JP5816939B2 - Cooker - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a cooking device.

  Today, a cooking device such as a microwave oven includes a plurality of types of cooking means such as microwave range cooking supplied from a magnetron, oven cooking using heat radiated from a heater, and steam cooking using steam.

  There is also known a cooking device that incorporates a cooking program configured according to the food to be cooked and can automatically set the cooking method of the food to be cooked in the heating chamber. Thereby, the user can perform cooking suitable for a to-be-cooked object with few operations.

  For example, there is known a cooking device that detects the state of the cooking object in the heating chamber, such as the weight, shape, and color, and identifies the type of food based on the detection result. This heating cooker automatically generates a cooking sequence suitable for a food by referring to data such as the performance of the cooker, the specific heat of the food, and the thermal conductivity stored in the database from the identified food type.

JP 11-63509 A

  The food to be cooked in the heating cooker has various shapes and quantities. For this reason, the cooking device may not be able to specify the food to be cooked, and as a result, a cooking sequence cannot be automatically generated.

  In the conventional cooking device, it was considered on the premise that the item to be cooked is specified. For this reason, the technique regarding how to determine a cooking method when the to-be-cooked item cannot be specified has not been sufficiently considered. Therefore, the present condition is that the cooking device for identifying the food to be cooked from the state of the food to be cooked has not yet been commercialized.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and a cooking device capable of cooking a food to be cooked without impairing the user's usability even when the food to be cooked cannot be specified. The purpose is to provide.

The heating cooker according to the embodiment includes a main body having a heating chamber that accommodates an object to be cooked from an opening, a display unit that performs display, an instruction receiving unit that receives an instruction, and a heating cooking unit that heats and cooks the object to be cooked. An image capturing unit that captures an image in the heating chamber, an image recognition unit that recognizes an object to be cooked in the heating chamber based on the image, and a control unit. The control unit controls the heating cooking unit based on the cooking conditions set in advance for the identified cooking object when the cooking object can be specified. The conditions are displayed, and the heating cooking unit is controlled based on the cooking conditions received by the instruction receiving unit from the plurality of cooking conditions.
The instruction accepting unit accepts an instruction for the heating cooking unit to start cooking, the imaging unit captures an image after the heating cooking unit starts cooking, and the control unit identifies the object to be cooked. If not, the cooking by the cooking unit is stopped, and when the instruction receiving unit accepts the cooking conditions, the cooking is resumed under the accepted cooking conditions, and when the instruction receiving unit does not accept the cooking conditions, Heat cooking is resumed under the set first cooking conditions.
The instruction receiving unit receives an instruction for the heating cooking unit to start cooking, the imaging unit captures an image after the heating cooking unit starts cooking, and the control unit performs the cooking object. If the cooking condition is not specified, cooking is performed with the second cooking condition set in advance, and when the instruction receiving unit receives the cooking condition, the cooking condition is changed from the second cooking condition to the received cooking condition, and heating is performed. When cooking is performed and the instruction receiving unit does not receive the cooking condition, the cooking is continued under the second cooking condition.

The external view of the front of the microwave oven which is one Embodiment of the heating cooker which concerns on this invention. The fragmentary sectional view which looked at the microwave oven from the front. The functional block diagram of the microwave oven in this embodiment. The flowchart explaining the cooking condition determination process performed with the microwave oven in this embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display of display parts, such as a menu at the time of a heating cooking start, and when a to-be-cooked object is specified. The figure which shows an example of the imaged image. The figure which shows the example of a display at the time of selecting selection candidate temperature when a to-be-cooked object is specified. The figure which shows the example of a display of display parts, such as a menu when a to-be-cooked item cannot be specified. The flowchart explaining the cooking condition determination process performed with the microwave oven in this embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display of display parts, such as a menu when a to-be-cooked item cannot be specified.

  An embodiment of a heating cooker according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an external view of the front of a microwave oven 1 that is an embodiment of a heating cooker according to the present invention.

  FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the microwave oven 1 as viewed from the front.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the microwave oven in the present embodiment.

  The microwave oven 1 has a main body 10 and a door 11.

  As for the main body 10, the inner box 10b is arrange | positioned inside the outer box 10a. The inside of the inner box 10b functions as a heating chamber 12 in which an object to be cooked is accommodated. In the front surface of the heating chamber 12, an opening for taking in and out the object to be cooked is formed.

  The door 11 is attached to the front surface of the main body 10, and the opening of the main body 10 can be opened and closed by a hinge provided at the lower front surface of the main body 10. The door 11 includes a metal door frame 13 having a rectangular frame shape, a transparent plate 14 disposed on the inner periphery of the door frame 13, and a handle 16 provided on the door frame 13.

  In the lower part of the front face of the door frame 13, a menu display unit 21 for displaying cooking conditions such as cooking menu and cooking time is provided. The menu display unit 21 is a device having a liquid crystal screen for displaying cooking conditions on a liquid crystal display.

  An operation unit for selecting, determining, and canceling heating conditions is provided on the right side of the menu display unit 21. The operation unit has a dial / decision key 25, a start key 26, and a cancel key 27.

  The dial / decision key 25 receives selection instructions such as cooking conditions by rotating the dial. The dial / decision key 25 accepts a selection decision instruction made by a rotation operation by pressing the key.

  The start key 26 receives an operation start instruction under a predetermined condition. The start key 26 can also accept the start of heating under predetermined cooking conditions by a one-touch operation. In particular, in the present embodiment, the start key 26 receives an instruction to start cooking when using a cooking method that determines cooking conditions using the image recognition result of the object to be cooked.

  The cancel key 27 receives an instruction to cancel an instruction that has already been received or to stop cooking that has been started.

  If there is no particular description in the present embodiment, “selection” means that one of a plurality of options is designated and temporarily determined. In addition, in the case of “determination”, the cooking condition provisionally determined by selection is determined. Until it is determined, the selection can be made repeatedly.

  Various electric parts and structural parts are arranged in the space inside the main body 10 formed by the outer box 10a and the inner box 10b. The magnetron 31 as the heating cooking unit is disposed inside the main body 10 (the bottom in FIG. 2). The magnetron 31 oscillates microwaves, and the microwaves are guided to the antenna 33 via the waveguide 32.

  The antenna 33 is rotated or stopped by the antenna motor 34 so that a specific region is intensively heated or the microwave is uniformly distributed in the heating chamber 12 so that the microwave irradiation range is variable. To do. As a technique for making the microwave irradiation range variable, a well-known technique used in the past is applied, and a detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  The infrared sensor 35 is provided inside the main body 10 (upper right in FIG. 2), and detects the temperature of the object to be cooked accommodated in the heating chamber 12. The camera 38 captures an image of the cooking object stored in the heating chamber 12. The camera 38 is an imaging unit that includes an imaging element such as a CCD or MOS. The type of the object to be cooked may be specified from the shape data using an ultrasonic vibrator or an infrared ray shape sensor together with or in place of the camera 38.

  The buzzer notification unit 39 outputs a buzzer sound at a predetermined timing and notifies the user. The buzzer notification unit 39 outputs a buzzer sound, for example, when cooking is finished or when the image recognition unit 42 cannot identify the object to be cooked. The door open / close sensor 36 detects the open / closed state of the door 11.

  The control PC (printed circuit) board 40 is a microcomputer that executes a predetermined program for controlling the microwave oven 1, and mainly includes a control unit 41, an image recognition unit 42, and a cooking condition storage unit 43.

  The control unit 41 controls various electric components of the microwave oven 1. In particular, the control unit 41 determines cooking conditions, and controls activation / stop of heating cooking based on the determined cooking conditions. In addition, the control unit 41 displays the determined cooking condition on the display unit 21 such as the menu, and allows the user to select and determine with the dial / decision key 25.

  The image recognition unit 42 recognizes the shape, color tone, color, and the like of the cooking object from the image supplied from the camera 38. The image recognition unit 42 searches for data having the strongest correlation from the image database of the cooking object in the cooking condition storage unit 43, and identifies the cooking object. Various known techniques can be applied to the image recognition technique for specifying the object to be cooked.

  The cooking condition storage unit 43 is a database of image data of the food to be used for the image recognition unit 42 to perform image recognition. In addition, the cooking condition storage unit 43 stores a cooking condition set in advance according to the type of the cooking object specified by the image recognition unit 42, a default cooking condition set when the cooking object is not specified, and the like. Remember. The cooking condition memory | storage part 43 memorize | stores the changed cooking condition, when the cooking conditions preset for every to-be-cooked object are changed by the user.

  Next, the cooking condition determination process of the microwave oven 1 in this embodiment is demonstrated. This cooking condition determination process is a process for determining the cooking condition based on (the kind of) the cooking object specified as a result of the image recognition unit 42 performing image recognition based on the image captured by the camera 38. .

  In the present embodiment, the determined cooking condition is a temperature at the time of finishing (finishing temperature) optimum for each cooking object. That is, the microwave oven 1 determines the condition for ending cooking by the temperature of the determined cooking object.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining cooking condition determination processing executed by the microwave oven 1 in the present embodiment.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the display unit 21 such as the menu when cooking is started and when an object to be cooked is specified.

  In step S <b> 1, the control unit 41 determines whether or not an instruction for starting cooking is received based on whether or not the start key 26 is pressed. In this cooking condition determination process, the type of food to be cooked is automatically specified by pressing the start key 26 as a trigger, and cooking conditions suitable for the food to be cooked are automatically set. At this time, the cooking object is placed in the heating chamber 12 by the user, and preparation for cooking is completed. When the control unit 41 determines that the start key 26 is not pressed, the control unit 41 waits until the start key 26 is pressed.

  When it is determined that the start key 26 has been pressed, the controller 41 starts cooking in step S2. At this time, the control unit 41 causes the menu etc. display unit 21 to display “range” which is a display indicating that cooking is being performed as illustrated in FIG. A character (range) surrounded by a dotted line indicates that it is blinking.

  In step S <b> 3, the camera 38 images the cooking object in the heating chamber 12. The captured image is supplied to the image recognition unit 42. In step S <b> 4, the image recognition unit 42 performs image recognition and identifies the object to be cooked.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a captured image. FIGS. 6A to 6C are examples of images in which the object to be cooked can be specified by the image recognition unit 42. FIG. 6D is an example of an image in which an object to be cooked cannot be specified.

  For example, when the images are captured as shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C, the image recognition unit 42, based on the image recognition processing and the search result of the cooking condition storage unit 43, respectively, milk, rice, liquor To be identified. On the other hand, when the image is captured as shown in FIG. 6D, the image recognition unit 42 cannot identify the object to be cooked from the image recognition process and the search result of the database.

  In step S5, the control part 41 determines whether the to-be-cooked item could be specified. When it determines with the to-be-cooked object having been able to identify the control part 41, in step S6, with reference to the cooking condition memory | storage part 43, when the to-be-cooked object determined to be specified in specific determination step S5 was cooked by heating last time. Then, it is determined whether or not cooking conditions (finishing temperature) set in advance for the cooking object have been changed by the user. The control unit 41 makes a determination with reference to the previous finish temperature stored in the cooking condition storage unit 43.

  When it is determined that the finishing temperature has been changed during the previous cooking, the control unit 41 sets the finishing temperature set during the previous cooking for the current cooking temperature in step S7. On the other hand, if it is determined that the finish temperature has not been changed during the previous cooking, the control unit 41 sets the finish temperature of the specified cooking object to a preset finish temperature in step S8.

  In step S9, the control unit 41 displays the finish temperature set in the temperature setting steps S7 and S8 and the selection candidate temperature obtained from the finish temperature on the menu etc. display unit 21.

  For example, when it is specified that the food to be cooked is milk, as shown in FIG. 5 (B), the name of the food to be cooked “milk” and the finishing temperature “60 ° C.” set in advance to the milk, Selection candidate temperatures “55 ° C.” and “65 ° C.” that are ± 5 ° C. of the finishing temperature are displayed. Similarly, when the food to be cooked is identified as rice or sake, as shown in FIGS. 5 (C) and 5 (D), the finish temperature and the selection candidate temperature set in advance for rice and sake are determined. Is displayed. By displaying the selection candidate temperature in addition to the preset finish temperature, the finish temperature desired by the user can be reflected even while the selection of the cooking conditions is automated.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example when a selection candidate temperature is selected when an object to be cooked is specified.

  As for the finishing temperature and the selection candidate temperature displayed on the display unit 21 such as the menu, the temperature selected by rotating the dial / decision key 25 moves to the left and right. For example, when the dial / decision key 25 is rotated counterclockwise in the state of FIG. 7A, the selection moves from the finish temperature 60 ° C. to the selection candidate temperature 55 ° C. When the dial / decision key 25 is rotated clockwise, the selection is selected from the finish temperature 60 ° C. Move to candidate temperature 65 ° C. The selection is determined by pressing the dial / decision key 25.

  In step S <b> 10, the control unit 41 determines whether or not a selection candidate temperature is selected and determined, not the finishing temperature set in advance in the cooking object. When it is determined that the selection candidate temperature has been selected and determined, the control unit 41 sets (changes) the finished temperature to the selected and determined selection candidate temperature in step S11, and stores the selected selection candidate temperature in the cooking condition storage. Store in the unit 43. The selection candidate temperature memorize | stored here is used as a finishing temperature when the same to-be-cooked object is specified next time.

  In the selection determination step S10, when a preset finishing temperature is selected / determined, or when the selection operation is not performed by the user, the process proceeds to step S19.

  On the other hand, when a to-be-cooked object cannot be specified in specific determination step S5, in step S12, the control unit 41 temporarily stops cooking. In step S <b> 13, the control unit 41 displays the selection candidate temperature on the menu etc. display unit 21.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the display unit 21 such as the menu when the item to be cooked cannot be specified.

  When the object to be cooked cannot be specified, as the cooking is temporarily stopped, the “range” blinking display of the menu etc. display section 21 is stopped as shown in FIG. The control unit 41 displays three selection candidate temperatures of 75 ° C., 80 ° C., and 85 ° C. (a plurality of cooking conditions) on the menu display unit 21. Note that the intermediate value of the three selection candidate temperatures displayed at this time is a default finish temperature (first cooking condition) used as a finish temperature when an object to be cooked is not specified. The control unit 41 displays the default finish temperature and a temperature of ± 5 ° C. of the default finish temperature as selection candidate temperatures.

  The default finishing temperature may be a unique temperature set in advance or may be arbitrarily set by the user. One of the finishing temperatures applied when the item to be cooked is specified may be used as the default temperature. For example, the case where various side dishes are put together on the plate can be assumed to the to-be-cooked food. These side dishes are considered to be preferably at the same temperature as the rice. In such a case, the default finish temperature is matched with the finish temperature of “rice”, so that the cooking can be finished at an appropriate finish temperature even if the cooked item cannot be specified.

  In step S14, the control unit 41 determines whether or not a selection candidate temperature has been selected and determined. When it is determined that the selection candidate temperature has been selected / determined, the control unit 41 sets the selected selection candidate temperature to the finished temperature in step S15. On the other hand, when determining that the selection candidate temperature is not selected / determined, the control unit 41 determines whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) has elapsed in step S16. When the control unit 41 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed. Returning to the selection determination step S14, it is determined whether a selection candidate temperature has been selected or determined.

  When it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit 41 sets the finishing temperature to the default finishing temperature (first cooking condition) in step S17. When the finishing temperature is set in the temperature setting steps S15 and S17, in step S18, the control unit 41 resumes the cooking that has been temporarily stopped. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S19.

  In step S19, the control unit 41 determines whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) has elapsed since the finish temperature was set, for example. When it is determined that the predetermined time has not elapsed, the control unit 41 continues the cooking until the predetermined time elapses.

  Even if the finishing temperature is set in the temperature setting steps S10, S15, and S17, the finishing temperature may be changed by the user by operating the dial / decision key 25 after this setting.

  When it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit 41 acquires the temperature of the cooking object detected by the infrared sensor 35 in step S20, and whether or not the cooking object has reached the set finishing temperature. Make a decision. When it determines with the to-be-cooked object not having reached the set finishing temperature, the control part 41 returns to progress determination step S19, and determines whether predetermined time passed again.

  When the control unit 41 determines that the cooked object has reached the set finishing temperature, the cooking is ended in step S21. In step S <b> 22, the control unit 41 causes the buzzer notification unit 39 to output a buzzer sound in order to notify the user of the completion of cooking.

  The microwave oven 1 that performs such cooking condition determination processing sets the finishing temperature based on the setting of the user not only when the object to be cooked can be specified but also automatically or when it cannot be specified. be able to. For this reason, even if the microwave oven 1 is what is not preliminarily assumed (thing which cannot be specified), it can cook suitably.

  In particular, the microwave oven 1 can perform cooking by reflecting the user's preference by temporarily stopping the cooking when the object to be cooked cannot be specified and allowing the user to select a finishing temperature. In addition, even when the microwave oven 1 does not accept the selection of the finishing temperature from the user, the user's expectation that the user wants to perform the cooking by resuming the cooking at the preset default finishing temperature. Can be along.

  Moreover, the microwave oven 1 can change a finishing temperature to a user's favorite temperature, even if it is a case where a to-be-cooked object can be specified. When the finishing temperature is changed, the microwave oven 1 stores the changed temperature, and can apply the temperature at the next cooking time. Therefore, the microwave oven 1 can automatically perform cooking suitable for the food to be cooked while realizing cooking according to the user's preference.

  In addition, in step S12 of the cooking condition determination process of FIG. 4, it is not necessary to pause heating cooking. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining cooking condition determination processing executed by the microwave oven 1 according to this embodiment.

  Steps S31 to S41 are substantially the same as steps S1 to S11 in FIG. 4, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  When it determines with the to-be-cooked item not being able to be specified in specific determination step S35, the control part 41 sets default finishing temperature to cooking conditions (2nd cooking conditions) in step S42. In step S43, the control unit 41 displays the selection candidate temperature on the menu etc. display unit 21.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the display unit 21 such as the menu when the cooking object cannot be specified.

  Unlike the cooking condition determination process in FIG. 4, the control unit 41 displays the selection candidate temperature on the display unit 21 such as the menu without temporarily stopping the cooking even when the object to be cooked cannot be specified. At this time, since cooking is continued, the “range” of the menu etc. display section 21 blinks. Further, the control unit 41 displays the temperature of ± 5 ° C. as the selection candidate temperature with the default finish temperature set in the temperature setting step S42 as an intermediate value.

  In step S44, the control unit 41 determines whether or not a selection candidate temperature has been selected and determined. If it is determined that the selection candidate temperature has been selected / determined, the control unit 41 sets the selected / determined selection candidate temperature as the finished temperature in step S45. On the other hand, when it is determined that the selection candidate temperature has not been selected / determined, the control unit 41 continues the cooking without changing from the default finish temperature set in the temperature setting step S42.

  Steps S46 to S49 are substantially the same as the progress determination step S19 to the notification step S22 of FIG.

  Thus, since the microwave oven 1 does not make the user aware of the selection operation by continuing the heat cooking even when the object to be cooked cannot be specified, the convenience of the heat cooking can be improved. Moreover, the microwave oven 1 can shorten the time until the end of heating cooking compared with the case where heating cooking is paused.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  For example, in the microwave oven 1, the cooking condition is the finishing temperature of the food to be cooked, but the cooking condition may be an output of heating cooking, time, or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Microwave oven 10 Main body 11 Door 12 Heating chamber 21 Menu etc. display part 25 Dial and determination key 26 Start key 27 Cancel key 31 Magnetron 35 Infrared sensor 38 Camera 40 Control PC (printed circuit) board 41 Control part 42 Image recognition part 43 Cooking Condition storage

Claims (4)

A main body having an opening and a heating chamber that accommodates an object to be cooked from the opening;
A display unit for performing a predetermined display;
An instruction receiving unit for receiving instructions;
A cooking unit for cooking the food to be cooked;
An imaging unit that captures an image in the heating chamber;
An image recognition unit for recognizing the food to be cooked in the heating chamber based on the image and identifying the food to be cooked;
When the cooking object can be identified, the heating cooking unit is controlled based on cooking conditions set in advance for the identified cooking object, and when the cooking object cannot be identified, a plurality of items are displayed on the display unit. A controller that displays cooking conditions and controls the heating cooking unit based on cooking conditions received by the instruction receiving unit from the plurality of cooking conditions;
The instruction receiving unit receives an instruction for the heating cooking unit to start cooking,
The imaging unit captures an image after the heating cooking unit starts cooking,
The control unit stops cooking by the heating cooking unit when the food to be cooked cannot be specified, and when the instruction receiving unit receives cooking conditions, resumes cooking under the received cooking conditions, When the reception unit does not receive the cooking conditions, the cooking device is characterized in that the heating cooking is resumed under a preset first cooking condition. A main body having an opening and a heating chamber that accommodates an object to be cooked from the opening;
A display unit for performing a predetermined display;
An instruction receiving unit for receiving instructions;
A cooking unit for cooking the food to be cooked;
An imaging unit that captures an image in the heating chamber;
An image recognition unit for recognizing the food to be cooked in the heating chamber based on the image and identifying the food to be cooked;
When the cooking object can be identified, the heating cooking unit is controlled based on cooking conditions set in advance for the identified cooking object, and when the cooking object cannot be identified, a plurality of items are displayed on the display unit. A controller that displays cooking conditions and controls the heating cooking unit based on cooking conditions received by the instruction receiving unit from the plurality of cooking conditions;
The instruction receiving unit receives an instruction for the heating cooking unit to start cooking,
The imaging unit captures an image after the heating cooking unit starts cooking,
When the cooking target cannot be specified, the control unit cooks under the second cooking condition set in advance, and when the instruction receiving unit receives the cooking condition, the cooking condition is changed from the second cooking condition to the second cooking condition. accepted was changed to cooking conditions and cooking it, when the instruction receiving unit does not accept the cooking conditions, cooking device, characterized in that to continue cooking with the second cooking conditions. The cooking condition set when the instruction receiving unit does not receive the cooking condition is one of the cooking conditions set in advance for the specified cooking object when the cooking object can be specified. The cooking device according to claim 1 or 2 . The cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the cooking condition is a temperature at a time when the cooking of the cooking object is finished.

Images