Automatic cooking device

Abstract

To provide an automatic cooking device which can efficiently scrape off the stains such as burns fixed on an inner wall face of a cooking container and remains after the cooking due to the heat cooking.SOLUTION: An automatic cooking device 10 includes: a cooking table 100 having a washing sink 110; a container holding unit 200 for holding a cooking container 300 in a rotatable manner about a container center axis AC; and a scraping unit 600 having a scraper 630 that washes the inner wall face of the cooking container in a vertically-inverted state after stirring and cooking the ingredients I stored in the cooking container, and that scrapes off the stains B such as burns attached on the cooking container. The inner wall face of the cooking container and the scraper are in contact with each other by being covered by the vertically-inverted inner wall face of the cooking container in the washing sink.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic cooking device that automatically cooks ingredients at high temperatures, and more particularly to an automatic cooking device that can scrape off burnt dirt that tends to adhere to the inner wall surface of a cooking container during cooking when cleaning the cooking container. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known an automatic cooking device (see Patent Documents 1 and 2) in which a cooking container is placed upside down above a washing sink and water is sprayed from a washing nozzle from below to wash the inside of the cooking container. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Patent Publication No. 2021 / 024124 [Patent Document 2] Registered Utility Model Publication No. 3227512 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the conventional automatic cooking devices described above had the problem that cleaning by spraying water from the cleaning nozzle alone was difficult to remove burnt-on stains that tend to adhere to the inner wall surfaces of cooking containers when cooking Chinese food or other dishes at high temperatures.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, and the object of the present invention is to provide an automatic cooking device that can efficiently scrape off stains such as burnt food that adhere to the inner wall surface of a cooking container during heating and cooking and remain after cooking. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The invention of claim 1 is an automatic cooking device comprising a container holding unit that is arranged above a cooking counter and holds a bottomed cylindrical cooking container so that it can rotate freely around the container's central axis in the depth direction of the container, and a washing sink that is arranged in a region forward of the container holding unit on the cooking counter and for washing the cooking container, and which heats and cooks ingredients contained in the cooking container while stirring them, and then washes the inner wall surface of the cooking container while holding the cooking container upside down.The scraping unit is equipped with a scraper that scrapes off dirt such as burnt residue that adheres to the cooking container after cooking, and is arranged in the washing sink so that it is enclosed by the upside-down inner wall surface of the cooking container and the scraper abuts against the inner wall surface of the cooking container, thereby solving the above-mentioned problem.

[0007] The invention of claim 2 solves the above-mentioned problem by providing, in addition to the configuration of the invention of claim 1, a loading unit equipped with a serving plate on which a plate for serving ingredients cooked in the cooking container is placed, the serving plate being slidable between an open position in which it opens the opening of the washing sink and a closed position in which it spans the opening of the washing sink, and being located near the washing sink so that the opening and closing movement of the serving plate relative to the opening of the washing sink causes the scraper to stand in the open position and the scraper to lie down in the closed position.

[0008] The invention of claim 3 further solves the above-mentioned problem by, in addition to the configuration of the invention of claim 2, having a scraping unit with a spring-loaded cross-four-bar link mechanism, and the scraper of the scraping unit assumes an upright position due to the elastic force of the upright spring of the spring-loaded cross-four-bar link mechanism when the loading plate is in the open position, and assumes a lying position against the elastic force of the upright spring when the loading plate is in the closed position.

[0009] The invention of claim 4 further solves the above-mentioned problem by, in addition to the configuration of the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, having the cooking container equipped with a heated inclined surface portion inclined with respect to the central axis of the container, and the scraper equipped with an inclined edge portion abutting the inner wall surface of the heated inclined surface portion of the cooking container.

[0010] The invention of claim 5 further solves the above-mentioned problem by configuring the scraping unit to be detachable from the washing sink in addition to the configuration of the invention of claim 1 or claim 2. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the automatic cooking device of the invention of claim 1 of the present invention, the automatic cooking device comprises a container holding unit that is arranged on top of a cooking counter and holds a bottomed cylindrical cooking container so that it can rotate freely around the container's central axis in the depth direction of the container, and a washing sink that is arranged in a region forward of the raising and lowering axis of the container holding unit on the cooking counter and washes the cooking container, and after cooking the ingredients contained in the cooking container while stirring, the automatic cooking device washes the inner wall surface of the cooking container while turning the cooking container upside down.Not only can the inner wall surface of the cooking container be washed after automatic cooking, but the unique configuration of the present invention described below also produces effects unique to the present invention.

[0012] First, a scraping unit equipped with a scraper for scraping off dirt such as burnt food that adheres to the cooking container after cooking is enclosed by the upside-down inner wall surface of the cooking container in the washing sink so that the scraper comes into contact with the inner wall surface of the cooking container.Therefore, when the cooking container is rotated upside-down around the central axis of the container in the depth direction of the cooking container, the entire circumference of the inner wall surface of the cooking container comes into contact with the scraper in sequence, so that dirt such as burnt food that adheres to the inner wall surface of the cooking container and remains after cooking can be efficiently scraped off.

[0013] Furthermore, since the scraping unit is enclosed by the inverted inner wall surface of the cooking container within the washing sink, the burnt food and other dirt scraped off by the scraper after cooking falls from the cooking container into the washing sink without scattering on the top surface of the cooking table, making it easy to collect the burnt food and other dirt scraped off after cleaning.

[0014] Furthermore, the cooking container has a container body that contains ingredients and a stirring member that is attached to the container body and rotates independently of the container body, the container holding unit rotates the stirring member independently of the container body, and the scraping unit is positioned outside the stirring member's range of movement during cleaning.As a result, in the cleaning position in which the cooking container is rotated by the container rotation mechanism while lying upside down toward the washing sink, the stirring member and the scraping unit are always positioned apart, which prevents damage due to contact between the stirring member and the scraping unit, and the clearance between the stirring member and the scraping unit makes it easy to maintain.For example, even if the stirring member stops at any position due to an emergency stop for some reason during cleaning when the cooking container is in the upside-down cleaning position, the cooking container can be returned to the cooking position from the cleaning position without interference between the stirring member and the scraping unit, and recovery work can be carried out.

[0015] According to the automatic cooking device of the invention of claim 2 of the present invention, the automatic cooking device comprises a container holding unit that is arranged on top of a cooking counter and holds a bottomed cylindrical cooking container so that it can rotate freely around the container's central axis in the depth direction of the container, and a washing sink that is arranged in a region forward of the raising and lowering axis of the container holding unit on the cooking counter and washes the cooking container, and after cooking the ingredients contained in the cooking container while stirring, the automatic cooking device washes the inner wall surface of the cooking container while turning the cooking container upside down.Not only can the inner wall surface of the cooking container be washed after automatic cooking, but the unique configuration of the present invention described below also produces effects unique to the present invention.

[0016] First, the loading unit is equipped with a serving plate on which plates for serving ingredients cooked in the cooking containers are placed, and the serving plate is arranged so that it can slide freely between an open position in which it opens the opening of the washing sink and a closed position in which it is stretched across the opening of the washing sink.As a result, the area in front of the container holding unit on the cooking table has both the scraping function of the scraping unit in the washing sink and the dish loading function of the serving plate stretched across the washing sink, making it possible to make the entire device compact.

[0017] In addition, the scraper is located near the washing sink so that opening and closing the serving plate relative to the opening of the washing sink causes the scraper to stand up in the open position, while the scraper is collapsed in the closed position.When the serving plate is slid to the open position, the scraper protrudes upward from the washing sink, so that the scraper can reliably abut against the inverted inner wall surface of the cooking vessel, reliably scraping off burnt food and other dirt that has adhered to the inner wall surface of the cooking vessel.

[0018] Furthermore, when the serving plate is slid to the closed position, the scraper is stored under the serving plate, so dishes can be placed stably on the serving plate, allowing for efficient serving work.

[0019] According to the automatic cooking device of the invention of claim 3 of the present invention, the scraping unit has a spring-loaded cross-four-bar link mechanism, and the scraper of the scraping unit is in an upright position due to the elastic force of the upright spring of the spring-loaded cross-four-bar link mechanism when the serving plate is in the open position.Therefore, when the serving plate is slid to the open position, the elastic force of the upright spring causes the scraping unit to elastically abut against the inner wall surface of the cooking container, thereby taking an upright position to scrape off burnt food and other dirt.Therefore, preparations for scraping off burnt food and other dirt can be smoothly achieved simply by sliding the serving plate to the open position.

[0020] In addition, when in the upright position, the scraper is elastically pressed against the inner wall surface of the cooking container in the cleaning position due to the elastic force of the upright spring, so that dirt such as burnt food that has adhered to the inner wall surface of the cooking container can be more reliably scraped off, and excessive sliding contact of the scraper relative to the inner wall surface of the cooking container can be avoided, thereby reducing wear and damage to both.

[0021] Furthermore, the scraping unit has a spring-loaded cross four-bar link mechanism, and the scraper of the scraping unit assumes a lying position against the elastic force of the standing spring when the serving plate is in the closed position. Therefore, when the serving plate is slid to the closed position, the scraper of the scraping unit assumes a lying position against the standing spring. Therefore, simply by sliding the serving plate to the closed position, the scraping unit is stored under the serving plate, allowing dishes to be placed stably on the serving plate and making the serving operation more efficient.

[0022] According to the automatic cooking device of the invention of claim 4 of the present invention, the cooking container has a heated inclined surface portion that is inclined with respect to the central axis of the container, and the scraper has an inclined edge portion that abuts against the inner wall surface of the heated inclined surface portion of the cooking container.Therefore, when the cooking container is rotated around the central axis of the container in the depth direction in the cleaning position, the inclined edge portion of the scraper abuts against the entire inner wall surface of the heated inclined surface portion of the cooking container, thereby efficiently scraping off dirt such as burnt food that has firmly adhered to the inner wall surface of the cooking container due to heating and cooking.

[0023] According to the automatic cooking device of the invention of claim 5 of the present invention, the scraping unit is configured to be freely detachable from the washing sink, so that the scraping unit can be removed after scraping off burnt dirt and other grime that has adhered to the inner wall surface of the cooking container.This makes it easy to collect burnt dirt and other grime that has been scraped off by the scraper and fallen into the washing sink, and the removed scraping unit can be easily cleaned. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1A] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the automatic cooking device of the present invention performing automatic cooking. [Figure 1B] 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the automatic cooking apparatus of the present invention with the washing sink open; [Figure 2] 10 is a schematic left side view showing a method of mounting a cooking container on the container holding unit of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 3A] FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing the configuration of the scraping unit of the present invention. [Figure 3B] FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of a scraping unit of the present invention. [Figure 3C] FIG. 2 is a schematic right side view showing the configuration of the scraping unit of the present invention. [Figure 4A] 10 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the serving plate of the present invention is slid from the open position to the half-open position. FIG. [Figure 4B] 10 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the serving plate of the present invention abuts against the scraper in a half-open position, causing the scraper to change from an upright position to a lying position. FIG. [Figure 4C] 10 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the serving plate of the present invention has slid to the closed position and the scraper has been folded down and stored. [Figure 4D] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the serving plate of the present invention is in the closed position and the scraper is folded down and stored. [Figure 4E] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the serving plate of the present invention slides from the closed position to the half-open position and the scraper changes from a lying position to an upright position. FIG. [Figure 4F] 10 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the serving plate of the present invention has slid from the half-open position to the open position and the scraper has stood up. FIG. [Figure 5] 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which the cooking container of the present invention has been rotated from a cooking position to a cleaning position; [Figure 6] Schematic diagram showing the scraper of the present invention abutting against the inner wall surface of a cooking vessel in a cleaning position. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the relationship between the scraper of the present invention and the movable range of the agitating member during cleaning. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025] The present invention is an automatic cooking device that includes a container holding unit that is arranged on top of a cooking counter and that holds a bottomed cylindrical cooking container so that it can rotate freely around the container's central axis in the depth direction of the cooking container, and a washing sink that is arranged in a region forward of the container holding unit on the cooking counter and that washes the cooking container, and that washes the inner wall surface of the cooking container in an upside-down position after stirring and cooking the ingredients contained in the cooking container, and a scraping unit equipped with a scraper that scrapes off dirt adhering to the cooking container after cooking is enclosed by the upside-down inner wall surface of the cooking container in the washing sink so that the scraper abuts against the inner wall surface of the cooking container, so that dirt such as burnt food that adheres to the inner wall surface of the cooking container and remains after cooking can be efficiently scraped off.The specific embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this, as long as it is possible to efficiently scrape off dirt such as burnt food that adheres to the inner wall surface of the cooking container and remains after cooking.

[0026] For example, in the automatic cooking device of the present invention, the cook can manually operate the raising and lowering handle to swing the container holding unit around the raising and lowering axis after automatic cooking, tilting the cooking container toward the front, and placing the cooking container in an upside-down cleaning position; however, the process of swinging the container holding unit toward the front and placing the cooking container in an upside-down cleaning position may also be automated.

[0027] The "dirt" scraped off by the scraper used in the present invention refers to burnt ingredients and the like that tend to adhere to the inner wall surface of a cooking container when cooking Chinese food or the like at high temperatures. [Example]

[0028] An automatic cooking device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1A is a schematic perspective view showing the automatic cooking apparatus of the present invention performing automatic cooking, FIG. 1B is a schematic perspective view showing the automatic cooking apparatus of the present invention with the washing sink open, FIG. 2 is a schematic left side view showing a method of attaching a cooking container to the container holding unit of the present invention, FIG. 3A is a schematic front view showing the configuration of the scraping unit of the present invention, FIG. 3B is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the scraping unit of the present invention, FIG. 3C is a schematic right side view showing the configuration of the scraping unit of the present invention, FIG. 4A is a schematic view showing the serving plate of the present invention sliding from the open position to the half-open position, FIG. 4B is a schematic view showing the serving plate of the present invention abutting against the scraper in the half-open position, causing the scraper to change from an upright position to a lying position, and FIG. 4C is a schematic view showing the serving plate of the present invention FIG. 4D is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the serving plate of the present invention is in the closed position and the scraper is in a collapsed and stored state; FIG. 4E is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the serving plate of the present invention slides from the closed position to the half-open position and the scraper changes from a collapsed position to an upright position; FIG. 4F is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the serving plate of the present invention slides from the half-open position to the open position and the scraper is in an upright position; FIG. 5 is a schematic oblique view showing the state in which the cooking container of the present invention has been rotated from the cooking position to the cleaning position; FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the scraper of the present invention is in contact with the inner wall surface of the cooking container in the cleaning position; and FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing the relationship between the scraper of the present invention and the range of movement of the stirring member during cleaning.

[0029] <Configuration of automatic cooking device> The automatic cooking device 10 of this embodiment is a device that automatically cooks food by stirring and cooking ingredients, and is equipped with a cooking counter 100 installed on a floor surface F, a container holding unit 200 that is pivotally mounted on the upper surface of the cooking counter 100 so that it can rise and fall freely, a cooking container 300 that is rotatably held on the container holding unit 200, a container heating unit 400 that is arranged on the upper surface of the cooking counter 100 and heats the cooking container 300, a container washing unit 500 that cleans the inner wall surface of the cooking container 300 after cooking, a scraping unit 600 that scrapes off dirt such as burnt food that has adhered to the inner surface of the cooking container 300 after cooking, a placing unit 700 on which tableware such as plates on which to serve the ingredients after cooking is placed, and a control unit 800 that controls the container holding unit 200, the container heating unit 400 and the container washing unit 500.

[0030] As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the cooking table 100 of this embodiment is a rectangular parallelepiped table with casters at the four corners of the bottom surface and a flat top surface.

[0031] As shown in Figure 1B, a washing sink 110 is provided in the front area, i.e., the front region, of the top surface of the cooking counter 100, and a container holding unit 200 is installed in the back area, i.e., the rear region, of the top surface of the cooking counter 100, and is supported so that it can be freely raised and lowered in the front-to-back direction.

[0032] As shown in Figures 1B and 2, the container holding unit 200 of this embodiment is equipped with a container rotation mechanism 210 that has a drive motor to which the container body 310 and the stirring member 320 are attached and which rotates the container body 310 and the stirring member 320 around the container central axis AC extending in the depth direction of the container (i.e., the depth direction of the cooking container 300) as the center of rotation, and a raising and lowering handle 230 that allows the cook to raise and lower the container holding unit 200 back and forth around the raising and lowering shaft portion 220 as the rotation axis.

[0033] The container rotation mechanism 210 drives the container body 310 and the stirring member 320 with a drive motor so that they rotate independently of each other with the container central axis AC as the common center of rotation relative to the cooking container 300 to which it is attached.

[0034] As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2 and 6, the cooking vessel 300 of this embodiment includes a cylindrical vessel body 310 made of metal and having a bottom, and a stirring member 320.

[0035] The container body 310 comprises a heated inclined surface portion 311 that is inclined with respect to the container central axis AC, a side portion 312 that is continuous with the heated inclined surface portion 311 and is cylindrically shaped with its center on the container central axis AC, forming a circular opening, and a bottom portion 313 that is continuous with the heated inclined surface portion 311 and is made of a flat surface that is perpendicular to the container central axis AC.

[0036] The stirring member 320 comprises a base 321 rotatably arranged on the inner bottom surface 313 of the container body 310, a spatula part 322 connected to the base 321 and having a shape corresponding to the shape of the inner wall of the container body, and a detection magnet 323 arranged outside the container body 310 near the tip of the spatula part 322.

[0037] The cooking container 300 is mounted on the container holding unit 200 so as to be rotatable about the container central axis AC as the center of rotation. When mounting the cooking container 300, as shown in FIG. 2, the bottom of the container body 310 is first placed at the corresponding location on the container rotation mechanism 210, and then the stirring member 320 is placed on the bottom surface 313 of the container body 310 so as to be rotatable independently of the container body 310.

[0038] When the stirring member 320 is placed on the bottom surface 313 of the container body 310, a magnetic coupling mechanism is formed by a strong mutual attractive force exerted by a permanent magnet (not shown) arranged in the container rotation mechanism 210 and a permanent magnet (not shown) arranged in the base 321 of the stirring member 320, and the bottom surface 313 of the container body 310 is tightly sandwiched between the container rotation mechanism 210 and the base 321 of the stirring member 320, thereby stably attaching the stirring member to the container body 310.

[0039] As will be described later, the outer dimensions of the cooking container 300 are set smaller than the dimensions of the opening of the washing sink 110 so that the cooking container 300 can be placed in an upside-down cleaning position at a position lower than the opening of the washing sink 110 and the inner surface of the cooking container 300 can be washed.

[0040] As shown in Figures 1A, 1B and 2, the container heating unit 400 of this embodiment is positioned on the top surface of the cooking table 100, at a position facing and spaced apart from the heated inclined surface portion 311 of the container body 310 of the cooking container 300 in a cooking position.

[0041] An induction coil is installed inside the container heating unit 400, and is configured to heat the heated inclined surface portion 311 of the container body 310 in the cooking position by electromagnetic induction.

[0042] As shown in Figures 1B and 6, the container washing unit 500 of this embodiment is installed in a washing sink 110 provided in the front area of ​​the kitchen counter 100, and is equipped with an upright washing unit body 510 and multiple washing nozzles 520 that spray washing water.

[0043] <Configuration of scraping unit> As shown in Figures 1B, 3A to 3C, and 6, the scraping unit 600 of this embodiment comprises a fixed link 610 that supports the entire scraping unit 600, an input link 620 that receives external forces, a scraper 630 that serves as an output link, a coupling link 640 that connects the fixed link 610 and the scraper 630, and an upright spring 650 that applies elastic force to the fixed link 610 and the coupling link 640, thereby forming a spring-equipped four-bar cross link mechanism.

[0044] The fixed link 610 has an arm portion 611, a support portion 612, a scraper regulating portion 613, an input link regulating portion 614, and an attachment screw 615, and is attached to the container washing unit 500 installed in the washing sink 110 at the support portion 612 by the attachment screw 615.

[0045] The input link 620 includes a contact input portion 621 and a spring hole portion 622, and is coupled to the arm portion 611 of the fixed link 610 at the input fixed joint portion 600a so as to be able to swing freely.

[0046] The scraper 630 functions as an output link, has an inclined edge portion 631 that abuts the inner wall surface of the heated inclined surface portion 311 of the container body 310, and is connected to the arm portion 611 of the fixed link 610 at the output fixed joint portion 600b so as to be able to swing freely.

[0047] The coupling link 640 is pivotally connected to the input link 620 at the input link portion 600c, and is pivotally connected to the scraper 630 at the output link portion 600d.

[0048] The standing spring 650 has a spiral coil portion 651 and two mounting portions 652, 652 located at both ends thereof, one of which engages with the spring hole portion 622 of the input link 620, and the other of which engages with the spring hole portion 641 of the coupling link 640.

[0049] As described above, the scraping unit 600 of this embodiment is configured with a spring-loaded four-bar cross link mechanism. When no external force is applied to the contact input portion 621, the input link 620 is displaced in a clockwise swinging motion due to the elastic force of the standing spring 650. This swinging motion is transmitted to the scraper 630 via the coupling link 640, causing the scraper 630 to swing counterclockwise and assume an upright position as shown in FIG. 3A.

[0050] When the input link 620 swings clockwise, it hits the input link regulating portion 614 of the fixed link 610 and stops, thereby restricting excessive swinging of the input link 620. As a result, power transmission by the coupling link 640 stops, and the scraper 630 is prevented from swinging excessively beyond the upright position.

[0051] Furthermore, when a leftward external force is applied to the abutment input portion 621, the input link 620 swings counterclockwise around the input fixed node portion 600a against the elastic force of the standing spring 650, and this swinging displacement is transmitted to the scraper 630 via the coupling link 640, causing the scraper 630 to swing clockwise and assume a lying position.

[0052] When the external force applied to the contact input portion 621 is large, the scraper 630 swings vigorously, but when the scraper 630 swings and displaces clockwise, the scraper 630 hits the scraper regulating portion 613 of the fixed link 610 and stops, thereby restricting excessive swinging displacement and preventing the scraper 630 from swinging and displacing excessively beyond the lying-down position.

[0053] <Configuration of the mounting unit> As shown in Figures 1A, 1B and 4A to 4F, the loading unit 700 of this embodiment is equipped with a dish loading table 710 on which dishes, i.e., plates D, for serving ingredients I during automatic cooking by the cooking container 300 are placed, and a serving plate 720 on which plates D for serving ingredients I after cooking are placed, and is arranged adjacent to the washing sink 110 on the front side, i.e., the front area, of the upper surface of the cooking table 100.

[0054] The placement unit 700 is configured to be freely slidable so that a serving plate 720 that can be stored in the dish placement stand 710 can be set in either an open position that opens the opening of the washing sink 110 or a closed position that spans the opening of the washing sink 110.

[0055] A cook can place serving plate 720 in either the open position or the closed position by holding plate operating portion 721 of serving plate 720 in his / her hand and sliding it left or right.

[0056] As shown in Figures 1A, 1B and 5, the control unit 800 of this embodiment is equipped with a display panel 810, an operation unit 820 and a spatula detection sensor 830, and is provided at the back side, i.e., the rear area, of the top surface of the cooking table 100.

[0057] The control unit 800 displays the status of the automatic cooking device 10 and the operations performed by the cook on the display panel 810, and controls the operation of the container rotation mechanism 210 of the container holding unit 200, the container heating unit 400, and the container cleaning unit 500 in accordance with the cook's instructions via operation of the operating unit 820, etc.

[0058] The control unit 800 drives and controls the container rotation mechanism 210 so that the container body 310 and the stirring member 320 of the cooking container 300 rotate independently about the container central axis AC as a common rotation center.

[0059] In addition, the control unit 800 is configured to magnetically detect the detection magnet 323 provided on the stirring member 320 of the cooking container 300 using the spatula part detection sensor 830, and is configured to repeatedly detect that the detection magnet 323 of the stirring member 320, which rotates around the container central axis AC as the center of rotation, has reached a reference position opposite the spatula part detection sensor 830 when the automatic cooking apparatus 10 is performing automatic cooking in the cooking position shown in Figure 1A.

[0060] When automatic cooking is completed, the control unit 800 controls the container rotation mechanism 210 to stop the rotation of the stirring member 320 when the detection magnet 323 is at a position where it is detected by the spatula part detection sensor 830, i.e., when the detection magnet 323 of the stirring member 320 is at a reference position facing the spatula part detection sensor 830.

[0061] The control unit 800 also has the function of controlling the rotation angle of the stirring member 320 from a reference position, and drives and controls the container rotation mechanism 210 so as to rotate the stirring member 320 forward or backward at a predetermined angle starting from the reference position.

[0062] <Automatic cooking process> Next, the cooking operation of the automatic cooking device 10 will be described. First, when the automatic cooking device 10 is in a cooking position in which the cooking container 300 is open diagonally upward and forward as shown in FIG. 1A, the cook of the automatic cooking device 10 places ingredients I to be automatically cooked into the cooking container 300.

[0063] Thereafter, when the automatic cooking device 10 receives cooking instructions based on the cook's operation of the operating unit 820, the control unit 800 energizes the container heating unit 400 and applies an alternating current, causing the container heating unit 400 to emit an alternating magnetic flux at the same frequency as the alternating current toward the cooking container 300, generating an induced current in the cooking container 300 and causing the cooking container 300 to heat up.

[0064] Furthermore, the control unit 800 drives the container rotation mechanism 210 of the container holding unit 200 to rotate the container body 310 and the stirring member 320 of the cooking container 300 independently about the container central axis AC as a common rotation center.

[0065] Due to the interaction between the rotation of the container body 310 and the rotation of the stirring member 320, the ingredients I placed in the cooking container 300 are heated and stirred and cooked within the cooking container 300.

[0066] In this way, since the container heating unit 400 heats the heated inclined surface portion 311 of the cooking container 300 in the cooking posture, the heating of the ingredient I is realized mainly on the inner wall surface of the heated inclined surface portion 311.

[0067] When preparing to serve food before or during automatic cooking, the dishes to be served, i.e., plates D, can be placed on the dish placing stand 710 of the placing unit 700, and the serving plate 720 can be slid out to a position where it closes the opening of the washing sink 110, allowing the serving plate D to be placed on the serving plate 720.

[0068] After automatic cooking is completed, ingredients can be placed on the plate D placed on the serving plate 720, but if you want to open the opening of the washing sink 110 immediately after serving, you can first move the plate D with the ingredients on it onto the dish placing stand 710, and then slide the serving plate 720 to open the opening of the washing sink 110.

[0069] When automatic cooking is performed using the above process, seasonings and the like will adhere to the inner wall surface of the container body 310, making it necessary to clean the inner wall surface of the container body 310.In particular, as shown in Figures 1B and 6, dirt B such as burnt dirt caused by heating may be firmly attached to the inner wall surface of the heated inclined surface portion 311, making it necessary to not only clean but also scrape the inner wall surface to scrape off the burnt dirt B.

[0070] <Preparing for scraping> Next, preparation of the scraping unit 600 for scraping the cooking vessel 300 will be described. As mentioned above, the scraping unit 600 of this embodiment is attached to the container washing unit 500 installed in the washing sink 110 as shown in Figure 1B, and the placement unit 700 is provided with a dish placement stand 710 and a serving plate 720 and is positioned adjacent to the washing sink 110 as shown in Figures 1A and 1B, and the serving plate 720 is configured to slide freely between an open position where it opens the opening of the washing sink 110 and a closed position where it spans the opening of the washing sink 110.

[0071] Due to this arrangement relationship between the scraping unit 600 and the serving plate 720, when the serving plate 720 is slid from the open position of the washing sink 110 to the half-open position, as shown in Figure 4A, the serving plate 720 and the abutment input portion 621 are separated from each other, so no external force is applied to the scraping unit 600, and the elastic force of the standing spring 650 causes the scrapers 630 to each take an upright position.

[0072] When the serving plate 720 is slid beyond the half-open position, as shown in Figure 4B, the plate operating portion 721 of the serving plate 720 abuts against the abutment input portion 621 from the right, causing the input link 620 and the scraper 630 to swing and displace in the direction of falling down against the elastic force of the standing spring 650.

[0073] When the serving plate 720 is slid to the closed position of the washing sink 110, the scraper 630 of the scraping unit 600 assumes a lying position against the standing spring 650, as shown in Figure 4C. Therefore, simply by sliding the serving plate 720 to the closed position of the washing sink 110, the scraper 630 is stored under the serving plate 720 in a lying position.

[0074] Therefore, when automatic cooking is finished, the dish D, which is the serving dish, can be placed stably on the serving plate 720 in the closed position of the washing sink 110, and the serving work can be carried out.

[0075] During the serving operation, the serving plate 720 is in the closed position, and as shown in Figure 4D, the abutment input portion 621 of the input link 620 of the scraping unit 600 abuts against the underside of the serving plate 720 and receives an external force downward to the left, causing the scraper 630 to collapse and be stored under the serving plate 720 within the washing sink 110.

[0076] In order to scrape the cooking container 300, the serving plate 720 must be slid to the open position of the washing sink 110, so the plate D with the toppings is first moved onto the dish placing stand 710 or the like.

[0077] Thereafter, when the serving plate 720 is gradually slid in the direction of being accommodated within the dish placing table 710 and the washing sink 110 is set to a half-open state, as shown in Figure 4E, the abutment input portion 621 disengages from the underside of the serving plate 720 and is positioned so that it abuts against the plate operating portion 721 of the serving plate 720 from the left side. As a result, the elastic force of the standing spring 650 causes the input link 620 and the scraper 630 to swing and displace in the standing direction, and the input link 620 applies a force to the right on the serving plate 720, resulting in the effect of sliding the serving plate 720 to the right.

[0078] When the serving plate 720 is further slid in the direction of being accommodated within the tableware placing table 710, the serving plate 720 and the contact input portion 621 separate, and the elastic force of the standing spring 650 causes the input link 620 and the scraper 630 to swing and displace until they each stand up, and then they stop, as shown in Figure 4F.

[0079] By sliding the serving plate 720 further into the dish tray 710, that is, until it reaches the open position of the washing sink 110, the opening of the washing sink 110 is fully opened and the dish tray is ready for scraping.

[0080] In this way, the area of ​​the counter 100 in front of the container holding unit 200 has both the scraping function of the scraping unit 600 in the washing sink 110 and the dish placing function of the serving plate 720 stretched across the washing sink 110, thereby making the entire device compact.

[0081] <Scraping process> After the scraper 630 of the scraping unit 600 is upright and ready for scraping, as shown in Figure 5, the cook pulls the raising and lowering handle 230 of the container holding unit 200 toward himself, swings the container holding unit 200 around the raising and lowering axis 220, and tilts it toward himself, so that the cooking container 300 is placed in the washing sink 110 in an upside-down cleaning position, i.e., with the opening of the cooking container 300 facing downward, as shown in Figure 6.

[0082] At this time, the scraper 630, which is in an upright position due to the elastic force of the upright spring 650, comes into contact with the inner wall surface of the container body 310 of the cooking container 300 and receives an external force, causing a swinging displacement that brings it closer to a lying position.

[0083] At this time, the elastic force of the standing spring 650 of the scraping unit 600 resists the external force applied from the inner wall surface of the container body 310 of the cooking container 300, so the scraper 630 elastically abuts against the inner wall surface of the container body 310, preventing excessive sliding of the scraper 630 against the inner wall surface of the container body 310 and reducing wear and damage to both.

[0084] Furthermore, since the scraper 630 has an inclined edge portion 631 that abuts against the inner wall surface of the heated inclined surface portion 311 of the container body 310 of the cooking container 300, when the control unit 800 drives the container rotation mechanism 210 of the container holding unit 200 in the cleaning position to rotate the container body 310 of the cooking container 300 around the container central axis AC as the center of rotation, the inclined edge portion 631 of the scraper 630 abuts against the entire inner wall surface of the heated inclined surface portion 311, and scrapes off dirt B such as burnt food that has firmly adhered due to cooking from the entire inner wall surface of the heated inclined surface portion 311.

[0085] Furthermore, since the scraping unit 600 performs its scraping function within the space surrounded by the upside-down inner wall surfaces of the container body 310 of the cooking container 300 placed in the washing sink 110, the burnt dirt B scraped off by the scraper 630 falls from the inner wall surface of the cooking container 300 into the washing sink 110 without scattering on the top surface of the cooking table 100, and the burnt dirt B scraped off can be easily collected after cleaning.

[0086] The scraping unit 600 of this embodiment is configured to be freely detachable from the washing sink 110, and more specifically, is attached to the container washing unit 500 provided in the washing sink 110 by a mounting screw 615 at the support portion 612 of the fixed link 610.

[0087] Therefore, the scraping unit 600 can be removed after scraping off the burnt dirt B adhering to the inner wall surface of the container body 310 of the cooking container 300, and the removed scraping unit 600 itself can be easily washed.

[0088] <Cleaning process> In the automatic cooking apparatus 10 of this embodiment, the scraping unit 600 scrapes the cooking vessel 300 in the cleaning position, and the vessel cleaning unit 500 cleans the cooking vessel 300 at the same time.

[0089] As shown in Figures 1B and 6, the container washing unit 500 of this embodiment comprises an upright washing unit body 510 and a plurality of washing nozzles 520 for spraying washing water, and is installed in a washing sink 110 provided in the front area of ​​the kitchen counter 100.

[0090] As shown in Figure 6, multiple cleaning nozzles 520 are provided on the cleaning unit main body 510 so that the direction of spraying cleaning water is upward, diagonally upward and to the right, corresponding to the bottom surface 313, heated inclined surface portion 311 and inner wall surface of the side surface portion 312 of the container main body 310 in an inverted cleaning position.

[0091] When a cleaning instruction is received based on the cook's operation of the operating unit 820, the control unit 800 applies power to the container cleaning unit 500 and controls the ON / OFF of a pump (not shown), causing the multiple cleaning nozzles 520 of the container cleaning unit 500 to spray cleaning water in each direction.At the same time, the control unit 800 drives the container rotation mechanism 210 of the container holding unit 200, causing the container body 310 and the stirring member 320 of the cooking container 300 to rotate independently around the container central axis AC as a common center of rotation, thereby cleaning the container body 310 and the stirring member 320 of the cooking container 300 together.

[0092] In the automatic cooking process, seasonings and the like tend to adhere to the spatula part 322 of the stirring member 320, so in the cleaning process, it is preferable that the spatula part 322 of the stirring member 320 is thoroughly cleaned with cleaning water sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 520.

[0093] Therefore, in this embodiment, by manually operating the above-mentioned raising and lowering handle 230, after automatic cooking, the container holding unit 200 is swung around the raising and lowering axis 220 and tilted forward, and when the cooking container 300 is placed in the washing sink 110 in a cleaning position, the control unit 800 controls the operation of the container rotation mechanism 210 so that the stirring member 320, which has stopped at the reference position at the end of cooking, rotates back and forth within a range from the 0 degree position (dashed line in Figure 7) to the 125 degree counterclockwise position (dotted line in Figure 7).

[0094] As the stirring member 320 rotates back and forth within the above-mentioned range, the cleaning water sprayed from the multiple cleaning nozzles 520 diagonally upward and to the right is always sprayed onto some part of the spatula part 322 of the stirring member 320.

[0095] Furthermore, as a result of the rotational drive of the agitating member 320 by the container rotation mechanism 210 being controlled by the control unit 800 as described above, the movable range of the agitating member 320 during cleaning is limited.

[0096] As shown in FIG. 7, the scraping unit 600 is attached to the container washing unit 500 and is disposed outside the movable range of the stirring member 320.

[0097] In this way, since the scraping unit 600 is positioned outside the movable range of the stirring member 320, during the cleaning process in which the cooking container 300 is rotated by the container rotation mechanism 210 in a cleaning position in which the cooking container 300 is placed upside down facing the washing sink 110, the stirring member 320 and the scraping unit 600 are always positioned apart, which prevents damage due to contact between the stirring member 320 and the scraping unit 600, and the clearance between the stirring member 320 and the scraping unit 600 makes maintenance easy.

[0098] Furthermore, since the scraping unit 600 is positioned outside the range of movement of the stirring member 320, particularly when viewed from above, even if the stirring member 320 stops at any position due to an emergency stop for some reason during cleaning with the cooking vessel 300 in an upside-down cleaning position, the cooking vessel 300 can be returned from the cleaning position to the cooking position and recovery work can be carried out without interference between the stirring member 320 and the scraping unit 600. [Explanation of symbols]

[0099] 10 Automatic cooking equipment 100 cooking table 110 Washing sink 200 Container Holding Unit 210 Container rotation mechanism 220 Lifting shaft part 230 Elevation Handle 300 Cooking Containers 310 Container body 311 Heated inclined surface section 312 Side part 313 Bottom part 320 Stirring member 321 Base 322 Spatula 323 Detection Magnet 400 Container Heating Unit 500 Container Cleaning Unit 510 Cleaning unit body 520 Cleaning nozzle 600 scraping unit (spring-loaded cross four-bar link mechanism) 600a Input fixed node 600b output fixed joint 600c Input articulation section 600d output articulation 610 Permalink 611 Arm 612 Support part 613 Regulatory Department 614 Input link control unit 615 Mounting screw 620 Input Link 621 Contact input section 622 Spring hole 630 Scraper 631 Slope side 640 Coupling Link 641 Spring hole 650 Standing Spring 651 Coil section 652 Mounting part 700 Mounting Unit 710 Dish stand 720 Serving Plate 721 Plate operation unit 800 Control Unit 810 Display Panel 820 Control unit 830 Spatula detection sensor F Floor I Ingredients D plate B Burnt or other stains AC container center axis

Claims

1. An automatic cooking device comprising: a container holding unit that is provided on an upper portion of a cooking table and that holds a cylindrical cooking container with a bottom so that the cooking container can rotate about a central axis of the container in the depth direction of the container; and a washing sink that is provided in a region forward of the container holding unit on the cooking table and that washes the cooking container, and that heats and cooks ingredients contained in the cooking container while stirring them, and then washes the inner wall surface of the cooking container while turning the cooking container upside down, An automatic cooking device characterized in that a scraping unit equipped with a scraper that scrapes off dirt adhering to the cooking container after cooking is enclosed by the upside-down inner wall surface of the cooking container in the washing sink so that the scraper abuts against the inner wall surface of the cooking container.

2. The automatic cooking apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that a mounting unit equipped with a serving plate for placing a plate on which ingredients cooked in the cooking container are to be placed is provided near the washing sink, characterized in that the serving plate is slidable between an open position in which it opens the opening of the washing sink and a closed position in which it spans the opening of the washing sink, and the opening and closing movement of the serving plate relative to the opening of the washing sink causes the scraper to stand in the open position and the scraper to lie down in the closed position.

3. The scraping unit has a spring-loaded cross-four-bar linkage mechanism, The automatic cooking apparatus of claim 2, characterized in that the scraper of the scraping unit is in an upright position due to the elastic force of the upright spring of the spring-loaded cross four-bar link mechanism when the serving plate is in the open position, and is in a lying position against the elastic force of the upright spring when the serving plate is in the closed position.

4. The cooking container has a heated inclined surface portion inclined with respect to the container central axis, 3. The automatic cooking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scraper has an inclined side portion that abuts against the inner wall surface of the heated inclined surface portion of the cooking container.

5. 3. The automatic cooking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scraping unit is detachable from the washing sink.

6. The cooking container has a container body that contains ingredients and a stirring member that is attached to the container body and rotates independently of the container body, the container holding unit rotates the stirring member independently of the container body, 3. The automatic cooking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scraping unit is disposed outside a movable range of the stirring member.

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