JPH10328025A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable cooking of miscellaneous gains deliciously by a method wherein a polished rice cooking mode and a miscellaneous cooking mode are made executable selectively and a resting period is inserted between a heating process and a boiling process in the miscellaneous grains cooking mode to specify the time of a steaming process. SOLUTION: Even when any of a polished rice cooking mode and a miscellaneous grain cooking mode is selected, processes of absorbing water, heating, boiling and steaming are executed sequentially by a control circuit 20. But in a first heating control pattern of the polished rice cooking mode, an electric energization stoppage period of a low heater 6 immediately after a shift to the boiling process from the heating process is set as specified whereas in a second heating control pattern for cooking miscellaneous grains, the electric energization stoppage period of the lower heater 6 in a resting period is set longer for the boiling process. The process time is set longer, 20-25 min., in the second heating control pattern for cooking miscellaneous grains as compared with 15 min. in the first heating control pattern for cooking polished rice of the steaming process.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rice cooker capable of cooking rice (hereinafter simply abbreviated as "cereals") in which so-called cereals such as whiskey, millet and wheat are mixed in an appropriate amount.

[0002]

Conventionally, a rice cooker has been controlled so as to be suitable for cooking rice, especially white rice. FIG. 4 shows an example of a heating control pattern of the cooked white rice. In the following description, the bottom sensor detects the temperature of the bottom of the inner pot that contains the rice to be cooked, and the lid sensor detects the temperature of the lid.

[0003] In cooking rice, an arbitrary rice cooking mode is switched using a menu selection switch of an operation unit. After switching the rice cooking mode, rice cooking is started by operating the rice cooking switch. When rice cooking is started, first, a water absorption step is performed, and power supply to the bottom heater is started. When the bottom sensor detects the temperature Ta, the power to the bottom heater is cut off. After the time ta has passed since the power to the bottom heater was cut off,
Move to the heating step. In the heating step, the bottom heater is energized. In addition, the amount of cooked rice is determined based on the temperature Tb and the time ta detected by the bottom sensor at the start of the heating step, and the bottom heater is heated with electric power corresponding to the amount of cooked rice. When the lid sensor detects the temperature Tc, the power supply to the bottom heater is cut off to end the heating step and shift to the boiling step. After shifting to the boiling step, the bottom heater is energized at an appropriate energizing interval and output ratio. At the same time, energize the lid heater. The lid heater is energized so that the temperature detected by the lid sensor is maintained at Td. After that, the bottom sensor changes the dry-up temperature Tu
Is detected, the power supply to the bottom heater is cut off, the boiling process is completed, and the process proceeds to the steaming process. The dry-up temperature Tu, the ON / OFF cycle of the bottom heater, and the energization ratio are calculated from the detected temperature Tb of the bottom sensor at the start of the heating step and the time tb of the heating step. When the process shifts to the steaming process, the power supply to the side heater is started. The lid heater is continuously energized from the boiling step. The side heater is energized at the same timing as the lid heater.
After the start of the steaming step, the steaming step ends at time tf, and the rice cooking ends.

[0004] On the other hand, recent health booms have increased needs for rice cooking of cereals. However, according to the above-mentioned conventional heating control pattern of white rice cooking, rice can be cooked deliciously when white rice is cooked, but millet grains cannot be cooked deliciously. Further, in the conventional heating control pattern of white rice cooking, there is a problem that when cereals are cooked, the rice is easily spilled over.

[0005] In addition, the number of modes for cooking rice grains and the like in addition to white rice cooking is increased, so that the operation may be complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a first object of the present invention to provide a rice cooker which can solve the above-mentioned problems and can cook rice grains deliciously, and which is hard to blow down even when rice grains are cooked.

[0007] It is a second object of the present invention to provide a rice cooker which can be operated simply even if the number of modes such as rice cooking for cereals is increased.

[0008]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the first object, a rice cooker main body, an inner pot stored in the rice cooker main body, and a lid covering an upper part of the inner pot are provided. A bottom heater provided in the rice cooker body to heat the inner pot from below, a side heater provided in the rice cooker body to heat the inner pot from the side, and a lid to heat the lid Heater, and a control circuit for controlling the energization of these heaters, in the rice cooker to perform a water absorption step, a heating step, a boiling step, a steaming step by the control circuit, the control circuit is a white rice cooking mode, The cereals rice cooking mode can be selectively executed, and in the cereals rice cooking mode, the control circuit inserts a pause step of suspending power supply to the bottom heater for a predetermined time between the heating step and the boiling step. Of the steaming process During the in which the predetermined value of less than 20 minutes over 25 minutes.

In the case of cooking cereals, by inserting a pause step for stopping power supply to the bottom heater between the heating step and the boiling step to suppress the amount of heating, it is possible to suppress the overflow and to shorten the steaming time. By making it longer than 20 minutes, you can cook delicious rice. The reason why the steaming time is set to less than 25 minutes is to prevent sticky rice of cereals.

Further, in order to achieve the second object, the present invention further comprises a white rice cooker switch for selectively executing the rice cooker mode, and a millet rice switch for selectively executing the above rice cooker mode. The rice cooker in the white rice cooker mode or the millet cooker mode is started only by operating the white rice cooker switch or the cereals cooker switch.

As described above, the operation is simplified by executing the rice cooking in the corresponding mode only by operating the rice cooking switches.

[0012]

An embodiment of the rice cooker according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the configuration of the rice cooker will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a rice cooker main body. An outer cooker 2 having an open upper surface is provided in the rice cooker main body 1 so that an inner cooker 3 having an upper open surface is detachably accommodated in the outer cooker 2. Has become. The inner pot 3 contains cooked rice such as rice and cereals and water. Further, a lid 4 is provided on the upper side of the rice cooker main body 1 so as to be rotatable and openable. The lid 4 has an inner lid 5 on the lower surface for covering the upper part of the inner pot 3.

A heater plate 7 having a bottom heater 6 embedded therein is provided at the bottom of the outer kettle 2, and the inner kettle 3 is mounted on the heater plate 7. A side heater 8 is provided on the outer surface of the side of the outer hook 2. Further, a lid heater 9 is provided on the back surface of the inner lid 3. The bottom heater 6 heats the inner pot 3 from below, the side heater 8 heats the inner pot 3 from the side, and the lid heater 9 heats the inner lid 5. Of these heaters 6, 8 and 9, which are heating means, the bottom heater 6 has a larger output than the other heaters 8, 9 and forms the main heating means. In addition, a bottom sensor 11 that contacts the bottom surface of the inner pot 3 and detects the temperature of the inner pot 3 is provided at the bottom center of the outer pot 2. Further, although not shown in FIG.
Is provided with a lid sensor for detecting its temperature.

A display operation section 12 is provided on the front of the rice cooker main body 1. Further, the lid 4 is provided with a steam port 13 for discharging steam generated in the inner pot 5.

Next, the configuration of the control circuit 20 will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 21 denotes a CPU.
And a timer 23 for timing. And
The CPU 21 receives, via an input circuit 26, input signals from a white rice cooking switch 24 for selecting and executing the white rice cooking mode and a millet rice cooking switch 25 for selectively executing the coarse rice cooking mode via the input circuit 26, and further includes the bottom sensor 11 and the lid. sensor
27 detection signals are input via A / D converters 28 and 29, respectively. Further, the CPU 21 outputs a control signal to the relay control unit 32 via the output circuit 31. This relay control unit 32
Is for controlling the opening and closing of the relay contacts 34, 35 and 36 which are electrically inserted between the power supply 33 and the bottom heater 6, the side heater 8 and the lid heater 9, respectively.
With such a configuration, the CPU 21 controls the heaters 6, 8, and 8 in accordance with pre-programmed logic according to the input signals from the switches 24 and 25, the detection signals from the sensors 11 and 27, the time measured by the timer 23, and the like. 9 is controlled.

The control circuit 20 including the CPU 21 and the like can selectively execute a white rice cooking mode in which normal white rice is cooked and a cereals rice cooking mode in which cereals are cooked. Switching between these two modes is performed depending on which of the white rice cooker switch 24 and the cereals rice cooker switch 25 is pressed to start the rice cooker.
Alternatively, the rice cooking in the white rice cooking mode or the millet rice cooking mode is started only by operating the cereal rice cooking switch 25.

FIG. 1 shows a second heating control pattern which is a heating pattern in the cereals rice cooking mode, and FIG. 4 shows a first heating control pattern which is a heating pattern in the white rice cooking mode. That is, the first heating control pattern is the same as the conventional one. 1 and 4, the upper solid line graph indicates the detected temperature of the bottom sensor 11, and the upper broken line graph indicates the detected temperature of the lid sensor 27. Further, the lower three graphs show the energization timings of the bottom heater 6, the side heater 8, and the lid heater 9, respectively.

In any of the heating control patterns, the water absorption step, the heating step, the boiling step, and the steaming step are performed in this order. First, in the water absorption step, when rice cooking starts, the bottom heater 6 is continuously energized. Thereby, the inner pot 5
When the temperature detected by the bottom sensor 11 reaches a predetermined temperature Ta, for example, 55 ° C., the bottom heater 6
Is turned off. When a predetermined time ta, for example, 5 minutes, has elapsed from this point, the water absorption step ends and the heating step starts. On the other hand, during the water absorption step, the power supply to the side heater 8 and the lid heater 9 is stopped. In the heating step, the bottom heater 6 is turned on, but the side heater 8 and the lid heater 9 are turned off. The power of the bottom heater 6 in the heating step is determined by the bottom sensor at the start of the heating step.
It is adjusted in accordance with the rice cooking amount determined by the detected temperature Tb of 11 and the time ta. Then, when the temperature detected by the lid sensor 27 reaches a predetermined temperature Tc, for example, 80 ° C., the power supply to the bottom heater 6 is cut off, the heating process ends, and the process shifts to the boiling process. At this time, in the cereals rice cooking mode, a pause step for stopping the power supply to the bottom heater 6 is inserted between the heating step and the boiling step.

In the boiling step, the bottom heater 6 basically repeats the stop of the power supply for a predetermined time tc and the power supply for a predetermined time, so that the amount of heating of the inner pot 3 is made lower than in the heating step. In the first heating control pattern in the white rice cooking mode, the power supply stop time of the bottom heater 6 immediately after the transition from the heating step to the boiling step is the predetermined time tc. On the other hand, in the second heating control pattern for cereals rice cooking, the energization stop time of the bottom heater 6 in the suspension step prior to the boiling step is set to a predetermined time td longer than the energization stop time tc in the boiling step, for example, 2 minutes. Have been. Further, the lid heater 9 is energized from the start of the boiling step or the pause step. The energization of the lid heater 9 is controlled such that the temperature detected by the lid sensor 27 is maintained at a predetermined temperature Td, for example, 105 ° C. On the other hand, the energization of the side heater 8 remains stopped. Then, when the temperature detected by the bottom sensor 11 reaches the dry-up temperature Tu, the boiling process is completed, and the process proceeds to the steaming process. Note that the dry-up temperature Tu, the ON / OFF cycle of the bottom heater, and the energization ratio are calculated from the temperature Tb at the start of the heating step and the time tb of the heating step.

In the steaming step, the power supply to the bottom heater 6 is always stopped. On the other hand, energization of the lid heater 9 is controlled so that the temperature detected by the lid sensor 27 is maintained at 105 ° C. as in the boiling step. At the same time, the side sensor 8 is energized at the same timing as the lid heater 9. The steaming process lasts for a predetermined time te, tf. In the first heating control pattern for white rice cooking, the predetermined time tf is 15 minutes, whereas in the second heating control pattern for cereals rice cooking, this processing is performed. The predetermined time te is 20 minutes, and the steaming time is set longer in the second heating control pattern than in the first heating control pattern. Then, when the steaming step is completed, the process proceeds to the heat retention control.

As described above, when cooking cereals, the steaming time is longer than when cooking white rice, so that even cereals can be cooked deliciously and rice having good taste can be cooked.

When cooking cereals, the power supply to the bottom heater 6 is suspended for a relatively long time at the start of boiling, and the amount of heating is suppressed. Spillover at the time is suppressed.

Further, dedicated rice cooking switches 24 and 25 are provided for each of white rice cooking and cereal rice cooking, and rice cooking in the corresponding mode is started and executed only by pressing the respective rice cooking switches 24 and 25. Therefore, the operation is extremely simplified, and the operability is improved. On the other hand, if there is only one switch for starting rice cooking and the mode is switched by another switch as in the related art, a plurality of operations are required, and the usability is increased. bad.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example,
The time of the resting step and the time of steaming are not limited to those exemplified in the above-mentioned embodiment, but can be changed according to various conditions. The same applies to other various predetermined times and predetermined temperatures in the heating control. Also, the mechanical configuration of the rice cooker shown in FIG. 3 is merely an example, and various configurations are possible.

Further, in the above embodiment, the steaming time in the second heating control pattern for rice cereals is set to 20 minutes. However, the steaming time in the second heating control pattern is as follows.
It can be set appropriately within a time range of 20 minutes or more and less than 25 minutes.
Here, the reason why the lower limit of the steaming time is set to 20 minutes is that if the steaming time is less than 20 minutes, the cereals cannot be cooked deliciously, and the upper limit of the steaming time is set to 25 minutes because of the steaming time. If the time exceeds 25 minutes, rice of cereals may be sticky.

[0026]

According to the present invention, when rice of cereals is cooked, by setting the spotting time to 20 minutes or more and less than 25 minutes,
You can cook delicious rice even with cereals. In addition, by inserting a pause step for stopping power supply to the bottom heater between the heating step and the boiling step, it is possible to suppress the spill even when cooking cereals that are likely to be spilled.

Further, according to the present invention, the rice can be cooked in the white rice cooking mode or the millet rice cooking mode only by operating the white rice cooking switch or the millet rice cooking switch, so that the operation can be extremely simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a graph of a heating pattern for controlling rice cereals in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a rice cooker according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph of a heating pattern of white rice cooking control.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rice cooker main body 3 Inner pot 4 Lid 6 Bottom heater 8 Side heater 9 Lid heater 20 Control circuit 24 White rice cooker switch 25 Millet rice cooker switch

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A rice cooker main body, an inner pot accommodated in the rice cooker main body, a lid covering an upper part of the inner pot, and a bottom provided in the rice cooker main body and heating the inner pot from below. A heater, a side heater provided in the rice cooker main body, for heating the inner pot from the side, a lid heater for heating the lid, and a control circuit for controlling energization to these heaters, In the rice cooker performing the water absorption step, the heating step, the boiling step, and the steaming step by the control circuit, the control circuit can selectively execute a white rice cooking mode and a cereals rice cooking mode, and in the cereals rice cooking mode. The control circuit, between the heating step and the boiling step, while inserting a pause step to pause the power supply to the bottom heater for a predetermined time,
A rice cooker characterized in that the time of the steaming step is a predetermined value of 20 minutes or more and less than 25 minutes. 2. A rice cooker switch for selecting and executing the white rice cooking mode, and a millet rice switch for selecting and executing the millet rice cooking mode, and only by operating the rice cooker switch or the rice cooker switch, The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the rice cooker in the white rice cooking mode or the cereals rice cooking mode is started.