JP2003161446A - Heating cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heating cooker easily obtaining the desirable finish. <P>SOLUTION: When opening a door of a heating chamber (when determined as YES in S101), a temperature of the door vicinity is detected (S102). When detecting a temperature corresponding to the human body or food in the temperature detection (when determined as YES in S104, that is, when determined as YES in S107), when closing the door of the heating chamber (when determined as YES in S106), the temperature detection of the whole heating chamber is started before starting heating for cooking (S108). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heating / cooking apparatus, and more particularly to a heating / cooking apparatus capable of detecting the temperature of an object to be heated in a heating chamber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some conventional cooking devices such as microwave ovens are provided with means for detecting the temperature of an object to be heated (hereinafter referred to as temperature detecting means) such as an infrared sensor. By using such means, in the heating cooking device,
The finishing degree of cooking was automatically detected, and the end time of cooking was automatically determined.

That is, by utilizing the heating and cooking apparatus, the user can automatically cook the object to be heated with a finish that is preferable in the heating and cooking apparatus.

[0004]

In recent years, in the cooking apparatus, the output of the heating means has been increased. Thereby, while the cooking time can be shortened, in the heating cooking device of the type in which the temperature detecting means automatically detects the position of the object to be heated in the heating chamber and tracks the temperature of the object to be heated, the position can be detected faster. The need for detection has arisen.

Because the position of the object to be heated is detected in parallel with the heating and cooking in such a type of cooking device, the object to be heated has already been detected when the position of the object to be heated is detected. Is sufficiently heated, and even if the temperature change of the object to be heated is tracked, it is predicted that the finished degree of cooking cannot be detected properly and the cooking cannot be finished with a preferable finished. In other words, in the conventional heating and cooking device of this type, the user needs to follow the completion of cooking of the object to be heated by visual check or the like without depending on the temperature detecting means in some cases. It can be said that there were cases where it was complicated to finish.

[0006] Further, the preferable finish in the heating and cooking apparatus is a general one, and the desired finish may be slightly deviated from the general one depending on the user. In such a case, in the conventional heating and cooking device, the user has to make corrections such as “strong” and “weak” with respect to the degree of finish that is preferable in the heating and cooking device every time cooking is performed. In other words, even from this point of view, it can be said that the conventional heating and cooking apparatus may be complicated to finish the cooking with a preferable finish.

The present invention has been conceived in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a heating and cooking apparatus which can easily obtain a desired finish.

[0008]

A heating and cooking device according to an aspect of the present invention has a heating chamber for accommodating an object to be heated and a field of view which is a region smaller than the entire heating chamber. The temperature detection unit for detecting the temperature of the, the temperature detection unit, at the start of temperature detection, by moving the field of view at a first speed, at each of a plurality of positions distributed over the entire area of the heating chamber. A detection control unit for detecting the temperature,
Based on the detection output obtained by the temperature detection unit is moved in the field of view at the first speed, including a position determination unit for determining the position of the object to be heated, the detection control unit, In the temperature detection unit, after detecting the temperature at the first speed, by moving the field of view at a second speed slower than the first speed, in the plurality of positions, the region determination unit, It is characterized in that the temperature from the position adjacent to the determined position, which is the determined position of the object to be heated, to the determined position is detected.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the temperature detecting section first performs temperature detection over the entire heating chamber at a first speed in order to detect the position of the object to be heated in the heating chamber,
When the position of the object to be heated in the heating chamber is determined, temperature detection is performed near the determined position at the second speed, that is, slower than when detecting the entire heating chamber.

As a result, the position of the object to be heated is determined at an early stage, and after the position is determined, the temperature near the object to be heated can be detected in a relatively detailed manner. That is, the temperature of the object to be heated can be detected early, and then the temperature of the object to be heated can be accurately detected. Therefore, even if the heating of the object to be heated is completed in a short time, The finish can be easily made to be preferable to the user.

A heating and cooking apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention has a heating chamber for accommodating an object to be heated and a visual field which is a region smaller than the entire heating chamber, and detects the temperature within the visual field. Detecting the temperature detecting unit and the temperature detecting unit by detecting the temperature at a plurality of positions distributed at first intervals throughout the heating chamber by moving the field of view at the start of temperature detection. And a position determination unit that determines the position of the object to be heated from the plurality of positions based on a detection output obtained by the temperature detection unit performing temperature detection at each of the first intervals. The detection control unit causes the temperature detection unit to detect the temperature for each of the first intervals, and then for each second interval that is narrower than the first interval, the region in the plurality of positions. Determining the position of the heated object determined by the determination unit From a position adjacent to the location, characterized in that to detect the temperature up to the position determined.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the temperature detecting section first performs temperature detection over the entire heating chamber at a first interval in order to detect the position of the object to be heated in the heating chamber,
When the position of the object to be heated in the heating chamber is determined, the temperature is detected near the determined position at the second interval, that is, more finely than when detecting the entire heating chamber.

As a result, the position of the object to be heated is determined at an early stage, and after the position is determined, the temperature near the object to be heated can be detected in a relatively detailed manner. That is, the temperature of the object to be heated can be detected early, and then the temperature of the object to be heated can be accurately detected. Therefore, even if the heating of the object to be heated is completed in a short time, The finish can be easily made to be preferable to the user.

A heating and cooking device according to still another aspect of the present invention has a heating chamber for containing an object to be heated, a door for opening and closing the heating chamber, and a field of view in the heating chamber. It is characterized by including a temperature detection unit that detects a temperature, and a detection control unit that causes the temperature detection unit to start detection of the temperature in the heating chamber when the door is opened.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the temperature detection by the temperature detection unit is started when the user opens the door for placing the object to be heated in the heating chamber.

Thus, the temperature tracking of the object to be heated can be started early. In particular, when the detection output of the temperature detection unit is used to determine the position of the object to be heated, the temperature can be detected early and the position can be determined early. It becomes possible to start tracking the temperature of the object. Therefore, even when the heating of the object to be heated is completed in a short time, the finish of heating the object to be heated can be easily made to be preferable for the user.

Further, the heating and cooking apparatus of the present invention determines whether or not there is a change in the temperature detected by the temperature detecting section while the door is in the open state, and thus the heating chamber is covered. It is preferable to further include a placement determination unit that determines whether or not the heated object is placed.

Thus, the position of the object to be heated and the temperature of the object to be heated can be determined only when the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber, and the position determination and the temperature tracking are wasteful. It can be avoided.

Further, in the heating and cooking device of the present invention, the above-mentioned placement judging section is conditioned on the fact that when the temperature detected by the temperature detecting section changes, the temperature further returns to the temperature before the change. It is preferable to determine that the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber.

This makes it possible to more accurately determine whether or not the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber.

Further, in the heating and cooking apparatus of the present invention, the detection control unit causes the placement determining unit to heat the heating chamber when the door is closed after the door is opened. When it is determined that an object has been placed, it is preferable that the temperature detection unit detects the temperature in the heating chamber.

As a result, the temperature detecting section can detect the temperature in the heating chamber only when the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber, and the temperature in the heating chamber can be detected efficiently.

Further, in the heating and cooking apparatus of the present invention, the field of view is an area smaller than the entire area of the heating chamber, and the temperature detecting unit moves the field of view by the detection control unit, It is possible to detect the temperature of the entire heating chamber,
The detection control unit, while the door is in the open state,
It is preferable that the temperature detection unit detects the temperature near the door in the heating chamber.

Thus, it is possible to more efficiently detect that the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber for heating.

Further, in the heating and cooking apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the detection control section moves the field of view of the temperature detection section to the vicinity of the door when the heating and cooking of the object to be heated in the heating chamber is completed. .

Thus, when the temperature detection unit starts the temperature detection from the vicinity of the door, the temperature detection can be started promptly.

A heating and cooking apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention has a heating chamber for containing an object to be heated, a door for opening and closing the heating chamber, and a field of view in the heating chamber, and a temperature in the field of view. The temperature detection unit that detects the temperature and the door is changed from the open state to the closed state, and based on the detection output of the temperature detection unit, the position where the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber is determined. And a position determining unit that performs processing.

According to another aspect of the present invention, when the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber and the door of the heating chamber is closed,
The process of determining the position of the object to be heated is started.

Thus, the process of determining the position of the object to be heated can be started at an early stage. Particularly, in a heating and cooking apparatus of a type that receives an operation for starting heating only after the door of the heating chamber is closed and then starts the heating operation, heating of the object to be heated is surely started. Before, the process of determining the position of the object to be heated can be started. Therefore,
Even when the heating of the object to be heated is completed in a short time, the finish of heating the object to be heated can be easily made to be preferable for the user.

Further, in the heating and cooking apparatus of the present invention, the temperature detecting section can detect temperatures at a plurality of positions in the heating chamber, and the door is changed from the open state to the closed state in the plurality of positions. It is preferable to determine the position where the temperature change occurs when the object to be heated is placed.

Thus, the position where the object to be heated is placed can be easily and reliably determined. A heating and cooking device according to yet another aspect of the present invention is a heating chamber that accommodates an object to be heated, an infrared detection unit that has a visual field in the heating chamber, and detects an infrared ray amount in the visual field, and the infrared ray. Based on the detection output of the detection unit, a temperature calculation unit that calculates the temperature in the visual field, and based on the temperature in the visual field calculated by the temperature calculation unit, the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber. A position determining unit that determines a mounting position that is a position, and the temperature calculating unit, after the position determining unit determines the previous position, until the position determining unit determines the previous position. It is characterized in that the temperature is calculated with higher accuracy.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the temperature detecting section first detects the temperature over the entire heating chamber with relatively low accuracy in order to detect the position of the object to be heated in the heating chamber, Once the position of the heated object in the heating chamber is determined,
Temperature detection is performed with relatively high accuracy near the determined position.

As a result, the position of the object to be heated is determined early, and after the position is determined, the temperature of the object to be heated can be detected in a relatively detailed manner. That is, the temperature of the object to be heated can be detected early, and then the temperature of the object to be heated can be accurately detected. Therefore, even if the heating of the object to be heated is completed in a short time, The finish can be easily made to be preferable to the user.

Further, in the heating and cooking device of the present invention, the infrared detecting section can detect the amount of infrared rays at a plurality of positions in the heating chamber, and the temperature calculating section continuously detects the infrared detecting section at the same position. The temperature in the visual field is calculated by calculating the average value of the plurality of detection results that are detected, and the accuracy of calculating the temperature is increased by increasing the number of detection results used for calculating the average value. Preferably.

As a result, the temperature detection accuracy can be controlled more easily. A heating and cooking device according to a different aspect of the present invention, a heating chamber that contains the object to be heated, has a visual field in the heating chamber, a temperature detection unit that detects the temperature in the visual field,
A storage unit that stores the temperature of the object to be heated, and, in response to an operation by a user, causes the temperature detection unit to detect the temperature of an object in the visual field when the operation is performed, and the storage And a storage instruction unit that stores the detected temperature in the unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the heating and cooking apparatus can store the finish temperature of the object to be heated, which is preferred by the user.

As a result, even when the finish condition that the user likes is not general, by referring to the finish temperature stored in the storage unit, the user does not need to perform the operation one by one and the You can provide your favorite finish. Therefore, the user can easily set the finish of cooking as desired.

Further, the heating and cooking apparatus of the present invention further includes a heating unit for heating the object to be heated in the heating chamber, the storage unit stores a menu for heating by the heating unit, and the storage instruction unit. It is preferable that the user accepts a menu input from the user and causes the storage unit to store the detected temperature in association with the menu input from the user.

Thus, the heating and cooking device can manage the finishing temperature that the user likes according to the menu. That is, it is possible to provide more detailed cooking according to the taste of the user.

[0040]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A microwave oven which is an embodiment of a heating and cooking apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the microwave oven of this embodiment. The microwave oven 1 mainly includes a main body 2, a door 3, and an operation panel 6. The main body 2 is mainly composed of a main body frame 5 and an exterior portion that covers the outer contour of the main body frame 5, and is supported by the legs 8. Inside the body frame 5, a heating chamber 10 capable of containing food is provided. The door 3 is provided on the front surface of the main body 2 so as to open and close the heating chamber 10. The door 3 is provided with latches 31 and 32, and by fitting the latches 31 and 32 into an appropriate portion in the main body frame 5, the door 3 is surely closed and, as will be described later, the door 3 is closed. It is possible to electrically detect the state of being controlled. The operation panel 6 is provided with a plurality of keys for the user to input various information to the microwave oven 1.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a vertical cross section of the microwave oven 1 in a state of facing the front. With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the main body frame 5 is covered with an outer casing 4 by an outer shell. Inside the exterior part 4 and to the right of the heating chamber 10,
A magnetron 12 for supplying microwaves is provided in the heating chamber 10. The lower part of the magnetron 12 and the lower part of the heating chamber 10 are connected by a waveguide 19. Below the heating chamber 10, near one end of the waveguide 19,
A disk-shaped rotating antenna 15 is installed. The rotating antenna 15 is powered by a motor 16 and has a shaft 15
Rotate around A. The microwave oscillated by the magnetron 12 is supplied from the inside of the waveguide 19 into the heating chamber 10 so as to be diffused into the rotating antenna 15.

A bottom plate 9 is installed at the bottom of the heating chamber 10. The bottom plate 9 constitutes a part of the bottom surface 10b (see FIG. 1) of the heating chamber 10.

An infrared sensor 7 is installed on the right side of the heating chamber 10. A detection path 40 that connects the heating chamber 10 and the infrared sensor 7 is provided above the right side surface of the heating chamber 10. The heating chamber 10 is connected to the detection path 40 through a hole 10A formed on its side surface. The infrared sensor 7 has a field of view 70 in the heating chamber 10 and can detect the amount of infrared rays diverged in the field of view 70.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the electrical configuration of the microwave oven 1. The microwave oven 1 is an external AC power source 2
Powered from 0. The microwave oven 1 includes a control circuit 11 that totally controls the operation of the microwave oven 1. In addition, the microwave oven 1 includes a blower motor 21 that rotates a cooling fan that cools the interior lamp 10C that illuminates the inside of the heating chamber 10 and the magnetron 12, and the magnetron 1.
High frequency oscillator circuit 22 for oscillating microwave in 2
Is equipped with. The high frequency oscillation circuit 22 includes the magnetron 12 and a high voltage transformer that supplies a high voltage to the magnetron 12.

Door switch 3A and monitor switch 3
B is a switch that switches between opening and closing of the circuit shown in FIG. 3 in conjunction with the latches 31 and 32 being fitted into predetermined portions. The door switch 3A opens the circuit when the door 3 is opened, and closes the circuit when the door 3 is closed. As a result, when the door 3 is opened, it becomes impossible to supply electric power from the AC power supply 20 to the high frequency oscillation circuit 22. Therefore, since the door switch 3A is provided, it is possible to avoid the situation where the magnetron 12 oscillates microwaves even when the door 3 is open.
The monitor switch 3B opens the circuit when the door 3 is closed, and closes the circuit when the door 3 is opened. Since the monitor switch 3B is provided, power is supplied from the AC power supply 20 to the high frequency oscillation circuit 22 even when the door switch 3A does not open the circuit due to welding or the like even though the door 3 is open. Is impossible. Further, as will be described later, the control circuit 11 can detect the open / closed state of the door 3 by detecting the open / closed state of at least one of the door switch 3A and the monitor switch 3B.

The switch 13 is a switch for switching the supply of electric power to the interior lamp 10C and the blower motor 21. The switch 14 is a switch that switches the supply of electric power to the high frequency oscillation circuit 22. Switch 13, 1
The opening and closing of the circuit of No. 4 is controlled by the control circuit 11. Further, the control circuit 11 is connected to the operation panel 6 and the infrared sensor 7, and can input / output information to / from these. Further, a fuse 19 is connected to the microwave oven 1 adjacent to the AC power source 20 and in series with the AC power source 20. This can prevent dangerous high current from flowing from the AC power supply 20 to the microwave oven 1.

Further, the control circuit 11 causes the switch 11A to close the circuit when the microwave oven 1 is operating. Then, when the heating operation is not performed in the microwave oven 1 for a predetermined time, the control circuit 11 causes the switch 1
The power supply to the control circuit 11 is stopped by opening the circuit in 1A. This allows the microwave oven 1
In, it is possible to avoid consumption of standby power. By operating a predetermined key on the operation panel 6, the control circuit 11 can cause the switch 11A to close the circuit.

The infrared sensor 7 can move its field of view 70 in the heating chamber 10 by driving the motor 71. The control circuit 11 can control the operation mode of the motor 71 by appropriately controlling the opening / closing of the switch 71A.

Further, the control circuit 11 can control the operation mode of the motor 16 by appropriately controlling the opening / closing of the switch 16A.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the manner of movement of the field of view 70 of the infrared sensor 7 on the bottom surface 10B. With reference to FIG. 4, on the bottom surface 10B, for convenience sake, a grid-like broken line is shown, but in practice, the broken line may be printed on the bottom surface 10B. ,
It does not have to be done. In FIG. 4, outside the bottom surface 10B, numbers 0 to 15 are shown in the vertical direction and uppercase letters A to H in the horizontal direction are arranged side by side, but for convenience, In the actual microwave oven 1, such a description is not made.

In FIG. 4, 16 broken lines in the horizontal direction correspond to the numbers 0 to 15, respectively, and 8 broken lines in the vertical direction correspond to the letters A to H, respectively. Then, at the intersections of the vertical and horizontal broken lines, the total is 8 × 16.
= 128 ● marks are described. In the explanation below,
The intersections of the dashed lines are indicated by the vertical dashed alphabet and horizontal dashed numbers associated with the intersections. For example, the mark ● located at the upper right end in the figure is called the “H15” point because it is located at the intersection of the broken line of H in the vertical direction and the broken line of 15 in the horizontal direction.

Further, in FIG. 4, the lower end of the bottom surface 10B corresponds to the front of the microwave oven 1. That is, in FIG.
The up-down direction corresponds to the depth direction of the microwave oven 1, and the left-right direction corresponds to the width direction of the drawing. That is, the larger the number corresponding to the broken line, the deeper the inside of the heating chamber 10.

The infrared sensor 7 includes eight infrared detecting elements, which can simultaneously detect the amount of infrared rays. Further, the control circuit 11 can individually recognize the detection outputs of these infrared detection elements. The fields of view of the eight infrared detection elements are arranged in the width direction of the heating chamber 10. That is, FIG.
Referring to, at some point, the centers of the visual fields of the eight infrared detection elements are A1, B1, C1, D1, and E, respectively.
It is located at 1, F1, G1, and H1. At that time, the center of the field of view of the infrared detection element corresponding to A1 is "A0, A1,
A2, A3 ... A14, A15 ". In response to this, the center of the field of view of the other infrared detecting elements is also
0, B1, B2, ... B14, B15 "," C0, C1,
C2, ... C14, C15 "," D0, D1, D2, ... D
14, D15 ”, and so on. And 8
When the fields of view of the individual infrared detection elements are combined, the field of view 7 in FIG.
As shown in 0, it covers almost the entire width of the heating chamber 10.

That is, in FIG. 4, the mark ● indicates the center of the field of view of each infrared detection element provided in the infrared sensor 7, and these fields of view are set as one set surrounded by the one-dot broken line S, and the heating chamber is set. It is appropriately moved in the front-back direction of 10.

The operation of the microwave oven 1 will be described below with reference to the flowchart. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the main routine of the control circuit 11.

The control circuit 11 is mainly composed of the high frequency oscillation circuit 2
A cooking process (S1) for controlling the magnetron 12 to heat the food in the heating chamber 10 by appropriately controlling 2 and a memory process for storing the temperature of the food in the heating chamber 10 which is preferable to the user. And execute. In addition, the control circuit 11
In parallel with this, the temperature measurement process (S3) of measuring the temperature of the food in the heating chamber 10 by using the detection output of the infrared sensor 7 is executed.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the subroutine of the cooking process of S1. In the cooking process, the control circuit 11
First, in S101, it is determined whether or not the door 3 of the heating chamber 10 is open. If it is determined that the open state, S
The process proceeds to step 102, and when it is determined that the closed state is set, the process proceeds to step S111.

In S102, the control circuit 11 causes the infrared sensor 7 to scan the temperature in the vicinity of the door 3. Door 3
Specifically, the temperature scanning in the vicinity means that the infrared sensor 7
The center of the visual field of each infrared detection element is located near the forefront, that is, A0 to H0 and A1 to H1 to detect the temperature.

Next, in S103, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not the temperature of the human body or food is detected near the door 3 of the heating chamber 10. Specifically, this determination is S1.
In the temperature scanning in 02, it is determined whether or not a temperature below a certain temperature (corresponding to food) or a temperature above a certain temperature (corresponding to human body) is detected. When it is determined that such a temperature is detected, the flag F is set to "1" in S104, and the process proceeds to S106. On the other hand, if it is determined that such a temperature is not detected,
The flag F is set to "0" and the process proceeds to S106.

The "constant temperature", which is the criterion for the food or human body, can be set as appropriate. For example, a temperature of 25 ° C or lower for food and a temperature of 25 ° C or higher for human body are detected. When it is performed, it can be determined that the food or the human body is detected.

At S106, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not the door 3 is in the closed state. If it is closed, S10
The process proceeds to step 7, and if the state is the open state, the process returns to step S102.

In S107, the control circuit 11 checks the value of the flag F. If the value is 1, the process is S
If the value is 0, the process proceeds to S111.

In step S108, the control circuit 11 causes the infrared sensor 7 to start and execute temperature scanning of the entire heating chamber 10. Specifically, the temperature scanning of the entire heating chamber 10 means that the infrared sensor 7 is arranged so that the center of the visual field of each infrared detecting element is A0.
~ H0, A1 to H1, A2 to H2, ... A14 to H14,
A15 to H15 are arranged in the rearward order and the temperature is detected at each position. Further, the control circuit 11 further causes the infrared sensor 7 to sequentially move the field of view of each infrared detection element rearward, and conversely, to move it forward to detect the temperature at each position.

Next, in S109, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not it has been detected that food is placed in the heating chamber 10. Specifically, this determination is whether or not there is a point showing a temperature lower than the surrounding points by a predetermined value or more from the temperatures of 128 points A0 to H15 obtained by the temperature detection started in S108. It is performed by judging. Then, if such a point exists, it is determined that the food is placed at that position, and it is determined that the food is placed, and the process proceeds to S11.
Advance to 0. On the other hand, when it is determined that such a point does not exist, it is determined that the food placed in the heating chamber 10 cannot be detected, and the process proceeds to S111.

The "predetermined value", which is the criterion for determining the temperature for placing food, can be set as appropriate.
For example, when the temperature at a certain point is lower than the surrounding points by 4 ° C. or more, it is set to determine that the food is placed at the certain point.

In S110, the control circuit 11 causes S109
The position (A0-H1) where the food is determined to be placed in
Among the 128 points of 5, the rotating antenna 15 is arranged so that the radio waves are concentrated at points showing a temperature lower than the surrounding points by a predetermined value or more).
Is stopped (control is performed such that the rotating antenna 15 is rotated in such a manner that radio waves are concentrated at the position).

Next, in S111, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not the user has operated a key (start key) for starting heating. The start key is provided in the operation panel 6. When it is determined that such a key has been operated, the process proceeds to S112,
If it is determined that the operation has not been performed, the process returns to S101.

At S112, the control circuit 11 turns the heating chamber 10 on.
After performing a process (food position determination process) for determining the position (food position) on which food is placed in S11,
At 3, the cooking with the magnetron 12 is performed.

The control circuit 11 performs the heating and cooking of S113,
In S114, the process is continued until the temperature of the food in the heating chamber 10 reaches a temperature (cooking finish level) where it is determined that cooking is completed, and when it is determined that the food reaches the cooking finish level, the heating and cooking are terminated. , Return.

In the cooking process, since the temperature detection is started from the vicinity of the door 3 as described in S102, when the heating is completed, the center Y of the field of view of the infrared detection element is detected.
It is preferable to return the coordinates to the front part of the heating chamber 10, such as “0”.

The microwave oven 1 is capable of heating and cooking according to a plurality of menus. Specifically, the control circuit 11 stores the control sequence of the high-frequency oscillation circuit 22 and the cooking finish level for each of the plurality of menus. And microwave oven 1
Then, the user operates the keys on the operation panel 6 to select the menu, and the cooking according to the menu is performed until the temperature of the food reaches the cooking finish level of the menu.

Here, the contents of the food position determining process in S112 will be described in detail. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a subroutine for food position determination processing. Here, in order to handle the center position of the field of view of the infrared detection element, the vertical direction of FIG. 4 is taken as the Y axis, and the numbers 0 to 15 attached to the horizontal broken line are taken as the Y coordinate.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 4, in the food position determining process, first, in S1120, the control circuit 11 sets the center of the visual field of each infrared detecting element of the infrared sensor 7 to "Y =
0 ”, and the process proceeds to S1121. That is,
Here, the centers of the visual fields of the eight infrared detection elements are located at A0 to H0, respectively.

In S1121, the control circuit 11 measures the temperature at eight points corresponding to each of the eight infrared detecting elements, and then in S1122, the Y coordinate of the center position of each infrared detecting element is "15" (see FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, it is determined whether or not it is the maximum value in the present embodiment. And still 15
If not, the field of view of each infrared detection element is moved so that the Y coordinate is incremented by 1 in S1123, and then the process returns to S1121. On the other hand, if it is 15, S11
The process proceeds to 24.

That is, by the processing of S1120 to S1123, one of A0 to H15 is set by eight infrared detecting elements.
28 points of temperature are detected. In the present embodiment,
A mode in which the field of view of the infrared sensor of each infrared detection element is moved in units of "1" of the Y coordinate, as executed in S1123, is referred to as "movement pattern 1".

In S1124, the control circuit 11 causes the S112.
The minimum value is selected from the temperatures of 128 points detected in 0 to S1123, and the Y coordinate of the point corresponding to the minimum value is Ym.
Calculate as in.

Next, in S1125, the control circuit 11 sets the Y coordinate of the field of view of the infrared detection element to "Ymin-1". That is, for example, if Ymin is “3”, S
At 1125, the centers of the visual fields of the eight infrared detection elements are moved so that the Y coordinate thereof becomes "2". Then, the process proceeds to S1126. When Ymin is “0”, the Y coordinate of the center of the visual field of the infrared detection element is set to “1” in S1125.

In S1126, the control circuit 11 measures the temperature at eight points corresponding to each of the eight infrared detecting elements, and then in S1127, the Y coordinate of the center position of each infrared detecting element is "Ymin + 1". Determine whether or not. If it is not Ymin + 1, the Y coordinate of the field of view of each infrared detection element is moved in the movement pattern 2 in S1128, and the process is returned to S1126. On the other hand, if Ymin + 1, the process proceeds to S1129.

The movement pattern 2 is a unit in which the Y coordinate of the center of the visual field of each infrared detecting element is smaller than "1" (0.
2)). That is, S112
Through the processes of 5 to S1128, the temperature of some points of “Ymin−1” to “Ymin + 1” (the number of points is determined by the movement unit in the movement pattern 2) is detected by the eight infrared detection elements. To be done.

In S1129, the control circuit 11 causes S112.
The minimum value is selected from the temperatures of the respective points detected in 5 to S1128, and the center of the visual field of each infrared detection element is set to the Y coordinate of the point corresponding to the minimum value.

In the food position determining process described with reference to FIG. 7, the heating chamber 1 is operated until the food position Ymin is obtained.
The temperature is detected relatively roughly for the whole 0,
After that, at a finer interval than before, "Ymin-
The temperature of the position from "1" to "Ymin + 1" is detected.

In the present embodiment, S1120 to S1120.
The processing of 1124, that is, the rough temperature detection of the entire heating chamber 10 and the processing of S1125 to S1129, that is, the fine temperature detection near the position where the food is supposed to be placed, are both 3 seconds. It is supposed to be completed in a degree. As a result, the field of view of the infrared detection element of the infrared sensor 7 is moved later during the above-described fine temperature detection than during the rough temperature detection. This is because the amount of movement is smaller during fine temperature detection than during rough temperature detection. That is, in the microwave oven 1 of the present embodiment, by defining two types of moving speeds of the field of view of the infrared detection element, a rough temperature measurement for the entire heating chamber 10 and a fine measurement near the position where the food is placed are performed. It is possible to measure various temperatures. Further, in the present embodiment, the above “fine temperature detection” also means confirmation (and / or correction) of the position of the food item determined in “rough temperature detection”.

In the cooking process described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, the temperature detection in the heating chamber 10 is started when the door 3 of the heating chamber 10 is opened. If food or human body temperature is detected in the vicinity of the door 3 while the door 3 is in the open state, before the start key is operated in response to the door 3 being in the closed state. ,
The placement position of the food is detected in the heating chamber 10, and the rotating antenna 15 is controlled so that the position is intensively heated.

In the modification shown in FIG. 8, when the door 3 is open, the temperature inside the heating chamber 10 is detected, but it is not judged whether the temperature of the food or the human body is detected.
The placement position of the food in the heating chamber 10 may be detected and determined in response to the door 3 being closed. This will be described in detail below. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a modified example of the cooking process.

In this modification, the control circuit 11 uses the SA1
At 1, it is determined whether or not the door 3 is in the open state, and if it is at the open state, the temperature of the entire heating chamber 10 (A0 to H15 in FIG. 4) is detected by scanning the infrared detection element at SA12. Then
The process is returned to SA11. On the other hand, if the door 3 is in the closed state, the food position determining process is executed in SA13. The contents of the food position determination processing are the same as the processing contents of S112 of FIG. 6, and therefore detailed description will not be given.

After the food position determining process, the control circuit 11
At SA14, it is determined whether or not the start key has been operated. If it is determined that the start key has been operated, heating cooking is executed using the high frequency oscillation circuit 22, and if it is determined that the food has reached the finishing temperature, the heating cooking is terminated. And return.

Next, the storage processing of S2 of FIG. 5 will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a subroutine of the storage process.

In the storage processing, first, the control circuit 11 causes the S
At 21, it is determined whether the memory key has been input by the user. The memory key is a key operated by the user when the user wants to store the temperature of the food in the heating chamber 10 on the microwave oven 1 side, and is provided in the operation panel 6.
Then, if the control circuit 11 determines that there is an input of the memory key, the process proceeds to S22, and if it is determined that there is no input, the control circuit 11 directly returns.

At S22, the control circuit 11 identifies the position of the food in the heating chamber 10 and detects the temperature of the food. The position of the food is specified by the food position determining process of S112 or the like, and the process of S22 is performed by causing the infrared sensor 7 to detect the temperature at the specified position.

After the processing of S22, the control circuit 11 returns to S2.
At 3, it is determined whether or not the user has performed an operation to cancel the execution of the storage process. If it is determined that the operation has been performed, the process directly returns. If it is determined that the operation has not been performed, the process proceeds to S24.

At S24, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not the user has input a key (menu key) for selecting a menu. If it is determined that the input
25, and if it is judged that no input has been made, the processing is S
Return to 23.

At S25, the control circuit 11 again returns to S2.
Similar to 3, it is determined whether or not an operation for canceling the execution of the storage process is performed, and if it is determined that the operation is performed,
If it is returned and judged that it was not done, S
The process proceeds to 26.

In S26, the control circuit 11 determines again whether or not the memory key has been input. If it is determined that the memory key has been input, in S27, S22
The temperature detected in step S24 is set as the cooking finish level for the menu selected in step S24, and the process returns.

By the storage processing described above, the heating chamber 10
The temperature of the food inside is set as the cooking finish level of the menu selected after the memory key is operated. Accordingly, when the menu is executed next time, the finish is the temperature of the food placed in the heating chamber 10 at the time of the memory processing.

Further, in the microwave oven 1 of the present embodiment, the accuracy of temperature detection by the infrared sensor 7 can be changed according to the situation. Regarding the change of the temperature detection accuracy, S3 in FIG.
This will be described by explaining the contents of the temperature measurement process of. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a temperature measurement processing subroutine.

In the temperature measuring process, the control circuit 11 first determines in S31 whether or not the infrared sensor 7 is measuring the temperature. If not being measured, the determination is continued as it is, and if it is being measured, the process proceeds to S32.

At S32, the control circuit 11 causes the counter N
The counter value and the variable SUM are set to 0, and the process proceeds to S33.

In S33, the control circuit 11 calculates, as A, the detected value of the temperature in the visual field obtained by performing the analog / digital (A / D) conversion for each infrared detecting element of the infrared sensor 7.

Then, in S34, the control circuit 11 adds the A calculated in the immediately preceding S33 to the SUM and newly adds SUM.
Then, the count value of the counter N is further updated by 1 and the process proceeds to S35.

At S35, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not the field of view of the infrared detection element is moved, that is, whether or not the infrared detection element is performing temperature scanning in the heating chamber 10. to decide. If it is determined that the scanning is in progress, the process proceeds to S36. If it is determined that the temperature measurement is not performed in the scanning, that is, the temperature of the infrared detection element is fixed, the process proceeds to S38.

At S36, the control circuit 11 causes the counter N
It is determined whether or not the count value of has reached 50. When it is determined that the count value has reached 50, S3
If the processing proceeds to step 7 and it is determined that the number has not yet reached S3
Return the process to 3.

In S37, the control circuit 11 sets the value obtained by dividing the SUM at that time point by 50 as the measured temperature in the visual field of the infrared detection element at that time point, and returns the process to S32.

On the other hand, in S38, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not the count value of the counter N has reached 500. When it is determined that the count value has reached 500, the process proceeds to S39, and when it is determined that the count value has not yet reached, the process returns to S33.

In S39, the control circuit 11 sets the value obtained by dividing SUM at that time point by 500 as the measured temperature in the visual field of the infrared detection element at that time point, and returns the process to S32.

In the temperature measuring process described above, when the temperature measurement by the infrared detecting element of the infrared sensor 7 is performed while the visual field of the infrared detecting element is being moved,
If the average of 50 measurements is used as the measurement temperature and the infrared detection element has a fixed field of view,
The average of 500 measurements is taken as the measurement temperature.

It should be noted that "while the field of view of the infrared detecting element is being moved" means that the measurement is performed 50 times continuously at a certain position and then the measurement is continuously performed 50 times at another position. , S33 to S37, 50 consecutive measurements are performed at the same position.

Further, the infrared sensor 7 time-divides the detection output of each of the eight infrared detection elements into one temperature output terminal as a detection output of eight channels, one channel for each infrared detection element. Output to the control circuit 11. The infrared sensor 7 outputs a timing signal to a terminal other than the temperature output terminal when the channel is switched. The infrared sensor 7 can also input a reset signal for initializing the channel number. That is, the infrared sensor 7 repeats outputting the detection output of the channel 1 to the channel 8 in order while outputting the timing signal after inputting the reset signal.

When the temperature of each of the eight infrared detection elements is sequentially detected for the 16 Y-coordinates of 0 to 15, let the detection of these 128 (= 8 × 16) points be completed within 3 seconds. Then, at each Y coordinate, the measurement takes about 0.2 seconds. As a result, S3 in FIG.
As described in Section 7 and the like, when the average of 50 measurements of each detection element is taken as the measurement temperature, it takes about 0.004 seconds (about 4 m
In this case, the temperature data for 8 channels will be output once per second).

Further, in order to move the Y coordinate of the center of the visual field of the eight infrared detecting elements from 0 to 15, it is necessary to rotate a predetermined portion of the infrared sensor 7 by 60 °. That is, in order to change the Y coordinate of the center of the visual field of the infrared detection element by 1, the above-mentioned portion of the infrared sensor 7 is rotated by 4 °. Further, as shown as the movement pattern 2 of S1128 in FIG. 7, the Y coordinate of the center of the visual field of the infrared detection element is
Infrared sensor 7
The above part of is rotated by an angle smaller than 4 ° and according to the value of the Y coordinate to be changed.

The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description but by the claims, and is intended to include meanings equivalent to the claims and all modifications within the scope.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a microwave oven which is an embodiment of a heating and cooking device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a vertical cross section of the microwave oven of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an electrical configuration of the microwave oven of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining how the field of view of the infrared sensor moves on the bottom surface of the heating chamber in the microwave oven of FIG.

5 is a flowchart of a main routine of the control circuit of the microwave oven of FIG.

6 is a flowchart of a cooking process subroutine of FIG. 5. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a food position determination processing subroutine of FIG.

8 is a flowchart of a modified example of the cooking process of FIG.

9 is a flowchart of a storage processing subroutine of FIG.

10 is a flowchart of a temperature measurement processing subroutine shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 microwave oven, 6 operation panel, 7 infrared sensor,
10 heating chambers, 11 control circuits, 11A, 13, 14, 7
1A switch, 12 magnetron, 20 AC power supply,
22 high-frequency oscillator circuit, 22 high-voltage transformer, 40 detection path, 71 motor.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) F24C 7/04 301 F24C 7/04 301Z

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A heating chamber for accommodating an object to be heated, a temperature detection unit having a field of view which is a region smaller than the entire heating chamber, and a temperature detection unit for detecting a temperature in the field of view, and At the start of detection, the field of view is moved at a first speed to detect the temperature at each of a plurality of positions distributed over the entire heating chamber, and the temperature detection unit is the first A position determination unit that determines the position of the object to be heated based on the detection output obtained by moving the field of view at a speed of, the detection control unit, in the temperature detection unit, the first After the temperature detection at the speed of, by moving the field of view at a second speed slower than the first speed, in the plurality of positions, at the position of the heated object determined by the area determination unit. From a position adjacent to a determined position to the determined position To detect the temperature, the heating and cooking apparatus. 2. A heating chamber for accommodating an object to be heated, a temperature detection unit having a field of view that is a region smaller than the entire heating chamber, and a temperature detection unit for detecting the temperature in the field of view, and the temperature detection unit At the start of detection, by moving the visual field, a detection control unit that detects temperatures at a plurality of positions distributed at first intervals over the entire area of the heating chamber, and the temperature detection unit is the first Based on the detection output obtained by performing the temperature detection for each interval, including a position determination unit that determines the position of the object to be heated from the plurality of positions, the detection control unit, in the temperature detection unit. , After the temperature detection for each of the first intervals, for each second interval that is narrower than the first interval, among the plurality of positions, the position of the object to be heated determined by the area determination unit. From the position adjacent to the determined position, the determined position Temperature is detected, the heating cooking apparatus in. 3. A heating chamber that accommodates an object to be heated, a door that opens and closes the heating chamber, a temperature detection unit that has a field of view in the heating chamber, and detects a temperature in the field of view, and the temperature detection unit. And a detection control unit that starts detection of the temperature in the heating chamber in response to the opening of the door. 4. The object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber by determining whether or not the temperature detected by the temperature detector has changed while the door is open. The heating and cooking device according to claim 3, further comprising a placement determination unit that determines whether or not it is. 5. The placement determination unit places an object to be heated in the heating chamber on condition that the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit changes and then the temperature returns to the temperature before the change. The cooking apparatus according to claim 4, which is determined to be placed. 6. The detection control unit determines that the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber by the placement determining unit when the door is closed after the door is opened. In this case, the heating and cooking device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the temperature detection unit detects the temperature in the heating chamber. 7. The field of view is an area smaller than the entire area of the heating chamber, and the temperature detection unit can detect the temperature of the entire heating chamber by moving the field of view to the detection control unit. And the detection control unit, while the door is in the open state,
The heating and cooking device according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the temperature detecting unit is configured to detect the temperature near the door in the heating chamber. 8. The heating and cooking apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the detection control unit moves the field of view of the temperature detection unit to the vicinity of the door when heating and cooking of the object to be heated in the heating chamber is completed. 9. A heating chamber that accommodates an object to be heated, a door that opens and closes the heating chamber, a temperature detection unit that has a visual field in the heating chamber, and detects a temperature in the visual field, and the door is opened. A position determination unit that performs a process of determining the position where the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber based on the detection output of the temperature detection unit in response to the state being closed. apparatus. 10. The temperature detecting unit can detect temperatures at a plurality of positions in the heating chamber, and there is a temperature change in the plurality of positions when the door is changed from an open state to a closed state. The heating and cooking device according to claim 9, wherein the position is determined as the position where the object to be heated is placed. 11. A heating chamber for accommodating an object to be heated, an infrared detection unit having a field of view in the heating chamber, and detecting an infrared ray amount in the field of view, and based on a detection output of the infrared detection unit, A position for determining a placement position, which is a position where the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber, based on a temperature calculation unit that calculates the temperature in the visual field and the temperature in the visual field that is calculated by the temperature calculation unit. Including a determination unit, the temperature calculation unit, after the position determination unit has determined the previous placement position, calculates the temperature with higher accuracy than until the position determination unit determines the previous placement position, Cooking equipment. 12. The infrared detecting section is capable of detecting the amount of infrared rays at a plurality of positions in the heating chamber, and the temperature calculating section is a plurality of detecting sections which the infrared detecting section continuously detects at the same position. The temperature in the visual field is calculated by calculating an average value of the results, and the accuracy of calculating the temperature is increased by increasing the number of detection results used for calculating the average value. Cooking equipment. 13. A heating chamber for accommodating an object to be heated, a temperature detection unit having a field of view in the heating chamber, for detecting a temperature in the field of view, and a storage unit for storing the temperature of the object to be heated. A storage instructing unit that causes the temperature detecting unit to detect the temperature of an object in the visual field when the operation is performed and stores the detected temperature in the storage unit according to the operation by the user. Cooking equipment including and. 14. A heating unit for heating an object to be heated in the heating chamber is further included, the storage unit stores a menu for heating by the heating unit, and the storage instructing unit stores a menu from a user. The cooking device according to claim 13, wherein an input is received, and the detected temperature is stored in the storage unit in association with a menu input by the user.