JPH01314515A - Automatic rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To set one feed water piping in a device and simplify a mechanism in the device by leading the feed water piping to a rice washing chamber via the cooling pipe of a steam condenser. CONSTITUTION:A feed water piping 8 for feeding water for washing rice to a rice washing chamber 3 is led to the rice washing chamber 3 via a cooling pipe 70 set in a steam condenser 7. On the one end side 85 connected to waterworks W, of the feed water piping 8, a pressure-reducing valve 81 for setting water pressure in the piping to be constant pressure, and an electromagnetic valve 82 for feeding water intermittently along with the working of a device are arranged, and on a terminal side 86 from the interior of the steam condenser 7, a rice washing nozzle 84 is set. The cooling pipe 70 is provided with a plurality of cooling fins 70a... on the external surface, and is set in the hollow condenser main-body 71 of the steam condenser 7 for composing a part of an exhaust air passage 6, and by the rice washing nozzle 84, from a thin slot 84a at the tip, water is sprayed on rice in the rice washing chamber 3 to wash the rice.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an automatic rice cooker, and more particularly, to an automatic rice cooker that automatically performs everything from washing rice to cooking rice and keeping it warm.

<Conventional technology> In order to cook a large amount of rice at a time, such as for commercial use, automatic rice cookers that automatically perform everything from washing rice to cooking rice and keeping it warm have recently been used, but conventional automatic rice cookers In this case, the steam generated during cooking is directly discharged outside the device, which not only poses a risk of deteriorating the surrounding environment by causing moisture to build up in the room or condensation, but also the steam being discharged is at a high temperature. Therefore, there is a risk of burns to the user.

Therefore, an automatic rice cooking device has been proposed that is equipped with a steam condenser for condensing the steam in the middle of the steam exhaust path (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 14822/1983).

According to this automatic rice cooking device, water vapor in the exhaust gas can be removed while cooling the exhaust gas through heat exchange, so that the environment will not be degraded by moisture, and there will be no risk of burns to the user.

As shown in FIG. 6, the automatic rice cooking device has a cooling pipe (91a) provided inside the steam condenser (91).
A first water supply pipe (92) for supplying cooling water at a low rate to the rice washing room (93) and a second water supply pipe (94) for supplying water to the rice washing room (93) for washing rice. Above, both water supply pipes (92) (
94) is connected to a water supply tank (95) connected to the water supply source (1/), and these water intake pipes (92)
(94) mainly constitutes the water supply pipe (9) in the device. The first water supply pipe (92) is provided with a solenoid valve (9B) for intermittent water supply to the steam condenser (91), and the second water supply pipe (94) is provided with a solenoid valve (9B) for intermittent water supply to the steam condenser (91). Rice washing pump (97) for discharging rice into the rice washing room (93)
) is provided.

As the automatic rice cooker operates, the rice washing pump (97) operates to spray water in the water tank (95) into the rice washing chamber (93) to wash rice. Next, when the washed rice is transferred to a rice cooker (not shown) and cooking starts, the solenoid valve (9G) is opened and water supply to the steam condenser (91) is started. The exhaust gas generated from inside the rice cooker during rice cooking is cooled through heat exchange, and the water vapor in the exhaust gas is condensed and removed. In addition, the code|symbol (98) in the figure has shown the manual valve for interrupting the water supply to the water supply piping (9) from the said water supply (v).

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, in the automatic rice cooking device described above, the water supply pipe (9) requires two water supply pipes (92) and (94). Since it requires a rice washing pump (97) and a solenoid valve (96), the structure and control mechanism become complicated, which not only makes it difficult to downsize the device, but also increases the possibility of failure. However, there is a problem that the cost becomes high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic rice cooking device that has a function of removing water vapor from exhaust gas and has simple piping within the device.

Means for Solving the Problems> In order to solve the above problems, the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention has the following features:
A rice washing room that washes rice with water, a rice cooker that cooks the washed rice in the rice washing room, an exhaust path that exhausts the exhaust from the rice cooker to the outside of the device, and a device installed in the middle of the exhaust path that heats the An automatic rice cooking device comprising at least a water-cooled steam condenser that cools and removes steam contained in exhaust gas through exchange, wherein a water supply pipe to the rice washing chamber is provided in the steam condenser. It is characterized by being led to the rice washing room through a cooling pipe.

According to the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention having the above configuration, the water supply pipe to the rice washing chamber also serves as the cooling pipe for the steam condenser, so only one water supply pipe is required in the device, and the structure inside the device is reduced. It becomes possible to simplify.

<Example> Below, the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing examples.

As shown in Fig. 1, the automatic rice cooking device (J
) is equipped with a rice pit (2) for storing rice on the casing (1), and inside the casing (1) is a rice washing chamber opening (for washing rice with water) and a rice pit (2) inside the rice pit (2) for washing rice with water. A measuring chamber (
4), a rice cooker (5) for cooking washed rice, an exhaust route ■ for discharging exhaust from the rice cooker (5) to the outside of the device (J), and an exhaust route (6) installed in the middle of the rice cooker (5). It has a water-cooled steam condenser (7). The rice washing room (a water supply pipe that supplies water for washing rice to 31) is led to the rice washing room (3) via a cooling pipe (70) provided in the steam condenser (7).・It is.

One end of the water supply pipe S) connected to the water supply (W) (
The water vapor condenser (85) is equipped with a pressure reducing valve (81) that sets the water pressure in the piping at a constant pressure, and an electromagnetic valve (82) that cuts off the water supply according to the operation of the device.
) A rice washing nozzle (84) is provided on the distal side (86) from the inside (see especially Fig. m2 and Fig. 5).

As the solenoid valve (82), the control unit of the automatic rice cooker (c)
A known valve device can be used that is remotely controlled by a pressure reducing valve (not shown) and can cut and shut off the water supply in accordance with the operation of the device.
As for l), a known valve device that can set the water pressure in the piping to a predetermined pressure can be used. The cooling pipe (70) is equipped with a plurality of cooling fins (70a) on its outer surface, and has a hollow condenser body ( 71). The rice washing nozzle (84) has a pore (84a) at its tip, and washes the rice by jetting water onto the rice in the rice washing chamber (3) from this pore (84a). As shown in , the above-mentioned pores (
84a) is arranged so as to face the inside of the rice washing room (3).

As shown in Fig. 3, the casing (1) is equipped with a control panel (11) and a door (12) on the front, and the control panel (11) includes various switches (lla) (llb).
- and operation indicator lamp (11r) (l Ig)...
and are arranged.

On the other hand, the lower end of the door (12) is rotatably supported by the casing (1), and a handle (12a) for opening and closing is provided on the front surface, and is used to take in and out the rice cooker (5). used. Moreover, on this casing (1), a rice pickle (2) comprising a substantially cylindrical main body (21) and a lid (22) is provided.
) is arranged, and as shown in Fig. 1, a measuring chamber (4) is arranged in the casing (1) directly below the rice pit.

The rice washing chamber (3) includes a cylindrical rice washing chamber main body (31) and a rice washing container (32) disposed within the rice washing chamber main body (31) for accommodating rice. Chamber body (
A water receiver (33) is provided below 31) to receive water overflowing during rice washing and drain it out of the apparatus. In addition, in the rice washing room (3), there is a rice pot (5) for cooking the washed rice.
In order to drop the rice washing chamber main body (31) into the box (35)
A rice washing chamber rotating means (34) for rotating the rice washing chamber (34) around the rice washing chamber main body (31) and positioning it on the rice cooker (5) which has been moved to the position shown by the middle dotted chain line in FIG. placed on the side.

The rice cooker (5) includes a rice cooker body (54) and a lid (58), and the rice cooker body (54) includes an inner pot (56),
A heater (57) is provided for heating the inner pot (5B). The rice cooking pot body (54) is movably placed on a rail (59) extending in the front-rear direction (lateral direction in FIG. 1) of the casing (1), and the pot moving means (54)
5), the rice washing chamber main body (31) is moved to a position directly below the rotating position as described above. On the other hand, the lid (58) includes an inner lid (52) that fits into the inner pot (5G) and an outer lid (51) that fits into the rice cooker body (54). 51) includes a lid opening/closing means (53) for removing the lid (58) from the rice cooking pot body (54) and holding it in the raised position, and a lid opening/closing means (53) for removing the lid (58) from the rice cooking pot body (54) and holding it in the raised position, and a means for discharging the exhaust gas containing high-temperature steam generated during rice cooking to the outside of the device. An exhaust pipe (61), which is a part of an exhaust path (6) for discharging air, is attached. Further, in the exhaust pipe (81), there is an exhaust temperature sensor (62) for determining the temperature of the exhaust gas.
is provided.

The exhaust route (6) is composed of the exhaust pipe (6■), the condenser body (71) of the steam condenser (7), and the exhaust port (63) provided on the front surface of the casing (1). and
In the exhaust path (6) near this υ11th (63),
An exhaust fan (64) is provided for sucking in exhaust gas and discharging it from the exhaust port (63). Although the condenser main body (71) and the exhaust port (63) are directly connected, the condenser main body (71) and the exhaust pipe (61) are ), so they are not directly connected. In other words, the exhaust pipe (
An exhaust introduction pipe (7
3) is inserted into the exhaust pipe (61) without being fixed, thereby making the connection.

In addition, in this embodiment, the cooling pipe (70) has a shape bent into a hairpin shape, without reducing the contact area between the exhaust gas from the rice cooker (5) and the cooling pipe (70). , which helps to make the size of the steam condenser (7) more compact. Further, the entire steam condenser (7) is provided so as to be inclined, and a discharge port (72) is provided at the lowest part of the steam condenser (7) for discharging water condensed and separated from the exhaust gas.

The operation of the automatic rice cooking device (J) of the above embodiment during rice cooking will be explained with reference to FIG. 1.

First, after turning on the power switch (lla) provided on the control panel (11) on the front of the casing (1), set the values such as the amount of rice cooked on the data panel (1st item), and then turn on the process start switch (llb). (Fig. 3 above), a predetermined amount (usually 1 cup at a time) of rice is weighed in the measuring chamber (4) from the rice pick (2), and then transferred to the rice washing chamber (3).
The rice is dropped into the washing rice container (32). Then, the electromagnetic valve (82) is opened, water is spouted into the rice washing chamber (3) from the rice washing nozzle (84) at the end of the water supply pipe (8), and rice washing is started for a predetermined period of time (see Fig. 4). After T+), the solenoid valve (82) is closed and rice washing is completed. The surplus water generated during rice washing overflows from the rice washing container (32) and is collected in the water receiver (33) and discharged outside the device. Sometimes the required amount of water is left in the rice washing container (32).

On the other hand, when the process start switch (llb) is turned on, the lid (58) of the rice cooker (6) is opened and closed by the lid opening/closing means (5).
3) is removed from the rice cooker main body (54) and held in the raised position, and then the rice cooker main body (54) is moved on the rail (59) by the pot moving means (55) and the first
It is placed at the position indicated by the dashed dotted line in the figure. Then, the rice washing chamber (3) that has finished washing the rice is moved to the rice washing chamber rotating means (34).
) rotates around the shaft (35) and moves above the rice cooker main body (54), the bottom of the rice washing container (32) is opened, and the rice and water are poured into the rice cooker main body (54). Inner pot (5
6) Injected into the interior.

In addition, the rice cooking amount set in the data panel (111) is
If the amount measured in one time by the measuring chamber (4) is larger than the amount measured in one time, for example, if the amount measured in one time by the measuring chamber (4) is 1 cup and the set amount of cooked rice is 5 cups, from the above measurement, wash the rice, Inner pot (
The process up to 5B) is repeated five times.

The rice cooking pot body (54) into which rice and water have been charged is returned to its original position, and the lid (58) is placed on the rice cooker, and then the heater (57) is energized to start cooking rice.

When the pressure inside the inner pot (5B) increases after rice cooking starts, the inner pot (5B)
Exhaust gas containing high-temperature steam is discharged into the exhaust pipe (61) from a steam exhaust valve (not shown) provided at (52), increasing the temperature inside the pipe. This temperature increase is measured by the exhaust temperature sensor (62) in the exhaust pipe (61), and when the al constant temperature (72 in Figure 4) reaches a preset temperature, the exhaust port (63) An exhaust fan (64) provided nearby starts rotating. The exhaust gas discharged from the pot is sucked by the exhaust fan (64) and guided into the condenser main body 71) of the steam condenser (7), where it comes into contact with the cooling pipe (70) and is cooled. The water vapor is condensed and removed, becoming low-temperature, water vapor-free air that is discharged out of the apparatus from the exhaust port (63). At the same time, water produced by condensing water vapor is discharged to the outside of the apparatus from the drain port (72).

In addition, at the beginning of rice cooking, as shown in the lower part of Fig. 4, the solenoid valve (82) of the water supply pipe [F]) is closed.
At the end of rice washing, only the water remaining in the cooling pipe (70) starts cooling the exhaust gas in the steam condenser (7). However, as rice cooking progresses and the water temperature in the cooling pipe (70) rises due to heat exchange (line C in Figure 4), the water vapor in the exhaust gas cannot be sufficiently condensed and removed.
When the water temperature measured by a water temperature sensor (not shown) installed inside reaches a predetermined value (00°C in the figure), the solenoid valve (82) is opened and new water flows into the cooling pipe (70 ) are supplied into the cooling pipe (70) and cooling fins (70a).
is cooled (the time the solenoid valve (82) is open is the fourth
72) in the figure. In addition, the water heated by heat exchange is injected from the rice washing nozzle (84) at the end of the water supply pipe [F]),
The water is discharged out of the device through the water receiver (33). Then, the water temperature in the cooling pipe (70) reaches a predetermined temperature (2 in Fig. 4).
0°C), the solenoid valve (82) is closed again, and the water temperature in the cooling pipe (70) returns to the predetermined temperature (60°C).
), the exhaust gas is cooled only by the water remaining in the cooling pipe (70) (the time during which the solenoid valve (82) is closed is 73 in FIG. 4). As shown in Fig. 4, this solenoid valve (82) is then repeatedly opened and closed until the end of rice cooking, and during that time, the steam temperature in the condenser main body (71) of the steam condensing device (7) also changes accordingly. It moves up and down accordingly (72 in Fig. 4). However, since the water vapor is completely removed by the steam condenser (7), the temperature of the exhaust gas at the outlet (63) remains constant at 20°C from the start to the end of rice cooking.
It is kept at a low temperature of around 30°F (center line in Figure 4).

When the power supply to the heater (57) is stopped by the action of a timer, rice cooking is completed, and the exhaust gas containing water vapor is no longer discharged, the temperature of the water in the cooling pipe (70) stops rising and the opening/closing operation is stopped. After the repetition of the above is completed, the solenoid valve (82)
is closed, and the water supply to the water supply pipe ■ is finished. Further, the exhaust fan (64) automatically stops when rice cooking is finished and exhaust gas is no longer discharged, and when the measured value of the exhaust gas temperature by the exhaust temperature sensor (62) falls below a predetermined temperature.

To take out the cooked rice after cooking, operate the lid open switch (lie) on the control panel (11) to keep the lid (58) in the raised position, and then open the lid on the front of the casing (1). All you have to do is open the door (12) and take out the rice cooker body (54). Note that after the rice is cooked, until the rice is taken out, it will automatically go into a warm state, and the cooked rice will remain warm. Also, the control panel (11)
Instant cooking switch (llc) and instant keep warm switch (lid)
), you can immediately cook rice or keep it warm, regardless of the automatic operation described above.

Note that the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various design changes can be made without changing the gist of the present invention.

<Effects of the Invention> The automatic rice cooking device of the present invention is configured as described above, and since the water supply pipe to the rice washing chamber is led through the cooling pipe of the steam condenser, the water supply pipe inside the device is Only one piece is required, and the structure inside the device can be simplified. Therefore, it is easy to downsize the device, the control mechanism is simple, the possibility of failure is reduced, durability is improved, and it can be manufactured at low cost. play.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view showing an enlarged main part of this embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a front view showing the external appearance of this embodiment. Fig. 4 is a graph showing the temperature of each part and the operation of the solenoid valve during operation in this embodiment, Fig. 5 is a circuit diagram showing an outline of the water supply piping in this embodiment, and Fig. 6 is a conventional automatic rice cooking device. It is a circuit diagram showing an outline of water supply piping in. ('')...Automatic rice cooking device, (3)...Rice washing room, (5)...Rice cooker, (6)...Exhaust route, (7)...Steam condenser, S)・・
・Water supply piping, (70)...Cooling pipe, (8
4)...Rice washing nozzle Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 4 14□4 Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A rice washing room for washing rice with water, a rice cooker for cooking rice washed in the rice washing room, an exhaust route for discharging exhaust from the rice cooker to the outside of the device, and an exhaust route for An automatic rice cooking device equipped with at least a water-cooled steam condenser installed in the middle of the rice washing room to cool the exhaust gas through heat exchange and remove water vapor contained in the exhaust gas, the water supply piping to the rice washing room comprising: An automatic rice cooking device characterized in that the steam condenser is led to a rice washing chamber via a cooling pipe provided in the steam condenser.