JPH0466565B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a rice cooker for general household use.

[Conventional technology]

When cooking rice using a rice cooker that is equipped with a microcomputer, thermostat, etc. and is commonly called a rice cooker, if the amount of rice to be cooked is small compared to the rice cooking capacity of the rice cooker, the rice will not be cooked well. It will not cook well. For example, if you use an 8 cup rice cooker to cook 2 cups of rice for one meal, the rice will not be cooked very well and the quality of the taste will deteriorate.

Conventionally, rice cookers have been equipped with a heat retention function, and in order to cook the rice well, the rice is cooked in an amount that is approximately the same as the rice cooking capacity of the rice cooker, and then the heat of the heater is lowered to keep it warm. I try to eat several meals at a time, such as lunch and dinner.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, rice kept warm in a conventional rice cooker with a heat retention function can only maintain its good condition for about 10 hours at most. It begins to yellow, gradually hardens, and the taste deteriorates considerably, making it difficult to eat.

[Means for solving problems]

This invention provides a technique for preserving cooked rice in a delicious state for long periods of time.
Traditionally, rice was kept warm during the time between meals, but there is no inconvenience even if the rice is not kept warm during this time. Therefore, this invention has a means for stopping the heating after the rice is cooked, and a means for applying strong heating to the rice again at the next meal time, and can stop keeping the rice warm during the time between one meal and the next meal. It is done like this.

[Effect]

After the rice is cooked, the heating of the rice is stopped by the heating stop means, and at the time of the next meal, the water condensed inside the rice cooker acts to heat the rice to a good state. Therefore, when cooking rice for several meals at a time, even in the second and subsequent meals, the taste of the rice immediately after the first cooking is hardly lost, and the rice can be cooked for a long time. It can be stored inside the rice cooker.

〔Example〕

FIG. 3 is an external view of one embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an operation panel section, which has keys for setting scheduled meal times, etc., a setting cancel key, a warming stop key, a display window for displaying the current time, and the like. 8 is a heater for heating an inner pot (not shown), 10 is a temperature sensor, and 14 is a lid.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of the operation.

In the figure, 2 is a memory that stores the first and second meal times set by key operations on the operation panel section 1, 3 is a clock, and 4 is a memory that stores the meal times recorded in the memory 2 and the current time. This is a match detection unit that performs detection. 5 is a generator that generates a heating start signal upon receiving the coincidence signal from the coincidence detection section 4; 6 is an OR circuit. Further, 7 is a heater drive unit that drives the heater 8, 9 is a rice cooking end detection unit, and 11 is a heat retention control unit that controls the heat retention of cooked rice. And 12
13 is an OFF signal forming section that forms an OFF signal for turning off the driving section, and 13 is an OR circuit.

Meal time T1 stored in memory 2 and clock 3
When the coincidence detecting section 4 detects coincidence with the current time, a coincidence signal is supplied from the coincidence detecting section 4 to the heating start signal generator 5. A heating start signal is supplied from the heating start signal generator 5 to the drive section 7 and the rice cooking end detection section 9 via the OR circuit 6. Then, the drive unit 7 drives the heater 8 so that the heater 8 outputs the necessary heating power, and rice cooking is started. The rice cooking end detection unit 9 detects the temperature signal from the temperature sensor 10 to detect the end of rice cooking.

When the rice cooking is completed, a signal indicating the end of rice cooking is supplied from the rice cooking completion detection section 9 to the heat retention control section 11.
Then, the heat retention control unit 11 outputs a heat retention start signal to the drive unit 7 and the off signal forming unit 12. When the drive unit 7 receives the warming start signal, it drives the heater 8 so that the heating power of the heater 8 changes from that necessary for cooking rice to that necessary for keeping it warm. Then, the off signal forming section outputs an off signal when a certain period of time α, which takes into account the time from when the warming start signal is received until the actual meal time, has elapsed. This off signal is supplied to the drive section 7 via the OR circuit 13. Then, the driving of the heater 8 of the driving section 7 is stopped.

Next, when the time reaches the second meal time T2 stored in the memory 2, a heating start signal is supplied from the heating start signal generator 5 to the drive section 7 and the heating time calculation section 9 via the OR circuit 6. . Then,
The drive unit 7 drives the heater 8 to heat the cooked rice.

In this case, the water condensed inside the rice cooker acts to reheat the rice in a relatively short period of time to a good state equivalent to that of completed rice cooking. According to experiments, reheating for about 3 minutes brings the rice to a state equivalent to complete cooking.

When reheating is completed, a reheating end signal is supplied from the rice cooking end detection section 9 to the control section 1. Then,
The control unit 11 outputs a heat retention start signal to the drive unit 7. The driving unit 7 then uses the heating power of the heater 8 to
The heater 8 is driven so as to be necessary for keeping warm, and keeping warm is started. In this case, unlike the case of the first meal time, the heat retention continues until the heat retention stop key on the operation panel section 1 is pressed.

In the above embodiment, two meal times, the first and second, are set, but three or more meal times may be set. In this case, for example, when the first to third meal times are set, the heat retention after reheating during the second meal is turned off after a certain period of time α has elapsed.

Further, if there is an unscheduled heating request between the meal time stored in the memory 2 and the next meal time, a heating key (not shown) on the operation panel section 1 is pressed. Then, the heating start signal ST is sent from the operation panel section 1 via the OR circuit 6.
It is supplied to the drive section 7 and the rice cooking end detection section 9. Then, reheating is performed in the same manner as described above. Moreover, if the user wants to stop keeping warm before the time α has elapsed since the end of rice cooking, the user presses the keep warm stop key on the operation panel section 1. Then, the heat retention stop signal SP is supplied to the drive unit 7 via the OR circuit 13, and the heat retention is stopped.

Further, the heat retention time α can be set by key operations on the operation panel section 1, and if heat retention is not required, the time α may be set to 0.

In addition, in the above-mentioned example, heat retention is performed after the rice is cooked.
It is designed to stop after a certain period of time, but you can do it as follows. That is, after rice cooking is finished, keeping the rice warm is started, and after that, the lid 14 of the rice cooker is opened for the first time, and the keeping warm may be stopped after a certain period of time has elapsed. In this way, the heat retention is continued until the meal starts, and the heat retention can be stopped after a certain period of time after the lid 14 is opened, that is, after the meal is started.

Although the rice is reheated at mealtimes after the first meal, this reheating time may be adjusted according to the user's preference. For example, if the reheating time is 3 minutes, the reheating time may be adjusted between 1 minute and 5 minutes with an offset of ±2 minutes.

Note that if you reheat the rice as it is, the rice will become burnt. If you don't want it to burn, you can mix the rice before reheating it. This may be done according to the user's preference.

Note that the heater may be not only an electric heating type but also a gas heating type or the like.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to this invention, after the rice cooking is finished, the off signal is outputted from the off signal forming section 12 and supplied to the driving section 7. Then, driving of the heater 8 by the drive unit 7 is stopped, and heating of the cooked rice is stopped. and,
The rice is heated again at the next meal. Therefore, when cooking rice for several meals at a time, even in the second and subsequent meals, the taste of the rice immediately after the first cooking is hardly lost, and the rice can be cooked for a long time. It has the advantage that it can be stored inside the rice cooker.

Additionally, experiments have shown that rice cookers with a small rice cooking capacity are most effective, and since these types of small models are preferred by single people, they are suitable for single people's irregular lifestyles. There is an effect that can be achieved.

Furthermore, since no power is required to keep warm between meals, it is possible to save power when there is a long time between meals.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of the operation of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an external view of the rice cooker. 7 is a heater drive section, 8 is a heater, 9 is a rice cooking end detection section, 11 is a heat retention control section, and 12 is an off signal formation section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1: a timer; a heater; a heater drive section for driving the heater to cook rice or keep it warm; an off signal forming means for supplying an off signal to the heater drive unit to stop driving the heater; and after the heater stops after rice cooking is completed, strong heating is performed again in response to a rice cooking request at a second time set in the timer. and means for supplying a heater reheating signal to the heater drive unit so as to perform the following steps. 2. The rice cooker according to claim 1, which keeps cooked rice warm from the end of rice cooking until an off signal is supplied to the drive unit. 3 After the rice cooking is completed, the heater keeps the cooked rice warm, and after the lid of the rice cooker is opened for the first time after the heating is started, an off signal is supplied to the drive section after a certain period of time. A rice cooker according to claim 1.