KR0146131B1 - Automatic cooking device of microwave oven - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a technique for performing automatic cooking of a microwave oven, and in the conventional microwave oven employing an infrared sensor, the configuration is complicated, and the performance of the sensor is directly exposed to steam generated when food is heated. In order to solve this problem, the present invention indirectly detects infrared rays emitted from food and measures the surface temperature change of the food based on this, and performs automatic cooking to sense sensitivity due to excessive temperature rise of the sensor. Is prevented from deteriorating, and new initial heating method and additional heating method can be used to improve the reliability of automatic cooking.

Description

Microwave Oven's Automatic Cooking Apparatus and Method

1 is a graph illustrating the detection characteristics of a general humidity, gas and temperature sensor.

2 is a graph of the output characteristics of the frozen food heating of the general infrared sensor.

Figure 3 is an embodiment block diagram of the automatic cooking apparatus of the present invention microwave oven.

Figure 4 is an exemplary signal flow diagram for an automatic cooking method of the present invention.

5 is another exemplary block diagram of the automatic cooking apparatus of the present invention microwave oven.

6 is a sensor output waveform diagram of the total cooking time of refrigerated food in FIG.

7 is a signal flow diagram of another embodiment of the automatic cooking method of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

1: cavity 2: reflector

3: infrared sensor 4: infrared sensor

5: Sensor signal amplification part 6: Microcomputer

7: output controller 8: magnetron

9: power supply section 10: display section

11: Function selector

The present invention relates to a technology for performing automatic cooking of the microwave oven, and in particular, by introducing an infrared detection method by thermopile to indirectly detect infrared rays without using a chopper, based on the surface of the food The present invention relates to an automatic cooking apparatus and method for microwave ovens capable of measuring temperature changes.

The technology of automatic cooking of microwave ovens is increasing in terms of convenience of cooking to increase consumer convenience. To date, a variety of sensors have been applied to commercial microwave ovens with automatic cooking functions. Accordingly, microwave ovens are emerging as a large field in the sensor market.

If you look at the sensors used in microwave ovens until now, there are temperature detection in the cavity, humidity detection, gas detection during cooking, steam detection, food weight detection means, etc. Figure 1 is a gas (temperature) sensor and humidity. This graph shows the output characteristics of the sensor. In addition, there are various methods of controlling cooking of food using sensor signals obtained through the respective detection means.

The above sensors are applied to food cooking in many ways, but they are insufficient to be applied in the case of cooking with weak calories. That is, in the case of warming or thawing meat or fish, it is difficult to determine the control point by sensing the humidity in the amount of moisture generated during the entire cooking period. In addition, in the case of thawing, when the user continuously operates in the same container, there is a problem in that malfunction occurs because the juice generated during the cooking previously made is boiled first and moisture is generated. Because of this, the user has specified a separate container cleaning in the instruction manual to inform the consumer of the fact, etc. has been adopted, but it is not a preferable means because it gives a hassle to the consumer.

In order to overcome this, an infrared sensing method using a pyroelectric effect has been recently used, and FIG. 2 is a graph showing the output characteristics of the infrared sensor during cooking.

However, in the conventional microwave oven employing an infrared sensor, a chopper synchronous device and a cooling device are required, and the configuration becomes complicated, thereby resulting in a cost increase. In addition, since the sensor is directly exposed to the steam generated when the food is heated, there is a problem that the performance of the sensor is degraded due to contamination by foreign matter contained in the steam, and the sensor is directly exposed to a heat source (heated food) There is a problem that the sensitivity of the sensor is lowered because it causes a rise in the temperature of the sensor itself, and further has a problem that adversely affects the life of the sensor to reduce the performance of automatic cooking.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for indirectly detecting infrared rays emitted from food, and performing automatic cooking by measuring a change in surface temperature of the food based on this.

3 is a block diagram illustrating an automatic cooking control apparatus of a microwave oven for achieving the above object. As shown in FIG. 3, the cavity 1 is a space in which food is stored and heated, and the cavity 1 is shown in FIG. Reflector 2 for reflecting the infrared rays generated when the food (1A) stored in the heating direction toward the sensor, an infrared sensor (3) for detecting the infrared rays incident through the reflector 2, and the reflector (2) And the support 3A for fixing the infrared sensor 3 and the output signal of the infrared sensor 3 to convert the temperature of the food 1C based on the infrared rays detected by the infrared sensor 3. Infrared sensor 4 for converting into useful electrical signals, a sensor signal amplifier 5 for amplifying the output signal of the infrared sensor 4 to a level suitable for processing, and the sensor signal amplifier 5 The output signal of the auto cooking The sensor signal storage device 6A to be stored for storage, the reference value setting device 6C for storing a unique reference value (temperature) according to the type of food, and the reference value and food 1C stored in the reference value setting device 6C. The comparison judgment device 6B for comparing and judging a signal detected by the sensor signal storage device 6A while the heating is performed, and outputting a driving control signal accordingly, and the control signal output from the comparison decision device 6B. An output control device 7 for outputting a drive control signal according to the present invention, a magnetron 8 for generating a high frequency for heating the food 1C under the control of the output control device 7, and a driving power source for each system part. A power supply unit 9 for supplying, a display unit 10 for displaying the key input state and the driving state of the system under the control of the microcomputer 6, and a function selection unit 11 for receiving a user's control command signal. Where, Reference numeral 1A is a suction port, an exhaust port 1B is, M is in detail described with reference to FIG. 4 in conjunction with the accompanying action and effect of the present invention is a motor, such a configuration as follows.

When the user selects the automatic cooking menu key provided on the function selection unit 11, the food 1C starts to be heated by the high frequency signal output from the magnetron 8, which is a heating device accommodated in the cavity 1, At this time, the infrared rays generated from the heated food 1C are once reflected by the reflecting plate 2 and then irradiated to the infrared sensor 3 side so that the infrared sensor 2 detects the intensity of the infrared rays according to the heating of the food. do.

The signal output from the infrared sensor 3 is converted into an electrical signal through the infrared sensor 4, and then supplied to the sensor signal amplifier 5 and amplified to a level suitable for processing. 6) the microcomputer 6 detects the surface temperature Hs of the food 1C based on the input signal, and stores the detected temperature in the internal sensor signal storage 6A. do. (S1-S5)

Here, the primary heating time (To) is generally constant, and after the heating time (To) has elapsed, the heating is performed during the secondary heating time (Ts), and the food at the point of time when the secondary heating starts ( When the temperature of 1C) is called Ho and the temperature of the food 1C at the end of the second heating time Ts is Hs, the temperature rise during the second heating time Ts is ΔH = Hs-Ho (S6-S7)

After the secondary heating is completed, additional heating is performed (S8-S11), and this additional heating time is obtained by multiplying a constant constant (K) by a temperature rise value (ΔH) of the secondary heating time (Hs) (K × ΔH). Therefore, the total cooking time T is expressed by the following equation.

To, Ts, and K in Equation 1 may vary depending on the type of cooking, and these values are determined based on cooking experiments or the like according to the environment in which the manufacturer of the product is cooked.

Predetermined values according to the menu of the food are stored in the reference value setting device 6C, and these stored values are used to control the cooking time during cooking. In addition, To and K are constants containing O, and Ts cannot be O. If To is 0 in Equation 1, the total cooking time T is expressed by the following equation.

In the above Equation 1, if K is 0, the total cooking time T is expressed by the following equation.

In addition, when To and K are both 0 in Equation 1, the total cooking time T is expressed by the following equation.

That is, the total heating time T for performing the automatic cooking is a time obtained by adding the first heating time To, the second heating time Ts, and the additional heating time K × ΔH, and the total heating time. After determining whether it has been heated, the total time has been reached and the heating is stopped.

On the other hand, Figure 5 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the automatic cooking control device of the microwave oven, as shown here, the infrared rays generated when the food (1A) stored in the cavity 1 is heated toward the sensor Converting the temperature of the food 1C based on the reflecting plate 2 for reflecting, the infrared sensor 3 for detecting infrared rays incident through the reflecting plate 2, and the infrared rays detected by the infrared sensor 3 Infrared sensor 4 for converting the output signal of the infrared sensor 3 into a useful electrical signal, and a sensor signal amplifier 5 for amplifying the output signal of the infrared sensor 4 to a level suitable for processing. ), A sensor signal storage device 16A for storing the output signal of the sensor signal amplification unit 5 for automatic cooking, and a reference value setting device for storing a unique reference value (temperature) according to the type of food ( 16C) and the group A comparison judgment device 16B for judging and comparing the reference value stored in the reference value setting device 16C with a signal detected by the sensor signal storage device 16A while the food 1C is heated, and the comparison judgment device 16B. The counter 16D converts the heating time until the food 1C based on the output signal of < RTI ID = 0.0 > 1C < / RTI > reaches the set reference value (temperature), and the constant value K is determined by the output value (time) of the counter 16D. And an output control device 7 for outputting a drive control signal to the magnetron 8 according to the time converted by the calculation device 16E, and an arithmetic unit 16E for converting the additional heating time by multiplying. The operation thereof will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 as follows.

When the user selects the automatic cooking menu key provided on the function selection unit 11, the food 1C starts to be heated by the high frequency signal output from the magnetron 8, which is a heating device accommodated in the cavity 1, At this time, the infrared rays generated from the heated food 1C are reflected by the reflecting plate 2 and then irradiated to the infrared sensor 3 side, so that the infrared sensor 2 detects the intensity of the infrared rays according to the heating of the food. .

Then, the signal output from the infrared sensor 3 is converted into an electrical signal of a level suitable for processing by the infrared sensor 4 and the sensor signal amplifying unit 5 is supplied to the microcomputer 6, The microcomputer 6 detects the surface temperature Hs of the food 1C based on the input signal and stores it in the internal sensor signal storage device 16A. (ST1-ST4)

Once cooking is started, heating is performed until the temperature of the food 1C to be heated reaches a predetermined value (temperature: Hs), which is determined by the type of food or the type of heating (heating, Cooking, etc.). (ST5-ST7)

When the heating time until the food 1C reaches a predetermined temperature (Hs) is called the primary heating time (Ts), additional heating is performed again after the primary heating is completed. It is given as the value (K × Ts) multiplied by the primary heating time (Ts) and a constant constant (K). Therefore, the total cooking time T is expressed by the following equation (ST8-ST10).

In Equation 5, Ts and K may vary depending on the amount or type of dishes, and these values are determined based on cooking experiments and stored in the storage device according to the environment in which the manufacturer of the product is cooked. The stored values are used to control the cooking time when cooking.

Also, K is a constant containing zero, and Ts cannot be zero. If K is 0 in the above Equation 5, the total cooking time T is expressed by the following equation.

That is, the total heating time (T) for automatic cooking is a time obtained by adding the heating time (Ts) and the additional heating time (K × Ts), as shown in FIG. 6, and the total heating time (T) is reached. After confirming, the heating operation ends.

For reference, Equation 5 applies to general cooking and Equation 6 applies to warming.

As described in detail above, the present invention has an effect of indirectly detecting the infrared rays generated from food to prevent the sensitivity from being lowered due to excessive temperature rise of the sensor, and applies a new automatic cooking method to the indirect sensing device. Therefore, there is an effect that can implement automatic cooking of excellent performance.

Claims (3)

A reflector for reflecting the infrared rays generated when the food stored in the cavity is heated toward the sensor, an infrared sensor for shielding the infrared rays incident through the reflector, an infrared sensor for converting the infrared signals detected by the infrared sensor, and A microcontroller for controlling the driving of the magnetron by comparing and determining a sensor signal amplifying means for amplifying the output signal to a level suitable for processing the output signal, and a unique reference temperature according to the type of food and the temperature given by the output signal of the sensor signal amplifying means. Microwave oven automatic cooking apparatus comprising a computer. The method of claim 1, wherein the microcomputer includes a sensor signal storage means for storing the output signal of the sensor signal amplification means for automatic cooking, reference value setting means for storing a unique reference temperature according to the type of food, Comparison judgment means for comparing and judging the reference value stored in the reference value setting means and the signal detected by the sensor signal storage means while the food is heated, and when the food reaches the set reference temperature based on the output signal of the comparison determination means. A microwave oven automatic cooking device, comprising: a counter for converting a heating time up to; and an arithmetic device for converting an additional heating time by multiplying a constant constant (K) by the output time of the counter. Indirectly detects infrared rays emitted from food and heats the food until the temperature reaches a preset temperature (Hs) according to the selected cooking menu, and the heating time (Ts) required in the initial heating process. An additional heating time is calculated by multiplying a constant constant (K), and an additional heating process for heating the food further during the calculated additional heating time.