JP2016055076A - rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To delectably cook both of a japonica variety and an indica variety with a same rice cooker.SOLUTION: The rice cooker includes: a body 1: an outer lid 4 for covering an upper face opening of the body 1; an inner pot 3 to be removably stored in the body 1; an inner lid 2 for covering an upper face opening of the inner pot 3 and fitted to the outer lid 4; main heating means 15 provided at the lower side of the inner pot 3 for heating the inner pot 3; boiling detection means 9 provided on the outer lid 4 for detecting boiling of water in the inner pot 3; an operation part 6 provided on the body 1 and allowing a user to select a cooking process; a rice supply box 7 provided on the upper part of the body 1 for storing rice; a supply valve 13 for inserting the rice in the rice supply box 7, into the inner pot 3 via a through-hole provided in the outer lid 4 and the inner lid 2; and draining means for draining the water in the inner pot 3 to the outside of the body 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker.

  Conventionally, a method of changing the cooking process has been proposed in order to cook deliciously different rice.

  When done manually, Japonica rice is generally boiled at a stretch by putting sharpened rice and a specified amount of water into a kettle and heating to high heat. When boiling, weaken the fire so that it does not spill, and finally steam with high heat while maintaining boiling. When excess moisture on the surface of the rice flies, stop the heat and steam. This process makes the rice sticky and shiny.

  On the other hand, indica rice is first boiled with water. When the water boils, put the rice in the pan and boil it. When you have boiled until the core remains a little, throw out the excess hot water. Then simmer over low heat with the lid on. When excess moisture on the surface of the rice flies, stop the heat and steam. In this process, the rice becomes crisp and less sticky.

  As a rice cooker that automatically cooks such Japonica and Indica seeds, Patent Literature 1 uses a control means to cook rice with Japonica and Indica seeds, and the Indica seeds boil in the middle of the process compared to Japonica seeds. It reaches the boiling point without lowering the power until it reaches, and supplies high power even after boiling.

JP-A-8-000454

  In the prior art described above, rice is cooked from the state where rice is first put in water. Indica species absorb water very slowly compared to Japonica species, so Indica species cannot absorb much water during the water temperature rise process. This is particularly noticeable when the water temperature is low.

  For example, taking Thai rice as an example of Indica species, the water absorption rate is lower than that of Japonica species until the water temperature is about 40 ° C. to 80 ° C., but the water absorption rate increases at a stretch when the water temperature is higher than the above temperature. Therefore, when the temperature of the water in the inner pot is slowly increased by the heating means of the rice cooker, the heating proceeds in a state where there is almost no time for water to be absorbed into the rice, and the water in the inner pot is at the time of boiling when the water absorption rate is high. There is almost nothing, and the high temperature near the boiling point is maintained, and the progress of lake formation (stickiness) in which the starch contained in Thai rice is changed from β starch to α starch is prevented. Moreover, since the time to absorb water in the rice is short, the core may remain in the cooked rice.

  The object of the present invention is to deliciously cook both japonica and indica with the same rice cooker.

  The present invention is for solving the above-described problems, and employs, for example, the configurations described in the claims.

  According to the present invention, both japonica and indica can be cooked deliciously with the same rice cooker.

It is side surface sectional drawing of the rice cooker of an Example. It is an operation part of the rice cooker. It is an example of the flowchart figure explaining the rice cooking process of the japonica seed | species of the rice cooker. It is an example of the flowchart figure explaining the rice cooking process of the Indica seed | species of the rice cooker.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a rice cooker according to the present embodiment.

  In the figure, 1 is the main body of the rice cooker. An inner hook 3 is detachably inserted into the main body 1. On the upper surface of the main body 1, an outer lid 4 having an inner lid 2 that covers the upper surface openings of the main body 1 and the inner hook 3 is provided so as to be openable and closable around an outer lid hinge shaft 17.

  A packing 18 that is in close contact with the upper end of the inner hook 3 is provided at the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the inner lid 2, and the upper opening of the inner hook 3 is closed and sealed.

  On the upper surface of the outer lid 4 of the main body 1, an operation unit 6 for performing various menu operations is provided. The operation unit 6 includes a display unit 21 (FIG. 2) configured with a liquid crystal display that displays setting contents of various menus, progress of rice cooking, time display, and the like, and starts cooking rice in conjunction with the operation unit 4. And various menus and reserved rice cooking settings.

  Main heating means 15 is provided on the lower surface of the inner hook 3, and these are constituted by a heating coil, whereby the entire surface of the inner hook 3 is uniformly induction-heated. Also, a lid heating means 14 is provided on the lower surface of the outer lid 4, provided to heat the inner lid 2 made of a stainless steel plate attached to the outer lid 4 evenly, and boiling detection for detecting the generation of steam. Means 9 are provided. The inner lid 2 covers the upper opening of the inner hook 3 and is provided so as to be kept airtight by contact between the packing 18 provided around the inner lid 2 and the upper end surface of the inner hook 3.

  A temperature sensor 8 is provided at the lower part of the main body 1 so as to contact the outer bottom of the inner hook 3, and temperature information of the bottom of the inner hook 3 detected by the temperature sensor 8 is input to the control unit 5.

  The controller 5 detects the boiling of water in the inner pot 3 by the boiling detection means 9, controls the operation of the main heating means 15 at the time of cooking rice, and heats the lid at the time of heat retention based on the temperature information of the inner pot 3 from the temperature sensor 8. The means 14 is controlled.

  In the upper part of the outer lid 4, a rice supply box 7 for introducing rice is provided. The rice supply box 7 is provided with a supply box lid 7a covering the top opening so that the rice supply box 7 can be opened and closed about the rice supply hinge shaft 7b. An optical sensor 19 that measures the remaining amount of rice is provided inside the rice supply box 7, thereby detecting whether or not rice remains in the rice supply box 7.

  Below the rice supply box 7, a supply valve 13 for introducing the rice in the rice supply box 7 into the inner pot 3 is provided. The outer lid 4 and the inner lid 2 are provided with a through-hole through which rice passes, and when the supply valve 13 is opened, the rice is introduced into the inner pot 3 through the through-hole. Since the supply valve 13 is closed except when it is put in, steam during cooking does not leak to the rice supply box 7. The supply valve 13 may not be provided in the rice supply box 7 itself, and may be provided in the middle of the through hole of the outer lid 4.

  The supply valve 13 opens and closes according to the control method of the flowchart described later depending on the type of rice. The lower surface inside the rice supply box 7 is preferably inclined from the outer side (side wall side) to the supply valve 13 so that the rice is easily supplied to the supply valve 13.

  On the outer lid hinge shaft 17 side of the main body 1, drainage means 20 for discharging water from the inner hook 3 is provided. The drainage means 20 is connected to the internal drainage hose 20a that is inserted into the internal hook 3, the drainage pump 20c that is connected to the internal drainage hose 20a and pumps up and discharges water accumulated in the internal hook 3, and the airtightness of the internal pot 3 A drainage valve 20d for maintaining the pressure and a drainage hose 20b outside the enclosure for discharging the pumped water are provided at the tip of the drainage valve 20d. The drain valve 20d can keep the inside of the inner pot 3 airtight when the main heating means 15 is energized at the time of rice cooking, steaming, or warming.

  A water level detecting means 12 for detecting the amount of water in the inner pot 3 is provided at the lower part of the inner body drain hose 20a on the inner pot 3 side. Thereby, the amount of water remaining in the inner pot 3 is detected, and the drain pump 20c and the drain valve 20d are controlled by the control unit 5 while detecting the amount of water necessary for rice cooking. The water level detection means 12 may be provided either inside or outside the housing drain hose 20a.

  A present Example becomes the above structure, Next, the operation | movement is demonstrated about a rice cooking process.

  FIG. 2 is an operation unit of the rice cooker, FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the rice cooking process of japonica seeds of the rice cooker, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the indica rice cooking process of the rice cookers.

  The operation unit 4 in FIG. 2 selects a rice cooking menu at the discretion of the user. The display unit 21 displays the selected rice cooking process with a liquid crystal display or the like, the rice cooking key 22 for cooking rice, and cancels the rice cooking process. It mainly has a cut button 23 and a menu key 24 for selecting the type of rice. In addition, it has a heat retention key 25 for keeping the cooked rice warm, a reservation key 26 for designating the cooking time of rice, and the like.

First, the rice cooking process of Japonica seeds will be described below. First, the user puts the necessary amount of sharpened rice into the rice supply box 7 and puts a specified amount of water in the inner pot 3 according to the amount of rice.

  A rice cooking process when the menu key 24 is used to select the rice type as japonica and the rice cooking key 22 is pressed will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step 101, the supply valve 13 is opened, and the rice in the rice supply box 7 is put into the inner pot 3. In step 102, the optical sensor 19 detects whether or not rice remains in the rice supply box 7. If it is detected by the optical sensor 19 that there is no rice, the supply valve 13 is closed in step 103, the inside of the inner pot 3 is sealed, and the process proceeds to a rice cooking process in step 104. In the rice cooking process, after detecting the temperature change indicating that the water in the inner pot 3 has run out by the temperature sensor 8, the rice is steamed, and then the process proceeds to the heat retaining process in Step 105.

  When cooking japonica seeds, rice may not be put in the rice supply box 7 but directly put into the inner pot 3 to start cooking rice.

  Next, the Indica rice cooking process will be described below.

  First, the user puts the polished rice into the rice supply box 7, and into the inner pot 3, about 80% of the capacity of the inner pot 3 (a prescribed amount of water that the prepared rice can be sufficiently immersed) is put.

  A rice cooking process when the rice key is selected by the menu key 24 and the rice cooking key 22 is pressed will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In the boiling water process of step 111, when the main heating means 15 is controlled based on the detection information of the temperature sensor 8 in order to boil the water put in the inner pot 3, it is detected that the water is boiled by the information of the boiling detection means 9. Move on to the next step.

  In step 112, the supply valve 13 is opened and the rice in the rice supply box 7 is charged into the inner pot 3. Since rice is introduced at the time of boiling water with high water absorption, the gelatinization (stickiness) phenomenon in which the starch contained in the Indica species changes to α-starch is promoted, so the rice finish is similar to that of the Japonica species. In step 113, when it is confirmed that no rice remains in the rice supply box 7 by the optical sensor 19 provided in the rice supply box 7, if it is confirmed that no rice remains, the supply valve is supplied in step 114. 13 is closed and the process proceeds to the next step.

  In the boiling process of step 115, when the boiling detection means 9 detects that the water in the inner pot 3 has boiled again, the process proceeds to the next step 115. The rice is boiled in a high temperature state until a predetermined time with a good finish.

  Steps 116 to 120 are steps for discharging the water in the inner pot 3. In step 116, the drain valve 20d is opened. In step 117, the drain pump 20c is driven to pump up water. In step 118, the water level detecting means 12 detects that the water in the inner pot 3 has run out. In this step, the driving of the pump 20c is stopped and the drain valve 20d is closed in step 120.

  The drain valve 20d becomes unnecessary when the rice cooking method is a non-pressure type. Moreover, it becomes unnecessary when the pressure in the inner hook 3 can be maintained when the drain pump 20c is not movable.

  In this step, the rice that has run out of water is heated in step 121, steamed in step 122, and kept in step 123.

  As described above, the rice supply box 7 is provided outside the main body 1 so that the rice can be put into the inner pot 3 after the water in the inner pot 3 has boiled. It is possible to cook rice, and it is possible to cook both japonica seeds and indica seeds with the same rice cooker.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Outer lid 3 Inner lid 4 Inner pot 6 Operation part 7 Rice supply box 8 Temperature sensor 9 Boiling detection means 12 Water level detection means 13 Supply valve 15 Main heating means 20 Drainage means 20a Housing drainage hose 20b Housing drainage hose 20c Drain pump 20d Drain valve

Claims (4)

  A main body, an outer lid that covers the upper surface opening of the main body, an inner hook that is detachably accommodated in the main body, an inner lid that covers the upper surface opening of the inner hook and is attached to the outer lid, The main heating means provided below the inner pot for heating the inner pot, the boiling detection means provided on the outer lid for detecting the boiling of water in the inner pot, and the selection of the rice cooking process provided in the main body. Operation unit made possible, rice supply box provided on the upper part of the main body for storing rice, and rice in the rice supply box is put into the inner pot through the through holes provided in the outer lid and the inner lid A rice cooker comprising: a supply valve for draining; and drainage means for discharging water in the inner pot to the outside of the main body.   The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein domestic rice and foreign rice can be selected by the operation means.   2. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the drainage means includes a pump that pumps up the water in the inner pot and a drainage hose through which the pumped water passes. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein a lower surface inside the supply box is inclined from a side wall side of the supply box to the supply valve.