JP6701035B2 - rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to the structure of a lid of a steamless rice cooker capable of wireless communication.

  Conventionally, a rice cooker that communicates with a mobile communication device or the like has been known. In this type of rice cooker, information is received from a communication device by wireless communication and, for example, a rice cooked menu is selected. As a result, the operation of selecting the rice cooking menu by pressing a button on the rice cooker becomes unnecessary, and the troublesomeness of the user's operation can be improved.

  The rice cooker according to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a lid with a communication unit that performs wireless communication. The wireless communication unit receives information from the communication device and selects a rice cooking menu or the like based on the information. At the time of the communication, the communication device is brought close to the rice cooker for communication. A communication board that performs wireless communication is installed inside the rice cooker.

International Publication No. 2013/136738

  However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the rice cooker is made to perform communication by a near field communication standard such as NFC (Near Field Communication) communication, the distance between the communication device and the communication board is close. Therefore, the communication board must be placed near the appearance of the rice cooker.

  Further, in the rice cooker, an operation panel for operating the rice cooker is provided, and a display unit is provided in the vicinity thereof. Further, in the steamless rice cooker, a mechanism for processing steam is built in the upper part of the rice cooker. Specifically, a steam conduit for guiding the steam generated from the inner pot to the condenser is built in the upper part of the rice cooker. As a result, the internal structure of the upper part of the rice cooker is narrowed. Further, when wireless communication such as NFC communication is performed between the communication device and the rice cooker, from the viewpoint of improving operability for the user, the communication device, the operation panel and the display unit are close to the operation panel and the display unit. It is desirable to place the communication unit in a position where they do not overlap. However, when a structure such as a steam conduit is arranged inside the rice cooker, it is necessary to further avoid the steam conduit. In addition, the electronic components that make up the communication unit and operation unit, etc. must be placed away from the steam conduit so that they are not affected by steam and heat, so the rice cooker must be made larger or the internal space must be reduced. There was a problem that I had to do.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and enables operability in wireless communication without enabling NFC communication in a steamless rice cooker and without increasing the size or reducing the internal space. The purpose is to provide a good rice cooker.

The rice cooker according to the present invention includes a steam treatment tank for condensing steam generated during a rice cooking operation from an inner pot inside a lower housing, and a lid body provided above the lower housing so as to be openable and closable. The steam conduit and the communication unit include: a steam conduit that guides the steam from the inner pot to the steam processing tank; a communication unit that brings communication equipment close to each other to perform wireless communication; and an electrical component that constitutes an operation unit. And the electric component are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction inside the lid body, and the lid body has an inner lid that closes an opening of the inner pot on a surface facing the lower housing. A lid base attached to the lid; a lid housing attached to cover the upper surface of the lid base; and a decorative plate that covers the upper surface of the lid housing and forms the outer appearance of the upper surface of the lid. The body base has a steam conduit housing opening to a surface facing the lower housing, the steam conduit is mounted inside the steam conduit housing, and the lid housing faces upward. The communication board and the electric component for performing the wireless communication are housed inside the board housing room, and the decorative plate closes the board housing room from above. is there.

  According to the rice cooker of the present invention, since the operation unit and the communication unit that performs wireless communication with the steam conduit can be arranged in parallel inside the lid, the communication device and the communication unit that are close to each other also in the steamless rice cooker. It is possible to provide a steamless rice cooker that enables communication with the rice cooker and does not reduce the size of the rice cooker and the internal space.

It is a perspective view which shows the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the structure of the rice cooker of FIG. It is a figure of the state which removed the decorative plate of the lid body of the rice cooker of FIG. FIG. 4 is a view of the rice cooker of FIG. 3 with a lid housing removed. It is a figure of the state which removed the lid base part of the rice cooker of FIG. It is a perspective view in the state where the lid of the rice cooker of FIG. 1 was opened. It is a perspective view of the rice cooker as a modification of the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 1. It is a perspective view of the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 2. It is a top view of the rice cooker of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which the rice cooker of FIG. 8 and the communication apparatus 2 are communicating.

  An embodiment of the rice cooker according to the present invention will be described below. The form of the drawings is an example and does not limit the present invention. In addition, the same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or corresponding parts, which are common to all the texts in the specification. Further, in the following drawings, the size relationship of each component may be different from the actual one.

Embodiment 1.
1 is a perspective view showing a rice cooker 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 2: is explanatory drawing explaining the structure of the rice cooker 100 of FIG. The main body 10 of the rice cooker 100 includes a lid body 20 and a lower housing 30. The lower casing 30 has an inner pot 32 arranged therein, and a heater 33 for heating the inner pot 32 and the like.

  The lid body 20 is a lid that covers the upper portion of the lower housing 30, and is provided above the lower housing 30. The lid 20 is connected to the lower housing 30 by a hinge 22, and is attached so as to be openable and closable around the hinge 22. The lid 20 is composed of a decorative plate 21 that constitutes the upper surface and a lid housing 27, and the decorative plate 21 constitutes the outer appearance of the lid 20. The decorative plate 21 is assembled so as to cover the upper surface of the lid housing 27, and is fixed from the back surface side of the lid housing 27. Further, the decorative plate 21 is provided with an operation unit 40 in which a plurality of buttons are arranged. The plurality of buttons forming the operation unit 40 are arranged around the display unit 41.

  An open/close button 31 is provided on the lower housing 30. The open/close button 31 is provided on the front surface of the rice cooker 100, and the hinge 22 that connects the lid 20 and the lower housing 30 is provided on the opposite side of the open/close button 31, that is, on the rear surface side of the rice cooker 100. . When the open/close button 31 is pressed, the lid 20 is opened and the upper opening of the lower housing 30 of the rice cooker 100 is exposed. In addition, in the rice cooker 100, the side where the open/close button 31 is installed is the front side of the rice cooker 100, the side where the hinge 22 is provided is the back side, and the left when viewed from the front is the left side of the rice cooker 100 and the side viewed from the front. The right side is called the right side of the rice cooker 100.

  A communication unit 60 is further arranged on the upper surface of the lid body 20. The communication unit 60 can wirelessly communicate with a communication device 2 such as a smartphone. The wireless communication is performed by a near field communication standard such as NFC (Near Field Communication) communication.

  The communication unit 60 is arranged on the right rear side with respect to the operation unit 40 and the display unit 41. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the communication device 2 is placed on the communication unit 60 arranged on the upper surface of the lid 20 and short-range wireless communication is performed. When the communication unit 60 performs wireless communication with the communication device 2, the communication device 2 hides the display unit 41 that displays a plurality of buttons that form the operation unit 40 and the state of the rice cooker 100. It is desirable to be placed in a unique position.

  In FIG. 1, the communication unit 60 is arranged inside a substrate storage chamber 42 in which a substrate forming the operation unit 40 and a substrate forming the display unit 41 are arranged. The communication unit 60 is connected to the substrate forming the operation unit 40 or the substrate forming the display unit 41 in the substrate storage chamber 42. The communication unit 60 receives a signal from the communication device 2 by wireless communication, sends the signal to a control unit provided on another board, and the control unit controls the rice cooker 100 according to the signal. The control unit is programmed so that the communication device 2 and the communication unit 60 can communicate with each other even when cooking rice and keeping warm.

  The substrate storage chamber 42 faces the upper side and is opened, and is closed by the decorative plate 21 from the upper side. The substrate storage chamber 42 is a space independent of the other regions of the lid body 20 so that vapor generated in the inner pot 32 inside the lower housing 30 does not enter. The substrate storage chamber 42 is also provided independently of the vapor conduit storage portion 43 provided inside the lid 20.

  FIG. 3 is a view of the rice cooker 100 of FIG. 1 with the decorative plate 21 of the lid 20 removed. When the decorative plate 21 is removed from the lid body 20, the internal structure of the lid housing 27 is exposed. A recess is formed in the upper surface of the front surface side of the main body of the lid housing 27, and an operation board 40a that constitutes the operation section 40 and a display unit 41a that constitutes the display section 41 are arranged in the depression to serve as a board storage chamber 42. There is. Since the substrate storage chamber 42 is formed on the front side of the lid housing 27, it is isolated from the back side of the lid housing 27, that is, the space on the lower housing 30 side. Therefore, the vapor or the like generated inside the lower housing 30 does not enter the substrate storage chamber 42. The operation board 40a and the display unit 41a that form the operation unit 40 correspond to the electrical components of the present invention. The electric components are not limited to the operation board 40a and the display unit 41a, and may be other electric components.

  A display unit 41a is stored in the substrate storage chamber 42, and an operation substrate 40a is arranged below the display unit 41a. The communication board 60a that constitutes the communication section 60 is housed inside the board housing chamber 42, and is arranged in the upper right part of the display section 41 so as to overlap the operation board 40a. The external appearance of the decorative plate 21 just above the communication board 60a is the communication section 60. The communication unit 60 is provided especially for the antenna of the communication board 60a. The communication board 60a is fixed with screws or the like.

  FIG. 4 is a view of the rice cooker 100 of FIG. 3 with the lid housing 27 removed. FIG. 4 shows components located on the back side of the lid housing 27 shown in FIG. 3, that is, on the lower housing 30 side. A lid base 28 is provided under the lid housing 27, that is, on the lower housing 30 side. The lid housing 27 is attached so as to cover the upper surface of the lid base portion 28. The lid base 28 is rotatably connected to the lower housing 30 by a hinge 22. That is, when the lid casing 27 and the decorative plate 21 are attached on the lid base 28 and the lid base 28 rotates around the hinge 22, the lid casing 27 and the decorative plate attached on the lid base 28. 21 will also rotate together. Around the hinge 22, a biasing mechanism 26 that biases the lid base portion 28 upward is provided. The biasing mechanism 26 is formed of, for example, a torsion coil spring, and one end of its arm is hooked on the hooking portion 29 of the lid base portion 28.

  On the left side of the front surface of the lid base portion 28, a vapor conduit storage portion 43 is formed while avoiding the substrate storage chamber 42. The vapor conduit accommodating portion 43 projects upward and is open to the lower housing 30 side of the lid base portion 28. The steam conduit 43a is housed in the steam conduit housing 43, but the upper side of the steam conduit 43a is covered by the steam conduit housing 43, so that even if steam leaks from the steam conduit 43a, the lid base The upper side of 28 is configured not to enter.

  FIG. 5 is a view of the rice cooker 100 of FIG. 4 with the lid base 28 removed. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the rice cooker 100 of FIG. 1 with the lid 20 open. A vapor conduit 43a is attached to the lid base portion 28, and an inner lid 50 is attached from below the vapor conduit 43a. The inner lid 50 closes the opening of the inner pot 32. The steam conduit 43a is connected to an opening formed in the inner lid 50, and is configured to allow the steam generated inside the inner pot 32 during rice cooking to pass therethrough. Further, the steam conduit 43a extends from the upper surface of the inner lid 50 to the front surface side of the lower housing 30, and is connected to the opening formed on the upper surface of the steam processing tank 34 arranged on the front surface side of the lower housing 30. ing. The steam that has passed through the steam conduit 43 a is introduced into the steam processing tank 34, and is condensed by passing through the water stored in the steam processing tank 34. As shown in FIG. 6, the vapor conduit 43a and the inner lid 50 are detachably attached to the lid base portion 28, and when the lid body 20 is opened above the lower housing 30, It moves together with the lid 20.

  As described above, the lid body 20 of the rice cooker 100 includes the decorative plate 21 that constitutes the outer appearance of the upper surface of the lid body 20, the lid housing 27 that includes the recess that serves as the substrate storage chamber 42 on the upper surface side, and the lid body 20. The lower casing 30 side surface of the rice cooker is provided with the steam conduit housing 43, and the steam conduit 43a and the lid base 28 to which the inner lid 50 is attached are combined in the vertical direction of the rice cooker 100. It The steam conduit 43a and the inner lid 50, which come into contact with the steam generated in the inner pot 32, are attached to the lower surface of the lid base 28, that is, the lower housing 30 side, and it is desired to avoid contact with the steam. The board and the communication board 60 a are attached to the upper surface of the lid housing 27. With such a configuration, the board and the communication board 60a can be arranged on the upper surface of the main body, which is easy to use, and there is no adverse effect such as steam, so that the reliability is high.

  Moreover, in the rice cooker 100 according to the first embodiment, the communication board 60a is provided in the same board storage chamber 42 as the operation section 40 and the display section 41. The communication board 60 a needs to be arranged near the surface of the decorative plate 21 in order to communicate with the communication device 2 in close proximity. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the communication board 60 a is arranged on the upper side of the board 44 in an overlapping manner. With this configuration, the communication board 60a and the board 44 can be connected in the same board storage chamber 42, so that the board storage chamber 42 can minimize a gap communicating with the outside. . Therefore, invasion of steam or heat into the substrate storage chamber 42 can be suppressed.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a rice cooker 100a as a modified example of the rice cooker 100 according to the first embodiment. In the rice cooker 100a, the communication unit 60 is arranged at a position separated from the operation unit 40 and the display unit 41. With such a configuration, when the communication unit 60 and the communication device 2 communicate with each other, the communication device 2 does not overlap the operation unit 40 and the display unit 41. Therefore, even if the size of the communication device 2 is large, each button of the operation unit 40 can be operated during communication, and the display unit 41 can also be visually recognized. The communication board 60 a is arranged in the communication board storage chamber 45 provided separately from the board storage chamber 42. Therefore, in order to connect the communication substrate 60a and the substrate in the substrate storage chamber 42, it is necessary to pass a wire for connection between the substrate storage chamber 42 and the communication substrate storage chamber 45. Therefore, the rice cooker 100 a is likely to have a gap communicating with the outside of the substrate storage chamber 42. That is, the rice cooker 100 has a structure in which vapor or the like is less likely to enter the substrate storage chamber 42, and thus has higher reliability.

<Effect of Embodiment 1>
(1) According to the rice cookers 100 and 100a according to the first embodiment, the steam treatment tank 34 for condensing steam generated during the rice cooking operation from the inner pot 32 inside the lower housing 30, and the lower housing 30. A lid 20 that is openable and closable above, a steam conduit 43a that guides steam from the inner pot 32 to the steam processing tank 34, and a communication unit 60 that performs wireless communication by bringing the communication device 2 close to each other. The vapor conduit 43a and the communication unit 60 are arranged inside the lid 20 in parallel in the horizontal direction.
With such a configuration, even in the steamless rice cookers 100 and 100a including the steam conduit 43a inside the lid 20, the communication unit 60 for performing wireless communication with the communication device 2 is provided in the lid 20. It can be provided on the upper surface. Then, the steam conduit 43a and the communication unit 60 can be efficiently arranged.

(2) According to the rice cookers 100 and 100a according to the first embodiment, the lid 20 further includes the operation board 40a forming the operation unit 40. The operation board 40a is arranged in parallel with the steam conduit 43a in the horizontal direction.
With such a configuration, even if the rice cookers 100 and 100a further include electric components such as the operation board 40a forming the operation unit 40 and the display unit 41a forming the display unit 41, the rice cookers 100 and 100a communicate with the steam conduit 43a. It can be efficiently arranged inside the lid 20 together with the portion 60.

(3) According to the rice cookers 100 and 100a according to the first embodiment, the lid body 20 has the lid body base to which the inner lid 50 that closes the opening of the inner pot 32 is attached on the surface facing the lower housing 30. 28, a lid housing 27 that is attached to cover the upper surface of the lid base portion 28, and a decorative plate 21 that covers the upper surface of the lid housing 27 and constitutes the outer appearance of the upper surface of the lid body 20. The lid base portion 28 has a steam conduit housing portion 43 that is open on the surface facing the lower housing 30. The steam conduit 43a is attached inside the steam conduit housing 43. The lid housing 27 includes a substrate storage chamber 42 that is open upward. The communication board 60a and the electrical components that perform wireless communication are housed inside the board housing chamber 42. The decorative plate 21 closes the substrate storage chamber 42 from the upper side.
With such a configuration, it is possible to arrange the electric component inside the lid body 20 at a position where steam generated by cooking rice does not touch. In particular, in the steamless rice cooker including the steam conduit 43a inside the lid 20, the steam conduit 43a is attached to the lower surface of the lid base 28, and the upper side of the steam conduit 43a is entirely covered by the structure of the lid base 28. By covering and attaching the lid casing 27 on the cover, the electric component can be isolated from the steam conduit 43a where steam may leak, so that the structure is highly reliable.

Embodiment 2.
The rice cooker 200 according to the second embodiment has the communication unit 60 of the rice cooker 100 according to the first embodiment provided in the recess. The second embodiment will be described focusing on the changes from the first embodiment.

  FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the rice cooker 200 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a top view of the rice cooker 200 of FIG. FIG. 10: is a perspective view which shows the state which the rice cooker 200 of FIG. 8 and the communication apparatus 2 are communicating. In the second embodiment, the communication unit 60 is arranged at a position apart from the operation unit 40 and the display unit 41. A concave portion 70 is formed in the decorative plate 21 at a portion where the communication portion 60 is arranged, and a bottom portion 71 of the concave portion 70 is inclined so as to increase from the front surface to the rear surface of the main body 10 of the rice cooker 200. .. The communication unit 60 is arranged below the bottom 71 of the recess 70. The communication device 2 is placed on the bottom portion 71 when communicating with the rice cooker 200, and can be placed so that the display part of the communication device 2 faces the front side of the main body 10. In addition, since the communication device 2 is placed so as to fit in the recess, the communication device 2 shifts from the communication unit 60 during communication with the rice cooker 200, communication is interrupted, or some external force is applied to the communication device 2 on the rice cooker 200. It is possible to prevent it from falling.

  In the rice cooker 200 according to the second embodiment, the substrate storage chamber 242 is provided in a wider area than that of the first embodiment. The substrate storage chamber 242 is also formed so as to surround the recess 70 formed on the upper surface of the decorative plate 21, and the communication substrate 60 a is also installed inside the substrate storage chamber 242. With such a configuration, the communication substrate 60a and other substrates can be connected inside the substrate storage chamber 242. Therefore, the substrate storage chamber 42 can minimize the gap communicating with the outside.

  Also in the rice cooker 200 according to the second embodiment, the steam conduit 43a is arranged inside the steam conduit housing portion 43, and is arranged in a space independent of the substrate housing chamber 242. Therefore, although the electric components such as the steam conduit 43a, the communication board 60a, and the other boards are arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction inside the lid 20, the electric parts such as the communication board 60a and the other boards are vaporized. Does not touch. Therefore, the rice cooker 200 has a highly reliable configuration.

<Effect of Embodiment 2>
(4) According to the rice cooker 200 of the second embodiment, the lid 20 has the recess 70 formed in a part of the upper surface thereof, and the communication unit 60 is provided below the bottom 71 of the recess 70.
With such a configuration, the communication device 2 is placed so as to fit in the recess, and therefore, when communicating with the rice cooker 200, the communication device is deviated from the communication unit 60 and communication is interrupted, or some external force is applied to the communication device 2. 2 can be prevented from falling from the top of the rice cooker 200.

(5) According to the rice cooker 200 of the second embodiment, the lid body 20 is rotated about the hinge 22 installed on the back side of the lower housing 30 to open and close, and the bottom portion 71 of the recess 70 is It has a slope that increases from the front side to the back side.
With this configuration, the display unit of the communication device 2 faces the front side of the rice cooker 200, so that the user can visually recognize the state of the rice cooker on the display unit of the communication device 2 by communication. There is an advantage that it is easy to do.

(6) According to the rice cooker 200 of the second embodiment, the rice cooker 200 includes a control unit that executes wireless communication with the communication device 2 during the operations of rice cooking and heat retention.
With such a configuration, the user can communicate between the communication device 2 and the rice cooker 200 regardless of whether the rice cooker 200 is operating or stopped, and thus the usability of wireless communication is good. The above-described control unit is also included in the rice cookers 100 and 100a according to the first embodiment, and also includes the effect (6). Further, the control unit may be mounted on the operation board 40a or the like.

  2 communication equipment, 10 main body, 20 lid, 21 decorative plate, 22 hinge, 26 biasing mechanism, 27 lid housing, 28 lid base, 29 hooking portion, 30 lower housing, 31 open/close button, 32 inner pot, 33 heater, 34 steam treatment tank, 40 operation part, 40a operation board, 41 display part, 41a display unit, 42 board storage chamber, 43 steam conduit storage part, 43a steam conduit, 44 substrate, 45 communication board storage chamber, 50 Lid, 52 display section, 60 communication section, 60a communication board, 70 concave section, 71 bottom section, 100 rice cooker, 100a rice cooker, 200 rice cooker, 242 substrate storage chamber.

Claims (4)

A steam processing tank for condensing steam generated during rice cooking operation from the inner pot inside the lower housing,
A lid body that can be opened and closed above the lower housing,
A steam conduit for guiding the steam from the inner pot to the steam processing tank;
A communication unit that brings communication devices close to each other to perform wireless communication,
And an electrical component that constitutes the operation unit ,
The steam conduit, the communication unit and the electrical component ,
Arranged side by side in the horizontal direction inside the lid ,
The lid is
A lid base on which an inner lid that closes the opening of the inner pot is attached to the surface facing the lower housing;
A lid housing attached to cover the upper surface of the lid base,
A decorative plate that covers the upper surface of the lid casing and constitutes the outer appearance of the upper surface of the lid body,
The lid base is
Having a steam conduit accommodating portion opening on the surface facing the lower housing,
The steam conduit is
Mounted inside the steam conduit housing,
The lid housing is
Equipped with a substrate storage chamber that faces upward and opens,
The communication board and the electrical component that perform the wireless communication,
It is stored inside the substrate storage chamber,
The decorative board is
A rice cooker that closes the substrate storage chamber from above . The lid is
Recess is formed on a part of the upper surface, comprising said communication portion below the bottom of the recess, rice cooker according to claim 1. The lid is
Rotating about the hinge installed on the back side of the lower housing to open and close,
The bottom surface of the recess is
The rice cooker according to claim 2 , wherein the rice cooker has a slope increasing from the front surface side toward the back surface side. A control unit for executing the wireless communication with the communication device during operation of the cooking and warmth, rice cooker according to any one of claims 1-3.

Images