JP3017897B2 - Apparatus for determining the amount of cooked food in a cooking device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for judging the quantity of food to be heated in a cooking device provided with a gas sensor for judging the quantity of the food to be heated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a microwave oven is provided with a gas sensor for detecting water vapor generated from a food to be heated, and the amount of the food to be heated is determined based on the detection result of the gas sensor. Now, an example of the determination method is shown in FIGS. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 8, Tα represents a time from when the heating and cooking is started until the rate of change in the amount of water vapor detected by the gas sensor reaches a certain value. The state of generation of water vapor shows characteristics according to the amount of the food to be heated, and the higher the rate of change, the smaller the amount of the food to be heated. Therefore,
Time Tα until the rate of change of the detected amount of water vapor reaches a constant value
Is shorter as the amount of the food to be heated is smaller.

FIG. 8 shows a case where the object to be heated is rice, and Ka and Kb are the values shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the first and second reference values are used to determine whether the amount of rice is one cup equivalent, two cups equivalent, or three cups equivalent. In this case, the first reference value Ka is set to 70 seconds, and the second reference value Kb is set to 100 seconds.
Set to seconds. As can be understood from the flowchart of FIG. 8, if the time Tα is equal to or less than the first reference value Ka (“YES” in step G1), it is determined that the amount of rice is the amount of one teacup ( (Step G2) If it exceeds the first reference value Ka and is equal to or less than the second reference value Kb (“NO” in step G1 and “YE” in step G3)
S ") is determined to be the amount for two cups (step G4),
If it exceeds the second reference value Kb ("N" in step G3)
O ") is determined to be the amount of three cups (step G
5). After that, the remaining cooking time is determined based on the determination result, and the cooking is executed.

The above-mentioned reference values Ka and Kb are determined in consideration of the amount of water vapor generated for one cup, two cups and three cups when the rice is at room temperature. In FIG. 9, data of the time Tα for each amount when rice is at room temperature is indicated by a symbol “•”. in this case,
It can be understood that each amount of rice is almost accurately determined by the reference values Ka and Kb.

[0005]

However, recently,
Rice is often stored in a refrigerator and then transferred to a bowl and heated in a microwave oven. In this case, since the temperature of the rice is lower than the normal temperature, the degree of steam generation is low, that is, the rate of change becomes slow. In this case, the above-mentioned time Tα becomes long, and as shown by the symbol “△” in FIG. 9, in the case of one cup of rice or two cups of rice, each of the reference values Ka and Kb is greatly exceeded, and the amount of rice There is a problem of incorrectly determining In this case, the determination of the remaining cooking time is inaccurate, and the finish of cooking is deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to accurately determine the amount of a food to be heated even if the state of the food to be heated varies, and It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for determining the amount of food to be cooked in a heating cooker, which can contribute to improved control.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for judging an object to be heated in a cooking device, comprising: a gas sensor for detecting water vapor generated from the object to be heated; and a shape or arrangement of the object to be heated. And a first reference value set to the minimum amount determination level and a second reference value set to the maximum amount determination level, and the detection result of the gas sensor is compared with these two reference values. Primary determination means for determining the minimum amount and the maximum amount of the food to be heated, and the detection of the food to be heated based on the detection result of the shape sensor when the detection result by the gas sensor is between the two reference values. And secondary determining means for determining the amount.

In this case, the primary determining means and the secondary determining means may determine the quantity of the food to be heated.

[0009]

When the amount of water vapor of the object to be heated is detected by a gas sensor and the detection result of the gas sensor is compared with a certain reference value to determine the amount, weight or quantity of the amount of the object to be heated, By setting the value as large as possible, it is possible to detect the maximum amount with a small error, and by setting the reference value as small as possible, it is possible to detect the minimum amount with a small error.

In this way, the above-described maximum amount and minimum amount can be determined satisfactorily. However, in the intermediate region between the maximum amount and the minimum amount, the gas sensor detects the state of the object to be heated. It is feared that the judgment becomes unclear due to the difference between the two. In this case, the determination of the intermediate region is
If a shape sensor is used instead of a gas sensor, it can be considered that the shape and arrangement of the object to be heated and the size of the object to be heated can be accurate to some extent.

However, according to the means of the present invention, the primary determination means includes a first reference value set to the minimum amount fixed level as a determination reference value for the detection result of the gas sensor;
A second reference value set to the maximum amount fixed level,
Since the detection result of the gas sensor is compared with these two reference values to determine the minimum amount and the maximum amount of the food to be heated, the maximum amount and the minimum amount of the food to be heated can be determined without error. .

When the detection result of the gas sensor is between the two reference values, the secondary determination means determines the amount of the article to be heated based on the detection result of the shape sensor. The determination of the amount of food to be heated can be satisfactorily determined instead of the gas sensor.

[0013] In this case, if the primary determination means and the secondary determination means determine the quantity of the food to be heated among the quantities of the food to be heated, unlike the determination of the weight or the capacity, it is difficult to use. The quantity judgment is easy for the user to understand.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, a basic configuration is schematically described in FIG. A cooking chamber 2 is formed inside the housing 1, and a rotating dish 3 on which a food to be heated is placed is disposed inside the cooking chamber 2. The magnetron 4 oscillates microwaves and supplies the microwaves into the cooking chamber 2 to cook the object to be heated. The magnet 4 includes a driving unit 5 having a high-voltage transformer, a voltage doubler
The driving unit 5 is supplied with power 7 by a relay 6. The relay 7 is turned on and off by a control circuit 8 including a microcomputer.
That is, the driving of the magnetron 4 is controlled by the control circuit 8.

The gas sensor 9 detects water vapor generated from the food to be heated, and the detection result is provided to the control circuit 8 through the sensor circuit 10. Further, the shape sensor 11 is formed of, for example, a transmission type optical sensor having a light emitting element 11a and a light receiving element 11b, and the detection result is provided to the control circuit 8 via the sensor circuit 12. Shape sensor 1
1 outputs a high-level detection signal (a voltage of about 3 V) as shown in FIG.
When the object to be heated is not detected, a low-level detection signal is output. Note that a switch operation unit 13 and a display unit 14 are provided as peripheral devices of the control circuit 8.

The control circuit 8 performs overall cooking control and functions as a primary determination means and a secondary determination means. The control contents of the control circuit 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. State. Now, this flowchart shows the amount determination and the cooking rate control in the case where the “warm rice” cooking is performed. In the present embodiment, the amount of rice (the amount of one bowl, the amount of two bowls, or the three bowls) Is determined. When the “warm rice” course switch in the switch operation unit 13 is operated, and the “weak” switch, the “standard” switch, or the “strong” switch is operated, and then the start switch is operated, The flowchart shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 starts.

First, in step S1, a cleaning operation is performed in which a fan (not shown) is driven for a predetermined time to discharge air from the cooking chamber 2. Then, the magnetron 4 is driven, and a turntable driving motor (not shown) is energized to rotate the rotating plate 3 to start cooking (step S2). Next, a detection signal from the gas sensor 9 (this is output as a voltage signal V) Is read) and the time Tα
Is started (step S3). The gas sensor 9 outputs a lower voltage as a larger amount of water vapor is detected.

Thereafter, steps S4 to S6
As shown in FIG. That is, the detection signal V read at this time is the maximum value V at this time.
max (initial value “0”) is determined, and if the detection signal V is large, the detection signal V is set to the maximum value Vm.
ax is updated, and the rate of change Δ is cleared (step S5). If the detection signal V is smaller than the maximum value Vmax, a change rate Δ is calculated (step S6).
The rate of change Δ is determined by Δ = (Vmax−V) / Vmax.

In step S7, the change rate Δ
Is greater than or equal to a set reference value α (“0.05” in this case), and if it exceeds, the time Tα required so far is stored (step S8). The time Tα is an index indicating that the shorter the time Tα, the smaller the amount of rice. This time T
The reference values for α include a first reference value K1 and a second reference value K2. K1 is set to the one cup determination level, which is the minimum amount determination level, and is set to "60 seconds" as shown in FIG. Further, K2 is set to the three-cup determination level, which is the maximum amount determination level, and “120” is set.
Seconds ".

In step S9, it is determined whether the time Tα is equal to or less than the first reference value K1. At this time, if it is below, it is determined that the rice is “one cup” (step S10), and if not, it is determined whether or not the time Tα exceeds the second reference value K2 (step S1).
1). If it exceeds, it is determined that the rice is "3 cups" (step S12).

However, if the time Tα is not less than the first reference value K1 and does not exceed the second reference value K2, that is, if the time Tα is equal to the first reference value K1 and the second reference value K2, If so, the arrangement of the bowl is determined based on the detection signal from the shape sensor 11 to determine the quantity of rice, as shown in steps S13 to S18. First, in step S13, the shape sensor 11
, The detection signal is read out, and whether the output pattern of the detection signal is pattern 1 (step S14) or
Is determined (step S16). Pattern 1
Is an output pattern of the detection signal shown in FIG.
In this output pattern, as shown in FIG.
Appears when a cup is contained. In this case, the detection signal is a pattern in which the high level continues while the rotating plate 3 makes one rotation. When two cups of rice are stored (FIG. 6)
The output pattern of the detection signal in (b) is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a pattern in which the low level appears twice during one rotation of the rotating plate 3 is obtained. These patterns 1 and 2 are stored in the control circuit 8 as data. The output pattern of the detection signal when three cups of rice are stored (see FIG. 6C) is a pattern in which the low level appears three times during one rotation of the rotating plate 3 as shown in FIG. 7C. Becomes

When the output pattern of the detection signal from the shape sensor 11, which is a guide for determining the arrangement form, is the pattern 1, it is determined to be "one cup" (step S15), and when the output pattern is the pattern 2, it is determined to be "two cups". (Step S17), otherwise, "3 glasses" is determined (step S18). These determination results are used for setting the remaining cooking time. That is, after the execution of these determinations, the cooking continuation reference value Q and the remaining time constant β are determined (step S19). As shown in the table below, the reference value Q for cooking continuation and the remaining time constant β are set by the above-described determination result and the strength of cooking (either the “weak” switch, the “standard” switch, or the “strong” switch. Strength).

[0023]

[Table 1] Thereafter, cooking is performed until the rate of change Δ (calculated in step S20) exceeds the reference value Q (determined in step S21). Thereafter, the remaining cooking time Tβ is determined by the time value Tα and the constant β. When the determined time Tβ elapses (steps S23, S24 and S25), the operation of the magnetron 4 and other components is stopped, and the cooking is terminated (step S26).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the control circuit 8
Is a first reference value K1 set to a minimum amount determination level (one rice determination level) as a determination reference value for a detection result of the gas sensor 9 (time Tα until a predetermined change rate is reached). And a second reference value set to a maximum amount determination level (three-rice rice determination level). The detection result of the gas sensor 11 is compared with these two reference values K1 and K2 to determine the minimum quantity of rice. (1 cup) and the maximum quantity (3 cups) are determined, so that the determination result is accurate.

When the detection result Tα of the gas sensor 8 is between the two reference values K1 and K2, the secondary determination means in the control circuit 8 determines the detection result of the shape sensor 11 (the output pattern of the detection signal). Since the quantity of rice is determined based on this, the determination of the quantity of rice in the intermediate region can be favorably determined instead of the gas sensor 9. Here, it is conceivable to detect the quantity of rice using only the shape sensor 11, but the shape sensor 11 is suitable for roughly determining the amount of the food to be heated, but is not suitable for detecting finely. Therefore, all the judgment results are rough.

In this respect, in this embodiment, the first reference value K1 and the second reference value K2 for the detection result of the gas sensor 9 (the time Tα until the predetermined rate of change is reached) are defined as a one-cup rice determination level and a By lowering (pulling) up to the three-cup fixed level, the determination result of the gas sensor 9 is always accurate, and the detection result of the shape sensor 11 is determined only between them, so that the whole area of the rice quantity is Can be improved in comparison with the case where is determined by the shape sensor 11.

In particular, according to this embodiment, the amount of rice (weight,
(Volume and quantity), the quantity of rice is determined, so that the rice is put into the cooking chamber 2 together with the bowl and matches the actual use of cooking.
Unlike the determination of the weight or the capacity, the amount is determined to be easily understood by the user in actual use.

The shape sensor is not limited to an optical sensor, but may be an ultrasonic sensor or the like. Further, the shape sensor is not limited to the arrangement of the food to be heated, and may detect the shape and size of the food to be heated itself. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0029]

As apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if the state of the food to be heated varies, the amount of the food to be heated can be accurately determined, which contributes to improvement in cooking control.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by determining the quantity of the food to be heated among the quantities of the food to be heated, it matches the actual use, and differs from the determination of the weight and the capacity in the use. The quantity judgment is easy for the user to understand.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing control contents.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing control contents.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing control contents.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a first reference value K1 and a second reference value K2.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of arrangement of rice;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an output pattern of a detection signal of a shape sensor.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 4 denotes a magnetron, 8 denotes a control circuit (primary determination means, secondary determination means), 9 denotes a gas sensor, and 11 denotes a shape sensor.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F24C 7/02 325 F24C 7/02 335

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A gas sensor for detecting water vapor generated from a food to be heated, a shape sensor for detecting a shape or an arrangement of the food to be heated, a first reference value set to a minimum amount determination level, and A primary determination means having a second reference value set to a maximum amount determination level and determining a minimum amount and a maximum amount of the food to be heated by comparing the detection result of the gas sensor with these two reference values; When the detection result of the gas sensor is between the two reference values, a secondary determination unit that determines the amount of the food to be heated based on the detection result of the shape sensor. A device for judging the amount of food to be cooked. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the primary judging means and the secondary judging means judge the quantity of the food to be heated.