WO2018126664A1

WO2018126664A1 - Cooking appliance

Info

Publication number: WO2018126664A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/095183
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ganggang ZHENG; Mengqiao YANG
Original assignee: Zhejiang Supor Electrical Appliances Manufacture Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2017-01-03
Filing date: 2017-07-31
Publication date: 2018-07-12
Also published as: CN206651701U

Abstract

A cooking appliance comprises a pot body. The pot body is provided with an inner pot (11) therein, wherein the inner pot (11) is provided with a lifting member (13) and a steamer (12). The steamer (12) has a first through-hole (121), and the lifting member (13) can be fitted in the first through-hole (121). The lifting member (13) comprises a positioning part (132) so that the steamer (12) can be placed at different heights with respect to the lifting member (13). According to the solution, it is possible to place the steamer (12) at different height as desired. Therefore, the cooking appliance can satisfy various cooking needs.

Description

COOKING APPLIANCE

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of electric heating appliance, in particular to a cooking appliance.

Background Art

In existing cooking appliances, the part for steaming food is generally a steamer or a steaming rack. The steamer can only be hung in the inner pot, and the steaming rack can only be placed at the bottom of the inner pot. Because it is hung in the inner pot, the steamer can only be used for steaming food with small height as there is no enough space for food with big size； the steaming rack is applicable to steam food with big height, but it cannot be used while cooking rice. In other words, the steamer or steaming rack in any of the existing cooking appliances cannot be adjusted in height as desired, which is not convenient during operation.

Therefore, a cooking appliance which can at least partially solve the above-mentioned problems is required.

Summary of the invention

To at least partially solve the above-mentioned problems, a cooking appliance is provided according to an aspect of the present invention. The cooking appliance comprises a pot body, the pot body being provided with an inner pot therein, wherein, the inner pot is provided with a lifting member and a steamer, the steamer has a first through-hole, and the lifting member can be fitted in the first through-hole； the lifting member including a positioning part allowing the steamer being placed at different heights with respect to the lifting member.

According to the present solution, it is possible to select the steamer to be placed at different height as desired. Therefore, the cooking appliance of the present invention can satisfy various cooking needs.

Preferably, the lifting member includes a lifting shaft, and the positioning part is a positioning pin provided on the lifting shaft.

According to the present solution, the lifting member and the positioning part are simple in configuration, convenient for manufacturing, and easy for the user to operate.

Preferably, the steamer also has a second through-hole which communicates with the first through-hole, wherein, the second through-hole is configured for allowing the positioning pin going through.

According to the present solution, the second through-hole allows the steamer to move up and down without being restricted by the positioning pin.

Preferably, there is a positioning slot on the bottom of the steamer, and the positioning pin may be contained in the positioning slot.

According to the present solution, the positioning pin is accommodated in the positioning slot, so that the steamer may be placed stably to ensure the cooking process is smoothly completed.

Preferably, the second through-hole is rectangular and the second through-hole has a common center with the first through-hole.

According to the present solution, when the steamer reaches a predetermined height, it may be fixed just by rotation, which is simple in structure and easy to operate.

Preferably, the positioning slot and the second through-hole are perpendicular to each other.

According to the present solution, when the positioning pin is accommodated in the positioning slot, the positioning pin will not easily enter the second through-hole and make the steamer move up and down even if the steamer rotates due to slight shock.

Preferably, the positioning pins are arranged at each height in pairs.

According to the present solution, arranging the positioning pins in pairs makes the steamer to be more stable at a predetermined height.

Preferably, a handle is provided on the top of the lifting member.

According to the present solution, the handle makes it convenient to put the lifting member into or remove the same from the inner pot.

Preferably, the steamer is provided with finger holes.

According to the present solution, the finger holes make it easy for the user to control and rotate the steamer.

Preferably, the lifting member comprises a threaded shaft, wherein the positioning part is the external thread of the threaded shaft, and the first through-hole is a threaded hole fitting with the external thread.

According to the present solution, the steamer can be rotated relative to the threaded shaft, and stopped and fixed at any height.

Brief Description of the Drawings

For easy understanding, the present invention briefly described above will be illustrated below with combination of specific embodiments shown in the drawings. It may be understood that these drawing only illustrates the typical embodiment of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection. The present invention is described and illustrated by additional features and details.

Figure 1 is a schematic view of an inner pot, a lifting member and a steamer of a cooking appliance according to a first embodiment of the present invention；

Figure 2 is a top view of the steamer in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the inner pot in Figure 1, in which the steamer is arranged at a high position；

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the inner pot of Figure 1, in which the steamer is arranged at a low position； and

Figure 5 is cross-sectional view of an inner pot of a cooking appliance according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

In the following discussion, details are given for a more thorough understanding of the present invention. However, those skilled in the art know that the present invention may be implemented without one or more of these details. In a particular example, some technical features known in the art are not described in detail in order to avoid confusion with the present invention. It should be noted that the terms "up" , "down" , "front" , "behind" , "left" , "right" and similar expressions used in this document are only for illustrative purposes instead of limiting.

The ordinal words such as "first" and "second" cited in the present invention are merely identifiers and do not have any other meaning, such as a specific order. Moreover, for example, the term "the first part" itself does not imply the presence of "the second part" , and the term "the second part" itself does not imply the presence of "the first part" .

First Embodiment

The first embodiment of the present invention is described below by reference of Figs. 1-4. It may be understood that the present invention may be a rice cooker, an electric pressure cooker or any other cooking appliance.

In this embodiment, the cooking appliance comprises a pot body and a cover. The pot body (not shown) comprises a cylindrical cavity for accommodating the inner pot. The inner pot 11 may be freely put into or taken out of the cavity for accommodating the inner pot, which is convenient for cleaning of the inner pot 11. The inner port 11 is usually made of metal, and there is a round opening in its upper surface, used to receive the material to be heated, such as rice or soup. The pot body comprises a heating device used to heat the inner pot 11. Generally, the cover (not shown) has a shape basically corresponding to that of the pot body. It may be arranged on the top of the pot body, used to cover the pot body after being closed. The cover may be respectively set at the closing position and the opening position relative to the pot body. Preferably, it may be switched between the close position and the open position by pivoting.

The inner pot 11 also comprises a removable steamer 12. After the inner pot 11 is filled with water and heated, the steam generated will move upward to steam the food in the steamer 12 well. In cooking appliance of the present invention, there is also a lifting member 13 which is vertically placed inside the inner pot 11. The lifting member 13 and the steamer 12 fit with each other, so that the steamer 12 may be located at different heights relative to the lifting member 13.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the lifting member 13 comprises a rod-like lifting shaft 131, a handle 133 on the top of the lifting shaft 131, a base 134 at the bottom of the lifting shaft 131 and positioning pins 132. The positioning pins 132 are disposed around the lifting shift 131 and configured in pairs at different heights along the lifting shaft 131. The user can put the lifting member 13 into or take the same out of the inner port 11 by controlling the handle 133. At the bottom of the base 134, a silica gel pad is provided. The silica gel pad contacts with the bottom when the lifting member 13 is placed in the inner pot 11, which ensures the stability of the lifting member 13.

Referring to Fig. 2, the steamer 12 has a circular shape basically corresponding to that of the inner pot 11. There are multiple uniformly-arranged venting holes 125 in the steamer 12, where the steam can go through to heat the food on the steamer 12. In the center of the steamer 12, a first through-hole 121 and a second through-hole 122 are arranged. The first through-hole 121 is circular with a diameter slightly larger than that of the lifting shaft 131. Therefore, the lifting shaft 131 can go through the first through-hole 121. In this embodiment, the handle 133 of the lifting member 13 can also go through the first through-hole 121. The second through-hole 122 shares a common center with the first through-hole 121. The second through-hole is rectangular, with a size slightly larger than that of the positioning pin 132. When the second through-hole 122 is aligned with the positioning pin 132, the latter 132 can go through the former 122.

A positioning slot 123 is also provided on the bottom of the steamer 12. The positioning slot 123 is also rectangular, and may be perpendicular to the second through-hole 122. The size of the positioning slot 123 coordinates with that of the positioning pin 132, and the latter may be accommodated in the former.

Besides, two finger holes 124 are also provided near the center of the steamer 12 for the sake of easy operation. The user controls the steamer 12 by making his/her fingers go through the two finger holes 124.

When using the steamer 12, the user may put the lifting member 13 into the inner pot 11 first, letting the handle 133 go through the first through-hole 121 of the steamer 12, and then, align the second through-hole 122 with the positioning pin 132, and move the steamer 12 up and down vertically with his/her fingers going through the finger holes 124. Once an appropriate position is selected, by rotating the steamer 12 by 90° above the corresponding positioning pin 132 and putting down the steamer 12, the positioning pin 132 is accommodated in the positioning slot 123 under the steamer 12, thus the steamer 12 is fixed and positioned at this height.

In this embodiment, the cooking appliance can meet the user’s needs in different circumstances. For example, if the food to be steamed is small in size, and short in height, or needs a long steaming time (more water should be filled in the inner port in this case) , the steamer 12 may be placed at a relative upper position as shown in Fig. 3) ； and if the food to be steamed is big or high, the steamer 12 may be placed at a relative lower position as shown in Fig. 4. In addition, the steamer 12 can also be used as a tool for separating food. For example, when bean porridge is cooked in the inner pot 11, the steamer 12 may be placed at the position as shown in Fig. 4. If the beans are placed on the steamer 12, solids like bean skin cannot go through the venting holes 125 on the steamer 12, so they will always remain on the steamer 12. Therefore, the steamer 12 may be lifted after cooking is completed, achieving the separation between bean skin and soup so that the porridge has a better taste.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention can be appropriately modified on the basis of the above technical contents. For example, the number and arrangement of the positioning pins may be changed, so that they are not limited to four heights or arrangement in pairs. In addition, the steamer may not be provided with the second through-hole and the positioning slot, while the positioning pin is changed to be flexibly connected with the lifting shaft, so that the height of the steamer is regulated by adjusting the position of the positioning pin relative to the lifting shaft.

Second Embodiment

The second embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to Figure 5. For the sake of simplicity, the same description as in the first embodiment will be omitted.

In this embodiment, there is an external thread 232 on the lifting shaft 231 of the lifting member 23. As the positioning part, the external thread 232 can achieve the positioning of the steamer 22. A threaded hole 221 that macthes with the external thread 232 is formed in the center of the steamer 22. In this embodiment, the external thread 232 of the lifting member 23 matches with the threaded hole 221 of the steamer 22. Therefore, the threaded hole 221 may rotate around the lifting member 23 as the axis, and stop rotating at any height.

During operation, the user may control the steamer 22 to rotate in the inner pot 21 relative to the lifting member 23 to adjust its height, and stop at the desired height, so as to fix the steam 22 relative to the lifting member 23 to conduct cooking operations.

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 present 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 present invention, which fall within the scope of the invention required to be protected.

Claims

A cooking appliance, comprising:

a pot body, the pot body being provided with an inner pot therein,

wherein the inner pot is provided with a lifting member and a steamer, the steamer comprising a first through-hole, and the lifting member being capable of being fitted in the first through-hole； the lifting member comprising a positioning part, allowing the steamer being placed at different heights with respect to the lifting member.
The cooking appliance according to claim 1, the lifting member including a lifting shaft, the positioning part being positioning pins set on the lifting shaft.
The cooking appliance according to claim 2, the steamer comprising a second through-hole which communicates with the first through-hole, wherein, the second through-hole allows the positioning pin going through.
The cooking appliance according to claim 3, is the steamer being provided with a positioning slot on its bottom, wherein the positioning pin can be accommodated in the positioning slot.
The cooking appliance according to claim 3, the second through-hole being rectangular and having a common center with the first through-hole.
The cooking appliance according to claim 4, the positioning slot being perpendicular to the second through-hole.
The cooking appliance according to claim 2, the positioning pins being arranged in pairs at each height.
The cooking appliance according to claim 2, comprising a handle being provided on the top of the lifting member.
The cooking appliance according to claim 1, comprising finger holes are formed on the steamer.
The cooking appliance according to claim 1, the lifting member including a threaded shaft, the positioning part being the external thread of the threaded shaft, the first through-hole being a threaded hole fitting with the external thread.