is unlikely to enter this gap, so it remains on the fixed blade 57b. After this, due to the error notification in step S15 and the storage of the abnormality log in step S16, maintenance of the crushing device 5 is performed, and the stone St is removed at that time.

[0247] As described above, the first motor rotates in reverse during the grinding process of the first grinder 5A executed by the processing unit 11a, but an instruction to start the reverse rotation of the first motor may be output from an external terminal such as the mobile terminal 17 shown in FIG. 19. Alternatively, an instruction to stop the rotation of the first motor may be output from the external terminal. Furthermore, an instruction to stop the operation of the entire coffee bean grinder GM may be output from the external terminal. The processing unit 11a controls the actuator group 14 in response to such an instruction from the external terminal.

[0248] 26, a stone is caught between the fixed blade 57a and the rotary blade 58a, but in some cases, very hard and deteriorated roasted coffee beans may be caught, and even in such a case, the grinding process of the first grinder 5A can be continued by performing the reverse rotation control in step S14. Also, the first motor, the fixed blade 57a, and the rotary blade 58a are not damaged.

[0249] In addition, a reverse rotation switch may be provided to rotate the first motor in the reverse direction, and when an abnormal value is detected, the reverse rotation control of step S14 is not performed, but an abnormality notification instruction is issued in step S15, and the reverse rotation of the first motor may be performed by the user of this coffee bean grinder GM operating the reverse rotation switch.

[0250] 21, the roasted coffee beans can be weighed more accurately, but on the premise that a predetermined amount of roasted coffee beans per unit time is continuously supplied to the first grinder 5A, the beans can be weighed by the first grinder 5A without using the weighing unit 404. That is, the amount of beans ground by the first grinder 5A can be calculated by measuring the time from when the current value of the first motor of the first grinder 5A becomes high after the beans start to be ground.

[0251] The grinding process of the first grinder 5A described above using Figures 26 and 27 can also be applied to the grinding process of the first grinder 5A in the beverage production apparatus 1 shown in Figure 1. Furthermore, the grinding process of the first grinder 5A described above using Figures 26 and 27 can also be applied to the grinding process of the second grinder 5B.

[0252] According to the above description, "A coffee machine equipped with a grinder for grinding coffee beans [e.g., a first grinder 5A], The grinder includes a grinding part (e.g., a rotary blade 58a) capable of a predetermined rotational motion, A determination device (for example, a processing unit 11a that executes step S13 shown in FIG. 27) that determines whether the sawing unit is in a normal state in which it can perform normal rotational operation is provided. A coffee machine characterized by the above feature (for example, the beverage production device 1 shown in FIG. 1 or the coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 18)." He explained:

[0253] According to this coffee machine, an abnormal state, such as when the grinding section is not rotating normally, can be detected based on the judgment result of the judgment device.

[0254] Also, "A control device for controlling the grinder [for example, a processing unit 11a shown in FIG. 10 or FIG. 19] is provided, The control device is capable of causing the grinding unit to perform a rotation operation in a direction opposite to a predetermined rotation operation when the determination device determines that the grinding unit is not in the normal state [for example, step S14 shown in FIG. 27]. A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0255] Also, "A drive unit (for example, the motor 52a or the first motor shown in FIG. 12) is provided to drive the sawing unit, The determination device determines whether the sawing unit is in the normal state based on whether the current flowing through the drive unit exceeds a predetermined value [for example, step S13 shown in FIG. 27]. A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0256] Also, "When the judgment device judges that the sawing section is not in the normal state, an alarm device (e.g., an information display device 12) is provided that notifies the user of an abnormal state (e.g., by displaying an error message or outputting an error alarm sound). A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0257] Also, "When the judgment device judges that the cutting unit is not in the normal state, a storage device (e.g., the storage unit 11b shown in FIG. 10 or FIG. 19) capable of storing an abnormal state (e.g., an abnormality log) is provided. A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0258] moreover, "A coffee machine system (e.g., Fig. 10 or Fig. 19) characterized by comprising an external device (e.g., a server 16, a mobile terminal 17) capable of communicating with the coffee machine." He also explained:

[0259] Also, "A start step (e.g., step S11 shown in FIG. 27) for starting the rotational operation of the grinding unit for grinding coffee beans; A determination step (e.g., step S13 shown in FIG. 27) for determining whether the sawing unit is in a normal state in which it can perform normal rotational operation; A method for grinding coffee beans, comprising the steps of: He also explained:

[0260] Next, the suction unit 6A, which is not shown in FIG. 25, will be described.

[0261] Figure 28(a) is a diagram showing the separating device 6. In this Figure 28(a), a suction unit 6A and a forming unit 6B which constitute the separating device 6 are shown.

[0262] The configuration of the forming unit 6B shown in FIG. 28(a) is the same as the configuration of the forming unit 6B described with reference to FIGS. 13 to 17, and detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0263] The suction unit 6A shown in Fig. 28(a) is a unit that communicates with the separation chamber SC (see also Figs. 13 and 15) in a direction (left-right direction in this example) intersecting with the passing direction BP of the ground beans (up-down direction in this example), and sucks in the air in the separation chamber SC. By sucking in the air in the separation chamber SC, light objects such as chaff and fine powder are sucked in. This allows unnecessary objects to be separated from the ground beans.

[0264] The suction unit 6A is a centrifugal separation mechanism. The suction unit 6A has a blower unit 60A and a collection container 60B. The blower unit 60A is a fan motor, and when the fan motor is driven, air in the separation chamber SC is sucked in, and light objects such as chaff and fine powder are collected in the collection container 60B. The blower unit 60A is covered with a casing 60C shown in FIG. 18, and the blower unit 60A is not visible in the external perspective view of the coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 18. An exhaust slit (not shown) is provided on the back side of the casing 60C, and the air sucked in by the blower unit 60A is exhausted from the exhaust slit to the outside of the coffee bean grinder GM. An air volume dial 60D (see FIG. 18) is provided above the blower unit 60A. By operating the air volume dial 60D, the suction volume of the fan motor of the blower unit 60A can be changed.

[0265] The collection container 60B shown in FIG. 28(a) is composed of an upper part 61 and a lower part 62, similar to the collection container 60B described with reference to FIGS.

[0266] FIG. 28(b) is a diagram showing a state in which the outer peripheral wall 61a (see FIG. 28(a)) of the upper portion 61 of the collection container 60B has been removed.

[0267] FIG. 28(b) shows the blower unit 60A that was attached to the removed outer peripheral wall 61a. Also shown is the exhaust tube 61b of the upper portion 61. The exhaust tube 61b shown in FIG. 28(b) has a plurality of fins 61d formed on its peripheral surface, similar to the exhaust tube 61b shown in FIG. 14. The plurality of fins 61d are arranged in the circumferential direction of the exhaust tube 61b. Each of the fins 61d is inclined obliquely with respect to the axial direction of the exhaust tube 61b. The provision of such fins 61d promotes the swirling of air containing unwanted matter around the exhaust tube 61b.

[0268] Also, in Fig. 28(b), the internal structure of the lower part 62 of the collection container 60B is visible. The lower part 62 shown in Fig. 28(b) is a double structure consisting of an outer case 60Bo and an inner case 60Bi, unlike the lower part 62 shown in Fig. 14. In Fig. 28(b), a part of the inner case 60Bi arranged inside the outer case 60Bo is visible. The inner case 60Bi has an upper end opening 6uo that opens upward, and an exhaust pipe 61b is located inside and above the upper end opening 6uo.

[0269] FIG. 29(a) is a perspective view of the separation device 6 with the outer case 60Bo removed, as viewed obliquely from below.

[0270] 29(a) shows the inner case 60Bi. A plurality of openings 6io (four in this example) are provided at intervals in the circumferential direction in the lower portion of the peripheral wall 6iw of the inner case 60Bi. A lower edge 6ioe among edges defining each opening 6io becomes part of the outer circumferential edge of the bottom surface 6ibs of the inner case 60Bi.

[0271] FIG. 29(b) is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the outer case 60Bo and the inner case 60Bi by looking through the outer case 60Bo.

[0272] 29(b), the bottom surface 6ibs of the inner case 60Bi is located near the middle of the height of the outer case 60Bo. Also, a certain amount of gap is provided between the inner peripheral surface 6ois of the outer case 60Bo and the outer peripheral surface 6ios of the inner case 60Bi.

[0273] Figure 30(a) is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of phenomena such as air flow in the separation device shown in Figure 29. In Figure 30(a) and Figure 30(b) described later, the flow of air containing unwanted matter such as chaff and fine powder is shown by solid or dotted arrows, the movement of the unwanted matter is shown by dashed-dotted arrows, and the flow of air from which the unwanted matter has been separated is shown by dashed-dotted arrows.

[0274] By driving the blower unit 60A, air containing unwanted materials such as chaff and fine powder reaches the inside of the upper part 61 of the collection container 60B from the separation chamber SC in the formation unit 6B shown in FIG. 29(a) through the connection part 61c. The connection part 61c opens to the side of the exhaust pipe 61b, and the air containing unwanted materials swirls around the exhaust pipe 61b as shown by the solid and dotted arrows in FIG. 30(a), and eventually enters the inside of the inside case 60Bi from the upper end opening 6uo of the inside case 60Bi. In the upper part of the inside case 60Bi, unwanted materials such as chaff and fine powder fall due to their weight (see the arrows of the dashed and dotted lines), and further fall into the outside case 60Bo from a plurality of openings 6io provided near the bottom surface 6ibs of the inside case 60Bi (see the arrows of the dashed and dotted lines), and accumulate on the bottom surface 6obs of the outside case 60Bo. The air from which the unwanted materials have fallen and been separated from the inside of the inner case 60Bi becomes an ascending air current from inside the inner case 60Bi as indicated by the two-dot chain arrow, rises along the central axis of the exhaust pipe 61b, and is exhausted to the outside of the coffee bean grinder GM from an exhaust slit (not shown) provided on the back side of the casing 60C shown in Fig. 18. As a result, the case where unwanted materials such as chaff and fine powder have accumulated (outer case 60Bo) is different from the case where an ascending air current occurs (inner case 60Bi), so that unwanted materials are less likely to fly up and the backflow of unwanted materials is reduced.

[0275] Both the outer case 60Bo and the inner case 60Bi are entirely transparent, so that the state of the inside can be confirmed from the outside. Therefore, the accumulation state of unwanted matter such as chaff and fine powder, and the flow of air currents can be confirmed from the outside. Instead of being entirely transparent, only a part of the case may be transparent, and instead of being transparent, the case may be translucent.

[0276] FIG. 30(b) is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of phenomena such as air flow in the separation device of the modified example.

[0277] In this modification, the upper end of the inner case 60Bi is not open, but is closed by a doughnut-shaped top plate 6ub. The air swirling around the exhaust pipe 61b, which contains unwanted materials such as chaff and fine powder, continues to swirl along the outer peripheral surface 6ios of the inner case 60Bi and heads toward the bottom surface 6ibs of the inner case 60Bi (see the solid and dotted arrows). Eventually, it enters the inner case 60Bi through a plurality of openings 6io provided near the bottom surface 6ibs of the inner case 60Bi. At this time, the unwanted materials such as chaff and fine powder fall due to their own weight (see the dashed and dotted arrows) and accumulate on the bottom surface 6obs of the outer case 60Bo. The air from which the unwanted materials have fallen and been separated becomes an ascending air current within the inner case 60 as indicated by the two-dot chain arrow, rises along the central axis of the inner case 60, passes through the inside of the exhaust pipe 61b and heads upward, and is exhausted to the outside of the coffee bean grinder GM from an exhaust slit (not shown) provided on the back side of the casing 60C shown in Fig. 18. Even in this modified example, the case where unwanted materials such as chaff and fine powder have accumulated (outer case 60Bo) is different from the case where an ascending air current occurs (inner case 60Bi), so that unwanted materials are less likely to fly up and the backflow of unwanted materials is reduced.

[0278] The separating device 6 described above with reference to FIGS. 28 to 30 can also be applied as the separating device for the beverage production apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

[0279] According to the above description, "A grinder for grinding coffee beans [e.g., the first grinder 5A], A separation section (e.g., a separation chamber SC) for separating unwanted matter (e.g., chaff and fine powder) from coffee beans; a storage section (e.g., the lower portion 62 of the collection container 60B) for storing the waste matter separated from the coffee beans in the separation section; A coffee machine comprising: The storage unit has an outer case body (e.g., the outer case 60Bo shown in FIG. 28 or FIG. 29(b)) and an inner case body (e.g., the inner case 60Bi shown in FIG. 29) inside the outer case body, The inner case body has an opening (e.g., an opening 6io) in a peripheral wall (e.g., a peripheral wall 6iw shown in FIG. 29(a)) that is connected to the inside of the outer case body. A coffee machine characterized by the above feature (for example, the beverage production device 1 shown in FIG. 1 or the coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 18)." He explained:

[0280] The opening may be a passage through which the unwanted matter passes, or a passage through which an air current passes.

[0281] Also, "A suction section (e.g., a blower unit 60A) is provided above the storage section, The inner case body is configured such that an air current containing the unwanted matter enters the area inside the peripheral wall, where the unwanted matter falls due to its own weight [e.g., the dashed line in FIG. 30(a)], while an air current is generated that is sucked in by the suction portion and rises [e.g., the dashed line in FIG. 30(a)], The outer case body is for storing the waste material that has passed through the opening (for example, the dotted line shown in FIG. 30(a)). A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0282] The inner case body has an air current containing the unwanted material swirling along the peripheral wall, causing the unwanted material to fall under its own weight near the opening [for example, the dashed arrow in FIG. 30(b)], while an air current is generated that is sucked in by the suction section and rises [for example, the dashed arrow in FIG. 30(b)], and the outer case body may store the unwanted material that has fallen from near the opening [for example, the dashed arrow in FIG. 30(b)].

[0283] Also, "The outer case body is provided with a transparent portion (e.g., the entire body is transparent), A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0284] Also, "The inner case body is provided with a transparent portion (e.g., the entire body is transparent), A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0285] Also, "A discharge section (e.g., an exhaust slit provided on the back side of the casing 60C) is provided above the storage section to discharge the air in the storage section to the outside. The coffee machine is characterized by the above.

[0286] Also, "The grinder has a first grinder [e.g., a first grinder 5A] and a second grinder [e.g., a second grinder 5B], The separation unit is provided downstream of the first grinder and upstream of the second grinder. A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0287] moreover, "A coffee machine system (e.g., Fig. 10 or Fig. 19) characterized by comprising an external device (e.g., a server 16, a mobile terminal 17) capable of communicating with the coffee machine." He also explained:

[0288] Also, "A method for recovering waste generated from coffee beans during grinding, comprising: A separation step of separating waste materials from the coffee beans; a first step of directing an airflow containing the unnecessary matter toward a region inside a peripheral wall of an inner case body that is disposed inside the outer case body and has an opening in a peripheral wall that leads to an interior of the outer case body; a second step of sucking an area inside the peripheral wall from above to generate an updraft inside the area; A method for collecting unwanted materials, comprising the steps of: He also explained:

[0289] According to this method for collecting unwanted objects, in the second step, the unwanted objects fall under their own weight onto the bottom wall of the inner case body, and may even fall through the opening onto the bottom wall of the outer case body.

[0290] Next, the connecting duct 661 will be described.

[0291] FIG. 31 is a diagram in which the manual setting disk dial 695 shown in FIG. 25 has been removed so that the entire connecting duct 661 can be seen.

[0292] FIG. 31 shows the rotary blade 58b constituting the second grinder 5B, the fixed blade 57b that can be raised and lowered relative to the rotary blade 58b, and a worm wheel 691 and a worm gear 692 meshed with the worm wheel 691 as part of the lifting mechanism of the fixed blade 57b. The worm wheel 691 has a gear portion 691g, a connection portion 691c, and a connection port 691j (see FIG. 32). FIG. 31 also shows a holder portion 693 provided between the fixed blade 57b and the worm wheel 691. The fixed blade 57b is screwed to the connection portion 691c of the worm wheel 691 via the holder portion 693. Therefore, when the gear portion 691g of the worm wheel 691 rotates, the fixed blade 57b also rotates together with the holder portion 693. A screw groove 693s is provided on the outer circumferential surface of the holder portion 693.

[0293] In addition, the connection port 691j of the worm wheel 691 is connected to the lower end of the connection duct 661. This forms a passage path for the roasted coffee beans, such as the discharge port 66 of the forming unit 6B → the connection duct 661 → the worm wheel 691 → the holder part 693 → the fixed blade 57b → the rotary blade 58b. As shown in FIG. 31, an air suction port 661a is provided at the lower part of the connection duct 661. This air suction port 661a has the same function as the gap between the discharge port 66 and the input port 50b of the second grinder 5B shown in FIG. 13, and by sucking air from the air suction port 661a, the separation performance between the ground beans and the unnecessary matters is improved.

[0294] FIG. 32 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the second grinder 5B.

[0295] The second grinder 5B includes a second motor 52b, a motor base 502, a base portion 505a, and a grain size adjusting mechanism 503.

[0296] The second motor 52b is a drive source for the second grinder 5B, and is supported above the motor base 502. Also, arranged on the motor base 502 are a pinion gear 52b' fixed to the output shaft of the second motor 52b, and a gear 502a meshing with this pinion gear.

[0297] A gear 55b' that meshes with the gear 502a is disposed on the base portion 505a. A rotating shaft 54b is fixed to the gear 55b', and the rotating shaft 54b is rotatably supported on the base portion 505a. The driving force of the second motor 52b transmitted to the gear 55b' via the gear 502a rotates the rotating shaft 54b. A rotating blade 58b is provided on the end of the rotating shaft 54b, and a fixed blade 57b is provided above the rotating blade 58b. That is, the fixed blade 57b is disposed opposite the rotating blade 58b.

[0298] The grain size adjusting mechanism 503 has a motor 503a as its drive source, and a worm gear 692 that is rotated by the driving force of the motor 503a. A gear portion 691g of the worm wheel 691 meshes with the worm gear 692.

[0299] Also, in FIG. 32, a frame member 694 is shown. The frame member 694 is fixed to a casing (not shown), and has a screw groove on its inner circumferential surface. A screw groove 693s on the outer circumferential surface of the holder portion 693 meshes with the screw groove of the frame member 694. As described above, the fixed blade 57b is screwed to the connection portion of the worm wheel 691 via the holder portion 693. Therefore, when the gear portion 691g of the worm wheel 691 rotates, the fixed blade 57b moves up and down in its axial direction. The connection port 691j of the worm wheel 691 is connected to the lower end of the connection duct 661 so as to lap, and the connection with the lower end of the connection duct 661 is maintained even if the worm wheel 691 moves down. The fixed blade 57b shown in FIG. 32 is located in the initial position and is in a state farthest from the rotary blade 58b.

[0300] 19 controls the amount of rotation of the motor 503a to adjust the gap between the rotary blade 58b and the fixed blade 57b. By adjusting this gap, the grain size of the ground beans in the second grinder 5B can be adjusted.

[0301] The detection position of the rising and falling fixed blade 57b is a position that is a predetermined length (e.g., 0.7 mm) away from the rotary blade 58b. The detection position is a position closer to the rotary blade 58b than the initial position of the fixed blade 57b. The second grinder 5B is provided with a sensor 57c that detects that the fixed blade 57b is at the detection position.

[0302] The second grinder 5B described above performs an initial operation when the power supply to the coffee bean grinder GM is turned on. In the initial operation of the second grinder 5B, a calibration is performed.

[0303] Fig. 33 is a flow chart showing the steps of the calibration executed in the initial operation, and Fig. 34 is a diagram showing the calibration process in stages.

[0304] In the second grinder 5B, when grinding of the roasted coffee beans is completed, the fixed blade 57b returns to the initial position.

[0305] At the time when the initial operation is started, the fixed blade 57b is located at the initial position, and the contact step (step S51) shown in FIG. 33 is executed as the first step of the calibration. In the contact step, the processing unit 11a shown in FIG. 19 drives the motor 503a shown in FIG. 32. The gear part 691g of the worm wheel 691 rotates by driving the motor 503a, and the fixed blade 57b at the initial position descends until it contacts the rotary blade 58b. FIG. 34(a) is a diagram showing a state in which the first contact step is executed. In FIG. 34(a), the fixed blade 57b located at the initial position is represented by a two-dot chain line. In assembling the second grinder 5B, even if the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b are intended to be attached as designed, a slight attachment error may occur, causing a deviation in the attachment posture of the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b. In addition, the attachment posture of the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b may also be deviation due to long-term use, etc. Furthermore, the frame member 694 and the rotating shaft 54b may be installed at an angle. In FIG. 34, the mounting posture of the fixed blade 57b and the rotating blade 58b is exaggerated. If the design is as expected, both the fixed blade 57b and the rotating blade 58b always maintain a horizontal posture, but the rotating blade 58b shown in FIG. 34(a) is in a posture tilted toward the upper right, and the fixed blade 57b is in a posture tilted toward the lower right. When the contact step is performed, the fixed blade 57b descends as shown by the arrow in the figure, and as shown by the solid line in FIG. 34(a), the part of the fixed blade 57b that is located at the bottom due to the tilt comes into contact with the part of the rotating blade 58b that is located at the top due to the tilt. If any part of the fixed blade 57b comes into contact with any part of the rotating blade 58b, the rotation torque and current value of the motor 503a increase. When the processor 11a detects an increase in the rotation torque or the current value, it stops the motor 503a, and the contact step ends.

[0306] Subsequently, the moving process (step S52) is executed. In the moving process, the processing unit 11a rotates the motor 503a in the opposite direction to the contact process, and raises the fixed blade 57b to the detection position. FIG. 34(b) is a diagram showing the state in which the first moving process is executed. When the moving process is executed, the fixed blade 57b rises as indicated by the arrow in the figure, and the fixed blade 57 continues to rise until the fixed blade 57b is detected by the sensor 57c shown in FIG. 32. When the processing unit 11a acquires a detection signal from the sensor 57c, it stops the rotation of the motor 503a. The motor 503a is a stepping motor, and the processing unit 11a counts the number of steps from when the motor 503a starts to rotate to when it stops in the moving process, and stores the number in the memory unit 11b shown in FIG. 19. In the moving process of FIG. 34(b), there were 20,150 steps.

[0307] Next, a rotation process (step S53) is executed. In the rotation process, the processing unit 11a rotates the second motor 52b shown in FIG. 32 by a predetermined rotation angle. The predetermined rotation angle may be any angle other than 360 degrees, and is set to 90 degrees here for ease of understanding, but in practice is a predetermined angle of, for example, about 35 degrees. As a result, the state of the rotary blade 58b shown in FIG. 34(c) has changed to a posture in which it is tilted upward toward the back of the page. The second motor 52b may be rotated for a predetermined time (for example, 0.1 seconds).

[0308] Next, step S54 is executed to determine whether the rotary blade 58b has rotated once since the start of the calibration. In this example, since the predetermined rotation angle in the rotation process of step S53 is less than 360 degrees, step S54 determines whether the rotary blade 58b has rotated once, but step S54 is a step for determining whether the count value of the number of steps has been obtained multiple times. In order to improve accuracy, step S54 may be a step for determining whether the count value of the number of steps has been obtained a predetermined number of times. The more the predetermined number of times, the higher the accuracy of the calibration, but the longer it takes to complete the calibration. An example of the predetermined number of times is about 10 times.

[0309] If the determination in step S54 is "NO", the data acquisition process consisting of three steps, a contact step (step S51), a movement step (step S52), and a rotation step (step S53), is executed again. In FIG. 34(d), the second contact step is executed, and the fixed blade 57b descends as indicated by the arrow in the figure. Due to the execution of the rotation step, the circumferential position of the uppermost part of the rotary blade 58b is different from that in the first contact step. Therefore, the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b shown in FIG. 34(d) are in contact with each other at different parts from that in the first contact step. In FIG. 34(e), the second movement step is executed. The second movement step was 20170 steps. In FIG. 34(f), the second rotation step is executed, and the rotary blade 58b rotates 90 degrees. As a result, the state of the rotary blade 58b shown in FIG. 34(f) is changed to a posture tilted toward the upper left.

[0310] At the end of the rotation process in FIG. 34(f), the rotary blade 58b has rotated 180 degrees since the start of the calibration, and the third data acquisition process is executed. In FIG. 34(g), the third contact process is executed, and the fixed blade 57b descends as indicated by the arrow in the figure. As a result of the second rotation process being executed, the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b shown in FIG. 34(g) are in contact with each other at different parts than in the previous contact processes. In FIG. 34(h), the third movement process is executed. The third movement process was 20160 steps. In FIG. 34(i), the third rotation process is executed, and the rotary blade 58b has rotated 90 degrees. As a result, the rotary blade 58b shown in FIG. 34(i) has changed its state to an attitude tilted upward toward the front side of the paper.

[0311] At the end of the rotation process in FIG. 34(i), the rotary blade 58b has rotated 270 degrees since the start of calibration, and the fourth data acquisition process is executed. In FIG. 34, the fourth data acquisition process is not shown, but it will be similar to FIG. 34(d) to (f). The fourth movement process took 20,168 steps. Furthermore, when the fourth rotation process is executed, the rotary blade 58b has rotated 360 degrees since the start of calibration, and the determination in step S54 shown in FIG. 33 becomes "Yes", and the process proceeds to step S55.

[0312] In step S55, the processing unit 11a shown in FIG. 19 executes a calculation process of a calibration value. The memory unit 11b stores the count values ​​of the number of steps of the motor 503a acquired in each of the four data acquisition processes. The processing unit 11a calculates a calibration value from these four count values. The calibration value may be the average value of the four count values ​​or the median value (half the value obtained by adding the minimum value and the maximum value) of the four count values. In the example shown in FIG. 34, the average value is 20162 steps and the median value is 20160 steps. The calculated calibration value is stored in the memory unit 11b. The calibration value is updated every time the power is turned on and the initial operation is performed in the coffee bean grinder GM. When the execution of step S55 is completed, the calibration ends.

[0313] FIG. 35 is a diagram showing the second grinder 5B in the grinding process.

[0314] FIG. 35(a) is a diagram showing an example of an ideal state in which both the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b are always kept in a horizontal position as designed.

[0315] The diagram shown on the left side of FIG. 35(a) is a diagram showing a state where the fixed blade 57b is located at the initial position. The processing unit 11a shown in FIG. 19 adjusts the grain size of the ground beans in the second grinder 5B using the grain size adjustment mechanism 503 shown in FIG. 32 according to various manufacturing conditions (recipe) for grinding roasted coffee beans stored in the memory unit 11b. The recipe specifies manufacturing conditions in an ideal state, and in adjusting the grain size of the ground beans in the second grinder 5B, the motor 503a is rotated 20160 steps and the fixed blade 57b is lowered from the initial position. The diagram shown on the right side of FIG. 35(a) is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the process of grinding the roasted coffee beans B. The fixed blade 57b in the diagram on the right side is in the position specified in the recipe, which is lowered by rotating the motor 503a 20160 steps from the initial position.

[0316] FIG. 35(b) is a diagram showing an example of a state in which the mounting posture of the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b shown in FIG. 34 is misaligned.

[0317] The diagram shown on the left side of FIG. 35(b) is also a diagram showing a state in which the fixed blade 57b is located at the initial position. The fixed blade 57b shown in FIG. 35(b) is inclined toward the lower right. On the other hand, the rotary blade 58b shown in FIG. 35(b) is inclined toward the upper right. Here, the same recipe as the example shown in FIG. 35(a) is used. Therefore, the motor 503a should rotate for 20160 steps, but the rotation amount of the motor 503a is corrected using the calibration value obtained in step S55 shown in FIG. 33. In the ideal case shown in FIG. 35(a), the number of steps of the motor 503a required to raise the fixed blade 57b from the state in which the fixed blade 57b contacts the rotary blade 58b to the detection position is pre-stored as a reference value in the storage unit 11b shown in FIG. 19. In the correction of the rotation amount of the motor 503a, the corrected rotation amount is calculated from the ratio between the calibration value obtained in step S55 shown in FIG. 33 and the reference value previously stored in the memory unit 11b. In this example, the corrected rotation amount was 20140 steps. The diagram shown on the right side of FIG. 35(b) is also a diagram showing the state in which the roasted coffee beans B are ground. The fixed blade 57b in this right diagram is in a corrected position in which the motor 503a has been rotated by 20140 steps and lowered from the initial position. However, the average interval between the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b shown in FIG. 35(b) is almost the same as the interval between the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b shown in FIG. 35(a). Therefore, even if the roasted coffee beans B are ground in the state shown on the right side of FIG. 35(b), it is possible to obtain ground beans of the same grain size as when the roasted coffee beans B are ground in the state shown on the right side of FIG. 35(a).

[0318] In the above explanation, the calibration value is obtained using the number of steps of the motor 503a when raising the fixed blade 57b to the detection position, but the calibration value can also be obtained using the number of steps from the detection position until the fixed blade 57b comes into contact with the rotating blade 58b when the fixed blade 57b is lowered.

[0319] In addition, although only the fixed blade 57b of the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b is configured to move up and down, the rotary blade 58b may also be configured to move up and down, in which case the calibration value may be obtained using the step numbers of both blades. Furthermore, the movement of the blade is not limited to up and down, and may be, for example, left and right movement. Furthermore, the positions of the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b may be reversed, and the fixed blade 57b may be disposed at the bottom and the rotary blade 58b may be disposed at the top.

[0320] Furthermore, when grinding the roasted coffee beans B, the fixed blade 57b does not rotate, but even if the fixed blade 57b rotates, the calibration method shown in Fig. 33 can be applied. Furthermore, although the calibration method shown in Fig. 33 is a method for the second grinder 5B, the calibration method shown in Fig. 33 can also be similarly performed for the first grinder 5A.

[0321] 33 is not executed at the calibration stage, but rather, only the count values ​​for a plurality of times are stored in the storage unit 11b, and the calibration value may be calculated when the recipe to be used is determined, or the amount of rotation may be corrected directly from the stored count values ​​for a plurality of times. Note that the calculation of the calibration value and the correction of the amount of rotation may be performed by the control unit of the information display device 12 instead of the processing unit 11a shown in FIG.

[0322] In the above description, "A first crushing portion [e.g., a rotary blade 58b], A second crushing section [e.g., fixed blade 57b]; A rotation mechanism (e.g., a second motor 52b, a pinion gear 52b', a gear 502a, a gear 55b', a rotating shaft 54b) that rotates at least one of the first crushing unit and the second crushing unit (e.g., a rotating blade 58b); A moving mechanism (e.g., a particle size adjusting mechanism 503) that moves (e.g., raises and lowers) at least the second pulverizing unit among the first pulverizing unit and the second pulverizing unit and adjusts the distance between the first pulverizing unit and the second pulverizing unit; A sensor (e.g., sensor 57c) that detects the second crushing unit at a position (e.g., detection position) that is a predetermined length (e.g., 0.7 mm) away from the first crushing unit; A control unit (e.g., a processing unit 11a shown in FIG. 19) that controls the moving mechanism; Equipped with The extraction target (for example, roasted coffee beans stored in the storage device 4, or roasted coffee beans B (ground beans) ground by the first grinder 5A) is ground between the first grinding unit and the second grinding unit, The second crushing unit is moved from a state in which the second crushing unit is in contact with the first crushing unit (e.g., the state shown in Fig. 34(a), (d) and (g)) until the sensor detects the second crushing unit (e.g., the operation shown by the arrow in Fig. 34(b), (e) and (h)). This operation is repeated multiple times while changing the state of the crushing unit (e.g., the direction of the rotary blade 58b) by the rotation of the rotating mechanism; The control unit controls the movement mechanism based on a value related to the movement amount of the second crushing unit in a plurality of operations (e.g., a count value of the number of steps of the motor 503a) (e.g., obtains a calibration value and rotates the motor 503a by a rotation amount corrected using the calibration value). The extraction object grinding device (e.g., the second grinder 5B) is characterized by the above. He explained:

[0323] The rotation mechanism may rotate the first crushing unit, may rotate the second crushing unit, or may rotate the blades of both the first crushing unit and the second crushing unit.

[0324] The moving mechanism may move only the second crushing unit out of the first crushing unit and the second crushing unit, or may also move the first crushing unit.

[0325] Moreover, the operation may be an operation of moving only the second crushing unit out of the first crushing unit and the second crushing unit, or an operation of moving the blades of both the first crushing unit and the second crushing unit.

[0326] The change in state of the crushing unit in the operation may be a change in state of the first crushing unit, a change in state of the second crushing unit, or a change in state of both the first crushing unit and the second crushing unit. The change in state here may be a change in orientation or a change in posture.

[0327] Also, "A first crushing unit [e.g., a rotary blade 58b] and a second crushing unit [e.g., a fixed blade 57b], A rotation mechanism (e.g., a second motor 52b, a pinion gear 52b', a gear 502a, a gear 55b', a rotating shaft 54b) that rotates at least one of the first crushing unit and the second crushing unit (e.g., a rotating blade 58b); A moving mechanism (e.g., a particle size adjusting mechanism 503) that moves (e.g., raises and lowers) at least the second pulverizing unit among the first pulverizing unit and the second pulverizing unit and adjusts the distance between the first pulverizing unit and the second pulverizing unit; A sensor (e.g., sensor 57c) that detects the second crushing unit at a position (e.g., detection position) that is a predetermined length (e.g., 0.7 mm) away from the first crushing unit; A control unit (e.g., a processing unit 11a shown in FIG. 19) that controls the moving mechanism; Equipped with The extraction target is crushed between the first crushing unit and the second crushing unit, The operation of moving the second crushing unit from a state where the second crushing unit is separated from the first crushing unit by a predetermined distance [for example, the state shown in Fig. 34(b), (e), (h)] until the second crushing unit comes into contact with the first crushing unit [for example, the operation shown by the arrows in Fig. 34(a), (d), (g)] is performed multiple times while changing the state of the crushing unit [for example, the direction of the rotary blade 58b] by the rotation by the rotation mechanism [for example, the rotation shown by the arrows in Fig. 34(c), (f), (i)], The control unit controls the movement mechanism based on a value related to the movement amount of the second crushing unit in a plurality of operations (e.g., a count value of the number of steps of the motor 503a) (e.g., obtains a calibration value and rotates the motor 503a by a rotation amount corrected using the calibration value). An extraction object grinding device [e.g., the second grinder 5B]. He also explained:

[0328] The device may also include a first crushing unit, a second crushing unit attached opposite the first crushing unit, a rotation mechanism for rotating the first crushing unit, a movement mechanism for moving the second crushing unit in a direction toward and away from the first blade, a sensor for detecting the second crushing unit at a position a predetermined length away from the first crushing unit, and a control unit for controlling the movement mechanism. The device crushes an extraction target between the first crushing unit and the second crushing unit, and moves the second crushing unit from a state in which the second crushing unit is in contact with the first crushing unit until the sensor detects the second crushing unit. The device may be characterized in that the device controls the movement mechanism based on a value related to the amount of movement of the second crushing unit during the multiple operations.

[0329] Also, "The control unit controls the movement mechanism based on the average or median value of the movement amount of the second crushing unit in a plurality of operations [for example, 1 / 2 the sum of the minimum and maximum values]. The extraction object crushing device is characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0330] Also, "The above operation is performed during initial operation when the power is turned on. The extraction object crushing device is characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0331] Also, The control unit controls the moving mechanism according to a desired particle size after grinding the object to be extracted (e.g., the particle size of ground beans) and causes the moving mechanism to adjust the interval. The extraction object crushing device is characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0332] Also, "The moving mechanism has a motor (e.g., the second motor 52b) as a driving source, The value related to the movement amount of the second crushing unit is a value related to the rotation amount of the motor [for example, the count value of the number of steps of the motor 503a]. The extraction object crushing device is characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0333] Also, "The first crushing portion is a first blade [e.g., a rotary blade 58b], The second crushing portion is a second blade [e.g., a fixed blade 57b], The second crushing unit is attached opposite to the first crushing unit. The extraction object crushing device is characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0334] Also, "The operation of moving the second crushing unit from a state where the second crushing unit is in contact with the first crushing unit until the sensor detects the second crushing unit is performed multiple times while changing the direction of the crushing unit by rotation by the rotation mechanism [for example, the example shown in FIG. 34]. The extraction object crushing device is characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0335] In the above description, "A calibration method that is executed when the power is turned on in an extraction target grinding device (e.g., the second grinder 5B), a moving step (e.g., the moving step of step S52, FIG. 34(b), FIG. 34(e), and FIG. 34(h)) of moving the second crushing unit from a state in which the first crushing unit (e.g., the rotary blade 58b) and the second crushing unit (e.g., the fixed blade 57b) are in contact with each other until the second crushing unit is separated from the first crushing unit by a predetermined length (e.g., 0.7 mm); After carrying out the moving step, a state changing step (for example, the rotating blade 58b) of at least one of the first crushing unit and the second crushing unit is changed (for example, the rotating step of step S53, FIG. 34(c), FIG. 34(f), and FIG. 34(i)) A contact step (e.g., step S51, FIG. 34(a), FIG. 34(d), and FIG. 34(g)) of contacting the second pulverization unit, which is a predetermined distance away from the first pulverization unit, with the first pulverization unit in a state in which the state of the pulverization unit has been changed by the state change step; The moving step, the state changing step, and the contact step (e.g., the data acquisition process shown in FIG. 33) are repeatedly performed to change the state of the crushing unit (e.g., the orientation of the rotary blade 58b) and acquire a value related to the amount of movement of the second crushing unit (e.g., the count value of the number of steps of the motor 503a) multiple times. A calibration method characterized by having the steps of: (e.g., the calibration method shown in FIG. 33). He also explained:

[0336] The state change process may be a rotation process in which, after the moving process, at least one of the first crushing unit and the second crushing unit is rotated to change the orientation of the crushing unit, and the moving process, the rotating process, and the contact process are repeatedly performed to change the orientation of the crushing unit and obtain a value related to the movement amount of the second crushing unit multiple times.

[0337] The value relating to the movement amount of the second crushing part may be a value relating to the movement amount of the second crushing part in the movement step (e.g., the amount of ascent), or a value relating to the movement amount of the second crushing part in the contact step (e.g., the amount of descent). Alternatively, both may be used in combination.

[0338] The method may also include a calibration value calculation process (e.g., a calibration value calculation step in step S55) for calculating a calibration value based on the movement amount of the second crushing unit acquired multiple times. The calibration value may be an average value or a median value of the movement amount of the second crushing unit acquired multiple times.

[0339] In the above explanation, the fixed blade 57b is raised and lowered by the drive of the second motor 52b, but the fixed blade 57b can also be raised and lowered manually to set the grind size of the ground beans. This manual grind size setting can be done using a manual setting disk dial and a fine adjustment knob dial.

[0340] Fig. 36(a) is a diagram showing the manual setting disk dial 695 and the fine adjustment knob dial 696 together with the second motor 503a, and Fig. 36(b) is a diagram showing the connection dial 697 and the rotation shaft 6961 of the fine adjustment knob dial 696 with the manual setting disk dial 695 and the second motor 503a removed. Note that Fig. 36 shows a part of the connection duct 661 and the forming unit 6B. Fig. 36(b) also shows the hammer member GM32, which will be described in detail later.

[0341] FIG. 36 also shows a lever member 698. As shown in FIG. 36(a), a rotation shaft 6921 of a worm gear 692 meshed with a gear portion 691g of a worm wheel 691 is supported by the lever member 698. The lever member 698 is supported by a rotation shaft 6961 of a fine adjustment knob dial 696 shown in FIG. 36(b). The position of the lever member 698 shown in FIG. 36 is an initial position. When the lever member 698 is in the initial position, the worm gear 692 is meshed with a gear portion 691g of the worm wheel 691, and the rotation of the worm gear 692 rotates the worm wheel 691, and the fixed blade 57b moves up and down. The lever member 698 can rotate in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 36(b) around the rotation shaft 6961 of the fine adjustment knob dial 696 as a rotation center. The lever member 698 is lifted by rotating in the direction of the arrow, and is changed to a release position, and can maintain the release position. When the lever member 698 is lifted and changed to the release position, the worm gear 692 journaled by the lever member 698 moves away from the gear portion 691g of the worm wheel 691, and the engagement with the gear portion 691g is released. The lever member 698 is capable of changing its position between the initial position and the release position, and a biasing force is applied in a direction to return to the initial position by the spring member 6981 provided on the rotating shaft 6961. When the lever member 698 is in the release position, the worm wheel 691 is in a freely rotatable state, and the fixed blade 57b is also in a freely rotatable state. If the grinding process is performed in this state, the fixed blade 57b rotates with the rotation of the rotating blade 58b, and the interval between the fixed blade 57b and the rotating blade 58b increases. For this reason, it is necessary to return the lever member 698 to the initial position during the grinding process.

[0342] 36(a) shows a pinion gear 503b attached to the rotating shaft of the second motor 503a, and the pinion gear 503b is also shown in FIG. 36(b) in which the second motor 503a is removed. The rotational driving force of the second motor 503a is transmitted from the pinion gear 503b through a two-stage gear and a transmission gear 6962 (described later) to a gear portion 691g of the worm wheel 691 through a worm gear 692.

[0343] A connecting dial 697 shown in Fig. 36(b) connects the manual setting disk dial 695 and the worm gear 692. Fig. 36(b) shows the connecting dial 697 connected to the worm wheel 691, and the two rotate together. A connecting gear 697g is provided on the upper surface of the connecting dial 697. A gear (not shown) that meshes with the connecting gear 697g is provided on the manual setting disk dial 695 shown in Fig. 36(a), and when the manual setting disk dial 695 is placed on the connecting dial 697, the gear (not shown) meshes with the connecting gear 697g.

[0344] When the lever member 698 is in the initial position, the worm gear 692 meshes with the gear portion 691g of the worm wheel 691, and therefore the manual setting disk dial 695 cannot be rotated. On the other hand, when the lever member 698 is in the released position, the worm gear 692 does not mesh with the gear portion 691g of the worm wheel 691, and therefore the manual setting disk dial 695 can be rotated. When the manual setting disk dial 695 is rotated, the worm gear 692 rotates via the connecting gear portion 697g, and the fixed blade 57b can be raised and lowered.

[0345] The minimum unit of adjustment that can be made by rotating the manual setting disk dial 695 is one tooth of the gear portion 691g of the worm wheel 691. In other words, unless the gear portion 691g of the worm wheel 691 is rotated by one tooth, the worm gear 692 cannot mesh with the gear portion 691g, and the lever member 698 cannot return from the released position to the initial position. Therefore, adjustments of less than one tooth are not possible with the manual setting disk dial 695.

[0346] On the other hand, when the second motor 503a rotates and the worm gear 692 rotates, it takes time to make a large adjustment (adjustment of one tooth or more) due to the reduction ratio of the worm gear 692. Therefore, to make a large adjustment, it is possible to quickly adjust by operating the manual setting disk dial 695 that can directly rotate the worm wheel 691. In the adjustment using the manual setting disk dial 695, the fixed blade 57b is lowered and the position of the fixed blade 57b at the moment when it hits the rotating blade 58b is set as the reference point (zero point). The moment of this hit can be heard by the sound of the blade hitting. Although not shown, the manual setting disk dial 695 has a scale including 0 in the circumferential direction. The manual setting disk dial 695 rotates below the center casing GM10 shown in FIG. 18 and the like, and a reference line GM10k is marked on the lower end of the center casing GM10. The manual setting disk dial 695 is rotated to lower the fixed blade 57b, and when the fixed blade 57b hits the rotary blade 58b, the rotation is stopped at that point. The manual setting disk dial 695 is lifted and the 0 mark is aligned with the reference line GM10k marked on the center casing GM10, and then the lifted manual setting disk dial 695 is lowered straight down. This allows the reference point (zero point) to be recorded. When setting the grind size of the ground beans, the fixed blade 57b is raised and lowered based on the reference point (zero point) recorded in this way, and the distance between the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b is adjusted.

[0347] A transmission gear 6962 is provided at the end of the rotating shaft 6961 of the fine adjustment knob dial 696. The transmission gear 6962 meshes with the second gear 503c2 (see FIG. 36(b)) of the two-stage gear and also meshes with the worm gear 692. The first gear 503c1 of the two-stage gear meshes with the pinion gear 503b. Therefore, when the second motor 503a is driven to rotate, the fine adjustment knob dial 696 also rotates, and the worm wheel 691 also rotates. When the second motor 503a is stopped, the fine adjustment knob dial 696 can be rotated, and the worm wheel 691 also rotates by rotating the fine adjustment knob dial 696. When the fine adjustment knob dial 696 is rotated once, the gear portion 691g of the worm wheel 691 rotates by one tooth. Therefore, when the fine adjustment knob dial 696 is rotated, adjustment of less than one tooth of the worm gear 692 is possible, just as when the second motor 503a is driven to rotate and rotate the worm wheel 691. When manually setting the grind size of the ground beans, a rough grind size is set using the manual setting disk dial 695, and the set grind size is finely adjusted using the fine adjustment knob dial 696. By rubbing, the grind size can be set quickly and finely.

[0348] Note that the manual setting using the manual setting disk dial 695 and the fine adjustment knob dial 696 can also be applied to the second grinder 5B of the beverage production machine 1 shown in FIG.

[0349] Next, a method for controlling the amount of ground coffee beans fed to the second grinder 5B will be described.

[0350] As described above, the roasted coffee beans are crushed to a certain size (for example, about 1 / 4) by the first grinder 5A. Hereinafter, the beans crushed to a certain size by the first grinder 5A are referred to as ground beans to distinguish them from ground beans (especially coarsely ground beans). The second grinder 5B grinds the ground beans crushed by the first grinder 5A into ground beans of a desired grain size. Herein, if a large amount of ground beans is sent from the first grinder 5A, exceeding the appropriate allowable amount for the grinding process by the second grinder 5B, the ground beans will excessively enter between the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b, and the ground beans will remain between the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b. The remaining ground beans will receive frictional heat from the rotating rotary blade 58b and become hot. In particular, when the beans are finely ground, they are easily affected by heat, and oil is likely to appear more than necessary on the surface of the ground beans. Coffee drinks brewed from beans ground in this way tend to have a dark taste.

[0351] When the first grinder 5A is driven at the upper limit of its processing capacity, if the rotation speed of the first motor for the first grinder 5A is reduced, the amount of ground beans sent from the first grinder 5A per unit time decreases.

[0352] FIG. 37 is a flowchart showing the control process of the processing unit 11a in the grind process.

[0353] The control process shown in Fig. 37 is started in response to pressing the start button GM15 shown in Fig. 24. In addition, when the measuring unit 404 shown in Fig. 21 is attached to the option mounting part GM11, the control process may be started in response to the start of rotation of the screw blade ESC2 shown in Fig. 21(b).

[0354] First, the processing unit 11a starts the rotation of the first motor for the first grinder 5A and the second motor 503a for the second grinder 5B (step S21). In this step S21, both the first motor and the second motor 503a start rotating at a preset rotation speed. As a result, the rotary blade 58a starts rotating in the first grinder 5A, and the rotary blade 58b starts rotating in the second grinder 5B. Note that the rotation of the first motor and the rotation of the second motor 503a do not have to start at the same time, and the rotation of the second motor 503a may start after the rotation of the first motor starts. For example, when the grinding process is started in the first grinder 5A, the rotation torque or current value of the first motor increases. When the processing unit 11a detects an increase in the rotation torque or current value of the first motor, it may start the rotation of the second motor 503a. When the first motor for the first grinder 5A starts to rotate, ground beans are sent to the second grinder 5B.

[0355] In the next step S22, it is determined whether or not to continue rotating the first motor. For example, if a predetermined time has passed since the electric screw conveyor ESC finished conveying, if a predetermined time has passed since the rotation torque of the first motor decreased, or if a predetermined time has passed since the current value of the first motor decreased, the determination result is No, and the rotation of the first motor is stopped (step S27). On the other hand, if the determination result is Yes, the process proceeds to step S23.

[0356] A sensor for detecting the passage of ground coffee beans is provided near the inlet of the second grinder 5B, and the processing unit 11a shown in FIG. 19 monitors the amount of ground coffee beans fed into the second grinder 5B per unit time. In step S23, it is determined whether the amount fed per unit time exceeds a reference value. The reference value is a variable that varies depending on the type of coffee beans, the grain size of the ground coffee beans, the rotation speed set for the second motor 503a, etc., and multiple types of reference values ​​are stored in the storage unit 11b shown in FIG. 19. For example, the harder the coffee beans are, the smaller the reference value becomes. The type of coffee beans, the grain size of the ground coffee beans, etc. are specified in the recipe, and the processing unit 11a selects a reference value according to the recipe and executes the judgment process of step S23, or selects a reference value according to various set values ​​and executes the judgment process of step S23. If the amount fed per unit time exceeds the reference value, the rotation speed of the first motor is decelerated (step S24) and the process returns to step S22. The rate at which the rotation speed of the first motor is slowed down may be a predetermined rate, or may be a rate according to the degree to which the input amount exceeds a reference value. When the rotation speed of the first motor is slowed down, the amount of ground coffee beans per unit time sent out from the first grinder 5A decreases. As a result, the input amount can also be reduced, and the ground coffee beans are prevented from being stuck between the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b, making the ground coffee beans less susceptible to the effects of heat. The coffee beverage extracted from the ground coffee beans thus ground tends to have a bright taste without being adversely affected by oil.

[0357] If it is determined in step S23 that the input amount is equal to or less than the reference value, it is determined whether the rotation speed of the first motor is being decelerated, and if it is not being decelerated, the process returns to step S22, and if it is being decelerated, the rotation speed is restored to the set rotation speed (step S26) and then the process returns to step S22.

[0358] In step S28 following step S27 in which the rotation of the first motor is stopped, it is determined whether or not the rotation of the second motor 503a is to be stopped. For example, if a predetermined time has passed since the rotation torque of the second motor 503a was reduced or if a predetermined time has passed since the current value of the second motor 503a was reduced, the determination result is Yes, the rotation of the second motor is stopped (step S29), and this control process is terminated.

[0359] In the control process described above, the amount of ground beans fed to the second grinder 5B is controlled by controlling the rotation speed of the first motor for the first grinder 5A, but it is also possible to control the amount of ground beans fed to the second grinder 5B by controlling the rotation speed of the motor ESC3 that rotates the screw blade ESC2 of the measuring unit 404 shown in Fig. 21. It is also possible to control the amount of ground beans fed to the second grinder 5B by controlling both the rotation speed of the first motor and the rotation speed of the motor ESC3.

[0360] The control process shown in Figure 37 can also be executed by the processing unit 11a shown in Figure 10, and the amount of ground beans fed to the second grinder 5B shown in Figure 2 can be controlled by controlling the rotational speed of the motor 52a for the first grinder 5A shown in Figure 12 or by controlling the conveying speed of the conveyor 41 shown in Figure 2.

[0361] Furthermore, the rotation speed of the rotary blade 58a of the first grinder 5A may change depending on the hardness of the roasted coffee beans, etc. In principle, the rotation speed of the first motor of the first grinder 5A is set so as not to exceed the allowable amount of the grinding process by the second grinder 5B, but the number of rotations per unit time (rotation speed) of the rotary blade 58a of the first grinder 5A or the first motor may be monitored, and if the number of rotations per unit time exceeds a reference value, the rotation speed of the first motor may be reduced.

[0362] The control process in the grinding process described above using Fig. 37 can also be applied as the control process in the grinding process of the grinding device of the beverage production device 1 shown in Fig. 1. Also, an instruction to reduce or resume the rotation speed of the first motor may be output from an external terminal such as mobile terminal 17 shown in Fig. 19.

[0363] According to the above description, "A coffee machine having a second grinder [e.g., second grinder 5B] for grinding coffee beans, Controlling the amount of coffee beans fed into the second grinder [for example, step S24 shown in FIG. 37]; A coffee machine characterized by the above feature (for example, the coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 18 and the beverage production device 1 shown in FIG. 1)." He explained:

[0364] According to this coffee machine, the amount of coffee added is controlled taking into consideration the state in which the coffee beans are ground in the grinder.

[0365] The coffee beans referred to here may be cracked beans, ground beans, or beans that are neither cracked nor ground.

[0366] The reason for controlling the input amount is to prevent the ground beans from staying in the second grinder for longer than necessary. If the amount of coffee beans input into the second grinder is greater than the amount of ground beans sent out, the ground beans will stay in the second grinder for a longer time, and the ground beans will be more susceptible to adverse effects from heat. Therefore, the coffee machine controls the input amount to prevent this from happening. Therefore, the machine is controlled taking into account the state in which the coffee beans are ground in the grinder.

[0367] Also, "The amount of coffee added is controlled according to the type of coffee beans. A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0368] The type of coffee beans may be the variety of coffee beans, the roasting level of coffee beans, or a combination of the variety and the roasting level.

[0369] Also, "A first grinder [e.g., first grinder 5A] for grinding coffee beans is provided upstream of the second grinder, By controlling the speed at which the first grinder grinds the coffee beans (e.g., the rotation speed of the first motor), the amount of coffee beans fed into the second grinder is controlled. A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0370] Also, "A supply device (e.g., a measuring unit 404 shown in FIG. 21 or a conveyor 41 shown in FIG. 2) is provided upstream of the second grinder to supply coffee beans downstream, controlling a supply rate of the coffee beans by the supply device to thereby control an amount of the coffee beans to be supplied to the second grinder; A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0371] Also, "A first grinder [e.g., first grinder 5A] for grinding coffee beans, which is arranged upstream of the second grinder; A supplying device (e.g., a measuring unit 404 shown in FIG. 21, a conveyor 41 shown in FIG. 2) arranged upstream of the first grinder and supplying coffee beans downstream; Equipped with reducing an amount of coffee beans fed into the second grinder by controlling at least one of the first grinder and the feeder; A coffee machine characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0372] For example, the dosage of coffee beans into the second grinder may be reduced by controlling both the first grinder and the feeder.

[0373] moreover, "A coffee machine system (e.g., FIG. 10 or FIG. 19) including an external device (e.g., a server 16, a mobile terminal 17) capable of communicating with the coffee machine." He also explained:

[0374] Also, "A step of starting to feed coffee beans into the second grinder (step S21 shown in FIG. 37); A step of controlling the amount of coffee beans fed into the second grinder (step S24 shown in FIG. 37); A method for grinding coffee beans, comprising the steps of: He also explained:

[0375] The ground beans produced by the second grinder 5B are discharged from a chute GM31 shown in FIG.

[0376] The chute GM31 shown in Fig. 18 guides ground beans sent out in a substantially horizontal direction downward. The coffee bean grinder GM shown in Fig. 18 is provided with a hammer member GM32 that strikes the chute GM31. This hammer member GM32 rotates around a rotation shaft GM321 that extends in the vertical direction. Ground beans sent out in a substantially horizontal direction may collide with the inner wall of the chute GM31 and adhere to the inner wall. A user rotates the hammer member GM32 to strike the chute GM31, applying an impact to the adhering ground beans and causing them to fall.

[0377] Next, an example of performing grinding processing according to order information from outside the coffee bean grinder GM (for example, the server 16 or the mobile terminal 17 shown in FIG. 19) will be described.

[0378] FIG. 38 is a flowchart showing the control process executed by the processing unit 11a when the grind process is executed in accordance with the order information.

[0379] In step S31, it is determined whether or not order information has been received. If no order information has been received, this step S31 is executed repeatedly. If order information has been received, the process proceeds to step S32. The specific contents of the order information will be described later.

[0380] In step S32, the received order information is displayed on the information display device 12 shown in FIG. 19, and the process proceeds to step S33.

[0381] In step S33, it is determined whether or not an operation to start grinding coffee beans has been accepted. The operation to start grinding here is an operation of the information display device 12, which will be described in detail later. If the operation to start grinding has not been accepted, the process proceeds to step S34, and if the operation to start grinding has been accepted, the process proceeds to step S36.

[0382] In step S34, it is determined whether or not an operation to change the order information has been accepted. The operation to change the order information here is also an operation of the information display device 12, which will be described in detail later. If an operation to change the order information has been accepted, the process proceeds to step S35, and if an operation to change the order information has not been accepted, the process returns to step S33.

[0383] In step S35, the accepted order information is updated in accordance with the operation to change the order information, and the process returns to step S33.

[0384] Between the reception of the order information and the reception of the grind start operation, the received order information can be changed in steps S34 and S35. The grind start operation and the operation to change the order information are not limited to the operation of the information display device 12, and may be an operation received from the mobile terminal 17. Furthermore, as long as the information on this operation is transmitted to the coffee bean grinder GM, the transmission path may be any path.

[0385] In step S36, a grinding process of the coffee beans is executed. First, an amount of roasted coffee beans specified in the order information is supplied from the storage device 4 to the first grinder 5B. The ground beans crushed in the first grinder 5B are separated from unwanted materials by the separator 6, and then supplied to the second grinder 5B. In this second grinder 5B, the coffee beans are ground while changing the distance between the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b at predetermined intervals (for example, in 50 μm increments) according to the order information, and the ground coffee beans are discharged from the chute GM31 shown in FIG. 18. When this grinding process is completed, the manufacturing process of ground coffee beans is completed.

[0386] In the above example, the grinding process is performed according to order information from outside the coffee grinder GM, but the order information may be directly input to the coffee grinder GM using the information display device 12. In this case, steps S32, S34, and S35 shown in FIG. 38 may be deleted.

[0387] Also, in the above example, the order information can be changed between accepting the order information and accepting the grind start operation, but it is also possible to have the grind process start immediately upon accepting the order information without providing an opportunity for such changes.

[0388] Here, the recipe will be described in detail. There are two types of recipes: a grind recipe that contains only grind information for grinding coffee beans, and a beverage brewing recipe that contains information on various manufacturing conditions for producing a coffee beverage, such as the extraction conditions for the coffee beverage, in addition to the grind information. With the coffee bean grinder GM, the grinding process can be performed as long as there is a grind recipe, but if the beverage brewing recipe is displayed on the information display device 12, it may be possible to modify the grinding conditions in consideration of the conditions for the extraction process of the coffee beverage that is performed after the grinding process, and a better quality coffee beverage may be obtained.

[0389] The storage unit 11b shown in Fig. 19 may continue to store the recipe, or may acquire the recipe from the server 16 before starting the grinding process, store it only while the grinding process is being performed, and erase the recipe from the storage unit 11b after the grinding process is completed. Alternatively, only part of the information of the recipe (e.g., bean information and recipe creator information) may be stored in the storage unit 11b, and the remaining information of the recipe (e.g., information on various conditions for grinding coffee beans) may be acquired from the server 16 before starting the grinding process, and the remaining information may be erased from the storage unit 11b after the grinding process is completed. Note that the recipe stored in the storage unit 11b is encrypted.

[0390] The recipes are managed in a database in the server 16.

[0391] 39(A) to 39(C) are diagrams showing an example of data stored in the server 16. FIG. 39(A) shows data 1500 stored in the beverage information database. The data 1500 includes a recipe ID 1501, creator information 1502 indicating the creator of the recipe, production count information 1503 indicating the number of times the beverage information has been selected and produced by users in the past, raw material information, production method, and type 1512, 1513. The raw material information includes bean information 1504 indicating the type of beans, production area information 1505 indicating the production area of ​​the beans, and roast level information 1506 indicating the roast level of the beans. The production method includes the amount of beans used in one extraction 1507, bean grind size 1508, amount of steaming water 1509, steaming time 1510, and amount of extraction water 1511. Of these pieces of information, the most important piece of information for the grinding process is the bean grind size 1508, but other pieces of information may also be necessary when considering the bean grind size 1508. Type 1 (1512) is type information indicating whether the beverage is a hot beverage or an iced beverage, and type 2 (1513) is type information indicating the flavor of the beverage. Note that in this embodiment, the production count information 1503 is described as the number of times a beverage corresponding to the production count information 1503 has been produced by a plurality of beverage production devices, but the production count information 1503 may be stored for each beverage production device.

[0392] 39(B) is exemplary data 1520 of the user information database. The user may be a store, a clerk or a customer of the store. The data 1520 includes ID information 1521 indicating a user identifier, name information 1522 indicating the name of the user, age information 1523 indicating the age of the user, and gender information 1524 indicating the gender of the user. In one example, the data 1520 may further include information corresponding to the address of the user, nickname information of the user, and photo data of the user.

[0393] 39(C) is exemplary data 1530 of the grind history database. The data 1530 includes user information 1531 related to the user who instructed the grinding, date and time information 1532 related to the grinding date and time, a recipe ID 1533 used in the grinding process, a machine ID 1534 corresponding to the coffee bean grinder GM that performed the grinding process, and a store ID 1535 corresponding to the store where the coffee bean grinder GM is installed. In one example, the data 1530 may further include price information corresponding to the price of the ground beans of the ground coffee. Also, a production history database of coffee beverages may be stored similarly to the grind history database.

[0394] The above-described data 1500, 1510, 1530 may also be stored in the memory unit 11b of the control device 11 in the coffee bean grinder GM.

[0395] Next, examples of operations for order information will be described with reference to Figs. 40 to 45, while referring to the flow of control processing explained with reference to Fig. 38. Figs. 40 to 42 are diagrams showing how order information is input. Fig. 43 is a diagram showing how order information is changed. Fig. 44 is a diagram showing an example of control parameters for the second grinder 5B for an order. Fig. 45 is a diagram showing an example of a display during execution of a grinding process.

[0396] In this example, it is assumed that an application for transmitting order information about ground coffee beans is installed in a mobile terminal 17 such as a smartphone. FIG. 40 shows an example of an input screen for order information using this application. This input screen displays an order title input field 170, a type of desired coffee beans 1711, an amount of coffee beans 1712, an input table 172 for specifying the ratio of the grain size when grinding the coffee beans, a fine to coarse grind button 173a for instructing the grinding method from a fine grind state to a coarse grind state and a coarse to fine grind button 173b for instructing the grinding method from a coarse grind state to a fine grind state, a graph area 174 for displaying the contents input in the input table 172 in a graph, a send button 175 for transmitting the order information, and a recipe registration button 176 for registering the order information as a grind recipe. The type of desired coffee beans is transmitted from the coffee bean grinder GM with which the mobile terminal 17 communicates, and all the selectable types of coffee beans transmitted are displayed by tapping the pull-down button on the right end. For example, all types of beans stored in the canisters currently stored in the canister storage unit 401 shown in FIG. 18 are displayed. Alternatively, all types of beans available in the store in which the coffee bean grinder GM is installed may be displayed. The types of coffee beans are distinguished by the name of the farm where they were grown, in addition to the variety of the coffee beans. They are also distinguished by the degree of roasting (very light roast, light roast, medium-light roast, medium roast, medium-dark roast, dark roast, very dark roast, very very dark roast). The amount of coffee beans 1712 can also be specified in 5 g increments using a pull-down menu. It is also possible to allow direct input. How to grind coffee beans will be described in detail later.

[0397] FIG. 41 shows an example of an input screen in which order information has been input. In this input screen, the characters "Geisha for French Press" have been input in the title input field 170. In addition, in the type of coffee beans 1711, coffee beans with the variety name Geisha grown at the Copei Farm and roasted to an extremely dark roast are selected, and the amount of coffee beans is 60 g. In the input table 172, "40" indicating the proportion of the grain size of 200 μm and "60" indicating the proportion of the grain size of 800 μm are input, and it is shown that the total proportion is "100"%. It is also shown that comments corresponding to the grain size of 200 μm, the grain size of 800 μm, and the total have been input. In addition, the fine to coarse grind button 173a has been selected. In the graph area 174, the contents input in the input table 172 are displayed in a graph. This graph shows two peaks, the left peak indicating that the particle size of 200 μm is 40%, and the right peak indicating that the particle size of 800 μm is 60%.

[0398] In the graph area 174, the contents inputted to the input table 172 can be indirectly changed by dragging a part of the graph. FIG. 42 shows an example in which the right peak of the two peaks in the graph area 174 shown in FIG. 41 is moved to the left. This operation changes the "60" indicating the proportion of the 800 μm particle size inputted to the input table 172 to "0", and the "0" indicating the proportion of the 600 μm particle size to "60". Such an input method by dragging the graph is not limited to changing the particle size, and may also change the proportion. For example, it may be possible to increase or decrease the proportion of the corresponding particle size by dragging a part of the graph up or down.

[0399] 42, after a value is input to input table 172, the value input to input table 172 is changed by dragging a part of the graph. This configuration is not limited to the above, and an initial state graph (a flat straight line, shown by a thick line in FIG. 39) may be displayed in graph area 174 from the state (initial state) before a value is input to input table 172, and the value of input table 172 may be set by dragging this graph.

[0400] The input method using the graph as described above allows the user to set the granularity ratio more intuitively.

[0401] Also, by increasing or decreasing the magnitude of one peak, the magnitudes of the other peaks may be relatively increased or decreased, such that increasing the magnitude of one peak results in a relative decrease in the magnitude of the other peaks. In cases where the size of graph area 174 is limited, graph area 174 can be used more effectively.

[0402] After setting the title, type and amount of coffee beans, the grain size ratio, and grinding method (fine to coarse, coarse to fine), tapping the send button 175 transmits the order information to the control device 11 of the coffee bean grinder GM via the communication network 15 shown in Fig. 19. Note that the order information may be once transmitted to the server 16, and then transmitted to the coffee bean grinder GM via the server 16 and the communication network 15.

[0403] Here, the order information such as the title, the type and amount of coffee beans, the grain size ratio, and the grinding method (fine to coarse, coarse to fine) are set, but it is also possible to save this order information and use it as a grind recipe. In this case, by tapping the recipe registration button 176, the order information is transmitted to the server 16 via the communication network 15. The server 16 also manages the grind recipe in a database, and a grind recipe ID is assigned to the transmitted order information and stored. When transmitting to the server 16, restrictions on the recipe may be set. For example, a screen for selecting various restrictions such as prohibition of production (grinding), prohibition of display, prohibition of download, prohibition of copying, and prohibition of modification may be displayed on the mobile terminal 17. In addition, the above screen may also be configured to allow the user to set the method of lifting these restrictions (charge, lapse of a period, use more than a certain number of times due to charging, etc.). In addition, the inputted comment of the creator is also stored as part of the grind recipe, and the comment can also be displayed when the recipe is displayed.

[0404] Furthermore, the chaff removal strength (chaff removal rate) (%) may be set as order information and grind recipe.

[0405] When the order information is received, the information display device 12 displays the contents of the received order information (Yes in step S31 of FIG. 38, step S32). FIG. 43(A) shows an example in which the control device 11 receives the order information transmitted with the contents shown in FIG. 42, and the contents are displayed on the information display device 12. Specifically, the title input in the title input field 170 of FIG. 42 and the contents of the input table 172, excluding the lines of the grain sizes in which the ratio is 0 and the comment field is blank (lines of grain sizes 400 μm and 1000 μm in FIG. 42), are displayed in the reception table 121. Furthermore, the grind instruction field 122 shows that the grind method for changing from fine grind to coarse grind has been instructed by selecting the fine to coarse grind button 173a in FIG. 42. Furthermore, the bean type field 1231 shows the type of beans received, and the bean amount field 123 shows the amount of beans received. The amount of beans may be set separately by the store.

[0406] When the grind start button 124 is tapped in this state, the coffee beans are ground (details will be described later), but before the grind start button 124 is tapped, the order information can be changed (No in step S33, Yes in step S34, step S35 in FIG. 38). When the order information is changed, the coffee beans are ground in accordance with this information. Depending on the temperature and humidity during grinding, the coffee beans may end up being finely ground (or coarsely ground), but this can be adjusted by changing the order information on the shop side.

[0407] For example, suppose that the order information of FIG. 43(A) is received, but the humidity is low, resulting in the ground coffee beans being coarse. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 43(B), by changing "40" indicating the proportion of 200 μm in the ground coffee beans to "45" in the reception table 121, and further changing "60" indicating the proportion of 600 μm in the ground coffee beans to "55", the ground coffee beans can be adjusted to a coarse ground coffee beans to a desired size. In the example of FIG. 43(B), the description "low humidity → proportion increase" is added to the comment field, and such a comment may convey information such as the reason for the correction. As described above, the order information (here, the ground coffee beans' particle size) can be adjusted according to the installation environment of the coffee bean grinder GM.

[0408] Moreover, a recipe registration button 125 is also prepared on the display screen of the information display device 12, and the order information can be registered as a grind recipe in the server 16 from the information display device 12 (coffee bean grinder GM). The grind recipe including the parameters modified according to the installation environment of the coffee bean grinder GM can be saved with a comment in the server 16. The grind recipe may also include environmental information (temperature, humidity, air pressure, etc.) at the time of creating the order information (recipe). A temperature and humidity sensor and an air pressure sensor may be provided in the coffee bean grinder GM, and when the recipe registration button 125 is tapped, the environmental information acquired by these sensors may be automatically added to the grind recipe. Furthermore, when transmitting from the coffee bean grinder GM to the server 16, a selection screen may be displayed on the display screen of the information display device 12, and the recipe restrictions may be set. Furthermore, the above selection screen may also be configured to allow the user to set a method for releasing these restrictions.

[0409] In addition, the order information may be encrypted and stored as a grind recipe in the memory unit 11b of the control device 11 in the coffee bean grinder GM. Also, the order information may be encrypted and stored as a grind recipe in the memory unit 11b from the mobile terminal 17.

[0410] In addition, the grind recipe registered in this way can also be used in a coffee beverage manufacturing device equipped with a coffee bean grinder GM and a coffee extraction device.

[0411] Next, the operation after tapping the grind start button 124 will be described using as an example a case where the grind start button 124 is tapped in the state shown in Fig. 43(B). When the grind start button 124 is tapped, the grinding process of the coffee beans is executed according to the order information (Yes in step S33 of Fig. 38, step S36). Note that if coffee beans other than those stored in the storage device 4 are specified, the specified coffee beans are set in the storage device 4 before the grinding process is started.

[0412] Also, the grinding process may be started after the calibration executed in the initial operation described with reference to Fig. 33 is performed. Whether or not the calibration is to be performed is transmitted from the mobile terminal 17 together with the order information. That is, it is possible to specify on the mobile terminal 17 that the calibration is to be performed before the grinding process based on the order information is started.

[0413] Fig. 44(A) shows the particle sizes and their ratios specified in Fig. 43(B). In this grinding process, the processor 11a shown in Fig. 19 executes control to grind the coffee beans while changing the blade interval (the interval between the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b) of the second grinder 5B at predetermined intervals (for example, in 50 μm increments) so that the particle size distribution of the produced ground coffee beans spreads to a certain range (in this embodiment, a range of ±100 to 150 μm) relative to the particle size of the ground coffee beans specified in the order information. For example, Fig. 44(B) shows that an operating time is set for operating the second grinder 5B while changing the blade interval in a range of 50 to 350 μm in response to the specification of a particle size of 200 μm specified in Fig. 44(A). FIG. 44(B) shows that the operation time is set for changing the blade interval of the second grinder 5B in the range of 450 to 700 μm for the specified particle size of 600 μm in FIG. 44(A). FIG. 44(D) shows a graph of the operation time for each blade interval of the second grinder 5B shown in FIG. 44(B). The blade interval of the second grinder 5B and its operation time set here are calculated by the processing unit 11a based on the order information, and correspond to the particle size distribution of the ground coffee beans to be produced, so it can be said that the particle size distribution is set. In addition, when calibration is performed in the initial operation before the start of the grinding process, the processing unit 11a performs control to change the blade interval of the second grinder 5B while correcting the rotation amount of the motor 503a using the calibration value obtained in step S55 shown in FIG. 33.

[0414] In the above example, it is assumed that it takes a total of 30 seconds to produce 60 g of ground coffee beans as specified in the order information. Of this operation time, 45% (13.5 seconds) is allocated to operation for a grain size of 200 μm. In the above example, the second grinder 5B is operated while changing the blade interval in the range of 50 to 350 μm in response to the specified grain size of 200 μm, so 13.5 seconds of operation time is allocated to grinding operation in this range. In FIG. 44(B), the total operation time of the grinder in the range of intervals of 50 to 350 μm is 13.5 seconds. Also, 55% (16.5 seconds) of the total operation time of 30 seconds is allocated to operation for a grain size of 600 μm. In the above example, the second grinder 5B is operated while changing the blade interval in the range of 450 to 700 μm in response to the specification of a grain size of 600 μm, and an operating time of 16.5 seconds is allocated to the grinding operation in this range. In FIG. 44(B), the total operating time of the grinder in the interval range of 450 to 700 μm is 16.5 seconds. As described above, the operating time shown in FIG. 44(B) is derived from the time required to produce ground coffee beans. In FIG. 44(B), an example is described in which the ranges of the blade interval of the second grinder 5B for the specification of two types of grain sizes do not overlap, but if these ranges overlap, the operating time of that part is added.

[0415] As explained in the example of FIG. 44(B), the particle size of the ground coffee beans can be dispersed by producing ground coffee beans while changing the blade interval of the second grinder 5B. Coffee extracted from ground coffee beans with dispersed particle sizes can have a variety of flavors compared to coffee extracted from ground coffee beans without dispersed particle sizes. For people who do not like such flavors, a case may be set in which the operation time is set as shown in FIG. 44(C), for example. In FIG. 44(C), the operation time of the second grinder 5B is set only for operation with the blade interval having the same value as the particle size specified in the order information, and corresponds to a particle size distribution with reduced particle size dispersion. These configurations are merely examples, and the range of particle size distribution may be specified when specifying the particle size.

[0416] In the example of Figure 44 (B), the operating time is longest when the blade spacing is the same as the particle size specified in the order information, and the operating time becomes shorter as the difference between the specified particle size and the blade spacing of the second grinder 5B becomes larger. However, for example, the operating time may be set to the same value for operations with blade spacing of the second grinder 5B of ±50 μm for the specified particle size, or multiple particle size distribution patterns may be provided to allow a selection from among them.

[0417] In addition, it may be possible to input operation time information such as that shown in Figure 44 (B) when creating order information, and if the order information includes operation time information, the grinding process may be performed according to this information.

[0418] Furthermore, information on the operation time shown in FIG. 44(B) and FIG. 44(c) (changing pattern of the blade interval of the second grinder 5B) may also be stored in the server 16 or the storage unit 11b as part of the grind recipe. In other words, various information may be stored in the server 16 or the storage unit 11b in association with the grain size of the ground beans. In addition, the information and grind recipe stored in the storage unit 11b may be output to the server 16 or an external terminal such as the mobile terminal 17 via the communication network 15.

[0419] In addition, although two types of granularity values ​​are set in Fig. 44(A), the number of types of granularity to which values ​​are specified may be one type, not multiple types. For example, when one type of granularity value is set, the operation time is set based on this value.

[0420] 1. The input of order information from an external terminal (mobile terminal 17) and the calculation of control parameters for second grinder 5B based on the order information, which have been described using FIGS. 40 to 45, can also be applied to beverage production device 1 shown in FIG.

[0421] According to the above description, "A grinder (e.g., second grinder 5B) that grinds coffee beans under set conditions (e.g., the blade interval and operating time according to the grind size specified in the order information, as shown in Fig. 44(B) or (C)) A reception unit (e.g., an I / F unit 11c shown in FIG. 10 or FIG. 19) that receives a user's designation (e.g., order information from a mobile terminal 17 such as a smartphone), A setting unit (e.g., a processing unit 11a shown in FIG. 10 or FIG. 19) capable of setting the conditions; A coffee bean grinder comprising: The setting unit is capable of setting the conditions according to the designation received by the receiving unit (for example, the processing unit 11a calculates the control data shown in FIG. 44(B) or 44(C) based on the order information, and controls the second grinder 5B based on the control data). The reception unit is capable of receiving a signal including the designation from outside (e.g., FIG. 10 or FIG. 19). A coffee bean grinder (for example, the beverage production device 1 shown in FIG. 1 or the coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 18) characterized by the above. He explained:

[0422] This coffee bean grinder allows the user to easily specify the desired flavor.

[0423] The designation may be a designation of the grain size of the ground beans, a designation to perform a calibration in the initial operation of the grinder, etc. The designation may also be various designations in a grind recipe (e.g., designation of the type and amount of coffee beans to be used, designation of the grinding method, etc.).

[0424] Also, "The setting unit is capable of acquiring a calibration value (e.g., a calibration value calculated in step S55 shown in FIG. 33) for setting the condition based on the specification (e.g., a specification to calibrate the gap between the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b in the initial operation of the second grinder 5B) received by the receiving unit. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0425] Also, "A storage device (e.g., a storage unit 11b shown in FIG. 10 or FIG. 19) is provided for storing the designation (e.g., a grinding recipe or a beverage brewing recipe) received by the reception unit. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0426] Also, "The reception unit receives at least a designation of the grind size of ground beans (for example, a designation of the grind size in the input table 172 shown in FIG. 41) as the designation, The storage device is capable of storing various information (e.g., the control data shown in FIG. 44(B) and FIG. 44(C)) in association with the grinding size of the ground beans. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0427] The particle size may be a particle size represented by a peak in a particle size distribution, and the various information may be conditions to be set in the grinder for grinding the coffee beans to the particle size.

[0428] Also, "The information stored in the storage device can be output to an external device (e.g., a server 16 or a mobile terminal 17). A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0429] moreover, " An external device (e.g., a server 16, a mobile terminal 17) capable of communicating with the coffee bean grinder, The external device is an external device that is operated by a user. A coffee bean grinding system (e.g., Fig. 10 or Fig. 19) characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0430] Also, "A method for grinding coffee beans in a grinder that grinds coffee beans under set conditions, comprising: A reception step (for example, a process that is a prerequisite for step S31 shown in FIG. 38) of receiving a user's specification (for example, order information from a mobile terminal 17 such as a smartphone) a condition setting step (for example, a process performed between step S32 and step S33 or a process performed between step S34 and step S33 shown in FIG. 38) of setting the condition based on the designation received in the receiving step; A method for grinding coffee beans, comprising the steps of: He also explained:

[0431] In addition, according to the above description, "A grinder (e.g., second grinder 5B) that grinds coffee beans under set conditions (e.g., the blade interval and operating time according to the grind size specified in the order information, as shown in Fig. 44(B) or (C)) A setting unit (e.g., a processing unit 11a shown in FIG. 10 or FIG. 19) capable of setting the conditions; An operation unit that can be operated by a user (e.g., a disk dial 695 for manual setting, a knob dial 696 for fine adjustment), A coffee bean grinder comprising: The setting unit is capable of setting the conditions based on input information (for example, the processing unit 11a calculates the control data shown in FIG. 44(B) or (C) based on the order information, and controls the second grinder 5B based on the control data). The operation unit can change the conditions related to the grain size of the ground beans [for example, the distance between the fixed blade 57b and the rotary blade 58b] according to the operation. A coffee bean grinder (for example, the beverage production device 1 shown in FIG. 1 or the coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 18) characterized by the above. He explained:

[0432] According to this coffee bean grinder, the above conditions are set based on input information, and the conditions regarding the grind size of the ground beans can also be adjusted manually.

[0433] The particle size may be a particle size represented by a peak in a particle size distribution. The input information may be information on the particle size of ground beans or information instructing the execution of calibration in the initial operation of the grinder. The input information may be various information in a grind recipe (for example, information on the type and amount of coffee beans to be used, information on how to grind).

[0434] Also, "The setting unit is capable of acquiring a calibration value (for example, a calibration value calculated in step S55 shown in FIG. 33) when setting the condition. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0435] Also, "A storage device (e.g., a storage unit 11b shown in FIG. 10 or FIG. 19) for storing the input information (e.g., a grinding recipe or a beverage production recipe) is provided. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0436] Also, "The setting unit is capable of setting conditions related to the grind size of the ground beans [for example, the blade interval and operation time according to the grind size specified in the order information, as shown in Figures 44(B) and 44(C)] based on the input information [for example, the grind size specified in the input table 172 shown in Figure 41], The storage device is capable of storing various information (e.g., the control data shown in FIG. 44(B) and FIG. 44(C)) in association with the grinding size of the ground beans. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0437] The various pieces of information may refer to conditions to be set in the grinder in order to grind the coffee beans to the specified particle size.

[0438] Also, "The information stored in the storage device can be output to an external device (e.g., a server 16 or a mobile terminal 17). A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0439] moreover, " An external device (e.g., a server 16, a mobile terminal 17) capable of communicating with the coffee bean grinder, the external device is operated by a user to specify the conditions; A coffee bean grinding system (e.g., Fig. 10 or Fig. 19) characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0440] Also, "A method for grinding coffee beans in a grinder that grinds coffee beans under set conditions, comprising: an automatic setting step of automatically setting the conditions based on input information; A manual change step of changing the condition regarding the grain size of the ground beans according to an operation; "A method for grinding coffee beans, characterized in that the method can carry out the steps described above." He also explained:

[0441] It should be noted that either the automatic setting step or the manual change step may be executed first, and there may be cases where only one of them is executed.

[0442] In addition, there are two types of grinding methods in the second grinder 5B in this embodiment: a grinding method from a fine grinding state to a coarse grinding state, and a grinding method from a coarse grinding state to a fine grinding state. Either grinding method is specified using the fine to coarse grinding button 173a and the coarse to fine grinding button 173b described in FIG. 40. When the grinding method from a fine grinding state to a coarse grinding state is specified, the second grinder 5B is operated for the operation time set for each interval while widening the interval between the blades of the second grinder 5B from 50 μm to 1000 μm. On the other hand, when the grinding method from a coarse grinding state to a fine grinding state is specified, the second grinder 5B is operated for the operation time set for each interval while narrowing the interval between the blades of the second grinder 5B from 1000 μm to 50 μm. Depending on the grinding method, subtle differences may occur in the particle size distribution of the ground coffee beans produced, which may result in differences in taste, so this embodiment employs a configuration that allows these grinding methods to be set.

[0443] In FIG. 43(B), since the grinding method from fine grinding to coarse grinding is specified, the second grinder 5B is operated for the operation time set for each interval while widening the blade interval of the second grinder 5B from 50 μm to 1000 μm. At this time, the graph shown in FIG. 44(D) is displayed on the information display device 12, and the color of the area in the graph changes according to the progress of this operation. FIG. 45(A) shows the state when 12.4 seconds have passed since the start of grinding. At this time, the blade interval of the second grinder 5B is set to 250 μm, and in FIG. 45(A), the color of the area on the left side is shown to have changed at the boundary of 250 μm by hatching. This hatching is an example showing that the grinding process of the corresponding area has been completed. Also, FIG. 45(B) shows the state when 30 seconds have passed since the start of grinding and the grinding process has been completed. In Fig. 45(B), all the areas are hatched, which is an example showing that all the grinding processes have been completed. By displaying the progress of the grinding processes as in the examples of Fig. 45(A) and (B), it may be possible to work more efficiently, such as by preventing customers from getting bored while waiting and by allowing store clerks to do other tasks during that time.

[0444] Fig. 46(a) is a diagram showing an example of a porter filter used to produce an espresso beverage. The porter filter PF shown in Fig. 46(a) is a naked type, in which ground beans are filled in a metal basket PFb (see Fig. 46(c)) whose bottom surface has a filter structure, and the basket PFb is held by a cylindrical holding part PFr. The holding part PFh is provided with a handle PFh.

[0445] FIG. 46(b) is a diagram showing how the basket PFb held by the holding part PFr is applied to the chute GM31 of the coffee bean grinder by holding the handle PFh. The ground beans are discharged from the chute GM31, and the ground beans are packed into the basket PFb. This operation is called dosing. Note that, in order to save the operator the trouble of holding the handle PFh, the basket PFb may be fixed to the outlet of the chute GM31. Next, a leveling operation is performed so that the ground beans are packed evenly in the basket PFb. Finally, a tamping operation is performed to compress the evenly packed ground beans.

[0446] Figure 46(c) is a schematic diagram showing the state in which ground beans that have been ground from finely ground to coarsely ground are packed into a basket PFb and then leveled and tamped.

[0447] FIG. 46(c) shows a basket PFb held by a holding part PFr. The bottom surface PFf of the basket PFb has a filter structure, and FIG. 46(c) shows the mesh Fi of the filter as a schematic diagram, but in reality, the mesh is much finer. The area on the bottom surface PFf side is filled with very finely ground beans Bvt, which have a peak particle size of 200 μm in the particle size distribution. In FIG. 46(c), the state in which the very finely ground beans Bvt are filled is shown by fine cross-hatching. In addition, the area above that area is filled with medium-fine ground beans Bmt, which have a peak particle size of 600 μm in the particle size distribution. In FIG. 46(c), the state in which the medium-fine ground beans Bmt are filled is shown by coarse cross-hatching. In other words, relatively finely ground beans are stored in the area close to the filter, and relatively coarsely ground beans are stored in the area far from the filter.

[0448] When the extraction work is performed using the Porter Filter PF thus prepared, the hot water drains well in the large particle area, and the extraction efficiency, which is an index of the taste, decreases. On the other hand, in the small particle area, the hot water drains poorly, and the extraction efficiency increases. Hot water poured from above (the opposite side to the filter) first passes through the area with low extraction efficiency, and finally passes through the particle size with high extraction efficiency. If we consider the opposite, it is expected that the poured hot water will become a strong coffee drink in the first area, and in the last area, it will be difficult to extract coffee ingredients from the ground beans with large particle size, and the ground beans in the last area will be likely to be wasted. This prediction is based on the fact that coffee ingredients tend to be easily extracted from hot water, but difficult to extract from coffee drinks. By passing the poured hot water through the area with low extraction efficiency first, the coffee drink is sufficiently extracted from the ground beans in that area. However, it is a weak coffee drink. However, because it is a weak coffee drink, there is a margin in the concentration of the coffee drink, and the coffee drink is extracted well even if it passes through the area with high extraction efficiency. Thus, in order to effectively utilize all the ground beans in the porter filter PF, it is considered preferable to use finer ground beans in the area closer to the filter, which is particularly effective when extracting strong coffee beverages such as espresso.

[0449] Similarly, the second grinder 5B in the beverage production device 1 shown in FIG. 1 can also perform grinding from a finely ground state to a coarsely ground state, or grinding from a coarsely ground state to a finely ground state. In the beverage production device 1 shown in FIG. 1, ground beans are stored in the extraction container 9. This extraction container 9 is inverted, and when the ground beans are stored (before the extraction container 9 is inverted), the relatively coarse ground beans are stored in the lower area and the relatively fine ground beans are stored in the upper area. By inverting the extraction container 9, the relatively fine ground beans are located in the lower area and the relatively coarse ground beans are located in the upper area. However, when viewed from the perspective of the filter provided in the lid unit 91 shown in FIG. 6 and the like, the relatively fine ground beans are stored in the area close to the filter, and the relatively coarse ground beans are stored in the area far from the filter, as in the basket PFb.

[0450] In addition, multiple sets of grinding processes may be performed so that multiple sets of ground coffee beans can be ground with one grind start operation. In this way, multiple baskets PFb may be prepared and a new basket PFb may be assigned to the chute GM31 for each set.

[0451] In addition, in the examples of Figures 45(A) and (B), a display example was described in which the hatching spreads from the left side of the graph to the right side when a grinding method that changes from a fine grind to a coarse grind is specified.However, when a grinding method that changes from a coarse grind to a fine grind is specified, the display will differ from the example of Figures 45(A) and (B) in that the hatching spreads from the right side of the graph to the left side.

[0452] Furthermore, in the above example, a configuration has been described in which the progress of the grinding process is displayed on the information display device 12, but the progress of the grinding process may also be displayed on the mobile terminal 17 that transmitted the order information.

[0453] According to the above description, "A grinder for grinding coffee beans [e.g., the second grinder 5B], A container for containing ground beans ground by the grinder [e.g., a basket PFb or an extraction container 9]; A coffee bean grinder comprising: A set of grinding operations can be performed in response to a start operation by a user (for example, tapping the grind start button 124, pressing the start button GM15, or issuing an instruction to produce a coffee beverage), The set of grinding operations refers to operations for grinding coffee beans to different sizes so that a first area of ​​the container (e.g., an area relatively closer to or below the filter) contains ground beans of a first size (e.g., a relatively finer or coarser size) and a second area of ​​the container (e.g., an area relatively further from or above the filter) contains ground beans of a second size (e.g., a relatively coarser or finer size). A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above feature (for example, the coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 18 and the beverage production device 1 shown in FIG. 1)." He explained:

[0454] The finer the ground beans are, the harder it is for the hot water to drain out and the more efficient the extraction tends to be. This coffee machine takes advantage of this tendency by providing areas containing ground beans of different sizes, which allows the extraction efficiency to be different depending on the area, improving the taste of the coffee drink.

[0455] The amount of coffee beans ground in one set of grinding operations may be an amount required to extract one cup of coffee beverage, or an amount required for one extraction. The first particle size may be a particle size coarser than the second particle size.

[0456] Also, "The first particle size is a particle size finer than the second particle size. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0457] Also, "The container has a filter [for example, a filter hole Fi provided on the bottom surface PFf shown in FIG. 46(c), or a filter provided on the lid unit 91 shown in FIG. 6, etc.], The first region is a region of the container closer to the filter than the second region. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0458] The first region may be a region below the second region in the container.

[0459] Also, "A storage device capable of storing the one set of grinding operations as a recipe [for example, the storage unit 11b shown in FIG. 10 or FIG. 19] is provided. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0460] Also, "The one set of grinding operations can be performed multiple times in response to a start operation by the user [for example, it is possible to grind beans for multiple extractions]. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0461] moreover, "A coffee bean grinding system (e.g., Fig. 10 or Fig. 19) characterized by including an external device (e.g., a server 16, a mobile terminal 17) capable of communicating with the coffee bean grinding machine." He also explained:

[0462] Also, "A first step of placing ground coffee beans of a first particle size (e.g., a relatively fine or coarse particle size) in a first region (e.g., a region relatively close to or below the filter) of a container (e.g., basket PFb or extraction container 9); a second step of placing ground beans of a second particle size (e.g., a relatively coarse or fine particle size) in a second region of the container (e.g., a region relatively farther from or above the filter); A method for grinding coffee beans, comprising the steps of: He also explained:

[0463] Next, the combination of the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B will be described.

[0464] As shown in FIG. 25 etc., the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B are arranged in series, upstream and downstream, when viewed from the direction of conveyance of the coffee beans. The first grinder 5A is capable of grinding coarse coffee beans with greater precision than the second grinder 5B, and the second grinder 5B is capable of grinding fine coffee beans with greater precision than the first grinder 5A. More specifically, the first grinder 5A crushes the roasted coffee beans to a certain size (for example, about 1 / 4) to produce ground coffee beans. The second grinder 5B grinds the ground coffee beans crushed by the first grinder 5A into ground coffee beans of a desired size. For example, the second grinder 5B can perform coarse grinding, medium grinding, medium-fine grinding, fine grinding, and extra-fine grinding, and the first grinder 5A cannot grind as finely as the coarse grinding. However, in order to make it easier to separate unwanted matter adhering to the coffee beans, it is preferable to grind the beans to a certain size using the first grinder 5A.

[0465] However, if one ignores the ease with which the separator 6 separates unwanted materials such as chaff and fine powder, it is also possible to perform the grinding process of the coffee beans only by the second grinder 5B without driving the first grinder 5A.

[0466] FIG. 47(a) is a perspective view showing the rotary blade 58a constituting the first grinder 5A by itself.

[0467] The rotary blade 58a is provided with guide paths 58ag extending obliquely downward around the rotary shaft 58as from each of the four blades 58a1 to 58a4. As shown in FIG. 47(a), when the rotary blade 58a does not rotate, the roasted coffee beans B sent from the storage device 4 pass through the guide paths 58ag and are sent to the second grinder 5B while maintaining their shape and size. The beans are then ground to a desired grain size by the second grinder 5B. In this case, the beans are ground in a single stage by the second grinder 5B only, instead of in a two-stage process by the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B.

[0468] Instead of the first grinder 5A, a grinder the same as the second grinder 5B may be provided, and the upstream grinder may perform coarse, medium, medium-fine, fine, and extra-fine grinding. In this case, for example, the upstream grinder may perform coarse grinding, the separator 6 may separate unnecessary materials, and the second grinder 5B may perform medium or fine grinding. Alternatively, the upstream grinder may perform medium-fine grinding, the separator 6 may separate unnecessary materials, and the second grinder 5B may not perform grinding, but may discharge the medium-fine ground beans from the chute GM31.

[0469] FIG. 47(b) is a diagram showing a modified example of the crushing device 5 shown in FIG. 25 and the like.

[0470] The grinding device 5 shown in FIG. 25 and the like has two grinders arranged in series, but in the grinding device 5' of this modified example, the two downstream grinders out of the three grinders are arranged in parallel. The first grinder 5A is arranged downstream of the storage device 4 shown in FIG. 47(b). In the grinding device 5 shown in FIG. 25 and the like, the forming unit 6B is provided downstream of the first grinder 5A, but in this modified example, the forming unit 6B is omitted and a cylindrical guide passage 6C is provided. Two second grinders 5B, each connected to a connecting duct 661, are arranged downstream of the guide passage 6C. The guide passage 6C is a passage for distributing the ground beans that have been ground by the first grinder 5A to one of the two second grinders 5B. The number of second grinders 5B is not limited to two and may be three or more. The passage switching of the guide passage 6C is performed by the processing unit 11a shown in FIG. 19. Also, the guide passage 6C may be manually switched. Alternatively, the passage may be switched by an instruction from an external terminal such as a mobile terminal 17. In this modification, a selection step of selecting a grinder for grinding coffee beans from among the three grinders, i.e., one first grinder 5A and two second grinders 5B, a supply step of supplying coffee beans to the selected grinder, and a grinding step of grinding the coffee beans supplied in the supply step with the grinder are executed in the coffee bean grinder GM having three grinders in total, i.e., one first grinder 5A and two second grinders 5B, respectively. In the supply step, when one of the two second grinders 5B is selected, the coffee beans are supplied to the selected second grinder 5B through the guide passage 6C. In the selection step, the selection of one first grinder 5A is arbitrary, but when selecting two second grinders 5B, one of the second grinders 5B may be always selected. Alternatively, when the two second grinders 5B are not selected, the coffee beans may be discharged directly from the guide passage 6C.

[0471] According to this modification, since a plurality of second grinders 5B are provided, grinding processes by the second grinders 5B can be performed in parallel. For example, in the control of the amount of ground beans fed to the second grinders 5B described with reference to FIG. 37, if it becomes necessary to reduce the amount fed to the first second grinder 5B, the guide passage 6C is switched and feeding to the second second grinder 5B is started, eliminating the need to reduce the amount fed and preventing a decrease in efficiency of the grinding process.

[0472] In the modified example shown in FIG. 47(b), the forming unit 6B is omitted, but the forming unit 6B may be provided at the upstream end of the guide passage 6C, and the unnecessary materials may be separated after the passage switching is completed. Also, instead of the switchable guide passage 6C, a fixed passage may be provided, and the second grinders 5B prepared in plurality may be moved to the downstream end of the fixed passage to switch the grinders. Furthermore, instead of providing a plurality of grinders with the same function in parallel, a plurality of grinders with different functions may be provided in parallel. For example, a grinder dedicated to coarse grinding, a grinder dedicated to medium grinding, a grinder dedicated to medium-fine grinding, a grinder dedicated to fine grinding, and a grinder dedicated to extra-fine grinding may be provided in parallel so that they can be selected. Also, the first grinder 5A on the upstream side may be omitted. Alternatively, a further grinder may be provided downstream of the second grinder 5B. The grinder provided downstream of the second grinder 5B may be one or more. When there are a plurality of units, they may be arranged in series or in parallel.

[0473] The embodiment of the grinding device 5 described above with reference to FIG. 47 can also be applied as the grinding device of the beverage production apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

[0474] According to the above description, "A coffee bean grinder having a plurality of grinders (for example, a first grinder 5A and a second grinder 5B in series or a plurality of second grinders 5B in parallel), A grinder for grinding coffee beans can be selected from the plurality of grinders (for example, both the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B in series can be selected, only the second grinder 5B can be selected, or each of the plurality of second grinders 5B in parallel can be selected). A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above feature (for example, the coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 18 and the beverage production device 1 shown in FIG. 1)." He explained:

[0475] According to this coffee bean grinder, the grinder for grinding the coffee beans can be selected from a plurality of grinders, so that it is easier to meet the demands of various grinding processes than conventional coffee bean grinders.

[0476] The number of grinders to be selected may be one or more.

[0477] Also, "The plurality of grinders include a first grinder (e.g., a first grinder 5A) and a second grinder (e.g., a second grinder 5B), It is possible to select whether to grind coffee beans by one of the first grinder and the second grinder [e.g., only the second grinder 5B] or both [e.g., the first grinder 5A and the second grinder 5B]. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0478] Also, "The first grinder is capable of grinding coffee beans more coarsely and precisely than the second grinder (for example, crushing roasted coffee beans to a certain size (for example, about 1 / 4)) and The second grinder is capable of grinding coffee beans finer and more precisely than the first grinder (for example, it can grind coarsely, medium, medium-fine, fine, and extra-fine). A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0479] Also, "When coffee beans are ground by both the first grinder [e.g., the first grinder 5A] and the second grinder [e.g., the second grinder 5B], the coffee beans ground by the first grinder [e.g., the first grinder 5A on the upstream side] are further ground finely by the second grinder [e.g., the second grinder 5B on the downstream side]. A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0480] Also, "When coffee beans are ground by one of the first grinder [e.g., the second grinder 5B on the left side shown in FIG. 47(b)] and the second grinder [e.g., the second grinder 5B on the right side shown in FIG. 47(b)], the coffee beans are guided to the one grinder [e.g., guided by a guide passage 6C], A coffee bean grinder characterized by the above. He also explained:

[0481] That is, one of the first grinder and the second grinder may be provided with a guide passage for guiding the coffee beans [for example, guide passage 6C shown in FIG. 47(b)]. The guide passage may move relative to the one grinder to guide the coffee beans to the one grinder, the one grinder may move relative to the guide passage to guide the coffee beans to the one grinder, or the guide passage moves and the one grinder moves to guide the coffee beans to the one grinder.

[0482] moreover, "A coffee bean grinding system (e.g., Fig. 10 or Fig. 19) characterized by including an external device (e.g., a server 16, a mobile terminal 17) capable of communicating with the coffee bean grinding machine." He also explained:

[0483] Also, "A selection step of selecting a grinder for grinding coffee beans from a plurality of grinders in a coffee bean grinding machine having the plurality of grinders; a supplying step of supplying coffee beans to the selected grinder; a grinding step of grinding the coffee beans supplied in the supplying step with the grinder; A method for grinding coffee beans, comprising the steps of: He also explained:

[0484] The number of grinders to be selected may be one or more.

[0485] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and examples, and the contents of these may be combined with each other without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and may be partially modified depending on the purpose, etc. Furthermore, the individual terms described in this specification are merely used for the purpose of explaining the present invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the strict meaning of the terms, and may also include equivalents. For example, expressions such as "device" and "part" may be replaced with "unit" and "module", etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0486] 1 Beverage production equipment 2 Bean processing equipment 3 Extraction device 4. Storage device 401 Canister Storage Unit 402 Hopper unit 403 Funnel Unit 404 Weighing Unit 5. Crushing equipment 5A 1st grinder 57a fixed blade 58a Rotary blade 5B 2nd grinder 57b fixed blade 58b Rotary blade 6 Separation device 6A Suction Unit 6B Formation Unit 6C Guideway 60 Suction Unit 60B Collection container 60Bo outer case 60Bi inner case 6io aperture 695 Manual setting disk dial 696 Fine adjustment knob dial 698 Lever component 7 Fluid Supply Unit 9 Extraction vessel 11 Control device 11a Processing section 12 Information display device 17 Mobile Devices GM coffee bean grinder GM10 Center Casing GM11 option mounting part GM20 Bean outlet GM21 Lid Unit GM22 Guideway forming member PF Porter Filter PFb Basket

Claims

1. A first grinder for grinding coffee beans; a second grinder disposed downstream of the first grinder for grinding the coffee beans ground by the first grinder; a guide passage for guiding the coffee beans ground by the first grinder to the second grinder; A coffee bean grinder comprising: the second grinder includes a plurality of grinders; a passage switching means for switching the guide passage, The passage switching means is The guide passage is switched so that the coffee beans ground by the first grinder are guided to any one of the plurality of grinders included in the second grinder. A coffee bean grinder characterized by:

2. 2. A coffee bean grinder according to claim 1, a separation area for separating waste matter from the coffee beans ground by the first grinder; The passage switching means is a passage switching of the guide passage so that the ground coffee beans from which the unnecessary substances have been separated by the separation area are guided to any one of the plurality of grinders included in the second grinder; A coffee bean grinder characterized by:

3. A first grinder for grinding coffee beans; a second grinder disposed downstream of the first grinder for grinding the coffee beans ground by the first grinder; a guide passage for guiding the coffee beans ground by the first grinder to the second grinder; A coffee bean grinder comprising: the second grinder includes a plurality of grinders; a grinder switching means for switching the position of a grinder included in the second grinder; The grinder switching means is a position of a grinder included in the second grinder is switched so that the coffee beans ground by the first grinder are guided to any one of the plurality of grinders included in the second grinder through the guide passage; A coffee bean grinder characterized by:

4. Coffee bean grinding machine according to claim 3, a separation area for separating waste matter from the coffee beans ground by the first grinder; The grinder switching means is a position of a grinder included in the second grinder is switched so that the ground coffee beans from which unnecessary substances have been separated by the separation area are guided to any one of the plurality of grinders included in the second grinder through the guide passage; A coffee bean grinder characterized by:

Images