KR200433810Y1 - Controller for electric rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a control device for an electric rice cooker. The present invention is a control panel having a plurality of buttons including a lock key and a release key; An FPCB installed below the control panel and provided with a capacitive sensing unit at a position corresponding to each button display unit of the control panel; And a PCB installed below the FPCB and having a touch sensor for transferring the capacitance change transmitted from the capacitance sensing unit of the FPCB to the microcomputer for controlling the operation of the rice cooker. According to the control device for an electric rice cooker of the present invention, by applying the FPCB with a capacitive sensing unit and the PCB with a touch sensor, one-touch button operation can be applied to the electric rice cooker without the need for a large force Operation is possible, and despite the frequent selection of buttons, the function of the buttons is less likely to be impaired or deformed, thus improving the durability and operation reliability of the product, and it is easier to manufacture the molding than the tact switch method, thereby improving productivity. .

Electric Rice Cooker, Control Panel, FPCB, PCB, Touch Sensor, Adhesive

Description

Control device for rice cooker {CONTROLLER FOR ELECTRIC RICE COOKER}

1 is a perspective view of an electric pressure cooker.

Figure 2a is a cross-sectional view of a conventional rice cooker control device

Figure 2b is a cross-sectional view of a conventional rice cooker control device.

Figure 3 is a perspective view and a partial enlarged view of an electric rice cooker employing a control device for an electric rice cooker according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the control device for electric rice cooker according to the present invention.

5 is a rear view of the printed circuit board employed in the control device for electric rice cooker according to the present invention.

Figure 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the electric rice cooker control device according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100; Inner pot 110; Lid

120; Handle 130; Control panel

132a; Lock key 132b; Release key

135; Display window 140; Adhesive member

153, 168; Signal line 150; FPCB

152; Capacitive sensing unit 155; Overhang of the FPCB

160; PCB 160 '; PCB surface (bottom)

161, 163; Circuitry 167; Touch sensor

The present invention relates to a control device for an electric rice cooker, and more particularly, to a control device for an electric pressure cooker capable of operating a button by a one-touch method with improved operation reliability and easy key operation.

In general, an electric pressure cooker is a device for cooking using electric power to maintain the inside of the inner pot in a high pressure state using the heat source, the electric pressure cooker typically generates an induction current to generate an inner pot An induction heating method for heating a food while generating heat by an induction current is applied.

Hereinafter, a conventional electric pressure cooker will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view of an electric pressure cooker.

As shown in Figure 1, the inside of the electric pressure cooker body 1 is provided with a predetermined seating space, such a seating space is seated inside the inner pot (3) is opened so that food is withdrawn. At this time, the seating space of the open upper part or the main body of the inner pot 3 is selectively opened and closed by a main body lid 5 hinged to the upper part of the main body 1 to be rotatable vertically.

The front of the main body 1 is provided with a control panel 12 having a display window indicating the current state of the electric pressure cooker and a plurality of buttons, such as cooking, cancellation, warming, etc., in general, the main body 1 is a design curve The control panel 12 is also formed in a curved shape.

A tact switch and a printed circuit board are provided at the rear of the control panel 12. A control apparatus for a conventional rice cooker will be described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B.

2A and 2B are cross-sectional views of a control apparatus for a conventional rice cooker. In FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the same components as those in FIG. 1 denote the same reference numerals.

As shown in Figure 2a, one side of the control panel 10 to form the front appearance of the control device for the electric pressure cooker is provided with a plurality of installation holes (10 ') for installation of the button (11). A printed circuit board is installed at a rear of the control panel 10 at a predetermined distance.

A plurality of circuit elements are provided on the front surface of the printed circuit board 13, and a tact switch Sw is installed at one side of the printed circuit board 13 facing the operation panel. Then, the button 11 for operating the tact switch (Sw) is installed to protrude to the outside through the installation hole (10 ').

In the conventional control device configured as described above, when the user presses the button 11, the tact switch Sw is operated by pressing the button 11 in the direction in which the user presses. And a predetermined operation signal is input to the microcomputer for the control of the electric pressure cooker by the operation of the tact switch (Sw).

On the other hand, in the conventional control device shown in Figure 2b, the button display portion 10a is printed on one side of the front surface of the control panel 10 forming the front appearance of the control device. In addition, a button 11 is provided on the rear surface of the control panel 10 corresponding to the button display portion 10a, a printed circuit board 13 is provided on the rear of the control panel 10, and the button 11 is provided. Tact switch (Sw) is provided on one side of the front side of the printed circuit board 13 corresponding to).

At this time, the control panel 10 is formed of a material having a predetermined elasticity. Accordingly, when the user presses one side of the control panel 10 provided with the button 11, the control panel 10 and the button 11 move in the direction in which the user presses to operate the tact switch Sw. do.

However, according to the conventional electric rice cooker control device configured as described above has the following problems.

In other words, in order to operate the tact switch by pressing the button, the user must press the embossed button, and a predetermined force must be applied. When the distance between the button and the tact switch is large, a large force must be applied. There is a risk that the cooker will be pushed back and fall, causing product damage.

In addition, since the force must be applied every time the button is selected, the mutual separation distance between each button and the tact switch varies depending on the number of times the button is used. Therefore, an unbalance occurs in the separation distance between each button and the tact switch, causing the tact switch to malfunction or operate. There is a problem that a defect occurs.

In addition, the distance between the button and the tact switch should be adjusted accordingly when producing the rice cooker, and the distance between the control panel and the printed circuit board equipped with the tact switch is not constant. It takes a lot of time in molding the control device and the manufacturing process is cumbersome, there is a problem that the productivity is lowered.

Therefore, the present invention has been devised to solve the conventional problems as described above, an object of the present invention is a PCB installed with a flexible (FPCB) and a touch sensor having a capacitive sensing unit at the rear of the control panel of the rice cooker By applying, the one-touch method can be applied to the electric rice cooker that adopts the curved control panel, so the aesthetic appearance is beautiful and the buttons can be operated only by touch, and the buttons are not damaged by frequent button selection, and the operation reliability and productivity are improved. The present invention provides a control device for an electric rice cooker.

In order to achieve the above object, the control device for an electric rice cooker of the present invention, a control panel having a plurality of buttons including a lock key and a release key; A flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) installed below the control panel and provided with a capacitive sensing unit at a position corresponding to each button display unit of the control panel; And a printed circuit board (PCB) having a touch sensor installed below the FPCB and transmitting a change in capacitance transferred from the capacitive sensing unit of the FPCB to a microcomputer that controls the operation of the rice cooker.

Here, the FPCB is preferably formed in a shape corresponding to the control panel.

In this case, preferably, the FPCB is detachably mounted on the PCB.

On the other hand, the FPCB is preferably installed in close contact with the control panel by an adhesive member, more preferably the adhesive member is a double-sided tape.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a perspective view and a partially enlarged view of an electric rice cooker employing a control device for an electric rice cooker according to the present invention, Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the electric rice cooker control device according to the present invention.

As shown in Figure 3, the rice cooker is the inner pot 100 for receiving food, the lid 110 for opening and closing the inner pot 100, the handle 120 for locking the rice cooker, the front of the rice cooker It is provided and comprises a curved control panel 130 provided with a plurality of button display.

In this case, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 3, the flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as “FPCB”) is provided at the rear of the control panel 130 through an adhesive member 140 such as a double-sided tape. 150) is installed in close contact.

4, the control panel, the FPCB and the PCB will be described in detail.

First, the control panel 130 will be described.

The control panel 130 is curved and installed at the front of the main body, and a plurality of button display portions 132, 132a, and 132b are provided at the front of the control panel 130. The button display unit 132, 132a, 132b is a place where a variety of operation signals for the operation of the electric rice cooker is input, for example, various buttons such as cooking button, warming button, cancel button and choose brown rice or grain rice There is a menu button and so on. The button display units 132, 132a, and 132b are provided in the form printed on the outer surface of the control panel 130.

In addition, the control panel 130 is formed with a display window 135 shows various information output from the display unit (not shown) spaced apart from the rear of the control panel 130.

In this case, the control panel 130 is provided with a lock button display unit 132a and a release button display unit 132b. The user selects the release button display unit 132b and then selects various button display units 132 according to the corresponding button. By performing the operation, even if a particular button is selected unconsciously, it is possible to prevent the operation is performed accordingly to improve the operation reliability.

The lock button display unit 132a blocks electric signal transmission according to the selection of each button 132, and the release button display unit 132b serves to release the lock button 132a. Therefore, when the lock button 132a is selected, first, the release button 132b is selected and then a specific button 132 is selected to output a predetermined operation according to the selected button.

Meanwhile, a transparent window (not shown) may be formed at one side of each button display unit 132, and an LED (not shown) may be provided at the rear of the control panel 130 corresponding to the transparent window. .

At this time, when the user selects a specific button 132, the LED corresponding to the driving is driven to emit light through the transparent window, the user can recognize that the button 132 selected by the user is selected. In addition, an output device (not shown) for outputting a predetermined output sound may be separately provided so that a user may recognize that the button 132 selected by the user is selected.

The display unit provided at the rear of the control panel 130 is generally formed of a liquid crystal diode (LCD) window, through which the operating state of the rice cooker is displayed.

Next, the FPCB 150 will be described.

The FPCB 150 is a kind of touch pad made of a flexible material and is formed in a substantially curved shape corresponding to the control panel, and is closely attached to the rear of the control panel 130. At this time, the FPCB 150 is installed in close contact with the adhesive member 140 such as a double-sided tape on the back of the control panel 130.

The FPCB 150 is formed to have a thickness of about 0.2 to 0.5 mm, and a capacitive sensing unit 152 such as an electrode is provided at a position corresponding to the button display units 130, 132a, and 132b of the control panel.

Here, the capacitance sensing unit 152 installed at a position corresponding to the button display unit when touches the button display unit 130, 132a, 132b of the control panel with a finger is the capacitance change (capacitance) induced between the person Change), and the sensed signal is transmitted to a touch sensor to be described later.

The capacitive sensing unit 152 of the FPCB 150 is connected to the signal line 153 for transmitting a signal to the touch sensor, which leads to the downwardly projecting protrusion 155. The protrusion 153 serves as a medium for mounting the FPCB 150 on the PCB 160, whereby the FPCB 140 is detachably installed on the PCB 160. Of course, the protrusion 155 of the FPCB may be permanently attached by soldering the PCB 160.

Next, the PCB will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. 5 is a rear plan view of the PCB of FIG. 4.

A plurality of circuit elements 161 and 163 are mounted on one surface of the PCB 160, and the FPCB 150 is mounted by inserting the protrusion 155 into the connection portion 165 formed on the PCB 160.

On the other hand, the other surface 160 ′ of the PCB is equipped with a touch sensor 167, a plurality of circuit elements (not shown), a microcomputer (not shown), and the like (see FIG. 5). The touch sensor 167 is electrically connected to various circuit elements 161 and 163 by a signal line. In FIG. 5, only the signal line 168 connected to the FPCB is shown for convenience.

The touch sensor 167 transfers the capacitance change from the capacitance sensing unit 152 of the FPCB to the microcomputer that controls the operation of the rice cooker.

As such, the present invention adopts a flexible printed circuit board having a capacitance sensing unit, so that a touch sensor by a one-touch method can be applied to an electric rice cooker having a curved control panel.

In other words, the control panel of household appliances such as a TV or a Kimchi refrigerator is a flat panel, so that the one-touch method can be applied by attaching a printed circuit board equipped with a touch sensor to the inner surface of the control panel. Subsequently, there was a problem in that the printed circuit board, which is a flat plate, could not be directly adhered to the inner side of the bar. The present invention allows a one-touch button to be applied to an electric rice cooker by interposing a flexible FPCB between the control panel and the flat PCB. .

Hereinafter, with reference to Figure 6 will be described the operation of the electric rice cooker control device according to the present invention. Figure 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the electric rice cooker control device according to the present invention. The same components as those in Figs.

The lock button 132a is selected to determine whether the rice cooker is in the locked state (S200).

As a result of the determination, if the rice cooker is in a locked state, select the release button (132b) (S210) and then the user selects a specific button, and if the rice cooker is not in the locked state, a specific button is immediately selected without selecting the release button 132b ( S220).

When a specific button 132 is touched by a finger, the capacitance sensing unit 152 of the FPCB senses a change in capacitance (S230) and transmits a signal according to the change in capacitance to the touch sensor 167 (S240). The touch sensor 167 receiving the signal transmits an electrical signal according to the capacitance change to the microcomputer (S250), and the microcomputer receiving the signal performs an electric rice cooker to perform an operation corresponding to a specific button of which the capacitance change is detected. Control (S260).

At this time, the microcomputer drives the LED provided behind the specific button or drives the audio output device. In addition, the microcomputer controls to display the information according to the specific button through the display unit.

According to the control device for an electric rice cooker of the present invention, by applying a PCB equipped with a FPCB and a touch sensor with a capacitive sensing unit, it is possible to apply the button to the electric pressure cooker, one-touch method, button operation without a great force This is possible, and despite frequent button selection, the function of the button is less likely to be impaired or deformed, thereby improving the durability of the product as well as improving operation reliability and productivity.

In the above, the best embodiment has been disclosed in the drawings and the specification. Although specific terms have been used herein for the purpose of description, they are used only for the purpose of describing the present invention and are not used to limit the scope of the present invention as defined in the Utility Model Registration Claims. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible from this. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be defined by the technical spirit of the attached utility model registration claims.

According to the present invention, by applying the FPCB equipped with the capacitive sensing unit and the PCB equipped with the touch sensor, one-touch button operation can be applied to the rice cooker, so that the button operation is possible without significant force, and frequent button selection Nevertheless, the function of the button is less likely to be impaired or deformed, thereby improving the durability and operation reliability of the product, and it is easier to manufacture the molding than the tact switch method, thereby improving productivity.

Claims (5)

In the control device for rice cooker, A control panel having a plurality of buttons including a lock key and a release key; A flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) installed below the control panel and provided with a capacitive sensing unit at a position corresponding to each button display unit of the control panel; And A control circuit for an electric rice cooker installed below the FPCB and having a touch sensor (PCB) having a touch sensor for transferring a change in capacitance transferred from the capacitive sensing unit of the FPCB to a microcomputer that controls the operation of the electric rice cooker. Device. The method of claim 1, The FPCB is an electric rice cooker control device, characterized in that formed in a shape corresponding to the control panel. The method of claim 2, The FPCB is a control device for an electric rice cooker, characterized in that detachably mounted to the PCB. The method of claim 2 or 3, The FPCB control device for an electric rice cooker, characterized in that the adhesive member is installed in close contact with the control panel. The method of claim 4, wherein The adhesive member is an electric rice cooker control device, characterized in that the double-sided tape.

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