JPH0425058Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a heat-retaining rice cooker.

(Prior art) The structure of a general rice cooker will be explained according to Fig. 8. 1 is the rice cooker main body, 2 is an outer pot, 3 is a rice cooking heater provided at the inner bottom of the outer pot 2, and 4 is an inlet/outlet. Flexible inner pot, 5 is outer lid, 6 is inner lid, 7 is side heater,
Reference numeral 8 indicates a lid heat-retaining heater, and reference numeral 9 indicates a heat-responsive device that detects the completion of rice cooking based on the low temperature of the inner pot 4;
It consists of a magnet that attracts and holds the rice in an upper position, and a dish-shaped bimetal that reverses itself and forcibly moves the operating rod 10 downward due to temperature changes when rice cooking is completed.

The operating mechanism of such a thermally responsive device 9 has conventionally been constructed as shown in FIG. In the figure, 11 is an angle fixed to the outer lower surface of the outer pot 2;
2 is an operating lever rotatably supported on the angle 11 by a shaft 13, and has one end connected to the lower end of the operating rod 10 and has a knob 14 on the other end; 15 is a normally closed micro switch; 16 is an operating lever; This is an operation panel provided on a rice cooker main body 1, and a knob 14 of an operation lever 12 is made to face outward from an operation port 17 of this operation panel 16, and the operation port 17 is formed large considering the operation of the knob 14. When the knob 14 is pushed down in the direction of arrow A, the operating rod 10 moves upward and is held at the upper position by suction. In this state, the micro switch 15 is closed and the switch 15 and the rice cooking heater 3
A rice cooking circuit is formed and rice cooking operation starts.
When the thermal response device 9 detects the completion of rice cooking and moves the operating rod 10 downward, the micro switch 15 opens and switches to a heat retention circuit consisting of the rice cooking heater 3, the side heat retention heater 7, and the lid heat retention heater 8. or,
If the knob 14 is pressed down by mistake during keeping warm, it is possible to return to keeping warm by pushing up the knob 14 in the direction of arrow B.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) By the way, with the above structure, a depression is created by the operation port on the operation panel surface, and dust etc. easily accumulate in this depression and the knob, and the accumulated dust etc. is easily noticed. This gives a feeling of unsanitary hygiene, and furthermore, the dust inside the recess cannot be easily wiped off, resulting in poor cleaning performance.

In addition, operating the control lever requires pushing down and pushing up in different directions, which is not very desirable in terms of operability, and electronically controlled home appliances equipped with microcomputers are becoming more widespread. However, these days, when people have become accustomed to unidirectional operation, it has become a bit strange to operate.

However, the present invention provides a rice cooker that solves the above problems.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The content of the present invention will be explained below using drawings corresponding to embodiments.

Thermal response device 9 detects the completion of rice cooking based on the temperature at the bottom of the pot, and the operating rod 1 is connected to the operating rod 10 of the device 9
In the rice cooker, the operating lever 18 is equipped with an operating lever 18 that moves the rice cooker up and down, and a switch 15 that operates as the operating rod 10 moves up and down to switch between the rice cooking circuit and the warming circuit. 1
8a and the horizontal lever part 18b, and the vertical lever part 18a is positioned inside the operation panel 22 part of the rice cooker main body 1.
The intermediate portion of the horizontal lever portion 18b is rotatably supported, and the free end side of the horizontal lever portion 18b is linked to the operating rod 10. In the opening 24 of the operation panel 22, a switch button 30 with a shaft 42 protruding from the center on both sides is disposed, and a spring wire 43 that comes into contact with the back of the shaft 42 and locks its upper and lower parts to the operation panel 22 is arranged. A switch button 30 is supported, and an upper portion and a lower portion of the switch button 30 are pressed at the pivot point of the vertical lever portion 18a on the back side of the switch button 30.

(Function) With the above configuration, the operating rod 10 can be moved up or down by pressing the switch button 30 in a certain direction via the operating lever 18,
Improves operability.

In addition, the switch button 30 on the operation panel 22
There is no need to create a recess that takes into account the movement of the
Therefore, it is difficult for dust to accumulate, problems caused by dust are eliminated, and the ease of cleaning the operation panel 22 is improved.

(Embodiments) The embodiments of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 will be described in detail below. Note that in FIGS. 1 to 7, parts common to those in FIGS. 8 and 9 are given the same reference numerals.

The operating lever 18 is formed into a substantially L-shape by a vertical lever part 18a and a horizontal lever part 18b, and the intermediate part of the vertical lever part 18a is rotatably supported on the extension part 11a of the angle 11 with a shaft 19. The free end side of the horizontal lever portion 18b is linked to the lower end of the operating rod 10 of the thermal response device 9. Further, the vertical lever portion 18a of the operating lever 18 has abutments 20, 21 at appropriate locations above and below the pivot point (shaft 19).
form.

The operation panel 22 is integrally formed with a rectangular frame 23 projecting from its back surface, and the inside of this frame 23 is an opening 24 in which a switch button to be described later is located. The frame portion 23 has claws 25 and 2 spaced apart from each other on the upper surface of the ceiling wall.
6, ribs 27 on the upper outer surfaces of both side walls, and ribs 28 extending laterally at the lower ends of both side walls. Further, a notch 29 is provided at the rear edge of the center portion of both side walls of the frame portion 23 of the operation panel 22. Then,
The operation panel 22 having such a structure is integrally molded from synthetic resin, and is fitted into the side opening of the rice cooker body 1 using the claws 25, and the operation lever 18 is installed inside the operation panel 22. Vertical lever part 18
a is located opposite. Note that the lower half of the operation panel 22 is inclined and faces diagonally upward.

As shown in FIG. 3, the switch button 30 includes a button main body 31 having display windows 32, 33, a display window 32,
33, a substrate 36 which is located behind the button main body 31 and has a warming lamp 37 and a rice cooking lamp 38, an insulating plate 39 located behind this, and a cover located further behind this. It consists of a button main body 31, a substrate 36,
The insulating plate 39 and the cover plate 40 are integrally fixed with screws 41. The switch button 30 is the operation panel 22
The flat shaft 42 protruding from the center of both sides of the button main body 31 is located within the notch 29.

The spring wire 43 has a square shape with both ends bent inward, and fits into the outer periphery of the frame 23 of the operation panel 22. The spring wire 43 is in contact with the back of the shaft 42 of the switch button 30 and its upper and lower parts are engaged with the ribs 27 and 28, thereby supporting the switch button 30 so that it can swing or see-saw. The upper part of the button 30 from the shaft 42 is kept warm by the button part 30
a, and the lower part is a rice cooking button part 35b.
The surface of the rice-cooking button 35b is inclined to match the surface of the operation panel 22, and the surface of the switch button 30 and the surface of the operation panel 22 are positioned substantially on the same plane.

In the above configuration, when the switch button 30 is not operated, it is held at an intermediate position by line contact between the spring wire 43 and the flat shaft 42, and its back surface is vertically connected to the operating lever 18 as shown by the solid line in FIG. It is located opposite to the lever portion 18a at a certain distance.

Therefore, now the rice cooking button part 35b of the switch button 30
When pressed in the direction of arrow c, the A part of the switch button 30 comes into contact with the B part of the operation panel 22, as shown in FIG. When the operating lever 18 comes into contact with
to move the operating rod 10 upward, and
is held in the upper position by suction. Then, in this state, the micro switch 15 closes to form a rice cooking circuit and starts the rice cooking operation, while the rice cooking lamp 3
8 lights up to indicate that rice is being cooked. When the push force is removed from the switch button 30, the spring wire 4
It returns to the intermediate position by the urging force of 3.

When the rice cooking progresses and the thermal response device 9 senses the completion of the rice cooking, the operating rod 10 is forcibly moved down, and the operating lever 18 is accordingly rotated and the micro switch 15 is opened. At this time, since the operating lever 18 and the switch button 30 are in a separated state, the switch button 30 does not interfere with the movement of the operating lever 18 and operates reliably. Micro switch 1
5 is opened, the rice cooking circuit is switched to the heat keeping circuit and the heat keeping operation is started, while the heat keeping lamp 37 is turned on to indicate that the rice is being kept warm.

Also, if you accidentally press the rice cooking button 30b of the switch button 30 to switch to rice cooking while keeping the rice warm,
All you have to do is push the heat retention button part 30a of the switch button 30 in the direction of arrow c'. Then, the switch button 30, as shown in FIG.
0 and rotate the operating lever 18, the operating rod 10 can be forcibly moved downward and returned to the heat retention mode.

As described above, in this embodiment, the direction of operation is constant, improving operability and eliminating confusion and discomfort during operation. Further, since the switch button 30 is always in a fixed position regardless of the operating lever 18, the completeness of the design is improved.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, the operation direction is constant and operability can be improved, and there is no need to provide a recess in consideration of the movement of the switch button on the operation panel surface. Therefore, dust and the like are less likely to accumulate, and hygiene problems due to dust and the like are not caused, making it possible to improve the cleaning performance of the operation panel section.

In addition, since the switch button is attached to the operation panel using a spring wire, the surface of the switch button and the surface of the operation panel can be kept on the same level at all times, and the protrusion of the switch button from the operation panel can be minimized. In addition, the switch button can be reliably supported on the operation panel by using a single member called spring wire, and mechanical heat resistance can be prevented. This is an excellent practical idea for this type of rice cooker that uses a response device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the main parts of the rice cooker according to the embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the main parts, Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the same switch button, and Fig. 4 a and b are the same. Rear view and side view of the operation panel assembly, Figure 5a,
b is a front view and a side view of the same operation panel, FIGS. 6 and 7 are diagrams showing different operating states of the switch button, FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of the rice cooker, and FIG. 9 is a conventional operation. It is a block diagram which shows a mechanism. 9...thermal response device, 10...operating rod, 15...
Micro switch, 18...operation lever, 18a
...Vertical lever part, 18b...Horizontal lever part, 22...
...Operation panel, 30...Switch button, 42...
Shaft, 43... Spring wire material.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A heat-responsive device that detects the completion of rice cooking based on the temperature at the bottom of the pot, an operating lever that is linked to an operating rod of the device and moves the operating rod up and down, and operates as the operating rod moves up and down. In a rice cooker equipped with a switch for switching between a rice cooking circuit and a heat retention circuit, the operation lever is formed into a substantially L-shape by a vertical lever part and a horizontal lever part, and the vertical lever part is connected to the rice cooker main body. The middle part of the vertical lever part is rotatably supported by being located inside the operation panel, and the free end side of the horizontal lever part is connected to the operating rod, and the opening of the operation panel has central parts on both sides. A switch button with a flat shaft protruding from the top is arranged, and the upper and lower parts of the switch button come into contact with the back of the shaft and are locked to the operation panel, and the surface of the switch button is approximately the same as the surface of the operation panel. The switch button is supported by a spring wire that is always positioned on the surface, and the switch button has an upper part and a lower part on the back side of the switch button that are operated by pressing the pivot point of the vertical lever part. rice cooker.