JPH05272761A - Cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an efficient cooker, reduced the electric power consumption thereof by driving the minimum heating area initially to identity the size of a body to be heated. CONSTITUTION:Small, middle and large annular electric heating wires 8, 9, 10, complying with the sizes of pots 1, 2, 3, are formed concentrically in the heating area of a cooker to form heating areas A, B, C, which are divided into three divisions stepwise. Temperature sensors 11, 12, 13 are arranged at positions contacting directly with the bottom surface of the pots 1, 2, 3, in the heating areas A, B, C. When a power supply switch is put ON, the electric heating wire 8, having the smallest configuration, is driven at first, then, the size of the pot is detected by the detecting signals of the temperature sensors 11, 12, 13 to control the driving of the electric heating wires complying with the size of the pot.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooker utilizing electric heating or eddy current heating.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, cookers for heating using eddy current are often used in areas where it is not desirable to use gas for fire fighting, such as high-rise buildings, and in the West. This cooker puts a heated object such as a pot or pan on the heating area for cooking, and in order to perform this cooking efficiently, from the viewpoint of automation of cooking of this cooker, energy saving, and safety. Whether there is a heated object such as a pot for cooking in the cooker,
A means for detecting the size and the like of a heated object such as a pot is being provided to actively control heating of a cooking device.

FIG. 9 shows an explanatory view of the main structure of a conventional cooking device utilizing eddy current heating. A first magnetic flux generator 31 is arranged at the center of the base 6 of the cooking device 5 as a heat generation source, and below the first magnetic flux generator 31,
A second magnetic flux generator 32 having a larger shape is concentrically provided, and a third magnetic flux generator 33 having a larger shape is also concentrically provided below the second magnetic flux generator 32. ing. The sizes of the magnetic flux generators 31, 32, 33 substantially correspond to the sizes of the cooking pots 1, 2, 3, respectively.

A mounting portion 7 for mounting a cooking pot is provided on the upper side of the base 6. When the pot is placed on the placing portion 7, a magnetic field from the magnetic flux generator is applied to the conductor metal (aluminum, copper, iron, etc.) provided on the bottom surface of the pot in a perpendicular direction, and the magnetic field causes the conductor metal to flow. An eddy current is generated to generate heat, and the pot is heated.

FIG. 10 shows the relationship between the size of the cooking pot and the power consumption. The power consumption is A when the small pot 1 is placed on the pot placing portion 7, B when the medium pot 2 is used, and C when the large pot 3 is used.
Further, the power consumption when the pot is not placed is a value D that is almost zero. In this way, the power consumption changes depending on the size of the pot to be placed. Therefore, in order to use this cooker efficiently, an automatic identification system of the heated object corresponding to the size of the pot is incorporated in the cooker. When the automatic identification system of the cooking device 5 performs the identification operation for identifying the size of the pot, the initial drive is started from the drive of the third magnetic flux generator 33 having the largest size (the largest power consumption),
The size of the pot is detected from the magnitude of the power consumption at this time generated by the third magnetic flux generator 33.

That is, first, a large third magnetic flux generator
When 33 is driven and, for example, a large pot 3 is placed on this cooker, the power consumption becomes the largest C, so the pot 3 can be detected from this power consumption C, but a small pot. When 1 is placed, the power consumption is A, and the pot 1 can be detected from this power consumption A. In this way, the third magnetic flux generator 33 with large power consumption is driven, and the size of the pot is detected from the amount of power consumption generated by the third magnetic flux generator 33. Thereby, for example, when the size of the pot is identified as the large-sized pot 3, the largest third magnetic flux generator 33 is continuously driven for cooking, but the medium-sized pot 2 is mounted. When it is identified as, the driving of the third magnetic flux generator 33 is stopped, the driving of the second medium magnetic flux generator 32 is started, and cooking is performed. Further, when it is identified that the small pot 1 is placed, the driving of the third magnetic flux generator 33 is stopped, and the driving of the small first magnetic flux generator 31 is started to perform cooking. Is.

[0007]

However, in the conventional cooker, for example, even when the small pot 1 is mounted, the large third magnetic flux generator 33 consumes a large amount of power as the initial drive.
Is used to identify the size of the pot from the magnitude of the power consumption generated by the third magnetic flux generator 33. Therefore, the small first magnetic flux generator 31 corresponding to the small pot 1
3rd magnetic flux generator with high power consumption before driving
There is a problem that useless power is consumed by the magnetic field generated by this, and if this operation is repeated each time cooking is performed, the power consumption is added to a considerable amount, resulting in useless consumption, resulting in a large loss of power energy. There is. Further, the method of identifying the size of the pot by using the magnetic flux generator is applicable only to the conductive pot, and cannot be used for a ceramic pot, for example.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to initially drive the minimum heating region to identify the size of the object to be heated, reduce power consumption, and , To provide an efficient cooker.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows. That is, in the cooker of the first invention, a plurality of heating regions, in which the heating area is stepwisely divided from small to large, are concentrically formed on the mounting portion side on which the object to be heated is mounted, and the range of each heating region A temperature sensor for directly detecting the temperature of the object to be heated is provided therein. In addition to the first aspect of the invention, the cooker of the second aspect of the invention receives the detection signal of each of the temperature sensors and responds to the size of the object to be heated from the minimum heating area when the power switch is turned on. It is characterized in that a heating control unit for heating and driving the heating region is provided.

[0010]

When a small object to be heated is placed in the small heating area of the cooking device, the temperature of the temperature sensor that directly contacts the bottom surface of the object to be heated rises sharply, and another heating area that does not directly contact the bottom surface of the object to be heated. The temperature sensor of (1) receives the radiant heat and the temperature rises slowly. When a medium-sized object to be heated is placed on the cooking device, the temperature sensors in the small heating area and the medium heating area that directly contact the bottom surface of the object to be heated rise rapidly, and the temperature sensors in other large heating areas that do not directly contact The temperature rises slowly due to radiant heat. When a large object to be heated is placed on the cooking device, all the temperature sensors come into direct contact with the bottom surface of the object to be heated, and the temperature rises sharply. In this way, the size of the object to be heated is identified by the temperature rise change of the temperature sensor, and the heating region of the object to be heated is heated and cooked.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an explanatory diagram of a main part configuration of the cooking device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 shows an explanatory view of how the temperature sensor of the cooking device is attached. In these figures, a ring-shaped first heating wire 8 having a size corresponding to the size of the small pot 1 is formed on the center side of the heating region of the cooking device to form a heating region A. A first temperature sensor 11 is provided in the heating area A of the heating wire 8. A ring-shaped second heating wire 9 having a size corresponding to the size of the medium-sized pot 2 is concentrically formed outside the ring of the first heating wire 8 to form a heating region B. On the outside of this ring, a ring-shaped third heating wire 10 having a size corresponding to the size of the large pot 3 is similarly concentrically formed to form a heating region C, and three heating regions A and B are formed. , C. Further, a second temperature sensor 12 is provided in the heating region B between the first heating wire 8 and the second heating wire 9, and the second temperature sensor 12 is provided between the second heating wire 9 and the third heating wire 10. A third temperature sensor 13 is arranged in the heating area C.

As shown in FIG. 2, the temperature sensors 11, 12 and 13 are formed by joining a platinum sensor (Pt sensor) 16 to an elastic copper plate 15 or the like which has been subjected to an antioxidant treatment.
Are fixed to the supporting portion 14 with screws 17 via a heat insulating material 18. The tip of the copper plate 15 is bent in an arc shape, and the arc-shaped tip 20 is in direct contact with the bottom surface of the pot by spring elasticity. This temperature sensor produces a resistance change in response to the temperature change, and the resistance change is converted into a voltage and taken out as a temperature detection signal.

4 to 7 show the sizes of the pots of the cooker according to this embodiment and the curves of the temperature rise when the pots are placed on the cooker or when the pot is not placed. FIG. 4 shows a case where the pot is not placed, and the temperature change of the temperature sensors 11, 12, 13 occurs only by the radiant heat of the heating wire 8, and therefore the change amount is small. FIG. 5 shows the case where the small pot 1 is placed on the cooker, and the first temperature sensor 11
Directly receives the temperature of the bottom surface of the pot 1 heated by the first heating wire 8 in the small heating region, so that the temperature change is rapid. The temperature changes of the temperature sensors 12 and 13 in the middle and large heating regions are slow because of only the radiant heat of the heating wire 8. FIG. 6 shows a case where the medium-sized pot 2 is placed on a cooking device, and the temperature sensors 11 and 12 in the small and medium heating regions are the pot 2 heated by the heating wire 8.
The temperature change becomes abrupt when directly receiving the temperature of the bottom surface of the substrate, and the temperature sensor 13 in the large heating region receives only the heat due to the radiation and the temperature change becomes slow. FIG. 7 shows a case where the large pot 3 is placed on the cooking device, and the temperature sensors 11, 12, and 13 all directly receive the temperature of the bottom surface of the pot 3, and the temperature changes rapidly.

As described above, each temperature rising pattern is drawn according to the size of the pot, and four patterns including the one without the pot are formed. Therefore, after heating and driving the heating wire 8, each temperature sensor at a certain time
By measuring the temperature change of 11, 12, 13
~ It is possible to detect the size of the pot mounted on the cooking device by collating with various temperature rise patterns shown in FIG. 7. The temperatures shown by the broken lines in FIGS. 5 to 7 are dangerous temperatures at which the pot begins to burn when the pot is empty or when the water to be cooked runs out. When reaching this abnormal heat generation area, the power is automatically turned off for safety.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main construction of the control device constituting the cooking device of this embodiment. The control device of the present embodiment has a signal input unit 21, a heating wire drive control unit 25, a size determining unit 23 for the body to be heated, a memory 26, an abnormality determining unit 22, a timer 27, and a notification unit 24. The signal input unit 21 inputs detection signals from the temperature sensors 11, 12, 13 and sends the signals to the size determining unit 23 of the object to be heated and the abnormality determining unit 22 for the temperature of the object to be heated. In the memory 26, the temperature rise of the pot shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 when there is no object to be heated (pot) on the cooker or when pots 1, 2 and 3 are placed on the cooker over time. Various curve patterns are stored. Also, when the pots 1, 2, 3 are placed on the cooker,
The temperature T _O of the pot in the abnormal heat generation region shown in FIGS.
Is stored in the memory 26 as a dangerous temperature. Furthermore, the signals from the temperature sensors 11, 12, and 13 are added to the memory 26 via the size determination unit 23 every moment, and the signals are stored in the memory 26.

The size determination unit 23 has a timer 28 built therein, and compares the signal from the signal input unit 21 with the signal corresponding to the elapsed time by the timer 28 of the data stored in the memory 26 and mounts it on the cooker. Determine the size of the heated object. Then, a signal for determining the size of the object to be heated is sent to the heating wire drive controller 25. The abnormality determination unit 22 has a timer 27 built therein, and when the power switch of the cooking device is turned on and the first heating wire 8 is driven to heat, the timer 27 starts to start, and the timer 27 starts to start. Even when the predetermined time has elapsed from the time when the abnormality determination unit 22 determines that the pot is not placed on the cooking device, the abnormality determination unit 22 sends an abnormality signal to the heating wire drive control unit 25, and the heating wire Drive controller 25
Receives the abnormal signal and turns off the power switch. Further, when the pot is placed on the cooking device, if a signal of the dangerous temperature T _O of the abnormal heat generation region shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 is received from the temperature sensor, it is determined that the pot is empty or the cooking material is burnt, and the danger signal is _output. In addition to the heating wire drive control unit 25, the heating wire drive control unit 25 turns off the power switch. Further, the abnormality determination unit 22 outputs the abnormality signal and the danger signal to the notification means at the same time.
The heating wire drive control unit 25 receives a signal from the size determination unit 23 of the heated object, controls the driving of the heating wire corresponding to the size of the heated object, and outputs a signal from the abnormality determination unit 22. In response to this, the power switch for the heating wire is turned off. The notification means 24 is made up of a lamp, and is provided at an appropriate position on the cooking device that is easily visible from the outside. The notification means 24 receives the operation signal,
For example, it lights up or blinks to notify the cook and prompt appropriate treatment.

The cooker of this embodiment is configured as described above, and the operation of this cooker will be described in order. When the pot is placed on the cooker, first, the power switch of the cooker is manually turned on. When the power switch is turned on, the heating wire drive control unit 25 causes the first heating wire 8 having a small shape.
Drive the heat generation. This heating drive raises the temperature of the pot. The temperature sensors 11, 12 and 13 apply detection signals of the temperatures of the respective heating regions to the pot size determination unit 23 and the abnormality determination unit 22 via the signal input unit 21. The size determination unit 23 compares the signal with the information in the memory 26 to determine the size of the pot, sends the signal to the heating wire drive control unit 25, and the heating wire drive control unit 25 responds to the size of the pot. The heating wire is heated. For example, when the pot 1 is placed, the heating drive of the heating wire 8 is continued as it is, when the pot 2 is placed, the heating wire 9 is further driven, and when the pot 3 is placed, the heating wires 8, 9, 10 are heated. To drive. As a result, cooking is performed smoothly. As described above, the cooking method of the present embodiment drives only the first heating wire 8 having a small shape which is the minimum heating area, and the temperature sensors 11, 12 of the heating areas A, B, C at that time, respectively. The size of the pot on the cooking device is identified from the detection signal of 13, and the heating wire corresponding to the size of the pot is driven to perform cooking.

According to this embodiment, the first of the smallest heating areas
Since the heating wire 8 is initially driven to identify the size of the pot, wasteful power consumption can be reduced.

When the pot is not placed on the cooker, the power switch is turned off after a certain period of time, so that the cooker is prevented from being in a heating state for a long time, and the pot is still placed. At this time, the power switch is turned off when a dangerous temperature in the abnormal heat generation region is detected, so that it is possible to prevent a danger caused by emptying of the pot or burning of cooking material.

Further, since the notifying means is provided to notify the abnormal heat generation state by lighting or blinking the lamp and prompting the cooker to perform an appropriate process, the safety can be improved.

Furthermore, since the heating wire is used as the heating means, the object to be heated at the bottom of the pot can be made of a conductive material such as a ceramic material without any trouble.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various embodiments can be adopted. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the heating target (pot) is heated using the heating wire, but a magnetic flux generator may be used as in the conventional example. In this case, the shape of the magnetic flux generator may be ring-like as in the present embodiment, and at this time, it is necessary to dispose the temperature sensors 11, 12, 13 in the respective heating regions A, B, C as in the embodiment. There is. When the shape of the magnetic flux generator is made the same as that of the conventional example, as shown in FIG.
13 below the pot mounting position in each heating area, that is,
It must be placed in a position that directly contacts the bottom of the pot.

In the above embodiment, three heating areas A,
Although B and C are formed, a plurality of heating areas other than three may be provided by using a plurality of heating wires or magnetic flux generators.

Further, although the lamp is used as the notification means, this may be used as a buzzer, or both may be used simultaneously.

Furthermore, although the heating wire has a ring shape in the above embodiment, it may have a quadrangular shape, and the shape thereof does not matter.

Further, in the above embodiment, the power switch is manually turned on when the pot is placed on the cooking device. However, for example, a piezoelectric sensor or an optical sensor is used to detect the placement of the pot, and the automatic The power switch may be turned on.

Furthermore, the temperature rise pattern of the temperature sensor of each heating region is stored in the memory, and the size of the pot is judged by collating with the stored pattern.
A method in which the temperature when the pot is not placed is used as a reference temperature, and when the temperature rises above a certain predetermined temperature from this reference temperature, it is determined that the pot is placed and the detection signal of each temperature sensor is analyzed to determine the size of the pot. May be

Further, in the above embodiment, the object to be heated has been described as an example of a pot, but the object to be heated may be another pan or the like other than the pot.

[0029]

According to the present invention, since the size of the object to be heated is discriminated by initially driving the minimum heating area, it is possible to reduce unnecessary power consumption as compared with the conventional example, and the pot material (conductivity The size of the pot, be it non-conductive or non-conductive.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a main part configuration of a cooking device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a state in which a temperature sensor is attached to the cooking device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a main part configuration of a control device that constitutes the cooking device.

FIG. 4 is a graph of a temperature change detected by each temperature sensor when a pot is not placed on the cooking device.

FIG. 5 is a graph of a temperature change detected by each temperature sensor when the pot 1 is placed on the cooking device.

FIG. 6 is a graph of a temperature change detected by each temperature sensor when the pot 2 is placed on the cooking device.

FIG. 7 is a graph of a temperature change detected by each temperature sensor when the pot 3 is placed on the cooking device.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a heating means having another configuration of the cooking device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a main part configuration of a conventional cooking device.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing the relationship between the pot size and power consumption of a conventional cooking device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 8 1st heating wire 9 2nd heating wire 10 3rd heating wire 11 1st temperature sensor 12 2nd temperature sensor 13 3rd temperature sensor 21 Signal input part 22 Abnormality judgment part 23 Size judgment part 24 Notification means 25 Heating wire drive control unit 26 Memory 27 Timer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of heating regions, in which the heating area is divided into small to large steps, are concentrically formed on the mounting portion side on which the object to be heated is mounted, and the heating target is within the range of each heating region. A cooking device provided with a temperature sensor that directly detects the temperature of the body. 2. A plurality of heating regions, in which the heating area is divided into small to large steps, are concentrically formed on the mounting portion side on which the object to be heated is mounted, and the heating target is within the range of each heating region. A temperature sensor is provided to detect the temperature of the body by directly contacting it, and when the power switch is turned on, the detection signal of each temperature sensor is received and the size of the object to be heated from the minimum heating area. Cooker provided with a heating control unit for heating and driving up to a heating region corresponding to.