Cooking appliance and control method for cooking appliance

Abstract

To improve the convenience of users of cooking appliances. [Solution] The heating cooker comprises a heating chamber, an imaging device for imaging the inside of the heating chamber, and a control device 300 for controlling the heating of an object placed in the heating chamber. The control device 300 comprises an image acquisition unit 302 for acquiring an image captured by the imaging device, a heating information acquisition unit 303 for acquiring heating information used to control the heating of the object by referring to the acquired image of the object, a heating control unit 307 for controlling the heating of the object according to the acquired heating information, and a state detection unit 304 for detecting the presence or absence of an object to be heated inside the heating chamber by referring to an image captured by the imaging device. The state detection unit 304 detects the presence of an object to be heated inside the heating chamber if the heating information acquisition unit 303 successfully acquires heating information within a predetermined time after the door for opening and closing the opening of the heating chamber is opened.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a cooking appliance.

Background Art

[0002] There has been proposed a cooking appliance that reads an information code attached to a food container or the like with a reading device and heats the food according to the read heating information (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The cooking appliance described in Patent Document 1 reads an information code attached to a food container or the like with a reading device provided above a door that opens and closes a heating chamber.

[0003] When the cooking appliance described in Patent Document 1 detects an open state of the front door for the first time after the start of heating, it does not perform reading for the first hour. This can avoid wasteful operations such as reading the information code when taking out the heat-treated food from the heating chamber and resetting the heating information again.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Retail stores selling food items such as bento boxes experience a large influx of customers during meal times, requiring them to quickly heat and serve a large number of food items in succession. However, the heating device described in Patent Document 1 requires a one-hour wait after opening the front door following the heating process before it can read the heating information for the next food item. This first hour is set to allow even an inexperienced employee to remove the cooked food, meaning that experienced employees are forced to endure unnecessary waiting time each time. Even if individual employees improve their skills and can perform their work more smoothly, the process of changing the food being heated in the heating device remains the rate-limiting step, preventing an overall improvement in work efficiency.

[0006] This disclosure is made in light of these circumstances, and its purpose is to improve the convenience of cooking appliances. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The heating appliance in this disclosure comprises a heating chamber, an imaging device for imaging the inside of the heating chamber, and a control device for controlling the heating of an object to be heated placed in the heating chamber. The control device comprises an image acquisition unit for acquiring an image captured by the imaging device, a heating information acquisition unit for acquiring heating information used to control the heating of the object by referring to the image of the object to be heated acquired by the image acquisition unit, a heating control unit for controlling the heating of the object according to the heating information acquired by the heating information acquisition unit, and a state detection unit for detecting the presence or absence of an object to be heated inside the heating chamber by referring to an image captured by the imaging device. The state detection unit detects the presence of an object to be heated inside the heating chamber if the heating information acquisition unit successfully acquires heating information within a predetermined time after the door for opening and closing the opening of the heating chamber is opened. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] The technology described herein can improve the convenience of cooking appliances. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This figure shows the external appearance of a cooking appliance according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram showing a cross-section of a cooking appliance. [Figure 3] This figure shows the configuration of the control device for a cooking appliance according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] This flowchart shows the procedure for the control method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] This flowchart shows the procedure for the control method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] This flowchart shows the procedure for the control method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] This figure shows examples of images and difference images of the inside of a heating chamber captured by an imaging device. [Figure 8] Figure 7 shows the analysis results of the difference images. [Figure 9] This flowchart shows the procedure for the control method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] This flowchart shows the procedure for the control method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] This figure shows examples of images and difference images of the inside of a heating chamber captured by an imaging device. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The heating appliance according to the embodiment of the present disclosure automatically reads heating information, which represents control information such as the type of heating means, the output of the heating means, the heating time, and the heating temperature, stored in a barcode or the like attached to the object to be heated when the object to be heated is placed inside the heating chamber, and automatically heats the object to be heated according to the read heating information.

[0011] After heating the object to be heated, the cooking appliance according to the present embodiment stops reading heating information until the heated object to be heated is taken out of the heating cabinet. When it is detected that the object to be heated has been taken out of the heating cabinet, the reading of the heating information is started. As a result, after taking out the heated object to be heated, the user can immediately place the next object to be heated in the heating cabinet and automatically heat it according to the heating information.

[0012] The cooking appliance according to the present embodiment is provided in the heating cabinet and reads heating information by an imaging device for imaging the inside of the heating cabinet. Therefore, in order to make the reading device read the heating information, it is not necessary to make the reading device scan a barcode or the like attached to the object to be heated. Even an inexperienced user can quickly heat the object to be heated. In addition, the efficiency of the work by the user can be improved.

[0013] The technology of the present disclosure is applicable to cooking appliances such as a microwave oven, an oven, a toaster, a roaster, a gas table, a stove, a rice cooker, a home bakery, a cooking heater, a hot plate, a pressure cooker, etc. for cooking and heating an object to be heated such as food.

[0014] FIG. 1 shows the appearance of the cooking appliance 100 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. The cooking appliance 100 includes a housing 101, a door 102 that can open and close a front opening provided in a front frame that is the front surface of the housing 101, and an operation unit 105 provided on the right side of the door 102.

[0015] In the description of the present disclosure, the front opening side of the cooking appliance 100 is defined as the front side, and the opposite back surface side is defined as the rear side. When viewed from the front side, that is, in a front view, the top surface side of the cooking appliance 100 is defined as the upper side, and the bottom surface side is defined as the lower side.

[0016] The door 102 is attached to the housing 101 so as to be openable and closable about a horizontal rotation center axis on the left side of the front opening. A glass window 103 is provided on the door 102 so that the user can check the situation inside the heating chamber. The door 102 has a handle 104 at the upper end of the front surface. When the handle 104 is pulled by the user, the door 102 is rotationally operated to open the front opening. Also, when the handle 104 is pushed by the user, the front opening is closed. An opening / closing sensor for detecting the opening and closing of the door 102 is provided on the door 102 or the housing 101. The detection result by the opening / closing sensor is transmitted to the control device 300.

[0017] On the right side of the front surface of the housing 101, an operation unit 105 having a vertically long shape in a front view is provided. The operation unit 105 has a plurality of operation switches for the user to set cooking contents and a display unit 106 for displaying the operation status to the user. Each operation switch is a button 107, 109, 110 for selecting various information, a start button 108 for starting heating cooking, etc. The operation status of the heating cooker 100, the operation status by the operation switch, etc. are displayed on the display unit 106. Each operation switch and the display unit are controlled by the control device 300. The control device 300 may be configured by, for example, a CPU, a microcomputer, or hardware logic.

[0018] FIG. 2 schematically shows a cross section of the heating cooker 100. Inside the housing 101 of the heating cooker 100, a heating chamber 201 is provided. Two magnetrons 202a and 202b are provided vertically at the rear of the heating chamber 201. The microwaves generated from each of the magnetrons 202a and 202b under the control of the control device 300 are radiated into the heating chamber 201 from the vertical direction. Thereby, the object to be heated 203 placed at the bottom of the heating chamber 201 can be heated uniformly. Note that there may be one magnetron.

[0019] The cooking appliance 100 may heat the object to be heated 203 by supplying radiant heat, hot air, steam, etc. For this purpose, the cooking appliance 100 may have heating means such as a heater unit that heats the object to be heated with radiant heat, a convection heater unit that circulates hot air in the heating chamber 201, and a steam generating unit that generates steam in the heating chamber 201.

[0020] An imaging device 204 is provided above the heating chamber 201 for imaging the inside of the heating chamber 201. The position, orientation, and field of view of the imaging device 204 are adjusted so that it can image almost the entire area within the heating chamber 201 where the object to be heated can be placed. The imaging by the imaging device 204 is controlled by the control device 300.

[0021] Figure 3 shows the configuration of a control device for a cooking appliance according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The control device 300 comprises an image capture control unit 301, an image acquisition unit 302, a heating information acquisition unit 303, a state detection unit 304, a removal determination unit 305, a comparison determination unit 306, a heating control unit 307, and a storage unit 308. These configurations can be realized in hardware terms with the CPU, memory, and other LSIs of any computer, and in software terms with programs loaded into memory, but here we are depicting functional blocks realized through the cooperation of these components. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various ways using hardware alone or in combination with hardware and software.

[0022] The imaging control unit 301 controls the imaging device 204 to capture images of the inside of the heating chamber 201. When the imaging control unit 301 receives a command from another component to capture images of the inside of the heating chamber 201, it instructs the imaging device 204 to capture images. The imaging control unit 301 may also control the imaging range, resolution, zoom magnification, etc., of the imaging device 204.

[0023] The image acquisition unit 302 acquires images captured by the imaging device 204 from the imaging device 204. The image acquisition unit 302 stores the acquired image data in the storage unit 308.

[0024] The heating information acquisition unit 303 acquires heating information attached to the object to be heated 203 from the image of the object to be heated 203 captured by the imaging device 204. The heating information acquisition unit 303 reads the image of the object to be heated 203 acquired by the image acquisition unit 302 from the storage unit 308 and reads the heating information.

[0025] The state detection unit 304 refers to the image captured by the imaging device 204 to detect the presence or absence of an object to be heated in the heating chamber 201, or the removal of an object to be heated from the heating chamber 201. When the door 102 is opened, the heating information acquisition unit 303 does not acquire heating information until the state detection unit 304 detects that there is no object to be heated in the heating chamber 201, or that an object that was in the heating chamber 201 has been removed from the heating chamber 201. Once the state detection unit 304 detects that there is no object to be heated in the heating chamber 201, or that an object that was in the heating chamber 201 has been removed from the heating chamber 201, it becomes possible to acquire heating information, and the heating information acquisition unit 303 starts processing to acquire heating information. This reduces power consumption by preventing the unnecessary execution of processing to acquire heating information when it is not the right time to acquire heating information. It also reduces malfunctions by preventing the setting of heating information for an object that was already in the heating chamber 201.

[0026] The removal determination unit 305 refers to the image captured by the imaging device 204 to determine whether the heated object has been removed from the heating chamber 201. Details of the determination will be described later.

[0027] The comparison and determination unit 306 refers to the image captured by the imaging device 204 and determines whether or not there is an object to be heated inside the heating chamber 201. Details of the determination will be described later.

[0028] The heating control unit 307 controls heating means such as magnetrons 202a and 202b according to the heating information acquired by the heating information acquisition unit 303 to automatically heat the object to be heated. If no heating information is set, the heating control unit 307 heats the object to be heated according to the heating conditions received from the operation unit 105.

[0029] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 4 shows the procedure of the control method when the object to be heated, such as food, has been heated and cooked, that is, when the object to be heated is inside the heating chamber 201.

[0030] When the state detection unit 304 detects that the door 102 has been opened (S10), it starts the process of detecting the removal of the heated food or other items (S31). The heating information acquisition unit 303 does not read the heating information until it is detected that the heated food has been removed. Details of the removal detection process will be described later.

[0031] When the state detection unit 304 detects that food has been removed (S45), the heating information acquisition unit 303 starts reading the heating information (S50). If the door 102 is closed without successfully reading the heating information, it is assumed that no new food to be heated was placed in the heating chamber 201, or that food to be heated without attached heating information was placed in the heating chamber 201, in which case the reading of the heating information may be stopped.

[0032] When a new item to be heated, with heating information attached, is placed in the heating chamber 201, and the heating information acquisition unit 303 successfully reads the heating information (S54), the heating control unit 307 sets the read heating information (S60). When the door 102 is closed (S61) and the start button 108 is pressed (S62), the heating control unit 307 performs heating and cooking according to the set heating information (S63).

[0033] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5 shows the procedure of the control method when it is unknown whether or not there is an object to be heated in the heating chamber 201.

[0034] When the state detection unit 304 detects that the door 102 has been opened (S10), it performs a process to determine whether or not there is food or other items to be heated inside the heating chamber 201 (S20). If there is no food or other items to be heated inside the heating chamber 201 (N in S30), there is a possibility that new items to be heated will be placed inside the heating chamber 201, so the heating information acquisition unit 303 starts reading heating information (S50).

[0035] If food or other items to be heated are inside the heating chamber 201 (Y in S30), it is highly likely that the items have already been cooked, so the heating information acquisition unit 303 will not read the heating information until it is detected that the items have been removed. The state detection unit 304 starts the process of detecting the removal of food or other items to be heated (S31). Details of the process of detecting the removal of cooked items to be heated will be described later.

[0036] When the state detection unit 304 detects that food has been removed (S45), the heating information acquisition unit 303 starts reading the heating information (S50). If the door 102 is closed without successfully reading the heating information, it is assumed that no new food to be heated was placed in the heating chamber 201, or that food to be heated without attached heating information was placed in the heating chamber 201, in which case the reading of the heating information may be stopped.

[0037] When a new item to be heated, with heating information attached, is placed in the heating chamber 201, and the heating information acquisition unit 303 successfully reads the heating information (S54), the heating control unit 307 sets the read heating information (S60). When the door 102 is closed (S61) and the start button 108 is pressed (S62), the heating control unit 307 performs heating and cooking according to the set heating information (S63).

[0038] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the control method according to the embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 6 shows in more detail the procedure for detecting the removal of a heated object such as food, and the procedure for reading heating information, in the procedure shown in Figure 4.

[0039] When the state detection unit 304 detects that the door 102 has been opened (S10), it starts the process of detecting the removal of the heated object, such as food.

[0040] Figure 7 shows an example of an image and a difference image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 captured by the imaging device 204. Figure 7(a) shows an image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 captured by the imaging device 204, and Figure 7(b) shows the image of the next frame. When the user removes the object to be heated from inside the heating chamber 201, the captured image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 shows the user's hand and the object to be heated. Figure 7(c) shows the difference image between the image shown in Figure 7(a) and the image shown in Figure 7(b). When the user puts the object to be heated in and out of the heating chamber 201, the user's hand and the object to be heated move in the depth direction of the heating chamber 201 (y direction of the captured image), so as shown in Figure 7(c), the peak value in the y direction of the difference image corresponds to the user's hand or the tip of the object to be heated.

[0041] Figure 8 shows the analysis results of the difference image shown in Figure 7. Figure 8(a) shows the time change in the number of pixels with a non-zero difference included in the difference image shown in Figure 7(c). The number of pixels with a non-zero difference reflects the movement of the user's hand. Figure 8(b) shows the time change in the peak value of the y-coordinate of the difference image shown in Figure 7(c). The peak value of the y-coordinate of the difference image increases as the user's hand is inserted into the heating chamber 201, and then decreases as the user removes the object to be heated from the heating chamber 201. Therefore, the removal determination unit 305 determines that the user has removed the object to be heated from the heating chamber 201 when the peak value in the y-direction of the difference image exceeds a first threshold and then falls below a second threshold. The first threshold may be the minimum depth to which the user needs to insert their hand to remove the object to be heated placed inside the heating chamber 201. The second threshold may be the closest position within the imaging range of the imaging device 204. The first and second thresholds may be predetermined through experiments, modified by the user, or updated via external communication.

[0042] The state detection unit 304 instructs the image capture control unit 301 to capture an image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 (S32). The image acquisition unit 302 acquires the image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 captured by the imaging device 204 from the imaging device 204 and stores it in the storage unit 308. The retrieval determination unit 305 compares the image acquired by the image acquisition unit 302 with the image of the previous frame stored in the storage unit 308 to calculate a difference image (S33) and confirms the peak value of the y coordinate of the difference image (S34). In S34, until the peak value of the y coordinate of the difference image exceeds the first threshold (20 in the example of Figure 6) (N in S35), the system returns to S32 and continues to confirm the action of the user inserting their hand into the heating chamber 201 to remove the heated object. When the peak value of the y coordinate of the difference image exceeds the first threshold (Y in S35), the system then confirms the action of the user grasping the heated object and removing it from inside the heating chamber 201.

[0043] The state detection unit 304 instructs the image capture control unit 301 to capture an image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 (S41). The image acquisition unit 302 acquires the image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 captured by the imaging device 204 from the imaging device 204 and stores it in the storage unit 308. The retrieval determination unit 305 compares the image acquired by the image acquisition unit 302 with the image of the previous frame stored in the storage unit 308 to calculate a difference image (S42) and checks the peak value of the y coordinate of the difference image (S43). In S43, until the peak value of the y coordinate of the difference image falls below the second threshold (20 in the example in Figure 6) (N in S44), the unit returns to S41 and continues to check whether the user has taken out the heated object. When the peak value of the y coordinate of the difference image falls below the second threshold (Y in S44), the heating information acquisition unit 303 starts reading the heating information.

[0044] The heating information acquisition unit 303 instructs the image capture control unit 301 to capture an image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 (S51). The image capture unit 302 acquires the image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 captured by the image capture device 204 from the image capture device 204 and stores it in the storage unit 308. The heating information acquisition unit 303 recognizes the heating information of the object to be heated as shown in the acquired image (S52). If the heating information acquisition unit 303 fails to recognize the information, or if the recognized heating information is invalid (N in S53), it returns to S51 and continues to recognize the heating information. If the heating information acquisition unit 303 succeeds in recognizing valid heating information (Y in S53), the heating control unit 307 sets the read heating information (S60). When the door 102 is closed (S61) and the start button 108 is pressed (S62), the heating control unit 307 performs heating cooking according to the set heating information (S63).

[0045] Figure 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 9 shows in more detail the procedure for determining whether or not there is an object to be heated inside the heating chamber 201, as shown in Figure 5.

[0046] When the state detection unit 304 detects that the door 102 has been opened (S10), it executes a process to determine whether or not there is food or other object to be heated inside the heating chamber 201. The heating information acquisition unit 303 instructs the shooting control unit 301 to take an image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 (S21). The image acquisition unit 302 acquires the image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 taken by the imaging device 204 from the imaging device 204 and stores it in the storage unit 308. The heating information acquisition unit 303 recognizes the heating information of the object to be heated that is shown in the acquired image (S22). If the heating information acquisition unit 303 fails to recognize the information, or if the recognized heating information is invalid (N in S23), it returns to S21 and continues to recognize the heating information. If the heating information acquisition unit 303 successfully recognizes valid heating information (Y in S23), it is possible that the heating information of the object to be heated was read before the door 102 was opened, or that the heating information of the object to be heated was read after the door 102 was opened and placed inside the heating chamber 201.

[0047] If the heating information is successfully read within a predetermined number of times (3 times in the example in Figure 9) after the door 102 is opened (Y in S24), it is highly likely that the heating information of an object to be heated that was already inside the heating chamber 201 before the door 102 was opened has been read, and that object to be heated is considered to have already been heated. Therefore, the state detection unit 304 detects that the object to be heated has been removed (S32-S44), and the heating information acquisition unit 303 reads the heating information of an object newly placed inside the heating chamber 201 (S51-S53). The heating control unit 307 then sets the read heating information (S60). The details of the procedures in S32-S44 and S51-S53 are the same as in Figure 6.

[0048] If the heating information recognition process is performed more than a predetermined number of times after the door 102 is opened and the reading of the heating information is successful (N in S24), it is considered that the heating information of the object to be heated placed in the heating chamber 201 after the door 102 was opened has been read, so the heating control unit 307 sets the read heating information (S60).

[0049] When the door 102 is closed (S61) and the start button 108 is pressed (S62), the heating control unit 307 performs heating and cooking according to the set heating information (S63).

[0050] Figure 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 10 shows in more detail the procedure for determining whether or not there is an object to be heated inside the heating chamber 201, as shown in Figure 5.

[0051] When the state detection unit 304 detects that the door 102 has been opened (S10), it executes a process to determine whether or not there is food or other object to be heated inside the heating chamber 201.

[0052] Figure 11 shows examples of images and difference images of the inside of the heating chamber 201 captured by the imaging device 204. Figure 11(a) shows an image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 (empty chamber image) captured by the imaging device 204 when no object to be heated is placed inside the heating chamber 201. Figure 11(b) shows an image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 captured by the image acquisition unit 302 when an object to be heated is placed inside the heating chamber 201. Figure 11(c) shows a binarized image of the difference between the image shown in Figure 11(a) and the image shown in Figure 11(b). Based on the shape or size of the object in the difference image, or the number of pixels that differ in the difference image (difference value), it is possible to determine whether or not there is an object to be heated inside the heating chamber 201.

[0053] The state detection unit 304 instructs the image capture control unit 301 to capture an image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 (S21). The image acquisition unit 302 acquires the image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 captured by the imaging device 204 from the imaging device 204 and stores it in the storage unit 308. The comparison determination unit 306 calculates a difference image between the acquired image of the inside of the chamber and the image of the empty inside of the chamber stored in the storage unit 308 (S25) and confirms the difference value. If the difference value is less than a predetermined value (500 in the example in Figure 10) (N in S26), the comparison determination unit 306 determines that there is no object to be heated inside the heating chamber 201, and the heating information acquisition unit 303 starts reading the heating information (S51-S53). The details of the procedure for reading the heating information are the same as in Figure 5.

[0054] If the difference value is greater than or equal to a predetermined value (Y in S26), the comparison determination unit 306 determines that there is an object to be heated inside the heating chamber 201. Since this object was inside the heating chamber 201 before the door 102 was opened and is considered to have already been heated, the reading of heating information is stopped until this object is removed from inside the heating chamber 201.

[0055] The state detection unit 304 instructs the image capture control unit 301 to capture an image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 (S27). The image acquisition unit 302 acquires the image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 captured by the imaging device 204 from the imaging device 204 and stores it in the storage unit 308. The comparison determination unit 306 calculates the difference image between the acquired image of the inside of the chamber and the image of the empty inside of the chamber stored in the storage unit 308 (S28) and confirms the number of pixels with a difference (difference value). If the difference value is greater than or equal to a predetermined value (500 in the example of Figure 10) (N in S29), the comparison determination unit 306 determines that the heated object has not been removed from the heating chamber 201 and returns to S27 to continue the procedure for detecting the removal of the heated object. If the difference value is less than the predetermined value (Y in S29), it is considered that the heated object has been removed from the heating chamber 201 and it is empty, so the heating information acquisition unit 303 starts reading the heating information (S51~S53). The detailed procedure for reading the heating information is the same as in Figure 5.

[0056] The heating control unit 307 sets the reading heating information (S60). When the door 102 is closed (S61) and the start button 108 is pressed (S62), the heating control unit 307 performs heating according to the set heating information (S63).

[0057] Since there is a possibility that the object to be heated may be removed after it has been placed in the heating chamber 201 and the heating information has been read, but before the door 102 is closed, after the start button 108 is pressed, the heating control unit 307 may check again whether or not there is an object to be heated in the heating chamber 201, and only after it has been confirmed that there is an object to be heated may it perform the heating cooking. This prevents the heating chamber 201 from being dry-heated when there is no object to be heated inside.

[0058] The present disclosure has been explained above based on examples. These examples are illustrative, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible for each component or combination of processing steps, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0059] In this embodiment, the presence or absence of an object to be heated in the heating chamber 201 was determined by referring to an image of the inside of the heating chamber 201 captured by the imaging device 204. However, in another example, the presence or absence of an object to be heated may be detected by a weight sensor provided at the bottom of the heating chamber 201, or by a photosensor, photoelectric sensor, ultrasonic sensor, laser sensor, or the like.

[0060] In this embodiment, the imaging device 204 is provided inside the heating chamber 201, but in another example, the imaging device 204 may be provided near the door 102 or the opening of the heating chamber 201.

[0061] One aspect of this disclosure is a heating appliance. This heating appliance comprises a heating chamber, an imaging device for imaging the inside of the heating chamber, and a control device for controlling the heating of an object to be heated placed in the heating chamber. The control device comprises an image acquisition unit for acquiring an image captured by the imaging device, a heating information acquisition unit for acquiring heating information used to control the heating of the object by referring to the image of the object to be heated acquired by the image acquisition unit, a heating control unit for controlling the heating of the object according to the heating information acquired by the heating information acquisition unit, and a state detection unit for detecting the presence or absence of an object to be heated in the heating chamber or the removal of an object to be heated from the heating chamber by referring to an image captured by the imaging device. The heating information acquisition unit enables the acquisition of heating information when the state detection unit detects that there is no object to be heated in the heating chamber or that an object to be heated has been removed from the heating chamber. According to this aspect, the user's work efficiency can be improved, and thus the user's convenience can be improved.

[0062] The heating information acquisition unit does not need to acquire heating information until it is detected that there is no object to be heated inside the heating chamber, or until it is detected that the object to be heated inside the heating chamber has been removed from the heating chamber, after detecting that the door that opens and closes the opening of the heating chamber has been opened. This configuration can reduce power consumption.

[0063] The state detection unit may detect the removal of the heated object from the heating chamber by detecting the movement of the user's hand or the object being heated based on images captured at multiple different timings. This embodiment can improve detection accuracy.

[0064] The state detection unit may calculate the difference between images of the inside of the heating chamber taken at multiple different timings and detect the time change of the difference as the movement of the user's hand or the object being heated. This embodiment can improve detection accuracy.

[0065] The state detection unit may detect when the user's hand or the object to be heated reaches a predetermined range inside the heating chamber and then reaches the vicinity of the opening of the heating chamber, in which case the object to be heated may be removed from the heating chamber. This configuration can improve detection accuracy.

[0066] The state detection unit may detect the presence or absence of an object to be heated inside the heating chamber by comparing an image of the inside of the heating chamber when there is no object to be heated with an image of the inside of the heating chamber acquired by the image acquisition unit. This embodiment can improve detection accuracy.

[0067] The state detection unit may detect the presence of an object to be heated inside the heating chamber if the heating information acquisition unit successfully acquires heating information within a predetermined time after the door for opening and closing the heating chamber opening is opened. This embodiment can improve detection accuracy.

[0068] The imaging device may be installed in the heating chamber to capture images of the area where the object to be heated can be placed. This configuration can improve detection accuracy and work efficiency.

[0069] Another aspect of this disclosure is a control device. This control device includes: an image acquisition unit that acquires an image captured by an imaging device for imaging the inside of a heating chamber; a heating information acquisition unit that acquires heating information used to control the heating of the object to be heated by referring to the image of the object to be heated acquired by the image acquisition unit; a heating control unit that controls the heating of the object to be heated according to the heating information acquired by the heating information acquisition unit; and a state detection unit that detects the presence or absence of an object to be heated in the heating chamber or the removal of an object to be heated from the heating chamber by referring to an image captured by the imaging device. The heating information acquisition unit enables the acquisition of heating information when the state detection unit detects that there is no object to be heated in the heating chamber or that an object to be heated has been removed from the heating chamber. According to this aspect, the user's work efficiency can be improved, and thus the user's convenience can be improved.

[0070] Another aspect of this disclosure is a control method. This control method comprises the steps of: acquiring an image captured by an imaging device for imaging the inside of a heating chamber; acquiring heating information used to control the heating of the object to be heated by referring to the acquired image of the object to be heated; controlling the heating of the object to be heated according to the acquired heating information; and detecting the presence or absence of the object to be heated in the heating chamber or the removal of the object to be heated from the heating chamber by referring to the image captured by the imaging device, wherein in the detection step, if it is detected that there is no object to be heated in the heating chamber or that the object to be heated has been removed from the heating chamber, the acquisition of heating information is made possible in the step of acquiring heating information. According to this aspect, the user's work efficiency can be improved, and thus the user's convenience can be improved. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0071] 100 Cooking appliance, 101 Housing, 102 Door, 103 Glass window, 104 Handle, 105 Operation panel, 106 Display panel, 107 Button, 108 Start button, 201 Heating chamber, 202 Magnetron, 203 Object to be heated, 204 Imaging device, 300 Control device, 301 Imaging control unit, 302 Image acquisition unit, 303 Heating information acquisition unit, 304 State detection unit, 305 Removal determination unit, 306 Comparison determination unit, 307 Heating control unit, 308 Storage unit.

Claims

[Claim 1] A heating chamber and An imaging device for imaging the inside of the heating chamber, A control device for controlling the heating of an object to be heated, which is placed in the heating chamber, Equipped with, The control device is An image acquisition unit that acquires an image captured by the aforementioned imaging device, A heating information acquisition unit acquires heating information used to control the heating of the object to be heated by referring to an image of the object to be heated acquired by the image acquisition unit, A heating control unit controls the heating of the object to be heated according to the heating information acquired by the heating information acquisition unit, A state detection unit that detects the presence or absence of an object to be heated inside the heating chamber by referring to an image captured by the aforementioned imaging device, Equipped with, The state detection unit detects that there is an object to be heated inside the heating chamber if the heating information acquisition unit successfully acquires heating information within a predetermined time after the door for opening and closing the opening of the heating chamber is opened.

Images