WO2018133368A1

WO2018133368A1 - Cooking appliance

Info

Publication number: WO2018133368A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/095184
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zeyong LI; Chengen Zhong
Original assignee: Zhejiang Supor Electrical Appliances Manufacture Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2017-01-20
Filing date: 2017-07-31
Publication date: 2018-07-26
Also published as: SG11201906620VA; CN206729728U

Abstract

A cooking appliance comprises a pot body, a cover (10) and a vacuum pump (30). The pot body is provided with an inner pot. The cover (10) is arranged on the pot body and can be opened and closed. When the pot body is covered by the cover (10), a cooking space is formed between the cover (10) and the inner pot. An air inlet of the vacuum pump (30) is communicated with the cooking space through the first suction pipe (51), and an air outlet of the vacuum pump (30) is communicated with the outside air. A second exhaust tube (52) is included, one end of which is communicated with the air inlet of the vacuum pump (30), and the other end is communicated with the outside air. In addition to the vacuum negative pressure function, the cooking appliance can vacuumize other external containers, which optimizes the functions of the cooking appliance, and facilitates the operations.

Description

COOKING APPLIANCE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates generally to the field of cooking appliance.

BACKGROUND

Some cooking appliances, such as rice cooker, have a vacuumizing function to allow the airtight cooking space to maintain in a negative pressure environment at certain time during the cooking process. However, generally, cooking appliances with such function can only vacuumize its inner space, and cannot vacuumize external containers. In our daily life, vacuumizing containers such as storage bags and crispers are often needed, which is troublesome because a vacuum pump is needed at the same time. If the cooking appliance with the vacuum negative pressure function can also be used to vacuumize external containers, the vacuum pump can be omitted and the product experience will be optimized.

Accordingly, a cooking appliance is needed to at least partially solve the above problems.

SUMMARY

A series of simplified concepts is introduced in the section of "Summary", which will be described in further detail in the section of "Description of Embodiments". Summary of the invention is not intended to limit the critical features and essential technical features of the technical solution required to be protected, and not intended to determine the protection scope of the technical solution required to be protected.

In order to at least partially solve the above problems, the invention provides a cooking appliance comprising:

- a pot body, which is provided with an inner pot；

- a cover, which is arranged on the pot body and can be opened and closed； when the pot body is covered by the cover, a cooking space is formed between the cover and the inner pot；

- a vacuum pump, the air inlet of the vacuum pump communicates with the cooking space through a first exhaust tube, and the air outlet of the vacuum pump communicates with the outside air； and

- a second exhaust tube, one end of which communicates with the air inlet of the vacuum pump, and the other end communicates with the outside air.

In addition to the vacuum negative pressure function, the cooking appliance according to the invention can vacuumize other external containers, which optimizes the product functions, facilitates the operations and improve the user experience.

Optionally, the cooking appliance further comprises a T-junction, through which the air inlet of the vacuum pump is connected with the first and second exhaust tubes respectively. Thus, an air inlet can be connected with two exhaust tubes correspondingly through the T-junction.

Optionally, the two interfaces through which the T-junction is connected with the first and second exhaust tubes can be opened and closed respectively. Thus, the air passages of the first or the second exhaust tubes can be opened and closed selectively.

Optionally, the cover is arranged with a receiving slot, and the end of the second exhaust tube that communicates with the outside air is removably accommodated in the receiving slot. Thus, the second exhaust tube can be accommodated for the aesthetics of the cooking appliance, and can be easily taken out when being used.

Optionally, the receiving slot further comprises a receiving lid used to cover the receiving slot. Thus, the aesthetics of the cooking appliance can be maintained, and the end of the second exhaust tube communicating with the outside can be kept hygienic.

Optionally, the inner side of the receiving lid is provided with a limiting rib； when the receiving lid covers the receiving slot, the limiting rib squeezes the second exhaust tube to cut off the connection between the second exhaust tube and the outside air. Thus, when the cooking appliance vacuumizes its inner space, connection between the second exhaust tube and the outside is cut off by the limiting rib to ensure smooth vacuumizing.

Optionally, the cooking appliance includes at least two vacuum pumps which are connected in parallel. Thus, the suction power and rate as well as the vacuumizing negative pressure can be increased.

Optionally, the air inlets of the at least two vacuum pumps are connected with the first and second exhaust tubes respectively through a four-way junction. Thus, the at least two vacuum pumps can be connected with two exhaust tubes correspondingly through a four-way junction.

Optionally, the two interfaces through which the four-way junction is connected with the first and the second exhaust tubes can be opened and closed respectively. Thus, the air passages of the first or the second exhaust tubes can be opened and closed selectively.

Optionally, a solenoid valve is provided between the air inlet of the vacuum pump and the cooking space. Thus, when no air exhaust is needed, the air passage between the cooking space and the vacuum pump is cut off by the solenoid valve, so as to maintain stable pressure in the cooking space.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawings of the embodiments of the invention are hereby incorporated as part of the invention, so as to help understand the invention. The embodiments of the invention and the descriptions shown in the drawings are used to explain the principles of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the partial structure of the cooking appliance of embodiment 1 illustrated in the invention； and

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the partial structure of the cooking appliance of embodiment 2 illustrated in the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without one or more of these details. In other instances, some technical features known in the art are not described in order to avoid confusion with embodiments of the invention.

For a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention, detailed structures will be set forth in the following description. It will be apparent that the practice of the embodiments of the invention is not limited to the particular details familiar to those skilled in the art.

The invention provides a cooking appliance. The cooking appliance comprises a pot body, a cover and a vacuum pump, wherein the cover is connected to the pot body through a pivotal axis, and can pivot freely around the pivotal axis between open and closed positions relative to the pot body. The outer casings of the pot body and the cover can be made of synthetic resin or the like, so that the temperature of the outer casing is not affected by the high temperature of the cooking appliance during the cooking operation, and the user can be prevented from being burned. The cooking appliance shown in the invention may be a rice cooker, an electric pressure cooker, and the like having a negative pressure function.

The cooking appliance also includes an inner pot. The inner pot is usually made of a metallic material, and used for containing the materials to be heated, such as rice, soup and the like. A storage portion of cylindrical shape is provided inside the pot body. The inner pot can be freely placed in or taken out from the storage portion to facilitate cleaning of the inner pot. During the operation, the cover covers the pot body, and the inner pot and the cover located in the pot body are fitted to form an airtight cooking space, the inner pot being heated so as to cook the food therein.

An exhaust hole communicating with the cooking space is arranged on the cover, and the air inlet of the vacuum pump is connected with the exhaust hole through the vacuum tube, and the air outlet of the vacuum pump communicates with the outside air. When the cover covers the pot body, the inner pot and the cover are fitted to form an airtight cooking space, and the vacuum pump can be started at this time to vacuumize the cooking space through the vacuum tube, in order to keep the cooking space in a negative pressure environment to meet the food cooking, preserving and other needs. Preferably, a solenoid valve is provided in the air passage between the cooking space and the air inlet of the vacuum pump, so when there is no need of vacuumizing, or the cooking space reaches a predetermined negative pressure value and vacuum needs to be maintained, the solenoid valve can be controlled to cut off the air passage between the cooking space and the air inlet of the vacuum pump, so as to prevent misoperation of the vacuum pump, or prevent air from entering, thereby improving the ability of maintaining vacuum in the cooking space.

It is further preferred that the solenoid valve may have a one-way conduction function so that air can only flow in a direction from the cooking space to the vacuum pump.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the cover 10 includes a lining 12 and a surface lid 11 covering the lining 12 from the side and the top. On the upper surface of the lining 12, a series of upwardly projecting ribs are provided to reinforce the overall strength of the cover 10. The lining 12 is provided with an exhaust hole (not shown) , which is a through-hole for facilitating communication with the cooking space. The solenoid valve 20 is connected with the exhaust hole through the inlet end, and a sealing ring is provided at the connection to ensure air tightness. One end of the first exhaust tube 51 is connected to the outlet end of the solenoid valve 20, and the other end thereof is connected to the T-junction 54. The other two interfaces of the T-junction 54 are connected to the vacuum pump 30 and the air inlet of the second exhaust tube 51, respectively.

The vacuum pump 30 is fixedly connected to the lining 12 by a fixing frame 40. It is to be noted that the position of the vacuum pump 30 should be made as close as possible to the position of the solenoid valve 20, so as to shorten the length of the first exhaust tube 51； therefore the exhaust air passage can be shortened, and the risk of the exhaust gas passage leakage leading to atmospheric connectivity can be reduced, thus the air tightness can be ensured. The air outlet of the vacuum pump 30 is connected to the vent hole (not shown) provided in the lining 12 through the vent tube 53, and the vent hole communicates with the outside atmosphere.

The other end of the second exhaust tube 52 communicates with the outside atmosphere for connecting the external container during the vacuumizing of an external container. The outer surface of the surface lid 12 is provided with a receiving slot 13, and the end of the second exhaust tube 52 communicating with the outside air is placed in the receiving slot 13. The presence of the receiving slot 13 allows the second exhaust tube 52 to have a sufficient extension length to be connected to the outer container, and the second exhaust tube 52 may be wound up in the receiving slot 13 when not in use. The receiving lid 14 is hinged to the surface lid 12, and rotatable around the hinge between open and closed positions relative to the receiving slot 13. The second exhaust tube 52 is placed in the receiving slot 13 when not in use, and the receiving slot 13 is covered by the receiving lid 14 to maintain the overall aesthetics of the cooking appliance, as well as the sanitation of the end of the second exhaust tube 52 connected to the outer container.

Preferably, the solenoid valve 20, the vacuum pump 30, the first exhaust tube 51, the second exhaust tube 52 and the vent tube 53 are arranged between the lining 12 and the surface lid 11, so as to maintain the overall aesthetics of the cooking appliance, and prevent damage of the parts due to collision.

The working processes of the cooking appliance according to the invention are as follows:

When vacuumizing is required for the cooking space of the cooking appliance, the cover 10 is closed, the end of the second exhaust tube 52 communicating with the outside air is blocked by a tool such as a rubber stopper, and the solenoid valve 20 is opened to allow the cooking space to communicate with the first exhaust tube 51； then the vacuum pump 30 is started to vacuumize the cooking space, and the extracted air is discharged through the vent tube 53 to the outside atmosphere through the vent hole arranged in the lining 12. Preferably, the inner side of the receiving lid 14 is provided with a limiting rib 15, which corresponds to the position where the second exhaust tube 52 is accommodated in the receiving slot 13. When the receiving lid 14 covers the receiving slot 13, the limit rib 15 squeezes the second exhaust tube 52 to cut off the connection between the second exhaust tube 52 and the outside air, so the rubber stopper used to block the second exhaust tube 52 can be omitted.

When vacuumizing is required for an external container, the solenoid valve 20 is closed, and the first exhaust tube 51 is blocked. The air inlet of the vacuum pump 30 can only communicate with the outside through the second exhaust tube 52. The end of the second exhaust tube 52 communicating with the outside air is connected to the external container requiring vacuumizing； then the vacuum pump 30 is started to realize the function of vacuumizing the outer container by the cooking appliance of the invention.

Preferably, the two interfaces of the T-junction 54 connected to the first exhaust tube 51 and the second exhaust tube 52 can be arranged as switchable structures, respectively. During vacuumizing of the cooking space, the interface between the T-junction 54 and the second exhaust tube 52 is closed； during vacuumizing of the outer container, the interface between the T-junction 54 and the first exhaust tube 51 is closed to ensure one-way air flow and the vacuumizing efficiency.

Preferably, as shown in FIG. 2, a second vacuum pump 31 may be provided. The second vacuum pump 31 is also connected to the lining by a fixing frame, and arranged in parallel with the vacuum pump 30, that is, the air inlets of the vacuum pump 30 and the second vacuum pump 31 are respectively connected with the first exhaust tube 51 and the second exhaust tube 52 through the four-way junction 55. The two interfaces of the T-junction 55 connected to the first exhaust tube 51 and the second exhaust tube 52 can be arranged as switchable structures, respectively, so as to better realize the function of selectively exhausting the first exhaust tube 51 and the second exhaust tube 52. In this way, the cooking appliance is provided with two vacuum pumps, which can work alone or at the same time. Double vacuum pump operation increases the negative pressure of the vacuum pumps, and improves the vacuumizing rate. It can be understood that a plurality of vacuum pumps may also be provided in series or in parallel.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein are the same as the meaning usually understood by those skilled in the art of the invention. The terms used herein intend to describe specific embodiments rather than limiting the invention. The terms such as “part” used herein can indicate a single member or a plurality of members. The terms such as “provided” or "arranged"used herein can indicate that a component is attached directly to another component, or that a component is attached to another component through a middleware. The features described herein in one embodiment may be applied individually or in combination with other features to another embodiment unless the feature is not applicable in the other embodiment or is otherwise illustrated.

The invention has been described by way of the above embodiments, but it is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are for exemplary and illustrative purposes only, and not intended to limit the invention to the scope of the described embodiments.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various variations and modifications can be made in accordance with the teachings of the invention, which fall within the scope of the invention required to be protected.

Claims

A cooking appliance, characterized by comprising:

- a pot body, which is provided with an inner pot；

- a cover, which is arranged on the pot body and can be opened and closed； when the pot body is covered by the cover, a cooking space is formed between the cover and the inner pot；

- a vacuum pump, the air inlet of which communicates with the cooking space through a first exhaust tube, and the air outlet of which communicates with the outside air； and

- a second exhaust tube, one end of which communicates with the air inlet of the vacuum pump, and the other end communicates with the outside air.
The cooking appliance according to Claim 1, further comprising a T-junction, through which the air inlet of the vacuum pump is connected with the first and the second exhaust tubes respectively.
The cooking appliance according to Claim 2, the two interfaces through which the T-junction is connected with the first and the second exhaust tubes respectively can be opened and closed respectively.
The cooking appliance according to Claim 1, the cover being provided with a receiving slot, the end of the second exhaust tube that communicates with the outside air being removably accommodated in the receiving slot.
The cooking appliance according to Claim 4, the receiving slot further comprising a receiving lid used to cover the receiving slot.
The cooking appliance according to Claim 5, the inner side of the receiving lid being provided with a limit rib； when the receiving lid covers the receiving slot, the limit rib squeezes the second exhaust tube to cut off the connection between the second exhaust tube and the outside air.
The cooking appliance according to Claim 1, the cooking appliance including at least two vacuum pumps which are connected in parallel.
The cooking appliance according to Claim 7, the air inlets of the at least two vacuum pumps being connected with the first and the second exhaust tubes respectively through a four-way junction.
The cooking appliance according to Claim 8, the two interfaces through which the four-way junction is connected with the first and the second exhaust tubes respectively can be opened and closed respectively.
The cooking appliance according to Claim 1, comprising a solenoid valve arranged between the first exhaust tube and the cooking space.