JPH0654752A - Agitator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow an agitating member to carry out a complicate motion with a compact construction to efficiently agitate an object. CONSTITUTION:A casing 67 of a rice washing mechanism 66 of a full automatic rice cooker is rotated within an almost horizontal plane by a first motor 71 via a belt transmission mechanism 70. An agitating rod 79 is supported on a protruding part 77 of the casing 67 and has a curved part 80 at the upper end and a rack 83 on the side face. The agitating rod 79 is held between a pinion 82 which engages with the rack 83 and a press roller 81, so that it is able to move up and down. The pinion 82 is connected to a second motor 75 via a belt transmission mechanism 84, a worm wheel 85, a worm 86, a hollow shaft 73 and a belt transmission mechanism 74.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stirrer used for stirring, mixing, kneading, etc. of fluids or powders, and in particular, a stirrer suitable for polishing rice in rice cookers or stirring rice. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various stirring devices have been known, but a rice cooker has not been provided with a device for polishing rice or stirring rice. This is because even if an existing stirring device is applied to a rice cooker, it is difficult to install it in a limited space, and moreover, rice or rice cannot be efficiently stirred. For this reason, conventionally, it has been forced to perform a troublesome manual work of sharpening rice with a colander and periodically stirring cooked rice with a rice scoop.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a stirring device having a compact structure, which can give a complicated movement to a stirring rod to efficiently stir an object.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the stirring device of the present invention supports a stirring member having a curved portion on a revolving structure which is swung by a first motor, and A rack is formed on a side surface of the stirring member including the pinion, and a pinion that meshes with the rack and a pressing roller that clamps the stirring member together with the pinion so that the stirring member can move up and down are arranged on a revolving body, and the pinion is connected to a second motor. It

[0005]

According to the stirrer of the present invention, the stirring member is swung by the swiveling body, moved up and down by the pinion and the pressing roller, and tilted according to the shape of the curved portion. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a separate guide member, a complicated structure can be imparted to the stirring member with a small number of parts, and therefore, the stirring member can be installed in a limited space without trouble and the object can be stirred efficiently. You can
In addition, by controlling the rotation speeds of the first motor and the second motor, the movement locus of the stirring member can be arbitrarily changed according to the property and shape of the object, and versatility is expanded.

[0006]

【Example】

(First Embodiment) An embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a stirring device of a fully-automatic rice cooker will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 1 of the fully-automatic rice cooker is formed in a rectangular tube shape, and an upper lid 2 is provided on the upper end surface of the housing 1 so as to be opened and closed. At the top of the housing 1 is a hopper 3 for storing a predetermined amount (for example, 3 to 4 squares) of rice.
The leg bar 4 protruding from the lower part of the housing is supported by a partition plate 6 of the housing 1 via a spring 5 so as to be able to move up and down.
A limit switch 7 as a rice storage amount detector is provided on the lower side of the foot bar 4, and is turned on and off by the foot bar 4 according to the ascending / descending position of the hopper 3, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The limit switch 7 closes the control circuit (not shown) of the rice cooker when the amount of stored rice is sufficient.
It will be opened if there is a shortage.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, a measuring chamber 8 and a discharge cylinder 9 are integrally formed in the lower part of the hopper 3, and the measuring chamber 8 is
A measuring cup 10 having a C-shaped cross section that receives a predetermined amount (for example, 1 go) of rice R from the hopper 3 is pivotally supported inside the container. The measuring cup 10 is coaxially provided with a gear 11, and this gear 11 faces another gear 12 from above, and the gear 12 is connected to a motor 16 via a belt transmission mechanism 13. Then, each member from the measuring cup 10 to the motor 16 constitutes a measuring mechanism 17, and when the hopper 3 is lowered by the weight of the rice R to a position where the limit switch 7 is turned on, the gear 11 is in mesh with the gear 12. Then, the measuring cup 10 is rotated by the motor 16 to measure a required amount of rice R.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 6, and 7, a slide table 19 is provided at the bottom of the housing 1, and a rice cooker 20 is placed on the slide table 19. The slide table 19 is provided with a telescopic rail 2 so that the rice cooker 20 can be put in and taken out of the housing 1.
It is attached to the housing 1 via 1. A door 22 is provided on the housing 1 at a position corresponding to the rice cooker 20, and a finger hook 23 is provided on the front end of the slide table 19 so as to project downward. A handle (not shown) may be provided on the front end surface of the slide table 19 so as to project forward. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 24 is a lid used when the rice cooker 20 is taken out.

The rice cooker 20 is constructed by accommodating an inner cooker 27 in an outer cooker 26 in a removable manner. On the lower surface of the outer pot 26, protrusions 30 and 31 that fit into the positioning hole 28 and the direction regulating hole 29 of the slide table 19 are formed.
An electric heater 3 for heating the inner pot 27 is provided at the bottom of the outer pot 26.
2 is provided, and the plug 33 is connected to the stopper / comset 34 provided in the housing 1 when the rice cooker 20 is stored. A lid 35 is placed on the upper surface of the outer pot 26 and is moved up and down by a drive means (not shown) such as a sonoid. In order to guide the shuttle lid 35 up and down, a guide piece 36 is provided on the outer surface thereof, and a vertical rail 37 that fits into the guide piece 36 is attached to the housing 1.

In the rice cooker 20 shown in FIG.
A drainage groove 39 is vertically provided on the peripheral wall of No. 6, and a filter 40 is attached in the middle thereof. The lower end of the drainage groove 39 is aligned with the drainage hole 41 of the slide table 19, and the drainage hole 41
Faces the drainage port 42 of the housing 1. Inner pot 27
A notch 43 facing the upper part of the drainage groove 39 is formed in the. The outer pot 26 has a shutter 44 that covers the notch 43 from the outside.
And the shutter 44 is pressed to the closed position by the plunger 46 of the solenoid 45.

In the rice cooker 20 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the drain groove 39 is opened to the outer peripheral surface of the outer pot 26, and the open portion is covered with a pair of upper and lower synthetic resin covers 48 and 49. . The covers 48 and 49 are detachably attached to the outer pot 26 via a concave-convex locking mechanism 50 so that they can be easily removed and washed. The upper cover 48 has an inclined guide 5 for guiding water overflowing from the notch 43.
1 and a filter 40 for collecting rice grains in overflow water
And are integrally formed. An opening 52 connected to the drain hole 41 of the slide table 19 is provided at the lower end of the lower cover 49. The shutter 44 is the drainage groove 3
It is rotatably and detachably supported via a pin 54 in a locking groove 53 provided on the side surface of the pin 9.

As shown in FIG. 1, the middle plate 5 of the housing 1
6 is a supply line 57 for supplying the weighed rice to the rice cooker 20.
Is supported so that it can be raised and lowered. A funnel portion 58 for receiving rice from the discharge tube 9 and a solenoid valve 59 for opening and closing the supply pipe 57 are provided at the upper end of the supply pipe 57. The solenoid valve 59 is internally provided with a ball valve 65 having a hole 65a through which rice can pass (see FIG. 1).
2). Supply line 5 below solenoid valve 59
A water supply pipe 61 having an expansion joint 60 is connected to the water supply pipe 7, and the water supply pipe 61 is connected to a water supply source (not shown) via a solenoid valve 62 and a hose 63.
Then, the water used for polishing the rice and cooking rice is supplied to the rice cooker 20 through the solenoid valve 62, the water supply pipe 61 and the supply pipe 57, and these members constitute a water supply mechanism 64.

Inside the pot lid 35 is provided a rice sharpening stirring mechanism 66 embodying the stirring device of the present invention.
The rice-grinding stirring mechanism 66 is configured by a common member including a rice-grinding mechanism that stirs rice in the rice cooker 20 and sharpens it with water, and a stirring mechanism that stirs rice after cooking rice, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, a shoe-shaped casing 67 as a revolving structure is provided. The tubular portion 68 of the casing 67 is rotatably supported on the shuttle lid 35 by a bearing 69. The upper end of the shaft tube portion 68 is connected to the first motor 71 via the belt transmission mechanism 70, whereby the casing 67 is swung in the horizontal plane. A hollow shaft 73 is rotatably inserted inside the shaft tubular portion 68 via a bearing 72, and its upper end is connected to a second motor 75 via a belt transmission mechanism 74. And this hollow shaft 73
The supply line 57 is slidably and relatively rotatably penetrated through the inside of.

A pair of upper and lower through holes 78 are formed in the lower end projecting portion 77 of the casing 67, and a stirring rod 79 as a stirring member is inserted therein. The stirring rod 79 is formed of a synthetic resin material such as polyurethane in a stick shape, and has a curved portion 80 formed at the upper end, and a rack 83 is engraved on the side surface over the entire length including the curved portion 80. Stirring rod 7
A pressing roller 81 and a pinion 82 are supported by the overhanging portion 77 so that the pinion 82 is held by the rack 83.
Is meshed with. The pinion 82 is connected to a worm wheel 85 via a belt transmission mechanism 84, and the worm wheel 85 is meshed with a worm 86 provided at the lower end of the hollow shaft 73. By this, the stirring bar 7
9 is connected to the second motor 75, and is moved with the rotation of the hollow shaft 73 from the standby position shown by the solid line in FIG. 10 to the descending position shown by the one-dot chain line to an inclined position of about 45 ° shown by the two-dot chain line. At the same time, it is swung by the first motor 71 together with the casing 67 in the horizontal plane.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 12, the drainage mechanism 8
7 is provided with a water absorption pump 88 that sucks up the water in the rice cooker 20. The water absorption pump 88 is installed on the middle plate 56, and a water absorption pipe 90 having an expansion joint 89 is provided on the suction side thereof.
A drain pipe 92 is connected to the discharge side. The water absorption pipe 90 on the upstream side of the expansion joint 89 is the supply pipe 57.
It is inserted into the inside of the rice cooker and is vertically movable with respect to the rice cooker 20 integrally with the supply pipe 57. The drainage pipe 92 is inserted into the pot lid 35 such that the lower end thereof is in contact with the drainage groove 39.

On the other hand, a rack 93 is provided on the outer surface of the supply line 57.
The pinion 94, which is attached to and is engaged with, is connected to a motor 96 via a belt transmission mechanism 95. The motor 96 moves up and down the supply pipe 57 according to the number of rotations thereof to adjust the suction position of the water suction pipe 90. Then, the drainage mechanism 87 drives the water absorption pump 88 and the motor 96 after polishing the rice, and absorbs more water than the required amount in the rice cooker 20.
It is structured such that it is sucked up through 0 and discharged to the outside of the housing 1 through the drain pipe 92, the drain groove 39, the drain hole 41, and the drain port 42. The housing 1
An operation panel 97 is mounted on the front surface of the, and various switches and a display unit (not shown) for setting a rice cooking program and the like are provided here.

Next, the operation of the stirring device in the fully-automatic rice cooker configured as described above will be described. When, for example, 3 to 4 squares of rice are stored in the hopper 3, the weight of the hopper 3 compresses the spring 5 to lower the rice. If the amount of stored rice is sufficient, the gear 11 meshes with the gear 12. At the same time, the leg switch 4 turns on the limit switch 7 to close the control circuit of the rice cooker. Then, when the rice cooking command is output from the control circuit, first, in the weighing mechanism 17,
After the rice in the hopper 3 is weighed, for example, one pair per one rotation of the measuring cup 10, the rice is fed from the discharge cylinder 9 to the supply pipe 57.
It is supplied to the rice cooker 20 via.

Next, in the water supply mechanism 64, the solenoid valve 62 is opened, and water is supplied to the rice cooker 20 through the water supply pipe 61 and the supply pipe 57. Rice cooker 20
When the water level rises to the lower edge of the cutout 43, the shutter 44 is pushed open by water pressure, and the water overflows from the cutout 43 and is discharged to the outside of the housing 1 through the drain groove 39, the drain hole 41, and the drain port 42. To be done.

Now, under this water supply condition, the rice polishing and stirring mechanism 6
No. 6 starts the polishing operation of the rice, first, the hollow shaft 73 is rotated by the second motor 75, the stirring rod 79 is moved from the standby position to the lowered position, and from there, the pressing roller 81 is centered according to the shape of the bending portion 80. Then, it is tilted to an inclined position of about 45 °. Then, the casing 6 is driven by the first motor 71.
7 is swung, and the stirring rod 79 is swung in the horizontal plane while keeping the inclined state, whereby the rice is efficiently stirred in the rice cooker 20 and is ground with water.

In this case, since the stirring rod 79 moves up and down and tilts in accordance with its own shape, it is not necessary to provide a separate guide member, and the stirring rod 79 can be given a complicated movement with a compact structure. It can be installed in 35 limited spaces without any problems. Then, when the predetermined polishing time is over, the hollow shaft 73 is reversed and
The stirring rod 79 is returned from the inclined position to the standby position, the solenoid valve 62 is closed, and the water supply to the rice cooker 20 is stopped.

The rice polishing time can be manually set on the operation panel 97 according to preference, or can be automatically set by a microcomputer according to the amount of cooked rice. Further, the stirring rod 79 may be swung between the lowered position and the inclined position by controlling the rotation speed and the rotation direction of the second motor 75, or the stirring rod 79 may be controlled by the control of the first motor 71. It is also possible to turn in both forward and reverse directions intermittently.

When the rice polishing process is completed, then, in the drainage mechanism 87, the motor 96 lowers the supply pipe 57 and the water absorption pipe 90 into the rice cooker 20. In this state, the water absorption pump 88 is started, and the required amount of water in the rice cooker 20 is supplied to the housing via the water absorption pipe 90, the water absorption pump 88, the drain pipe 92, the drain groove 39, the drain hole 41, and the drain port 42. 1 is discharged to the outside.

Upon completion of the drainage process, next, the solenoid valve 59 seals the supply conduit 57, and the solenoid 45 presses the shutter 44 to seal the notch 43. As a result, the rice cooker 20 is maintained in an airtight state, and in this state, the electric heater 32 is energized to cook rice in the rice cooker 20. It should be noted that a time (for example, 30 to 90 minutes) in which the rice is soaked in water before cooking rice may be set in a timer.

When the rice is cooked, for example, after 15 minutes, the rice sharpening stirring mechanism 66 starts the stirring operation, and the casing 67 is indexed into a plurality of positions at an angle of 30 ° to 60 °. The stirring rod 79 is reciprocated between the standby position and the inclined position at the exit position. With this, the rice cooker 20
The rice inside is efficiently stirred, and the local dryness, stickiness, and yellowing of the rice can be prevented, and the state close to cooking can be maintained. Moreover, in this embodiment, since the stirring mechanism and the rice-polishing mechanism are composed of a common member, the two functions of stirring and rice-polishing can be successfully processed by a single mechanism.

When the rice cooker 20 is taken out for a meal, first, the cooker lid 35 is raised by the solenoid and separated from the rice cooker 20. Next, by opening the door 22 and pulling out the slide table 19, the rice cooker 20 can be smoothly taken out of the housing 1. Even after a meal, the rice cooker 20 can be placed on the slide table 19 and easily stored in the housing 1. Then, in this stored state, the plug 33 is connected to the outlet 34, the electric heater 32 keeps the rice cooker 20 warm, and the rice sharpening stirring mechanism 66 performs the stirring operation every 2-3 hours, whereby the rice is cooked. Is cooked for a long time and is maintained in a state close to being cooked. (Second Embodiment) Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, parts different from the first embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 13 to 17, a stirring cylinder 101 as a stirring member is formed in a square cylinder shape, and a rack 102 is provided on one inner side surface thereof, and the stirring rod 79 of the first embodiment.
It has the function of. The fixed plate 103 is fixed to a casing 67, and a sprocket 104 is rotatably supported on an upper portion thereof and a pinion 105 is rotatably supported on a lower portion thereof. The upper and lower two support rollers 106 are rotatably supported by the fixed plate 103,
It is in contact with the inner surface of the stirring cylinder 101. Chain 107
Is mounted between the sprocket 104 and the worm wheel 85, and another chain 108 is mounted between the sprocket 104 and the pinion 105.

When the worm wheel 85 is rotated, the sprocket 104 is rotated via the chain 107, and when the sprocket 104 is rotated, the pinion 105 is rotated via the chain 108. Therefore,
The rack 102 that meshes with the pinion 105, that is, the stirring cylinder 101 moves up and down.

The two pressing rollers 109 and 110 are arranged on both sides of the stirring cylinder 101 and hold the stirring cylinder 101 in a sandwiched manner. An outer periphery of the rubber cleaner 111 is fitted and fixed to the casing 67, and the center side thereof is radially cut to form a plurality of cleaner pieces 111a. Then, the stirring cylinder 101 is inserted into the cleaner piece 111a to remove the rice adhering to the outer peripheral surface thereof.

The jet pipe 112 for washing with water is the stirring cylinder 101.
And a plurality of injection ports 113 are obliquely opened. Then, after the rice cooker 20 is pulled out,
By operating a button (not shown), the stirring cylinder 101
And the stirring cylinder 101 descends, water is sprayed from the injection port 113 to the stirring cylinder 101, and the stirring cylinder 1
The outer peripheral surface of 01 is washed. A steam discharge lid 114 is attached to the shuttle lid 35 to adjust the steam in the shuttle lid 35 to be discharged.

Thus, in this embodiment, the stirring cylinder 101
Since the rack 102 is formed on the inner surface of the
Rice does not adhere to the area 02. The rice adhering to the outer surface of the stirring cylinder 101 is effectively washed and removed by the cleaner 111, the water from the supply pipe 57, and the water from the injection pipe 112.

The present invention is not applied only to the stirring device in the fully-automatic rice cooker of each of the above embodiments,
The length and width of the stirring rod 79 and the stirring cylinder 101 may be changed, the degree of bending of the bending portion 80 may be changed, the stirring device may be used for various devices, particularly small devices, or for stirring and mixing fluids and powders. It may be used as a stirrer used for kneading or the like, or may be embodied by appropriately changing the shape and configuration of each part without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0033]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the stirring member is swung by the swivel body, moved up and down by the pinion, and tilted in accordance with the shape of the curved portion, which is compact. The structure allows complex stirring of the stirring member to efficiently stir the target object, and by controlling the number of rotations of the motor, the locus of movement of the stirring member can be arbitrarily changed according to the property and shape of the target object. It has the excellent effect of being versatile and expanding its versatility.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a fully automatic rice cooker showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a hopper and a weighing mechanism in the rice cooker of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the hopper and the weighing mechanism when the amount of stored rice is insufficient.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a measuring cup of the measuring mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a measuring operation of the measuring cup.

6 is a cross-sectional view showing the slide table of the rice cooker of FIG. 1 in a pulled-out state.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of FIG.

8 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of a rice cooker in the rice cooker of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a main part of the rice cooker.

10 is a partially cutaway front view showing a rice sharpening stirring mechanism in the rice cooker of FIG. 1. FIG.

11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

12 is a cross-sectional view showing a drainage mechanism in the rice cooker of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a stirring mechanism of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a partially cutaway side view showing a stirring cylinder.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing an injection pipe.

FIG. 16 is a front sectional view showing a pinion and the like supported by a fixed plate.

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing a rubber cleaner.

[Explanation of symbols]

66 ... Rice sharpening stirring mechanism, 67 ... Casing as revolving body, 71 ... First motor, 75 ... Second motor, 79 ... Stirring bar as stirring member, 80 ... Curved portion, 81 ... Pressing roller, 82 ... Pinion, 83 ... rack, 101 ... stirring cylinder as a stirring member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A revolving structure which is revolved by a first motor,
A stirring member having a curved portion is supported, a rack is formed on a side surface of the stirring member including the curved portion, and a pinion that meshes with the rack and a pressing roller that clamps the stirring member together with the pinion so that the stirring member can move up and down are arranged on the revolving structure. A stirrer provided with a pinion connected to a second motor.