JP3476769B2 - Rice cooker lid hinge structure - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lid hinge structure for a rice cooker (including a rice cooker).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional rice cooker having a hinge structure with a lid brake structure, a lid is openably and closably attached to a rice cooker main body through a hinge shaft, and the lid is opened in a opening direction by a hinge spring. Energize and press the lid brake part provided on a part of the lid against the main body brake part provided on a part of the rice cooker in the range where the maximum opening angle is reached from the middle of opening the lids. A brake torque is applied to the opening of the lid by sliding contact. The both brake parts are provided at two locations near the bearing parts at both ends of the hinge shaft.

Various structures are adopted for the lid brake section and the main body brake section. For example, the lid brake portion is formed by a rotating cam, the main body brake portion is formed by a leaf spring, conversely, the lid brake portion is formed by a leaf spring bent into a predetermined cam shape,
There are various structures such as a body brake part formed by a wall surface of a part of the rice cooker body. In either case, the lid brake portion and the main body brake portion are brought into sliding contact with each other while the lid is being opened by the urging force of the hinge spring, and the friction force between the lid brake portion and the main body brake portion is applied.

In the above rice cooker, the lid has a structure in which it is connected to the rice cooker main body by one hinge shaft. Therefore, the bearings for supporting the hinge shaft are provided at both ends of the hinge shaft. The brake part is provided on the outer side in the axial direction and the outer side in the radial direction of the hinge shaft in the vicinity of each bearing part.

On the other hand, the spring constant of the hinge spring is set so that the initial torque given to the lid is large and the reaction is utilized to completely open the lid. FIG. 10 shows the relationship between the lid torque and the spring torque in a conventional non-pressure type rice cooker. The broken line shown in FIG. 10 indicates the lid closing direction torque (lid torque) exerted on the hinge shaft by the lid, The solid line represents the opening torque (spring torque) exerted by the hinge spring on the lid, and is shown in relation to the opening angle of the lid. In this figure, the fully opened state of the lid is 0 °, and the fully closed state is almost 90 °.

As is clear from the figure, the lid torque is maximum in the fully closed state of the lid, and decreases in a cosine curve shape as it reaches the fully opened state (0 °) (that is, as the lid opening degree increases). The spring torque is also maximum in the fully closed state, but linearly decreases as the fully opened state is reached. There is some residual torque A ′ at 0 ° fully open.

A state in which a brake torque is applied to the above lid torque is shown by a one-dot chain line.

[0008]

As described above, since the bearing portion of the hinge shaft is provided at both left and right ends of the hinge shaft,
The distance between the left and right brake parts of the brake parts provided near the bearings is relatively large on both the lid side and the main body side. Therefore, the distance between the brake parts is affected by variations in the finish accuracy of the resin molding of the lid and the main body and the assembly accuracy, and as a result, the braking effectiveness becomes unstable. Further, conventionally, since the brake portion is provided on the outer side in the axial direction or the outer side in the radial direction of the hinge shaft, it has been a factor that hinders the product from being made compact.

Therefore, the present invention provides a hinge structure for a lid, which has a brake structure which is not easily affected by variations in finished dimensions of resin molding and variations in assembly accuracy, and which can contribute to downsizing of products. Is the first subject.

On the other hand, as is apparent from FIG. 10, in the conventional hinge structure, the spring torque greatly exceeds the lid torque at the beginning of opening the lid, but the lid torque and the spring torque increase as the opening degree of the lid increases. Are approaching each other. In such a relationship, since the momentum at the beginning of opening is great, the lid may be fully opened without being sufficiently decelerated, and the lid may bounce. Also, when releasing from a half-open state, the initial momentum is small, so it may stop before reaching full opening.

As shown in FIG. 10, the maximum value a of the spring torque of the hinge spring (initial torque at the initial stage of opening the lid) is
Approximately 1 of the maximum lid torque value b (initial torque when the lid is opened)
48%. The twist angle α (the twist angle when one end of the spring is fixed and the other end is twisted from the unloaded state to the fully open state) is about 15 °.

In view of the above, the second object of the present invention is to study the characteristics of the spring torque, solve the above-mentioned inconvenience, and enable the lid to be opened smoothly.

[0013]

In order to solve the above-mentioned first problem, according to the present invention, a lid is attached to a rice cooker main body via a hinge shaft so that the lid can be opened and closed, and the lid is opened by a hinge spring. The lid brake part provided in a part of the lid against the main body brake part provided in a part of the rice cooker main body in a range where the maximum opening angle is reached from the middle of opening the lid, and the both brakes are pressed. In a lid hinge structure of a rice cooker adapted to apply a brake torque to the opening of the lid by sliding contact of the portion, an intermediate bearing portion for supporting an intermediate portion of the hinge shaft is provided in the lid, and the intermediate bearing portion is provided with the intermediate bearing portion. The structure with the lid brake part of is adopted.

According to the above construction, since the intermediate shaft portion is present in the central portion in the width direction of the lid and the rice cooker main body, the brake device constituted by the lid brake portion and the main body brake portion facing the lid brake portion is provided in the intermediate portion. Even if the bearings are provided at a plurality of locations, the distances between the braking devices are close to each other, so that the influence of variations in molding and assembly is small, and the left and right imbalance of the braking force is also small. Further, when the brake device is provided at one place, the brake force is located at the intermediate portion, so that there is no left-right imbalance in the braking force, and there is no influence of variations in molding or assembly. Further, since the brake device is provided on the intermediate shaft portion, the product can be made compact.

As a concrete configuration of the above-mentioned brake device, the lid brake portion is formed by a rotary cam provided in an intermediate bearing portion, the main body brake portion is formed by including an elastic body, and the shape of the rotary cam is formed. However, it is possible to have a shape in which the distance between the main body brake portion and the main body brake portion gradually decreases as the lid rotates around the rotation center in the lid opening direction.

As another structure, the lid brake portion is formed by a rotary cam including an elastic body provided in an intermediate bearing portion, and the shape of the rotary cam is the lid opening direction around the rotation center of the lid. It is possible to adopt a configuration having a shape in which the distance between the main body brake unit and the main body brake unit becomes gradually smaller as it rotates.

In each of the above specific examples, "including an elastic body" means that the entire body is made of an elastic body such as a leaf spring or rubber, and a combination of these elastic bodies and a resin member. It means that it is formed by. In each of these specific examples, the rotary cam is provided so as to project in the radial direction of the hinge shaft, and the outer peripheral surface of the rotary cam is brought into sliding contact with the other brake portion, so it can be called a radial type brake device.

On the other hand, the rice cooker main body is provided with a main body side bearing portion for supporting a hinge shaft on a side surface of the intermediate bearing portion, and a lid brake portion is provided on an axially opposed surface of the intermediate bearing portion with respect to the main body side bearing portion. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the main body brake portion is provided on the main body side bearing portion facing this. This can be called a thrust type brake device because the lid brake part or the main body brake part projects in the axial direction.

As a structure for solving the above-mentioned second problem, a lid is attached to the rice cooker main body via a hinge shaft so as to be openable and closable, and the lid is urged in the opening direction by a hinge spring. In the range where the maximum opening angle is reached from the middle of opening, the lid brake part provided on a part of the lid is pressed against the main body brake part provided on a part of the rice cooker main body, and the sliding of the both brake parts slides the lid. In the lid hinge structure of the rice cooker that applies the brake torque to the opening,
The initial spring torque of the hinge spring in the initial stage of opening the lid is equal to 1 of the initial spring torque of the initial stage of opening of the lid on the hinge shaft.
20% to 140%, and the twist angle of the hinge spring is 25 ° to 60 ° when the lid is fully opened.

As described above, since the initial spring torque of the hinge spring has a relatively small value as compared with the conventional one, the momentum at the initial stage of opening the lid becomes relatively small, and the momentum is relatively gentle. Bounce can be avoided. Further, since the torsion angle is larger than that of the conventional one, a sufficiently large spring torque can be obtained until it is fully opened. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the lid from stopping during opening.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, in the rice cooker of the embodiment, a lid 3 is attached to a rear portion of a jar body 1 by a hinge shaft 2 so as to be openable and closable. A main body hinge portion 4 is provided on the rear wall surface of the jar main body 1 below the hinge shaft 2, and a cover lid 6 is attached to the main body hinge portion 4 with screws 5 (see FIG. 2). As described later, the hinge shaft 2 includes two left and right hinge shafts 2 concentrically arranged.
It is formed by a and 2b (see FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 2, a pot 7 is housed inside the jar body 1, and a lid packing 9 attached to the outer peripheral edge of the heat radiating plate 8 on the lower surface of the lid 3 is opened in the pot 7. It is pressed against the edge. Further, the heat radiating plate 8 is provided with a steam outlet 11 opened above the pan 7, and the lid 3 is provided with a steam hole set 12 communicating with the steam outlet 11.

The above-mentioned main body hinge portion 4 has its cover lid 6
As shown in FIG. 3 in which the left side shaft support portion 13 and the right inner shaft support portion 13 ′ facing each other are provided in the central portion, the U side support groove 14 and the right inner shaft support portion 13 ′ are respectively provided.
14 'is formed. Further, a left outer shaft support portion 15 and a right outer shaft support portion 15 'are provided at both left and right ends of the main body hinge portion 4, and these also have support grooves 16 corresponding to the support grooves 14, 14'. 16 'is formed.

A mounting portion 18 for the main body brake portion 17 is provided between the left and right inner shaft support portions 13, 13 '.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the main body brake portion 17 is formed by bending the upper free end portion of the leaf spring 19 inward, and the lower end portion of the main body brake portion 17 is provided on the rear surface of the mounting portion 18 with a boss 21. It is fixed with screws 5 together with the cover lid 6. A locking portion 22 that rises rearward is provided at the rear portion of the mounting portion 18, and the main body braking portion 17 is locked to the locking portion 22 so that the main body braking portion 17 has its free end portion. Is installed in a tilted state with the bottom facing down.

As shown in FIG. 3, a lid hinge portion 23 is provided in a concave shape at a rear portion of the lid 3, and a left bearing portion 24 and a right bearing portion 24 'are provided on left and right opposing surfaces thereof. Further, an intermediate bearing portion 25 is provided in the intermediate portion between the both. Intermediate bearing 2
5 has three ribs, a central rib 25a, a left rib 25b, and a right rib 25c that are close to each other. The left rib 25b and the left bearing portion 24 face each other, and the right rib 25c and the right bearing portion 24 ' Face each other. Then, the left hinge shaft 2a having the left hinge spring 27 inserted through the left rib 25b and the left bearing portion 24 is supported in the respective bearing holes. Further, the right hinge shaft 2b having the right hinge spring 27 'inserted between the right rib 25c and the right bearing portion 24' is supported in the respective bearing holes in a concentric state with the left hinge shaft 2a.

The above-mentioned left bearing portion 24 and right bearing portion 24 '
Is fitted outside the left and right outer shaft support portions 15 and 15 '(see FIG. 1), and the intermediate bearing portion 25 is fitted between the left and right inner bearing portions 13 and 13'. Due to the fitting, the left hinge shaft 2a is supported in the support grooves 16 and 14, and the right hinge shaft 2b is supported in the support grooves 16 'and 1'.
Supported at 4 '. Also, the left and right hinge springs 2
The both ends of 7, 27 'are provided with a required twist and are respectively locked to the outer side surfaces of the lid 3 and the intermediate bearing portion 25 (see the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 3).

A rotary cam 31 that rotates together with the lid 3 about the rotation center of the hinge shaft 2 is provided at the tip of the central rib 25a of the intermediate shaft 25 (see FIGS. 2 and 3).
The rotary cam 31 forms a lid brake portion 32 and faces the main body brake portion 17. The rotating cam 31 has a shape that gradually increases in the radial direction in the direction opposite to the opening rotation direction A within a predetermined angle range θ (see FIG. 4) from the middle of opening the lid 3 to reaching the fully opened state. In the range, the main body brake portion 17 is slidably contacted.

The operation of the above braking device is shown in FIG.
It is shown in (b). That is, when the opening angle of the lid 3 reaches a predetermined size, a part of the lid brake portion 32 (rotating cam 31) is brought into sliding contact with the main body brake portion 17 (leaf spring 19) to apply a brake torque to the lid 3 ( See FIG. 5 (a). When the opening angle reaches about 90 ° which is the maximum angle, the brake torque becomes maximum (see FIG. 5B).

The main body brake portion 17 can be formed of an elastic body such as rubber in place of the leaf spring 19, and the main body brake portion 17 can be formed of an elastic body such as a metal spring or rubber. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which a member is supported, a configuration in which elasticity is imparted to a part of the resin forming the jar body 1, and the like.

Contrary to the above, the lid brake portion 32 is formed of an elastic body such as a metal spring or rubber, and the main body brake portion 1 is formed.
7 may be made of a relatively hard resin. 6 (a) to 6 (c) show an example thereof, and the central rib 2 described above is used.
A lid brake portion 32 made of a cantilever type resin piece 33 having a required elasticity is integrally provided at the tip portion of 5a, and its outer peripheral surface is in a direction opposite to the opening rotation direction A, similarly to the rotating cam 31 described above. It is formed so as to have a large radius, and is slidably contacted with the locking portion 22 as the main body braking portion 17. If formed in this way, as shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C, the resin piece 33 (lid brake portion 32) slides on the locking portion 22 (main body brake portion 17) while the lid 3 is open, and the frictional force is increased. It gradually increases, and the maximum brake torque is applied to the lid 3 in the fully opened state.

Each of the above-mentioned examples of the brake device has a lid 3
The brake torque is generated by applying a force in the radial direction to the rotating portion of the above, but the other examples shown in FIGS. 7A to 7E generate the brake torque in the thrust direction. That is, the intermediate bearing portion 25 on the lid 3 side in this case has a left rib 25b, a right rib 25c, and a connecting portion 25d including a tubular portion connecting these ribs, and the left rib 25b and the right rib 25c are connected to each other. Small protrusions 34 are provided on the respective outer side surfaces, and thereby the lid brake portion 32 is configured.

On the other hand, diagonally cut and bent elastic pieces 35 are provided on the opposing inner side surfaces of the left and right inner bearing portions 13 and 13 'on the side of the jar body 1, and the body brake portion 17 is constituted thereby. The lid brake portion 32 is brought into sliding contact with the body brake portion 17 while the lid 3 is being opened to generate a break torque. According to this configuration, the elastic pieces 35 of the left and right inner bearing portions 13 and 13 'exert thrust forces in opposite directions to the thrust direction.
The force in the thrust direction applied to is cancelled, and the lid 3 turns smoothly.

In each of the embodiments described above, the hinge shaft 2 is constituted by the left and right hinge shafts 2a and 2b, and the hinge spring 2 is also used.
Although 7 and 27 'are also independent, one hinge shaft 2 may be used to allow the intermediate bearing portion 25 to penetrate therethrough. Also, the hinge spring may be an integral type having two coil portions.

By the way, the hinge springs 27 and 27 'described above are used.
FIG. 9 shows the relationship between the spring torque and the lid torque, which is the total of the above, separately for the non-pressure type and the pressurizing type. In this case, the torsion angles α of the hinge springs 27 and 27 ′ are 25 ° for the non-pressure type and 65 ° for the pressure type.

In each of the above cases, the lid torque is the same as that of the conventional case, but the gradient of the spring torque is smaller than that of the conventional case. That is, in the case of the non-pressure type, the initial spring torque a is reduced to 118% of the initial lid torque b. Further, the residual spring torque A at the time of full opening is larger than A '(see FIG. 10) in the conventional case. The spring torque and the lid torque are closest to each other at about 50 ° (in the case of FIG. 10, they are closest to each other at about 40 °).

Assuming that it has the above-mentioned characteristics and the braking torque is the same as the conventional one, the lid 3 is opened without stopping until it is fully opened. Moreover, since the initial torque of the lid 3 is small, the bouncing of the lid 3 when the lid 3 is fully opened is prevented.

In the steam hole set 12, as shown in FIG. 2, an inner peripheral valve seat 37 and an outer peripheral valve seat 37 'are formed on the inner bottom portion of a cylindrical case 36, and the inner and outer valve seats 3 are formed.
A valve hole 38 is provided between 7, 37 '. Further, a lower valve seat 39 is provided on the lower surface of the inner bottom portion at the same position as the inner peripheral valve seat 37, and a moisture discharge hole 41 is provided inside the lower valve seat 39. An annular valve element 42 is seated on the upper part of the inner and outer valve seats 37, 37 'by its own weight, and normally closes the valve hole 38, but the valve hole 3 is lifted by the pressure of steam.
Open 8. Further, the check valve 43 is provided at the center of the lower valve seat 39.
The valve rod 44 is vertically movably penetrated, and the upper end thereof is loosely fitted in the hole 45 in the central portion of the valve body 42. The check valve 43 is pressed against the lower valve seat 39 by the vapor pressure and closes the moisture discharge hole 41, but when the vapor pressure disappears, the check valve 43 descends by its own weight to open the moisture discharge hole 41 and accumulate inside the case 36. Eject tawanba etc.

A lid 47 is fitted on the case 36 with a seal packing 46 interposed therebetween. A vapor discharge hole 48 is provided in the lid 47.

The vapor hole set 12 described above is conventionally shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the lid 3 is adapted to be inserted into the vapor reservoir 51 formed on the upper plate 49 of the lid 3 from the upper portion of the lid 3, and the lower end portion of the vapor reservoir 51 is attached to the heat radiating plate 8 with the seal packing 52. Is blocked through. However, in this configuration, since the vapor enters the vapor pool 51, the bedclothes mixed with the vapor adhere to the inside of the lid 3 to cause dirt, and it is difficult to clean and remove the dirt. was there.

On the other hand, in the case of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the seal packing 53 is attached to the lower end of the case 36, and the seal packing 53 is directly pressed against the heat dissipation plate 8 around the steam hole 11. To seal it. Therefore, the steam that has exited the steam outlet 11 is directly introduced into the steam hole set 12 without entering the steam pool 51.
The other parts of the lid 3 are not soiled.

Note that if the user forgets to attach the steam hole set 12 and cooks rice, there is a risk that it will enter the steam pool 51. Therefore, in order to avoid steam from entering the steam pool 51, as shown in FIG. As shown in a), vapor pool 5
You may make it attach the seal packing 52 to the lower end part of 1. Further, in order to detect and inform in advance of forgetting to attach the steam hole set 12, as shown in FIG. 8B, a proximity switch 54 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the steam reservoir 51 and the corner portion of the lower surface of the upper plate 49. Facing the steam hole set 12
The magnet 55 may be attached to the lid 47 of the. In this case, the seal packing 52 can be omitted.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, the lid brake, which is brought into sliding contact with the main body brake when the lid is opened, to apply the brake, is provided in the intermediate bearing portion of the hinge shaft.
The lid brake need only be provided at one place, and even if it is provided at two places, the lid brakes are close to each other, so that it is unlikely to be affected by variations in molding and assembly, so that the braking performance can be improved.

Further, since the brake device is provided on the intermediate shaft portion, the product can be made compact.

Further, while the spring constant of the hinge spring is set to be small to reduce the initial spring torque, the twist angle is set to be large so that the lid does not bounce or stop halfway, so that the lid can be smoothly moved. It can be opened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the above.

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view of the above.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a hinge portion of the above.

FIG. 5 (a) is a sectional view of an operating state of a hinge portion of the same. (B) Sectional view of the operating state of the hinge portion of the above

FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view of another example of the hinge portion of the above. (B) Sectional view of the operating state of the hinge portion of the above (C) Sectional view of the operating state of the hinge part of the above

FIG. 7 (a) is a sectional view of another example of the lid brake part. (B) Right side view of (a) figure (C) (a) perspective view (D) A plan view of another example of the main body brake section of the above. (E) Sectional drawing of the part of (d) figure

FIG. 8 (a) is a sectional view of another example of the above steam hole setting portion, and (b) is a sectional view of another example of the above steam hole setting portion.

FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram of the lid torque and the screw torque of the above.

FIG. 10 is a characteristic diagram of a lid torque and a screw torque of a conventional example.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a conventional example of a steam hole setting portion of the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 jar body 2 hinge axis 3 lid 4 Body hinge part 5 screws 6 cover lid 7 pot 8 heat sink 9 Lid packing 11 Steam outlet 12 steam hole set 13 Left inner support 13 'right inside support 14, 14 'support groove 15 Left outer bearing 15 'right outer bearing portion 16, 16 'support groove 17 Body brake part 18 Attachment 19 leaf spring 21 Boss 22 Locking part 23 Lid hinge part 24 Left bearing 24 'right bearing 25 Intermediate bearing 25a central rib 25b Left rib 25c right rib 25d connection part 27 Left hinge spring 27 'right hinge spring 31 rotating cam 32 Lid brake part 33 resin pieces 34 Small protrusion 36 cases 37 Inner peripheral valve 37 'outer peripheral valve seat 38 valve holes 39 Lower seat 41 Water discharge hole 42 valve 43 Check valve 44 valve rod 45 holes 46 seal packing 47 lid 48 Steam exhaust hole 49 Upper plate 51 vapor pool 52 Seal packing 53 Seal packing 54 Proximity switch 55 magnet

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-11-56614 (JP, A) JP-A-2000-23835 (JP, A) JP-A-2-65810 (JP, A) JP-A-2000-271003 ( (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A47J 27/00 103

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A lid is attached to a rice cooker main body via a hinge shaft so as to be openable and closable, and the lid is urged in the opening direction by a hinge spring so that the lid can be fully opened from the middle of opening the lid. Press the lid brake part provided on part to the main body brake part provided on part of the rice cooker body,
In a lid hinge structure of a rice cooker in which a brake torque is applied to the opening of the lid by sliding contact of the both brake portions, an intermediate bearing portion for supporting an intermediate portion of the hinge shaft is provided in the lid, and the intermediate bearing The above-mentioned lid brake part is provided in the section, and the above-mentioned lid brake part is provided on the above-mentioned intermediate bearing part.
Formed by a rotating cam including a body, the shape of the rotating cam
Rotates in the direction of opening the lid around the center of rotation of the lid
The distance between the brake unit and
A lid hinge structure for a rice cooker, which has a shape that becomes smaller . 2. The lid is attached to the rice cooker main body via a hinge shaft so as to be openable and closable, and the lid is urged in the opening direction by a hinge spring so that the lid reaches a maximum opening angle in the middle of opening the lid. Press the lid brake part provided on a part of the above to the main body brake part provided on a part of the rice cooking main body,
In a lid hinge structure of a rice cooker configured to apply a brake torque to the opening of the lid by sliding contact of the both brake parts, the lid exerts an initial spring torque at the initial stage of opening the lid of the hinge spring on the hinge shaft. A lid hinge structure for a rice cooker, wherein the initial lid torque is 120% to 140% in the initial stage of opening, and the twisting angle of the hinge spring is 25 ° to 60 ° when the lid is fully opened.