JP2001275834A - Pressure governor for rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the size of a lid set by positioning an actuator for actuating a valve element except forward of the valve element within a pressure governor interposed in a steam passage of a pressure type rice cooker. SOLUTION: This pressure governor for a rice cooker comprises a valve chest interposed in a steam passage, a valve element for closing a valve hole via its deadweight in the valve chest, an inclined rib for returning the valve element from the valve opening position to the valve closing position, and an actuator 34 disposed outside the valve chest to actuate the valve element via slide shaft packing. A slide shaft 28 is disposed between the actuator 34 and the valve element to actuate the valve element 17, and the actuator 34 is positioned off the center axis of sliding A of the slide shaft 28. An actuating shaft 37 of the actuator 34 and the slide shaft 28 are coupled via a link 44.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pressure regulator for a pressure cooker.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pressure regulating device for a pressure-type rice cooker includes a valve chamber provided in the middle of a steam passage, a valve body for closing a valve hole by its own weight in the valve chamber, and opening the valve body by opening the valve body. The valve closing means is composed of inclined ribs for returning the valve from the position to the valve closing position, and an actuator is provided outside the valve chamber and operates the valve body via a seal member (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-140571). Gazette). Actuation of the operating shaft of the actuator into the valve chamber causes the valve body to retreat from the closed position to the open position on the inclined rib. Rice cooking is started with the valve open.

When the actuator is energized to retract the operating shaft before the rice cooks and enters the boiling state, the valve body returns to the closed position from the inclined rib, and the pressure balanced by the force of the valve body by its own weight. Pressurized rice is cooked. When the energization to the actuator is cut off by the completion of the pressurized rice cooking, the operating shaft advances again, moves the valve body on the inclined surface, and opens the valve.

[0004]

The above-mentioned conventional pressure regulating device has a structure in which the actuator is moved in the front-rear direction by the operating shaft of the actuator. Therefore, the actuator and its operating shaft are connected to the valve body in front of the valve body. On the other hand, a configuration was adopted in which the layout was linear.

[0005] However, due to the structure of the lid of the rice cooker, particularly due to the demand for miniaturization, there is a case where a sufficient mounting space cannot be secured in front of the valve body, and the above layout hinders the miniaturization of the lid. There was something.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a pressure regulating device which is effective in downsizing the lid by devising the layout of the actuator and the operating mechanism.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a valve chamber provided in the middle of a steam passage, a valve body for closing a valve hole in the valve chamber, A valve closing means for returning the body from the valve opening position to the valve closing position, and an actuator which is provided outside the valve chamber and operates the valve body via a sealing member. In a rice cooker pressure adjusting device, the valve body is retracted from the valve-closing position to the valve-opening position by actuation, and the valve body is returned to the valve-closing position by the action of the valve-closing means during the operation in the opposite direction. A slide shaft for operating the valve body is provided between the actuator and the valve body, the actuator is installed at a position away from the slide center line of the slide shaft, and the operation shaft of the actuator and the slide shaft are connected. Employing the configuration linked through member.

According to the above configuration, the installation position of the actuator can be set at a position other than the front of the valve chamber, for example, at an appropriate position such as a side of the valve chamber. In addition, since it is not always necessary to install the actuator and the slide shaft in parallel, the degree of freedom in layout is increased, and it is possible to contribute to downsizing of the lid.

In a normal layout, the actuator and the slide shaft are arranged in parallel.

[0010] The interlocking member may be a link, a gear or a combination thereof. The actuator includes a solenoid, the operating shaft connected to the solenoid, and a spring that applies a biasing force to the operating shaft in a pushing direction. When the power is not supplied, the operating shaft is pushed out by the spring. Alternatively, a configuration may be adopted in which the spring is compressed to retract the operating shaft when energized.

The solenoid is installed so that the direction in which the slide shaft advances into the valve chamber and the direction in which the operating shaft is pushed out by the spring are opposite, and the solenoid intervenes between the slide shaft and the operating shaft. The link may be a swing link having a fulcrum.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2 show the entire lid set 1. The lid set 1 includes a lid 2 constituting an upper surface thereof, a lid ring 3 fitted to the lower surface of the lid 2, and a heat sink set 4 attached to the lower surface of the lid ring 3 as main components. The display panel 5 is attached to the front of the lid 2. A hook 6 is attached to a front portion of the lid ring 3 by a hook pin 7, and an engagement recess 9 of the jar body 8 is provided.
Is removably engaged.

The heat sink set 4 is provided with a steam inlet 11 and a steam passage 13 extending to the steam hole 12 of the lid 2 is provided in the lid set 1 (in FIG. 1, the direction in which steam passes is indicated by an arrow). .

A valve seat 14 facing the steam inlet 11 in the middle of the steam passage 13 and a valve seat 14
A valve chamber 16 is formed by the cover portion 15 provided above the valve body 16, and a valve body 17 formed of a sphere is housed in the valve chamber 16. The valve seat 14 is provided with a valve hole 18.
Are provided around the lower surface of the valve element 17. In the valve closing position where the valve element 17 rests on the valve hole 18, the valve element 17 is supported and stabilized by the inclined rib 19 (see the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1).

A vertical slit 21 is provided at the front of the valve chamber 16, and a valve chamber outlet 22 is provided at the rear. As will be described later, when the valve element 17 is pushed rearward by the advance of the slide shaft 28, the valve element 17 is moved backward by the inclined rib 19.
The valve moves to the upper valve opening position (see the solid line in the figure). Conversely, when the slide shaft 28 retreats, the valve element 17 returns to the valve closing position by the action of the inclined surface of the inclined rib 19. At this point, the inclined rib 19 provided at the rear of the valve hole 18 is provided with the valve body 17 in the valve open position.
Can be said to be valve closing means having an action of pushing back to the valve closing position.

The above-described valve chamber 16 and the valve element 17 housed therein are integrated into the heat sink set 4.

On the other hand, the lid ring 3 is provided with a valve chamber dome portion 23. The valve chamber dome 23 is open downward, and the valve chamber 16 is inserted from below. A lower end edge of the valve chamber dome portion 23 is sealed to the heat sink set 4 via a dome packing 24. An opening 25 facing the slit 21 is provided at a front portion of the valve chamber dome portion 23, and a slide shaft packing 26 is attached to the opening 25. The slide shaft packing 2
6 are inserted into the valve chamber 16 through the slit 21 and approach toward the center of the valve element 17.

A distal end 29 (see FIG. 3) of a slide shaft 28 is inserted into the protrusion 27 from outside the slide shaft packing 26. The slide shaft 28 is mounted on the upper surface of the lid ring 3 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction.
Guide edges 31 provided on both side edges thereof are guided by guide projections 32 and 33 projecting from the upper surface of the lid ring 3.

On the side of the valve chamber dome 23,
An actuator 34 is mounted at a position separated by a distance L from a slide center line A of the slide shaft 28 (see FIG. 4A). As shown in FIG. 3, the actuator 34 includes a solenoid 36 with a built-in plunger housed inside a casing 35, an operating shaft 37 connected to the tip of the plunger, and an urging force applied to the operating shaft 37 in a pushing direction. And an additional spring 38. A guide hole 39 in the front-rear direction is provided on the operating shaft 37, and a guide projection 41 is fitted into the guide hole 39.

The lower surface of the slide shaft 28 and the operating shaft 37
Are provided with pins 42 and 43 on the lower surface thereof, respectively. Link 4 as a connecting member between slide shaft 28 and operating shaft 37
4 are arranged. The link 44 is pivotally supported by a fulcrum pin 45 at an intermediate point, and both ends thereof are rotatably connected by the pins 42 and 43 described above.

The pressure regulating device of the embodiment has the above-described configuration, and its operation will be described below. In the rice cooker having the above-described lid set 1, at the start of rice cooking, the solenoid 36 of the actuator 34 is in a non-energized state, and the operating shaft 37 is biased by a spring 38, as shown in FIG. It is pushed forward of the solenoid 36 (the pushing direction is indicated by an arrow a). Therefore, the slide shaft 28 advances toward the inside of the valve chamber 16 through the valve chamber dome portion 23 by the swing of the link 44 (the forward direction is indicated by an arrow b). Thereby, the protruding portion 27 of the slide shaft packing 26 retreats the valve body 17 and pushes the valve body 17 up to the slope of the rear inclined rib 19 to be in a valve-open state (see the solid line in FIG. 1).

As a result, the steam generated from the inside of the rice cooker (not shown) accompanying the rice cooking passes through the steam inlet 11, the valve hole 18, the valve chamber 16, and the valve chamber outlet 22, which constitute the steam passage 13, from the steam hole 12. It is discharged outside.

When the rice cooks to a point near the boiling point, the control device energizes the solenoid 36 of the actuator 34 to retract the operating shaft 37 while compressing it against the urging force of the spring 38. Then, FIG. 4 (b)
As shown in (2), the link 44 swings in the opposite direction to the above, and the slide shaft 28 moves backward in the direction of coming out of the valve chamber 16.
In the valve chamber 16, the projecting portion 27 of the slide shaft packing 26 retreats, so that the valve body 17 moves down the slope of the inclined rib 19 and returns to the original valve closing position. In this manner, when the valve is in the closed state, rice is cooked under pressure with the internal pressure of the rice cooker balanced with the force determined by the product of the weight of the valve body 17 and the opening area of the valve hole 18.

In order to prevent the lid set 1 from being opened during the above rice cooking under pressure, when the slide shaft 28 retreats,
The rear end is fitted into the lower surface of the operation portion of the hook 6 and locked (see the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4B and FIG. 1).

After the rice cooking is completed, the power supply to the actuator 34 is cut off, the slide shaft 28 is advanced to open the valve, and the lock of the hook 6 is released.

In the case of the link 44, the ratio of the lengths on both sides of the fulcrum pin 45, the so-called leverage ratio, is selected as 1: 1. It is arbitrarily selected in consideration of the opening / closing stroke, the force relationship between the two, and the like.

Instead of the link 44, a gear 46 is interposed as shown in FIG.
The rack 8 and the racks 47 and 47 ′ provided on the opposing surface of the operation shaft 37 may be engaged with each other. Also, the slide shaft 28
When the distance L between the gear and the operating shaft 37 is large, a plurality of gears can be provided, or a combined mechanism of gears and links can be employed. Further, the actuator 34 may be installed at an angle to the slide center line A of the slide shaft 28.
Further, the actuator 34 is installed in the opposite direction to the above, and the pushing direction a of the operating shaft 37 and the slide shaft 2
8 may be in the same direction.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to provide an actuator for operating the valve element of the pressure regulating device in front of the valve chamber, and it is possible to install the actuator at a side or other distant position. Therefore, the degree of freedom in layout is increased and the size of the lid set can be reduced.

Further, when a link is used as a connecting member for connecting the operating shaft of the actuator and the slide shaft on the valve body side, the relationship between the magnitude of the stroke and the magnitude of the force on the operating shaft side and the slide shaft side can be determined by selecting the lever ratio. Can be set freely.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially omitted cross-sectional view of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partially omitted perspective view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view of the same.

FIG. 4 (a) is a plan view of the same valve-opened state, and FIG. 4 (b) is a plan view of the same valve-closed state.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a modified example in a valve closed state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lid set 2 Lid 3 Lid ring 4 Heat sink set 5 Display panel 6 Hook 7 Hook pin 8 Jar main body 9 Engagement recess 11 Steam inlet 12 Steam hole 13 Steam passage 14 Valve seat 15 Cover part 16 Valve room 17 Valve body 18 Valve Hole 19 Inclined rib 21 Slit 22 Valve chamber outlet 23 Valve chamber dome portion 24 Dome packing 25 Opening 26 Slide shaft packing 27 Projecting portion 28 Slide shaft 29 Tip portion 31 Guide edge 32 Guide projection 33 Guide projection 34 Actuator 35 Casing 36 Solenoid 37 Operating shaft 38 Spring 39 Guide hole 41 Guide projection 42 Pin 43 Pin 44 Link 45 Support pin 46 Gear 47, 47 'Rack

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A valve chamber provided in the middle of a steam passage, a valve body for closing a valve hole by its own weight in the valve chamber, and valve closing means for returning the valve body from its open position to a closed position. And an actuator installed outside the valve chamber and operating the valve element via a sealing member. The actuator moves the valve element from the closed position to the open position by operating the actuator toward the valve chamber. And operating the valve element between the actuator and the valve element in the rice cooker pressure adjusting device in which the valve element is returned to the valve-closed position by the action of the valve closing means at the time of operation in the opposite direction. A rice cooking jar, comprising a slide shaft, the actuator being installed at a position distant from a slide center line of the slide shaft, and an operating shaft of the actuator and the slide shaft being connected via an interlocking member. Pressure regulator. 2. The pressure regulating device for a rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the actuator is installed in parallel with the slide shaft. 3. The pressure adjusting device for a rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the interlocking member is a link, a gear, or a composite mechanism thereof. 4. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein the actuator comprises: a solenoid;
The operating shaft connected to the solenoid, and a spring that applies a biasing force to the operating shaft in the pushing direction, the operating shaft is pushed out by the spring when power is not supplied, and the spring is compressed when the power is supplied. The pressure adjusting device for a rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the operating shaft is retracted. 5. The solenoid is disposed so that a forward direction of the slide shaft into the valve chamber is opposite to a direction in which the operating shaft is pushed out by a spring, and the solenoid is interposed between the slide shaft and the operating shaft. The pressure adjusting device for a rice cooker according to claim 4, wherein the link provided is a swinging link having a fulcrum.