CN113017396B - Rice cooker and rice washer - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a rice cooker and a rice washer. The rice washing drainage unit comprises: a stirring blade that rotates inside the container and stirs rice and water; a drain pipe, at least a part of which is integrated with the stirring blade, wherein a drain port is arranged in the container to drain water in the container; a drain strainer provided so as to cover a drain outlet of the drain pipe, the drain strainer having a strainer opening as a plurality of through-holes, and a plurality of strainer protrusions formed through the strainer opening. According to the technique of the present invention, the rice in the container can be efficiently supplied and discharged, and a desired rice washing operation can be performed.

Description

Rice cooker and rice washer

Technical Field

The invention relates to a rice cooker with a rice washing function and a rice washing machine.

Background

Japanese patent application laid-open No. 63-288112 (hereinafter, referred to as patent document 1) discloses an automatic rice cooker which automatically supplies water and discharges, washes rice and cooks rice by putting measured rice into a rice cooker and operating a control panel. The automatic rice cooker of patent document 1 has a rotary shaft protruding downward from a lid of a rice cooker main body accommodating a rice cooker, and a stirring member provided at an end of the rotary shaft. The stirrer in the rice cooker of patent document 1 has a curved rod shape, and is disposed inside the rice cooker when the lid of the rice cooker body is closed. A pipe communicating with the water supply and drainage device is provided at the bottom of the rice cooker, and water is supplied to and drained from the rice cooker through the pipe. The rice cooker repeatedly performs the following rice washing actions: a predetermined amount of water is supplied to the rice cooker, and the stirring member is rotated for a fixed time to wash rice and then drain water. After the rice washing operation, water required for cooking is supplied to perform a cooking operation. The stirring member of patent document 1 is disposed in a rice cooker during a rice cooking operation, and is detached and cleaned after the rice cooking operation is completed.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a rice cooker and a rice washer capable of efficiently performing rice washing operations of repeatedly supplying water into a container, stirring rice in the container, and draining water after stirring.

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

a container containing nano-sized and water;

a rice washing and draining unit which rotates in the container and drains water in the container;

the rice washing and draining unit comprises:

a stirring blade that rotates inside the container and stirs rice and water;

a drain pipe, at least a part of which is integrated with the stirring blade, the drain pipe being provided with a drain port in the interior of the container, and draining water in the interior of the container; and

a drain strainer provided so as to cover a drain opening of the drain pipe,

the drain filter has a filter opening as a plurality of through-holes, and a plurality of filter protrusions formed across the filter opening.

In addition, a rice washer according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:

a container containing nano-sized and water;

a rice washing drainage unit which rotates in the container to drain water in the container,

The rice washing and draining unit comprises:

a stirring blade that rotates inside the container and stirs rice and water;

a drain pipe, at least a part of which is integrated with the stirring blade, the drain pipe being provided with a drain port in the container to drain water in the container; and

a drain strainer provided so as to cover a drain opening of the drain pipe,

the drain filter has a filter opening as a plurality of through-holes, and a plurality of filter protrusions formed across the filter opening.

According to the present invention, the rice in the container can be efficiently supplied and discharged, and a desired rice washing operation can be performed.

Drawings

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

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the schematic structure of the rice cooker (state of rice washing) 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 vessel and the rice washing drainage unit of embodiment 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a drain filter according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a rice washing drainage unit according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 7 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a drain pipe of the rice washing drain unit of embodiment 1.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the stirring blade of the rice washing and draining unit according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 9 is a view schematically showing a state in which rice grains are caught by a drainage filter during washing of rice.

Fig. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a rice washing and draining unit of the rice cooker of embodiment 2.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing a drain filter as a modification of the other embodiment.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing a drain filter as another modification of the other embodiment.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing a drain filter as a further modification of the other embodiment.

Fig. 14 is a perspective view showing a drain filter as a further modification of the other embodiment.

Detailed Description

(insight underlying the present disclosure, etc.)

In the present invention, an automatic rice cooker for supplying and draining water, washing rice and cooking rice is provided with a pipe at the bottom of a container for storing rice and water, and supplying and draining water when washing rice is performed through the pipe. In such a configuration, since the water is discharged through the pipe provided at the bottom of the container during rice washing, it is necessary to pass the rice bran or other powder produced during rice washing through the pipe provided at the bottom of the container during rice stirring, and thereby the rice grains to be washed remain in the container.

As described above, in order to pass fine powder and leave large grains in the container, a filter having a desired mesh is generally used. However, in a conventional filter, rice bran, starch, small crushed rice and other powders generated during rice washing are likely to clog the mesh, and it is difficult to efficiently perform desired rice washing in a rice washing operation in which water supply and water discharge are repeated a plurality of times. In addition, since such a filter is immediately clogged, it is necessary to keep track of the cleaning of the filter. The inventors have found these problems and have constituted the subject of the present invention in order to solve these problems.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a rice cooker and a rice washer provided with a drainage filter that can retain rice grains required for cooking in a container after washing rice by passing fine powder such as rice bran, starch, and small broken rice generated during rice washing and can greatly suppress clogging in order to efficiently perform rice washing operations of supplying water into the container and stirring rice in the container and draining water after stirring.

First, various modes of the rice cooker and the rice washer according to the present invention will be described.

The rice cooker according to the first aspect of the present invention includes:

a container containing nano-sized and water;

a rice washing drainage unit which rotates in the container to drain water in the container,

the rice washing and draining unit comprises:

a stirring blade that rotates inside the container and stirs rice and water;

a drain pipe, at least a part of which is integrated with the stirring blade, the drain pipe being provided with a drain port in the interior of the container, and draining water in the interior of the container;

a drain strainer provided so as to cover a drain opening of the drain pipe,

the drain filter has a filter opening as a plurality of through-holes, and a plurality of filter protrusions formed across the filter opening.

In the rice cooker according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the filter protrusion may have a predetermined height from the filter opening, and may be formed of a curved surface.

In the rice cooker according to the third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the filter openings may have a longitudinal shape and be arranged in parallel, and the filter protrusions may be formed so as to extend parallel to the longitudinal direction of the filter openings and to be adjacent to both sides of the filter openings.

In the rice cooker according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the filter protrusions have a longitudinal shape and are arranged in parallel, and the plurality of filter openings are arranged in a longitudinal line along the longitudinal direction of the filter protrusions.

In the rice cooker according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the filter protrusions may be formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening, and the plurality of filter protrusions and the plurality of filter openings may be arranged in a line in a longitudinal direction.

In the rice cooker according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the drain filter may be attached to the drain pipe via the stirring blade.

In a seventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the drain pipe may include an inner pipe for draining water in the container and an outer pipe integrally formed with the stirring blade,

the drain filter is mounted to the inner pipe, whereby the outer pipe following the stirring blade is held rotatably.

In the rice cooker according to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the interval between the adjacent filter protrusions may be shorter than the short diameter of the rice.

A rice cooker according to a ninth aspect of the present invention may be such that, in any one of the first to seventh aspects, rice is intercepted by the plurality of filter protrusions.

A tenth aspect of the present invention provides a rice washer comprising:

a container containing nano-sized and water;

a rice washing drainage unit which rotates in the container to drain water in the container,

the rice washing and draining unit comprises:

a stirring blade that rotates inside the container and stirs rice and water;

a drain pipe, at least a part of which is integrated with the stirring blade, the drain pipe being provided with a drain port in the interior of the container, and draining water in the interior of the container; and

a drain strainer provided so as to cover a drain opening of the drain pipe,

the drain filter has a filter opening as a plurality of through-holes, and a plurality of filter protrusions formed across the filter opening.

In the rice washer according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, the filter protrusion in the tenth aspect may have a predetermined height from the filter opening, and may be formed of a curved surface.

In the rice washer according to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the filter openings in the tenth or eleventh aspect may have a longitudinal shape and be arranged in parallel, and the filter protrusions may be formed so as to extend parallel to the longitudinal direction of the filter openings and to be adjacent to both sides of the filter openings.

In the rice washer according to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the filter protrusions in the tenth or eleventh aspect may have a longitudinal shape and be arranged in parallel, and the plurality of filter openings may be arranged in a longitudinal line along a longitudinal direction of the filter protrusions.

In the rice washer according to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the filter protrusions in the tenth or eleventh aspect may be formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening, and the plurality of filter protrusions and the plurality of filter openings may be arranged in a line in the longitudinal direction.

In the rice washer according to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the tenth to fourteenth aspects, the drain filter may be attached to the drain pipe via the stirring blade.

In the sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the tenth to fourteenth aspects, the drain pipe may include an inner pipe for draining water in the container and an outer pipe integrally formed with the stirring blade,

The drain filter is mounted to the inner pipe, whereby the outer pipe following the stirring blade is held rotatably.

The embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, unnecessary detailed description may be omitted. For example, a detailed description of known matters or a repeated description of substantially the same structure may be omitted. This is to avoid the following description being too lengthy to be easily understood by those skilled in the art.

In addition, the drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not meant to limit the subject matter recited in the claims.

A rice cooker having an induction heating heat source will be described as a specific embodiment of the rice cooker of the present invention with reference to the drawings. The rice cooker according to the present invention is not limited to the structure of the rice cooker described in the following embodiments, and includes a structure of a rice cooker based on a technology equivalent to the technical idea having the technical features described in the following embodiments.

The numerical values, shapes, structures, steps (steps, modes), orders of steps, and the like shown in the following embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the disclosure. Among the constituent elements of the following embodiments, constituent elements not described in the independent claims showing the uppermost concept will be described as arbitrary constituent elements. In addition, for ease of understanding, the drawings mainly schematically show the respective constituent elements.

(embodiment 1)

Next, a rice cooker according to embodiment 1 will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 9 of the drawings. The rice cooker in embodiment 1 has a structure including a rice cooking mechanism and a rice washing mechanism having a rice box, and is a fully automatic rice cooker for automatically supplying water, metering rice, supplying rice, washing rice, and cooking rice in this order.

[1-1. Integral Structure ]

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

In fig. 1 and 2, a rice cooker according to embodiment 1 includes: a rice cooker main body 1 capable of accommodating the liner 3; and a lid 2 openably and closably provided on the upper part of the rice cooker body 1. In the rice cooker shown in fig. 1 and 2, the left side is the front side where the lid 2 of the rice cooker is opened, and the right side is the rear side of the rice cooker. In embodiment 1, a rice cooker main body 1 and a lid 2 constitute a casing, and a liner 3 serving as a container is housed in the casing.

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

A bottom temperature sensor 7 is disposed on the bottom surface of the outer pan 4, and the bottom temperature sensor 7 is in contact with the bottom of the liner 3 accommodated in the outer pan 4. The bottom temperature sensor 7 has a structure in which a spring or the like serving as an elastic member is biased vertically upward, for example. When the inner container 3 is stored in the outer pot 4, the bottom of the inner container 3 presses the pot bottom temperature sensor 7, and the inner container 3 is stored in the outer pot 4.

A lid 2 is attached to the upper part of the rice cooker main body 1 so as to be openable and closable. The lid 2 is rotatably supported by a lid hinge 8, and the lid hinge 8 is biased in the opening direction by an elastic member such as a spring provided on the rear surface side of the rice cooker main body 1. A hook button 9 (lid opening switch) is disposed on the front side of the rice cooker main body 1, and the hook button 9 is pivotally supported so as to be rotatable, and the hook button 9 engages with a part of the lid 2 to maintain the lid 2 in a closed state.

An operation display unit 10 is provided on the front side of the lid unit 2, and the operation display unit 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 can be considered as the input interface. For example, the input interface may be constituted by a mechanical operating member. The input interface may be constituted by a transparent plate-like operation member provided above the display. The transparent plate-like operating member may be a contact member or a noncontact member.

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

In the lid 2, an inner lid steam port 13 is formed as a through hole in the inner lid 11 for discharging steam generated in the inner container 3 during cooking and heat preservation. The inner lid steam port 13 communicates with a steam path 14 which is a steam passage in the lid 2 and a steam port 15 which discharges the steam to the outside of the rice cooker. The space between the inner lid steam port 13 of the inner lid 11 and the steam path 14 of the lid section 2 is sealed by a steam port seal 16.

A rice bin 17 having a bottom cylindrical shape is disposed on the lid 2. The rice bin 17 can store a predetermined amount of rice 18. A rice bin cover 19 is provided on the upper portion 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 rice 18 is supplied to rice bin 17, rice bin cover 19 is opened, and the upper surface of rice bin 17 is opened.

A rice feeding path 22 is connected to the lower part of the rice bin 17 via a rice weighing unit 20 and a rice conveying unit 21. The inner lid 11 is formed with an inner lid rice-feeding opening 23 as a through hole. The space between the rice supply opening 23 of the inner cover and the rice supply path 22 is sealed by a rice supply opening sealing member 24. By driving the rice feeding unit 21, a predetermined amount of rice 18 measured by the rice measuring unit 20 is fed into the liner 3.

In the present embodiment, the structure in which the upper portion of the housing portion 5 is opened by rotating the lid portion 2 is described, but since the lid portion 2 has many constituent elements and the lid portion 2 is constituted by a weight, there is a possibility that the lid portion 2 may fall over or the like when opened after being rotated in the opening direction. Therefore, in order to safely and reliably bring the lid 2 into the open state, a structure that takes into consideration weight balance between the rice cooker main body 1 and the lid 2, a mechanism that rotates the lid 2 to open only the upper portion of the housing 5, and the like may be provided.

In the present embodiment, the lid 2 provided on the upper portion of the rice cooker main body 1 is entirely turned by the lid hinge 8 to open the upper portion of the housing 5, but the present disclosure may be configured such that only a part of the lid 2 is turned to open only the upper portion of the housing 5. For example, the housing portion 5 may be horizontally pulled out from the rice cooker main body 1 toward the near side (front side), or only a part (near side portion) of the lid portion 2 may be lifted up to reliably open the upper surface opening of the outer pot 4 of the housing portion 5 when the housing portion 5 is pulled out from the rice cooker main body 1. When a part (near side part) of the lid 2 is lifted, the weight such as the rice bin 17 on the back side of the weight of the lid 2 may be maintained at the original position.

[1-2 Water supply and drainage Structure during 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 liner 3, "rice washing" in response to water supply and drainage from the liner 3, and "rice cooking" based on a heating program set after water amount adjustment, in order. The water supply and drainage structure of the rice cooker according to the present embodiment will be described below.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, a through hole is formed in a substantially central portion of the inner cover 11, and a drain pipe 25 is provided through the through hole. A drain strainer 26A is disposed at the lower end of the drain pipe 25. The drain strainer 26A provided so as to cover the drain opening, which is the lower end opening of the drain pipe 25, is configured to pass fine powder and dirt such as rice bran and starch having a grain size of less than or equal to rice and small crushed rice during rice washing, and to drain the rice toward the drain pipe 25.

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 the rice, which has passed through the water discharge path 28, is discharged to the outside of the rice cooker through the water discharge opening 30 by the driving of the water discharge pump 29. The drain port 30 may be connected to an external drain path (not shown), and may be configured to drain water after washing rice to an external kitchen sink or the like.

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

In addition, 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 may be a flat surface. With this configuration, as will be described later, the stirring blade 31 is rotated at a low speed, and the surface of the rice after washing is flattened.

The lower surface of the lid 2 provided so as to cover the housing 5 of the rice cooker main body 1 is provided with an oil seal 35 at a portion contacting the outer surface of the drain pipe 25, so as to prevent leakage of rice cooking steam into the lid 2. Also, an oil seal 35 is provided in the cover 2 at a connection portion between the drain pipe 25 and the drain path connector 27, to prevent drain leakage of the drain path connector 27.

In the rice cooker of the present embodiment, the drain pipe 25 and the stirring blade 31 are integrally formed. Here, the drain pipe 25 and the stirring blade 31 being integrally formed means that the drain pipe 25 and the stirring blade 31 are integrally and simultaneously operated, and are not particularly limited to being formed of 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 movable up and down inside the liner 3 housed in the housing portion 5 of the rice cooker main 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 26A, and the stirring blade 31 are referred to as a rice washing drain unit 34.

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

The stirring vane rotation driving unit 32 and the stirring vane up-down driving unit 33 are constituted by a plurality of gears, and a motor is used as a gear driving source. The rice washing drain unit 34 is rotated and/or moved up and down by rotation driving of a motor as a gear driving source, which rotates a driving gear and/or rotates a driving gear up and down.

In order to move the rice washing and draining unit 34 in the vertical direction (vertical direction) inside the cover 2, an up-and-down drive rail 36 and an up-and-down drive gear 37 extending in the vertical direction are fixed to the cover 2. The stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 and the stirring blade up-and-down driving unit 33 are integrally formed, and the stirring blade up-and-down driving unit 33 is engaged with the up-and-down driving gear 37 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 blades 31 extending in the longitudinal direction in a parallel state inside the liner 3.

The inner lid 11 is provided with an inner lid water supply port 38 for supplying water to the inner liner 3 as a through hole. The inner lid water supply port 38 is connected to a water supply path 39 disposed inside the lid section 2. The space between the inner lid water supply port 38 and the water supply path 39 is sealed by a water supply port seal 40. The water supply path 39 is connected to a water supply port 42 protruding to the outside of the rice cooker main body 1 through a water supply valve 41.

The water supply port 42 is connected to a tap water pipe device (not shown) via an external water supply path (not shown), and can supply a desired amount of water to the liner 3 by controlling the driving of the water supply valve 41. That is, by driving the water supply valve 41 to open the path, water can be supplied to the inside of the liner 3, and by driving the water supply valve 41 to close the path in the opposite direction, water supply to the liner 3 can be stopped.

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 configured to be able to cope with the up-and-down operation of the drain pipe 25 and the opening and closing operation of the lid 2, and are made of a flexible or stretchable material and/or structure, for example.

The drive section in the rice cooker of the present embodiment performs control by a program, sequence stored in the control section 43 provided in the rice cooker main body 1. The control unit 43 of the present embodiment may be capable of controlling the rice cooker of the present disclosure. The control unit 43 can be realized in various ways. For example, a processor may be used as the control unit. If a processor is used as the control section, various processes can be executed by causing the processor to read a program from a storage medium storing the program and execute the program by the processor. Therefore, the processing content can be changed by changing the program stored in the storage medium, and thus the degree of freedom in changing the control content can be improved.

[1-3 Structure of Rice washing drainage Unit ]

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

As shown in fig. 3, the stirring blade 31 is a rotating body having a rotation axis a with the center axis of the drain pipe 25 extending in the vertical direction as the rotation center. Therefore, the stirring blade 31 is configured to rotate in the rotation plane B as a horizontal plane. That is, the stirring blade 31 rotates at a lower position inside the liner 3 while maintaining the horizontal direction 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 at the center of the inside of the liner 3 as a container is the rotation center. The stirring blade 31 has a bar shape extending horizontally from the rotation axis a, and a front surface of the stirring blade 31 in the rotation direction C is formed of an upward inclined surface D. The base end 31a of the stirring blade 31 on the rotation axis a side and the extended end 31b of the inner tube 3 on the side surface side have the same cross section parallel to the rotation direction, and the base end 31a and the extended end 31b of the stirring blade 31 have substantially the same thickness (see fig. 4). The stirring blade 31 configured as described above is disposed at a position below the liner 3 during rice washing, and the stirring blade 31 is rotated by the rotation of the drain pipe 25 to perform rice washing.

The shape of the stirring blade 31 may be configured to be thicker toward the extended end 31 b. This is because the amount of rice 18 in the liner 3 in rice washing increases as the amount of rice increases toward the outside of the liner, and thus the operation of the rice 18 can be made larger by making the stirring blade 31 thicker toward the outside of the liner, and the degree of rice washing (degree of decontamination) can be further improved. Conversely, the stirring vane 31 may be configured to be thinner toward the extended end portion 31 b. In this way, by making the stirring blade 31 thinner toward the outer side of the bladder, the torque for driving the stirring blade 31 when washing rice can be reduced.

As shown in fig. 4, a drain filter 26A is provided on the lower surface of the central portion of the stirring blade 31 at the lower end of the drain pipe 25, and rice bran, starch, small broken rice and other powder and dirt contained in the drain water during rice washing are allowed to pass through the drain filter 26A, and rice grains required for cooking are held inside the liner 3 while being intercepted.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the lower surface (surface corresponding to the bottom of the pot of the liner 3) of the drain filter 26A according to the present embodiment. The drain filter 26A shown in fig. 5 shows a portion exposed from the central portion of the lower surface of the stirring blade 31. As described later, in the present embodiment, the drain strainer 26A is attached by a fixing means such as screw fixation so as to cover a drain opening which is an opening of a lower end portion of the drain pipe 25. The fixing means is configured to fix the drain strainer 26A to the drain pipe 25 with the stirring blade 31 interposed therebetween. Therefore, forgetting to attach the drain strainer 26A to the drain pipe 25 can be reliably prevented. The rotation direction of the screw fixation at this time is opposite to the rotation direction of the drain pipe 25, and the drain filter 26A is prevented from being detached during rotation.

Further, as the fixing means, for example, a hook may be provided to protrude from the drain filter 26A so as to engage the drain filter 26A with the inside of the drain pipe 25, and the hook may be engaged with a hole in the inside of the drain pipe 25. In this structure, the end of the hook can be pushed inward from the outside of the drain pipe 25 and removed.

As shown in fig. 5, the drain filter 26A of the present embodiment has a filter opening 26b as a plurality of vertically long through-holes formed in parallel on a surface (a lower surface in the attached state of the drain filter 26A shown in fig. 4) of a filter base portion 26c having a flat surface as a main body thereof. These filter openings 26b become drain holes. The width of the filter opening 26b perpendicular to the longitudinal direction is set to a value smaller than the size (length, width, thickness) of rice grains to be washed, and for example, rice bran and rice flour (pulverized rice) that has a great influence on the flavor are discharged together with water so as not to discharge the rice 18, and is preferably set to 0.2mm to 2.0 mm. In order to discharge rice 18 without discharging rice, rice bran and crushed rice together with water, it is preferably 1.0mm or more and 2.0mm or less.

Further, on the surface of the filter base 26c, an elongated filter protrusion 26a is formed along the edge in the longitudinal direction of the filter opening 26b. That is, the filter openings 26b are formed so as to be adjacent to each other on both sides with the filter protrusions 26a formed in a longitudinal direction. As the interval between the filter projections 26a arranged in parallel and adjacent to each other, for example, rice bran (pulverized rice) having a large influence on the taste is discharged together with water in the same manner so as not to discharge the rice 18, and it is preferably 0.2mm or more and 2.0mm or less. In order to discharge rice 18 without discharging rice, rice bran and crushed rice together with water, it is preferably 1.0mm or more and 2.0mm or less. The interval between the adjacent filter projections 26a is preferably shorter than the minor diameter of the rice 18. Thus, the rice 18 is intercepted by the filter 26A by the plurality of filter protrusions 26A. Therefore, rice bran and rice flour can be discharged without discharging rice 18.

The filter protrusion 26a has a predetermined height from the surface of the filter base 26c (the filter opening 26 b). The height of the filter protrusion 26a from the surface of the filter base 26c is set to be, for example, 1.0mm or more and 2.0mm or less in the same manner. The height of the filter projection 26a is preferably 1.0mm or more in order to sufficiently secure a drain flow path from the side filter, and preferably 2.0mm or less in order to effectively drain water from the bottom of the pan. This is because the water of the bottom of the pan corresponding to the height of the filter protrusion 26a is not discharged. The above-described filter opening 26b and specific numerical values relating to the filter opening 26b are examples, and the drain filter 26A may be replaced so as to be changeable according to the type of rice to be cooked.

The length of the filter protrusion 26a in the longitudinal direction is longer than the length of the adjacent filter opening 26b in the longitudinal direction, and both end portions (26 aa) in the longitudinal direction are formed of curved surfaces. In the drain filter 26A of the present embodiment, external threads 26e (see fig. 6) for screwing on the drain pipe 25 may be formed on the back surface of the filter base 26c (the upper surface in the attached state of the drain filter 26A shown in fig. 4) as the fixing means.

As described above, the filter openings 26b of the drain filter 26A in the present embodiment are juxtaposed in a longitudinal shape, and the filter protrusions 26A are provided so as to extend parallel to the longitudinal direction of the filter openings 26b, and are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter openings 26 b.

Fig. 6 schematically shows a vertical section of the rice washing drainage unit 34 according to the present embodiment. Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the drain pipe 25, showing the key 25a as a rotation stopper when attached to the stirring blade 31. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the stirring blade 31, showing the key groove 31c for locking the key 25a of the drain pipe 25.

As shown in fig. 6, a key 25a is provided on the outer periphery of the lower end portion of the drain pipe 25, and a female screw 25b is formed on the inner periphery thereof. By screwing the external screw thread 26e of the drain strainer 26A to the internal screw thread 25b of the drain pipe 25 via the stirring blade 31, the drain strainer 26A is attached to the rice-washing drain unit 34, and the stirring blade 31 is reliably fixed to a predetermined position. That is, since the drain filter 26A is attached to the drain pipe 25 via the stirring blade 31, the stirring blade 31 is reliably attached to the rice-washing drain unit 34 by attaching the drain filter 26A. Therefore, the water discharge filter 26A is prevented from being attached to the rice washing water discharge unit 34, and the rice washing operation is started.

With the above configuration, the rice washing operation is performed in a state where the drain filter 26A is attached to the rice washing drain unit 34, and the rice grains to be washed are intercepted by the drain filter 26A. As described above, the drain filter 26A is provided with the elongated filter projections 26A along the elongated filter openings 26 b. That is, the filter protrusions 26a having a height are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening 26 b. The width of the filter opening 26b and the distance between the filter protrusions 26a on both sides across the filter opening 26b are set to be smaller than the size of rice grains to be washed.

Fig. 9 schematically shows a state where rice grains 180 are intercepted by the drainage filter 26A at the time of rice washing. As shown in fig. 9, when washing rice, the washed rice grains 180 are intercepted by the filter protrusions 26a which are arranged in parallel and adjacent to each other when the water after washing rice is discharged through the drain pipe 25. At this time, fine powder or dirt such as rice bran, starch, or crushed rice smaller than the rice grains 180 passes between the filter protrusions 26a provided in parallel, and flows out from the filter openings 26b to the drain pipe 25. As shown in fig. 9, even if the washed rice grains 180 come into contact with the filter projections 26A arranged in parallel and are further caught, water can flow into the drain pipe 25 from between the longitudinal end portions 26aa of the filter projections 26A arranged in parallel with the filter openings 26b because the filter projections 26A have a height from the filter base 26c in the drain filter 26A. That is, the surface of the filter protrusion 26A of the drain filter 26A facing the bottom of the pan of the inner container 3 is a front-side filter, and the surface facing the side surface of the inner container 3 is a side-side filter.

When the rice washing drain unit 34 drains water, suction from the drain pipe 25 is mainly focused on the front side filter of the drain filter 26A. Therefore, the rice grains 180 are easily intercepted by the front side filter of the drain filter 26A, and the rice grains 180 are hardly intercepted by the side filter. In the present embodiment, the ends 26aa of the adjacent filter protrusions 26a constituting the side filter are smaller than the size of the rice grains 180, and the ends 26aa are curved, so that the rice grains 180 are particularly prevented from being intercepted by the side filter.

[1-4. Action during washing Rice ]

In the rice cooker of the present embodiment, the rice washing operation is performed after the water supply, the rice metering, and the rice supply are performed. The rice cooker is rinsed prior to the rice washing action. In addition, the rice washing drain unit 34 is initially provided with the stirring blade 31 at an upper position in the vicinity of the inner surface side of the inner lid 11 (see fig. 1). The rice washing drain unit 34 moves the drain pipe 25 to a lower position in a stage before rice supply, and arranges the stirring blade 31 in the lower part of the drain pipe 25 to a lower position near the bottom surface of the liner 3 (see fig. 2).

The rinsing is performed by supplying a predetermined amount of water and rice to the liner 3 and then immediately draining the water from the liner 3. This is because dirt adhering to the surface of the rice 18 adheres to the water discharged at this time, and the rice 18 in the liner 3 is prevented from absorbing sewage. In the rinsing operation, the water may be stirred together with the inside of the liner 3 by the stirring blade 31 when the liner 3 is advanced by a certain distance or immediately after the advance of the material. That is, the stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 may be driven while supplying rice, and the stirring blade 31 may stir the rice to remove dirt and the like adhering to the rice 18 by the water flow. Thus, by draining water immediately after the rice 18 is slightly stirred to remove dirt, the degree of rice washing (degree of dirt removal) is further improved.

After the end of the water discharge of the rinsing, a predetermined amount of water for washing rice is supplied to the liner 3. When a predetermined amount of water for washing rice is supplied to the liner 3, the rice washing drain unit 34 is driven to rotate the stirring blade 31. The rotation speed of the stirring blade 31 during the rice washing is, for example, in the range of 30rpm to 120rpm, and is low. If the rotation speed is less than 30rpm, the scale is not sufficiently removed, and if it is more than 120rpm, more crushed rice is generated. In this case, the rotation speed may be changed according to the type of rice. By the low-speed rotation of the stirring blade 31, the rice 18 is moved up and down, and the rice is rubbed against each other, thereby performing a desired washing of the rice. After the rice washing operation, a water draining operation for draining the sewage is performed. Thus, the rice washing operation is repeated a predetermined number of times, whereby the rice is washed.

As described above, after the rice washing is performed a predetermined number of times by the rice washing and draining unit 34, the drain pipe 25 of the rice washing and draining unit 34 is moved upward and placed at the initial position. At this time, the stirring blade 31 disposed at a position (lower position) near the bottom surface of the liner 3 is moved upward from the washed rice 18 and is disposed near the inner lid 11 (upper position) as the initial position. Further, rice grains 180 adhering to stirring blade 31 or the like may be shaken off while rotating at a low speed (for example, 30rpm to 120 rpm) when stirring blade 31 is moved upward. The stirring blade 31 may be rotated at a low speed (for example, 30rpm to 120 rpm) to smooth the surface of the washed rice.

[1-5. Effect etc. ]

The rice cooker of the present embodiment using the rice washing and draining means 34 having the above-described configuration can efficiently perform rice washing operations of supplying water into the inner container 3 as a container, stirring rice in the container, and draining water after stirring. By using the drain filter 26A according to the present embodiment, fine powder such as rice bran, starch, and small broken rice generated during rice washing can be reliably passed through, and rice grains 180 required for cooking can be reliably left in the container after rice washing. Further, the drain filter 26A according to the present embodiment can greatly suppress the occurrence of clogging, and thus can reliably perform a desired rice washing process at the time of rice washing.

The stirring blade 31 in the rice cooker of the present embodiment has been described as a one-way rotation structure, but the present disclosure is not limited to this structure. For example, the rotation direction C of the stirring blade 31 may be a rotation direction in two directions, that is, in two directions of clockwise and counterclockwise on the rotation surface B. In this case, the stirring blade 31 is formed on both sides so that the inclined surface D faces upward with respect to the rotation direction C of both directions so as to be able to correspond to both directions of the rotation surface B.

In the rice cooker of the present embodiment configured as described above, the stirring blade 31 rotates in the rotation direction C inside the inner container 3 as a container, and the rice grains 180 present at the same height as the stirring blade 31 move upward along the inclined surface D. As a result, the rice grains 180 present above the height of the stirring blade 31 move in conjunction with the rice grains 180 moving along the inclined surface D. Accordingly, as the stirring blade 31 rotates, the whole rice in the container (liner 3) moves vertically, and a part of the rice also moves in the rotation direction C. By moving the rice in this manner, the rice grains 180 and the rice grains 180, the rice grains 180 and the stirring blade 31, or the rice grains 180 and the inner surface of the container (liner 3) rub against each other. As a result, rice in the container can be removed from the rice bran component, and desired washing of rice can be performed.

In addition, in the rice cooker of the present embodiment, even if the stirring blade 31 rotates slowly at a low speed, the whole rice can be operated in conjunction with each other, and therefore, the load applied to the rice 18 can be reduced, and as a result, the problem of breakage of the rice grains 180 can be eliminated. Further, since the rice grains 180 present at the same height as the stirring blade 31 are moved along the inclined surface D, the load applied to the rice grains 180 when the rice grains 180 come into contact with the stirring blade 31 is small, and the torque for moving the stirring blade 31 in the rotation direction C can be reduced.

The stirring blade 31 of the present embodiment may be configured to rise in the container (liner 3) after the completion of rice washing, when rising from the rice washing position, i.e., the lower position, to return to the initial position, i.e., the upper position, while rotating in the container. With this configuration, rice grains that may adhere to the stirring blade 31 can be shaken off when the stirring blade 31 is lifted. Therefore, in the present embodiment, rice cooking can be prevented from being performed in a state where rice grains are carried on the stirring blade 31.

Further, when the stirring blade 31 is lifted up inside the container after the rice washing is completed, the upward movement is stopped at the surface position of the washed rice 18 and the stirring blade may be rotated at the position, and the operation of flattening the surface of the washed rice smoothly may be performed. Thus, by leveling the surface of the washed rice by the lower surface of the stirring blade 31, the rice cooked can be cooked more deliciously.

(embodiment 2)

Next, a rice cooker according to embodiment 2 will be described. The rice cooker of embodiment 2 is a full-automatic rice cooker that automatically supplies water, meters rice, supplies rice, washes rice, and cooks rice in order, as in the rice cooker of embodiment 1. The rice cooker of embodiment 2 differs from the rice cooker of embodiment 1 in the structure of the rice washing and draining unit.

[2-1 Structure of Rice washing drainage Unit ]

Fig. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a rice-washing drainage unit 340 in the rice cooker of embodiment 2. The rice-washing and draining unit 340 in the rice cooker of embodiment 2 has a draining pipe 250 penetrating the inner lid 11 up and down, a stirring blade 310 formed in a rod shape extending in the horizontal direction, and a draining filter 26A, similarly to the rice-washing and draining unit 34 in embodiment 1.

As shown in fig. 10, the drain pipe 250 of the rice washing drain unit 340 of the present embodiment has a double pipe structure, and includes an outer pipe 250a and an inner pipe 250b. The drain pipe 250 and the stirring blade 310 are configured to be movable up and down inside the liner 3 housed in the housing portion 5 of the rice cooker main body 1, similarly to the configuration of embodiment 1, and the stirring blade 310 is configured to rotate about a central axis of the outer pipe 250a extending in the vertical direction as a rotation axis (see fig. 1 and 2). The outer tube 250a is integrally formed with the stirring blade 310. Here, the outer tube 250a and the stirring blade 310 being integrally formed means that the outer tube 250a and the stirring blade 310 are integrally and simultaneously operated, and are not particularly limited to being formed of one member. That is, the outer tube 250a and the stirring blade 310 are configured by different members and fixed to each other.

As shown in fig. 10, the drain strainer 26A is mounted by a fixing unit such as screw fastening so as to cover the drain port of the lower end portion of the inner pipe 250 b. Further, by screwing the drain filter 26A to the lower end portion of the inner tube 250b, the outer tube 250a and the stirring blade 310 are rotatably held by the inner tube 250b and the drain filter 26A.

In the present embodiment, the stirring blade 310 is configured to rotate around the outer pipe 250a of the rice washing drain unit 340 as a rotation axis. Therefore, as in embodiment 1, the outside pipe 250a is rotationally driven by the stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 provided in the cover 2. The stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 provided in the cover 2 vertically drives the inner pipe 250b and the outer pipe 250a to vertically move the rice washing and water discharging unit 340. As in embodiment 1, the stirring blade vertical driving section 33 is configured to move the stirring blade 310 vertically in the inner container 3 while maintaining the parallelism with the rotation surface. The stirring blade rotation driving section 32 and the stirring blade up-down driving section 33 are respectively driven and controlled or simultaneously driven and controlled in accordance with the order.

In the rice washing drainage unit 340 constructed as described above, the drainage pipe 250 has a double pipe structure composed of the outer pipe 250a and the inner pipe 250 b. A minute gap is formed between the outer tube 250a and the inner tube 250 b. In fig. 10, the gap between the outer tube 250a and the inner tube 250b is exaggeratedly depicted. In the present embodiment, the external thread 26e of the drain filter 26A is screwed to the internal thread 250ba formed at the lower end portion of the inner pipe 250b, so that the drain filter is attached to the integral structure of the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310. As shown in fig. 10, the integral structure of the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 is held between a step 250bb formed on the upper portion of the inner pipe 250b and the rear surface (upper surface in fig. 10) of the drain filter 26A. Therefore, even if the integral structure of the outer tube 250a and the stirring blade 310 is rotationally driven, the inner tube 250b and the drain filter 26A are not rotationally driven at the same time. That is, the inner pipe 250b and the drain strainer 26A are integrally formed with the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 so as to be movable.

Since the rice washing drain unit 340 is configured as described above, the integrated structure of the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 can be removed by removing the drain filter 26A from the inner pipe 250b, and the rice washing drain unit 340 can be disassembled and washed after the cooking operation is completed.

The drain pipe 250 of the rice washing drain unit 340 of the present embodiment has a double pipe structure, and is configured such that the integral structure of the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 slightly vibrates up and down and left and right with respect to the inner pipe 250b and the drain filter 26A during rice washing operation. Therefore, it is considered that dirt enters between the outer pipe 250a and the inner pipe 250b and between the drain filter 26A and the stirring blade 310, but it is expected that the dirt flows out due to vibration and water flow during rice washing. Further, as described above, the dirt can be dealt with by the decomposing and washing rice water draining means 340 after the completion of the rice cooking operation.

[2-2. Effect, etc. ]

The rice cooker of the present embodiment using the rice washing and draining means 340 having the above-described configuration can efficiently perform rice washing operations of supplying water into the inner container 3 as a container, stirring rice in the container, and draining water after stirring. In the rice washing and draining unit 340 of the present embodiment, the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 are integrally formed to be driven to rotate, and the inner pipe 250b is not rotated. Therefore, the drainage structure in the cover 2 can be simplified by having no rotating portion in the drainage structure. In the rice cooker of the present embodiment, the rice-washing draining means 340 has a structure that can be easily disassembled and washed, and has a structure that is easy to handle.

(other embodiments)

As described above, embodiments 1 and 2 are described as technical examples disclosed in the present application. However, the technique of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and may be applied to embodiments in which modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, and the like are made. Further, the components described in embodiments 1 and 2 may be combined to form a new embodiment.

Accordingly, other embodiments are exemplified below.

In embodiments 1 and 2, a description is given of a structure of a drain pipe having a single pipe structure and a double pipe structure as an example of a rice washing drain unit provided in a rice cooker. As an example of another embodiment, a modification of a drain filter fixed to these drain pipes will be described.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing a lower surface (a surface corresponding to a bottom of a pan of the liner 3) of the drain filter 26B as a modification of the other embodiment. The drain filter 26B shown in fig. 11 shows a portion exposed from the central portion of the lower surface of the stirring blade 31, 310 (see fig. 6, 10). The drain filter 26B is attached to cover the opening of the lower end portion of the drain pipe 25, 250 by a fixing means such as screw fixation or hook fixation (engagement fixation), and is configured to fix the drain pipe 25, 250 and the stirring blade 31, 310 by the fixing means.

As shown in fig. 11, the drain filter 26B is different from the drain filter 26A in embodiment 1 in that a plurality of elongated grooves, i.e., filter openings 26B, are formed in a short length on the surface (lower surface in the attached state shown in fig. 4) of the filter base portion 26 c. In this drain filter 26B, a plurality of filter openings 26B are formed in a line along the longitudinal filter projection 26 a. As a result, the rigidity of the drain strainer 26B is higher than that of the drain strainer 26A. In the drain filter 26B shown in fig. 11, the filter projections 26a have a longitudinal shape and are arranged in parallel, and the plurality of filter openings 26B are arranged in a longitudinal row along the longitudinal direction of the filter projections 26 a. In the drain filter 26B having such a configuration, the opening shape of the filter opening 26B serving as the drain hole is not curved, and a predetermined shape can be reliably maintained.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing a lower surface (a surface corresponding to a bottom of a pan of the liner 3) of the drain filter 26C as another modification of the other embodiment. The drain filter 26C shown in fig. 12 shows a portion exposed from the central portion of the lower surface of the stirring blade 31, 310 (see fig. 6, 10). The drain filter 26C is also attached to cover the opening of the lower end portion of the drain pipe 25 or 250 by a fixing means such as screw fixation or hook fixation (engagement fixation), and the drain pipe 25 or 250 and the stirring blade 31 or 310 are fixed by the fixing means, as in the other embodiments. In the drain filter 26C shown in fig. 12, the filter projections 26a are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter openings 26b, and the plurality of filter projections 26a and the plurality of filter openings 26b are arranged in a line in the longitudinal direction.

The drain filter 26C shown in fig. 12 is similar to the drain filter 26B shown in fig. 11 in that a plurality of longitudinally short filter openings 26B are formed in a line in the longitudinal direction, and longitudinally short filter protrusions 26a are formed on both sides of these filter openings 26B. In the drain filter 26C shown in fig. 12, the filter protrusion 26a has the same longitudinal shorter length as the shorter filter opening 26b, and is formed on both sides of the filter opening 26 b. As a result, a plurality of elongated filter projections 26a are formed on the surface of the filter base 26c, and the filter projections 26a have a predetermined height and sandwich the filter openings 26b, so that water during rice washing flows in from between the curved end portions 26aa of the filter projections 26a adjacent to the filter openings 26b serving as drain holes (see fig. 9). Therefore, clogging of the drain filter 26C during rice washing can be suppressed.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing a lower surface (a surface corresponding to a bottom of a pan of the liner 3) of a drain filter 26D as a further modification of the other embodiment. The drain filter 26D shown in fig. 13 shows a portion exposed from the central portion of the lower surface of the stirring blade 31, 310 (see fig. 6, 10). The drain filter 26D is also attached to cover the opening of the lower end portion of the drain pipe 25 or 250 by a fixing means such as screw fixation or hook fixation (engagement fixation), and the drain pipe 25 or 250 and the stirring blade 31 or 310 are fixed by the fixing means, as in the other embodiments.

In the drain filter 26D shown in fig. 13, a filter opening 26b serving as a drain hole has a hole shape and is formed of a plurality of circular holes. The shape of the hole of the filter opening 26b is not limited to a circular hole, and may be a long hole, an ellipse, a rectangular hole, or the like. A plurality of protrusions, i.e., filter protrusions 26a, are formed in the four sides of the filter openings 26 b. The filter projection 26a shown in fig. 13 is a circular projection, but the shape of the filter projection 26a is not particularly limited as long as it is formed with gaps in the four sides of the filter opening 26 b. In addition, the shape of the filter protrusion 26a and the filter opening 26b is preferably a curved surface in consideration of breakage of rice during washing, water flow during water discharge, and water discharge efficiency.

The drain filter 26D shown in fig. 13 has a plurality of filter protrusions 26a formed in the square of the filter opening 26b, and the plurality of filter protrusions 26a have a predetermined height on the surface of the filter base 26c, whereby water at the time of washing rice flows in from a plurality of gaps between the filter protrusions 26a adjacent to the filter opening 26b serving as the drain hole. Therefore, clogging of the drain filter 26C during rice washing can be suppressed.

Fig. 14 is a perspective view showing a lower surface (a surface corresponding to a bottom of a pan of the liner 3) of a drain filter 26E as a further modification of the other embodiment. The drain filter 26E shown in fig. 14 shows a portion exposed from the central portion of the lower surface of the stirring blade 31, 310 (see fig. 6, 10). The drain filter 26E is also attached to cover the opening of the lower end portion of the drain pipe 25 or 250 by a fixing means such as screw fixation or hook fixation (engagement fixation), and the drain pipe 25 or 250 and the stirring blade 31 or 310 are fixed by the fixing means, as in the other embodiments.

The drain filter 26E shown in fig. 14 is a comparative example of the drain filter 26B shown in fig. 11. As shown in fig. 14, the drain strainer 26E has a plurality of elongated grooves, i.e., strainer openings 26B, formed in a short length on the surface of the strainer base 26c, as in the drain strainer 26B. In the drain filter 26E, filter protrusions 26a on both sides of a filter opening 26b formed in a line in the longitudinal direction are formed in a rectangular shape. That is, as shown in fig. 14, the filter protrusion 26a has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. In the filter protrusion 26a formed in this way, water during washing also flows in from between the end portions 26aa of the filter protrusion 26a, and clogging of the mesh of the drain filter 26E can be suppressed. Since the filter protrusions 26a of the drain filter 26E shown in fig. 14 have a rectangular shape, that is, a shape having corners, there is a possibility that rice grains come into contact with the corners during rice washing, draining, or the like, and become broken rice. Therefore, in the structure of the drain filter 26E shown in fig. 14, it is preferable that the corner portions have a curved surface structure.

The predetermined height of the filter protrusion 26a described in each embodiment from the surface of the filter base 26c can be selected according to the size (length, width, thickness) of the rice grains to be washed. In each embodiment, the height of the filter protrusion 26a from the surface of the filter base 26c is usually set to a value smaller than the size of rice grains to be washed, for example, 1.0mm to 2.0 mm. The height of the filter protrusion 26a is preferably 1.0mm or more in order to sufficiently secure a drain flow path from the side filter, and preferably 2.0mm or less in order to effectively drain water from the bottom of the pan. This is because water at the bottom of the pan corresponding to the height of the filter protrusion 26a is not discharged.

In embodiments 1, 2 and other embodiments, a rice washing and draining unit provided in the interior of a full-automatic rice cooker is described as an example of the rice cooker. The present invention may be configured to wash rice by stirring the rice with a stirring blade and draining the rice in the early stage of cooking. Therefore, the rice washing and draining unit of the present invention may not include the internal structure of the rice cooker, and may be applied to a machine used for washing rice or a rice washing machine used only for washing rice. Therefore, the rice washer according to embodiments 1, 2 and other embodiments has a rice washer function. Since the stirring blade of the rice washing and draining unit of the present invention can wash rice effectively even by rotating at a low rotational speed, the unit can be applied to a rice washing machine that uses the stirring blade by rotating it manually to drain rice.

The present invention has been described in the embodiments with a certain degree of detail, but these structures are examples, and the disclosure of these embodiments should be changed in the details of the structures. In the present invention, the substitution, combination, and sequential modification of the elements in the respective embodiments can be achieved without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as claimed.

The above-described embodiments are embodiments for illustrating the technology in the present disclosure, and therefore, various modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, and the like can be made within the scope of the claims or their equivalents.

The present invention can be applied to a rice cooker and a rice washer having a rice washing function, and can provide a device having market value as a rice washing mechanism which suppresses clogging during water discharge and has high rice washing performance.

Claims (14)

1. A rice cooker, comprising:

a container containing nano-sized and water;

a rice washing drainage unit which rotates in the container to drain water in the container,

the rice washing and draining unit comprises:

a stirring blade that rotates inside the container and stirs rice and water;

a drain pipe, at least a part of which is integrated with the stirring blade, the drain pipe being provided with a drain port in the interior of the container, and draining water in the interior of the container;

a drain strainer provided so as to cover a drain opening of the drain pipe,

the drain filter has a filter opening as a plurality of through holes, and a plurality of filter protrusions formed across the filter opening,

The drain pipe comprises an inner pipe for discharging water in the container and an outer pipe integrated with the stirring blade,

a gap is formed between the outer tube and the inner tube,

the rice cooker is configured such that the drain filter is attached to the inner pipe, and thereby the outer pipe following the stirring blade is rotatably held.

2. The rice cooker as recited in claim 1, wherein,

the filter protrusion has a predetermined height from the filter opening and is formed of a curved surface.

3. The rice cooker as recited in claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the filter openings have a longitudinal shape and are arranged in parallel, and the filter protrusions are arranged to extend parallel to the longitudinal direction of the filter openings and are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter openings.

4. The rice cooker as recited in claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the filter protrusion has a longitudinal shape and is arranged in parallel, and the plurality of filter openings are arranged in a longitudinal row along the longitudinal direction of the filter protrusion.

5. The rice cooker as recited in claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the filter protrusions are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening, and the plurality of filter protrusions and the plurality of filter openings are arranged in a longitudinal line, respectively.

6. The rice cooker as recited in claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the rice cooker is configured such that the drain filter is attached to the drain pipe via the stirring blade.

7. The rice cooker as recited in claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the spacing between adjacent ones of the plurality of filter projections is shorter than the minor diameter of the meter.

8. The rice cooker as recited in claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the rice cooker is configured such that rice is intercepted by the plurality of filter protrusions.

9. A rice washer, comprising:

a container containing nano-sized and water;

a rice washing drainage unit which rotates in the container to drain water in the container,

the rice washing and draining unit comprises:

a stirring blade that rotates inside the container and stirs rice and water;

a drain pipe, at least a part of which is integrated with the stirring blade, the drain pipe being provided with a drain port in the interior of the container, and draining water in the interior of the container; and

a drain strainer provided so as to cover a drain opening of the drain pipe,

the drain filter has a filter opening as a plurality of through holes, and a plurality of filter protrusions formed across the filter opening,

The drain pipe comprises an inner pipe for discharging water in the container and an outer pipe integrated with the stirring blade,

a gap is formed between the outer tube and the inner tube,

the rice washer is configured such that the drain filter is attached to the inner pipe, and the outer pipe following the stirring blade is rotatably held.

10. The rice washer of claim 9 wherein,

the filter protrusion has a predetermined height from the filter opening and is formed of a curved surface.

11. Rice washer according to claim 9 or 10, wherein,

the filter openings have a longitudinal shape and are arranged in parallel, and the filter protrusions are arranged to extend parallel to the longitudinal direction of the filter openings and are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter openings.

12. Rice washer according to claim 9 or 10, wherein,

the filter protrusion has a longitudinal shape and is arranged in parallel, and the plurality of filter openings are arranged in a longitudinal row along the longitudinal direction of the filter protrusion.

13. Rice washer according to claim 9 or 10, wherein,

the filter protrusions are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening, and the plurality of filter protrusions and the plurality of filter openings are arranged in a longitudinal line, respectively.

14. Rice washer according to claim 9 or 10, wherein,

the rice washer is configured such that the drain filter is attached to the drain pipe via the stirring blade.