JPH0261429A - Cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To inform accurately the user of a finished condition of a food by causing multicolor light-emitting diodes provided on the back side of a transmitted illumination type operating button to emit light according to an operation, and switching over the color of the emitted light under control according to the progress of cooking. CONSTITUTION:When a cooking-starting operation is conducted after a desired cooking mode and a desired cooking time are set by operating buttons, a controlling part 20 causes a light-emitting diode 8 located in a corresponding position to emit light of a predetermined color, resulting in transmitted illumination of the operating button. The cooking time thus set is displayed on a display part 4, and simultaneously, a magnetron 12 is set into an oscillating operation, whereby cooking is started. During the cooking, the controlling part 20 divides the set cooking time into three periods, allots different light-emitting colors to the three periods, and sequentially switches over the color of the light emitted from the diode 8 in the manner of, for example, yellow - red - orange, according to the progress of cooking. Thus, the color of transmitted illumination of the operating button is varied, so that the user can discriminate the progress of cooking, even from a distance.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a cooking appliance such as a microwave oven.

(Prior Art) Cooking appliances, such as microwave ovens, notify the user of the progress of cooking, such as the remaining cooking time, by displaying numerical values or bar numbers on a fluorescent display tube of the display section.

In addition, several interior lights of different colors are installed to illuminate the heating chamber, and these interior lights are turned on sequentially as cooking progresses, allowing the progress of cooking to be monitored by changing the color inside the heating chamber. There are also things to notify people.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the method of notifying the progress of cooking using a fluorescent display tube has a drawback in that the content of the notification is difficult to understand from a distance.

Furthermore, in a device that changes the color of the heating chamber, the color of the food also changes, making it difficult to judge the doneness of the food.

This invention was made in view of the above circumstances,
The purpose is to provide an excellent cooking device that can accurately notify the progress of cooking in a way that is easy to see even from a distance and does not interfere with determining the doneness of the food. There is a particular thing.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problem) A transilluminated operation button, a multicolor light emitting diode provided on the back side of the operation button, and a light emitting diode that responds to the operation of the operation button. and a means for switching and controlling the color of the light emitting operation as cooking progresses.

(Function) When the operation button is pressed tR, the light emitting diode starts emitting light.
The operation button is transparently illuminated. As the cooking progresses, the color of the light emitted from the light emitting diode changes, and the color of the transmitted illumination of the operation button changes.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of a microwave oven, on the front of which a door 2 is pivotally supported so as to be freely openable and closable, and an operation panel 3 is provided.

The operation panel 3 is provided with a display section 4, an operation button 5 for setting cooking conditions, and a door opening/closing button 6 in this order from the top to the bottom.

Here, there are a plurality of operation buttons 5, and any one of them is of a transmissive illumination type.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a circuit board (PC board) 7 is provided inside the operation panel 3, and a plurality of light emitting diodes 8 are attached to predetermined positions on the circuit board 7.

Note that FIG. 3 shows a state in which the circuit board 7 is removed from the operation panel 3, and each light emitting diode 8 is arranged to face the back side of each operation button 5 during tube mounting.

Each light emitting diode 8 is of a multicolor light emitting type, and the fourth
Three terminals 8a, 8b as shown in the figure.

It has 8C. 8a is a yellow terminal, 8b is a red terminal,
8C is a common terminal, and the emission color is yellow when energized between 8a and 8c, red when energized between 8b and 8c, and 8a and 8b and 8.
When electricity is applied between C, it becomes orange.

As shown in FIG. 1, a heating chamber 10 is provided within the main body 1 corresponding to the door 2.

Inside the heating chamber 10 is a table 11 on which food F is placed.
will be established.

A magnetron 12 is provided on the upper side wall of the heating chamber 10, and an antenna 12a of the magnetron 12 is introduced into the heating chamber 10. Then, the magnetron 12 is connected to the high voltage transformer 1.
3 and the commercial AC power supply 14 via the relay contact 22a.

20 is a control unit that performs overall control of the microwave oven;
Consists of a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits. An operation section 21, the display section 4, a relay 22, and a light emitting diode drive circuit 30 are connected to the control section 20.

Here, the operation section 21 is composed of each of the operation buttons 5 and various key switches that respond to the operations thereof.

The light emitting diode drive circuit 30 drives each of the light emitting diodes 8 according to commands from the control section 20.

Thus, the control section 20 controls the light emitting diode drive circuit 30.
It also has a functional means for causing the light emitting diode 8 to emit light in response to the operation of the operation button 5, and a functional means for switching and controlling the color of this light emitting operation as cooking progresses.

Next, the operation in the above configuration will be explained.

The food F is placed in the heating chamber 10 and the door 2 is closed.

Then, desired cooking conditions such as cooking mode and cooking time are set using each operation button 5, and a cooking start operation is performed.

At this time, the control unit 20 causes the light emitting diode 8 located at the position corresponding to the operated operation button 5 to emit light in a predetermined color.

When the light emitting diode 8 emits light, the operation button 5 is illuminated by the light. This allows the user to check his/her own operation status.

Further, the control unit 20 displays the set cooking time on the display unit 4.

Thus, the control unit 20 energizes the relay 22 in response to the cooking start operation.

When the relay 22 is energized, the contact 22a is turned on and the magnetron 12 operates in oscillation. With this, heating chamber 10
High-frequency radio waves are irradiated inside the food F, and the food F is dielectrically heated.

In other words, cooking begins.

During this cooking, the control unit 20 divides the set cooking time into three parts and assigns a different light emitting color to each, and based on this, the light emitting color of the light emitting diode 8 is changed to yellow, for example, as time passes, that is, as the cooking progresses. -Switch sequentially like red, orange, etc.

In this way, when the color of the light emitted from the light emitting diode 8 changes, the color of the transmitted illumination of the operation button 5 changes, allowing the user to accurately determine the progress of cooking even from a distance.

Furthermore, since the color of the emitted light only changes on the operation panel 3, there is no problem in determining the doneness of the food F.

In addition, the set cooking time remains displayed on the display unit 4, so that the user can easily confirm what the initially set cooking time was.

Furthermore, the light emitting diode 8 has the advantage of being small in space and inexpensive.

When the set cooking time has elapsed, the control unit 20 deenergizes the relay 22, turns off the contact 22a, and stops the oscillation operation of the magnetron 12. In other words, cooking is finished.

In the above embodiment, the emitted light color was only switched in three stages, but just before the end of cooking, the emitted light color could be quickly switched in the order of red - yellow - orange - red - yellow. It's even more convenient.

It is also convenient to quickly switch the luminescent color as described above when an incorrect operation is performed when setting cooking conditions.

Furthermore, if a blinking operation is added to the switching of the emitted light color, even more detailed information can be reported.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modifications can be made without changing the gist.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a transilluminated operation button, a multicolor light emitting diode provided on the back side of the operation button, and a light emitting diode that can be used to operate the operation button. The present invention is equipped with a means for causing a light emitting operation in response to the cooking process, and a means for controlling the color of the light emitting operation to be switched as the cooking progresses. To provide an excellent cooking device that can accurately notify the doneness without hindering determination of doneness.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a heating chamber and a control circuit in an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the external appearance of the embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the arrangement of operation buttons and light emitting diodes in the embodiment. FIG. 4, which is a diagram showing the correspondence relationship, is a diagram schematically showing the appearance of the light emitting diode in the same embodiment. 3... Operation panel, 5... Operation button, 8... Light emitting diode, 8a... Yellow terminal, 8b... Red terminal,
8c...Common terminal, 20...Control unit. Figure 1 Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (1)

[Claims] A transilluminated operation button, a multicolor light emitting diode provided on the back side of the operation button, a means for causing the light emitting diode to emit light in response to operation of the operation button, and a means for controlling the color of the light emitting operation. A cooking appliance characterized by comprising means for switching control as cooking progresses.