JPH1057238A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a convenient rice cooker in which the gap between its main body and a lid is sealed secure enough to prevent leakage of steam and the lid can be opened and closed with small forces. SOLUTION: A flange part 4 is provided slightly below an inner pot 3 to provide for the ease with which the inner pot 3 is handled, and a projecting part 5 is provided at the flange part 4 near the bore of the inner pot and made to abut to seal packing 9. Thus, only the portion of the seal packing 9 abutting to the projecting part 5 is deflected greatly and comes in close contact, so that the area of the projecting part 5 abutting to the seal packing 9 can be reduced, and that the seal packing can be deflected greatly with small forces.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rice cooker used in ordinary households, and more particularly to a rice cooker with improved usability.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 3 and 4 show a conventional rice cooker.
This will be described below. The inner pot 3 is detachably stored in the main body 1,
A lid 7 covering the upper openings of the main body 1 and the inner pot 3 is attached to be openable and closable, and a seal packing 9 for blocking vapor generated inside the inner pot 3 is provided on the inner pot facing surface side of the lid 7. The flange 4 provided at the uppermost end of the shuttle 3 was brought into contact with the seal packing 9.

A flange 4 at the uppermost end of the inner pot 3 improves the appearance of the upper end face of the inner pot 3 and is provided as a handle when the inner pot 3 is attached to and detached from the main body 1.

[0004]

The seal gasket must reliably contact the upper end of the inner pot at a certain pressure or higher to prevent leakage of steam generated inside the inner pot. In such a conventional configuration, since the seal packing comes into contact with the flange portion provided wide at the upper end of the inner hook, the contact area between the packing and the inner hook flange portion when the lid is closed is large, and the contact area is larger than a certain pressure. If they are to be brought into contact, a large load is required because they come into contact in a wide area.

As a result, a large force is required to close the lid, and an excessive force is required to close the lid.
This caused usability problems. In addition, when the lid is closed, the repulsive force of the seal packing always generates a force to lift the lid upward (in the opening direction), and therefore the lid is easily deformed due to a rise in temperature during rice cooking. However, there has been a problem that the gap between the main body and the lid becomes large. In addition, when the gap is large, in addition to the problem of poor appearance in appearance, there is another problem that steam inside the main body easily escapes, the performance at the time of heat retention is deteriorated, and excessive power is consumed.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, in the present invention, the inner hook has a flange portion slightly below the upper end and a convex portion from the inner diameter of the inner hook above the flange portion. The projection is brought into contact with the seal packing.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention provides an inner pot with a flange portion, a convex portion above the flange portion, and the convex portion is brought into contact with a seal packing attached to the lid body. It is.

[0008] According to this configuration, since the flange portion is provided above the inner pot, the outer appearance of the inner pot and the handle function at the time of attachment / detachment are provided as in the related art.
Since the seal packing comes into contact with the convex portion provided at the upper end of the inner hook above the flange portion, the contact area with the seal packing can be reduced.

As a result, even if the crushing force of the seal packing is small, a large amount can be crushed, that is, a certain pressure or more required for the seal can be secured. As a result, a small force is required when closing the lid, and a rice cooker with good operability can be provided. In addition, since the repulsive force for lifting the lid can be small, the deformation of the lid does not occur, the gap between the main body and the lid does not become excessive, and there are problems in appearance,
Deterioration of heat insulation performance and waste of power consumption can be prevented.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a rice cooker according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the main part. In the figure, 1 is a main body,
2 is a protective frame, 3 is an inner pot, 4 is a flange portion, 5 is a convex portion, 6
Is a heating means, 7 is a lid, 8 is a steam port, and 9 is a seal packing.

Next, a protection frame 2 is attached to the main body 1, and the inner pot 3 is detachably attached to the main body 1 and the protection frame 2.
Is stored. A flange portion 4 is provided above the inner pot 3, and when the inner pot 3 is stored in the main body 1, the lower surface of the flange portion 4 contacts the main body 1 to support the inner pot 3. A convex portion 5 is formed above the flange portion 4 of the inner pot 3.

Below the protective frame 2, a heating means 6 for heating the inner pot 3 is provided. A lid 7 is attached to the main body 1 so as to be openable and closable, and the lid 7 is provided with a steam port 8 for discharging steam generated inside the inner pot 3 to the outside. A seal packing 9 is attached to the inner pot facing surface of the lid 7 so as to face the projection 5 of the inner pot 3 and to be circumferentially formed. When the lid 7 is closed, the seal packing 9 and the projection 5 come into contact with each other, and the seal packing 9 bends and comes into close contact with the projection 5 at a certain pressure or higher.

When the user puts an appropriate amount of rice and water into the inner pot 3 and inserts the inner pot 3 from the upper opening of the main body 1 and the protective frame 2, the lower surface of the flange portion 4 of the inner pot 3 and the The inner pot 3 is set on the main body 1 while the upper end of the opening is in contact with the main body 1. At this time, a protective frame 2 attached to the main body 1 and forming an inner wall of the main body 1
Is positioned to face the side and bottom surfaces of the inner pot 3 via an air layer.

When the user closes the lid 7, the seal packing 9 provided on the inner pot facing surface side of the lid 7 comes into contact with the projection 5 at the upper end of the inner pot 3, and the seal packing 9 bends and adheres.
At this time, since the seal packing 9 is deformed only at the portion of the convex portion 5, the width of the bent portion (horizontal direction) is small, and the amount of deflection (vertical direction) is large. Since the bending width is small, the seal packing 9 can be largely bent in the vertical direction with a small force, and the lid 7 can be closed with a small force.

Next, when the user operates a rice cooker switch (not shown), rice cooker is started, and the inner pot 3 is heated by the heating means 6. When the water inside the inner pot 3 starts boiling, the inner pot 3
The internal pressure increases and the steam generated by the boiling is transferred to the inner pot 3
Due to the close contact between the convex portion 5 and the seal packing 9, the gas does not leak out from the upper end surface of the inner pot 3, and is discharged to the outside from the steam port 8.

At this time, the temperature of the lid 7 rises due to the steam, but since the seal packing 9 is bent with a small force, the repulsive force for pushing the lid 7 upward, that is, the bending of the seal packing 9 is reduced. The opening force is small, and the gap between the cover 7 and the main body 1 is not enlarged.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, the inner hook is provided with a flange portion slightly below the upper end, and a convex portion is provided from the inner diameter of the inner hook above the flange portion so that it comes into contact with the seal packing. As a result, the appearance of the inner pot and the handle function when attaching and detaching it have the same function as before, due to the flange part, while the seal packing has the convex part provided at the upper end of the inner pot above the flange part. Because of the contact, the contact area with the seal packing can be reduced, and a large deflection can be obtained in the vertical direction with a small force.

That is, a constant pressure required for the seal is generated only at the protruding portion to be sealed, and no crushing pressure is generated at other portions unrelated to the seal, so that the seal can be performed with a small force. As a result, a small force is required when closing the lid, and a rice cooker with good operability can be provided.
In addition, since the repulsive force for lifting the lid is reduced, the lid is not deformed, and the gap between the main body and the lid is not excessive. Therefore, appearance problems,
Deterioration of heat insulation performance and waste of power consumption can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a rice cooker showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a conventional rice cooker.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Inner pot 4 Flange part 5 Convex part 9 Seal packing

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An inner pot is detachably housed in a main body, and a cover for covering an upper opening of the main body and the inner pot is attached to the main body so as to be openable and closable. In the rice cooker provided with a seal packing for shielding steam, the inner pot (3) is provided with a flange (4) slightly below the upper end, and the inner pot (3) above the inner diameter of the inner pot (3) above the flange (4). A rice cooker comprising a projection (5) provided so as to come into contact with the seal packing (9).