JP7561540B2 - Cooking equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cooking device capable of communicating with an external communication device.

Cooking appliances such as gas stoves have multiple electronic devices such as an igniter, a solenoid valve for adjusting the heat, and an alarm, and when these electrical loads are energized at the same time, the burden on the power source increases. In particular, when a battery is used as the power source, this can easily cause the battery to wear out faster. For this reason, cooking appliances have been proposed that, when energizing multiple electrical loads, energize each electrical load so that the energization timing is asynchronous with each other (for example, Patent Document 1).

Meanwhile, in recent years, there have been proposals for cooking appliances that communicate with external communication devices such as external server devices and mobile terminals to acquire cooking condition data corresponding to cooking recipes, and cooking appliances that operate under predetermined cooking conditions in response to signals transmitted from external communication devices (for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-133355 JP 2017-116161 A

Incidentally, in order to communicate between a cooking appliance and an external communication device as in Patent Document 2, it is necessary to supply power to the communication unit that transmits and receives signals. However, if the timing of energizing the communication unit and the timing of energizing other electrical loads are asynchronous, it takes a long time to complete energizing all electrical loads related to the operation of the cooking appliance, which is problematic for users. In addition, not only may communication between the cooking appliance and the external communication device be performed at a timing different from the timing of operating the heating unit, but it may also take a certain amount of time to obtain cooking condition data, etc. from the external communication device. Therefore, if energizing the communication unit from the power source is prioritized, there is a problem that energizing other electrical loads will be delayed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the object of the present invention is to improve the usability for users of a cooking appliance that can communicate with an external communication device.

According to the present invention,
A heating unit for heating the food to be cooked;
A communication unit that communicates with an external communication device;
A control unit that controls the operation of the heating unit;
a first power supply unit that supplies power to the control unit;
A cooking device having a second power supply unit that supplies power to the communication unit,
the first power supply unit is a battery,
A cooking appliance is provided in which the second power supply unit is arranged outside the cooking appliance and separate from the cooking appliance, and the cooking appliance is configured to be powered or charged by wireless power supply from a power supply device powered by a commercial power source.

According to the cooking device, since the first power supply unit that supplies power to the control unit that operates the heating unit and the second power supply unit that supplies power to the communication unit that communicates with an external communication device are provided, it is not necessary to asynchronously energize the control unit and the communication unit. According to the cooking device, the second power supply unit is powered or charged by a power supply device that is driven by a commercial power source and is arranged outside the cooking device, so that communication between the cooking device and the external communication device can be performed at any timing, improving usability for the user.
Furthermore, according to the cooking device, for example, a power supply device can be provided for another cooking device or an external device, such as a dishwasher, that is arranged near the cooking device.
Furthermore, according to the cooking device, since there is no need to connect the second power supply unit and the power supply device with a power line, the installation work of the cooking device is facilitated and problems caused by forgetting to connect can be prevented.

Preferably, in the cooking device,
The external device includes a repeater that wirelessly communicates with the communication unit.

According to the cooking device described above, a power supply device can be provided in a repeater that forms a communication network between the cooking device and an external communication device.

Preferably, in the cooking device,
the second power supply unit is a secondary battery that is charged by the power supply device,
the control unit has a voltage detection unit that detects a battery voltage of the secondary battery,
the external device has a device - side communication unit that communicates with the communication unit,
When the voltage detection unit detects that the battery voltage of the secondary battery has dropped to a predetermined voltage , the cooking appliance is configured to communicate with the external device and start charging the second power supply unit via wireless power supply from the power supply device.

The cooking device described above can efficiently charge the second power supply unit while ensuring a sufficient battery voltage to operate the communication unit.

As described above, according to the present invention, communication between the cooking device and an external communication device can be performed at any timing without considering the timing of energizing the control unit that operates the heating unit. This makes it possible to provide a cooking device that is easy for the user to use.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a cooking device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a cooking device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a control operation of the cooking device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The cooking device according to the present embodiment will be specifically described below.
As shown in FIG. 1, the cooking device is, for example, a gas stove 1. The gas stove 1 has a stove body 10 that is disposed in a dropped state in an opening (not shown) opened in a counter top CT of a system kitchen, and a top plate 50 that covers the upper open part of the stove body 10. The stove body 10 has an exterior case that is approximately rectangular and box-shaped and open at the top, which is made of multiple metal plates. In the stove body 10, multiple stove burners 11 and a grill device 12 are disposed in the lower center, and a grill door 15 is disposed in the center of the front of the stove body 10. The grill device 12 has a grill chamber 40 that houses a grill burner (not shown), and an exhaust duct 46 that communicates with the inside of the grill chamber 40 and extends diagonally upward and backward from the rear of the grill chamber 40 toward an exhaust port 55 of the top plate 50. The front panel of the stove body 10 is provided with a power switch 41, a ignition/extinction control 42 for turning on/off the stove burners 11 and adjusting the flame power, a ignition/extinction control 43 for turning on/off the stove burners 11 and adjusting the flame power, and an open/close control panel (not shown) for setting automatic cooking. Although not shown, the stove body 10 is provided with a valve unit having various control valves such as solenoid valves for cutting off the gas supply to the stove burners 11 and the grill burners and adjusting the amount of gas supply. In addition, each stove burner 11 is provided with a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the cooking container, and a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature inside the grill chamber 40 is provided in the grill chamber. In this specification, the front side of the gas stove 1 is referred to as the front, the depth direction of the gas stove 1 is referred to as the front-rear direction, the width direction is referred to as the left-right direction, and the height direction is referred to as the up-down direction.

The top plate 50 is made of a roughly rectangular glass or metal plate that is long in the left-right direction. At predetermined locations on the top plate 50, multiple burner openings 51 are provided for the stove burners 11 to protrude upward. In addition, at the rear of the top plate 50, an exhaust port 55 is provided in the form of a long hole that is long in the left-right direction and faces the upper end opening of the exhaust duct 46 that exhausts exhaust air from inside the grill chamber 40 and the upper end opening of an exhaust pipe (not shown) that exhausts exhaust air from inside the oven cooker 2 (described later).

In the space below the stove body 10 in the system kitchen, an oven cooking device 2, which is an external device having a power supply device, is housed. The oven cooking device 2 has an oven body (not shown) in the shape of a substantially rectangular box, the front opening of which is covered by an oven door 21. The oven body has an exterior case made of multiple metal plates, and the front panel is provided with a power switch 22, a setting switch 23 for selecting cooking conditions such as heating temperature and heating time, and an automatic cooking menu. Although not shown, the oven body is provided with an oven cabinet having a combustion chamber in which an oven burner is arranged and a cooking chamber that communicates with the combustion chamber and heats and cooks the food to be cooked, and a temperature sensor is provided in the oven cabinet to detect the temperature inside the cabinet. In addition, at the rear of the cooking chamber, a valve unit having various control valves such as an electromagnetic valve that cuts off the supply of gas to the oven burner and adjusts the amount of gas supplied, and a circulation fan that sends the hot air of the combustion exhaust gas generated in the combustion chamber into the cooking chamber and circulates it are arranged.

The gas stove 1 is connected to be able to communicate with the oven cooking appliance 2 and an external communication device 3. The external communication device 3 can be, for example, a terminal device such as a smartphone, tablet computer, mobile phone, or personal computer, or an external server device. There are no particular limitations on the communication method, and for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), infrared (IR), etc. can be used.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the gas stove 1 and the oven cooking appliance 2. The gas stove 1 has a stove control circuit 100, which is a control unit that controls the operation of the entire appliance, a communication circuit 110, which is a communication unit that transmits and receives signals to and from the oven cooking appliance 2 and an external communication device 3, a first power supply circuit 101 that generates an operating voltage of a predetermined level and supplies power to the stove control circuit 100, a primary battery 102, which is a first power supply unit, a second power supply circuit 111 that generates an operating voltage for the communication circuit 110 and supplies power to the communication circuit 110, a secondary battery 112, which is a second power supply unit, and a power receiving device 120 that receives power transmitted by wireless power supply from a power supply device of the oven cooking appliance 2 described later and charges the secondary battery.

The stove control circuit 100 is an electronic circuit unit composed of a CPU, memory, various interface circuits, etc. The stove control circuit 100 also functions as a burner control unit that controls the on/off and flame adjustment of the stove burner 11 and the grill burner by executing a control program registered in the memory with the CPU, a primary battery voltage detection unit that detects the battery voltage of the primary battery 102, a secondary battery voltage detection unit that detects the battery voltage of the secondary battery 112, a charging control unit that controls the power receiving device 120 to charge the secondary battery 112, and a communication control unit that controls the transmission and reception of signals with the oven cooker 2 and the external communication device 3 via the communication circuit 110. The stove control circuit 100 is connected to the power switch 41, on/off operation buttons 42 and 43, an operation panel (not shown), a temperature sensor, a control valve, an igniter that drives the ignition electrode, etc., via electrical wiring. The stove control circuit 100 receives detection signals from the temperature sensor, operation signals from the ignition/extinguishing controls 42, 43 and the operation panel, and signals received by the communication circuit 110. In addition, the control signals output from the stove control circuit 100 control the opening and closing of the control valve, the driving of the igniter, the operation of the power receiving device 120, and the sending and receiving of signals by the communication circuit 110.

The oven cooking device 2 has an oven control circuit 200 that controls the entire device, a power supply circuit 201 that generates a predetermined level of operating voltage and supplies power to each circuit, an appliance side communication circuit 202 that transmits and receives signals with the gas stove 1 and an external communication device 3, and a power supply device 220 that transmits power to the power receiving device 120 by wireless power supply, and the power supply circuit 201 is connected to a commercial power source 230. The oven control circuit 200 is an electronic circuit unit composed of a CPU, memory, various interface circuits, etc. In addition, the oven control circuit 200 functions as a burner control unit that controls the on/off and flame adjustment of the oven burner by executing a control program registered in the memory with the CPU, a power supply control unit that controls the power supply device 220 to supply power wirelessly, and a communication control unit that controls the transmission and reception of signals with the gas stove 1 and the external communication device 3 in the appliance side communication circuit 202. In addition, the oven control circuit 200 is connected to a power switch 22, a setting switch 23, an igniter that drives an ignition electrode (not shown), a circulation fan, a control valve, a temperature sensor, etc. via electrical wiring. The oven control circuit 200 receives detection signals from the temperature sensor, operation signals from the setting switch 23, and signals from the device-side communication circuit 202. In addition, the control signals output from the oven control circuit 200 control the operation of the power supply device 220, the opening and closing of the control valve, the driving of the igniter, the driving of the circulation fan, and the sending and receiving of signals by the device-side communication circuit 202.

The power supply device 220 has a power supply coil 221 and an inverter circuit 222 that supplies a high-frequency current to the power supply coil 221. The power supply coil 221 generates a high-frequency magnetic field when a high-frequency current is supplied from the inverter circuit 222. The power supply device 220 is arranged at the top inside the oven body. The power receiving device 120 has a power receiving coil 121 and a charging circuit 122. The power receiving coil 121 receives power by electromagnetic induction using a high-frequency magnetic field generated by the power supply coil 221, and the charging circuit 122 converts the AC current input from the power receiving coil 121 into DC to charge the secondary battery 112. The power receiving device 120 is arranged at the bottom inside the stove body 10. In addition, the power supply device 220 and the power receiving device 120 are each arranged so that the power supply coil 221 and the power receiving coil 121 are approximately opposed to each other when the gas stove 1 and the oven cooking appliance 2 are arranged side by side vertically. In this embodiment, the electromagnetic induction method is used as the wireless power supply method, but a magnetic field resonance method or an electric field coupling method may also be used.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, the charging control in the cooking device of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the power supply device 220 is configured to start power supply in response to a charging start signal from the stove control circuit 100 and to end power supply in response to a charging end signal from the stove control circuit 100, but power supply may also be performed at a predetermined timing (for example, at predetermined intervals).

The stove control circuit 100 is constantly receiving a detection signal of the battery voltage of the secondary battery 112, and when the battery voltage between the terminals of the secondary battery 112 reaches a predetermined charging start voltage, the gas stove 1 transmits a charging start signal to the oven cooking appliance 2 (steps S1 to S2). Although not shown, the oven control circuit 200 receives the charging start signal and operates the power supply device 220 to start power supply. As described above, when a high-frequency current is supplied to the power supply coil 221, power is supplied from the power supply device 220 to the power receiving device 120 by wireless power supply, and the secondary battery 112 is charged. When the battery voltage of the secondary battery 112 reaches a predetermined charging end voltage, the gas stove 1 transmits a charging end signal from the communication circuit 110 to the oven cooking appliance 2, and charging is ended (steps S3 to S4).

As described above in detail, according to this embodiment, the gas stove 1 has a primary battery 102 that supplies power to the stove control circuit 100 that operates the stove burner 11 and the grill burner, and a secondary battery 112 that supplies power to the communication circuit 110 that communicates with the external communication terminal 3. Therefore, there is no need to synchronize the timing of energization to the stove control circuit 100 and the timing of energization to the energization circuit 110, and power can be supplied to the energization circuit 110 at any timing. This allows smooth communication between the gas stove 1 and the external communication device 3, and allows the stove burner 11 and the grill burner to be operated in a timely manner. In addition, since power can be supplied to the communication circuit 110 at all times, the operating state of the gas stove 1 can be monitored 24 hours a day. In addition, since the energization circuit 110, which has a large voltage drop, can be energized only from the secondary battery 112, which is different from the primary battery 102 that supplies power to the stove control circuit 100, consumption of the primary battery 102 can also be reduced.

In addition, according to the above embodiment, the power supply device 220 is provided in an external device that receives power from a commercial power source 230, such as the oven cooking appliance 2 that is placed adjacent to and below the gas stove 1, so there is no need to provide a long power line to supply power from the commercial power source 230 to the power supply device 220.

In addition, according to the above embodiment, the second power supply unit has a secondary battery 112, and the secondary battery 112 is charged by wireless power supply from the power supply device 220, so there is no need to connect the power supply device 220 provided in the oven cooking appliance 2 to the secondary battery 112 provided in the gas stove 1 with a power line. This simplifies the installation work of the gas stove 1.

In addition, according to the above embodiment, when the battery voltage of the secondary battery 112, which is the second power supply unit, drops to a predetermined charging start voltage, communication is established with the oven cooking appliance 2, which is an external device, and charging of the secondary battery 112 is automatically initiated by wireless power supply from the power supply device 220, eliminating the need to constantly supply power to the power supply device 220. This allows the secondary battery 112 to be efficiently charged while ensuring the battery voltage required to operate the communication circuit 110.

Other Embodiments
(1) In the above embodiment, a secondary battery charged by a power supply device provided in the external device is used as the second power supply unit. However, instead of using a secondary battery, a power receiving device having a power receiving circuit that receives power from a power supply device provided in the external device may be provided, and power may be supplied from the power receiving circuit to a communication circuit.

(2) In the above embodiment, a primary battery is used as the first power supply unit. However, a secondary battery may also be used as the first power supply unit.

(3) In the above embodiment, the power supply device is provided in the oven cooking device installed below the gas stove. However, there is no particular limitation as long as the external device can be provided with a power supply device that supplies power or charges the second power supply unit. For example, the power supply device may be provided in another electrical appliance such as a dishwasher, or in a wireless communication repeater or a portable terminal. By providing a power supply device in a repeater that receives power from a commercial power source, communication between the cooking device and the repeater can be performed by short-range communication (e.g., Bluetooth (registered trademark)) and communication between the repeater and an external communication device can be performed by medium-range communication (e.g., Wi-Fi (registered trademark)). This reduces the number of times a secondary battery is charged when used in the second power supply unit, and extends the battery life.

(4) In the above embodiment, a gas stove was described. However, the invention can also be applied to other heating cookers, such as electric stoves.

Reference Signs List 1 Gas stove 11 Stove burner 100 Stove control circuit 102 Primary battery 110 Communication circuit 112 Secondary battery 2 Oven cooking appliance 220 Power supply device

Claims (3)

A heating unit for heating the food to be cooked;
A communication unit that communicates with an external communication device;
A control unit that controls the operation of the heating unit;
a first power supply unit that supplies power to the control unit;
A cooking device having a second power supply unit that supplies power to the communication unit,
the first power supply unit is a battery,
The second power supply unit is provided in an external device arranged outside the heating cooker and different from the heating cooker, and is configured to be powered or charged by wireless power supply from a power supply device powered by a commercial power source. The cooking device according to claim 1,
The external device is a cooking appliance having a repeater that wirelessly communicates with the communication unit. The cooking device according to claim 1 or 2,
the second power supply unit is a secondary battery that is charged by the power supply device,
the control unit has a voltage detection unit that detects a battery voltage of the secondary battery,
the external device has a device-side communication unit that communicates with the communication unit,
A heating cooker configured to communicate with the external device and start charging the second power supply unit via the wireless power supply from the power supply device when the voltage detection unit detects that the battery voltage of the secondary battery has dropped to a predetermined voltage.

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