JP2794685B2 - rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rice cooker having a heating means for heating a container, and controlling the heating means to execute various operations such as rice cooking and normal heat keeping.

[0002]

In a conventional rice cooker of this type, a container containing rice and water to be cooked is heated by a rice cooker provided at an inner bottom portion of the main body of the cooker, and then cooked.
It is configured to heat the cooked rice to a predetermined temperature by heating the container by a warming heater provided on an inner portion of the vessel body and a lid. The temperature of the rice during the heat retention is set at about 70 ° C. by JIS.

[0003] By the way, from the viewpoint of taste, the best condition of the rice temperature is about 100 ° C immediately after cooking, so that when the rice is unraveled in a container, the rice temperature will be about 80 to 90 ° C. It becomes rice temperature of about 70-75 degrees Celsius when it is served on a bowl. Therefore, the temperature of delicious rice is about 70-
It is around 75 ° C. However, in the case of a normal rice cooker, since the temperature is controlled so as to maintain the rice temperature at about 70 ° C, the rice temperature is about 55 to 60 ° C at the time when the rice is loosened with a rice scoop and placed in a bowl. It has dropped to a degree, and delicious rice cannot be obtained.

To cope with such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-99925 discloses that if a lid is opened and then closed during heat insulation, the container is reheated to a temperature higher than the heat insulation temperature for a predetermined time. There is disclosed a rice cooker capable of performing the above-described reheating and warming operation.

In the above prior art, there is no problem in reheating rice cooked in the white rice cooking course while keeping the heat. However, if a rice porridge course other than the white rice cooking course is selected and the reheating warming operation is performed, the container is heated. If the inside porridge deteriorates to a paste state due to heating, or if a reheating and heat-retaining operation is performed by selecting a cooking course, problems such as intense burning occur.

Further , Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-92634 discloses
If you choose the porridge cooking course, keep warm after cooking rice
By avoiding the action, avoid porridge gelatinization
A rice cooker is disclosed. However, such a structure
In Nari, select a porridge cooking course other than a white rice cooking course
If you do, the heat retention operation itself will not be performed
In order for the rice porridge in the container to cool,
Become.

[0007] In view of the above problems, the present invention can continue the normal warming operation even in a course other than the white rice cooking course.
Besides this white rice cooking course,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a rice cooker that can eliminate a problem caused by performing a reheating and keeping operation during a heating operation.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a container for accommodating cooked rice, heating means for heating the container, temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the container, and detection from the temperature detecting means. Control means for controlling the heating means based on the temperature to execute each operation such as rice cooking and normal warming, and when the reheating warming operation instruction means is operated during the normal warming operation, the control is performed. Means for controlling the heating means to heat the rice to a predetermined temperature higher than the warming temperature during the normal warming operation, wherein the rice cooker performs a reheating warming operation, wherein the reheating warming operation instruction means during the normal warming operation. If the course selection is at least porridge when the is operated, the control means does not execute the reheating and warming operation and the normal heating is performed.
It is configured to perform a temperature operation .

[0009] According to this configuration, even when the reheating and heat retaining operation instructing means is operated when at least the porridge course other than the white rice cooking course is selected, the reheating and thermal retaining operation is performed.
Instead, a normal warming operation is performed. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a problem that the porridge deteriorates to a paste state due to the reheating and heat retaining operation. In addition, even if the reheating / warming operation instruction means is operated,
There is no danger that the rice porridge in the vessel will not be kept warm.

[0010]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 16, reference numeral 1 denotes a vessel main body having an inner case 2 and an outer case 3;
6 is a rice cooker heater serving as a heating means provided at the bottom of the inner case 2, 7 A is a heating body heater serving as a heating means provided on a side surface of the inner case 2, and 7 B is provided on an inner surface of the lid 4. The heating lid heater as a heating means, 8 is a container 5
A temperature sensor 9 for detecting the temperature of the container 5 inside by a cup-shaped heat-sensitive portion provided so as to be elastically pressed against the outer bottom of the container 5
Is provided. Reference numeral 10 denotes an electronic circuit unit that controls inputs of the rice cooker 6, the warming body heater 7 </ b> A, and the warming lid heater 7 </ b> B based on temperature detection information and the like by the temperature sensor 9, and is provided on the side of the outer case 3.

3 to 11 show a display unit provided on the lid 4.
11 and an operation unit 12. The display unit 11 has a display unit 13 composed of an LCD. The display unit 13 has a time display unit 14 for the current time, which is constituted by a 4-digit 7-segment LCD. The time display section 15 displays the time to eat, such as the time and the completion time of reheating and warming. And a course display section 17 for displaying a rice cooking menu or a plurality of courses with different degrees of heat together with the surrounding frame 16. Display section
Reference numeral 11 denotes a mode display section 18, 18A, 18 comprising five LEDs.
B, 18C, 19, 18 is for timer, 18A is for fast cooking, 18B is for cooking rice, 18C is for normal warming, 19 is for reheating and warming. I do.
The operation unit 12 includes a plurality of operation switches, which are provided with a current time switch 20 provided on the left side of the display unit 13.
A reheating / insulation switch 21 serving as a reheating / insulation operation instructing means provided at a lower portion of the reheating / insulation mode display portion 19 and provided at a right portion of the display portion 13; and provided at a lower portion of the display portion 13. Menu for selecting the course / heat selection switch 22
, Timer switch forward switch 23 and return switch 24, timer rice cooker switch 25, rice cooker switch
26 and a cancel switch 27 for canceling.

When the reheating / insulation switch 21 is not operated, ordinary heat retention by the first heating / heating pattern is set. By pressing the switch 21, reheating / insulation by the second heating / heating pattern is set. Pressing 21 again sets the normal warming. Each time the menu / heat selection switch 22 is pressed, each course is set in advance from the preset white rice cooked plump to white rice cooked, cooked, brown rice cooked, rice porridge cooked, white rice cooked plumply and set. Is surrounded by the surrounding frame 16. In this case, when the off switch 27 is operated or when the power is restored from the power failure, the rice is automatically set to the standard heating pattern of white rice cooking. By pressing the forward switch 23 or the back switch 24, the eating time or the current time is adjusted. After pressing the current time switch 20, press the switches 23 and 24 to adjust the current time, and then press the current time switch 20 again to set the current time. The time is set. The time display section 15 displays the time of the last cooked rice cooked by the timer, and switches 23 and 24 are used to change the cooked time, and then the timer cooker switch 25 is pressed to set the cooked time and the timer cooked. Starts. Each time the cooker switch 26 is pressed, cooked rice, cooked rice, and heat retention are set in order. Also, the mode display section 18C is turned on during the execution of the normal heat retention, and the mode display section 18C and the mode display section 19 are turned on during the execution of the reheating heat retention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration.
A / A which constitutes the temperature detecting means 29 with the temperature sensor 9
It is a D converter and outputs a signal corresponding to the detected temperature. 30
Is a control means comprising a microcomputer constituting the electronic circuit unit 10, which is a well-known CPU 31, a clock circuit 32, a memory 33, a backup circuit 34, an input circuit 3
5, a backup circuit 34 with an output circuit 36, etc.
Is connected to a battery 37. The control means 30 has a plurality of types of programs, a first heat retention heating pattern for controlling the temperature of the rice to a predetermined temperature, for example, 70 ° C., based on a selection signal of the reheat retention switch 21 serving as a reheating retention operation instruction means,
A heat-retention control means for selectively setting a second heat-retention heating pattern for controlling the temperature of the rice to a heat-retention temperature higher than a predetermined temperature, for example, 90 ° C., and controlling the input of the heat-retention heater circuit 7 according to the set heat-retention heating pattern. have. The control means 30 controls the driving of the rice cooking heater 6 and the warming heater circuit 7 as heating means via the drive circuit 38 in accordance with the switch signal of the operation section 12 and the detected temperature of the container 5. 11 drive control is performed.

FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of a power supply section and a heater driving section. Reference numeral 40 denotes a commercial power supply, and a rice cooker 6, a parallel circuit of the heaters 7A and 7B, and a triac 41 are connected in series between both terminals. It is connected to the. Heat retention heaters 7A, 7B
The normally open relay switch 42A constituting the relay 42 is connected in parallel to the series circuit with the triac 41. 43
Is a power transformer, and a predetermined power voltage is supplied to the microcomputer as the control means 30 via the power transformer 43 and the constant voltage circuit 44. The control means 30 inputs a temperature signal of the container 5 from a thermistor as the temperature sensor 9 and inputs a rice cooking start signal from a container detection switch 45 for detecting that the container 5 is set in the inner case 2. The control means 30 is provided with an exciting coil of the relay 42 via a relay drive circuit 46.
At the same time as exciting 42B, the triac 41 is driven via the triac drive circuit 47, the triac 41 is opened during rice cooking, the relay 42 is closed, the container 5 is heated by the rice cooking heater 6, and the relay 42 is opened during heat retention. The container 5 is heated by a warming heater circuit 7 formed of a series circuit of a rice cooking heater 6 and a parallel circuit of warming heaters 7A and 7B.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
First, referring to FIGS. 3 to 11, FIG.
This shows a state in which all the display units 13 made of D are turned on. When the power plug is inserted into the outlet from this state, the display state shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. Here, the time display section 14 displays the current time “12:00”, and the time display section 15 displays the cooking time “8:00” set in the previous timer rice cooking.
Is displayed, and all the courses are displayed on the course display section 17, and the surrounding frame 16 lights up around the white rice cooking plump, indicating that the white rice cooking plump course is set. In this state, if it is not necessary to change the content of the cooked rice, the cooker starts by simply pressing the cooked rice switch 26. When the switch 27 is pressed during the rice cooking and heat retaining operation, the display returns to the display of FIG.

FIG. 5 shows the rice cooker switch 26 from the display state of FIG.
This is the display during the rice cooking operation when is pressed.
In 17, only the set white rice cooking plump is displayed surrounded by an enclosing frame 16, the mode display section 18 B for rice cooking is turned on, and the other course display contents and the meal time display are turned off. Also, when the timer rice cooker switch 25 is pressed, the timer and rice cooker mode display sections 18 and 18B are turned on, and the eating time 8:00 remains lit, and a certain time before the eating time, for example, 60 minutes before the eating time. Cooking rice starts. Then, when it becomes “8:00” at the time of eating, rice cooking is completed and a buzzer or the like is notified.

FIG. 6 shows a display in a state where the normal heat-retention operation is performed by the first heat-retention heating pattern after the rice cooking is completed, and the mode display section 18C for heat retention is turned on.
Then, when the reheating / insulation switch 21 is pressed to execute the reheating / insulation operation according to the second heating / heating pattern, the reheating / insulation mode display unit 19 is turned on together with the insulation mode display unit 18C as shown in FIG. Then, the eating time is displayed as “1:30 minutes after” the fixed time, for example, 90 minutes after the current time, and the remaining time is sequentially subtracted with the lapse of time and displayed. After that, when the reheating and heat retaining operation is completed, the process shifts to the normal heat retaining operation according to the first heat retaining and heating pattern, and as shown in FIG.

FIGS. 9 to 11 show the display state of the timer warming. First, when the forward switch 23 or the return switch 24 is pressed during the normal warming operation in which the mode display section 18C for warming is turned on, FIG. As shown, the eating time of "3:30" 90 minutes after "2:00" of the current time is displayed, and then the switches 23 and 24 are operated to change the eating time to "6:30" as shown in FIG. After changing to 00, the switches 23 and 24 are turned off, and "6:"
When "00" flashes and is displayed, and then the reheating switch 21 is pressed, the time for eating is turned on as shown in FIG. 11, and the mode display section 18 for the timer is turned on to start the timer operation. 90 minutes before the time to eat, the reheating and warming operation starts and the display shifts to the display of FIG. 7, and “1:30 minutes later” indicating 90 minutes later is displayed as the time to eat and reheat. Mode display section 19 for heat retention
Lights up. When the reheating / insulating operation is completed, the operation shifts to the ordinary warming operation and the display of FIG. 8 is displayed.

Next, the graphs of FIGS.
2, the heat retention control will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, a case where the operations of cooking rice and keeping heat are executed in series will be described (see FIGS. 14 and 12).

When the rice cook switch 26 is turned on, the rice cook operation starts (see FIG. 5). For example, 10 for rice cooker 6
Electricity is supplied by inputting 00W, and after the detection of boiling, power cutoff control is performed, and when the detected temperature T reaches the cooking temperature (120 ° C.), the rice cooker 6 is turned off, and the rice cooker completes the rice cooker by executing a 15 minute swing process. Then, the process shifts to a normal heat-retention operation according to the first heat-retention heating pattern (see FIG. 6) (step 1). This means that the heater circuit 7 is turned off until the detected temperature T drops to 70 ° C. When the detected temperature T becomes 70 ° C. or lower, the heater circuit 7 is energized by inputting, for example, 65 W. On the other hand, T ≧ 70 ° C. is OFF, and T <70 ° C. is ON, and the temperature of the container 5 is maintained at 70 ° C. by performing ON / OFF control. When the reheating / insulation switch 21 is turned ON during the normal heating operation (step 2), the reheating and effective conditions of steps 3 to 7 are determined. For example, a reheating / warming operation for 90 minutes is started (see FIG. 7) (step 8). This is because the container 5 is reheated by continuously supplying electricity to the heat retaining heater circuit 7 at 65 W input, and when the detected temperature T reaches 90 ° C., the power is cut off. If T <90 ° C., ON / OFF control is performed to maintain the temperature of the container 5 at 90 ° C. (step 9). After a certain time (90 minutes) has passed (step 1
0), shift to normal warming operation (see FIG. 8) (step 1)
1).

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 13, the timer switch is turned off during the normal warming operation (step 1).
When the N operation is performed (step 2), the time after 90 minutes is displayed as the eating time as shown in FIG. 9 (step 3), and when the reheating / insulation switch 21 is turned on (step 4),
The validity determination in steps 5 to 9 is performed, and if this condition is satisfied, it is determined whether the time to eat is within 90 minutes from the current time (step 10), and the timer operation (step 11) is performed to set the time to eat before time. When 90 minutes ago, the reheating / warming operation starts (step 12), and thereafter, the same operation as step 9 to step 11 in FIG. 12 is executed by step 13 to step 15.

Next, a case where only the warming operation is performed will be described (see FIG. 15). The rice cook switch 26 is operated three times to execute the normal warming operation (see FIG. 6). This means that the container 5 is heated by continuously energizing the heat-retaining heater circuit 7 at 65 W input, and after the detected temperature T reaches 70 ° C., the power supply of the heat-retaining heater circuit 7 is cut off to control the temperature of the container 5 to 70 ° C. maintain. When the reheating / insulation switch 21 is operated during the normal heating operation, a reheating / insulating operation similar to that shown in FIG. 13 is performed for a certain period of time, and after a lapse of a certain time, the operation shifts to the normal heating operation. 14 and FIG.
If the detected temperature T does not reach 90 ° C. during the reheating / warming operation in 5, the operation shifts to the normal warming operation after a lapse of a fixed time (90 minutes) (see the broken line graphs in FIGS. 14 and 15).

Further, the control means 30 has a function of judging the validity of the reheating / insulation switch 21. Step 3 of FIG. 12, FIG.
In step 5 of 3, it is determined whether or not the temperature is normally kept. This is because if the reheating and warming operation is not normally warming, the rice will be too cold and the warming time will be prolonged.
Prevent this because the temperature will be very different from the temperature specified in. Steps 4 and 13 in FIG.
In step 6, it is determined whether or not the course is a white rice cooking course. This is because if the rice is cooked with rice or cooked rice other than white rice and the reheating is performed, the porridge deteriorates to a paste state and the cooked rice becomes more scorched, thereby preventing this. Further, it is determined whether the detected temperature T is equal to or higher than 45 ° C. in Step 5 of FIG. 12 and Step 7 of FIG. This is because if the reheating and heat retention is performed in a state where the rice temperature is lower than the predetermined temperature, the reheating and heat retention time becomes longer and the rice temperature does not reach the appropriate temperature (90 ° C) even after a certain period of time (90 minutes). To prevent In step 6 in FIG. 12 and step 8 in FIG. 13, it is determined whether or not the normal warming time has passed a predetermined time (12 hours). This prevents the rice from yellowing if the heat is kept for a long time, and the yellowing further proceeds by reheating, which is prevented. FIG.
In step 7 of FIG. 13 and in step 9 of FIG. 13, it is determined whether the reheating / heating operation performed during the heating operation is the first time. If the reheating is carried out two or more times, yellowing due to the reaction between the sugar and the amino acid and odor due to thermal deterioration of fatty acids contained in rice such as linoleic acid and oleic acid are generated, which is prevented. The control means 30 determines whether or not the normal heat-retaining operation is being performed when the re-heating and heat-retaining switch 21 is depressed. If the normal heat-retaining operation is not being performed, the control means 30 determines that the operation is invalid as in step 12 of FIG. I do. If the above-mentioned effective condition is not satisfied, this is notified by a buzzer or the like.

As described above, in the above embodiment, FIG.
As is clear from Step 4 of FIG. 13 and Step 6 of FIG.
If the course selection is at least porridge when is operated, the reheating and warming operation is not performed and the normal
Since the control means 30 is configured to perform the warming operation, the reheating and warming operation is not performed even if the reheating and warming switch 21 is operated when a porridge course other than the white rice cooking course is selected. Therefore, it is possible to avoid, for example, deterioration of the porridge to a paste state by the reheating and heat retaining operation,
It is possible to eliminate troubles caused when the reheating and heat retaining operation is performed outside of the rice cooking course. Also, operate the reheating / insulation switch 21.
Even if it is made, the porridge in the container 5 may not be kept warm.
Absent.

A first heat-insulating heating pattern for controlling the input of the heat-insulating heater circuit 7 so as to maintain the container temperature at 70 ° C. by operating a reheating heat-insulating switch 21 as a reheating heat-insulating operation instructing means. The second heat-keeping heating pattern for controlling the input of the heat-holding heater circuit 7 so as to maintain the temperature at 90 ° C. can be selectively executed. You can get rice. Further, the first and second heating patterns can be obtained by a microcomputer program, which is economical.

Further, since the reheating and heat-retaining operation can be selected only during the normal heat-retaining operation, the container 5
There is no worry that the rice inside will be reheated from a cold state,
In addition, it is possible to prevent a long time until the temperature (90 ° C.) close to a freshly cooked one is reached, and to prevent the temperature from being kept outside the temperature maintained by JIS. Also, the mode display section 18C for warming is lit during the normal warming operation, and the mode displaying section for reheating warming during the reheating warming operation.
Since 19 is lit together with the mode display section 18C for heat retention, it is possible to determine the heat retention operation of both, and if it is desired to stop the operation during the reheat / heat retention, the reheating / heat retention switch 21
By simply pressing again, the operation shifts to the normal warming operation, whereby it is possible to prevent the switch 27 from being pressed by mistake. In addition, after performing the reheating and warming, the operation shifts to the normal warming operation.
Generation of odor can be suppressed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, the reheating temperature may be appropriately selected to be higher than the normal temperature. Further, as shown in FIG. 18, the reheating and heat retention switch 21 may be shared with the rice cooker switch 26, and the mode display 19 for reheating and heat retention may be shared with the mode display 18B for rice cooking.

[0029]

The present invention provides a container for accommodating cooked rice,
A heating unit for heating the container, a temperature detecting unit for detecting the temperature of the container, and controlling the heating unit based on the temperature detected by the temperature detecting unit to execute operations such as rice cooking and normal warming. Control means, and when the reheating heat retaining operation instructing means is operated during execution of the normal heat retaining operation, the control means controls the heating means to cook the rice at a predetermined temperature higher than the heat retaining temperature during the normal heat retaining operation. In a rice cooker that performs a reheating and heat retaining operation of heating up to a maximum temperature, if the course selection when the reheating and heat retaining operation instructing means is operated during execution of a normal heat retaining operation is at least porridge, the control means reheats and retains heat. without performing the operation, which is configured to normally kept operation performing <br/> so, rice cooked other than course Prussian
In addition to being able to continue the heat insulation operation, this white rice
It is possible to eliminate troubles caused by performing a reheating / heating operation during a normal heating operation other than the cooking course .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a power supply unit and a heater driving unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the display unit and the operation unit in a state where all the display units are lit.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the display unit and the operation unit in a state where the power plug is inserted into the outlet.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the display unit and the operation unit during the rice cooking operation.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing the display unit and the operation unit in a state where the normal warming operation is being performed;

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the display unit and the operation unit in a state where the reheating and heat retaining operation is being performed;

FIG. 8 is a front view showing the display unit and the operation unit when the reheating and warming operation is completed.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing a display unit and an operation unit when the timer is kept warm;

FIG. 10 is a front view showing a display unit and an operation unit when the timer is kept warm;

FIG. 11 is a front view showing a display unit and an operation unit when the timer is kept warm;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a heat retaining operation according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a heat retaining operation according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a graph showing control for performing a series of rice cooking, normal heat retention, and reheating heat retention in the same manner.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing control for performing a series of normal heat retention and reheating heat retention as in the above.

FIG. 16 is an overall sectional view of the rice cooker.

FIG. 17 is an overall perspective view of the rice cooker.

FIG. 18 is a front view showing another embodiment of the display unit and the operation unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Container 6 Rice Cooking Heater (Heating Means) 7A Heating Body Heater (Heating Means) 7B Heating Lid Heater (Heating Means) 21 Reheating Insulating Switch (Reheating Insulating Operation Instruction Means) 29 Temperature Detecting Means 30 Control Means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A container for accommodating cooked rice, a heating unit for heating the container, a temperature detecting unit for detecting a temperature of the container, and the heating unit based on a temperature detected by the temperature detecting unit. Control means for controlling and performing each operation such as rice cooking and normal warming, and when the reheating warming operation instruction means is operated during execution of the normal warming operation, the control means controls the heating means. In a rice cooker that performs a reheating heat retaining operation of heating rice to a predetermined temperature higher than the heat retaining temperature during the normal heat retaining operation, a course selection when the reheating heat retaining operation instruction means is operated during the normal heat retaining operation The rice cooker is characterized in that the control means does not perform the reheating and heat-retaining operation but performs the normal heat-retaining operation when at least porridge is used.