JP2010264089A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice cooker having an abnormality detecting function for detecting an abnormality during the rice boiling, capable of preventing erroneous determination of abnormal rice boiling while rice boiling is normal, and capable of boiling rice always deliciously. <P>SOLUTION: The rice cooker includes a control means 3 for boiling rice in a prescribed sequence according to the amount of rice determined based on the time from when a pot temperature detecting means 4 for detecting the temperature of a pot 1 detects a first prescribed temperature till a lid temperature detecting means 5 for detecting the temperature of a lid 19 detects a second prescribed temperature lower than the first prescribed temperature; and an abnormal rice boiling determining means 6 for determining abnormal rice boiling when the lid temperature detecting means 5 detects the second prescribed temperature before the pot temperature detecting means 4 detects the first prescribed temperature. The control means 3 is configured to change the time of a pre-boiling step for having rice absorb water longer than a regular time set in the prescribed sequence when continued rice boiling is determined, and therefore, wrong determination as abnormal rice boiling while rice is normally boiled can be prevented, and the rice can be boiled always deliciously. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker having an abnormality detection function for detecting an abnormality during rice cooking.

  Currently, most rice cookers are equipped with an abnormality detection function to prevent an unsafe state when something abnormal occurs during cooking. One of the abnormalities is when rice is cooked in a state in which foreign matter enters between the pan and the sensor that detects the temperature of the pan (hereinafter referred to as sensor foreign matter rice cooking).

  Usually, the temperature of the lid rises due to the steam generated in the pan. Therefore, the temperature of the lid should not be seen in the pre-cooking process where the water temperature is maintained at around 50 ° C. for a certain period of time immediately after the start of cooking, and the rice absorbs water, and should be almost the same as room temperature. There is no detection.

  Therefore, in the conventional rice cooker, until the pan temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the pan detects the first predetermined temperature, the lid temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the lid detects the second predetermined temperature. The amount of cooked rice is determined according to time, and when the lid temperature detecting means detects the second predetermined temperature before the pan temperature detecting means detects the first predetermined temperature, it is determined that the sensor foreign substance rice cooking is performed. When such an abnormality is detected, by skipping or stopping the rice cooking process, the resin parts of the rice cooker main body are melted, and an abnormality such as the rice in the pan becomes darkened is prevented (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

JP 7-177967 A

  However, in the conventional configuration, although it is not abnormal rice cooking, in the case of rice cooking with a short time from the end of the previous rice cooking which is one of the user's usage to the start of the next rice cooking (hereinafter, continuous rice cooking), the temperature of the pan The rice is cooled with water and rice, but rice cooking is started with the lid temperature not sufficiently lowered. In this case, even if the pre-cooking process is performed, the temperature of the lid is not yet sufficiently lowered, and in this state, the process proceeds to a cooking process in which heating is performed at a stretch with high heating power. Regardless, it was determined that the rice was abnormally cooked, and there was a problem that rice with sufficient taste could not be cooked.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described conventional problems, and to prevent a misjudgment as abnormal rice cooking despite being normal rice cooking, and to provide a rice cooker that can always cook delicious rice. To do.

In order to solve the conventional problem, the rice cooker of the present invention has a second predetermined temperature lower than the first predetermined temperature after the lid temperature detecting unit detects the first predetermined temperature. Control means for determining the amount of rice cooked according to the time until detection and controlling the pan heating means according to the determined rice cooking amount to cook rice in a predetermined sequence, and before the pan temperature detecting means detects the first predetermined temperature If the lid temperature detection means detects the second predetermined temperature, the abnormal cooking rice determination means determines that it is abnormal rice cooking, and if the control means determines that it is continuous rice cooking, the rice cooking process of making the rice absorb water In this configuration, the time is changed longer than the normal time set in a predetermined sequence.

  By changing the time of the pre-cooking process to make the rice absorb water depending on the conditions at the time of rice cooking, this prevents incorrect cooking as abnormal rice cooking even though it is normal rice cooking during continuous rice cooking. Yes, you can always cook delicious rice.

  Although the rice cooker of this invention is normal rice cooking, it can prevent misjudging with abnormal rice cooking, and can always cook rice with good taste.

The block diagram of the rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention. Sectional drawing of the rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the operation display part at the time of the normal rice cooking start of the rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The time chart of the rice cooking process at the time of normal rice cooking of the rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention (A) is the time chart of the rice cooking process at the time of the continuous rice cooking of the conventional rice cooker (b) is the time chart of the rice cooking process at the time of the continuous rice cooking of the rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the display operation part at the time of the continuous rice cooking start of the rice cooker in Embodiment 2 of this invention.

  1st invention is detachably accommodated in the rice cooker main body, the pan which puts rice and water, the lid | cover which opens and closes the upper part of the said rice cooker main body, the pan heating means which heats the said pan, A pan temperature detecting means for detecting temperature, a lid temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the lid, and the lid temperature detecting means detecting the first predetermined temperature after the pan temperature detecting means detects the first predetermined temperature. Control means for determining the amount of rice cooked by the time until the second predetermined temperature lower than the temperature is detected, and controlling the pan heating means according to the determined rice cooking amount to cook rice in a predetermined sequence, and the pan temperature detection An abnormal rice cooking determining means for determining that the lid temperature detecting means detects an abnormal rice cooking when the lid temperature detecting means detects the second predetermined temperature before the means detects the first predetermined temperature, and the control means comprises continuous rice cooking If it is determined that it is By configuring the cooking process time to be longer than the normal time set in the predetermined sequence, it is possible to prevent erroneous cooking as abnormal rice cooking even though it is normal rice cooking in the case of continuous rice cooking. Can always cook delicious rice.

  In the second invention, in particular, the control means of the first invention is configured to determine whether or not continuous cooking is based on the temperature of the lid detected by the lid temperature detection means, so that continuous cooking is easily determined. In the case of continuous rice cooking, it can be prevented from being erroneously determined as abnormal rice cooking, and rice with good taste can always be cooked.

  According to a third aspect of the invention, in particular, the control means of the second aspect of the invention is continuous rice cooking when the lid temperature detection means detects a temperature equal to or higher than a third predetermined temperature lower than the first predetermined temperature within a certain time from the start of the rice cooking operation. By determining that there is, it is possible to accurately determine continuous rice cooking, to prevent erroneous determination as abnormal rice cooking in the case of continuous rice cooking, and to always cook good-tasting rice .

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in particular, any one of the first to third aspects of the invention includes a display unit that performs a display operation, and the control unit displays the fact when the pre-cooking time is changed longer than usual. By configuring the display means so as to prevent misjudging as abnormal rice cooking, always cook good-tasting rice, and when the time of the pre-cooking process becomes long, the user You can avoid worrying and getting confused by the longer cooking time than usual.

  5th invention is equipped with the alerting | reporting means which performs alerting | reporting operation | movement especially in any one invention of 1st-4th, and a control means alert | reports that when changing the time of a pre-cooking process longer than usual. By configuring so as to control the notification means to prevent misjudging as abnormal rice cooking, always cook good-tasting rice, and when the time of the pre-cooking process has become longer, You can avoid worrying and getting confused by the longer cooking time than usual.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a rice cooker according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the rice cooker according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rice cooker body 16 has a protective frame 17 for storing the pot 1 therein, and the pot 1 for putting rice and water is detachably stored in the protective frame 17. Yes. The pan 1 is made of a magnetic material such as stainless steel or iron. The heating coil 15 heats the pan 1 and is composed of an inner coil 13 disposed outside the bottom surface of the protective frame 17 and an outer coil 14 disposed on the outer periphery thereof, and is configured on the control board 18. Together with the inverter 12 that supplies a high-frequency current to the heating coil 15, the pan heating means 2 is configured. The heating coil 15 generates an alternating magnetic field by the high-frequency current supplied by the inverter 12 and induction-heats the pan 1 with this alternating magnetic field.

  The lid 19 covers the upper portion of the rice cooker body 16 so as to be openable and closable, and is provided with lid temperature detecting means 5 for detecting the temperature of the lid 19. The pan temperature detecting means 4 is press-fitted to the bottom of the pan 1 so as to detect the temperature of the pan 1.

  The output of the pan temperature detection means 4 and the output of the lid temperature detection means 5 are input to the abnormal rice cooking determination means 6, and the abnormal rice cooking determination means 6 has the first predetermined temperature (for example, 80 ° C.). If the lid temperature detecting means detects a second predetermined temperature (for example, 70 ° C.) before detecting the error, it is determined that the rice is abnormally cooked. The control means 3 is constituted by the microcomputer 9 together with the abnormal rice cooking determination means 6, and the lid temperature detection means 4 detects the first predetermined temperature (80 ° C.) and then the lid temperature detection means detects the second predetermined temperature (70). The amount of cooked rice is determined according to the time until it is detected, and the pan heating means 2 is controlled according to the determined amount of cooked rice to cook rice in a predetermined sequence.

  FIG. 3 represents an operation display unit at the start of normal rice cooking of the rice cooker according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The display means 7 comprises an LCD 25 and displays and informs rice cooking information such as the selected course and the remaining rice cooking time, and is controlled by the control means 3.

  The notification means 6 is constituted by a buzzer (not shown), and notifies the input acceptance of each key, the end of cooking rice, the occurrence of abnormality, and the like, and is controlled by the control means 3. The display means 7 and the notification means 8 will be described later.

Here, when the lid temperature detection means 5 detects the third predetermined temperature (for example, 70 ° C.) or more at the start of the rice cooking operation, the control means 3 determines that it is continuous rice cooking and determines that it is continuous rice cooking. In this case, the time for the pre-cooking process for allowing the rice to absorb water is changed to be longer than usual.

  In the above configuration, first, the operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a time chart of the rice cooking process at the time of normal rice cooking of the rice cooker in the first embodiment of the present invention, the solid line in FIG. 4 shows the pan temperature detected by the pan temperature detecting means 4, and the dotted line is The lid temperature detected by the lid temperature detecting means 5 is shown.

  When the pan 1 containing rice and water is stored in the rice cooker body 16 and the operation is started, as shown in FIG. 4, a cooking process including a pre-cooking process, a smoothing process, a determination process, and a boiling maintenance process, Each process of the unevenness process is performed sequentially.

  First, in the pre-cooking process, the pot heating means 2 is energized with a strong heating power until the temperature of the pot 1 detected by the pot temperature detecting means 4 reaches a predetermined temperature θ3 (for example, 55 ° C.). After the temperature of the pan 1 reaches the predetermined temperature θ3 (55 ° C.), the heating rate is reduced by lowering the energization rate of the pan heating means 2, and the temperature of the pan 1 is maintained at the predetermined temperature θ3 (55 ° C.). On / off control is performed for a predetermined time Tm (for example, 20 minutes after the temperature of the pan 1 reaches a predetermined temperature θ3 (55 ° C.)). The gelatinization of rice begins at about 55 ° C. or higher, but the rice can be hydrated in a relatively short time by immersing the rice in water at a water temperature just below the lower limit at which this gelatinization begins.

  When the pre-cooking process is finished, the leveling process constituting the cooking process is started. In the break-in process, the control means 3 raises the energization rate of the pot heating means 2 in order to make a transition to boiling at a stretch with a strong heating power. The temperature of the lid 19 does not increase so much until the pre-cooking step, as indicated by the dotted line. However, when the energization rate of the pot heating means 2 is increased and heated with high heating power in the leveling process, the pot 1 boils and steam is generated, and the temperature of the lid 19 rises due to the heat of the steam.

  In the determination step, the lid temperature detected by the lid temperature detecting means after the pan temperature detected by the pan temperature detecting means 4 reaches the first predetermined temperature θ1 (80 ° C.) is the second predetermined temperature θ2 (70). As shown in Table 1, the amount of cooked rice in the pan 1 is determined by the determination time T until it reaches [° C.].

  Then, the process proceeds to the boiling maintenance step, the heating output is adjusted according to the amount of cooked rice, and when the predetermined temperature θ4 (for example, 120 ° C.) is reached, the unevenness step is started, and the rice cooking operation is terminated after the set time.

Next, operation | movement is demonstrated, referring FIG. 5 about the case of continuous rice cooking. In addition, since operation | movement other than the operation | movement which determines with it being abnormal rice cooking by the abnormal rice determination means 6 is the same as the operation | movement at the time of the said normal rice cooking, description is abbreviate | omitted. Fig.5 (a) is a time chart of the rice cooking process at the time of the continuous rice cooking of the conventional rice cooker, FIG.5 (b) is a time chart of the rice cooking process at the time of the continuous rice cooking of the rice cooker in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. Yes, the solid line in FIG. 5 indicates the pan temperature detected by the pan temperature detecting means 4, and the dotted line indicates the lid temperature detected by the lid temperature detecting means 5.

  When performing continuous rice cooking in which the time from the end of the previous rice cooking to the start of the next rice cooking is short, the temperature of the pan 1 is cooled by water and rice as shown in FIG. Will start cooking rice in a state that does not fall sufficiently. In this case, even if the pre-cooking process is performed, the temperature of the lid is not yet sufficiently lowered. For this reason, if it is made to perform the rice cooking operation | movement similar to the time of normal rice cooking, time t2 in the leveling process before time t1 when the pan temperature detection means 4 detects 1st predetermined temperature (theta) 1 (80 degreeC). Since the lid temperature detecting means 5 detects the second predetermined temperature θ2 (70 ° C.), it is determined as abnormal rice cooking.

  For this reason, in this Embodiment, the control means 3 will determine with it being continuous rice cooking, if the cover temperature detection means 5 detects 3rd predetermined temperature (70 degreeC) or more at the time of rice cooking operation start, and it is continuous rice cooking. When it determines with, as shown in FIG.5 (b), time Tm (20 minutes) of a pre-cooking process is changed into Tm1 (25 minutes) longer than Tm. Thus, the time t3 when the lid temperature detecting means 5 detects the second predetermined temperature θ2 (70 ° C.) is before the time t1 when the pan temperature detecting means 4 detects the first predetermined temperature θ1 (80 ° C.). Therefore, it is possible to prevent the abnormal rice cooking determination means 6 from determining that it is abnormal rice cooking.

  As mentioned above, in this Embodiment, when it determines with the control means 3 being continuous rice cooking, it changes time Tm (20 minutes) of a pre-cooking process to Tm1 (25 minutes) longer than Tm. Since it comprised, in the case of continuous rice cooking, although it is normal rice cooking, it can prevent misjudging with abnormal rice cooking, and can always cook rice with good taste.

  Moreover, since the control means 3 has determined that it is continuous cooking when the cover temperature detection means 5 detects more than 3rd predetermined temperature (70 degreeC) at the time of rice cooking operation start, it determines continuous rice cooking correctly. In the case of continuous cooking, it is possible to prevent misjudgment as abnormal cooking, and it is possible to always cook delicious rice.

  In addition, in this Embodiment, although the control means 3 is made to determine that it is continuous rice cooking when the cover temperature detection means 5 detects more than 3rd predetermined temperature (70 degreeC) at the time of rice cooking operation | movement, If the lid temperature detecting means 5 detects the third predetermined temperature (70 ° C.) or higher within a certain time from the start of the operation, it may be determined that the rice is continuously cooked, and similar effects can be obtained.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the third predetermined temperature (70 ° C.) and the second predetermined temperature θ 2 (70 ° C.) are the same value, but if they are lower than the first predetermined temperature θ 1 (80 ° C.), they are different values. It does not matter.

(Embodiment 2)
The control means 3 shown in FIG. 1 is configured to control the display means 7 so as to display that when the pre-cooking time is changed longer than usual. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  The operation in the above configuration will be described. In addition, since it is the same as the operation | movement at the time of normal rice cooking in the said Embodiment 1, except the operation | movement when changing the time of a pre-cooking process longer than usual, description is abbreviate | omitted.

When the lid temperature detection means 5 detects the third predetermined temperature (70 ° C.) or higher at the start of the rice cooking operation, it is determined to be continuous rice cooking, and when it is determined to be continuous rice cooking, as shown in FIG. The time Tm (20 minutes) of the pre-cooking process is changed to Tm1 (25 minutes) longer than Tm.

  At this time, if the display 25 is the same as that during normal cooking on the LCD 25, or if the remaining cooking time is simply changed and displayed, the user is less likely to notice that the cooking time has become longer than usual. , I am worried about not being able to cook at the usual time and get confused.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the pre-cooking process time is changed longer than usual, the control unit 3 displays the character “pre-cooking extension” on the LCD 25 as shown in FIG. 7 is controlled. Thus, the user can surely recognize that the cooking time is longer than usual.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the control means 3 is configured to control the display means 7 so as to display that when the pre-cooking process time is changed longer than usual, the abnormality is abnormal. Prevents misjudgment as rice cooking, always cooks good-tasting rice, and when the pre-cooking process time becomes longer, the user feels anxious or puzzled because the cooking time is longer than usual Can be eliminated.

  In this embodiment, the character “preparation for cooking” is displayed, but it may be another character or an icon that is intuitively understandable by the user. In addition, the display method is not limited to the present embodiment as long as it is easily understood by the user, such as lighting or blinking.

(Embodiment 3)
The control means 3 shown in FIG. 1 is configured to control the notification means 8 so as to notify that when the pre-cooking time is changed longer than usual. Other configurations are the same as those of the second embodiment.

  The operation in the above configuration will be described. In addition, since it is the same as the operation | movement at the time of normal rice cooking in the said Embodiment 1, except the operation | movement when changing the time of a pre-cooking process longer than usual, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  When the lid temperature detection means 5 detects the third predetermined temperature (70 ° C.) or higher at the start of the rice cooking operation, it is determined to be continuous rice cooking, and when it is determined to be continuous rice cooking, as shown in FIG. The time Tm (20 minutes) of the pre-cooking process is changed to Tm1 (25 minutes) longer than Tm.

  At this time, if the display 25 is the same as that during normal cooking on the LCD 25, or if the remaining cooking time is simply changed and displayed, the user is less likely to notice that the cooking time has become longer than usual. , I am worried about not being able to cook at the usual time and get confused.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the pre-cooking process time is changed longer than usual, the control unit 3 displays the character “pre-cooking extension” on the LCD 25 as shown in FIG. 7 and a buzzer as the notification means 8 so as to notify the fact. By this, the user can recognize more reliably that rice cooking time becomes longer than usual.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the control means 3 is configured to control the notification means 8 so as to notify that when the time of the pre-cooking process is changed to be longer than usual, the abnormality is abnormal. Prevents misjudgment as rice cooking, always cooks good-tasting rice, and when the pre-cooking process time becomes longer, the user feels anxious or puzzled because the cooking time is longer than usual Can be eliminated.

  In this embodiment, the buzzer is used as the notification means. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a melody sound or the like may be used. You may be able to register.

  As described above, the rice cooker according to the present invention can prevent misjudgment as abnormal rice cooking despite being normal rice cooking, and can always cook delicious rice, so continuous cooking. It can also be applied to various uses such as a cooking device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pan 2 Pan heating means 3 Control means 4 Pan temperature detection means 5 Lid temperature detection means 6 Abnormal rice cooking determination means 16 Rice cooker main body 19 Lid

Claims (5)

A pan in which rice and water are detachably stored in the rice cooker body, a lid that covers the top of the rice cooker body so as to be opened and closed, a pan heating means for heating the pan, and a pan for detecting the temperature of the pan A temperature detecting means; a lid temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the lid; and a second temperature lower than the first predetermined temperature after the lid temperature detecting means detects the first predetermined temperature. The rice cooking amount is determined according to the time until the predetermined temperature is detected, and the control means for controlling the pan heating means according to the determined rice cooking amount to cook the rice in a predetermined sequence, and the pan temperature detecting means is the first Before detecting the predetermined temperature, the lid temperature detecting means detects abnormal rice cooking when the second predetermined temperature is detected, and the control means determines that it is continuous rice cooking. In case of pre-cooking process to make rice absorb water Configuration the rice cooker to modify longer than usual time set in the predetermined sequence between. 2. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the control means is configured to determine whether or not it is continuous rice cooking based on the temperature of the lid detected by the lid temperature detection means. 3. The control unit according to claim 2, wherein the control unit determines that the rice cooking is continuous cooking when the lid temperature detection unit detects a temperature equal to or higher than a third predetermined temperature lower than the first predetermined temperature within a certain time from the start of the rice cooking operation. rice cooker. The display means which performs a display operation is provided, and the control means is configured to control the display means so as to display that when the pre-cooking time is changed longer than usual. Item 1. Rice cooker. Any one of Claims 1-4 provided with the alerting | reporting means which performs alerting | reporting operation | movement, and the control means controls the alerting | reporting means to alert | report so when changing the time of a pre-cooking process longer than usual. Item 1. Rice cooker.

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