JP2010094215A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a rice cooker with favorable usability which prevents the back flow of the cooling water in a tank, which prevents the cooling water from spilling in carrying the tank, and which has an improved safety. <P>SOLUTION: A steam treatment tank 10 is detachably/attachably positioned in the front face of a rice cooker body 1 for accommodating cooling water. A steam conduit pipe 7 is arranged in a lid body 3 that is freely rotatably provided at the rice cooker body and it communicates with the inside of the rice cooker body. At the upper lid of the steam treatment tank, a plurality of vent holes 12a which make the outside air communicate with the inside of the tank, and a communicating pipe 15 which makes the steam conduit pipe communicate with the inside of the tank are provided. At one side face of the communicating pipe, a penetrating hole 19 which is positioned at the place upper from the prescribed water level of the cooling water and which penetrates the communicating pipe and the upper part space of the tank is provided. At one side face of the communicating pipe, a non-return valve 20 is provided in order to close the penetrating hole when the pressure inside the rice cooker body is higher than the atmospheric pressure, and to open the penetrating hole when the pressure inside the rice cooker body is lower than the atmospheric pressure. Each vent hole is formed in such a manner that the hole diameter gradually becomes wider as it goes from the upper face side to the lower face side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker equipped with a tank for collecting steam, and more particularly to a tank structure that prevents backflow of cooling water in the tank and prevents the cooling water from spilling during transportation of the tank. .

In order to prevent the steam generated during rice cooking from being released to the periphery of the rice cooker body, the conventional rice cooker guides the steam to the cooling water stored in the tank through a steam conduit and dissipates it into the cooling water. Water is used (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 03-231613 (2nd page, FIG. 1)

In the rice cooker which collect | recovers the above conventional steams in a tank, when the inside pot became a negative pressure, there existed a problem that a cooling water would flow backward in an inner pot.
In addition, when a tank containing cooling water is attached to the rice cooker body, there is a problem that the cooling water spills out from the hole because there is a large hole for water injection on the upper surface of the tank.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and prevents backflow of cooling water in the tank after the completion of rice cooking, and makes it difficult to spill cooling water when transporting a tank containing cooling water. The object is to eliminate the hassle of attaching the tank to the rice cooker body, to obtain a rice cooker that is easy to use and has improved safety.

  The rice cooker according to the present invention includes a rice cooker body, an inner pot detachably attached to the rice cooker body, a heating means provided inside the rice cooker body and heating the inner pot, and the rice cooker. A rice cooker equipped with a steam treatment tank that contains a lid provided rotatably on the main body and a detachable installation on the side wall of the rice cooker main body and contains cooling water for condensing steam generated during the rice cooking operation. In the cooker, the lid body is provided with a steam conduit for communicating the inside of the rice cooker body and the steam processing tank when the lid body is closed with respect to the rice cooker body. A communication pipe that communicates the steam conduit with the tank interior, and is located on one side of the communication pipe above a predetermined level of cooling water on one side of the communication pipe, and the communication pipe and the steam treatment tank Provided with a through hole penetrating through the upper space of the communication pipe. When the pressure in the rice cooker main body is higher than atmospheric pressure, the steam processing tank is provided with a check valve for closing the through hole, and when the pressure in the rice cooker main body is lower than atmospheric pressure, the check valve is opened. The upper lid is provided with a plurality of ventilation holes that allow the outside air to communicate with the inside of the tank.

  In the rice cooker according to the present invention, on the side wall of the rice cooker main body, a steam treatment tank that contains cooling water is detachably installed to condense and recover the steam generated during the rice cooking operation of the rice cooker main body. A steam conduit communicating with the inside of the rice cooker body is disposed on the lid body rotatably provided on the rice cooker body, and the steam conduit and the tank interior communicate with the upper lid of the steam processing tank. And a through hole is formed on one side surface of the communication pipe that is positioned above a predetermined level of cooling water on one side surface of the communication pipe and penetrates the communication pipe and the upper space of the steam treatment tank. On the one side of the communication pipe, when the pressure in the rice cooker body is higher than the atmospheric pressure, the through hole is closed, and when the pressure in the rice cooker body is lower than the atmospheric pressure, the through hole is opened. A stop valve is provided, and the upper cover of the steam treatment tank Since there are a plurality of vents to communicate, the steam that the whole cooked rice boiled in the rice cooking process at the time of rice cooking and filled in the rice cooker body goes to the communication pipe through the steam conduit, and the steam treatment tank from the tip of the communication pipe The water is diffused in the cooling water contained in the water and condensed, and at that time, steam having a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure from the inside of the rice cooker passes through the communication pipe, so the valve body of the check valve is a through hole in the communication pipe. When the steaming process is started, the pressure in the rice cooker body drops below atmospheric pressure, and the negative valve opens the through-hole of the communication pipe due to negative pressure, and at the same time, it is installed in the upper lid. Outside air is taken into the tank from the vent hole, the outside air passes through the through hole, enters the rice cooker body through the communication pipe and the steam conduit, and makes the pressure in the rice cooker body the same as the external pressure, Prevents cooling water from flowing backwards.

Moreover, when carrying the steam processing tank which accommodated the cooling water, and installing in the side wall of the rice cooker main body, the upper opening of the steam processing tank is closed with the upper cover except for the steam conduit receiving port and the plurality of vent holes. Therefore, even if the steam treatment tank is tilted, it is difficult to spill cooling water, and each vent hole is formed so that the hole diameter gradually increases from the upper surface side to the lower surface side. Is less likely to spill outside.
Furthermore, since a plurality of ventilation holes are provided in the upper lid of the steam treatment tank, even if one ventilation hole is blocked by rice grains, the remaining ventilation holes are vacant, so that the same as above The check valve operates.

  1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a lid is opened in the rice cooker according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the lid is opened by the rice cooker and a steam treatment tank is removed. Is a perspective view showing a state in which the steam conduit is connected to the inner lid and the steam processing tank in the rice cooker, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the steam processing tank of the rice cooker. The perspective view which shows a state, FIG. 6 is a perspective view which shows the steam processing tank of the rice cooker, FIG. 7 is BB sectional drawing of FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a check valve used for the steam processing tank of the rice cooker. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a check valve is attached to the communication pipe of the steam processing tank of the rice cooker, FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 6, and FIG. 11 is the rice cooker. It is a graph which shows the correlation of the temperature curve in a rice cooking operation | movement, and a heating source. In addition, the temperature curve shown in FIG. 11 has shown the temperature change of the bottom part of an inner pot by the detection of a bottom temperature sensor.

As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the rice cooker main body 1 is equipped with the inner pot 2 so that attachment or detachment is possible inside. 1a is a tank support provided so as to protrude from the front lower portion of the rice cooker body 1. The inner pot 2 is heated by heating means (not shown) provided inside the rice cooker body 1.
A lid 3 that covers the upper part of the rice cooker body 1 is attached to the rice cooker body 1 so as to be freely opened and closed. An inner lid 4 is detachably attached to the lower surface of the lid 3, and a lid sensor 5 comprising a thermistor for detecting the atmospheric temperature inside the inner pot 2 is attached to the inner lid 4.
The inner lid 4 is provided with a steam inlet 6, and one end of a steam conduit 7 disposed in the lid 3 is connected to the steam inlet 6. Reference numeral 8 denotes a sealing material attached to the other end of the steam conduit 7.
Moreover, the steam processing tank 10 which accommodates the cooling water of the predetermined | prescribed water level for condensing the steam which generate | occur | produces during rice cooking operation | movement is attached to the front side of the rice cooker main body 1 so that attachment or detachment is possible.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the steam processing tank 10 has the same width and height as the rice cooker body 1, the width in the front-rear direction is small, and the tank body 11 accommodates cooling water having an elongated side and an open top. And an upper lid 12 that fits into the upper opening of the tank body 11 and closes the opening; a packing 13 that has the same shape as the opening of the tank body 11; and is provided on one side of the upper lid 12. The small steam conduit receiving port 14, the communication pipe 15 integrally attached to the steam conduit receiving port 14 so as to hang down in the tank main body 11, and the trumpet-shaped silencing member 16 attached to the lower end of the communication pipe 15. And a tank cover 17 attached so as to cover the front side of the tank main body 11.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the upper lid 12 is provided with two small vent holes 20 for communicating the inside of the tank body 1 with the outside air near the center of the tank body 1 as shown in FIG. Yes.
Each vent hole 20 is formed so that the hole diameter gradually increases from the upper surface side to the lower surface side. Therefore, if the hole diameter on the upper surface side of each vent hole 20 is d1, and the hole diameter on the lower surface side is d2, the relationship is d1 <d2. Further, it is desirable that the hole diameter d1 be a size that allows air to pass but prevents water from passing.
Further, a vertical wall 25 is provided around the upper lid 12, and a recess 26 is formed on the entire upper surface side. The bottom surface of the concave portion 26 that is the upper surface of the upper lid 12 is inclined so as to descend from the outer periphery toward the steam pipe receiving port 14.

Further, the communication pipe 15 is formed so as to hang from the steam conduit receiving port 14 and reach the vicinity of the bottom of the tank body 1.
Two valve mounting holes 18 are provided above one side surface of the communication pipe 15, and a through hole 19 is provided below the valve mounting hole 18 and above a predetermined water level of the cooling water. Yes.
When the lid 3 is closed to the rice cooker body 1, the other end to which the seal material 8 of the steam conduit 7 disposed in the lid 3 is attached is steam as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. It is comprised so that it may connect and communicate with the vapor | steam conduit | pipe receptacle 14 of the upper cover 12 of the processing tank 10. FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, a check valve 20 is attached to one side surface of the communication pipe 15 provided integrally with the upper lid 12 by a fitting structure.
The check valve 20 is made of, for example, a flexible material such as silicon rubber. As shown in FIG. 8, the check valve 20 is provided near the rectangular and thin plate-like valve body 21 and one side of the valve body 21. The two valve mounting fitting protrusions 22 and the valve body fitting protrusions 22 of the valve body 21 are protruded from the side surface and are larger than the through hole 19 so as to surround the through hole 19 of the communication pipe 15. , And an annular convex portion 23 for improving the sealing performance with the through hole 19.

In addition, the hole area of the through hole 19 of the communication pipe 15 is desirably larger than at least 1/6 of the diameter area of the communication pipe 15 depending on the tank body 11, and the maximum is the same as the diameter area of the communication pipe 15. It's okay. In the first embodiment, the diameter area of the tip of the communication pipe 15 is 135 mm ² , and the hole area of the through hole 19 of the communication pipe 15 is 24 mm ² .
In this way, the hole area of the through hole 19 of the communication pipe 15 is larger than at least 1/6 of the aperture area of the communication pipe 15 depending on the tank body 11, for example, 1/8 of the aperture area of the communication pipe 15. This is because the outside air may not enter sufficiently and may cause a backflow of cooling water. In addition, if the hole area of the through hole 19 is the same as the aperture area of the communication pipe 15, the outside air enters sufficiently and the check valve 20 operates reliably.

The check valve 20 is attached to one side surface of the communication pipe 15 as follows.
The two valve mounting fitting protrusions 22 of the check valve 20 are fitted into two valve mounting holes 18 provided above one side surface of the communication pipe 15 so as to prevent the check valve 20 from coming off. The check valve is configured so that the convex portion 23 is brought into contact with one side surface of the communication pipe 15 around the through holes 19 provided below the valve mounting holes 18 so that the through holes 19 are closed by the valve body 21. 20 is attached to one side surface of the communication hole 15.
Since the check valve 20 is provided with the annular protrusion 23 on the valve body 21, the check valve 20 is more rigid than the case of the valve body 21 alone, and the through hole 19 is reliably closed.

In this Embodiment 1, the valve body 21 which has the cyclic | annular convex part 23 of the non-return valve 20 has obstruct | occluded the through-hole 19 of the communicating pipe 15 before the rice cooking start.
Then, the rice cooking operation is started, and as shown in FIG. 11, the preheating process shifts to the rice cooking process after a certain period of time has passed by preheating, and from the start of the rice cooking process to near 100 ° C in a short time due to strong fire. This rises due to partial boiling of the cooked rice at the bottom of the inner pot 2.
After that, induction heating is continued at around 100 ° C. due to low heat, and when the whole cooked rice starts to boil, steam is generated vigorously and the inner pot 2 is filled with water vapor. When the temperature of the bottom of the inner pot 2 suddenly rises and reaches the rice cooking completion temperature of 124 ° C., for example, the steaming process is started.
In this way, the rice cooking operation is started, the preheating process is started, the rice cooking process is started, induction heating is continued at around 100 ° C., the whole cooked rice starts boiling, and steam is generated vigorously and steam is generated in the inner pot 2. Is filled, the steam in the inner pot 2 goes from the steam inlet 6 of the inner lid 4 through the steam conduit 7 to the communication pipe 15, and the cooling accommodated in the steam treatment tank 10 from the tip of the communication pipe 15. It is dissipated in the water W and condenses.

At this time, since steam having a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure from the inner pot 2 passes through the communication pipe 15, the valve body 21 of the check valve 20 is pressed so as to close the through hole 19 of the communication pipe 15.
Then, in the steaming step, the pressure in the inner pot 2 is now reduced from the atmospheric pressure, and the valve body 21 of the check valve 20 is caused by the negative pressure to communicate with the communication pipe 15 using the two valve mounting fitting protrusions 22 as fulcrums. At the same time, outside air is taken in from the vent hole 12 a provided in the upper lid 12, and the valve body 21 of the check valve 20 is further moved by the taken-in outside air to move the through hole 19. The outside air that has passed through the through-hole 19 enters the inner pot 2 from the steam inlet 6 through the communication pipe 15 and the steam conduit 7, and makes the pressure in the inner pot 2 the same as the external pressure. Thus, the backflow of the cooling water can be prevented.

Further, in the first embodiment, the cooling water W is poured into the tank body 11 with the upper lid 12 removed, and a prescribed volume is poured, and when the predetermined water level is reached, the upper lid 12 is attached to the tank body 11. The upper opening of the tank body 11 is closed by fitting.
As described above, when the steam processing tank 10 containing the cooling water is transported and installed on the tank support 1 a of the rice cooker body 1 with the upper opening of the tank body 11 closed by the upper lid 12, Since the upper opening is closed by the upper lid 12 except for the steam conduit receiving port 14 and the two vent holes 20, it is difficult to spill cooling water even if the steam processing tank 10 is tilted.
Further, since the vent hole 12a provided in the upper lid 12 is located near the center of the tank body 1 as shown in FIG. 6 in the vicinity of the steam conduit receiving port 14, the cooling water in the tank shakes. Even the outside is less likely to spill.

Furthermore, since each vent hole 20 of the upper lid 12 is formed so that the hole diameter gradually increases from the upper surface to the lower surface, the cooling water in the tank is difficult to spill outside.
Furthermore, since two vent holes 20 are provided in the upper lid 12 of the steam treatment tank 10, even if one vent hole 20 is blocked by rice grains, the remaining vent holes 20 are vacant. The check valve 20 operates in the same manner as described above.

Moreover, since the vertical wall 21 is provided around the upper lid 12 and the concave portion 22 is formed on the entire upper surface side, the strength of the upper lid 12 is improved.
Further, since the bottom surface of the recess 22 that is the upper surface of the upper lid 12 is inclined so as to descend from the outer periphery to the steam pipe receiving port 14, when water droplets adhere to the bottom surface of the recess 22 of the upper lid 12, the attached water droplets are vapor. It will flow into the conduit port 14 and will not spill outside.

The perspective view which shows the state which opened the cover body with the rice cooker of embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the state which opened the cover body and removed the steam processing tank with the rice cooker. The perspective view which shows the state by which the steam conduit | pipe was connected to the inner cover and the steam processing tank with the rice cooker. AA line sectional view of FIG. The perspective view which shows the decomposition | disassembly state of the steam processing tank of the rice cooker. The perspective view which shows the steam processing tank of the rice cooker. BB sectional drawing of FIG. The perspective view which shows the non-return valve used for the steam processing tank of the rice cooker. Sectional drawing which shows the state which attached the non-return valve to the communicating pipe of the steam processing tank of the rice cooker. The CC sectional view taken on the line of FIG. The graph which shows the correlation of the temperature curve and heating source in the rice cooking operation | movement of the rice cooker.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rice cooker main body, 2 Inner pan, 3 Lid body, 4 Inner lid, 5 Lid sensor, 6 Steam inlet, 7 Steam conduit, 10 Steam processing tank, 11 Tank body, 12 Upper lid, 12a Vent, 14 Steam conduit receptacle Port, 15 communication pipe, 17 tank cover, 18 valve mounting hole, 19 through hole, 20 check valve, 21 valve body, 22 valve mounting fitting projection, 23 annular convex part, 25 vertical wall, 26 concave part.

Claims (3)

A rice cooker main body, an inner pot detachably attached to the rice cooker main body, a heating means provided inside the rice cooker main body for heating the inner pan, and a rotatable on the rice cooker main body In the rice cooker equipped with a steam treatment tank that contains cooling water for condensing steam generated during the rice cooking operation, detachably installed on the side wall of the rice cooker body,
The lid body is provided with a steam conduit for communicating the inside of the rice cooker body and the steam treatment tank when the lid body is closed with respect to the rice cooker body,
Provided on the upper lid of the steam treatment tank is a communication pipe for communicating the steam conduit and the inside of the tank;
One side surface of the communication pipe is located above a predetermined level of cooling water on one side surface of the communication pipe, and a through hole is provided that penetrates the communication pipe and the upper space of the steam treatment tank.
On one side of the communication pipe, when the pressure in the rice cooker body is higher than the atmospheric pressure, the through hole is closed, and when the pressure in the rice cooker body is lower than the atmospheric pressure, the check is made to open the through hole. A valve,
A rice cooker characterized in that a plurality of air holes are provided in the upper lid of the steam treatment tank for communicating outside air with the inside of the tank.   2. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein each of the vent holes is formed so that the hole diameter gradually increases from the upper surface side toward the lower surface side.   The upper lid of the steam treatment tank is provided with a vertical wall around it, and a recess is formed on the entire upper surface side, and the bottom surface of the recess is inclined so as to descend from the outer periphery toward the steam pipe receiving port. The rice cooker of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.

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