JP3438731B2 - 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 routinely used in ordinary households.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, rice cookers are required to have many functions, their usability and excellent design. Therefore, the structure is complicated, the weight is increased, and it is found that the appearance quality and durability are not always satisfactory.

In the conventional rice cooker, as shown in FIG. 5, there is known a rice cooker main body provided with a hook lever for opening the lid with one touch.
That is, in the figure, the rice cooker main body 51 is the body 52
And an inner frame 53 provided inside thereof and an upper frame 54 on the upper side. A heating element 55 for heating rice and a thermostat 56 for detecting the completion of rice cooking are provided on the inner bottom portion of the inner frame 53, and a removable rice cooking pot 57 is further provided.

Reference numeral 58 denotes a lid, which is composed of a substantially box-shaped outer lid 58a, an outer lid cover 58b and a seal packing 58c. The outer lid cover 58b is provided with an inner lid 59 and is hinged. In the portion 60, a shaft 61 is pivotally supported on one side of the rice cooker main body 51 so as to be openable and closable. In addition, a spring 62 that constantly urges the lid body 58 in the direction of opening the lid body 58 in relation to the shaft 61.
A damper 63 and a damper spring 64 are provided in the vicinity of the shaft 61 for absorbing a shock when the lid 58 is opened.
Is provided.

On the other hand, inside the rice cooker main body 51 located on the side opposite to the side on which the lid 58 is rotatably supported, a hook lever 65 for engaging the lid 58 in the opened state is provided with a shaft 66 and an attached. The hook lever 65 is attached using a biasing spring 67, and the hook lever 65 is exposed to the outside from the side wall of the rice cooker main body 51 as an operating portion 68 for partially pressing the hook lever 65. Further, a hook 69 for engagement is provided on the lid 58 facing the hook lever 65.
Is provided. When the operating portion 68 is pushed, the hook lever 65 and the hook 69 are disengaged, and the lid 58 is opened.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, both the outer lid 58a and the outer lid cover 58b are made of a thermoplastic resin, so that the warp at the time of molding and the temperature rise at the time of heating the heating element 55 by energization. Due to the temporary thermal deformation of the lid 58 due to the above, a gap with the upper frame 54 is likely to occur.

In order to prevent this gap, it is necessary to use a metal fitting, for example, to improve the rigidity in the vicinity of the hook 69, and to take a countermeasure, and there is a drawback that the shape of the metal fitting restricts the design in many cases. It was

Further, since the lid body is composed of the outer lid and the outer lid cover, the weight is large and it is necessary to increase the moment of the spring when the lid is automatically opened.
There was a problem that the life of the spring was short and the material cost of the lid was high.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art by making the most of the advantages of hollow molding, reducing the restrictions on the appearance design, saving material and weight, and reducing the number of parts, making it cheaper and the hinge portion. In addition to providing a lid cooker with improved durability, the lid's rigidity is increased to make it even stronger, and appearance defects such as sink marks and welds on the lid surface, which are peculiar to hollow molding. The present invention aims to provide a rice cooker with improved appearance quality.

[0010]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A first means of the present invention for achieving the above object is a pan for heating a food to be cooked, and a rice cooker having an upper surface opened and the pan being detachably accommodated. A main body, a lid body that covers the upper opening of the rice cooker body with a hinge portion so as to be openable and closable, and a hollow-molded lid made of resin and a gas for hollowing, and fixed to a radiator plate mounting boss of the lid body with mounting screws. A heat radiating plate, engagement means for engaging the rice cooker body and the lid body on a side substantially opposite to the hinge portion, a steam discharge port for discharging steam during cooking to the lid body, and a hidden member. The lid body is provided with a hollow gas injecting portion for preventing sink marks at the time of contraction of the material for injection molding, on the inner surface side of the lid in the vicinity of the engaging means, and the resin injecting portion is provided in the hollow portion. The outer surface of the lid body near the steam discharge port between the gas injection section and the steam discharge port The provided is due structure was attached a member hidden so as to cover the resin injection portion.

The second means is to open a pan for heating the food to be heated, a rice cooker main body for opening the upper surface and accommodating the pan in a detachable manner, and opening and closing the upper opening of the rice cooker main body with a hinge portion. A lid body which is freely formed by resin and a gas for hollowing, an engagement means which engages the rice cooker body and the lid body on a side substantially opposite to the hinge portion, and a resin body on the lid body. An injection part, a hollow gas injection part, and a steam discharge port are provided, and a cross-sectional area of a direction perpendicular to the resin flow direction is provided only on the inner surface side of the lid body from the resin injection part toward the hollow gas injection part. This is due to the configuration in which the thick portion having a large size is provided.

The third means is that the thick portion of the lid body has a smaller cross-sectional area as the distance from the hollow gas injection portion increases.

According to a fourth means, the radiating plate mounting boss of the lid is
This is because it is connected to another high-strength portion by a rib or the like at a position lower than the tip of the mounting screw.

In a fifth aspect of the present invention, particularly, in the invention as set forth in claims 1 to 4, the body of the rice cooker is provided with a body having an open upper surface, and a pot accommodating portion located inside from the upper opening of the body. And a hinge shaft inserted into a bearing portion integrally formed in a part of the lid body,
A hinge spring that is penetrated and supported by the hinge shaft, and the hinge spring is fixed to the upper frame.

[0015]

According to the present invention, the hollow gas injection portion is provided on the inner surface of the lid, so that the gas injection trace can be hidden by the heat radiating plate. Further, by disposing the resin injecting portion in the vicinity of the vapor discharge port, it is possible to hide the resin injecting portion by the concealing member without a feeling of strangeness.

Further, since the cross-sectional area in the direction perpendicular to the resin flowing direction becomes large only in the direction of the resin injecting portion from the hollow gas injecting portion, the hollow gas injecting portion having an uneven thickness flows during molding. Since it does not become the end, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of welds and sink marks.

Further, since the cross-sectional area of the thick portion becomes smaller as the distance becomes larger than that of the hollow gas injecting portion, turbulent flow is less likely to occur in the resin flow toward the hollow gas injecting portion, and turbulence is less likely to occur. It is possible to prevent surface unevenness and the like caused by the flow.

Further, since the radiator plate mounting boss is connected to another high-strength portion by a rib or the like at a position lower than the tip of the mounting screw, it can be easily deformed. Therefore, it is possible to relieve the stress caused by the dimensional change of the lid and the heat dissipation plate at high temperature, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of cracks or cracks.

Further, since the hinge shaft is supported only by the bearing portion of the lid, there is no rattling or reduction in rigidity due to the use of a separate component, and the rigidity of the bearing portion can be ensured by the integral structure. The strength of the part can be secured.

Further, since the lid body can be made lightweight by hollow molding, the moment of the hinge spring for the automatic opening operation can be reduced. Therefore, the stress applied to the periphery of the hinge portion can be reduced, and the impact when the lid is opened can be reduced.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a rice cooker main body, which is a body 2 having an open upper surface, and an upper frame 4 which is located inside the upper opening of the body 2 and constitutes a storage portion for a pan 3. It is composed of Reference numeral 5 denotes a lid that covers the upper opening of the body 2 so as to be openable and closable, and is made of polypropylene and is hollow-molded with nitrogen gas.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a hinge portion, and a hinge shaft 7a inserted into a bearing portion 6 formed integrally with a part of the lid 5 is rotatably supported by an upper frame 4 so as to be openable and closable. Further, 7b is a hinge spring, and the spring portion is penetrated and supported by the hinge shaft 7a. The hinge spring lid side acting portion 7c has a higher strength than the lid 5 and is made of a polypropylene-containing lid cover 8 of a reinforcing material.
The upper frame side action portion is fixed to the upper frame 4 to urge the lid body 5 in the opening direction to perform the automatic opening operation of the lid body 5.

A hook lever 9 is provided on the upper frame 5 at a position substantially opposite to the hinge portion 7.
Is rotatably supported on the upper frame 5 by a hook lever shaft 10. Reference numeral 9a is a claw provided at the tip of the hook lever 9. A hook lever spring 9b is provided on the opposite side of the claw 9a via the hook lever shaft 10 and biases the hook lever 9 toward the lid 6.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a hook portion provided on the lid body 5, which together with the hook lever 9 constitutes an engaging means for engaging or disengaging the rice cooker body 1 and the lid body 5. 12 is a heat sink,
Reference numeral 12a is a mounting screw, which is a radiating plate mounting boss 1 provided on the lid 5.
The radiator plate 12 and the lid 5 are fixed at 3.

Numeral 14 is a cylindrical portion for fixing the heat dissipation plate 12 to the lid 5, and numeral 15 is an inner peripheral hollow portion provided on the surface side of the lid 5 of the cylindrical portion 14, which has a hollow structure, so that high strength is secured. is doing.

Here, from the heat sink mounting boss 13 to the cylindrical portion 1
No reinforcing ribs or the like are provided at a position higher than the tip of the mounting screw 12a, and the heat dissipation plate mounting boss 13 can be easily deformed at a position higher than the tip of the mounting screw 12a.

Reference numeral 16 denotes an outer peripheral hollow portion, and an inner peripheral hollow portion 15
And the connection portion 17 having an uneven thickness. Reference numeral 18 denotes a hollow gas injection portion for injecting nitrogen gas immediately before the material for injection molding tries to contract when it cools and solidifies, and prevents sink marks at the time of contraction, in the vicinity of the hook portion 11.
It is provided on the inner surface side of the lid body 5. A steam discharge port 19 is for discharging steam generated from the inside of the rice cooker body 1 during cooking.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a resin injection portion, which is on the outer surface side of the lid body 5,
It is arranged between the hollow gas injection unit 18 and the steam discharge port 19 near the steam discharge port 19. Reference numeral 20a denotes a steam discharge caution seal, which is used when steam is discharged from the steam discharge port 19,
It displays a danger prevention notice such as burns and calls attention, and hides the mark of the resin injection part.

Reference numeral 21 denotes an inner surface side of the lid body 5, which is a thick wall portion provided from the hollow gas injection portion 18 to the vicinity of the resin injection portion 20, and the cross-sectional area increases as the distance from the hollow gas injection portion 18 increases. It will be small. Reference numeral 22 denotes a pan packing which is provided on the outer periphery of the heat dissipation plate 12 and is brought into pressure contact with the pan 3 when the lid body 6 is closed.

Reference numeral 23 is an induction coil provided on the inner bottom of the rice cooker body 1, and reference numeral 24 is an inverter circuit for exciting the induction coil. 25 is a thermistor for detecting the completion of rice cooking.

The operation of the rice cooker configured as above will be described below. When the pan 3 is heated by the induction coil 23 excited by the inverter circuit 24 during rice cooking, the lid 6 tends to be deformed by the heat.
High strength can be ensured by the inner peripheral hollow portion 15, the outer peripheral hollow portion 16 and the connecting portion 17 provided at, and deformation can be prevented.

On the other hand, since the hinge shaft 7a is supported only by the bearing portion 6 which is integrally formed only by the lid body 5, there is no rattling or reduction in rigidity due to the use of another component, and the strength of the hinge portion 7 is improved. Can be secured. Further, as described above, the lid body 5 is hollow and lightweight while maintaining high strength, so that the spring moment of the hinge spring 7b can be weakened. Therefore, the stress applied to the hinge portion 7 can be reduced, and further, the hinge spring lid side acting portion 7c can be fixed by the lid cover 8 having higher rigidity than the lid body 5, so that the hinge portion 7 can be further secured.
The durability can be improved and the number of components around the lid 5 can be reduced.

Further, since the hollow gas injection portion 18 is provided on the inner surface side of the lid body 5, the surface of the lid body 5 is kept smooth, and the gas injection mark on the inner surface can be hidden by the heat radiating plate 12. By disposing the resin injection part 20 in the vicinity of the steam discharge port 19, it can be hidden by the steam discharge caution seal 20a or the like.

Here, since the cross-sectional area in the direction perpendicular to the resin flow direction is increased only in the direction of the resin injection portion 20 from the hollow gas injection portion 18, the hollow gas injection portion 18 having uneven thickness is formed. Since it does not become a flow end at the time of molding, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of welds, sink marks and the like.

Furthermore, the thick wall portion 2 whose cross-sectional area changes gradually
According to 1, the resin can be filled in the vicinity of the hollow gas injecting portion 18 early and smoothly, that is, in a laminar flow without causing turbulent flow, so that surface irregularities caused by turbulent flow, surface irregularities caused by air entrainment, etc. Occurrence can be prevented.

In addition, since the heat dissipation plate mounting boss 13 is not connected to other high-strength portions by ribs or the like at a position higher than the tip of the mounting screw 12a, it can be deformed independently. Therefore, the stress due to the dimensional change of the lid 5 and the heat dissipation plate 12 at a high temperature can be relaxed by the deformation, occurrence of cracks and cracks can be prevented, and the durability of the lid 5 can be improved.

[0038]

As is apparent from the description of the above embodiment, according to the present invention, the gas injection trace can be hidden by the heat radiating plate by providing the hollow gas injection portion on the inner surface side of the lid. Further, by disposing the resin injecting portion in the vicinity of the steam outlet, it is possible to hide the resin injecting portion by the concealing member without a feeling of incongruity, so that it is possible to realize a lid body which is hollow and has a high quality.

Further, the cross-sectional area in the direction perpendicular to the resin flow direction becomes large only in the direction of the resin injection part from the hollow gas injection part, so that the hollow gas injection part having an uneven thickness flows during molding. Since it does not become the end, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of welds, sink marks, etc., and it is possible to obtain a lid body having no appearance defect.

Since the cross-sectional area of the thick wall portion becomes smaller as the distance becomes larger than that of the hollow gas injection portion, turbulent flow is less likely to occur in the resin flow toward the hollow gas injection portion. It is possible to obtain a lid body having no appearance defect.

Further, the heat radiating plate mounting boss can be easily deformed because it is connected to another high strength portion by a rib or the like at a position lower than the tip of the mounting screw. Therefore, stress due to dimensional changes of the lid and the heat sink at high temperature can be relieved, cracks and cracks can be prevented from occurring, and the durability of the lid can be improved.

Further, since the hinge shaft is supported only by the bearing portion of the lid, there is no rattling or reduction in rigidity due to the use of a separate component, and the rigidity of the bearing portion can be secured by the integral structure, and the hinge portion A rice cooker with improved durability can be provided.

Since the lid can be made lighter by hollow molding, the moment of the hinge spring for the automatic opening operation can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the stress applied to the periphery of the hinge portion, reduce the impact when the lid is opened, improve the durability of the hinge portion, and provide a rice cooker with less impact when the lid is opened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a rice cooker showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal configuration of a main part of a lid of a rice cooker showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an internal configuration of a main part of a lid of a rice cooker showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a lid of a rice cooker showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional rice cooker.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 rice cooker body 2 body 3 pots 4 Upper frame 5 Lid 6 Bearing 7 Hinge part 7a Hinge shaft 7b Hinge spring 7c Hinge spring lid side acting part 8 Lid cover 9 Hook lever 10 Hook lever shaft 11 Hook part 12 Heat sink 12a Mounting screw 13 Heat sink mounting boss 14 Cylindrical part 15 Hollow inner circumference 16 Outer hollow part 17 Connection 18 Hollow gas injection part 19 Steam outlet 20 Resin injection part 20a Steam discharge caution sticker 21 Thick part 22 Pan packing 23 induction coil 24 Inverter circuit 25 thermistor

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Haruo Ishikawa 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Hachiro Yoshida, 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-2-99015 (JP, A) JP-A-5-177673 (JP, A) JP-A-5-301262 (JP, A) JP-A-3-274119 (JP, A) JP-A-2-65809 (JP, A) JP-A-7-100055 (JP, A) Patent 3275543 (JP, B2) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A47J 27/00 103 A47J 36/06

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pot for heating an item to be cooked, a rice cooker main body having an upper surface opened so as to detachably accommodate the pan, and a hollow-molded resin which covers the upper opening of the rice cooker main body in an openable and closable manner. Lid, a radiator plate fixed to a radiator plate mounting boss of the lid by a mounting screw, and engaging means for engaging the rice cooker body and the lid body substantially on the opposite side of the hinge portion. The lid has a steam outlet for discharging steam during cooking and a hidden member, and the lid has a hollow gas injection portion for preventing sink marks when the material for injection molding shrinks. The resin injection part is provided on the inner surface side of the lid near the engaging means, and the resin injection part is provided on the outer surface side of the lid near the steam discharge port between the hollow gas injection part and the steam discharge port. Rice cooker with a hidden member attached to cover the rice cooker. 2. A pot for heating an object to be cooked, a rice cooker body having an upper surface opened so that the pot can be detachably accommodated, and a hollow-molded resin which covers the upper opening of the rice cooker body in an openable and closable manner. Lid, an engaging means for engaging the rice cooker main body and the lid on a side substantially opposite to the hinge portion, a resin injection portion on the lid, and an injection molding material at the time of contraction. A hollow gas injection section for preventing sink marks and a steam discharge port are provided, and only the direction from the resin injection section to the hollow gas injection section is provided on the inner surface side of the lid in a direction perpendicular to the resin flow direction. Rice cooker with a thick part with a large cross-sectional area. 3. The rice cooker according to claim 2, wherein the thick-walled portion of the lid body has a smaller cross-sectional area as the distance from the hollow gas injection portion increases. 4. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the radiating plate mounting boss of the lid is connected to another high-strength portion by a rib or the like at a position lower than the tip of the mounting screw. . 5. The rice cooker main body includes a body having an open top surface and an upper frame located inside the top surface opening of the body to form a pan receiving portion. Hinge shaft inserted in the bearing portion integrally formed with the
A hinge spring penetrating and supported by the hinge shaft, wherein the hinge spring is fixed to the upper frame.
The rice cooker according to any one of 4 above.