JPH048687B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a cooking appliance with a scale that has a scale for measuring the weight of food to be cooked and that performs cooking using the measured value of the scale as a control element. .

[Technical Background of the Invention and Problems Therewith] Conventionally, in this type of cooking device, for example, a microwave oven, the amount of food to be cooked depends on the weight of the food to be cooked measured with a weighing scale and the type of cooking (which is entered in advance using a key). The optimal cooking time is determined from the conditions shown in FIG. 1, and cooking is performed for the determined cooking time.
However, cooking using only such time control has a problem in that the quality of cooking varies depending on the initial temperature of the food to be cooked. Occasionally, in the case of oven cooking (for example, making a cake using eggs) due to the heat generated by the heater, the variation was noticeable.

Therefore, when cooking in a microwave oven using high frequency, the steam emitted from the food to be cooked,
There is a system in which the amount of gas such as smoke or odor is detected by a gas sensor, and the timing at which cooking ends is determined according to a change in the output voltage of the gas sensor.
However, in this case, there is a problem in that the cooking quality varies depending on the weight of the food to be cooked.

Furthermore, in a microwave oven equipped with a weighing scale, a mechanically movable sensor is used for the weighing scale, but this mechanically movable sensor has the disadvantage of being large and heavy. In other words, the weighing scale itself has become larger, and the locations where it can be installed are limited, resulting in an unbalanced overall microwave oven and poor usability. Furthermore, mechanically movable sensors have the disadvantage that detection errors may occur due to vibrations of the microwave oven body or the installation location, and may also occur due to uneven loads due to the placement of the food to be cooked.

[Objective of the invention] This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to cook food without being affected by the initial temperature of the food to be cooked, and moreover, regardless of the type and weight of the food to be cooked. To provide a cooking device with a weighing scale capable of always performing stable cooking without variation without being affected by the weight.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention includes a weighing scale that measures the weight of food to be cooked, a gas sensor that detects gas such as steam generated from the food as cooking progresses, and an output voltage output from the gas sensor. a control unit that determines the end timing of cooking when the peak value changes by a value corresponding to the change coefficient α after reaching the peak value; The feature is that the setting is based on the measured value of the weighing scale.

[Embodiment of the Invention] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 2, in a and b, 1 is the main body of a cooking device such as a microwave oven, and on the front side of this main body 1, a door 2 is pivotally supported so as to be freely openable and closable, and an operation panel 3 is provided.
is provided. A weighing scale storage chamber 4 is formed below the operation panel 3, and a weighing scale 5 using a strain gauge type load cell is stored in this storage chamber 4 so as to be freely drawn out. Main body 1 corresponding to the door 2 above
A heating chamber 6 is provided within the heating chamber 6, and a shelf 7 is provided within the heating chamber 6. An upper heater 8 and a lower heater 9 are further provided within the heating chamber 6. Further, a high frequency generator such as a magnetron 10 is provided on the back side of the ceiling surface of the heating chamber 6, and this magnetron 1
0 antenna 10a is introduced into heating chamber 6.
An exhaust port 11 is formed at the back of the ceiling surface of the heating chamber 6, and this exhaust port 11 communicates with an exhaust port 13 formed on the back surface of the main body 1 via an exhaust duct 12. Inside the exhaust duct 12, a temperature sensor such as a thermistor 14 for detecting the temperature in the heating chamber is disposed, and a gas sensor 15 for detecting the amount of various gases emitted from the food to be cooked is disposed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the operation panel 3 includes a digital display section 31, function selection keys 32,
A condition setting key 33, a number key 34, an automatic menu key 35, a cooking start key 36, a repeat cooking key 37, a cancel key 38, etc. are arranged in order from the upper part to the lower part.

FIG. 4 shows the control circuit. The weight scale 5 includes a strain gauge type load cell 51 and an input/output control circuit 52. When the food to be cooked is placed on the scale 5, a load is applied to the load cell 51, and the amount of displacement due to the load is converted into an electrical signal and supplied to the input/output control circuit 52. The input/output control circuit 52 processes the signal from the load cell 51 (amplification, AD conversion, etc.) and supplies it to the main control section 60 as a weighing scale measurement value signal. The main control unit 60 is composed of a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits, and sets cooking conditions according to key inputs from the operation panel 3 and measured values from the weighing scale 5, and detects the cooking conditions and the thermistor 14 and gas sensor 15. Control symmetrical block 7 according to the output
0 and executes cooking. The main control unit 60 also controls cooking time, heating room temperature,
The weight of the food to be cooked and the like are displayed on the digital display section 31 of the operation panel 3.

Note that a specific example of the load cell 51 and the input/output control circuit is shown in FIG.

Next, the operation in the above configuration will be explained.

Now, when cooking in a microwave using high frequency,
Various conditions for the cooking are input using keys on the operation panel 3. Furthermore, the weighing scale 5 is pulled out from the storage chamber 4 and the food to be cooked is placed thereon. Then, the weight of the food to be cooked is measured, and the measured value is stored in the main control unit 60. The food to be cooked on the weight scale 5 is then transferred to the shelf 7 in the heating chamber 6, and the door 2 is closed. When the cooking start key 36 of the operation panel 3 is turned on when preparations for cooking are completed in this way, the magnetron 10 is activated to supply high frequency waves into the heating chamber 6, and cooking is started.

When cooking starts, gas such as steam emitted from the food to be cooked is detected by the gas sensor 15.
As shown in FIG. 6, the gas sensor 15 outputs a voltage V _S at a level corresponding to the amount of gas. At this time, the main control unit 60 controls the output voltage of the gas sensor 15.
The cooking status is indirectly monitored by V _S.
The output voltage V _S starts to fall leaving a trace of the peak point V _Snax , which is the peak value, and when the change due to the fall becomes α・V _Snax (after to time), cooking ends at that timing. . In this case, the coefficient α of the variation α・V _Snax is shown in FIG. Set from conditions.

In this way, the cooking end timing is determined according to the change in the output voltage V _S of the gas sensor 15, and the change coefficient α of the output voltage V _S is set according to the type and weight of the food to be cooked. Since the end timing is corrected, it is not affected by differences in the initial temperature of the food to be cooked, and it is also not affected by variations in the detection characteristics of the gas sensor. It is possible to always perform stable cooking without variations without being affected by the

Next, when performing oven cooking using the heat generated by the upper heater 8 and the lower heater 9, various conditions for the cooking are inputted using keys on the operation panel 3, and the weight of the food to be cooked is measured using a weighing scale 5. In this case, the optimum heating chamber temperature is set from the conditions shown in FIG. The optimum cooking time is set based on the conditions shown in FIG. In this way, when cooking is started, the temperature in the heating chamber is maintained at the set temperature according to the temperature detected by the thermistor 14. Then, this cooking is performed for the above-mentioned set time. That is, it is possible to consistently and consistently cook food without being affected by the initial temperature of the food to be cooked, or by the type or weight of the food to be cooked.

By the way, the strain gauge type load cell 51 adopted in the weight scale 5 is lightweight and small, so
The weighing scale 5 is also made smaller, so that it can be incorporated into the lower part of the microwave oven body 1 as described above, and it is possible to eliminate the problem of the microwave oven itself becoming larger and having poor balance. Moreover, since the weighing scale 5 can be freely pulled out from the lower part of the main body 1, it has the advantage of improving usability and being less susceptible to heat generated by the heater. Furthermore, the strain gauge type load cell 51 has a high resolution, and therefore can measure minute amounts of weight, and can also be used as a normal scale. Furthermore, even if the food to be cooked is placed on one side, causing an uneven load, or even if the main body 1 is subjected to vibration, accurate weight measurement can be performed without being affected by this.

In the above embodiment, when cooking in the microwave, the cooking is finished at the timing when the change in the output voltage of the gas sensor 15 becomes α·V _Snax , but as shown in FIG. 9, the change in the output voltage becomes α·V. When it comes to _Snax ,
β・obtained by changing the coefficient β to the time up to that point
Finishing cooking may be continued for a period of time to. In this case, the high frequency output for finishing cooking is lowered to a medium level. Further, the coefficient β is set from the conditions shown in FIG. 10 depending on the type and weight of the food to be cooked. In this way, the best cooking can be achieved by continuously performing the finishing cooking and by changing the execution time of the finishing cooking depending on the type and weight of the food to be cooked.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the temperature of the food to be cooked is not affected by the initial temperature of the food to be cooked, nor is it affected by variations in the detection characteristics of the gas sensor. To provide a cooking utensil with a weighing scale that can always perform stable cooking without variation, regardless of type or weight.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing cooking time setting conditions in a conventional microwave oven with a weight scale, and Fig. 2 a and b show an embodiment of the present invention, where a is a perspective view of the external appearance and b is a diagram of the internal mechanism. 3 is a detailed configuration diagram of the operation panel in FIG. 2a, FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of the control circuit of the same embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a strain gauge type load cell and input/output in the same embodiment. A specific configuration diagram of the control circuit, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing changes in the output voltage of the gas sensor to explain the operation of the same embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a setting condition for the change coefficient of the output voltage of the gas sensor in the same embodiment. A diagram showing
Fig. 8 is a diagram showing the heating chamber temperature and cooking time setting conditions in the same embodiment, Fig. 9 is a diagram showing changes in the output voltage of the gas sensor to explain the operation of another embodiment, and Fig. 10 is a diagram showing other examples. It is a figure which shows the coefficient setting conditions of the finishing cooking time in Example. 1... Main body, 4... Weight scale storage chamber, 5... Weight scale, 51... Strain gauge type load cell, 6
... Heating chamber, 15 ... Gas sensor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A weighing scale that measures the weight of the food to be cooked, a gas sensor that detects gas such as steam generated from the food to be cooked as cooking progresses, and an output voltage output from the gas sensor. After reaching the peak value,
and a control unit that determines the end timing of cooking when the peak value changes by a value corresponding to the change coefficient α, and the control unit determines the change coefficient α based on the measured value of the weighing scale at the time of starting cooking. A cooking appliance with a weighing scale, which is characterized in that it can be set with a weight scale. 2. The cooking appliance with a weighing scale according to claim 1, wherein the weighing scale uses a strain gauge type load cell and is housed in a storage section formed in a lower part of the main body so as to be freely drawn out. 3. After determining the cooking end timing based on the output voltage from the gas sensor, the control unit controls the cooking to continue for a time obtained by multiplying the elapsed time by a coefficient β, and 2. The cooking device with a scale according to claim 1, wherein the coefficient β is set according to the measured value of the scale and the type of food to be cooked.