JP3828456B2 - Steam escape structure in rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a pressure-type rice cooker that covers the upper surface of a pot accommodated inside the rice cooker body with an inner lid and performs rice cooking under suitable rice cooking conditions by adjusting the pressure in the pot. This is an invention relating to a structure in which steam is released separately from the normal steam discharge means when the pressure increases to a high pressure equal to or higher than the set pressure.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As the rice cooker, a pressure-type rice cooker is known which can maintain the pressure in the kettle at a high pressure suitable for rice cooking and can cook rice more efficiently. In a pressure-type rice cooker, the upper surface of the pot is hermetically covered with an inner lid, and a normal steam discharge means equipped with a pressure adjustment means that operates with a pressure suitable for rice cooking, and when the pressure becomes abnormally high It is common to provide a safety device (safety valve) that discharges steam.
Moreover, in a pressure-type rice cooker, in order to control to the conditions suitable for rice cooking according to the rice cooking condition, the pressure and temperature in a pot are detected and feedback-controlled. In such a rice cooker, in order to detect the pressure and temperature in the kettle, ing in that the sensor hole communicating with the inner hook is provided.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the pressure type rice cooker, in order to maintain the pressure in the pot at a high pressure, an exhaust means provided with a pressure adjusting valve and a safety device for exhausting at an abnormal pressure are provided. As a result, it can be used with peace of mind, but for some reason, for example, food such as rice may adhere to the pressure regulating valve that opens in the pot or the hole for steam discharge of the safety device. There is a possibility that normal steam discharge cannot be performed and cooking cannot be performed under optimum rice cooking conditions.
In order to cope with such a situation, the present invention discharges steam when the pressure in the hook rises abnormally, or a hole for discharging steam to maintain the pressure in the hook at the set pressure. A third hole is provided separately from the hole for the purpose, and when this hole is used , the steam can be safely released when the steam pressure exceeds the set pressure for cooking, and cooking is always performed under favorable rice cooking conditions. It is going to implement | achieve the steam escape structure in the rice cooker which can perform.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the upper surface of the pot 2 accommodated inside the rice cooker body 1 is hermetically sealed by the inner lid 3 attached to the inner bottom surface of the lid 7 pivotally supported by the back of the rice cooker body 1. In the rice cooker to be covered , the present invention is sealed by a ring-shaped packing 11 between the inner lid 3 and the lid 7 that hermetically covers the upper surface of the pot 2, and serves as a steam passage leading to the outside. A space 13 is formed. The inner lid 3 has a hole for discharging steam to maintain the pressure in the hook 3 communicating with the seal space 13 at a set pressure, and for discharging steam when the pressure in the hook rises abnormally. A third hole 4 for discharging the steam to the outside of the vessel is provided separately from the two holes.
The tip of the third hole 4 is narrowed to a small diameter, and the tip of the cylindrical packing 5 squeezed to a small diameter is located on the inner lid 3 at the outer peripheral position of the hole 4 on the upper surface of the inner lid 3. By keeping close contact with the surface of the container , an airtight state between the inside of the hook and the seal space 13 serving as the steam passage is maintained. The airtight state by the cylindrical packing 5 is unraveled at a pressure higher than the set pressure for cooking rice cooking.
[0005]
In the outer peripheral side position of the third hole 4, the tubular gasket 5 in close contact with the inner lid 3, so that the airtight state is released it is the narrow portion is expanded by the pressure of more than a constant pressure. As a result, a reliable sealing state and a release operation at high pressure can be reliably performed. Further, by providing a notch 6 at the tip of the cylindrical packing 5, it is possible to adjust the operating pressure for releasing the seal.
[0006]
As the third hole, a sensor hole provided for detecting the pressure and temperature in the hook can be used. The size of the third hole is larger than the hole for discharging steam to maintain the pressure in the pot at the set pressure, or the hole for discharging steam when the pressure in the pot rises abnormally. If the diameter is large, steam can be quickly released in the case of abnormal pressure.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a steam escape structure in a rice cooker according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a side view of the entire rice cooker with a part cut away, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a state where the lid is opened and the inner lid set is removed, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of only the inner lid.
[0008]
The rice cooker shown in FIG. 1 airtightly seals the pot 2 by a lid 7 that opens and closes the pot 2 accommodated inside the rice cooker body 1 around the hinge shaft 8 at the back, specifically, the inner lid 3 attached to the lid 7. The rice cooker is cooked by heating the lid 2 with a heating means such as a heater or high frequency induction heating (not shown). An inner lid 3 that hermetically covers the hook 2 is detachably mounted with an inner lid set 9 including the inner lid 3 on the inner bottom surface of the lid 7 that opens and closes.
[0009]
That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the inner lid set 9 to be attached to the lid 7 has a metal inner lid 3 having a packing 10 attached to the outer peripheral edge at the central portion of the synthetic resin inner lid main body 9a. In addition, the packing 10 mounted on the outer peripheral edge of the inner lid 3 is brought into close contact with the opening edge of the shuttle 2 so that the airtight state can be maintained.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the lid 7 to which the inner lid set 9 is attached is provided with a metal heating plate 12 surrounded by a ring-shaped packing 11 on a lid body 7a formed of a synthetic resin material. By attaching the set 9, the packing 11 is brought into close contact with the upper surface of the inner lid 3, and a sealed space 13 sealed by the packing 11 is formed between the inner lid 3 and the heating plate 12. At this time, a part of the inner lid 3 is in contact with the heating plate 12 (for example, in contact with a protrusion). Therefore, the heating plate 12 is heated by the linear heater 14 attached to the back surface of the heating plate 12, and the heat is transmitted to the inner lid 3. That is, the inner lid 3 has a structure having a function as a heat radiating plate that can prevent condensation during heat insulation.
[0010]
The inner lid 3 is provided with a pressure regulating valve 15 that discharges steam at a constant pressure and a safety valve 16 that discharges steam when the pressure becomes higher than a predetermined pressure. The pressure is discharged from the pressure regulating valve 15 or the safety valve 16. The steam is discharged to the seal space 13 between the heating plate 12 and the inner lid 3, and the steam discharged to the seal space 13 is discharged to the outside through the steam passage 17. Therefore, as shown by the arrows in FIG. 1, in the normal rice cooking state, steam generated during rice cooking is discharged from the pressure regulating valve 15 through the seal space 13 to the outside of the steam passage 17 and becomes an abnormally high pressure state. The safety valve 16 is activated, and steam is discharged from the safety valve 16 to the seal space.
The safety valve 16 in the illustrated example closes the exhaust hole 16b with the ball 16a, and when the high pressure state exceeds a certain level, it overcomes the weight of the ball 16a and pushes it up, and the steam in the hook is discharged from the exhaust hole 16b. It has a structure. Further, the safety valve 16 is provided with a solenoid 16c, and has a structure capable of forcible exhaust for forcibly moving the ball 16a by the solenoid 16c.
[0011]
Thus, a pressure type rice cooker produces preferable rice cooking conditions by adjusting the inside of a kettle to the optimal high voltage | pressure state for rice cooking. Therefore, pressure measuring means and temperature measuring means for constantly measuring conditions such as temperature and pressure in the pot, specifically, a pressure sensor 18 and a temperature sensor 19 are provided. As shown in FIG. 4, the pressure sensor 18 and the temperature sensor 19 are disposed inside the sensor passage 20 formed by the cylindrical packing 5 attached to the lid 7. The cylindrical packing 5 forming the sensor passage 20 is in close contact with the outer peripheral portion of the sensor hole formed in the inner lid 3 so that the sensor passage 20 is formed as a closed space in the cylindrical packing. I try to do it.
That is, the sensor hole is originally provided in the inner lid for a purpose other than the steam discharge, but this hole is used as the third hole 4 for the steam discharge.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 3, the inner lid 3 has a steam hole 21 for performing normal steam discharge by the function of the pressure regulating valve, an exhaust hole 16b of a safety valve for performing emergency exhaust when an abnormally high pressure occurs, and steam. The target hole 4 other than the discharge, that is, the sensor hole is opened. The inner lid set 9 is provided with a handle 22 so that the lid 7 can be easily attached and detached. On the other hand, in the lid 7 from which the inner lid set 9 is removed, a recess 23 into which the pressure regulating valve 15 attached to the inner lid set 9 enters the back surface of the heating plate 12 and a safety valve 16 attached to the inner lid set 9 enter. The recess 24 and the tip of the cylindrical packing 5 are exposed.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 5A, the cylindrical packing 5 to be mounted on the heating plate 12 has a portion that protrudes downward from the mounting portion 5a to have a large diameter portion 5b and a tip portion that is formed. It is narrowed down to the small diameter portion 5c, and its cross-sectional shape is substantially letter-shaped. Thus, when the inner lid set 9 is mounted as shown in FIG. 5B, the inner lid 3 is pressed from below the cylindrical packing 5 to compress the cross section, and the elasticity of the cylindrical packing 5 The lower end opening is pressed against the upper surface of the inner lid 3 and sealed, and a closed space communicating with the space in the hook 2 is formed in the cylindrical packing 5. Since the inside of the cylindrical packing 5 has the same conditions as the inside of the hook, a pressure sensor 18 and a temperature sensor 19 for performing feedback control are provided in the interior.
[0014]
The material and dimensions of the lower end portion of the cylindrical packing 5 according to the present invention are set so as to have a predetermined stretchability. That is, when the pressure in the hook becomes higher than the set pressure for some reason in the state of FIG. 5B, the narrow diameter portion 5c at the lower end of the cylindrical packing 5 is caused by the internal pressure as shown in FIG. The diameter is expanded, the airtight state with the inner lid 3 is released, and steam flows out from the periphery of the cylindrical packing 5. The steam that flows out between the cylindrical packing 5 and the inner lid 3 flows into the seal space 13 between the heating plate 12 and the inner lid 3, and this seal space 13 is formed in the steam passage 17 formed in the lid 7. The steam flowing out from between the cylindrical packing 5 and the inner lid 3 is discharged to the outside through a normal steam passage. In this way, the steam released when the high-pressure state occurs is discharged outside the normal steam passage. It can be handled safely without sagging, for example, without being burned by accidentally released steam.
When the small diameter portion 5c of the cylindrical packing 5 is expanded by FIG. 5C and the steam in the hook is released and the internal pressure drops to a normal set pressure, the elasticity of the cylindrical packing itself causes FIG. 5B. Return to the original state shown in.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 5, in order to release the airtight state by increasing the diameter of the packing having the small diameter portion 5c at the tip by internal pressure as shown in FIG. 5 (c), the large diameter portion 5b is used. large structural stretch than molding the entire of an elastic material for example, a structure such as the wall thickness decreases toward the small-diameter portion 5c of the tip, it is a good test designed to expanded by a predetermined pressure .
[0016]
As an example of the packing in which the small diameter portion 5c is expanded by the internal pressure, as shown in FIG. 6, one or more notches 6 may be provided from the tip. Incisions 6 easily enlarged in diameter by the provision, Ru can be easily realized packing operated by steam pressure to be airtight is released.
[0017]
As the third hole for discharging steam, the illustrated embodiment uses a sensor hole formed in the inner lid 3 for the purpose other than the conventional steam discharge and operates only when the steam pressure in the pot rises. Steam is discharged outside the vessel. However, the third hole 4 is not limited to the sensor hole, and a hole provided in the inner lid can be used for purposes other than the sensor installation . Incidentally, that the diameter of the hole 4 is left as a larger diameter than the exhaust hole 16b of the conventional steam holes 21 and a safety valve 16 for the purpose of steam discharging preferred.
[0018]
The steam discharge means functions normally, and it is not necessary to make the special steam discharge means function in a normal rice cooking state. However, if for some reason the normal steam discharge means and safety valve do not function (for example, when the normal steam discharge means is clogged), or if an abnormally large amount of steam is generated (for example, special food to be cooked) The steam is discharged from the third hole 4 to the steam passage, and safety is ensured. At this time, if the hole 4 constituting the steam escape structure according to the present invention has a larger diameter than the normal steam hole 21 or the exhaust hole 16b of the safety valve 16, the steam can be discharged quickly and is safe. .
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
According to the steam escape structure in the rice cooker of the present invention according to claim 1, in addition to the normal steam discharge means, the steam pressure in the kettle is changed to that of the rice cooker by providing a third hole and using it as a steam escape structure. It becomes set pressure or more, by also to escape safely vapor when such safety valves is positive not always function, can serve as a double safety device. And since the vapor | steam which passed the vapor | steam escape structure is discharge | released outside a container through a normal vapor | steam channel | path, it can handle safely without a vapor | steam ejecting from a part which is unconscious for a user.
[0020]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the working pressure for releasing the seal by the cylindrical packing can be adjusted in implementing the steam escape structure according to the first aspect .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view of the entire rice cooker, with a part cut away,
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the lid is opened and the inner lid set is removed;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of only the inner lid set,
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a sensor hole portion as an example of a hole not provided for vapor discharge provided in a lid;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an operating state of a packing used as a steam escape structure;
FIG. 6 is a front view of only the tip portion showing an example of packing having a cut at the tip.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Rice cooker main body, 2 ... Kettle, 3 ... Inner lid, 4 ... Hole, 5 ... Cylindrical packing, 5a ... Mounting part, 5b ... Large diameter part, 5c ... Small diameter part, 6 ... Cut, 7 ... Cover, 8 ... Hinge shaft, 9 ... Inner lid set, 9a ... Inner lid main part, 10 ... Packing, 11 ... Packing, 12 ... Heating plate, 13 ... Sealing space, 14 ... Heater, 15 ... Pressure regulating valve, 16 ... Safety valve, 16a ... ball, 16b ... exhaust hole, 16c ... solenoid, 17 ... steam passage, 18 ... pressure sensor, 19 ... temperature sensor, 20 ... sensor passage, 21 ... steam hole, 22 ... handle, 23,24 ... recess.

Claims (2)

In rice cooker to Hifuta top gas-tightly kettle accommodated in the interior of the rice cooker main body by a lid inner mounted on the inner bottom surface of the lid that opens and closes axially supported on the back of the cooker body,
Between the inner lid and the lid that hermetically covers the upper surface of the kettle, a seal space is formed that is sealed by a ring-shaped packing and serves as a steam passage leading to the outside of the vessel, and the inner lid communicates with the seal space. In order to maintain the pressure in the pot that is set to the set pressure, steam is discharged separately from the hole for discharging steam when the pressure in the pot rises abnormally, and the above two holes. Provided a third hole to discharge outside,
In the third hole, the tip is narrowed to a small diameter, and the tip portion of the cylindrical packing narrowed to the small diameter is in close contact with the surface of the inner lid at the outer peripheral position of the hole on the upper surface of the inner lid. By maintaining the airtight state between the inside of the pot and the seal space serving as the steam passage, the airtight state by the cylindrical packing is released at a pressure higher than the set pressure for cooking rice cooking. Steam escape structure in rice cookers. Steam escape structures in cooker according to claim 1, wherein the cut at the distal end portion of the tubular packing closely digits set in the inner lid with an outer peripheral side position of the third hole.

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