Rice cooker

Abstract

To provide a rice cooker capable of enhancing tastiness of cooked rice by determining an appropriate amount of water and supplying a rice cooking pot with it after grasping an amount of water existing in the rice cooking pot before cooking and of reducing unevenness of tastiness.SOLUTION: A rice cooker includes: a rice cooking pot housing rice and water; a water supply tank storing water to be supplied for the rice cooking pot; a rice cooker body housing the rice cooking pot and the water supply tank; a plurality of weight sensors provided on a bottom surface of the rice cooker body; and a control part which stores water supply from the water supply tank to the rice cooking pot and measurement value of the weight sensor. The control part has: a mass operation part which individually calculates a change in mass and the center of gravity of the rice cooker body, mass of rice stored in the water supply tank, and an amount of water stored in the water supply tank; a maximum water amount operation part which determines mass of water to supply in accordance with the calculated mass of rice; and a moving water amount operation part calculating an amount of water moved from the water supply tank to the rice cooking pot.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a rice cooker. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, some rice cookers have a water supply tank that automatically supplies water from the water supply tank to the rice cooker. Such rice cookers are equipped with a weight sensor to measure the amount of water supplied.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an automatic rice cooker that includes a rice cooker body having a rice cooking section for cooking rice, a water storage section for storing water, and a water transfer pipe for transferring water from the water storage section to the rice cooking section, the center of gravity of the rice storage section and the water storage section being located on the opposite side of the center of gravity of the rice cooking section with respect to the central axis of the rice cooker body, and a plurality of weight measuring means being located on the bottom surface of the rice cooker body, the weight measuring means being located outside the range where the rice cooking section, the rice storage section, and the water storage section are projected, and the amount of rice transferred from the rice storage section to the rice cooking section and the amount of water transferred from the water storage section to the rice cooking section are detected from the component force change amount of the plurality of weight measuring means. Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which the transfer amount is calculated from the change in moment force of the main body support component force generated by the rice transfer. In addition, since the weight of the rice cooker body and the weight measuring means are supported by an elastic supporting member, the weight detection element detects an amount equivalent to the weight of the object to be measured (rice or water), which is said to improve measurement accuracy.

[0004] Patent Document 2 discloses a rice cooker that includes a main body with a lid at the top, an inner pot removably stored in the main body, a heating unit for heating the inner pot, and a rice cooking menu display unit provided on the surface of the main body, and includes a water supply tank that is placed on the inner pot to cover the opening, has a water inlet at the top, and has a valve at the bottom, an electromagnetic drive unit for opening and closing the valve, and a weight sensor for detecting the weight of the water supply tank and the inner pot, and controls the rice cooking menu display unit to display the rice cooking menu corresponding to the detected weight of rice contained in the inner pot detected by the weight sensor and the amount of water poured into the water supply tank, and also includes a control unit for operating the electromagnetic drive unit to open the valve and supply water to the inner pot. Patent Document 2 describes that a simple configuration can automatically supply water to the inner pot in an amount corresponding to the amount of rice contained in the inner pot, so that rice can be cooked deliciously without excess or deficiency of water. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2016-77457 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2005-21464 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the process of cooking rice, a certain amount of rice is put into the rice cooker and washed with water. During this washing, the rice absorbs a certain amount of water. In addition, the water used for washing the rice is removed from the rice cooker after washing, and then an amount of water corresponding to the amount of rice is supplied to the rice cooker for cooking. However, it is difficult to completely remove the water from the rice cooker after washing, and a certain amount of water remains in the rice cooker. If the amount of water to be supplied is determined based only on the amount of rice supplied to the rice cooker, without considering the amount of water absorbed by the rice during this washing and the amount of water remaining in the rice cooker after washing, the amount of water will be excessive during cooking, and the taste of the cooked rice will decrease. In addition, the amount of water absorbed by the rice during the above-mentioned washing and the amount of water remaining in the rice cooker after washing will change every time rice is cooked, so the taste of the cooked rice will vary each time.

[0007] The above-mentioned Patent Documents 1 and 2 are capable of determining the amount of water corresponding to the amount of rice in the rice cooker and supplying it to the rice cooker, but they do not address the issue of determining the amount of water to be supplied to the rice cooker taking into account the amount of water present in the rice cooker before cooking (the amount of water absorbed by the rice when washing the rice, and the amount of water remaining in the rice cooker after washing the rice) and then supplying the water, and they do not disclose or suggest means for doing so.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a rice cooker that can improve the taste of rice and reduce variation in taste by determining the amount of water present in the rice cooker before cooking rice and then determining and supplying an appropriate amount of water to the rice cooker. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to achieve the above object, the rice cooker of the present invention comprises: A rice cooker that contains rice and water, a water supply tank that stores water to be supplied to the rice cooker, a rice cooker body that contains the rice cooker and the water supply tank, a plurality of weight sensors provided on the bottom surface of the rice cooker body, and a water supply sensor that supplies water from the water supply tank to the rice cooker. amountand a control unit that stores the measured values ​​of the weight sensor, and the control unit is configured to detect changes in the mass and center of gravity of the rice cooker body and the amount of rice contained in the rice cooker. Amount of and water contained in the water supply tank. Amount of A mass calculation unit that calculates the mass of the rice grains and the rice grains separately. Amount of Water provided according to the needs of each Amount of and a water movement amount calculation unit that calculates the amount of water moved from the water supply tank to the rice cooker. The mass calculation unit calculates the amount of rice (W c2 ) is calculated, and the mass of the contents in the rice cooker (the amount of rice (W c2 ) + the amount of water (W c1 )) to the amount of rice (W c2 ) to determine the amount of water in the rice cooker (W c1 ) is calculated, and the optimum water amount calculation unit calculates the amount of water in the rice cooker (W c1 ) to determine the target amount of water (Ws) required for cooking rice. It is characterized by do.

[0010] More specific configurations of the present invention are described in the claims. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, a rice cooker can be provided that can improve the taste of rice and reduce variation in taste by determining and supplying an appropriate amount of water to the rice cooker after grasping the amount of water present in the rice cooker before cooking rice.

[0012] Problems, configurations and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rice cooker according to the present invention (with the lid closed); [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rice cooker according to the present invention (with the lid open); [Diagram 3] A bottom view of the rice cooker of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rice cooker according to the present invention, seen from the bottom side. [Diagram 5]FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a water supply flow using a rice cooker of the present invention. [Figure 6] Flow diagram showing the subroutine of FIG. 5 [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of pre-shipment stored data. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of data stored during a flow. [Figure 9] Schematic diagram showing the concept of estimating the mass of rice in a rice cooker (mass of rice and water) WC and the mass of water in a water supply tank WE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] The rice cooker of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are perspective views of the rice cooker of the present invention. Fig. 1 shows the state in which the lid 4 of the rice cooker body 3 is closed, and Fig. 2 shows the state in which the lid 4 of the rice cooker body 3 is open. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the rice cooker 10 of the present invention comprises a rice cooker body 3 and a lid 4 that covers the rice cooker body 3. The rice cooker body 3 contains a rice cooker pot 1 that contains rice, and a water supply tank 2 that stores water to be supplied to the rice cooker pot 1. A weight sensor 5 is provided on the bottom surface of the rice cooker body 3. As shown in the drawings, the rice cooker 10 of the present invention has a water supply tank 2 in the rice cooker body 3, and has an automatic water supply configuration that can automatically supply water from the water supply tank 2 to the rice cooker pot 1 in an amount corresponding to the amount of rice contained in the rice cooker pot 1.

[0015] The rice cooker 10 is provided with a control unit (not shown), and controls the supply of water from the water supply tank 2 to the rice cooker 1, and calculates various values ​​(the mass of the rice cooker body 3, the change in the center of gravity, the amount of rice cooked, etc.) using the mass measured by the weight sensor 5. Amount of and water Amount of The control unit is composed of electronic components capable of controlling the rice cooker 10, such as a microcomputer.

[0016] In addition to the above configuration, an operation unit 7 and a display unit 8 are provided on the surface of the lid 4. The operation unit 7 is provided with a rice cooking start button, a reservation start menu, a rice cooking menu (storing rice cooking steps according to the type of rice, etc.) and a button for selecting and confirming a reservation menu (storing reservation start time, etc.). The display unit 8 can also display the menu selected by the operation unit 7, and an error message when the amount of water in the water supply tank 2 is low, etc. The rice cooker 10 also has a memory unit, which stores values ​​calculated by the control unit and the various menus mentioned above.

[0017] Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the rice cooker of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 3, a plurality of weight sensors 5 are arranged at different positions in the width direction and depth direction of the bottom surface of the rice cooker 10. The weight sensors 5 detect the amount of rice W C2 and water volume W C1 , the amount of water in the water tank 2 W E As long as the center of gravity of the rice cooker 10 can be measured, there are no particular limitations on the arrangement of the weight sensors 5, but it is preferable that the number of weight sensors 5 is greater on the rear side of the rice cooker body 3 than on the front side. In FIG. 3, two weight sensors are arranged in the width direction on the front side of the rice cooker body 3, and three weight sensors are arranged in the width direction on the rear side. By arranging more weight sensors 5 on the rear side than on the front side in this way, the impact load (which is applied more to the rear side of the rice cooker body 3) when the lid 4 is opened can be dispersed, and damage to the weight sensors 5 can be suppressed. In addition, each weight sensor may be embedded inside the bottom surface of the rice cooker so that the user cannot directly touch them.

[0018] Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rice cooker of the present invention as seen from the bottom side. As shown in Fig. 4, a bottom plate 6 may be provided to cover the bottom surface of the weight sensor 5. By providing such a bottom plate 6, even if the surface on which the rice cooker 10 is placed is uneven, the load is transmitted to all of the weight sensors via the bottom plate 6, so the influence of weight measurement errors caused by the weight sensor hitting one side can be reduced.

[0019] The external appearance of the rice cooker 10 of the present invention has been described above. Next, the control unit (not shown) will be described.

[0020] As described above, the control unit provided in the rice cooker 10 of the present invention is configured to detect changes in the mass and center of gravity of the rice cooker main body 3 and the amount of rice contained in the rice cooker pot 1. Amount of and the water contained in the water supply tank 2 Amount of A mass calculation unit that calculates the mass and the mass of the calculated rice. Amount of Water provided according to the needs of each Amount of and a water movement amount calculation unit that calculates the amount of water moved from the water supply tank 2 to the rice cooker 1.

[0021] In the above-mentioned conventional technology, the weight of the rice cooker that contains rice, the weight of the water supply tank that contains water, and the weight of the water moving from the water supply tank to the rice cooker are all important factors. Amount of However, it was not possible to calculate the amount of rice and the amount of water separately. 1 This allows the amount of rice and water present in the rice cooker to be calculated separately. 1 After understanding the amount of water present in the rice cooker, 1 The appropriate amount of water to be supplied to the tank can be determined by the calculation method described in detail below.

[0022] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a water supply flow using a rice cooker of the present invention, and Fig. 6 is a flow diagram showing a subroutine of Fig. 5. The outline of the water supply flow is as shown in Fig. 5. First, the zero point (the weight of the rice cooker 1 and the water supply tank 2 when they are empty) is calculated, then the amount of rice W in the rice cooker 1 when rice is put into the rice cooker 1 and water is put into the water supply tank 2 is calculated. C2 and water volume W C1 , the amount of water in the water tank 2 W E Calculate the center of gravity of the rice cooker 10 and the amount of water W supplied from the water supply tank 2 to the rice cooker 1. S Determine the amount of water W from the water supply tank 2. S It supplies water to

[0023] First, an empty rice cooker pot 1 and a water tank 2 are set in the rice cooker body 3 (S1), and it is determined whether the zero point adjustment button is pressed or not (S2). If the zero point adjustment button is pressed, the weight sensor output (zero point) F i The weight sensor output (zero point) F is stored as the zero point F1 and used for the calculation described later (S3). i is retrieved from the storage unit and used in the calculation (S4).

[0024] Next, rice is placed in the rice cooker 1, and water is placed in the water supply tank 2 (S5). After that, the lid 4 is closed (S6). At this point, it is determined whether or not the rice amount definition button for inputting the amount of rice placed in the rice cooker 1 has been pressed (S7). If the rice amount definition button has been pressed, the rice amount W C2 And the amount of rice W C2 Optimal water volume W according to O (S8). If the rice amount definition button is not pressed, the previously stored rice amount W C2 And the amount of rice W C2 Optimal water volume W according to O is retrieved from the storage unit and used in the calculation (S9).

[0025] The rice amount definition allows you to specify the discrete range of rice amount input by the user (0.1 gou increments, 0.5 gou increments, etc.).

[0026] Next, after waiting for a predetermined time (S10), it is determined whether the rice cooking start button has been pressed or not (S11). If it has been pressed, the weight sensor output F i ' is stored (S12), and the process proceeds to the next step A. If the rice cooking button has not been pressed, the process returns to standby.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 6, in step A, the mass calculation unit of the control unit calculates the amount of water and rice (W C1 +W C2 ) and the water volume of water tank 2 W E The calculation method will be described below (S21).

[0028] Figure 9 shows a rice cooker.1 Mass (in U.S. Amount of and water Amount of )W C and the water in water tank 2 Amount of W E 9 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of calculating water in the rice cooker 1. Amount of W C1 , rice present in rice cooker 1 Amount of W C2 、W C =W C1 +W C2 、 Water present in water tank 2 Amount of W E 、 Then, the following equation is obtained from the change in the mass and center of gravity of the entire rice cooker.

[0029]

number

[0030] c: rice position (the leftmost weight sensor position is 0), e: tank water position, n: number of weight sensors, f i : Weight sensor position, F i : Weight sensor output (zero point indicates that there is no content in the rice cooker or water tank), F i ´: Weight sensor output (immediately after pressing the rice cooking start button, when there is food in the rice cooker and water tank)

[0031] According to the above formula, the mass of the contents in the rice cooker 1 ( W C1 +W C2 ) From rice amount W C2 Subtract the amount of water in rice cooker 1, W C1 can be calculated. 1 Water present in Amount of W C1 , rice cooker 1 The rice present in Amount of W C2 , Water tank 2 Water present in Amount of W EIt is possible to calculate the amount of rice. If the user presses the rice amount measurement button when putting rice into the pot before pressing the rice cooking start button, a function to measure the amount of rice may be added. In that case, the user will not need to input the amount of rice, and it will be possible to cook even an odd amount of rice.

[0032] Returning to the flow of Figure 6 again, the amount of water W C1 Then, the control unit calculates and stores the amount of water to be supplied (target value) W required for cooking rice. S The optimum water amount W is calculated and stored (S23). O Water volume in the kettle W C1 The target water supply amount can be determined by subtracting

[0033] Here, W E >W S It is determined whether or not W E >W S If so, water supply from the water supply tank 2 is started (S25). E >W S If not, an error message is displayed indicating that there is not enough water in the water supply tank 2 (S30), and the user refills the water supply tank 2 with water (S31). Amount of W C1 and rice Amount of W C2 Update (S27). Then, W O -W C1 Determine whether or not the value is <=0 (S28). O -W C1 If W <= 0, the water supply is stopped (S29) and the flow ends. O -W C1 If not <=0, return to S26.

[0034] The timing to start the water supply (S25) may be determined by counting backwards from the rice cooking completion time set by the user. In addition, water may be additionally supplied during rice cooking or warming to generate steam. Water may also be supplied in stages in multiple instalments until the target water supply amount is reached.

[0035] As a means for supplying water, a nozzle can be provided at the water inlet so that water can be supplied into the kettle in the form of a spray.

[0036] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of pre-shipment stored data, and Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of in-flow stored data. As shown in Fig. 7, Quantity W O and the target water supply amount W S Regarding the rice cooker, the rice cooker 10 will select the optimal amount of water according to the number of servings of rice, the date of polishing, the brand, and the dish. W O It is preferable to store the optimum amount of water W in advance based on the taste impression input by the user. O It may be possible to set the following.

[0037] When the input that the rice to be put into the rice cooker is dry rice is received, C1 There is no need to calculate the dry rice in the pot. Amount of The target water supply volume is determined from the estimated value.

[0038] As described above, according to the present invention, it has been shown that it is possible to provide a rice cooker that can improve the taste of rice and reduce variation in taste by determining the amount of water present in the rice cooker before cooking rice, and then determining the appropriate amount of water to supply to the rice cooker, and supplying this to the rice cooker.

[0039] The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but includes various modified examples. For example, the above-mentioned embodiment has been described in detail to easily explain the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to those including all of the configurations described. Also, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Also, it is possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with another configuration.

[0040] For example, although a rice cooker has been described, the weight measurement technology described above can also be used in connected rice cookers, heating cookers, automatic cookers, microwave ovens, and various home appliance weight detection means. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 1...rice cooker pot, 2...water tank, 3...rice cooker body, 4...lid of rice cooker body, 5...weight sensor, 6...bottom plate, 7...operation unit, 8...display unit, 10...rice cooker.

Claims

1. The rice cooker includes a rice cooker pot that contains rice and water, a water supply tank that stores water to be supplied to the rice cooker pot, a rice cooker body that contains the rice cooker pot and the water supply tank, a plurality of weight sensors provided on the bottom surface of the rice cooker body, and a control unit that stores the amount of water supplied from the water supply tank to the rice cooker pot and the measured values ​​of the weight sensors, The control unit has a mass calculation unit that calculates the change in mass and center of gravity of the rice cooker body, the amount of rice contained in the rice cooker pot, and the amount of water contained in the water supply tank individually, an optimal water amount calculation unit that determines the amount of water to be supplied according to the calculated amount of rice, and a water movement amount calculation unit that calculates the amount of water moved from the water supply tank to the rice cooker pot, The mass calculation unit calculates the amount of rice (W c2 ) present in the rice cooker, and calculates the amount of water (W c1 ) in the rice cooker by subtracting the amount of rice (W c2 ) from the mass of the contents in the rice cooker (the amount of rice (W c2 ) + the amount of water (W c1 )); The rice cooker, characterized in that the optimum water amount calculation unit determines a target water supply amount (Ws) required for cooking rice by subtracting the amount of water (Wc1) in the rice cooker from the optimum water amount (Wo).

2. The rice cooker according to claim 1, characterized in that the rice cooker pot and the water supply tank are arranged at different positions in the width direction of the rice cooker body, and two or more weight sensors are arranged at different positions in the width direction of the bottom surface of the rice cooker body.

3. The rice cooker according to claim 1, characterized in that the rice cooker pot and the water supply tank are arranged at different positions in the depth direction of the rice cooker body, and two or more weight sensors are arranged at different positions in the depth direction of the bottom surface of the rice cooker body.

4. 2. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the weight sensors are provided more on the rear side of the rice cooker body than on the front side of the rice cooker body.

5. 2. The rice cooker according to claim 1, further comprising a bottom plate for covering a bottom surface of the weight sensor.

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