JPH1156630A - Measuring method and device in rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To put designated quantity of rice and water in a rice cooking caldron efficiently and with high accuracy in a simple equipment. SOLUTION: This device includes a weighing device for measuring the total weight of a rice cooking caldron 40 and material in the interior thereof, a putting-in conveyer 11 for draining the rice discharged from a dipping tank 1 and putting the same into the rice cooking caldron 40 at plural speeds, and a water supply means 42 for pouring water into the rice cooking caldron 40 at plural speeds. While the weight of the rice cooking caldron 40 is measured, the rice which has been dipped and drained by suction is put into the rice cooking caldron 40 at a first put-in speed, and then put in up to the final put-in quantity at a second put-in speed lower than the first put-in speed. Subsequently while the weight of the rice cooking caldron 40 is similarly measured, water is poured into the rice cooking caldron 40 at a third pouring-in speed, and then poured in up to the final pouring-in quantity at a fourth pouring-in speed smaller than the third pouring-in speed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rice cooker suitably used in the field of cooking large quantities of rice, such as a lunch box catering business, a catering company, and a restaurant industry, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for measuring rice and water. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a rice cooker for automatically cooking a large amount of rice, there are a continuous type in which rice is cooked while being conveyed by a conveyor, and a batch type in which predetermined amounts of rice and water are charged into a rice cooker. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a batch-type rice cooker, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for accurately feeding predetermined amounts of rice and water to a rice cooker.

In a conventional batch type rice cooker, rice discharged from an immersion tank is weighed by a measuring device, the rice weighed to a predetermined amount is put into a rice cooker by an input conveyor, and then weighed to a predetermined amount. The rice was cooked by feeding water into the rice cooker by the water supply means and sending the rice cooker into which the rice and water thus measured were charged into the rice cooker.

[0004]

However, in the method in which rice and water are weighed and put into a rice cooker as in the above-mentioned conventional example, a plurality of weighing devices and putting devices are required, so that the equipment becomes large-scale. However, there is a problem that it takes time and effort to measure and put in, and the efficiency is poor.

[0005] Further, if the draining of the rice discharged from the immersion tank is not performed reliably and stably, the ratio of rice to water varies, and especially in the case of old rice, the ratio must be controlled accurately and properly. Has been significantly reduced. Therefore, if the drainage is performed over time and the measurement is performed with higher accuracy, there is a problem that a larger facility is required and the efficiency is reduced.

In addition, assuming that a predetermined amount of rice and water are efficiently charged into a rice cooker with a compact facility, the rice discharged from the immersion tank is weighed while the rice is discharged from the immersion tank. It was thought that the predetermined amount of water was poured into the rice cooker by the water supply means, but the drainage was not enough and the amount of residual water was not constant. There is a problem that it is difficult to increase the measurement accuracy because the measurement is performed while rice and water are charged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a measuring method and apparatus in a rice cooker capable of pouring a predetermined amount of rice and water into a rice cooker with high efficiency and high accuracy with simple equipment. Aim.

[0008]

The weighing method in the rice cooker according to the present invention is a weighing method in which rice and water immersed in the rice cooker of the rice cooker are weighed and charged, and the weight of the rice cooker is measured. A rice weighing step in which the rice immersed and drained while suction is charged into a rice cooker at a first charging speed and then charged to a final charging amount at a second charging speed smaller than the first charging speed; Water is measured in the rice cooker while measuring the weight of the kettle.
And a measuring step for the water to be charged up to the final charging amount at a fourth charging speed smaller than the third charging speed after the charging at a charging speed of 3. The residual water was almost eliminated by suction drainage. . Therefore, by measuring rice with no problem of residual water quantity while putting rice and water in the rice cooker, it can be put in and measured efficiently with simple equipment, and put in before the specified quantity is put in. By reducing the speed, a predetermined amount of rice and water can be poured into the rice cooker with high accuracy.

Further, the weighing device in the rice cooker of the present invention is a weighing device for weighing and putting rice and water immersed in the rice cooker of the rice cooker, and measuring the total weight of the rice cooker and the internal material. Equipped with a weighing device for weighing, a charging conveyor for sucking and draining the rice discharged from the immersion tank and charging the rice into the rice cooker at multiple speeds, and a water supply means for charging water into the rice cooker at multiple speeds. As a result, the residual water was almost eliminated by suction drainage.

Therefore, rice having no problem with the residual water amount and its difference is put into a rice cooker so that it can be accurately weighed, and the charging speed can be varied according to the input amount, so that the rice can be weighed while being put. However, by lowering the charging speed immediately before the predetermined charging amount, a predetermined amount of rice and water can be charged into the rice cooker with high accuracy.

[0011] Further, the charging conveyor, after charging the rice into the rice cooker at a first charging speed, and then charging the rice at a second charging speed smaller than the first charging speed until the final charging amount.
When the water is supplied into the rice cooker at the third charging speed, and then the water is supplied at the fourth charging speed smaller than the third charging speed until the final charging amount, the above-described measuring method can be implemented to simplify the equipment. Thus, a predetermined amount of rice and water can be charged into the rice cooker with high efficiency and high accuracy.

Further, when the charging conveyor is constituted by a mesh belt conveyor and suction means for draining water from the rice being conveyed by vacuum suction is provided at a lower portion of a suitable position on the conveying surface, the mesh belt conveyor is used to drain the water. By forcibly draining the water with the suction means, the suction power can be spread all over the rice grains, and it is possible to drain the water reliably and efficiently without escape like air blowing. In addition, it is possible to reduce the variation in draining while using a short feeding conveyor to make the equipment compact and to perform stable quality rice cooking.

Also, a valve is provided at the discharge port of the immersion tank, a leveler for detecting the level of rice is provided in the receiving hopper of the charging conveyor, and the valve is opened and closed so that the level of rice in the receiving hopper is constant. Then, since the charging speed of rice by the charging conveyor can be stabilized with high accuracy, the charging amount can be controlled with high precision even if the metering is performed while charging.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a weighing device in a rice cooker according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the overall configuration of a rice cooking facility.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an immersion tank, which is installed on a gantry 2. An openable / closable valve 3 is provided at a discharge port at the lower end of the immersion tank 1. Reference numeral 11 denotes a charging conveyor which is arranged obliquely upward and has a receiving hopper 4 for receiving rice discharged from the immersion tank 1 through the valve 3 at an upper portion near the lower end thereof. The receiving hopper 4 is provided with a leveler 5 for detecting the storage level of the rice stored therein, and is configured to open and close the valve 3 so that the level of the rice in the receiving hopper 4 becomes constant. .

At the lower part of the upper end of the charging conveyor 11, a rice cooker 40 is installed thereon and the weight thereof is reduced by a load cell 41a.
A weighing device 41 for weighing is provided. Further, a water supply means 42 for supplying water into the rice cooker 40 installed on the weighing device 41 is provided. This water supply means 42
A first water supply pipe 43 for supplying water at a large flow rate and a second water supply pipe 44 for supplying water at a small flow rate are provided.
It is configured to open and close. An unloading roller row 47 is provided in the rice cooker placing section 41b of the weighing device 41,
A rice cooker 40 is supplied to a rice cooker 50 by a roller conveyor 48 disposed so as to be continuous with the carry-out roller row 47, and rice is cooked.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rice cooker 50 hangs and supports the rice cooker 40 carried in by the carry-in roller unit 51 with an overhead chain conveyor 52, and burns the burner 53 from below during horizontal conveyance at low speed. After the rice is heated and cooked, the steaming is carried out while being lifted obliquely upward and conveyed reversely, and then carried out by the carry-out roller section 54 to the back side of the paper in FIG. Reference numeral 55 denotes a drive unit of the overhead chain conveyor 52.

Next, the detailed configuration of the charging conveyor 11 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 3, a charging conveyor 11 is a mesh belt conveyor 12 which is a main part.
And a suction means 13 disposed at a lower portion at a suitable distance below the upper end of the transport surface.

The mesh belt conveyor 12 is provided with a drive pulley 17 having a built-in drive motor at one end of a main body frame 15 having a pair of left and right side frames 16a and 16b.
A driven pulley 18 whose position can be adjusted by a tension device 19 is provided at the other end, and an endless mesh belt 20 is wound between the driving pulley 17 and the driven pulley 18. The drive pulley 17 is configured to be switchable between high-speed rotation and low-speed rotation. The mesh belt 20 on the forward path from the driven pulley 18 to the drive pulley 17 moves along the transport surface 21 on the upper surface of the main frame 15, and the mesh belt 20 on the return path from the drive pulley 17 to the driven pulley 18 is moved to the main frame 15. It is configured so that it passes inside and does not interfere with external equipment. A plurality of support rollers 22 are provided at appropriate intervals in the longitudinal direction of the main body frame 15 so as to support the mesh belt 20 moving along the transport surface 21 from below. Each support roller 2
2 has both ends rotatably supported by side frames 16a and 16b. Further, in a region directly below the receiving hopper 4, the support rollers 22 are arranged at a narrow pitch, and are configured to withstand the load of the rice in the receiving hopper 4.

The suction means 13 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and has an opening 24 on the upper surface close to the transfer surface 21.
A plurality of auxiliary rollers 25 are disposed at the upper end of the suction box 23 so as to face the opening 24 so that the mesh belt 20 is supported from below by the opening 24. On one side of the suction box 23, a connection tube portion 26 is formed so as to protrude from one side surface of the main body frame 15, and a connection port 27 for vacuum suction means (not shown) such as a vacuum blower is formed at the tip. Is provided. The connection tube portion 26 has a substantially trapezoidal shape having a narrow width toward the front end in a plan view, and has a shape in which the lower surface is inclined obliquely downward toward the front end, and a drain pipe 28 hangs down at the front end portion. ing.

The suction box 23 is detachably mounted on the main frame 15 of the mesh belt conveyor 12. For this reason, mounting flanges 29 for fixing to the side frame 16a of the main body frame 15 are protruded from both side surfaces of the base portion of the connection tube portion 26, and a handle 30 is fixed to the upper surface. Further, the main body frame 15 has a suction box arrangement space 31 formed between one side frame 16a and the other side frame 16b and having an opening 32 on one side thereof, and the bottom surface thereof is formed from one side. It is formed of a guide surface 33 that is inclined upward toward the other side. Thus, by inserting the suction box 23 from the opening 32 on one side of the main body frame 15 along the guide surface 33 into the suction box arrangement space 31, even if the auxiliary roller 25 is provided, it does not interfere with the side frame 16a. Can be inserted up to a predetermined position,
Thereafter, the handle 30 is pulled up and the mounting flange 29 is fixed to the side frame 16a by a suitable one-touch type fixing means 34, so that the suction box 23 can be set at a predetermined position.

A sealing material 35 is mounted on the upper surface of the peripheral portion of the opening 24 of the suction box 23. When the suction box 23 is set at a predetermined position as described above, the peripheral portion of the opening 24 is The upper wall of the box arrangement space 31 abuts on a portion facing the periphery of the opening 24 in a sealed state so that the suction airflow flows through the opening 24.

Next, the weighing operation of the above configuration will be described. The rice immersed from the immersion tank 1 is supplied into the receiving hopper 4 of the charging conveyor 11 via the valve 3, and the level is detected by the leveler 5 and controlled to be always at a constant level. In this state, the rice cooker 40 is set on the weighing device 41 and the feeding conveyor 11 is driven, so that rice is sequentially cut out from the receiving hopper 4 and fed on the transport surface 21, and the feeding conveyor 11 is moved.
Is put into the rice cooker 40 from the upper end. While the rice immersed in the feeding conveyor 11 is conveyed on the conveying surface 21 as described above, the water held between the rice grains naturally flows down by gravity and is discharged downward through the mesh belt 20. Drained. Further, the suction means 1
3 reaches the portion where the mesh belt 20 is disposed.
The water remaining between the upper rice grains is forcibly removed by being sucked from below the mesh belt 20 and separated and removed from the rice. In particular, the suction force can be surely and efficiently drained without going all over the rice grains or escaping as in the case of air blasting. In this manner, the water retained between the rice grains of the immersed rice is effectively removed during the charging and transporting, so that the rice is removed from the mesh belt conveyor 12.
When the rice is poured into the rice cooker 40 from the upper end, the rice is sufficiently drained, so that the rice is accurately measured without any problem of the residual water amount and the difference therebetween, and the mixing ratio with water is accurately controlled.

The rice so immersed and drained sufficiently is introduced into the rice cooker 40 by the introduction conveyor 11.
In the meantime, the input amount is continuously measured by measuring the rice cooker 40 with the weighing device 41. The charging conveyor 11 is operated at a high first speed until the charging conveyor 11 has a charging amount appropriately smaller than a predetermined final charging amount, and is then operated at a low setting second speed. The rice is charged into the rice cooker 40 at high speed and efficiently, and the charging speed is reduced just before the final charging amount, so that the rice charging amount can be controlled with high accuracy. Further, at that time, since the rice storage level in the receiving hopper 4 is controlled to be constant, the variation in the rice introduction speed by the introduction conveyor 11 is very small, and therefore, the rice introduction amount into the rice cooker 40 is further increased. It can be controlled with precision.

Next, while the weight of the rice cooker 40 is measured by the weighing device 41, water is supplied into the rice cooker 40 by the water supply means 42, whereby the amount of water supplied is controlled. At this time, the first water supply pipe 43 is efficiently supplied from the first water supply pipe 43 at a high third speed until the supply amount becomes appropriately smaller than the predetermined final supply amount. 44
Is supplied at a fourth speed set lower than the above, the amount of water supplied is controlled with high accuracy.

The rice cooker 40 into which the rice and the water are charged at a high precision by a predetermined amount as described above is thereafter sent to the rice cooker 50 via the roller conveyor 48 and cooked. Therefore, since the rice and water sufficiently suctioned and drained are weighed into the rice cooker 40 with high accuracy, the rice can be cooked deliciously even with old rice, and high quality rice can be cooked. The cooked rice cooker 40 in which the rice has been cooked is carried out by the carry-out roller unit 54 toward the next step.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, rice and water are put into the rice cooker 40 and weighed while the rice and water are put into the rice cooker 40, so that the weighing can be carried out efficiently with simple equipment, and a predetermined amount of rice and Water can be put into the rice cooker 40, and high-quality rice can be cooked.

Further, in this embodiment, the suction means 13 has an opening 24 on the upper surface close to the transfer surface 21 and is constituted by a suction box 23 connected to the vacuum suction means. Since the suction force acts on the portion 24 in a concentrated manner, the water can be reliably sucked and efficiently removed, and the mesh belt 20 can be removed by the auxiliary roller 25 provided in the suction box 23 at the opening 24. Since it is supported from below, even if the area of the opening 24 is increased to efficiently drain the suction water,
The mesh belt 20 can be prevented from hanging down due to the suction force, and liquid can be efficiently suctioned and removed while ensuring smooth movement of the mesh belt 20.

In addition, most of the suctioned water contains fine particles, and the mixture of the water and the fine particles is not smoothly discharged from the drain pipe 28, and may gradually accumulate in the suction box 23. There is a suction box 2
By taking out 3 from suction box arrangement space 31, it can be easily cleaned.

Further, when attaching and detaching the suction box 23, the suction box 23 is inserted along the guide surface 33 into the suction box arrangement space 31 from the opening 32 formed on one side of the main body frame 15, and The suction box 23 can be set at a predetermined position by simply lifting one end of the suction box 23 and fixing the mounting flange 29 to the main body frame 15 by one-touch fixing means 34, and removing the suction box 23 by the reverse operation. Is made, suction box 2
3 can be performed very easily, and can be used with good workability.

Although the water supply means 13 of the above embodiment is provided with a first water supply pipe 43 having a large flow rate and a second water supply pipe 44 having a small flow rate, the water supply means 13 is opened and closed by opening and closing valves 45 and 46, respectively. A flow control valve may be provided in a single water supply pipe, and this water flow control valve may be used to adjust the water supply speed.

[0032]

According to the measuring method in the rice cooker of the present invention, the rice having no problem of the amount of residual water soaked and drained while measuring the weight of the rice cooker as described above and the difference between them is placed in the rice cooker. After charging at the first charging speed, charging the final charging amount at the second charging speed smaller than the first charging speed, and similarly, while measuring the weight of the rice cooker, the third charging of water into the rice cooker. After charging at a speed, the product is charged up to the final dosage at a fourth charging speed smaller than the third charging speed. Therefore, by weighing rice and water while charging rice cooker, it is possible to measure efficiently with simple equipment. In addition, by lowering the charging speed before reaching the predetermined charging amount, a predetermined amount of rice and water can be charged into the rice cooker with high accuracy.

Further, according to the measuring device in the rice cooker of the present invention, a weighing device for weighing the total weight of the rice cooker and the inside material, and the rice discharged from the immersion tank are sucked and drained, and the rice cooker is optionally weighed. Equipped with a feeding conveyor that feeds water at a constant speed and water supply means that feeds water into the rice cooker at an arbitrary speed. In addition, by changing the dosing speed according to the dosing amount, even if the metering is performed while the dosing is being performed, the dosing speed is reduced immediately before the predetermined dosing amount, so that a predetermined amount of rice and water can be accurately obtained. Can be put into a rice cooker.

In addition, after the rice is charged into the rice cooker at a first charging speed, the charging conveyor is charged with rice at a second charging speed smaller than the first charging speed until the final charging amount.
When the water is supplied into the rice cooker at the third charging speed, and then the water is supplied at the fourth charging speed smaller than the third charging speed until the final charging amount, the above-described measuring method can be implemented to simplify the equipment. Thus, a predetermined amount of rice and water can be charged into the rice cooker with high efficiency and high accuracy.

Further, when the charging conveyor is constituted by a mesh belt conveyor, and suction means for draining water from the rice being conveyed by vacuum suction is provided at an appropriate lower portion of the conveyance surface, the water is drained by the mesh belt conveyor. By forcibly draining the suction water with the suction means, the suction power can be spread all over, and it is possible to drain the water reliably and efficiently without escaping as in the case of air blowing, While the equipment is compactly configured using a conveyor, variations in drainage can be reduced, and stable quality rice can be cooked.

Also, a valve is provided at the discharge port of the immersion tank, a leveler for detecting the rice level is provided in the receiving hopper of the charging conveyor, and the valve is opened and closed so that the rice level in the receiving hopper is constant. Then, since the rice feeding speed by the feeding conveyor can be stabilized with high accuracy, the feeding amount can be controlled with high accuracy even while weighing while feeding.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a rice cooker to which a measuring device in the rice cooker of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the rice cooker according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the charging conveyor in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a main part of the charging conveyor in the embodiment with a part of a mesh belt cut away.

FIG. 5 shows details of a suction unit in the embodiment;
(A) is a longitudinal sectional view in the transverse direction of the draining conveyor, and (b) is an enlarged sectional view of a B portion of (a).

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Immersion tank 3 Valve 4 Receiving hopper 5 Leveler 11 Input conveyor 12 Mesh belt conveyor 13 Suction means 40 Rice cooker 41 Weighing device 42 Water supply means

Claims (5)

[Claims] Claims 1. A method of weighing and immersing rice and water immersed in a rice cooker of a rice cooker, wherein the rice immersed and drained while measuring the weight of the rice cooker is put into the rice cooker. After the dosing at the first dosing speed, a rice weighing step of dosing the rice to the final dosing at a second dosing speed smaller than the first dosing speed, and water is poured into the cooker while measuring the weight of the cooker. 3
A step of measuring the amount of water charged at a fourth charging speed smaller than the third charging speed after the charging at a charging speed of the third charging speed up to the final charging amount. 2. A weighing device for weighing and charging rice and water immersed in a rice cooker of a rice cooker, comprising: a weighing device for measuring the total weight of the rice cooker and the internal material; A metering device for a rice cooker, comprising: a charging conveyor for sucking and draining discharged rice and charging the rice at a plurality of speeds into a rice cooker; and a water supply means for charging water at a plurality of speeds into the rice cooker. . 3. A charging conveyor, wherein rice is charged into a rice cooker at a first charging speed, and then rice is charged at a second charging speed lower than the first charging speed until the final charging amount. 3. The rice cooker according to claim 2, wherein water is supplied into the rice cooker at a third charging speed, and then water is supplied at a fourth charging speed smaller than the third charging speed until the final charging amount. Weighing device. 4. The feeding conveyor is constituted by a mesh belt conveyor, and suction means for suctioning and draining water from the rice being conveyed by vacuum suction is provided below a proper position of the conveying surface. 3. The measuring device in the rice cooker according to 2. 5. A valve is provided at an outlet of the immersion tank, a leveler for detecting a rice level is provided in a receiving hopper of the charging conveyor, and a valve is opened and closed so that the rice level in the receiving hopper is constant. The weighing device in the rice cooker according to claim 2, wherein the weighing device is used.