JPS6222914A - Automatic heating cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the use of a cooker to be more convenient by collecting a category of 'cookings from raw material' to a single key, by composing a heating cooker of a magnetron, a 'cooking from raw material' key, a color sensor, a microcomputer and so forth,/and by providing a sequence selecting function, communicating function, and a modifying function to the heating sequence to the cooker. CONSTITUTION:A magnetron 1 supplys microwave energy to a food 4 to be cooked placed in a heating chamber 3, and a color sensor 5 is provided to the outer side of a chamber 3. A 'warming key' 9a, a 'cooking key from raw material' 9c and so forth are provided on a keyboard 9, and the input information from the keyboard is processed in a microcomputer 12. In such a constitution, the color of a food is judged by the color sensor 5, after the 'cooking from raw material' key 9c is selected. Based on the color information, green stuff, fruit, flower vegetable, or root vegetable is judged and the data is input by a communicating means. When the communicated data is different from the food to be heated, the data is modified in the heating sequence. In such a manner, cookings of the same category including different heating conditions can be performed by only one key operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION The present invention relates to automatic heating of food using a sensor, and in particular to selection of a heating sequence using food color detection.

2. Description of the Prior Art As shown in FIG. 7(a), a conventional automatic cooking device of this type operates by pressing a key displaying a row of food names to select a preset heating sequence that is optimal for cooking that food. It was usually configured to run. However, in such a configuration, it is necessary to prepare a number of keys corresponding to the number of food names, which not only increases the area of the key portion and increases costs, but also involves the hassle of searching for the key for the food name. On the other hand, instead of selecting a food name from such a large number of keys, there is an example in which a food name is provided for each cooking category, as shown in FIG. 7, and the number of keys is significantly reduced.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, when comparing Figures 7(a) and (b), the category of ``reheating'' is consolidated into one key, ``warming'', but the category of ``cooking from raw'' is teeth"
Cooking leafy vegetables, Cooking fruits and flower vegetables, Cooking root vegetables.
It is divided into three keys.

The reason why the three keys cannot be combined into one key is that the heating form is different for each food.

In other words, as shown in Figure 8 (a), in "cooking leafy vegetables", cooking ends when the food reaches a certain temperature or a certain amount of steam is detected, whereas in Figure 8 (C ), when cooking root vegetables, it is necessary to continue heating (K=1) for a certain period of time after detecting that a certain amount of steam has been released from the food.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 8), it is also necessary to continue heating for a certain period of time (K = o, s) in the "cooking of fruits and vegetables." In this way, the same category (both "cooked from raw")
), we had no choice but to adopt three different heating sequences due to the differences in the composition of the food itself. However, for cooker users,
It was not easy to use, as I had to think about which key I should select among the three keys before operating the key.

The present invention aims to solve such conventional problems by consolidating the category of "cooking from raw" into one key, thereby improving the usability of automatic heating cookers.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the automatic heating cooker of the present invention has a heating chamber for heating food, a magnetron for supplying microwaves into the heating chamber, and a lighting lamp inside the heating chamber. It has a "cooking from raw" key, a color sensor, and a microcomputer that processes information from the color sensor, and is equipped with a sequence selection function using the color sensor, a notification function thereof, and a heating sequence correction function.

Function: With the above-described configuration, the present invention uses a color sensor to determine the color of the food when the start of heating is instructed after the "cooking from raw" key is selected. Depending on the determined color information, it is determined whether the object to be heated is "leaf vegetables", "fruit/flower vegetables", or "root vegetables", and the result is notified by the notification means. If the notified content differs from the object to be heated, the heating sequence is corrected by pressing the key again.

Example Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, a magnetron 1 supplies microwave energy through a waveguide 2 to a food product 4 in a heating chamber 3. In FIG.

A hole 3b is bored in the ceiling 3a of the heating chamber 3, and a color sensor 5 is disposed outside. Further, an absolute humidity sensor 6 is disposed outside the punching section 3c of the ceiling section 3a. Also, the top 77% of the refrigerator: Karo Tsutsujo 3 no tl/? 11
The inside of the heating chamber 3 is illuminated through 11 and 4-Q. The keyboard section 9 includes a warm key J9a, a defrost key J9b, a raw cooking key J9c, a start key 1o, and a display tube 1.
1 is attached, and input information from the key section is processed by a microcomputer 12. Further, the speaker 13 is for notifying the heating sequence. The turntable motor 16 is a motor for driving a fan 15 for cooling the magnetron 1, and the turntable motor 16 is a motor for driving a fan 15 for cooling the magnetron 1.
It is a motor that rotates. Steam generated from the food 4 by microwaves from the magnetron 1 is detected by the absolute humidity sensor 6 and then exhausted to the outside of the vent 19.

In the above configuration, when the raw cooking key J9c is selected and the start key 10 is pressed, the food 4 is illuminated by a signal from the microcomputer 12 through three color filters of red, green, and blue. The light that has passed through each color filter and reflected on the surface of the food 4 is sent to the color sensor 5.
The color of the food is determined based on the output from the color sensor 5, which is different for each color. Next, food that is determined to be "green" based on the color of the food is determined to be "leafy vegetables," and the speaker 13
The notification may be made by making a notification from the plant or by lighting up the "Leafy Vegetables" display 11a on the display tube 11 shown in FIG. on the other hand"
Those determined to be "red" or "white" are determined to be "root vegetables," and are notified from the speaker 13 or the "root vegetables" display 11b of the display tube 11 is lit. If it is determined to be a color other than the above, it is determined that it is "flowers/fruits and vegetables", and a notification is made from the speaker 13 or the "flowers/fruits" display 11c on the display tube 11 is turned on.

In response to the above notification, the microcomputer 12 executes a pre-stored heating sequence.

That is, the heating sequence shown in FIG. 8(a) is used for "leaf vegetables," the heating sequence shown in FIG. 8(b) is used for "flowers and fruit vegetables," and the heating sequence shown in FIG. 8(b) is used for "root vegetables." Figure 8 (C
) Execute the heating sequence shown in ). On the other hand, the user
When you look at the display tube 11 or listen to the notification from the speaker 13 and determine that the heating object and the heating sequence do not match, you can re-check the message ``When you press the raw cooking key J9c, the previous heating sequence will be changed.'' Change the above behavior to the third
The flowchart is shown in FIG.

Here, FIG. 3 shows the operation of the microcomputer 12 immediately after the start key J9c is pressed, and FIG. 4 shows the operation of the microcomputer 12 when the heating sequence is changed.

Next, FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the control circuit according to the present invention.

The microcomputer 12 has an output terminal S. ~6th in S4
The scanning pulses shown in the figure are sequentially sent out, and it is determined which output terminal has a high output, and the input terminals 10 to 10 are processed. It is determined at which input terminal the High signal appears.

Here, when the High signal is output to the output terminal S0, the input terminal is repaired. When it detects that a High signal appears on
When it detects that the gh signal appears, press the "defrost key" 9
When it detects that b is pressed, ■, when it detects that a KHigh signal appears, it judges that the raw cooking key j9c has been pressed, and when it detects that a high signal appears on Io, it presses the start key. It is determined that 1o has been pressed.

The individual output terminal R1 is a terminal that outputs a signal that controls the relay 22 that controls the supply of electricity to the magnetron device 21 via the driver 2o. The individual output terminal R2 is a terminal that outputs a signal that controls the relay 23 that controls energization of the circuit. Further, the individual output terminal R3 is a terminal that outputs a signal for controlling the buzzer 24. Also, individual output terminal R4
and R6 are terminals for controlling the transmission of audio data to the speaker 13 via the audio ROM 25. Also, individual terminal R6
is a terminal for controlling lighting of the illumination lamp 7. The signal from the absolute humidity sensor 6 is amplified by the amplifier 27 and sent to the input terminal A/D.
The information is input into the microcomputer 12 from one terminal, and the energization of the magnetron device 21 is controlled based on this information. Individual output terminals R7 and R8 are terminals that control the step motor 29 via the step motor control circuit 28. A filter 8 is attached to the shaft of the step motor 29. Further, the output of the color sensor 5 is amplified by an amplifier 30 and input into the microcomputer 12 from the input terminal A/D2, and the color of the food is determined based on this information. D0 to D7 are parallel output terminals, and the output becomes the display data of the display tube 11.

In the above configuration, when the "Start key" 1o is pressed after the "Raw cooking key J9c" is selected, the illumination light 7 is turned on, the step motor 29 rotates every 90',
The light that has passed through the field, green, and blue filters is reflected on the surface of the food 4 and enters the color sensor 6. After the light passes through the three-color filter, the interior of the refrigerator is illuminated through a transparent filter.

The signal from the color sensor 5 is sent to the microcomputer 12.
It is determined which color filter the light has passed through is input based on the output states of individual terminals R7 and R8. After the output of the color sensor 5 is checked by the light that has passed through the three color filters, the microcomputer 1
2 determines whether the food 4 is a "leaf vegetable,""flower/fruitvegetable," or "root vegetable," and makes a notification from the speaker 13. After the speaker 13 alerts, when the user learns of the false detection, "Cooking from raw key J9"
When you tap c, the display changes in the order of "leaf vegetables" = "flowers/fruit vegetables" = "root vegetables", and the heating sequence settings are also changed.

However, later than 10 hours (the time when the absolute humidity sensor 18 detected it), the "raw cooking key J9c"
When is tapped, key input is ignored.

According to the above structure and operation, cooking can be carried out simply by pressing the "raw cooking key", which simplifies the operation. Furthermore, since the heating sequence selected by the sensor is notified, the user can confirm the heating sequence, giving a sense of security. Even if the selected heating sequence is incorrect, the selected heating sequence will be notified so that it can be corrected immediately. The correction method can be easily carried out cyclically by simply pressing the "raw cooking key".

Since the lighting inside the heating chamber can also be used as a light source for selecting the color of the food 4, there is no need to provide a special light source.

There are other effects.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the automatic heating cooker of the present invention, (1)
Since the type of food can be distinguished by determining the color of the food, it is possible to cook the same category with different heating methods with a single key operation, improving usability.

(2) The number of keys can be reduced, making the key section simpler.

(3) There is a sense of security because the selected heating sequence is notified.

(4) Even if the wrong heating sequence is selected,
The heating sequence can be easily corrected by pressing the key again.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a system configuration diagram of the automatic heating cooker of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a pattern diagram of the display tube, Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing within the microcomputer, and Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the processing within the microcomputer. Flowchart showing other processes; FIG. 6 is an electronic circuit system diagram of an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 6 is a diagram showing the scanning pulse of the same microcomputer, Figure 7 (a) is a front view showing an example of displaying menu names of a conventional automatic heating cooker, and Figure 7 (b) is a display of cooking categories. A front view showing an example of fern, FIG. 8(a) is a characteristic diagram showing the heating sequence of food "leaf vegetables", FIG. 8(b) is a characteristic diagram showing the heating sequence of "flowers/fruit vegetables", FIG. 8(C) is a characteristic diagram showing the heating sequence of "root vegetables". 1...Magnetron, 9c...Cooking key from raw, 7...Lamp, 8...Filter, 1o...Start key , 5...
...Color sensor, 6...Absolute humidity sensor, 1
1...Display tube, 12...Microcomputer, 13...Speaker, 29...-
・Step motor. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 4
Figure 1 To other matters 1st work to 1st land dispute 6th
Figure 7 (0L2 (6) Figure 8 (c2,770

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A heating chamber in which food is placed, a high-frequency generating means for supplying high-frequency energy to the food in the heating chamber, a means for illuminating the inside of the heating chamber, a group of keys for inputting the cooking type of food, and a group of keys for determining the color of food. a means for detecting the completion state of the heated food; a means for selecting a plurality of heating sequences using one key of the key group; and a means for determining the color of the food to select a unique heating sequence. An automatic heating cooker comprising: a means for notifying a selected heating sequence; and a means for changing the selected heating sequence. (2) As a means for determining the color of food, a means for illuminating the inside of the heating chamber and a three-color filter of red, green, and blue, a driving mechanism thereof, and a photodiode are provided between the means and the heating chamber. automatic heating cooker. (3) The automatic heating cooker according to claim 1, which provides audible notification as the heating sequence notification means. (4) The automatic heating cooker according to claim 1, further comprising means for changing the selected heating sequence when a key is input again after the selected heating sequence is notified.