JP2010094151A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice cooker having steam condensing function and arranging a substrate chamber in a lid body and capable of preventing dew condensation in a display section from being generated without enlarging the contour dimension of a product. <P>SOLUTION: The rice cooker has a heating means 3A, 3B, a body 5 where the inner pot 2 can be detachably accommodated, the lid body 7 having the substrate chamber 11, connected to the body 5 with a hinge 6, and openably closing the upper opening of the inner pot 2, and a water tank 4 cooling and condensing steam generated from a matter to be heated in the inner pot 2 during cooking. The water tank 4 is arranged so as to be accommodated in the area of the lid body 7, the substrate chamber 11 is arranged so that a part of the same may overlap the area of the water tank 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker including a water tank that cools and condenses steam generated from an object to be heated in an inner pot during cooking.

  Conventionally, a rice cooker has been designed to condense steam generated during cooking from an object to be heated contained in the inner pot into a container (water tank) containing cooling water and dissipate it in the cooling water. Is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-10-192134 (FIGS. 1 to 3)

By the way, in an electronically controlled rice cooker, it is essential to equip a board having an operation unit and a display unit, and the installation position is roughly divided into the following two types.
A. Installed in the product body B. Items installed in the lid provided rotatably on the product body Among these, the operation part and the display part A are installed on the product body part, and it is difficult to secure the operation board installation space. There is a drawback that the outer dimensions of the product must be large.

  On the other hand, the B-type in which the operation unit and the display unit are installed in the lid body is easy to secure the installation space for the operation board, and the advantage that the external dimensions of the product can be designed smaller than that of the A-type. However, since the display unit is installed above the inner pot for storing the food, there is a problem that it is easily affected by heat. Therefore, generally, a substrate chamber is provided in the lid body, and the operation substrate is accommodated in the substrate chamber. However, this substrate chamber has a large temperature change, and there is a problem that condensation easily occurs on the display unit due to a temperature difference from the outside air.

  In order to solve this, special considerations are required, such as substantially sealing the substrate chamber, installing a desiccant, and moving a heat source (such as a lid heater) to a position as far as possible from the substrate chamber. However, when the heat source is moved away from the substrate chamber, there is only an alternative of reducing the area for heating the object to be heated or increasing the product size and moving the substrate chamber away.

  In the thing provided with the water tank which cools the above-mentioned steam and condenses, the water tank is disposed below the lid hinge part on the rear surface of the main body so as to protrude rearward. For this reason, the space above the water tank cannot be used effectively. Therefore, even in a rice cooker having such a steam condensing function, the problems as described above still exist when installing a substrate having an operation unit and a display unit.

  The technical problem of the present invention is to provide a steam condensing function, and in the case where the substrate chamber is installed in the lid, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of condensation on the display unit without increasing the external dimensions of the product. There is.

  The rice cooker according to the present invention has a heating means, a main body in which the inner pot is detachably accommodated, a substrate chamber, and a lid that is hinged to the main body and closes the upper opening of the inner pot so as to be opened and closed. Body and a water tank that cools and condenses steam generated from an object to be heated in the inner pot during cooking, the water tank is disposed so as to fit within the area of the lid, and the substrate chamber is A part of the water tank is placed over the area.

  According to the rice cooker of the present invention, the water tank is disposed so as to be accommodated in the area of the lid, and the substrate chamber provided in the lid is disposed so that a part thereof covers the area of the water tank. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of dew condensation on the display portion without increasing the external dimensions of the display, and to extend the life of the parts.

The present invention will be described below with reference to illustrated embodiments.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a positional relationship among a product outer shape, an inner pot outer shape, and a substrate chamber outer shape in a plan view of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the overall configuration, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration.

  The rice cooker 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, heats the inner pot 2 containing an object to be heated (rice, water, etc.) from below with heating means 3A such as an induction heating coil, and is disposed at the top. The heating means, that is, the lid heater 3B also heats the object to be heated from above, and the steam generated at this time is led to the water tank 4 storing the cooling water to be cooled and condensed (collected). is doing.

  More specifically, the rice cooker 1 has a heating means 3A as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a main body 5 in which the inner pot 2 is detachably accommodated, and a lid heater 3B. Are connected to each other by a hinge 6 so as to close the upper opening of the inner pot 2 so as to be openable and closable. The water tank 4 is detachably mounted on the bottom plate 8 of the water tank, and the steam generated from the heated object in the inner pot 2 during cooking is interposed between the inner pot 2 and the water tank 4 during the cooking. And a steam conduit (not shown) for guiding the water into the cooling water and condensing it into the cooling water. The installation position of the water tank 4 is not limited to the front portion of the main body 5, and may be a portion excluding the hinge 6 portion and may be disposed on the side portion of the main body 5.

  The lid body 7 is covered with a top plate 9 at the top, and a substrate chamber 11 that is substantially sealed to prevent condensation is provided inside the lid body 7. As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate chamber 11 is arranged such that at least a third of the area occupied by the substrate chamber 11 (the area of the substrate chamber outer shape A) covers the area of the water tank 4 as shown in FIG. . An operation substrate 12 is fixed to the bottom of the substrate chamber 11, and a liquid crystal display device 13 is disposed on the operation substrate 12. The liquid crystal display unit is visually recognized by a display window 9 a provided on the top plate 9. It can be done. Moreover, the light emitter 14 which is composed of LEDs and indicates the operation state (reservation, rice cooking, and heat insulation) is attached to the back side of the operation board 12 from the display window 9a (the right end portion of the operation board 12 as viewed in FIG. 1). In addition, at the position facing the light emitter 14 on the top plate 9, a linear light-transmitting convex portion 15 protruding upward from the top plate surface along the edge of the display window 9 a is provided integrally with the top plate 9. Further, a light guide 16 is disposed between the light-transmitting convex portion 15 and the light emitter 14 so that light from the light emitter 14 can be guided to the light-transmitting convex portion 15 by the light guide 16 and displayed. It has become. In FIG. 1, B indicates the outer shape of the inner hook 2 (inner hook area), C indicates the product outer shape (product area), and 17 indicates the switch. These switches 17 can be operated by pressing an emboss 18 provided on the top plate 9 corresponding to these switches.

  In the rice cooker of the present embodiment, the range to be overlapped with the water tank area of the substrate chamber 11 is set to at least 1/3 or more of the occupied area of the substrate chamber, which is obtained as a result of the experiment. This is because the clouding prevention effect of the display portion has been manifested from the stage where the overlap range becomes about 1/3 of the substrate room occupation area.

  In addition, the installation position of the water tank 4 is a part excluding the hinge 6 part in order to place the water tank 4 below the hinge 6 part on the rear surface of the main body and cover it with the lid 7. This is because the structure of the hinge 6 part is complicated, and the product outer shape must be increased.

  Thus, in the rice cooker of this embodiment, it arrange | positions so that the water tank 4 may be settled in the area of the cover body 7, and the substrate chamber 11 provided in the cover body 7 is partly in the area of the water tank 4. Since it arrange | positions in this way, generation | occurrence | production of the dew condensation to a display part can be prevented, without enlarging the dimension of the product external shape C. FIG. As a result, the life of the parts can be extended.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the positional relationship of the product external shape seen from the plane of the rice cooker which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, an inner pot external shape, and a board | substrate chamber external shape. It is a longitudinal section showing the whole rice cooker composition concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view showing the whole rice cooker composition concerning one embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rice cooker, 2 Inner pot, 3A, 3B Heating means, 4 Water tank, 5 Main body, 6 Hinge, 7 Lid, 11 Substrate room.

Claims (3)

A main body having heating means, in which the inner pot is detachably accommodated,
A lid that has a substrate chamber and is hinged to the main body to close the upper opening of the inner hook so as to be freely opened and closed;
A water tank that cools and condenses steam generated from an object to be heated in the inner pot during cooking,
The water tank is arranged to fit within the area of the lid;
The cooker is characterized in that the substrate chamber is arranged so that a part thereof covers the area of the water tank.   2. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the substrate chamber is set so that at least one third of the occupied area covers the area of the water tank.   The rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the water tank is disposed in a portion of the main body excluding a lid hinge portion.

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