JP6213831B2 - Pressure cooker - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a pressure rice cooker that cooks rice in a pan in a pressurized state.

  Conventionally, as this type of pressure rice cooker, for example, rice cookers disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-22710) and Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-81824) are known. These rice cookers include a pressure valve that opens and closes a steam discharge hole provided in the lid, and a pressure valve opening and closing mechanism that adjusts the pressure in the pan by switching the opening and closing state of the steam discharge hole by the pressure valve. The pressure valve opening / closing mechanism is controlled so that the inside of the pan is in a pressurized state during a predetermined period of the rice cooking process. By putting the inside of the pan in a pressurized state, it is possible to efficiently transfer heat to the cooked rice and cook delicious rice.

JP-A-6-22710 JP 2004-81824 A

  However, in the conventional pressure rice cooker, it is possible that rice having a lower taste than expected is continuously cooked.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a pressure rice cooker that solves the above-described problems and can suppress the continuous cooking of cooked rice having a lower taste than expected.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a pressure rice cooker according to the present invention includes a pan for containing a cooked rice containing water and rice,
A heating device for heating the pan;
A lid that closes the opening of the pan;
A pressure valve that opens and closes a vapor discharge hole provided in the lid;
A pressure valve opening / closing mechanism that adjusts the pressure in the pan by switching the open / close state of the steam discharge hole by the pressure valve;
A control unit for controlling the heating device and the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism to perform a rice cooking process;
A display unit;
A pressure rice cooker comprising:
The control unit is configured to display, on the display unit, information indicating a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism after the rice cooking process is completed when a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism is detected.

  According to the pressure-type rice cooker which concerns on this invention, it can suppress that the rice in which the taste fell rather than assumption is continuously cooked.

It is a front view of the pressure type rice cooker which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which added the circuit block to the fragmentary sectional view of the pressure type rice cooker of FIG. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the structure of the vicinity of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism with which the pressure type rice cooker of FIG. 1 is provided. It is a block diagram of the control part with which the pressure type rice cooker of FIG. 1 is provided. It is a flowchart which shows an example of control operation of the control part in the pressure type rice cooker of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of control operation of the control part in the pressure type rice cooker which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

(Knowledge that became the basis of the present invention)
As a result of earnestly examining the cause of the continuous cooking of rice having a lower taste than expected in the conventional pressure rice cooker, the present inventors have obtained the following knowledge.

  In the conventional pressure rice cooker, the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism may fail due to, for example, disconnection of an electromagnetic coil included in the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism. When the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism fails, the opening / closing state of the steam discharge hole by the pressure valve cannot be switched, and the pressure in the pan cannot be appropriately controlled. As a result, rice having a lower taste than expected is cooked.

  On the other hand, the conventional pressure rice cooker is not designed to assume that the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism fails, and cannot detect the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism. For this reason, unless the user actually eats the cooked rice, the user cannot confirm whether the taste is lower than expected. In addition, the cause of the lowering of taste than expected is not only due to the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism, but also various causes such as excessive addition of water. Therefore, it is difficult for the user to realize that the cause is a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism immediately because the taste is lower than expected. For this reason, until the user notices that the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism is out of order, the rice having a lower taste than expected is continuously cooked. As a result of intensive studies based on such novel findings, the present inventors have reached the following invention.

The pressure-type rice cooker according to the present invention includes a pot for storing cooked rice containing water and rice,
A heating device for heating the pan;
A lid that closes the opening of the pan;
A pressure valve that opens and closes a vapor discharge hole provided in the lid;
A pressure valve opening / closing mechanism that adjusts the pressure in the pan by switching the open / close state of the steam discharge hole by the pressure valve;
A control unit for controlling the heating device and the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism to perform a rice cooking process;
A display unit;
A pressure rice cooker comprising:
The control unit is configured to display, on the display unit, information indicating a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism after the rice cooking process is completed when a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism is detected.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to notify the user of the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism by displaying information indicating the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism on the display unit. Thereby, the user can recognize the necessity of repair of a rice cooker, and can suppress that the rice in which the taste fell rather than assumption is continuously cooked.

  In addition, when displaying the said information on a display part during a rice cooking process, there exists a possibility that a user may stop in the middle of a rice cooking process accidentally. If the rice cooking process is stopped halfway, the rice in the pan is already immersed in water, so if the rice is not cooked within a predetermined time (for example, 12 hours), the cooked rice in the pan is discarded. Need to do. On the other hand, even if the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism breaks down, heating by the heating device can be performed, so although the taste of rice is slightly lower than expected, rice to be cooked in the pan can be cooked . For this reason, in the pressure type rice cooker which concerns on this invention, the information which shows the failure of a pressure valve opening / closing mechanism is displayed after completion | finish of a rice cooking process. Thereby, the necessity to discard the to-be-cooked rice in cooking rice can be eliminated.

  The pressure valve opening / closing mechanism is normally configured to switch the open / close state of the steam discharge hole by the pressure valve by exciting an electromagnetic coil. In this case, the control unit can detect a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism by detecting disconnection of the electromagnetic coil.

  In addition, it is known that a rice cooking process mainly consists of four processes of preheating, temperature rising, boiling maintenance, and steaming. Of these, the steaming step is a step of evaporating excess water using preheating generated in the boiling maintenance step and raising the degree of gelatinization of the rice to nearly 100%. This steaming process does not necessarily need to be performed, and there are users who stop the rice cooking process during the steaming process from the viewpoint of energy saving and the like. For this reason, it is preferable that a control part detects a failure of a pressure valve opening / closing mechanism before starting a steaming process after starting a rice cooking process. Thereby, even when a user performs the stop operation | movement of a rice cooking process during a steaming process, the failure of a pressure valve opening / closing mechanism can be detected reliably.

  In addition, if a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism is detected while the heating device is performing a heating operation, noise is generated, which may adversely affect rice cooking performance. On the other hand, at the start of the rice cooking process, there may be a temperature difference between the pan and the temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the pan. If the heating operation of the heating device is started in a state where the temperature difference is large, the detection accuracy of the temperature sensor may be lowered. For this reason, in order for the predetermined time (for example, 16 seconds) after a rice cooking process to start, in order to wait for the temperature sensor which measures the temperature of the pan and the said pan to become comparable temperature, usually heating of a heating device No action is taken. For this reason, it is more preferable that the control unit detects a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism between the start of the rice cooking process and the start of the heating operation by the heating device. Thereby, it can suppress having a bad influence on rice cooking performance.

  In addition, the rice cooking sequence set before the start of the rice cooking process is detected by detecting the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism between the start of the rice cooking process and the start of the heating operation by the heating device. When the mechanism is not used, the rice cooking process can be performed by changing to an optimal rice cooking sequence. For this reason, when the controller detects a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism, the control unit automatically changes the rice cooking sequence set before the start of the rice cooking process, and performs the rice cooking process based on the changed rice cooking sequence. Preferably, it is configured. Thereby, even when the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism breaks down, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the taste of rice.

  The control unit may display information indicating a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism on the display unit immediately after the end of the rice cooking process. Thereby, the user can recognize the necessity for repair of a rice cooker immediately after completion | finish of a rice cooking process.

  Moreover, when a control part controls a heating apparatus after completion | finish of a rice cooking process and performs a heat retention process, you may make it display the information which shows the failure of a pressure valve opening / closing mechanism on the display part after completion | finish of a heat retention process. Thereby, it can prevent that a user carries out stop operation | movement in the middle of a heat retention process accidentally, and can suppress further the fall of the taste of rice.

  Moreover, it is preferable that a control part displays the information which shows a failure of a pressure valve opening / closing mechanism on a display part immediately after completion | finish of a heat retention process. Thereby, the user can recognize the necessity for repair of a rice cooker immediately after completion | finish of a heat retention process.

  Further, the control unit may be configured not to perform the next rice cooking process when a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism is detected. Thereby, it can suppress further that the rice in which the taste fell rather than assumption is cooked continuously.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiment shown below exemplifies a rice cooker for specifically realizing the technical idea of the present invention, and is not intended to specify the present invention as this rice cooker, It is equally applicable to other embodiments within the scope of the claims.

(First embodiment)
The structure of the pressure type rice cooker which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated using FIGS. 1-4. FIG. 1 is a front view of a pressure rice cooker according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram in which a circuit block is added to the partial cross-sectional view of the pressure rice cooker in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a configuration in the vicinity of a pressure valve opening / closing mechanism provided in the pressure rice cooker of FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control unit provided in the pressure rice cooker of FIG.

  The pressure type rice cooker 1 which concerns on this 1st Embodiment is provided with the substantially bottomed cylindrical rice cooker main body 2 as shown in FIG. Inside the rice cooker main body 2, as shown in FIG. 2, a pan 4 for accommodating a cooked rice containing rice and water is detachably stored. In addition, a heating device 5 for heating the pot 4 is provided inside the rice cooker body 2. In this 1st Embodiment, the heating apparatus 5 is comprised by the heating coil which induction-heats the pan 4. FIG.

  A temperature sensor 30 b that contacts the bottom of the pan 4 and detects the temperature of the pan 4 is attached to the lower portion of the rice cooker body 2. The temperature sensor 30 b also functions as a rice cooking amount detection unit that detects the amount of rice cooking in the pan 4. In addition, since it is already well-known to detect the rice cooking amount in the pan 4 by the output of the temperature sensor 30b, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  A lid 3 is attached to the top of the rice cooker body 2 so as to close the opening of the pan 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the lid 3 is provided with a steam discharge hole 3 a so as to communicate with the internal space of the pot 4. Inside the lid 3, there are a pressure valve 18 that opens and closes the steam discharge hole 3 a, and a pressure valve opening and closing mechanism 23 that adjusts the pressure in the pan 4 by switching the opening and closing state of the steam discharge hole 3 a by the pressure valve 18. Is provided. The heating device 5 and the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 are controlled by the control unit 27.

  As shown in FIG. 1, on the front (front) side of the rice cooker body 2, there are an operation unit 6 for selecting a rice cooking menu and a display unit 7 for displaying the rice cooking menu selected by the operation unit 6. Is provided. In the first embodiment, the operation unit 6 includes a rice cooking menu selection button 8, a rice cooking start / heat retention button 9, a reservation button 10, a cancel button 11, and a cross button 12. By appropriately operating these operation buttons, the user can perform settings such as reserved rice cooking or rice cooking using the user's favorite rice cooking menu.

  Next, each component of the pressure type rice cooker 1 which concerns on this 1st Embodiment is demonstrated in detail.

  The rice cooker body 2 includes a bottomed cylindrical outer case 13 and a storage case 14 accommodated in the outer case 13. A gap (not shown) is formed between the outer case 13 and the storage case 14. The control unit 27 is disposed in this gap. The upper part of the storage case 14 constitutes the upper opening 2 a of the rice cooker body 2. The pot 4 is stored in the storage case 14 through the upper opening 2a. The pan 4 is made of, for example, a clat material made of aluminum and stainless steel.

  The lid 3 is configured to rotate around a hinge 15 provided at the upper rear part of the rice cooker body 2. The lid 3 includes an inner lid 16 that closes the opening of the pan 4 and an outer lid 17 that is an outline of the lid 3. The inner lid 16 is detachably attached to the outer lid 17.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a storage tank 28 for temporarily storing viscous rice broth that has entered the lid 3 through the steam discharge hole 3a is detachably attached to the outer lid 17. The inside of the storage tank 28 has a multi-chamber structure so as to separate the steam and the rice broth. As a result, only the steam is discharged from the steam discharge hole 28 a provided on the upper surface of the storage tank 28. On the other hand, the rice broth is accumulated in the storage tank 28 in the heating step and the boiling maintenance step, and returned to the pan 4 through a negative pressure valve (not shown) when the pressure in the pan 4 is reduced in the steaming step. It is like that.

  The outer lid 17 is provided with a temperature sensor (also referred to as a vapor sensor) 30a for detecting the temperature of the vapor that has entered the lid 3 through the vapor discharge hole 3a.

  A pressure valve 18 is attached to the inner lid 16. Further, when the inside of the pan 4 is abnormally pressurized to the inner lid 16 (for example, when the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 fails and the pressure valve 18 is stopped with the steam discharge hole 3a closed). ) Is provided with a safety valve 24 for reducing the pressure in the pan 4.

  In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the pressure valve 18 includes a valve seat 20 having a steam discharge hole 19, a metal ball 21, and a cover 22 disposed around the ball 21. ing. By positioning the ball 21 at the position where the steam discharge hole 19 is blocked, the inside of the pan 4 is sealed, and the pressure in the pan 4 can be increased to atmospheric pressure or higher. On the other hand, in a state where the pressure in the pan 4 has risen above the atmospheric pressure, when the ball 21 moves away from the position where the steam discharge hole 19 is blocked, steam is released from the pot 4 through the steam discharge hole 19, The pressure drops to atmospheric pressure.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a filter 31 is detachably attached to the valve seat 20. The filter 31 is provided with a plurality of small holes (not shown) smaller than the rice grains. The filter 31 prevents rice grains flowing in the pan 4 from entering the pressure valve 18.

  The ball 21 of the pressure valve 18 is moved by a pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 provided inside the outer lid 17. As shown in FIG. 3, the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 is operated with a cylinder 23a, a plunger 23b that moves forward and backward within the cylinder 23a, an operating rod 25 attached to the tip of the plunger 23b, and one end of the cylinder 23a. And a spring 26 provided between the flange 25.

  An electromagnetic coil (also referred to as a solenoid) 23aa wound in a cylindrical shape is incorporated in the cylinder 23a. The plunger 23b moves back and forth in the cylinder 23a depending on whether or not the electromagnetic coil 23aa is excited.

  More specifically, when the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 does not receive a drive signal from the control unit 27, the electromagnetic coil 23aa is not excited, and the plunger 23b protrudes from the cylinder 23a by the elastic force of the spring 26. At this time, the ball 21 is pushed away from the steam discharge hole 19 via the operating rod 25, and the steam discharge hole 19 is opened. That is, the steam discharge hole 3a is opened. On the other hand, when the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 receives a drive signal from the control unit 27, the electromagnetic coil 23aa is excited, and the plunger 23b is pulled into the cylinder 23a against the elastic force of the spring 26. At this time, the ball 21 returns to the steam discharge hole 19 due to its own weight, and the steam discharge hole 19 is closed. That is, the steam discharge hole 3a is closed.

  The control unit 27 includes hardware configured by a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and software for executing the contents of a flowchart described later. Moreover, the control part 27 is provided with the memory | storage part (not shown) which memorize | stores two or more 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 menus. The control unit 27 controls the driving of each unit and each device based on the rice cooking menu selected by the rice cooking menu selection button 8 of the operation unit 6 and the detected temperatures of the temperature sensors 30a and 30b, and executes the rice cooking process. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 27 detects a failure in the heating control unit 27 a that controls the heating device 5, the pressure valve opening / closing control unit 27 b that controls the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23, and the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23. And a failure detection unit 27c for detection.

  In the first embodiment, the pressure valve opening / closing control unit 27b includes an electromagnetic coil drive circuit 27ba and an electromagnetic coil drive element 27bb as shown in FIG. The electromagnetic coil drive circuit 27ba is composed of a transistor having a collector connected to one end of the electromagnetic coil 23aa and an emitter connected to the ground (common potential). The electromagnetic coil drive element 27bb is configured by a transistor having a collector (high potential side terminal) connected to one end of the electromagnetic coil 23aa and an emitter (low potential side terminal) connected to the ground (common potential). The other end of the electromagnetic coil 23aa is connected to the control power supply 27bc. The electromagnetic coil driving element 27bb is not limited to being configured by a transistor, and may be configured by, for example, another switch such as a relay switch.

  In the first embodiment, the failure detection unit 27c detects a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 by detecting disconnection of the electromagnetic coil 23aa. More specifically, the failure detection unit 27c is configured such that when the electromagnetic coil drive circuit 27ba is not driving the electromagnetic coil drive element 27bb (that is, when the electromagnetic coil 23aa is not excited), the failure detection unit 27c When the voltage V1 of the high potential side terminal is Lo (ground potential), it is determined that the electromagnetic coil 23aa is disconnected. On the other hand, when the electromagnetic coil drive circuit 27ba is not driving the electromagnetic coil drive element 27bb, the failure detection unit 27c has the voltage V1 at the high potential side terminal of the electromagnetic coil drive element 27bb as HI (the potential of the control power supply 27bc). When there is, it is determined that the electromagnetic coil 23aa is not disconnected. The failure detection unit 27c displays information indicating the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 on the display unit 7 when the disconnection of the electromagnetic coil 23aa is detected.

  Next, an example of the operation of the pressure rice cooker according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the control operation of the control unit in the pressure rice cooker according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, a pan 4 in which rice and water that are to-be-cooked rice are put is set in the rice cooker body 2 by the user. Then, after the rice cooking menu is selected by the user with the rice cooking menu selection button 8 of the operation unit 6, when the rice cooking start / heat retention button 9 is pressed, the rice cooking process is started under the control of the control unit 27 (step S1). ). 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. When the preheating process is started, the failure detection unit 27c performs a disconnection detection operation of the electromagnetic coil 23aa until a predetermined time (for example, 16 seconds) elapses from the start of the preheating process (steps S2 and S3). "N"). When a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the preheating process (“Y” in step S3), the heating control unit 27a starts the heating operation of the heating device 5 (step S4). In the preheating step, the heating control unit 27a raises the temperature of the water in the pan 4 to a temperature close to the temperature at which gelatinization of rice begins (about 60 ° C.), and then maintains the temperature after the temperature rise. The heating device 5 is controlled based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 30b. 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.

  The temperature raising process is a process in which the pot 4 is heated at once with a strong fire to bring the water in the pot 4 to a boiling maintenance state (about 100 ° C.). In this temperature raising step, the heating control unit 27a controls the heating device 5 so that the pot 4 is rapidly heated to bring the water in the pot 4 into a boiling state. Further, when the electromagnetic coil 23aa is not disconnected, the pressure valve opening / closing control unit 27b maintains the state in which the plunger 23b is moved backward during the temperature raising process as shown in FIG. The hole 19 is closed. Thereby, in the second half of the temperature raising step, the pressure in the pan 4 becomes higher than the atmospheric pressure. When the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 30b reaches about 100 ° C. due to the temperature raising process, the process proceeds to the boiling maintenance process.

  A boiling maintenance process is a process of maintaining the boiling state of the water in the pan 4, gelatinizing rice starch, and raising the gelatinization degree to about 50% to 80%. In this boiling maintenance step, the heating control unit 27a controls the heating device 5 so as to maintain the boiling state of the water in the pot 4. When the electromagnetic coil 23aa is not disconnected, the pressure valve opening / closing control unit 27b performs the following operation. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the pressure valve opening / closing control unit 27 b moves the plunger 23 b to move the ball 21 to open the steam discharge hole 19. Thereby, the pressure in the pot 4 is reduced at a stretch, the water in the pot 4 bumps, and the rice in the pot 4 is stirred. Thereafter, the pressure valve opening / closing control unit 27b again moves the plunger 23b backward and closes the steam discharge hole 19 with the ball 21, as shown in FIG. In this state, when the heating by the heating device 5 is continued, the inside of the pan 4 returns to a pressurized state higher than the atmospheric pressure. Hereinafter, similarly, the pressure valve opening / closing control unit 27b moves the plunger 23b forward and backward a plurality of times to cause the water in the pot 4 to boil a plurality of times. Thereby, the rice in the pot 4 can be stirred, the heating amount added to the said rice can be increased, and the taste of rice can be improved further.

  In the boiling maintenance step, water is continuously boiled, and a large amount of steam at about 100 ° C. is generated. This steam passes through the steam discharge holes 3a, 19, and 28a and is discharged to the outside of the rice cooker. Thereby, when most of the water in the pot 4 is exhausted, the temperature of the bottom surface of the pot 4 rises above the boiling point of water. When the temperature sensor 30b detects that the temperature of the bottom surface of the pan 4 has reached the boiling point or higher (for example, 130 ° C.), the process proceeds to the steaming process.

  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 heating control unit 27a controls the heating device 5 so as to heat the pan 4 every time the temperature of the pan 4 falls below a certain temperature. If the electromagnetic coil 23aa is not disconnected, the pressure valve opening / closing control unit 27b moves the plunger 23b forward to move the ball 21 so as to open the steam discharge hole 19. Thereby, the inside of the pan 4 is depressurized to substantially atmospheric pressure.

  When the time set in advance according to the amount of rice cooked has elapsed from the start of the steaming process, the steaming process ends (that is, the rice cooking process ends) (step S5).

  Here, when the failure detection unit 27c detects the disconnection of the electromagnetic coil 23aa in the preheating process described above ("Y" in step S6), the failure detection unit 27c provides information indicating a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23. The information is displayed on the display unit 7 (step S7). On the other hand, when the failure detection unit 27c has not detected the disconnection of the electromagnetic coil 23aa in the preheating process described above ("N" in step S7), the failure detection unit 27c provides information indicating a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23. Not displayed on the display unit 7.

  According to the pressure type rice cooker according to the first embodiment, information indicating a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 is displayed on the display unit 7, so that the user is notified of the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23. Can do. Thereby, the user can recognize the necessity of repair of a rice cooker, and can suppress that the rice in which the taste fell rather than assumption is continuously cooked.

  Moreover, according to the pressure type rice cooker which concerns on this 1st Embodiment, since the information which shows the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 is displayed after completion | finish of a rice cooking process, a user mistakenly is in the middle of a rice cooking process. It is possible to suppress the stop operation. Thereby, the necessity to discard the to-be-cooked rice in cooking rice can be eliminated.

  Moreover, according to the pressure type rice cooker which concerns on this 1st Embodiment, it is made to detect the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 after the rice cooking process is started until the heating apparatus 5 starts the heating operation. Therefore, even when the user stops the rice cooking process during the steaming process, the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 can be reliably detected. Moreover, since the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 is detected when the heating device 5 is not performing the heating operation, it is possible to suppress adverse effects on the rice cooking performance.

  In addition, according to the pressure type rice cooker which concerns on this 1st Embodiment, it is made to detect the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 after the rice cooking process is started until the heating apparatus 5 starts the heating operation. Therefore, it becomes possible to change the rice cooking sequence set before the start of the rice cooking process to an optimum rice cooking sequence when the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism is not used, for example, and perform the rice cooking process. For this reason, when the control part 27 detects the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23, the rice cooking sequence set before the start of the rice cooking process is automatically changed, and the rice cooking process is performed based on the changed rice cooking sequence. It may be configured as follows. Thereby, even when the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 breaks down, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the taste of the rice.

  In addition, you may make it the failure detection part 27c display the information which shows the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 on the display part 7 immediately after completion | finish of a rice cooking process. Thereby, the user can recognize the necessity for repair of a rice cooker immediately after completion | finish of a rice cooking process.

  Moreover, the control part 27 may be comprised so that the next rice cooking process may not be performed, when the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 is detected. Thereby, it can suppress further that the rice in which the taste fell rather than assumption is cooked continuously.

(Second Embodiment)
A pressure rice cooker according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the control operation of the control unit 27 in the pressure rice cooker according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The difference between the pressure rice cooker according to the second embodiment and the pressure rice cooker according to the first embodiment is that a heat retention process is performed after the rice cooking process (step S4) (step S10), and the heat retention process. This is the point that information indicating a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 is displayed on the display unit 7 (steps S6 and S7).

  According to the pressure rice cooker according to the second embodiment, the information indicating the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 is displayed on the display unit 7 after the heat retention process is completed. It is possible to prevent the stop operation from being performed on the way. As a result, it is possible to further suppress a decrease in the taste of rice.

  Further, information indicating a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism may be displayed on the display unit 7 immediately after the end of the heat retaining process. Thereby, the user can recognize the necessity for repair of a rice cooker immediately after completion | finish of a heat retention process.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can implement in another various aspect. For example, in the above, the pressure valve opening / closing control unit 27b detects the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 by detecting the disconnection of the electromagnetic coil 23aa, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other methods Thus, the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23 may be detected.

  In the above description, when the electromagnetic coil 23aa is excited, the steam discharge hole 19 is opened. When the electromagnetic coil 23aa is not excited, the steam discharge hole 19 is closed. It is not limited to this. The vapor discharge hole 19 may be closed when the electromagnetic coil 23aa is excited, and the vapor discharge hole 19 may be opened when the electromagnetic coil 23aa is not excited.

  It is to be noted that, by appropriately combining any of the various embodiments, the effects possessed by them can be produced.

  The pressure-type rice cooker according to the present invention is useful as a pressure-type rice cooker for home use and business use because it can suppress the rice having a lower taste than expected from being continuously cooked.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pressure type rice cooker 2 Rice cooker main body 2a Upper opening part 3 Cover body 3a Steam exhaust hole 4 Pan 5 Heating device 6 Operation part 7 Display part 8 Rice cooking menu selection button 9 Rice cooking start / warm button 10 Reservation button 11 Cancel button 12 Cross Button 13 External case 14 Storage case 15 Hinge 16 Inner lid 17 Outer lid 18 Pressure valve 19 Steam discharge hole 20 Valve seat 21 Ball 22 Cover 23 Pressure valve opening / closing mechanism 23a Cylinder 23aa Electromagnetic coil 23b Plunger 24 Safety valve 25 Actuating rod 26 Spring 27 Control 27a Heating control unit 27b Pressure valve opening / closing control unit 27ba Electromagnetic coil drive circuit 27bb Electromagnetic coil drive element 27bc Control power supply 27c Failure detection unit 28 Storage tank 28a Steam exhaust hole 30a, 30b Temperature sensor 31 Filter

Claims (9)

A pot for storing cooked rice containing water and rice;
A heating device for heating the pan;
A lid that closes the opening of the pan;
A pressure valve that opens and closes a vapor discharge hole provided in the lid;
A pressure valve opening / closing mechanism that adjusts the pressure in the pan by switching the open / close state of the steam discharge hole by the pressure valve;
A control unit for controlling the heating device and the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism to perform a rice cooking process;
A display unit;
A pressure rice cooker comprising:
When the control unit detects a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism, the control unit displays information indicating the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism on the display unit after completion of the rice cooking process not using the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism. Type rice cooker. The pressure valve opening / closing mechanism switches the opening / closing state of the steam discharge hole by the pressure valve by exciting an electromagnetic coil,
The pressure rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the control unit detects a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism by detecting a disconnection of the electromagnetic coil.   The pressure type rice cooking according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit detects a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism between the start of the rice cooking process and the start of the steaming process of the rice cooking process. vessel.   The pressure type rice cooker according to claim 3, wherein the control unit detects a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism between the start of the rice cooking process and the start of the heating operation of the heating device.   When the controller detects a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism, the controller automatically changes the rice cooking sequence set before the start of the rice cooking process, and performs the rice cooking process based on the changed rice cooking sequence. The pressure type rice cooker of Claim 4.   The said control part displays the information which shows the failure of the said pressure valve opening / closing mechanism on the said display part immediately after completion | finish of the said rice cooking process, when the failure of the said pressure valve opening / closing mechanism is detected, The any one of Claims 1-5 The pressure type rice cooker as described in one.   The controller controls the heating device after the rice cooking process to perform a heat retaining process, and detects a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism, and detects a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism after the heat retaining process. The pressure type rice cooker as described in any one of Claims 1-5 which displays the information to show on the said display part.   The pressure type according to claim 7, wherein when the controller detects a failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism, the control unit displays information indicating the failure of the pressure valve opening / closing mechanism on the display unit immediately after completion of the heat retaining step. rice cooker.   The said control part is a pressure type rice cooker as described in any one of Claims 1-8 which does not perform the next rice cooking process, when the failure of the said pressure valve opening / closing mechanism is detected.

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