JPH04114611A - Vacuum cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To carry out vacuum packing and heating successively with a single instrument and to save largely installation space of instruments by providing a moving and pressing means for attaching under pressure an opening of a food housing bag by moving a movable sealing bar toward a fixed sealing bar. CONSTITUTION:With a lid 3 opened, small holes formed at both end of an upper part of a bag P which houses food material inside are hung by both bag holding members 33 and 34. Next, the lid 3 having the bag P is put over a container body 2 in which a prescribed amount of water is poured, a heat resistant container 4 is sealed, and air inside of the heat resistant container 4 and the bag P is exchausted. Then motion of a movable sealing bar 32 brings a wedge-shaped projection 35 into contact with a movable member 45, and its tapered surface makes the member 45 move to widen a distance between the both bag holding members 33 and 34 so that the opening of the bag P, pulled from the both sides, is closed. When heating cook is successively done, a heating time timer and a temperature setter are set to a desired time and a temperature, and then a heating start switch has only to be turned ON.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a vacuum cooker, and more particularly, food storage bags having gas barrier properties such as plastic packaging bags and polyethylene packaging bags (hereinafter simply referred to as bags) are used in general households. This invention relates to a vacuum cooking device that vacuum-packages food in a vacuum-packed container ( ) and heats the vacuum-packaged food to produce vacuum-cooked food.

[Conventional technology]

Vacuum packaging has been known as a means of improving the shelf life of food products. A vacuum packaging machine for general household use is one that vacuum-packs food by placing the bag containing the food inside a sealed container, evacuating the inside of the container, and then sealing the opening of the bag inside the container. It is being

Furthermore, in recent years, the vacuum cooking method in which food is vacuum-packed and then heated has been used on a commercial scale.

In this sous vide cooking method, the food is vacuum packed in advance, so it is hardly affected by air, especially oxygen, during and after cooking, so the oxidation of the food is slow, and the food has a long shelf life. It has the advantage that the flavor components of meat do not dissipate, and in the case of meat, the meat juices remain inside. To carry out such vacuum cooking at home, for example, the vacuum-packaged food may be placed in a pot filled with water and boiled in hot water.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, conventionally, equipment for vacuum packaging and equipment for boiling food have to be prepared separately, which not only makes it troublesome to transfer bags containing food, but also requires a large space to install the equipment. I also needed space.

In addition, when performing vacuum packaging, conventional vacuum packaging machines open the opening of the bag to increase the efficiency of discharging the air inside the bag. Wrinkles were likely to occur in the parts, which often caused air leaks. However, in order to prevent wrinkles from forming, if a force is applied to the sealed part of the bag and the bag is placed inside the container, the efficiency of evacuation of the air inside the bag will be significantly reduced.
A problem arises in that it takes a long time to exhaust the air.

Also, regarding heating after vacuum packaging,
There was no suitable general household heater capable of cooking at a predetermined temperature of 80°C to 80°C. Therefore, there was a desire to develop a device that is of an appropriate size for general household use, can obtain sufficient vacuum, can reliably vacuum pack food, and can easily perform vacuum cooking after vacuum packaging food. .

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cooker suitable for meeting the above-mentioned needs.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the vacuum cooking device of the present invention includes a sealable heat-resistant container having a container body and a lid airtightly attached to the container body, and a vacuum pump connected to the heat-resistant container. a heater for heating the heat-resistant container; a holding sealing section for the food storage bag provided on the inner surface of the lid; and a control section controlling the vacuum pump, the heater, and the holding sealing section; The sealing section includes a fixed seal bar arranged to face the fixed seal bar, a movable seal bar that can be moved toward and away from the fixed seal bar, and is provided near both seal bars, and the sealing section is provided in the vicinity of both seal bars, and the sealing section is provided at both ends of the opening of the food storage bag by relaxing the opening. a pair of bag holding members that are held in the same state, at least one of the pair of bag holding members is provided so as to be movable in a direction away from the other bag holding member, and the movable bag holding member is moved. The food storage bag is characterized by comprising a moving means and a movable pressure-bonding means for moving the movable seal bar toward the fixed seal bar to pressure-bond the opening of the food storage bag.

[For production]

The vacuum cooking device configured as described above can perform vacuum packaging and heating of food continuously with one device, so that the installation space for the device can be significantly reduced.

Further, in the vacuum cooking device, when both ends of the opening of the bag containing food are held by the bag holding member and the lid is closed, the opening of the bag is relaxed, so the vacuum pump is activated. By doing this, the inside of the bag can be evacuated quickly and reliably, and when sealing the opening of the bag, the bag holding member is moved and the opening of the bag is pulled from both sides so that the opening is brought into close contact with the opening. Reliable sealing can be achieved by operating the seal bar. Furthermore, since the heater that heats the heat-resistant container can be set to a predetermined temperature by the control unit, vacuum heating cooking can be easily and reliably performed.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

The vacuum cooking device 1 includes a sealable heat-resistant container 4 consisting of a container body 2 and a lid 3, a vacuum pump 5 connected to the heat-resistant container 4, a heater 6 for heating the heat-resistant container 4, and the heat-resistant container 4. a holding sealing part 7 for the bag P provided on the inner surface of the lid 3 of the container 4;
It is equipped with a control section 8 that controls the vacuum pump 5° heater 6 and the holding seal section 7.

The container body 2 and lid 3 are made of a heat-resistant material such as metal or heat-resistant glass, and are fitted airtight with a backing 9 in between, similar to, for example, a general pressure cooker. is formed.

The vacuum pump 5 is housed in a case 10 provided on the top of the lid 3, communicates with a pipe 11 that communicates with the heat-resistant container 4, and switches between evacuation and atmospheric introduction. It is composed of a three-way valve 12, an electric vacuum pump 13, and a motor 14.

The heater 6 and the control section 8 are built into a base 20, the heater 6 has a heater 21 and a temperature sensor 22, and the control section 8 has a circuit section 23 equipped with a microcomputer and a base 20. It has an operation section 24 provided on the front surface of the stand 20. This control section 8 is configured to control the inside of the heat-resistant container 4 to be maintained at a predetermined temperature via the heater 6, and also control the vacuum pump 5 and the holding seal section 7. The operation section 24 includes a vacuum pump 5.
and a stat switch for operating the holding seal part 7;
A timer, an end indicator light, a heating start switch for controlling the heater 6, a heating time timer, a temperature setting device, a temperature indicator, and a heating indicator light.

A heating end buzzer, etc. is provided.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 2 to 4, the holding and sealing part 7 includes a support member 30 fixed to the inner surface of the lid 3, a fixed sealer 31 supported by the support member 30, and a fixed sealer 31 supported by the support member 30. a movable sealer 32 disposed opposite to 31;
A pair of movable bag holding members 33 and a fixed bag holding member 34 are provided on the upper part of the fixed sealer 31 and hold both ends of the opening of the bag P, respectively, and a pair of movable bag holding members 33 and a fixed bag holding member 34 are provided on the surface of the movable sealer 32 on the fixed sealer 31 side, and the Movable bag holding member 3
a wedge-shaped protrusion 35 that is a moving means for moving the movable sealer 3 in a direction away from the fixed bag holding member 34;
2 in the direction of the fixed sealer 31 to press both the sealers 31 and 32 together.

The movable crimping means 36 includes a movable shaft 37.37 that passes through the upper part of the fixed sealer 31 and to which the movable sealer 32 is attached to the distal end thereof, and a movable plate 38 that is fixed to the base end of the movable shaft 37.37. , a spring 39 and an airbag 40 provided between the movable plate 38 and the support member 30, a pipe 4 communicating with the airbag 40 for introducing outside air into the airbag 40, and a valve 42. It is configured,
The movable sealer 32 is removably attached to the tips of the moving shafts 37, 37 with fixing screws 43, 43.

Furthermore, the movable bag holding member 33 includes a fixed member 44 fixed to the fixed sealer 31, a movable member 45 movably provided to the fixed member 44, and a movable member 45 that is attached to the one holding member 34. A support mechanism 47 is provided on the front surface of the movable member 45, which is made up of a spring 46 that presses the movable sealer 32 in this direction. When the movable bag holding member 33 comes into contact with the fixed bag holding member 34, the movable bag holding member 33 moves in a direction away from the fixed bag holding member 34.

The distance between the bag holding members 33 and 34 is normally set such that the movable member 45 is pressed by the spring 46.
The opening of the bag P held by both bag holding members 33 and 34 is set at a distance that allows the bag P to be held in a relaxed open state, and when the movable member 45 is moved by being pressed by the wedge-shaped projection 35, the opening It is set so that it can be closed together.

Note that the fixed sealer 31 of the holding sealing part 7 has a bag P.
It has a built-in heater for heat-sealing the opening, and is connected to an electric circuit (not shown). Similarly, the three-way valve 12 of the vacuum pump 5. Electric circuits for operating these are also connected to the motor 14 and the valve 42 for introducing outside air into the airbag 40, and these electric circuits are integrated into the connector 25 (FIG. 1). It is formed to be connected to the control section 8.

Next, a procedure for vacuum cooking food using the vacuum cooking device 1 formed as described above will be explained.

First, with the lid 3 open, the small holes formed at both ends of the upper part of the bag P containing the food material therein are respectively engaged with the bag holding members 33 and 34.

In this state, since the movable member 45 is pressed by the spring 46, the opening of the bag P is held in a somewhat relaxed state, and the opening is slightly opened. Next, the lid 3 with the bag P attached is placed on the container body 2 containing a predetermined amount of water.
The heat-resistant container 4 is placed in a sealed state, and the operation unit 24 is operated to operate the vacuum pump 5 to seal the heat-resistant container 4.
The air inside and inside the bag P is exhausted. When the air is sufficiently exhausted, the valve 42 of the pipe 41 is opened by the operation of the timer, and outside air is introduced into the airbag 40.
is swollen. As a result, the movable seal bar 32 moves toward the fixed sealer 31 and pinches the opening of the bag P between both sealers 3132. At this time, the movable seal bar 3
2, the wedge-shaped protrusion 35 comes into contact with the movable member 45, and its tapered surface moves the movable member 45, widening the gap between both bag holding members 33 and 34, and pulling the opening of the bag P from both sides. At the same time, fix silver 3]
A built-in heater is energized, and the opening of the bag P is heat-sealed. At the same time, the vacuum pump 5 stops,
The three-way valve 12 is switched to the atmosphere side, and outside air is introduced into the heat-resistant container 4.

By performing vacuum packaging in this manner, when the air inside the bag P is exhausted, since the opening is open, the air can be efficiently exhausted, and when the opening is sealed, both bag holding members 33 and 34 Since the opening is pulled to both sides and sealed in a closed state, wrinkles do not occur in the sealed portion and a good sealing condition can be obtained.

To continue cooking, set the heating timer and temperature setting device to the desired time and temperature, and turn on the heating start switch. Incidentally, it is also possible to set the vacuum packaging and heating cooking to be performed continuously.

As a result, the heater 6 is activated, and the inside of the heat-resistant container 4 is maintained at the set temperature by the operation of the control unit 8, and predetermined cooking is performed. When the cooking time has passed for a predetermined period of time, the heater 6 stops operating due to the operation of the timer, and a heating end buzzer sounds to indicate the end of cooking, so the bag P can be taken out from the heat-resistant container 4.

The vacuum cooking device of the present invention is based on the above-mentioned configuration, or various aspects can be considered for each component. For example, the movable bag holding member may be moved by a moving means different from that of the movable seal bar, and a shape memory alloy is disposed together with a spring between both bag holding members, and the shape memory alloy is controlled by a spring. It is also possible to extend the bag by applying electricity to the bag holding member to widen the gap between the two bag holding members, and it is also possible to move the bag using a magnet, a motor, or the like.

Furthermore, as a means for holding the bag, a clamping tool such as a clip can be used instead of the rod-shaped bag holding member, and if there is a closing margin on both sides of the bag, the closing margin below the sealing part can be used. It is also possible to sandwich the paper or to form a small hole for hanging in the closing margin. In any case, the contents inside the bag will not be crushed when the bag is held by the bag holding member, the bag can be set with the opening slightly open, and the sealed portion of the bag can be closed when sealing. It is possible or necessary.

In addition, when using the above-mentioned airbag and a tube with a valve in the movable seal bar movable crimping means, it is necessary to prevent the airbag from inflating due to the air remaining in the airbag and the tube when the container is evacuated. For example, it is preferable that the valve of the pipe be a three-way valve, with one port of the three-way valve connected to a vacuum pump. Further, the pipe may be connected to a device for introducing gas or liquid other than outside air, and this introduction device may be provided with a device for discharging gas or liquid inside the airbag to return the movable seal bar. It can also be formed to be moved by an electric mechanism. Furthermore, the seal at the opening of the bag is carefully made, like a laminated bag with a zipper.
When using a sealing member equipped with an airtight sealing member, it is possible to perform the sealing only by crimping the sealing bar without heat sealing.

Furthermore, by making the heat-resistant container have a pressure-resistant structure and making it possible to heat the container to a temperature of 00° C. or higher using a heater, it is possible to easily produce retort food.

In such a case, it is preferable to configure the sealing structure of the heat-resistant container 4 as shown in FIG. 5, for example. That is, a threaded portion 2a is formed on the outer periphery of the opening of the container body 2, and the lid 3 includes an inner lid 3a that covers the entire opening of the container body 2, and an outer lid 3b that covers the outer periphery of the inner lid 3a. With the inner lid 3a placed on the upper edge of the opening of the container body 2, the outer lid 3b is screwed onto the threaded part 2a, and the upper edge of the opening of the container body 2 and the outer lid 3b are connected to the inner side. The lid 3a is held between the inner lid 3a and the upper edge of the opening of the container body 2, and a backing S is provided between the inner lid 3a and the upper edge of the opening of the container body 2 to seal the container.

With this configuration, the outer cover 3b can be tightened by force to ensure airtightness, and even when the outer cover 3b is rotated for opening and closing, it will slip between the inner cover 3a and the inner cover 3a will not twist. Does not bear load. Therefore, even if you rotate the outer cover 3b to open or close it,
The backing S interposed between the inner lid 3a and the edge of the container body 2 is not twisted and airtightness is not impaired.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the vacuum cooking device of the present invention is capable of continuously performing vacuum packaging and heating cooking in one device by integrally providing a mechanism for vacuum packaging a heat-resistant container. The device itself can be formed compactly, can be manufactured at low cost, and can also be improved in operability.

Therefore, vacuum cooking can be carried out easily and reliably even at home, and is extremely practical.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partially sectional side view showing an embodiment of the vacuum cooking device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a holding sealing part, Fig. 3 is a partially sectional side view, and Fig. 4 is a partially sectional side view showing an embodiment of the vacuum cooking device of the present invention. Similarly, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the main part, and a sectional view showing another embodiment of the seal portion of the heat-resistant container. 1...Vacuum cooker 2...Container body 3...
Lid 4...Heat-resistant container 5...Vacuum pump 6...
・Heater 7...Holding and sealing part 8...Control part 3]
...Fixed sealer 32...Movable sealer
33... Movable bag holding member 34... Fixed bag holding member 36... Moving crimping means P... Bag first round

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sealable heat-resistant container having a container body and a lid airtightly attached to the container body, a vacuum pump connected to the heat-resistant container, a heater for heating the heat-resistant container, and a lid for the lid. A food storage bag holding and sealing part provided on the inner surface, and a control part for controlling the vacuum pump, the heater, and the holding and sealing part, and the holding and sealing part includes a fixed seal bar and the fixed seal arranged opposite to each other. A movable seal bar that can be moved into and out of contact with the bar;
A pair of bag holding members are provided near both seal bars and hold both ends of the opening of the food storage bag in a relaxed state, and at least one of the pair of bag holding members is provided. a moving means for moving the movable bag holding member in a direction away from the other bag holding member; and moving means for moving the movable seal bar toward the fixed seal bar to open the food storage bag. 1. A vacuum cooking device comprising a movable crimping means for crimping parts.