JP2012003319A - Menu determination support device, menu determination support program, and memory medium for storing menu determination support program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible that a menu determination support device searches for and offers menu recipes for a user based on set conditions of a menu proposal date beforehand so that the user can easily find preferable menu recipes by communicating with the menu determination support device without thinking of the set conditions by oneself.SOLUTION: A menu determination support device includes: an input unit for receiving an input operation from a user which includes the condition setting at the proposal of menus including one or more dishes; a control unit for searching database for appropriate dishes based on the condition setting input; an output unit for displaying search results for the user; and an evaluation input unit for receiving the evaluation of the user with respect to the dishes proposed. The control unit has a function of searching for appropriate dishes again based on the condition setting and the evaluation of the user.

Description

  The present invention relates to a menu decision support device.

  When thinking about the menu showing the type and order of dishes to be served on the table, in addition to the method of referring to the recipe book, as one help, browse the menu recipe site on the Internet and refer to the recipe in it There is a way to do it. The amount of information on the menu recipes on the Internet is enormous, but in order to search for a menu recipe from among them, you can narrow down the menu candidates to some extent by entering and searching for the menu conditions you want to make. . You can also browse your favorite pages registered in the past and search for recipes from them.

  However, when it comes to daily menus, it is troublesome for the user to input while considering the search conditions and to search from the search results. Also, if the number of search results is large and there are no recipes to be created, there is an inconvenience that the search must be continued until it is found.

  As a conventional technology, in order to provide user-desired information (menu), information close to the user's preference is searched from the user's personal information and dialogue input character information, and the screen is dialogued so that the user is not bored during the search. There is a technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-228561 that is considered so that exchanges are displayed.

JP 2002-82748 A

  The above user support device searches for information (menu) that is close to the user's preference from the user's personal information and input character information on the dialog screen, and also enjoys the interaction on the dialog screen, so that the user wants the information Although it is considered to reduce the burden of feelings until it is found, specific proposal (inquiry) means regarding dialogue exchange from the menu decision support device side and specific means for extracting user preference information are clear It wasn't.

  The present invention proposes based on the above-mentioned problem. When a user considers a menu, the user can answer a proposal (question) related to the menu from the menu decision support device without considering a search condition from the beginning. An object is to provide a device that can find a favorite menu recipe.

  According to the present invention, an inquiry related to the menu is made first from the menu decision support device, and the user answers the inquiry by a simple operation method. User preferences and the like are extracted from the dialogue information and menu search is performed.

  In addition, it is possible to learn the process until the menu is determined, and to shorten the time until the menu is provided that meets the user's preferred conditions.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, an input unit that accepts an input operation from a user including a condition setting in a menu proposal consisting of one or more dishes, and a database of suitable dishes based on the input condition setting A control unit for searching from, an output unit for presenting a search result to a user, and an evaluation input unit for receiving a user's evaluation for the presented dish, wherein the control unit includes the condition setting and the user A menu decision support device is provided, which has a function of re-searching suitable dishes based on the evaluation. This makes it easy to present the menu desired by the user in an interactive manner.

  The user's evaluation of the presented dish is at least two of a first evaluation of “determining that dish” and a second evaluation of “not concerned but that dish is not selected this time” In the case of the first evaluation, in the case of the first evaluation, the dish for which the evaluation has been performed is determined as one dish constituting the menu proposed this time, and the condition setting is changed based on the recipe data of the dish. It is preferable to search for the next dish and, in the case of the second evaluation, change the condition setting based on the recipe data of the dish for which the evaluation is performed and perform the search again.

  The menu decision support device searches for a menu recipe based on the setting conditions of the menu proposal date and makes a proposal to the user first, so that the user interacts with the menu decision support device without considering the search conditions. You can easily find your favorite menu recipe.

  In addition, by registering in the user database information under what conditions the user has found a favorite menu recipe, and using the registered information as search condition data for the menu proposal date, the user's favorite recipe The extraction process becomes clear.

It is a functional block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the menu decision assistance apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a storage unit in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the structure and data example of the recipe data which a recipe database hold | maintains. It is a flowchart figure which shows the process of the menu decision support apparatus performing the proposal of a menu, and the flow of a mechanism. FIG. 4B is a continuation of FIG. 4A. It is a figure which shows the extraction method for displaying a dialog message to a user from the setting conditions for acquiring a dialog about a dialog message extraction process. It is a figure which shows the example of data of the anniversary data acquisition conditions of step S402 of the flowchart figure of FIG. 4, and the anniversary database which the user registered. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of anniversary recipe search condition setting data serving as a selection determination condition for setting or not setting a recipe proposal candidate in steps S405 and S406 in the flowchart of FIG. 4. It is a figure which shows an example of the data which the event data acquisition conditions of step S407 of the flowchart figure of FIG. 4, and the event database hold | maintain. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of event recipe search condition setting data that is a selection determination condition for setting or not setting a recipe proposal candidate in steps S410 and S411 in the flowchart of FIG. It is a figure which shows the classification | category reference | standard data example of the recipe which a weather database hold | maintains. In the conditions of the temperature and humidity values set in the weather database and in steps S414 and S415 in the flowchart of FIG. 4, search conditions for weather recipes that match the setting conditions are set based on the weather information acquired by the control unit. It is a flowchart figure explaining the process until. It is a figure which shows the example of inventory food data which the user registered into the inventory database. In steps S418, S419, and S420 of the flowchart of FIG. 4, an example of the acquisition condition for whether there is inventory data and whether the user selects a recipe proposal using inventory ingredients, or data for each inventory recipe search condition setting FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of seasonal food data for every area which the seasonal food database holds. In steps S423, S424, and S425 in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the acquisition conditions for whether or not there is seasonal food data and whether or not the user selects a recipe proposal using seasonal ingredients are set for each seasonal food recipe search condition setting. It is a figure which shows the example of data. It is a processing flow which shows the detailed procedure of step S426 of the flowchart figure of FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an image screen in which a control unit displays some question messages related to a menu on an input unit via an output unit in step S426 in the flowchart of FIG. 4. It is a figure which shows the example of data which a favorite recipe database hold | maintains. It is the data figure which classified the recipe registered into the favorite recipe database by the control part according to each item, and showed the condition which the user selected as a ratio. FIG. 5 is a data diagram illustrating a recipe proposal priority order setting method based on selection information from a user and answer information on a question screen in step S427 in the flowchart in FIG. The figure which showed the recipe extraction process means from favorite recipe data, when many recipes were searched by the control part by the search setting conditions of each item which the user selected based on the priority order conditions of the recipe proposal shown in FIG. It is. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting condition data for the control unit to search for the next proposed recipe or another recipe in step S431 in the flowchart of FIG. In step S431 of the flowchart of FIG. 4, when the control unit searches for the next proposed recipe or another recipe, the data for displaying the condition addition / change screen on the input unit and the search setting condition data according to the selection conditions are displayed. FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an image screen in which a control unit displays a proposed recipe on an input unit via an output unit in step S427 of the flowchart in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating data defining whether or not the control unit displays each item included in the recipe data on the input unit via the output unit in step S432 of the flowchart of FIG. 4. It is an example of a screen in which a user inputs anniversary data at an input unit. FIG. 5 is a display screen example of an interactive message displayed on the input unit in steps S <b> 404 and S <b> 409 in the flowchart of FIG. 4. It is a block diagram of the menu decision assistance apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. In the 5th Embodiment of this invention, after a menu decision, it is a flowchart figure which shows the process which produces a shopping check list | wrist or adjusts the stock amount of foodstuffs. It is a figure which shows the example of a shopping list. It is a figure which shows the example of a stock list. It is a figure which shows the example of the time chart in case a dish is two dishes. It is a figure which shows another example of the time chart in case a dish is two dishes. It is a figure which shows the example of the time chart in case a dish is 3 items. It is a figure which shows another example of the time chart in case a dish is 3 dishes. It is a figure which shows the data of the "cooking procedure" in recipe data. It is a functional block diagram of the menu decision assistance apparatus which concerns on the 7th Embodiment of this invention. In the 7th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the structure of the recipe data and data example which a recipe database hold | maintains. In the 7th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the structure and example of a data of a regional food table which the local food database has. In the 7th Embodiment of this invention, it is a processing flow which shows the process in which a menu decision assistance apparatus proposes a menu. It is a processing flow which shows the detailed procedure of step S409 of FIG. In the 8th Embodiment of this invention, the control part is a figure explaining the reference | standard which proposes a menu using the image data of the "finished image" column of a recipe database. In the 8th Embodiment of this invention, the control part is a figure explaining the reference | standard which proposes only one menu using the image data of the "finished image" column of the recipe database 141. FIG. In the 8th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the example of the recipe data which designated the color or coordinate used when calculating a RGB value among the image of a dish. In the 9th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the structure and data example of selection history information which a user database stores. It is a figure which shows the screen display image of an output part. In the 10th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the structure and data example of foodstuff kind information which a local foodstuff database hold | maintains. In the 10th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the example of a menu proposal when a user desires the same foodstuff continuously. In the 13th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the data which defines whether each item contained in recipe data is displayed. In the 15th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the example which grouped the area in the unit with the same season or the season near. It is the figure which showed the data of the same content as FIG. 50 on the Japan map. It is a figure which shows the example which selected Miyagi Prefecture from the pull-down menu. It is an example of an input and a display in the case of acquiring regional information from a zip code. It is an example of an input and a display in the case of acquiring regional information from a telephone number. It is a figure which shows the example which grouped the area of the similar climate. It is the figure which showed the grouping of the area | region shown in FIG. 55 on the Japan map. It is a figure which shows an example of a date setting screen. It is an example of a screen for designating a date on a calendar. It is an example of a screen for inputting a numeric value in the month and day input field. It is an example of a screen which selects a month and day by a pull-down menu. It is a block diagram of the menu decision assistance apparatus 100 which concerns on the 25th Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the menu proposal apparatus 100 which concerns on the 17th Embodiment of this invention. In the 17th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the structure and data example of recipe information which a recipe database stores. In a 17th embodiment of the present invention, it is a figure showing a classification standard of a recipe. In the 17th Embodiment of this invention, it is a flow explaining the process in which a control part proposes a menu. In the 18th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the structure of a recipe information, and a data example. In the 18th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the classification | category reference | standard of a recipe. In the 19th Embodiment of this invention, it is a flow explaining the process in which a control part proposes a menu based on cooking time. In a 21st embodiment of the present invention, it is a figure showing an example of recipe information which an output part presents. It is a figure which shows the recipe information at the time of cooking the same dish with FIG. 69 with a different cooking appliance. It is a figure which shows the structure of the menu proposal apparatus which concerns on the 22nd Embodiment of this invention, and its peripheral device. It is a figure which shows an example of the data classified by color for every foodstuff. It is a figure which shows the search condition setting of the recipe proposal which considered the color balance for every foodstuff when searching the next proposal recipe or another recipe.

<First Embodiment>
In this specification, each dish that constitutes the entire menu is referred to as “dish”, and the entire menu that combines one or more dishes is referred to as “menu”, “menu”, or “dish”. When there is a possibility of pointing, it is described as “menu dish”. In other words, the menu includes one or more dishes and is proposed according to the conditions input by the user, and is defined as a menu of only a staple food or a menu of staple food and side dishes. The “recipe” is “information such as how to make a dish”.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the menu determination support apparatus 100 includes a date specifying unit 110, a region specifying unit 120, a weather information acquiring unit 130, a storage unit 140, a control unit 150, an input unit 160, and an output unit. 170.

  The date specifying unit 110 specifies the current date and time. For example, the date specifying unit 110 can be configured using a timer or the like. When performing reservation cooking, you may make it characterize cooking time.

  The area specifying unit 120 specifies the current position of the menu decision support apparatus 100 in units of areas. The term “region” as used herein refers to a range of sizes in which seasonal foods and special products are different from each other, and is preferably in the same range as a region in the seasonal food database 263 described later. Arbitrary well-known techniques can be used for the method of specifying the region. For example, a method of specifying the current position using GPS is conceivable. From now on, you may make it identify the area which a user goes to.

  The weather information acquisition unit 130 is connected to the menu decision support device 100 via a network, and acquires weather information and the like published on the Internet. The information related to the weather is, for example, information indicating a specified date / time, weather such as sunny / cloudy / rainy in the area, average humidity such as maximum / minimum / average temperature, and the like. The difference from the past average temperature may be used as a function. However, the weather information acquisition unit 130 is not necessarily required to acquire weather information via a network, and a specific method for acquiring weather information may be arbitrary as long as desired weather information is obtained.

  The storage unit 140 includes a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a solid state device (nonvolatile memory). The contents of the configuration will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The control unit 150 determines a menu to be proposed using the current position (region) of the menu determination support device 100, the date, weather information, and each database stored in the storage unit 140, and outputs the determined menu from the output unit 170. Control processing. The process for determining the menu will be described with reference to FIG.

  The input unit 160 is an operation instruction unit used by the user to instruct the menu decision support apparatus 100 to propose a menu. You can also enter the condition settings for the proposal. The input unit 160 can be realized in the form of a keyboard, a keypad, a touch pad, a mouse, a trackball, or the like, for example. Wired or wireless input from an external terminal may be used. In addition, a screen display unit for displaying an operation menu is appropriately provided.

  The output unit 170 outputs the menu proposed by the control unit 150. The output format may be, for example, a screen display using a liquid crystal display or the like, or may be output as data describing the contents of the proposed menu. The screen display device may be shared with the input unit 160. It may be wired / wireless output to an external terminal.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration contents of the storage unit 140, which includes an interactive message extraction processing unit 210, a database search unit 220, a recipe extraction unit 230, a recipe information database 240, a user registration information database 250, and a system registration database 260. A diagram showing the detailed configuration of each is shown in parentheses.

  The dialogue (question) message extraction processing unit 210 extracts a dialogue message suitable for the user's condition via the database search unit 220 based on the information in the user registration information database 250 and the system registration database 260. Details of the message extraction process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The dialogue (question) message database 211 stores a database of standard dialogue messages such as “Today is XX's birthday. Would you suggest a recipe related to the anniversary?” Details of the message database as in the message extraction process will be described later with reference to FIG. The database search unit 220 searches for recipes suitable for user conditions from information in the recipe information database 240, user registration information database 250, and system registration database 260. Details of the search unit will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The recipe extraction processing unit 230 extracts a recipe suitable for the user's condition from the recipe information database 240. Details of the extraction processing unit will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The recipe information database 240 is a database that holds basic data such as a dish name, ingredients, taste, texture, and color for each dish. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The user registration information database 250 includes an anniversary database 251, an inventory database 252, and a favorite recipe database 253 related to attributes that depend on the user, and stores data for customization for each user.

  The anniversary database 251 holds data in which the user registers various information related to the anniversary such as a birthday.

  The stock database 252 holds data in which a user registers food at home. Moreover, the data which registered the material of the recipe proposed by the menu decision assistance apparatus 100 as a shopping list are hold | maintained. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The favorite recipe database 253 holds user's favorite recipe data and history data until the user decides a favorite recipe. This information data can be added and deleted and edited by the user at the input unit 160. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The system registration database 260 is composed of an event database 261, a weather database 262, and a seasonal food database 263 built in the system related to attributes that do not depend on the user, and stores data for customization for each user. .

  The event database 261 holds calendar events, food materials related to the events, and cooking data.

  The weather database 262 holds data in which conditions of temperature and humidity values are set in order to propose a recipe based on the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 130 and the values of temperature and humidity. It also holds recipe classification reference data that matches the conditions. Details will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The seasonal ingredients database 263 holds a list of seasonal ingredients and special products for each region and month. Details will be described later with reference to FIG. In addition to the region-specific food list, a general food list may be maintained. Below, the description about the list of general ingredients is omitted.

  The menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the present invention corresponds to the control unit 150 and the output unit 170.

  The date identification unit 110, the area identification unit 120, the weather information acquisition unit 130, and the control unit 150 can be configured by using hardware such as a circuit device that realizes these functions, or a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or It can also be configured using a computing program such as a microcomputer and a software program that defines its operation. The latter software program corresponds to the “menu decision support apparatus” in the present invention.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example and data example of recipe data held in the recipe information database 240. The recipe information data is data that holds detailed information of individual dishes. Hereinafter, each information column included in the recipe information data will be described.

(Figure 3: “Cooking name” field)
The “cooking name” column holds the cooking name of the dish described by the recipe data. The dish name itself may contain information that can be used to propose a menu. For example, if the current season is winter, the control unit 150 can exclude a food name that includes characters reminiscent of cold, such as “cold”, from the proposed menu. Moreover, when the character of the user's favorite dish is included in the dish name, it can be preferentially proposed. It is also possible to store in the user registration information database 250 what kinds of keywords are included in the dishes to be excluded or preferentially suggested and customize them for each user.

(Figure 3: “Cooking ingredients” column)
The “Ingredients” column holds food material data used to make a dish described by the recipe data. In particular, when preferentially proposing a menu using seasonal seasonal ingredients, special products, stock ingredients, and user-preferred ingredients, the data held in this column can be used effectively.

(Figure 3: “Type” and “Genre” columns)
The “type” column and the “genre” column hold data representing a rough classification of dishes described by the recipe data. For example, the staple food is divided into “rice, noodles, and other staple foods”, and those that can be added to the staple food may be classified into both. For example, when “rice” is determined as one item, the control unit 150 proposes dishes other than “rice” after the second item. Similarly, when “Japanese food” is determined as one item, for example, “Japanese food” as much as possible can be proposed for two or more items.

(Figure 3: “Taste” column)
The “taste” column holds data representing the approximate taste type of the dish described by the recipe data. For example, when the controller 150 is instructed to propose a menu for children, the controller 150 preferentially proposes a dish that is “sweet”, excluding dishes that are “spicy” in this field. Can do. In addition, when instructed to propose a menu for the elderly, a dish excluding “salty” dishes may be preferentially proposed.

(Figure 3: “Food texture” column)
The “texture” column holds data representing the texture of the dish described by the recipe data. For example, the control unit 150 can make the menu more diverse by proposing two or more dishes having a texture different from the texture of the dish proposed as one item. In addition, for example, when an instruction to propose a menu for the elderly is given, it is possible to exclude as much as possible a dish whose “hard” in this column.

(Figure 3: “Color” column)
The “color” column holds data representing the color of the dish described by the recipe data. When the controller 150 proposes a plurality of dishes, the controller 150 can propose a colorful combination using the values in this field. The value in this field may represent the color of the entire dish, or may retain the color for each food. For example, when the user is instructed to suggest a dish related to the birthday in the anniversary database 251, a dish that uses two or more colors in this column can be preferentially proposed. .

(Figure 3: “Standard” column)
The “standard” column holds data indicating whether the dish described by the recipe data is a standard dish.

(Figure 3: “Event” field)
The “event” column holds data indicating what kind of scene the dish described by the recipe data is suitable for. For example, when the user is instructed to propose a dish related to the birthday in the anniversary database 251, the control unit 150 preferentially selects the dish whose main column is “celebration” or “party”. Can be proposed.

(Figure 3: “Effort / Time required” column)
The “labor / required time” column holds data indicating the time required to prepare the dish described by the recipe data. The value in this field is a guideline when the user selects a dish from among the proposed dishes. For example, when the user is in a hurry, a dish with a small value in this field is often selected.

(Figure 3: “Cookware”)
The “cooking utensil” column holds a list of cooking utensils used by the user when preparing the dish described by the recipe data. For example, on a hot day, the control unit 150 considers the cooker's sensible temperature and does not propose a dish that uses cooking utensils that are sensitive to heat, such as a stove or frying pan. The column values can be used as reference information. In addition, once cooking has started, such as an oven or rice cooker, you can set dishes that use cooking utensils that do not need to be done until completion, with dishes that use cooking utensils that must always be accompanied, such as a frying pan. You can also make suggestions.
Moreover, you may classify | categorize whether a cook feels heat with a cooking utensil.

(Figure 3: “Cooking place” field)
The “cooking place” column holds a list of cooking places that the user uses when preparing the dish described by the recipe data. For example, the control unit 150 holds data on cooking places suitable for cooking such as gas stands and range stands.

(Figure 3: “Cooking method” column)
The “cooking method” column holds data representing the cooking method of the dish described by the recipe data. The type of cooking method here is not a detailed cooking process but a rough cooking method such as baking and boiling. It is desirable that the control unit 150 changes the cooking method of cooking proposed for one item and the cooking method of cooking proposed for two or more items from the viewpoint of variety of menus.

(Figure 3: “Cooking time” field)
The “cooking time” column holds the time required for each cooking method in the “cooking method” column.

(Figure 3: “Food temperature” column)
The “finished dish temperature” column holds data representing the temperature at which the dish described by the recipe data can be eaten and consumed. The temperature at which a person feels warm, cold or delicious generally has a difference from the body temperature of 25 degrees or more, and the temperature of a bento box with a heat retaining function is about 50 degrees to about 60 degrees. Since there are many things, for example, “warm dishes = 55 degrees or more” and “cold dishes = 12 degrees or less” are set. About normal temperature, it is set as "normal temperature dish = 15-35 degree | times" with reference to 5 degree-35 degree | times prescribed | regulated by Japanese Industrial Standard. If the current season is winter, the control unit 150 can exclude a dish having a small value in this field from the proposed menu. It is desirable to consider the difference in temperature that the data to be held is, for example, the same soup, the miso soup being around 65 degrees, and the slightly sweet soup at 50 degrees, which is slightly lower.

(Figure 3: “Finished image” column)
The “finished image” column holds image data indicating an image when the dish described by the recipe data is completed. The control unit 150 can extract the color of the dish from the main column instead of the “color” column or in combination with the “color” column, and propose a combination of colorful dishes.

(Figure 3: “Cooking procedure” column)
The “cooking procedure” column holds data describing the detailed cooking procedure of the dish described by the recipe data. In this column, the cooking time for each procedure and the cooking utensil to be used can be described. Further, it can be used as reference information for determining whether or not the user can actually make the dish. In addition, when cooking, this field can be displayed on the screen of the output unit 170 for reference.

(Figure 3: “Recipe classification by weather” column)
The “recipe classification by weather” column holds information indicating what kind of weather the dish described by the recipe data is suitable for. The recipe information holds information representing at least one of a dish name, a cooking material (foodstuff), and a (finished) cooking temperature for each recipe.

(Figure 3: “Calories” column)
The “calorie” column is a column indicating the calories of the cooked food.

(Figure 3: “Food Expenses” column)
The “food material cost” column is a column indicating the cost of food necessary for cooking.

(Figure 3: "Color points for each ingredient" column)
The “color point for each ingredient” column is a column for indicating the total color of ingredients contained in the recipe by points for each color. The data shown in FIG. 3 shows one food as one point, but the point calculation method may be changed as appropriate.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the process and mechanism in which the menu decision support apparatus 100 makes a menu proposal. Hereinafter, each step of the flowchart of FIG. 4 will be described.

(FIG. 4: Step S401: Start)
When the menu decision support device 100 starts operating, the date specifying unit 110 acquires the current date and outputs it to the control unit 150.

(FIG. 4: Step S402: Presence / absence of anniversary data acquisition conditions)
The control unit 150 searches the anniversary database 251 using the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110. If there is anniversary data that satisfies the acquired date condition, the control unit 150 proceeds to step S403. If there is no data meeting the conditions, the process proceeds to step S405. The anniversary data acquisition conditions will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S403: Whether this is the first proposal)
The control unit 150 performs a confirmation process as to whether or not the menu decision support device 100 has been operated for the first time on the same day as the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110. If it is operating for the first time, the process proceeds to step S404, and if it is the second time or later, the process proceeds to step S405.

(FIG. 4: Step S404: Message display “Do you want to suggest”)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select whether or not an anniversary recipe that meets the acquired date condition is proposed. For example, if the acquired date matches the birthday data registered in the anniversary database 251, a message such as "Today is XX's birthday. Would you suggest a recipe related to the anniversary?" Is displayed. The user selects either “YES” or “NO” on the screen of the input unit 160. If “YES”, the process proceeds to step S406, and if “NO”, the process proceeds to step S405. In this way, it is possible to provide food suitable for performing an anniversary event without forgetting an important anniversary.

(FIG. 4: Step S405: Anniversary recipe search condition setting OFF)
When “NO” is selected by the user in step S404, the control unit 150 excludes the anniversary recipe search condition setting, and proceeds to step S407. The anniversary recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S406: Anniversary recipe search condition ON)
When “YES” is selected by the user in Step S404, the control unit 150 proceeds to Step S427 while setting the anniversary recipe search condition setting as a recipe proposal candidate. The anniversary recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S407: Presence or absence of event data acquisition conditions)
The control unit 150 searches the event database 261 using the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110, and if there is event data that satisfies the acquired date condition, the control unit 150 proceeds to step S408. If there is no data that meets the conditions, the process proceeds to step S410. The event data acquisition conditions will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S408: Whether this is the first proposal)
The control unit 150 performs a confirmation process as to whether or not the menu decision support device 100 has been operated for the first time on the same day as the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110. If it is operating for the first time, the process proceeds to step S409, and if it is the second time or later, the process proceeds to step S410. Thereby, in the case of the same proposal, it is possible to eliminate duplicate processing.

(Fig. 4: Step S409: Message display "Let's propose")
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select whether or not an event recipe that meets the acquired date condition is proposed. For example, if the acquired date matches the Hinamatsuri data of March 3 registered in the event database 252, a message such as “Today is a Hinamatsuri. Would you suggest a recipe for the event?” Let The user selects either “YES” or “NO” on the screen of the input unit 160. If “YES”, the process proceeds to step S411, and if “NO”, the process proceeds to step S410.

(FIG. 4: Step S410: Event recipe search condition setting OFF)
When “NO” is selected by the user in step S409, the control unit 150 excludes the event recipe search condition setting and proceeds to step S412. The event recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S411: Event recipe search condition setting ON)
When “YES” is selected by the user in step S409, control unit 150 proceeds to step S427 while setting the event recipe search condition setting as a recipe proposal candidate. The event recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S412: Presence / absence of weather data acquisition conditions)
The control unit 150 searches and acquires the weather database 262 using the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110, the region information acquired from the region specifying unit 120, the weather, temperature, humidity, and the like acquired from the weather information acquiring unit 130. If there is data that meets the weather, temperature, and humidity value conditions, the process advances to step S413. If there is no data that meets the conditions, the process proceeds to step S414. The weather data acquisition condition will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S413: Message display “Let's propose”
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select whether or not he / she wants to propose an event recipe that meets the conditions of the acquired weather, temperature, and humidity values. For example, if the acquired weather, temperature, and humidity values match the conditions for a hot day set in the weather database 262, “It ’s hot today. Would you suggest a refreshing recipe based on the weather? "Is displayed. The user selects either “YES” or “NO” on the screen of the input unit 160. If “YES”, the process proceeds to step S415, and if “NO”, the process proceeds to step S416.

(FIG. 4: Step S414: Weather recipe search condition setting ON)
The control unit 150 proceeds to step S416 while setting the weather recipe search condition as a recipe proposal candidate when there is no data that satisfies the condition in the processing in step S412.

(FIG. 4: Step S415: Weather recipe search condition setting ON)
When “YES” is selected by the user in step S413, the control unit 150 proceeds to step S426 while setting the weather recipe search condition setting as a recipe proposal candidate. The weather recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S416: Presence / absence of inventory data acquisition conditions)
The control unit 150 searches the inventory database 252. If inventory data is registered, the control unit 150 proceeds to step S417. If the inventory data is not registered, the process proceeds to step S418.

(Figure 4: Step S417: Message display “Do you want to suggest”)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select whether or not a recipe using the ingredients registered in the inventory database 252 is proposed. For example, if there are ingredients (potatoes) with a large number of items in stock, a message such as “Potatoes remain. Would you suggest a recipe using ingredients in stock?” Is displayed. The user selects either “YES” or “NO” on the screen of the input unit 160. If “YES”, the process proceeds to step S419, and if “NO”, the process proceeds to step S420.

(FIG. 4: Step S418: Inventory recipe search condition setting ON)
When the inventory data is not registered in step S416, the control unit 150 proceeds to step S421 while setting the inventory recipe search condition as a recipe proposal candidate.

(FIG. 4: Step S419: Inventory recipe search condition setting ON)
When “YES” is selected by the user in step S417, control unit 150 proceeds to step S426 while setting the inventory recipe search condition setting as a recipe proposal candidate. The stock recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S420: Inventory recipe search condition set to exclusion condition ON)
When “NO” is selected by the user in step S417, the control unit 150 sets the inventory recipe search condition setting as an exclusion condition, and proceeds to S421.

(FIG. 4: Step S421: Presence / absence of seasonal food data acquisition conditions)
The control unit 150 searches the seasonal food database 263 using the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110 and the region information acquired from the region specifying unit 120, and has seasonal food data that meets the conditions of the acquired date and region information. If YES, go to step S422. If there is no data that meets the conditions, the process proceeds to step S423. The seasonal food data acquisition conditions will be described later with reference to FIG.

(Fig. 4: Step S422: Message display "Do you want to suggest")
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select whether or not to propose a seasonal ingredient recipe that meets the conditions of the acquired date and area information. For example, if the acquired date and local information match the conditions registered in the seasonal ingredients database 263, and the seasonal ingredients are “Bamboo shoots”, “Bamboo shoots have become delicious. Suggest recipes using seasonal ingredients. Display a message such as "Let's do it." The user selects either “YES” or “NO” on the screen of the input unit 160. If “YES”, the process proceeds to step S424, and if “NO”, the process proceeds to step S425.

(FIG. 4: Step S423: Seasonal ingredient recipe search condition setting ON)
The control unit 150 proceeds to step S426 with the seasonal ingredient recipe search condition set as a recipe proposal candidate when there is no seasonal ingredient data that satisfies the condition in step S421.

(FIG. 4: Step S424: Seasonal ingredient recipe search condition setting ON)
When “YES” is selected by the user in step S 422, control unit 150 proceeds to step S 426 while setting the seasonal ingredient recipe search condition setting as a recipe proposal candidate. The seasonal food recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S425: Set seasonal ingredient recipe search condition as exclusion condition)
When “NO” is selected by the user in step S422, the control unit 150 sets the seasonal ingredient recipe search condition setting as an exclusion condition, and proceeds to S426.

(FIG. 4: Step S426: Question message display about menu)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a number of question messages regarding the menu. The user inputs an answer or condition according to the procedure described later with reference to FIG. 16, and the control unit 150 accepts the condition designation. The user can also skip without inputting an answer or condition in this step. In both cases where an answer or condition is input or skipped, the process proceeds to S427 with the condition set. The user may be able to browse the favorite recipe database 253 from the screen of the input unit 160.

(FIG. 4: Step S427: Proposal according to priority condition)
Based on the processing data acquired from step S401 to step 426, the control unit 150 sets a recipe proposal priority order condition, performs recipe search processing from the recipe information database 240 according to the condition, and proceeds to step S428. Recipe proposal priority order conditions will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S428: Suggested Recipe & Message Display)
The control unit 150 proposes the recipe obtained in step S428 as a menu. The content of the proposed recipe is presented to the user via the output unit 170, and a message such as “How about the following recipe?” Is displayed on the screen of the input unit 160. In addition, the control unit 150 has a check mark function that can distinguish “recipe to be made (decision)”, “recipe to be worried about (hold)”, and the like on the displayed recipe, and inputs a message that prompts the user to select 160 is displayed on the screen. By checking this check mark, the user can select the proposed dish (recipe) as “I want to make it now (determined recipe)” or “I want to make it, but this time I will not select it, that is, I will not make this time, but I will make it in the future. Can be evaluated as “I want to try (pending)”, and by not checking any of these check marks, it can be evaluated as “I am not interested in the recipe”. If the user selects any recipe (check mark is checked), the process proceeds to step S429, and if none is selected, the process proceeds to step S431. If no suggested recipe is found in this step, a message such as “no suggestion menu” or “please increase search conditions” may be displayed. In this case, the process proceeds to step S431.

(FIG. 4: Step S429: Message display)
The control unit 150 automatically registers the recipe and history information selected in step S428 in the favorite recipe database 253. Note that the user can browse and delete the automatically registered recipe and edit it.

(FIG. 4: Step S430: Message display)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display the recipe selected by the user in step S428. In addition, the control unit 150 provides a check mark function for selecting “view recipe details”, “find other recipes”, and the like on the displayed recipe, and displays a message prompting the user to select the screen on the input unit 160. Display. When the user selects “view recipe details”, the process proceeds to step S432, and when “search for other recipes” is selected, the process proceeds to step S431. If none of the users select, the process proceeds to S433 and the proposal is completed.

(FIG. 4: Step S431: Start of next proposal: Add condition)
The control unit 150 proceeds to step S401 while setting the user selection conditions up to step S428 and step 430. The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select whether or not to change the selection condition before starting the next proposal process. Also, the user may be allowed to select to proceed to step S426. The next proposal setting condition will be described with reference to FIGS.

(FIG. 4: Step S432)
The control unit 150 displays the contents of the recipe data described with reference to FIG. Details of items to be displayed will be described with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S433: End of proposal)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message indicating that the proposal has been completed. In addition, you may display on the screen in the input part 160 so that it can select whether the ingredients of the recipe which the user selected are made into a shopping list.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an extraction method for displaying a dialog message to the user from a setting condition for acquiring a dialog in the dialog message extraction processing unit 210.
(Figure 5: 501)
When the anniversary date registered in the anniversary database 251 matches the date of the proposal date acquired from the date specifying unit 110 via the dialogue message extraction processing unit 210, the control unit 150 (proposed date = anniversary data registration date). ), A message such as “Today is XX ’s birthday. Would you suggest a recipe for the anniversary?” Is extracted from the dialogue message database 211 and displayed on the output unit 170.

  In this case, when the proposal date is the day before the anniversary date registered in the anniversary database 251 based on the standard dialogue message stored in the dialogue message database 211 (proposed date + (1 day) = commemorative Date data registration date), and extract (create) and display a customized message such as “It ’s XX ’s birthday soon. Would you suggest a recipe for the anniversary?” In other words, a typical dialogue message is a message base that does not depend on the user's attributes (name, birthday, etc.). Based on this, a customized message (name ○○ is entered) that depends on the user's attributes. Message etc.) can be displayed. In order to customize, a user registration information database 250 storing data for customizing user-dependent attributes for each user, and data for customizing user-independent attributes for each user. Can be used.

  When the proposed date is two days before the anniversary date registered in the anniversary database 251, the same message as that of the previous day may be displayed, or the message may be displayed with a different expression. The user can set the setting condition for displaying the message from the date before the registered anniversary or displaying the message after the anniversary. Note that the name, date, etc. of the anniversary may be displayed on the message display screen.

(Figure 5: 502)
The control unit 150, when the event date registered in the event database 261, for example, the Hinamatsuri on March 3rd, and the date of the proposal date acquired from the date specifying unit 110 via the dialog message extraction processing unit 210 match (proposal (Day = event data registration date), a message such as “Today is a hina festival. Would you suggest a recipe related to the event?” Is extracted and displayed on the input unit 160. If the event date registered in the event database 261, for example, the Hina festival on March 3 was the day before the proposal date (suggested date + (1 day) = date of event data registration), “It ’s the Hina festival soon. A message like “Would you suggest a recipe?” Is extracted and displayed. When the proposal date is two days before the event date registered in the event database, the same message as that of the previous day may be displayed, or the message may be displayed in a different expression. The user can set the setting condition of how many days before a registered event date a message is displayed with respect to the proposal date, or whether a message is displayed even if the event date has passed. You may display the name of an event, a date, etc. on a message display screen.

(Figure 5: 503)
For example, the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110, the region information acquired from the region specifying unit 120, and the information acquired from the weather information acquiring unit 130 are “temperature: 10 degrees” and “humidity: 40%”. If it is determined that it is a cold day through the interactive message extraction processing unit 210 according to the conditions set in the weather database 262, “Today is cold. Would you suggest a warm recipe?” Is extracted and displayed on the input unit 160. You may display the acquired date, weather information, etc. on a message display screen. Details of the setting conditions of the weather database 262 will be described later with reference to FIG.

(Figure 5: 504)
The control unit 150 registers one or more ingredients registered in the inventory database 252 via the dialog message extraction processing unit 210 on the proposed date acquired from the date specifying unit 110. For example, the ingredient is “onion”. In this case, a message such as “Onion remains. Would you suggest a recipe using stock?” Is extracted and displayed on the input unit 160. On the message display screen, the acquired date, inventory list, and the like may be displayed in order from the largest stock quantity.

(Figure 5: 505)
The control unit 150 matches the proposal date acquired from the date specifying unit 110 and the region information acquired from the region specifying unit 120 via the dialog message extraction processing unit 210 and the seasonal food registered in the seasonal food database 263, for example, If the seasonal ingredient is “Sanma”, a message such as “Sanma is delicious. Let's propose a recipe using seasonal ingredients.” Is displayed on the input unit 160. On the message display screen, an acquired date, a list of seasonal ingredients, and the like may be displayed.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the anniversary data acquisition condition in step S402 in the flowchart of FIG. 4 and the anniversary database 251 registered by the user. The control unit 150 confirms whether the anniversary data acquisition condition set in step S402 matches the date in the anniversary database 251. The anniversary database 251 can be registered with more items than the date, name, title, favorite food, and disliked food. In addition, the period of the setting date of the anniversary data acquisition condition can be changed.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of data for setting an anniversary recipe search condition as a base for selecting whether to set a recipe proposal candidate or not in steps S405 and S406 in the flowchart of FIG. For example, when the controller 150 is set as a recipe suggestion candidate in step S406, “Napolitan, Tomato” is registered as a favorite food in the anniversary database 251, and “Nira” is registered as a disliked food. Recognizing and searching the recipe information database 240 via the database search means 220, giving priority to the names of dishes and ingredients registered in the favorite food and excluding disliked food. As another example, when neither favorite food nor disliked food is registered, priority is given to a recipe in which the event of the item in the recipe information database 240 is “celebration, party” and the color is “two or more colors”. Then, a recipe that excludes a recipe that uses only “one color” is searched. If it is not set as a recipe proposal candidate in S405, the anniversary recipe search condition setting data is excluded and the process proceeds to the next step.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of data held in the event data acquisition condition and event database 261 in step S407 in the flowchart of FIG. In step S405, the control unit 150 checks whether the set event data acquisition condition matches the date of the event database 261. The event database 261 can change the setting of the event date, and can register the setting date and items of the event data acquisition condition. Moreover, the period of the setting date of event data acquisition conditions can be changed.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a data example of event recipe search condition setting that is used to select whether or not to set a recipe proposal in steps S410 and S411 in the flowchart of FIG. For example, when the candidate for the recipe proposal is set in step S411, the control unit 150 is registered in the event database 261. For example, when the recipe for the hinamatsuri is proposed, the control unit 150 receives the recipe information database via the database search unit 220. Priority is given to the names of dishes and ingredients with “Sushi, hamaguri, rape blossoms” registered in 240. For example, if eel is included in sushi, the recipe that excludes “plum dried” that is poor to eat Search for. As another example, when a Christmas recipe is proposed, the recipe name of the item in the recipe information database 240, the ingredient is “meat”, the genre is “Western food”, and the event is “party”, and the color is “ Search for recipes that exclude recipes that only use “one color”.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of recipe classification reference data held by the weather database 262. As shown in FIG. Here, the classification criteria of “hot recipe”, “cold recipe”, and “stored recipe” in the “recipe classification by weather” column in FIG. 3 are shown. Hereinafter, each classification criterion will be described.
(1) Criteria for classifying warm recipes Recipes that contain the letters “hot pot, warm, hot, etc.” in the recipe name and recipes with a cooking temperature of “warm” are considered to be warm recipes that are warm dishes.

(2) Criteria for cold recipes Recipes that contain the letters “cold, cold, cold, light, refreshing” in the recipe name, recipes that contain “lemon, vinegar, ice” in the ingredients, and the cooking temperature is “cold” The recipe is considered to be a cold recipe that is a cold dish.

(3) Criteria for preserving recipes Recipes that use “root vegetables, canned foods, vermicelli, dried seaweed, hijiki, Takano tofu, retort food”, which have a long shelf life, are cooking recipes that are suitable for preservation Consider it. This preserved recipe should be used to suggest cooking recipes using ingredients that are supposed to be stocked at home so that the cook can cook without going out in bad weather such as heavy rain, snow, typhoons, etc. . The user can also register the ingredients and seasonings that are always provided in the refrigerator and storage under the house in the inventory database 252 and classify the ingredients as a preservation recipe. Moreover, it is not limited to the recipe proposed in bad weather, but may be appropriately combined with a warm recipe or a cold recipe proposed according to weather information.

(4) Other Recipes Recipes that do not meet the above classification conditions may be used as intermediate recipes that are suggested at a temperature that does not feel much hot or cold.

  As described above, the weather database 262 stores information that associates each dish with the temperature level. In addition to temperature, the weather (degree of rain, etc. (heavy rain, typhoon, light rain, etc.)), humidity, etc. may be used.

  FIG. 11 shows the weather recipe that meets the set conditions based on the temperature and humidity value conditions set in the weather database 262 and the weather information acquired by the control unit 150 in steps S414 and S415 in the flowchart of FIG. It is a flowchart figure explaining the processing until the search condition is set. Hereinafter, each step of FIG. 11 will be described.

(FIG. 11: Step S1100)
The control unit 150 acquires the date from the date specifying unit 110, the region information from the region specifying unit 120, and the weather information from the weather information acquiring unit 130.

(FIG. 11: Step S1101)
The control unit 150 outputs the date, area, and weather information (at least temperature and humidity) acquired in step S1100 to the output unit 170.

(FIG. 11: Steps S1102 to S1104)
For example, if the humidity acquired in step S1101 is less than 50%, the process proceeds to step S408. If it is 60% or more and less than 80%, the process proceeds to step S1105. If it is 80% or more, the process proceeds to step S1106. In the case of (50% or more and less than 60%), the process proceeds to step S1107.

(FIG. 11: Steps S1105 to S1107)
These steps are for correcting the difference in the sensation temperature caused by the humidity. When the humidity is 80% or more, the sensible temperature becomes high, and the control unit 150 performs the following processing using a value obtained by adding 3 ° C. to the actual air temperature. Similarly, when the humidity is 60% or more and less than 80%, 2 ° C. is added, and when the humidity is 50% or more and less than 60%, 1 ° C. is added. If the humidity is less than 50%, no correction is performed.

(FIG. 11: Steps S1108 to S1109)
If the temperature obtained from the above steps is less than 18 ° C, the process proceeds to step S1110. If the temperature is 18 ° C or more and less than 25 ° C, the process proceeds to step S1111. If the temperature is 25 ° C or more, the process proceeds to step S1112.

(FIG. 11: Steps S1110 to S1112)
When the temperature obtained from the above steps is less than 18 ° C., the control unit 150 considers it as a cold day and proposes a warm recipe, and if it is 18 ° C. or more and less than 25 ° C., proposes an intermediate recipe, If it is 25 ° C or higher, it is considered a hot day and a cold recipe is proposed.

  In addition, since hot cold may depend on the relationship with the previous day, etc., you may make it depend on the fluctuation range from the previous day, the fluctuation | variation from average temperature, etc.

  In the above, the recipe proposal method when the weather recipe search condition is set in steps S414 and S415 has been described.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of inventory food data registered by the user in the inventory database 252. The user can register the ingredients, quantity, etc. at home from the screen of the input unit 160. Further, this data may be linked with shopping list data, for example, when carrots are purchased, they may be automatically registered in the inventory data, and can be deleted when carrots are used. This inventory data becomes the inventory data acquisition condition in step S416 in the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 13 shows an acquisition condition as to whether there is inventory data in step S418, S419, and S420 of the flowchart of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of setting data. For example, if the recipe is set as a recipe proposal candidate in step S419, the control unit 150 refers to the inventory database 252 and is registered in the inventory ingredients from the recipe information database 240 via the database search unit 220. Search for recipes that include food names and ingredients names with priority. As an example of the search condition, the ingredients of the retrieved recipe may be compared with the ingredients registered in the inventory ingredients, and even if there are not enough ingredients, the recipe may be added to the search condition setting and proposed. In that case, if the user did not have enough cabbage, for example, “There was no cabbage in the stock, but I suggested this recipe. How about using spinach, Komatsuna Chinese cabbage, etc. instead of cabbage? May be displayed. If the user does not select in step S420, the stock ingredients are excluded from the recipe search condition setting and the process proceeds to the next step.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of seasonal food data for each region held in the seasonal food database 263. The seasonal ingredients database 263 holds information on seasonal ingredients and regional special products for each month for each region. This seasonal food data becomes the seasonal food data acquisition condition in step S421 in the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 15 is a flow chart of FIG. 4. In steps S423, S424, and S425 in FIG. 4, the acquisition condition of whether there is seasonal food data and whether the user selects a recipe proposal using seasonal food, It is a figure which shows the example of data of search condition setting. In step S421, the control unit 150 refers to the seasonal food database 263, thereby grasping seasonal foods and regional special products for each region and month. If seasonal food data is not registered on the proposed date, it is not always necessary to select the seasonal food or special product on the proposed date. Search conditions may be set as things. Data regarding which period range to select seasonal ingredients or special products may be stored in, for example, the seasonal ingredients database 263 so that they can be customized. For example, when the candidate for the recipe proposal is set in step S424, the control unit 150 refers to the seasonal food database 263 and is registered in the seasonal food from the recipe information database 240 via the database search unit 220. Priority is given to the recipe including the name of the food and the name of the ingredients. If the user does not select in step S425, the seasonal ingredients are excluded from the recipe search condition setting, and the process proceeds to the next step.

  FIG. 16 is a processing flowchart showing the detailed procedure of step S426 in the flowchart of FIG. Hereinafter, each step of FIG. 16 will be described.

(FIG. 16: Step S1601)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “What do you want to use?”. For example, the user designates an ingredient desired to be used, such as an ingredient in a refrigerator or an ingredient scheduled to be bought on the way home. In this step, it is desirable that a plurality of ingredients can be selected.

  In addition, the control unit 150 displays a message such as “Do you want to check a certain thing (food)?” On the input unit 160, and when the user answers “I want to check”, the control unit 150 stores the message in the inventory database 252 Ingredients can be specified from the inventory database of connected refrigerators.

(FIG. 16: Step S1602)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “Who will eat?” The user designates the type of person who eats, for example, the type of person such as a small child, a junior and senior high school student to an adult, or an elderly person. In this step, a plurality of person types may be designated.

(FIG. 16: Step S1603)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “What is the type of dish?”. For example, the user designates the type of food, such as rice, noodles, side dishes, soup, etc., and main dishes, main dishes, side dishes, soup, etc., for which a menu proposal is desired. In this step, a plurality of dish types may be designated.

(FIG. 16: Step S1604)
The control unit 150 displays a message such as “What genre do you want to eat?” On the input unit 160. For example, the user designates a food genre such as Japanese food, Western food, Chinese food, and others. In this step, a plurality of cooking genres may be designated.

(FIG. 16: Step S1605)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “What is the cooking effort?”. For example, the user designates a type such as simple, normal, and time-consuming. In this step, a plurality of types may be designated.

  As described above, the condition receiving procedure of each step in FIG. 16 has been described. However, the user can skip each condition without inputting each condition in FIG. 16, or can skip all conditions. The skipped condition is handled by the control unit 150 as having no desired condition. For example, if the genre that you want to eat is skipped, it is determined that you can propose anything, whether it is Japanese, Western, or Chinese.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an image screen in which the control unit 150 displays some question messages regarding the menu on the input unit 160 via the output unit 170 in step S426 in the flowchart of FIG. The answer input method on this screen may be input as characters, such as ingredients, or may be selected from a list of ingredients or selected from the inventory database 252. When inputting the ingredients, for example, “pork rose slice” can be input or selected in more detail than “pork sliced meat”.
1) What do you want to use? Ask for answers by ingredients.
2) Who will eat? Ask for answers by age group.
3) What are the types of dishes? Ask for answers in large categories such as rice.
4) What genre do you want to eat? Ask for answers in genres such as Japanese.
5) What about cooking? Ask for an answer to how much effort you can take.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of data held in the favorite recipe database 253. In step S428 of FIG. 4, when the user selects “create today (decided by this)” or “interesting (hold)”, the control unit 150 displays the date, region, weather, All items such as humidity, temperature, user selection information on the dialogue screen, recipe name of recipe information described in FIG. 3, and ingredients are registered in the favorite recipe database 253. Based on this registration data, an answer from the apparatus is obtained.

  FIGS. 19A and 19B are data diagrams in which the control unit 150 classifies the recipes registered in the favorite recipe database 253 for each item and shows the conditions selected by the user as a ratio. For example, when “Napolitan” is selected and registered for the first time as an anniversary recipe, the selection rate of each item of recipe registration described in FIG. 18 is 100%. Next, when “hamburger” is selected and registered as an anniversary recipe, the selection rate of “Napolitan” as the recipe name is 50%. As the number of anniversaries increases, the selection rate for each recipe name decreases. The selection rate of other items such as ingredients is the same as the recipe name. In addition, the selection rate is similarly calculated for each selection item such as event, weather, stock, seasonal ingredients, designated ingredients, designated members, designated type, designated genre, designated cooking effort, and the like. Note that in step S430 in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the user selects the number of registered items for each selection item registered in the favorite recipe data 253 on the selection screen “view checked recipe” displayed on the input unit 160. The selection rate and the like can be browsed (FIG. 19B). This figure is an appearance of the registration status, and can be used when the registration is corrected.

  FIG. 20 is a data diagram showing a method for setting priority conditions for recipe proposal based on selection information from the user and answer information on the question screen in step S427 in the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 20, the selection items and the presence / absence of the setting of the priority condition based on the presence or absence of hope are shown. Settings can be made based on this figure.

  FIG. 21 shows a case where a number of recipes are searched based on the search setting condition of each item selected by the user based on the recipe proposal priority order condition described in FIG. It is the figure which showed the recipe extraction process means. For example, when the user selects to propose an anniversary recipe and a large number of recipes are searched based on the anniversary recipe search condition setting in FIG. 7, the control unit 150 outputs the output unit in step S428 in the flowchart of FIG. When the recipe is displayed on the input unit 160 via 170, for example, even if 50 or more are displayed, the user feels inconvenient to select. Therefore, it is necessary to narrow the number of items that the user can easily view on the screen. The appropriate number of items that can be viewed is 10 to 15, so if there are a large number of search results, the recipe name and ingredients name = the recipe that contains the ingredients registered in the inventory database and the favorite recipe database. It is considered that the accuracy of the process of extracting the recipe proposal to the user is improved by setting the priority order of the anniversary recipe = the recipe proposed for the past three times and the recipe with a short cooking time. Note that the number of recipes displayed on the screen may be set by the user in the input unit 160.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting condition data for the control unit 150 to search for the next proposed recipe or another recipe in step S431 in the flowchart of FIG. When there is no recipe that the user wants to make among the recipes suggested and displayed in step S428 in the flowchart of FIG. 4, or when a recipe that the user wants to make is found in S430 but other recipes are to be found. Is set. For example, if there is no recipe that the user wants to make, the control unit 150 keeps the selection conditions of the answer item information (anniversary, event, weather, stock, season, member) selected by the user at the initial setting in step S401. Go to and search again. When a recipe that the user wants to make is found but another recipe (another product) is to be searched, the control unit 150 selects information on ingredients, types, genres, and hassles specified by the user during the initial search as shown in FIG. If there is, the selection condition and the exclusion condition are set based on the information, and extracted from the recipe information database 240 via the recipe extraction processing unit 230 according to the condition. For example, if you decide to make Napolitan with an anniversary recipe (in this case, “Fine Recipe” = “Napolitan”), but you want to make another product or find other recipes, you can select Set the following items in (Selection conditions). Let the fixed recipe be Napolitan.
・ "Type: Side dish (If you do not specify, you do not need to set the condition)"
・ "Genre: Same genre as the recipe (Western food)"
・ "Effort: Simple recipe is easy = easy"
・ "Taste: Different taste (acid) from the set recipe"
・ "Food texture: different texture (soft, smooth)"
・ "Color: a color different from the set recipe (red, green, orange)"
・ "Cooking method: cooking method different from the fixed recipe (fried, boiled)"

In addition, the following items are set as exclusion conditions (conditions for exclusion from selection).
・ "Type: noodles"
・ "Effort: It's easy to set a recipe = it takes time"
・ "Taste: Same taste as a fixed recipe"
・ "Food texture: same texture as a fixed recipe"
・ "Color: Same color as a fixed recipe"
・ "Cooking utensils: Recipes for the same cooking utensils (gas stand, pan, frying pan) as set recipes = up to 1 item (no more than 3 items)
・ Set “Cooking method: Same cooking method as a fixed recipe”.

  The control unit 150 proposes a recipe by giving priority to the search condition.

  FIG. 23 is based on the data for displaying the condition addition / change screen on the input unit 160 and the selection conditions at the stage where the control unit 150 searches for the next proposed recipe or another recipe in step S431 in the flowchart of FIG. It is a figure which shows the search setting condition data. In response to the questions 1) to 5), for example, if there is no recipe that the user wants to make in step S428, the user can select ingredients, members, types, genres, labor, weather, seasons, events, When each item of the anniversary is added or changed as desired by the user, the control unit 150 proposes a recipe with priority given to the search conditions for each item in FIG. In addition, the user may be able to select whether or not to search the recipe registered in the favorite recipe database 253 with priority on the screen of the input unit 160.

  FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an image screen in which the control unit 150 displays the proposed recipe on the input unit 160 via the output unit 170 in step S427 in the flowchart of FIG. Here, it is assumed that the output unit 170 includes a screen display device and proposes a menu to the user by screen display. When the controller 150 proposes a menu that combines a plurality of dishes, the controller 150 considers the bias of ingredients used by each dish in the menu. Details of the specific example will be described in <Tenth Embodiment>.

  FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating data defining whether or not the control unit 150 displays each item included in the recipe data on the input unit 160 via the output unit 170 in step S432 in the flowchart of FIG. . It is desirable that each item of the recipe data can be customized according to the user's preference as to whether or not the proposal result is displayed on the output unit 170. For example, some people find it more convenient to display “how hot” or “how long does it take” on the display screen. When instructing the output unit 170 to display the contents of the recipe data on the screen, the control unit 150 reads the data shown in FIG. 25 and adjusts the display items. The data in FIG. 25 may be stored, for example, in the user registration information database 250 as customization information for each user. In this way, by configuring so as to perform the setting, it is possible to customize appropriately according to the user's intention.

  FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a display example of a screen showing a state where the user inputs anniversary data in the input unit 160. As shown in FIG. 26, the screen display includes an anniversary input screen display, date, title (name), favorite food, poor food, calendar, contents and scroll bar, registration input button, and the like. Has been. In the current display, a point (cursor) is set on September 1, 2009, and the registration data for the day is entered. A reference button may be provided so that an appropriate input can be selected.

  FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a display screen example of the dialogue message displayed on the input unit 160 in steps S404 and S409 in the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 27A, there is an inquiry from the device side to the user, for example, “Today is XX ’s birthday. Would you suggest a recipe for the anniversary?” In response to the “Yes” and “No” buttons, a response can be made. In addition, as shown in Fig. 27 (b), a question such as "Tomorrow (March 3) is a hina festival. Will you propose a recipe for the anniversary?" Is possible.

  As described above, the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes the anniversary database 251 that stores data in which the user registers various information related to the anniversary, such as the birthday, and the user is at home. Inventory database 252 that holds data registered with a certain ingredient, data that registers user's favorite recipe, and favorite recipe database 253 that holds history data until the user decides a favorite recipe, calendar events and events In order to propose a recipe based on the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 130 and the temperature and humidity values, the event database 261 that holds food and cooking data related to the temperature, the conditions of the temperature and humidity values Weather database 262 that holds data that sets data, seasonal foods that hold seasonal ingredients and special products every month It comprises a base 263. Using this, the control unit 150 searches the recipe information database 240 through the dialog message extraction process 210, the database search means 220, and the recipe extraction process 230 for a recipe that meets the conditions according to the user's selection information. To the user.

<Second Embodiment>
FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the menu decision support device 100 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The menu decision support device 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration example as the first embodiment, but each functional unit is physically divided into a plurality of devices. In this respect, the menu decision support device is referred to here. Hereinafter, each device will be described.

  The terminal device 200 (client terminal) is a remote control device, a portable terminal, or the like, and includes a date specifying unit 110, a region specifying unit 120, a weather information acquisition unit 130, an input unit 160, and an output unit 170. The terminal device 200 is for the user to search for a desired menu for the hand, and is preferably configured as a portable device.

  The server 300 is, for example, a functional unit provided in the apparatus, and includes a date specifying unit 110, a region specifying unit 120, a weather information acquisition unit 130, a storage unit 140, a control unit 150, an input unit 160, and an output unit 170. In general, the server 300 receives a request to propose a menu from the terminal device 200, executes the menu proposal processing described in the first embodiment, and presents the proposal content to the terminal device 200. is there. The server 300 includes a search condition input unit 160 that receives a request transmitted by the terminal device 200 and a search condition specification. The server 300 may be configured such that data is managed by being identified by a user ID or the like so as to respond to requests from a plurality of terminal devices 200 used by different users.

  The display device 400 includes a second output unit 410. The second output unit 410 is preferably a screen display unit that is larger than the output unit 170 included in the terminal device 200. The user can also see the menu on the output unit 170 of the terminal device 200. For example, when starting cooking, the user uses the second output unit 410 having a larger screen while cooking while watching the recipe data. You can also.

  The electronic device (electric appliance) device 500 includes an input unit 160 and an output unit 170. Electronic device (electric appliance) devices include refrigerators, microwave ovens, microwave ovens, rice cookers, monitors, televisions, telephones, facsimiles, digital photo frames, and personal computers.

  The terminal device 200, the server 300, the display device 400, and the electronic device (electric appliance) device 500 are connected by a network 600 and can transmit and receive data to and from each other. Preferably, the network 600 is a wireless network, and the devices can communicate with each other by wireless communication.

  If each device is connected wirelessly, the terminal device 200 can be constituted by a portable terminal device (including a personal computer, an electronic notebook, a mobile phone, a portable game machine, an electronic notebook, etc.). Thereby, the user can consider a menu without choosing a place, and can decide to bring a menu after shopping.

<Third Embodiment>
The menu decision support device 100 described in the first to second embodiments above may be configured to be incorporated in an electronic device and add a menu proposal function to the electronic device. For example, the following examples can be considered for incorporation into electronic devices.

(Part 1: Example of microwave oven)
The menu decision support apparatus 100 can be incorporated into the microwave oven so that the user can easily cook dishes using the microwave oven. In this case, cooking using a microwave oven as a cooking appliance may be preferentially proposed.

(Embodiment example 2: Refrigerator)
When incorporating the menu decision support device 100 into the refrigerator, the inventory management function in the refrigerator's storage and the menu decision support device 100 may be linked to preferentially propose the ingredients to be stocked and the dishes using the ingredients. .

(Embodiment example 3: mobile phone, electronic notebook)
When the menu decision support apparatus 100 is incorporated into a mobile phone or an electronic notebook, a function may be provided that can store and display a shopping memo when there is a food item to be purchased after the menu is decided.

<Fourth embodiment>
The functions of the menu decision support apparatus 100 described in the first to third embodiments can be implemented as a program executed by an arithmetic device such as a CPU. For example, the functions of the date specification unit 110, the region specification unit 120, the weather information acquisition unit 130, the storage unit 140, the control unit 150, the input unit 160, and the output unit 170 are implemented as a menu decision support program according to the present invention, and an arithmetic device By executing this, the function of the menu decision support device 100 can be realized.

  Further, the program may be for realizing a part of the above-described functions, and further, with the program such as an OS (Operating System) already recorded in the menu decision support apparatus 100. It may be realized in combination.

  The processing of each functional unit of the menu decision support apparatus 100 may be realized by recording the program on a computer-readable storage medium, causing the CPU to read and execute the program recorded on the storage medium. .

  The “storage medium” storing the program is a computer-readable portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, an SRAM, a flash memory, a DVD, or a Blu-ray disk, and is built in a computer system. A storage device such as a hard disk. Furthermore, a program that dynamically holds a program for a short time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, and a server or client in that case Such a volatile memory inside a computer system as described above includes a program that holds a program for a certain period of time.

<Fifth embodiment>
FIG. 29 shows an example of processing for creating a shopping check list and adjusting the amount of food stock after menu decision. In step SC101, food ingredients included in the selected menu are listed. For example, it is assumed that dish 1, dish 2, and dish 3 are included in the selected menu, and the following ingredients are included as ingredients of each dish.
Ingredients for dish 1: 1/2 tomato, 2 potatoes Ingredients for dish 2: 1/2 tomato, 3 potatoes Ingredients for dish 3: 1/2 tomato, 1/2 potato

If it is the above example, it will become as follows when the said foodstuff is listed.
Tomato: 2 and a half Potato: 5 and a half

Next, in step SC102, “amount to buy” is set based on the stock quantity for each listed foodstuff. For example, assume that the respective inventory amounts are as follows.
Tomato: 1/2 potato 6 pieces Then, the amount to buy is 2 tomatoes (because 2 ½-1/2 pieces = 2).
0 potatoes (because the amount of inventory (6) is more than the amount used (5 and a half))
It becomes.

Next, in step SC103, the items to be purchased and the amount of the items to be purchased are displayed in a list.
In the above example:
2 tomatoes

Here, the user can additionally input other items to be purchased. For example, if you don't need to buy potatoes this time, but want to increase the amount of stock, you should buy three, so you can manually enter "3 potatoes" to display the contents of the list. The
2 tomatoes, 3 potatoes.

  Also, for example, if you want to buy two tomatoes but you want to buy one more, touch the part labeled “2” to increase or decrease the quantity. Can do.

  In the shopping list, a square on the left is a check mark column (check box), and a check mark can be added when the item is purchased. Generally, when shopping, you will check manually (pen touch etc.), but when you purchase with an electronic wallet such as a wallet mobile phone or when you purchase at an online supermarket, If a method that can automatically determine the number is used, the check box can be automatically checked. This process is performed in step SC104, and the checked food is recognized as actually purchased. An example of this shopping list is shown in FIG.

Next, in step SC105, the amount bought at the current shopping is added to the stock amount. For example, in the above example, if the stock quantity is 1/2 tomato and 6 potatoes, and the quantity bought is 2 tomatoes and 3 potatoes,
Stock quantity is
Two and a half tomatoes and nine potatoes.

An example of such an inventory list is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 31, in the inventory list, the same food can be displayed in a separate line for each “purchase date”. For example, in the above example, the original inventory quantity is
Ingredients Quantity Date of purchase 1/2 tomato 2010/1/8
6 potatoes
Suppose you purchased the following items on 10/10/2010.
2 tomatoes, 3 potatoes,
Stock list Ingredients Quantity Date of purchase 1/2 tomato 2010/1/8
2 tomatoes
6 potatoes
3 potatoes 2010/1/10
It becomes.

Thereafter, when cooking is performed while actually viewing the recipe with this device, the amount of food used in the prepared menu is subtracted from the amount of stock in step SC106. In the above example, the amount of ingredients used in the cooked menu is
2 and a half tomatoes 5 and a half potatoes, so the stock after cooking is 0 tomatoes and 3 and a half potatoes.

In the inventory list that also displays the purchase date, assuming that the cooker uses old ingredients, the inventory list is as follows.
Ingredient Quantity Date of purchase Potato 1/2 1/2 2009/12/28
3 potatoes 2010/1/10

  Note that there is a difference between the stock list stored in the device according to the present embodiment and the actual stock, such as when a dish that is not grasped by the device according to the present embodiment is created or when shopping is performed. There is a case. Therefore, from the inventory list screen, the inventory list can be edited (addition / deletion of ingredients, change in number, correction of purchase date, etc.). Although the number management is based on a unit of 1/2, it can be freely set to a unit of 1 or a unit of 1/8 according to user settings.

<Sixth Embodiment>
Next, a mechanism for supporting the work of cooking a plurality of dishes in parallel when cooking will be described. The following information can be added as metadata to each step of the “cooking procedure” in the recipe data according to the embodiment of the present invention.

1) The degree of involvement of the cooker (“large” in the case of the cook's active work, such as washing, cutting, or frying the ingredients, stewed, boiled, steamed, warmed in a microwave oven, or baked in the oven "Small" when cooking equipment is mainly cooked and the cook is engaged in other work, "medium" when the cook needs to be involved to some extent, such as grilling fish Become.)
2) Cooking resources (stove, microwave oven, sink (may include chopping board and cooking table), pan, frying pan, etc.)
3) Cooking time (How many minutes is a standard step)

A format example of each of the above metadata is described as follows, for example.
4) Cooking level: Large = <S 100>, Medium = <S 50>, Small = <S 0>
5) Cooking resources: Stove = <R CONRO>, Microwave Oven = <R OVEN>, Toaster = <R TOASTER>, Sink = <R SINK>, Cooking Table = <R WORKTOP>, Cutting Board = <R BOARD>, Bowl = <R BOWL>, Deep pan = <R POT>, Shallow pan = <R PAN>, Frying pan = <R FRYPAN>, Grilled net = <R GRIDIRON>, Steamer = <R STEAMER>
6) Cooking time: 5 minutes = <T 5> or <T 5m>, 30 seconds = <T 0.5> or <T 0.5m> or <T 30s>, 1 hour = <T 60> or <T 60m> or <T 1h>

For example, in the illustrated example (Napolitan), metadata is added as follows.
(1) Cut onions into thin slices and mushrooms (canned) into 4-5 pieces. <S
100><RSINK><T3>
(2) Cut the bacon into small pieces and the green pepper into half length. <S 100><RSINK>
<T 3>
(3) Add salt to boiling water and boil spaghetti. <S 0><RCONRO><RPOT><T
15>
(4) Heat 2 tablespoons of salad oil in a frying pan and stir fry onions and bacon, then add mash and peppers and stir. Put boiled spaghetti in it, salt and pepper, and season with ketchup and Worcester sauce. <S 100><RCONRO><RFRYPAN><T
8>

  Based on such metadata, a time chart for each dish is displayed. A time chart is, for example, a chart in which the length corresponds to the cooking time, and the color corresponds to the degree of involvement of the cook (the color is darker when the degree of participation is high), and the appearance of cooking is easily understood by appearance. It is what. If the cooking time of a step with a low degree of involvement of a cook in a certain dish is longer than the cooking time of a step in another dish, those dishes can be cooked in parallel at that step. By displaying for each dish, it is possible to easily show the cook that parallel cooking is possible.

For example, it is assumed that the cooking procedure for tomato salad is as follows.
(1) Wash and slice tomatoes. <S 100><RSINK><T3>
(2) Combine vinegar and salad oil to make a dressing. <S 100><RSINK><T3>
(3) Place the tomatoes in the bowl and apply the dressing (2). <S 100><RSINK><T3>
Then, the time chart of the “Napolitan” and the “Tomato Salad” is as shown in FIG. 32, and it is displayed to the user that the “Tomato Salad” can be made in the time when the “Napolitan” is boiled. Become.

  When cooking in this example, following the superposition of this time chart, the steps (1), (2) and (3) for tomato salad are displayed in sequence after the step (3) for Napolitan, and then the procedure for Napolitan (4 ) Is displayed.

  The time chart of each dish can be moved left and right by the cook. For example, when the movement is performed as shown in FIG. Is difficult. In addition, the overlapping of cooking resources is also displayed as “sink × 2”, for example.

For example, suppose that the cooking procedure of cabbage fry is as follows.
(1) Cut the cabbage into 4cm squares, excluding the core. <S 100><RSINK><T5>
(2) Slice onions and peel ginger into slices. <S 100><RSINK><T5>
(3) Heat salad oil in a frying pan and fry ginger. <S 100><RCONRO><RFRYPAN><T3>
(4) Add cabbage and leeks, stir for 2 minutes, and season with salt, pepper and soy sauce. <S 100><RCONRO><RFRYPAN><T3>

  If so, time chart examples of “Napolitan”, “Tomato Salad” and “Frying Cabbage” are as shown in FIG. 33 and FIG. In this way, the time chart of each dish can be freely moved to the left and right (front and back in terms of time) by the user. It is also clearly stated that “you need two stoves and a frying pan”.

When the user decides in what order and in what gap time to cook each dish while looking at this time chart and moving, the actual menu procedure will give instructions according to the time chart . For example, if the user decides to cook using the time chart of FIG. 35, the apparatus of the present invention shows the menu procedure in the following order.
・ Neapolitan (1)
・ Neapolitan (2)
・ Napolitan (3)

Tomato salad (1) (In this case, it is also possible to show the procedure of tomato salad (1) after giving a message saying "Let's make a tomato salad while boiling Napolitan".) The message is time-consuming, such as “boil” and “steam” from the cooking procedure of (3) of the previous dish (in this example Napolitan) (the procedure of the part where the later dish (in this example tomato salad) overlaps) Extract the cooking method and display it mechanically in the form of "Let's make a (later cooking name) while (the previous cooking name) is displayed in the same way as the verb of the extracted cooking method") Is possible.)
・ Tomato salad (2)
・ Tomato salad (3)
・ Napolitan (4)
・ Stir-fried cabbage (1)
・ Stir-fried cabbage (2)
・ Stir-fried cabbage (3)
・ Stir-fried cabbage (4)

  As described above, by using this time chart, the user can grasp in advance the gap time of each dish, and can efficiently cook each dish by effectively utilizing the gap time. It becomes like this.

  Another example of the cooking procedure is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 36, the cooking procedure data includes text data for the user to read and metadata for use with the tool. Text from the left side to the level of involvement is text data, and the right side is metadata.

Hereinafter, metadata on the right side of FIG. 36 will be described.
The first line corresponds to the procedure 1 “cut beef into bite-sized pieces”. <T 3> means that this procedure takes 3 minutes. <R BORAD> means using a cutting board for this task. <R WORKTOP> means to use a countertop for this work. <S 100> means that the cook is almost 100% involved in this work (high degree of involvement). This work requires the cook to put a cutting board on the work table and cut the beef, so that the degree of involvement of the cook increases.

  The second line corresponds to the procedure 2 "Add seasoning with soy sauce and mirin". <T 1> means that this work takes 1 minute. <R BOWL> means using a bowl for this task. <R WORKTOP> means to use a countertop for this work. <S 0> means that the cook hardly needs to be involved in this work (the degree of involvement is small). This is the process of putting soy sauce and mirin in a bowl, immersing the beef that was cut into bites in step 1 and waiting for one minute, so it will be the first few seconds after soaking beef in yuto mirin People just have to wait 1 minute. Therefore, the degree of involvement is small.

  The third line corresponds to the procedure 3 “Wash the lettuce off.” <T 2> means that this work takes 2 minutes. <R SINK> means use a sink for this task. <S 100> means that the cook is almost 100% involved in this work (high degree of involvement). This work requires the cook to perform the work of washing and tearing the lettuce in the sink, so the degree of involvement of the cook increases.

  The fourth line corresponds to “unravel egg” in step 4. <T 1> means that this work takes 1 minute. <R BOWL> means using a bowl for this task. <R WORKTOP> means to use a countertop for this work. <S 100> means that the cook is almost 100% involved in this work (high degree of involvement). In this work, the cook needs to break the egg into the bowl and loosen it, so the degree of involvement of the cook is increasing.

  The fifth line corresponds to “cut green onion” in step 5. <T 3> means that this work takes 3 minutes. <R BORAD> means using a cutting board for this task. <R WORKTOP> means to use a countertop for this work. <S 100> means that the cook is almost 100% involved in this work (high degree of involvement). In this operation, the cook needs to put a cutting board on the cooking table and cut the green onions, so the degree of involvement of the cook is increasing.

  The sixth line corresponds to “Fry the egg out” in step 6. <T 1> means that this work takes 1 minute. <R FRYPAN> means using a frying pan for this task. <R CONRO> means that a stove (gas stove, IH stove, etc.) is used for this work. <S 100> means that the cook is almost 100% involved in this work (high degree of involvement). This work requires the cook to fry the eggs in a frying pan, which increases the degree of involvement of the cook.

  The seventh line corresponds to step 7 “Fry the meat on high heat, add green onions and rice and adjust the taste when the color changes. Mix the eggs, add lettuce, and mix quickly.” <T 4> means that this work takes 4 minutes. <R FRYPAN> means using a frying pan for this task. <R CONRO> means that a stove (gas stove, IH stove, etc.) is used for this work. <S 100> means that the cook is almost 100% involved in this work (high degree of involvement). This work requires the cook to fry the meat in a frying pan, mix the onion and rice, and mix the eggs and lettuce, so the cook is more involved.

<Seventh embodiment>
FIG. 37 is a functional block diagram of the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 37, the menu determination support device 100 includes a region specifying unit 120, a date specifying unit 110, a storage unit 140, a control unit 150, an input unit 160, and an output unit 170.

  The area specifying unit 120 specifies the current position of the menu decision support apparatus 100 in units of areas. The term “region” as used herein refers to a size range in which seasonal foods and special products are different from each other, and is preferably in the same range as a region in the regional food database 142 described later. Arbitrary well-known techniques can be used for the method of specifying the region. For example, a method of specifying the current position using GPS is conceivable.

  The date specifying unit 110 specifies the current date and time. For example, the date specifying unit 110 can be configured using a timer or the like.

  The storage unit 140 includes a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and stores a recipe database 141, a regional food database 142, and a user database 143.

  The control unit 150 determines a menu to be proposed by using the current position (region) and date of the menu determination support device 100 and each database stored in the storage unit 140, and outputs the determined menu from the output unit 170. The process for determining the menu will be described later.

  The input unit 160 is an operation instruction unit used by the user to instruct the menu decision support apparatus 100 to propose a menu. You can also enter the condition settings for the proposal. The input unit 160 can be realized in the form of a keyboard, a keypad, a touch pad, a mouse, a trackball, or the like, for example. In addition, a screen display unit for displaying an operation menu is appropriately provided.

  The output unit 170 outputs the menu proposed by the control unit 150. The output format may be, for example, a screen display using a liquid crystal display or the like, or may be output as data describing the contents of the proposed menu. The screen display device may be shared with the input unit 160.

  The recipe database 141 is a database that holds basic data such as a dish name, ingredients, taste, texture, and color for each dish. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The regional food database 142 holds a list of seasonal foods and special products for each region and month. Details will be described later with reference to FIG. In addition to the region-specific food list, a general food list may be maintained. Below, the description about the list of general ingredients is omitted.

  The user database 143 is a database that stores data for customizing the recipe database 141 or the regional food database 142 for each user.

  The “menu proposal unit” in the present invention corresponds to the control unit 150 and the output unit 170.

  The area specifying unit 120, the date specifying unit 110, and the control unit 150 can be configured using hardware such as a circuit device that realizes these functions, or can be configured with an arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a microcomputer. It can also be configured using a software program that defines the operation. The latter software program corresponds to the “menu decision support program” in the present invention.

  FIG. 38 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a recipe data and a data example held by the recipe database 141. Recipe data is data that holds detailed information of individual dishes. Hereinafter, each information column included in the recipe data will be described.

(Fig. 38: "Cooking name" field)
The “cooking name” column holds the cooking name of the dish described by the recipe data. The dish name itself may contain information that can be used to propose a menu. For example, if the current season is winter, the control unit 150 can exclude a food name that includes characters reminiscent of cold, such as “cold”, from the proposed menu. It is also possible to store in the user database 143 what keywords are included in the dishes and to customize them for each user.

(Figure 38: “Cooking ingredients” column)
The “cooking ingredients” column holds a list of ingredients used to make the dish described by the recipe data. In particular, when proposing a menu that uses seasonal seasonal ingredients and special products, the data held in this column can be used effectively.

(FIG. 38: “Type” and “Genre” columns)
The “type” column and the “genre” column hold data representing a rough classification of dishes described by the recipe data. For example, when “rice” is determined as one item, the control unit 150 proposes dishes other than “rice” after the second item. Similarly, when “Japanese food” is determined as one item, for example, “Japanese food” as much as possible can be proposed for two or more items.

(Figure 38: “Taste” field)
The “taste” column holds data representing the approximate taste type of the dish described by the recipe data. For example, when the controller 150 is instructed to propose a menu for children, the controller 150 can preferentially propose a dish in which this field is “sweet”.

(Figure 38: “Food texture” column)
The “texture” column holds data representing the texture of the dish described by the recipe data. For example, the control unit 150 can make the menu more diverse by proposing two or more dishes having a texture different from the texture of the dish proposed as one item. In addition, for example, when an instruction to propose a menu for the elderly is given, it is possible to exclude as much as possible a dish whose “hard” in this column.

(Figure 38: “Color” column)
The “color” column holds data representing the color of the dish described by the recipe data. When the controller 150 proposes a plurality of dishes, the controller 150 can propose a colorful combination using the values in this field. The value in this field may represent the color of the entire dish, or may retain the color for each food.

(Figure 38: “Standard” column)
The “standard” column holds data indicating whether the dish described by the recipe data is a standard dish.

(Figure 38: “Effort / Time required” column)
The “labor / required time” column holds data indicating the time required to prepare the dish described by the recipe data. The value in this field is a guideline when the user selects a dish from among the proposed dishes. For example, when the user is in a hurry, a dish with a small value in this field is often selected.

(Figure 38: "Cooking utensil" column)
The “cooking utensil” column holds a list of cooking utensils used by the user when preparing the dish described by the recipe data. The control unit 150 uses the value in this field as reference information when proposing a dish, such as not proposing a dish that uses cooking utensils that are easy to feel heat, such as a stove or a frying pan, on a hot day. Can do. In addition, once cooking has started, such as an oven or rice cooker, you can set dishes that use cooking utensils that do not need to be done until completion, with dishes that use cooking utensils that must always be accompanied, such as a frying pan. You can also make suggestions.

(Fig. 38: "Cooking method" column)
The “cooking method” column holds data representing the cooking method of the dish described by the recipe data. It is desirable that the control unit 150 changes the cooking method of cooking proposed for one item and the cooking method of cooking proposed for two or more items from the viewpoint of variety of menus.

(FIG. 38: “Finished cooking temperature” column)
The “finished dish temperature” column holds data representing the temperature at which the dish described by the recipe data can be eaten and consumed. The temperature at which a person feels warm, cold or delicious generally has a difference from the body temperature of 25 degrees or more, and the temperature of a bento box with a heat retaining function is about 50 degrees to about 60 degrees. Since there are many things, for example, “warm dishes = 55 degrees or more” and “cold dishes = 12 degrees or less” are set. About normal temperature, it is set as "normal temperature dish = 15-35 degree | times" with reference to 5 degree-35 degree | times prescribed | regulated by Japanese Industrial Standard. If the current season is winter, the control unit 150 can exclude a dish having a small value in this field from the proposed menu. It is desirable to consider the difference in temperature that the data to be held is, for example, the same soup, the miso soup being around 65 degrees, and the slightly sweet soup at 50 degrees, which is slightly lower.

(Figure 38: “Finished image” column)
The “finished image” column holds image data indicating an image when the dish described by the recipe data is completed. The control unit 150 can extract the color of the dish from the main column instead of the “color” column or in combination with the “color” column, and propose a combination of colorful dishes.

(FIG. 38: “Cooking procedure” column)
The “cooking procedure” column holds data describing the detailed cooking procedure of the dish described by the recipe data. This field can be used as reference information for determining whether or not the user can actually make the dish. In addition, when cooking, this field can be displayed on the screen of the output unit 170 for reference.

  FIG. 39 is a diagram showing a configuration of the regional food table 1421 held in the regional food database 142 and a data example. The regional food table 1421 holds information on seasonal foods and regional special products for each month. By referring to the regional food table 1421, the control unit 150 can grasp the seasonal foods and regional special products for each region and each month.

  The control unit 150 does not necessarily need to select seasonal foods or special products of the current month, and may be handled as being included in the range of seasonal foods or special products, for example, within two months before or after the current month. Data regarding which period range to select seasonal ingredients or special products in may be stored in the user database 143 for customization.

  FIG. 40 is a processing flow showing a process in which the menu decision support apparatus 100 proposes a menu. Hereinafter, each step of FIG. 40 will be described.

(FIG. 40: Step S401)
The area specifying unit 120 and the date specifying unit 110 acquire the area where the menu decision support apparatus 100 is installed and the current date, and output the acquired area to the control unit 150.

(FIG. 40: Step S402)
The control unit 150 searches the regional food database 142 using the region and date acquired from the region specifying unit 120 and the date specifying unit 110, and acquires a list of seasonal ingredients and special products (region food list) in the corresponding region. To do.

(FIG. 40: Step S403)
The control unit 150 searches the recipe database 141 for a dish that uses the regional ingredients acquired in step S402, and proposes the obtained dish as a menu. At this time, customization information for each user stored in the user database 143 may be taken into consideration. The same applies to the following steps S407 and S410. The contents of the proposed menu are presented to the user via the output unit 170.

(FIG. 40: Step S404)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select one of the proposed menus. The user selects one of the menus or instructs to propose another menu. If the user selects any menu, the process proceeds to step S412. If none is selected, the process proceeds to step S405.

(FIG. 40: Step S405)
Instead of or in addition to the regional ingredients acquired in step S402, the control unit 150 acquires a list of other ingredients from the regional ingredients database 142 or the prescribed ingredient list and causes the input unit 160 to display the screen. Suggest to users.

(FIG. 40: Step S406)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select any of the proposed ingredients. The user selects one of the ingredients or instructs that none of the ingredients matches the wish. If the user selects any of the ingredients, the process proceeds to step S407, and if none is selected, the process proceeds to step S409.

(FIG. 40: Step S407)
The control unit 150 searches the recipe database 141 for a dish using the ingredients selected by the user in step S406, and proposes the obtained dish as a menu. The contents of the proposed menu are presented to the user via the output unit 170.

(FIG. 40: Step S408)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select one of the proposed menus. The user selects one of the menus or instructs to propose another menu. If the user selects any menu, the process proceeds to step S412. If none is selected, the process proceeds to step S409.

(FIG. 40: Step S409)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to input conditions for proposing a menu. The user inputs a condition according to a procedure described later with reference to FIG. 41, and the control unit 150 receives the condition designation.

(FIG. 40: Step S410)
The control unit 150 searches the recipe database 141 and the regional food database 142 using the conditions specified in step S410, and proposes the obtained dish as a menu. If a dish that satisfies the conditions is not found, a message such as “There is no recommended dish, please review the conditions.” May be displayed, and the process may return to step S409. Even if there is no dish that satisfies the conditions, after displaying a message such as "There was no suggestion menu that meets the conditions, I looked for recommendations from XX", etc., suggest alternative dishes You may do it.

(FIG. 40: Step S411)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select one of the proposed menus. The user selects one of the menus or instructs to propose another menu. If the user selects any menu, the process proceeds to step S412. If none is selected, the process returns to step S409.

(FIG. 40: Step S412)
The control unit 150 causes the output unit 170 to display the detailed recipe of the selected dish on the screen. The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message for inquiring whether or not to confirm the dish. The user instructs whether to confirm the dish. If it is not confirmed, the process may return to step S409 or S410.

  FIG. 41 is a processing flow showing the detailed procedure of step S409 of FIG. Hereinafter, each step of FIG. 41 will be described.

(FIG. 41: Step S501)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “What do you want to use?”. For example, the user designates an ingredient desired to be used, such as an ingredient in the refrigerator or an ingredient scheduled to be bought on the way home. In this step, it is desirable that a plurality of ingredients can be selected.

(FIG. 41: Step S502)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “Who will eat?” The user designates the type of person who eats, for example, the type of person such as a small child, a junior and senior high school student to an adult, or an elderly person. In this step, a plurality of person types may be designated.

(FIG. 41: Step S503)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “What is the type of dish?”. For example, the user designates the type of food, such as rice, noodles, side dishes, soup, etc., and staple foods, main dishes, side dishes, soup, etc., for which a menu proposal is desired. In this step, a plurality of dish types may be designated.

(FIG. 41: Step S504)
The control unit 150 displays a message such as “What genre do you want to eat?” On the input unit 160. For example, the user designates a food genre such as Japanese food, Western food, Chinese food, and others. In this step, a plurality of cooking genres may be designated.

  The process for the menu decision support apparatus 100 to propose a menu has been described above. Note that the user can also skip each of the conditions shown in FIG. 41 without inputting them. The skipped condition is handled by the control unit 150 as having no desired condition. For example, if the genre that you want to eat is skipped, it is determined that you can propose anything, whether it is Japanese, Western, or Chinese.

  As described above, the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the seventh embodiment includes the regional food database 142 that holds the seasonal foods and special products every month. Using this, the control unit 150 can search the recipe database 141 for a menu according to the region and date and propose it to the user.

<Eighth Embodiment>
In the seventh embodiment, the method of proposing a menu according to the region and date using the recipe database 141 and the regional food database 142 has been described. In the eighth embodiment of the present invention, a method for further narrowing down the proposed menu using the image of the finished dish will be described. Since the configuration of the menu proposal device 100 according to the eighth embodiment is substantially the same as that of the seventh embodiment, the following description focuses on the differences.

  FIG. 42 is a diagram for explaining a standard for the controller 150 to propose a menu using the image data in the “finished image” column of the recipe database 141 in the eighth embodiment. Hereinafter, processing executed by the control unit 150 will be described. Here, it is assumed that the user has already selected “curry and rice” as one item of cooking and requests to propose “salad” as two items. The recipe database 141 stores recipe data of two types of salads “salad 1” and “salad 2”.

(Step 1: Extract RGB values)
The control unit 150 obtains a list of dishes from the recipe database 141 in steps S403, S407, and S410 in FIG. 40, and then images in the “finished image” column of “curry rice”, “salad 1”, and “salad 2”. Get the data. The control unit data 140 acquires RGB values of representative colors from the acquired image data. As a representative color, for example, the most frequently used color among image data can be used. For example, the color most used in the dish image of curry rice in FIG. 42 is (r ₀ , g ₀ , b ₀ ), and the color most used in the dish image of salad 1 is (r ₁ , g ₁ , b ₁ ) The most frequently used color in the cooking image of the salad 2 can be (r ₂ , g ₂ , b ₂ ).

(Step 2: Calculate RGB vector distance between dishes)
The control unit 150 calculates the vector distance between the RGB values of “curry and rice”, “salad 1”, and “salad 2” based on the RGB values of “curry and rice”. The vector distance of RGB value here is the distance between each point obtained when the point which uses RGB value as a coordinate value is arrange | positioned on a three-dimensional coordinate.

The RGB value of the curry rice image is (r ₀ , g ₀ , b ₀ ), the RGB value of the image of salad 1 is (r ₁ , g ₁ , b ₁ ), and the RGB value of the image of salad 2 is (r ₂ , g ₂ , b ₂ ), the respective vector distances can be calculated by the following (formula 1) and (formula 2).

(Step 3: Suggest dishes with the most vector distance)
The controller 150 preferentially proposes a salad having a longer vector distance from the RGB values of curry and rice. Proposing with priority means to present a method with a higher appeal to the user, for example, proposing a priority food first, or proposing only a priority food. The same applies to the following.

  The control part 150 can propose the salad which the color as a whole menu improves when combined with the color of curry rice by the above method.

  FIG. 43 is a diagram for explaining a criterion for the controller 150 to propose only one menu using the image data in the “finished image” column of the recipe database 141. When only one menu item is proposed, unlike the case described with reference to FIG. 42, there is no standard dish, so that the RGB vector value of the color is calculated in the image data of one dish. Specifically, a plurality of points are set in the image data of one dish, and the RGB vector distance between each point is calculated.

In the example shown in FIG. 43, the control unit 150 arbitrarily selects four points in the image data, and acquires the RGB value of each point. The RGB value of point 1 is (r ₁ , g ₁ , b ₁ ), the RGB value of point 2 is (r ₂ , g ₂ , b ₂ ), and the RGB value of point 3 is (r ₃ , g ₃ , b ₃ ) The RGB value of point 4 is (r ₄ , g ₄ , b ₄ ). The total vector distance between these points 1 to 4 is (between point 1 and point 2) + (between point 1 and point 3) + (between point 1 and point 4) + (between point 2 and point 3) + (Between point 2 and point 4) + (between point 3 and point 4), which can be represented by the following (formula 3).

  The reason why 1/6 is multiplied in the above (Equation 3) is to normalize the value. It can be said that the larger the value that can be calculated by the above (Formula 3), the richer the color variation. When there are a plurality of menu candidates to be proposed, the controller 150 can propose a colorful menu by giving priority to the one with a large value.

In the example shown in FIG. 42, when it is desired to compare the RGB vector distances of each dish for a plurality of points, the control unit 150 obtains the RGB vector distances for all combinations of the points, and obtains the average. Thereby, the process similar to FIGS. 42-43 can be performed. For example, the RGB values of the curry and rice image are (r ₀₁ , g ₀₁ , b ₀₁ ) and (r ₀₂ , g ₀₂ , b ₀₂ ), and the RGB value of the salad 1 image is (r ₁₁ , g ₁₁ , b _11). ) And (r ₁₂ , g ₁₂ , b ₁₂ ), and the RGB values of the image of the salad 2 are (r ₂₁ , g ₂₁ , b ₂₁ ) and (r ₂₂ , g ₂₂ , b ₂₂ ), curry rice And the distance between these salads is obtained by the following formula.

  The controller 150 proposes a salad having a longer vector distance from the RGB values of curry and rice. The reason why ¼ is multiplied in the above (formula 4) and (formula 5) is to normalize the value. In general, when the RGB value of dish A is represented by m and the RGB value of dish B is represented by n, the sum of the distances of the RGB values may be divided by m × n. Become.

  FIG. 44 is a diagram showing an example of recipe data in which colors or coordinates used for calculating RGB values in a cooked image are designated. When extracting the RGB values of the image data of the dish, it is desirable to extract only from the part of the dish excluding parts such as dishes such as dishes and the background. Therefore, in FIG. 44, a “sample color” column is provided in the recipe data. In the same column, sample values of representative colors of dishes or coordinate values of portions having representative colors in the image of the finished image are held. The control unit 150 can determine the representative color of the dish using the color or coordinates held in this field.

  For example, the control unit 150 may detect the peripheral part of the tableware shape and automatically determine the part to be excluded. However, the method of providing the “sample color” column is convenient and simple in terms of processing load. It is.

  In addition, the method for proposing a colorful menu using the color distance has been described above, but as another method, a colorful menu based on the total number of colors used for each dish in the menu. There is also a method to propose. For example, “sample color” of curry rice is “ocher, white, red”, “sample color” of salad 1 is “green, white, red”, and “sample color” of salad 2 is “green, yellow, red” In this case, the total sample color of “Curry rice and salad 1” is “ocher, white, red, green”, whereas the total sample color of “Curry rice and salad 2” is “ocher, white” , Red, green, yellow ”, so the menu of“ curry and rice and salad 2 ”can be judged to be richer. Therefore, “curry and rice and salad 2” is preferentially proposed in these two menus. As described above, according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention, the recipe database 141 holds information about the color of a dish in the image data in the “finished image” column or the “sample color” column, and the control is performed. The unit 150 proposes a menu with more color variations using the color information. Thereby, the menu proposal with a good visual image can be performed. Also, menus rich in color variations are presumed to be rich in food and nutritional aspects, and are preferable not only from a visual standpoint but also from a health standpoint.

  Further, according to the eighth embodiment, the control unit 150 treats that the color variation is richer as the vector distance of the RGB values of the dishes is longer. Thereby, the richness of cooking colors can be calculated by a quantitative method that is easy to handle in the arithmetic processing, which is advantageous from the viewpoint of processing load and the like.

<Ninth embodiment>
In the ninth embodiment of the present invention, a configuration and an operation example in which user preferences are reflected in a menu proposal will be described. Since the configuration of the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the ninth embodiment is substantially the same as that of the seventh to eighth embodiments, the following description focuses on the differences.

  FIG. 45 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the selection history information 1431 stored in the user database 143 and a data example. When the control unit 150 receives a menu or food selection from the user in the processing flow described with reference to FIG. 40, the control unit 150 stores the selection content in the selection history information 1431. As a result, the history such as the dish name, material name, dish type and genre selected by the user in the past is accumulated in the user database 143.

  When the control unit 150 proposes foodstuffs and menus, the control unit 150 preferentially proposes foods that have been selected many times in the past. Specifically, for example, when a food item or menu is proposed in steps S403, S405, S407, S410, etc. of FIG. 40, the one that has been selected in the past is proposed first. Thereby, a user's preference can be reflected in the foodstuff and menu which are proposed.

<Tenth Embodiment>
In the tenth embodiment of the present invention, a configuration and an operation example will be described in which menus are proposed by devising ingredients so that food is not biased. Since the configuration of the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the tenth embodiment is substantially the same as that of the seventh to ninth embodiments, the following description focuses on the differences.

  FIG. 46 is a diagram showing a screen display image of the output unit 170. Here, it is assumed that the output unit 170 includes a screen display device and proposes a menu to the user by screen display. When the controller 150 proposes a menu that combines a plurality of dishes, the controller 150 considers the bias of ingredients used by each dish in the menu. Specific examples are given below.

(Example 1: Ingredients specified by the user (hereinafter referred to as “designated ingredients”))
We propose only dishes that use the specified ingredients. If there are multiple designated ingredients, you may propose dishes that use the designated ingredients at the same level (2 carrot dishes, 2 radish dishes, etc.). If there are too many designated ingredients, priority is given to dishes that use all the designated ingredients, and dishes that use at least one or more designated ingredients are proposed.

(Example 2: Ingredients not designated by the user (hereinafter referred to as “designated non-designated ingredients”))
When the number of proposals is small, dishes are proposed so that the designated non-designated food ingredients do not overlap, but when there are many proposals, the dishes using the designated non-designated food ingredients may be proposed to be limited to about 20% each.

  Basically, foods that are important for determining characteristics such as meat and fish, such as taste of cooking (hereinafter referred to as “main foods”) may be considered in the same manner as in Examples 1 and 2 above. When 1 item is decided and 2 items or more are proposed, it is preferable to select dishes so that main ingredients do not overlap as much as possible. This is because it is considered that there are many users who do not like to eat dishes having the same main ingredients at once.

  If the names of ingredients including the main ingredients are displayed on the screen together with the names of the dishes, the user can make a final selection while referring to the names of the dishes and the ingredients, which is convenient. In the example of FIG. 46, it can be seen that dishes 1 and 2 use main ingredients A, dishes 2 and 5 use main ingredients B, and dishes 4 use main ingredients C.

  As for which ingredients are the main ingredients, for example, among the ingredients held in the “Cooking ingredients” column of the recipe data, an attribute is added to the effect that the ingredients are the main ingredients. Can be grasped. In the example shown in FIG. 38, since the “main” attribute is attached to the ingredient “Muki chestnut”, the control unit 150 knows that “Muki chestnut” is the main ingredient.

  In addition, the main ingredients can be determined from the value in the “cooking name” column of the recipe data. For example, if the name of an ingredient such as “Chicken XX” or “XX Tofu” is included in the dish name, it can be determined that the ingredient is the main ingredient. If multiple ingredients names are included, each is designated as the main ingredient.

  When only a rough food name is included in the dish name, such as “meat OO” or “fish XX”, it is not possible to specify a specific food material from the dish name alone. In this case, it is also possible to appropriately select one belonging to meat or fish from all ingredients and handle it as the main ingredient in the dish.

  FIG. 47 is a diagram showing a configuration and data example of the food type information 1422 held in the local food database 142 in the tenth embodiment. The food material type information 1422 is information describing which type the food material belongs to.

  The food type information 1422 holds information on “material”, “type”, “season”, and “main food availability” of each food. In the example shown in FIG. 47, it is described that the ingredient “Akita Fish” belongs to the type “Fish”.

  The item “season” indicates a time when the food is well taken. This item can be used as a judgment material when the controller 150 proposes a dish suitable for the season.

  The item “Possibility of main ingredient” indicates whether the ingredient can be a major ingredient (◯) or not (x).

  FIG. 48 is a diagram showing an example of a menu proposal when the user continuously desires the same food material. Here, an example of two consecutive days is shown. Proposing the same menu in a short period of time lacks freshness for the user, and in such a case, it is desirable to propose different menus using the same ingredients.

  FIG. 48 shows an example in which dishes 1 to 5 using main ingredients A to C are proposed on the first day, and dishes 11 to 15 using the same main ingredients A to C are proposed on the second day. Specifically, since dish 1 is selected on the first day, the second day indicates that the priority of dish 1 is lowered and proposed.

  Thereby, even if a user desires the same food for a short period of time, a menu proposal that does not bore the user can be made.

  In order to make a menu proposal as shown in FIG. 48, for example, the menu history of the last one week or so is stored in the user database 143, and at the next proposal, the dishes included in the menu history are not proposed or the priority is lowered. The method of proposing is conceivable.

  As described above, according to the tenth embodiment, when the controller 150 proposes a menu including a plurality of dishes, the ratio of the same ingredients included in the menu is a specified ingredient. Because it may be included in all proposed menus, it is 100%, and in the case of non-designated foodstuffs, it is limited to about 20%. However, for non-designated foodstuffs, it is desirable to reduce the proportion of the same foodstuff contained in the menu as the number of menus to be proposed decreases. Thereby, the user can always receive a fresh menu proposal. Since it is thought that nutritional aspects are also improved by abundant variations of foodstuffs, it is preferable from the viewpoint of health.

  Further, in the tenth embodiment, when the controller 150 proposes a menu using the same ingredients within a short period of time, for example, in order not to suggest the same dish as much as possible, for example, the latest (eg, about one week) ) Suggest a menu, for example, by lowering the priority of the dishes proposed in Thereby, even when using the same foodstuff, the menu with fresh taste can be proposed.

  Further, on the menu suggestion screen of FIG. 46 or 48, for the convenience of the user in a hurry, a mark such as “short time” is displayed on the screen next to the dish with a short cooking time, and the user selects a menu with a short cooking time. You may make it easy.

  46 and 48, the “menu” displayed indicates “menu dish”.

<Eleventh embodiment>
In the tenth embodiment, it has been described that a menu is proposed so that foods do not overlap as much as possible. From the same viewpoint, the control unit 150 can also propose menu dishes so that the cooking methods do not overlap as much as possible. This is because dishes using the same cooking method may have similar tastes or tastes of the same kind, which is not preferable in terms of menu variations.

  However, if the number of proposals is large, for example, there are many dishes that use the “boiled” cooking method for side dishes. Good.

  The configuration of the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the eleventh embodiment is the same as that of the tenth embodiment.

<Twelfth embodiment>
In the above embodiment (seventh to eleventh), as other conditions input by the user in the processing flow of FIG. 41, for example, “NG food”, “NG cooking method”, and the like are also conceivable.

  “NG food” means that if there is a food that the user does not like, it is registered. When there are NG foods, the control unit 150 always excludes those containing NG foods when proposing a menu to the user.

  The “NG cooking method” is a method for registering a cooking method that the user does not like. When there is an NG cooking method, the control unit 150 always excludes dishes using the NG cooking method when proposing a menu to the user.

  As for these conditions, similar information may be stored in the user database 143 in advance, and the control unit 150 may read the information and use it when the menu is proposed. Similarly, ingredients or menu dishes that the user wants to use actively may be stored in the user database 143, and the controller 150 may read them and use them at the menu proposal.

  In addition to the above, information on whether or not the user likes the standard dish may be stored in the user database 143. A user's preference for a standard dish includes a case where he / she prefers a standard dish he / she is familiar with and a case where he / she wants to increase his / her repertoire by selecting a dish other than the standard dish. If the user database 143 stores each user's preference regarding the standard dish, the control unit 150 can read this and adjust the menu tendency proposed according to the user's preference.

<Twelfth embodiment>
As conditions to be considered when the control unit 150 proposes only one menu item, for example, the following can be considered. List in priority order of conditions.
(Condition 1) Seasonal ingredients (detected from calendar or GPS function or input arbitrarily)
(Condition 2) Exclude dishes with names that do not match the season (Condition 3) Desired ingredients (optional input)
(Condition 4) Target person (optional input)
(Condition 5) Cooking type (optional input)
(Condition 6) Cooking genre (optional input)
(Condition 7) Menu with good color (Condition 8) NG ingredients (Condition 9) Use of classic dishes

When the controller 150 proposes a menu combining a plurality of dishes, an example of a priority order for proposing one item candidate is shown below.
(Condition 1) Cooking type (optional input)
(Condition 2) Seasonal ingredients (detected from calendar and GPS function)
(Condition 3) Exclude menu names that do not match the season (Condition 4) Desired ingredients (optional input)
(Condition 5) NG food (Condition 6) Genre (optional input)
(Condition 7) Eating target (optional input)
(Condition 8) Menu with good color (Condition 9) Use of standard menu

For example, the controller 150 proposes food items after two items in the following priority order.
(Condition 10) Type of dish (Condition 11) Seasonal ingredients (Condition 12) Exclude menu items that do not match the season (Condition 13) Desired ingredients (Condition 14) NG ingredients (Condition 15) In the first dish Exclude certain ingredients (Condition 16) Exclude the texture determined by the first dish (Condition 17) Exclude the cooking method determined by the first dish (Condition 18) Menu that increases the color distance from the first dish Choice

  Thus, if conditions are set in a combination that takes into account the priority order, it is possible to propose a menu with a high nutritional value that meets the user's preference. Note that the number of candidates displayed on the menu candidate proposal screen may be any number, and a predetermined number may be displayed in the order satisfying the conditions. On the menu candidate proposal screen, a message such as “recommended is XX” may be displayed to indicate the total number of menu candidates. This is because the number of cases that the user can easily see varies depending on the display method (form, size, etc.) on the output unit 170.

<Thirteenth embodiment>
FIG. 49 is a diagram illustrating data defining whether to display each item included in the recipe data. It is desirable that each item of the recipe data can be customized according to the user's preference as to whether or not the proposal result is displayed on the output unit 170. For example, some people find it more convenient to display “how hot” or “how long does it take” on the display screen.

  When instructing the output unit 170 to display the contents of the recipe data on the screen, the control unit 150 reads the data shown in FIG. 49 and adjusts the display items. The data shown in FIG. 49 may be stored in, for example, the user database 143 as customization information for each user.

<Fourteenth embodiment>
In the above seventh to thirteenth embodiments, the input unit 160 may include a dedicated operation key for operating a specific function. The operation keys include the following, for example.

(Operation key example 1: "Search" key)
The “search” key is a key operated when the user instructs the menu decision support apparatus 100 to propose a menu. When the user operates the “Search” key after inputting conditions, the conditions are output to the control unit 150.

(Operation key example 2: “Return” key)
The “return” key is a key for performing an operation of returning from the current display screen to the previous display screen.

(Example of operation key 3: “Next” key)
The “first” key is a key for canceling all selection / suggestion of the current food and menu and returning to the initial screen. Before returning to the initial screen, a warning message such as “Are all conditions entered cleared? Are you sure?” May be displayed. The following operation examples can be considered.

(Example of operation key 3: "Next" key: Example of operation 1)
When the menu decision support apparatus 100 is turned on, steps S401 to S403 are executed. After that, press the “Start” key on any screen to display the initial screen. On the initial screen, a message “What do you propose? Or do you want to enter conditions?” Is displayed, and when the user selects “menu proposal”, step S401 in FIG. 40 is started and “food proposal” is selected. Then, step S405 is started. If “condition input” is selected, step S409 is started.

(Example of operation key 3: “Next” key: Operation example 2)
Instead of making a proposal for the menu immediately after the menu decision support apparatus 100 is turned on, a message “What do you want to propose or do you want to enter conditions?” Is displayed. The subsequent operation is the same as that of the first operation example.

(Operation key example 4: “Details” key)
The “detail” key is a key for performing an operation for displaying details of a dish. When the user selects and operates a dish for which detailed contents are to be viewed on the menu candidate proposal screen, the contents of the recipe card are displayed.

(Operation key example 5: “Keep” key)
The “keep” key is a key for performing an operation of marking a favorite dish among the proposed menu candidates. After viewing other dishes, only the dishes with keep marks are displayed, and the menu to be finally selected can be determined.

(Example of operation key 6: "Next time" key)
The “Now” key was a favorite among the proposed menu options, but for example, the food could not be made because it was not available, or it took too much time to mark the dish as today Key. A dish with such a mark may be given a higher priority in the display order if other conditions are met in the next and subsequent menu proposals. The dish marked by the “again” key is stored in the user database 143 as “favorite dish”. For example, only “favorite dishes” may be displayed as menu candidates.

(Operation key example 7: "I decided this" key)
The “determined for this” key is an operation key for performing an operation of determining a menu finally selected from the currently proposed menu candidates.

(Operation key example 8: "Stop" key)
The “stop” key is used to stop receiving a proposal when there is no favorite menu candidate currently proposed.

(Operation key example 9: “Add food” key)
The “add food” key is used to perform an operation of adding “another dish” to the condition of the number of dishes input first.

(Operation key example 10: “Add food” key)
The “add food” key is a key for performing an operation of adding another food when there is no favorite menu item currently proposed. Moreover, although there was a favorite menu, it can be used also when performing operation when it is desired to add another food.

<Fifteenth embodiment>
In the fifteenth embodiment of the present invention, identification of a region will be described. The configuration of the menu decision support device 100 is the same as in the seventh to fourteenth embodiments.

  FIG. 50 is a diagram illustrating an example in which regions are grouped in units with the same or close seasonal time. The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display the table of FIG. 50 on the screen, and the user selects an area where he / she lives from the table. The area specifying unit 120 specifies an area where the menu decision support device 100 is located based on the selection result.

  FIG. 51 is a diagram showing data having the same contents as FIG. 50 on a map of Japan. The control unit 150 may display the screen of FIG. 51 on the input unit 160 and allow the user to select one of the regions on the map. In addition, it may be possible to select from the map on a prefecture basis. The area specifying unit 120 specifies an area where the menu decision support device 100 is located based on the selection result.

  52 to 54 are diagrams showing other methods in which the user designates an area. The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display the input screen shown in each figure on the screen, and allows the user to select one of the regions. The area specifying unit 120 specifies an area where the menu decision support device 100 is located based on the selection result. Each figure will be described below.

  FIG. 52 is a diagram showing an example in which Miyagi Prefecture is selected from the pull-down menu.

  FIG. 53 is an example of input and display in the case where area information is acquired from a zip code. By entering a postal code of 3 or more digits, it becomes possible to search for an area. Here, an example in which the postal code “980” is input is shown. At this point, you can see that the area is “Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture”. The correspondence relationship between the zip code and the region may be grasped by holding the correspondence relationship data in advance in the region specifying unit 120 or the like.

  FIG. 54 shows an example of input and display when area information is acquired from a telephone number. By entering two or more area codes as telephone numbers, it becomes possible to search for an area. In this example, the area code “02” is entered. Areas starting with the area code “02” are “Miyagi”, “Yamagata”, “Fukushima”, “Niigata”, “Nagano”, “Gunma”, “Tochigi”, “Ibaraki” These are eight. When the number of input digits is small, a plurality of regions may be targeted as in this example, so that it is possible to select a region for which menu proposal is desired from among the plurality of regions.

  FIG. 55 is a diagram showing an example in which regions having similar climates are grouped. This is a more flexible way to divide the region, regardless of prefecture. The control unit 150 displays a grouped table as shown in FIG. 55 on the input unit 160 and allows the user to select it. The area specifying unit 120 specifies an area where the menu decision support device 100 is located based on the selection result.

  It is convenient in terms of processing if the method of dividing the region and the region classification of the food list stored in the regional food database 142 are coincident, but they do not necessarily have to coincide.

  FIG. 56 is a diagram showing the grouping of the regions shown in FIG. 55 on a map of Japan. The control unit 150 may display the map of FIG. 56 on the input unit 160 instead of the table of FIG. 55 and allow the user to select a region on the map.

  As described above, in the fifteenth embodiment, the identification of the area has been described.

<Sixteenth Embodiment>
In the sixteenth embodiment of the present invention, date specification will be described. The configuration of the menu decision support device 100 is the same as in the seventh to fifteenth embodiments.

  FIG. 57 is a diagram showing an example of a date / time setting screen. The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a date and time setting screen as shown in FIG. 57 and allows the user to input the current date and time. In this example, “October 15, 2009, 15:30” is input. When receiving the input, the date specifying unit 110 sets the internal time to the date and time. It is desirable that the time can be set by either a 12-hour system or a 24-hour system. This is because both are currently used in general society.

  After setting the current date and time, the date specifying unit 110 automatically advances the date and time by an internal timer or the like, and can specify the current date at any time thereafter. The control unit 150 proposes a menu using seasonal local foods and special products corresponding to the date.

  58 to 60 show examples of screens used when the user designates a date on which a menu is proposed instead of automatically specifying the date. The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display one of the screens shown in each drawing. The user enters the date on the screen. The date specifying unit 110 specifies a date on which a menu should be proposed based on the input. Each figure will be described below.

  FIG. 58 is an example of a screen for designating a date on the calendar.

  FIG. 59 shows an example of a screen for inputting the month and day numerical values in the month and day input field.

  FIG. 60 is an example of a screen for selecting a month and day from a pull-down menu.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the specification of the date has been described.

<Seventeenth embodiment>
FIG. 62 is a functional block diagram of the menu proposal device 100 according to the seventeenth embodiment of the present invention. The menu proposal device 100 includes a weather information acquisition unit 110, a recipe database 141, a control unit 130, an input unit 140, and an output unit 150.

  The weather information acquisition unit 110 is connected to the weather information providing apparatus 800 via the network 600, and acquires information related to the weather from the weather information providing apparatus 200. The information related to the weather is, for example, information indicating the specified date and time / the weather such as sunny / cloudy / rainy in the area, temperature, humidity, and the like. The weather information acquisition unit 110 is not necessarily required to acquire weather information from the weather information providing apparatus 800 via the network 600, and a specific method for acquiring weather information may be arbitrary as long as desired weather information is obtained. .

  The recipe database 141 stores recipe information described later with reference to FIG.

  The control unit 130 controls the overall operation of the menu proposal device 100. In addition, a recipe corresponding to the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 110 is retrieved from the recipe information stored in the recipe database and acquired. Details will be described later.

  The input unit 140 is an interface for the user to input recipe information search conditions and the like. Specifically, the input unit 140 can be implemented in the form of an operation button, a remote control light receiving unit, a data interface that receives a search condition via a network, and the like.

  The output unit 150 outputs the recipe information acquired by the control unit 130. Specifically, the output unit 150 can be implemented in the form of a screen display unit that displays recipe information on a screen, a data interface that outputs recipe information via a network, or the like.

  The weather information acquisition unit 110 and the control unit 130 can be configured by using hardware such as a circuit device that realizes these functions, or an arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and software that defines its operation. Can also be used.

  The recipe database 141 can be configured using a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and a data file that holds recipe information.

  The “menu proposal unit” in the seventeenth embodiment corresponds to the control unit 130.

  FIG. 63 is a diagram showing a configuration of the recipe information stored in the recipe database 141 and a data example. The recipe database 141 is a database that holds recipe information of individual dishes for each dish. As the recipe information, information indicating what kind of weather the dish is suitable for is stored in the “recipe classification by weather” column in FIG. 63. The method of classifying recipes will be described again with reference to FIG. A circle indicated by a bold line in FIG. 63 indicates that an item surrounded by a circle is applied to the recipe.

  The recipe information holds information representing at least one of a dish name, a cooking material (foodstuff), and a (finished) cooking temperature for each recipe. FIG. 63 shows an example in which other information is also held. Information other than these may be held together.

  FIG. 64 is a diagram showing recipe classification criteria. Here, the classification criteria of “hot recipe”, “cold recipe”, and “stored recipe” in the “recipe classification by weather” column in FIG. 63 are shown. Hereinafter, each classification criterion will be described.

(1) Criteria for classifying warm recipes Recipes that contain the letters “hot pot, warm, hot, etc.” in the recipe name and recipes with a cooking temperature of “warm” are considered to be warm recipes that are warm dishes.

(2) Criteria for cold recipes Recipes that contain the letters “cold, cold, cold, light, refreshing” in the recipe name, recipes that contain “lemon, vinegar, ice” in the ingredients, and the cooking temperature is “cold” The recipe is considered to be a cold recipe that is a cold dish.

(3) Criteria for preserving recipes Recipes that use “root vegetables, canned foods, vermicelli, dried seaweed, hijiki, Takano tofu, retort food”, which have a long shelf life, are cooking recipes that are suitable for preservation Consider it. This preserved recipe should be used to suggest cooking recipes using ingredients that are supposed to be stocked at home so that the cook can cook without going out in bad weather such as heavy rain, snow, typhoons, etc. . Moreover, it is not limited to the recipe proposed in bad weather, but may be appropriately combined with a warm recipe or a cold recipe proposed according to weather information.

(4) Other Recipes Recipes that do not meet the above classification conditions may be used as intermediate recipes that are suggested at a temperature that does not feel much hot or cold.

  As described above, in the present invention, information that associates each dish with the temperature level is stored in the recipe data, which indicates when each dish should be preferentially proposed.

  The configuration of the menu proposal device 100 according to the seventeenth embodiment has been described above. Next, the operation of the menu proposal device 100 will be described.

  FIG. 65 is a flow for explaining a process in which the control unit 130 proposes a menu. Hereinafter, each step of FIG. 65 will be described.

(FIG. 65: Step S400)
The user instructs the menu proposal device 100 to propose a menu via the input unit 140. At this time, a date or a region may be designated as an additional condition, and an instruction may be given to propose a menu suitable for the weather corresponding to the condition. Unless otherwise specified, a menu suitable for the weather in a predetermined area in the same time zone of the day is proposed.

(FIG. 65: Step S401)
The control unit 130 instructs the weather information acquisition unit 110 to acquire the weather information (at least temperature and humidity) of the date and area specified in step S400. The weather information acquisition unit 110 acquires the date and local weather information and outputs them to the control unit 130.

(FIG. 65: Steps S402 to S404)
If the humidity acquired in step S401 is less than 50%, the process proceeds to step S408. If it is 60% or more and less than 80%, the process proceeds to step S405. If it is 80% or more, the process proceeds to step S406. % Or more and less than 60%), the process proceeds to step S407.

(FIG. 65: Steps S405 to S407)
These steps are for correcting the difference in the sensation temperature caused by the humidity. When the humidity is 80% or higher, the sensible temperature becomes high, and the control unit 130 performs the following processing using a value obtained by adding 3 ° C. to the actual air temperature. Similarly, when the humidity is 60% or more and less than 80%, 2 ° C. is added, and when the humidity is 50% or more and less than 60%, 1 ° C. is added. If the humidity is less than 50%, no correction is performed.

(FIG. 65: Steps S408 to S409)
When the temperature obtained from the above steps is less than 18 ° C., the process proceeds to step S410, when it is 18 ° C. or more and less than 25 ° C., the process proceeds to step S411, and when it is 25 ° C. or more, the process proceeds to step S412.

(FIG. 65: Steps S410 to S412)
When the temperature obtained from the above steps is less than 18 ° C., the control unit 130 considers it to be a cold day and proposes a warm recipe, and if it is 18 ° C. or more and less than 25 ° C., proposes an intermediate recipe, If it is 25 ° C or higher, it is considered a hot day and a cold recipe is proposed.

  The operation example of the menu proposal device 100 according to the seventeenth embodiment has been described above.

  As described above, according to the seventeenth embodiment, the recipe database 141 stores the information shown in the “Recipe classification by weather” column of FIG. 63 as correspondence information that associates weather information with the characteristics of a dish. Yes. The information shown in the same column represents the characteristics of whether the dish is suitable for warm weather or cold weather as described in FIG. By using this information, the control unit 130 can appropriately propose a menu having characteristics suitable for the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 110.

<Eighteenth embodiment>
In the eighteenth embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in the seventeenth embodiment, a configuration and an operation example for proposing a menu in consideration of cooking time will be described. The menu suggestion apparatus 100 described in the seventeenth embodiment proposes a menu mainly from the viewpoint of a person who eats the finished dish, but in the present eighteenth embodiment, the viewpoint of the cooking burden of the cooker is introduced. To do. Since the configuration of the menu proposal device 100 is the same as that in the seventeenth embodiment, the following description will focus on the differences.

  FIG. 66 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the recipe information and a data example according to the eighteenth embodiment. In addition to the configuration described in FIG. 63 of the seventeenth embodiment, the recipe information in the eighteenth embodiment is newly added to the “cooking utensil (feeling hot)” column, “cooking utensil (heating “Not feel”) column, “cooking method” column, and “cooking time” column.

  The “cooking utensil (feeling the heat)” column holds information that lists the cooking utensils that are required when cooking the cooking, and that the cook easily feels the heat in the cooking process.

  The “cooking utensil (not letting you feel the heat)” column holds information that lists the cooking utensils that the cooker does not feel so hot in the cooking process among the cooking utensils required when cooking the dish. .

  The “cooking method” column holds the type of cooking method used when cooking the food. The type of cooking method here is not a detailed cooking process but a rough cooking method such as baking and boiling.

  The “cooking time” column holds the time required for each cooking method in the “cooking method” column.

  Heretofore, the configuration of the menu proposal device 100 according to the eighteenth embodiment has been described. Next, the influence which a cooking process has on a menu proposal is demonstrated. In general, the cooking process is thought to affect the impression of “hot / cold” that the finished dish gives to the eater. These effects are described below.

  FIG. 67 is a diagram showing recipe classification criteria according to the eighteenth embodiment. In FIG. 67, a “cooking method” column is newly provided in addition to the classification criteria shown in FIG. 64 of the seventeenth embodiment. This corresponds to the provision of the same column in the recipe information. In other words, it is considered that there is a certain degree of correlation between the cooking method and the impression such as “hot / cold” of the finished dish, and this is reflected in the recipe classification standard. In the eighteenth embodiment, the following new standard is provided in consideration of the temperature felt by the person who eats the food due to the cooking method.

(1) Criteria for classifying warm recipes A dish that includes "raw" or "warming" in the "cooking method" column of the recipe information is excluded from the target of the warm recipe.

(2) Criteria for Cold Recipes Dishes that include “Fry” or “Fry” in the “Cooking Method” column of the recipe information are excluded from cold recipes because they tend to feel hot.

  As described above, in the eighteenth embodiment, the recipes are classified in consideration of the influence of the cooking method and cooking utensils used in the cooking process on the finished dish.

  It should be noted that the classification based on the cooking method can be considered to be a classification based on the heat / cold felt by the cook during the cooking process. According to the same viewpoint, for example, dishes that use cooking utensils included in “cooking utensils (feeling heat)” may be excluded from the target of the cold recipe.

<Nineteenth embodiment>
The type of cooking method and the cooking time affect not only the impression that the finished dish gives to the eater, but also the impression such as “hot / cold” that the cook receives in the cooking process. Therefore, in the embodiment B3 of the present invention, an operation example in which a menu is proposed by taking into consideration the influence of the cooking method type and the cooking time in the cooking process on the cooker will be described. Since the configuration of the menu proposal device 100 is the same as that of the seventeenth to eighteenth embodiments, the following description will focus on the differences.

  If the cooking method in which the cook is easy to feel the heat is used for a long time, the possibility that the cook feels the heat in the cooking process increases. Therefore, in the nineteenth embodiment, the control unit 130 adds the values in the “cooking time” column for each “cooking method” column shown in FIG. 66, and based on this, the recipe of the warm recipe / intermediate recipe / cold recipe is added. Propose one. As an example, instead of the method described in FIG. 65 according to the seventeenth embodiment, it may be possible to adopt the method described in FIG. 68 below.

  FIG. 68 is a flow for explaining a process in which the control unit 130 proposes a menu based on the cooking time. Hereinafter, each step of FIG. 68 will be described.

(FIG. 68: Step S701)
The control unit 130 executes steps S401 to S407 in FIG. B4.

(FIG. 68: Step S702)
The control unit 130 adds the cooking time of each cooking method for each recipe information stored in the recipe database 141. If the total time is recorded in advance in the recipe information, the value may be used.

(FIG. 68: Steps S703 to S704)
If the temperature obtained from the above steps is less than 18 ° C., the process proceeds to step S705, if it is 18 ° C. or more and less than 25 ° C., the process proceeds to step S706, and if it is 25 ° C. or more, the process proceeds to step S707.

(FIG. 68: Steps S705 to S707)
If the temperature obtained from the above steps is less than 18 ° C., the control unit 130 considers that it is a cold day and proposes a recipe with a long total cooking time, and if it is 18 ° C. or more and less than 25 ° C., the total cooking is performed. A recipe with an intermediate time is proposed, and if it is 25 ° C. or higher, it is considered a hot day and a recipe with a short total cooking time is proposed. The length of the total cooking time may be determined based on, for example, whether the total cooking time is longer or shorter than the threshold on the basis of an appropriate threshold.

  As described above, in the nineteenth embodiment, the control unit 130 proposes a menu based on the cooking time. Thereby, the menu proposal apparatus 100 can propose the menu which considered the heat which a chef feels in a cooking process.

<20th Embodiment>
In the above seventeenth to eighteenth embodiments, the method for suggesting a menu in consideration of the heat / coldness felt by the finished dish itself has been described. In the nineteenth embodiment, the method for suggesting a menu in consideration of the heat / coldness felt by the cook in the cooking process has been described. In the twentieth aspect of the present invention, the following (Combination Method Example 1) to (Combination Method Example 4) are used to determine which of these methods is used preferentially or how each method is combined. Illustrate. The configuration of the menu proposal device 100 is the same as in the seventeenth to nineteenth embodiments.

(Combination Technique Example 1) Prioritizing Finished Dish The control unit 130 adopts the technique described in the seventeenth embodiment (FIG. 65), and uses the impression such as heat / coldness that the food itself gives to the eater. Suggest a menu. However, when the recipe information as shown in FIG. 66 is presented to the user from the output unit 150 and the user finally decides the menu, the impression such as heat / cold felt by the cook in the cooking process can be referred to. Like that.

(Combination technique example 2) Prioritizing the cook The control unit 130 adopts the technique (FIG. 68) described in the nineteenth embodiment, and gives impressions such as heat / coldness that the cooking process gives to the cook. Propose a menu as a standard. However, the recipe information as shown in FIG. 66 is presented to the user from the output unit 150, and when the user finally decides the menu, the impression of heat / cold etc. that the dish itself gives to the eater can be referred to. Like that.

(Combination method example 3) Considering both cooking and cooks The control unit 130 uses the method described in the seventeenth embodiment (FIG. 65) and the method described in the nineteenth embodiment (FIG. 68). And a predetermined priority level. Furthermore, priority may be given in more detail according to the number of characters that make you feel the heat in the recipe information, the length of cooking time, and the like. The control unit 130 executes each method individually, and presents the method to the user via the output unit 150 in the order of higher priority.

(Combination method example 4) The user designates which to prioritize The user gives priority to the menu of the heat / cold that the finished dish itself feels or the heat / cold that the chef feels during the cooking process. It is specified via the input unit 140 whether to propose. The control unit 130 uses any method according to the designation.

  As described above, in the twentieth embodiment, a menu is proposed in consideration of the heat / coldness felt by the finished dish itself, and a menu is proposed in consideration of the heat / chill felt by the cook in the cooking process. It illustrated about the combination with the method to do.

<Twenty-first embodiment>
In the twenty-first embodiment of the present invention, the method of proposing a menu based on the total cooking time of each cooking method type described in the nineteenth embodiment is developed, and the characteristics of each cooking method type or each cooking utensil Explain the method to propose a menu taking into account. The configuration of the menu proposal device 100 is the same as that of the seventeenth to twentieth embodiments.

  In the twenty-first embodiment, when executing step S702 in FIG. 68, the control unit 130 does not simply add the cooking times for each cooking method type, but multiplies each cooking method by a weighting factor. Sum up above. For example, the following calculation formula can be used.

  Total cooking time = (Warming time × 0) + (Baking time) + (Boiling time × 0.5) + (Frying time) + (Steaming time × 0.2) + (Frying time) + (Boiling time × 0. 5)

  In the above formula, 0 multiplied by the time to be summed, 0.5 multiplied by the time for cooking and boiling, and 0.2 multiplied by the time for steaming correspond to the above-described weighting factors. This weighting coefficient is a coefficient representing the degree to which the cook feels hot due to each cooking method type or each cooking utensil. The criteria for setting the weighting factor will be described below.

(Setting standard 1) Weighting factor resulting from the cooking method In the cooking process of cooking, the cooking process of steaming, and the cooking process of boiling, the cook can leave the kitchen during cooking, so it is considered that the degree of feeling the heat is small. Similarly, since cooking is not performed in the soothing process, it is considered that the cook does not feel the heat caused by the cooking method. Therefore, regarding these cooking methods, a weighting factor of less than 1 was set, and it was assumed that the time when the user feels the heat substantially becomes less than the actual cooking time. Specific numerical values are not limited to the above.

(Setting standard 2) Weight coefficient caused by cooking utensil In the cooking process using the cooking utensil described in the column “Cooking utensil (do not feel hot)” in FIG. 66, the cook does not feel the heat. Therefore, the weighting coefficient is set to 0 for the cooking method type. For example, when steaming using a range, the steaming time is multiplied by a weighting factor of zero.

  The controller 130 proposes a menu based on the total cooking time obtained by multiplying each cooking method type by the weighting factor. When the total cooking time is not used as a standard for the menu proposal, the calculated total cooking time may only be presented to the user via the output unit 150 as reference information.

  FIG. 69 is a diagram illustrating an example of recipe information presented by the output unit 150. In FIG. 69, a “cooking time to feel the heat” column is newly provided below the “cooking time” column. In the same column, the total cooking time obtained by multiplying the weighting factor is described. Since the cooking process is multiplied by a weighting factor of 0.5, the cooking time for feeling the heat is 1.5 minutes. In the same recipe, steaming is performed using a range, so the steaming process is multiplied by a weighting factor of 0 and excluded from cooking time when the heat is felt.

  FIG. 70 is a diagram showing recipe information when the same dish as FIG. 69 is cooked with different cooking utensils. In this recipe, steaming is performed using a steamer, so the steaming process is multiplied by a weighting factor of 0.2, and the cooking time for feeling the heat is 0.6 minutes. Thus, since the heat felt by the cook varies depending on the cooking utensil even in the same dish, it can be regarded as a recipe different from FIG. In order to avoid confusion for the user, it is convenient to display the cooking name so that the difference between the cooking utensils can be recognized even if the same cooking recipe uses different cooking utensils.

  As described above, according to the twenty-first embodiment, the control unit 130 sets a weighting factor that reflects the degree to which the cook feels heat due to the cooking method type or the characteristics of the cooking utensil, for each cooking. The total cooking time is obtained after multiplication for each cooking time of the method type. Thereby, the menu proposal which reflected the heat which a chef feels in an actual cooking process more faithfully can be performed.

  In the twenty-first embodiment, the total cooking time reflecting the weighting factor is presented to the user from the output unit 150, so that the user can select a menu with reference to the heat felt during the cooking process. . Thereby, a cook's burden can be reduced.

<Twenty-second embodiment>
FIG. 71 is a diagram showing the configuration of the menu proposal device 100 and its peripheral devices according to the twenty-second embodiment. In the twenty-second embodiment, the input unit 140 and the output unit 150 are connected to the client terminal 400 via the network 600. Other configurations are the same as those in the seventeenth to twenty-first embodiments.

  The user instructs the menu proposal device 100 to propose a menu to the menu proposal device 100 via the client terminal 400 to the network 600. At this time, as in step S400 of FIG. 65, a date or a region may be designated as an additional condition, and an instruction may be given to propose a menu suitable for the weather corresponding to the condition. The input unit 140 receives the instruction and outputs it to the control unit 130. The control unit 130 determines the menu using the method described in the seventeenth embodiment B1 to B5, and transmits the menu to the client terminal 400 via the output unit 150 to the network 600.

  As described above, according to the twenty-second embodiment, the user can obtain a menu proposal from a remote location via the network 600.

<Twenty-third Embodiment>
In the twenty-second embodiment, the control unit 130 specifies the location area of the client terminal 400 based on the IP address of the client terminal 400 and instructs the weather information acquisition unit 110 to acquire weather information in that area. It may be. As a result, the user can obtain a menu proposal without specifying a region, so that the operation burden is reduced. Note that any known technique can be used as a method of specifying the area of the client terminal 400. The “area specifying unit” in the twenty-third embodiment corresponds to the control unit 130.

  Furthermore, when acquiring weather information of a specific area, a simple question screen may be displayed depending on the temperature and temperature of the area.

  For example, when weather information of temperature 24 ° C. and humidity 60% is acquired, temperature = 24 ° C. + 2 ° C. = 26 ° C. is obtained in step S405 of FIG. 65, so that the control unit 130 determines that it is a “hot day”. . Therefore, the control unit 130 “is hot today, via the output unit 150. Would you like to make a refreshing dish? Is displayed. If the user selects “YES”, the control unit 130 searches the recipe database 141 for a cold recipe. If the user selects “NO”, a screen for inputting conditions such as ingredients that the user wants to use is displayed on the output unit 150, and the menu proposal is advanced according to the user's selection.

<Twenty-fourth embodiment>
In the above seventeenth to twenty-third embodiments, a method has been described in which a body temperature is set based on the relationship between air temperature and humidity, and a menu is proposed based on this temperature. In addition, for example, a menu can be proposed based on the relationship between the discomfort index and the temperature of experience.

  In the twenty-fourth embodiment, the control unit 130 calculates the discomfort index as follows: “discomfort index = 0.81 × temperature + 0.01 × relative humidity (0.99 × temperature−14.3) +46. 3 ”is used to set the discomfort index based on the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 110.

  For example, if the discomfort index is 0 to 60, the control unit 130 proposes a warm recipe, if the discomfort index 61 to 70 is an intermediate recipe, and if the discomfort index 71 to 100 is a cold recipe. Thereby, a warm recipe can be proposed on a cold day with a low discomfort index.

<Twenty-fifth embodiment>
FIG. 61 is a block diagram of the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the 25th aspect of the present invention. The menu decision support device 100 according to the twenty-fifth embodiment has the same configuration as the seventh to sixteenth embodiments, but each functional unit is physically divided into a plurality of devices. Is called menu decision support system. Hereinafter, each device will be described.

  The terminal device 200 (client terminal) includes a region specifying unit 120, a date specifying unit 110, an input unit 160, and an output unit 170. The terminal device 200 is for the user to search for a desired menu for the hand, and is preferably configured as a portable device.

  The server 300 includes a storage unit 140 and a control unit 150. The server 300 receives a request to propose a menu from the terminal device 200, performs the menu proposal operation described in the seventeenth embodiment, and presents the proposal content to the terminal device 200. The server 300 includes a search condition input unit (not shown) that receives a request transmitted by the terminal device 200 and a search condition specification. The server 300 may be configured to be able to respond to requests from a plurality of terminal devices 200 used by different users.

  The display device 400 includes a second output unit 410. The second output unit 410 preferably has a larger screen display unit than the output unit 170 included in the terminal device 200. The user can also see the menu on the output unit 170 of the terminal device 200, or, for example, when starting cooking, use the second output unit 410 having a larger screen while cooking while watching the recipe data. it can.

  The terminal device 200, the server 300, and the display device 400 are connected by a network 600, and can transmit / receive data to / from each other. Preferably, the network 600 is a wireless network, and the devices can communicate with each other by wireless communication.

  If each device is wirelessly connected, the terminal device 200 can be configured by a mobile terminal device (including an electronic notebook, a mobile phone, a portable game machine, and an electronic notebook). Thereby, the user can consider a menu without choosing a place, and can decide to bring a menu after shopping.

<Twenty-sixth embodiment>
The menu decision support apparatus 100 (hereinafter, including “menu decision support apparatus”) described in the above seventh to 25th embodiments is incorporated in another electronic device so as to add a menu proposal function to the electronic device. You may comprise. For example, the following examples can be considered for incorporation into electronic devices.

(Embodiment example 1: Microwave oven)
The menu decision support apparatus 100 can be incorporated into the microwave oven so that the user can easily cook dishes using the microwave oven. In this case, cooking using a microwave oven as a cooking appliance may be preferentially proposed.

(Embodiment example 2: Refrigerator)
When incorporating the menu decision support device 100 into the refrigerator, the inventory management function in the refrigerator's storage and the menu decision support device 100 may be linked to preferentially propose the ingredients to be stocked and the dishes using the ingredients. .

(Embodiment example 3: mobile phone, electronic notebook)
When the menu decision support apparatus 100 is incorporated into a mobile phone or an electronic notebook, a function may be provided that can store and display a shopping memo when there is a food item to be purchased after the menu is decided.

<Twenty-seventh embodiment>
The functions of the menu decision support apparatus 100 described in the seventh to 26th embodiments can be implemented as a program executed by an arithmetic device such as a CPU. For example, the functions of the menu determination support device 100 can be realized by implementing the functions of the area specifying unit 120, the date specifying unit 110, and the control unit 150 as a menu determination support program according to the present invention and causing the arithmetic device to execute the functions. it can.

  Further, the program may be for realizing a part of the above-described functions, and further, with the program such as an OS (Operating System) already recorded in the menu decision support apparatus 100. It may be realized in combination.

  The processing of each functional unit of the menu decision support apparatus 100 may be realized by recording the program on a computer-readable storage medium, causing the CPU to read and execute the program recorded on the storage medium. .

  The “storage medium” storing the program is a computer-readable portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, an SRAM, a flash memory, a DVD, or a Blu-ray disk, and is built in a computer system. A storage device such as a hard disk. Furthermore, a program that dynamically holds a program for a short time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, and a server or client in that case Such a volatile memory inside a computer system as described above includes a program that holds a program for a certain period of time.

<Twenty-eighth embodiment>
FIG. 72 is a diagram illustrating an example of data classified by “red”, “white”, “yellow”, “green”, and “black” for each food material. One ingredient is counted as one point for each color. For example, in the case of Neapolitan recipes, the spaghetti noodles are 1 point for white, 1 point for white is on white, mushrooms are mushrooms, 1 point for black, and bacon is “ 1 point for red and 1 point for green.

  FIG. 73 shows the color balance for each ingredient in addition to the setting condition data example for the control unit 150 to search for the next proposed recipe or another recipe in step S431 of the flowchart of FIG. 4 described in FIG. It is the figure which set the search condition of the recipe proposal in consideration of. When there is no recipe that the user wants to make among the recipes suggested and displayed in step S428 in the flowchart of FIG. 4, or when a recipe that the user wants to make is found in S430 but other recipes are to be found. 72 is set in addition to the above condition. For example, if the user decides on one item of recipe as Napolitan, applying it to the classification data table in FIG. 72, the spaghetti is noodles and the white is 1 point, the onion is white and the mushrooms are mushrooms. ”1 point, bacon“ red ”1 point, pepper“ green ”1 point, total 5 points. In this case, the point by color of the ingredients included in the decided recipe is “red” 1 point, “white” 2 points, “yellow” 0 points, “green” 1 point, “black” 1 point. The percentage of the color included in the recipe is the highest with 2 points of “white” and the lowest with 0 points of “yellow”. When searching for another recipe, the control unit 150 gives priority to the ingredients classified as “yellow” with a small proportion of Napolitan ingredients determined as one item so that the proportions of all colors are equal. And propose. As the next recipe candidate, for example, the control unit 150 may select, for example, an egg classified as “yellow”, 2 points of pumpkin, 1 point of carrot classified as “red”, 1 point of broccoli classified as “green”, “black”. Extracting recipes that contain 1 point of seaweed classified into 2 will result in a total of 2 points for each color and a percentage of 100%, so it is possible to propose a recipe with a good color balance for each ingredient. it can. In addition, in this Embodiment, although 1 foodstuff was demonstrated as 1 point, you may enable it to change the calculation method of a point suitably.

<Twenty-ninth embodiment>
If there are many kinds of ingredients you want to use, such as when there are a lot of ingredients in the refrigerator, if you present a recipe that can be made only with those ingredients you want to use, there is no need to go shopping Many users feel that they are grateful because they can be made using only this. As a mechanism for this, a method using the following evaluation formula can be considered.

Necessity of purchasing ingredients for the recipe = (number of types of ingredients used in the recipe that are not “desired ingredients”) / (number of types of ingredients used in the recipe) × 100%
For each searched recipe, calculate the above “Necessity to buy ingredients” and present it to the user in ascending order, so that the user can preferentially check the recipes that do not require shopping as much as possible. Will be able to.

  In addition, when the user thinks that "I want to use this ingredient absolutely", such as when old ingredients are in the refrigerator, if the recipe that uses that ingredient is preferentially presented, that ingredient will be used up. Many users find it easier and thankful. As a mechanism for this, a method using the following evaluation formula can be considered.

Depletion of ingredients in the recipe = (Number of ingredients used in the recipe among ingredients contained in "Ingredients to use") / (Number of kinds of "Ingredients to use") x 100%
For each retrieved recipe, the above-mentioned “Food consumption” is calculated and presented to the user in descending order of the value, giving priority to the recipe that uses the ingredients that you want to use. Can be confirmed.

  In addition, after the user selects “priority for shopping unnecessary” or “priority for using up ingredients”, a method of calculating both the above-mentioned “degree of need for buying ingredients” and “degree of consumption of ingredients” is also considered. It is done. For example, when the user selects “priority for shopping”, the retrieved recipe list is first sorted in the order of “necessity to purchase ingredients” and the recipe has the same value as “needs to buy ingredients”. What is necessary is just to give a recipe with a large "food consumption degree" preferentially between each other.

  If the user selects “Food consumption first”, the retrieved recipe list is sorted first in descending order of “Food consumption” and the recipes with the same “Food consumption” are the same. In the meantime, a recipe with a small “necessity of purchasing ingredients” may be preferentially presented.

  In addition, if you have an inventory management function for ingredients, when there are many types of ingredients in stock, it will automatically be set to “No shopping priority”, and the ingredients in inventory that are likely to expire (or after purchase) If there is a product that is over a certain period of time), it is recommended to give priority to recipes that use up the ingredients that are likely to expire (or that have been used for a certain period of time since purchase). It is better to introduce a mechanism to automatically select “Kiri-priority”.

  The present invention can be used for a menu presenting apparatus using a microwave oven, a microwave oven, and a PC.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 160 ... Input part, 210 ... Dialogue (question) message extraction processing part, 211 ... Dialogue (question) message database, 220 ... Database search means, 230 ... Recipe extraction processing part, 240 ... Recipe information database, 250 ... User registration information database 251 ... Anniversary database, 252 ... Inventory database, 253 ... Favorite recipe database, 260 ... System registration database, 261 ... Event database, 262 ... Weather database, 263 ... Seasonal food database.

  The present invention relates to a menu decision support device.

  When thinking about the menu showing the type and order of dishes to be served on the table, in addition to the method of referring to the recipe book, as one help, browse the menu recipe site on the Internet and refer to the recipe in it There is a way to do it. The amount of information on the menu recipes on the Internet is enormous, but in order to search for a menu recipe from among them, you can narrow down the menu candidates to some extent by entering and searching for the menu conditions you want to make. . You can also browse your favorite pages registered in the past and search for recipes from them.

  However, when it comes to daily menus, it is troublesome for the user to input while considering the search conditions and to search from the search results. Also, if the number of search results is large and there are no recipes to be created, there is an inconvenience that the search must be continued until it is found.

  As a conventional technology, in order to provide user-desired information (menu), information close to the user's preference is searched from the user's personal information and dialogue input character information, and the screen is dialogued so that the user is not bored during the search. There is a technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-228561 that is considered so that exchanges are displayed.

JP 2002-82748 A

  The above user support device searches for information (menu) that is close to the user's preference from the user's personal information and input character information on the dialog screen, and also enjoys the interaction on the dialog screen, so that the user wants the information Although it is considered to reduce the burden of feelings until it is found, specific proposal (inquiry) means regarding dialogue exchange from the menu decision support device side and specific means for extracting user preference information are clear It wasn't.

  The present invention proposes based on the above-mentioned problem. When a user considers a menu, the user can answer a proposal (question) related to the menu from the menu decision support device without considering a search condition from the beginning. An object is to provide a device that can find a favorite menu recipe.

  According to the present invention, an inquiry related to the menu is made first from the menu decision support device, and the user answers the inquiry by a simple operation method. User preferences and the like are extracted from the dialogue information and menu search is performed.

  In addition, it is possible to learn the process until the menu is determined, and to shorten the time until the menu is provided that meets the user's preferred conditions.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, an input unit that accepts an input operation from a user including a condition setting in a menu proposal consisting of one or more dishes, and a database of suitable dishes based on the input condition setting A control unit for searching from, an output unit for presenting a search result to a user, and an evaluation input unit for receiving a user's evaluation for the presented dish, wherein the control unit includes the condition setting and the user A menu decision support device is provided, which has a function of re-searching suitable dishes based on the evaluation. This makes it easy to present the menu desired by the user in an interactive manner.

  The user's evaluation of the presented dish is at least two of a first evaluation of “determining that dish” and a second evaluation of “not concerned but that dish is not selected this time” In the case of the first evaluation, in the case of the first evaluation, the dish for which the evaluation has been performed is determined as one dish constituting the menu proposed this time, and the condition setting is changed based on the recipe data of the dish. It is preferable to search for the next dish and, in the case of the second evaluation, change the condition setting based on the recipe data of the dish for which the evaluation is performed and perform the search again.

  The menu decision support device searches for a menu recipe based on the setting conditions of the menu proposal date and makes a proposal to the user first, so that the user interacts with the menu decision support device without considering the search conditions. You can easily find your favorite menu recipe.

  In addition, by registering in the user database information under what conditions the user has found a favorite menu recipe, and using the registered information as search condition data for the menu proposal date, the user's favorite recipe The extraction process becomes clear.

It is a functional block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the menu decision assistance apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a storage unit in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the structure and data example of the recipe data which a recipe database hold | maintains. It is a flowchart figure which shows the process of the menu decision support apparatus performing the proposal of a menu, and the flow of a mechanism. FIG. 4B is a continuation of FIG. 4A. It is a figure which shows the extraction method for displaying a dialog message to a user from the setting conditions for acquiring a dialog about a dialog message extraction process. It is a figure which shows the example of data of the anniversary data acquisition conditions of step S402 of the flowchart figure of FIG. 4, and the anniversary database which the user registered. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of anniversary recipe search condition setting data serving as a selection determination condition for setting or not setting a recipe proposal candidate in steps S405 and S406 in the flowchart of FIG. 4. It is a figure which shows an example of the data which the event data acquisition conditions of step S407 of the flowchart figure of FIG. 4, and the event database hold | maintain. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of event recipe search condition setting data that is a selection determination condition for setting or not setting a recipe proposal candidate in steps S410 and S411 in the flowchart of FIG. It is a figure which shows the classification | category reference | standard data example of the recipe which a weather database hold | maintains. In the conditions of the temperature and humidity values set in the weather database and in steps S414 and S415 in the flowchart of FIG. 4, search conditions for weather recipes that match the setting conditions are set based on the weather information acquired by the control unit. It is a flowchart figure explaining the process until. It is a figure which shows the example of inventory food data which the user registered into the inventory database. In steps S418, S419, and S420 of the flowchart of FIG. 4, an example of the acquisition condition for whether there is inventory data and whether the user selects a recipe proposal using inventory ingredients, or data for each inventory recipe search condition setting FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of seasonal food data for every area which the seasonal food database holds. In steps S423, S424, and S425 in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the acquisition conditions for whether or not there is seasonal food data and whether or not the user selects a recipe proposal using seasonal ingredients are set for each seasonal food recipe search condition setting. It is a figure which shows the example of data. It is a processing flow which shows the detailed procedure of step S426 of the flowchart figure of FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an image screen in which a control unit displays some question messages related to a menu on an input unit via an output unit in step S426 in the flowchart of FIG. 4. It is a figure which shows the example of data which a favorite recipe database hold | maintains. It is the data figure which classified the recipe registered into the favorite recipe database by the control part according to each item, and showed the condition which the user selected as a ratio. FIG. 5 is a data diagram illustrating a recipe proposal priority order setting method based on selection information from a user and answer information on a question screen in step S427 in the flowchart in FIG. The figure which showed the recipe extraction process means from favorite recipe data, when many recipes were searched by the control part by the search setting conditions of each item which the user selected based on the priority order conditions of the recipe proposal shown in FIG. It is. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting condition data for the control unit to search for the next proposed recipe or another recipe in step S431 in the flowchart of FIG. In step S431 of the flowchart of FIG. 4, when the control unit searches for the next proposed recipe or another recipe, the data for displaying the condition addition / change screen on the input unit and the search setting condition data according to the selection conditions are displayed. FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an image screen in which a control unit displays a proposed recipe on an input unit via an output unit in step S427 of the flowchart in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating data defining whether or not the control unit displays each item included in the recipe data on the input unit via the output unit in step S432 of the flowchart of FIG. 4. It is an example of a screen in which a user inputs anniversary data at an input unit. FIG. 5 is a display screen example of an interactive message displayed on the input unit in steps S <b> 404 and S <b> 409 in the flowchart of FIG. 4. It is a block diagram of the menu decision assistance apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. In the 5th Embodiment of this invention, after a menu decision, it is a flowchart figure which shows the process which produces a shopping check list | wrist or adjusts the stock amount of foodstuffs. It is a figure which shows the example of a shopping list. It is a figure which shows the example of a stock list. It is a figure which shows the example of the time chart in case a dish is two dishes. It is a figure which shows another example of the time chart in case a dish is two dishes. It is a figure which shows the example of the time chart in case a dish is 3 items. It is a figure which shows another example of the time chart in case a dish is 3 dishes. It is a figure which shows the data of the "cooking procedure" in recipe data. It is a functional block diagram of the menu decision assistance apparatus which concerns on the 7th Embodiment of this invention. In the 7th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the structure of the recipe data and data example which a recipe database hold | maintains. In the 7th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the structure and example of a data of a regional food table which the local food database has. In the 7th Embodiment of this invention, it is a processing flow which shows the process in which a menu decision assistance apparatus proposes a menu. It is a processing flow which shows the detailed procedure of step S409 of FIG. In the 8th Embodiment of this invention, the control part is a figure explaining the reference | standard which proposes a menu using the image data of the "finished image" column of a recipe database. In the 8th Embodiment of this invention, the control part is a figure explaining the reference | standard which proposes only one menu using the image data of the "finished image" column of the recipe database 141. FIG. In the 8th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the example of the recipe data which designated the color or coordinate used when calculating a RGB value among the image of a dish. In the 9th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the structure and data example of selection history information which a user database stores. It is a figure which shows the screen display image of an output part. In the 10th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the structure and data example of foodstuff kind information which a local foodstuff database hold | maintains. In the 10th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the example of a menu proposal when a user desires the same foodstuff continuously. In the 13th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the data which defines whether each item contained in recipe data is displayed. In the 15th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the example which grouped the area in the unit with the same season or the season near. It is the figure which showed the data of the same content as FIG. 50 on the Japan map. It is a figure which shows the example which selected Miyagi Prefecture from the pull-down menu. It is an example of an input and a display in the case of acquiring regional information from a zip code. It is an example of an input and a display in the case of acquiring regional information from a telephone number. It is a figure which shows the example which grouped the area of the similar climate. It is the figure which showed the grouping of the area | region shown in FIG. 55 on the Japan map. It is a figure which shows an example of a date setting screen. It is an example of a screen for designating a date on a calendar. It is an example of a screen for inputting a numeric value in the month and day input field. It is an example of a screen which selects a month and day by a pull-down menu. It is a block diagram of the menu decision assistance apparatus 100 which concerns on the 25th Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the menu proposal apparatus 100 which concerns on the 17th Embodiment of this invention. In the 17th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the structure and data example of recipe information which a recipe database stores. In a 17th embodiment of the present invention, it is a figure showing a classification standard of a recipe. In the 17th Embodiment of this invention, it is a flow explaining the process in which a control part proposes a menu. In the 18th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the structure of a recipe information, and a data example. In the 18th Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the classification | category reference | standard of a recipe. In the 19th Embodiment of this invention, it is a flow explaining the process in which a control part proposes a menu based on cooking time. In a 21st embodiment of the present invention, it is a figure showing an example of recipe information which an output part presents. It is a figure which shows the recipe information at the time of cooking the same dish with FIG. 69 with a different cooking appliance. It is a figure which shows the structure of the menu proposal apparatus which concerns on the 22nd Embodiment of this invention, and its peripheral device. It is a figure which shows an example of the data classified by color for every foodstuff. It is a figure which shows the search condition setting of the recipe proposal which considered the color balance for every foodstuff when searching the next proposal recipe or another recipe.

<First Embodiment>
In this specification, each dish that constitutes the entire menu is referred to as “dish”, and the entire menu that combines one or more dishes is referred to as “menu”, “menu”, or “dish”. When there is a possibility of pointing, it is described as “menu dish”. In other words, the menu includes one or more dishes and is proposed according to the conditions input by the user, and is defined as a menu of only a staple food or a menu of staple food and side dishes. The “recipe” is “information such as how to make a dish”.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the menu determination support apparatus 100 includes a date specifying unit 110, a region specifying unit 120, a weather information acquiring unit 130, a storage unit 140, a control unit 150, an input unit 160, and an output unit. 170.

  The date specifying unit 110 specifies the current date and time. For example, the date specifying unit 110 can be configured using a timer or the like. When performing reservation cooking, you may make it characterize cooking time.

  The area specifying unit 120 specifies the current position of the menu decision support apparatus 100 in units of areas. The term “region” as used herein refers to a range of sizes in which seasonal foods and special products are different from each other, and is preferably in the same range as a region in the seasonal food database 263 described later. Arbitrary well-known techniques can be used for the method of specifying the region. For example, a method of specifying the current position using GPS is conceivable. From now on, you may make it identify the area which a user goes to.

  The weather information acquisition unit 130 is connected to the menu decision support device 100 via a network, and acquires weather information and the like published on the Internet. The information related to the weather is, for example, information indicating a specified date / time, weather such as sunny / cloudy / rainy in the area, average humidity such as maximum / minimum / average temperature, and the like. The difference from the past average temperature may be used as a function. However, the weather information acquisition unit 130 is not necessarily required to acquire weather information via a network, and a specific method for acquiring weather information may be arbitrary as long as desired weather information is obtained.

  The storage unit 140 includes a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a solid state device (nonvolatile memory). The contents of the configuration will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The control unit 150 determines a menu to be proposed using the current position (region) of the menu determination support device 100, the date, weather information, and each database stored in the storage unit 140, and outputs the determined menu from the output unit 170. Control processing. The process for determining the menu will be described with reference to FIG.

  The input unit 160 is an operation instruction unit used by the user to instruct the menu decision support apparatus 100 to propose a menu. You can also enter the condition settings for the proposal. The input unit 160 can be realized in the form of a keyboard, a keypad, a touch pad, a mouse, a trackball, or the like, for example. Wired or wireless input from an external terminal may be used. In addition, a screen display unit for displaying an operation menu is appropriately provided.

  The output unit 170 outputs the menu proposed by the control unit 150. The output format may be, for example, a screen display using a liquid crystal display or the like, or may be output as data describing the contents of the proposed menu. The screen display device may be shared with the input unit 160. It may be wired / wireless output to an external terminal.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration contents of the storage unit 140, which includes an interactive message extraction processing unit 210, a database search unit 220, a recipe extraction unit 230, a recipe information database 240, a user registration information database 250, and a system registration database 260. A diagram showing the detailed configuration of each is shown in parentheses.

  The dialogue (question) message extraction processing unit 210 extracts a dialogue message suitable for the user's condition via the database search unit 220 based on the information in the user registration information database 250 and the system registration database 260. Details of the message extraction process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The dialogue (question) message database 211 stores a database of standard dialogue messages such as “Today is XX's birthday. Would you suggest a recipe related to the anniversary?” Details of the message database as in the message extraction process will be described later with reference to FIG. The database search unit 220 searches for recipes suitable for user conditions from information in the recipe information database 240, user registration information database 250, and system registration database 260. Details of the search unit will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The recipe extraction processing unit 230 extracts a recipe suitable for the user's condition from the recipe information database 240. Details of the extraction processing unit will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The recipe information database 240 is a database that holds basic data such as a dish name, ingredients, taste, texture, and color for each dish. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The user registration information database 250 includes an anniversary database 251, an inventory database 252, and a favorite recipe database 253 related to attributes that depend on the user, and stores data for customization for each user.

  The anniversary database 251 holds data in which the user registers various information related to the anniversary such as a birthday.

  The stock database 252 holds data in which a user registers food at home. Moreover, the data which registered the material of the recipe proposed by the menu decision assistance apparatus 100 as a shopping list are hold | maintained. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The favorite recipe database 253 holds user's favorite recipe data and history data until the user decides a favorite recipe. This information data can be added and deleted and edited by the user at the input unit 160. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The system registration database 260 is composed of an event database 261, a weather database 262, and a seasonal food database 263 built in the system related to attributes that do not depend on the user, and stores data for customization for each user. .

  The event database 261 holds calendar events, food materials related to the events, and cooking data.

  The weather database 262 holds data in which conditions of temperature and humidity values are set in order to propose a recipe based on the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 130 and the values of temperature and humidity. It also holds recipe classification reference data that matches the conditions. Details will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The seasonal ingredients database 263 holds a list of seasonal ingredients and special products for each region and month. Details will be described later with reference to FIG. In addition to the region-specific food list, a general food list may be maintained. Below, the description about the list of general ingredients is omitted.

  The menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the present invention corresponds to the control unit 150 and the output unit 170.

  The date identification unit 110, the area identification unit 120, the weather information acquisition unit 130, and the control unit 150 can be configured by using hardware such as a circuit device that realizes these functions, or a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or It can also be configured using a computing program such as a microcomputer and a software program that defines its operation. The latter software program corresponds to the “menu decision support apparatus” in the present invention.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example and data example of recipe data held in the recipe information database 240. The recipe information data is data that holds detailed information of individual dishes. Hereinafter, each information column included in the recipe information data will be described.

(Figure 3: “Cooking name” field)
The “cooking name” column holds the cooking name of the dish described by the recipe data. The dish name itself may contain information that can be used to propose a menu. For example, if the current season is winter, the control unit 150 can exclude a food name that includes characters reminiscent of cold, such as “cold”, from the proposed menu. Moreover, when the character of the user's favorite dish is included in the dish name, it can be preferentially proposed. It is also possible to store in the user registration information database 250 what kinds of keywords are included in the dishes to be excluded or preferentially suggested and customize them for each user.

(Figure 3: “Cooking ingredients” column)
The “Ingredients” column holds food material data used to make a dish described by the recipe data. In particular, when preferentially proposing a menu using seasonal seasonal ingredients, special products, stock ingredients, and user-preferred ingredients, the data held in this column can be used effectively.

(Figure 3: “Type” and “Genre” columns)
The “type” column and the “genre” column hold data representing a rough classification of dishes described by the recipe data. For example, the staple food is divided into “rice, noodles, and other staple foods”, and those that can be added to the staple food may be classified into both. For example, when “rice” is determined as one item, the control unit 150 proposes dishes other than “rice” after the second item. Similarly, when “Japanese food” is determined as one item, for example, “Japanese food” as much as possible can be proposed for two or more items.

(Figure 3: “Taste” column)
The “taste” column holds data representing the approximate taste type of the dish described by the recipe data. For example, when the controller 150 is instructed to propose a menu for children, the controller 150 preferentially proposes a dish that is “sweet”, excluding dishes that are “spicy” in this field. Can do. In addition, when instructed to propose a menu for the elderly, a dish excluding “salty” dishes may be preferentially proposed.

(Figure 3: “Food texture” column)
The “texture” column holds data representing the texture of the dish described by the recipe data. For example, the control unit 150 can make the menu more diverse by proposing two or more dishes having a texture different from the texture of the dish proposed as one item. In addition, for example, when an instruction to propose a menu for the elderly is given, it is possible to exclude as much as possible a dish whose “hard” in this column.

(Figure 3: “Color” column)
The “color” column holds data representing the color of the dish described by the recipe data. When the controller 150 proposes a plurality of dishes, the controller 150 can propose a colorful combination using the values in this field. The value in this field may represent the color of the entire dish, or may retain the color for each food. For example, when the user is instructed to suggest a dish related to the birthday in the anniversary database 251, a dish that uses two or more colors in this column can be preferentially proposed. .

(Figure 3: “Standard” column)
The “standard” column holds data indicating whether the dish described by the recipe data is a standard dish.

(Figure 3: “Event” field)
The “event” column holds data indicating what kind of scene the dish described by the recipe data is suitable for. For example, when the user is instructed to propose a dish related to the birthday in the anniversary database 251, the control unit 150 preferentially selects the dish whose main column is “celebration” or “party”. Can be proposed.

(Figure 3: “Effort / Time required” column)
The “labor / required time” column holds data indicating the time required to prepare the dish described by the recipe data. The value in this field is a guideline when the user selects a dish from among the proposed dishes. For example, when the user is in a hurry, a dish with a small value in this field is often selected.

(Figure 3: “Cookware”)
The “cooking utensil” column holds a list of cooking utensils used by the user when preparing the dish described by the recipe data. For example, on a hot day, the control unit 150 considers the cooker's sensible temperature and does not propose a dish that uses cooking utensils that are sensitive to heat, such as a stove or frying pan. The column values can be used as reference information. In addition, once cooking has started, such as an oven or rice cooker, you can set dishes that use cooking utensils that do not need to be done until completion, with dishes that use cooking utensils that must always be accompanied, such as a frying pan. You can also make suggestions.
Moreover, you may classify | categorize whether a cook feels heat with a cooking utensil.

(Figure 3: “Cooking place” field)
The “cooking place” column holds a list of cooking places that the user uses when preparing the dish described by the recipe data. For example, the control unit 150 holds data on cooking places suitable for cooking such as gas stands and range stands.

(Figure 3: “Cooking method” column)
The “cooking method” column holds data representing the cooking method of the dish described by the recipe data. The type of cooking method here is not a detailed cooking process but a rough cooking method such as baking and boiling. It is desirable that the control unit 150 changes the cooking method of cooking proposed for one item and the cooking method of cooking proposed for two or more items from the viewpoint of variety of menus.

(Figure 3: “Cooking time” field)
The “cooking time” column holds the time required for each cooking method in the “cooking method” column.

(Figure 3: “Food temperature” column)
The “finished dish temperature” column holds data representing the temperature at which the dish described by the recipe data can be eaten and consumed. The temperature at which a person feels warm, cold or delicious generally has a difference from the body temperature of 25 degrees or more, and the temperature of a bento box with a heat retaining function is about 50 degrees to about 60 degrees. Since there are many things, for example, “warm dishes = 55 degrees or more” and “cold dishes = 12 degrees or less” are set. About normal temperature, it is set as "normal temperature dish = 15-35 degree | times" with reference to 5 degree-35 degree | times prescribed | regulated by Japanese Industrial Standard. If the current season is winter, the control unit 150 can exclude a dish having a small value in this field from the proposed menu. It is desirable to consider the difference in temperature that the data to be held is, for example, the same soup, the miso soup being around 65 degrees, and the slightly sweet soup at 50 degrees, which is slightly lower.

(Figure 3: “Finished image” column)
The “finished image” column holds image data indicating an image when the dish described by the recipe data is completed. The control unit 150 can extract the color of the dish from the main column instead of the “color” column or in combination with the “color” column, and propose a combination of colorful dishes.

(Figure 3: “Cooking procedure” column)
The “cooking procedure” column holds data describing the detailed cooking procedure of the dish described by the recipe data. In this column, the cooking time for each procedure and the cooking utensil to be used can be described. Further, it can be used as reference information for determining whether or not the user can actually make the dish. In addition, when cooking, this field can be displayed on the screen of the output unit 170 for reference.

(Figure 3: “Recipe classification by weather” column)
The “recipe classification by weather” column holds information indicating what kind of weather the dish described by the recipe data is suitable for. The recipe information holds information representing at least one of a dish name, a cooking material (foodstuff), and a (finished) cooking temperature for each recipe.

(Figure 3: “Calories” column)
The “calorie” column is a column indicating the calories of the cooked food.

(Figure 3: “Food Expenses” column)
The “food material cost” column is a column indicating the cost of food necessary for cooking.

(Figure 3: "Color points for each ingredient" column)
The “color point for each ingredient” column is a column for indicating the total color of ingredients contained in the recipe by points for each color. The data shown in FIG. 3 shows one food as one point, but the point calculation method may be changed as appropriate.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the process and mechanism in which the menu decision support apparatus 100 makes a menu proposal. Hereinafter, each step of the flowchart of FIG. 4 will be described.

(FIG. 4: Step S401: Start)
When the menu decision support device 100 starts operating, the date specifying unit 110 acquires the current date and outputs it to the control unit 150.

(FIG. 4: Step S402: Presence / absence of anniversary data acquisition conditions)
The control unit 150 searches the anniversary database 251 using the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110. If there is anniversary data that satisfies the acquired date condition, the control unit 150 proceeds to step S403. If there is no data meeting the conditions, the process proceeds to step S405. The anniversary data acquisition conditions will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S403: Whether this is the first proposal)
The control unit 150 performs a confirmation process as to whether or not the menu decision support device 100 has been operated for the first time on the same day as the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110. If it is operating for the first time, the process proceeds to step S404, and if it is the second time or later, the process proceeds to step S405.

(FIG. 4: Step S404: Message display “Do you want to suggest”)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select whether or not an anniversary recipe that meets the acquired date condition is proposed. For example, if the acquired date matches the birthday data registered in the anniversary database 251, a message such as "Today is XX's birthday. Would you suggest a recipe related to the anniversary?" Is displayed. The user selects either “YES” or “NO” on the screen of the input unit 160. If “YES”, the process proceeds to step S406, and if “NO”, the process proceeds to step S405. In this way, it is possible to provide food suitable for performing an anniversary event without forgetting an important anniversary.

(FIG. 4: Step S405: Anniversary recipe search condition setting OFF)
When “NO” is selected by the user in step S404, the control unit 150 excludes the anniversary recipe search condition setting, and proceeds to step S407. The anniversary recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S406: Anniversary recipe search condition ON)
When “YES” is selected by the user in Step S404, the control unit 150 proceeds to Step S427 while setting the anniversary recipe search condition setting as a recipe proposal candidate. The anniversary recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S407: Presence or absence of event data acquisition conditions)
The control unit 150 searches the event database 261 using the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110, and if there is event data that satisfies the acquired date condition, the control unit 150 proceeds to step S408. If there is no data that meets the conditions, the process proceeds to step S410. The event data acquisition conditions will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S408: Whether this is the first proposal)
The control unit 150 performs a confirmation process as to whether or not the menu decision support device 100 has been operated for the first time on the same day as the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110. If it is operating for the first time, the process proceeds to step S409, and if it is the second time or later, the process proceeds to step S410. Thereby, in the case of the same proposal, it is possible to eliminate duplicate processing.

(Fig. 4: Step S409: Message display "Let's propose")
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select whether or not an event recipe that meets the acquired date condition is proposed. For example, if the acquired date matches the Hinamatsuri data of March 3 registered in the event database 252, a message such as “Today is a Hinamatsuri. Would you suggest a recipe for the event?” Let The user selects either “YES” or “NO” on the screen of the input unit 160. If “YES”, the process proceeds to step S411, and if “NO”, the process proceeds to step S410.

(FIG. 4: Step S410: Event recipe search condition setting OFF)
When “NO” is selected by the user in step S409, the control unit 150 excludes the event recipe search condition setting and proceeds to step S412. The event recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S411: Event recipe search condition setting ON)
When “YES” is selected by the user in step S409, control unit 150 proceeds to step S427 while setting the event recipe search condition setting as a recipe proposal candidate. The event recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S412: Presence / absence of weather data acquisition conditions)
The control unit 150 searches and acquires the weather database 262 using the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110, the region information acquired from the region specifying unit 120, the weather, temperature, humidity, and the like acquired from the weather information acquiring unit 130. If there is data that meets the weather, temperature, and humidity value conditions, the process advances to step S413. If there is no data that meets the conditions, the process proceeds to step S414. The weather data acquisition condition will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S413: Message display “Let's propose”
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select whether or not he / she wants to propose an event recipe that meets the conditions of the acquired weather, temperature, and humidity values. For example, if the acquired weather, temperature, and humidity values match the conditions for a hot day set in the weather database 262, “It ’s hot today. Would you suggest a refreshing recipe based on the weather? "Is displayed. The user selects either “YES” or “NO” on the screen of the input unit 160. If “YES”, the process proceeds to step S415, and if “NO”, the process proceeds to step S416.

(FIG. 4: Step S414: Weather recipe search condition setting ON)
The control unit 150 proceeds to step S416 while setting the weather recipe search condition as a recipe proposal candidate when there is no data that satisfies the condition in the processing in step S412.

(FIG. 4: Step S415: Weather recipe search condition setting ON)
When “YES” is selected by the user in step S413, the control unit 150 proceeds to step S426 while setting the weather recipe search condition setting as a recipe proposal candidate. The weather recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S416: Presence / absence of inventory data acquisition conditions)
The control unit 150 searches the inventory database 252. If inventory data is registered, the control unit 150 proceeds to step S417. If the inventory data is not registered, the process proceeds to step S418.

(Figure 4: Step S417: Message display “Do you want to suggest”)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select whether or not a recipe using the ingredients registered in the inventory database 252 is proposed. For example, if there are ingredients (potatoes) with a large number of items in stock, a message such as “Potatoes remain. Would you suggest a recipe using ingredients in stock?” Is displayed. The user selects either “YES” or “NO” on the screen of the input unit 160. If “YES”, the process proceeds to step S419, and if “NO”, the process proceeds to step S420.

(FIG. 4: Step S418: Inventory recipe search condition setting ON)
When the inventory data is not registered in step S416, the control unit 150 proceeds to step S421 while setting the inventory recipe search condition as a recipe proposal candidate.

(FIG. 4: Step S419: Inventory recipe search condition setting ON)
When “YES” is selected by the user in step S417, control unit 150 proceeds to step S426 while setting the inventory recipe search condition setting as a recipe proposal candidate. The stock recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S420: Inventory recipe search condition set to exclusion condition ON)
When “NO” is selected by the user in step S417, the control unit 150 sets the inventory recipe search condition setting as an exclusion condition, and proceeds to S421.

(FIG. 4: Step S421: Presence / absence of seasonal food data acquisition conditions)
The control unit 150 searches the seasonal food database 263 using the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110 and the region information acquired from the region specifying unit 120, and has seasonal food data that meets the conditions of the acquired date and region information. If YES, go to step S422. If there is no data that meets the conditions, the process proceeds to step S423. The seasonal food data acquisition conditions will be described later with reference to FIG.

(Fig. 4: Step S422: Message display "Do you want to suggest")
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select whether or not to propose a seasonal ingredient recipe that meets the conditions of the acquired date and area information. For example, if the acquired date and local information match the conditions registered in the seasonal ingredients database 263, and the seasonal ingredients are “Bamboo shoots”, “Bamboo shoots have become delicious. Suggest recipes using seasonal ingredients. Display a message such as "Let's do it." The user selects either “YES” or “NO” on the screen of the input unit 160. If “YES”, the process proceeds to step S424, and if “NO”, the process proceeds to step S425.

(FIG. 4: Step S423: Seasonal ingredient recipe search condition setting ON)
The control unit 150 proceeds to step S426 with the seasonal ingredient recipe search condition set as a recipe proposal candidate when there is no seasonal ingredient data that satisfies the condition in step S421.

(FIG. 4: Step S424: Seasonal ingredient recipe search condition setting ON)
When “YES” is selected by the user in step S 422, control unit 150 proceeds to step S 426 while setting the seasonal ingredient recipe search condition setting as a recipe proposal candidate. The seasonal food recipe search condition setting will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S425: Set seasonal ingredient recipe search condition as exclusion condition)
When “NO” is selected by the user in step S422, the control unit 150 sets the seasonal ingredient recipe search condition setting as an exclusion condition, and proceeds to S426.

(FIG. 4: Step S426: Question message display about menu)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a number of question messages regarding the menu. The user inputs an answer or condition according to the procedure described later with reference to FIG. 16, and the control unit 150 accepts the condition designation. The user can also skip without inputting an answer or condition in this step. In both cases where an answer or condition is input or skipped, the process proceeds to S427 with the condition set. The user may be able to browse the favorite recipe database 253 from the screen of the input unit 160.

(FIG. 4: Step S427: Proposal according to priority condition)
Based on the processing data acquired from step S401 to step 426, the control unit 150 sets a recipe proposal priority order condition, performs recipe search processing from the recipe information database 240 according to the condition, and proceeds to step S428. Recipe proposal priority order conditions will be described later with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S428: Suggested Recipe & Message Display)
The control unit 150 proposes the recipe obtained in step S428 as a menu. The content of the proposed recipe is presented to the user via the output unit 170, and a message such as “How about the following recipe?” Is displayed on the screen of the input unit 160. In addition, the control unit 150 has a check mark function that can distinguish “recipe to be made (decision)”, “recipe to be worried about (hold)”, and the like on the displayed recipe, and inputs a message that prompts the user to select 160 is displayed on the screen. By checking this check mark, the user can select the proposed dish (recipe) as “I want to make it now (determined recipe)” or “I want to make it, but this time I will not select it, that is, I will not make this time, but I will make it in the future. Can be evaluated as “I want to try (pending)”, and by not checking any of these check marks, it can be evaluated as “I am not interested in the recipe”. If the user selects any recipe (check mark is checked), the process proceeds to step S429, and if none is selected, the process proceeds to step S431. If no suggested recipe is found in this step, a message such as “no suggestion menu” or “please increase search conditions” may be displayed. In this case, the process proceeds to step S431.

(FIG. 4: Step S429: Message display)
The control unit 150 automatically registers the recipe and history information selected in step S428 in the favorite recipe database 253. Note that the user can browse and delete the automatically registered recipe and edit it.

(FIG. 4: Step S430: Message display)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display the recipe selected by the user in step S428. In addition, the control unit 150 provides a check mark function for selecting “view recipe details”, “find other recipes”, and the like on the displayed recipe, and displays a message prompting the user to select the screen on the input unit 160. Display. When the user selects “view recipe details”, the process proceeds to step S432, and when “search for other recipes” is selected, the process proceeds to step S431. If none of the users select, the process proceeds to S433 and the proposal is completed.

(FIG. 4: Step S431: Start of next proposal: Add condition)
The control unit 150 proceeds to step S401 while setting the user selection conditions up to step S428 and step 430. The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select whether or not to change the selection condition before starting the next proposal process. Also, the user may be allowed to select to proceed to step S426. The next proposal setting condition will be described with reference to FIGS.

(FIG. 4: Step S432)
The control unit 150 displays the contents of the recipe data described with reference to FIG. Details of items to be displayed will be described with reference to FIG.

(FIG. 4: Step S433: End of proposal)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message indicating that the proposal has been completed. In addition, you may display on the screen in the input part 160 so that it can select whether the ingredients of the recipe which the user selected are made into a shopping list.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an extraction method for displaying a dialog message to the user from a setting condition for acquiring a dialog in the dialog message extraction processing unit 210.
(Figure 5: 501)
When the anniversary date registered in the anniversary database 251 matches the date of the proposal date acquired from the date specifying unit 110 via the dialogue message extraction processing unit 210, the control unit 150 (proposed date = anniversary data registration date). ), A message such as “Today is XX ’s birthday. Would you suggest a recipe for the anniversary?” Is extracted from the dialogue message database 211 and displayed on the output unit 170.

  In this case, when the proposal date is the day before the anniversary date registered in the anniversary database 251 based on the standard dialogue message stored in the dialogue message database 211 (proposed date + (1 day) = commemorative Date data registration date), and extract (create) and display a customized message such as “It ’s XX ’s birthday soon. Would you suggest a recipe for the anniversary?” In other words, a typical dialogue message is a message base that does not depend on the user's attributes (name, birthday, etc.). Based on this, a customized message (name ○○ is entered) that depends on the user's attributes. Message etc.) can be displayed. In order to customize, a user registration information database 250 storing data for customizing user-dependent attributes for each user, and data for customizing user-independent attributes for each user. Can be used.

  When the proposed date is two days before the anniversary date registered in the anniversary database 251, the same message as that of the previous day may be displayed, or the message may be displayed with a different expression. The user can set the setting condition for displaying the message from the date before the registered anniversary or displaying the message after the anniversary. Note that the name, date, etc. of the anniversary may be displayed on the message display screen.

(Figure 5: 502)
The control unit 150, when the event date registered in the event database 261, for example, the Hinamatsuri on March 3rd, and the date of the proposal date acquired from the date specifying unit 110 via the dialog message extraction processing unit 210 match (proposal (Day = event data registration date), a message such as “Today is a hina festival. Would you suggest a recipe related to the event?” Is extracted and displayed on the input unit 160. If the event date registered in the event database 261, for example, the Hina festival on March 3 was the day before the proposal date (suggested date + (1 day) = date of event data registration), “It ’s the Hina festival soon. A message like “Would you suggest a recipe?” Is extracted and displayed. When the proposal date is two days before the event date registered in the event database, the same message as that of the previous day may be displayed, or the message may be displayed in a different expression. The user can set the setting condition of how many days before a registered event date a message is displayed with respect to the proposal date, or whether a message is displayed even if the event date has passed. You may display the name of an event, a date, etc. on a message display screen.

(Figure 5: 503)
For example, the date acquired from the date specifying unit 110, the region information acquired from the region specifying unit 120, and the information acquired from the weather information acquiring unit 130 are “temperature: 10 degrees” and “humidity: 40%”. If it is determined that it is a cold day through the interactive message extraction processing unit 210 according to the conditions set in the weather database 262, “Today is cold. Would you suggest a warm recipe?” Is extracted and displayed on the input unit 160. You may display the acquired date, weather information, etc. on a message display screen. Details of the setting conditions of the weather database 262 will be described later with reference to FIG.

(Figure 5: 504)
The control unit 150 registers one or more ingredients registered in the inventory database 252 via the dialog message extraction processing unit 210 on the proposed date acquired from the date specifying unit 110. For example, the ingredient is “onion”. In this case, a message such as “Onion remains. Would you suggest a recipe using stock?” Is extracted and displayed on the input unit 160. On the message display screen, the acquired date, inventory list, and the like may be displayed in order from the largest stock quantity.

(Figure 5: 505)
The control unit 150 matches the proposal date acquired from the date specifying unit 110 and the region information acquired from the region specifying unit 120 via the dialog message extraction processing unit 210 and the seasonal food registered in the seasonal food database 263, for example, If the seasonal ingredient is “Sanma”, a message such as “Sanma is delicious. Let's propose a recipe using seasonal ingredients.” Is displayed on the input unit 160. On the message display screen, an acquired date, a list of seasonal ingredients, and the like may be displayed.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the anniversary data acquisition condition in step S402 in the flowchart of FIG. 4 and the anniversary database 251 registered by the user. The control unit 150 confirms whether the anniversary data acquisition condition set in step S402 matches the date in the anniversary database 251. The anniversary database 251 can be registered with more items than the date, name, title, favorite food, and disliked food. In addition, the period of the setting date of the anniversary data acquisition condition can be changed.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of data for setting an anniversary recipe search condition as a base for selecting whether to set a recipe proposal candidate or not in steps S405 and S406 in the flowchart of FIG. For example, when the controller 150 is set as a recipe suggestion candidate in step S406, “Napolitan, Tomato” is registered as a favorite food in the anniversary database 251, and “Nira” is registered as a disliked food. Recognizing and searching the recipe information database 240 via the database search means 220, giving priority to the names of dishes and ingredients registered in the favorite food and excluding disliked food. As another example, when neither favorite food nor disliked food is registered, priority is given to a recipe in which the event of the item in the recipe information database 240 is “celebration, party” and the color is “two or more colors”. Then, a recipe that excludes a recipe that uses only “one color” is searched. If it is not set as a recipe proposal candidate in S405, the anniversary recipe search condition setting data is excluded and the process proceeds to the next step.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of data held in the event data acquisition condition and event database 261 in step S407 in the flowchart of FIG. In step S405, the control unit 150 checks whether the set event data acquisition condition matches the date of the event database 261. The event database 261 can change the setting of the event date, and can register the setting date and items of the event data acquisition condition. Moreover, the period of the setting date of event data acquisition conditions can be changed.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a data example of event recipe search condition setting that is used to select whether or not to set a recipe proposal in steps S410 and S411 in the flowchart of FIG. For example, when the candidate for the recipe proposal is set in step S411, the control unit 150 is registered in the event database 261. For example, when the recipe for the hinamatsuri is proposed, the control unit 150 receives the recipe information database via the database search unit 220. Priority is given to the names of dishes and ingredients with “Sushi, hamaguri, rape blossoms” registered in 240. For example, if eel is included in sushi, the recipe that excludes “plum dried” that is poor to eat Search for. As another example, when a Christmas recipe is proposed, the recipe name of the item in the recipe information database 240, the ingredient is “meat”, the genre is “Western food”, and the event is “party”, and the color is “ Search for recipes that exclude recipes that only use “one color”.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of recipe classification reference data held by the weather database 262. As shown in FIG. Here, the classification criteria of “hot recipe”, “cold recipe”, and “stored recipe” in the “recipe classification by weather” column in FIG. 3 are shown. Hereinafter, each classification criterion will be described.
(1) Criteria for classifying warm recipes Recipes that contain the letters “hot pot, warm, hot, etc.” in the recipe name and recipes with a cooking temperature of “warm” are considered to be warm recipes that are warm dishes.

(2) Criteria for cold recipes Recipes that contain the letters “cold, cold, cold, light, refreshing” in the recipe name, recipes that contain “lemon, vinegar, ice” in the ingredients, and the cooking temperature is “cold” The recipe is considered to be a cold recipe that is a cold dish.

(3) Criteria for preserving recipes Recipes that use “root vegetables, canned foods, vermicelli, dried seaweed, hijiki, Takano tofu, retort food”, which have a long shelf life, are cooking recipes that are suitable for preservation Consider it. This preserved recipe should be used to suggest cooking recipes using ingredients that are supposed to be stocked at home so that the cook can cook without going out in bad weather such as heavy rain, snow, typhoons, etc. . The user can also register the ingredients and seasonings that are always provided in the refrigerator and storage under the house in the inventory database 252 and classify the ingredients as a preservation recipe. Moreover, it is not limited to the recipe proposed in bad weather, but may be appropriately combined with a warm recipe or a cold recipe proposed according to weather information.

(4) Other Recipes Recipes that do not meet the above classification conditions may be used as intermediate recipes that are suggested at a temperature that does not feel much hot or cold.

  As described above, the weather database 262 stores information that associates each dish with the temperature level. In addition to temperature, the weather (degree of rain, etc. (heavy rain, typhoon, light rain, etc.)), humidity, etc. may be used.

  FIG. 11 shows the weather recipe that meets the set conditions based on the temperature and humidity value conditions set in the weather database 262 and the weather information acquired by the control unit 150 in steps S414 and S415 in the flowchart of FIG. It is a flowchart figure explaining the processing until the search condition is set. Hereinafter, each step of FIG. 11 will be described.

(FIG. 11: Step S1100)
The control unit 150 acquires the date from the date specifying unit 110, the region information from the region specifying unit 120, and the weather information from the weather information acquiring unit 130.

(FIG. 11: Step S1101)
The control unit 150 outputs the date, area, and weather information (at least temperature and humidity) acquired in step S1100 to the output unit 170.

(FIG. 11: Steps S1102 to S1104)
For example, if the humidity acquired in step S1101 is less than 50%, the process proceeds to step S408. If it is 60% or more and less than 80%, the process proceeds to step S1105. If it is 80% or more, the process proceeds to step S1106. In the case of (50% or more and less than 60%), the process proceeds to step S1107.

(FIG. 11: Steps S1105 to S1107)
These steps are for correcting the difference in the sensation temperature caused by the humidity. When the humidity is 80% or more, the sensible temperature becomes high, and the control unit 150 performs the following processing using a value obtained by adding 3 ° C. to the actual air temperature. Similarly, when the humidity is 60% or more and less than 80%, 2 ° C. is added, and when the humidity is 50% or more and less than 60%, 1 ° C. is added. If the humidity is less than 50%, no correction is performed.

(FIG. 11: Steps S1108 to S1109)
If the temperature obtained from the above steps is less than 18 ° C, the process proceeds to step S1110. If the temperature is 18 ° C or more and less than 25 ° C, the process proceeds to step S1111. If the temperature is 25 ° C or more, the process proceeds to step S1112.

(FIG. 11: Steps S1110 to S1112)
When the temperature obtained from the above steps is less than 18 ° C., the control unit 150 considers it as a cold day and proposes a warm recipe, and if it is 18 ° C. or more and less than 25 ° C., proposes an intermediate recipe, If it is 25 ° C or higher, it is considered a hot day and a cold recipe is proposed.

  In addition, since hot cold may depend on the relationship with the previous day, etc., you may make it depend on the fluctuation range from the previous day, the fluctuation | variation from average temperature, etc.

  In the above, the recipe proposal method when the weather recipe search condition is set in steps S414 and S415 has been described.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of inventory food data registered by the user in the inventory database 252. The user can register the ingredients, quantity, etc. at home from the screen of the input unit 160. Further, this data may be linked with shopping list data, for example, when carrots are purchased, they may be automatically registered in the inventory data, and can be deleted when carrots are used. This inventory data becomes the inventory data acquisition condition in step S416 in the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 13 shows an acquisition condition as to whether there is inventory data in step S418, S419, and S420 of the flowchart of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of setting data. For example, if the recipe is set as a recipe proposal candidate in step S419, the control unit 150 refers to the inventory database 252 and is registered in the inventory ingredients from the recipe information database 240 via the database search unit 220. Search for recipes that include food names and ingredients names with priority. As an example of the search condition, the ingredients of the retrieved recipe may be compared with the ingredients registered in the inventory ingredients, and even if there are not enough ingredients, the recipe may be added to the search condition setting and proposed. In that case, if the user did not have enough cabbage, for example, “There was no cabbage in the stock, but I suggested this recipe. How about using spinach, Komatsuna Chinese cabbage, etc. instead of cabbage? May be displayed. If the user does not select in step S420, the stock ingredients are excluded from the recipe search condition setting and the process proceeds to the next step.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of seasonal food data for each region held in the seasonal food database 263. The seasonal ingredients database 263 holds information on seasonal ingredients and regional special products for each month for each region. This seasonal food data becomes the seasonal food data acquisition condition in step S421 in the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 15 is a flow chart of FIG. 4. In steps S423, S424, and S425 in FIG. 4, the acquisition condition of whether there is seasonal food data and whether the user selects a recipe proposal using seasonal food, It is a figure which shows the example of data of search condition setting. In step S421, the control unit 150 refers to the seasonal food database 263, thereby grasping seasonal foods and regional special products for each region and month. If seasonal food data is not registered on the proposed date, it is not always necessary to select the seasonal food or special product on the proposed date. Search conditions may be set as things. Data regarding which period range to select seasonal ingredients or special products may be stored in, for example, the seasonal ingredients database 263 so that they can be customized. For example, when the candidate for the recipe proposal is set in step S424, the control unit 150 refers to the seasonal food database 263 and is registered in the seasonal food from the recipe information database 240 via the database search unit 220. Priority is given to the recipe including the name of the food and the name of the ingredients. If the user does not select in step S425, the seasonal ingredients are excluded from the recipe search condition setting, and the process proceeds to the next step.

  FIG. 16 is a processing flowchart showing the detailed procedure of step S426 in the flowchart of FIG. Hereinafter, each step of FIG. 16 will be described.

(FIG. 16: Step S1601)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “What do you want to use?”. For example, the user designates an ingredient desired to be used, such as an ingredient in a refrigerator or an ingredient scheduled to be bought on the way home. In this step, it is desirable that a plurality of ingredients can be selected.

  In addition, the control unit 150 displays a message such as “Do you want to check a certain thing (food)?” On the input unit 160, and when the user answers “I want to check”, the control unit 150 stores the message in the inventory database 252 Ingredients can be specified from the inventory database of connected refrigerators.

(FIG. 16: Step S1602)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “Who will eat?” The user designates the type of person who eats, for example, the type of person such as a small child, a junior and senior high school student to an adult, or an elderly person. In this step, a plurality of person types may be designated.

(FIG. 16: Step S1603)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “What is the type of dish?”. For example, the user designates the type of food, such as rice, noodles, side dishes, soup, etc., and main dishes, main dishes, side dishes, soup, etc., for which a menu proposal is desired. In this step, a plurality of dish types may be designated.

(FIG. 16: Step S1604)
The control unit 150 displays a message such as “What genre do you want to eat?” On the input unit 160. For example, the user designates a food genre such as Japanese food, Western food, Chinese food, and others. In this step, a plurality of cooking genres may be designated.

(FIG. 16: Step S1605)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “What is the cooking effort?”. For example, the user designates a type such as simple, normal, and time-consuming. In this step, a plurality of types may be designated.

  As described above, the condition receiving procedure of each step in FIG. 16 has been described. However, the user can skip each condition without inputting each condition in FIG. 16, or can skip all conditions. The skipped condition is handled by the control unit 150 as having no desired condition. For example, if the genre that you want to eat is skipped, it is determined that you can propose anything, whether it is Japanese, Western, or Chinese.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an image screen in which the control unit 150 displays some question messages regarding the menu on the input unit 160 via the output unit 170 in step S426 in the flowchart of FIG. The answer input method on this screen may be input as characters, such as ingredients, or may be selected from a list of ingredients or selected from the inventory database 252. When inputting the ingredients, for example, “pork rose slice” can be input or selected in more detail than “pork sliced meat”.
1) What do you want to use? Ask for answers by ingredients.
2) Who will eat? Ask for answers by age group.
3) What are the types of dishes? Ask for answers in large categories such as rice.
4) What genre do you want to eat? Ask for answers in genres such as Japanese.
5) What about cooking? Ask for an answer to how much effort you can take.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of data held in the favorite recipe database 253. In step S428 of FIG. 4, when the user selects “create today (decided by this)” or “interesting (hold)”, the control unit 150 displays the date, region, weather, All items such as humidity, temperature, user selection information on the dialogue screen, recipe name of recipe information described in FIG. 3, and ingredients are registered in the favorite recipe database 253. Based on this registration data, an answer from the apparatus is obtained.

  FIGS. 19A and 19B are data diagrams in which the control unit 150 classifies the recipes registered in the favorite recipe database 253 for each item and shows the conditions selected by the user as a ratio. For example, when “Napolitan” is selected and registered for the first time as an anniversary recipe, the selection rate of each item of recipe registration described in FIG. 18 is 100%. Next, when “hamburger” is selected and registered as an anniversary recipe, the selection rate of “Napolitan” as the recipe name is 50%. As the number of anniversaries increases, the selection rate for each recipe name decreases. The selection rate of other items such as ingredients is the same as the recipe name. In addition, the selection rate is similarly calculated for each selection item such as event, weather, stock, seasonal ingredients, designated ingredients, designated members, designated type, designated genre, designated cooking effort, and the like. Note that in step S430 in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the user selects the number of registered items for each selection item registered in the favorite recipe data 253 on the selection screen “view checked recipe” displayed on the input unit 160. The selection rate and the like can be browsed (FIG. 19B). This figure is an appearance of the registration status, and can be used when the registration is corrected.

  FIG. 20 is a data diagram showing a method for setting priority conditions for recipe proposal based on selection information from the user and answer information on the question screen in step S427 in the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 20, the selection items and the presence / absence of the setting of the priority condition based on the presence or absence of hope are shown. Settings can be made based on this figure.

  FIG. 21 shows a case where a number of recipes are searched based on the search setting condition of each item selected by the user based on the recipe proposal priority order condition described in FIG. It is the figure which showed the recipe extraction process means. For example, when the user selects to propose an anniversary recipe and a large number of recipes are searched based on the anniversary recipe search condition setting in FIG. 7, the control unit 150 outputs the output unit in step S428 in the flowchart of FIG. When the recipe is displayed on the input unit 160 via 170, for example, even if 50 or more are displayed, the user feels inconvenient to select. Therefore, it is necessary to narrow the number of items that the user can easily view on the screen. The appropriate number of items that can be viewed is 10 to 15, so if there are a large number of search results, the recipe name and ingredients name = the recipe that contains the ingredients registered in the inventory database and the favorite recipe database. It is considered that the accuracy of the process of extracting the recipe proposal to the user is improved by setting the priority order of the anniversary recipe = the recipe proposed for the past three times and the recipe with a short cooking time. Note that the number of recipes displayed on the screen may be set by the user in the input unit 160.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting condition data for the control unit 150 to search for the next proposed recipe or another recipe in step S431 in the flowchart of FIG. When there is no recipe that the user wants to make among the recipes suggested and displayed in step S428 in the flowchart of FIG. 4, or when a recipe that the user wants to make is found in S430 but other recipes are to be found. Is set. For example, if there is no recipe that the user wants to make, the control unit 150 keeps the selection conditions of the answer item information (anniversary, event, weather, stock, season, member) selected by the user at the initial setting in step S401. Go to and search again. When a recipe that the user wants to make is found but another recipe (another product) is to be searched, the control unit 150 selects information on ingredients, types, genres, and hassles specified by the user during the initial search as shown in FIG. If there is, the selection condition and the exclusion condition are set based on the information, and extracted from the recipe information database 240 via the recipe extraction processing unit 230 according to the condition. For example, if you decide to make Napolitan with an anniversary recipe (in this case, “Fine Recipe” = “Napolitan”), but you want to make another product or find other recipes, you can select Set the following items in (Selection conditions). Let the fixed recipe be Napolitan.
・ "Type: Side dish (If you do not specify, you do not need to set the condition)"
・ "Genre: Same genre as the recipe (Western food)"
・ "Effort: Simple recipe is easy = easy"
・ "Taste: Different taste (acid) from the set recipe"
・ "Food texture: different texture (soft, smooth)"
・ "Color: a color different from the set recipe (red, green, orange)"
・ "Cooking method: cooking method different from the fixed recipe (fried, boiled)"

In addition, the following items are set as exclusion conditions (conditions for exclusion from selection).
・ "Type: noodles"
・ "Effort: It's easy to set a recipe = it takes time"
・ "Taste: Same taste as a fixed recipe"
・ "Food texture: same texture as a fixed recipe"
・ "Color: Same color as a fixed recipe"
・ "Cooking utensils: Recipes for the same cooking utensils (gas stand, pan, frying pan) as set recipes = up to 1 item (no more than 3 items)
・ Set “Cooking method: Same cooking method as a fixed recipe”.

  The control unit 150 proposes a recipe by giving priority to the search condition.

  FIG. 23 is based on the data for displaying the condition addition / change screen on the input unit 160 and the selection conditions at the stage where the control unit 150 searches for the next proposed recipe or another recipe in step S431 in the flowchart of FIG. It is a figure which shows the search setting condition data. In response to the questions 1) to 5), for example, if there is no recipe that the user wants to make in step S428, the user can select ingredients, members, types, genres, labor, weather, seasons, events, When each item of the anniversary is added or changed as desired by the user, the control unit 150 proposes a recipe with priority given to the search conditions for each item in FIG. In addition, the user may be able to select whether or not to search the recipe registered in the favorite recipe database 253 with priority on the screen of the input unit 160.

  FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an image screen in which the control unit 150 displays the proposed recipe on the input unit 160 via the output unit 170 in step S427 in the flowchart of FIG. Here, it is assumed that the output unit 170 includes a screen display device and proposes a menu to the user by screen display. When the controller 150 proposes a menu that combines a plurality of dishes, the controller 150 considers the bias of ingredients used by each dish in the menu. Details of the specific example will be described in <Tenth Embodiment>.

  FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating data defining whether or not the control unit 150 displays each item included in the recipe data on the input unit 160 via the output unit 170 in step S432 in the flowchart of FIG. . It is desirable that each item of the recipe data can be customized according to the user's preference as to whether or not the proposal result is displayed on the output unit 170. For example, some people find it more convenient to display “how hot” or “how long does it take” on the display screen. When instructing the output unit 170 to display the contents of the recipe data on the screen, the control unit 150 reads the data shown in FIG. 25 and adjusts the display items. The data in FIG. 25 may be stored, for example, in the user registration information database 250 as customization information for each user. In this way, by configuring so as to perform the setting, it is possible to customize appropriately according to the user's intention.

  FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a display example of a screen showing a state where the user inputs anniversary data in the input unit 160. As shown in FIG. 26, the screen display includes an anniversary input screen display, date, title (name), favorite food, poor food, calendar, contents and scroll bar, registration input button, and the like. Has been. In the current display, a point (cursor) is set on September 1, 2009, and the registration data for the day is entered. A reference button may be provided so that an appropriate input can be selected.

  FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a display screen example of the dialogue message displayed on the input unit 160 in steps S404 and S409 in the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 27A, there is an inquiry from the device side to the user, for example, “Today is XX ’s birthday. Would you suggest a recipe for the anniversary?” In response to the “Yes” and “No” buttons, a response can be made. In addition, as shown in Fig. 27 (b), a question such as "Tomorrow (March 3) is a hina festival. Will you propose a recipe for the anniversary?" Is possible.

  As described above, the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes the anniversary database 251 that stores data in which the user registers various information related to the anniversary, such as the birthday, and the user is at home. Inventory database 252 that holds data registered with a certain ingredient, data that registers user's favorite recipe, and favorite recipe database 253 that holds history data until the user decides a favorite recipe, calendar events and events In order to propose a recipe based on the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 130 and the temperature and humidity values, the event database 261 that holds food and cooking data related to the temperature, the conditions of the temperature and humidity values Weather database 262 that holds data that sets data, seasonal foods that hold seasonal ingredients and special products every month It comprises a base 263. Using this, the control unit 150 searches the recipe information database 240 through the dialog message extraction process 210, the database search means 220, and the recipe extraction process 230 for a recipe that meets the conditions according to the user's selection information. To the user.

<Second Embodiment>
FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the menu decision support device 100 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The menu decision support device 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration example as the first embodiment, but each functional unit is physically divided into a plurality of devices. In this respect, the menu decision support device is referred to here. Hereinafter, each device will be described.

  The terminal device 200 (client terminal) is a remote control device, a portable terminal, or the like, and includes a date specifying unit 110, a region specifying unit 120, a weather information acquisition unit 130, an input unit 160, and an output unit 170. The terminal device 200 is for the user to search for a desired menu for the hand, and is preferably configured as a portable device.

  The server 300 is, for example, a functional unit provided in the apparatus, and includes a date specifying unit 110, a region specifying unit 120, a weather information acquisition unit 130, a storage unit 140, a control unit 150, an input unit 160, and an output unit 170. In general, the server 300 receives a request to propose a menu from the terminal device 200, executes the menu proposal processing described in the first embodiment, and presents the proposal content to the terminal device 200. is there. The server 300 includes a search condition input unit 160 that receives a request transmitted by the terminal device 200 and a search condition specification. The server 300 may be configured such that data is managed by being identified by a user ID or the like so as to respond to requests from a plurality of terminal devices 200 used by different users.

  The display device 400 includes a second output unit 410. The second output unit 410 is preferably a screen display unit that is larger than the output unit 170 included in the terminal device 200. The user can also see the menu on the output unit 170 of the terminal device 200. For example, when starting cooking, the user uses the second output unit 410 having a larger screen while cooking while watching the recipe data. You can also.

  The electronic device (electric appliance) device 500 includes an input unit 160 and an output unit 170. Electronic device (electric appliance) devices include refrigerators, microwave ovens, microwave ovens, rice cookers, monitors, televisions, telephones, facsimiles, digital photo frames, and personal computers.

  The terminal device 200, the server 300, the display device 400, and the electronic device (electric appliance) device 500 are connected by a network 600 and can transmit and receive data to and from each other. Preferably, the network 600 is a wireless network, and the devices can communicate with each other by wireless communication.

  If each device is connected wirelessly, the terminal device 200 can be constituted by a portable terminal device (including a personal computer, an electronic notebook, a mobile phone, a portable game machine, an electronic notebook, etc.). Thereby, the user can consider a menu without choosing a place, and can decide to bring a menu after shopping.

<Third Embodiment>
The menu decision support device 100 described in the first to second embodiments above may be configured to be incorporated in an electronic device and add a menu proposal function to the electronic device. For example, the following examples can be considered for incorporation into electronic devices.

(Part 1: Example of microwave oven)
The menu decision support apparatus 100 can be incorporated into the microwave oven so that the user can easily cook dishes using the microwave oven. In this case, cooking using a microwave oven as a cooking appliance may be preferentially proposed.

(Embodiment example 2: Refrigerator)
When incorporating the menu decision support device 100 into the refrigerator, the inventory management function in the refrigerator's storage and the menu decision support device 100 may be linked to preferentially propose the ingredients to be stocked and the dishes using the ingredients. .

(Embodiment example 3: mobile phone, electronic notebook)
When the menu decision support apparatus 100 is incorporated into a mobile phone or an electronic notebook, a function may be provided that can store and display a shopping memo when there is a food item to be purchased after the menu is decided.

<Fourth embodiment>
The functions of the menu decision support apparatus 100 described in the first to third embodiments can be implemented as a program executed by an arithmetic device such as a CPU. For example, the functions of the date specification unit 110, the region specification unit 120, the weather information acquisition unit 130, the storage unit 140, the control unit 150, the input unit 160, and the output unit 170 are implemented as a menu decision support program according to the present invention, and an arithmetic device By executing this, the function of the menu decision support device 100 can be realized.

  Further, the program may be for realizing a part of the above-described functions, and further, with the program such as an OS (Operating System) already recorded in the menu decision support apparatus 100. It may be realized in combination.

  The processing of each functional unit of the menu decision support apparatus 100 may be realized by recording the program on a computer-readable storage medium, causing the CPU to read and execute the program recorded on the storage medium. .

  The “storage medium” storing the program is a computer-readable portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, an SRAM, a flash memory, a DVD, or a Blu-ray disk, and is built in a computer system. A storage device such as a hard disk. Furthermore, a program that dynamically holds a program for a short time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, and a server or client in that case Such a volatile memory inside a computer system as described above includes a program that holds a program for a certain period of time.

<Fifth embodiment>
FIG. 29 shows an example of processing for creating a shopping check list and adjusting the amount of food stock after menu decision. In step SC101, food ingredients included in the selected menu are listed. For example, it is assumed that dish 1, dish 2, and dish 3 are included in the selected menu, and the following ingredients are included as ingredients of each dish.
Ingredients for dish 1: 1/2 tomato, 2 potatoes Ingredients for dish 2: 1/2 tomato, 3 potatoes Ingredients for dish 3: 1/2 tomato, 1/2 potato

If it is the above example, it will become as follows when the said foodstuff is listed.
Tomato: 2 and a half Potato: 5 and a half

Next, in step SC102, “amount to buy” is set based on the stock quantity for each listed foodstuff. For example, assume that the respective inventory amounts are as follows.
Tomato: 1/2 potato 6 pieces Then, the amount to buy is 2 tomatoes (because 2 ½-1/2 pieces = 2).
0 potatoes (because the amount of inventory (6) is more than the amount used (5 and a half))
It becomes.

Next, in step SC103, the items to be purchased and the amount of the items to be purchased are displayed in a list.
In the above example:
2 tomatoes

Here, the user can additionally input other items to be purchased. For example, if you don't need to buy potatoes this time, but want to increase the amount of stock, you should buy three, so you can manually enter "3 potatoes" to display the contents of the list. The
2 tomatoes, 3 potatoes.

  Also, for example, if you want to buy two tomatoes but you want to buy one more, touch the part labeled “2” to increase or decrease the quantity. Can do.

  In the shopping list, a square on the left is a check mark column (check box), and a check mark can be added when the item is purchased. Generally, when shopping, you will check manually (pen touch etc.), but when you purchase with an electronic wallet such as a wallet mobile phone or when you purchase at an online supermarket, If a method that can automatically determine the number is used, the check box can be automatically checked. This process is performed in step SC104, and the checked food is recognized as actually purchased. An example of this shopping list is shown in FIG.

Next, in step SC105, the amount bought at the current shopping is added to the stock amount. For example, in the above example, if the stock quantity is 1/2 tomato and 6 potatoes, and the quantity bought is 2 tomatoes and 3 potatoes,
Stock quantity is
Two and a half tomatoes and nine potatoes.

An example of such an inventory list is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 31, in the inventory list, the same food can be displayed in a separate line for each “purchase date”. For example, in the above example, the original inventory quantity is
Ingredients Quantity Date of purchase 1/2 tomato 2010/1/8
6 potatoes
Suppose you purchased the following items on 10/10/2010.
2 tomatoes, 3 potatoes,
Stock list Ingredients Quantity Date of purchase 1/2 tomato 2010/1/8
2 tomatoes
6 potatoes
3 potatoes 2010/1/10
It becomes.

Thereafter, when cooking is performed while actually viewing the recipe with this device, the amount of food used in the prepared menu is subtracted from the amount of stock in step SC106. In the above example, the amount of ingredients used in the cooked menu is
2 and a half tomatoes 5 and a half potatoes, so the stock after cooking is 0 tomatoes and 3 and a half potatoes.

In the inventory list that also displays the purchase date, assuming that the cooker uses old ingredients, the inventory list is as follows.
Ingredient Quantity Date of purchase Potato 1/2 1/2 2009/12/28
3 potatoes 2010/1/10

  Note that there is a difference between the stock list stored in the device according to the present embodiment and the actual stock, such as when a dish that is not grasped by the device according to the present embodiment is created or when shopping is performed. There is a case. Therefore, from the inventory list screen, the inventory list can be edited (addition / deletion of ingredients, change in number, correction of purchase date, etc.). Although the number management is based on a unit of 1/2, it can be freely set to a unit of 1 or a unit of 1/8 according to user settings.

<Sixth Embodiment>
Next, a mechanism for supporting the work of cooking a plurality of dishes in parallel when cooking will be described. The following information can be added as metadata to each step of the “cooking procedure” in the recipe data according to the embodiment of the present invention.

1) The degree of involvement of the cooker (“large” in the case of the cook's active work, such as washing, cutting, or frying the ingredients, stewed, boiled, steamed, warmed in a microwave oven, or baked in the oven "Small" when cooking equipment is mainly cooked and the cook is engaged in other work, "medium" when the cook needs to be involved to some extent, such as grilling fish Become.)
2) Cooking resources (stove, microwave oven, sink (may include chopping board and cooking table), pan, frying pan, etc.)
3) Cooking time (How many minutes is a standard step)

A format example of each of the above metadata is described as follows, for example.
4) Cooking level: Large = <S 100>, Medium = <S 50>, Small = <S 0>
5) Cooking resources: Stove = <R CONRO>, Microwave Oven = <R OVEN>, Toaster = <R TOASTER>, Sink = <R SINK>, Cooking Table = <R WORKTOP>, Cutting Board = <R BOARD>, Bowl = <R BOWL>, Deep pan = <R POT>, Shallow pan = <R PAN>, Frying pan = <R FRYPAN>, Grilled net = <R GRIDIRON>, Steamer = <R STEAMER>
6) Cooking time: 5 minutes = <T 5> or <T 5m>, 30 seconds = <T 0.5> or <T 0.5m> or <T 30s>, 1 hour = <T 60> or <T 60m> or <T 1h>

For example, in the illustrated example (Napolitan), metadata is added as follows.
(1) Cut onions into thin slices and mushrooms (canned) into 4-5 pieces. <S
100><RSINK><T3>
(2) Cut the bacon into small pieces and the green pepper into half length. <S 100><RSINK>
<T 3>
(3) Add salt to boiling water and boil spaghetti. <S 0><RCONRO><RPOT><T
15>
(4) Heat 2 tablespoons of salad oil in a frying pan and stir fry onions and bacon, then add mash and peppers and stir. Put boiled spaghetti in it, salt and pepper, and season with ketchup and Worcester sauce. <S 100><RCONRO><RFRYPAN><T
8>

  Based on such metadata, a time chart for each dish is displayed. A time chart is, for example, a chart in which the length corresponds to the cooking time, and the color corresponds to the degree of involvement of the cook (the color is darker when the degree of participation is high), and the appearance of cooking is easily understood by appearance. It is what. If the cooking time of a step with a low degree of involvement of a cook in a certain dish is longer than the cooking time of a step in another dish, those dishes can be cooked in parallel at that step. By displaying for each dish, it is possible to easily show the cook that parallel cooking is possible.

For example, it is assumed that the cooking procedure for tomato salad is as follows.
(1) Wash and slice tomatoes. <S 100><RSINK><T3>
(2) Combine vinegar and salad oil to make a dressing. <S 100><RSINK><T3>
(3) Place the tomatoes in the bowl and apply the dressing (2). <S 100><RSINK><T3>
Then, the time chart of the “Napolitan” and the “Tomato Salad” is as shown in FIG. 32, and it is displayed to the user that the “Tomato Salad” can be made in the time when the “Napolitan” is boiled. Become.

  When cooking in this example, following the superposition of this time chart, the steps (1), (2) and (3) for tomato salad are displayed in sequence after the step (3) for Napolitan, and then the procedure for Napolitan (4 ) Is displayed.

  The time chart of each dish can be moved left and right by the cook. For example, when the movement is performed as shown in FIG. Is difficult. In addition, the overlapping of cooking resources is also displayed as “sink × 2”, for example.

For example, suppose that the cooking procedure of cabbage fry is as follows.
(1) Cut the cabbage into 4cm squares, excluding the core. <S 100><RSINK><T5>
(2) Slice onions and peel ginger into slices. <S 100><RSINK><T5>
(3) Heat salad oil in a frying pan and fry ginger. <S 100><RCONRO><RFRYPAN><T3>
(4) Add cabbage and leeks, stir for 2 minutes, and season with salt, pepper and soy sauce. <S 100><RCONRO><RFRYPAN><T3>

  If so, time chart examples of “Napolitan”, “Tomato Salad” and “Frying Cabbage” are as shown in FIG. 33 and FIG. In this way, the time chart of each dish can be freely moved to the left and right (front and back in terms of time) by the user. It is also clearly stated that “you need two stoves and a frying pan”.

When the user decides in what order and in what gap time to cook each dish while looking at this time chart and moving, the actual menu procedure will give instructions according to the time chart . For example, if the user decides to cook using the time chart of FIG. 35, the apparatus of the present invention shows the menu procedure in the following order.
・ Neapolitan (1)
・ Neapolitan (2)
・ Napolitan (3)

Tomato salad (1) (In this case, it is also possible to show the procedure of tomato salad (1) after giving a message saying "Let's make a tomato salad while boiling Napolitan".) The message is time-consuming, such as “boil” and “steam” from the cooking procedure of (3) of the previous dish (in this example Napolitan) (the procedure of the part where the later dish (in this example tomato salad) overlaps) Extract the cooking method and display it mechanically in the form of "Let's make a (later cooking name) while (the previous cooking name) is displayed in the same way as the verb of the extracted cooking method") Is possible.)
・ Tomato salad (2)
・ Tomato salad (3)
・ Napolitan (4)
・ Stir-fried cabbage (1)
・ Stir-fried cabbage (2)
・ Stir-fried cabbage (3)
・ Stir-fried cabbage (4)

  As described above, by using this time chart, the user can grasp in advance the gap time of each dish, and can efficiently cook each dish by effectively utilizing the gap time. It becomes like this.

  Another example of the cooking procedure is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 36, the cooking procedure data includes text data for the user to read and metadata for use with the tool. Text from the left side to the level of involvement is text data, and the right side is metadata.

Hereinafter, metadata on the right side of FIG. 36 will be described.
The first line corresponds to the procedure 1 “cut beef into bite-sized pieces”. <T 3> means that this procedure takes 3 minutes. <R BORAD> means using a cutting board for this task. <R WORKTOP> means to use a countertop for this work. <S 100> means that the cook is almost 100% involved in this work (high degree of involvement). This work requires the cook to put a cutting board on the work table and cut the beef, so that the degree of involvement of the cook increases.

  The second line corresponds to the procedure 2 "Add seasoning with soy sauce and mirin". <T 1> means that this work takes 1 minute. <R BOWL> means using a bowl for this task. <R WORKTOP> means to use a countertop for this work. <S 0> means that the cook hardly needs to be involved in this work (the degree of involvement is small). This is the process of putting soy sauce and mirin in a bowl, immersing the beef that was cut into bites in step 1 and waiting for one minute, so it will be the first few seconds after soaking beef in yuto mirin People just have to wait 1 minute. Therefore, the degree of involvement is small.

  The third line corresponds to the procedure 3 “Wash the lettuce off.” <T 2> means that this work takes 2 minutes. <R SINK> means use a sink for this task. <S 100> means that the cook is almost 100% involved in this work (high degree of involvement). This work requires the cook to perform the work of washing and tearing the lettuce in the sink, so the degree of involvement of the cook increases.

  The fourth line corresponds to “unravel egg” in step 4. <T 1> means that this work takes 1 minute. <R BOWL> means using a bowl for this task. <R WORKTOP> means to use a countertop for this work. <S 100> means that the cook is almost 100% involved in this work (high degree of involvement). In this work, the cook needs to break the egg into the bowl and loosen it, so the degree of involvement of the cook is increasing.

  The fifth line corresponds to “cut green onion” in step 5. <T 3> means that this work takes 3 minutes. <R BORAD> means using a cutting board for this task. <R WORKTOP> means to use a countertop for this work. <S 100> means that the cook is almost 100% involved in this work (high degree of involvement). In this operation, the cook needs to put a cutting board on the cooking table and cut the green onions, so the degree of involvement of the cook is increasing.

  The sixth line corresponds to “Fry the egg out” in step 6. <T 1> means that this work takes 1 minute. <R FRYPAN> means using a frying pan for this task. <R CONRO> means that a stove (gas stove, IH stove, etc.) is used for this work. <S 100> means that the cook is almost 100% involved in this work (high degree of involvement). This work requires the cook to fry the eggs in a frying pan, which increases the degree of involvement of the cook.

  The seventh line corresponds to step 7 “Fry the meat on high heat, add green onions and rice and adjust the taste when the color changes. Mix the eggs, add lettuce, and mix quickly.” <T 4> means that this work takes 4 minutes. <R FRYPAN> means using a frying pan for this task. <R CONRO> means that a stove (gas stove, IH stove, etc.) is used for this work. <S 100> means that the cook is almost 100% involved in this work (high degree of involvement). This work requires the cook to fry the meat in a frying pan, mix the onion and rice, and mix the eggs and lettuce, so the cook is more involved.

<Seventh embodiment>
FIG. 37 is a functional block diagram of the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 37, the menu determination support device 100 includes a region specifying unit 120, a date specifying unit 110, a storage unit 140, a control unit 150, an input unit 160, and an output unit 170.

  The area specifying unit 120 specifies the current position of the menu decision support apparatus 100 in units of areas. The term “region” as used herein refers to a size range in which seasonal foods and special products are different from each other, and is preferably in the same range as a region in the regional food database 142 described later. Arbitrary well-known techniques can be used for the method of specifying the region. For example, a method of specifying the current position using GPS is conceivable.

  The date specifying unit 110 specifies the current date and time. For example, the date specifying unit 110 can be configured using a timer or the like.

  The storage unit 140 includes a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and stores a recipe database 141, a regional food database 142, and a user database 143.

  The control unit 150 determines a menu to be proposed by using the current position (region) and date of the menu determination support device 100 and each database stored in the storage unit 140, and outputs the determined menu from the output unit 170. The process for determining the menu will be described later.

  The input unit 160 is an operation instruction unit used by the user to instruct the menu decision support apparatus 100 to propose a menu. You can also enter the condition settings for the proposal. The input unit 160 can be realized in the form of a keyboard, a keypad, a touch pad, a mouse, a trackball, or the like, for example. In addition, a screen display unit for displaying an operation menu is appropriately provided.

  The output unit 170 outputs the menu proposed by the control unit 150. The output format may be, for example, a screen display using a liquid crystal display or the like, or may be output as data describing the contents of the proposed menu. The screen display device may be shared with the input unit 160.

  The recipe database 141 is a database that holds basic data such as a dish name, ingredients, taste, texture, and color for each dish. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The regional food database 142 holds a list of seasonal foods and special products for each region and month. Details will be described later with reference to FIG. In addition to the region-specific food list, a general food list may be maintained. Below, the description about the list of general ingredients is omitted.

  The user database 143 is a database that stores data for customizing the recipe database 141 or the regional food database 142 for each user.

  The “menu proposal unit” in the present invention corresponds to the control unit 150 and the output unit 170.

  The area specifying unit 120, the date specifying unit 110, and the control unit 150 can be configured using hardware such as a circuit device that realizes these functions, or can be configured with an arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a microcomputer. It can also be configured using a software program that defines the operation. The latter software program corresponds to the “menu decision support program” in the present invention.

  FIG. 38 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a recipe data and a data example held by the recipe database 141. Recipe data is data that holds detailed information of individual dishes. Hereinafter, each information column included in the recipe data will be described.

(Fig. 38: "Cooking name" field)
The “cooking name” column holds the cooking name of the dish described by the recipe data. The dish name itself may contain information that can be used to propose a menu. For example, if the current season is winter, the control unit 150 can exclude a food name that includes characters reminiscent of cold, such as “cold”, from the proposed menu. It is also possible to store in the user database 143 what keywords are included in the dishes and to customize them for each user.

(Figure 38: “Cooking ingredients” column)
The “cooking ingredients” column holds a list of ingredients used to make the dish described by the recipe data. In particular, when proposing a menu that uses seasonal seasonal ingredients and special products, the data held in this column can be used effectively.

(FIG. 38: “Type” and “Genre” columns)
The “type” column and the “genre” column hold data representing a rough classification of dishes described by the recipe data. For example, when “rice” is determined as one item, the control unit 150 proposes dishes other than “rice” after the second item. Similarly, when “Japanese food” is determined as one item, for example, “Japanese food” as much as possible can be proposed for two or more items.

(Figure 38: “Taste” field)
The “taste” column holds data representing the approximate taste type of the dish described by the recipe data. For example, when the controller 150 is instructed to propose a menu for children, the controller 150 can preferentially propose a dish in which this field is “sweet”.

(Figure 38: “Food texture” column)
The “texture” column holds data representing the texture of the dish described by the recipe data. For example, the control unit 150 can make the menu more diverse by proposing two or more dishes having a texture different from the texture of the dish proposed as one item. In addition, for example, when an instruction to propose a menu for the elderly is given, it is possible to exclude as much as possible a dish whose “hard” in this column.

(Figure 38: “Color” column)
The “color” column holds data representing the color of the dish described by the recipe data. When the controller 150 proposes a plurality of dishes, the controller 150 can propose a colorful combination using the values in this field. The value in this field may represent the color of the entire dish, or may retain the color for each food.

(Figure 38: “Standard” column)
The “standard” column holds data indicating whether the dish described by the recipe data is a standard dish.

(Figure 38: “Effort / Time required” column)
The “labor / required time” column holds data indicating the time required to prepare the dish described by the recipe data. The value in this field is a guideline when the user selects a dish from among the proposed dishes. For example, when the user is in a hurry, a dish with a small value in this field is often selected.

(Figure 38: "Cooking utensil" column)
The “cooking utensil” column holds a list of cooking utensils used by the user when preparing the dish described by the recipe data. The control unit 150 uses the value in this field as reference information when proposing a dish, such as not proposing a dish that uses cooking utensils that are easy to feel heat, such as a stove or a frying pan, on a hot day. Can do. In addition, once cooking has started, such as an oven or rice cooker, you can set dishes that use cooking utensils that do not need to be done until completion, with dishes that use cooking utensils that must always be accompanied, such as a frying pan. You can also make suggestions.

(Fig. 38: "Cooking method" column)
The “cooking method” column holds data representing the cooking method of the dish described by the recipe data. It is desirable that the control unit 150 changes the cooking method of cooking proposed for one item and the cooking method of cooking proposed for two or more items from the viewpoint of variety of menus.

(FIG. 38: “Finished cooking temperature” column)
The “finished dish temperature” column holds data representing the temperature at which the dish described by the recipe data can be eaten and consumed. The temperature at which a person feels warm, cold or delicious generally has a difference from the body temperature of 25 degrees or more, and the temperature of a bento box with a heat retaining function is about 50 degrees to about 60 degrees. Since there are many things, for example, “warm dishes = 55 degrees or more” and “cold dishes = 12 degrees or less” are set. About normal temperature, it is set as "normal temperature dish = 15-35 degree | times" with reference to 5 degree-35 degree | times prescribed | regulated by Japanese Industrial Standard. If the current season is winter, the control unit 150 can exclude a dish having a small value in this field from the proposed menu. It is desirable to consider the difference in temperature that the data to be held is, for example, the same soup, the miso soup being around 65 degrees, and the slightly sweet soup at 50 degrees, which is slightly lower.

(Figure 38: “Finished image” column)
The “finished image” column holds image data indicating an image when the dish described by the recipe data is completed. The control unit 150 can extract the color of the dish from the main column instead of the “color” column or in combination with the “color” column, and propose a combination of colorful dishes.

(FIG. 38: “Cooking procedure” column)
The “cooking procedure” column holds data describing the detailed cooking procedure of the dish described by the recipe data. This field can be used as reference information for determining whether or not the user can actually make the dish. In addition, when cooking, this field can be displayed on the screen of the output unit 170 for reference.

  FIG. 39 is a diagram showing a configuration of the regional food table 1421 held in the regional food database 142 and a data example. The regional food table 1421 holds information on seasonal foods and regional special products for each month. By referring to the regional food table 1421, the control unit 150 can grasp the seasonal foods and regional special products for each region and each month.

  The control unit 150 does not necessarily need to select seasonal foods or special products of the current month, and may be handled as being included in the range of seasonal foods or special products, for example, within two months before or after the current month. Data regarding which period range to select seasonal ingredients or special products in may be stored in the user database 143 for customization.

  FIG. 40 is a processing flow showing a process in which the menu decision support apparatus 100 proposes a menu. Hereinafter, each step of FIG. 40 will be described.

(FIG. 40: Step S401)
The area specifying unit 120 and the date specifying unit 110 acquire the area where the menu decision support apparatus 100 is installed and the current date, and output the acquired area to the control unit 150.

(FIG. 40: Step S402)
The control unit 150 searches the regional food database 142 using the region and date acquired from the region specifying unit 120 and the date specifying unit 110, and acquires a list of seasonal ingredients and special products (region food list) in the corresponding region. To do.

(FIG. 40: Step S403)
The control unit 150 searches the recipe database 141 for a dish that uses the regional ingredients acquired in step S402, and proposes the obtained dish as a menu. At this time, customization information for each user stored in the user database 143 may be taken into consideration. The same applies to the following steps S407 and S410. The contents of the proposed menu are presented to the user via the output unit 170.

(FIG. 40: Step S404)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select one of the proposed menus. The user selects one of the menus or instructs to propose another menu. If the user selects any menu, the process proceeds to step S412. If none is selected, the process proceeds to step S405.

(FIG. 40: Step S405)
Instead of or in addition to the regional ingredients acquired in step S402, the control unit 150 acquires a list of other ingredients from the regional ingredients database 142 or the prescribed ingredient list and causes the input unit 160 to display the screen. Suggest to users.

(FIG. 40: Step S406)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select any of the proposed ingredients. The user selects one of the ingredients or instructs that none of the ingredients matches the wish. If the user selects any of the ingredients, the process proceeds to step S407, and if none is selected, the process proceeds to step S409.

(FIG. 40: Step S407)
The control unit 150 searches the recipe database 141 for a dish using the ingredients selected by the user in step S406, and proposes the obtained dish as a menu. The contents of the proposed menu are presented to the user via the output unit 170.

(FIG. 40: Step S408)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select one of the proposed menus. The user selects one of the menus or instructs to propose another menu. If the user selects any menu, the process proceeds to step S412. If none is selected, the process proceeds to step S409.

(FIG. 40: Step S409)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to input conditions for proposing a menu. The user inputs a condition according to a procedure described later with reference to FIG. 41, and the control unit 150 receives the condition designation.

(FIG. 40: Step S410)
The control unit 150 searches the recipe database 141 and the regional food database 142 using the conditions specified in step S410, and proposes the obtained dish as a menu. If a dish that satisfies the conditions is not found, a message such as “There is no recommended dish, please review the conditions.” May be displayed, and the process may return to step S409. Even if there is no dish that satisfies the conditions, after displaying a message such as "There was no suggestion menu that meets the conditions, I looked for recommendations from XX", etc., suggest alternative dishes You may do it.

(FIG. 40: Step S411)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message prompting the user to select one of the proposed menus. The user selects one of the menus or instructs to propose another menu. If the user selects any menu, the process proceeds to step S412. If none is selected, the process returns to step S409.

(FIG. 40: Step S412)
The control unit 150 causes the output unit 170 to display the detailed recipe of the selected dish on the screen. The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message for inquiring whether or not to confirm the dish. The user instructs whether to confirm the dish. If it is not confirmed, the process may return to step S409 or S410.

  FIG. 41 is a processing flow showing the detailed procedure of step S409 of FIG. Hereinafter, each step of FIG. 41 will be described.

(FIG. 41: Step S501)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “What do you want to use?”. For example, the user designates an ingredient desired to be used, such as an ingredient in the refrigerator or an ingredient scheduled to be bought on the way home. In this step, it is desirable that a plurality of ingredients can be selected.

(FIG. 41: Step S502)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “Who will eat?” The user designates the type of person who eats, for example, the type of person such as a small child, a junior and senior high school student to an adult, or an elderly person. In this step, a plurality of person types may be designated.

(FIG. 41: Step S503)
The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a message such as “What is the type of dish?”. For example, the user designates the type of food, such as rice, noodles, side dishes, soup, etc., and staple foods, main dishes, side dishes, soup, etc., for which a menu proposal is desired. In this step, a plurality of dish types may be designated.

(FIG. 41: Step S504)
The control unit 150 displays a message such as “What genre do you want to eat?” On the input unit 160. For example, the user designates a food genre such as Japanese food, Western food, Chinese food, and others. In this step, a plurality of cooking genres may be designated.

  The process for the menu decision support apparatus 100 to propose a menu has been described above. Note that the user can also skip each of the conditions shown in FIG. 41 without inputting them. The skipped condition is handled by the control unit 150 as having no desired condition. For example, if the genre that you want to eat is skipped, it is determined that you can propose anything, whether it is Japanese, Western, or Chinese.

  As described above, the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the seventh embodiment includes the regional food database 142 that holds the seasonal foods and special products every month. Using this, the control unit 150 can search the recipe database 141 for a menu according to the region and date and propose it to the user.

<Eighth Embodiment>
In the seventh embodiment, the method of proposing a menu according to the region and date using the recipe database 141 and the regional food database 142 has been described. In the eighth embodiment of the present invention, a method for further narrowing down the proposed menu using the image of the finished dish will be described. Since the configuration of the menu proposal device 100 according to the eighth embodiment is substantially the same as that of the seventh embodiment, the following description focuses on the differences.

  FIG. 42 is a diagram for explaining a standard for the controller 150 to propose a menu using the image data in the “finished image” column of the recipe database 141 in the eighth embodiment. Hereinafter, processing executed by the control unit 150 will be described. Here, it is assumed that the user has already selected “curry and rice” as one item of cooking and requests to propose “salad” as two items. The recipe database 141 stores recipe data of two types of salads “salad 1” and “salad 2”.

(Step 1: Extract RGB values)
The control unit 150 obtains a list of dishes from the recipe database 141 in steps S403, S407, and S410 in FIG. 40, and then images in the “finished image” column of “curry rice”, “salad 1”, and “salad 2”. Get the data. The control unit data 140 acquires RGB values of representative colors from the acquired image data. As a representative color, for example, the most frequently used color among image data can be used. For example, the color most used in the cooking image of curry and rice in FIG. 42 (r0, g0, b0), the color most used in the cooking image of salad 1 (r1, g1, b1), The most frequently used color in the cooking image can be (r2, g2, b2).

(Step 2: Calculate RGB vector distance between dishes)
The control unit 150 calculates the vector distance between the RGB values of “curry and rice”, “salad 1”, and “salad 2” based on the RGB values of “curry and rice”. The vector distance of RGB value here is the distance between each point obtained when the point which uses RGB value as a coordinate value is arrange | positioned on a three-dimensional coordinate.

  When the RGB value of the curry rice image is (r0, g0, b0), the RGB value of the salad 1 image is (r1, g1, b1), and the RGB value of the salad 2 image is (r2, g2, b2) Each vector distance can be calculated by the following (formula 1) and (formula 2).

(Step 3: Suggest dishes with the most vector distance)
The controller 150 preferentially proposes a salad having a longer vector distance from the RGB values of curry and rice. Proposing with priority means to present a method with a higher appeal to the user, for example, proposing a priority food first, or proposing only a priority food. The same applies to the following.

  The control part 150 can propose the salad which the color as a whole menu improves when combined with the color of curry rice by the above method.

  FIG. 43 is a diagram for explaining a criterion for the controller 150 to propose only one menu using the image data in the “finished image” column of the recipe database 141. When only one menu item is proposed, unlike the case described with reference to FIG. 42, there is no standard dish, so that the RGB vector value of the color is calculated in the image data of one dish. Specifically, a plurality of points are set in the image data of one dish, and the RGB vector distance between each point is calculated.

  In the example shown in FIG. 43, the control unit 150 arbitrarily selects four points in the image data, and acquires the RGB value of each point. The RGB value of point 1 is (r1, g1, b1), the RGB value of point 2 is (r2, g2, b2), the RGB value of point 3 is (r3, g3, b3), and the RGB value of point 4 is (r4) , G4, b4). The total vector distance between these points 1 to 4 is (between point 1 and point 2) + (between point 1 and point 3) + (between point 1 and point 4) + (between point 2 and point 3) + (Between point 2 and point 4) + (between point 3 and point 4), which can be represented by the following (formula 3).

  The reason why 1/6 is multiplied in the above (Equation 3) is to normalize the value. It can be said that the larger the value that can be calculated by the above (Formula 3), the richer the color variation. When there are a plurality of menu candidates to be proposed, the controller 150 can propose a colorful menu by giving priority to the one with a large value.

  In the example shown in FIG. 42, when it is desired to compare the RGB vector distances of each dish for a plurality of points, the control unit 150 obtains the RGB vector distances for all combinations of the points, and obtains the average. Thereby, the process similar to FIGS. 42-43 can be performed. For example, the RGB values of the curry and rice image are (r01, g01, b01) and (r02, g02, b02), and the RGB value of the image of the salad 1 is (r11, g11, b11) and (r12, g12, b12). Assuming that the RGB values of the image of the salad 2 are (r21, g21, b21) and (r22, g22, b22), the distance between the curry rice and these salads can be obtained by the following equation.

  The controller 150 proposes a salad having a longer vector distance from the RGB values of curry and rice. The reason why ¼ is multiplied in the above (formula 4) and (formula 5) is to normalize the value. In general, when the RGB value of dish A is represented by m and the RGB value of dish B is represented by n, the sum of the distances of the RGB values may be divided by m × n. Become.

  FIG. 44 is a diagram showing an example of recipe data in which colors or coordinates used for calculating RGB values in a cooked image are designated. When extracting the RGB values of the image data of the dish, it is desirable to extract only from the part of the dish excluding parts such as dishes such as dishes and the background. Therefore, in FIG. 44, a “sample color” column is provided in the recipe data. In the same column, sample values of representative colors of dishes or coordinate values of portions having representative colors in the image of the finished image are held. The control unit 150 can determine the representative color of the dish using the color or coordinates held in this field.

  For example, the control unit 150 may detect the peripheral part of the tableware shape and automatically determine the part to be excluded. However, the method of providing the “sample color” column is convenient and simple in terms of processing load. It is.

  In addition, the method for proposing a colorful menu using the color distance has been described above, but as another method, a colorful menu based on the total number of colors used for each dish in the menu. There is also a method to propose. For example, “sample color” of curry rice is “ocher, white, red”, “sample color” of salad 1 is “green, white, red”, and “sample color” of salad 2 is “green, yellow, red” In this case, the total sample color of “Curry rice and salad 1” is “ocher, white, red, green”, whereas the total sample color of “Curry rice and salad 2” is “ocher, white” , Red, green, yellow ”, so the menu of“ curry and rice and salad 2 ”can be judged to be richer. Therefore, “curry and rice and salad 2” is preferentially proposed in these two menus. As described above, according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention, the recipe database 141 holds information about the color of a dish in the image data in the “finished image” column or the “sample color” column, and the control is performed. The unit 150 proposes a menu with more color variations using the color information. Thereby, the menu proposal with a good visual image can be performed. Also, menus rich in color variations are presumed to be rich in food and nutritional aspects, and are preferable not only from a visual standpoint but also from a health standpoint.

  Further, according to the eighth embodiment, the control unit 150 treats that the color variation is richer as the vector distance of the RGB values of the dishes is longer. Thereby, the richness of cooking colors can be calculated by a quantitative method that is easy to handle in the arithmetic processing, which is advantageous from the viewpoint of processing load and the like.

<Ninth embodiment>
In the ninth embodiment of the present invention, a configuration and an operation example in which user preferences are reflected in a menu proposal will be described. Since the configuration of the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the ninth embodiment is substantially the same as that of the seventh to eighth embodiments, the following description focuses on the differences.

  FIG. 45 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the selection history information 1431 stored in the user database 143 and a data example. When the control unit 150 receives a menu or food selection from the user in the processing flow described with reference to FIG. 40, the control unit 150 stores the selection content in the selection history information 1431. As a result, the history such as the dish name, material name, dish type and genre selected by the user in the past is accumulated in the user database 143.

  When the control unit 150 proposes foodstuffs and menus, the control unit 150 preferentially proposes foods that have been selected many times in the past. Specifically, for example, when a food item or menu is proposed in steps S403, S405, S407, S410, etc. of FIG. 40, the one that has been selected in the past is proposed first. Thereby, a user's preference can be reflected in the foodstuff and menu which are proposed.

<Tenth Embodiment>
In the tenth embodiment of the present invention, a configuration and an operation example will be described in which menus are proposed by devising ingredients so that food is not biased. Since the configuration of the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the tenth embodiment is substantially the same as that of the seventh to ninth embodiments, the following description focuses on the differences.

  FIG. 46 is a diagram showing a screen display image of the output unit 170. Here, it is assumed that the output unit 170 includes a screen display device and proposes a menu to the user by screen display. When the controller 150 proposes a menu that combines a plurality of dishes, the controller 150 considers the bias of ingredients used by each dish in the menu. Specific examples are given below.

(Example 1: Ingredients specified by the user (hereinafter referred to as “designated ingredients”))
We propose only dishes that use the specified ingredients. If there are multiple designated ingredients, you may propose dishes that use the designated ingredients at the same level (2 carrot dishes, 2 radish dishes, etc.). If there are too many designated ingredients, priority is given to dishes that use all the designated ingredients, and dishes that use at least one or more designated ingredients are proposed.

(Example 2: Ingredients not designated by the user (hereinafter referred to as “designated non-designated ingredients”))
When the number of proposals is small, dishes are proposed so that the designated non-designated food ingredients do not overlap, but when there are many proposals, the dishes using the designated non-designated food ingredients may be proposed to be limited to about 20% each.

  Basically, foods that are important for determining characteristics such as meat and fish, such as taste of cooking (hereinafter referred to as “main foods”) may be considered in the same manner as in Examples 1 and 2 above. When 1 item is decided and 2 items or more are proposed, it is preferable to select dishes so that main ingredients do not overlap as much as possible. This is because it is considered that there are many users who do not like to eat dishes having the same main ingredients at once.

  If the names of ingredients including the main ingredients are displayed on the screen together with the names of the dishes, the user can make a final selection while referring to the names of the dishes and the ingredients, which is convenient. In the example of FIG. 46, it can be seen that dishes 1 and 2 use main ingredients A, dishes 2 and 5 use main ingredients B, and dishes 4 use main ingredients C.

  As for which ingredients are the main ingredients, for example, among the ingredients held in the “Cooking ingredients” column of the recipe data, an attribute is added to the effect that the ingredients are the main ingredients. Can be grasped. In the example shown in FIG. 38, since the “main” attribute is attached to the ingredient “Muki chestnut”, the control unit 150 knows that “Muki chestnut” is the main ingredient.

  In addition, the main ingredients can be determined from the value in the “cooking name” column of the recipe data. For example, if the name of an ingredient such as “Chicken XX” or “XX Tofu” is included in the dish name, it can be determined that the ingredient is the main ingredient. If multiple ingredients names are included, each is designated as the main ingredient.

  When only a rough food name is included in the dish name, such as “meat OO” or “fish XX”, it is not possible to specify a specific food material from the dish name alone. In this case, it is also possible to appropriately select one belonging to meat or fish from all ingredients and handle it as the main ingredient in the dish.

  FIG. 47 is a diagram showing a configuration and data example of the food type information 1422 held in the local food database 142 in the tenth embodiment. The food material type information 1422 is information describing which type the food material belongs to.

  The food type information 1422 holds information on “material”, “type”, “season”, and “main food availability” of each food. In the example shown in FIG. 47, it is described that the ingredient “Akita Fish” belongs to the type “Fish”.

  The item “season” indicates a time when the food is well taken. This item can be used as a judgment material when the controller 150 proposes a dish suitable for the season.

  The item “Possibility of main ingredient” indicates whether the ingredient can be a major ingredient (◯) or not (x).

  FIG. 48 is a diagram showing an example of a menu proposal when the user continuously desires the same food material. Here, an example of two consecutive days is shown. Proposing the same menu in a short period of time lacks freshness for the user, and in such a case, it is desirable to propose different menus using the same ingredients.

  FIG. 48 shows an example in which dishes 1 to 5 using main ingredients A to C are proposed on the first day, and dishes 11 to 15 using the same main ingredients A to C are proposed on the second day. Specifically, since dish 1 is selected on the first day, the second day indicates that the priority of dish 1 is lowered and proposed.

  Thereby, even if a user desires the same food for a short period of time, a menu proposal that does not bore the user can be made.

  In order to make a menu proposal as shown in FIG. 48, for example, the menu history of the last one week or so is stored in the user database 143, and at the next proposal, the dishes included in the menu history are not proposed or the priority is lowered. The method of proposing is conceivable.

  As described above, according to the tenth embodiment, when the controller 150 proposes a menu including a plurality of dishes, the ratio of the same ingredients included in the menu is a specified ingredient. Because it may be included in all proposed menus, it is 100%, and in the case of non-designated foodstuffs, it is limited to about 20%. However, for non-designated foodstuffs, it is desirable to reduce the proportion of the same foodstuff contained in the menu as the number of menus to be proposed decreases. Thereby, the user can always receive a fresh menu proposal. Since it is thought that nutritional aspects are also improved by abundant variations of foodstuffs, it is preferable from the viewpoint of health.

  Further, in the tenth embodiment, when the controller 150 proposes a menu using the same ingredients within a short period of time, for example, in order not to suggest the same dish as much as possible, for example, the latest (eg, about one week) ) Suggest a menu, for example, by lowering the priority of the dishes proposed in Thereby, even when using the same foodstuff, the menu with fresh taste can be proposed.

  Further, on the menu suggestion screen of FIG. 46 or 48, for the convenience of the user in a hurry, a mark such as “short time” is displayed on the screen next to the dish with a short cooking time, and the user selects a menu with a short cooking time. You may make it easy.

  46 and 48, the “menu” displayed indicates “menu dish”.

<Eleventh embodiment>
In the tenth embodiment, it has been described that a menu is proposed so that foods do not overlap as much as possible. From the same viewpoint, the control unit 150 can also propose menu dishes so that the cooking methods do not overlap as much as possible. This is because dishes using the same cooking method may have similar tastes or tastes of the same kind, which is not preferable in terms of menu variations.

  However, if the number of proposals is large, for example, there are many dishes that use the “boiled” cooking method for side dishes. Good.

  The configuration of the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the eleventh embodiment is the same as that of the tenth embodiment.

<Twelfth embodiment>
In the above embodiment (seventh to eleventh), as other conditions input by the user in the processing flow of FIG. 41, for example, “NG food”, “NG cooking method”, and the like are also conceivable.

  “NG food” means that if there is a food that the user does not like, it is registered. When there are NG foods, the control unit 150 always excludes those containing NG foods when proposing a menu to the user.

  The “NG cooking method” is a method for registering a cooking method that the user does not like. When there is an NG cooking method, the control unit 150 always excludes dishes using the NG cooking method when proposing a menu to the user.

  As for these conditions, similar information may be stored in the user database 143 in advance, and the control unit 150 may read the information and use it when the menu is proposed. Similarly, ingredients or menu dishes that the user wants to use actively may be stored in the user database 143, and the controller 150 may read them and use them at the menu proposal.

  In addition to the above, information on whether or not the user likes the standard dish may be stored in the user database 143. A user's preference for a standard dish includes a case where he / she prefers a standard dish he / she is familiar with and a case where he / she wants to increase his / her repertoire by selecting a dish other than the standard dish. If the user database 143 stores each user's preference regarding the standard dish, the control unit 150 can read this and adjust the menu tendency proposed according to the user's preference.

<Twelfth embodiment>
As conditions to be considered when the control unit 150 proposes only one menu item, for example, the following can be considered. List in priority order of conditions.
(Condition 1) Seasonal ingredients (detected from calendar or GPS function or input arbitrarily)
(Condition 2) Exclude dishes with names that do not match the season (Condition 3) Desired ingredients (optional input)
(Condition 4) Target person (optional input)
(Condition 5) Cooking type (optional input)
(Condition 6) Cooking genre (optional input)
(Condition 7) Menu with good color (Condition 8) NG ingredients (Condition 9) Use of classic dishes

When the controller 150 proposes a menu combining a plurality of dishes, an example of a priority order for proposing one item candidate is shown below.
(Condition 1) Cooking type (optional input)
(Condition 2) Seasonal ingredients (detected from calendar and GPS function)
(Condition 3) Exclude menu names that do not match the season (Condition 4) Desired ingredients (optional input)
(Condition 5) NG food (Condition 6) Genre (optional input)
(Condition 7) Eating target (optional input)
(Condition 8) Menu with good color (Condition 9) Use of standard menu

For example, the controller 150 proposes food items after two items in the following priority order.
(Condition 10) Type of dish (Condition 11) Seasonal ingredients (Condition 12) Exclude menu items that do not match the season (Condition 13) Desired ingredients (Condition 14) NG ingredients (Condition 15) In the first dish Exclude certain ingredients (Condition 16) Exclude the texture determined by the first dish (Condition 17) Exclude the cooking method determined by the first dish (Condition 18) Menu that increases the color distance from the first dish Choice

  Thus, if conditions are set in a combination that takes into account the priority order, it is possible to propose a menu with a high nutritional value that meets the user's preference. Note that the number of candidates displayed on the menu candidate proposal screen may be any number, and a predetermined number may be displayed in the order satisfying the conditions. On the menu candidate proposal screen, a message such as “recommended is XX” may be displayed to indicate the total number of menu candidates. This is because the number of cases that the user can easily see varies depending on the display method (form, size, etc.) on the output unit 170.

<Thirteenth embodiment>
FIG. 49 is a diagram illustrating data defining whether to display each item included in the recipe data. It is desirable that each item of the recipe data can be customized according to the user's preference as to whether or not the proposal result is displayed on the output unit 170. For example, some people find it more convenient to display “how hot” or “how long does it take” on the display screen.

  When instructing the output unit 170 to display the contents of the recipe data on the screen, the control unit 150 reads the data shown in FIG. 49 and adjusts the display items. The data shown in FIG. 49 may be stored in, for example, the user database 143 as customization information for each user.

<Fourteenth embodiment>
In the above seventh to thirteenth embodiments, the input unit 160 may include a dedicated operation key for operating a specific function. The operation keys include the following, for example.

(Operation key example 1: "Search" key)
The “search” key is a key operated when the user instructs the menu decision support apparatus 100 to propose a menu. When the user operates the “Search” key after inputting conditions, the conditions are output to the control unit 150.

(Operation key example 2: “Return” key)
The “return” key is a key for performing an operation of returning from the current display screen to the previous display screen.

(Example of operation key 3: “Next” key)
The “first” key is a key for canceling all selection / suggestion of the current food and menu and returning to the initial screen. Before returning to the initial screen, a warning message such as “Are all conditions entered cleared? Are you sure?” May be displayed. The following operation examples can be considered.

(Example of operation key 3: "Next" key: Example of operation 1)
When the menu decision support apparatus 100 is turned on, steps S401 to S403 are executed. After that, press the “Start” key on any screen to display the initial screen. On the initial screen, a message “What do you propose? Or do you want to enter conditions?” Is displayed, and when the user selects “menu proposal”, step S401 in FIG. 40 is started and “food proposal” is selected. Then, step S405 is started. If “condition input” is selected, step S409 is started.

(Example of operation key 3: “Next” key: Operation example 2)
Instead of making a proposal for the menu immediately after the menu decision support apparatus 100 is turned on, a message “What do you want to propose or do you want to enter conditions?” Is displayed. The subsequent operation is the same as that of the first operation example.

(Operation key example 4: “Details” key)
The “detail” key is a key for performing an operation for displaying details of a dish. When the user selects and operates a dish for which detailed contents are to be viewed on the menu candidate proposal screen, the contents of the recipe card are displayed.

(Operation key example 5: “Keep” key)
The “keep” key is a key for performing an operation of marking a favorite dish among the proposed menu candidates. After viewing other dishes, only the dishes with keep marks are displayed, and the menu to be finally selected can be determined.

(Example of operation key 6: "Next time" key)
The “Now” key was a favorite among the proposed menu options, but for example, the food could not be made because it was not available, or it took too much time to mark the dish as today Key. A dish with such a mark may be given a higher priority in the display order if other conditions are met in the next and subsequent menu proposals. The dish marked by the “again” key is stored in the user database 143 as “favorite dish”. For example, only “favorite dishes” may be displayed as menu candidates.

(Operation key example 7: "I decided this" key)
The “determined for this” key is an operation key for performing an operation of determining a menu finally selected from the currently proposed menu candidates.

(Operation key example 8: "Stop" key)
The “stop” key is used to stop receiving a proposal when there is no favorite menu candidate currently proposed.

(Operation key example 9: “Add food” key)
The “add food” key is used to perform an operation of adding “another dish” to the condition of the number of dishes input first.

(Operation key example 10: “Add food” key)
The “add food” key is a key for performing an operation of adding another food when there is no favorite menu item currently proposed. Moreover, although there was a favorite menu, it can be used also when performing operation when it is desired to add another food.

<Fifteenth embodiment>
In the fifteenth embodiment of the present invention, identification of a region will be described. The configuration of the menu decision support device 100 is the same as in the seventh to fourteenth embodiments.

  FIG. 50 is a diagram illustrating an example in which regions are grouped in units with the same or close seasonal time. The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display the table of FIG. 50 on the screen, and the user selects an area where he / she lives from the table. The area specifying unit 120 specifies an area where the menu decision support device 100 is located based on the selection result.

  FIG. 51 is a diagram showing data having the same contents as FIG. 50 on a map of Japan. The control unit 150 may display the screen of FIG. 51 on the input unit 160 and allow the user to select one of the regions on the map. In addition, it may be possible to select from the map on a prefecture basis. The area specifying unit 120 specifies an area where the menu decision support device 100 is located based on the selection result.

  52 to 54 are diagrams showing other methods in which the user designates an area. The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display the input screen shown in each figure on the screen, and allows the user to select one of the regions. The area specifying unit 120 specifies an area where the menu decision support device 100 is located based on the selection result. Each figure will be described below.

  FIG. 52 is a diagram showing an example in which Miyagi Prefecture is selected from the pull-down menu.

  FIG. 53 is an example of input and display in the case where area information is acquired from a zip code. By entering a postal code of 3 or more digits, it becomes possible to search for an area. Here, an example in which the postal code “980” is input is shown. At this point, you can see that the area is “Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture”. The correspondence relationship between the zip code and the region may be grasped by holding the correspondence relationship data in advance in the region specifying unit 120 or the like.

  FIG. 54 shows an example of input and display when area information is acquired from a telephone number. By entering two or more area codes as telephone numbers, it becomes possible to search for an area. In this example, the area code “02” is entered. Areas starting with the area code “02” are “Miyagi”, “Yamagata”, “Fukushima”, “Niigata”, “Nagano”, “Gunma”, “Tochigi”, “Ibaraki” These are eight. When the number of input digits is small, a plurality of regions may be targeted as in this example, so that it is possible to select a region for which menu proposal is desired from among the plurality of regions.

  FIG. 55 is a diagram showing an example in which regions having similar climates are grouped. This is a more flexible way to divide the region, regardless of prefecture. The control unit 150 displays a grouped table as shown in FIG. 55 on the input unit 160 and allows the user to select it. The area specifying unit 120 specifies an area where the menu decision support device 100 is located based on the selection result.

  It is convenient in terms of processing if the method of dividing the region and the region classification of the food list stored in the regional food database 142 are coincident, but they do not necessarily have to coincide.

  FIG. 56 is a diagram showing the grouping of the regions shown in FIG. 55 on a map of Japan. The control unit 150 may display the map of FIG. 56 on the input unit 160 instead of the table of FIG. 55 and allow the user to select a region on the map.

  As described above, in the fifteenth embodiment, the identification of the area has been described.

<Sixteenth Embodiment>
In the sixteenth embodiment of the present invention, date specification will be described. The configuration of the menu decision support device 100 is the same as in the seventh to fifteenth embodiments.

  FIG. 57 is a diagram showing an example of a date / time setting screen. The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display a date and time setting screen as shown in FIG. 57 and allows the user to input the current date and time. In this example, “October 15, 2009, 15:30” is input. When receiving the input, the date specifying unit 110 sets the internal time to the date and time. It is desirable that the time can be set by either a 12-hour system or a 24-hour system. This is because both are currently used in general society.

  After setting the current date and time, the date specifying unit 110 automatically advances the date and time by an internal timer or the like, and can specify the current date at any time thereafter. The control unit 150 proposes a menu using seasonal local foods and special products corresponding to the date.

  58 to 60 show examples of screens used when the user designates a date on which a menu is proposed instead of automatically specifying the date. The control unit 150 causes the input unit 160 to display one of the screens shown in each drawing. The user enters the date on the screen. The date specifying unit 110 specifies a date on which a menu should be proposed based on the input. Each figure will be described below.

  FIG. 58 is an example of a screen for designating a date on the calendar.

  FIG. 59 shows an example of a screen for inputting the month and day numerical values in the month and day input field.

  FIG. 60 is an example of a screen for selecting a month and day from a pull-down menu.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the specification of the date has been described.

<Seventeenth embodiment>
FIG. 62 is a functional block diagram of the menu proposal device 100 according to the seventeenth embodiment of the present invention. The menu proposal device 100 includes a weather information acquisition unit 130, a recipe database 141, a control unit 150, an input unit 160, and an output unit 170.

  The weather information acquisition unit 130 is connected to the weather information providing apparatus 800 via the network 600 and acquires information related to the weather from the weather information providing apparatus 200. The information related to the weather is, for example, information indicating the specified date and time / the weather such as sunny / cloudy / rainy in the area, temperature, humidity, and the like. The weather information acquisition unit 130 does not necessarily need to acquire weather information from the weather information providing apparatus 800 via the network 600, and a specific method for acquiring weather information may be arbitrary as long as desired weather information is obtained. .

  The recipe database 141 stores recipe information described later with reference to FIG.

  The control unit 150 controls the overall operation of the menu proposal device 100. In addition, the recipe corresponding to the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 130 is retrieved from the recipe information stored in the recipe database and acquired. Details will be described later.

  The input unit 160 is an interface for the user to input recipe information search conditions and the like. Specifically, the input unit 160 can be implemented in the form of an operation button, a remote control light receiving unit, a data interface that receives search conditions via a network, and the like.

  The output unit 170 outputs the recipe information acquired by the control unit 150. Specifically, the output unit 170 can be implemented in the form of a screen display unit that displays recipe information on a screen, a data interface that outputs recipe information via a network, or the like.

  The weather information acquisition unit 130 and the control unit 150 can be configured by using hardware such as a circuit device that realizes these functions, or a calculation device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and software that defines its operation. Can also be used.

  The recipe database 141 can be configured using a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and a data file that holds recipe information.

  The “menu proposal unit” in the seventeenth embodiment corresponds to the control unit 150.

  FIG. 63 is a diagram showing a configuration of the recipe information stored in the recipe database 141 and a data example. The recipe database 141 is a database that holds recipe information of individual dishes for each dish. As the recipe information, information indicating what kind of weather the dish is suitable for is stored in the “recipe classification by weather” column in FIG. 63. The method of classifying recipes will be described again with reference to FIG. A circle indicated by a bold line in FIG. 63 indicates that an item surrounded by a circle is applied to the recipe.

  The recipe information holds information representing at least one of a dish name, a cooking material (foodstuff), and a (finished) cooking temperature for each recipe. FIG. 63 shows an example in which other information is also held. Information other than these may be held together.

  FIG. 64 is a diagram showing recipe classification criteria. Here, the classification criteria of “hot recipe”, “cold recipe”, and “stored recipe” in the “recipe classification by weather” column in FIG. 63 are shown. Hereinafter, each classification criterion will be described.

(1) Criteria for classifying warm recipes Recipes that contain the letters “hot pot, warm, hot, etc.” in the recipe name and recipes with a cooking temperature of “warm” are considered to be warm recipes that are warm dishes.

(2) Criteria for cold recipes Recipes that contain the letters “cold, cold, cold, light, refreshing” in the recipe name, recipes that contain “lemon, vinegar, ice” in the ingredients, and the cooking temperature is “cold” The recipe is considered to be a cold recipe that is a cold dish.

(3) Criteria for preserving recipes Recipes that use “root vegetables, canned foods, vermicelli, dried seaweed, hijiki, Takano tofu, retort food”, which have a long shelf life, are cooking recipes that are suitable for preservation Consider it. This preserved recipe should be used to suggest cooking recipes using ingredients that are supposed to be stocked at home so that the cook can cook without going out in bad weather such as heavy rain, snow, typhoons, etc. . Moreover, it is not limited to the recipe proposed in bad weather, but may be appropriately combined with a warm recipe or a cold recipe proposed according to weather information.

(4) Other Recipes Recipes that do not meet the above classification conditions may be used as intermediate recipes that are suggested at a temperature that does not feel much hot or cold.

  As described above, in the present invention, information that associates each dish with the temperature level is stored in the recipe data, which indicates when each dish should be preferentially proposed.

  The configuration of the menu proposal device 100 according to the seventeenth embodiment has been described above. Next, the operation of the menu proposal device 100 will be described.

  FIG. 65 is a flow for explaining a process in which the control unit 150 proposes a menu. Hereinafter, each step of FIG. 65 will be described.

(FIG. 65: Step S400)
The user instructs the menu proposal device 100 to propose a menu via the input unit 160. At this time, a date or a region may be designated as an additional condition, and an instruction may be given to propose a menu suitable for the weather corresponding to the condition. Unless otherwise specified, a menu suitable for the weather in a predetermined area in the same time zone of the day is proposed.

(FIG. 65: Step S401)
The control unit 150 instructs the weather information acquisition unit 130 to acquire the weather information (at least the temperature and humidity) of the date and area specified in step S400. The weather information acquisition unit 130 acquires the date and local weather information, and outputs them to the control unit 150.

(FIG. 65: Steps S402 to S404)
If the humidity acquired in step S401 is less than 50%, the process proceeds to step S408. If it is 60% or more and less than 80%, the process proceeds to step S405. If it is 80% or more, the process proceeds to step S406. % Or more and less than 60%), the process proceeds to step S407.

(FIG. 65: Steps S405 to S407)
These steps are for correcting the difference in the sensation temperature caused by the humidity. When the humidity is 80% or more, the sensible temperature becomes high, and the control unit 150 performs the following processing using a value obtained by adding 3 ° C. to the actual air temperature. Similarly, when the humidity is 60% or more and less than 80%, 2 ° C. is added, and when the humidity is 50% or more and less than 60%, 1 ° C. is added. If the humidity is less than 50%, no correction is performed.

(FIG. 65: Steps S408 to S409)
When the temperature obtained from the above steps is less than 18 ° C., the process proceeds to step S410, when it is 18 ° C. or more and less than 25 ° C., the process proceeds to step S411, and when it is 25 ° C. or more, the process proceeds to step S412.

(FIG. 65: Steps S410 to S412)
When the temperature obtained from the above steps is less than 18 ° C., the control unit 150 considers it as a cold day and proposes a warm recipe, and if it is 18 ° C. or more and less than 25 ° C., proposes an intermediate recipe, If it is 25 ° C or higher, it is considered a hot day and a cold recipe is proposed.

  The operation example of the menu proposal device 100 according to the seventeenth embodiment has been described above.

  As described above, according to the seventeenth embodiment, the recipe database 141 stores the information shown in the “Recipe classification by weather” column of FIG. 63 as correspondence information that associates weather information with the characteristics of a dish. Yes. The information shown in the same column represents the characteristics of whether the dish is suitable for warm weather or cold weather as described in FIG. By using this information, the control unit 150 can appropriately propose a menu having characteristics suitable for the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 130.

<Eighteenth embodiment>
In the eighteenth embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in the seventeenth embodiment, a configuration and an operation example for proposing a menu in consideration of cooking time will be described. The menu suggestion apparatus 100 described in the seventeenth embodiment proposes a menu mainly from the viewpoint of a person who eats the finished dish, but in the present eighteenth embodiment, the viewpoint of the cooking burden of the cooker is introduced. To do. Since the configuration of the menu proposal device 100 is the same as that in the seventeenth embodiment, the following description will focus on the differences.

  FIG. 66 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the recipe information and a data example according to the eighteenth embodiment. In addition to the configuration described in FIG. 63 of the seventeenth embodiment, the recipe information in the eighteenth embodiment is newly added to the “cooking utensil (feeling hot)” column, “cooking utensil (heating “Not feel”) column, “cooking method” column, and “cooking time” column.

  The “cooking utensil (feeling the heat)” column holds information that lists the cooking utensils that are required when cooking the cooking, and that the cook easily feels the heat in the cooking process.

  The “cooking utensil (not letting you feel the heat)” column holds information that lists the cooking utensils that the cooker does not feel so hot in the cooking process among the cooking utensils required when cooking the dish. .

  The “cooking method” column holds the type of cooking method used when cooking the food. The type of cooking method here is not a detailed cooking process but a rough cooking method such as baking and boiling.

  The “cooking time” column holds the time required for each cooking method in the “cooking method” column.

  Heretofore, the configuration of the menu proposal device 100 according to the eighteenth embodiment has been described. Next, the influence which a cooking process has on a menu proposal is demonstrated. In general, the cooking process is thought to affect the impression of “hot / cold” that the finished dish gives to the eater. These effects are described below.

  FIG. 67 is a diagram showing recipe classification criteria according to the eighteenth embodiment. In FIG. 67, a “cooking method” column is newly provided in addition to the classification criteria shown in FIG. 64 of the seventeenth embodiment. This corresponds to the provision of the same column in the recipe information. In other words, it is considered that there is a certain degree of correlation between the cooking method and the impression such as “hot / cold” of the finished dish, and this is reflected in the recipe classification standard. In the eighteenth embodiment, the following new standard is provided in consideration of the temperature felt by the person who eats the food due to the cooking method.

(1) Criteria for classifying warm recipes A dish that includes "raw" or "warming" in the "cooking method" column of the recipe information is excluded from the target of the warm recipe.

(2) Criteria for Cold Recipes Dishes that include “Fry” or “Fry” in the “Cooking Method” column of the recipe information are excluded from cold recipes because they tend to feel hot.

  As described above, in the eighteenth embodiment, the recipes are classified in consideration of the influence of the cooking method and cooking utensils used in the cooking process on the finished dish.

  It should be noted that the classification based on the cooking method can be considered to be a classification based on the heat / cold felt by the cook during the cooking process. According to the same viewpoint, for example, dishes that use cooking utensils included in “cooking utensils (feeling heat)” may be excluded from the target of the cold recipe.

<Nineteenth embodiment>
The type of cooking method and the cooking time affect not only the impression that the finished dish gives to the eater, but also the impression such as “hot / cold” that the cook receives in the cooking process. Therefore, in the embodiment B3 of the present invention, an operation example in which a menu is proposed by taking into consideration the influence of the cooking method type and the cooking time in the cooking process on the cooker will be described. Since the configuration of the menu proposal device 100 is the same as that of the seventeenth to eighteenth embodiments, the following description will focus on the differences.

  If the cooking method in which the cook is easy to feel the heat is used for a long time, the possibility that the cook feels the heat in the cooking process increases. Therefore, in the nineteenth embodiment, the control unit 150 adds the values in the “cooking time” field for each “cooking method” field shown in FIG. 66, and based on this, the recipe of the warm recipe / intermediate recipe / cold recipe is added. Propose one. As an example, instead of the method described in FIG. 65 according to the seventeenth embodiment, it may be possible to adopt the method described in FIG. 68 below.

  FIG. 68 is a flow for explaining a process in which the control unit 150 proposes a menu based on the cooking time. Hereinafter, each step of FIG. 68 will be described.

(FIG. 68: Step S701)
The control unit 150 executes steps S401 to S407 in FIG. B4.

(FIG. 68: Step S702)
The control unit 150 adds the cooking time of each cooking method for each recipe information stored in the recipe database 141. If the total time is recorded in advance in the recipe information, the value may be used.

(FIG. 68: Steps S703 to S704)
If the temperature obtained from the above steps is less than 18 ° C., the process proceeds to step S705, if it is 18 ° C. or more and less than 25 ° C., the process proceeds to step S706, and if it is 25 ° C. or more, the process proceeds to step S707.

(FIG. 68: Steps S705 to S707)
If the temperature obtained from the above steps is less than 18 ° C., the control unit 150 considers that the day is a cold day and proposes a recipe having a long total cooking time. If the temperature is 18 ° C. or more and less than 25 ° C., the total cooking is performed. A recipe with an intermediate time is proposed, and if it is 25 ° C. or higher, it is considered a hot day and a recipe with a short total cooking time is proposed. The length of the total cooking time may be determined based on, for example, whether the total cooking time is longer or shorter than the threshold on the basis of an appropriate threshold.

  As described above, in the nineteenth embodiment, the control unit 150 proposes a menu based on the cooking time. Thereby, the menu proposal apparatus 100 can propose the menu which considered the heat which a chef feels in a cooking process.

<20th Embodiment>
In the above seventeenth to eighteenth embodiments, the method for suggesting a menu in consideration of the heat / coldness felt by the finished dish itself has been described. In the nineteenth embodiment, the method for suggesting a menu in consideration of the heat / coldness felt by the cook in the cooking process has been described. In the twentieth aspect of the present invention, the following (Combination Method Example 1) to (Combination Method Example 4) are used to determine which of these methods is used preferentially or how each method is combined. Illustrate. The configuration of the menu proposal device 100 is the same as in the seventeenth to nineteenth embodiments.

(Combination Technique Example 1) Prioritizing Finished Dish The control unit 150 adopts the technique described in the seventeenth embodiment (FIG. 65) and uses the impression of heat / coldness etc. given to the eater by the food itself. Suggest a menu. However, the recipe information as shown in FIG. 66 is presented to the user from the output unit 170, and when the user finally decides the menu, the impression such as heat / cold felt by the cook in the cooking process can be referred to. Like that.

(Combination technique example 2) Prioritizing the cook The control unit 150 adopts the technique described in the nineteenth embodiment (FIG. 68), and gives an impression of the heat / coldness that the cooking process gives to the cook. Propose a menu as a standard. However, the recipe information as shown in FIG. 66 is presented to the user from the output unit 170, and when the user finally decides the menu, the impression such as the heat / coldness that the dish itself gives to the eater can be referred to. Like that.

(Combination technique example 3) Considering both cooking and cooking The control unit 150 uses the technique described in the seventeenth embodiment (FIG. 65) and the technique described in the nineteenth embodiment (FIG. 68). And a predetermined priority level. Furthermore, priority may be given in more detail according to the number of characters that make you feel the heat in the recipe information, the length of cooking time, and the like. The control unit 150 executes each method individually, and presents it to the user via the output unit 170 in the order of higher priority.

(Combination method example 4) The user designates which to prioritize The user gives priority to the menu of the heat / cold that the finished dish itself feels or the heat / cold that the chef feels during the cooking process. It is specified via the input unit 160 whether to propose. The control unit 150 uses either method according to the designation.

  As described above, in the twentieth embodiment, a menu is proposed in consideration of the heat / coldness felt by the finished dish itself, and a menu is proposed in consideration of the heat / chill felt by the cook in the cooking process. It illustrated about the combination with the method to do.

<Twenty-first embodiment>
In the twenty-first embodiment of the present invention, the method of proposing a menu based on the total cooking time of each cooking method type described in the nineteenth embodiment is developed, and the characteristics of each cooking method type or each cooking utensil Explain the method to propose a menu taking into account. The configuration of the menu proposal device 100 is the same as that of the seventeenth to twentieth embodiments.

  In the twenty-first embodiment, when executing step S702 in FIG. 68, the control unit 150 does not simply add the cooking times for each cooking method type, but multiplies each cooking method by a weighting factor. Sum up above. For example, the following calculation formula can be used.

  Total cooking time = (Warming time × 0) + (Baking time) + (Boiling time × 0.5) + (Frying time) + (Steaming time × 0.2) + (Frying time) + (Boiling time × 0. 5)

  In the above formula, 0 multiplied by the time to be summed, 0.5 multiplied by the time for cooking and boiling, and 0.2 multiplied by the time for steaming correspond to the above-described weighting factors. This weighting coefficient is a coefficient representing the degree to which the cook feels hot due to each cooking method type or each cooking utensil. The criteria for setting the weighting factor will be described below.

(Setting standard 1) Weighting factor resulting from the cooking method In the cooking process of cooking, the cooking process of steaming, and the cooking process of boiling, the cook can leave the kitchen during cooking, so it is considered that the degree of feeling the heat is small. Similarly, since cooking is not performed in the soothing process, it is considered that the cook does not feel the heat caused by the cooking method. Therefore, regarding these cooking methods, a weighting factor of less than 1 was set, and it was assumed that the time when the user feels the heat substantially becomes less than the actual cooking time. Specific numerical values are not limited to the above.

(Setting standard 2) Weight coefficient caused by cooking utensil In the cooking process using the cooking utensil described in the column “Cooking utensil (do not feel hot)” in FIG. 66, the cook does not feel the heat. Therefore, the weighting coefficient is set to 0 for the cooking method type. For example, when steaming using a range, the steaming time is multiplied by a weighting factor of zero.

  The control unit 150 proposes a menu based on the total cooking time obtained by multiplying each cooking method type by the weighting factor. When the total cooking time is not used as a standard for the menu proposal, the calculated total cooking time may only be presented to the user via the output unit 170 as reference information.

  FIG. 69 is a diagram illustrating an example of recipe information presented by the output unit 170. In FIG. 69, a “cooking time to feel the heat” column is newly provided below the “cooking time” column. In the same column, the total cooking time obtained by multiplying the weighting factor is described. Since the cooking process is multiplied by a weighting factor of 0.5, the cooking time for feeling the heat is 1.5 minutes. In the same recipe, steaming is performed using a range, so the steaming process is multiplied by a weighting factor of 0 and excluded from cooking time when the heat is felt.

  FIG. 70 is a diagram showing recipe information when the same dish as FIG. 69 is cooked with different cooking utensils. In this recipe, steaming is performed using a steamer, so the steaming process is multiplied by a weighting factor of 0.2, and the cooking time for feeling the heat is 0.6 minutes. Thus, since the heat felt by the cook varies depending on the cooking utensil even in the same dish, it can be regarded as a recipe different from FIG. In order to avoid confusion for the user, it is convenient to display the cooking name so that the difference between the cooking utensils can be recognized even if the same cooking recipe uses different cooking utensils.

  As described above, according to the twenty-first embodiment, the control unit 150 sets the weighting factor that reflects the degree to which the cook feels heat due to the cooking method type or the characteristics of the cooking utensil to each cooking. The total cooking time is obtained after multiplication for each cooking time of the method type. Thereby, the menu proposal which reflected the heat which a chef feels in an actual cooking process more faithfully can be performed.

  In the twenty-first embodiment, the total cooking time reflecting the weighting factor is presented to the user from the output unit 170 so that the user can select a menu with reference to the heat felt during the cooking process. . Thereby, a cook's burden can be reduced.

<Twenty-second embodiment>
FIG. 71 is a diagram showing the configuration of the menu proposal device 100 and its peripheral devices according to the twenty-second embodiment. In the twenty-second embodiment, the input unit 160 and the output unit 170 are connected to the client terminal 400 via the network 600. Other configurations are the same as those in the seventeenth to twenty-first embodiments.

  The user instructs the menu proposal device 100 to propose a menu to the menu proposal device 100 via the client terminal 400 to the network 600. At this time, as in step S400 of FIG. 65, a date or a region may be designated as an additional condition, and an instruction may be given to propose a menu suitable for the weather corresponding to the condition. The input unit 160 receives the instruction and outputs it to the control unit 150. The control unit 150 determines a menu using the method described in the seventeenth embodiment B1 to B5, and transmits the menu to the client terminal 400 via the output unit 170 to the network 600.

  As described above, according to the twenty-second embodiment, the user can obtain a menu proposal from a remote location via the network 600.

<Twenty-third Embodiment>
In the twenty-second embodiment, the control unit 150 specifies the location area of the client terminal 400 based on the IP address of the client terminal 400 and instructs the weather information acquisition unit 130 to acquire weather information in that area. It may be. As a result, the user can obtain a menu proposal without specifying a region, so that the operation burden is reduced. Note that any known technique can be used as a method of specifying the area of the client terminal 400. The “region specifying unit” in the twenty-third embodiment corresponds to the control unit 150.

  Furthermore, when acquiring weather information of a specific area, a simple question screen may be displayed depending on the temperature and temperature of the area.

  For example, when weather information of temperature 24 ° C. and humidity 60% is acquired, temperature = 24 ° C. + 2 ° C. = 26 ° C. is obtained in step S405 of FIG. 65, so that the control unit 150 determines that it is a “hot day”. . Therefore, the control unit 150 uses the output unit 170 to say “Today is hot. Would you like to make a refreshing dish? Is displayed. If the user selects “YES”, the control unit 150 searches the recipe database 141 for a cold recipe. If the user selects “NO”, a screen for inputting conditions such as ingredients that the user wants to use is displayed on the output unit 170, and the menu proposal is advanced according to the user's selection.

<Twenty-fourth embodiment>
In the above seventeenth to twenty-third embodiments, a method has been described in which a body temperature is set based on the relationship between air temperature and humidity, and a menu is proposed based on this temperature. In addition, for example, a menu can be proposed based on the relationship between the discomfort index and the temperature of experience.

  In the twenty-fourth embodiment, the control unit 150 calculates the discomfort index “discomfort index = 0.81 × temperature + 0.01 × relative humidity (0.99 × temperature−14.3) +46. 3 ”is used to set the discomfort index based on the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 130.

  For example, if the discomfort index is 0 to 60, the controller 150 proposes a warm recipe, if the discomfort index 61 to 70 is an intermediate recipe, and if the discomfort index 71 to 100 is a cold recipe. Thereby, a warm recipe can be proposed on a cold day with a low discomfort index.

<Twenty-fifth embodiment>
FIG. 61 is a block diagram of the menu decision support apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the 25th aspect of the present invention. The menu decision support device 100 according to the twenty-fifth embodiment has the same configuration as the seventh to sixteenth embodiments, but each functional unit is physically divided into a plurality of devices. Is called menu decision support system. Hereinafter, each device will be described.

  The terminal device 200 (client terminal) includes a region specifying unit 120, a date specifying unit 110, an input unit 160, and an output unit 170. The terminal device 200 is for the user to search for a desired menu for the hand, and is preferably configured as a portable device.

  The server 300 includes a storage unit 140 and a control unit 150. The server 300 receives a request to propose a menu from the terminal device 200, performs the menu proposal operation described in the seventeenth embodiment, and presents the proposal content to the terminal device 200. The server 300 includes a search condition input unit (not shown) that receives a request transmitted by the terminal device 200 and a search condition specification. The server 300 may be configured to be able to respond to requests from a plurality of terminal devices 200 used by different users.

  The display device 400 includes a second output unit 410. The second output unit 410 preferably has a larger screen display unit than the output unit 170 included in the terminal device 200. The user can also see the menu on the output unit 170 of the terminal device 200, or, for example, when starting cooking, use the second output unit 410 having a larger screen while cooking while watching the recipe data. it can.

  The terminal device 200, the server 300, and the display device 400 are connected by a network 600, and can transmit / receive data to / from each other. Preferably, the network 600 is a wireless network, and the devices can communicate with each other by wireless communication.

  If each device is wirelessly connected, the terminal device 200 can be configured by a mobile terminal device (including an electronic notebook, a mobile phone, a portable game machine, and an electronic notebook). Thereby, the user can consider a menu without choosing a place, and can decide to bring a menu after shopping.

<Twenty-sixth embodiment>
The menu decision support apparatus 100 (hereinafter, including “menu decision support apparatus”) described in the above seventh to 25th embodiments is incorporated in another electronic device so as to add a menu proposal function to the electronic device. You may comprise. For example, the following examples can be considered for incorporation into electronic devices.

(Embodiment example 1: Microwave oven)
The menu decision support apparatus 100 can be incorporated into the microwave oven so that the user can easily cook dishes using the microwave oven. In this case, cooking using a microwave oven as a cooking appliance may be preferentially proposed.

(Embodiment example 2: Refrigerator)
When incorporating the menu decision support device 100 into the refrigerator, the inventory management function in the refrigerator's storage and the menu decision support device 100 may be linked to preferentially propose the ingredients to be stocked and the dishes using the ingredients. .

(Embodiment example 3: mobile phone, electronic notebook)
When the menu decision support apparatus 100 is incorporated into a mobile phone or an electronic notebook, a function may be provided that can store and display a shopping memo when there is a food item to be purchased after the menu is decided.

<Twenty-seventh embodiment>
The functions of the menu decision support apparatus 100 described in the seventh to 26th embodiments can be implemented as a program executed by an arithmetic device such as a CPU. For example, the functions of the menu determination support device 100 can be realized by implementing the functions of the area specifying unit 120, the date specifying unit 110, and the control unit 150 as a menu determination support program according to the present invention and causing the arithmetic device to execute the functions. it can.

  Further, the program may be for realizing a part of the above-described functions, and further, with the program such as an OS (Operating System) already recorded in the menu decision support apparatus 100. It may be realized in combination.

  The processing of each functional unit of the menu decision support apparatus 100 may be realized by recording the program on a computer-readable storage medium, causing the CPU to read and execute the program recorded on the storage medium. .

  The “storage medium” storing the program is a computer-readable portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, an SRAM, a flash memory, a DVD, or a Blu-ray disk, and is built in a computer system. A storage device such as a hard disk. Furthermore, a program that dynamically holds a program for a short time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, and a server or client in that case Such a volatile memory inside a computer system as described above includes a program that holds a program for a certain period of time.

<Twenty-eighth embodiment>
FIG. 72 is a diagram illustrating an example of data classified by “red”, “white”, “yellow”, “green”, and “black” for each food material. One ingredient is counted as one point for each color. For example, in the case of Neapolitan recipes, the spaghetti noodles are 1 point for white, 1 point for white is on white, mushrooms are mushrooms, 1 point for black, and bacon is “ 1 point for red and 1 point for green.

  FIG. 73 shows the color balance for each ingredient in addition to the setting condition data example for the control unit 150 to search for the next proposed recipe or another recipe in step S431 of the flowchart of FIG. 4 described in FIG. It is the figure which set the search condition of the recipe proposal in consideration of. When there is no recipe that the user wants to make among the recipes suggested and displayed in step S428 in the flowchart of FIG. 4, or when a recipe that the user wants to make is found in S430 but other recipes are to be found. 72 is set in addition to the above condition. For example, if the user decides on one item of recipe as Napolitan, applying it to the classification data table in FIG. 72, the spaghetti is noodles and the white is 1 point, the onion is white and the mushrooms are mushrooms. ”1 point, bacon“ red ”1 point, pepper“ green ”1 point, total 5 points. In this case, the point by color of the ingredients included in the decided recipe is “red” 1 point, “white” 2 points, “yellow” 0 points, “green” 1 point, “black” 1 point. The percentage of the color included in the recipe is the highest with 2 points of “white” and the lowest with 0 points of “yellow”. When searching for another recipe, the control unit 150 gives priority to the ingredients classified as “yellow” with a small proportion of Napolitan ingredients determined as one item so that the proportions of all colors are equal. And propose. As the next recipe candidate, for example, the control unit 150 may select, for example, an egg classified as “yellow”, 2 points of pumpkin, 1 point of carrot classified as “red”, 1 point of broccoli classified as “green”, “black”. Extracting recipes that contain 1 point of seaweed classified into 2 will result in a total of 2 points for each color and a percentage of 100%, so it is possible to propose a recipe with a good color balance for each ingredient. it can. In addition, in this Embodiment, although 1 foodstuff was demonstrated as 1 point, you may enable it to change the calculation method of a point suitably.

<Twenty-ninth embodiment>
If there are many kinds of ingredients you want to use, such as when there are a lot of ingredients in the refrigerator, if you present a recipe that can be made only with those ingredients you want to use, there is no need to go shopping Many users feel that they are grateful because they can be made using only this. As a mechanism for this, a method using the following evaluation formula can be considered.

Necessity of purchasing ingredients for the recipe = (number of types of ingredients used in the recipe that are not “desired ingredients”) / (number of types of ingredients used in the recipe) × 100%
For each searched recipe, calculate the above “Necessity to buy ingredients” and present it to the user in ascending order, so that the user can preferentially check the recipes that do not require shopping as much as possible. Will be able to.

  In addition, when the user thinks that "I want to use this ingredient absolutely", such as when old ingredients are in the refrigerator, if the recipe that uses that ingredient is preferentially presented, that ingredient will be used up. Many users find it easier and thankful. As a mechanism for this, a method using the following evaluation formula can be considered.

Depletion of ingredients in the recipe = (Number of ingredients used in the recipe among ingredients contained in "Ingredients to use") / (Number of kinds of "Ingredients to use") x 100%
For each retrieved recipe, the above-mentioned “Food consumption” is calculated and presented to the user in descending order of the value, giving priority to the recipe that uses the ingredients that you want to use. Can be confirmed.

  In addition, after the user selects “priority for shopping unnecessary” or “priority for using up ingredients”, a method of calculating both the above-mentioned “degree of need for buying ingredients” and “degree of consumption of ingredients” is also considered. It is done. For example, when the user selects “priority for shopping”, the retrieved recipe list is first sorted in the order of “necessity to purchase ingredients” and the recipe has the same value as “needs to buy ingredients”. What is necessary is just to give a recipe with a large "food consumption degree" preferentially between each other.

  If the user selects “Food consumption first”, the retrieved recipe list is sorted first in descending order of “Food consumption” and the recipes with the same “Food consumption” are the same. In the meantime, a recipe with a small “necessity of purchasing ingredients” may be preferentially presented.

  In addition, if you have an inventory management function for ingredients, when there are many types of ingredients in stock, it will automatically be set to “No shopping priority”, and the ingredients in inventory that are likely to expire (or after purchase) If there is a product that is over a certain period of time), it is recommended to give priority to recipes that use up the ingredients that are likely to expire (or that have been used for a certain period of time since purchase). It is better to introduce a mechanism to automatically select “Kiri-priority”.

  The present invention can be used for a menu presenting apparatus using a microwave oven, a microwave oven, and a PC.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 160 ... Input part, 210 ... Dialogue (question) message extraction processing part, 211 ... Dialogue (question) message database, 220 ... Database search means, 230 ... Recipe extraction processing part, 240 ... Recipe information database, 250 ... User registration information database 251 ... Anniversary database, 252 ... Inventory database, 253 ... Favorite recipe database, 260 ... System registration database, 261 ... Event database, 262 ... Weather database, 263 ... Seasonal food database.

Claims (41)

An input unit that accepts an input operation from a user including a condition setting in a menu proposal consisting of one or more dishes;
A controller that searches the database for suitable dishes based on the input condition settings;
An output unit for presenting search results to the user;
An evaluation input unit that accepts user evaluation of the presented food;
With
The menu determination support apparatus, wherein the control unit has a function of re-searching suitable dishes based on the condition setting and the user's evaluation. The user's rating of the presented dish is
The first evaluation of “determining the dish”
A second evaluation of “I ’m curious, but do n’t choose that dish this time”,
At least two types,
In the case of the first evaluation, the dish for which the evaluation has been made is determined as one dish constituting the menu proposed this time, and the condition setting is changed based on the recipe data of the dish to change the dish of the next dish. Do a search,
2. The menu decision support device according to claim 1, wherein in the second evaluation, the search is performed again by changing the condition setting based on the recipe data of the dish for which the evaluation has been performed. further,
A date identification part for identifying a date that is the current date and time;
An area identification unit that identifies the area where the current position is;
A weather information acquisition unit for acquiring weather information;
Comprising at least one of a user information database storing information for identifying a user,
The control unit searches for a suitable dish based on the condition setting, at least one of the specified date, the region, the weather, and the specified user. The menu decision support device according to 1 or 2. further,
Recipe information database that holds basic data including dish name, ingredients, taste, texture, color for each dish,
A user registration information database that stores data for customizing user-dependent attributes for each user;
A system registration database that stores data for customizing user-independent attributes built in the system for each user;
The controller is
A database search unit that executes a search for a recipe suitable for a user's condition from information in the recipe information database and the system registration database;
Based on the information of the user registration information database and the system registration database, a dialog message suitable for the user's condition is extracted from the dialog message database storing a standard dialog message and customized through the database search unit. A menu decision support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a message extraction processing unit. In addition, it has a favorite recipe database that holds the user's favorite recipe data, history data until the user decides the favorite recipe,
5. The menu decision support device according to claim 4, wherein a recipe suitable for a user condition is extracted in consideration of the favorite recipe database.   5. The menu decision support apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the recipe information database holds image data that provides a finished image including a color when a dish described by the recipe data is completed.   5. The menu decision support device according to claim 4, wherein the recipe information database holds recipe classification data for proposing a recipe suitable for the weather corresponding to the weather information.   5. The menu according to claim 4, further comprising an anniversary database that proposes a menu according to the anniversary, and informing the user that it is an anniversary when the current date matches the anniversary. Decision support device.   The menu decision support device according to claim 4, further comprising an event database, wherein a menu corresponding to the event is proposed when the current date and time coincides with the date and time of the event.   The menu decision support device according to claim 4, comprising the weather database, and suggesting a menu according to the acquired weather information.   The menu decision support device according to claim 4, further comprising a seasonal food database that proposes a menu according to the season based on the date and time information. The recipe information database holds data describing the cooking procedure of the dish described by the recipe data,
5. The menu decision support device according to claim 4, wherein a cooking procedure for a plurality of dishes is displayed as a time chart based on the data.   5. The menu decision support device according to claim 4, further comprising: an inventory management unit that manages an inventory of ingredients, wherein the database search unit proposes a recipe based on an inventory of ingredients managed by the inventory management unit. .   The menu decision support device, wherein the dialogue message extraction processing unit extracts a message suitable for the acquisition condition according to claims 5 to 12 and notifies the user of the message.   In addition to the acquisition condition according to any one of claims 6 to 12, the database search unit changes a recipe selection tendency or a proposal priority according to the number of registrations of the acquisition condition selected by the user. Menu decision support device characterized by that.   The menu decision support device according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the menu decision support device is integrated with or separate from the cooking device.   The system according to claim 16, wherein the electronic device constituting the menu decision support system is a microwave oven, a portable electronic device, or a refrigerator.   The program for implement | achieving the function of the menu decision assistance apparatus of any one of Claim 1-15 using a computer.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 18.   14. The menu decision support apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the inventory management means reflects the amount of food used for the proposed menu in the inventory data of the food.   The menu determination support device according to claim 3, further comprising a regional food database, wherein the region specifying unit specifies a current position in units of regions distinguished by food and special products.   The distance between the selected first dish and the second dish that is a candidate to be selected based on the color data of the image is obtained, and the second dish having a hue suitable for the first dish. The menu decision support device according to claim 3, wherein the menu decision support device is proposed.   4. The user information database stores selection history information including conditions selected by the user in the past, and foods or menus are preferentially proposed as the number of selections increases. Menu decision support apparatus as described in 12-12.   The menu decision support device according to any one of claims 3 to 12, wherein when a designated food designated by a user is inputted by the input unit, a menu using the designated food with priority is proposed. .   13. When a menu including a plurality of dishes is proposed, the ratio of the designated ingredients and other designated non-designated ingredients is changed so that the designated ingredients become higher. Menu decision support device described in the above.   The menu decision support device according to any one of claims 3 to 12, wherein, when a menu including a plurality of dishes is proposed, the menu is proposed so that cooking methods do not overlap.   The menu which excludes the said NG foodstuff or the said NG cooking method is proposed when the NG foodstuff or NG cooking method which a user designates is input by the said input part from Claim 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. Menu decision support apparatus as described in 12 or more.   13. The menu decision support device according to claim 3, wherein a priority is given to the selection condition to propose a menu.   13. The menu decision support apparatus according to claim 3, wherein presence or absence of display can be selected for each item included in the recipe information data.   13. The menu decision support apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the input unit includes an additional key for cooking or ingredients.   The menu decision support apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising a display control unit configured to display the regional units separately.   13. The menu decision support apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the recipe information database includes information indicating what kind of weather each dish is suitable for.   33. The menu decision support apparatus according to claim 32, further comprising a suitable hot / cold recipe in relation to the weather in consideration of at least one of a cooking utensil, a cooking method, and a cooking time. .   34. The menu decision support device according to claim 33, wherein a suitable temperature / cold recipe is proposed by adding the values in the cooking time column for each cooking method type.   35. The menu decision support device according to claim 34, wherein the cooking time column values are added together after a weighting factor is assigned to the cooking method type cooking method.   35. A menu decision support apparatus, wherein a final proposal is made by a combination of a proposal base according to claim 33 and a proposal base according to claim 34.   The menu decision support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising a receiving unit that receives a menu proposal via a network.   The menu decision support device according to any one of claims 32 to 37, wherein a menu is proposed based on the discomfort index and the temperature of the body.   The menu decision support device according to any one of claims 4 to 12, wherein each food is classified by color and a menu is proposed based on a color balance of the food used.   The menu decision support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein “priority for shopping unnecessary” or “priority for use of food ingredients” can be selected as a priority of proposals for cooking.   In addition, it is equipped with an inventory management function for ingredients, and automatically selects whether the priority is "no shopping priority" or "the priority to use up the ingredients" according to the number of types of inventory ingredients and the expiration date The menu decision support device according to claim 40.