JP2006212199A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice cooker allowing a user to easily and surely set various types of conditions and, after the setting, allowing the user to easily confirm the state of the rice cooker at that time despite a multifunctional rice cooker. <P>SOLUTION: This rice cooker is so constituted that when an input means inputs various types of setting conditions of the heating state of a pot into a control means, a notification means notifies the setting conditions of the input means and the control state of a driving means for controlling the heating means by sound or voice; and that the notification means notifies the setting conditions of the input means, the control state of the driving means or the operation state of the rice cooker by the voice of a desired volume by operating a specific switch in the input means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker that is an electric cooking utensil for cooking various types of rice.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in rice cookers that are electric cooking utensils for cooking rice, various devices have been applied in order to cook rice at a desired time in an optimal state according to user preferences. In such a rice cooker, various conditions such as a heating temperature, a heating time, and a heating position are automatically controlled in accordance with the passage of time in consideration of the cooking time. The types of rice that should be cooked in a rice cooker include brown rice, non-washed rice as well as white rice, and some rice is also known as various brand rice. With respect to these various types of rice, rice cookers have different cooking conditions such as heating temperature, heating time, and heating position. For this reason, it is necessary for the user to set the rice cooker so that it can be cooked in a desired state according to the rice to be cooked. Further, recent rice cookers have a function of cooking various kinds of rice such as porridge, sushi, and cooked rice.
As described above, in the rice cooker, it is necessary for the user to perform complicated operations each time setting is performed in order to cook various types of rice in a desired state at a desired time. In order to perform such a complicated setting operation without a user's mistake, there has been proposed one that guides the function of each operation switch by voice (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Moreover, in the conventional rice cooker, when abnormality arises in the rice cooker itself, while the symbol is displayed on the display part of the rice cooker, the thing of the structure which alerts a user by generating a notification sound is proposed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2). Further, there is a configuration that detects whether or not a pan is stored in the rice cooker and sounds an alarm sound to alert the user when the pan is not stored (see, for example, Patent Document 3). ).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-137119 (2nd page, FIG. 1) JP 2002-142976 A (page 2-3) Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 4-40003 (Page 2, Fig. 3)

  The rice cooker disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is configured such that when the user sets with an operation switch, the user can confirm the guidance of the function of the operation switch and the state at the time of setting by voice. In rice cookers, you may want to check the contents set after setting. In particular, when performing reserved rice cooking, it may be desired to check the status of the rice cooker after the reservation setting. Here, the reserved rice cooking means that the user presets the completion time of rice or the like. In the setting operation of reserved rice cooking, it becomes a big problem when the user makes an incorrect operation and makes an incorrect setting. In the conventional rice cooker, the setting of reserved rice is made using a plurality of operation switches, so it is easy for erroneous operation and erroneous setting to occur. It was an important issue. Conventionally, there are rice cookers configured to guide the function of the operation switch to the user by voice only at the time of setting operation, but it is easy to confirm the setting contents after setting, or even if an error occurs during setting operation There was no rice cooker that could be modified.

In the rice cooker disclosed by patent document 2 and patent document 3, when abnormality arises in rice cooker itself, it is the structure which displays a symbol on the display part of a rice cooker, and generates a notification sound. However, the user cannot recognize what kind of abnormality has occurred in the rice cooker with only the notification sound, and the user can use the instruction manual to recognize the contents of the display only by displaying the symbols. Had to confirm.
As described above, in recent rice cookers, there are a wide variety of conditions to be set and operated by the user, and more recent rice cookers tend to have more functions. For this reason, the thing of the structure which asks a user for the more complicated setting operation | work more recently is increasing. The structure which can perform setting operation of such a multifunctional rice cooker easily and reliably is an important subject in the future.

  The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the user can easily and surely perform a setting operation even in a multifunctional rice cooker, and the state of the rice cooker at that time after the setting operation is It aims at providing the rice cooker which can be confirmed easily.

In order to achieve the above object, the rice cooker of the present invention, as described in claim 1,
Heating means for heating the pan,
Drive means for controlling the heating state of the heating means;
A power supply circuit for supplying power to the heating means and the driving means;
Input means for inputting various setting conditions of the heating state of the pan,
A control unit that receives a set condition from the input unit and controls the drive unit according to the set condition;
A notification means for notifying the setting condition of the input means or the control state of the driving means by sound or voice, and a display means for receiving a signal from the control means and displaying the setting conditions of the input means;
The notification means is configured to perform voice notification according to an output signal of the control means. The rice cooker of the present invention configured as described above can be easily and surely set by a user even in a multifunctional rice cooker, and the state of the rice cooker at that time can be easily set after the setting operation. Can be confirmed.

  The rice cooker according to the present invention is the rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the control means is configured so that the notification means sets the input means according to the setting conditions of the input means. You may comprise so that a signal may be output with respect to the said alerting | reporting means so that audio | voice alerting | reporting may be carried out. The thus configured rice cooker of the present invention can be set and operated easily and reliably by a user even in a multifunctional rice cooker.

  As described in claim 3, the rice cooker of the present invention is the rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control means notifies the control state of the drive means so that the notification means notifies the control state of the drive means. You may comprise so that a signal may be output with respect to an alerting | reporting means. The rice cooker of this invention comprised in this way can confirm the state of the rice cooker at that time easily after a user performs setting operation.

  As described in claim 4, the rice cooker according to the present invention is the rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control means determines the state of the rice cooker and the notification means. May be configured to output a signal to the notification means so as to notify the state of the rice cooker. The rice cooker of this invention comprised in this way can confirm the state of the rice cooker after setting operation easily and reliably also in a multifunctional rice cooker.

  As described in claim 5, the rice cooker according to the present invention is the rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the input means includes a "voice" button, and the "voice" button. When the is pressed, the notification unit may be configured to notify the setting condition of the input unit by voice. The rice cooker of the present invention configured as described above can easily and reliably recognize the setting conditions of the input means of the rice cooker simply by operating the “voice” button of the input means. Become.

  As described in claim 6, the rice cooker according to the present invention is the rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the input means has a "voice" button, and the "voice" button. When the is pressed, the notification unit may be configured to make a voice notification of the control state of the drive unit. The rice cooker of the present invention configured as described above can easily and reliably recognize the control state of the driving unit of the rice cooker simply by operating the “voice” button of the input unit. Become.

  As described in claim 7, the rice cooker according to the present invention is the rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the input means has a "voice" button, and the "voice" button. When the is pressed, the notification means may be configured to notify the operation state of the rice cooker by voice. The rice cooker of the present invention configured as described above can easily and reliably recognize the operation state of the rice cooker simply by operating the “voice” button of the input means.

  As described in claim 8, the rice cooker according to the present invention is the rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the information displayed by the display means is voice-reported by the notification means after a first predetermined time has elapsed. You may comprise. The rice cooker of this invention comprised in this way can perform a reliable operation with respect to a user by performing audio | voice alerting | reporting according to a user's operation state.

  As described in claim 9, the rice cooker according to the present invention may be configured such that in the rice cooker according to claim 8, the first predetermined time is changed according to the use frequency or the use frequency. . The rice cooker of the present invention configured as described above enables voice notification in consideration of a user's usage state, and can be set not to perform voice notification for a user who is used to it.

  As described in claim 10, the rice cooker of the present invention is the rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the contents of the voice notification by the notification means are sequentially changed after a lapse of a predetermined time. You may comprise. The rice cooker of this invention comprised in this way can perform the audio | voice alert | report according to a user's operation condition.

  The rice cooker according to the present invention is the rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 10 according to claim 11, wherein the sound notification volume of the notification means is in accordance with the time of day. It may be configured to be changed. The rice cooker of this invention comprised in this way can perform the audio | voice alert | report according to use environment.

The rice cooker according to the present invention, as described in claim 12, further comprises volume measuring means for measuring the volume in the use environment of the rice cooker in the rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 11. And
You may comprise so that the volume of the audio | voice alerting | reporting by the said alerting | reporting means may be changed according to the measured sound volume in the use environment of the said rice cooker. The rice cooker of this invention comprised in this way can perform audio | voice alerting | reporting by the sound volume according to the sound volume (noise) in use environment.

According to the present invention, the user can easily and surely set various conditions in a multifunctional rice cooker, and after the setting operation, easily check the state of the rice cooker at that time. It is possible to provide a rice cooker having excellent operability.
In the rice cooker of the present invention, the user can easily and reliably recognize the setting conditions, the operation state, and the like of the rice cooker simply by operating the “voice” button of the input means. Moreover, the rice cooker of this invention can make a user perform reliable operation by performing audio | voice alerting | reporting according to a user's operation state. Furthermore, the rice cooker of the present invention can provide voice notification according to the user's usage state and usage environment, and can be a device having excellent operability.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a rice cooker of the invention will be described as examples with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the rice cooker according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the rice cooker of Example 1, and is a view of the lid portion 11 as viewed from above. FIG. 3 is a view showing the input means 6 and the display means 8 formed on the lid portion 11 of the first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the rice cooker of Example 1 is provided with a heating means 3 so as to surround the housed pot 1. The heating means 3 is composed of a plurality of heating units so as to heat the bottom, top, and side surfaces of the pan 1. The heating means 3 according to the first embodiment is configured such that a plurality of induction heating coils are provided around the pan and each portion of the pan is heated to a desired temperature. In the rice cooker of the first embodiment, power from the commercial AC power supply 2 is supplied to the heating means 3 and the power supply circuit 5. The drive power converted into a desired voltage in the power supply circuit 5 is supplied to a drive means 4 for driving and controlling the heating means 3 and a control means 10 constituted by a microcomputer. The signal processed in the control unit 10 is output to the fan motor 7, the display unit 8, and the notification unit 9. The fan motor 7 is intended to cool an electric / electronic circuit in the rice cooker. The display means 8 displays the conditions set by the input means 6 and the state of the rice cooker with characters, symbols and the like. The notification means 9 notifies the user of the state of the rice cooker by voice or sound, and the conditions to be set, the state after the setting, and the like are notified. In the rice cooker of Example 1, the display content by the display means 8 is supplemented with the conditions to be set by the sound notification by the notification means 9, the state after the setting, and the like. The notification means 9 in the first embodiment is configured by a speaker and a buzzer, and is notified by voice through the speaker. In addition, the memory | storage part which memorize | stores alerting | reporting content (voice phrase), and the alerting | reporting control part for making a speaker alert | report the alerting | reporting content of this memory | storage part according to the state of the rice cooker at that time are comprised in the control means 10. Yes.

As shown in the plan view of the rice cooker in FIG. 2, the input means 6 and the display means 8 are concentrated on the front side of the upper surface of the lid portion 11 of the first embodiment. Further, the lid portion 11 of the first embodiment is provided with a steam lid 12 for adjusting the vapor pressure in the pan. The input means 6 in the rice cooker according to the first embodiment is composed of a plurality of push button switches, and is arranged close to two adjacent sides in the quadrilateral display window 8a which is the display means 8. As specific examples of the input means 6 in the first embodiment, a “rice cooking” button 6a, a “cancel / off” button 6b, a “heat retention” button 6c, a “voice” button 6d, a “reservation” button 6e, a “right-pointing black triangle” ”Button 6f,“ left-pointing black triangle ”button 6g, and“ course selection ”button 6h. In the first embodiment, the upper surface of the lid portion 11 on which the input means 6 and the display means 8 are disposed is substantially flat.
As shown in FIG. 2, the display means 8 displays the contents to be set and the set contents when each push button switch of the input means 6 is operated. The display state of the display means 8 shown in FIG. 2 is a state in which all display contents are displayed in the display window 8a. In the rice cooker of Example 1, the content displayed on the display means 8 is set so that only the content that the user needs at that time is displayed, as will be described later.

In the display means 8 in the rice cooker of the first embodiment, the menu includes any one of “normal”, “small amount”, “quick cooking”, “cooking”, “sushi”, “rice porridge”, and “care”. The course is configured to be selected. Here, when the “normal” course is selected, it becomes a normal method of cooking rice set in this rice cooker. When “care” is selected, a process for removing dirt and smell inside the rice cooker is performed. At this time, the water in the pan is heated to remove dirt and the like.
Examples of the types of rice that can be processed by the rice cooker of Example 1 are white rice, non-washed rice, brown rice, germinated brown rice, and milled rice. In the rice cooker of Example 1, these rice are selected and rice cooking operation is performed in the optimal state for the selected rice.
In the rice cooker of Example 1, the steam generating mechanism is provided inside the rice cooker, and is configured to generate steam at a predetermined temperature in each operation of rice cooking and heat retention. In the “cooking” in the display item of the display means 8, three stages of steam temperatures are selected.
Moreover, in the rice cooker of Example 1, it is comprised so that the steaming time by a steam generation mechanism can be set.
The conditions set by the user using the input means 6 as described above are processed by the control means 10 which is a microcomputer, and drive signals are output to the display means 8, the notification means 9, and the fan motor 7. . The fan motor 7 is intended to cool an electric / electronic circuit in the rice cooker.

Hereinafter, the process at the time of the rice cooking operation | movement setting in the rice cooker of Example 1 comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated concretely.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing display contents sequentially displayed on the display window 8a of the display means 8 every time the user presses the “course selection” button 6h which is a push button switch of the input means 6 in the rice cooker of the first embodiment. is there. 4A shows the display contents of the display window 8a in the standby state. When the “course selection” button 6h is pressed in this standby state, the contents shown in FIG. 4B are displayed. At this time, “normal” in the “menu” item blinks.
Next, when the “course selection” button 6h is pressed, the contents shown in FIG. 4C are displayed. At this time, “white rice” in the “rice” item is blinking. Further, when the “course selection” button 6h is pressed, the contents shown in FIG. 4D are displayed. At this time, the temperature of the steam generating mechanism is set, and “medium” in the high temperature steam of the “cooking” item is in a blinking state. Next, when the “course selection” button 6h is pressed, the contents shown in FIG. 4E are displayed. At this time, “40” (minutes) which is the initial value of the steaming time in the “steaming” item is in a blinking state. Further, when the “course selection” button 6h is pressed, the time at that time is displayed as shown in (f) of FIG. In this state, the time can be adjusted. As described above, the condition to be set flashes each time the “course selection” button 6h is pressed. When changing the blinking condition in this way, the “right-pointing black triangle” button 6 f or the “left-pointing black triangle” button 6 g is pressed to select a desired condition. In the rice cooker of Example 1, since the “right-pointing black triangle” button 6f or the “left-pointing black triangle” button 6g is used in each condition setting item, the condition setting point is selected by moving left and right. can do. As a result, in the rice cooker of Example 1, the setting operation by the user can be performed easily and quickly as compared with the conventional rice cooker.

  Hereinafter, setting conditions 1 to 5 will be described as specific setting operations in the rice cooker of Embodiment 1 with reference to FIGS.

[Setting condition 1]
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the setting operation of the setting condition 1 in the rice cooker according to the first embodiment. Setting condition 1 is a case where a small amount of unwashed rice is cooked in a strong steam state.
In the standby state shown in FIG. 4A, the “course selection” button 6h is pressed to display the contents shown in FIG. 4B. At this time, “Normal” in the “Menu” item is in a blinking state, and after 3 seconds, a notification indicating a setting method of “Select menu with triangle button” is given by voice. While this “normal” is blinking, the “right-pointing black triangle” button 6f is pressed to select “small amount” (see FIG. 5A). Next, the “course selection” button 6h is pressed to shift to the “rice” item. Then, after 3 seconds from the shift to the “rice” item, a notification indicating a setting method of “Please select the type of rice with the triangle button” is made by voice. Here, the “right-pointing black triangle” button 6f is pressed to select “no-wash rice” (see FIG. 5B). Further, the “course selection” button 6h is pressed to shift to the “cooking” item. Also at this time, 3 seconds after shifting to the “cooking” item, a notification indicating a setting method of “Please select the steam strength of cooking with a triangular button” is made by voice. Therefore, “strong” in the high temperature steam is selected by pressing the “right-pointing black triangle” button 6f (see FIG. 5C). Next, when the “course selection” button 6h is pressed, the display state shown in FIG. This display state is a state in which the “menu” item is selected. Therefore, at this time, a voice message “Please select a menu with a triangle button” is given by voice, and after this voice message is given, a voice message “Please press the rice cooker button” is given three seconds later.

  After performing the condition setting as described above, the rice cooking operation starts when the push button switch of the “rice cooking” button 6a is pressed. At this time, there is a voice notification “I will start cooking” immediately, and the remaining time of the rice cooking operation is displayed on the display window 8a. In (e) of FIG. 5, about 50 minutes are displayed as the remaining time of rice cooking operation | movement. In addition, the display window 8a shown in FIG. 5E has a “container water confirmation” display. This is because a steam generation mechanism is provided in the rice cooker of Example 1, and this steam generation mechanism has a container for storing water. Since the water in the container is used in the steam operation, the user is careful to confirm the presence or absence of the water.

In the rice cooker of Example 1, the voice notification “Please press the rice cooker” is 3 seconds from the voice notification “Please select the type of rice with the triangle button” in the “rice” item. After and 3 seconds after the voice notification “Select the steam strength of cooking with a triangular button” in the “Cooking” item. This voice notification guides the user to press the “rice cooking” button 6a at the end of the condition setting, and ends the setting operation to ensure the start of the rice cooking operation. In the rice cooker of Example 1, the reason why voice notification is performed 3 seconds after the display in the condition setting operation is because the operation of the condition setting is performed within 3 seconds when a person who is used to performing the condition setting performs. This is because voice notification is not performed in the case of such a person. Therefore, in the rice cooker of Example 1, it is comprised so that audio | voice alerting | reporting may be performed only to the user unfamiliar with setting operation | movement.
As described above, in the setting operation of the setting condition 1, by pressing the “course selection” button 6h and selecting a desired condition for each item, only the necessary items according to the selected condition are displayed on the display means 8. Since it is displayed and the user's next work is guided by voice notification after a predetermined time has elapsed, the user's setting operation is made reliable and easy.

[Setting condition 2]
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the setting operation of the setting condition 2 in the rice cooker of the first embodiment. Setting condition 2 is a case where white rice is cooked earlier than the normal rice cooking time.
When the “course selection” button 6h is pressed in the standby state shown in FIG. 4A, “normal” blinks in the “menu” item, and after 3 seconds, the “menu is selected with a triangle button” by voice. Please do it ". Here, “quick cooking” in the “menu” item is selected by pressing the “right-pointing black triangle” button 6f (see FIG. 6A). Next, when the “course selection” button 6h is pressed to shift to the “rice” item, after 3 seconds, a notification “Please select the rice type with the triangle button” is made by voice. Here, “white rice” is selected (see FIG. 6B). Next, when the “course selection” button 6h is pressed, the display state shown in FIG. This display state is a state in which the “menu” item is selected. Accordingly, at this time, a notification “Please select a menu with a triangle button” is made by voice. After this voice notification is performed, a voice notification “Please press the rice cooker button” is performed three seconds later. Here, when the push button switch of the “rice cooking” button 6a is pressed, the rice cooking operation is started. At this time, the current time is displayed on the display window 8a (see (d) of FIG. 6), and a voice notification “starts cooking rice” is performed.
In the rice cooker of Example 1, when “early cooking” is set as described above, the current time is displayed at the start of the rice cooking operation, and the rice cooking operation is performed after about 13 minutes have elapsed since the start of the rice cooking operation. The remaining time is displayed.
As described above, in the setting operation of the setting condition 2, by pressing the “course selection” button 6h, only necessary items corresponding to the selected condition are displayed on the display means 8, and the user's next work is performed by voice notification. Therefore, the user can easily perform the setting operation. As described above, in the setting operation of the setting condition 2, the conditions to be set are smaller than in the case of the setting condition 1, and the setting operation is easy.

[Setting condition 3]
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the setting operation of the setting condition 3 in the rice cooker according to the first embodiment. Setting condition 3 is the case of “steaming” using the rice cooker of Example 1.
In the standby state shown in FIG. 4A, the “course selection” button 6h is pressed a plurality of times (four times) to select the “steam” item. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4 (e), “40” of the steaming time is displayed, and after 3 seconds from this display, a voice notification “Please set the steaming time with the triangle button” is performed. Here, when the push button switch in the direction in which the temperature decreases, which is the “right-pointing black triangle” button 6f, is pressed down one by one (see FIG. 7A). On the other hand, when the push button switch in the direction in which the temperature rises, which is the “left-pointing black triangle” button 6g, is pushed up one by one (see FIG. 7B). The rice cooker of Example 1 is configured such that “high temperature steam” is activated when the steaming time is set to 40 minutes or more.
After the voice notification “Please adjust the steaming time with the triangle button” is performed as described above, the voice notification “Please press the rice cooker button” is performed after 3 seconds. Here, the push button switch of the “cooking rice” button 6a is pressed, steaming cooking is started, and a voice notification “steaming cooking is started” is performed. At this time, the display window 8a becomes a guidance display as shown in FIG. The guidance display at this time is the remaining steam time display. When steaming cooking is completed, a voice notification “steaming cooking is finished” is performed.
As described above, in the setting operation of the setting condition 3, only necessary items (steaming time) are displayed on the display means 8 according to the selected condition, and guidance such as the user's next work and setting end is performed by voice notification. Therefore, the setting operation of the user is made reliable and easy.

[Setting condition 4]
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the setting operation of the setting condition 4 in the rice cooker of the first embodiment. The setting condition 4 is a setting condition when performing time adjustment in the rice cooker of the first embodiment.
In the standby state shown in FIG. 4A, the “course selection” button 6h is pressed a plurality of times (five times) to select the “time adjustment” item. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8A, the current time is displayed in a blinking manner, and after 3 seconds from the blinking display, a voice notification “Please adjust the time with the triangle button” is performed. Here, the time advances when the "right black triangle" button 6f is pressed, and the time returns when the "left black triangle" button 6g is pressed. After the “right-pointing black triangle” button 6f or the “left-pointing black triangle” button 6g is pressed, the system returns to the standby state after eight seconds and the voice notification “time has been set” is given (FIG. 8). (See (c)).
As described above, in the setting operation of the setting condition 4, only necessary items (time adjustment) are displayed on the display means 8 according to the selected condition, and the user's next work and setting completion guidance are performed by voice notification. Yes. For this reason, the user's setting operation is reliable and easy.

[Setting condition 5]
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the setting operation of the setting condition 5 in the rice cooker according to the first embodiment. Setting condition 5 is a case where white rice is reserved and cooked.
In the standby state shown in FIG. 4A, when the push button switch of the “reservation” button 6e in the input means 6 is pressed, the preset cooking time of “reservation 1” is displayed and blinks. (Refer to FIG. 9A). Here, by pressing the “course selection” button 6h and the “right-pointing black triangle” button 6f or the “left-pointing black triangle” button 6g, as described above, the selection in the “menu” item, the “rice” item The selection such as selection in “Cooking” item is selected (see FIG. 9B). At this time, voice notification is performed in each item. After each condition other than the cooked rice cooking time is set using the “course selection” button or the like, when the “reserved” button 6e is pressed, the cooked time of “reserved 1” blinks again (see FIG. 9 (C)). Here, when the “reservation” button 6e is pressed, another preset cooking time of “reservation 2” is displayed and flashes (see (d) of FIG. 9). After the cooked time is displayed in a blinking state in this way, a voice notification is made "Please set the time with the triangle button" three seconds later. In setting condition 5, for example, in order to set the cooking time to “19:00”, the “right triangle” button 6f is pressed to change the time display from “18:00” to “19:00” To "."

As mentioned above, in the rice cooker of Example 1, two conditions setting of "reserved rice cooking" can be performed. Therefore, after setting the conditions in this way, after selecting either “Reservation 1” or “Reservation 2”, the push-button switch of the “rice cooking” button 6a is pressed to start the reservation rice cooking operation. At this time, the voice notification of the reservation completion is performed immediately. For example, a voice notification is made that “We have made a reservation. We will cook at 7pm tomorrow”.
In the rice cooker of Example 1, in the “reserved rice cooking” operation, the cooking time is displayed on the display window 8a. At this time, after the rice cooking operation is started, the remaining time of the rice cooking operation can be displayed (see (e) of FIG. 5).
As described above, in the setting operation of the setting condition 5, even when the “reservation” button 6e is pressed to perform the reservation rice cooking operation, only the necessary items are displayed on the display unit 8 according to the selected condition, and the voice The user's next work and the set contents are guided by notification. For this reason, the setting operation of the user is reliable and easy.

[Function of “Voice” button]
In the rice cooker of the first embodiment, the input means 6 is provided with a push button switch of the “voice” button 6 d. This “voice” button 6d notifies the user of the operation state or setting state of the rice cooker at that time by voice notification. For example, in the above-described “reserved rice cooking” operation, if the “voice” button 6d is pressed before rice cooking starts, for example, “you will cook just at 7 pm today” is notified by voice. At this time, if it exceeds midnight from the time of reservation, it is changed from “Tomorrow” to “Today”. Further, when the “voice” button 6d is pressed after cooking has started, for example, “I will cook just at 7 pm today” or “I will cook in 20 minutes” will be voiced.
When the “voice” button 6d is pressed and voice notification is performed, the drive of the fan motor 7 is stopped and silenced, and the voice notification is surely delivered to the user. Therefore, the time for voice notification is set to be short, and the stop of the fan motor 7 is made as short as possible.

  In addition, sound notification performed when the “voice” button 6d is pressed should be set so that high-frequency sounds can be easily heard even by elderly people by using a sound quality with a higher high-frequency range than a low-frequency range. Is possible. For example, the sound pressure level in the band of several hundred Hz to several kHz is not set to be the same in all bands, but the sound pressure level in the band of 2 kHz to 4 kHz is set to be higher than the sound pressure level in the band of several hundred Hz to 2 kHz. Increase by several dBA. As a method of increasing, the electronic data of the voice phrase of the notification control unit is changed in advance, or the frequency characteristic of the speaker constituting the notification means 9 is designed so that the high frequency range is larger than the low frequency range. There is a way to keep it.

In the rice cooker of Example 1, it is comprised so that an abnormal state may be displayed on the display window 8a of the display means 8 with a special symbol. For example, when the “cooking” button 6a is pressed when the pot is not stored in the rice cooker, the special symbol “X1” is displayed and a voice notification “Please insert the pan” is given. In addition, when the rice cooker is subjected to a rice cooking operation or the like while being covered with a cloth, a special symbol “X2” is displayed and a voice notification “Please remove the cloth” is given. In the case of voice notification in such an abnormal state, the volume set in advance by the user in the volume setting range of the rice cooker is ignored by ignoring the volume set in advance by the user. Furthermore, although the rice cooker of Example 1 is the structure by which a heat retention operation | movement starts automatically after completion | finish of rice cooking operation | movement, in order to avoid long-time heat retention operation | movement, when the preset maximum heat retention time is exceeded, heat retention operation | movement is carried out. It is configured to forcibly terminate. In this state where the warming operation is finished, when the “voice” button 6d is pressed by the user, a voice notification “warming has been canceled due to warming for a long time” is performed. Therefore, it becomes possible for the user to surely know why the rice cooker is not in a heat retaining state at any time.
In addition, in the rice cooker of Example 1, only the heat retention time until now is displayed on the display window 8a of the display means 8 during the heat retention operation. At this time, when the “voice” button 6d is pressed, a voice notification is made that “the current heat retention time is XX time”.

FIG. 10: is a graph which shows transition of the pan temperature at the time of performing the above-mentioned "reserved rice cooking" in the rice cooker of Example 1. FIG. In FIG. 10, the lower waveform (P) shows the driving state of the heating means 3, and the heating means output is shown as ON / OFF. The upper graph (T) shows the temperature [° C.] of the pan stored in the rice cooker.
At time A in FIG. 10, the “reserved rice cooking” operation is started, and until time B is the standby process. Time B is the time when the “rice cooking” operation starts. In the rice cooker of Example 1, from time A to time B is a water immersion process at room temperature (about 20 ° C.), and from time B to time C is a water immersion process with high-temperature water (50 ° C. to 60 ° C.). In the rice cooker of Example 1, it is comprised so that the water immersion time and the water temperature at that time may be adjusted as mentioned above, and time control of a cooking process, a boiling maintenance process, etc. in consideration of these water immersion time and water temperature Has been done.

  From time C to time D in FIG. 10 is the cooking process, the heating means output is always on, and the pan temperature is rapidly increased. The time point D to the time point E is a boiling maintenance process in which the boiling state is maintained. In the final stage of the boiling maintenance process, the pan temperature is raised to a high temperature by high temperature steam. From the time point E to the time point F is a steaming process, and the heating means output is intermittently turned on and off. Time F is the cooking time set in “Reserved rice cooking”, and at this time F, the rice cooking operation ends. When the rice cooking operation is completed, the heat insulation process is started, and the pan temperature is maintained within a range of about 50 ° C to 75 ° C.

Next, operation | movement of the rice cooker of Example 1 is demonstrated using the flowchart shown in FIGS.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the voice notification operation in the notification means 9 at the time of condition setting. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the notifying means 9 when the “voice” button 6d is pressed. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the notification means 9 in an abnormal state.

The voice notification operation of the notification means 9 shown in FIG. 11 will be described.
First, when, for example, a “course selection” button 6h of the input means 6 is pressed in step 1, it is confirmed whether or not the rice cooker can be set (step 2). If the rice cooker can be set, a reception buzzer sound (displayed as “reception BZ sound” in FIG. 11) is output (step 3). After the reception buzzer sound is output, after the first predetermined time (T1) has elapsed (in the first embodiment, after 1 second has elapsed), the first operation content, for example, “Select a menu with a triangle button” is displayed. Voice notification is given (steps 4 and 5). Furthermore, after the first operation content is notified by voice, after the second predetermined time (T2) has elapsed (in the first embodiment, 3 seconds have elapsed), the second operation content, for example, “Please press the rice cooking button” Etc. are notified by voice (steps 6 and 7).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 2 that the rice cooker is not in a settable state, a first abnormal buzzer sound (displayed as “first abnormal BZ sound” in FIG. 11) is output (step 8).
In the rice cooker according to the first embodiment, the first abnormal buzzer sound is “pi”, for example, and the above-described reception buzzer sound is “pi”, for example. The first abnormal buzzer sound may be set to a higher and longer sound than the reception buzzer sound. After the first abnormal buzzer sound is output, the content corresponding to the setting impossible state after the third predetermined time (T3) (after 1 second in the first embodiment), for example, “Please put the pot” Etc. are notified by voice (steps 9 and 10).

Next, the operation of the notification means 9 when the “voice” button 6d of the input means 6 is pressed will be described with reference to FIG.
First, when the "voice" button 6d of the input means 6 is pressed in step 11 in FIG. 12, it is confirmed whether or not the "voice" button 6d is kept pressed for 2 seconds or more (step 12). When the “voice” button 6d is pressed for 2 seconds or longer, the sound volume setting mode is set (step 13). In this volume setting mode, the sound notification volume can be set by the “right-pointing black triangle” button 6 f and the “left-pointing black triangle” button 6 g which are triangular buttons.

On the other hand, if the “voice” button 6d has not been pressed for 2 seconds or more, it is confirmed whether or not an abnormal state is displayed on the display means 8 (step 14). At this time, if an abnormal state is displayed on the display means 8, voice notification corresponding to the abnormal state is performed (step 15).
If an abnormal state is not displayed on the display means 8, if the reservation standby process or the rice cooking process, the rice cooking end time is notified by voice (step 17). If a course is being selected, a voice notification is made regarding the operation method (step 19).
Further, in step 20, it is confirmed whether or not 30 seconds have passed since the voice notification was made (step 20). If 30 seconds have passed, the explanation about the function of the “voice” button 6d is sent to the voice notification. (Step 21). On the other hand, if 30 seconds have not elapsed since the voice notification, the notification content (voice phrase) last output by the notification means 9 is notified by voice in step 22.

Next, operation | movement of the alerting | reporting means 9 in an abnormal state is demonstrated, referring FIG. This abnormal state is an operation when an abnormal state is detected while the rice cooker is in operation.
When the controller of the rice cooker detects an abnormal state in step 31 in FIG. 13, it is determined in step 32 whether repair is necessary. If repair is necessary, a second abnormal buzzer sound is output (step 33). The second abnormal buzzer sound is different from the first abnormal buzzer sound described above. For example, a beep sound is generated three times or more. The second abnormal buzzer sound may be set to a high and long sound with a volume larger than that of the first abnormal buzzer sound.
In step 34, the display means 8 displays a special symbol indicating the abnormal state. Since this abnormal state is an abnormal state requiring repair, operations such as rice cooking are stopped. At this time, voice notification is not performed. The reason why the voice notification is not performed in this way is that the user is often not near the rice cooker during the operation, and the user presses a “voice” button 6d described below, so that the user is in an abnormal state. This is because the state can be confirmed immediately. In this state, when the user presses the “voice” button 6d, a repair request voice notification is made in step 36. For example, a voice notification “Please unplug the power plug and request repair” is made.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 32 that no repair is necessary, it is determined in step 37 whether or not the elapsed time of the heat retention process has exceeded a fourth predetermined time (Th), for example, 96 hours. If the elapsed time at that time exceeds the fourth predetermined time (Th), the second abnormal buzzer sound is output (step 38). In step 39, the display means 8 displays a special symbol indicating the abnormal state. In this abnormal state, the heat retaining operation has been performed for a long time, so the heat retaining operation is stopped. In this state, when the user presses the “voice” button 6d, the user is informed of a voice to stop the heat retaining operation in step 41. For example, a voice notification is made that “the warming has been canceled for a long time.”
If the elapsed time of the heat retention process does not exceed the fourth predetermined time (Th) in step 37, the second abnormal buzzer sound is output in step 42. In step 43, the display means 8 displays a special symbol indicating the abnormal state. After the second abnormal buzzer sound is notified and the display means 8 displays a special symbol indicating the abnormal state, the abnormality is detected after the first predetermined time (T1) (1 second in the first embodiment). The contents corresponding to the state, for example, “please remove the cloth”, is notified by voice (steps 44 and 45).

Although the rice cooker of Example 1 comprised as mentioned above is a structure which has various functions, while being able to set a rice cooking condition easily and reliably, a rice cooker at that time after setting is possible. The state of the vessel can be easily confirmed.
Moreover, the rice cooker of Example 1 is comprised so that only the conditions which a user should set may be displayed on the display window 8a of the display means 8, and it alert | reports briefly the guidance of the operation which a user should perform in an alerting | reporting means. Therefore, the rice cooker has excellent usability.
Furthermore, in the rice cooker of Example 1, since the input means is configured to set using a so-called “triangular button”, the number of push button switches of the input means is set regardless of many conditions to be set. It becomes possible to reduce, and it becomes an apparatus with easy handling.

Hereinafter, the rice cooker of Example 2 which concerns on this invention is demonstrated. The rice cooker of Example 2 has substantially the same configuration as the rice cooker of Example 1 described above, but the configuration of the notification means is different. The notification means in the rice cooker according to the second embodiment is configured to perform an operation in consideration of the use state of the user.
In the rice cooker of Example 1, it is comprised so that it may alert | report after 3 second which is predetermined time after the audio | voice alert | report from the alerting | reporting means at the time of condition setting was displayed on the display means 8. FIG. Thus, in the rice cooker of Example 1, it is comprised so that a voice alert may be performed 3 seconds after a display by a setting operation, in the case of the user who is used to the setting operation within 3 seconds. This is because there is no need for voice notification in the case of such a person. However, at the initial stage where the user purchases and uses the product, the condition setting operation is unfamiliar, so it is necessary to constantly check the guidance of the next operation and the current setting state in detail. Therefore, in the rice cooker of Example 2, it is comprised so that an audio alert may be performed with a display in the initial stage which purchases and uses a product.

In the rice cooker of Example 2, using the “course selection” button 6h, the selection operation in the “menu” item, the selection operation in the “rice” item, the selection operation in the “cooking” item, and the “steaming” item Progress information of condition setting operations such as time setting operation, adjustment operation in the “time adjustment” item, reserved rice cooking operation, and volume switching operation is recorded, and audio is displayed from the display considering each use frequency and use frequency It is automatically set so that the time until notification becomes longer. This is because if the user is able to operate the condition setting of the rice cooker, it is annoying and unnecessary operation when a voice notification occurs each time.
Since the rice cooker of Example 2 comprised as mentioned above is comprised so that the time from the display by the display means 8 to the audio | voice alerting | reporting by the alerting | reporting means 9 may be controlled, the rice cooker which has the usability excellent in the user, Become.

  In addition, in the rice cooker of said Example 1 and Example 2, although the example of the alerting | reporting content (voice phrase) in audio | voice alert | report was specifically disclosed, this invention is not limited only to these audio | voice phrases. Absent. For example, when the user performs an incorrect operation, the user is notified by voice that the operation is an erroneous operation, or when the rice cooker used by the user has a special function, the function is notified by voice. To do. As a more specific example, when a user tries to perform a setting operation for reserved cooking from a menu that cannot be “reserved cooking”, a voice notification is made that “this menu cannot be reserved”. In addition, when the user sets “reheat” when the pan temperature is lower than the predetermined temperature in the heat retaining state, a voice notification “cannot be reheated because the temperature of the rice is low” is performed.

Moreover, in the rice cooker of this invention, it is possible to comprise so that the sound volume of an audio | voice alert | report may be changed for every time slot | zone in a day. Thus, by changing the volume in the time zone, it is possible to configure so that, for example, in the middle of the night, the volume is low or the sound is muted so as not to disturb the sleeping person. Furthermore, it is also possible to measure the sound volume around the rice cooker and adjust the sound notification sound volume in consideration of the sound volume.
As specifically described in the rice cookers of Example 1 and Example 2 above, the rice cooker according to the present invention can set the rice cooking conditions easily and reliably even in a multifunctional rice cooker. In addition, the state of the rice cooker at that time can be easily confirmed after setting.

  This invention provides the mechanism in the useful rice cooker which can set a rice cooking condition easily and reliably also in a multifunctional rice cooker.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the rice cooker of Example 1 which concerns on this invention. The top view of the rice cooker of Example 1, and the figure which looked at the cover part from upper direction The figure which shows the input means 6 and the display means 8 which were formed in the cover part of Example 1. FIG. The figure which shows the display content displayed one by one on the display window 8a of the display means 8 whenever a user presses "course selection" which is a pushbutton switch of the input means 6 in the rice cooker of Example 1. FIG. The figure explaining the setting operation | movement of the setting conditions 1 in the rice cooker of Example 1. The figure explaining the setting operation | movement of the setting conditions 2 in the rice cooker of Example 1. The figure explaining the setting operation | movement of the setting condition 3 in the rice cooker of Example 1. FIG. The figure explaining the setting operation | movement of the setting condition 4 in the rice cooker of Example 1. FIG. The figure explaining the setting operation | movement of the setting condition 5 in the rice cooker of Example 1. FIG. The graph which shows transition of the pan temperature at the time of performing the above-mentioned "reserved rice cooking" in the rice cooker of Example 1. In the rice cooker of Example 1, the flowchart which shows the audio | voice alerting | reporting operation | movement of the alerting | reporting means 9 at the time of condition setting. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the alerting | reporting means 9 when the "voice" button 6d is pressed in the rice cooker of Example 1. FIG. In the rice cooker of Example 1, the flowchart which shows operation | movement of the alerting | reporting means 9 in an abnormal state.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pan 2 Commercial AC power supply 3 Heating means 4 Driving means 5 Power supply circuit 6 Input means 6a "Cooking" button 6b "Cancel / Cut" button 6c "Heat" button 6d "Voice" button 6e "Reservation" button 6f "Black pointing right""Triangle" button 6g "Black triangle facing left" button 6h "Course selection" button 7 Fan motor 8 Display means 8a Display window 9 Notification means 10 Control means 11 Lid

Claims (12)

Heating means for heating the pan,
Drive means for controlling the heating state of the heating means;
A power supply circuit for supplying power to the heating means and the driving means;
Input means for inputting various setting conditions of the heating state of the pan,
A control unit that receives a set condition from the input unit and controls the drive unit according to the set condition;
A rice cooker comprising: notification means for notifying the setting condition of the input means or the control state of the driving means by sound or voice; and display means for receiving a signal from the control means and displaying the setting conditions of the input means. A vessel,
The said notification means is comprised so that audio | voice notification may be performed according to the output signal of the said control means, The rice cooker characterized by the above-mentioned.   2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to output a signal to the notification unit so that the notification unit performs voice notification of a setting method of the input unit according to a setting condition of the input unit. The described rice cooker.   The rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control means is configured to output a signal to the notification means so that the notification means notifies the control state of the drive means.   The said control means determines the state of the said rice cooker, Any of the Claims 1 thru | or 3 comprised so that the said alerting | reporting means might output a signal with respect to the said alerting | reporting means so that the state of the said rice cooker might be alert | reported. A rice cooker according to claim 1.   The said input means has a "voice" button, When the said "voice" button is pressed, the said alerting | reporting means is comprised so that the setting method of the said input means might be alert | reported. Rice cooker according to item.   The said input means has a "voice" button, When the said "voice" button is pressed, the said alerting means is comprised so that the control state of the said drive means might be alerted | reported. Rice cooker according to item.   The said input means has a "voice" button, When the said "voice" button is pressed, the said alerting | reporting means was comprised so that the operation | movement state of the said rice cooker might be voice-reported. Rice cooker according to item.   The rice cooker as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 7 comprised so that the content displayed by the said display means might be voice-reported by the said alerting | reporting means after 1st predetermined time progress.   The rice cooker comprised so that said 1st predetermined time of Claim 8 might be changed according to use frequency or use frequency.   The rice cooker as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 9 comprised so that the content of the audio | voice alerting | reporting by the said alerting | reporting means may be changed sequentially after predetermined time progress.   The rice cooker as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 10 comprised so that the volume of the audio | voice alerting | reporting of the said alerting | reporting means might be changed according to the time slot | zone in a day. It further comprises a volume measuring means for measuring the volume in the usage environment of the rice cooker,
The rice cooker as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 11 comprised so that the volume of the audio | voice alerting | reporting by the said alerting | reporting means may be changed according to the measured sound volume in the use environment of the said rice cooker.

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