JP3266822B2 - Commercial rice cooker and method of operating the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a commercial rice cooker and a method of operating the same, and is used for cooking a large amount of rice in restaurants, sushi restaurants, canteens and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a commercial rice cooker for cooking a large amount of rice, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2509384, and it is well known in the art that it is used in the market as a so-called "Rice Robo (registered trademark)". is there. This conventional commercial rice cooker has a setting button (setting switch) for setting a rice cooking mode (rice cooking course), a reservation button (reservation switch) for setting a reservation time, and a start button (start switch) for setting the start of rice cooking. Are provided on a display panel, and by operating each of the buttons (switches), the control unit is processed by a microcomputer and operated.

[0003] Here, the rice cooking mode (cooking course) is an automatic once or twice mode (course) in which the rice is automatically weighed and cooked once or twice; Cooking preparation mode (course) that automatically prepares to cook rice at any time (ignition OK)
A rice washing mode (course) that automatically measures from the weighing to the completion of rice washing, which is used when cooking a lot of rice at a time with a spare rice cooker, etc. (the same applies hereinafter), and the trader (user) is the customer's situation Each course is set by comprehensively judging the conditions.

[0004] Setting the reservation time means setting the necessary reservation time (today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, etc. and the setting of those times), for example, the cooking time in the automatic once mode, the automatic cooking time, The cooking time of the first operation in the two-time mode, the ignition of the rice cooker in the rice preparation mode
In the case of the K time and the rice washing mode, the rice washing time is set (the same applies hereinafter).

[0005]

In the conventional commercial rice cooker described above, the rice cooker mode can be set (selected) and the reservation operation can be performed, which contributes to labor saving and energy saving of the trader. , And a sound management posture. However, when performing a reserved operation, first turn on the power switch, check the clock of the main body, operate the reservation button (switch), and then set the button (switch).
The mode was set to run.

Therefore, mode setting (automatic once, two,
Time, rice preparation, rice washing) have time differences (rice washing <rice preparation <time difference automatically), so when preparing for reservation, there is sometimes not enough time to set the mode (cannot reserve) In such a case, there is a troublesome operation of canceling the reservation and resetting another reservation time. Therefore, in the present invention, even in the case of performing the immediate start operation and the reservation operation, first, the rice cooking mode (rice cooking course) must be set before the operation can be performed, so that the operation is troublesome (return to the original state during the setting). Operation).

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a setting button (setting switch) for setting a rice cooking mode (rice cooking course).
And a reservation button (reservation switch) for setting the reservation time
And a start button (start switch) for setting the start of rice cooking on a display panel, and operating each of the buttons (switches) by microcomputer processing of a control unit to operate the same. In order to achieve this, the following technical measures have been taken. That is, the driving method according to the present invention is characterized in that the rice cooker mode (rice cooker course) must be set by operating the setting button (setting switch) before the reservation button (reservation switch ) can be operated. is intended, by adopting such a configuration, always course before booking oPERATION (auto, rice preparation, rice washing) the reservation operation by the wrong course set from the possible to display the settings of the (confirmation) Never
Time of automatic cooking, rice preparation completion, rice washing completion (date and time)
Can be reserved.

Further, the driving method according to the present invention is characterized in that when the reservation button is operated to set the reservation time, when the work time in the rice cooking mode (rice cooking course) is added to the current time and the time until the reservation time is short, By sending a message indicating that the reservation cannot be made, the reservation time can be reliably determined. Here, the message is "I do not have enough time for reservation"
, A report (alarm) by sound or light, or a combination of these.

When the setting of the reservation is completed, it is desirable to display "reservation completed" by operating the start button (switch) (character display, sound, light display). Further, the commercial rice cooker according to the present invention further comprises an electric interlock means for operating the reservation button (reservation switch ) only after setting the rice cooking mode (rice cooking course) by operating the setting button (setting switch). Thus, the above-mentioned operation can be reliably performed, and even if the electric interlock means is incorporated, the cost of parts is not so high and contributes to the improvement of performance.

Here, the electric interlock means is an electric (including electronic) circuit, can be easily incorporated in a control section (control circuit), and has a setting button (switch).
Needless to say, the interlock does not function when is operated first. In the above description, the setting button (switch) means a course setting button (switch) and a course selection button (switch).

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of the entire rice cooker 1 and FIG. 1 is a front view (front view). 2, the rice cooker 1 has a main body frame 2, and a single wheel, specifically a caster 3, is provided at a lower portion of the frame 2 so that the rice cooker 1 is movable, and when installed at a predetermined position,
The wheels can be locked. A rice storage unit 4 is provided above the main body frame 2, a rice washing unit 5 is provided below the rice storage unit 4, and a rice cooking unit 6 is provided below the rice washing unit 5 in a vertical direction.

The rice storage unit 4 includes a funnel-shaped rice storage tank 7, and a metering drum 8 is provided below the tank 7. The drum 8 is driven to rotate about a horizontal axis by a motor 9 and its rotation is performed. The amount of cooked rice can be measured by the number. The rice storage tank 7 has an openable and closable lid 10 at its upper part.
Can be replenished with rice, a sensor for detecting the amount of rice is provided inside the tank, and a juice sensor for detecting the rotation amount (number) of the motor 9 is provided. I have.

The rice storage unit 4 is formed in a substantially box shape on the upper part of the main body frame 2 and has a display panel 11 which can be opened and closed on the front (front) thereof. Screen unit 1 with flat display shown in FIG.
The control unit 14 includes a control unit 2 and an operation unit 13. The control unit 14 will be described later in detail. The rice washing section 5 is provided with a funnel-shaped rice washing tank 15 for receiving and washing the metered rice supplied from the measuring drum 8, and has a rice discharging port at a lower portion of the tank 15, and the rice discharging port moves up and down. It has a rice discharge valve 16 shown in a conical shape that can be opened and closed.

The rice discharge valve 16 is provided at a lower portion of a valve stem 17 disposed on the center (axial center) of the rice washing tank 15, and is a valve including a motor, a cam, and the like provided with the valve stem 17 at an upper portion thereof. The rice discharging valve 16 is moved up and down by a driving body (not shown).
The rice discharge port can be opened and closed freely. The valve shaft 17 is fitted with a hollow shaft, and the hollow shaft is provided with a stirring rod 18. The hollow shaft is driven to rotate around its axis by a stirring driving body (not shown) such as a motor or a bevel gear. By doing so, it is possible to wash the measured rice in the rice washing tank 15 with the stirring rod 18.

The rice washing section 5 is provided with a water supply nozzle 19 on the upper part of the tank 15, and this nozzle 19 is connected to a pressure water source such as a water tap through a piping system 21 having an electromagnetic valve 20, and is required for washing rice. It is possible to adjust the amount of water, the amount of water required for cooking rice, etc. Further, a drainage jacket 22 is provided at a lower portion of the rice washing tank 15, and the jacket 22 is connected to a drainage device having a drainage box 23 with a built-in drainage valve that can be opened and closed, and wastewater and the like after washing rice are discharged outside the machine. Can be released. The rice cooker 6 is mounted on a stand 24 that can be pulled out forward and backward at the lower part of the main body frame 2, and is provided with a stove part 25 for gas, electricity, etc., an outer pot 26, and an insertable / removable to / from the outer pot 26. An inner pot 27 is provided, and the rice washed by the rice washing unit 5 and raised in a colander can be received in the inner pot 27 with or without water.

The inner pot 27 can be held under pressure during rice cooking by a lid 28. In this embodiment, the rice cooker 6 can be taken out while the lid 28 is left in the rice cooker 1, so that the lid 28 is not driven. It has a shutter device 30 that can be opened and closed by a motor 29, and a lid 28 having this shutter device 30 can be moved up and down via a link 32 by the up and down movement of an opening and closing lever 31, and these are the same as the conventional example. The stove section 25 can be selected from manual ignition and automatic ignition. Referring to FIGS. 3 to 8, details of the control unit 14 having the screen unit 12 and the operation unit 13 are illustrated.
The setting display unit 33 for setting the automatic rice cooking shown in FIG.
And the process display unit 34 for displaying the flow of the automatic rice cooking shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 and the reservation display unit 3 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.
5, the maintenance display unit 35 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10
A can be switched over to the entire surface.

The operation unit 13 has a reservation button (switch) 3
6. Set button (switch) 37, cancel button (switch) 38, start button (switch) 39 on screen 1
2 and a selection button (switch) 40 and a maintenance button (switch) 41 are arranged at a right side position (a left side position is also possible) of the screen unit 12. The screen unit 12 is prevented from being blindfolded by the arms (hands) of the operator (operator) while operating the operation unit 13.
Includes the main switch 42 shown in FIG.

That is, a setting button (setting switch) 37 for setting a rice cooking mode (rice cooking course), a reservation button (reservation switch) 36 for setting a reservation time, and a start button (start switch) 39 for setting the start of rice cooking.
Are provided on the display panel, and each of the buttons (switches) 3
By operating the control unit 14 by operating the microcomputer, the control button 14 is operated by operating the setting button (setting switch) 37. The rice cooker mode (rice cooker course) must be set before the reservation button. An electrical interlock means (not shown) in which the (reservation switch) 36 cannot be operated is provided in the control unit 14.

The screen section 12 is a horizontally long rectangle in the figure.
The setting display unit 33 includes a character display unit 33A such as “Course setting” in the upper left column and a character display unit 33B “operating or not” in the upper right column. To "cooked rice amount", "water content", "how to wash", "mode",
It is provided with each character display part 33C of "on the monkey" and "murashi",
Corresponding to this, "Rice cooked amount (4.5 sho in the figure)
1.8L liter display, "Slight amount of water loss", Washing method "Light, normal, careful", Mode "Automatic once, automatic 2"
The times, preparations, rice washing, and monkey raising purple are each provided with a character display section 33D such as a time display, and a lower part of the display (message) display of the instruction (message) of the next work (in the figure, "start or reserve after setting") 33E) are sectioned, and each of these display units is a flat display, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), or the like.

The selection button 40 has a selection main button 40A at the center thereof and upper and lower switching selection buttons 40B and 40 above and below it.
C, left and right increase / decrease switching select buttons 40D, 40
F. That is, when the setting button 37 of the operation unit 13 is turned on, the screen unit 12 displays the setting display unit 33.
The course setting is selected by turning on the selection button 40 in the setting display section 33. In order to set the amount of cooked rice, the "rice cooked" is first displayed by turning on the selection button 40. When the cooked rice amount is to be increased or decreased, the desired (set) cooked rice is operated by operating the left and right increase / decrease selection buttons 40D and 40E. The amount is displayed in the upper part of the display unit 33D in characters, and then, when the switching selection button 40C is turned on, the display unit 33C displays "Water addition / subtraction". Weight loss is set, and then, in the same manner, switch between “how to wash”, “mode”, “on the colander”, and “purple” by operating the buttons 40C, and operate the buttons 40D and 40E each time to cook rice. The message is displayed in the display section 33E.

When the setting is to be changed in the middle, the button 40B is operated, the display section 33C is sequentially switched to select, for example, "how to wash", and the button 4 is changed from "lightly" to "careful".
The value is changed to 0E and the process proceeds to the lower stage. In this display, the character portion may be displayed by surrounding the frame or may be inverted, and in any case, each part of the set course is individually displayed. When a message is displayed on the display unit 33E,
When the start button 39 or the reservation button 36 is turned on, the screen section 12 can be entirely switched to the process display section 34 shown in FIGS. 2 to 6 or the reservation display section 35 shown in FIGS. Is operated, the entire screen can be switched to the maintenance display section 35A.

The process display section 34 shown in FIG. 4 automatically sets four squares twice, and the process display section 34B shown in FIG. 5 sets manual ignition, as shown in FIG. The process display section 34C sets the preparation for washing rice, and in any of the display sections, the setting display field 34
C, a process flow display column 34D in the middle left column of the screen, a graphic display portion 34E depicting the entire shape of the rice cooker, and a message display portion 34F in the lower portion of the screen. Has a display section 34G for displaying a
The lamp display section 34G displays the flow of the process in black and white inverted (black during the process and white outside the process), and correspondingly displays the process characters in the display column 34D in black and white inverted or framed ( (Around the characters), and an abnormal process is displayed, for example, by blinking.

For example, in FIG. 4, the character "rice washing", which is one of the process flows, is surrounded by a frame and the portion corresponding to rice washing is displayed in black. In FIG. 5, the character "cooked rice" is surrounded by a frame. The portion corresponding to rice cooking is displayed in black. In FIG. 6, the letters “ready” are framed and the portion corresponding to completion is displayed in black. That is, the setting button 37 is turned on and the setting display section 33 is displayed on the screen section 12.
When the selection switch 40 is operated, the rice cook process is sequentially set from the amount of rice cooked, and the like, and the start button 39 is operated, as shown in FIG. 5 is switched to the process display section 34 showing the process of FIG. 5, and when the manual ignition is set on the setting display section 33, the process display section 34A shown in FIG. Are displayed on a liquid crystal or the like by switching over the entire surface.

When the reservation button 36 is operated after operating the setting button 37, the screen section 12 is entirely switched to the setting display section 35 shown in FIG. 7, and by operating the selection button 40 in this state, the screen section 12 is illustrated in FIG. The displayed characters are displayed on the LCD, etc.
The figure shows an example of a reservation made at 12:30 tomorrow. At this time, if the start button 39 is operated when there is not enough time for the reservation, the shortest time is displayed on the hour and minute display section and a message in the message display section (lower part of FIG. 7) is displayed with the words “no time is available”. Is displayed and a warning is given by sound and light. When there is enough time for reservation (when reservation is possible), the start button 3
When the user operates No. 9, the reservation setting display section shown in FIG. 8 is displayed in characters as shown in the figure. At this time, when the cancel button 38 is operated, the display returns to the reservation setting screen (the screen in FIG. 7).
It is displayed for 0 seconds, during which time the reservation can be set again by the selection button 40.

When the maintenance button 41 is operated, the screen section 12 displays a portion to be processed on the maintenance display section 35A shown in FIG. 9 (the remaining rice processing is enclosed in characters in the figure), and the processing is completed or displayed for 10 seconds. Then, the display is turned off and, as shown in FIG. 10, the screen is completely switched to the current time setting display section 35A, the time is set by the selection button 40, and the time is determined by operating the start button 39. That is, in the method of operating the rice cooker having the display device according to the present invention, first, the course is set by operating the setting button 37, that is, the setting display section 33 appears on the screen section 12 by pressing the button 37. After the course is set by the selection button 40 and the reservation button 36 is operated, FIG.
8 is displayed, the reservation button or the like is selected with the selection button 39, and the screen section 35 shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. Then, the start button 39 is operated to complete the reservation and the process display section 34 is displayed. The operation is switched, and according to this, the time of work completion (the time is different depending on the mode selection of cooking (automatic rice cooking), preparation completion (rice washing preparation), rice washing completion (rice washing)) can be reserved. In addition, the setting contents of the course are displayed before the reservation, so that the reservation due to the incorrect course setting is prevented.

That is, a setting button (setting switch) 37 for setting a rice cooking mode (rice cooking course), a reservation button (reservation switch) 36 for setting a reservation time, and a start button (start switch) 39 for setting the start of rice cooking.
Are provided on the display panel, and each of the buttons (switches) 3
By operating the control unit 14 by microcomputer processing by operating 6 to 39, a rice cooker mode (rice cooker course) must be set by operating a setting button (setting switch) 37 and a reservation button (reservation switch) 36 In addition, when the reservation button 36 is operated to set the reservation time, the operation time of the rice cooking mode (rice cooking course) is added to the current time to shorten the time until the reservation time is short. It sends a message that the reservation cannot be made.

Here, the message may be a character display or a warning by sound or light. Referring to FIG. 11 with reference to FIG. 12, the flow (step) from the start to the end will be described. First, when the operator turns on the main switch 42, the microcomputer device of the control unit 14 is turned on and controlled by the following flow. First, in the present invention, when the setting button 37 is turned on, the display section 33 shown in FIG. 3 appears on the screen section 12, and the course is first set by operating the selection switch 40. To make a reservation, press the reservation button 36 to set the reservation time,
When not making a reservation, the start button 39 is pressed (the current time is set separately with the maintenance switch 41 or the like).

When the start button 39 is pressed, the screen section 12 is completely switched to the process display sections 34, 34B and 34C shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the course set by the selection switch 40 is displayed, and the reservation button 36 is pressed. When the reservation button 36 has not been operated, the process immediately proceeds to the weighing process, where the weighing is performed as set. In the measuring step, a predetermined amount of rice is discharged from the rice storage tank 7 to the rice washing tank 15 via the measuring unit 8 in accordance with the selected rice cooking amount. The metering unit 8 stores and integrates the amount of discharged rice, and displays the total amount of rice (total amount of rice for a predetermined period such as one day or one week) on a rice cooking amount display unit in a separate process by the maintenance switch 41. ) Can be displayed.

When the measuring step is completed, the process proceeds to the washing, polishing, and overflowing steps. In the rice washing process, the shower supply pipe 21 is used.
This is a step of stirring and washing the rice in the rice washing tank 15 by the stirring means 18 while sprinkling a predetermined amount of water from the rice. At this time, the on-off valve of the drainage device 23 is open and drained. The rice polishing step is a step in which the water supply is stopped and the stirring means 18 is rotated. In the overflow step, the on-off valve of the drainage device 23 is closed, and the rice washing tank 15
The rice is stirred by the stirring means 18 while the water is supplied, and the water is drained from the overflow drain pipe 23A.
In this step, the on-off valve 3 is opened to drain all the water in the rice washing tank 15.

The rice washing step and the polishing step are performed a plurality of times.
The overflow step is performed once at the end. These steps depend on the selection of the washing method, and are controlled by whether a predetermined time has elapsed or a predetermined amount of water has been supplied. When the above steps are completed, it is determined whether or not the mode is the rice washing mode. That is, when "rice washing" is not selected by the selection button 40, the process proceeds to a zirzag raising process. The shrinking step is a step of holding rice for a predetermined period of time in the rice washing tank 15 with water removed. The holding time is the time set by the timer set button. The remaining time during the waiting time for the zara raising is displayed on the display unit.

When "rice preparation" is selected by the selection button 40 in the setting display section 33, the process is temporarily performed in the middle of this raising process, and is replaced with an empty inner pot as shown in FIG. Message, and do not proceed to the next shutter opening process. When the "automatic rice cooking" mode is selected, the process automatically proceeds to the next shutter opening process. When the mode is “rice washing”, the zirzag step is skipped and the process proceeds to a shutter opening step.

The shutter opening step is a step of opening the shutter 30 to open the opening of the lid 28. When the shutter 30 is opened, the process proceeds to the next water adjusting process. The water adjustment process is
In this step, the controlled amount of water selected by the selection button 40 is supplied from the shower supply pipe 21 to the rice washing tank 15. Next, the process proceeds to a valve opening process. In this step, the rice discharge valve 16 of the rice discharge section is opened, and the rice and water in the rice washing tank 15 are discharged to the inner pot 27 of the rice cooker 6.

Then, in the next valve closing step, the rice discharging valve 16 is closed, and in the next shutter closing step, the shutter 3 is closed.
0 seals the opening of the lid 28. If the rice washing mode has been selected, the process ends. When the mode is not the rice washing mode, that is, in the automatic rice cooking mode, the process proceeds to the rice washing completion process. This step is a step of sounding a guide buzzer or the like to notify the operator of the completion of rice washing. Then, the process proceeds to the dipping process. This step is a step of sounding a guide buzzer or the like after a predetermined time has elapsed to notify the operator.

When automatic rice cooking is set, rice cooking is started by a signal of automatic ignition, the rice cooking process, the rice drying process, the cooking are completed, and the display is finished.
Display the message of On the other hand, when the manual ignition is set, the display 34A of FIG. 5 is displayed, and a message of the manual ignition is issued (in FIG. 5, a message of "Please ignite the rice cooker"). , Rice cooking process,
The process proceeds to the steaming process and the cooking process, and all the processes are completed.

[0035]

According to the present invention, if for about operation pre,
First of all, if not from the set the rice cooking mode (course) premixed
There is no need to operate the approx. Button because it is inoperable.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the entire rice cooker.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the entire rice cooker.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a setting display unit and an operation unit.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a process display unit and an operation unit in which automatic rice cooking is set.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a process display section for manual ignition.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a process display unit for preparing rice washing.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a reservation setting display section.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a reservation process display section.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a maintenance setting display unit.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a step in which maintenance is set.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the first half of the flow.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the latter half of the flow.

[Description of Signs] 1 rice cooker 12 screen unit 13 operation unit 14 screen unit 33 setting display unit 34 process display unit 36 reservation button (switch) 37 setting button (switch) 39 start button (switch) 40 selection button (switch)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-264019 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A47J 27/00 109 A47J 27/14

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A setting button (setting switch) for setting a rice cooking mode (rice cooking course), a reservation button (reservation switch) for setting a reservation time, and a start button (start switch) for setting a start of rice cooking are displayed. In a commercial rice cooker which is provided on a panel and operated by controlling the control unit by a microcomputer by operating the respective buttons (switches), after setting a rice cooking mode (rice cooking course) by operating a setting button (setting switch), Operating the reservation button (reservation switch ) otherwise, characterized in that the rice cooker for business use is operated 2. When a reservation button is operated to set a reservation time, a work time of a rice cooking mode (rice cooking course) is added to a current time, and a message indicating that reservation is not possible is performed when the time until the reservation time is short. The method for operating a commercial rice cooker according to claim 1. 3. A setting button (setting switch) for setting a rice cooking mode (rice cooking course), a reservation button (setting switch) for setting a reservation time, and a start button (start switch) for setting rice cooking start are displayed. In a commercial rice cooker which is provided on a panel and operated by controlling the control unit by a microcomputer by operating the respective buttons (switches), after setting a rice cooking mode (rice cooking course) by operating a setting button (setting switch), A commercial rice cooker characterized in that the control unit is provided with an electric interlock means which cannot operate a reservation button (reservation switch ) unless otherwise.