JPH03212215A - Rice cooker with automatic rice cooking amount determination function - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a rice cooker that determines the amount of cooked rice based on the detected bottom temperature of an inner pot.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, this type of rice cooker has been disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-24491, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart shown in the prior document, and FIG. 9 shows the principle of rice cooking amount detection. It is an inner pot bottom temperature curve characteristic diagram shown.

The heated rice heater raises the bottom temperature of the inner pot, causing
When the temperature reaches 1° C., the power supply to the rice cooking heater is temporarily cut off, and at the same time, a count of the power cutoff time is started.

Then, when the bottom temperature of the inner pot decreases over time and reaches 12° C., the counting of the current cutoff time is stopped. If the count value from the start to the stop of counting the energization cutoff time is, for example, 113 to 14, the corresponding output (GV) is energized to the rice cooking heater.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional rice cooker as described above, even if the amount of rice to be cooked is constant, if the initial water temperature of the water in the inner pot differs, as shown in FIG. When the water temperature is 13℃ and T ℃, the time required for the bottom temperature of the inner pot to reach T2℃ from 11℃ (1
, 1) are different, there is a problem in that the amount of rice to be cooked is erroneously determined and the rice cooking power is erroneously output.

This invention was made to solve this problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a rice cooker having a rice cooking amount determination function that can accurately determine the amount of rice cooked even if the initial water temperature of the inner pot is different.

[Means for solving the problem] A rice cooker having an automatic rice cooking amount determination function according to the present invention has the following features:
A heat-sensitive element is thermally connected to the bottom of the inner pot and detects the bottom temperature of the inner pot, and when the bottom temperature of the inner pot detected by the heat-sensitive element reaches a preset temperature, the heat is applied to the rice cooking heater. an energization cutoff means for temporarily interrupting energization; a time measurement means for operating and counting time after the energization to the rice cooking heater is cut off; a time t for which the count time of the time measurement means is set in advance; t (t 2 > t t
), inputting the detected temperatures from the heat-sensitive elements, determining the amount of rice to be cooked based on these detected temperatures, and determining the amount of rice to be cooked according to the amount of rice to be cooked; The rice cooker is equipped with an energization amount control means for controlling the amount of energization to the rice cooking heater based on the signal from the rice cooking amount determining means.

[Function] In the present invention, when the bottom temperature of the inner pot is increased by the rice cooking heater and reaches a preset temperature, the energization cutoff means temporarily cuts off the energization to the rice cooking heater. After the power supply to the rice cooking heater is cut off, the time measuring means operates and starts counting time, and when the counting time reaches preset times t1 and t2, the rice cooking amount determining means:
The temperature at time t1 and the temperature at time t2 are input from the heat-sensitive elements, and the amount of rice to be cooked is determined based on these temperatures, and the rice cooking power corresponding to the amount of rice to be cooked is determined. The energization amount control means controls the amount of energization to the rice cooking heater based on the rice cooking power determined by the rice cooking amount determination means, and performs heating according to the amount of rice cooked.

[Example] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the invention, Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing a rice cooker of the invention, and Fig. 4. 5 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of this invention, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing changes in temperature at the bottom of the inner pot depending on the amount of rice cooked.

In the figure, (1) is the main body of the rice cooker, (2) is the inner pot, a rice cooking heater (3) is provided at the bottom, and a heat-sensitive element (4) is provided in contact with the center of the bottom. ing. (5a), as shown in FIG. 6, the bottom temperature of the inner pot (2) is T. When the temperature reaches ℃, the power cutoff means temporarily cuts off the electricity to the rice cooking heater (3), and (5b) is a time measurement device that starts counting the time when the electricity to the rice cooking heater (3) is cut off. Means (5C) inputs the detected temperatures from the heat-sensitive element (4) when the count time reaches times t and t2, determines the amount of rice cooked based on these detected temperatures, and determines the rice cooking power. This is a means of determining the amount of cooked rice.

In addition, the above-mentioned current cutoff means (5a) and time measurement means (
5b) and the rice cooking amount determining means (5C) are performed by a microcomputer (5).

(6) is an energization amount control means consisting of, for example, a triac (6a), which is connected in series with the rice cooking heater (3) and operates based on a control signal from the heater control circuit (8). (7
) is a control unit built into the rice cooker main body (1), which consists of a microcomputer (5), a triac (6), and a heater control circuit (8). (9) is an AC power source.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained based on the flowchart of the microcomputer shown in FIG.

Pour the desired amount of rice and the appropriate amount of water into the inner pot (2),
When the rice cooking switch (not shown) is turned on, the rice cooking heater (3
) is heated by the current from the AC power supply (9), and the inner pot (
2) Heat the bottom part (sl). At this time, the inner pot (2)
Based on the detected temperature from the heat-sensitive element provided at the bottom of the microcomputer (5), the bottom temperature is T. ℃
(S2) to determine whether the temperature has reached 10℃.
If the temperature has not reached T, the power to the rice cooking heater is continued until the bottom temperature reaches T. When the temperature reaches ℃, the power to the rice cooking heater is cut off (S3), and at the same time, time counting is started (
S4). After counting the time, when the time tl is reached,
Please input the bottom temperature (11℃) at this time from the heat sensitive element.
5) Also, when time t2 is reached after counting the time, the bottom temperature (12° C.) at this time is inputted from the heat sensitive element (S6). Then, calculation processing is performed based on these temperatures, and when the value (T'C-71℃) is 0℃ or larger (S7), a small amount cooking process is selected and the corresponding rice cooking power is applied. Determine (S8). The value is 0℃
If the value is smaller than T3 (negative value), proceed to step 9 and make a determination; if the value is greater than T3 (negative value), proceed to the medium-sized rice cooking process and determine the corresponding rice cooking power (SIO ).

Moreover, when the value is smaller than T3, the process proceeds to a large amount of rice cooking process and the corresponding rice cooking power is determined (911).

In addition, in the above embodiment, the amount of cooked rice is determined based on the temperature at times t1 and t2, which are counted after the rice cooking heater (3) is shut off, but the flowchart in FIG. As shown, rice cooking heater O
A function may be provided to determine the maximum temperature (S3a) between FF (33) and the start of counting (S4). In this case, the bottom temperature is T as shown in FIG. The same effect can be obtained by starting time counting and detecting the temperature at times t and t2 when the maximum temperature is reached.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the amount of rice to be cooked is determined based on the bottom temperature at time t1 and t2 counted after the electricity supply to the rice cooking heater is cut off, and the amount of rice to be cooked is determined according to the amount of rice to be cooked. Since the amount of rice to be cooked is determined based on the amount of rice to be cooked, the amount of rice to be cooked can be determined accurately without being affected by the initial water temperature.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the invention, FIG. Flowchart showing one embodiment, Figure 5 is a flowchart showing another embodiment, Figure 6 is a diagram showing changes in temperature at the bottom of the inner pot depending on the amount of rice cooked, and Figure 7 is the initial temperature of water in the inner pot. Fig. 8 is a flowchart disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-24491, for example, and Fig. 9 shows the inner pot bottom temperature curve characteristic showing the principle of rice cooking amount detection. It is a diagram. In the figure, (1) is the rice cooker body, (2) is the inner pot, and (3) is the rice cooker body.
) is a rice cooking heater, (4) is a heat sensitive element, (5) is a microcomputer, (5a) is a current cutoff means, (5b) is a time measurement means, (5c) is a rice cooking amount determining means, and (6) is a current flow amount. Control means (7) is a control unit, (8) is a heater control circuit, and (9) is an AC power source. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A rice cooker that detects the temperature of an inner pot, controls rice cooking power, and cooks rice according to a preset rice cooking temperature curve, comprising: a rice cooker that is thermally coupled to the bottom of the inner pot; a heat-sensitive element that detects the bottom temperature of the rice cooker; a current cutoff means that temporarily cuts off electricity to the rice-cooking heater when the bottom temperature of the inner pot detected by the heat-sensitive element reaches a preset temperature; A time measuring means that operates to count time after the power supply to the heater is cut off, and a time t whose count time is set in advance by the time measuring means.
When _1 and t_2 (t_2>t_1) are reached, the detected temperatures from the heat-sensitive elements are respectively input, and the amount of rice to be cooked is determined based on these detected temperatures, and the rice cooking power is determined according to the amount of rice to be cooked. What is claimed is: 1. A rice cooker having an automatic rice cooking amount determination function, comprising: a rice cooking amount determining means for determining the rice cooking amount; and an energization amount control means for controlling the amount of electricity supplied to the rice cooking heater based on a signal from the rice cooking amount determining means.