JP2006292189A - Heating cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an energy-saving type heating cooker using energy to only a necessary portion according to volume of a cooked object. <P>SOLUTION: This heating cooker is provided with: a cooking chamber 3 having an intake port 6 and an exhaust port 5; a circulation fan 9 sucking air inside the cooking chamber 3 from the exhaust port 5, and jetting it into the cooking chamber 3 through the intake port 6 to circulate the air inside the cooking chamber 3; a heater 8 heating the air; an evaporation pan 10 generating steam to be mixed with a high-temperature air current; and an opening/closing damper 16 changing a jetting direction of the high-temperature air current jetted into the cooking chamber 3 by the circulation fan 9. When a heated object 21 is present only in a part inside the cooking chamber 3, the jetting direction of the high-temperature air current is changed by the opening/closing damper 16 such that the high-temperature air current is made to flow through only an area placed with the heated object 21, so that the injected energy can be effectively supplied to heating for only the heated object 21, and high-speed cooking becomes possible because not heating an excess part, by just that much. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a heating cooker that circulates a gas at a required temperature in a cooking chamber containing food and performs cooking processing of food such as thawing, steaming, and baking.

Conventionally, this type of cooker is well known as a cooker that cooks cooked food by forming a high-temperature circulating air flow in a cooking chamber containing food to be heated, such as a convection oven. , Also used. Recently, saturated steam was supplied to the high-temperature airflow circulating in the cooking chamber, and the high-speed heating due to the condensation heat transfer effect of steam on the food surface and the advantage of suppressing the outflow of vitamins, minerals and delicious ingredients were used. Oven cooking is also known, and various types such as those using microwaves as a heat source (for example, see Patent Document 1) and those using a heat storage tank heated and heated by midnight power or the like (for example, see Patent Document 2) A configuration is proposed.
JP 2001-227747 A JP 2002-71138 A

  However, in the conventional cooking device, it is possible to select either the case where the atmosphere in the cooking chamber is heated and circulated by normal air, or the case where steam is generated and mixed and used for cooking in an atmosphere of superheated steam. There is an effect that the flavor and texture of the heated object can be maintained if the heating condition is appropriately selected and used depending on the kind of the food material or the cooked food. However, when the cooking device is used for cooking in a general household, the volume of the object to be heated is various for the fixed-volume cooking chamber, and it is rare to store the object to be heated throughout the cooking chamber. The reality is that most of the space is sufficient in only a part of the space.

  For this reason, in most heating cooking, cooking has to be performed using unnecessary excess energy. In other words, even if the object to be heated occupies only a small part of the cooking chamber, the airflow flowing around it must satisfy the conditions required for cooking (temperature, flow rate, etc.) and fill the cooking chamber. It was essential to heat and circulate a sufficient amount of airflow. For this reason, cooking with a low energy efficiency of heating a large-capacity cooking chamber for a small-capacity object to be heated has been forced.

  In particular, this is remarkable in the case of superheated steam cooking in which steam is mixed and heated, and since it is necessary to generate steam sufficient to fill an excessively large cooking chamber, the energy loss is extremely large in reality. They had to choose between cooking energy with a sense of energy loss and accepting quality degradation to save energy.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and uses energy only in necessary portions according to the volume of the cooked food, performs an optimal heating operation on the cooked food, saves energy, and speeds up the cooking operation at high speed. It aims at providing the cooking device which can improve the flavor and food texture of a cooking thing, maintaining and ensuring.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a cooking device of the present invention includes a cooking chamber having an air supply port and an exhaust port, and sucks air in the cooking chamber from the exhaust port and passes through the air supply port. A heating and circulating means that circulates air in the cooking chamber and circulates the air in the cooking chamber and generates a high-temperature airflow by heating the air, a steam generation means that generates steam mixed with the high-temperature airflow, and the heating circulation Means for changing the jet direction and / or jet position of the high-temperature air current jetted into the cooking chamber by means, and when the object to be heated exists only in a part of the cooking chamber, By changing the jet direction and position of the hot air stream so that the hot air stream flows only in the area where the object is placed, the injected energy can be used for heating the heated object without waste. Optimal cooking In energy saving while ensuring the matter, moreover, one in which minute high-speed cooking that does not heat the extra at the cooking chamber can be realized.

  The cooking device of the present invention uses energy only in necessary parts according to the volume of the cooked food, performs an optimal heating operation on the cooked food, while maintaining and ensuring high-speed conciseness of cooking operation with energy saving, The flavor and texture of the cooked food can be improved.

  A first aspect of the present invention is a cooking chamber provided with an air supply port and an exhaust port, and the air in the cooking chamber is sucked from the exhaust port and blown out into the cooking chamber through the air supply port, and the air in the cooking chamber is discharged. A heating circulation unit that circulates and generates a high-temperature airflow by heating the air, a steam generation unit that generates steam to be mixed with the high-temperature airflow, and the high-temperature airflow ejected into the cooking chamber by the heating circulation unit When the object to be heated is present only in a part of the cooking chamber, the high-temperature air current is only applied to the area where the object to be heated is placed. By changing the jet direction and position of the high-temperature air stream so that it flows, the injected energy can be used to heat the object to be heated without waste, and it is energy-saving while ensuring optimal cooking conditions. ,Kitchen room Minute high-speed cooking that does not heat the extra place of those that can be realized.

  In the second invention, in particular, the ejection changing means of the first invention is formed by an opening / closing damper which is provided rotatably at the air supply port and changes the opening area of the air supply port and the direction in which the high temperature air current is ejected. Therefore, when the open / close damper is opened small, the opening area is small, so it is possible to secure a normal flow velocity with high-speed jetting or a small flow rate. Therefore, effective cooking can be easily realized.

  In the third invention, in particular, the ejection changing means of the first invention is constituted by a plurality of air supply holes communicating with the air supply ports and an air supply valve for selectively opening and closing the plurality of air supply holes. According to the volume and shape of the object to be heated, cooking can be performed only in a necessary region at an arbitrary position and in an arbitrary range, and a cooking device that is easier to use can be realized.

  In the fourth aspect of the invention, in particular, in conjunction with the operation of the ejection change means according to any one of the first to third aspects of the invention, the ejection flow rate of the high-temperature air stream ejected into the cooking chamber is adjusted. When the direction and position of the hot air flow is limited to a part of the cooking chamber, the total amount of the hot air flow can be reduced, so that the hot air flow with the appropriate flow rate can be supplied only to the necessary parts, and the cooking conditions may be disturbed. In addition, optimal and efficient cooking can be realized without using excessive heating energy.

  In particular, the fifth aspect of the invention relates to the water supplied to the steam generation means in conjunction with the selection operation of the ejection change means and / or the selection operation of the jet flow velocity of the high-temperature air flow according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the invention. By changing the amount of water vapor in addition to the flow rate and heating temperature, the cooking use conditions can be maintained at an optimum level despite partial use of the high-temperature airflow.

  In particular, the sixth aspect of the invention includes an operation unit that selects and inputs one from a plurality of cooking steps prepared in advance according to any one of the first to fifth aspects of the invention. According to the occupation volume and / or position of the object to be heated, the ejection changing means is operated so that the ejection direction and / or ejection position of the high-temperature air current can be arbitrarily selected, which matches the cooking conditions. By selecting the cooking process and selecting the ejection direction and the ejection position by the ejection changing means, the two buttons can be used to realize energy-saving and high-speed cooking while satisfying the necessary conditions.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a heating cooker according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operation process of the heating cooker.

  1 and 2, the heating cooker 1 has a cooking chamber 3 having a door 2 for taking in and out food, and a stand 4 on which a heated object 21 is placed is disposed in the cooking chamber 3. .

  In the cooking chamber 3, an exhaust port 5 provided on the lower side wall, an air supply port 6 provided on the upper side wall, and a heating circulation unit 7 that forms a bypass-like flow path that connects the exhaust port 5 and the air supply port 6. And a heater 8 that is arranged in the heating circulation section 7 and heats the air, and a circulation fan 9 that sucks air in the cooking chamber 3 from the exhaust port 5 and ejects it from the air supply port 6 into the cooking chamber 3. A heating circulation means is arranged. Reference numeral 10 denotes an evaporating dish serving as a steam generating means for generating steam, and a heater 10a is disposed on the bottom surface.

  A pump 11 supplies water from the water tank 12 to the evaporating dish 10. Reference numeral 13 denotes a filter that is disposed in the exhaust port 5 and is made of a heat-resistant porous material. Reference numeral 14 denotes an exhaust hole arranged to communicate with the outside air when the internal pressure of the cooking chamber 3 increases. 15 incorporates various control menus so that a cooking process corresponding to the type of the object to be heated 21 and the cooking method can be selected and operated, and controls the operation of each element such as the heater 8, the circulation fan 9, and the heater 10a. It is an operation unit to be performed.

  Reference numeral 16 denotes an opening / closing damper that is provided in the air supply opening 6 so as to be rotatable, and that opens and closes the air supply opening 6 to change the injection direction of the high-temperature air flow injected into the cooking chamber 3. is there. Reference numeral 17 denotes a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the hot airflow supplied from the air supply port 6.

  The operation and action of the cooking device in the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, if “START” is selected and operated on the operation unit 15 (S101), the respective units are energized and become operable. Subsequently, here, cooking conditions such as drying hot air heating and superheated steam heating are selected and input (S102), and the arrangement conditions of the object to be heated 21 are also input (S103). The arrangement condition of the object to be heated 21 is “small volume” in which the deepest part of the stand 4 is the designated position, “medium volume” in the designated position from the back to the middle, and “large volume” that covers the entire stand 4. Such a classification can be selected.

  For example, when the fish to be heated 21 is placed on the stand 4 as shown in FIG. 1, “small volume” may be selected.

  When the input of these conditions is completed, necessary control conditions for each element such as the heater 8, the circulation fan 9, and the heater 10a are extracted from the operation condition data recorded in the internal memory of the operation unit 15 (S104). Operation control is performed.

  First, in the wind direction selection (S105), since the arrangement condition of the article 21 to be heated is “small volume”, the position of the opening / closing damper 16 is controlled to be small. In the air volume selection (S106), the air volume is controlled by changing the rotation speed of the circulation fan 9. However, since the opening angle of the opening / closing damper 16 is small and the opening area of the air supply opening 6 is small, sufficient ejection is achieved even at a small flow rate. Since the flow rate can be secured, the number of revolutions is lowered and the flow rate is controlled to be low.

  Further, in the water injection selection (S107), in the above example, since the circulating air volume is small, the amount of steam generated to generate superheated steam may be small, and the amount of water injected into the evaporating dish 10 by the pump 11 is also “small”. Automatically selected. In the air temperature selection (S108), for example, 300 ° C. is selected and set as superheated steam cooking.

  Thus, conditions are set, and necessary operations are started. That is, the circulation fan 9 is operated and the heater 8 is energized, and the air in the cooking chamber 3 is circulated in the order of the exhaust port 5 ⇒ the heating circulation unit 7 ⇒ the air supply port 6 ⇒ the cooking chamber 3. During this time, the water pumped up from the water tank 12 by the pump 11 is injected into the evaporating dish 10 sufficiently heated by the heater 10a and evaporated at a stretch. The generated water vapor is a high-temperature airflow flowing in the heating circulation section 7 and It mixes and becomes superheated steam, is supplied to the cooking chamber 3 from the supply port 6, and the to-be-heated material 21 on the stand 4 is heated.

  The temperature of the superheated steam supplied from the air supply port 6 is measured and detected by the temperature sensor 17 (S109), it is determined whether the temperature is excessive or insufficient (S110), and if it is insufficient, the output of the heater 8 is increased (S111). Is done. Thus, the predetermined cooking process is terminated (S112) by timer control, manual control, automatic control such as temperature progress determination, or the like.

  As a result of this series of control operations, the air initially present in the cooking chamber 3 is appropriately dissipated to the outside through the exhaust holes 14 by the supplied superheated steam, and the cooking chamber 3 has superheated steam with almost no oxygen mixing. Will be charged. The heating of the heated object 21 by the superheated steam generated in this way maintains the active ingredients such as vitamins, prevents the oxidation and alteration of fats and oils due to the high-speed heating property due to condensation heat transfer and the effect of suppressing the oxidation reaction due to the low oxygen atmosphere. In addition, effects such as prevention of drying due to the effect of suppressing dehydration from foods can be obtained.

  By the way, in these operations, in the above example, since the object to be heated 21 is placed only in the innermost part of the stand 4, the opening angle of the opening / closing damper 16 is reduced. The high-temperature airflow (superheated steam) follows a locus as shown by the solid line arrow (A) in FIG. That is, as indicated by a broken line arrow (B), most of the high-temperature airflow can flow near to the door 2 of the heating chamber 3 and perform unnecessary heat dissipation, so that most of the high-temperature airflow can be concentrated around the object 21 to be heated.

  For this reason, the amount of energy to be additionally heated in the heating circulation section 7 is also minimal, and the power energy of the circulation fan 9 is also reduced, so that an energy-saving operation can be performed. And since the preheating temperature rise of the whole cooking chamber 3 is not required, cooking time can also be shortened and heat-saving cooking at high speed can be implement | achieved. On the other hand, the cooking quality of the object to be heated 21 was reduced in energy consumption, but an atmosphere similar to usual was secured around the object to be heated 21, and it was confirmed that the finish was inferior.

  When the volume or quantity of the object to be heated 21 increases and reaches the entire cooking chamber 3, the open / close damper 16 is fully opened to form a high-temperature air flow circulation path with a large flow rate as shown by the broken arrow (B). Thus, cooking can be performed as in the conventional case.

  In the above-described embodiment, the opening / closing direction of the opening / closing damper 16 is set to the vertical rotation, and the use position division in the cooking chamber 3 is arranged from the back to the front, but the heating circulation unit 7 in FIG. 1 is arranged in the horizontal direction. In addition, if the rotation direction of the open / close damper 16 is set to the horizontal direction, it can be used in the horizontal section in the cooking chamber 3, and the same effect as described above can be obtained.

  In the above embodiment, the circulation fan 9 is operated in accordance with the opening angle of the open / close damper 16, and the flow rate of the high-temperature airflow flowing out from the air supply port 6 is maintained substantially constant. It is also possible to increase the speed of heating and cooking by intensively supplying a high-temperature air flow to 21, and it is not always necessary to simultaneously control the opening area and the flow rate of the air inlet 6. Similarly, the amount of water poured into the evaporating dish 10 does not necessarily correspond proportionally to the opening angle of the opening / closing damper 16 and the total flow rate of the high-temperature airflow flowing through the heating circulation section 7, and the required cooking quality of the heated object 21 is required. You may make it perform the optimal selection according to it arbitrarily.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the selection operation is performed by the control signal and the selection menu of each component incorporated in the operation unit 15, but it is not always necessary to perform automatic control in order to realize this function. Even if the direction of the circulating high-temperature air flow and the size of the opening area of the air supply port 6 are changed within the range that can be operated with the above, sufficient effects can be exhibited.

  Similarly, various menus including the timing of pouring water into the evaporating dish 10, its duration, or the holding temperature can be prepared in advance, but the user can also change and adjust as necessary. Even in this case, the effect of the present invention is not impaired.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of the heating cooker according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the basic configuration, operation, control method, and the like are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the flow path configuration and operation for supplying the high-temperature air flow from the supply port 6 to the cooking chamber 3 are the same. There is a feature in the method. Therefore, in the following, this difference will be mainly described, the same components as those in the first embodiment will be given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

  In the first embodiment, the jet changing means changes the jet direction of the high-temperature air flow. However, the jet changing means in the present embodiment has the air inlet 6 as shown in FIG. An air supply path 18 that induces a high-temperature air flow is provided in the cooking chamber 3 downstream of the surface, and a number of air supply holes 19 are provided on the surface (lower surface) corresponding to the article to be heated 21 in several blocks. An air supply valve 20 that opens and closes the air supply hole 19 by vertical movement is provided for each corner block of the air supply hole 19, and the air supply valve 20 is connected to the operation unit 15 and can be operated by the operation unit 15. .

  The operation and action of the cooking device in the above configuration will be described.

  When the object to be heated 21 is placed on the entire stand 4 of the cooking chamber 3, all the air supply valves 20 are moved upward to open all the air supply holes 19 and supplied from the air supply port 6. The high-temperature air stream is distributed and supplied throughout the cooking chamber 3. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, when the object to be heated 21 is placed only in a partial area (for example, the last part) of the stand 4, the corresponding area is selected by the operation unit 15, and based on this control signal. Thus, only the air supply valve 20 in the corresponding region (the last part) is opened, and only the air supply hole 19 in the part is opened. Thus, the necessary amount and the necessary high-temperature airflow are supplied only to the necessary parts, and there is no wasteful use of energy as in the first embodiment, and there is no loss of preheating time for unnecessary parts, which is optimal and sufficient. A cooking atmosphere can be ensured. Of course, also here, it is not necessary to uniformly control the flow rate of the circulating airflow and the amount of steam generated in the evaporating dish 10 in accordance with the opening area of the open air supply holes 19, and an appropriate heating cooking is possible. Control is possible.

  By dividing the flow path (air supply holes) of the high-temperature airflow in this way, it is possible to select the target area according to the shape (thin / wide, long / short, etc.) of the object 21 to be heated. It is possible to more effectively realize energy-saving and high-quality heat cooking according to various shapes and volumes of the object 21 and cooking at high speed.

  Of course, here, the control of the air supply valve 20 may be performed manually, and the region to be used can be freely selected according to the state (shape, container, etc.) of the heated object 21 and the usability. Thereby, the effect is not impaired.

  In each of the above embodiments, an example of a cooking process using superheated steam has been described. Needless to say, the heating cooking conditions include dry air heating (oven cooking), or a combination of dry air and superheated steam. In any condition, efficient and energy-saving cooking is possible.

  In addition, the heating circulation unit 7 circulates and circulates pollutant particles such as fats and oils emitted from the object to be heated 21 in the cooking chamber 3. However, since the filter 13 is disposed here, these pollutant particles are captured. It is possible to prevent the generation of smoke by the heater 8, the generation of a strange odor due to high-temperature carbonization, the adhesion to the circulation fan 9 and solidification, and the contamination of the inner wall of the cooking chamber 3. It is possible to use a circulating airflow. Needless to say, by making the filter 13 detachable, filter replacement and cleaning become extremely easy.

  The heating cooker according to the present invention can realize energy-saving and optimum heating cooking corresponding to the shape and capacity of food at high speed with simple operation, and is widely applied to household cooking appliances that realize various cooking with one unit. It can be done.

Side surface sectional drawing of the heating cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention. Operation process explanatory drawing of the cooking device Side surface sectional drawing of the heating cooker in Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Heating cooker 3 Cooking room 5 Exhaust port (heating circulation means)
6 Air supply port (heating circulation means)
7 Heating circulation part (heating circulation means)
8 Heater (heating circulation means)
9 Circulation fan (heating circulation means)
10 Evaporating dish (steam generating means)
14 Exhaust Hole 15 Operation Unit 16 Opening / Closing Damper 18 Air Supply Path 19 Air Supply Hole 20 Air Supply Valve

Claims (6)

A cooking chamber provided with an air supply port and an exhaust port; and air in the cooking chamber is sucked from the exhaust port and blown into the cooking chamber through the air supply port to circulate the air in the cooking chamber, and the air A heating circulation means for generating a high-temperature air flow by heating the steam, a steam generation means for generating steam to be mixed with the high-temperature air current, a jet direction of the high-temperature air current jetted into the cooking chamber by the heating circulation means, and / or Or the cooking device which provided the ejection change means which changes an ejection position. The cooking device according to claim 1, wherein the ejection changing means is formed by an open / close damper that is rotatably provided at the air supply port and changes an opening area of the air supply port and an ejection direction of the high-temperature airflow. The cooking device according to claim 1, wherein the ejection changing means includes a plurality of air supply holes communicating with an air supply port and an air supply valve that selectively opens and closes the plurality of air supply holes. The cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the jet flow velocity of the hot air current jetted into the cooking chamber is adjusted in conjunction with the operation of the jet changing means. The supply amount of water supplied to the steam generation means is changed in conjunction with the selection operation of the ejection change means and / or the selection operation of the ejection flow velocity of the high-temperature airflow. The cooking device described. An operation unit for selecting and inputting one from a plurality of cooking steps prepared in advance is provided, and the operation change unit is configured to change the ejection change means according to the occupied volume and / or position of the object to be heated in the cooking chamber. The cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cooking device is operated so that a jetting direction and / or a jetting position of the high-temperature airflow can be arbitrarily selected.