TW202314166A - Heating cooker capable of realizing the defrosting function without complicating the device structure - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a heating cooker capable of realizing the defrosting function without complicating the device structure. The heating cooker comprises a generating part for generating microwaves, and a control part for controlling microwave output from the generating part. In a defrosting mode for defrosting an object to be cooked, the control part controls the microwave output by combining a first intermittent output having the minimum rated microwave output value and a second intermittent output having the minimum rated microwave output value from the generating part. The period of the second intermittent output is the same as that of the first intermittent output, and the duty cycle of the second intermittent output is different from that of the first intermittent output. The heating cooker further comprises a specifying part for specifying the type of the object to be cooked in the defrosting mode, wherein the minimum rated microwave output value is 300 watts. The specifying part is configured to specify the weight of the object to be cooked, and the cycle duration of the first intermittent output and the cycle duration of the second intermittent output are determined according to the weight of the object to be cooked specified by the specifying part. The specifying part is configured to further specify the finishing strength for defrosting the object to be cooked, and the control part adjusts the cycle duration T1 of the first intermittent output and the cycle duration T2 of the second intermittent output according to the finishing strength specified by the specifying part.

Description

heating cooker

field of invention

The invention relates to a heating cooker.

Background of the invention

Among heating cookers such as microwave ovens that heat cooking objects by microwave heating, there are heating cookers having a defrosting function for thawing frozen cooking objects. In the thawing mode, it is required to prevent overheating of the object and prevent uneven thawing (perform uniform thawing).

For example, in Patent Document 1, in order to prevent overheating, control is performed by setting the microwave output to a low value and turning the microwave output on and off intermittently to weaken the average output over time. In addition, in Patent Document 1, in order to prevent uneven thawing, control is also performed based on the detection result obtained by detecting the temperature distribution of the object using the infrared sensor and the detection result obtained by detecting the temperature inside the refrigerator using the temperature sensor. As a result, microwave output is controlled. prior art literature patent documents

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2018-54250

Summary of the invention The problem to be solved by the invention

Uniform thawing can be achieved by controlling the microwave output according to the temperature distribution of the object to be detected. However, in such a system, in order to control the microwave output while sequentially monitoring the temperature distribution, a large number of sensors and the like are required, which complicates the structure of the device and increases the cost. In addition, there is also a technique of thawing control without using such a sensor, but there are limitations such as the need to use a dedicated thawing tray.

The present invention provides a heating cooker capable of realizing a defrosting function without complicating the device structure. solutions to problems

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heating cooker for heating an object to be cooked placed in the storage by radiating microwaves into the storage, the heating cooker includes: a generating unit that generates microwaves; and a control unit , which controls the microwave output from the generating unit, wherein, in the thawing mode for thawing the object to be cooked, the control unit uses the first intermittent output of the lowest value of the rated microwave output of the generating unit and the rated microwave output The combination of the second intermittent output of the lowest value controls the aforementioned microwave output, the cycle of the aforementioned second intermittent output is the same as that of the aforementioned first intermittent output, and the duty cycle of the aforementioned second intermittent output is the same as that of the aforementioned first intermittent output different. The effect of the invention

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a heating cooker capable of realizing a defrosting function without complicating the structure of the device.

form for carrying out the invention

Embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In addition, the following embodiments are not limited to the inventions related to the claims, and all combinations of the features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention. Two or more of the features described in the embodiments may be combined arbitrarily. In addition, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same or similar configurations, and overlapping descriptions are omitted.

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of main parts of a heating cooker 1 according to the embodiment. The heating cooker 1 may be a so-called microwave oven that heats an object to be cooked placed in the storage by radiating microwaves into the storage. The heating cooker 1 includes a power supply 2 , a magnetron 3 , a waveguide 4 , and a storage 5 for storing food 6 as a cooking object.

The power supply 2 applies a predetermined voltage to the magnetron 3 by means of a transformer or an inverter. When a predetermined voltage is applied from the power supply 2 to the magnetron 3 which is a generating unit for generating microwaves, microwaves of 2.45 GHz are generated. Microwaves generated from the magnetron 3 are guided into the storage chamber 5 (inside the chamber) via the waveguide 4 .

This storage 5 is made into a sealed space by closing the front door which is not shown in figure of the storage 5. As shown in FIG. A tray 7 for placing food 6 is arranged in the storage room 5, and a rotating antenna 8 is arranged below the tray 7. The rotating antenna 8 radiates the microwave guided by the waveguide 4, and radiates the microwave in the Stirring is performed in the storage compartment 5 . The rotating antenna 8 can be driven to rotate by the antenna motor 9 . In addition, the arrangement position of the waveguide 4 and the rotating antenna 8 is not limited to this, For example, the structure which arrange|positions the waveguide 4 and the rotating antenna 8 above the storage 5 may be sufficient. In addition, instead of using the rotating antenna 8, the tray 7 may be used as a turntable, and the turntable may be driven to rotate during microwave radiation.

In addition, a control panel 10 is disposed on the heating cooker 1 . A control unit (described later) for collectively controlling the operation of the heating cooker 1 is attached to the control panel 10 . The control part can perform manual operation which combines selection of the intensity|strength and weak of microwave output, and operation time, and automatic operation according to a heating function table. During the automatic operation, the operation can be performed while monitoring the temperature, humidity, weight of the food 6, infrared ray generation status, etc. in the storage room. However, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature inside the chamber, a humidity sensor for detecting the humidity raised due to water vapor generated from the food 6, a sensor for detecting the weight of the food may be appropriately arranged in the heating cooker 1 . A weight sensor, an infrared sensor for detecting the dose of infrared rays generated from the food 6, and the like. In addition, an open/close detection mechanism for the front door, an interior lamp, an interior cooling fan, a notification unit, and the like may be incorporated into the heating cooker 1 . However, these devices are generally used conventionally and have no particular relationship with the present invention, so descriptions of their detailed configurations and processes performed using them are omitted here.

In the present embodiment, the rated microwave output (rated high-frequency output, so-called "microwave output") of the magnetron 3 (generating part) is, for example, 900W, 600W, 500W, 300W, and the magnetron 3 can switch these outputs way to use. These output values are output values capable of continuously oscillating the magnetron 3 . In the case of heating with an output lower than 300W which is the lowest value of the rated microwave output, the heating is realized by an intermittent output of 300W. This is because the magnetron 3 no longer oscillates when the continuous output is made below 300W.

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the control system mounted on the control board 10 . A control unit 20 , a magnetron driver 21 , a motor driver 22 , and a display controller 25 may be mounted on the control board 10 . The control unit 20 may be constituted by a general-purpose computer including a memory for storing programs and data, and a CPU. Alternatively, the control unit 20 may also be realized by a dedicated device such as ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array: Field Programmable Gate Array). The magnetron driver 21 includes a drive circuit for driving the magnetron 3 , and the drive circuit may include a high-frequency transformer and/or an inverter circuit. In addition, such a magnetron driver 21 may also be incorporated in the power supply 2 . The motor driver 22 may include a drive circuit that drives the antenna motor 9 . The display controller 25 controls display on the display unit 24 . For example, an operation panel 30 is disposed on the front door, and the display unit 24 is incorporated therein. The display unit 24 is, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display: liquid crystal display), and in this case, the display controller 25 may include an LCD drive circuit. In addition, an operation unit 23 is disposed on the operation panel 30 , and a signal from the operation unit 23 is input to the control unit 20 .

FIG. 3 shows a diagram showing an example of the appearance and configuration of the operation panel 30 . The operation section 23 (specifying section) may include a plurality of operation keys (operation buttons). Specifically, the operation unit 23 may include a mode key 31 , a time/weight key 32 , an output switching key 33 , an automatic menu key 34 , a finish key 35 , a start key 36 , and a cancel key 37 . The mode key 31 may include: a defrosting key, which is used to designate a "thawing mode" for defrosting food; a rice key, which is used to designate a "rice heating mode" for heating rice; and a drink key, which is used to designate "Beverage warming mode" for beverage warming. The time/weight key 32 may include: a 10 minute key for specifying the time of the heating operation in units of 10 minutes; a 1 minute key for specifying the time of the heating operation in units of 1 minute; and a 10 second key for specifying the time of the heating operation in units of 1 minute. It is used to specify the heating operation time in units of 10 seconds. In one example, the 1-minute key also functions as a key for specifying the weight of the food 6 in units of 100 g, and the 10-second key also functions as a key for specifying the weight of the food 6 in units of 10 g.

The output switching key 33 is a key for switching the microwave output to any one of 900W, 600W, 500W, 300W, 200W (equivalent), and 100W (equivalent). The automatic menu key 34 is a key for designating a menu (type of food) for automatic operation. The completion key 35 is a key for adjusting the intensity of heating or the time of heating during automatic operation. The start key 36 is a key for instructing the start of heating. The cancel key 37 is a key for instructing to cancel the operation or to suspend the heating operation.

The display unit 24 displays the setting content, the state of the heating cooker 1 , and the like according to the operation performed via the operation unit 23 . In addition, the operation unit 23 may be constituted by a touch panel configured to overlap the display unit 24 .

Next, the heating operation in the defrosting mode in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4 .

In the defrosting mode, even the lowest value (300W) of the rated microwave output will be too strong for continuous operation at this value, which is not suitable for defrosting. Therefore, in the thawing mode, by intermittently outputting the lowest value of the rated microwave output (300W), the average microwave output over the total time can be weakened.

(a) of FIG. 4 has shown the example of the intermittent operation which realizes the microwave output equivalent to 200W. In this example, one cycle is set to 29 seconds, the first 20 seconds of which are set to ON for the 300W output, and the next 9 seconds are set to OFF. In addition, the reason why one cycle is set at 29 seconds is that here, assuming that the rotational speed of the rotating antenna 8 is 30 rpm, one cycle is set asynchronously with the rotation period. In this case, when the duty cycle is set to D, the average output per cycle is 300・D=300・(20 seconds/29 seconds) ≈207W, It can be set to be equivalent to 200W.

(b) of FIG. 4 has shown the example of the intermittent operation which realizes the microwave output equivalent to 100W. In this example, the first 10 seconds of one cycle (29 seconds) are set to be on for the 300 W output, and the next 19 seconds are set to be off. The average output of each cycle in this case is 300・D=300・(10 seconds/29 seconds) ≈103W, It can be set to be equivalent to 100W.

Similarly, intermittent operation of other average outputs can be realized. For example, in the case of realizing a microwave output equivalent to 150W, the first 15 seconds in one cycle (29 seconds) are turned on for 300W output, and the next 14 seconds are turned off. In this case, the average output per cycle is 300・D=300・(14 seconds/29 seconds) ≈155W, It can be set to be equivalent to 150W.

Moreover, in the case of realizing the microwave output equivalent to 90W, in the first 9 seconds of one cycle (29 seconds), the 300W output was turned on, and the next 20 seconds were turned off. In this case, the average output per cycle is 300・D=300・(9 seconds/29 seconds) ≈93W It can be set to be equivalent to 90W. In addition, the specific numerical value and procedure for determining the above-mentioned microwave output are only an example, and other numerical values and procedures can also be applied.

In this embodiment, hybrid control is performed by combining the first intermittent output of the lowest rated microwave output and the second intermittent output of the lowest rated microwave output, the second intermittent output having the same period as the first intermittent output, And the duty cycle of the second intermittent output is different from the duty cycle of the first intermittent output. According to such hybrid control, finer output control can be performed than output control by intermittent output of a single cycle, which is advantageous in preventing overheating, for example.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart showing a control procedure of the heating operation in the defrosting mode executed by the control unit 20 . The defrost mode is started by pressing the defrost key of the mode button 31 .

In step S1 , the control unit 20 sets the type of the food 6 to be thawed based on the operation signal from the operation unit 23 . In one example, it is assumed that three types of "minced meat/sliced meat", "meat (block)/fish", and "sashimi" are assumed for the type of food. For example, the user can designate the type of food 6 by pressing the defrost key the number of times within a predetermined time. For example, when the defrosting key is pressed once, "minced meat/sliced meat" is selected, when pressed twice, "meat (piece)/fish" is designated, and when pressed three times, "sashimi" is designated. Data representing the designated genre is stored in the memory as genre setting data.

In step S2, the control part 20 sets the weight of the foodstuff 6. As shown in FIG. In one example, the control unit 20 sets the weight of the food 6 to a predetermined preset value (for example, 100 g), and the user can change the weight using the time/weight key 32 , for example. Data indicating the designated weight is stored in the memory as weight setting data.

In step S3, the control part 20 sets the intensity|strength of completion|finish of heating. In the present embodiment, the heating cooker 1 may have four grades of finished strength of weak, medium (standard), strong 1, and strong 2, for example. However, the number of levels to complete the intensity is not limited to a specific number, and the number of levels may be less than four levels, or may be more than four levels, or there may be no such levels. The control unit 20 sets medium (standard) as the finish strength as a predetermined preset value, and the user can change the finish strength by operating the finish key 35 , for example. Data indicating the designated completion strength is stored in the memory as completion strength setting data.

In step S4, the control part 20 determines the 1st duty ratio D1 which is the duty ratio of the 1st intermittent output, and the 2nd duty ratio D2 which is the duty ratio of the 2nd intermittent output. Next, a method of determining the duty ratio will be exemplified.

For example, in the case where the rated microwave output minimum value is 300W, as shown in the example of FIG. Duty ratio D2 is determined so that the microwave output of the second intermittent output corresponds to 100W. Alternatively, the control unit 20 may determine the first duty ratio D1 so that the microwave output of the first intermittent output corresponds to 150W, and the second duty ratio D2 so that the microwave output of the second intermittent output corresponds to 100W. Or equivalent to 90W.

Or, when the type of food set (specified) in step S1 is "sashimi", the control unit 20 sets the first duty ratio D1 so that the microwave output of the first intermittent output is equivalent to 150W, and the second The second duty ratio D2 is determined so that the microwave output of the second intermittent output is equivalent to 100W or equivalent to 90W. On the other hand, when the type of food set (specified) in step S1 is not "sashimi", the control unit 20 determines the first duty ratio D1 so that the microwave output of the first intermittent output corresponds to 200W. , the second duty ratio is determined so that the microwave output of the second intermittent output is equivalent to 100W or equivalent to 90W. That is, the microwave output when the food is sashimi is further weakened compared to the microwave output when the food is other types. Thereby, overheating of the sashimi can be prevented.

In step S5, the control part 20 sets the rated microwave output to 300 W which is a minimum value.

In step S6, the control unit 20 checks whether or not the cancel key 37 has been pressed. Here, when it is detected that the cancel key 37 is pressed, the defrosting mode ends. If the pressing of the cancel key 37 has not been detected, the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, the control unit 20 checks whether or not the start key 36 has been pressed. Here, if the depression of the start key 36 is not detected, the process returns to step S6. In a case where pressing of the start key 36 is detected, the process proceeds to step S8.

In step S8, the control part 20 performs the 1st intermittent output of the 1st duty ratio D1 determined in step S4. Thereafter, in step S9, the control unit 20 performs the second intermittent output of the second duty ratio D2 determined in step S4.

The heating operation in the defrosting mode in this embodiment is as described above. Here, according to the example described in connection with step S4, the relationship between the first duty ratio D1 and the second duty ratio D2 determined in step S4 is D1>D2. According to this relationship, the microwave output under the first intermittent output in step S8 (e.g. equivalent to 200W) is set to be higher than the microwave output under the second intermittent output in step S9 (e.g. equivalent to 100W). Therefore, in the second half, the food can be gradually thawed with a low output while utilizing the heat of the food heated in the first half to melt the surrounding ice.

Next, the cycle durations of the first intermittent output performed in step S8 and the second intermittent output performed in step S9 will be described. The cycle duration is the total time that the cycle of the intermittent output is repeated.

In this embodiment, the cycle duration of the first intermittent output and the cycle duration of the second intermittent output can be determined according to the weight of the food. For example, the cycle duration of the first intermittent output and the cycle duration of the second intermittent output can be determined from a polynomial including the weight of the foodstuff specified in step S2.

When the weight of the food designated in step S2 is set as M, the cycle duration of the first intermittent output is set as T1, and the cycle duration of the second intermittent output is set as T2, T1 and T2.

T1=α1・M+β1 T2=α2・M+β2 Here, α1, α2, β1, and β2 are coefficients for the weight M, respectively.

Coefficients α1, α2, β1, and β2 may have values corresponding to the type of food specified in step S1. Next, an example of each coefficient according to the type of food is shown. However, the values of these coefficients are just examples, and each coefficient is not limited to these values.

(1) minced meat/meat slices (equal to 200W + equivalent to 100W): α1=0.3, β1=-30, α2=0.75, β2=120 (2) Meat (blocks)/fish (equal to 200W + equivalent to 100W): α1=0.4, β1=-20, α2=0.6, β2=90 (3) Sashimi (equal to 150W + equivalent to 90W): α1=0.3, β1=0, α2=1.0, β2=100

When a specific example is shown, when the type of food is "minced meat/meat slices" and the weight M of the food is set to 200 g, the heating operation time T for thawing is set as follows.

T = cycle duration T1 of the first intermittent output (equivalent to 200W) + Cycle duration for second intermittent output (comparable to 100W) =(0.3×200g-30)+(0.75×200g+120) =300 seconds

In addition, when the type of food is "sashimi" and the weight M of the food is set to 200 g, the heating operation time T for thawing is set as follows.

T = cycle duration T1 of the first intermittent output (equivalent to 150W) + Cycle duration T2 of the second intermittent output (comparable to 90W) =(0.3×200g)+(1.0×200g+100) =300 seconds

In addition, the control unit 20 may adjust the cycle duration T1 of the first intermittent output and the cycle duration T2 of the second intermittent output according to the completion intensity specified in step S3. For example, a coefficient corresponding to the completion strength is set in advance. The coefficient for each completion strength is, for example, the following coefficient. However, the values of these coefficients are just examples, and each coefficient is not limited to these values. In addition, the numerical value related to the weight mentioned above is only an example, and other numerical values can also be applied.

Weak : 0.9, Medium (Standard): 1, Strong 1 : 1.1, Strong 2 : 1.2

The control unit 20 multiplies the heating operation time T for thawing by a coefficient corresponding to the completion intensity described above. For example, when the completion intensity is "weak", the heating operation time is adjusted to 0.9×T. 0.9×T means, for example, that the ON time and the OFF time of each cycle are each multiplied by 0.9. Similarly, when the completion intensity is "Strong 1", the heating operation time is adjusted to 1.1×T, and when the completion intensity is "Strong 2", the heating operation time is adjusted to 1.2×T.

In this way, the heating operation time is adjusted by the completion intensity specified by the user. Thereby, it is possible to reflect the prediction of the completion degree of thawing based on the user's experience on the heating operation time.

According to the embodiment described above, it is possible to realize a cost-effective defrosting function without complicating the structure of the device without compromising the degree of completion of defrosting.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the invention.

1: Heating the cooker 2: Power 3: Magnetron 4: Waveguide 5: storage library 6: Food 7: Tray 8: Rotating Antenna 9: Antenna motor 10: Control panel

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of main parts of the heating cooker. Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of the control system. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an external configuration of an operation panel. Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating a heating operation in a defrosting mode. Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the heating operation in the defrosting mode.

1: Heating the cooker

2: Power

3: Magnetron

4: Waveguide

5: storage library

6: Food

7: Tray

8: Rotating Antenna

9: Antenna motor

10: Control panel

Claims (9)

A heating cooker for heating an object to be cooked arranged in the storage by radiating microwaves into the storage, wherein the heating cooker is characterized by comprising: a generating section that generates microwaves; and a control section that controls the microwave output from the aforementioned generation section, Wherein, in the thawing mode for thawing the object to be cooked, the control unit is controlled by a combination of the first intermittent output of the lowest value of the rated microwave output of the generating unit and the second intermittent output of the lowest value of the rated microwave output. For the microwave output, the period of the second intermittent output is the same as that of the first intermittent output, and the duty cycle of the second intermittent output is different from the duty cycle of the first intermittent output. Such as the heating cooker of claim 1, wherein, The duty cycle of the aforementioned first intermittent output, that is, the first duty cycle, is greater than the duty cycle of the aforementioned second intermittent output, that is, the second duty cycle, The control unit performs the second intermittent output after performing the first intermittent output. Such as the heating cooker of claim 2, wherein, The minimum value of the aforementioned rated microwave output is 300W, The first duty ratio is determined so that the microwave output of the first intermittent output corresponds to 200W, and the second duty ratio is determined so that the microwave output of the second intermittent output corresponds to 100W. Such as the heating cooker of claim 2, wherein, The minimum value of the aforementioned rated microwave output is 300W, The first duty ratio is determined so that the microwave output of the first intermittent output corresponds to 150W, and the second duty ratio is determined so that the microwave output of the second intermittent output corresponds to 100W or 90W. Such as the heating cooker of claim 2, wherein, further comprising a specifying unit, the specifying unit specifies the type of the cooking object in the defrosting mode, The minimum value of the aforementioned rated microwave output is 300W, When the type of the cooking object specified by the specifying unit is sashimi, the first duty ratio is determined so that the microwave output of the first intermittent output corresponds to 150W, and the second duty ratio is determined by Determined to make the microwave output of the aforementioned second intermittent output equivalent to 100W or equivalent to 90W, When the type of the cooking object designated by the designating unit is not sashimi, the first duty ratio is determined so that the microwave output of the first intermittent output is equivalent to 200W, and the second duty ratio is determined by It was decided so that the microwave output of the said 2nd intermittent output may correspond to 100W. Such as the heating cooker of claim 5, wherein, The above-mentioned specifying part is configured to also specify the weight of the aforementioned cooking object, The cycle duration of the first intermittent output and the cycle duration of the second intermittent output are determined based on the weight of the cooking object specified by the specifying unit. Such as the heating cooker of claim 6, wherein, When the weight of the cooking object specified by the specifying unit is M, the coefficients for the weight M are α1, α2, β1, and β2, the cycle duration of the first intermittent output is T1, and the When the cycle duration of the second intermittent output is set to T2, T1 is represented by α1・M+β1, T2 is represented by α2·M+β2. Such as the heating cooker of claim 7, wherein, The coefficients α1, α2, β1, and β2 have values corresponding to the type of the cooking object specified by the specifying unit. Such as the heating cooker of claim 8, wherein, The specifying unit is configured to also specify the completion strength of the thawing of the cooking object, The control section adjusts the cycle duration T1 of the first intermittent output and the cycle duration T2 of the second intermittent output according to the completion intensity specified by the specifying section.

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