JPH0249090B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic rice preparation device that automatically charges rice into a rice cooker.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional device of this type, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-80217
No. 59-80218 and JP-A-59
- There are devices shown in Publication No. 80220, etc., and these devices include a rice bin inside the main body, a drawer for putting in and taking out the rice cooker, a rice measuring chamber located at the bottom of the rice bin, and a rice washing machine located below the rice measuring chamber. It houses the container, water supply and drainage system, lid opening/closing device for opening and closing the lid of the rice cooker, and control equipment.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, the conventional device described above uses a complicated mechanism to open and close the lid of the rice cooker, making it difficult to manufacture and expensive.

The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and is an automatic rice cooker that is easy to manufacture and inexpensive, and that can reliably close the lid of a rice cooker and can detect when the lid is closed. The purpose is to provide a preparation device.

[Means for solving problems]

The automatic rice preparation device according to the present invention is provided with a means for dropping the lid of the rice cooker in an open state, a lid closing means for completely closing the dropped lid, and a detection means for detecting the closing of the lid.

[Effect]

The lid of the rice cooker in an open state is dropped due to its own weight, and since the lid has a latch mechanism and cannot be completely closed, it is completely closed by the lid closing means. Further, this lid closing is detected by a detection means.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In Fig. 1, 1 is the main body, 2 is a rice storage chamber provided in the upper part of the main body 1, 3 is a rice measuring device provided at the bottom of the rice storage chamber 2, and 4 is a rice measuring device below the rice measuring device 3. The rice washing device 5 is a water supply device provided above the rice washing device 4, and the reference numeral 6 is a control device that is electrically connected to each of these components and controls each of the components.

The rice storage chamber 2 has a hopper shape, and an opening is formed at the bottom. A casing 3d constituting the rice measuring device 3 is integrally formed at the bottom of the rice storage chamber 2, and a circular square 3a is rotatably installed inside the casing 3d, and the square 3a is a cylindrical body with an open top and bottom. The inside of the chamber is partitioned into four equal parts by a radially extending cross-shaped partition wall, and a specified amount of rice is weighed every quarter turn. The cell 3a is rotated by a motor 3c via a transmission disk 3b in contact with its outer periphery, and the motor 3c is controlled by a control device 6. Moreover, a casing 3d that accommodates the cell 3a
At the bottom of the box 3a, there is formed a rice droplet opening with almost the same shape as the opening of one of the chambers of the cell 3a, and the rice thrown into one chamber of the cell 3a from the rice storage chamber 2 is transferred to that chamber by the rotation of the cell 3a. When the rice matches the rice droplet of the casing 3d, the rice falls downward through the rice droplet. The container 4a of the rice washing device 4 is placed at the position where the rice falls.
A chute 7 for dropping into is provided. container 4
a is a cylindrical container with an open top and bottom, a stirring rod 4b is arranged inside the container, and the upper end of the stirring rod 4b is connected to a motor 4c.
is connected to the rotating shaft of the The bottom opening of the container 4a can be opened and closed by a bottom plate 4d.
The opening and closing are performed in conjunction with the transport device 8. The conveying device 8 has a gutter-like conveying body 8a, and the conveying body 8a is arranged so that its almost middle part is located directly below the rice washing container 4a, and is designed to swing like a seesaw with this middle part as a fulcrum. It is attached to a drive device (not shown). Further, the bottom plate 4d is pivotally supported outside the bottom opening of the rice washing container 4a, and is always pressed in the opening direction, that is, downward, by a spring force. Transport body 8a
(not shown) and motor 4c that drives
is controlled by a control device 6.

A water supply device 5 is provided above the rice washing device 4,
This water supply device 5 includes a water receiving tank 5a connected to a suitable water source, a water supply pipe 5b whose one end is connected to the bottom of the water receiving tank 5a and the other end facing the upper opening of the rice washing container 4a, and the water supply pipe 5b. A solenoid valve 5c is provided to control the amount of water. The solenoid valve 5c is connected to a control device 6, and its opening time is controlled.

In addition, when the carrier 8a swings with its right end 8b facing down, the right end 8 is located at the lowest part of the main body 1.
Drainage receiving part 9 that receives and discharges water flowing down from b
is provided. Also, the carrier 8a is at its left end 8c.
The rice cooker 10 is arranged at a position where it can receive water and rice flowing down from the left end 8c when the rice cooker 10 is swung downward. The lid 11 of the rice cooker 10 is opened so that rice and water that has flowed down can enter the pot. At that time, as shown in FIG. 2, the lid holding device 12 attached to a predetermined position in the main body 1 holds the handle 11a formed on the top surface of the lid 11, and holds the lid 11 halfway open, that is, at an angle of 90 degrees or less. Hold it open. Rice cooker 10 has lid 1
1 is supported by a hinge mechanism so that one side can be opened freely, and the other end has a latch mechanism for the lid 11. As shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b, the lid holding device 12 has two opposing plates 13a and 13b pivoted at a pivot joint 14. An electromagnet 15 is provided at one end of the plate 13a, and an electromagnet 15 is provided at one end of the plates 13a and 13b. A coil spring 16 is provided in between to open the gap. Plate material 13a
is fixed within the main body 1. A limit switch 17 is used to determine whether the lid holding device 12 is holding the lid 11 or not. Figure 3a
When the lid holding device 12 does not hold the lid 11 as in the case shown in FIG.
The contact 17a of the contact point 17a is brought into contact with the contact point 17a, and this is activated. The electromagnet 15 and the limit switch 17 are connected to the control device 6.
connected to. When setting the rice cooker 10 into the main body 1, as shown in FIG. 3b, the plate members 13a,
The handle 11a is held between the other ends of the lid 13b, and the spring force of the coil spring 16 holds the lid 11 in an open state. To release this holding, the electromagnet 15 is energized by a signal from the control device 6, one end of the plate 13b is attracted to the electromagnet 15, and the handle 11a is released. Therefore, the lid 11 rotates downward under its own weight, and the latch mechanism is activated by the force of the rotation, thereby closing the lid 11. However, the lid 11 may not close completely, and if cushioning is provided to reduce the impact when the lid 11 falls due to its own weight, it becomes difficult to close the lid 11 completely. Therefore, in this example, the fourth
A lid closing device 20 was provided as shown in the figure. In FIGS. 4A and 4B, 21 is a mounting member 25 inside the main body 1.
An arm 23 is rotatably attached to the motor 21 via a gear 22. Further, 24 is a limit switch that detects that the arm 23 is not performing a lid closing operation and notifies the control device 6 of the same. Motor 21 is controlled by control device 6. In addition, 18a and 18b are the carriers 8
A limit switch 19 provided below the main body 1 is a control display board connected to the control device 6, and the control display board 19 includes a rice measuring switch 19 that controls rice measurement.
a. Rice cooking switch 19 that controls rice cooking
Selection switches such as a rice washing switch 19c for controlling operations up to and including rice washing are provided.

Next, the operation of the above device will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. First, rice is put into the rice storage chamber 2 (if rice is not already put in), then the lid 11 of the rice cooker 10 is latched in the middle open state by the lid holding device 12, and the rice cooking amount adjusting section of the control device 6 and the rice cooking Set the time adjustment section. Next, select switches 19a~
19c and select the extent of the operation. Now, when the rice cooking switch 19b is selected, the control device 6 determines whether or not the lid 11 is open based on the signal from the limit switch 17, and if the limit switch 17 is on, that is, the lid 11 is held, the timer-set operation start time is set. goes into standby mode until If the limit switch 17 is off, the operation is stopped and the user is immediately notified by an alarm or the like. Next, when the timer-set operation start time comes, the conveyor 8a is swung toward the drainage side (the side shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1). As a result, the bottom opening of the rice washing container 4a is closed by the bottom plate 4d interlocking with the carrier 8a. Next, the square 3a of the measuring device 3 is rotated by a predetermined number of revolutions based on the rice cooking amount set, and the weighed rice is put into the rice washing container 4a through the chute 7. After that, the solenoid valve 5c is opened and the rice washing container 4 is opened.
Water is supplied into the container a, and at the same time the stirring rod 4b is rotated to wash the rice. At this time, the bottom opening of the rice washing container 4a and the bottom plate 4d are not completely sealed, so that some water may leak out. As a result, the washed rice wastewater sequentially passes through the conveyor 8a and drains into the drainage receiving section 9.
The water is drained out of the main body 1. This kind of washed rice is
This process is repeated until the turbidity of the sewage water becomes less than a predetermined value or a predetermined time elapses, and after the final rice washing, the solenoid valve 5c is closed and the operation is stopped until all drainage is completed. Thereafter, the conveyor 8a is swung so that the left end 8c is on the lower side, and the bottom opening of the rice washing container 4a is opened. Then, the solenoid valve 5c is opened for a predetermined period of time to supply water into the rice washing container 4a, and while washing off the rice adhering to the container 4a and the carrier 8a, the rice and the corresponding amount of water are added to the pot of the rice cooker 10. Prepare. At this time, the water supply pipe 5b is used to completely wash off the rice adhering to the rice washing container 4a, etc.
You may also attach a watering device to the tip of the tube. Next, the carrier 8a is again swung to the drainage side, and water is supplied for a predetermined period of time to perform post-cleaning. The position of the carrier 8a is detected by limit switches 18a, 18b and accurately controlled by the control device 6. At the same time as post-cleaning, the electromagnet 15 of the lid holding device 12 is energized to remove the plate material 13.
Pull one end of b to unlatch the lid 11. As a result, the lid 11 falls due to its own weight.
At this time, the lid 11 cannot be completely closed because of the latch mechanism or because the shock is absorbed by a shock absorber (not shown). Here, the motor 21 rotates, the arm 23 rotates and presses the lid 11, and the lid 11 is completely closed. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, a constant current flows through the motor 21 until the arm 23 presses the lid 11, but once the arm 23 starts pressing the lid 11, the repulsive force of the lid 11 causes a constant current to flow through the motor 21. The current increases and the lid 1
When the motor 21 is completely closed (at time _t1 ), the motor 21 attempts to rotate against the elasticity of the mounting member 25, so the current increases further, and eventually the motor 21 locks and the current becomes constant. Therefore, the standard is set to a current value slightly larger than the current value when the lid 11 closes,
When the current value of the motor 21 exceeds this reference, it is determined that the lid 11 is closed. This judgment is made by the control device 6 consisting of a microcomputer, and when this judgment is made, the control device 6
1, and set the arm 23 to the limit switch 24.
Move to the position. This causes the limit switch 24 to operate, stopping the motor 21 and proceeding to the next step. Further, if the lid closure detection is not performed even after a predetermined period of time has elapsed from the start of operation of the motor 21 due to a failure of the motor 21 or the like, an alarm is issued to notify the user. On the other hand, the rice in the pot is piled up like a mountain, and in reality, a vibration table installed at the bottom of the rice cooker 10 applies horizontal vibration to the rice cooker 10 to push the rice into the pot. Arrange evenly. Thereafter, a standby time is allowed to soak the rice in water for a predetermined time, and then energy is applied to the rice cooker 10.

The above is the case when the rice cooking switch 19b is selected, but when the rice measuring switch 19a is selected, the conveyor 8a is swung toward the rice cooker 10 from the beginning and the rice is weighed as described above. The washed rice passes through the rice washing container 4a and is stored in the pot of the rice cooker 10 via the carrier 8a, and the lid 11 is closed.

Further, when the rice washing switch 19c is pressed, the steps up to the time when rice cooking energy is input to the rice cooker 10 are performed in the same manner as when the rice cooking switch 19b is selected. This is used, for example, when making takikomi rice.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the next process is started after detecting that the lid 11 is completely closed, so that there is no possibility that energy will be supplied to the rice cooker 10 with the lid 11 open and rice cooking will fail. Further, when the motor 21 is locked, it rotates in reverse and stops, so damage to the motor 21 can be prevented.

7A and 7B show a second embodiment of the present invention,
26 is a microphone that collects the "click" sound when the lid 11 is completely closed, and the output of the microphone 26 is sent to the control device 6 via a filter 27.
added to. The current of the motor 21 is also applied to the control circuit 6. Next, the operation will be explained. First, when the lid 11 falls due to its own weight, the motor 21 operates, and the arm 23 presses the lid 11. At this time, the current of the motor 21 increases and increases further when the lid 11 is closed, and the current increases until the motor 21 is locked. However, lid 1
Even when the lid 1 cannot be closed, if the motor 21 is locked due to a failure of the gear 22, the current increases, resulting in false detection of lid closure. Therefore, in this second embodiment, the microphone 26 detects the "click" sound generated by the latch mechanism when the lid 11 is completely closed, and this detection signal is sent to the control device 6 via the filter 27. Add. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
1 and the output of the microphone 26 are applied, and the control device 6 detects the closing of the lid only by the AND condition of both the increase in the current of the motor 21 and the detection of the latch sound, thereby preventing false detection. Of course, it is also possible to detect lid closing only by detecting the latch sound.

In each of the above embodiments, the lid 11 was kept open until the rice and water were completely added to the rice cooker 10, but even if the lid 11 was left open more than 90 degrees, good. In this case, when dropping the lid 11, the lid 11 may be struck from behind with an electromagnetic plunger or the like.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, there is no need for a mechanism for opening and closing the lid of the rice cooker, and it is sufficient to simply hold the lid open or drop it, making the mechanism simple, easy to manufacture, and inexpensive. Further, by providing the lid closing means, the lid can be completely closed. Furthermore, since a detection means for detecting that the lid has been closed is provided, it is possible to move on to the next step after the lid is completely closed, and there is no need to cook rice with the lid open.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the lid holding mechanism according to the present invention, and FIGS. 3 a and b.
4A and 4B are plan views of a lid holding mechanism according to the present invention in a lid non-holding state and a lid holding state, respectively, and FIGS. A front view and a side view, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the device of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a motor current characteristic diagram of the lid closing device of the present invention, and FIGS. FIG. 8 is a front view and a side view of a lid closing device having a lid closing detection means according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a lid closing detection means according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 2... Rice storage room, 3... Rice measuring device, 4... Rice washing device, 5... Water supply device, 6... Control device, 8...
... Conveyance device, 10 ... Rice cooker, 11 ... Lid, 12
...Lid holding device, 20...Lid closing device, 21...
Motor, 23... Arm, 26... Microphone. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Rice storage means for storing rice, rice measuring means for weighing and taking out a predetermined amount of rice from the rice stored in the rice storage means, rice washing means for washing the weighed rice, and rice washing means for washing the weighed rice. The rice cooker is equipped with a conveyance means for conveying the cooked rice and corresponding water into a rice cooker equipped with a lid that can be opened on one side and has a latch mechanism, and a control means for controlling each of these means, so that rice preparation can be carried out automatically. In an automatic rice preparation device for use in rice cooking, means for dropping the lid of the rice cooker that has been opened after conveying rice and water into the rice cooker, and lid closing means for completely closing the dropped lid by a motor;
An automatic rice preparation device characterized by being equipped with a lid closing detection means for detecting that the lid is closed. 2. The automatic rice preparation device according to claim 1, wherein the lid closing detection means detects lid closing based on a change in the motor current of the lid closing means. 3. The automatic rice preparation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lid closing detection means detects the closing of the lid by using a microphone to detect a latch sound generated when the lid is closed. 4. The automatic device according to claim 1, wherein the lid closing detection means detects lid closing by checking both a change in the motor current of the lid closing means and detection of a lid closing latch sound by a microphone. Rice preparation equipment. 5. Claims 1 to 5 are characterized in that an alarm is issued if the lid closing is not detected within a predetermined time after the lid closing operation is started by the lid closing means.
The automatic rice preparation device according to any of paragraph 4.