JPH0328205B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to the structure of a rice cooker that is used on a daily basis in general households.

Conventional configurations and their problems In recent years, the overwhelming majority of the external configurations of rice cookers and electronic jars that have rapidly become popular in general households are so-called handy types.

A feature of this type of device is that the upper opening surface of the main body, which has an inner container that can be stored in a detachable manner, is covered by a lid that is pivoted on one side and can be opened and closed.

Further, in this configuration, a foot lever is provided on the lid body on the opposite side of the pivot portion, and the lid lever can be operated to engage the lid body and the main body.
Additionally, a bridge-like handle is provided in the direction connecting the foot lever and the pivot for opening and closing the lid and for transporting instruments.

The advantage of the rice cooker constructed as described above is its mechanical aspect, as it can be transported and the lid can be opened and closed continuously. However, with conventional rice cookers, the lid must be opened and closed by grasping the handle provided on the lid, making it impossible to easily configure the lid by simply operating the lid lever. In particular, when serving rice, which requires opening and closing the lid, it is impossible to do so while holding a bowl or shiyamoji in one's hand, and the lid cannot be easily opened and closed. Furthermore, when the lid is opened, steam ejected from the inside of the pot hits the hand holding the handle, posing a risk of burns or the like.

Another drawback is that it requires a large handle on the top of the lid, which has hindered the realization of the desire to simplify and compact the design of rice cookers, which is related to the increase in the number of various cooking utensils in recent years. can give.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to improve the operability of opening and closing the lid body, and to avoid the danger of steam spouting.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve this object, the rice cooker of the present invention has a lid pivoted to one side of the main body, and the lid is always provided with an elastic member such as a spring that applies the opening force. have,
On the other hand, the instrument body is provided with an engagement device that engages and locks the lid when the lid is closed, and an operation section that releases the engagement device.

With this configuration, when you want to open the lid, you can easily open it by just lightly operating the operation part, you can smoothly move on to the next operation, and you can also prevent the steam spewing out from inside the pot from hitting your hands.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a square rice cooker according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially sectional side view of the square rice cooker with the lid opened.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a cylindrical body with a bottom, which is combined with an inner frame 2 provided inside and an upper frame 3 at the top to form an instrument main body 4.

The inner bottom of the inner frame 2 has a heating element 5 for heating rice cooking and a thermostat 6 for detecting the completion of rice cooking, and is further provided with a detachable rice cooking pot 7.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a lid body having an inner lid 9 and a hinge portion 10 that connects to the shaft 1.
1 is pivotally supported on one side of the main body 4. Further, a spring 12 is provided in relation to the shaft 11 and is always biased in the direction of opening the lid 8.
An arc-shaped damper 13 and a damper spring 14 are provided to relieve the shock when opening.

On the other hand, inside the main body 4 on the opposite side to which the lid 8 is pivoted, a foot lever 15 for engaging the lid 8 in the closed state is attached using a shaft 16 and a biasing spring 17. A part of the main body 4 faces outside from the side wall of the main body 4 as an operating section 18 to be operated by pressing.

A hook 19 is attached to the side of the lid 8 opposite to the hook lever 15 by a shaft 20 and a spring 21, and an auxiliary operating section 22 faces outside through a recess 23 provided on the top surface of the lid 8. Note that 24 is a grip portion for transportation formed with two recesses facing the side wall of the main body, and 25 is a leg.

The operation of the rice cooker configured as above will be explained below.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, when the lid 8 is in the closed state, the upper end of the hook lever 15 and the lower end of the hook 19 are engaged with each other, and are in a locked state against the biasing force of the spring 12.

When the lid 8 is opened, the operating portion 18 is pressed to disengage the hook lever 15 and the hook 19, and the lid 8 is automatically opened by the biasing force of the spring 12. In addition, especially at the final stage of this opening operation, the damper spring 14 allows the lid to be quietly closed and stopped.

In this embodiment, when it is difficult to press the operation part 18 on the main body 4 side due to the usage condition, the auxiliary operation part 22 on the lid body 8 side is also configured so that the engagement between the lid lever 15 and the hook 19 can be disengaged and the opening can be performed automatically. are doing.

As described above, according to this embodiment, even if both hands are occupied, the lid 8 can be opened automatically by simply pressing the operating section 18 or the auxiliary operating section 22, making it easy to use. The lid 8 can be closed easily by pressing a part of the lid 8 against the biasing force of the spring 12, and the lid 8 is automatically locked. Furthermore, since we were able to eliminate the handle of the rice cooker as a whole, it has a very beautiful appearance.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention does not have a handle on the top surface of the lid body for disengaging and opening/closing the lid body unlike the conventional hand-held rice cooker. Since the rice cooker is provided with an elastic member provided on the lid body that applies the opening force, a rice cooker that can be automatically opened and closed can be obtained.

Yamoji on the right hand, especially when serving rice.
Even if you are holding a bowl in your left hand, you can easily serve the rice bowl by simply pressing the operation part lightly.

Further, since the lid can be opened from the main body of the device, the steam spouted upward from the pot when the lid is opened will not hit your hands, thereby avoiding risks such as burns.

In addition, since there is no need for a large bridge-like handle on the top of the appliance body as in the past, it is possible to design a compact rice cooker, and when the appliance is not in use, it is also possible to place other items on the top, saving space. It also has the effect of being able to be used effectively.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the square rice cooker of the present invention, and a partially sectional side view of the same rice cooker shown in FIG. 4... Instrument main body, 8... Lid body, 10... Hinge section, 12... Spring (elastic member), 15... Foot lever (engaging device), 18... Operation section, 19...
...Hook (engaging device), 22...Auxiliary operation section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A device main body with an open top surface, a lid body that covers the opening surface so as to be openable and closable, a hinge portion that pivotally supports the lid body on one side of the device body, and a device provided on the device body approximately on the opposite side of the hinge portion. an engaging device for locking the lid, and an operation unit for releasing the locking of the lid of the engaging device;
an elastic member for opening the lid, and the operating section is provided at least on a main body of the rice cooker.