JP2015134259A - Pressure type electric rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve rice cooking with energy conservation and less amount of water in a pressure type electric rice cooker.SOLUTION: A pressure type electric rice cooker is equipped with a pressure adjustment mechanism which adjusts to a plurality of pressures of a medium pressure that is higher than an ordinary pressure and a high pressure that is higher than the medium pressure and control means which controls to operate the pressure adjustment mechanism. The pressure type electric rice cooker has processes of water absorption, a rise of a temperature, maintaining of boiling, and steaming for a rice cooking process and has an energy conservation and steaming reduction course in which a pressure is increased compared to the pressure in a standard rice cooking course for attaining efficient rice cooking, and steaming is reduced by reducing the amount of water compared to the standard rice cooking course for the rice cooking course. When the energy conservation and steaming reduction course is selected, the pressure type electric rice cooker controls to keep a high pressure state in the first half of the steaming process and to steam by using residual heat in the process of maintaining of boiling without heating by inner pan heating means in the high pressure state. In the second half of the steaming process, the pressure is reduced to the ordinary pressure for removing excess moisture.

Description

  The present invention relates to a pressure-type electric rice cooker that is heated by an electric heating means such as a heater or an electromagnetic induction heating means so that rice can be cooked under a high pressure of a predetermined value or more.

  A pressure-type electric rice cooker that can cook rice under a high pressure equal to or higher than a predetermined value has already been known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Such a pressure-type electric rice cooker generally includes a pressure adjustment mechanism having a pressure regulating valve that maintains the pressure in the inner pot at a predetermined pressure on the lid side, and a microcomputer type that controls the operation of the pressure adjustment mechanism on the main body or lid side. Equipped with control means. Therefore, when the pressure regulating valve of the pressure regulating mechanism is closed, efficient rice cooking can be performed in a state where a predetermined high pressure exceeding the normal pressure is maintained by adjusting the pressure by the pressure regulating valve, the rice cooking time is shortened, and water absorption is performed. Even if the dipping process is omitted or shortened, there is an advantage that delicious rice with no core can be cooked.

  On the other hand, when the pressure regulating valve of the pressure regulating mechanism is open, the inside of the inner pot is opened to the atmosphere, so that the pressure regulating mechanism does not function and normal rice cooking can be performed.

  On the other hand, in the recent trend of energy saving and steam saving of electric products, such a pressure type electric rice cooker also requires energy saving and steam saving performance.

  Under such circumstances, in the pressure-type electric rice cooker, setting of an “eco-cooking” course in which the amount of heating and the amount of water to be used is reduced as much as possible while taking advantage of the characteristics thereof is being studied.

  As in the case of an electric rice cooker equipped with a general energy saving mode (for example, Patent Document 2), energy saving is achieved by reducing the heating amount and heating time, and steam saving can be achieved by reducing the amount of water used. .

Japanese Patent No. 4602938 JP 2010-12110 A

  However, in the case of the “eco-cooking” course, in order to reduce the amount of heating and the amount of water, it is difficult to cook the rice as it is from the lower side to the upper side in the inner pot.

  In particular, due to the demand for steam saving, when the amount of water is suppressed, there is a problem that when the amount of water is small, the upper rice tends to dry up, the surface is indented, hard, and small.

The invention of this application was made in order to solve such a problem, and as a rice cooking course, the pressure is higher than that of the standard rice cooking course to achieve efficient rice cooking, and more than the standard rice cooking course. Has an energy-saving / steam-saving course designed to save steam by reducing the amount of water. When the energy-saving / steam-saving course is selected, the first half of the unevenness process is controlled to a high pressure state, Whilst using the residual heat from the upper boiling boiling maintenance process without heating by the inner pot heating means, the latter part of the steaming process is reduced to atmospheric pressure so that excess moisture can be blown off. An object of the present invention is to provide a pressure type electric rice cooker that can cook delicious plump rice.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured with the following problem solving means.
(1) Invention of Claim 1 The pressure-type electric rice cooker of the present invention comprises an inner pot, a rice cooker main body having an inner pot accommodating port and inner pot heating means for accommodating the inner pot, and the above-mentioned rice cooker main body. A lid provided on the upper part of the inner pot accommodating opening so as to be openable and closable, sealing means provided on the lid for sealing the opening of the inner pot when the lid is closed, and the lid A pressure type comprising a pressure adjusting mechanism that adjusts to a plurality of pressures, an intermediate pressure that is higher than normal pressure and a high pressure that is higher than the intermediate pressure, and a control means that controls the operation of the pressure adjusting mechanism. a rice cooker, a cooking process, the water absorption, as well as have the steps of steaming-heating-boiling maintain and, as a cooking course, efficient and higher pressure than the standard cooking courses While cooking rice, less water than standard rice cooking course Have a energy and steam course to reduce the beam of, when the energy and steam course is selected, controls the high pressure in the first half of the steaming step, the heating by the inner bowl heating means at the same high pressure while the cook by steam using waste heat line Ukoto without upper respiratory boiling hold step, in the second half the steaming process is characterized in that so as to skip the excess water is lowered to normal pressure.

As described above, in the present invention, the pressure adjustment function inherent to the pressure-type electric rice cooker is utilized, and as the rice cooking course, the pressure is higher than that of the standard rice cooking course to achieve efficient rice cooking, and the standard rice cooking It has an energy-saving and steam-saving course that reduces steam and saves steam compared to the course.

And in the first half of the unevenness process, it is controlled to a high pressure state to reduce steam as much as possible, and by using the residual heat accumulated in the boiling maintenance process so far, it is possible to unevenly spread as much as possible. Reduce the amount of heating and save energy. On the other hand, in the latter half of the unevenness process, the pressure is lowered to normal pressure so that excess water can be efficiently blown away.

As a result, energy-saving and steam-saving efficient unevenness control becomes possible, and even with a small amount of heating and a small amount of water, plump and delicious rice can be cooked.

  As a result of the above, according to the present invention, with a small amount of water, steaming and delicious steamed rice is cooked from the bottom to the top while effectively promoting the alpha conversion of beta starch in the rice with energy saving and steam saving. Can be raised.

It is a top view of the front-back direction of a main body which shows the whole structure of the pressure type electric rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is sectional drawing (AA of FIG. 1) of the front-back direction of a main body which shows the structure of the electric rice cooker. It is sectional drawing (BB of FIG. 1) of the main body left-right direction of the electric rice cooker. It is a perspective view of the lower-plate upper surface side which shows the structure in the lid body of the electric rice cooker. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the spherical valve part for pressure adjustment provided in the inner cover upper surface part of the electric rice cooker. The perspective view which shows the structure (correspondence relationship) of two sets of pressure regulation mechanisms which consist of the solenoid valve fixed to the lower plate | board side corresponding to the spherical valve for pressure regulation provided in the inner cover upper surface part of the electric rice cooker. It is. The top view which shows the structure (correspondence relationship) of two sets of pressure regulation mechanisms which consist of the solenoid valve fixed to the lower-plate side corresponding to the spherical valve for pressure regulation provided in the inner cover upper surface part of the electric rice cooker. It is. It is an expanded sectional view by the side of the pressure adjustment mechanism 1 of the electric rice cooker (DD of FIG. 7). It is an expanded sectional view (CC of FIG. 7) by the side of the pressure adjustment mechanism 2 of the electric rice cooker. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the eco-cooking rice cooking control of the same electric rice cooker. It is a time chart which shows the content of the eco-cooking rice cooking control of the same electric rice cooker. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the rice cooking control of the electric rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a time chart which shows the contents of the rice cooking control of the electric rice cooker. It is a time chart which shows the content of the white rice cooking control of the electric rice cooker.

(Embodiment 1)
1-11 has shown the structure of the rice cooker of the pressure type electric rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention, and the content of the rice cooking control sequence.

<Composition of rice cooker body and main parts>
First, the electric rice cooker is made of, for example, a magnetic metal plate capable of electromagnetic induction as an inner pot, while the bottom of the inner pot via a synthetic resin inner case as a heating means during rice cooking. A work coil corresponding to the entire circumference of the central part side and the side part side of the inner pot bottom wall part is provided so as to wrap the entire wall part, and the inner pot side wall is used as a heating means during heat insulation. Two sets of pressure adjustment mechanisms (first) to adjust the pressure at the time of rice cooking to three levels of normal pressure, medium pressure, and high pressure , High pressure adjusting mechanism) 1, 2, and the like. And by these, three rice pressure states of a high pressure state, an intermediate pressure state, and a normal pressure state are properly used properly according to a rice cooking stage, and can implement | achieve an appropriate rice cooking function.

  That is, the rice cooker body 1 of the electric rice cooker has, for example, an inner pot made of a magnetic metal plate such as a stainless steel plate capable of self-heating by an eddy current induced therein, as shown in FIGS. A rice cooker 3, a synthetic resin bottomed cylindrical inner case (protective frame) 4 formed so that the inner pot 3 can be arbitrarily set, and an outer casing for holding the inner case 4. A cylindrical outer case 1a and a dish-shaped bottom case 1b, and an outer case 1a, a dish-shaped bottom case 1b, and the inner case 4 are provided so as to be openable and closable at the upper part of the rice cooker body. The lid body 2 is formed.

  A coil base 7 is provided below the bottom wall portion (bottom portion) 4a of the inner case 4, and the upper portion of the inner pot 3 is interposed via a ferrite core as shown in FIGS. Corresponding to both positions of the center side flat surface and the side side rounded surface R of the bottom wall portion 3a, the first and first coils are concentrically wound at a small pitch such that the litz wires contact each other. Two sets of work coils L1, L2 are provided so as to wrap the entire bottom wall portion 3a of the inner pot 3 with a predetermined interval between them, and the inner pot 3 is energized when energized. An eddy current is induced and the whole is heated substantially uniformly.

  The first and second work coils L1 and L2 are connected to each other in series, for example, as a continuous work coil unit, one end of which is connected to a power supply line via a rectifier circuit and a smoothing circuit, and the other end is connected to the power coil. Each is connected to a collector of an IGBT (power transistor) (not shown). These circuits and IGBTs are provided on a power source and a control board 6A described later of the rice cooker body 1.

  The inner case side wall 4b above the second work coil L2 is provided with a heat retaining heater (not shown) that functions as a heating means at the time of heat retention, and the inner pot 3 at the time of rice cooking and heat retention. The entire circumference of the side wall 3b is effectively and uniformly heated.

  The outer case 1a is formed of, for example, a cylindrical cover member in the vertical direction formed of a synthetic resin material, and a synthetic resin shoulder member 5 is coupled to the upper end portion of the cover member. The outer peripheral edge of the opening of the vessel body 1 is formed. Further, the bottom case 1b made of synthetic resin is coupled to the lower end portion of the cover member, and a heat insulation and ventilation space portion having a predetermined width is formed between the bottom wall portion 4a of the inner case 4 and the inner case 4. Yes.

  A center sensor storage space that is concentrically penetrated in the vertical direction is formed at the center of the coil base 7 below the inner case 4 and is moved up and down in the center sensor storage space. A center sensor is provided that includes a temperature sensor 8 that detects the temperature of the inner pot in a free state and constantly biased upward by a coil spring.

  Each of the outer case 1a, the bottom case 1b, the inner case 4, and the shoulder member 5 has a sufficiently reinforced structure in consideration of the characteristics of a pressure rice cooker that cooks rice in a high-pressure state.

  On the other hand, reference numeral 2 denotes a lid, and the lid 2 is composed of a synthetic resin upper plate 21 constituting the upper outer peripheral surface thereof, and the same synthetic resin provided on the inner side (lower side) of the upper plate 21. A metal heat radiating plate 23 having a lower plate 22 made of metal and a lid heater (not shown) superposed and fixed on the inner side (lower side) of the main body portion of the lower plate 22 via a first packing 25 made of rubber. And a metal inner cover 24 that is provided below the heat radiating plate 23 and has a second rubber packing 14 attached to the outer peripheral edge 24a thereof via a synthetic resin detachable frame member 27. And is formed from. In order to increase the pressure resistance strength, the rear end outer periphery 22a of the lower plate 22 main body portion serving as the center is locked to the hinge mechanism 12 side, and the upper surface of the main body portion of the lower plate 22 is The entire lid unit 2 is formed into a high-strength structure by providing a metal reinforcing plate 20a having a predetermined thickness, a metal reinforcing plate 20a having a predetermined structure, and a large number of reinforcing ribs on the left and right and front and rear.

  That is, the lower plate 22 has an intermediate portion of the outer periphery 22a on the rear end side of the main body portion bent upward in the shape of a U, houses the hinge mechanism 12 on the inner side, and has a lowering portion on the outer peripheral end side. 22 b covers the back of the hinge mechanism 12.

  Further, a connecting portion 22c is provided on the rear end side outer periphery 22a of the lower plate 22 and is connected to the hinge mechanism 12 that is positioned below the U-shaped portion and extends in a crank shape. The connecting portion 22c with the hinge mechanism 12 is bent toward the main body side shoulder member 5 and faces the stepped portion 5b surface of the rice cooker main body side shoulder member 5.

  And each part 22b, 22c part of these lower-plate 22 rear-end part outer peripheral side 22a is made into an attachment bracket, The said cover body 2 is the rear-end side of the rice cooker main body 1 upper part which consists of the said outer case 1a and the inner case 4. It is rotatably attached to the shoulder member 5 forming the opening via a hinge mechanism 12, and its open end side (front end side) is engaged with a predetermined position of the lid 2. Thus, a lock and unlock mechanism 13 for opening and closing the lid 2 in the vertical direction is provided.

  Moreover, in the substantially center part of the said cover body 2, while collect | recovering a viscous component, only a vapor | steam escapes outside and the pressure in the inner pot 3 is normal pressure and medium pressure (1st pressure) according to a rice cooking process. The first and second pressure regulating units 26A and 26B are provided to adjust in three stages of high pressure (second pressure).

  The first and second sets of pressure regulating units 26A and 26B are provided with first and second sets of steam escape passages 40, 40a to 40c, 40, 40a that detour from the inner pot 3 toward the outside. To 40c and two sets of pressure adjusting mechanisms 1 and 2 provided in the first and second steam escape passages 40, 40a to 40c, 40 and 40a to 40c. The two sets of pressure adjusting mechanisms 1 and 2 include the inner cover 24 of each of the first and second steam escape passages 40, 40a to 40c, and 40, 40a to 40c, the steam inlet 40 of the radiator plate 23, For example, as shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 9, first and second spherical valves B1 (large) and B2 (small) having different weights and sizes are provided. The pressure regulation pressure is set in the above three stages by opening and closing the steam escape passage by the first and second spherical valves B1 and B2.

  The first and second spherical valves B1 and B2 are electrically selected and controlled by the first and second electromagnetic solenoids (electromagnetic plungers) ES1 and ES2 as described below. .

  The first spherical valve (large) B1 of the pressure adjusting mechanism 1 can be adjusted to about 1.2 to 1.4 atm (hereinafter referred to as high pressure) by its own weight. The second spherical valve body (small) B2 can be adjusted to about 1.03 to 1.1 atm (hereinafter referred to as medium pressure) by its own weight.

  That is, the pressure adjustment mechanism 1 is in a state where the spherical valve B1 is seated on the upper part (concave groove) of the valve seat V1 in the valve casing C1 provided in the middle (upstream part) of the first steam escape passages 40, 40a to 40c ( The electromagnetic solenoid ES1 is configured to be driven and controlled in two states: a passage closed state) and a state escaped from the same upper portion (passage open state). When the first electromagnetic solenoid ES1 is turned ON, While the high-pressure spherical valve B1 is placed on the valve seat V1 having the steam vent hole H1, when the solenoid ES1 is turned OFF, the slider R1 connected to the first electromagnetic solenoid ES1 moves the spherical valve B1 through the packing P1. It pushes in a substantially horizontal direction and operates so that the spherical valve B1 is detached from the steam vent hole H1 of the valve seat V1 (see arrows a and b in FIG. 8).

  On the other hand, the pressure adjusting mechanism 2 includes a second electromagnetic solenoid ES2, an operating rod R2, an angled pusher rod R3 slid by the operating rod R2, and a spherical valve that is pushed downward by the pusher rod R3. It consists of a pusher R4 that presses B2, a packing P2 on the outer periphery of the pusher, and a spring SP that urges the pusher rod R3 in a downward direction. Moves in the direction approaching the solenoid ES2 in the horizontal direction, and the pusher R4 slides downward in the vertical direction by the action of the rotation axis X of the pusher rod R3 and the spring SP, and a spherical valve for about 1.05 atm through the packing P2. B2 is pressed against the steam vent hole H2 of the valve seat V2. A load is applied in the direction.

  When the second electromagnetic solenoid ES2 is turned OFF, the pusher rod R3 is moved away from the solenoid ES2, and the pusher R4 slides vertically upward about the rotation axis X of the pusher rod R3. The spherical valve B2 for 05 atm will block the vapor vent hole H2 only by its own weight (see arrows a, b, c and d in FIG. 9).

  When the second electromagnetic solenoid ES2 of the pressure adjusting mechanism 2 is turned on, the load when the pusher R4 presses the ball valve B2 for medium pressure toward the steam vent hole H2 via the packing P2 is Since the pressure is set to a load that can be increased to about 1.2 to 1.4 atm, when the second electromagnetic solenoid ES2 is ON, the intermediate pressure spherical valve B2 is the pressure in the inner pan 3. Therefore, the pressure that actually acts in the inner pot 3 is about 1.2 atm.

  By combining these two pressure adjusting mechanisms 1 and 2, it is possible to realize three pressure controls of medium pressure and high pressure including normal pressure as follows.

(1) Pressure adjustment mechanism 1: OFF, pressure adjustment mechanism 2: OFF to normal pressure (2) Pressure adjustment mechanism 1: ON, pressure adjustment mechanism 2: OFF to medium pressure (3) Pressure adjustment mechanism 1: ON, pressure adjustment mechanism 2: ON → high pressure In addition, in the steam escape passages 40, 40a to 40c, a boiling sensor (steam sensor) VS is provided separately from the pressure adjustment mechanism.

  Further, the outer peripheral side of the heat radiating plate 23 is bent at a substantially right angle to the upper side and is formed into a cylindrical wall, and a part (intermediate) of the cylindrical wall is overlapped flatly to be outside in the radial direction. A convex portion is formed in the direction, and a base portion of the first packing 25 made of rubber is fitted into the convex portion.

  The tip of the first packing 25 is in contact with the upper end of the outer peripheral edge 24a of the inner cover 24 described below.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the outer peripheral edge 24 a of the inner cover 24 is bent in a crank shape and extends horizontally from the upper and lower cylindrical walls and the upper end of the cylindrical wall outward in the radial direction. A flange portion is formed.

  And the 2nd rubber-made packing 14 is attached using the corner space between the said cylindrical wall and a flange part, as shown in FIG. The second packing 14 is fixed in such a manner that the base portion having a hook-shaped cross section is engaged with the base portion having an H-shaped cross section of the fixing frame member 27 made of synthetic resin, and extends downward from the base portion. The portion is fitted so as to be parallel to the cylindrical wall portion of the inner cover 24.

  And from the lower end of the said cylindrical wall part, the horizontal part of the predetermined | prescribed width further extended in radial direction outward is provided, and the flange of the outer peripheral edge of the opening part of the inner pot 3 mentioned later is provided in the outer peripheral end of this horizontal part. Two sets of seal pieces 14e, which are a first seal piece that comes into contact with the upper surface of the portion 3c and a second seal piece that comes into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the neck portion of the opening of the inner pot 3, are integrally provided.

  And the 2nd packing 14 of such a structure is engaged with the inner side of the outer peripheral side crank-shaped edge 24a of the said inner cover 24 through the base part of the frame member 27 mentioned above, and the handle piece part of the outer periphery. By fixing, it is fixed as shown.

  On the other hand, in the center of the front part of the upper plate 21 of the lid 2, an opening for operation panel fitting that constitutes the operation part and display part of the rice cooker, and the middle plate 20 part on the lower side, A concave groove portion for fitting the operation panel is formed, and an outer peripheral surface continuous with the outer peripheral surface of the upper plate 21 is formed in the opening and the concave groove portion, for example, an operation panel made of a transparent ABS resin (nameplate) ) 9 is fitted and covered.

  The operation panel 9 includes a substrate having a predetermined depth and a liquid crystal panel storage box on the back side of the panel portion, and a second electric substrate (a microcomputer substrate) including a microcomputer as a control means for the pressure adjusting mechanisms 1 and 2. ) 6B and the liquid crystal panel are fitted and housed in the opening of the upper plate 21 and the recessed groove of the middle plate 20. And in the central part, it has a transparent window corresponding to the display surface of the liquid crystal panel 21, and around the transparent window, a rice cooking reservation switch SW1, a rice cooking switch SW2, a heat retention switch SW3, a cancel switch SW4, Various operation keys are provided for menu switch SW5, rice selection switch SW6, clock and timer time hour / minute setting switch SW7 for specifying a rice cooking menu (for example, white rice, quick cooking, rice cake, rice porridge, brown rice and other course menus). (See FIG. 1).

  On the other hand, the shoulder member 5 forming the periphery of the opening of the rice cooker body is engaged with the upper end of the side wall 4b of the inner case 4 on the inner peripheral wall 5c side from the inner peripheral side to the outer peripheral side. The engagement convex portion provided between the inner pot support portion having an inverted U-shaped cross section forming the stepped portion 5b and the outer peripheral wall 5a of the inner pot support portion having an inverted U-shaped cross section is formed on the outer surface. It consists of a shoulder frame portion having an inverted U-shaped cross section that engages with the upper end of the case 1a, and is constructed by continuously integrating them.

  Further, the rear side of the outer case 1a made of synthetic resin is molded in a substantially H shape in plan view (not shown), and as shown in FIG. 1, the rear part between the left and right side walls parallel to the front-rear direction. A partition wall 61 is provided that extends from side to side. The front end of the side wall portion of the outer case cover 1c having a substantially U-shape in plan view is fitted (engaged) from the rear side to the left and right ends of the partition wall 61.

  Between the partition wall 61 of the outer case 1a and the inner case 4, an electrical component storage space having a high sealing property is formed so as to be partitioned from the inner case 4 side. In this electrical component storage space, there are provided a first rectifier including a IGBT, a heater driving circuit, a diode bridge for power supply voltage rectification, a smoothing circuit, and the like for driving and controlling the work coils C1, C2, a heat retaining heater and the like. An electric board (control board) 6A and an electric board cover (control board cover) 62 holding the first electric board 6A are provided in an upright direction.

  On the first electric board 6A, there are provided heat-generating parts such as IGBTs and other necessary parts, and the above-described first side on the lid 2 side through a flexible flat cable which is a connection wiring. Two electric boards (microcomputer boards) 6B are connected.

  The electric board cover 62 is detachably attached to the partition wall 61 on the outer case 1a side, for example, and the lower side of the inner case 4 on the lower side is the first and second lower side. A blower fan 29 is provided for flowing cooling air to the work coil C1 and C2 portions and the heat dissipating fin portions of the heat sink 19 of the first electric board 6A.

  The blower fan 29 includes an axial flow fan in a blow passage in a short cylindrical fan casing that is open in the vertical direction, and a blown air diversion duct to the bottom side of the inner case 4a. It is configured. Reference numeral 29a denotes an air inlet on the bottom case side.

<Rice cooking control sequence>
As already mentioned, in the case of a pressure rice cooker that cooks rice by increasing the pressure in the inner pot 3 during the rice cooking process, in the boiling maintenance process, by applying a slightly higher pressure, Moisture and heat penetrate into the inside of the rice to promote starch gelatinization and improve the taste of rice in a relatively short time (a control sequence for basic white rice cooking control is shown in FIG. 14).

  However, in recent years, such pressure-type electric rice cookers are also required to save energy and save steam, and “Eco-cooking”, which is a rice cooking course corresponding to that, has been reduced from the bottom to the top to reduce the amount of heat and water. It is difficult to cook plump and delicious rice.

  In particular, since the amount of water is suppressed, there is a problem that when the amount of water is small, the upper rice tends to dry, the surface is recessed, and it becomes hard and small.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, a high pressure that is considerably higher than the normal pressure and a medium pressure that is relatively higher than the normal pressure are selectively used as necessary, and by performing the following rice cooking control, The problem is solved (the basic sequence in FIG. 14 is changed to that in FIG. 11).

  (1) In the first half of the boiling maintenance process, the high pressure state is maintained and the so-called “stirring” for releasing the pressure is not performed, thereby preventing steam saving and lowering of the inner pan temperature.

  (2) On the other hand, in the first half of the second half of the boiling maintenance process corresponding to the cooking process, the boiling point is lowered by lowering the pressure from high pressure to medium pressure, causing rapid boiling, Allow enough water to reach the top of the. On the other hand, in the latter half of the boiling maintenance process corresponding to the cooking process, steam is saved by raising the boiling point again to raise the boiling point and stopping the generation of steam.

  (3) In the first half of the spotting process, in a high-pressure state, while using the residual heat of the cooking process, it is gradually spotted and the heating amount is suppressed as much as possible.

  (4) The unevenness process is divided into the first half and the second half, and the first half is kept in a steam-saving state (high pressure) for a longer time than the second half, and the second half is reduced to atmospheric pressure to remove excess moisture.

  The flowchart of FIG. 10 and the time chart of FIG. 11 show the configuration of the pressure rice cooking control and the control sequence as described above.

  That is, in this control, when the rice cooking switch is pressed and rice cooking is started, first, in step S1, a “water absorption step” is executed within a predetermined time. Then, when the water absorption process is completed, the “temperature raising process 1” is entered in the subsequent step S2, and the inner pot 3 is heated and heated, for example, with a high heating output of full power until a boiling state is reached. In this “temperature raising step 1”, the amount of cooked rice (cooking amount) in the inner pot 3 is determined from the rise in the inner pot temperature for a predetermined time after the start of heating at the full power.

  When the determination of the amount of cooked rice in the temperature raising step 1 is completed, the process proceeds to the temperature raising step 2 of step S3, and the heating at full power is continued and the state is surely shifted to the boiling state. In step S4, it is determined whether the lid sensor VS has detected a boiling state. When the boiling sensor VS detects boiling (steam) (YES in step S4), the process proceeds to the “boiling maintenance process” in step S5 and thereafter.

  This “boiling maintenance step” is a step of sufficiently heating the rice and water in the inner pot 3 by maintaining the boiling state, thereby converting the β starch into α. In the case, the first boiling maintenance process 1 (step S5) of high pressure, the boiling maintenance process 2 (step S7) in which the pressure is lowered after the boiling maintenance process 1 is stirred, and the pressure after the boiling maintenance process 2 Both of the adjusting mechanisms 1 and 2 continue to be in an ON state, and are composed of three steps including a boiling maintaining step 3 for maintaining the pressure in the inner pot 3 at a high pressure state again.

  In boiling maintaining step 1 (high pressure), the pressure adjusting mechanisms 1 and 2 are kept ON for a certain period of time, the pressure in the inner pot 3 is maintained at a high pressure, and water and heat are sufficiently supplied to the inside of the rice. It promotes the pre-gelatinization of starch and improves the taste of rice in a relatively short time.

  However, if a high pressure is continuously applied in the boiling maintaining step, the dissolution of starch on the surface of the rice into the water is promoted, so that there is a problem that the rice is finished to be sticky or feel watery.

  Moreover, if the amount of heating or the heating time is suppressed to such an extent that the surface state of the rice can be kept well, there arises a problem that the rice is finished harder or does not feel plump.

  Therefore, in this boiling maintenance step 1, both the pressure adjusting mechanisms 1 and 2 within a predetermined time are turned on and boiled at a high pressure as described above, but when the same fixed time has elapsed and YES is determined in step S6. Then, the process proceeds to the boiling maintenance process 2 of step S7.

  In the boiling maintaining step 2, the low pressure side pressure adjustment mechanism 1 is kept ON, while the high pressure side pressure adjustment mechanism 2 is turned OFF to control the pressure in the inner pot 3 to an intermediate pressure level. To do.

  In this way, when the rice cooking process is performed while using a sufficiently high high pressure and a relatively high medium pressure as needed, it promotes starch gelatinization by penetrating moisture and heat into the rice. It is possible to cook rice that is plump over the whole from the lower part to the upper part by suppressing the stickiness and wateriness of the surface of the rice by the "stirring" effect due to the pressure drop and pressure drop. become.

  In this way, if the boil maintenance control is continued for a certain period of time, the moisture will eventually decrease.

  Therefore, it is determined in step S8 that the same fixed time has elapsed, and if the determination result is YES, the flow further proceeds to the boiling maintenance step 3 in step S9.

  In the boiling maintaining step 3 (high pressure), both the pressure adjusting mechanisms 1 and 2 are kept ON, and the pressure in the inner pot 3 is maintained in a high pressure state. In this state, stirring is not performed.

  Next, in step S10, the temperature of the inner pot 3 is detected from the output of the temperature sensor 8, and it is determined whether or not the detected temperature of the inner pot 3 is equal to or higher than the cooked detection temperature (130 ° C.). .

  As a result, when it becomes YES, it is determined that the cooking of the rice has been completed, and the process proceeds to the “spotting process” in steps S11 to S13.

  Specifically, this “murari process” is composed of two processes of “murara process 1” and “murara process 2”. In “murara process 1”, high-pressure side pressure adjustment mechanism 1 is installed. The pressure in the inner pot 3 is controlled to a high pressure state by turning on (close the steam vent hole H1) and turning on the high pressure side pressure adjusting mechanism 2 (close the steam vent hole H2). Then, uneven heating control is performed in the same high pressure state, and when a predetermined time has elapsed and it is determined YES in step S12, the process proceeds to "uneven process 2".

  In this “spotting process 2”, both the high-pressure side pressure adjustment mechanism 1 and the low-pressure side pressure adjustment mechanism 2 are both turned off (both the steam vent holes H1 and H2 are opened), and the inside of the inner pot 3 is communicated with the atmosphere side. In the pressure state, uneven heating control of the heating amount “weak” is performed.

  Then, when it is determined in the subsequent step S14 that the same state has continued for a certain period of time, the “spotting process” is completed, and after the rice cooking is completed, the process proceeds to the “warming process”.

  As described above, in this embodiment, in the boiling maintenance step 1 after boiling detection, the rice is firmly pressed at high pressure. In the boiling maintaining step 1, the steam saving effect is increased as much as possible while avoiding stirring, and the temperature of the inner pot 3 is prevented from decreasing.

  And in boiling maintenance process 2, a pressure is dropped to medium pressure.

  Here, the “stirring effect” due to the pressure drop is obtained. In other words, the boiling point is lowered due to the pressure drop, boiling occurs rapidly, the water is pulled upward, and the water reaches the upper part even with a small amount of water, so that the surface dent is reduced. In this case, the steam saving effect is somewhat reduced, but it is important for the deliciousness of rice.

  On the other hand, in the boiling maintenance process 3, it is cooked firmly at high atmospheric pressure again. Here, a steam saving effect is obtained by stopping the steam from the medium pressure in the boiling maintenance process 2 to the high pressure in the boiling maintenance process 3.

  Further, in the unevenness process 1, a high pressure state is set, and heating by the work coil is not performed.

  And here, pressurization state is maintained with the heat stopped in the cooking process, and the steam is slowly steamed as much as the heating amount is reduced.

  And in the uneven | corrugated process 2, a pressure is reduced to a normal pressure state and excess water is blown off.

  Further, in this case, if the period of the unevenness process 1 in a relatively high pressure state is lengthened and the period of the unevenness process 2 in a normal pressure is shortened, a higher steam saving effect can be obtained.

(About reduction effect of steam and power consumption)
The power consumption and the amount of steam generated in the embodiment of the above-described “eco-cooking” of white rice as an example, when the white rice is cooked with a standard water amount and heating amount not particularly intended for energy saving shown in the characteristics of FIG. Compared to the case, in the case of the above embodiment, the total power consumption is 6% (1-5, 5.5 go) and the average steam generation amount is 11%. It was 39% less on average when cooking 6-cooked rice.

  This also proved the high energy-saving and steam-saving effect of the pressure-type electric rice cooker of this embodiment.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, FIG.12 and FIG.13 has shown the rice cooking control sequence (the flowchart and time chart) of the pressure type electric rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

  As already mentioned, the crispy course is a course that cooks crispy, less sticky rice, but it remains sticky and sticky under high pressure, so this embodiment avoids this In order to achieve this, after stirring, the first half of the unevenness process from the latter half of the boiling maintenance process corresponding to the cooking process is set to a medium pressure.

  The flowchart of FIG. 12 and the time chart of FIG. 13 show the corresponding configurations of the pressure rice cooking control and the control sequence as described above.

  That is, in this control, when the rice cooking switch is pressed and rice cooking is started, first, in step S1, a “water absorption step” is executed within a predetermined time. Then, when the water absorption process is completed, the “temperature raising process 1” is entered in the subsequent step S2, and the inner pot 3 is heated and heated, for example, with a high heating output of full power until a boiling state is reached. In this “temperature raising step 1”, the amount of cooked rice (cooking amount) in the inner pot 3 is determined from the increase in the inner pot temperature within a predetermined time after the start of heating at the full power.

  When the determination of the amount of cooked rice in the temperature raising step 1 is completed, the process proceeds to the temperature raising step 2 of step S3, and the heating at full power is continued and the state is surely shifted to the boiling state. In step S4, it is determined whether the lid sensor VS has detected a boiling state. When the boiling sensor VS detects boiling (steam) (YES in step S4), the process proceeds to the “boiling maintenance process” in step S5 and thereafter.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to the “boiling maintenance process” after step S5.

  The “boiling maintenance process” after step S5 is basically a process of sufficiently heating the rice and water in the inner pot 3 to maintain the boiling state and thereby converting the β starch into α. However, in the case of this embodiment, the first boiling maintenance process 1-1 (step S5) and the auxiliary pressure for temporarily lowering the pressure to a low pressure state after the boiling maintenance process 1-1 is completed. 4 steps of a reduction process (step S7), a boiling maintenance process 1-2 for maintaining the high pressure state again after the pressure reduction process, and a boiling maintenance process 2 (step S10) leading to dry-up thereafter. It consists of a process.

  In the boiling maintenance process 1-1 (high pressure) of step S5, both the pressure adjusting mechanisms 1 and 2 are kept ON for a certain time, and the pressure in the inner pot 3 is maintained at a high pressure state until the inside of the rice. Sufficiently penetrate moisture and heat to promote starch pre-gelation and improve the taste of rice in a relatively short time. Also, the heat does not reach the top.

  However, if a high pressure is continuously applied in the boiling maintaining step, the dissolution of starch on the surface of the rice into the water is promoted, so that there is a problem that the rice is finished to be sticky or feel watery. Also, the heat does not reach the top.

  Moreover, if the amount of heating or the heating time is suppressed to such an extent that the surface state of the rice can be kept well, there arises a problem that the rice is finished harder or does not feel plump.

  Therefore, in the boiling maintenance process of this embodiment, as described above, in the boiling maintenance process 1-1, both the internal pressure adjustment mechanisms 1 and 2 are turned on for a certain period of time to boil in a high pressure state. If YES in step S6 after a lapse of a certain time, the process proceeds to the pressure reduction process in step S7, the pressure adjustment mechanism 1 is turned on and the pressure adjustment mechanism 2 is turned off for about 2 to 4 seconds, and the pressure is temporarily set. Then, the rice in the inner pot 3 is agitated, and water and heat are evenly distributed throughout the rice.

  Then, the process proceeds to the boiling maintenance process 1-2 (high pressure) in step S8, and both the pressure adjusting mechanisms 1 and 2 are turned on again to return to the original high pressure state and heated for a predetermined time.

  Thereafter, it is determined in step S9 that the same fixed time has elapsed, and if YES, the process proceeds to the boiling maintenance process 2 of step S10 that leads to the above-mentioned druping.

  In the boiling maintaining step 2, the low pressure side pressure adjustment mechanism 1 is kept ON, while the high pressure side pressure adjustment mechanism 2 is turned OFF to control the pressure in the inner pot 3 to an intermediate pressure level. To do.

  In this way, the boiling maintenance step is performed while properly using a high pressure sufficiently higher than the normal pressure and a relatively high medium pressure as necessary, and during that time, the pressure is temporarily reduced as described above. Stirring allows the moisture and heat to penetrate into the rice to promote starch alpha conversion, while suppressing the stickiness and wateriness of the surface of the rice, making the whole rice evenly plump Will be able to cook.

  In this way, if the boiling maintenance control in step S10 is continued, the moisture will eventually be reduced (draped up).

  In this state, stirring is not performed.

  Therefore, next, in step S11, the temperature of the inner pot 3 is detected from the output of the temperature sensor 8, and it is determined whether or not the detected temperature of the inner pot 3 is equal to or higher than the cooked detection temperature (130 ° C.). To do.

  As a result, when it becomes YES, it is determined that the cooking of the rice has been completed, and the process proceeds to the “spotting process” in steps S12 to S14.

  Specifically, this “mura process” includes two processes, ie, “mura process 1” and “mura process 2”. First, in “mura process 1”, high-pressure side pressure adjusting mechanism 1 Is turned on (the steam vent hole H1 is closed), and the high pressure side pressure adjusting mechanism 2 is turned off (the steam vent hole H2 is opened), thereby controlling the pressure in the inner pot 3 to an intermediate pressure state. Then, uneven heating control is performed in the same intermediate pressure state, and when a predetermined time has passed and YES is determined in step S13, the process proceeds to "uneven process 2".

  In this “spotting process 2”, both the high-pressure side pressure adjustment mechanism 1 and the low-pressure side pressure adjustment mechanism 2 are both turned off (both the steam vent holes H1 and H2 are opened), and the inside of the inner pot 3 is communicated with the atmosphere side. In the pressure state, uneven heating control is performed.

  Then, when it is determined in the subsequent step S15 that the same state has continued for a certain period of time, the “spotting process” ends, and after the rice cooking has been completed, the process proceeds to the “warming process”.

  As described above, in the configuration of this embodiment, the boiling maintenance process 1-1 after boiling detection is boiled by applying high pressure in the boiling maintenance process 1-2 (first half), and 1 in the middle. By lowering to the middle pressure, “stirring” by pressure drop is performed.

  Next, from boiling maintenance process 2 (the second half), it cooks with medium pressure. Again, the stirring effect is obtained by the pressure drop from the high pressure to the medium pressure, and the rice is flattened and the surface condition is improved by stirring twice in total.

  If the pressure is increased even during the boiling maintenance step 2 (second half), the rice becomes sticky. Moreover, if it reduces to normal pressure, only the surface will become sticky and will be in the state which is not enough to cook. Therefore, before sticking out at medium pressure, it is cooked in a short time with a strong heating power to make the rice “sticky” with less stickiness.

  Also, in the unevenness process 1 (first half), the medium pressure state is maintained and gelatinization is firmly performed, but in the second half, the pressure is returned to normal pressure as early as possible, and excess moisture on the surface is blown away to prevent stickiness.

  As a result, it is possible to cook delicious rice with good appearance and low stickiness.

  1 is a rice cooker body, 2 is a lid, 3 is an inner pot, 4 is an inner case, and L1 and L2 are work coils.

Claims (1)

A rice cooker body having an inner pot, an inner pot accommodating port for accommodating the inner pot, and an inner pot heating means, a lid provided on the upper portion of the inner pot accommodating port of the rice cooker body, and a lid that can be opened and closed. A sealing means provided on the lid for sealing the opening of the inner pot when the lid is closed; an intermediate pressure higher than normal pressure provided on the lid; A pressure type electric rice cooker comprising a pressure adjusting mechanism for adjusting a plurality of pressures with high pressure and a control means for controlling the operation of the pressure adjusting mechanism. as well as it has the steps of maintaining and steaming, as cooking courses, strive to efficient cooking and higher pressure than the standard cooking courses, saving steam with less water than a standard cooking courses have a saving energy and steam course to achieve the reduction, the same energy-saving When saving steam course is selected, in the first half of the steaming step is controlled to a high pressure state, the same high pressure utilizing the residual heat of the heating by the inner pot heater line Ukoto without upper respiratory boiling hold step On the other hand, a pressure-type electric rice cooker characterized in that, in the latter half of the above-mentioned unevenness process, the pressure is reduced to normal pressure to discharge excess moisture .

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