JP2002165701A - Automatic rice cooker device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make an operation simple and swift which is to pull a board placing a rice cooker on from the bottom of washing rice part. SOLUTION: An interlocking structure 35 is set to lift a lid body 24, to open the rice cooker and to release a deciding position means 30 interlocking with a pulling operation of the board by an operation lever 26.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an automatic rice cooker.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, washing rice,
2. Description of the Related Art There is known a rice cooker that automatically performs a series of rice cooking steps from water addition, rice discharge, and rice cooking. For example, JP-A-7-677
The rice cooker described in Japanese Patent No. 73 has a rice cooker for receiving rice discharged from the rice wash unit and cooking rice below the rice wash unit for washing rice. It is mounted on a mounting table that is movable back and forth between the rice cooking position and a withdrawal position that is pulled out to the front.

In the rice cooking position, the inner pot of the rice cooker can be opened and closed by a lid that moves up and down, and this lid is operated up and down by lid operating means. The mounting table is positioned so that it cannot be pulled out at the rice cooking position by the engagement between the engaging portion and the engaged portion. In this prior art, when the upper lid is opened via the lid operating means, the engagement between the engaging portion and the engaged portion is released in conjunction with the opening.

[0004]

After the rice is cooked by the rice cooker, the operation of taking out the inner pot from the rice cooker or replacing it with another empty inner pot is performed by raising the lid and opening the inner pot. After the positioning of the mounting table is released, the mounting table is moved to the front side and is arranged in the drawing position. At this time, in the above-described conventional technique, the operation of opening the lid and the operation of releasing the positioning of the mounting table can be performed by one operation without separately performing the operation, and thus the operability can be simplified and speeded up. Somewhat useful.

[0005] However, even if the operation of opening the lid and the operation of releasing the positioning of the mounting table are performed by one operation, the operation of pulling out the mounting table must be performed separately. It was not enough to aim. In particular, when the restaurant is busy (during lunch or dinner), etc., when it is necessary to quickly remove or replace the inner pot, accidentally remove the mounting table before opening the lid and releasing the positioning. In this case, there is a possibility that the pull-out operation is performed. In this case, the engaging portion and the engaged portion strongly collide with each other, causing damage and wear. As a result, the mounting table is loosely positioned, There is a risk that rice will not be properly received from the rice washing department.

Furthermore, if the user forgets to close the top cover when the mounting table is set from the extraction position to the rice cooking position, the operation is interrupted during the rice discharging process from the rice washing section, resulting in a problem that the operation efficiency is deteriorated. I was It should be noted that JP-A-6-3040
No. 70 discloses a rice cooker provided with a lever for opening and closing the lid on a handle for pulling out the mounting table. The lid is opened by grasping the lever together with the handle, and the mounting table is pulled out as it is. Thus, the operation of pulling out the mounting table and the operation of opening the upper lid can be linked.

However, if the user forgets to hold the lever when moving from the draw position to the rice cooking position, the upper lid remains down and interferes with the rice cooker, which is likely to cause damage or damage. Therefore, in the above two prior arts, when moving the mounting table, it is necessary to always perform the work in sequence while being conscious of the operation of the lid operating means and the lid opening / closing lever. It was a cause of mistakes. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and in conjunction with the operation of pulling out the mounting table, the lid of the rice cooker is opened and the positioning of the mounting table is released, so that the mounting table can be operated without any trouble. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic rice cooker that can quickly and smoothly draw out rice and contribute to reducing operation errors.

[0008]

The present invention employs the following technical means to achieve the above object. That is, in the present invention, a rice cooker is provided below the rice washing section, and the rice cooker is horizontally movable between a rice cooking position below the rice washing section and a withdrawal position pulled out horizontally from the rice cooking position. Mounted on the mounting table, an operation lever for horizontally moving the mounting table, a lid that opens and closes the rice cooker by vertically moving up and down at the rice cooking position, and a positioning unit that positions the mounting table at the rice cooking position. Provided with an interlocking mechanism that interlocks with the pulling-out operation of the mounting table by the operation lever, raises the lid, opens the rice cooker, and releases the positioning means. It is characterized by the following.

According to this, when the operation of pulling out the mounting table by the operation lever raises the lid via the interlocking means, opens the rice cooker, and releases the positioning means, so that it can be pulled out. The operation of pulling out the mounting table can be performed easily and quickly, and there is no need to pay special attention to the operation of lifting the lid and the operation of releasing the positioning. Is prevented. The automatic rice cooker according to the present invention is characterized in that a holding means for holding the raised state when the lid is raised is provided.

Thus, when the placing table and the rice cooker pulled out to the draw-out position are moved to the rice cooking position again, the rice cooker and the lid do not collide with each other and can be prevented from being damaged. In this case, as the interlocking mechanism, when the mounting table is moved from the extraction position to the rice cooking position, by having a function of releasing the holding unit,
The lid can be closed through the operation of moving the mounting table to the rice cooking position, and the work efficiency is improved.

Further, the interlocking mechanism of the automatic rice cooker according to the present invention has a function of operating the positioning means when the table is moved from the extraction position to the rice cooking position. It is. Thus, the mounting table can be properly positioned through the operation of moving the mounting table to the rice cooking position. In the automatic rice cooker according to the present invention, the operation lever is attached to the mounting table so as to be swingable in the pull-out / return direction of the mounting table, and the interlocking mechanism includes:
When the operation lever swings in the pulling-out direction, the lid is raised to open the rice cooker and the positioning means is released, and when the operation lever swings in the push-back direction, the lid is lowered to remove the rice cooker. It is characterized in that it is configured to close and act on positioning means.

With this, the lid can be moved up and down and the positioning means can be released or actuated in conjunction with the pull-out operation or push-back operation of the mounting table by the operation lever, and the operability is significantly improved.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 6 and 7 show an automatic rice cooker 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The automatic rice cooker 1 includes a frame 2, a rice storage unit 3, a rice washing unit 4,
The main configuration includes a rice cooking section 5. The frame body 2 has a lower base 6 and a vertical frame 7 extending upward from the rear end of the base 6, and the rice storage unit 3 is disposed on the upper part of the vertical frame 7. A rice washing unit 4 is provided below the rice storage unit 3, and a rice cooking unit 5 is provided below the rice washing unit 4.

The rice storage unit 3 includes a rice storage 9 inside a rectangular box-shaped case body 8, and a scale 10 below the rice storage 9, and stores rice in the rice storage 9. After being weighed by the weighing device 10, it is put into the rice washing unit 4. An operation panel 11 is provided on the front surface of the case body 8, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the automatic rice cooker is built in the back side of the operation panel 11. The rice washing section 4 has a rice washing tank 15 whose lower part is formed in a funnel shape, and includes a rice washing means (not shown) in the rice washing tank 15. As the rice washing means, a stirring method in which the rice in the rice washing tank 15 is stirred with a stirring rod for washing, a method in which the rice in the rice washing tank 15 is washed with a jet water stream, or the like can be adopted.

A rice discharge port 16 is formed below the rice washing tank 15, and the rice discharge port 16 can be opened and closed by a rice discharge valve 17 which moves up and down. The rice cooker 5 includes an electric or gas stove 21, an outer pot 22 placed on the stove 21, and an inner pot 23 which is removably inserted into the outer pot 22. A rice cooker 20 is provided. On the other hand, a mounting table 25 is provided on the upper surface of the base 2 so as to be movable in the front-rear horizontal direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 7) via slide rails, rollers, and the like. The rice cooker 20 is mounted on 25.

Therefore, the rice cooker 20 can be moved horizontally between the rice cooking position R below the rice washing section 4 via the mounting table 25 and the withdrawal position F deviated forward from the rice cooking position R. . An operating lever 26 is provided at a front portion of the mounting table 25, and the mounting table 25 can be moved to the extraction position F by grasping the operation lever 26 and pulling the operation lever 26 toward the user. By pressing the operation lever 26 from the state described above, it is possible to move to the rice cooking position R.

The upper opening of the inner pot 23 is openable and closable by a lid 24. The lid 24 is supported below the rice washing section 4 so as to be able to move up and down vertically through a lid elevating support mechanism 41 which will be described later. Have been. And this lid 24 is
The rice cooker 20 can be covered by lowering the rice cooker 20 at the rice cooking position R, and when moving to the drawer position F, the rice cooker 20 can be lifted up to open the inner cooker 23 and beneath the rice washing section 4. It is intended to stay in position. In addition, a rice inlet and a shutter device (both not shown) for opening and closing the rice inlet are provided at the center of the lid 24. The rice discharging port 16 of the rice washing tank 15 is opened by opening the shutter device.
The rice can be received into the inner pot 23 through the charging port from above, and rice can be cooked with the shutter device closed.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG.
Are positioned by the positioning means 30 in the rice cooking position R. This positioning means 3
Reference numeral 0 denotes an engaging portion 31 provided at a rear portion of the mounting table 25, and an engaged portion 32 provided on the base 6 and engaged with the engaging portion 31 in a detachable manner. . In the present embodiment, the engagement portion 31 is a pair of left and right lock members (first and second lock members) each of which is an inverted L-shaped bar in a side view and is supported to be vertically movable.
Locking device) 31A, 31B, and the engaged portion 32
Is constituted by concave portions 32A, 32B into which the lower ends of the lock members 31A, 31B are removably inserted.

In the automatic rice cooker 1 according to the present invention, an interlocking mechanism 35 for lifting and opening the lid 24 and releasing the positioning means 30 in conjunction with the operation of pulling out the mounting table 25 by the operation lever 26 is provided. Have. Further, when the lid 24 is raised, a holding means 60 for holding the raised state is provided.
In conjunction with the push-back operation of the mounting table 25 (the operation of moving from the withdrawal position F to the rice cooking position R), the holding means 60 is released to lower the lid 24 to close the inner pot 23 and position. It also has a function of operating the means 30.

The operation lever 26 is formed of a bar bent in a portal shape when viewed from the front. It is pivotally supported, and is swingable in the pulling-out direction and the pushing-back direction of the mounting table 25 (front-back direction; directions indicated by arrows A and B in FIGS. 1, 5, and 7). As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the interlocking mechanism 35 includes first to third operating bodies 36,
37, 38, and first and second operating pieces 39, 40 for operating the first and second locking tools 31A, 31B in the release / action direction by pushing and pulling the first and second operating tools 36, 37;
A lid elevating and lowering support mechanism 41 that supports the lid 24 so as to be able to vertically move up and down, and raises and lowers the lid 24 by pushing and pulling the third operation tool 38 is provided.

In the present embodiment, the first and second operation tools 36 and 37 are formed by rods extending in the front-rear direction, and each has a front end pivotally connected to a left-right support shaft 42 provided at the lower end of the operation lever 26. Is tied. The first operation piece 39 is
As shown in FIG. 3 (a), it is formed of a plate material or the like having a substantially arc shape in a side view, and its upper and lower middle portion is rotatably supported by a left and right support shaft 43. The first lock member 31A includes a biasing member 44 formed of a compression coil spring or the like.
The upper end of the first operation piece 39 is in contact with the lower side of the upper piece (an L-shaped piece) 31a of the first lock member 31A. I have.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the operating lever 26 is operated in the pulling-out direction A, the upper side of the operating lever 26 from the pivot shaft 34 is swung in the same direction A (front side). 36 is pushed backward. Then, the rear end of the first operation tool 36 pushes the lower end of the first operation piece 39,
The operation piece 39 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The rotation of the first operation piece 39 pushes up the first lock member 31A against the biasing member 44, and separates from the first recess 32A.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4A, the second operation piece 40 is formed of a plate material or the like having a substantially L-shape when viewed from the side. It is pivotally supported. Also, the second lock member 31B
Is biased by a biasing tool 46 composed of a compression coil spring or the like in a direction to separate from the second concave portion 32B, and the upper end of the second operation piece 40 contacts the upper side of the upper piece 31b of the second lock tool 31B so that the second 2 upward movement of the lock member 31B (the second recess 3
2B).

The lower end of the second operating piece 40 is pivotally supported by the front end of the second operating rod 37 around the left and right axes.
As shown in FIG. 1, when the operation lever 26 is operated in the pullout direction A, the upper side of the operation lever 26 relative to the pivot shaft 34 swings forward, and conversely, the second operation tool 37 becomes the first operation tool. 3
As in the case of 6, it is pushed backward. Then, the lower end of the second operation piece 40 is pushed, and the second operation piece 40 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4B, and this rotation releases the restriction of the second lock member 31 </ b> B. 2 locks 31B
Is pushed up and separated from the second concave portion 32B (see FIG. 4B).

By the above operation, the positioning means 30 is interlocked with the pull-out operation by the operation lever 26 via the first and second operation tools 36 and 37 and the first and second operation pieces 39 and 40.
Is released, and as shown in FIGS. 3C and 4C, the mounting table 25 can be pulled out. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5, the third operating tool 38 includes a pair of right and left rods extending in the front-rear direction in the present embodiment, and has a front end pivotally connected to the support shaft 42. The third operating tool 38 includes an urging tool 49 formed of a tension spring.
Urged in the downward swing direction, and has a pushing body 47 at the rear end.

In the present embodiment, the pusher 47 is formed of a plate connecting the front ends of a pair of rods. Further, the lid elevating and lowering supporting mechanism 41 has a front-view pivotal shape which is pivotally connected to the upper surface of the lid 24, and whose rear side is pivotally supported by the vertical frame 7 so as to be rotatable around a left-right support shaft 51. The first link member 52 in the front-rear direction and the upper end thereof abut on the rear end of the first link member 52, and the upper and lower middle portions are pivotally supported by the vertical frame 7 so as to be rotatable around the horizontal support shaft 53. And a second linking member 54 in the vertical direction which is shaped like a letter when viewed from the side.

As shown in FIG. 5 (a), when the operating lever 26 is operated in the pulling-out direction A, the third operating tool 38 moves rearward as shown in FIG. The lid 24 is raised by pressing the lower end of the link 54 and the upper end of the second link 54 pressing the rear end of the first link 52. Therefore,
In conjunction with the pull-out operation by the operation lever 26, the lid 24 is raised via the lid lifting / lowering
Can be opened.

With the above arrangement, when taking out the inner pot 23 from the outer pot 22 of the rice cooker 20 after the rice cooking process is completed, or when replacing the inner pot 23, etc., the mounting table 25 is used.
By simply operating the operating lever 26 in the pull-out direction A, the release of the positioning means 30 and the lifting of the lid 24 (opening of the inner pot 23) can be performed in conjunction with each other, and the mounting table 25 can be quickly and easily pulled out. it can. In addition, since it is not necessary to be particularly conscious of the operation of opening the lid 23 and the operation of releasing the positioning means, it is possible to reduce troublesome operations and erroneous procedures.

As described above, if the operation of raising and opening the lid 24 is not performed before the mounting table 25 starts to move in the pull-out direction, interference between the lid 24 and the inner hook 23 occurs, and the first link is opened. In this embodiment, since the impact is transmitted to the connecting portion between the tool 52 and the lid 24, in this embodiment, the delay actuating means for completely releasing the positioning means 30 (releasing the first lock 31A) after the lid 24 is lifted. It is provided with. As shown in FIG. 3A, the delay operation means is configured by forming an interval α between the first operation tool 36 and the first operation piece 39.

That is, when the operating lever 26 is operated in the pull-out direction A, the third operating tool 38 immediately acts on the lid lifting / lowering support mechanism 41 to raise the lid 24. After the first operation tool 36 moves by the interval α (that is, after the lid 24 is lifted), the first operation piece 3
9, the first lock 31A is released, so that the lid 24 can be opened before the mounting table 25 starts to move. Since the second operation tool 37 and the second operation piece 40 are pivotally connected to each other, the second lock tool 31B is immediately released by the pull-out operation of the operation lever 26.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the automatic rice cooker 1 according to the present invention includes the holding means 60 for holding the raised state when the lid 24 is raised.
The holding means 60 includes a lever member 61 having a rear end pivotally supported by the lower part of the vertical frame 7 so as to be vertically swingable and a front end abutting on the lower surface of the third operating tool 38 (the pusher 47). The lever member 61 is connected to an intermediate portion of the lever member 61 in the front-rear direction.
And a stopper member 63 whose movement is guided by a guide member 62.

The lever member 61 is urged in a direction to swing upward by an urging member 64 exemplified by a tension coil spring. The pusher 47 of the third operating tool 38 is
It has a protruding piece 65 extending toward the locking tool 31A, and the protruding piece 65 is an upper piece 31a of the first locking tool 31A.
Is mounted on the upper surface of the camera. Therefore, when the first lock member 31A is lifted and the positioning of the mounting table 25 is released, the third operating tool 38 swings upward around the support shaft 42 via the protruding piece 65, and the lever follows the swing. Member 6
1 also swings upward by the urging member 64.

Then, the stopper 63 projects upward and engages with the lower end front side of the second link 54, whereby the lid 24 is held at the raised position. The mounting table 25 pulled out to the pull-out position F by the holding means 60
Further, when the rice cooker 20 is pushed back to the rice cooking position R again, the rice cooker 20 is prevented from interfering with the lid 24 and being damaged. The urging tool 46 for urging the second locking tool 31B is set to have a stronger urging force than the urging tool 44 for urging the first locking tool 31A. Resistance).

Therefore, when the mounting table 25 is pulled out to the pull-out position F, the operating lever 26 is maintained in a posture of swinging in the pull-out direction A by the urging tool 46, and pushes the mounting table 25 back toward the rice cooking position R. This attitude is maintained midway. Then, only when the mounting table 25 is disposed at the rice cooking position R and further backward movement is restricted,
The operation lever 26 can swing in the push-back direction B, and the swing in the push-back direction B causes the interlocking mechanism 35 to swing.
Performs the operation opposite to the above-described operation to actuate the positioning means 30 in the positioning state, release the holding means 60, and lower the lid 24.

The first link member 52 of the lid elevating and lowering support mechanism 41 is urged between the vertical frame 7 and the vertical frame 7 by an urging member 67 composed of a tension coil spring, a damper, or the like. The urging tool 67 is the second lock 3
It has a stronger urging force than the urging tool 46 of 1B. Therefore, when the mounting table 25 and the rice cooker 20 are arranged at the rice cooking position R and the operation lever 26 is swung in the push-back direction B, this swing posture is maintained by the urging tool 67 of the first link tool 52, The urging member 46 of the two lock member 31B is prevented from swinging in the pull-out direction A again.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be appropriately designed and changed. For example, the first of the interlocking mechanism
The third operation tool is not limited to a rod material such as a rod, but may be a plate material or the like, and may be formed as a structure in which these are integrally connected. Further, as the interlocking mechanism, it is possible to replace with a mechanism using a cam mechanism, a wire, or the like, and to provide a switch that is turned on / off by swinging the operation lever or gripping the operation lever, and The mechanism may include a solenoid that moves the lock up and down and moves the lid up and down based on a switch operation.

The operating lever is not limited to swinging as a whole, but can swing only on the upper side.
You may. The moving direction (drawing / returning direction) of the mounting table and the rice cooker is not limited to the front-back direction, but may be the left-right direction (left-right direction in FIG. 6), or may be the front-back left-right direction. The rice storage unit may be provided below the rice cooker (mounting table).

[0038]

As described in detail above, according to the automatic rice cooker according to the present invention, the lid can be opened and the positioning means can be released in conjunction with the pull-out operation by the operation lever. The pull-out operation can be speeded up and simplified, and operation errors can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an interlocking mechanism of an automatic rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the positioning means.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the positioning means.

FIG. 5 is a side view of an interlocking mechanism (lid elevating support mechanism).

FIG. 6 is a front view of the automatic rice cooker.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the automatic rice cooker.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic rice-cooking apparatus 4 Rice-washing part 5 Rice-cooking part 20 Rice cooker 24 Lid 25 Mounting table 26 Operation lever 30 Positioning means 35 Interlocking mechanism 60 Holding means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 4B054 AA02 AA16 AB01 AC02 BA08 BA12 CA12 CA14 CB05 CE06 CE11 CE18 CG10 CH11 4B055 AA03 AA04 AA07 BA05 BA28 BA34 BA37 CA01 CA21 CA42 CA48 CA68 CA76 CA82 CA84 CB01 CC23 CC26 CC32 CC34 CC34 EA02 EA04 EA05 EA08

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A rice cooker is provided below a rice washing section, and the rice cooker is horizontally movable between a rice cooking position below the rice washing section and a withdrawal position pulled out horizontally from the rice cooking position. An operation lever mounted on the mounting table, for horizontally moving the mounting table, a lid for opening and closing the rice cooker by vertically moving up and down at the rice cooking position, and a positioning means for positioning the mounting table at the rice cooking position. An automatic rice cooker provided, wherein an interlocking mechanism is provided to raise the lid to open the rice cooker and release the positioning means in conjunction with a pull-out operation of the mounting table by the operation lever. Automatic rice cooker characterized by the following. 2. The automatic rice cooker according to claim 1, further comprising a holding means for holding the raised state when the lid is raised. 3. The automatic rice cooker according to claim 2, wherein the interlocking mechanism has a function of releasing the holding means when the table is moved from the extraction position to the rice cooking position. . 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the interlocking mechanism has a function of operating the positioning means when the table is moved from the extraction position to the rice cooking position.
The automatic rice cooker according to any one of the above. 5. The operation lever is attached to the mounting table so as to be swingable in the pull-out / return direction of the mounting table, and the interlocking mechanism raises the lid when the operation lever swings in the pull-out direction. The rice cooker is opened and the positioning means is released, and when the operation lever swings in the push-back direction, the lid is lowered to close the rice cooker and to operate the positioning means. The automatic rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 4.