JPH0364775B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooking device that can automatically cook food to the optimum degree of cooking or desired doneness, regardless of the content of the cooking.

Although gas is explained here as a fuel,
It is also possible to use heat sources such as petroleum and electricity.

Structure of conventional example and its problems In recent years, with the advancement of cooking appliances, it has become possible to cook by various means. However, if the same food is cooked using a different heat source, the taste and texture will also differ. For example, electric rice cookers are popular as a means of cooking rice. The structure of an electric rice cooker detects the temperature at the bottom of a fixed pot, and when the temperature reaches a certain level, cooking is complete. With this configuration, the size of the pot (amount of rice) is fixed, so a large rice cooker is required to cook a large amount of rice. In addition, when cooking a small amount of rice in a large rice cooker or a large amount of rice in a small rice cooker, the finished temperature is fixed.
There was a problem that the cooking condition (soft or hard) would change.

Recently, in order to solve these problems, a method has been devised in which the temperature at the bottom of the pot is detected at any time as shown in Figure 1, and the temperature at which cooking is completed can be determined accurately regardless of the amount of rice being cooked or the size and type of the pot. ing. A signal from a sensor 2 installed on the gas burner 1 that detects the bottom temperature of the pot is sent to the controller 3, which receives the signal at a certain sampling period, performs calculations, controls the valve 4 that adjusts the gas amount, and completes cooking. Calculating temperature. When the sensor temperature reaches the rice cooking completion temperature, the controller 3 sends a closing signal to the valve 4. With this configuration, the cooking condition is fixed. Originally, cooking conditions, taste, etc. cannot be fixed, and a certain degree of freedom is required. Not only electric rice cookers, but also microwave ovens, ovens, and other devices can automatically cook food, but they have the problem that the cooking level remains constant and cannot be finely adjusted to the user's preference. For example, in order to control the amount of heating in a microwave oven, there is a timer that allows the user to set the heating time, but since the timer can be set freely regardless of the cooking content, it gives the user too much freedom. This has the problem that cooking failure may occur.

Purpose of the invention The present invention solves such conventional problems,
The purpose is to allow the user to cook to the desired level by installing a sensor on the cooker and a volume that can adjust the level of cooking depending on the content of the cooking.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve this object, the present invention includes a switch for setting cooking content on a cooker, a sensor for detecting the bottom temperature of the pot, a volume for setting the cooking level according to taste, and a sensor and a value for the volume. The system is equipped with a controller that controls the amount of heating depending on the amount of heat. The setting value range that can be set with this volume is
The value varies depending on the cooking content selected with the switch, and is at least within the range that does not cause cooking failures. This configuration has the effect of automatically cooking the food in a manner that matches the user's preference.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 2 shows an example of a gas cooker that uses gas as fuel. Functional parts 2 to 8 installed in the gas cooker 1 will be explained. The switch 8 for setting cooking contents is a selection switch for rice cooking or temperature adjustment. The sensor 2 is for detecting the bottom temperature of the pot. The volume 7 can variably set the degree of doneness of the cooking depending on the content of the dish selected with the switch 8. The controller 3 includes a boiling point detection section 5 that detects the degree of cooking based on the signal from the sensor 2 and determines the boiling point, and an addition section 6 that generates a cooking completion signal. The gas valve 4 adjusts the calorie based on a signal from the controller 3.

FIG. 3 shows the volume input circuit, and the procedure for changing the set value range will be described. Resistors 10 and 11 are provided to determine the set value range of the volume 9. The operational amplifier 12 performs impedance conversion to stabilize the output value of the volume. The A/D converter 13 converts analog values into digital values for input to the microcomputer 14. This input value is within the range determined by the resistors 10 and 11 as described above. Although this volume input value is constant, the set value range is changed by the microcomputer 14 in response to a signal from the switch 8 for selecting the cooking content. In this way, the set value range can be changed with one volume. Next, an example of cooking rice using the cooking content selection switch will be explained.

Figure 4 shows the sensor temperature characteristics during rice cooking. A is a specific temperature at which the temperature rise temporarily stops before boiling, and the boiling point detection temperature is determined by sampling the temperature slope several times from this point. Let B be the temperature at which the sensor temperature is below a certain ramp temperature and above the boiling point detection.
This temperature remains constant until there is only a small amount of water in the pot. When the amount becomes small, the temperature starts to rise. When the sensor temperature reaches temperature C, which is higher than point B by the volume setting value ΔT, close the gas valve. By making this volume setting value ΔT variable, cooking can be done to suit the user's preference.

Next, an example will be shown in which temperature adjustment to maintain a constant temperature is selected by the cooking selection switch. The setting range of the volume shifts to the range of the temperature itself, not the amount of change ΔT in temperature described above. The controller controls the sensor temperature to maintain it at the volume temperature.

With this configuration, using the cooking content setting switch and volume control, it is possible to automatically cook to the degree of cooking that suits the user's preference, and it is also possible to fine-tune the doneness, which was not possible before, making it extremely easy to use. . Here, the cooking content selection switch is used to change the set value range of the volume, but another switch for changing the volume width may be provided.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the cooking device of the present invention, the setting range of the volume can be changed by switching the switch according to the cooking content, so that automatic cooking can be performed with high precision and the cooking level desired by the user. This has the effect that the range of cooking conditions is wider than in the past, making it extremely user-friendly and convenient.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional cooker, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a volume input circuit diagram, and Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a temperature characteristic diagram when cooking rice. 1... Gas burner (heating means), 2... Sensor,
3... Controller, 7... Volume, 8...
Switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A switch for setting the cooking content, a heating means for heating the food, a sensor for detecting the temperature, a volume for setting the upper and lower limits of the degree of doneness of the cooking, a signal from the sensor, and the volume. a controller for controlling the heating means depending on the value of
The cooking device is configured so that the upper and lower limits of the volume value can be changed by setting the switch to adjust the degree of cooking depending on the content of the cooking.