JP7599116B2 - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a rice cooker.

A conventional fully automatic rice cooker is known that has a rice storage section and a rice cooking section, integrating the entire process of storing and cooking rice (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-220047

Conventional rice cookers are equipped with a mechanism for transferring rice from the storage section to the rice cooking section. It is also conceivable that conventional rice cookers are equipped with a mechanism for supplying water to the rice cooking section. This allows rice and water to be supplied to the rice cooking section without visually inspecting the inside of the rice cooking section. In such rice cookers, even if the rice cooking or warming operation is stopped during or after cooking and rice remains in the rice cooking section, rice and water may be supplied to the rice cooking section for the next cooking step, contrary to the user's intention, and further cooking may begin. Rice cooked in this way may have a poorer taste than rice cooked when rice and water are supplied to an empty rice cooking section.

The objective of this disclosure is to provide a rice cooker that can prevent situations in which rice is not cooked as intended by the user.

A rice cooker according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a housing and
A pot and
A rice container for storing rice;
A water container for storing water;
A rice feeding unit that supplies rice in the rice container to the pot;
A water supply unit that supplies water from the water container to the pot;
A heating unit for heating the pan;
A control unit that controls the rice sending unit, the water sending unit, and the heating unit to perform a rice cooking operation including supplying rice and water into the pot and heating the rice and water, and a heat keeping operation that controls the heating unit to keep the pot warm;
A communication unit that wirelessly receives an operation instruction signal including a rice cooking start instruction to start the rice cooking operation and/or a stop instruction to stop the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation from a terminal,
After the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, the control unit will not accept the rice cooking start instruction from the terminal via the communication unit unless a predetermined rice cooking start condition is satisfied.

The rice cooker disclosed herein can prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user.

1 is a perspective view of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the rice cooker of FIG. 1 with the lid in an open state. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rice cooker of FIG. 1 with the lid open and the water container removed. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the rice cooker shown in FIG. 1 along line A1-A1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rice cooker of FIG. 1 with the lid, the water container, and the top wall of the rice container removed. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the rice cooker of FIG. 1 with the upper wall of the lid and the operation board removed. FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the rice cooker of FIG. 1 with the bottom wall of the housing removed. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the rice cooker shown in FIG. 1 along line A2-A2. FIG. 9 is a partial enlarged view of an area surrounded by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 8 . FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration example of the rice washing device of FIG. 4. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a control unit in FIG. 7 . FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a remote control system for the rice cooker of FIG. 1 . 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an overall flow of a rice cooking operation by the rice cooker of FIG. 1 . 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a stop operation performed by the rice cooker of FIG. 1 . 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a rice cooking reservation operation by the rice cooker of FIG. 1 . 16 is a flowchart showing a modified example of the rice cooking reservation operation of FIG. 15 . FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing an example of exclusive control of the rice cooker of FIG. 1 .

A rice cooker according to one aspect of the present invention includes a housing and
A pot and
A rice container for storing rice;
A water container for storing water;
A rice feeding unit that supplies rice in the rice container to the pot;
A water supply unit that supplies water from the water container to the pot;
A heating unit for heating the pan;
A control unit that controls the rice sending unit, the water sending unit, and the heating unit to perform a rice cooking operation including supplying rice and water into the pot and heating the rice and water, and a heat keeping operation that controls the heating unit to keep the pot warm;
A communication unit that wirelessly receives an operation instruction signal including a rice cooking start instruction to start the rice cooking operation and/or a stop instruction to stop the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation from a terminal,
After the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, the control unit will not accept the rice cooking start instruction from the terminal via the communication unit unless a predetermined rice cooking start condition is satisfied.

This configuration can prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when the rice cooking or warming operation is stopped while there is rice left in the pot, and then remote control is performed from the terminal, causing more rice and water to be added on top of the rice remaining in the pot.

The rice cooker may further include an operation unit that inputs the rice cooking start instruction to the control unit. After the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, the control unit does not accept the rice cooking start instruction from the operation unit unless the rice cooking start condition is satisfied.

This configuration makes it possible to prevent a person other than the terminal operator, such as a child, from operating the control unit of the rice cooker to give an instruction to start cooking rice after the rice cooking or warming operation has been stopped by remote control from the terminal. This makes it possible to prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water are added on top of the rice remaining in the pot.

The rice cooker may further include a lid that can be freely opened and closed to cover the opening of the pot, and an opening/closing sensor that detects the opening and closing of the lid. In this case, when the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, and the opening/closing sensor detects that the lid has been opened and then closed, the rice cooking start condition is satisfied, and the control unit becomes able to accept the rice cooking start instruction.

If the lid is opened and then closed, it is likely that the rice and water remaining in the pot have been removed by the person who opened the lid. Therefore, this configuration can prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water is added on top of the rice remaining in the pot.

The rice cooker may further include a lid that is detachably attached to the housing and that, when attached to the housing, freely opens and closes to cover the opening of the pot, and a lid sensor that detects whether the lid is attached to the housing. In this case, when the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, and the lid sensor detects that the lid has changed from not being attached to the housing to being attached, the rice cooking start condition is satisfied, and the control unit becomes able to accept the rice cooking start instruction.

When the lid goes from not being attached to the housing to being attached, it is likely that the rice and water remaining in the pot have been removed by the person who removed the lid from or attached it to the housing. Therefore, this configuration can prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water is added on top of the rice remaining in the pot.

The pot may be removably housed in the housing. The rice cooker may further include a pot sensor that detects that the pot is housed in the housing and that the pot is removed from the housing. In this case, when the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, and the pot sensor detects that the pot is housed in the housing after being removed from the housing, the rice cooking start condition is met and the control unit becomes able to accept the rice cooking start instruction.

When the pot is removed from the housing and then placed back into the housing, it is assumed that the user has removed the rice and water remaining in the pot. Therefore, this configuration can prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water is added on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot.

The rice cooker may further include a permission switch that, when turned on, permits the control unit to accept a rice cooking start instruction from the terminal. In this case, when the permission switch is in the on state after the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, the rice cooking start condition is satisfied and the control unit can accept the rice cooking start instruction.

When the user presses the permission switch to turn it on, it is assumed that the user has removed the rice and water remaining in the pot. Therefore, this configuration can prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water is added on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot.

The rice cooker may further include a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the pot. In this case, when the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, and the temperature sensor detects that the temperature of the pot is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value after the rice cooking operation is completed, the rice cooking start condition is satisfied and the control unit is able to accept the rice cooking start instruction.

When the temperature of the pot is below a predetermined threshold, it is assumed that the keep-warm operation has been completed or interrupted, and the rice and water remaining in the pot have been removed by the user. Therefore, this configuration can prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water are added on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot.

After the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, when a predetermined time has elapsed from the time the control unit received the stop instruction, the rice cooking start condition is satisfied and the control unit may be able to accept the rice cooking start instruction.

If a certain amount of time has passed since the cancellation command was received, it is expected that the user will have removed any rice and water remaining in the pot. Therefore, this configuration can prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as adding more rice and water on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot.

After starting the rice cooking operation, the control unit may not accept the stop instruction from the terminal via the communication unit unless a predetermined stop condition is met.

According to this configuration, by not accepting a remote stop instruction from the terminal unless the stop condition is met, it is possible to prevent the rice cooking operation from being inadvertently stopped in the middle of the rice cooking operation. Furthermore, by not accepting a remote stop instruction from the terminal unless the stop condition is met, it is possible to prevent a situation in which rice cooking is not performed as intended by the user, such as when an instruction to start cooking is given after the operation is stopped, causing more rice and water to be added on top of the rice remaining in the pot.

After the control unit starts the rice cooking operation, when the rice cooking operation is completed, the cancellation condition may be satisfied and the control unit may be able to receive the cancellation instruction from the terminal via the communication unit.

With this configuration, the control unit will not accept a remote instruction to stop cooking from the terminal unless the cooking operation is completed, which can prevent the cooking operation from being inadvertently stopped midway.

The control unit may notify the terminal when it detects an abnormality in a rice cooking reservation state in which the rice cooking operation starts at a rice cooking start time according to a set time.

With this configuration, the user is notified that there is an abnormality and has the opportunity to resolve the abnormality. This prevents situations in which rice is cooked while there is an abnormality and the rice is not cooked as intended by the user.

When the control unit has performed the notification, the control unit may start the rice cooking operation at the rice cooking start time only if it receives a reservation continuation instruction to continue the rice cooking reservation state from the terminal before the rice cooking start time.

This configuration can prevent situations where rice is cooked in an abnormal state and the rice is not cooked as intended by the user.

The rice cooker may further include a lid that can be freely opened and closed to cover the opening of the pot, and an opening/closing sensor that detects whether the lid is open or closed. When the opening/closing sensor detects that the lid is open, the control unit may detect the abnormality and notify the terminal.

If the lid is open, rice cannot be cooked properly, but this configuration can prevent situations where rice is cooked with the lid open and the rice is not cooked as intended by the user.

The water container may be removably attached to a predetermined water container position of the rice cooker, and the rice cooker may further include a water container sensor that detects whether the water container is attached to the water container position. When the water container sensor detects that the water container is not attached to the water container position in the rice cooking reservation state, the control unit may detect the abnormality and notify the terminal.

If the water container is not installed in the water container position, the rice cooker cannot supply water to the pot and cannot cook rice properly. This configuration can prevent situations where rice is cooked without the water container installed in the water container position and the rice is not cooked as intended by the user.

The rice container may be removably attached to a predetermined rice container position of the rice cooker, and the rice cooker may further include a rice container sensor that detects whether the rice container is attached to the rice container position. When the rice container sensor detects that the rice container is not attached to the rice container position in the rice cooking reservation state, the control unit may detect the abnormality and notify the terminal.

If the rice container is not attached to the rice container position, the rice cooker cannot supply rice to the pot and cannot cook rice normally. This configuration can prevent situations where rice is cooked without the rice container attached to the rice container position, resulting in rice not being cooked as intended by the user.

The rice cooker may further include a lid that is detachably attached to the housing and that, when attached to the housing, freely opens and closes the opening of the pot, and a lid sensor that detects whether the lid is attached to the housing. When the lid sensor detects that the lid is not attached to the housing in the rice cooking reservation state, the control unit may detect the abnormality and notify the terminal.

If the lid is not attached to the housing, rice cannot be cooked properly. This configuration prevents the rice from being cooked when the lid is not attached to the housing, and prevents the rice from being cooked as intended by the user.

The terminals may include a first terminal and a second terminal. After receiving the rice cooking start instruction from the first terminal via the communication unit, the control unit may not receive the operation instruction signal from the second terminal via the communication unit until the rice cooking operation is completed.

This configuration makes it possible to prevent the rice cooking settings made by the user of the first terminal who started cooking rice from being changed by someone using the second terminal.

The terminals may include a first terminal and a second terminal. After receiving a setting change instruction to change a setting related to the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation from the first terminal via the communication unit, the control unit may not receive the rice cooking start instruction and the setting change instruction from the second terminal via the communication unit until the rice cooking operation is completed.

This configuration can prevent a situation in which a user of a second terminal issues a command to start cooking rice even though the user of the first terminal has already started cooking rice, causing more rice and water to be poured on top of the rice remaining in the pot of the rice cooker.

Below, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail, with reference to the drawings as appropriate. However, more detailed explanation than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanations of already well-known matters and duplicate explanations of substantially identical configurations may be omitted. This is to avoid the following explanation becoming unnecessarily redundant and to make it easier for those skilled in the art to understand.

The accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

For ease of explanation, some of the drawings show an X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis that are perpendicular to each other. In this specification, the X-axis direction is also called the horizontal or width direction, the Y-axis direction is also called the front-rear or depth direction, the positive direction of the Z-axis is also called the upward direction, and the negative direction of the Z-axis is also called the downward direction. In addition, this specification uses terms indicating directions such as "up," "down," "front," and "back" assuming a normal state of use. However, these terms are not meant to limit the state of use of the rice cooker of the present invention.

[composition]
The overall configuration of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a rice cooker 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the rice cooker 100 of Fig. 1 with the lid 2 in an open state. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the rice cooker 100 of Fig. 1 with the lid 2 in an open state and with the water container 3 removed. The rice cooker 100 is a so-called fully automatic rice cooker that can automatically supply rice and water to an empty pot 5 for cooking.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rice cooker 100 includes a housing 1, a lid 2 that covers the top of the housing 1, a water container 3, and a rice container 4. The water container 3 and the rice container 4 have a rectangular or approximately rectangular shape and are arranged along one side surface 1a of the housing 1.

The housing 1 comprises a main body 11 having a rectangular or approximately rectangular shape with sides along the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis, and a rectangular or approximately rectangular base 12 on which the water container 3 and rice container 4 are placed. The main body 11 and base 12 have the same depth, which is the length in the front-to-rear direction (Y direction), and are connected so that one side of each is spatially connected. The housing 1, main body 11, and base 12 each have a rectangular or approximately rectangular shape in a plan view.

The base 12 is provided so as to extend laterally (in the -X direction, leftward in FIG. 2) from the lower portion of one side surface 11a of the main body 11. The height, which is the length in the Z direction, of the base 12 is set lower than the height of the main body 11. As a result, one side surface 11a of the main body 11 is exposed to the outside. In this embodiment, one side surface 11a of the main body 11 corresponds to one side surface 1a of the housing 1.

As shown in Figures 2 to 4, the main body 11 has a pot storage section 11b that stores the pot 5. A rotation axis TA extending laterally is provided at the upper rear portion of the main body 11. The lid 2 is attached to the rotation axis TA so as to be freely rotatable. The lid 2 is configured to cover the opening 5a of the pot 5 so as to be freely opened and closed by rotating about the rotation axis TA. In this embodiment, the lid 2 has a rectangular parallelepiped or approximately rectangular parallelepiped shape.

The lid body 2 may be removably attached to the housing 1. For example, the lid body 2 may be removably attached to the pivot axis TA and may be removable from the pivot axis TA. Alternatively, the pivot axis TA may be removably attached to the main body 11, and the lid body 2 attached to the pivot axis TA may be removable from the main body 11 when the pivot axis TA is removed.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the closed state where the lid 2 covers the opening 5a of the pot 5, the depth of the lid 2 matches the depth of the main body 11. In the closed state of the lid 2, the sum of the height of the main body 11 of the housing 1 and the height of the lid 2 matches the sum of the height of the base 12 of the housing 1 and the height of the water container 3 or rice container 4. In addition, in the closed state of the lid 2, the sum of the width of the main body 11 of the housing 1 and the width of the base 12 matches the sum of the width of the lid 2 and the width of the water container 3 or rice container 4. In other words, in the closed state of the lid 2, the rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment has a rectangular or approximately rectangular shape.

The water container 3 is a container that contains water. The rice container 4 is a container that contains rice. The water container 3 and the rice container 4 are arranged in series from the front to the rear of the rice cooker 100. As shown in FIG. 3, at least one of the water container 3 and the rice container 4 is removable. In this embodiment, the water container 3 is arranged closer to the front of the rice cooker 100 than the rice container 4. In this embodiment, the capacity of the water container 3 is 1.0 to 1.5 times the capacity of the rice container 4.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the rice cooker 100 of Figure 1 taken along the line A1-A1. The cross-sectional view of the line A1-A1 is a cross-sectional view of a section passing through the line A1-A1 and parallel to the YZ plane, viewed in the direction of the arrow on the line A1-A1. Figure 5 is a perspective view of the rice cooker 100 of Figure 1, showing the state in which the lid 2, the water container 3, and the top wall of the rice container 4 have been removed. Figure 6 is a plan view of the rice cooker 100 of Figure 1, showing the state in which the top wall of the lid 2 and the operation board have been removed. Figure 7 is a bottom view of the rice cooker 100 of Figure 1, showing the state in which the bottom wall of the housing 1 has been removed. Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the rice cooker 100 of Figure 1 taken along the line A2-A2. Figure 9 is a partial enlarged view of the area surrounded by the two-dot chain line in Figure 8.

As shown in Figures 4 to 6, a rice washing device 6 is disposed within the lid body 2. The rice washing device 6 uses water in the water container 3 to wash the rice supplied from the rice container 4 into the rice washing device 6. When the lid body 2 is closed, the rice washing device 6 is disposed so as to be located above the opening 5a of the pot 5. In this embodiment, the rice washing device 6 is provided with an opening/closing valve 64 (see Figure 10) at a position corresponding to the opening 5a of the pot 5. The rice washed by the rice washing device 6 falls into the pot 5 when the opening/closing valve is opened. The water used for washing the rice in the rice washing device 6 is stored in a drainage tank 7 housed below the main body 11 of the housing 1. The detailed configuration of the rice washing device 6 will be described later.

As shown in Figures 5 to 7, the rice washing device 6 and the drain tank 7 are connected via a drain pipe 71. The drain pipe 71 extends through a pivot shaft housing portion TA1 that houses the pivot shaft TA. As shown in Figure 7, the drain pipe 71 is provided with a drain pump 72. In this embodiment, the drain pump 72 is attached so as to connect the two drain pipes 71. When the drain pump 72 is driven, the water used to wash the rice in the rice washing device 6 is stored in the drain tank 7.

The drainage tank 7 is provided so that a portion of it is exposed from a side surface of the housing 1 that is different from the side surface 1a of the housing 1. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the drainage tank 7 is provided so that a portion of it is exposed from the front surface 11c of the main body 11. The drainage tank 7 is also provided so that it can be removed. In this embodiment, the drainage tank 7 is configured as a retractable tank, and as shown in FIG. 3, it can be removed from the main body 11 by pulling it out forward.

As shown in Figures 4 to 6 and Figures 8 to 9, the rice washing device 6 and the water container 3 are connected by a lid-side water supply pipe 81 and a container-side water supply pipe 82. The lid-side water supply pipe 81 is a pipe that passes through the inside of the lid 2 and connects the outside of the lid 2 to the inside of the pot 5. In this embodiment, the lid-side water supply pipe 81 is connected to the inside of the pot 5 via the rice washing device 6. The container-side water supply pipe 82 is a pipe that connects the inside of the water container 3 to the outside of the water container 3. In this embodiment, the container-side water supply pipe 82 is detachably attached to the water container 3. In this embodiment, the rice washing device 6, the lid-side water supply pipe 81, and the container-side water supply pipe 82 form a water supply path that supplies water from the water container 3 to the pot 5.

The lid-side water supply pipe 81 is provided with a water supply pump 83, which is an example of the water supply unit of the present disclosure, and a drainage pump 84 for the water supply pipe. The water supply pump 83 is an example of a first pump that sends fluid (including water and gas) in only one direction from the water container 3 side to the pot 5 side. The water supply pump 83 is, for example, a volumetric pump such as a diaphragm pump. In this embodiment, the water supply pump 83 is attached so as to connect the two lid-side water supply pipes 81. The drainage pump 84 is an example of a second pump that is disposed closer to the water container 3 than the water supply pump 83 and sends gas (for example, air) into the lid-side water supply pipe 81. In this embodiment, the drainage pump 84 is connected to a branch pipe branched off from the lid-side water supply pipe 81.

2 and 3, one end 81a of the lid-side water supply pipe 81 is provided on a surface facing the step portion 31, which is a part of the water container 3. In this embodiment, one end 81a of the lid-side water supply pipe 81 is exposed at a position facing the step portion 31. The step portion 31 of the water container 3 protrudes toward one side surface 11a of the main body 11 and is shorter in length in the Z direction than the upper surface of the water container 3, thereby creating a step. The lid 2 is provided so as to cover the step portion 31 of the water container 3 when the lid 2 is in the closed state. In other words, the width of the lid 2 is set to be longer than the width of the main body 11. In this embodiment, one end 81a of the lid-side water supply pipe 81 is disposed on the side of the rotation tip portion 2a of the lid 2, which is away from the rotation axis TA.

One end 82a of the container-side water supply pipe 82 is provided at the step portion 31 of the water container 3. In this embodiment, like one end 81a of the lid-side water supply pipe 81, the one end 82a of the container-side water supply pipe 82 is located on the side of the pivot tip 2a of the lid 2 away from the pivot axis TA. When the lid 2 is in a closed state covering the opening 5a of the pot 5, the lid-side water supply pipe 81 and the container-side water supply pipe 82 are connected so as to be fluidly connected to each other. Also, when the lid 2 rotates to open the opening 5a of the pot 5, the connection between the lid-side water supply pipe 81 and the container-side water supply pipe 82 is released.

In this embodiment, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, one end 81a of the lid-side water supply pipe 81 is attached to the periphery of the cylindrical lid-side connection part 2b that protrudes inward in the thickness direction of the lid 2. Also, one end 82a of the container-side water supply pipe 82 is provided so as to protrude toward the lid-side connection part 2b, and a cylindrical gasket 31a is attached around it. When the lid 2 rotates to cover the opening 5a of the pot 5, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, one end 82a of the container-side water supply pipe 82 and one end 81a of the lid-side water supply pipe 81 are connected so as to be fluidly connected to each other.

The rice washing device 6 and the rice container 4 are connected via a rice sending pipe 91, as shown in Figs. 4 to 8. In this embodiment, the rice sending pipe 91 extends through a pivot shaft housing TA1 that houses the pivot shaft TA. As shown in Figs. 4, 7 and 8, a rice sending fan 92 is provided at one end 91a of the rice sending pipe 91. When the rice sending fan 92 is driven, the rice in the rice sending pipe 91 is sent to the rice washing device 6. In this embodiment, the rice washing device 6 and the rice sending pipe 91 form a rice sending path that supplies rice in the rice container 4 to the pot 5.

As shown in Figures 7 and 8, a rice sending device 93, which is an example of a rice sending section of the present disclosure, is attached to the rice container 4. The bottom of the rice container 4 is formed to have a tapered cross section that protrudes downward. The rice sending device 93 is connected to the bottom of the rice container 4 and is provided to extend laterally. The rice sending device 93 is in communication with the rice sending pipe 91. The rice sending device 93 is configured to take in rice in the rice container 4 and send it out to the rice sending pipe 91.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the rice container 4 has a step 41 at a position opposite a part of the lid 2. The step 41 of the rice container 4 protrudes toward one side 11a of the main body 11 and is shorter in length in the Z direction than the top surface of the rice container 4, thereby creating a step. When the water container 3 and rice container 4 are placed on the base 12, the step 41 of the rice container 4 is configured to be flush with the step 31 of the water container 3. The lid 2 is arranged to cover the step 31 of the water container 3 and the step 41 of the rice container 4 when the lid 2 is in the closed state.

As shown in FIG. 1, the top surface of the lid body 2 is provided with a display operation unit 21 that displays various rice cooking information such as the amount of rice cooked and the rice cooking course (white rice course, brown rice course, etc.) and allows the user to select specific rice cooking information from the various rice cooking information. The display operation unit 21 includes a display 21A that displays various rice cooking information, and a plurality of input buttons 21B for inputting operation instructions for selecting the amount of rice cooked and the rice cooking course, as well as for instructing the user to execute various processes. The input buttons 21B are an example of an "operation unit" in the present disclosure. Such operation instructions include, for example, a rice cooking start instruction that instructs the user to start a series of rice cooking operations, a rice cooking reservation instruction to start or complete rice cooking at a set time, a stop instruction that instructs the user to stop cooking or keeping warm, and a setting change instruction. The setting change instruction is configured to allow the user to change settings related to the rice cooking operation or keeping warm operation, such as the rice cooking course, the keep warm temperature, the keep warm time, and the cooking completion time when cooking is reserved.

Display 21A includes, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. The user can input operation instructions using multiple input buttons 21B while referring to various rice cooking information displayed on display 21A.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rice container 4 is provided with a selection unit 42 for selecting whether or not to set the rice cooking operation to the no-rinse rice mode. For example, when the user places no-rinse rice in the rice container 4, the user operates the selection unit 42 to set the rice cooking mode to the no-rinse rice mode. In this embodiment, the selection unit 42 is a button provided on the top surface of the rice container 4. When the no-rinse rice mode is selected by the selection unit 42 or the terminal 200, the control unit 15 is configured not to execute the rice washing process, the draining process, and the water pouring process (see FIG. 13).

As shown in FIG. 1, a permission switch 22 that permits the rice cooker 100 to receive remote operation instructions (described below) is further provided on the top surface of the lid body 2. For example, when the permission switch 22 is in the on state, the rice cooker 100 receives remote operation instructions, and when the permission switch 22 is in the off state, the rice cooker 100 does not receive remote operation instructions.

In the illustrated example, a plurality of input buttons 21B for instructing the execution of various processes and a permission switch 22 are illustrated as an example of an operation unit, but this embodiment is not limited to this. For example, the display operation unit 21 may be equipped with a touch panel integral with the display 21A instead of the plurality of input buttons 21B, and configured to be able to instruct the execution of various processes by operating the touch panel. The permission switch 22 may also be configured to be able to switch between an on state and an off state by operating the touch panel. In addition, the plurality of input buttons 21B and the permission switch 22 do not need to be provided as hardware switches as in the illustrated example, and may be provided as software switches.

As shown in FIG. 4, a heating unit 13 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the pot accommodating portion 11b of the housing 1 at a position facing the pot 5. The heating unit 13 includes, for example, a coil that, when energized, inductively heats the pot 5. A through hole is provided in the central bottom of the pot accommodating portion 11b of the housing 1, and a temperature sensor 14 is provided so as to contact the central bottom of the pot 5 through the through hole. The temperature sensor 14 detects the temperature of the pot 5, particularly the bottom of the pot 5.

The rice cooker 100 further includes an opening/closing sensor 56 (see FIG. 11) that detects whether the lid 2 is open or closed. The opening/closing sensor 56 may detect whether the lid 2 is open or closed by detecting whether the lid 2 is closed or not. The opening/closing sensor 56 is, for example, a mechanical switch type sensor that is pressed down by the lid 2 when the lid 2 is closed and turns on.

The rice cooker 100 further includes a pot sensor 57 (see FIG. 11) that detects the presence or absence of a pot 5 in the housing 1. The pot sensor 57 detects when a pot 5 is placed in the pot accommodating section 11b of the housing 1 and when the pot 5 is removed from the pot accommodating section 11b of the housing 1. The pot sensor 57 is, for example, a mechanical switch-type sensor that protrudes upward from the bottom of the pot accommodating section 11b and is pressed down by the pot 5 when the pot 5 is placed therein and turns on. The pot sensor 57 is not limited to this, and may be, for example, a capacitance sensor such as an electrostatic touch sensor, a weight sensor, an infrared sensor, or other sensor.

The rice cooker 100 further includes a water container sensor 32 (see FIG. 11) that detects whether the water container 3 is attached to a predetermined water container position. The water container position is, for example, a predetermined position on the base 12 of the housing 1. The water container sensor 32 is, for example, a mechanical switch type sensor that is pressed down by the water container 3 when the water container 3 is placed at the water container position and turns on. The water container sensor 32 is not limited to this, and may be, for example, a capacitance sensor such as an electrostatic touch sensor, a weight sensor, an infrared sensor, or other sensor.

The rice cooker 100 may further include a water level sensor 33 (see FIG. 11) that detects the water level in the water container 3. The water level sensor 33 is, for example, a capacitance sensor such as an electrostatic touch sensor, and/or a pressure sensor attached in the water container 3. The water level sensor 33 may also be, for example, a weight sensor, an infrared sensor, or other sensor. Note that the water level sensor 33 is not an essential component of the rice cooker 100. Even if the water level sensor 33 is not included, the rice cooker 100 can achieve the object of the present disclosure. If the water level sensor 33 is not included, the cost and size of the rice cooker 100 can be reduced compared to when the water level sensor 33 is included.

The rice cooker 100 may further include a rice container sensor 44 (see FIG. 11) that detects whether the rice container 4 is attached to a predetermined rice container position. That is, when the rice container 4 is detachable, the rice container sensor 44 detects whether the rice container 4 is attached to the rice container position, which is a predetermined position of the housing 1. The rice container sensor 44 is, for example, a mechanical switch type sensor that is pressed down by the rice container 4 when the rice container 4 is placed at the rice container position and turns on. The rice container sensor 44 is not limited to this, and may be, for example, a capacitance sensor such as an electrostatic touch sensor, a weight sensor, an infrared sensor, or other sensor.

The rice cooker 100 may further include a rice storage amount sensor 45 (see FIG. 11) that detects the amount of rice stored in the rice container 4. For example, the rice storage amount sensor 45 detects whether rice is present in the rice container 4 up to a predetermined height. The rice storage amount sensor 45 is, for example, a capacitance sensor such as a static touch sensor attached to the outer surface of the rice container 4. The rice storage amount sensor 45 is not limited to a capacitance sensor, and may be, for example, a weight sensor, a mechanical switch type sensor provided in the rice container 4, an infrared sensor, or other sensor. The rice storage amount sensor 45 is not an essential component of the rice cooker 100. Even if the rice storage amount sensor 45 is not provided, the rice cooker 100 can achieve the object of the present disclosure. If the rice storage amount sensor 45 is not provided, the cost and size of the rice cooker 100 can be reduced compared to when the rice storage amount sensor 45 is provided.

When the lid 2 is removably attached to the housing 1, the rice cooker 100 may further include a lid sensor 58 (see FIG. 11) that detects whether the lid 2 is attached to the housing 1. The lid sensor 58 is, for example, a mechanical switch type sensor that is pressed down by the lid 2 when the lid 2 is placed in a predetermined position and turns on. The lid sensor 58 is not limited to this, and may be, for example, a weight sensor, an infrared sensor, an optical sensor, or other sensor.

Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration example of the rice washing device 6 in Figure 4. The rice washing device 6 includes a rice washing motor 61, a rice washing blade 62, a rice washing tank 63, and an opening/closing valve 64.

The rice washing motor 61 is a driving source that generates power to rotate the rice washing blade 62. The rice washing blade 62 is attached to the output shaft 61a of the rice washing motor 61 and is configured to rotate around the output shaft 61a. The rice washing tank 63 is a part that contains the rice and water sent to the rice washing device 6, and is formed in a tapered shape so that the diameter decreases toward the bottom. The rice washing blade 62 is configured to wash the rice and water in the rice washing tank 63 by rotating along the tapered inner wall surface of the rice washing tank 63. A drain pipe 71 is connected to the rice washing tank 63. The water used for washing the rice in the rice washing tank 63 is sent to the drain tank 7 through the drain pipe 71. The opening and closing valve 64 is configured to be able to open and close the bottom of the rice washing tank 63. When the opening and closing valve 64 is opened, the rice washed in the rice washing tank 63 falls into the pot 5.

As shown in FIG. 7, the rice cooker 100 includes a control unit 15 inside the main body 11 of the housing 1. The control unit 15 controls the overall operation of the rice cooker 100.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the control unit 15. The control unit 15 includes an arithmetic circuit 51, a storage device 52, an input interface (I/F) 53, an output interface 54, and a communication interface 55.

The arithmetic circuit 51 is composed of circuits such as a CPU, MPU, FPGA, etc., and performs information processing to realize the functions of the control unit 15. Such information processing is realized, for example, by the arithmetic circuit 51 executing a program stored in the storage device 52.

The storage device 52 is a recording medium that records information such as a program, a stop flag, and a loading completion flag required to realize the functions of the control unit 15. The storage device 52 is realized, for example, by a flash memory, a ROM, a RAM, or other recording medium, either alone or in combination. The storage device 52 may include a semiconductor storage device such as a solid state drive (SSD), or a magnetic storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD).

The input interface 53 is an interface circuit that connects the control unit 15 and the input device 16 to receive information from the input device 16. The input interface 53 may be a communication circuit that performs data communication with the input device 16 according to an existing wired communication standard or wireless communication standard. The input device 16 includes, for example, a temperature sensor 14, an input button 21B, a permission switch 22, a water container sensor 32, a water level sensor 33, a rice container sensor 44, a rice storage amount sensor 45, an opening/closing sensor 56, a pot sensor 57, etc.

The output interface 54 is an interface circuit that connects the control unit 15 and the output device 17 in order to output information to the output device 17. The output interface 54 may be a communication circuit that performs data communication with the output device 17 according to an existing wired communication standard or wireless communication standard. The output device 17 includes, for example, the heating unit 13, the display 21A, the rice washing motor 61, the opening/closing valve 64, the drain pump 72, the drain pump 84, the rice sending fan 92, etc.

The communication interface 55 is a communication circuit that performs data communication according to an existing wired communication standard or wireless communication standard. The arithmetic circuit 51 is configured to be able to communicate with the terminal 200 and the server device 300 (see FIG. 12) described below via the communication interface 55 and the network 18.

Figure 12 is a schematic diagram showing an example configuration of a remote control system 10 for a rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment. The remote control system 10 includes the rice cooker 100, one or more terminals 200, and a server device 300. The terminals 200 include information processing devices such as smartphones, tablet terminals, desktop PCs, and notebook PCs. The rice cooker 100, the terminals 200, and the server device 300 are each connected to a network 18, for example.

The server device 300 is an information processing device that includes an arithmetic circuit 301, a memory device 302, and a communication interface 303.

The arithmetic circuit 301 is composed of circuits such as a CPU, MPU, FPGA, etc., and performs information processing to realize the functions of the server device 300. Such information processing is realized, for example, by the arithmetic circuit 301 executing a program stored in the storage device 302.

The storage device 302 is a recording medium that records various information including programs and data necessary to realize the functions of the server device 300. The storage device 302 is realized, for example, by a semiconductor storage device such as a solid state drive (SSD), a magnetic storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a flash memory, a ROM, a RAM, or other recording media, either alone or in combination.

The communication interface 303 is a communication circuit that performs data communication according to an existing wired communication standard or wireless communication standard. The arithmetic circuit 301 is configured to be able to communicate with the rice cooker 100 and the terminal 200 via the communication interface 303 and the network 18.

The server device 300 may be realized by a single computer, or may be realized by multiple computers working together. The server device 300 may also be a cloud server.

The terminal 200 can, for example, download and install application software for remotely controlling the rice cooker 100 from the server device 300 or another computer. The user of the terminal 200 can launch the application software to check the status of the rice cooker 100. The user of the terminal 200 can also operate the application software on the terminal 200 to remotely control the rice cooker 100. For example, the user of the terminal 200 operates the application software using the terminal 200 to transmit remote operation input for the rice cooker 100 to the server device 300. The server device 300 transmits a remote operation instruction to the rice cooker 100 based on the remote operation input received from the terminal 200. The control unit 15 of the rice cooker 100 operates according to the received remote operation instruction.

Such remote control instructions are input by remote control, and include a start cooking instruction to start a series of rice cooking operations, a rice cooking reservation instruction to start or complete rice cooking at a set time, a stop instruction to stop rice cooking or keeping warm operations, a setting change instruction, etc.

Information about the rice cooker 100 may also be transmitted to the terminal 200 via the server device 300, and the transmitted information may be notified to the user of the terminal 200. For example, the remaining amount of water in the water container 3 calculated based on the detection result of the water level sensor 33, the amount of stored rice detected by the rice storage amount sensor 45, etc. are displayed on the display of the terminal 200. This allows the user to determine whether or not rice cooking is possible.

As described above, the rice cooker 100 is configured to be remotely controlled by the terminal 200.

[Rice cooking operation]
The following describes the operation of the rice cooker 100. Fig. 13 is a flow chart illustrating an example of the overall flow of the rice cooking operation by the rice cooker 100. The processing in Fig. 13 is performed by the arithmetic circuit 51 of the control unit 15.

First, in step S1, the arithmetic circuit 51 determines whether or not it has received an instruction to start cooking rice. Instructions to start cooking rice include those issued by local operation and those issued by remote operation. A local instruction to start cooking rice is input to the arithmetic circuit 51 via the input interface 53 when the user operates the input button 21B (see Figures 1, 11, etc.). A remote instruction to start cooking rice is input to the arithmetic circuit 51 via the network 18 and the communication interface 55 when the user operates the terminal 200 (see Figure 12). Furthermore, the instruction to start cooking rice may include a spontaneous instruction issued by the arithmetic circuit 51 itself. A spontaneous instruction is issued, for example, when the arithmetic circuit 51 is in a rice cooking reservation state and it is time to start cooking rice according to the reservation setting.

If the calculation circuit 51 receives a rice cooking start instruction (Yes in S1), it proceeds to step S2, and if it does not receive a rice cooking start instruction (No in S1), it returns to step S1.

In step S2, the calculation circuit 51 determines whether the stop flag (see step S23 in FIG. 14 described later) is on. The stop flag is initially off and is turned on when the rice cooking or warming operation is stopped based on a stop instruction. The stop flag is reset to the off state, for example, between steps S2 and S4 and between steps S3 and S4. If the calculation circuit 51 determines that the stop flag is on (Yes in S2), it proceeds to step S3. If the calculation circuit 51 determines that the stop flag is not on (No in S2), for example, if it determines that the stop flag is off, it proceeds to step S4.

Step S3 will be explained after explaining the rice cooking process (S4 to S11).

In step S4, the arithmetic circuit 51 performs a rice sending process and a water sending process. The rice sending process is a process of sending rice in the rice container 4 to the rice washing device 6. In the rice sending process, the arithmetic circuit 51 drives the rice sending device 93 for a time predetermined according to the rice cooking information to move the rice in the rice container 4 into the rice sending pipe 91, and drives the rice sending fan 92 to send the rice in the rice sending pipe 91 into the rice washing device 6. The water sending process is a process of sending water in the water container 3 into the rice washing device 6. In the water sending process, the arithmetic circuit 51 drives the water sending pump 83 for a time predetermined according to the rice cooking information to send the water in the water container 3 into the rice washing device 6 through the container side water sending pipe 82 and the lid side water sending pipe 81. The rice sending process and the water sending process may be performed sequentially or simultaneously. The amount of rice sent to the rice washing device 6 in the rice sending process may be the entire amount corresponding to the amount of rice cooked selected by the user using the display operation unit 21 (hereinafter referred to as the "set amount of rice cooked"), or it may be an amount obtained by dividing the set amount of rice cooked.

In the next step S5, the arithmetic circuit 51 determines whether or not the no-rinse rice mode has been selected by the selection unit 42 or the terminal 200. If it is determined that the no-rinse rice mode has not been selected (No in S5), the arithmetic circuit 51 performs the rice washing step S6, the draining step S7, and the water pouring step S8 in that order, and then proceeds to step S9. If it is determined in step S5 that the no-rinse rice mode has been selected (Yes in S5), the arithmetic circuit 51 proceeds to step S9 without performing steps S6 to S8.

The rice washing step S6 is a process of washing the rice supplied to the rice washing device 6 using the water supplied to the rice washing device 6. The calculation circuit 51 drives the rice washing device 6 for a time period determined in advance according to the rice cooking information, and washes the rice using the rice and water in the rice washing device 6.

The drainage step S7 is a process for draining the water after washing the rice out of the rice washing device 6. The calculation circuit 51 drives the drainage pump 72 for a time period determined in advance according to the rice cooking information, and drains the water after washing the rice from the rice washing device 6 through the drain pipe 71 into the drainage tank 7.

The water injection step S8 is a process of sending water from the water container 3 to the rice washing device 6 to prevent washed rice from adhering to the inner wall of the rice washing device 6 and falling into the pot 5. In the water injection step S8, the calculation circuit 51 drives the water supply pump 83 for a time period determined in advance according to the rice cooking information, and sends water from the water container 3 into the rice washing device 6 through the container side water supply pipe 82 and the lid side water supply pipe 81.

In step S9, the arithmetic circuit 51 opens the on-off valve 64 of the rice washing device 6 and pours the rice and water from the rice washing device 6 into the pot 5. In the next step S10, the arithmetic circuit 51 turns on a pouring completion flag indicating that pouring of rice and water into the pot 5 has been completed. The pouring completion flag is a flag that is initially in an off state, and is reset to an off state after the keep-warm operation is completed, or after the rice cooking step S11 is completed if the keep-warm operation is not performed.

In the next step S11, the arithmetic circuit 51 performs the rice cooking process. For example, in the rice cooking process, a rice cooking sequence is executed. Here, the "rice cooking sequence" refers to a rice cooking procedure in which the current application time, heating temperature, heating time, heating output, etc. are predetermined for each of the four main processes of preheating, heating, maintaining boiling, and steaming, which are executed in sequence. A plurality of rice cooking sequences corresponding to a plurality of rice cooking courses may be prepared. The program for executing the rice cooking sequence is stored in, for example, the storage device 302. In this embodiment, the arithmetic circuit 51 controls the heating unit 13 and executes the rice cooking process based on the rice cooking information selected by the user using the display operation unit 21 or the terminal 200 and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 14.

After the rice cooking step S11 is completed, a keep-warm operation may be performed to keep the temperature of the pot 5 at the set keep-warm temperature.

In this way, the rice cooker according to this embodiment can automatically perform the process from washing the rice to cooking it. Step S3 will be explained below.

In step S3, the calculation circuit 51 determines whether or not the predetermined rice cooking start conditions are met. If the answer is Yes, the process proceeds to step S4. If the answer is No, the process returns to step S1. In other words, if the rice cooking start conditions are not met, the calculation circuit 51 does not execute the rice cooking operation in steps S4 to S11. In this specification, the fact that the calculation circuit 51 of the control unit 15 does not execute the rice cooking operation even though a rice cooking start instruction is sent to the rice cooker 100 by remote operation based on the user operation of the terminal 200 is sometimes expressed as "the control unit 15 does not accept the rice cooking start instruction from the terminal 200." "The control unit 15 does not accept the rice cooking start instruction from the terminal 200" also includes the fact that the calculation circuit 51 of the control unit 15 does not execute the rice cooking operation even though a rice cooking start instruction is input to the control unit 15 by a local operation such as the operation of the input button 21B.

An example of a condition for starting rice cooking is when the opening/closing sensor 56 detects that the lid 2 has been opened and then closed (hereinafter referred to as "condition 1 for starting rice cooking"). The opening/closing sensor 56 detects that the lid 2 has been opened and closed, and the calculation circuit 51 may detect the temporal relationship of opening and closing based on the detection result of the opening/closing sensor 56.

For example, if the lid 2 remains closed after the previously performed cooking or keeping warm operation is stopped, rice may remain in the pot 5. In such a case, when step S9 of adding rice and water is performed in accordance with the user's remote cooking start instruction, the rice may leak out of the pot 5 or may not be cooked properly, resulting in failure to cook the rice. The rice cooked in this way may have a poorer taste than rice cooked properly when rice and water are supplied to an empty cooking section. If cooking start condition 1 is met and the lid 2 is opened and then closed, it can be assumed that the rice and water remaining in the pot 5 have been removed by the person who opened the lid 2. In this way, by setting cooking start condition 1, it is possible to prevent situations in which rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as adding more rice and water on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot 5.

Another example of the cooking start condition is when the lid sensor 58 detects that the lid 2 has changed from a state where it is not attached to the housing 1 to a state where it is attached (hereinafter referred to as "cooking start condition 2"). The lid sensor 58 detects whether the lid 2 is not attached to the housing 1 or is attached, and the calculation circuit 51 may detect the temporal relationship between the two states based on the detection result of the lid sensor 58. When cooking start condition 2 is met and the lid 2 has changed from a state where it is not attached to the housing 1 to a state where it is attached, it can be assumed that the rice and water remaining in the pot 5 have been removed by the person who removed the lid 2 from the housing 1 or attached it to the housing 1. In this way, by setting cooking start condition 2, it is possible to prevent a situation in which rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as adding more rice and water on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot 5.

Another example of a cooking start condition is when the pot sensor 57 detects that the pot 5 has been removed from the housing 1 and then placed inside the housing 1 (hereinafter referred to as "cooking start condition 3"). The pot sensor 57 detects the presence or absence of the pot 5 inside the housing 1, and the arithmetic circuit 51 may detect that the pot 5 has been removed from the housing 1 and then placed inside the housing 1 based on the detection result of the pot sensor 57. When cooking start condition 3 is met and the pot 5 has been removed from the housing 1 and then placed inside the housing 1, it can be assumed that the rice and water remaining in the pot 5 have been removed by the user. In this way, by setting cooking start condition 3, it is possible to prevent a situation in which rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as adding more rice and water on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot 5.

Another example of a condition for starting rice cooking is when the permission switch 22 is in the on state (hereinafter referred to as "condition for starting rice cooking 4"). When the user presses the permission switch 22 to turn it on, it can be assumed that the user has removed the rice and water remaining in the pot 5. In this way, by setting condition for starting rice cooking 4, it is possible to prevent situations in which rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water are added on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot 5.

Another example of a cooking start condition is when the temperature sensor 14 detects that the temperature of the pot 5 is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value after the completion of the cooking step S11 (hereinafter referred to as "cooking start condition 5"). The threshold value is set to a relative value, for example, several degrees Celsius to 10 degrees Celsius lower than the warming temperature. Alternatively, the threshold value is set to an absolute value, such as room temperature, 25 degrees Celsius to 75 degrees Celsius. When cooking start condition 5 is met, it can be assumed that the warming operation has been completed or interrupted, and the rice and water remaining in the pot 5 have been removed by the user. In this way, by setting cooking start condition 5, it is possible to prevent situations in which rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as adding more rice and water on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot 5.

Another example of a rice cooking start condition is that a predetermined amount of time has passed since the time when the calculation circuit 51 received or accepted a rice cooking stop instruction, for example, the time when the stop flag was turned on (hereinafter referred to as "rice cooking start condition 6"). If a certain amount of time has passed since the time when the stop flag was turned on, that is, the time when the rice cooking or warming operation was stopped based on the stop instruction, it can be expected that the user has removed the rice and water remaining in the pot 5. In this way, by setting rice cooking start condition 6, it is possible to prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as adding more rice and water on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot 5.

[Cancel action]
The cancel operation will be described below. The cancel operation is an operation for canceling various operations of the rice cooker 100. One example of the cancel operation is an operation for canceling an ongoing operation based on a cancel instruction received after the arithmetic circuit 51 starts the rice cooking operation or the keep warm operation of FIG. 13. FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating the flow of the cancel operation. The cancel operation of FIG. 14 is performed by the arithmetic circuit 51 of the control unit 15. The cancel operation of FIG. 14 may be performed in parallel with the rice cooking operation of FIG. 13, or by interrupting the rice cooking operation of FIG. 13 midway.

First, in step S20 of FIG. 14, the calculation circuit 51 determines whether or not a stop instruction has been received. Stop instructions include those received by local operation and those received by remote operation, similar to the rice cooking start instruction in step S1 of FIG. 13.

If the calculation circuit 51 receives a stop instruction (Yes in S20), it proceeds to step S21, and if it does not receive a stop instruction (No in S20), it returns to step S20. In other words, the calculation circuit 51 does not perform the process after step S21 unless it receives a stop instruction.

In step S21, the calculation circuit 51 determines whether the input completion flag is on. If the calculation circuit 51 determines that the input completion flag is on (Yes in S21), the process proceeds to step S24. If the calculation circuit 51 determines that the input completion flag is not on (No in S21), for example, if the calculation circuit 51 determines that the input completion flag is off, the process proceeds to step S22.

The calculation circuit 51 stops the rice cooking or warming operation that is being performed in step S22, and then turns on the stop flag in the next step S23.

In step S24, the calculation circuit 51 determines whether the stop instruction received in step S20 is a result of remote control. If the calculation circuit 51 determines that the received stop instruction is a result of remote control (Yes in S24), the calculation circuit 51 proceeds to step S25, and if the calculation circuit 51 determines that the received stop instruction is not a result of remote control (No in S24), for example, if the calculation circuit 51 determines that the received stop instruction is a result of local control, the calculation circuit 51 proceeds to step S22.

In step S25, the calculation circuit 51 determines whether or not a predetermined cancellation condition is satisfied. The cancellation condition is a condition under which the calculation circuit 51 accepts a cancellation instruction by remote control. If it is determined that the cancellation condition is satisfied (Yes in S25), the calculation circuit 51 proceeds to cancellation step S22 and cancels the rice cooking operation or warming operation that is being performed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the cancellation condition is not satisfied (No in S25), the calculation circuit 51 does not execute cancellation step S22.

In this way, even though a stop instruction is sent to the rice cooker 100 via remote control based on user operation of the terminal 200, the calculation circuit 51 of the control unit 15 does not execute the rice cooking operation. This is sometimes expressed in this specification as "the control unit 15 does not accept the stop instruction from the terminal 200."

If it is determined that the abort condition is not satisfied (No in S25), the calculation circuit 51 may perform step S26. In step S26, the calculation circuit 51 transmits a signal to the server device 300, and the server device 300, which receives the signal, performs a notification operation, such as displaying a message to the terminal 200 that transmitted the abort instruction, that the abort instruction has not been accepted, using application software. This makes it possible to notify the user who transmitted the abort instruction using the terminal 200 that the abort instruction has not been accepted. The notification method may be a display on the display of the terminal 200, or an audio notification.

An example of the above-mentioned cancellation condition is the completion of the rice cooking step S11. If one or more terminals 200 can freely cancel the rice cooking operation even when the rice and water have been added to the pot 5 and the addition completion flag is on, the rice cooking operation cannot be performed as intended by the user of the terminal 200 that sent the rice cooking start instruction. Furthermore, if one or more terminals 200 can freely send a rice cooking start instruction to the rice cooker 100 via the server device 300 after the cancellation, rice and water may be added again (S9), causing the rice to leak out of the pot 5 or the rice to be undercooked, resulting in failure of the rice cooking operation. The control unit 15 does not accept a cancellation instruction from the terminal 200 that sent the rice cooking start instruction to the rice cooker 100 via the server device 300 or from another terminal 200 unless the rice cooking operation is completed, thereby preventing the rice cooking operation from being inadvertently canceled in the middle of the rice cooking operation. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when an instruction to start cooking is given after the cooking has been stopped, causing more rice and water to be added on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot 5.

[Rice cooking timer operation]
The rice cooking reservation operation will be described below. The rice cooking reservation operation is an operation for starting or completing rice cooking at a time set by the user. Fig. 15 is a flow chart illustrating the flow of the rice cooking reservation operation. The rice cooking reservation operation in Fig. 15 is performed by the arithmetic circuit 51 of the control unit 15.

First, in step S30, the calculation circuit 51 determines whether or not a rice cooking reservation instruction has been received. Similar to the rice cooking start instruction and the rice cooking stop instruction, the rice cooking reservation instruction includes an instruction issued by local operation and an instruction issued by remote operation. The rice cooking reservation instruction includes, for example, the rice cooking completion time. For example, if the user wants to complete rice cooking at 5 p.m., the user sets the rice cooking completion time to 5 p.m. The rice cooking reservation instruction may include the rice cooking start time instead of the rice cooking completion time.

If the calculation circuit 51 receives a rice cooking reservation instruction (Yes in S30), it proceeds to step S31, and if it does not receive a cancellation instruction (No in S30), it returns to step S30. In other words, the calculation circuit 51 does not perform the process after step S31 unless it receives a rice cooking reservation instruction.

In step S31, the calculation circuit 51 sets the operation mode of the rice cooker 100 to a rice cooking reservation state and proceeds to step S32.

In step S32, the calculation circuit 51 determines whether an abnormality has been detected in the rice cooker 100 in the rice cooking reservation state. If there is an abnormality in the rice cooker 100 in the rice cooking reservation state, rice cannot be cooked normally. If the calculation circuit 51 determines that no abnormality has been detected (No in S32), it proceeds to step S33.

In step S33, the calculation circuit 51 waits for the rice cooking start time corresponding to the rice cooking completion time to arrive, and when it arrives, proceeds to step S34. For example, if the rice cooking completion time is 17:00 and the time required for the rice cooking operation (see FIG. 13) is one hour, the calculation circuit 51 proceeds to step S34 when it becomes 16:00.

In step S34, the arithmetic circuit 51 issues a rice cooking start instruction. The rice cooking start instruction in step S34 is an instruction to start the rice cooking operation in FIG. 13. When the arithmetic circuit 51 issues a rice cooking start instruction in step S34, it performs the same operation as when it receives a rice cooking start instruction in step S1 in FIG. 13. Alternatively, in step S34, the arithmetic circuit 51 may actually send a rice cooking start instruction to itself.

In step S32, if the calculation circuit 51 determines that an abnormality has been detected (Yes in S32), the calculation circuit 51 proceeds to step S35. Such an abnormality may be caused, for example, by a mistaken operation by someone in the home where the rice cooker 100 is located, or by a child playing with the rice cooker 100.

One example of an abnormality is when the lid 2 is open while the rice cooker 100 is in a rice cooking reservation state. If the lid 2 is open, rice cannot be cooked normally. For example, when the open/close sensor 56 detects that the lid 2 is open, the calculation circuit 51 determines that an abnormality has been detected.

Another example of an abnormality is when the lid 2 is removed from the housing 1 while the rice cooker 100 is in a rice cooking reservation state. If the lid 2 is removed from the housing 1, rice cannot be cooked normally. For example, when the lid sensor 58 detects that the lid 2 is not attached to the housing 1, the calculation circuit 51 determines that an abnormality has been detected.

Another example of an abnormality is when the water container 3 is not attached to the designated position on the base 12 of the housing 1 when the rice cooker 100 is in a rice cooking reservation state, or when the rice container 4 is not attached to the designated position on the housing 1. If the rice container 4 or water container 3 is not attached to the designated position, the rice cooker 100 cannot supply rice or water to the pot 5, and cannot cook rice normally. For example, when the water container sensor 32 detects that the water container 3 is not attached to the designated position on the base 12 of the housing 1, the calculation circuit 51 determines that an abnormality has been detected. For example, when the rice container sensor 44 detects that the rice container 4 is not attached to the designated position on the housing 1, the calculation circuit 51 determines that an abnormality has been detected.

Another example of an abnormality is when the water level in the water container 3 does not reach the water level threshold corresponding to the amount of water needed to cook rice when the rice cooker 100 is in the rice cooking reservation state, or when the amount of stored rice does not reach the amount needed to cook rice. If such an abnormality occurs, there will not be enough water or rice and the rice cooker 100 will not be able to cook rice normally. For example, when the water level sensor 33 detects that the water level in the water container 3 has not reached the water level threshold, the calculation circuit 51 determines that an abnormality has been detected. For example, when the stored rice amount sensor 45 detects that the amount of stored rice has not reached the amount needed to cook rice, the calculation circuit 51 determines that an abnormality has been detected.

If an abnormality is detected, in step S35, the arithmetic circuit 51 notifies the user that an abnormality has occurred. For example, the arithmetic circuit 51 notifies the user that an abnormality has occurred by displaying an abnormality on the display 21A and/or by outputting an alarm sound indicating that an abnormality has occurred from the speaker.

The notification in step S35 also includes remote notification. For example, the arithmetic circuit 51 transmits an abnormality detection signal to the server device 300 indicating that an abnormality has been detected. When the server device 300 receives the abnormality detection signal, it transmits information to the terminal 200 for confirming whether or not the rice cooking reservation state of the rice cooker 100 should be continued. This transmission of information includes the transmission of information by the server device 300, via application software, for displaying text on the display of the terminal 200 for confirming whether or not the rice cooking reservation state should be continued.

In the next step S36, the calculation circuit 51 judges whether or not an instruction to continue the reservation has been received by the time the rice cooking starts. The reservation continuation instruction includes those made by local operation and those made by remote operation, similar to the rice cooking start instruction, the stop instruction, and the rice cooking reservation instruction. For example, if the user of the terminal 200 operates the application software to select to continue the rice cooking reservation state, the server device 300 sends an instruction to continue the reservation to the rice cooker 100. In this specification, the reception of the reservation continuation instruction sent by the server device 300 to the rice cooker 100 by the calculation circuit 51 of the control unit 15 based on the user's operation of the terminal 200 in this way is also expressed as "the control unit 15 receiving an instruction to continue the reservation from the terminal 200".

If an instruction to continue the reservation is received by the time the rice cooking starts (Yes in S36), the calculation circuit 51 proceeds to step S33. If an instruction to continue the reservation is not received by the time the rice cooking starts (No in S36), the calculation circuit 51 ends the flow in FIG. 15 without executing step S34, and does not cook rice.

In this way, if an abnormality is detected in the rice cooker 100 while rice cooking is scheduled, the user can be asked whether or not to continue the rice cooking reservation, thereby preventing a situation in which rice is cooked while there is an abnormality and the rice is not cooked as intended by the user.

Figure 16 is a flow chart showing a modified example of the rice cooking reservation operation of Figure 15. The modified example of the rice cooking reservation operation of Figure 16 includes step S37 instead of step S36 of Figure 15.

In step S37, the calculation circuit 51 determines whether the abnormality detected in step S32 has been resolved by the time the rice cooking starts, and whether an instruction to continue the reservation has been received by the time the rice cooking starts. If the abnormality has been resolved by the time the rice cooking starts, or if an instruction to continue the reservation has been received by the time the rice cooking starts (Yes in S37), the calculation circuit 51 proceeds to step S33. In the modified example of the rice cooking reservation operation in FIG. 16, unlike FIG. 15, if the abnormality has been resolved, rice cooking can be started even if an instruction to continue the reservation has not been received by the time the rice cooking starts.

[Exclusive Control]
The remote control system 10 may implement exclusive control so that the control unit 15 of the rice cooker 100 does not accept operation instructions from other terminals after the control unit 15 of the rice cooker 100 has accepted an instruction to start cooking rice or an instruction to change settings from the terminal 200 until cooking is completed. Fig. 17 is a sequence diagram showing an example of such exclusive control.

In FIG. 17, based on a user operation, the terminal 200a transmits a remote control input including an instruction to start cooking rice to the server device 300 (S40), and in response, the server device 300 transmits an instruction to start cooking rice to the rice cooker 100 (S60). When the arithmetic circuit 51 of the rice cooker 100 receives the instruction to start cooking rice, it executes the rice cooking operations S4 to S11 (see FIG. 13) if certain conditions are met.

If another terminal 200b transmits a remote control input including an instruction to stop cooking rice to the server device 300 (S50) while the rice cooker 100 is cooking rice, the server device 300 does not transmit the instruction to stop cooking rice to the rice cooker 100. In this case, the server device 300 may transmit an acceptance refusal message such as "Another user is cooking rice, so your instruction will not be accepted" to the terminal 200b (S51). Such an acceptance refusal message may be transmitted as a notification action by the server device 300, such as displaying the acceptance refusal message on the terminal 200b using application software.

The server device 300 uses, for example, the registration ID of the application software to identify whether the remote control input was sent from the terminal 200a or 200b. The registration ID is linked to the rice cooker 100 to be operated. Since the rice cooker 100 may be remotely operated by multiple people, such as a family member, one rice cooker 100 may be linked to multiple registration IDs. Alternatively, the server device 300 may use device identification information unique to the terminals 200a and 200b, such as a MAC address, to identify whether the remote control input was sent from the terminal 200a or 200b.

The above describes an example in which the instruction to stop cooking is sent by the terminal 200b, but the same applies to other operational instructions such as an instruction to start cooking, an instruction to schedule cooking, an instruction to change settings, etc. In other words, even if another terminal 200b attempts to send an operational instruction to the rice cooker 100 while the rice cooker 100 is cooking rice, the server device 300 will not send the operational instruction to the rice cooker 100. After cooking is completed, the control unit 15 of the rice cooker 100 can accept an instruction to start cooking from the terminal 200b (S52, S62).

In the above, an example was described in which the instruction to start cooking rice was sent by the terminal 200a, but the same applies to instructions to change settings and to schedule cooking. For example, if the terminal 200a sends a remote control input including an instruction to change settings to the server device 300 based on a user operation, and the server device 300 sends a setting change instruction to the rice cooker 100 in response, the control unit 15 of the rice cooker 100 will not accept an operation instruction from the terminal 200b until cooking is complete.

In this way, by providing exclusive control, it is possible to prevent further rice and water from being added to the rice and water remaining in the pot 5 of the rice cooker 100 when a rice cooking start command is issued by someone other than the user who started the rice cooking. In addition, by providing exclusive control, it is possible to prevent the rice cooking settings set by the user who started the rice cooking from being changed by someone other than that user.

In the above, an example was described in which when another terminal 200b sends a remote operation input including an instruction to stop cooking to the server device 300 while the rice cooker 100 is cooking rice, the server device 300 does not send the instruction to stop cooking to the rice cooker 100, but exclusive control is not limited to this. For example, in the above case, the server device 300 sends an instruction to stop cooking to the rice cooker 100 as usual, but does not need to accept an operation instruction from the terminal 200b in the sense that the control unit 15 of the rice cooker 100 does not follow the instruction to stop cooking received.

[Effects, etc.]
As described above, the rice cooker 100 according to the present embodiment includes the housing 1, the pot 5, the rice container 4 for storing rice, the water container 3 for storing water, the rice sending device 93, the water sending pump 83, the heating unit 13 for heating the pot 5, the control unit 15, and the communication interface 55. The rice sending device 93 supplies rice from the rice container 4 to the pot 5. The water sending pump 83 supplies water from the water container 3 to the pot 5. The control unit 15 controls at least the rice sending device 93, the water sending pump 83, and the heating unit 13 to perform a rice cooking operation including supplying rice and water to the pot 5 and heating it, and a heat keeping operation for keeping the pot 5 warm by controlling the heating unit 13. The communication interface 55 wirelessly receives from the terminal 200 an operation instruction signal including a rice cooking start instruction for instructing the start of the rice cooking operation and/or a stop instruction for instructing the stop of the rice cooking operation or the heat keeping operation. After the control unit 15 stops the rice cooking operation or the keeping-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication interface 55, it will not accept a rice cooking start instruction from the terminal 200 via the communication interface 55 unless predetermined rice cooking start conditions are satisfied.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment can prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when the rice cooking or warming operation is stopped while there is rice remaining in the pot 5, and then remote control is performed from the terminal 200, causing more rice and water to be added on top of the rice remaining in the pot 5.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment may further include an input button 21B for inputting a rice cooking start command to the control unit 15. In this case, after the control unit 15 stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop command received by the communication interface 55, it will not accept a rice cooking start command from the input button 21B unless the rice cooking start condition is met.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment can prevent a person other than the operator of the terminal 200, such as a child, from tampering with the input button 21B to give an instruction to start cooking rice after the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation has been stopped by remote control from the terminal 200. This can prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water are added on top of the rice remaining in the pot 5.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment may further include a lid 2 that can be opened and closed to cover the opening 5a of the pot 5, and an opening/closing sensor 56 that detects the opening and closing of the lid 2. In this case, when the control unit 15 stops the rice cooking operation or the warming operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication interface 55, and the opening/closing sensor 56 detects that the lid 2 has been opened and then closed, the rice cooking start condition is met, and the control unit 15 becomes able to accept a rice cooking start instruction.

When the lid 2 is opened and then closed, it is assumed that the rice and water remaining in the pot 5 have been removed by the person who opened the lid 2. Therefore, the rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment can prevent situations in which rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water are added on top of the rice remaining in the pot.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment may further include a lid 2 that is detachably attached to the housing 1 and that, when attached to the housing 1, freely opens and closes to cover the opening 5a of the pot 5, and a lid sensor 58 that detects whether the lid 2 is attached to the housing 1. In this case, when the control unit 15 stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication interface 55, and the lid sensor 58 detects that the lid 2 has changed from not being attached to the housing 1 to being attached, the rice cooking start condition is met and the control unit 15 becomes able to accept a rice cooking start instruction.

When the lid body 2 goes from being attached to the housing 1 to being attached to it, it can be assumed that the rice and water remaining in the pot 5 have been removed by the person who removed the lid body 2 from the housing 1 or attached it to the housing 1. Therefore, this configuration can prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water are added on top of the rice remaining in the pot 5.

The pot 5 may be removably housed in the housing 1. The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment may further include a pot sensor 57 that detects that the pot 5 is housed in the housing 1 and that the pot 5 has been removed from the housing 1. In this case, the rice cooking start condition is met when the control unit 15 stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication interface 55, and the pot sensor 57 detects that the pot 5 has been removed from the housing 1 and then placed back in the housing 1. When the rice cooking start condition is met, the control unit 15 becomes able to accept a rice cooking start instruction.

When the pot 5 is removed from the housing 1 and then placed back into the housing 1, it is assumed that the rice and water remaining in the pot 5 have been removed by the user. Therefore, the rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment can prevent situations in which rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water are added on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot 5.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment may further include a permission switch 22 that, when turned on, permits the control unit 15 to accept a rice cooking start instruction from the terminal 200. In this case, when the permission switch 22 is in the on state after the control unit 15 stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication interface 55, the rice cooking start condition is satisfied and the control unit 15 becomes able to accept a rice cooking start instruction.

When the user presses the permission switch 22 to turn it on, it can be assumed that the user has removed the rice and water remaining in the pot 5. Therefore, the rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment can prevent situations where rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water are added on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot 5.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment may further include a temperature sensor 14 that detects the temperature of the pot 5. In this case, the rice cooking start condition is met when the control unit 15 stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication interface 55, and then the temperature sensor 14 detects that the temperature of the pot 5 is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value after the rice cooking operation is completed. When the rice cooking start condition is met, the control unit 15 becomes able to accept a rice cooking start instruction.

When the temperature of the pot 5 is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold, it is assumed that the keep-warm operation is completed or interrupted, and the rice and water remaining in the pot 5 are removed by the user. Therefore, the rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment can prevent situations in which rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as when more rice and water are added on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot 5.

After the control unit 15 stops the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication interface 55, the rice cooking start condition may be satisfied when a predetermined time has elapsed from the time when the control unit 15 received the stop instruction. When the rice cooking start condition is satisfied, the control unit 15 becomes able to accept a rice cooking start instruction.

If a certain amount of time has passed since the cancellation command was received, it is expected that the user has removed the rice and water remaining in the pot 5. Therefore, the rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment can prevent situations in which rice is not cooked as intended by the user, such as adding more rice and water on top of the rice and water remaining in the pot 5.

After starting the rice cooking operation, the control unit 15 may not accept a stop instruction from the terminal 200 via the communication interface 55 unless a predetermined stop condition is met.

According to the rice cooker 100 of this embodiment, by not accepting a remote stop instruction from the terminal 200 unless the stop condition is met, it is possible to prevent the rice cooking operation from being inadvertently stopped in the middle of the rice cooking operation. Furthermore, by not accepting a remote stop instruction from the terminal 200 unless the stop condition is met, it is possible to prevent a situation in which rice cooking is not performed as intended by the user, such as when an instruction to start cooking is given after the rice has been stopped and more rice and water are added on top of the rice remaining in the pot 5.

After the control unit 15 starts the rice cooking operation, the stop condition may be satisfied when the rice cooking operation is completed. When the stop condition is satisfied, the control unit 15 becomes capable of receiving a stop instruction from the terminal 200 via the communication interface 55.

In the rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment, the control unit 15 does not accept a remote instruction to stop cooking from the terminal 200 unless the cooking operation is completed, so that the cooking operation can be prevented from being inadvertently stopped in the middle of the cooking operation.

When the control unit 15 detects an abnormality in a rice cooking reservation state in which the rice cooking operation starts at a rice cooking start time according to the set time, the control unit 15 may notify the terminal 200.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment notifies the user that an abnormality has occurred and gives the user an opportunity to resolve the abnormality. This prevents the rice from being cooked in an abnormal state and not being cooked as intended by the user.

When the control unit 15 has performed the notification, the control unit 15 may start the rice cooking operation at the rice cooking start time only if it receives a reservation continuation instruction to continue the rice cooking reservation state from the terminal 200 before the rice cooking start time.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment can prevent situations where rice is cooked in an abnormal state and the rice is not cooked as intended by the user.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment may further include a lid 2 that can be freely opened and closed to cover the opening 5a of the pot 5, and an opening/closing sensor 56 that detects whether the lid 2 is open or closed. In this case, when the opening/closing sensor 56 detects that the lid 2 is open, the control unit 15 detects an abnormality and notifies the terminal 200.

If the lid 2 is open, rice cannot be cooked properly. However, with the rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment, a notification is sent when the lid 2 is open, which prevents the rice from being cooked with the lid 2 open and not being cooked as intended by the user.

The water container 3 is removably attached to a predetermined water container position of the rice cooker 100, and the rice cooker 100 may further include a water container sensor that detects whether the water container 3 is attached to the water container position. In this case, when the water container sensor detects that the water container 3 is not attached to the water container position during rice cooking reservation, the control unit 15 detects an abnormality and notifies the terminal 200.

If the water container 3 is not attached to the water container position, the rice cooker cannot supply water to the pot 5 and cannot cook rice normally. According to the rice cooker 100 of this embodiment, if the water container 3 is not attached to the water container position, a notification is issued, so it is possible to prevent a situation in which rice is cooked without the water container 3 attached to the water container position and rice is not cooked as intended by the user.

The rice container 4 is removably attached to a predetermined rice container position of the rice cooker 100, and the rice cooker 100 may further include a rice container sensor that detects whether the rice container 4 is attached to the rice container position. In this case, when the rice container sensor detects that the rice container 4 is not attached to the rice container position during rice cooking reservation, the control unit 15 detects an abnormality and notifies the terminal 200.

If the rice container 4 is not attached to the rice container position, the rice cooker cannot supply rice into the pot 5 and cannot cook rice normally. According to the rice cooker 100 of this embodiment, a notification is given when the rice container 4 is not attached to the rice container position, so it is possible to prevent a situation in which rice is cooked without the rice container 4 attached to the rice container position and the rice is not cooked as intended by the user.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment may further include a lid 2 that is detachably attached to the housing 1 and that, when attached to the housing 1, freely opens and closes to cover the opening 5a of the pot 5, and a lid sensor 58 that detects whether the lid 2 is attached to the housing 1. In this case, when the lid sensor 58 detects that the lid 2 is not attached to the housing 1 during rice cooking reservation, the control unit 15 detects an abnormality and notifies the terminal 200.

If the lid 2 is not attached to the housing 1, rice cannot be cooked properly. However, this configuration can prevent situations where rice is cooked without the lid 2 attached to the housing 1, resulting in rice not being cooked as intended by the user.

The number of terminals 200 may be more than one. For example, the terminals 200 may include a first terminal 200a and a second terminal 200b. In this case, after the control unit 15 receives a rice cooking start instruction from the first terminal 200a via the communication interface 55, it may not need to receive an operation instruction signal from the second terminal 200b via the communication interface 55 until the rice cooking operation is completed.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment can prevent the rice cooking settings set by the user of the first terminal 200a who started cooking rice from being changed by a person using the second terminal 200b.

After receiving a setting change instruction to change the settings related to the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation from the first terminal 200a via the communication interface 55, the control unit 15 does not need to receive a rice cooking start instruction or a setting change instruction from the second terminal 200b via the communication interface 55 until the rice cooking operation is completed.

The rice cooker 100 according to this embodiment can prevent a situation in which, even though the user of the first terminal 200a has already started cooking rice, a user of the second terminal 200b issues a command to start cooking rice, causing more rice and water to be poured on top of the rice remaining in the pot 5.

(Modification)
As described above, the embodiments have been described as examples of the technology disclosed in this application. However, the technology in this disclosure is not limited to this, and can be applied to embodiments in which modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, etc. have been made. In addition, it is also possible to combine the components described in the above embodiments to create new embodiments. Therefore, examples of modified embodiments are given below.

(First Modification)
In the above embodiment, it has been described that even if a rice cooking start instruction is remotely transmitted to the rice cooker 100 based on a user operation of the terminal 200, the arithmetic circuit 51 of the control unit 15 does not execute the rice cooking operation if the rice cooking start condition is not satisfied. In the above embodiment, this has been described as an example of "the control unit 15 does not accept a rice cooking start instruction from the terminal 200". However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, if the rice cooking start condition is not satisfied, the application software on the terminal 200 may be configured so that the user cannot input an operation to start rice cooking. Such an operation lock on the application software is also included in "the control unit 15 does not accept a rice cooking start instruction from the terminal 200" of the present disclosure.

(Second Modification)
In the above embodiment, it has been described that even if a stop instruction is remotely transmitted to the rice cooker 100 based on a user operation of the terminal 200, the arithmetic circuit 51 of the control unit 15 does not execute the rice cooking operation if the stop condition is not satisfied. In the above embodiment, this has been described as an example of "the control unit 15 does not accept a stop instruction from the terminal 200". However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, if the stop condition is not satisfied, the application software on the terminal 200 may be configured so that the user cannot input an operation to stop. Such an operation lock on the application software is also included in "the control unit 15 does not accept a stop instruction from the terminal 200" of the present disclosure.

(Third Modification)
In the above embodiment, the remote control system 10 in which the terminal 200 remotely controls the rice cooker 100 via the server device 300 has been described, but the remote control of the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the remote control system of the present disclosure may be configured so that the terminal 200 can remotely control the rice cooker 100 by directly communicating with the rice cooker 100.

This disclosure is applicable to rice cookers.

LIST OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 1a One side 2 Lid 2a Pivot tip 2b Lid side connection 3 Water container 4 Rice container 5 Pot 5a Opening 6 Rice washing device 7 Drain tank 10 Remote control system 11 Main body 11a One side 11b Pot storage section 11c Front 12 Base 13 Heating section 14 Temperature sensor 15 Control section 16 Input device 17 Output device 18 Network 21 Display operation section 21A Display 21B Input button 22 Permission switch 31 Step section 31a Gasket 32 Water container sensor 33 Water level sensor 41 Step section 42 Selection section 44 Rice container sensor 45 Rice storage amount sensor 51 Arithmetic circuit 52 Storage device 53 Input interface 54 Output interface 55 Communication interface 56 Opening/closing sensor 57 Pot sensor 58 Lid sensor 61 Rice washing motor 61a Output shaft 62 Rice washing blade 63 Rice washing tank 64 Opening and closing valve 71 Drain pipe 72 Drain pump 81 Lid side water supply pipe 81a One end 82 Container side water supply pipe 82a One end 83 Water supply pump 84 Drain pump 91 Rice supply pipe 91a One end 92 Rice supply fan 93 Rice supply device 100 Rice cooker 200 Terminal 300 Server device 301 Arithmetic circuit 302 Storage device 303 Communication interface

Claims (17)

A housing and
A pot and
A rice container for storing rice;
A water container for storing water;
A rice feeding unit that supplies rice in the rice container to the pot;
A water supply unit that supplies water from the water container to the pot;
A heating unit for heating the pan;
A control unit that controls the rice sending unit, the water sending unit, and the heating unit to perform a rice cooking operation including supplying rice and water into the pot and heating the rice and water, and a heat keeping operation that controls the heating unit to keep the pot warm;
A communication unit that wirelessly receives an operation instruction signal including a rice cooking start instruction for instructing the start of the rice cooking operation and a stop instruction for instructing the stop of the rice cooking operation or the keep warm operation from a terminal,
The water container is detachably attached to a predetermined water container position of the rice cooker,
The rice cooker further includes a water container sensor that detects whether the water container is attached to the water container position,
After the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the warming operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, the control unit does not accept the rice cooking start instruction from the terminal via the communication unit unless a predetermined rice cooking start condition is satisfied,
The control unit notifies the terminal when the water container sensor detects that the water container is not attached to the water container position in a rice cooking reservation state in which the rice cooking operation is to be started at a rice cooking start time according to a set time.
Rice cooker. The rice cooker further includes an operation unit that inputs the rice cooking start instruction to the control unit,
After the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the warming operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, the control unit does not accept the rice cooking start instruction from the operation unit unless the rice cooking start condition is satisfied.
The rice cooker according to claim 1. The rice cooker further includes a lid that can freely open and close the opening of the pot, and an opening/closing sensor that detects the opening and closing of the lid,
When the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the warming operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit and the opening/closing sensor detects that the lid body has been opened and then closed, the rice cooking start condition is satisfied and the control unit is able to accept the rice cooking start instruction.
The rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2. The rice cooker is
A lid body that is detachably attached to the housing and that covers the opening of the pot freely when attached to the housing;
a cover sensor that detects whether the cover is attached to the housing,
When the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the warming operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit and the lid sensor detects that the lid has changed from a state in which the lid is not attached to the housing to a state in which the lid is attached, the rice cooking start condition is satisfied and the control unit becomes capable of accepting the rice cooking start instruction.
The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The pan is removably housed in the housing;
The rice cooker further includes a pot sensor that detects whether the pot is housed in the housing and whether the pot is removed from the housing;
When the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the warming operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, and the pot sensor detects that the pot has been removed from the housing and then placed back in the housing, the rice cooking start condition is satisfied and the control unit is able to accept the rice cooking start instruction.
The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The rice cooker further includes an authorization switch that, when turned on, authorizes the control unit to accept a rice cooking start instruction from the terminal,
When the permission switch is in an on state after the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the warming operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, the rice cooking start condition is satisfied and the control unit is able to accept the rice cooking start instruction.
The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The rice cooker further includes a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the pot,
When the control unit stops the rice cooking operation or the warming operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, and then the temperature sensor detects that the temperature of the pot is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold after the rice cooking operation is completed, the rice cooking start condition is satisfied and the control unit is able to accept the rice cooking start instruction.
The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 6. When a predetermined time has elapsed since the control unit received the stop instruction after the control unit has stopped the rice cooking operation or the warming operation in accordance with the stop instruction received by the communication unit, the rice cooking start condition is satisfied and the control unit is able to accept the rice cooking start instruction.
The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the control unit does not accept the stop instruction from the terminal via the communication unit after starting the rice cooking operation unless a predetermined stop condition is met. The rice cooker according to claim 9, wherein when the control unit starts the rice cooking operation and then the rice cooking operation is completed, the cancellation condition is met and the control unit is capable of receiving the cancellation instruction from the terminal via the communication unit. The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the control unit notifies the terminal when an abnormality is detected in the rice cooking reservation state. The rice cooker according to claim 11, wherein, when the control unit has performed the notification, the control unit starts the rice cooking operation at the rice cooking start time only when the control unit receives a reservation continuation instruction to continue the rice cooking reservation state from the terminal before the rice cooking start time. The rice cooker further includes a lid that can freely open and close the opening of the pot, and an opening/closing sensor that detects the opening and closing of the lid,
The control unit detects the abnormality when the opening/closing sensor detects that the lid is open, and notifies the terminal.
The rice cooker according to claim 11 or 12. The rice container is removably attached to a predetermined rice container position of the rice cooker;
The rice cooker further includes a rice container sensor that detects whether the rice container is attached to the rice container position;
When the rice container sensor detects that the rice container is not attached to the rice container position in the rice cooking reservation state, the control unit detects the abnormality and notifies the terminal.
The rice cooker according to any one of claims 11 to 13 . The rice cooker is
A lid body that is detachably attached to the housing and that covers the opening of the pot freely when attached to the housing;
a cover sensor that detects whether the cover is attached to the housing,
When the lid sensor detects that the lid is not attached to the housing in the rice cooking reservation state, the control unit detects the abnormality and notifies the terminal.
The rice cooker according to any one of claims 11 to 14 . The terminals include a first terminal and a second terminal;
The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein after the control unit receives the rice cooking start instruction from the first terminal via the communication unit, the control unit does not receive the operation instruction signal from the second terminal via the communication unit until the rice cooking operation is completed. The terminals include a first terminal and a second terminal;
The rice cooker of any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein after the control unit receives a setting change instruction to change the settings related to the rice cooking operation or the keep-warm operation from the first terminal via the communication unit, the control unit does not accept the rice cooking start instruction or the setting change instruction from the second terminal via the communication unit until the rice cooking operation is completed.

Images