CN110360974B

CN110360974B - Food thickness estimation method and related device

Info

Publication number: CN110360974B
Application number: CN201910569819.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈立鹏; 朱洁乐; 延吉宝; 彭爱军; 张董华; 王灏; 吴俊文; 黄伟群; 秦雄华; 韩邦强; 吴世忠
Original assignee: Midea Group Co Ltd; Guangdong Midea Kitchen Appliances Manufacturing Co Ltd
Current assignee: Midea Group Co Ltd; Guangdong Midea Kitchen Appliances Manufacturing Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-06-27
Filing date: 2019-06-27
Publication date: 2021-08-10
Anticipated expiration: 2039-06-27
Also published as: CN110360974A

Abstract

The application discloses a food thickness estimation method and a related device. Wherein, the food thickness estimation method comprises the following steps: judging whether the cooking environment temperature of the cooking device is stabilized in a preset temperature range within a preset time length; receiving the detection temperature measured by each position temperature measuring point of a detection piece in response to the fact that the cooking environment temperature is stabilized in a preset temperature range within a preset time period, wherein the detection piece is inserted into food along the thickness direction of the food; the thickness of the food is estimated by the detected temperature measured by the temperature measuring points at each position and the distance between the temperature measuring points at each position. According to the scheme, the cooking device can estimate the thickness of the food, so that accurate temperature control of the food is facilitated.

Description

Food thickness estimation method and related device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of intelligent electrical apparatus technologies, and in particular, to a method and a related device for estimating a thickness of a food.

Background

Along with the improvement of the life quality of people, people have higher and higher requirements on accurate temperature control of cooking devices such as ovens during cooking food. However, accurate temperature control of the food by the cooking device depends on estimating the thickness of the food, so that the cooking time and the cooking temperature are adjusted according to the thickness of the food. The inventor of the present application has found through long-term research that the existing cooking device can only measure the cooking environment temperature in the cooking device through a thermistor, or detect the temperature in food by using a single-point temperature probe, but cannot estimate the thickness of the food, and thus does not have a basis for realizing accurate temperature control. In view of the above, how to estimate the thickness of the food by the cooking device is an urgent problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem mainly solved by the application is to provide a food thickness estimation method and a related device, which can realize the estimation of the thickness of food by a cooking device, thereby being beneficial to realizing the accurate temperature control of the food.

In order to solve the above problem, a first aspect of the present application provides a method for estimating a thickness of a food, including determining whether a cooking environment temperature of a cooking device is stable in a preset temperature range within a preset time period; receiving the detection temperature measured by each position temperature measuring point of a detection piece in response to the fact that the cooking environment temperature is stabilized in a preset temperature range within a preset time period, wherein the detection piece is inserted into food along the thickness direction of the food; the thickness of the food is estimated by the detected temperature measured by the temperature measuring points at each position and the distance between the temperature measuring points at each position.

In order to solve the above problems, a second aspect of the present application provides a food thickness estimation apparatus, comprising a processor and a memory coupled to each other; the processor is adapted to execute the program instructions stored by the memory to implement the method of the first aspect described above.

In order to solve the above problems, a third aspect of the present application provides a cooking apparatus, comprising an environment temperature measuring member, a detecting member, and a food thickness estimating device; wherein the environment temperature measuring part is used for measuring the cooking environment temperature in the cooking device, each position of the detecting part is provided with a temperature measuring point for measuring the detected temperature, and the food thickness estimating device is the device of the second aspect.

In order to solve the above problem, a fourth aspect of the present application provides a storage device storing program instructions executable by a processor for implementing the method of the first aspect.

In the above scheme, when the temperature of the cooking environment in the cooking device is stabilized in the preset temperature range within the preset duration, the temperature of each position of food in the cooking device tends to be stable, the detected temperature measured by the temperature measuring points of each position on the detecting part inserted in the food along the thickness direction of the food is received, and the positions of the temperature measuring points of each position relative to the food can be estimated by utilizing the difference between the inner temperature and the outer temperature of the food and the difference between the temperatures of each position in the food during heat conduction, so that the thickness of the food can be estimated by combining the distances between the temperature measuring points, and the accurate temperature control of the food is facilitated.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for estimating food thickness according to the present application;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of step S13 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of the working state of the food thickness estimation method of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating another embodiment of the present invention for estimating the working state of a food thickness method;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an operating state of a method for estimating a food thickness according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation state of a food thickness estimation method according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an operating state of a method for estimating a food thickness according to the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the method for estimating food thickness according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of step S132 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of one embodiment of the relative positions of the sensing member and the food item of FIG. 4;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the relative positions of the sensing member and the food item of FIG. 4;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of one embodiment of the relative positions of the sensing member and the food item of FIG. 3;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the relative positions of the sensing member and the food item of FIG. 3;

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of one embodiment of the relative positions of the sensing member and the food item of FIG. 5;

FIG. 15 is a schematic flow chart illustrating another embodiment of step S132 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a food thickness estimation device according to the present application;

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a cooking device of the present application;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a storage device according to the present application.

Detailed Description

The following describes in detail the embodiments of the present application with reference to the drawings attached hereto.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular system structures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present application.

The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and/or" herein is merely an association describing an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B, may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship. Further, the term "plurality" herein means two or more than two.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart of an embodiment of a food thickness estimation method according to the present application. Specifically, the method for estimating the thickness of the food in the embodiment may include:

step S11: and judging whether the cooking environment temperature of the cooking device is stabilized in a preset temperature range within a preset time. If yes, go to step S12.

In this embodiment, the cooking appliance may be an oven, such as a benchtop oven, a built-in oven, or the like. The embodiment is not particularly limited herein. The cooking environment temperature refers to a temperature inside the cooking device, for example, in the case of an oven, the cooking environment temperature refers to a temperature inside a cooking cavity formed by an oven inner container.

The preset time period may be set according to the temperature control characteristics of the cooking apparatus itself, for example: for a cooking device with accurate temperature control, the preset duration can be set to be shorter duration, for example: 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, etc.; alternatively, for cooking devices with coarser temperature control, the preset duration may be set to a longer duration, for example: 3 minutes, 4 minutes, etc. In one implementation scenario, the preset duration may also be uniformly set, for example: the unified setting is 2 minutes, 2 minutes and 30 seconds, etc., and the embodiment is not particularly limited herein.

The preset temperature range is a temperature range with a lower limit higher than the normal temperature, for example: 40 ℃ to 45 ℃, 45 ℃ to 47 ℃ and the like. In one implementation, the upper limit of the predetermined temperature range is not set to heat the food, so that the food is not heated before the thickness of the food is estimated. In addition, the difference between the upper and lower limits of the preset temperature range may also be set according to the temperature control characteristics of the cooking device itself, for example: for a cooking device with accurate temperature control, the difference between the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the preset temperature range can be set to be small, for example: 1 ℃, 2 ℃, etc.; alternatively, for a cooking device with rough temperature control, the difference between the upper and lower limits of the preset temperature range may be set to be large, for example: 5 deg.C, 10 deg.C, etc., and the present embodiment is not particularly limited thereto.

Step S12: and receiving the detected temperature measured by the temperature measuring points at each position of the detecting piece.

When the determination result of step S11 "determining whether the cooking environment temperature of the cooking apparatus is stable within the preset temperature range within the preset time" is yes, at this time, the cooking environment temperature in the cooking apparatus tends to be stable, and the temperatures of the food in the cooking apparatus tend to be stable and have a certain difference, so that the condition of estimating the thickness of the food by using the difference between the inside and outside temperatures of the food and the difference between the temperatures of the food in the positions is provided. At this time, the detected temperatures measured at the temperature measuring points of the respective positions of the detecting member inserted in the food in the thickness direction of the food are received.

In an implementation scenario, signal lines are led out from each position temperature measurement point, so that the environment temperature measured by each position temperature measurement point can be determined subsequently according to data transmitted on each signal line. The signal line may be a conductive line with high conductivity, such as a copper wire.

The number of temperature measurement points may be 3, or 4, 5, and so on, and this embodiment is not limited in this embodiment. In order to make the result of the subsequent food thickness estimation have a certain reference value, the number of the temperature measuring points can be set to be more than or equal to 3.

The distance between adjacent temperature measurement points may be equal, for example: the interval between adjacent temperature measuring points is 2cm, 3cm and the like. The distance between adjacent temperature measurement points may also be unequal, for example: the distances between adjacent temperature measurement points are 1cm, 2cm, 3cm, and the like, respectively, and the embodiment is not particularly limited herein.

In an implementation scenario, in order to detect the cooking environment temperature in the cooking device, an environment temperature measuring part is further integrated in the cooking device, and the environment temperature measuring part may be disposed on a side wall of a cooking cavity of the cooking device, or the environment temperature measuring part is integrated in the detecting part and disposed at an end of the detecting part far away from a temperature measuring point, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Step S13: the thickness of the food is estimated by the detected temperature measured by the temperature measuring points at each position and the distance between the temperature measuring points at each position.

The detected temperature is the temperature measured at each temperature measuring point of the detecting member, for example, the detected temperature measured at the temperature measuring point exposed to the food is equivalent to the cooking environment temperature, and the detected temperature measured at the temperature measuring point in the food has a certain difference from the cooking environment temperature due to the heat conduction characteristic, and the detected temperature measured at the temperature measuring point in the food close to the center of the food and the detected temperature measured at the temperature measuring point in the food far from the center of the food are also different from each other, so that the thickness of the food can be estimated by using the characteristic and the distance between the temperature measuring points at each position.

In this embodiment, the step S11 can be executed after the cooking device is operated for a period of time; it may also be performed periodically, for example every 30 seconds, or every 1 minute; if the current execution result is negative, a waiting time, for example, 30 seconds, 1 minute, may be passed, and then the execution is resumed, which is not limited in this embodiment. In this case, in order to relatively quickly stabilize the cooking environment temperature within the preset temperature range for the preset time period, thereby reducing the waiting time, when the determination result of the above step S11 is no, that is, when the cooking environment temperature of the cooking apparatus is not stabilized within the preset temperature range for the preset time period, the following step S14 may be further performed.

Step S14: and sending a heating power increasing or decreasing instruction to control the cooking environment temperature to be stabilized in a preset temperature range within a preset time.

If the cooking environment temperature of the cooking device is not stabilized within the preset temperature range within the preset time, the heating power may be too high, so that the upper limit of the preset temperature range is broken through if the cooking environment temperature is not maintained within the preset temperature range for a preset time, and the heating power can be reduced at the moment; or, there may be a case where the heating power is too small, and the heat added by the current heating power cannot compensate for the heat lost by the cooking device, so that the temperature of the cooking device falls through the lower limit of the preset temperature range without being maintained in the preset temperature range for a preset time, and at this time, the heating power may be increased.

In addition, when the thickness of the food to be cooked at each position is different greatly, in order to further accurately estimate the average thickness of the food and further achieve accurate temperature control of the food by using the average thickness of the food, a plurality of detection parts, such as 2, 3, 4, etc., may be further disposed in the cooking apparatus, and the embodiment is not limited specifically herein.

In addition, when the detection piece is inserted into the food along the length direction of the food, the same steps as the embodiment can be used for estimating the length of the food; when inserting the detection piece in food along the width direction of food, utilize the estimation that can also realize the food width with the step the same with this embodiment, and then more be favorable to the accurate accuse temperature to food, this application does not do specific restriction here.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an embodiment of step S13 in fig. 1. Specifically, the step S13 may include:

step S131: and comparing the detection temperature of the temperature measuring points at all positions with the cooking environment temperature, and determining the position relation between the temperature measuring points at all positions and food.

Based on the characteristics of heat conduction, the detected temperature measured by the temperature measuring points exposed to the food is equivalent to the temperature of the cooking environment, the detected temperature measured by the temperature measuring points in the food is different from the temperature of the cooking environment, and the detected temperatures measured by the temperature measuring points in the food and close to the center of the food are different from the detected temperatures measured by the temperature measuring points in the food and far away from the center of the food, so the position relation between the temperature measuring points at each position and the food can be determined by utilizing the characteristics.

Specifically, the detected temperature of each temperature measuring point at each position may be compared with the temperature of the cooking environment to determine an outer temperature measuring point and an inner temperature measuring point. The difference value between the detection temperature of the outer temperature measuring point and the cooking environment temperature is smaller than or equal to a first preset temperature difference, and the difference value between the detection temperature of the inner temperature measuring point and the cooking environment temperature is larger than or equal to a second preset temperature difference. The first preset temperature difference may be smaller and the second preset temperature difference may be larger, for example: the first preset temperature difference may be set to 1 deg.c, 1.5 deg.c, 2 deg.c, etc., and the second preset temperature difference may be set to 8 deg.c, 9 deg.c, 10 deg.c, etc., and the embodiment is not particularly limited herein.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the working state of the food thickness estimation method according to the present application. As shown in fig. 3, the temperature difference between the detected temperature measured by the temperature measuring points 3 and 4 and the cooking environment temperature measured by the environment temperature measuring component is smaller than the first preset temperature difference, so that the temperature measuring points 3 and 4 can be determined as outer temperature measuring points, and the temperature difference between the detected temperature measured by the temperature measuring points 1 and 2 and the cooking environment temperature measured by the environment temperature measuring component is larger than or equal to the second preset temperature difference, so that the temperature measuring points 1 and 2 can be determined as inner temperature measuring points.

By analogy, in the schematic diagram of another embodiment of the working state of the food thickness estimation method shown in fig. 4, the temperature measurement point 3 and the temperature measurement point 4 can be determined as outer temperature measurement points, and the temperature measurement point 1 and the temperature measurement point 2 can be determined as inner temperature measurement points. In the schematic diagram of another embodiment of the working state of the method for estimating food thickness according to the present application shown in fig. 5, the temperature measuring points 1 and 4 can be determined as outer temperature measuring points, and the temperature measuring points 2 and 3 can be determined as inner temperature measuring points. In the schematic diagram of another embodiment of the working state of the method for estimating food thickness according to the present application shown in fig. 6, the temperature measuring points 1 and 4 can be determined as outer temperature measuring points, and the temperature measuring points 2 and 3 can be determined as inner temperature measuring points.

Referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a food thickness estimation method according to another embodiment of the present application. Further, after comparing the detected temperature of each temperature measuring point with the temperature of the cooking environment and determining the position relationship between each temperature measuring point and the food, the method may further include determining whether the detecting element is inserted into the food based on the position relationship between each temperature measuring point and the food, that is, whether the detecting element penetrates through the food, and specifically, the method may further include the following steps:

step S71: and judging whether two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away have adjacent outer temperature measuring points or not. If yes, go to step S72. If not, step S73 is executed.

Referring to fig. 3, when it is determined whether the detecting member shown in fig. 3 is inserted into the food, it may be determined whether adjacent external temperature measuring points exist at two internal temperature measuring points that are farthest away, as described in the foregoing embodiment, it is already determined that, of the temperature measuring points 1 to 4 on the detecting member, the internal temperature measuring points are temperature measuring point 1 and temperature measuring point 2, and the external temperature measuring points are temperature measuring point 3 and temperature measuring point 4, the two internal temperature measuring points that are farthest away are temperature measuring point 1 and temperature measuring point 2, and of the two internal temperature measuring points, only temperature measuring point 2 exists adjacent external temperature measuring points, that is, temperature measuring point 3, it may be determined that one of the two internal temperature measuring points that are farthest away in the working state shown in fig. 3 both have adjacent external temperature measuring points, and then step S73 is executed.

By analogy, it can be determined that two inner temperature measurement points which are farthest from the temperature measurement points 1 to 4 of the detection member shown in fig. 4 are the temperature measurement point 1 and the temperature measurement point 2, and only the temperature measurement point 2 has an adjacent outer temperature measurement point, that is, the temperature measurement point 3, then step S73 is executed.

Similarly, it can be determined that two inner temperature measurement points farthest from each other in the temperature measurement points 1 to 4 of the detection member shown in fig. 5 are the temperature measurement point 2 and the temperature measurement point 3, and the adjacent outer temperature measurement point exists in the temperature measurement point 2, that is, the temperature measurement point 1, and the adjacent outer temperature measurement point exists in the temperature measurement point 3, that is, the temperature measurement point 4, then step S72 is executed.

Similarly, it can be determined that two inner temperature measurement points farthest from each other in the temperature measurement points 1 to 4 of the detection member shown in fig. 6 are the temperature measurement point 2 and the temperature measurement point 3, and the adjacent outer temperature measurement point exists in the temperature measurement point 2, that is, the temperature measurement point 1, and the adjacent outer temperature measurement point exists in the temperature measurement point 3, that is, the temperature measurement point 4, then step S72 is executed.

Furthermore, in an implementation scenario, there may also be only one of the temperature measurement points on the detection member within the food, i.e. only one internal temperature measurement point. Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a schematic view illustrating an operation state of the food thickness estimation method according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 8, it can be determined that, of temperature measurement points 1 to 3 on the detection member in fig. 8, the inner temperature measurement point is temperature measurement point 2, and the outer temperature measurement points are temperature measurement point 1 and temperature measurement point 3, then the two farthest apart temperature measurement points in this embodiment may be determined as only temperature measurement point 2 itself, so that it can be determined that there are adjacent outer temperature measurement points on both sides of temperature measurement point 2, that is, temperature measurement point 1 and temperature measurement point 3, and then step S72 is executed.

Step S72: the detection piece is confirmed to be inserted into food.

With continued reference to fig. 5, as mentioned above, it is determined that the two inner temperature measurement points farthest away from the detecting element in fig. 5 have adjacent outer temperature measurement points, and it can be determined that the detecting element shown in fig. 5 is inserted into the food. Similarly, it can be determined that the detecting member shown in fig. 6 is also inserted into the food. Similarly, it can be determined that the detecting member shown in fig. 8 is also inserted into the food.

Step S73: and determining that the detection piece is not inserted into the food.

With continued reference to fig. 3, as mentioned above, if it is determined that one of the two inner temperature measurement points farthest from each other in the detecting element of fig. 3 has an adjacent outer temperature measurement point, it can be determined that the detecting element shown in fig. 3 is not inserted into the food. Similarly, it can be determined that the detecting member shown in fig. 4 is not inserted into the food.

Step S132: and estimating the thickness of the food based on the determined position relation and the preset distance between the temperature measuring points.

In one implementation scenario, after the inner and outer temperature measuring points on the detecting member are determined, the distance between the inner and outer temperature measuring points and/or the distance between the inner and outer temperature measuring points can be calculated to determine the lower limit and/or the upper limit of the thickness of the food. In order to estimate the thickness of the food more accurately, after determining whether the detection piece is inserted into the food, the distance between the inner temperature measurement points and/or the distance between the inner temperature measurement points and the outer temperature measurement points can be calculated by using a corresponding formula according to whether the detection piece is inserted into the food, and the lower limit value and/or the upper limit value of the thickness of the food can be determined.

In the following, the following two aspects are exemplified to determine the lower limit value and/or the upper limit value of the thickness of the food by calculating the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and/or the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and the outer temperature measuring points by using corresponding formulas according to whether the detecting member is inserted into the food.

Specifically, the first aspect illustrates that the lower limit value of the thickness of the food is determined by calculating the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and/or the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and the outer temperature measuring points by using a corresponding formula according to whether the detecting member is inserted into the food. The second aspect illustrates that the upper limit value of the thickness of the food is determined by calculating the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and/or the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and the outer temperature measuring points by using corresponding formulas according to whether the detecting member is inserted into the food.

In a first aspect:

referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an embodiment of step S132 in fig. 2. Specifically, the method may include:

step S91: and judging whether the difference value of the detection temperatures of the two inner temperature measurement points which are farthest away is less than or equal to a third preset temperature difference. If so, go to step S92, otherwise go to step S93.

For the same detection piece, the final estimated thickness of the food is different for the two cases that one of the two farthest-apart temperature measurement points is close to the center of the food and the other two farthest-apart temperature measurement points are not close to the center of the food, so it is necessary to determine whether one of the two farthest-apart temperature measurement points is close to the center of the food. Since the characteristic that the temperature is lower as the temperature is closer to the center of the food during the heat transfer exists, it is possible to determine whether one of the two inner temperature measuring points is closer to the center of the food by comparing whether the difference between the detected temperatures of the two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away is greater than or equal to a third preset temperature difference.

When the difference value of the detection temperatures of the two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away is less than or equal to a third preset temperature difference, determining that the two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away are not close to the center of the food; accordingly, when the difference of the detected temperatures of the two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away is greater than the third preset temperature difference, it can be determined that one of the two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away is close to the center of the food.

For the determination of the third preset temperature difference, in one implementation scenario, the cooking device is provided with a key for selecting a food type, such as meat, pastry, etc., and the third preset temperature difference may be set according to the food type, for example, may be set to 5 ℃, 7 ℃ for meat, 2 ℃, 3 ℃ for pastry, etc. In another implementation scenario, the third preset temperature difference may also be uniformly set, for example, uniformly set to 4 ℃, 4.5 ℃, and the like, and the embodiment is not limited in this embodiment.

Step S92: and determining the lower limit value as the distance between two internal temperature measuring points which are farthest away.

Referring to fig. 4, the two farthest temperature measuring points in the measuring member shown in fig. 4 are temperature measuring point 1 and temperature measuring point 2, and the difference between the two temperatures is smaller than the third predetermined temperature difference, so that the lower limit of the thickness D of the food can be determined as the distance between the two farthest temperature measuring points, i.e. D1 shown in fig. 4.

Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a relative position between the detecting element and the food in fig. 4. The two farthest temperature measuring points in the detecting member shown in FIG. 10 are the temperature measuring point 1 and the temperature measuring point 3, and the difference between the two detected temperatures is less than the third preset temperature difference, so that the lower limit value of the thickness D of the food can be determined as the distance between the two farthest temperature measuring points, i.e. D1+ D2 shown in FIG. 10.

Similarly, referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the relative position between the detecting element and the food in fig. 4. The two most distant temperature measuring points in the test element shown in FIG. 11 are temperature measuring point 1 and temperature measuring point 4, which have a difference of less than the third predetermined temperature difference, so that the lower limit value of the thickness D of the food can be determined as the distance between the two most distant temperature measuring points, i.e., D1+ D2+ D3 shown in FIG. 11.

Similarly, referring to fig. 6 in combination, the two farthest temperature measuring points in the detecting member shown in fig. 6 are temperature measuring point 2 and temperature measuring point 3, and the difference between the two temperature measuring points is smaller than the third predetermined temperature difference, so that the lower limit value of the food thickness D can be determined as the distance between the two farthest temperature measuring points, i.e. D2 shown in fig. 6.

Similarly, referring to fig. 8, the inner temperature measuring point in the detecting element shown in fig. 8 is only the temperature measuring point 2, and therefore, the two farthest temperature measuring points can be considered as the temperature measuring point 2 and itself, and obviously, the temperature difference between the two farthest temperature measuring points is 0 and is smaller than the third preset temperature difference, so that the lower limit value of the food thickness D can be determined as the distance between the two farthest temperature measuring points, that is, the lower limit value is 0.

Step S93: and judging whether the detection piece is inserted into the food or not, if not, executing the step S94, and if so, executing the step S95.

Please refer to step S71 to step S73 for the detailed determination steps, which are not described herein again.

Step S94: the lower limit value is determined to be 2 times the distance between the two internal temperature measuring points which are farthest away.

Referring to fig. 3, if the difference between the detected temperatures of the two farthest internal temperature measuring points is greater than the third predetermined temperature difference, and it can be determined through the above steps S71-S73 that the detecting element shown in fig. 1 is not inserted into the food, the lower limit of the thickness D of the food can be determined to be 2 times the distance between the two farthest internal temperature measuring points, i.e. 2 × D1 shown in fig. 3.

Referring to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the relative position between the detecting member and the food in fig. 3. If the difference between the detected temperatures of the two farthest internal temperature measurement points is greater than the third predetermined temperature difference, and it can be determined through the above steps S71 to S73 that the detecting member shown in fig. 1 is not inserted into the food, the lower limit value of the thickness D of the food can be determined to be 2 times the distance between the two farthest internal temperature measurement points, i.e., 2 (D1+ D2) shown in fig. 12.

Referring to fig. 13, fig. 13 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the relative position between the detecting member and the food in fig. 3. If the detected temperature difference between the two farthest internal temperature measurement points is greater than the third predetermined temperature difference, and it can be determined through the above steps S71 to S73 that the detecting member shown in fig. 1 is not inserted into the food, the lower limit value of the thickness D of the food can be determined to be 2 times the distance between the two farthest internal temperature measurement points, i.e., 2 × 1+ D2+ D3 shown in fig. 13.

Step S95: and determining the lower limit value as the sum of the distance between the two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away and the minimum distance between the two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away and the adjacent outer temperature measuring points.

Referring to fig. 5, the difference between the detected temperatures of the two inner temperature measuring points farthest from each other is greater than the third predetermined temperature difference, and it can be determined through the above steps S71-S73 that the detecting element shown in fig. 5 is inserted into the food, the lower limit of the thickness D of the food in fig. 5 is determined as the distance D2 between the two inner temperature measuring points farthest from each other plus the minimum distance D1 between the two inner temperature measuring points farthest from each other and the adjacent outer temperature measuring point, i.e., the lower limit of the thickness D of the food is D1+ D2.

Referring to fig. 14, fig. 14 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the relative positions of the detecting element and the food in fig. 5. The difference between the detected temperatures of the two farthest internal temperature measurement points is greater than the third predetermined temperature difference, and it can be determined through the above steps S71-S73 that the detecting element shown in fig. 14 is inserted into the food, so that the lower limit of the thickness D of the food in fig. 14 can be determined as the distance D2+ D3 between the two farthest internal temperature measurement points plus the minimum distance D1 between the two farthest internal temperature measurement points and the adjacent external temperature measurement point, i.e. the lower limit of the thickness D of the food is D1+ D2+ D3.

In a second aspect:

referring to fig. 15, fig. 15 is a schematic flowchart illustrating another embodiment of step S132 in fig. 2. Specifically, the method may include:

step S151: and judging whether the difference value of the detection temperatures of the two inner temperature measurement points which are farthest away is less than or equal to a third preset temperature difference. If so, go to step S152, otherwise go to step S153.

For the same detection piece, the final estimated thickness of the food is different for the case that one of the two farthest-apart temperature measurement points is close to the center of the food and the case that none of the two farthest-apart temperature measurement points is close to the center of the food, so it is necessary to determine whether one of the two farthest-apart temperature measurement points is close to the center of the food. Similarly to in the first aspect step S91, when the difference between the detected temperatures of the two inner temperature measurement points that are farthest away is less than or equal to the third preset temperature difference, it may be determined that neither of the two inner temperature measurement points that are farthest away is close to the center of the food; accordingly, when the difference of the detected temperatures of the two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away is greater than the third preset temperature difference, it can be determined that one of the two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away is close to the center of the food.

Step S152: and determining the upper limit value to be 2 times of the sum of half of the distance between the two farthest internal temperature measurement points and the maximum distance between the two farthest internal temperature measurement points and the adjacent external temperature measurement point.

Referring to fig. 4, the two inner temperature measuring points farthest from each other in the detecting member shown in fig. 4 are the temperature measuring point 1 and the temperature measuring point 2, and the difference between the two detected temperatures is smaller than the third predetermined temperature difference, so that the upper limit value of the food thickness D can be determined to be half of the distance D1 between the two inner temperature measuring points farthest from each other in fig. 4, i.e. D1/2, and the sum of the maximum distances D2 between the two inner temperature measuring points farthest from each other and the adjacent outer temperature measuring point, i.e. 2 times (D1/2+ D2), i.e. the upper limit value of the food thickness D is (D1/2+ D2) × 2.

Referring to fig. 10, the two inner temperature measuring points farthest from each other in the sensor of fig. 10 are temperature measuring point 1 and temperature measuring point 3, and the difference between the two temperature measuring points is less than the third predetermined temperature difference, so that the upper limit value of the food thickness D can be determined to be half of the distance D1 between the two inner temperature measuring points farthest from each other in fig. 4, i.e., (D1+ D2)/2, and the sum of the maximum distances D3 between the two inner temperature measuring points farthest from each other and the adjacent outer temperature measuring point, i.e., (D1+ D2)/2+ D3), i.e., the upper limit value of the food thickness D is ((D1+ D2)/2+ D3) × 2.

Similarly, referring to fig. 6, the two farthest temperature measuring points in the detecting member shown in fig. 6 are temperature measuring point 2 and temperature measuring point 3, and the difference between the two temperature measuring points is smaller than the third predetermined temperature difference, so that the upper limit value of the food thickness D can be determined to be half of the distance D1 between the two farthest temperature measuring points in fig. 6, i.e. D2/2, and the sum of the maximum distance D2 between the two farthest temperature measuring points and the adjacent outer temperature measuring point, i.e. 2 times (D2/2+ D1), i.e. the upper limit value of the food thickness D is (D2/2+ D1) × 2.

Similarly, referring to fig. 8, the inner temperature measuring point in the detecting member shown in fig. 8 is only the temperature measuring point 2, therefore, the two farthest temperature measuring points can be considered as the temperature measuring point 2 and itself, obviously, the temperature difference between the two farthest temperature measuring points is 0, and is smaller than the third preset temperature difference, so that the upper limit value of the food thickness D can be determined to be half of the distance 0 between the two farthest temperature measuring points in fig. 4, i.e. 0, and the sum of the maximum distance D2 between the two farthest temperature measuring points and the adjacent outer temperature measuring point, i.e. 2 times (0+ D2), i.e. the upper limit value of the food thickness D is 2 × D2.

In addition, referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the relative position between the detecting element and the food in fig. 4. In the detecting member shown in fig. 11, the two farthest internal temperature measuring points are the temperature measuring point 1 and the temperature measuring point 4, and the difference between the two detected temperatures is smaller than the third preset temperature difference, however, when the upper limit value of the food thickness D is determined, because there is no external temperature measuring point adjacent to the two farthest internal temperature measuring points, the upper limit value cannot be determined.

Step S153: and judging whether the detection piece is inserted into the food or not, if not, executing the step S154, otherwise, executing the step S155.

Step S154: and determining the upper limit value to be 2 times of the sum of the distance between the two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away and the maximum distance between the two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away and the adjacent outer temperature measuring points.

Referring to fig. 3, if the difference between the detected temperatures of the two farthest temperature measuring points is greater than the third predetermined temperature difference, and it can be determined through the above steps S71-S73 that the detecting element shown in fig. 3 is not inserted into the food, the upper limit of the thickness D of the food can be determined to be 2 times the sum (D1+ D2) of the distance D1 between the two farthest temperature measuring points and the maximum distance D2 between the two farthest temperature measuring points and the adjacent outer temperature measuring point in fig. 3, and the upper limit of the thickness D of the ready-to-eat food is (D1+ D2) × 2.

Referring to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the relative position between the detecting member and the food in fig. 3. If the difference between the detected temperatures of the two farthest temperature measuring points is greater than the third predetermined temperature difference, and it can be determined through the above steps S71-S73 that the detecting element shown in fig. 1 is not inserted into the food, the upper limit of the thickness D of the food can be determined to be 2 times the sum (D1+ D2+ D3) of the distance (D1+ D2) between the two farthest temperature measuring points and the maximum distance D3 between the two farthest temperature measuring points and the adjacent outer temperature measuring point in fig. 12, i.e. the upper limit of the thickness D of the food is (D1+ D2+ D3) × 2.

In addition, referring to fig. 13, fig. 13 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the relative positions of the detecting member and the food in fig. 3. The difference between the detected temperatures of the two farthest internal temperature measurement points is greater than the third predetermined temperature difference, and it can be determined through the above steps S71-S73 that the detecting element shown in fig. 1 is not inserted into the food, however, in the process of determining the upper limit value of the thickness of the food, since there is no external temperature measurement point adjacent to the two farthest internal temperature measurement points, the upper limit value cannot be determined.

Step S155: and determining the upper limit value as the sum of the distance between the two farthest temperature measuring points and the adjacent external temperature measuring point.

Referring to fig. 5, the difference between the detected temperatures of the two farthest temperature measuring points is greater than the third predetermined temperature difference, and it can be determined through the above steps S71-S73 that the detecting element shown in fig. 5 is inserted into the food, the upper limit of the thickness D of the food in fig. 5 can be determined as the sum of the distance D2 between the two farthest temperature measuring points and the distances D1 and D3 between the two farthest temperature measuring points and the adjacent outer temperature measuring point, i.e. the upper limit of the thickness D of the food is D1+ D2+ D3.

In addition, please refer to fig. 14 in combination, fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of relative positions of the detecting element and the food in fig. 5. The difference between the detected temperatures of the two farthest internal temperature measurement points is greater than the third predetermined temperature difference, and it can be determined through the above steps S71-S73 that the detecting element shown in fig. 14 is inserted into the food, however, in the process of determining the upper limit value of the thickness D of the food, only the distance between the temperature measurement point 2 and the adjacent external temperature measurement point can be determined, and the temperature measurement point 3 does not have the adjacent external temperature measurement point, so the upper limit value cannot be determined.

In combination with the above first and second aspects, it may finally be determined that the thickness D of the food in fig. 3 is: 2 × D1 < D < 2% (D1+ D2); in fig. 4 the thickness D of the food is: d1 < D < (D1/2+ D2) > 2; in fig. 5 the thickness D of the food is: (D1+ D2) < D < (D1+ D2+ D3); in fig. 6 the thickness D of the food is: d2 < D < (D2/2+ D1) > 2; food thickness D < 2 × D2 in fig. 8; in fig. 10 the thickness D of the food is: (D1+ D2) < D < ((D1+ D2)/2+ D3) × 2; food thickness D > (D1+ D2+ D3) in FIG. 11; in fig. 12 the thickness D of the food is: 2 (D1+ D2) < D < 2 (D1+ D2+ D3); food thickness D > 2 in FIG. 13 (D1+ D2+ D3) and D > (D1+ D2+ D3) in FIG. 14.

The above-mentioned embodiments of the first aspect and the second aspect exemplify the case that there are 4 temperature measuring points on the detecting member except the environment temperature measuring member, and the case that there are 3 temperature measuring points except the environment temperature measuring member, when there are 5, 6 temperature measuring points on the detecting member except the environment temperature measuring member, the analogy can be made according to the steps in the above-mentioned first aspect and the second aspect, so as to estimate the thickness of the food, and the present embodiment is not exemplified herein.

Referring to fig. 16, fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of a food thickness estimation device 1600 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the food thickness estimation apparatus 1600 includes a processor 1610 and a memory 1620 coupled to each other, wherein the processor 1610 is configured to execute program instructions stored in the memory 1620 to implement the steps of the food thickness estimation method in any of the embodiments.

Processor 1610 may also be referred to as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Processor 1610 may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. Processor 1610 may also be a general purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other Programmable logic device, discrete Gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware component. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. In addition, processor 1610 may be implemented collectively by a plurality of integrated circuit chips.

In an implementation scenario, the food thickness estimation device 1600 may be a control circuit board integrated in the cooking device, or the food thickness estimation device 1600 may also be a control terminal electrically or communicatively connected to the cooking device, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the processor 1610 is configured to execute the steps of the food thickness estimation method in any of the above embodiments by calling the program instructions stored in the memory 1620.

For example, the processor 1610 is configured to determine whether a cooking environment temperature of the cooking apparatus is stable in a preset temperature range within a preset time period; the processor 1610 is further configured to receive a detected temperature measured at each temperature measuring point of the detecting element in response to the cooking environment temperature being stabilized in a preset temperature range for a preset time period, wherein the detecting element is inserted into the food in the thickness direction of the food; the processor 1610 is also configured to estimate the thickness of the food from the detected temperature measured at each of the plurality of temperature measuring points and the distance between the plurality of temperature measuring points.

In some embodiments, the processor 1610 is further configured to compare the detected temperature of each temperature measurement point with the temperature of the cooking environment, and determine the position relationship between each temperature measurement point and the food; the processor 1610 is further configured to estimate a thickness of the food based on the determined positional relationship and a preset distance between the position temperature measurement points.

In some embodiments, the processor 1610 is further configured to compare the detected temperature of each of the plurality of position temperature measurement points with the cooking environment temperature, and determine an outer temperature measurement point and an inner temperature measurement point, wherein the difference between the detected temperature of the outer temperature measurement point and the cooking environment temperature is less than or equal to a first preset temperature difference; the difference value between the detection temperature of the internal temperature measuring point and the cooking environment temperature is larger than or equal to a second preset temperature difference.

In some embodiments, the processor 1610 is further configured to calculate a distance between the inner and/or outer temperature points, determine a lower and/or upper value of the thickness of the food.

In some embodiments, the processor 1610 is further configured to determine whether the detecting element is inserted into the food based on the position relationship between the temperature measuring points at each position and the food, and the processor 1610 is further configured to determine a lower limit value and/or an upper limit value of the thickness of the food by calculating a distance between the inner temperature measuring points and/or a distance between the inner temperature measuring points and the outer temperature measuring points using corresponding formulas according to whether the detecting element is inserted into the food.

In some embodiments, the processor 1610 is further configured to determine whether there is an adjacent outer temperature measuring point at each of the two inner temperature measuring points farthest away, and the processor 1610 is further configured to determine that the detecting element is inserted into the food in response to that there is an adjacent outer temperature measuring point at each of the two inner temperature measuring points farthest away; the processor 1610 is further configured to determine that the detecting element is not inserted into the food in response to the presence or absence of an adjacent external temperature measuring point at one or both of the two internal temperature measuring points that are farthest away.

In some embodiments, the processor 1610 is further configured to compare a difference between the detected temperatures of the two inner temperature measurement points that are farthest apart, and the processor 1610 is further configured to determine the lower limit value as the distance between the two inner temperature measurement points that are farthest apart in response to the difference being less than or equal to a third preset temperature difference; the processor 1610 is further configured to respond that the difference is greater than a third preset temperature difference, the detecting element is not inserted into the food, and the lower limit value is determined to be 2 times of the distance between the two farthest internal temperature measuring points; the processor 1610 is further configured to insert the detecting element into the food in response to the difference being greater than a third predetermined temperature difference, and determine that the lower limit is the distance between the two inner temperature measuring points that are farthest apart plus the minimum distance between the two inner temperature measuring points that are farthest apart and the adjacent outer temperature measuring point.

In some embodiments, the processor 1610 is further configured to compare the difference of the detected temperatures of the two inner temperature measurement points that are farthest away; the processor 1610 is further configured to determine that the upper limit value is 2 times a sum of half of a distance between two farthest apart inner temperature measurement points and a minimum distance between the two farthest apart inner temperature measurement points and an adjacent outer temperature measurement point in response to the difference value being less than or equal to a third preset temperature difference; the processor 1610 is further configured to respond that the difference is greater than a third preset temperature difference, determine that the detecting element is not inserted into the food, and determine that the upper limit value is 2 times of a sum of a distance between two farthest apart inner temperature measuring points and a minimum distance between the two farthest apart inner temperature measuring points and an adjacent outer temperature measuring point; the processor 1610 is further configured to insert the detecting element into the food in response to the difference being greater than a third predetermined temperature difference, and determine that the upper limit is the sum of the distance between the two farthest temperature measuring points and the adjacent external temperature measuring point.

Referring to fig. 17, fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a cooking device 1700 according to an embodiment of the present application. Specifically, the cooking apparatus 1700 includes an environment temperature measuring member 1710, a detecting member 1720, and a food thickness estimating device 1730, wherein the environment temperature measuring member 1710 is used for measuring the environment temperature inside the cooking apparatus 1700, each position of the detecting member 1720 is provided with a temperature measuring point 1721 for measuring the detected temperature, and the food thickness estimating device 1730 is the device in the foregoing embodiment.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 17, the environmental temperature probe 1710 can be integrated with the sensing element 1720 and disposed at an end of the sensing element 1720 remote from the temperature probe 1721. The cooking apparatus 1700 comprises a cooking cavity 1740, and in an implementation scenario, the environment temperature measuring element 1710 may be further disposed on a side wall of the cooking cavity 1740. In one implementation scenario, the cooking apparatus 1700 may further include a driving member (not shown) for driving the detecting member 1720 to insert food.

Referring to fig. 18, fig. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a storage device 1800 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the storage device 1800 stores processor-executable program instructions 1810, where the program instructions 1810 are used to perform the food thickness estimation method in the above-described embodiments.

The storage device 1800 may be a medium that can store program instructions, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or may be a server that stores the program instructions, and the server may send the stored program instructions to other devices for operation, or may self-operate the stored program instructions.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed method and apparatus may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, a division of a module or a unit is merely a logical division, and an actual implementation may have another division, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units through some interfaces, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

Units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be substantially implemented or contributed to by the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and other various media capable of storing program codes.

Claims

1. A method for food thickness estimation, the method comprising:

judging whether the cooking environment temperature of the cooking device is stabilized in a preset temperature range within a preset time length;

receiving the detected temperature measured by each position temperature measuring point of a detecting piece in response to the fact that the cooking environment temperature is stabilized in a preset temperature range within a preset time period, wherein the detecting piece is inserted into the food along the thickness direction of the food;

comparing the detection temperature of the temperature measuring points at all positions with the cooking environment temperature, and determining the position relation between the temperature measuring points at all positions and the food;

estimating the thickness of the food based on the determined positional relationship and a preset distance between the position temperature measuring points;

the food cooking system comprises a plurality of food cooking environment temperature measuring points, wherein the food cooking environment temperature measuring points are arranged at different positions of the food cooking environment, and the food cooking environment temperature measuring points are arranged at different positions of the food cooking environment; the difference value between the detection temperature of the internal temperature measuring point and the cooking environment temperature is greater than or equal to a second preset temperature difference, and the first preset temperature difference is smaller than the second preset temperature difference.

2. The method of claim 1,

estimating the thickness of the food based on the determined positional relationship and the distance between the respective temperature measuring points, including:

and calculating the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and/or the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and the outer temperature measuring points, and determining the lower limit value and/or the upper limit value of the thickness of the food.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the comparing the detected temperature of each of the plurality of temperature measuring points with the temperature of the cooking environment after determining the positional relationship between the each of the plurality of temperature measuring points and the food comprises:

determining whether the detection piece is inserted into the food or not based on the position relation between each position temperature measurement point and the food;

the calculating the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and/or the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and the outer temperature measuring points and determining the lower limit value and the upper limit value of the thickness of the food comprises the following steps:

and according to whether the detection piece is inserted into the food or not, calculating the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and/or the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and the outer temperature measuring points by adopting a corresponding formula, and determining the lower limit value and/or the upper limit value of the thickness of the food.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining whether the detecting member is inserted into the food based on the position relationship between the position temperature measuring points and the food comprises:

judging whether two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away from each other have adjacent outer temperature measuring points or not;

responding to the fact that two inner temperature measuring points which are farthest away have adjacent outer temperature measuring points, and determining that the detecting piece is inserted into the food in a penetrating mode;

and determining that the detection piece is not inserted into the food in a penetrating way in response to the fact that one of the two inner temperature measurement points which are farthest away has an adjacent outer temperature measurement point or does not have an adjacent outer temperature measurement point.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determining the lower limit value and/or the upper limit value of the thickness of the food by calculating the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and/or the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and the outer temperature measuring points according to the corresponding formula according to whether the detecting member is inserted into the food comprises:

comparing the difference of the detection temperatures of the two inner temperature measurement points which are farthest away;

responding to the difference value being smaller than or equal to a third preset temperature difference, and determining the lower limit value as the distance between the two internal temperature measuring points which are farthest away;

responding to the difference value being larger than a third preset temperature difference, determining that the detection piece is not inserted into the food, and determining that the lower limit value is 2 times of the distance between the two internal temperature measurement points which are farthest away;

and responding to the difference value being larger than a third preset temperature difference, inserting the detection piece into the food in a penetrating way, and determining that the lower limit value is the sum of the distance between the two inner temperature measurement points which are farthest away and the minimum distance between the two inner temperature measurement points which are farthest away and the adjacent outer temperature measurement point.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determining the lower limit value and/or the upper limit value of the thickness of the food by calculating the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and/or the distance between the inner temperature measuring points and the outer temperature measuring points according to the corresponding formula according to whether the detecting member is inserted into the food comprises:

in response to the difference value being less than or equal to a third preset temperature difference, determining that the upper limit value is 2 times of the sum of half of the distance between the two inner temperature measurement points which are farthest away and the maximum distance between the two inner temperature measurement points which are farthest away and the adjacent outer temperature measurement point;

responding to the difference value being larger than a third preset temperature difference, determining that the detection piece is not inserted into the food in a penetrating way, and determining that the upper limit value is 2 times of the sum of the distance between the two inner temperature measurement points which are farthest away and the maximum distance between the two inner temperature measurement points which are farthest away and the adjacent outer temperature measurement point;

responding to the difference value being larger than a third preset temperature difference, inserting the detection piece into the food in a penetrating mode, and determining that the upper limit value is the sum of the distance between the two temperature measurement points which are farthest away and the adjacent outer temperature measurement point.

7. A food thickness estimation apparatus, comprising a processor and a memory coupled to each other;

the processor is configured to execute the program instructions stored by the memory to implement the method of any of claims 1-6.

8. A cooking device is characterized by comprising an environment temperature measuring part, a detecting part and a food thickness estimating device;

wherein the environment temperature measuring member is used for measuring the cooking environment temperature in the cooking device, each position of the detecting member is provided with a temperature measuring point for measuring the detected temperature, and the food thickness estimating device is the device of claim 7.

9. The cooking device of claim 8,

the cooking device comprises a cooking cavity, and the environment temperature measuring part is arranged on the side wall of the cooking cavity; or the environment temperature measuring part is integrated with the detection part and is arranged at the end part of the detection part far away from the temperature measuring point.

10. A storage device storing program instructions executable by a processor for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 6.