JP3319255B2 - 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 used mainly in ordinary households.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, consumers' preferences have been diversified, and the need for cooking more delicious rice has increased, and electric rice cookers controlled by a microcomputer have become mainstream.

[0003] A rice cooking process in a conventional electric rice cooker will be described below. FIG. 5 is a graph showing a relationship between temperature, time, and power during a rice cooking process in a conventional electric rice cooker. First, a cooking process is performed before water is absorbed by rice. Next, heat it with full power, and when it boils,
As a power down process, after lowering the power for a certain period of time,
A boiling process is performed in which boiling is maintained with electric power corresponding to the amount of cooked rice, and the rice is gelatinized by water absorption. Finally, a rice drying step is performed to promote gelatinization, and the rice cooking is completed.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional rice cooker, particularly when the amount of water is large, the power is not sufficient.
If the heating is continued by the boiling maintaining power after the down process, there is a problem that the lumps stored in the steam cylinder flow out of the main body.

[0005] Further, if the power for maintaining boiling is reduced to solve this problem, there is a problem that a sufficient boiling state cannot be obtained and rice having a favorable taste cannot be obtained.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide an improvement in rice cooking performance while preventing spillover.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a pot for putting rice and a heating pot for heating the pot.
Heating means and first temperature detection for detecting boiling of the cooked rice
Means and second temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the pan
And control means for controlling the power of the heating means,
The control means may be configured such that the first temperature detection means detects boiling.
Thereafter, the heating power of the heating means is set to a value lower than the full power.
1st power down heating for 1st predetermined time with 1 electric power
After the first power-down step,
Boiling maintenance power lower than the power and higher than the first power
After heating at (P1) for a second predetermined time (T1),
2 has reached the predetermined temperature (θ1)
If, with heating at the boiling Teng maintain power (P1), the
If the predetermined temperature (θ1) has not been reached, the boiling maintenance
A third predetermined value at a second power (P2) lower than the power (P1)
Providing a second power down step of heating for a time (T2),
Control to heat again with the boiling maintenance power (P1)
Is what you do.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that after detecting that the cooked rice has boiled, it is heated for a predetermined time (T1) with the boiling maintaining power (P1) and then for a fixed time with the power P2 lower than P1. (T2) Since heating is performed, especially when the amount of water is large,
The ash stored in the steam cylinder is returned to the pot again through the reflux valve, and can be prevented from flowing out of the main body. However, it is known that lowering the electric power while maintaining boiling prevents sufficient boiling and adversely affects the gelatinization of rice, thereby lowering the rice cooking performance. In addition, as the amount of cooked rice increases, P1 is set higher, so that the temperature rise speed of the pan increases. Therefore, when the amount of water is appropriate and the amount of cooked rice is large, the temperature of the pot reaches the cooked temperature before the predetermined time (T1) elapses, the heating is stopped, and the steaming process is started. And the rice cooking performance can be improved.

Further, the boiling maintenance power after the detection of boiling (P1)
If the pot has reached a predetermined temperature lower than the cooking temperature by the second temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the pot after a lapse of a predetermined time (T1), the water in the pot has already decreased. Since it can be determined that the amount of water is appropriate and the amount of cooked rice is large, only when the temperature has not reached the predetermined temperature, the power P2 lower than P1 for a certain period (T
2) After heating, by heating again at P1, it is possible to more appropriately prevent the spillover and improve the rice cooking performance.

[0010] The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, according to the amount of cooked rice,
As the amount of cooked rice increases, the predetermined time (T1) for heating with the boiling maintenance power (P1) is shortened. As the amount of cooked rice increases, P1 is set higher, so that the temperature rise rate of the pot is faster, and the time required for the accumulated rice in the steam cylinder to flow out of the main body and the time required to reach the cooking temperature are as follows. Be shorter. Therefore, by varying T1 in accordance with the amount of cooked rice, it is possible to prevent spillover regardless of the amount of cooked rice and to improve the rice cooking performance.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the first temperature detecting means for detecting the boiling is provided on the surface of the lid facing the rice, so that when the rice starts boiling and the steam is generated, the first temperature detecting means is detected.
Since the temperature of the temperature detecting means rapidly rises, boiling can be accurately detected and the process can be shifted to a subsequent step at an appropriate timing, so that it is possible to prevent spillover and improve rice cooking performance.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the induction heating coil is provided as a heating means for heating the pan, the heat responsiveness is improved, and it is possible to light a fire or start up quickly, which is effective. Blow-over can be prevented, and rice cooking performance can be improved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a rice cooker according to one embodiment of the present invention. A heating means 2 for heating the pan 1, a first temperature detecting means 3 for detecting the boiling, a second temperature detecting means 4 for detecting the temperature of the pan 1, a first and a second temperature detecting means 3, The control means 5 controls the heating means 2 with the output of the control means 4 as an input.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the rice cooker. Pan 1 is placed on top of heating means 2. As the heating means 2, an induction heating coil is provided. The first temperature detecting means 3 for detecting boiling is provided on the surface of the lid 4 facing the cooked rice, and the second temperature detecting means 5 for detecting the temperature of the pot 1 is provided on the pot 1.
And outputs a signal to a control board 6 on which a microcomputer is mounted. The control board 6 performs output such as heating control for various inputs. In the lid 4,
A steam cylinder 7 is provided. FIG. 4 shows the relationship between temperature and time during cooking rice.

In the rice cooker configured as described above,
The operation of cooking rice will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the rice pan and the water are put in the pan 1, and the pan 1 is placed as shown in FIG. When the rice cooking is started, a pre-cooking step of maintaining the rice at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time is performed to absorb water. Next, a cooking process is performed. Step 8
In step 9, when boiling is detected in step 9, a power-down step of heating with low power for a certain period of time is performed in step 10 to prevent spill-over. Next, in step 11, heating is performed with the boiling maintaining power (P1) corresponding to the amount of cooked rice,
In step 12, it is determined whether or not the temperature of the pot has reached a predetermined temperature (θ2). If so, a steaming process is performed to finish the rice cooking. If the temperature has not reached, it is determined in step 13 whether or not a predetermined time (T1) has elapsed. If the time has elapsed, in step 14, the temperature of the pan is reduced to the predetermined temperature (θ
Determine whether 1) has been reached. If θ1 has not been reached, in step 15 the power lower than P1 (P2)
Heat with. In step 16, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time (T2) has elapsed. If it has elapsed, in step 17, heating is performed again with the electric power of P1. If θ1 has been reached in step 14, heating is performed with electric power P1 in step 17. In step 18, it is determined whether or not the temperature of the pot has reached θ2. If the temperature has reached, the steaming process is performed and the rice cooking is completed. By the rice cooking process described above, the rice stored in the steam cylinder is prevented from flowing out of the main body, and the rice cooking performance can be improved. Here, θ1 is 117 ° C. and θ2 is 13
0 ° C., P2 is 0 W, T2 is 16 seconds. The predetermined time (T1) for heating with the boiling maintenance power (P1) in order to cook the rice without flowing out of the rice sardine to the outside of the main body at any amount of rice is shortened as the amount of rice cooked increases according to the amount of rice cooked. Here, the amount of cooked rice is determined based on the length of time from when the pot reaches a predetermined temperature after the start of cooking rice to when boiling is detected. Here, T1 is set to three stages of 2 minutes 40 seconds, 1 minute 36 seconds, and 1 minute 4 seconds.

Note that, in the present embodiment, θ1, θ
The values of 2, P2, T1, and T2 are examples of the embodiment, and numerical values can be set according to the situation.

[0018]

As described above , according to the first aspect of the present invention, the pot is heated by the boiling maintaining power (P1) after the detection of the boiling, and after the predetermined time (T1) has elapsed, the pot has reached the predetermined temperature. Otherwise, after heating for a certain period of time (T2) with electric power P2 lower than P1, heat again at P1 and if it has reached the predetermined temperature, it will be heated at P1 as it is, regardless of the amount of water added or the amount of rice cooked. Can be prevented and rice cooking performance can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the predetermined time for heating at P1 is varied according to the amount of cooked rice.
Irrespective of the amount of cooked rice, it is possible to prevent spills and improve the rice cooking performance.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the boiling detecting means is provided on the surface of the lid facing the cooked rice, the accuracy of the boiling detection is improved, the spillover is effectively prevented, and Rice cooking performance can be improved.

Further, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the induction heating coil is provided as the heating means, the above effect can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the rice cooker.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the rice cooker.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between rice cooking temperature and time by the rice cooker.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between rice cooking temperature and time in a conventional rice cooker.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pot 2 Heating means 3 1st temperature detection means 4 2nd temperature detection means 5 Control means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Saori Kako 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Inside Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaaki Shibata 1006 Kazuma, Kazuma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-7-275112 (JP, A) JP-A-3-16526 (JP, A) JP-A-7-39456 (JP, A) JP-A-6-245858 (JP, A) JP-A-4-193116 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A47J 27/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pot for cooking rice and heating the pot
Heating means, and a first temperature sensor for detecting the boiling of the cooked rice.
Sensing means and second temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the pan
And control means for controlling the power of the heating means,
The control means may be configured such that the first temperature detection means detects boiling.
Thereafter, the heating power of the heating means is set to a value lower than the full power.
1st power down heating for 1st predetermined time with 1 electric power
After the first power-down step,
Boiling maintenance power lower than the power and higher than the first power
After heating at (P1) for a second predetermined time (T1),
2 has reached the predetermined temperature (θ1)
For example, while heating with the boiling maintenance power (P1),
If the predetermined temperature (θ1) has not been reached, the boiling maintenance
A third predetermined value at a second power (P2) lower than the power (P1)
Providing a second power down step of heating for a time (T2),
Control to heat again with the boiling maintenance power (P1)
Rice cooker to be. 2. The control means changes a second predetermined time until the start of a second power-down step according to the amount of cooked rice.
The rice cooker according to claim 1 . Wherein the first temperature sensing means, cooker according to claim 1 or 2 comprising disposed on a surface facing the cooking of the lid. Wherein the heating means, cooker according to claim 1 comprising consist of induction heating coil.