JPH0765748B2 - microwave - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a microwave oven, and more particularly, a normal heating cooking time is determined on the basis of an internal state detected by a cooking sensor. The present invention relates to a microwave oven in which an additional heating cooking time is calculated based on the additional heating cooking time and an instruction for an intermediate operation can be given during cooking.

(Prior Art) There is known a microwave oven capable of performing heating control based on an in-compartment state detected by a cooking sensor such as a gas sensor or a humidity sensor. In this type of microwave oven, the progress of cooking is estimated based on the output of the cooking sensor, and normal heating and cooking are performed from the start of heating until the sensor output reaches a predetermined value. Cooking is performed. Referring to FIG. 3, the sensor output is a predetermined value V _k
Assuming that the normal cooking time until reaching the temperature T1 is T1 and the additional heating cooking time is T2, the total heating time T0 required to finish the food in an appropriate cooking state is represented by T0 = T1 + T2.

The additional heating cooking time T2 is generally determined based on the normal heating cooking time T1, and is calculated using the formula T2 = N × T1 (N is a heating constant). The formula T2 = N × depending on the food
It is desirable to calculate the additional cooking time using (T1 + ΔT). The relationship between time T1 and time T2 according to these two types of equations is schematically shown in FIG.

By the way, it is known that it may be desirable for a user to perform some cooking operation (which is referred to as “intermediate operation” in the present specification) during the heating and cooking of the food in order to finish the food well. ing. As operations in the middle, "stir (STIR)", "rearrange (REARRANG
E) ”,“ TURN OVER ”,“ cover (SHI
ELD) ”,“ REMOVE ”, etc. In such a microwave oven capable of intermediate operation, heating and cooking of food is temporarily stopped at an appropriate time, and a notification sound or a panel display gives an instruction for intermediate operation. If the start key is pressed after performing an intermediate operation according to this instruction, heating is restarted and the remaining cooking is performed.

It is known that the timing of the midway operation instruction that has been conventionally performed is after the elapse of the normal cooking time T1, the elapse of the predetermined time A from the start of heating, and the elapse of B / B of the total heating time T0. Has been. Appropriate numerical values are set for the numerical values A and B depending on the food. At present, the instruction of the intermediate operation after the passage of B / th of the total heating time T0 is most commonly given, and among them, the instruction of the intermediate operation after the passage of 1/2 of the time T0. However, it is said to be most effective in finishing the cooking.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) When an instruction for such an intermediate operation is attempted in a conventional microwave oven that performs heating control using a cooking sensor, some problems occur. ing. This will be described for a case where additional heating cooking is performed at the time calculated using the formula T2 = N × (T1 + ΔT). In addition, it is assumed that the heating is automatically stopped at the timing of the instruction for the operation on the way and the instruction is displayed on the display device together with the output of the notification sound. Furthermore, it is assumed that the notification is given by the notification sound even when all the cooking is completed.

Since a negative integer value is usually set for ΔT, when T1 + ΔT ≦ 0 is derived from the normal cooking time T1,
The additional heating time T2 becomes 0. When the instruction for the midway operation is given after the elapse of the normal cooking time T1, the instruction for the midway operation is issued after the lapse of the time T1 even when the time T2 is zero. As a result, even if an operation is performed in accordance with the instruction, a notification sound for notifying the end of heating is output simultaneously with the start of heating thereafter, and the user is confused.

In the case of giving an instruction for an intermediate operation after the lapse of a predetermined time A, when the total heating time T0 becomes shorter than the time A, the instruction for the intermediate operation and the notification of the end of heating similarly occur continuously and The person is confused.

In addition, when the instruction of the midway operation is given after 1 / B of the total heating time T0, the normal cooking time T1 is T0 / B.
When the time is longer, an operation instruction is given midway at the end of normal cooking. If the calculated additional heating cooking time T2 is long, there is no problem, but if the time T2 is extremely short, for example T2 = 10 seconds, even if heating is restarted after an intermediate operation, heating will end immediately. It will be troublesome for the user.

The present invention has been made in view of such a current situation, and the purpose thereof is to use by instructing an intermediate operation and notifying the end of heating continuously or without delay. It is to provide a microwave oven that can avoid the confusion and annoyance of a person.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In the microwave oven of the present invention, the normal heating cooking time is determined based on the inside state detected by the cooking sensor, and the additional heating cooking time is determined based on the normal heating cooking time. A microwave oven that is calculated and can give an instruction for an intermediate operation during cooking, and when the additional heating cooking time after the intermediate operation is longer than a predetermined minimum time effective for cooking. Only, a means for deciding to give an instruction for the midway operation during the execution of the additional heating cooking is provided, thereby achieving the above object.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the determining means determines that an instruction for an intermediate operation is unnecessary when the calculated additional heating cooking time is shorter than a predetermined time, and the calculated additional heating cooking is performed. When the time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time, it is determined that the instruction for the intermediate operation is given at an appropriate time during the execution of the additional heating cooking including the start of the additional heating cooking.

(Examples) The present invention will be described below with reference to Examples.

A schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The microwave oven of FIG. 1 includes a cooking sensor 11 such as a gas sensor and a humidity sensor. The output of the cooking sensor 11 is input to the microcomputer 12 via an A / D converter (not shown) or the like. The microcomputer 12 also includes a keyboard 13 including a start key, a heating mode selection key, etc.
The signal from is input.

The microcomputer 12 is a well-known one, and has a CPU, R
It is equipped with AM and ROM. By executing the program written in the ROM, the CPU fetches data from the cooking sensor 11 and the keyboard 13, processes the fetched data, and the heating control relay 14 based on the processed data. It controls the display device 15, the alarm 16 and the like.

The heating control relay 14 adjusts the output of a microwave heater, a heater heater (not shown), etc. according to an instruction from the microcomputer 12. Further, the display device 15 displays the time, the remaining time until the end of heating, and the like, and the alarm device 16 notifies by a buzzer sound that an instruction for an intermediate operation, the end of heating, and the like.

The procedure for heating and cooking food in the microwave oven of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Second
The procedure shown in the flowchart of the drawing is for issuing an instruction for an intermediate operation at a time point of half the total heating time T0.

When the microcomputer 12 detects that the start key provided on the keyboard 13 has been pressed,
Heating control relay according to the instruction of the microcomputer 12
14 is activated, and cooking of food is started by the microwave heater or the like (steps S1 and S2). After starting cooking,
The elapsed time T1 from the start of heating and cooking is measured, and the output V _out of the cooking sensor 11 and the preset reference output V _k are compared (steps S3 to S5). The measurement and the output comparison of the time T1 are continued until the output V _out of the cooking sensor 11 exceeds the reference output V _k . Output V of cooking sensor 11
_It is generally assumed that _out increases with time from the start of cooking as shown in FIG. 3, and the value of V _out reflects the cooking status of food. The reference output V _k corresponds to the cooking status of food suitable for shifting from normal cooking to additional cooking.

When the output V _out of the cooking sensor 11 exceeds the reference output V _k , the elapsed heating time from the start of heating and cooking up to this point is taken as the normal cooking time T1, and the additional heating cooking time T2 is expressed by the formula N × (T1 + Δ
T) is used to calculate (step S6).

The calculated additional heating cooking time T2 is first compared with 0 (step S7). When the additional heating cooking time T2 is 0 or less, the additional heating cooking is not performed, and the heating cooking of the food ends (step S13). When the additional heating and cooking are not performed in this way, the heating and cooking are all completed without issuing an operation instruction on the way. As a result, it is possible to avoid the situation where the heating is finished immediately after the heating is restarted after the intermediate operation.

If the additional heating cooking time T2 is greater than 0, it is determined whether the time T2 is less than the predetermined time TA (step S
8).

The time TA indicates the minimum heating and cooking time after the intermediate operation required for the additional heating and cooking after the intermediate operation to exert a sufficient effect, and is preferably set to about 30 seconds. In general, it has been found that the mid-course operation is effective when additional heat cooking is performed for about 30 seconds or more after that. Therefore, for example, in the case of cooking food in which the total heating time T0 is 3 minutes, suppose that an intermediate operation is instructed after 2 minutes 15 seconds of normal heating cooking, and then 45 seconds of additional heating cooking are performed. In the case of mid-operation, it is effective, but if heating is finished immediately after the mid-operation or heating is performed for 30 seconds or less,
The effect of the intermediate operation on the finish of cooking is small and will only annoy the user.

When the time T2 is smaller than the time TA, the additional heating cooking is executed subsequent to the normal heating cooking without giving an instruction for an intermediate operation (steps S10 to S12). In the additional heating cooking period, the calculated additional heating cooking time T2 is gradually reduced, and the heating ends when the time T2 reaches 0 (step S13). In this way, even when the additional heating cooking time T2 is short, no instruction for an intermediate operation is issued. Therefore,
The inconvenience that the heating ends in a short time when the heating is restarted by performing an operation on the way is eliminated. In such a case, even if you forcibly intervene in the middle operation, the heating and cooking time required after that is not secured, so the effect of the middle operation is small, and even if you omit the middle operation, cooking will be hindered. Absent.

When the time T2 is equal to or longer than the time TA, the additional heating cooking time T2 and the normal heating cooking time T1 are compared (step S9). If time T2 is less than time T1, microcomputer 12
The heating is stopped by the command (step S14). Also,
The alarm 16 notifies the operation instruction on the way by a buzzer sound, and the operation instruction on the display is displayed on the display device 15 (steps S15 and S16).

After performing the operation on the way, the user presses the start key (step S17). Then, the additional heating cooking is performed based on the calculated additional heating cooking time T2 (step S11).
~ S13). The additional heating cooking time T2 at this time continues for time TA or more (for example, 30 seconds or more). As a result, a sufficient cooking time can be secured after the intermediate operation.

Originally, when half of the total cooking time T0 (= T1 + T2) has passed, the instruction for the intermediate operation should be issued.
Since the time T0 cannot be known until the normal cooking is completed, for convenience, an instruction for an intermediate operation is given after the completion of the normal cooking.

When time T2 exceeds time T1, that is, normal cooking time T1
When the additional heating cooking time T2 is longer than that, the total heating cooking time T0 is calculated, and the additional heating cooking is started (steps S18 to S19). During the additional heating cooking period, the countdown of the time T2 and the countup of the time T1 are continued until the time T1 reaches half of the total cooking time T0 (steps S20 to S22).

After that, the heating is stopped, and an instruction for an intermediate operation is given by the operation of the alarm 16 and the display device 15 (step S1
4 ~ S16). When an intermediate operation is performed according to this command and the start key is pressed (step S17), the remaining additional cooking is performed (steps S10 to S13). The remaining additional cooking time is T0 × (1-1 / 2), and the food can undergo ideal T0 × 1/2 heating after the intermediate operation.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the additional heating cooking time T2 is the predetermined time TA (for example, 30 seconds) or less, the instruction for the intermediate operation is not issued. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the heating ends immediately after the operation is performed to restart the heating and the user is confused. Further, in such a case, even if an intermediate operation is intervened, the effect on the finish of the cooking is weak, so that even if the intermediate operation is omitted, the adverse effect on the cooking surface does not substantially occur.

When the time to give instructions for mid-course operation is generally set to 1 / B of the total cooking time T0, instead of comparing time T2 and time T1 in the flowchart of FIG. 2 (step S9) Then, the time T1 and the time T0 × 1 / B may be compared.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, it is possible to omit an intermediate operation that does not make much sense to the finish of food, the operability is improved, and the heating ends immediately after the intermediate operation. There is provided a microwave oven capable of avoiding the situation of giving a. The microwave oven of the present invention can select an appropriate intervention time depending on the progress of cooking of food, especially when instructing an operation on the way, and makes the finished state of food good.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a heating time in a microwave oven and an output of a cooking sensor. FIG. 4 is a graph for explaining the relationship and the heating control using the output, and FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the normal heating cooking time and the additional heating cooking time. 11 …… Cooking sensor, 12 …… Microcomputer, 13
...... Keyboard, 14 ...... Heating control relay, 15 …… Display device, 16 …… A notification device.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A normal heating cooking time is determined on the basis of a state of the inside of the refrigerator detected by a cooking sensor, and a supplementary heating cooking time is calculated on the basis of the normal heating cooking time. A microwave oven capable of giving an instruction, and when the additional heating cooking time after the halfway operation is longer than a minimum predetermined time effective for cooking, the additional heating cooking is performed during the additional heating cooking. A microwave oven equipped with a means for deciding to give instructions for mid-operation. 2. The determining means determines that an instruction for an intermediate operation is unnecessary when the calculated additional heating cooking time is shorter than the predetermined time, and the calculated additional heating cooking time is 2. The microwave oven according to claim 1, wherein when the predetermined time or more, it is determined to give an instruction for an intermediate operation at an appropriate time during the execution of the additional heating cooking including the start of the additional heating cooking.