CN210018998U - Cooking utensil - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a cooking utensil, including cooking utensil main part, liquid reserve tank and controlling means. The cooking appliance main body has a cooking space. The liquid storage tank comprises a main body part, a measuring pipe and a photoelectric sensor. The main body part is used for storing liquid. The first end of the measuring tube is in fluid communication with the bottom of the body portion such that the liquid level within the measuring tube is at the same height as the liquid level within the body portion, and the second end extends upwardly beyond the highest liquid level within the body portion and is in communication with the atmosphere. The photoelectric sensor is arranged above the liquid level of the measuring pipe. The control device is electrically connected to the photosensor and configured to measure a liquid level in the main body portion by the photosensor. According to the utility model discloses a cooking utensil can detect the liquid level in the liquid reserve tank through photoelectric sensor, and the testing process adopts the mode of non-contact, does not occupy the stock solution space of liquid reserve tank to convenient washing and change.

Description

Cooking utensil

Technical Field

The utility model discloses generally relate to cooking utensil's technical field.

Background

Some existing cooking appliances are equipped with a liquid storage device such as a water tank. In the use process, the liquid storage amount in the liquid storage device needs to be monitored in real time, so that the liquid storage device can be supplemented in time when the liquid storage device is used up. Usually, a floating ball is arranged in the liquid storage device, and the liquid amount in the liquid storage device is detected by the floating ball. However, this detection method is relatively space-consuming and not easy to clean. And the appearance is not beautiful enough, which affects the appearance of the user.

Accordingly, there is a need for a cooking appliance that at least partially solves the problems of the prior art.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In the summary section a series of concepts in a simplified form is introduced, which will be described in further detail in the detailed description section. The inventive content does not imply any attempt to define the essential features and essential features of the claimed solution, nor is it implied to be intended to define the scope of the claimed solution.

To at least partially solve the above problems, there is provided a cooking appliance including:

a cooking appliance main body having a cooking space;

a reservoir, the reservoir comprising:

a body portion for storing a liquid; and

a measuring tube, a first end of the measuring tube being in fluid communication with the bottom of the body portion such that a liquid level within the measuring tube is at a level equal to a liquid level within the body portion, a second end of the measuring tube extending upwardly beyond a highest liquid level within the body portion and being in communication with the atmosphere; and

a photoelectric sensor arranged above the liquid level of the measuring tube; and

a control device electrically connected to the photosensor, the control device configured to measure a liquid level height within the body portion via the photosensor.

According to the utility model discloses a cooking utensil can detect the liquid level in the liquid reserve tank through photoelectric sensor, and the testing process adopts the mode of non-contact, does not occupy the stock solution space of liquid reserve tank to convenient washing and change.

Optionally, the control device is arranged on the cooking appliance body, and the measuring tube is fixedly connected with the cooking appliance body. This makes it possible to maintain a good electrical connection between the photosensor and the control device.

Optionally, the main body part is detachably connected with the cooking appliance main body. Thus, the main body can be easily cleaned or maintained.

Optionally, the first end of the measurement tube is removably connected with the body portion. Therefore, the main body part and the measuring pipe are detached for cleaning or maintenance, and the operation is convenient.

Optionally, the bottom of the body portion is provided with a quick coupling, through which the first end of the measuring tube is connected with the body portion. Thus, the body portion and the measurement pipe can be easily detached or assembled.

Optionally, the photosensor is disposed within the tube at the second end of the measurement tube. This makes it possible to keep the photoelectric sensor constantly spaced from the liquid surface.

Optionally, the main body part is used for storing water, and the cooking appliance main body further includes a water supply pipe in fluid communication with the main body part to supply water to the cooking space. Thereby, water can be automatically supplied to the cooking space.

Optionally, the cooking appliance further comprises:

a capsule mounting means for receiving and mounting a capsule; and

a capsule opening device capable of opening the capsule to allow contents of the capsule to enter the cooking space. Therefore, the food can be stored in the capsule, so that the food can be kept fresh, and the automation of cooking can be improved.

Optionally, the capsule mounting device accommodates a plurality of capsules and can bring each of the plurality of capsules to an opening position corresponding to the capsule opening device, and the capsule opening device opens the capsule located at the opening position. Thereby, a plurality of capsules may be provided to accommodate a larger amount of the same kind of food material or to accommodate different kinds of food material.

Optionally, the plurality of capsules are interconnected to form an integral capsule group. Thereby, the capsule can be conveniently installed or replaced.

Drawings

The following drawings of the embodiments of the present invention are provided as a part of the present invention for understanding the present invention. There are shown in the drawings, embodiments and descriptions thereof, which are used to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings, there is shown in the drawings,

fig. 1 is a schematic view of a cooking appliance according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

fig. 2 is a partial vertical sectional view of an embodiment of a cooking appliance body of the cooking appliance shown in fig. 1.

Detailed Description

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without one or more of these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in order to avoid obscuring embodiments of the present invention.

In the following description, a detailed structure will be presented for a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. It is apparent that the implementation of the embodiments of the present invention is not limited to the specific details familiar to those skilled in the art.

The utility model provides a cooking appliance which can be an electric cooker, an electric pressure cooker, a food processor or other electric heating appliances and the like. Fig. 1 shows a cooking appliance according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which generally includes a cooking appliance main body 1 and a liquid storage tank 2.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a cooking appliance main body 1. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the cooking appliance main body 1 has a cooking space (not shown) therein. The cooking space may contain therein materials to be heated, such as rice, soup, etc. It is also possible to provide heating means to heat the cooking space and functional elements such as temperature measuring means, pressure measuring means, etc. to sense parameters such as temperature and pressure, respectively, of the cooking space. In addition, a control device may be provided in the cooking device main body 1, and electrically connected to each component and controlling the operation thereof.

The tank 2 is used for storing liquid for cooking, and may store water or liquid seasonings or additives for cooking. The tank 2 comprises a body portion 21 and a measurement pipe 22. The main body 21 stores liquid. The measurement pipe 22 is used for measuring the liquid level in the main body 21. Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the measurement tube 22 has a first end 221 and a second end 222 that is in fluid communication with the bottom of the body portion 21 through the first end 221. The second end 222 extends upwardly beyond the highest liquid level within the main body 21 and is open to the atmosphere. Thereby, the measurement pipe 22 and the body portion 21 form a communicating vessel, and the measurement pipe 22 and the body portion 21 have a level liquid surface. The measuring tube 22 can be U-shaped or L-shaped.

Further, the measuring tube 22 is provided with a photosensor 23 at a position higher than the liquid surface. The control device is electrically connected to the photosensor 23. The photoelectric sensor 23 can sense the height of the liquid level inside the measuring pipe 22 by the photoelectric effect and send an electric signal of the sensing result to the control device. From this, controlling means can the liquid level height in real time monitoring liquid reserve tank 2 to learn the liquid storage volume in the liquid reserve tank 2. The user is convenient to be informed when the stored liquid is used up, and the stored liquid is supplemented in time so as to avoid delaying cooking. Preferably, as shown in fig. 1, a photosensor 23 is arranged at the second end of the measurement tube 22. Therefore, the photoelectric sensor 23 is always higher than the liquid level, and the influence of the liquid on the service life is avoided. According to the utility model discloses, liquid level is measured through the mode of non-contact to photoelectric sensor 23, does not occupy the stock solution space to convenient health.

The measuring tube 22 is used for providing a liquid level flush with the main body 21, and the liquid storage amount of the main body 21 is obtained through detection of the photoelectric sensor 23 above the measuring tube. The measuring tube 22 may be designed in a tubular shape with a small size, mainly for detecting the liquid level, and the main body portion 21 mainly for storing liquid.

Usually the control device is fixedly arranged within the cooking appliance body 1, while the photoelectric sensor 23 is arranged on the measuring tube 22. The control device is electrically connected to the photosensor 23. Therefore, preferably, the measurement pipe 22 is configured to be fixedly connected to the cooking appliance main body 1. Thereby, the reliability of the electrical connection of the control device and the photosensor 23 can be ensured.

Accordingly, the body portion 21 may be detachably connected with the measurement pipe 22. When the main body part 21 needs to be maintained or cleaned, the main body part 21 can be detached independently, and the operation is flexible and convenient. Preferably, a quick coupling 24 may be provided at the bottom of the body portion 21. The measurement duct 22 is detachably mounted to the body portion 21 by way of its first end 221 being connected to the quick coupling 24. Therefore, the measuring tube 22 and the main body part 21 can be quickly assembled and disassembled, and the operation of a user is convenient. It can be understood that the main body 21 may be a separate structure that is not connected to the cooking device main body 1, or may be configured to be detachably connected to the cooking device main body 1 so that the cooking device is configured as a whole for convenient carrying and moving. Since the photoelectric sensor 23 is disposed at the measurement pipe 22, the liquid level of the main body portion 21 is indirectly measured, and the detachment of the main body portion 21 is not affected.

Fig. 2 shows the configuration of one embodiment of the cooking appliance main body 1, which includes a pot body 10 and a lid body 14. The cooker body 10 may be substantially configured in a rounded rectangular parallelepiped shape, and an inner pot 11 is provided therein. A cylindrical inner pot accommodating portion may be provided in the pot body 10, and the inner pot 11 may be freely put into or taken out of the inner pot accommodating portion to facilitate cleaning of the inner pot 11. Of course, the inner pot 11 may be fixedly provided in the pot body 10, or a concave cooking cavity may be provided in the pot body 10 instead of the inner pot 11.

The lid body 14 may be pivotably connected to the pot body 10 by a pivot shaft, and may be openable and closable with respect to the pot body 10. When the cover 14 is covered on the pot body 10, a cooking space 12 is formed between the cover 14 and the inner pot 11.

Preferably, the cooking appliance body 1 may be further provided with a capsule mounting means 30 for receiving and mounting a capsule and a capsule opening means (not shown) for opening the capsule. Therefore, according to the utility model discloses a cooking utensil can use and be packaged with the capsule of edible material or water and cook. The capsule may comprise a receiving cavity with an opening. Food materials or water used for cooking, etc. may be stored in the receiving chamber, and the opening of the receiving chamber is sealed by a sealing film. Preferably, about 50-200g of food materials, such as rice, millet or beans, can be stored in one capsule to meet the cooking requirements of different food quantities and different people.

Through storing the used food materials such as rice, beans during cooking in the capsule, the cooking utensil of being convenient for is taken regularly and quantitatively automatically, is favorable to improving the automation of culinary art. In addition, the food materials stored in the capsule can be cleaned in advance, so that the food materials are kept sanitary, the cleaning process before cooking is omitted, and nutrient substances such as vitamins and the like can be added into the food materials to balance the nutrition of the food materials. The capsule can also store food materials in a sealing manner to play a role in keeping food fresh, or the food materials can be further prolonged in preservation period by means of vacuumizing the containing cavity or filling protective gas into the containing cavity.

As shown in fig. 2, capsule mounting means 30 is provided on the lid 14 for receiving a stationary capsule 41. The capsule 41 is mounted on the capsule mounting device 30 with the opening facing generally downward. Further, the lid body 14 is provided with a feed passage 13 at a position below the capsule mounting device 30. The feeding passage 13 communicates with the cooking space 12 through an outlet at a lower end thereof. The capsule opening device is provided at a position corresponding to the feed channel 13, and may be configured, for example, as a cutting knife for opening the capsule 41 by piercing and cutting a sealing membrane of the capsule 41. As a simple variant, it is also possible to open the capsule 41 before the position corresponding to the feed channel 13 and to block the capsule 41 with other structures. The capsule 41 then continues to move to the open position corresponding to the feed channel 13. In this open position, the contents of the containing cavity of the capsule 41 automatically enter the cooking space 12 through the feeding channel 13 under the action of gravity. Therefore, the position of the capsule mounting device 30 corresponding to the feed channel 13 (or capsule opening device) may be referred to as the open position. And the outlet of the feeding channel 13 may be referred to as a throat of the cooking space 12.

Further, as shown in fig. 2, a plurality of capsules 41 may be mounted on the capsule mounting device 30. The capsule mounting means 30 are able to bring each capsule 41 to a position corresponding to the feed channel 13, i.e. the aforementioned open position. In this way, more food items can be accommodated by the plurality of capsules 41, more food items can be used to cook food for more people, and various food items can be used to meet the requirements for cooking different foods. And frequent manual replacement of the capsule 41 can be avoided, enabling a high degree of automation of the cooking. Preferably, the plurality of capsules 41 of the capsule mounting device 30 may be connected to each other to form a capsule group 40 of a unitary structure, so that the plurality of capsules 41 can be conveniently mounted and replaced.

In addition, the cooking appliance main body 1 is provided with a water supply pipe 50, a water outlet of which is provided in the cooking space 12. Accordingly, water can be stored in the main body 21 of the tank 2, and the water supply pipe 50 can communicate with the main body 21 to supply the water in the main body 21 to the cooking space 12, thereby further improving automation of the cooking process. Further, purified water or mineral water with high quality can be stored in the main body 21, which is beneficial to improving food safety and ensuring human health.

In the above description, the manner of opening the capsule is achieved by piercing the sealing membrane by a capsule opening device configured as a cutting knife. The manner of opening the capsule is not limited thereto and the structure of the capsule opening device is not limited to the cutting knife. The capsule may be opened, for example, by dissolving the sealing membrane, or the specific structure of the capsule opening device may be changed when the capsule is constructed in other structures that do not include the sealing membrane. The utility model discloses do not limit to this, as long as can realize opening the capsule can.

Unless defined otherwise, technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Terms such as "disposed" and the like, as used herein, may refer to one element being directly attached to another element or one element being attached to another element through intervening elements. Features described herein in one embodiment may be applied to another embodiment, either alone or in combination with other features, unless the feature is otherwise inapplicable or otherwise stated in the other embodiment.

The present invention has been described in terms of the above embodiments, but it is to be understood that the above embodiments are for purposes of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the invention to the described embodiments. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many more modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching and are intended to be included within the scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

1. A cooking appliance, characterized in that it comprises:

a cooking appliance main body (1), the cooking appliance main body (1) having a cooking space (12);

a liquid storage tank (2), the liquid storage tank (2) comprising:

a main body part (21), wherein the main body part (21) is used for storing liquid; and

a measurement tube (22), a first end (221) of the measurement tube (22) being in fluid communication with the bottom of the body portion (21) such that a liquid level within the measurement tube (22) is level with a liquid level within the body portion (21), a second end (222) of the measurement tube (22) extending upwardly beyond a highest liquid level within the body portion (21) and being in communication with the atmosphere; and

a photoelectric sensor (23), wherein the photoelectric sensor (23) is arranged above the liquid level of the measuring pipe (22); and

a control device electrically connected to the photosensor (23), the control device being configured to measure a liquid level within the body portion (21) by the photosensor (23).

2. Cooking appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that the control device is arranged on the cooking appliance body (1), the measuring tube (22) being fixedly connected to the cooking appliance body (1).

3. The cooking appliance according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the main body (21) is detachably connected with the cooking appliance main body (1).

4. The cooking appliance according to claim 3, wherein the first end (221) of the measurement tube (22) is detachably connected with the main body portion (21).

5. Cooking appliance according to claim 4, characterized in that the bottom of the body part (21) is provided with a quick coupling (24), the first end (221) of the measuring tube (22) being connected with the body part (21) by means of the quick coupling (24).

6. Cooking appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that the photoelectric sensor (23) is arranged inside the tube at the second end (222) of the measuring tube (22).

7. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the main body portion (21) is for storing water, the cooking appliance main body (1) further comprising a water supply pipe (50), the water supply pipe (50) being in fluid communication with the main body portion (21) for supplying water to the cooking space (12).

8. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the cooking appliance body (1) further comprises:

a capsule mounting means (30), said capsule mounting means (30) for receiving and mounting a capsule (41); and

a capsule opening device capable of opening the capsule (41) to allow contents of the capsule (41) to enter the cooking space (12).

9. The cooking appliance according to claim 8, wherein the capsule mounting means (30) houses a plurality of capsules (41) and is able to bring each of the plurality of capsules (41) to an opening position corresponding to the capsule opening means, which opens the capsule (41) in the opening position.

10. The cooking appliance according to claim 9, wherein said plurality of capsules (41) are interconnected to form one integral capsule group (40).

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