JP6706114B2 - Cooker - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a heating cooker having a function of automatically adjusting a heating amount of a cooking container by a heating means according to a temperature of the cooking container.

Examples of the heating cooker of this type include a gas stove including a stove burner as a heating unit, an electromagnetic cooker including an induction heating (IH) unit as a heating unit, and an electric stove including a nichrome wire heater as a heating unit.

And, for example, a gas stove is equipped with a pan bottom temperature sensor (temperature detecting means) for detecting the temperature of the bottom of a cooking container such as a pan heated by a stove burner (heating means), and depending on the temperature detected by the pan bottom temperature sensor. It is known that the heating temperature of a cooking vessel is maintained in a predetermined temperature range by switching and adjusting the heating power (heating amount) of a stove burner in two stages, low heat and high heat (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

However, it is difficult to maintain the temperature of the cooking container containing the object to be heated (the temperature detected by the pan bottom temperature sensor) within a predetermined temperature range even if the heating amount is switched between large and small levels and adjusted. There is an inconvenience that the fluctuation range of the temperature of the cooking container with respect to the temperature becomes large.

Therefore, in the heating means, it is possible to adjust the heating amount for each heating amount level obtained by dividing the heating amount range from the minimum heating amount to the maximum heating amount into a plurality of stages. Then, when the heating temperature is controlled, when the detected temperature is rising, the heating amount level is decreased by a plurality of steps according to the decrease in the temperature difference between the detected temperature and the target temperature, and the detected temperature is falling. It is conceivable that the heating amount level is increased by a plurality of steps in accordance with the increase in the temperature difference between the detected temperature and the target temperature.

According to this, when the detected temperature approaches the target temperature due to the temperature rise of the cooking container, the so-called overshoot is minimized by reducing the heating amount level by a plurality of steps as the difference between the detected temperature and the target temperature becomes smaller. When the detected temperature becomes far from the target temperature due to the temperature decrease of the cooking container, the so-called undershoot can be minimized by increasing the heating amount level by multiple steps as the difference between the detected temperature and the target temperature increases. it can.

JP-A-6-123429

However, when the so-called overshoot and undershoot are suppressed by the above method, it is necessary to judge whether the temperature in the cooking container is rising or falling, which complicates the control.

In view of the above points, the present invention provides a heating cooker capable of suppressing the fluctuation range of the temperature detected from the cooking container with a simple control when automatically adjusting the heating amount of the cooking container by the heating means. The purpose is to

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a heating means for heating a cooking container containing an object to be cooked, a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the cooking container, and a detection temperature of the temperature detecting means set in advance. have been and Bei give a heating control means for increasing or decreasing the heating amount of said heating means so that the target temperature, the heating means, the heating obtained by dividing the heating amount ranging from a minimum heating amount to the maximum amount of heat in a plurality of stages It is possible to adjust the heating amount for each heating amount level, the heating control means sets a temperature range corresponding to each heating amount level based on the target temperature, and the detected temperature of the temperature detecting means is present. When the upper limit of the temperature range corresponding to the heating amount level is exceeded, the heating amount level is decreased, and when the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means is lower than the lower limit value of the temperature range corresponding to the current heating amount level, the heating amount. A heating cooker for increasing the level, wherein an operation knob that allows the user to set the heating amount level, and a plurality of position display sections that indicate each heating amount level corresponding to the operation amount of the operation knob And a light emitting element which is provided in each position display section and is capable of selectively emitting light of a plurality of colors, and a light emitting element control unit which controls light emission of each light emitting element. The number of heating amount levels is less than the number of the heating amount levels, and the position display unit is configured to indicate a plurality of heating amount levels, and the light emitting element control means is a position display unit that indicates the heating amount level set by a user operation. When the heating control means changes the heating amount level by selectively using lighting and blinking of the light emitting device, the light emitting device of the position display section indicating the heating amount level set by the user Maintaining the light emitting state, and causing the light emitting element of the position display section showing the heating amount level changed by the heating control means to emit light in a different color from the light emitting element of the position display section showing the heating amount level set by the user. Is characterized by.

When the heating means starts heating the cooking container containing the food to be cooked, the heating control means automatically adjusts the heating amount of the heating means so that the temperature detected by the temperature detection means becomes the target temperature. At the initial stage when the heating means starts heating, the temperature detected by the temperature detection means is lower than the target temperature, so the heating control means controls the heating means to increase the heating amount level. During this period, the heating control means calculates the difference between the detected temperature and the target temperature according to the change in the detected temperature.

Then, when the detected temperature approaches the target temperature due to the temperature rise of the cooking container, the difference between the detected temperature and the target temperature becomes smaller. Along with this, the heating control means performs control to reduce the heating amount level according to the decrease in the temperature difference between the detected temperature and the target temperature for each predetermined temperature difference.

Also, after the detected temperature exceeds the target temperature, when the detected temperature turns from rising to falling and the detected temperature falls below the target temperature, the heating control means controls the heating amount of the heating means to suppress an excessive decrease in the detected temperature. Is automatically adjusted. During this period, the heating control means calculates the difference between the detected temperature and the target temperature according to the change in the detected temperature. Then, when the detected temperature deviates from the target temperature due to the decrease in the temperature of the cooking container, the difference between the detected temperature and the target temperature increases, so the heating control means performs control to increase the heating amount level.

In the present invention, the heating control means sets the temperature range corresponding to each heating amount level based on the target temperature. The heating control means maintains the current heating amount level if the detected temperature is within the temperature range corresponding to the current heating amount level.

On the other hand, if the detected temperature exceeds the temperature range corresponding to the current heating amount level, the heating amount level is reduced to suppress the temperature rise, and the detected temperature falls below the temperature range corresponding to the current heating amount level. In order to suppress the temperature drop, the heating amount level should be reduced.

In this way, by determining the change of the heating amount level by using the temperature range corresponding to each heating amount level, it becomes unnecessary to judge whether the detected temperature is rising or falling, and the control is simplified. Become.

By the way, if the temperature at the boundary between the heating amount levels adjacent to each other is the same, there is a possibility that a so-called hunting phenomenon may occur in which the heating amount levels are adjacent to each other and finely switch to each other under the influence of the small fluctuations in temperature. There is.

Therefore, in the present invention, it is preferable that the temperature ranges of the heating amount levels partially overlap with each other between the heating amount levels adjacent to each other. According to this, a temperature range is provided at the boundary between the heating amount levels adjacent to each other, and the temperature at which one heating amount level adjacent to each other is changed to the other heating amount level and the one heating amount from the other heating amount level are heated. The temperature is different from the temperature at which the quantity level is changed. Therefore, for example, a heating amount level that has been largely changed is not changed to a small heating amount level until the heating amount level decreases after passing through the temperatures of the overlapping portions, so that the hunting phenomenon can be prevented.

In the heating cooker of the present invention, as described above, the heating control means automatically adjusts the heating amount so that the temperature of the cooking container reaches the target temperature. On the other hand, in the heating cooker of the present invention, the heating amount level can be set by the user operating the operation knob. Therefore, when the heating of the cooking container is started, the heating amount level set by the user by the operation knob may be changed by the heating control means. As a result, the cooking container is heated with a heating amount different from that manually set by the user, which gives a feeling of strangeness to the user.

Therefore, the light emitting element control means first maintains the state in which the light emitting element of the position display section showing the heating amount level set by the user is made to emit light. After that, when the heating control means changes the heating amount level, the light emitting element control means causes the light emitting element of the position display section showing the changed heating amount level to display the position indicating the heating amount level set by the user. The light is emitted in a color different from that of the light emitting element of the part. According to this, the user can visually confirm the manually set heating amount level and the automatically changed heating amount level, and the user's discomfort can be reduced.

The figure which shows typically the structure of the principal part of the gas stove which is embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows the temperature range set for every thermal power level. The flowchart which shows the operation|movement by a thermal power control part. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a part of the operation of FIG. The figure which shows operation picking. The figure explaining the light emission form of the position display part of operation knob.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the gas stove 1 shown in FIG. 1 is adopted as the heating cooker. As shown in FIG. 1, a gas stove 1 includes a stove burner 2 (heating means), a controller 3 for controlling the stove burner 2, and a user's operation to give desired instructions and various settings to the controller 3. The operation panel 4 includes a switch group (not shown).

At the center of the stove burner 2, a pan bottom temperature sensor 7 (temperature detecting means) is provided. The pot bottom temperature sensor 7 contacts the bottom of the pot 9 when the pot 9 (cooking container) is placed on the Gotoku 8 and outputs a signal indicating the temperature detected at the bottom of the pot 9 heated by the stove burner 2. ..

In the stove burner 2, an ignition operation, a heat power adjustment, and a fire extinguishing operation are performed by an operation knob 10 that can be pushed and rotated. That is, by pressing the operation knob 10, the stove burner 2 is ignited or extinguished. Further, by rotating the operation knob 10, the level of the heat power (heating amount) of the stove burner 2 can be adjusted (the supply flow rate of the fuel gas to the stove burner 2 can be adjusted). In addition, in the stove burner 2 of this embodiment, the thermal power level (heating amount level) can be adjusted to nine levels (minimum thermal power level “1” to maximum thermal power level “9”).

Fuel gas is supplied to the stove burner 2 through a gas supply pipe 11. The gas supply pipe 11 is provided with a source electromagnetic valve 12 that opens and closes the gas supply pipe 11 and a flow rate control valve 13 that controls the flow rate of the fuel gas flowing through the gas supply pipe 11.

Further, an ignition electrode 14 for igniting the stove burner 2 and a thermocouple 15 for detecting a combustion state of the stove burner 2 are provided near the stove burner 2.

The controller 3 controls the operation of the gas stove 1 by executing a program for controlling the gas stove 1 stored in a memory (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 1, the controller 3 has a thermal power control unit 16 (heating control means) and a position display control unit 17 (light emitting element control means) as functions. The thermal power control unit 16 further includes a temperature range setting unit 18 and a thermal power level selection unit 19 as functions.

An operation signal of the operation knob 10 of the stove burner 2, a signal indicating the temperature detected by the pan bottom temperature sensor 7, a signal indicating the flame detection of the thermocouple 15, and the like are input to the controller 3.

The controller 3 controls the operation of the original electromagnetic valve 12, the flow rate control valve 13, the ignition electrode 14, etc. of the gas supply pipe 11 by outputting control signals corresponding to each function.

The flow rate adjusting valve 13 is a motor-operated valve that employs a proportional valve or a flow rate switching valve, and changes the gas flow rate of the gas supply pipe 11 by a valve body (not shown) driven by the stepping motor 21. The controller 3 switches the thermal power level of the stove burner 2 by changing the opening of the flow rate control valve 13 via the stepping motor 21.

The thermal power control unit 16 of the controller 3 automatically adjusts the thermal power level to prevent overheating based on the temperature detected by the pan bottom temperature sensor 7, while performing the combustion operation of the stove burner 2 based on the operation signal of the operation knob 10.

Specifically, in the gas stove 1 of the present embodiment, the thermal power level selection unit 19 selects the thermal power level "1" or "i" among nine levels (minimum thermal power level "1" to maximum thermal power level "9"). “B”, “C”, and “9” are used to perform temperature control. The thermal power levels “a”, “ro”, and “ha” are appropriately set thermal power levels, and the magnitude relationship of the thermal power levels is “a”<“b”<“c”.

Further, in the present embodiment, the temperature range setting unit 18 of the thermal power control unit 16 sets the threshold value at the time of determining the use of each thermal power level from the target temperature at an interval of -5°C. That is, for example, when the target temperature is 260° C., the temperature range setting unit 18 sets the temperature range (hereinafter, control temperature range) for control corresponding to the thermal power level “9” to 235, as shown in FIG. 2. Below ℃, the control temperature range corresponding to the thermal power level “C” is 235°C to 240°C, the control temperature range corresponding to the thermal power level “B” is 240°C to 245°C, the control temperature range corresponding to the thermal power level “A” Is set to 245° C. to 250° C., and the control temperature range corresponding to the thermal power level “1” is set to 250° C. or higher.

Further, in the present embodiment, not only the control temperature range corresponding to each heating amount level is set, but also as shown in FIG. 2, the thermal power level to be used “1” “a” “b” “ha” “9”. It is possible to prevent a so-called hunting phenomenon in which adjacent thermal power levels are finely switched under the influence of a minute temperature change by providing an overlapping portion of the temperature ranges between the adjacent thermal power levels.

Here, selection of the thermal power level in the temperature control will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 3, when the user operates the operation knob 10 to ignite the stove burner 2 and the thermal power control unit 16 detects the ignition at this time in STEP 1, the process proceeds to STEP 2 and the temperature range is reached. The setting unit 18 sets a threshold value based on the target temperature. At this time, the ignition power at the time of ignition is set to the power level “b”. Further, in this embodiment, the target temperature is set to 260° C., and the threshold value is set at an interval of −5° C. from this target temperature.

Further proceeding to STEP 3, the temperature range setting unit 18 sets the control temperature range (see FIG. 2) corresponding to each of the thermal power levels “1”, “B”, “B”, “C” and “9” as described above. In STEP 4, the heating power level selection unit 19 selects (changes) the heating power level according to the temperature detected by the pan bottom temperature sensor 7 (this processing will be described later). Then, the process of STEP4 is repeated until the extinguishing is detected in STEP5.

Explaining the processing of STEP 4 (heating power level selection processing), as shown in FIG. 4, in STEP 6, the thermal power control unit 16 detects the temperature by the pan bottom temperature sensor 7, and after STEP 7, the thermal power level selection unit 19 operates. The selection (change) of the heat power level and the control of the stove burner 2 based on the heat power level are performed.

Explaining the outline, in STEP7 to STEP10, the present thermal power level is determined, and in STEP11 to STEP18, the detected temperature Tr is compared with the control temperature range corresponding to each thermal power level, and the thermal power level is changed as necessary. ~ The processing according to each condition in STEP26 is performed.

For example, when the current thermal power level is “C”, the process proceeds to STEP 12 in STEP 8, and if the temperature Tr detected by the pan bottom temperature sensor 7 (the temperature obtained in STEP 6) is 240° C. or higher in STEP 12, the thermal power is determined in STEP 20. Change the level to "b". When it is determined in STEP 13 that the detected temperature Tr is lower than 230° C., the heating power level is changed to “9” in STEP 21. This completes the selection of the heating power level, but the process proceeds to STEP 5 in FIG. 3, so the transition to STEP 6 in FIG. 4 is repeated until extinguishing is detected. In this way, the thermal power control unit 16 can select the optimal thermal power level without determining whether the temperature Tr detected by the pan bottom temperature sensor 7 is rising or falling.

According to the above control, the thermal power control unit 16 reduces the thermal power level as the detected temperature Tr increases (closes to the target temperature) to delay the rise of the temperature of the pan 9 (cooking container) early and detect it. As the temperature Tr decreases (becomes far from the target temperature), the thermal power level is increased to delay the decrease in the temperature of the pan 9 (cooking container) early, so that the fluctuation range of the temperature of the pan 9 (cooking container) with respect to the target temperature is increased. Can be made smaller.

By the way, according to the controller 3 of the present embodiment, when the detected temperature is in the vicinity of the target temperature, the thermal power level is automatically switched, but the burner 2 operates at a thermal power level different from the thermal power level manually set by the user. If the combustion is controlled, the user may feel confused or mistaken for a failure.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of position display portions 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e formed by light emitting elements are provided around the operation dial 10, and each position display portion 10a, 10b, The heating power level can be displayed by the light emitting modes of 10c, 10d, and 10e. In addition, as the light emitting element, an element capable of selectively emitting two colors of light is adopted.

The position display sections 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e are provided for each predetermined rotation angle (operation amount) of the operation dial 10, and are controlled by the position display control section 17 of the controller 3 as shown in FIG. To be done.

The position display control unit 17 displays nine stages of the thermal power level “1” to the thermal power level “9” using the five position display units 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e. As shown in FIG. 6, the light emission form in each of the position display portions 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e is when the power level "1", "3", "5", "7", "9" is indicated. Indicates a lighting state, and when it indicates a heat power level of "2", "4", "6", "8", it is in a blinking state.

Then, the position display control unit 17 maintains the state in which the light emitting element of the position display unit, which indicates the thermal power level manually set by the user (including the preset thermal power level at the time of ignition), emits blue light. Then, the thermal power control unit 16 causes the light emitting element of the position display unit that indicates the automatically changed thermal power level to emit red light.

According to this, the thermal power level manually set by the user and the thermal power level automatically changed by the thermal power control unit 16 can be clearly discriminated, and it is possible to prevent the user from feeling confused or misunderstanding as a failure.

In addition, in the present embodiment, an example in which the temperature range setting unit 18 sets the control temperature range corresponding to each thermal power level at the actual temperature that can be directly compared with the target temperature is shown. The temperature range corresponding to each thermal power level may be compared using the value of the difference from the target temperature. That is, specifically, when the temperature range setting unit 18 of the thermal power control unit 16 sets the threshold value at the time of determining use of each thermal power level at the target temperature at an interval of −5° C., the temperature corresponding to the thermal power level “9”. The difference range is greater than the target temperature of −30° C., the temperature difference range corresponding to the thermal power level “C” is −20° C. to −25° C. of the target temperature, and the temperature difference range corresponding to the thermal power level “B” is the target temperature. -15°C to -20°C, the temperature difference range corresponding to the thermal power level "A" is -10°C to -15°C of the target temperature, and the temperature difference range corresponding to the thermal power level "1" is -5°C or less of the target temperature. You may make it set to each.

Further, although the gas stove 1 has been described in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the gas stove 1, and may be applied to, for example, an electromagnetic cooker or an electric stove. In the case of an electromagnetic cooker or an electric stove, instead of controlling the heating power for the stove burner 2 as described above, by controlling the electric power supplied to the induction heating unit and the nichrome wire heater, the same effect as this embodiment can be obtained. Obtainable.

1... Gas stove (heating cooker), 2... Stove burner (heating means), 7... Pan bottom temperature sensor (temperature detecting means), 9... Pan (cooking container), 10... Operation knob, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e... Position display section, 16... Thermal power control section (heating control means), 17... Position display control section (light emitting element control means).

Claims (2)

A heating means for heating a cooking container containing an object to be cooked, a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the cooking container, and a heating means for the heating means so that the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means becomes a preset target temperature. e Bei and heating control means for increasing or decreasing the amount of heating,
The heating means is capable of adjusting the heating amount for each heating amount level obtained by dividing the heating amount range from the minimum heating amount to the maximum heating amount into a plurality of stages,
The heating control means sets a temperature range corresponding to each heating amount level based on the target temperature, and the detected temperature of the temperature detecting means exceeds the upper limit value of the temperature range corresponding to the current heating amount level. A heating cooker that reduces the heating amount level when the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means is lower than the lower limit value of the temperature range corresponding to the current heating amount level, and
An operation knob that allows the heating amount level to be set by the user's operation, a plurality of position display portions that indicate each heating amount level corresponding to the operation amount of the operation knob, and a plurality of position display portions that are provided in each position display portion. A light emitting element capable of selectively emitting color light and a light emitting element control means for controlling light emission of each light emitting element,
The number of the position display portions is smaller than the number of the heating amount levels, and the position display portions are configured to show a plurality of heating amount levels per one.
The light emitting element control means changes the heating amount level by the heating control means by selectively turning on and off the light emitting element of the position display section that indicates the heating amount level set by the user. When the light is emitted, the light emitting element of the position display section showing the heating amount level set by the user is maintained in the light emitting state, and the light emitting element of the position display section showing the heating amount level changed by the heating control means is used. A heating cooker characterized in that it emits light in a color different from that of the light emitting element of the position display section showing the heating amount level set by the user . The heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the temperature ranges of the heating amount levels are partially overlapped with each other between heating amount levels adjacent to each other.