rice cooker

Abstract

To provide a rice cooker capable of appropriately attenuating a pivoting speed of a lid body.SOLUTION: A rice cooker of the present invention includes a body 1, a lid body 2 capable of opening / closing an upper opening of the body 1, and a brake mechanism 10 for attenuating an opening speed of the lid body 2. The brake mechanism 10 includes a hinge part 3 for pivotally supporting the lid body 2 on the body 1 and energizing the lid body 2 in a direction to release the lid body, a damper 9 having a direct acting type absorber 42, and a receiving part 24 that abuts against the absorber 42. The damper 9 is provided on the lid body 2 so as to expand and shrink roughly in a back and forth direction, and the receiving part 24 is provided on the body 1 behind the damper 9.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a rice cooker having a top opening of a main body covered with a lid that can be opened and closed freely. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventional rice cookers of this type are configured to automatically open the lid around the hinge axis by pressing a lid-opening button, using the elastic force of a hinge spring. For example, the rice cooker described in Patent Document 1 is equipped with a braking mechanism (61) to reduce the speed at which the lid (2) is automatically opened. This braking mechanism (61) includes a damper (62) formed by a linear-acting absorber (66) housed horizontally in a holder (67), and a receiving portion (63) that interferes with the absorber (66) exposed from the holder (67) and slows the opening speed of the lid (2) by the resistance of the absorber (66). This absorber (66) is used horizontally with linear motion. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-086625 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In recent years, some rice cookers have come to have the operating section mounted on the top surface of the lid and the control board that controls the operating section located inside the lid, which makes the lid heavier. Furthermore, some rice cookers have a steam exhaust unit that releases steam generated as the food inside the pot heats up, and is located inside the lid so that it cannot be removed by the user, which also makes the lid heavier.

[0005] When a direct-acting absorber (66) is used sideways, as in the rice cooker described in Patent Document 1, if the lid becomes heavy, there is a risk that the pivot speed may not be adequately attenuated when the lid is automatically opened.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide a rice cooker that can appropriately dampen the pivoting speed of the lid body. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The rice cooker of the present invention comprises a main body, a lid that can open and close an upper opening of the main body, and a braking mechanism that damps the opening speed of the lid, wherein the braking mechanism has a hinge portion that pivotally supports the lid on the main body and biases the lid in a direction that opens the lid, a damper having a linear-acting absorber, and a receiving portion that abuts against the absorber, and the damper is provided on the lid so as to expand and contract in approximately the front-rear direction, and the hinge portion 、 A hinge shaft that supports the cover and a biasing means for biasing the lid body in a direction to open the lid body. the hinge shaft is disposed substantially horizontally in the left-right direction of the main body, the extension and contraction direction of the damper is substantially perpendicular to the hinge shaft, and the receiving portion is provided on the main body behind the damper, and has a substantially horizontal upper surface, When the cover pivots in the opening direction, the absorber Center point of the tip surface The pivotal speed of the lid body is reduced, and the attenuation effect of the pivotal speed of the lid body becomes the highest before the lid body is fully opened. When the cover is fully open, the tip end surface is in contact with the upper surface portion. It is characterized by the following. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, when the lid is opened, the pivoting speed of the lid can be appropriately damped. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the rice cooker of the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is an upper perspective view of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention with the lid cover removed. [Figure 3] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the upper side of FIG. 3 at a different angle. [Figure 4]1 is a diagram illustrating the pivoting of the lid of the rice cooker according to one embodiment of the present invention (when the lid is closed). FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the pivoting of the lid of the rice cooker of one embodiment of the present invention (the state in which the center point has moved 22.2 degrees). [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the pivoting of the lid of the rice cooker of one embodiment of the present invention (the state in which the center point has moved approximately 35.2 degrees). [Figure 7] 1 is a diagram illustrating the pivoting of the lid of the rice cooker of one embodiment of the present invention (when the lid is fully open). FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Preferred embodiments of the cooking device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below do not limit the content of the present invention as defined in the claims. Furthermore, not all of the configurations described below are necessarily essential requirements of the present invention.

[0011] The overall configuration of the rice cooker of this embodiment will be explained based on Figure 1. In each of these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a bottomed main body that is stably placed on the floor, and reference numeral 2 denotes a lid that can be opened and closed and covers the top opening of main body 1. The outer shell of the rice cooker is formed by main body 1 and lid 2. Main body 1 is formed with a pot storage section (not shown) that is open at the top to detachably store a pot (not shown), and when lid 2 is opened, the pot can be removed from the pot storage section.

[0012] The pot as the inner pot is used to store food to be cooked such as rice and water, and is placed and suspended on the top surface of the main body 1 so that the pot is suspended in the pot storage section with a gap formed between the pot and the pot storage section.

[0013] Although not shown, a heating coil as a pot heating means for electromagnetic induction heating of the pot, a heating control means, etc. are provided inside the main body 1. Then, based on a control signal from the heating control means, a high-frequency current is supplied to the heating coil, which generates an alternating magnetic field, causing the heating element formed on the outer surface of the pot to generate heat, thereby heating the pot and, ultimately, the food being cooked inside the pot.

[0014] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, a hinge portion 3 is provided at the rear of the main body 1, and when the engagement between the main body 1 and the lid body 2 is released, the lid body 2 automatically pivots and opens relative to the main body 1, with the hinge shaft 11 (described below) provided in the hinge portion 3 as the center of rotation.

[0015] The lid 2 has an operating unit 4, a display unit 5, and a steam vent 6 on its top surface. The operating unit 4 in this embodiment is a so-called touch panel, which the user can touch to start or stop rice cooking and select various cooking courses, but push-buttons or other devices may also be used. The display 5 in this embodiment is a liquid crystal display (LCD) that displays various information related to rice cooking. The steam vent 6 is used to release steam generated by heating the food in the pot to the outside of the rice cooker. In addition, an exposed lid-opening button 7 is located on the top surface of the lid 2 and is pressed to open the lid 2 from the main body 1. When the user presses the lid-opening button 7, the engagement between the main body 1 and the lid 2 is released, and the lid 2 automatically opens from the main body 1.

[0016] The lid body 2 of this embodiment has a lid cover 2A and a lid base 2B. The lid cover 2A is the exterior component of the lid body 2. The lid base 2B is the framework component of the lid body 2, and the lid cover 2A is attached to the top of this lid base 2B. An internal space is formed between the lid cover 2A and the lid base 2B, and a steam exhaust unit 8, a damper 9, a lid reinforcing plate 32, etc., which will be described later, are disposed in this internal space. An inner lid (not shown) is detachably attached to the bottom of the lid base 2B.

[0017] A clamp receiver (not shown) is provided on the upper front side of main body 1, and a clamp (not shown) is provided on the lower front side of lid 2. This clamp engages with the clamp receiver, thereby holding lid 2 in a closed state on main body 1. When lid-open button 7 is pressed, the engagement between the clamp and the clamp receiver is released, and lid 2 automatically pivots open due to the biasing force of hinge springs 13A and 13B, which will be described later.

[0018] 2 and 3 show a state in which the lid cover 2A of the lid body 2 is removed. The hinge portion 3 has a hinge shaft 11, a pair of left and right hinge sleeves 12A, 12B through which the hinge shaft 11 is inserted, a pair of left and right hinge springs 13A, 13B, coil accommodating portions 15A, 15B that accommodate coil portions 14A, 14B of the hinge springs 13A, 13B, a shaft reinforcing plate 16, and a pair of left and right shaft insertion walls 17A, 17B through which the hinge shaft 11 is inserted.

[0019] Hinge shaft 11 is made of metal and is formed in a thin cylindrical shape. Hinge sleeves 12A and 12B are made of synthetic resin and function as buffer members between hinge shaft 11 and coil portions 14A and 14B of hinge springs 13A and 13B.

[0020] Hinge springs 13A and 13B are formed of torsion coil springs or the like and serve as biasing means for constantly biasing lid 2 in the open direction, with arm portions 18A and 18B extending from one end of coil portions 14A and 14B being held by arm holders 19A and 19B formed on lid reinforcing plate 32, which will be described later. In this embodiment, when lid-open button 7 is pressed with lid 2 closed as shown in FIG. 1 to disengage the clamp on lid 2 from the clamp receiver on main body 1, the elastic force of hinge springs 13A and 13B acts to automatically open lid 2 relative to main body 1. Hinge springs 13A and 13B have bilaterally symmetrical shapes.

[0021] The coil accommodating sections 15A and 15B each have a front wall 20A, 20B, a rear wall 21A, 21B, a left wall 22A, 22B, and a right wall 23A, 23B, and are formed as a hollow rectangular shape with a bottom and an open top. The left wall 22A, 22B and the right wall 23A, 23B are formed with a left-wall shaft insertion hole (not shown) and a right-wall shaft insertion hole (not shown) through which the hinge shaft 11 is inserted. The left coil accommodating section 15A and the right coil accommodating section 15B are connected by a plate-shaped receiving section 24. The coil accommodating sections 15A, 15B and the receiving section 24 are formed of synthetic resin and are provided on the main body 1.

[0022] The receiving portion 24 is located approximately in the center of the rice cooker in the left-right direction, and is integrally formed from above with an approximately horizontal upper surface portion 25, a curved receiving surface portion 26, an approximately horizontal middle surface portion 27, and an approximately vertical vertical surface portion 28.

[0023] The shaft reinforcing plate 16 has a bottom plate portion 29, a left plate portion 30 erected from the left end of the bottom plate portion 29, and a right plate portion 31 erected from the right end of the bottom plate portion 29. The left plate portion 30 and the right plate portion 31 are respectively formed with a left plate shaft insertion hole (not shown) and a right plate shaft insertion hole (not shown) through which the hinge shaft 11 is inserted. The shaft reinforcing plate 16 is made of metal, and inserting the metal hinge shaft 11 into the left plate shaft insertion hole and the right plate shaft insertion hole prevents deformation, wear, etc. of other synthetic resin parts through which the hinge shaft 11 is inserted.

[0024] A metal lid reinforcing plate 32 that reinforces the lid base 2B is provided on the lid base 2B of the lid body 2. A left shaft insertion hole (not shown) through which the hinge shaft 11 is inserted is formed in the left end of the lid reinforcing plate 32, and a right shaft insertion hole 33B through which the hinge shaft 11 is inserted is formed in the right end of the lid reinforcing plate 32. The lid reinforcing plate 32 reinforces the synthetic resin lid base 2B, and by inserting the hinge shaft 11 into the left shaft insertion hole and right shaft insertion hole 33B, it prevents deformation and wear of other synthetic resin parts through which the hinge shaft 11 is inserted.

[0025] The hinge shaft 11 is inserted through the hinge sleeves 12A and 12B, the coil portions 14A and 14B, the left and right wall shaft insertion holes, the left and right plate shaft insertion holes, and the left and right shaft insertion holes 33B. At this time, the hinge shaft 11 is positioned below the receiving surface portion 26 (see FIGS. 4 to 7).

[0026] A steam exhaust unit 8 is disposed approximately in the center of the lid base 2B, through which steam generated as the food inside the pot heats up flows. A steam vent 6 is formed at the top of this steam exhaust unit 8, and by attaching the lid cover 2A, the steam vent 6 is exposed on the top surface of the lid body 2. Note that the lid cover 2A and steam exhaust unit 8 are not normally removed by the user.

[0027] A damper 9 is disposed between the receiving portion 24 and the steam exhaust unit 8. The damper 9 is composed of a rod-shaped absorber shaft 41, a linear-acting absorber 42 that is elastically movable in a linear direction at the base end of the absorber shaft 41, and a holder 43 that houses the absorber shaft 41 and the absorber 42. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the damper 9 is disposed so that its longitudinal direction is the front-to-rear direction of the lid body 2, and is located approximately in the center of the lid body 2 in the left-to-right direction. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, when the lid body 2 is closed, the damper 9 is attached at an angle to the lid base portion 2B of the lid body 2 so that the front side (the holder 43 side) is higher than the rear side (the absorber 42 side).

[0028] The absorber 42 is cylindrical and has oil sealed inside. A piston (not shown) is fixedly connected to the base end of the absorber shaft 41, and this piston is slidably provided inside the absorber 42.

[0029] Holder 43 has a cylindrical portion 44 that is open at one end (the side facing receiving portion 24) and closed at the other end (the side facing steam exhaust unit 8), and an attachment portion 46 that enables attachment to lid base portion 2B of lid body 2 using a fastening member such as a screw 45. Then, the entire absorber shaft 41 and part of absorber 42 are housed in cylindrical portion 44 such that the tip of absorber shaft 41 abuts against closed surface portion 47 at the other end of cylindrical portion 44 and the tip of absorber 42 protrudes from one end opening 48 of cylindrical portion 44.

[0030] The absorber shaft 41 and absorber 42 are originally intended to be used as a single oil damper that applies a load to the absorber shaft 41. However, if the deflection angle becomes large when a load is applied to the absorber shaft 41, the performance of the oil damper cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, in this embodiment, to prevent a load from being applied to the small-diameter absorber shaft 41, the absorber 42, which has a larger diameter than the absorber shaft 41, is housed in a separate holder 43 in an inverted position. The tip surface 42A of the absorber 42 exposed from the holder 43 is pressed against the upper surface 25 and receiving surface 26 of the receiving portion 24, which apply the load. In this way, the deflection angle applied to the absorber 42 is determined by the gap between the absorber 42 and the cylindrical portion 44 of the holder 43 that surrounds its outer periphery, effectively suppressing the deflection angle of the absorber 42. Furthermore, the holder 43 is integrally formed with a mounting portion 46, which allows the damper 9 to be easily attached and fixed to the desired position on the cover 2.

[0031] In this embodiment, the braking mechanism 10 is made up of the hinge portion 3 provided on the main body 1 and the damper 9 incorporated in the lid 2. Figures 4 to 7 show the positional relationship between the damper 9 and the receiving portion 24 when the lid 2 pivots, and the operation of the braking mechanism 10 will be explained based on these figures.

[0032] 4 shows an imaginary circle M whose radius is the distance between the axial center S1 of the hinge shaft 11 and the center point S2 of the tip surface 42A of the absorber 42 when the lid 2 is in a fully closed state. When the lid 2 is in a fully closed state, the absorber 42 is not in contact with the receiving portion 24, and the tip surface 42A of the absorber 42 is located above the middle surface portion 27.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 5, when the cover 2 pivots from the closed state in the opening direction and the center point S2 moves approximately 20 degrees (22.2 degrees in FIG. 5) from the initial position P around the shaft center S1, the tip surface 42A abuts against the receiving surface 26 of the receiving part 24 at the intersection X between the imaginary circle M and the receiving surface 26. Thereafter, as the cover 2 pivots, the tip surface 42A slides upward on the receiving surface 26, and the shape of the receiving surface 26 causes the center point S2 to be positioned outside the imaginary circle M. When the center point S2 is positioned outside the imaginary circle M, a resistance force is applied from the receiving surface 26 to the absorber 42, and the absorber 42 is pushed into the holder 43. Therefore, the distance between the receiving surface 26 and the holder 43 becomes shorter.

[0034] As the lid 2 further pivots in the opening direction, the damping effect on the pivoting speed of the lid 2 reaches its highest when the central point S2 moves approximately 35 degrees (35.2 degrees in FIG. 6) from the initial position P around the axial center S1, as shown in FIG. 6. That is, in this embodiment, the distance between the damper 9 and the receiving surface 26 and the shape of the receiving surface 26 are designed so that the braking action on the lid 2 increases sharply just before the lid 2 is fully opened.

[0035] Furthermore, when the cover 2 pivots in the opening direction and is in the completely open position as shown in Figure 7, the tip surface 42A of the absorber 42 abuts against the upper surface 25. At this time, the amount that the absorber 42 protrudes from the holder 43 is at its smallest, and the overall length of the damper 9 is at its shortest.

[0036] As shown in Figure 1, when a pot is placed in the pot storage compartment of main body 1 and lid 2 is closed, lid-opening button 7 on the top surface of lid 2 is pressed to open the lid. When lid-opening button 7 is pressed against the elasticity of a biasing means (not shown), the clamp on lid 2 separates from the clamp receiving portion on main body 1, disengaging them. The elastic force of hinge springs 13A and 13B acts on lid 2 against its own weight, causing it to automatically pivot relative to main body 1 around hinge shaft 11.

[0037] Here, in the braking mechanism 10, as the lid body 2 is opening, the tip surface 42A of the absorber 42 comes into contact with the receiving surface 26 of the receiving portion 24, and from there, the absorber 42 moves toward the upper side of the receiving surface 26 while being gradually pushed into the holder 43 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). Therefore, as the resistance force applied to the receiving portion 24 by the movement of the absorber 42 gradually increases, the pivoting speed of the lid body 2 decreases, and the rear part of the lid body 2 hits the upper rear side of the main body 1 in a substantially upright state as shown in FIG. 7, and the pivoting of the lid body 2 stops. At this time, because the receiving surface 26 of the receiving portion 24 is formed in a slope shape from the bottom to the top, the pivoting speed of the lid body 2 can be smoothly decelerated as the absorber 42 moves along the receiving surface 26, and the collision load applied to the absorber 42 is also mitigated. Furthermore, because tip surface 42A of absorber 42 abuts against receiving surface portion 26 and upper surface portion 25 at a substantially right angle, the angle of deflection when absorber 42 is pushed in by receiving portion 24 is always limited within a predetermined range by the gap with holder 43 that holds absorber 42, and satisfactory performance with excellent torque matching can be achieved as braking mechanism 10 for lid body 2. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 7, when lid body 2 is fully open, the weight of lid body 2 is applied in a direction that contracts damper 9, so that the load of lid body 2 can be efficiently supported by damper 9.

[0038] As described above, the rice cooker of this embodiment comprises a main body 1, a lid body 2 that can open and close the top opening of the main body 1, and a braking mechanism 10 that reduces the opening speed of the lid body 2. The braking mechanism 10 supports the lid body 2 on the main body 1 and comprises a hinge section 3 that urges the lid body 2 in the direction of opening, a damper 9 with a linear-acting absorber 42, and a receiving section 24 against which the absorber 42 abuts. The damper 9 is provided on the lid body 2 so as to expand and contract in approximately the front-to-rear direction, and the receiving section 24 is provided behind the damper 9 on the main body 1. As a result, when the lid body 2 pivots in the opening direction around the hinge shaft 11, the absorber 42 of the damper 9 abuts against the receiving section 24, reducing the pivoting speed of the lid body 2 and allowing the lid body 2 to stop smoothly in a fully open state. In addition, the damper 9 is mounted on the cover body 2 so as to expand and contract in approximately the forward and backward directions, and the tip surface 42A of the absorber 42 abuts the receiving portion 24 approximately perpendicularly, thereby maximizing the damping effect of the damper 9 and appropriately damping the pivotal speed even with a heavy cover body 2.

[0039] Furthermore, in the rice cooker of this embodiment, the hinge shaft 11 that supports the lid body 2 is arranged approximately horizontally in the left-right direction of the main body 1, and the direction of extension and contraction of the damper 9 is approximately perpendicular to the hinge shaft 11. As a result, when the lid body 2 pivots around the hinge shaft 11, the direction of the resistance force from the receiving portion 24 applied to the absorber 42 becomes the direction of extension and contraction of the damper 9, and uneven load on the absorber 42 can be suppressed.

[0040] In addition, in the rice cooker of this embodiment, the receiving portion 24 has a receiving surface portion 26 that is curved so that the damper 9 side is convex, so that the tip surface 42A of the absorber 42 slides on the receiving surface portion 26 as the lid body 2 pivots, thereby smoothly damping the pivoting speed of the lid body 2.

[0041] In addition, the rice cooker of this embodiment has hinge springs 13A, 13B that bias the hinge portion 3 in the direction of opening the lid body 2, and coil accommodating portions 15A, 15B that accommodate the hinge springs 13A, 13B. Since the receiving portion 24 is connected to the coil accommodating portions 15A, 15B, the left and right sides of the receiving portion 24 are held by the coil accommodating portions 15A, 15B, and the receiving portion 24 can be strong enough to withstand the force applied by the damper 9.

[0042] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the receiving portion 24 can be formed in a desired shape, such as a straight line extending from the bottom to the top, so that the braking action on the lid 2 increases constantly. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 1 Main unit 2 Lid 3 Hinge part 9 Damper 10 Braking mechanism 11 Hinge shaft 13A Hinge spring (biasing means) 13B Hinge spring (biasing means) 15A Coil housing (housing) 15B Coil housing (housing) 24 Receiving part 25 Top part 26 Receiving surface 42 Absorber 42A Tip surface M Virtual Circle S1 axis center S2 center point

Claims

1. The main body and a lid that can open and close an upper opening of the main body; a braking mechanism that attenuates the opening speed of the lid body, The braking mechanism includes: a hinge portion that pivotally supports the lid body on the main body and biases the lid body in a direction to open the lid body; a damper having a direct acting absorber; a receiving portion that contacts the absorber, The damper is provided on the cover so as to expand and contract in the approximately front-to-rear direction, the hinge portion has a hinge shaft that pivotally supports the lid body and a biasing means that biases the lid body in a direction that opens the lid body, The hinge shaft is disposed substantially horizontally in the left-right direction of the main body, The extension and contraction direction of the damper is substantially perpendicular to the hinge shaft, the receiving portion is provided on the main body at the rear of the damper and has a substantially horizontal upper surface portion; When the lid body pivots in the opening direction, the center point of the tip surface of the absorber abuts on the receiving portion, the pivoting speed of the lid body is reduced, and the attenuation effect of the pivoting speed of the lid body becomes the highest before the lid body is fully opened, When the lid is fully open, the tip surface is in contact with the upper surface portion.

2. When the lid body pivots in the opening direction from a completely closed state, and the tip surface abuts against the receiving portion, the center point of the tip surface of the absorber moves on an imaginary circle whose radius is the distance between the axial center of the hinge shaft and the center point, and when the lid body further pivots in the opening direction, The rice cooker according to claim 1 , wherein the center point is located outside the imaginary circle.

3. 3. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the receiving portion has a receiving surface portion that is curved so that the damper side is convex.

4. A pair of left and right housing portions for housing the biasing means, The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the receiving portion is connected to the left and right storage portions.

5. The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the damper is provided on the lid at an angle such that the front side is higher than the rear side.

Images