JPH0349006B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Technical Field> The present invention relates to a heater such as a microwave oven that has a heating means such as a heater, and particularly relates to control that enables automatic heating depending on the type of object to be heated. .

<Conventional technology> Conventional microwave ovens with heaters have a function called "automatic heating", which is equipped with a humidity sensor, etc., to detect the steam generated by heating the object, and utilizes changes in the sensor output. It is well known that there is a function to perform automatic finishing control by using automatic finishing control, and that it is widely used.

When heating a grill, humidity sensors and other devices are used to automatically heat the typical grill menu items such as ``gratin'' and ``salt-grilled fish.''Each menu key is arranged on a key sheet on the operation panel. It was set up. The user selects a menu by pressing a key corresponding to each menu. However, the large number of keys is cumbersome for the user and has the disadvantage that it is easy to make mistakes in operation.

<Purpose> In view of the above, the present invention recognizes and judges typical grilled dishes such as "gratin" and "grilled fish with salt" based on changes in the output of a container detection sensor, and automatically optimizes the finish for each menu. The object of the present invention is to provide a heater that can be controlled.

<Example> An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic structure of a microwave oven which is an embodiment of the present invention. This microwave oven as a heater has a heater 1 installed in a heating chamber 5 so as to be height adjustable, an adjustment drive device 2 for adjusting the height of the heater 1, and a bottom plate 5a of the heating chamber 5. A mounting plate 3 is rotatably supported on the top around a rotating shaft 8, and a rotational drive device 9 for rotationally driving the mounting plate 3 is provided to control the adjustment drive device 2 and the rotational drive device 9. Also provided is a control device 10 that controls the heating means 1A such as the heater 1 and the magnetron 4.

A plurality of container detection sensors 11 are arranged in the vertical direction on the wall of the heating chamber 5 to detect the type of the object to be heated 7 contained in the container 7A in the heating chamber 5. That is, the container 7A differs depending on the type of the object to be heated 7 to be cooked. For example, in the case of gratin for grill heating, a gratin dish 7a as shown in FIG. 5a is used.
In the case of grilled fish and salt, it refers to the cooking net 7b as shown in Figure 4a. This cooking net 7b has three legs and is a special accessory used to drip oil when grilling fish during grill heating. Further, the control device 10 drives the rotary drive device 9 to rotate the mounting tray 3 by 180 degrees or more, and outputs the output signal of the container detection sensor 11 and a signal pattern stored in advance depending on the type of the container 7A, etc. It has a function of comparing the cooking type of the object 7 to be heated and outputting a signal for controlling the heating means 1A.

The container detection sensor 11 is an optical sensor, and consists of a light emitting element 12 and a light receiving element 13. The light emitting element 12 is interposed between one side wall of the heating chamber 5 and the heater main body 14 that houses the heating chamber 5. The heating chambers 5 are arranged in the vertical direction and are located at the same position as the light emitting elements 12.
A plurality of small holes 15 are formed in the side wall of. The light receiving element 13 is arranged on the outside of the other side wall of the heating chamber 5 facing the light emitting element 12 in correspondence with the position (height) of the light emitting element 12, and a small hole 16 is formed in the side wall of the heating chamber 5. has been done.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the microwave oven, and the light receiving element 13 and the light emitting element 12 are connected to the rotating shaft 8 of the mounting tray
are arranged opposite to each other in point-symmetrical positions with respect to the axis A of the two. As the light emitting element 12, an oven lamp or a light emitting diode is used. The light receiving element 13 is composed of a phototransistor (a photodiode or the like may also be used) as shown in FIG. 3, and the emitter side of each light receiving element 13 is connected to the base side of a transistor 18. 18 is ON, transistor 1
The collector voltage of the transistor 8 is at L level (OV), and when no light enters, the collector voltage of transistor 18 is connected to be at H level (+Vc). The signal level of each transistor 18 is then sent to the interface 22 of the main control circuit 21 of the control device 10.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, an exhaust duct 19 is provided outside the heating chamber 5, and a humidity sensor is installed in the exhaust duct 19 to detect steam generated when the object 7 to be heated is heated in the heating chamber 5. 20 are provided,
The output of the humidity sensor 20 is sent to the A/D converter 2.
The signal is input to the interface 22 of the main control circuit 21 of the control device 10 via 0A, and the finished condition of the object to be heated 7 is detected by the input signal of the humidity sensor 20.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a control device, and the control device 10 includes a main control circuit 2 that controls the heater heating device B, the high frequency heating device C, and the rotation drive device
1 (microcomputer) and the main control circuit 2
1, selection key 23A and cooking start key 2 to select microwave heating, oven heating, and grill heating.
The setting device 23 outputs a signal such as 3B, and the setting device 23 and the main control circuit 21 are connected via an interface 22.

The adjustment drive device 2 includes a DC motor 24;
It is composed of a motor control circuit (IC) 25 that controls the motor to forward, reverse, and stop.
Forward/reverse rotation and stop signals are provided by interface 22.
It is output from the main control circuit 21 via.

The rotation drive device 9 is a mounting plate drive motor 26.
, a relay switch 27a that turns on/off the motor 26, a relay coil 27b that operates the relay switch 27a, and a transistor 28 that drives the relay coil 27b with the output signal of the main control circuit 21. The relay switch 27a is connected to a power plug 30 via a door switch 29.

The heater heating device B includes a heater 1 and a relay switch 31a that controls ON/OFF of the heater 1.
, a relay coil 31b that operates the relay switch 31a, and a transistor 32 that drives the relay coil 31b by the output signal of the main control rotation 21.
1a connects the power plug 30 via the door switch 29
It is connected to the.

The high-frequency heating device C also includes an oscillation circuit 36 including a magnetron 4, a resonant capacitor 33, a diode 34, a transformer 35, etc., a relay switch 37a that conducts to the oscillation circuit, and a relay coil 37b that operates the relay switch 37a.
and a transistor 38 that drives the relay coil 37b by the output signal of the main control circuit 21, and the primary side of the transformer 35 and the relay switch 3
7a is the power plug 30 via the door switch 29
It is connected to the.

Next, the operation will be explained. First, when the grill key of the selection keys 23A of the setting device 23 is pressed and the heating start key 23B is pressed without selecting a menu, the main control circuit 21 operates the tray drive relay coil 31b and closes the relay switch 27a. , rotate the mounting plate 3.

Next, if the light emitting element 12 is caused to emit light and there are multiple outputs of the transistor 18 that change according to the input of the light receiving element 13, that many signals will be sent at the "L" level or "H" level. , read into the main control circuit 21.

Figure 4 shows the actual object to be heated 7 (fish) being placed on the cooking net 7b.
2 is a schematic diagram (Figure a) when the device is mounted on a circuit board and operated, and a diagram (Figure b) showing the output of the transistor 18 at that time. As shown in FIG. 4, the top three light receiving elements reach the light receiving element 13 without the heated object 7 blocking the light from the emitting element 12, so the output of the transistor 18 becomes "L" level. Further, the light does not reach the fourth light receiving element 13 from the top, and the output of the transistor 18 in the shaded portion becomes "H" level. The lowermost light receiving element 13 is affected by the legs of the cooking grid and is irradiated with light or not irradiated by the rotation of the placing plate 3, so its output changes between "L" and "H" levels.

FIG. 5a shows the actual cooking of gratin, in which the cooking grid 7b is not necessary, and instead, the object to be heated 7 is placed in the container 7a, and the container 7a is placed directly on the placing plate 3. and cook. In this case, each output of the light receiving element 13 is as shown in FIG. 5b, and only the lowest light receiving element becomes "H" level.

If the output of the lowest light-receiving element is intermittent, the main control circuit 21 determines that the menu uses the cooking grid 7b for "salt-grilled fish," and if the output is constant at the "H" level, the main control circuit 21 determines that it is cooking gratin. can. Based on this judgment, the level Vs of the humidity sensor 20 suitable for "Ono Shioyaki" is determined. Similarly, for gratin, choose Vg. These Vs and Vg are the levels of the humidity sensor 20 for optimal microwave heating for each menu.

The main control circuit 21 sends a signal to the control circuit 25 of the adjustment drive device 2, rotates the DC motor 24, lowers the heater 2, and when the heater reaches a certain height, the main control circuit 21 controls the stop signal in the same manner as described above. The signal is output to the circuit 25 and the motor 24 is stopped. Then, turn on the relay coil 38b and switch the relay switch 37a.
is closed and the magnetron 4 is oscillated to heat it. The humidity sensor 20 detects the steam generated from the heated object 7.
The output is input to the main control circuit 21 via the A/D converter 20A, and microwave heating is performed until the detection level is reached.

As mentioned above, the detection level differs depending on Vg, Vs and the type of each heated object 7, so conventionally the setting device 2
3 (operation panel) had individual keys (gratin key, salt-grilled fish key), but in the present invention, since the recognition was made as described above, the heating is performed according to the judgment, and when the detection level is reached, the relay switch 37a is activated.
Turn off and stop microwave heating.

Next, the main control circuit 21 controls the heater relay coil 3
1b, the relay switch 31a is activated, the heater 2 is turned on, and grill heating is performed so that the object to be heated 7 is scorched. Then, after a certain period of time has passed, heating is stopped and heater 1 is automatically returned to its original position (upper).
The main control circuit 21 sends a signal to the Moser control circuit 25 to return it to .

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that many modifications and changes can be made to the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention. For example, in this embodiment, the container detection sensor 11 is an optical sensor, but a sensor that utilizes reflection of ultrasonic waves or the like may also be used.

<Effects> As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides a mounting plate that is rotatably supported within a heating chamber, a rotational drive device for rotationally driving the mounting plate, and a mounting plate that is mounted on the mounting plate. The heating chamber includes a heating means for heating an object to be heated in a container, and a control device for controlling the heating means, and a container detection sensor for detecting the type of the container is provided in a vertical direction of the wall of the heating chamber. A plurality of containers are arranged, and the control device compares a signal pattern output from the plurality of container detection sensors as the placement tray rotates with a signal pattern stored in advance depending on the type of container. It has a function of determining the cooking type of the heated object and controlling the heating means.

Therefore, according to the present invention, typical grilled dishes such as ``gratin'' and ``grilled fish with salt'' are recognized and judged based on changes in the output of the container detection sensor, and automatically controlled to achieve the optimal finish for each menu. Gain,
Previously, multiple operation keys were required for each cooking such as ``salt-grilled fish'' or ``gratin'', but now it can be done with a single key, making operations simpler and more automated, and eliminating the possibility of pressing the wrong operation key. It is said to be effective in preventing it.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a front view showing a schematic structure of a microwave oven which is an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a control device, Figs. 4a and 5. Fig. 4a is a schematic diagram when the object to be heated is actually placed on a mounting plate and operated, Fig. 4b and Fig. 5b are diagrams showing the output of the transistor at that time, and Fig. 6 is a control flow chart. It is. 1A: heating means, 1: heater, 2: adjustment drive device, 3: mounting plate, 4: magnetron, 5: heating chamber, 5a: bottom plate, 7: object to be heated, 7A: container, 7
a: gratin dish, 7b: cooking net, 8: rotating shaft,
9: Rotation drive device, 10: Control device, 11: Container detection sensor, 19: Exhaust duct, 20: Humidity sensor, 21: Main control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A mounting plate rotatably supported in a heating chamber,
a rotational drive device for rotationally driving the mounting plate;
The apparatus includes a heating means for heating an object to be heated in a container placed on the placing plate, and a control device for controlling the heating means, and detects the type of the container in the vertical direction of the wall of the heating chamber. A plurality of container detection sensors are arranged, and the control device detects a signal pattern output from the plurality of container detection sensors as the placement plate rotates, and a signal pattern stored in advance depending on the type of container. 1. A heater characterized in that it has a function of comparing the cooking type of the object to be heated and controlling the heating means.