JP2013022284A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice cooker having a smaller size and including a steam separating unit with a high capability of separating steam and sticky juice.SOLUTION: The steam separating unit 30 includes: a sticky juice receiving container 40 integrally provided on the upper surface side of an inner lid and whose top is opened; a container lid 50 for covering the top opening of the sticky juice receiving container 40 openably/closably; a separating chamber 72 having an approximately cylindrical inner space to be disposed in a space formed between the sticky juice receiving container 40 and the container lid 50 when the container lid 50 is closed. In the separating chamber 72, a mixed air inlet 73 provided on one end side in the axial direction of a tube of the separating chamber 72 for making mixed air from an inner lid outlet 22 flow into the separating chamber, a steam outlet 77 provided on the other end side in the axial direction of the tube of the separating chamber 72 for making steam flow out of the separating chamber 72, and a sticky juice outlet 74 for making sticky juice flow out of the separating chamber 72 are opened.

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker, and more particularly, to a rice cooker that can suppress the spillage of rice balls produced during rice cooking.

  As a conventional rice cooker, there is a steamer unit provided on the lid of the rice cooker, and in this “steam port unit”, steam containing a tobacco that is generated from the inner pot is separated into a tonba and steam. . In this conventional rice cooker, “the steam containing the rice cake leaves the guide tube 15 and then the first upper barrier 29, the fourth upper barrier 35, the second upper barrier 32, the lower barrier 21, and the third barrier Since it collides with the upper barrier 34 and flows while meandering, the distance between the guide tube 15 and the steam port 28 is further increased, and it is more reliably separated ”(for example, see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3820541 (pages 5-6, FIG. 1)

In the thing of the said patent document 1, by providing a barrier in the space from the guide tube to the steam port and causing the steam and the meander to meander, the distance that the steam and the meander flow in the steam port unit is lengthened. The steam and rice cake could be separated more reliably.
However, in order to increase the distance through which steam and rice balls flow, it is necessary to lengthen the horizontal path and raise the barrier. If it does so, a steam port unit will enlarge. In particular, in a rice cooker that has a long boiling time at high heat to cook delicious rice, increasing the input power to the heating means will increase the amount of rice and steam generated per unit time, so steam and rice It is necessary to further increase the distance through which the steam flows, and the steam port unit is further increased in size. When the steam port unit becomes large in this way, the amount of material used increases, leading to an increase in manufacturing cost, and handling by the user also deteriorates. Moreover, the proportion of the volume occupied by the steam outlet unit with respect to the whole rice cooker also increased, and the design and design restrictions were large.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and provides a rice cooker including a steam separation unit that is smaller in size and has a high ability to separate steam and rice.

  The rice cooker according to the present invention includes a rice cooker body, an inner pot that is detachably accommodated in the rice cooker body, and a lid for covering the upper opening of the rice cooker body and discharging steam to the outside. A lid provided with an outlet, and an inner lid outlet for detachably attaching to the lower surface of the lid to cover the upper opening of the inner hook and for discharging the steam in the inner hook. An inner lid, a heating means for heating the inner pot, and a vapor separation unit for introducing a mixture of steam and rice from the inner lid outlet to the lid outlet, A container that is integrally provided on the upper surface side of the inner lid and that has an open upper surface; a container lid that covers the upper surface opening of the container receiving container so as to be openable and closable; Formed between the container and the container lid when the lid is closed. A separation chamber provided so as to be disposed in a space in which the separation chamber is provided on one end side in the cylinder axial direction of the separation chamber, and the air-fuel mixture from the inner lid discharge port is supplied to the separation chamber. A mixed air flow inlet for flowing into the separation chamber, a steam outlet provided on the other end side in the cylinder axis direction of the separation chamber, and a steam outlet for allowing the steam to flow out of the separation chamber; A gas outlet flows from the mixed gas flow inlet to the tangential direction of the inner wall surface of the separation chamber, and from the mixed gas flowing into the separation chamber, In the internal space, the beak is separated by centrifugal force, and the separated bean outflows from the bean outflow port and is guided to the beneficiary receiving container, and the steam flows out from the vapor outflow port.

  Since the rice cooker which concerns on this invention isolate | separates vapor | steam and rice cake by centrifugal force in a separation chamber, the separation performance of steam and rice cake is good. In addition, since the linear distance between the steam and the rough separation path can be made shorter than before, the steam separation unit can be miniaturized. In addition, a separation chamber is provided in a container lid provided to be openable and closable with respect to the receptacle, and the relief is guided from the outlet of the separation chamber to the receptacle. When cleaning the receiving container, the receiving container can be exposed by opening the container lid. Therefore, the receiving container can be easily cleaned if the container is dirty.

It is a section perspective view of a rice cooker concerning an embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the rice cooker which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view of the rice cooker which concerns on embodiment. It is a perspective view of the lid and inner lid of the rice cooker concerning an embodiment, and shows the state where the inner lid was removed from the lid. It is a perspective view of an inner lid and a steam separation unit concerning an embodiment. It is a perspective view of the inner lid and steam separation unit concerning an embodiment, and shows the state where a container lid was opened. It is a section perspective view of a lid concerning an embodiment, an inner lid, and a vapor separation unit. It is a principal part enlarged view of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the cover body, inner cover, and vapor separation unit which concern on embodiment. It is a principal part enlarged view of FIG. It is a principal part cross-sectional schematic diagram explaining the vapor | steam separation unit which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement which attaches the inner cover which concerns on embodiment to a cover body. It is a principal part cross-sectional schematic diagram near the vapor | steam separation unit which concerns on embodiment.

Embodiment.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the rice cooker of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

[Overall configuration of rice cooker]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a rice cooker according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the rice cooker according to the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a top view of the rice cooker according to the embodiment. In the following description, for the sake of convenience, the upward direction of the paper in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be referred to as “up” and the downward direction of the paper may be referred to as “down”.
1-3, the rice cooker 100 is provided with the rice cooker main body 1 which has an opening part in the upper part, and the cover body 10 which covers the upper opening part of the rice cooker main body 1 so that opening and closing is possible.

  The rice cooker body 1 detachably accommodates an inner pot 2 having a bottomed cylindrical shape into which water, rice and the like are placed and having an open top surface. The inner pot 2 is heated by a heating means 3 such as an electromagnetic induction coil or an electric heater so that rice in the inner pot 2 is cooked. An inner lid 20 is detachably attached to the lower surface side of the lid 10 (the lower side of the lid 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2). An annular inner lid packing 28 that is in close contact with the flange 2 a provided on the outer periphery of the upper end portion of the inner hook 2 when the lid body 10 is closed is provided on the peripheral portion of the inner lid 20.

  A pan bottom temperature sensor 8 made of, for example, a thermistor is provided inside the bottom center of the rice cooker body 1. The pan bottom temperature sensor 8 is biased upward by an elastic means such as a spring, and is configured to be in contact with the bottom surface of the inner pot 2 accommodated in the rice cooker body 1. Information regarding the temperature of the inner pot 2 detected by the pan bottom temperature sensor 8 is output to a control means (not shown).

  An operation button 5 and a display panel 6 are provided on the upper surface side of the lid 10. The operation button 5 includes an input button for instructing the start of cooking and heat retention, an input button for setting the cooking operation such as the hardness of the cooked rice and the type of rice, and an input button for setting the cooking reservation. Yes. The display panel 6 consists of a liquid crystal display panel, for example, and displays the time, the setting content by the operation button 5, the information regarding rice cooking operation | movement, etc.

The lid 10 is pivotally supported on the rice cooker body 1 by a hinge portion 17 and covers the upper opening of the rice cooker body 1 so as to be freely opened and closed.
On the upper surface of the lid body 10, a lid body outlet 16 for releasing steam generated during rice cooking to the outside of the rice cooker 100 is opened.

  The skeleton of the lid 10 is roughly a design top plate 11 constituting the uppermost surface, a lid upper surface member 12 provided on the lower side of the design top plate 11, and a lid provided on the lower side of the lid upper surface member 12. It is comprised by the cover lower surface member 13 which comprises the lower surface of the body 10. FIG. In the space provided between the design top plate 11 and the lid upper surface member 12, a control board 7 on which a circuit for controlling the operation of the operation buttons 5 and the display panel 6 is mounted is accommodated. In a space provided between the lid upper surface member 12 and the lid lower surface member 13, a lid heating means 4 made of, for example, an electric heater is provided.

[Attachment structure of the inner lid to the lid]
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the lid and the inner lid of the rice cooker according to the embodiment, and shows a state where the inner lid is removed from the lid.

  The inner lid 20 is integrally provided with a vapor separation unit 30 so as to protrude upward from the upper surface of the inner lid 20. The vapor separation unit 30 includes a rice bowl receiving container 40, a container lid 50 that covers the upper portion of the rice bowl receiving container 40, and a discharge port sealing material 60 provided on the container lid 50.

  On the lower surface of the lid lower surface member 13 of the lid body 10, an inner lid mounting recess 18 configured to be recessed toward the lid upper surface member 12 along the outer shape of the inner lid 20 is provided. An inner lid 20 is attached to the inner lid attaching recess 18. A vapor separation unit accommodating portion 14 configured to be further recessed toward the lid upper surface member 12 side is provided in a part of the inner lid mounting recess 18. In the vapor separation unit accommodating portion 14, a vapor separation unit 30 provided integrally with the inner lid 20 is detachably accommodated.

  The steam separation unit housing portion 14 has a planar shape that substantially conforms to the outer shape of the steam separation unit 30. In the present embodiment, the steam separation unit 30 having a substantially rounded rectangular planar shape and the steam separation unit accommodating portion 14 having a substantially rounded rectangular planar shape (inner peripheral planar shape) are exemplified. However, these external shapes are not limited.

  The inner lid outer frame 26 constituting the outer peripheral portion of the inner lid 20 is provided with a locking claw 27, and the lid body 10 is provided with an inner lid engaging portion 15 corresponding to the locking claw 27. Then, the inner lid 20 is attached to the lid body 10 by engaging the locking claw 27 with the inner lid engaging portion 15. Further, when the user pulls the inner lid 20 attached to the lid body 10 toward the near side, the engagement state between the locking claw 27 and the inner lid engaging portion 15 is released, and the inner lid 20 is closed. It can be removed from the body 10. In addition, the attachment structure of the inner lid with respect to the cover body 10 is not limited to the illustrated one, and any removable attachment structure can be employed.

  The lid heating means 4 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the vapor separation unit housing portion 14. That is, the lid heating means 4 is arranged at a position that does not overlap with the vapor separation unit housing portion 14 when viewed from above. In FIG. 4, a rough heating range of the lid heating means 4 provided on the lid 10 is indicated by a broken line.

  The lid 10 is kept upright to the extent illustrated in FIG. 4 in the fully opened state. The inner lid 20 can be attached to or detached from the lid body 10 in the standing state.

[Vapor separation unit]
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the inner lid and the vapor separation unit according to the embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the inner lid and the vapor separation unit according to the embodiment, showing a state where the container lid is opened.

  The steam separation unit 30 is for separating an air-fuel mixture of steam and rice generated from the inner pot 2 during rice cooking into steam and rice. The vapor separation unit 30 includes a receptacle container 40 integrally attached to the upper surface of the inner lid 20, a container lid 50 that covers the upper portion of the receptacle container, and a container lid 50 that rotates around the receptacle container 40. And a pivot shaft 80 that is pivotally supported. A separation mechanism 70 is integrally provided on the inner surface side of the container lid main body 51. The separation mechanism 70 is a mechanism for separating the mixture of steam and rice cake generated in the inner pot 2 into steam and rice cake. When the container lid 50 is closed, the separation mechanism 70 is accommodated in the receiving container 40.

  The container main body 41 of the receiving container 40 is formed in a substantially rounded rectangular shape by a bottom plate 42 and a side wall 43, and has a storage space inside. A lower surface opening 44 is opened in a part of the bottom plate 42 of the container body 41, and a concave frame 21 provided integrally with the inner lid 20 is attached to the lower surface opening 44 (see FIGS. 7 to 7 described later). (See FIG. 10). Further, a lower barrier 45 rises from the bottom plate 42, and a lower barrier general return port 46 is opened in the lower barrier 45.

  The container lid main body 51 of the container lid 50 is formed in a substantially rounded rectangular shape by a top plate 52 and a side wall 53. The container lid main body 51 has a slightly larger outer shape than the container main body 41, and can cover the upper surface opening of the container main body 41. An annular container lid packing 56 is attached to the inner peripheral edge of the container lid main body 51 on the inner surface side. The container lid packing 56 is for sealing between the receiving container 40 and the container lid 50, and is made of a material such as silicon rubber that can be elastically deformed. In a state in which the container lid 50 is closed, the upper end portion of the side wall 43 of the receptacle container 40 abuts against the container lid packing 56 to compress the container lid packing 56, and thereby the receptacle container 40 and the container lid 50. Is sealed.

  A container lid discharge port 55 is opened in the container lid main body 51, and a discharge port sealing material 60 is attached to the container lid discharge port 55. The container lid discharge port 55 is an opening for discharging the steam from the steam separation unit 30 to the outside. The container lid discharge port 55 is provided directly below the lid body discharge port 16 in a state where the vapor separation unit 30 is attached to the lid body 10.

  The discharge port sealing material 60 is a member for sealing between the container lid discharge port 55 and the lid discharge port 16, and is made of a material such as silicon rubber that can be elastically deformed. The discharge port sealing material 60 of the present embodiment includes an annular mounting portion 61 inserted into the container lid discharge port 55, an inclined portion 62 having a surface extending obliquely upward from the upper end of the mounting portion 61, and an inclined portion. A contact portion 63 that extends from the upper end of 62 to the opposite side of the inclined surface of the inclined portion 62 and contacts the lid discharge port 16 is provided. Inside the inclined portion 62, a flow path formed in a mortar shape is formed so that the cross-sectional area of the flow path becomes narrower from the lid discharge port 16 toward the container lid discharge port 55. In a state where the vapor separation unit 30 is attached to the vapor separation unit accommodating portion 14, the contact portion 63 comes into contact with the inner surface side of the lid discharge port 16, and the discharge port seal member 60 is compressed to be elastically deformed. The sealing between the container lid outlet 55 and the lid outlet 16 is ensured.

  An upper barrier 58 extending downward is provided on the inner surface side of the container lid main body 51. The upper barrier 58 is disposed downstream of the steam flow with respect to the steam separation mechanism 70.

  The receptacle container 40 is provided with a latch lock 47 having a lock mechanism, and the container lid 50 is provided with a latch engaging portion 57 for engaging the latch lock 47. By closing the container lid 50 and engaging the latch lock 47 with the latch engaging portion 57, the state in which the container lid 50 is closed is more firmly held.

Next, the arrangement relationship between the vapor separation unit 30 and the inner lid 2 will be described.
The vapor separation unit 30 is arranged at a position shifted in the radiation direction X from the center O of the inner lid 20 that is substantially circular in plan view. In the present embodiment, when the inner lid 20 is attached to the lid body 10 (see FIGS. 1 and 2), the vapor separation unit 30 is arranged in a direction in which the distance between the vapor separation unit 30 and the hinge portion 17 is shortened. doing. Further, the rotation shaft 80 that pivotally supports the receiving container 40 when the container lid 50 is located is provided on the side in the radiation direction X and far from the center of the inner lid 20 in the vapor separation unit 30. By disposing the vapor separation unit 30 at a position shifted from the center O of the inner lid 20 in the radiation X direction, the inner lid 20 can secure a wide area at a position facing the vapor separation unit 30. When attaching and detaching the inner lid 20, this large area portion can be gripped, and the handleability is good. Furthermore, by arranging the rotation shaft 80 as described above, the container lid 50 opens on the side opposite to the user's hand holding the inner lid 20. For this reason, when the container lid 50 is opened, the container lid 50 does not collide with the user's hand holding the inner lid 20, and the handleability when opening and closing the container lid 50 is good.

[Separation mechanism]
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the lid, the inner lid, and the vapor separation unit according to the embodiment, and FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. In FIG. 8, the rough flow of the air-fuel mixture, steam, and rice bowl is indicated by arrows. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the lid, the inner lid, and the vapor separation unit according to the embodiment, and FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the relevant part for explaining the vapor separation unit according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 shows a cross section in a plane orthogonal to the axial direction of the separation chamber 72.
Hereinafter, the vapor separation mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS.

The separation mechanism 70 is a mechanism for separating the mixture of steam and rice cake generated in the inner pot 2 into steam and rice cake by a centrifugal separation action.
The separation mechanism 70 is attached to the lower surface of the container lid 50 and includes a peripheral wall 71 that forms a substantially cylindrical flow path therein. As shown in FIG. 11, in the present embodiment, an arc surface 54 (concave portion) having a substantially arc-shaped cross section that is concave upward is formed on a part of the inner surface of the top plate 52 of the container lid main body 51. The space surrounded by the arc surface 54 and the inner wall of the peripheral wall 71 is substantially cylindrical. Moreover, the wall surface located in the edge part of the axial direction both sides of the surrounding wall 71 may be called the upstream wall 71a and the downstream wall 71b, respectively. A substantially cylindrical room surrounded by the arc surface 54 and the peripheral wall 71 (including the upstream wall 71a and the downstream wall 71b) is referred to as a separation chamber 72. The separation chamber 72 is a flow path through which a mixture of steam and rice is flowing. The separation chamber 72 may be configured such that a mixture of steam and rice flows while rotating along the inner wall surface thereof, and does not need to be strictly cylindrical.

A mixed air flow inlet 73 is opened at the lower portion of the peripheral wall 71. The mixed air flow inlet 73 is an opening through which the mixed gas of steam and rice generated in the inner pot 2 flows into the separation chamber 72. As shown in FIG. 11, the mixed air flow inlet 73 opens in a tangential direction when the inner wall of the separation chamber 72 configured in a substantially cylindrical shape is cut along a plane orthogonal to the axial direction.
In the present embodiment, as will be described later, an example in which the air-fuel mixture guide cylinder 23 is inserted into the air-flow mixture inlet 73 is shown. Both are configured so that the air-fuel mixture flows in the tangential direction of the inner wall of the substantially cylindrical separation chamber 72 depending on the connection position and the connection direction.
The mixed air flow inlet 73 is open to one end side of the peripheral wall 71 in the cylindrical axis direction (on the upstream wall 71a side in the present embodiment).

  At the lower end of the peripheral wall 71 and on the other end side in the cylindrical axial direction of the peripheral wall 71 (on the side opposite to the mixed air flow inlet 73), there are cases where the outlets 74a and 74b (the outlet outlet 74) are collectively referred to. ) Is provided. The rice outlet 74 is an opening through which the rice cake separated from the mixture of steam and rice in the separation chamber 72 flows out of the separation chamber 72. In the present embodiment, an example in which the two outlets 74a and 74b are provided is shown (see FIG. 6), but the number of outlets 74 is not limited. In order to be able to discharge a beef from another towel outlet 74 even if one tomb outlet 74 is blocked by a tomb, it is preferable to provide a plurality of towel outlets 74, In this case, it is preferable that the installation heights are different from each other.

  A steam outlet 77 is opened in the downstream wall 71b. The opening position of the steam outlet 77 is substantially the center of the cross section of the substantially cylindrical flow path formed in the separation chamber 72. When the vapor separated from the air-fuel mixture in the separation chamber 72 advances in the traveling direction, the vapor flows out from the vapor outlet 77 to the outside of the separation chamber 72.

  The mixed air flow inlet 73 and the vapor outlet 77 are respectively arranged at one end side and the other end side in the flow direction of the separation chamber 72 constituting a substantially cylindrical flow path. The mixed air flow inlet 73 is disposed on the upstream side in the flow direction, and the steam outlet 77 is disposed on the downstream side in the flow direction. The distance between the mixed airflow inlet 73 and the vapor outlet 77 is set in consideration of the inner diameter of the separation chamber 72 and the like so that the steam and the rice cake can be separated from the air-fuel mixture flowing in from the mixed airflow inlet 73. What is necessary is just to provide the distance between the mixed air flow inlet 73 and the vapor | steam outlet 77 so that a vapor | steam and a rice bowl can be isolate | separated from the air-fuel mixture which flowed in from the mixed air flow inlet 73, and providing at the edge part of the separation chamber 72. I don't need it.

  The steam outlet 77 is connected to a steam guide cylinder 78 extending in the outflow direction. The steam guide cylinder 78 extends to the vicinity of the steam flow upstream side of the lower barrier 45 and the upper barrier 58 in a state where the container lid 50 is closed. The length of the steam guide tube 78 is set so that bubbles generated when the steam flowing out from the steam guide tube 78 is crushed by the lower barrier 45 or the upper barrier 58 are in a positional relationship. It is good to set. Further, the end of the steam guide cylinder 78 is located upstream of the steam flow with respect to the container lid discharge port 55 provided in the container lid 50, and the steam flowing out from the end of the steam guide cylinder 78 is stored in the container. It flows out of the vapor separation unit 30 through the lid discharge port 55.

[Air-fuel mixture discharge mechanism and back return mechanism from the inner lid]
Next, a mechanism for discharging the air-fuel mixture from the inner hook and a mechanism for returning the screw into the inner hook will be described with reference to FIGS.
A mounting hole 29 is opened in the inner lid 20. A fitting frame 48 that rises on the outer periphery of the opening provided in the bottom plate 42 of the receiving container 40 is fitted into the fitting hole 29 from the upper surface side of the inner lid 20. A concave frame 21 that constitutes a part of the inner lid 20 is fitted into the mounting hole 29 from the lower surface side of the inner lid 20. Due to the structure in which the mounting frame 48 of the receptacle container 40 is fitted into the mounting hole 29 of the inner lid 20, the inner lid 20 and the receptacle container 40 are integrally configured. The structure for integrating the inner lid 20 and the receptacle 40 is not limited to this. Further, if the user asks, the receiving container 40 may be configured to be detachable from the inner lid 20 or may be configured to be detachable. However, even if the inner pot 2 becomes high pressure during cooking, the inner lid 20 is configured so that the attachment state of the receiving container 40 is maintained.

  The concave frame 21 constitutes a concave portion that becomes concave from the lower surface of the inner lid 20 toward the lower side. The concave frame 21 can temporarily store the tomb from the receiving container 40 inside.

An inner lid discharge port 22 is opened in the bottom plate of the concave frame 21. The inner lid discharge port 22 is an opening for discharging the air-fuel mixture in the inner hook 2 to the outside of the inner hook 2.
From the inner lid discharge port 22, an air-fuel mixture guide tube 23 stands up toward the upper side. The air-fuel mixture guide tube 23 is a hollow cylinder for guiding the air-fuel mixture from the inner lid discharge port 22 into the separation chamber 72 of the separation mechanism 70. The upper end portion of the air-fuel mixture guide tube 23 is inserted into the separation chamber 72 from the air mixture inlet 73. The length of insertion of the air-fuel mixture guide cylinder 23 into the separation chamber 72 is such that the air-fuel mixture flowing out from the upper end of the air-fuel mixture guide cylinder 23 is tangential to the inner wall of the substantially cylindrical separation chamber 72 (the inner wall is axially oriented). It is set so that it flows in the direction of the tangential line when it is cut at a plane perpendicular to it. As long as the air-fuel mixture can flow in the tangential direction of the inner wall of the separation chamber 72, the air-fuel mixture guide tube 23 does not necessarily have to be inserted into the separation chamber 72 and is connected to the inner periphery of the air flow inlet 73. It is good also as a structure to be. In addition, as long as the air-fuel mixture can flow in the tangential direction of the inner wall of the separation chamber 72, the opening position and opening direction of the mixed air flow inlet 73 and the connection position and connecting direction of the air-fuel mixture guide tube 23 are arbitrarily set. Can be adopted.
In the present embodiment, in the state in which the container lid 50 shown in FIG. 6 is opened, the upper end portion of the air-fuel mixture guide tube 23 is generally exposed in the container body 41 of the receiving container 40, but when the container lid 50 is closed. 7 to 10, the upper end portion of the air-fuel mixture guide tube 23 is inserted into the separation chamber 72.

Further, a return port 24 is opened in the bottom plate of the concave frame 21. The screw return port 24 is an opening that allows the inside of the concave frame 21 and the inside of the inner hook 2 to communicate with each other. An opening / closing valve 25 is attached to the return port 24 so as to be movable up and down.
The on-off valve 25 descends when the internal pressure in the inner hook 2 is low, and holds the return port 24 in an open state. Further, during cooking, that is, when the inner pressure of the inner pot 2 is high, the opening / closing valve 25 is raised by the inner pressure, and the return port 24 is closed. The on-off valve 25 is made of a material such as silicon rubber, which has heat resistance and hardly changes over time.

[Attaching the inner lid to the lid]
FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the operation of attaching the inner lid according to the embodiment to the lid. In FIG. 12, the inner lid 20 and the vapor separation unit 30 before being attached are indicated by solid lines, and the inner lid 20 and the vapor separation unit 30 after being attached are indicated by broken lines.
With reference to FIG. 4, FIG. 12, an example of the attachment operation | movement to the cover body 10 of the inner cover 20 is demonstrated.

First, the mounting operation of the inner lid 20 in a state where the container lid 50 of the vapor separation unit 30 is closed will be described.
The user holds the inner lid 20 so that the vapor separation unit 30 faces the vapor separation unit housing portion 14. Here, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 12, the inner lid engaging portion 15 is provided on the upper side of the lid body 10 in the opened state (the upper side in FIG. 4 and FIG. 12). For this reason, as shown in FIG. 12, the end of the inner lid 20 on the vapor separation unit 30 side is butted against the end of the inner lid mounting recess 18 on the hinge 17 side, and this abutted portion (hereinafter referred to as fulcrum P). The user is prompted to perform an attachment operation of rotating the inner lid 20 around the fulcrum. When the user performs such an operation, the locking claw 27 provided on the inner lid 20 is engaged with the inner lid engaging portion 15 provided on the lid body 10, and the inner lid is attached to the inner lid mounting recess 18. 20 is attached. At this time, the vapor separation unit 30 is accommodated in the vapor separation unit accommodating portion 14. Further, the discharge port sealing material 60 provided on the upper surface of the vapor separation unit 30 is in close contact with the lid discharge port 16 of the lid 10 from the inner surface side, and the sealing performance on the inner surface side of the lid discharge port 16 is ensured. .

Since the steam path connecting the container lid outlet 55 that is the outlet of the steam from the steam separation unit 30 and the lid outlet 16 of the lid 10 is constituted by the outlet sealing material 60 having a low height, it is described above. Thus, in the operation of attaching the inner lid 20 while rotating the inner lid 20 by the fulcrum P, the discharge port sealing material 60 does not hinder the rotation.
Further, since the discharge port sealing material 60 is disposed in the vicinity of the end of the inner lid 20 facing the locking claw 27, the fulcrum P when the inner lid 20 is attached while rotating the inner lid 20 is the discharge port. Located in the vicinity of the sealing material 60. Thus, since the distance between the fulcrum P and the discharge port sealing material 60 when rotating is relatively short, the sealing performance by the discharge port sealing material 60 is high. That is, if the distance between the fulcrum P and the discharge port sealing material 60 when rotating is increased, the sealing performance between the discharge port sealing material 60 and the lid body discharge port 16 may be easily deteriorated during the rotation process. By configuring as in the present embodiment, it is possible to suppress a decrease in sealing performance.

  Next, the mounting operation of the inner lid 20 in a state where the container lid 50 of the vapor separation unit 30 is opened (the state shown in FIG. 6) will be described. When the container lid 50 of the vapor separation unit 30 is in an opened state, even if the inner lid 20 is to be attached to the inner lid mounting recess 18 of the lid body 10, the opened container lid 50 hinders the steam. The separation unit 30 cannot be accommodated in the vapor separation unit accommodation portion 14. That is, the projection shape when the vapor separation unit 30 in a state where the container lid 50 is opened is viewed from the upper surface of the inner lid 20 is configured such that a part thereof protrudes from the planar shape of the vapor separation unit accommodating portion 14. Has been. As described above, the inner lid 20 cannot be attached to the lid body 10 in a state where the container lid 50 is opened, so that the inner lid 20 can be attached to the lid body 10 without forgetting to close the container lid 50. Can be prevented.

  FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an essential part in the vicinity of the vapor separation unit according to the embodiment. In FIG. 13, the crushing allowance of the container lid packing 56 that seals between the receiving container 40 and the container lid 50 is shown as a crushing margin a. Further, the distance between the lower surface of the vapor separation unit housing portion 14 and the upper end of the side wall 43 of the receiving container 40 when the inner lid 20 is normally attached to the lid body 10 is shown as a distance b. In the present embodiment, the distance b is set so that the upper end of the side wall 43 crushes the container lid packing 56 by an appropriate crushing amount a in a state where the inner lid 20 is normally attached to the lid body 10. . With this configuration, by attaching the inner lid 20 to the lid body 10, the container lid packing 56 is crushed and elastically deformed, and the sealing performance between the receiving container 40 and the container lid 50 can be ensured. . In the present embodiment, a lock mechanism (latch lock 47 and latch engagement portion 57) that holds the container lid 50 in a closed state is provided, but the container lid packing 56 can be provided without such a mechanism. By configuring the crushing allowance a to be larger than the clearance b, the tightness between the receiving container 40 and the container lid 50 can be ensured.

[Operation of steam separation unit]
Next, the effect | action of the steam separation unit 30 in the case of cooking with the rice cooker 100 which concerns on this Embodiment is demonstrated with reference to FIG. 8 and FIG.
When the user accommodates the inner pot 2 containing water and rice in the rice cooker body 1, closes the lid 10, and operates the operation button 5, the inner pot 2 is heated by the action of the heating means 3. When the water in the inner pot 2 boils, steam (air mixture) containing a rice bowl is generated. At this time, since the internal pressure of the inner hook 2 has increased, the on-off valve 25 provided at the return port 24 closes the return port 24 if it is pushed up. For this reason, the steam including the rice cake passes through the inner lid discharge port 22 and the air-fuel mixture guide tube 23 and is guided into the separation chamber 72 from the end of the air-fuel mixture guide tube 23 inserted into the air flow inlet 73.

  Steam (mixture) including a bowl coming out from the air-fuel mixture guide tube 23 flows into the separation chamber 72 from the tangential direction of the inner wall of the separation chamber 72 formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and the inner wall surface of the separation chamber 72 It flows while turning along. Steam and rice balls having different specific gravities are separated by the centrifugal force associated with the turning. The rice bowl separated in the separation chamber 72 flows downward along the inner wall of the separation chamber 72, exits the separation mechanism 70 through the mouth outlet 74, and falls into the rice receptacle 40. The bottom plate 42 of the receptacle container 40 is inclined so as to descend toward the lower surface opening 44, and the tongue in the receptacle container 40 advances from the lower surface opening 44 into the concave frame 21, and has a concave shape. It collects in the frame 21.

  On the other hand, the steam separated in the separation chamber 72 proceeds from the steam outlet 77 provided in the downstream wall 71 b of the separation chamber 72 into the steam guide tube 78 and exits from the steam guide tube 78. Here, even if the rice cake that could not be separated comes out from the steam guide tube 78 as bubbles, the lower barrier 45 and the upper barrier 58 are provided on the outlet side of the steam guide tube 78. Collapsible and collapsing, the rice cake flows through the lower barrier mesh return port 46 and flows on the bottom plate 42 of the receiving container 40 and accumulates in the concave frame 21 through the lower surface opening 44. And the vapor | steam emitted from the steam guide cylinder 78 passes the discharge port sealing material 60 attached to the container lid discharge port 55, and is discharge | released to the exterior of the rice cooker 100 from the cover body discharge port 16. FIG.

  After that, when the heating is stopped and the internal pressure of the inner hook 2 is lowered, the on-off valve 25 is lowered by its own weight and the weight of the tongue, and opens the tongue return port 24 provided on the bottom surface of the concave frame 21. As a result, the rice balls accumulated in the concave frame 21 fall into the inner pot 2 from the female return port 24. When the rice ball returns to the rice in the inner pot 2, the ingredients of the deliciousness contained in the rice ball are given to the rice, and it is possible to cook a delicious and sticky rice.

  Further, in the process of passing through the discharge port sealing material 60, the vapor may condense and form water droplets, but these water droplets are guided by the mortar-shaped inclined portion 62 of the discharge port sealing material 60 and return into the vapor separation unit 30. For this reason, it is difficult for water droplets to accumulate inside the discharge port sealing material 60. Therefore, even when the lid body 10 is opened after the completion of cooking, water droplets are unlikely to flow out from the lid body outlet 16 of the lid body 10. Further, for example, if water droplets are accumulated in the discharge port sealing material 60, the water droplets can be ejected by the momentum of the air coming out of the lid discharge port 16 when the lid 10 is closed. Since water droplets do not easily accumulate in the sealing material 60, the water droplets do not scatter from the lid discharge port 16 when the lid 10 is closed.

  A lid heating means 4 is disposed around the vapor separation unit 30. Furthermore, the top plate 52 of the container lid 50, the lid lower surface member 13, the lid upper surface member 12, and the design top plate 11 are sequentially stacked on the inside of the vapor separation unit 30. That is, the four walls of the top plate 52, the lid lower surface member 13, the lid upper surface member 12, and the design top plate 11 of the container lid 50 function as a heat insulating structure with respect to the inside of the vapor separation unit 30. The heat from the lid heating means 4 is transmitted to the inside of the vapor separation unit 30 and the four wall structures functioning as a heat insulation structure are provided so that the heat inside the vapor separation unit 30 is difficult to escape. Even later, the inside of the vapor separation unit 30 is maintained at a relatively high temperature. For this reason, the water droplet which remains in the steam separation unit 30 is easy to evaporate, and it is hard to remain in the steam separation unit 30 after rice cooking. Therefore, even when the user removes the inner lid 20 from the lid 10 for cleaning or the like, water droplets are unlikely to fall from the vapor separation unit 30, which is excellent in hygiene and easy to use.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the mixture of steam and rice is configured to flow along the inner wall surface of the substantially cylindrical separation chamber 72. Since the steam is separated from the steam, the performance of separating steam and rice balls is high. For this reason, even when heated with a high heating power or when boiling is set for a long time, the overflow of rice balls can be suppressed and delicious rice can be cooked.

  The flow path when the air-fuel mixture is separated is a swirl flow path along the inner wall surface of the substantially cylindrical separation chamber 72, and ensures a long distance with respect to the linear distance in the axial direction of the separation chamber 72. be able to. For this reason, the separation mechanism 70 can be made smaller than the one that separates the steam and the rice cake by a straight path. Thus, since the separation mechanism 70 can be reduced in size, the vapor separation unit 30 can also be reduced in size. Therefore, the volume of the steam separation unit 30 occupying the entire rice cooker 100 can be reduced, and the entire rice cooker 100 can be reduced in size and weight.

  Further, the separation mechanism 70 is provided on the container lid 50, and the receptacle separated by the separation mechanism 70 is received by the receiving container 40. For this reason, when cleaning the receptacle container 40 that is easily soiled by the rice bowl, the inside of the receptacle container 40 can be exposed by opening the container lid 50, and the cleanability is good.

  Further, the receiving container 40 is provided on the container lid 50 so as to be rotatable by the rotation shaft 80, and both are integrally formed. Since the receptacle container 40 and the container lid 50 are integrally formed, it is easy to use without forgetting to wash or forget to attach one.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rice cooker main body, 2 Inner pot, 2a Flange, 3 Heating means, 4 Cover body heating means, 5 Operation button, 6 Display panel, 7 Control board, 8 Pan bottom temperature sensor, 10 Cover body, 11 Design top plate, 12 Cover Upper surface member, 13 Lid lower surface member, 14 Steam separation unit accommodating portion, 15 Inner lid engaging portion, 16 Lid outlet, 17 Hinge portion, 18 Inner lid mounting recess, 20 Inner lid, 21 Recessed frame, 22 Inner lid discharge Outlet, 23 Air-fuel mixture guide tube, 24 Switch return port, 25 Open / close valve, 26 Inner cover outer frame, 27 Locking claw, 28 Inner cover packing, 29 Mounting hole, 30 Steam separation unit, 40 Switch container, 41 Container body, 42 Bottom plate, 43 Side wall, 44 Lower surface opening, 45 Lower barrier, 46 Lower barrier return port, 47 Latch lock, 48 Mounting frame, 50 Container lid, 51 Container lid body, 52 Top plate, 5 3 side wall, 54 arc surface, 55 container lid discharge port, 56 container lid packing, 57 latch engagement portion, 58 upper barrier, 60 discharge port sealing material, 61 mounting portion, 62 inclined portion, 63 contact portion, 70 separation mechanism , 71 peripheral wall, 71a upstream wall, 71b downstream wall, 72 separation chamber, 73 mixed air flow inlet, 74 beef outflow port, 74a, 74b bend outflow port, 77 steam outflow port, 78 steam guide tube, 80 rotating shaft, 100 rice cooker.

Claims (10)

The rice cooker body,
An inner pot detachably accommodated in the rice cooker body;
Covering the upper opening of the rice cooker body, and a lid provided with a lid outlet for discharging steam to the outside,
An inner lid that is detachably attached to the lower surface of the lid body and covers the upper opening of the inner hook, and an inner lid provided with an inner lid discharge port for discharging steam in the inner hook;
Heating means for heating the inner pot;
A vapor separation unit that guides the mixture of steam and rice from the inner lid outlet to the lid outlet;
The vapor separation unit includes:
A receptacle container provided integrally on the upper surface side of the inner lid and having an open upper surface;
A container lid that covers the top opening of the receptacle if it can be opened and closed;
A separation chamber having a substantially columnar inner space and disposed in a space formed between the container and the container lid when the container lid is closed; Prepared,
In the separation chamber,
A mixed airflow inlet provided on one end side in the cylinder axis direction of the separation chamber, and allowing the air-fuel mixture from the inner lid discharge port to flow into the separation chamber;
A steam outlet provided on the other end side in the cylinder axis direction of the separation chamber, for allowing the steam to flow out from the inside of the separation chamber;
An open outlet is provided to discharge the rice ball from the inside of the separation chamber,
The mixed gas flows from the mixed gas flow inlet in a direction tangential to the inner wall surface of the separation chamber, and the mixed gas flows into the separation chamber to separate and separate the rice cake by centrifugal force in the internal space of the separation chamber. A rice cooker, wherein a rice ball is caused to flow out of the rice ball outlet and is led to the receptacle, and steam is allowed to flow out of the vapor outlet. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the container lid is pivotally supported by the rice receiving container so as to be opened and closed. On the lower surface of the lid, a concave steam separation unit housing portion that houses at least a part of the steam separation unit is provided.
The rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the steam separation unit is accommodated in the steam separation unit accommodating portion when the inner lid is attached to a lower surface of the lid. The planar shape of the inner periphery of the vapor separation unit accommodating portion is such that the vapor separation unit is not accommodated in the vapor separation unit accommodating portion in a state in which the container lid pivotally supported by the generally receiving container is open. The rice cooker according to claim 3, which is dependent on claim 2. An elastic sealing material that seals between the container and the container lid;
In a state where the steam separation unit is attached to the steam separation unit housing portion, the positional relationship between the wall surface of the steam separation unit housing portion and the steam separation unit is set so as to squash the elastic sealing material by an appropriate squashing allowance. The rice cooker according to claim 3, which is dependent on claim 3 or claim 3. The container is arranged at a position shifted in the radial direction from the center of the inner lid that is substantially circular in plan view,
Dependent on claim 2 or claim 2, wherein a shaft support portion is provided on the side far from the center of the inner lid in the radiation direction to pivotally support the container lid to the generally receiving receptacle. The rice cooker according to any one of claims 3 to 5. The container lid is formed with a container lid outlet that guides the vapor emitted from the vapor outlet of the separation chamber to the outside of the container lid,
The rice cooker as described in any one of Claims 1-6 provided with the discharge port sealing material which seals between the said container lid discharge port and the said cover body discharge port. The discharge port sealing material is
The rice cooker according to claim 7, further comprising a flow channel formed in a mortar shape so that a cross-sectional area of the flow channel is narrowed from the lid discharge port toward the container lid discharge port. The separation chamber is
It is divided and formed by the concave shape part which dented the upper wall inner surface of the said container lid toward upper direction, and the surrounding wall which comprises this concave shape part and comprises a substantially cylindrical internal space. The rice cooker as described in any one of Claims 1-8. Provided with a lid heating means disposed on the outer peripheral side of the vapor separation unit as viewed from above, provided on the lid;
The lid is
A lid lower surface member;
A lid upper surface member disposed above the lid lower surface member;
A design top plate that is arranged above the lid upper surface member and that constitutes the outer surface of the lid,
The lid lower surface member, the lid upper surface member, and a design top plate are arranged in order from the bottom above the container lid of the vapor separation unit. A rice cooker according to one item.