JPH02168908A - Automatic rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a failure in rice cooking with simple composition by equipping the rice cooker with a rice running out detecting part to detect that the remaining quantity of rice in a ricechest reaches prescribed quantity or less with a sensor. CONSTITUTION:A rice running out detecting part 2 in this case is the one using an optical sensor, composed of a photointerrupter 10 composed by placing a light emitting element 8 and a light receiving element 9 opposite to each other, and provided at an inclined part 1a of a ricechest part 1. When rice is filled in the ricechest part 1, a light beam from the light emitting element 8 is intercepted by rice, the light receiving element 9 is turned off, and the output of the circuit becomes a high output. When rice gradually decreases, and no grain of rice exists between the light emitting 8 and the light receiving element 9, the light receiving element is turned on, and the output of the circuit becomes a low output. When a pulse is electrically conducted from an input terminal here, since a large current can be instantaneously applied to the light emitting element 8, the sensitivity of the light receiving element 9 becomes higher. The rice running out detecting part 2 outputs information to a control circuit part and previously prevents a failure in cooking rice by informing a user of the information or stopping rice cooking.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an automatic rice cooker used in general households.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, although not an automatic rice cooker, it has been common practice to visually check the remaining amount of rice in a rice pot by installing a viewing window made of a transparent material.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional configuration described above, the remaining amount of rice is checked visually by the user, so it is difficult to check the remaining amount of rice in an automatic rice cooker that automatically performs everything from measuring rice to washing and cooking rice. It was inappropriate.

The present invention solves the above problems and aims to provide an automatic rice cooker having an automatic wood cut detection function.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention comprises: a rice bin part that can store rice and discharge it in predetermined amounts; a rice polishing part that removes sugar from the rice supplied from the rice bin part; A rice transfer section that transfers polished rice, a water supply section that supplies water necessary for cooking rice, a rice cooking section that cooks rice using the rice and water supplied from the rice transfer section and the water supply section, and a series of This system has a control circuit section that performs sequence mq size and rice cooking control, and a rice-out detection section that detects with a sensor that the amount of rice remaining in the rice pot section has fallen below a predetermined amount.

Effect of the present invention With the above-described configuration, when the amount of rice remaining in the rice bin becomes less than a predetermined amount, the sensor of the rice outage detection section can detect this and notify the user or stop the rice cooking. It is something that can be done.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

In FIG. 1, numeral 1 denotes a rice bin that can store rice and discharge it in predetermined amounts, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, it consists of a storage container with a funnel-shaped bottom. 2 is the rice bin part 1
This is a rice-out detection section that detects when the amount of rice remaining in the rice bin is below a predetermined amount.

3 is a rice grinding section that removes sugar from the rice supplied from the rice pot section 1, 4 is a rice transfer section that has a built-in fan motor and transfers the ground rice, and 5 is a water supply that supplies water necessary for cooking rice. Department,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a rice cooking section that cooks rice using the rice and water supplied from the rice transfer section 4 and the water supply section 5, and 7 is a fal1m circuit section that performs a series of sequence control and rice cooking control.

Various means can be considered for the rice outage detection section 2 described above, and the one shown in FIG. 10, and is provided on the inclined part 1a of the rice bin part 1. A specific example of the circuit is shown in FIG.

The one shown in FIG. 4 is an example using a piezoelectric sensor, in which a piezoelectric sounding body 11 as a piezoelectric element is connected to an inclined part 1a of the rice bin part 1.
It was established in A specific circuit example thereof is shown in FIG.

The one shown in FIG. 6 is an example using a mechanical sensor, which is composed of a diaphragm 12, a transmission arm 13, and a microswitch 14, and the diaphragm 12 is provided on the inclined part 1a of the rice bin part 1.

The operation of the above configuration will be explained based on FIG. When the user determines and inputs the amount of rice to be cooked, a lll1j signal is outputted from the rice cooker circuit section 7 to the rice pot section 1.

A predetermined amount of rice is measured from the rice pot section 1 and supplied to the rice polishing section 3. The rice polishing section 3 grinds and separates sugar from the surface of the rice, and the rice from which the sugar has been removed is transported to the rice cooking section 6 by the rice transfer section 4 which has a built-in fan motor. On the other hand, water necessary for cooking rice is supplied from the water supply section 5 to the rice cooking section 6 according to a preset amount of rice to be cooked. When the rice and water are completely supplied to the rice cooking section 6, the rice cooking operation begins. Here, when the remaining amount of rice in the rice pot section 1 becomes less than a predetermined amount, the rice outage detection section 2 outputs the information to the control circuit section 7 to notify the user, or stops the rice cooking and fails to cook the rice. This is to prevent this from happening.

To explain in detail the operation of the rice outage detection section 2, in the one shown in FIG. OFF, and the output of the circuit shown in Fig. 3 becomes a high output (HIGH>).When the rice decreases and there are no grains of rice between the light-emitting element 8 and the light-receiving element 9, the light-receiving element 9 turns on and the output of the circuit becomes a low output (HIGH>). If a pulse is applied from the input terminal, a large current can be instantaneously passed to the light emitting element 8, so that the sensitivity of the light receiving element 9 becomes high.

In the case shown in FIG. 4, when there is rice, the output of the circuit shown in FIG. Become.

In the one shown in FIG. 6, when there is rice, the diaphragm 12 swells downward, and this displacement turns on the microswitch 14 via the transmission arm 13, and when the rice runs out, the diaphragm 12 returns to its original shape. Microswitch 12 is turned off. Here, the material of the diaphragm 12 is preferably a soft material that has shape recovery properties. Although the explanation has been given using a diaphragm as an example of a movable part that is displaced by weight, it goes without saying that a mechanically movable lever having a fulcrum can also be used.

In each of the above, the rice outage detection unit 2 is installed on the inclined part 1a of the rice bin unit 1, so it is possible to reliably detect changes in the amount of rice and detect it before the amount of rice reaches zero. It is very practical because it can be done.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automatic rice cooker with a rice outage detection function that automatically detects outage of rice with a simple configuration, and its industrial value is high. is a great thing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the automatic rice cooker of the present invention, Figs. 2 A and B are overall and partial sectional views showing one embodiment of the rice outage detection section, respectively, and Fig. 3 is a circuit diagram of the same. , Figure 4A,
FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of the same, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the rice-out detection section. 1...Rice pot section, 2...Rice out detection section, 3...Rice polishing section, 4...Rice transfer section, 5...Water supply section, 6...Rice cooking section, 7... Control circuit section. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano and one other person JzenL
P4 rape 1ζ million visit

Claims (1)

[Claims] A rice pot section that can store rice and discharge it in predetermined amounts, a rice grinding section that removes sugar from the rice supplied from the rice pot section, a rice transfer section that transfers the ground rice, and water necessary for cooking rice. a rice cooking section that cooks rice using the rice and water supplied from the rice transfer section and the water supply section; a control circuit section that performs a series of sequence control and rice cooking control; An automatic rice cooker equipped with a sensor that detects when the amount of rice has fallen below a predetermined amount.