JPH03212230A - Automatic rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent rice from being cooked like gruel when a shortage of rice occurs in a rice chest part by providing a rice shortage detection means on the slope at the side of the rice chest part in a long side direction, and below a rice replenishment report means. CONSTITUTION:The slope 11 of a rice chest part 3 is provided with a weight sensor 13 as a rice replenishment report means, and the slope 12 at the side thereof in a long side direction is provided with an optical sensor as a rice shortage detection means. The weight sensor 13 is positioned on the slope 11 starting from the short side of a hopper 4a as the open/close start side thereof wherein the state of rice in the chest part 3 gives a substantial change, while the optical sensor 14 positioned on the slope 12 of the aforesaid hopper 4a at the side of the rice chest part 3 in a long side direction wherein the motion state of rice can easily be identified. As aforementioned, the optical sensor 14 is positioned at a level lower than the weight sensor 13 on one slope of the rice chest part 3 and that on another slope. When a rice quantity in the rice chest part 3 decreases, therefore, rice replenishment first starts with a signal from the weight sensor 13. When the quantity further decreases, the operation of an automatic rice cooker can be stopped with a signal from the optical sensor 14. According to the aforesaid construction, it becomes possible to prevent the poor cooking of the rice.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an automatic rice cooker used in general households.

Conventional technology Conventionally, in automatic rice cookers that perform a series of operations from washing rice to adding water and cooking rice, a display is stored in the front part of the rice cooking section 22 in the upper part of the main body 21 of the automatic rice cooker, as shown in Fig. 4. 23 and a rice outage detection means 26 disposed on the bottom inclined surface 26 of the rice bin section 24 at the lower stage of the main body 21.
6 detects that rice is out, it simply displays it on the display section 23.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, if only the display is displayed, the user may forget to replenish rice and cook rice even though there is not enough rice in the rice bin 24. In that case, the rice amount and rice cooking water are automatically supplied to the rice cooking section 22 according to the set amount of rice cooking, so if there is not enough rice in the rice pot section 24, the amount of rice that should be supplied is 3. , (Since the amount of rice was less than the set amount, there was a problem that poor-quality rice such as porridge could be cooked.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its first purpose is to prevent cooking poorly made rice such as porridge when rice runs out.

The second object is to allow the maximum amount of rice to be cooked at least once after the rice replenishment informing means is activated, and to enable the small amount of rice to be cooked at least once after the rice shortage detection means is activated.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the first means of the present invention is to provide a rice bin with a rectangular plane and a discharge port extending in the short side direction on the bottom of the rice bin so as to communicate with each other. a rice measuring means disposed on a sloped side surface in the short side direction toward the discharge port provided at the bottom of the bottom of the rice bin; and a rice replenishment notification means disposed on the sloped side surface in the long side direction of the rice bin part. This is an automatic rice cooker equipped with a rice-out detection means located at a lower portion.

The second means includes a rice replenishment notification means for prompting rice replenishment into the rice bin, and a rice outage detection means for detecting rice shortage in the rice bin and stopping the subsequent operation of the automatic rice cooker. After the means is activated, the rice outage detection means is activated, and the amount of rice discharged during this period is at least 1 of the maximum amount of rice cooked.
This is an automatic rice cooker in which the rice is cooked in batches, and the amount of rice discharged while the system is stopped after the rice outage detection means is activated is at least one batch, which is the minimum amount of rice to be cooked.

Effect With the above-described configuration, the first means of the present invention is able to prevent poor quality of rice when there is less rice in the rice bin, and if used as is, the amount of rice supplied will be insufficient compared to the amount of cooking water. Since the rice will be cooked, even if the switch to start cooking is operated, the rice cooking will not start, thereby preventing the cooking of poor-quality rice such as porridge.

The second means of the present invention is that the rice replenishment notification means is activated six pages and the maximum amount of rice can be cooked once, and the rice outage detection means is activated and the minimum amount of rice can be cooked once, so that the timing of rice replenishment is determined. It is easy to cook, and even if the rice supply notification means is activated, it can be done several times as long as the minimum amount of rice is cooked. Moreover, the rice in the rice bin can be used up.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

1 and 2 show a first embodiment, in which a rice cooking section 2 is provided on the upper part of the main body 1, and this rice cooking section 2 includes a pot 2a for cooking rice and a heating means for heating the pot 2a. 2b. Below the rice cooking section 2, there is a rice pot section 3 for storing rice;
This rice bin part 3 is equipped with rice measuring means 4 for discharging a predetermined amount of rice stored in the lower part of the rice bin part 3. The rice discharged from the rice measuring means 4 is transferred via a transfer section 6 to a rice washing section 6 provided in the rice cooking section 2. Rice washing water and rice cooking water are supplied to the rice washing section 6 from a water tank 7 by a water supply pump 8, and these are controlled by a control circuit 9. The rice bin part 3 has a rectangular plane (6 bays), and has a discharge port 10 extending in the short side direction at the bottom thereof, and an inclined surface 11 from the side surface in the short side direction toward the discharge port 1o. A bottom surface is formed by an inclined surface 12 from the side surface in the long side direction. The rice measuring means 4 has an opening/closing plate 4a that opens and closes the discharge port 10 having a cross-sectional shape, an opening/closing solenoid 4b that drives the opening/closing plate 4a, and an opening/closing solenoid 4b that is internally installed therein. A measuring cake 4C forming a chamber is provided. A weight sensor 13 serving as rice replenishment detection means is provided on the inclined surface 11 from the side surface in the short side direction on the opening start side of the opening/closing plate 4a when the opening/closing solenoid 4b is activated, and a weight sensor 13 is provided on the sloped surface 12 from the side surface in the long side direction. is equipped with an optical sensor 14 which is rice-out detection means. The weight sensor 13 is connected to the opening/closing plate 4a where the state of rice in the rice bin changes greatly.
arranged on an inclined surface 11 from the short side direction which is the opening start side,
The optical sensor 13 is arranged on the inclined surface 12 of the side surface in the long side direction of the rice bin on the opening/closing plate 4a, where it is easy to check the moving state of the rice.

In the above configuration, to explain the operation, the position of the weight sensor 13, which is a rice replenishment notification means, is arbitrary, and has no relation to the optical sensor 14, which is a rice shortage detection means, and the rice is supplied through the control circuit section 9. It is intended to encourage 1. If the optical sensor 14, which is a rice-out detection means, is activated, the automatic rice cooker will stop operating, but if rice is replenished, it will start operating again.

FIG. 3 shows the second embodiment, and the overall configuration is shown in the first embodiment.
This embodiment is the same as the embodiment except for the positions of the rice replenishment notification means and the rice shortage detection means. Weight sensor 13, which is a rice supply notification means
The position is such that there is enough rice left to cook the maximum amount of rice at least once. Further, the optical sensor 14, which is a rice-outage detection means, is arranged at a position where there is enough rice to cook the minimum amount of rice at least once.

In the above configuration, to explain the operation, when the start operation is performed and the optical sensor 14, which is the rice-out detection means, is activated in the middle of the set rice cooking amount, the automatic rice cooker will start if the remaining rice amount for the set rice cooking amount is less than the minimum rice cooking amount. The operation will not stop, but will stop if the amount of rice cooked exceeds the minimum amount. As described above, according to the automatic rice cooker of the first embodiment of the present invention, the light sensor 14 provided on the other inclined surface is provided below the weight sensor 13 provided on one inclined surface of the rice bin portion 3. Therefore, when the amount of rice in the rice bin 3 decreases, the signal from the weight sensor 13 prompts the rice to be replenished, and when the amount of rice further decreases, the signal from the optical sensor 14 causes the automatic rice cooker to operate. Since you can stop cooking, you won't end up cooking poorly made rice. According to the automatic rice cooker of the second embodiment, the activation timing of the optical sensor 14, which is activated after the weight sensor 13 provided in the rice pot part 3 is activated, is set to correspond to the amount of rice to be discharged for one batch of the maximum rice cooking amount. Furthermore, since the amount of rice discharged during the time when the automatic rice cooker stops operating after the light sensor 14 is activated is the minimum amount of rice to be cooked, it is easy to judge when to replenish rice, and the weight sensor 1
3 is activated, there is no need to worry because the minimum amount of rice can be cooked several times, and the rice in the rice pot 3 can still be used up.

In addition, in the example, the rice replenishment notification means is explained as a weight sensor, and the rice shortage detection means is explained as an optical sensor. The cut detection means may be a weight sensor.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, when there is less rice in the rice pot, if the rice pot is used as it is, poorly cooked rice will be cooked. By stopping the operation of the rice cooker, it is possible to prevent poor-quality rice such as porridge from being cooked, so that the cooked rice is not wasted. Even if you forget to replenish rice, the automatic rice cooker will automatically stop operating, so you can use up all the rice and avoid any old rice remaining.
An automatic rice cooker capable of cooking the minimum amount of rice immediately after the rice outage detection means is activated can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of an automatic rice cooker according to a first embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a rice bin section of the first embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the rice bin section of the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the rice pot portion of the second embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional automatic rice cooker. 3...Rice pot part, 4...Rice measuring means,
10... Discharge port, 11... Inclined surface from the side surface in the short side direction, 12... Inclined surface from the side surface in the long side direction, 13... Weight Sensor (rice supply notification means), 14... Optical sensor (rice shortage detection means)
.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A rice bin with a rectangular plane, a rice measuring means connected to the bottom of the rice bin with a discharge port extending in the direction of the short side, and a short side facing the discharge port provided at the bottom of the bottom of the rice bin. An automatic rice cooker comprising: a rice replenishment notification means arranged on a sloped side surface in the direction of the rice bin; and a rice outage detection means placed below the rice replenishment notification means on the sloped side surface in the long side direction of the rice pot part. (2) rice replenishment notification means for prompting rice replenishment into the rice bin;
A rice outage detection means is provided to detect outage of rice in the rice bin and stop the subsequent operation of the automatic rice cooker, and the rice outage detection means is activated after the rice replenishment notification means is activated, and the rice is discharged during this time. To provide an automatic rice cooker in which the amount of rice is at least one serving of the maximum amount of rice cooked, and furthermore, the amount of rice discharged while the operation of the automatic rice cooker is stopped after the rice outage detection means is activated is at least one serving of the minimum amount of rice cooked.