JPH0546206B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automatic rice cooking device, and more particularly to a means for exhausting steam blown out from a rice cooker housed in the automatic rice cooking device main body.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-8848 and the like is known as a steam exhausting means in an automatic rice cooker. A general means, including this known example, for exhausting steam from a rice cooker housed in the automatic rice cooking apparatus body to the outside of the apparatus body is from an exhaust blower 1 as schematically shown in FIG. Become,
The steam suction unit 3 provided with the exhaust fan 2 was configured to be moved up and down by another motor (not shown) so as not to interfere with the opening and closing of the lid 5 of the rice cooker 4.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, since the conventional steam exhaust means uses a fan, it not only has a complicated structure, but also generates a lot of noise during operation, causing discomfort to the user. give. The reason why a fan is used as the steam exhaust means is due to the structure of the steam exhaust port of the rice cooker. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the general rice cooker 4 has a large number of steam vent holes 16 in its steam outlet 15 to facilitate the diffusion of steam. Therefore, a fan is absolutely required to collect the vapor that has diffused within the device body.

The purpose of the present invention is to effectively discharge steam from the rice cooker housed in the device body to the outside of the device body without using a fan in an automatic rice cooker that automatically performs everything from rice preparation to cooking. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic rice cooking device equipped with a means for cooking rice.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention is an automatic rice cooker that stores rice, measures it, washes it, supplies the washed rice and water to the pot of a rice cooker, and automatically cooks the rice. The rice cooker is characterized in that the steam exhaust port of the rice cooker has a nozzle structure, a cylindrical exhaust pipe is provided directly above the steam exhaust nozzle, and the rice cooking steam is discharged from the exhaust pipe to the outside of the automatic rice cooker main body. shall be.

(Function) According to the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention, the steam coming out of the steam outlet of the rice cooker has a high flow rate because the outlet is a nozzle, and as a result, the steam flows directly above the rice cooker while sucking the surrounding air. It is intensively introduced into the exhaust stack and is discharged from the top of the exhaust stack to the outside of the device body.

(Example) Hereinafter, the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 schematically show an automatic rice cooking device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This automatic rice cooking device 10 is an automatic rice preparation means that automatically performs a series of tasks such as storing rice, measuring it, washing the rice, and supplying the washed rice and a corresponding amount of water into a pot of a rice cooker. It is equipped with 20.

The automatic rice preparation means 20 includes a rice storage chamber 21 disposed in the upper part of the apparatus main body 11, a measuring device 22 provided at the lower end of the rice storage chamber 21 for measuring rice from the rice storage chamber 21, and a measuring device 22 for measuring rice from the rice storage chamber 21. A rice washing device 23 which is placed below the device 22 and receives and washes the weighed rice.
, a water supply device 24 located above the rice washing device 23 that supplies water to the rice washing device and the necessary amount of water to the rice cooker, and a water supply device 24 that is electrically connected to each of these components and controls the operation of each component. The control device 25 is configured to include a control device 25 that performs the following operations.

That is, the rice storage chamber 21 has a hopper shape,
An opening is formed in its bottom. A circular square 22a constituting a measuring device 22 is rotatably installed on the outside of the bottom of the rice storage room. This cell 22a is rotated by a motor 22c that rotates a transmission disk 22b that is brought into frictional contact with the outer peripheral wall of the cylindrical body, and the motor 22c is electrically connected to a control device 25 to control the rotation of the cell 22a. Substantial control. Rice put into one chamber of the cell 22a from the rice storage room 21 falls downward from the rice feed port when that chamber is aligned with the rice feed port of the casing 22d of the measuring device 22 due to the rotation of the cell 22a. A chute 14 that receives the rice and drops it into the container 23a of the rice washing device 23 is disposed at the position where the rice falls from the droplet. The container 23a of the rice washing device 23 is a cylindrical container with an open top and bottom, and a stirring plate 23b is arranged inside the container.
The upper rod-shaped portion of this stirring plate 23b is connected to the container 23a.
The motor 23c is connected to the rotating shaft of the motor 23c located above the motor 23c.

The bottom opening of this rice washing container 23a is connected to the bottom plate 23d.
This bottom plate 23d can be opened and closed by
The opening and closing are performed in conjunction with the transport device 25. That is, the conveying device 25 has a gutter-like conveying body 26, and this conveying body 26 is disposed with an approximately intermediate portion directly below the rice washing container 23a, and swings like a seesaw with the intermediate portion as a fulcrum. A drive (not shown) is mounted and supported for movement.
A motor (not shown) that swings the carrier 26
The motor 23c and the motor 23c for rotating the stirring plate 23b are both electrically connected to the control device 27.

A water supply device 24 is installed on the top of the rice washing device 23, and the water supply device 24 has a water receiving tank 24a connected to an appropriate water source, and one end connected to the bottom of the water receiving tank 24a and the other end connected to a rice washing container. It consists of a water supply pipe 24b facing the upper opening of water supply pipe 23a, and a solenoid valve 24c provided on this water supply pipe 24b to control the amount of water flowing through the pipe. This solenoid valve 24c is electrically connected to a control device 27, and its opening time is controlled. At the lowest part of the apparatus main body 11, there is disposed a drainage receiving part 28 for draining water that flows down from the right end 26b of the transport body 26 of the transport device 25 when the transport body 26 of the transport device 25 swings downward. ing. Further, the rice cooker 12 is placed at a position where it can receive the water and rice flowing down from the left end 26a of the carrier 26 when it swings downward.

In this position, the lid 13 of the rice cooker 12 is opened so that the rice and water that have flowed down from the left end 26a of the carrier 26 can enter the inner pot. At that time, the rice cooker lid holding device 30 attached to a predetermined position in the main body 11 grasps the lid 13 and opens the lid 13 halfway, that is, the lid 13 is opened within a range of 90 degrees or less. hold it.

Steam exhaust port 1 formed in the lid 13 of the rice cooker 12
5 has a large number of steam vent holes 16 formed on its upper surface and protrudes somewhat from the lid 13, as shown in FIG. This steam exhaust port 15 is covered with a removable rubber nozzle 17, and has a large number of steam vent holes 16.
The steam emitted from the nozzle 17 is intensively ejected from the nozzle 17 without being diffused. This steam exhaust nozzle 17 may be formed integrally with the lid 13 of the rice cooker 12, but in order to be able to use it similarly for various rice cookers, the steam exhaust nozzle 17 may be detachable. It is more convenient. Furthermore, when the rice cooker 12 is set at a predetermined position in the main body 11 of the apparatus, the exhaust pipe is arranged such that the inlet 41a at the lower end of the exhaust pipe 40 is located directly above the steam exhaust nozzle 17 of the rice cooker 12 described above. 40 is installed inside the main body 11 of the apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 2, the exhaust pipe 40 rises along the inner surface of the side wall of the apparatus main body 11, and an exhaust port 41b at its upper end is fitted into a hole formed in the side wall and opens to the outside. Exhaust pipe 40
It is preferable that the inlet 41a at the lower end of the inlet 41a is formed into a throat shape. The reason for this is that if the inlet 41a of the exhaust pipe 40 has a throat shape, when the steam ejected from the exhaust nozzle 17 at a high flow rate enters the inlet 41a, it takes in more of the surrounding air and mixes. Because of this, water droplets are unlikely to form inside the exhaust pipe 40 and can be quickly discharged as steam to the outside of the device main body 11.

Furthermore, in order to more effectively introduce steam into the exhaust stack, it is desirable that the inlet 41a of the exhaust stack 40 be positioned directly above and at a short distance from the exhaust nozzle 17 of the rice cooker 12. However, in this case, when the lid 13 of the rice cooker 12 is opened during rice preparation setting, the lid 13 collides with the inlet 41a. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b, the lower end portion 43 of the exhaust pipe having the inlet 41a is provided as a separate body, and this is pivotally attached to the exhaust pipe body 44 so as to be rotatable. That is, the separate lower end 43 on the inlet side is smaller in diameter than the exhaust pipe main body 44, and is partially inserted and pivoted into the exhaust pipe main body 44 to prevent steam leakage, while the other end The left and right opposing sides of the lower end of the cylinder body 44 are cut out to avoid collision when the lower end 43 on the inlet side rotates. However, the same effect can be obtained by connecting the exhaust pipe main body 44 and the introduction side lower end 43 with a freely bendable bellows flexible tube 42 as shown in FIG. 5 instead of such a rotating means. Needless to say, you can obtain

Note that in any of the above examples, the lid 13
and the lower end 43 on the inlet side are connected by a link mechanism (not shown), and when the lid 13 is opened, the lower end 43 on the inlet side automatically rotates to avoid contact with the lid 13 as the lid 13 moves. Alternatively, it is also preferable to bend it. The operations of the automatic rice cooking apparatus 10 according to the embodiment thus configured are performed sequentially by the control device 27 as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

That is, if rice is not stored in the rice storage chamber 21, rice is first put into the storage chamber 21. Next, the lid 13 of the rice cooker 12 is press-fitted into the rice cooker lid holding device 30 and latched, and the rice cooking amount adjustment section and the rice cooking time adjustment section of the control device 27 are respectively set. Then, the user presses a selection switch to select which operations are to be performed by the automatic rice preparation device 10, and selects the operations. These selection switches include the rice measuring switch 19a and the rice cooking switch 19a.
b, and a rice washing switch 19c are attached to the control display board 19 on the upper part of the main body 11, and all of these are connected to the control device 27.

Now, if you select and press the rice cooker switch 19b, the control device 27 will determine whether or not the lid 13 of the rice cooker 12 is open based on a signal from a limit switch (not shown), and the limit switch will turn on. That is, if the rice cooker lid holding device 30 holds the lid 13, it enters a standby state until the operation start time set by the timer. If the limit switch is off, a warning buzzer or the like is immediately sounded to notify the user of the incorrect setting immediately after the setting is completed.

When the timer is set to start the operation,
The conveying body 26 of the conveying device 25 is swung toward the drainage side. As a result, the bottom opening of the rice washing container 23a is closed by the bottom plate 23d. Next, the measuring device 2
2, the amount of rice is weighed, dropped into the chute 14, and placed in the rice washing container 23a. After that, the solenoid valve 24c is opened and the rice washing container 23a is opened.
At the same time, the stirring plate 23b is rotated to wash the rice. At that time, the bottom opening of the rice washing container 23a and the bottom plate 23d are not completely sealed,
Allow some water to leak from the closed part. As a result, the washed rice water leaks out from the closed part one by one and is drained into the wastewater receiving part 28 through the conveyor 26. Such rice washing is carried out repeatedly by detecting the turbidity of the waste water or by elapsed time determined experimentally. and,
After the final rice washing, the solenoid valve 24c is closed and all operations are stopped until the water drains, that is, the water in the container 23a is completely drained.

Thereafter, the drive device of the conveying device 25 is activated to swing the conveying body 26, the left end 26a is tilted downward, the bottom plate 23d of the bottom opening of the rice washing container 23a is opened, and the rice in the rice washing container 23a is transferred to the pot of the rice cooker 12. The amount of water corresponding to the amount of rice is simultaneously supplied. As a result, the rice adhering to the rice washing container 23a and the conveyor 26 is washed away and placed in the pot of the rice cooker 12.

Next, in order to wash the rice washing container 23a and the carrier 26, the carrier 26 is swung toward the drainage side, and water is supplied again for a predetermined period of time. Whether or not the position of the conveyor 26 is accurate for the operation of the device can be determined by checking the signals of the limit switches 18a, 18b that are arranged to come into contact when the respective ends 26a, 26b are positioned downward. The control device 27 then makes a decision and, if necessary, operates the drive device to correct its position.

Simultaneously with the washing operation of the rice washing container 23a, an electromagnet (not shown) of the rice cooker lid holding device 30 is activated, and as a result, the holding device 30 releases the gripping hand 13a of the lid 13, and the lid 13 is released. falls under its own weight and closes. Thereafter, a standby time is required to soak the rice in water for a predetermined period of time, and then the power to the rice cooker 12 is turned on, or the burner is ignited if it is a gas rice cooker.

When rice cooking starts, rice cooking steam comes out from the steam vent hole 16, but the steam exhaust port 15 has a nozzle 17.
Since the nozzle 17 is installed, the steam coming out of the nozzle 17 has a high flow rate. As a result, the steam enters the inlet 41a of the exhaust pipe 40 while sucking the surrounding air and is discharged out of the apparatus main body from the exhaust port 41b at the top of the exhaust pipe.

Furthermore, when the rice measuring switch 19a is pressed,
The weighed rice passes through the rice washing container 23a and is directly supplied into the pot of the rice cooker 12, the lid 13 is closed, and this operation ends here.

When the rice washing switch 19c is pressed, the rice is weighed, washed, and a predetermined amount of water is supplied into the pot of the rice cooker 12, and the rice is prepared.
This operation is completed until the lid is closed. Such an operation is used, for example, when making stir-fried rice. The series of operations described above can be easily performed by using a microcomputer or the like as the control device 27.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the automatic rice cooking device of the present invention, the steam emitted from the rice cooker can be extremely efficiently discharged outside the device main body without using an exhaust fan, and the structure is also very simple. Therefore, it is possible to provide an automatic rice cooking device that is quiet and less likely to malfunction at a low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory diagram schematically showing an automatic rice cooking device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the automatic rice cooking device taken along the line - in FIG. 1, and FIG. Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the nozzle attached to the steam release outlet of a rice cooker, and Figure 4a is a portion of the exhaust pipe whose lower end on the inlet side is rotatable. FIG. 4b is a cross-sectional view of the pivoting joint taken along the line b-b of FIG. 4a, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a fragmentary front view, FIG. 6 is a flow chart explaining the operation of the automatic rice cooking device, and FIG. 7 is a structural explanatory diagram schematically showing a steam exhaust means in a conventional automatic rice cooking device. 10...Automatic rice cooking device, 11...Device body, 1
2... Rice cooker, 13... Lid, 15... Steam outlet, 16... Steam vent hole, 17... Steam exhaust nozzle, 20... Automatic rice preparation means, 25... Control device, 40... Exhaust Cylinder, 41a...Inlet, 41b
……exhaust port. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An automatic rice cooker that automatically cooks rice by storing, measuring, and washing rice and supplying the washed rice and water corresponding to the washed rice into a pot of a rice cooker, wherein the rice cooker The steam outlet has a nozzle structure,
An automatic rice cooking device characterized in that an exhaust pipe is provided directly above the steam exhaust nozzle, and rice cooking steam is discharged from the exhaust pipe to the outside of the main body of the automatic rice cooking device. 2. The automatic rice cooking device according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust pipe has a throat-shaped inlet. 3. Claim 1, characterized in that the exhaust pipe has a bendable means in a part thereof, and the exhaust pipe is configured such that an end on the inlet side can freely bend and move. Automatic rice cooking device described in section. 4. The automatic rice cooking device according to claim 1, wherein the steam exhaust nozzle of the rice cooker is made of a rubber material and is detachably attached to the steam exhaust port.