JPH07171054A - Electric rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the electric rice cooker capable of making a specific and good water absorption state in a short time in spite of the amount of the rice by changing the control temperature of the water absorption process, or the heat radiation output pattern, or the time of absorbing water. CONSTITUTION:The output of a heating means 2 which heats a pot 1 is decided by a means 5 deciding the output of heating, by which a heating means 2 is controlled. The means 5 is connected to a temperature selection means 7, heating output selection means 8, and means 9 selecting the time of absorbing water. The means 7, 8, 9 select the heating temperature corresponding to the amount of the rice, heating output pattern, and the time of water absorption by the output from a means 6 integrating the time which counts the operation time of the heating means 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric rice cooker mainly used at home.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, consumers' needs for diversification and sophistication have become stronger, and electric rice cookers controlled by a microcomputer have become mainstream in order to cook more delicious rice. Usually, this type of rice cooking process includes a water absorption process (pre-cooking process), a cooking process, and a steaming process. The conventional electric rice cooker will be described below.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing heating control in a conventional electric rice cooker. In FIG. 5, the water absorption process is started, and in step 22, the temperature is controlled by a constant heating output method so that the pot temperature is maintained at θ, and step 23 is performed.
Then, it is judged whether the water absorption time t has elapsed, and if it has not elapsed, temperature control is continued, and if it has elapsed, the process proceeds to the next step. FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between rice cooking temperature and time in the above conventional electric rice cooker.

[0004]

However, in the operation of the conventional electric rice cooker described above, the heating means 2 is operated at a constant temperature, a constant heating output pattern, and a constant time regardless of the amount of the food to be cooked in the water absorption step. Because of the control, when the amount of the food to be cooked is large, the actual temperature rise of the food to be cooked is slow, so that there is a problem that it takes a long time to obtain a sufficient water absorption state.

In the water absorption step, the heating means 2 is controlled at a constant temperature, a constant heating output pattern, and a constant time regardless of the amount of food to be cooked. If the temperature of the food is not so high and the temperature is low, the actual temperature of the food will be higher than the set temperature, and in any case, there is a problem that a good water absorption state for cooking delicious rice cannot be obtained. Was there.

In view of the above problems, it is a first object of the present invention to quickly raise the temperature of a food item to a set temperature and obtain a sufficient water absorption state in a short time.

The second object is to make it constant regardless of the amount of the food to be cooked by varying the control temperature, the heating output pattern, or the water absorption time during the water absorption process according to the amount of the food to be cooked. It is to provide an electric rice cooker that can obtain a sufficient water absorption state.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above first object, the present invention provides a pan for containing an object to be cooked, a heating means for heating the pan, and a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the pan. And heating for determining the output of the heating means so that the heating means is activated when the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means is lower than a predetermined temperature, and the operation of the heating means is stopped when the temperature is higher than the predetermined temperature. In the output determining means and the water absorption process, a predetermined time from the start of the water absorption process is a predetermined temperature, and then a predetermined time until the end of the water absorption process is a second predetermined temperature higher than the first predetermined temperature. A control means is provided for controlling the heating determination means so as to maintain the temperature of the pot.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned second object, the present invention provides a time integrating means for counting the time during which the heating means is operating for a predetermined time from the water absorption step, and the time integrating means. The amount of food to be cooked according to the amount of time, and temperature selecting means for selecting a temperature corresponding to the amount,
The predetermined time is provided with control means for controlling the heating means so as to maintain the temperature of the pot at the temperature selected by the temperature selection means.

In order to achieve the above second object,
The present invention determines the amount of food to be cooked by the time counted by the time integrating means, and a heating output selecting means for selecting a heating output pattern corresponding to the amount, and the predetermined time is
The control means controls the heating means with the heating output pattern selected by the heating output selecting means.

Further, in order to achieve the above second object,
The present invention determines the amount of the object to be cooked by the time counted by the time integrating means, and selects by the water absorbing time selecting means for selecting the time until the end of the water absorbing step corresponding to the amount, and the water absorbing time selecting means. A control means for controlling the heating means is provided so that the water absorption step is performed at the designated time.

[0012]

According to the above-mentioned first means, with this configuration,
First, since the temperature of the pan 1 is controlled at a relatively high temperature in the first predetermined time, the actual temperature of the cooked object reaches the target temperature quickly. After that, in order to control the temperature of the pan 1 at such a temperature that the actual cooked object maintains the target temperature until the end of the water absorption process, when the quantity of the cooked object is large, the cooked object is faster than before. Since the temperature rises, it is possible to obtain a sufficient water absorption state in a short time.

Further, according to the second means, the amount of the food to be cooked is judged during the first predetermined time, and an appropriate temperature, heating output pattern or water absorption process time is selected according to the result. Therefore, when the amount of the food to be cooked is small, the actual temperature of the food to be cooked is prevented from rising more than necessary. Also, when the amount of food to be cooked is large, the actual temperature of the food to be cooked can reach the target temperature at an earlier point in time, and sufficient heating to maintain that temperature can be performed. Therefore, in the water absorption step, more efficient and sufficient water absorption is performed. That is, it is possible to obtain a substantially constant water absorption state regardless of the amount of the food.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The electric rice cooker comprises a pan 1 for containing an object to be cooked,
When the heating means 2 for heating the pot 1, the temperature detecting means 3 for detecting the temperature of the pot 1, and the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 3 are lower than a predetermined temperature, the heating means 2 is operated to perform gelatinization. When the temperature is not higher than a predetermined temperature, the heating output determining unit 5 that determines the output of the heating unit 2 is stopped so that the operation of the heating unit 2 is stopped, and 10 minutes (t
1) is the starch gelatinization start temperature of rice at 60 ℃, then
The control means 4 controls the heating means 2 so as to maintain the temperature of the pan 1 at 50 ° C. to 58 ° C. for 10 minutes (t2) until the end of the water absorption step.

Further, during the time t1, the time integrating means 6 for counting the operating time of the heating means 2 and the amount of the object to be cooked are judged from the time counted by the time integrating means 6, Temperature selecting means 7 for selecting a corresponding temperature
And heating output selection means 8 for selecting a heating output pattern
And a water absorption time selection means 9 for selecting the time until the end of the water absorption step, and a time t2 so that the temperature of the pan 1 is maintained at the temperature selected by the temperature selection means 7, or the heating output selection means 8 The control means 4 for controlling the heating means 2 so that the water absorption step is carried out with the heating output pattern selected by the above or at the time selected by the water absorption time selection means 9.
It is composed by.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the rice cooker,
The pan 1 for putting the food to be cooked is placed on the upper part of the heating coil 2 and the whole pan 1 is heated by induction heating.
The pot temperature sensor 3 is placed in contact with the bottom of the pot 1 and outputs a signal to a control board 4 equipped with a microcomputer. The control board 4 performs heating control for various inputs and determination of the amount of food to be cooked.

The operation of the above arrangement will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Start the water absorption process, perform temperature controlled heating so that the temperature of the pot 1 is maintained at 60 ° C in step 7, and judge in step 8 whether the time of the water absorption process has passed 10 minutes or not. If temperature control continues.
If 10 minutes have passed, in step 10, the time integrating means 6
Based on the operating time of the heating means 2 counted by, the rice cooking amount X is determined in step 9. When the amount of cooked rice X is large (L), in step 10, the temperature selection means 7 selects θ2 = 58 ° C., which has a relatively high temperature, and in step 13
PG = 7, which has a relatively high output by the heating output selection means 8.
The output pattern of / 8 is selected, and in step 16, t = 12 minutes, which is relatively long, is selected by the water absorption time selection time 6. Similarly, if the amount of cooked rice is medium (M),
Θ2 = 55 ° C. in step 11, and PG = in step 14.
5/8, t = 8 minutes is selected in step 17. When the amount of cooked rice is small (S), θ2 = 50 ° C. is selected in step 12, PG = 3/8 is selected in step 15, and t = 5 minutes is selected in step 18. Based on the temperature, heating output pattern and time selected in this way, temperature control heating is performed in step 19 so that the pot temperature is maintained at θ2, and it is determined in step 20 whether the water absorption process time has passed 20 minutes, and it has passed. If not, the temperature control is continued.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the rice cooking temperature and the time according to one embodiment of the present invention. As described above, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the temperature of the pan 1 is controlled at 60 ° C., which is the starch gelatinization start temperature of rice, for 10 minutes from the start of the water absorption process, so that the actual temperature of the food to be cooked is controlled. Reaches the target temperature quickly. After that, 10 minutes until the end of the water absorption step is a temperature at which the actual cooked object maintains the target temperature.
In order to control the temperature of the pot 1 at 5 ° C., when the amount of the food to be cooked is large, the temperature of the food to be cooked rises faster than before, so that a sufficient water absorption state can be obtained in a short time.

Further, since the amount of the object to be cooked is judged during the time counted by the time measuring means and an appropriate temperature, heating output pattern or water absorption time is selected according to the result, the amount of the object to be cooked is determined. When the amount is small, it prevents the actual temperature of the cooked object from rising excessively. Also, if the amount of food to be cooked is large, the actual temperature of the food to be cooked can reach the target temperature at an earlier point in time, and sufficient heating to maintain that temperature can be performed. Therefore, in the water absorption step, more efficient and sufficient water absorption is performed. That is, it is possible to obtain a substantially constant water absorption state regardless of the amount of the food to be cooked.

Further, the temperature, the heating output pattern and the water absorption time selected by the temperature selection means, the heating output selection means and the water absorption time selection means are not limited to those in the above embodiment,
The temperature and time can be set in many ways, and the heating output pattern can be set in any number of either duty control or inverter control, and the combination of these can be used to select the optimal heating pattern for the amount of food to be cooked. You can

[0022]

As is apparent from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the pot in the water absorption step, heating output determining means for determining the output of the heating means, Since the control means for controlling the heating means is provided so that the temperature of the pan can be changed from a high temperature to a low temperature, when the amount of the food to be cooked is large, the temperature of the food to be cooked rises faster than before, so that Sufficient flooding can be obtained in time.

Further, the amount of the food to be cooked is determined by the time integrating means for counting the operating time of the heating means and the time counted by the time integrating means in a predetermined time from the start of the water absorption step, Since the temperature selection means for selecting the corresponding temperature, the heating output selection means for selecting the heating output pattern, and the water absorption time selection means for selecting the time of the water absorption step are provided, when the amount of the food to be cooked is small. ,
It prevents the actual temperature of the cooked food from rising too much, and when the amount of cooked food is large, the temperature of the actual cooked food can reach the target temperature at an earlier point. In addition, because it is possible to perform sufficient heating to maintain that temperature, more efficiently in the water absorption step,
And sufficient water absorption is performed. In other words, it is possible to obtain a substantially constant water absorption state regardless of the amount of food to be cooked,
It is possible to provide an excellent electric rice cooker that can always cook rice with a stable taste.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the electric rice cooker according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between rice cooking temperature and time of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the conventional electric rice cooker.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between rice cooking temperature and time of a conventional electric rice cooker.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 pan 2 heating means 3 temperature detection means 4 control means 5 timing means 6 heating output determination means 7 time integration means 8 temperature selection means 9 heating output selection means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Makoto Katagasu 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A pan in which an object to be cooked is placed, a heating means for heating the pan, a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the pan, and a temperature detected by the temperature detecting means is lower than a predetermined temperature. Is a heating output deciding means for deciding the output of the heating means so as to activate the heating means and stop the operation of the heating means when the temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature,
A first predetermined time from the start of the water absorption step is at a first predetermined temperature, and then a second predetermined time until the end of the water absorption step is at a second predetermined temperature higher than the first predetermined temperature. An electric rice cooker comprising: a control unit that controls the heating unit to maintain the temperature of the pot. 2. An amount of food to be cooked is determined by a time integration means for counting the time during which the heating means is operating for a predetermined time from the start of the water absorption step, and the time counted by the time integration means. A temperature selecting means for selecting a temperature corresponding to the amount, and a control for controlling the heating means so as to maintain the temperature of the pot at the temperature selected by the temperature selecting means for a second predetermined time. Claim 1 with means
The listed electric rice cooker. 3. A heating output selecting means for determining the amount of the food to be cooked based on the time counted by the time integrating means, and selecting a heating output pattern corresponding to the amount, and a heating output selecting means for a second predetermined time. The electric rice cooker according to claim 1, further comprising: a control unit that controls the heating unit according to the heating output pattern selected by the output selecting unit. 4. A water absorption time selection means for determining the amount of food to be cooked based on the time counted by the time integration means, and selecting a time until the end of the water absorption step corresponding to the amount, and selected by the water absorption time selection means. The control means for controlling the heating means so as to perform the water absorption step at a predetermined time.
The listed electric rice cooker.