JPH04230991A - Heat cooking appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a cooking appliance with good operability and precision by grouping automatic buttons for cuisine menus so that automatic cooking can be performed for many cuisine menus via one automatic button. CONSTITUTION:A physical quantity detecting means 4 detecting physical quantities such as infrared rays radiated from the food 2 in a heating chamber 1 and the air flow circulated in the heating chamber 1, an arithmetic section 10 calculating the preset function from the physical quantity detected result, a state judging means 9 judging in which cooking state the food 2 is from the calculated result, and a heating sequence control means 13 controlling the heating from this result are provided. Many food groups can be grouped into several groups, cooking can be performed for each group only with a button, and a cooking appliance with good operability and precision is obtained.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a heating cooker such as an automatic microwave oven having an automatic button, and in particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for automatically cooking a larger number of food menus with high precision using one automatic button. It is something to do.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, methods for automating cooking using temperature sensors, infrared sensors, gas sensors, etc. in heating cookers such as microwave ovens have been proposed and have already been put into practical use.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such conventional automatic heating cookers, physical quantities (temperature, humidity, etc.) are captured individually (one-dimensionally), so it is difficult to set an automatic button for each cooking menu. The current situation is that an extremely large number of automatic buttons are lined up on the operation panel. This gives the user a sense of complication and makes it extremely difficult to use. Furthermore, even if the scope of automation of cooking menus was to be expanded further, the current operation panel was unable to increase the number of operation buttons any further.

[0004] In view of these drawbacks, the present invention solves the following problems.
Group the automatic buttons for each cooking menu and
Our goal is to provide a method for automatically cooking a larger number of food menus with a single automatic button (a method that integrates multiple physical quantities and captures them in a multidimensional manner), and to provide an automatic heating cooker that is easy to use and has high accuracy. purpose.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the heating cooker of the present invention has the configuration described below. That is, a physical quantity detecting means for detecting a plurality of physical quantities during execution of a heating sequence, a state determining means for determining a heating progress state based on the detected physical quantities, and a heating sequence control that determines a heating sequence based on the determination result. and the state determining means calculates a plurality of physical quantities detected by the physical quantity detecting means using calculation parameters xi (1≦
i≦n; n is an integer of 2 or more) and performs a predetermined functional operation f(x1, x2,..., xn) determined by the type and combination of the detected physical quantities;
and a comparison section for determining whether the calculation result reaches a predetermined value.

[0006] Also, as physical quantity detection means for detecting changes in the plurality of physical quantities and converting them into electrical signals, an infrared sensor for detecting infrared rays radiated from heated food, and an infrared sensor for detecting infrared rays radiated from heated food are used. The structure uses a temperature sensor to capture the amount of heat conducted in the airflow circulating in the room.

[0007]

[Operation] According to the present invention, a plurality of foods can be grouped into several groups, and each group can be cooked by pressing a button. That is, the physical quantity detection means captures a plurality of types of physical quantities with corresponding sensors and converts them into electrical signals. The state determining means inputs the electric signal from the physical quantity detecting means and performs a predetermined calculation in the calculating section. This calculation result is compared with predetermined area data in a comparison section, and the state of heating progress is determined by looking at physical quantities in a multidimensional manner. Heating is controlled based on this judgment. By doing this, it is possible to cook several different types of foods as one group using one operation button.

[0008]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the configuration of the present invention is applied to a microwave oven. The operation is shown in FIG. 1 and in the flowchart of FIG. 2. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a metal heating chamber, into which food 2 and the like are placed and heated. 3 is a high frequency oscillator such as a magnetron.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a physical quantity detection means, which detects changes in physical quantities that appear during cooking of the food 2. For example, here, physical quantities A and B are expressed by sensor A5.
is captured by sensor B6, physical quantity A detection unit 7, physical quantity B
The detection unit 8 converts it into an electrical signal.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a state determining means, which inputs electric signals corresponding to the physical quantities A and B output from the physical quantity detecting means 4, and calculates predetermined contents (function f(A, B))). The comparison unit 11 compares the calculation result with predetermined area data 12 in size, and determines the state of heating progress by capturing physical quantities multidimensionally.

Although it cannot be uniquely defined as a functional calculation expression because it differs depending on the type and combination of physical quantities used, it will be explained using two examples using FIGS. 3 and 5. For example, in the example shown in Figure 3, the functional expression is f(A,B)=K
AB...(1) where K is a proportionality constant. A heating sequence is determined depending on whether the calculation result is greater than or equal to a predetermined value or less than a predetermined value, and the curve equation f(A, B)=P (P is a constant) shown at 14 in the figure becomes area data for determination.

[0012] Next, in order to explain more specifically, the transition of the state as the heating progresses will be considered. 15 in the figure is the physical quantity A and the physical quantity B (function f(
This is the trajectory of A, B)). The t0 point is the heating start point, which changes over time as t1 → t2 → t3 →. Further, 14 is an area boundary line represented by a curve f(A=a, B=b)=P determined by the predetermined values of physical quantity A=a and physical quantity B=b, which allows the physical area to be divided into areas I, It is divided into II (states I and II). That is, as the heating progresses, the physical quantities A, B (function f(A, B)
) moves from state I to state II, and t
Reach point N. At this point tN, a state change signal is output from the comparator 11 to the heating sequence control means 13, and the heating sequence is updated, such as terminating the heating.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the functional expression is f
(A, B)=K1 A+K2 B...(2), and K
1 and K2 are weighting coefficients. In addition, let the amount of infrared rays per unit surface area of the parameter on the horizontal axis of FIG. 5 be the physical quantity A,
Let physical quantity B be the air temperature rise in the heating chamber as a vertical axis parameter.

The heating sequence is determined depending on whether the calculation result is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, and the linear equation f(A, B)=Q (Q is a constant) shown at 14a in the figure becomes the area data for determination. .

[0015] In the above explanation, a two-dimensional case in which two types of physical quantities are handled has been described in detail, but the present invention is of course not limited to this, and the present invention is not limited to this. It also applies when dealing with dimensions.

[0016] Based on this concept, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a microwave oven will be described below with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, the sensor includes an infrared sensor 5a for capturing infrared rays radiated from the heated food 2, and an infrared sensor 5a for capturing infrared rays radiated from the heated food 2, and an infrared sensor 5a for capturing the infrared rays radiated from the heated food 2. A temperature sensor 6a is used to capture the amount of heat.

Note that 17 is a chopping device necessary when a pyroelectric element is used as the infrared sensor 5a;
is a fan device for creating a circulating air flow 16 within the heating chamber 1.

With this configuration, for example, it is possible to cook bacon and warm milk with one automatic button. That is, as is well known, bacon is a flat piece of pork that is heated to a high temperature until it becomes crispy and fragrant, and the amount of infrared rays radiated from a unit surface area is large. On the other hand, the temperature increase value of the circulating air flow in the heating chamber does not become so large because the heating time is short. 15a in FIG. 5 shows the locus of physical quantities during cooking of bacon.

[0020] Next, in the case of warming milk, the temperature at which it is ready to drink is about 50°C, so the level of the amount of infrared rays radiated is not so large, but the temperature increase value of the circulating air flow depends on the heating time. It becomes quite large due to its length. 15b in Figure 5
shows the trajectory when milk is heated.

When the trajectories in these two cases cross the area boundary line, for example 14a in FIG. 5, (tN, tP
Point) It is possible to end the heating sequence and determine that the product is complete.

[0022]

Effects of the Invention As explained above, the present invention provides a plurality of physical quantities xi (1≦
i≦n; n≧2) After detecting changes and performing a predetermined operation on them (after calculating the function f(x1,...,xn)), it is determined that the result has reached a predetermined region. This method enables heating cookers such as microwave ovens that can automatically cook a larger number of menus with a single automatic button by controlling the heating sequence such as automatically ending heating based on the judgment. The simplified operation panel makes it easy to use.

[0023] It is clear that the accuracy of cooking can be improved since the progress of heating can be grasped multidimensionally by integrating a plurality of physical quantities.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the operation panel itself can be made smaller by the reduction in the number of automatic buttons.

Furthermore, it is also possible to newly provide operation buttons with other useful functions.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

[Fig. 1] Block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention

[Figure 2] Similarly, a schematic flowchart showing the operation

[Figure 3] Similarly, a partial operation explanation diagram

[Fig. 4] Partial configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention

[Figure 5] Diagram showing the relationship between the air temperature rise in the heating chamber and the amount of infrared rays per unit surface area

[Explanation of symbols]

4 Physical quantity detection means 9 Status determination means 10 Arithmetic unit 11 Comparison section 13 Heating sequence control means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Physical quantity detection means for detecting a plurality of physical quantities during execution of a heating sequence, state determination means for determining a heating progress state based on the detected physical quantities, and a heating sequence determined based on the determination result. The state determining means includes a heating sequence control means, and the state determining means inputs a plurality of physical quantities detected by the physical quantity detecting means as calculation parameters xi (1≦i≦n; n is an integer of 2 or more), and calculates the detected physical quantities. It consists of an arithmetic unit that performs a predetermined functional operation f(x1, x2,..., xn) determined by the type and combination of Heating cooker. 2. The physical quantity detection means for detecting changes in the plurality of physical quantities and converting them into electrical signals includes an infrared sensor for detecting infrared rays radiated from heated food; The heating cooker according to claim 1, which uses a temperature sensor for capturing the amount of heat conducted to the airflow circulating in the room.