JP2797374B2 - Automatic rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic rice cooker for automatically performing rice washing, water supply, and rice cooking.

Conventional technology Conventionally, in an automatic rice cooker that performs a series of operations from rice washing to water addition and rice cooking, when the rice cooking amount is set and started, first, the rice is discharged from the rice bin of the set amount, and the rice is washed in the rice washing unit, The amount of cooking water used for cooking rice is measured by the capacitance type water level detection unit by the amount required for cooking rice, stored in the water tank once, and then transferred to the pot with the cooking water and the washed rice. The rice was cooked by heating means.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such a conventional configuration, since the water required for cooking rice is stored in the water supply tank at one time, the water supply tank takes up a large space and it is very difficult to store the water in a limited space. It was difficult. In addition, since the amount of cooked water is detected based on the water level of the water supply tank, there is a problem that the larger the water supply tank shape, the larger the measurement error due to the inclination of the water supply tank.

Also, as shown in FIG. 5, in the electrostatic capacity method in which the water level of the water supply tank is detected by using an electrode 17 provided on the side wall of the water supply tank 7, the state of the water surface depends on the wet state of the inner surface of the water supply tank 7. It becomes a change error. This error is for example 2mm
Then, when measuring the water level of 20 mm, there will be a 10% error,
There is a 1% error when measuring the water level at 0mm. That is, when the horizontal cross-sectional area of the water supply tank is large, the error increases when measuring a small water level. For example, in the case of a rice cooker that cooks rice from 2 go to 1 sho, there is a problem that an error in cooking a small amount of rice becomes large.

In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to reduce the size of the water supply tank, improve the accuracy of measuring the amount of water during small-quantity rice cooking with a small amount of water stored in the water supply tank, and at the time of the second or subsequent water supply, use the surface of the water supply tank by the previous water supply. The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the measurement error caused by the wetting of the substrate.

Means for Solving the Problems The technical means of the present invention for achieving the above object is a rice cooker having a pot and a heating means for cooking rice, and a rice bin capable of storing and discharging a predetermined amount of rice. A rice washing section for washing rice discharged from the rice bin, a water supply section for supplying water necessary for rice cooking to the rice cooking section, a transfer section for transferring rice from the rice washing section to the rice cooking section, A water supply tank, a water supply valve for controlling the supply of water to the water supply tank, a water supply pump for supplying water from the water supply tank to the rice cooker, a water level in the water supply tank. A water level detection unit that detects by applying capacitance by an electrode provided on the water supply tank side wall, wherein the control circuit unit responds to a signal from the water level detection unit according to a signal from the water supply valve,
The water supply pump is controlled to store one cooked rice water in the water supply tank in a plurality of times, and to store the water supply for the second and subsequent times by a certain amount more than the previous water supply.

Effect According to the above technical means, by storing the cooked water for one time in the water supply tank in a plurality of times, the space occupied by the water supply tank for storing the cooked water can be reduced to reduce the limited space. Can be stored inside. Also, since the capacity of the water supply tank is reduced, there is no problem in terms of space even if the water supply tank has a small opening area on the water surface, and if the water surface opening area is reduced, the inclination of the tank and the wetting of the tank inner wall surface may be reduced. Can reduce measurement errors.

In addition, to ensure that the amount of water stored in the water tank after the second time is always larger than the previous time by a certain amount, the measurement error due to the wetness of the water tank surface due to the previous water supply at the time of the second water supply is also eliminated. It is. In other words, when water is supplied in a plurality of times, if the amount of water supplied after the second time is smaller than the previous amount of water, the inner wall surface of the water supply tank is more than the actual amount of water because the inner wall surface is wet above the actual water level. The inconvenience of doing so is prevented.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The overall configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, 1 is a pot for cooking rice, and 2 is a heating means for heating the pot. A rice bin 3 for storing rice is provided below the pot, and a rice outlet for discharging a predetermined amount of rice is provided below the rice bin 3. A transfer section for transferring the washed rice to the upper pot 1 is attached to a rice washing section for washing the rice discharged from the rice discharge port 4 without using water. Reference numeral 7 denotes a water supply tank for storing water necessary for cooking rice. Water in the water supply tank 7 is supplied by a water supply pump 8 to a water supply pipe 9.
And water is supplied into the pot 1 from a water supply nozzle 10 provided on the discharge port side of the water supply pipe 9. Further, water is supplied into the water supply tank 7 by the water supply valve 19. Reference numeral 11 denotes a control circuit unit for controlling the above-described units to automatically cook rice.

Next, the relationship between the control circuit unit 11 and each unit will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the control circuit unit 11 includes a control circuit 12
And an operation unit 13 for setting the amount of rice cooked and water addition, a display unit 16 for displaying the set contents, progress of control, and the like, and a storage circuit 1 for storing the type of rice, the amount of rice cooked and water addition and subtraction, etc. And a temperature detector 15 for detecting the temperature of the pan 1. The control circuit 12 controls the discharge of rice from the rice bin 3, the drive control of the rice washing unit 5, the water supply control of the water supply unit 20 including the water supply pump 8, the water supply tank 7, and the water supply valve 19 based on the signal of the water level detection unit 21, and the heating means. The heating control of No. 2 is performed.

Next, a specific example of the water level detection unit 21 will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 17 denotes a first electrode attached to the outer wall of the water supply tank 7, and reference numeral 18 denotes a second electrode which conducts with water in the water supply tank 7. Since the first electrode 17 detects the water level of the water surface in contact with the inner wall surface of the water supply tank 7, the detected water level differs from the actual water surface depending on the wet state of the inner wall surface of the water supply tank 7, as shown in FIG.

Next, the automatic rice cooker having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in step 41, the amount of cooked rice and water addition / decrease are set by the operation unit 13, and when the start switch is pressed, the cooked rice starts in step 42. That is, the rice with the set rice cooking amount is taken out from the rice bin 3, washed in the rice washing unit 5, and put into the pot 1. Next, in step 43, a water supply amount suitable for the water level and rice type set in step 43 is determined, supplied to the water supply tank 7, and supplied from the water supply unit 20 into the pot 1.

At this time, the shape of the water supply tank 7 has a sufficiently small opening area on the water surface in order to reduce a water level error due to the state of the water surface. Since the capacity of the water supply tank 7 is smaller than the maximum amount of water for cooking rice, the water for cooking rice is The water enters the water supply tank in a plurality of times depending on the amount. The amount of water stored in the water supply tank is calculated by the control circuit 12, and is set so as to always store a larger amount of water than the previous time. That is, the water supply amount determined in step 44 is 800c.c. or less, 800c.c. to 1600c.c., 1600c.c.
22100 c.c. is determined, and if the water supply amount is 800 c.c. or less, the water supply ends in one water supply in steps 45 and 46, and 800 c.c. to 1600 c.c. If the water supply amount is W, the water supply is performed twice in steps 47 to 50, and the second water supply is performed at a water supply amount 25 c.c. larger than the first water supply. 1600c.c.
If the water supply amount W is ~ 2100 c.c., water supply is performed three times in steps 51 to 56, and the water supply amount is increased by 50 c.c. as the water supply progresses in the second and third times. ing. This is because if you try to measure less water than before,
Since the measurement of the amount of water is based on the capacitance between the first electrode 17 shown in FIG. 3 and the second electrode 18 conducting to the water, the inner surface of the water supply tank 7 is filled with the previous water. When wet,
Since it is determined that the water surface is higher than the actual water surface, the water supply amount is increased as the number of water supply increases and the wet state of the inner surface of the water supply tank 7 increases.

When the set rice cooking amount and water content are prepared in the pot 1, the pot 1 is heated by the heating means 2 in step 57, and the rice type set while detecting the temperature of the pot 1 by the temperature detector 16. The rice cooking is completed by controlling the heating means 2 according to the above.

All of these series of movements are controlled by the control circuit 12.

Advantageous Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above embodiments, the present invention reduces the opening area of the water surface of the water supply tank by dividing the cooking water of one cooking operation into a plurality of times and storing it in the water supply tank. Thus, the space occupied by the water supply tank for storing the cooked water can be reduced, and the water supply tank can be stored in a limited space, and the accuracy of measuring the amount of water when cooking a small amount of rice can be improved. In addition, the measurement error due to the inclination of the tank or the wetting of the inner wall surface of the tank is reduced due to the reduced tank shape, and the same capacitance can be maintained with relatively small electrodes because the tank thickness can be reduced. . Moreover, by always storing a larger amount of water in the water supply tank than the previous time, the measurement error due to the wetting of the inner wall of the water supply tank due to the previous water supply during the second or subsequent water supply is eliminated. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automatic rice cooker showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the entire configuration, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the water supply tank section, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of the water supply tank. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Pot, 2 ... Heating means, 3 ... Rice bin part, 5 ... Rice washing part, 7 ... Water supply tank, 8 ... Water supply pump, 11 ... Control circuit part, 12 ... Control circuit, 13 ... ... operation unit, 14 ... memory circuit, 15 ... temperature detector, 16 ... display unit, 19 ... water supply valve, 20 ... water supply unit, 21 ... water level detection unit.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Kunio Hamada 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Inside Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-59-34223 (JP, A) 161332 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 59-184720 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 50-121084 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A47J 27/00-27 / 64

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A rice cooker having a pot and a heating means for cooking rice, a rice bin capable of storing rice and discharging the rice in predetermined amounts, a rice washing unit for washing rice discharged from the rice bin, A water supply unit that supplies water necessary for rice cooking to the rice cooking unit,
A transfer unit that transfers rice from the rice washing unit to the rice cooking unit,
A water supply tank, a water supply valve for controlling the supply of water to the water supply tank, a water supply pump for supplying water from the water supply tank to the rice cooker, and a water supply tank. A water level detection unit that detects a water level by applying capacitance by an electrode provided on the water supply tank side wall, and the control circuit unit controls the water supply valve and the water supply pump according to a signal from the water level detection unit. Control and store one batch of cooked water in the water tank in two or more batches.
An automatic rice cooker that stores a certain amount of water after the first time.