Rice cooker and rice cooking system

Abstract

To provide a rice cooker which even when reduction in power consumption is required during rice cooking operation, can cook the rice by completing the rice cooking operation being executed.SOLUTION: The rice cooker comprises: an inner pot; heating means which heats cooking-object rice in the inner pot; control means which controls output of the heating means to execute a rice cooking process; and a reception unit which receives power consumption information of a connected electric cable. The control unit executes the rice cooking process by controlling the output of the heating means lest a maximum power consumption in the electric cable be exceeded, on the basis of the power consumption information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

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[0001] The present application relates to a rice cooker and a rice cooking system, and particularly to a rice cooker that can cook rice while controlling the power consumption in the electrical wiring to which it is connected not to exceed a specified value, and a power consumption detection mechanism that grasps the power consumption of the electrical wiring connected to this rice cooker, and a rice cooking system that can control the power consumption of the electrical wiring not to exceed a predetermined value.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, with the expansion of the Internet environment and the progress of communication technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been spreading. In particular, by connecting household appliances to the Internet, it has become possible to easily control the operation and check the status of each device through a portable information terminal such as a smartphone even when away from home.

[0003] As another example of IoT for household appliances, by connecting the outlets that supply power to each household appliance to the Internet, a smart outlet that controls multiple household appliances by turning on / off the power supply can be put into practical use even when each connected household appliance does not have a communication function.

[0004] As such a smart outlet, a smart device equipped with a display unit, a control unit, and a communication unit and replaceable with an existing switch or outlet has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] The technology described in Patent Document 1 above allows for the replacement of existing switches and outlets installed in a building with smart devices, and by operating a touch switch on the display unit of the smart device, it is possible to remotely control home appliances that do not have communication control functions connected to the electrical wiring supplied by the smart outlet, check the operation history of each home appliance, and perform overall energy-saving operation control.

[0007] On the other hand, kitchen appliances such as refrigerators that use compressors, microwave ovens that operate magnetrons to generate high-frequency magnetic field lines, rice cookers that heat food using electric heaters, ovens, and electric kettles generally consume a lot of power. When these appliances are used simultaneously, a large current may flow through the electrical wiring at once, potentially exceeding the rated power capacity. However, conventional smart outlets only control appliances by turning the power on and off, so even if the electrical wiring is about to exceed its rated capacity, the only solution is to stop the operation of the electrical appliance causing the problem. When power is turned on and off by a smart outlet in this way, cooking appliances that are controlled by a predetermined cooking program and are designed to operate at a predetermined output for a predetermined time may not be able to complete the desired cooking process. In particular, rice cookers, which have relatively long cooking times and detailed cooking programs that correspond to the amount of rice to be cooked and various menus, and for which the cooking process must be executed according to the program, will experience significant problems if the power is turned off by a smart outlet during the cooking process, such as the cooking process stopping midway.

[0008] This invention aims to solve the problems in controlling the operation of electrical equipment using conventional smart outlets, and to provide a rice cooker that can complete the rice cooking operation and cook rice even when it is necessary to reduce power consumption during the cooking process, and to provide a rice cooker system that can also control the operation of other devices connected to the electrical wiring along with the rice cooker. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To solve the above problems, the rice cooker disclosed in this application comprises an inner pot, a heating means for heating the food to be cooked in the inner pot, a control means for controlling the output of the heating means to execute a rice cooking process, and a receiving unit for receiving power consumption information of connected electrical wiring, wherein the control unit controls the output of the heating means based on the power consumption information so as not to exceed the maximum power consumption of the electrical wiring to execute the rice cooking process.

[0010] Furthermore, the rice cooking system disclosed in this application comprises a power consumption detection mechanism capable of grasping the power consumption of connected electrical wiring and transmitting it as power consumption information, and a rice cooker capable of receiving the power consumption information, wherein the control unit of the rice cooker controls the output of the heating means based on the power consumption information so as not to exceed the maximum power consumption of the electrical wiring, and performs the rice cooking process. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] The rice cooker disclosed herein performs the rice cooking process by controlling the output of the heating means based on power consumption information in the connected electrical wiring. Therefore, the rice cooking process can be performed while keeping the power consumption in the electrical wiring below the maximum power consumption.

[0012] Furthermore, the rice cooking system disclosed in this application includes a power consumption detection mechanism capable of transmitting the amount of power consumed in the connected electrical wiring as power consumption information to the rice cooker, and a rice cooker that controls the heating means so as not to exceed the maximum power consumption based on the power consumption information, thereby enabling control of the power consumption of the entire electrical wiring, including equipment other than the rice cooker. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] [Figure 1] This is an illustrative diagram showing the overall configuration of the rice cooking system according to the embodiment. [Figure 2]This is a block diagram showing the configuration of each component constituting the rice cooking system according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] This is an illustrative diagram showing the change in the total power consumption in the rice cooking system according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] This is an illustrative diagram showing the change in power consumption in a rice cooking program that controls the maximum power consumption of a rice cooker according to the embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0014] The rice cooker disclosed herein comprises an inner pot, a heating means for heating the food to be cooked in the inner pot, a control means for controlling the output of the heating means to execute a rice cooking process, and a receiving unit for receiving power consumption information of connected electrical wiring, wherein the control unit executes the rice cooking process by controlling the output of the heating means so as not to exceed the maximum power consumption of the electrical wiring based on the power consumption information.

[0015] The rice cooker disclosed in this application, having the above configuration, can perform the rice cooking process within the range of power consumption available in the connected electrical wiring. Therefore, it is possible to complete the rice cooking instructed by the user while avoiding the electrical wiring exceeding its maximum capacity.

[0016] In the rice cooker disclosed in the present application, it is preferable that the control unit extends the heating time in the process so as to ensure that the amount of heat applied, which decreases due to the reduction in the output of the heating means, is secured. In this way, the rice cooking process can be executed by applying the amount of heat required for the rice to be cooked while maintaining the power consumption in the electrical wiring below a limit value.

[0017] Furthermore, it is preferable that the control unit also has a function to determine its own operating status based on the power consumption information. In this way, the operating status of the heating means can be objectively grasped from its own operating power, which is reflected in the power consumption of the connected electrical wiring.

[0018] The rice cooker system disclosed in the present application includes a power consumption detection mechanism that can grasp the power consumption of the connected electrical wiring and transmit it as power consumption information, and a rice cooker that can receive the power consumption information. The control unit of the rice cooker performs output control of the heating means so as not to exceed the maximum power consumption in the electrical wiring based on the power consumption information, and executes the rice cooking process.

[0019] By doing so, by controlling the operating power consumption of the rice cooker, it is possible to control the power consumption of the entire electrical wiring including other devices so that it does not exceed the maximum value.

[0020] Further, in the rice cooker system disclosed in the present application, the rice cooker further has a function of generating a control signal for controlling the operation of other devices connected to the electrical wiring and transmitting it to the power detection mechanism. The power consumption detection mechanism preferably controls the operation of the other devices connected to the electrical wiring based on the control signal. By doing so, it is possible to control the power consumption including other devices connected to the electrical wiring while minimizing the limitation on the power consumption for the rice cooking program executed by itself.

[0021] Hereinafter, embodiments of the rice cooker and the rice cooker system disclosed in the present application will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0022] (Embodiment) FIG. 1 is an image diagram showing the overall configuration of the rice cooker system described in this embodiment.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, the rice cooker system according to this embodiment includes a rice cooker 10 that executes a predetermined rice cooking program to cook rice, and a smart socket 20 that supplies power used by the rice cooker 10. In addition, there are devices A (40: shown as a microwave oven in FIG. 1) and device B (50: shown as a refrigerator in FIG. 1) that are connected to the electrical wiring 30 of the smart socket 20 in the same manner as the rice cooker 10, receive power from the smart socket 20, and perform their respective functions.

[0024] In Figure 1, two devices, Device A and Device B, are shown as devices other than the rice cooker 10 that operate using power from the smart outlet 20. However, there is no limit to the number of devices that can be connected to the electrical wiring 30 of the smart outlet 20 and receive power. Within the range of power that can be supplied from the smart outlet 20, it is possible to connect three or more devices. Also, in the case of devices that consume a large amount of power during operation depending on their function, it is possible that only one device other than the rice cooker 10 is connected to the electrical wiring 30 of the smart outlet 20.

[0025] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of each component included in the rice cooking system according to this embodiment.

[0026] In Figure 2, the configuration of each component in the rice cooking system is shown as a single block, separated from the perspective of the operation and function of each part. The illustrated blocks do not represent the actual components of each component. Therefore, the components shown as multiple blocks in Figure 2 may be arranged on a single circuit board, and a single electronic circuit element may perform the functions of multiple blocks. Conversely, the functions shown as a single block in Figure 2 may be realized by combining multiple components.

[0027] The rice cooker 10 includes an inner pot 11 for holding rice and water, and in the cooked rice mode with ingredients, various ingredients such as vegetables, beans, and meat; a rice cooker body that can house the inner pot 11 in its inner pot storage compartment; and a lid that can be opened and closed to cover the top of the inner pot storage compartment of the rice cooker body. The lid is equipped with various operation buttons as input means for the user to give various settings to the rice cooker, and a display unit for displaying the status of operations made by the operation buttons and the operating status of the rice cooker.

[0028] The control unit 13, which is the control means for the rice cooker 10, controls the temperature of the inner pot 11 by adjusting the amount of power supplied to the heating means 12, such as an IH heater, based on temperature data detected by temperature sensors arranged around the inner pot 11, in accordance with the rice cooking program stored in the memory unit 14 according to the user's settings, and cooks the rice as desired by the user. In addition, depending on the user's settings, or automatically, a keep-warm mode may be executed to prevent the cooked rice from cooling down.

[0029] In this embodiment, the rice cooker 10 can adopt conventionally known components for its appearance, such as the rice cooker body and lid, as well as its rice cooking function; therefore, a detailed explanation of each component with illustrations will be omitted. Furthermore, the control unit 13, which controls the overall operation of the rice cooker 10, can be configured using a known microcontroller or electronic logic circuit, and the memory unit 14 can be configured using various known memory circuits. Known components can also be used for temperature sensors and weight sensors that detect the weight of the inner pot, which may be placed as needed.

[0030] The power supply unit 15 of the rice cooker 10 receives power from the commercial 100V power supply via electrical wiring 30 connected to the smart outlet 20, and supplies the necessary power to the operation unit, display unit, control unit 13, memory unit 14, and heating means 12. In particular, the power supply unit 15 can grasp in real time the power supply status to the heating means 12, which changes depending on the execution status of the rice cooking program, and the power consumption of the rice cooker 10 grasped by the power supply unit 15 is constantly monitored by the control unit 11.

[0031] The rice cooker 10 shown in this embodiment has a receiving unit 16 that receives data transmitted from an external device and a transmitting unit 17 that transmits data to an external device. Data transmission and reception between the receiving unit 16 and the transmitting unit 17 are performed using known short-range communication methods such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (registered trademark).

[0032] The specific data transmission and reception between the receiving unit 16 and the transmitting unit 17, such as the reception of power consumption information transmitted from the smart outlet 20 by the receiving unit 16 and the transmission of control signals for controlling other devices from the transmitting unit 17, will be described in detail later.

[0033] The smart outlet 20, which is a power consumption detection mechanism, supplies commercial power to the rice cooker 10 and various other devices (devices A and B are shown as examples in Figure 2) via electrical wiring 30, and also includes a control unit 21, a power detection unit 22, a receiving unit 23, and a transmitting unit 24.

[0034] The power detection unit 22 of the smart outlet 20 detects the total power consumption used by the devices (10, 40, 50) connected to the electrical wiring 30.

[0035] The control unit 21 generates power consumption information from the power consumption detected by the power detection unit 22.

[0036] The generated power consumption information is transmitted from the transmitting unit 24 to the receiving unit 16 of the rice cooker 10.

[0037] In this way, the rice cooker 10 of this embodiment can grasp the amount of power consumption used in the electrical wiring 30 to which it is connected in real time as a value detected by the power detection unit 22 of the smart outlet 20, which acts as a power consumption detection mechanism.

[0038] Device A (40) connected to the electrical wiring 30 of the smart outlet 20 receives power from the electrical wiring 30 via the power supply unit 42, and the control unit 41 performs a predetermined function of device A. For example, if device A is a microwave oven, the power output is adjusted according to the cooking content and the amount of food being cooked.

[0039] Device B (50), which is connected to the electrical wiring 30 of the smart outlet 20, receives power from the electrical wiring 30 via the power supply unit 52, and the control unit 51 operates to perform predetermined functions of device B. For example, if device B is a refrigerator, it operates to maintain a predetermined or user-set internal temperature while performing actions such as opening and closing the door by the user and adjusting the temperature according to the amount of contents inside.

[0040] Here, we will explain the amount of power consumption that varies depending on the operation of each device connected to the electrical wiring 30 of the smart outlet 20.

[0041] Figure 3 is an illustrative diagram illustrating the changes in power consumption in the rice cooking system according to this embodiment. Note that the horizontal axis in Figure 3 indicates timings divided according to the operation of each device, and does not, for example, indicate that the period of time 1 is 1 hour. Also, the length of each step, i.e., the time required at each time, is not constant.

[0042] As illustrated in Figure 1, consider a case where a rice cooker 10, a microwave oven 40 (the first appliance), and a refrigerator 50 (the second appliance) are connected to the electrical wiring 30, and each is operating while using a predetermined amount of power. In Figure 3, the 2000W line indicated by reference numeral 61 represents the rated capacity of the electrical wiring 30 connected to the smart outlet 20 shown as an embodiment. If power exceeding this rated capacity, for example 2000W, is used in the electrical wiring 30, the circuit breaker to which the smart outlet 20 is connected will be tripped, stopping the power supply beyond that point, thus preventing malfunctions in the entire power system, including other power systems, due to overcurrent in one system.

[0043] As an overview of the operation of each device, the refrigerator 50, except when it is being operated for the first time, consumes a nearly constant amount of power under normal operating conditions without significant fluctuations in power consumption. In Figure 3, the power consumption of the refrigerator 50 is shown as reference numeral 62, and as an example, its power consumption is always 200W at every time step.

[0044] The microwave oven 40 requires a relatively large amount of power during operation, but its operating time is short compared to other appliances. In Figure 3, the power consumption of the microwave oven 40 is represented by the symbol 63, and it shows a state where it operates twice during the period indicated as time 2 and the period indicated as time 4, with the power consumption being 1300W as an example.

[0045] When the rice cooker 10 starts cooking, it operates according to the cooking program, going through various processes such as the water absorption process, the heating process, the cooking process, the re-cooking process, the steaming process, and the warming process. In Figure 3, the power consumption of the rice cooker 10 is represented by the symbol 64, and it is shown that in the interval between time 1 and time 2, it consumes 100W as an example for the water absorption process and the preheating process, and in the interval between time 3 and time 5, it consumes 1000W as an example for the heating, cooking, and re-cooking processes, and then in the subsequent steaming process in the interval of time 6, it consumes 100W as an example, and in the warming process in the interval between time 7 and time 8, it consumes 50W as an example.

[0046] As shown in Figure 3, the change in power consumption indicates that even when the microwave oven 40 (indicated as 64 in Figure 3) and the rice cooker 10 (indicated as 64 in Figure 3), which consume a large amount of power, are operating simultaneously, the total power consumption during time 2, which is the water absorption process where the rice cooker 10 consumes less power, is 1600W, which is well above the rated power consumption of 2000W. On the other hand, during time 4, when the microwave oven 40 is operating and the rice cooker 10 is in the high-temperature cooking process from heating up to the final cooking stage, which requires a large amount of power, if the power consumption of each appliance is added together, it will exceed the rated power consumption of 2000W, reaching 2500W. In this case, as described above, the circuit breaker for the electrical system supplying power to the smart outlet 20 will be tripped, causing all electrical appliances to stop working.

[0047] Therefore, in the rice cooker and rice cooking system shown in this embodiment, if the operation of the microwave oven 40 and the rice cooking process of the rice cooker 10, which requires a large amount of power, coincide, the control unit 13 of the rice cooker 10 reduces the amount of power supplied to the heating means 12 to, for example, 400W, thereby reducing the total power consumption of each device (rice cooker 10, microwave oven 40, refrigerator 50) that obtains operating power from the electrical wiring 30 connected to the smart outlet 20 to less than the rated 2000W, for example, to 1900W.

[0048] Next, as shown in Figure 3, we will explain the control process during the rice cooking stage of a rice cooker that operates with reduced power consumption because other devices are using a large amount of power.

[0049] Figure 4 is an illustrative diagram showing the change in power consumption during a rice cooking program, illustrating a rice cooking program that is executed under conditions where the maximum power consumption is limited. Figure 4(a) shows the change in power consumption when rice is cooked according to a normal rice cooking program without power consumption control, while Figure 4(b) shows the change in power consumption when control is applied to suppress the maximum power consumption.

[0050] Note that in Figures 4(a) and 4(b), the amount of power supplied and the elapsed time (timing of power supply) are merely illustrative and do not strictly represent the actual operation of the rice cooking program.

[0051] As shown in Figure 4(a), when a predetermined rice cooking program is executed without considering the power consumption of other devices, the power consumption of the rice cooker 10 is as follows: In the initial period, for example, 12 minutes from the start of operation (0 minutes), a small amount of power is applied to the heating means 12 for water absorption and preheating. In contrast, in the period up to 36 minutes, for example, which includes the heating, cooking, and re-cooking processes, the maximum power indicated by reference numeral 71 is applied to the heating means 12 to rapidly heat the rice and water inside the inner pot 11. In the subsequent re-cooking process and the warming process from 36 minutes onward, since there is no more excess water remaining inside the inner pot, a relatively small amount of power is again applied to the heating means 12.

[0052] Here, as shown at time 4 in Figure 3, if the time when other devices use a large amount of power coincides with the time when a large amount of power is applied, indicated by reference numeral 71, from 12 minutes onward in Figure 4(a), the power applied to the heating means 12 of the rice cooker 10 is reduced. Therefore, the change in the amount of power applied to the heating means in the rice cooking program involves a certain period, indicated by reference numeral 72 in Figure 4(b), where the amount of power falls below the maximum amount of power indicated by reference numeral 71, which is from 20 minutes to 28 minutes in Figure 4. In this embodiment, the rice cooker 10 extends the application period by 36 to 40 minutes, indicated by reference numeral 73, that is, after the maximum amount of power 71 becomes available again, to apply a heat amount equivalent to the amount of heat applied to the food to be cooked, which corresponds to the amount of power applied to the heating means that has decreased. In this way, even if there is a period in the rice cooking process when the amount of heating is reduced, it is possible to cook the rice to almost the same level as if it were cooked in a normal rice cooking process.

[0053] The inventors' findings confirmed that it is preferable to adjust the "amount of applied power × application time" so that the reduced power amount indicated by reference numeral 72 and the added power amount indicated by reference numeral 73 are approximately the same.

[0054] Furthermore, the rice cooking process, in which a large amount of power is supplied to the heating means 12 to heat the inner pot, includes processes such as a temperature rise process, a final cooking process, and a re-cooking process. To the extent possible, it is preferable to control the process so that the product of the applied power and the applied time in each process remains constant, so that the amount of heat applied to the inner pot in each process approaches the initial value.

[0055] In this case, if it is possible to apply a larger amount of power to the heating means 12 than the amount of power used in the initial rice cooking program, it may be possible to recover the reduced amount of heat input in a shorter time by increasing the amount of power input during the compensation period for recovering the reduced amount of power to near the upper limit of the rice cooker.

[0056] Furthermore, in each of the above-mentioned heating process, cooking process, and re-cooking process, if the conditions for transitioning to the next process are determined based on the detected temperature of the inner pot, even if the amount of electricity supplied to the heating means is reduced, the system can be controlled to continue heating in that process until the inner pot reaches a predetermined temperature, thereby achieving a cooked state closer to that of the original cooking program.

[0057] As described above, in the rice cooking system according to this embodiment, the amount of power consumed by the electrical wiring 30 to which the smart outlet 20 is connected is detected, power consumption information is created, and this power consumption information is transmitted to the rice cooker 10. Upon receiving the power consumption information, the rice cooker 10 controls the amount of power supplied to the heating means 12 by the control unit 13 so that the amount of power consumed by the electrical wiring 30 does not exceed the maximum rated value, thereby avoiding a situation in which the power supply to the electrical wiring 30 is stopped, and allowing each device (10, 40, 50) connected to the electrical wiring 30 to perform its predetermined operation. Furthermore, the rice cooker 10 can cook rice that is in almost the same state as rice cooked by the originally planned rice cooking program by having the control unit 13 compensate for the reduction in the amount of power supplied to the heating means 12 during the rice cooking process.

[0058] In the above embodiment, a configuration was described in which the power detection unit 22 of the smart outlet 20 detects the total power consumption used in the electrical wiring 30 and generates power consumption information. However, instead of a smart outlet, a smart tap having multiple connection ports to which power plugs of electrical devices can be connected can be used. When a smart tap is used, the power detection unit of the smart tap can detect the total power consumption of the rice cooker 10 and other devices connected to the rice cooker 10, and transmit the power consumption information to the rice cooker. In this case, the power line within the smart tap corresponds to the electrical wiring 30, and the smart tap is equipped with a transmitting unit that transmits power consumption information to the receiving unit 12 of the rice cooker 10.

[0059] Furthermore, the smart tap's inherent feature of stopping power supply to some connection ports when the total power consumption becomes excessive, thereby limiting power consumption to a certain level, can be used in conjunction with the operation control in the rice cooker 10 disclosed in this application, which prevents exceeding the maximum power consumption. When performing power control to stop the operation of specific electrical devices in this manner, it is preferable to prioritize stopping the power supply to devices among the various electrical devices connected to the smart tap that will not cause major problems even if their operation is temporarily stopped, such as electric kettles.

[0060] Furthermore, by storing the power consumption of other electrical devices connected to the smart tap and information about the connection ports to which those devices are connected in the storage unit 14 of the rice cooker 10, the control unit 13 of the rice cooker 10 can determine which electrical devices to stop operating and when to stop them based on the power consumption information transmitted from the smart tap, and the transmission unit 17 of the rice cooker 10 can send a control signal to the smart tap to stop power to the designated connection port. In this case, in particular, changes in power consumption in the rice cooking program set in the rice cooker can be known in advance, and power control of other devices can be performed with minimal impact on the rice cooking program. For this reason, more effective power consumption reduction measures, including the operation of other devices, can be implemented than power control by simply turning the smart tap on and off.

[0061] Furthermore, if other electrical devices connected to the same electrical wiring 30 as the rice cooker 10 are smart home appliances equipped with a receiving unit and a transmitting unit that can exchange information with the outside, it may be possible to perform more advanced overall power consumption control that takes into account the power consumption control of the other electrical devices by sharing necessary information between the control unit 13 of the rice cooker 10 and the control means of the other smart home appliance.

[0062] Furthermore, the components that generate power consumption information are not limited to the smart outlets and smart taps mentioned above; other devices that control the power consumption of the electrical wiring 30 to which the rice cooker 10 is connected can be separately installed. In addition, a smart circuit breaker that can grasp power consumption and transmit power consumption information can be used as a circuit breaker that cuts off the power supply when the power consumption of the electrical wiring 30 to which the rice cooker 10 is connected exceeds a certain limit.

[0063] As described above, the control unit 13 of the rice cooker 10 can grasp both the change in the amount of power supplied to the heating means 12 that it controls, and the resulting change in the power consumption of the equipment used in the electrical wiring 30. For example, if the amount of power supplied to the heating means 12 is rapidly increased, but the change in power consumption in the electrical wiring 30 is small, there is a possibility that the heating means 12 is malfunctioning in some way. Thus, the control unit 13 of the rice cooker 10 according to this embodiment can have a function to determine whether the operation of the rice cooker 10 itself is normal or not based on the power consumption information.

[0064] Furthermore, if the power consumption of devices connected to outlets other than the smart switch or smart tap is added to the circuit breaker that controls the total power consumption of the smart switch or smart tap to which the rice cooker is connected, it is preferable to store the power consumption of those other devices in the memory unit 14 of the rice cooker 10 in advance, and then add the power consumption used by those other devices to the power consumption information obtained from the memory unit 14 to control the power consumption of the rice cooker 10.

[0065] Furthermore, when controlling the power consumption of the rice cooker 10, it is preferable to control it at a value approximately 5-8% smaller than the maximum rated value of the electrical wiring 30, which is the power consumption management target, rather than at the maximum rated value itself. By controlling the upper limit of power consumption with a certain margin over the maximum rated value in this way, it is possible to avoid a situation where the power consumption exceeds the specified value and the circuit breaker trips, even when the operation control of the rice cooker is performed retrospectively based on the actual power consumption of the electrical equipment connected to the electrical wiring 30. In addition, even if a so-called overshoot occurs when the power consumption of each device changes suddenly, it is possible to avoid the power consumption of the electrical wiring 30 exceeding the maximum rated value. [Industrial applicability]

[0066] The rice cooker disclosed herein, and the rice cooking system including this rice cooker, are useful in that they can control the total power consumption of electrical appliances connected to the same electrical wiring while maintaining the quality of the rice cooked by executing a rice cooking program. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0067] 10 Rice cooker 11 Inner pot 12 Heating means 13 Control Unit (Control Means) 16 Receiving unit 20 Smart Outlet (Power Consumption Detection Mechanism) 30 Electrical Wiring 40. Electrical appliances (microwave ovens) 50. Electrical appliances (refrigerator)

Claims

1. Inner pot and A heating means for heating the food to be cooked in the inner pot, A control unit that controls the output of the heating means to perform the rice cooking process, It includes a receiving unit that receives power consumption information of the connected electrical wiring, A rice cooker characterized in that the control unit controls the output of the heating means so as not to exceed the maximum power consumption in the electrical wiring based on the power consumption information, and performs the rice cooking process.

2. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the control unit extends the heating time in the process so as to ensure that the amount of applied heat that is reduced due to the reduction in the output of the heating means is secured.

3. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the control unit further has a function to determine its own operating status based on the power consumption information.

4. A power consumption detection mechanism capable of determining the power consumption of connected electrical wiring and transmitting it as power consumption information, The rice cooker is equipped with the aforementioned power consumption information and A rice cooking system characterized in that the control unit of the rice cooker controls the output of the heating means so as not to exceed the maximum power consumption in the electrical wiring based on the power consumption information, thereby executing the rice cooking process.

5. The rice cooker further comprises a function that generates a control signal to control the operation of other devices connected to the electrical wiring and transmits it to the power detection mechanism. The rice cooker system according to claim 4, wherein the power consumption detection mechanism controls the operation of other devices connected to the electrical wiring based on the control signal.

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