JP5568492B2 - rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker that suppresses the amount of heat escaping from an inner pot, improves energy saving, and suppresses quality deterioration of rice.

  In a conventional rice cooker, when cooking rice, the inner pot is heated to cook rice by heater heating or induction heating, and at the time of heat retention, if the temperature drops, reheating is generally performed for heat insulation. In such rice cookers, there are some which cover the inner pot with a vacuum container or a vacuum heat insulating material in order to prevent the heat of the inner pot from escaping to the outside of the main body during rice cooking or heat retention.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an IH jar rice cooker (FIG. 1) in which a pan and an electromagnetic induction heating coil are covered with a vacuum container, or a pan is covered with a vacuum container, and an electromagnetic induction heating coil is placed outside the vacuum container. IH jar rice cooker (FIG. 3) provided with a structure for reducing the amount of heat escaping to the outside and effectively suppressing power consumption during rice cooking and heat retention is disclosed.

  Moreover, the rice cooker which induction-heats the pan which covered the outer side with the vacuum heat insulating material in FIG. 1 of patent document 2 with the heating coil provided in the outer side of the protective frame which is a storage part of a pan is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-224494 (particularly FIGS. 1 and 3) JP 2001-78883 A (particularly FIG. 1)

  In the rice cooker of Patent Document 1, not only the pot but also the heating coil is covered with a vacuum container. Since the heating coil emits Joule heat by its own electrical resistance when power is supplied, it needs to be cooled by cooling air in order to prevent destruction of the insulating layer of the heating coil. However, when the configuration of Patent Document 1 is adopted, since the cooling air cannot be supplied to the heating coil in the vacuum vessel, there is a possibility that the insulating layer of the heating coil may be broken by the self-heating of the heating coil. Further, as described in paragraph 0014 of Patent Document 1, since it is necessary to increase the distance between the heating coil and the vacuum container in order to prevent induction heating of the vacuum container by the heating coil, Patent Document 1 When adopting the configuration, it is difficult to reduce the size of the rice cooker.

  Moreover, since the rice cooker shown in patent document 2 induction-heats a pan through a vacuum heat insulating material, when the thickness of the vacuum heat insulating material which covers a pan is provided thickly, the space | interval with the heating coil which induction-heats a pan and a pan will become large. , The efficiency of heating the pot becomes worse.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and at the time of cooking, while suppressing heat leakage from the inner pot, preventing insulation breakdown of the heating coil, high heating efficiency, The purpose is to provide a rice cooker that can suppress heat leakage from the kettle, save energy, and suppress quality degradation of rice.

The above problem is that a vacuum layer is formed between an inner case and an outer case, and an approximately cylindrical vacuum container having an upper opening and a lower opening, a main body having the vacuum container as an inner wall, and the vacuum container. A bottom container provided in a lower part, an inner pot that is detachably accommodated in the vacuum container through the upper opening, a heating coil that is provided on a lower surface of the bottom container and that induction-heats the inner pot, A rice cooker comprising: a cooling means for cooling the heating coil; and a control means for supplying power to the heating coil and controlling the cooling means. A step provided in the lower portion is in contact with the entire circumference, and a cylindrical rib having an outer diameter larger than that of the lower opening of the vacuum vessel is provided on the lower surface of the bottom vessel, and the rib and the vacuum vessel Are in contact all around, Serial be solved bottom container and the cooker space is formed between the vacuum vessel.

  According to the present invention, since the heat leakage from the side surface of the inner hook can be suppressed by the vacuum container provided on the side surface of the inner hook, energy saving can be realized. Moreover, since the inner pot can be efficiently heated by the heating coil provided in the vicinity of the bottom surface of the inner pot, rice can be easily cooked with high thermal power and finished into delicious rice.

It is sectional drawing of the rice cooker of one Example. It is A sectional drawing of FIG. 1 of one Example. It is sectional drawing of the vacuum vessel of one Example.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, the vacuum vessel 6 used with the rice cooker of a present Example is demonstrated using sectional drawing of FIG. As shown here, the substantially cylindrical vacuum vessel 6 is a hollow-structured vessel in which a vacuum layer 6h is formed between an inner case 6a and an outer case 6b made of stainless steel. A lower opening 6g having a small diameter is provided. The upper opening 6f is an opening for inserting an inner hook 2 described later, and the lower opening 6g is an opening for supplying cooling air to a heating coil 9 described later.

  As shown here, the upper ends of the inner case 6a and the outer case 6b are joined to form an upper end portion 6d, and the lower ends are joined to form a lower end portion 6e. The upper end portion 6d is provided in the horizontal direction toward the outside so as to be structurally far from the inner hook 2, and the lower end portion 6e is provided in the horizontal direction below and below the installation position of the heating coil 9 described later. The vacuum vessel 6 is provided with two steps, a relief portion 6k near the upper end portion 6d and a step portion 6c on the lower inner side. As shown in FIG. 3, the stepped portion 6 c may be formed by narrowing the inner diameter of the vacuum vessel 6 or may be provided in a convex shape protruding inward.

  Next, the rice cooker of the present Example in which the vacuum vessel 6 is incorporated will be described with reference to the cross-sectional view of FIG. The rice cooker of the present embodiment has a structure in which an inner hook 2 is detachably inserted into a vacuum vessel 6 constituting the inner wall of the main body 1, and the inner pot 2 is closed by a lid composed of an outer lid 3 and an inner lid 4. It has become. A bottom container 7 is incorporated in the lower part of the vacuum container 6, and the inner pot 2 containing a ferromagnetic metal such as iron is induction-heated by a heating coil 9 provided on the lower surface of the bottom container 7.

  The inner hook 2 is provided with a flange portion 2a on the entire periphery of the upper surface opening. The inner hook 2 is held inside the main body 1 by placing the flange portion 2a on the inner hook placing portion 8a described later. At this time, an air layer 17 is formed between the inner pot 2 and the vacuum vessel 6. The outer lid 3 is a lid attached to the upper portion of the main body 1 so as to be openable and closable, and seals the upper opening of the inner hook 2 with an inner lid 4 and a packing 5 attached to the lower surface. The bottom surface container 7 is formed of a heat-resistant resin that transmits magnetic lines of force such as PET and PBT so as not to hinder induction heating of the inner pot 2.

  A temperature sensor 16 for detecting the temperature of the inner pot 2 is provided at the center of the bottom container 7. The temperature sensor 16 is held by a cylindrical holding portion 7d provided at the center of the bottom surface container 7, and contacts the inner pot 2 through the hole 7c. The control circuit 14 includes an inverter circuit that supplies power to the heating coil 9, and controls power supplied to the heating coil 9 according to temperature information detected by the temperature sensor 16 and a control process.

  Inside the main body 1, a cooling fan 15 is provided that cools heat-generating components such as the heating coil 9 and the control circuit 14 with the outside air taken in. Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the temperature sensor 16 is surrounded by a cylindrical holding portion 7 d, and the lower opening of the holding portion 7 d is closed by a protective member 18. Therefore, the cooling air from the cooling fan 15 does not directly hit the temperature sensor 16, and the influence of the cooling air on the temperature sensor 16 is reduced. The installation of the protection member 18 also has the purpose of suppressing heat transfer from the heating coil 9 to the outer shell of the main body 1, and the protection member 18 is made of any one of foamed resin, rubber, glass wool, and sponge to insulate the heat. Increases performance. Although not shown, the protective member 18 is provided with a passage for discharging water that has entered the holding portion 7d to the outside, and the water discharged through the protective member 18 is provided on the bottom surface of the main body 1. It is discharged to the outside through the formed opening.

  Next, a structure for fixing the vacuum vessel 6 to the main body 1 will be described. On the upper surface of the main body 1, a frame body 8 that covers the upper end portion 6d and the relief portion 6k of the vacuum vessel 6 is provided. The frame body 8 is provided with a convex inner hook mounting portion 8a on the entire circumference of the upper surface, an inner hanging portion 8b extending the inner peripheral side of the inner hook mounting portion 8a downward, and an outer peripheral side of the vacuum vessel 6 Each of the outer hanging portions 8c that hang down is provided on the entire circumference. Although FIG. 1 shows an example in which the vacuum container 6 is fixed by sandwiching the upper end part 6d between the inner hanging part 8b and the outer hanging part 8c, the vacuum container 6 may be bonded and fixed. Between the frame body 8 and the upper end portion 6d of the vacuum vessel 6, a heat insulating member 11 is provided over the entire circumference, suppressing heat transfer from the vacuum vessel 6 to the frame body 8, and The gap between the frame bodies 8 is blocked. In addition, in the present embodiment, an example in which the inner hook placing portion 8a, the inner hanging portion 8b, the outer hanging portion 8c, and the heat insulating member 11 are provided over the entire circumference has been shown. Some of these may be missing.

  Further, as can be seen from FIG. 1, the relief portion 6k of the vacuum vessel 6 has a larger inner diameter corresponding to the inner drooping portion 8b, whereby the inner drooping portion 8b and the vacuum vessel 6 The step on the inner peripheral surface can be reduced. The frame body 8 may be configured as a part of the main body 1 or may be configured separately from the main body 1.

  A bottom surface container 7 that covers the bottom surface of the inner pot 2 is provided under the vacuum container 6. The bottom surface container 7 has a shallow concave cross-sectional shape, a flange-shaped outer peripheral portion 7a is provided on the upper side, and a cylindrical surface having an outer diameter slightly larger than the lower opening 6g of the vacuum vessel 6 is provided on the lower surface. Ribs 7b are provided. The bottom surface container 7 is inserted and attached from the upper opening 6f of the vacuum container 6. When the bottom container 7 is attached to the vacuum vessel 6, the outer peripheral portion 7a and the stepped portion 6c are in contact with no gap over the entire circumference, and the rib 7b and the lower end portion 6e are in contact with no gap over the entire circumference, thereby providing a vacuum. A sealed space 12 is formed between the container 6 and the bottom container 7. In addition, a sealed air layer 17 is formed between the inner pot 2 and the vacuum vessel 6. As a result, as is apparent from FIG. 1, the inner case 6a of the vacuum vessel 6 comes into contact with the sealed air layer 17 and the space 12, and the cooling air from the cooling fan 15 is blown onto the inner case 6a. Can be avoided.

  In the above configuration, the upper end portion 6d and the lower end portion 6e of the vacuum vessel 6 are provided in the horizontal direction, and are brought into contact with the heat insulating member 11 for fixing each of them and the bowl 10b of the coil holding portion 10 in a plane. It is possible to reduce the influence of the impact in the vertical direction generated when moving 1 and placing it on a desk or table on the upper end 6d and the lower end 6e.

  Next, the heating coil 9 provided below the bottom container 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the vacuum vessel 6 and the heating coil 9 as seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of coil holding portions are provided radially below the heating coil 9. Each coil holding part 10 is composed of a ferrite 10a and a flange 10b embedded so as to cover the ferrite 10a, and the heating coil 9 is fixed to the upper surface of the flange 10b. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the lower end 6e of the vacuum vessel 6 is sandwiched between the outer peripheral portion of the flange 10b and the rib 7b of the bottom vessel 7, and their positional relationship is fixed. As is clear from FIGS. 1 and 2, the cooling air from the cooling fan 15 flows along the bottom surface of the main body 1 and then enters the vicinity of the heating coil 9 through the lower opening 6 g of the vacuum vessel 6. Supplied. Since the lower surface of the heating coil 9 is exposed except for the portion in contact with the coil holding unit 10, it is efficiently cooled by the cooling air from the cooling fan 15, so that the heating coil 9 can be prevented from overheating, and the insulating layer Can prevent thermal destruction.

  Here, in order to increase the heating efficiency of the inner hook 2, it is desirable to bring the inner hook 2 and the heating coil 9 close to each other. In the present embodiment, since no hollow structure is provided between the inner hook 2 and the heating coil 9, they can be brought close to each other, and the heating efficiency of the inner hook 2 can be easily increased. Further, the inner diameter of the lower end portion 6e of the vacuum vessel 6 is made larger than the outer diameter of the heating coil 9, and the heating coil 9 is provided above the lower opening 6g, so that the vacuum vessel 6 and the heating coil 9 are moved away from each other and made of stainless steel. The vacuum vessel 6 is suppressed from being induction-heated, and as a result, a decrease in the heating efficiency of the inner pot 2 is suppressed.

  According to the configuration of the present embodiment described above, the high heat insulation performance of the vacuum vessel 6 can effectively suppress the heat of the inner hook 2 from leaking to the outside. In addition, since the air layer 17 serving as a substantially sealed space is formed between the inner pot 2 and the vacuum vessel 6, the heat of the inner pot 2 leaks to the outside and the inner pot 2 is cooled by the cooling fan 15. Can be suppressed. Further, since the heat insulating member 11 is provided at the upper end portion 6d which is a joint portion between the inner case 6a and the outer case 6b of the vacuum vessel 6, heat transfer from the high temperature inner case 6a to the low temperature outer case 6b is suppressed. can do. Moreover, since the vacuum vessel 6 has a shape that does not hinder induction heating of the inner pot 2 by the heating coil 9, the presence of the vacuum vessel 6 does not reduce the heating efficiency. In addition, by forming a space portion between the bottom surface vessel 7 and the vacuum vessel 6 and providing the space portion 12 around the lower opening 6g of the vacuum vessel 6, the cooling fan 15 promotes cooling of the heating coil 9. Further, it is possible to simultaneously suppress the cooling of the inner case 6a.

  The rice cooker of a present Example consists of the above structure, Next, the operation | movement is demonstrated. Rice cooking by a rice cooker is roughly divided into four steps: “dipping”, “heating”, “steaming”, and “insulation”. The control circuit 14 performs heating control corresponding to each process based on the control sequence incorporated in advance and the temperature of the inner pot 2 detected by the temperature sensor 16. Below, it demonstrates centering around the operation | movement in a heating process and a heat retention process.

  First, the user puts rice and an appropriate amount of water into the inner pot 2 and stores them in the main body 1 to close the outer lid 3. Next, when the “rice cooking” switch is operated by an operation unit (not shown) of the main body 1, the control circuit 14 supplies power to the heating coil 9 and starts heating after passing through a predetermined dipping process.

  In the heating process, power is supplied to the heating coil 9 by the control circuit 14, the inner pot 2 is induction-heated, and rice cooking proceeds. At this time, the cooling fan 15 is driven to cool the control circuit 14 and the heating coil 9 which are heat generating components. However, when the power supplied to the heating coil 9 is small, the heat generated by these heat generating components is also small. The fan 15 may be stopped.

  With the progress of rice cooking, the heat of the inner pot 2 that is a heat source is transmitted to the inner case 6a of the vacuum vessel 6 through the air layer 17, and further to be conducted to the outer case 6b. However, when the vacuum container 6 of the present embodiment is used, the temperature of the outer case 6b, that is, heat leakage from the inside of the vacuum container 6 can be effectively suppressed for the following reasons.

  The first reason is that the vacuum layer 6h is provided between the inner case 6a and the outer case 6b, and the heat insulation performance of the vacuum layer 6h is very high, and therefore the inner case 6a through the vacuum layer 6h. The heat transfer from the outer case 6b to the outer case 6b can be kept very small.

  The second reason is that the upper end portion 6 d of the vacuum vessel 6 facing in the horizontal direction is covered with the inner hanging portion 8 b of the frame 8 and the heat insulating member 11, so that it is isolated from the high-temperature air layer 17. The heat of the air layer 17 is prevented from being directly transmitted to the upper end of the outer case 6b.

  The third reason is that the lower end 6e of the vacuum vessel 6 is isolated from the high-temperature air layer 17 by the space 12 formed between the vacuum vessel 6 and the bottom vessel 7, and the air layer The heat of 17 is prevented from being directly transmitted to the lower end of the outer case 6b.

  The fourth reason is that both the inner case 6a and the outer case 6b are made of stainless steel having poor thermal conductivity, and the region of the inner case 6a that is in contact with the high temperature air layer 17 leads to the upper end 6d and the lower end 6e. The amount of heat conducted is small, and as a result, heat transfer from the high temperature air layer 17 to the outer case 6b through the upper end 6d and the lower end 6e can be suppressed.

  The fifth reason is that the lower end 6e of the vacuum vessel 6 is structurally separated from the high-temperature air layer 17 by the rib 7b of the bottom vessel 7, and the lower portion of the vacuum vessel 6 is also the fourth reason. It is mentioned that the low thermal conductivity of stainless steel works more effectively.

  Next, the air layer 17 and the space part 12 will be described in more detail.

  First, the air layer 17 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, on the upper side of the air layer 17, the flange portion 2a of the inner hook 2 and the inner hook mounting portion 8a of the frame body 8 are in contact with each other over the entire circumference. Since the heat insulating member 11 is provided between the containers 6 over the entire circumference, there is no gap between which the air leaks. Therefore, even if the hot air convects upward during the heating process, the hot air does not leak from above the air layer 17. For example, even if a part of the high temperature air leaks through the heat insulating member 11, the high temperature air stays on the inner peripheral side of the outer hanging part 8c, so that the high temperature air does not continue to leak from here. On the other hand, on the lower side of the air layer 17, the outer peripheral portion 7 a of the bottom surface container 7 and the stepped portion 6 c of the vacuum vessel 6 are in contact with each other over the entire circumference, and therefore there is no gap between which the air leaks. . Therefore, high temperature air does not leak from below the air layer 17. Moreover, even if a gap is generated in a part between the outer peripheral portion 7a and the stepped portion 6c, there is no leakage of air from above the air layer 17, so there is no movement in the air inside the air layer 17, naturally. Cooling air does not enter from below.

  Next, the space part 12 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the cooling air from the cooling fan 15 is supplied to the heating coil 9 through the lower opening 6g to prevent the insulating film from being broken due to the heat generated by the heating coil 9 itself. When the cooling air for cooling the heating coil 9 hits the inner case 6a of the vacuum vessel 6 and the low temperature of the inner case 6a is lowered, the inner case 6a cools the air layer 17, so that the inner case 6a is cooled with the cooling air. Need to be protected from. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the bottom container 7 is provided with a rib 7b in contact with the lower end 6e of the vacuum container 6 to protect the inner case 6a from cooling air. The rib 7b is cooled by the cooling air, but since the space 12 is formed on the outer peripheral side of the rib 7b, the amount of heat that the rib 7b takes from the air layer 17 can be kept small. Further, even if a gap is generated in a part between the rib 7b and the lower end portion 6e, the cooling air that has entered through the gap remains in the space portion 12, and therefore does not further enter the air layer 17, The air layer 17 is not cooled. In order to more completely prevent the cooling air from entering the space 12, the entire circumference of the lower end 6 e of the vacuum vessel 6 is pressed using a ring-shaped flat plate formed integrally with the plurality of coil holding portions 10, It is good also as a structure where a clearance gap hardly arises between the rib 7b and the lower end part 6e.

  As described above, in the heating process, by using the configuration of the present embodiment, it is possible to easily obtain the same effect by suppressing heat leakage from the inside of the vacuum vessel 6 and increasing the thermal power, and heating. Since sufficient cooling air can be supplied to the coil 9, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the heating coil 9 is destroyed by its own heat generation.

  When the heating process is completed and the steaming process and the heat retaining process are started, the power supplied to the heating coil 9 is reduced, and the supply time is also shortened, so that the heating coil 9 and the control circuit 14 generate less heat. Thereby, since the necessity for cooling of the heating coil 9 and the control circuit 14 becomes small, the control circuit 14 stops the cooling fan 15 in a steaming process and a heat retention process. As a result, the temperature of the bottom vessel 7 and the heating coil 9 can be maintained for a long time, and the heat of the inner case 6a and the inner hook 2 of the vacuum vessel 6 is taken away by the bottom vessel 7 and the heating coil 9. Can be suppressed.

  Also, in the steaming process and the heat retaining process, the inside of the vacuum container 6 is kept at a high temperature by the above-described action of the vacuum container 6, the air layer 17, the space portion 12, and the like, and thus the configuration without the vacuum container 6 or the like. As compared with the above, even if the total amount of power supplied to the heating coil 9 is reduced, the same steaming or heat retention effect can be obtained and energy saving can be easily realized.

  Further, in the heat retaining step, when the temperature sensor 16 detects a temperature drop of the inner pot 2, reheating is performed using the heating coil 9, but in the configuration of this embodiment, the heat retaining performance of the vacuum vessel 6 and the like is high, The time until the temperature lowers becomes longer, and the number of times of reheating can be reduced. It is known that rice is deteriorated by reheating, but by adopting the configuration of this embodiment, the number of times of reheating can be reduced, and the quality of rice should be kept in good condition for a long time. Can do.

  As described above, in the steaming process and the heat retaining process, the inside of the vacuum vessel 6 can be kept at a high temperature with low power consumption and the number of times of reheating can be suppressed by using the configuration of the present embodiment. In addition, low power consumption and prevention of rice quality deterioration can be easily realized.

  According to the above-described embodiment, heat dissipation from the inner pot is suppressed to a low level and steamed at a high temperature to finish delicious rice, and it is not necessary to use wasteful heating even during heat retention. In addition, the amount of electric power required for heating can be reduced and energy saving can be improved. Further, the heating coil 9 for induction heating the inner pot can be sufficiently cooled. Furthermore, the inner pot can be efficiently induction-heated while keeping the inner pot warm with a high heat insulating effect.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Inner hook 2a Flange part 3 Outer cover 4 Inner cover 6 Vacuum container 6a Inner case 6b Outer case 6c Step part 6f Upper opening part 6g Lower opening part 7 Bottom container 7a Outer peripheral part 7b Rib 8 Frame body 8a Inner pot mounting Part 8b Inner hanging part 8c Outer hanging part 9 Heating coil 10 Coil holding part 10b 鍔 11 Heat insulation member 12 Space part 14 Control circuit 15 Cooling fan 16 Temperature sensor 18 Protection member

Claims (4)

A vacuum layer is formed between the inner case and the outer case, and a substantially cylindrical vacuum container having an upper opening and a lower opening;
A main body having the vacuum vessel as an inner wall;
A bottom surface container provided at a lower portion of the vacuum container;
An inner pot that is detachably accommodated in the vacuum vessel through the upper opening,
A heating coil provided on the lower surface of the bottom container, for induction heating the inner pot;
Cooling means for cooling the heating coil;
Control means for supplying power to the heating coil and controlling the cooling means;
A rice cooker equipped with
The outer peripheral part of the bottom container is in contact with the step provided at the lower part of the vacuum container over the entire circumference ,
A cylindrical rib having an outer diameter larger than that of the lower opening of the vacuum vessel is provided on the lower surface of the bottom vessel, and the rib and the vacuum vessel are in contact with each other over the entire circumference. A rice cooker characterized in that a space is formed between vacuum vessels .   In the rice cooker according to claim 1,
  Further, a frame that covers the upper end portion of the vacuum vessel and on which the flange portion of the inner hook is placed,
  A heat insulating member that seals the gap between the frame and the vacuum vessel,
  The rice cooker characterized in that the flange portion of the inner pot and the frame body are in contact with each other over the entire circumference, and an air layer is formed between the inner pot and the vacuum vessel.   In the rice cooker according to claim 2,
  An inner drooping portion and an outer drooping portion are provided on the lower surface of the frame body, and the vacuum vessel is fixed by being sandwiched between them.   In the rice cooker as described in any one of Claims 1-3,
  The said control means operates the said cooling means at the time of a heating process, and stops the said cooling means at the time of a heat retention process, The rice cooker characterized by the above-mentioned.