JP3773466B2 - Hot air generator - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hot-air generator, and more particularly to a hot-air generator suitable for supplying high-temperature hot air for heating hot air in a heating device such as a microwave oven and a microwave oven.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, there has been a microwave heating device as a heating device such as a microwave oven and a microwave oven. This microwave heating apparatus heats an object to be heated by so-called dielectric heating by irradiating the object to be heated with microwaves. This type of dielectric heating does not attempt to apply heat to the object from the outside like a normal electric heater or gas heater, but heats the object from the inside. Therefore, when using this for heating ingredients, etc., by heating the ingredients from the inside, the evaporation of moisture is performed from the inside, and the finish of taste and hardness depends on the usual heating method depending on the ingredients Better than that. For these reasons, microwave heating apparatuses have been conventionally applied as commercial, household microwave ovens, and microwave ovens for cooking various foods.
[0003]
However, this kind of dielectric heating is good in that the food can be heated from the inside, but is not suitable for scoring the outer surface of the food. Depending on the foodstuff, it is required to give a beautiful baking color to the outer peripheral surface of the foodstuff. There is also a need to cook food more quickly. In order to meet such a demand, conventionally, a microwave heating apparatus combined with hot air heating has been proposed.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventionally proposed microwave heating device combined with hot air heating, hot air is blown from the ceiling of the heating device onto the food placed on a turntable or the like disposed in the heating device. I am doing so. In such a conventional heating device, in order to start cooking food with hot air, it is necessary to preheat the inside of the heating device to a temperature suitable for cooking, and to keep the temperature in the heating device uniform at an appropriate temperature. A fan for circulating hot air is provided in the heating device.
[0005]
Such a conventional microwave heating apparatus combined with hot air heating requires a considerably long preheating time before cooking, and is not suitable for high-speed cooking. Further, the temperature that can be set for cooking is limited to about 300 ° C., and is not suitable for grill cooking that requires a higher temperature. Furthermore, since a fan for circulating hot air is provided in the heating device, wiping off dirt and the like in the heating device has been difficult. Furthermore, odors of foods and the like previously cooked in the heating device are likely to be trapped, and in the case where different foods are cooked alternately, there is concern about the transfer of odors to other foods.
[0006]
In addition, especially for hot air cooking, it is important not only to maintain the temperature of the hot air to be used at an appropriate temperature, but also to maintain the air volume at an appropriate air volume. In the generator, it has been difficult to appropriately adjust both the temperature and the air volume of the generated hot air.
[0007]
Therefore, there is a demand for a hot air generator that can be used in place of the circulating hot air generator used in the conventional microwave heating apparatus and the like and can solve the problems described above.
[0008]
An object of the present invention is to provide a hot air generator capable of meeting such a demand.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the present invention, a burner body including a gas ejection nozzle and a gas mixing pipe, a gas supply means for supplying gas to the gas ejection nozzle, a combustion blower for feeding air into the gas mixing pipe, An output conduit for outputting the combustion gas generated in the burner body as hot air, and a mixing blower for sending air from the back of the gas mixing tube to the output conduit through the outer periphery of the gas mixing tube; A temperature sensing means for sensing the temperature of the hot air output from the output conduit; and a controller means for controlling the operation of the gas supply means, the combustion blower and the mixing blower. Means controls the operation of the mixing blower so that the amount of hot air output from the output conduit is maintained at an arbitrary amount; In the state in which the arbitrary air volume is maintained, the temperature of the hot air output from the output conduit is set to an arbitrary temperature, so that the gas supply means or the combustion blower is controlled according to the temperature sensed by the temperature sensing means. By controlling the operation, there is provided a hot air generator characterized in that both the temperature and the air volume of the hot air output from the output conduit can be set to arbitrary values .
[0011]
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the air feed passage of the combustion blower is provided with wind pressure detecting means for detecting wind pressure, and the gas supply means is connected to the gas ejection nozzle. Gas supply amount control means for adjusting the amount of gas to be supplied is provided, and the controller means controls the operation of the gas supply amount control means according to the wind pressure detected by the wind pressure detection means. Adjust the gas supply.
[0012]
According to another embodiment of the present invention , the temperature of the hot air can be set to an arbitrary temperature between about 200 ° C. and about 400 ° C. suitable for the heat treatment of the food with the high-temperature hot air.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, based on an accompanying drawing, the present invention is explained in detail about an embodiment and an example of the present invention.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electronic microwave oven as a microwave heating device using a hot-air generator as one embodiment of the present invention so that the inside can be seen from the left side with the door opened, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the microwave oven of FIG. 1 with the door opened so that the inside can be seen from the right side. FIG. 3 shows the microwave oven of FIG. FIG. 4 is a right side view showing the electronic microwave oven in FIG. 1 with the right side wall portion of the housing body removed. As shown in these drawings, the microwave oven includes a housing body 1 that defines a heating chamber therein, and an opening for taking in and out a heated object such as a food material on the front surface of the housing body 1. A door 2 is attached to open and close the door. An operation unit 3 is provided on the right side of the front surface of the housing body so as to control the heating power and the heating time. At the bottom of the heating chamber defined by the housing body 1, a turntable 4 for placing an object to be heated such as food is arranged. The turntable 4 is detachable from the heating chamber.
[0015]
As well shown in FIG. 1, the microwave oven is provided with a microwave irradiation unit 5 on the ceiling of the heating chamber. The microwave irradiating unit 5 is not shown, but various types including a magnetron as a microwave generation source can be used. do not do. Microwaves are irradiated from the microwave irradiation unit 5 to the object to be heated such as food placed on the turntable 4 so that the object to be heated can be dielectrically heated.
[0016]
Further, as well shown in FIG. 1, a high temperature hot air outlet 6 is provided in the right inner wall portion of the heating chamber, and the hot air outlet 6 is covered with a punching cover 6A. Furthermore, as well shown in FIG. 2, a hot air discharge port 7 is provided on the left inner wall portion of the heating chamber at a position facing the hot air discharge port 6. An exhaust cover 7A is provided. Further, the housing body 1 has a hot air discharge port 7 to an exhaust port (not shown) for exhausting to the outside (for example, the outside of a room such as a kitchen in which the electronic microwave oven is installed). An exhaust conduit 8 is provided for connection. Since it is such a structure, the high temperature hot air blown into the heating chamber from the hot air outlet 6 is applied to the heated object such as a food placed on the turntable 4 in the heating chamber from the lateral direction. Then, the air is discharged from the hot air discharge port 7 on the opposite side to the outside through the exhaust conduit 8 directly from the exhaust port so as to cross this. The object to be heated such as ingredients placed on the turntable 4 is heated by the high temperature hot air while the high temperature hot air flows laterally from the hot air outlet 6 to the hot air outlet 7 in this way. It is done.
[0017]
Furthermore, as well shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, this microwave oven includes hot air as an embodiment of the present invention for generating high temperature hot air to be blown out from the hot air outlet 6 into the heating chamber. A generator 100 is provided. The configuration and operation of the hot air generator 100 will be described later in detail.
[0018]
Next, the operation at the time of cooking the food by the microwave oven having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG.
[0019]
First, when it is desired to cook a certain food by a combination of high-temperature hot air heating and microwave heating, the door 2 is opened and the food F to be cooked, for example, as shown schematically in FIG. Place the corrugated aluminum dish D containing the and close the door 2. Then, the high temperature hot air heating and the microwave heating are selected by the selection key in the operation unit 3 and the power selection, the heating temperature, the heating time, etc. are set, and the operation is started. Then, the turntable 4 is driven to rotate, and the microwave is applied to the food F rotating as the turntable 4 rotates as indicated by the thin line arrow in FIG. Irradiated. Thereby, the foodstuff F is cooked by dielectric heating. At the same time or after a predetermined time has elapsed, the hot air generator 100 is energized, and hot hot air is blown out from the hot air outlet 6 toward the hot air outlet 7 as shown by a thick arrow in FIG. The temperature of the high-temperature hot air can be set to any temperature between about 200 ° C. and about 400 ° C., for example, by the operation of the hot air generator 100 as described later, and the rise time is very short. For example, about ten seconds or more. In this manner, while the hot hot air flows in one direction to the hot air outlet 7 across the surface of the food F as shown by the thick arrow in FIG. Heating is performed by the high-temperature hot air to give a brilliant color. In this case, even if the flow of the high-temperature hot air is in one direction, the food F is rotated by driving the tar table 4, so that the heat treatment of the food F by the high-temperature hot air can be made more uniform.
[0020]
Although the above description is a case where cooking is performed by using both high-temperature hot air heating and microwave heating, of course, cooking by only high-temperature hot air heating is possible, and cooking by only microwave heating is also possible.
[0021]
Next, with reference to FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG. 8, the configuration and operation of the hot air generator 100 as an embodiment of the present invention used in the above-described microwave oven will be described in detail.
[0022]
6 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of the hot air generator 100, FIG. 7 is a detailed view showing a portion of the burner body of the hot air generator 100 of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is the hot air generator of FIG. 3 is a ceiling view of a burner body portion of the apparatus 100. FIG. As shown in these drawings, the hot air generator 100 of this embodiment includes a combustion blower 101, a mixed blower 102, a combustion blower power supply 103, a mixed blower power supply 104, an ignition igniter 105, and an ignition plug. 106, a gas pressure equalizing valve 107 which is a kind of gas solenoid valve, a frame sensor (flame detection unit) 108, a temperature sensor 109, a main controller 110, a wind pressure detection pipe 111, a gas mixing pipe 112, and a gas jet A burner body 113 including a nozzle 114, a gas diffusion nozzle 115, a rectifying ring 116, and the like, a wind pressure detection output port 117, a gas conduit 118, and a heat induction tube 119 are provided. As shown well in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, the heat induction tube 119 serves to guide the high temperature hot air generated by the hot air generating device 100 to the hot air outlet 6.
[0023]
First, the basic structure and operation of such a hot air generator 100 will be described. The wind pressure detection output port 117 provided on the air outlet side of the combustion blower 101 and the wind pressure detection input port of the gas pressure equalizing valve 107 are detected by wind pressure detection. They are connected by a pipe 111. The combustion blower power supply 103 receives an output control signal from the main controller 110, and a stepless rotation control output from the combustion blower power supply 103 to the combustion blower 101 is output. The gas pressure equalizing valve 107 detects the wind pressure of the wind pressure detection output port 117 which fluctuates thereby through the wind pressure detection pipe 111, and the amount of gas flowing from the gas inlet to the gas mixing tube 112 through the gas conduit 118 varies according to the variation of the wind pressure. Control the intensity of combustion. For the control of the combustion amount, a signal from a temperature sensor 109 attached to the tip of the heat induction pipe 119 and disposed in the vicinity of the hot air outlet 6 is taken into the main controller 110, and is actually instructed by the signal from the temperature sensor 109. An appropriate control signal is output based on the comparison between the temperature and the set temperature, and the mechanism performs optimum control.
[0024]
Next, the structure and operation of the burner main body 113 of the hot air generator 100 will be described. The gas jet nozzle 114 connected to the gas output side of the gas pressure equalizing valve 107 and the gas conduit 118, and the air outlet of the combustion blower 101 A gas mixing pipe 112 is provided at the tip of the side, and a gas diffusion nozzle 115 and a rectifying ring 116 provided so as to perform good mixing are arranged in the center of the pipe, and air and gas sucked in by the combustion blower 101 are disposed. The gas supplied from the pressure equalizing valve 107 through the gas conduit 118 and ejected from the gas diffusion nozzle 115 is mixed in the gas mixing pipe 112 and discharged from the tip of the burner body 113 to be burned at the tip. The burned gas is mixed with the air taken in by the mixing blower 102 and guided to the heat induction tube 119. By passing the air from the mixing blower 102 around the gas mixing pipe 112 and leading to the heat induction pipe 119, the burner main body 113 and the heat induction pipe 119 near the burner main body 113 are prevented from being overheated, and combustion heat is efficiently transferred into the chamber. It is structured to guide well.
[0025]
Next, the combustion procedure in the hot air generator 100 will be described. When the main controller 110 receives the combustion start signal from the operation unit 3, the burner ignites and burns to the combustion blower power source 103 and the mixed blower power source 104. An output control signal (initial ignition control) for sending an appropriate amount of air that is easy to be sent is issued, and the main controller 110 receives that the combustion blower 101 and the mixing blower 102 have reached a specified rotational speed or more, and the ignition igniter 105 receives it. A signal is output and the spark plug 106 is discharged. Then, a signal for opening the valve from the main controller 110 to the gas pressure equalizing valve 107 is output, and a gas having a flow rate that matches the strength of the wind pressure received by the gas pressure equalizing valve 107 from the wind pressure detecting pipe 111 passes through the gas mixing pipe 112 to the burner. It is discharged to the tip, and ignition and combustion are started by the discharge from the spark plug 106. When combustion is started in this way, it is detected by the frame sensor 108, the main controller 110 is notified of ignition, and the signal to the ignition igniter 105 is stopped. Further, the combustion blower power supply 103 and the mixed blower power supply 104 output outputs during normal combustion control.
[0026]
Next, the temperature control of the high temperature hot air generated by the hot air generator 100 will be described. The main controller 110 compares the set temperature with the actual temperature detected by the temperature sensor 109, and the set temperature is When the temperature is higher than the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 109, the combustion blower 101 outputs the maximum output so that the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 109 reaches the set temperature earlier. Further, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 109 reaches the set temperature, the output to the combustion blower 101 is adjusted steplessly so that the set temperature can be maintained, thereby stabilizing the internal temperature.
[0027]
Next, the fire extinguishing procedure will be described. After the main controller 110 closes the output to the gas pressure equalizing valve 107 and stops the gas supply, the operation of the combustion blower 101 and the mixing blower 102 is continued for a certain time. Thus, no gas remains in the gas mixing tube 112, the burner body 113, and the heat induction tube 119, and the heat induction tube 119 is prevented from being overheated by residual heat after extinguishing the fire.
[0028]
As can be seen from the above description of the operation, in this hot air generator 100, the temperature of the high-temperature hot air generated thereby controls the amount of supplied gas by controlling the gas pressure equalizing valve 107 in accordance with the output of the combustion blower 101. The amount of high-temperature hot air that is controlled and generated is maintained constant by the output setting of the mixing blower 102. For example, according to the hot air generator 100, the temperature of the generated hot air can be easily increased from about 200 ° C. to about 400 ° C., for example, by controlling the air volume by the combustion blower 101 and the gas supply amount by the gas pressure equalizing valve 107. In addition, by controlling the output of the mixing blower 104, it is possible to maintain the air volume of the generated hot air at an arbitrary air volume suitable for the high-temperature hot air heating process at the temperature of each hot air.
[0029]
Such control of the temperature and air volume of the high-temperature hot air generated can be performed relatively easily in the following case. First, the output of the mixing blower 102 is set to a predetermined value so as to obtain an air volume suitable for heating the food to be heated. Assuming that the temperature of the high-temperature hot air suitable for the high-temperature hot-air heat treatment of the food is, for example, 350 ° C., this temperature is stored in the main controller 110 as the set temperature. By operating the combustion blower 101 to perform gas combustion, the actual temperature of the hot hot air generated by the temperature sensor 109 is sensed, and this sensed temperature is compared with the set temperature stored in the main controller 110. Based on the comparison, the main controller 101 controls the output of the combustion blower 101 and the gas supply amount so that the actual temperature of the hot hot air becomes the set temperature of 350 ° C.
[0030]
As described above, in the hot air generator of this embodiment, the temperature of the generated hot air is directly controlled. Therefore, the preheating time from the start of the device until the hot air reaching the set temperature is obtained is extremely short. In other words, the rise time can be shortened, for example, even at a set temperature of 400.degree.
[0031]
In addition, although the hot air generator of the present invention has been described as generating high-temperature hot air to be blown out from the hot air outlet in the heating device, the hot air generator of the present invention is It is not limited to use, but it is effective when used in various other application fields that require hot air.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the temperature and air volume of the generated hot air can be easily set to arbitrary values, and can be easily adjusted.
[0033]
In addition, it is possible to generate hot air at an arbitrary temperature without requiring a preheating time and, therefore, with a very fast rise, for example, about ten or more seconds.
[0034]
Furthermore, it can be easily generated even at a very high temperature, for example, high-temperature hot air of about 400 ° C.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electronic microwave oven as a microwave heating device using a hot-air generator as one embodiment of the present invention so that the inside can be seen from the left side with the door opened.
2 is a perspective view showing the microwave oven of FIG. 1 so that the interior can be seen from the right side with the door opened. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the microwave oven of FIG. 1 with the top of the housing body removed.
4 is a right side view showing the microwave oven of FIG. 1 with a right side wall portion of a housing body removed. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the structure in the cabinet for explaining the overall operation of the microwave oven of FIG. 1;
6 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a hot air generator as one embodiment of the present invention used in the microwave oven of FIG. 1. FIG.
7 is a detailed view showing a portion of a burner main body of the hot air generating device of FIG. 6. FIG.
8 is a ceiling view of a portion of the burner body of the hot air generator of FIG. 6. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing main body 2 Door 3 Operation part 4 Turtable 5 Microwave irradiation part 6 Hot-air outlet 7 Hot-air outlet 8 Exhaust conduit 100 Hot-air generator 101 Combustion blower 102 Mixing blower 103 Power supply for combustion blowers 104 Power supply for mixing blowers 105 For ignition Igniter 106 Spark plug 107 Gas pressure equalization valve 108 Flame sensor 109 Temperature sensor 110 Main controller 111 Wind pressure detection pipe 112 Gas mixing pipe 113 Burner body 114 Gas ejection nozzle 115 Gas diffusion nozzle 116 Rectification ring 117 Wind pressure detection output port 118 Gas conduit 119 Thermal induction tube

Claims (3)

  A burner body including a gas ejection nozzle and a gas mixing pipe, a gas supply means for supplying gas to the gas ejection nozzle, a combustion blower for feeding air into the gas mixing pipe, and generated in the burner body An output conduit for outputting the combustion gas as hot air, a mixing blower for sending air from behind the gas mixing tube to the output conduit through the outer periphery of the gas mixing tube, and an output from the output conduit Temperature sensing means for sensing the temperature of the heated air, and controller means for controlling the operation of the gas supply means, the combustion blower and the mixing blower, the controller means comprising the output conduit The operation of the mixing blower is controlled so that the air volume of the hot air output from is maintained at an arbitrary air volume, and the arbitrary air volume is Controlling the operation of the gas supply means or the combustion blower according to the temperature sensed by the temperature sensing means so that the temperature of the hot air output from the output conduit becomes an arbitrary temperature in the maintained state. Thus, both the temperature and the air volume of the hot air output from the output conduit can be set to arbitrary values.   A wind pressure detecting means for detecting a wind pressure is provided in the air feed passage of the combustion blower, and the gas supply means is provided with a gas supply for adjusting the amount of gas supplied to the gas ejection nozzle. The amount control means is provided, The controller means controls the operation of the gas supply amount control means according to the wind pressure detected by the wind pressure detection means to adjust the gas supply amount. Hot air generator.   The hot air generator according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the hot air can be set to an arbitrary temperature between about 200 ° C. and about 400 ° C. suitable for heat treatment of foodstuffs with high-temperature hot air.

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