JP6486669B2 - Microwave heating method and microwave heating apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a microwave heating method and a microwave heating apparatus for heating an object by irradiating microwaves, and more particularly to a microwave heating method and a microwave heating apparatus for partially heating an object.

A microwave oven, which is a typical microwave heating apparatus, is widely used in homes, workplaces, stores, and the like because it can heat food and the like in a short time with a simple operation.
In addition, microwave ovens are often installed in retail stores such as convenience stores and supermarkets. In such stores, the person who bought the food pays it at the cash register, and then turns the food into the microwave. There is a place where a store clerk warms the food in a microwave oven and then delivers it to the purchaser after warming up.

By the way, a microwave oven is a device that irradiates an object placed in a heating chamber with microwaves and dielectrically heats it, but a magnetron is conventionally used as a device that generates microwaves (for example, patents). Reference 1).
The microwave output from the magnetron propagates through the waveguide and is supplied into the heating chamber of the microwave oven.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-19491

However, it is known that the microwave output from the magnetron has low directivity. For this reason, even if the whole heating object mounted in the heating chamber can be heated, the object cannot be partially heated.
For this reason, there was a problem that it was not possible to deal with the following scenes.

For example, lunch boxes are sold at stores such as convenience stores and supermarkets.
Lunch boxes usually contain multiple foods, some of which should be warmed, such as rice and boiled foods, and some that should not be warmed, such as fruits and pickles There is also.
However, the microwave oven is designed to uniformly heat the entire object placed in the heating chamber. In addition, the microwave output from the magnetron has low directivity as described above.
For this reason, there was a problem that it was not possible to select and heat only rice or boiled food from the lunch box, or not to heat fruits and pickles.

Some microwave ovens equipped with a magnetron are provided with a rotating antenna between the waveguide and the heating chamber, and direct a portion having a strong microwave radiation directivity to a designated location in the heating chamber. .
However, in such a microwave oven, a rotating antenna must be provided, and a motor for rotating the rotating antenna and a gear for transmitting the rotational force of the motor to the rotating antenna must be provided. There is a problem that the microwave oven becomes large as a whole.

Furthermore, as a method of creating a heated part and a non-heated part in a heated object, for example, a small case made of a material that shields microwaves, and the lower container part and the upper lid part are opened and closed vertically. There is one that can cover a part of the lunch box from outside (for example, technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-207825). Thereby, since the microwave does not enter the inside of the portion of the lunch box covered with the small case, the food contained in this portion can be prevented from being heated.
However, the operation of attaching a small case to a part of the lunch box is troublesome for users of microwave ovens. From the standpoint of the store, it can be said that forcing the customer to perform such work is undesirable because it hinders the convenience of the customer.

  The present invention has been considered in view of the above circumstances, and enables partial heating of a heating object placed in a heating chamber of a microwave oven with a simple configuration, without performing troublesome work, An object of the present invention is to provide a microwave heating method and a microwave heating apparatus that can realize partial heating of a heating object.

In order to achieve this object, the microwave heating method of the present invention is a microwave heating method for heating an object contained in a container, and a part to be heated of the object is a heating part, and the heating part is required. An information acquisition process for acquiring information on the heating part from the container as heating part specifying information, a process for specifying the position of the heating required part in the object based on the heating part specifying information, and a microwave generation part configured using a semiconductor element A step of generating microwaves, a step of supplying microwaves into a heating chamber that accommodates a container containing the object, and a heating step of heating a heating required portion of the object by changing the phase of the microwaves. has the heating unit specific information is a color that is attached to the container, wherein the information acquisition step, the color sensor by said heating unit specific information assigned a color in a container to obtain a color of the container There the method is a step of obtaining a.
Moreover, the microwave heating method of the present invention is a microwave heating method for heating an object contained in a container, wherein a part to be heated in the object is a required heating part, and a part not to be heated in the object Based on the information acquisition step of acquiring one or both of the information related to the heating required part or the information related to the non-heating part from the container as the heating part specifying information, and the heating part specifying information A step of identifying the position of the heating target part in the object, a step of generating a microwave by a microwave generating unit configured using a semiconductor element, and a heating chamber for storing the container containing the object A step of supplying the microwave, and a heating step of heating the heating-required part of the object by changing the phase of the microwave, Vessel is of a shape, the information acquisition step may be a method which is the process of acquiring the shape of the container as the heating unit specific information by the shape detection means for obtaining a shape of the container.

The microwave heating apparatus of the present invention is a microwave heating apparatus that heats an object contained in a container, and includes a microwave generation unit configured using a semiconductor element, and a microwave generated by the microwave generation unit. A phase control unit that controls the phase of the wave, a power supply unit that supplies microwaves into a heating chamber that stores an object placed in a container, and a portion to be heated of the object is a required heating unit. The information acquisition unit that acquires information on the heating unit as specific information from the container, the information control unit that specifies the position of the heating target in the object based on the heating unit specification information, and the phase control unit to control the microwave A heating control unit that heats the heating target part of the object by changing the phase, the heating unit specifying information is a color attached to the container, and the information acquisition unit is attached to the container. Made color It is constituted comprising a color sensor for acquiring the serial heating unit specific information.
The microwave heating apparatus of the present invention is a microwave heating apparatus that heats an object contained in a container, and includes a microwave generation unit configured using a semiconductor element, and a microwave generated by the microwave generation unit. A phase control unit that controls the phase of the wave, a power feeding unit that supplies the microwave into a heating chamber that houses the object contained in the container, and a heating part of the object to be heated. When the non-heated portion of the object is a non-heating portion, an information acquisition portion that acquires one or both of information related to the heating required portion or information related to the non-heating portion from the container as heating portion specifying information; By changing the phase of the microwave by controlling the phase control unit and an information control unit that specifies the position of the heating required part in the object based on the heating unit specifying information, A heating control unit that heats the heating unit of the object to be recorded, the heating unit specifying information is a shape of the container, and the information acquiring unit acquires the shape of the container as the heating unit specifying information. It can be set as the structure containing the shape detection means to do.

According to the microwave heating method and the microwave heating apparatus of the present invention, since the microwave generation unit configured using a semiconductor element is employed, it is possible to irradiate the object to be heated with microwaves with high directivity. Thereby, the partial heating of the heating object can be realized with a simple configuration.
In addition, according to the present invention, since the microwave generation unit configured using a semiconductor element is used, a microwave oven, which is an example of a microwave heating device, can be downsized as compared with the case of using a magnetron. .
Furthermore, according to the present invention, the microwave heating device automatically acquires information from the container, identifies the heated portion, and heats this portion, so that the user of this microwave heating device performs a troublesome work. And partial heating of the object to be heated can be realized.

It is an appearance perspective view showing the composition of the microwave heating device (microwave oven) in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the microwave supply means with which the microwave heating apparatus (microwave oven) in 1st embodiment-3rd embodiment of this invention is equipped. It is a circuit diagram which shows the structure of an example of an electric power feeding part. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the structure of a container. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the other structure of a container. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of operation | movement of a microwave heating apparatus (microwave oven). It is an external appearance perspective view which shows other structure of a container. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows another structure of a container. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the microwave supply means with which the microwave heating apparatus (microwave oven) in 4th embodiment of this invention is equipped. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the structure of the container used in 4th embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of operation | movement of the microwave heating apparatus (microwave oven) in 4th embodiment of this invention. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the structure of the food pack (container) containing the rice ball. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the structure of the cup (container) which puts a drink.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a microwave heating method and a microwave heating apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First embodiment]
First, a first embodiment of a microwave heating method and a microwave heating apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The figure is an external perspective view showing a configuration of a microwave oven which is a typical example of the microwave heating apparatus of the present embodiment.

As shown in the figure, the microwave oven 1 is provided with an inner case 12 inside a housing 11 which is an outer box, and the inside of the inner case 12 is a heating chamber 13.
On the front side of the housing 11, a door 14 for opening or closing the front side opening of the heating chamber 13 is provided, and an operation panel 15 is provided on the right side of the door 14.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the microwave oven 1 includes a microwave generator 21 (21a, 21a, 21a, 21b) using a semiconductor element as a configuration of the microwave supply unit 20 that generates a microwave and supplies the microwave into the heating chamber 13. 21c), a power distribution unit 22 (22a, 22c) that divides the output of the microwave generation unit 21 into two, and a phase control unit that generates an arbitrary phase shift from each output of the power distribution unit 22 (22a, 22c) 23 (23a to 23d), an amplifying unit 24 (24a to 24d) for amplifying the output of the phase control unit 23, and a power feeding unit 25 (25a) for radiating the microwave output amplified by the amplifying unit 24 into the heating chamber 13. To 25d), a power detection unit 26 (26a to 26d) that detects power reflected from the power supply unit 25 that is inserted into the microwave transmission path connecting the amplifier unit 24 and the power supply unit 25, and a control unit. An operation detection unit 27 that detects that the operation unit 151 such as a plurality of buttons, dials, and touch panels constituting the panel 15 is operated, and the microwave generation unit 21 according to the reflected power detected by the power detection unit 26. Information acquisition for acquiring information from the heating control unit 28 for controlling the oscillation frequency, the phase adjustment amount of the phase control unit 23, the amplification amount of the amplification unit 24, and the container 40 of the heating object housed in the heating chamber 13. Unit 31 and an information control unit 32 that identifies a heated portion of the heating object based on the acquired information.

The microwave generation unit 21 includes, for example, a semiconductor amplification element such as a transistor and a resonance circuit such as a tank circuit.
For the microwave generator 21, for example, a Hartley oscillation circuit or a Colpitts oscillation circuit can be used.

The power distribution unit 22 may be, for example, a Wilkinson distributor, or may be a distributor that generates a phase difference between outputs such as a branch line type or a rat race type.
The power distribution unit 22 transmits approximately half of the microwave power input from the microwave generation unit 21 to each output.

  The phase control unit 23 is configured by using a capacitance variable element whose capacitance changes according to the applied voltage, and the phase difference of the microwave power output from each of the power distribution units 22 (22a, 22c) is changed from 0 degree to ± 180. It can be controlled within a range of degrees.

The amplifying unit 24 is an element or a circuit having a function of amplifying the microwave output from the phase control unit 23.
For example, a semiconductor element such as a transistor formed using gallium nitride (GaN) as a semiconductor material can be used for the amplifying unit 24.
The GaN material has a wider energy band gap than silicon (Si), which is a widely known semiconductor material. In addition, the GaN material can constitute an element with higher breakdown voltage, higher speed operation, and lower loss than the Si semiconductor element. For this reason, by using the GaN semiconductor element for the amplifying unit 24, the driving voltage can be increased and the driving current can be reduced.
Further, the amplifying unit 24 is configured by a dielectric pattern formed on one surface of a dielectric substrate made of a low dielectric loss material, and a matching circuit that makes the semiconductor element that is an amplifying element of each amplifying unit 24 operate well. Can be arranged.

The power feeding unit 25 is provided on the wall portion 16 a, the top surface portion 16 b, and the bottom surface portion 16 c of the inner case 12 constituting the heating chamber 13, and radiates the microwave output amplified by the amplifying unit 24 into the heating chamber 13. .
For example, an array antenna can be used for the power supply unit 25. The array antenna changes the electric field strength of the near field by controlling the feeding power and the phase of each of the plurality of radiating elements (feeding elements) 251 to realize the desired directivity of the microwave. Thereby, partial heating of a heating target object is attained.
As the radiating element 251 of the array antenna, for example, a microstrip antenna (patch antenna), a slot antenna, a dipole antenna, or the like can be used.

Further, for example, a planar array antenna can be used for the power feeding unit 25.
The planar array antenna is a planar array in which a plurality of radiating elements 251 are arranged in a planar shape. Examples of the arrangement method include a quadrangular arrangement in which the radiating elements 251 are arranged in a matrix, and a triangular arrangement in which the radiating elements 251 are arranged in a staggered manner.
Further, the feeding unit 25 can use a phased array antenna (phase scanning antenna) that controls the microwave beam direction and the radiation pattern according to the relative phase of the excitation coefficient of the radiating element 251. As shown in FIG. 3, the phased array antenna performs phase control on each of a distribution / synthesis circuit 252 that distributes the microwaves transmitted from the amplification unit 24 and a feed line from the distribution / synthesis circuit 252 to the radiation element 251. And a phase shifter 253 inserted as a part to change the excitation phase of each radiating element 251. Thereby, the direction with high directivity of the microwave can be directed to a desired part in the heating object, and the part can be heated in a concentrated manner.

2 shows a configuration in which four power supply units 25 are arranged, the number of power supply units 25 is not limited to four, and may be one or two or more.
When the number of the power feeding portions 25 is two, one of each of the surfaces of the inner case 12 is opposed to two surfaces facing each other, for example, the top surface portion 16b and the bottom surface portion 16c, and the two facing wall portions 16a. Can be arranged one by one. Thereby, the heating required part of a heating target object can be heated from the up-down or left-right direction.
In addition, in the case where the number of power supply units 25 is plural, when there are a plurality of heating target portions of the heating object, one power supply unit 25 heats one heat required unit, and the other power supply units 25 perform the other. The required heating part can be heated.

The power detection unit 26 includes a power detection circuit (detection circuit), and extracts so-called reflected wave power transmitted from the heating chamber 13 to the power supply unit 25 and the amplification unit 24. For example, the power detection unit 26 sets the power coupling degree to about 40 dB and extracts the power amount of about 1/10000 of the reflected power. Each of the extracted power signals indicating the amount of power is rectified by a detection diode (not shown), smoothed by a capacitor (not shown), and the output signal is input to the heating control unit 28.
The power detection unit 26 sends detection information indicating the power of the extracted reflected wave to the heating control unit 28.

  The microwave transmission path connecting each of the microwave generation unit 21, the power distribution unit 22, the phase control unit 23, the amplification unit 24, the power feeding unit 25, and the power detection unit 26 is a conductor provided on one surface of a dielectric substrate. It can be formed by a pattern transmission circuit, a coaxial cable, or the like.

When the operation detection unit 27 detects that any of the operation units 151 included in the operation panel 15 is operated, the operation unit 151 operated or the content designated by the operation (heating time, type of heating object, A detection signal indicating the number of objects to be heated, the name of the dish, various modes, an instruction to start heating or cooking, and the like is sent to the heating control unit 28. When the detection signal is input, the heating control unit 28 specifies the operated operation unit 151 or the content designated by the operation, and sets the heat treatment condition of the heating object. When the content specified by the operation is an instruction to start cooking, the heating control unit 28 controls each component of the microwave supply unit 20 so as to start heating.
The operation unit 151 includes, for example, a “partial heating mode setting button” for setting a partial heating mode that is a mode for performing partial heating of a heating target, and a “heating start button that is operated when heating or cooking is started. Or the like.

  The heating control unit 28 controls the excitation electric field of the microwave radiated from the power supply unit 25 and the microwave generation unit 21 and the amplification unit based on the detection signal from the operation detection unit 27 and the detection information from the power detection unit 26. The drive power supplied to each of 24 and the voltage supplied to the phase control unit 23 are controlled in association with the excitation direction control to optimally heat the heating object accommodated in the heating chamber 13.

The information acquisition unit 31 sets the heating part of the heating object as the heating required part and the non-heating part as the non-heating part. Acquired from the container 40 as specific information.
Here, in this embodiment, the information acquisition part 31 is a color sensor, and acquires the color of the container 40 as heating part specific information.

As shown in FIG. 4, the container 40 includes a container main body 41 in which a heating object such as food is stored, and a lid member 42 that covers the upper portion of the container main body 41.
The container main body 41 is formed with a plurality of storage recesses 411 for sorting and storing a plurality of foods constituting the heating object.
The upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42 can be colored, and a predetermined color is colored in a range corresponding to each of the plurality of receiving recesses 411 on the upper surface portion 421.
The color to be colored is determined depending on whether or not the food to be stored is heated for each storage recess 411. For example, when the food to be stored is to be heated, this food is used as a heating required portion, and the corresponding range in the upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42 (the range corresponding to the storage recess 411 in which the food is stored). The color (for example, red 422a) which shows that it is a heating required part is colored. In addition, when the food to be stored is not heated, the food is set as a non-heated portion, and the color indicating the non-heated portion (for example, blue 422b) is a range corresponding to the upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42. Is colored.
Thus, the color colored on the upper surface part 421 of the lid member 42 is information relating to the heating required part or information relating to the non-heating part.

The coloring may be performed so that the entire range corresponding to one receiving recess 411 is painted on the upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42, or a part of the range (the periphery of the range, It may be applied only to the middle part of the range.
Further, both the color indicating the heating required part and the color indicating the non-heating part may be applied to the upper surface part 421 of the lid member 42 or only one of them may be applied. The food contained in the housing recess 411 corresponding to the range in which the former color is applied when the color indicating that it is a heating-required part is given but the color indicating that it is a non-heating part is not applied Only heat and avoid heating other foods. Moreover, when the color which shows that it is a non-heating part is given although the color which shows that it is a heating required part is not given, it is accommodated in the accommodation recessed part 411 corresponding to the range where the latter color was given. Heat other foods without heating them.

  The color sensor constituting the information acquisition unit 31 includes three RGB color filters, three photodiodes corresponding to the respective color filters, and a color specifying unit. When the photodiode receives light transmitted through the corresponding color filter, the photodiode outputs a signal (current) corresponding to the intensity of the light. When a signal output from each photodiode is input, the color specifying unit specifies a color based on the intensity of light indicated by these signals.

The information acquisition unit 31 may be provided with only one color sensor, or a plurality of color sensors are arranged in a line, or a number of color sensors are arranged in a matrix (matrix). It may be a thing.
The information acquisition unit 31 having only one color sensor and the information acquisition unit 31 having a plurality of color sensors arranged in a line are a predetermined range inside the heating chamber 13 and include a heating object and a container 40. The range is scanned, and a large number of colors on the scanning line are acquired at predetermined intervals. And the coordinate of the position which acquired the color and this acquired color are linked | related, and this is sent to the information control part 32 as heating part specific information.
In addition, the information acquisition unit 31 in which a large number of color sensors are arranged in a matrix acquires a two-dimensional image by capturing a predetermined range inside the heating chamber 13 and including the heating object and the container 40. A color is specified for each pixel of the two-dimensional image (or for each of a plurality of pixels). Then, the coordinates of each pixel (or a plurality of pixels) and the color in this pixel are associated, and this is sent to the information control unit 32 as heating unit specifying information.

The information control part 32 will specify the heating required part and non-heating part in a heating target object based on this heating part specific information, if the heating part specific information is acquired from the information acquisition part 31. FIG.
For example, in the case where the heating unit specifying information is configured with position coordinates and color, when the color at a certain position coordinate is red, the position of the heating object corresponding to the position coordinate associated with this red is required to be heated. Specify as a part. Moreover, when the color in a certain position coordinate is blue, the said position of the heating target object corresponding to the position coordinate linked | related with this blue is specified as a non-heating part. The same applies to the case where the heating unit specifying information is composed of pixel coordinates and colors.
When the information control unit 32 specifies either the heating required part or the non-heating part for each position coordinate or for each pixel coordinate, the information indicating the position coordinate and the information indicating the heating required part or the non-heating part. And this is sent to the heating control unit 28 as new heating unit specifying information.

In addition, in the upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42, when only the peripheral edge in the range corresponding to one receiving recess 411 is colored, all the position coordinates within the range surrounded by the peripheral edge are attached to the peripheral edge. It is possible to specify whether the heating-required part or the non-heated part is the same color as the applied color.
Moreover, in the upper surface part 421 of the lid member 42, when only a part of the range corresponding to one receiving recess 411 is colored, it is the same as the color within a predetermined area including the colored part. As what is colored, it is possible to specify whether it is a heating required part or a non-heating part.
Furthermore, in the upper surface part 421 of the lid member 42, when only a part of the range corresponding to one receiving recess 411 (1/2 or 1/3 of the range) is colored, it is colored. The part of the heating object corresponding to the part to be heated can be specified as a heating required part (or non-heating part), and the other part can be specified as a non-heating part (or heating required part). Thereby, when the foodstuff to heat and the foodstuff which is not heated are accommodated in one accommodation recessed part 411, the former can be heated and the latter can be prevented from being heated.

  The heating control unit 28 specifies either the heating required unit or the non-heating unit for each position coordinate or for each pixel coordinate based on the heating unit specifying information sent from the information control unit 32. Then, the heating control unit 28 controls the phase control unit 23 or the phase shifter (phase control unit) 253 of the power feeding unit 25 to change the phase of the microwave, and changes the direction of the radiation directivity to the important point of the heating object. By directing to the heating part, the identified heating required part is heated and the non-heating part is not heated.

Here, a certain position coordinate, the phase of the microwave when heating the position of the heating object corresponding to this position coordinate, and the phase control unit 23 or the power feeding unit 25 so that the phase of the microwave becomes the phase. The phase adjustment amount for controlling the phase shifter 253 is stored in the storage unit 29 in advance. In the present embodiment, four power supply units 25 are provided. For each of the phase control units 23 connected to the four power supply units 25, the coordinates, the phase to be adjusted, and the phase control unit 23 The phase adjustment amount is stored in the storage unit 29. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the phase shifter 253 can be provided in the power supply unit 25. For each of these phase shifters 253, the coordinates, the phase to be adjusted, and the phase adjustment of the phase shifter 253 are possible. The amount can be stored in the storage unit 29.
The heating control unit 28, based on the heating unit specifying information and the information such as the phase adjustment amount stored in the storage unit 29, the part of the heating object corresponding to the position coordinates and the like specified as the heating required unit. The phase shifter 253 of the phase control unit 23 or the power feeding unit 25 is controlled so that is heated.
Thereby, only the said part of the heating target object corresponding to the said part of the upper surface part 421 to which the color which shows a heating required part was attached | subjected is heated. Moreover, the heating of the part of the heating object corresponding to the part of the upper surface part 421 with the color indicating the non-heating part is prevented.

  When the radiating element 251 of the power supply unit 25 is configured using, for example, a microstrip antenna (patch antenna), a slot antenna, a dipole antenna, or the like, the heating control unit 28 controls the phase control unit 23. Thus, the phase of the microwave is controlled. In addition, when the power feeding unit 25 is configured using a phased array antenna (phase scanning antenna), the heating control unit 28 controls the phase shifter 253 provided in the phased array antenna, so that the microwave Control the phase of.

Further, in FIG. 4, the configuration in which the upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42 of the container 40 is colored with the color that is the heating unit specifying information is shown. However, the portion to be colored in the container 40 is the upper surface portion of the lid member 42. The main body 41 is not limited to 421.
An example in which the container body 41 is colored is shown in FIG.
The container body 41 is formed with a plurality of storage recesses 411 for containing food, and the color (red 412a and blue 412b shown in FIG. 5) that is the heating unit identification information is along the peripheral edge 413 of the storage recess 411. Applied.
The housing recess 411 is formed in a concave shape, and it is possible to color the concave bottom and side surfaces, but when food is added, the color is hidden. Therefore, by applying a color along the peripheral edge 413 of the housing recess 411, concealment due to food is avoided, and the information acquisition unit 31 can acquire the color.
Moreover, although a color can be given to each periphery 413 of the some accommodation recessed part 411, for example, the accommodation recessed part 411 and the adjacent accommodation recessed part 411 both contain the foodstuff which is a heating required part. In some cases, colors may be applied so as to go around the peripheral edge 413 of the two housing recesses 411, and the partition portion located between the two housing recesses 411 may not be colored.
Furthermore, in order to enable the information acquisition unit 31 to acquire the color applied to the container body 41, it is desirable to form the entire lid member 42 or at least the upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42 with a material of transparent 423. .

Next, the operation of the microwave oven that is the microwave heating apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
This figure is a flowchart showing the procedure of the operation of the microwave oven.

The user of the microwave oven 1 opens the door 14 of the microwave oven 1, places the container 40 in which the object to be heated is accommodated inside the heating chamber 13, and closes the door 14.
When the user operates the partial heating mode setting button on the operation panel 15, the operation detection unit 27 detects this operation and sends a detection signal to the heating control unit 28 (S10). The heating control unit 28 sets the partial heating mode based on the input detection signal (S11).
When the user operates the heating start button of the operation panel 15, the operation detection unit 27 detects this operation and sends a detection signal to the heating control unit 28 (S12). The heating control unit 28 controls each component of the microwave supply unit 20 in order to start heating based on the input detection signal.

The information acquisition unit 31 acquires heating unit identification information from the container 40 (S13, information acquisition step). Specifically, the color sensor which is the information acquisition unit 31 acquires the color attached to the upper surface part 421 of the lid member 42 of the container 40 as the heating unit specifying information.
The information control part 32 acquires heating part specific information from the information acquisition part 31, and specifies the heating required part and non-heating part in the heating target object accommodated in the container 40 based on this heating part specific information (S14). , Heating required part specifying step).

The microwave generation unit 21 generates a microwave (S15, microwave generation step) and is supplied into the heating chamber 13 (S16, microwave supply step).
At this time, the heating control unit 28 controls the phase control unit 23 or the phase shifter 253 of the power feeding unit 25 to change the phase of the microwave, thereby partially heating the heating target part of the heating target (S17, Heating step).

As described above, according to the microwave heating method and the microwave heating apparatus of the present embodiment, a microwave having a high directivity is used as an object by adopting a microwave generator configured using a semiconductor element. Can be irradiated. Thereby, the partial heating of the heating object mounted in the heating chamber of the microwave oven can be realized with a simple configuration.
Moreover, since the irradiation frequency can be changed within the frequency range along the ISM band, the phase can be controlled, and partial heating and uniform heating of the heating object can be performed.
Furthermore, the microwave supply means can achieve miniaturization and low power consumption as compared with the magnetron oscillator, and can hardly extend the life, so that the lifetime can be significantly extended.

Further, since the heating control unit controls the phase shifter of the phase control unit and the power feeding unit to change the phase of the microwave, the heating target part of the heating target is partially heated and the non-heating unit Can be prevented.
Furthermore, since the microwave heating apparatus automatically acquires information from the container and identifies the heating part and the non-heating part in the heating target, the microwave heating apparatus partially heats only the heating part. It is possible to realize partial heating of the object to be heated without the troublesome work of the user.
In addition, in this embodiment, since the color attached to the container is used as the heating unit specifying information, the information acquisition unit can reliably ensure the orientation of the container when it is put into the microwave heating apparatus. The color and position information are acquired, and only the part of the heating object corresponding to the part to which the color indicating the heating required part is attached can be heated.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the microwave heating method and microwave heating apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The figure is an external perspective view showing a configuration of a container housed in a heating chamber of a microwave oven that is a microwave heating apparatus of the present embodiment.
This embodiment differs in the structure of the information acquisition part of a microwave oven compared with 1st embodiment. That is, in the first embodiment, the information acquisition unit of the microwave oven is a color sensor, and the color of the container is acquired as the heating unit specifying information, whereas in the present embodiment, the information acquisition unit of the microwave oven is the shape detection unit. The shape and area of the housing recess in the container is acquired as the heating unit identification information. Other components are the same as those in the first embodiment.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the component similar to the structure shown in 1st embodiment, and the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the microwave oven 1 includes a microwave generation unit 21, a power distribution unit 22, a phase control unit 23, an amplification unit 24, a power supply unit 25, as a configuration of the microwave supply unit 20. The power detection unit 26, the operation detection unit 27, the heating control unit 28, the information acquisition unit 31, and the information control unit 32 are provided.

Here, the information acquisition part 31 acquires one or both of the information regarding a heating required part or the information regarding a non-heating part from the container 40 as heating part specific information.
In this embodiment, the information acquisition part 31 is a shape detection means, and acquires the shape and area of the container 40 as heating part specific information.
As shown in FIG. 7, the container 40 includes a container main body 41 and a lid member 42, and the container main body 41 is formed with a plurality of receiving recesses 411.
When the container body 41 is viewed from above, the housing recess 411 is generally formed in various shapes such as a rectangular shape 411a, a triangular shape 411b, a trapezoidal shape, a circular shape, and an elliptical shape. Moreover, when the container main body 41 is viewed from above, the area of the receiving recess 411 is large (the receiving recess 411 having a large area 411c shown in FIG. 7) or small (the area having a small area 411d shown in FIG. 7). There is also a recess 411).

When this container 40 is used as, for example, a lunch box container, rice, boiled food, fried food, grilled food, or the like is placed in the housing recess 411 having a rectangular shape 411a or the housing recess 411 having a large area 411c. In many cases, pickles, fruits, salads, dressings and the like are placed in the storage recesses 411 and the storage recesses 411 having a small area 411d.
In other words, among the plurality of storage recesses 411, the rectangular recess 411a or the storage recess 411 having the large area 411c stores the food to be heated, and the storage recess 411 having the triangular shape 411b or the small area 411d stores the food not to be heated. Is done.

  The shape detection means which is the information acquisition unit 31 captures a predetermined range inside the heating chamber 13 and includes a heating object and the container 40 to acquire a two-dimensional image, and analyzes the two-dimensional image. Feature points (for example, color, brightness, brightness boundary portions, corners of the container 40 and the housing recess 411, protrusions, bent portions, curved portions, etc.) are extracted and appear in the two-dimensional image based on the feature points. The position of the accommodating recess 411 in the container 40 is specified, and the shape and area of the receiving recess 411 are specified. Then, the information indicating the position, the information indicating the shape, and the information indicating the area are associated with each other and sent to the information control unit 32.

The information control part 32 will specify the heating required part and non-heating part in a heating target object based on this heating part specific information, if the heating part specific information is acquired from the information acquisition part 31. FIG.
For example, when the information indicating the shape, which is the heating unit identification information, indicates a rectangular shape, the portion of the heating object accommodated in the accommodating recess 411 formed at the position indicated by the position information associated with this information needs to be heated. Specify as a part. Further, when the information indicating the shape indicates a triangular shape, the portion of the heating object accommodated in the accommodating recess 411 formed at the position indicated by the position information associated with this information is specified as the non-heating portion.
Furthermore, when the information indicating the area that is the heating unit identification information indicates an area that is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the heating object to be stored in the storage recess 411 formed at the position indicated by the position information associated with this information The part is identified as a heating required part. Moreover, when the information indicating the area indicates an area equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the portion of the heating object accommodated in the accommodating recess 411 formed at the position indicated by the position information associated with this information is defined as a non-heating part. Identify.
When the information control unit 32 specifies either the heating required part or the non-heating part for each storage recess 411, the information control unit 32 associates the information indicating the position of the storage recess 411 with the information indicating the heating required part or the non-heating part. This is sent to the heating control unit 28 as heating unit specifying information.

The heating control unit 28 specifies either the heating required part or the non-heating unit for each housing recess 411 based on the heating unit specifying information sent from the information control unit 32, and based on the specified contents. Then, the phase control unit 23 or the phase shifter (phase control unit) 253 of the power supply unit 25 is controlled to change the phase of the microwave and to direct the direction of high radiation directivity toward the heating required part of the heating object. Thus, the heating part is heated and the non-heating part is not heated.
At this time, the heating control unit 28 is configured so that the heating required part of the object to be heated is heated based on the heating unit specifying information and the information such as the phase adjustment amount stored in the storage unit 29. Alternatively, the phase shifter 253 of the power feeding unit 25 is controlled.
Thereby, only the foodstuff specified as a heating required part among the foodstuffs which comprise a heating target object is heated, and the heating of the foodstuff specified as a non-heating part is prevented. In particular, in the container body 41 of the container 40, the food stored in the storage recess 411 having the rectangular shape 411a or the large area 411c is identified and heated as the heating required portion, and is stored in the storage recess 411 having the triangular shape 411b or the small area 411d. Food is identified as a non-heated part, and heating is prevented.

In the present embodiment, the heating required part and the non-heating part are specified based on the shape and area of the housing recess 411. However, only the shape or the area is used, and the heating required part and the non-heating part are used. Can be identified.
Moreover, when specifying a heating required part and a non-heating part using both a shape and an area, a priority can be provided between a shape and an area. For example, when giving priority to the shape, even if the area is equal to or less than the threshold value, the stored food can be used as the heating-requiring portion for the storage recess 411 having a rectangular shape. Moreover, when giving priority to an area, even if a shape is a rectangular shape, about the accommodating recessed part 411 whose area is below a threshold value, the foodstuff accommodated can be made into a non-heating part.
Furthermore, in order to enable the information acquisition unit 31 to acquire the shape and area of the housing recess 411, it is desirable that the entire lid member 42, or at least the upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42, be formed of a transparent 423 material.

  Moreover, since the procedure of operation | movement of the microwave oven 1 which is the microwave heating device of this embodiment is the same as the procedure of operation | movement of the microwave oven 1 which is the microwave heating device of 1st embodiment, description here is carried out. Omitted.

As described above, according to the microwave heating method and the microwave heating apparatus of the present embodiment, a microwave having a high directivity is used as an object by adopting a microwave generator configured using a semiconductor element. Can be irradiated. Thereby, the partial heating of the heating object mounted in the heating chamber of the microwave oven can be realized with a simple configuration.
Further, since the heating control unit controls the phase shifter of the phase control unit and the power feeding unit to change the phase of the microwave, the heating target part of the heating target is partially heated and the non-heating unit Can be prevented.

Furthermore, since the microwave heating apparatus automatically acquires information from the container and identifies the heating part and the non-heating part in the heating target, the microwave heating apparatus partially heats only the heating part. It is possible to realize partial heating of the object to be heated without the troublesome work of the user.
Moreover, in the present embodiment, since the shape and area of the housing recess in the container are used as the heating unit specifying information, the information acquisition unit can be used regardless of the orientation of the container when entering the microwave heating apparatus. The shape and the like of the housing recess and the positional information can be acquired with certainty, and the food stored in the housing recess formed in a predetermined shape and area can be heated.

[Third embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the microwave heating method and microwave heating apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The figure is an external perspective view showing a configuration of a container housed in a heating chamber of a microwave oven that is a microwave heating apparatus of the present embodiment.
This embodiment differs in the structure of the information acquisition part of a microwave oven compared with 1st embodiment. That is, in the first embodiment, the information acquisition unit of the microwave oven is a color sensor, and the color of the container is acquired as the heating unit specifying information, whereas in this embodiment, the information acquisition unit of the microwave oven is the information receiving unit. And the information output from memory | storage communication means, such as an IC tag attached to the container, is acquired as heating part specific information. Other components are the same as those in the first embodiment.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the component similar to the structure shown in 1st embodiment, and the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the microwave oven 1 includes a microwave generation unit 21, a power distribution unit 22, a phase control unit 23, an amplification unit 24, a power supply unit 25, as a configuration of the microwave supply unit 20. The power detection unit 26, the operation detection unit 27, the heating control unit 28, the information acquisition unit 31, and the information control unit 32 are provided.

Here, the information acquisition part 31 acquires one or both of the information regarding a heating required part or the information regarding a non-heating part from the container 40 as heating part specific information.
In the present embodiment, the information acquisition unit 31 is an information receiving unit, and acquires information output from the storage communication unit 424 such as a non-contact IC tag attached to the container 40 as heating unit specifying information.
As shown in FIG. 8, the container 40 includes a container main body 41 and a lid member 42, and a storage communication means 424 is attached to the lid member 42.
The storage communication unit 424 has a function as a storage unit that stores one or both of the information related to the heating required part of the heating object or the information related to the non-heating unit as the heating unit specifying information, and the electromagnetic wave from the information acquisition unit 31 or Excited by an electromagnetic field, a power supply current flows, and has a function as communication means for outputting the stored heating unit specifying information via an antenna (not shown).

  The heating unit specifying information includes position information of the housing recess 411 and information indicating whether the food stored for each housing recess 411 is a heating required portion or a non-heating portion.

The information receiving unit that is the information acquisition unit 31 emits an electromagnetic wave or forms an electromagnetic field, excites the storage communication unit 424 of the container 40 located in this region, and acquires (receives) the heating unit specifying information that is output. )
In addition, the information acquisition unit 31 analyzes the heating unit specifying information and specifies the position of the housing recess 411 and the distinction between the heating required part or the non-heating unit for each housing recess 411. And the information which shows a position and the information which shows the classification of a heating required part or a non-heating part are linked | related for every accommodation recessed part 411, and this is sent to the information control part 32 as new heating part specific information.
The information control part 32 will send to the heating control part 28, if heating part specific information is acquired.

The heating control unit 28 specifies either the heating required part or the non-heating unit for each housing recess 411 based on the heating unit specifying information sent from the information control unit 32, and based on the specified contents. Then, the phase control unit 23 or the phase shifter (phase control unit) 253 of the power supply unit 25 is controlled to change the phase of the microwave and to direct the direction of high radiation directivity toward the heating required part of the heating object. Thus, the heating required part of the object to be heated is heated and the non-heating part is not heated.
At this time, the heating control unit 28 is configured so that, based on the heating unit identification information and information such as the phase adjustment amount stored in the storage unit 29, the phase control unit 23 or The phase shifter 253 of the power feeding unit 25 is controlled.
Thereby, only the food accommodated in the accommodation recessed part 411 specified as a heating required part among the foodstuffs which comprise a heating target object is heated, and the food accommodated in the accommodation recessed part 411 specified as a non-heating part. Is prevented from heating.

  In addition, since the procedure of operation | movement of the microwave oven 1 which is a microwave heating device of this embodiment is the same as the procedure of operation | movement of the microwave oven 1 which is the microwave heating device of 1st embodiment, description here is carried out. Omitted.

As described above, according to the microwave heating method and the microwave heating apparatus of the present embodiment, a microwave having a high directivity is used as an object by adopting a microwave generator configured using a semiconductor element. Can be irradiated. Thereby, the partial heating of the heating object mounted in the heating chamber of the microwave oven can be realized with a simple configuration.
Further, since the heating control unit controls the phase shifter of the phase control unit and the power feeding unit to change the phase of the microwave, the heating target part of the heating target is partially heated and the non-heating unit Can be prevented.

Furthermore, since the microwave heating apparatus automatically acquires information from the container and identifies the heating part and the non-heating part in the heating target, the microwave heating apparatus partially heats only the heating part. It is possible to realize partial heating of the object to be heated without the troublesome work of the user.
In addition, in the present embodiment, the information acquired from the storage communication means attached to the container is used as the heating part specifying information, so that information relating to the heating required part and the non-heating part of the heating object is constructed and stored in detail. Based on this information, it is possible to reliably heat only the heating part.

[Fourth embodiment]
Next, a fourth embodiment of the microwave heating method and microwave heating apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This figure is a block diagram showing the configuration of a microwave oven that is the microwave heating apparatus of the present embodiment.
This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the microwave oven includes a temperature detection unit and that the heating unit specifying information is information indicating the position of the heating unit and the temperature reached by the heating unit. Other components are the same as those in the first embodiment.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the component similar to the structure shown in 1st embodiment, and the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the microwave oven 1 includes a microwave generation unit 21, a power distribution unit 22, a phase control unit 23, an amplification unit 24, a power supply unit 25, and a microwave supply unit 20. The power detection unit 26, the operation detection unit 27, the heating control unit 28, the information acquisition unit 31, the information control unit 32, and the temperature detection unit 33 are provided.

Here, the information acquisition part 31 acquires one or both of the information regarding a heating required part or the information regarding a non-heating part from the container 40 as heating part specific information.
The information acquisition unit 31 is a color sensor in the present embodiment, and acquires the color of the container 40 as heating unit specifying information.

As shown in FIG. 10, the container 40 includes a container main body 41 and a lid member 42, and a predetermined color is within a range corresponding to each of the plurality of receiving recesses 411 on the upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42. It is colored.
The color to be colored depends on whether the food to be stored is a heating required part or a non-heating part for each storage recess 411, and if it is a heating required part, the temperature of the food to be reached by heating is It depends on how many degrees Celsius it is.
For example, food stored in a certain storage recess 411 is heated, and when the temperature to be reached by heating is 50 ° C., the range corresponding to the storage recess 411 in the upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42 includes: A color (for example, purple 422c) indicating that it is a heating-required part and that the ultimate temperature is 50 ° C. is colored.
Moreover, when the foodstuff accommodated in another accommodation recessed part 411 heats and the ultimate temperature is set to 30 degreeC, in the range corresponding to the said accommodation recessed part 411 in the upper surface part 421 of the cover member 42, a heating required part is needed. And a color (for example, yellow 422d) indicating that the ultimate temperature is 30 ° C. is colored.
Furthermore, when the food accommodated in the other accommodating recess 411 is not heated, the color corresponding to the accommodating recess 411 in the upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42 (for example, a color indicating a non-heating portion) Blue 422b) is colored.

The coloring may be performed so that the entire range corresponding to one receiving recess 411 is painted on the upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42, or a part of the range (the periphery of the range, It may be applied only to the middle part of the range.
In addition, both the color indicating the heating required part and the color indicating the non-heating part may be applied to the upper surface part 421 of the lid member 42, or only the former may be applied. Good. The food contained in the housing recess 411 corresponding to the range in which the former color is applied when the color indicating that it is a heating-required part is given but the color indicating that it is a non-heating part is not applied Only heat and avoid heating other foods.

Since the configuration of the color sensor that is the information acquisition unit 31 is the same as the configuration of the color sensor described in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted here.
When the information acquisition unit 31 acquires the heating unit identification information from the container 40, the information acquisition unit 31 sends this to the information control unit 32.

The information control part 32 will specify the heating required part and non-heating part in a heating target object based on this heating part specific information, if the heating part specific information is acquired from the information acquisition part 31. FIG. Moreover, the information control part 32 specifies the temperature which should be reached | attained by heating in a heating required part based on heating part specific information.
For example, in the case where the heating part specifying information is composed of position coordinates and colors, when the color at a certain position coordinate is purple, the position of the heating object indicated by the position coordinates is specified as a heating required part. The temperature to be reached by heating in the heating unit is specified as 50 ° C.
Moreover, when the color in a certain position coordinate is blue, the position of the heating target object which the position coordinate shows is specified as a non-heating part.
When the information control unit 32 specifies, for each position coordinate or for each pixel coordinate, whether a heating required part or a non-heating part and an ultimate temperature in the heating required part, information indicating the position coordinates and the heating required part Or the information which shows a non-heating part and the information which shows ultimate temperature are linked | related, and this is sent to the heating control part 28 as new heating part specific information.

The temperature detector 33 measures the current temperature of the object to be heated and the container 40 stored in the heating chamber 13 and the surrounding area.
For the temperature detector 33, for example, an infrared array sensor can be used.
The infrared array sensor includes a plurality of infrared sensor elements arranged in a matrix on a semiconductor substrate, and a Fresnel lens for condensing infrared rays on the infrared sensor elements.
The infrared array sensor detects the infrared rays emitted from the object to be measured (including the heating object and the container 40) within the viewing angle α, thereby measuring the temperature at a plurality of locations on the surface of the object to be measured. An image can be obtained.
As each infrared sensor element, for example, a thermopile or a pyroelectric sensor can be used. The thermopile is configured by connecting several tens of thermocouples in series, and can measure temperatures from about -20 ° C to about 100 ° C, for example.
The temperature detection unit 33 associates the temperature information indicating the measured temperature with the position information indicating the measured position, and sends this as temperature measurement information to the heating control unit 28.

  The heating control unit 28 specifies either the heating required unit or the non-heating unit for each position coordinate or for each pixel coordinate based on the heating unit specifying information sent from the information control unit 32. Then, the heating control unit 28 controls the phase control unit 23 or the phase shifter (phase control unit) 253 of the power feeding unit 25 to change the phase of the microwave, and changes the direction of the radiation directivity to the important point of the heating object. By directing to the heating part, the identified heating required part is heated and the non-heating part is not heated.

The heating control unit 28 also includes heating unit specifying information and information stored in the storage unit 29 (position coordinates, the phase of the microwave when heating the position of the heating object corresponding to the position coordinates, and the microwave Corresponding to the position coordinates and the like specified as a heating-required part based on the phase adjustment amount for controlling the phase control unit 23 or the phase shifter 253 of the power feeding unit 25 so that the phase of the current becomes the phase. The phase shifter 253 of the phase control unit 23 or the power feeding unit 25 is controlled so that the part of the heating object is heated.
Thereby, only the said part of the heating target object corresponding to the said part of the upper surface part 421 to which the color which shows a heating required part was attached | subjected is heated. Moreover, the heating of the part of the heating object corresponding to the part of the upper surface part 421 with the color indicating the non-heating part is prevented.

Further, the heating control unit 28 specifies the current temperature for each position coordinate based on the temperature measurement information sent from the temperature detection unit 33. And the heating control part 28, for every position coordinate in a heating required part, the reached temperature which the present temperature and heating part specific information show (the reached temperature linked | related with the information which shows the said position coordinate among heating part specific information) and When the current temperature does not reach the ultimate temperature, the heating to the heating required portion at the position indicated by the position coordinates is continued.
Then, when the current temperature reaches the ultimate temperature, the heating control unit 28 stops heating the heating required unit located at the position indicated by the position coordinates.
Thereby, the temperature of the said part of the heating target object corresponding to the said part of the upper surface part 421 to which the color which shows a heating required part was attached | subjected can be raised to the ultimate temperature which the color shows.

The temperature detector 33 measures the temperature within a predetermined range inside the heating chamber 13, but the container 40 includes a container body 41 and a lid member 42, and the temperature detector 33 is an infrared ray. When the array sensor is used, the temperature detection unit 33 does not directly measure the temperature of the food that is the heating object, but measures the temperature of the lid member 42 located above the heating object. For this reason, among the measured temperatures, it is desirable to correct the temperature of the lid member 42 and calculate the temperature of the heating object.
Usually, the temperature of the lid member 42 is lower than the temperature of the food that is the object to be heated. Therefore, by adding, for example, 5 ° C. to the temperature of the lid member 42, this temperature is regarded as the temperature of the heating object. The temperature difference between the lid member 42 and the heating object increases as the temperature of the heating object increases. Therefore, the numerical value of the temperature to be added is increased as the temperature of the lid member 42 increases. Thereby, the temperature after addition can be approximated to the temperature of the heating object.

  10 shows a configuration in which the color that is the heating unit specifying information is given to the upper surface portion 421 of the lid member 42 of the container 40. However, the portion to be colored in the container 40 is the upper surface portion of the lid member 42. The main body 41 is not limited to 421. This point is the same as in the first embodiment.

Next, the operation of the microwave oven that is the microwave heating apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
This figure is a flowchart showing the procedure of the operation of the microwave oven.
Note that the operations of S10 to S13 shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 are performed in the same manner in this embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

If the information acquisition part 31 of the microwave oven 1 acquires the color attached | subjected to the upper surface part 421 of the cover member 42 of the container 40 as heating part specific information (S13, information acquisition process), it will send to the information control part 32.
The information control unit 32 acquires the heating unit specifying information from the information acquisition unit 31 and specifies the heating required part and the non-heating unit in the heating object accommodated in the container 40 based on the heating unit specifying information ( S20, heating required part specifying step), the temperature reached by the heating required part is specified (S21, reaching temperature specifying process).

The microwave generation unit 21 generates microwaves (S22, microwave generation step) and is supplied into the heating chamber 13 (S23, microwave supply step).
At this time, the heating control unit 28 controls the phase control unit 23 or the phase shifter 253 of the power feeding unit 25 to change the phase of the microwave, thereby partially heating the heating target part of the heating target (S24, Heating step).

The temperature detector 33 measures the current temperature of the object to be heated and the container 40 stored in the heating chamber 13 and the surrounding temperature, and associates temperature information indicating the measured temperature with position information indicating the measured position. Is sent to the heating control unit 28 as temperature measurement information (S25, temperature measurement step).
The heating control unit 28 specifies the current temperature for each position coordinate based on the temperature measurement information sent from the temperature detection unit 33. And the heating control part 28 shows the reached temperature which the heating part specific information sent from the present temperature and the information control part 32 shows for every position coordinate in a heating required part (the said position coordinate is shown among heating part specific information). (Achieved temperature associated with information) is compared (S26, comparison step).
As a result of the comparison, when the current temperature does not reach the ultimate temperature, the heating control unit 28 continues heating the heating required unit at the position indicated by the position coordinates (S27).
On the other hand, when the current temperature reaches the reached temperature, the heating control unit 28 ends the heating to the required heating unit at the position indicated by the position coordinates (S28).

As described above, according to the microwave heating method and the microwave heating apparatus of the present embodiment, a microwave having a high directivity is used as an object by adopting a microwave generator configured using a semiconductor element. Can be irradiated. Thereby, the partial heating of the heating object mounted in the heating chamber of the microwave oven can be realized with a simple configuration.
Further, since the heating control unit controls the phase shifter of the phase control unit and the power feeding unit to change the phase of the microwave, the heating target part of the heating target is partially heated and the non-heating unit Can be prevented.

Furthermore, since the microwave heating device automatically acquires information from the container to identify the heating required portion and the non-heating portion, and only partially heats the heating required portion, the user of this microwave heating device Partial heating of the object to be heated can be realized without troublesome work.
In addition, in the present embodiment, the heating can be continued until the required temperature is reached, as well as the required temperature is indicated by the color attached to the container. Thereby, the temperature of a heating required part can be raised to desired temperature, and overheating can be prevented.

  In the present embodiment, the color assigned to the container 40 is given as the heating part specifying information. However, the heating part specifying information of the present embodiment is not limited to the color attached to the container 40, and the housing recess Information stored in the shape and area of 411 and the storage communication unit 424 may be used. For example, when the heating unit specifying information is the shape of the housing recess 411, the food stored in the housing recess 411 formed in the rectangular shape 411a is set as the heating required portion, and the ultimate temperature of the heating required portion is, for example, 50 ° C. can do. In addition, when the heating unit specifying information is the area of the housing recess 411, food stored in the housing recess 411 having an area equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold is set as the heating required part, and the temperature reached by the heating part is, for example, 50 ° C. It can be. Further, when the heating unit specifying information is information stored in the storage communication unit 424, for each housing recess 411, the heating part or the non-heating part and the reached temperature in the case of the heating part are The information can be stored in the storage communication means 424 as information. And based on these heating part specific information, the information control part 32 specifies the distinction between the heating required part and the non-heating part in the heating object, and the ultimate temperature in the heating required part, and the heating control part 28 The constituent parts of the microwave supply means 20 are controlled so as to heat the required heating part of the object to be heated until it reaches the ultimate temperature.

As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of the microwave heating method and microwave heating device of the present invention was described, the microwave heating method and microwave heating device concerning the present invention are not limited only to the above-mentioned embodiment, It goes without saying that various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.
For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the microwave oven that is a representative example of the microwave heating device has been described. However, the microwave heating device is not limited to the microwave oven, and a heating device that uses dielectric heating, and garbage treatment. Machine, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, etc.
Moreover, in FIG. 1, although the turntable is not shown in the inside of the heating chamber of a microwave oven, you may provide the turntable.

Further, in FIGS. 4, 5, and 10, the colors given to the containers are red, blue, purple, and yellow, but are not limited to these colors, and are arbitrarily selected colors such as green and orange. Can be attached.
Moreover, the color given to the range corresponding to one accommodation recessed part is not restricted to a single color, and two or more colors can be used with a chromatic pattern such as a striped pattern or a dot.
Furthermore, in each embodiment mentioned above, it was made to divide a heating required part and a non-heating part for every accommodation recessed part in which the food was accommodated, but it is not restricted to such a division, For example, one accommodation recessed part The heating required part and the non-heating part can be separated from each other, and the heating required part and the non-heating part can be separated in one food.

Moreover, in each embodiment mentioned above, the lunch box container was mentioned as an example of a container, and the foodstuff which entered the lunch box container was mentioned as an example of a heating object, However, A container is not restricted to a lunch box container, Moreover, heating The object is not limited to food in a lunch box.
For example, the object to be heated includes various foods such as drinks such as soup, coffee, green tea, tea, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, rice balls, breads, sweets, prepared dishes, noodles, frozen foods, instant foods, retort foods, etc. be able to.
In addition to lunch box containers, for example, dishes, trays, bowls, bowls, packaging films, food wrap films, wrapping paper, paper packs, paper boxes, bottles, cans, cups , Glass, bamboo skin, food pack, containers according to uses (containers for side dishes, containers for noodles, containers for porridge, containers for fast food (hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, fries), etc.). Furthermore, the material of the container includes plastic (polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene foam (PSP), PET resin, etc.), ceramics, paper, metal, and the like. However, since the container is irradiated with microwaves, a container using a metal that may discharge or generate sparks must be used with care.

  Moreover, the structure of the food pack which accommodated the rice ball which is a heating target object is shown in FIG. In the configuration shown in the figure, a portion of the surface of the food pack 51 corresponding to the right rice ball 52a is given red 422a, and a part of the portion corresponding to the left rice ball 52b is given red 422a. The portions corresponding to the pickles 52c are given blue 422b. For this reason, when this food pack 51 is put in the heating chamber 13 of the microwave oven 1 of the present invention and heated, the entire right rice ball 52a is heated and a part of the left rice ball 52b (the portion corresponding to the red 422a). Only the pickles 52c can be heated, and the pickles 52c can be prevented from being heated.

Furthermore, the structure of the cup which is an example of a container is shown in FIG. The cup 53 shown in the figure can accommodate coffee as a heating object and a lowered bottom lid 54 for containing milk and sugar. Further, of the surface of the cup 53, a red surface 422a is applied to the peripheral surface of the portion where the coffee enters, and no particular color is applied to the peripheral surface of the portion where the lowered bottom lid 54 enters (for example, white). ). For this reason, when a predetermined amount of coffee is put and the cup 53 with the lowered bottom lid 54 is placed in the heating chamber 13 of the microwave oven 1 of the present invention and heated, only the coffee can be heated, Milk or sugar placed in the lid 54 can be prevented from being heated.
However, if the surface to be colored is a vertical surface or an inclined surface that stands upright like this cup, and it is necessary to three-dimensionally locate the heating and non-heating parts, information is acquired. It is desirable to provide a plurality of units and to acquire position information such as a heating required unit as three-dimensional information.

  In addition, the microwave heating method and the microwave heating apparatus of the present invention may be an arbitrary combination of the inventions in the first to fourth embodiments.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for an apparatus or apparatus that heats an object by irradiating microwaves.

1 Microwave oven (microwave heating device)
13 Heating chamber 21 Microwave generator 23 Phase controller 25 Power feeding unit 253 Phase shifter (phase controller)
28 Heating Control Unit 31 Information Acquisition Unit 32 Information Control Unit 33 Temperature Detection Unit 40 Container 41 Container Main Body 411 Housing Concave 411a Rectangular 411b Triangle 412a Red 412b Blue 42 Lid Member 421 Upper Surface 422a Red 422b Blue 422c Yellow 422c Purple 422c Communication means

Claims (6)

A microwave heating method for heating an object contained in a container,
Heating one or both of the information related to the required heating part and the information related to the non-heating part when the part to be heated of the object is the heating required part and the part to be heated of the target is the non-heating part. An information acquisition step of acquiring from the container as part specifying information;
Identifying the position of the heating required part in the object based on the heating part specifying information;
A step of generating a microwave by a microwave generator configured using a semiconductor element;
Supplying the microwave into a heating chamber containing the container containing the object;
By changing the phase of the microwave, and heating the heating part of the object .
The heating part specifying information is a color attached to the container,
The microwave heating method , wherein the information acquiring step is a step of acquiring a color attached to the container as the heating unit specifying information by a color sensor that acquires the color of the container . A microwave heating method for heating an object contained in a container,
Heating one or both of the information related to the required heating part and the information related to the non-heating part when the part to be heated of the object is the heating required part and the part to be heated of the target is the non-heating part. An information acquisition step of acquiring from the container as part specifying information;
Identifying the position of the heating required part in the object based on the heating part specifying information;
A step of generating a microwave by a microwave generator configured using a semiconductor element;
Supplying the microwave into a heating chamber containing the container containing the object;
By changing the phase of the microwave, and heating the heating part of the object .
The heating part specifying information is a shape of the container,
The microwave heating method , wherein the information acquisition step is a step of acquiring the shape of the container as the heating unit specifying information by a shape detection unit that acquires the shape of the container . The heating unit specifying information includes information stored in a storage unit attached to the container,
Microwave heating method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a step of obtaining the heating unit specific information from the storage means by the information acquisition step, information receiving means. A temperature measuring step of measuring the temperature of the object and / or the container;
The heating unit identification information includes information indicating the temperature reached by the heating unit,
The said heating process is a process of heating the said required heating part until the temperature of the said required heating part measured at the said temperature measurement process reaches the said ultimate temperature which the said heating part specific information shows. The microwave heating method according to any one of 1 to 3 . A microwave heating apparatus for heating an object contained in a container,
A microwave generator configured using a semiconductor element;
A phase control unit for controlling the phase of the microwave generated by the microwave generation unit;
A power feeding unit that supplies the microwave into a heating chamber that houses the object placed in the container;
Heating one or both of the information related to the required heating part and the information related to the non-heating part when the part to be heated of the object is the heating required part and the part to be heated of the target is the non-heating part. An information acquisition unit to acquire from the container as part specifying information;
An information control unit that identifies the position of the heating unit in the object based on the heating unit identification information;
By controlling the phase control unit and changing the phase of the microwave, a heating control unit for heating the heating target unit of the object ,
The heating part specifying information is a color attached to the container,
The microwave heating apparatus , wherein the information acquisition unit includes a color sensor that acquires a color attached to the container as the heating unit specifying information . A microwave heating apparatus for heating an object contained in a container,
A microwave generator configured using a semiconductor element;
A phase control unit for controlling the phase of the microwave generated by the microwave generation unit;
A power feeding unit that supplies the microwave into a heating chamber that houses the object placed in the container;
Heating one or both of the information related to the required heating part and the information related to the non-heating part when the part to be heated of the object is the heating required part and the part to be heated of the target is the non-heating part. An information acquisition unit to acquire from the container as part specifying information;
An information control unit that identifies the position of the heating unit in the object based on the heating unit identification information;
By controlling the phase control unit and changing the phase of the microwave, a heating control unit for heating the heating target unit of the object ,
The heating part specifying information is a shape of the container,
The microwave heating apparatus , wherein the information acquisition unit includes shape detection means for acquiring the shape of the container as the heating unit specifying information .