JP2008259741A - Electric cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

To reduce power consumption of a liquid crystal display panel portion of an electric cooker such as an electric rice cooker.
An electric cooker comprising a liquid crystal display panel for displaying a cooking menu and other cooking information, and configured to perform desired electric cooking while displaying information necessary for cooking on the liquid crystal display panel. The liquid crystal display panel has a memory function, and is configured to change the display contents only when a voltage is applied and to maintain the display contents when the voltage is applied when no voltage is applied.
As a result, without applying voltage to the liquid crystal at all times, it is only necessary to apply the voltage when updating the display content. For example, various display operations such as clock display, cooking rice remaining clock display, and warming elapsed clock display are displayed. Power consumption can be greatly saved.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric cooker such as an electric rice cooker provided with a liquid crystal display panel.

  As an example of an electric cooker, for example, an electric rice cooker has a microcomputer control means, for example, selection settings of various rice cooking menus such as white rice, no-wash rice, quick cook, sushi, cook, brown rice, rice cracker, etc. The thing which enabled control of the corresponding rice cooking process and heat retention control has increased. In addition, in the case of heat insulation, for example, in addition to a heat insulation menu such as standard heat insulation, glossiness, and heat insulation, various heat insulation temperatures such as high, low, and standard can be set.

  And the selection setting of these various rice cooking or heat insulation menus uses various operation keys provided on the operation panel portion on the front side of the outer case of the rice cooker body and a liquid crystal display panel which is a display means for displaying the operation setting state. When the selection setting operation is performed in this way, the corresponding rice cooking or warming menu program is automatically read from the memory section on the microcomputer control means side, and Rice cooking or heat retention control is executed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  These circumstances also apply to an electric cooking device such as an electric pressure cooking pan.

JP-A-11-137421 (Specification, page 1-8, FIG. 1-11)

  However, liquid crystal display panels used in conventional electric cookers such as electric rice cookers are of non-memory type (monostable type) and display unless a driving voltage is always applied to the driving circuit. The state cannot be maintained.

  Therefore, it requires constant power consumption accordingly, which is one of the issues that should be solved from the standpoint of improving energy saving performance.

  On the other hand, in the electric cooker such as the electric rice cooker, a clock display or the like is generally performed during standby, but this clock display is not in an AC power source (for example, at the time of a power failure or at a store in a store). If the display is intended to be displayed, the power source of the backup power source battery is required, and its lifetime becomes a problem.

  For this reason, for example, in the sales state at the storefront, the liquid crystal display panel part is generally sold in the OFF state, and the product performance concentrated on the corner of the liquid crystal display panel part is sufficiently appealed to consumers. There is no trouble.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and it is only necessary to apply the driving voltage only when updating the display contents without always applying the driving voltage to the liquid crystal portion. As a result, power consumption during various display operations such as clock display, electric rice cooker remaining time display, heat retention elapsed time display etc. of electric cookers such as electric rice cookers can be greatly saved, and the life of the power battery can be extended. An object of the present invention is to provide an electric cooker.

  In order to achieve the above object, each invention of the present application includes the following problem solving means.

(1) Invention of Claim 1 The electric cooker of this invention is equipped with the liquid crystal display panel which displays a cooking menu and other cooking information, and displays the information required for cooking on this liquid crystal display panel, and performs desired electric cooking. An electric cooker configured to perform, wherein the liquid crystal display panel has a memory function, changes display contents only when voltage is applied, and maintains display contents when voltage is not applied. It is configured.

  As a result, without applying voltage to the liquid crystal display panel at all times, it is only necessary to apply voltage when updating the display contents, which can greatly save power consumption during clock display and other various cooking information display operations. it can.

(2) Invention of Claim 2 In the electric cooker of this invention, in the configuration of the invention of Claim 1, the display content is updated by intermittently driving the liquid crystal display panel after a predetermined time. It is characterized by becoming.

  As described above, once a liquid crystal display panel having a memory function displays a predetermined information by applying a voltage, it can continue displaying the same information without applying a voltage.

  Therefore, in the case of a clock display generally used in various electric cookers, for example, the display time is updated intermittently at intervals of 1 minute (60 seconds), or the remaining rice cooking time display or heat insulation of the electric rice cooker. When the elapsed time is displayed, if the display time is intermittently subtracted and added at intervals of 1 hour (60 minutes), the voltage application during that time can be turned off.

  As a result, the power consumption can be saved considerably compared to the case where the drive voltage is continuously applied during the entire display time as in the prior art.

  Moreover, during the OFF period of the applied voltage, the display content is stable because there is no influence of lightning or other power supply noise.

(3) Invention of Claim 3 The electric cooker of this invention is characterized in that, in the configuration of the invention of Claim 1 or 2, the information displayed on the liquid crystal display panel is demo information for sales promotion. Yes.

  The liquid crystal display panel of the present invention has a memory function and can maintain the display state until then even when the power supply is cut.

  Therefore, once the voltage is applied and the demo information for sales promotion as described above is displayed, even if the power is turned off and displayed at the store, etc., the demo information is still displayed. Become.

  Therefore, unlike the conventional product in which the liquid crystal display is turned off, the appeal of the product performance to the consumer is greatly improved.

(4) Invention of Claim 4 The electric cooker of this invention is the structure of the said invention of Claim 1, 2, or 3, The liquid crystal display panel is a thing of a dot matrix display system, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  Compared with the conventional segment display type liquid crystal display panel centering on numbers, the dot matrix display type liquid crystal display panel displays not only numbers but also a wide variety of information such as letters and graphics (figures and pictures). It becomes possible.

  Therefore, the use of such a liquid crystal display panel is particularly effective for displaying the sales promotion demo information.

  As a result of the above, according to the present invention, since it is only necessary to apply the voltage only when updating the display contents without applying the voltage to the liquid crystal, the clock display of the electric cooker such as an electric rice cooker, the remaining rice cooking time display In addition, it is possible to greatly save power consumption during various display operations such as display of heat retention elapsed time.

  In addition, the power consumption of the backup power supply battery during a power failure can be saved, and the life can be sufficiently extended.

  In addition, even if the power is turned off, the display state up to that point can be maintained. Therefore, a dot matrix method or the like can be adopted, and a storefront demonstration screen can be provided in any number of patterns and freely displayed. As a result, the sales promotion effect is improved.

  Furthermore, since it is only necessary to apply a voltage every predetermined time, erroneous display due to power supply noise during that time is reduced.

  1 to 4 show the overall configuration and operation of an electric cooker according to the best embodiment of the present invention and the electric cooker as an example.

(Basic configuration)
First, the electric rice cooker which is an example of the electric cooker in the best embodiment of the present invention is, for example, an inner pot (rice cooker) 3 made of a magnetic metal plate capable of electromagnetic induction is employed. As a heating means at the time of rice cooking with respect to the inner pot 3, the bottom wall 3a of the inner pot 3 is wrapped around the entire side wall 3b from the bottom wall 3a of the inner pot 3 through an inner case 4 made of synthetic resin. Two sets of work coils C ₁ and C ₂ corresponding to the center side and the side part side of the inner pot 3 are provided, and all the side walls 3b of the inner pot 3 are used as heating means for keeping the inner pot 3 warm. A warming heater H ₁ corresponding to the circumference and a shoulder heater H ₂ corresponding to the entire circumference of the opening edge 3 c are provided.

  And, by appropriately driving and controlling them with the control board 5A close to the inner pot 3 described later and the microcomputer control unit 32 on the operation panel 20 side operation board 5B, an appropriate rice cooking / cooking function and heat insulation function are realized. It can be done.

  On the other hand, timer setting according to those functions, selection of rice cooking and heat retention menu, selection of heating cooking menu, selection setting operation such as heating amount, heating pattern, heat retention temperature, heat retention time corresponding to each menu, the electric rice cooker concerned When the user performs various input switch groups (operation key groups) 22a to 22i provided on the front side operation panel unit 20 of the main body, and the selection setting contents are stored in the memory unit of the microcomputer control unit 32. At the same time, it is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 21 of the operation panel unit 20.

The selection setting information is supplied to the microcomputer control unit 32 through an interface circuit, and finally the work coils C ₁ and C _{2, the} heat retaining heater H ₁ , and the shoulder heater H ₂ are set according to the information content. To be controlled.

  The liquid crystal display panel 21 includes, for example, each menu of rice cooking and heat retention, a set heat retention temperature, a set heat retention time, a heat retention elapsed time (heat retention time), a current time, a timer rice reservation time, rice cooking completion, and the remaining until cooking is completed. Time and other necessary items are displayed.

  The liquid crystal display panel 21 is not limited to a segment display type liquid crystal panel as shown in FIG. 2, for example. Instead of the segment display type liquid crystal panel, for example, a dot matrix (active matrix) as shown in FIG. ) A display type high-class liquid crystal panel is also adopted as necessary. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 12, the current time (AM 5:30) and a display related to a time or time other than the current time (for example, Timer reservation time AM7: 30, other rice cooking / remaining cooking time, heat retention time, heat retention elapsed time, etc.), and in place of these displays, display the necessary demo information screen at the storefront display of the store Be able to.

  In the case of the present embodiment, a memory type (bistable) liquid crystal panel (see, for example, JP-A-6-337442, JP-A-2005-258096, etc.) is adopted as the liquid crystal display panel 21 in particular. Therefore, it is sufficient to apply the voltage only when updating the display contents without always applying the driving voltage to the liquid crystal driving circuit, and the power consumption during the clock display operation can be greatly saved.

(Detailed configuration of the rice cooker body: see Figs. 1 and 2)
The rice cooker body of the electric rice cooker is, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, an inner pot (rice cooker or heat insulation container) made of a magnetic metal plate such as a stainless steel plate capable of self-heating by an eddy current induced therein. 3, a synthetic resin bottomed cylindrical inner case (protective frame) 4 formed so that the inner pot 3 can be arbitrarily set, and a bottomed cylinder which is an outer casing for holding the inner case 4 The outer case 1 and a lid unit 2 that can be opened and closed at the top of a rice cooker body formed by integrating the outer case 1 and the inner case 4 are formed.

A coil base 7 is provided on the lower side of the bottom wall portion 4a of the inner case 4, and the center and side portions of the bottom wall portion 3a of the inner pot 3 are positioned above the coil base 7 via a ferrite core. The two sets of work coils C ₁ and C ₂ each having a litz wire wound concentrically in correspondence with each other wrap around substantially the whole from the center portion of the bottom wall portion 3a of the inner pot 3 to the side wall portion 3b. As a result, an eddy current is induced in substantially the entire inner pot 3 when energized, and the whole is heated substantially uniformly. The work coils C ₁ and C ₂ are connected in series with each other (therefore, simply shown as the work coil C in the following description of operation and the control circuit diagram of FIG. 3).

  For example, as shown in the control circuit diagram of FIG. 3, one end thereof is connected to a power supply line via a rectifier circuit 35 and a smoothing circuit 36, and the other end is connected to a collector of an IGBT (power transistor) 37, respectively.

Further, the side wall portion of the inner case 4 is provided with a heat retaining heater H ₁ that functions as a heating means at the time of heat insulation, and the whole inner pot 3 is effectively and uniformly heated at the time of heat insulation. Yes.

Further, on the front side of the inner case 4, the IGBT 37 and the heater driving circuit 33 for driving and controlling the work coils C ₁ and C ₂ , the heat retaining heater H ₁ , the shoulder heater H _{2 and the} like as shown in FIG. , 24, a control board 5A provided with a rectifier circuit 35 made of a diode bridge for power supply voltage rectification, a smoothing circuit 36, etc., is provided extending vertically.

  The outer case 1 includes, for example, a vertical cover member 1a formed of a synthetic resin material, a synthetic resin shoulder member 11 coupled to an upper end portion of the cover member 1a, and the cover member 1a. And a bottom member 1b made of a synthetic resin integrated with the lower end portion of the inner casing 4 and having a heat insulation and ventilation space portion with a predetermined width between the bottom wall portion 4a of the inner case 4 as a whole. It is comprised by the cylindrical body. An operation panel unit 20 having a substantially half moon shape as shown in FIG. 2 is provided above the front surface of the outer case 1.

  Inside the operation panel 20, a liquid crystal display panel 21 having a sufficiently large display area having a fixed display portion 21a for menus and the like on the outer periphery is provided. Further, a rice cooking switch 22a and a timer reservation are provided on the outer periphery. Various operation switches such as a switch 22b, a cancel switch 22c, a heat retention switch 22d, a reheating switch 22e, a menu selection switch 22f, an hour switch 22g, a minute switch 22h, and an energy saving switch 22i which is an energy saving mode selection means are disposed.

  An operation board 5B is provided inside the operation panel 20 at a predetermined interval. On the operation board 5B, contact portions of the various operation switches 22a to 22i, a microcomputer control unit 32B and EEPROM described later, a backup power source, the above-described memory type liquid crystal display panel 21, and the like are provided.

  Further, a center sensor storage space portion that is concentrically penetrated in the vertical direction is formed in the central portion of the coil base 7 below the inner case 4 and can be moved up and down in the center sensor storage space portion. The center sensor CS including the inner pot temperature detection sensor S and the inner pot detection switch LS is provided in such a state that it is constantly biased upward by the coil spring.

  On the other hand, reference numeral 2 denotes a lid unit. The lid unit 2 is detachably provided on the outer cover 12 constituting the outer peripheral surface, the inner cover 13 constituting the inner peripheral surface, and the lower side of the inner cover 13. And a heat sink 16 made of metal. In addition, the code | symbol 14 is the packing provided in the outer peripheral part of the said heat sink 16 so that it might correspond to the opening edge part 3c of the inner pot 3. FIG.

  The lid unit 2 is rotatably attached to the shoulder member 11 on the upper part of the outer case 1 via a hinge mechanism, and is engaged with a predetermined position of the lid unit 2 on its open end side. Thus, a lock mechanism 18 for opening and closing the lid unit 2 in the vertical direction is provided.

(Composition of the control circuit part of the rice cooker body: see Fig. 3)
Next, FIG. 3 shows the detailed structure of the control circuit part centering on the rice cooker main body side rice cooking and the heat retention control microcomputer control unit 32 comprised as mentioned above.

  In the figure, in addition to the rice cooking heating control means and steaming, the heat insulation heating control means, the clock display means, the remaining rice cooking time display means, the heat insulation time display means, the reference numeral 32 is an inner pot temperature determination means, an inner pot detection means, A microcomputer control unit (CPU) for rice cooking, heat retention, and display control provided with a buzzer notification means, etc. The microcomputer control unit 32 is configured around a microcomputer, for example, a temperature detection circuit section of the inner pot 3, work coil Drive control circuit unit, inner pan 3 detection circuit unit, oscillation circuit unit, reset circuit unit, drive control circuit unit such as a warming heater and shoulder heater, clock, remaining time, warming time and other display control circuit unit, buzzer notification unit, A power supply circuit unit and the like are also provided.

  And first, the temperature detection circuit 43 and the pot detection circuit 44 provided corresponding to the inner pot temperature detection sensor S, the inner pot detection switch LS of the bottom wall 3a side center sensor part of the inner pot 3 include, for example, the above-mentioned A temperature detection signal of the bottom wall 3a of the inner pot 3 by the inner pot temperature detection sensor S and a pot detection signal by the inner pot detection switch LS are input.

The work coil drive control circuit unit is formed by, for example, a pulse width modulation circuit 41, a synchronization trigger circuit 40, an IGBT drive circuit 42, an IGBT 37, and a resonance capacitor 38. Then, by controlling the pulse width modulation circuit 41 by the work coil drive control circuit unit of the microcomputer control unit 32, the output values (%) of the work coils C ₁ and C ₂ and the same value, for example, according to the rice cooking process. By appropriately changing the ON duty ratio (n seconds / 16 seconds) at the output value, the heating temperature and heating pattern of the inner pot 3 in each step of rice cooking and rice cooking rice heating process are appropriately considered in consideration of the amount of rice cooking Appropriate output control is realized to achieve variable cooking and uniform cooking of rice without water absorption and uneven heating.

Further, by controlling the heat retaining heater drive circuit 33 and the shoulder heater drive circuit 24 by the heat retaining heater drive control circuit section and the shoulder heater drive control circuit section of the microcomputer control unit 32, respectively, for example, according to the heat retaining or rice cooking, steaming and heating processes. By appropriately changing the output value (%) of the heat retaining heater H ₁ and the shoulder heater H ₂ and the ON duty ratio (n seconds / 16 seconds) at the same output value, each of the heat retaining or cooking rice and steaming heating processes. Appropriate output control for appropriately variably controlling the heating temperature and heating pattern of the inner pot 3 in the process in consideration of the actual amount of rice cooking is performed.

  Reference numerals 22a to 22i denote the above-described various input switch sections. When necessary ones of the switches are appropriately operated, the user's instruction content is recognized by the recognition means on the microcomputer control unit 32 side, and the recognition is performed. A desired rice cooking or heat insulation heating pattern is set in accordance with the contents, and the rice cooking heating control means and the cooked heat insulation heating control means are appropriately operated to perform desired rice cooking or heat insulation.

  Therefore, the user uses the above input switches 22a to 22i to cook various types of menus such as rice cooking and rice cooking, heat retention, timer reservation, reservation time setting, white rice, no-washed rice, quick cooking, brown rice, rice porridge, rice cooking, rice cake, etc. If the selection setting contents of various other rice cooking and heat retention functions such as normal heat retention or low temperature heat retention are input, the corresponding function contents are set via the recognition means in the microcomputer control unit 32 for rice cooking and heat insulation heating pattern setting. The setting is automatically input to the section, and the corresponding rice cooking or heat insulation heating control is appropriately performed with a desired control pattern. Furthermore, the code | symbol 17 is a buzzer alerting | reporting part which notifies completion of rice cooking, 16 is a reset circuit, 21 is a liquid crystal display part. In the case of this embodiment, the liquid crystal display unit 21 displays necessary items such as a desired menu and time corresponding to the ON operation of the input switches 22a to 22i. Is going to be made.

(In the case of clock display: see FIGS. 4 and 5)
Generally, in the electric rice cooker as described above, a clock display (time display) is performed during the standby screen. This is not limited to when the AC power is turned on due to the AC plug being turned on, but also when the battery is backed up due to a power failure, for example.

Therefore, in such a case, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the driving voltage is once supplied to the liquid crystal driving circuit to display the time at 10:38 minutes, and then the elapsed time of 60 seconds is counted by the timer. If the decision is YES at step S ₁ with the same 60 seconds has elapsed, supplying a driving voltage to the liquid crystal driving circuit proceeds first to step S _2, it updates the time to the 10:39 minutes as shown in FIG. 5 ( Add) and display.

  During the time display, the drive voltage is supplied intermittently every 60 seconds (at intervals of 60 seconds), and the time is displayed at intervals of 1 minute (60 seconds).

  As a result of the above, according to the control, it is only necessary to apply the driving voltage when updating the display contents without constantly applying the driving voltage to the liquid crystal driving circuit, so that the power consumption during the clock display operation is greatly saved. be able to.

  In addition, the power consumption of the backup power supply battery during a power failure can be saved, and the life can be extended as much as possible.

  Further, even if the AC power is cut off, the display state up to that time can be maintained, so that it is possible to freely select and display various patterns of the demo information screen at the store.

  Furthermore, since it is only necessary to apply a voltage every predetermined time, erroneous display due to power supply noise during that time is reduced.

(In the case of the remaining rice cooking time display, see FIGS. 6 and 7)
In general, in the electric rice cooker as described above, a remaining time display (how many minutes) is displayed for how many minutes the rice is cooked after cooking.

Therefore, in such a case, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, after the drive voltage is once supplied to the liquid crystal drive circuit and the remaining time is displayed for another 15 minutes, the elapsed time of 60 seconds is counted by a timer, When 60 seconds elapses and YES is determined in step S ₁ , the process proceeds to step S ₂ for the first time to supply drive voltage to the liquid crystal drive circuit, and the remaining time is updated to 14 minutes as shown in FIG. Subtract) and display.

  During the display of the remaining time, the driving voltage is intermittently supplied every 60 seconds (at intervals of 60 seconds), and the remaining time is reduced at intervals of 1 minute (60 seconds).

  As a result of the above, according to the control, it is only necessary to apply the drive voltage only when updating the display contents without applying the drive voltage to the liquid crystal drive circuit, so the power consumption during the remaining rice cooking time display operation is increased. Can be saved.

  Further, since it is only necessary to apply a voltage every predetermined time, erroneous display due to power supply noise during that time is reduced.

(In the case of displaying the heat insulation elapsed time: see FIGS. 8 and 9)
Generally, in the electric rice cooker as described above, the display of the heat retention elapsed time is performed during the heat retention.

Therefore, in such a case, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, the driving voltage is once supplied to the liquid crystal driving circuit, and the elapsed time of 60 minutes is counted by the timer from 14h (14 hours). If YES is determined in step S ₁ , the process proceeds to step S ₂ for the first time to supply a driving voltage to the liquid crystal driving circuit, and the time is updated (added) to 15 h (15 hours) as shown in FIG. indicate.

  During the heat retention elapsed time display, the drive voltage is intermittently supplied every 60 minutes (at intervals of 60 minutes) to display the progress of the heat retention time at intervals of 1 hour (60 minutes).

  As a result of the above, according to the same control, it is only necessary to apply the driving voltage when updating the display contents without constantly applying the driving voltage to the liquid crystal driving circuit, so that the power consumption during the heat retention elapsed time display operation is increased. Can be saved.

  Furthermore, since it is only necessary to apply a voltage every predetermined time, erroneous display due to power supply noise during that time is reduced.

(In the case of standby and power failure: see FIGS. 10 and 11)
In the electric rice cooker as described above, for example, a standby screen necessary for operation is displayed once in the initial standby state when the power is turned on by the AC plug ON, and when a corresponding operation key is input, a clock display is further performed. On the other hand, when a power failure occurs, the power OFF display can be performed instead of the clock display (time display).

That is, in such a case, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, when the power is turned ON, once by supplying a driving voltage to the liquid crystal driving circuit in step S _1, standby screen necessary for menu display, etc. Normal operation Is displayed.

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the key input by some operation keys (cooking menu selection, etc.) operation at Step S _2, when the YES where there is an input of any operation key further proceeds to step S _3, Clock display (time display) is performed as a standby screen for waiting for the rice cooking start switch 22a to turn on.

Thereafter, to determine the course of the standby setting time of a predetermined wait timer at step S _4, until the set time has elapsed, but continues the time display without applying a voltage to the liquid crystal driving circuit, the When the setting time is YES elapsed, the process returns to step S _1, to change the voltage again above operation standby screen to the clock display is applied to the liquid crystal drive circuit, thereafter the aforementioned step S ₁ to S ₄ repeating the operation of ~S _1.

  As a result of the above, according to the control, it is only necessary to apply the drive voltage only when updating the display contents without always applying the drive voltage to the liquid crystal drive circuit. Can save a lot.

  On the other hand, at the time of a power failure, for example, even if the current display is in a clock display or any other display state, for example, as shown in FIG. The OFF display is performed, and thereafter the voltage by the battery is turned OFF to continue the OFF display of FIG. As a result, the power source of the backup power source battery during power outage can be greatly saved, and the life can be sufficiently extended.

(When a dot matrix display type liquid crystal panel is used, see FIG. 12)
In the present embodiment, instead of the segment display type liquid crystal panel 21 as shown in FIG. 2 described above, for example, a high-quality liquid crystal panel of a dot matrix (active matrix) display type as shown in FIG. 12 is adopted. When the dot matrix display type liquid crystal panel is adopted, the current time (AM 5:30) and a display relating to a time or time other than the current time (for example, timer reserved time AM 7:30, Other cooking rice / cooking remaining time, heat retention time, heat retention elapsed time, etc.) can be displayed at the same time, and furthermore, graphic display such as letters, figures, pictures etc. can also be performed, so there is abundant display information It becomes easy to see.

  In addition, in the same manner as in the case of the above-mentioned popular liquid crystal panel, it is only necessary to apply a voltage when updating display contents without always applying a voltage to the liquid crystal. Even in the case of power loss, power consumption during various display operations such as a clock display, a display between the remaining rice cooking clocks, and a heat retention elapsed time display can be greatly saved.

  In addition, the power consumption of the backup power supply battery during a power failure can be saved, and the life can be extended as much as possible.

  Further, since it is only necessary to apply a voltage every predetermined time, erroneous display due to power supply noise during that time is reduced.

  Furthermore, even if the AC power is cut off, the previous display state can be maintained, so that a clock display or a standby screen with a predetermined content can be displayed even in a product display state at a store without a power source. it can.

  Therefore, this standby screen can be freely selected and displayed by providing several patterns of desired demo information screens effective for sales promotion, for example. Therefore, it will be particularly effective for sales promotion.

(Other embodiments)
The apparatus to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the electric rice cooker as described above, and can be applied to, for example, an electric pressure cooker and other various electric cookers.

It is a partially notched side view which shows the structure of the electric rice cooker main body which concerns on best embodiment of this invention. It is an enlarged front view of the operation panel (liquid crystal display panel) part which is the principal part of the electric rice cooker main body. It is a block diagram of the control circuit part centering on the microcomputer control unit which is the principal part of the electric rice cooker main body. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the clock display control of the liquid crystal display panel of the electric rice cooker. It is a figure which shows the clock display of the liquid crystal display panel of the electric rice cooker. It is a flowchart which shows the remaining time display at the time of rice cooking of the liquid crystal display panel of the electric rice cooker. It is a figure which shows the remaining time display at the time of rice cooking of the liquid crystal display panel of the same electric rice cooker. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the heat retention time display control of the liquid crystal display panel of the electric rice cooker. It is a figure which shows the heat retention time display of the liquid crystal display panel of the same electric rice cooker. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the display control at the time of standby of the liquid crystal display panel of the electric rice cooker. It is a figure which shows the display at the time of the power failure of the liquid crystal display panel of the electric rice cooker. It is a front view which shows the content of the dot matrix display of the liquid crystal display panel of the same electric rice cooker.

Explanation of symbols

C ₁ , C ₂ , C are work coils, H ₁ is a warming heater, 1 is an outer case, 2 is a lid unit, 3 is an inner pot, 20 is an operation panel, 21 is a liquid crystal display panel, 30 is an AC power source, and 32 is The microcomputer control unit, 5A is a control board, and 5B is an operation board.

Claims (4)

  An electric cooker comprising a liquid crystal display panel for displaying a cooking menu and other cooking information, and configured to perform desired electric cooking while displaying information necessary for cooking on the liquid crystal display panel, wherein the liquid crystal display An electric cooker characterized in that the panel has a memory function, changes display contents only when voltage is applied, and maintains display contents when voltage is not applied.   The electric cooker according to claim 1, wherein the display content is updated by intermittently driving the liquid crystal display panel at a predetermined time.   The electric cooker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information displayed on the liquid crystal display panel is demo information for sales promotion.   4. An electric cooking device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal display panel is of a dot matrix display type.

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