JPH0429367B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a rice cooker storage device that allows rice to be cooked and kept warm while the rice cooker is stored therein.

Conventional Structures and Their Problems In recent years, in order to make effective use of kitchen space, there has been an increasing demand for rice cooker storage devices that can cook rice and keep warm while the rice cooker is stored. However, when the rice cooker is stored, the display means provided on the rice cooker to indicate the rice cooking status has a drawback in that the rice cooking status cannot be confirmed from the outside.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and when the rice cooker is stored in the rice cooker storage device,
The purpose is to make it possible to easily check the cooking status from the outside.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a rice cooker equipped with a first display means for displaying the rice cooking status by brightness and darkness of light, and a light receiving means provided opposite to the first display means. The rice cooker storage device is constructed so that the operation of the second display means provided on the front side of the device body is controlled by the signal from the light receiving means, and with this construction, the rice cooking status can be confirmed from the outside.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the figure, 1 is the main body of the rice cooker storage device, and 2 is the rice cooker stored in the rice cooker storage device 1. The side surface of the rice cooker 2 is provided with a light emitting diode 3 on the rice cooking display side and a light emitting diode 4 on the heat retention display side as first display means for displaying the rice cooking status. The light-emitting diode 3 on the rice-cooking display side and the light-emitting diode 4 on the heat-keeping display side light up when the rice cooking status is cooking and keeping warm, respectively. The rice cooker 2 has a cord and a power plug 5 at its tip, legs 6, and a steam hole 7 formed in the lid. The rice cooker storage device 1 has a drawer part 8 for storing the rice cooker 2 in a detachable manner, and the drawer part 8 has a groove 9 on the bottom surface into which the legs 6 of the rice cooker 2 are fitted. Perform positioning. Further, the drawer portion 8 is provided with an outlet 10, and this outlet 10 is connected to an AC power source (not shown) via a power cord 11.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a light receiving means mounting plate, which includes a phototransistor 13 and a phototransistor 14 as light receiving means, and faces the light emitting diode 3 on the rice cooking display side and the light emitting diode 4 on the heat preservation display side, respectively, when the rice cooker 2 is stored. It is fixed to the main body 1 of the device as shown in FIG. A display board 15 is provided on the front side of the main body 1, and includes a lamp 16 for displaying rice cooking and a lamp 17 for displaying heat retention as second display means. In addition, 18 in the figure is a steam passage, which has an opening 19 facing the steam hole 7 of the rice cooker 2, and the other end is an exhaust port 20 that opens to the display board 15. The display circuit for rice cooking and keeping warm is constructed as shown in FIG. , its gate is connected to the transistor 23,2
It is now controlled by 4. The transistors 23 and 24 are controlled by phototransistors 13 and 14 which operate by receiving light from the light emitting diodes 3 and 4.

Next, the above operation will be explained. First, the rice cooker 2 is mounted on the drawer section 8. At this time, the rice cooker 2 is positioned so that the legs 6 fit into the grooves 9. At the same time, when the power plug 5 is connected to the outlet 10 and the drawer 8 is closed to store the rice cooker 2, the light emitting diode 3 and phototransistor 13 on the rice cooking display side and the light emitting diode 4 and phototransistor 14 on the warming display side face each other. do. Here, rice cooker 2
When the rice cooker is in the rice cooking state, the light emitting diode 3 on the rice cooking display side lights up. Then, the phototransistor 13 detects light and a collector current begins to flow, turning on the transistor 23 on the rice cooking display side. Then, the gate current of the rice cooking display side triax 21 flows, so the rice cooking display side triax 21 operates, current flows to the rice cooking display lamp 16, and the rice cooking display lamp 16 lights up. Also, when in the heat keeping state, the heat keeping display lamp 17 lights up together with the light emitting diode 4 on the heat keeping display side, as in the case of rice cooking. Steam generated during rice cooking is exhausted from the steam hole 7 of the rice cooker 2, through the opening 19 of the steam passage 18, and out of the main body from the exhaust port 20.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the rice cooker storage device of the present invention is provided with a light receiving means opposite to the first display means provided on the rice cooker, and detects the operating state of the rice cooker using light. It controls the operation of the second display means provided outside the main body of the device, so that the operating state of the rice cooker can be checked from the outside. Furthermore, since it is a non-contact method using light, it is easy to attach and detach the rice cooker, and since no mechanical parts are used, breakdowns can be reduced, and its practical effects are great. Furthermore, when the rice cooker is used without being stored, the rice cooking status can be confirmed by the first display means, making it very convenient to use.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a rice cooker storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention with the drawer opened; Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of the rice cooker stored;
The figure is a circuit diagram. 2...Rice cooker, 3...Light emitting diode on the rice cooking display side, 4...Light emitting diode on the heat retention display side, 13
...Phototransistor on the rice cooking display side, 14...Phototransistor on the heat retention display side, 16...Lamp for rice cooking display, 17...Lamp for heat preservation display.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rice cooker equipped with a first display means for displaying the rice cooking status by brightness and darkness of light in the main body of the device, and a rice cooker that houses the rice cooker, a light receiving means provided opposite to the first display means, and a light receiving means arranged to face the first display means. A rice cooker storage device that controls the operation of a second display means provided on the front side of the device main body based on a signal from the device.