JPH07152658A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use a nonvolatile memory to its limit by the electronic equipment which operates on the basis of data read out of the nonvolatile memory. CONSTITUTION:Each time the data in the nonvolatile memory are rewritten, cooking data 'COOK1' and the written cooking data 'COOK2' are compared with each other to decide whether the rewriting is normally performed or not (S1-S4). It is judged (S5) that the data storage area where the data are written is defective unless the both match each other although the decision making is performed five times, and the maximum value of the storage destination address is found (S6). The number (10) of the data is added to the maximum value of the storage destination address and the result is stored in the address (S7). The address indicates the head address of an unused area. After the contents of the address are written in the cooking data storage address of the nonvolatile memory corresponding to a cooking number, 'COOK1' is written in order from the address (S8 and S9).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention rewrites data stored in a non-volatile memory such as a microwave oven or an oven and controls the operation based on the data read from the non-volatile memory. Regarding electrical equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, many electric appliances such as a microwave oven and a microwave oven use a non-volatile memory capable of rewriting data. As an electric device of this type, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5525/1993, when the number of times of rewriting reaches the guaranteed number of times, the data is rewritten to an unused area so that the nonvolatile memory There is an electric device that operates reliably.

In the electric device disclosed in the above publication, a nonvolatile memory is provided with a data storage area, a data rewrite count storage area, and an unused area in advance, and each time data is rewritten. In addition, the number of times of rewriting is stored is updated, and when the number of times of rewriting exceeds a predetermined number, the data and the number of times of rewriting are moved to an unused area, and the number of times of rewriting of the moved number of times of rewriting is initialized. .

[0004]

In recent years, the number of functions of electric equipment has been increasing, and therefore the data area of the non-volatile memory has been increasing. For example, in a microwave oven, the non-volatile memory is originally used to rewrite cooking data and preset cooking data according to the user's request, but it is not only used for this cooking data preset. There is a microwave oven in which the number of times of opening and closing of a door is sequentially counted and written in a non-volatile memory, and the number of times of opening and closing of the door is used as a material for judging the durability of the door and a material for judging a maintenance service.
Regarding the number of times of opening and closing the door, data is rewritten every time the door is opened and closed. In this way, the data in the non-volatile memory is frequently rewritten. Moreover, the cooking data and the like occupy a large amount of memory area depending on the number of cooking types and their contents.

By the way, actually, the number of rewritable times of the non-volatile memory is different for each non-volatile memory.
There are variations. Therefore, the guaranteed number of rewritable times of the nonvolatile memory is, so to speak, a guaranteed minimum number of rewritable times. Therefore, it is an empirical fact that there are many non-volatile memories that can be used more than the guaranteed number of times.

However, according to the electric device disclosed in the above publication, when the number of rewrites exceeds the guaranteed number, even if there is actually a usable data storage area, it is moved to an unused area. Therefore, if there is no unused area, data cannot be rewritten even if there is an available area. In other words, the nonvolatile memory cannot be rewritten simply by counting the number of times the door is opened / closed, and the original role of cooking data preset cannot be fully exerted and cannot be used. In order to prevent such an inconvenience, many unused areas are required, but the memory capacity of the non-volatile memory increases. Also,
Further, as the type of data and the guaranteed number of times increase, a large number of rewrite number storage areas are required. These memory capacity increases are
As a result, the cost is increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above technical problems. The data storage area is changed at the time when data cannot be rewritten in the nonvolatile memory.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electric device that can use a nonvolatile memory to the limit.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems A problem solving means according to the present invention is to rewrite data, and to rewrite data stored in the non-volatile memory, and read data from the non-volatile memory. An electric device comprising: a control unit that controls operation based on the read data, wherein the nonvolatile memory includes a data storage area in which data is already written and an unused area, The means determines, every time the data stored in the non-volatile memory is rewritten, whether or not the rewriting is normally performed. If the writing is not normally performed a predetermined number of times, the data storage area Is to be moved to an unused area.

[0009]

In the above means for solving problems, the non-volatile memory is provided with the data storage area and the unused area.
Then, when rewriting the data stored in the non-volatile memory, the control unit determines whether or not the rewriting is normally performed every time the data is rewritten, and writes the data a predetermined number of times. If is not performed normally, the data storage area is moved to an unused area.

As described above, since the data storage area can be changed at the time when the data cannot be rewritten in the non-volatile memory, the memory can be used up to the limit.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, a heating cooker such as a microwave oven or a microwave oven will be described as an example of the electric device. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the heating cooker according to the embodiment of the present invention. Referring to the figure, the heating cooker of the present embodiment heats and cooks according to a predetermined operation program under the main control means 1 containing a microcomputer. The microcomputer in the main control means 1 is provided with a CPU, a data RAM, a program ROM and the like.

The main control means 1 is provided with a keyboard 2 having input keys for inputting various settings and a selection key for selecting a cooking menu, and outputs from a door open switch 3 for detecting opening / closing of a door. Given. The main control means 1 includes a heating control means 4 for driving and controlling a heating source (not shown) such as a magnetron and a heater, a display means 5 for displaying cooking conditions such as cooking time, and a non-volatile memory. The memory 6 is connected.

The nonvolatile memory 6 includes an electrically rewritable E ² PROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable).
le ROM) is used. This non-volatile memory 6 is
Cooking conditions such as the heating time and the amount of heat at the time of heating are stored, and the number of times the door is opened and closed is sequentially counted and stored. If cooking conditions (hereinafter referred to as “cooking data”) are input by the input keys of the keyboard 2 before heating and cooking, the main control means 1 writes the cooking data in the nonvolatile memory 6. By thus storing the cooking data in the non-volatile memory 6, the cooking data can be rewritten. That is, the cooking data is preset.

When a desired cooking menu is selected by the selection key of the keyboard 2 during heating and cooking, the main control means 1
Reads out the cooking data corresponding to the cooking menu from the non-volatile memory 6 and gives a control signal to the heating control means 4 according to the read cooking data. Based on this control signal, the heating control means 4 controls driving of a heating source such as a magnetron or a heater, so that desired heating and cooking is achieved.

Before heating, the door is opened and closed to put the food to be cooked in the cooker, and after heating, the door is opened and closed to open the cooked food from the cooker. At this time, the main control means 1 writes the door opening / closing frequency data in the nonvolatile memory 6 each time a signal is given from the door open switch 3 in response to opening / closing of the door. In this way, by storing the door opening / closing frequency data in the non-volatile memory 6, the door opening / closing frequency is sequentially counted to rewrite the door opening / closing frequency data. The data on the number of times of opening and closing of the door are used as a material for judging the durability of the door and a material for judging the maintenance service.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a memory map in the nonvolatile memory. Referring to the figure, the leading address of the number of times the door has been opened and closed is stored at address 0. 1
The head addresses of the storage locations of the cooking data are stored in the order of the cooking numbers in addresses # 19 to # 19. After the 20th address,
Door opening / closing frequency data and cooking data are stored. That is,
At address 0, the head address 20 of the storage destination of the door opening / closing frequency data is stored. Door opening / closing frequency data is stored at addresses 20 to 29. The first address 30 of the “cooking 1 data” writing area corresponding to the cooking number 1 is stored in the 1st address. “Cooking 1 data” corresponding to cooking number 1 is stored at addresses 30 to 39. At address 2, the head address 40 of the “cooking 2 data” writing area corresponding to cooking number 2 is stored. “Cooking 2 data” corresponding to cooking number 2 is stored at addresses 40 to 49. Similarly, at addresses 3 to 19, the first address 5 of the "Cooking 3 data" to "Cooking 19 data" write area corresponding to the cooking number 3 to the final cooking number 19 is written.
0, 60, ..., 210 are stored. 50-5
9, 60 to 69 ... 210 to 219, "Cooking 3 data" corresponding to cooking number 3 to final cooking number 19
~ "Cooking 19 data" are stored in order of cooking number.
The area after address 220 is an unused area.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a cooking data rewriting processing program. With reference to the figure, when the cooking data is rewritten, first, in step S1,
The storage destination addresses are read out from the addresses 1 to 19 of the nonvolatile memory 6 and stored in ADDRESS in the RAM area of the main control means 1. In step S2, the cooking data "COOK
1 ”is written in order from the address indicated by the ADDRESS register. In step S3, the cooking data just written is read. In step S4, the read data "COO
The write data "COOK1" is compared with "K2". Here, if "COOK1" and "COOK2" do not match, the processing of steps S3 and S4 is performed 5
Do up to times. If the two match up to 5 times, the rewriting of the cooking data is completed. If it is determined that the rewriting is normally performed five times and the two do not match, it is determined that the written data storage area has become defective, and the process proceeds to step S6 and subsequent steps.

Therefore, in step S6, since the data is written in a new area, the last area of the data storage area currently in use is searched for. That is, all the storage destination addresses are read and the maximum value of the storage destination addresses is obtained. In step S7, the number of data (10) is added to the maximum value of the storage destination address,
Store in ADDRESS. Where ADDRESS
Indicates the start address of the unused area.
In step S8, the content of ADDRESS is written in the cooking data storage address of the non-volatile memory 6. In step S9, the cooking data "COOK1" is ADDRESSed.
Writing is sequentially performed from the address indicated by, and then rewriting is completed.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a rewriting processing program for door opening / closing frequency data. Referring to the figure,
When the door opening / closing frequency data is rewritten, first in step ST1, the storage destination address is read from address 0 of the non-volatile memory 6 and the DO in the RAM area of the main control means 1 is read.
Store in ORADD. At step ST2, the door opening / closing frequency data "DOOR1" is written in the address indicated by the DOORADD register. In step ST3, the data just written is read. In step ST4, the read data "DOOR2" and the write data "DOOR"
1 ". Here, "DOOR1" and "DOO
If R2 ”does not match, the processes of step ST3 and step ST4 are performed up to 5 times. If the two do not match by 5 times, the rewriting of the door opening / closing frequency data ends. If it is determined that the rewriting is normally performed five times and the two do not match, it is determined that the written data storage area has become defective, and step ST
Step 6 and subsequent steps are performed.

Therefore, in step ST6, since the data is written in a new area, the last area of the data storage area currently in use is searched for. That is, all the storage destination addresses are read and the maximum value of the storage destination addresses is obtained. Step ST7
Then, the number of data (10) is added to the maximum value of the storage destination address and the result is stored in DOORADD. Where the address is
It indicates the start address of the unused area. At step ST8, the contents of DOORADD are written in the address of the door opening / closing frequency data storage destination of the nonvolatile memory 6. In step ST9, the door opening / closing frequency data “DOOR1”
Are sequentially written from the address indicated by DOORADD, and then the rewriting is completed.

As described above, in the heating cooker, the non-volatile memory 6 is provided with the data storage area and the unused area, and every time the data is rewritten, whether or not the rewriting is normally performed. Is checked, and if writing is not normally performed a predetermined number of times, the data storage area is moved to an unused area. That is, since the data storage area is changed when the data cannot be rewritten in the non-volatile memory 6, the non-volatile memory 6 can be used up to the limit. As a result, unlike the prior art, there is no inconvenience that rewriting is possible, but rewriting cannot be done because there is no unused area. That is, since the nonvolatile memory 6 can be used up to the limit of the number of rewritable times, the nonvolatile memory 6 has a function of counting the number of times of opening and closing the door, and the nonvolatile memory 6 has a sufficient cooking data preset function. To be able to demonstrate.
In addition, if the storage area for storing the number of times of rewriting of data is unnecessary and the unused area is minimized, the memory capacity of the nonvolatile memory 6 can be minimized. Therefore, it also contributes to cost reduction.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that many modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the heating cooker such as the microwave oven or the microwave oven has been described as an example, but the present invention is rewritten and refreshed at any time by rewriting the data stored in the nonvolatile memory such as the automatic washing machine. However, you may apply to the electric equipment which controls driving | operation based on the data read from the non-volatile memory.

[0023]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the data storage area can be changed at the time when the data cannot be rewritten in the nonvolatile memory, so that the memory can be used up to the limit. As a result, unlike the prior art, there is no inconvenience that rewriting is possible, but rewriting cannot be done because there is no unused area. In addition, if the storage area for the number of times of rewriting of data is unnecessary and the unused area is minimized, the memory capacity of the non-volatile memory can be minimized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a cooking data rewriting processing program in a heating cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a rewriting processing program of door opening / closing frequency data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a memory map in a nonvolatile memory.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the heating cooker.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 main control means 2 keyboard 3 door open switch 4 heating control means 5 display means 6 non-volatile memory

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A non-volatile memory capable of rewriting data, and a control for rewriting data stored in the non-volatile memory, reading data from the non-volatile memory, and controlling operation based on the read data. And a data storage area in which data has already been written and an unused area, and the control means is stored in the non-volatile memory. Each time data is rewritten, it is determined whether or not rewriting is normally performed, and if the writing is not normally performed a predetermined number of times, the data storage area is moved to an unused area. And electrical equipment.