JP2012000267A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice cooker for warming in a warming operation pattern suitable for an actual usage by a user.SOLUTION: The rice cooker includes a memory part 10 for storing a time range from starting to warm until stopping. Based on the first to the last warming performance time information stored in the memory part 10, the warming operation pattern is determined selected from at least two levels of warming operation patters of: low temperature warming for a long time; and warming at higher temperature than the warming operation pattern at low temperature. Then, by warming based on a determined pattern, it is possible to grasp the actual state of user utilization based on the information of which the warming time is daily stored and to warm with the warming operation pattern for the actual state of respective user utilization.

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker having a heat retaining function.

  Conventionally, this type of rice cooker keeps the temperature at a low temperature (for example, 55 to 70 ° C.) lower than the normal temperature, thereby suppressing yellowing of rice, generation of off-flavor, and taste deterioration, while maintaining the normal temperature. There are things that can repeatedly sterilize germs generated by lowering the temperature by raising the temperature to a higher high temperature temperature (for example, 75 ° C. to 95 ° C.) every predetermined time, and can also eat delicious rice during the temperature maintenance (for example, Patent Document 1).

  In addition, there is a type in which a user can select a low temperature heat retention mode in which heat is maintained at a low temperature heat retention temperature and a high temperature heat insulation mode in which heat retention is performed at a high temperature heat retention temperature (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-298983 Japanese Patent No. 3239349

  However, the conventional configuration has a problem that the heat retention temperature, which is one of the factors of taste, is low during the heat retention at a low temperature heat retention temperature lower than the normal heat retention temperature, and the taste is deteriorated.

  Some measures have the function of heating the temperature of the cooked rice to the temperature of freshly cooked rice, but it is necessary to perform the operation before each meal and before the temperature rise from the operation is completed. There was a problem of taking time.

  In addition, there is a possibility that a heat retention mode that is not suitable for the actual use situation may be selected, such as a user selecting a high temperature heat insulation that quickly deteriorates the taste of cooked rice despite the heat retention for a long time. There was a problem.

  This invention solves the said conventional subject, and it aims at providing the rice cooker which can be heat-retained with the heat retention operation | movement pattern suitable for a user's actual use condition.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the rice cooker of the present invention is a rice pot that is stored inside the rice cooker body, puts rice and water, a heating unit that heats the pan, and a time measuring unit that measures time, An operation pattern storage unit for storing a rice cooking operation pattern and a heat retention operation pattern, an operation stop input unit for instructing to stop the heat retention operation, and a time from when the heat retention is started until the heat retention is stopped by the operation stop input unit Based on the cooking temperature or the warming operation pattern stored in the operation pattern storage unit, the time measured by the temperature measurement unit, the time measured by the time measuring unit, and the time measured by the timekeeping unit. A control unit that controls the operation, and the operation pattern storage unit is a low-temperature warming operation pattern suitable for long-time warming and a high-temperature warming operation that keeps the temperature higher than the low-temperature warming operation pattern. It has at least two levels of warming operation patterns of patterns, and the control unit is stored in the operation pattern storage unit based on the previous warming execution time information stored in the warming execution time storage unit A heat retention operation pattern to be used is determined from the heat retention operation pattern.

  As a result, it is possible to grasp the user's actual usage from the daily warming time record information, and to keep warm with a warming operation pattern suitable for the actual usage.

  The rice cooker of the present invention can keep warm with a warming operation pattern suitable for the user's actual use, and provides cooked rice with reduced taste deterioration at the user's desired timing without taking time and effort to the user. be able to.

The block diagram of the rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the rice cooker in Embodiment 2 of this invention. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the rice cooker in Embodiment 3 of this invention. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the rice cooker in Embodiment 4 of this invention.

  1st invention is stored in the inside of the rice cooker main body, the pot which puts rice and water, the lid | cover which covers the said pan, the heating part which heats the said pan, the pan temperature detection part which detects the temperature of the said pan, Timekeeping unit for measuring time, operation pattern storage unit for storing rice cooking operation pattern and heat insulation operation pattern, rice cooking start input unit for instructing user to start rice cooking operation, and heat insulation start for user instructing start of heat insulation operation An input unit, an operation stop input unit for instructing to stop the heat retention operation, a heat retention execution time storage unit for storing time from when the heat retention is started until the heat retention is stopped by the operation stop input unit, and the pan A controller for controlling the operation of rice cooking or heat retention based on the detected temperature of the temperature detection unit, the time measured by the timekeeping unit, and the rice cooking or heat retention operation pattern stored in the operation pattern storage unit, The pattern storage unit has at least two levels of a heat retention operation pattern, a low temperature heat retention operation pattern suitable for long-term heat retention, and a high temperature heat retention operation pattern that retains a temperature higher than the low temperature heat retention operation pattern, Based on the previous warming time information stored in the warming time storage unit, the warming time is determined by determining the warming operation pattern to be used from the warming operation pattern stored in the motion pattern memory. Since it is possible to grasp the user's actual usage from the previous warming time information recorded in the storage unit and select the thermal operation pattern based on the actual usage, the thermal operation suitable for the user's actual usage It is possible to keep warm with a pattern, and the degradation of the taste is reduced at the user's desired timing without taking time and effort to the user. It is possible to provide a cooked rice.

  In the second aspect of the invention, in particular, the control unit of the first aspect of the heat retention time information stored in the heat retention time storage unit has a heat retention time not less than a predetermined time within the most recent predetermined number of times. If there is no record, the high temperature heat insulation operation pattern is performed. If there is a record of the heat insulation performance time of a predetermined time or more, the low temperature heat insulation operation pattern is performed, so that the heat insulation is performed for a long time from the daily heat insulation performance time information. For users who are more likely to perform, a low-temperature warming operation pattern suitable for long-term warming is implemented, and for users who are likely to warm for a short time, the warming temperature is higher than the low-temperature warming and tastes for short-term warming However, it is possible to keep warm with a warm keeping pattern suitable for the actual use of the user.

  According to a third aspect of the invention, in particular, the heat insulation execution time storage unit of the first invention records heat insulation execution time information for each day of the week, and the control unit is stored in the heat insulation execution time storage unit for each day of the week. If there is no record of the warming time for a predetermined time or more within the latest predetermined number of times, the high temperature warming operation pattern is performed, and the warming time is recorded for a predetermined time or more. If there is a case, the user can perform the low-temperature warming operation pattern, for example, the warmth on weekdays is long, but the warmth on weekends is short. It is possible to keep warm with a warming operation pattern suitable for the actual use condition.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in particular, the heat retention time storage unit according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention is maintained by the heat retention start input unit until a predetermined time elapses after the heat retention is stopped by the operation stop input unit. When the start input is made, by not recording the heat insulation execution time, if the heat insulation is canceled due to an erroneous operation, or if the heat insulation is temporarily stopped to move the rice cooker, the heat insulation is really stopped. Since it is possible to exclude cases that are not translated, it becomes possible to grasp the user's actual usage more accurately, and it is possible to more accurately keep the temperature in a warming operation pattern suitable for the user's actual usage.

  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: shows the block diagram of the rice cooker in the 1st Embodiment of this invention.

  In FIG. 1, a pan 1 is accommodated inside a rice cooker body 101 and is a container for containing cooked food such as cooked rice, and its upper surface is covered by a lid 2 installed on the top of the rice cooker body 101.

  The heating unit 3 is for heating the pan 1 and is composed of a heating coil and an inverter (both not shown).

  The pan temperature detection unit 4 is a sensor that detects the temperature of the pan 1, and the detected temperature is sent to the control unit 11 (microcomputer).

  The timer 5 is for measuring time and is built in the controller 11. Based on the temperature of the pan 1 detected by the pan temperature detecting unit 4, the time measured by the time measuring unit 5, and the rice cooking or heat retaining operation pattern stored in the operation pattern storage unit 6, the control unit 11. Is controlled, and cooked rice or cooked food such as cooked rice stored in the pan 1 is heated.

  The operation pattern storage unit 6 stores in advance at least two levels of heat retention operation patterns, namely, a low temperature heat retention operation pattern suitable for long-term heat retention and a high temperature heat retention operation pattern that retains a temperature higher than the low temperature heat retention operation pattern. Therefore, it is built in the control unit 11.

  In the present embodiment, in the low temperature heat retention operation pattern, in order to prevent deterioration of the heat retention state such as yellowing (brown) change and a unique odor coming out, the heat retention temperature is set within a range of 66 to 70 ° C., In the high temperature heat insulation operation pattern, the heat insulation temperature is set within a range of 70 to 74 ° C. in order to prevent the risk of rice spoilage due to spoilage bacteria such as Bacillus stearothermophilus.

  The rice cooking start input unit 7 is a switch for the user to input an instruction to start the rice cooking operation to the control unit 11, and the heat retention start input unit 8 is a switch for the user to input an instruction to start the warming operation to the control unit 11 It is.

  The operation stop input unit 9 is a switch for the user to input an instruction to stop the rice cooking or heat retaining operation to the control unit 11.

  The heat retention time storage unit 10 is for storing the time from when the heat retention is started until the operation is stopped by the operation stop input unit 9 (heat retention time), and is built in the control unit 11. The control unit 11 determines a heat retention operation pattern to be used based on the heat retention execution time recorded in the heat retention execution time storage unit 10.

  About the rice cooker comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement is demonstrated below using the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S1, the control part 11 confirms the presence or absence of the rice cooking start command input by the rice cooking start input part 7 from a user, and if there exists an input, it will progress to step S2, and if there is no input, it will be in step S1 until there is an input. stand by.

  In step S2, the control part 11 is based on the temperature of the pan 1 which the pan temperature detection part 4 detected, the time which the time measuring part 5 timed, and the rice cooking operation pattern memorize | stored in the operation pattern memory | storage part. 3 is controlled, rice cooking such as cooked rice accommodated in the pan 1 is cooked, and rice cooking control in step S2 is continued until completion of rice cooking is detected in step S3.

  When the completion of rice cooking is detected in step S3, the process proceeds to step S4, and in step S4, the control unit 11 determines a warming operation pattern based on the previous warming time information stored in the warming time storage unit 10. Then, the process proceeds to step S5.

  In the present embodiment, the low temperature warming operation pattern is selected if the previous warming time is 10 hours or longer, and the high temperature warming operation pattern is selected if it is less than 10 hours.

  In step S5, the control unit 11 starts counting the heat retention time, and proceeds to step S6. In step S6, the control unit 11 measures the temperature of the pan 1 detected by the pan temperature detection unit 4 and the time measuring unit 5. Based on the time and the heat retention operation pattern determined in step S4, the heating unit 3 is controlled to heat the cooked food such as cooked rice stored in the pan 1, and the process proceeds to step S7.

  In step S7, the control unit 11 confirms whether or not a heat retention stop command is input by the operation stop input unit 9 from the user. If there is an input, the process proceeds to step S8, and if there is no input, the heat control is performed in step S6 until there is an input. Continue.

  In step S8, the controller 11 stops the heat retention control and proceeds to step S9. In step S9, the controller 11 stops counting the heat retention time and proceeds to step S10.

  In step S10, the control unit 11 records the heat retention time in the heat retention time storage unit 10 and ends a series of operations from cooking to heat retention.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the previous time stored in the warming time storage unit 10 is provided with the warming time storage unit 10 that stores the time from when warming is started until the warming is stopped. Based on the warming operation time information up to, the warming operation from at least two levels of warming operation pattern, low temperature warming operation pattern suitable for long time warming and high temperature warming operation pattern that keeps the temperature higher than the low temperature warming operation pattern By configuring the pattern so as to perform heat retention, the user's actual usage is grasped from the heat retention time information recorded in the heat retention time storage unit until the previous time. It is possible to keep warm with a warming operation pattern suitable for the user's actual use, such as using a low-temperature warming operation pattern suitable for long-time heat retention. Without imposing, at a desired timing of the user, it is possible to provide a cooked rice deterioration of taste is reduced.

  In addition, in this Embodiment, although demonstrated using the operation | movement in case it transfers to heat insulation operation | movement automatically after the rice cooking operation | movement completion, rice cooking is performed with other rice cookers etc., and the rice cooker of this Embodiment only for heat insulation. In the case of using, the same effect can be obtained if the operation is started from step S4 of FIG. 2 when the heat retention is started by the heat retention start input unit 8.

  In addition, when the rice cooker of the present embodiment is used for the first time after purchase, there is no stored warming time information in the warming time storage unit 10, so a low temperature warming operation pattern that can support long-time warming The initial setting is to select.

  In the present embodiment, the heat retention operation pattern includes a low temperature heat retention operation pattern in which the heat retention temperature is set in the range of 66 to 70 ° C and a high temperature heat retention operation pattern in which the heat retention temperature is set in the range of 70 to 74 ° C. Although it was set to 2 levels, the heat retention operation pattern was set to 3 levels: a normal heat retention operation pattern of 70 to 74 ° C, a low temperature heat retention operation pattern of 55 to 70 ° C, and a high temperature heat retention operation pattern of 75 to 95 ° C, In step S4, two threshold values may be set for the previous warming time information stored in the warming time storage unit 10, and the warming operation pattern may be selected according to the threshold values.

  For example, if the previous heat retention time is less than 2 hours, the normal heat retention operation pattern is selected, if it is 10 hours or more, the low temperature heat retention operation pattern is selected, and if it is 2 hours or more and less than 10 hours, the high temperature heat retention operation pattern is selected. May be.

  Moreover, it is good also as what changes the combination of a heat retention operation pattern. For example, if the previous warming execution time is less than 10 hours, the high temperature warming operation pattern may be selected, and if it is 10 hours or longer, the high temperature warming operation pattern is continued for 10 hours, and then the low temperature warming operation pattern may be selected. .

(Embodiment 2)
In FIG. 1, the control unit 11 performs a high-temperature warming operation pattern when the warming time information stored in the warming time storage unit 10 does not record the warming time more than a predetermined time within the latest predetermined number of times. When there is a record of the heat retention time longer than a predetermined time, a low temperature heat retention operation pattern is performed. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  About the rice cooker comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below using the flowchart of FIG. The operation from step S1 to step S10 is the same as the operation of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted. The operation from step S11 to step S13 will be described.

  In FIG. 3, when the completion of rice cooking is detected in step S3, the process proceeds to step S11. In step S11, the control unit 11 checks the heat insulation execution time information stored in the heat insulation execution time storage unit 10, and the latest predetermined If there is a record of the heat retention time for a predetermined time or more within the number of times, it is determined that there is a possibility of long-time heat retention, and a low-temperature heat retention operation pattern suitable for long-time heat retention is selected in step S13. Proceed to step S5.

  In the present embodiment, the low temperature warming operation pattern is selected if the warming performance time within the latest three times is 10 hours or longer even once.

  On the other hand, in step S11, if there is no record of the heat retention time over a predetermined time within the most recent predetermined number of times, it is determined that there is a low possibility of performing heat retention for a long time, and in step S12, hot rice is always hot. A high temperature heat retention operation pattern capable of eating is selected and the process proceeds to step S5.

  In the present embodiment, the high temperature heat retention operation pattern is selected if the heat retention times within the latest three times are all less than 10 hours.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the control unit 11 records the heat retention time over a predetermined time within the latest predetermined number of times of the heat retention time information stored in the heat retention time storage unit 10. If there is not, the high temperature insulation operation pattern is implemented, and if there is a record of the insulation operation time for a predetermined time or more, the low temperature insulation operation pattern is configured to implement the daily insulation operation time information. For users who are likely to keep warm for a long time, a low temperature warming operation pattern suitable for keeping warm for a long time is implemented. Since it is possible to keep warm with a high temperature warming operation pattern with a high warming temperature and good taste, it is possible to keep warm with a warming motion pattern suitable for the actual use of the user.

(Embodiment 3)
In FIG. 1, the heat retention time storage unit 10 records the heat retention time information for each day of the week, and the control unit 11 includes the heat retention time information for each day of the week stored in the heat retention time storage unit 10. If there is no record of the warming duration over the predetermined time within the predetermined number of times on the day of the week, perform the high temperature warming operation pattern, and if there is a record of the warming duration over the predetermined time, display the low temperature warming operation pattern. It is configured to implement. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  About the rice cooker comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below using the flowchart of FIG. The operation from step S1 to step S9 is the same as the operation in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof will be omitted. The operation from step S21 to step S23 and step S24 will be described.

  In FIG. 4, in step S <b> 24 performed after the heat insulation is completed, the control unit 11 records the current heat insulation execution time in the heat insulation execution time information storage area for the corresponding day of the week in the heat insulation execution time storage unit 10.

  When the completion of rice cooking is detected in step S3, the process proceeds to step S21, and in step S21, the control unit 11 performs the heat insulation for the corresponding day in the heat insulation execution time information for each day of the week stored in the heat insulation execution time storage unit 10. Check the execution time information, and if there is a record of the heat retention execution time of the predetermined time or more within the most recent predetermined number of times, it is determined that there is a possibility of long-term heat retention, and suitable for long-time heat retention in step S23 The low temperature heat retention operation pattern is selected and the process proceeds to step S5.

  In the present embodiment, the low temperature warming operation pattern is selected if the warming execution time within the latest three times of the corresponding day is 10 hours or more even once.

  On the other hand, in step S21, if there is no record of the heat retention time longer than the predetermined time within the most recent predetermined number of times, it is determined that the possibility of performing the heat retention for a long time is low, and the hot rice is always in step S22. A high temperature heat retention operation pattern capable of eating is selected, and the process proceeds to step S5.

  In the present embodiment, the high temperature heat retention operation pattern is selected if the heat retention times within the last three times of the corresponding day are all less than 10 hours.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the heat insulation execution time storage unit 10 records the heat insulation execution time information for each day of the week, and the control unit 11 stores the information for each day of the week stored in the heat insulation execution time storage unit 10. If there is no record of the warming duration more than the predetermined time within the predetermined number of times on the day of the week, among the warming duration information, the high temperature warming operation pattern was performed, and the warming duration was recorded for the predetermined time or longer. Even if the actual usage is different for each day of the week, for example, the warming time on weekdays is long, but the warming time on weekends is short, etc. It is possible to keep warm with a warming operation pattern suitable for the actual use condition.

(Embodiment 4)
In FIG. 1, the heat retention execution time storage unit 10 does not record the heat retention execution time when the heat retention start input unit 8 performs a heat retention start input until a predetermined time elapses after the heat retention is stopped by the operation stop input unit 9. It is configured as follows. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  About the rice cooker comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below using the flowchart of FIG. The operation from step S1 to step S10 is the same as the operation of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof will be omitted. The operation from step S31 to step S32 will be described.

  In FIG. 5, in step S <b> 31 performed after stopping the heat retention, the control unit 11 confirms whether or not a heat retention start command is input by the heat retention start input unit 8 from the user, and if there is an input, returns to step S <b> 6 and performs the heat retention control. If there is no input, the process proceeds to step S32. In step S32, the control unit 11 confirms whether a predetermined time has elapsed since stopping the heat retention in step S8. If the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S9 and step S10, and the heat retention execution time storage unit 10 If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S31, and it is confirmed again whether there is a warming start command from the user.

  In this embodiment, in step S32, if 10 minutes have passed since the heat retention was stopped in step S8, the heat retention time storage unit 10 stores the heat retention in step S8 from the end of cooking in step S3. When the operation is completed after 10 minutes have elapsed, the process returns to step S31, and it is confirmed again whether there is a warming start command from the user (10 minutes have elapsed). Wait until).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the heat retention time storage unit 10 receives a heat retention start input by the heat retention start input unit 8 until a predetermined time elapses after the heat retention is stopped by the operation stop input unit 9. In such a case, it is configured not to record the heat insulation execution time, so if the heat insulation is canceled by mistake or if the heat insulation is temporarily stopped to move the rice cooker, the heat insulation is actually stopped. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately grasp the actual usage of the user, and it is possible to more accurately maintain the warming operation pattern suitable for the actual usage of the user.

  As described above, the rice cooker according to the present invention can grasp the user's actual usage from the record of the thermal insulation execution time, and can perform appropriate thermal insulation according to the actual usage. It can also be applied to other cooking appliances that have

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pan 2 Lid 3 Heating part 4 Pan temperature detection part 5 Timekeeping part 6 Operation pattern memory | storage part 7 Rice cooking start input part 8 Thermal insulation start input part 9 Operation stop input part 10 Thermal insulation execution time memory | storage part 11 Control part 101 Rice cooker main body

Claims (4)

A pot for storing rice and water stored inside the rice cooker body,
A lid covering the pan;
A heating unit for heating the pan;
A pan temperature detector for detecting the temperature of the pan;
A timekeeping unit for measuring time;
An operation pattern storage unit for storing a rice cooking operation pattern and a heat retention operation pattern;
A rice cooking start input unit in which the user instructs the start of the rice cooking operation;
A heat retention start input unit for the user to instruct the start of the heat retention operation;
An operation stop input section for instructing to stop the heat insulation operation;
A heat retention time storage unit for storing a time from when the heat retention is started until the heat retention is stopped by the operation stop input unit;
Based on the temperature detected by the pan temperature detection unit, the time measured by the timekeeping unit, and the rice cooking or heat retention operation pattern stored in the operation pattern storage unit, the controller for controlling the operation of rice cooking or heat retention,
The operation pattern storage unit has at least two levels of heat retention operation patterns: a low temperature heat retention operation pattern suitable for long-term heat retention and a high temperature heat retention operation pattern that retains a temperature higher than the low temperature heat retention operation pattern,
The control unit is based on the warming time information stored in the warming time storage unit until the previous time,
The rice cooker characterized by determining a heat retention operation pattern to be used from the heat retention operation pattern stored in the operation pattern storage unit. The control unit performs the high-temperature warming operation pattern when the warming time information stored in the warming time storage unit does not record the warming time more than a predetermined time within the most recent predetermined number of times. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein when the temperature retention time is recorded for a predetermined time or longer, the low temperature temperature retention operation pattern is performed. The heat insulation execution time storage unit records heat insulation execution time information for each day of the week, and the control unit stores, for each day of the week, the latest heat insulation execution time information stored in the heat insulation execution time storage unit for each day of the week. When there is no record of the heat retention time for a predetermined time within a predetermined number of times, the high temperature heat retention operation pattern is performed, and when the heat retention time for a predetermined time is recorded, the low temperature heat retention operation pattern is performed. The rice cooker according to claim 1. The heat retention execution time storage unit does not record the heat retention execution time when a heat retention start input by the heat retention start input unit is performed by a predetermined time after the heat retention is stopped by the operation stop input unit. The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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