JPH0632011Y2 - rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a rice cooker that includes heating means for heating a pan and controls the input of the heating means to cook rice.

(Prior Art) In recent years, in this type of rice cooker, an input of a rice-heating heater as a heating means is controlled by an electronic circuit to select a rice-cooking menu of various courses such as white rice, brown rice, cooked rice, and porridge. Is becoming possible.

A general structure of such a rice cooker is shown in FIG. 8, 1 is a bowl main body, and this bowl main body 1 is composed of an outer case 2 and an inner case 3, and a rice cooker serving as a heating means at the bottom of the inner case 3. A heater 4 and a temperature sensor 5 are provided, and an electronic circuit unit 6 that controls the input of the rice cooking heater 4 based on the temperature detection information from the temperature sensor 5 is provided at the bottom of the outer case 2. The pot 7 is removably housed in the inner case 3, and the opening at the upper end of the pot 7 is closed by a lid 8.

And, for example, when cooking white rice, the pan 7 is taken out from the inner case 3, and a required amount of white rice washed with water and a predetermined amount of water corresponding to the amount of the white rice are stored in the pan 7.
After that, the pot 7 is inserted into the inner case 3, the opening is closed by the lid 8, and in this state, a start switch (not shown) is thrown in manually or by a timer. In response to this, the input to the rice cooking heater 4 is controlled via the electronic circuit unit 6, and the rice is cooked through the rice cooking process shown in FIG.

The rice cooking process shown in FIG. 9 represents the relationship between the temperature change of the pan with the passage of time and the input state of the rice cooking heater. First, the hot water is cooked according to the turning on of the start switch. In this hot water cooking process, the rice cooking heater is controlled to 70% (eg, 700W) input, and then 100% (1000W) input to 5'off-40 "on-5'20" of.
The f is controlled, and the water in the pan is heated to an appropriate temperature by such control, and the water permeates into the rice grains sufficiently. Note that ″
Represents seconds of the hour and ′ represents minutes.

After such hot-pot cooking, the rice cooking process is started, and the rice cooking heater is first energized with 100% input. Due to this energization, the temperature of the pan gradually rises, and the amount of rice in the pan is detected in the middle of that, that is, while the temperature of the pan rises from 70 ° C to 80 ° C. This rice amount detection is calculated from the time T required for the temperature of the pot to rise from 70 ° C to 80 ° C. That is, when the amount of rice is small, the time T is short, and when the amount of rice is large, the time T is long.
It is determined that the amount is small when 55 ″ and large when T ≧ 55 ″.

Boiling detection is started when the pot reaches 94 ° C. This boiling detection is performed by utilizing the fact that when the water in the pot starts to boil, the temperature rise of the pot is suppressed by the latent heat of vaporization.
In other words, when the amount of rice is small from the time when the pot reaches 94 ° C, 60 ″ has passed, and when the amount is large, after 2′20 ″, the temperature rise of the pot is below 5deg. Detect
Based on this detection, it is determined that the water in the pan has boiled.

After such boiling detection is performed, 50% (500 W) input control is performed on the rice cooking heater, so that boiling of water in the pan continues stably.

When the boiling continues, the water content in the pan decreases, and when the temperature rise of the pan starts again,
The control is switched to the (300 W) input, and the temperature of the pan rises by such control, and the rice cooking is completed when the rice cooking completion temperature determined from the time T and the boiling detection time is reached. After that, the pot is kept at a temperature almost equal to that at the time of boiling water, the rice in the inside is made uneven, and after this unevenness, it is kept warm via the warming heaters 9 and 10 shown in FIG.

By the way, with a certain heating pattern as described above, only cooked rice can be obtained, but especially in the case of white rice, from the point of taste, soft, hard or charred rice is preferred. There are cases like this. For this reason,
Recently, a rice cooker has been developed in which rice with a desired hardness is cooked by selecting a heating pattern with different heat levels by selecting the selection switch according to the preference of standard, hard or soft.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) Since the conventional rice cooker that can select heating patterns with different heating conditions is one that cooks with the heating pattern set at the start time, Even if the selection switch is switched on the way, the heating pattern does not change, and rice is cooked as it is with the heat set at the start. For this reason, the user notices that the selection switch was wrong after the start, and if he / she corrects it, he / she must cancel the selection, set the selection switch anew, and then start cooking rice again. However, there was a problem that it was very troublesome to fix. Not only is it time-consuming, but if you cancel it after rice has already been cooked, it means that rice will be stopped halfway, and even if you switch the switch appropriately, heating will not be performed properly. I couldn't cook the rice.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a rice cooker with good operability in which the amount of heat can be changed by a simple operation even after rice starts to be cooked.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problem) The present invention is provided with the heating / accelerating selection means 24 for selecting one of the heating patterns for cooking rice with at least two types of heating / cooling, and the cooking is started. In the case where there is only one operation of the heat addition / decrease selection means 24 between the start of boiling and the start of boiling, it is determined as the heating pattern after the start of boiling, and there is a plurality of operations of the heat adjustment control means 24. The heating / decrease determining means 29 for determining the operation of the heating / accelerating selection means 24 closest to the boiling start time as the heating pattern after the start of boiling is provided.

(Operation) With the above configuration, it is possible to switch the heating adjustment control means 24 even before the start of boiling even during rice cooking, and the rice is cooked according to the latest selected heating pattern before the start of boiling. The change operation becomes easy.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIGS. 1 to 4, 11 is a main body, which is the main body.
11 is composed of an outer case 12 and an inner case 13, and the inner case 13
Rice heating heater 14 and temperature sensor 15 at the bottom of the
The electronic circuit unit 16 for controlling the input of the rice cooking heater 14 is provided on the bottom of the outer case 12 based on the temperature detection information by the temperature sensor 15. And the pan 17 is stored in the inner case 13 so that it can be inserted and removed freely.
The upper end opening is closed by a lid 18. 19 and 20 are heat insulation heaters. 21 is an operation panel provided on the lid 18,
This operation panel 21 has an inclination angle α formed on the peripheral side surface of the lid 18.
Is equipped with a part of a conical surface 22 forming a 40 °. In addition, the operation panel 21 includes various operation switches (rice cooking menu selection means) 23 for time adjustment, reservation setting, rice cooking menu selection, cancellation, and start, and the state of cooked rice when cooking rice. Of the standard, strong (hard), and weak (soft) selection means 24 is provided, and further, the current time, the set state of the timer, the set state of the addition and reduction selection means 24, etc. are displayed. Various display units 25 are provided. Reference numeral 24A denotes a selectable / changeable display section, and while the selectable / changeable display section 24A is displayed, it is possible to switch the ignition control selection means 24. Then, the heating adjustment control means 24 selects one of different heating adjustment heating patterns depending on the standard, high strength, and weakness. When one of the weak points is selected, the display unit 25, which is composed of, for example, an LCD, turns on the frame 26 surrounding the selected character, and the display unit 25 can confirm the set state of the fire control selection means 24. Has been done.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 27 is an A / D converter which constitutes a temperature detecting means 28 together with the temperature sensor 15 and outputs a signal corresponding to the detected temperature. 29 is a control means composed of a microcomputer which constitutes the electronic circuit unit 16, and as is well known, it comprises a CPU 30, a timer circuit 31, a memory 32, an input circuit 33 and the like to select a plurality of rice cooking menus for a rice cooking course. Cooked rice menu determining means for determining, and cooked rice judging means for operating at least when a rice course is selected by the cooked rice menu judging means, and for selecting a heating pattern according to the operation of the slowest fire moderated selection means 24 before the start of boiling. have. The control means 29 has a plurality of types of programs, a rice cooking course selected in accordance with the programs held by this, and at least a standard in white rice cooking,
Drive control of the rice cooking heater 14 is performed according to selection of a strong course and a weak course. Further, the signal of the heating / decreasing selection means 24 for selecting the heating pattern of cooked rice, the signal of the operation switch 23, and the signal of the detected temperature of the pan 17 are input to the CPU 30 via the input circuit 33, respectively. Reference numeral 35 is a drive circuit for the heaters 14, 19, 20 which controls the drive of the heaters 14, 19, 20 based on a control signal output from the CPU 30 via the output circuit 34. Reference numeral 36 denotes a drive circuit, which drives and controls the display unit 25 composed of an LCD or the like based on a control signal output from the CPU 30 via the output circuit 34.

When the cooked rice selecting means 24 is operated to cook the white rice in the standard course, the rice is cooked according to the heating pattern shown in FIG. Similarly, in the case of the strong course, the heating pattern shown in FIG. 5 is used, and in the case of the weak course, the heating pattern shown in FIG. 7 is used.

Regarding the heating pattern of the strong course (Fig. 5), in this case, the heating pattern from the hot water cooking to the start of boiling is the same as the heating pattern of the standard course described above, but the rice cooking heater 14 at the initial stage of boiling Is controlled by 100% input for longer than standard course, then 50%
When the input is controlled and the temperature rise of the pan 17 starts again, the rice cooking heater 14 is energized with 100% input and the cooking temperature 1
100% input is maintained until it reaches 20 ℃. In addition, the heating pattern of the weak course (Fig. 7) is the same as the heating pattern of the standard course described above from the time of hot water cooking to the start of boiling, but the rice cooking heater 14 at the beginning of boiling is 100%. The time controlled by input is set shorter than the standard course, and then the rice cooking heater 14 is controlled by 30% input and maintained at 30% input until the cooking temperature reaches 115 ° C.

In addition, the amount of rice detected on the strong course is 5deg or less / 5'2
It is detected as a large amount at 0 "and a small amount at 5deg / 60" and a small amount at 5deg / 2/2 'and a small amount at 5deg / 60 "in the weak course.

In order for the cooked rice to be delicious, it must have a suitable stickiness regardless of whether it is hard or soft. One of the factors that make rice sticky during the cooking process is the speed at which it boils. In other words, if the speed until boiling is slow, the time from the gelatinization start temperature (55 to 70 ° C) of rice to boiling will be longer, so compared to the time of complete boiling (98 ° C or higher),
The α-forming energy becomes small between (55 ~ 70 ° C) and 98 ° C (because the energy is used for water heating), the energy is insufficient for converting the whole rice into α, and only the rice surface has α Then, if it continues to boil from this state, only the peripheral surface of the rice becomes excessively alpha, resulting in so-called sticky and crumbled rice. Ideally, the time from the start of substantial rice cooking to boiling is 5 to 15 minutes, and thus, in any of the standard, high-strength, and low-dose courses, until boiling starts after hot water is cooked. During this period, the rice heating heater is fully energized to keep the time until boiling constant. Therefore, after the rice cooking is started, the heating from the hot water cooking to the start of boiling is the same common process for all the courses.

In the strong course, the full energization time at the beginning of boiling is set longer than in the standard course, and the rice heater is fully energized before cooking to increase the power consumption compared to the standard course. Has an appropriate charcoal,
In addition, the evaporation of free water attached to the peripheral surface of the rice is promoted, and hard rice with stickiness but low water content is cooked up. On the other hand, in the weak course, the full energization time at the beginning of boiling is shortened compared to the standard course, and the power consumption of the rice cooker after that is reduced from that of the standard course, and the cooking temperature is further increased from the standard course. The temperature is set to 115 ° C, which is also low, which suppresses the amount of evaporation and cooks soft rice with a relatively high water content and almost no charring.

Further, the fire addition / decrease selecting means 24 changes the combination of voltage dividing resistors (not shown) by the switching operation, so that the standard course is [L, L] signals, the strong course is [L, H] signals, and the weak course is weak. The eye course is set as an [H, L] signal. The control means 29 selects "rice cooked rice" in the cooked rice menu, and when the start switch is operated or a start signal is output during timer cooked rice, first, the heating adjustment control means.
The selection signal from 24 is read, and the white rice is cooked with the heating pattern corresponding to the selected course. And
When the start of boiling is detected by the temperature signal from the temperature sensor 15 in the rice cooking process after the soaking process or shortly before this, the control unit 29 again reads the selection signal from the heating control selection unit 24, and this is selected. Even if the different course is different from the course read at the time of outputting the start signal, the heating pattern corresponding to the newly read course is selected and the subsequent rice cooking process is executed with this heating pattern.

That is, the heating pattern is the same from the start of boiling rice to the start of boiling in any of the standard, strong, and weak courses, and even if the heating adjustment control means 24 is switched during this time, the switching is changed. As a result, the heating pattern corresponding to the course is executed by the selection of the fire addition / decrease selecting means 24 which is effective and is operated latest before the start of boiling.

As described above, in the above-described embodiment, in the heating patterns having different heating levels such as standard, high strength, and low level, since the heating pattern is common from the start of rice cooking to the start of boiling, the heating control before the start of boiling is selected. By switching the means 24 and executing the white rice cooking according to the heating pattern according to the setting of the fire adjustment selection means 24 specified the latest, it was determined that the selection of the fire adjustment selection means 24 was incorrect after the rice was started. Even if you notice it, if it is before the start of boiling, it is possible to change the heat adjustment course by a simple operation of setting the heat adjustment selection means 24 at the desired heat adjustment position. Further, the display unit 25 is provided with a display portion for displaying the set state of the heat adjustment control means 24, and the characters of "standard", "strong", and "weak" specified according to the set of the heat adjustment control means 24. You can check the set state by enclosing one of the boxes with a frame 26, and when cooking rice starts, characters other than the characters enclosed by this frame 26 will disappear, so you can also check which fire cooking course is being cooked. Similar to the display of the setting state of the heating adjustment control means 24, when the operation switch 23 for selecting a rice cooking menu is operated, "white rice", "rice cooked", "brown rice", "rice", and "porridge" are selected. The frame 26 moves in sequence to check the set state, and when rice cooking starts, all characters other than those enclosed by the frame 26 disappear and the menu course in which rice is cooked can be confirmed.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, it can be appropriately modified within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the control means 29 reads the selection signal of the two-time heating adjustment control means 24 when the rice is started and when the boiling starts. However, the selection signal is read every predetermined time until the start of boiling. It is also possible that the last reading is performed at the start of boiling or just before boiling. Also, in the above embodiment, the standard,
Since the heating pattern is common until the start of boiling in the strong and weak courses, means for selecting the amount of heating until the start of boiling
Although the switching of 24 is effective, since the heating pattern is common between the standard and the strong eye until the boiling continues, that is, until the end of the boiling detection, it is possible to enable the normal or the strong eye during this period. Further, the heat addition / decrease determination means may select the same heating pattern for a rice cooking menu other than the white rice cooking course.

[Advantages of the Invention] The present invention controls a rice cooking container, a heating means for heating the container, a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the container, and an input to the heating means according to the temperature of the container. Control means, a heating and heating selection means for selecting one of the heating patterns for cooking rice with at least two or more heating and cooling, and the heating and heating selection means between the start of cooking and the start of boiling. When the operation is performed only once, it is determined as the heating pattern after the start of boiling, and when the operation of the fire addition / decrease selecting means is performed a plurality of times, the operation of the fire addition / decrease selecting means closest to the boiling start time is started to boil. It is equipped with a heating adjustment control means for determining the subsequent heating pattern, and the heating control can be changed by a simple operation only by operating the heating control selection means before the start of boiling even during rice cooking. Can be operated A good rice cooker can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a block diagram, FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of a rice cooker, FIG. 3 is an overall enlarged sectional view, and FIG. 4 is an operation panel. And Fig. 5 is a graph showing the rice cooking process when cooking hard rice, No. 6
The figure is a graph of the cooking process when standard rice is cooked, No. 7
Fig. 8 is a graph showing the rice cooking process when cooking soft rice, Fig. 8 is a sectional view showing the general structure of a rice cooker, and Fig. 9
The figure is a graph showing a rice cooking process when conventional standard rice is cooked. 14 …… rice cooker (heating means) 17 …… pan (container) 24 …… heat adjustment selection means 28 …… temperature detection means 29 …… control means (fire adjustment means)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A container for cooking rice, a heating means for heating the container, a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the container, and a control means for controlling an input to the heating means according to the temperature of the container. And a heating control selection means for selecting one of the heating patterns for cooking rice with at least two types of heating control, and the operation of the heating control selection means between the start of boiling rice and the start of boiling If it is only once, it is determined to be the heating pattern after the start of boiling, and if there is a plurality of operations of the heating adjustment control means, the operation of the heating adjustment control means closest to the boiling start time is the heating after the start of boiling. A rice cooker characterized by comprising a heating adjustment control means for determining a pattern.