JPH09252949A - Hot-keeping pot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent boiled rice from being spoilt 10 a short period on time even when rice is cooked in long time set reservation mode, by a method wherein high- temperature hot-keeping is preformed when the period of time until rice cooking by a reservation cooking device starts or finishes is a specified period of time or longer. SOLUTION: When a rice cooking reservation time is set, and a reservation switch 25E is pressed to start a reservation rice cooking by a reservation rice cooking device 77, the rice cooking by a rice cooking controller 71 starts 55 minutes before the reservation time and the hot-keeping operation by a hot-keeping controller 72 takes place after the rice cooking is completed at the reservation time. At the same time, a low- temperature hot-keeping prohibiting device 78 subtracts the preset time from the reservation time to obtain an operating period of a timer. When time operating period is less than 14 hours, the low-temperature-hot keeping prohibiting device 78 permits a low-temperature hot-keeping controller 74 to perform a low-temperature hot-keeping operation, and when it is 14 hours or longer, the prohibiting device 78 prohibits a hot-keeping controller switching device 75 from automatically switching the controls from a normal hot-keeping controller 73 to the low-temperature hot-keeping controller 74 based on the time control and a hot-keeping switch 25B from switching to the low-temperature hot-keeping controller 74.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat-retaining pot in which the heat-retaining temperature is lowered to improve the heat-retaining state of rice, and particularly, the heat-retaining pot in which rice is not deteriorated during heat-retention after the rice is cooked during reserved rice. Regarding

[0002]

In recent years, a rice cooker such as a rice cooker having a heat insulation function of this type not only merely cooks rice and keeps it warm, but also reserves the time when the rice is cooked or waits until the rice is cooked. There is a function that reserves the remaining time, performs reserved rice cooking by a timer operation, and automatically keeps the heat after finishing the rice cooking. Moreover, as a method of improving the heat retention state of the rice in the pan, the heat retention temperature of the rice, which is usually 70 ° C. to 76 ° C., is temporarily lowered to a low temperature of about 60 ° C. to 66 ° C., Those that suppress yellowing and odor by suppressing the Maillard reaction and suppress the generation of heat retaining odor due to oxidative deterioration of fatty acids are adopted.

By the way, the temperature at which the spoilage bacterium that spoils rice can grow is mostly about 35 ° C. to 55 ° C., but some spoilage bacteria are known to grow even at about 65 ° C. . However, the time for keeping the heat retention temperature low is 1
If the time is as short as 0 hours or less, the rotten bacteria will not grow to the extent that the rice will rot, and the time for keeping the rice at a low temperature is kept within this 10 hours.

On the other hand, when the rice is cooked by the reserved rice cooking function, until the rice cooking during the timer operation is started,
The rice in the pot is soaked in water. When this rice is soaked in water for a long time, the sourness becomes stronger due to the growth of lactic acid bacteria, the acidity (pH) does not improve even after rice is cooked, and the rice is cooked with a sour odor, which is a cause of deterioration in taste. Has become. In addition, this phenomenon becomes particularly noticeable when the room temperature is high, and a sour odor is generated in about 17 hours when the water temperature is 20 ° C. and about 10 hours when the water temperature is 25 ° C. It may drop to less than 5 and lead to corruption. Therefore, when the reserved rice is cooked, there is a restriction that the timer operation time is used within 14 hours in consideration of the use especially in summer when the water temperature is high.

However, some users do not comply with this usage constraint and set the timer operating time to a long time to make reserved rice. In this case, the cooked rice is already apt to rot immediately after it is cooked. In addition, when the temperature is kept at a low temperature, it will be putrefaction in a short time. And, in fact, especially after being affected by the proliferating bacteria whose proliferative temperature is about 65 ° C.
In a very short time of about 5 hours, a problem occurs in which rice becomes rotten.

[0006] In order to deal with such a problem, it has been proposed to disable the timer operation for more than 14 hours. However, the problem of rotting when rice is soaked in water for a long time requires special attention when the water temperature is relatively high, but when the water temperature is 10 ° C or less, the timer operating time is about 23 hours. Even if it is set to, no troublesome corruption will occur, and conversely, by restricting the timer operating time within 14 hours, there is actually a situation in which it is not adversely affected by soaking for a long time exceeding 14 hours. However, the timer operating time can only be set to about 14 hours at the longest, which causes the dissatisfaction that the usability at the time of reserved rice cooking deteriorates.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a heat-retaining pot that can improve the heat-retaining state of rice by low-temperature heat-retaining and prevent spoilage of rice when reserved rice is cooked without impairing usability. Its purpose is to provide.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the heat-retaining pot of the invention according to claim 1 is a heat-retention control means capable of selectively keeping rice at a plurality of high-temperature and low-temperature heat-retention temperatures. Reserved rice cooking means that finishes rice cooking at a predetermined time or after a predetermined time and starts heat retention, and if the time until the rice starts to be cooked by the reserved rice cooking means or until the completion of rice cooking is a predetermined time or more, keep it at high temperature It is characterized by.

In this case, if the user sets the timer operating time to a long time and cooks the reserved rice, the heat retention temperature after the rice is cooked becomes high, so that the timer operating time is long for a long time especially under the conditions of summer. Even if the rice is reserved and cooked with the setting set to, it is possible to eliminate the conventional problem that the rice rots in a short time by lowering the heat retention temperature. Further, even if the timer operation time is a predetermined time or more, the heat retention control means continues the heat retention operation while increasing the heat retention temperature, so that the timer operation beyond the predetermined time is forcibly impossible. The inconvenience can be solved at the same time.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the warming pot according to the second aspect of the present invention has a warming control means capable of selectively warming the rice at a plurality of warming temperatures of high temperature and low temperature, and at the time of reserved rice cooking. After the rice is cooked in a state where the waiting time until the start or the end of the cooked rice is longer than the predetermined time, the heat retention temperature is automatically raised to a high temperature.

In this case, if the reserved rice is cooked with the waiting time until the rice is cooked for a long time, the heat retention temperature after the rice is cooked is automatically selected to be high or cannot be lowered. Even if the timer operation time is set to a long time and reserved rice is cooked especially under the condition of summer, the conventional problem that the rice rots in a short time can be eliminated by lowering the heat retention temperature. In addition, even if the timer operation time is longer than a predetermined time, the heat retention temperature of the heat retention control means is automatically selected to be a high temperature, so that the conventional user-friendliness makes it impossible to force the timer operation beyond the predetermined time. Also,
Can be solved at the same time.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention applied to an electromagnetic induction heating rice cooker will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1 showing the entire cross-sectional view, reference numeral 1 denotes a vessel main body, which is a bottomed cylindrical inner frame 2 having an open upper surface, and an outer frame having the inner frame 2 therein and forming an outer shell of the vessel main body 1. Frame 3
And a bottom plate 4 that covers the bottom side of the outer frame 3. The inner frame 2 serving as a container housing portion is made of PET resin containing glass fiber,
The pot 5 is formed in a shape substantially similar to the outer shape of the pot 5 removably accommodated in the inner frame 2.

The shape of the pan 5 in which the rice to be cooked, water, and the rice to be kept warm during storage is accommodated is a bottomed tubular shape with an open top. A pan flange portion 6 that horizontally protrudes outward is formed on the uppermost portion of the outer side surface. An annular pan handle 7 is provided on the side and the lower part of the pan flange portion 6, and the pan handle 7 is attached to the outer frame 3
It is supported in a suspended state by being placed on the pan supporting portion 8 formed on the upper end surface of the. In addition, the pan 5 is a pan body 9 mainly made of aluminum or the like having excellent thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance, and a heating layer 10 made of a magnetic metal material provided from the outer bottom surface part to the lower side surface of the pan body 9. It is formed by and.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a heating coil which is provided outside the inner frame 2 and corresponds to a pan heating device for heating the heat generating layer 10 of the pan 5 by electromagnetic induction. The heating coil 11 is spirally wound and fixed on the outer surface of the inner frame 2 at a position facing the heating layer 10 on the curved surface portion from the lower side surface to the bottom surface of the pan 5. On the outside of the heating coil 11, there is provided a coil cover 12 having an insulating property, which is a mixture of a plastic material and a material having a high magnetic permeability mainly including iron oxide. 13 is
It is a pan temperature sensor that is provided in the vicinity of the heating layer 10 of the pan 5 and has a negative characteristic thermistor inside, which is a pan temperature sensor.
Further, 14 is located near the heating layer 10 and the heating coil 11,
This is a thermal fuse provided on the outer surface of the inner frame 2.

Reference numeral 15 is a heating substrate provided with an inverter circuit component 16 for supplying a predetermined high frequency current to the heating coil 11. The heating board 15 is disposed between the bottom of the container body 1 and the support 17 together with the cooling fan 19 having the motor 18 by the support 17 provided inside the container body 1. An intake port 20 is provided at the bottom of the bottom plate 4 facing the cooling fan 19, and the bottom plate 4 facing one side of the heating substrate 15 is provided.
An exhaust port 21 is provided on the side surface of the. The support 17 is provided in an upright state on one side of the heating substrate 15, and between the support 17 and the front surface of the main body 1, an LCD 23, an LED 24 and various LCDs forming an operation panel 22 as display operation means. The display operation component 26 including the switch 25 and the power supply circuit component 27 other than the inverter circuit component 16 are provided mounted on the substrate 28. The configuration of the operation panel 22 will be described later in detail in the description of FIGS. 2 and 3. Then, when the cooling fan 19 is rotated by energizing the motor 18, the air taken in from the intake port 20 is sent out from the heating substrate 15 through the substrate 28 to the exhaust port 21 to support the support 17 and the bottom plate 4.
It is designed to forcibly cool each part in the space surrounded by and. In addition, 29 is a cord reel for winding the power cord 30 provided on the lower rear side of the outer frame 3.

Reference numeral 31 is a lid for covering the upper opening of the pan 5 so as to be openable and closable. The lid body 31 has an outer lid 32 corresponding to an upper member of the lid body 31, an outer lid cover 33 provided along a lower outer periphery of the outer lid 32, and a space below the outer lid 32. And a lid lower surface plate 34 made of a metal material such as aluminum for directly covering the upper opening of the pot 5. Reference numeral 35 denotes a lid packing sandwiched and held between the outer lid cover 33 and the lid lower surface plate 34, and the lower end of the lid packing 35 comes into close contact with the pot flange portion 6 of the pot 5 when the lid 31 is closed. Main body 1
A hinge shaft 36 is supported on the upper rear surface of the
The lid 31 on the side opposite to 36 or the front side of the main body 1 has a lid 31
A clamp button 37 for locking the container body 1 is provided. Although not shown, an elastic member such as a torsion coil spring for urging the lid 31 in the direction of always opening the hinge shaft 36 is provided inside the hinge shaft 36. The lid 31 can be opened with the hinge shaft 36 as the center of rotation.

A code heater 38 for heating the lid lower surface plate 34 at the time of rice cooking and heat retention is provided on the upper surface side, that is, the back side of the lid lower surface plate 34 which is the lower surface of the lid body 31. The code heater 38 serving as the lid heater electrically forms a parallel circuit with a side surface heater 39 such as a code heater provided on the outer surface of the inner frame 2 for keeping heat. Further, a lid temperature sensor 41 including a negative characteristic thermistor for detecting the temperature of the lower surface of the lid 31 is provided on the back side of the lid lower surface plate 34. Both the code heater 38 and the lid temperature sensor 41 are fixed to the lid lower surface plate 34 by an aluminum foil 42 with a double-sided adhesive tape interposed, and the outer lid is formed on the upper surface of the aluminum foil 42 while forming a predetermined space. The heat insulating plate 43 is attached and fixed together with the cover 33 and the lid lower surface plate 34. Further, a steam penetration hole 44 is provided substantially in the center of the lid lower surface plate 34, and the steam penetration hole 44 is provided when cooking rice.
It is configured such that it enters the steam port 45 from the inside and is discharged to the outside from the lid 31. Reference numeral 46 is a sensor retainer for holding the lid temperature sensor 41 on the upper surface of the lid lower surface plate 34.

The cord heater 38 and the side heater 39 are connected in series with a switching control element such as a triac (not shown), and the lid lower plate 34 is brought to a predetermined temperature according to the temperature detected by the lid temperature sensor 41. The inner frame 2 is heated while the temperature is controlled. Further, the cord heater 38 and the side heater 39 may be used to heat the lid bottom plate 34 and the inner frame 2 at the time of rice cooking and heat retention by controlling a predetermined energization time. When a high-frequency current is supplied to the heating coil 11 from the inverter circuit component 16 mounted on the heating board 15, an alternating magnetic field is generated in the heating coil 11, and an eddy current is generated in the heating layer 10 of the pan 5 located in the magnetic field. Then, by converting this eddy current into Joule heat, the heating layer 10 generates heat and the pan 5 is heated.
It is configured to heat the cooked food or the warmed food inside.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, the structure of the operation panel 22 will be described in detail. The operation panel 22 has an LCD 23 and an LED 24, which are display means on the upper part when viewed from the front, and a switch 25 on the lower part. The LCD 23 includes a current time display section 23A that displays the current time and a reserved time display section 23B that displays the reserved time for rice cooking or low temperature insulation. Also, the LED 24 is a rice cook LE that lights up during the rice cook process.
D24A and normal heat insulation LED24B that lights up during normal heat insulation
And a low temperature keeping LED 24C which is turned on when the temperature is kept low, and a reservation LED 24D which is turned on when the reserved rice is set. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the switch 25 includes a rice cooking switch 25A for instructing the start of the rice cooking operation, a heat retention switch 25B for instructing the start of the heat retention operation, and a off switch for stopping all the operations and turning it off. 25C, a heat retention reheat switch 25D for instructing reheat at the time of heat retention, a reservation switch 25E for instructing to start a reservation operation, and a clock switch 25F for instructing to start adjusting the current time and timer time displayed on the LCD , Hour adjustment switch 25G and minute adjustment switch 25 for adjusting the hour and minute of this current time and timer time
H and.

Now, each component of the switch 25, which is a tact switch, will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3. Reference numeral 51 is a transparent pipe having a material thickness of 1 to 3 mm which forms the outer peripheral portion of the switch 25. The material of this transparent pipe 51 is transparent acrylic,
When the transparent pipe 51 is preferably made of a green or orange colored light-transmitting material, the design of the operation panel 22 is further improved. Transparent pipe 51 located in front of operation panel 22
The surface of is subjected to a mirror surface or a treatment similar thereto, whereby the surface of the transparent pipe 51 can be illuminated more brightly. Reference numeral 52 is a switch body of the switch 25 mounted on the substrate 28 surrounded by the transparent pipe 51. A pressing member 53 is provided on the upper part of the switch body 52 so as to be vertically movable via an elastic member (not shown).
By pressing, the contacts inside the switch body 52 are switched. The pressing member 53 is a transparent pipe 51.
It is provided inside so that it does not rattle along the inner surface of the transparent pipe 51 and that the pressing force is smoothly transmitted downward. For example, the indications such as “cooking rice” and “warm” of each switch 25 are formed on the upper surface of the pressing member 53. In the space 54 surrounded by the transparent pipe 51 between the pressing member 53 and the substrate 28, together with the switch body 52, for example, a light source 55 such as an LED, which is preferably a high-luminance illuminating means.
Is provided.

When any switch 25 is pushed, the contact of the corresponding switch body 52 is switched, and the operation of the pushed switch 25 is started.
The light source 55 located at the same position as the pressed switch 25 lights up.
Illumination light from the light source 55 passes through the inside of the transparent pipe 51 from the inner side surface of the transparent pipe 51, and is guided to the surface of the mirror-treated transparent pipe 51. Therefore, when viewed from the top surface of the operation panel 22, the peripheral surface of the pressed switch 25 becomes particularly ring-shaped and shines, and the display portion of the pressing member 53 inside the transparent pipe 51 is illuminated and its operation is performed. The state can be clearly understood.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration. In the figure, reference numeral 61 denotes a microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a microcomputer).
It is simply called a microcomputer. Although not shown, these are configured to include a clock device, a storage device such as a ROM or a RAM, and an input / output device in addition to a control device and an arithmetic device that constitute a known microprocessor. . On the input side of the microcomputer 61, the pan temperature sensor 13 and the lid temperature sensor 41 together with the switch 25 of the operation panel 22 are provided.
And a load detection circuit 62 for detecting the presence or absence of the pan 5, and a microcomputer
Reset circuits 63 that output a reset signal to 61 are connected to each other. Reference numeral 64 denotes a power failure detection circuit that detects the occurrence of a power failure of the power supply. When the power failure detection circuit 64 detects a power failure, the power failure backup circuit 65 is configured to hold the content stored in the storage device of the microcomputer 61. ing.

On the other hand, the output side of the microcomputer 61 is a heating means I for supplying a predetermined high frequency current to the heating coil 11.
An H heating device 66, a cord heater 38 corresponding to a lid heater, and a body lid heating device 67 including a triac for controlling the on / off of a side heater 39 corresponding to a body heater, and a buzzer notification means 68 having a piezoelectric buzzer. , LCD23 and L mentioned above
ED24 is connected respectively. Then, each input signal of the switch 25, each temperature data signal from the pan temperature sensor 13 and the lid temperature sensor 41, the load detection signal from the load detection circuit 62 based on the heating load input data of the pan 5, and the reset circuit 63. Reset signal and the power failure signal from the power failure detection circuit 64 are input to the microcomputer 61, and the microcomputer 61 is operated in accordance with the control sequence programmed in the storage device of the microcomputer 61 in advance.
Based on the control signal output from the IH heating device 66, the body lid heating device 67, the buzzer notification means 68, the LCD 23 and the LE.
While controlling D24, a series of operations from rice cooking to heat retention,
It is configured to perform reservation cooking and the like.

Next, the functional configuration of the microcomputer 61 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 71 is a rice-cooking control means for controlling the rice-cooking operation from the hot-pot cooking to the murmur while mainly heating the pan 5 with the heating coil 11 by electromagnetic induction. This rice cooking control means 71
When water absorption of rice in the pot 5 progresses and the temperature of the pot 5 reaches a predetermined cooking temperature exceeding the boiling temperature, heat the rice and heat the rice. After the end, the next warming control means 72 performs warming. The heat retention control means 72 has a function of controlling the rice in the pan 5 to a predetermined heat retention temperature while electromagnetically heating the pan 5 by the heating coil 11, but the heat retention control means of the present embodiment.
72 is a normal heat retention control means 73 that keeps the rice at a normal high temperature of 70 ° C to 76 ° C, and a low temperature retention that keeps the rice at a low temperature of 60 ° C to 66 ° C based on the temperature detected by the pan temperature sensor 13. The control means 74 is provided, and the heat retaining operation is selectively performed by either one of them. In addition, the cord heater should be used while cooking rice, purging and keeping warm.
The lid lower surface plate 34 is heated by 38 to prevent dew condensation on the lid lower surface plate 34.

When the rice cook control means 71 finishes cooking the rice, the heat retention control means 72 uses the timekeeping device in the microcomputer 61 to perform the normal heat retention by the normal heat retention control means 73 and then for a predetermined time (for example, 6 hours). When a certain time has passed, the low temperature keeping control means 74 automatically switches to the low temperature keeping control, and when this low temperature keeping has passed another predetermined time (for example, 5 hours), the normal keeping control means 73 returns to the normal keeping control switching means. Equipped with 75. Further, the heat retention control switching means 75
When the heat retention switch 25B is operated within a predetermined time (for example, 12 hours) after the rice is cooked, the heat retention control by the heat retention control means 71 is switched from normal heat retention to low temperature heat retention or from low temperature heat retention to normal heat retention. Have When the heat retention switch 25B is operated to switch the heat retention temperature from normal heat retention to low temperature heat retention, the heat retention control switching means 75
The low temperature heat retention control means 74 lowers the heat retention temperature, and the reserved time display portion 23B of the LCD 23 causes the low temperature heat retention to return to the normal heat retention time (not the time when the control is returned to the normal heat retention control means 73, but the pan 5). The time at which the rice inside returns to the normal heat retention temperature is displayed), and the heat retention control means 72 is reserved so that the rice becomes hot at this display time. At this time, the heat-retention control switching means 75 takes into account, for example, 1
The heat insulation control means 72 is controlled so as to keep the normal heat about a time before. In the case of the present embodiment, the reserved time display portion 23B displays the time obtained by adding 6 hours to the current time when the heat retention switch 25B switches to the low temperature retention.

Here, if it is acceptable to keep the low temperature insulation at the reserved time displayed on the reserved time display section 23B, no operation is required, but if the reserved time is desired to be changed arbitrarily. When the hour adjustment switch 25G and the minute adjustment switch 25H are operated, the low temperature keeping is performed at the changed reserved time. That is, the heat retention control switching means 75 of the present embodiment, by changing the low temperature heat retention time by the low temperature heat retention control means 74, the low temperature heat retention reservation means 76 for changing the heat retention temperature of the heat retention control means 72 from a low temperature to a high temperature at a predetermined time. I have it. When the warming operation is started by the warming switch 25B without cooking rice, it may be possible to store cold rice in the pan 5, so first, the normal warming control means 73
Even if the heat retention switch 25B is pressed after that, the buzzer informing means 68 informs the operator that the operation is invalid and the low temperature insulation control means 74
It is configured so that the low temperature insulation due to is not performed.

Reference numeral 77 denotes a reserved rice cooking means for terminating rice cooking and starting heat retention at a predetermined time displayed on the reserved time display portion 23B in the off state. The predetermined time here can be arbitrarily set by operating the hour adjustment switch 25G and the minute adjustment switch 25H. Further, the reserved rice cooking means 77 operates when the reservation switch 25E is pressed in the off state. When the timer operating time from the start of the reserved rice cooking by the reserved rice cooking means 73 to the reserved time of the rice cooking end is a predetermined time (for example, 14 hours) or more, 78 is the heat retention by the heat retention control means 72 after the rice cooking is completed. It is a low-temperature heat retention prohibition means that is a prohibition means for automatically selecting a high temperature and prohibiting low temperature heat retention.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the procedure for switching between normal heat retention and low temperature heat retention will be described with reference to FIG. 6. When the rice cooking operation by the rice cooking control means 71 is completed (step S1), the process proceeds to step S2, and the heat retention control means 72 first causes the normal heat retention control means 73. Start normal heat retention by. At the same time, the normal heat retention LED 24B of the operation panel 22 lights up, and the normal heat retention control means 73 controls the heat retention temperature in the pan 5 to 73.
Set to ° C. Then, in the next step S3, the heat retention control switching means 75 determines whether or not 6 hours have elapsed after the rice cooking was completed. If 6 hours have not elapsed, the heat retention switch 25B is further operated in step S4. It is determined whether or not it has been done. If 6 hours have passed after the rice has been cooked without operating the heat retention switch 25B, or if the heat retention switch 25B has been operated before the 6 hours have passed after the rice has been cooked, then the process proceeds to the next step S5, and the low temperature The low temperature heat retention by the heat retention control means 74 is started.

In step S5, the normal heat insulation LED 24
B and the low temperature insulation LED 24C are turned on, and the low temperature insulation control means 74 sets the insulation temperature in the pan 5 to 63 ° C. Then, in the next step S6, it is judged by the heat retention control switching means 75 whether or not the low temperature heat retention has elapsed for 5 hours, and if it has not elapsed for 5 hours, it is further determined in step S7 whether or not the heat retention switch 25B has been operated. To judge. Low temperature insulation is 5 without operating insulation switch 25B.
When the time has elapsed, or when the heat retention switch 25B is operated before the low temperature heat retention has elapsed for 5 hours, the process proceeds to the next step S8, and the normal temperature retention control means 73 similar to the step S2 is used to perform the normal temperature retention. Start again.

Then, the process proceeds to step S9, and the heat retention control switching means 75 determines whether or not the heat retention switch 25B has been operated. Then, when the heat retention switch 25B is operated, the heat retention control switching means 75 determines whether or not 12 hours have elapsed from the end of rice cooking (step S10). At this time, if 12 hours have not passed since the end of cooking rice, step S
Returning to the procedure of 5, the low temperature keeping control means 74 keeps the low temperature. On the other hand, if 12 hours have passed since the end of rice cooking, the process moves to the next step S11, the buzzer is notified, the operation of the heat retention switch 25B is invalidated, and step S9 is performed.
Return to step. That is, after 12 hours have passed since the end of rice cooking, the low-temperature heat-retaining control means 74 does not perform low-temperature heat retention.

Next, the procedure for changing the reserved time for low temperature insulation will be described with reference to FIG. As is apparent from the flowchart of FIG. 6, when the heat retention switch 25B is operated during the normal heat retention by the normal heat retention control means 73, the operation of the heat retention switch 25B is invalid as long as 12 hours have not elapsed from the end of rice cooking. However, the low temperature heat retention control means 74 starts the low temperature heat retention (steps S21 to S2).
Four). Then, the process proceeds to step S25, and the reserved time display unit 23B of the LCD 23 displays, for example, the time 6 hours later as the reserved time display for switching to normal heat retention.

Thereafter, the low temperature keeping reservation means 76 judges whether or not the reserved time has been changed by the hour adjusting switch 25G and the minute adjusting switch 25H within 5 minutes after starting the low temperature keeping at step S24. (Step S26). If it is within 5 minutes after starting the low temperature heat retention, the reservation means 76 causes the hour adjusting switch 25G and the minute adjusting switch 25H.
The reservation time is changed on the basis of the switch signal from the CPU and stored in the reservation time storage means such as a memory (step S
27). On the other hand, if 5 minutes have passed since the start of the low temperature heat retention, the low temperature heat retention is continued at the reservation time stored so far without accepting the change of the reservation time.

The control of the low temperature keeping control by the low temperature keeping control means 74 is performed until one hour before the reserved time stored in the low temperature keeping reservation means 76 (step S28). After this,
The heat retention control means 72 switches to the normal heat retention control by the normal heat retention control means 73 (step S29), and at the next step S30, when the reserved time 6 hours after the start of the low temperature heat retention is reached, the reserved time display section The reserved time displayed on 23B is turned off, and the reservation operation by the heat retention control switching means 75 ends (step S31).

FIG. 8 shows the processing procedure of the reserved rice cooking function. In the figure, when the rice cooking reservation time, which is the cooking time, is preset by the hour adjustment switch 25G and the minute adjustment switch 25H, and the reservation rice is started by the reservation rice cooking means 77 by pressing the reservation switch 25E (step S41).
The rice is started to be cooked by the rice-cooking control means 71 55 minutes before the rice-cooking reservation time, the rice is cooked at the rice-cooking reservation time, and the heat-insulation control means 72 switches to heat insulation. Further, when the reserved rice cooking is started in step S41, the low temperature insulation prohibiting means 78 calculates the timer operating time obtained by subtracting the current time from the rice cooking reserved time (step S42). If the timer operating time is less than 14 hours, , While permitting the low temperature insulation by the low temperature insulation control means 74 (steps S43, S
44), when the timer operating time is 14 hours or more, the normal heat retention control means 73 performed by the heat retention control switching means 75.
To the low temperature keeping control means 74 based on time management and the switching to the low temperature keeping control means 74 by the keeping switch 25B are prohibited at the same time (steps S43, S45). Also,
When step S45 is reached, when the heat retention switch 25B is operated, a buzzer informs that the operation of the heat retention switch 25B is invalid.

On the other hand, the control procedure of the code heater 38, that is, the lid heater during heat retention will be described with reference to FIG. When the rice cooking by the rice cooking control means 71 is completed in step S51 and the heat retention operation of the next step S52 is started, the heat retention control means
Step 72 determines whether or not the rice in the pan 5 has reached a predetermined heat retention control temperature (step S53). If the rice in the pan 5 does not reach the predetermined heat retention control temperature, 200
Second power failure → 30 second power supply → 150 second power failure → 30 second power supply,
The cord heater 38 is controlled to be disconnected (step S5) by repeating a disconnection cycle of energization for 30 seconds / disconnection for 100 seconds.
Four). Meanwhile, the heat retention control means 72 continuously monitors the heat retention control temperature based on the procedure of step S53. On the other hand, in step S53, when the rice in the pan 5 reaches the predetermined heat retention control temperature, the process proceeds to step S55,
The lower surface plate 34 of the lid is heated while controlling the temperature of the cord heater 38 so that the temperature detected by the lid sensor 41 becomes 3 ° C. higher than the temperature detected by the pot temperature sensor 13, that is, the heat retention temperature of the pot 5. Then, in step S56, when 6 hours have elapsed since the start of the heat retention, the process proceeds to step S57 and the lid sensor 41
The lid lower surface plate 34 is heated while controlling the temperature of the cord heater 38 so that the detected temperature of 1 is higher by 1 ° C. than the heat retention temperature of the pan 5.

As described above, according to the above-mentioned embodiment, the heat retention control means 72 capable of selectively retaining the heat of the rice at a plurality of heat retention temperatures of high temperature and low temperature, and finishing the rice cooking at a predetermined time to start the heat retention. In a warming pot equipped with reserved rice cooking means 77
When the time from the start of reserved rice cooking to the end of rice cooking is a predetermined time (14 hours in the embodiment) or more, the low temperature heat retention prohibiting means 78 prohibits the low temperature heat retention by the heat retention controlling means 72 after the rice is cooked. Is configured as follows. In this case, if the user sets the timer operation time to a long time and cooks the rice for reservation, the temperature cannot be kept low after the rice is cooked. Even if the reserved rice is cooked with the time set, it is possible to eliminate the conventional inconvenience that the rice rots in a short time by lowering the heat retention temperature. In addition, even if the time from the start of reserved rice cooking to the end of rice cooking is more than a predetermined time, the heat retention control means 72 continues the heat retention operation while keeping the heat retention temperature high, so the timer exceeding the predetermined time is exceeded. The conventional inconvenience of forcibly making operation impossible can be solved at the same time.

The reserved rice cooking means 77 does not have to set a predetermined rice cooking reservation time as in the present embodiment, but may have a subtracting timer for setting the remaining time until the rice cooking is completed. . That is, the reserved rice cooking means 77 may be configured to finish the rice cooking and start the heat retention after a predetermined time. Further, the low temperature keeping prohibition unit 78 may be configured to compare the time from setting reserved rice cooking to starting rice cooking with a predetermined 14 hours. All of these modifications can be easily achieved by changing the control sequence in the microcomputer 61.

In the above embodiment, the rice cooker is capable of selectively keeping rice at a plurality of high and low heat-retaining temperatures, and the waiting time before cooking rice during reserved rice is longer than a predetermined time. After the rice is cooked in (1), a low-temperature heat retention prohibition means (78) for automatically selecting the heat retention temperature by the heat retention control means (72) after the rice is cooked to a high temperature and prohibiting the low temperature heat retention is provided. Also in this case, if you set the waiting time to cook rice for a long time and make reserved rice, you can not lower the heat retention temperature after the rice is cooked, so especially under summer conditions,
Even if the reserved rice is cooked with the waiting time until the rice is set to a long time, the conventional problem that the rice is spoiled in a short time can be eliminated by lowering the heat retention temperature. Further, even if the waiting time until cooking rice is a predetermined time or more, the heat retention temperature of the heat retention control means 72 is automatically selected as a high temperature,
The conventional inconvenience of forcibly making the timer operation beyond a predetermined time impossible is also solved at the same time.

Although not shown in this embodiment, when rice is soaked in water for a long time, the higher the water temperature is, the stronger the adverse effect is. Therefore, the water temperature in the pan 5 detected by the pan temperature sensor 13 is
If the temperature is about 15 ° C. or lower at the time of starting rice cooking, it is determined that there is little possibility of rice rotting due to low temperature insulation even if the timer operation time is 14 hours or more, and the low temperature insulation prohibition means 78 is set. It may be configured not to operate. As a result, under specific conditions, it is possible to automatically switch the low-temperature heat retention by the heat-retention control switching means 75 and manually switch the low-temperature heat retention by the low-temperature heat retention reservation means 76, which further improves the usability during reserved rice cooking.

By the way, in various cooking devices including a conventional warming pot, when various switches provided on the operation panel are operated, the entire operated switch is illuminated from the back surface, for example, "rice cooked" formed on the upper surface of the switch. ，
It was designed to illuminate the letters "warm" or "reserved". However, in such a method, if the size of the switch is increased in consideration of ease of use, there is a problem that the illuminance from the back surface of the switch to the character portion is insufficient and the entire character on the upper surface of the switch becomes difficult to see.

In view of the above, the present embodiment has another object to provide a switch device for various cookers whose operation status is easy to understand even if the switch is enlarged.

This is composed of a switch main body 52, a pressing member 53 corresponding to an operable member for changing the contact position of the switch main body 52, and a transparent light guide provided on the outer peripheral portion of the pressing member 53. This is achieved by including a pipe 51 and a light source 55 that lights up when the pressing member 53 is operated and supplies light to the transparent pipe 51. The operating member here is
For example, a sliding member such as a seesaw switch is also included. Also,
Everything that guides the light from the light source 55 to the outer peripheral portion of the operating member is included in the light guide body here.

In this embodiment, since the light from the light source 53 is guided to the periphery of the pressing member 53 by the transparent pipe 51, the periphery of the switch 25 can be emphasized so that the switch 25 can be enlarged. However, the display portion formed on the upper surface of the pressing member 53 becomes easy to see. Further, by illuminating the switch 25 in a ring shape, it is possible to give the user a soft impression and eliminate the complexity of the operation panel 22.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the common detailed description thereof will be omitted to avoid duplication.

In this embodiment, instead of the normal heat retention control means 73 and the low temperature heat retention control means 74 in the first embodiment, a high heat retention course control means 81 and a fresh heat retention course control means 82 are provided in the heat retention control means 72. The heat insulation course can be selected from two types of heat insulation courses, for example, a higher heat insulation course and a fresh heat insulation course. In addition, the selected high or fresh heat retention course is displayed on the LED 23.

Reference numeral 83 is a heat retention selection switch for selecting a heat retention course, and by operating the heat retention selection switch 83, the heat retention control means 72 is switched to either the higher heat retention course or the fresh heat retention course. . Also,
Each heat-retention course can be switched arbitrarily during the heat-retention and during the cooked rice, heat-retention, and the off state where no reservation is made. The high or fresh heat retention course selected by the heat retention selection switch 83 is stored in the RAM of the microcomputer 61, and when turned off, the stored heat retention course is preferentially set and displayed on the LCD 23. The RA of the microcomputer 61
In the configuration in which the heat retention course is not stored in M, the fresh heat retention course is preferentially set and displayed when turned off. In any case, when the battery for the operation backup of the microcomputer 61 runs out, or when the ROM of the microcomputer 61 is reset and the ROM is in the initial state,
The fresh insulation course is set and displayed with priority. With such a configuration, the fresh heat retention course in which the heat retention state is good is preferentially set and displayed, and the usability is improved.

When the high heat retention course is set by the high heat retention course control means 81, the high heat retention course control means 81 heats the rice after the rice is cooked or after the reserved rice is cooked by the reserved rice cooker 77. After starting heat retention by 25B, or heat retention reheat switch 25D
Even after using the heat retention and reheating by the, the LCD 23 displays that it is a high heat retention, and at the same time, while maintaining the rice at a high temperature of 73 ° C, the lid heating by the code heater 38 is controlled to be 3 ° C higher than the heating temperature. To do.

On the other hand, the fresh heat retention course control means 82
When the fresh heat retention course is set by the above, the fresh heat retention course control means 82 displays the display of the fresh heat retention course as it is at the time of heat retention after cooking rice or reserved rice.
, While maintaining the rice at a high temperature of 73 ° C for control. Then, when the heat retention has passed for 6 hours, the rice is switched to a low temperature of 63 ° C., and the lid heating by the code heater 38 is controlled to be 3 ° C. higher than the previously maintained temperature, and 1 ° C. higher than the temperature maintained. Switch to. After that, when the low temperature state has passed for 5 hours, the control is switched again to maintain the rice at a high temperature of 73 ° C., and the lid heating is continued to be controlled to be 1 ° C. higher than the heat retention temperature in the low temperature state.

In addition, when the waiting time for the reserved rice is 14 hours or more, the fresh heat insulation course is automatically selected, and when the reserved rice starts to be heated after the rice has been cooked, the LCD 23
Is configured to continuously display the fresh heat retention course during the timer operation for reservation (the display is not changed until the heat retention selection switch 83 is operated). In this case, the heat retention control is performed by the fresh heat retention course control means 82, but the heat retention operation for switching the rice to a low temperature of 63 ° C. is omitted, and the heat retention temperature is not set to a low temperature. Although not shown in FIG. 10, the respective components such as the rice cooking control means 71 and the reserved rice cooking means 77 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

That is, in the second embodiment, in addition to the action and effect of the first embodiment, when the fresh heat-retaining course which is the low-temperature heat-retaining is selected, the temperature of the lid lower plate 34 is 6 hours after the heat-retaining. Since the temperature is lower than + 3 ° C to + 1 ° C below the heat retention temperature, it is possible to prevent the rice from drying during the heat retention. This allows the user to
Even when a long timer operation time is set, it is possible to eat rice in a good heat-retaining state in which the rice is prevented from drying more than before.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, although an electromagnetic induction heating type rice cooker having a heat retaining function has been described in the embodiment, an electric heating type warm pot for heating a pan with a sheath heater or the like may be used, or a cord heater may be used for retaining heat. In addition, various time and temperature managements in the embodiment, operation methods from each switch 25, and the like can be variously modified based on the spirit of the present invention.

[0052]

The warming pot according to the first aspect of the invention has a warming control means capable of selectively warming the rice at a plurality of high and low warming temperatures, and finishes cooking the rice at a predetermined time or after a predetermined time. It is characterized in that the reserved rice heating means for starting heat retention by the reserved rice heating means, and if the time until the start of rice cooking by the reserved rice cooking means or the end of rice cooking is a predetermined time or more, the temperature is kept high at a high temperature. It is possible to prevent the rotting of the rice when the reserved rice is cooked without impairing the usability while improving the heat retention state of.

Further, the warming pot of the invention of claim 2 is a warming control means capable of selectively warming the rice at a plurality of warming temperatures of high temperature and low temperature, and a waiting time until the start or end of the cooked rice at the time of reserved cooked rice. After cooking rice for longer than a specified time, the heat retention temperature is automatically raised to a high temperature, and the low temperature insulation improves the heat retention state of the rice while impairing usability. It is possible to prevent spoilage of rice when the reserved rice is cooked without it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall cross-sectional view of a warming pot showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the operation panel.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view around a switch of the same operation panel.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the same.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the same microcomputer.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure for switching between normal temperature keeping and low temperature keeping.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure for changing the reserved time for low temperature heat insulation.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the above-mentioned reserved rice cooking function.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the above code heater.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a microcomputer showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 72 Heat insulation control means 77 Reserved rice cooking means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A warming control means capable of selectively warming rice at a plurality of warming temperatures of high temperature and low temperature, and a reserved rice cooking means for terminating the cooked rice to start warming at a predetermined time or after a predetermined time, A heat-retaining pot, which keeps the temperature at a high temperature when the time until the start of rice cooking or the end of rice cooking by the reserved rice cooking means is a predetermined time or more. 2. A warming control means capable of selectively warming rice at a plurality of warming temperatures of high temperature and low temperature, and cooked rice in a state where a waiting time before starting or ending cooked rice during reserved rice is longer than a predetermined time. A warming pot characterized by automatically raising the warming temperature after performing.