JP2001153366A - Cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cooker which can appropriately automatically cook food regardless of the initial temperature of the food to be cooked. SOLUTION: When a wind is sent from a cooling fan, the air in a heating chamber 5 flows in an air course 8. Then the humidity in the chamber 5 is measured by means of a humidity sensor 9 provided on the air course 8. When automatic water boiling is controlled, the heating of water is generally stopped when the humidity variation in the chamber 5 reaches a prescribed value after starting the heating. In addition, when the humidity variation in the chamber 5 reaches a specific value smaller than the prescribed value within the period of 90 seconds after starting the heating, in such a case that the temperature of the food 15 is relatively high at the time of starting the heating, and so on, the heating is immediately stopped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooking device and, more particularly, to a cooking device capable of predicting a degree of heating of food in a heating room by detecting humidity in the heating room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some conventional cooking devices can detect the humidity in a heating chamber.

[0003] When food is heated, the amount of water vapor generated by the food changes. In a conventional heating cooking device, the degree of heating of food is indirectly detected by detecting a change in humidity in the heating chamber as a change in the amount of water vapor generated by the food, and automatic cooking is performed.

[0004] Specifically, a conventional heating cooking device detects humidity in a heating chamber during heating cooking during automatic cooking. Then, the heating cooking device is provided with the amount of change in humidity in the heating chamber at the end of heating relative to the start of heating, which is predicted when food at about room temperature is heated to a desired temperature (for example, about 80 ° C.). It is stored in advance. Then, the heating cooking device compares the detected humidity with the humidity detected at the start of heating, and performs heating under the condition that the amount of change in humidity with respect to the start of heating has reached the above-described previously stored change amount. Cooking was automatically terminated.

[0005]

However, if the initial temperature of the food to be heated is high to some extent and the humidity of the heating chamber is high to some extent from the start of heating, the amount of change in the humidity in the heating chamber is stored in advance. Even when the amount of change does not reach the specified amount, the food may be appropriately heated. In other words, in such a case, if heating is continued until the change in humidity in the heating chamber reaches the previously stored change, the food is bumped and scattered, which is dangerous. was there.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a cooking apparatus capable of appropriately performing automatic cooking of food regardless of the initial temperature of the food to be heated. It is to be.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heating and cooking apparatus according to the present invention, wherein a heating means, a heating chamber for storing food, a humidity detecting means for detecting the humidity of the heating chamber, A change amount calculating unit that calculates a change amount of the humidity of the heating chamber from the start of heating based on a detection output of the humidity detecting unit; and heating of the heating unit based on the change amount calculated by the change amount calculating unit. Controlling the operation, if the amount of change in the humidity calculated by the change amount calculating means reaches a specific amount of change before the elapse of a specific time from the start of heating, at that time, by the heating means The heating operation is stopped.

According to the first aspect of the invention, when the humidity in the heating chamber reaches a specific humidity in a shorter time than usual, the heating is stopped at that point.

Thus, the temperature of the food at the start of heating is
If the temperature is higher than normally assumed, the food can be prevented from being overheated to a dangerous state. Therefore, even when performing automatic cooking, the heating cooking device can appropriately heat food without excessively heating. In addition, since the heating control means can control the heating operation according to the amount of change in humidity from the start of heating in the heating chamber, automatic cooking can be performed according to the state of the heating cooking device, and the food can be cooked. Automatic cooking can be performed appropriately. This is because the relationship between the temperature of the food and the humidity of the heating chamber may change depending on the state of the cooking device.

[0010] According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect of the present invention, the heating control means may further include a heating control unit configured to perform the heating and cooking after the heating is started. If the change amount of the humidity calculated by the change amount calculating means does not reach the specific change amount even after the lapse of time, the change amount of the humidity calculated by the change amount calculating means is changed to the specific change amount. It is characterized in that the heating by the heating means is continued until a predetermined change amount larger than the predetermined change amount is reached.

According to the invention described in claim 2, according to claim 1,
In addition to the operation according to the invention described in (1), when it is determined that the humidity change in the heating chamber is normal, the heating cooking is continued as it is.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the heating and cooking apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the heating and cooking apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the predetermined amount of change is that the food at normal temperature is heated. And the amount of change in humidity in the heating chamber from the start of heating to the boiling state.

According to the invention of claim 3, according to claim 2,
In addition to the operation according to the invention described in (1), control of automatic heating in the heating cooking device is executed based on a general situation.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a microwave oven according to the present embodiment. The microwave oven 1 mainly includes a main body 2, a door 3 in front of the main body 2, and legs 7 supporting the main body 2. The main body 2 is covered with an exterior part 4. Also, body 2
An operation panel 6 for inputting information to the microwave oven 1 and notifying the user of the state of the microwave oven 1 and the like is provided in an upper front part of the microwave oven 1. A handle 3 a is attached to the door 3.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the microwave oven 1.
Note that FIG. 2 is partially cut away to explain the internal structure of the microwave oven 1. A heating chamber 5 is provided inside the main body 2. The heating chamber 5 is opened and closed by the door 3 and can accommodate the food 15.

At the rear of the main body 2, there are provided two magnetrons (magnetrons 10 and 20 to be described later) for oscillating microwaves from above and below the heating chamber 5 to heat the food 15 respectively. The microwaves oscillated by the magnetrons 10 and 20 are transmitted through the waveguides 12 and 22 to the heating chamber 5 respectively.
It is led to. Between the waveguides 12 and 22 and the heating chamber 5,
Rotating antennas 11 and 21 for diffusing the microwaves oscillated by the magnetrons 10 and 20 are provided, respectively. The rotating antennas 11 and 21 include motors 14 and 2
Rotated by 4.

An air passage 8 is provided above the heating chamber 5. The microwave oven 1 includes magnetrons 10 and 2.
Two cooling fans (cooling fans 13, 23, which will be described later) for cooling each of the cooling fans 0 are provided. The air sent by the cooling fan is also sent to the heating chamber 5, and the air flows from the heating chamber 5 into the air passage 8.

A humidity sensor 9 is mounted inside the air passage 8. In the microwave oven 1, the humidity in the heating chamber 5 can be detected based on the detection output of the humidity sensor 9.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the operation panel 6 of the microwave oven 1. At the left end of the operation panel 6, a display panel 60 capable of displaying various information such as cooking time and time is provided. The operation panel 6 is provided with various keys. For example, the start key 61 in it
This is a key for starting heating and cooking in the microwave oven 1. The cancel key 62 is a key for stopping the current cooking in the microwave oven 1 or canceling the input contents. The ten keys 63 are keys for inputting numerical values such as cooking time, and include ten keys corresponding to “1” to “0”. The key 63a corresponding to “0” in the numeric keypad 63 has another function. That is,
It is possible to cause the microwave oven 1 to execute automatic cooking (automatic water heating cooking) which is unique to the microwave oven 1 and is suitable for boiling hot water. The details of the automatic boiling cooking in the microwave oven 1 will be described later.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the microwave oven 1. The microwave oven 1 is provided with a control unit 50 for controlling the operation of the microwave oven 1. Control unit 50 includes a microcomputer.

The control unit 50 includes magnetrons 10, 20,
The operation panel 6, the motors 14 and 24, the humidity sensor 9, and the cooling fans 13 and 23 are electrically connected. The control unit 50 controls the magnetrons 10 and 20 according to information input from the humidity sensor 9 and the operation panel 6.
The operation of the motors 14, 24 and the cooling fans 13, 23 is controlled. In addition, the control unit 50 can recognize the state of each component, and appropriately displays the display panel 60.
For example, information can be displayed. Further, the operation panel 6 is provided with a speaker (not shown), and the control unit 50 can also make the speaker notify various kinds of information such as the end of cooking by voice.

Next, the above-mentioned automatic boiling water cooking in the microwave oven 1 will be described. First, the cooking of boiling water similar to that of a general microwave oven, which is performed in the microwave oven 1, will be described. In the microwave oven 1, the amount of change (ΔH) of the humidity in the heating chamber 5 with respect to the start of heating can be measured using the humidity sensor 9. Then, in the case of performing cooking in which hot water is automatically boiled, control unit 50 stops heating on condition that ΔH reaches a predetermined value (for example, X).

However, appropriate heating can be performed by such a heating mode when the temperature of water at the start of heating is about room temperature (about 15 to 20 ° C.) or lower. In other words, when the temperature of the water at the start of heating is a relatively high temperature (for example, 50 ° C. or the like), if ΔH reaches the above-mentioned X when the temperature is about room temperature, the water to be heated is However, there is a risk that a dangerous state of bumping may be caused by passing through a state of being moderately boiled. If the temperature of the water at the start of heating is high to some extent, the humidity in the heating chamber 5 will increase to some extent from the start of heating, so that even if the water is boiled moderately from that state, ΔH is higher than at room temperature. This is because it is not reflected as the size of.

[0025] In cooking such as boiling water,
FIG. 5 shows the time change of ΔH. In the graph of FIG.
ΔH is shown on the axis, and the elapsed time from the start of heating is shown on the horizontal axis.
I have. In FIG. 5, H₁, H_TwoChanges of ΔH
Embodiments have been described. Note that H₁Is, for example, 50 ° C.
Fig. 6 shows a variation mode of ΔH when boiling water of about high temperature; _Two
Indicates the variation of ΔH when boiling water below room temperature.
You.

In the microwave oven 1, a value of Y for ΔH is set in the case where the water to be heated has a relatively high temperature at the start of heating as described above. Specifically, Y is the above X, as also shown in FIG.
Is lower than the value of Δ
If H reaches Y, it is a value that determines that the heating target is appropriately heated. That is, in the microwave oven 1, when ΔH reaches the above-mentioned Y by a predetermined time (t ₁ shown in FIG. 5), the water at the start of heating is somewhat high in temperature, and at that time, the water was appropriately heated. At that time, that is, Y
Upon reaching, heating is stopped. Such control is a feature of the automatic boiling water cooking in the microwave oven 1. It is to be noted that, by such a control is performed, as shown as H ₁ in FIG. 5, even when heating the target at the start of heating is relatively hot surfaces, in automatic cooking,
Heating until bumping can be avoided.

Next, the control mode of the control unit 50 in the above-described automatic boiling water cooking will be described. FIG.
It is a flowchart of the automatic water heater control which the control part performs.

When the water heater key 63a is depressed, the control unit 50 first starts heating by the magnetrons 10 and 20 in S1, and proceeds to S2.

Next, in S2, the control unit 50 determines whether 1 minute and 30 seconds have elapsed since the start of heating. When it is determined that the time has not yet elapsed, the process proceeds to S3, and when it is determined that the time has elapsed, the process proceeds to S4.

In S3, the controller 50 determines whether or not the amount of change (ΔH) in the humidity of the heating chamber 5 from the start of heating has reached 7.3 gm ³ . If it is determined that the temperature has reached 7.3 gm ³ , the heating is stopped in S5, and the process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the value has not reached 7.3 gm ³ , the process returns to S2.

On the other hand, in S4, the control unit 50 determines that ΔH is 3
It is determined whether 6.5 gm ³ has been reached. And
If it is determined that it has not reached 36.5 gm ³ , the process returns to S2, and if it is determined that it has reached, heating is stopped in S5 and the process is terminated.

In the automatic water heating control described above, the control unit 50 sets the time until 1 minute and 30 seconds elapse from the start of heating.
Only when ΔH has not reached 7.3 gm ³ , goes to S4. If ΔH reaches 7.3 gm ³ before 1 minute and 30 seconds have elapsed from the start of heating, the heating is stopped at that point and the automatic water heater control ends.

The automatic water heating control in the microwave oven 1 is executed in preparation for a case where the temperature of the food 15 at the start of heating is somewhat high. That is, the object is to stop the heating at a point in time when the amount of change in the humidity of the heating chamber 5 reaches a predetermined amount relatively early.
Therefore, the specific values serving as the reference for judging the amount of change in humidity described with reference to FIG. 6 are merely examples, and may be appropriately changed according to the size of the heating chamber 5 and the like.

The control executed in preparation for the case where the temperature of the food 15 at the start of heating is somewhat high, such as the above-described automatic water heating control, is not limited to the control for water heating. In other words, the food 15 to be controlled is not limited to water itself, but may be any food, such as boiled food or soup, as long as the heating stop time can be determined by detecting the humidity of the heating chamber. Food can also be targeted.

The embodiments disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the microwave oven of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an operation panel of the microwave oven of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the microwave oven of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a change over time of a change amount of humidity with respect to a start of heating when cooking in which boiling water is boiled in a microwave oven.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart executed by a control unit in automatic boiling water cooking in the microwave oven of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 microwave oven, 5 heating room, 6 operation panel, 8 air passage, 9 humidity sensor, 10,20 magnetron, 50
Control unit, 63a water heater key.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A heating unit, a heating room for accommodating food, a humidity detection unit for detecting humidity of the heating room, and a detection output of the humidity detection unit. Change amount calculating means for calculating the change amount of humidity, controlling the heating operation of the heating means based on the change amount calculated by the change amount calculating means, until the specific time has elapsed since the start of heating, When the amount of change in humidity calculated by the change amount calculating means reaches a specific amount of change, the heating operation by the heating means is stopped at that time. 2. The heating control unit according to claim 1, wherein the humidity change amount calculated by the change amount calculation unit does not reach the specific change amount even after the specific time has elapsed since the start of the heating. The heating cooking device according to claim 1, wherein the heating by the heating unit is continued until the change amount of humidity calculated by the change amount calculation unit reaches a predetermined change amount larger than the specific change amount. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined change amount is a change amount of humidity in the heating chamber from a time when the food at normal temperature is started to be heated to a time when the food is heated to a boiling state. Cooking device.