JPH049976Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a rice rack used in ordinary household kitchens, etc., which allows users to check when to replenish rice without forgetting it.

(Prior art) Conventionally, as described in JIS-S2201, measuring rice racks have been provided with a remaining amount confirmation window to detect the remaining amount of rice so that it is easy to check when to add rice. , which allows the remaining rice inside the rice box to be seen through a transparent window provided on the front of the main unit.

(Problem to be solved by the present invention) However, in order to detect the remaining amount of rice in the above-mentioned conventional rice bowl, it is necessary to always visually check the rice inside the rice bowl through the confirmation window when taking out the rice. The problem was that if you got infected, you would forget to check it and miss the time to add rice.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The rice rack of the present invention is provided with a light-transmitting window in the front of the rice storage section of the rice storage section, and a light sensor is installed inside the rice storage section at a distance from the light-transmitting window. A built-in melody generating device main body is attached, and the optical sensor is placed at a position where it can sense the light transmitted through the light-transmitting window.

(Function) According to the above-mentioned structure of the present invention, the main body of the melody generator with a built-in optical sensor is completely buried in the stored rice in the storage section into which the rice is placed, and in this state, the light-transmitting window and the optical sensor are completely buried. The light sensor is blocked from light by the rice in between, but when the amount of rice decreases and the light sensor built into the melody generator body is exposed from the top of the stored rice, the light transmitted from the transparent window will be blocked. The light sensor detects this and a melody sound sounds to notify you of the weight loss, and you can check the amount of rice remaining inside the rice box through the transparent window.

(Example) Next, an example of the rice bowl of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In Figures 1 and 2, 1 is the main body of the rice chest, which is a box made of metal, synthetic resin, etc.
The interior is partitioned into upper and lower parts by a funnel-shaped partition plate 2, with the upper part serving as a rice storage part 3 and the lower part serving as a measuring part 4. At the front of the rice storage section 3, a transparent window 5 is provided with a transparent plate made of glass, synthetic resin, etc. attached thereto. The transparent window 5 is installed in the rice storage section so that the rice inside the rice storage section 3 can be clearly seen and the lowest part of the transparent window 5 is at the depth where rice needs to be replenished, in order to check the remaining amount of rice. It is provided on the front of 3.

6 is the main body of the melody generator, which as shown in FIG. 3 includes a melody IC 61 containing a melody generation circuit and a switching circuit, a speaker 62 made of a piezoelectric semiconductor as its external components, and a dry battery 6.
3. Composed of optical sensors 64 such as Cds, paper,
They are arranged and fixed to a substrate 65 made of plastic or the like so that the entire structure is flat and compact. The ON signal from the optical sensor 64 causes the switching circuit to operate the melody generation circuit for a certain period of time, and the OFF signal from the optical sensor does not operate the melody generation circuit.

Melody generator main body 6 configured in this way
As shown in FIG. 2, it is housed in a transparent protective body 7 such as an airtight container or bag made of transparent synthetic resin such as polystyrene or polycarbonate.
Inside the rice storage section 3, a transparent protector 7 is attached to the transparent window 5 through a support piece 66 at a distance from the transparent window 5, and a light sensor 64 detects the light transmitted from the transparent window 5. placed in a position where it can be detected.

With this transparent protector 7, dirt such as rice bran does not adhere to the circuit of the circuit board of the melody generating device main body 6, so that a malfunction such as not producing a melody sound even if the optical sensor detects light does not occur.

In addition, 8 is a lid 10 for opening and closing the rice input port 9 opened above the rice bowl main body 1, and a lid 10 is an operating lever of the measuring section 4;
11 is a receiving box.

Next, the method of using the rice bowl of the present invention will be explained based on the above embodiments.

First, the rice input port 9 opened above the rice bowl main body 1
One bag of commercially available rice is put into the rice storage section 3, and when the charging is completed, the melody generator main body 6 is filled with rice. Next, when taking out the rice, operate the operating lever 10 each time to measure the desired amount of rice using the measuring unit 4, and the receiving box 11 will also receive the weighed rice, repeating the process of taking out the rice. While the amount of rice decreases and the optical sensor 64 built into the main body 6 of the melody generator is exposed from the upper surface A of the stored rice, the optical sensor 64 detects the light transmitted from the transparent window 5. Since a melody sound sounds to notify the user of the reduction in rice, the remaining amount of rice inside the rice bowl can be checked through the light-transmitting window 5.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the transparent window 5 may be provided not only at the lower front of the rice storage section 3 but also at the upper and middle portions of the front. The main body 6 must be attached.

In addition, the melody generator main body 6 is mounted on the inner wall surface of the rice storage section 3 directly under the transparent window 5 at the lower front of the rice storage section 3.
Although it is easy to attach via the support piece 66,
In order to prevent rice from accumulating on the upper edge of the support piece 66 and causing malfunction, the upper edge is preferably formed at an acute angle.

(Effects of the invention) According to the invention, a light-transmitting window is provided on the front side of the rice storage section of the main body of the rice chest, and the melody generator main body has a built-in optical sensor spaced apart from the light-transmitting window in the storage section. is attached and the optical sensor is placed in a position where it can detect the light transmitted through the transparent window, so that the rice in the rice storage section decreases and the rice between the transparent window and the optical sensor is placed. When rice runs out, an optical sensor detects the light transmitted through the light-transmitting window and a melody sound is sounded, giving a warning that rice needs to be replenished. Therefore, since the alarm alerts the user to carefully check the amount of rice remaining inside the rice rack body through the light-transmitting window, this prevents forgetting to check and prevents the user from running out of rice.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the rice bowl of the present invention;
The figure is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the main body of the melody generator used in the present invention. Explanation of the codes, 1...Rice chest main body, 3...Rice storage section, 5...Translucent window, 6...Melody generator main body, 64...Light sensor, 7...Transparent protector.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] 1. A translucent window is provided in the front of the rice storage section of the rice storage section, and within the rice storage section, there is a melody generator main body with a built-in optical sensor spaced apart from the translucent window. 1. A rice rack, characterized in that the light sensor is attached to the rice rack and placed at a position where it can sense the light transmitted through the light-transmitting window. 2. The rice chest according to claim 1 of the registered utility model claim, in which the main body of the melody generator with a built-in optical sensor is sealed with a transparent protective body.