JPH0822253B2 - Fully automatic rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has been proposed for the purpose of completely saving labor in a rice cooking operation that has conventionally been troublesome by human beings. Storage, weighing, washing and washing of raw materials (milled rice) in the rice cooking operation, The present invention relates to a novel fully-automatic rice cooking device that can automatically process a series of work steps from water addition, water absorption, rice cooking, steaming, and completion with an accurate program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various proposals for an automatic rice cooking device have been made, but most of them are for small-sized household use, and their use frequency, processing amount, and operability are not intended for commercial use. There are great differences, and they are of different dimensions in terms of practicality and continuity.

Therefore, as a fully automatic rice cooker that can be used for business purposes, there are techniques disclosed in JP-A-61-206411 and JP-A-62-26031.

[0004]

All of the fully-automatic rice cooking devices described in the above publications have a rice storing section for storing rice, a measuring section for measuring and discharging rice in the rice storing section, and a discharging section for discharging the rice from the measuring section. The rice-washing unit washes the washed rice and the rice-cooking unit that cooks the rice discharged from the rice-washing unit. The rice-cooking unit employs a rice cooker with an upper lid that opens and closes with a hinge as a fulcrum.

Therefore, in order to receive rice from the rice washing unit into the rice cooker, the upper lid must be opened with the hinge as a fulcrum in the refrigerator, and the structure is complicated because it is opened in the refrigerator. Not only that, but the operation was also difficult. Moreover, since the rice cooker is placed below the rice washing tank, opening and closing the lid with a hinge as a fulcrum requires a large opening and closing allowance, which makes the vertical direction (height) more than necessary. There was a problem that it became bulky and it was difficult to supply rice to the rice storage department even for commercial use.

Further, if the top lid is opened and closed at the inner part outside the rice washing tank in the container, the height can be lowered, but the depth in the container becomes excessive and the opening / closing operation is performed at the inner part of the container. There was a problem that it would be difficult. The present invention, a fixed amount dial mechanism and a fixed amount dial mechanism for determining the amount of rice cooking water corresponding thereto,
It is composed of a program controller etc. for sequentially stopping each mechanism according to a predetermined operation process, from the fixed amount of raw materials to the completion of rice cooking with a simple operation of setting the inner pot and pressing the start button A fully automatic rice cooker that can automatically operate a series of steps and completely save labor for complicated work steps, especially an inlet formed by sliding horizontally on the top lid of the rice cooker To provide a fully-automatic rice cooker that has a shutter that opens and closes, and lowers and lowers the inside lid as much as possible by vertically moving the top lid in the refrigerator so that rice can be supplied without difficulty. With the goal.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a rice storing section for storing rice, a measuring section for measuring and discharging rice in the rice storing section, and a rice washing section for washing the rice discharged from the measuring section. A rice cooking unit for cooking the rice discharged from the rice washing unit, wherein the rice washing unit is
The bottom of the conical rice-washing tank is equipped with a conical valve that can be opened and closed by a conical valve, and the rice cooker can be opened and closed horizontally and directly under the rice-washing tank. In the fully-automatic rice cooking device provided with the upper lid, the following technical measures are taken in order to achieve the above-mentioned object.

That is, according to the present invention, the upper lid 29 has an inflow port 37 for rice, and a shutter 41 that slides the inflow port 37 in a horizontal direction to open and close the rice so that it is located directly below the rice washing tank 5. It is equipped so that it can be moved vertically in the mounted state, and
The moving motor 38 is a cone formed in the lower part of the rice washing tank 5.
Proximity to Jo portion is provided with, each of the raised position to permit horizontal movement of the cooker 44 to close the lowered position and the rice cooker 44 during cooking in a waste rice from the rice washing unit and cooking unit An upper lid opening / closing means 34 for raising and lowering the upper lid 29 at a position is provided.

Further, the shutter 41 is normally closed and is opened when the rice is discharged from the rice washing tank 5.

[0010]

[Function] The conical valve 14 at the outflow port 15 provided at the bottom of the rice washing tank 5 is opened to supply a predetermined amount of rice to the inner pot 35 of the rice cooker 44 through the opening (inflow port) 37 of the upper lid 29. At this time, even if the upper lid 29 is in the lowered position and the rice cooker 44 is covered, the shutter 41 is open, so that rice can be received.

After supplying a predetermined amount of rice to the inner pot 35,
The opening 37 of 29 is closed by a shutter 41, and a predetermined rice cooking process is performed with the upper lid 29 covering the opening 37. After the rice is cooked, the upper lid 29 is lifted vertically upward by the opening / closing arm 34 of the upper lid opening / closing means, and the rice cooker 44 is pulled out horizontally from the inside of the rice cooker. At this time, the upper lid 29 is held in the inside of the rice cooker at the raised position. are doing.

When the rice cooker 44 is set again in the refrigerator,
The rice cooker 44 is pushed directly under the rice washing tank 5, the upper lid 29 is lowered by the upper lid opening / closing means 34, and the shutter 41 is opened.
Prepare to receive rice. Further, since the shutter 41 is normally closed and is opened when the rice from the rice washing tank 5 is discharged, when the inner pot 35 is set directly below the rice washing bath 5, the upper lid 29 in the raised position raises the inner pot 35 above the inner pot 35. To prevent foreign matter from entering.

[0013]

EXAMPLE The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings showing an example thereof. The raw material is stored in the rice storage tank (part) 1 arranged at the top in FIG. A metering unit (measuring unit) 2 is connected to the bottom. The metering device 2 shown in this embodiment is a drum type that rotates in one direction by the electric motor 3, and the amount of raw material is quantitatively divided according to the number of revolutions while keeping the inner volume constant and dropping it downward. It is based on the pulse counting method that is controlled by transmitting the set value pulse of the counter set by 21.

On the other hand, a raw material chute 4 formed in a funnel shape is disposed immediately below the metering device 2, and a raw material supply port 7 is opened through a top plate 6 of a rice washing tank 5 serving as a rice washing section. The rice washing tank 5 is composed of a cylindrical body whose lower part is formed in an inverted cone shape, and a plurality of stirring blades each having a different rotation radius are provided at the axial center position of the tank.
A hollow rotary shaft 9 on which 8 is installed is rotatably arranged by an electric motor 11 via a bearing 10 penetrating the top plate 6. On the other hand, at the bottom of the rice washing tank 5, a shaft rod 13 which is inserted coaxially with the hollow shaft 9 and is vertically movable by a rotary cam mechanism 12 provided above the top plate 6 and a lower end of the shaft rod 13. A raw material and an outlet 15 for cooking water are provided which can be opened and closed by a conical valve 14 fixed to the.

Further, above the outflow port 15, there are provided a separation plate 16 formed in the shape of an inverted cone having a large number of water passage openings, and an annular drainage jacket 17 and a ceiling plate 16 provided so as to hermetically surround the separation plate 16. An overflow port 18 is provided continuously at the lower part. A side pipe 19 is open for communication on the outer peripheral surface of the drainage jacket 17, a float 20 for detecting a rise in the water level in the pipe is enclosed, and the rice cooking water level in the rice washing tank 5 is moved up and down by interlocking with a quantitative dial mechanism 21. A movable sensor 22 is used for detection and adjustment. In addition, a plurality of sprinklers 23 are provided in the upper part of the rice washing tank 5 through the top plate 6 to open.

As shown in FIG. 2, in addition to the side pipe 19 on the outer peripheral surface of the drainage jacket 17, the drainage pipe 25 for draining the wash water to the outside of the system through the openable drain valve 24 and the inside of the rice washing tank 5 are provided. A water supply port 27 is provided which is open for communication via a solenoid valve 26 in order to generate a countercurrent and discharge the floating pollutants from the overflow port 18 to the outside of the system. As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of guide plates 28 fixed to the side surfaces of the drainage jacket 17 and a lower end held by the guide plates are fixed to a shutter rail 30 provided on the upper surface of the upper lid 29 immediately below the same axis of the rice washing tank 5. A lid 31 that is vertically slidable and a lid 31 that is vertically slidable by a member 31 that is slidable up and down, and a pin 33 that has a fulcrum 32 and that is provided on the member 31 and that extends vertically. 29 is installed directly under the rice washing tank 5.

The upper lid 29 is stroked H by the opening / closing arm 34.
As shown by the dotted line in the figure, the inserted inner pot 35 is hermetically closed and held in its open position by the hook 36, and the open / close arm 34 and the like constitute upper lid opening / closing means. As shown in FIG. 3, a rice and water inlet 37 is opened at the center of the upper lid 29, and the opening 37 is a fulcrum 39.
And a shutter 41 that can be opened and closed by a swing arm 40 that is driven by an electric motor 38. The electric motor (motor) 38 is located below the rice washing tank 5.
It is provided close to the formed conical portion. Furthermore,
The shutter 41 always closes the opening (inlet) 37,
It opens when rice is discharged, moves the stroke H1 by sliding the shutter 37 with the shutter rail 30 provided on the upper lid as a guide, and a sensor 42 for detecting opening / closing of the shutter is provided.

In the apparatus of the present invention, the outflow curve of rice and water drawn out when the conical valve 14 provided at the bottom of the rice washing tank 5 is opened has a parabolic shape in which the conical surface is extended as shown by the dotted line 43 in FIG. . Therefore, the diameter of the opening 37 provided in the upper lid 29 is determined so as not to intersect with the parabola in the closed position of the upper lid. The operation mode of the device of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to the drawings showing the embodiment thereof. In FIG. 1, the rice cooker 44 on which the empty inner pot 35 is mounted is pushed into the storage by the drawer stand 45 and the upper lid is shown. It is moved right below the shaft center of 29 and the upper lid is lowered by the opening / closing arm 34 to seal the inner pot. Here, the sensor 46 detects the inner pot 35.

Then, by setting the fixed quantity dial 21 to the required amount of cooked rice, the pulse counter for controlling the rotation speed of the constant quantity machine 2 is selected and the sensor 22 for detecting the float 20 for detecting the water level in the side pipe 19 is moved. The water level adjustment point 47 in the rice washing tank 5 required for cooking rice. By pressing the start button, the quantifier 2 rotates and the raw material in the rice storage tank 1 is quantitatively sorted and supplied through the chute 4 into the rice washing tank 5 through the raw material supply port 7. At the same time, the electric motor 11 is started to rotate the stirring blade 8 at a high speed and the solenoid valve 48 communicating with the pressure water system is opened to start water supply from the plurality of water spray ports 23 to start the rice washing process. The waste water that has accumulated in the rice washing tank and passed through the agitated raw material layer to become rice-washed polluted water passes through the separation plate 16 provided at the bottom and is drained through the drainage jacket 17, drainage pipe 25 and drainage valve 24. Drained out of the system through mouth 49.

Then, the water supply is temporarily stopped by the previously entered rice washing program, and the rice polishing process starts. After the predetermined rice polishing process, water sprinkling is restarted to drain the polluted water. After repeating the above steps, the drain valve 24 shown in FIG. 2 is closed and water is supplied from the water inlet 27 communicating with the drain jacket 17 through the electromagnetic valve 26. The water supply becomes an upward flow upward in the rice washing tank 5 due to the sealing of the drain valve 24, and the overflow port 18
The water overflows further and is drained to the outside of the system through the drainage pipe 50 and the drainage box 51 and the drainage port 49. When a predetermined overflow time has elapsed, the solenoid valve 26 is closed and the drain valve 24 is opened, so that the wash water stored up to the overflow point in the tank is discharged to the outside of the system at once.

The rice washing process is completed as described above, the drain valve 24 is closed, the solenoid valve 48 is opened, and the water supply process starts. In the process, the circuit of the water level detection sensor 22 is turned on, the water level in the rice washing tank 5 rises, and the float in the side pipe 19 increases.
20 rises, and at the water level detection point 47, the solenoid valve 48 is closed and water supply is stopped. Then, the cam type opening / closing mechanism 12 provided above the shaft 13 is rotated by the output signal of the sensor, and the conical valve 14 for closing the outlet 15 at the bottom of the rice washing tank is dropped for a predetermined stroke to provide the raw material and the cooking water on the upper lid 29. It is made to flow down into the inner pot 35 through the opening 37.

The opening 37 is closed by a shutter 41 during rice cooking and receives an output signal of the sensor 22 to drive the electric motor.
It is configured to be temporarily opened by 38 and to be automatically sealed after a lapse of a predetermined time. Upon completion of the outflow of the raw material, the conical valve 14 returns to the original position by the rotation of the cam opening / closing mechanism 12 and seals the outflow port 15. Then, when the completion of rice discharge is detected and excited, the water absorption time of the raw material is restricted by the timer, and after a predetermined time elapses, the burner (not shown) of the rice cooker 44 is ignited by the output signal of the timer to start the rice cooking process. The combustion gas is supplied by a conduit opened and closed by a gas solenoid valve (not shown), and the solenoid valve is opened by the output signal of the timer to detect the bottom surface temperature of the inner pot 35.
It is configured to be shut off by (not shown).

Completion of the rice cooking process is detected by the thermostat, the burner extinguishes, and a separate timer operates to restrain the steaming time. After the elapse of a predetermined steaming time, the completion of rice cooking is notified by the output signal of the timer, and the series of operation steps in the device of the present invention is completed. In the present invention, the proposed upper lid mechanism provided with the shutter 41 and provided with the opening 37 which can be opened and closed is extremely effective in realizing the present invention, and is arranged on the upper lid to be heated during rice cooking and the upper portion thereof. Since the bottom of the rice washing tank and the conical valve are arranged with a space in between, it is possible to eliminate all thermal adverse effects on the raw materials waiting in the rice washing tank, and it is easy to confirm the operation around the conical valve. Therefore, it has good effects such as good cleanability, smooth opening / closing operation of the upper lid, and high airtightness of the rice cooker.

In the rice cooker arranged further down, during each process such as water absorption, rice cooking, steaming of raw materials and after the completion of rice discharging, the upper lid is raised, the inner pot is pulled out, and an empty inner pot is set. During this period, the shutter 41 is electrically interlocked so that the shutter 41 is not opened, and the conical valve 14 is opened by the output signal of the sensor 42 that detects the opening of the shutter. There is a feature that can be completely prevented.

The device of the present invention makes it possible to fully automatically perform a series of operations from the weighing of raw materials to the completion of rice cooking by inputting a start signal, and also to automatically continuously process a large amount of rice. It also has the capability to do so. That is, the output signals of the water level detection sensor 22 for completion of water addition and reduction, the sensor for detecting the opening of the conical valve 14 (not shown), and the sensor for detecting the sealing of the conical valve (not shown) are used for the cascade. The above-mentioned start pulse is generated and the device is automatically restarted to allow the rice cooker arranged below to move the rice washing process in the upper rice washing section while the rice cooker is in operation. Since the standby time for absorbing water can be given to the raw material, the operations of washing rice and cooking rice can be continuously processed in a single device.

[0026]

The present invention is as described above, and the upper lid 29 for covering the rice cooker 44 has the shutter 41 that slides horizontally to open and close, and is mounted directly below the rice washing tank 5 coaxially. It is provided so that it can be moved vertically in the vertical direction, and at each position of the descending position that closes the rice cooker 44 and the rising position that allows the rice cooker 44 to move in the horizontal direction while discharging rice from the rice washing section and cooking rice in the rice cooking section. Since the upper lid opening / closing means 34 for raising and lowering the upper lid 29 is provided, the overall height of the apparatus can be made as low as possible, which makes it possible to easily and accurately supply rice to the rice storing section. Since it is not necessary to open and close on the depth side, not only can the device depth be made as narrow as possible, but also the opening and closing operation is easy and the confirmation of the opening and closing status can be accurately grasped.

Further, the inflow port 37 formed in the upper lid 29 is always closed by the shutter 41 so that it is opened when the rice is discharged from the rice washing tank 5, so that the inner pot 35 is not used when the rice is discharged from the rice washing tank 5.
Even if it is set directly under 5, the upper lid in the raised position 29
The inner pot 35 can be covered with the lid in plan view, and foreign matter can be reliably prevented from entering the inner pot 35. In addition, the shutter 41
The driving motor 38 has a conical shape formed at the bottom of the rice washing tank 5.
Since it is equipped close to the part, dead space
It can be effectively used and compactly equipped.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an arrangement of internal mechanisms according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating an embodiment of the present invention by partially cutting away.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Rice storage part 2 Measuring part 5 Rice washing tank 14 Conical valve 15 Outlet 29 Upper lid 34 Upper lid opening / closing means 37 Inlet 41 Shutter 44 Rice cooker

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A weighing unit for weighing and discharging rice in a rice storage unit for storing rice, and a rice washing unit for washing the rice discharged from the weighing unit,
A rice cooking unit for cooking the rice discharged from the rice washing unit,
The rice washing section is provided with an outlet that can be opened and closed by a cone valve at the bottom of a rice washing tank whose lower part is formed into a conical shape, and the rice cooking section is
In a fully-automatic rice cooker equipped with a rice cooker that is horizontally movable directly below the coaxial axis of a rice washing tank and an upper lid that opens and closes the rice cooker, the upper lid (29) has a rice inlet (37), This inlet (37)
Has a shutter (41) for sliding and opening in the horizontal direction and is provided directly below the rice washing tank (5) coaxially so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and a motor (38) for driving the shutter (41). ) Is
Close to the conical part formed at the bottom of the rice washing tank (5)
A descent position and a rice cooker that are provided and close the rice cooker (44) during the rice discharging from the rice washing section and the rice cooking in the rice cooking section.
A fully-automatic rice cooking device comprising an upper lid opening / closing means (34) for moving the upper lid (29) up and down at respective positions including a raised position that allows horizontal movement of (44). 2. The fully automatic rice cooking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shutter (41) is normally closed and is opened when the rice is discharged from the rice washing tank (5).