CN111110018A

CN111110018A - Cooking appliance and pressure control method for cooking appliance

Info

Publication number: CN111110018A
Application number: CN201811287799.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 樊杜平; 姚斌; 朱春生
Original assignee: SEB SA
Current assignee: SEB SA
Priority date: 2018-10-31
Filing date: 2018-10-31
Publication date: 2020-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 2038-10-31
Also published as: CN111110018B

Abstract

The invention discloses a cooking appliance and a pressure control method for the cooking appliance. The air inlet of the air pump is communicated with the cooking cavity so as to exhaust air to the cooking cavity when the steam channel on the cover body is sealed, so that the inside of the cooking cavity forms a negative pressure state. The control device detects and judges the obtained food amount information in the cooking cavity and controls the air pump to perform negative pressure pumping operation on the cooking cavity according to the preset information. The cooking appliance can ensure that the cooking cavity can keep a desired negative pressure value under the condition that different amounts of food are stored in the cooking cavity, thereby ensuring that the mouthfeel, nutritional indexes and the like are always kept constant.

Description

Cooking appliance and pressure control method for cooking appliance

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of cookers, in particular to a cooking appliance and a pressure control method for the cooking appliance.

Background

In the existing electric cooker products, a vacuum pump is sometimes arranged in the electric cooker, and the vacuum pump can pump out air in the cooker, so that the negative pressure state in the cooker is kept. The main stream operation method of the existing electric cooker with a vacuum pump is to make the vacuum pump work for a period of time, and when the negative pressure in the cooker reaches the minimum negative pressure value of the vacuum pump, the negative pressure is not reduced continuously, but is kept constant. However, some cookers usually do not need the negative pressure in the cooker to reach the minimum negative pressure value of the vacuum pump, but need to maintain a certain negative pressure value to keep a certain taste, and the common method for this purpose is to make the vacuum pump to pump for a fixed time. However, the amount of food in the pot is often different for cooking different foods, and when the amount of food is changed, the above method cannot meet the requirement that different amounts of food are kept at a certain negative pressure value, so that the requirement of a user cannot be met.

Therefore, there is a need for a cooking appliance and a pressure control method for a cooking appliance to at least partially solve the problems in the prior art.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a cooking appliance including: a pot body; the inner pot is arranged in the pot body; the cover body can be covered to the cooker body to form a cooking cavity between the cover body and the inner pot, and a steam channel for communicating the cooking cavity with the outside is arranged on the cover body; the air inlet of the air pump can be communicated with the cooking cavity so as to pump air out of the cooking cavity when the steam channel is sealed, so that a negative pressure state is formed inside the cooking cavity; and the control device detects and judges the obtained information of the food amount in the cooking cavity and controls the air pump to perform negative pressure pumping operation on the cooking cavity according to the preset information of the food amount.

Preferably, an upper temperature detecting device is provided at an upper portion of the cooking cavity; and/or

A bottom temperature detection device is arranged at the lower part of the cooking cavity,

the control device judges the amount of food in the cooking cavity according to the information of the time consumed by the same temperature rise detected by the upper temperature detection device and/or the bottom temperature detection device.

the control device judges the food amount in the cooking cavity according to the temperature rise information in the same fixed time period detected by the upper temperature detection device and/or the bottom temperature detection device.

Preferably, the control device stores a predetermined food amount parameter and a predetermined pumping time parameter required for enabling the cooking cavity with the predetermined food amount to reach a predetermined negative pressure value, the predetermined food amount parameter corresponds to the predetermined pumping time parameter, and the control device is configured to judge and control the pumping time of the air pump according to the detected actual food amount in the cooking cavity and the corresponding relation, so that the cooking cavity with the actual food amount reaches the predetermined negative pressure value.

Preferably, the control device is configured to calculate the actual pumping-out time period T according to the following formula_f：

T_f＝T_(n-1)-(T_(n-1)-T_n)*(f-(n-1))

Wherein f is an actual magnitude corresponding to the actual food quantity,

n and n-1 are predetermined magnitudes corresponding to the predetermined food amount,

T_nand T_(n-1)Respectively predetermined pumping durations corresponding to predetermined magnitudes n and n-1,

and n-1 < f < n, and the predetermined magnitudes n and n-1 are the closest predetermined magnitudes to the actual magnitude f.

Preferably, the predetermined magnitudes are all integers.

Preferably, the predetermined negative pressure value is-50 Kpa to-10 Kpa.

Preferably, the cooking appliance further comprises an electromagnet and a sealing portion associated with the electromagnet, the electromagnet being capable of driving the sealing portion to move between a sealing position sealing the steam channel and a conducting position releasing the steam channel.

Preferably, the cooking appliance further comprises an electromagnetic valve, the electromagnetic valve is communicated with an air inlet of the air pump, and the air pump performs air suction operation on the cooking cavity through the electromagnetic valve.

Preferably, the cover body comprises an inner cover, when the cover body is covered to the cooker body, a cooking cavity is formed between the inner cover and the inner pot, and the steam channel is arranged on the inner cover.

In another aspect, the present invention further provides a pressure control method for the cooking appliance, including the steps of:

judging the actual food amount in the cooking cavity;

determining the actual air pumping time length required for enabling the cooking cavity with the actual food amount to reach the preset negative pressure value;

the air pump is enabled to pump the actual pumping time to the cooking cavity,

the control device stores a corresponding relation between a preset food amount and a preset air pumping time length required for enabling the cooking cavity with the preset food amount to reach the preset negative pressure value, and the control device determines the actual air pumping time length according to the corresponding relation.

Preferably, the control device judges the amount of food in the cooking cavity according to the information of the time consumed by the detected same temperature rise.

Preferably, the control device judges the amount of food in the cooking cavity according to the detected temperature rise information in the same fixed time period.

Preferably, the control device calculates the actual pumping time T according to the following formula_f：

T_f＝T_(n-1)-(T_(n-1)-T_n)*(f-(n-1))

Wherein f is an actual magnitude corresponding to the actual food quantity,

According to the cooking appliance and the pressure control method for the cooking appliance, the cooking cavity can be ensured to keep a desired negative pressure value under the condition that different amounts of food are stored in the cooking cavity, so that the mouthfeel, nutritional indexes and the like can be ensured to be always kept constant.

A series of concepts in a simplified form are introduced in the summary of the invention, which is described in further detail in the detailed description section. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

The advantages and features of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

The following drawings of the invention are included to provide a further understanding of the invention. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings, there is shown in the drawings,

fig. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of pressure control related components of a cooking appliance according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a pressure control method for a cooking appliance according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

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

In the following description, a detailed construction will be set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It is apparent that embodiments of the invention are not limited to the specific details familiar to those skilled in the art. The following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, however, the invention is capable of other embodiments in addition to those detailed.

Hereinafter, a cooking appliance according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is understood that the cooking appliance according to the present invention may have various functions such as cooking porridge, cooking soup, etc. in addition to the function of cooking rice. The cooking appliance according to the present invention has substantially the same structure as a conventional cooking appliance, and thus, for the sake of brevity, an overall schematic view of the cooking appliance is not shown herein, and only the differences will be described in detail below.

A cooking appliance generally includes a pot body and a lid. The cooker body is usually in a round-corner cuboid shape and is provided with an inner pot containing part in a cylindrical shape, and the inner pot can be freely placed into or taken out of the inner pot containing part so as to be convenient for cleaning the inner pot. The inner pot is generally made of a metal material and has a circular opening on an upper surface for containing a material to be heated, such as rice, soup, etc. Preferably, the inner surface of the inner pan is further provided with scale marks, and scale marks (e.g. 1, 2, 3, etc.) on the scale marks can help a user to know the current amount of food in the inner pan. The cooker body also comprises a heating device for heating the inner pot.

The lid includes upper cover and detachably connects the inner cup in the upper cover below. The lid is preferably pivotally connected to the pot body and can be closed over the pot body, with the inner lid and the inner pot forming a cooking cavity therebetween when the lid is closed over the pot body. The inner lid 1 can refer to fig. 1, a steam passage 2 is provided on the inner lid 1, and the steam passage 2 communicates with the cooking cavity.

The cooking appliance further comprises control means, an air pump 5 and a solenoid valve 6 (only shown for simplicity). Preferably, an air pump 5 and a solenoid valve 6 are provided in the cover, and an air inlet 7 of the air pump 5 may communicate with the cooking chamber through the solenoid valve 6. Controlling means is connected with air pump 5 and solenoid valve 6 electricity, and in the culinary art process, controlling means steerable air pump 5 is through 6 operations of bleeding to the culinary art chamber of solenoid valve to make the culinary art chamber be in the negative pressure state, and then can effectively keep the fresh and the taste of food. Since the structures of the air pump 5 and the solenoid valve 6 are known, they will not be described in detail herein for the sake of brevity.

With continued reference to fig. 1, the cooking appliance further includes an electromagnet 3 and a sealing part 4 connected to the electromagnet 3. The control device is electrically connected with the electromagnet 3. The electromagnet 3 can drive the sealing part 4 to move between a sealing position for sealing the steam channel 2 and a conducting position for releasing the steam channel 2) under the control of the control device. It will be appreciated that when the air pump 5 is pumping air to the cooking chamber, the seal 4 is in a sealing position to ensure sealing of the cooking chamber. And after the culinary art finishes, when the user uncaps the lid operation, sealing 4 need move to the position of conducting to make culinary art chamber and external intercommunication, thereby can relieve the negative pressure state of culinary art intracavity, and then the user can normally uncap.

In order to be able to sense the temperature in the inner pot, the cooking appliance typically further comprises a temperature sensor (not shown) for sensing the temperature of the bottom and/or a temperature sensor (not shown) for sensing the temperature of the top of the inner pot. The temperature sensor may be a thermistor. The temperature sensor is connected to a control device of the cooking appliance to feed back a sensed temperature signal to the control device.

The control device can detect and judge the obtained food amount information in the cooking cavity and control the air pump to perform negative pressure pumping operation on the cooking cavity according to the preset food amount information. For example, the control device may control the operation of the inner pot heating device based on a temperature signal sensed by the temperature sensor. Furthermore, the control means may determine the actual food quantity from the length of time the temperature in the cooking chamber takes to change by a predetermined value.

For example, preferably, the upper portion of the cooking cavity may be provided with an upper temperature detecting means. The lower part of the cooking cavity may be provided with a bottom temperature detecting means.

The control device can judge the food amount in the cooking cavity according to the information of the time consumed by the same temperature rise detected by the upper temperature detection device and/or the bottom temperature detection device.

Or the control device can also judge the food amount in the cooking cavity according to the rising amount information of the temperature in the same fixed time period detected by the upper temperature detection device and/or the bottom temperature detection device.

For example, the method of calculating the amount of food may be to determine the amount of food during cooking according to the amount of time that the upper temperature sensing means or the bottom temperature sensing means or both temperature sensing means are used in combination to measure the temperature of food at the same amount of time or at the same amount of change.

The temperature rise at the same time ts is not the same for different food quantities. At the same time ts, the natural temperature with a large amount of food rises slowly, and the natural temperature with a small amount of food rises quickly.

When different amounts of food are subjected to the same temperature rise, e.g. from temperature tp1 to temperature tp2, the amount of change of the food amount to the finishing temperature tp2-tp1 takes longer than the amount of food takes less to finish the change of the temperature tp2-tp 1.

Therefore, the amount of food at the same power is in a certain relationship with the speed of temperature rise. Or the amount of food under the same power and the temperature rise of the food under the same time form a certain relation. Whether the temperature is increased quickly or slowly in the same time or the time spent in the same temperature change can be corresponding to the amount of food. The amount of the food can be corresponding to the scale in the pot.

For example: the time it takes to record the temperature of the actual m-scaled food quantity at 1300W heating power to rise from tp1 to tp2 is tm minutes, where m is an integer, so the time it takes to rise from tp1 to tp2 per scaled food quantity can be calculated as (tm)/m. Assuming that the time it takes for the temperature to rise from tp1 to tp2 for an unknown food quantity is x minutes, the scale Kx can be calculated by the formula, Kx ═ x/((tm)/m).

Or, under the heating power of 1300W, recording the temperature change amount of the food quantity of the actual m scales at the time t as Wm ℃, wherein m is an integer, and assuming that the temperature change amount of the food quantity of the temperature scales at the time t is Wx ℃ under the unknown food quantity, obtaining m, Wm, Kx, Wx according to the same heat quantity, and calculating the scales of the food quantity by the formula Kx, m, Wm, Wx.

The speed of temperature rise or the time required by the change of the same temperature rise has a certain relation with the food amount and can be in one-to-one correspondence, and the food amount can be in one-to-one correspondence with the scales of the inner pot, so the speed of temperature rise of the food and the scales of the inner pot are in one-to-one correspondence and are in linear relation correspondence.

In an exemplary embodiment, the specific steps of the control device determining the actual amount of food in the cooking cavity may be: the heating device is heated with constant power, when the temperature in the cooking cavity rises to a set temperature tp1, timing is started, when the temperature rises to another set temperature tp2, the timing is stopped, the time length tm of the temperature rise is recorded, and the control device can basically determine the food amount according to the length of the time length tm. Specifically, the more the amount of food, the longer the time period tm, and the less the amount of food, the shorter the time period tm, so that the actual amount of food in the pot can be roughly determined.

Since food cooked under different negative pressure values may exhibit different mouthfeel and nutritional indicators, it may be desirable for the cooking cavity to always have a particular negative pressure value when the user intends to keep the food always with a particular mouthfeel. Because the air pumping rate of the air pump 5 has a certain regularity, the negative pressure value in the same volume can be kept at a certain value basically after the air pump 5 pumps for a fixed time (the pumping time is required to be less than the time for the air pump 5 to reach the minimum pressure). The present application is based on this principle.

Specifically, the control device stores therein a correspondence between a predetermined amount of food and a predetermined pumping-out time period required for the air pump 5 to pump the cooking chamber containing the predetermined amount of food to a desired predetermined negative pressure value. The correspondence may be derived by an advanced experiment and stored in the control device.

In other words, preferably, the control device stores therein a predetermined food quantity parameter and a predetermined pumping-out time period parameter required for the cooking chamber with the predetermined food quantity to reach a predetermined negative pressure value, the predetermined food quantity parameter corresponding to the predetermined pumping-out time period parameter.

The control device is configured to judge and control the air pump air pumping duration to enable the cooking cavity with the actual food amount to reach a preset negative pressure value according to the detected actual food amount in the cooking cavity and the corresponding relation.

Preferably, the predetermined food amount is measured by a scale mark on the surface of the inner pan. For example, when it is experimentally found that: the time taken when the amount of food in the pan reaches 1 scale is T1, the time taken when the amount of food in the pan reaches 2 scales is T2, the time taken when the amount of food in the pan reaches 3 scales is T3, and the like, which are stored in the control means. Preferably, the preset negative pressure value in the cooking cavity is-50 Kpa to-10 Kpa, and the food cooked according to the scheme has better mouthfeel and nutritional indexes.

Further, when the cooking cavity has an actual food amount, and the actual food amount is different from the predetermined food amount, the control device may determine an actual pumping time period required for the cooking cavity having the actual food amount to reach a predetermined negative pressure value according to the corresponding relationship.

Specifically, the control device is configured to calculate the actual pumping time T according to the following formula_f：

T_f＝T_(n-1)-(T_(n-1)-T_n)*(f-(n-1))

Wherein f is the actual magnitude corresponding to the actual food amount, and in particular to the present embodiment, f can be the scale reached by the actual food amount in the inner pot;

n and n-1 are predetermined magnitudes corresponding to predetermined amounts of food, i.e., predetermined scales, such as the 1-scale, 2-scale, 3-scale, etc., described above, preferably, the predetermined magnitudes are integers;

T_nand T_(n-1)Respectively, predetermined pump down time periods corresponding to predetermined magnitudes n and n-1, such as T1, T2, T3, etc., described above.

Where n-1 < f < n, and the predetermined magnitudes n and n-1 are the closest predetermined magnitudes to the actual magnitude f.

For example, the control device can store the actual air exhaust time T required for making the cooking cavity reach the preset negative pressure value when the food amount in the inner pot reaches 1 scale and 2 scales₁And T₂At this time, when the actual food amount in the inner pot reaches 1.2 scales, the actual pumping time period T required when the cooking chamber is intended to reach the predetermined negative pressure value_1.2Namely:

T_1.2＝T₁-(T₁-T₂)*(1.2-(1))

according to the scheme of the invention, the cooking cavity can be ensured to keep a desired negative pressure value under the condition that different amounts of food are stored in the cooking cavity, so that the mouthfeel, nutritional indexes and the like can be always kept constant.

The steps of the pressure control method for a cooking appliance according to the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 2.

Specifically, the actual amount of food in the cooking cavity may be determined first; then determining the actual air pumping time required for enabling the cooking cavity with the actual food amount to reach the preset negative pressure value; when the actual pumping time is judged, the air pump 5 can pump the actual pumping time to the cooking cavity. The specific determination method for each step has been described in detail above, and is not described herein again for brevity.

It should be understood that only the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above preferred embodiments, and those skilled in the art can make appropriate modifications and variations to the above embodiments.

The present invention has been described in terms of the above embodiments, but it should be understood that the above embodiments are for purposes of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the invention to the scope of the described embodiments. Furthermore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and that many variations and modifications may be made in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, which variations and modifications fall within the scope of the present invention as claimed. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

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

a pot body;

the inner pot is arranged in the pot body;

the cover body can be covered to the cooker body to form a cooking cavity between the cover body and the inner pot, and a steam channel for communicating the cooking cavity with the outside is arranged on the cover body;

the air inlet of the air pump can be communicated with the cooking cavity so as to pump air out of the cooking cavity when the steam channel is sealed, so that a negative pressure state is formed inside the cooking cavity; and

and the control device detects and judges the obtained information of the food amount in the cooking cavity and controls the air pump to perform negative pressure pumping operation on the cooking cavity according to the preset information of the food amount.

2. The cooking appliance of claim 1,

an upper temperature detection device is arranged at the upper part of the cooking cavity; and/or

3. The cooking appliance of claim 1,

4. The cooking appliance of claim 1,

the control device is used for storing a preset food quantity parameter and a preset air pumping duration parameter required for enabling the cooking cavity with the preset food quantity to reach a preset negative pressure value, the preset food quantity parameter corresponds to the preset air pumping duration parameter, and the control device is configured for judging and controlling the air pumping duration of the air pump according to the detected actual food quantity in the cooking cavity and the corresponding relation so as to enable the cooking cavity with the actual food quantity to reach the preset negative pressure value.

5. The cooking appliance according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the control device is configured to calculate the actual pumping-out time period T according to the following formula_f：

T_f＝T_(n-1)-(T_(n-1)-T_n)*(f-(n-1))

Where f is the actual magnitude corresponding to the actual food quantity,

n and n-1 are predetermined magnitudes corresponding to predetermined amounts of food,

6. The cooking appliance of claim 5, wherein the predetermined magnitudes are all integers.

7. The cooking appliance of claim 4, wherein the predetermined negative pressure value is-50 Kpa to-10 Kpa.

8. The cooking appliance of claim 1, further comprising an electromagnet and a sealing portion associated with the electromagnet, the electromagnet being capable of driving the sealing portion between a sealing position sealing the steam channel and a conducting position releasing the steam channel.

9. The cooking appliance of claim 1, further comprising a solenoid valve in communication with an air inlet of the air pump, the air pump performing a pumping operation of the cooking chamber through the solenoid valve.

10. The cooking appliance of claim 1, wherein the cover includes an inner lid, a cooking cavity being formed between the inner lid and the inner pot when the cover is closed to the pot body, the steam channel being provided on the inner lid.

11. A pressure control method for a cooking appliance according to claim 1, characterized in that the method comprises the steps of:

judging the actual food amount in the cooking cavity;

determining an actual pumping time period required for enabling the cooking cavity with the actual food amount to reach a preset negative pressure value;

the air pump is enabled to pump the actual pumping time to the cooking cavity,

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the control device determines the amount of food in the cooking cavity based on information about the time taken for the same detected temperature rise.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the control device determines the amount of food in the cooking chamber according to the detected temperature rise information within the same fixed time period.

14. Method according to claim 11, characterized in that the control device calculates the actual pumping-down time period T according to the following formula_f：

T_f＝T_(n-1)-(T_(n-1)-T_n)*(f-(n-1))

Wherein f is an actual magnitude corresponding to the actual food quantity,