JPS5915729A - Cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need for timer operation and consequently simplify the operation by a structure wherein at first the form of foodstuff is recognized and then heating conditions are automatically set based upon the recognized result and a foodstuff selection signal in an electronic cooker or the like. CONSTITUTION:The foodstuff 7 on a turntable 8 is taken its picture by a CCD type area sensor 17 and an optical system 16, both of which are provided above an oven 6 and the picture is converted into electric eignals and inputted to a main control unit 19. The foodstuff selection signal inputted from a foodstuff selection key board unit 2 and said form recognition signals are compared with memory data by the main control unit 19 so as to decide the required heating conditions and to turn ON a triac 12 in order to oscillate a magnetron 10 and at the same time to start to count down the heating time. Due to the structure as mentioned above, the operation is simplified and the stable cooking can be resulted.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention provides a method for recognizing the shape Y of food placed in a heating chamber,
A cooking appliance such as a microwave oven that automatically determines heating conditions based on the recognition results.

[Technical background of the invention and differences]

In general, for example, in cooking appliances such as microwave ovens,
By the cook operating the timer on the operation panel,
The heating time is now set. Therefore, it is necessary to operate the timer each time cooking is performed, which is cumbersome to operate. Furthermore, setting the heating time using a timer is often done based on the experience of the cook, so it is difficult to set an accurate and appropriate heating time.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to automatically determine heating conditions such as heating time and perform heating operations, thereby eliminating the need to operate a timer or the like. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a cooker that is easy to operate and that allows accurate heating conditions to be obtained for each type of food. , take a picture of the food placed in the heating chamber with an imager,
The shape of the food is recognized by the output of the imager, heating conditions such as heating time are determined based on the recognition result and the signal from the food selection key, and the heating operation is performed according to the determined heating conditions. [Embodiment of the Invention] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the operation panel of the microwave oven according to the present invention, in which 1 is a display section that digitally displays heating time, etc.;
1. The keyboard section 2 is a keyboard section.

Food selection key to select vegetables, liquid 4;) 3. ...,
It is comprised of a shape am key 4 for recognizing the shape of food, a start key 5 for starting the heating operation, and the like.

Figure 1g2 schematically shows the configuration of the microwave oven according to the present invention. That is, 6) is open as a heating chamber, and at the bottom of the oven 6 is a shelf board on which food 7 is placed. A turntable 8 is provided, and this turntable 8 is rotated by a motor 9.
A magnetron 10 as a heating means is attached to one side wall of the open 6, and the high frequency waves from the magnetron 10 are guided into the open 6, thereby heating and cooking the food 1 on the turntable 8. ↓It's turning into a sea urchin. The magnetron 10 is connected to a power supply circuit 11 consisting of a high voltage transformer and a rectifier circuit, and this power supply circuit 11 is connected to an AC power supply 13 via a triac 12 as a power control element. The triac 12 is controlled on and off by a main control section 19, which will be described later.

Furthermore, an illumination lamp 14 for illuminating the inside of the open 6 is provided on one outer side of the open 6. Further, an opening 15 for photographing food is formed approximately in the center of the ceiling surface of the opening 6, and the opening 6 facing the opening 15 is provided as an imager via an optical system 16. CCDC of
A construction ascent 17 is provided. The area sensor 17 is scanned and driven by a drive circuit 18, takes an image of the food 7 on the turntable 8 through the opening 15 of the optical system 16, and converts it into an electric signal. The drive circuit 18g is connected to a main control section 19 mainly composed of, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Further, the display section 1 and the keyboard section 2 are connected to the main control section 19, respectively.

Next, the operation in the above-described complicated configuration will be explained. First, place the food 7 to be cooked on the turntable 8, then press the food selection key 3. . . . Select and operate the key 3 corresponding to the above food 1. Then, 70 types of food are selected and specified and input to the main control unit 19. Next, by pressing the shape US key 4. , the main control unit 19 that received the signal
The drive circuit 18 is operated to scan and drive the area sensor 1r, and the food 7 on the turntable 8 is photographed. Eliassen who is ↓ in the second shooting movement? 12 output is the drive circuit 1
8 to the main control unit 19VC. The main control unit 19 controls the shape of the food 7 based on the output of the IJ7 sensor 17.
Based on the recognition result, arithmetic processing such as time conversion (calculation of heating time) is performed. In this case, the heating time is calculated based on characteristic data as shown in FIG. That is, generally the type of food (e.g. meat, vegetables,
(liquid, etc.), similar shapes have different specific gravity, and 1
The weight of food is different. It is also different from the dielectric constant and dielectric voltage of food. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the heating time for the fringe shape differs depending on the type of food. Therefore, the characteristic data of heating time for each type of food shape as shown in FIG. When the type of food is selected in ..., the heating time is calculated (time conversion) based on the corresponding characteristic data. Once the heating time is calculated in this manner, the main control section 191 displays it on the display section 1. When the heating time is displayed, by pressing the start key 5, the main control unit 1 which received the signal
9# Turn on the triac 12 to cause the magnetron 10 to oscillate and start heating operation. Then, the main control unit 19 subtracts the calculated heating time as soon as the triac 12 is turned on, and when it becomes zero, turns off the triac 12 to stop the heating operation.

In this way, first, select food selection key 3. ... to select the type of food, then press the shape recognition key 4, photograph the food 1 with the area sensor 17, and select the area sensor f'1.
Based on the output of step 7, the shape of the food is gwtt, the heating time is calculated based on this recognition result and the type of food selected above, and the heating operation is performed. Therefore, the heating time can be automatically determined and the heating operation can be performed. In addition, there is no need to operate a timer or the like as in the conventional method, which simplifies the operation and allows accurate heating times for each type of food. Furthermore, it is also possible to accurately grasp the heating time of the food.

In the above embodiment, the heating operation is started by operating the start key 5, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, when the calculation of the heating time is completed and the switch 25
It may be configured to start automatically at the same time as the door is closed.

Further, although only the heating time was calculated as the heating condition, it is also possible to calculate the heating output as well and perform the heating operation at X for the heating output. In addition, CCDC is used as an imager.
Although the description has been given of the case where a mechanical sensor is used, the present invention is not limited to this, and other image pickup elements such as an MO8 type area sensor, or an image pickup tube may also be used. Further 9.
Although the description has been made regarding the case where the present invention is applied to a microwave oven, the invention is not limited thereto, and can be similarly applied to an fC cooker using, for example, a heater or induction heating means as the heating means.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention as described in detail above, heating conditions such as heating time can be automatically determined and heating operations can be performed, which simplifies operation as there is no need to operate a timer, etc. In addition, we can provide cooking devices that can be expected to be highly effective, such as by providing accurate heating conditions for each type of food.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures show one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 1 is a plan view of the operation panel, Fig. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the overall structure, and Fig. 3 is a heating process for the shape of food. FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing time characteristics. 1... Display section, 3... Food selection key, 4... Shape recognition key, 6... Open (heating chamber), 7... Food, 10... Magnetron, 16... Optical Series, 17・
...Eliasen-9-(imaging device), 18...drive circuit, 19...main control unit. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue9-17゜Figure 1Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] An imager takes an image of the food placed in the heating chamber, a food selection key that allows selection of the type of food to be heated, and a shape of the food based on the output of the imager. recognition [, means for determining heating conditions Y such as heating time based on the recognition result, a signal from the food selection key, and ζ2, and heating the food in the heating chamber by operating according to the heating conditions determined by this means. A cooking device having all the following features: a heating means for heating;