JPH1145297A - Cooking support device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently show information by dishes including processes of cooling equipment to a user by calculating and predicting the finished result of a dish according to the materials of the dish, the amounts of the materials, and the processes that the cooking equipment performs. SOLUTION: A control part 21 controls the operation of the whole cooking support device 2 including management and communication of cooking information. A program of the cooking equipment is described with characters that a human can read as well as the high-level language of a computer program. The user displays the program on an LCD 31 and edits it by operating a pointing pad 32 and a track ball 35. The result to be obtained when cooking is performed by the program after the editing can be predicted and when the user reflects his or her taste on a dish or desires to employ conditions other than recommended conditions at the time of use of alternative materials, this function is usable. Thus, the finished result of the disk are calculated and predicted on the basis of the materials of the dish, the amounts of the materials, and the processes that the cooking equipment performs.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention calculates and predicts what kind of finish a dish processed by a cooking appliance will have, and presents information for each dish including the processing of the cooking appliance to a user. The present invention relates to a cooking support device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A cooking appliance is widely provided with a microcomputer for operation control, and there are many cooking appliances which store an operation program for each dish so as to operate under optimum conditions according to the dish. is there. For example, in a microwave oven, in addition to the basic function of manually switching the irradiation intensity of the microwave and setting the irradiation time, the irradiation program set optimally is stored for several types of dishes,
A function of selecting a desired program by one key operation is provided. Similarly, in a rice cooker, a heating program corresponding to the type of porridge, red rice, fifth rice, etc. is stored as well as normal rice cooking, and can be arbitrarily selected by key operation. .

[0003] These programs are set by a cooking appliance maker in consideration of the types and amounts of cooking ingredients so as to obtain the best finish, and a user is required to obtain a desired cooking without fail. Can be.

[0004] However, if the operation program and the operation key are made to correspond one-to-one, only the program assigned to the operation key can be used, and the dishes that can be cooked by the program are extremely limited. In order to solve this inconvenience, a method has been proposed in which food is classified according to its name and type, hierarchically managed, and displayed in order from the top of the hierarchical structure to search for a program of a desired food,
Has been put to practical use. In cooking appliances that employ this method,
There is no limit to the number of dishes that the program can provide, and ordinary users can easily prepare not only basic dishes but also special dishes.

[0005] There is also known a cooking appliance having a function of storing a cooking method from preparation to serving together with an operation program, and displaying the stored information. The display is done at each cooking step by text and animation, and the user can see the cooking guidebook,
It is possible to know the processing procedure of materials in preparation, the tips of processing, the point of arrangement, etc. Such information display is referred to not only when cooking is actually performed, but also as a reference for planning menus, and is also used for acquiring knowledge about cooking.

[0006]

As described above, the number of dishes that can provide information such as an operation program and a cooking method is not essentially limited, and a variety of dishes can be provided simply by increasing the storage capacity. It is possible to provide information.
However, if the stored information becomes large, the operation for information retrieval becomes complicated and the time required for retrieval becomes long, even if the information is displayed in the form of a list, and the hierarchical management is performed. This will lead to a decline.

[0007] In addition, the operation program of the cooking appliance is prepared for many dishes. However, when the cooking appliance prepares a dish in which the operation program is stored, there are restrictions on the materials at hand or the available materials. The user may not have all the ingredients in the dish. In such a case, the ingredients that cannot be prepared must be replaced with other ingredients or cooked without adding the ingredients. Occasionally, a user may intentionally want to use an alternative material.

When using an alternative material, the program stored in the cooking appliance is used as it is because there are differences in properties such as warming, softening, and burning easily from the original material. When used and cooked, the result is often far from expected and fails in many cases. When some ingredients are not added, cooking using a program stored in the cooking appliance often results in almost the same finish, but depending on the dish, the finish may not be as expected. For example, in the case of a dish containing a material that is likely to be hardened when heated excessively, if other ingredients are omitted, even if the same amount of heat is applied, the material will be overheated and the material will be unexpectedly hardened. This problem also occurs when the material ratio is changed.

However, when using alternative ingredients, omitting some ingredients, or changing the quantity ratio of ingredients, the user must actually cook using available programs. However, it is not possible to know the finished result.

[0010] If the cooking device stores a program for using alternative ingredients and a program corresponding to the quantity ratio of ingredients for the same dish, it is possible to always finish the dish optimally, but there are too many. It is not preferable to store the program in the cooking appliance in view of inevitably causing an increase in storage capacity and a decrease in search efficiency. In addition, it is practically impossible to create an optimal program for all combinations of alternative materials and material ratios.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and calculates and predicts what kind of finish a dish to be processed by a cooking appliance will have. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cooking support device capable of efficiently presenting information for each item to a user.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, a cooking support device uses a cooking aid,
Based on the amount of ingredients and the processing performed by the cooking appliance, the result of cooking is calculated and predicted. The user can know the finished result without actually cooking with the cooking appliance.

[0013] The cooking support apparatus stores information including a program describing ingredients, amounts of ingredients, and processes performed by the cooking appliance for a plurality of dishes, and presents the information for a designated dish. By changing the material, the amount of the material, or the program according to the given instruction, the finish result can be calculated, predicted and presented. The program for each dish controls the operation of the cooking appliance, and can be set in accordance with the ingredients and the quantity of ingredients so as to obtain the best finished result. When the user changes the material, the amount of the material, or the program for some reason, the user gives the instruction to the apparatus, and the apparatus changes according to the instruction, and calculates and predicts the finishing result. The predicted finishing result is presented to the user by, for example, a display such as a character, a graph, or an external image or a sound.

When the material or the amount of the material is changed according to the given instruction, the program may be changed according to the change. Instead of simply predicting the result of the finish, change the program to get a better finish, or a finish that is the same as or close to the case where the material and the amount of the material were not changed,
It is also possible to predict the result.

[0015] It is preferable that the cooking support apparatus stores a program describing the ingredients, the amounts of the ingredients, the processing performed by the cooking appliance, and information including the predicted finishing results for the dishes for which the finishing results are predicted. Since the newly stored dish can be designated in the same manner as the original dish, the changed information can be used at any time.

[0016] The stored program may be provided from the cooking support apparatus to a cooking appliance that performs processing according to the program. By providing a program from the cooking support device, cooking equipment in which cooking equipment does not store a program can be cooked. When the cooking support device stores the changed program, the cooking appliance can be operated according to the changed program. Thus, appropriate processing is performed even when the material or the amount of the material is changed.

For a plurality of dishes, information including a program describing ingredients, amounts of ingredients, and processes performed by the cooking appliance is stored, and the stored information is transmitted to a device similar to the cooking support device via a communication line. The information supply device may be provided with information including the material, the amount of the material, the program describing the processing performed by the cooking appliance, and information about the predicted finish result for the dish whose finish result is predicted. The information supply device stores information having the same contents as the information stored in the cooking support device, supplies the stored information to the cooking support device via a communication line, and outputs information of each cooking support device. Replenish. By providing information of a dish whose finish result is predicted from the dish support apparatus to the information supply apparatus, the information can be used by many users.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, information on a dish is stored for each dish, a dish is found according to an input from the stored dishes, and information on the dish is displayed. In the cooking support apparatus, one or more keywords are given to each of the stored dishes, all the keywords are classified into groups, and the stored dishes are searched based on the input one or more keywords. When a plurality of keywords belonging to a predetermined group are input, a dish having one of the plurality of keywords is searched for in the search. Is treated as having all of.

This cooking support apparatus stores information on a plurality of dishes, finds the dish according to a user's input from the stored dishes, and displays the information. . The stored dishes are searched by keyword. To this end, at least one keyword is given to each stored dish. Usually, the same keyword is given to a plurality of dishes. The apparatus receives one or more keywords and finds a dish with all the keywords entered. This is the principle of the search of this device.

In order to assist a search based on this principle, it is sufficient that some of the keywords have at least one of them. For this purpose, all keywords are classified into groups, and when a plurality of keywords belonging to a predetermined group are input, a dish having one of those keywords has one having all of those keywords. Treat as

For example, two keywords K1 and K2
Belong to a predetermined group, and when the keywords K1 and K3 are given to the dish A, the keywords K1, K2
And K3 are input. In this case, the dish A is not found by only the search based on the principle because it does not have the keyword K2. However, since the dish A has the keyword K1 belonging to the predetermined group, it is treated as having the keyword K2 belonging to the same group, and thus has all three input keywords. A search based on the principle is performed on the result, and dish A is found.

As a result, the cooking support apparatus performs a search based on the logical sum of the keywords belonging to the predetermined group, and performs a search based on the logical product of the keywords on the result. . A search based on logical product allows users to quickly narrow down the candidates for dishes that the user wants. By including a search based on logical sum in the search, excessive narrowing that tends to occur in a search based on logical product can be performed. Can be avoided.

When the number of dishes found by the search is equal to or less than a predetermined number, the names of all the dishes found may be displayed. The displayed dish name is used for reference in planning a menu, etc., but displaying too many dish names is difficult for a user to understand. Specifically, when you can display the names of all the dishes you find at once,
It is preferable to display the names of all the dishes. By additionally inputting the keyword, the user can easily reduce the number of dishes to be found.

A comprehensive keyword representing two or more keywords may be input, and a search may be performed based on each of the keywords represented by the comprehensive keywords. Since the number of keywords to be input by the user is reduced, the operation becomes easier, and the possibility of erroneous input of the keywords is reduced.

A program that describes the ingredients of the dish, the cooking method, or the processing performed by the cooking appliance is included in the information on the dish, and the ingredients and the cooking method of the dish specified by the user among the found dishes are displayed. Alternatively, the program may be provided to the cooking appliance. The user can prepare the ingredients and proceed with the cooking by referring to the displayed information. In addition, the provided program allows the cooking appliance to perform an appropriate process according to the dish. The provision of the program to the cooking appliance is preferably performed by wireless communication.

The keyword may be input by voice. During cooking, the user's hands are often wet or dirty, but even in such a case, a keyword can be input without soiling the device.

The seasonal priorities of the dishes are stored together with the information on the dishes, a clock for measuring the date is provided, the season at the time of use is determined, and the name of the food found is used as the priority of the season at the time of use. You may make it display according to the order based on it. The user can easily plan a menu suitable for the season with reference to the displayed dish name.

The keywords are, in addition to the names of the individual ingredients of the dishes, the types of dishes based on the main ingredients such as rice, noodles, meat dishes, and vegetable dishes, and the types of dishes based on flavors such as Japanese, Western, and Chinese styles. Types of dishes based on the temperature of hot and cold foods, types of cooking based on cooking methods such as hot pots and stir-fry,
And one or more of the types of dishes based on the eating and drinking time such as breakfast, dinner, and evening meal. When the dishes desired by the user are vague, it is convenient to use the types of dishes classified in this way as keywords. A relatively large number of dishes are found when the type of dish is input as a keyword, but by combining with other types of categories or material names, the candidates for dishes can be narrowed down quickly or quickly.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention further provides a cooking assistance apparatus which stores a cooking method and presents a processing procedure for each cooking step, comprising a voice input means, and via the voice input means. The presenting step is changed according to the instruction given by the user. This cooking assistance device presents a cooking procedure by displaying, sound, or the like for each step, and the user can proceed in accordance with the presented processing procedure. The change of the presented step can be indicated by voice without touching the device.

[0030]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment of a cooking support device according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the cooking support device 2 of the present embodiment. First, an outline of functions and a configuration of the cooking support device 2 will be described. Cooking support device 2
Stores information about a large number of dishes and presents the stored information to the user by display or voice to assist the dishes. The cooking support device 2 is about the size of a notebook or notebook, is formed to be thin and lightweight, and can be carried.

The information of each dish stored in the cooking support apparatus 2 includes ingredients of the dishes, amounts of the ingredients, nutritional values, cooking methods from preparation to serving, processing for each cooking step, and processing for each step. It includes cooking utensils to be used and methods of using the same, tips for processing in each step, a method of storing completed dishes, and a program that specifies the operation of cooking appliances that operate according to the program in the dishes. Hereinafter, these are collectively called cooking information.

One or two or more cooking appliances operating in accordance with a program are wirelessly connected to the cooking assistance device 2. The cooking assistance device 2 gives the stored program to these cooking appliances, and controls the operation so as to be suitable for cooking.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cooking support device 2
Control unit 21 composed of microcomputer, control unit 21
ROM 22 for storing a control program and various parameters used for control, a RAM 23 used by the control unit 21 for temporary storage in control, an interface 24 including a modem for connecting to the communication line 9, a ROM 25 for storing cooking information, and A flash memory 26, a card interface 28 for mounting a memory card 27 storing cooking information, and an EEPROM 29 are provided.

The control section 21 controls the operation of the entire cooking support apparatus 2 including management and communication of cooking information. ROM25
Stores cooking information for hundreds of typical dishes used by many users. The cooking information in the ROM 25 is written at the time of manufacture and cannot be changed by the user. The flash memory 26 stores cooked food information created by the user and cooked food information stored in the ROM 25. The cooking information in the flash memory 26 is rewritable.

The memory card 27 is detachable and can be replaced at any time. The memory card storing the cooking information is stored in the cooking support device 2, a maker of cooking equipment, a cooking school,
Provided by culinary institutes such as culinary laboratories and publishers. These memory cards 27 are created for each type of food and purpose so as to satisfy the individual needs of the user. For example, there is a memory card for baby food, a memory card for food preferred by the elderly, a memory card for party food, a memory card for atopic people, a memory card for people with diabetes, and the like. .

It is possible to copy the dish information of the memory card 27 to the flash memory 26, or conversely, to copy the dish information of the ROM 25 or the flash memory 26 to the memory card 27. The user uses the memory card 27
Can provide each other with cooking information created by the user. The dish information in the ROM 25, the flash memory 26, and the memory card 27 forms a dish information database 30.

The cooking support apparatus 2 includes a touch panel 33 in which a color liquid crystal display (LCD) 31 and a pointing pad 32 are overlapped, a coordinate recognition unit 34 for recognizing input coordinates of the pointing pad 32, and a trackball 3.
5, a character recognition unit 36 for recognizing characters from a locus of operation of the touch panel 33 and the trackball 35, a microphone 37, a voice recognition unit 38 for recognizing voice input from the microphone 37, a speaker 39, and a speaker 3.
A speech synthesizer 40 for synthesizing the speech output from the mixer 9 and an IrDA 41 for communicating with the cooking appliance by infrared rays are provided.

The LCD 31 displays various information such as cooking information provided by the control unit 21. The voice synthesizing unit 40 converts various information provided by the control unit 21 into a voice signal and causes the speaker 39 to output the voice signal as voice. The pointing pad 32 and the trackball 35 are used for inputting commands and editing cooking information. The trajectories of these operations are recognized as characters by the character recognition unit 36, and the corresponding character codes are given to the control unit 21. Note that another input device such as a mouse, a digitizer, and a keyboard may be added.

The microphone 37 is, for example, “next”,
It is used for inputting simple commands such as "before" and "send" and keywords for cooking information search. The input voice is converted into a corresponding code by the voice recognition unit 38 and provided to the control unit 21. The search for the cooking information will be described later in detail.

The control unit 21 includes a cooking information database 30
Is displayed on the LCD 31. In addition, the user reads out the dish information from the dish information database 30 for the dish specified by the user among the displayed dish names, displays the information on the LCD 31, and outputs the information by voice from the speaker 39, and presents the information to the user. The cooking method from preparation to serving is
Present it step by step. Switching of the presentation step
Pointing pad 32 or trackball 35
, Or according to the “next” or “previous” voice input from the microphone 37.

The control section 21 also causes the LCD 31 to display an operation program of the cooking appliance for the specified dish. The user can edit the displayed program using the pointing pad 32 or the trackball 35. As described above, the cooking information including the edited program can be stored in the flash memory 26, and at this time, the control unit 21 stores the cooking information as different cooking information different from the original cooking information.

When a dish is specified by the user and a transmission command is received by an input operation of the pointing pad 32 or the trackball 35 or a voice input of “send” from the microphone 37, the control unit 21 changes the operation program to the IrDA 41. To the cooking appliance. After that, when the user operates the cooking start switch of the cooking appliance, the cooking appliance performs the processing according to the given program.

The cooking appliance transmits the status of the object to be cooked, such as the progress of its own processing and the temperature, to the cooking support device 2 by infrared rays. IrDA41 which received this is transmitted to control part 21, and control part 21 displays the progress situation of processing of a cooking appliance, and the situation of an object for cooking as a graph on LCD31. When all the processes described in the program are completed,
The cooking device informs the cooking support device 2 of the fact, and the control unit 21
Notifies the user of the completion of the processing by the display on the LCD 31 and the audio output from the speaker 39.

The retrieval of the dish information in the dish information database 30 will be described. Each dish information is provided with an identification number and one or more keywords, and a search is performed by collating the input keyword with the keyword of each dish information. Tables 1 to 5 show examples of keywords assigned to the cooking information. The keywords include not only the names of the individual ingredients (Table 1) and the names of the dishes (Tables 2 to 4), but also those indicating the user's preferences (Table 5). Keywords are categorized into several groups according to ingredients and types of dishes.

Input of a keyword for search is mainly performed by voice through the microphone 37.
It is also possible to input as characters using the touch panel 33 or the trackball 35. The input voice or character is converted into a corresponding character code by the voice recognition unit 38 or the character recognition unit 36 and given to the control unit 21 as a keyword, and the control unit 21 finds cooking information having the input keyword. Go.

It is possible to input only one keyword,
It is also possible to input the above in order. When a plurality of keywords are input, in principle, cooking information having all the input keywords is found. That is, a search is performed based on the logical product of the keywords. For example, when “gratin” and “tomato” are input, “grass of eggplant and tomato” having both are found, and “macaroni gratin” having neither is found.

However, when a plurality of food ingredient names are input as keywords, dish information having any one of them is treated as having other input material names. That is, a search based on the logical sum is performed for the keyword of the material name. For example, when "Saba" and "Aji" are entered, "Saba grilled with salt" and "Aji salted with grill" do not have either ingredient name as a keyword, but both cooking information can be found become.

Although many pieces of cooking information are found in the initial stage of the search, in the search based on the logical product of the keywords, the number of the corresponding cooking information decreases each time the keyword is input. The control unit 21 displays the number of found cooking information on the LCD 31 and displays the identification number of the cooking information as R.
It is stored in the AM 23. Then, when the search progresses and all the dish names of the found dish information can be displayed on the LCD 31 at one time, all the dish names are displayed. Therefore, the user is not presented with too many dish names. However, the user can instruct the control unit 21 to display all the dish names of the found dish information at any time. Control unit 21
Receives this instruction and displays the name of the dish as a list over a plurality of pages.

The user can operate the touch panel 33 and the trackball 35 to select a desired dish from the dish names displayed on the LCD 31. When any one of the dish names is selected, the control unit 21 stores the dish information in L
It is displayed on the CD 31 and output from the speaker 39 as audio. This cooking information is used as a cooking guide and an operation program of the cooking appliance as described above.

The keywords entered for the search include:
There is a comprehensive keyword representing a plurality of keywords. For example, the keyword "fruit" represents all fruits such as "orange" and "apple", and the keyword "daughter's lunch" represents all of the several types of dishes in the bento. By setting such a comprehensive keyword, the input of the keyword is facilitated, and an input error can be avoided. The comprehensive keyword is arbitrarily defined by the user and can be given to arbitrary cooking information.

Each dish information in the dish information database 30 includes a priority for each season. For example, the priority of dishes preferred in the cold season, such as hot pot dishes, is high in winter and low in summer and medium in spring and autumn, and the preference of dishes preferred in the hot season such as `` chilled noodles '' is summer. It is high in winter and low in spring and moderate in spring and autumn. This priority is set in consideration of the difficulty of obtaining the material for each season. In addition, the priority of dishes preferred throughout the year, regardless of the season, is set to medium throughout the year.

Control unit 21 composed of microcomputer
Has a built-in clock and can always know the time and date.
When the dish name of the dish information found by the keyword search is displayed on the LCD 31, the season is determined from the date at that time, and the dish names are displayed in descending order of the priority of the season. For this reason, even if all the input keywords are the same, the order of the displayed food names will differ depending on the season. With this feature, even when many dishes are displayed over multiple pages at the beginning of the search, the dishes appropriate to the season are displayed on the first page, making it easier to use the dish information for menu planning. become.

FIG. 2 shows a flow of processing from retrieval of the dish information to presentation of the dish information in the dish support device 2. This processing is for sequentially obtaining information about a set of dishes including a main dish, a side dish, a soup, and the like, and presenting and guiding (navigation) so that the user can efficiently proceed with the cooking. It is.

First, a keyword is input by voice or text (step # 105), and the cooking information database 3 is entered.
0 is searched to find cooking information having the input keyword (# 110). Next, the number of found dish information is displayed (# 115), and it is determined whether the number of dish information is equal to or less than a predetermined number (the number of dish names for one page) (#).
120). If the number of pieces of found food information is equal to or less than a predetermined number, the names of all dishes are displayed (# 130). If the number exceeds the predetermined number, the names of all dishes are displayed according to a user's instruction (# 125) (# 130). ). Here, the dish names are displayed in the order of priority for each season.

The user determines whether or not to further narrow down to obtain candidate cooking information (# 135). When narrowing down, the user returns to # 105 and inputs the next keyword. In the keyword search of # 110 after the second time, a logical sum is obtained for the material names, and a logical product is obtained for the result, and the search is performed. When the narrowing is not performed, the user selects a desired dish from the displayed dish names (# 140).

Thus, one dish information can be obtained. The user judges whether or not to obtain information of the next dish (# 14).
5) If the next dish information is to be obtained, the process returns to # 105, and a new search is performed. When all the desired cooking information is obtained, the nutritional balance is displayed by calculating the nutritional value from the ingredients and the amounts thereof contained in all the cooking information (# 150), and the nutritional balance included in this set of cooking is biased. If there is, include the advice in the display. Next, a list of all ingredients required for these dishes is displayed (# 155). The user can prepare the materials by referring to this list.

Thereafter, the cooking steps of each dish are combined to generate the most efficient cooking step execution procedure as a whole set of dishes (# 160). At this time, not only the possibility of parallel processing of the cooking steps and the required time, but also the characteristics of each dish such as a dish that should be eaten immediately after completion or a dish that can be passed for a certain amount of time are considered. The execution procedure for the entire dish thus generated is presented for each cooking step (# 165). Step presentation, LCD
This is performed by both the display on the display 31 and the sound from the speaker 39. Switching of the presented cooking step can be instructed by voice input.

It is also possible to store the identification numbers of all the selected dish information, and it is possible to store the identification numbers in # 160 and # 1.
Step 65 can be executed at any time. Therefore, the user can also go shopping to arrange the materials indicated in # 155. When planning a menu, it is also possible to prepare for the cooking procedure presented in # 165 and proceed with cooking while reconfirming the presentation in actual cooking.

The cooking appliance program included in the cooking information stored in the ROM 25 and the cooking information provided by the memory card 27 is created in consideration of the ingredients and the amount of the cooking so as to obtain the best finish. I have. Normally, the user can use these programs to obtain the desired dishes, but if alternative ingredients are used or some ingredients are omitted, the program may not be compatible . For this reason, the cooking support device 2 has a function of simulating and predicting what kind of finishing result will be obtained when the type and amount of the ingredients are changed. The simulation function will be described.

The user can change the selected cooking information material by operating the pointing pad 32 or the trackball 35. In the ROM 25, in addition to the cooking information, various properties of the material such as ease of warming, softening, burning and oil retention are measured, and the results of comparison between the materials are displayed. It is stored as Table 6 shows an example of this comparison table. In Table 6, the circles and the triangles indicate that it is relatively easy and somewhat difficult, respectively. For example, "green pepper" indicates that it is easier to warm up than "nasu".

The control unit 21 finds out a table comparing the material before the change and the material after the change from the storage of the ROM 25, reads out the relative difficulty such as easy warming, and is included in the cooking information. By calculating the surface temperature, the internal temperature, the degree of burning, etc. of the dish when cooking is performed in the program, the overall result of the dish is evaluated. Then, the individual calculation results and the overall evaluation are displayed on the LCD 31 as characters and graphs or color images representing appearance.

For example, when the user selects cooking information for baking “pizza” with an oven toaster, and changes the ingredients from “peppers” to “egg”, the control unit 21
Referring to Table 6, "Nasu" is slightly too soft,
Although the degree of burn is slightly insufficient due to insufficient warming, the surface temperature, the internal temperature, and the degree of burn are not significantly different from those before the change, and it is determined that a sufficiently good finish is obtained. This is displayed as “Good overall evaluation, slightly softer eggplant”, and is output as audio. As for the surface temperature and the internal temperature, the approximate relative values to the values before the change are displayed in a bar graph together with numbers. In addition, the surface of the dish is displayed as a color image to indicate the degree of burning.

The controller 21 determines the overall evaluation as “slightly poor” when any one of the surface temperature, the internal temperature, the degree of burn, etc. is moderately excessive or insufficient, and determines that the intermediate evaluation is moderate for two or more. If there is an excess or deficiency in one of them, or if there is a large excess or deficiency in one, it is determined to be "bad". The user can determine whether the program can be used as it is by looking at these displays.

When the overall evaluation is “slightly poor” or “bad”, the control unit 21 calculates and predicts the cooking result when the processing power or the processing time of the cooking appliance is increased or decreased, and obtains a better overall result. Search for processing conditions that give an evaluation. Then, when a condition is found in which all of the internal temperature and the like fall within the range of “slightly insufficient” to “slightly excessive”, the result is displayed and the user is encouraged to cook under the condition. When cooking is performed under the recommended conditions, the user instructs the control unit 21 to that effect by operating the pointing pad 32 or the trackball 35 or by a voice command of “send”, and the control unit 21 executes the program. It changes so that it may match the conditions, and transmits to a cooking appliance.

Thus, even when using the alternative material, the user can cook without changing the program by himself and obtain a dish with a satisfactory finish. The changed program can be stored in the flash memory 26 as new cooking information together with the changed material, and the next time the same food is cooked, the program included in the cooking information can be used as it is. it can.

In the case of cooking information for a cooking appliance having a plurality of processing methods, such as a microwave oven having a grill function and an oven function, in order to find a condition for better overall evaluation, processing power or processing is simply used. In addition to increasing or decreasing the time, it is possible to add or change the processing method. For example, in the case of cooking by grill heating, if the degree of warming becomes insufficient if substitute materials are used, if a process of performing microwave heating for a short time before grill heating is added, the degree of burn can be kept approximately the same and moderate It can be a warming condition.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the operation program of the cooking appliance included in the cooking information. The program starts with a header containing a code indicating the type of cooking appliance, and is separated by a predetermined delimiter, for example, a semicolon, for each command assigned a specific meaning. Many commands involve parameters, which are separated by a predetermined delimiter, for example, a comma. Comments in parentheses can be inserted at any position in the program. The comment is provided merely for the convenience of the user and has no effect on the operation of the cooking appliance. The end of the program is
It is indicated by the same code representing the type of cooking appliance as that described in the header.

FIG. 3 is an example of the simplest program of a microwave oven with a grill. This program instructs the following processing to be performed following the header (A1) specifying the type of cooking appliance. First, turntable 3
Rotation is started alternately in the left-right direction at a speed of 0 ° for 15 seconds (A2), and microwaves are irradiated at a power of 500 W for 60 seconds (A3). Next, after the end of the microwave irradiation (A4), grill heating is performed at an output of 700 W for 200 seconds (A5). Then, wait for the grill heating to end (A
6), the rotation of the turntable is stopped (A7), and the completion of the process is notified to the cooking support device 2 (A8). This completes the entire process (A9).

As is evident from FIG. 3, cooking appliance programs are written in human-readable characters, as are the high-level languages of many computer programs. The user can display the program on the LCD 31 and edit it by operating the pointing pad 32 and the trackball 35. It is also possible to calculate and predict the result of cooking by the edited program, and the user can use the above recommended method when reflecting his own preference in cooking or when using alternative ingredients. This function can be used when it is desired to adopt a condition other than the above condition.

As described above, by simulating and predicting the result of cooking, the success or failure of the result can be known without actually cooking, so that the use of the alternative material is facilitated. Cooking on the calculation without actually cooking,
Displaying the finish of the dish as an image is called virtual cooking.

Here, in order to predict the result when using the alternative material, the relative values of the properties of the material such as the easiness of warming are stored as a comparison table, but the comparison table between the materials is not necessarily used. It is not necessary to memorize it, and it is also possible to memorize the property of the material by numerical values. For example, a value representing the property of the material in five or ten steps may be stored for each material, and a step difference between the materials may be obtained in the calculation.

The properties, such as the ease of warming of the ingredients, can be affected and varied by various factors in cooking. For example, the ease of warming depends on whether oil is used or not.
Ease of scoring depends on whether or not butter is applied to the surface. The properties also differ depending on whether the material is unfrozen or frozen and thawed, and also depending on the shape of the material. By actually measuring the properties of the material under various conditions in consideration of such factors that cause variations in the finished result and storing the results, it is possible to more precisely predict the cooking result.

If the properties of the materials are expressed and stored in absolute numerical values, it is easy to predict the finished result even when alternative materials are not used. That is, when omitting a part of a material or adding a new material,
Further, even when changing the amount ratio of the materials, since the properties of those materials are clear, the processing power or the processing time can be increased or decreased, or the processing method can be changed accurately.

FIG. 4 shows a flow of a cooking simulation process in the cooking support apparatus 2. First, the user selects a desired program from the cooking information found by the keyword search (step # 205), and operates the pointing pad 32 and the trackball 35 to use the alternative material, and It instructs omission, addition of material, and change of the amount of material (# 210).

Then, the surface temperature, the internal temperature, the degree of burning, etc. of the dish when the cooking is performed according to the selected program using the changed ingredients are calculated (# 21).
5). Then, based on the calculation result, the finished food as a whole is evaluated (# 220), the evaluation is presented in text and voice, and the appearance of the food is displayed as an image (# 225). Further, it is determined whether or not the processing content of the program needs to be changed based on the comprehensive evaluation (# 230).

If necessary, the processing contents are changed by referring to the stored properties of the material and the calculation result of # 215 (# 235), and the process returns to # 215 to execute the processing with the changed contents. The surface temperature, the internal temperature, the degree of burning, etc. of the dish are calculated. Then, the comprehensive evaluation of # 220 and # 225 and the presentation of the result are performed again.

If the overall evaluation is "good", it is determined in # 230 that the processing contents need not be changed. In that case, the program is changed according to the change of the processing content (# 240),
In accordance with the user's instruction, the cooking information including the changed program and the calculation result is stored (# 245, # 250).
When cooking is actually performed with the changed program, the program is transmitted to the cooking appliance (# 255, # 2).
60). When the food information stored in # 250 is used next time, it is also possible to display the overall evaluation and the appearance of the food.

If the total evaluation of # 220 does not become "good" even if the processing content is changed a predetermined number of times, a message to that effect is displayed and the processing is terminated. In such a case, the user changes the program by himself / herself, and # 215 to #
225 is performed.

There are various types of cooking appliances wirelessly connected to the cooking support device 2, such as a microwave oven, a rice cooker, and an electromagnetic cooker. FIG. 5 shows one mode of use when the cooking support device 2 and a microwave oven are combined. The microwave oven 5 is an IrDA for communicating with the cooking support device 2 by infrared rays.
51, and has a built-in translation program for translating a program given from the cooking support device 2 into a program in its own language.

The IrDA 51 is provided on the front of the microwave oven 5, but may be detached from the housing and connected by a cable 52. Unlike infrared communication, infrared communication is less susceptible to electromagnetic noise and has high directivity, so it has little effect on other devices. There is an inconvenience that it is easily hindered. However, since the IrDA 51 is separated from the housing and can be arranged at an arbitrary place, the inconvenience is solved and the usefulness is sufficiently exhibited. The IrDA 51 may be configured to include both the one fixedly installed in the housing and the one connected by the cable 52.

The microwave oven 5 is usually installed at a fixed position in the kitchen. On the other hand, the cooking assistance device 2 can be carried by a user and used at any place. In the kitchen, the cooking support device 2 is used by being placed on a place where a user performs work for a long time, for example, at a corner of a worktop. The user looks at the display of the cooking assistance device 2 placed nearby,
In addition, while listening to the explanation by voice, the work of each step of cooking can be advanced.

The IrDA 51 of the microwave oven 5 is arranged in consideration of the layout of the kitchen, the installation position of the microwave oven 5, and the use position of the cooking support device 2. IrDA5
When the kitchen 1 is mounted on the wall or ceiling of the kitchen, for example, even if the kitchen is L-shaped or a refrigerator or the like exists between the microwave oven 5 and the cooking table, the infrared rays of the microwave oven 5 and the cooking support device 2 can be used. Communication can be reliably performed. Since the microwave oven 5, the IrDA 51 and the IrDA 51 are connected by wire, the orientation of the microwave oven 5 does not affect communication at all.

The place where the cooking assistance device 2 is used when cooking information is used for planning a menu is not limited to the kitchen, but is, for example, a living room. In addition, since the cooking support device 2 is formed to be small and light, it can be carried around for shopping, and can display cooking information at a shopping destination and use it to prepare necessary ingredients.

The cooking information database 30 provided in the cooking support device 2 includes a ROM 25, a flash memory 26,
And a memory card 27.
In addition to the fixed food information 5 and the food information in the flash memory 26 edited by the user, arbitrary food information can be used by the exchangeable memory card 27. However, since the storage capacity of the memory card 27 is limited, if new cooking information is to be added only by the memory card 27, if there is much cooking information to be added, a large number of memory cards must be obtained. The operation becomes complicated.

Therefore, in order to easily add cooking information to the cooking information database 30, the cooking support device 2
It is configured to be connected to an external information supply device via a communication line, and to receive supply of cooking information from the information supply device. FIG. 6 schematically shows a connection state between the cooking support device 2 and the information supply device 1. The information supply device 1 stores an extremely large number of cooking information, and is always connected to the communication line 9 and supplies the cooking information to many cooking support devices 2 connected as needed.

[0086] As described above, the cooking support apparatus 2 uses the EEPR
An OM 29 is provided, and the EEPROM 29 stores a protocol describing a procedure for connecting to the information supply device 1 via the communication line 9. Cooking support device 2
Is automatically connected to the information supply device 1 by executing this protocol while being physically connected to the communication line 9.

After connection, the user operates the pointing pad 3
2 and the trackball 35, the desired cooking information is transmitted from the information supply device 1 to the cooking support device 2, and the cooking information is stored in the flash memory 26.
Is stored. The cooking information in the flash memory 26 can be provided to the information supply device 1, and the cooking information using the alternative material can be provided in a form including a program changed according to the alternative material.

As described above, by exchanging the cooking information via the communication line, the same information can be used by many users regardless of geographical distance.

[0089]

[Table 1]

[0090]

[Table 2]

[0091]

[Table 3]

[0092]

[Table 4]

[0093]

[Table 5]

[0094]

[Table 6]

[0095]

According to the cooking support apparatus of the first aspect,
It is possible to know the finished result without actually performing cooking by the cooking appliance. Therefore, even when cooking for the first time, it is possible to determine whether the cooking is successful or unsuccessful by using the present apparatus before the actual cooking, and it is possible to avoid trying a dish having a high possibility of failure.
This prevents wasting time, effort and materials.

In the cooking support apparatus according to the second aspect, the usefulness of the stored program when the type and the amount of the ingredients are changed and the usefulness of the changed program are understood, and the cooking is performed by the program only when it is useful. You can do it and never fail to cook.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the type and amount of the ingredients are changed, the program can be changed so as to be suitable for the change, so that most of the stored programs can be effectively used. can do. Moreover,
The user does not need to change the program by himself and is easy to use.

In the cooking support apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the changed program can be used as many times as it is. Further, even if the result is not predicted again, it is possible to know what kind of dish is obtained from the stored finish result.

In the cooking support apparatus according to the fifth aspect, when the stored program is suitable for the type and amount of the ingredients,
Only when the program is changed to suit the type and amount of the ingredients, cooking can be actually performed by the program, so that cooking does not fail.

In the cooking support apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the same cooking information can be used by a plurality of cooking support apparatuses.
The program changed according to the change of the ingredients can also be used in a plurality of cooking support devices.

According to the cooking support apparatus of the present invention, the target cooking information can be quickly found from many cooking information by searching based on the logical product of the keywords. In addition, in a search based on only the logical product, a selective search such as A or B cannot be performed, so that there is a possibility that the corresponding dish information becomes insufficient. Can perform a search based on the logical sum, so that there is no inconvenience that the corresponding dish information is excessively reduced.

According to the cooking support apparatus of claims 8 and 9, it is easy to select a desired one from a plurality of pieces of cooking information found by searching.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, since the number of keywords to be input is reduced, the operation is facilitated, and the possibility of erroneous keyword input is reduced.

In the cooking support apparatus according to the eleventh and twelfth aspects, information can be utilized for preparing ingredients and progressing the cooking, respectively.

In the cooking support apparatus according to the thirteenth aspect, the cooking appliance can be operated in accordance with the program included in the cooking information found by the search, and cooking can be performed very easily.

In the cooking support apparatus according to the fourteenth aspect, there is little restriction on the distance and the positional relationship with the cooking appliance.

According to the cooking support apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to input a keyword even when both hands are occupied.
Even during cooking in which the hands are often wet or dirty, cooking information can be searched without soiling the device.

According to the cooking support apparatus of the sixteenth aspect, it is extremely easy to find a dish suitable for the season at the time of use.

In the cooking support apparatus according to the seventeenth aspect, even when the desired food is vague and the user cannot think of a specific detailed keyword, the search can be performed by using the type of the food as the keyword.

In the case of the cooking support apparatus according to claim 18,
It is possible to present the processing procedure of the step according to the progress while actually cooking, and to change the presenting step without resting the cooking hand and without soiling the apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a cooking support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing from retrieval of dish information to presentation of dish information.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an operation program of a cooking appliance included in cooking information.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of a cooking simulation process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which a cooking assistance device and a microwave oven are used in combination.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a connection state between the cooking support device and the information supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 information supply device 2 cooking support device 5 microwave oven 9 communication line 21 control unit 22 ROM 23 RAM 24 interface 25 ROM 26 flash memory 27 memory card 28 card interface 29 EEPROM 30 cooking information database 31 liquid crystal display (LCD) 32 pointing pad 33 Touch Panel 34 Coordinate Recognition Unit 35 Trackball 36 Character Recognition Unit 37 Microphone 38 Voice Recognition Unit 39 Speaker 40 Voice Synthesis Unit 41 IrDA 51 IrDA 52 Cable

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. A cooking assistance device that calculates and predicts a finished result of a dish based on ingredients of the dish, amounts of the ingredients, and processing performed by the cooking appliance. 2. A plurality of dishes are stored with information including a program describing ingredients, amounts of ingredients, and processes performed by the cooking appliance, and the information is presented for a designated dish, and according to a given instruction. 2. The cooking assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the material, the amount of the material, or the program is changed to calculate, predict, and present the finished result. 3. The cooking assistance device according to claim 2, wherein when the material or the amount of the material is changed according to the given instruction, the program is changed according to the change. 4. For a dish whose finish result is predicted,
3. The cooking assistance device according to claim 2, wherein information including an ingredient, an amount of the ingredient, a program describing processing performed by the cooking appliance, and a predicted finish result is stored. 5. The cooking assistance device according to claim 2, wherein the stored program is given to a cooking appliance that performs processing according to the program. 6. A plurality of dishes are stored with information including a program in which ingredients, amounts of ingredients, and processes performed by the cooking appliance are written, and the stored information is connected to a device similar to the dish support device by a communication line. Ingredients, amounts of ingredients,
The cooking assistance device according to claim 2, wherein a program that describes processing performed by the cooking appliance and information that includes a predicted finish result are provided. 7. Store information on dishes for each dish;
In a cooking assistance device that finds a dish according to an input from stored dishes and displays information on the dish, one or more keywords are given to each of the stored dishes, and all keywords are grouped. And search for stored dishes based on one or more input keywords, find dishes having all the input keywords, and input a plurality of keywords belonging to a predetermined group. In some cases, in the search, a dish having one of the plurality of keywords is treated as having all of the plurality of keywords. 8. The cooking assistance device according to claim 7, wherein when the number of found dishes is equal to or less than a predetermined number, the names of all the found dishes are displayed. 9. The cooking support apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined number is a maximum number of names of dishes that can be displayed at one time, and the names of all the found dishes are displayed at one time. . 10. The cooking support apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a comprehensive keyword representing two or more keywords is input, and the search is performed based on each of the keywords represented by the comprehensive keywords. 11. The information according to claim 7, wherein the information on the dish includes ingredients of the dish, one of the found dishes is designated, and the designated ingredient of the dish is displayed. Cooking support device. 12. The information on the dish includes a cooking method, and any one of the found dishes is designated,
The cooking assistance device according to claim 7, wherein a cooking method of a designated dish is displayed. 13. The information relating to the dish includes a program describing a process to be performed by the cooking appliance, and any one of the found dishes is designated, and a program of the designated cuisine is provided to the cooking appliance. The cooking assistance device according to claim 7, wherein 14. The cooking assistance device according to claim 13, wherein the provision of the program to the cooking appliance is performed by wireless communication. 15. The cooking support device according to claim 7, wherein the keyword is input by voice. 16. A seasonal priority of a dish is stored together with the information on the dish, a clock for measuring the date is provided, the season at the time of use is determined, and the name of the found dish is used at the time of use. 8. The cooking support device according to claim 7, wherein the display is performed in an order based on the priority of the dish. 17. The keyword may include, in addition to the names of the individual ingredients of the dishes, types of dishes based on main ingredients such as rice, noodles, meat dishes, vegetable dishes, and flavors such as Japanese, Western, and Chinese styles. Types of dishes based on temperature, types of dishes based on temperature such as hot and cold items, types of dishes based on cooking methods such as pots and stir-fries, and types of dishes based on eating and drinking time such as breakfast, dinner, and evening meal The cooking assistance device according to claim 7, wherein any one or a plurality of the cooking assistance devices is included. 18. A cooking assistance apparatus which stores a cooking method and presents a processing procedure for each step of cooking, comprising a voice input means, and presenting it in accordance with an instruction given via the voice input means. A cooking assistance device characterized by changing steps.