KR102123679B1 - Electric rice cooker and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electric rice cooker and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to an electric rice cooker provided with a notification function so that a user can recognize the amount and salinity of water for cooking food and a control method therefor.
The rice cooker according to the present invention, the upper surface is opened, the main body having an internal space; A cooking vessel which is detachably inserted into the inner space of the main body, and the upper surface is opened to accommodate food to be cooked in the inner space; A main body cover that selectively opens and closes the main body and the opened upper surface of the cooking vessel; A display window formed on the front surface of the main body to inform the user of the operation of the main body; A salinity sensor that detects the salinity of foods cooked inside the cooking vessel; And an indicator displaying the internal water level of the cooking vessel. It is configured to include. According to the present invention, it is possible to cook food and drink having a desired salinity, and it is possible to expect an effect that the user can easily recognize the internal water level of the cooking vessel.

Description

Electric rice cooker and control method thereof

The present invention relates to an electric rice cooker and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to an electric rice cooker provided with a notification function so that a user can recognize the amount of water for cooking food and the salinity of the food, and a control method therefor. .

An electric rice cooker is a type of home appliance that heats food to be cooked using electrical energy to produce it in a food-drinkable form, and typically performs a function of heating rice to produce food-drinking food. At this time, the electric rice cooker is configured to generate rice by heating the rice by heating the rice by heating the heating element using electricity.

Recently, the electric rice cooker is mainly provided with an electric rice cooker having a function of generating rice and a warming function for storing the generated rice for a certain period of time, and an electric rice cooker capable of cooking various types of foods by user manipulation is provided. Is becoming.

In addition, recent rice cookers have added a variety of functions for the convenience of the user, and these additional functions are supplied with an amount of water for cooking by experience or through a scale to eliminate the hassle of visually checking the weight. It is a situation in which a function for sensing and adjusting the amount of water is being added.

On the other hand, Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0146332 discloses an invention relating to a water level control method of an electric insulating rice cooker. The registered patent publication discloses an invention relating to a water level control method of an electric insulating rice cooker that allows a user to easily check a target water level required for cooking according to the type of rice.

To this end, when the type of rice to be cooked by the user is selected, Mycom automatically sets the target water level required for cooking according to the selected rice type and the amount of water supplied to the inner cylinder through the weight sensor is set to the set target water level. When reaching, a configuration for alerting is disclosed, and a configuration is disclosed that can solve the problems caused by the inconvenient and inconvenient water level that needs to be individually adjusted according to the type of rice when cooked.

In addition, Korean Registered Utility Model Publication No. 20-0348570 discloses an invention relating to a cooking machine having a water level indicator. The registered utility model publication discloses an invention relating to a cooking machine having a water level indicator for adjusting an appropriate amount of water according to the amount of cooking contents such as ramen, udon, rice grain, coffee, etc. .

To this end, a configuration including a cooking content display unit displaying an amount of cooking content on an inner wall surface and/or an outer wall surface of a cooking machine, and a water level amount display unit displaying an appropriate level of water level corresponding to the amount of cooking content is disclosed.

As can be seen in the Republic of Korea Registered Patent Publication and Registered Utility Model Publication, technology development for convenience of cooking has continued in recent years by informing the appropriate water level for cooking various foods.

Water level according to the type of food acts as an important factor in cooking food, and as a result, a configuration that can maintain an appropriate water level in an electric rice cooker can be identified as an important issue.

The present invention is to propose an electric rice cooker and a control method thereof to inform the user of the amount of water and the salinity of the food for cooking food.

In addition, the present invention is to propose an electric rice cooker capable of cooking food and its control method according to a user's desired salinity.

The rice cooker according to the present invention, the upper surface is opened, the main body having an internal space; A cooking vessel which is detachably inserted into the interior space of the main body, and the upper surface is opened to accommodate food to be cooked in the interior space; A main body cover that selectively opens and closes the main body and the opened upper surface of the cooking vessel; A display window formed on the main body or the main body cover to inform the user of the main body information; A salinity sensor that detects the salinity of foods cooked inside the cooking vessel; And an indicator displaying the internal water level of the cooking vessel. Including, the display window, the current amount of water and the amount of additional water and the amount of water that is adjusted by comparing the salinity detected by the salinity sensor and the user's desired salinity is displayed.

In addition, the control method of the electric rice cooker according to the present invention includes: an input step in which a user inputs a type of cooking, a cooking amount, and a desired salinity to start cooking; A first notification step of notifying a user of the amount of water, the amount of salt, and the current salinity required by the information input in the input step; A cooking preparation step of adding or removing water or adding or removing salt according to information provided in the notification step; When the preparation of cooking is completed in the cooking preparation step, a heating step of heating; An inspection step of checking salinity while being heated by the heating step; Adjusting step of adjusting the amount of water and the amount of salt by the information provided in the inspection step; A second notification step informing the user of the result adjusted in the adjustment step; And a finishing step of finishing cooking according to the result adjusted in the second notification step. It is configured to include.

According to the present invention, when the food is cooked, the user displays the amount of water suitable for cooking desired by the user so that the user can know the amount of water.

In addition, the current salinity of the food to be cooked and the user's desired salinity are displayed and the user can adjust the salinity of the food.

With this configuration, the user can recognize the water level suitable for the food to be cooked, and thus an effect of improving the ease of use of the electric rice cooker can be expected, and the amount of water suitable for the type of food can be supplied to improve the quality of cooking. You can expect the effect to be improved.

In addition, since the salinity of the food can be recognized by the user, an effect that can help the user's health can be expected, and the cooking quality of the cooked food with improved taste can be improved by improving the quality of cooking and helping the health It is possible to expect the effect of being able to consume and improving the satisfaction of the product.

In addition, it is possible to expect an effect of improving the user's time utilization due to an improvement in convenience of cooking, and to reduce the user's use of manpower for cooking food.

1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration of the electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view showing a display window of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a block diagram showing a control method of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the operation sequence of the electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an electric rice cooker and a control method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying exemplary drawings.

However, the spirit of the present invention may not be limited to the form of implementation by the embodiments described below, and the terminology used in the following description is a concept selected for convenience of explanation, and grasps the technical content of the present invention. In this regard, it should be appropriately interpreted in a sense consistent with the technical spirit of the present invention.

In addition, since these terms are terms used to distinguish the components from other components, the nature or order of the components will not be limited by the terms used.

1 of the accompanying drawings is a perspective view showing the configuration of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In addition, Figure 3 is a view showing a display window of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to these drawings, the electric rice cooker may have an outer shape with a main body 10 whose upper surface is opened as a whole, and a body cover 30 for selectively opening and closing the opened upper surface of the main body 10.

The main body 10 may be configured to have a certain degree of internal space and an upper surface to be opened, and the internal container of the main body 10 may be provided with a cooking vessel 20 in which food for cooking is accommodated. Can be located.

The cooking container 20 may be configured in the form of a cylindrical container having an internal space of a certain degree so that food for cooking is accommodated and the upper surface is opened, and the cooking container 20 and the main body 10 are opened. The upper surface may be configured to selectively open and close while the main body cover 30 is rotated.

On the front surface of the main body 10, a plurality of input units 11 for direct manipulation of the operation of the main body 10 by a user, and a display window for displaying the operation state of the main body 10 so that the user can recognize it ( 12) can be provided.

The input unit 11 is configured to allow a user to operate the main body 10 or input information, and may be configured to input a type of food to be cooked and cooking conditions of the food. The input unit 11 may be configured in a form of a button or a knob that a user can operate to set an operation mode of the main body 10.

The display window 12 is provided on one side of the input unit 11 so that a user can recognize cooking information such as a cooking state or cooking time of food. Further, information input by the user may be further displayed on the display window 12.

For example, in the case of rice, information on the cooking state is displayed, such as cooking, warming, and so on, so that the user is informed whether the rice is being cooked or cooked and kept warm, and the internal water level of the cooking container 20, etc. It can be configured to display.

In addition, the information on the cooking time may be configured to display the time remaining until the completion of cooking according to the cooking state in hours or minutes, so that the user can recognize the information on the cooking time.

Further, the information input by the user may be displayed to be recognized by the user by inputting a type of dish desired by the user, an amount to be cooked, and a salinity desired by the user.

The body cover 30 is provided with a cover handle 40 for a user to lock and unlock the body cover 30, and by operating the cover handle 40, the body cover 30 is the body It can be locked or unlocked on the upper surface of (10).

A control unit 13 for controlling the operation of the main body 10 may be configured in the first half of the internal space of the main body 10. The control unit 13 may be supported by a control unit base 14 positioned in the first half of the main body 10.

The control base 14 is made of a rectangular plate material having a certain degree of thickness and is mounted on the entire interior space of the main body 10, and a printed circuit board forming the control unit 13 and a number of control parts are mounted. In the meantime, it can be configured to control the operation of the main body 10.

A container case 15 in which the cooking container 20 is accommodated may be formed in the inner space of the main body 10. The container case 15 is a portion that is substantially seated while the cooking vessel 20 is accommodated, and may be formed in a shape corresponding to the outer surface of the cooking vessel 20.

The container case 15 may be equipped with a number of heating devices 151 for heating the cooking vessel 20. The heating device 151 may be configured to heat the cooking vessel 20 by dissipating heat by electric energy of supplied power.

As the cooking vessel 20 is heated by the heating device 151, food contained in the interior space may be heated to be configured to cook food in a desired state.

A case support portion 16 for detecting the temperature of the container case 15 is further provided on the lower side of the lower center portion of the container case 15 while detecting whether the cooking container 20 is attached or detached.

That is, when the cooking container 20 is inserted into the container case 15, the lower surface of the cooking container 20 compresses the upper surface of the case support part 16 to determine whether the cooking container 20 is present. Then, by this determination, the control unit 13 controls the heating device 151 to determine whether the cooking container 20 is heated.

A heat insulating material 152 may be provided on the outside of the heating device 151 to prevent heat generated from the heating device 151 from being transferred to other parts.

In the interior space of the main body 10, more specifically, the cooking vessel 20 is accommodated in the interior space of the main body 10 in the central portion of the interior space of the cooking vessel 20 is formed long in the vertical direction The case 50 is located.

The storage case 50 is made of a cylindrical shape having a certain degree of internal space, and the upper end may be mounted to be detachably attached to the center of the lower surface of the body cover 30.

Of course, the storage case 50 may be configured to be selectively detachably attached to the interior space of the cooking container 20, but in the case of the cooking container 20, washing and storage of food after cooking and eating As it should be formed to be easy, the storage case 50 will preferably be configured to be mounted on the body cover 30.

In addition, the storage case 50 may be configured to simultaneously store the salinity sensor 60 and the water level sensor 70, which will be described later, in the internal space, and the salinity sensor 60 may be stored. The storage case 50 and the storage case 50 in which the water level sensor 70 is accommodated may be formed, respectively.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the salinity sensor 60 and the water level sensor 70 are simultaneously received in the storage case 50, and the structure mounted on the lower surface of the body cover 30 will be described as an example. .

The storage case 50 may be mounted such that its upper end is detachably mounted to the central portion of the lower surface of the main body cover 30, and the lower portion is positioned above the central portion of the inner surface of the cooking vessel 20.

At this time, when the lower end of the storage case 50 is mounted inside the cooking vessel 20 to be in contact with the center, it may be possible to be configured, but the water accommodated in the interior of the cooking vessel 20 is the storage case 50 Since it is possible to detect salinity and water level only when it flows into the interior, the lower part of the storage case 50 is positioned to be separated from the inner bottom surface of the cooking container 20 by a certain amount as the water inflow part must be formed separately. Configuration would be desirable.

In addition, the storage case 50 is formed of a material having excellent heat resistance to withstand the temperature rise due to heating of food, and the control unit (so that the user can know the water level and salinity of the cooking vessel 20 in an external space) 13) can be configured to transmit the sensed value and signal.

The storage case 50 may be formed of a transparent material as a whole, or may be formed of a translucent or opaque material. However, when it is formed of a transparent material, it can be configured to recognize the installation state of the water level sensor 70 and the salinity sensor 60 from the outside, so it can have the advantage of easy maintenance or management by the user.

In addition, the storage case 50 may be equipped with an indicator 51 for displaying as an external space so that the user can know the water level according to the amount of water sensed by the water level sensor 70.

The indicator 51 may be mounted to allow the user to easily recognize the water level by a signal transmitted from the control unit 13 according to the water level detected by the water level sensor 70.

The indicator 51 may be formed of an LED or the like, and is formed in different colors according to the water level detected by the water level sensor 70, so that the user can easily recognize the internal water level of the cooking container 20. Can be configured to do so.

That is, when the inner space level of the cooking vessel 20 is low, it is determined that more water is needed, and the red LED lights up, and the display window 12 is displayed to add water.

On the other hand, when the inner space level of the cooking vessel 20 is high, it is determined that the water needs to be removed, and the blue LED is turned on, and the display window 12 is displayed to remove water.

In addition, the indicator 51 may be configured to display the water level in a number of steps while the lighting proceeds according to the water level of the cooking vessel 20. At this time, when more water is needed, a red LED (LED) lights up at the lower part of the indicator 51 to inform the user to add water, and as the water level rises, it lights up upward in multiple steps to reach the set water level. When the blue LED (LED) is configured to light, it can be configured to stop adding water by the user.

The indicator 51 may be mounted on the upper portion of the storage case 50 so that the user can easily identify it. Of course, the configuration in which the indicator 51 is located in the upper half of the storage case 50 may be possible, but a configuration formed in the upper portion of the storage case 50 may be desirable to enable smooth identification by a user.

On the other hand, in order to prevent damage or malfunction due to an increase in temperature during cooking of food in the interior space of the cooking vessel 20, that is, a heat insulating configuration, that is, the heat insulating material 152 may be configured to be added.

When the internal water level of the cooking vessel 20 is displayed by the indicator 51 or the display window 12, the user is configured to add or remove water according to the indication of the indicator 51, so that It has the advantage of greatly improving the usability.

Hereinafter, a configuration of the salinity sensor 60 and the water level sensor 70 mounted on the storage case 50 will be described.

In the interior space of the storage case 50, a salinity sensor 60 for sensing the salinity of the food to be cooked is mounted, and a water level sensor 70 for sensing the internal water level of the cooking vessel 20 may be mounted. have.

The salinity detected by the salinity sensor 60 according to the cooking process of the food to be cooked may be transmitted to the controller 13. According to the detected value of the salinity sensor 60 transmitted to the control unit 13, the current salinity is displayed on the display window 12, and the display window 12 is displayed according to the input by the operation of the input unit 11 The desired salinity, which is the salinity desired by the user, may be displayed.

In addition, the control unit 13 may be configured to display the addition or removal of water or salt by comparing the desired salinity with the current salinity.

The salinity sensor 60 may be configured to detect salinity before cooking is completed and transmit it to the control unit 13. When the salinity is detected before cooking is completed by the salinity sensor 60, the salinity transmitted to the control unit 13 is compared with the desired salinity desired by the user to calculate the required amount of water, and the The indicator 51 can be configured to indicate the required amount of water.

In addition, the salinity sensor 60 may be configured to detect the salinity before cooking, detect the salinity before cooking is completed, and inform the user whether the food is being cooked with the desired salinity. It has the advantage of cooking food to have the desired salinity.

Meanwhile, the display window 12 includes a cooking window for informing the type of dish before starting cooking according to the type of dish, a water window for informing the amount of water required according to the type of dish displayed in the cooking window, and It may include a salt window indicating the amount of salt according to the type and a salinity window indicating the salinity by the cooking.

In the water window, the amount of water may be expressed in weight units such as gram (g) or kilogram (kg), and when addition or removal of water is required, the user may be configured to add or remove water by being displayed in the form of ±. Of course, it can also be configured to indicate the amount of water in volume, such as liters or milliliters.

The salt window may indicate the amount of salt required for cooking food in milligrams (mg) or grams (g). The salt window may be configured to allow the user to add or remove salt by being displayed in the form of ± when adding or removing salt is required.

In addition, the salinity window may indicate the salinity of the food being cooked as a percentage (%). The user can control the amount of salt displayed on the salt window by referring to the salinity of the food displayed on the salinity window.

Of course, the salinity window may be configured to allow the user to adjust the amount of salt by simultaneously displaying the desired salinity desired by the user and the current salinity.

As described above, by quantitatively displaying the amount of water and the amount of salt for cooking food on the display window 12, the user recognizes the quantitative amount displayed on the display window 12 and adds water and salt necessary for cooking food. Or it has an advantage that can be configured to be removed, it has the advantage of easy to implement the taste of the food desired by the user.

Meanwhile, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control method of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an operation sequence of an electric rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to this, an input step (S10) in which a user inputs at least a type of dish, a quantity of dishes, and a desired salinity is performed to start cooking. For example, when a user wants to cook 4 servings of rice, the user manipulates the input unit 11 to select rice, which is a type of cooking, and enters 4 servings. Can be displayed.

Then, the user operates the input unit 11 to input the desired salinity of the dish. At this time, the user can be configured to check the previously set salinity or to input the salinity that the user knows.

A first notification step (S20) is performed according to the progress of the input step (S10). In the first notification step (S20), the user may recognize the amount of water, the amount of salinity, the current salinity, and the desired salinity required by the information input in the input step (S10) through the display window (12). .

After proceeding with the input step (S10) and the first notification step (S20), according to the information shown on the display window (12), the addition or removal of water, the addition or removal of salt, etc. The cooking preparation step S30 may be performed.

When the preparation for cooking food is completed by the progress of the cooking preparation step (S30), a heating step (S40) of heating the cooking vessel 20 by the operation of the heating device 151 is performed.

When the cooking vessel 20 is heated by the progress of the heating step (S40), a checking step (S50) for checking the salinity of food contained in the interior space of the cooking vessel 20 is performed.

When the salinity of the food being heated for cooking is checked by the progress of the inspection step (S50), an adjustment step (S60) of adjusting the amount of water or the amount of salt according to the salinity detected in the inspection step (S50) is performed. do.

By adjusting the water level or the amount of salt inside the cooking vessel 20 by the progress of the adjustment step (S60), and displays information on the adjusted water level or the amount of salt on the display window 12 to inform the user 2, the notification step (S70) may proceed.

According to the progress of the second notification step (S70), the user can recognize the changed water level, that is, the amount and salinity of the water, and the rearranging step of finishing the cooking of food according to the water level and salinity adjusted in the adjustment step (S60). (S80) proceeds.

Cooking of the food using the electric rice cooker according to the embodiment of the present invention is completed by the progress of the rearranging step (S80).

Looking at this in more detail with reference to FIG. 5, when power is applied to the main body 10 and cooking starts, the user enters the type of dish, the amount of cooking, and the desired salinity.

When the input of the cooking information by the user is completed by operating the input unit 11, the control unit 13 calculates the food and drink by calculating by an automatic algorithm in consideration of the heating time, heating amount, and heating power for cooking the food. The amount of water required for cooking, the amount of salt, and the level of water are displayed through the display window 12 and the display time 51 to be recognized by the user.

At this time, the user adds water up to the water level displayed through the indicator 51 and inputs the salt required for the desired salinity into the cooking vessel 20. When the addition of water and the addition of salt are completed, the control unit 13 controls the heating device 151 to heat the cooking vessel 20.

On the other hand, during the cooking, the controller 13 may proceed with a process of checking the desired salinity. At this time, if the user inputs the desired salinity before starting the cooking of the food, the amount of water or salt required for cooking the food is calculated based on the previously entered desired salinity, and the user calculates the desired salinity before starting the cooking of the food. If not, it may be configured to inform the user to input the desired salinity.

When the desired salinity is input by the user, it is configured to calculate the amount of water and salt required to cook the food with the desired salinity by an automatic algorithm without considering the heating time, heating amount, heating power, etc. for cooking the food. Can be.

When the amount of water and salt required to cook a food having a desired salinity is calculated by the control unit 13, the amount of water and salt required for cooking food is displayed on the display window 12, and the display window 12 The user adds water and salt according to the amount of water and salt displayed in ).

When the addition of water and salt is completed by the user, the cooking vessel 20 is heated for a set time to complete cooking of food.

The present invention as described above is illustrative of the technical idea, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will be capable of various modifications and variations without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention.

For example, a configuration in which the storage case 50 is formed in the form of a polygonal column rather than in the form of a cylinder may be possible, and the water level of the cooking vessel 20 may be achieved while the indicator 51 is configured in a form other than LED. Depending on the configuration, it may be possible to inform the user of the water level while moving up and down.

In addition, the indicator 51 is located on the outer surface of the main body cover 30 so that the user moves the water level inside the cooking vessel 20 through a position shift or color change according to the water level detected by the water level sensor 70. An easily recognizable configuration will also be possible.

The electric rice cooker according to the present invention is configured to be capable of detecting salinity of the food being cooked, and is configured to be able to cook food to have a desired salinity, so that food suitable for a user's taste can be cooked.

In addition, by quantitatively notifying the amount of water, salt amount, and salinity required for cooking food, the user has an advantage that is easy to recognize.

As described above, the electric rice cooker according to the present invention having many advantages as described above will have great potential for use in various industries related to the production, manufacture and sale of electric rice cookers.

10. Body 11. Input
12. Display 13. Control
14. Control base 15. Container case
151. Heating device 152. Insulation
16. Case support 20. Cooking vessel
30. Body cover 40. Cover handle
50. Storage case 51. Display
60. Salinity sensor 70. Water level sensor

Claims (6)

A body whose upper surface is open and has an inner space;
A cooking vessel which is detachably inserted into the inner space of the main body, and the upper surface is opened to accommodate food to be cooked in the inner space;
A main body cover that selectively opens and closes the main body and the opened upper surface of the cooking vessel;
A display window formed on the main body or the main body cover to inform the user of the main body information;
A salinity sensor that detects the salinity of foods cooked inside the cooking vessel; And
An indicator that displays the internal water level of the cooking vessel; Including,
An electric rice cooker in which the amount of water adjusted by comparing the current amount of water with the amount of additional water and the salinity detected by the salinity sensor and the user's desired salinity is displayed on the display window. According to claim 1,
An electric rice cooker in which the current salinity and desired salinity are displayed on the display window. According to claim 1,
An electric rice cooker in which the salinity sensor and the indicator are accommodated in the main body cover. The method of claim 3,
The storage case is an electric rice cooker detachably mounted to the main body cover. According to claim 1,
An electric rice cooker in which the amount of salt to be added is further displayed by comparing the salinity detected by the salinity sensor with the salinity desired by the user in the display window. An input step in which a user inputs a type of dish, a quantity of dishes, and a desired salinity to start cooking;
A first notification step of notifying a user of a required amount of water, a salt amount, and a current salinity by the information input in the input step;
A cooking preparation step of adding or removing water or adding or removing salt according to information provided in the first notification step;
When the preparation of cooking is completed in the cooking preparation step, a heating step of heating;
An inspection step of checking salinity while being heated by the heating step;
Adjusting step of adjusting the amount of water and the amount of salt by the information provided in the inspection step;
A second notification step informing the user of the result adjusted in the adjustment step; And
A rearranging step of finishing cooking according to the result adjusted in the second notification step; Control method of an electric rice cooker comprising a.

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