Flyer

Abstract

To prevent backflow of cooking oil to a filtering tank side by incorrect operation of a manual valve, while reducing a cost by sharing of an oil supply path and adoption of the manual valve.SOLUTION: A fryer 1 comprises a first oil supply path whose upstream end is connected to a filtering tank 20 and that includes a filtering pump 23 and a first oil supply valve 27, a second oil supply path for connecting an oil tank 2 to an oil increase tank 10, and an oil increase valve 12 provided at the second oil supply path. The downstream end of the first oil supply path is connected to the second oil supply path in the upstream side of the oil increase valve 12 to open the first oil supply valve 27. In a state where the oil increase valve 12 is closed, the cooking oil in the filtering tank 20 can be supplied to the oil increase tank 10 via the first oil supply path and the second oil supply path. When the open state of the first oil supply valve 27 is detected by a reed switch 28, a burner controller 42 actuates the filtering pump 23.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a commercial fryer that heats cooking oil in an oil vat and cooks food by placing it in the oil vat. [Background technology]

[0002] A fryer heats cooking oil contained in an oil vat to a predetermined cooking temperature using heating means such as a burner or a pulse burner, thereby cooking food placed in the oil vat. When cooking time or frequency increases, the amount of impurities that accumulate in the cooking oil increases, causing the oil to deteriorate and lowering cooking quality. Also, the amount of cooking oil decreases due to the oil being absorbed by the food being cooked. Therefore, some fryers are known that have a filtering function in which the cooking oil in the oil vat is dropped into a filtering tank below the oil vat, where it is filtered, and then returned to the oil vat by a filtering pump, as well as a function of adding oil to the oil vat. For example, in Patent Document 1, a pump is provided on the upstream side of an oil supply pipe (first oil supply path) whose upstream end is connected to a filtering tank, and an oil supply valve is provided on the downstream side. Meanwhile, an oil tank (oil reserve tank) for storing cooking oil is installed above an oil vat, and the oil tank and the oil vat are connected by an outlet pipe (second oil supply path). An oil replenishment valve is provided on the outlet pipe, and the downstream end of the oil supply pipe is connected to the outlet pipe upstream of the oil replenishment valve. In this fryer, when the pump is operated with the oil refill valve closed and the oil supply valve open, cooking oil filtered in the filtering tank is supplied to the oil tank, and when the oil refill valve is opened and the oil supply valve is closed, the cooking oil in the oil tank is supplied to the oil vat. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-22724 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] As in the fryer of Patent Document 1, by connecting a first fuel supply line connected to a filtering tank to a second fuel supply line connecting the fuel tank and the oil tank, part of the line is shared, simplifying the system configuration and reducing costs. Moreover, if the valves that open and close the first oil supply path and the second oil supply path are manual valves (first manual valve, second manual valve), respectively, this leads to further cost reduction. However, when manual valves are used, when the first manual valve of the first oil supply path is closed and the second manual valve of the second oil supply path is opened to supply oil from the oil tank to the oil tank, it is possible that the first manual valve may be forgotten to be closed. This may cause cooking oil to flow from the oil tank and the oil tank into the first oil supply path and backflow into the filtering tank.

[0005] Therefore, the present disclosure aims to provide a fryer that can reduce costs by sharing an oil supply path and adopting a manual valve, while preventing backflow of cooking oil into the filtering tank due to erroneous operation of the manual valve. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure provides an oil tank for storing cooking oil, A heating means provided in the oil tank for heating cooking oil; A filtering tank provided below the oil tank for filtering the cooking oil discharged from the oil tank; An oil tank that is provided above the cooking oil storage section in the oil tank and is capable of storing a predetermined amount of cooking oil; a first oil supply passage having an upstream end connected to the filtering tank and including, from the upstream side, a pump and a first manual valve that can be manually opened and closed; A second fuel supply path connecting the oil tank and the fuel tank; a second manual valve provided in the second oil supply path and capable of being manually opened and closed; A downstream end of the first oil supply path is connected to the upstream side of the second manual valve in the second oil supply path, and the cooking oil in the filtering tank can be supplied to the oil reserve tank via the first oil supply path and the second oil supply path by driving the pump with the first manual valve open and the second manual valve closed. A fryer in which cooking oil in the oil tank can be supplied to the oil tank through the second oil supply path by closing the first manual valve and opening the second manual valve, A control means for controlling the pump; an open / close state detection means for detecting an open / close state of the first manual valve, The control means is characterized in that, when the open / closed state detection means detects the open state of the first manual valve, it operates the pump. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present disclosure, when the open / closed state detection means detects the open state of the first manual valve, the control means operates the pump to apply forward pressure to the oil tank and the oil tank. This makes it possible to reduce costs by sharing the oil supply path and using the manual valve, while preventing backflow of cooking oil into the filtering tank due to erroneous operation of the manual valve. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a fryer. [Diagram 2] 11 is a flowchart of a cooking mode. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of cooking oil storage, where (A) shows a first cooking mode and (B) shows a second cooking mode. [Figure 4] 13(A) and 13(B) are explanatory diagrams showing a switching state from the second cooking mode to the first cooking mode by filtering. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. (Explanation of flyer configuration) Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a fryer. This fryer 1 is equipped with an oil tank 2 at the upper part of a vessel (not shown). At the bottom of this oil tank 2, a pulse combustor 3 having a combustion chamber 4 and a tail pipe 5 is provided as heating means. The oil vat 2 has a first cooking section 6 and a second cooking section 7. The first cooking section 6 is formed above the pulse burner 3, and is a square tube with an opening area that does not change in the vertical direction. The second cooking section 7 is located above the first cooking section 6, and is formed in an inverted taper shape that widens in all directions as it moves upward from the upper end of the first cooking section 6. The cooking oil is stored in the area up to the upper end of the second cooking section 7. A first oil surface temperature sensor 8 is provided near the upper end surface of the first cooking section 6. A second oil surface temperature sensor 9 is provided near the upper end surface of the second cooking section 7. A cooking temperature sensor 37 is provided near the tail pipe 5 of the pulse burner 3 in the oil vat 2.

[0010] An oil booster tank 10 for storing cooking oil is provided at the top of the device behind the oil vat 2 (to the right in Fig. 1). An oil booster pipe 11 that connects to the second cooking section 7 at the rear of the oil vat 2 is connected to the bottom of the oil booster tank 10. An oil booster valve 12 that can be opened and closed manually is provided on the oil booster pipe 11. An oil booster temperature sensor 13 that detects the temperature of the cooking oil stored in the oil booster tank 10 is provided inside the oil booster tank 10. An overflow section 14 is provided on the front surface of the fuel tank 10. The overflow section 14 is formed by a pipe connected to the front surface of the fuel tank 10, a flow path formed in the vertical direction to the front surface of the fuel tank 10, etc. The upper end of the overflow section 14 is connected to an opening formed in the upper front surface of the fuel tank 10 and hangs down, and the lower end of the overflow section 14 is connected to the rear inner surface of the oil tank 2. Therefore, when the cooking oil in the fuel tank 10 exceeds the lower edge of the opening, the overflowed cooking oil flows from the overflow section 14 down the rear inner surface of the oil tank 2 into the oil tank 2. Here, the amount of cooking oil that can be stored in the oil tank 10 when it is full and does not exceed the lower edge of the opening is the difference between the first amount of cooking oil specified in the first cooking mode described below and the second amount of cooking oil specified in the second cooking mode, i.e., the amount of oil increased from the first amount to the second amount.

[0011] An air chamber 15 is provided on the outside of the front side of the oil tank 2. A mixing chamber (not shown) communicating with the combustion chamber 4 is provided inside the air chamber 15. A gas conduit 16 equipped with a gas solenoid valve (not shown) is connected to the mixing chamber to supply fuel gas. An air supply pipe 17 is also connected to the mixing chamber. The air supply pipe 17 is connected to a fan (not shown) provided at the bottom of the vessel to supply combustion air. The tail pipe 5 of the pulse combustor 3 is disposed in a serpentine shape below the oil tank 2, and is then connected to an exhaust pipe 18 drawn out from the air chamber 15. This exhaust pipe 18 is disposed upward at the rear of the device body while in contact with the rear surface of the fuel tank 10, allowing the exhaust gas from combustion to be discharged. An electric heater 19 is provided from the bottom surface to the peripheral surface of the oil vat 2.

[0012] A filtering tank 20 with a filter at the bottom is provided at the bottom of the vessel. An oil drain pipe 21 is connected to the bottom of the oil vat 2, and cooking oil in the oil vat 2 can be drained through the oil drain pipe 21 to the filtering tank 20. The oil drain pipe 21 is provided with an oil drain valve 22 that can be opened and closed manually. A filtering pump 23 is provided at the bottom of the device. The suction side of the filtering pump 23 is connected to the bottom of the filtering tank 20 via a suction pipe 24. The discharge side of the filtering pump 23 branches into a first fuel supply pipe 25 and a second fuel supply pipe 26. The first fuel supply pipe 25 is connected to the fuel supply pipe 11 upstream of the fuel supply valve 12. The first fuel supply pipe 25 is provided with a first fuel supply valve 27 that is manually opened and closed. The first fuel supply valve 27 is provided with a reed switch 28 that detects the open / closed state. The second oil supply pipe 26 is connected to the lower part of the oil tank 2. The second oil supply pipe 26 is provided with a second oil supply valve 29 that can be opened and closed manually.

[0013] An oil tank 30 using a 18L can is provided below the oil tank 2. The oil tank 30 is placed on a stand 31 provided on the vessel body. A heater 32 for heating the oil tank 30 and a tank temperature sensor 33 for detecting the temperature of the oil tank 30 are provided on the stand 31. The lower end of an oil addition pipe 34 is inserted into the oil addition tank 30. The upper end of the oil addition pipe 34 is connected to the oil tank 2 above the second cooking section 7. An oil addition pump 35 and an oil addition solenoid valve 36 are provided in the oil addition pipe 34 from the upstream side.

[0014] A fry controller 40 is provided on the upper front part of the device. The fry controller 40 has an operation panel 41. The operation panel 41 allows the setting of a predetermined cooking mode and a maintenance menu, etc. A burner controller 42 is provided at the bottom of the device. As described below, the burner controller 42 controls the ON / OFF of the pulse burner 3 according to a cooking mode instructed by the fry controller 40, and cooks food such as potatoes. Detection signals from the first and second oil surface temperature sensors 8 and 9, the oil top-up temperature sensor 13, the reed switch 28, the tank temperature sensor 33, the cooking temperature sensor 37, etc. are input to the burner controller 42. Based on these detection signals and instructions from the operation panel 41, the burner controller 42 controls the pulse burner 3, the fan, the electric heater 19, the filtering pump 23, the heat retention heater 32, the oil top-up pump 35, the oil top-up solenoid valve 36, etc.

[0015] (Filtering explanation) The cooking oil can be filtered in two ways: a first filtering method using the first oil supply pipe 25 and a second filtering method using the second oil supply pipe 26. In the case of the first filtering, the oil drain valve 22 is manually opened to allow the cooking oil in the oil vat 2 to fall into the filtering tank 20. Next, the first oil supply valve 27 of the first oil supply pipe 25 is manually opened. At this time, the second oil supply valve 29 of the second oil supply pipe 26 is closed. Then, the burner controller 42 detects by the reed switch 28 that the first oil supply valve 27 is open and drives the filtering pump 23. When the oil booster valve 12 of the oil booster pipe 11 is manually closed, the cooking oil dropped into the filtering tank 20 is sucked in through the suction pipe 24 and supplied to the oil booster tank 10 via the first oil supply pipe 25 and the oil booster pipe 11. When the filtered cooking oil is supplied to the oil booster tank 10 in this manner, the cooking oil that has overflowed from the oil booster tank 10 returns to the oil tank 2 through the overflow section 14.

[0016] On the other hand, in the case of the second filtering, the drain oil valve 22 is manually opened to allow the cooking oil in the oil vat 2 to fall into the filtering tank 20. Next, the second oil supply valve 29 of the second oil supply pipe 26 is manually opened. At this time, the first oil supply valve 27 of the first oil supply pipe 25 is closed. Then, when the filtering switch of the operation panel 41 is operated, the burner controller 42 drives the filtering pump 23. Thus, the cooking oil that has fallen into the filtering tank 20 is sucked through the suction pipe 24 and returned to the oil vat 2 via the second oil supply pipe 26. This allows the cooking oil to be filtered by the filter provided on the bottom surface of the filtering tank 20.

[0017] (Explanation of control for each cooking mode) The control of each cooking mode will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this case, the amount of food to be cooked at one time is defined as two types: a first rated amount and a second rated amount that is larger than the first rated amount. The cooking oil tank 10 is filled with cooking oil (additional oil amount). First, when cooking the first rated amount of food, cooking oil (first oil amount) is stored in the oil vat 2 up to the top of the first cooking section 6, as shown by the diagonal lines in FIG. 3(A). In this state, the user turns on the operation switch of the operation panel 41 in S1. Then, the burner controller 42 rotates the fan for a predetermined time to supply air, and then intermittently burns the mixed gas in the combustion chamber 4 to turn the pulse burner 3 on and off in S2. That is, the mixed gas is ignited in the combustion chamber 4 to cause it to explode and burn in the combustion chamber 4, and the combustion exhaust is forcibly discharged to the tail pipe 5 due to the increase in pressure in the combustion chamber 4 caused by the combustion. Then, fuel gas and combustion air are sucked into the combustion chamber 4, which is under negative pressure due to the discharge of the combustion exhaust. This ON / OFF operation is repeated, and the cooking oil stored in the oil vat 2 is heated.

[0018] Next, burner controller 42 monitors the detected temperature obtained from cooking temperature sensor 37. When it is confirmed in the judgment of S3 that the temperature of the cooking oil has reached a predetermined cooking temperature (for example, 180 to 182°C), fry controller 40 issues a notification by, for example, outputting a display of "cooking OK" on operation panel 41. When this notification is issued, the cook places a basket containing the first rated amount of food into oil vat 2. Then, in S4, the cooking mode selected by operation of operation panel 41 is determined. When the first cooking mode is selected and the cooking start button on operation panel 41 is pressed in S5, burner controller 42 heats the food to be cooked for a first cooking time preset in correspondence with the first rated amount and with a first heat amount from pulse burner 3 in S6. When the time is up in S7, fry controller 40 sounds an alarm in S8 to notify the end of cooking. The cook lifts the basket out of oil vat 2. If cooking with the first rated amount is to be continued, the food to be cooked is added and the cooking start button is pressed, and the processing from S5 onwards is repeated.

[0019] When switching from the first cooking mode to the second cooking mode, it is necessary to add cooking oil from the oil reserve tank 10. Therefore, when the burner controller 42 selects the second cooking mode in S4, it checks in S9 whether the temperature detected by the oil reserve temperature sensor 13 in the oil reserve tank 10 has reached a predetermined melting temperature (e.g., 60°C). If the detected temperature has reached the melting temperature, it is determined that the cooking oil in the oil reserve tank 10 has liquefied, and the fry controller 40 displays on the operation panel 41 in S10 that it is possible to switch to the second cooking mode. On the other hand, if the detected temperature does not reach the melting temperature in the determination in S9, the cooking oil in the oil tank 10 is not liquefied, and the fry controller 40 notifies the user in S11 via the operation panel 41 that the second cooking mode cannot be switched to. This notification also includes a display or sound that prompts the user to perform the first filtering.

[0020] Therefore, when the user performs the first filtering, the cooking oil in the oil vat 2 is filtered in the filtering tank 20 as described above and supplied to the oil vat 20 via the first oil supply pipe 25 and the oil booster pipe 11. Then, the heat of the filtered cooking oil is imparted to the cooking oil in the oil booster tank 10, and the cooking oil in the oil booster tank 10 is liquefied. Then, the cooking oil that overflowed in the oil booster tank 10 returns to the oil vat 2. Because the oil booster tank 10 is full, the first amount of oil overflows and returns to the oil vat 2. When the cooking oil in the oil tank 10 rises in temperature and liquefies, the temperature detected by the oil temperature sensor 13 is determined to be equal to or higher than the melting temperature in S9. Therefore, the fry controller 40 displays on the operation panel 41 in S10 that it is possible to switch to the second cooking mode.

[0021] Therefore, when the user manually opens the oil refill valve 12, as shown by the diagonal lines in Figure 3(B), the difference in the amount of cooking oil in the oil refill tank 10 is supplied to the upper end of the second cooking section 7 of the oil vat 2 via the oil refill pipe 11, and the oil refill tank 10 becomes empty. In S12, burner controller 42 confirms, by second oil surface temperature sensor 9, that the cooking oil supplied to oil vat 2 has reached the upper end (second oil amount) of second cooking section 7. Upon confirming that the second oil amount has been reached, burner controller 42 monitors the detected temperature obtained from cooking temperature sensor 37. Then, upon confirming in the determination in S13 that the temperature of the cooking oil has reached a predetermined cooking temperature (e.g., 180 to 182°C), fry controller 40 notifies the user by, for example, outputting a display indicating that cooking is OK on operation panel 41.

[0022] When this notification is given, the user places a basket containing the second rated amount of food into the oil vat 2. Then, when the cooking start button is pressed in S14, the burner controller 42 heats the food to be cooked for a second cooking time preset corresponding to the second rated amount and with a second amount of heat greater than the first amount of heat in the first cooking mode in S15. This second amount of heat is obtained by operating the electric heater 19 in addition to the pulse burner 3. However, the second amount of heat may be obtained by increasing the gas input only with the pulse burner 3 without providing the electric heater 19. When the time is up in S16, the fry controller 40 sounds an alarm in S17 to notify the end of cooking. The user removes the basket from the oil tank 2. If the user wishes to continue cooking at the second rated amount, he or she can add food and press the cooking start button, and the processes from S14 onwards will be repeated.

[0023] On the other hand, during operation in the first and second cooking modes, the burner controller 42 monitors the detected temperature obtained from the tank temperature sensor 33 and controls the heat retention heater 32 to be turned ON / OFF so that a predetermined heat retention temperature is maintained in the top-up oil tank 30. When the first and second oil surface temperature sensors 8, 9 detect a decrease in the amount of cooking oil required in either the first or second cooking mode, or when a predetermined number of cooking cycles is reached, the oil top-up pump 35 is driven to open the oil top-up solenoid valve 36. Then, the cooking oil liquefied in the oil top-up tank 30 is directly supplied to the oil vat 2 via the oil top-up pipe 34.

[0024] (Explanation of switching from the second cooking mode to the first cooking mode) When switching from the second cooking mode to the first cooking mode, which uses a smaller amount of oil, the user opens the oil drain valve 22 from the second oil amount state shown in Figure 3(B) to drain all of the cooking oil in the oil vat 2 into the filtering tank 20, as shown by the diagonal lines in Figure 4(A). Next, the first fuel supply valve 27 of the first fuel supply pipe 25 is opened, the second fuel supply valve 29 of the second fuel supply pipe 26 is closed, and the fuel boost valve 12 of the fuel booster pipe 11 is closed. Then, the burner controller 42, which detects that the first fuel supply valve 27 is open, drives the filtering pump 23. Thus, the cooking oil in the filtering tank 20 is filtered and then supplied to the fuel booster tank 10 via the first fuel supply pipe 25 and the fuel booster pipe 11. When the fuel booster tank 10 becomes full, the cooking oil is supplied to the oil tank 2 via the overflow part 14, as shown in FIG. 4(B). Then, when filtering is performed until the filtering tank 20 is empty, as shown in Fig. 3(A), the second amount of cooking oil supplied to the oil reserve tank 10 is supplied to the oil vat 2 via the overflow part 14, leaving only the amount of oil increased from the first amount of oil. That is, the first amount of cooking oil used in the first cooking mode is stored in the oil vat 2.

[0025] (Explanation of fuel replenishment from fuel tank) Cooking oil can also be supplied from the oil booster tank 10 at a timing specified by the user. In this case, the user opens the oil booster valve 12 of the oil booster pipe 11 while closing the first oil supply valve 27 of the first oil supply pipe 25. Then, the cooking oil in the oil booster tank 10 is supplied to the oil tank 2 via the oil booster pipe 11. Closing the oil booster valve 12 stops the supply of cooking oil. At this time, if the first fuel supply valve 27 is left open after forgetting to close it, and the fuel supply valve 12 is opened, the cooking oil in the fuel supply tank 10 will flow from the fuel supply pipe 11 to the first fuel supply pipe 25 and backflow to the filtering tank 20. However, as explained in the first filtering, the burner controller 42 detects the opening of the first fuel supply valve 27 with the reed switch 28 and drives the filtering pump 23. Therefore, a forward pressure toward the fuel supply tank 10 and the oil tank 2 is applied to the first fuel supply pipe 25, preventing backflow to the filtering tank 20.

[0026] (Effect of disclosure regarding switching from the second oil amount to the first oil amount) The fryer 1 of the above-mentioned form comprises a filtering tank 20 provided below the oil vat 2 for filtering the cooking oil discharged from the oil vat 2, an oil booster tank 10 provided above the cooking oil storage section in the oil vat 2, capable of storing an amount of cooking oil equal to the difference between the first oil amount and the second oil amount, and equipped with an overflow section 14 for supplying an amount of cooking oil exceeding the difference to the oil vat 2, a suction pipe 24, a first oil supply pipe 25, and an oil booster pipe 11 (oil supply path) connecting the filtering tank 20 and the oil booster tank 10, and a filtering pump 23 (pump) provided in the oil supply path. Then, after discharging the second amount of cooking oil from the oil tank 2 to the filtering tank 20, the fryer 1 drives the filtering pump 23 to supply the cooking oil in the filtering tank 20 to the oil booster tank 10 via the oil supply path, thereby storing the difference amount of cooking oil in the oil booster tank 10 and enabling the first amount of cooking oil exceeding the difference amount to be supplied from the oil booster tank 10 to the oil tank 2 via the overflow section 14.

[0027] According to this configuration, by simply transferring the second amount of cooking oil dropped into the filtering tank 20 to the oil addition tank 10, the first amount of cooking oil minus the difference amount is supplied to the oil vat 2. Therefore, with a simple and low-cost configuration without the need for a separate spare tank or piping, it is possible to switch from the second cooking mode in which cooking is performed with the increased second amount of cooking oil to the first cooking mode in which cooking is performed with the first amount of cooking oil minus the increased amount. In particular, the oil refill tank 10 is provided at the rear of the oil vat 2, and the overflow section 14 is provided at the front of the oil refill tank 10, and cooking oil overflowing from the overflow section 14 is supplied into the oil vat 2 along the inner rear surface of the oil vat 2. Therefore, cooking oil is supplied from the oil refill tank 10 at a position away from the user, who is usually located at the front side, and the supplied cooking oil is prevented from splashing outside the oil vat 2.

[0028] In addition, in the disclosure regarding the switching from the second oil amount to the first oil amount, the following changes are possible. In the above embodiment, when the first filtering is performed, the opening of the oil drain valve, the opening of the first fuel supply valve, and the closing of the fuel increase valve are all performed manually, but in response to an instruction for the first filtering on the operation panel, all or some of the valves may be operated automatically. In the above embodiment, the first fuel supply pipe is connected to the fuel tank pipe that connects the oil tank and the fuel tank, but the first fuel supply pipe may be directly connected to the fuel tank. In this case, it is not necessary to provide the first fuel supply valve with an open / closed state detection means such as a reed switch. The present disclosure can also be applied to a fryer having multiple oil tanks. In this case, an oil tank and a filtering tank may be provided for each oil tank. The oil tank can be installed on the side of the oil tank instead of the rear side. The overflow section can also be moved to the front side of the oil tank instead of the front side.

[0029] (Effect of disclosure regarding restrictions on switching to the second cooking mode) In the above-described form of fryer 1, the oil tank 10 is provided with an oil addition temperature sensor 13 (oil addition temperature detection means) that detects the temperature of the cooking oil contained therein, and when the burner controller 42 (control means) receives an instruction to switch from the first cooking mode to the second cooking mode via the operation panel 41, it compares the temperature of the cooking oil detected by the oil addition temperature sensor 13 with a predetermined melting temperature, and if the temperature of the cooking oil is equal to or higher than the melting temperature, it switches to the second cooking mode, but does not switch to the second cooking mode if the temperature of the cooking oil is lower than the melting temperature. According to this configuration, when the temperature of the cooking oil in the oil reserve tank 10 is low and there is a possibility that the cooking oil is not liquefied, the second cooking mode is not executed, so there is no risk of poor cooking results due to the second cooking mode being executed without the cooking oil being increased.

[0030] When the burner controller 42 does not switch to the second cooking mode, the burner controller 42 notifies the user that the switching to the second cooking mode will not be performed via the operation panel 41. This makes it possible to inform the user that the temperature in the fuel tank 10 is too low to switch to the second cooking mode. The oil tank 10 is equipped with an overflow section 14 that supplies an amount of cooking oil exceeding the differential amount (predetermined amount) to the oil vat 2, and is also equipped with a filtering tank 20 below the oil vat 2 that filters the cooking oil discharged from the oil vat 2, an oil supply path that connects the filtering tank 20 and the oil tank 10, and a filtering pump 23 provided in the oil supply path. After the cooking oil in the oil vat 2 is discharged into the filtering tank 20, the burner controller 42 drives the filtering pump 23 in response to an instruction from the operation panel 41, enabling a first filtering operation in which the cooking oil in the filtering tank 20 is supplied to the oil reserve tank 10 via the oil supply path. In this first filtering operation, the cooking oil is stored in the oil reserve tank 10, and cooking oil exceeding the difference amount can be supplied from the oil reserve tank 10 to the oil vat 2 via the overflow section 14. The notification by the operation panel 41 includes a notification to prompt the user to perform the first filtering that can liquefy the cooking oil in the oil reserve tank 10, so that the user can switch to the second cooking mode.

[0031] In addition, the following changes are possible in the disclosure regarding the restriction on switching to the second cooking mode. In the above embodiment, when switching to the second cooking mode cannot be performed, only a notification to that effect is given, but the first filtering may be automatically performed without any notification. If the cooking mode cannot be switched to the second cooking mode, the cooking oil tank may be configured to supply the difference in the amount of cooking oil. In this case, the oil may be supplied automatically. The oil supply pump and the oil supply solenoid valve may be operated by a user's instruction via the operation panel. In the above embodiment, the first fuel supply pipe of the fuel supply path is connected to the fuel supply pipe connecting the oil tank and the fuel tank, but the fuel supply path may be directly connected to the fuel tank. The present disclosure can also be applied to a fryer having multiple oil tanks. In this case, an oil tank may be provided for each oil tank, and an oil temperature detection means may be provided for each oil tank. A filtering tank may be provided for each oil tank, or cooking oil discharged from multiple oil tanks may be collected in one filtering tank. In this case, a single pump may be used and the oil supply path may be branched for each oil tank, allowing filtering in one or multiple oil tanks by opening an oil supply valve provided in the oil supply path.

[0032] (Effect of disclosure regarding operation of a filtering pump in response to opening of the second fuel supply valve) The fryer 1 in the above embodiment has an upstream end connected to a filtering tank 20, and includes, from the upstream side, a filtering pump 23, a suction pipe 24 equipped with a first fuel supply valve 27 (first manual valve) that can be opened and closed manually, and a first fuel supply pipe 25 (first fuel supply path). The fryer 1 also has an oil booster pipe 11 (second fuel supply path) that connects the oil tank 2 and the fuel booster tank 10, and an oil booster valve 12 (second manual valve) that is provided in the oil booster pipe 11 and can be opened and closed manually, and the downstream end of the first fuel supply pipe 25 is connected to the upstream side of the oil booster valve 12 in the oil booster pipe 11. Furthermore, by driving the filtering pump 23 with the first fuel supply valve 27 open and the fuel boost valve 12 closed, the cooking oil in the filtering tank 20 can be supplied to the fuel boost tank 10 via the first fuel supply pipe 25 and the fuel boost pipe 11. On the other hand, by closing the first fuel supply valve 27 and opening the fuel boost valve 12, the cooking oil in the fuel boost tank 10 can be supplied to the oil tank 2 via the fuel boost pipe 11. The burner controller 42 (control means) controls the filtering pump 23, and a reed switch 28 (open / closed state detection means) detects the open / closed state of the first fuel supply valve 27. When the burner controller 42 detects the open state of the first fuel supply valve 27 by the reed switch 28, it operates the filtering pump 23.

[0033] According to this configuration, when the burner controller 42 detects the open state of the first fuel supply valve 27 by the reed switch 28, it operates the filtering pump 23 to apply forward pressure to the fuel tank 10 and the oil tank 2. Therefore, it is possible to reduce costs by sharing the fuel supply path and adopting the manual first fuel supply valve 27, while preventing backflow of cooking oil to the filtering tank 20 due to erroneous operation of the first fuel supply valve 27. Furthermore, when performing the first filtering, opening the first fuel supply valve 27 automatically drives the filtering pump 23 to perform the first filtering, thereby reducing the user's effort in performing the first filtering and improving usability.

[0034] In addition, in the disclosure in which the filtering pump is operated in response to the opening of the first fuel supply valve, the following modifications are possible. The fuel tank may not be provided with an overflow section, and fuel may be added simply by operating the fuel addition valve. The present disclosure can also be applied to a fryer having multiple oil tanks. In this case, an oil tank and first and second oil supply paths may be provided for each oil tank, and first and second manual valves may also be provided for each path. A filtering tank may be provided for each oil tank, or cooking oil discharged from multiple oil tanks may be collected in one filtering tank. In this case, a single pump may be provided and the first oil supply path may be branched for each oil tank, and the pump may be driven when the open state of any one of the first manual valves is detected.

[0035] The following modifications are possible for each disclosure: The heating means is not limited to the pulse combustor, and may be a gas burner provided outside the oil tank. The heating means may be an electric heater only. The upper part of the oil tank does not have to be inverted tapered. The exhaust pipe does not need to contact the fuel tank. The second fuel supply pipe and the second fuel supply valve may be omitted, making it possible to perform only the first filtering. The cooking oil in the oil tank may be liquefied by contacting the oil drain pipe with the oil tank and utilizing the exhaust heat. In this case, the heater may be omitted. However, the oil tank and the oil drain pipe may be omitted. Each disclosure can also be applied to a pressure fryer in which the opening of the oil tank is closed with a lid. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1··Fryer, 2··Oil tank, 3··Pulse combustor, 4··Combustion chamber, 5··Tail pipe, 6··First cooking section, 7··Second cooking section, 8··First oil level temperature sensor, 9··Second oil level temperature sensor, 10··Fuel tank, 11··Fuel booster pipe, 12··Fuel booster valve, 13··Fuel booster temperature sensor, 14··Overflow section, 15··Air chamber, 16··Gas conduit, 17··Air intake pipe, 18··Exhaust pipe, 19··Electric heater, 20··Filtering tank, 21··Oil drain pipe, 22··Oil drain valve, 23··Filtering pump, 25··First oil supply pipe, 26··Second oil supply pipe, 27··First oil supply valve, 28··Reed switch, 29··Second oil supply valve, 30··Oil top-up tank, 37··Cooking temperature sensor, 40··Frying controller, 41··Operation panel, 42··Burner controller.

Claims

[Claim 1] an oil tank for storing cooking oil; A heating means provided in the oil tank for heating cooking oil; A filtering tank provided below the oil tank for filtering the cooking oil discharged from the oil tank; An oil tank that is provided above the cooking oil storage section in the oil tank and is capable of storing a predetermined amount of cooking oil; a first oil supply path having an upstream end connected to the filtering tank and including, from the upstream side, a pump and a first manual valve that can be opened and closed by a manual operation; A second fuel supply path connecting the oil tank and the fuel tank; a second manual valve provided in the second oil supply path and capable of being manually opened and closed; A downstream end of the first oil supply path is connected to the upstream side of the second manual valve in the second oil supply path, and the cooking oil in the filtering tank can be supplied to the oil reserve tank via the first oil supply path and the second oil supply path by driving the pump with the first manual valve open and the second manual valve closed. A fryer in which cooking oil in the oil tank can be supplied to the oil tank through the second oil supply path by closing the first manual valve and opening the second manual valve, A control means for controlling the pump; an open / close state detection means for detecting an open / close state of the first manual valve, The fryer according to claim 1, wherein the control means operates the pump when the open / closed state detection means detects that the first manual valve is in an open state.

Images