JP7808766B2 - rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a rice cooker equipped with a weight detection unit.

A conventional example of this type of rice cooker is the rice cooker described in Patent Document 1 (JP 2017-77459 A). Patent Document 1 discloses a rice cooker in which four strain gauges are arranged at the four corners of the base as a weight detection unit. The rice cooker in Patent Document 1 can detect the weight of the food being cooked in the pot by subtracting the weight of the pot from the total weight detected by the four strain gauges.

JP 2017-77459 A

However, the rice cooker in Patent Document 1 still has room for improvement in terms of reducing component costs while minimizing a decline in the accuracy of detecting the weight of the food being cooked.

Therefore, the object of this disclosure is to solve the above problems by providing a rice cooker that can reduce component costs while minimizing a decrease in the accuracy of detecting the weight of the food being cooked.

In order to achieve the above object, the rice cooker according to the present disclosure comprises:
A pot and
a housing having a mounting surface on which the pot is placed;
a support portion disposed below the placement surface and supporting the weight of the pot placed on the placement surface;
a weight detection unit disposed below the placement surface for detecting the weight of the food contained in the pot by receiving the weight of the pot placed on the placement surface;
Equipped with
The support portion and the weight detection portion are arranged on opposite sides of a first imaginary line passing through the center of the pot in a plan view seen from above the pot,
The support unit and the weight detection unit are at different height positions.
It is configured as follows.

The rice cooker according to the present invention can reduce component costs while minimizing the deterioration of the accuracy of detecting the weight of the food being cooked.

1 is a perspective view of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a pot, a pot container, and a lid of the rice cooker of FIG. 1. 2 is a diagram showing a recess provided in the bottom of the pot in the rice cooker of FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the housing of the rice cooker of FIG. 1 with the pot, pot container, and lid removed. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a pot and a part of the housing of the rice cooker of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view showing a pot container and a part of the housing of the rice cooker of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a pot and a part of the housing of the rice cooker of FIG. 1 . 2 is a left side view and a right cross-sectional view showing a pot and a part of a housing of the rice cooker of FIG. 1. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the variation in the center of gravity of a pot when two support parts and one weight sensor, which are at the same height, are arranged to support the weight of the pot. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the variation in the center of gravity of a pot when two support parts and one weight sensor at different heights are arranged to support the weight of the pot. FIG.

(Findings that form the basis of this disclosure)
The present inventors have conducted extensive research to reduce component costs while minimizing the decline in accuracy in detecting the weight of the food being cooked, and have come to the following conclusions.

Conventional rice cookers use four strain gauges (also called weight sensors) as the weight detection unit. Weight sensors are relatively expensive components. Therefore, it is thought that using fewer weight sensors would be an effective way to reduce component costs.

For example, if three weight sensors are installed at three points on the bottom of a pot to support its weight, each weight sensor will detect approximately one-third of the pot's weight. Therefore, for example, if two of the three weight sensors are replaced with inexpensive support parts such as resin protrusions, it is possible to detect the weight of the pot as three times the detected weight of the remaining weight sensor.

However, with this configuration, as shown in Figure 8, each time the pot 103 is placed so that the weight of the pot 103 is supported by the two support parts 101 and one weight sensor 102, the position of the pot's center of gravity (the black dot in Figure 8) may vary due to factors such as uneven distribution of the food being cooked in the pot 103. In this case, one weight sensor 102 will not be able to accurately detect one-third of the weight of the pot 103, resulting in a large error between the value obtained by multiplying the weight detected by one weight sensor 102 by three and the actual weight of the pot 103, reducing the accuracy of detecting the weight of the food being cooked.

After extensive research, the present inventors discovered a configuration in which the height positions of the support part 101 and the weight sensor 102 are different from each other. With this configuration, as shown in Figure 9, it is possible to consolidate the variation in the center of gravity position of the pot 103 (the black dot in Figure 9), making it easier to estimate the weight of the pot 103 based on the detected weight of a single weight sensor 102. This makes it possible to reduce component costs while minimizing any decline in the detection accuracy of the weight of the food being cooked. Based on this new finding, the present inventors arrived at the following invention.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a housing having a mounting surface on which the pot is placed,
a support portion disposed below the placement surface and supporting the weight of the pot placed on the placement surface;
a weight detection unit disposed below the placement surface for detecting the weight of the food contained in the pot by receiving the weight of the pot placed on the placement surface;
Equipped with
The support portion and the weight detection portion are arranged on opposite sides of a first imaginary line passing through the center of the pot in a plan view seen from above the pot,
The support unit and the weight detection unit are at different height positions.
Provide a rice cooker.

A second aspect of the present disclosure provides the rice cooker described in the first aspect, in which the weight detection unit is located lower in height than the support unit.

A third aspect of the present disclosure provides the rice cooker described in the first or second aspect, wherein the housing includes a base having the aforementioned placement surface, and the support unit and the weight detection unit are configured to receive the weight of the pot via the base.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a rice cooker according to any one of the first to third aspects, in which the weight detection unit is composed of a single weight sensor.

A fifth aspect of the present disclosure provides the rice cooker described in the fourth aspect, which includes a plurality of support parts, and which are arranged, in the plan view, symmetrically with respect to a second imaginary line that passes through the weight detection unit and the center of the pot.

A sixth aspect of the present disclosure provides the rice cooker described in the fifth aspect, further comprising a pot container for accommodating the pot, the pot container being placed on the placement surface by sliding from the side of the housing along the second imaginary straight line, and the weight detection unit being located downstream of the support unit in the direction in which the pot container slides.

A seventh aspect of the present disclosure provides a rice cooker according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, further comprising a control unit that controls the amount of food to be cooked supplied to the pot based on the weight detected by the weight detection unit, and the control unit is positioned closer to the weight detection unit than the support unit.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. The present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments. In addition, substantially identical components in the drawings are designated by the same reference numerals.

Furthermore, for the sake of convenience, the following uses terms indicating directions such as "up," "down," "front," "rear," and "side," assuming normal use, but this is not intended to limit the use state, etc., of the rice cooker disclosed herein.

(Embodiment)
The overall configuration of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The rice cooker according to this embodiment is a so-called fully automatic rice cooker that can automatically perform processes from supplying rice and water to the pot to cooking the rice. Note that the rice cooker according to the present disclosure is not limited to a so-called fully automatic rice cooker, and may be a normal rice cooker that does not automatically supply rice or water to the pot.

As shown in Figure 1, the rice cooker of this embodiment includes a housing 1, a pot container 21, a lid 22, a rice container 3, and a water container 4.

The housing 1 has a rounded rectangular shape when viewed from above. In other words, when viewed from above, the housing 1 has a shape such that two opposing sides of the rectangle are bent into semicircular arcs. In this embodiment, one curved side of the housing 1 is referred to as the front. The other curved side of the housing 1 is referred to as the rear. Furthermore, the direction toward the front and rear of the housing 1 is referred to as the front-to-rear direction, and the direction perpendicular to the front-to-rear direction is referred to as the lateral direction. In this embodiment, the direction toward the upper left and lower right in FIG. 1 is referred to as the lateral direction X. Furthermore, the direction toward the lower left and upper right in FIG. 1 is referred to as the front-to-rear direction Y. Furthermore, the direction perpendicular to the lateral direction X and the front-to-rear direction Y and toward the top and bottom of FIG. 1 is referred to as the height direction Z. In this embodiment, the height direction Z coincides with the up-down direction. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the lateral direction X, the front-to-rear direction Y, and the direction intersecting the lateral direction X and the front-to-rear direction Y may be referred to as the lateral direction.

A storage area 11 capable of accommodating a pot 21 is provided on the lower and front side of the housing 1. The storage area 11 is part of the housing 1 and defines a space for accommodating the pot 21 and lid 22. The storage area 11 is configured so that the pot 21 and lid 22 can be accommodated by sliding them from the side of the storage area 11. Figure 1 shows, as an example, a configuration in which the pot 21 can be accommodated by sliding it from the front of the storage area 11 along the front-to-rear direction Y. A housing lid 12 is removably attached to the top end of the housing 1, covering both the housing 1 and the rice container 3.

The storage area 11 accommodates a pot container 21 and a lid 22 that is removably attached to the pot container 21. As shown in Figure 2, a pot 2 is removably accommodated in the pot container 21. The pot container 21 is placed on a mounting surface 13 (see Figure 3B), which is the bottom of the storage area 11, as described below. Hereinafter, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the pot container 21 accommodated in the storage area 11 accommodates a pot 2 and has a lid 22 attached.

The height of the pot container 21 stored in the storage area 11 is lower than the height of the storage area 11. The pot 2, pot container 21, and lid 22 can be attached to and detached from the housing 1 by sliding the lid 22 attached to the pot container 21 between the storage area 11 and the outside of the housing 1 and to the side of the storage area 11 in the front-to-back direction Y.

The rice container 3 is a container for storing rice. The rice container 3 is located inside the housing 1 and above the storage area 11. In other words, the rice container 3 is located inside the housing 1 below the housing lid 12 and adjacent to the housing lid 12.

The water container 4 is a container for storing water. The water container is located on the rear and upper side of the housing 1.

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the pot 2, pot container 21, and lid 22 of the rice cooker of Figure 1. Figure 3A is a diagram showing the recess 21f provided in the bottom of the pot container 21 of the rice cooker of Figure 1. Figure 3B is a perspective view of the housing 1 of the rice cooker of Figure 1 with the pot 2, pot container 21, and lid 22 removed.

As shown in Figure 2, the pot 2 has a cylindrical shape with a bottom. That is, the pot 2 has a bottom 2a, a side wall 2b, an opening 2c, and a flange 2d. The flange 2d extends laterally from the upper end of the side wall 2b around the entire circumferential circumference of the upper end of the side wall 2b toward the outside of the pot 2.

The pot container 21 has a cylindrical shape with a bottom that can accommodate the pot 2. That is, the pot container 21 has a bottom 21a, a side wall 211 (see Figure 1), and an opening 21h. The pot container 21 is made of, for example, resin.

The side wall 211 has an inner wall portion 21b, ribs 21c, and an outer wall portion 21d. A plurality of ribs 21c protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the inner wall portion 21b, with their longitudinal direction aligned with the height direction Z. The outer wall portion 21d faces the outer peripheral surface of the inner wall portion 21b, and is arranged so that the plurality of ribs 21c are sandwiched between the outer wall portion 21d and the inner wall portion 21b. An air layer 21e is formed within the side wall 211, i.e., between the inner wall portion 21b and the outer wall portion 21d.

When the pot 2 is housed in the pot container 21, gaps are formed between the inner wall 21b of the pot container 21 and the side wall 2b of the pot 2, and between the bottom 21a of the pot container 21 and the bottom 2a of the pot 2. Therefore, compared to when there is no gap between the pot container 21 and the pot 2, less heat is transferred to the pot container 21 when the pot 2 is heated by the heating unit 6 (described below), thereby reducing damage to the pot container 21 due to heat. As shown in FIG. 4, when the pot 2 is housed in the pot container 21, the flange 2d of the pot 2 rests on the upper end of the inner wall 21b of the pot container 21. In other words, when the pot 2 is housed in the pot container 21, the pot 2 is supported by the upper end of the inner wall 21b of the pot container 21.

As shown in FIG. 3A, a recess 21f is provided on the underside, i.e., the bottom surface, of the bottom 21a of the pot 21. The recess 21f has a recess sidewall 21g. The recess sidewall 21g has a U-shape with straight sections at both ends and the two straight sections connected by a curved section formed by a semicircular arc. In other words, a U-shaped groove is provided in the bottom 21a of the pot 21. The length between the straight sections of the recess sidewall 21g, i.e., the width of the U-shaped groove, is longer than the radius of the bottom 21a of the pot 21. The underside of the recess sidewall 21g is a flat surface that follows the U-shape. In addition, a through-hole is provided in the center of the bottom 21a of the pot 21, penetrating the bottom 21a in the height direction Z.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the mounting surface 13, which is the bottom of the storage area 11, has a protrusion 13a for placing the pot 21 to be stored in the storage area 11. The shape and dimensions of the protrusion 13a correspond to the shape and dimensions of the recess 21f of the pot 21. The protrusion 13a is arc-shaped and protrudes from the housing 1. The height of the protrusion 13a is greater than the height of the side wall 21g of the recess. As a result, when the pot 21 is stored in the storage area 11, a gap is formed between the bottom 21a of the pot 21 and the mounting surface 13. The mounting surface 13 also has an opening 13b. The opening 13b is arranged to divide the protrusion 13a into two.

A convex peripheral portion 13c is provided around the entire circumferential circumference of the convex portion 13a on the outside of the convex portion 13a. The convex peripheral portion 13c is a flat surface provided in a ring shape so as to face the underside of the recessed portion's side wall 21g when the pot container 21 is stored in the storage area 11. The diameter of the convex portion 13a is the length at which the outer surface of the convex portion 13a is located near both straight portions of the recessed portion's side wall 21g when the convex portion 13a is located between the straight portions of the recessed portion's side wall 21g, and is longer than the radius of the convex peripheral portion 13c.

When the pot container 21 slides between the storage area 11 and the outside of the housing 1 and the side of the storage area 11, the protrusion 13a slides relative to the recess 21f. More specifically, the side wall 21g of the recess slides relative to the outer surface of the protrusion 13a. This guides the sliding movement of the pot container 21. In addition, in this embodiment, the side wall 21g of the recess has a curved portion, which allows the outer surface of the protrusion 13a to abut against the curved portion of the side wall 21g of the recess. Therefore, even if the pot container 21 slides repeatedly, it can be reliably moved to a predetermined position within the storage area 11. In other words, the pot container 21 slides in the direction of the U-shaped groove in the bottom 21a of the pot container 21, and its sliding movement is guided by the relative sliding between the side wall 21g of the groove and the outer surface of the protrusion 13a. Additionally, because the outer surface of the protrusion 13a and the curved portion of the groove can be brought into contact and secured, even if the pot container 21 is repeatedly slid, it can be reliably moved to a predetermined position within the storage area 11. Furthermore, when the pot container 21 is placed on the protrusion 13a, it can rotate forward and backward around the circumference of the protrusion 13a so that the side wall 21g of the recess and the outer surface of the protrusion 13a slide relative to each other.

As shown in Figure 2, the lid 22 includes a lid body 22a, a rice inlet 22b, a pot gasket 22c, and an attachment member 22d.

In this embodiment, the lid body 22a has a ring-shaped flat plate portion and a cylindrical portion having an outer peripheral surface that is flush with the circumferential outer peripheral surface of the ring-shaped flat plate. Furthermore, when the lid body 22 is detachably attached to the pot container 21, the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion of the lid body 22a is flush with the outer peripheral surface of the side wall 211 of the pot container 21. Note that in this embodiment, "flat plate" includes "approximately flat plate," and "flush" includes "approximately flush."

The rice inlet 22b is located in the center of the width of the flat portion of the lid body 22a. Rice delivered from the rice container 3 by the rice delivery device (not shown) and water delivered from the water container 4 by the water delivery device (not shown) pass through the rice inlet 22b when supplied to the pot 2. In this embodiment, the rice inlet 22b is located in the center of the lid body 22 when viewed from above. In this embodiment, the rice inlet 22b is a circular hole when viewed from above. The rice inlet 22b is located coaxially with the pot 2 housed in the pot container 21.

The pot gasket 22c is arranged to come into contact with the pot 2 when the lid 22 is removably attached to the pot container 21 so as to cover the opening of the pot 2. A through-hole communicating with the rice inlet 22b is provided in the center of the pot gasket 22c when viewed from above.

The mounting member 22d is attached to the lid body 22a with the pot gasket 22c sandwiched therebetween. The mounting member 22d is positioned below the lid body 22a with a gap in the height direction Z from the lid body 22a. The mounting member 22d also has a rice discharge outlet 22e that communicates with the rice inlet 22b. The rice discharge outlet 22e is a circular hole in top view. The rice discharge outlet 22e is positioned coaxially with the rice inlet 22b. The diameter of the rice discharge outlet 22e is larger than the diameter of the rice inlet 22b. In other words, the opening area of the rice inlet 22b is smaller than the opening area of the rice discharge outlet 22e.

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the pot container 21 and part of the housing 1 in the rice cooker of Figure 1. Figure 5 is an assembled perspective view showing the pot container 21 and part of the housing 1 in the rice cooker of Figure 1. Figure 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the pot container 21 and part of the housing 1 in the rice cooker of Figure 1. Figure 7 is a left side view and right cross-sectional view showing the pot container 21 and part of the housing 1 in the rice cooker of Figure 1.

As shown in Figures 4 to 7, the housing 1 includes a base 14 having a mounting surface 13 on which the pot container 21 is placed, and a chassis 15 that supports the base 14.

The upper surface of the base 14 is the support surface 13 on which the pot container 21 is placed, and includes the aforementioned convex portion 13a, opening 13b, and convex portion peripheral portion 13c. A through hole 14a is formed in the center of the base 14. An upwardly recessed recess 14b is provided on the outer periphery of the base 14. In this embodiment, two recesses 14b are provided on the outer periphery of the base 14, on the front side of the housing 1, spaced apart from each other in the lateral direction X.

The chassis 15 is provided below the base 14. The weight detection unit 5, heating unit 6, temperature detection unit 7, and control unit 8 are attached to the chassis 15.

The weight detection unit 5 is positioned below the placement surface 13 and receives the weight of the pot 2 placed on the placement surface 13 to detect the weight of the food being cooked contained in the pot 2. In this embodiment, the weight detection unit 5 is composed of a single weight sensor and is configured to receive the weight of the pot container 21, pot 2, and lid 22 placed on the placement surface 13.

The chassis 15 also has a support portion 15a that is positioned below the placement surface 13 and supports the weight of the pot 2 placed on the placement surface 13. In this embodiment, the support portion 15a is configured as a resin protrusion that protrudes upward. In a plan view of the pot 2 from above, the support portion 15a and the weight detection unit 5 are positioned on opposite sides of a first imaginary line (e.g., the dashed dotted line VL1 in Figure 9) that passes through the center of the pot 2. In this embodiment, the weight detection unit 5 is positioned downstream of the support portion 15a in the front-to-rear direction Y in which the pot container 21 slides (rearward of the housing 1).

In this embodiment, the chassis 15 is provided with two support portions 15a. The two support portions 15a are provided at positions corresponding to the two recesses 14b of the base 14. When the two support portions 15a are inserted into the two recesses 14b and the weight detection unit 5 comes into contact with the bottom of the base 14, the chassis 15 supports the base 14 at three points. In this state, when the pot 21, pot 2, and lid 22 are placed on the mounting surface 13, the two support portions 15a and the weight detection unit 5 support the weight of the pot 21, pot 2, and lid 22 via the base 14.

The two support portions 15a and the weight detection unit 5 are configured to be at different heights. In this embodiment, the weight detection unit 5 is configured to be lower in height than the two support portions 15a. That is, the bottom of the base 14 is configured so that the contact position between the two support portions 15a and the base 14 is higher than the contact position between the weight detection unit 5 and the base 14. In addition, the two support portions 15a are arranged symmetrically in a plan view with respect to a second imaginary line (e.g., the two-dot chain line VL2 in Figure 9) that passes through the weight detection unit 5 and the center of the pot 2. The pot container 21 is placed on the placement surface 13 by sliding it from the side of the housing 1 along the second imaginary line.

As shown in Figures 4, 6, and 7, a heating unit 6 that heats the pot 2 and a temperature detection unit 7 that detects the temperature of the pot 2 are located below the mounting surface 13. In this embodiment, the heating unit 6 is an induction heating coil that inductively heats the pot 2 when current is applied. The temperature detection unit 7 is a temperature sensor that contacts the bottom of the pot 2 through the through-hole 14a in the base 14 and detects the temperature of the pot 2.

The chassis 15 has a standing wall 151 extending in the height direction Z so as to face the side of the pot 21 placed on the mounting surface 13. The standing wall 151 is located inside the housing 1 and downstream (rear side of the housing 1) in the front-to-rear direction Y in which the pot 21 slides. A control unit 8 is attached to the surface of the standing wall 151 opposite the surface facing the pot 21. The control unit 8 is located closer to the weight detection unit 5 than the two support parts 15a.

The control unit 8 controls the amount of food to be fed into the pot 2 based on the weight detected by the weight detection unit 5. In this embodiment, the control unit 8 controls the rice feeding device and water feeding device based on the rice cooking information (including the desired amount of rice) selected on the display operation unit (not shown) and the weight detected by the weight detection unit 5, and controls the amount of rice and water to be fed into the pot 2 from the rice container 3 and the water container 4. The control unit 8 also has a memory unit (not shown) that stores multiple rice cooking sequences for cooking rice. Here, a "rice cooking sequence" refers to a rice cooking procedure in which the power supply time, heating temperature, heating time, heating output, etc. are predetermined for each of the four main steps: preheating, heating, maintaining boiling, and steaming. Each rice cooking sequence corresponds to one of multiple rice cooking courses. The control unit 8 controls the heating operation of the heating unit 6 and performs the rice cooking process based on the rice cooking information (including the rice cooking course) selected on the display operation unit (not shown) and the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 7.

In this embodiment, the support portion 15a and the weight detection portion 5 are configured to be at different heights. This allows for the variance in the position of the center of gravity of the pot 2 to be consolidated, making it easier to estimate the weight of the pot 2 based on the weight detected by the weight detection portion 5. This makes it possible to reduce component costs while minimizing any decline in the accuracy of detecting the weight of the food being cooked.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the weight detection unit 5 is configured to be lower in height than the support unit 15a. This allows the variation in the center of gravity of the pot 2 to be concentrated on the weight detection unit 5 side, making it easier to estimate the weight of the pot 2 based on the weight detected by the weight detection unit 5. Therefore, it is possible to reduce component costs while further minimizing any decrease in the accuracy of detecting the weight of the food being cooked.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the support portion 15a and the weight detection portion 5 are configured to support the weight of the pot 2 via the base 14. As a result, by forming the base 14 to accommodate the difference in height between the support portion 15a and the weight detection portion 5, the placement surface 13 on which the pot 2 is placed can be made horizontal.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the weight detection unit 5 is composed of a single weight sensor. This allows for further reduction in component costs.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, multiple support parts 15a are provided, and the multiple support parts 15a are arranged, in a plan view, symmetrically with respect to a second imaginary line that passes through the weight detection unit 5 and the center of the pot 2. This allows the variation in the position of the center of gravity of the pot 2 to be concentrated on the weight detection unit 5 side, making it even easier to estimate the weight of the pot 2 based on the weight detected by the weight detection unit 5. Therefore, it is possible to reduce component costs while further minimizing any decrease in the accuracy of detecting the weight of the food being cooked.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the pot container 21 that houses the pot 2 is placed on the placement surface 13 by sliding from the side of the housing 1 along the second imaginary straight line, and the weight detection unit 5 is positioned downstream of the support unit 15a in the direction in which the pot container 21 slides. This allows the variation in the position of the center of gravity of the pot 2 to be concentrated on the weight detection unit 5 side, making it even easier to estimate the weight of the pot 2 based on the weight detected by the weight detection unit 5. Therefore, it is possible to reduce component costs while further minimizing any decrease in the accuracy of detecting the weight of the food being cooked.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the rice cooker is equipped with a control unit 8 that controls the amount of food to be fed into the pot 2 based on the weight detected by the weight detection unit 5, and the control unit 8 is located closer to the weight detection unit 5 than the support part 15a. This allows, for example, the wiring connecting the weight detection unit 5 and the control unit 8 to be shorter, thereby enabling the rice cooker to be made more compact.

Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment and can be implemented in various other forms. For example, in the above description, the weight detection unit 5 is configured to be lower in height than the support unit 15a, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the weight detection unit 5 may be configured to be higher in height than the support unit 15a.

In addition, while the support portion 15a and the weight detection portion 5 are configured to support the weight of the pot 2 via the base 14 in the above description, the present disclosure is not limited to this. The support portion 15a and the weight detection portion 5 may be configured to contact the bottom of the pot 2 and directly support the weight of the pot 2. The support portion 15a and the weight detection portion 5 may also be configured to contact the bottom of the pot container 21 and indirectly support the weight of the pot 2. In this case, the pot 2 can be leveled by forming the pot container 21 to accommodate the difference in height between the support portion 15a and the weight detection portion 5.

Furthermore, while the weight detection unit 5 is described above as being composed of one weight sensor, the present disclosure is not limited to this. The weight detection unit 5 may be composed of fewer weight sensors than conventional units. For example, the weight detection unit 5 may be composed of two weight sensors.

Furthermore, while the above description describes the provision of multiple support portions 15a, the present disclosure is not limited to this. There may be only one support portion 15a. In this case, it is preferable that the support portion 15a be configured so that it can support the pot 2 or pot container 21 horizontally (for example, so that it has a certain amount of area).

In addition, in the above description, the pot container 21 for housing the pot 2 is provided, and the pot container 21 is placed on the mounting surface 13 by sliding from the side of the housing 1, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the pot 2 may be configured to be placed directly on the mounting surface 13 without being housed in the pot container 21.

While the present disclosure has been fully described in connection with preferred embodiments, with appropriate reference to the drawings, various variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such variations and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims, unless they depart therefrom.

The rice cooker disclosed herein is useful as a rice cooker equipped with a weight detection unit, as it can reduce component costs while minimizing a decrease in the accuracy of detecting the weight of the food being cooked.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Housing 11 Storage area 12 Housing lid 13 Placement surface 13a Convex portion 13b Opening 13c Convex portion periphery 14 Base 14a Through hole 14b Recess 15 Chassis 15a Support portion 151 Standing wall 2 Pot 2a Bottom 2b Side wall 2c Opening 2d Flange portion 21 Pot container 21a Bottom 21b Inner wall portion 21c Rib 21d Outer wall portion 21e Air layer 21f Recess 21g Recess side wall 21h Opening 211 Side wall 22 Lid 22a Lid body 22b Rice inlet 22c Pot gasket 22d Mounting member 22e Rice outlet 3 Rice container 4 Water container 5 Weight detection unit 6 Heating unit 7 Temperature detection unit 8 Control unit

Claims (7)

A pot and
a housing having a mounting surface on which the pot is placed;
a support portion disposed below the placement surface and supporting the weight of the pot placed on the placement surface;
a weight detection unit disposed below the placement surface for detecting the weight of the food contained in the pot by receiving the weight of the pot placed on the placement surface;
Equipped with
The support portion and the weight detection portion are arranged on opposite sides of a first imaginary line passing through the center of the pot in a plan view seen from above the pot,
The support unit and the weight detection unit are located at different height positions. The rice cooker of claim 1, wherein the weight detection unit is located at a lower height than the support unit. the housing includes a base having the mounting surface,
The rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the support portion and the weight detection portion are configured to receive the weight of the pot via the base. The rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the weight detection unit is configured with one weight sensor. The rice cooker of claim 4, comprising a plurality of support parts, the plurality of support parts being arranged symmetrically with respect to a second imaginary line passing through the weight detection unit and the center of the pot in the plan view. Further provided is a pot container for accommodating the pot;
The pot is placed on the placement surface by sliding along the second imaginary straight line from the side of the housing,
The rice cooker according to claim 5 , wherein the weight detection unit is disposed downstream of the support unit in a direction in which the pot slides. The control unit controls the amount of food to be fed into the pot based on the weight detected by the weight detection unit.
The rice cooker according to claim 6 , wherein the control unit is disposed closer to the weight detection unit than the support unit.