JPH0349484B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a rice cooker with improved operability of an operating section.

[Technical background of the invention]

In conventional rice cookers, an operation panel is generally attached to the lower part of the outer peripheral side of the main body along the outer peripheral side, and the operation panel is provided with an operating section that can be operated from the outside, and a display lamp is installed inside the operation panel. Alternatively, by disposing a light-emitting body such as a light-emitting diode, operating the operation part to perform the rice cooking operation, and visually recognizing the light from the light-emitting body based on the operation through a window provided in the operation panel. The process of cooking rice can be checked.

[Problems with background technology]

In general, rice cookers are usually placed on low places such as tables or sinks in order to scoop out the rice in the pot after cooking, and therefore are placed on low places such as tables or sinks, making them less visible to the user. The position of is also usually higher than the main body. However, in this case, in the conventional device described above, the operation panel is provided at the bottom of the outer peripheral side of the main body along the outer peripheral side, and the operation panel is oriented horizontally, so if you are standing, your line of sight is not on the operation panel. On the other hand, the operation panel is tilted too far, making it difficult to see and operate the operation panel without bending over.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a rice cooker that can improve the visibility and operability of the operating section.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention includes an operation box having an operation section, and the operation box is provided on the outer periphery of the main body so that the operation section is located at the top of the main body and faces upward, and a part of the operation box is connected to the operation section. engaging with the outer peripheral part of the main body below the part;
The feature lies in the fact that the operating section is placed in an optimal state.

[Embodiments of the invention]

1 to 3 for the first embodiment of the present invention.
This will be explained with reference to the figures. Reference numeral 1 denotes a main body, which consists of an outer case 2, an inner case 3, a bottom plate 4, etc. Although not shown, a heater is provided at the inner bottom of the inner case 3, and a heater is provided inside the inner case 3. The pot is removably stored. Reference numeral 5 denotes an annular frame provided on the upper part of the outer case 2 and the inner case 3, and a rectangular frame 6, which is located on the outer surface of the upper part of the outer case 2 and is open on the outside, is integrally provided at a predetermined part of this. A pair of mounting pieces 7, each having a screw hole 7a, are protruded from the lower part of the rectangular frame 6.
Reference numeral 8 indicates an opening formed in the outer case 2 below the rectangular frame 6, and reference numeral 9 indicates a recess formed in the bottom plate 4 and located further below the opening 8.
Now, reference numeral 10 denotes an operation panel made of synthetic resin, the upper surface of which is sloped slightly downward to the front, and a nameplate mounting recess 11 is formed on this upper surface, and a predetermined portion of this nameplate mounting recess 11 is formed. It has an opening 12 for operation, a plurality of openings 13 for displaying the rice cooking process, and an opening 1 for displaying a digital timer.
4 are formed respectively. In addition, the operation panel 10
A pair of mounting pieces 15 each having a screw insertion hole 15a corresponding to the mounting piece 7 of the rectangular frame 6 is provided at the lower part of the rectangular frame 6.
is formed. 16 is a name plate affixed to the name plate mounting recess 11 of the operation panel 10, and windows 17, 18, 19 are formed in this name plate corresponding to the openings 12, 13, 14 of the name plate mounting recess 11, respectively. Although not shown, characters indicating the rice cooking process, such as "cooking rice", "keep warm", etc., are attached to the window 18 for displaying the rice cooking process. Reference numeral 20 denotes a printed circuit board screwed onto the back side of the operation panel 10 along the operation panel 10, and on the top surface thereof there is an operation section 21 for an operation switch related to the rice cooking operation.
A light emitting body 22 and a digital timer 23 serving as a display section for displaying the process of the rice cooking operation are arranged corresponding to the openings 12, 13, and 14 of the operation panel 10, respectively. Further, a lead wire 24 is led out from the bottom surface of the printed circuit board 20.
4 is guided into the main body 1 from a recess 9 in the bottom plate 4 along the outer surface of the outer case 2. Thus, the operation panel 10 itself has a nameplate 16 and a printed circuit board 2.
0 is attached to the front part of the rectangular frame 6 via the mounting pieces 7 and 15 with screws 25, so that the operation panel 10 is attached to the upper part of the outer periphery of the main body 1 in an upwardly facing configuration. is being done. On the other hand, 26 is a vertically elongated cover made of synthetic resin, which constitutes the operation box 40 together with the operation panel 10. is inserted into and engaged with the opening 8 of the outer case 2, and the upper opening edge is inserted into the operation panel 10.
After fitting the lower part into the recess 9 of the bottom plate 4,
The cover 26 is attached by press-fitting to the lower edge of the operation panel 1.
0 and is provided separately from the operation panel 10 so as to cover the lead wire 24.

According to the first embodiment, the operation panel 10 is provided facing upward on the outer circumferential side of the main body 1, so that the operation panel 10 is placed at the eye level of the user when the main body 1 is used as a table or a sink as in normal use. When installed at a lower location than the main body 1, the operator's line of sight will not be too diagonal to the operation panel 10 while standing without bending over, and the operation panel 10 can be easily seen from above the main body 1. , operation section 21, operation panel 10
It is possible to improve the visibility of the text such as "keep warm" attached to the screen and the light emitted from the light emitting body 22, and of course, the operability of the operation unit 21 can also be improved. In addition, since the operation part 21 is operated by applying a downward pressing force to the operation part 21, unlike a conventional operation part in which the side part of the main body is pressed laterally, the operation part 21 is operated by applying a downward pressing force to the operation part 21. The main body 1 does not shift laterally during the pressing operation. In addition, the engagement protrusion 27 of the cover 26, which is a part of the operation box 40 consisting of the operation panel 10 and the cover 26,
The operation box 4 is engaged with the outer case 2 of the main body 1 below the operation section 21.
0, it is possible to particularly strengthen the operation section 21 against downward pressing force. Furthermore, in the conventional case where the operation section of the operation panel is oriented horizontally, when another object is moved near the side of the main body, there is a risk that the object will come into contact with the operation section and be operated erroneously. However, in this embodiment, since the operating portion 21 is oriented upward, it is possible to prevent objects from coming into contact with the operating portion 21 as much as possible.

By the way, when the operation panel 10 is oriented upward as in this embodiment, it is conceivable to provide a cover integrally with the operation panel to cover the lead wires led downward from the printed circuit board inside the operation panel.
If this is done, there is a problem that the mold becomes large and it is difficult to assemble the nameplate and printed circuit board. In this regard, according to this embodiment,
Since the operation panel 10 and the cover 26 are provided separately, the mold for the operation panel 10 can be made smaller, and the mold for the cover 26 can also be made smaller.Therefore, the manufacturability is improved, and the operation panel 10 can be made smaller. Since it is small and easy to handle, the nameplate 16 and printed circuit board 20 can be easily assembled to the operation panel 10.

4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In this second embodiment, the mounting structure of the operation panel 28 and cover 29 constituting the operation box 41 is different from that of the first embodiment. The case is different. That is, the frame body 5 has the rectangular frame 6 in the first embodiment.
Furthermore, a substantially L-shaped engagement protrusion 30 is provided protruding from the lower part of the inner surface of the operation panel 28. On the other hand, the upper part of the cover 29 has a length extending to the frame 5, and an operation panel mounting step part 32 having an opening 31 is formed in the upper part. Therefore, in this second embodiment, the operation panel 28 is attached to the operation panel mounting step 32 of the cover 29.
The distal end of the engaging protrusion 30 is located in the outer case 2.
It is attached by being engaged with the opening 33 of the.

Therefore, in this second embodiment as well, the operation panel 28 is provided on the upper part of the outer circumference of the main body 1 so as to face upward, and the engaging protrusion 30 of the operation panel 28, which is a part of the operation box 41, , the operation section 21
It is engaged with the outer case 2 of the main body 1 below.

According to the second embodiment having such a configuration, in addition to obtaining the same effects as the first embodiment described above, when the operation panel 28 is attached, the upper part of the cover 29 can be fixed, and the mounting structure is improved. In this case, the mounting part of the operation panel 28 can be covered with a cover 29.
Therefore, if the mounting relationship between the operation panel 28 and the cover 29 is standardized, the operation panel 28
can be made common regardless of the size of the outer case 2, that is, the shape of the outer peripheral surface due to the size of the rice cooking capacity of the main body 1.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides an operation box having an operation section on the outer periphery of the main body so that the operation section is located at the top of the main body and faces upward. When the main unit is installed on a relatively low place, such as a table or sink, the control section becomes easier to see and operate even when standing without bending over. Visibility and operability can be improved, and since a part of the operation box is engaged with the outer periphery of the main body below the operation section, it is possible to improve visibility and operability. This has the excellent effect of providing reinforcement during operation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the main part, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view, and FIG. 5 and 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a diagram equivalent to Figure 3. In the drawings, 1 is the main body, 10 is an operation panel, 21 is an operation section, 22 is a light emitter (display section), 23 is a digital timer (display section), 26 is a cover, 28 is an operation panel, 29 is a cover, 40, 41 are respective operation boxes.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1.Equipped with an operation box having an operation section, this operation box is provided on the outer periphery of the main body so that the operation section is located at the top of the main body and faces upward, and a part of this operation box is located below the operation section. A rice cooker, characterized in that the rice cooker is engaged with an outer peripheral portion of the main body.