coffee machine

Abstract

To provide a coffee machine equipped with an upper blade and a lower blade for grinding coffee beans, capable of shortening the time required for grinding beans. [Solution] A coffee machine GM, CM in which coffee beans that have been fed through a through-hole 5310 and dropped onto a lower blade 541 are ground between a first blade 531b and a second blade 541b, wherein the lower blade 541 is equipped with an impeller 70 having a plurality of blades 70B at the position where the coffee beans fed through the through-hole 5310 fall, and the impeller 70 guides the coffee beans that have dropped onto the lower blade 541 to the second blade 541b by rotating in the same forward rotation direction as the predetermined rotation direction of the lower blade 541, the second blade 541b being positioned outside the impeller 70, and each of the plurality of blades 70B extends outward from an upper end 720 on the inner side of the impeller 70, and divides the space below the upper end 720 into equal circumferential sections.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a coffee machine having an upper blade and a lower blade for grinding coffee beans. [Background technology]

[0002] A coffee machine has been proposed that includes an upper blade with a first blade formed around a through hole facing downward, and a lower blade positioned opposite the upper blade with a second blade formed facing upward, and that grinds coffee beans between the first blade and the second blade (for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] In the coffee machine proposed in Patent Document 1, coffee beans are fed through a through-hole in the upper blade, and the fed coffee beans fall onto the lower blade. The portion of the lower blade where the coffee beans fall is a slope that slopes downward from the inside to the outside, and this slope is provided with multiple guide fins. Each of the multiple guide fins extends from a point on the slope midway from the inside to the outside end, and protrudes slightly upward. In the coffee machine proposed in Patent Document 1, these multiple guide fins attempt to guide or push the falling coffee beans outward. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2024 / 079476 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, because the guide fins are low, the falling coffee beans fly over them without hitting them, making it difficult for the coffee beans to be dispersed evenly. In addition, it takes time for the coffee beans to be guided or pushed outward by the guide fins, which results in a longer grinding time for the coffee beans.

[0006] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a coffee machine that can shorten the time required to grind beans. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The coffee machine that solves the above problems is an upper blade having a first blade formed downward around the through hole; a lower blade disposed opposite the upper blade and having a second blade formed facing upward; a drive unit that rotates the lower blade in a predetermined rotation direction, The coffee machine grinds coffee beans that have been introduced through the through-hole and dropped onto the lower blade between the first blade and the second blade by the drive unit rotating the lower blade in the predetermined rotation direction, The lower blade includes an impeller having a plurality of blades at a position where the coffee beans dropped through the through-holes fall, the impeller rotates in the same forward rotation direction as the predetermined rotation direction to guide the coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade to the second blade, The second blade is located outside the impeller, Each of the plurality of blades extends outward from an upper end portion on an inner circumferential side of the impeller, and divides a space below the upper end portion into equal portions in the circumferential direction, the second blade has an outer circumferential side higher than an inner circumferential side of the second blade, Each of the plurality of blades is characterized in that all of the upper surfaces connected to the upper end portion are higher than the intermediate position between the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side of the second blade. In addition, an upper blade having a first blade formed downward around the through hole; a lower blade disposed opposite the upper blade and having a second blade formed facing upward; a drive unit that rotates the lower blade in a predetermined rotation direction, The coffee machine grinds coffee beans that have been introduced through the through-hole and dropped onto the lower blade between the first blade and the second blade by the drive unit rotating the lower blade in the predetermined rotation direction, The lower blade includes an impeller having a plurality of blades at a position where the coffee beans dropped through the through-holes fall, the impeller rotates in the same forward rotation direction as the predetermined rotation direction to guide the coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade to the second blade, The second blade is located outside the impeller, Each of the plurality of blades extends outward from an upper end portion on the inner circumferential side of the impeller, and divides a space below the upper end portion into equal parts in the circumferential direction. It may also be a coffee machine.

[0008] The upper end portion may be a horizontal surface, an inclined surface that slopes downward toward the outside, an inclined surface that slopes upward toward the outside, or a curved surface. The upper end portion may be a portion that includes the center portion of the impeller in the radial direction, or may be a portion outside the center portion. Furthermore, the upper end portion may be the highest portion of the impeller.

[0009] The impeller may guide the coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade to the second blade by centrifugal force generated by rotating in the same forward rotation direction as the predetermined rotation direction of the lower blade. Alternatively, the impeller may guide the coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade along the side surfaces of the plurality of blades to the second blade by rotating in the same forward rotation direction as the predetermined rotation direction of the lower blade.

[0010] Moreover, in the above coffee machine, the second blade has an outer circumferential side higher than an inner circumferential side of the second blade, Each of the plurality of blades may be characterized in that all of the upper surfaces connected to the upper end portion are higher than a midpoint between the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side of the second blade.

[0011] Alternatively, the coffee machine may further comprise: the second blade has an outer circumferential side higher than an inner circumferential side of the second blade, Each of the plurality of blades may be characterized in that all of the upper surfaces connected to the upper end portion are at a height equal to or higher than the height of the outer circumferential side of the second blade.

[0012] When the height of the inner circumferential side of the second blade varies in the circumferential direction, the height of the inner circumferential side is the height of the lowest point, and when the height of the outer circumferential side of the second blade varies in the circumferential direction, the height of the outer circumferential side is the height of the lowest point. Note that the height of the inner circumferential side of the second blade may be uniform in the circumferential direction, and the height of the outer circumferential side may also be uniform in the circumferential direction.

[0013] The upper surface may be a horizontal surface, a sloped surface that slopes downward toward the outside, or a sloped surface that slopes upward toward the outside. The upper surface may also be a flat surface or a curved surface.

[0014] Moreover, in the above coffee machine, Each of the plurality of blades may be characterized in that the upper surface is at the same height on the inside and outside.

[0015] Moreover, in the above coffee machine, The impeller has a flat or curved side surface that gradually widens outward as it extends downward from the upper end portion, The plurality of blades may be formed on the side surface.

[0016] Moreover, in the above coffee machine, Each of the plurality of blades includes: an outer portion of the downstream side surface, which is located downstream in the forward rotation direction, is formed so that the angle of entry of coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade into the second blade is an acute angle; The downstream side surface may be formed in a curved shape that is convex toward the downstream side in the forward rotation direction.

[0017] It should be noted that the outer portion (for example, the outer specific portion Blo) of each of the plurality of blades may be positioned upstream in the forward rotation direction.

[0018] The approach angle is the angle between a tangent line (e.g., a tangent line shown by a dashed line in Figures 10 and 11(A)) passing through the position of the outer end (e.g., outer end Ble) of the outer portion (e.g., outer specific portion Blo) and the outer portion (e.g., outer specific portion Blo).

[0019] Furthermore, the curved shape referred to here may be the shape of an involute curve, the shape of a cycloid curve, or the shape of an Archimedean spiral. [Effects of the Invention]

[0020] According to the coffee machine of the present invention, the time required for grinding beans can be reduced. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1 is an external perspective view of a coffee bean grinder according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control device for the coffee bean grinder shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 3] FIG. 2(A) is a perspective view showing a state in which the casing of the first grinder unit has been removed, and FIG. 2(B) is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the second grinder unit. [Figure 4] (A) is a view of the rotary blade unit removed from the second grinder unit shown in the lower left of Figure 3(B), turned upside down, and (B) is an oblique view of the rotary blade unit removed from the second grinder unit. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the impeller of the first embodiment. [Figure 6] (A) is a plan view of the impeller shown in FIG. 5, and (B) is a side view of the impeller shown in (A). [Figure 7] 4(B) is a plan view showing the impeller and rotary blade attached to the rotary blade unit shown in FIG. [Figure 8] (A) is an oblique view showing a fixed blade in the second grinder unit, a rotary blade facing the fixed blade, a rotary shaft that rotates the rotary blade, and an impeller fixed to the rotary shaft, (B) is an oblique view of the AA cross section in (A), and (C) is a front view of the AA cross section. [Figure 9](A) is a diagram showing a modified example in which the height of the impeller is increased, (B) is a diagram showing a modified example in which the main body is hat-shaped, and (C) is a diagram showing a modified example in which the number of blades is only two. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an impeller according to a second embodiment. [Figure 11] (A) is a plan view of the impeller shown in FIG. 10, and (B) is a side view of the impeller shown in (A). [Figure 12] FIG. 1A is a diagram showing a modified example in which the main body of the impeller of the second embodiment is hat-shaped; FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a modified example in which the number of blades of the impeller of the second embodiment is reduced to two; and FIG. 1C is a diagram showing another example. [Figure 13] (A) is a diagram showing a schematic representation of the height relationship between the fixed blade, the rotary blade, and the impeller shown in Figure 8(C); (B) is a diagram showing a schematic representation of the height relationship between the fixed blade, the rotary blade, and the impeller with increased height shown in Figures 9, 10, 12(A), and 12(B); (C) is a diagram showing a schematic representation of the height relationship between the fixed blade, the rotary blade, and an impeller having a curved top surface of the main body and the upper surfaces of the blades that are inclined upward as they face outward; and (D) is a diagram showing a schematic representation of the height relationship between the fixed blade, the rotary blade, and an impeller having an inclined top surface of the main body and the upper surfaces of the blades that are inclined downward as they face outward. [Figure 14] (A) is an external oblique view of a coffee beverage production apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, and (B) is a partial front view of the coffee beverage production apparatus, showing a portion of the production section that can be seen by a user when viewed from the front of the coffee beverage production apparatus. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, a coffee bean grinder as an embodiment of the coffee machine of the present invention will be described.

[0023] FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a coffee bean grinder according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control device for the coffee bean grinder shown in FIG.

[0024] The coffee bean grinder GM shown in Figure 1 is a coffee machine that grinds roasted coffee beans using a grinding process. A start button 150 is provided on the front of the coffee bean grinder GM, and pressing this start button 150 starts the grinding process.

[0025] The coffee bean grinder GM has a storage device 4, a grinding device 5, and a control device 11 shown in Figure 2 that controls these. The coffee bean grinder GM also has an information display device 12 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 in addition to displaying various information, it is also able to accept input from managers and users.

[0026] The control device 11 controls the entire coffee bean grinder GM. 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 ROM. This memory unit 11b stores a recipe. The recipe includes information on various conditions for grinding coffee beans, bean information, information on the recipe creator, and comments from the recipe creator. 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 external terminals such as a server 16 and a mobile terminal 17 via a communication network 15 such as the Internet. The server 16 can communicate with a mobile terminal 17 such as a smartphone via the communication network 15 and can receive information such as reservations for coffee grinding and customer feedback from the mobile terminal 17 of a consumer. The coffee bean grinder GM, the server 16, and the mobile terminal 17 constitute a coffee bean grinding system GS for grinding coffee beans.

[0027] The processing unit 11a executes a program stored in the memory unit 11b and controls the storage device 4 and the pulverizer 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 mechanisms) provided in the storage device 4 and the pulverizer 5. The actuator group 14 is various actuators (e.g., electric motors such as a first motor and a second motor, which will be described later) provided in the storage device 4 and the pulverizer 5.

[0028] The storage device 4 shown in FIG. 1 includes a cylindrical canister storage unit 401 that stores roasted coffee beans and a removable cap 401c that screws onto the upper end of the canister storage unit 401 and covers the top surface of the canister storage unit 401. The canister storage unit 401 is detachable from the main body GMb. When the canister storage unit 401 is attached to the main body GMb, it is connected to a first grinder unit (described later). If the canister storage unit 401 is removed while the first grinder unit is rotating, the first grinder unit is forcibly stopped. However, removing the cap 401c does not forcibly stop the first grinder unit, and if a hand is inserted into the canister storage unit 401, there is a risk that the fingers will come into contact with the rotating blades of the first grinder unit. For this reason, a contact prevention member (not shown) with multiple ribs is provided inside the canister storage unit 401 to prevent fingers from coming into contact with the rotating blades.

[0029] The grinding device 5 also includes a first grinder unit and a second grinder unit (not shown in FIG. 1) and a separating device 6 (shown in FIG. 1). The first grinder unit and the second grinder unit are mechanisms for grinding roasted coffee beans supplied from the storage device 4. The roasted coffee beans supplied from the storage device 4 are ground in the first grinder unit and then further ground into powder in the second grinder unit. In FIG. 1, a chute 539 of the second grinder unit is shown in the front left, as well as a manual setting disk dial 534 and a fine adjustment knob dial 535 of the second grinder unit. The first grinder unit and the second grinder unit will be described in more detail below.

[0030] The separator 6 is a mechanism for separating unwanted materials from ground beans. The separator 6 has a separation chamber (not shown) located between the first grinder unit and the second grinder unit. This separation chamber is a hollow body through which ground beans passing freely from the first grinder unit pass. A suction unit 60 is connected to the separation chamber. The suction unit 60 is a centrifugal separation mechanism. The suction unit 60 includes a chaff fan motor (not shown in FIG. 1), a chaff fan driven by the chaff fan motor, an air volume dial 60D (shown in FIG. 1), and a collection container 60B. When the chaff fan rotates, it sucks in air from the separation chamber, sucking in light objects such as chaff and fine powder. This separates unwanted materials from the ground beans passing through the separation chamber. The air containing unwanted materials flows into the collection container 60B, and the unwanted materials in the air fall due to their mass and are collected in the collection container 60B. Meanwhile, the air is exhausted outside the separator 6. The suction power of the chaff fan can be changed by operating the air volume dial 60D.

[0031] Next, the first grinder unit and the second grinder unit will be described in detail.

[0032] The first grinder unit is located above on the upstream side, and the second grinder unit is located below on the downstream side. As described above, a separation chamber is provided between the first grinder unit and the second grinder unit. The first grinder unit and the second grinder unit grind beans to different particle sizes. The first grinder unit is a grinder unit for coarse grinding, and the second grinder unit is a grinder unit for fine grinding. The first grinder unit and the second grinder unit are each electric grinder units and include a motor as a drive source, a rotary blade driven by the motor, and the like.

[0033] The rotation speeds of both the first grinder unit and the second grinder unit can be changed. The rotation speed of the second grinder unit is approximately 1600 to 1700 min-1, while the rotation speed of the first grinder unit is slower at approximately 125 to 135 min-1. In the first grinder unit, the gap between the fixed blade 512 and the rotary blade 511 (described later) is loose, and the grinding of the first grinder unit is for the purpose of separating chaff, so the rotation speed of the first grinder unit is slower than that of the second grinder unit.

[0034] FIG. 3(A) is a perspective view showing a state in which the casing of the first grinder unit is removed.

[0035] The first grinder unit TM shown in Fig. 3(A) crushes the coffee beans to a certain size (for example, about 1 / 4 of its original size) to make ground coffee beans, in order to make it easier to separate any unwanted matter adhering to the coffee beans. A rotating shaft (not shown in Fig. 3(A)) extends from above, and a rotary blade 511, which is a cutter, is provided on the rotating shaft. A fixed blade 512, which is also a cutter, is provided around the rotary blade 511. The fixed blade 512 shown in Fig. 3(A) is provided on the inner circumferential surface of the first grinder unit main body 510. The rotating shaft is rotated by a first motor (not shown), which rotates the rotary blade 511.

[0036] The upper surface 511a of the rotary blade 511 is inclined downward toward the downstream side in the forward rotation direction indicated by the thick arrow in Figure 3(A). At least the highest point of the upper surface 511a of the rotary blade 511 is higher than the fixed blade 512. Roasted coffee beans that reach the first grinder unit TM from the storage device 4 are guided by the upper surface 511a of the rotating rotary blade 511 and are directed toward the fixed blade 512 by centrifugal force, or they are directed toward the fixed blade 512 without being guided by the upper surface 511a of the rotary blade 511, and are ground by being sandwiched between the fixed blade 512 and the rotating rotary blade 511. The size (particle size) of the ground roasted coffee beans can be changed by changing the rotation speed of the rotary blade 511. The ground beans are discharged from the discharge port 513 to the separation chamber.

[0037] FIG. 3B is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the second grinder unit.

[0038] 3(B) is a perspective view of the second grinder unit MM. In this perspective view, the chute 539 of the second grinder unit MM is located at the rear left. The second grinder unit MM has a connecting duct 52, a fixed blade unit 53, and a rotary blade unit 54. The upper end of the connecting duct 52 is connected to the separation chamber, and the ground beans that pass through the separation chamber reach the fixed blade unit 53 through the connecting duct 52. An air suction port 521 is provided at the bottom of the connecting duct 52. By drawing air through this air suction port 521, the separation performance between the ground beans and unwanted matter is improved.

[0039] The fixed blade unit 53 and the rotary blade unit 54 are separable. The lower part of Fig. 3(B) shows the state in which the rotary blade unit 54 has been separated from the second grinder unit MM. That is, the lower right part of Fig. 3(B) shows the rotary blade unit 54 removed from the second grinder unit MM. On the other hand, the lower left part of Fig. 3(B) shows the state in which the rotary blade unit 54 has been removed from the second grinder unit MM.

[0040] The fixed blade unit 53 has a fixed blade 531 (see FIG. 4A) not shown in FIG. 3B inside a fixed blade case body 530.

[0041] The rotary blade unit 54 has a rotary blade 541 and a drive gear 542 inside a rotary blade case body 540. The rotary blade 541 is rotated by a rotational drive force transmitted via the drive gear 542 from a second motor 540M built into the main body part GMb shown in FIG. 1. An attachment arm 55 is attached to the rotary blade unit 54. A frame member (not shown) into which the fixed blade case body 530 is fitted is disposed on the main body part GMb of the coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 1. When attaching the second grinder unit MM to the main body part GMb, the second grinder unit MM is placed from below and the fixed blade case body 530 is fitted into the frame member (not shown), whereby the tip of the attachment arm 55 aligns with an attachment hole provided in the main body part GMb, and a fixing bolt is inserted into the attachment hole to secure the unit in place.

[0042] The fixed blade 531 can be raised and lowered relative to the rotary blade 541. The fixed blade unit 53 includes, as part of a mechanism for raising and lowering the fixed blade 531, a worm wheel 532 having a gear portion 532g, a connecting dial 533, a worm gear (not shown), and an adjustment motor (not shown) that rotates the worm gear.

[0043] The fixed blade 531 moves up and down as the worm wheel 532 rotates. The rotation of the worm wheel 532 can be switched between electric and manual. A gear portion 532g of the worm wheel 532 meshes with a worm gear (not shown), and when the worm gear is rotated by an adjustment motor, the fixed blade 531 moves up and down.

[0044] Furthermore, a connecting gear 533g is provided on the upper surface of the connecting dial 533. A gear (not shown) that meshes with the connecting gear 533g is provided on the manual setting disc dial 534 shown in Fig. 1, and the gear (not shown) meshes with the connecting gear 533g when the manual setting disc dial 534 is placed on the connecting dial 533. When the manual setting disc dial 534 is rotated, a worm gear (not shown) rotates via the connecting gear 533g, and the fixed blade 541 can be raised and lowered.

[0045] 1, the worm wheel 532 also rotates. When the fine adjustment knob dial 535 is rotated once, the gear portion 532g of the worm wheel 532 rotates by one tooth. Therefore, when the fine adjustment knob dial 535 is rotated, the gear portion 532g of the worm wheel 532 can be adjusted by less than one tooth.

[0046] Fig. 4(A) is a view showing the state in which the rotary blade unit 54 has been removed from the second grinder unit MM, as shown in the lower left of Fig. 3(B), turned upside down. Fig. 4(A) also shows the connecting duct 52, connecting dial 533, worm wheel 532, chute 539, and fixed blade unit 53.

[0047] A bean drop path 53L is provided in the center of the fixed blade unit 53. This bean drop path 53L is a space that connects the connecting duct 52 and the rotary blade unit 54, and serves as a drop path for the cracked beans ground by the first grinder unit TM.

[0048] The fixed blade 531 has a downward-facing blade surface 531b provided around the through-hole 5310. Note that in FIG. 4(A), the blade is turned upside down, so the blade surface 531b faces upward. The through-hole 5310 of the fixed blade 531 forms part of the bean dropping path 53L. Also, in FIG. 4(A), the head 5311 of the bolt that fixes the fixed blade 531 can be seen on the blade surface 531b.

[0049] Furthermore, the fixed blade case body 530 is provided with a female screw portion 530n for combination on the inner peripheral edge portion on the rotary blade unit 54 side.

[0050] FIG. 4(B) is a perspective view of the rotary blade unit 54 removed from the second grinder unit MM, and is the same as the view shown in the lower right of FIG. 3(B).

[0051] 4(B) shows the rotary blade case body 540 of the rotary blade unit 54 and the attachment arm 55. A combination male screw portion 540n is provided on the outer peripheral edge portion of the rotary blade case body 540 on the fixed blade unit 53 side. When the inner peripheral edge portion of the fixed blade case body 530 on the rotary blade unit 54 side is externally fitted onto the outer peripheral edge portion of the rotary blade case body 540 on the fixed blade unit 53 side, and one of the fixed blade case body 530 and the rotary blade case body 540 is turned by hand in a predetermined direction, the combination female screw portion 530n and the combination male screw portion 540n are threaded together, and the fixed blade case body 530 and the rotary blade case body 540 become integrated. On the other hand, when the fixed blade case body 530 and the rotary blade case body 540 are turned by hand in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction while the fixed blade case body 530 and the rotary blade case body 540 are integrated, the fixed blade case body 530 and the rotary blade case body 540 become separated. The fixed blade case body 530 and the rotary blade case body 540 can be integrated or separated without using any tools, resulting in good maintainability.

[0052] A rotary base 543 is attached to the rotary blade case body 540, and the rotary blade 541 is fixed to the rotary base 543 with a bolt, the head 5411 of which is visible on the blade surface 541b. The blade surface 541b of the rotary blade 541 faces upward. A rotary shaft 545 (see FIG. 8) passes through the center of the rotary blade 541. This rotary shaft 545 rotates around its axis by the rotation of a drive gear 542, a portion of which is visible through a gear meshing window 540w of the rotary blade case body 540. The rotary shaft 545 also passes through a center hole 710 of the impeller 70 (see FIG. 5, etc.). A locking protrusion (for example, a double D cut) is provided on the bottom surface of impeller 70, and a locking groove that locks onto the locking protrusion is provided on rotation base 543, so that impeller 70 is attached to rotation base 543 so as to be unable to rotate. Note that a locking groove may be provided on the bottom surface of impeller 70, and a locking protrusion may be provided on rotation base 543. Also, impeller 70 may be attached to rotation base 543 so as to be unable to rotate with a key and key groove. Furthermore, impeller 70 is fixed to rotation shaft 545 with bolts 544.

[0053] The blade surface 541b of the rotary blade 541 is located outside the impeller 70 so as to surround the entire circumference of the impeller 70. The blade surface 541b is inclined downward as it moves inward. FIG. 4(B) shows the inner peripheral edge 541e and the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541. Because the blade surface 541b is inclined, the inner peripheral edge 541e is lower than the outer peripheral edge 541f. The inner peripheral edge 541e of the rotary blade 541 has portions of different heights in the circumferential direction. On the other hand, the height of the outer peripheral edge 541f is uniform in the circumferential direction. Note that the height of the inner peripheral edge 541e may be uniform in the circumferential direction, or the outer peripheral edge 541f may have portions of different heights in the circumferential direction. The outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541 is higher than the inner peripheral edge 541e.

[0054] Although the rotary blade 541 and the impeller 70 are separate bodies, the rotary blade 541 and the impeller 70 may be integrally formed.

[0055] Rotation of rotary shaft 545 around its axis causes rotary blade 541 to rotate, and impeller 70 also rotates together with rotary blade 541. That is, when rotary blade 541 rotates in a predetermined rotation direction for grinding coffee beans (for example, counterclockwise), impeller 70 also rotates in the same rotation direction as the predetermined rotation direction (hereinafter referred to as the forward rotation direction). Impeller 70 will be described in more detail below.

[0056] The ground beans from the first grinder unit TM are further ground and pulverized into powder in the second grinder unit MM between the blade surface 541b of the rotary blade 541 and the blade surface 531b of the fixed blade 531. The particle size of the ground beans in the second grinder unit MM can be adjusted by adjusting the distance between the rotary blade 541 and the fixed blade 531.

[0057] 4(B) shows six blades 5431. When the fixed blade case body 530 and the rotary blade case body 540 are integrated, these six blades 5431 rotate within the fixed blade case body 530 and move the ground beans that have been pulverized into powder in the circumferential direction. The ground beans are discharged from an outlet (not shown) through a chute 539 to the outside of the machine.

[0058] When fixed blade case body 530 and rotary blade case body 540 are separated, it is possible to touch the cutting edge and cutting surface of fixed blade 531 attached to fixed blade case body 530, and it is possible to perform maintenance on fixed blade 531. It is also possible to replace fixed blade 531. It is also possible to touch the cutting edge and cutting surface of rotary blade 541 attached to rotary blade case body 540, and it is also possible to perform maintenance on rotary blade 541 and replace rotary blade 541.

[0059] Next, the impeller 70 will be described in detail. Various types of impeller 70 can be used, but first, the impeller 70 shown in Fig. 4(B) will be described. Hereinafter, this impeller 70 will be referred to as the impeller 70 of the first embodiment.

[0060] 5 is a perspective view of the impeller of the first embodiment. In the following description, the side of the rotation center of the impeller 70 will be referred to as the inside, and the side radially outward from the rotation center will be simply referred to as the outside.

[0061] The impeller 70 shown in FIG. 5 has been removed from the rotary shaft 545 (see FIG. 8). The impeller 70 has a main body 71 with a curved side surface 711 that gradually widens outward as it extends downward. That is, the main body 71 is formed by forming the side surface of a truncated cone with an inwardly curved surface. A central hole 710 through which the rotary shaft 545 is inserted is provided in the center of a top surface 720 of the main body 71. The top surface 720 is the highest point of the impeller 70, forming the upper end, and is a horizontal surface. In addition, three blades 70B are formed on the side surface 711 of the main body 71 at 120-degree intervals in the circumferential direction. These three blades 70B have the same shape, but in the following description, these three blades 70B may be referred to as a first blade 701, a second blade 702, and a third blade 703, as necessary. An outer peripheral edge 712 o of the bottom surface 712 of the main body 71 becomes the outermost peripheral edge of the impeller 70 .

[0062] In FIG. 5, the forward rotation direction of the impeller 70 is indicated by a solid arc-shaped arrow, and the forward rotation direction is counterclockwise. As shown in FIG. 5, each blade 70B extends from the inside to the outside of the impeller 70 and has an upstream side surface Bu on the upstream side in the forward rotation direction and a downstream side surface Bd on the downstream side in the forward rotation direction. The thickness Bt (the length between the upstream side surface Bu and the downstream side surface Bd) of each blade 70B gradually decreases toward the outside in the outer portion. Each blade 70B has a connecting surface 70B1 with the side surface 711 and a rising surface 70B2 rising from the connecting surface 70B1. The downstream side surface Bd is composed of the connecting surface 70B1 and the rising surface 70B2 downstream in the forward rotation direction. The rising surface 70B2 is connected to the upper surface 70B3 of the blade 70B. Upper surface 70B3 of blade 70B is a horizontal surface continuing from top surface 720 of main body 71. That is, the height position of top surface 720 of main body 71 and the height position of each blade 70B are the same.

[0063] Each blade 70B divides the space below the top surface 720 of the main body 71 into equal circumferential sections. The lower end of this space is defined by the bottom surface 712 of the main body 71. In FIG. 5, the space divided by the first blade 701 and the second blade 702 is shown as a first section 731, the space divided by the second blade 702 and the third blade 703 is shown as a second section 732, and the space divided by the third blade 703 and the first blade 701 is shown as a third section 733. The volumes of the first section 731, the second section 732, and the third section 733 are all equal. The falling cracked beans are distributed into one of the sections, resulting in a moderately uniform distribution.

[0064] The ground beans that fall through bean drop path 53L (see FIG. 4(A)) provided in the center of fixed blade unit 53 reach rotary blade unit 54, and the ground beans fall onto bolt 544 and impeller 70. As described above, blade surface 541b of rotary blade 541 is positioned outward of impeller 70 so as to completely surround impeller 70, and impeller 70 guides the fallen ground beans toward blade surface 541b of rotary blade 541. In other words, the falling ground beans are guided toward blade surface 541b of rotary blade 541 by centrifugal force generated by impeller 70 rotating in the forward direction. In FIG. 5, the dotted line shows an example of a path along which the fallen ground beans are guided by impeller 70 rotating in the forward direction. In the example shown by the dotted line, the ground beans that fall between the second blade 702 and the third blade 703 use centrifugal force and the inclined surface from the upper end to the lower end of the main body 71 to move toward the outer periphery of the downstream side surface Bd of the second blade 702, and after reaching the downstream side surface Bd, are guided along the downstream side surface Bd to the blade surface 541b of the rotary blade 541. As a result, the time that the fallen ground beans remain inside the rotary blade unit 54 is shortened, and the bean grinding time is reduced.

[0065] 5 also shows, by dashed-dotted lines, another example of the path along which falling ground coffee beans are guided by impeller 70 rotating in the forward direction. In the example shown by the dashed-dotted lines, ground coffee beans that fall into first section 731, which is between first blade 701 and second blade 702, bounce off side 711d, hit the upper part of downstream rising surface 70B2 of first blade 701, and are then guided along downstream side Bd of first blade 701 to blade surface 541b of rotary blade 541. Even if the coffee beans that bounce off side 711d rise to a considerable height, because each blade 70B reaches the highest point of impeller 70, the rebounded coffee beans hit blade 70B and remain within the section where they fell, maintaining the appropriate dispersion state they had at the time of falling. As a result, the falling ground beans are dispersed evenly and immediately guided to blade surface 541b of rotary blade 541. Therefore, even in the example shown by the dashed dotted line, the time that the falling ground beans remain inside rotary blade unit 54 is shortened, and the bean grinding time is shortened.

[0066] Figure 6(A) is a plan view of the impeller shown in Figure 5. In Figure 6(A) as well, the forward rotation direction of the impeller 70 is indicated by a solid arc-shaped arrow, and the forward rotation direction is the counterclockwise direction.

[0067] Each of the three blades 70B of the impeller 70 has a curved shape where the entire downstream side surface Bd is convex toward the downstream side in the forward rotation direction. In the third blade 703 shown in FIG. 6A, the center line of the uncurved, straight blade in the thickness direction is represented by a two-dot chain imaginary line. As indicated by the dotted arrows perpendicular to the two-dot chain imaginary line, each of the three blades 70B of the impeller 70 is curved so as to convex toward the downstream side in the forward rotation direction. Another perspective will now be described. While the same applies to each of the three blades 70B of the impeller 70, for clarity of illustration, the first blade 701 will be used for the explanation here instead of the third blade 703 used previously. In the first blade 701 shown in FIG. 6A, the tangent line passing through the base of the first blade 701 is represented by a dashed line, and the dotted arrow is perpendicular to the dashed line tangent line. Using the dotted arrow as a reference, as shown by the dashed-dotted arrow of the first blade 701 in FIG. 6(A), each of the three blades 70B of the impeller 70 is formed with a shape that curves toward the upstream side toward its tip. The curved shape here may be an involute curve, a cycloid curve, or an Archimedean spiral. By forming the entire downstream side surface Bd in this curved shape, the outer portion Bdo of the downstream side surface Bd extends upstream in the forward rotation direction. The falling cracked beans are smoothly guided by this curved shape, reducing damage to the cracked beans.

[0068] Fig. 6(B) is a side view of the impeller shown in Fig. 6(A). Fig. 6(A) shows a state in which second blade 702 is at the bottom (6 o'clock position), first blade 701 is at the upper left (10 o'clock position), and third blade 703 is at the upper right (2 o'clock position), and the side view of Fig. 6(B) is a side view seen from the direction of the outline arrow shown in Fig. 6(A). That is, in the side view of Fig. 6(B), second blade 702 is located in the front center, first blade 701 is located at the rear left, and third blade 703 is located at the rear right.

[0069] The curved shape of side surface 711 of main body 71 is represented by a curve (the curve from which the leader line of 711 is drawn) shown between first blade 701 and second blade 702 in Fig. 6(B). This curve slopes outward as it extends downward from the upper end to the lower end of main body 71. Furthermore, boundaries 711b between side surface 711 of main body 71 and each blade 70B are also represented by curves.

[0070] As is clear from FIG. 6(B), the top surface 720 of the main body 71 and the upper surface 70B3 of the blade 70B are flat and at the same height.

[0071] 6(A) shows a first section 731, a second section 732, and a third section 733, which are the result of the space defined by the curved side surface 711 and the bottom surface 712 of the main body 71, which is below the top surface 720 of the main body 71 (toward the back of the page), being divided equally in the circumferential direction by the blades 70B. Also, FIG. 6(B) shows the first section 731 and the second section 732.

[0072] The main body 71 may be a truncated cone. In the case where the main body 71 is a truncated cone, the side surfaces 711 are made up of flat surfaces, and the curves described above become straight lines, but the main body 71 still slopes outward as it goes downward from the top to the bottom. The top surface 720 is also a horizontal surface.

[0073] Fig. 7 is a plan view showing the impeller and rotary blade attached to the rotary blade unit shown in Fig. 4(B). In Fig. 7, the forward rotation direction of the impeller 70 is indicated by a solid arc-shaped arrow, and the forward rotation direction is the counterclockwise direction.

[0074] A cross-hatched portion 541o constituting the outer blade, a horizontally hatched portion 541i constituting the inner blade, and a vertically hatched portion 541c constituting the crushing blade are provided at 180-degree opposing positions on blade surface 541b of rotary blade 541. A hollow portion 541n of rotary blade 541 where blade surface 541b is not provided is lowered, and the mounting orientation of impeller 70 is adjusted so that the tip of blade 70B is positioned at portion 541n.

[0075] The outer portion Bdo of the downstream side surface Bd is formed so that the approach angle θ1 of the falling ground beans to the blade surface 541b of the rotary blade 541 is an acute angle. The outer portion Bdo may be the outer portion of the rising surface 70B2 on the downstream side in the forward rotation direction, or the outer portion of the connecting surface 70B1 on the downstream side in the forward rotation direction. The approach angle θ1 here is the angle between the outer portion Bdo and a tangent line indicated by a two-dot chain line passing through the outer end Bde of the outer portion Bdo, as shown in FIG. 7 . The tangent line in FIG. 7 is a tangent to the outer end of the outer portion of the rising surface 70B2 on the downstream side in the forward rotation direction. In the case of a tangent to the outer end of the outer portion of the connecting surface 70B1 on the downstream side in the forward rotation direction, the approach angle θ1 will be different, but it will still be an acute angle. The tangent line may be a tangent line to a circle formed by the cascade lines of first blade 701, second blade 702 and third blade 703.

[0076] By making the approach angle θ1 an acute angle, the path of the falling ground beans to the blade surface 541b of the rotary blade 541 gradually narrows. As a result, the ground beans can be concentrated in that path, increasing the ability to guide the beans to the blade surface 541b and further shortening the bean grinding time. In addition, the outer portion Bdo is located upstream in the forward rotation direction, which allows the approach angle θ1 to be an acute angle.

[0077] Figure 8(A) is a perspective view showing a fixed blade 531 in the second grinder unit, a rotary blade 541 facing the fixed blade 531, a rotary shaft 545 that rotates the rotary blade 541, and an impeller 70 fixed to the rotary shaft 545.

[0078] As shown in Figure 8(A), a bean entry gap GB is provided between the inner peripheral edge of the fixed blade 531 and the inner peripheral edge of the rotating blade 541, and the ground beans that fall through the bean drop path 53L head toward the outer periphery of the impeller 70 as described above, and enter between the fixed blade 531 and the rotating blade 541 through the bean entry gap GB.

[0079] 8(B) is a perspective view of the AA cross section in FIG. 8(A), and FIG. 8(C) is a front view of the AA cross section. In both FIG. 8(B) and FIG. 8(C), the cross section is filled in gray.

[0080] 8(B) shows a part of blade surface 531b of fixed blade 531 and a part of blade surface 541b of rotary blade 541. Also shown is bolt 544 threadedly engaged with rotary shaft 545. Furthermore, upper surface 70B3 of blade 70B is also shown. Furthermore, inner peripheral edge 531e of fixed blade 531 and inner peripheral edge 541e of rotary blade 541 are also shown.

[0081] The dashed-dotted line in FIG. 8(C) indicates the highest height position of the blade surface 531b of the fixed blade 531 in the bean entry gap GB. That is, it indicates the height position of the highest point of the inner peripheral edge 531e of the fixed blade 531. On the other hand, the dashed-two-dotted line indicates the lowest height position of the blade surface 541b of the rotary blade 541 in the bean entry gap GB. That is, it indicates the height position of the lowest point of the inner peripheral edge 541e of the rotary blade 541. This lowest height position is below the portion 541o constituting the outer blade, the portion 541i constituting the inner blade, and the portion 541c constituting the crushing blade, all of which were described with reference to FIG. 7. The dotted line indicates the height position of the upper surface 70B3 of the blade 70B. Furthermore, since the top surface 720 of the main body 71 and the top surface 70B3 of the blade 70B are flat and at the same height as described above, the dotted line also indicates the height position of the top surface 720 of the main body 71.

[0082] From the height relationship between the two-dot chain line and the dotted line, it can be seen that the upper surface 70B3 of the blade 70B and the top surface 720 of the main body 71 are higher than the portion 541o constituting the outer blade, the portion 541i constituting the inner blade, and the portion 541c constituting the crushing blade of the rotary blade 541. Furthermore, from the presence of a dotted line between the one-dot chain line and the two-dot chain line, it can be seen that at least a portion of the blade 70B is located within the bean entry gap GB, and that the entire top surface 720 of the main body 71 is located within the bean entry gap GB. Note that the lowest end 70BL of the blade 70B is located below the bean entry gap GB.

[0083] Figure 9 is a diagram showing a modified example of the impeller of the first embodiment shown in Figure 5. In the following explanation, differences from the impeller 70 of the first embodiment shown in Figure 5 will be mainly described, and duplicated explanations will be omitted. Furthermore, components with the same names as components explained so far will be described using the same reference numerals used so far.

[0084] Figure 9(A) shows a modified example in which the height of the impeller 70 is increased. In the impeller 70 of this modified example, the height of the main body 71 is greater than the height of the main body 71 of the impeller 70 shown in Figure 5, and the height of the three blades 70B is also greater. By increasing the height of the main body 71, the gradient of the inclined surface from the upper end to the lower end of the main body 71 becomes greater, making it easier for the falling cracked beans to head toward the outer periphery of the downstream side surface Bd.

[0085] 5, the central hole 710 provided in the top surface 720 of the main body 71 is larger, and the area of ​​the top surface 720 is smaller. The top surface 720 shown in FIG. 9(A) is also the highest point of the impeller 70, the upper end, and is a horizontal surface. The top surface 70B3 of the blade 70B shown in FIG. 9(A) is also a horizontal surface that continues from the top surface 720 of the main body 71.

[0086] Additionally, in impeller 70 shown in Fig. 9(A), the space below top surface 720 is longer in the vertical direction, and each blade 70B divides the space equally in the circumferential direction, and Fig. 9(A) shows first section 731, second section 732, and third section 733. The volumes of first section 731, second section 732, and third section 733 shown in Fig. 9(A) are also equal.

[0087] FIG. 9(B) shows a modified example in which the main body is hat-shaped. The main body 71 in this modified example has a flat, circular bottom surface 712 and a cylindrical portion 713 with a diameter smaller than that of the bottom surface 712. The central hole of the cylindrical portion 713 forms the center hole 710, and the thick surface of the edge defining the center hole 710 forms the top surface 720. The three blades 70B extend outward from the side surface 7131 of the cylindrical portion 713. Therefore, there is no inclined surface from the upper end to the lower end of the main body 71. Therefore, the falling ground beans do not use the inclined surface to move toward the outer periphery of the downstream side surface Bd, but are instead moved toward that outer periphery by centrifugal force.

[0088] 9B, the upper surface 70B3 of the blade 70B is also a horizontal surface continuing from the top surface 720 of the main body 71.

[0089] Additionally, in the impeller 70 shown in Figure 9(B), the space below the top surface 720 is also longer in the vertical direction. This space is the space outside the cylindrical portion 713, and is defined by the side surface 7131 and the bottom surface 712. Each blade 70B divides the space equally in the circumferential direction, and Figure 9(B) also shows a first section 731, a second section 732, and a third section 733, each of which has the same volume.

[0090] Fig. 9(C) shows a modified example in which the number of blades 70B is only two. The main body 71 in this modified example is the same as the tall main body 71 shown in Fig. 9(A), and two blades 70B are formed on the side surface 711 of the main body 71 at 180-degree intervals in the circumferential direction.

[0091] The upper surfaces 70B3 of the two blades 70B shown in FIG. 9(C) are also horizontal surfaces continuing from the top surface 720 of the main body 71.

[0092] Furthermore, these two blades 70B equally divide the space below top surface 720 into two in the circumferential direction, and FIG. 9(C) shows a first section 731 and a second section 732 which have the same volume.

[0093] The number of blades 70B in impeller 70 may be four or more.

[0094] Next, a second embodiment of the impeller will be described. In the following explanation, differences from the impeller 70 of the first embodiment shown in Fig. 5 will be mainly described, and overlapping explanations will be omitted. Furthermore, components with the same names as components described so far will be described using the same reference numerals as used so far.

[0095] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the impeller of the second embodiment.

[0096] In FIG. 10 , the forward rotation direction of the impeller 70 of the second embodiment is indicated by a solid arc-shaped arrow, and the forward rotation direction is counterclockwise. The main body 71 of the impeller 70 shown in FIG. 10 is the same main body as the tall main body 71 shown in FIG. 9(A). The impeller 70 of the second embodiment has three blades 70B formed on a side surface 711 of the main body 71 at 120-degree intervals in the circumferential direction. These three blades 70B also extend from the inside to the outside of the impeller 70 and have an upstream side surface Bu that is upstream in the forward rotation direction and a downstream side surface Bd that is downstream in the forward rotation direction, but their shapes are different from the shape of the blades 70B in the impeller 70 of the first embodiment. Each blade 70B shown in FIG. 10 has a connecting surface 70B1 with the side surface 711 and an inclined surface 70B4 connected to the connecting surface 70B1. FIG. 10 illustrates the downstream side surface Bd of the second blade 702 shown in the front left. The inclined surface 70B4 on the downstream side surface Bd extends obliquely upward from the connecting surface 70B1 toward the downstream side in the forward rotation direction. The tip of this inclined surface 70B4 forms part of the upper end of the blade 70B. A lip portion Br is provided at the upper end of the blade 70B. The lip portion Br is a portion that extends downstream in the forward rotation direction and has a barb-like shape. The upper surface of this lip portion Br forms the upper surface 70B3 of the blade 70B, which is a horizontal surface continuing from the top surface 720 of the main body 71. The top surface 720 shown in FIG. 10 is also the highest point of the impeller 70, the upper end, and is a horizontal surface. The thickness (width) of the top surface 70B3 shown in FIG. 10 narrows toward the outside. The lip portion Br may extend diagonally upward toward the downstream side in the positive rotation direction, may extend horizontally toward the downstream side in the positive rotation direction, or may extend diagonally downward toward the downstream side in the positive rotation direction.

[0097] Also, in the impeller 70 shown in Figure 10, the space below the top surface 720 is divided evenly in the circumferential direction by each blade 70B, and Figure 10 also shows a first section 731, a second section 732, and a third section 733, each of which has the same volume.

[0098] Even if the falling ground beans hit the side surface 711 and bounce up, the lip portion Br is positioned so as to cover them from above, making it easy for the beans to be caught by the lip portion Br. The lip portion Br also prevents the ground beans from escaping upward, increasing the ability to guide the beans to the blade surface 541b of the rotary blade 541 (see FIG. 4(B)).

[0099] 10, the second blade 702 shown in the front left has a boundary 711b between the downstream side surface Bd and the side surface 711 of the main body 71. Also shown is a boundary 70Bb between the connecting surface 70B1 and the inclined surface 70B4 on the downstream side surface Bd.

[0100] Figure 11(A) is a plan view of the impeller shown in Figure 10. In Figure 11(A) as well, the forward rotation direction of the impeller 70 is indicated by a solid arc-shaped arrow, and the forward rotation direction is the counterclockwise direction.

[0101] FIG. 11(A) shows a state in which second blade 702 is at the bottom (6 o'clock position), first blade 701 is at the upper left (10 o'clock position), and third blade 703 is at the upper right (2 o'clock position). From FIG. 11(A), it can be seen that the three blades 70B have the same shape and are evenly spaced at 120-degree intervals in the rotational direction. FIG. 11(A) also shows a first compartment 731, a second compartment 732, and a third compartment 733, which are the result of the space defined by side surface 711 and bottom surface 712 below top surface 720 of main body 71 (toward the back of the page) being divided equally in the circumferential direction by each blade 70B. The first compartment 731, second compartment 732, and third compartment 733 shown in FIG. 11(A) each have the same volume.

[0102] 11(A), most of the downstream side surface Bd is hidden by the upstream side surface Bu, but the hidden portions of the boundaries 711b between the side surface 711 of the main body 71 and the downstream side surfaces Bd of each blade 70B are indicated by dotted lines. Furthermore, the boundaries 70Bb between the connecting surfaces 70B1 of the downstream side surfaces Bd and the inclined surfaces 70B4 are also indicated by dotted lines.

[0103] Each of the three blades 70B of the impeller 70 has a connecting surface 70B1 on the downstream side surface Bd that is curved and convex toward the downstream side in the forward rotation direction. In the third blade 703 shown in the upper right of FIG. 11(A), the center line of the uncurved, straight blade in the thickness direction is represented by a two-dot chain imaginary line. As indicated by the dotted arrows perpendicular to the two-dot chain imaginary line, each of the three blades 70B of the impeller 70 has a connecting surface 70B1 on the downstream side surface Bd that is curved and convex toward the downstream side in the forward rotation direction. Another perspective will now be described. While the same applies to each of the three blades 70B of the impeller 70, for clarity of illustration, the following description will be given using the second blade 702 shown below instead of the third blade 703 used previously. In the second blade 702 shown in Fig. 11(A), a tangent line passing through the base of the second blade 702 is represented by a dashed line, and dotted arrows are perpendicular to the dashed line tangent line. Using the dotted arrows as a reference, each of the three blades 70B of the impeller 70 can be said to be formed in a shape that curves upstream toward the tip, as indicated by the dashed line arrows of the second blade 702 shown in Fig. 11(A). The curved shape referred to here may be an involute curve, a cycloid curve, or an Archimedean spiral.

[0104] The outer specific portion Blo of the connecting surface 70B1 on the downstream side surface Bd is formed so that the approach angle θ2 of the falling ground beans to the blade surface 541b of the rotary blade 541 (see FIG. 4B) is an acute angle. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11A, the approach angle θ2 is the angle between the outer specific portion Blo and a tangent line indicated by a dashed dotted line passing through the position of the outer end Ble of the outer specific portion Blo. The tangent line in FIGS. 10 and 11A is a tangent to the outer end of the upper edge (corresponding to the boundary 70Bb) of the connecting surface 70B1 on the downstream side surface Bd. Note that the tangent line may also be a tangent to the outer end of the lower edge (corresponding to the boundary 711b) of the connecting surface 70B1 on the downstream side surface Bd. In this case, the approach angle θ2 will change, but it will still be an acute angle.

[0105] Furthermore, in the impeller 70 of the second embodiment, the outer specific portion Blo is positioned upstream in the forward rotation direction.

[0106] Figure 11(B) is a side view of the impeller shown in Figure 11(A). This side view is a side view seen from the direction of the outline arrow shown in Figure 11(A). That is, in the side view of Figure 11(B), the second blade 702 is located in the front, closer to the left, the first blade 701 is located in the rear left, and the third blade 703 is located in the rear right.

[0107] The curved shape of side surface 711 of main body 71 is represented by a curve (the curve from which the leader line of 711 is drawn) shown between first blade 701 and second blade 702 in Fig. 11(B). This curve slopes outward as it extends downward from the upper end to the lower end of main body 71. Furthermore, boundaries 711b between side surface 711 of main body 71 and each blade 70B are also represented by curves.

[0108] 11(B) also shows that the upper surface 70B3 of each blade 70B is a horizontal surface. Furthermore, a first section 731 and a second section 732 are also shown.

[0109] The connecting surface 70B1 on the downstream side surface Bd described above corresponds to an example of a downstream side surface specifying portion, and the outer specified portion Blo corresponds to an example of an outer portion of the downstream side surface specifying portion.

[0110] Next, a description will be given of modifications of the impeller of the second embodiment shown in Fig. 10. In the following description, differences from the impeller 70 of the second embodiment shown in Fig. 10 will be mainly described, and overlapping descriptions will be omitted. Furthermore, components with the same names as components described so far will be described using the same reference numerals as used so far.

[0111] FIG. 12(A) shows a modification in which the main body of the impeller of the second embodiment is hat-shaped. The main body 71 of this modification has the same configuration as the main body 71 of the modification shown in FIG. 9(B), and has a flat, circular bottom surface 712 and a cylindrical portion 713 with a diameter smaller than that of the bottom surface 712. This main body 71 does not have a slope from its upper end to its lower end. The central hole of the cylindrical portion 713 forms the center hole 710, and the thick surface of the edge defining the center hole 710 forms the top surface 720. Three blades 70B, each with a lip portion Br at its upper end, extend outward from a side surface 7131 of the cylindrical portion 713.

[0112] 12(A) is also a horizontal surface continuing from the top surface 720 of the main body 71. As shown in FIG.

[0113] Furthermore, in the impeller 70 shown in Fig. 12(A), the space below the top surface 720 is the space outside the cylindrical portion 713, and is defined by the side surface 7131 and the bottom surface 712. Each blade 70B divides the space evenly in the circumferential direction, and Fig. 12(A) shows a first section 731, a second section 732, and a third section 733, each of which has the same volume.

[0114] 12(B) shows a modification of the second embodiment in which the number of blades in the impeller is reduced to two. In this modification, two blades 70B are formed on the side surface 711 of the main body 71 at 180-degree intervals in the circumferential direction. A lip portion Br is provided at the upper end of each of the two blades 70B.

[0115] The upper surfaces 70B3 of the two blades 70B shown in FIG. 12(B) are also horizontal surfaces continuing from the top surface 720 of the main body 71.

[0116] Furthermore, these two blades 70B equally divide the space below top surface 720 into two in the circumferential direction, and FIG. 12(B) shows a first section 731 and a second section 732 which have the same volume.

[0117] FIG. 12C is a diagram showing another example.

[0118] FIG. 12(C) shows a rotor 80, instead of the impeller 70, that is fixed together with the rotary blade 541 to a rotation shaft that passes through the center of the rotary blade 541. The rotor 80 is provided with a main body 81 having the same configuration as the main body 71 of the impeller 70 of the first embodiment. That is, the main body 81 has a curved side surface 811 that gradually widens outward as it approaches downward. The main body 81 of the alternative example shown in FIG. 12(C) does not have blades on its side surface 811. The ground beans that fall onto the rotor 80 are guided to the blade surface 541b of the rotary blade 541 (see FIG. 4(B)) by centrifugal force and the inclined surface from the upper end to the lower end of the main body 81. The main body 81 may also be a truncated cone whose side surface 811 is made of a flat surface.

[0119] As described above, the impeller 70 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the impeller 70 of the modified first embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the impeller 70 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 10, and the impeller 70 of the modified second embodiment shown in FIG. 12 all have the same shape for the multiple blades 70B. However, blades of different shapes may be combined while considering rotational balance. For example, blades with and without lip portions Br may be combined, or blades of different heights may be combined. To consider rotational balance, holes may be drilled or weights may be added to make the mass of each blade uniform. Alternatively, rotational balance can be achieved by arranging blades of different shapes evenly in the rotational direction. For example, blades with lip portions Br may be provided at the 0-degree and 180-degree positions, and blades without lip portions Br may be provided at the 90-degree and 270-degree positions.

[0120] Furthermore, the number of blades 70B is not limited to three or two, but may be four or more.

[0121] Furthermore, as explained using FIG. 8(C), the lowest ends 70BL of all of the blades 70B were positioned below the bean entry gap GB, but the lowest ends 70BL of some or all of the blades 70B may be positioned at a height equal to or higher than the inner peripheral edge 541e of the rotary blade 541 (see FIG. 8(B)). In other words, the lowest ends 70BL of some or all of the blades 70B may be arranged to fit within the bean entry gap GB. As an example, the lowest ends 70BL of some or all of the blades 70B may be arranged to coincide with the height of the inner peripheral edge 541e of the rotary blade 541 over the entire circumference, or may be arranged to coincide at some points.

[0122] In addition, the height of the impeller and the shape of the top surface may be changed. In the following description, components having the same names as those described above will be denoted by the same reference numerals as those used above.

[0123] Fig. 13 shows several examples in which the height of the impeller and the shape of the top surface are changed. Fig. 13 shows top surface 720 of main body 71 and upper surface 70B3 of impeller 70B. Furthermore, the side with center hole 710 is the inside, and the sides with fixed blade 531 and rotary blade 541 are the outside.

[0124] FIG. 13(A) is a diagram schematically showing the height relationship between the fixed blade 531, the rotary blade 541, and the impeller 70 shown in FIG. 8(C).

[0125] The two-dot chain line in Fig. 13(A), like the two-dot chain line in Fig. 8(C), indicates the height position of the lowest point of the inner peripheral edge 541e of the rotary blade 541. On the other hand, the one-dot chain line in Fig. 13(A), unlike the one-dot chain line in Fig. 8(C), indicates the height position of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541 (the same applies to Figs. 13(B) to 13(D)). Note that the height of the outer peripheral edge 544 of the rotary blade 541 is uniform in the circumferential direction. The outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541 is higher than the inner peripheral edge 541e. Furthermore, in Fig. 13(A), the dotted line indicates the intermediate height position between the height position of the lowest point of the inner peripheral edge 541e of the rotary blade 541 and the height position of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541.

[0126] The upper surface 70B3 of the blade 70B shown in FIG. 13(A) is a horizontal surface continuing from the flat top surface 720 of the main body 71. Therefore, the top surface 720 of the main body 71 and the upper surface 70B3 of the blade 70B are at the same height on the inside and outside. Furthermore, the top surface 720 of the main body 71 and the upper surface 70B3 of the blade 70B are at the same height as the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541. Therefore, the upper surface 70B3 of the blade 70B shown in FIG. 13(A) is higher than the intermediate height position indicated by the dotted line. Note that the upper surface 70B3 of the blade 70B may be lower than the height position of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541 but higher than the intermediate height position indicated by the dotted line.

[0127] As shown by the dashed dotted line in FIG. 5, even if the falling coffee beans bounce off side surface 711d and rise to a considerable height, because blade 70B shown in FIG. 13(A) is higher than the intermediate height position indicated by the dotted line, the bouncing coffee beans hit blade 70B and remain within the section where they fall, and are immediately guided to blade surface 541b of rotary blade 541.

[0128] Figure 13(B) is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the height relationship between the fixed blade 531, the rotary blade 541, and the height-increased impeller 70 shown in Figures 9, 10, 12(A), and 12(B).

[0129] 13(B) is also a horizontal plane continuing from the flat top surface 720 of the main body 71, and the top surface 720 of the main body 71 and the top surface 70B3 of the blade 70B are at the same height on the inside and outside. Both the top surface 720 of the main body 71 and the top surface 70B3 of the blade 70B are higher than the height position of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541, which is indicated by the dashed dotted line. Note that the top surface 70B3 of the blade 70B is lower than the height position of the lowest point of the inner peripheral edge 531e of the fixed blade 531.

[0130] Even if the falling coffee beans bounce off the side surface 711d and rise to a considerable height, the blades 70B shown in FIG. 13(B) are higher than the height of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541, so the bouncing coffee beans are more likely to hit the blades 70B.

[0131] Figure 13(C) is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the height relationship between the fixed blade 531, the rotary blade 541, and the impeller 70 in which the top surface 720 of the main body 71 is curved and the upper surfaces 70B3 of the blades 70B are inclined upward as they extend outward.

[0132] The top surface 720 of the main body 71 shown in FIG. 13(C) is not flat, but is a curved surface formed from a portion of a sphere, and is gradually lowered toward the outside (toward the blades 70B). The top surface 720 of the main body 71 may be a sloped surface with a pointed center instead of a curved surface. The top surfaces 70B3 of the blades 70B are flat surfaces that are connected to the curved top surface 720 and are gradually lowered toward the outside. Therefore, the top surfaces 720 of the main body 71 and the top surfaces 70B3 of the blades 70B are at different heights on the inside and outside. Even at the innermost point (the point where the top surface 720 is connected to the top surface 720), the top surface 70B3 of the blades 70B is higher than the height of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541, as indicated by the dashed dotted line.

[0133] Even if the falling coffee beans bounce off the side surface 711d and rise to a considerable height, the blades 70B shown in FIG. 13(C) are also higher than the height of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541, so the bouncing coffee beans are more likely to hit the blades 70B.

[0134] 13(A), 13(B), and 13(C) all have upper surfaces 70B3 that are at or above the height of outer peripheral edges 541f of rotary blades 541. As a result, the height of upper surfaces 70B3 of blades 70B becomes uniform, and falling coffee beans are less likely to go over blades 70B even if they bounce off side surfaces 711d.

[0135] However, in the blade 70B in FIG. 13(C), the upper surface 70B3 may be lower than the height position of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541 at the innermost part and higher than the height position at the outermost part.

[0136] However, the upper surface 70B3 of the blade 70B in FIG. 13(C) may be lower than the height position of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541 at the innermost part and higher than the height position at the outermost part.

[0137] Figure 13(D) is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the height relationship between the fixed blade 531, the rotary blade 541, and the impeller 70, in which the top surface 720 of the main body 71 is an inclined surface and the upper surfaces 70B3 of the blades 70B are inclined downward as they move outward.

[0138] The top surface 720 of the main body 71 shown in FIG. 13(D) is not a horizontal surface, but a flat surface that becomes higher toward the outside (toward the blades 70B). The top surfaces 70B3 of the blades 70B are flat surfaces that are connected to the top surface 720 and slope downward toward the outside. Therefore, the top surface 720 of the main body 71 and the top surfaces 70B3 of the blades 70B have different heights on the inside and outside. Even at the outermost point, the top surface 70B3 of the blades 70B is higher than the height of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541, as indicated by the dashed dotted line. Therefore, the blades 70B in FIG. 13(D) are also higher than the height of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541 at all points on the top surface 70B3.

[0139] Even if the falling coffee beans bounce off the side surface 711d and rise to a considerable height, the blades 70B shown in FIG. 13(D) are also higher than the height of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541, so the bouncing coffee beans are more likely to hit the blades 70B.

[0140] However, in the blade 70B in FIG. 13(D), the upper surface 70B3 may be higher than the height position of the outer peripheral edge 541f of the rotary blade 541 at the innermost part and lower than the height position at the outermost part.

[0141] Although the upper surface 70B3 of each blade 70B of the impeller 70 shown in FIGS. 13(A) to 13(D) is a flat surface, it may be a curved surface.

[0142] 13(A) to 13(D) can be fixed in place in various ways. For example, the impeller 70 may be fixed by a male screw and a female screw that are threaded in the opposite direction to the forward rotation direction, which is the same as the predetermined rotation direction in which the rotary blade 541 grinds the coffee beans. More specifically, the bottom surface of the impeller 70 may be male-threaded and the rotary base 543 shown in FIG. 4 may be female-threaded, or conversely, the bottom surface of the impeller 70 may be female-threaded and the rotary base 543 may be male-threaded. Alternatively, the impeller 70 may be fixed by a D-cut or by a hexagon socket set screw.

[0143] Next, an example of a coffee beverage producing apparatus, which is another embodiment of the coffee machine of the present invention, will be described.

[0144] FIG. 14(A) is a perspective view showing the appearance of a coffee beverage preparation apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0145] The coffee beverage production apparatus CM shown in Figure 14(A) 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 in one production run. The raw material, roasted coffee beans, can be stored in a canister C40. A cup mounting section C92 is provided at the bottom of the coffee beverage production apparatus CM, and the produced coffee beverage is poured into the cup from a pouring section C91.

[0146] The coffee beverage production apparatus CM is provided with a housing C10 that forms its exterior and encloses the internal mechanism. The housing C10 is broadly divided into a main body C11 and a cover C12 that covers part of the front and part of the side of the coffee beverage production apparatus CM. An information display device C13 is provided on the cover C12. The information display device C13 shown in Fig. 14(A) is a touch panel display that is capable of displaying various types of information and also accepting input from the apparatus manager and beverage consumers. The information display device C13 is also provided with a speaker and a camera.

[0147] A control device C14 is attached to the back of the information display device C13. The control device C14 controls the entire coffee beverage production device CM. The control device C14 has the same configuration as the control device 11 of the coffee bean grinder GM. That is, the control device C14 includes a processing unit which is a processor such as a CPU, a storage unit such as RAM or ROM in which recipes are stored, and an I / F unit which is capable of data communication with external terminals such as a server or mobile terminal 17. The processing unit executes programs stored in the storage unit and controls various actuators of the coffee beverage production device CM (e.g., motors, solenoid valves, heaters, etc.) based on instructions from the information display device C13, detection results of various sensors provided in the coffee beverage production device CM (e.g., hot water temperature sensors, mechanism operating position detection sensors, pressure sensors, etc.), or instructions from the server.

[0148] 14(A) is made of a light-transmitting material such as acrylic or glass, and forms a transparent cover with the entire cover being a translucent portion. The cover C12 can be opened and closed freely relative to the main body C11. Some mechanisms of the manufacturing department are disposed between the main body C11 and the cover C12, and the user can see the mechanisms through the cover C12.

[0149] 14(B) is a partial front view of the coffee beverage production machine CM, showing part of the production section that is visible to the user when viewed from the front of the coffee beverage production machine CM. The cover section C12 and the information display device C13 are shown in imaginary lines.

[0150] Some of the mechanisms of the manufacturing unit that can be seen by the user through the cover C12 include the collecting and conveying unit C42, the first grinder unit C51, the second grinder unit C52, the separating device C60, the drive unit C80, the extraction container C90, etc. A rectangular recess C11a recessed toward the back side is formed in the front part of the main body C11, and the extraction container C90, etc. are located at the back side of this recess C11a.

[0151] The roasted coffee beans contained in the canister C40 are sent to the collecting and conveying section C42. The collecting and conveying section C42 is made up of a hollow member and forms a conveying path for the roasted coffee beans to the first grinder unit C51. The roasted coffee beans move inside the collecting and conveying section C42 by their own weight and flow down into the first grinder unit C51.

[0152] The first grinder unit C51 has a configuration similar to the first grinder unit TM shown in FIG. 3(A) and crushes roasted coffee beans to a certain size (for example, about 1 / 4 of their original size) to produce ground coffee beans. The separator C60 has a configuration similar to the separator 6 of the coffee bean grinder GM. The second grinder unit C52 has a configuration similar to the second grinder unit MM shown in FIG. 4 and includes a fixed blade unit C521 and a rotary blade unit C522. The fixed blade unit C521 is equipped with a fixed blade having a through hole, and a bean drop path partially formed by the through hole is provided. The rotary blade unit C522 is equipped with a rotary blade, and an impeller identical to the impeller 70 described using FIG. 5 is inserted into a rotary shaft that rotates the rotary blade and is fixed to the rotary shaft together with the rotary blade with bolts. As a result, ground beans passing through the bean drop path provided in the fixed blade unit C521 fall onto the bolt and impeller, where they are guided to the blade surface of the rotary blade by the impeller rotating in the forward direction, and are crushed into powder as they are sandwiched between the blade surface of the rotary blade and the blade surface of the fixed blade. The crushed ground beans are then fed into the extraction vessel C90 through the chute C523. Hot water is supplied to the extraction vessel C90 from a fluid supply unit (not shown), and coffee liquid is extracted from the ground beans in the extraction vessel C90. The coffee liquid extraction process involves immersion extraction and permeation extraction. The extraction vessel C90 is flipped upside down from an upright position to an inverted position by the drive unit C80 between immersion extraction and permeation extraction. Permeation extraction is performed with the extraction vessel C90 in the inverted position, and the hot water containing the extracted coffee liquid is delivered to a cup from the pouring part C91.

[0153] According to the above description, "An upper blade (for example, a fixed blade 531) having a first blade (for example, a blade surface 531b) formed downward around a through hole (for example, a through hole 5310), A lower blade (e.g., rotary blade 541) is disposed opposite the upper blade and has a second blade (e.g., blade surface 541b) facing upward; a drive unit (e.g., a second motor 540M) that rotates the lower blade in a predetermined rotation direction (e.g., a counterclockwise direction), A coffee machine (e.g., a coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 1 or a coffee beverage production apparatus CM shown in FIG. 14 ) in which coffee beans that have been introduced through the through-hole and fallen onto the lower blade are ground between the first blade and the second blade by the drive unit rotating the lower blade in the predetermined rotation direction, The lower blade is provided with an impeller (e.g., impeller 70) having a plurality of blades (e.g., blade 70B) at a position where the coffee beans dropped through the through-holes fall, The impeller guides the coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade to the second blade by rotating in the same forward rotation direction (e.g., counterclockwise) as the predetermined rotation direction, The second blade is located outside the impeller, Each of the plurality of blades extends outward from the upper end of the inner periphery of the impeller [e.g., top surface 720], and the space below the upper end is divided equally in the circumferential direction [e.g., into a first section 731, a second section 732, and a third section 733]. He also explained.

[0154] In this coffee machine, each of the multiple blades extends outward from the upper end of the inner periphery of the impeller, dividing the space below the upper end into equal circumferential sections. Therefore, coffee beans that fall onto the lower blade are distributed into one of the sections (e.g., first section 731, second section 732, or third section 733) by the blades, resulting in a moderately uniform dispersion. Furthermore, even if the coffee beans that fall onto the lower blade bounce off the point where they land, they are likely to strike the high blades and remain within the section where they landed, maintaining the moderate dispersion state they had at the time of landing. They are then quickly guided to the second blade. As a result, the coffee beans can be efficiently guided to the second blade while being moderately uniformly dispersed, thereby shortening the bean grinding time.

[0155] Also, "The second blade has an outer circumferential side higher than an inner circumferential side of the second blade, A coffee machine characterized in that all of the upper surfaces [e.g., upper surface 70B3] connected to the upper end portion [e.g., top surface 720] of each of the plurality of blades are higher [e.g., blade 70B shown in each of Figures 13(A) to 13(D)] than the intermediate position [e.g., the height position shown by the dotted line in Figure 13(A)] between the inner circumferential side and the outer circumferential side of the second blade. He also explained.

[0156] According to this coffee machine, the blades are higher than the intermediate position, and the coffee beans are distributed within each compartment to be dispersed moderately and uniformly, so that even if the beans bounce off the point where they fall, they are more likely to hit the blades, thereby more reliably maintaining the moderate dispersion state at the point where they fall.

[0157] Also, "The second blade has an outer circumferential side higher than an inner circumferential side of the second blade, A coffee machine characterized in that all of the upper surfaces [e.g., upper surface 70B3] connected to the upper end portion [e.g., top surface 720] of each of the plurality of blades are at or above the height of the outer periphery of the second blade [e.g., the height shown by the dashed dotted line in Figures 13(A) to 13(D)] [e.g., blade 70B shown in each of Figures 13(A) to 13(D)]. He also explained.

[0158] According to this coffee machine, the blades are at least as high as the outer periphery of the second blade, and the coffee beans are distributed within each compartment to be dispersed moderately and evenly, so that even if they bounce off at the point where they fall, they are more likely to hit the blades, thereby more reliably maintaining the moderate dispersion state at the point where they fall.

[0159] Also, "A coffee machine characterized in that the upper surface (e.g., upper surface 70B3) of each of the plurality of blades is at the same height on the inside and outside (e.g., blade 70B shown in Figures 13(A) and 13(B)). He also explained.

[0160] With this coffee machine, the height of the upper surface of the blades is uniform, so that even if coffee beans that fall onto the lower blade bounce off the point where they land, they are less likely to go over the blades. As a result, the coffee beans can be kept within the compartment defined by the blades, making it easier to maintain an appropriate dispersion state at the time of landing.

[0161] Also, "The impeller has a flat or curved side surface [e.g., side surface 711] that gradually widens outward as it extends downward from the upper end portion, The plurality of blades [e.g., blade 70B] are formed on the side surface. He also explained.

[0162] According to this coffee machine, the side surface of the coffee bean is more likely to be guided by the second blade within the compartment at the point of fall, which is advantageous.

[0163] Also, Each of the plurality of blades [e.g., blade 70B] is an outer portion (e.g., outer portion Bdo) of a downstream side surface (e.g., downstream side surface Bd) that is downstream in the forward rotation direction is formed so that the approach angle (e.g., approach angle θ1 shown in FIG. 7 ) of coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade to the second blade is an acute angle, The coffee machine is characterized in that the downstream side surface [for example, the downstream side surface Bd] is formed in a curved shape that is convex downstream in the forward rotation direction. He also explained.

[0164] According to this coffee machine, by gradually narrowing the path leading to the second blade, the movement of the coffee beans is suppressed, making it easier to guide the beans to the second blade, thereby further shortening the bean grinding time.

[0165] Furthermore, according to the above description, "An upper blade (for example, a fixed blade 531) having a first blade (for example, a blade surface 531b) formed downward around a through hole (for example, a through hole 5310), A lower blade (e.g., rotary blade 541) is disposed opposite the upper blade and has a second blade (e.g., blade surface 541b) facing upward; a drive unit (e.g., a second motor 540M) that rotates the lower blade in a predetermined rotation direction (e.g., a counterclockwise direction), A coffee machine (e.g., a coffee bean grinder GM shown in FIG. 1 or a coffee beverage production apparatus CM shown in FIG. 14 ) in which coffee beans that have been introduced through the through-hole and fallen onto the lower blade are ground between the first blade and the second blade by the drive unit rotating the lower blade in the predetermined rotation direction, The lower blade is provided with an impeller (e.g., impeller 70) having a plurality of blades (e.g., blade 70B) at a position where the coffee beans dropped through the through-holes fall, The impeller guides the coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade to the second blade by rotating in the same forward rotation direction (e.g., counterclockwise) as the predetermined rotation direction of the lower blade. He explained about:

[0166] According to this coffee machine, coffee beans that fall onto the lower blade are guided to the second blade as the impeller rotates in the forward direction, thereby shortening the time that the fallen coffee beans remain trapped and shortening the time it takes to grind the beans.

[0167] The impeller may guide the coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade to the second blade by centrifugal force generated by rotating in the same forward rotation direction as the predetermined rotation direction of the lower blade. Alternatively, the impeller may guide the coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade along the side surfaces of the plurality of blades to the second blade by rotating in the same forward rotation direction as the predetermined rotation direction of the lower blade.

[0168] Also, "The impeller [e.g., impeller 70] has a plurality of blades each extending from the inside to the outside of the impeller, The second blade (for example, blade surface 541b) is located outside the impeller, A coffee machine characterized in that each of the plurality of blades has an outer portion (e.g., outer portion Bdo) of a downstream side surface (e.g., downstream side surface Bd) that is downstream in the forward rotation direction, formed so that the approach angle (e.g., approach angle θ1 shown in Figure 7) of coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade to the second blade is an acute angle. He also explained.

[0169] By making the approach angle an acute angle, the path of the coffee beans to the second blade gradually narrows, suppressing the coffee beans from bouncing and increasing the ability to guide the coffee beans to the second blade, thereby further shortening the bean grinding time.

[0170] The outer portion of each of the plurality of blades may extend upstream in the forward rotation direction.

[0171] The approach angle is the angle between a tangent line (e.g., a tangent line shown by a two-dot chain line in Figure 7) passing through the position of the outer end (e.g., outer end Bde) of the outer portion (e.g., outer portion Bdo) and the outer portion (e.g., outer portion Bdo).

[0172] Also, "The coffee machine is characterized in that the downstream side surface (e.g., the entire downstream side surface Bd) of each of the plurality of blades is formed in a curved shape that is convex downstream in the forward rotation direction." He also explained.

[0173] Such a shape of the downstream side surface allows the coffee beans to be smoothly guided to the second blade, reducing damage to the coffee beans.

[0174] The curved shape referred to here may be the shape of an involute curve, the shape of a cycloid curve, or the shape of an Archimedean spiral.

[0175] Also, "The impeller has a plurality of blades each extending from the inside to the outside of the impeller, The second blade is located outside the impeller, Each of the plurality of blades includes: The upper end portion has a lip portion (for example, lip portion Br) extending downstream in the forward rotation direction, A coffee machine characterized in that an outer portion [e.g., outer specified portion Blo] of a downstream side surface specified portion [e.g., connecting surface 70B1] that is lower than the upper end portion of a downstream side surface [e.g., downstream side surface Bd] that is downstream in the forward rotation direction is formed so that the approach angle [e.g., approach angle θ2 shown in Figures 10 and 11(A)] of coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade to the second blade is an acute angle. He also explained.

[0176] Even if coffee beans that fall onto the lower blade while the lower blade is rotating in the forward direction bounce up due to the force of the fall, they are easily caught by the lip portion. The lip portion also prevents the coffee beans from escaping upward, which is advantageous because it increases the ability to guide the beans. Furthermore, even in this coffee machine, the acute approach angle gradually narrows the path of the coffee beans toward the second blade, suppressing the coffee beans from bouncing around and increasing the ability to guide the beans toward the second blade, further shortening the bean grinding time.

[0177] The downstream side surface specifying portion may be located below the upper end portion, and is not limited to the lower portion.

[0178] Furthermore, the outer portion (for example, the outer specific portion Blo) of each of the plurality of blades may be positioned upstream in the forward rotation direction.

[0179] Furthermore, the approach angle is the angle between a tangent line (e.g., a tangent line shown by a dashed line in Figures 10 and 11(A)) passing through the position of the outer end (e.g., outer end Ble) of the outer portion (e.g., outer specific portion Blo) and the outer portion (e.g., outer specific portion Blo).

[0180] Also, "A coffee machine characterized in that the downstream side specific portion (e.g., connecting surface 70B1) of each of the plurality of blades is formed in a curved shape that is convex toward the downstream side in the forward rotation direction." He also explained.

[0181] By having such a shape of the downstream side particular portion, the coffee beans can be smoothly guided to the second blade, and damage to the coffee beans is reduced.

[0182] The curved shape referred to here may be the shape of an involute curve, the shape of a cycloid curve, or the shape of an Archimedean spiral.

[0183] Also, "The impeller is provided with a main body portion (e.g., main body portion 71) having a flat or curved side surface (e.g., side surface 711) that gradually widens outward as it goes downward, The plurality of blades [e.g., blade 70B] are formed on the side surface. He also explained.

[0184] Preferably, the plurality of blades can guide the coffee beans outward before they are guided to the second blade.

[0185] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and examples, and these contents can 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 used in this specification are used merely 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 "section" may be replaced with "unit," "module," etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0186] MM 2nd grinder unit 53 Fixed blade unit 5310 Through hole 531 Fixed blade 531b Blade surface 54 Rotary blade unit 541 Rotary Blade 541b Blade surface 540M Second Motor 70 Impeller 71 Main body 720 Top 711 Side 70B Feather 70B3 top surface 701 First feather 702 Second Feather 703 Third Feather 731 Section 1 732 Section 2 733 Section 3 Bd Downstream side 70B1 Connection surface 70B1 Bdo,Blo outer part Br Lip θ1, θ2 Approach angle GM coffee bean grinder CM Coffee beverage manufacturing equipment

Claims

1. an upper blade having a first blade formed downward around the through hole; a lower blade disposed opposite the upper blade and having a second blade formed facing upward; a drive unit that rotates the lower blade in a predetermined rotation direction, The coffee machine grinds coffee beans that have been introduced through the through-hole and dropped onto the lower blade between the first blade and the second blade by the drive unit rotating the lower blade in the predetermined rotation direction, The lower blade includes an impeller having a plurality of blades at a position where the coffee beans dropped through the through-holes fall, the impeller rotates in the same forward rotation direction as the predetermined rotation direction to guide the coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade to the second blade, The second blade is located outside the impeller, Each of the plurality of blades extends outward from an upper end portion on an inner circumferential side of the impeller, and divides a space below the upper end portion into equal portions in the circumferential direction, the second blade has an outer circumferential side higher than an inner circumferential side of the second blade, A coffee machine characterized in that all of the upper surfaces of each of the plurality of blades connected to the upper end portion are higher than the midpoint between the inner and outer circumferential sides of the second blade.

2. Coffee machine according to claim 1, A coffee machine characterized in that all of the upper surfaces of each of the plurality of blades connected to the upper end portion are at a height equal to or higher than the height of the outer circumferential side of the second blade.

3. Coffee machine according to claim 1 or 2, A coffee machine characterized in that the upper surface of each of the plurality of blades is at the same height on the inside and outside.

4. Coffee machine according to claim 3, The impeller has a flat or curved side surface that gradually widens outward as it extends downward from the upper end portion, A coffee machine characterized in that the plurality of blades are formed on the side surface.

5. Coffee machine according to claim 4, Each of the plurality of blades includes: an outer portion of the downstream side surface, which is located downstream in the forward rotation direction, is formed so that the angle of entry of coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade into the second blade is an acute angle; The coffee machine according to claim 1, wherein the downstream side surface is formed in a curved shape that is convex toward the downstream side in the forward rotation direction.

6. Coffee machine according to claim 1 or 2, Each of the plurality of blades includes: an outer portion of the downstream side surface, which is located downstream in the forward rotation direction, is formed so that the angle of entry of coffee beans that have fallen onto the lower blade into the second blade is an acute angle; The coffee machine according to claim 1, wherein the downstream side surface is formed in a curved shape that is convex toward the downstream side in the forward rotation direction.

Images