JPH04240412A - Electric rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase rice cooking accuracy and prevent motor-troubles, by transferring the rice ground in a grinding chamber through the transfer part with air-flow and feeding, while moving spirally, into the rice cooking bowl in the cooking chamber, while cooling the motor of the grinding chamber by the air-flow for transfer of the rice. CONSTITUTION:On cooking rice, first, a push-button 92 is pushed to turn the rice cooking chamber 7 for opening the rice cooker lid 75 by means of a spring action and to feed a specified volume of water into the inner bowl 62. Next, the rice cooker lid 75 is closed to compose the transfer path so that the transfer part 5 side of the transfer pipe 84 and the rice cooking part 7 side are positioned on the same line. Next, the valve 85 is raised by driving motors 52, 88 to open the opening 83 of the funnel type distributor 80 and to generate transfer-air in the transfer pipe 84 by the revolution of a fan 53. And the motor 44 in the grinding part 3 is driven to grind the rice within a rice container by the action of both inner and outer sleeves and the spiral. After that, the rice is transferred through the transfer pipe 84 by the transfer-air and dispersed and fed from the feeding part 6 to the inner bowl 62. In this time, the motor 44 is cooled by the transfer-air.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an automatic rice cooker used at home, and more particularly to an automatic rice cooker equipped with a rice storage section, a rice grinding section, a transfer section, a rice cooking section, etc. .

0002

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic rice cooker equipped with a rice storage section, a rice washing section, a rice transfer section, a rice cooking section, etc. is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-95311. The configuration of this automatic rice cooker is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 8, 1 is a pot, 2 is a heating means, and 3 is a pot.
Reference numeral 4 indicates a rice storage unit, 4 a rice discharge port, and 5 a rice washing unit driven by a motor. Further, 6 is a transfer section, 7 is a water tank, 8 is a water supply pump, 9 and 10 are water supply pipes and nozzles, and 11 is a control circuit section. As shown in the figure, the casing has a two-tiered structure, with a pot 1 heated by a heating means 2 and a water tank 7 placed in the upper tier, and a rice rack 3 and a rice washing unit 5 provided in the lower tier. It is configured.

[0004] Then, by operating the operation section of the control circuit section 11, rice of the set amount of rice is supplied from the rice rack section 3 to the lower rice washing section 5, and the rice washed by the rotating rice washer is transferred. It passes through section 6 and is sent to pot 1 located above. Further, water is supplied from the water tank 7 to the pot 1 according to the set water level, and when the water supply is finished, the pot 1 is heated by the heating means 2 and the rice in the pot 1 is cooked.

[0005]

[Problem to be solved by the invention] The above automatic rice cooker is
This rice cooker is convenient because the functions necessary for cooking rice, from the rice bowl part 3 to the pot 1, are incorporated into one rice cooker. However, as described above, the rice sent from the rice rack 3 is washed while the rice grains are rubbed together in the narrow gap of the rice washer rotated by a motor. Therefore, torque in the opposite direction is applied to the motor of the rice washing section 5, and the excitation winding etc. tend to generate heat. When the excitation winding generates heat, not only is there a risk that the motor may seize up, but also the heat generated by the motor is transferred to the upper pot 1 due to convection. Therefore, in rice cooking operation controlled by detected temperature,
There have been problems such as the amount of heating being insufficient because the detector detects the temperature rising in advance, and the cooked rice may end up being raw and endangering health.

The present invention was made to solve the problems of conventional automatic rice cookers as described above, and the motor of the rice grinding section is cooled by the air flow for transfer in the transfer section, thereby preventing malfunctions and rice cooking. In addition to eliminating the effect on the rice, in some cases, the transfer fan can be connected to the motor of the rice grinding section so that one motor can be used for both grinding and transferring rice, creating a low-cost automatic rice cooker. This is what I did.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention includes a rice rack containing rice, a rice polishing section that sharpens rice in a waterless state using a rice polisher connected to the rice rack and driven by a motor, and There is a transfer section in which the rice polished in the rice section is transferred via a transfer pipe using the air flow of a fan rotated by a motor, a rice cooking section where the rice is cooked by heating the pot with a heating means, and the rice is transferred to the pot in the rice cooking section. It is equipped with an input section into which the rice transferred from the rice processing section is input, and a control section that controls the rice cooking operation of the rice cooking section according to a predetermined sequence. This is an automatic rice cooker that cools the motor that drives the rice cooker.

Furthermore, the automatic rice cooker is configured such that the rotating shaft of the fan in the transfer section is connected to the output shaft of a motor that drives a rice polisher in the rice polishing section.

[0009]

[Operation] When you put an amount of water approximately equal to the amount of rice to be cooked into the pot and turn on the power, the rice polishing section and transfer section start operating. When the operation begins, the rice in the rice rack is sent to the rice polishing section where the bran and other components are removed, and the removed bran and other components are discharged outside. On the other hand, the polished rice is sent into the pot of the rice cooking section by the air flow of the fan in the transfer section. At this time, the air flow from the transfer section flows around the motor of the rice polishing section to cool it. Further, the rotating shaft of the fan of the transfer section may be connected to the motor shaft of the rice polishing section, and the fan may be rotated at high speed by the motor of the rice polishing section. When the rice in the pot reaches a predetermined amount, the drive of the transfer section is delayed after the rice polishing section, and after a certain period of time has elapsed and all the rice being transferred has been input, the power to the input section is turned off and the rice is polished. Then, the transfer and loading process is completed. Thereafter, the heating means is energized and the heating temperature, heating time, etc. are controlled by the control section, and the rice in the pot is cooked.

0010

[Embodiment] Fig. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention partially shown in cross section, Fig. 2 is a side view thereof, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA in Fig. 1.
FIG. 4 is a BB sectional view.

In FIGS. 1 to 4, 1 is a housing, and 2 is a housing 1.
3 is a rice grinding section that grinds the rice taken from rice oven 2 and removes bran and germ powder (bran fraction); 5 is a transfer section that transports the ground rice by air flow; 6 is an input section into which the rice sent by the transfer section 5 is input, 7 is a rice cooking section for cooking the input rice, and 8 is a cover of the housing 1.

The housing 1 includes a lower case 11 in which a stepped portion 13 is formed at the lower part of the transfer section 5, a trunk case 14 attached to the lower case 11, and an upper case 1 fixed to the trunk case 14.
It consists of 5. 11a is an opening provided on the front surface of the lower case 11, and 12 is a recess extending into the opening 11a. A rice bran tray 16 is inserted into the recess 12 from the opening 11a so as to be freely drawn out. When the bran tray 16 is loaded, intermittent vibrations are applied by a spring and an electromagnet so that the accumulated bran is sent to the front side. Further, the upper case 15 is cut out at positions corresponding to the rice rack part 2 and the rice polishing part 3. A bottom plate 17 is fixed above the recess 12 on substantially the same plane as the step 13, and has a hole 18 corresponding to the polishing part 3.

The rice racks 2 are formed into a substantially rectangular cylindrical shape and are arranged on the bottom plate 17 at predetermined intervals. The bottom surface of this rice rack part 2 is formed into a funnel shape, and a through hole 21 is provided therein. Further, an upper lid 22 having a through hole 23 provided opposite to the through hole 21, a rice charging port 24, and a rice discharge port 25 is fixed to the upper portion.

The rice polishing section 3 includes a rice polishing mechanism 31 and a drive mechanism 43.
It consists of The rice polishing mechanism 31 includes a joint sleeve 32 having a joint sleeve 32 with a joint sleeve 32 having a rice intake port 34 open above the joint sleeve 33, which has a spline connection portion 33 connected to its outer periphery, and a joint sleeve 32 that is concentric with the joint sleeve 32 above the intake port 34. It consists of an outer sleeve 35 which is disposed in the outer sleeve 35 and fixed to the joint sleeve 32, and an inner sleeve 36 which is provided with a number of slanted slits 37 on the outer periphery and which is disposed concentrically within the outer sleeve 35. . 38 is a lower spiral fixed to the inner sleeve 36 at a position facing the intake port 34, and a spiral protrusion 39 is provided on the outer periphery.
is provided. Reference numeral 40 designates an upper lid that covers the gap formed between the joint sleeve 32 and the inner sleeve 36 at the upper end of the inner sleeve 36, and is provided with a discharge port 41 that communicates with the rice discharge port 25 of the rice rack section 2. 42 is an inner sleeve presser.

In the drive mechanism 43, 44 is a motor attached below the transfer section 5, 45a is a drive pulley fixed to the output shaft of the motor 44, 45b is an intermediate pulley, 45
A driven pulley c is rotatably supported on the bottom plate 17 via a bearing 47, and a spline groove is provided in the center hole. 46a and 46b are belts, and drive pulley 45a
is suspended between the intermediate pulley 45b and between the intermediate pulley 45b and the driven pulley 45c. The rice polishing mechanism 31 is the rice storage unit 2
The inner sleeve 36 is detachably attached to the drive mechanism 43, and the lower part of the inner sleeve 36 opens onto the rice bran tray 16 in the attached state.

The transfer section 5 is located above the motor 44 and is located above the rice rack section 2.
It is located next to. 51 is a substantially inverted U-shaped support arm fixed to the upper case 15, and a motor 52 is attached to it. 53 is a spiral fan attached to the output shaft of the motor 52, and 54 is a fan case fixed to the support arm 51. As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the fan case 54 is provided with an intake port 55 that projects upward and is connected to the discharge port 25 of the rice barrel section 2. An outlet 56 is open below the intake 55 . The fan case 54 is eccentrically attached to the fan 53 so that the intake port 55 side is wider. Therefore, when the fan 53 rotates, air in the volume space that gradually expands in a spiral shape is sent out toward the outlet 56. Reference numeral 57 denotes an air filter, which is provided at the intake port of the fan case 54.

The feeding section 6 and the rice cooking section 7 are provided at the front of the housing 1. The rice cooking section 7 includes an outer pot 61 fixed to the upper case 15, an inner pot 62 removably provided in the outer pot 61, and a bottom of the outer pot 61, and heats the bottom surface of the inner pot 62. It consists of a rice cooking heater 63 and the like. A temperature sensor (not shown) that comes into contact with the inner pot 62 to detect the temperature is provided at the center of the rice cooking heater 63. In addition, the outer pot 6
A weight sensor 6 for detecting the weight of the inner pot 62 is installed at the bottom of the pot 1.
4 is placed.

The cover 8 includes a rear lid 71 that covers the rice rack section 2 and is supported by a hinge 26, a fixed cover 73 that is fixed to the upper case 15 and covers the transfer section 5, and a hinge mechanism 76 provided on the upper case 15. Rice cooking lid 7 configured to be openable and closable by
It consists of 5. Reference numeral 72 indicates an operation panel provided on the fixed cover 73, and reference numeral 74 indicates a printed board to which electronic components including a microcomputer and the like are attached to form a control section. Operation panel 7
As shown in the figure, setting keys 2 are provided for selecting the degree of hardness or softness of cooked rice, polished rice + cooked rice, or cooked rice while looking at the display. Moreover, the rice cooking lid 75 covers the upper surface of the rice cooking part 7 in the closed state. 77 is a lid frame provided on the bottom of the rice cooking lid 75; 78
79 is a lid packing, and 79 is an inner lid. The inner lid 79 is the lid frame 77
The lid packing 78 seals the pot 62.

Reference numeral 80 denotes a disperser in the input section 6, and the inner lid 7
It is installed inside the 9. The disperser 80 has a cylindrical portion 81
It is formed into a funnel shape consisting of a conical portion 82 and an opening 83, and the opening 83 is exposed through the inner lid 79 to approximately the center inside the inner pot 62. Reference numeral 84 denotes an inclined transfer tube extending from the hinge mechanism 76 and connected to the cylindrical portion 81 so that the air flow is ejected in the tangential direction. 85 is a valve that opens and closes the opening 83 of the distributor 80, 86 is a rod, 87 is a rack, 88 is a motor, 89 is a pinion driven by the motor 88, and 90 is a spring. A rod 86 passes through the top plate of the distributor 80 and is connected to a rack 87 that meshes with a pinion 89 . Further, the spring 90 is connected to the valve 85 and the distributor 80.
The opening 83 is closed by constantly pushing down the valve 85.

91 is a steam hole provided in the inner lid 79, 92 is a push button, and 93 is a latch connected to the push button 92 to lock the rice cooking lid 75. When the push button 92 is pressed, the latch 9
3 is released, and the rice cooking lid 75 rotates around the hinge mechanism 76. Further, if the rice cooking lid 75 is rotated in the opposite direction and pressed, the latch 93 is engaged and the rice cooking lid 75 is locked. 94 is a lead wire. The lead wire 94 is a ribbon wire formed by flatly connecting a plurality of color-coded coated wires, and is led out from the casing 1 via the hinge mechanism 76 and connected to the motor 88 of the distributor 80 and the like.

The operation of the automatic rice cooker according to the embodiment of the present invention having such a configuration will be explained next.

It is assumed that the rice polishing mechanism 31 is attached to the rice polishing section 3 in advance, and that a considerable amount of rice is placed in the rice tray section 2.

When the push button 92 is pressed, the rice cooking lid 75 is rotated about the hinge mechanism 76 by the spring action, and the rice cooking section 7 is opened. The inner pot 62 is taken out from the opened rice cooking part 7, and an amount of water roughly corresponding to the planned amount of rice to be cooked is poured into the inner pot 62 using a scale or an attached cup. Then, when the inner pot 62 is set in the rice cooking part 7 and the rice cooking lid 75 is closed, the transfer part 5 side and the rice cooking part 7 side of the transfer pipe 84 are on the same line at the hinge mechanism 76, and the transfer path is connected. Ru.

Next, connect the power cord, operate the operation panel 72, and input rice cooking conditions such as the scheduled meal time as described above using the keys to set a reservation. When time has elapsed and the operation start time comes, the three motors 44, 52, and 88 are all energized, and the rice polishing section 3, transfer section 5, input section 6, and other sections start operating. When the motors 52 and 88 are energized, the pinion 89 and the like are driven to raise the valve 85 and open the opening 83 of the distributor 80, and at the same time, the fan 53 rotates and transfer air begins to flow into the transfer pipe 84. . The cold air taken in from the intake port of the step part 13 by the rotation of the fan 53 passes near the motor 44 and is cooled, and then
As shown in FIG.
be taken into account. The air sent to the transfer pipe 84 is sent to the distributor 80
and is discharged into the atmosphere through the steam hole 91 of the inner pot 62.

Furthermore, the rice polishing mechanism 31 of the rice polishing section 3 is driven by the energization of the motor 44, the lower spiral 38 rotates, and the rice in the rice rack section 2 taken in from the intake port 34 is transferred to the outer sleeve 3.
5 and the inner sleeve 36. The rice that has been pushed up is transferred to the rotating inner sleeve 36 and the fixed outer sleeve 3.
5, it moves in irregular directions and rises while being stirred. The rice is on its way up and the inner and outer sleeves 35 and 36
Due to the contact with the side of the US, the spiral, and the struggle between US comrades,
The bran and germ powder on the surface layer are removed. Then, the bran, which is composed of the peeled bran and the like and the dust mixed with the polished rice, passes through the slit 37, falls within the inner sleeve 36, and is deposited in the bran tray 16. The accumulated bran is sequentially sent to the front by intermittent vibration of the bran tray 16, and the bran tray 16 is pulled out at an appropriate time to discard the accumulated bran.

After the bran has been removed, the rice is further pushed up while being polished by the upper mesh, and sent to the intake port 55 of the transfer section 5 through the upper discharge ports 41 and 25. The rice polished in the rice polishing section 3 and sent to the intake port 55 is transferred to the transfer pipe 84 by the ejector effect of the air flow sent from the rotating fan 53 and passing through the takeout port 55 at high speed.
It is rolled up into the container and sent toward the input section 6. The rice grains being transferred are transferred without stagnation due to the cooperative force of gravity based on the inclination of the transfer pipe 84 and the wind force of the airflow flowing through the pipe. The rice that has reached the input section 6 is then transferred to a disperser 80.
is sprayed tangentially into the cylindrical portion 81 of the cylinder, descends along the conical portion 82 while rotating, and enters the inner pot 62 from the opening 83.
It is dispersed and introduced within the country. At this time, the air flow sent to the distributor 80 is arranged to be intermittent or to change in intensity. As a result, the rice thrown in is immersed in the water that is deposited flatly from the bottom inside the inner pot 62.

On the other hand, the weight sensor of the rice cooking section 7 detects the total weight of the inner pot 62 and constantly outputs the detected weight signal to the control section of the operation panel 72. The control unit adjusts the inner pot 6 based on the total weight.
The weight of water is calculated by subtracting the weight of 2, and the appropriate amount of rice corresponding to the amount of water is calculated based on the calculation result. When the amount of rice input by the input section 6 approaches the appropriate amount of rice calculated by the control section, first the motor 44 is stopped and the rice polishing operation of the rice polishing section 3 is stopped. Thereafter, the rotations of the motors 52 and 88 are stopped after a certain period of time, and after the rice has been introduced into the inner pot 62 along the route between the transfer section 5 and the input section 6, the transfer and input operations are stopped. When the rotation of the motor 88 is stopped after the input of the input unit 6 is completed, the valve 85 is pushed down by the spring 90 and the opening 83 of the distributor 80 is closed. The amount of rice thrown into the feeding section 6 after the rice polishing operation is stopped corresponds to the remaining amount of rice on the transfer path, and is experimentally calculated in advance from the amount of air blown by the fan 53, the rotation speed of the motor 52, and the like. By adding this remaining amount, the amount of rice in the inner pot 62 reaches an appropriate amount and is compensated. Further, the air flow of the fan 53 is controlled on and off after the rice polishing operation is stopped, and the strong air volume applied when the fan 53 is turned on forcibly moves the rice grains stuck to the joints and the like.

When the soaking time of the rice put into the inner pot 62 reaches a set value, power is supplied to the rice cooking heater 63 to heat the inner pot 62 and start cooking rice. Thereafter, the rice in the inner pot 62 is cooked and the meal is started at the scheduled time under control according to a sequence determined by the control unit based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

In the above embodiment, the rice polishing mechanism 31 was explained as an example in which the outer sleeve 35 rotated around the fixed inner sleeve 36. You can also rotate it. Further, although the case is shown in which the motor 44 that drives the rice polishing mechanism 31 and the motor 52 that drives the fan 53 of the transfer section 5 are provided separately, it is also possible to use one motor for both purposes. . In addition, the rice rack part 2 is fixed to the lower case 1, and the rice polishing mechanism 3
Although an example is shown in which the rice rack 1 is configured to be detachable, the rice rack part 2 may be configured to be detachable from the housing 1, and the rice polishing mechanism 31 may also be configured to be detachable. In addition, although the rice cooking section 6 is arranged at the front and the rice rack section 2, rice grinding section 3, and transfer section 5 are arranged at the rear, the rice cooking section 6 and the rice rack section 2 can also be arranged at the left and right sides. The arrangement of each part can be changed as appropriate, and the shapes of the case and cover, the structure of each part, etc. are not necessarily limited to the embodiments.

[0030]

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention includes a rice rack containing rice, a rice polishing section that grinds rice in a waterless state using a rice polisher connected to the rice rack and driven by a motor, and There is a transfer section in which the rice polished in the rice section is transferred via a transfer pipe using the air flow of a fan rotated by a motor, a rice cooking section where the rice is cooked by heating the pot with a heating means, and the rice is transferred to the pot in the rice cooking section. It is equipped with an input section into which the rice transferred from the rice processing section is input, and a control section that controls the rice cooking operation of the rice cooking section according to a predetermined sequence. An automatic rice cooker was constructed that cools the motor that drives the rice cooker.

Furthermore, an automatic rice cooker was constructed in which the rotating shaft of the fan in the transfer section was connected to the output shaft of a motor that drove a rice polisher in the rice polishing section.

As a result, even if a rice polisher is constructed that uses the rotation of the motor to feed rice grains through a narrow gap while sharpening the rice in a waterless state, the excitation windings of the motor may generate heat and seize up. There is no need to worry. Furthermore, the heat generated by the motor does not affect the rice cooking operation, and there is no problem of the cooked rice becoming uncooked, which is harmful to health. In addition, as in the second item, if one motor is used for both rice polishing and transportation, it is possible to provide an automatic rice cooker that is compact and inexpensive to manufacture.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a convenient rice cooker that is inexpensive, trouble-free, has high rice cooking accuracy, and is virtually fully automated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, partially shown in cross section.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the transfer section.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a conventional automatic rice cooker.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Housing 2　Rice box section 3　Research Department 5 Transfer section 6 Input section 7　Rice cooking section 8 Cover 52 Motor for transport 44 Motor for polishing rice

Claims (2)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A rice rack containing rice, a rice polishing section connected to the rice rack and grinding the rice in a waterless state using a rice polisher driven by a motor, and a rice polishing section that sharpens the rice in the rice polishing section. a transfer section that transfers rice through a transfer pipe using airflow from a fan rotated by a motor; a rice cooking section that heats a pot with a heating means to cook the rice; The rice grinding section is equipped with an input section for introducing rice, and a control section for controlling the rice cooking operation of the rice cooking section according to a predetermined sequence. An automatic rice cooker characterized by being configured to cool a motor that drives the rice cooker. 2. The automatic rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the rotating shaft of the fan in the transfer section is connected to the output shaft of a motor that drives a rice polisher in the rice polishing section.