JPH06253974A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the rice cooking capability by promoting a water absorption, and in addition, shorten the rice cooking time by providing an ultrasonic wave generating means which generates ultrasonic waves in a rice cooking pot when rice is soaking water. CONSTITUTION:When rice is soaking water at the beginning of a rice cooking, an ultrasonic wave vibrator 15 which is in contact with a rice cooking pot 12 is connected with power by a second inverter 16. By this motion, ultrasonic waves are generated in the rice cooking pot 12 independently from a heating of the rice cooking pot 12 by a heating means 13 by a first inverter 14. That is, by inputting ultrasonic waves when rice is soaking water at the beginning of a rice cooking, the rice cooking capability is improved by promoting the water absorption of rice, and in addition, the shortening of the rice cooking time can be achieved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rice cooker which improves the moisture content of rice in the early stage of rice cooking by ultrasonic input and shortens the moisture content time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The structure of a conventional rice cooker will be described below by taking an induction heating rice cooker as an example. A rice cooker 2 is provided in a housing 1 of the rice cooker and is heated by a heating coil 3 as a heating means. Has become. Electric power is supplied to the heating coil 3 from the inverter 4.

Regarding the rice cooker configured as described above,
The operation will be described below. Conventionally, the rice was made to contain water by heating at a water temperature of about 50 ° C. for a certain time in the early stage of rice cooking, but it is necessary to raise the water temperature in order to obtain the optimum value of the water content. However, when the water temperature is raised, the rice becomes gelatinized, so it is usually heated at a temperature several degrees lower than the temperature at which the optimum moisture content is obtained. I needed it.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, even if the moisture content of rice is prolonged, the moisture content is saturated and does not reach the optimum value, so that there is a limit to the improvement of rice cooking performance. In addition, since the time required for hydration occupies about half of all the steps of cooking rice, it is difficult to shorten the cooking time.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems. By inputting ultrasonic waves when the rice contains water in the early stage of rice cooking,
The purpose is to promote water content, improve rice cooking performance, and shorten rice cooking time.

[0006]

To achieve this object, the rice cooker of the present invention comprises, as a first means, ultrasonic wave generating means for generating ultrasonic waves in the rice cooker when the rice contains water. As a second means, an ultrasonic vibrator constituting an ultrasonic wave generating means is provided by being attached to a rice cooker, and as a third means, a power receiving coil connected to the ultrasonic vibrator is provided. , A non-contact power transmission is provided from a power transmission coil that constitutes a resonance circuit of an inverter device, which is located at a fixed distance from the power reception coil. Further, as a fourth means, an ultrasonic transducer is hermetically sealed and It is put below the surface of the water in the rice cooker when it contains water.

[0007]

In the first means, ultrasonic waves are generated in the rice cooker when the water content of the rice is high. Therefore, the water content of the rice is adjusted to the optimum value without raising the temperature of the water content or extending the water content time. This improves the rice cooking performance and shortens the water content time. The second means is to apply ultrasonic waves directly to the rice cooking pot, and to surely promote the water content. The third means drives the ultrasonic vibrator by non-contact power transmission, so that the rice cooker can be freely attached and detached. Further, the fourth means puts an ultrasonic vibrator below the surface of the water in the rice cooker when the rice contains water, and directly inputs the ultrasonic waves, and thus acts to further promote the water content.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The figure shows an induction heating rice cooker as an example of a rice cooker. In FIG. 1, 11 is a housing of the rice cooker, 12 is a rice cooker installed in the housing 11, 13 is a heating means of the rice cooker 12. As a heating coil, 14 is a first inverter for supplying electric power to the heating coil 13, and 15 is a rice cooking pot 1.
An ultrasonic transducer provided in contact with the side portion of 2 and a second inverter 16 for supplying electric power to the ultrasonic transducer 15 constitute an ultrasonic wave generating means together with the ultrasonic transducer 15. .

The operation of the induction heating rice cooker configured as described above will be described below. The ultrasonic transducer 15 which is in contact with the rice cooking pot 12 when the rice contains water at the beginning of rice cooking is
Electric power is supplied by the second inverter 15, and ultrasonic waves are generated in the rice cooking pot 12 independently of the heating of the rice cooking pot 12 by the first inverter 14. That is, by inputting ultrasonic waves when the rice contains water at the beginning of rice cooking, the water content can be promoted to improve the rice cooking performance, and the rice cooking time can be shortened. Further, this ultrasonic input is performed simultaneously with the heating of the rice cooking pot 12, so that the optimum moisture content of rice can be obtained in a short time. It should be noted that the rice cooking after that does not differ from the conventional one.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 21 is a rice cooker casing,
A rice cooking pot 22 is placed inside the housing 21, and the rice cooking pot 22 is heated by the first inverter 24 and the heating coil 23 as a heating means connected to the first inverter 24 during rice cooking.
An ultrasonic transducer 28 is adhered to the outer surface of the rice cooker 22, and the ultrasonic transducer 28 has a power receiving coil 27.
Are connected. Further, the power transmission coil 26 is provided at a constant distance from the power reception coil 27, and the power transmission coil 27 is connected to the second inverter 25. The second inverter 25, the power transmission coil 26, and the power reception coil 2 described above.
7 and the ultrasonic transducer 28 constitute an ultrasonic wave generating means.

The operation of the above structure will be described below.
The rice cooker pot 22 can be heated by the inverter 24 and the heating coil 23, and the magnetic flux generated in the power transmission coil 26 by the second inverter 25 is linked to the power receiving coil 27 at a constant interval and is a non-contact ultrasonic transducer. The high frequency power is transmitted to 28. Therefore, since the ultrasonic transducer 28 is bonded to the rice cooking pot 22, ultrasonic waves are transmitted to the rice cooking pot 22 and the moisture content of rice is improved. It should be noted that the rice cooking after that does not differ from the conventional one.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the rice cooker 2
The improvement of the moisture content of rice by the ultrasonic input to 2 was achieved,
Further, although the ultrasonic vibrator 28 is adhered to the rice cooking pot 22, the rice cooking pot 22 can be freely attached to and detached from the housing 21.

Next, still another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 31 denotes a rice cooker casing, and a rice cooker pot 32 is placed inside the casing 31. The rice cooker pot is provided by a first inverter 34 and a heating coil 33 as heating means connected to the first inverter 34 during rice cooker. 32 is heated. In addition, the ultrasonic transducer 36 located inside the rice cooking pot 32 through the lid 40 of the rice cooking pot 32 has a closed case 37.
It is connected to the second inverter 35 by being covered with the above, and furthermore, the inside of the rice cooking pot 32 can be moved up and down by the elevating means 38 and the motor 39. The above-mentioned second inverter 35 and ultrasonic oscillator 38 constitute ultrasonic wave generating means.

The operation of the induction heating rice cooker configured as described above will be described below. Induction heating rice cooker lid 4
The ultrasonic transducer 38 located on the lower surface of No. 0 is covered with the sealed case 37, and the motor 39 can move the inside of the rice cooking pot 32 up and down. Then, the ultrasonic waves are input and the ultrasonic waves are pulled up to the lower surface of the lid 40 of the rice cooker when ultrasonic input is not required. It should be noted that the rice cooking after that does not differ from the conventional one.

In addition to the point that the moisture content of rice is improved by the input of ultrasonic waves as described above, the ultrasonic vibrator 36 is added to the rice cooker 3
Due to the configuration in which it is movable up and down in 2, it becomes easy to attach and detach the rice cooking pot 32 from the housing 31. In addition, since ultrasonic waves can be directly input to water or rice, the effects of improving the water content and shortening the water content time are great.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, the moisture content of rice is increased and the rice cooking performance is improved by inputting ultrasonic waves into the rice cooking pot at the beginning of rice cooking. And by directly acting ultrasonic waves on the rice cooking pot, it is possible to reliably promote the water content, and by driving the ultrasonic vibrator by non-contact power transmission, the rice cooking pot can be freely attached and detached, and It is possible to further promote the water content by inserting an ultrasonic vibrator below the surface of the water in the rice cooker when the rice contains water and directly input the ultrasonic waves.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an induction heating rice cooker according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an induction heating rice cooker according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an induction heating rice cooker according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional induction heating rice cooker.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11, 21, 31 Housing 12, 22, 32 Rice cooker 13, 23, 33 Heating coil 14, 24, 34 First inverter 15, 28, 36 Ultrasonic transducer 16, 25, 35 Second inverter

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hideyuki Konan 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A rice cooker comprising a rice cooker, heating means for the rice cooker, and ultrasonic wave generator for generating ultrasonic waves in the rice cooker when the rice contains water. 2. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein an ultrasonic vibrator constituting the ultrasonic wave generating means is brought into contact with the rice cooking pot. 3. An ultrasonic transducer, which constitutes an ultrasonic wave generating means, is adhered to a rice cooker, and the driving power of the ultrasonic transducer is
The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the power receiving coil connected to the ultrasonic transducer is supplied by non-contact power transfer from a power transmitting coil that forms a resonance circuit of an inverter device that is located at a constant distance from the power receiving coil. 4. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic vibrator constituting the ultrasonic wave generating means is hermetically sealed and is put under the water surface in the rice cooker when the rice contains water.