JP7354769B2 - automatic rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic rice cooking device for commercial use.

Restaurants that consume a large amount of cooked rice, such as chain restaurants, require small automatic rice cooking devices that can be installed in relatively small kitchens. For example, in Patent Document 1, an industrial robot is used in place of a long conveyor for moving a rice cooker during the transition of the rice cooking process and for waiting the time from completion of soaking to completion of rice cooking. A continuous three-dimensional rice cooking device is disclosed that saves space by scooping up the rice pot and transferring it to a soaking section, a rice cooking section, and a steaming section.

In addition, the three-dimensional rice cooking system described in Patent Document 2 is an automatically controlled rice cooking device consisting of a polished rice measuring/washing device and a plurality of pot frames (rice cooking sections), and is adjacent to a rice discharging (rice distribution) device. A structure in which a three-dimensional rice cooking device is arranged, a means for horizontally moving the rice cooker between the rice discharging (rice distribution) device and the three-dimensional rice cooking device, and a lifting means for moving the rice cooking pot up and down in the three-dimensional rice cooking device are arranged. have.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-52432 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-190407

However, the three-dimensional rice cooking device described in Patent Document 1 is a large-scale device using an industrial robot, and it is difficult to install it in a relatively small-scale kitchen such as a restaurant chain. In addition, industrial robots are expensive devices, and although they are equipped with various advanced processing capabilities, only a small amount of that capability is used in the rice cooking process, resulting in an excessive equipment configuration. Furthermore, because of its precision, it requires detailed maintenance and adjustment, making it difficult to handle.Although it is possible to handle a large number of rice cookers, it has the drawback of slow overall operation.

In addition, the three-dimensional rice cooking system described in Patent Document 2 has a three-dimensional rice cooking device adjacent to a rice distribution device, a horizontal moving device is provided to move the rice cooking pot from the three-dimensional rice cooking device to the rice distribution device side, and the rice cooking pot after rice cooking is placed next to the rice distribution device. Although the structure allows the rice to be taken out from the rice distributing device, in reality, after rice cooking is completed, it is necessary to open the opening/closing door provided on the front of each pot, take out the rice cooking pot, and clean it. Therefore, handling a hot and heavy rice cooker is a dangerous and troublesome task.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention eliminates the need to handle a hot and heavy pot after rice cooking is completed, and furthermore, it is not necessary to manually clean the rice cooker after removing the rice and transport it into the rice cooking device again. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an automatic rice cooking device with good workability and without any problems.

The invention according to claim 1 of the present application includes a pot conveying section, a rice distributing/watering section, a dipping section, a rice cooking/steaming section, a cooked/rice taking out section, and a pot cleaning section in each area inside the frame. The rice cooker is an automatic rice cooker comprising at least the following, wherein the rice cooker holding arm has a rice cooker holding arm that can move and rotate up and down and back and forth to convey the rice cooker to each of the areas, and the rice cooker The automatic rice cooking device is characterized in that the holding arm is capable of transporting the rice cooking pot that has become empty in the rice removal section to the pot cleaning section.

The invention according to claim 2 of the present application is the automatic rice cooking device according to claim 1, wherein the rice cooking pot holding arm is capable of transporting the rice cooking pot cleaned in the pot cleaning section to the rice distributing/watering section. be.

The invention according to claim 3 of the present application is the automatic rice cooking apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rice take-out section includes a pot reversing section that turns upside down the rice cooking pot conveyed from the rice cooking/steaming section. It is.

The invention according to claim 4 of the present application provides that the rice cooker cleaning section includes a cleaning tank cover that holds the empty rice cooking pot in the rice removal section, and a cleaning tank cover that seals the rice cooking pot with the washing tank cover. The automatic rice cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a cleaning tank.

In the invention according to claim 5 of the present application, a pot stock shelf is provided at a lower part of the rice take-out section, and the pot stock shelf is used to transport the rice to the rice cooking pot cleaned in the pot cleaning section and to the rice distributing/watering section. The automatic rice cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the rice cooking pot can be placed before being heated.

In the invention according to claim 6 of the present application, the dipping section includes a pot dipping shelf on which the rice cooking pot can be placed, and either one of the pot dipping shelf or the pot stock shelf is connected to the pot dipping shelf and the pot. 6. The automatic rice cooking device according to claim 5, wherein the shelf serves as a stock shelf.

In the invention according to claim 7 of the present application, the frame body is made of a rectangular parallelepiped frame structure, and has a space partitioned into the front and rear in plan view and left, center, and right in front view, The pot conveying section is arranged in the central space on the rear side of the frame, and around the pot conveying section are the rice distributing/watering section, the soaking section, the rice cooking/steaming section, the cooked rice take-out section, and the rice dispensing section. The automatic rice cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein pot cleaning sections are respectively arranged.

According to the invention according to claim 1, the rice cooker holding arm is provided in the rice cooker conveying section and is capable of moving and rotating up and down and back and forth to convey the rice cooker to each of the areas. After removing the cooked rice, the empty rice cooking pot can be transported to the pot cleaning section. This makes it possible to provide an extremely efficient automatic rice cooking device that does not require human intervention, from serving rice to cleaning the rice cooker.

According to the invention according to claim 2, the rice cooking pot that has been cleaned in the pot cleaning section can be transported again to the rice distributing and watering section for rice cooking, so that there is no need to manually take out the used rice cooking pot and transport it. To provide an automatic rice cooking device which can eliminate cleaning work and further improve efficiency by making it possible to eliminate manual work of loading the rice cooker to transport the rice cooker to a rice distributing/watering section. becomes possible.

According to the invention according to claim 3, the rice removal section is provided with a pot reversing section that turns the rice pot conveyed from the rice cooking/steaming section upside down, so that the rice can be easily cooked without manual intervention. It becomes possible to take out cooked rice.

According to the invention according to claim 4, the rice cooker cleaning unit cleans the rice cooker using the cleaning tank cover that holds the empty rice cooker and the cleaning tank that can be cleaned by sealing the rice cooker with the cleaning tank cover. Therefore, it is possible to save labor on manual cleaning work.

According to the invention according to claim 5, a pot stock shelf is provided at the lower part of the rice take-out section, and the pot stock shelf is used to place the cleaned rice cooker and the rice cooker before being transported to the rice distribution/hydration section. By setting it as a place, it becomes possible to repeatedly serve rice without the need for human intervention.

According to the invention according to claim 6, by making either the pot dipping shelf or the pot stock shelf a dual-use shelf, it is possible to save space inside the frame and also to automatically It becomes possible to further downsize the rice cooker.

According to the invention according to claim 7, the frame has a frame structure, and the rice cooking pot holding arm of the pot conveying section is arranged in the central space on the rear side of the frame, so that the rice distributing/watering section, the soaking section, and the rice cooking/cooking section are arranged. Since the rice cooker can be transported to each functional area of the steaming section, rice removal section, and pot cleaning section, an efficient and compact automatic rice cooking device can be realized by saving space.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention, seen from the front left upper side. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention, seen from the upper right side of the front. FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention. It is a left side view in an example of an automatic rice cooking device of the present invention. It is a back view in the Example of the automatic rice cooking device of this invention. FIG. 2 is a top view of an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention. It is an inside perspective view of the cauldron washing part in the example of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an outer perspective view of a pot cleaning section in an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the inner surface of the pot cleaning section in the embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a pot conveying machine in an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention, in which [A] shows the arm when it is retracted, [B] shows the arm when the arm is extended, and [C] shows the arm when it rotates. FIG. 2 is a front view of a pot conveyor in an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention. It is an explanatory view showing functional areas when the automatic rice cooking device is viewed from above in an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention. This is a main flow in an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention. It is a flowchart of pot charging and dipping operations in an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention. It is a flow of rice cooking and steaming operations in an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention. It is a flow of the rice take-out operation in the embodiment of the automatic rice cooker of the present invention. It is a flow of pot cleaning operation in an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention.

The automatic rice cooking device of the present invention has a frame having a rectangular parallelepiped frame structure, and has a structure in which operating parts for each processing step are arranged in an internal area of the frame.

[Example]
1 and 2 are perspective views of the entire automatic rice cooking device 1 according to the present embodiment, and the frame 2 and its internal area include a pot conveyor 3, a rice distributing/hydrating device 4, and a pot dipping shelf. 5 (5a to 5c), IH rice cooker 6 (6a to 6c), pot reversing machine 7, rice tank 8, rice washer 9, lid removing/covering device 11 (11a (not shown), 11b), pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c), a cleaning pump 30, a cleaning tank 31, a cleaning pot reversing machine 32, an exhaust pipe 33, a cylinder 34, a control panel 12 (12a, 12b), and the like.

The main control panel 12a serves as a main control unit and controls the entire automatic rice cooking device 1, and the sub-control panel 12b is under the control of the main control panel 12a and mainly controls the rice cooker 3. . In addition, the code|symbol 13 shown in FIG. 1 etc. is a rice cooker, and the code|symbol 14 is its lid. The rice cooker 13 is provided with a flange 15 on the opening edge (see FIG. 9(b), etc.), and the lid 14 is fitted into the flange 15.

The frame 2 is a rectangular parallelepiped made of general-purpose aluminum sections assembled into a frame structure, and as shown in FIG. 12 in addition to FIGS. It is divided into left, center, and right. A pot conveying machine 3 is arranged as a pot conveying section in the center of the rear side space of the internal area, and IH rice cookers 6 (6a to 6c) are arranged as rice cooking/steaming sections in the space on the upper right side and the space at the upper center on the front side. In the left upper space on the rear side, a pot reversing device 7, a pot reversing opening 26, and a lid removal/covering device 11b are provided as a rice take-out section.

Further, in the lower central space on the front side, a pot dipping shelf 5 (5a to 5c) is arranged as a dipping section, and in the left side space on the front side, a rice distributing/watering device 4 as a rice distributing/watering section, and a lid remover/water adding device 4 are arranged as a rice distributing/watering section. A covering device 11a, a rice washing machine 9, and a rice tank 8 are arranged.

Further, a cleaning tank 31 and the like is provided as a pot cleaning section in the lower right space, and a pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c) is provided as a pot stock section in the left lower space on the rear side.

Further, a control panel 12 (12a, 12b) is provided as a control section in the space on the right side of the front side, and in particular, the main control panel 12a has an input device using a touch panel. With the input device, in addition to the cooking time and soaking time, it is also possible to set the number of pots per cycle, which will be described later.

As shown in FIGS. 10, 11, etc., the pot conveyor 3 includes a vertically moving section 16, a rotating section 17, a horizontally moving section 18, and a pot holding arm 19. 2, and a slide table 21 attached to the vertical electric linear device 20. The rotating part 17 has a rotating plate 23 that is horizontally rotatably attached to the lower surface side of the base plate 22 fixed to the slide table 21. Rotation is controlled by a motor 24 for rotational positioning.

Further, the horizontal moving section 18 is constituted by a horizontal electric linear device 25 that is horizontally attached to the lower surface side of the rotating plate 23, and the hook holding arm 19 is attached to the tip of the horizontal electric linear device 25. The above-mentioned vertical electric linear device 20, motor 24 for rotational positioning, and horizontal electric linear device 25 are program-controlled according to state detection signals from various sensors inputted to the control panel 12 (12a, 12b). The transport machine 3 is configured to operate.

That is, by vertically moving or horizontally rotating the hook holding arm 19 in the internal area of the frame body 2, the hook holding arm 19 can be moved forward and backward in the horizontal rotation position, and the hook holding arm 19 can move forward and backward in the horizontal rotation position. It is possible to transport the rice cooker 13 to the functional area.

The rice distributing/watering device 4 is also supplied with rice that has been measured in a rice tank 8 and washed in a rice washer 9, and the rice and water weighed for one pot of the rice cooker 13 are This is a device that supplies rice to the rice pot 13 that has been transported to the lower area of the rice distributing/hydrating device 4.

The rice cooker soaking rack 5 (5a to 5c) is a sturdy mounting table that stably receives the bottom of the rice cooker 13, and supports the rice cooker 13 that has been distributed and watered by the rice distribution and water addition device 4 before rice is cooked. This is the area where immersion (30 to 60 minutes) is performed.

In this embodiment, three pot dipping racks 5 (5a to 5c) are always used, corresponding to the three IH rice cookers 6 (6a to 6c). Furthermore, the three pot stock shelves 38 (38a to 38c) shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 are used to place empty pots before being transported to the lower area of the rice distributing/watering device 4. Furthermore, it is also used to temporarily place an empty pot which has been inverted by the pot reversing machine 7 and the cooked rice has been taken out.

That is, the rice is taken out and the empty pots temporarily placed on the pot stock shelves 38 (38a to 38c) are transported by the pot conveyor 3 to a pot cleaning section to be described later and cleaned. The empty pots cleaned in the pot cleaning section are placed on the pot stock shelves 38 (38a to 38c) again and used again for cooking rice.

In addition, in the IH rice cooker 6 (6a to 6c), rice is cooked in the rice cooker 13 after soaking at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time (15 to 20 minutes), and then steamed for a predetermined time (about 15 to 30 minutes). be exposed.

The pot reversing machine 7 is a device for inverting the rice cooking pot 13 after rice cooking and taking out cooked rice from inside.The pot reversing opening 26 ( (see FIG. 1, etc.) is formed. It should be noted that an unillustrated rice storage and dispensing device is provided outside the pot reversing opening 26, and the cooked rice received from the pot reversing machine 7 can be measured and supplied in a fixed amount per meal, for example. It is.

The inverted rice cooking pot 13 is returned to its original position as an empty pot, and is once placed together with the lid 14 on the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c) by the pot conveyor 3, as described above. The placed empty pot is then conveyed by the pot conveying machine 3 to a pot cleaning section located in the lower right space and cleaned.

To explain the operation in the pot cleaning section in detail, the rice cooking pot 13 covered with the lid 14 is held by the pot holding arm 19 of the pot conveyor 3 on the stock shelf 38 (38a, 38b, 38c), and then, It is transported to the pot cleaning section. A lid arm 37 that engages with the handle of the lid 14 is provided on the lower surface of the cleaning tank cover 36 in the pot cleaning section, and the lid 14 is moved by the operation of the pot holding arm 19 as shown in FIG. The handle is engaged with the lid arm 37 and suspended.

Thereafter, the pot holding arm 19 holding only the rice cooking pot 13 causes the washing pot reversing machine 32 provided in the washing tank cover 36 to hold the rice cooking pot 13 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 9(b). . Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the rice cooking pot 13 is turned upside down by the washing pot reversing machine 32, and the rice cooking pot 13 and the lid 14 are lowered together with the washing tank cover 36 by the descending operation of the cylinder 34, and the rice cooking pot 13 and the lid 14 are lowered into the washing tank. It is sealed inside 31. (See aspects from FIG. 7 to FIG. 8)

As shown in FIG. 9, the cleaning tank 31 is provided with a cleaning nozzle 35 that sprays high-pressure cleaning water supplied by the cleaning pump 30, and is configured to clean the rice cooker 13 and the lid 14. ing. Further, the cleaning tank 31 of this embodiment is also provided with a blower device (not shown), and can blow compressed air from a blower nozzle (not shown) in the cleaning tank 31 onto the rice cooker 13 and the lid 14 to dry them. It is possible.

Further, the cleaning tank 31 is provided with an exhaust pipe 33, and the steam in the cleaning tank 31 can be exhausted to the outside of the machine through the exhaust pipe 33 along with the compressed air from the blower nozzle. In this embodiment, the rice cooker 13 and the lid 14 are cleaned through a cleaning process using hot water, a rinsing process, and a drying process.

When the cleaning of the empty pot as described above is completed, the cleaning tank cover 36 is raised by the lifting operation of the cylinder 34, and the rice cooking pot 13 is returned to its original orientation by the washing pot reversing machine 32. Then, the rice cooking pot 13 is held and the lid 14 is closed by the operation of the pot holding arm 19 of the pot conveyor 3, and the rice cooking pot 13 and the lid 14 after washing are returned to the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c). It is transported and placed.

Next, a control mode by the control panel 12 (main control panel 12a, sub-control panel 12b) of the automatic rice cooking device 1 in this embodiment will be explained. Note that the handling of the rice cooking pot 13 by the pot conveyor 3 will be mainly explained in detail.

The basic operation of the automatic rice cooking device 1 is shown in the main flow of FIG. 13. First, in S1, the number of cycles n of rice cooking using the automatic rice cooking device 1 is set. Note that the following explanation will be given assuming that the number of cycles n is n=5. One cycle explained in this flow includes distributing rice to the rice cooker 13, adding water to the rice cooker, adding water to the rice cooker, soaking the rice, cooking and steaming the rice, taking out the cooked rice, and then cleaning the rice cooker.

In addition, in this embodiment, there are three pot dipping shelves 5 (5a to 5c) and three IH rice cookers 6 (6a to 6c), so the number of rice cookers 13 operated in one cycle is three. It is individual. In other words, rice for three rice cookers is made in one cycle. As described above, in this embodiment, the number of cycles n is set to n=5, so that rice for a total of 15 rice cookers is produced.

In S2, if the current operation is the first cycle, N=1 is counted. Then, in S3, a pot charging/immersion operation is performed. This operation is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 14, which will be described later. Note that this operation is performed on the condition that an empty pot (with a lid) is loaded and placed on the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c) of the automatic rice cooker 1, and the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c) ) If the empty pot detection sensor installed in .

In S4, timer A is set. The time set in the timer A is the time (30 to 60 minutes) to sufficiently soak the raw rice that has been distributed and watered in the rice cooker 13, and the time is measured after the rice distribution and water addition are completed. will be started. Note that the immersion time can be set using the input device of the main control panel 12a. Then, in S5, the process waits for the immersion time to expire.

In S6, when the timer A times up, the rice cooking pot 13 after immersion is moved to the IH rice cooker 6 (6a to 6c) to cook and steam the rice. This operation is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15, which will be described later. The heating time by the IH rice cooker 6 (6a to 6c) is set in the timer B in S7. The time set in the timer B is approximately 15 to 20 minutes for cooking rice and 15 to 30 minutes for steaming. The time set in the timer B can be set from the input device of the main control panel 12a depending on the variety of raw rice, moisture level, etc.

In S8, it is determined whether the number N of cycles executed this time has reached the set number of cycles n (n=5) described above. If the number of cycles N executed this time reaches the final cycle number, which is the fifth time, the next cycle will not be executed, so proceed to S10, and if it is not yet the fifth time, prepare for the next cycle of rice cooking. Proceed to S9.

In S9, the time required to complete the cooking and steaming operations for one cycle (for 3 rice cookers) is used to add and soak the 4th to 6th rice to the pot for the next cycle. put. That is, at this time, the three rice cooking pots 13 have already shifted to the rice cooking/steaming operation in the three IH rice cookers 6 (6a to 6c), and the pot dipping racks 5 (5a to 5c) for dipping are already in operation. space is empty. In addition, the time for cooking and steaming rice is sufficiently longer than the time for adding to the pot and soaking. Therefore, by putting the 4th to 6th rice into the pot and soaking them in advance for the next cycle of rice cooking and steaming, it is possible to quickly perform the next cycle of rice cooking and steaming. .

In S10, when the timer B eventually times up, the automatic rice cooking device 1 moves to S10. In S11, a rice removal operation is performed. This operation is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16, which will be described later, and rice is taken out from the rice cooking pot 13 through the pot reversing opening 26. Then, the empty rice cooker pot 13 is temporarily placed on the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c).

Subsequently, in S12, a pot cleaning operation is performed. In the rice cooker cleaning operation, the rice cooker 13 that has been placed on the rice cooker stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c) in S11 is transported to the rice cooker cleaning section and cleaned in the cleaning tank 31, and the rice cooker 13 after cleaning is again placed on the rice cooker stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c). It is returned to the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c).

Then, in S13, it is determined whether the current cycle is the nth cycle (the fifth cycle in this embodiment), and if it is the nth cycle (the fifth cycle in the present embodiment), the series of operations is ended. If it has not reached n times, the process from S3 is repeated, and the series of operations ends at the cycle where N=n (N=5 in this embodiment) in S13.

Next, the above-mentioned pot charging/immersion operation in S3 will be briefly explained below according to the flow shown in FIG. 14.

In S31, the main control panel 12a is made to recognize that the current operation is the first flow (f=1). In S32, it is confirmed whether the rice cooking pot 13 is placed on the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c), and if it is not placed, the process waits. In the standby state, the pot holding arm 19 of the pot conveyor 3 is located at the front of the lower part of the central rear space, which is the initial position, and on the rear side of the longitudinal movement position.

When it is confirmed that the rice cooking pot 13 is placed on the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c), the pot conveyor 3 is operated and the pot holding arm 19 is placed on the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c). ) (position A in Figure 6). The hook holding arm 19 is moved by driving the vertical moving section 16 and the rotating section 17, and then the horizontal moving section 18 is driven and the hook is placed on the hook stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c). The pot holding arm 19 is positioned below the rice cooking pot 13 (S33).

Next, in S34, the pot holding arm 19 holds the rice cooking pot 13 with a lid on the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c) and starts transporting the rice cooking pot 13, and attaches the lid to the lid removing/covering device 11a (not shown). 14 is hooked and removed, the opened rice cooking pot 13 is moved directly below the rice distributing/watering device 4 (position B in FIG. 6), and rice is distributed and water is added into the pot.

The rice cooking pot 13, which has completed the rice distributing and watering operations as described above, is held by the pot holding arm 19 in S35, receives the lid 14 by the lid removal/covering device 11a, and is closed again. Then, in S36, the covered rice cooking pot 13 is transported to and placed on the pot dipping shelf 5 (5a to 5c) by the operation of the pot holding arm 19 (position C in FIG. 6).

In S37, it is confirmed whether all three rice cooking pots 13 have been placed on the pot dipping racks 5 (5a to 5c), and if the placement is not completed, the process returns to S32 and the operation is repeated, and if the placement is completed, the process is repeated. returns to the main flow.

Next, the rice cooking/steaming operation in S6 described above will be briefly described below according to the flow shown in FIG. 15.

In S61, the main control panel 12a is made to recognize that the current rice cooking/steaming operation is the first time. Subsequently, in S62, the pot holding arm 19 is moved to the pot dipping shelf 5 (5a to 5c) (position C in FIG. 6). Then, in S63, the rice cooking pots 13 (with lids) that have been immersed on the pot dipping shelves 5 (5a to 5c) are held and pulled out by the pot holding arm 19, and transported to the IH rice cookers 6 (6a to 6c), respectively. (Position D in Figure 6).

In S64, it is checked whether all three rice cooking pots 13 placed on the pot dipping rack 5 (5a to 5c) have been placed on the IH rice cooker 6 (6a to 6c), and if the placement is not completed. If so, return to S62 and repeat the operation, and if completed, return to the main flow. Note that the pot holding arm 19 may return to the initial position after carrying out three consecutive transfer operations of the rice cooker pot 13 without returning to the initial position after each operation. It is more efficient.

Next, the rice removal operation in S11 described above will be briefly described below according to the flow shown in FIG. 16.

In S111, the main control panel 12a is made to recognize that the current rice removal operation is the first time. Next, in S112, the pot holding arm 19 is moved to the IH rice cooker 6 (6a to 6c), holds the rice cooking pot 13 that has been cooked and steamed, and moves to the position where the lid removal/covering device 11b is located (position B in FIG. 6). ). After conveyance, the lid 14 is removed by hooking the knob of the lid 14 on the lid removing/covering device 11b, and in S113, the rice cooking pot 13 with the lid 14 removed is moved to a position where the pot reversing machine 7 is by the pot holding arm 19. (Position A in Figure 6).

In S114, the rice cooking pot 13 is turned upside down by the pot reversing machine 7, and the cooked rice in the pot is taken out. The empty rice cooker 13 (without a lid) is transported again to the location where the lid removal/covering device 11b is located, and is covered with the lid 14 that had been removed.

Then, in S115, the closed empty rice cooking pot 13 is once transported to the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c) and placed thereon by the operation of the pot holding arm 19. (Position A in Figure 6).

Then, in S116, when it is confirmed that the cooked rice has been taken out from all three rice cooking pots 13 and the empty rice cooking pots 13 have been transported and placed on the pot stock shelves 38 (38a to 38c), the main Return to flow.

Next, the pot cleaning operation in S12 described above will be briefly explained below according to the flow shown in FIG. 17.

In S121, the main control panel 12a is made to recognize that the current pot cleaning operation is the first time. Subsequently, in S122, the three rice cooking pots 13 that have been placed on the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c) after the rice has been taken out are sequentially held by the pot holding arm 19 and transported to the pot cleaning section. (position E in Figure 6). Then, in S123, the lid arm 37 and the washing pot reversing machine 32 provided on the cleaning tank cover 36 of the pot cleaning section are made to hold the lid 14 and the rice cooking pot 13, respectively, by the method described above.

Thereafter, in S124, the cleaning tank cover 36 is lowered by the operation of the cylinder 34, and the rice cooker pot 13 and the lid 14 are sealed in the cleaning tank 31 and cleaned with cleaning water sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 35. Note that it is possible to use a solution mixed with a cleaning agent as the cleaning water.

Next, in S125, a rinsing operation is performed to wash away the cleaning agent adhering to the rice cooker pot 13 and lid 14. In S126, a blower device (not shown) is operated to blow compressed air onto the rice cooker 13 and lid 14 from a blower nozzle (not shown) provided in the cleaning tank 31 to perform drying work.

Subsequently, in S127, after the above drying work is finished, the cleaning tank cover 36 is raised by operating the cylinder 34. Then, the rice cooking pot 13 is held by the pot holding arm 19 and closed by the lid 14, and then transported and placed on the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c) again.

In S128, it is confirmed whether all three rice cooking pots 13 placed on the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c) have been cleaned and returned to the pot stock shelf 38 (38a to 38c), and whether the cleaning is complete. If not, return to S122 and repeat the operation; if completed, return to the main flow.

Although one embodiment of the automatic rice cooking apparatus of the present invention has been described above, it is not necessarily limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made.

For example, in the settings of each functional area shown in FIGS. 6 and 12, it is possible to change the combination and position of each element, and in this embodiment, the number of IH rice cookers 6 (6a to 6c) and the pot immersion Although the number of shelves 5 (5a to 5c) and pot stock shelves 38 (38a to 38c) is three each, the number is not limited to this, and the number can be increased or decreased as appropriate depending on the scale of the restaurant where it is installed. be.

In addition, in this embodiment, rice is cooked according to the cycle processing of the main flow, with rice cooking using three rice cookers 13 as one cycle, but the number is not necessarily limited to this, and the number is greater or less than three. It is also possible to operate the automatic rice cooker 1 by setting 1 cycle.

Further, various flows in this embodiment can be changed. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the rice cooking pot 13 is placed on the pot stock shelf 38 once after taking out the cooked rice, but it is possible to change the various flows in this embodiment. Afterwards, it is also possible to configure the pot to be moved as it is to the pot cleaning section for cleaning using the pot holding arm 19.

In addition, as described above, in this embodiment, the cooking time, soaking time, and number of pots per cycle can be set using the touch panel provided on the main control panel 12a. It may be possible to set the execution time (time) for the cycle, the time (time) for each rice cooker 13 to finish cooking, the time interval for finishing rice cooking, and the like. With this configuration, it becomes possible to provide an appropriate amount of rice according to the time period of the customer's visit.

Further, in this embodiment, three pot stock shelves 38 (38a to 38c) and three pot dipping shelves 5 (5a to 5c) are provided in the automatic rice cooking device 1, but the configuration is not limited to this. Instead, it is also possible to provide only one of the shelves and make it a dual-use shelf for the pot stock shelves 38 (38a to 38c) and the pot dipping shelves 5 (5a to 5c). This makes it possible to further save space.

Furthermore, when supplying rice to the rice tank 8, by adding a commutable tank containing a certain amount of rice and a rice feeder to the automatic rice cooking device 1, it is possible to further reduce manual work.

Although the embodiments and some modified examples of the present invention have been described above, these explanations are for the purpose of facilitating understanding of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified and improved without departing from its spirit, and the present invention includes equivalents thereof. In addition, it is possible to combine or omit each component described in the claims and specification to the extent that at least part of the above-mentioned problems can be solved or at least part of the effect can be achieved. .

1 Automatic rice cooker 2 Frame 3 Pot conveyor 4 Rice distributing/watering device 5 (5a to 5c) Pot soaking shelf 6 (6a to 6c) IH rice cooker 7 Pot reversing machine 8 Rice tank 9 Rice washing machine 11 (11a, 11b) ) Lid removing/covering device 12 Control panel 12a Main control panel 12b Sub-control panel 13 Rice cooker 14 Lid 15 Flange 16 Vertical moving section 17 Rotating section 18 Horizontal moving section 19 Pot holding arm 20 Vertical electric linear device 21 Slide table 22 Board 23 Rotating plate 24 Motor for rotational positioning 25 Horizontal electric linear device 26 Opening for pot reversal 30 Washing pump 31 Washing tank 32 Washing pot reversing machine 33 Exhaust pipe 34 Cylinder 35 Washing nozzle 36 Washing tank cover 37 Lid arm 38 (38a) ~38c) Pot stock shelf

Claims (2)

An automatic rice cooking device comprising at least a pot conveying section, a rice distributing/watering section, a dipping section, a rice cooking/steaming section, a cooked rice removal section, and a pot cleaning section in each area inside the frame. And,
The pot conveyance unit has a rice cooker holding arm that can move and rotate up and down and back and forth to convey the rice cooker to each of the areas,
The rice cooking pot holding arm is capable of transporting the rice cooking pot which has become empty in the rice removal section to the pot cleaning section ,
The pot cleaning section includes a cleaning tank cover that holds the rice cooking pot that has become empty in the rice removal section, and a cleaning tank that can clean the rice cooking pot by sealing it with the cleaning tank cover.
An automatic rice cooking device that is characterized by: An automatic rice cooking device comprising at least a pot conveying section, a rice distributing/watering section, a dipping section, a rice cooking/steaming section, a cooked rice removal section, and a pot cleaning section in each area inside the frame. And,
The pot conveyance unit has a rice cooker holding arm that can move and rotate up and down and back and forth to convey the rice cooker to each of the areas,
The rice cooking pot holding arm is capable of transporting the rice cooking pot which has become empty in the rice removal section to the pot cleaning section,
The frame body is composed of a rectangular parallelepiped frame structure, and has a space divided into the front and rear in plan view, and the left, center, and right in front view,
The pot conveying section is arranged in the central space on the rear side of the frame, and around the pot conveying section are the rice distributing/watering section, the soaking section, the rice cooking/steaming section, the cooked rice take-out section, and the rice dispensing section. Each pot cleaning section is located
An automatic rice cooking device that is characterized by :

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