JPH1176056A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively prevent starch from overflowing. SOLUTION: This rice cooker is provided with a heating means (heating coil) 3 for a rice cooking pot 2, temperature sensor 7 for detecting the temperature of the rice cooking pot 2, controller 8 for controlling the heating means 3 corresponding to the output of the temperature sensor 7, steam cylinder 9 for discharging steam out of the rice cooking pot 2, and overflow sensor 12 arranged on the steam cylinder 9. Then, the controller 8 controls the heating means 3 corresponding to the output of the overflow sensor 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electric jar rice cooker.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a rice cooker of this type has a
A heating coil 33 for heating the rice cooker 32 by electromagnetic induction and a heating coil
3 and a temperature sensor 35 for detecting the temperature of the rice cooker 32, and a control circuit 36 for controlling the power supply 34 and the like in accordance with the output of the temperature sensor 35 and the built-in rice cooking sequence. Has a lid 37 which can be opened and closed and a steam cylinder 38 which penetrates the lid 37 and communicates the inside of the rice cooker 32 with the outside air.

The operation of these conventional rice cookers will be described.
When rice and water are put into the rice cooker 32 and the operation is started, the controller 36 controls the power supply 34 according to a built-in predetermined rice cooker sequence to heat the rice cooker and cook rice. The generated steam is discharged to the outside air via the steam cylinder 38.

[0004] However, in these rice cookers, one-time spilling of oneba through the steam cylinder 38 occurs during rice cooking due to factors such as the condition of the rice and the difference in the amount of rice and water measured. There was something to do.

[0005]

However, there is a possibility of unexpected spills in this type of conventional rice cooker, and these spills are an event that is absolutely unacceptable when considering post-cleaning and safety. Rather, they could not put enough firepower to prevent them, and contradicted with more delicious rice cooking.

[0006] In addition, when erroneous use such as mistake in water level is assumed, as described above, there is a problem that needs to be solved from the viewpoint of post-cleaning and safety.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a heating device for a rice cooker, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the rice cooker, and the heating device according to the output of the temperature sensor. A steam cylinder for discharging steam in the rice cooker, and a spill sensor disposed in the steam cylinder, wherein the control device controls the heating means in accordance with an output of the spill sensor. It is controlled.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention according to claim 1 comprises a bottomed substantially cylindrical rice cooker, a heating means such as a heating coil for heating the rice cooker from below, and an outer shell covering them.
A power supply circuit for energizing the heating means and a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the substantially bottom surface of the rice cooker and a power supply circuit for the heating means are controlled based on information of the temperature sensor and the like, according to a rice cooking sequence. An electric rice cooker equipped with a control device for controlling, in an electric rice cooker having a steam tube for discharging steam in a rice cooker provided in a part of a lid covering an upper opening portion of the rice cooker, wherein the steam cylinder is spilled. By arranging a spillover sensor for detection and stopping or reducing the output of the heating source according to the output of the sensor, the spillover is prevented, and a more safe and easy-to-use rice cooker can be provided.

The invention according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a one-sided spillover sensor is provided in a steam cylinder by using a heating element capable of controlling a constant temperature exceeding 100.degree. This makes it possible to detect bubbles and bubbles themselves, and to more accurately detect spills and the like, thereby providing a more reliable, safer and more convenient rice cooker.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the use of a PTC thermistor as the temperature detecting means of the blow-by sensor allows the blow-through to be detected simply without using an extra control circuit.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an inflow port for communicating the steam cylinder with the inside of the rice cooker, and an exhaust port for discharging steam from the steam cylinder to the outside of the machine body. By providing an exhaust port on the opposite side, it is possible to detect the occurrence of spilling earlier and to more reliably prevent spilling, and it is possible to realize an electric rice cooker with a highly reliable spill prevention function. is there.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the spill-over sensor is installed in the steam cylinder and the sensor sensing surface facing the steam cylinder is set substantially vertically or downward, so that oneva or bubbles at the time of the spill-over are attached. Even if it does not accumulate on the sensor receiving surface, it is possible to detect the end of the spill more quickly, and in addition, it is possible to prevent the sensor receiving surface from becoming trapped, so that dirt on the sensor receiving surface can be reduced. This can prevent inconveniences such as a decrease in sensor sensitivity due to dirt or the like.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, energization of the blow-by sensor is controlled by the control device, and the energization is performed only during rice cooking in conjunction with the rice cooking process, so that energization other than when a blow-off is expected can be stopped. Therefore, a more convenient rice cooker can be provided.

[0014]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a substantially central portion of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a bottomed substantially cylindrical rice cooker 2, a heating coil 3 for heating the rice cooker 2 from below by electromagnetic induction, an outer shell 4 covering them, and a rice cooker 2
Is an electric rice cooker main body (hereinafter referred to as a main body) including a lid body 5 that covers an upper opening of the electric rice cooker so as to be openable and closable.

A power supply circuit 6 for supplying electricity to the heating coil 3 and a temperature sensor 7 for detecting a temperature of a substantially bottom surface of the rice cooker 2 are provided inside the main body. A control device 8 for controlling the power supply circuit 6 and controlling the rice cooking sequence is provided.

9 is a rice cooker 2 provided on a part of the lid 5.
This is a steam cylinder that discharges the steam inside. Steam cylinder 9 is rice cooker 2
And the inflow port 10, and the outside of the rice cooker body 1 through an exhaust port 11. Reference numeral 12 denotes a spill sensor provided in the steam cylinder 9 and is connected to the control device 8. FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the steam cylinder 9.
The blow-off sensor 12 includes a resistance heating element 14 and a temperature sensor 15 covered by a sensor body 13.
Is connected to the control device 8 together with the temperature sensor 15,
The temperature of the resistance heating element 14 is controlled based on the temperature data of the temperature sensor 15 and is set so as to protrude into the steam cylinder 9. The outer surface of the spill sensor 12 is the boiling point of water 1
The temperature is set so as to be a predetermined temperature exceeding 00 ° C.

In the above configuration, the operation will be described. The main unit 1 is provided with the rice cooker 2 and the control device 8 in a state where rice, water and the like are put in the rice cooker 2.
When a start switch (not shown) connected to the controller is turned on, the controller 8 operates the power supply circuit 6 to heat the rice cooker 2 in accordance with a predetermined rice cooking process, thereby executing the rice cooking process.

In the rice cooking process, the controller 8 controls the blow-off sensor 12 provided in the steam cylinder 9 so that the outer surface thereof has a predetermined temperature exceeding 100 ° C. At the time of performing the rice cooking operation by proceeding with the ordinary rice cooking process, the steam discharged from the main body after a certain period of time passes after heating in the steam cylinder 9, but the steam is a gas, and the steam is spilled. Even when the sensor 12 passes through the outer surface of the sensor 12 in contact with the sensor, the amount of heat taken from the outer surface of the sensor 12 is very small because the heat capacity is small, and the temperature of the sensor 12 is not changed.

However, when spills occur during the rice cooking process depending on the condition of the rice and the amount of rice and water, the spilled bubbles and rice cake flow into the steam cylinder 9 which is a communication port to the outside air. It contacts the outer surface of the spill sensor 12 as in the previous case. Here, since the outer surface of the spillover sensor 12 exceeds 100 ° C., bubbles and oneva are evaporated from the surface portion, and at the same time, the heat of the spillover sensor 12 is taken away and the temperature is temporarily lowered. This temperature drop is detected by the temperature sensor 15 as occurrence of spillover, and the controller 8 energizes the resistance heating element 14 and temporarily cuts or powers down the energization to the heating coil 3 for heating the rice cooker 2. I do. As a result, the heating of the rice cooker is stopped or the output is reduced, and it is possible to prevent the spillover.

As described above, spills are detected by installing a sensor for detecting spills in the steam cylinder in which the inside of the rice cooker and the outside of the machine are solely connected, thereby detecting the spills and preventing the spills from leaking out of the main body. The present invention is to prevent troubles such as soiling the installation place and the like and damaging the body of the rice cooker.

Further, as described in the present embodiment, by maintaining the temperature of the blow-off sensor 12 at a predetermined temperature exceeding 100 ° C. by the combination of the resistance heating element 14 and the temperature sensor 15, it is possible to more reliably detect the blow-over. Is improved.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the steam cylinder portion. As in the first embodiment, the steam cylinder 16 has an inlet 17 penetrating through the lid 5 and communicating with the rice cooker 2 below, and an exhaust port 18 communicating with the outside of the main body 1 above. 19 is two metal plates 20,
A PTC thermistor 22 sandwiched between 21 is covered by a sensor body 23 and is a blow-over sensor. The PTC thermistor 22 used here has a Curie point of 10
The temperature is set to 0 ° C. or higher, and the temperature is stabilized at a predetermined temperature exceeding 100 ° C. by self-control by energization.

The operation at the time of occurrence of spillover will be described in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The PTC thermistor 22 in the spillover sensor 19 which has been energized in advance generates heat, and the spillover sensor 19 is controlled at a predetermined temperature exceeding 100 ° C. by self-control. And stabilized. At the time of the occurrence of the spill, the foam or the stomach that has entered the steam cylinder 16 comes into contact with the outer shell of the spill sensor 19 and removes heat from the spill sensor 19 as in the case described above, and the temperature decreases. At the same time, the resistance of the PTC thermistor 22 decreases, and the conduction current increases. The control device 8 detects this change in the current, determines that the air has spilled out, and similarly stops the current supply to the heating coil 3 and reduces the output to prevent the air spill.

In the second embodiment, the spill sensor 19 is set substantially vertically along the inner wall of the steam cylinder 16. This allows the surface of the spill sensor 19 to get wet with oneva or foam when detecting spill,
It hardly remains, and as a result, the spill sensor 19
It is possible to prevent surface dirt and the like from remaining, and to maintain a stable blow-over prevention performance for a longer period of time.

As described in the above-mentioned operation, the power supply of the blow-off sensor 19 is performed only during the rice cooking operation. This suppresses the power supply to the power supply, and can more safely exhibit the spillover prevention performance.

[0026]

As described above, the first aspect of the present invention provides
A power supply circuit having a bottomed substantially cylindrical rice cooker, a heating means such as a heating coil for heating the rice cooker from below, and an outer shell for covering them, and a power supply circuit for energizing the heating means and the like inside the rice cooker An electric rice cooker equipped with a control device for controlling the power supply circuit of the heating means based on the information of the temperature sensor and the temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the substantially bottom surface of the pan, and controlling the sequence according to the rice cooking sequence. In an electric rice cooker having a steam cylinder for discharging steam in a rice cooker provided in a part of a lid covering an upper opening, a steam spill sensor for detecting a steam spill is arranged in the steam cylinder, and a heating source is stopped by an output of the sensor. Or lower the output to prevent spills,
A safer and more convenient rice cooker can be provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a steam spill is formed by forming a heating element which can be controlled to a constant temperature exceeding 100 ° C. in a steam cylinder and a temperature measuring means of the heating element. The present invention makes it possible to detect oneva or foam itself, and to more accurately detect spills and the like, and to provide a more reliable, safer and more convenient rice cooker.

The third aspect of the present invention uses a PTC thermistor as the temperature detecting means of the spillover sensor, so that the spillover can be detected simply without using an extra control circuit.

Further, the invention according to claim 4 is provided with an inflow port for communicating the steam cylinder with the inside of the rice cooker, and an exhaust port for discharging steam from the steam cylinder to the outside of the machine body. In addition, by providing the exhaust port on the opposite side, it is possible to detect the occurrence of the spill more quickly and more reliably prevent the spill, thereby realizing an electric rice cooker having a highly reliable function of preventing the spill. Things.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the spillover sensor is provided in the steam cylinder, and a sensor receiving surface facing the steam cylinder is disposed substantially vertically or downward, so that oneva or spill at the time of the spillover is provided. Even if dust adheres, it does not accumulate on the sensor receiving surface, and it is possible to detect the end of the spill more quickly. It is possible to reduce inconvenience such as a decrease in sensor sensitivity due to dirt or the like.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the power supply to the blow-off sensor is controlled by the control device, and the power is supplied only at the time of cooking rice in conjunction with the rice cooking process. Since it can be stopped, it is possible to provide a safer and more convenient rice cooker.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a rice cooker according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part around the steam cylinder of the rice cooker.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part around a steam cylinder of a rice cooker according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a conventional rice cooker.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electric rice cooker main body 2 Rice cooker 3 Heating coil 4 Outer shell 5 Lid 6 Power supply circuit 7 Temperature sensor 8 Control device 9 Steam cylinder 10 Inlet 11 Exhaust port 12 Spillover sensor 13 Sensor body 14 Resistance heating element 15 Temperature sensor 16 Steam Cylinder 17 Inflow port 18 Exhaust port 19 Spillover sensor 20 Electrode 21 Electrode 22 PTC thermistor 23 Sensor body

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Satoshi Nakae 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A heating device for a rice cooker, a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the rice cooker, a control device for controlling the heating device according to an output of the temperature sensor, and discharging steam in the rice cooker. A rice cooker comprising a steam cylinder and a spill sensor provided in the steam cylinder, wherein the control device controls the heating means in accordance with an output of the spill sensor. 2. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein a heating element for controlling the temperature to a predetermined temperature higher than 100 ° C. is provided in the steam cylinder, and a blow-off sensor uses a temperature measuring means of the heating element. 3. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the spill sensor uses a PTC thermistor. 4. An inflow port communicating with the inside of the rice cooker and an exhaust port for discharging steam from the steam cylinder to the outside of the machine are provided in the steam cylinder, and a spill sensor is disposed near the inflow port, and the exhaust port is disposed in the vicinity of the inflow port. The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is disposed on an opposite side. 5. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the spillover sensor has a sensor sensing surface disposed substantially vertically, downward, or inclined upward. 6. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control is performed by a blow-off sensor only during cooking rice.
A rice cooker according to the item.