JP2011041623A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice cooker capable of reducing the power consumption of a driving circuit of a heating coil carrying out induction heating of a pot. <P>SOLUTION: The rice cooker includes a first direct current power source circuit 24 for controlling ON/OFF of the semiconductor switching element 5 through a driving circuit 11 and controlling the ON time of the semiconductor switching element 5 such that the output value of an input current detecting circuit 12 becomes at least two set current values, and converting alternating current power source 7 to direct current power source and a second direct current power source circuit 28 receiving the output voltage of the first direct current power source circuit 24 and lowering the same. The output voltage of the first direct current poser source circuit 24 is set to a first voltage set value 25 lower than the maximum normal voltage of the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element 5 when the current set value is a predetermined value or higher and the output voltage of the first direct current power source is set to a second volume set value 26 lower than the first voltage set value 25 when the current set value is lower than the predetermined value, so that the output voltage fed to the driving circuit 11 is increased or decreased according to the current set value of the input current, and the power consumption of the driving circuit 11 can be reduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker using induction heating used in general households.

  Conventionally, this type of induction heating rice cooker includes a heating coil for induction heating of a pan, an energization control element (semiconductor switching element) for turning on and off the heating coil, and a drive circuit (driving circuit) for driving the energization control element. ), A first power supply circuit that supplies a power supply current to the drive circuit, and a second power supply circuit that steps down the first power supply circuit and supplies a power supply current to a control means (control unit) and an operation unit The output voltage of the first power supply circuit is switched by the power supply voltage changing means, and the power supply voltage changing means changes the set value of the output voltage of the first power supply circuit in the standby state when the heating sequence is not executed. There is one configured to switch from one voltage setting value to a second voltage setting value set lower than that (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  With such a configuration, the power supply voltage of the first power supply circuit can be set to a second voltage set value lower than the first voltage set value in the standby state where the heating sequence is not executed, It is described that the power consumption of the drive circuit to which the power supply current is supplied from the first power supply circuit can be reduced and the standby power can be suppressed.

  As a general technique, there is a method of increasing a resistance value for limiting an input current to the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element in order to suppress a loss of the semiconductor switching element when the semiconductor switching element is started or turned on.

JP 2006-156147 A

  However, in the conventional configuration, when the heating sequence is executed, the power supply voltage of the first power supply circuit is the higher first voltage set value, and the drive circuit and the second power supply when the heating sequence is executed However, the power consumption of the power supply circuit cannot be reduced.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problem, and when the on-time of the semiconductor switching element is short, the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit is lowered to a voltage that guarantees that the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element can be turned on. An object of the present invention is to provide a rice cooker that can cook rice with low power consumption by reducing the power consumption of the drive circuit and the second DC power supply circuit even during the heating sequence.

In order to solve the conventional problems, a rice cooker of the present invention includes a heating coil that induction-heats a pan, an inverter circuit that is connected to the heating coil, and has a semiconductor switching element that conducts and blocks the heating coil, A rectifier circuit that rectifies an AC power source and supplies power to the inverter circuit, a drive circuit that turns on and off the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element, a control unit that controls on / off of the semiconductor switching element via the drive circuit, and the AC An input current detection circuit that outputs a voltage corresponding to an input current supplied from the power supply to the rectifier circuit, a first DC power supply circuit that converts the AC power supply to a DC power supply, and a power supply voltage from the first DC power supply circuit And a second DC power supply circuit that makes the voltage lower than the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit,
The control unit is supplied with a power supply voltage from the second DC power supply circuit, and controls an on time of the semiconductor switching element so that an output value of the input current detection circuit becomes a current setting value. Have at least two current settings,
The first DC power supply circuit has a plurality of output voltages,
The drive circuit is supplied with a predetermined output voltage from the first DC power supply circuit, receives an on / off signal from the control unit, and outputs a voltage to the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element. When the predetermined value or more, the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit is set to a first voltage setting value lower than the maximum rated voltage of the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element, and when the current setting value is lower than the predetermined value The output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit is set to a second voltage set value lower than the first voltage set value.

  When the current setting value of the input current is lower than the predetermined value, the second voltage setting value is used. For example, the saturation voltage between the collector and the emitter of an IGBT that is an example of the semiconductor switching element is the first voltage setting value. However, since the input current is low, the collector current itself is low, and the steady loss of the IGBT is slightly increased. The power supply voltage to the drive circuit is also reduced, and power consumption can be reduced. In addition, the power consumption of the second DC power supply circuit can be reduced.

  Further, when the current setting value of the input current is low, a turn-on voltage may be generated. At this time, by reducing the input voltage to the gate terminal of the IGBT, the inrush current at turn-on can be lowered, and the turn-on loss can be reduced.

  When the current setting value of the input current is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the current flowing through the heating coil increases and the collector current of the semiconductor switching element also increases. However, since the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit is the first voltage setting value, the voltage inputted to the gate terminal of the IGBT via the drive circuit becomes high, and saturation between the collector and emitter of the IGBT is performed. The voltage is lower than that at the second voltage set value, and the steady loss of the IGBT can be reduced.

  That is, the loss of the semiconductor switching element is roughly classified into a turn-on loss, a steady loss, and a turn-off loss, but the ratio of these three losses changes depending on the magnitude of the current flowing through the semiconductor switching element. Since the magnitude of the current flowing through the semiconductor switching element is substantially proportional to the input current supplied from the AC power supply to the rectifier circuit, the drive circuit and the second DC power supply circuit according to the magnitude of the current setting value of the input current By setting the voltage setting value of the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit that supplies power to the power source, the power consumption of the drive circuit and the second DC power supply circuit can be reduced even when the pan is induction heated.

  The rice cooker according to the present invention includes a drive circuit and a control unit for driving the semiconductor switching element by switching the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit according to the current setting value of the input current supplied from the AC power supply. Since the power consumption of the second DC power supply circuit to be operated can be reduced, the power consumption can be reduced even when the pot is induction-heated.

Main part block diagram of rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention Cross-sectional configuration diagram of main parts of the rice cooker according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Main part block diagram of first DC power supply circuit in Embodiment 1 of the present invention The graph which showed the relationship between the input current supplied from the alternating current power supply of the rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention, and the peak value of the collector current which flows into a semiconductor switching element The graph which showed the relationship between the collector-emitter voltage and collector current of IGBT which comprise the semiconductor switching element of the rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The graph which showed the relationship between the ON time of the semiconductor switching element of the rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention, and the collector current which flows into a semiconductor switching element (A) in Embodiment 1 of the present invention is a time chart (b) of the pan bottom temperature detected by the temperature detection unit, (b) is a time chart (c) of the current set value set by the input current setting unit, and is a first DC power supply circuit. Output voltage time chart Main part block diagram of rice cooker in Embodiment 2 of this invention

A first invention is a heating coil for induction heating a pan, an inverter circuit having a semiconductor switching element connected to the heating coil and conducting and blocking the heating coil, and an AC power source rectified to supply power to the inverter circuit Corresponding to an input current supplied to the rectifier circuit from the AC power supply, a rectifier circuit, a drive circuit that turns on and off the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element, a control unit that controls the semiconductor switching element via the drive circuit, An input current detection circuit that outputs a voltage to be supplied, a first DC power supply circuit that converts the AC power supply to a DC power supply, and a power supply voltage supplied from the first DC power supply circuit, Having a second DC power supply circuit with a voltage lower than the output voltage;
The control unit is supplied with a power supply voltage from the second DC power supply circuit, and controls an on time of the semiconductor switching element so that an output value of the input current detection circuit becomes a current setting value. Have at least two current settings,
The first DC power supply circuit has a plurality of output voltages,
The drive circuit is supplied with a predetermined output voltage from the first DC power supply circuit, receives an on / off signal from the control unit, and outputs a voltage to the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element. When the predetermined value or more, the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit is set to a first voltage setting value lower than the maximum rated voltage of the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element, and when the current setting value is lower than the predetermined value By setting the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit to a second voltage setting value lower than the first voltage setting value, when the input current setting value is lower than the predetermined value, the second voltage setting value Therefore, for example, the saturation voltage between the collector and emitter of an IGBT that is an example of a semiconductor switching element is higher than that at the first voltage setting value, but the collector current is low because the input current is low. Itself is lowered, increase in steady loss of the IGBT is very small. The power supply voltage to the drive circuit is also reduced, and power consumption can be reduced. In addition, the power consumption of the second DC power supply circuit can be reduced.

  Further, when the current setting value of the input current is low, a turn-on voltage may be generated. At this time, by reducing the input voltage to the gate terminal of the IGBT, the inrush current at turn-on can be lowered, and the turn-on loss can be reduced.

  When the current setting value of the input current is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the current flowing through the heating coil increases and the collector current of the semiconductor switching element also increases. However, since the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit is the first voltage setting value, the voltage inputted to the gate terminal of the IGBT via the drive circuit becomes high, and saturation between the collector and emitter of the IGBT is performed. The voltage is lower than that at the second voltage set value, and the steady loss of the IGBT can be reduced.

  That is, the loss of the semiconductor switching element is roughly classified into a turn-on loss, a steady loss, and a turn-off loss, but the ratio of these three losses changes depending on the magnitude of the current flowing through the semiconductor switching element. Since the magnitude of the current flowing through the semiconductor switching element is substantially proportional to the input current supplied from the AC power supply to the rectifier circuit, the drive circuit and the second DC power supply circuit according to the magnitude of the current setting value of the input current By setting the voltage setting value of the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit that supplies power to the power source, the power consumption of the drive circuit and the second DC power supply circuit can be reduced even when the pan is induction heated.

2nd invention is especially the standby which has stopped the rice cooker of 1st invention, the operation part, the rice cooking sequence or heat retention sequence which induction-heats a pan according to the said operation part, and the said rice cooking sequence and the said heat retention sequence The control unit determines the state,
In the rice cooking sequence, a second current set value that is lower than the first current set value and the first current set value is used, and a third value that is lower than the second current set value is used in the heat retention sequence. Use the current setting value
The control unit sets the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit to the first voltage set value when determined as the rice cooking sequence, and outputs the first DC power supply circuit when determined as the heat retention sequence or the standby state. By setting the voltage to the second voltage set value, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the heat retention sequence, the drive circuit in the standby state, and the second DC power supply circuit. In particular, in the heat retention sequence, the temperature of the pan is kept lower than that in the rice cooking sequence, so that the input current is low and the loss of the semiconductor switching element is low.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in particular, the first of determining whether or not the detection voltage of the voltage detection circuit for detecting the output voltage of the first DC power supply voltage of the first or second aspect of the invention is higher than a first predetermined value. The control unit has a determination value and a second determination value for determining a second predetermined value lower than the first determination value, and the control unit outputs the voltage detection circuit when the ON time of the semiconductor switching element is shorter than the predetermined time. When the voltage is lower than a second determination value, the semiconductor switching element is turned off, and when the detection voltage of the voltage detection circuit is lower than the first determination value when the on time of the semiconductor switching element is a predetermined time or more, By turning off the semiconductor switching element, it is possible to prevent the power supply voltage to the drive circuit from decreasing and the loss of the semiconductor switching element from becoming excessive, so that a safe induction heating rice cooker can be provided.

  In particular, the fourth invention includes a cooling fan for cooling the semiconductor switching element according to any one of the first to third inventions, and power to the cooling fan is supplied from the first DC power supply circuit. On / off control of the cooling fan is performed by the control unit, and when the input current is low and the semiconductor switching element has low loss, the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit is lowered to the second voltage set value. Therefore, the semiconductor switching element can be sufficiently cooled even if the rotation speed or the air volume of the cooling fan is reduced. Therefore, when the input current supplied from the AC power supply is low, the energization current flowing through the semiconductor switching element is also reduced, and the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit can be lowered to the second voltage set value, so that the consumption of the drive circuit is reduced. The power, the power consumption of the second DC power supply circuit, and the power consumption of the cooling fan can be reduced.

  In addition, when the input current is large and the energization current flowing through the semiconductor switching element is large, the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit is increased to the first voltage setting value. Even if the flow loss increases, the number of rotations of the cooling fan increases and the air volume increases, so that the semiconductor switching element can be sufficiently cooled.

  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: shows the principal part block diagram of the rice cooker in the 1st Embodiment of this invention.

  In FIG. 1, the pan 1 is not particularly shown, but is composed of a laminated body using a plurality of magnetic metals and nonmagnetic metals.

Although not shown in particular, the heating coil 2 includes a first heating coil that faces the center of the bottom surface of the pan 1 and a second heating coil that faces the corner portion of the bottom surface of the pan 1. The first heating coil and the second heating coil are electrically connected in series. The first heating coil has a spiral shape and is arranged at a constant distance in the center of the bottom surface of the pan 1. The second heating coil is disposed on the concentric outer side of the first heating coil, and is disposed at a certain distance from the corner portion of the bottom surface of the pan 1. The heating coil 2 is constituted by a wire obtained by twisting more than 20 litz wires, each of which is a bundle of a plurality of copper wires, and makes the current distribution uniform when a high-frequency current flows.

  The inverter circuit 3 includes a capacitor 4, a semiconductor switching element 5, and a diode 6. The inverter circuit 3 turns on and off the semiconductor switching element 5 to supply high-frequency power to the heating coil 2 of the resonance circuit composed of the heating coil 2 and the capacitor 3 described later, thereby inductively heating the pot 1.

  The capacitor 4 is connected in parallel to the heating coil 2 as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, a polypropylene capacitor is used which has little loss even when a high frequency current flows.

  The semiconductor switching element 5 is composed of a semiconductor element such as a MOSFET or an IGBT. MOSFETs and IGBTs have high withstand voltage, can be switched at high frequency, and can flow a large current by applying a voltage to the gate terminal. Therefore, there is an advantage that a large current can be flowed with less power than a power transistor. is there. In this embodiment, an IGBT is used for this semiconductor element.

  The diodes 6 are connected in parallel so that a current flows in a direction opposite to the current direction of the semiconductor switching element 5.

  Generally, such a configuration of the inverter circuit is called a one-stone voltage resonance type inverter because the heating coil 2 and the capacitor 3 form a parallel resonance circuit.

  The AC power supply 7 supplies power to the rice cooker, and the power supply frequency is 50 Hz in the eastern Japan region and 60 Hz in the western Japan region.

  The rectifier circuit 8 includes a diode bridge 9, a coil 10, and a capacitor 36. Here, the capacity of the capacitor 36 is as small as several μF, and ripple occurs when a current is passed through the heating coil 2. In this embodiment, this ripple voltage waveform is the same as the voltage waveform when the AC power supply 7 is full-wave rectified.

  The drive circuit 11 is composed of a push-pull circuit composed of an NPN transistor and a PNP transistor, although not particularly shown.

  The input current detection circuit 12 is connected to a current path from the AC power supply 7 to the rectifier circuit 8. Although not particularly illustrated, the current transformer and a rectifying / smoothing circuit that rectifies and smoothes an alternating current output from the current transformer are used to convert an analog voltage corresponding to the input current to the AD of the microcomputer 14 constituting the control unit 13. Output to the conversion port.

  The control unit 13 includes a microcomputer 14, a synchronization signal generation circuit 15, and the like.

  The microcomputer 14 uses a large number of counter functions, timer functions, and memory functions to turn on time setting unit 16, pulse generation unit 17, input current setting unit 18, sequence setting unit 19, and first DC power supply voltage setting unit. 20 and so on.

  The on-time setting unit 16 sets the on-time within the range of the minimum on-time Ton1 and the maximum on-time Ton4. In the present embodiment, when the inverter circuit 3 is activated, it starts from Ton1 and gradually increases the on time.

  When the pulse generation unit 17 detects the synchronization signal of the synchronization signal generation circuit 15, the pulse generation unit 17 outputs a high pulse having a set on time to the drive circuit 11. The microcomputer 14 operates with an 8 MHz oscillator and a 32.728 kHz oscillator. Therefore, the minimum setting unit of the high pulse width of the pulse generator 17 composed of the microcomputer 14 is controlled in units of 0.125 μs which is the minimum period set by the 8 MHz oscillator. That is, when the on-time setting unit 16 changes the output data (8 bits) by 1 digit, the high pulse width of the pulse generation unit 17 is changed by 0.125 μs.

  The input current setting unit 18 stores a plurality of current setting values for each sequence set by the sequence setting unit 19 using the memory of the microcomputer 14. In the induction heating rice cooker of the present embodiment, the first current set value 21 (Iin1 in the present embodiment), the second current set value 22 (the book) that is lower than the first current set value 21. In this embodiment, it is Iin2), and a third current set value 23 (Iin3 in this embodiment) that is lower than the second current set value 22 is stored.

  The sequence setting unit 19 sets a rice cooking sequence or a heat retention sequence according to the operation set by the user. Moreover, a standby state is set when neither the rice cooking sequence nor the heat retention sequence is operating.

  The first DC power supply voltage setting unit 20 stores a first voltage setting value 25 and a second voltage setting value 26 in order to set a voltage output from the first DC power supply circuit 24, and an input current Based on the current set value set by the setting unit 18, the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit 24 is set. In the present embodiment, when the first current set value 21 and the second current set value 22 are set, the first voltage set value 25 is set, and when the third current set value 23 is set, the second voltage set value is set. The value 26 is set.

  The synchronization signal generation circuit 15 is composed of a comparator, a resistance voltage dividing circuit, and the like, and compares the voltage obtained by dividing the (C2) terminal by a predetermined ratio and the voltage obtained by dividing the (CE) terminal by a predetermined ratio. The high signal is output to the microcomputer 14 when the divided voltage at the terminal (C2) is higher, and the low signal is output to the microcomputer 14 when the divided voltage at the terminal (C2) is lower. To do.

  Although not specifically shown, the first DC power supply circuit 24 is configured by a switching power supply, and a voltage obtained by half-wave rectifying the AC power supply 7 is set by the first DC power supply voltage setting unit 20 configured by the microcomputer 14. The output voltage is converted to DC power. Since the semiconductor switching element 5 is not driven immediately after the AC power supply 7 is input, the first DC power supply voltage setting unit 20 outputs the second voltage set value 26 as the set value to the first DC power supply circuit 24, and the first The DC power supply circuit 24 controls the output voltage to be 10V.

  In the present embodiment, the guaranteed variation value of the cutoff voltage of the gate terminal of the IGBT constituting the semiconductor switching element 5 is 6V. That is, when a voltage of 6 V or higher is turned on at the gate terminal, the emitter-collector of the IGBT is turned on. The reason why the voltage is set to 10 V is that the collector-emitter voltage of the IGBT is sufficiently turned on even if the cut-off voltage varies. That is, it is important that the second voltage setting value 26 is higher than the cutoff voltage of the gate terminal.

Here, the operation of the drive circuit 11 briefly described above will be described in a little more detail. The drive circuit 11 uses the power supply voltage of the first DC power supply circuit 24 while the output of the pulse generator 17 formed by the microcomputer 14 is high, and applies a voltage to the gate terminal of the IGBT constituting the semiconductor switching element 5. Is applied to turn on the collector-emitter of the IGBT, and while the pulse generator 17 is outputting low, the voltage at the gate terminal of the IGBT is set to 0 V, and the collector-emitter of the IGBT is turned off. Note that this is an example, and the components constituting the push-pull circuit may be constituted by MOSFETs or the like. Further, the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit 24 that outputs a voltage to the drive circuit 11 becomes the voltage set by the first DC power supply voltage setting unit 20 according to the ON time set by the ON time setting unit 16.

  The first DC power supply circuit 24 also supplies power for driving the cooling fan 27. Although not particularly shown in the present embodiment, the cooling fan 27 can be driven or stopped by turning on and off the transistors and MOSFETs as the fan drive circuit by the microcomputer 14.

  The second DC power supply circuit 28 includes an emitter follower circuit including an NPN transistor 29, a constant voltage diode 30, a resistor 31, and a capacitor 32, and the first DC power supply circuit 24 is stepped down to about 5V. The second DC power supply circuit 28 is a power supply for the microcomputer 14 and the zero voltage synchronization signal output circuit 33.

  The zero voltage synchronization signal output circuit 33 is not particularly shown, but the (u) pole of the AC power supply 7 is connected to the base terminal of the transistor through a resistor. The collector terminal of this transistor is connected to a second DC power supply circuit 28 generated from the AC power supply 7 via a switching power supply via a resistor, and (u) the potential of the pole is higher than the other pole. Are output to the microcomputer 14 when the output is low and high when the output is low. In synchronization with this output signal, the microcomputer 14 inputs the output voltage of the input current detection circuit 12 after a predetermined time and compares it with the current set value set by the input current setting unit 18 and turns it on by the on-time setting unit 16. Set the time. The set on-time is updated at the next synchronization signal. The first DC power supply voltage setting unit 20 sets the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit 24 to the first voltage set value 22 or the second voltage set value 23 based on the set current set value. The microcomputer 14 starts displaying the current time, processing related to rice cooking control, and the like in synchronization with the output signal of the zero voltage synchronization signal output circuit 33.

  The operation unit 34 includes a plurality of momentary switches. When each switch is pressed by the user, the microcomputer 14 detects that the switch has been pressed, and performs a predetermined rice cooking operation or heat insulation operation in accordance with each switch.

  The display unit 35 includes an LCD and a plurality of LEDs such as red, green, and orange. The microcomputer 14 sets the display content of the LCD and the LED to be lit according to the state of the rice cooker such as during rice cooking or heat insulation. The display contents of the LCD include a display of the current time, a display of the time until the end of cooking, and a display of the heat retention elapsed time.

  FIG. 2: shows the principal part cross-section block diagram of the rice cooker in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. In order to simplify the drawing, lead wires for electrical connection and screws for fixing components are omitted.

  In FIG. 2, the body (main body) 41 of the rice cooker is provided with a lid 42 covering its upper surface so as to be freely opened and closed. The housing portion 43 of the body 41 has the heating coil 2 disposed on the bottom and side portions thereof, and the ferrite cores 44 are disposed radially on the outer peripheral side of the heating coil 2. The heating coil 2 is a winding having a center substantially directly below the center of the bottom of the pan 1.

  The pan 1 is formed of a magnetic material such as stainless steel, iron, or copper. The pan 1 has a flange 45 protruding outward from the upper end opening, and the flange 45 is placed in a state of being lifted from the upper end of the storage unit 43 so as to be detachably stored in the storage unit 43. Therefore, the pan 1 has a gap between the storage portion 43 during storage.

  The temperature detection unit 51 that detects the temperature of the pan 1 is composed of a thermistor and is arranged at the approximate center of the bottom of the pan 1. Since the resistance value of the thermistor changes with temperature, a voltage dividing circuit is configured with this thermistor and a resistor having a predetermined resistance value, and the resistance value of the thermistor is analogized by supplying a predetermined voltage to both ends of the voltage dividing circuit. Can be converted to voltage. The microcomputer 14 shown in FIG. 1 estimates the temperature from this analog voltage using a built-in AD converter.

  The lid 42 includes a lid heating plate 46, a lid heater 47, and a first circuit board 48. The lid heating plate 46 is made of a metal such as stainless steel and is detachably set on the lid 42.

  The lid heater 47 is built in the lid 42 and heats the lid heating plate 46. The lid heater 47 is not particularly shown in FIG.

  The first circuit board 48 includes a switch, an LCD, a microcomputer 14 and the like.

  The body (main body) 41 of the rice cooker is also provided with a second circuit board 49, a retractable power cord storage unit 50, and a cooling fan 27.

  The second circuit board 49 is mounted with an IGBT, a capacitor 4, a diode bridge 9, a choke coil 10, a capacitor 36, and the like constituting the semiconductor switching element 5, although not particularly illustrated.

  The wind-up type power cord storage unit 50 can wind up the power cord using a stopper and a spring. The power cord is connected to the AC power source 7 and supplies power to the rice cooker. The power cord storage part 50 is electrically connected to the second circuit board 49 via a lead wire.

  The cooling fan 27 exhausts and air-cools the heat generated from the second circuit board 49, particularly the semiconductor switching element 5, and is constituted by a fan motor in which a fan is attached to the rotor of a DC brushless motor. As shown in FIG. 1, the cooling fan 27 is supplied with power from the first DC power supply circuit 24 and is on / off controlled by the microcomputer 14.

  The first circuit board 48 and the second circuit board 49 are not particularly shown, but are electrically connected by lead wires. The on-time setting unit 16 and the pulse generation unit 17 configured inside the microcomputer 14 are used. The semiconductor switching element 5 is controlled to be turned on / off, and a high frequency current is supplied to the heating coil 2. The heating coil 2 generates an alternating magnetic field when a high-frequency current flows, and an eddy current flows in the pan 1 due to the alternating magnetic field, and the pan 1 generates heat.

  As mentioned above, the rice cooker of a present Example induction-heats the pan 1, and heats the cooking in the pan 1. Here, the cooked product is rice before cooking rice and water or cooked rice.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main part of the first DC power supply circuit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 3, a half-wave rectifying and smoothing circuit 61 uses a diode 62 and a capacitor 63 to half-wave rectify and smooth the AC power supply 7 and convert it to a DC voltage of about 141V. However, for example, the AC power supply 7 may be full-wave rectified and smoothed using a diode bridge.

  The switching power supply 64 receives power from the half-end rectifying and smoothing circuit 61 and outputs a DC voltage of about 7V to about 20V. Although not specifically illustrated, the switching power supply 64 includes a power semiconductor built-in control circuit 65 including a power semiconductor element such as a MOSFET and a control circuit that controls on / off of the power semiconductor element within a range of a predetermined current value, and a coil. 66, the smoothing capacitor 67, and an output voltage detection circuit 68 for feedback control of the power semiconductor built-in control circuit 65 so that the voltage of the capacitor 67 becomes a predetermined set value.

  The power semiconductor built-in control circuit 65 charges the capacitor 67 via the coil 66 by controlling on / off of the built-in MOSFET within a predetermined current value range.

  Although not specifically shown, the output voltage detection circuit 68 is composed of a photocoupler, a zener diode of about 20 V, and a zener diode of about 10 V, and the output voltage for feedback control is switched by switching the two zener diodes. For example, when setting an output voltage of about 20 V, a photocoupler and a Zener diode are connected in series. When the voltage of the capacitor 67 exceeds 20V, the Zener diode for 20V is energized and the photocoupler is turned on to transmit to the power semiconductor built-in control circuit 65 that the output voltage has exceeded 20V. When the power semiconductor built-in control circuit 65 receives this signal, the switching operation of the built-in MOSFET is turned off, the power supply to the capacitor 67 is stopped, the voltage drops, and when it becomes lower than 20 V, the Zener diode for 20 V is energized. The photocoupler is turned off and the power semiconductor built-in control circuit 65 transmits that the output voltage is lower than 20V. When the power semiconductor built-in control circuit 9 receives this signal, it starts the switching operation of the built-in MOSFET and charges the capacitor 67 via the coil 66. When the output voltage is set to 10V, the same operation can be performed by connecting a photocoupler and a 10V Zener diode in series. The output voltage detection circuit 68 of the present embodiment is different from the voltage detection circuit shown in claim 3. This voltage detection circuit will be described later.

  In other words, in the present embodiment, the switching power supply 64 steps down the output voltage of about 141 V of the half-wave rectifying / smoothing circuit 61 to a DC voltage of about 10 V or about 20 V.

The control unit 13 includes a microcomputer 14 and a transistor 69 for switching the detection voltage of the output voltage detection circuit 68, which is not particularly shown in FIG.
The transistor 69 switches the output voltage of the first DC power supply voltage circuit 24 by turning on and off according to the voltage setting value set by the DC power supply voltage setting unit 20 configured by the microcomputer 14.

  The second DC power supply circuit 28 is the same as that shown in FIG.

  The microcomputer 14 of the induction heating rice cooker according to the present embodiment outputs high or low to the transistor 69 to switch the set value of the detection voltage of the output voltage detection circuit 68 constituting the first DC power supply circuit 24. . In the present embodiment, the microcomputer 14 outputs a low signal to the transistor 69 when the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit 24 is set to about 20V, and the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit 24 is set to about 10V. When setting, a high signal is output to the transistor 68.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the input current Iin supplied from the AC power source 7 of the rice cooker according to the first embodiment of the present invention and the peak value of the collector current Ic flowing through the semiconductor switching element 5.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the collector current Ic increases as the input current Iin increases. That is, when the input current is as small as the third current set value 23, the collector current Ic is small even if the voltage at the gate terminal of the IGBT constituting the semiconductor switching element 5 is lowered to increase the collector-emitter voltage. Switching loss is not so great.

  FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the collector-emitter voltage Vce and the collector current Ic of the IGBT constituting the semiconductor switching element 5 of the rice cooker according to the first embodiment of the present invention. (B) is a graph when the gate terminal voltage of the IGBT is 15V, and (c) is a graph when the gate terminal voltage of the IGBT is 20V.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the collector-emitter voltage and the collector current vary depending on the gate terminal voltage. In consideration of the fact that the collector current increases as the input current increases as shown in FIG. 4, when the input current is small, the voltage at the gate terminal of the IGBT constituting the semiconductor switching element 5 is lowered to reduce the collector-emitter voltage. Even if it rises, it can be judged that the switching loss does not become so large.

  FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the on-time Ton of the semiconductor switching element 5 and the collector current Ic flowing through the semiconductor switching element 5 of the rice cooker according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the collector current increases as the on-time increases. That is, when the on-time is short like Ton1, even if the voltage at the gate terminal of the IGBT constituting the semiconductor switching element 5 is lowered to increase the collector-emitter voltage, the switching loss does not increase so much.

  FIG. 7: shows the time chart of the temperature detection part of the rice cooker of the 1st Embodiment of this invention, the current setting value which an input current setting part sets, and the output voltage of the 1st DC power supply circuit 24. ing. (A) has shown the time chart of the pan bottom temperature which the temperature detection part detected. (B) shows a time chart of the current setting value set by the input current setting unit. (C) shows a time chart of the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit 24.

  In the time chart of the current set value in FIG. 7B, the vertical axis indicates the current set value, and the horizontal axis indicates a period in which the semiconductor switching element is turned on / off with this current set value and a high-frequency current flows through the heating coil. .

  Operation | movement of the rice cooker of this Embodiment is demonstrated using FIGS.

  In S0 of FIG. 7, among the plurality of momentary switches (operation unit 34) mounted on the first circuit board 48 arranged in the lid of the rice cooker shown in FIG. When pressed, the microcomputer 14 shown in FIG. 1 detects the signal of the operation unit 34, and the sequence setting unit 19 sets the rice cooking sequence and starts the rice cooking sequence. The state before S0 is a state where the rice cooker is on standby, and the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit 24 is set to the second voltage setting value 23 (about 10 V).

  The rice cooking sequence is composed of a plurality of subsequences. In this Embodiment, it is comprised by the pre-cooking process, the rice cooking amount determination process, the boiling maintenance process, and the additional cooking process.

The period from S0 to S2 corresponds to the pre-cooking process. In the pre-cooking process, the input current setting unit 18 receives the signal from the sequence setting unit 19 and sets the second current set value 22 (Iin2) to a temperature at which water is easily absorbed by rice during the period from S0 to S1. . When the second current set value 22 is set, the first DC power supply voltage setting unit 20 sets the first voltage set value 25. Thereafter, the on-time of the semiconductor switching element 5 is set so that Ton1 is an initial value, the on-time is gradually increased, and the output voltage of the input current detection circuit 12 becomes the second current set value 22 (Iin2). To control. The conduction ratio at which the input current operates at the current set value 22 (Iin2) is 10 seconds / 16 seconds.

  When the temperature detection unit 51 shown in FIG. 2 detects 60 degrees in S1, the microcomputer 14 changes the conduction ratio at which the input current operates at the current set value 22 (Iin2) according to the preprogrammed contents, and is about 60 The temperature is controlled to be maintained for the period up to S2.

  The period from S2 to S3 corresponds to the rice cooking amount determination process. In the rice cooking amount determination process, the input current setting unit 18 sets the set value of the input current to the current set value 21 (Iin1) according to the output of the sequence setting unit 19. The on-time setting unit 16 compares the output voltage of the input current detection circuit 12 with the current set value 21 (Iin1) and supplies a high-frequency current to the heating coil 2 while increasing the on-time. Since the first current set value 21 (Iin1) is larger than the second current set value 22 (Iin2), the current supplied to the heating coil 2 also increases and the induction heating amount also increases. That is, the temperature of the pan also rises rapidly. In the present embodiment, from the elapsed time (time from S2 to S3) until the temperature detection unit 51 detects 100 degrees after starting the driving of the heating coil 1 with the current set value 21 (Iin1), The microcomputer 14 determines the amount of rice cooking, and sets the conduction ratio for driving the heating coil 2 in the subsequent boiling maintenance process and the conduction ratio for driving the heating coil 2 in the additional cooking process.

  The period from S3 to S4 corresponds to the boiling maintenance process. In the boiling maintenance process, the input current setting unit 18 sets the current setting value 22 (Iin2) according to the output of the sequence setting unit 19, and the on-time setting unit 16 sets the output voltage and the current setting value 22 of the input current detection circuit 12. Are compared to set the ON time of the semiconductor switching element 5, and a high frequency current is passed through the heating coil 2 to heat the pan 1. In the rice cooker of the present embodiment, heating coil 2 is driven at a conduction ratio of 10 seconds / 16 seconds in accordance with instructions from sequence setting unit 19. When the heating coil 2 is driven to continue induction heating of the pan 1, the water remaining in the pan 1 also evaporates, and the temperature of the pan 1 exceeds 100 degrees and reaches 130 degrees in S4. When the temperature detection unit 51 detects 130 degrees, the microcomputer 14 turns off the semiconductor switching element 5, stops driving the heating coil 2, ends the boiling maintenance process, and shifts to the cooking process.

  The period from S4 to S5 corresponds to the additional cooking process. In the additional cooking process, the input current setting unit 18 sets the target value of the input current to the current setting value 22 (Iin2) according to the output of the sequence setting unit 19. The on-time setting unit 16 compares the current set value 22 (Iin2) with the output voltage of the input current detection circuit 12, and sets the on-time of the semiconductor switching element 5. The pulse generation unit 17 outputs the time set by the on-time setting unit 16 as a high pulse using the synchronization signal of the synchronization signal generation circuit 15 as a trigger, and finally the output voltage of the input current detection circuit 12 is set to the current set value 22 (Iin2 ) To control. The sequence setting unit 19 sets the conduction ratio of 2 seconds / 16 seconds for the period of operation at the current setting value 22 (Iin2). The sequence setting unit of the microcomputer 14 counts the elapsed time from S4, and when S5 is reached, the rice cooking sequence is terminated, the boiled rice buzzer is notified, and the LED indicating the meaning during cooking that constitutes the display unit 35 is turned off. It is displayed that cooking rice is finished.

At the same time, in S5, the sequence setting unit 19 constituting the microcomputer 14 turns on the LED indicating the meaning during the heat insulation constituting the display unit 35, and starts the heat insulation sequence. The input current setting unit 18 sets the input current set value to the third current set value 23 (Iin3) in accordance with an instruction from the sequence setting unit 19. The first DC power supply voltage setting unit 20 detects that the third current set value 23 (Iin3) has been set, and the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit 24 becomes the second voltage set value 26. Set to. Thereafter, the semiconductor switching element 5 is turned off until the temperature of the temperature detection unit 51 becomes lower than the predetermined temperature. When the temperature becomes lower than the predetermined temperature, the semiconductor switching element 5 is turned on and off again, and the output voltage of the input current detection circuit 12 is output. Is controlled to be the third current set value 23 (Iin3). By controlling the semiconductor switching element 5 to be turned on / off so that the third current set value 23 (Iin3) is obtained, the pan 1 is induction-heated to maintain this temperature. The heat retention sequence does not require the energy to make rice as in the rice cooking sequence, and it is sufficient if there is enough energy to maintain the rice temperature at a constant temperature, so the input current may be smaller than in the rice cooking sequence. It is.

  As described above, in FIG. 7, a plurality of input current set values are set as the first current set value 21 (Iin1), the second current set value (Iin2), and the third current set value (Iin3). ing. When the semiconductor switching element 5 is controlled to be turned on / off so as to have these current setting values, the on-time at the start-up of the semiconductor switching element 5 is set to Ton1, the on-time is gradually increased, and the output of the input current detection circuit 12 is output. The voltage is set to a predetermined current set value. When the predetermined current set value is set, the high-frequency current flowing through the heating coil 2 is also controlled to be substantially constant.

  In addition, when the current set value becomes low, the first DC power supply voltage setting unit lowers the voltage set value, thereby reducing the power consumption of the drive circuit that drives the semiconductor switching element and the power consumption of the second DC power supply circuit. Can be suppressed. Since the power supply voltage of the cooling fan 27 is also supplied from the first DC power supply circuit 24, the rotation speed and the air volume of the cooling fan 27 are reduced, but the energization current is small and the loss of the semiconductor switching element 5 is also sufficiently small. Cooling can be achieved and the driving current of the cooling fan can be reduced. Therefore, the power consumption of the rice cooker can be reduced during the sequence.

  In addition, the induction heating type rice cooker of this Embodiment becomes embodiment of Claim 1, 2, 4.

  Moreover, in the induction heating type rice cooker of this Embodiment, although the electric current setting value which switches the setting value of the output voltage of the 1st DC power supply circuit 24 was made into the 3rd electric current setting value 23, the 2nd electric current setting value 22 may be used. At this time, the second voltage setting value 26 of the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit may be increased from 10V to 15V in consideration of the loss of the semiconductor switching element 5. However, this is an example and does not limit the present invention. Further, the voltage setting value of the first DC power supply circuit may be increased in accordance with the number of current setting values. For example, in the rice cooker of the present embodiment, three current set values are stored, but three voltage set values may be stored in accordance therewith.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 8 is a main part block diagram of the rice cooker in the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 8, the voltage detection circuit 81 is formed of a resistance voltage dividing circuit and outputs an analog voltage. At this time, the voltage dividing ratio of the resistance voltage dividing circuit is set so as not to exceed 4 V when the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit 24 is 20 V.

  The control unit 82 includes a microcomputer 83, a synchronization signal generation circuit 15, and the like.

  The microcomputer 83 includes an on-time setting unit 16, a pulse generation unit 17, an input current setting unit 18, a sequence setting unit 19, a first DC power supply voltage setting unit 20, and a first DC power supply voltage determination unit 84. Etc.

  The first DC power supply voltage determination unit 84 stores a first determination value 85 and a second determination value 86 using the memory of the microcomputer 83.

  Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and a description thereof is omitted here.

  The operation of the induction heating rice cooker of FIG. 8 will be described.

  As in the first embodiment, the sequence setting unit 19 sets a rice cooking sequence by operating the operation unit 34, and the input current setting unit 18 uses the signal from the sequence setting unit 19 to set the second current set value 22. Is set, the first DC power supply voltage setting unit 20 sets the first voltage setting value 25 according to the current setting value. The first DC power supply voltage determination unit 84 detects that the first voltage set value 25 has been set, and sets the first determination value 85 as a determination value. In the induction heating rice cooker of the present embodiment, the first determination value is set such that the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit 24 is equivalent to 15V. When the microcomputer 83 inputs the output voltage of the voltage detection circuit 81 to the AD conversion port and detects a value lower than the first determination value 85, the microcomputer 83 stops the output pulse of the pulse generator 17 and turns off the semiconductor switching element 5. .

  When the input current setting unit 18 sets the third current set value 23 by the output of the sequence setting unit 19, the first DC power supply voltage setting unit 20 sets the second voltage set value 26. The first DC power supply voltage determination unit 84 detects the information and sets the second determination value 86 as the determination value. In the induction heating type rice cooker of the present embodiment, the second determination value 86 is set such that the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit 24 is equivalent to 8V. When the microcomputer 83 inputs the output voltage of the voltage detection circuit 81 to the AD conversion port and detects a value lower than the second determination value 86, the microcomputer 83 stops the output pulse of the pulse generator 17 and turns off the semiconductor switching element 5. .

  As described above, by determining the lower limit value of the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit according to the current setting value set by the input current setting unit 18, the power supply voltage to the drive circuit is determined by the current flowing through the semiconductor switching element. Can be optimized, and the loss of the semiconductor switching element can be suppressed from being excessive. Therefore, a safe induction heating rice cooker can be provided.

  As described above, the rice cooker according to the present invention is not only in the standby state in which the semiconductor switching element is turned off, but also during the rice cooking sequence or the heat retention sequence, the power consumption and control of the drive circuit without increasing the loss of the semiconductor switching element. Since the power consumption of the second DC power supply circuit serving as the power supply for the section can be reduced, it can be applied not only to household use but also to uses such as rice cookers for business use.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pan 2 Heating coil 3 Inverter circuit 5 Semiconductor switching element 7 AC power supply 8 Rectifier circuit 11 Drive circuit 12 Input current detection circuit 13 Control part 21 1st electric current setting value 22 2nd electric current setting value 23 3rd electric current setting value 24 First DC power supply circuit 25 First voltage set value 26 Second voltage set value 27 Cooling fan 28 Second DC power supply circuit 34 Operation unit 81 Voltage detection circuit 82 Control unit 85 First determination value 86 Second Judgment value

Claims (4)

A heating coil for inductively heating the pan, an inverter circuit having a semiconductor switching element connected to the heating coil and conducting and blocking the heating coil, a rectifier circuit for rectifying an AC power source and supplying power to the inverter circuit, A drive circuit for turning on and off the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element; a control unit for controlling on and off of the semiconductor switching element through the drive circuit; and a voltage corresponding to an input current supplied from the AC power source to the rectifier circuit. An input current detection circuit, a first DC power supply circuit that converts the AC power supply to a DC power supply, and a voltage that is supplied with a power supply voltage from the first DC power supply circuit and is lower than an output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit Having a second DC power supply circuit,
The control unit is supplied with a power supply voltage from the second DC power supply circuit, and controls an on time of the semiconductor switching element so that an output value of the input current detection circuit becomes a current setting value. Have at least two current settings,
The first DC power supply circuit has a plurality of output voltages,
The drive circuit is supplied with a predetermined output voltage from the first DC power supply circuit, receives an on / off signal from the control unit, and outputs a voltage to the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element. When the predetermined value or more, the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit is set to a first voltage setting value lower than the maximum rated voltage of the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element, and when the current setting value is lower than the predetermined value The rice cooker which sets the output voltage of a 1st DC power supply circuit to the 2nd voltage setting value lower than a 1st voltage setting value. The control unit discriminates the standby state in which the operation unit, the rice cooking sequence or the heat retaining sequence for induction heating the pan according to the operation unit, and the rice cooking sequence and the heat retaining sequence are stopped,
In the rice cooking sequence, a second current set value that is lower than the first current set value and the first current set value is used, and a third value that is lower than the second current set value is used in the heat retention sequence. Use the current setting value
The control unit sets the output voltage of the first DC power supply circuit to the first voltage setting value when determined as the rice cooking sequence, and outputs the first DC power supply circuit when determined as the heat retention sequence or the standby state. The rice cooker of Claim 1 which sets a voltage to a 2nd voltage setting value. A first determination value for determining whether or not a detection voltage of a voltage detection circuit for detecting an output voltage of the first DC power supply voltage is higher than a first predetermined value, and a second predetermined lower than the first determination value A second determination value for determining the value, and the control unit turns off the semiconductor switching element when the output voltage of the voltage detection circuit is lower than the second determination value when the ON time of the semiconductor switching element is shorter than a predetermined time. The rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the semiconductor switching element is turned off when a detection voltage of the voltage detection circuit is lower than the first determination value when an ON time of the semiconductor switching element is a predetermined time or more. . The cooling fan for cooling a semiconductor switching element is provided, the electric power to the said cooling fan is supplied from a 1st DC power supply circuit, and on / off control of the said cooling fan is performed by the control part. Or the rice cooker according to item 1.

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