JPH05280750A - Heat cooking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily inform a user or service repairman if sensors are functioning properly with respect to a heating cooking device operable based on a plurality of sensors. CONSTITUTION:A control device 11 activates an inner chamber temp. sensor 13, a room temp. sensor 15, a weight sensor 10 and a gas sensor 14 to generate their signals, reads the signals and, based on the detection results, determines the heating time to control cooking. A control panel is provided with four LED's 16, 17, 18 and 19 for respective connection to the inner chamber temp. sensor 13, the room temp. sensor 15, the weight sensor 10 and the gas sensor 14. The control device 11, upon reading the signals from these sensors 13, 15, 10 and 14, judges if they are functioning properly and, if so, lights LED's 16, 17, 18 and 19.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heating cooker such as a microwave oven equipped with a plurality of sensors for detecting information relating to cooking.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A heating cooker, for example, a microwave oven with an oven function, is equipped with a weight sensor for detecting the weight of a cooked food, a gas sensor for detecting steam emitted from the cooked food, etc. There is provided a device configured so as to automatically determine a cooking time and the like based on the detection signals of the sensors to perform automatic cooking.

[0003]

By the way, when there is an abnormality such as a wire breakage in the weight sensor or the gas sensor as described above, the control device makes an incorrect decision, and as a result, the cooking quality is poor. turn into. However,
Since there is no way for the user to know whether or not the sensors are operating normally and cooking is proceeding properly, there are times when the user may be worried about whether cooking is successful.

Even if the sensors are operating normally,
If there is a malfunction in the system such as the heating system, the quality of cooking will also deteriorate, so when the quality of cooking is poor, the user may be wondering whether the cause is an abnormal operation of the sensors, etc. I couldn't tell if it was there. In this case, it takes a lot of time to find the cause even when the service person repairs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to perform heating and cooking based on a plurality of sensors, in which a user or a service person determines whether or not there is a sensor operation abnormality. It is to provide a heating cooker that can be easily known.

[0006]

The cooking device of the present invention comprises:
A plurality of sensors for detecting information related to cooking and a control means for controlling heating and cooking based on the signals of the sensors are provided, and at least while the control means is reading the signals of the sensors. The feature is that a light emitting element which is turned on or blinks temporarily is provided.

[0007]

According to the above means, the light emitting element is turned on or blinks at least temporarily while the control means is reading the signal of the sensor, so that the light emitting element indicates that the sensor is operating normally. Will be done. Therefore, the user can confirm that the cooking is proceeding well by looking at the lighted display of the light emitting element, and the cooking can be performed with confidence.

If the light emitting element does not light up or blink when the sensor is to operate, the user can easily determine that the sensor operation abnormality has occurred,
Appropriate measures can be taken promptly. Further, also at the time of repair, the service person can easily determine whether the sensor has an abnormality or other portions have an abnormality.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a microwave oven with an oven function will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, a schematic configuration of a microwave oven as a heating cooker according to the present embodiment will be described.

In the main body 1 of the microwave oven, there is provided a cooking chamber 3 whose front surface is opened and closed by a door 2 (see FIG. 7). As shown in FIG. 7, a heater 4 for cooking grilled fish or the like is provided on the ceiling of the cooking chamber 3,
Further, on the back wall portion of the cooking chamber 3, a heater 5 and a fan 6 for supplying hot air into the cooking chamber 3 to perform oven cooking are provided.
A hot air supply device 7 including the above is provided.

At the bottom of the cooking chamber 3, there is provided a rotary plate 8 on which the food A such as bread is placed. The rotary plate 8 is located at the upper end of a rotary shaft 9 that penetrates the bottom of the cooking chamber 3 and is detachably attached. A weight sensor 10 for detecting the weight of the food A placed on the rotary plate 8 is provided on the lower end side of the rotary shaft 9.

As is well known, the weight sensor 10 comprises a condenser composed of a movable sensor plate and a fixed sensor plate that receive a rotating shaft 9 which is vertically displaced according to the weight of the food A.
The weight of the food A is detected based on the fact that the oscillation frequency of the oscillation circuit changes according to the distance between them.

On the other hand, although not shown in detail, in the main body 1, a machine room is provided on the right side of the cooking chamber 3, and a microwave is supplied into the machine chamber to supply a microwave to the cooking chamber. A magnetron for cooking, a cooling fan for cooling the magnetron and the like, a control device 11 (see FIG. 1) as a control means for controlling heating cooking, and the like are provided. An operation panel 12 including operation switches and a display unit is provided on the front surface of the machine room.

Furthermore, the weight sensor 10 is provided on the main body 1.
Besides, a plurality of sensors for detecting information related to cooking are provided. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, inside the cooking chamber 3, an inside temperature sensor 13 including a thermistor for detecting the temperature of the cooking chamber 3 is provided. A gas sensor 14 for detecting steam or gas in the cooking chamber 3 is provided in a duct portion (not shown) for discharging the gas in the cooking chamber 3 to the outside. A room temperature sensor 15 including a thermistor for detecting the temperature (room temperature) of the peripheral portion of the main body 1 is provided at the bottom of the machine room.

The control device 11 includes a microcomputer, and based on the operation of the operation panel 12 by the user and a control program stored in advance, the magnetron, the heater 4, and the hot air supply device 7 are provided. Etc. are controlled, and the cooking of the cooking product A is automatically performed. At this time, as shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 1 is configured to operate the in-compartment temperature sensor 13, the room temperature sensor 15, the weight sensor 10 and the gas sensor 14 to read the signals, determine the heating time and the like based on the detection, and control the cooking. ing.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 1, the operation panel 12 includes four LEDs 16, which are light emitting elements,
17, 18, and 19 are provided. These LED1
6, 17, 18 and 19 are the inside temperature sensor 1 respectively.
3, room temperature sensor 15, weight sensor 10 and gas sensor 1
4 are provided in a one-to-one correspondence.

As will be apparent from the description of the flow chart below, the control device 11 has its software configuration when reading the signals of the sensors 13, 15, 10 and 14 from each other. , 10 and 14 are operating normally (whether or not a wire break has occurred), and when normal, the LEDs 16, 17, 18 and 19 are respectively turned on. When it is determined that any one of the sensors 13, 15, 10 and 14 is abnormal, the cooking is stopped and an error is displayed on the operation panel 12.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. When the cooking is started as described above, the control device 11 reads the detection signals of the sensors 13, 15, 10 and 14 and determines the heating time and the like based on the signals to control the magnetron and the like. To automatically heat and cook.

At this time, the control unit 11 sequentially operates the internal temperature sensor 13, the room temperature sensor 15, the weight sensor 10 and the gas sensor 14 by a predetermined routine to read the detection signals respectively. When reading the detection signal of the internal temperature sensor 13, the process of the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 is performed.

That is, first, in step S1, it is checked whether or not there is an abnormality in the inside temperature sensor 13 (whether or not there is a disconnection). Here, if there is an abnormality (step S
No in 2), an error is displayed on the operation panel 12 and the cooking is stopped (step S3).

When the inside temperature sensor 13 is normal (Yes in step S2), the LED 16 corresponding to the inside temperature sensor 13 is turned on in the next step S4. Then, in step S5, after reading the detection signal of the internal temperature sensor 13, the LED 1 is read in step S6.
6 is turned off.

Further, FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are flow charts showing the procedure of processing when reading signals from the room temperature sensor 15, the weight sensor 10 and the gas sensor 14, respectively. Although detailed description regarding these flowcharts is omitted, first, as in the case of the inside temperature sensor 13,
Check the sensor for abnormalities (steps S11, S
21 and S31), the LEDs 17, 18 and 19 are turned on only in the normal state (steps S14, S24 and S3).
4) It looks like this.

According to this embodiment as described above, the control device 1
The LED 1 provided on the operation panel 12 while the sensor 1 reads the detection signals of the sensors 13, 15, 10 and 14
Since 6, 17, 18 and 19 are turned on respectively, it is displayed that the sensors 13, 15, 10 and 14 are operating normally. Therefore, the user can confirm that the cooking is proceeding well by looking at the lighting display of the LEDs 16 to 19, and the cooking can be safely performed.

Then, each sensor 13, 15, 10 and 1
When LEDs 4 are to operate, LEDs 16, 17, 18 and 1
If 9 does not light up, the user must
It is possible to easily determine that the operation abnormality of 5, 10, and 14 has occurred, and it is possible to promptly take appropriate measures. Further, also at the time of repair, the service person can easily determine whether each of the sensors 13, 15, 10 and 14 has an abnormality or whether there is an abnormality in other parts such as the heating system.

Further, in this embodiment, the LEDs 16 to 19 are used.
Since the LED is provided on the front surface of the operation panel 12, the LEDs 16 to 19 blink appropriately when the microwave oven is used, and the advantage that the PR effect for the consumer is improved can be obtained.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
The difference from the above embodiment is that the recess 22 provided in the operation panel 21 is provided with four LEDs 23 to 26 and a cover 27 that covers the LEDs 23 to 26 in an openable and closable manner. . In this case,
When a user or a service person opens the cover 27, the lighting state of the LEDs 23 to 26 can be seen, and the presence or absence of abnormality of each sensor can be confirmed.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but the kind and the number of sensors can be changed as appropriate, and the light emitting element may be made to blink instead of being turned on. For example, various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0028]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the heating cooker of the present invention, a plurality of sensors for detecting information relating to cooking, and heating cooking control based on signals from these sensors. Since the control means is provided with a light-emitting element that lights up or blinks at least temporarily while the control means is reading the signal of the sensor, it is possible to determine whether the sensor is operating abnormally or not by a user or a service It has a practical effect that a person can easily know it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of essential parts according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of reading the detection signal of the internal temperature sensor.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of reading the detection signal of the room temperature sensor.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when reading a detection signal of the weight sensor.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of reading a detection signal of the gas sensor.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the microwave oven with the door open.

FIG. 7 is a vertical side view of the microwave oven.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an operation panel portion showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

In the drawings, 1 is a main body, 3 is a cooking chamber, 10 is a weight sensor, 1
1 is a control device (control means), 12 and 21 are operation panels,
13 is a temperature sensor in the refrigerator, 14 is a gas sensor, 15 is a room temperature sensor, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25,
Reference numeral 26 denotes an LED (light emitting element).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A heating cooker comprising a plurality of sensors for detecting information relating to cooking, and a control means for controlling heating and cooking based on signals from the sensors, wherein the control means has signals from the sensors. A cooking device characterized by being provided with a light emitting element which is turned on or blinks at least temporarily while reading.