JP2023119069A - Method for controlling heating cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a method for controlling a heating cooler enabling setting operation to be easily and simply performed on each operation button of the heating cooker without requiring time and effort.SOLUTION: A heating cooker 100 includes: a heating chamber for storing an object to be heated; a heating part 201 for heating the inside of the heating chamber; an operation part 202 subjected to an input operation by a user; a photographing part 203 for photographing the inside of the heating chamber; and an information storage part 206 for storing management information corresponding to heating control information of the object to be heated in association with heating control information. The heating cooker 100 also includes: a recognition processing part 205 for recognizing the heating control information on the basis of an image photographed by the photographing part 203; and a management information processing part 207 for acquiring management information corresponding to the heating control information recognized by the recognition processing part 205 from the information storage part 206 and changing setting related to at least any of the heating part 201, the photographing part 203, the information storage part 206, and the recognition processing part 205 on the basis of the management information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a heating cooker and a method of controlling the heating cooker, which can easily perform heating control and maintenance work based on an image captured by a camera provided in the heating cooker.

A microwave oven is known as an example of a cooking device. In the microwave oven, the user presses a button for starting heating after inputting the time for heating and the like. Thereby, heat cooking is performed. At stores such as convenience stores and supermarkets that sell boxed lunches and side dishes in containers, the clerk (user) may provide a service to cook the purchased food in a microwave oven. .

A service of such heat cooking will be described. In general, the optimal heating time for heating in a microwave oven is indicated on containers for boxed lunches, side dishes, and the like. The user sees the display, sets the heating time in the microwave oven, and heats the object to be heated. Numerical keys and the like are provided on the operation unit of the microwave oven, and the heating time (minutes, seconds) is set.

Also, there are cases where the microwave oven has a plurality of operation buttons, and each operation button is assigned a different heating time. In this case, the user can select the button corresponding to the food to be heated to heat the food with heating control suitable for the food and provide the food to the customer.

However, in such a microwave oven, the user has to bother to input the heating time and the like, which is troublesome.

For this reason, techniques have been proposed for automatically setting the heating time and the like in microwave ovens. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique of reading cooking information stored in an external storage device and setting a cooking method in a microwave oven.

JP 2004-116984 A

The present disclosure solves the above-described conventional problems, eliminates the need for troublesome input work such as hardware operation check and cooking menu setting change such as heating time, etc., and allows the user to easily To provide a control method for a heating cooker capable of performing maintenance work and cooking an object to be heated.

The method of controlling a heating cooker of the present disclosure recognizes code information, and when the recognized code information is heating control information for heating an object to be heated, the amount of heating by the heating unit of the heating cooker and When the heating time is set and the recognized code information is setting change information other than the heating control information, the setting contents of the heating cooker other than the heating control information are changed, and the heating by the heating unit of the heating cooker is changed. Both the start and the change of the setting contents of the heating cooker are methods of controlling the heating cooker, which are executed by the user's operation of the operation unit of the heating cooker.

According to the control method of the heating cooker of the present disclosure, troublesome input work such as setting of heating time etc. becomes unnecessary, and the user can easily perform maintenance work and heat cooking of objects to be heated such as food. .

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of a heating cooker according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the heating cooker according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of food to be cooked by the heating cooker according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure and the shape of the food. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of recognition of at least one of characters, labels, and barcodes in image recognition processing in the heating cooker according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of characters and labels in image recognition processing in the cooking device according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of characters and labels in image recognition processing in the cooking device according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing image recognition processing in the heating cooker according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an operation panel of the heating cooker according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a table relating to association between heating control information of an object to be heated and setting processing content in the heating cooker according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a table relating to association between heating control information of an object to be heated and cooking menu management information in cooking parameter setting of the heating cooker according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a table relating to association between cooking menu management information of an object to be heated and each operation panel button in cooking parameter setting of the heating cooker according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the heating cooker according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing an example of characters with multiple descriptions and a label in image recognition processing in the cooking device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing another example of characters with multiple descriptions and labels in image recognition processing in the cooking device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing image recognition processing in the cooking device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a table relating to association between heating control information of an object to be heated, camera management information, and its priority order in the camera check of the heating cooker according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. . FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of characters and labels in image recognition processing in the cooking device of the third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of characters and labels in which special symbols are described in addition to heating control characters in image recognition processing in the cooking device in the cooking device according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. . FIG. 19 shows the image recognition processing in the heating cooker of the third embodiment of the present disclosure, in which characters with special symbols other than heating control characters, and food items attached with labels. It is a figure which shows an example.

(Knowledge, etc. on which this disclosure is based)
In the conventional technology, the types and sizes of boxed lunches, side dishes, and the like change according to regular maintenance work, seasons, events, and the like. For this reason, the user has to change the allocation of the heating time to each operation button of the microwave each time, and it is necessary to press the operation button many times to change the setting, which is very troublesome. It takes time.

The present disclosure solves the above-described conventional problems, eliminates the need for troublesome input work such as hardware operation check and cooking menu setting change such as heating time, etc., and allows the user to easily To provide a control method for a heating cooker capable of performing maintenance work, cooking an object to be heated, and changing the setting as an example.

(Example of embodiment of the present disclosure)
A method of controlling a heating cooker as an example of an aspect of the present disclosure recognizes code information, and when the recognized code information is heating control information for heating an object to be heated, the heating unit of the heating cooker If the heating amount and heating time are set by the code information and the recognized code information is setting change information other than the heating control information, the settings of the heating cooker other than the heating control information are changed, and the heating of the heating cooker is changed. Both the start of heating by the unit and the change of the setting contents of the heating cooker are methods of controlling the heating cooker, which are executed by the user's operation of the operation unit of the heating cooker.

This method eliminates the need for troublesome input operations such as setting the heating time, etc., and allows the user to easily perform maintenance work and heat cooking of objects to be heated such as food.

Further, the heating cooker as an example of the aspect of the present disclosure includes a heating chamber that stores an object to be heated, a heating unit that heats the inside of the heating chamber, an operation unit that is input-operated by a user, and an image of the inside of the heating chamber. and an information storage unit that stores management information corresponding to the heating control information of the object to be heated in association with the heating control information. In addition, the heating cooker includes a recognition processing unit that recognizes heating control information from the image captured by the imaging unit, at least the state of the heating chamber captured by the imaging unit, and the heating control information of the object to be heated. and a control unit that controls the heating unit based on the above. Further, the heating cooker acquires management information corresponding to the heating control information recognized by the recognition processing unit from the information storage unit, and based on the management information, the control unit, the heating unit, the imaging unit, the information storage unit, and and a management information processing unit that changes settings related to at least one of the recognition processing units.

With such a configuration, setting change processing is performed based on pre-registered management information associated with the read heating control information. This eliminates the need for troublesome input operations such as setting the heating time, etc., and allows the user to easily obtain a cooking device that allows maintenance work and cooking of objects to be heated such as food.

Further, in the heating cooker according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the recognition processing unit can recognize a plurality of pieces of heating control information, and the management information processing unit can recognize the plurality of pieces of heating control information based on the order in which they are recognized. Therefore, a plurality of setting change processes may be performed simultaneously or sequentially.

With such a configuration, it is possible to sequentially execute a plurality of setting change processes based on pre-registered management information associated with the read heating control information. This eliminates the need for troublesome input operations such as setting the heating time, etc., and allows the user to easily obtain a heating cooker that allows maintenance work and cooking of objects to be heated such as food.

Further, in the heating cooker according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the management information processing unit determines whether the setting can be changed based on each piece of management information accumulated in the information accumulation unit, , and a setting change determination unit that determines at least one of the above, and the setting change determination unit may change the settings related to the heating chamber based on the result of the determination.

With such a configuration, a plurality of setting change processes are performed based on at least one of pre-registered management information, pre-registered priority order, and executability determination associated with the read heating control information. can be executed in a given order. This eliminates the need for troublesome input operations such as setting the heating time, etc., and allows the user to easily obtain a cooking device that allows maintenance work and cooking of objects to be heated such as food.

Further, in the heating cooker according to the example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the heating unit may perform heating control based on the result determined by the setting change determining unit.

With such a configuration, based on management information related to heating control such as pre-registered additional heating and time-saving heating associated with the read heating control information, under heating control conditions suitable for the object to be heated, It is possible to cook the object to be heated. This eliminates the need for troublesome input operations such as setting the heating time, etc., and allows the object to be heated to be easily cooked under heating control conditions suitable for the object to be heated.

Further, in the heating cooker according to the example of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the recognition processing unit can further recognize information other than the heating control information of the object to be heated, and the setting change determination unit can In this case, the information may be given priority over the management information corresponding to the heating control information, and the setting may be changed.

With such a configuration, when a pre-registered special symbol, number, or the like is recognized, the pre-registered management information and the pre-registered management information are associated with the heating control information including the symbol, character, or the like. Setting change processing, heating control processing, and the like can be sequentially executed based on the execution feasibility determination criteria. Therefore, troublesome input work such as setting of heating time etc. becomes unnecessary, and a user can easily obtain a heating cooker that can perform maintenance work and heat cooking of objects to be heated such as food.

Further, the heating cooker according to an example of the embodiment of the present disclosure further displays information related to at least one of settings changed by the management information processing unit and management information accumulated in the information accumulation unit. A display may be provided.

With such a configuration, the setting acquisition process is performed based on the pre-registered management information associated with the read heating control information. This eliminates the need for troublesome input work for confirming the version information and confirming the status of the inside of the heating chamber, making it possible for the user to be informed in an easy-to-understand manner.

In addition, the control method of the heating cooker of the present disclosure includes a heating chamber that stores the object to be heated, a heating unit that heats the inside of the heating chamber, an operation unit that is input-operated by the user, and an image of the inside of the heating chamber. A control method for a heating cooker comprising: an imaging unit; and an information storage unit that stores management information corresponding to heating control information for an object to be heated in association with the heating control information. Then, the heating control information is recognized from the image captured by the imaging unit, management information corresponding to the recognized heating control information is acquired from the information storage unit, and based on the management information, the heating unit, the imaging unit, This is a method of changing settings related to at least one of the information storage unit and the recognition processing unit.

By such a method, the setting change process is performed based on the pre-registered management information associated with the read heating control information. This eliminates the need for troublesome input work such as setting the heating time, etc., and allows the user to easily obtain a control method for a heating cooker capable of performing maintenance work and cooking an object to be heated such as food. can.

Hereinafter, examples of embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the present disclosure is not limited by the following embodiments.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of a heating cooker 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 1, the heating cooker 100 is provided with a housing 111 for storing food 107, which is an object to be heated, and a door panel 101 for taking in and out the food 107. As shown in FIG. The heating cooker 100 has a heating information display section 102 and a selection section 103 above the door panel 101 in the housing 111 .

As will be described later, the heating cooker 100 reads the heating time corresponding to the food 107 from a display such as a label attached to the food 107, and cooks the food 107 for the read heating time. The read heating time is displayed in the heating information display section 102 .

For example, when the heating time is not read, the selection unit 103 includes a "menu" button for the user to select a menu corresponding to the food 107 to be heated, and a menu button for manually setting the heating time. At least one of numeric buttons, a "minute" button, and a "second" button is provided. The selection unit 103 also includes a “heating start button” for starting heating and a “heating stop button” for stopping heating. In addition, the selection unit 103 has a "menu switching" button for switching to a menu (memory number) corresponding to the food 107 to be heated, and a heating time (input of minutes and seconds) is manually set without using the memory. There may be a "number" button for doing so (see Figure 8).

In addition, the heat cooker 100 includes a heat cooker 104 as a heating chamber in the housing 111 . The heating cooking chamber 104 is provided with an illumination unit 105 provided on the inner side surface and a camera 106 provided on the inner upper surface. By installing the camera 106 in the upper part of the cooking chamber 104, it is possible to photograph the entire inside of the chamber from the upper part of the chamber. Camera 106 is electrically connected to a control circuit (not shown) included in cooker 100 and controlled by the control circuit.

Heating cooker 100 is configured to photograph food 107 stored in heating cooking chamber 104 with camera 106 and detect heating information related to food 107 from the photographed image information.

Moreover, the heat cooker 100 is provided with the illumination part 105 provided in the inside surface of the heat cooker 104 as mentioned above. In the example of FIG. 1, the illumination unit 105 is arranged on the side surface of the heating cooking chamber 104, and illuminates the entire inside of the heating cooking chamber 104 from the inner side surface of the chamber.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the heating cooker 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 2, the heating cooker 100 includes a heating unit 201, an operation unit 202, an imaging unit 203, a control unit 204, a recognition processing unit 205, an information storage unit 206, and a management information processing unit 207. and

The heating unit 201 is made up of, for example, a magnetron or the like, and supplies high frequency waves to the food 107 placed in the cooking chamber 104 to heat the food 107 .

The operation unit 202 has, for example, a touch panel and a plurality of keys, and is used by the user when setting the heating time and starting heating.

The photographing unit 203 is composed of, for example, a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor, or the like, and photographs the interior of the heating cooking chamber 104 . The imaging unit 203 has the above-described camera 106 and control circuit.

The control unit 204 controls the heating unit 201 based on the internal state of the heating cooking chamber 104 photographed by the photographing unit 203 and the heating control information of the food 107 to be heated.

At least one of the control unit 204, the recognition processing unit 205, and the management information processing unit 207 has a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits. At least one of the control unit 204, the recognition processing unit 205, and the management information processing unit 207 executes various controls by a program running on a microcomputer. At least one of the control unit 204, the recognition processing unit 205, and the management information processing unit 207 may include a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits.

The microcomputer and peripheral circuits may be of any form as long as they perform the control described later. At least one of the control unit 204, the recognition processing unit 205, and the management information processing unit 207 may be configured with an arithmetic processing unit and a storage unit that stores a control program. An MPU (Micro Processing Unit) and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) are exemplified as the arithmetic processing unit. A memory is exemplified as the storage unit. A control program recorded in the storage unit is executed by the arithmetic processing unit.

At least one of the control unit 204, the recognition processing unit 205, and the management information processing unit 207 may be configured by hard logic. If configured with hardware logic, it is effective in improving the processing speed. Each component may be composed of one semiconductor chip, or physically composed of a plurality of semiconductor chips. When configured with a plurality of semiconductor chips, each control, which will be described later, can also be realized by separate semiconductor chips.

The recognition processing unit 205 detects information related to heating control information (number of heating W (watts), heating time, etc.) written on a food label or the like from the image captured by the imaging unit 203, and extracts character information ( information on heating control). As the character recognition method for the food label, for example, at least one of a method of detecting heating control information surrounded by a frame in the food label and a method of detecting the outline of the food label may be used. good. The character information includes not only the heating control information of the food 107, but also at least one of image information of the whole food, the type of the food 107 related thereto, and information on the shape and expiration date of the food 107. may be included.

The information storage unit 206 is composed of a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory, and stores the heating control information analyzed by the recognition processing unit 205, the management information related to the control of the heating cooker 100, and the like. That is, the information storage unit 206 stores a table in which the heating control information and the management information are associated with each other.

The heating control information is, for example, a heating amount (that is, heating output or wattage) and a heating time according to the heating amount.

The management information is information related to control of the heating cooker 100 (for example, information related to at least one of the heating unit 201, the imaging unit 203, the information storage unit 206, and the recognition processing unit 205). 106 exposure setting information, focus setting information, illumination brightness setting information, cleaning information in the heating cooker 100, heating time of the heating unit 201, heating wattage, etc. . The cleaning information is cleaning propriety information when it is necessary to remove stains on the camera, top plate, surface of the cooking chamber 104, dust on the filter, and the like. The management information also includes state information such as the number of times the door of the cooking device 100 has been opened and closed, and version information of software related to the control of the cooking device 100 . In addition to the heating control information, the information accumulated in the information accumulation unit 206 includes shape information of the food 107, management information of the cooker 100, management information of the camera 106, and information related to heating control and operation. At least one of the information may be included.

The management information processing unit 207 acquires from the information storage unit 206 the management information in the heating cooking chamber 104 associated with the heating control information detected by the recognition processing unit 205, and the control instruction in the control unit 204 Accordingly, the process of changing the settings in the heating cooking chamber 104 such as the cooking menu and parameter settings of the camera 106 is executed.

3 and 4 are diagrams showing examples of recognition of at least one of characters, labels, and barcodes in image recognition processing in cooking device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. These figures show examples of the image of the food label 302 to be recognized, and are examples of barcode recognition and character recognition in image recognition processing.

In the following embodiments, barcodes are not limited to one-dimensional codes, and include two-dimensional codes such as QR codes (registered trademark).

3 and 4 show food 301, which is a boxed lunch, as an example. A food label 302 is attached to the food 301. The food label 302 displays character information about the name and price of the food, and heating control information. As the heating control information, the food label 302 may display the amount of heating and the heating time corresponding to the amount of heating in the form of letters, symbols, or the like that can be directly recognized by the user. However, it may be displayed as a bar code corresponding to the heating amount and the heating time corresponding to the heating amount.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the heating time corresponding to the heating amount is displayed in the heating control character object area 303 of the food label 302. In the example shown in FIG. Heating times corresponding to a plurality of heating amounts are displayed in the heating control character target area 303 . Specifically, as a guideline for heating with a general household microwave oven, for example, 2 minutes and 30 seconds, which is the heating time when heating with a heating amount of 500 W, and when heating with a commercial microwave oven As a guideline, 0 minute and 45 seconds, which is the heating time when heating with a heating amount of 1500 W, for example, is also written. That is, the heating control character target area 303 displays, for example, "500 W 2 minutes 30 seconds 1500 W 0 minutes 45 seconds".

In the heating control character target area 303, a first character string representing a predetermined heating amount, such as "500", a second character string representing the unit of the heating amount, such as "W", and the heating amount A third character string, for example, "2", which is a number representing the heating time at, a fourth character string, for example, "minute", representing the unit of heating time, and a number representing the heating time at that heating amount. A fifth character string, for example "30", and a sixth character string representing the unit of heating time, for example "second", are displayed in this order.

Furthermore, in the heating control character target area 303, a seventh character string, such as "1500", representing a heating amount larger than the above-described predetermined heating amount, and an eighth character string, such as "W", a ninth character string representing the heating time at that heating amount, such as "0", a tenth character string representing the unit of heating time, such as "minutes", and the heating amount An eleventh character string indicating the heating time, for example "45", and a twelfth character string indicating the unit of the heating time, for example "seconds", are displayed in this order.

In the present embodiment, the second character string and the eighth character string use the SI unit "W (watt)" representing the amount of heat. other characters or units are acceptable. Also, in the fourth, sixth, tenth, and twelfth character strings, "minute" or "second" is used as the unit of time. Other letters or units may be used as long as they represent.

Also, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the barcode is displayed in the barcode target area 304 of the food label 302 .

FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams showing examples of setting labels in the image recognition processing in the cooking device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically, these figures show examples of images of setting labels for changing settings in the cooking chamber 104, and show examples of character recognition in image recognition processing.

FIG. 5 shows a setting label 401 that uses the display format of heating control information (heating amount, heating time) to display a number corresponding to the heating amount and a number corresponding to the heating time corresponding to the heating amount. Information about management information is described in the part.

Specifically, "1111" is written in the place of the number of the heating amount in the setting label 401, which corresponds to the identification ID1 of the management information. In addition, the heating time is described as "1 minute 1 second", and the information of identification ID 2 is in the place corresponding to the number before the "minute" of the heating time, and the information before the "second" of the heating time. , the information of the identification ID3 is described in the portion corresponding to the number.

In addition, in the example of FIG. 6, information related to management information is described in the same manner as in FIG. 5 in accordance with the display format of the heating control information on the food label 302 in FIG.

Specifically, the setting label 402 describes two types of heating control information. The first heating control information describes the heating amount as "0000 W" and the heating time as "0 minutes and 0 seconds". Thus, it can be easily determined that the setting label 402 is a setting change label, and such heating control information is used to determine whether or not the label is a setting label. can do.

In the second heating control information, the heating amount is described as "1111 W" and the heating time is described as "1 minute 1 second". As with the label 401, the information of identification ID1 is described. Similarly to the setting label 401, the information of identification ID 2 corresponds to the number of "seconds" of the heating time. The information of identification ID3 is described in the place where it is done.

In addition, in the description of the setting label, at least one of the format that allows the user to recognize which setting content is to be changed (for example, characters such as "for cooking parameter setting" and an image) should be included on the label. displayed), or may be described as a bar code corresponding to the amount of heating and the heating time corresponding to the amount of heating.

Next, in the heating cooker 100, the recognition processing unit 205 detects the heating control character target area 303 from the image of the food 301 (see, for example, FIG. 4), and the heating control character target area 303 detected from the heating control character target area 303. A process of associating information with management information and changing settings will be described.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing image recognition processing according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

In FIG. 7, when the food label 302 or the setting label 401 is put into the heating cooking chamber 104, the imaging unit 203 captures an image of the interior of the heating cooking chamber 104 (S501).

The recognition processing unit 205 detects and acquires the heating control information of the food 301 to be heated from the image captured by the imaging unit 203 (S502).

Furthermore, the recognition processing unit 205 determines whether or not the detected heating control information (output wattage, heating time, etc.) is correct heating control information for the food 301 to be heated (S503).

If the heating control information of the food 301 to be subjected to image recognition processing is correct heating information (in the present embodiment, an example of the heating control character target area 303 shown in FIG. 4) (Yes in S503), The control unit 204 performs heating control based on the heating control information analyzed by the recognition processing unit 205 . At this time, the control unit 204 displays the heating control information, information related to corresponding management information, or the like on the heating information display unit 102 .

More specifically, after the user confirms whether the heating control information is the correct heating control information for the food 301 to be heated from the display contents of the heating information display unit 102, the user performs the operation. Based on the confirmation result, the unit 202 performs the heating of the target food 301 by pressing the heating start button or the like (S507).

As a result, in the heat cooker 100, the food 301 is cooked with the heating amount included in the heating control information for the heating time included in the heating control information.

When it is determined in step S503 that the heating control information is the heating control information of the setting label 401, or the heating control information acquired in step S502 is not the correct heating control information of the food 301 to be heated. (No in S503). In this case, first, it is checked whether the recognized heating control information is associated with the management information based on the heating information conversion table accumulated in the information accumulation unit 206, and the associated management information is checked. If there is, the management information is acquired (S504).

If it is determined in step S505 that the heating control information of the setting label 401 is the corresponding management information existing in the table (Yes in S505), the management information processing section 207 follows the control instruction from the control section 204. performs setting change processing based on the management information associated with the heating control information by the information storage unit 206 .

Specifically, the user can determine from the display content of the heating information display section 102 (in this case, information related to the management information is displayed) that the heating control information is the management information of the setting label 401. After confirming whether or not there is, the operation unit 202 performs an operation of pressing an operation determination button or the like based on the confirmation result. As a result, the target setting change process is executed (S507).

In this manner, the setting change process is performed in the heating cooker 100 based on the management information associated with the heating control information.

Further, when it is determined that the heating control information is not the correct heating control information for the food 301 to be heated, and when the setting of the corresponding setting label 401 is not found (No in S505), the operation unit At 202, the heating setting (eg, setting of heating amount and heating time) is performed manually (S506).

When the heating setting is performed manually (S506), after confirming whether the heating control information is correct for the food 301 to be heated, the user operates the operation unit 202 based on the confirmation result. Press the heating start button. Thereby, heat cooking is started (S507).

Note that in the present embodiment, the start of heat cooking is set after the heating start button or the operation decision button is pressed in step S507. If it is correct or if it can be determined that the management information is correct (Yes in S503 and Yes in S505), the cooker 100 may be configured to automatically start cooking or setting processing.

Next, a process of correlating and accumulating the heating control information analyzed by the recognition processing unit 205 and the management information by the information accumulation unit 206 will be described.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an operation panel 600 as an example of the operation unit 202 of the cooker 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

The operation panel 600 includes an LED operation display panel 601 (corresponding to the heating information display unit 102) for displaying heating control information, numeric buttons 602 (corresponding to the operation unit 202) for setting various cooking menus and performing special operations, and , a start button 603 (corresponding to the operation unit 202) for starting the heating process determined by the recognition processing unit 205 or confirming the setting process.

Since a device such as a microwave oven is mainly for heating control, the operation display panel 601 is used for displaying various operations. Therefore, according to the conventional technology, most maintenance operations require setting by repeatedly pressing the number buttons 602, the start button 603, and the like, which is extremely burdensome and troublesome.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a table (heating information conversion table) relating to the association between the heating control information of the object to be heated and the setting process content in the cooking device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 9, the association table 801 between the heating control information of the object to be heated and the set processing contents includes ID1 (in this embodiment, heating wattage (heating wattage W)) and setting processing contents in the heating cooking chamber 104 .

In FIG. 9, for example, if the identification ID1 is "0000", a setting change availability check is performed, and if the identification ID1 is "1111", a cooking parameter setting process is performed. In addition to the setting process, instructions from the control unit 1004 such as "additional heating setting" when the identification ID1 is "1222" and "heating of unrecognizable food" when the identification ID1 is "1333" A heating control process is also performed.

In addition to setting processing, it is also possible to perform information acquisition processing such as acquisition of version information and the number of camera shots, check of hardware such as camera check, and illumination check.

As the identification ID1, a numerical value that is not used for normal heating control (such as 500 W and 1500 W, which can be determined as not being used as a normal heating amount) is used to allocate the setting process. . Further, it is more desirable that each digit is selected by the recognition processing unit 205 so as not to cause erroneous recognition of the digit. The information storage unit 206 stores the identification ID1 and the setting process details in association with each other.

Specifically, in the description example of FIG. 5, "1111" is recognized as "identification ID1", so the setting process of "cooking parameter setting" is performed. Further, in the description example of FIG. 6, since "identification ID1" is recognized as "0000" as the first heating control information, it is recognized that "setting change" is possible, and as the second heating control information, , "identification ID 1" is recognized as "1111", so the setting process of "cooking parameter setting" is performed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a table relating to association between heating control information of an object to be heated and cooking menu management information in cooking parameter setting of the heating cooker 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 10, the association table 801 between the heating control information and the cooking menu management information in the cooking parameter setting of the heating cooker 100 has an ID1 (in this embodiment) that identifies the heating amount of the heating control character of the object to be heated. In the form, corresponding to heating wattage (W)) and ID2 (corresponding to heating time (minutes) in this embodiment) and ID3 (corresponding to heating time (seconds) in this embodiment) to identify the heating time (corresponding to ) and setting processing contents in the heating cooking chamber 104.

In FIG. 10, for example, when the identification ID2 is "01" and the identification ID3 is "01", the cooking menu ID "0101" is set. In this case, setting processing for cooking menu ID "0102" is performed.

For identification ID2 and identification ID3, it is desirable to assign the setting process using a numerical value (for example, a numerical value greater than 60) that is not used for normal heating control. Moreover, it is more desirable to select each number so as not to cause erroneous recognition of the number by the recognition processing unit 205 . Identification ID1, identification ID2, and identification ID3 are associated with and stored in the information storage unit 206 with the content of setting processing.

Specifically, in the description example of FIG. 5, since "1" is recognized as "identification ID2" and "1" is recognized as "identification ID3", the setting processing of the cooking menu ID "0101" is performed. In the description example of FIG. 6, "identification ID 1" is recognized as "0000" as the first heating control information. , "cooking parameter setting" with "1111" for "identification ID1", "1" for "identification ID2", and "1" for "identification ID3" are recognized as the second heating control information. Setting processing of "0101" is performed.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a table relating to the association between the cooking menu management information of the object to be heated and each button of the operation panel 600 in setting the cooking parameters of the heating cooker 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. be.

As shown in FIG. 11, the table 901 relating to the association between the cooking menu management information of the object to be heated and each button on the operation panel 600 in setting the cooking parameters of the heating cooker 100 includes "cooking menu ID", button on the operation panel 600 (in the present embodiment, the value corresponding to the number button 602 in FIG. 8) and the contents of setting processing in the heating cooking chamber 104 are included.

In FIG. 11, for example, when the cooking menu ID is "0101", button "1" is "10 seconds", button "2" is "20 seconds", button "9" is "5 minutes", A cooking heating time of "10 minutes" is assigned to each button "0". Note that buttons may be assigned not only to the "number" buttons but also to the "memory" button and the "output switching" button, etc., as on the operation panel 600 in FIG.

Specifically, in the description example of FIG. 5, since "1" is recognized as "identification ID2" and "1" is recognized as "identification ID3", the setting process written in cooking menu ID "0101" is performed. be. In the description example of FIG. 6, the "identification ID 1" is recognized as "0000" as the first heating control information. As the control information, "cooking parameter setting" with "1111" for "identification ID1", "1" for "identification ID2", and "1" for "identification ID3" are recognized. settings are processed.

(Second embodiment)
A microwave oven, which is an example of the cooking device 200 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure, will be described.

In the second embodiment of the present disclosure, descriptions of the same structure, functional configuration, and control method as in the first embodiment will be omitted.

The heating cooker 200 of the second embodiment of the present disclosure differs from the heating cooker 100 of the first embodiment in that a setting change determination unit 1008 is provided in the management information processing unit 1007. This is the point.

Specifically, the setting change determination unit 1008 determines which heating control or setting change process is to be performed when special heating control processing or a plurality of management information processes is performed. performs heating control or setting change processing based on a predetermined priority. Therefore, in this embodiment, this point will be mainly described.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of cooking device 200 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 12, the cooking device 200 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure includes a heating unit 1001, an operation unit 1002, an imaging unit 1003, a control unit 1004, a recognition processing unit 1005, an information A storage unit 1006 and a management information processing unit 1007 are provided. The management information processing section 1007 has a setting change determination section 1008 .

The recognition processing unit 1005 obtains information about the heating amount and the heating time from the setting label 401 or the image of the food label 302 (see FIGS. 3 to 6, for example). The recognition processing unit 1005 identifies the setting label 401 or the food label 302 .

Then, the recognition processing unit 1005 performs character recognition in the heating control character target area 303 of the setting label 401 or the food label 302, and obtains information on the heating amount and heating time. Alternatively, the recognition processing unit 1005 recognizes the barcode in the barcode target area 304 of the food label 302, and stores the information on the heating amount and the heating time registered in advance in the information storage unit 1006 corresponding to the barcode. obtain.

The information accumulation unit 1006 accumulates management information associated with the heating control character information for which the recognition processing unit 1005 has performed the recognition processing. Furthermore, the management information is also associated with information such as priority and whether or not processing can be executed.

The management information processing unit 1007 determines whether to perform heating control or to change the setting according to the processing executability, priority, etc. of the management information accumulated in the information accumulation unit 1006 . Specifically, the setting change determination unit 1008 in the management information processing unit determines in which order the setting change and the heating control are to be performed. Management information processing unit 1007 sequentially performs heating control processing, setting change processing, and the like in control unit 1004 based on the determination result of setting change determination unit 1008 .

The setting change determination unit 1008 not only determines the order of priority in each piece of management information, but also determines the symbol without executing processing for other recognized heating control information when a special symbol is recognized by the recognition processing unit. It is also possible to execute a process based only on the added heating control character information, or to determine the execution of a heating process, setting process, etc. not described in the heating control character information.

Specifically, for example, when a food item 301 is desired to be additionally heated, if the setting label 1101 is input at the same time as the food item 301 having the food label description, only the heating information described in the setting label 1101 is supplied. Heating control is performed by reading, or if heating control information with a special symbol is read, heating control is performed for a short period of time with that amount of heating.

Although the setting change determination unit 1008 is configured as a part of the function of the management information processing unit 1007, the management information processing unit 1007 and the setting change determination unit 1008 may have separate functional configurations. , may be configured as part of the configuration or function of the recognition processing unit 1005 . Further, the recognition processing unit 1005 and the setting change determination unit 1008 may be configured as part of the configuration or function of the control unit 1004 .

13 and 14 are diagrams showing examples of setting labels 1101 and 1102 in image recognition processing in cooking-by-heating device 200 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

Specifically, these figures show examples of images of setting labels 1101 and 1102 for performing a plurality of setting change processes in the cooking chamber 104, and examples of character recognition in the image recognition process. It is a figure which shows.

In FIG. 13, the display format of the heating control information (heating amount, heating time) is used for the setting label 1101 to display the number corresponding to the heating amount and the number corresponding to the heating time corresponding to the heating amount. Information about management information is described in the part.

Specifically, the setting label 1101 describes two types of heating control information. In the first heating control information, the heating amount is described as "1111 W" and the heating time is described as "1 minute 1 second". According to the information conversion table, the identification ID 1 "1111" describes the processing content related to "cooking parameter setting". In addition, the heating time is described as "1 minute 1 second", and in the place corresponding to the "minute" number of the heating time, the information "1" of the identification ID2 is added to the "second" number of the heating time. Information "1" of identification ID3 is described in the corresponding portion, and the setting contents related to the setting of cooking menu ID "0101" are described according to the information conversion table of FIG.

In the second heating control information, the heating amount is described as "2222 W" and the heating time is described as "2 minutes and 1 second". "2222" describes the processing details related to "acquisition of number of camera shots". Similarly to the setting label 401, the heating time "2 minutes 1 second" also has the information "2" of the identification ID2 corresponding to the number of the heating time "minutes" and the heating time "seconds". The information "1" of the identification ID3 is written in each place corresponding to the number of .

Also, in FIG. 14, information related to management information is described in the same manner as in FIG. Specifically, the setting label 1102 describes four types of heating control information.

The same heating amount "5111 W" is described in each of the first heating control information to the fourth heating control information, the portion corresponding to the number of the heating amount is "5111", and the identification ID1 "5111" is , the processing contents related to "camera check" are described from the information conversion table of FIG. In the description of the first heating control information to the fourth heating control information, the heating time is described as "1 minute 1 second", "1 minute 2 seconds", "2 minutes 1 second", and "2 minutes 2 seconds", respectively. there is

Note that the setting labels 1101 and 1102 are written in a format that allows the user to recognize which setting is to be changed (for example, characters or images such as "for cooking parameter setting" are displayed on the label). format), or may be described as a bar code corresponding to the amount of heating and the heating time corresponding to the amount of heating.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing image recognition processing according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

In FIG. 15, when the food 301 or the setting label 1101 is put into the heating cooking chamber 104, the imaging unit 1003 captures an image of the interior of the heating cooking chamber 104 (S1201).

The recognition processing unit 1005 detects and acquires the heating control information of the food 301 to be heated from the image captured by the imaging unit 1003 (S1202).

Furthermore, the recognition processing unit 205 determines whether or not there are multiple pieces of detected heating control information (heating amount, heating time, etc.) (S1203). If there is not a plurality of pieces of detected heating control information (No in S1203), the flow is the same as the flow (X) in FIG. 7 in which there is only one piece of heating control information. do.

If there is a plurality of pieces of detected heating control information (Yes in S1203), the setting change determination unit 1008 determines the processing order based on the setting change determination table stored in the information storage unit 1006. FIG. In the setting change determination unit 1008, based on the priority of the management information associated with each of the plurality of pieces of heating control information recognized by the recognition processing unit 1005, in which order the setting change and heating control are performed. Or, it determines whether or not to execute. Further, the execution order and whether or not the processing can be executed are confirmed based on the display contents of the operation display panel 601 or the like in FIG. 8 (S1204).

If there is no problem with the execution order (Yes in S1205), it is determined whether the heating control information is correct heating control information for the food 1403 to be heated (S1206).

If the heating control information of the food 1403 to be subjected to image recognition processing is correct heating information (Yes in S1206), the control unit 1004 performs heating control based on the heating control information analyzed by the recognition processing unit 1005. I do. At this time, the control unit 1004 displays at least one of the heating control information and the corresponding management information on the heating information display unit 102 .

After the user confirms whether the heating control information is the correct heating control information for the food 1403 to be heated from the contents displayed on the heating information display unit 102, the user confirms the information using the operation unit 1002. Based on the result, the target food 1403 is heated by pressing the heating start button or the like (S1208).

As a result, in the heat cooker 100, the food 1403 is cooked with the heating amount included in the heating control information for the heating time included in the heating control information.

If it is determined in step S1206 that it is the heating control information for the setting label 1101 or that it is not the correct heating control information for the food 1403 to be heated (No in S1206), the information is stored in the information storage unit 1006 first. Based on the heating information conversion table thus recognized, it is checked whether or not the recognized heating control information is associated with management information, and if there is associated management information, that management information is acquired (S1207). .

In step S1207, according to the control instruction from the control unit 1004, the management information processing unit 1007 performs setting change processing based on the management information associated with the heating control information in the information storage unit 1006. FIG.

At this time, the control unit 1004 displays the heating control information, information related to the corresponding management information, and the like on the heating information display unit 102 .

After confirming whether the heating control information is the management information of the setting label 1101 from the display contents of the heating information display unit 102, the user operates the operation unit 1002 based on the confirmation result. By pressing an operation decision button or the like, the target setting change process is executed (S1208).

Thereby, in the heating cooker 200, the setting change process is performed based on the management information associated with the heating control information.

In the present embodiment, the start of heat cooking is assumed to be after the heating start or operation decision button is pressed in step S1208. If the information can be determined to be correct (Yes in S1206 and S1207), the cooker 200 may be configured to automatically start cooking or setting processing.

After step S1208, it is determined in step S1209 whether or not there is remaining processing, and if there is remaining processing (S1209, Yes), the process proceeds to step S1206. If there is no remaining process (S1209, No), the process ends.

FIG. 16 shows a table (setting change FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a determination table);

As shown in FIG. 16, the association table 1301 between the heating control information of the object to be heated and the cooking menu management information in the camera check of the heating cooker has an ID1 (this In the embodiment, it corresponds to the heating wattage (W)), ID2 for identifying the heating time (corresponds to the heating time (minutes) in the present embodiment), ID3 (in the present embodiment, the heating time (seconds) corresponding to), and setting processing contents in the heating cooking chamber 104.

In FIG. 16, for example, when the identification ID2 is "1" and the identification ID3 is "1", the sharpness function of the camera is set to "ON", and the identification ID2 is "1" and the identification ID3 is "2". In the case of , processing for setting the sharpness function of the camera to "OFF" is performed. When the identification ID2 is "2" and the identification ID3 is "1", the exposure time of the camera is set to "1/200 second". In this case, processing for setting the exposure time of the camera to "1/100 second" is performed.

For the identification ID2 and the identification ID3, it is desirable to assign the setting process using a numerical value (such as a numerical value greater than 60) that is not used for normal heating control. Moreover, it is more desirable that each number is selected so that the recognition processing unit 1005 does not misrecognise the number. Information storage unit 1006 stores identification ID1, identification ID2, and identification ID3 in association with the setting processing content.

Specifically, in the description example of FIG. 14, four heating control characters are described, and the values of "identification ID2, identification ID3" are "1,1", "1,2", "2" in order from the top. , 1" and "2, 2" are recognized. Therefore, from the association table 1301, the respective setting contents are "sharpness: ON", "sharpness: OFF", "exposure time: 1/200 second", and "exposure time: 1/100 second". Furthermore, since the respective priorities are "1", "2", "100", and "101" in order from the top, the processing order is also "sharpness: ON", "sharpness: OFF", "exposure The setting process is performed in the order of "time: 1/200 second" and "exposure time: 1/100 second".

In this description example, only the setting process is set in order of priority. may be implemented. Further, according to the control processing of the control unit 1004, a plurality of setting processes may be processed simultaneously, or the next setting process may not be executed until the first setting process is completed.

(Third Embodiment)
A microwave oven, which is an example of a cooking device according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure, will be described. In the third embodiment of the present disclosure, descriptions of the same structure, functional configuration, and control method as in the second embodiment will be omitted.

FIGS. 17 to 19 are diagrams respectively showing examples of setting labels 1401 and 1402 in image recognition processing in the cooking device according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure.

Specifically, these drawings show examples of images of setting labels 1401 and 1402 for performing preferential heating control processing in the heating cooking chamber 104, and barcode recognition in image recognition processing. and FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of character recognition.

FIG. 17 shows the display format of the heating control information (heating amount, heating time) on the heat treatment setting label 1401, showing the number corresponding to the heating amount and the heating time corresponding to the heating amount. Information related to the management information is described in the portion of the numbers that follow.

Specifically, "1222" is written in the place of the number of the heating amount in the setting label 1401, and according to the information conversion table of FIG. do. In addition, the heating time is described as "0 minutes and 12 seconds", and the information "0" of the identification ID 2 corresponds to the number of "minutes" of the heating time, and the number of "seconds" of the heating time. The information "12" of the identification ID3 is described in each of the portions corresponding to . When performing additional heating setting, even if other heating control information is read, only this read information may be preferentially read.

Specifically, when the recognition processing unit 1005 recognizes “1222W 0 minutes 12 seconds”, the setting change determination unit 1008 determines this value based on the information conversion table and the priority stored in the information storage unit 1006 . In this case, even if there is a plurality of pieces of heating control information other than additional heating control, priority is given to the processing of only the additional heating control information. The management information processing unit 1007 causes the control unit 1004 to perform additional heating control based on the processing result of the setting change determination unit 1008 .

In addition, in FIG. 18, information related to heat treatment management information is described in the same manner as in FIG. Specifically, the setting label 1402 describes one type of heating control information surrounded by two special symbols “▪”. The heating control information excluding the special symbol “▪” describes the heating amount as “1900 W” and the heating time as “0 minutes and 35 seconds”. Specific processing will be described with reference to FIG. 19 .

FIG. 19 shows an example in which a food label 1404 is originally attached to a food item 1403 . Furthermore, a food label 1404 equivalent to the setting label 1402 with the special symbol “▪” described in FIG. In this case, the recognition processing unit 1005 recognizes two pieces of control information, the heating control information written on the food label 1404 and the heating control information written on the food label 1404 with the special symbol “▪”. read. In the setting change determination unit 1008, when the special symbol “■” is described, the heating control information described in the food label 1404 is not performed because the main heating control information is given priority, and the special symbol “■” is not performed. , which is the heating control information described as "1900W, 0 minutes and 35 seconds". Based on the determination result of the setting change determination unit 1008 in the management information processing unit 1007 , the control unit 1004 causes the heating unit 1001 to perform heating control of “1900 W, 0 minutes and 35 seconds”.

With such a configuration, based on management information related to heating control such as pre-registered additional heating and time-saving heating associated with the read heating control information, under heating control conditions suitable for the object to be heated, It is possible to cook the object to be heated.

The third embodiment described above can be implemented in combination with at least one of the first embodiment and the second embodiment.

As described above, according to the present disclosure, there is no need for troublesome input work, etc., and the user can easily heat food and perform maintenance work. Therefore, the present disclosure is widely applicable and useful to heating cookers such as microwave ovens for home use, rice cookers, and IH cooking heaters, in addition to microwave ovens used in stores.

100, 200 heating cooker 101 door panel 102 heating information display section (display section)
104 heating cooking chamber (heating chamber)
105 lighting unit 106 camera 107, 301, 1403 food (object to be heated)
111 Housings 201, 1001 Heating Units 202, 1002 Operation Units 203, 1003 Imaging Units 204, 1004 Control Units 205, 1005 Recognition Processing Units 206, 1006 Information Storage Units 207, 1007 Management Information Processing Units 302, 1404 Food Labels 401, 402 , 1101, 1102, 1401, 1402 Setting label 303 Heating control character target area 304 Barcode target area 600 Operation panel 601 Operation display panel 602 Number button 603 Start button 801, 1301 Association table 901 Table 1008 Setting change determination unit

Claims (1)

A control method for recognizing code information and controlling a heating cooker,
When the recognized code information is heating control information for heating the object to be heated, the heating amount and heating time by the heating unit of the heating cooker are set,
When the recognized code information is setting change information other than the heating control information, setting contents of the heating cooker other than the heating control information are changed,
Both the start of heating by the heating unit of the heating cooker and the change of the setting contents of the heating cooker are performed by the user operating the operation unit of the heating cooker.
A control method for the heating cooker.