JPH0446697Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] (Industrial application field) This invention relates to a rice cooker.

(Prior art) A conventional general rice cooker has an inner pot housed in a rice cooker body with a rice cooking heater installed at the bottom, and a pot lid attached to the top of the rice cooker body on the underside of the outer lid. It is covered with a lid unit. still,
In this type of conventional rice cooker, various electrical components such as a temperature-sensitive switch and a control electric circuit (microcomputer) are provided at the bottom of the rice cooker body.

However, in such conventional rice cookers, when the lid is closed, the outer periphery of the pot lid is simply pressed against the opening edge of the inner pot, so the outer rim of the pot lid and the opening edge of the inner pot are in contact with each other. The seal between the lid and the opening edge of the inner pot may not be sufficient, and the liquid (or steam) inside the inner pot may spill out from between the outer edge of the pot lid and the opening edge of the inner pot during rice cooking. A part of the spilled liquid or steam flows toward the bottom of the rice cooker main body through the gap between the inner side surface of the rice cooker main body and the outer surface of the inner pot. When liquid or steam flows toward the bottom of the rice cooker, it can cause negative effects (malfunctions, electrical leaks, etc.) on the electrical components (electric circuits) at the bottom of the rice cooker. etc.).

Also, conventional rice cookers of this type (for example, the rice cooker described in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 57-23218, illustrated in FIG. 5)
In the rice cooker, the pot lid 5 is provided with a steam release device 30 for releasing steam generated during rice cooking into the outside air. This steam venting device 30 has an outer lid 4 and a pot so that minute droplets (so-called oneba) in the steam flowing through the steam vent passage can be separated from the steam and returned to the inner pot 3. It communicates with a space 10 between the lid 5 and the lid 5. However, in conventional rice cookers equipped with such a steam venting passage, during rice cooking, steam flowing through the steam venting passage flows into the space between the outer lid and the pot lid.
Some of the steam leaks from the annular packing 20 provided on the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid 5,
The moisture will flow into the bottom of the rice cooker body through the gap y between the inner surface of the rice cooker body 1 and the outer surface of the inner pot 3, and the moisture will have a negative impact on the electrical components (electrical circuits) as described above. There is the problem of

In addition, in this type of rice cooker with an internal pot lid 5, oneba etc. flow into the inner space 20a of the annular packing 20 attached to the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid 5 and solidify (especially during the heat retention function). It has also been pointed out that the cleaning work required to remove the stains is time-consuming.

(Purpose of the invention) In view of the above-mentioned problems with conventional rice cookers, the present invention aims to improve the steam sealing between the lower surface of the outer lid and the outer periphery of the pot lid, and to The main purpose of this was to improve the prevention of dirt on the annular gasket to be attached.

(Means for achieving the purpose) In order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention has the following features:
As illustrated in the figures to FIG.
In a rice cooker which is provided with a lid unit 2 in which an inner pot 3 is accommodated and further has a pot lid 5 on the lower surface of an outer lid 4, the pot lid 5 has an annular rising wall 5f continuous to an outer peripheral edge 5a. A vertically symmetrical annular packing 20 having an upper seal portion 21 and a lower seal portion 22 is attached to the outer peripheral edge 5a, and
When the lid unit 2 is closed, the opening edge 3a of the inner pot 3 is sealed by the lower seal portion 22 of the annular packing 20, and the upper seal portion 21 is pressed from above by the outer lid 4. As a result, the seal end 21a is brought into pressure contact with the outer peripheral surface of the annular rising wall 5f of the pot lid 5, and at the same time, the upper surface side seal portion 21 and the outer peripheral edge 5 of the pot lid 5 are pressed together.
A is characterized in that it is configured such that an annular space S is formed between it and the upper surface of a.

(Function) The rice cooker of the present invention seals the opening edge 3a of the inner pot 3 with the lower seal portion 22 of the annular gasket 20 attached to the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid 5.
Steam generated within the inner pot 3 during rice cooking is temporarily prevented from flowing out of the inner pot 3 from between the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid and the opening edge 3a of the inner pot.

Further, by pressing the seal end 21a of the upper side seal portion 21 of the annular packing 20 against the outer circumferential surface of the annular rising wall 5f of the pot lid 5 from above with the outer cover 4, the outer cover 4 and the annular packing 20 are tightly connected. The sealing force between the upper surface side seal part 21 is increased to prevent leakage of steam from between the two as much as possible. Also, the seal end 21a of the upper seal portion 21 of the annular packing 20
is brought into pressure contact with the outer circumferential surface of the annular rising wall 5f of the pot lid 5, so that it is possible to reduce as much as possible the inflow of oneba etc. into the inner surface of the annular packing 20.

(Example) To explain the rice cooker of the example shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the rice cooker of this example has an outer case 11
The inner pot 3 is housed inside the rice cooker body 1 which has a heat insulating material 13 housed between the inner case 12 and the inner case 12.
b) The lid unit 2 includes an outer lid 4, a pot lid 5 attached to the lower surface of the outer lid 4, and a disc-shaped Oneva reflux plate 6, which will be described later.

At the bottom of the rice cooker main body 1, various electrical components 8 such as a rice cooking heater 7, a temperature-sensitive switch, and a control electric circuit (microcomputer) are provided.

The oneba reflux plate 6 has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the pot lid 5. This oneba reflux plate 6 is installed on the lower surface side of the pot lid 5.

The pot lid 5 and the Oneva reflux plate 6 are fitted with an annular support member 16 at the edges of the holes formed in their respective centers, and the support member 16 is inserted into the center of the lower surface of the outer lid 4. They are each attached to the lower surface side of the outer lid 4 by loosely fitting them onto the outer periphery of the provided support pin 15.

On the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid 5, there is an annular packing 2 having an upper seal part 21 and a lower seal part 22 that cover the upper and lower surfaces of the outer peripheral edge 5a, respectively.
0 is attached. This circular packing 20
is made of an elastic material such as rubber, and has a substantially U-shaped cross section with a groove 23 that opens inward, and is vertically symmetrical. The lower inward flange portion serves as a lower seal portion 22.
Further, the inner end portions of the upper seal portion 21 and the lower seal portion 22 of the annular packing 20 are bent to open outward in the vertical direction. This annular gasket 20 has its groove 23 connected to the pot lid 5.
By fitting the outside of the curling part formed on the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid outer peripheral edge 5.
It is attached to a. In addition, since the annular gasket 20 is vertically symmetrical during installation, there is no vertical directionality, and the inner ends of the upper seal portion 21 and the lower seal portion 22 are bent outward in the vertical direction. The annular gasket 20 can be easily attached.

An annular protrusion 14 is integrally formed on the lower surface of the outer cover 4 (lower surface of the lower wall 4b) so as to come into pressure contact with the upper surface of the upper seal portion 21 of the annular packing 20 over the entire circumference.

An elastic member 17 is interposed between the lower surface of the outer lid 4 and the upper surface of the pot lid 5, and is loosely fitted around the outer periphery of the support pin 15.
is urged downward by.

In this rice cooker, when the lid is closed, the pot lid 5 is urged downward by the elastic member 17, and the lower surface of the lower seal portion 22 of the annular gasket 20 is pressed against the inner pot 3.
At the same time, the lower surface of the annular projection 14 on the lower surface of the outer lid 4 is also pressed against the upper surface of the upper seal portion 21 of the annular packing 20. Therefore, when the lid is closed, the single annular gasket can be used between the upper surface of the outer periphery of the pot lid 5a and the lower surface of the annular protrusion 14 of the outer lid 4, and between the lower surface of the outer periphery of the pot lid 5a and the opening edge of the inner pot. It is possible to reliably seal between the upper surface of the portion 3a and the upper surface of the portion 3a.

The sealing action by this annular packing 20 is
To explain in more detail with reference to the figures, Fig. 4A is an explanatory diagram of the sealing action in the case of the embodiment of the present invention (Fig. 3), and Fig. 4B is an illustration of the sealing action in the case of the conventional example (Fig. 5). It is an explanatory diagram.

To explain this below, the sealing force at the contact point P between the lower surface of the outer cover 4 and the upper surface side seal portion 21 of the annular packing 20 increases as the contact pressure between the two increases. In the case of the embodiment _of the present invention shown in FIG _. Since they are in pressure contact, the contact pressure at the seal portion P is correspondingly large, and in the case of the conventional example shown in FIG.
The sealing force at the contact point P between the lower surface of the outer lid 4 and the annular packing 20 is determined by only the self-elastic force F ₁ ' of 1.

In addition, in the case of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 4A,
Since the seal end 21a of the upper seal portion 21 of the annular packing 20 is in contact with the annular rising wall 5f of the pot lid 5, the internal space 20a of the annular packing 20 is closed.
Although the inflow of oneva into the ring is minimized and the contamination of the annular gasket 20 due to its solidification (sticking) is prevented as much as possible, in the case of the conventional example shown in FIG. 4B,
Since the internal space 20a of the annular gasket 20 is open, the oil will stick to the inner surface of the space 20a, making cleaning work time consuming.

A heat-retaining heater 9 is attached to the lower surface side of the outer lid 4.

The pot lid 5 is formed with a bank-like annular raised part 5b at a position slightly inside the outer peripheral edge 5a, and an annular step slightly lower than the annular raised part 5b is formed inside the annular raised part 5b. A lowered part 5c is formed, and a lower annular groove 5d (which becomes the oneba reservoir 25) is formed inside the stepped lowered part 5c. A raised portion 5e is formed.

The oneba reflux plate 6 has a radially intermediate portion thereof (nearly directly below the position where the annular groove 5d of the pot lid 5 is formed).
An annular recess 26 is formed therein. A plurality (e.g., 8 to 10) of Oneva recirculation holes 27, 27, . . . are formed in the annular recess 26 in the circumferential direction.
Note that the functions of the annular recess 26 and the oneba recirculation hole 27 will be described later. Further, a plurality of steam vents 28, 28, . . . are formed near the outer periphery of the Oneva reflux plate 6.

The pot lid 5 has a lower part 5c.
A steam venting device 30 is attached so as to penetrate the outer lid 4 in the vertical direction. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this steam venting device 30 includes a cylindrical steam passage member 31 installed vertically penetrating through the pot lid 5, and a cylindrical steam passage member 31 installed on the upper surface side of the pot lid 5. Inner and outer double cylindrical bodies 32 and 33, and the inner cylindrical body 3
Cylindrical member 3 for forming a valve seat 35 in 2
4, a spherical valve body 36 that opens and closes the valve seat 35,
It is constructed using a plate-shaped packing 37 interposed between the upper surface of the pot lid 5 and the lower end edge of the outer cylindrical body 33 as a basic member. The steam passage member 31 is fixed to the pot lid 5 by an appropriate method such as riveting. The inner cylindrical body 32 is formed into a cylindrical shape with an open upper and lower part, and the outer cylindrical body 33 is formed into an inverted container-shaped cylindrical shape with an open lower part and a closed upper part (upper plate 33b). The inner cylindrical body 32 and the outer cylindrical body 33 are fixed and integrated at their respective upper portions. Note that the upper opening of the inner cylinder 32 is closed by the lower surface of the upper plate 33b of the outer cylinder 33. Both cylindrical bodies 32 and 33 are attached by screwing the inner cylindrical body 32 onto the upper part of the steam passage member 31. In addition, the inner cylindrical body 32
When screwed into the upper part of the steam passage member 31, the lower opening edge of the outer cylinder 33 is connected to the plate-shaped packing 3.
It is designed to come into contact with the top surface of 7. Valve seat 35
The forming cylindrical member 34 is attached to the inner surface of a narrow diameter portion formed in the lower portion of the inner cylindrical body 32. The side wall 32a of the inner cylindrical body 32 is provided with steam communication in order to communicate the inside of the inner cylindrical body 32 with the space 39 formed between the inner cylindrical body 32 and the outer cylindrical body 33 at a position above the position where the valve seat 35 is formed. Holes 38, 38 are formed. A plurality of (for example, four) steam release holes 40, 40, . . . are formed in the upper plate 33b of the outer cylinder 33. The plate-shaped packing 37 has cutouts 41, 41 (two at opposite positions) for connecting the inside and outside of the outer cylindrical body 33 for communication between the inside and outside of the outer cylindrical body 33 at a portion near its outer periphery.

As will be described later, the annular groove 5d of the pot lid 5 serves as a hot spring reservoir 25 for temporarily storing liquid droplets generated during the rice cooking process. A through hole 44 for allowing the Oneva stored in the annular groove 5d to flow downward;
44, and a valve member 45 for opening and closing the through holes 44, 44, respectively. This valve member 4
5 is provided with a thin plate-shaped valve 46 that can open and close the through holes 44, 44 from the bottom side. This valve 46 is normally closed, but is forced to open when the inside of the inner pot 3 becomes negative pressure immediately after the end of the rice cooking operation.

The rice cooker of this embodiment operates as follows.

That is, a large amount of steam is generated in the inner pot 3 during rice cooking, but the opening edge 3a of the inner pot 3 is heated by the annular gasket 2 provided on the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid 5.
0, the steam or liquid generated inside the inner pot 3 is
There is no spillage to the outside of the inner pot 3 from between the inner pot opening edge 3a and the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid, and almost all of the spill is sequentially inside the steam passage member 31, inside the inner cylindrical body 32,
The steam passes through the steam vent 38 and the space 39, respectively, and is released into the outside air from the steam release holes 40, 40, . . . . Also, a part of the steam flowing through the steam release device 30 passes through cutouts 41, 41 formed in the plate-shaped gasket 37 for one-vah distribution, and passes through the space between the lower surface of the outer lid 4 and the upper surface of the pot lid 5. However, between the lower surface of the outer lid 4 and the upper surface of the pot lid 5, the lower surface of the annular protrusion 14 is pressed against the upper surface of the upper seal portion 21 of the annular packing 20 at the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid. In addition, at that time, the upper surface side seal portion 2
Since the sealed end 21a of the pot lid 5 is pushed back upward by the reaction force from the pot lid 6 of the pot lid 5, the sealing end 21a of the pot lid 5 is reliably sealed even with a higher sealing force, and the void is sealed. Steam that has entered the interior of the seal 10 is prevented from leaking to the outside of the seal portion. Therefore, steam generated during rice cooking is prevented from flowing into the gap between the inner surface of the rice cooker body 1 (inner surface of the inner case 12) and the outer surface of the inner pot 3, and the steam is used to cook rice. The electrical components 8 provided at the bottom of the container body 1 are prevented from leaking or getting wet.

In addition, the steam generated in the inner pot 3 contains Oneva, and the steam mixed with Oneva flows into the space formed between the inner cylinder 32 and the outer cylinder 33 in the steam release device 30. Temporarily stays within 39,
At this time, the oneva contained in the steam is separated from the steam, and the separated oneva is transmitted along the outer surface of the inner cylinder 32 and the inner surface of the outer cylinder 33 to the plate-shaped packing 37. The liquid flows upward, passes through the notches 41, 41, and is temporarily stored in the hotpot reservoir 25 of the pot lid 5. Note that the through holes 44, 44 formed at the bottom of the oneba reservoir 25
is closed by the valve 46 of the valve member 45 during the rice cooking operation, and steam generated in the inner pot 3 during the rice cooking operation passes through the through holes 44 and 44 and is stored in the oneba reservoir 25. This prevents the oneva from being blown away outside the oneva reservoir 25.

When the rice cooking action is completed, the electricity is switched from the rice cooking heater 7 side to the heat retention heater 9 side, and the heat retention action is started. Immediately after the rice cooking action is completed, the inside of the inner pot 3 becomes negative pressure (the valve element 36 of the steam venting device 30 is closed), and at that time, the through hole 44 of the oneba reservoir 25
The valve 46 that had been closed is indicated by the chain line 46' in FIG.
The valve is forcibly opened as shown in FIG.
Further, the oneba is dispersed and returned into the inner pot 3 through a plurality of oneba return holes 27, 27, . . . formed at the bottom of the annular recess 26. Incidentally, this oneba has high nutritional value and can make rice delicious when mixed with it.

By the way, during the heat retention function, it is necessary to prevent the cooked rice in the inner pot 3 from being cooled by the outside air.
The inner pot 3 and pot lid 5 are surrounded by the rice cooker main body 1 and outer lid 4, which have high heat insulation properties, but the heat retention ability is relatively low at the boundary between the two where outside air easily flows in. By the way. In consideration of this point, the rice cooker of the illustrated embodiment has an annular space (a heat-retaining space) inside an annular packing 20 attached to the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid located at the boundary between the rice cooker main body 1 and the outer lid 4. ) is formed so that the heat retention ability in the same area is improved.

(Effect of the invention) In the rice cooker of the present invention, the opening edge 3a of the inner pot 3 is sealed with the lower seal portion 22 of the annular gasket 20 attached to the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid 5, and the lower surface of the outer lid 4 is sealed. The upper seal part 2 of the annular packing 20
1, thereby sealing the upper surface side seal portion 21.
The sealed end 21a of the annular rising wall 5f of the pot lid 5
The upper surface side seal part 2 is pressed by the reaction force.
Since the sealing force between the rice cooker body 1 and the lower surface of the outer lid 4 is increased, the steam generated in the inner pot 3 during rice cooking is prevented from coming between the inner surface of the rice cooker body 1 and the outer surface of the inner pot 3. It is possible to more reliably prevent the steam from flowing downward through the gap between the rice cooker body 1 and the electric components 8 such as the control electric circuit (which is sensitive to moisture) provided at the bottom of the rice cooker main body 1. It has the effect of ameliorating negative effects.

Further, since the annular gasket 20 is detachable from the pot lid 5, if the annular gasket 20 is removed when cleaning the pan lid 5, the cleaning work of the pan lid 5 becomes easier, and the annular gasket 20 The seal end 21a of the upper seal portion and the annular rising wall 5 of the pot lid 5
The annular packing 20 also has the advantage that it is possible to reduce as much as possible the inflow of springs and the like into the internal space 20a of the annular packing 20 by press contact with the annular packing 20.
This has the effect of making cleaning work easier.

Furthermore, the upper surface side seal portion 2 of the annular packing 20
1 and the lower seal portion 22 are vertically symmetrical, so the annular packing 20 has no vertical directionality, and the annular packing 20 is attached to the outer peripheral edge 5 of the pot lid 5.
There is also the effect that the work when attaching to a can be done easily.

Further, in the present invention, when the annular packing 20 is attached to the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid 5, an annular space S is formed between the upper seal portion 21 and the annular rising wall 5f, which acts as a heat-retaining space. This has the effect of improving heat retention at the boundary between the rice cooker main body 1 and the outer lid 4, where the inner pot 3 and the pot lid 5 are easily cooled by the outside air.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The first illustration is a side view of the upper half of the rice cooker according to the embodiment of the present invention in cross section, the second is a perspective view of the steam venting device used in the rice cooker of FIG.
The figure is a partially enlarged sectional view of Fig. 1, Fig. 4A is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the outer periphery of the pot lid of the rice cooker shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4B is a conventional example (No. 57-23218 Public bulletin)
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the outer periphery of the pot lid in the rice cooker, and FIG. 1... Rice cooker body, 2... Lid unit, 3...
Inner pot, 3a...opening edge, 4...outer lid, 5...pot lid, 5a...outer peripheral edge, 5f...rising wall, 7...
... Rice cooking heater, 8 ... Electrical component, 14 ... Annular projection, 20 ... Annular packing, 21 ... Top side seal part, 21a ... Seal end, 22 ... Bottom side seal part, S ... Annular space .

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] This rice cooker has an inner pot 3 housed in a rice cooker main body 1 which is provided with a rice cooker heater 7 and necessary electrical parts 8 at the bottom, and a lid unit 2 having a pot lid 5 on the lower surface of an outer lid 4. , the pot lid 5 has an outer peripheral edge 5a.
A continuous annular rising wall 5f is formed, and a vertically symmetrical annular packing 20 having an upper seal portion 21 and a lower seal portion 22 is attached to the outer peripheral edge 5a. When the lid of the unit 2 is closed, the opening edge 3a of the inner pot 3 is sealed by the lower seal portion 22 of the annular packing 20, and the upper seal portion 21 is pressed from above by the outer lid 4. As a result, the seal end 21a is brought into pressure contact with the outer peripheral surface of the annular rising wall 5f of the pot lid 5, and at the same time an annular space is created between the upper surface side seal portion 21 and the upper surface of the outer peripheral edge 5a of the pot lid 5. A rice cooker characterized in that it is configured so that S is formed.