JPH064855Y2 - rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a rice cooker controlled by a microcomputer to supply backup power when the power is temporarily cut off due to a power failure.

(Prior Art) In recent years, various processes such as rice cooked, brown rice cooked, cooked, porridge cooked, etc. are selected by performing a series of rice cooking and heat retention processes in accordance with a rice cooking program using a microcomputer. You can do it. However, in a rice cooker using a microcomputer, if the power is cut off due to a temporary power failure or disconnection of the power plug after setting the course, the contents of the memory of the microcomputer and the information on the timer operation will be erased. , There is a problem that it interferes with the operation of cooking rice. For this reason, in this type of rice cooker, a backup circuit having a backup power source such as a primary battery or a secondary battery is connected to the microcomputer to supply power even when the power is temporarily cut off. After continuing the operation and holding the information such as the preset course and time in the timer rice cooking, and continuing the operation of the oscillator of the timer circuit connected to the microcomputer and re-energizing, the preset time and course The rice is ready to be cooked. As such a backup power source, a battery having a large capacity is usually used so as to be able to compensate for, for example, about 4 years of operation without commercial power supply.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, in the conventional rice cooker, the backup power supply is connected to the microcomputer at the time of factory shipment to be in a power supply state, so the backup power is consumed during the distribution period of the rice cooker. For example, when the distribution period extends for a long period of 4 years or more, there is a problem that the backup function is lost at the time of purchase by the consumer.

Then, this invention aims at providing the rice cooker which can prevent consumption of a backup power supply until it is used by the purchase by a consumer.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention is a container body 1 in which a container 5 is removably housed, a rice cooking heater 6 attached to the container body 1, and the inside of the container body 1. A heat sensitive device 8 which is provided at the bottom and moves up and down in response to the insertion and removal of the container 5, a microcomputer 33 for controlling the rice cooking operation, and a power supply to the microcomputer 33 at the time of a temporary power failure such as a power failure. The rice cooker with the backup power supply 38 has a switch 23 for connecting the backup power supply 38 to the microcomputer 33, and the switch 23 disconnects in response to the downward movement of the heat-sensitive device 8 beyond the normal use position. It works.

(Operation) The present invention disconnects the backup power supply 38 from the microcomputer 33 by forcibly moving the heat-sensitive device 8 downward beyond the normal use position and disconnecting the switch during the distribution period of the rice cooker. Switch when the thermal device 8 is in the normal use position during use after purchase
23 is in a connected state and the backup power supply 38 is supplied to the microcomputer 33.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 4, 1 is a main body having an inner case 2 and an outer case 3 and the like, 4 is a lid, and 5 is a container for storing cooked rice which is removably accommodated in the inner case 2, 6 is a rice cooking heater provided on the inner bottom of the inner case 2, 7 is a heat retaining heater provided on the outer surface of the inner case 2 and the inner surface of the lid 4, 8 is a heat-sensitive device provided on the inner bottom of the vessel body 1, Reference numeral 9 is an electronic circuit unit.

Next, the structure of the heat sensitive device 8 will be described.

A projecting peripheral wall portion 10 is formed at the center of the bottom of the inner case 2, and a hole 11 is formed at the top of the projecting peripheral wall portion 10.
A receiving plate 12 is horizontally fixed to the center of the outer bottom surface of the plate, and a hole 13 is formed in the receiving plate 12 so as to correspond to the hole 11, and the hole 11 has a cup-shaped heat sensitive portion 15 having a temperature sensor 14 therein. A spring 17 is inserted between the seat 16 and the receiving plate 12 fixed in the heat-sensitive portion 15, and the heat-sensitive portion 15 is elastically attached to the outer bottom portion of the container 5 by the urging of the spring 17. In a state where the container 5 is not housed, the heat sensitive portion 15 is raised by the biasing force of the spring 17, and the peripheral flange 18 formed at the lower end of the heat sensitive portion 15 is locked to the peripheral flange portion 19 of the hole 11, In the state where the container 5 is housed, the heat-sensitive part 15
Is lowered against the bias of the spring 17. Further, an operating rod 20 is vertically provided at the center of the seat 16 of the heat-sensitive portion 15. On the other hand, a printed circuit board 21 is horizontally provided on the outer bottom portion of the outer case 3, and a container detection switch 22 and a power source connection switch 23 are juxtaposed on the lower surface of the printed circuit board 21 while being electrically connected to the printed circuit board 21, respectively. ing. The container detection switch 22 is normally turned off and is turned on when the operating piece 22A is pushed, and is further turned on when it is pushed. The power connection switch 23 is normally turned on, that is, connected. When the piece 23A is pushed, the OFF operation, that is, the separating operation is performed. The center of an L-shaped operating lever 24 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 25 between a printed circuit board 21 and the operating rod 20 via a bracket (not shown), and a first lever 26 of the operating rod 20 is provided. The second lever 28 is loosely inserted in the groove 27 formed in the lower part, and
ON and OFF operations are performed. And
When the container 5 is not accommodated as shown in FIG. 3, the container detection switch 22 is in the OFF state and the power connection switch 23 is in the ON state, and when the container 5 is accommodated as shown in FIG. 4, only the container detection switch 22 is present. It is configured to be in an ON state.

Reference numeral 29 denotes an exterior body made of synthetic resin, synthetic rubber, or the like, which is detachably attached to the hole 11 of the protruding peripheral wall portion 10 of the inner case 2, and which is continuously attached from the factory shipment during the distribution period and is purchased by the consumer. It is to be removed at the time of use, and a peripheral flange portion 31 is integrally formed on the upper end peripheral edge of the columnar body 30, and a plurality of locking claws 32 are integrally projected on the lower end peripheral edge of the columnar body 30. . Then, the cylindrical body of the exterior body 29 is provided in the hole 11 of the protruding peripheral wall portion 10.
The lower end 30 is press-fitted from above so that the locking claw 32 is locked and fixed to the peripheral flange portion 19, and by mounting such an outer casing 29, the heat-sensitive portion 15 is replaced by the spring 17 as shown in FIG. The container detection switch 22 is forcibly pushed further downward than the normal use position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 against the bias.
And the power connection switch 23 are turned off. Further, on the upper surface of the exterior body 29, there are written notes such as "Please be sure to remove when using" not shown.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration, and 33 is a microcomputer constituting the electronic circuit unit 9, which has a CPU, a timer circuit, a memory, an input circuit, an output circuit, a backup circuit, etc. which are not shown. Accordingly, the rice cooking heater 6, the warming heater 7, and the display unit 35 are drive-controlled based on the switch signals of the operation unit 34, the container detection switch 22, and the container temperature detection signal from the temperature sensor 14. Further, a constant voltage power supply 37 for converting the AC voltage from the commercial power supply 36 into a DC voltage and outputting the DC voltage is connected to the microcomputer 33, and a backup power supply 38 is connected to a terminal to which the constant voltage power supply 37 is connected to the microcomputer 33. Power connection switch
Inserted and connected through 23.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.

First, when shipped from the factory, as shown in FIG.
The columnar body 30 of 29 is press-fitted into the hole 11 of the protruding peripheral wall portion 10 of the inner case 2 and is fixedly attached by the engagement of the locking claw 32 and the peripheral flange portion 19. As a result, the heat-sensitive portion 15 is pushed further downward than the normal operating range by the exterior body 29, and the operating lever 24 linked to the operating rod 20 is rotated in the clockwise direction about the support shaft 25 by being pushed by this. The second lever 28 pushes the actuating pieces 22A, 23A of the container detection switch 22 and the power supply connection switch 23 to turn them off. As a result, the start of cooking rice is blocked and the backup power supply 38 is disconnected from the microcomputer 33, and its consumption is prevented.

When the user takes out the container 5 from the container body 1 and removes the outer casing 29 when the user purchases the container after the circulation period with the outer casing 29 attached, and then uses the spring 17 as shown in FIG.
The heat-sensitive part 15 rises due to the urging force of the peripheral flange 18 and the peripheral flange 19
The operation lever 24 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction in this state, and the second lever 28 moves the operating pieces 22A and 23A.
The pressure on A is released, and as a result, the container detection switch 22 is OF
When the F state is entered, the power supply connection switch 23 is turned on and the backup power supply 38 is connected to the microcomputer 33. Further, when cooking rice, when the container 5 containing the rice to be cooked is set in the bowl body 1 and the lid 4 is closed, the heat-sensitive part 15 is lowered in the normal use range, and the operating lever 24 is rotated in the clockwise direction accordingly. Actuating piece 22A by the second lever 28
Is pushed and the container detection switch 22 is turned on to enable the rice cooking start, and since the second lever 28 does not push the operating piece 23A, the power connection switch 23 is kept on and the backup power supply 38 The DC voltage continues to be supplied to the microcomputer 33. As a result, even when the commercial power supply 36 is temporarily cut off, the power is supplied to continue the operation of the microcomputer 33, and information such as a preset course and time is held.

As described above, in the above embodiment, the power connection switch 23 is used during the distribution period from the factory shipment to the purchase by the consumer.
Is in a separated state, therefore it is possible to prevent consumption of the backup power supply 38 during the distribution period, and the supply of the backup power supply 38 is started at the time when the outer casing 29 is removed when the consumer purchases and uses it. Regardless of the length of the distribution period, the power supply during a temporary power interruption is compensated for a long time. Further, since only one power supply connection switch 23 needs to be provided, the device is inexpensive, and the backup power supply 38 can be downsized by preventing power consumption during the distribution period.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those of the above-mentioned embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description of the same parts will be omitted. 21101
No. 8, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-28222, and the like, the measuring means for measuring the container 5 and the rice cooked in the container 5 together are shown in FIG. 1 and the rice cooker in FIG. By being provided in the electric configuration shown, the microcomputer 33 is provided with a container detection function.
If the value measured by the weighing means is 0 g when the container 5 is not housed, 300 g when the container 5 is empty, and 892 g when 2 cups of rice and an appropriate amount of water are housed in the container 5, Weighing is performed according to the start switch being turned on by 33, and then the weighing value W is 800 g.
When it is determined whether or not, and when it is determined to be "YES" based on this determination result, the lamp is displayed as the container 5 containing rice and water is in the set state, and the buzzer sounds to start cooking rice, When it is determined to be "NO", a warning is given by a lamp and a buzzer. As a result, since the container is not set and the state of empty cooking can be detected by the measuring means, the container detection switch 22 shown in the first embodiment can be eliminated and the empty cooking can be detected before the rice heating heater 6 is energized.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the heat-sensitive device, a structure in which the heat-sensitive portion moves up and down in response to insertion and removal of the container may be appropriately selected, and the shape and material of the outer casing may be appropriately selected.

[Advantage of the Invention] The present invention can prevent the consumption of the backup power supply during the distribution period by providing the microcomputer with a switch for connecting and disconnecting the backup power supply so as to operate by disconnecting the switch by moving it downward from the normal use position of the thermal device. A rice cooker can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 5 show the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the whole rice cooker, and FIGS. 2 to 4 show the relationship between the container detection switch and the power connection switch for the heat sensitive device. FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part shown, FIG. 5 is a block diagram, and FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a second embodiment of the present invention. 1 …… Main body 5 …… Container 6 …… Rice cooker 8 …… Heat sensitive device 23 …… Power supply connection switch (switch) 33 …… Microcomputer 38 …… Backup power supply

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A container main body for removably accommodating a container, a heater mounted on the container main body, and a heat-sensitive device provided at an inner bottom portion of the container main body to move up and down in response to insertion and removal of the container. In a rice cooker including a microcomputer for controlling rice cooking operation and a backup power supply for supplying power to the microcomputer when power is temporarily cut off such as power failure, the backup power supply is connected to or separated from the microcomputer. A rice cooker characterized by having a switch, which operates in response to downward movement of the heat-sensitive device beyond a normal use position.