JPH0571747A - Cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operability when manual cooking or automatic cooking mode is carried out by partly covering an operating panel with a cover to expose only a required operating area, prevent the cover from coming in contact with a door of a micorwave oven, and allow the light of menu keys to be confirmed, which are lit up corresponding to the operating in an automatic cooking mode operating area, through the cover even when the cover is moved to cover the automatic cooking mode operating area after the operation. CONSTITUTION:A microwave oven is provided with an operating panel 2 consisting of separate operating areas 2 and 3 corresponding to manual cooking mode and automatic cooking mode, and a cover 5 which exposes selected one of the operating areas 3 and 4 and covers the other. The cover 5 is made of a light-transmittable material.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooking device such as a microwave oven.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, microwave ovens are equipped with a microcomputer to enable various cooking. For example, in addition to manual cooking based on cooking conditions set by the operator, automatic cooking based on a cooking menu set by the operator can be performed. On the other hand, a key for manual cooking setting and a key for automatic cooking setting are required, and the number of keys on the operation unit is large, resulting in poor operability.

On the other hand, in FIGS. 5 and 6, the operation unit 1
1 is divided into a manual cooking setting operation area 12 and an automatic cooking setting operation area 13, and in order to improve the operability by making it easy to find a key in a frequently used area (for example, the automatic cooking setting operation area 13), A rotatable cover 14 is provided at the left end or the right end of the operation unit 11 to cover an infrequently used area (for example, the manual cooking setting operation area 12). However,
In FIG. 5, when the cover 14 is rotated to open, the cover 1
4 does not hit the handle of the horizontal microwave oven door and it is difficult to operate the cover 14, and in FIG. 6, the cover 14 hits another device or the like next to the microwave oven and it is difficult to operate the cover 14 similarly.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a cooker in which an unused operation area is covered with a cover to improve the operability of the operating portion and prevent the cover from hitting a door or the like. It is what

[0005]

A cooker according to the present invention has an operating section having a plurality of operating areas divided according to manual cooking setting, automatic cooking setting, etc., and a selected operation of this operating section. A cover that exposes the region and covers the non-selection operation region is provided, and the cover is formed of a translucent member.

[0006]

When the manual cooking setting or the automatic cooking setting is performed, only the required operation area can be exposed by the cover, and the operability is improved. At this time, the cover does not cover the unnecessary area and hit the door or the like.

Further, since the cover is made of a translucent member, the cover is moved after the operation under a structure in which the menu key is lighted in accordance with an operation in the automatic cooking setting operation area, for example. Even if the automatic cooking setting operation area is covered, the lighting of the menu key can be confirmed through the cover.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a front panel provided with a door on the front surface of a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention. On the front panel, a display unit 1 for displaying cooking time and the like is provided on the upper portion, and an operation unit 2 is provided on the lower side of the display unit. The operation part 2 is divided into two left and right operation areas 3, 4, the left operation area 3 is for manual cooking setting, and the right operation area 4 is for automatic cooking setting.

A cover 5 is provided at the center of the operating portion 2 and rotates in the left-right direction. The cover 5 rotates leftward or rightward (inverts) each time a button 6 at the lower right is operated. ) Do. When the cover 5 is rotated to the left, the automatic cooking setting operation area 4 is selectively exposed as shown in FIG. 2, and the manual cooking setting operation area 3 of the non-selection operation area is covered with the cover 5. When the cover 5 is rotated to the right, the state is reversed as shown in FIG.

Therefore, when performing automatic cooking, FIG.
As described above, only the necessary automatic cooking setting operation area 4 can be exposed, and the operability of the menu key 7 for automatic cooking is improved. Even in manual cooking, only the required manual cooking setting operation area 3 can be exposed as shown in FIG. 3, and the operability of the keys for manual cooking is improved. At this time, the cover body 5 covers the unnecessary area 3 or 4 and does not stand up from the operation section 2 and does not hit a door or the like located beside the operation section 2.

Furthermore, the cover 5 is formed of a gray smoked colored light-transmitting member. As a result, for example, under the configuration in which the menu key 7 is turned on in accordance with the operation of the menu key 7 in the state of FIG. Figure 4
As described above, the lighting of the menu key 7 can be confirmed through the cover 5.

It should be noted that although the cover 5 is configured to rotate, it may be configured to slide left and right.

[0013]

According to the cooker of the present invention, in the construction in which the operation section is divided into a plurality of operation areas for manual cooking setting, automatic cooking setting, etc., the selected operation area is exposed and not exposed. By providing the cover for covering the selection operation area, the unused operation area can be covered with the cover, and the operability of the operation unit can be improved.

Further, the cover is not always kept in a state of standing up from the operation section by covering an unnecessary operation area which is not used, and it is possible to prevent the cover from hitting a door or the like next to the operation section. ..

Further, since the cover is made of a translucent member, the cover is moved after the operation under the structure in which the menu key is lighted in accordance with the operation in the automatic cooking setting operation area, for example. Even if the automatic cooking setting operation area is covered, the lighting of the menu key can be confirmed through the cover.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a front panel of a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing one usage state of the panel.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing another usage state of the panel.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing still another usage state of the panel.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a front panel of a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a front panel of another conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Operation part 3 Operation area for manual cooking setting 4 Operation area for automatic cooking setting 5 Cover

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An operating unit having a plurality of operating regions divided according to manual cooking setting, automatic cooking setting, etc., and a selected operating region of the operating unit is exposed to cover a non-selected operating region. A cooker comprising a cover and a cover formed of a translucent member.