JP2021101915A - Rice cooker and rice washer - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a rice cooker and a rice washer capable of executing a desired rice washing operation by efficiently executing water supply and drainage to rice in a container.SOLUTION: A rice washing/drainage unit includes: stirring blades that rotate inside a container, and stir rice and water; a drain pipe, at least a part of which is integrally composed with the stirring blades, for draining water inside the container, its drain port being disposed inside the container; and a drain filter 26A provided so as to cover the drain port of the drain pipe. The drain filter includes filter openings 26b being a plurality of through-holes, and a plurality of filter protrusions 26a formed with the filter opening therebetween.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present disclosure relates to a rice cooker and a rice washing machine having a rice washing function.

Patent Document 1 discloses an automatic rice cooker that automatically supplies and drains rice, washes rice, and cooks rice by putting weighed rice in a rice cooker and operating a control panel. In the automatic rice cooker of Patent Document 1, a rotating shaft is projected downward from the lid of the rice cooker main body that houses the rice cooking pot, and a stirring member is provided at the tip of the rotating shaft. The stirring member in the rice cooker of Patent Document 1 has a bent rod shape, and is arranged inside the rice cooker when the lid of the rice cooker main body is closed. At the bottom of the rice cooker, a pipe that communicates with the water supply / drainage device is provided, and water is supplied to the rice cooker and drainage from the rice cooker is performed through the pipe. In this rice cooker, a predetermined amount of water is supplied to the rice cooker, the stirring member rotates for a certain period of time to wash the rice, and then the rice washing operation of draining the rice is repeated several times. After the rice washing operation, the water required for cooking rice is supplied and the rice cooking operation is performed. The stirring member in Patent Document 1 is arranged in the rice cooking pot during the rice cooking operation, and is removed and washed after the rice cooking operation is completed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-288112

The present disclosure provides a rice cooker and a rice washing machine capable of efficiently washing a rice washing operation in which water is supplied to the container, the rice in the container is agitated, and the rice is drained after the stirring is repeated a plurality of times.

One aspect of the rice cooker according to the present disclosure is
A container for rice and water,
A rice washing / draining unit that rotates inside the container and drains the water inside the container.
It is a rice cooker equipped with
The rice washing / draining unit
A stirring blade that rotates inside the container to stir rice and water,
A drainage pipe in which at least a part of the stirring blade is integrally formed and a drainage port is arranged inside the container to drain water inside the container.
A drainage filter provided so as to cover the drainage port of the drainage pipe and
Including
The drainage filter has a filter opening which is a plurality of through ports, and a plurality of filter protrusions formed so as to sandwich the filter opening.

In addition, the rice washing machine of one aspect according to the present disclosure is
A container for rice and water,
A rice washing / draining unit that rotates inside the container and drains the water inside the container.
It is a rice washing machine equipped with
The rice washing / draining unit
A stirring blade that rotates inside the container to stir rice and water,
A drainage pipe in which at least a part of the stirring blade is integrally formed and a drainage port is arranged inside the container to drain water inside the container.
A drainage filter provided so as to cover the drainage port of the drainage pipe and
Including
The drainage filter has a filter opening which is a plurality of through ports, and a plurality of filter protrusions formed so as to sandwich the filter opening.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to efficiently supply and drain rice in a container to perform a desired rice washing operation.

A vertical sectional view schematically showing a schematic configuration of the rice cooker (initial state) of the first embodiment. A vertical cross-sectional view schematically showing a schematic configuration of the rice cooker (state at the time of washing rice) of the first embodiment. A perspective view schematically showing the rice washing / draining unit according to the first embodiment. A vertical sectional view schematically showing a container and a rice washing / draining unit according to the first embodiment. A perspective view showing a drainage filter according to the first embodiment. A vertical sectional view schematically showing a rice washing / draining unit according to the first embodiment. Cross-sectional view of the drainage pipe of the rice washing / draining unit according to the first embodiment Top view of the stirring blade of the rice washing / draining unit according to the first embodiment A diagram schematically showing a state in which rice grains are dammed by a drainage filter during rice washing. A vertical sectional view schematically showing a rice washing / draining unit in the rice cooker of the second embodiment. A perspective view showing a drainage filter of a modified example as another embodiment. Perspective view showing a drainage filter of another modification as another embodiment A perspective view showing a drainage filter of yet another modification as another embodiment. Perspective view showing a drainage filter which is still another modification as another embodiment.

(Knowledge, etc. that was the basis of this disclosure)
At the time when the inventors came up with the present disclosure, in an automatic rice cooker that performs water supply / drainage, rice washing, and rice cooking, a pipe was provided at the bottom of the container containing rice and water, and the water supply / drainage during rice washing was performed through this pipe. It was a configuration to do. In such a configuration, drainage is performed by a pipe provided at the bottom of the container during rice washing, so that when the rice is agitated, powder such as rice bran generated during rice washing is permeated through the pipe at the bottom of the container to allow the rice grains to be washed. Must be left in the container.

In order to allow the fine powder to permeate and leave large rice grains in the container as described above, it is common to use a filter having a desired mesh or the like. However, powders such as rice bran, starch powder, and small cracked rice generated during rice washing are likely to be clogged in the mesh of a general filter, and are efficient and desired in the rice washing operation in which water supply and drainage are repeated multiple times. It was a difficult configuration to do. In addition, since such a filter is immediately clogged, it is necessary to always keep in mind to clean the filter. The inventors have discovered these problems and have come to construct the subject matter of the present disclosure in order to solve the problems.

Therefore, in the present disclosure, in a rice cooker and a rice washing machine, rice bran, starch powder, and small cracks generated during rice washing are performed in order to efficiently perform a rice washing operation in which water is supplied to the container, the rice in the container is stirred, and the rice is drained after stirring. A rice cooker equipped with a drain filter that allows fine powder such as rice to permeate and leaves the rice grains necessary for cooking rice in the container after washing the rice and can significantly suppress the occurrence of clogging. And provides a rice cooker.

First, various aspects of the rice cooker and rice washing machine of the present disclosure will be illustrated.
The rice cooker of the first aspect according to the present disclosure is
A container for rice and water,
A rice cooker equipped with a rice washing / draining unit that rotates inside the container and drains water inside the container.
The rice washing / draining unit
A stirring blade that rotates inside the container to stir rice and water,
A drainage pipe in which at least a part of the stirring blade is integrally formed and a drainage port is arranged inside the container to drain water inside the container.
Including a drainage filter provided so as to cover the drainage port of the drainage pipe,
The drainage filter has a filter opening which is a plurality of through ports, and a plurality of filter protrusions formed so as to sandwich the filter opening.

In the rice cooker of the second aspect according to the present disclosure, in the first aspect, the filter protrusion may have a predetermined height from the filter opening and may be formed of a curved surface.

In the rice cooker of the third aspect according to the present disclosure, in the first or second aspect, the filter openings are arranged side by side with a vertically long shape, and the filter protrusions are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the filter opening. It may be extended in parallel with the filter opening and formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening.

In the rice cooker of the fourth aspect according to the present disclosure, in the first or second aspect described above, the filter protrusions are arranged side by side with a vertically long shape, and a plurality of rice cookers are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the filter protrusions. The filter openings may be arranged in a vertical row.

In the rice cooker of the fifth aspect according to the present disclosure, in the first or second aspect, the filter protrusions are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening, and the plurality of the filter protrusions and the plurality of the said filter protrusions are formed. The filter openings may be arranged in a vertical row.

The rice cooker of the sixth aspect according to the present disclosure may be configured such that the drainage filter is attached to the drainage pipe via the stirring blade in the first or second aspect.

In the rice cooker of the seventh aspect according to the present disclosure, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the drainage pipe has an inner pipe for draining water inside the container and the stirring blade. Including the outer tube, which is integrally configured with
By attaching the drainage filter to the inner pipe, the outer pipe with the stirring blade may be rotatably held.

In the rice cooker of the eighth aspect according to the present disclosure, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the distance between the plurality of adjacent filter protrusions may be shorter than the minor diameter of rice. Good.

The rice cooker according to the ninth aspect according to the present disclosure may be configured such that the rice is blocked by the plurality of filter protrusions in any one of the first to seventh aspects described above.

The rice washing machine of the tenth aspect according to the present disclosure is
A container for rice and water,
A rice washing / draining unit that rotates inside the container and drains the water inside the container.
It is a rice washing machine equipped with
The rice washing / draining unit
A stirring blade that rotates inside the container to stir rice and water,
A drainage pipe in which at least a part of the stirring blade is integrally formed and a drainage port is arranged inside the container to drain water inside the container.
Including a drainage filter provided so as to cover the drainage port of the drainage pipe,
The drainage filter has a filter opening which is a plurality of through ports, and a plurality of filter protrusions formed so as to sandwich the filter opening.

In the rice washing machine of the eleventh aspect according to the present disclosure, the filter protrusion in the tenth aspect may have a predetermined height from the filter opening and may be formed of a curved surface.

In the rice washing machine of the twelfth aspect according to the present disclosure, the filter openings in the tenth or eleventh aspect are arranged side by side with a vertically long shape, and the filter protrusions are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the filter opening. It may be extended in parallel and formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening.

In the rice washing machine of the thirteenth aspect according to the present disclosure, the filter protrusions of the tenth or eleventh aspect are arranged side by side with a vertically long shape, and a plurality of the above-mentioned filter protrusions are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the filter protrusions. The filter openings may be arranged in a vertical row.

In the rice washing machine of the fourteenth aspect according to the present disclosure, the filter protrusions of the tenth or eleventh aspect are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening, and the plurality of the filter protrusions and the plurality of the filters are formed. The openings may be arranged in a vertical row.

The rice washing machine according to the fifteenth aspect according to the present disclosure is configured such that the drainage filter is attached to the drainage pipe via the stirring blade in any one of the tenth to fourteenth aspects. You may.

In the rice washing machine of the 16th aspect according to the present disclosure, in any of the 10th to 14th aspects, the drainage pipe has an inner pipe for draining water inside the container and the stirring blade. Including the outer tube, which is integrally configured with
By attaching the drainage filter to the inner pipe, the outer pipe with the stirring blade may be rotatably held.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, more detailed explanation than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanations of already well-known matters or duplicate explanations for substantially the same configuration may be omitted. This is to prevent the following explanation from becoming unnecessarily redundant and to facilitate the understanding of those skilled in the art.

It should be noted that the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided for those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

Hereinafter, as a specific embodiment of the rice cooker of the present disclosure, a rice cooker whose heating source is induction heating will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The rice cooker of the present disclosure is not limited to the configuration of the rice cooker described in the following embodiment, and has the same technology as the technical idea having the technical features described in the following embodiment. It includes the configuration of a rice cooker based on.

Further, the numerical values, shapes, configurations, steps (processes, modes), order of steps, and the like shown in the following embodiments are only examples, and the invention is not limited to the contents of the present disclosure. Among the components in the following embodiments, the components not described in the independent claims indicating the highest level concept are described as arbitrary components. In addition, in order to make it easy to understand, the drawing schematically shows each component as a main body.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, the rice cooker of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9 of the attached drawings. The rice cooker of the first embodiment has a structure having a rice washing mechanism provided with a rice bowl together with a rice cooking mechanism, and is a fully automatic rice cooker in which water supply, rice weighing, rice supply, rice washing, and rice cooking are automatically performed as a sequence. ..

[1-1. overall structure]
1 and 2 are vertical cross-sectional views schematically showing a schematic configuration of the rice cooker according to the first embodiment. The rice cooker shown in FIG. 1 shows an initial state in which water supply and rice supply are not performed. FIG. 2 schematically shows a state when water supply for washing rice and rice supply are performed.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the rice cooker of the first embodiment includes a rice cooker main body 1 capable of accommodating an inner pot 3 and a lid portion 2 provided on the upper portion of the rice cooker main body 1 so as to be openable and closable. .. In the rice cooker shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the left side is the front side where the lid 2 of the rice cooker opens, and the right side is the back side of the rice cooker. In the first embodiment, the rice cooker main body 1 and the lid 2 form a housing, and the inner pot 3 which is a container is housed inside the housing.

The rice cooker main body 1 is provided with an accommodating portion 5 including an outer pot 4 for accommodating the inner pot 3. The outer pot 4 has an open upper surface and has a bottomed substantially cylindrical shape. A heating source 6 for heating the inner pot 3 is provided in the accommodating portion 5. As the heating source 6, for example, in the case of the induction heating method, an induction heating coil is arranged on the outside (outside the side surface and / or outside the bottom surface) of the outer pot 4 accommodating the inner pot 3.

On the bottom surface of the outer pot 4, a pot bottom temperature sensor 7 with which the bottom of the inner pot 3 housed in the outer pot 4 abuts is arranged. The pot bottom temperature sensor 7 has a configuration in which the pot bottom temperature sensor 7 is urged vertically upward by, for example, a spring or the like which is an elastic member. When the inner pot 3 is housed in the outer pot 4, the bottom of the inner pot 3 presses the pot bottom temperature sensor 7 to detect that the inner pot 3 is housed in the outer pot 4.

A lid 2 is attached to the upper part of the rice cooker body 1 so as to be openable and closable. The lid portion 2 is rotatably supported via an elastic member provided on the back surface side of the rice cooker main body 1, for example, a lid hinge 8 urged in the opening direction by a spring. A hook button 9 (cover opening switch) rotatably supported on the front side of the rice cooker main body 1 is arranged, and the hook button 9 engages with a part of the lid 2. The lid portion 2 is configured to maintain the closed state.

On the front side of the lid 2, an operation display unit 10 for starting a rice cooking operation for the rice cooker, performing various settings in the rice cooking operation, and displaying various information on the rice cooker is provided. There is. The operation display unit 10 is an input interface, and various embodiments can be considered as the input interface. For example, the input interface may be composed of mechanical operating members. Further, the input interface may be configured by a transparent plate-shaped operating member installed above the display. As such a transparent plate-shaped operating member, a contact type or a non-contact type can be used.

An inner lid 11 that closes the inner pot 3 when the lid 2 is closed is detachably attached to the lower surface of the lid 2. The inner pot 3 and the inner lid 11 are sealed by the inner lid seal 12. Since the inner lid 11 is attached to the lower surface of the lid portion 2 in this way, when the lid portion 2 closes the rice cooker main body 1, the hook button 9 engages with the lid portion 2 and the accommodating portion 5 The inner pot 3 is closed by the inner lid 11 of the lid 2.

In the lid portion 2, an inner lid steam port 13 which is a through hole is formed in the inner lid 11 in order to discharge the steam generated inside the inner pot 3 during rice cooking and heat retention. The inner lid steam port 13 communicates with a steam path 14 that serves as a steam passage inside the lid 2 and a steam port 15 that discharges to the outside of the rice cooker. The inner lid steam port 13 of the inner lid 11 and the steam path 14 of the lid 2 are sealed by a steam port seal 16.

A bottomed tubular rice box 17 is arranged on the lid 2. A predetermined amount of rice 18 can be stored in the rice bin 17. A rice bowl lid 19 is provided on the top of the rice bowl 17. The rice bin lid 19 is configured so that the opening at the top of the rice bin 17 can be opened and closed. When the rice bin 17 is replenished with rice 18, the rice bin lid 19 is opened and the upper surface opening of the rice bin 17 is opened.

A rice supply route 22 is connected to the lower part of the rice bin 17 via a rice measuring unit 20 and a rice transport unit 21. The inner lid 11 is formed with an inner lid rice supply port 23 which is a through hole. The rice supply port 23 and the rice supply path 22 are sealed by the rice supply port seal 24. The rice 18 that has been weighed in a predetermined amount by the rice measuring unit 20 is supplied to the inside of the inner pot 3 by driving the rice transport unit 21.

In the present embodiment, the configuration will be described in which the lid portion 2 is rotated to open the upper portion of the accommodating portion 5, but the lid portion 2 has many components and the lid portion 2 is made of a heavy object. , There is a possibility that the lid 2 may fall when it is opened by rotating it in the opening direction. Therefore, in order to keep the lid 2 in the open state safely and surely, the structure considering the weight balance between the rice cooker main body 1 and the lid 2 and / or the lid 2 is rotated to accommodate the accommodating portion 5. A mechanism or the like that opens only the upper part of the rice cooker may be provided.

In the present embodiment, the entire lid portion 2 provided on the upper portion of the rice cooker main body 1 is rotated by the lid hinge 8 to open the upper portion of the accommodating portion 5. A configuration may be configured in which only a part of the portion 2 rotates to open only the upper portion of the accommodating portion 5. For example, as a configuration in which the accommodating portion 5 is horizontally pulled out from the rice cooker main body 1 toward the front side (front side), when the accommodating portion 5 is pulled out from the rice cooker main body 1, only a part of the lid portion 2 (front side portion) is pulled out. May be configured so that the upper surface opening of the outer pot 4 of the accommodating portion 5 is surely opened. When a part of the lid portion 2 (front side portion) is lifted, a heavy object such as a rice bin 17 on the back side, which is a heavy object in the lid portion 2, may be maintained in the same position.

[1-2. Water supply and drainage composition during rice washing]
The rice cooker of the present embodiment is provided with a rice cooking mechanism and a rice cooker 17, and is set after "rice supply" from the rice cooker 17 to the inner pot 3, "rice washing" with water supply and drainage in the inner pot 3, and after adjusting the amount of water. It is a configuration that automatically performs each operation of "rice cooking" based on the heating sequence. Hereinafter, the water supply / drainage configuration at the time of rice washing in the rice cooker of the present embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a through hole is formed in a substantially central portion of the inner lid 11, and a drain pipe 25 is provided through the through hole. A drainage filter 26A is arranged at the lower end of the drainage pipe 25. The drainage filter 26A provided so as to cover the drainage port which is the lower end opening of the drainage pipe 25 removes fine powder and dirt such as rice bran, starch powder, and small cracked rice smaller than the size of rice grains during rice washing. It is configured to permeate and discharge these to the drain pipe 25.

The drainage pipe 25 is connected to the drainage path 28 via the drainage path connector 27. A drainage pump 29 for draining water is provided in the drainage path 28. The water after washing the rice that passes through the drainage path 28 is drained from the drainage port 30 to the outside of the rice cooker by driving the drainage pump 29. The drainage port 30 may be connected to an external drainage path (not shown) to drain the water after washing the rice to an external kitchen sink or the like.

As described above, the drainage filter 26A is provided at the lower end of the drainage pipe 25 penetrating the inner lid 11. Further, a rod-shaped stirring blade 31 extending in the horizontal direction is provided below the drain pipe 25. The stirring blade 31 has a configuration extending from the lower part of the drain pipe 25 to both sides. The length of the stirring blade 31 in the longitudinal direction (horizontal direction) is set so that both ends (extended ends) of the stirring blade 31 are close to the inner surface of the inner pot 3. Therefore, the drainage filter 26A is provided so as to project downward at a substantially central portion of the stirring blade 31. The lower surface of the drainage filter 26A is configured to be a substantially flat surface, and is arranged so as to be parallel to the horizontal plane. The lower surface of the drainage filter 26A serves as a water level line for drainage during rice washing.

The drainage filter 26 may be fitted into the recess of the stirring blade 31 so that the bottom surface of the stirring blade 31 is a flat surface. With this configuration, as will be described later, the stirring blade 31 is rotated at a low speed to flatten the surface of the rice after washing, which is more convenient.

On the lower surface of the lid 2 provided so as to cover the accommodating portion 5 of the rice cooker main body 1, an oil seal 35 is provided at a portion in contact with the outer surface of the drain pipe 25, and rice cooking steam to the inside of the lid 2 is provided. Leakage is prevented. Similarly, inside the lid portion 2, an oil seal 35 is provided at a connection portion between the drain pipe 25 and the drainage path connector 27 to prevent drainage leakage in the drainage path connector 27.

In the rice cooker of the present embodiment, the drain pipe 25 and the stirring blade 31 are integrally configured. Here, the fact that the drain pipe 25 and the stirring blade 31 are integrally configured means that the drain pipe 25 and the stirring blade 31 operate simultaneously as one, and is composed of one member. It is not specific. That is, each of the drain pipe 25 and the stirring blade 31 may be formed of separate members and fixed to each other. The drain pipe 25 and the stirring blade 31 have a structure in which the inside of the inner pot 3 housed in the storage portion 5 of the rice cooker main body 1 can be moved up and down, and have a structure in which the drain pipe 25 is used as a rotation axis to rotate.

In the present embodiment, the drain pipe 25, the drain filter 26A, and the stirring blade 31 are referred to as a rice washing / draining unit 34.

In the rice cooker of the present embodiment, a stirring blade rotation drive unit 32 for rotating the rice washing / draining unit 34 and a stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 for moving the rice washing / draining unit 34 up and down are provided inside the lid portion 2. Has been done. The stirring blade vertical drive unit 33 has a configuration in which the stirring blade 31 is moved up and down inside the inner pot 3 while maintaining a state parallel to the rotating surface. The stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 and the stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 are individually driven or controlled at the same time according to the sequence.

The stirring blade rotation drive unit 32 and the stirring blade vertical drive unit 33 are composed of a plurality of gears, and a motor is used as a gear drive source. The rotary drive of the motor, which is the gear drive source, rotates the rotary drive gear and / or the vertical drive gear, and the rice washing / drainage unit 34 rotates and / or moves up and down.

Inside the lid 2, a vertical drive guide 36 and a vertical drive gear 37 extending in the vertical direction are fixed to the lid 2 in order to move the rice washing / draining unit 34 in the vertical direction (vertical direction). The stirring blade rotation drive unit 32 and the stirring blade vertical drive unit 33 are integrally configured, and the stirring blade vertical drive unit 33 engages with the vertical drive gear 37 to move up and down. Further, the stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 is guided by the vertical drive guide 36, and the stirring blade 31 extending in the longitudinal direction of the stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 is moved up and down in a parallel state inside the inner pot 3. Is possible.

The inner lid 11 is provided with an inner lid water supply port 38 for supplying water to the inner pot 3 as a through hole. The inner lid water supply port 38 is connected to a water supply path 39 arranged inside the lid portion 2. The inner lid water supply port 38 and the water supply path 39 are sealed by a water supply port seal 40. The water supply path 39 is connected to the water supply port 42 protruding to the outside of the rice cooker main body 1 via the water supply valve 41.

The water supply port 42 is connected to a water supply facility (not shown) via an external water supply path (not shown), and a desired amount of water can be supplied to the inner pot 3 by driving control of the water supply valve 41. .. That is, water can be supplied to the inside of the inner pot 3 by driving the water supply valve 41 to open the path, and conversely, water is supplied to the inner pot 3 by driving the water supply valve 41 to block the path. Can be stopped.

In the present embodiment, the drainage path 28 connected to the drainage pipe 25, the water supply path 39 connected to the inner lid water supply port 38, and the rice supply path 22 connected to the inner lid rice supply port 23 are used to move the drainage pipe 25 up and down and to cover the lid. It is configured to be compatible with the opening / closing operation of the portion 2, and is, for example, a flexible or stretchable material and / or a configuration.

The drive portion of the rice cooker of the present embodiment is controlled by a program and a sequence stored in the control unit 43 provided in the rice cooker main body 1. The control unit 43 in the present embodiment may be any one capable of controlling the rice cooker in the present disclosure. The control unit 43 can be realized in various modes. For example, a processor may be used as a controller. When a processor is used as a controller, various processes can be executed by having the processor read the program from the storage medium in which the program is stored and executing the program by the processor. Therefore, since the processing content can be changed by changing the program stored in the storage medium, the degree of freedom in changing the control content can be increased.

[1-3. Composition of rice washing / drainage unit]
Next, the configuration of the stirring blade 31 in the rice washing / draining unit 34 will be described. FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing a rice washing / draining unit 34 that rotates inside the inner pot 3 and moves up and down. FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view schematically showing the rice washing / draining unit 34 arranged inside the inner pot 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the stirring blade 31 is a rotating body having a rotation axis A whose central axis of the drain pipe 25 extending in the vertical direction is the center of rotation. Therefore, the stirring blade 31 is configured to rotate in the rotating plane B which is a horizontal plane. That is, the stirring blade 31 rotates at a lower position inside the inner pot 3 while maintaining the horizontal direction, with the center of the stirring blade 31 extending in the horizontal direction as the center of rotation (see FIG. 4).

As described above, the stirring blade 31 has a configuration in which the rotation axis A extending in the vertical direction at the center of the inside of the inner pot 3 which is a container is the rotation center. The stirring blade 31 has a rod shape extending in the horizontal direction from the rotation axis A, and the front surface of the stirring blade 31 in the rotation direction C is formed by an upward inclined surface D. Further, each cross section of the stirring blade 31 parallel to the rotation direction of the base end portion 31a on the rotation axis A side and the extending end portion 31b on the side surface side of the inner pot 3 has the same shape, and the base end portion of the stirring blade 31. 31a and the extended end 31b are formed to have substantially the same thickness (see FIG. 4). The stirring blade 31 configured as described above is arranged at a position below the inner pot 3 at the time of rice washing, and the stirring blade 31 is rotated by the rotation operation of the drain pipe 25 to perform the rice washing operation.

The shape of the stirring blade 31 may be such that it becomes thicker toward the extending end portion 31b. This is because the amount of rice inside the inner pot 3 during washing increases as the amount of rice increases toward the outside of the pot. Therefore, by making the stirring blade 31 thicker toward the outside of the pot, the movement of the rice 18 becomes larger. This makes it possible to further improve the degree of rice washing (degree of stain removal). On the contrary, the stirring blade 31 may become thinner toward the extended end portion 31b. This is because the torque for driving the stirring blade 31 can be reduced during rice washing by making the stirring blade 31 thinner toward the outside of the pot.

As shown in FIG. 4, a drainage filter 26A is provided on the lower end of the drainage pipe 25 and the lower surface of the central portion of the stirring blade 31, and rice bran, starch powder, and small cracked rice contained in the drainage during rice washing. It is configured to allow powders and dirt such as starch to permeate, and to dam the rice grains necessary for cooking rice and hold them inside the inner pot 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the lower surface of the drainage filter 26A (the surface corresponding to the bottom of the inner pot 3) in the present embodiment. The drainage filter 26A shown in FIG. 5 shows a portion exposed from the central portion of the lower surface of the stirring blade 31. As will be described later, in the present embodiment, the drainage filter 26A is attached by fixing means, for example, screwing so as to cover the drainage port which is the opening of the lower end portion of the drainage pipe 25. In this fixing means, the drainage filter 26A is fixed to the drainage pipe 25 with a stirring blade 31 interposed therebetween. Therefore, it is possible to surely prevent forgetting to attach the drainage filter 26A to the drainage pipe 25. The rotation direction of the screw fastening at this time is configured to be opposite to the rotation direction of the drain pipe 25, so that the drain filter 26A is prevented from being attached or detached during rotation.

As the fixing means, for example, a hook is projected from the drainage filter 26A so that the drainage filter 26A engages with the inside of the drainage pipe 25, and the hook is locked to the hole inside the drainage pipe 25. It may be configured. In this configuration, the end of the hook can be removed by pressing the end of the drain pipe 25 from the outside to the inside.

As shown in FIG. 5, the drainage filter 26A according to the present embodiment has a plurality of drainage filters 26A on the surface of the filter base portion 26c having a flat surface as the main body thereof (the lower surface when the drainage filter 26A shown in FIG. 4 is attached). Filter openings 26b, which are vertically long through holes, are formed in parallel. These filter openings 26b serve as drain holes. The width of the filter opening 26b orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is set to a value smaller than the size (length, width, thickness) of the rice grains to be washed. In order to discharge rice flour (rice crushed into pieces) that greatly affects the taste, it is preferably 0.2 mm or more and 2.0 mm or less. Further, in order to discharge rice bran stains and cracked rice together with water without discharging rice 18, 1.0 mm or more and 2.0 mm or less are preferable.

Further, on the surface of the filter base portion 26c, an elongated filter protrusion 26a is formed along the longitudinal edge of the filter opening 26b. That is, a vertically long filter protrusion 26a is formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening 26b. As for the spacing between the filter protrusions 26a arranged in parallel and adjacent to each other, for example, rice flour (rice crushed into pieces) that does not discharge rice 18 but does not discharge rice 18 and stains rice bran with water and greatly affects the taste is used. In order to discharge, it is preferably 0.2 mm or more and 2.0 mm or less. Further, in order to discharge rice bran stains and cracked rice together with water without discharging rice 18, 1.0 mm or more and 2.0 mm or less are preferable. Further, the distance between the adjacent filter protrusions 26a is preferably shorter than the minor axis of the rice 18. As a result, the rice 18 is blocked by the filter 26A by the plurality of filter protrusions 26a. Therefore, dirt and rice flour can be discharged without discharging the rice 18.

The filter protrusion 26a has a predetermined height from the surface (filter opening 26b) of the filter base portion 26c. The height of the filter protrusion 26a from the surface of the filter base 26c is similarly set to, for example, 1.0 mm or more and 2.0 mm or less. The height of the filter protrusion 26a is preferably 1.0 mm or more in order to sufficiently secure a drainage flow path from the side filter, and preferably 2.0 mm or less in order to efficiently drain water to the bottom of the pot. .. This is because the water at the bottom of the hook is not drained by the height of the filter protrusion 26a. The specific numerical values relating to the filter opening 26b and the filter opening 26b described above are examples, and the drainage filter 26A may be configured to be replaced so that the values can be changed according to the type of rice to be cooked.

Further, the length of the filter protrusion 26a in the longitudinal direction is formed longer than the length of the adjacent filter opening 26b in the longitudinal direction, and both end portions (26aa) in the longitudinal direction thereof are formed by a curved surface. Further, in the drainage filter 26A of the present embodiment, as a means for fixing to the drainage pipe 25 on the back surface of the filter base portion 26c (the upper surface when the drainage filter 26A shown in FIG. 4 is attached), for example, a male for screwing. Screws 26e (see FIG. 6) may be formed.

As described above, the filter openings 26b of the drainage filter 26A in the present embodiment have a vertically long shape and are arranged side by side, the filter protrusions 26a are extended in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the filter openings 26b, and the filter openings 26b It is formed adjacent to both sides of the.

FIG. 6 schematically shows a vertical cross section of the rice washing / draining unit 34 in the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the drainage pipe 25, and shows a key 25a that serves as a detent when the drainage pipe 25 is attached to the stirring blade 31. FIG. 8 is a plan view of the stirring blade 31, and shows a key groove 31c in which the key 25a of the drain pipe 25 is locked.

As shown in FIG. 6, at the lower end portion of the drainage pipe 25, a key 25a is projected from the outer periphery thereof, and a female screw 25b is formed on the inner circumference thereof. By screwing the male screw 26e of the drainage filter 26A to the female screw 25b of the drainage pipe 25 via the stirring blade 31, the drainage filter 26A is attached to the rice washing / draining unit 34, and the stirring blade 31 is predetermined. It is securely fixed in position. That is, since the drainage filter 26A is attached to the drainage pipe 25 via the stirring blade 31, the stirring blade 31 is surely attached to the rice washing / draining unit 34 by attaching the drainage filter 26A. Therefore, the drainage filter 26A is prevented from starting the rice washing operation without being attached to the rice washing / draining unit 34.

By performing the rice washing operation with the drainage filter 26A attached to the rice washing / draining unit 34, the rice grains to be washed are dammed up by the drainage filter 26A. As described above, the drainage filter 26A is provided with an elongated filter protrusion 26a along the elongated filter opening 26b. That is, filter protrusions 26a having a height are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening 26b. Further, the width of the filter opening 26b and the distance between the filter protrusions 26a on both sides of the filter opening 26b are set to be smaller than the size of the rice grains to be washed.

FIG. 9 schematically shows a state in which the rice grains 180 are dammed by the drainage filter 26A during rice washing. As shown in FIG. 9, when the water after washing is drained by the drain pipe 25 at the time of washing rice, the washed rice grains 180 are arranged side by side and dammed by the adjacent filter protrusions 26a. At this time, fine powder and dirt such as rice bran, starch powder, and small cracked rice smaller than the size of the rice grain 180 pass between the side-by-side filter protrusions 26a and flow out from the filter opening 26b to the drain pipe 25. .. As shown in FIG. 9, even if the washed rice grains 180 come into contact with the filter protrusions 26a arranged side by side and are further dammed, the filter protrusions 26a have a height from the filter base 26c in the drainage filter 26A. Therefore, water can flow into the drain pipe 25 from between the longitudinal ends 26aa of the filter protrusions 26a arranged side by side with respect to the filter opening 26b. That is, in the drainage filter 26A, the surface of the filter protrusion 26a facing the bottom of the inner pot 3 serves as the front side filter, and the surface facing the side surface of the inner pot 3 serves as the side surface side filter.

When draining the rice in the rice washing / draining unit 34, the suction from the drain pipe 25 is mainly concentrated on the front side filter in the drainage filter 26A. Therefore, the rice grain 180 is easily dammed on the front side filter of the drainage filter 26A, and the rice grain 180 is not easily dammed on the side filter. Further, in the present embodiment, the space between the end portions 26aa of the adjacent filter protrusions 26a constituting the side filter is smaller than the size of the rice grain 180, and each end portion 26aa is formed on a curved surface. The rice grain 180 is prevented from being dammed by the side filter.

[1-4. Operation when washing rice]
In the rice cooker of the present embodiment, the rice washing operation is performed after water supply, rice weighing, and rice supply. In the rice cooker, rinsing is performed prior to the rice washing operation. In the rice washing / draining unit 34, the stirring blade 31 is arranged at an upper position near the inner surface side of the inner lid 11 at the initial stage (see FIG. 1). In the rice washing / draining unit 34, the drainage pipe 25 is moved to a lower position and the stirring blade 31 at the lower part of the drainage pipe 25 is arranged at a lower position near the bottom surface of the inner pot 3 before the rice is supplied. It is installed (see Fig. 2).

The rinse is drained from the inner pot 3 as soon as a predetermined amount of water and rice are supplied to the inner pot 3. Since the water drained at this time has dirt adhering to the surface of the rice 18, this is to prevent the rice 18 in the inner pot 3 from absorbing the dirty water. In the rinsing operation, the inside of the inner pot 3 may be agitated with water by the stirring blade 31 when the inner pot 3 is being supplied with rice or immediately after the rice is being supplied. .. That is, the stirring blade rotation drive unit 32 may be driven at the same time as the rice is supplied to be stirred by the stirring blade 31, and the rice 18 may be cleaned by a water stream. In this way, by slightly stirring the rice 18 to remove stains and then immediately draining the rice, the degree of rice washing (degree of stain removal) becomes higher.

After the rinsing drainage is completed, a predetermined amount of water for washing rice is supplied to the inner pot 3. When a predetermined amount of water for washing rice is supplied to the inner pot 3, the rice washing / draining unit 34 is driven and the stirring blade 31 rotates. The rotation speed of the stirring blade 31 during rice washing is a low speed, for example, in the range of 30 to 120 rpm. If the rotation speed is less than 30 rpm, the dirt will not be removed sufficiently, and if it is more than 120 rpm, it will occur if a lot of rice is broken. At this time, the rotation speed may be changed according to the type of rice. Due to the low speed rotation of the stirring blade 31, the rice 18 moves up and down and the rice rubs against each other, so that the desired rice washing is performed. After this rice washing operation, a drainage operation for draining dirty water is performed. In this way, the rice is washed by repeating the rice washing operation and the draining operation a predetermined number of times.

After the rice washing / draining unit 34 has washed the rice a predetermined number of times as described above, the drainage pipe 25 of the rice washing / draining unit 34 moves upward and is arranged at the initial position. At this time, the stirring blade 31 arranged at a position near the bottom surface (lower position) of the inner pot 3 moves upward from the rice 18 after washing and is near the inner lid 11 (upper position) which is the initial position. ) Is placed. When the stirring blade 31 moves upward, the rice grains 180 on the stirring blade 31 or the like may be shaken off while rotating at a low speed (for example, 30 to 120 rpm). Further, the stirring blade 31 may be rotated at a low speed (for example, 30 to 120 rpm) to flatten the surface of the rice after washing.

[1-5. Effect, etc.]
The rice cooker of the present embodiment using the rice washing / draining unit 34 configured as described above is a rice washing operation in which water is supplied to the inside of the inner pot 3 which is a container, the rice in the container is agitated, and the rice is drained after stirring. Can be done efficiently. By using the drainage filter 26A in the present embodiment, fine powders such as rice bran, starch powder, and small cracked rice generated during rice washing are surely permeated, and the rice grains 180 necessary for cooking rice are washed after the rice is washed. It can be reliably left in the container. Further, since the drainage filter 26A in the present embodiment can significantly suppress the occurrence of clogging, it is possible to surely perform a desired rice washing treatment at the time of washing rice.

Although the stirring blade 31 in the rice cooker of the present embodiment has been described with a configuration in which it rotates in one direction, the present disclosure is not limited to this configuration. For example, the rotation direction C of the stirring blade 31 may be configured to rotate in two directions, that is, in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions on the rotating surface B. In that case, the stirring blades 31 are formed on both sides so that the inclined surfaces D face upward with respect to both rotation directions C so as to correspond to the two directions on the rotating surface B.

In the rice cooker of the present embodiment configured as described above, the rice grains 180 existing at the same height as the stirring blade 31 are generated by the rotation of the stirring blade 31 in the rotation direction C inside the inner pot 3 which is a container. , Moves upward along the inclined surface D. As a result, the rice grains 180 existing above the height of the stirring blade 31 also move in conjunction with the rice grains 180 moving along the inclined surface D. Therefore, as the stirring blade 31 rotates, the entire rice in the container (inner pot 3) moves up and down in the vertical direction, and some rice also moves in the rotation direction C. By moving the rice in this way, the rice grains 180 and the rice grains 180, the rice grains 180 and the stirring blade 31, or the rice grains 180 and the inner surface of the container (inner pot 3) are rubbed against each other. As a result, the rice in the container can be removed from the rice bran component, and the desired rice can be washed.

Further, in the rice washing in the rice cooker of the present embodiment, even if the stirring blade 31 is slowly rotated at a low speed, the whole rice can be moved in conjunction with each other, so that the load applied to the rice 18 is reduced, and as a result, the rice grains. Problems such as the 180 breaking can be eliminated. Further, since the rice grains 180 existing at the same height as the stirring blade 31 move along the inclined surface D, the load applied to the rice grains 180 at the time of contact between the rice grains 180 and the stirring blade 31 is small, and the stirring blade 31 The torque for moving the wheel in the rotation direction C can be reduced.

The stirring blade 31 in the present embodiment rotates inside the container (inner pot 3) when it rises from the lower position, which is the rice washing position, and returns to the upper position, which is the initial position, after the rice washing is completed. It may be configured to rise while increasing. With this configuration, when the stirring blade 31 rises, the rice grains that may be on the stirring blade 31 can be shaken off. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the rice is prevented from being cooked with the rice grains on the stirring blade 31.

Further, when the stirring blade 31 rises inside the container after the rice has been washed, it stops moving upward at the surface position of the rice 18 after washing and rotates at that position to smooth the surface after washing the rice. You may go. In this way, by smoothing the surface of the rice after washing using the lower surface of the stirring blade 31, it is possible to cook the cooked rice more deliciously.

(Embodiment 2)
Hereinafter, the rice cooker of the second embodiment will be described. The rice cooker of the second embodiment is a fully automatic rice cooker in which water supply, rice weighing, rice supply, rice washing, and rice cooking are automatically performed as a sequence, similarly to the rice cooker of the first embodiment. The difference between the rice cooker of the second embodiment and the rice cooker of the first embodiment is the configuration of the rice washing / draining unit.

[2-1. Composition of rice washing / drainage unit]
FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing a vertical cross section of the rice washing / draining unit 340 in the rice cooker of the second embodiment. Like the rice washing / draining unit 34 in the first embodiment, the rice washing / draining unit 340 in the rice cooker of the second embodiment is formed with a drainage pipe 250 penetrating the inner lid 11 up and down and a rod shape extending in the horizontal direction. It is provided with a stirring blade 310 and a drainage filter 26A.

As shown in FIG. 10, the drainage pipe 250 of the rice washing / drainage unit 340 in the present embodiment has a double pipe structure, and has an outer pipe 250a and an inner pipe 250b. The drain pipe 250 and the stirring blade 310 have a configuration in which the inside of the inner pot 3 housed in the accommodating portion 5 of the rice cooker main body 1 can be moved up and down, and the stirring blade 310 has a configuration similar to the configuration of the first embodiment described above. The blade 310 has a configuration in which the outer tube 250a rotates about a central axis extending in the vertical direction as a rotation axis (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The outer tube 250a is integrally formed with the stirring blade 310. Here, the fact that the outer tube 250a and the stirring blade 310 are integrally formed means that the outer tube 250a and the stirring blade 310 operate simultaneously as one, and is composed of one member. It is not specific. That is, the outer tube 250a and the stirring blade 310 may be formed of separate members and fixed to each other.

As shown in FIG. 10, the drainage filter 26A is attached by fixing means, for example, screwing so as to cover the drainage port at the lower end portion of the inner pipe 250b. Further, by screwing the drainage filter 26A to the lower end portion of the inner pipe 250b, the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 are rotatably held by the inner pipe 250b and the drainage filter 26a.

In the present embodiment, the stirring blade 310 rotates with the outer pipe 250a of the rice washing / draining unit 340 as the axis of rotation. Therefore, the outer tube 250a is rotationally driven by the stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 provided inside the lid portion 2 as in the first embodiment. The stirring blade vertical drive unit 33 provided inside the lid 2 is configured to drive the inner pipe 250b up and down together with the outer pipe 250a to move the rice washing / drainage unit 340 up and down. Similar to the first embodiment, the stirring blade vertical drive unit 33 has a configuration in which the stirring blade 310 is moved up and down inside the inner pot 3 while maintaining a state parallel to the rotating surface. The stirring blade rotation driving unit 32 and the stirring blade vertical driving unit 33 are individually driven or controlled at the same time according to the sequence.

In the rice washing / draining unit 340 configured as described above, the drainage pipe 250 has a double pipe structure consisting of an outer pipe 250a and an inner pipe 250b. A slight gap is formed between the outer tube 250a and the inner tube 250b. In FIG. 10, the gap between the outer tube 250a and the inner tube 250b is exaggerated. Further, in the present embodiment, the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 are mounted by screwing the male screw 26e of the drainage filter 26A to the female screw 250ba formed at the lower end portion of the inner pipe 250b. Will be done. As shown in FIG. 10, the integral structure of the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 is held between the step 250bb formed on the upper part of the inner pipe 250b and the back surface (upper surface in FIG. 10) of the drainage filter 26A. It will be in a state of being done. Therefore, even if the integral structure of the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 is rotationally driven, the inner pipe 250b and the drainage filter 26A are not rotationally driven at the same time. That is, the inner pipe 250b and the drainage filter 26A are in a state in which the integral structure of the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 is movably held.

Since the rice washing / draining unit 340 is configured as described above, by removing the drainage filter 26A from the inner pipe 250b, the integrated structure of the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 can be removed, and the rice cooking operation is completed. Later, the rice washing / draining unit 340 can be disassembled and washed.

In the rice washing / draining unit 340 of the present embodiment, the drainage pipe 250 has a double pipe structure, and in the rice washing operation, the integrated structure of the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 is relative to the inner pipe 250b and the drainage filter 26A. It is configured to vibrate slightly up, down, left and right. Therefore, it is conceivable that dirt may enter between the outer pipe 250a and the inner pipe 250b, and between the drainage filter 26A and the stirring blade 310, but the structure is expected to flow out due to vibration and water flow during rice washing. .. As described above, these stains can be dealt with by disassembling and cleaning the rice washing / draining unit 340 after the rice cooking operation is completed.

[2-2. Effect, etc.]
The rice cooker of the present embodiment using the rice washing / draining unit 340 configured as described above is a rice washing operation in which water is supplied to the inside of the inner pot 3 which is a container, the rice in the container is agitated, and the rice is drained after stirring. Can be done efficiently. The rice washing / draining unit 340 according to the present embodiment has a structure in which the integrated structure of the outer pipe 250a and the stirring blade 310 is rotationally driven, and the inner pipe 250b does not rotate. Therefore, the drainage structure inside the lid portion 2 has no rotating portion, and the drainage structure can be simplified. Further, in the rice cooker of the present embodiment, the rice washing / draining unit 340 has a structure that can be easily disassembled and cleaned, and has a structure that is easy to handle.

(Other embodiments)
As described above, Embodiments 1 and 2 have been described as examples of the techniques disclosed in this application. However, the techniques in the present disclosure are not limited to these, and can be applied to embodiments in which changes, replacements, additions, omissions, etc. are made. It is also possible to combine the components described in the first and second embodiments to form a new embodiment.

Therefore, other embodiments will be illustrated below.
In the first and second embodiments, as an example of the rice washing / draining unit provided inside the rice cooker, the structure of the drainage pipe is described as a single pipe structure and a double pipe structure. As an example of other embodiments, a modified example of the drainage filter fixed to these drainage pipes will be described.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the lower surface (the surface corresponding to the bottom of the inner pot 3) of the drainage filter 26B of the modified example as another embodiment. The drainage filter 26B shown in FIG. 11 shows a portion exposed from the central portion of the lower surface of the stirring blades 31 and 310 (see FIGS. 6 and 10). The drainage filter 26B is attached by fixing means such as screwing or hooking (engagement stop) so as to cover the opening of the lower end portion of the drainage pipes 25 and 250, and the drainage pipes 25 and 250 are connected by this fixing means. The stirring blades 31 and 310 are fixed.

As shown in FIG. 11, the difference between the drainage filter 26B and the drainage filter 26A in the first embodiment is that the filter base portion 26c has a plurality of vertically long grooves on the surface (lower surface in the mounted state shown in FIG. 4). The point is that the opening 26b is formed short. In the drainage filter 26B, a plurality of filter openings 26b are formed in a vertical row along the vertically long filter protrusions 26a. As a result, the rigidity of the drainage filter 26B is higher than that of the drainage filter 26A. In the drainage filter 26B shown in FIG. 11, the filter protrusions 26a have a vertically long shape and are arranged side by side, and a plurality of filter openings 26b are arranged in a vertical row along the longitudinal direction of the filter protrusions 26a. In the drainage filter 26B configured in this way, the opening shape of the filter opening 26b, which is a drainage hole, does not bend, and a predetermined shape can be reliably maintained.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the lower surface of the drainage filter 26C (the surface corresponding to the bottom of the inner pot 3) of another modified example as another embodiment. The drainage filter 26C shown in FIG. 12 shows a portion exposed from the central portion of the lower surface of the stirring blades 31 and 310 (see FIGS. 6 and 10). The drainage filter 26C is also attached by fixing means such as screwing or hooking (engagement stopping) so as to cover the opening of the lower end portion of the drainage pipes 25 and 250 as in the other embodiments. The drain pipes 25 and 250 and the stirring blades 31 and 310 are fixed by this fixing means. In the drainage filter 26C shown in FIG. 12, filter protrusions 26a are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening 26b, and a plurality of filter protrusions 26a and a plurality of filter openings 26b are arranged in a vertical row.

Similar to the drainage filter 26B shown in FIG. 11, the drainage filter 26C shown in FIG. 12 has a plurality of vertically short filter openings 26b formed in a vertical row, and vertically short filters are formed on both sides of the filter openings 26b. The protrusion 26a is formed. In the drainage filter 26C shown in FIG. 12, the filter protrusions 26a have a vertically short length similar to the short filter opening 26b, and are formed on both sides of the filter opening 26b. As a result, on the surface of the filter base portion 26c, many vertically long filter protrusions 26a have a predetermined height and are formed so as to sandwich the filter opening 26b, so that the filter opening 26b serving as a drain hole is formed. On the other hand, water during rice washing flows in from between the curved end portions 26aa of the adjacent filter protrusions 26a (see FIG. 9). Therefore, the structure is such that the occurrence of clogging in the drainage filter 26C during rice washing can be suppressed.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the lower surface (the surface corresponding to the bottom of the inner pot 3) of the drainage filter 26D of still another modified example as another embodiment. The drainage filter 26D shown in FIG. 13 shows a portion exposed from the central portion of the lower surface of the stirring blades 31 and 310 (see FIGS. 6 and 10). The drainage filter 26D is also attached by fixing means such as screwing or hooking (engagement stopping) so as to cover the opening of the lower end portion of the drainage pipes 25 and 250 as in the other embodiments. The drain pipes 25 and 250 and the stirring blades 31 and 310 are fixed by this fixing means.

In the drainage filter 26D shown in FIG. 13, the filter opening 26b serving as a drainage hole has a hole shape and is composed of a plurality of round holes. The hole shape of the filter opening 26b is not specified as a round hole, but may be an elongated hole, an ellipse, a rectangular hole, or the like. Filter protrusions 26a, which are a plurality of protrusions, are formed on all sides of these filter openings 26b. The filter protrusion 26a shown in FIG. 13 is a round protrusion, but it may be formed with gaps on all sides of the filter opening 26b, and the shape of the filter protrusion 26a is not specified. The shape of the filter protrusion 26a and the filter opening 26b is preferably a curved surface in consideration of rice cracking during rice washing, water flow during drainage, and drainage efficiency.

In the drainage filter 26D shown in FIG. 13, since a large number of filter protrusions 26a have a predetermined height on the surface of the filter base portion 26c and are formed on all sides of the filter opening 26b, the filter opening 26b serving as a drainage hole is formed. Water during rice washing will flow in from many gaps between the adjacent filter protrusions 26a. Therefore, the structure is such that the occurrence of clogging in the drainage filter 26C during rice washing can be suppressed.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the lower surface of the drainage filter 26E (the surface corresponding to the bottom of the inner pot 3), which is still another modified example as another embodiment. The drainage filter 26E shown in FIG. 14 shows a portion exposed from the central portion of the lower surface of the stirring blades 31 and 310 (see FIGS. 6 and 10). The drainage filter 26E is also attached by fixing means such as screwing or hooking (engagement stopping) so as to cover the opening of the lower end portion of the drainage pipes 25 and 250 as in the other embodiments. The drain pipes 25 and 250 and the stirring blades 31 and 310 are fixed by this fixing means.

The drainage filter 26E shown in FIG. 14 is a comparative example of the drainage filter 26B shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, in the drainage filter 26E, similarly to the drainage filter 26B, a plurality of vertically long grooves 26b are formed short on the surface of the filter base portion 26c. In the drainage filter 26E, the filter protrusions 26a on both sides of the filter openings 26b formed in a vertical row are formed in a rectangular shape. That is, as shown in FIG. 14, the filter protrusion 26a has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. Even in the filter protrusion 26a formed in this way, water during rice washing flows from between the end portions 26aa of the filter protrusion 26a, and the drainage filter 26E can be prevented from being clogged. Since the filter protrusion 26a in the drainage filter 26E shown in FIG. 14 has a rectangular shape and a shape having corners, rice grains may come into contact with the corners during rice washing, drainage, or the like to split the rice. Therefore, in the configuration of the drainage filter 26E shown in FIG. 14, it is preferable that the corner portion has a curved surface configuration.

The filter protrusion 26a described in each embodiment may be selected as a predetermined height from the surface of the filter base portion 26c according to the size (length, width, thickness) of the rice grains to be washed. It is possible. In each embodiment, the height of the filter protrusion 26a from the surface of the filter base 26c is usually set to a value smaller than the size of the rice grains to be washed, for example, 1.0 mm or more and 2.0 mm or less. Is set to the height of. The height of the filter protrusion 26a is preferably 1.0 mm or more in order to sufficiently secure a drainage flow path from the side filter, and preferably 2.0 mm or less in order to efficiently drain water to the bottom of the pot. .. This is because the water at the bottom of the hook is not drained by the height of the filter protrusion 26a.

In the first and second embodiments, and other embodiments, the rice washing / draining unit provided inside the fully automatic rice cooker has been described as an example of the rice cooker. According to the present disclosure, the rice may be provided with a structure in which the stirring blade stirs the rice to drain it and wash the rice in the stage before cooking the rice. Therefore, the rice washing / draining unit of the present disclosure does not have to be included as an internal configuration of the rice cooker, and may be applied to a device used for the purpose of washing rice or a rice washing machine used only for the purpose of washing rice. Is possible. Therefore, the configuration having the rice washing function described in the first and second embodiments and the other embodiments is the configuration of the rice washing machine. Since the stirring blades of the rice washing / draining unit of the present disclosure can efficiently wash rice even by rotating at a low rotation speed, it can be applied even to a rice washing machine that drains water by manually rotating the stirring blades. Is.

Although the present invention has been described in each embodiment with some detail, these configurations are exemplary and the disclosures of these embodiments should vary in detail. In the present invention, substitutions, combinations, and changes in order of elements in each embodiment can be realized without departing from the claimed scope and ideas of the present invention.

Since the above-described embodiment is for exemplifying the technique in the present disclosure, various changes, replacements, additions, omissions, etc. can be made within the scope of claims or the equivalent scope thereof.

The present disclosure can be applied to rice cookers and rice washing machines having a rice washing function, and can provide a rice washing mechanism having high rice washing performance by suppressing clogging at the time of drainage and providing equipment having market value.

1 Rice cooker body 2 Lid 3 Inner pot 4 Outer pot 5 Accommodation 6 Heat source 7 Pot bottom temperature sensor 8 Lid hinge 9 Hook button (lid open switch)
10 Operation display 11 Inner lid 12 Inner lid seal 13 Inner lid Steam port 14 Steam path 15 Steam port 16 Steam port seal 17 Rice screw 18 Rice 19 Rice screw lid 20 Rice weighing part 21 Rice transport part 22 Rice feeding route 23 Inner lid Rice feeding Port 24 Rice supply port seal 25, 250 Drain pipe 25a Key 25b Female screw 26A, 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E Drain filter 26a Filter protrusion 26aa End 26b Filter opening 26c Filter base 26d Rib 26e Male screw 27 Drain path connector 28 Drainage route 29 Drainage pump 30 Drainage port 31, 310 Stirring blade 31a Base end 31b Extended end 31c Key groove 32 Stirring blade rotation drive 33 Stirring blade vertical drive 34,340 Rice washing / drainage unit 35 Oil seal 36 Vertical drive Guide 37 Vertical drive gear 38 Inner lid Water supply port 39 Water supply path 40 Water supply port seal 41 Water supply valve 42 Water supply port 43 Control unit 180 Rice grain 250a Outer pipe 250b Inner pipe A Rotating shaft B Rotating surface C Rotating direction D Inclined surface

Claims (16)

A container for rice and water,
A rice washing / draining unit that rotates inside the container and drains the water inside the container.
It is a rice cooker equipped with
The rice washing / draining unit
A stirring blade that rotates inside the container to stir rice and water,
A drainage pipe in which at least a part of the stirring blade is integrally formed and a drainage port is arranged inside the container to drain water inside the container.
A drainage filter provided so as to cover the drainage port of the drainage pipe and
Including
The drainage filter is a rice cooker having a filter opening which is a plurality of through ports and a plurality of filter protrusions formed across the filter opening. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the filter protrusion has a predetermined height from the filter opening and is formed of a curved surface. The filter opening has a vertically elongated shape and is arranged side by side, and the filter protrusions extend in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the filter opening and are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening. The rice cooker according to 2. The rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the filter protrusions have a vertically long shape and are arranged side by side, and a plurality of the filter openings are arranged in a vertical row along the longitudinal direction of the filter protrusions. The rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the filter protrusions are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening, and the plurality of the filter protrusions and the plurality of the filter openings are respectively arranged in a vertical row. The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the drainage filter is configured to be attached to the drainage pipe via the stirring blade. The drainage pipe includes an inner pipe for draining water inside the container and an outer pipe integrally formed with the stirring blade.
The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the drainage filter is attached to the inner pipe so that the outer pipe with the stirring blade is rotatably held. .. The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the distance between the plurality of adjacent filter protrusions is shorter than the minor axis of rice. The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the rice is dammed by the plurality of filter protrusions. A container for rice and water,
A rice washing / draining unit that rotates inside the container and drains the water inside the container.
It is a rice washing machine equipped with
The rice washing / draining unit
A stirring blade that rotates inside the container to stir rice and water,
A drainage pipe in which at least a part of the stirring blade is integrally formed and a drainage port is arranged inside the container to drain water inside the container.
A drainage filter provided so as to cover the drainage port of the drainage pipe and
Including
The drainage filter is a rice washing machine having a filter opening which is a plurality of through ports and a plurality of filter protrusions formed across the filter opening. The rice washing machine according to claim 10, wherein the filter protrusion has a predetermined height from the filter opening and is formed of a curved surface. 10. The filter opening has a vertically elongated shape and is arranged side by side, and the filter protrusions extend in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the filter opening and are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening. The rice washing machine according to 11. The rice washing machine according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the filter protrusions have a vertically long shape and are arranged side by side, and a plurality of the filter openings are arranged in a vertical row along the longitudinal direction of the filter protrusions. The rice washing machine according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the filter protrusions are formed adjacent to both sides of the filter opening, and the plurality of the filter protrusions and the plurality of the filter openings are respectively arranged in a vertical row. The rice washing machine according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the drainage filter is configured to be attached to the drainage pipe via the stirring blade. The drainage pipe includes an inner pipe for draining water inside the container and an outer pipe integrally formed with the stirring blade.
The rice washing machine according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the drainage filter is mounted on the inner pipe so that the outer pipe with the stirring blade is rotatably held. ..

Images