JP3546881B2 - rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rice cooker.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 9 shows the configuration of a conventional general rice cooker. A pan 25 is detachably provided inside the main body 24, and an openable lid 26 is provided to cover the top of the pan. A pot heating means 27 for heating rice and water in the pot 25 is disposed at the bottom of the pot 25, and a lid heating means 28 is disposed in the lid 26. Further, in order to control the heating state of the cooked rice, a pot temperature detecting means 29 for detecting the temperature of the pot 25 and a lid temperature detecting means 30 for detecting the temperature of the upper surface of the pot 25 are arranged at the bottom of the pot 25. The control means 31 operates the pot heating means 27 and the lid heating means 28 on a timely basis based on the detected temperatures of the pot temperature detecting means 29 and the lid temperature detecting means 30.
[0003]
The operation of the above configuration will be described. The pot 25 is filled with the amount of rice to be cooked and water suitable for the amount of rice. The rice cooking process of a general rice cooker is classified into submerging, cooking and steaming processes, and rice is converted into rice through the above processes. When the user starts cooking rice, the control means 31 uses the temperature detected by the pot temperature detecting means 29 and the lid temperature detecting means 30 to make the rice and water in the pot 25 necessary for the above-described inundation, cooking and steaming steps. Temperature and time are maintained.
[0004]
FIG. 10 shows the change in the gelatinization degree indicating the rate at which the rice changes into rice during the rice cooking process. From FIG. 10, it can be seen that in the cooking step for heating and boiling the rice, the gelatinization degree rapidly increases as the heating amount is increased. However, when the water in the pot 25 runs out and the cooking process is completed, the heating amount of the pot heating means 27 has to be reduced particularly in order to prevent the cooked rice from burning.
[0005]
There is steam rice cooking in which rice is placed in an atmosphere filled with steam, and rice is cooked while receiving moisture and heat under even conditions.
[0006]
A rice cooker using steam is as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 02-283328. The steam rice cooker shown in FIG. 11 will be described. The main body 32 has a rice cooker 33 in the vicinity of an inner central portion thereof, and a bottom provided with a partition plate 34 having a large number of holes through which rice grains cannot pass. A water supply shower 35 is provided at the upper part, and sprays water uniformly on the set rice grains. A steam supply unit 36 is provided at a lower portion, and vaporizes water supplied from a water supply pump 37 and injects steam from below.
[0007]
In the above-described configuration, rice is cooked while appropriately injecting steam from below and ejecting water from above.
[0008]
As described above, a very large apparatus is generally used for supplying water and heat to rice grains.
[0009]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 02-283328
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In a general household rice cooker, the pot heating means arranged at the bottom of the pot is mainly used to heat the rice and water in the pot, and the heating means in the lid is used to heat the space above the rice and water in the pot. Therefore, it is difficult to perform appropriate heating. If the amount of heating is insufficient or the amount of heating is too large, only the upper surface is dried, and it is difficult to uniformly heat rice and water in the pot.
[0011]
Further, in the steaming step, in order to prevent scorching of the cooked rice, the amount of heating of the pot heating means must be reduced.
[0012]
In addition, the steam rice cooker that solves the above-mentioned problem requires a water-supplying hand that supplements water that is insufficient for steam rice to supply to rice grains, in addition to steam for heating rice grains. Therefore, the configuration of the steam rice cooker is very complicated, and it is difficult to apply the steam rice cooker as a home rice cooker.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a configuration in which steam from above the pan is sprayed and rice and water are heated from above the pan in addition to heating by the pan heating means.
[0014]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a pot, a pot heating means for heating the pot, a lid covering an opening of the pot, and steam generation means, wherein the steam generation means includes a water tank. It has an electromagnetic induction heating type water tank heating means, and further has a steam injection hole for introducing steam into the pan from the opening of the pan, and heats the steam generated from the steam generation means to exceed 100 ° C. It is equipped with steam heating means to make superheated steam, and it is not necessary to provide additional water replenishing means by setting the water necessary for cooking, which is insufficient for steam-only rice, in the pot from the beginning. The heating of rice and water from above. Further, the rice can be heated without burning during steaming, so that more delicious rice can be obtained. Further, a configuration is provided in which a superheated steam exceeding 100 ° C. is injected or generated in the pot, so that energy can be supplied efficiently.
[0015]
Further, according to the invention of claim 2 of the present invention, by making the water tank detachable, the water tank can be easily washed and kept clean after cooking rice.
[0016]
【Example】
(Example 1)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 shown in FIG. 1 indicates a main body of a rice cooker, in which a detachable pot 2 is provided. Further, a lid 3 that covers the upper surface of the pan 2 is installed to be freely opened and closed.
[0017]
Further, a pot heating means 4 for heating the pot 2 and a pot temperature detecting means 5 for detecting the temperature of the pot 2 are arranged inside the main body 1. A water tank 6 is provided inside the main body 1. The water tank 6 has a water tank heating means 7, and the water tank 6 and the water tank heating means 7 constitute a steam generating means 38.
[0018]
Further, the steam generating means 38 and a part of the upper surface of the pan 2 are connected by the steam pipe 8, and the opening on the upper surface of the pan 2 is defined as a steam hole 9. An on-off valve 10 is provided in a steam cylinder from which steam is released from the pot 2 to the outside of the main body 1. Further, inside the main body 1, a pot heating means 4, a water tank heating means 7, and an opening / closing valve control means 11 for controlling an opening / closing valve 10 based on an output of the pot temperature detecting means 5 are provided.
[0019]
The operation of the above configuration will be described. Rice to be cooked and water corresponding to the amount of the rice are placed in the pot 2 and the main body 1 is housed in a predetermined state. Further, when a predetermined amount of water is put into a water tank 6 provided in the main body 1 and the user operates a rice-cooking start switch (not shown), a rice-cooking process is performed. The rice cooking process is largely divided into submersion, cooking and steaming. In each step, the state of water and rice in the pot 2 is maintained at a temperature set as an appropriate value and for a predetermined time. Therefore, the pot heating means 4 and the water tank heating means 7 are driven while detecting the output of the pot temperature detecting means 5.
[0020]
When the water tank heating means 7 is driven, the water in the water tank is heated to generate steam. This steam moves through the steam pipe 8 and is discharged into the pot 2 from a part of the upper surface of the pot 2. The water and rice inside the pan 2 are heated from the bottom of the pan 2 by the pan heating means 4, and the upper surface is further heated by steam discharged to the pan 2. By using steam as a heating source from the upper surface, in the water immersion step, the temperature rises uniformly and in a short time to a temperature at which rice gelatinization does not start as compared with the conventional heating of the pot heating means 4. By maintaining the whole rice in the pan 2 at a target temperature uniformly, the water absorption condition of the rice is uniform and the amount of water required for cooking in a short time is absorbed. In the cooking step, the boiling point is reached uniformly and in a short time.
[0021]
Further, while the boiling state of the cooking process is maintained, a phenomenon in which the liquid in which starch is eluted from rice (neba) is released from the pan 2 in a volume-expanded state including bubbles, that is, a so-called spill-over phenomenon will appear. And As a countermeasure against this spill, steam is applied to the rice noodle expanding above the pot 2 to destroy bubbles contained in the rice noodle and suppress volume expansion.
[0022]
Therefore, it is possible to prevent the overflow without stopping the boiling state during the maintenance of the boiling. By preventing boiling over while maintaining the boiling state, the progress of the gelatinization phenomenon that rice is heated while absorbing water and changes to cooked rice is not suppressed, and cooked rice that has finished the cooking process has a higher degree of gelatinization It becomes.
[0023]
In addition, in the steaming step, the water put in the pot at the start of cooking rice is absorbed and evaporated by the rice, and is almost gone. However, a large amount of water tends to remain at the bottom of the pot 2. In order to remove the excess water and promote the gelatinization of the rice, the pot 2 is also heated in the steaming step. However, since the water content is low, when the rice is heated from the bottom of the pan 2, the rice near the surface to be heated of the pan 2 is burnt.
[0024]
In addition, the rice on the upper surface of the pot 2 is easily dried because the evaporation of water becomes active. Therefore, even in the steaming step, by performing heating with steam from the upper surface, it is possible to prevent a local temperature rise in heating the entire pot and drying of rice in the upper surface and its vicinity.
[0025]
In each step, the on-off valve 10 provided in the steam cylinder is opened and closed as needed by the on-off valve control means 11. At the time of closing, the injected steam cannot escape to the outside of the main body 1, so the chance of contact with water rice increases, the water is heated in a short time, and the heat of the steam reaches the inside of the rice layer after the water is exhausted. It can be transmitted and the whole can be heated more effectively.
[0026]
Some rice cookers have a heating means for heating from the lid 3. However, the rice in the pot 2 is heated by heating a part of the lid 3 arranged on the upper surface of the pot 2. Therefore, the effect described above cannot be obtained because the space passes through the space on the upper surface of the pot. In a rice cooker having the lid heating means 12, the same effect can be obtained by arranging the configuration of the present invention. Further, by making the water tank 6 detachable, the user can easily handle it.
[0027]
Further, the water tank heating means 7 can be used in combination with the pot heating means 4 as a heating means of the rice cooker, and the same effects as described above can be obtained. In addition, when the cover heating means 12 is provided as shown in FIG. 2, the structure inside the cover 3 can be easily and particularly reduced in size.
[0028]
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a detachable water tank 13 which is detachable is disposed above the pot 2, and a detachable water tank heating means 14 is provided in the lid, and the detachable water tank 13 and the detachable water tank heating means 14 are provided. And steam generating means 39. In this configuration, it is not necessary to provide an installation space for the detachable water tank 13 in the lid 3, so that the configuration inside the lid 3 can be made easier and smaller. In addition, the temperature of the water in the detachable water tank 13 increases as the temperature in the pan 2 rises, so that the heating efficiency of the detachable water tank 13 also improves.
[0029]
Further, since it is easy to move the pot 2 and the removable water tank 13 as a set, the operation of putting rice and water into the pot 2 can be completed in a series of flows, and the user can easily use the removable water tank 13. And the effect of preventing forgetting to put water into the detachable water tank 13 can be obtained.
[0030]
(Example 2)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. It has a configuration in which an extendable and extendable steam pipe 15 is added between the steam pipe 8 and the steam hole 9. In this case, after the water and rice are set in the pot 2 and the lid 3 is closed, the extension steam pipe 15 has a predetermined length, and the steam hole 9 enters the inside of the water and rice layer. When the lid 3 is opened and closed, it moves to the upper surface of the rice, so that the steam hole 9 does not come into contact with the opening and closing operation, so that opening and closing can be easily performed as in a conventional rice cooker.
[0031]
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, after the divided steam pipe 16 is disposed in the pot instead of the extended steam pipe 15, rice and water are set in the pot, so that the steam holes 9 are formed in the water and rice layers. It is arranged and connected to the steam pipe 8 with the lid 3 closed, so that steam does not leak at the connection portion.
[0032]
The operation of the above configuration will be described. 4 and 5, the operation is as shown in the first embodiment. However, since the steam holes 9 are arranged in water and rice, and the steam is discharged from that position, the stirring of the water is promoted by the steam bubbles. The temperature of water and rice as a whole is made uniform, and water is heated by bubbles, so that the temperature rises at a high speed. Further, even when the amount of water in the pan 2 is reduced, the up and down movement of the water is promoted by the bubbles, so that the tendency of insufficient water absorption of rice above the pan 2 and excessive water absorption below the pan 2 can be reduced.
[0033]
In addition, the steam in the steaming process is released when water is exhausted, and the extra moisture remaining in the rice layer is released to the outside together with the rice. Is heated.
[0034]
In addition, by using together with the configuration of discharging steam from the upper surface of the pot 2 shown in the first embodiment, in addition to the effect of uniformly heating the inside of the pot 2 as described above, the effect of preventing the spill in the cooking process can be obtained. Can also be obtained.
[0035]
In addition, by making the water tank 6, the extended steam pipe 15, and the divided steam pipe 16 detachable, each can be easily cleaned, and cleanliness and handling can be improved.
[0036]
(Example 3)
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 shown in FIG. 6 indicates a main body of the rice cooker, in which a detachable pan 2 is provided. Further, a lid 3 that covers the upper surface of the pan 2 is installed to be freely opened and closed. A pot heating means 4 for heating the pot 2 and a pot temperature detecting means 5 for detecting the temperature of the pot 2 are arranged inside the main body 1. Further, a water storage section 17 is arranged inside the bottom of the pot 2. Further, a water storage unit heating means 18 for heating the water storage unit 17 is provided in the main body 1 substantially coincident with the outside of the pot 2 in which the water storage unit 17 is arranged. The water storage section 17 and the water storage section 18 constitute the steam generating means 40. The water reservoir 17 is provided with a hole 19 through which rice is not selectively passed.
[0037]
The operation of the above configuration will be described. The user puts rice and water in the pot 2. At that time, water enters into the water storage portion 17 arranged at the bottom of the pan 2 regardless of how the user handles it. Therefore, the user can surely set the water used for the steam heating in the pot 2. The pot 2 is provided in a predetermined state of the main body 1 and rice cooking is started. The rice cooking process proceeds, and the pot heating means 4 is controlled to boil the water in the pot 2 in the cooking process. In the meantime, by controlling the water storage section heating means 18 to heat the water storage section 17, the water in the water storage section 17 is locally heated, and the water is turned into steam and discharged into the space in the pot 2 where rice is present. You. Water is supplied from the outside of the water storage unit 17 to the extent that the water becomes steam.
[0038]
Since the steam bubbles generated from the water storage unit 17 are heated while being in contact with the water and rice in the pot 2, the temperature in the pot 2 can be raised uniformly and in a short time as compared with heating by only the pot heating means 4. Can be done. Further, the cooking process is completed with water remaining in the water storage unit 17, and in the steaming process, the steam is positively passed through the space with rice in the pot 2 by heating the water storage unit 17 again. The steam is used to heat the rice.
[0039]
In addition, by arranging the water storage part 20 and the water storage part heating means 21 as shown in FIG. 7, in addition to the uniform and short-time temperature rise by the steam, the steam can be discharged to the upper part in the pot 2. It is possible to take measures against spills during the cooking process. In addition, since the water storage section 20 has a heat insulating structure with respect to the portion in contact with the rice, even in the water immersion step, by controlling the water storage section heating means 21, steam heating from the upper surface becomes possible.
[0040]
In addition, by making the water storage parts 17 and 20 detachable, each cleaning becomes easy, and it becomes clean and easy to handle.
[0041]
(Example 4)
A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. It has steam heating means 22 for further heating steam generated from the water tank 6 shown in FIG. Further, it has a steam temperature control means 23 for controlling the steam heating means 22 in order to generate superheated steam at a temperature required for each of the steps of immersion, cooking and steaming.
[0042]
The operation of the above configuration will be described. As in FIG. 1, the water in the water tank 6 is heated by the water tank heating means 7 to generate steam. The generated steam is further heated by the steam heating means 20, becomes superheated steam exceeding 100 ° C. at normal pressure, and is discharged into the pot 2. Since it has higher heat energy than normal steam, it is possible to heat the inside of the pan 2 uniformly and for a short time. Further, by further increasing the temperature of the superheated steam with respect to the cooking process by the superheated steam control means 23, the temperature of the pot 2 can be raised in a shorter time. Further, in the steaming step, the rice can be heated in a short time without drying and further burning the rice by controlling the temperature to such a degree that the rice is not dried.
[0043]
In addition, the pot heating means 4, the lid heating means 12, the water tank heating means 7, the detachable water tank heating means, the water storage section heating means 18 and 21, and the steam heating means 22 described in Examples 1 to 4 are provided with electric heater heating. A similar effect can be obtained by heating means such as induction heating, halogen heater heating, microwave heating, or gas heating.
[0044]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, insufficient heating of rice and water in the pot is performed from above. Further, the present invention is to provide a rice cooker that improves the taste by preventing the upper part from drying, and realizes small-sized steam rice cooking.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional rice cooker. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a change in gelatinization degree in rice cooking. Cross-sectional view of [Description of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Pot 3 Lid 4 Pot heating means 5 Pot temperature detecting means 6 Water tank 7 Water tank heating means 8 Steam pipe 9 Steam hole 10 On / off valve 11 On / off valve control means 12 Lid heating means 13 Detachable water tank 14 Detachable water tank heating Means 15 Extension steam pipe 16 Split steam pipe 17 Water storage section 18 Water storage section heating means 19 Hole 20 Water storage section 21 Water storage section heating means 22 Steam heating means 23 Steam temperature control means 38 Steam generation means

Claims (2)

A pan, a pan heating means for heating the pan, a lid for covering the opening of the pan, steam generating means, and a steam input hole for introducing steam into the pan from the opening of the pan, steam generating means have a water tank and an electromagnetic induction heating type water tank heating means, rice cooker provided with steam heating means for the superheated steam in excess of 100 ° C. by heating the steam generated from said steam generating means. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the water tank is detachable.

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