KR20010073923A - Defrost controlling method for a microwave oven - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A control method for a thawing mode of a microwave oven is provided to automatically control a thawing mode without input of additional data for food by an operator and to perform the optimum thawing control of the frozen food by deciding the amount of power necessary for thawing. CONSTITUTION: A microcomputer keeps a magnetron turned on for initial 1min after a thawing mode is started. The microcomputer detects voltage value per 0.5sec during 5-time rotation of a turntable having 1 rotation per 10sec. Then the microcomputer detects the sum and inclination of the detected voltage values and applies the data to pre-saved power deciding method. Thereby, the microcomputer decides the amount of power necessary for thawing. Herein, the power deciding method includes detecting reference data from reference thawing food, measuring the sum and inclination of the data, and pre-saving the proper power considering the weight and physical property of the thawing food depending on the sum and inclination of the data. As the weight of the thawing food having the same physical property is low, the thawing food absorbs a small amount of energy. The microcomputer drives the magnetron at the decided power rate to control the thawing states of the frozen food. Finally, the microcomputer stops the magnetron and finishes the thawing mode after passage of the decided power time.

Description

Defrost controlling method for a microwave oven

The present invention relates to a thawing control method of a microwave oven, and more particularly, to a thawing control method of a microwave oven capable of automatic thawing control without the input of an operator's separate information on a frozen product.

A microwave oven is a device for cooking food using a microwave oven generated from a magnetron, and has been widely used recently because it has high thermal efficiency, rapid cooking, and low loss of nutrients. Such microwave ovens are generally operated by special algorithms in consideration of food conditions, such as not only heating food, but also thawing frozen food, popcorn making popcorn, and warming drinks such as water. It also has several special features.

In the case of thawing frozen food, the high frequency is irradiated to the frozen food for a certain time, and the time for irradiating the high frequency is determined according to the weight of the frozen food. The thawing control method of the microwave is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, when thawing starts, first, a weight of a sea animal placed in a rotating plate is detected (S1). Typically, a weight sensor is used to detect the weight of frozen food.

When the weight of the sea animal is detected, the thawing time is set according to the detected weight (S2). Thereafter, the magnetron is driven for a set time to perform a thawing operation (S3). It is determined whether the set time has elapsed (S4), and when the set time has elapsed, driving of the magnetron is stopped to complete thawing (S5).

However, according to the conventional method of thawing a microwave oven, in many cases, the user places the frozen food to be thawed in a rotating dish so that water, which can be dissolved from the food, does not fall directly on the rotating dish. . In this case, the weight sensor installed in the microwave recognizes the total weight of the weight of the frozen food and the weight of the container containing the frozen food as the weight of the frozen food.

Therefore, since thawing proceeds for more time than the actual time required for thawing, problems such as partial ripening of the animal occur. That is, since the exact weight of the sea animal itself cannot be determined, there is a problem in that it is not possible to determine the exact thawing time required for food.

Further, according to the conventional thawing control method as described above, the thawing time, that is, the operating time of the magnetron is determined according to the weight of the frozen water. Therefore, even when the frozen state of the frozen product, for example, the freezing temperature is different, even if the physical properties are different, the defrosting operation for the same weight for the same time, there was a problem that can not be applied to the appropriate thawing control for the frozen product.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a thawing control method of a microwave oven capable of automatically thawing control without input of the operator's separate information on the frozen water. will be.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a microwave thawing control method capable of performing optimal thawing control on frozen water by determining the amount of power required for thawing according to the energy state of the frozen water.

1 is a flow chart showing an example of a thawing control method of a microwave oven according to the prior art.

Figure 2 is a graph of the data obtained for each weight using the antenna sensor during the thawing operation for ground meat.

Figure 3 is a graph of the data obtained for each weight using the antenna sensor during the thawing operation for steak meat.

Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating a thawing control method of the microwave oven according to the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a thawing control method for thawing ground meat as an embodiment of the thawing control method according to the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a thawing control method for thawing steak meat as another embodiment of the thawing control method according to the present invention.

In order to achieve the object as described above, the present invention,

(a) detecting data relating to the energy state of the frozen product for a predetermined time when the microwave oven is driven;

(b) determining an amount of power required for thawing from the sum and slope of the detected data; And

(C) it provides a thaw control method for a microwave oven comprising the step of controlling the thawing of the frozen water according to the determined amount of power.

The data is a value determined from a voltage value of measuring energy reflected from a sea animal based on the energy of electromagnetic waves incident into the cavity, and is a sum S of the voltage values measured for a predetermined time.

In the step (b), the power amount determination is determined by applying the sum and the slope of the detected data to a pre-stored power determination method, wherein the base stored power determination method is determined from a sample marine animal having various weights and physical properties. By storing the appropriate power in advance in consideration of the weight and physical properties of the sea animal according to the sum and the slope of the data, it is possible to automatically determine the power from the sum and slope of the predetermined data.

According to the method for controlling the thawing of the microwave as described above, the data related to the energy state of the frozen product is detected for a predetermined time when the microwave is driven, and the sum and the slope of the detected predetermined data are detected to store the stored power. By applying to the operation determination method, the amount of power required for thawing is determined and thawing is controlled according to the amount of power. Therefore, when the microwave oven is operated, the power most suitable for the marine animal only by the data automatically detected for a predetermined time when the microwave oven is driven, without input of the user's separate information on the weight or other physical properties of the marine animal. Can be applied.

Thus, in operating the microwave, the user's operation is not only simpler, but also accurate thawing can be performed regardless of whether the container is accommodated or the weight of the container.

In addition, since the amount of power required for thawing can be determined according to the energy state of the frozen water, optimal thawing control can be performed on the frozen water.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the thawing process according to each weight is analyzed from the thawing results obtained for each weight, and based on this automatically determine the weight of the current animal thawed in the microwave based on the pre-stored according to each weight We present the thawing control method to perform the thawing process.

2 and 3 are graphs showing data obtained for each weight using an antenna sensor when a predetermined power is applied to the ground meat and the steak, respectively.

4 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a thawing control method according to the present invention.

Figure 5 is an embodiment of the thawing control method according to the present invention, by analyzing the thawing process of the sea animal according to the weight and physical properties from the data obtained during the thawing of the ground meat of Figure 2, according to each weight and physical properties of the sea animal An example of optimal power application is shown.

Figure 6 is another embodiment of the thawing control method according to the present invention, by analyzing the thawing process of the sea animal according to the weight and physical properties from the data obtained during the thawing of the steak of Figure 3, the optimum according to each weight and physical properties of the sea animal An example of power application is shown.

First, referring to Figures 2 and 3, in order to help the understanding of the thawing control method according to the present invention, by placing a predetermined weight of sea animals in a microwave oven by operating the magnetron of the voltage value according to the rotation period of the rotating plate An experiment was conducted to obtain a graph of the sum values.

The experiments were conducted by weight for each piece of ground meat and steak.

The sum of the voltage values may be obtained by detecting, by an antenna sensor, standing waves generated inside the microwave oven during the magnetron operation.

For reference, the antenna sensor used to obtain the graph of FIG. 2 is filed by Korean Applicant Nos. 99-762 (filed Jan. 14, 1999) and 99-27329 (July 7, 1999) by the applicant. And is currently unpublished. These patent applications disclose a technique for inferring a state of a food by finding the amount of energy applied to the food from standing waves passing through a loop antenna installed in the waveguide.

In this experiment, a magnetron (MGT) is operated after placing a predetermined weight of a sea animal in a microwave oven having a medium cavity.

In the graphs shown in Figures 2 and 3, the data is 20 times at 0.5 seconds intervals every 20 seconds in the case of a rotating plate that rotates once every 10 seconds while the power is turned on for various weights of sea animals It is the result of measuring the voltage value using and calculating the sum value (S (0), S (1), S (2), S (3), S (4)) of the voltage values. (In the graph, the sum value S of the voltage values is expressed as a value obtained by converting a voltage value between 0 and 5 V that can be recognized by the microcomputer to 0 to 255.) As a sea animal, 0.5 lb by weight Ground meat and steak having a weight in the range of about 3.0 lb were used, and the results obtained by experimenting with the above-described method a plurality of times for each weight were shown graphically.

The data are measured values of energy reflected from a sea animal based on the energy of electromagnetic waves incident into the cavity using an antenna sensor, and are sum values S of voltages. Therefore, the energy state absorbed by the frozen product can be known from the above data.

Referring to the graphs of FIGS. 2 and 3, in the initial operation of the microwave oven, as the weight is generally lighter, the sum value detected by the antenna sensor is larger.

The sum of the detected voltage values differs depending on the physical state such as the temperature of the sea animal. In other words, the energy reflected from the sea animals appeared differently.

In general, the larger the sum of the voltage values, the higher the energy reflected from the sea animal, which is interpreted as the lower energy absorbed by the sea animal. Therefore, it can be analyzed that the smaller the weight of the marine animals in the same physical state, the lower the energy absorbed by the marine animals. In addition, even in the case of sea animals of the same weight may have different absorption energy according to the state of the physical properties of the sea animals, it is necessary to consider this when thawing operation.

In the present invention, by operating the power for a predetermined time to detect the data related to the energy absorbed by the marine animals placed on the rotating plate (Figs. 2 and 3), the flow chart derived from the experimental data It is possible to determine the optimal power amount and power time to be applied to the sea animals by applying to (Figs. 5 and 6).

Hereinafter, the thawing control method according to the present invention will be described so that the optimum amount of power and power time to be applied to the sea animal can be determined from the thawing result as described above.

Referring to Figure 4, the animal is placed on the rotating plate in the microwave, the thawing operation is started by pressing the thawing operation key.

Steps S21 to S22 are steps of detecting data related to the energy state of the frozen product for a predetermined time when the microwave oven is driven.

First, in step S21, the magnetron (MGT) is operated to continue to be turned on (ON) for the first 1 minutes after the start of thawing.

In step S22, the voltage is detected at a 0.5 second cycle while the rotating plate is rotating for 5 seconds for 10 seconds per revolution. (In this case, the voltage value is expressed as a value obtained by converting a voltage value between 0 and 5 V that can be recognized by the microcomputer into 0 to 255.) The sum value S of the voltage value for each 10 seconds from the voltage value 5 The dogs S (0), S (1), S (2), S (3) and S (4) are detected.

Step S23 is a step of determining the amount of power required for thawing by detecting the sum and the slope of the sum values S of the detected voltage values and applying the same to a pre-stored power determination method. The previously stored power determination method detects sample data from sample marine animals having various weights and physical properties, measures the sum and slope of predetermined data, and determines the weight and physical properties of the marine animal depending on the sum and slope of the data. In consideration of this, a proper power is stored in advance so that the power can be automatically determined from the sum and slope of predetermined data.

In general, the larger the sum value S of the voltage values, the higher the energy reflected from the sea animal, which can be interpreted as a lower energy absorbed by the sea animal. Therefore, it can be analyzed that the smaller the weight of the marine animals in the same physical state, the lower the energy absorbed by the marine animals. In addition, the larger the sum of the voltage value (S) of the sea animal weight is smaller, the larger the slope of the sum (S) of voltage value can be classified as a smaller animal weight. Therefore, it is judged that a slight change occurs in the sum value S of the voltage values, the sum and the slope value thereof.

Step S24 controls thawing of the frozen water by driving the magnetron according to the amount of power determined using the sum and the slope of the sum values S of the voltage values. After the determined power time has elapsed, the thawing operation is completed by stopping the magnetron.

Hereinafter, specific examples of the optimum power application considering the weight of the sea animal as well as the physical properties of the ground meat and the steak will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

5 and 6 are embodiments of the thawing control method according to the present invention, by analyzing the thawing process of the animal according to the weight and physical properties from the data obtained at the thawing of the ground meat and steak in Fig. 2 and 3, respectively Examples of optimal power application for each weight and physical property of sea animals are shown.

Thus, the flowcharts in FIGS. 5 and 6 distinguish the marine animals according to their weight and physical properties by using the sum and slope of the sum values S of the voltage values shown in the graphs of FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively. An example of applying the optimum power to a sea animal is shown.

For example, in the case of the ground meat in FIG. If S (4) {Sum (S (0): S (4))} is 14848 or more, 15360 or more, and S (0) + S (1) + S (2) is less than 9216, S (3) + If S (4) is greater than or equal to 6144 (this example is 0.5 lb-1 (-◆-) ground meat, 0.5lb-2 (-) -), The power of symbol 101 is applied (P10% 1min).

If S (0) + S (1) +... If S (4) {Sum (S (0): S (4))} is 14848 or more, 15360 or more, and S (0) + S (1) + S (2) is less than 9216, S (3) + If S (4) is less than 6144 (this example is not shown in Fig. 2), it is determined to be about 1.0 pounds and the power of symbol 103 (P30% 2min 20% 2min 10% 3min) is applied. This determination is usually made by taking into account that the higher the weight of the sea animal, the smaller the sum (S) of the voltage values.If all other conditions are the same, then S (3) + S (4) is classified as approximately 0.5 pounds if it is greater than 6144. Therefore, if S (3) + S (4) is less than 6144, it is determined that it can be regarded as classified as about 1.0 pounds.

As another example, in the case of the ground meat in Figure 5 S (0) + S (1) +. S (0) + S (1) when S (4) {Sum (S (0): S (4))} is 14848 or less, 12784 or less, and S (0) -S (1) │ is 336 or more +… If S (4) is greater than or equal to 11744 (this example can be applied to ground 2.5 lb-1 (-×-), 2.5 lb-2 (-*-) in FIG. 2), judged to be about 2.5 lb The power of symbol 110 is applied (P50% 3min 30% 5min 10% 6min).

If S (0) + S (1) +... S (0) + S (1) when S (4) {Sum (S (0): S (4))} is 14848 or less, 12784 or less, and S (0) -S (1) │ is 336 or more +… If S (4) is less than 11744 (this example can be applied in the case of ground 3.0 pound-1 (-+-), 3.0 pound-2 (---) in FIG. 2), to about 3.0 pounds By judging, the power of symbol 111 (P50% 3min 40% 5min 10% 7min) is applied.

On the other hand, in the case of the stake in FIG. S (4) {Sum (S (0): S (4))} is 12288 or more, S (0) + S (1) is 5632 or more, and S (0) + S (1) is 5632 or less, S (0) + S (1) +... If S (4) is greater than or equal to 12650 (this example shows 0.5 pound-1 of ground meat-1 (- -), 0.5 lbs-2 (- -), Can be applied to the case of 0.5 pound-3 (-△-)), and weighs about 0.5 pounds to apply the power of the symbol 100 (P10% 2min).

If S (0) + S (1) +... S (4) {Sum (S (0): S (4))} is 12288 or more, S (0) + S (1) is 5632 or more, and S (0) + S (1) is 5632 or less, S (0) + S (1) +... If S (4) is less than 12650, it is determined that the weight is about 1.2 pounds and the power of the symbol 105 (P30% 2min 20% 3min 10% 2min) is applied. This determination of weight usually takes into account that the sum (S) of voltage values decreases as the weight of a sea animal increases, and S (0) + S (1) +... If S (4) is greater than or equal to 12650, it is classified as approximately 0.5 pounds, so S (0) + S (1) +. If S (4) is less than 12650, it is considered to be classified as about 1.2 pounds.

By using these methods, a flowchart may be derived to apply the case of all obtainable data using the sum and the slope with reference to the data obtained in FIGS. 2 and 3. In the microwave oven, a program written according to the flowchart is built in a product so as to determine an amount of power to be applied upon thawing according to the sum and slope of the sum value S of voltage values.

Hereinafter, a thawing control method for determining an optimal amount of power and power time to be applied to a sea animal according to the present invention will be described.

When the meat or steak is placed on the rotating dish in the microwave, and the thawing operation is started, the magnetron (MGT) is kept ON. The voltage value is detected at 0.5 second intervals while the rotating plate rotates 5 times for 10 seconds per revolution. The sum values S (S (0), S (1), S (2), S (3) and S (4)) of the voltage values per 10 seconds are detected from the voltage values.

The sum S of the detected voltage values is applied to a flowchart as shown in FIG. 5 or 6 to compare the sum and the slope of the sum values S of the voltage values.

This comparison makes it possible to finally determine the optimum amount of power needed for thawing.

As described above, according to the method for controlling the thawing of the microwave oven according to the present invention, during driving of the microwave, data relating to the energy state of the frozen product is detected for a predetermined time, and the sum and slope values of the detected data are determined. By applying to the previously stored power determination method, the amount of power required for thawing is determined and thawing is controlled according to the amount of power. Therefore, when the microwave oven is operated, the most suitable power is applied to the marine animal only by the data detected for a predetermined time when the microwave oven is driven without inputting the user's separate information on the weight or other physical properties of the marine animal. You can do it.

Thus, in operating the microwave, the user's operation is not only simpler, but also accurate thawing can be performed regardless of whether the container is accommodated or the weight of the container.

In addition, since the amount of power required for thawing can be determined according to the energy state absorbed by the frozen water, optimal thawing control can be executed for the frozen water.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described specific preferred embodiments, and various modifications can be made by any person having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims. Of course, such changes will fall within the scope of the claims.

Claims (4)

(a) detecting data relating to an energy state absorbed by a sea animal for a predetermined time when the microwave oven is driven; (b) determining a power operation required for thawing from the sum and slope of the detected data; And (c) thawing control method of the microwave oven, the method comprising the step of controlling thawing for the animal according to the determined power operation. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is a value determined from a voltage value of measuring energy reflected from a sea animal based on energy of electromagnetic waves incident into the cavity. The method of claim 1, wherein the data for a predetermined time in the step (a) is a sum of voltage values at a predetermined time at the initial stage of operation of the microwave oven. The method of claim 1, wherein the power amount determination in the step (b) is determined by applying the sum and the slope of the detected data to a pre-stored power determination method, wherein the pre-stored power determination method is a sample having various weights and physical properties. A method for automatically determining the power from the sum and the slope of the predetermined data by storing the appropriate power in advance in consideration of the weight and physical properties of the sea animal according to the sum and the slope of the predetermined data detected from the sea animals Microwave thawing control method.