JPS6135844B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a rice cooker in which a pot is heated by a heater, and an object of the present invention is to heat a pot using a pre-stored program. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rice cooker which exhibits an excellent effect in that so-called ``rice porridge cooking'', ``double cooking'', etc. can be automatically performed by simple operation.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, in FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a substantially cylindrical outer case, 2 is a bottom frame fitted to the lower part of the outer case 1, 3 is an inner case disposed within the outer case 1; 4 is a heat insulating material disposed between the outer case 1 and the inner case 3; 5 is a pot detachably disposed within the inner case 3; 6 is an inner case disposed within the outer case 1; A rice-cooking heater disposed at the inner bottom of the inner case 3; 7 a heat-retaining heater wrapped around the upper periphery of the inner case 3; 8 a lid rotatably supported on the outer case 1; 9 a lid. This is a locking device that keeps the 8 in a locked state. Reference numeral 10 denotes a heat transfer case provided so as to be in pressure contact with the outer bottom of the pot 5, and a thermistor 11 serving as a temperature detection means is disposed inside the case in a heat transfer manner. Therefore, this thermistor 11 detects the bottom temperature of the pot 5 (hereinafter referred to as pot bottom temperature D) and outputs a change in resistance value according to the detected temperature as a temperature information signal Sd. Further, 12 is a clock device disposed on the outside of the outer case 1, which includes a display section 13 that digitally displays "hours" and "minutes";
The clock device 12, which is comprised of an operating section 14, has a normal clock function and a timer function, and selection and adjustment of each function are performed using the operating buttons 14a of the operating section 14. Further, reference numeral 15 denotes a heating pattern selection device which is a manual operation means and is also disposed on the outside of the outer case 1, and has a plurality of operation buttons 15a.
5a, for example, 5 types of heating patterns for the pot 5, which will be described later. For "cooking", so-called "double cooking" and "keeping warm"
This is for selecting an arbitrary heating pattern from among the heating patterns used for heating, and outputs a pattern selection signal Sp corresponding to the selected heating pattern. Furthermore, 1
Reference numeral 6 denotes a display device disposed on the outside of the outer case 1, which has, for example, four indicator lamps 16a, each of which indicates the current operating state by lighting. At this time, the display device 16 is adapted to display the operating states of "rice cooking", "double cooking", "uniform cooking", and "keep warm".

Next, the electrical configuration will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. First, in FIG. 3 showing the outline of an electric circuit, 17 is a bidirectional three-terminal thyristor (hereinafter simply referred to as a thyristor) which is a switching means, and a series circuit between this and the heater 6 receives power from a plug 18. It is connected to the. Further, the heat-retaining heater 7 is connected in parallel with the thyristor 17, and therefore, when the thyristor 17 is turned off, the heater 6 and the heat-retaining heater 7 are energized in series, and each generates heat with a relatively small heat generation capacity. When the thyristor 17 is turned on, only the heater 6 is energized, which generates heat with a relatively large heat generation capacity, and the pan 5 is heated over a high heat. Reference numeral 19 denotes a voltage adjusting device as an output amount adjusting means interposed in the energization path of the heater 6, and this is configured to adjust the output amount by suppressing the voltage between the terminals of the heater 6. The voltage regulator 19 is controlled together with the thyristor 17 and the clock device 12 by a control device 20 serving as information processing means. Now, the fourth
As shown in the block diagram of the figure, the control device 20
consists of a storage section 21, a time control section 22, and an arithmetic processing section 23, and the storage section 21 stores the thyristor 1.
7 and the voltage regulator 19 in a predetermined manner, five types of programs, which will be understood from the description below, are stored corresponding to each of the heating patterns. Further, the time control section 22 is provided to receive a clock pulse from the oscillator 24, and outputs a time information signal St for timing based on a command from the arithmetic processing section 23. The arithmetic processing section 23 is provided to receive the temperature information signal Sd from the thermistor 11, the pattern selection signal Sp from the heating pattern selection device 15, and the time information signal St from the time control section 23, respectively. A program corresponding to the input pattern selection signal Sp is read out from the storage section 21, and the thyristor 17 and the voltage adjustment device 19 are adjusted to the storage section 21 as described above based on the temperature information signal Sd and the time information signal St. The heating pattern is controlled by a program read from the computer, thereby obtaining a heating pattern corresponding to the program. In addition, the arithmetic processing unit 23
is adapted to also control the clock device 12.

Therefore, regarding the specific operation that the arithmetic processing unit 23 executes based on the program read from the storage unit 21, the fifth
The explanation will be made with reference to FIGS. 8 through 8. Furthermore, the fifth
In Figures A to 8A, the horizontal and vertical axes represent temperature characteristic curves with rice cooking time T and pot bottom temperature D (°C), respectively, and in Figure 5B, the horizontal and vertical axes represent the rice cooking time, respectively. Time T and output P of heater 6
(W).

(i) Heating pattern for “cooking rice porridge” (see FIG. 5) When the heating pattern for “cooking rice porridge” is selected by the heating pattern selection device 15, the calculation processing unit 23 selects the heating pattern for “cooking rice porridge” from the storage unit 21. Based on the program, the thyristor 17 is simultaneously turned on to energize only the heater 6. Therefore, pot 5
is heated over high heat and the bottom temperature D of the pot rises relatively rapidly, and the thermistor 11 detects this and sequentially outputs the change in resistance value as a temperature information signal Sd. Then, when the temperature information signal corresponding to the pot bottom temperature D=80° C. is output at time t ₁ , the addition processing section 23 operates the voltage adjustment device 19 in accordance with this to adjust the output amount of the heater 6. Heat the pot 5 over low heat, controlling the temperature to about 100 watts. As a result, the pot bottom temperature D is raised relatively slowly.
Then, when the bottom temperature D of the pot reaches 98℃ (time
At t ₂ ), the arithmetic processing unit 23 issues a command to the time control unit 22 to output the time information signal St after 20 minutes have elapsed. When the above-mentioned time information signal St is output at time t _{3, which is 20 minutes after this time t 2 ,} the arithmetic processing unit 23 that has received it cancels the operation of the voltage regulator 19 and simultaneously turns off the thyristor 17. Heater 6 and insulation heater 7
Electricity is applied in series to the pan 5 to further heat the pot 5 over a low heat. Through the above-described actions, the rice stored in the pot 5 together with an appropriate amount of water can be cooked into porridge. When cooking porridge like this, the bottom temperature of the pot is D.
From time t ₂ when the temperature reached 98℃ to time t ₃ , the pot 5
Since it is heated over a low heat of about 100 watts, the cooking liquid in the pot 5 will not boil over due to excessive boiling.

(ii) Heating pattern for “double cooking” (see FIG. 6) When the heating pattern for “double cooking” is selected by the heating pattern selection device 15, the arithmetic processing unit 23 Based on the program from , the thyristor 17 is turned on at the same time, and the heater 6 heats the pot 5 over high heat to boil the water in the pot 5. During this boiling period, the bottom temperature D of the pot is maintained at approximately 100°C, but when the water in the pot 5 is completely absorbed by the rice, resulting in a so-called dry-up state, the bottom temperature D of the pot rises rapidly. As a result, the temperature information signal Sd corresponding to the pot bottom temperature D = 130°C from the thermistor 11 at time _t4 .
When is output, the arithmetic processing section 23 turns off the thyristor 17 in response to this to shift to uneven operation, and at the same time instructs the time control section 22 to output a time information signal St after 5 minutes have elapsed. issue instructions to. When the above-mentioned time information signal St is output at time t ₅ , which is 5 minutes after this time t ₄ has elapsed, the arithmetic processing unit 23 that receives this turns on the thyristor 17 for one minute, and then turns on the thyristor 17. During the period, the pot 5 is reheated over high heat to perform so-called twice-cooking, and after that, the above-mentioned stirring operation is performed.

(iii) Heating pattern for "burning" (see Figure 7) This heating pattern is almost the same as the heating pattern for "double cooking", and the heating pattern of thyristor 17 during double cooking after time _t5 . The feature is that the on period has been extended to 3 minutes. Therefore, the time required for reheating the pot 5 over high heat is relatively long, thereby making it possible to brown the cooked rice.

(iv) Heating pattern for “cooking” (see FIG. 8) When the heating pattern for “cooking” is selected by the heating pattern selection device 15, the arithmetic processing unit 23 operates based on the program from the storage unit 21. The thyristor 17 is turned on at the same time as in each heating pattern described above. After this, the pot 5 exhibits a dry-up state and the bottom temperature D of the pot rises rapidly, and the thermistor 11 indicates the time.
When the temperature information signal Sd corresponding to the pot bottom temperature D=110°C is output at t ₆ , the arithmetic processing unit 23
In response to this, the thyristor 17 is turned off to shift to uneven operation. As described above, a heating pattern suitable for cooked rice can be obtained in which the degree of increase in the pot bottom temperature D is suppressed to a low level, thereby preventing the cooked rice from becoming scorched.

(v) Heating pattern for "keep warm" This heating pattern is for keeping rice, etc. that has already been cooked warm, and when the heating pattern for "keep warm" is selected by the heating pattern selection device 15, The arithmetic processing unit 23 maintains the thyristor 17 in an off state based on the program from the storage unit 21. As a result, a heat-retaining operation is performed in which the pot 5 is heated over low heat.

In addition, Fig. 5C, Fig. 6B, Fig. 7B, Fig. 8B
For "rice porridge cooking", "double cooking",
Block diagrams of related functional parts are shown for each heating pattern for "scorching" and "cooking".

In addition, in the above embodiment, when a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the transition to the uneven operation when performing "cooking porridge", "cooking", etc., the time control unit 22
The configuration may be such that a buzzer or the like sounds depending on the setting.

According to the present invention, as understood from the above description, there is provided a temperature detecting means that is provided to detect the temperature of the pot and outputs a temperature information signal according to the detected temperature, and a temperature detecting means that controls turning on and off of the heater. The heater includes a switching means, an output amount adjusting means for adjusting the output amount of the heater, and a time control section for generating a time information signal for timing, and the switching means and the output amount are controlled based on the time information signal and the temperature information signal. information processing means for controlling the ability adjusting means according to a plurality of pre-stored programs to obtain a plurality of heating patterns for heating the pot; and a means operating means for arbitrarily selecting the plurality of heating patterns. By providing a configuration in which a plurality of types of heating patterns for heating the pot can be arbitrarily executed,
It is possible to provide a rice cooker that has the excellent effect of automatically performing so-called "rice porridge cooking", "double cooking", etc. with simple operations.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the whole partially shown in section, FIG. 2 is a front view of the whole, and FIG. 3 is a schematic electrical circuit diagram. , FIG. 4 is an overall block diagram, FIGS. 5A to 8A are temperature characteristic diagrams for explaining the operation, and FIG. 5B is
Similarly, FIG. 5C and FIGS. 6B to 8B are block diagrams showing only portions related to the operation of each heating pattern. In the figure, 5 is a pot, 6 is a heater, 11 is a thermistor (temperature detection means), 15 is a heating pattern selection device (manual operation means), 17 is a bidirectional three-terminal thyristor (switching means), and 19 is a voltage regulator. (output amount adjusting means), 20 is a control device (information processing means), 21 is a storage section, 22 is a time control section, and 23 is an arithmetic processing section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a device that heats a pot with a heater, a temperature detection means is provided to detect the temperature of the pot and outputs a temperature information signal according to the detected temperature, and a switching means for controlling power on/off of the heater; It has an output amount adjusting means for adjusting the output amount of the heater, and a time control section for generating a time information signal for timing, and the switching means and the output amount adjusting means are controlled based on the time information signal and the temperature information signal. Information processing means for controlling according to a plurality of pre-stored programs to obtain a plurality of heating patterns for heating the pot, and a manual operation means for arbitrarily selecting the plurality of heating patterns. A rice cooker characterized by: