JP2006130086A - Food boiling cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a food boiling cooker capable of accurately detecting the salinity of boiling water in the cooker and displaying it in such a manner that a user can easily understand the salinity. <P>SOLUTION: This food boiling cooker having a cooking vessel storing foods is characterized in comprising a measuring means measuring the electric conductivity of the boiling water in the cooking vessel, a processing means calculating the salinity based on the electric conductivity measured by the measuring means, and a display means displaying the salinity calculated by the processing means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooker with a food bowl, and more specifically, it is possible to accurately detect the salinity of hot water in the bowl of the cooker and to allow the user to easily recognize the salt concentration. Can relate to cooker with food bowl.

Conventionally, in order to boil pasta such as spaghetti and macaroni and noodles such as udon and soba, it is known that an appropriate amount of water and an appropriate salt concentration according to the noodles need to be set and adjusted. The appropriate amount of water and the appropriate salt concentration have a problem that they are difficult to adjust.
However, in recent years, it has become possible to control these water amounts and salinity concentrations so that they are always at a desired constant value, and to set them to the appropriate boiling conditions (preferably salinity concentrations) as described above. There is an invention of a cooker.
For example, a cooking device as disclosed in Patent Document 1 can automatically adjust the salt content and moisture supplied to the cooking tank by detecting the electrical conductivity of the cooking tank. As described above, by adjusting the conditions for automatically boiling the noodles to a certain level, anyone can easily boil the noodles.

However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, the salinity concentration is automatically adjusted to a constant value regardless of the state of water (boiled hot water) in the cooking tank. For this reason, for example, when pasta is boiled in large quantities, the flour covering the periphery of the pasta has clouded the water in the cooking tank, and there is a possibility that an error may occur when detecting the salinity concentration. .
Although this error required fine adjustment of the salinity concentration or the water amount, the invention described in Patent Document 1 can maintain the numerical values of the water amount and the salinity concentration set in the initial stage. According to the use, the water amount and the salt concentration could not be finely adjusted.

Moreover, the invention described in this patent document 1 detects the electrical conductivity of boiling water in a cooking tank using the sensor provided by arranging the electrical conductivity at a predetermined position in the cooking tank. . For this reason, the sensor will be arranged at one place in the cooking tank, and even if it can detect the electrical conductivity near one place in the cooking tank, the electric conductivity of boiling water in the whole cooking tank There was a problem that could not be detected.
Furthermore, the sensor of the invention described in Patent Document 1 has a risk of causing malfunction due to adhesion of scales or food waste to the electrodes when used for a long period of time. For this reason, it has been necessary to constantly maintain and manage the electrodes, and there has been a problem that a laborious operation has to be performed in order to perform the maintenance and management.

JP 2002-34791 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and by displaying in detail the salinity of boiling water in the cooking tank, the user can be surely informed of the salinity of boiling water during cooking. Further, the present invention relates to a food cooker that can easily detect the electric conductivity of the entire boiling water in the cooking tank and is easy to maintain and manage.

The invention described in claim 1 is a food cooker equipped with a cooking tank containing food, a measuring means for measuring the electrical conductivity of boiling water in the cooking tank, and the electricity measured by the measuring means There is provided a cooking device using a food basket characterized by comprising processing means for calculating the salinity concentration based on conductivity and display means for displaying the salinity concentration calculated by the processing means.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the measuring means includes a first electrode and a second electrode, and the first electrode is disposed at a predetermined interval from an inner surface of the cooking tank, and the second electrode The food cooker according to claim 1, which is an inner surface of the cooking tank processed with a metal conductor.
The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the processing means is provided with alarm means for transmitting a signal when the electrical conductivity measured by the measuring means is equal to or lower than a predetermined electrical conductivity. A cooker is provided with the food basket according to Item 1 or 2.
The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the display means comprises a plurality of light emitting portions that emit light in a number corresponding to the salinity concentration calculated by the processing means. Serve cookers with food bowls.
The invention according to claim 5 provides a cooker with a food bowl according to claim 1, further comprising heating means for maintaining the temperature of boiling water stored in the cooking tank in the vicinity of the boiling point.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooking device according to the second aspect, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are formed of the same material.
By providing these inventions, the above problems can be solved.

According to the invention described in claim 1, since the salinity of boiling water in the cooking tank can be displayed, the user can constantly recognize the salinity of boiling water in the cooking tank, and the salinity A cooker can be provided with a food basket in which a user can accurately adjust finely by supplying salt and water according to the concentration.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the second electrode is the inner surface of the cooking tank, it is possible to prevent water scale and food residue from adhering to the electrode, and even if it adheres, it is easily cleaned, etc. It is possible to provide a cooker with a food bowl that can perform maintenance and management.
According to the third aspect of the invention, when the electrical conductivity calculated by the measuring means is equal to or lower than the predetermined electrical conductivity, the alarm means transmits a signal for prompting the user to notify the moisture contained in the cooking tank. A cooker can be provided with a food bowl that can quickly detect a state less than a predetermined amount and issue an alarm.
For this reason, when the noodles are boiled, a sufficient amount of moisture can be secured and the boil work can be performed.
According to the invention of claim 4, since the plurality of light emitting portions emit light according to the salt concentration, the user can recognize the salt concentration of boiling water in the current cooking tank with a glance during the cooking operation. A cooker can be provided in the food bowl.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the boiling water in the cooking tank can be constantly maintained in the vicinity of the boiling point, so that it is possible to provide a boiling water cooking device that can perform cooking without adjusting the temperature.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the first and second electrodes are made of the same material, it is possible to provide a boiled hot water cooker capable of calculating the salt concentration extremely accurately.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1: shows the schematic block diagram of a cooking device (1) with the food bowl based on this invention.
The cooker (1) with the food bowl according to the present invention has a cooking tank (11), a measuring means (2), a processing means (3), a display means (4) and an alarm means (5).
In addition, cooking by the cooking apparatus (1) of the present invention can be applied to any food that is cooked with boiling water such as vegetables as well as cooking with noodles. Also, the noodles are not particularly limited, and include pasta such as spaghetti, macaroni, ravioli, and somen, hiyagigi, dried udon, dried noodles, raw udon, raw buckwheat, and raw ramen.
Moreover, since the cooking device (1) of this invention can be used by providing each means and each mechanism mentioned later in the cooking device which uses conventional boiling water, detailed description of the boiling water cooking device itself is provided. Is omitted.

The measuring means (2) measures the electrical conductivity of boiling water stored in the cooking tank (11) for storing food.
This measuring means (2) has a first electrode (21) and a second electrode (22). FIG. 2A shows a schematic configuration diagram of the measuring means (2), FIG. 2B is a sectional view of the first electrode, and FIG. 2C is a sectional view of the second electrode.
A 1st electrode (21) is an electrode for measuring the electrical conductivity of boiling water in a cooking tank (11), Although the shape is not specifically limited, It forms in plate shape or rod shape. As shown in FIG. 2B, the first electrode (21) includes a conductor part (211) and an insulating part (212) covering the periphery of the conductor part (211). The upper end portion of the conductor portion (211) is connected to the processing means (3) to be described later using a conductor or the like, and the lower end portion (213) of the conductor portion (211) is an electrode surface that contacts the boiling water. It is composed.
In addition, although the material which comprises this conductor part (211) is not specifically limited, Stainless steel etc. can be employ | adopted and it is preferable to utilize especially SUS316L.
As described above, the insulating portion (212) covers the peripheral surface other than the lower end portion (213) of the conductor portion (211). Although the material which comprises this insulation part (212) is not specifically limited, A fluororesin etc. can be employ | adopted and it is preferable to utilize especially polytetrafluoroethylene.
The area of the first electrode (21) in contact with boiling water is not particularly limited as long as it is large enough to measure the electric conductivity of boiling water, but is preferably about 0.1 to 1.0 cm ² .

A 2nd electrode (22) is an inner surface of the cooking tank (11) processed with a metal conductor, as FIG.2 (c) shows. In addition, although it is preferable to metal-process the whole inner surface of a cooking tank (11), even if this metal-processed inner surface metal-processes only the whole part which hot water contacts in a cooking tank (11). Similar effects can be obtained.
Since the second electrode (22) is the inner surface of the cooking tank (11), when boiling water is supplied into the cooking tank (11), the second electrode (22) is always turned into boiling water. As a result, the boiling water is surely disposed between the first electrode (21) and the second electrode (22), and the second electrode (22) is disposed through the entire boiling water. Therefore, it is possible to reliably measure the electric conductivity of the entire boiling water.
Although the material which comprises this 2nd electrode (22) will not be specifically limited if it is a metal conductor, Stainless steel etc. can be employ | adopted and it is preferable to utilize especially SUS316L.
The first electrode (21) and the second electrode (22) described above are preferably made of the same material. Thus, by forming the first electrode (21) and the second electrode (22) from the same material, the electrical conductivity of boiling water stored in the cooking tank (11) is measured very accurately. Because it can.

The first electrode (21) and the second electrode (22) are arranged apart from the inner surface (second electrode (22)) of the cooking tank (11) to constitute two electrodes, As shown in FIG. 2A, the second electrode (22) is disposed at a predetermined interval (d) from the bottom (12) of the cooking tank (11). Although this predetermined space | interval (d) is not specifically limited, It adjusts and sets suitably by the user so that the water level of boiling water of the cooking tank (11) mentioned later can be measured.
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, if the water level of boiling water has changed from the broken line part (A) to the solid line part (B), the first electrode (21) if the water level is in the broken line part (A). And the electric conductivity of boiling water can be measured by the second electrode (22), but if the water level is in the state of the solid line (B), the first electrode (21) and the second electrode (22) Conductivity cannot be measured.
That is, depending on whether or not the electrical conductivity of boiling water can be measured by the arrangement position of the first electrode (21) (position from the bottom (12) of the cooking tank (11)), the cooking tank (11). It is possible to determine whether or not the moisture in the inside has a predetermined water level.
In addition, it is preferable to set this predetermined space | interval (d) suitably according to the foodstuff to boil. This setting can be manually set to a desired interval (d), or a desired food can be selected and automatically set to have a preferable interval (d).

The measuring means (2) has conversion means (not shown) for converting the current value into electrical conductivity after the current value is measured by the first electrode (21) and the second electrode (22). Yes.
The electrical conductivity is a numerical value indicating the conductivity of the substance and is expressed by the reciprocal of the electrical resistance, and can be calculated from the current value and the voltage value.

The first electrode (21) and the second electrode (22) constituting the measuring means (2) are connected to the processing means (3) via an ammeter (not shown) or an AC power source (not shown). Yes. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the cooking device according to the present invention.
This processing means (3) has a water level detection part (31), a search part (32), and a recording part (33).
The recording unit (33) is a database storing a plurality of salinity concentrations respectively corresponding to a plurality of electrical conductivities. The salinity concentration is calculated using this recording unit (33).
In the case where the measuring means (2) does not directly calculate the electrical conductivity but only measures the current value, the measuring means (31) is connected to the measuring means (2) while the measuring means (2) is connected. It is good also as a structure which provides indirectly the calculation means (not shown) which calculates electrical conductivity from a current value and a voltage value in 2).

The water level detection means (31) compares the preset electrical conductivity (predetermined electrical conductivity) with the electrical conductivity (calculated electrical conductivity) calculated by the measurement means (2).
In this case, when the calculated electrical conductivity is larger (or higher) than the predetermined electrical conductivity, a signal indicating the numerical value of the electrical conductivity is transmitted to the search unit (32) described later. On the other hand, when the calculated electrical conductivity is smaller (or lower) than the predetermined electrical conductivity, a control signal is transmitted to the alarm means (5) described later.
By providing the water level detection means (31), when the calculated electrical conductivity is lower than the predetermined electrical conductivity, the lower end (213) of the first electrode (21) is sufficiently boiled as described above. Since it can be judged that it is a case of not contacting or not contacting at all, it can be detected that boiling water does not have a sufficient water level.
The predetermined electric conductivity is set as appropriate by the user, but the electric conductivity of the saline is 1 mS / cm to 50 mS / cm, and the electric conductivity of tap water (normal water) is 100 μS / cm to 500 μS. Since it is / cm, it is preferably set to 1 μS / cm to 100 μS / cm.
When the calculated electrical conductivity is smaller than (or below) the predetermined electrical conductivity, it is determined that the water level is abnormal, and a signal indicating the electrical conductivity value is not transmitted to the search unit (32). .

The search unit (32) receives a signal indicating the value of electrical conductivity from the water level detection unit (31), and searches the recording unit (33) for a salinity concentration corresponding to the received electrical conductivity.
The searched salinity concentration is sent to the display means (4).

The display means (4) displays the salinity concentration calculated by the processing means (3). The display means (4) may digitally display the actual value of the salinity concentration, but as shown in FIG. 5, the salinity concentration is divided into multiple stages to create concentration categories, and the calculated salinity concentration It is preferable to perform multi-stage display according to the density classification according to
In one embodiment of the display means (4) shown in FIG. 5, a display unit (41) that emits light according to the salinity concentration is provided, and the display unit (41) includes a plurality of light emitting units (42). Are arranged in a row. The display unit (41) includes ten light emitting units (42) and can display the salinity concentration by dividing it into ten levels. In this display unit (41), the level of the salinity concentration is shown according to the number of light emitting units (42) that emit light, and in FIG. 5, the number of light emitting units (42) that emit light increases as the salt concentration increases. At the same time, the light emitting part (42) located on the right side emits light according to the increase.
The display unit (41) shown in FIG. 5 can be set so that the tenth light emitting unit (42) emits light when the salinity concentration is 1%. This setting is not particularly limited, and when the target salinity is about 0.5 to 0.6%, it indicates 0.5 to 0.6% of the target salinity in the vicinity of the light emitting part center. Is set as follows.
In addition, the light emitting part (42) (light emitting part (42) located at the center) in the middle of the plurality of light emitting parts (42) arranged in a line is set to the target salinity concentration, and how thin it is with respect to this target salinity concentration. Whether it is dark or dark can be displayed according to the number of light emission of the light emitting part (42) adjacent to the light emitting part (42) located at the center. In addition, it is preferable that this target salt concentration is set so that it may be suitably adjusted by the user.
FIG. 6 shows a case where the maximum salinity concentration is set to two types. Thus, since the maximum salinity concentration can be set and the salinity concentration can be confirmed by light emission of the plurality of light emitting units (42), the user can easily recognize the salinity concentration by visual observation.

The display means (4) is preferably provided with an operation display section (43) for displaying that the cooker (1) is detecting the salinity concentration.
This operation display part (43) is comprised by the light-emitting body similarly to the light emission part (42).
In addition, although this display means (4) needs to be provided in the place where it is easy for a user to visually observe during work, it is not specifically limited.

The alarm means (5) sends a control signal from the water level detector (31) when the calculated electric conductivity is less than (less than) the predetermined electric conductivity in the water level detector (31). Is emitted.
If the alarm performed by the alarm means (5) can be notified and notified to the user, any method that is performed visually and / or audibly can be adopted. Specifically, it can be realized by transmitting an alarm sound or providing a display unit (not shown) indicating this alarm in the display means (4) described above.

The boiling water cooker (1) of the present invention has heating means (6) that maintains the temperature of boiling water stored in the cooking tank (11) at the boiling point. By having this heating means (6), the boiling water accommodated in the cooking tank (11) of the cooker (1) can be constantly maintained at a temperature in the vicinity of the boiling point (boiling state). Thus, by maintaining the temperature of boiling water in the cooking tank (11) in the vicinity of the boiling point (boiling state), the boiling water in the cooking tank (11) can be constantly maintained at a constant temperature. (11) It is possible to keep the hot water in the boiling water constant without adjusting the temperature.
The above is the description of the configuration of the cooking device according to the present invention.

Next, the operation of the cooking device (1) of the present invention will be described.
Fig.7 (a) is a front view which shows one Embodiment of this invention, FIG.7 (b) is a perspective view of one Embodiment. In this embodiment, two cooking tanks (11) are provided, and a first electrode (21) and a temperature sensor (6) are provided. The predetermined electrical conductivity set in the water level detector (31) is set to 5 μS / cm.
Moreover, the display means (4) is attached to the rear wall surface of the cooking device (1) at a position that is easy for the user to see. The display unit (41) of the display means (4) is set so that the maximum salinity is about 1%, and the predetermined interval (d) of the first electrode (21) is determined according to the food to be cooked with a boil. It is set with a constant interval (predetermined interval (d)) from the bottom (12) of the cooking tank (11). For example, if the pasta is boiled, this fixed interval is set so that the minimum amount of water necessary to boil the pasta contained in the cooking tank (11) can be detected.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, a storage net (not shown) for storing noodles when boiled is provided in the cooking tank (11), and this storage net is placed in the boiling water of the cooking tank (11). It is equipped with a take-out mechanism that automatically takes out from boiling water after a predetermined time has elapsed since the placement.
The user is preferably notified of the volume of the cooking tank (11) and how much salt content (weight) is 1%.

First, moisture and salt are appropriately stored in the cooking tank (11) and heated until a predetermined temperature is reached. At this time, boiling water in the cooking tank (11) is maintained in a boiling state by the heating means (6).
When water reaches a predetermined temperature (boiling state), the first electrode (21) and the second electrode (22) measure the current value of boiling water (S1). When the current value is measured, the electrical conductivity is calculated from the current value and the voltage value (S2).
Next, when the electrical conductivity is calculated, the calculated electrical conductivity (calculated electrical conductivity) is sent to the water level detection unit (31).
The water level detection unit (31) compares the calculated electrical conductivity with a predetermined electrical conductivity (5 μS / cm) (S3). At this time, when it is detected that the calculated electrical conductivity is smaller (or less) than the predetermined electrical conductivity, it is determined that the level of boiling water stored in the cooking tank (11) is not sufficient, and alarm means A control signal is sent to (5) (S4).
When the alarm means (5) receives this control signal, the alarm means (5) notifies the user of this by an audible notification method such as a siren and / or a visual notification method such as lighting a lamp ( S5).
The user supplies boiling water (or water) to the cooking tank (11) (S6).

When the water level detection unit (31) detects that the calculated electrical conductivity is equal to or greater than (or greater than) the predetermined electrical conductivity, it is determined that the amount of boiling water for cooking is sufficient. The electrical conductivity is sent to the search unit (32) (S7).
The search unit (32) searches the recording unit (33) for the salinity concentration corresponding to the received electrical conductivity, and transmits a signal indicating the numerical value of the corresponding salinity concentration to the display means (4) (S8).
The display means (4) receives the signal indicating the numerical value of the salinity concentration and causes the light emitting unit (42) corresponding to the salinity concentration to emit light (S9).
The user can recognize the salinity by visually checking the number of light emitting portions (42) that emit light. For example, when the light emitting part (42) of the display part (41) emits light up to the second from the left, it is understood that it is about 0.2%.
The user visually recognizes the light emitting part (42) of the displayed display part (41) to recognize the salt concentration, and if the salt concentration is low, the salt is supplied into the cooking tank (11) (S10).
When the salinity concentration is adjusted, the user appropriately stores the food in the storage net and cooks it in the cooking tank (11). In this case, since the container net is automatically soaked in boiling water and pulled up after a predetermined time has elapsed, the user only has to pay attention to the salt content display by the display means (4) and the container net into which food is placed.
In addition, the cooker (1) can continuously measure and display the salinity of boiling water in the cooking tank (11) as described above, and the user should continuously monitor the salinity. In addition, the temperature of boiling water is kept constant, so there is no need to worry about boiling water temperature.

The present invention uses the first electrode (21) and the second electrode (22) to measure the electrical conductivity in the cooking tank (11), and these first and second electrodes (21, 22). Can be easily removed from the cooking device (1) by boiling, so that maintenance and management can be easily performed. In particular, since the second electrode (22) is the cooking tank (11), when the cooking tank (11) is washed, the second electrode (22) is automatically cleaned, which is extremely efficient.
Furthermore, since the cooking device (1) of the present invention can constantly display the salt concentration accurately and reliably, the cooking device (11) of the cooking device can continue to be used without causing malfunction due to long-term use. be able to.
The above is the description of the present invention.

The schematic block diagram of a cooking device is shown with the food bowl concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows the measurement means which concerns on this invention, (a) shows arrangement | positioning of a 1st electrode and a 2nd electrode, (b) is a schematic sectional drawing of a 1st electrode, (c) is a 2nd electrode. It is a schematic sectional drawing. The change of the water level of the cooking tank which concerns on this invention is shown. The schematic block diagram of the processing means which concerns on this invention is shown. 1 shows one embodiment of display means according to the present invention. Two types of patterns set when the light emitting unit of the display unit emits light are shown. It is a figure which shows one Embodiment of this invention, (a) is a front view, (b) is a perspective view. The flowchart in the case of using a cooking appliance with the bowl of this invention is shown.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Boiled cooker 2 ... Measuring means 21 ... 1st electrode 22 ... 2nd electrode 3 ... Processing means 4 ... Display means 5 ... Alarm means 6 ... Heating means

Claims (6)

A cooker with a food bowl provided with a cooking tank for containing food,
Measuring means for measuring the electrical conductivity of boiling water in the cooking tank;
Processing means for calculating the salinity based on the electrical conductivity measured by the measuring means;
A cooking device using a food basket, comprising display means for displaying the salt concentration calculated by the processing means. The measuring means has a first electrode and a second electrode;
The first electrode is disposed at a predetermined interval from the inner surface of the cooking tank,
The cooker according to claim 1, wherein the second electrode is an inner surface of the cooking tank processed with a metal conductor.   3. The food according to claim 1, wherein the processing means is provided with alarm means for transmitting a signal when the electrical conductivity measured by the measuring means is equal to or lower than a predetermined electrical conductivity. Boiled cooker.   The cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the display unit includes a plurality of light emitting units that emit light in a number corresponding to the salt concentration calculated by the processing unit.   2. The cooking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising heating means for maintaining the temperature of boiling water stored in the cooking tank near the boiling point. The cooker according to claim 2, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are made of the same material.

Images