Heating cooker, heating cooking method and program

Abstract

A heating cooker (500) is provided with: a heating chamber (100) in which a food material (99) is placed and heated; a first heater (102) provided in the lower part of the heating chamber (100); a second heater (101) provided at the upper part of the heating chamber (100); a temperature detector (a detector (103)) for sensing and detecting the inside of the heating chamber (100) from the upper part, thereby detecting the temperature distribution; and a heating controller (151) that uses the detected temperature distribution to control the heating by the first heater (102) and the heating by the second heater (101), and when the food material (99) is heated, the first heater (102) starts heating earlier than the second heater (101), the second heater (101) starts heating after the first heater (102) starts heating, and the second heater (101) starts heating after the second heater (101) starts heating. After the second heater (101) starts heating, the heating controller (151) adjusts the state of heating by the first heater (102) and the state of heating by the second heater (101) in accordance with a change in the temperature distribution.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a heating cooker, a heating cooking method, and a program. BACKGROUND

[0002] Cooking appliances and the like for heating food materials are generally widespread. In the past, cooking appliances that only set a set time and only heat food materials at a certain output during the period were generally widespread, but in recent years, cooking appliances with an automatic heating function that automatically heats at an appropriate cooking time if a food material as a heating target is set and cooking is started have further been widespread. For example, a heating cooker as one of such cooking appliances with an automatic heating function is disclosed in Patent Literature 1.

[0003] The heating cooker disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is provided with a cooked material temperature detection mechanism that detects the surface temperature of a cooked material (food material) and an inside-pan temperature detection mechanism that detects the inside-pan temperature of a cooking chamber, a first threshold value of the detection temperature of the cooked material temperature detection mechanism and a second threshold value of the detection temperature of the inside-pan temperature detection mechanism are respectively set, and when it is judged that either of the two detection temperatures reaches the corresponding first threshold value or more or the second threshold value, the remaining time of microwave heating from the judgment, that is, the duration of microwave heating is determined, whereby the heating cooker can automatically heat and cook the cooked material put into the cooking chamber without inputting the amount of the cooked material, the heating time, the heating temperature, and the like.

[0004] PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS PATENT LITERATURE Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2021-167686 SUMMARY

[0005] PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION However, in the heating cooker disclosed in the above-described Patent Literature 1, sometimes appropriate heating of the food material cannot be performed. The present disclosure provides a heating cooker and the like that can appropriately heat a food material.

[0006] MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS The heating cooker involved in one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a heating chamber for placing food and heating it; a first heater arranged in the lower part of the heating chamber; a second heater arranged in the upper part of the heating chamber; a temperature detector for sensing the heating chamber from the top, thereby detecting the temperature distribution of a detection area including the area of ​​the food placed in the heating chamber; and a heating controller for controlling the heating performed by the first heater and the heating performed by the second heater using the detected temperature distribution, when heating the food, the first heater starts heating before the second heater, and the second heater starts heating after the first heater starts heating, and the heating controller adjusts the heating state of the first heater and the heating state of the second heater according to the change of the temperature distribution after the second heater starts heating.

[0007] A heating cooking method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a heating cooking method for food placed in a heating chamber using a heating cooker capable of heating the food from above and below, comprising: a first heating step of starting heating from the bottom of the heating chamber; a second heating step of starting heating from the top of the heating chamber after the first heating step; and a heating adjustment step of automatically adjusting the heating from the bottom of the heating chamber and the heating from the top of the heating chamber according to changes in the temperature distribution of a detection area including an area containing the food observed from the top of the food after the second heating step.

[0008] A program according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a program for causing a computer to execute a cooking method.

[0009] Effects of the Invention According to the heating cooker and the like of the present disclosure, food can be appropriately heated. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 This is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the cooking device according to the embodiment.

[0011] Figure 2 It is a diagram for explaining the temperature distribution of the heating cooker according to the embodiment.

[0012] Figure 3 This is a graph for explaining the difference in temperature values ​​obtained by the heating cooker according to the embodiment.

[0013] Figure 4 This is a flowchart showing an operational example of the heating cooker according to the embodiment.

[0014] Figure 5is a drawing for explaining a case where misjudgment of the amount is caused in the heating cooker of the embodiment and a study of improving the accuracy of the judgment.

[0015] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the heating cooker of the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The heating cooker of the first mode of the present disclosure has: a heating chamber for placing food and heating it; a first heater provided at a lower portion of the heating chamber; a second heater provided at an upper portion of the heating chamber; a temperature detector that performs sensing detection of the inside of the heating chamber from the upper portion, thereby detecting a temperature distribution of a detection region including a region of the food placed in the heating chamber; and a heating controller that controls heating by the first heater and heating by the second heater using the detected temperature distribution, the first heater starting heating earlier than the second heater when heating the food, the second heater starting heating after the first heater starts heating, the heating controller adjusting a state of the heating by the first heater and a state of the heating by the second heater according to a change in the temperature distribution after the second heater starts heating.

[0017] Such a heating cooker can obtain the temperature distribution of the detection region when the food is heated by the first heater before the second heater is used. The heating from below by the first heater easily raises the temperature of the region other than the food. That is, the temperature of only the region of the food in the detection region easily rises later. Thus, in the detected temperature distribution, the approximate shape of the food that is lower in temperature than the surroundings emerges. In this way, the heating by the second heater and the first heater together from above and below later can be performed based on the approximate shape of the food obtained from the temperature distribution. For example, if the approximate shape of the food is used as the amount of the food, the heating can be performed based on the appropriate amount of the food obtained from the approximate shape of the food that is high in accuracy, the state of the heating by the first heater and the state of the heating by the second heater are adjusted according to the change in the temperature distribution. For example, if the heating is automatically performed without knowing the amount of the food, over-heating caused by the food being too small, under-heating caused by the food being too large, and the like can sometimes occur, but according to the above, such over-heating and under-heating are less likely to occur. Thus, appropriate heating of the food can be performed.

[0018] In addition, the heating cooker of the second aspect of the present disclosure, for the heating cooker described in the first aspect, further includes a reception unit that receives input of food information related to the type of food, and the heating controller obtains a threshold value corresponding to the type of food based on the food information obtained by the input received, the threshold value being used to calculate the amount of food corresponding to the type of food by comparing the threshold value with the detected change in temperature distribution, determines the amount of food using the obtained threshold value and the change in temperature distribution, and adjusts the state of heating by the first and second heaters based on the determined amount.

[0019] Thus, the food information can be obtained by receiving the input. Further, based on the obtained food information, the threshold value corresponding to the type of food can be obtained. Based on the threshold value for each type of food, the amount of food is determined from the approximate shape, and based on the amount, the state of heating by the first heater and the state of heating by the second heater are adjusted based on the change in temperature distribution, and the heating cooking can be performed. Therefore, the appropriate heating of the food can be performed.

[0020] Further, the heating cooker of the third aspect of the present disclosure, for the heating cooker described in the first or second aspect, further includes a reception unit that receives input of food information related to the type of food, and the heating controller determines the thickness of the food using the temperature distribution when heated by the second heater and the food information obtained by the input received after the second heater starts heating, and adjusts the state of heating by the first and second heaters based on the determined thickness. In addition, the reception unit in the second aspect and the reception unit in the third aspect can be implemented by different reception units, respectively, or can be implemented by sharing the same reception unit.

[0021] Thus, the food information can be acquired by accepting the input. Also, the thickness of the food material can be determined using the temperature distribution when the food material is heated by the second heater and the acquired food information. Specifically, in the heating from above by the second heater, the heat is transferred to the upper surface of the food material (the surface on the second heater side) and the side surface of the food material intersecting the upper surface in different ways. That is, the temperature rises in different ways on the upper surface and the side surface of the food material. In the case where the temperature detector is disposed in a posture in which the upper surface and the side surface of the food material can be individually detected, the size of the upper surface and the size of the side surface (i.e., the thickness) can be estimated from the difference in the above-described temperature rising ways. Or, in the case where the food information includes information that the food material is a certain shape except for the thickness portion, the difference in the approximate shape corresponding to the amount of the thickness can be detected compared to the approximate shape of the food material when the thickness is the smallest in the case of the certain shape. The thickness can be estimated from the difference in the approximate shape corresponding to the amount of the thickness. In this way, if at least the temperature distribution when the food material is heated by the second heater is used, the thickness of the food material can be estimated, and further, according to the food information, the thickness of the food material can be estimated even by other methods. Therefore, the estimated thickness can also be used to appropriately heat the food material.

[0022] Further, in the fourth aspect of the heating cooker of the present disclosure, for the heating cooker described in the third aspect, the heating controller determines the thickness of the food material using the temperature distribution when the heating is performed only by the second heater and the food information obtained by accepting the input, during a period from when the heating by the second heater is started to when the heating controller starts to adjust the state of the heating by both the first and second heaters.

[0023] Thus, in the estimation of the thickness according to the temperature distribution when the food material is heated by the second heater, the influence of the heating from the first heater that can possibly function as noise can be suppressed. That is, the estimation of the thickness can be more accurately performed.

[0024] Further, the heating cooker of the fifth aspect of the present disclosure, for the heating cooker of any one of the first to fourth aspects, further has a reception unit that receives input of food information related to a kind of the food, and the heating controller uses the food information and the temperature distribution to determine a shape of the food during a period from when the first heater starts heating to when the second heater starts heating, uses the determined shape as a size of the food, and adjusts a state of heating by the first heater and the second heater according to the size. In addition, the reception unit in the fifth aspect, the reception unit in the second aspect, and the reception unit in the third aspect can each be realized by a different reception unit, or can be realized by two of them sharing the same one reception unit, or can be realized by all of them sharing the same one reception unit.

[0025] Thus, the food information can be acquired by receiving the input. If the approximate shape of the food (shape here) is determined from the kind of the food based on the food information and the temperature distribution, and the determined shape is used as the size, then the state of heating by the first heater and the state of heating by the second heater can be adjusted according to changes in the temperature distribution based on the size of the food, and heating cooking can be performed. Therefore, appropriate heating of the food can be performed.

[0026] In addition, the heating cooking method of the sixth aspect of the present disclosure is a heating cooking method using a heating cooker that can heat a food placed in a heating chamber from above and below, and includes a first heating step of starting heating from a lower portion of the heating chamber, a second heating step of starting heating from an upper portion of the heating chamber after the first heating step, and a heating adjustment step of automatically adjusting a state of heating from the lower portion of the heating chamber and a state of heating from the upper portion of the heating chamber after the second heating step according to changes in a temperature distribution of a detection region including a region of the food as viewed from an upper side of the food.

[0027] Thus, the same effects as those of the above-described heating cooker can be achieved.

[0028] In addition, the heating cooking method of the seventh aspect of the present disclosure, for the heating cooking method of the sixth aspect, further includes receiving input of food information related to a kind of the food, and determining a thickness of the food after the second heating step using a temperature distribution when heating from the upper portion of the heating chamber and the food information obtained by receiving the input, and automatically adjusting the state of heating from the lower portion of the heating chamber and the state of heating from the upper portion of the heating chamber according to the determined thickness.

[0029] Thus, the same effects as those of the heating cooker of the third aspect can be achieved.

[0030] Further, the heating cooking method of the eighth aspect of the present disclosure, for the heating cooking method of the seventh aspect, after the second heating step, before adjustment of the state of heating from the lower portion of the heating chamber and heating from the upper portion of the heating chamber is performed, only heating from the upper portion of the heating chamber is performed, using the temperature distribution when only heating from the upper portion of the heating chamber is performed, and the food information obtained by accepting input, the thickness of the food material is determined, and according to the determined thickness, the state of heating from the lower portion of the heating chamber and heating from the upper portion of the heating chamber is automatically adjusted.

[0031] Thereby, the same effects as the heating cooker of the fourth aspect can be exerted.

[0032] Further, the program of the ninth aspect of the present disclosure is a program for causing a computer to execute the heating cooking method of any one of the sixth to eighth aspects.

[0033] Thereby, the same effects as the heating cooker described above can be exerted using a computer.

[0034] Further, these general or specific aspects can be implemented not only by a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a recording medium such as a CD-ROM that is readable by a computer, but also by any combination of a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, and a recording medium.

[0035] Further, the embodiments described below each represent a general or specific example. The numerical values, shapes, constituent elements, arrangement positions of constituent elements, connection modes, steps, orders of steps, and the like shown in the following embodiments are one example, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. In addition, with respect to constituent elements of the following embodiments for which constituent elements not recited in the independent claims are recited, the constituent elements are described as arbitrary constituent elements.

[0036] In addition, each drawing is a schematic view and is not necessarily strictly illustrated. Therefore, for example, the scale and the like are not necessarily consistent in each drawing. In addition, in each drawing, the same reference numerals are attached to substantially the same structures, and repetitive descriptions are omitted or simplified.

[0037] (Embodiment) Hereinafter, with reference to Figures 1-6 The heating cooker of the present embodiment will be described.

[0038] [Structure] First, with reference to Figures 1-3 The structure of the heating cooker of the present embodiment will be described. Figure 1is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a heating cooker of an embodiment. The heating cooker 500 of the embodiment can be, for example, a microwave oven, an oven, an IH (Induction Heating) grill, or a gas stove, and can be any device as long as it can heat food 99. However, the heating cooker 500 is a device in which a heater is arranged on both sides of food 99 arranged at a heating position in a certain direction in which the food 99 is passed through in order to be heated. For example, in the embodiment, the heating cooker 500 has a heater arranged on the upper side and the lower side of the food 99 placed on a placement table 98 in the up-and-down direction. In addition, in the present disclosure, the terms indicating the up-and-down direction and the like do not mean the up-and-down direction (i.e., the vertical direction) in the absolute spatial recognition, but mean a direction connecting a surface corresponding to the bottom of a heating chamber 100 and a surface corresponding to the top when placed in a posture in which the heating cooker 500 is used.

[0039] As shown in Figure 1 , the heating cooker 500 is composed of devices and the like that assume several functional parts. Specifically, the heating cooker 500 has a heating chamber 100, a control device 150, and an information input device 300.

[0040] The heating chamber 100 houses the food 99 at the time of heating the food 99, and is a container configured in such a manner that energy for heating does not leak to the outside or energy is discharged only through a designed path. The heating chamber 100 constitutes a main part of the heating cooker 500. For the heating cooker 500, a housing that covers the heating chamber 100 is provided, and the control device 150 and the information input device 300 are arranged in the housing to be integrated. In addition, the information input device 300 can be realized by a terminal device such as a smartphone, or the control device 150 can be realized by an information processing device such as an external server, and there is no particular limitation on how to allocate each structure to one or more devices. In other words, in the embodiment, an example in which each structure is integrated into one device is described, but each structure can be allocated to two or more devices to realize a heating cooking system that functions the same as the heating cooker 500.

[0041] A placement table 98 on which the food 99 is placed, a first heater 102 and a second heater 101, and a detector 103 are arranged inside the container part of the heating chamber 100. The placement table 98 is, for example, a turntable in a microwave oven, a grill plate in an IH grill, or the like. The placement table 98 is composed of a hard material such as glass, resin, or metal. In general, the specific heat capacity of the placement table 98 is smaller than that of the food 99, and thus has a characteristic that the temperature rises first compared to the food 99 when heating starts.

[0042] The first heater 102 is, for example, an IH heater, but can be any heater as long as it can be utilized as a heat source (or even if it is not a heat source itself, as long as heat can be generated as a result). The first heater 102 is provided at a lower portion of the heating chamber 100, particularly on a side opposite to the food 99 with the placement table 98 interposed. Thus, the first heater 102 can heat the food 99 from below with the placement table 98 interposed. In other words, the food 99 is heated from a lower portion of the heating chamber 100 by the first heater 102 provided at the lower portion of the heating chamber 100. The heating operation of the first heater 102 is controlled by the heating controller 151.

[0043] The second heater 101 is, for example, a flat heater, but can be any heater as long as it can be utilized as a heat source (or even if it is not a heat source itself, as long as heat can be generated as a result). The second heater 101 is provided at an upper portion of the heating chamber 100, for example, an inner side surface of the uppermost surface, i.e., the top surface side of the internal space of the heating chamber 100. The second heater 101 can directly heat the food 99 from above without the placement table 98 interposed. In other words, the food 99 is heated from an upper portion of the heating chamber 100 by the second heater 101 provided at the upper portion of the heating chamber 100. The heating operation of the second heater 101 is controlled by the heating controller 151.

[0044] The detector 103 is an example of a temperature detector, and is a sensor that detects a temperature distribution. The detector 103 takes a plane orthogonal to the photographing direction corresponding to the set posture as a detection region, and detects a temperature value at each coordinate within the detection region. Then, a temperature distribution in which the detected temperature values are arranged in a matrix shape on a two-dimensional surface corresponding to the detection region is output. The detector 103 is fixed in such a manner that a region of the food 99 when placed on the placement table 98 is included in the detection region based on the position of the placement table 98. In other words, the detector 103 detects a temperature distribution of a region including the food 99 and the surroundings of the food 99. In the present embodiment, the detector 103 is provided within the heating chamber 100 in such a manner as not to be easily affected by direct heat generated by the first heater 102 and the second heater 101. Specifically, the detector 103 is provided, for example, in any one of one or more side surfaces connecting the top surface and the bottom surface arranged in the vertical direction in the internal space of the heating chamber 100, avoiding the upper surface and the lower surface in the internal space of the heating chamber 100. However, the detector 103 is arranged on the upper side in such a manner that the food 99 placed on the placement table 98 is included in the detection region. The detector 103 can transmit the detected temperature distribution to the heating controller 151. Here, the detection of the temperature distribution and the data processing of the temperature distribution in the detector 103 and the heating controller 151 are described.

[0045] Figure 2is a graph for explaining the temperature distribution of the heating cooker of the embodiment. In Figure 2 (a) indicates an example of the temperature distribution when the toast cut into 4 pieces (one piece of toast cut into 4 pieces of a so-called one kilogram) is placed as the food material 99 on the placement table 98 and heated, and (b) indicates an example of the temperature distribution when the toast cut into 8 pieces (one piece of toast cut into 8 pieces of a so-called one kilogram) is placed as the food material 99 on the placement table 98 and heated.

[0046] As shown in Figure 2 , the temperature distribution is displayed as a thermal image in which the temperature values of the points at 8 x 8 = 64 are represented in gray scales. In the present embodiment, thus, the detector 103 is a 64-eyed compound eye IR sensor. The reason why the compound eye IR sensor is excellent as the detector 103 is that it is inexpensive as a sensor and can detect the temperature as a distribution. Further, the detector 103 is not limited thereto, and a higher resolution IR sensor or a lower resolution IR sensor can be used.

[0047] In Figure 2 , the closer the temperature is to white, the higher the temperature is, and the closer the temperature is to black, the lower the temperature is. That is, in the graph, the roughly triangular black portion corresponds to the toast. Here, the obtained thermal image is subjected to super-resolution processing of Bicubic interpolation by an image processing circuit or a processor or the like provided in the heating controller 151, and further subjected to trapezoidal correction of the thermal image. The detector 103 is provided so as to look down on the bottom surface of the placement table 98 from the upper side and the side surface side, and thus the detected temperature distribution is deformed into a trapezoid. Therefore, by this trapezoidal correction, the deformed trapezoid is restored to the original rectangular shape. By binarizing the thus obtained thermal image, the pixels are divided into a portion corresponding to the toast and other portions.

[0048] Moreover, as shown in (b) of Figure 2 , when the binarized thermal image of the 8-cut toast subjected to the same processing is observed, it is known that the size of the portion corresponding to the toast in the binarized thermal image of the 4-cut toast is different from that in the binarized thermal image of the 8-cut toast. This is because the detection of the temperature distribution is performed from the detector 103 provided at the upper side and the side surface side, and thus the projection image is enlarged by an amount corresponding to the difference in thickness between the 4-cut and the 8-cut when projected onto the placement surface which is the top surface of the placement table 98. That is, this difference in the projection image can be utilized as the difference in thickness of the food material 99.

[0049] Generally, the greater the thickness of the food material 99, the greater the heat output or the heating time required for heating and cooking. That is, it is sufficient to increase the heat output by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the food material 99 or to control the first heater 102 and the second heater 101 in such a manner that the heating time is extended.

[0050] Thus, in the present embodiment, by detecting the temperature distribution of the food material 99, the thickness of the portion of the food material 99 can be determined, and by performing heating control of the first heater 102 and the second heater 101 based on the determination result, more appropriate heating of the food material 99 can be performed compared to a case where only the in-chamber temperature of the heating chamber 100 and the temperature of the food material 99 are detected. In order to calculate the thickness as accurately as possible, heating from above by the second heater 101 need not be performed, and only heating from below by the first heater 102 can be performed. This is because heat from the first heater 102 is first mostly consumed in heating of the placement table 98, and the food material 99 is heated thereafter. Thus, as shown in the thermal image, a large temperature difference can be generated between the food material 99 and its surroundings, and thus the region of the food material 99 can be accurately detected from the thermal image. At this time, if heating is performed using the second heater 101, heat is directly supplied to the food material 99, and the food material 99 is heated at the same time as the placement table 98, and thus it is difficult to generate such a temperature difference. Figure 2 Thus, in the present embodiment, by detecting the temperature distribution of the food material 99, the thickness of the portion of the food material 99 can be determined, and by performing heating control of the first heater 102 and the second heater 101 based on the determination result, more appropriate heating of the food material 99 can be performed compared to a case where only the in-chamber temperature of the heating chamber 100 and the temperature of the food material 99 are detected. In order to calculate the thickness as accurately as possible, heating from above by the second heater 101 need not be performed, and only heating from below by the first heater 102 can be performed. This is because heat from the first heater 102 is first mostly consumed in heating of the placement table 98, and the food material 99 is heated thereafter. Thus, as shown in the thermal image, a large temperature difference can be generated between the food material 99 and its surroundings, and thus the region of the food material 99 can be accurately detected from the thermal image. At this time, if heating is performed using the second heater 101, heat is directly supplied to the food material 99, and the food material 99 is heated at the same time as the placement table 98, and thus it is difficult to generate such a temperature difference.

[0051] Here, Figure 3 is a graph for illustrating the difference in temperature value obtained by the heating cooker of the embodiment. In Figure 3 , the change in temperature value at a certain point (the position of the food material 99) on the temperature distribution with respect to the elapsed time from the start of heating is shown when the 4-slice toast and the 8-slice toast are heated from below through the placement table 98 using only the first heater 102. As shown in Figure 3 , the 8-slice toast is more likely to increase in temperature than the 4-slice toast, and reaches a level at which the difference can be detected at around 60 sec. That is, if heating is performed using only the first heater 102 for around 60 sec, the difference in thickness can be detected.

[0052] In addition, in the above, a case where the thickness is used as the portion is described, but the thickness can be ignored, and the portion of the food material 99 can be determined from the shape (area value) of the portion corresponding to the food material 99 in the temperature distribution. That is, after the thermal image after binarization is generated, the total (number of pixels) of the pixels corresponding to the food material 99 at a low temperature can be used as the portion of the food material 99. If the kind of the food material 99 is known together with the area value, the heating cooking that should be performed can be accurately determined. For example, the amount of water retention corresponding to the kind of the food material 99, the recommended finished product (tender or tender texture) after cooking of the food material 99, and the like corresponding to the characteristics of the food material 99 of the kind can be performed. That is, the heating action of the first heater 102 and the second heater 101 can be controlled using information about the kind of the food material 99 and the shape of the food material 99.

[0053] The control device 150 is a processing section that performs various information processing in the heating cooker 500, and is realized by a microcomputer or a processor. Further, the control device 150 can also be another device that is separate from the housing that covers the heating chamber 100. In this case, the control device 150 is realized by, for example, a cloud server or the like that performs information processing provided by a manufacturer of the heating cooker 500.

[0054] The control device 150 is provided with a heating controller 151, a storage section 152, and a reception section 153. The heating controller 151 is a processing section that adjusts the state of heating performed by the first heater 102 and the second heater 101 by controlling the heating actions of the first heater 102 and the second heater 101. In addition, the heating controller 151 is also a processing section that acquires the temperature distribution from the detector 103 and performs various image processing. Furthermore, the heating controller 151 also performs various determinations that are necessary for controlling the heating actions of the first heater 102 and the second heater 101. The heating controller 151 uses the results of such determinations and the like to read an appropriate heating sequence from the heating sequences stored in the storage section 152 and outputs it to the first heater 102 and the second heater 101. The first heater 102 and the second heater 101 act in accordance with the heating sequence output from the heating controller 151, and thus appropriate heating cooking can be performed.

[0055] The storage section 152 is an information storage device such as a semiconductor memory, and is used to save the above-mentioned heating sequences, programs executed by the heating controller 151, and the like.

[0056] The reception unit 153 is a processing unit that receives input of food information related to the type of the food 99, and is realized by a microcomputer included in the same microcomputer as the heating controller 151 or by receiving information processing performed by the same processor as the heating controller 151 and executing a program. The reception unit 153 receives input of information related to the type of the food 99 based on the user's operation from the information input device 300. Alternatively, the reception unit 153 can receive input of information related to the type of the food 99 from an external device such as an automatic food discrimination device that automatically discriminates the type of the food 99 stored in the heating chamber 100. Based on the food information related to the type of the food 99 obtained by the reception of the input, a threshold value corresponding to the type of the food 99 is acquired. The threshold value is used to calculate the amount of the food 99 corresponding to the type by comparing the threshold value with the change in the detected temperature distribution. The amount of the food 99 can be determined using the acquired threshold value and the change in the temperature distribution, and the state of heating by the first heater 102 and the second heater 101 is adjusted according to the determined amount. The acquisition of the threshold value can be performed by reading from a database (not shown) in which the food and the threshold value are associated, or by receiving from a data server (not shown) that returns the threshold value when the food is inquired as a query, or the like.

[0057] Specifically, the above-described threshold value is a threshold value for dividing the amount into several stages of large, medium, small, and the like, which is determined depending on what the food 99 is. If the food is a bread, for example, 10 cm and 15 cm in the length direction are acquired as the threshold values. If the length in the length direction is less than 10 cm, the heating cooking appropriate for the small size is performed as a small-sized bread. If the length in the length direction is 10 cm or more and less than 15 cm, the heating cooking appropriate for the medium size is performed as a medium-sized bread. If the length in the length direction is 15 cm or more, the heating cooking appropriate for the large size is performed as a large-sized bread.

[0058] In addition, if the food material is fish, for example, 10 cm and 20 cm in the length direction and 5 cm and 7 cm in the short side direction are acquired as the threshold values. In this case, if the threshold value is exceeded in either the length direction or the short side direction, it is determined that the fish is large in size. That is, if the length in the length direction is less than 10 cm and the length in the short side direction is less than 5 cm, the fish is considered to be small in size, and heating cooking suitable for the small size is performed. In addition, if either the length in the length direction is 10 cm or more and less than 20 cm or the length in the short side direction is 5 cm or more and less than 7 cm, the fish is considered to be medium in size, and heating cooking suitable for the medium size is performed. In addition, if either the length in the length direction is 20 cm or more or the length in the short side direction is 7 cm or more, the fish is considered to be large in size, and heating cooking suitable for the large size is performed.

[0059] In this way, as the setting of the threshold value, in addition to the numerical value of the threshold value itself, a different physical quantity serving as a component divided according to the threshold value and a division method can be set for each kind of food material 99. That is, it is also possible to decide, for each kind of food material 99, to divide by the threshold value of the length in the length direction alone, to define the threshold value by the threshold values of both the length in the length direction and the short side direction, to divide by the threshold value of the area value, and the like. In addition to this, the food information is sometimes used for the estimation of the thickness of the food material together with the outline of the food material.

[0060] In the present embodiment, the information input device 300 is an operation panel provided to the heating cooker 500 and is implemented by a touch display or the like.

[0061] Further, the information input device 300 can also be another device separate from the housing covering the heating chamber 100. In this case, the information input device 300 is implemented as a terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal possessed by the user and having an interface for inputting information. Also, such a terminal device is communicably connected to the control device 150 through a wired or wireless communication line and functions as a part of the heating cooker 500.

[0062] Next, the use of the food information will be described. Figure 4 An example of the operation of the heating cooker 500 described above will be described. Figure 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the heating cooker of the embodiment. As shown in the flowchart, the food information is acquired from the food material 99. Figure 4When the operation of the heating cooker 500 is started, first, the control device 150 determines whether or not the food material 99 is put in the heating chamber 100 (step S101). Step S101 is repeated several times until it becomes "Yes" (during "No"). In the case where the food material 99 is put in (Yes in step S101), the control device 150 determines whether or not the heating is started (step S102). Step S102 is repeated several times until it becomes "Yes" (during "No"). In the case where the heating is started (Yes in step S102), the heating controller 151 starts the heating by the first heater 102 (first heating step S103). At this time, the detector 103 detects the temperature distribution. From the obtained temperature distribution, the heating controller 151 determines the amount of the food material 99 (step S104). As long as the determination is not completed (No in step S105), step S104 to step S105 are repeated. Then, in the case where the determination is completed (Yes in step S105), the heating controller 151 reads the heating sequence from the storage section 152 (step S106), and the heating by the second heater 101 is also started (second heating step S107). Then, in accordance with the heating sequence, the heating operation of the first heater 102 and the second heater 101 is controlled based on the temperature change (step S108). Thereby, the state of the heating by the first heater 102 and the second heater 101 is adjusted (heating adjustment step).

[0063] Here, the use of the thickness explained above as the amount of the food material 99 will be further explained. Figure 5 The case where the thickness explained above is used as the amount of the food material 99 will be further explained. Figure 5 is a view for explaining one example of a case where the amount determination is erroneously made in the heating cooker of the embodiment and a study for improving the accuracy of the determination. In Figure 5 , the cases where the heating from below by the first heater 102 is performed in (a) to (c) and the heating from above by the second heater 101 is performed in (d) to (f) are shown in each of the states where the food material 99 of three sizes is put in the heating chamber 100. Further, the hollow arrows in the view indicate the directions of the heat (direct heat) imparted by the heating of the first heater 102 or the second heater 101.

[0064] As shown in (a) to (c) in Figure 5 , in the heating from below by the first heater 102, the shapes of the placement surfaces (the shapes of the contact surfaces in contact with the placement table 98) are the same in (a) and (b) and different in (c). Figure 5 In (a) and (b) in Figure 5 , the thickness can be known from the difference in the areas of the temperature distributions (the black thick lines of the projection images 104). However, as the food material which is the projection image 104 the same as (b) in Figure 5 , the thickness cannot be known from the difference in the areas of the temperature distributions (the black thick lines of the projection images 104). However, as the food material which is the projection image 104 the same as (b) in Figure 5As shown in (c), the thickness of the food 99 is relatively small and the shape of the placement surface is large. For heating from below by the first heater 102, it is difficult to distinguish the food 99 with the same projection image 104. Figure 5 As shown in (d) to (f), when food 99 is heated from above by second heater 101, a difference in temperature values ​​between the top and side surfaces of food 99 detected by detector 103 occurs due to differences in how they receive heat from above. Taking advantage of this, if food 99 is heated only by second heater 101 (heating by first heater 102 is interrupted), projection image 105 located closer to detector 103 than the dashed line corresponding to the boundary between the top and side surfaces can be used as a projection image corresponding to thickness, while projection image 106 located farther away from detector 103 than the dashed line can be used as a projection image corresponding to size. This reduces erroneous weight determination and improves determination accuracy. While the above example shows heating interrupted by first heater 102 and performed solely by second heater 101 when determining thickness, heating by first heater 102 is not interrupted. However, heating by first heater 102 can also be maintained without interruption. For example, heating by first heater 102 can be reduced to a level sufficient to determine thickness without interruption.

[0065] Furthermore, in the case where thickness is used as the weight of ingredient 99 as described above, the shape of ingredient 99 may also be necessary. Therefore, input of food information regarding the shape of ingredient 99, for example, including a characteristic indicating that only the thickness of ingredient 99 is uncertain (otherwise, the shape is constant), may be accepted for use in determining thickness.

[0066] Below, use Figure 6 An operation example of a cooking device 500 according to another embodiment based on this knowledge will be described. Figure 6 This is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of a heating cooker according to another embodiment. Figure 6 Step S201 is the same as step S101, step S202 is the same as step S102, and the first heating step S203 is the same as the first heating step S103, so the description is omitted.

[0067] like Figure 6As shown, in step S204, the heating controller 151 determines the outline of the food material. The outline of the food material is a portion corresponding to the region of the food material 99 in the temperature distribution obtained by heating from below by only the first heater 102. As long as the determination of the outline of the food material 99 is not completed (NO in step S205), steps S204 to S205 are repeated. If the determination of the outline of the food material 99 is completed (YES in step S205), step S206 is entered, and heating by the first heater 102 is temporarily interrupted. Then, heating from above by only the second heater 101 is started (second heating step S207), and the thickness of the food material 99 is determined using the projected image of the side surface side of the food material 99 (step S208). In addition, the approximate shape and thickness can also be determined by calculation using the food information and the outline of the food. As long as the determination of the thickness of the food material 99 is not completed (NO in step S209), steps S208 to S209 are repeated. If the determination of the thickness of the food material 99 is completed (YES in step S209), step S210 is entered. Figure 6 Step S210 is the same as step S106, and thus the explanation is omitted. Then, heating by the first heater 102 is again started (step S211). Then, in accordance with the heating sequence, the heating operation of the first heater 102 and the second heater 101 is controlled based on the temperature change (step S212). Thereby, the state of heating by the first heater 102 and the second heater 101 is adjusted (heating adjustment step).

[0068] Further, the step S206 (interrupting the heating by the first heater 102) is not necessarily required and can be omitted together with the corresponding step S211 (resuming the heating by the first heater 102). Alternatively, in the step S206, the heating by the first heater 102 can be reduced in intensity without being interrupted. In this case, the intensity of the heating can be restored in the step S211 or the step S211 can be omitted and the intensity of the heating can be adjusted in the control in accordance with the heating sequence in the step S212. Further, the step S206 can be performed not at the timing after the step S205 becomes "Yes" and before the second heating step S207 but at a timing after the second heating step S207 or at a timing simultaneous with the second heating step S207. As long as a period in which the heating based on the first heater 102 is not performed overlaps with a period after the heating by the second heater 101 is started, the step S206 and the step S211 can be executed at any timing. In addition, depending on the heating sequence used later, the heating by the first heater 102 can not be resumed again. That is, there is a case where the heating by the first heater 102 is not interrupted but ended. In this case, a step of ending the heating based on the first heater 102 is performed instead of the step S206 and the step S211 is not performed again.

[0069] (Other Embodiments) The heating cooker and the like according to the embodiment of the present disclosure have been described above, but the present disclosure is not limited to this embodiment.

[0070] For example, each processing section of the heating cooker according to the above-described embodiment is typically realized as an integrated circuit, i.e., LSI. They can be individually single-chipped or can be single-chipped in a manner including a part or all of them.

[0071] In addition, the integrated circuit is not limited to the LSI and can be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. The LSI can utilize an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that can be programmed after manufacturing or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure connections or settings of circuit units inside the LSI.

[0072] In addition, in the above-described embodiment and the like, each constituent element can be constituted by a dedicated hardware or realized by executing a software program suitable for each constituent element. Each constituent element can be realized by a program execution section such as a CPU or a processor reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory.

[0073] In addition, one embodiment of the present disclosure can also be realized as a heating cooking method or a control method of a heating cooker, or the like, which is executed by a heating cooker. In addition, one embodiment of the present disclosure can also be a computer program that causes a computer to execute each step of the heating cooking method or the control method.

[0074] In addition, the heating cooker of the above-described embodiment or the like can be realized as a single device or can be realized by a plurality of devices. In a case where the heating cooker is realized by a plurality of devices, each constituent element of the heating cooker can be arbitrarily allocated to the plurality of devices. For example, a portable terminal can also have a control device. In addition, for example, at least one of the functional structures of the control device can be realized by the portable terminal or a server (for example, a cloud server) that can communicate with the portable terminal. In a case where the heating cooker is realized by a plurality of devices, a communication method between the plurality of devices is not particularly limited and can be wireless communication or wired communication. In addition, wireless communication and wired communication can be combined between the devices.

[0075] In addition, the division of the functional blocks in the block diagram is an example, and a plurality of functional blocks can be realized as one functional block, or one functional block can be divided into a plurality of functional blocks, or a part of the functions can be transferred to another functional block. In addition, a plurality of functional blocks having similar functions can be processed by a single hardware or software in parallel or time-division.

[0076] In addition, the order of the steps in the flowchart is an example for specifically describing the present disclosure, and can be in an order other than the above. In addition, a part of the above-described steps can be executed at the same time (in parallel) as other steps.

[0077] The present disclosure is not limited to one or a plurality of the above-described embodiments, and a mode obtained by applying various modifications that can be thought of by those skilled in the art to the present embodiments, or a mode constructed by combining constituent elements in different embodiments can also be included in the range of one or a plurality of the embodiments.

[0078] Industrial Applicability The present disclosure can be applied to a heating cooker.

[0079] Explanation of Reference Signs 98 placement table 99 food material 100 heating chamber 101 second heater 102 first heater 103 detector 104, 105, 106 projected image 150 control device 151 heating controller 152 storage section 153 reception section 300 information input device 500 heating cooker

Claims

1. A heating cooker, provided with: a heating chamber for placing food material and heating it; a first heater provided at a lower portion of the heating chamber; a second heater provided at an upper portion of the heating chamber; a temperature detector for sensing the temperature distribution of a detection area including an area where the food material placed in the heating chamber is contained, from the upper portion of the heating chamber; and a heating controller for controlling the heating by the first heater and the heating by the second heater using the sensed temperature distribution, wherein the first heater starts heating before the second heater starts heating when the food material is heated, the second heater starts heating after the first heater starts heating, and the heating controller adjusts the state of the heating by the first heater and the state of the heating by the second heater according to the change in the temperature distribution after the second heater starts heating.

2. The heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the heating cooker is further provided with a reception unit for receiving input of food information related to the kind of the food material, wherein the heating controller acquires a threshold value corresponding to the kind of the food material, which is used to calculate the amount of the food material corresponding to the kind of the food material by comparing the threshold value with the change in the sensed temperature distribution, according to the food information obtained by receiving the input, during a period from when the first heater starts heating to when the second heater starts heating, and judges the amount of the food material using the acquired threshold value and the change in the temperature distribution, and adjusts the state of the heating by the first heater and the second heater according to the judged amount.

3. The heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the heating cooker is further provided with a reception unit for receiving input of food information related to the kind of the food material, wherein the heating controller judges the thickness of the food material using the temperature distribution when the heating by the second heater is performed and the food information obtained by receiving the input, after the second heater starts heating, and adjusts the state of the heating by the first heater and the second heater according to the judged thickness.

4. The heating cooker according to claim 3, wherein the heating controller judges the thickness of the food material using the temperature distribution when the heating by the second heater alone is performed and the food information obtained by receiving the input, during a period from when the second heater starts heating to when the heating controller starts adjusting the state of the heating by both the first heater and the second heater, and adjusts the state of the heating by the first heater and the second heater according to the judged thickness.

5. The heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the heating cooker is further provided with a reception unit for receiving input of food information related to the kind of the food material, wherein the heating controller judges the thickness of the food material using the temperature distribution when the heating by the second heater alone is performed and the food information obtained by receiving the input, during a period from when the second heater starts heating to when the heating controller starts adjusting the state of the heating by both the first heater and the second heater, and adjusts the state of the heating by the first heater and the second heater according to the judged thickness. The heating controller determines the shape of the food material using the food information and the temperature distribution during a period from when the first heater starts heating to when the second heater starts heating, uses the determined shape as the amount of the food material, and adjusts the state of heating by the first heater and the second heater according to the amount.

6. A heating cooking method of a food material using a heating cooker capable of heating the food material placed in a heating chamber from above and below, the heating cooking method comprising: a first heating step of starting heating from a lower portion of the heating chamber; a second heating step of starting heating from an upper portion of the heating chamber after the first heating step; and a heating adjustment step of automatically adjusting the state of heating from the lower portion of the heating chamber and the state of heating from the upper portion of the heating chamber after the second heating step according to a change in a temperature distribution of a detection region including a region of the food material observed from an upper side of the food material.

7. The heating cooking method according to claim 6, further receiving input of food information related to a kind of the food material, determining a thickness of the food material using the temperature distribution when heating from the upper portion of the heating chamber and the food information obtained by receiving the input after the second heating step, and automatically adjusting the state of heating from the lower portion of the heating chamber and the state of heating from the upper portion of the heating chamber according to the determined thickness.

8. The heating cooking method according to claim 7, heating only from the upper portion of the heating chamber before adjusting the state of heating from the lower portion of the heating chamber and the state of heating from the upper portion of the heating chamber after the second heating step, determining a thickness of the food material using the temperature distribution when heating only from the upper portion of the heating chamber and the food information obtained by receiving the input, automatically adjusting the state of heating from the lower portion of the heating chamber and the state of heating from the upper portion of the heating chamber according to the determined thickness.

9. A program for causing a computer to execute the heating cooking method according to any one of claims 6 to 8. ​

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