JP2009254451A - Method for determining amount of rice cooked and electric rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric rice cooker for determining an amount of rice to be cooked and cooking the rice without being influenced by ambient temperature in a water absorption step. <P>SOLUTION: The electric rice cooker 1 has: a pot 10 in which food substances to be cooked are contained; heating devices 5, 6, and 19 for heating the food substances to be cooked in the pot 10; a rice cooker body 2 containing the pot 10 and including the heating devices; a lid body 11 for closing the opening of the pot 10; and a controller 9 for performing rice cooking steps including a water absorption step for allowing the rice to absorb the water by controlling the heating devices. The electric rice cooker includes: pressure detecting means 26 for detecting internal pressure of the pot 10; and means for determining an amount of rice to be cooked for inputting a detected value of the pressure detecting means 26 and determining an amount of rice to be cooked in the pot 10. The controller 9 raises the internal temperature in the pot to a predetermined temperature by the heating devices after the pot is sealed up in the water absorption step, detects an internal pressure value of the pot by the pressure detecting means, inputs the detected value to the means for determining an amount of rice to be cooked, and determines the amount of rice to be cooked. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for determining the amount of cooked rice and an electric rice cooker using this determination method, and more particularly to a method for determining the amount of cooked rice for determining the amount of cooked rice in a container in the water absorption step and an electric rice cooker using this determination method. Is.

  In recent years, an electric rice cooker (hereinafter simply referred to as “rice cooker”) is equipped with a microcomputer, and the microcomputer absorbs a predetermined amount of water into the rice to be cooked in the pan. Rice cooking control such as a rising heating process that heats up the cooked rice until it is boiled, a boiling maintenance process that maintains this cooked rice in a boiling state, a steaming process that steams the cooked rice, and a heat retaining process that keeps the cooked food at a predetermined temperature in sequence. It is supposed to run. And this rice cooking control is performed by determining the amount of rice cooking in a pan.

  There is also a method for determining the amount of rice to be cooked by directly measuring the weight of the cooked rice. However, if this method is used, a weigh scale is required. Is used to detect the temperature at the bottom of the pot and determine the amount of rice cooked from this detected value. The determination of the amount of cooked rice is usually performed in the rising heating process after the water absorption process. Judgment in this start-up heating process makes it possible to determine the amount of rice cooked even when executing a menu that does not go through the water absorption process, such as a quick-cooking menu. There are advantages such as easy determination of the amount. However, the judgment in this start-up heating process cannot control the output of the heating means according to the amount of cooked rice from the initial stage of the start-up heating process. There are problems such as making rice cooking difficult to adjust.

  Therefore, recently, a method has been proposed in which the amount of cooked rice is determined in the water absorption step before shifting to the start-up heating step. However, when trying to determine in this water absorption process, it becomes susceptible to the environmental temperature at the time of rice cooking, especially the water temperature used for cooking rice, so-called initial water temperature, and accurate determination cannot be made unless this initial water temperature is taken into account. The problem becomes obvious.

As a method for solving this problem, for example, a rice cooker disclosed in Patent Document 1 below has a temperature range of an initial water temperature divided into a plurality of temperature regions in advance, and a plurality of preset temperature ranges are set for each divided temperature region. The amount of cooked rice is determined based on a stepped threshold. Moreover, the rice cooker disclosed by the following patent document 2 determines rice cooking amount, raising the detection temperature of an inner pot gradually in a water absorption process, and adjusts subsequent heating amount according to the determination result of rice cooking amount. It is what I did. Furthermore, the rice cooker disclosed in the following Patent Document 3 is intermediate when the initial water temperature at the start of rice cooking is higher than a predetermined temperature without using the determination data of the rice cooking amount determination means performed during the water absorption process. Set the heating output of the cooking process transition based on the alternative data or the judgment data of the amount of rice cooked anew during the temperature raising process, or stop the water absorption heating and wait for the water temperature to decrease or stabilize, The amount of cooked rice is determined. Furthermore, the rice cooker disclosed by the following patent document 4 is made to determine the amount of rice cooked in both the water absorption step and the temperature raising step (corresponding to the above-described rising heating step).
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-58654 (paragraph [0043], FIG. 3) JP 2004-275226 A (paragraphs [0044] to [0046], FIG. 7) JP 2004-201804 (paragraph [0038], FIG. 4) JP 2005-65928 A (paragraphs [0039], [0040], FIG. 4, FIG. 5)

  Rice cooking control using a microcomputer is performed by determining the amount of rice cooking in the pan as described above. The determination of the amount of cooked rice has shifted from the method of directly measuring the weight of the cooked rice to the determination in the rising heating process in the rice cooking process and further the determination in the water absorption process. However, even in this determination in the water absorption process, since it is determined by temperature detection, it is difficult to accurately determine the amount of cooked rice that is easily affected by the surrounding environment during rice cooking, particularly the initial water temperature. Then, although the rice cooker of the said patent documents 1-3 is each devised so that it may not receive to the influence of initial temperature, the room for improvement still remains, Eventually like the rice cooker of the said patent document 4. In addition, it is determined in both the rising heating process and the water absorption process, and the advantage of the determination accuracy in both processes must be used properly according to the rice cooking menu and other conditions. Therefore, when determining the amount of rice cooking by temperature detection, it must be determined in both the rising heating step and the water absorption step.

  The present inventors have been engaged in the development and commercialization of rice cookers for many years, and in recent years, in pressure-type rice cookers that cook rice by increasing the pressure in the pan to atmospheric pressure or higher, the pressure valve in the boiling maintenance step after the water absorption step The rice cooker that cooks rice by causing the so-called bumping phenomenon to reduce the pressure in the pan from high pressure to near atmospheric pressure and stir the rice vigorously in the pan, and commercialize it. Several patents have already been acquired in the invention (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3852293). For example, the pressure-type rice cooker disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3852293 is a boil maintaining process of the rice cooking process, and the pressure valve is forcibly opened to reduce the pressure in the boiling pot to near atmospheric pressure at once. By doing this, a bumping phenomenon is generated in the pan, and the rice grains are controlled to be stirred and cooked.

  However, this rice cooker heated the inside of the pan in a state of opening the pressure valve, that is, without pressurizing the inside of the pan in the water absorption process. However, in this water absorption process, when the pressure valve was closed and heated at a predetermined temperature to increase the pressure in the pan, it was discovered that the water content of rice increased. And this moisture content rises to a high value of a predetermined value, but the pressure to pressurize is saturated at this high moisture content value, and this saturated pressure value is closely related to the amount of cooked rice, that is, this pressure value. It was found that there was a one-to-one relationship with the amount of cooked rice. Therefore, if the pressure in the pan in this water absorption process is detected, the amount of rice cooking can be determined, and the present invention has been completed by conceiving that the problem of determination by temperature can be overcome as in the prior art. Is.

  That is, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above development status while solving the above-described problems of the prior art, and the object of the present invention is to determine the amount of rice cooking without being affected by the environmental temperature in the water absorption process. It is in providing the determination method of the amount of rice cooking, and the electric rice cooker using this determination method.

  Another object of the present invention is to change the control method without changing the structure of the conventional rice cooker and without newly establishing a new rice cooking process, etc., without being affected by the environmental temperature. It is in providing the determination method of the amount of rice cooking which can determine the quantity, and the electric rice cooker using this determination method.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide an electric rice cooker that can achieve the above object by increasing the moisture content of rice.

  In order to achieve the above object, the method for determining the amount of cooked rice according to claim 1 is characterized in that the predetermined amount of cooked rice containing rice and water is housed in a container, and the rice absorbs water in the water absorption step. In the method for determining the amount of rice cooked to determine the amount of rice cooked in the container, in the water absorption step, after sealing the container, the temperature inside the container is raised to a predetermined temperature, and the pressure inside the container at that time is detected, and this detection The amount of cooked rice in the container is determined based on the value.

  The invention of claim 2 is the rice cooking amount determination method according to claim 1, wherein rice cooking amount data corresponding to the pressure value is set in advance, and the detected pressure value is collated with the rice cooking amount data. The amount of cooked rice is determined.

  The electric rice cooker according to claim 3 is a pan in which a cooked rice containing water and rice is accommodated, a heating means for heating the cooked rice in the pan, and the heating means while containing the pan. A rice cooker main body, a lid that closes the opening of the pan, and a controller that performs a rice cooking step including a water absorption step of controlling the heating means to absorb water in the rice in the pan. In the electric rice cooker, the control device includes pressure detection means for detecting the pressure in the pan, and rice cooking amount determination means for determining a rice cooking amount in the pan by inputting a detection value of the pressure detection means. In the water absorption step, after the pot is sealed, the heating means raises the temperature of the pot to a predetermined temperature, the pressure detection means detects the pressure value in the pot, and the detected value is It is characterized in that the amount of cooked rice in the pan is determined by inputting the amount of cooked rice. To.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the electric rice cooker according to the third aspect, the control device includes a storage unit, and the storage unit includes a boosting pressure in the pan in the water absorption process and rice cooking amount data corresponding to the pressure. The rice cooking amount determination means compares the detection value detected by the pressure detection means with the rice cooking amount data stored in the storage means to determine the rice cooking amount in the pan. It is characterized by that.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the electric rice cooker according to the third aspect, the lid body has a steam discharge hole for discharging the steam in the pan to the outside, and a valve opening / closing for closing or opening the steam discharge hole. A mechanism, and in the water absorption step, the control device operates the heating means and closes the vapor discharge hole by the valve opening / closing mechanism to increase the pressure in the pan.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the electric rice cooker according to the fifth aspect, the steam discharge hole is also used as a pressure valve, and the valve opening / closing mechanism is a pressure valve opening mechanism for forcibly opening the pressure valve. In addition, the control device is characterized in that in the boiling maintenance step of the rice cooking step, the inside of the pan is boosted to an atmospheric pressure or higher to control rice cooking.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the electric rice cooker according to claim 3, wherein the pressure detecting means has a pressure sensor for converting pressure into an electric signal, and the pressure sensor is provided on the lid or the electric rice cooker body. It is characterized by that.

  The electric rice cooker according to claim 8 is the electric rice cooker according to claim 3, wherein the heating means is provided in the bottom heater for heating the bottom of the pan, the side heater for heating the side, and the lid. An upper heater that heats from above; and the control device controls at least a heating amount of the bottom heater in the water absorption step.

  This invention has the following outstanding effects by providing the said structure. That is, the invention of claim 1 is based on the fact that when the pressure in the pan is increased in the water absorption process, the moisture content of the rice increases, and the increased pressure value corresponds to the amount of cooked rice. The amount of cooked rice in the container is determined by detecting the pressure value increased in the container. According to this determination method, the pressure value is not affected by the initial water temperature unlike the prior art, so that the determination accuracy can be increased. Moreover, in this water absorption process, the water content of rice can be increased by increasing the pressure in the pan.

  The invention of claim 2 can obtain and set the rice cooking amount data corresponding to the pressure value in advance by experiment, and by comparing this rice cooking amount data with the detected pressure value, the accurate rice cooking amount can be determined. .

  According to the invention of claim 3, the amount of cooked rice in the pan can be accurately determined without being affected by the initial water temperature as in the prior art. As a result, in the subsequent rice cooking process, for example, the start-up heating process, it becomes possible to control the optimum heating amount based on the accurate determination result of the rice cooking amount, and rice cooking characteristics such as the hardness and softness of your choice. Is possible. Moreover, in this water absorption step, the moisture content of the rice is increased by increasing the pressure in the pan, and delicious rice can be cooked by the rice cooking control combined with the above-described accurate rice cooking amount determination result.

  According to the invention of claim 4, it is possible to determine an accurate rice cooking amount only by storing the pressure in the pan and the data of the rice cooking amount corresponding to this pressure in the water absorption process in the storage means.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the pressure in the pan can be easily increased simply by closing the vapor discharge hole during the water absorption process.

  According to the invention of claim 6, the steam discharge hole is also used as a pressure valve, and the valve opening / closing mechanism is also used as a pressure valve opening mechanism for forcibly opening the pressure valve. Without changing the structure of the above, and without newly establishing a new rice cooking process, it is possible to apply rice to a pressure rice cooker simply by changing the control method and to achieve the above-described effects.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, by using the pressure sensor that converts the pressure into an electric signal, it can be easily attached to the lid or the electric rice cooker body.

  According to the invention of claim 8, since the heating means is provided with a bottom heater that heats the bottom of the pan, a side heater that heats the side, and an upper heater that is provided on the lid and heated from above, The control device can increase the pressure in the pan to a predetermined value by controlling at least the heating amount of the bottom heater in the water absorption step. Moreover, if the heating amount of all the heaters is controlled, the pressure in the pan can be increased to a predetermined value more efficiently.

  Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiment described below exemplifies a pressure rice cooker (hereinafter simply referred to as “rice cooker”) as a rice cooker for embodying the technical idea of the present invention. It is not intended to be specific to the device, and other embodiments within the scope of the claims are equally applicable.

  Initially, with reference to FIG. 7, the relationship between the pressure in a pan in a water absorption process and the amount of rice cooking is demonstrated. 7 is a pressure curve diagram showing the relationship between the pressure in the pan and the amount of rice cooked in the water absorption process, FIG. 8A is a table showing the moisture content measured at a predetermined position in the pan, and FIG. ) Is a table showing the relationship between the pressure value and the amount of cooked rice.

As shown in FIG. 7, the relationship between the pressure in the pan and the amount of cooked rice in the water absorption process is substantially constant at a high pressure value P3 that rises steeply from the beginning as shown in the pressure curve X ₃ when the amount of cooked rice is small. It becomes a value and becomes saturated. Further, when the amount of cooked rice is large, as shown in the pressure curve X ₂ , the rise is dull and the pressure value P1 is low, and the rice is saturated at a substantially constant value. Furthermore, when the amount of cooked rice is an intermediate amount, the pressure curve X ₂ is located between the pressure curves X ₂ and X ₃ and saturates at a substantially constant value at the intermediate pressure value P2. The amount of cooked rice in each of the pressure curves X _{1 to} X ₃ is 5.5 cups for the curve X ₁ , 3.3 cups for the curve X ₂ , and 0.5 cups for the curve X ₃ . It is the amount of cooking rice.

Then, when the pressure value in the pressure curve X ₁ to X ₃ is measured rice moisture content at the time it becomes substantially a constant value (saturation), the results shown in FIG. 8 (a) was obtained. That is, when measuring the moisture content of each part as a bottom part A near the bottom of the pot, an intermediate part B higher than the bottom part, and an upper part C above the intermediate part (see FIG. 2), The bottom A was a ₁ , the middle B was a ₂ and the top C was a ₃ , and the average value thereof was a _E. This average value was increased by 1.0% or more compared to that without boosting.

As a result, it was confirmed that each pressure value when the pressure curves X _{1 to} X ₃ shown in FIG. 7 were stable corresponded to the amount of cooked rice on a one-to-one basis.

  Therefore, the present invention is to store a predetermined amount of rice to be cooked containing rice and water in a predetermined container, for example, a pan, so that the rice absorbs water, and in this water absorption step, the inside of the container is pressurized to increase the amount of rice. The moisture content is increased to a predetermined value, and the amount of cooked rice in the container is determined based on the pressure value at the increased moisture content.

  In addition, rice cooking amount data corresponding to the pressure value is set in advance, and the pressure detection value is compared with the rice cooking amount data to determine the rice cooking amount. In addition, it is preferable that the container is pressurized by heating the inside with the inside sealed. Therefore, according to this determination method, the pressure value is not affected by the initial water temperature as in the prior art, so that the determination accuracy can be improved. Moreover, the water content of rice can be increased by increasing the pressure in the pot in this water absorption step. Furthermore, according to this accurate determination result, since the heating amount of the heating means can be controlled based on this rice cooking amount in the subsequent rice cooking step, for example, the start-up heating step, the desired rice cooking characteristics, such as the desired hardness, etc. Can be cooked deliciously.

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 1-4, the rice cooker provided with the rice cooking amount determination means which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. 1 is a front view of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rice cooker of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the pressure valve opening mechanism of FIG. 2, and FIG. It is an enlarged view of X part.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rice cooker 1 includes a pan 10 into which a cooked rice containing rice and water is put, an opening in which the pan 10 is accommodated, and the pan 10 inside. A rice cooker main body (hereinafter referred to as a main body) 2 having a bottom heater 5 and a side heater 6 that heats and heats the cooked food, and is pivotally supported on one side of the main body 2 so as to cover the opening of the main body 2 and to be closed A lid 11 having a locking mechanism 21 to be locked, a pressure valve 13 that is attached to the lid 11 and adjusts the pressure in the pan 10, a pressure valve opening mechanism 15 that controls opening and closing of the pressure valve 13, and rice cooking Display operation unit 8 for performing operations such as starting, timer reservation and heat retention, and heating means and pressure having bottom heater 5 and side heater 6 and inner lid heater 19 to be described later according to a rice cooking start signal from display operation unit 8 Control for controlling the valve opening mechanism 15 and the like And a location 9.

  The control device 9 is provided with storage means. The storage means heats the cooked rice in the pan 10 to a predetermined temperature, and absorbs a predetermined amount of water over the predetermined time. Process, rising heating process for heating and heating the absorbed cooked rice until it boils, boiling maintaining process for maintaining the cooked rice in a boiling state, steaming process for steaming the cooked rice after the boiling maintaining process, The rice cooking and the heat retention program which perform sequentially the heat retention process etc. which heat-retained the cooked rice cooked after the steaming process at predetermined temperature are memorize | stored. Among these rice cooking processes, in the rising heating process and the boiling maintenance process, the inside of the pan is pressurized to atmospheric pressure or higher, for example, about 1.1 to 2.2 atmospheres, and the rice cooking process is executed. Moreover, the data which linked | related the pressure value and the amount of rice cooking are memorize | stored in this memory | storage means.

  The main body 2 is composed of a bottomed box-type outer case 3 and an inner case 4 which is accommodated in the outer case 3 and in which the pot 10 is accommodated, and a gap is formed between the outer case 3 and the inner case 4. And a control circuit board constituting the control device 9 is disposed in the gap. The inner case 4 is provided with a bottom heater 5 at the bottom 4a and a side heater 6 at the side 4b. As the bottom heater 5, an electromagnetic induction coil wound in a donut shape is used. As the side heater 6, a heater in which a heating wire is covered with a heat-resistant member is used. The bottom 4a is provided with a pan bottom temperature sensor 7 composed of a thermistor for detecting the pan bottom temperature.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the main body 2 is provided with a display panel 8 a that displays various rice cooking menus on the front surface 2 a and a display operation unit 8 that includes operation buttons for selecting the rice cooking menu.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the pan 10 is a relatively deep bottom container into which a predetermined amount of rice to be cooked made of rice and water is put, and is made of, for example, a clad material of aluminum and stainless steel.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the lid 11 includes an inner lid 12 that closes the opening of the pot 10, an outer lid 20 that closes the entire opening of the main body 2, and the like. One end of the lid 11 is pivotally supported on one end of the main body 2 by a pivot 11 </ b> A, and the other end is locked to the other end of the main body 2 by a lock mechanism 21. The lid 11 is provided with a pressure detection means 26 for detecting the pressure in the pan 10. The pressure detection means 26 includes a pressure sensor 27 that converts pressure into an electrical signal, and the pressure sensor 27 is provided on the outer lid 20 of the lid body 11.

The inner lid 12 has a pressure valve 13 at its upper part, a pressure valve opening mechanism 15 for forcibly opening the pressure valve 13, and the pressure in the pot 10 when the pressure in the pot 10 rises to an abnormal pressure of a predetermined value or more. A safety valve V ₁ for releasing steam to the outside, an inner lid heater (also referred to as an upper heater) 19 for heating the inside of the pan 10 from above, and the like are provided.

Among these components, the inner lid heater 19 is a heater in which a heating wire similar to the side heater 6 is covered with a heat-resistant member. 2 and 4, the pressure valve 13 is mounted on the valve seat 13a in which a valve hole 13 ₁ having a predetermined diameter is formed and the valve hole 13 ₁ is closed. And a cover 13b that restricts the movement of the ball 14 and holds it on the valve seat 13a. The ball 14 has a predetermined weight, by its own weight, to close the valve hole 13 _1.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the pressure valve opening mechanism 15 includes a cylinder 15a around which an electromagnetic coil is wound, a plunger 15b that slides in the cylinder 15a by excitation of the electromagnetic coil and moves the ball 14, and the plunger It comprises a spring and an operating rod 15b 'mounted on the tip of 15b. The operating rod 15b 'is supported by a sealing member 15c having elasticity.

The pressure valve opening mechanism 15 is controlled by the control device 9. That is, when the electromagnetic coil is excited based on a command from the control device 9, the plunger 15b protrudes from the cylinder 15a, the operating rod 15b 'collides with the ball 14, and pushes the ball 14 in the lateral direction. By this extrusion, the ball 14 is moved from above the valve seat 13a to forcibly open the valve hole 13 ₁ . Further, in this open state, when the excitation to the electromagnetic coil is stopped, the plunger 15b is pulled back into the cylinder 15a by a spring force. the ball 14 returns to the valve seat 13a by its own weight, the valve hole 13 ₁ is closed by the ball 14. A steam temperature sensor S for measuring the temperature of steam ejected from the valve hole 13 ₁ is attached to the upper part of the pressure valve 13.

  The inner lid 12 is fitted with an inner lid packing 18 on the outer periphery thereof so as to be in contact with the opening of the pan 10 and sealed. As shown in FIG. 4, the inner lid packing 18 has a circular hole 18 </ b> A having a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the disk-shaped inner lid 12 and a ring-shaped attachment on the outer peripheral edge of the inner lid 12. It has a mounting portion 18B that is attached via the frame 16, and a seal portion 18C that comes into contact with the opening of the pan 10 and seals the opening, and is composed of a ring having a donut shape as a whole, and has high heat resistance and elasticity. It is formed with the silicon material which has.

  The mounting portion 18B has a concave groove 18B 'in which the ring-shaped mounting frame 16 is mounted, and is formed on the outer periphery of the circular hole 18A. The concave groove 18B 'is erected at a substantially right angle upward from an end portion of the groove bottom 18a on the side of the circular hole 18A and a substantially flat annular groove bottom 18a extending outward from the circular hole 18A. It is comprised by the cylindrical wall 18b and extension part 18a 'extended from the groove bottom part 18a. The cylindrical wall 18b is formed with a hook-like locking claw 18b 'that protrudes outward from its top and has its tip bent downward.

The seal portion 18C further extends from the extending portion 18a ′ of the groove bottom portion 18a and is formed in a substantially U shape. The U-shaped seal portion 18C is formed by a spring piece portion 18d extending from the extending portion 18a ′ and corresponding to the U-shaped bottom portion, and an elastic seal portion 18e extending from the spring piece portion 18d. . The elastic seal portion 18e has a tip contact portion 18 ₁ that contacts the inner wall 10a of the pan 10 and an intermediate contact portion 18 ₂ that contacts the curved portion 10b between the inner wall 10a and the pan flange 10c.

The mounting frame 16 is fitted into the concave groove 18B ′ and contacted with the surface of the groove bottom 18a, a body 16b extending upward from the bottom 16a, and a flat provided on the body 16b. And a ring frame having a donut shape as a whole, and is formed of a resin molded body having high heat resistance and predetermined mechanical strength. The mounting frame 16, the flat surface of the top portion 16c, the female screw hole 16 ₁ hanging down toward the bottom portion 16a is engraved from the flat surface. Also, the locking groove 16 ₂ is formed on the flat surface of the top portion 16c. Further, an H-shaped engaging portion 16b ′ having a locking groove 16 ₃ is formed on the side surface of the body portion 16b, that is, on the surface side of the cylindrical wall 18b. The 'A locking groove 16 _3, the locking claw 18b provided on the top of the cylindrical wall 18b' H-type engagement portion 16b of is locked.

To attach the inner lid packing 18 to the inner lid 12, first, the ring-shaped attachment frame 16 is attached to the inner lid packing 18. For this mounting, the ring-shaped mounting frame 16 is placed on the top of the cylindrical wall 18b of the inner lid packing 18, and the mounting frame 16 is pressed downward. By this pressing, the cylindrical wall 18b is bent inward by its elastic force, and insertion of the mounting frame 16 downward is allowed. When the bottom portion 16a of the mounting frame 16 is pressed to a position where it contacts the bottom surface of the concave groove 18B ', the restoring force of the cylindrical wall 18b returns to the original position, and the top of the cylindrical wall 18b is locked at this timing. The claw 18b ′ is locked in the engaging groove 16 ₃ of the H-shaped engaging portion 16b ′. By this locking, the inner lid packing 18 is fixed to the mounting frame 16. Then, the inner lid gasket 18 is fixed by screwing the female screw hole 16 ₁ in the male screw 17 provided at the contact is allowed to the outer peripheral edge to the outer peripheral edge of the inner lid 12 and mounting frame 16 fixed.

  According to the inner lid packing 18, the U-shaped seal portion 18C has a spring piece portion 18d corresponding to the U-shaped bottom portion, and an elastic seal extending from the spring piece portion 18d. When the opening of the main body 2 is closed with the lid 11, the elastic sealing portion 18 e of the sealing portion 18 C resists the spring force of the spring piece portion 18 d and the inside of the pot 10. Airtightness is ensured by being in close contact with the wall surface 10a and the curved portion 10b. Therefore, there is almost no steam leakage from the inside of the pan 10, and the loss of heat energy can be suppressed to a minimum, thereby saving energy. Further, since the inner lid packing 18 is fixed to the inner lid 12 with the attachment frame 16 interposed therebetween, the inner lid packing 18 is supported by the attachment frame 16 having a high mechanical strength. Is firmly fixed. Further, since the mounting frame 16 and the inner lid packing 18 can be mounted and removed without using a tool, the old inner lid packing 18 can be easily replaced.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the outer lid 20 is formed of a decorative cover that covers the inner lid 12, the pressure valve 13 attached to the inner lid 12, the pressure valve opening mechanism 15, and the like. The outer lid 20 is provided with a release button 22 for releasing the lock mechanism 21 of the lid 11 at one end, and a mounting hole 24 at the other end on the pivot 11A side. The mounting hole 24 is a bottomed recessed hole having a size that allows the storage cap 25 to be detachably inserted, and is formed in the frame 23 that supports the outer lid 20. In addition, the mounting hole 24 is formed with a mounting hole 24a into which a discharge cylinder 25a of a to-be-stored cap 25 described later is press-fitted. An annular seal member is attached to the mounting hole 24a so as to be in pressure contact with the outer peripheral surface of the discharge cylinder 25a so that the steam in the pan 10 does not leak to the outside.

For example, the storage cap 25 includes a discharge cylinder 25a that discharges, for example, steam discharged from the pressure valve 13, a vacant chamber 25b that stores a snack of umami components, and a steam discharge port 25c that discharges steam to the outside. And a return valve V ₂ for returning the stored spring into the pot 10 is provided at the bottom of the empty room 25b. When the steam is ejected from the pressure valve 13, the rice balls that are umami components are led out from the pot 10 through the pressure valve 13 together with the steam and are stored in the empty chamber 25 b of the storage cap 25. Is done. Oneba reserved in the Check 25b returns valve V ₂ if Ne Contact at a predetermined timing while open, is returned to the pan 10 in accordance with opening of the negative pressure valve provided in the inner lid 12 (not shown).

  The pressure detection means 26 has a detection hole (not shown) provided in the inner lid 12 and a pressure sensor 27 provided corresponding to the detection hole. The detection hole and the pressure sensor 27 are located in the pot 10. Are elastically pressed by a cylindrical body 28 having elasticity so that steam generated in the above does not leak to the outside. That is, when the inner lid 12 is attached to the outer lid 20, the cylindrical body 28 connects the detection hole and the pressure sensor 27 by elastic contact so that steam or the like does not leak. The pressure detection means is not limited to the above-described means, and may be detected based on, for example, the amount of change of the inner lid 12, that is, the amount of change when the inner lid 12 is lifted due to the increase of the pressure in the pan 10. It may be possible to detect by any means.

  Next, the configuration of the control device 9 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a control block diagram constituting the control device.

  The control device 9 includes a CPU that performs various arithmetic processes, a storage unit that includes a ROM and a RAM that stores various data, a rice cooking menu detection circuit that detects a selected rice cooking menu, a rice cooking amount determination unit, and an opening / closing of the pressure valve 13. In order to control a valve opening / closing timer in which time is set, a counter for counting the number of times the pressure valve 13 is opened / closed, a heating control circuit for controlling the heating temperature and heating time in the pan 10, and a display screen displayed on the display panel 8a Display panel control circuit, a pressure valve opening mechanism drive circuit for driving the pressure valve opening mechanism 15 to control the opening / closing timing of the pressure valve 13, and the like.

  The storage means stores rice cooking programs corresponding to various rice cooking menus. As described above, this rice cooking program is a water absorption process, a start-up heating process, a boiling maintenance process, a steaming process, an additional cooking process, and a heat retaining process after the completion of these rice cooking processes. Moreover, the data which linked | related the pressure value and the amount of rice cooking are memorize | stored in this memory | storage means. As shown in FIG. 8 (b), this data is large, medium, and small in the amount of cooked rice with respect to the pressures P1, P2, and P3. Of course, it is good also as the data which subdivided pressure P1-P3 and divided the amount of rice cooking corresponding to this pressure. The relationship between this pressure value and the amount of cooked rice has been determined by experiments.

Various commands are input to the control device 9 from the menu key 8 ₁ , start key 8 ₂ , reservation key 8 _3, etc. of the display operation unit 8. Similarly, detection values are input from the pan bottom temperature sensor 7, the steam temperature sensor S, the pressure sensor 27, and the like. In addition, the bottom heater 5, the side heater 6, the inner lid heater 19, the display panel 8a, the pressure valve opening mechanism 15 and the like are connected to this apparatus.

  Mainly with reference to FIGS. 5-8, the determination of the amount of rice cooking and a rice cooking process are demonstrated. 6 is a chart showing the temperature and pressure change in the pan, pressure valve control, heater control, etc. in the rice cooking process, and FIG. 7 is a pressure curve diagram showing the relationship between the pressure in the pan and the amount of rice cooked in the water absorption process. FIG. 8A is a table showing the moisture content measured at a predetermined position in the pan, and FIG. 8B is a table showing the relationship between the pressure value and the amount of cooked rice.

  First, when a predetermined menu is selected from the rice cooking menu displayed on the display panel 8a and the display operation unit 8 is operated, the control device 9 performs the bottom heater 5 and the side heater according to the selected rice cooking program. 6 and the pressure valve opening mechanism 15 to heat the cooked rice in the pan 10 to a predetermined temperature, and to absorb a predetermined amount of moisture to the cooked rice over a predetermined temperature and a predetermined time, Standing heating process II that heats up the heated cooked rice until it boils, boiling maintenance process III that maintains this cooked rice in a boiling state, and steaming process IV that steams the cooked food after boiling maintaining process III Execute.

In the water absorption process I, the control device 9 closes the pressure valve 13 and controls the heating amount of the bottom heater 5, the side heater 6 and the top heater 19 in this state, so that the inside of the pot 10 has a predetermined water absorption temperature, for example, The water is absorbed by the rice at 60 ° C. When the pressure valve 13 is heated in a closed state, the pressure P in the pan 10 rises along a pressure curve corresponding to the amount of cooked rice, as shown in FIG. It was confirmed that the water content of the rice increased as the pressure in the pan 10 increased. That is, when the moisture content of each part was measured as a bottom A near the bottom of the pot, an intermediate part B higher than the bottom, and an upper part C above the intermediate part in the pot 10 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 8A, the bottom A is a ₁ , the middle B is a ₂ and the upper C is a ₃ , and the average value thereof is a _E. This average value was increased by 1.0% or more compared to that without boosting.

Therefore, in the water absorption process I, the pot 10 is heated to a predetermined temperature and the internal pressure is increased so that the water is absorbed by the rice, so that sufficient water can be effectively and efficiently produced without causing uneven water absorption. The rice can absorb water. That is, by raising the pressure in the pot 10, water and rice are also pressurized, and this pressure makes it easier for water to pass through the rice cell wall, so that more water is absorbed by the starch of rice. In addition, when a pressure is applied to the rice, a small crack enters the rice, water penetrates into the rice from there, and water is supplied to the starch in the center of the rice through the gap between the rice cell walls, Increases moisture content. In addition, in this water absorption process I, the relationship between the pressure value P in the pan 10 and the amount of rice cooking was calculated | required by experiment. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, when the amount of cooked rice is small, these relationships rise steeply from the beginning and become substantially constant at a high pressure value P3 and saturate as shown in the pressure curve X _3. when many rice amount, as the pressure curve X _2, saturated at a substantially constant value at the rising dull lower pressure value P1, further, when the rice amount of these intermediate amount, the pressure curve X ₂ is It was located between the pressure curves X ₁ and X ₃ and became a value saturated at a substantially constant value at the intermediate pressure value P2. The pressure value P is in the range of 1.05 to 1.18 atmospheres, and cooking of the pressure curve X ₁ to X ₃ is a curve X ₁ is 5.5 cup, curve X ₂ 3.3 cup, curve X ₃ 0.5 cups, are sequentially large, medium, a cooking of small. And when the moisture content of the rice was measured when the pressure value became substantially constant (saturated) in each of the pressure curves X _{1 to} X ₃ , the result of FIG. 8 was obtained, and these contents a ₁ to The value a _E obtained by averaging a ₃ was increased by 1.0% or more compared to the value a _{E that} was not boosted. In addition, the relationship between the moisture content and the amount of cooked rice is high when the amount of cooked rice is high, and decreases as it becomes smaller. However, the moisture content is increased by applying pressure compared to when it is not applied. is doing. The relationship between the pressure in the pan 10 and the amount of cooked rice is stored in advance in the storage means.

  This pressure value P is detected by the pressure sensor 27. This detected value is input to the rice cooking amount determination means, and is compared with the rice cooking amount data stored in the storage means to determine the rice cooking amount.

Therefore, since the pressure value at the stable time point of each pressure curve X _{1 to} X ₃ shown in FIG. 7 corresponds to the amount of cooked rice on a one-to-one basis, the amount of cooked rice can be easily determined by detecting this pressure value. The determination can be made accurately, and the determination of the amount of cooked rice is accurate without being affected by the initial water temperature.

  In the next start-up heating process II, the heating amount of the heating means is controlled based on this rice cooking amount. In this process, the pressure in the pot 10 is increased to 1.2 atmospheres, for example.

  In the start-up heating process II, since the accurate amount of cooked rice is determined in the water absorption process I, from the initial stage of the start-up heating process II, heating is performed with an appropriate amount of electric power based on the accurate amount of cooked rice. Therefore, since the temperature rise degree of the start-up heating process II can be freely set by accurately determining the amount of cooked rice, it becomes easy to make a difference in cooking level such as hard and soft. Therefore, it can be cooked deliciously with your favorite rice cooking characteristics, such as your favorite hardness.

Further, in the boiling maintenance step III, the pressure valve 13 is forcibly opened once or a plurality of times to reduce the pressure in the boiling pot 10 at a stroke so as to be close to the atmospheric pressure. The opening of the pressure valve 13 causes a bumping phenomenon in the pan 10, and the rice is vigorously stirred. In addition, when the pressure valve 13 is opened, the umami component generated in the pan 10 is temporarily stored in the storage cap 25 through the pressure valve 13. The rice balls stored in the storage cap 25 are returned to the pot 10 by opening the return valve V ₂ at a predetermined timing.

  When this rice cooking process is completed, the instruction from the display operation unit 8 is automatically transferred to the heat retaining process. In this heat insulation process, the control device 9 keeps the inside of the pan 10 at a predetermined time and at a predetermined temperature. In this time zone, the control device 9 intermittently controls on / off of the bottom heater 5, the side heater 6, and the inner lid heater 19 to control the temperature at a predetermined temperature, for example, 70 ° C. or higher. By this heat retention control, the dew condensation on the inner wall of the pan 10 is reduced and the heat is kept at an optimum temperature.

  As mentioned above, although the pressure type rice cooker of one Embodiment of this invention was demonstrated, this invention is not limited to this pressure type rice cooker, It can apply also to a normal non-pressure type rice cooker. . Since the non-pressure rice cooker is provided with a steam discharge hole for discharging the steam in the pan to the outside, the above-described effects can be obtained by providing an opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the steam discharge hole in the steam discharge hole. A rice cooker can be configured.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pressure rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the pressure rice cooker of FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the pressure valve opening mechanism of FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion X in FIG. FIG. 5 is a control block diagram constituting the control device. FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram showing changes in temperature and pressure in the rice cooking process. FIG. 7 is a pressure curve diagram showing the relationship between the pressure in the pan and the amount of cooked rice in the water absorption process. Fig.8 (a) is the table | surface which showed the moisture content measured in the predetermined position in a pan, FIG.8 (b) is the table | surface which showed the relationship between a pressure value and the amount of rice cooking.

Explanation of symbols

1 (Pressure type) rice cooker (electric rice cooker)
2 (rice cooker) body 3 outer case 4 inner case 5 bottom heater 6 side heater 7 pan bottom temperature sensor 8 display operation unit 9 controller 10 pan 11 lid 12 inner lid 13 pressure valve 14 metal ball 15 pressure valve opening mechanism 16 Mounting frame 18 Inner lid seal 19 Inner lid heater (upper heater)
20 outer lid 25 large storage cap 26 pressure detection means 27 pressure sensor

Claims (8)

In the method for determining the amount of rice to be cooked, the amount of rice to be cooked containing rice and water is contained in a container, and the amount of rice cooked in the container is determined in the water absorption step of absorbing water into the rice.
In the water absorption step, after sealing the container, the inside of the container is heated to a predetermined temperature and the internal pressure of the container at that time is detected, and the amount of cooked rice in the container is determined based on the detected value. A method for determining the amount of cooked rice.   The rice cooking data according to claim 1, wherein rice cooking amount data corresponding to a pressure value is set in advance, and the detected pressure value is compared with the rice cooking amount data to determine the rice cooking amount. Quantity judgment method. A pan in which the cooked rice containing water and rice is stored, a heating means for heating the cooked rice in the pan, a rice cooker body containing the pan and provided with the heating means, and the pan In an electric rice cooker comprising a lid that closes the opening, and a control device that executes a rice cooking step including a water absorption step of controlling the heating means to absorb water in the rice in the pan,
A pressure detection means for detecting the pressure in the pan; and a rice cooking amount determination means for determining a rice cooking amount in the pan by inputting a detection value of the pressure detection means; and the control device in the water absorption step After the pan is sealed, the heating means is used to raise the temperature of the pot to a predetermined temperature, the pressure detection means detects the pressure value in the pan, and the detected value is input to the rice cooking amount determination means And determining the amount of rice cooked in the pan.   The control device includes a storage unit, and the storage unit stores a pressure increase in the pan in the water absorption process and rice cooking amount data corresponding to the pressure, and the rice cooking amount determination unit is the pressure detection unit. The electric rice cooker according to claim 3, wherein the detected value is compared with the rice cooking amount data stored in the storage means to determine the amount of rice cooking in the pan.   The lid is provided with a steam discharge hole for releasing the steam in the pan to the outside and a valve opening / closing mechanism for closing or opening the steam discharge hole, and the control device is configured to use the heating means in the water absorption step. 4. The electric rice cooker according to claim 3, wherein the steam opening is closed by the valve opening / closing mechanism and the inside of the pan is pressurized.   The steam discharge hole is also used as a pressure valve, the valve opening / closing mechanism is also used as a pressure valve opening mechanism for forcibly opening the pressure valve, and the controller is in the boiling maintaining process of the rice cooking process, The electric rice cooker according to claim 5, wherein the inside of the pan is boosted to atmospheric pressure or higher to control rice cooking.   The electric rice cooker according to claim 3, wherein the pressure detection means includes a pressure sensor that converts pressure into an electric signal, and the pressure sensor is provided in the lid or the electric rice cooker body.   The heating means includes a bottom heater that heats the bottom of the pan, a side heater that heats the side, and an upper heater that is provided on the lid and heats from above, and the control device includes the water absorption The electric rice cooker according to claim 3, wherein the heating amount of at least the bottom heater is controlled in the process.

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