JP2000201808A - Automatic rice washing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent oxidation of fatty acid in rice and cracking of rice by providing a cooling device for cooling rice in a rice storing tank in a system measuring a prescribed amount of rice in the rice storing tank by a measuring instrument and then supplying it to a rice washing tank. SOLUTION: In an automatic rice cooker, a rice storage 3 is fixed to the upper part of a main frame and the rice washing tank 4 is mount-fixed to the lower end side of this storage 3. The storage 3 is formed of the rice storing tank 11 housed in a case 10 and a measuring instrument 12 discharging the rice in the tank 11 downward by measuring by a prescribed amount is provided on the lower end side of this tank 11. The cooling device 23 cooling the inside of the tank 11 is provided on the upper-part side wall of the trunk part 11A of the tank 11 like this. This device 23 is constituted by joining different kinds of conductors, adopting an electronic cooling system utilizing a thermoelectric element module whose one side surface absorbs heat and the other side surface of which generates heat at the time of making current flow through a contact, and providing the thermoelectric element module, a blower, a radiation pipe, a cooling fin, etc.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for measuring a predetermined amount of rice stored in a rice storage tank, supplying the rice to a rice washing tank, washing the rice, and then adding water to the rice cooker. A fully automatic rice cooker configured to automatically cook rice with the rice cooker, or a predetermined amount of rice stored in a rice storage tank is supplied to a rice washing tank, and after washing the rice, the container or rice cooker The present invention relates to an automatic rice washing apparatus employed in a fully automatic rice washing machine or the like which supplies the rice to an inner pot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a predetermined amount of rice stored in a rice storage tank is weighed and put into a rice washing tank. Thereafter, water is supplied to the rice washing tank, and the rice is washed by stirring the rice with stirring means. By adjusting the water level and lowering the rice discharge valve at the bottom of the rice washing tank to open the rice discharging hole, the rice with the water level is dropped and supplied to the inner pot of the rice cooker located below the rice washing tank. There is an automatic rice cooker in which a series of operations of cooking rice with a rice cooker are automatically performed by microcomputer control.

[0003]

The automatic rice cooker is usually installed in a kitchen. However, the temperature in a kitchen that uses a large amount of heat becomes extremely high. The transmission reaches the rice storage tank and raises the temperature inside the rice storage tank. When the temperature in the rice storage tank rises, the rice stored in the rice storage tank becomes fatty acid.
The temperature in the rice storage tank also rises due to heat from a rice cooker and electric equipment around the rice storage tank and required for an automatic rice cooker.

Further, when washing the heated rice in the rice washing tank, the rice is cracked due to the temperature difference between the water (tap water) supplied to the rice washing tank and the heated rice, and the starch quality is reduced. There is a risk of spills. Then, there is a problem that the taste of rice is reduced due to the fatty acid conversion of rice and the flow of starch from rice. Therefore, the present invention
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to prevent a rise in the temperature in a rice storage tank, thereby preventing fatty acidification of rice and cracking of rice.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The technical means taken by the present invention to solve the above-mentioned technical problem is to measure a predetermined amount of rice stored in a rice storage tank by a weighing machine and to transfer the rice to a rice washing tank. The rice washing tank is provided with a cooling device for cooling the rice in the rice storage tank. Also, the air in the rice storage tank is sucked and cooled by the cooling device,
This cooled air may be returned to the rice storage tank.

The rice storage tank may be mainly composed of a heat insulating material. Moreover, you may make it surround a weighing machine provided in the lower part of a rice storage tank with a heat insulating material. Moreover, you may make it surround the electric equipment arrange | positioned under the rice storage tank with a heat insulating material.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic general configuration diagrams of a full-automatic rice cooker 1 for business use (or for home use) which automatically performs the steps from rice weighing to rice cooking under microcomputer control. A rice storage 3 is fixed to an upper part of a main frame 2 of the automatic rice cooker 1, and a rice washing tank 4 is attached and fixed to a lower end side of the rice storage 3 and the rice washing tank 4 is fixed.
A space in which the rice cooker 5 can be arranged is provided below, and a mounting table 6 on which the rice cooker 5 is mounted and which can be pulled out forward is provided at the lower end side of the main frame 2.

The main frame 2 has support members 8 erected on the left and right sides on the rear end side of a rectangular base member 7 at the lower end in a plan view, and these left and right support members 8 are connected to each other by upper and lower connecting members 9. The main structure is connected. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the rice storage 3 is mainly composed of a box-shaped case 10 and a rice storage tank 11 stored in the case 10. The case 10 has a front side 10A and a top side 10B that can be freely opened and closed.
The case 10 is arranged and fixed to the case 10, and the device storage space 21 is provided below the rice storage tank 11 in the case 10.

The rice storage tank 11 is mainly composed of a body 11A and an upper wall 11B, and the upper side of the body 11A is formed in a quadrangular cylindrical shape with an upper opening and a lower opening. 11B, the lower part of the body part 11A is formed so as to be tapered downward, and a rice outlet 22 having a downward opening is formed at the lower end thereof. The upper wall 11B of the rice storage tank 11 is openable and closable, and the rice is stored in the rice storage tank 11 by opening the upper wall 11B.

The body 11A and the upper wall 11B of the rice storage tank 11 are mainly made of a heat insulating material, and are configured to block heat from entering from outside. In addition, the inside of the rice storage tank 11 is formed of a thin metal plate,
The outside may be formed of a heat insulating material, as long as it is configured so as to block the intrusion of heat from the outside into the rice storage tank 1. Further, an opening may be formed in the upper wall portion 11B, and the opening may be configured to be openably and closably closed by a heat-insulating lid so that rice is supplied from the opening.

A cooling device 23 for cooling the inside of the rice storage tank 11 is provided on the upper side wall of the body 11A of the rice storage tank 11. The cooling device 23 employs an electronic cooling method using a thermoelectric element module (Peltier effect) that joins different kinds of conductors (metal or semiconductor) and absorbs heat on one side and generates heat on the other side when a current is applied to the contact. As shown in FIG. 1, the thermoelectric element module 31 is used.
, Power supply device 32, blower 33, cooling jacket 3
4, a radiating pipe 35 (radiator), cooling fins 36 and the like.

The thermoelectric element module 31 includes the rice storage tank 1
The inner surface of the thermoelectric element module 31 (the inside of the rice storage tank 11) is a heat absorbing side, and the outer surface of the thermoelectric element module 31 (the outside of the rice storage tank 11) is provided. The cooling fin 36 is disposed on the heat absorbing side of the thermoelectric element module 31, and the cooling jacket 34 is disposed on the heat generating side of the thermoelectric element module 31. On the heat-absorbing side of the thermoelectric element module 31, a cool air flow passage 38 is formed in the vertical direction by a heat-insulating plate 37 surrounding the cooling jacket 34. A cool air outlet 40 communicating with a lower portion of the cool air passage 38 is formed below the heat shield 37.

The blower 33 is disposed above the thermoelectric element module 31. The blower 33 has an air intake port 33a formed on a side surface and an air discharge port 33b formed on a lower end side. The outlet 33b and the cool air passage 38 are communicated with each other by a duct 42 formed by the body 11A of the rice storage tank 11 and the partition wall 41. Therefore, when the blower 33 is operated, the air in the rice storage tank 11 is sucked by the blower 33 and discharged to the duct 42, and flows to the cool air passage 38 through the duct 42.

The air in the rice storage tank 11 sucked by the blower 33 flows downward through the cool air flow passage 38 while being cooled through the cooling fins 36.
Is exchanged with the heat-absorbing side surface and is cooled. Then, the cooled air is sent from the cool air outlet 40 into the rice storage tank 11 and returned. As described above,
By circulating the air in the rice storage tank 11, the rice storage tank 11 (and the rice in the rice storage tank 11) is cooled and kept at a predetermined low temperature (for example, 15 ° C. or lower). ing.

[0015] Thereby, it is possible to prevent fatty acid formation of rice due to the rise in temperature in the rice storage tank, crack generation of rice at the time of washing rice, and generation of insects. A temperature detection sensor is provided in the rice storage tank 11 and the blower 33 is turned on.
It is preferable to perform the temperature control so that the temperature in the rice storage tank 11 becomes a constant temperature by performing the off control. The cooling jacket 34 is filled with a refrigerant such as water, and heat exchange is performed between the refrigerant and the heat generation side surface of the thermoelectric element module 31, and heat is taken from the heat generation side surface of the cooling jacket 34.

The heat radiating pipe 35 is arranged on the outer surface of the rice storage tank 11 (and the case 10) and on the outer surface of the cooling jacket 34, and the refrigerant flows from the cooling jacket 34 to the inside of the heat radiating pipe 35 by a pump (not shown). After distribution
It is circulated back into the cooling jacket 34. The heat is dissipated while flowing through the heat radiating pipe 35. In addition, the heat radiation in the cooling pipe 35 may be promoted by blowing air to the cooling pipe 35 (or sucking air around the cooling pipe 35) by a heat radiation fan.

A strip heater 43 is provided at the lower end of the cool air flow passage 38.
By applying a current to 3, the frost on the cooling fins 36 and the like can be removed. At the lower end of the cool air flow passage 38, a drain pipe 44 is inclined so as to shift downward from the inside to the outside of the rice storage tank 11, and penetrates the rice storage tank 11.
The frost released by the strip heater 43 is drained to the outside of the rice storage tank 11 via a drain pipe 44.

A drain hose is connected to a drain port of the drain pipe 44, and the drain hose guides drain water to an installation surface of the automatic rice cooker 1, a drain groove, or the like. The power supply device 32 is disposed on the outer surface side of the rice storage tank 11 (and the case 10), and supplies power to the thermoelectric element module 31, the blower 33, the strip heater 43 (a pump for circulating a refrigerant), and the like. At the lower end of the rice storage tank 11, a weighing machine 12 for measuring a desired amount of rice in the rice storage tank 11 and discharging the rice downward is provided with a rice discharge port 2 of the rice storage tank 11.
2 is provided. The weighing machine 12 is located in the device storage space 21 of the case 10.

The weighing machine 12 includes a weighing drum 45 located below the rice discharge port 22 of the rice storage tank 11, a storage case 46 for storing the weighing drum 45, a motor 48 for rotating the weighing drum 45, and the like. It is configured. As shown in FIG. 5, the weighing drum 45 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, is disposed laterally so that the axial direction coincides with the front-rear direction, and is supported by the storage case 46 so as to be rotatable around the axial center. ing. An opening extending in the axial direction is formed in a part of the peripheral wall of the measuring drum 45, and this opening is used as the rice input port 47. Therefore, the measuring drum 4
By positioning the rice 5 so that the rice input port 47 faces upward, the rice in the rice storage tank 11 is dropped and supplied into the measuring drum 45 through the rice input port 47.

Then, by rotating the measuring drum 45 by 180 °, the rice input port 47 is directed downward, and the rice is dropped and supplied to the rice washing tank 4. Therefore, the measuring drum 45 can measure the rice in the rice storage tank 11 with the capacity of the measuring drum 45 as one unit (for example, the capacity of the measuring drum 45 is 1 square (1.5K).
In the case of g), one rotation of the measuring drum 45 is one square, and two rotations of the measuring drum 45 are two squares). Rice washing tank 4
The upper portion is formed in a cylindrical shape and the lower portion is formed in a funnel shape, and has an opening shape in the vertical direction, and is attached to the lower wall of the case 10 via a tank support 14.

The tank support 14 is the case 1 of the rice storage 3
0 The upper and lower cylindrical portions 14a penetrate the lower wall, and a lid portion 14b for closing the upper end opening of the cylindrical portion 14a. The lid portion 14b is attached and fixed to the upper surface of the lower wall of the case 10. . Then, the rice washing tank 4 is externally fitted to the lower part of the cylindrical portion 14a from below, and the rice washing tank 4 is detachably attached and fixed to the cylindrical portion 14a by a plurality of fixing tools 16 so that the rice washing tank 4 is attached to the cylindrical portion 14a. It is detachably attached to the lower side. A stirring member such as a stirring rod 17 for stirring rice in the tank is provided in the rice washing tank 4. The stirring rod 17 is a support cylinder fixed to the lid 14 b of the tank support 14. 18 is rotatably supported around a vertical axis, and is fixed to a cylindrical rotary shaft 19 that is driven to rotate by a motor 15 provided in a device storage space 21 in the lower part of the case 10.

A drain jacket 20 for draining water from the lower end opening is provided at the lower end of the rice washing tank 4. The drainage jacket 20 is formed in a tubular shape, and has a vertically open shape, and is engaged with the lower end side of the rice washing tank 4 from below. The lower end opening of the drainage jacket 20 is a rice discharge port 25, which is closed by a conical rice discharge valve 26. The rice discharge valve 26 is connected to the lower end of a valve rod 27 through which the rotary shaft 19 is inserted. Installed. In the drainage jacket 20, a separation plate 28 formed in a truncated conical cylindrical shape so as to surround the space between the lower end opening of the rice washing tank 4 and the rice discharge port 25.
The separation plate 28 is formed with a number of small holes that allow water to pass through but not rice, so that the rice juice can be drained together with small impurities.

A drainage pipe 29 is formed integrally with the drainage jacket 20, and this drainage pipe 29 is connected to a drainage box 30, from which drainage is drained to sewage or the like. A vertical drain pipe 57 is connected to the upper surface side of the drain box 30, and the vertical drain pipe 57 is connected to an overflow port 58 provided in the cylindrical portion 14 a of the tank support 14. The drain box 30
An on-off valve for opening and closing the drain port of the drain pipe 29 is provided therein, and the on-off valve is configured to be opened and closed by a motor disposed in the equipment storage space 21 in the lower part of the case 10. ing.

The upper part of the valve stem 27 is supported by a lifting means 50 provided in the equipment storage space 21 in the lower part of the case 10 so as to be able to move up and down. The lifting / lowering means 50 includes a lifting / lowering arm 53 supported by a supporting member 51 so as to be vertically swingable, and a motor 5.
And a cam 55 driven up and down by the lift arm 53 to move the valve rod 27 up and down to open and close the rice discharge port 25. Water is supplied to the rice washing tank 4 from a water supply pipe connected to a water supply. The water supply pipe has an electromagnetic opening / closing valve for controlling water supply to the rice washing tank 4 and a flow rate of water flowing through the water supply pipe. And a manual water shutoff valve and the like are provided.

The lid 14b of the tank support 14 has a rice passage hole 56 through which the weighing machine 12 and the rice washing tank 4 communicate with each other to drop and supply rice from the weighing machine 12 into the rice washing tank 4. Is formed. A heat insulating material 69 is provided on the lower inner surface side of the case 10 of the rice storage 3, and the front, rear, left, right, and lower portions of the device storage space 21 are covered with the heat insulating material 69. Therefore, the weighing machine 12 and other various electric devices housed in the device storage space 21 are covered with the heat insulating material 69.

By covering the weighing machine 12 with the heat insulating material 69, heat transfer from the outside of the case 10 is cut off, and heat conduction from the outside of the case 10 to the inside of the rice storage tank 11 via the weighing machine 12 is prevented. Heat transfer is shut off. Further, heat conduction from the heat source in the equipment storage space 21 to the inside of the rice storage tank 11 via the case 10 is also shut off. Since there is a heat source in the equipment storage space 21, the weighing machine 1
It is preferable to cover the outer surface of the weighing device 2 with a heat insulating material or to form the storage case 46 of the weighing machine 12 with a material having a heat insulating property.

A control device 79 provided with an operation panel 78 is provided on the front side of the case 10 of the rice storage 3. On the operation panel 78, in addition to a start switch for starting the automatic rice cooker 1, a rice amount input switch for inputting an amount of rice to be cooked, a washing selection switch for selecting a degree (light to careful) of rice washing, A switch for selecting the degree of cooking (soft to hard) and a switch for selecting the type of cooking (normal white rice, brown rice, rice, rice porridge, etc.) are provided. Depending on the conditions input by these switches, ,
The control device 79 operates automatically so that the rice is washed, water-adjusted, and cooked according to the amount of water supplied and the washing method according to the amount of rice.

That is, when the operation is started, first, a selected amount of rice is weighed and dropped and supplied into the rice washing tank 4, and the rice is supplied by the stirring rod 14 while supplying water into the rice washing tank 4. By stirring, the rice in the rice washing tank 4 is washed. At this time, turbid water or the like is simultaneously drained from the drain jacket 20 while supplying water, or a predetermined amount of rice washing water is supplied and drainage from the drain jacket 20 is stopped to perform the rice washing operation. After performing the rice washing operation for a predetermined time, the supply of water is stopped, the water is drained, and the rice is stirred by the stirring rod 14 to perform the rice polishing operation. After the rice washing operation and the rice polishing operation are performed several times, Then, the drainage from the drainage jacket 20 is stopped, and water is supplied into the rice washing tank 4 while stirring, and the overflow port 58 is discharged.
Drains muddy water and the like. With the above, the rice washing is completed.

When the rice washing is completed, the water in the rice washing tank 4 is once drained from the drain jacket 20 and drained, and after that, after the selected amount of rice and the amount of water corresponding to the cooking method are adjusted, the water is adjusted. The rice discharge valve 26 is lowered, and the rice discharge port 2
The rice is dropped and supplied from 5 into the inner pot 5A of the rice cooker 5 with water addition and reduction, and the rice cooker 5 is activated by the control device 79,
Cooked rice. The electromagnetic on-off valve and the flow meter provided in the water supply pipe are connected to the control device 79, and the amount of water supplied into the rice washing tank 4 is calculated by a signal from the flow meter, and the electromagnetic on-off valve is used. Water supply and stoppage are controlled so that a required amount of water is supplied.

The rice cooker 5 includes the inner pot 5A and the inner pot 5A.
And an upper lid 5C for closing the upper end opening of the inner hook 5A. Note that an electric stove or a gas stove controlled by the control device 79 or a control device provided in the rice cooker 5 is provided below the outer pot 5B. At the center of the upper wall of the upper lid 5C, there is formed an opening of a circular rice inlet through which the washed rice passes. The rice inlet is opened and closed by a shutter arranged on the upper surface of the upper lid 5C.

An upper lid 5 is provided between the rice washing tank 4 and the rice cooker 5.
An elevating device 90 for raising and lowering C to open and close is provided, and after cooking rice, the upper lid 5C is moved upward, the handle 150 is gripped, and the mounting table 6 is pulled out so that the inner pot 5A can be taken out. It has become. 6 and 7 show another embodiment. In this embodiment, a cooling device 23 is attached to the outside of the rice storage tank 11, and the compressor 60 compresses a refrigerant as the cooling device 23.
And a radiator (condenser) 61 for condensing and liquefying the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 60 while radiating heat.
And an expansion valve 62 for decompressing the refrigerant liquefied by the radiator 61 to easily vaporize the refrigerant, and evaporating the refrigerant decompressed by the expansion valve 62 to remove heat from the surroundings to bring the surroundings to a low temperature state. A system including a cooler (evaporator) 63 and the like is employed.

In the cooling device 23, the blower 64
While sucking the air in the rice storage tank 11
The sucked air is sent to the cooler 63 to be cooled, and the cooled air is returned to the rice storage tank 11. Other configurations are the same as those of the above embodiment. Since the amount of rice cooked by the automatic rice cooker 1 is determined step by step according to the capacity of the measuring drum 45, it may not be possible to cook rice with the amount of rice desired by the user. It is supposed to match the unit.

Therefore, by allowing the capacity of the measuring drum 45 to be changed, the measuring unit desired by the user (1 unit, 2 units, 5 units, etc., or 1 kg, 2 kg, 1.4 units) can be obtained.
Kg, etc.), and FIGS. 8 to 10 show a weighing machine 12 capable of freely changing the unit of rice measurement. FIGS. 8A to 8D show a configuration in which the capacity of the measuring drum 45 is changed by filling the measuring drum 45 with a filling 66. In the above, a plurality of fillings 66 of different sizes are prepared and exchanged for a desired one, or
The capacity of the weighing drum 45 can be changed by preparing a plurality of stuffings 66 of the same size or different sizes and changing the number of stuffings 66 mounted in the weighing drum 45.

The capacity of the measuring drum 45 may be changed by a partition plate instead of the padding 66. FIGS. 9A and 9B show the measuring drum 45.
Inside, a pair of partition plates 68 formed to have a width corresponding to the radius of the inner diameter of the measuring drum 45 and a length corresponding to the axial length of the measuring drum 45 are rotated around a rotation shaft 67.
The capacity of the weighing drum 45 can be changed by changing the opening angle θ of the pair of partition plates 68 so as to be freely fixed.

FIGS. 10A to 10D show a case in which a plurality of measuring drums 45 having different capacities are prepared and can be replaced with measuring drums 45 having a desired capacity. When the capacity of the weighing drum is changed, a mode is added in which the setting can be changed to the amount of water supplied for washing rice, the degree of water addition, etc. in accordance with the weighing unit. In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to the automatic rice cooker 1 has been described. Is also good.

[0036]

According to the present invention, the rice stored in the rice storage tank is weighed by a predetermined amount by a weighing machine, supplied to the rice washing tank, and washed and discharged by the rice washing tank. In the automatic rice washing device, a cooling device for cooling the rice in the rice storage tank can be provided to prevent the temperature in the rice storage tank from rising. Cracking can be prevented. In addition, the rice in the rice storage tank can be efficiently cooled by sucking the air in the rice storage tank and cooling it by the cooling device, and returning the cooled air to the rice storage tank. The rice stored in the rice storage tank can be cooled quickly, and the moisture that has entered when replenishing rice in the rice storage tank can be removed, preventing dew condensation in the rice storage tank. can do.

Further, the cooling effect can be improved by mainly configuring the rice storage tank with a heat insulating material. Further, by surrounding the metering device provided at the lower part of the rice storage tank with the heat insulating material, heat conduction to the inside of the rice storage tank through the metering device is shut off, and the cooling effect can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an automatic rice cooker to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a side view of an automatic rice cooker to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a rice storage, a rice washing tank, and the like.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a weighing machine.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cooling device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a modified example of the weighing machine.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing a modification of the weighing machine.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a modification of the weighing machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Rice washing tank 11 Rice storage tank 12 Weighing machine 23 Cooling device 69 Insulation material

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Koji Yamauchi 2-2-27 Mizuhashi, Higashiosaka-shi, Osaka Daiwa Seiko Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 4B054 AA02 AB01 AC02 CC02 CD02 CE04 CE19 4B055 AA07 BA02 BA14 BA25 BA51 CA62 CA75 CB20 CD27 CD60 EA01

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An automatic rice washing apparatus in which rice stored in a rice storage tank is metered in a predetermined amount by a measuring machine and supplied to a rice washing tank, and the rice is washed and discharged in the rice washing tank. An automatic rice washing device comprising a cooling device for cooling rice in a rice storage tank. 2. The automatic rice washing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein air in the rice storage tank is sucked and cooled by a cooling device, and the cooled air is returned to the rice storage tank. 3. The automatic rice washing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rice storage tank is mainly composed of a heat insulating material. 4. A weighing machine provided at a lower part of a rice storage tank is surrounded by a heat insulating material.
4. The automatic rice washing device according to 2 or 3. 5. The automatic rice washing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electric equipment disposed below the rice storage tank is surrounded by a heat insulating material.