JPH0349246B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an electric rice cooker for cooking rice.

BACKGROUND ART Conventional electric rice cookers of this type generally have a structure as shown in FIG. 5, and in this case, rice and water were measured as follows. That is,
A water level line 2 is engraved on the rice cooking container 1 as shown in FIG. 6A, and the user measures the rice using the measuring cup 3 shown in FIG. 6B. , Take 6 cups of rice into a container using measuring cup 3,
After washing the rice, put it into the rice cooking container 1. Next, when water is poured into the rice cooking container 1 up to the scale 6 on the water level line 2, the appropriate rice and water are set, and the rice is cooked when the electric rice cooker is turned on.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, with this configuration, if you make a mistake in measuring the rice with the measuring cup 3, or if you make a mistake in the scale of the water level line 2, that is, in the wrong position, the difference between the rice and the water will change. The proper ratio is disrupted, and the rice becomes soft or hard, and the user notices this after the rice is cooked, and it is impossible to recover.

Therefore, in the present invention, when the ratio of rice and water deviates from the proper ratio, the user can always check the proper ratio by displaying in advance whether the rice will be hard or soft based on the weight ratio. To provide an electric rice cooker capable of cooking delicious rice by setting rice and water at the same time and regardless of the moisture content of rice which changes throughout the year.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the electric rice cooker of the present invention includes a notification means for notifying whether the rice is hard, appropriate, or soft;
A calendar clock detects the amount of rice and the total amount of rice and water, calculates these detected values, and uses the calculation result as an indication value based on changes in the moisture content of rice throughout the year of the calendar clock. The rice cooker is configured to include a cooked rice amount detection means that drives the notification means based on the corrected value.

According to the above configuration, the rice cooking amount detection means determines whether the doneness of the rice is firm, proper, or soft based on the amount of rice and the total amount of rice and water; The notification means notifies the determination result. Therefore, the user can know that the ratio of rice and water is out of proper range before starting to cook the rice, and can make corrections before the rice is ready. Furthermore, since the moisture content of rice changes every moment from when it is new, it is possible to keep the quality of the rice constant by correcting it using a calendar clock and always adjusting the appropriate value.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which 5 is a rice cooking amount detection means, 6 is a hard display section, 7 is a proper display section, and 8 is a soft rice display section. Further, 9 is a calendar clock that outputs an indicated value based on changes in the moisture content of rice that changes throughout the year, and the output of the rice cooking amount detection means 5 is corrected by the indicated value of the calendar clock 9, Drive 8.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which the amount of cooked rice is detected by measuring the weight. In FIG. 2, 11 is the rice cooker main body, 12 is a bottom plate inserted into the bottom of the rice cooker main body 11 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction, and the rice cooker main body 11 and the bottom plate 12 are connected via a coil spring 13. ing. An arm 14 is fastened to the bottom plate 12 and is connected to a variable resistor 15. 16 is a rice cooking container.

With this configuration, when rice is first put into the rice cooking container 16, the rice cooker main body 11 is lowered against the biasing force of the coil spring 13 to a position proportional to its weight, so that the rice to be cooked is lowered by the variable resistor 15. weight information can be obtained.

FIG. 3 is a more specific circuit block diagram of the circuit block shown in FIG. 1, in which a variable resistor 15 is connected to an A/D converter 17. The output of the A/D converter 17 is input to an arithmetic unit 18, and to the arithmetic unit 18, a signal from an input switch 19 for rice and a signal from an input switch 20 for rice and water are input. The output of the arithmetic unit 18 is output to each of the hard display section 6, the appropriate display section 7, and the soft display section 8. These display sections 6, 7, 8 are
It consists of a light source such as a light emitting diode. Note that the notification may be made using a sounding body such as a buzzer. The output of the calendar clock 9 is also input to the arithmetic unit 18 .

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the arithmetic unit 18. At the start, the calculation device 18 is in a standby state, and when rice is put into the rice cooking container 16, a value proportional to the weight of rice is digitally transmitted to the A/D converter 17 in response to a signal from the variable resistor 15. Occurs as a signal. Input switch 1 for user input
9 is operated, a digital signal of rice weight is stored in the y register of the arithmetic unit 18. After that, the arithmetic device 18 enters a standby state. When the user washes the rice and puts the rice and water into the rice cooking container 16, a digital signal representing the total weight of the rice and water is generated in the A/D converter 17 in the same way as described above. When the user operates the input switch 20 for rice and water, the digital signal of the total weight of rice and water from the A/D converter 17 is stored in the x register of the calculation device, and the x/y calculation continues. Processing is executed. On the other hand, the indicated value of the day is obtained from the calendar clock 9, and from this the constant C=C(m) is determined. The arithmetic unit 18 compares the arithmetic result x/y and C. x/y is the value obtained by dividing the sum of the weights of rice and water by the weight of rice; if this is the same as C, the proper display section 7 is operated; if it is small, the firm display section 6 is operated; if it is large, the firm display section 6 is operated. The soft display section 8 is operated. Note that C=C(m)
The value of is stored in advance in the memory of the arithmetic unit 18. This C is defined as C ₁ to _{C 2} with some range.

As a result of the above-described operation, even if the user makes a mistake in setting the water for the amount of rice, the completion of the rice is predicted and notified based on the amount of water, thereby preventing rice cooking failures. Moreover, since the amount of water is adjusted depending on the day, the rice can always be cooked to a constant level even when it is new.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the present invention, the size, appropriateness, and softness are notified based on the weight information of rice and water, so the user can know about errors in measuring rice before starting cooking. This allows you to avoid mistakes caused by using the wrong amount of water when cooking rice. In addition, the work of adjusting the water level to the water level line, which was conventionally done visually, can be replaced by pouring water into the rice cooking container and determining the predetermined amount of water when the appropriate indication is displayed. can be easily set. Furthermore, the moisture content of rice differs between when it is new and when it is no longer new, so it is extremely important to correct the amount of water according to the moisture content of rice in order to set the quality of rice throughout the year. Therefore, according to the present invention, by following the annual changes in the moisture content of rice using a calendar clock, it is possible to maintain the consistency of firm and soft rice throughout the year.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same electric rice cooker, and FIG. 3 is a circuit showing the circuit block shown in FIG. 1 in more detail. Block diagram, Figure 4 is a flowchart of the arithmetic unit in the electric rice cooker, Figure 5
The figure is a sectional view of a conventional electric rice cooker, FIG. 6A is a sectional view of a rice cooking container in the electric rice cooker, and FIG. 6B is a front view of a measuring cup in the electric rice cooker. 5...Cooked rice amount detection means, 6...Hard display unit, 7...
Proper display section, 8... Soft display section, 9... Calendar clock, 15... Variable resistor, 16... Rice cooking container,
17... A/D converter, 18... Arithmetic device, 19,2
0...Input switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Notifying means for notifying whether the doneness of the rice is hard, appropriate, or soft;
A calendar clock detects the amount of rice and the total amount of rice and water, calculates these detected values, and converts the calculation result to an indicated value based on changes in the moisture content of rice throughout the year of the calendar clock. An electric rice cooker comprising: rice cooking amount detection means for driving the notification means based on the corrected value. 2. The notification means consists of a hard display section, a proper display section, and a soft display section, and the rice cooking amount detection means includes:
A weight detection device detects the weight of rice put into a rice cooking container and the total weight of rice and water, and a signal corresponding to each weight detected by the weight detection device is sequentially stored in response to a signal from an input switch. a storage means for storing a preset reference value;
By calculating the ratio between the weight of rice stored in this storage means and the total weight of rice and water, and comparing it with the reference value corrected based on the date information given by the calendar clock, The electric rice cooker according to claim 1, comprising a calculation means for driving one of the parts.