Patent Application
20200300549
The present application claims priority from Taiwanese Patent Application Serial Number 108203312, filed Mar. 19, 2019 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present invention relates to an assembled material tube structure capable of heating and cooling in segmentations.
Generally, the integral structure and manufacturing principle of cold (drinks) foods supplying machines and hot (drinks) foods supplying machines which are commercially available are not consistent. Therefore, these machines cannot be used interchangeably; that is, the same machine cannot serve two purposes, which is the major disadvantage of the machines.
For example, in R.O.C. Utility Model Patent No. M332382 “EVAPORATOR OF ICE-PRODUCT MANUFACTURING MACHINE” published on 21 May 2008, it discloses that: an annular entity having a central hole formed thereto, in which a hollow interval is formed internally in the annular entity, the annular entity has two sides thereof respectively provided with a refrigerant outlet and a refrigerant inlet, and the refrigerant outlet and the refrigerant inlet are in communication with the interval; accordingly, a refrigerant is enabled to flow in the interval and perform more efficient cold and thermal conductions and exchanges with an ice bucket placed in an internal cylinder directly via a cylinder wall of the internal cylinder, thereby increasing the freezing effect on iced products in the ice bucket.
The prior invention enables cold and thermal conductions and exchanges to occur with a large area of the ice bucket directly via the cylinder wall of the internal cylinder; therefore, the cold conductions is effective. However, because a hollow interval is formed internally in the annular entity, once applied to hot foods manufacturing, the hollow space forms an insulated region for heat sources (equivalent to a thermal insulation pot structure for thermal insulation in vacuum), which does not enable heating on hot foods by thermal conductions and therefore cannot be used to make hot (drinks) foods. Further, the prior invention cannot perform heating or cooling in segmentations according to the actual temperature changes and requirements for cold (drinks) foods.
In addition, in R.O.C. Utility Model Patent No. M500228 “MULTIFUNCTIONAL PROCESSING MACHINE” published on 1 May 2015, it discloses that: comprising: a machine body having internally a material storage tank and a processing tank, wherein a feeding port is present between the material storage tank and the processing tank, and a raw material stored in the material storage tank is output to the processing tank via the feeding port after stirring; a refrigerant refrigeration device provided internally in the machine body and covering over the processing tank, wherein the refrigerant refrigeration device is capable of reducing a temperature in the processing tank after being driven, so as to perform refrigeration processing on the raw material in the processing tank; an annular heating device provided internally in the machine body and covering over the processing tank, wherein the annular heating device is capable of increasing a temperature in the processing tank after being driven, so as to perform heating processing on the raw material in the processing tank; a discharge tube connected to the machine body, wherein a processing tank port is present between the discharge tube and the processing tank, and after the raw material in the processing tank is processed into a product, the product is output to an external portion of the machine body via the processing tank port and a discharge port of the discharge tube; a discharge rod connected to the machine body, wherein the discharge rod is controlled to enable the processing tank port to be closed or opened, when the processing tank port is opened, the discharge tube is in communication with the processing tank so as to enable the product to be output out of the machine body; and a heat dissipation device provided internally in the machine body for dissipating heat in the machine body.
Although the prior invention is a multifunctional processor capable of performing cooling or heating, the outer wall of the processing tank in the prior invention has a plurality of semi-circular concave portions formed thereon for refrigerant tubes of the refrigerant refrigeration device to be embedded; since there are only semi-circular contact surfaces present between the refrigerant tubes and the concave portions, the efficiency of thermal exchanges is poor due to the small contact areas therebetween. Moreover, the heating device only covers he periphery of the processing tank, which cannot perform heating in segmentations on the processing tank. Therefore, the prior invention cannot perform heating or cooling in segmentations according to the actual temperature changes and requirements for cold (drinks) foods, subsequently causing the use to be far from ideal.
In light of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the currently available cold and hot (drinks) foods supplying machine, the present invention provides an assembled material tube of hot and cold foods supplying machine, including a plurality of material tube bodies, wherein each of the material tube bodies is respectively and internally provided with a penetrating feed channel; each of the material tube bodies has a path circularly provided around the feed channel thereof, wherein each of the paths has two ends thereof respectively formed into an inlet and an outlet, so as to respectively correspond to input and output of a working fluid; a plurality of heating units corresponding to a quantity of the material tube bodies and fixed to the material tube bodies respectively; the material tube bodies are mutually and serially connected in assembly, such that each of the feed channels are mutually communicated; the path of each material tube body enables the working fluid to flow therethrough and the feed channel is configured to be heated by a corresponding one of the heating units, so as to enable each of the material tube bodies serially connected in assembly to use the working fluid for reducing temperature and the heating unit for heating.
Preferably, each of the material tube bodies is provided with a temperature measurement unit, wherein the temperature measurement unit is provided with a detecting end, and the detecting end is correspondingly extended into the feed channel so as to detect a temperature in the feed channel.
Preferably, each of the material tube bodies has a surface provided with a first fixing hole, wherein the first fixing hole penetrates into the feed channel, and the temperature measurement unit is fixed in the first fixing hole.
Preferably, the temperature measurement unit is a contact-type thermal sensor.
Preferably, each of the material tube bodies has a surface provided with a second fixing hole, wherein the heating unit is fixed in the second fixing hole.
Preferably, the path of each material tube body is encompassingly provided in a reciprocal and circuitous manner in a wall around the feed channel and along an axial direction of the feed channel.
Preferably, each of the material tube bodies has at least one end thereof being provided with a joining portion, wherein the joining portion is provided with a plurality of screw holes, and two joining portions between two adjacently joined material tube bodies are fixed by screwing a plurality of screw elements into the screw holes.
Preferably, each of the material tube bodies serially connected in assembly has outer most two ends thereof respectively defined with an input end and an output end.
Preferably, the joining portion of each material tube body is configured as a flange.
Preferably, the working fluid is a refrigerant or a coolant.
Preferably, the inlet of each path has a respective capillary tube connected thereto for inputting the working fluid.
Preferably, the outlet of each path has a respective refrigerant tube connected thereto for outputting the working fluid.
Preferably, the heating units are respectively and transversely disposed at a middle position or a near-middle position of the material tube bodies relative to an axial direction of the material tube bodies. Preferably, the path of each of the material tube bodies include a plurality of axial paths and a plurality of communicating paths, wherein the axial paths are directly drilled into the corresponding material tube body, and two adjacent axial paths have portions thereof in a position close to the input end or in a position close to the output end being connected and therefore communicated to each other through one of the communicating paths, in which the communicating paths close to the input end and the communicating path close to the output end are distributed in a an alternate manner on an annulus of the corresponding material tube body.
The above-mentioned technical features preferably have the following advantages:
To enable a further understanding of said objectives and the technological methods of the invention herein, a brief description of the drawings is provided below followed by a detailed description of the preferred embodiments.
Referring to
one or more said material tube body (1) can be selected randomly and serially connected in assembly according to different requirements for temperatures of hot and cold foods to be made or a distance of conveying. In this embodiment of the present invention, three said material tube bodies (1) are serially connected in assembly, and the three material tube bodies (1) can be configured to be different appearances according to different installation spaces; however, the three material tube bodies (1) are substantially structurally identical. Each of the material tube bodies (1) are internally provided with a penetrating feed channel (11), and at least one end of each of the material tube bodies (1) is formed into a joining portion (111), wherein the joining portion (111) is configured as a flange for mutually and serially connecting the material tube bodies (1) in assembly. The joining portion (111) of each of the material tube bodies (1) has a plurality of screw holes (112) provided thereon, so that the joining portions (111) of two adjacent material tube bodies (1) can be joined together by using a plurality of screw elements (113) screwed into the screw holes (112), in which the screw elements (113) consists of screws and nuts. Further, once the material tube bodies (1) are serially connected in assembly, each feed channel (11) is mutually communicated with each other, such that the outer most two ends of an assembled set of the material tube bodies (1) can be respectively defined with an input end (114) and an output end (115). Furthermore, a surface of each of the material tube bodies (1) is respectively provided with a first fixing hole (12) and a second fixing hole (13) (as shown in
Each of the material tube bodies (1) is provided with a temperature measurement unit (2) fixed in the first fixing hole (12) thereof (as shown in
Each of the material tube bodies (1) is provided with a heating unit (3) fixed in the second fixing hole (13) thereof (as shown in
Upon assembly, as shown in
When being used as a hot food supplying machine for various hot foods such as porridges, hot soups, hot tea, boiled herbal jelly, soy milk, coffee, red bean soup and the like, as shown in
When being used as a cold food supplying machine for various cold foods such as cold drinks, ice cream, smoothies, milk shakes and the like, as shown in
If the above-mentioned cold foods are cold drinks, for example, ice coffee, iced juices, ice tea and the like, the material tube bodies (1) are simply required to be controlled at an adequate working temperature, for example, 5° C. to 15° C., so as to enable the output cold drinks to be kept icy. The cold foods can also be frost cream; a formulated frost cream is to poured into the material barrel (B), and then the material tube bodies (1) are controlled at an adequate working temperature, for example, −5° C. to −7° C. The cold foods can also be smoothies; a formulated smoothie raw material is poured into the material barrel (B), and then the material tube bodies (1) are controlled at an adequate working temperature, for example, −10° C. to −20° C., so as to enable the smoothie raw material to be frozen on a wall of the feed channels (11) of the material tube bodies (1) upon outputting, and be scraped off for conveying by using the spiral scraper, finally output for consumption via the discharge valve (C).
Accordingly, the present invention realizes the aim of using one machine for two purposes by using the assembled material tube device, which is capable of being respectively used as a hot food supplying machine or a cold food supplying machine, thereby achieving great convenience and practical uses, and significantly saving purchase costs. By using the segmented structure designed for the material tube, the actual temperature change of hot foods or cold foods in each feed channel (11) can be accurately and directly detected, and further applying, according to a usage requirement for making hot and cold foods, heating or temperature reduction in segmentations to the assembled set of the material tubes, so as to enable the hot foods or the cold foods to reach an optimal intake state.
In summary of the explanations of the above-mentioned embodiments, operations and uses of the present invention and effects produced thereby can be sufficiently understood. However, it should be understood that the aforesaid embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention; therefore, simple alterations and equivalent modifications based on the claims and the description of the present invention shall be likewise included within the scope of present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 108203312 | Mar 2019 | TW | national |
