JP2011216386A - Heating cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a heating cooker capable of alloting a plurality of functions to each of an electrode of a touch panel.SOLUTION: The heating cooker is provided with a box-shaped body case 1 with an upper part open, a top plate 2 covering the opening of the upper part of the body case 1 and capable of loading a heated object, a light-transmitting operation display window 20 fitted at a part of the top plate 2, heating units 5L, 5R fitted at a lower part of the top plate 2, a capacitance-type touch panel device 60 arranged at a lower part of the operation display window 20, and having a transparent electrode film 62 without printing fitted on a transparent substrate 61 having translucency, and a liquid crystal device 80 overlapped and arranged on an underside of the touch panel device 60.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooking device including a touch panel that can be operated via a top plate.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a cooking device that includes a touch panel that can be operated from above a top plate as an operation unit. Such a heating cooker includes a “top plate 7” made of a transparent glass plate, and “the contact portion 40 is formed by printing a conductive paint on the top surface of the top plate 7. Characters and symbols indicating the function of the touch switch 37 are printed on the surface of the contact portion 40. Accordingly, the contact portion 40 determines an area in which the user touches the touch switch 37 and detects the touch. A technique of “functioning also as a conductive auxiliary electrode that equivalently forms a capacitor with the electrode 41” has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 4188405 (5th page, FIG. 4)

According to the above-mentioned patent document 1, it is possible to grasp the location to be touched by the user by using characters and symbols printed on the surface of the top board.
However, each touch detection electrode constituting the touch panel only realizes one function (for example, “ON” or “OFF”) indicated by characters printed on the surface of the top plate positioned above the touch detection electrode. That is, since each touch detection electrode only realizes a fixedly assigned function, it is necessary to increase the size of the entire touch panel in order to realize a plurality of functions. In addition, from the viewpoint of user operability, it is preferable that the touch area for realizing one function is large. However, if one touch area is enlarged, the number of functions that can be realized by the entire touch panel is reduced.

  This invention is made | formed in order to solve the above subjects, and provides the heating cooker which can allocate a some function with respect to one electrode of a touchscreen.

  A heating cooker according to the present invention is provided in a box-shaped main body case having an upper opening, a top plate that covers the upper opening of the main body case and on which an object to be heated can be placed, and a part of the top plate. A light-transmitting operation display window, heating means disposed below the top plate, and printing performed on a transparent substrate disposed below the operation display window. An electrostatic capacitance type touch panel device having a transparent electrode film that is not provided, and a display device that is arranged on the lower surface side of the touch panel device.

  In the cooking device according to the present invention, a touch panel device is provided on the lower surface side of the light-transmitting operation display unit provided on a part of the top plate, and the display device is provided on the lower surface side of the touch panel device. Therefore, a plurality of functions can be assigned to the transparent electrode film of the touch panel device by switching display contents of the display device.

It is a perspective view of the cooking-by-heating machine concerning an embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the top plate of the heating cooker which concerns on embodiment, and its periphery structure. It is an exploded view which shows the top plate of the heating cooker which concerns on embodiment, and its periphery structure. It is a figure explaining the attachment structure of the touchscreen apparatus of the heating cooker which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure explaining the operation display part of the heating cooker which concerns on embodiment.

Embodiment.
In the present embodiment, a so-called built-in heating cooker will be described as an example. This built-in type cooking device is inserted from above into the opening provided in the kitchen K so that the top plate of the kitchen K and the top surface of the cooking device are configured on substantially the same plane. It is a heating cooker used.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cooking device according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a top plate and its peripheral structure, and FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the top plate and its peripheral structure.

[Overall configuration of cooking device]
With reference to FIGS. 1-3, the whole structure of the heating cooker which concerns on this Embodiment is demonstrated.
The heating cooker 100 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped main body case 1 having an upper surface opened and a top plate 2 that covers the upper surface opening of the main body case 1. In addition, the front side of the top plate 2 accepts input of various signals such as heating coils 5L and 5R and heating / stop signals of heating sources of the grill heating chamber, heating temperature, and heating mode setting, as well as heating temperature and operating state. A touch panel type operation display unit 4 is displayed.

Inside the main body case 1, two heating coils 5L and 5R are arranged side by side as heating sources. On the top surface of the top plate 2, circular guide marks 3L and 3R indicating the approximate positions of the two heating coils are provided by a method such as printing.
A grill heating chamber (not shown) having a radiant electric heating source such as a sheathed heater is defined in the body case 1, and the front opening of the grill heating chamber is the front side of the body case 1. The door 6 is provided so as to be openable and closable.
On the front side of the main body case 1, a main power button 7 for turning on / off the main power of the heating cooker 100, a heating power adjustment dial 8L for adjusting the heating power of the heating coil 5L, and a heating power for adjusting the heating power of the heating coil 5R. An adjustment dial 8R is provided.
A control unit 9 that drives and controls the heating coils 5 </ b> L and 5 </ b> R is provided inside the main body case 1.

  The entire top plate 2 is made of a material such as heat-resistant tempered glass or crystallized glass, and the front, rear, left and right edges of the top plate 2 are held by the outer peripheral frame 10. An operation display window 20 that is a transparent region that is light transmissive and not printed or the like is provided on the front side of the top plate 2. For example, printing may be performed on the surface of the top plate 2 for the purpose of preventing the object to be heated from slipping. However, such slip prevention printing or the like is not provided in the operation display window 20.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the outer peripheral frame 10 includes a front frame 11 that covers the front edge of the top plate 2, a side frame 12 that covers the left and right edges of the top plate 2, and a back frame 13 that covers the rear edge of the top plate 2. With. Between the front, rear, left and right edges of the top plate 2 and the outer peripheral frame 10, rubber packing and a sealing material (not shown) are interposed, and both are fixed in a watertight state.

A base frame 50 is provided below the top plate 2. The base frame 50 generally has a frame shape, is disposed at a position sandwiched between the top plate 2 and the main body case 1, and supports the lower surface of the top plate 2 in a frame shape. The outer peripheral end of the base frame 50 is bent upward over substantially the entire periphery to form an outer peripheral wall 51. The top plate 2 can be accommodated inside the outer peripheral wall 51.
The front frame of the base frame 50 is formed with a window portion 56 having a substantially the same area as that of a touch panel device 60 described later and capable of fitting the touch panel device 60.

  In the present embodiment, the operation display unit 4 is disposed so as to overlap the operation display window 20 provided on the top 2, the touch panel device 60 disposed below the operation display window 20, and the lower surface side of the touch panel device 60. The liquid crystal device 80 is configured.

The touch panel device 60 is a so-called surface capacitive touch panel. The touch panel device 60 includes a transparent substrate 61 made of, for example, glass or a polycarbonate plate, and a transparent electrode film 62 that is not printed. In the present embodiment, the transparent electrode film 62 is divided into a plurality of transparent electrode films 62a to 62l (see FIG. 5 described later), and each of the transparent electrode films 62a to 62l has a change in capacitance individually. It can be detected. The touch panel device 60 detects the position touched by the user's finger based on the detected change in capacitance, and transmits this position information to the control unit 9.
In this embodiment, a surface capacitive touch panel device is described as an example, but a so-called projected capacitive touch panel device may be used.

  The liquid crystal device 80 is disposed so as to overlap the lower surface side of the touch panel device 60. The liquid crystal device 80 includes a liquid crystal panel and a drive circuit for driving and controlling the liquid crystal panel, and can switch and display characters and images indicating, for example, heating / stopping, temperature increase / decrease, and various heating menus. it can.

  The touch panel holder 70 is a member that accommodates the touch panel device 60 and the liquid crystal device 80. The touch panel holder 70 pushes up the touch panel device 60 and the liquid crystal device 80 toward the top plate 2 side, and maintains a predetermined distance between the top plate 2 and the touch panel device 60.

  The front cover 30 is a cover attached to the front side of the main body case 1 and below the touch panel holder 70. When the heating cooker 100 is inserted into the opening of the kitchen K, the front cover 30 contacts the wall surface of the opening of the kitchen K and protects the heating cooker 100.

  The control unit 9 corresponds to the heating control means of the present invention, and controls the heating operation of the heating coils 5L and 5R in accordance with the user input to the heating power adjustment dials 8R and 8L and the operation display unit 4. Further, the control unit 9 controls the display contents on the liquid crystal device 80 in accordance with the input by the user to the heating power adjustment dials 8R and 8L and the operation display unit 4. The control unit 9 may be configured using hardware such as a circuit device that realizes these functions, or may be configured using an arithmetic device such as a microcomputer or a CPU (Central Processor Unit) and software that defines the operation thereof. May be.

[Touch panel device mounting structure]
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a mounting structure of the touch panel device 60. 4A shows an exploded perspective view of the main part, and FIG. 4B shows a laminated structure of the main part. In addition, the relationship of the ratio of each structural member shown in FIG. 4 differs from an actual thing.
A touch panel device 60 is bonded to the lower surface of the operation display window 20 of the top plate 2 by a double-sided tape 90, and a liquid crystal device 80 is disposed below the touch panel device 60. The double-sided tape 90 is made of a transparent member that is light transmissive and not printed, and is affixed to almost the entire upper surface of the touch panel device 60. Therefore, the upper surface of the touch panel device 60 and the lower surface of the operation display window 20 of the top plate 2 are in close contact via the double-sided tape 90. It should be noted that the range in which the double-sided tape 90 is applied to the upper surface of the touch panel device 60 only needs to include at least the range corresponding to the display range of the liquid crystal device 80.
Although not shown in FIG. 4, the touch panel device 60 and the liquid crystal device 80 are fixed to the lower surface side of the top plate 2 by the touch panel holder 70. When the touch panel device 60 and the liquid crystal device 80 are assembled to the lower side of the top plate 2 by the touch panel holder 70, the user can place the lower side of the touch panel device 60 through the light transmissive operation display window 20 (top plate 2). Characters, images, etc. displayed on the liquid crystal device 80 arranged on the screen can be viewed.

Here, the capacitance type touch panel detects a change in capacitance due to the approach of the user's finger or the like, and when the distance d between the user's finger and the transparent electrode film 62 is large, The capacitance change ΔC is small (ΔC = ε × S / d, where ε is a dielectric constant and S is an electrode area). For this reason, in order to improve the detection accuracy of the capacitance change, it is necessary to shorten the distance d from the part (operation display window 20 of the top plate 2) touched by the user's finger to the transparent electrode film 62.
As described above, the distance between the transparent electrode film 62 of the touch panel device 60 and the top plate 2 can be shortened by attaching the upper surface of the touch panel device 60 to the lower surface of the operation display window 20 of the top plate 2 with the double-sided tape 90. . Therefore, the detection accuracy of the capacitance change of the touch panel device 60 can be increased.

  Further, from the characteristics of the capacitance change ΔC as described above, the capacitance change ΔC increases as the dielectric constant ε increases. Therefore, the detection sensitivity of the touch panel device 60 can be improved by increasing the dielectric constant ε. I can say that. For example, if an air layer is interposed between the transparent electrode film 62 of the touch panel device 60 and the top plate 2, the dielectric constant ε of air is about 1 and is lower than other substances such as the double-sided tape 90. Therefore, the detection accuracy of the touch panel device 60 is lowered. However, in the present embodiment, the air layer between the top plate 2 and the transparent electrode film 62 of the touch panel device 60 is eliminated by attaching the touch panel device 60 with the double-sided tape 90. The detection accuracy of capacitance change can be increased.

Further, Newton rings (interference fringes) may be generated by the top plate 2 and the substrate 61 constituting the touch panel device 60. In order to reduce Newton's ring, it is conceivable to provide a predetermined gap between the top plate 2 and the substrate 61. However, in this case, the distance d between the top plate 2 and the transparent electrode film 62 is increased, and the touch panel is formed. This leads to a decrease in detection accuracy of the device 60.
However, in the present embodiment, since the entire upper surface of the touch panel device 60 is attached to the lower surface of the operation display window 20 of the top plate 2 with the double-sided tape 90, the distance between the operation display window 20 and the substrate 61 of the touch panel device 60 is reduced. This distance can be made uniform. For this reason, Newton rings (interference fringes) that can be generated by the transparent operation display window 20 and the transparent substrate 61 can be reduced without reducing the detection accuracy of the touch panel.

[Operation display operation]
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the operation display unit 4, and FIGS. 5A and 5B show different display examples of the liquid crystal device 80.
In FIG. 5A, the liquid crystal device 80 includes a display area 81 that indicates the presence / absence of heating by “cut / on” characters, and a display area that indicates thermal power by numbers such as “hot fire”, “1”, and “2”. 82a to 82j (hereinafter, may be collectively referred to as a display area 82) and a display area 83 for displaying “menu” characters are displayed. The display area 81, the display areas 82a to 82j, and the display area 83 are respectively displayed at positions corresponding to the transparent electrode films 62a to 62l of the touch panel device 60, and the user's finger is placed on the top plate 2 on each display area. When the operation display window 20 is touched, the touch panel device 60 detects a change in capacitance caused by the approach of the user's finger. Information on the change in capacitance is transmitted to the control unit 9, and the control unit 9 performs the operation of the heating coils 5L and 5R and the liquid crystal device 80 in accordance with the position of the transparent electrode film 62 where the change in capacitance is detected. Control.

  Here, when the user's finger touches the top plate 2 on the display area 83 displaying the characters “Menu”, a change in capacitance due to the transparent electrode film 62l on the display area 83 is detected, and the detected information Is transmitted to the control unit 9. Then, the control unit 9 switches the display on the liquid crystal device 80 to the display content shown in FIG.

5B, the liquid crystal device 80 includes display areas 84a and 84b (hereinafter referred to as “display areas 84a” and 84b) indicating that the display area 82 in FIG. Display area 84), and display areas 85a to 85d (hereinafter may be collectively referred to as display area 85) indicating the heating menu by a combination of characters and figures such as “preheat”. Has been. The display area 85a is displayed at a position corresponding to the transparent electrode film 62c and the transparent electrode film 62d. Similarly, each of the display areas 85b to 85d is displayed at a position across the two transparent electrode films corresponding to the two transparent electrode films.
In the display state of FIG. 5B, for example, when the user performs an operation input to the display area 84a displaying the character “Previous”, a change in capacitance due to the transparent electrode film 62l on the display area 83 is detected. The detected information is transmitted to the control unit 9. Then, the control unit 9 returns the display of the liquid crystal device 80 to the previous display (the previous screen). If the next operation input is not made even after a predetermined time has elapsed after the operation input for switching the display, control may be performed to automatically return to the previous display.

As described above, in the example illustrated in FIG. 5, different functions are assigned to the transparent electrode films 62 b to 62 k by switching display contents by the liquid crystal device 80. That is, the transparent electrode films 62b to 62k are assigned a function for instructing a heating power in FIG. 5A, and a function for instructing one of the heating menus in FIG. 5B.
In the pattern having the display contents of the liquid crystal device 80 that is switched and displayed, a display is not performed at a position corresponding to a part of the transparent electrode film 62 (transparent electrode films 62b to 62k) divided into a plurality. In some cases. In this case, an operation input to a region of the transparent electrode film 62 that does not overlap the display of the liquid crystal device 80 is not accepted.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the liquid crystal device 80 is provided on the lower surface side of the touch panel device 60 in which the transparent electrode film 62 is formed on the transparent substrate 61. Then, the display content of the liquid crystal device 80 is switched. For this reason, a plurality of functions can be assigned to the transparent electrode film 62. Therefore, the operation display unit 4 can accept various operations by the user with respect to the limited number of transparent electrode films 62.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the lower surface of the operation display window 20 of the top plate 2 and the entire upper surface of the touch panel device 60 are joined with the transparent double-sided tape 90. For this reason, the distance between the operation display window 20 of the top 2 touched by the user and the transparent electrode film 62 of the touch panel device 60 can be shortened, and the detection accuracy of the capacitance change of the touch panel device 60 can be increased. .

  Further, since the entire upper surface of the touch panel device 60 is attached to the lower surface of the operation display window 20 of the top plate 2 by the double-sided tape 90, the distance between the operation display window 20 and the substrate 61 of the touch panel device 60 can be made uniform. For this reason, Newton rings (interference fringes) that can be generated by the transparent operation display window 20 and the transparent substrate 61 can be reduced.

  1 Main body case, 2 Top plate, 3L, 3R Information mark, 4 Operation display, 5L, 5R Heating coil, 6 Door, 7 Main power button, 8L, 8R Thermal power adjustment dial, 9 Control unit, 10 Outer frame, 11 Front Frame, 12 side frame, 13 back frame, 20 operation display window, 30 front cover, 50 base frame, 51 outer peripheral wall, 56 window part, 60 touch panel device, 61 substrate, 62 transparent electrode film, 62a to 62l transparent electrode film, 70 touch panel holder, 80 liquid crystal device, 81-85 display area, 90 double-sided tape, 100 heating cooker.

Claims (3)

A box-shaped body case with an open top;
Covering the upper opening of the main body case, a top plate on which an object to be heated can be placed;
A light-transmissive operation display window provided on a part of the top plate;
Heating means disposed below the top plate;
A capacitive touch panel device that is disposed below the operation display window and has a non-printed transparent electrode film provided on a transparent substrate having optical transparency;
And a display device disposed on the lower surface side of the touch panel device. The display device switches and displays a plurality of display contents,
The heating cooker according to claim 1, further comprising heating control means for drivingly controlling the heating means in accordance with display contents of the display device and a touch position on the touch panel device. The lower surface of the operation display window of the top panel and the range corresponding to at least the display range of the display device on the upper surface of the touch panel device are bonded with a transparent double-sided tape having light transmittance. The cooking device according to claim 1 or 2.

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