JPS61206413A - Measurement of rice weight in automatic rice preparing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a method for measuring the amount of rice (Kg) in an automatic rice preparation device.
do.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a device for preparing a rice cooker by loading rice into a rice cooker is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 59-80217, % 1985.

This method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 80218-80218 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 80220-1989. The automatic rice cooking devices of the inventions disclosed in these publications basically consist of a rice bin, a rice measuring chamber placed below the rice bin, and a horizontally rotatable device installed further below the rice measuring chamber. A rice washing container, a water supply pipe opening facing into the rice washing container and communicating with a water supply source, a drawer provided at the bottom to support the rice cooker and allow the rice cooker to be carried in and out of the main body of the device, and a rice cooker. The device contained a lid opening/closing device for opening and closing the lid of the container, a 5wU control means for controlling these operations and automatically cooking rice, etc., housed within the device body.

By the way, this conventional automatic rice cooker has one rice chamber in total, which is equipped with a rice guide plate that is inclined from the outlet of the rice bin.
A shutter plate for measuring rice is swingably disposed on the upper surface side of this rice guide plate.

This shutter plate has a U-shaped cross section with the open portion facing the passage surface of the rice guide plate, and both sides thereof form part of the lower shutter and part of the upper shutter. This shutter plate is normally swung in one direction by a spring so that a portion of the lower shutter comes into contact with the lower part of the inner nut plate to stop the rice flowing down the rice guide plate. At this time, a portion of the upper shutter of the shutter plate is separated from the upper part of the inner nut plate to open the passage. Therefore, when the shutter plate is swung to the other side against the spring, a part of the upper shutter closes the upper passage of the inner board of the tree, a part of the lower shutter opens, and a part of the T shutter is opened. The rice on the inner board between the top shutter and a part of the upper shutter is weighed and placed in a wooden container.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, as is clear from the above explanation, the rice measuring chamber of such a conventional automatic rice cooking device is used to measure a desired amount of rice from a rice bin, and is not used to measure a single amount of rice.

Generally, when putting rice into a rice cooker, the amount of water put into the pot is determined according to the capacity of the rice to be cooked, such as one cup or two cups. However, rice has various types and qualities such as new rice, old rice, and branded rice, and the moisture content of rice varies slightly depending on the type of rice being milled. The moisture content (specific gravity) of the rice was not known, and there were cases where there was too much or too little water for rice cooking, and the rice could not be cooked properly.

Furthermore, the measuring device described above can usually accurately measure the volume of rice (when there is sufficient rice in the rice jar), but in situations where there is not enough rice in the rice jar, for example. In particular, when weighing the last rice in a rice jug, it sometimes happens that the measuring chamber is not filled with rice before it is weighed. In such cases, there is no additional device to detect that the predetermined amount of rice is not in the weighing chamber, resulting in measurement errors.
At the same time, only the water corresponding to the specified amount of rice is supplied, resulting in excess water and not being able to cook rice properly.
There was also the problem.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to determine the amount of water required for proper cooking of rice in an automatic rice preparation device that automatically supplies weighed and washed rice to a rice cooker. An object of the present invention is to provide a rice weight measurement method that measures the weight of weighed rice with extremely high accuracy.

[Means for solving problems]

The rice weight measurement method in the automatic rice preparation device of the present invention automatically performs a series of tasks from storing rice to measuring and washing the rice and supplying the washed rice and the corresponding water into the pot of the rice cooker. a movable tray for receiving rice after weighing a desired amount of rice from a rice storage chamber to measure the weight of the weighed rice; and a spring for supporting said tray. In the automatic rice preparation device, when the weight of the rice is measured by the rice weight measuring device, the tray with the rice placed on it and sunk against the spring is forcibly raised to return to a specified position. The present invention is characterized in that the moving distance of the rice tray is detected and the weight of the rice on the rice tray is measured.

[Effect]

According to the method for measuring rice weight in the automatic rice preparation device of the present invention configured as described above, even if the rice plate is loaded with rice and sinks against the spring, it will not be able to maintain balance with the spring. By detecting the amount of movement when raising and returning from the point in time to the specified position &, the weight can be measured with high accuracy without being hindered by vibrations caused by the spring.

[Example] Hereinafter, the method for measuring the weight of rice of the present invention will be described in detail along with the automatic rice preparation device shown in the attached drawings.
li! I will clarify.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an automatic rice preparation device 10 for charging rice into a rice cooker while measuring the weight i of rice using a rice weight measurement method according to an embodiment of the present invention. This automatic rice preparation device 10 automatically performs a series of tasks such as storing rice, measuring it, washing the rice, and supplying a corresponding amount of water to the washed rice and rice in the pot of the rice cooker. Rice preparation method 20
and a rice weight measuring device 30 for measuring the weight of the weighed rice after weighing a desired amount of rice from the rice storage room.

The automatic rice preparation means 20 includes a rice storage chamber 21 disposed in the upper part of the apparatus main body 11, a measuring device 22 provided at the lower end of the rice storage chamber 21 for weighing rice from the rice storage chamber 21, and a measuring device 22 for measuring rice from the rice storage chamber 21. A rice washing device 23 that is placed below the device 22 and receives and washes the weighed rice; and a water supply device that is placed above the rice washing device 23 and supplies water to the rice washing device and also to the rice cooker. 24, and a control device 25 that is electrically connected to each of these component parts and controls the operation of each part. Since the rice weight measuring device [30 is constructed integrally with the aforementioned weighing device 22, the structure of this weighing device fkt22 will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

The rice storage chamber 21 has a hopper shape, and an opening, that is, a rice input port 21a, is formed at the bottom thereof. A circular measuring cell 2 constituting a measuring device 22 is located on the outside of the bottom of this rice storage room.
2a is rotatably installed. This measuring cell 22a is divided into four chambers by a cross-shaped partition wall 22b extending radially inside the cylindrical body with an open top and bottom. can be weighed. This measuring cell 22a is connected to a motor 2 that rotates a transmission disk 22c that is brought into frictional contact with the outer peripheral wall of the cylindrical body.
2d, the motor 22d is rotated by a control device 25
is electrically connected to substantially controls the rotation of the weighing cell 22a. On the lower plate of the casing 22e that accommodates the measuring cell 22a, there is an unformed lower opening 22f, which has a shape that is almost the same as the opening shape of one room of the measuring cell 22a, with the rotation center axis of the measuring cell 22a as a border. They are formed in symmetrical positions. In the lower plate of the casing 22d, an opening 31a for installing a rice weight measuring device [30] is formed between the rice input port 21a and the uninstalled lower port 22f in the rotational direction of the weighing cell 22a. This opening 31a is the same as the uninstalled lower opening 22f.
The shape of the opening in one metering chamber 2a is fan-shaped in this embodiment, and the outer surface of the casing lower plate has a cylindrical shape with a fan-shaped cross section in order to form a vertical wall downward along the inner edge of the fan-shaped opening 22d. The portion 31b is fixed. This cylindrical part 3
A tray 32 that perfectly matches the fan-shaped cross section is arranged inside the casing 1b so as to be able to slide up and down, and when the tray 32 is located in the opening 31a, it completely closes the opening 31a and moves under the casing. The plate surface 1 is a flat plate with no openings. A coil spring 33 is located below the tray 32.
Its upper end is attached, and its lower end is attached to a seat plate 34 provided to close the lower opening of the cylindrical portion 31b.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper end of a scale 35 made of a rigid material is attached to the lower surface of the tray 32, and an opening formed in the seat plate 34 is attached to the upper end of the scale 35, which passes through the inside of the coil spring 33. The lower end surface thereof is in contact with the outer circumferential surface of an egg-shaped cam 36 that is eccentrically rotatably supported. At this time, the length of the scale 35 is such that when the center of the rotation axis of the cam 36, the cam surface having the maximum length from the center of the rotation axis, and the axis of the scale are located on a straight line, the receiving tray 3
Opening 3 so that 2 forms a flat surface with the surface of the casing lower plate.
1a. A rotating shaft 37 of this cam 36 is connected to a driving shaft of a motor 38, so that the cam 36 is rotated by the rotation of the motor 38, and the tray 32 is lifted up via the scale 35 accordingly.

The scale 35 is made of a transparent material, and has a ladder-shaped black line slit 39 formed along its surface in the longitudinal direction. And this scale 35
Place the scale 3 on the front and front sides of the
A light-emitting/light-receiving element, ie, a photointerlator 40, is arranged to count how many slits 39 have passed through as the slit 5 moves.

Like soft soil, the weight of rice put into one weighing chamber 22a from the rice storage room 21 is measured by the rice weighing device 30, and then the weighing chamber 22a is rotated to remove the rice from the rice storage room 21 to one of the weighing chambers 22a. When aligned with the lower port 22f, the rice dropout port 22f
falls downward from. A chute 14 that receives the rice and drops it into the container 23a of the rice washing device 23 is disposed at the position where the rice falls from the droplet. Container 23a of rice washing device 23
is a cylindrical container with an open top and bottom, and a stirring rod 23b is arranged inside the container. The upper end of this stirring rod 23b is connected to the container 23a.
The motor 23c is connected to the rotating shaft of a motor 23c located above the motor 23c.

By the way, the bottom opening of this rice washing container 23a is connected to the bottom plate 23.
The bottom plate 23d can be opened and closed freely by d, and the bottom plate 23d is opened and closed in conjunction with the conveying device 15. That is, the conveying device 15 has a gutter-like conveying body 16, and this conveying body 16 has its t! The middle part is the rice washing container 23
a, and a drive device (not shown) is attached and supported so as to swing like a scene using the intermediate portion as a fulcrum. The bottom plate 23d, which opens and closes the bottom opening of the rice washing container 23a, is pivotally supported on the outside of the bottom opening, and a spring or the like provided on the pivoting support part always opens the bottom plate 23d, that is, downward as shown in FIG. A spring force is applied to open the transport member 16, and its free end is always in contact with the transport path surface of the transport body 16 so as to press it. Therefore, the free end of the bottom plate 23d is located at the same direction side end (the first
In the case of the figure, the left end portion 16a) similarly moves up and down in accordance with the movement of the conveyor 16, opening and closing the bottom opening of the rice washing container 23a. A motor (not shown) for swinging the carrier 16 and a motor 23c for rotating the stirring bar 23b are both electrically connected to the control device kL25.

A water supply device 24 is installed above the rice washing device 23, and the water supply device 24 is connected to a water receiving tank 24 connected to an appropriate water source.
a, a water supply pipe 24b whose one end is connected to the bottom of the water receiving tank 24a and whose other end faces the upper opening of the rice washing container 23a, and this water supply pipe 24bK is provided to control the amount of water flowing through the pipe. It is composed of a solenoid pulp 24c. This solenoid pulp 24c is electrically connected to a control device 25, and its opening time is controlled.

At the lowest part of the apparatus main body 11, there is a drainage receiving part 17 for draining water that flows down from the right end 16b of the transport body 16 of the transport device 15 when the transport body 16 of the transport device 15 swings with its right end 16b facing down. is located. In addition, the carrier 16
When the rice cooker 1 is swung so that its left end 16a is facing down, the rice cooker 1 is placed in a position where it can receive the water and rice flowing down from this left end 16a.
2 is placed with its lid 13 open by means of a suitable holding device 50IIC.

Automatic rice preparation device & IO according to the embodiment configured in this way
The operations are performed sequentially by the control device 25 as shown in the chart 70 in FIG.

That is, assuming that rice is sufficiently stored in the rice storage chamber 21, the operator sets the rice cooking amount adjustment section and the rice cooking time adjustment section of the control device 25, respectively. Then, the user presses a selection switch to select which operation is to be performed by the automatic rice preparation device 10, and selects the operation. The selection switches include a rice measuring switch 19a and a rice cooking switch 19b.

and a rice washing switch 19c are attached to the control display board 19 on the top of the main body 11, and all of these are electrically connected to the control device 25.

Now, if you select and press the rice cooking switch 19b, the control device 25 determines whether or not the lid 13 of the rice cooker 12 is open based on a signal from a limit switch (not shown).
If the limit switch is turned on, that is, the rice cooker lid holding device 50 holds the lid 13, the rice cooker enters a standby state until the operation start time set by the timer. If the limit switch is off, an alarm buzzer or the like is immediately activated to notify the user of the incorrect setting immediately after the setting is completed.

When the operation start time set by the timer comes, the conveying body 16 of the conveying device 15 is swung toward the drainage side.

From this K, the bottom opening of the rice washing container 23a is closed by the bottom plate 23dK. Next, the measuring cell 22a of the measuring device 22
is rotated by a predetermined number of rotations based on the amount of cooked rice (cooked rice) K and set. The amount of rice is measured. At that time, weighing square 2
When the unfilled weighing chamber 2a comes to a position where it aligns with the opening 31aK for rice weight measurement formed in the lower plate of the casing, that is, when it has rotated 14 times, the rotation of the weighing chamber 22a stops, and then the motor 38 (see FIG. 3) b)) rotates the cam 36 to release the support of the pan 32 through the scale 35;

As a result, the tray 32 lowers to a balanced position while compressing the coil spring 33 due to the weight of the rice.

Thereafter, the cam 36 is further rotated to lift the scale 35 to return the tray 32 to the specified position. When the scale 35 rises, the photointerlabter 40
counts the number of slits 39 that cross this, and supplies it to the control device 25 as a pulse signal. In the control device 25, the weight of the saucer 320 and the coil spring 330 are
An arithmetic circuit is built in that calculates the weight of the rice using the number of slits as a variable based on the elastic modulus, etc. This allows the weight of the rice to be measured accurately. The reason for reading the number of slits on the scale 35 when lifting the tray 32 is that when the tray 32 is lowered, the coil spring 3
3 causes simple harmonic motion, making accurate measurement difficult, so the value determined by the number of slits when the scale rises is used as the true value. As a result, it is possible to measure the weight of rice very accurately.

Next, the measuring chamber 22m rotates 14 times again, and when the measuring chamber is aligned with the uninstalled lower opening 22f, the rice is dropped into the chute 14 from the uninstalled lower opening 22f and placed in the rice washing container 23a. Thereafter, the solenoid nozzle 24c is opened to supply water into the rice washing container 23a, and at the same time, the stirring rod 23b is rotated to wash the rice. At this time, the bottom opening of the rice washing container 23m and the bottom plate 23d are not completely sealed, but only to the extent that some water leaks from the closed part. As a result, the washed rice wastewater leaks out from the closed part, passes through the conveyor 16, and is drained into the waste water receiving part 17. Such rice washing is carried out repeatedly either by detecting the turbidity of the sewage water or by measuring the elapsed time. After the final rice washing, the solenoid pulp 24c is closed and all operations are stopped until the water is drained (all the water in the container 23a is drained).

Thereafter, the drive device of the conveyance device 15 is activated and the conveyance body 1
6 swings, the left end 16m tilts downward, and the rice washing container 23
The bottom plate 23d of the opening at the bottom a opens, and a passage through which the rice in the rice washing container 23a is poured into the pot of the rice cooker 12 is secured. However, even if the wet rice adheres to the inner wall of the rice washing container 23m, or most of it falls onto the conveyor 15, it will naturally flow down into the rice cooker 12 because it will adhere to the conveyor wall. There is no tl. Therefore, next, in order to supply the rice cooker 12 with an amount of water calculated based on the volume of the rice and the weight measured by the rice weight measuring device 30, the solenoid pulp 24c is opened for a predetermined time, and the rice is washed. Container 23
Supply only the required amount of water into a.

As a result, rice cakes adhering to the rice washing container 23a and the conveyor 16 are washed away and the rice is charged into the pot of the rice cooker 129. At this time, in order to completely wash off the rice adhering to the rice washing container 23a etc., it is also advisable to attach a watering tool to the tip of the water supply pipe 24b.

Next, in order to wash the rice washing container 23a and the conveying body 16, the conveying body 16 is swung toward the drainage side, and water is supplied again for a predetermined period of time. Whether or not the position of the drainage body 16 is accurate for the operation of this device depends on each end 16a,
It is arranged so that it comes into contact when 16b is positioned downward.
The control device 25 receives the signals from the switch 18 a p 18 b and makes a decision, and if necessary operates the drive device to correct its position.

Rice cooker lid holding device 5 at the same time as washing rice washing container 23m
0 is released, and the lid 13 is closed. Only 1
Of the rice and water that have been dropped into the pot of the rice cooker 12, the rice is not scattered evenly in the pot (the rice is raised like a mountain at the position where it fell). Therefore, it is preferable to place the rice cooker 12 on a suitable vibration table placed at the inner bottom of the main body 11 and give horizontal vibrations to disperse the water in the pot.

Thereafter, a standby time is required to soak the rice in water for a predetermined period of time, and then the power to the rice cooker 12 is turned on, or the burner is ignited if it is a gas rice cooker.

Next, when the rice measuring switch 19a is pressed, the weighed rice passes through the rice washing container 23a and is directly placed in the rice cooker 1.
The lid 13 is closed, and the operation ends here.

Furthermore, when the rice washing switch 19c is pressed, the rice is weighed, washed, and a predetermined amount of water is supplied into the pot of the rice cooker 12, the rice is prepared, and the lid of the rice cooker 12 is closed, and this operation is completed. do.

Such an operation is used, for example, when making stir-fried rice. A series of operations such as those for soft soil can be easily performed by using a microcomputer or the like as the control device 25.

In this way, the amount of water to be supplied to the rice cooker 12 is determined by measuring not only the volume of rice but also the weight, so that rice can be cooked correctly even if various types of rice are used.

In addition, if this rice weight measuring device is incorporated into a weighing device as in the above-mentioned embodiment, it will be possible to detect when there is no rice in the weighing chamber of the square, and it will also be possible to detect rice in the weighing chamber of the square. If there is not enough rice in the container, it is possible to determine the amount of water for cooking rice based on the average specific gravity by measuring this weight, and it functions as a kind of safety device. In addition, in the above embodiment, the control device automatically supplies an appropriate amount of water calculated from the volume and weight of rice, but the amount of water supplied based on the volume of rice is different from the amount of water based on the weight of rice. It is also possible to display the correction amount of water numerically and have it done manually so that it becomes the appropriate amount of water.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the rice weight measurement method in the automatic rice preparation device of the present invention, the weight of rice is measured by detecting the amount of upward movement of the rice when lifting the rice tray to a specified position. It is possible to greatly improve measurement accuracy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the configuration of an automatic rice preparation device that charges rice into a rice cooker while measuring the weight of rice using a rice weight measurement method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the rice measuring device and the rice weight measuring device of the automatic rice loading device as seen from the top of the rice storage room. Figure 2(b) shows I[(b) -II (
b) Longitudinal cross-sectional view taken along the line, Figure 2(c)
b) Rice weighing shown in K; Bottom view showing the device and rice weight measuring device, Fig. 3(a) is a configuration explanatory diagram schematically showing the rice weight measuring device, Fig. 3 (6)
FIG. 4 is a side view partially showing the scale and cam of the rice weight measuring device, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the automatic rice preparation device. 10... Automatic rice preparation device, 11... Device body, 12
... Rice cooker, 13 ... Lid, 20 ... Automatic rice preparation means, 21 ... Rice storage'R chamber, 22 ... Measuring device, 23
...Rice washing device, 24...Water supply device, 25...Control device, 30...Rice weight measuring device. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Automatic rice preparation means that automatically performs a series of tasks from storing rice to measuring and washing the rice and supplying the washed rice and the corresponding water to the pot of the rice cooker, and from the rice storage room. An automatic rice preparation device comprising: a movable saucer for receiving the rice after weighing a desired amount of rice to measure the weight of the weighed rice; and a rice weight measuring device comprising a spring supporting the saucer. When measuring the weight of rice with a rice weight measuring device, the distance traveled by the rice tray is detected when the rice tray, which has sunk against the spring, is raised to forcibly return to a specified position. A method for measuring the weight of rice on the saucer. (2) When detecting the moving distance of the tray, the number of passages through the slits at a predetermined position when the scale attached to the tray and having a large number of slits moves upward is detected, and this is used as a variable. A rice weight measuring device characterized by calculating the weight of rice.