JPS6196337A - Heating cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prolong the service life of illuminating light source by saving any needless lighting by means of lighting an illuminating light source behind a liquid crystal displayer only when a heating cooker is charged with foodstuff to be cooked. CONSTITUTION:A controller 26 controls such operations as setting up menu, starting, stopping and cancelling a cooking operation corresponding to the input from an input means 29 comprising a start key 4, a category selective key 6 and a clear key 7 to set up cooking time and temperature by means of A/D converting any analog input from a timer volume 9 and a temperature volume 10. Through these procedures, the controller 26 may receive any detecting signals from a temperature sensor 30, a humidity sensor 31 and a volume sensor 12 to perform semiautomatic or automatic cooking operations conforming to said cooking sequences. Besides, the controller 26 may start illumination on receiving the signals from volume sensor 12 by means of turning a power supply circuit 32 of illuminating light source 21 ON.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heating cooking apparatus having a liquid crystal display section, and more particularly to lighting control of an illumination light source behind the liquid crystal display.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, in heating cooking devices with digital control units, such as microwave ovens equipped with microcomputers, cooking performance has been improved by applying temperature sensors, humidity sensors, weight sensors, etc., and cooking can be performed automatically. The cooking menu has also increased.

On the other hand, the number of cooking menu selection keys placed on the operation panel has increased, making operations more complicated. In addition, a fluorescent display tube was often used for the display section, but this was difficult to use because it could only display a small amount of information.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention One of the first steps in solving conventional problems is to use a liquid crystal display that can easily display a relatively large amount of information, and to provide a logical name or picture for each cooking menu. In recent years, a method has been adopted to improve the operability of computers by displaying logical names or pictures classified by category, for example. However, unlike self-luminous display units such as fluorescent display tubes, liquid crystal display units have the problem of poor contrast and difficulty in viewing. To solve this problem, it is necessary to provide an illumination light source such as a fluorescent lamp or a tungsten light bulb at the rear of the liquid crystal display section. However, the above-mentioned illumination light source has a problem in terms of lifespan if it is left on all the time, and if it burns out, the cooking device becomes unusable, so it has to be replaced frequently.

Means for Solving the Problem The present invention includes a liquid crystal display section and a
a lighting light source; a measuring means for measuring the weight of the object to be heated;
The apparatus is equipped with a controller that receives a signal from the measuring means and turns on the illumination light source only when the object to be heated is placed on the measuring means.

Function The present invention uses the above-mentioned means to turn on the illumination light source at the rear of the liquid crystal display only when the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber, thereby preventing unnecessary lighting and extending the life of the illumination light source.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described using FIGS. 1 to 3. Note that the same members in FIGS. 2 and 3 as in FIG. 1 are designated by the same numbers.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the main body of the heating device, and the front surface of the main body 1 is provided with a door 2 and an operation panel 3 that can be opened and closed. The operation panel 3 has a start key 4, a category selection key 5,
Menu selection key 6, clear key 7. 4-digit numerical display
A liquid crystal display section 8 for displaying menu names, a timer volume 9, and a temperature volume 10 are arranged. 11 is a heating chamber attached to the main body 1, and 12 is a measuring sensor on which an object to be heated 13 is placed.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal display section 8, in which the upper polarizing plate 14 and the TN
A transmission type liquid crystal panel 17 composed of a twisted nematic type liquid crystal cell 15, a lower deflection plate 16, a circuit board 18 for driving the liquid crystal, and a conductive part 19 for connecting the liquid crystal panel 17 and the circuit board 18. A sheet 20 on which characters, figures, etc. are displayed with transmitted light is disposed between the transmissive liquid crystal panel 17 and the circuit board 18. An illumination light source 21 serving as a backlight is arranged at the rear of the circuit board 18.
The circuit board 18 includes a liquid crystal driving integrated circuit 122
However, a hole 23 for backlight irradiation is provided.

In FIG. 1, the second cause, the liquid crystal display section 8 of the main body 1 is normally in a blank state, but in order to cook, the object to be heated 13
When placed on the weighing sensor 12 in the heating chamber, the liquid crystal display section 8 displays categories such as "Nick", "Oven", and "Grill" to prompt category selection. Next, when one of the category selection keys 5, for example, the key for ``oven'' cooking, is pressed, only the category display for ``oven'' cooking and a series of oven cooking menus are displayed. When one of the menu selection keys 6 is pressed to select a menu, only the selected menu is displayed, clearly indicating that it has been selected. After this, when the start key 4 is pressed to start cooking, the cooking is automatically performed according to the programmed sequence. At this time, when the object to be heated 13 is placed on the weighing sensor 12, the illumination light source 21 is turned on and the display on the liquid crystal display section 8 becomes visible. Thereafter, when the cooked object 13 is taken out from the heating chamber 11, the illumination light source 21 is turned off. In this way, the light is turned on when there is an object to be heated in the heating chamber, and the light is turned off when there is no object to be heated, so that unnecessary lighting can be prevented.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of this embodiment, in which the magnetron (heating source) 24 is on-off controlled by a duty control circuit 25 to output a predetermined output. Duty control circuit 25 is controlled by controller 26. The heater 27 is connected to the magnetron via the power control circuit 28? 4, it is controlled by a controller 26. The controller 26 sets the menu, starts, stops, and cancels cooking by inputting from an input means 29 consisting of a start key 4, a category selection key 5, a menu selection key 〇, a clear key 7, etc., and controls the timer volume 9 and temperature volume 10. The cooking time and temperature are set by A/D converting the analog input from the machine. After receiving the detection signals from the temperature sensor 30, humidity sensor 31, and weighing sensor 12,
Semi-automatic or automatic cooking is performed according to this cooking sequence.

The liquid crystal driving integrated circuit 22 receives and receives display data using data signals Do-D7 from the controller 26 and its control signal W, and sends segment drive signals SEG to 5EGn and common (back plate) drive signals C0Mo-C0Mm to the liquid crystal cells 17. is output and the liquid crystal cell 17 is displayed. The R signal is a reset signal that stops the liquid crystal display, and the READY signal is a signal that informs that the liquid crystal driving integrated circuit 22 is busy, that is, data cannot be received.

Further, when the controller 26 receives a signal from the weighing sensor 2, it turns on the power supply circuit 32 of the illumination light source 21 to perform illumination.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the heating cooking apparatus of the present invention provides the following effects.

(1) When the backlight of a liquid crystal display is heated, it is turned on only when necessary, which extends the life of the light source, eliminates frequent replacement work, and improves usability.

Q) Since the object to be heated is placed in the heating chamber and the light is turned on only at one time, there is no unnecessary lighting when not in use, which has great advantages in terms of lifespan and costs (electricity charges).

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the main body of a heating cooking apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the liquid crystal display section thereof, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram thereof. 1...Main body, 8...Liquid crystal display section, 21...
...Illumination light source, 24...Magnetron (heating source), 27...Heater (heating source), 12...Measuring sensor, 11...Heating chamber, 29... ...Input means. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure 1...Window 2...Door 3-Osu 7H8 Channel 11...fJrJJp! ! ,Treasure. 12-...Weighing Sensano 3-... 1 reply [person rota^a scolding figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A heating source for heating an object to be heated, a heating chamber for storing the object to be heated, a controller for controlling the heating source, an input means for inputting cooking conditions, etc. to the controller, and a heating chamber provided in the heating chamber. The controller includes a measuring means for weighing the object to be heated, a liquid crystal display section for displaying contents according to signals from the input means and the measuring means, and an illumination means disposed at the rear of the liquid crystal display section. A heating cooking device configured to control the lighting means using a measurement signal from a measurement means.