JP2531707B2 - Cooking device - Google Patents

Description

Description: [Object of the invention] (Field of industrial application) The present invention relates to a cooker provided with a gas sensor for detecting gas emitted from food.

(Prior Art) Some cookers, for example, microwave ovens, are equipped with a gas sensor for detecting gas (water vapor, smoke, odor, etc.) emitted from food and perform automatic cooking according to the output of the gas sensor.

 An example of this automatic cooking is shown in FIG.

At the start of cooking, the blower fan is driven to forcibly ventilate (refresh) the heating chamber for T hours, and the gas remaining in the heating chamber is discharged.

When the time T has elapsed, heating is actually started, the output voltage (sensor output) of the gas sensor is monitored, and time counting is performed.

When the sensor output changes by α · V after reaching the peak point V, the product β · to of the time to and β required up to that point is set as the subsequent heating time.

Then, when β · to time has elapsed, heating is stopped there (end of cooking).

Note that α and β are constants that are determined according to the type of food, the content of cooking, and the like.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) By the way, regarding the execution time T of the active ventilation, for example,
The time is set to 16 to 20 seconds, but the odor may not be completely discharged in cooking after cooking with a strong odor, such as curry.

In this case, since the gas concentration in the heating chamber is high, the gas sensor cannot fully detect the gas emitted from the food,
As shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 4, it takes an unnecessarily long time to stop heating. That is, overheating,
Cooking will be poor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to set the execution time of forced ventilation to an optimum state, which enables reliable gas detection to be favorable. It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable cooker capable of performing cooking in good condition and shortening cooking time.

[Configuration of Invention] (Means for Solving Problems) Means for forcibly ventilating the heating chamber at the start of cooking,
A means to count the free time from the end of the previous cooking,
Means for selecting the execution time of the forced ventilation according to the count time, means for storing the type of previous cooking, means for selecting the execution time for the forced ventilation according to the stored contents, and execution of these selections A means for selecting the shorter one of the times as the true execution time is provided.

(Operation) The execution time of forced ventilation is determined according to the idle time from the previous cooking and the type of the previous cooking.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of a microwave oven, on the front side of which a door 2 is rotatably supported and an operation panel 3 is provided.

A heating chamber 4 is provided in the main body 1 corresponding to the door 2,
A turntable 5 for placing food is provided in the heating chamber 4.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the back surface of the turntable 5 is connected to a turntable drive motor 11 via a shaft that penetrates the bottom surface of the heating chamber 4. Further, an irradiation port 12 for high frequency radio waves is formed on the ceiling surface of the heating chamber 4.

One end of a waveguide 13 is connected to the irradiation port 12 and
A magnetron 14 is attached to the other end of 13. The antenna 14a of the magnetron 14 is introduced into the waveguide 13. A blower fan 15 is provided near the magnetron 14.

An air inlet 16 is formed on the side wall of the heating chamber 4 in the vicinity of the magnetron 14. An air outlet 17 is formed on the opposite side wall.

In the side wall of the cabinet of the main body 1, the air outlet
An air outlet 18 is formed at a position corresponding to 17. Then, a gas sensor 19 is arranged in a ventilation path from the air outlet 17 to the air outlet 18.

In addition, the high voltage transformer 20 on the bottom of the cabinet of the main body 1.
Is provided.

On the other hand, 30 is a commercial AC power supply, and a control unit 32 is connected to the power supply 30 via a step-down transformer 31. The control unit 32 includes a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits and controls the entire microwave oven.
33, 34, the operation section 35 of the operation panel 3, the display section 36 of the operation panel 3 and the gas sensor 19 are connected.

In addition, the power supply 30 is connected to the relay contact 33a and the high voltage transformer 20.
The magnetron 14 is connected via. The turntable drive motor 11 is connected to the power supply 30 via a relay contact 33a. Blower fan 15 to power supply 30 via relay contact 34a
Motor is connected.

Next, the operation of the above structure will be described with reference to FIG.

Food is placed on the turntable 5 in the heating chamber 4, and the door 2 is closed. Then, the type of cooking is set by the operation unit 35, and the cooking start operation is performed.

Then, the control unit 32 energizes the relay 34. When the relay 34 is energized, the contact 34a turns on and the blower fan 15 operates.

When the blower fan 15 operates, air flows into the heating chamber 4 through the air suction port 16. The inflowing air is discharged to the outside through the air outlets 17 and 18 together with the gas remaining in the heating chamber 4.

That is, the heating chamber 4 is forcedly ventilated (hereinafter referred to as refresh).

At this time, the control unit 32 has already counted the idle time from the end of the previous cooking to the cooking start operation, and determines the refresh execution time, the so-called refresh time T, from the count time and the following conditions stored in advance. Select.

That is, if the count time is short, a long refresh time T is selected, and if the count time is long, a short refresh time T is selected.

In addition, the control unit 32 stores the type of previous cooking, and selects another refresh time T from the stored contents and the following conditions stored in advance.

That is, if the previous type of cooking has a strong odor, a longer refresh time T is selected, and if the type of cooking has a weaker odor, a shorter refresh time T is selected.

Then, the control unit 32 selects the shorter one of the two selected refresh times T as the true refresh time T.

When the selected refresh time T elapses, the control unit 32
Newly activates relay 33.

When the relay 33 is energized, the contact 33a is turned on, the magnetron 14 oscillates, and the turntable drive motor 11 operates. That is, the magnetron 14 oscillates, high-frequency radio waves are supplied into the heating chamber 4, and heating is started.

During this heating, the magnetron 14 is cooled by the air blown by the blower fan 15, and the cooled air flows into the heating chamber 4 through the air suction port 16. The inflowing air is discharged to the outside through the air outlets 17 and 18 together with the gas released from the food. At this time, the gas sensor 19 detects the concentration of the gas to be discharged.

The control unit 32 monitors the output voltage of the gas sensor 19 (hereinafter referred to as sensor output), counts time, and executes the following control.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the sensor output changes by α · V after reaching the peak point V, the time required up to that time to
The product β · to of β and β is set as the subsequent heating time.

Then, when β ・ to time elapses, the relay 33,3
Deactivate 4 and stop heating. That is, cooking is completed.

Note that α and β are constants that are determined according to the type of food, the content of cooking, and the like.

In this way, the idle time from the end of the previous cooking to the cooking start operation is counted, and if the count time is short, a longer refresh time T is selected, so even if the previous cooking was a curry with a strong smell. The odor can be sufficiently and surely discharged before heating.

Therefore, at the time of heating, the gas sensor 19 can reliably detect the gas emitted from the food, and the heating does not unnecessarily prolong. That is, it is possible to prevent excessive heating, and it is possible to cook in a good condition.

In addition, in a situation where the heating chamber 4 is naturally ventilated due to a long counting time, a shorter refreshing time T is selected, that is, unnecessary refreshing is removed, so that the cooking time can be shortened. This is a breakthrough for microwave ovens that feature short cooking times.

In particular, not only the refresh time T based on the idle time but also the refresh time T according to the type of previous cooking is selected, and the shorter one of the selected refresh times T is selected as the true refresh time T. As a result, it is possible to perform an appropriate refresh that matches the situation and that does not waste, thus improving reliability.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the means for forcibly ventilating the heating chamber at the start of cooking, the means for counting the idle time from the end of the previous cooking, and the means for counting the count time The means for selecting the execution time of the forced ventilation, the means for storing the type of the previous cooking, the means for selecting the execution time of the forced ventilation according to the stored contents, and the shorter one of these selection execution times Since the means for selecting the true execution time is provided, the execution time of the forced ventilation can be set to the optimum state, which enables reliable gas detection and enables good cooking. In addition, it is possible to provide a highly reliable cooker that can shorten the cooking time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a main part of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the same embodiment, FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining automatic cooking of the microwave oven according to the embodiment and a conventional microwave oven. 1 ... main body, 4 ... heating chamber, 14 ... magnetron, 15 ...
… Blower fan, 19 …… Gas sensor, 32 …… Control section.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cooking device provided with a gas sensor for detecting gas emitted from food and automatically cooking according to the output of the gas sensor, means for forcibly ventilating the heating chamber at the start of cooking, and ending the previous cooking. Means for counting the idle time from, the means for selecting the execution time of the forced ventilation according to the count time, the means for storing the type of previous cooking, and the execution of the forced ventilation according to the stored contents A cooking device comprising means for selecting a time and means for selecting a shorter one of the selected execution times as a true execution time.