KR101658389B1 - Electric cooker having function of automatic locking and unlocking - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an electromagnetic cooker having an automatic pressure locking and unlocking function, comprising: a pressure coupling part for fixing or releasing the inner pot and the lid in a pressure locking state; A driving unit for providing driving force for operating the pressure coupling unit; A sensing unit for sensing whether or not the pressure locking unit has completed pressure locking; An operation unit for receiving a user operation for executing the pressure locking; And a control unit for controlling the operation of the pressure coupling unit by driving the driving unit and driving the driving unit repeatedly a predetermined number of times when a user operation is input to the operation unit while the lid is covered with the outer pot, And a controller for stopping the driving of the driving unit when it is sensed that it is completely fixed in the pressure locking state.

Description

ELECTRIC COOKER HAVING FUNCTION OF AUTOMATIC LOCKING AND UNLOCKING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to an electromagnetic cooker, and more particularly, to an electromagnetic cooker having an automatic pressure locking and unlocking function.

(Hereinafter, referred to as " rice cooker "), when the cooking mode is selected in a state that the lid is closed, the lid is placed in the main body (or the outer pot And automatically releases the locking of the main body of the lid when the cooking is finished, there are the following data in the prior art of the automatic lid locking device of the electric pressure cooker.

That is, referring to Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 1999-0070037 (Sep. 6, 1999), there is provided a rotary member that is rotated by a rotational force of a power generating member, a plurality of moving members reciprocating horizontally by rotational movement of the rotary member, And a locking piece provided at an end of the moving member and adapted to be caught in or released from the oven according to a moving direction of the moving member, the electric pressure cooker comprising: a magnet provided in the moving member; A first reed switch and a second reed switch that are turned on during the magnetism of the magnet and a second reed switch that is turned on when the first reed switch and the second reed switch are turned on, And a controller for controlling the lid of the electric pressure cooker.

However, according to the conventional apparatus for detecting and unlocking the lid of the electric pressure cooker according to the related art, there is not provided a processing method for the case where the operation of various mechanisms fails to perform the pressure locking or the pressure unlocking operation .

Korean Patent Publication No. 1999-0070037 (September, 1999)

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a method for handling an error situation that may occur in an operation of pressure locking and pressure unlocking in an electromagnetic cooker capable of automatically performing pressure locking and pressure unlocking operations And the like.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electromagnetic cooker having an automatic pressure locking and unlocking function, including an inner pot in which contents are contained, an outer pot accommodating the inner pot, 1. An electromagnetic rice cooker having a lid for covering at the same time, comprising: a pressure coupling part for fixing or releasing the inner pot and the lid in a pressure locking state; A driving unit for providing driving force for operating the pressure coupling unit; A sensing unit for sensing whether or not the pressure locking unit has completed pressure locking; An operation unit for receiving a user operation for executing the pressure locking; And a control unit for controlling the operation of the pressure coupling unit by driving the driving unit and driving the driving unit repeatedly a predetermined number of times when a user operation is input to the operation unit while the lid is covered with the outer pot, And a controller for stopping the driving of the driving unit when it is sensed that it is completely fixed in the pressure locking state.

Here, the user operation for executing the pressure locking is an operation for any one of cooking execution and reservation, keeping warming and reserving, and executing and reserving other cooking functions.

The lid may be fixed to the outer pot or may be opened from the outer pot. And a manual pressing part for automatically fixing the lid holding part when the lid covers the outer pot and releasing the lid holding part when the lid is operated by a user.

The controller may further include a lid latch sensing part for sensing a state of the lid latching part, and the controller may drive the driving part only when the lid latching part is detected as being completely covered with the lid latching part .

When a user operation for pressure locking is input to the operation unit, the drive unit is driven three times in succession, and if it is detected through the sensing unit that the pressure coupling unit is not completely fixed in the pressure lock state, Is incremented by 1, and driving of the driving unit is repeated three times in succession.

Further, when the user opens and closes the lid, the control unit initializes the lock failure count.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electromagnetic cooker having an automatic pressure locking and unlocking function for achieving the above object, comprising an inner pot containing contents, an outer pot for accommodating the inner pot, and a lid for simultaneously covering the inner pot and the outer pot A pressure coupling part for fixing or releasing the inner pot and the lid in a pressure locking state; A driving unit for providing driving force for operating the pressure coupling unit; A sensing unit for sensing whether the pressure coupling unit is unlocked; An operation unit for receiving a user operation for executing the unlocking; And when the user operation is input to the operation unit in a state that the lid is covered with the outer pot and the lid and the inner pot are fixed in a pressure lock state, the drive unit is driven to release the pressure engagement unit, And a control unit for stopping driving of the driving unit when it is detected that the pressure coupling unit is completely unlocked through the sensing unit after repeatedly driving the driving unit a predetermined number of times.

Here, if the user operation to perform the unlocking operation is input to the operation unit, the drive unit is driven three times in succession, and if it is detected through the sensing unit that the pressure combining unit is not completely unlocked, 1, and driving the driving unit again three times.

According to the electromagnetic cooker having the automatic pressure locking and the unlocking function according to the present invention constructed as described above, there is provided a method for processing an error situation that may occur in performing the operation of automatically performing the pressure locking and the pressure unlocking Can be provided.

1 is a view schematically showing a configuration of an electromagnetic cooker having an automatic pressure locking and unlocking function according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a process for pressure locking operation in an electromagnetic cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flow chart for explaining a process for pressure unlocking operation in an electromagnetic cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of an electromagnetic cooker having an automatic pressure locking and unlocking function will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the present invention, the terms referring to the respective components are exemplarily named in consideration of their functions, and therefore, the technical content of the present invention should not be understood by the term itself.

1 is a view schematically showing a configuration of an electromagnetic cooker having an automatic pressure locking and unlocking function according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electromagnetic cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an inner pot 20, an outer pot 30 and a lid 10. The electromagnetic cooker includes a pressure coupling part 110, a driving part 113, A sensing unit 115, an operation unit 114, and a control unit 130.

The inner pot (20) is a container for containing the food to be cooked or the cooked food as contents.

The outer pot 30 is configured to receive the inner pot 20 and supplies energy to the inner pot 20 under the control of the control unit 130 or to heat the inner pot 20 itself.

The lid 10 is configured to cover the inner pot 20 and the outer pot 30 at the same time. At this time, the lid 10 is configured to be easily covered or opened in a simple engagement manner with the outer pot 30, and the inner pot 20 is configured to seal or unlock the inner pot in a pressure- do. The lid 10 and the inner pot 30 may be provided with a lid engaging portion 120 and a pressure engaging portion 110 may be provided for engaging the lid 10 and the inner pot 20 .

The pressure coupling part 110 includes a first pressure coupling part 111 provided at one side of the inner pot 20 and a second pressure coupling part 112 provided at one side of the lid 10. When the lid 10 covers the outer pot 30 and the driving unit 113 is automatically or automatically operated by the user's operation, the first pressure-applying unit 111 and the second pressure-applying unit 112 are aligned with each other, ) Can be sealed (pressure lock state).

The first pressure bonding portion 111 may include a plurality of protruding portions (not shown) protruding outward from the upper portion of the inner pot 20, for example. The second pressure engagement portion 112 may include a plurality of protruding portions (not shown) which are rotatable in the lid 10 and protrude inward, for example. The protruding portion of the second pressure fitting portion 112 is aligned with the protruded portion of the first pressure fitting portion 111 as the second pressure fitting portion 112 rotates so that the lid 10 contacts the inner pot 20 So that the inside of the inner pot 20 can be sealed in a pressure-locked state.

The driving unit 113 provides a driving force to the pressure coupling unit 110 so that the pressure coupling unit 110 can operate in a pressure locking state or a pressure unlocking state. For example, the driving unit 113 provides a rotational force to the second pressure- The protruding portion of the second pressure-engaging portion 112 is aligned with the protruding portion of the first pressure-engaging portion 111 when the driving portion 113 is rotated by a predetermined angle, and the driving portion 113 is further rotated or reversed The protruding portion of the second pressure-engaging portion 112 can be released from the protruding portion of the first pressure-engaging portion 111. [

The driving portion 113 may include one or more motors or actuators, one or more gears or links.

The sensing unit 115 is disposed in the vicinity of the pressure coupling unit 110 or in the vicinity of the driving unit to sense the operation state of the pressure coupling unit 110. For example, it is possible to detect whether the pressure fitting portion 110 is completely fixed and operated in a pressure lock state. Further, it is possible to detect whether the pressure-coupling portion 110 is switched to the pressure-unlocked state. The detection result may be transmitted to the control unit 130.

The operation unit provides an interface by which the user can operate various functions of the rice cooker. The control portion may include one or more pushbuttons, a dial, a touch button, a touch screen, a wired or wireless communication interface.

The control unit 130 controls the operation of each part of the rice cooker according to the user operation inputted through the operation unit 114. [ For example, upon receiving an operation for cooking, cooking, or keeping the heating operation, the operation of the heating means (not shown) is controlled to heat the contents contained in the inner pot 20. [ Also, it is possible to perform timing corresponding to the reservation function.

In particular, when the control unit 130 receives the user's operation through operation means (not shown) specialized for inputting a user operation for performing pressure locking, the control unit 130 drives the driving unit 113 to provide a driving force to the pressure- Then, it is determined whether the pressure coupling unit 110 is operated and completely switched to the pressure locking state, and the driving of the driving unit 113 is stopped accordingly. If it is detected that the pressure lock state is not completely switched / fixed (pressure lock failure), the drive unit 113 may be repeatedly driven even though the drive unit 113 is driven. This operation will be described later.

On the other hand, in addition to the manual operation through the specialized operating means, the pressure locking operation can also be entered by operation of any one of execution and reservation of cooking, maintenance and reservation, and execution and reservation of other cooking functions. That is, when the function is selected, the inner pot (20) must be kept in the pressure-locked state, so that the control unit (130) automatically drives the driving unit (113)

In addition, the control unit 130 may receive a user operation for unlocking the pressure-coupling unit 110 while the pressure-coupling unit 110 is fixed in a pressure-locked state. Such an operation may be input by an operation means (not shown) specialized for inputting a user operation to perform an unlocking operation, or may be inputted by a function operation or the like for canceling or changing a function currently being performed.

When the user operation to be unlocked is input again, the control unit 130 drives the driving unit in a direction to release the pressure coupling unit 110. [ Then, it is determined whether the pressure locking is completely released through the sensing unit 115, and the driving of the driving unit 113 is stopped accordingly. Even if the driving unit 113 is driven, the driving unit 113 can be driven repeatedly if it is detected that it is not completely switched / fixed to the unlocked state (failure in unlocking). This operation will be described later.

Meanwhile, the electromagnetic cooker according to the present invention may further include a lid latching part 120, a manual latching part 124, and a lid latching part 125.

The lid holding portion 120 covers the outer pot 30 and keeps the lid 10 in a closed state. The lid holding portion 120 may include a first lid holding portion 121 provided at one side of the outer pot 30 and a second lid holding portion 122 provided at the lid 10 . The first lid securing portion 121 and the second lid securing portion 122 may be configured to maintain a state in which the lid 10 is automatically engaged or closed by the elastic or electromagnetic force when the lid 10 covers the outer pot 30. [

The manual pressing portion 124 releases the binding of the first lid latching portion 121 or the second lid latching portion 122 by manual operation by the user.

The capping detection unit 125 detects whether the first lid latching unit 121 and the second lid latching unit 122 are completely engaged with each other after the lid 10 covers the outer pot 30, Is detected. The detection result may be transmitted to the control unit 130.

Then, the control unit 130 may utilize the result of detecting the lid engagement in the processing of the pressure locking or unlocking operation.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a process for pressure locking operation in an electromagnetic cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. If the user intends to pressure-lock the inner pot (or if the user intends to pressure-lock the inner pot automatically by inputting the cooking or keeping function) (S110), the control unit first determines whether the lid It is determined whether or not it is closed with respect to the outer pot (S120). This is because the lid must completely cover the outer pot to perform pressure locking. If the lid is not closed, the control unit can inform the user that the lid is closed through the audiovisual display means (not shown) (S122).

On the other hand, if it is detected that the lid is normally closed, the control unit performs pressure locking (S130). The pressure locking can be achieved by driving the driving unit (S140). That is, the driving unit is driven to operate one or both of the first pressure-applying unit and the second pressure-applying unit of the pressure-applying unit to be coupled to each other. The first and second pressure-engaging portions stop operating when the first and second pressure-engaging portions are completely engaged with each other (for example, rotation of the first pressure-engaging portion and the second pressure-engaging portion is interrupted by stopping means (not shown)).

At this time, the control unit controls the driving by supplying power to the driving unit for a predetermined time (for example, 1 second) and outputs it to the driving unit a plurality of times (for example, three times ) Can be repeated. Here, the number of rotations of the driving unit may be set, or the number of rotations of the gear by the driving unit, the movement distance or angle of the link may be set.

On the other hand, when the driving of the predetermined number of times is completed, it is determined whether the pressure coupling portion is completely coupled (pressure-locked state) through the lock sensing portion (S150).

Here, if the pressure locking state is not completely established, the user is informed through the audiovisual display that the pressure locking has failed (S151). The notification can be, for example, guidance sound by a speaker, light emission by an LED or the like, vibration by a motor, and the like.

On the other hand, if the user does not perform another operation on the notification, or if the user reopens the lid and does not close the lid (S152), the control unit increments the value of the lock failure count currently held by 1 And performs corresponding processing (S156). At the same time as the corresponding processing is performed, the operation returns to step S140, and the pressure locking operation of the driving unit is repeated.

For example, if a lock failure occurs for the first time, the count value will be incremented by one. Then, after the step S156, the drive unit is driven again, and the count value will increase to 2 if the pressure lock unit is still in the pressure lock failure state.

By this repetition operation, if the count value increases to 3 or more, the control unit can alert the user that an error has occurred in the operation of the pressure coupling unit. Further, when the count value becomes larger than 10, the control unit displays a stronger alarm and can request the user to repair the electromagnetic cooker.

On the other hand, in step S152, it may be considered that the user recognizes that the pressure lock has failed, opens and closes the cap again, and executes the pressure lock again. In this case, the control unit resets the currently held lock failure count, and drives the drive unit again to execute the pressure lock operation. Here, the count value held before being reset can be stored in a separate storage means (not shown). In addition, it can manage the history of the lock failure in the meantime, and can be utilized for the maintenance of the electromagnetic cooker.

In step S150, if the pressure lock is normally completed by driving the driving unit, the control unit resets the lock failure count to the present and processes the subsequent operation of the rice cooker (S160). In this case as well, the history of the lock failure count can be stored as in step S154.

According to the process relating to the pressure lock failure made up of such steps, the complete lock operation can be executed because the pressure lock is attempted by repeating three times instead of completing the pressure lock by only one attempt. Furthermore, it is possible to reliably complete the completion of the pressure locking by repeating each set by setting three times as one set. And, if the pressure lock fails even in the repeated execution of the specified set, it is possible to prevent the poor use of the electromagnetic cooker (for example, the dangerous use in which the pressure cooking is performed while the pressure lock is not completed) through a user alarm or a repair request .

3 is a flow chart for explaining a process for pressure unlocking operation in an electromagnetic cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. The pressure unlocking operation can be entered by manually operating the operating means specialized for the user to input the unlocking (S210). Also, the pressure unlocking operation may be performed when the control unit automatically releases the pressure lock of the inner pot after the function of any one of the cooking, cooking, keeping warm, and reservation functions performed in the electromagnetic cooker is completed.

When the pressure release operation is input, the control unit drives the drive unit in the pressure release direction (S220). At this time, the control unit controls the driving by supplying power to the driving unit for a predetermined time (for example, 1 second) and outputs it to the driving unit a plurality of times (for example, three times ) Can be repeated. Here, the number of rotations of the driving unit may be set, or the number of rotations of the gear by the driving unit, the movement distance or angle of the link may be set.

On the other hand, if the driving of the predetermined number of times is completed, it is determined whether the pressure coupling unit is completely unlocked (unlocked state) through the lock detection unit (S230).

If the pressure coupling unit is not completely unlocked, the user is informed through the audiovisual display means that the pressure unlocking operation has failed (S231), the unlock failure count is incremented by one, Processing is performed (S232). Then, the process returns to step S220, and the pressure lock is released by driving the driving unit again.

For example, the first release failure will have a count value of 1, and if the pressure release operation again fails after driving the drive again, the count value will be increased to two. If the count value increases to 3 or more, the control unit alerts the user of the repetitive failure of the unlocking operation, and may request the user to perform repair.

Here, the request for repair can be made to the user by an indication of the announcement or guidance text. In addition, if the rice cooker is connected to a wired / wireless network such as the Internet, it is also possible to automatically send an alarm to a remote repair center.

Again, if it is detected in step S230 that the pressure coupling has been released completely, the control unit may reset the current release failure count and perform subsequent processing (S240). Furthermore, the release failure count value can be stored in the storage means before resetting, and can be used as a reference for the maintenance of the electromagnetic cooker.

According to the process relating to the pressure unlocking failure made up of such steps, it is possible to perform the complete unlocking operation because the pressure unlocking attempt is repeated three times, rather than simply attempting to unlock the pressure only once. Furthermore, the lock release operation can be surely completed by repeating each set of three times as one set. Also, if unlocking continues to fail even in the repeated execution of the specified set, the user may not be able to use the electromagnetic cooker poorly (for example, in a state where the pressure lock is not completely released and the user wants to open the lid, Use where the internal steam is not discharged and the pressure continues to rise and there is a risk of explosion, etc.) can be prevented.

The embodiments of the present invention described above are merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and the scope of protection of the present invention should be interpreted according to the claims. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the essential characteristics thereof, It is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto.

110: pressure coupling portion 120: cap engagement portion
113: driving unit 115: pressure lock sensing unit
125: Cap detection unit

Claims (8)

1. An electric rice cooker comprising an inner pot containing contents, an outer pot containing the inner pot, and a lid covering the inner pot and the outer pot at the same time,
A pressure coupling part for fixing or releasing the inner pot and the lid in a pressure locking state;
A driving unit for providing driving force for operating the pressure coupling unit;
A sensing unit for sensing whether or not the pressure locking unit has completed pressure locking;
An operation unit for receiving a user operation for executing the pressure locking;
A lid securing unit for fixing the lid to cover the outer lid or opening the lid from the outer lid;
A manual pressing part for automatically fixing the lid holding part when the lid covers the outer pot, and releasing the lid holding part when operated by a user;
A lid latch sensing unit for sensing a state of the lid latching unit; And
When the user operates the operation unit in a state that the lid is covered with the outer pot, when the lid latching unit is detected as being completely covered with the lid latching unit, the driving unit is operated to operate the pressure coupling unit And a control unit for stopping the driving of the driving unit when the pressure-coupling unit is detected as being completely fixed in the pressure-locking state through the sensing unit after repeatedly driving the driving unit a predetermined number of times An electric rice cooker. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the user operation for executing the pressure locking is an operation for any one of execution and reservation of cooking, maintenance and reservation, and execution and reservation of other cooking functions. Cooker. delete delete 1. An electric rice cooker comprising an inner pot containing contents, an outer pot containing the inner pot, and a lid covering the inner pot and the outer pot at the same time,
A pressure coupling part for fixing or releasing the inner pot and the lid in a pressure locking state;
A driving unit for providing driving force for operating the pressure coupling unit;
A sensing unit for sensing whether or not the pressure locking unit has completed pressure locking;
An operation unit for receiving a user operation for executing the pressure locking; And
When the user's operation for pressure locking is inputted to the operation unit while the lid is covered with the outer pot, the driving unit is continuously driven for a plurality of times, and then the pressure coupling unit is not completely fixed in the pressure locking state through the sensing unit If it is sensed, the lock failure count is incremented by 1 and the driving unit is repeatedly driven for a plurality of times. If the pressure sensing unit is detected as being completely fixed in the pressure locking state through the sensing unit, And an automatic pressure lock and an unlock function. 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the control unit initializes the lock failure count when the user opens and closes the lid. 1. An electric rice cooker comprising an inner pot containing contents, an outer pot containing the inner pot, and a lid covering the inner pot and the outer pot at the same time,
A pressure coupling part for fixing or releasing the inner pot and the lid in a pressure locking state;
A driving unit for providing driving force for operating the pressure coupling unit;
A sensing unit for sensing whether the pressure coupling unit is unlocked;
An operation unit for receiving a user operation for executing the unlocking; And
When the user operation to perform the unlocking operation is input to the operation unit in a state in which the lid is covered with the outer pot and the lid and the inner pot are fixed in a pressure lock state, Thereafter, when it is detected through the sensing unit that the pressure coupling unit has not been completely released, the release failure count is incremented by one. After the drive unit is driven again a plurality of times, the pressure- And stopping the driving of the driving unit when it is detected that the disengagement is released. delete

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