JPH0740985B2 - Automatic rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an automatic rice cooker used in general households.

Conventional technology Conventionally, automatic rice cookers that automatically perform rice washing, water adjustment, and rice cooking generally use water as a means of washing rice. It has been proposed to wash by using the collision force that the U.S. comrades collide with each other by the force of the jet water flow. Also, regarding the water adjustment means, the rice measurement is performed by using a measuring box installed at the bottom of the rice bin to measure the water. JP-A-61-21 proposes a device which controls the electromagnetic valve provided at the bottom of a water tank for time measurement.
7118 publication).

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the above-mentioned conventional method, the method of measuring rice with a measuring box can measure considerably accurately unless the type of rice is changed. Since the outflow rate of water changes depending on the area and the initial water level of the water tank, not only the accuracy of water metering is poor simply by controlling the opening and closing of the solenoid valve, but also the water that is washed with water is adjusted. This means that it is impossible to properly adjust the water content without considering the water content of rice, and since this water content is not constant due to the influence of water temperature, etc., rice is always cooked with a certain hardness, There was a problem that it was not sufficient to adjust the desired hardness.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and with a simple configuration, it is possible to wash rice cleanly without using water,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic rice cooker that can improve the accuracy of water measurement and perform proper water addition and adjustment.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is to store rice and to remove rice bran part that can be discharged in predetermined amounts, and a rice polishing part that removes bran content of rice supplied from the rice bin. And a rice transfer section for transferring the polished rice, and a water supply section for supplying water necessary for cooking rice,
A flow rate detection unit that detects the flow rate from this water supply unit and determines an appropriate amount of water, a rice cooking unit that cooks rice with the rice and water supplied from the rice transfer unit and the water supply unit, and a series of sequence control and rice cooking control. An automatic rice cooker is configured by the control circuit unit that performs the operation.

Further, the present invention is to store rice and to discharge a predetermined amount of rice, a rice milling unit for removing the bran content of the rice supplied from the rice milling unit, and a rice transporting unit for transporting the milled rice. , A water supply unit that supplies water necessary for rice cooking, a water level detection unit that detects the water level of this water supply unit and determines an appropriate amount of water, and cooks rice using the rice and water supplied from the rice transfer unit and water supply unit. An automatic rice cooker is configured by a rice cooker that performs and a control circuit unit that performs a series of sequence control and rice cooker control.

Effect The present invention has the above-described configuration, which makes it possible to wash rice without using water. Therefore, an error of water addition due to water absorption in rice does not occur, and an accurate water amount determination means ensures proper water addition. It is possible.

Embodiment One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the first invention, wherein 1 is a rice bin which can store rice and discharge a predetermined amount at a time, and 2 is a polishing unit for removing bran fraction of rice supplied from the rice bin 1. Rice part, 3 is a rice transfer part for transferring the polished rice, 4 is a water supply part for supplying water necessary for cooking rice, 5 is a flow rate detected from the water supply part 4,
A flow rate detection unit for determining an appropriate amount of water, 6 is a rice cooking unit for cooking rice with rice and water supplied from the rice transfer unit 3 and water supply unit 4, and 7 is a control circuit for performing a series of sequence control and rice cooking control. It is a department.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed example of the rice box 1, the rice polishing section 2 and the rice transfer section 3. The rice box 1 comprises a rice box 8 and a rice discharging section 9 which measures and discharges rice in predetermined amounts. It is composed of and. The polishing unit 2 is a polishing brush 10 with flocking on the outer circumference.
A polishing motor 11 that drives the polishing brush 10, a polishing body 12 that covers the outer periphery of the polishing brush 10 and has a large number of small holes that prevent rice grains from flowing out; Rice receiving part 13 located below and opening upward, and rice discharge hole 1
4, a rice polishing container 17 having an intake hole 15 and an exhaust hole 16 and a bran container 18 for collecting the bran portion discharged from the exhaust hole 16. The rice transfer unit 3 includes a transfer fan 19, a suction pipe 20 that connects the bran container 18 and the suction side of the transfer fan 19.
An exhaust pipe 21 provided on the exhaust side of the transfer fan 19, an ejector 22 having a structure for pneumatically feeding the rice discharged from the rice discharge hole 14 of the rice polishing container 17, and a pot of rice by the action of the ejector 22. And a transport pipe 23 for transporting to.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a concrete embodiment of the water supply unit 4, the flow rate detection unit 5, and the rice cooking unit 6. The flow rate detector 24 is
It is composed of a spherical rotating body made of a magnetic material that rotates according to the flow rate from the water supply section 4, and the number of rotations of this rotating body is counted by a flow rate detection circuit 25 with a built-in porcelain detection element and converted into a flow rate. is there.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the second invention. 1-4 in this block diagram and 6-7 are the first of FIG.
4 has the same function as that of the same number shown in the embodiment of the invention, and in FIG. 4, reference numeral 26 is a water level detection unit for detecting the water level of the water supply unit 4 to determine an appropriate amount of water.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a concrete embodiment of the water supply unit 4 and the water level detection unit 26. Reference numeral 28 is an ultrasonic element, and this ultrasonic element 28 detects the water level of the water surface in the water tank 27 by receiving the reflected wave returned from the water surface of the water tank 27 by the receiving circuit 29.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.

When the user determines and inputs the amount of cooked rice, the control circuit section 7 outputs a control signal to the rice bin 1 and the rice discharging section 9 of the rice bin 8
Measures the amount of rice by a predetermined amount and supplies this rice to the rice polishing section 2. Next, the polishing motor 11 of the polishing unit 2 is driven to rotate the polishing brush 10 to remove the bran and the like adhering to the surface of the rice with the polishing body 12. At the same time, the transfer fan 19 of the rice transfer section 3 is driven so that air is sucked in through the suction hole 15 of the polishing container 17 and exhausted through the exhaust hole 16. The bran fraction removed from the rice is collected in the bran container 18 through the exhaust hole 16. The rice which has been polished is sent to the ejector 22 through the rice discharge hole 14 and is sent to the rice cooker 5 through the transfer pipe 23 by the air blow supplied from the transfer fan 19 through the exhaust pipe 21. If the lower part 18a of the bran container 18 is configured to be removable as shown in the figure, the bran can be easily treated.

Next, the water addition / decrease of the first invention will be described with reference to FIG. The flow rate from the water supply unit 4 is obtained by counting the change in the magnetic lines of force of the magnetic material of the flow rate detector 25 by the rotation of the flow rate detector 24 by the magnetic detection element in the flow rate detection circuit 25 and converting the flow rate. Since the amount of water is obtained by multiplying this flow rate by the time factor, in order to supply the amount of water commensurate with the amount of washed rice, the time control according to the water supply capacity (flow rate) from the water supply section 4 is extremely accurate. It is possible to supply water. Since the method of washing rice is also a method that does not use water, it is possible to achieve water addition and reduction without error due to water absorption in rice.

Further, the water addition / decrease of the second invention will be described with reference to FIG. The water level of the water surface of the water tank 27 of the water supply unit 4 is measured by the water level detection unit 26 arranged above it. That is, the time required for the ultrasonic wave emitted from the ultrasonic element 28 to hit the water surface and be reflected and the reflected wave to be received by the receiving circuit 29 is measured and converted into the water level. Therefore, in order to supply the amount of water commensurate with the amount of washed rice, it is possible to control the water supply while measuring the change in the water level of the water tank 27 by the water level detector 26 while supplying water. In addition, since the method of washing rice is also a method that does not use water, it is possible to achieve water addition and reduction without error due to water absorption in rice.

In the above embodiment, the method of applying the ultrasonic element was described as an embodiment of the water level detection unit 26, but an electrode is provided around the water tank to change the water level due to the capacitance change between the water and the electrode. It goes without saying that a method for detecting the

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, as is clear from the description of the above embodiments,
With the simple structure of the rice washing method that does not use water, there is no error in the amount of water addition or absorption due to water absorption in the rice, and extremely accurate water measurement can be performed, so it is possible to provide an automatic rice cooker with good water addition accuracy. is there.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the first invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a detailed embodiment of the rice box part, the rice polishing part, and the rice transfer part, and FIG. 3 is the same water supply. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a specific example of the parts, the flow rate detector, and the rice cooker;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of the invention of FIG. 5, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a concrete embodiment of the water supply unit / water level detection unit. 1 ... rice box, 2 ... rice polishing section, 3 ... rice transfer section, 4 ...
… Water supply unit, 5 …… Flow rate detector, 6 …… Rice cooker, 7 …… Control circuit, 26 …… Water level detector.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A rice box part capable of storing rice and discharging it in a predetermined amount, a rice polishing section for removing rice bran supplied from the rice box part, and a rice transfer section for transferring the rice that has been polished. And a water supply unit that supplies water necessary for cooking rice, a flow rate detection unit that detects the flow rate from this water supply unit and determines an appropriate amount of water, and rice cooked by the rice and water supplied from the rice transfer unit and the water supply unit. An automatic rice cooker including a rice cooker that performs the above, and a control circuit that performs a series of sequence control and rice cooker control. 2. A rice grain part capable of storing rice and discharging it in predetermined amounts, a grain polishing part for removing rice bran supplied from this grain grain part, and a rice transfer part for transporting the grain-polished rice. , A water supply unit that supplies water necessary for rice cooking, a water level detection unit that detects the water level of this water supply unit and determines an appropriate amount of water, and cooks rice using the rice and water supplied from the rice transfer unit and water supply unit. An automatic rice cooker including a rice cooker for performing and a control circuit unit for performing a series of sequence control and rice cooker control.