CN113017394A

CN113017394A - Rice cooker and rice washing process

Info

Publication number: CN113017394A
Application number: CN202011505955.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 佐佐木晋介; 高市翔太
Original assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd
Current assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-25
Filing date: 2020-12-18
Publication date: 2021-06-25
Also published as: JP2022049022A; JP2021121405A; JP7426648B2; JP6990882B2; JP2021101917A; JP2021121404A

Abstract

A rice washing process of a rice cooker, wherein a control part controls the following steps: the stirring part is moved between an initial position which is an upper position in the container and a rice washing position which is a lower position in the container, the stirring part is rotated at a predetermined position in the container, and the stirring part is moved from the initial position to the rice washing position before the rice is supplied from the rice supplying part. According to the technology of the present disclosure, in the rice cooker, broken rice generated during automatic rice washing can be reduced, and the rice washing treatment of the desired rice can be reliably performed.

Description

Rice cooker and rice washing process

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a rice cooker for automatically washing rice and a rice washing process.

Background

Japanese patent laying-open No. 2014-61041 (hereinafter, referred to as patent document 1) discloses a rotary body attached to an electric cooker and a rice cooker for automatically washing rice. The rotating body disclosed in patent document 1 has a structure in which a stirring member for stirring a material to be stirred is rotated around a rotation axis. The rotating body of patent document 1 has a rotating mechanism for rotating the stirring member to an upright state or a collapsed state. The stirring member is housed in the housing portion of the rotating body in a collapsed state. The housing portion has a fixing portion for fixing the stirring member, and the fixing portion is provided in the vicinity of the rotation center of the stirring member.

Japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2012 and 130614 (hereinafter referred to as patent document 2) discloses a rice cooker that manages the time during which rice is soaked in water. The rice cooker disclosed in patent document 2 includes: a rice cooker main body; a pot received in the rice cooker main body; a heater for heating the pan; and a lid provided to the rice cooker body and capable of opening and closing between a state of closing the upper surface opening of the pot and a state of opening the upper surface opening of the pot. In addition, the rice cooker comprises: a water supply pipe which penetrates the cover and enters the pot; a switching valve connected to a water supply pipe; an on-off valve control unit which opens the on-off valve for a predetermined time and closes the on-off valve; a timer for setting the time for starting the operation of the switching valve control unit; a drain pipe for draining water in the pot when supplying water from the water supply pipe to the pot and washing rice; a water discharge amount determining pipe which discharges water in the pot by a siphon action until a predetermined water amount is reached after stopping the supply of water from the water supply pipe; and a heater control unit for operating the heater for a predetermined time.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides a rice cooker and a rice washing process, which can reduce rice cracking generated during automatic rice washing and reliably implement desired rice washing.

In the rice washing process of the rice cooker according to the aspect of the present invention,

the rice cooker comprises:

a container containing rice and water;

a water supply unit that supplies water to the inside of the container;

a rice supply unit for supplying rice to the inside of the container;

a stirring section that rotates inside the container and is vertically movable inside the container;

a drain unit, at least a part of which is integrated with the stirring unit, wherein a drain port is disposed in the container to drain water from the container; and

a control unit for controlling the operations of the water supply unit, the rice supply unit, the stirring unit, and the water discharge unit,

the control unit performs the following control: moving the stirring section between an initial position, which is an upper position in the container, and a rice washing position, which is a lower position in the container, and rotating the stirring section at a predetermined position in the container,

the rice washing process of the rice cooker is configured to move the stirring part from the initial position to the rice washing position before the rice is supplied from the rice supplying part.

A rice cooker according to one embodiment of the present invention includes:

a container containing rice and water;

a water supply unit that supplies water to the inside of the container;

a rice supply unit for supplying rice to the inside of the container;

the rice cooker includes a rice washing process configured to move the stirring unit from the initial position to the rice washing position before the rice is supplied from the rice supplying unit.

In the rice cooker and the rice washing process of the present disclosure, rice breakage caused when rice is automatically washed can be reduced, and desired rice washing can be reliably performed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a schematic structure of a rice cooker (initial state) according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a schematic structure of a rice cooking device (a state when rice is washed) according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing a rice washing and draining unit according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the container and the rice washing drainage unit of embodiment 1.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing a rice washing process before the rice cooking operation in example 1.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rice cooker schematically showing a state in preparation for rice washing.

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rice cooker schematically showing a state before a rinsing operation.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rice cooker schematically showing a state in which measured rice is supplied to the inner container.

Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a rice cooker in a state where a predetermined amount of rice is supplied into a pot.

Fig. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rice cooker schematically showing a state of discharging water inside the inner container.

Fig. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rice cooker schematically showing a state after completion of water drainage in a rinsing operation.

Fig. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a state in which a predetermined amount of water is supplied to the inner container.

Fig. 13 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rice cooker schematically showing a state in which the rice washing drain unit is rotated.

Fig. 14 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rice cooker schematically showing a state at the time of draining water during a rice washing operation.

FIG. 15 is a timing chart showing the stirring of the stirring section and the draining of the draining section in the rice washing operation.

Fig. 16 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the rice cooker in a state where the rice washing and draining unit is rotated and ascended in the inner container.

Fig. 17 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rice cooker schematically showing a state where the discharge hole of the rice washing drain unit is moved to a rice water volume position.

Fig. 18 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rice cooker schematically showing a state where the amount of water inside the inner container is at a position of the amount of rice water.

Fig. 19 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the rice cooker in a state where the rice washing drain unit is disposed at an initial position at the end of the rice washing process.

Fig. 20 is a sequence diagram showing a rice washing process of the rice cooking device according to embodiment 1.

Detailed Description

(findings which form the basis of the present disclosure, etc.)

Until the time the inventors thought the present disclosure, as a technology of a rice cooker for automatically washing rice in a liner of rice cooking, the following technologies have been proposed: the rotating body rotating around the rotating shaft has a rotating mechanism for rotating a stirring unit for stirring the stirred material to a standing state or a falling state. The stirring unit washes rice in a standing state, and after washing rice, the stirring unit is in a falling state in which the rotating body is accommodated in the accommodating part. As described above, the conventional rice cooker is configured such that the stirring unit is in a standing state when washing rice and is in a falling state when cooking rice, and the rice cooker automatically performs a rice washing operation.

As described above, the rice cooker of patent document 1 has a structure in which the rice washing operation is automatically performed, but since the rice washing operation is started in the inner pot in a state in which rice is already stored, the stirring means presses the rice against the bottom of the pot when the stirring means is in a standing state. Therefore, the operation of the stirring unit becomes a cause of the broken rice.

The rice cooker of patent document 2 includes: a rice cooker main body; a pot received in the rice cooker main body; a heater for heating the pan; and a lid provided on the rice cooker main body and capable of opening and closing the upper surface opening of the pot. The conventional rice cooker thus configured includes: a water supply pipe which penetrates the cover and enters the pot; an opening/closing valve connected to a water supply pipe; an opening/closing valve control unit that opens the opening/closing valve for a predetermined time and then closes the opening/closing valve; a timer for setting the time for starting the operation of the open/close valve control unit; a drain pipe for draining water in the pot when supplying water from the water supply pipe to the pot and washing rice; a water discharge amount determining pipe which discharges water to a preset water amount after stopping water supply from the water supply pipe; and a heater control unit for operating the heater for a predetermined time. In the rice cooker configured as above, the rice washing operation is started according to the set cooking time, the rice is washed by the water flow, the water is discharged together with the dirt, and the addition or subtraction of the water is automatically adjusted to start the rice cooking operation. In this rice cooker, in order to prevent the rice from going into a rotten state within a predetermined cooking time, the rice is managed for a desired soaking time.

As described above, the drain portion is always disposed above the rice in order to adjust the positions of the drain pipe and the drain amount determining pipe so that the water in the pot becomes a water level according to the rice cooking amount by draining. Therefore, in order to reliably discharge the dirt components generated from washing rice, such as bran or rice starch having a larger specific gravity than water, it is necessary to continuously supply a large amount of water and push the dirt components upward by a strong water flow.

Accordingly, an object of the present disclosure is to realize a rice washing function capable of removing dirt from rice and discharging water while suppressing the generation of broken rice at the time of washing rice. The inventors have obtained an idea of performing a rice washing operation and a water discharging operation by arranging a stirring unit and a water discharging unit in advance on the lower surface of rice at the time of starting rice washing in order to efficiently discharge dirt deposited in water without moving the stirring unit so as to press the rice from the top to the bottom. In order to achieve the above object, the present inventors have found the following problems: the stirring section as the stirring means and the drain section as the drain means may be disposed below the pot during rice washing and above the pot during rice cooking operation, and the subject matter of the present disclosure is configured to solve this problem.

In the rice cooker and the rice washing process of the present invention, the stirring part is lowered to the vicinity of the bottom of the inner container before the rice and the water, and thus there is no action of pressing the rice when the stirring part is lowered. In addition, since water is supplied through the water supply part before rice is supplied to the inner container, the water in the inner container acts as a buffer material, and the rice supplied from the upper part of the inner container rarely directly impacts the bottom surface or the wall surface of the inner container, thereby greatly alleviating the falling impact applied to the rice. Therefore, in the rice cooker and the rice washing process of the present disclosure, rice breakage that may occur during automatic rice washing can be greatly reduced, and a desired rice washing operation can be reliably performed.

First, various aspects of the rice cooker and the rice washing process of the present disclosure will be exemplified.

In a rice washing process of a rice cooking device according to a first aspect of the present invention, the rice cooking device includes:

a container containing rice and water;

a water supply unit that supplies water to the inside of the container;

a rice supply unit for supplying rice to the inside of the container;

the rice washing process is configured to move the stirring section from the initial position to the rice washing position before the rice is supplied from the rice supply section.

In a rice washing process of a rice cooker according to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the control unit may be configured to cause the water supply unit to supply water to the container before causing the rice supply unit to supply rice to the container.

In the rice washing process of the rice cooker according to the third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the control unit may be configured to perform a rinsing operation including: the drainage of the drainage part is performed immediately after the supply of the water supply part and the supply of the rice supply part.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, in the third aspect, the control unit may be configured to perform a series of rice washing operations a predetermined number of times after performing the rinsing operation, the rice washing operations including: a predetermined amount of water is supplied to the container, the stirring section is rotated, and the water in the container is discharged after a predetermined time has elapsed from the rotation.

In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, in the fourth aspect, the control unit may be configured to discharge the water in the container during at least one of a rotation operation of the stirring unit and before the rotation operation of the stirring unit is completed and the water in the container is at rest.

In a rice washing process of a rice cooking device according to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, in the fourth or fifth aspect, the control unit may be configured to rotate the stirring unit when the stirring unit moves from the rice washing position to the home position after the rice washing operation is performed a predetermined number of times.

A rice washing process of a rice cooker according to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure may be such that, in any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, the control unit stops and rotates the stirring unit at a position where the stirring unit contacts a surface of the rice inside the container when the stirring unit moves from the rice washing position to the home position after the rice washing operation is performed a predetermined number of times.

A rice washing process of a rice cooker according to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure may be such that, in any one of the fourth to seventh aspects, the control unit stops the drain port at a water level position corresponding to an amount of rice in the container and drains water when the stirring unit moves from the rice washing position to the home position after the rice washing operation is performed a predetermined number of times.

A rice cooking device according to a ninth aspect of the present disclosure may have the rice washing process of the rice cooking device according to any one of the first to eighth aspects.

The embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, unnecessary detailed description may be omitted. For example, detailed descriptions of already known matters and repetitive descriptions of substantially the same configuration may be omitted. This is to avoid over-verbose explanation below, which will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

The drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

Next, as a rice cooker and a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, a rice cooker in which a heating source is induction heating will be described with reference to the drawings. The rice cooker of the present disclosure is not limited to the structure of the rice cooker described in the following embodiments, and may include a structure of a rice cooker based on a technology equivalent to a technical idea having technical features described in the following embodiments.

Note that the numerical values, shapes, structures, steps (processes, modes), and the order of the steps and the like shown in the following embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the contents of the present disclosure. Among the components of the following embodiments, components that are not recited in the independent claims representing the uppermost concept will be described as arbitrary components. For ease of understanding, the drawings mainly schematically show the respective constituent elements.

(embodiment mode 1)

Next, a rice cooker and a rice washing process according to embodiment 1 will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 20. The rice cooker of embodiment 1 is a fully automatic rice cooker having a rice cooking mechanism and a rice washing mechanism with a rice box, and automatically performing rice metering, water supply, rice washing, and rice cooking in this order.

[1-1. Overall Structure ]

Fig. 1 and 2 are longitudinal sectional views schematically showing a schematic structure of a rice cooker according to embodiment 1. The rice cooker shown in fig. 1 shows an initial state where water supply and rice supply are not performed. Fig. 2 schematically shows a state when water supply and rice supply for washing rice are performed.

In fig. 1 and 2, a rice cooking device according to embodiment 1 includes: a rice cooker main body 1 capable of accommodating the inner container 3; and a lid portion 2 openably and closably provided at an upper portion of the rice cooker main body 1. In the rice cooker shown in fig. 1 and 2, the left side is a front side where the lid portion 2 of the rice cooker is opened, and the right side is a back side of the rice cooker. In embodiment 1, a rice cooker body 1 and a lid 2 constitute a casing, and an inner container 3 as a container is housed inside the casing.

The rice cooker body 1 is provided with a housing part 5, and the housing part 5 has an outer pot 4 housing the inner container 3. The outer pot 4 has a substantially cylindrical shape with an open top surface and a bottom. A heating source 6 for heating the inner container 3 is disposed in the housing 5. As the heat source 6, for example, in the case of the induction heating method, an induction heating coil is disposed outside the outer pot 4 (outside the side surface and/or outside the bottom surface) accommodating the inner pot 3.

A pot bottom temperature sensor 7 is disposed on the bottom surface of the outer pot 4, and the pot bottom temperature sensor 7 is in contact with the bottom of the inner pot 3 housed in the outer pot 4. The pan bottom temperature sensor 7 is biased vertically upward by a spring or the like as an elastic member, for example. When the inner pot 3 is stored in the outer pot 4, the storage of the inner pot 3 in the outer pot 4 is detected by a change in load of the induction heating coil serving as the heating source 6 of the inner pot 3.

A lid 2 is openably and closably attached to an upper portion of the rice cooker main body 1. The lid portion 2 is rotatably supported by a lid hinge 8, and the lid hinge 8 is biased in the opening direction by an elastic member, for example, a spring, provided on the back surface side of the rice cooker body 1. A hook button 9 (lid opening switch) is disposed on the front side of the rice cooker body 1, the hook button 9 is pivotally supported, and the hook button 9 is engaged with a part of the lid 2 to maintain the lid 2 in a closed state.

An operation display portion 10 is provided on the front side of the lid portion 2, and the operation display portion 10 displays operations for a user to start a cooking operation and various settings of the cooking operation for the rice cooker, and various information in the rice cooker. The operation display unit 10 is an input interface, and various embodiments are conceivable as the input interface. For example, the input interface may be constituted by a mechanical operation member. In addition, the input interface may be configured by a transparent plate-like operation member provided above the display. The transparent plate-like operating member may be a contact-type member or a noncontact-type member.

An inner lid 11 for closing the inner container 3 when the lid 2 is closed is detachably attached to the lower surface of the lid 2. The inner container 3 and the inner lid 11 are sealed by an inner lid sealing member 12. Since the inner lid 11 is attached to the lower surface of the lid portion 2 in this way, when the lid portion 2 closes the rice cooker main body 1, the hook button 9 engages with the lid portion 2, and the inner liner 3 inside the housing portion 5 is closed by the inner lid 11 of the lid portion 2.

In the lid portion 2, an inner lid steam port 13 as a through hole is formed in the inner lid 11 in order to discharge steam generated in the inner container 3 during cooking and keeping warm. The inner lid steam port 13 communicates with a steam path 14 serving as a steam passage inside the lid portion 2 and a steam port 15 for discharging steam to the outside of the rice cooker. The steam port seal 16 seals between the inner lid steam port 13 of the inner lid 11 and the steam path 14 of the lid section 2.

A rice bin 17 having a bottomed cylindrical shape is disposed on the lid portion 2. The rice box 17 can hold a predetermined amount of rice 18. A rice bin cover 19 is provided on the upper part of the rice bin 17. The rice bin cover 19 is configured to be able to open and close an opening in the upper portion of the rice bin 17. When the rice 18 is replenished to the rice bin 17, the rice bin cover 19 is opened to open the upper surface of the rice bin 17.

A rice supply path 22 is connected to a lower portion of the rice bin 17 via a rice metering unit 20 and a rice conveying unit 21. The inner lid 11 is formed with an inner lid supply opening 23 as a through hole. The gap between the inner lid rice-supplying opening 23 and the rice-supplying path 22 is sealed by a rice-supplying opening sealing member 24. By driving the rice conveying unit 21, a predetermined amount of rice 18 measured by the rice measuring unit 20 is supplied to the inside of the inner container 3. In the present embodiment, the rice box 17, the rice box cover 19, the rice measuring portion 20, the rice conveying portion 21, the rice supplying path 22, and the inner lid rice supplying port 23 are rice supplying portions, but the rice supplying portion may be any structure as long as it can supply rice 18 to the inside of the inner container 3 as a container.

In the present embodiment, the structure in which the lid portion 2 is rotated and the upper portion of the storage portion 5 is opened is described, but since there are many components of the lid portion 2 and the lid portion 2 is made of a heavy material, there is a possibility that a fall or the like may occur at the time of opening after the lid portion 2 is rotated in the opening direction. Therefore, in order to safely and reliably place the lid portion 2 in the open state, a structure in which the weight balance between the rice cooker main body 1 and the lid portion 2 is taken into consideration, a mechanism for opening only the upper portion of the storage portion 5 by rotating the lid portion 2, or the like may be provided.

In the present embodiment, the entire lid portion 2 provided at the upper portion of the rice cooker body 1 is configured to be rotated by the lid hinge 8 to open the upper portion of the receiving portion 5, but the present disclosure may be configured such that only a part of the lid portion 2 is rotated to open only the upper portion of the receiving portion 5. For example, the storage unit 5 may be horizontally pulled out to the near side (front side) from the rice cooker body 1, or only a part (near side) of the lid portion 2 may be lifted when the storage unit 5 is pulled out from the rice cooker body 1, and the upper surface opening of the outer pot 4 of the storage unit 5 may be reliably opened. When a part (near side portion) of the lid portion 2 is lifted, a heavy object such as the rice bin 17 on the back side of the heavy object of the lid portion 2 may be maintained at the original position.

[1-2. Water supply and drainage Structure in Rice washing ]

The rice cooker of the present embodiment has a rice cooking mechanism and a rice box 17, and is configured to automatically perform each operation of "rice supply" from the rice box 17 to the inner container 3, "rice washing" with water supply and drainage from the inner container 3, and "rice cooking" based on a heating process set after water amount adjustment in this order. Next, a water supply and drainage structure of the rice cooker of the present embodiment when washing rice will be described.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, a through hole is formed in a substantially central portion of the inner lid 11, and a drain pipe 25 is provided to penetrate through the through hole. A drain filter 26 is disposed at the lower end of the drain pipe 25 as a drain portion. The drain filter 26 provided so as to cover the drain port, which is the lower end opening of the drain pipe 25, is configured to pass fine powder or dirt, such as rice bran, starch, and small crushed rice, which are not larger than the size of rice grains, and to discharge the powder or dirt to the drain pipe 25, which is a drain portion, when washing rice.

The drain pipe 25 is connected to a drain path 28 via a drain path connector 27. A drain pump 29 for draining water is provided in the drain path 28. The water after washing rice passing through the drain path 28 is discharged to the outside of the rice cooker through the drain port 30 by driving the drain pump 29. The drain port 30 may be connected to an external drain path (not shown) to drain water after washing rice to an external kitchen washing table or the like.

As described above, the drain filter 26 is provided at the lower end of the drain pipe 25 penetrating the inner lid 11. A rod-shaped stirring blade 31 as a stirring portion extending in the horizontal direction is provided at the lower portion of the drain pipe 25. The stirring blade 31 as the stirring portion is extended from the lower portion of the drain pipe 25 to both sides. The length of the stirring blade 31 in the longitudinal direction (horizontal direction) is set so that both ends (extending end portions) of the stirring blade 31 are positioned close to the inner surface of the liner 3. Therefore, the drain strainer 26 is provided so as to protrude downward at a substantially central portion of the stirring blade 31. The lower surface of the drain strainer 26 is substantially flat and is disposed parallel to the horizontal plane. The lower surface of the drainage filter 26 serves as a water line during drainage during rice washing.

The drain filter 26 may be fitted into a recess of the stirring blade 31 so that the bottom surface of the stirring blade 31 is flat. With this configuration, as will be described later, a more preferable configuration is obtained when the stirring blade 31 is rotated at a low speed to flatten the surface of the washed rice.

An oil seal 35 is provided on the lower surface of the lid portion 2 so as to cover the storage portion 5 of the rice cooker main body 1 at a portion contacting the outer surface of the water discharge pipe 25, thereby preventing rice cooking steam from leaking into the lid portion 2. Also, an oil seal 35 is provided inside the cover portion 2 at the connection portion of the drain pipe 25 and the drain path connector 27, preventing drain leakage of the drain path connector 27.

In the rice cooker of the present embodiment, the drain pipe 25 as the drain part and the stirring blade 31 as the stirring part are integrally formed. Here, the drain pipe 25 and the stirring blade 31 are integrally configured to mean that the drain pipe 25 and the stirring blade 31 are integrally and simultaneously operated, and are not particularly configured by one member. That is, the drain pipe 25 and the stirring blade 31 may be configured by different members and fixed to each other. The drain pipe 25 and the stirring blade 31 are configured to be vertically movable inside the inner tub 3 accommodated in the accommodating portion 5 of the rice cooker body 1, and are configured to rotate about the drain pipe 25 as a rotation axis.

In the present embodiment, the drain pipe 25, the drain strainer 26, and the stirring blade 31 are referred to as a rice washing and draining unit 34.

In the rice cooker of the present embodiment, the stirring blade rotation driving part 32 for rotating the rice washing drain unit 34 and the stirring blade up-down driving part 33 for moving the rice washing drain unit 34 up and down are provided inside the lid part 2. The stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 is configured to vertically move the stirring blade 31 in the inner container 3 while maintaining the parallel state with the rotation surface. The stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 and the stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 are configured to be individually driven and controlled or simultaneously driven and controlled in accordance with the order.

The stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 and the stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 are constituted by a plurality of gears, and a motor is used as a gear driving source. The rice washing drainage unit 34 rotates and/or moves up and down by the rotation driving of the motor as the gear driving source, and the rotation driving gear and/or the up and down driving gear rotates.

In order to move the rice washing and draining unit 34 in the vertical direction (vertical direction) inside the lid portion 2, a vertical driving rail 36 and a vertical driving gear 37 extending in the vertical direction are fixed to the lid portion 2. The stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 and the stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 are integrally configured, and the stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 is configured to be engaged with the vertical driving gear 37 and to move up and down. The stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 is guided by the vertical driving rail 36, and the stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 can vertically move the stirring blade 31 extending in the longitudinal direction in parallel in the inner container 3.

The inner lid 11 is provided with an inner lid water supply port 38 as a through hole for supplying water to the inner bag 3. The inner lid water supply port 38 is connected to a water supply path 39 disposed inside the lid portion 2. The inner lid water supply port 38 and the water supply path 39 are sealed by a water supply port sealing member 40. The water supply path 39 is connected to a water supply port 42 protruding to the outside of the rice cooker body 1 through a water supply valve 41.

The water supply port 42 is connected to a water supply pipeline (not shown) via an external water supply path (not shown), and a desired amount of water can be supplied to the inner tank 3 by controlling the driving of the water supply valve 41. That is, the water supply valve 41 is driven to open the path to supply water into the inner container 3, and the water supply valve 41 is driven to close the path to stop the supply of water into the inner container 3. In the present embodiment, the inner lid water supply port 38, the water supply path 39, the water supply port seal 40, the water supply valve 41, and the water supply port 42 are included as the water supply portion for supplying water to the inside of the inner container 3 as the container. For example, a structure is included in which a water tank is provided inside a rice cooker and water is supplied to the inside of a container.

In the present embodiment, the drain path 28 connected to the drain pipe 25, the water supply path 39 connected to the inner lid water supply port 38, and the rice supply path 22 connected to the inner lid rice supply port 23 are formed of a material and/or a structure that can respond to the vertical movement of the drain pipe 25 and the opening and closing movement of the lid portion 2, and are flexible or stretchable, for example.

The driving portion in the rice cooker of the present embodiment performs control by a program and a sequence stored in the control portion 43 provided in the rice cooker main body 1. The control unit 43 of the present embodiment may be any unit as long as it can control the rice cooker of the present disclosure. The control unit 43 can be implemented in various ways. For example, a processor may be used as the control unit. If a processor is used as the control unit, various processes can be executed by causing the processor to read a program from a storage medium storing the program and causing the processor to execute the program. Therefore, the processing content can be changed by changing the program stored in the storage medium, and thus the degree of freedom in controlling the change of the content can be increased. In the present embodiment, the control unit 43 controls the operations of the water supply unit, the rice supply unit, the stirring unit including the stirring blade and the like, the drain unit including the drain pipe and the like, and the like.

[1-3. Structure of Rice washing Drain Unit ]

Next, the structure of the stirring blade 31 as the stirring section in the rice washing and draining unit 34 will be described. Fig. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing the rice washing and draining unit 34 which rotates and moves up and down inside the inner tub 3. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the rice washing and draining unit 34 disposed inside the inner tub 3.

As shown in fig. 3, the stirring blade 31 as the stirring portion is a rotary body having a rotation axis a with a center axis of the drain pipe 25 extending in the vertical direction as a rotation center. Therefore, the stirring blade 31 is configured to rotate on a rotation plane B as a horizontal plane. That is, the stirring blade 31 rotates at a lower position (rice washing position) in the inner tub 3 with the center of the stirring blade 31 extending in the horizontal direction as the rotation center (see fig. 4).

As described above, the stirring blade 31 has a structure in which the rotation axis a extending in the vertical direction is set as the rotation center at the inner center of the inner container 3 as a container. The stirring blade 31 has a rod shape extending horizontally from the rotation axis a, and the front surface of the stirring blade 31 in the rotation direction C is formed by an upward inclined surface D. Further, the proximal end 31a of the stirring blade 31 on the side of the rotation axis a and the extended end 31b on the side of the inner container 3 have the same shape in cross section parallel to the rotation direction, and the proximal end 31a and the extended end 31b of the stirring blade 31 are formed to have substantially the same thickness (see fig. 4). The stirring blade 31 configured as described above is disposed at a position (rice washing position) below the inner tub 3 during rice washing, and the rice washing operation is performed by rotating the stirring blade 31 by the rotation operation of the drain pipe 25.

As shown in fig. 4, a drain filter 26 is provided on the lower end of the drain pipe 25 and on the lower surface of the central portion of the stirring blade 31, and is configured to pass powder or dirt such as rice bran, starch, and small broken rice contained in the drain water during rice washing, and to intercept and hold rice grains necessary for cooking inside the inner tub 3.

[1-4. actions ]

Next, the rice cooking device and the rice washing process according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with respect to the operation and action in the rice washing step including the preparation for rice cooking before and after rice washing.

The rice cooker of the present embodiment is a fully automatic rice cooker which sequentially and automatically performs rice metering, water supply, rice washing, and rice cooking, and is configured to perform preparation for cooking for a predetermined time period according to a cooking time, a cooking amount, and the like previously designated by a user. For example, the user designates that 5-time rice is cooked at 7 am, and performs an inverse operation so that the cooking time is 7 am, thereby measuring 5-time rice, supplying water, washing rice, adjusting addition or subtraction of water corresponding to 5-time rice, and starting cooking.

In this case, the user can perform setting operation on the operation display unit 10 of the rice cooker or remotely transmit various instructions including setting information and the like to the rice cooker through a network or the like.

Next, from the preparation of rice cooking, a rice washing process for measuring rice, supplying water, supplying rice, washing rice, and adjusting the amount of water (increasing or decreasing water) will be described.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing a rice washing process before the rice cooking operation from the initial state to the rice washing preparation, rinsing, rice washing, and water amount adjustment (water increase/decrease) of the rice cooker according to the present embodiment. Fig. 6 to 14 and 16 to 19 are vertical sectional views schematically showing various states during the rice washing process of the rice cooker according to the present embodiment.

(A. Rice washing preparation action)

As shown in fig. 1, step S101 in fig. 5 is an initial state in which nothing is in the inner tub 3 and the stirring blade 31 of the rice washing and draining unit 34 is disposed at an upper position (initial position) close to the inner lid 11. In this initial state, when the time reaches the start time of the rice washing process calculated by the inverse operation of the cooking time set by the user, the process proceeds to step S102.

FIG. 6 shows a state in the rice washing preparation operation in the rice washing process. As shown in fig. 6, in step S102, the rice washing drain unit 34 is lowered to a position (rice washing position) below the inner tub 3. At this time, the distance between the drain filter 26 at the lower end of the rice washing and draining unit 34 and the inner container 3 is set to be a distance of not less than the height (the length of the shortest side of the rectangular parallelepiped inscribed with 1 meter) when the rice is placed on a plane, for example, a distance of not less than 3 mm. This is to prevent rice grains from being crushed between the drain filter 26 of the rice washing drain unit 34 and the bottom of the inner tub 3 during the rice washing operation.

(B, rinsing action)

Next, as shown in fig. 7, in step S103, the water supply valve 41 is driven to supply a predetermined amount of water to the inner container 3. Fig. 7 shows a state before the rinsing operation in the rice washing process. The amount of water supplied to the inner tub 3 at this time may be an amount corresponding to the amount of rice instructed by the user.

In step S104, the rice 18 in the rice bin 17 is measured by the rice measuring unit 20 at once or in batches by the amount of rice (e.g., 5 turns) previously instructed by the user. By driving the rice transferring part 21, the measured rice 18 is supplied into the inner container 3 through the rice supplying path 22 and the inner lid rice supplying port 23. Fig. 8 shows a state where the rice 18 after the measurement is supplied into the inner tub 3.

In this way, when the rice 18 is supplied to the inner tub 3, the stirring blade 31 of the rice washing drain unit 34 and the like are disposed near the bottom of the pot of the inner tub 3 (lower position: rice washing position), but since the inner tub 3 contains water, direct collision of the rice 18 supplied to the inner tub 3 with the bottom of the pot or the stirring blade 31 of the rice washing drain unit 34 and the like is alleviated, and impact at this time is suppressed.

Fig. 9 schematically shows a state where a predetermined amount of rice 18 is supplied to the inner container 3. As shown in fig. 9, immediately after a predetermined amount of water and rice 18 are supplied into the inner tub 3, the drain pump 29 is driven to drain the water in the inner tub 3 through the drain pipe 25 and the drain path 28. Fig. 10 shows a state in which the drain pump 29 is driven to drain the water inside the inner tub 3 as shown by arrows through the drain pipe 25 and the drain path 28. In this way, in the rinsing operation, water is drained immediately after water is supplied to the inner tub 3, that is, immediately after water is supplied, in order to prevent the rice 18 from absorbing water contaminated by dirt on the surface of the rice 18 mixed in or dissolved out of the water. Here, immediately after the water is drained, the water is drained in a short time, for example, within 3 seconds after the water is supplied, and the water is drained in a short time before the dirt or the like mixed in the water is precipitated.

When the drainage during the rinsing operation is finished and the suction from the drainage filter 26 attached to the lower end of the drainage pipe 25 of the rice washing drainage unit 34 is reduced, the detection can be made based on the driving state of the drainage pump 29.

(C. Rice washing action)

As shown in fig. 11, after the drainage in the rinsing operation is finished, the rice washing operation is started. After the rinsing operation shown in fig. 11 is completed, in step S106, the water supply valve 41 is driven to supply a predetermined amount of water to the inner tank 3 (see fig. 12). At this time, the amount of water to be supplied to the inner container 3 is supplied in accordance with the amount of rice instructed by the user, and for example, when the amount of rice is 5 m, water of 750ml or more is supplied. In addition, even if the rice amount is 1 day, the minimum 400ml of water is supplied to the inner container 3 to perform the rice washing operation. This is because if the rice washing operation is performed in a state where the amount of water in the inner tub 3 is small, the rice may be broken and the water may not be sufficiently drained.

Next, as shown in fig. 13, in step S107, the drain pipe 25 of the rice washing and draining unit 34 is rotated by driving the stirring blade rotation driving unit 32, and the stirring blade 31 as the stirring unit is rotated at a predetermined low speed at a position below the inner container 3. The rice 18 is washed by rubbing the rice stirred and pressed by the stirring blade 31 against each other. At this time, in step S106 in the previous stage, water is supplied into the inner container 3, and the inner container 3 contains water, so that the rice 18 in the inner container 3 receives buoyancy, and the collision between the stirring blade 31 and the rice 18 or between the rice is alleviated, and a state in which strong impact is not easily received is obtained.

FIG. 14 shows a state in which water is drained during rice washing operation. As shown in fig. 14, in step S108, the water contaminated by the stirring of the rice 18 in step S107 is discharged. In this drain, similarly to the above-described drain in the rinsing operation, the driving state of the drain pump 29 that sucks water from the drain filter 26 attached to the lower end of the drain pipe 25 of the rice washing drain unit 34 is detected, and the end of the drain is detected.

FIG. 15 is a timing chart showing the timing of stirring by the stirring blade 31 as the stirring section and draining from the drain pipe 25 as the draining section in the rice washing operation. As shown in the timing chart of fig. 15, before the agitation by the agitating blade 31 in step S107 is completed, the water discharge in step S108 is started, and the agitation and the water discharge are simultaneously performed at a time T, whereby the dirt floating in the water can be efficiently discharged by the agitation by the agitating blade 31.

In this case, since the stirring blade 31 is rotated and the water is discharged through the drain strainer 26 provided in the rotation center portion of the lower end of the stirring blade 31, the rice 18 having a weight heavier than the dirt is separated from the drain strainer 26 by the centrifugal force, and the dirt is effectively discharged through the water discharged from the drain strainer 26.

As described above, when the series of rice washing operations of step S106 to step S108 is completed, the number of times of performing the rice washing operation is determined in step S109. When the series of rice washing operations does not reach the predetermined number of times n, for example, 3 times, the flow returns to the water supply in step S106, and the next series of rice washing operations such as the agitation in step S107 and the drainage in step S108 are performed. The series of rice washing operations is repeated a predetermined number of times n, and it is determined whether the predetermined number of times n has been reached in step S109. As described above, the control unit 43 performs the drive control so as to perform the following series of rice washing operations for a predetermined number of times: after the rinsing operation, a predetermined amount of water is supplied to the inner tub 3 as a container, the stirring blade 31 is rotated, and after a predetermined time set in advance has elapsed since the rotation, the water in the inner tub 3 is discharged.

(D: adjustment of Water amount for cooking)

In step S109, if it is determined that the rice washing operation has reached the predetermined number of times n, a water amount adjustment step of adjusting the water amount for cooking (adding or subtracting water) is performed.

In step S110, the water supply valve 41 is driven to open, and water is supplied to the inner tank 3. At this time, more water is supplied than the amount of water for cooking corresponding to the amount of rice designated by the user. For example, when the amount of rice is 5 m, 1000ml or more of water is supplied.

Next, in step S111, the stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 and the stirring blade up-and-down driving unit 33 are simultaneously or sequentially driven to rotate and raise the rice washing drainage unit 34. The rotation at this time may be lower than the rotation at the time of rice washing operation. Fig. 16 schematically shows a state where the rice washing and draining unit 34 ascends while rotating from a lower position inside the inner tub 3 in step S111. In step S111, the drain hole of the drain filter 26 of the rice washing drain unit 34 is moved to a water level position (a rice water amount position) corresponding to a rice amount previously designated by a user. Fig. 17 shows a state where the discharge holes of the drain filter 26 are moved (raised) to the position of the amount of rice water.

Next, in step S112, the drain pump 29 is driven to drain the water inside the inner tub 3 from the drain port 30 to the outside through the drain filter 26, the drain pipe 25, and the drain path 28. By discharging water from the drain filter 26 disposed at a predetermined position of the amount of rice water, the amount of water in the inner tub 3 can be reliably adjusted to a desired amount of rice water. Fig. 18 shows a state where the water amount inside the inner tub 3 is at the rice water cooking position in step S112. As described above, the amount of water in the inner tub 3 can be automatically adjusted to a desired value by controlling the position of the rice washing and draining unit 34.

Finally, in step S113, the rice washing and draining unit 34 is moved (raised) to the initial position (upper position) (see fig. 19). As shown in fig. 19, by disposing the rice washing drain unit 34 at the initial position at the end of the rice washing process, the rice does not contact the rice washing drain unit 34 even if the rice swells in the inner tub 3 in the subsequent cooking process.

Fig. 20 is a sequence diagram of a rice washing process of the rice cooker in the present embodiment. As shown in the time chart of fig. 20, the rice washing process includes a rice washing step and a water amount adjusting step (water adding and subtracting step), and the rice cooking step is executed after the rice washing process. The rice washing step includes a rice washing preparation operation for moving the rice washing and draining unit 34 from an upper position (initial position) to a lower position (rice washing position), a rinsing operation for supplying water, supplying rice and draining water, and a plurality of rice washing operations. The operation of the rice washing process of the rice cooker in the present embodiment is driven and controlled by the control unit 43 based on information set by the user, various detection data (temperature, time, current, etc.), and the like.

[1-3. Effect, etc. ]

As described above, the rice cooker of the present embodiment includes the inner tub 3, the water supply valve 41, the rice conveying unit 21, the stirring blade 31 as the stirring unit, the stirring blade rotation driving unit 32, and the stirring blade vertical driving unit 33. The inner container 3 is a bottomed cylinder shape that can be attached to the rice cooker main body 1. By driving the water supply valve 41, water can be supplied from a water supply facility outside the rice cooker to the inner tub 3. The rice 18 can be supplied to the inner tub 3 by driving the rice conveying unit 21. The stirring blade 31 as the stirring section can stir the rice 18 in the inner pot 3 by the stirring blade rotation driving section 32 and can move up and down in the inner pot 3 by the stirring blade up-and-down driving section 33.

When the stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 is driven to lower the stirring blade 31 as the stirring unit to the vicinity of the bottom of the inner pot 3 (rice washing position), the water supply valve 41 is driven to supply water to the inner pot 3, and the rice conveying unit 21 is driven to supply rice. Then, the stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 is driven to rotate the stirring blade 31 as the stirring unit, thereby washing the rice 18 in the inner pot 3.

In the rice cooker and the rice washing process of the present embodiment, since the inner tub 3 is filled with water when rice is supplied to the inner tub 3 by the above-described operation, the collision of the rice 18 against the bottom of the inner tub 3 and the like when rice is supplied can be alleviated. Further, since the stirring blade 31 has already moved to the vicinity of the bottom of the inner pot 3 at the time of supplying rice, when the stirring blade 31 is moved (rotated) after the rice 18 is supplied to the inner pot 3, the stirring blade 31 as the stirring portion does not perform the operation of pressing the rice 18 against the bottom surface of the inner pot 3, and performs the operation of stirring the rice 18 together with water. Therefore, in the rice cooker and the rice washing process according to the present embodiment, the occurrence of rice breakage is greatly reduced in the automatic rice washing, and the desired rice washing can be reliably performed.

In the present embodiment, the rice cooker includes a drain pipe 25 which can be moved up and down, a drain filter 26 attached to a lower end of the drain pipe 25, and a drain pump 29 for draining water inside the inner tub 3 through the drain filter 26 and the drain pipe 25. In the rinsing operation before the rice washing operation in the rice washing process of the rice cooker configured as above, the water supply valve 41 is driven to supply water to the inner tub 3 after the stirring blade 31 as the stirring portion at the initial position (upper position) is lowered or at a timing before and after the lowering, the rice conveying portion 21 is driven to supply rice, and the drain pump 29 is driven immediately thereafter, whereby the rinsing operation of discharging water inside the inner tub 3 is performed before the rice washing operation.

By performing the rinsing operation before the rice washing operation in this way, it is possible to drain the water at a stage before the rice absorbs the contaminated water, which is caused by the dirt attached to the surface of the rice 18 before the rice washing operation being mixed into the water or dissolved out. As a result, the rice 18 before the rice washing operation can be prevented from absorbing the sewage and being secondarily contaminated. Therefore, in the rice cooker of the present embodiment, a desired rice washing operation can be more reliably performed.

In the present embodiment, the rice cooker and the rice washing process may be configured to have a timing overlapping with each other to simultaneously operate the stirrer rotation driving unit 32 and the drain pump 29. With this configuration, the time required for washing rice can be shortened as compared with the case where the driving of the drain pump 29 is started after the driving of the stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 is completed.

By shortening the time required for washing rice in this way, the rice 18 can be prevented from becoming brittle due to long-term water immersion and water absorption, and the occurrence of rice chipping can be prevented. As a result, in the rice cooking device and the rice washing process according to the present embodiment, a desired rice washing operation can be reliably performed.

If the water discharge operation is performed in this order after the rice washing operation is completed, there is a problem that dirt such as bran, starch, and crushed rice, which has a relatively high specific gravity with respect to water, is precipitated in water, and the dirt cannot be reliably discharged by the water discharge operation. However, with the structure of the present embodiment, the dirt floating due to the stirring operation of the stirring blade 31 can be effectively discharged.

In the present embodiment, the rice cooker and the rice washing process may be configured such that the stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 is driven after the automatic rice washing operation is completed, and the stirring blade rotational driving unit 32 is driven to rotate the stirring blade 31 when the stirring blade 31 moves above the rice 18. With this configuration, since the rice 18 placed on the stirring blade 31 can be shaken off by the rotation operation, the rice cooking operation in the subsequent stage can be prevented from being performed in a state where the rice is placed on the stirring blade 31.

(other embodiments)

As described above, embodiment 1 is explained as an example of the technique disclosed in the present application. However, the technique of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and can be applied to embodiments in which changes, substitutions, additions, omissions, and the like are made. Each component described in embodiment 1 may be combined with each component in another embodiment described below to form a new embodiment.

Therefore, other embodiments are exemplified below.

In embodiment 1, a rice washing and draining unit 34 in which the stirring blade 31 and the drain pipe 25 are integrally formed is used as an example of the stirring section and the draining section that can move up and down. The stirring section and the water discharge section need not be integral, and particularly need not rotate as the water discharge section. Therefore, the stirring section and the drain section which can be moved up and down are not limited to the configuration of the rice washing and draining unit 34 in embodiment 1. However, the rice washing and draining unit 34 is used as the stirring unit and the draining unit that can move up and down, and thus the rice washing and draining unit can be used as both the rotating shaft and the draining pipe 25. That is, when the drain pipe 25 is configured to move only vertically and the stirring blade 31 is configured to be movable vertically and rotatable, a rotation shaft member separate from the drain pipe 25 needs to be used as a rotation shaft of the stirring blade 31. However, in the case of such a configuration, compared to the configuration in which the drain pipe 25 rotates, there is no need for complicated parts for simultaneously sealing the fluid containing dirt particles and supporting the rotating shaft, such as the drain path connector 27 and the oil seal 35 used in embodiment 1.

In embodiment 1, the stirring blade 31 rotationally driven by the stirring blade rotational driving unit 32 is described as an example of the stirring unit. The stirring section is not limited to the rotating structure as long as it can stir the rice 18 and water to perform the rice washing operation. For example, not only the rotation in one direction, but also the rotation operation in which the rotation in two directions, that is, the normal rotation and the reverse rotation, is repeated, and a combination operation of these operations may be performed.

In embodiment 1, the inner lid water supply port 23 and the inner lid water supply port 38 are used as examples of the supply portion of the rice and water supply unit. In order to prevent steam leakage during cooking, etc., it is necessary to provide a mechanism for closing the supply holes of the rice supply portion and the water supply portion, respectively. Therefore, a lid (not shown) that is opened and closed in conjunction with the operation of the rice conveying unit 21 and the water supply valve 41 may be provided in each supply hole provided in the inner lid 11.

In embodiment 1, as an example of the rice washing process, the control of supplying water in step S103 after moving the rice washing drain unit 34 to the vicinity of the bottom of the inner pot 3 (rice washing position) in step S102 (see fig. 5) has been described, but the order of step S102 and step S103 may be reversed, and water may be supplied before supplying rice, and there is no difference in the effect of suppressing the impact caused by the rice 18 falling when supplied to the inner pot 3 by water.

In addition, during the rinsing operation, the rice and the water may be mixed in the inner tub 3 by the mixer immediately after the rice is supplied to the inner tub 3 or immediately after the rice is supplied. That is, the stirring blade 31 may be configured to stir the rice while the stirring blade rotation driving unit is driven at the same time as the rice is supplied, and the dirt and the like attached to the rice 18 may be removed by the water flow.

In the present embodiment, the overlap time T between the stirring and the drainage is set during the rice washing operation, but the drainage may be performed after the stirring is completed and before the water in the inner tub 3 is stopped. The time from the completion of the stirring until the water in the inner container 3 is stopped may be a predetermined time. This enables dirt floating in the water by the agitation of the agitating blade 31 to be effectively discharged.

As described above, in the rice cooker and the rice washing process, as described specifically by way of example in the embodiments, the stirring unit is configured to descend to a position below the vicinity of the bottom of the inner pot before the rice and the water, and thus the rice is not pressed when the stirring unit descends. In addition, since water is supplied through the water supply part before rice is supplied to the inner container, the water in the inner container acts as a buffer material, so that the rice supplied from the upper part of the inner container directly collides with the bottom surface or the wall surface of the inner container, and the falling impact applied to the rice can be greatly alleviated. Therefore, in the rice cooker and the rice washing process of the present disclosure, rice breakage that may occur during automatic rice washing can be greatly reduced, and a desired rice washing operation can be reliably performed.

The technique of the present disclosure has a remarkable effect in suppressing the granular objects (rice) from being broken due to impact or the like at the time of feeding to the agitation vessel, and can be applied to, for example, cleaning of other granular objects and granular foods, and the like.

Further, the above-described embodiments are intended to exemplify the technology in the present disclosure, and various modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, and the like can be made within the scope of the claims and the equivalents thereof.

The present disclosure can be applied to suppress chipping of granular objects due to impact or the like at the time of feeding to a stirring vessel, and can be applied to an apparatus that washes various granular objects or the like.

Claims

1. A rice washing process of a rice cooker, wherein the rice cooker has:

a container containing rice and water;

a water supply unit that supplies water to the inside of the container;

a rice supply unit for supplying rice to the inside of the container;

the control unit performs the following control: moving the stirring section between an initial position as an upper position in the vessel and a rice washing position as a lower position in the vessel to rotate the stirring section at a predetermined position in the vessel,

2. The rice washing process of the rice cooker as claimed in claim 1, wherein,

the control unit is configured to cause the water supply unit to supply water to the container before causing the rice supply unit to supply rice to the container.

3. The rice washing process of the rice cooker as claimed in claim 1, wherein,

the control unit is configured to perform a rinsing operation including: the drainage of the drainage part is performed immediately after the supply of the water supply part and the supply of the rice supply part.

4. The rice washing process of the rice cooker as claimed in claim 3, wherein,

the control unit is configured to perform a series of rice washing operations at predetermined times after the rinsing operation: a predetermined amount of water is supplied to the container, the stirring section is rotated, and the water in the container is discharged after a predetermined time has elapsed from the rotation.

5. The rice washing process of the rice cooker as claimed in claim 4, wherein,

the control unit is configured to discharge the water in the container during at least one of a rotation operation of the stirring unit and before the rotation operation of the stirring unit is completed and the water in the container is still.

6. The rice washing process of the rice cooker as claimed in claim 4, wherein,

the control unit is configured to rotate the stirring unit when the stirring unit moves from the rice washing position to the home position after the rice washing operation is performed a predetermined number of times.

7. The rice washing process of the rice cooker as claimed in claim 4, wherein,

the control unit is configured to stop and rotate the stirring unit at a position where the stirring unit contacts with the surface of the rice inside the container when the stirring unit moves from the rice washing position to the home position after the rice washing operation is performed a predetermined number of times.

8. The rice washing process of the rice cooker as claimed in claim 4, wherein,

the control unit is configured to stop the drain port at a water level position corresponding to a rice amount in the container to drain water when the stirring unit moves from the rice washing position to the home position after the rice washing operation is performed a predetermined number of times.

9. A rice cooker having a rice washing process of the rice cooker as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.