JP2966637B2 - Cooker - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooking device provided with a magnetron, a heater and the like as heating means for heating food in a cooking chamber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a heating cooker of this type, for example, a microwave oven, a display device for displaying a cooking time, a cooking operation state, and the like is provided on an operation panel. In this display device, when the cooking time is displayed, the cooking time is displayed as a number before starting the cooking, and after the cooking is started, the cooking time is displayed while counting down according to the progress of the cooking, that is, The remaining cooking time is displayed, and “0” is displayed at the end of cooking.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional configuration, when the user attempts to confirm the progress of cooking, for example, how much cooking has progressed, the remaining time of cooking is displayed on the display device. Therefore, the user must compare the remaining time with the initially displayed cooking time in his / her head to understand the progress of cooking. For this reason, in the conventional configuration, it cannot be said that the display on the display device is easy for the user to understand.

On the other hand, in recent years, a configuration has been considered in which a display device is composed of a liquid crystal display element and a backlight light source disposed on the back side of the liquid crystal display element to save power consumption. According to this configuration, power consumption can be reduced as compared with a display device including a fluorescent display element. However, also in the case of the above configuration, after the cooking is started, only the remaining time is displayed, so that the display on the display device is also difficult for the user to understand. Therefore, there is a strong demand among users to make the display easy to understand.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a heating cooker which allows a user to easily confirm the progress of cooking while reducing power consumption.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems A cooking device according to the present invention comprises:
A heating cooker comprising a heating means for heating food in a cooking chamber, comprising a liquid crystal display element for displaying a cooking time, a cooking operation state, and the like, and a backlight light source disposed on the back side of the liquid crystal display element. Equipped, and heating
It is characterized in that a backlight control means for changing and adjusting the color or brightness of the light of the backlight light source according to the progress of cooking after the start is provided.

[0007]

According to the above-mentioned means, since the color or brightness of the light of the backlight light source is changed in accordance with the progress of cooking after the start of heating, the color or brightness of the liquid crystal display element, that is, the entire display device is changed. It changes according to the progress of cooking. As a result, the user can easily confirm the progress of the cooking simply by looking at the color or brightness of the entire display device.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a microwave oven will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, in FIG. 2 showing the entire configuration of the microwave oven, a cooking chamber is provided in the microwave oven main body 1, and food is stored in the cooking chamber. A door 2 is provided on the front of the microwave oven 1 so as to open and close a front opening of the cooking chamber.

On the right side in the range body 1,
A machine room is provided, and a magnetron, a cooling fan device (both not shown), and the like are provided in the machine room. In this case, the magnetron constitutes the heating means, and the high frequency oscillated from the magnetron is supplied to the food in the cooking chamber through the waveguide (not shown) so that the food is heated and the range cooking is performed. It is configured.

An operation panel 3 is provided on the front right side of the range main body 1, and various operation switches 4 and a display device 5 are arranged on the operation panel 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the display device 5 includes a substrate 6 and a substantially flat liquid crystal display element 7 attached to the front surface of the substrate 6.
And a backlight light source 8 attached to the front surface of the substrate 6 so as to be disposed behind the liquid crystal display element 7. The liquid crystal display element 7 is configured to be able to display a cooking time, a cooking operation state (for example, a type of cooking or strength of heating output), and the like.

The backlight light source 8 is composed of, for example, two fluorescent lamps 9 and 10 having a rod shape. These two fluorescent lamps 9 and 10 are arranged parallel to each other along the vertical direction, and the left fluorescent lamp 9 emits blue light, for example, and the right fluorescent lamp 10 emits red light, for example. It is configured to be.

In FIG. 4 showing the electrical configuration, for example, a control circuit 11 as a backlight control means includes a microcomputer and stores a control program for controlling a heating and cooking operation. I have. The control circuit 11 receives various switch signals from various operation switches 4 and drives and controls the magnetron according to a control program. in this case,
FIG. 4 shows a configuration of a portion for driving and controlling the display device 5.

As shown in FIG. 4, the liquid crystal display element 7 of the display device 5 is driven and controlled by receiving a display drive signal from a control circuit 11. Further, the fluorescent lamp 9 and the fluorescent lamp 10 of the backlight light source 8 of the display device 5 are configured to be supplied with AC outputs output from the first inverter 12 and the second inverter 13, respectively. Then, a current path connecting one output terminal of the first inverter 12 and one terminal of the fluorescent lamp 9 and a path between one output terminal of the second inverter 13 and one terminal of the fluorescent lamp 10. Is connected to the current path,
A first switch 14 and a second switch 15 are provided, respectively.

The first switch 14 and the second switch 15 are controlled to be turned on and off by a control circuit 11, respectively. Further, the first inverter 12 and the second inverter 13 are configured to be driven and controlled by the control circuit 11, respectively.

The input terminal of the first inverter 12 is
The input terminal of the second inverter 13 is connected to the first secondary winding 16 a of the transformer 16, and the input terminal of the second inverter 13 is connected to the second secondary winding 16 b of the transformer 16. In this case, each of the inverters 12 and 13 has a rectifier circuit and a switching circuit, respectively, receives AC from the secondary windings 16a and 16b of the transformer 16, converts the AC into DC, and converts the DC into DC. Is switched to generate and output an alternating current of a required frequency and voltage.

Accordingly, each of the inverters 12 and 13
By changing the frequency and voltage of the AC output supplied to the fluorescent lamps 9 and 10, the intensity of each light emitted from the fluorescent lamps 9 and 10, that is, each luminance can be changed and adjusted.

The primary winding 16c of the transformer 13 is connected to a commercial AC power supply. Further, the third secondary winding 16 d of the transformer 16 is connected to the control circuit 11. In this case, the control circuit 11 has a constant voltage circuit, receives an AC from the third secondary winding 16d of the transformer 16, converts it to a DC constant voltage, and incorporates this DC constant voltage. To be applied to the microcomputer.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. When performing range cooking, first, food is stored in the cooking chamber, and the operation switch 4 of the operation panel 3 is operated.
The cooking menu switch is operated to set the cooking menu. Thereafter, when the start switch of the operation switches 4 is operated, the weight of the food is detected by a weight sensor (not shown), and the cooking time is set based on the weight detection result. Subsequently, the set cooking time is displayed on the liquid crystal display element 7 of the display device 5, and the magnetron is driven to oscillate to start cooking in which the food is heated.

Here, at the cooking start time A, as shown in FIG. 1, only the blue fluorescent lamp 9 is turned on and the backlight light source 8 of the display device 5 emits light with 100% luminance output. The red fluorescent lamp 10 does not emit light.
More specifically, the first switch 14 is turned on and the second switch 15 is turned off by the control circuit 11, and the first inverter 12 causes the fluorescent lamp 9 to emit light with 100% luminance output. Is controlled to output the AC output necessary for

Therefore, at the cooking start time A, the entire display device 5 is illuminated by the blue light emitted from the fluorescent lamp 9. Then, this light emitting state is maintained. Note that the remaining time of cooking, which is counted down as the cooking time elapses, is sequentially displayed on the liquid crystal display element 7 (for example, 1).
(Every second is counted down).

Thereafter, when the cooking progresses and, for example, １ ／ of the total cooking time has elapsed, at the cooking progress time B, the backlight light source 8 is continuously illuminated by the blue fluorescent lamp 9 and the brightness of 100%. And the red fluorescent lamp 10 is turned on to emit light with an output of 50% luminance. Specifically, the first switch 14 is turned on by the control circuit 11, the second switch 15 is turned on, and the first inverter 12 causes the fluorescent lamp 9 to emit light with 100% output. A necessary AC output is output, and the second inverter 13 is controlled so as to output an AC output necessary for causing the fluorescent lamp 10 to emit light at 50% output.

Therefore, at the cooking progress time point B, the blue light of 100% output luminance emitted from the fluorescent lamp 9 and
By mixing with the red light of 50% output luminance emitted from the fluorescent lamp 10, the entire display device 5 becomes almost blue-violet. Then, this light emitting state is maintained.

Thereafter, when cooking progresses and, for example, half of the total cooking time elapses, at the cooking progress time point C, the backlight light source 8 is continuously output by the blue fluorescent lamp 9 at 100% output. And the red fluorescent lamp 10 emits light at 100% output.
Specifically, the first switch 14 is turned on by the control circuit 11, the second switch 15 is turned on, and the first inverter 12 causes the fluorescent lamp 9 to emit light with 100% output. The required AC output is output, and the second inverter 13 controls the fluorescent lamp 10 to 100%.
Is controlled so as to output an AC output necessary to emit light with the output of

Therefore, at the cooking progress time point C, the 100% output blue light emitted from the fluorescent lamp 9 and the 100% output red light emitted from the fluorescent lamp 10 are mixed to display. The entire device 5 glows almost purple. Then, this light emitting state is maintained.

Thereafter, when the cooking further proceeds and, for example, 時間 が of the total cooking time elapses, the cooking progress time point D
Then, the backlight light source 8 is a blue fluorescent lamp 9
The light is emitted at 0% output and the red fluorescent lamp 10
Is subsequently emitted at 100% output. Specifically, the first switch 14 is turned on by the control circuit 11 and the second switch 15 is turned on.
The inverter 12 outputs an AC output necessary for causing the fluorescent lamp 9 to emit light at 50% output, and the second inverter 13 outputs an AC output necessary for causing the fluorescent lamp 10 to emit light at 100% output. It is controlled to output.

Therefore, at the cooking time D, the 50% output blue light emitted from the fluorescent lamp 9 and the 100% output red light emitted from the fluorescent lamp 10 are mixed to display. The entire device 5 glows almost reddish purple. Then, this light emitting state is maintained.

Thereafter, when the cooking is completed, that is, when the entire cooking time has elapsed, the driving of the magnetron is stopped.
At the end point E of the cooking, the backlight light source 8
As a result, the blue fluorescent lamp 9 is turned off, and the red fluorescent lamp 10 continues to emit light at 100% output. Specifically, the first switch 14 is turned off by the control circuit 11, the second switch 15 is turned on, and the second inverter 13 is turned on by the fluorescent lamp 1.
Control is performed so as to output an AC output necessary for causing 0 to emit light at 100% output.

Therefore, at the end point E of the cooking, the entire display device 5 emits red light by the 100% output red light emitted from the fluorescent lamp 10. And
This light emitting state is maintained.

According to the present embodiment having such a configuration, the color of the light from the backlight source 8 is changed in accordance with the progress of cooking, and more specifically, the color is changed stepwise from blue to red. Therefore, the liquid crystal display element 7, that is, the display device 5
The overall color changes stepwise from blue to red as cooking progresses. As a result, the user can easily check the progress of cooking (for example, how much cooking has progressed) by looking at the color of the entire display device 5 at a glance. Therefore, the display on the display device 5 becomes very easy for the user to understand.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, if the color of the entire display device 5 is blue, it is known that cooking has just started. If the color of the entire display device 5 is bluish purple,
You can see that 1/4 of the cooking time has passed,
If the color of the entire display device 5 is purple, it is understood that half of the cooking time has elapsed. If the color of the entire display device 5 is magenta, it is 3/4 of the cooking time. Has elapsed, and if the color of the entire display device 5 is red, it is understood that cooking has been completed.

In the above embodiment, the backlight light source 8
Is changed in five stages from blue to red, but the number of stages of color change, the type of specific color, and the like may be set as appropriate. In the above embodiment, the configuration is such that the color of the light of the backlight light source 8 is changed. However, instead of this, the color of the light of the backlight light source 8 is not changed.
You may comprise so that only the brightness | luminance of the light may be changed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the backlight light source 8 is constituted by the fluorescent lamps 9 and 10, but is not limited to this, and may be constituted by, for example, an LED or an EL element. In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a microwave oven. Alternatively, the present invention may be applied to a heating cooker including a heater, for example, a grill heater or an oven heater.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a liquid crystal display element for displaying a cooking time, a cooking operation state, and the like, and a backlight light source on the back side of the liquid crystal display element. Since the backlight control means for changing and adjusting the color or brightness of the light of the backlight light source according to the progress of cooking after the start of heating is provided, the user can control the progress of cooking while reducing power consumption. It is easy to confirm, and the display has an excellent effect of being easy to understand.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing changes in luminance of blue and red fluorescent lamps according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the entire microwave oven.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a display device.

FIG. 4 is an electrical configuration diagram of a main part.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a range main body, 3 is an operation panel, 5 is a display device, 7 is a liquid crystal display element, 8 is a backlight light source, 9 and 10 are fluorescent lamps, and 11 is a control circuit (backlight control means).

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heating cooker comprising heating means for heating food in a cooking chamber, a liquid crystal display element for displaying a cooking time, a cooking operation state, and the like;
A backlight light source provided on the back side of the liquid crystal display element; and backlight control means for changing and adjusting the color or brightness of the light of the backlight light source in accordance with the progress of cooking after the start of heating. A cooking device characterized by the following.