JP2016174704A - rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice cooker, taking into consideration usability of users and safety by improving a control method of engaging means of a lid opening mechanism.SOLUTION: The rice cooker includes a rice cooker body, a pot housed in the rice cooker body, a pot heating device for heating the pot, a lid body mounted on the rice cooker body for freely openably and closably covering an upper opening part of the pot, a lid opening device for opening the lid, and lid opening means for regulating operation of the lid opening device. The lid opening means disables the lid opening device after a prescribed time passes from a start of rice cooking or after preheating process is completed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker, and more particularly, to a pressure-type rice cooker configured to boil water in a pot by reducing the pressure in the pot and to stir rice grains in the pot.

  Conventionally, as this kind of rice cooker, what was described in patent document 1 (Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2005-40396) and patent document 2 (Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 9-192005) is known, for example.

  In Patent Document 1, the inside of the pan is maintained at a high pressure state by a pressure adjusting mechanism provided on the lid, the valve hole provided in the steam passage formed on the lid is closed with a ball, and the moving body is moved by the action of a solenoid. The ball that closes the valve hole can be forcibly moved, and a part of the operating body is engaged with a part of the lid lock mechanism, and the ball is locked when the ball is forcibly moved. A pressure rice cooker is disclosed in which the engagement with the mechanism is released and the lid can be opened and closed. And according to the pressure type rice cooker of patent document 1, while realizing the high pressure state by plugging the valve hole provided in the steam passage with the pressure adjusting ball, and means for forcibly pushing out the pressure adjusting ball from above the valve hole; By interlocking the lock means, a lock means for maintaining confidentiality and safety is realized.

  Patent Document 2 includes a rice cooker, a main body that accommodates the rice cooker, a lid that is attached to the main body so as to be opened and closed, and seals the rice cooker, and heating means that heats the rice cooker. An exhaust port that discharges the steam in the rice cooker to the lid, and an exhaust port opening / closing means that opens the exhaust port before rice cooking and at the beginning of rice cooking, closes the exhaust port during cooking and applies pressure to the rice cooker A rice cooker is disclosed. And according to the rice cooker of patent document 2, the effective pressure rice cooking according to the rice cooking menu and the rice cooking capacity can be performed by setting up the pressurization time in rice cooking freely. As a result, convection in the rice cooker pan is likely to occur, and uneven cooking can be suppressed.

JP 2005-40396 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-192005

  However, in the pressure rice cooker of Patent Document 1, the lid cannot be opened when a part of the operating body that moves by the action of the solenoid is engaged with the lid lock mechanism immediately after the start of rice cooking, and the rice cooking setting is confirmed. For example, in the case of confirmation of the water level line or cooked rice, it is necessary to stop cooking rice once and release the engagement of the lid lock mechanism in order to confirm forgetting to add ingredients. There was a problem that the operability deteriorated.

  On the other hand, in the pressure-type rice cooker of Patent Document 2, when the pressure-type rice cooker of Patent Document 1 is configured, when engaging a part of the operating body that moves by the action of the solenoid from the middle of rice cooking with the lid lock mechanism, Before that, the lid can be opened while the heating means is in operation and the inside of the pan is heated, and if the user accidentally opens the lid, the risk of being exposed to steam and the heated pan There was a problem that there was a risk of burns such as touching.

The present invention was made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and in a rice cooker equipped with a lid opening mechanism, the control method of the engaging means of the lid opening mechanism is improved, and the operability of the user is improved. And it aims at providing the rice cooker in consideration of safety.

  In order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, the present invention is attached to a rice cooker body, a pot accommodated inside the rice cooker body, a pot heating device for heating the pot, and a rice cooker body. A lid that opens and closes the upper opening of the pan, a lid opening device that opens the lid, lid opening means that regulates the operation of the lid opening device, storage means that stores various rice cooking menus, and a predetermined A rice cooking process, and the rice cooking process is controlled according to the rice cooking menu until the cooked rice is boiled by controlling the pot heating device to absorb the water in the cooked rice in the pot. It has a pressurizing step for heating and heating, a boiling maintaining step for maintaining the cooked rice in a boiling state, and a steaming step for steaming the cooked rice after the boiling maintaining step, and the lid opening means is predetermined from the start of cooking rice After time has passed, or the preheating process is finished Is obtained by the cooker, characterized in that the inoperative lid opening device.

  Thereby, since the lid opening device is operable until a predetermined time elapses from the start of rice cooking, the user can open the lid by operating the lid opening device and confirm the rice cooking setting. It is possible. Therefore, the operability of the rice cooker can be improved. Moreover, it is possible to open the lid before the pan is heated and becomes hot, and there is no risk of burns.

  According to the rice cooker of this invention, the rice cooker which considered the operativity and safety | security of the rice cooker can be provided.

Schematic cross-sectional view of the rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of the present invention The disassembled perspective view of the inner lid in Embodiment 1 of this invention The perspective view which looked at the inner lid in Embodiment 1 of this invention from the bottom face side of the inner lid The perspective view which looked at the inner lid in Embodiment 1 of this invention from the upper surface side of the inner lid It is sectional drawing of the inner cover in Embodiment 1 of this invention, Comprising: Sectional drawing which shows the state in which a pressure-reduction valve is located in a blockade position It is sectional drawing of the inner cover in Embodiment 1 of this invention, Comprising: Sectional drawing which shows the state which a pressure reducing valve is located in an open position 1 is an exploded perspective view of a pressure reducing valve moving mechanism according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The top view which shows the state which removed the upper outline member of the lid | cover in Embodiment 1 of this invention. FIG. 9A is an enlarged plan view of a region E1 surrounded by an alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 8 and shows a state in which the lid opening restricting member is located away from the lid opening device; FIG. FIG. 8 is an enlarged plan view of the area E1 and shows a state in which the lid opening restricting member is located at a position where rotation of the lid opening device is prevented and disables the lid opening device; It is an enlarged plan view of the area | region E1 enclosed with the chain line | wire, Comprising: The figure which shows the state which a rice cooker main body tilts with respect to a horizontal surface, a lid | cover opening control member moves by gravity, and a lid | cover opening | release apparatus can be operated. The rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention WHEREIN: The figure which shows the transition of the temperature and pressure in a pan when performing a rice cooking process, the timing which opens and closes a pressure-reduction valve, and the timing which turns a heating means on and off

1st invention is attached to the rice cooker main body, the pot accommodated in the inside of a rice cooker main body, the pan heating apparatus which heats a pan, and the rice cooker main body, and can freely open and close the upper opening part of a pan. A lid for covering, a lid opening device for opening the lid, a lid opening means for regulating the operation of the lid opening device, a storage means for storing various rice cooking menus, a control device for executing a predetermined rice cooking process, The rice cooking process is controlled according to the rice cooking menu by controlling the pot heating device to absorb the water in the cooked rice in the pan, the pressurizing process for heating the cooked rice until it is boiled, and the cooked rice A boiling maintaining step of maintaining the product in a boiling state, and a steaming step of steaming the cooked rice after the boiling maintaining step, and the lid opening means is a preheating step after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of cooking After the operation is completed, the lid opening device is disabled. It is obtained by a cooker to.

  In particular, the second invention further includes lid opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the lid body in the first invention, and the lid opening means is provided while the lid opening / closing detection means detects opening of the lid body. The lid opening device can be operated.

  In particular, the third invention further includes lid opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the lid body in the first or second invention, while the lid opening / closing detection means detects opening of the lid body. Is configured to continue to stop heating by the pan heating device.

  In a fourth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the first to third aspects of the invention, the lid opening means uses a motor as a drive source.

  In a fifth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the first to third aspects of the invention, the lid opening means uses a solenoid as a drive source.

  In particular, the sixth invention is the first to fifth inventions, wherein the steam discharge hole provided in the lid body is provided so as to be openable and closable, and a pressure reducing valve for generating a bumping phenomenon in the pan, A pressure reducing valve moving mechanism for moving the valve to a closing position for closing the steam discharge hole and an opening position for opening the steam discharge hole, and the lid opening means is constituted by the pressure reducing valve moving mechanism. The pressure reducing valve moving mechanism is configured to disable the lid opening device when the pressure reducing valve is located at the closed position.

  In particular, in the first to sixth inventions, the seventh invention displays various information such as the rice cooking course, rice cooking time, etc., and a plurality of rice cooking courses such as a white rice course, a brown rice course, and a white rice (softer) course. A display operation unit capable of selecting a specific rice cooking course from the inside is further provided, and the display unit of the display operation unit displays a state in which the lid can be opened.

  Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. Further, the present invention is not limited by the present embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
The whole structure of the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention is demonstrated using FIG.

  1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a rice cooker according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the rice cooker which concerns on this Embodiment is accommodated in the substantially bottomed cylindrical rice cooker main body 1 in which the pot accommodating part 1a was formed, and the pot accommodating part 1a, rice and water And a pot 2 having a flange portion 2a at the top. A lid 3 having a hollow structure capable of opening and closing the upper opening of the rice cooker body 1 is attached to the top of the rice cooker body 1. A substantially disk-shaped inner lid 4 capable of sealing the upper opening of the pan 2 is detachably attached to the inside of the lid 3 (the side covering the upper opening of the pan 2). In the present embodiment, the lid 3 and the inner lid 4 constitute a lid that can open and close the upper opening of the pan 2.

The pot storage part 1a of the rice cooker body 1 is composed of an upper frame 1b and a coil base 1c. The upper frame 1b has a cylindrical portion 1ba that is arranged so as to leave a predetermined gap with respect to the side wall of the stored pan 2, and an upper opening of the rice cooker body 1 that protrudes outward from the upper portion of the cylindrical portion 1ba. And a flange portion 1bb fitted to the inner peripheral portion.

  The coil base 1c is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape corresponding to the shape of the lower portion of the pan 2, and the upper portion is attached to the lower end portion of the cylindrical portion 1ba of the upper frame 1b. A pan bottom heating unit 5 which is an example of a pan heating device for heating (induction heating) the pan 2 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the coil base 1c. The pan bottom heating unit 5 is composed of a bottom heating coil 5a and a bottom outside heating coil 5b. The in-bottom heating coil 5a is disposed so as to face the periphery of the center of the bottom of the pan 2 via the coil base 1c. Outer bottom heating coil 5b is arranged to face the corner portion of the bottom of pan 2 via coil base 1c.

  An opening is provided in the central portion of the bottom of the coil base 1c. In the opening, a pan temperature sensor 6, which is an example of a pan temperature detection unit for measuring the temperature of the pan 2, is disposed so as to be able to contact the bottom of the pan 2 stored in the pan storage unit 1 a. . Since the temperature of the pan 2 is substantially the same as the temperature of the cooked rice in the pan 2, the pan temperature sensor 6 can detect the temperature of the cooked rice in the pan 2 by detecting the temperature of the pan 2. it can.

  The lid 3 includes an upper outer member 3 a and a lower outer member 3 b that constitute the outer shell of the lid 3. The lid 3 includes a hinge shaft 3A. The hinge shaft 3A is an opening / closing shaft for the lid 3, and both ends of the hinge shaft 3A are rotatably fixed to the upper frame 1b of the rice cooker body 1. A torsion coil spring 7 is attached around the hinge shaft 3A. The torsion coil spring 7 urges the lid 3 in a direction (opening direction) away from the upper opening of the pan 2 around the hinge shaft 3A.

  A lid opening device 8 is provided inside the lid 3. The lid opening device 8 is engaged with a part of the rice cooker main body 1 to maintain the state where the lid 3 blocks the upper opening of the pan 2. On the other hand, the lid opening device 8 has a hinge shaft 8A when a lid opening button (not shown) provided on the rice cooker body 1 or the lid 3 is pressed in a state where the lid 3 closes the upper opening of the pan 2. Is rotated in the direction of arrow A1. Thereby, the engagement between the lid opening device 8 and a part of the rice cooker body 1 is released, and the lid 3 moves away from the upper opening of the pan 2 around the hinge shaft 3A by the biasing force of the torsion coil spring 7. Rotate. Thereby, the lid | cover 3 will be in the open state which has not block | closed the upper opening part of the pan 2. FIG. For example, when the lid 3 is rotated 90 degrees around the hinge shaft 3A from the position where the upper opening of the pan 2 is closed, the lid 3 is configured to stop the rotation.

  A recess 3c is provided in the vicinity of the hinge shaft 3A of the upper outer member 3a. A steam cylinder 9 is detachably attached to the recess 3c. A steam escape hole 3ca is provided at the bottom of the recess 3c so that excess steam in the pot 2 can be discharged toward the steam cylinder 9. A steam escape hole 9a is provided on the upper wall of the steam cylinder 9 so that excess steam in the pot 2 can be discharged to the outside of the rice cooker. The recess 3c is provided with a detection sensor 3cb for detecting the open / closed state of the lid 3.

  The inner lid 4 is provided with a small-diameter steam discharge hole 4a for discharging the steam in the pan 2 and a large-diameter steam discharge hole 4b. The diameter of the large-diameter steam discharge hole 4b is larger than the diameter of the small-diameter steam discharge hole 4a, and is set to be twice or more the diameter of the small-diameter steam discharge hole 4a, for example. The diameter of the small diameter steam discharge hole 4a is, for example, 4 mm, and the diameter of the large diameter steam discharge hole 4b is, for example, 10 mm.

Further, the inner lid 4 has a pressure suppression valve 10 capable of opening and closing the small diameter steam discharge hole 4a, a pressure reducing valve 11 capable of opening and closing the large diameter steam discharge hole 4b, and a pressure reducing so as to open and close the large diameter steam discharge hole 4b. A pressure reducing valve moving mechanism 12 for moving the valve 11 is provided. Specific configurations of the pressure suppression valve 10, the pressure reducing valve 11, and the pressure reducing valve moving mechanism 12 will be described in detail later.

  The lid 3 displays various information such as a rice cooking course and rice cooking time, and a specific rice cooking course can be selected from a plurality of rice cooking courses such as a white rice course, a brown rice course, and a white rice (softer) course. A display operation unit 13 is provided. The display operation unit 13 includes a plurality of buttons such as a rice cooking start button so that instructions for starting, canceling, or making a reservation for cooking can be in addition to selecting a rice cooking course. The user can select a specific rice cooking course with the display operation unit 13 while referring to the display content, and instruct the start of rice cooking.

  A rice cooker control unit 14 is mounted inside the rice cooker body 1. The rice cooking control unit 14 includes a storage unit that stores a plurality of rice cooking sequences for cooking rice. Here, in the “rice cooking sequence”, when the four steps of preheating, temperature rising, boiling maintenance, and steaming are performed in order, the energization time, heating temperature, heating time, heating output, etc. are determined in advance in each step. This is the cooking procedure. Each rice cooking sequence corresponds to one of a plurality of rice cooking courses. The rice cooking control unit 14 controls the pan bottom heating unit 5 and the pressure reducing valve moving mechanism 12 based on the rice cooking course selected by the display operation unit 13 and the detected temperature of the pan temperature sensor 6, and executes the rice cooking process.

  Next, the configuration of parts related to the inner lid 4 will be described in more detail.

  FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the inner lid 4 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the inner lid 4 according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the bottom surface side (the pan 2 side) of the inner lid 4. Furthermore, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the inner lid 4 according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the upper surface side (the lid 3 side) of the inner lid 4. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the inner lid 4 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, showing a state where the pressure reducing valve 11 is located at the closed position. Furthermore, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the inner lid 4 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, showing a state in which the pressure reducing valve 11 is located at the open position.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the inner lid 4 is attached with a heating plate 41, an annular packing 42 that seals between the heating plate 41 and the pan 2, and a heating plate 41 and a packing 42. And a substantially annular heating plate support member 43 that is freely held. The heating plate 41 is provided with first to third large diameter through holes 41a to 41c and a small diameter through hole 41d.

  A valve cover 45 is attached to the upper surface of the heating plate 41 via a packing 44. The packing 44 is a member that seals between the heating plate 41 and the valve cover 45. The packing 44 is provided with through holes at positions corresponding to the first to third large diameter through holes 41a to 41c and the small diameter through hole 41d. The valve cover 45 is formed so as to cover the pressure suppression valve 10, the pressure reducing valve 11, and a safety valve 16 described later. The valve cover 45 is provided with a pressure suppression valve accommodating portion 45 a for accommodating the pressure suppression valve 10, a pressure reducing valve accommodating portion 45 b for accommodating the pressure reducing valve 11, and a safety valve accommodating portion 45 c for accommodating the safety valve 16.

  A pressure suppression valve guide 101 is attached to the first large-diameter through hole 41a. The pressure suppression valve guide 101 is inserted from the lower side of the first large-diameter through hole 41a through the packing 102, and is fitted to the ring member 103 above the first large-diameter through hole 41a. It is fixed. The pressure suppression valve guide 101 is a member on which the pressure suppression valve 10 is placed. The pressure suppression valve guide 101 is provided with a small-diameter steam discharge hole 4a.

The pressure suppression valve 10 is a valve that suppresses the pressure in the pan 2 from rising above a first threshold value (for example, 1.2 atmospheres) higher than atmospheric pressure. In this embodiment, the pressure suppression valve 10 is comprised with a ball | bowl, and obstruct | occludes the small diameter steam discharge hole 4a with dead weight. On the other hand, the pressure suppression valve 10 is pushed only by the pressure in the pan 2 when the pressure in the pan 2 becomes larger than its own weight (for example, when 1.2 bar or more), the small diameter steam discharge hole 4a. The small diameter steam discharge hole 4a is opened.

  A pressure reducing valve guide 111 is attached to the second large-diameter through hole 41b. The pressure reducing valve guide 111 is inserted from below the second large diameter through hole 41b through the packing 112, and fixed to the heating plate 41 by fitting with the ring member 113 above the second large diameter through hole 41b. Has been. The pressure reducing valve guide 111 is a member that contacts the pressure reducing valve 11. The pressure reducing valve guide 111 is provided with a large-diameter steam discharge hole 4b. The large-diameter steam discharge hole 4b is an opening having a size including rice grains. As shown in FIG. 3, a partition member 114 that divides the large diameter steam discharge hole 4b into a plurality of openings smaller than rice grains is provided inside the large diameter steam discharge hole 4b. The partition member 114 prevents rice grains from entering the large-diameter steam discharge hole 4b.

  The pressure reducing valve 11 includes a pressure reducing valve pin 115, a packing 116, and a spring 117. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the pressure reducing valve pin 115 is a member having a substantially T-shaped cross section including a substantially disc-shaped main body 115 a and a protrusion 115 b that protrudes downward from the center of the lower surface of the main body 115 a. . The packing 116 is a member that seals between the pressure reducing valve pin 115 and the pressure reducing valve guide 111. The spring 117 is a member that urges the pressure reducing valve pin 115 in a direction away from the large-diameter steam discharge hole 4b.

  A check valve 15 is attached to the third large-diameter through hole 41 c via a check valve cover 151. The check valve cover 151 is a member for attaching the check valve 15 to the heating plate 41. The check valve 15 is a valve for refluxing rice balls (viscous rice broth) accumulated in the valve cover 45 into the pan 2.

  A safety valve 16 is attached to the small diameter through hole 41d. The safety valve 16 is a valve that suppresses the pressure in the pan 2 from rising to a second threshold value (for example, 1.25 atmospheres) higher than the atmospheric pressure. In this embodiment, the safety valve 16 includes a safety valve pin 161, a packing 162, and a spring 163. In addition, since a well-known thing can be used as the check valve 15 and the safety valve 16, detailed description of the check valve 15 and the safety valve 16 is omitted here.

  Next, the configuration of the pressure reducing valve moving mechanism 12 will be described in more detail.

  FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the pressure reducing valve moving mechanism 12 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a state where the upper outer member 3a of the lid 3 in the first embodiment of the present invention is removed.

  The pressure reducing valve moving mechanism 12 moves the pressure reducing valve 11 to a closed position (see FIG. 5) for closing the large diameter steam discharge hole 4b and an open position (see FIG. 6) for opening the large diameter steam discharge hole 4b. Mechanism. The pressure reducing valve moving mechanism 12 is configured to move the pressure reducing valve 11 in a direction orthogonal to the bottom surface of the inner lid 4 provided with the large-diameter steam discharge hole 4b.

  In this embodiment, the pressure reducing valve moving mechanism 12 includes a pressure reducing valve holding member 121, a spring 122, a pressure reducing valve holding pin 123, a support base 124, a pressure reducing valve drive lever 125, and first and second gears 126. , 127 and a motor 128.

The pressure reducing valve holding member 121 is a substantially columnar or cylindrical member fixed to the center of the upper surface of the main body 115 a of the pressure reducing valve pin 115. A coiled spring 122 is arranged around the pressure reducing valve holding member 121. The spring 122 is a member for making the force with which the pressure reducing valve 11 presses the pressure reducing valve guide 111 constant regardless of the change in the gap between the lower outer member 3 b of the lid 3 and the heating plate 41. The pressure reducing valve pressing member 121 and the spring 122 are attached to the support base 124 by a pressure reducing valve pressing pin 123 so as to be movable up and down.

  The support base 124 is fixed inside the lid 3 by a fastening member such as a screw. As shown in FIG. 8, the support base 124 extends in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the lid 3 (the left-right direction in FIG. 8). The pressure reducing valve driving lever 125 is provided so as to be slidable in the extending direction of the support base 124 with respect to the support base 124. The pressure reducing valve driving lever 125 is formed with a rack 125a having a plurality of teeth. A first gear 126 is engaged with the rack 125a. A second gear 127 is engaged with the first gear 126. The second gear 127 is attached to the output shaft 128 a of the motor 128. The first and second gears 126 and 127 are engaged with cam grooves 124 a provided on the support base 124. The motor 128 is fixed to the support base 124 by a fastening member such as a screw.

  When the motor 128 is driven in the forward and reverse directions, the first and second gears 126 and 127 rotate. As a result, the pressure reducing valve drive lever 125 that meshes with the first gear 126 and the rack 125 a moves in a direction orthogonal to the thickness direction of the lid 3.

  The pressure reducing valve driving lever 125 has an inclined surface 125b that is inclined with respect to the moving direction of the pressure reducing valve 11 (thickness direction of the lid 3) and the moving direction of the pressure reducing valve driving lever 125 (direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the lid 3). It has. When the pressure reducing valve holding member 121 that functions as a part of the pressure reducing valve 11 slides along the inclined surface 125b in conjunction with the movement of the pressure reducing valve drive lever 125, the pressure reducing valve 11 is in the closed position (see FIG. 5) or Move toward the open position (see FIG. 6). The pressure reducing valve moving mechanism 12 is configured to press the pressure reducing valve 11 with a pressure larger than a first threshold (for example, 1.2 atmospheres) and hold the pressure reducing valve 11 in the closed position (see FIG. 5). ing.

  The pressure reducing valve drive lever 125 is configured to open the lid so as to make the lid opening device 8 inoperable by contacting the lid opening device 8 when the pressure reducing valve 11 moves from the open position (see FIG. 6) to the closed position (see FIG. 5). A lid opening restricting member 129 as means is provided.

  FIG. 9A is an enlarged plan view of a region E1 surrounded by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 8, and shows a state where the lid opening restricting member is located away from the lid opening device, and FIG. ) Is an enlarged plan view of a region E1 surrounded by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 8, wherein the lid opening restricting member is located at a position where the lid opening device is prevented from rotating, and the lid opening device is disabled. FIG. 9C is an enlarged plan view of the region E1 surrounded by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 8, and the rice cooker body is tilted with respect to the horizontal plane, and the lid opening restriction member moves by gravity. It is a figure which shows the state which makes a lid | cover open | release apparatus operate | movable.

  When the pressure reducing valve 11 is located at the open position, the lid opening restriction member 129 is located away from the lid opening device 8 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 9A. On the other hand, when the pressure reducing valve 11 is located at the closed position, the lid opening restricting member 129 rotates in the direction of arrow A1 about the hinge shaft 8A of the lid opening device 8 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 9B. The lid opening device 8 is rendered inoperable. Thereby, the lid | cover 3 is open | released in the state in which the pressure in the pan 2 is higher than atmospheric pressure, and it can prevent that a user gets a burn by opening the lid | cover 3 vigorously.

Even when the lid opening restriction member 129 disables the lid opening device 8, the pressure in the pan 2 is lower than the atmospheric pressure, and there is a risk that the user may be burned even if the lid 3 is opened. There may be no cases. For this reason, in this embodiment, when the rice cooker main body 1 is tilted with respect to the horizontal plane (for example, 30 degrees or more) in a state where the lid opening device 8 is disabled, the lid opening restriction member 129 is configured as shown in FIG. As shown to c), it is comprised so that it may move by gravity and the lid | cover opening | release apparatus 8 will be operable. Accordingly, the lid opening restriction member 129 is forcibly moved to enable the lid opening device 8 to operate, and the lid 3 can be opened.

  Next, the operation of the rice cooker according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 10 shows the temperature and pressure transition in the pan when the rice cooking process is performed, the timing for opening and closing the pressure reducing valve, and the timing for turning on and off the heating means in the rice cooker according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG.

  First, a pot 2 containing a rice to be cooked including rice and water, which is a rice to be cooked, is set by the user in the pot storage unit 1a. Then, after a rice cooking course is selected by the display operation part 13 by the user, when a rice cooking start is instruct | indicated, a rice cooking process will be started by control of the rice cooking control part 14. FIG. When the rice cooking process is started, first, the preheating process is started.

  The preheating step is a step of immersing the rice in water at a temperature lower than the gelatinization temperature so that the rice can be sufficiently gelatinized in the subsequent steps, and allowing the rice to absorb water in advance. In this preheating step, the rice cooking control unit 14 raises the temperature of the water in the pan 2 to a temperature close to the temperature at which rice gelatinization begins (about 60 ° C.), and then maintains the temperature after the temperature rise. The pan heating operation of the pan bottom heating unit 5 is controlled based on the temperature detected by the pan temperature sensor 6. Moreover, the rice cooking control part 14 controls the pressure-reduction valve moving mechanism 12 so that the pressure-reduction valve 11 is hold | maintained in a obstruction | occlusion position, as shown in FIG. 5 during a preheating process. When a preset time has elapsed from the start of the preheating process according to the selected rice cooking course, the process proceeds to the temperature raising process. When the predetermined time t from the start of the preheating process is set to 16 seconds, for example, and within the predetermined time t from the start of the preheating process, the lid opening restriction member 129 has the lid opening device 8 as shown in FIG. The lid 3 can be opened by enabling the lid opening device 8 to operate at a position that enables rotation in the direction of the arrow A1 about the hinge shaft 8A. In addition, although it was set to 16 seconds from the start of the preheating process, if it is 16 seconds or less, the time for confirming the rice cooking setting is too short and the user's operability deteriorates. Therefore, it is preferable until the end of the preheating step that is stable at a low temperature. At this time, while the opening of the lid 3 is detected by the detection sensor 3cb that detects the opening and closing of the lid 3, the lid opening restriction member 129 is located at a position where the lid opening device 8 can be operated. Similarly, the pan heating device for heating the pan 2 is stopped while the opening of the lid 3 is detected by the detection sensor 3cb that detects opening and closing of the lid 3.

  The temperature raising process is a process in which the pot 2 is heated at once with a strong fire to bring the water in the pot 2 into a boiling maintenance state (about 105 ° C.). In this temperature raising step, the rice cooking control unit 14 controls the pot bottom heating unit 5 so as to rapidly heat the pot 2 and bring the water in the pot 2 to a boiling state.

  Moreover, the rice cooking control part 14 controls the pressure-reduction valve moving mechanism 12 so that the pressure-reduction valve 11 is hold | maintained in a closed position, as shown in FIG. 5 during a temperature rising process. Thereby, in the second half of the temperature raising step, the pressure in the pan 2 becomes higher than the atmospheric pressure. When the pressure in the pan 2 reaches a first threshold (for example, 1.2 atmospheres), the pressure suppression valve 10 is pushed by the pressure in the pan 2 to leave the small diameter steam discharge hole 4a, and the small diameter steam discharge hole 4a Opened. Thereafter, the pressure in the pan 2 is adjusted to be the first threshold value by the weight of the pressure suppression valve 10. At this time, the lid opening restricting member 129 is located at a position where the lid opening device 8 is prevented from rotating, and makes the lid opening device 8 inoperable. When the temperature detected by the pan temperature sensor 6 reaches the boiling temperature of the water in the pan 2 (about 105 ° C.), the process proceeds to the boiling maintaining step.

  A boiling maintenance process is a process of maintaining the boiling state of the water in the pan 2, gelatinizing rice starch, and raising the gelatinization degree to about 50% to 80%. In this boiling maintaining step, the rice cooking control unit 14 controls the pot bottom heating unit 5 so as to maintain the boiling state of the water in the pot 2.

  Moreover, the rice cooking control part 14 controls the pressure-reducing valve moving mechanism 12 and the pressure-reducing valve 11 is opened from the closed position (see FIG. 5) after the pressure in the pan 2 becomes atmospheric pressure or higher in the boiling maintenance step. (See FIG. 6). Thereby, the pressure in the pan 2 is reduced at once (for example, from 1.2 atm to 1.0 atm), the water in the pan 2 bumps, and the rice grains in the pan 2 are agitated. Thereafter, the rice cooking control unit 14 controls the pressure reducing valve moving mechanism 12 to move the pressure reducing valve 11 from the open position (see FIG. 6) to the closed position (see FIG. 5), and also controls the pot bottom heating unit 5 to make the pot. Continue heating 2. Thereby, the pressure in the pan 2 returns to the first threshold value. The rice cooking control part 14 performs the operation | movement which returns to a 1st threshold value at least once (for example, 3 times), after reducing the pressure in the pan 2 in a boiling maintenance process. Thereby, the rice grain in the pan 2 can be stirred, the heating with respect to each rice grain can be averaged, and cooking unevenness can be suppressed further.

  In the boiling maintenance step, a large amount of steam is generated because water is continuously boiled. This steam passes through the small-diameter steam discharge hole 4a, the large-diameter steam discharge hole 4b, the steam escape holes 3ca, 9a, etc., and is discharged to the outside of the rice cooker. Thereby, when most of the water in the pot 2 runs out, the temperature of the bottom surface of the pot 2 rises above the boiling point of water. When the pan temperature sensor 6 detects that the temperature of the bottom surface of the pan 2 has reached the boiling point or higher (for example, 130 ° C.), the steaming process is started.

  The steaming process is a process of evaporating excess water using preheating and raising the degree of gelatinization of rice to nearly 100%. In this steaming step, the rice cooking control unit 14 controls the pot bottom heating unit 5 so as to heat the pot 2 every time the temperature of the pot 2 falls below a certain temperature.

  Moreover, the rice cooking control part 14 controls the pressure-reduction valve moving mechanism 12 so that the pressure-reduction valve 11 is hold | maintained in an open position, as shown in FIG. 6 during a steaming process. Thereby, the inside of the pan 2 is depressurized to substantially atmospheric pressure. In the steaming step, the lid opening restriction member 129 is positioned away from the lid opening device 8 as shown in FIG. For this reason, the lid opening device 8 is operable and the lid 3 can be opened.

  When a preset time has elapsed from the start of the steaming process, the steaming process is terminated (that is, the rice cooking process is terminated).

  According to the rice cooker according to the present embodiment, by enabling the opening of the lid opening device for a predetermined time immediately after the start of rice cooking, if the user confirms the rice cooking setting, for example, confirmation of the water level line or cooked rice This makes it easy to confirm that you have forgotten to add ingredients. In addition, the lid can be opened before the pan is heated and becomes hot, and it is possible to prevent burns.

  Further, according to the rice cooker according to the present embodiment, when the lid opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the lid detects that the lid is opened, by continuously opening the lid opening device, It is possible to prevent the lid from being closed.

  Moreover, according to the rice cooker which concerns on this embodiment, when detecting that the lid | cover is open | released by the lid | cover opening / closing detection means which detects opening / closing of a lid, the pan heating means which heats a pan is stopped. By continuing, it is possible to prevent the pan from becoming hot and causing burns while the user is checking the rice cooking settings.

  Moreover, according to the rice cooker which concerns on this embodiment, while displaying various information, such as a rice cooking course and rice cooking time, it is specific among several rice cooking courses, such as a white rice course, a brown rice course, and a white rice (soft) course. When the rice cooker body during cooking is hot, the user touches the rice cooker body inadvertently by displaying the state in which the lid can be opened on the display section of the display operation section that can select the rice cooking course This can prevent the occurrence of burns.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can implement in another various aspect. For example, in the above description, the pressure suppression valve 10 is constituted by a ball, but the present invention is not limited to this. The pressure suppression valve 10 only needs to open and close the small-diameter steam discharge hole 4a using its own weight. For example, the pressure suppression valve 10 may be configured in a shape such as a triangular pyramid or a cone.

  As described above, the rice cooker according to the present invention can be used more easily and safely by considering the improvement of user operability and safety, and the configuration that allows the lid to be opened immediately after the start of rice cooking. Since it becomes possible, it is useful as a rice cooker for home use and business use.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rice cooker main body 1a Pan accommodating part 1b Upper frame 1ba Cylindrical part 1bb, 2a Flange part 1c Coil base 2 Pan 3 Lid 3A Hinge shaft 3a Upper outer member 3b Lower outer member 3c Recessed part 3ca Steam escape hole 3cb Detection lid 4 4a Small diameter steam discharge hole 4b Large diameter steam discharge hole 5 Pan bottom heating unit (pan heating device)
5a Heating coil in the bottom 5b Heating coil outside the bottom 6 Pan temperature sensor (pan temperature detection part)
7 Torsion coil spring 8 Lid opening device 8A Hinge shaft 9 Steam cylinder 9a Steam relief hole 10 Pressure suppression valve 11 Pressure reducing valve 12 Pressure reducing valve moving mechanism 13 Display operation part 14 Rice cooking control part 15 Check valve 16 Safety valve 41 Heating plate 41a-41c Large-diameter through hole 41d Small-diameter through-hole 42, 44, 102, 112, 116, 162 Packing 43 Heating plate support member 45 Valve cover 45a Pressure suppression valve accommodating portion 45b Pressure reducing valve accommodating portion 45c Safety valve accommodating portion 101 Pressure suppression valve guide 103, 113 ring member 111 pressure reducing valve guide 114 partition member 115 pressure reducing valve pin 115a main body 115b protrusion 117, 122, 163 spring 121 pressure reducing valve pressing member 123 pressure reducing valve pressing pin 124 support base 124a cam groove 125 pressure reducing valve driving lever 125a rack 125b inclination Face 126, 27 gear 128 motor 128a output shaft 129 lid-opening regulating member 151 check valve cover

Claims (7)

The rice cooker body,
A pot housed inside the rice cooker body;
A pot heating device for heating the pot;
A lid that is attached to the rice cooker body and covers the upper opening of the pan so as to be freely opened and closed;
A lid opening device for opening the lid;
Lid opening means for regulating the operation of the lid opening device;
Storage means for storing various cooking menus;
A control device for executing a predetermined rice cooking process;
With
In the rice cooking step, according to the rice cooking menu, the pot heating device is controlled to preheat the rice to be cooked in the pan to absorb water, and the pressure rising step to boil the cooked rice until boiling. A boiling maintaining step of maintaining the cooked rice in a boiling state, and a steaming step of steaming the cooked rice after the boiling maintaining step,
The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the lid opening means disables the lid opening device after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of rice cooking or after the preheating step is completed. A lid opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the lid,
2. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the lid opening unit enables the lid opening device to operate while the lid opening / closing detection unit detects the opening of the lid body.   The apparatus further comprises lid opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the lid, and while the lid opening / closing detection means detects opening of the lid, heating by the pan heating device is continuously stopped. The rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2.   The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lid opening means uses a motor as a drive source.   The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lid opening means uses a solenoid as a drive source.   A steam discharge hole provided in the lid is provided so as to be openable and closable, and a pressure reducing valve for generating a bumping phenomenon in the pan, and a closing position for closing the pressure reducing valve for closing the steam discharge hole And a pressure reducing valve moving mechanism for moving the steam discharge hole to an open position, wherein the lid opening means is constituted by the pressure reducing valve moving mechanism, and the pressure reducing valve moving mechanism is The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the lid opening device is rendered inoperable when a valve is located at the closed position.   In addition to displaying various information such as rice cooking course, rice cooking time, etc., it is further equipped with a display operation unit that can select a specific rice cooking course from a plurality of rice cooking courses such as white rice course, brown rice course, white rice (softer) course, The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a state in which the lid can be opened is displayed on a display unit of the display operation unit.

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