JPH04251125A - Heating and cooking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:In a heating and cooking device having a plurality of heating means, a so-called absolute heating output of these heating means is displayed to a user through display means so as to improve convenience in use. CONSTITUTION:Heating outputs of a right-side heater and a left-side heater are set as 1.4kW and 2kW, for example. They can be adjusted in outputs at some levels of 7 steps and 10 steps, respectively, and each of display devices 27 and 28 is constructed such that seven LEDs 35 and 10 LEDs 36 are arranged vertically. When the two heaters are adjusted at a level of '5', i.e., an output of 1kW, five LEDs 35 and 36 from bottom one of the array are lit.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Object of the invention]

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooking device having a plurality of cooking sections equipped with heating means capable of adjusting heating output.

0003

2. Description of the Related Art As this type of heating cooker, for example, an electric range using a halogen lamp as a heat source is provided. This device has two heating units (heaters) consisting of multiple halogen lamps located on the left and right, for example, inside a rectangular box-shaped main body whose top surface is made of heat-resistant glass on which a pot or the like is placed. It is composed of With this, heating and cooking can be performed separately in the two left and right cooking sections. In this case, the heating output (heat amount) of the left and right heaters can be adjusted respectively, and the maximum output setting value of the left and right heaters is different (for example, 1.4KW and 2KW),
The cooking section on the right can be used for cooking that requires high heat, while the cooking section on the left can be used for general cooking.

[0004] An operation panel 1 as shown in FIG. 5 is provided on the front of the main body of this electric range. The operation panel 1 is provided with an on/off switch 2 and an output adjustment switch 3 corresponding to the right heater and the left heater, respectively, and is also provided with a display 4 for displaying the level of heating output. . The display units 4 each have, for example, 10
It is composed of LEDs 5 arranged vertically in a row and numbers 1 to 10 representing the level are written along the sides, and the level is displayed by how many LEDs 5 are lit from the bottom. (For convenience, those that are lit are shown with diagonal lines). With this, the user can adjust the output of each of the left and right heaters in 10 steps by operating the output adjustment switch 3 while looking at the display 4.

[0005]

[Problem to be solved by the invention] In the above conventional method,
The display devices 4, 4 are each provided independently, so to speak.
It merely displayed the relative output levels for each heater. Therefore, if the maximum output is different between the left and right heaters as described above, the left and right indicators 4 will not display the absolute heating output level, for example. Even if the same level "5" is displayed, the cooking section on the right side is heated at a higher output than the cooking section on the left side. For this reason,
It is difficult for the user to know which level to adjust to obtain the desired output, making the system inconvenient to use.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a heating cooker that can inform the user of the so-called absolute heating output through the display on the display, thereby improving the usability. is to provide.

[Configuration of the invention]

[0008]

[Means for solving the problems] The heating cooker of the present invention includes:
The output of each heating means is displayed by the amount of relative displacement of the indicator with respect to the total length of the display area in the predetermined direction of the corresponding display, and each display is It is characterized in that the length ratio is configured to match the ratio of the maximum output setting values of each heating means.

[0009]

[Operation] According to the above means, since the length in the predetermined direction of each display area of the plurality of indicators corresponds to the maximum output setting value of each heating means, the display corresponding to the heating means with a large maximum output In the case of a display corresponding to a heating means with a long display area and a small maximum output, the display area is configured to be short in proportion to the display area. The indicators for displaying the heating output are displaced relative to the total length of the display area depending on the heating output of the heating means. Therefore, if the heating output is the same between the indicators, the absolute displacement amount of the indicator will also be the same.

0010

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electric range using a halogen lamp as a heat source will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, a main body 11 of an electric range, which is a heating cooker, has a rectangular box shape and is incorporated into, for example, a cooking table 12. As shown in FIG. The upper surface of the main body 11 is covered with a light-transmitting top plate 13 made of, for example, heat-resistant glass, and a heating means, in this case two heaters 14 and 15, is provided under the top plate 13. As shown in FIG. 3, these heaters 14 and 15 each support a plurality of halogen lamps 16 by sandwiching them between an upper frame 17 which has heat insulation properties and a container-shaped lower frame 18 which also has heat insulation properties. The lower frame 18 is fixed to the inner bottom surface of the main body 11 by a receiving plate 19. Such heaters 14 and 15 are
They are provided on the left and right sides in the main body 11 (hereinafter referred to as left heater 1).
4, right heater 15), the main body 11 has heaters located on the left and right portions of the top plate 13,
Two cooking sections 20 and 21 are formed on the top surface of the top plate 13 to heat and cook a pot or the like placed on the top surface. Also, in this case, the maximum output of the left heater 14 is 1.4KW.
The maximum output of the right heater 15 is set to 2KW.

An operation panel 22 is provided on the front surface of the main body 11. This operation panel 22 has a
As shown in , corresponding to the left and right cooking sections 20 and 21,
On/off switches 23 and 24 for the heaters 14 and 15, and an output adjustment switch 25 that is a pair for increasing (up) and decreasing (down) the heating output of each heater 14 and 15.
, 26 are arranged on the left and right. The operation panel 22 also includes indicators 27 and 2 for displaying the heating output of each heater 14 and 15, which will be described in detail later.
8 is provided.

FIG. 4 shows the electrical configuration of the above electric range. Here, the plurality of halogen lamps 16 of each of the left and right heaters 14 and 15 are connected in parallel to a power source 29, and are controlled to be turned on and off by a microcomputer 30. That is, this microcomputer 30 receives signals from the on/off switches 23, 24 and output adjustment switches 25, 26, and operates a triac 31 connected in series to each heater 14, 15, respectively.
, 32 are turned on and off via the drive circuits 33 and 34, thereby controlling the heaters 14 and 15 to be turned on and off. In this case, the output of each heater 14, 15 during the energization period is controlled by phase control according to signals from the output adjustment switches 25, 26. Further, as will be described later, the microcomputer 30 is configured to turn off the power to the LEDs 35 and 36 of the indicators 27 and 28 in accordance with its output.

Now, the display devices 27 and 28 will be explained. First, the display 28 provided corresponding to the right cooking section 21 (right heater 15) will be described.

As mentioned above, the right heater 15 has a maximum power of 2KW.
In this case, the output can be adjusted in 10 levels in steps of 200W. The level of this output is changed by one step by the microcomputer 30 each time the output adjustment switch 26 is operated. As shown in FIG. 1, the display 28 has 10 LEDs 36 arranged vertically, and numbers 1 to 10 representing the level and letters ``strong'' and ``weak'' are written on the sides of the LEDs 36. There is. The output level of the right heater 15 is displayed depending on how many of these 10 LEDs 36 are lit from below.For example, when the output level is set to "5", that is, 1KW, the microcomputer 30 5 LEDs
36 are illuminated (in the figure, the illuminated ones are shown with diagonal lines for convenience). With this,
A display area according to the present invention is formed by the ten LEDs 36, and the light produced by lighting functions as an indicator that is displaced in the display area according to the heating output. Further, in this case, the total length of the display area corresponds to the maximum output setting value, and the length of the lighting that occupies with respect to the total length of the display area is the relative size of the heating output of the right heater 15 to the maximum output. ing.

On the other hand, the left cooking section 20 (left heater 14)
The display 27 provided correspondingly is configured as follows.

That is, as mentioned above, the maximum output setting value of the left heater 14 is set to 1.4 KW, which is 70% of the right heater 15 (2 KW). In this case, the left heater 14
Similarly, the output can be adjusted in 7 levels in 200W increments based on the operation of the output adjustment switch 25. Therefore, the display 27 has seven LEDs 35 arranged vertically, and the LEDs 35
The output level of the left heater 14 is determined by how many of these seven LEDs 35 are lit from the bottom. It will be displayed. The size of one LED 35 is the same as that of the LED 36, and the size of one LED 35 is the same as that of the LED 36.
The display area consists of 7 of the display area of the display 28.
It is said to be a reasonable length. With this, the two indicators 27,
The ratio of the lengths of the display areas 28 is made equal to the ratio of the maximum output setting values of the respective heaters 14 and 15.

Note that when the on/off switches 23 and 24 are turned on, the microcomputer 30 is configured to start energizing each heater 14 and 15 at the maximum output setting value, and then the output adjustment switch 25 is turned on. , 26, the user can adjust the output as desired.

In the above configuration, the heater 14,
15 generates heat at a predetermined output, and the food is cooked. In this case, the cooking section 21 on the right side can be used for cooking that requires high heat, and the cooking section 20 on the left side can be used for general cooking.

The user can adjust the heating output of each heater 14, 15 by operating the output adjustment switches 25, 26 while looking at the displays 27, 28. At this time, in both indicators 27 and 28, one LED 35 and 36 is lit for each unit output (200W), so for example, the output is 1KW.
When both heaters 14 and 15 have the same heating output, the length of the level display (lighted part), that is, the length of the LED 35, is displayed between both indicators 27 and 28. , 36 are also the same number of lights. As a result, the so-called absolute output level is displayed on the displays 27 and 28, and the user can easily adjust the output.

[0021] Furthermore, the length of the display area of each display 27, 28 is determined by the maximum output setting value (1.4KW) of each heater 14, 15.
and 2KW), so the user can use the length of the display area without having to separately display the wattage.
Another advantage is that it can be seen at a glance that the cooking section 21 on the right side has a higher output.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the display device 4,
Unlike the conventional display device 4, which was provided independently and merely displayed the relative output level, the display device 2
7 and 28 display the absolute heating output, so to speak. As a result, the user can easily adjust the output without causing any illusions, thereby improving usability.

In the above embodiment, the display devices 27 and 28 are configured to display information by lighting the LEDs 35 and 36, but for example, the mark may move up and down like a bar graph in a vertically long window, or an analog meter may It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the needle moves in a predetermined area as in the example shown in FIG.

In addition, the present invention may be applied to a heating cooker having three or more heating means, and the direction in which the display area extends may be horizontal or diagonal, etc., as appropriate within the scope of the invention. It can be implemented with modifications.

[0025]

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above explanation, according to the cooking device of the present invention, the output of each heating means is determined by the relative displacement of the indicator with respect to the entire length of the display area in the corresponding display in a predetermined direction. Since each indicator is configured so that the ratio of the length of its display area in a predetermined direction matches the ratio of the maximum output setting value of each heating means, the display is This has the excellent effect of being able to inform the user of the so-called absolute heating output through the display on the device, thereby improving usability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an operation panel showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[
Figure 2: Overall perspective view with a part cut away

[Figure 3] Longitudinal side view of the heating unit

[Figure 4] Diagram showing the electrical configuration

[Figure 5] A diagram equivalent to Figure 1 showing a conventional example

[Explanation of symbols]

11 is the main body, 14 and 15 are heaters (heating means), 16 is a halogen lamp, 20 and 21 are cooking parts, 22 is an operation panel, 25 and 26 are output adjustment switches, 27 and 28 are indicators, and 30 is a microcomputer , 35, 36 are LEDs
shows.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of heating means, including ones whose heating output can be adjusted and have different maximum output settings, and an indicator provided corresponding to each heating means and displacing an indicator in a predetermined direction in a predetermined display area. and in which the output of each of the heating means is displayed by the amount of relative displacement of an indicator with respect to the total length of the display area of the corresponding display in the predetermined direction. A cooking device characterized in that the ratio of the lengths of the regions in the predetermined direction matches the ratio of the maximum output setting values of each heating means.