Automatic cooking equipment

Abstract

To provide an automatic cooking device capable of efficiently scraping off stains such as burnt food that are stuck to the inner wall surface of a cooking container by cooking and remain after cooking. [Solution] An automatic cooking device 10 comprising a cooking counter 100 equipped with a washing sink 110, a container holding unit 200 which holds a cooking container 300 so that it can rotate freely around the container central axis AC, and a scraping unit 600 which washes the inner wall surface of the cooking container while the cooking container is in an upside-down position after stirring and cooking ingredients I contained in the cooking container, and which is equipped with a scraper 630 which scrapes off dirt B such as burnt bits adhering to the cooking container, and 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.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic cooking device that automatically cooks ingredients at high temperatures, and in particular 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, in the conventional automatic cooking devices described above, there was a problem in 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 surface of the cooking container when cooking Chinese food or other dishes at high temperatures.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention is intended to solve the problems of the prior art as described above. In other words, the object of the present invention is to provide an automatic cooking device that efficiently scrapes off dirt such as burnt food that adheres to the inner wall surface of a cooking container during heating and cooking and remains after cooking. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The invention of claim 1 is an automatic cooking device that 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 freely rotate around the container's central axis in the depth direction of the container, and a washing sink that is arranged in a forward area of ​​the cooking counter than the container holding unit and for washing the cooking container, and that heats and cooks ingredients contained in the cooking container in a stirred state and then washes the inner wall surface of the cooking container while holding the cooking container upside down.The above-mentioned problem is solved by providing a scraping unit that is equipped with a scraper that scrapes off dirt such as burnt residue adhering 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 is abutted against the inner wall surface of the cooking container.

[0007] The invention of claim 2 solves the above-mentioned problem by, in addition to the configuration of the invention of claim 1, providing a mounting unit equipped with a serving plate for placing a plate on which ingredients cooked in the cooking container are 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 provided 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, 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, and is in a lying position against the elastic force of the upright spring when the serving 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, the cooking vessel has a heated inclined surface portion that is inclined with respect to the central axis of the vessel, and the scraper has an inclined edge portion that abuts against the inner wall surface of the heated inclined surface portion of the cooking vessel.

[0010] The invention of claim 5 further solves the above-mentioned problem by, in addition to the configuration of the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, configuring the scraping unit so that it can be freely attached and detached from the washing sink. Effect 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 freely rotate 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 portion of the container holding unit of the cooking counter and for washing the cooking container, and after heating and cooking ingredients contained in the cooking container in a stirred state, the automatic cooking device washes the inner wall surface of the cooking container while turning the cooking container upside down.Not only is it possible to wash the inner wall surface of the cooking container 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 vessel after cooking is arranged in the washing sink so that it is enclosed by the upside-down inner wall surface of the cooking vessel and the scraper comes into contact with the inner wall surface of the cooking vessel. Therefore, when the cooking vessel is rotated upside-down around the central axis of the vessel in the depth direction of the cooking vessel, the entire circumference of the inner wall surface of the cooking vessel 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 vessel and remains after cooking can be efficiently scraped off.

[0013] In addition, since the scraping unit is enclosed by the upside-down inner wall surface of the cooking container within the washing sink, dirt such as burnt food scraped off by the scraper after cooking falls from inside the cooking container into the washing sink without being scattered on the top surface of the cooking counter, so that the scraped-off dirt such as burnt food can be easily collected after cleaning.

[0014] Furthermore, the cooking vessel has a container body for containing 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 vessel is rotated by the container rotation mechanism while lying upside down facing the cleaning sink, the stirring member and the scraping unit are always positioned apart, preventing damage due to contact between the stirring member and the scraping unit, and the clearance between the stirring member and the scraping unit allows for high maintainability. Even if the stirring member stops at any position due to an emergency stop for some reason during cleaning with the cooking vessel in the upside-down cleaning position, the cooking vessel 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 central axis of the container in the depth direction of the container, and a washing sink that is arranged in a region forward of the raising and lowering axis portion of the container holding unit of the cooking counter and for washing 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 is it possible to wash the inner wall surface of the cooking container 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, which is equipped with a serving plate for placing a plate on which ingredients cooked in the cooking container are served, is arranged so that the serving plate 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 forward of the container holding unit of the cooking counter has both a scraping function provided by the scraping unit in the washing sink and a dish loading function provided by 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 the opening and closing of the serving plate relative to the opening of the washing sink causes the scraper to stand in the open position, while the scraper is laid down in the closed position.Therefore, when the serving plate is slid to the open position, the scraper protrudes upward from the washing sink, so that the scraper can reliably come into contact with the inverted inner wall surface of the cooking vessel, thereby reliably scraping off dirt such as burnt food 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 that dishes can be placed stably on the serving plate and serving can be performed efficiently.

[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 standing 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 standing spring causes the scraping unit to elastically abut against the inner wall surface of the cooking container, thereby assuming an upright position for scraping off dirt such as burnt food. Therefore, preparation for scraping off dirt such as burnt food 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 vessel in the cleaning position due to the elastic force of the upright spring, so that dirt such as burnt food adhered to the inner wall surface of the cooking vessel can be more reliably scraped off while excessive sliding contact between the scraper and the inner wall surface of the cooking vessel can be avoided, thereby suppressing 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, by simply sliding the serving plate to the closed position, the scraping unit is stored under the serving plate, and dishes can be placed stably on the serving plate, making the serving operation even more efficient.

[0022] According to the automatic cooking device of the invention of claim 4 of the present invention, the cooking vessel has a heated inclined surface portion that is inclined with respect to the central axis of the vessel, and the scraper has an inclined edge portion that abuts against the inner wall surface of the heated inclined surface portion of the cooking vessel. Therefore, when the cooking vessel is rotated around the central axis of the vessel 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 vessel, so that burnt dirt and other dirt that has firmly adhered to the inner wall surface of the cooking vessel due to heating and cooking can be efficiently scraped off.

[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 attached and detached to the washing sink, so that the scraping unit can be removed after scraping off burnt dirt and other dirt that has adhered to the inner wall surface of the cooking container.This makes it easy to collect the burnt dirt and other dirt scraped off by the scraper and dropped into the washing sink, and the removed scraping unit can be easily washed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1A] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which the automatic cooking device of the present invention is performing automatic cooking. [Figure 1B] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the automatic cooking apparatus of the present invention with the washing sink open. [Diagram 2] 10 is a schematic left side view showing a method of mounting a cooking container to 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. 4 is a schematic right side view showing the configuration of the scraping unit of the present invention. [Figure 4A] 1 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the serving plate of the present invention is slid from an open position to a half-open position. FIG. [Figure 4B] 1 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 laid-down position. FIG. [Figure 4C] 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 laid down and stored. [Figure 4D] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the serving plate of the present invention in a closed position with the scraper lying down and stored. [Figure 4E] 1 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the serving plate of the present invention slides from a closed position to a half-open position and the scraper changes from a lying position to an upright position. FIG. [Figure 4F] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the serving plate of the present invention has slid from a half-open position to an open position and the scraper has been raised. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the cooking container of the present invention rotated from the cooking position to the 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. 4 is a schematic plan view showing the relationship between the scraper of the present invention and the movable range of the stirring member during cleaning. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] The present invention is an automatic cooking device that includes a container holding unit that is provided on top of a cooking counter and holds a bottomed cylindrical cooking container so that it can rotate freely around the container center axis in the depth direction of the cooking container, and a washing sink that is provided in a region forward of the container holding unit on the cooking counter and for washing the cooking container, and that washes the inner wall surface of the cooking container in an upside-down state after stirring and cooking 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 provided in the washing sink so that it is enclosed by the upside-down inner wall surface of the cooking container and the scraper is abutted against the inner wall surface of the cooking container, so long as it can efficiently scrape off dirt such as burnt food that adheres to the inner wall surface of the cooking container and remains after cooking.The specific embodiment of the present invention is not limited to any one 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, with 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 and tilt it forward to place the cooking container in an upside-down cleaning position; however, the process of swinging the container holding unit and tilting it forward to place 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. EXAMPLES

[0028] An automatic cooking apparatus 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 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 and the scraper changing 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 lying-down position for storage; 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 lying 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 vessel 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 vessel in the cleaning position; and FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing the relationship between the scraper of the present invention and the movable range of the stirring member during cleaning.

[0029] <Configuration of the automatic cooking device> The automatic cooking device 10 of this embodiment is an apparatus that automatically cooks dishes by stirring and cooking ingredients, and is equipped with a cooking counter 100 placed on a floor surface F, a container holding unit 200 pivoted on the upper surface of the cooking counter 100 so as to be freely raised and lowered, a cooking container 300 held on the container holding unit 200 so as to be freely rotatable, a container heating unit 400 placed on the upper surface of the cooking counter 100 and heating 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 placement unit 700 on which tableware such as plates on which to serve 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 counter 100 of this embodiment is a rectangular parallelepiped counter with casters at the four corners of the bottom surface, and the top surface is flat.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 1B, a cleaning 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 supported and installed so as to be able to rise and fall freely in the front-to-back direction, in the rear area, i.e., the rear region, of the top surface of the cooking counter 100.

[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 container depth direction (i.e., the depth direction of the cooking container 300) as the center of rotation, and a lifting 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 pivot axis.

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

[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 which is inclined with respect to the container central axis AC, a side portion 312 which is continuous with the heated inclined surface portion 311 and is configured in a cylindrical shape centered on the container central axis AC to form a circular opening, and a bottom portion 313 which is continuous with the heated inclined surface portion 311 and is composed of a flat surface perpendicular to the container central axis AC.

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

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

[0038] When the stirring member 320 is placed on the bottom portion 313 of the container body 310, a magnetic coupling mechanism is formed in which 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 exert a strong attractive force on each other, and the bottom portion 313 of the container body 310 is strongly clamped between the container rotation mechanism 210 and the base 321 of the stirring member 320, thereby stably mounting the stirring member 320 to the container body 310.

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

[0040] As shown in Figures 1A, 1B and 2, the container heating unit 400 of this embodiment is positioned on the upper surface of the cooking counter 100 in a position closely 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 container heating unit 400, and is configured to heat heated inclined surface portion 311 of container body 310 in a 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 cooking 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 force, a scraper 630 as an output link, a coupling link 640 that connects the fixed link 610 and the scraper 630, and a standing spring 650 that applies elastic force to the fixed link 610 and the coupling link 640, forming a spring-loaded 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 provided 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 freely swingable.

[0046] The scraper 630 functions as an output link, has an inclined side portion 631 that abuts on 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 joint portion 600c, and is pivotally connected to the scraper 630 at the output joint portion 600d.

[0048] The standing spring 650 has a spiral coil portion 651 and two mounting portions 652, 652 located on both ends thereof, with one mounting portion 652 engaging with the spring hole portion 622 of the input link 620 and the other mounting portion 652 engaging 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 elastic force of the standing spring 650 causes the input link 620 to oscillate clockwise. This oscillating displacement is transmitted to the scraper 630 via the coupling link 640, causing the scraper 630 to oscillate 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 regulating excessive swinging displacement of the input link 620. As a result, power transmission by the coupling link 640 stops, so that the scraper 630 is prevented from swinging excessively beyond the upright position.

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

[0052] When a large external force is applied to the contact input portion 621, the scraper 630 swings vigorously. However, 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 regulating 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 mounting unit 700 of this embodiment is equipped with a dish mounting stand 710 for mounting dishes, i.e., plates D, for serving ingredients I during automatic cooking by the cooking container 300, and a serving plate 720 for mounting plates D for serving ingredients I after cooking, and is disposed adjacent to the washing sink 110 on the front side, i.e., the forward area, of the upper surface of the cooking counter 100.

[0054] The mounting unit 700 is configured so that a serving plate 720 that can be stored in the dish mounting stand 710 can slide freely between an open position that opens the opening of the washing sink 110 and a closed position that spans the opening of the washing sink 110.

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

[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 on the back side, i.e., the rear area, of the upper surface of the cooking counter 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, container heating unit 400 and container cleaning unit 500 of the container holding unit 200 in accordance with the cook's instructions via operation of the operation 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 center of rotation.

[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 posture shown in FIG. 1A.

[0060] When automatic cooking is terminated, the control unit 800 drives and controls the container rotation mechanism 210 so that the rotation of the stirring member 320 stops when the detection magnet 323 is in 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 in a reference position facing the spatula part detection sensor 830.

[0061] The control unit 800 also has a 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 through 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, a cook of the automatic cooking apparatus 10 puts ingredients I to be automatically cooked into the cooking container 300 when the automatic cooking apparatus 10 is in a cooking position with the cooking container 300 open diagonally upward and forward as shown in FIG. 1A.

[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 passes electricity through the container heating unit 400 to apply an alternating current, causing the container heating unit 400 to emit 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 center of rotation.

[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 manner, 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 for plating before or during automatic cooking, the dishes to be plated, i.e., plates D, can be placed on the dish placement stand 710 of the placement 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 served on the plate D placed on the serving plate 720. If it is desired to open the opening of the washing sink 110 immediately after serving, the plate D with the ingredients served on it can be moved onto the dish placement stand 710, and then the serving plate 720 can be slid 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 FIG. 1B, and the mounting unit 700 is provided with a dish mounting stand 710 and a serving plate 720 as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, and is positioned adjacent to the washing sink 110, with the serving plate 720 being 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 that no external force is applied to the scraping unit 600, and the elastic force of the standing spring 650 causes each of the scrapers 630 to be in 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 oscillate 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 FIG. 4C. Therefore, by simply sliding the serving plate 720 to the closed position of the washing sink 110, the scraper 630 is stored in a lying position under the serving plate 720.

[0074] Therefore, when automatic cooking is finished, the plate D, which is the tableware for serving, can be stably placed on the serving plate 720 in the closed position of the washing sink 110, and the serving operation can be performed.

[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 in a downward and leftward direction, causing the scraper 630 to lie down 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 tableware stand 710 or the like.

[0077] Thereafter, when the serving plate 720 is gradually slid in the direction to be accommodated within the dish mounting table 710 and the washing sink 110 is set to a half-open state, as shown in FIG. 4E, the abutment input portion 621 detaches from the underside of the serving plate 720 and 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 oscillate and displace in the standing direction, and the input link 620 applies a rightward force to 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 placement stand 710, as shown in FIG. 4F, the serving plate 720 and the abutment input portion 621 separate from each other, and due to the elastic force of the standing spring 650, the input link 620 and the scraper 630 each oscillate and displace until they stand up, and then stop.

[0079] By sliding the serving plate 720 further into the dish placement stand 710, that is, to the open position of the washing sink 110, the opening of the washing sink 110 is completely opened and the dish is ready for scraping.

[0080] In this way, the area of ​​the counter 100 in front of the container holding unit 200 has both a scraping function provided by the scraping unit 600 in the washing sink 110 and a dish placement function provided by 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 FIG. 5, the cook pulls the raising and lowering handle 230 of the container-holding unit 200 toward himself, swinging the container-holding unit 200 around the raising and lowering axis 220 and tilting 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 FIG. 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 rocking displacement that approaches 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 that the scraper 630 elastically abuts against the inner wall surface of the container body 310, thereby preventing excessive sliding of the scraper 630 against the inner wall surface of the container body 310 and suppressing 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 dirt B such as burnt food that has firmly adhered due to cooking is scraped off 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 surface 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 being scattered on the top surface of the cooking counter 100, so that the scraped off burnt dirt B can be easily collected after cleaning.

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

[0087] Therefore, since the scraping unit 600 can be removed after scraping off the burnt dirt B, etc., adhered to the inner wall surface of the container body 310 of the cooking container 300, 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 multiple washing nozzles 520 that spray washing water, and is installed in a washing sink 110 provided in the front area of ​​the cooking counter 100.

[0090] As shown in Figure 6, multiple cleaning nozzles 520 are provided on the cleaning unit main body 510 so that the cleaning water is sprayed upward, diagonally upward to the upper right, and to the right, corresponding to the bottom surface portion 313, heated inclined surface portion 311, and inner wall surface of the side surface portion 312 of the container 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 passes 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, and at the same time, 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 around the container central axis AC as a common center of rotation, thereby allowing the container body 310 and the stirring member 320 of the cooking container 300 to be washed together.

[0092] In addition, since seasonings and the like tend to adhere to spatula portion 322 of stirring member 320 during the automatic cooking process, it is preferable that spatula portion 322 of stirring member 320 be reliably washed with washing water sprayed from washing nozzle 520 during the cleaning process.

[0093] For this reason, in this embodiment, by manually operating the above-mentioned raising and lowering handle 230, when the container holding unit 200 is swung around the raising and lowering axis 220 and tilted forward after automatic cooking, and the cooking container 300 is placed in the washing sink 110 in a washing position, the control unit 800 controls the drive of the container rotation mechanism 210 so that the stirring member 320 performs a reciprocating rotational motion in the range from the 0 degree position (dashed line in Figure 7) where the stirring member 320 stopped in the reference position at the end of cooking is located, to a 125 degree position counterclockwise (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 portion 322 of the stirring member 320.

[0095] Furthermore, as a result of the rotation 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 disposed outside the movable range of the stirring member 320 and attached to the container cleaning unit 500.

[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 to clean it in a cleaning position in which the cooking container 300 is laid face down toward the cleaning sink 110, the stirring member 320 and the scraping unit 600 are always positioned apart, preventing 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 allows for high maintainability.

[0098] Furthermore, since the scraping unit 600 is positioned outside the movable range of the stirring member 320, particularly when viewed in a plane, 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 performed 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 vessels 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 (cross four-link mechanism with spring) 600a Input fixed joint 600b output fixed joint 600c Input joint section 600d Output joint 610 Permanent Link 611 Arm section 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 Tableware Stand 720 Serving Plate 721 Plate handling unit 800 Control Unit 810 Display Panel 820 Control unit 830 Spatula detection sensor F Floor I Ingredients D plate B Burnt stains AC container center axis

Claims

1. An automatic cooking device comprising: a container holding unit that is provided on top of a cooking counter and that holds a cylindrical cooking container with a bottom so that it 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 forward area of ​​the tilting axis of the container holding unit on the cooking counter 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, A scraping unit having a scraper for scraping off dirt adhering to the cooking vessel after cooking is provided in the washing sink so as to be enclosed by the upside-down inner wall surface of the cooking vessel and to bring the scraper into contact with the inner wall surface of the cooking vessel, The cooking container has a container body for accommodating ingredients and a stirring member attached to the container body and rotating independently of the container body, the container holding unit rotates the stirring member independently of the container body, The automatic cooking apparatus is characterized in that the scraping unit is arranged outside a moving range of the stirring member during cleaning.

2. An automatic cooking device comprising: a container holding unit that is provided on top of a cooking counter and that holds a cylindrical cooking container with a bottom so that it 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 forward area of ​​the tilting axis of the container holding unit on the cooking counter 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, A scraping unit having a scraper for scraping off dirt adhering to the cooking vessel after cooking is provided in the washing sink so as to be enclosed by the upside-down inner wall surface of the cooking vessel and to bring the scraper into contact with the inner wall surface of the cooking vessel, An automatic cooking apparatus 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 served is arranged near the washing sink, 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 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 while causing 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 according to 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 vessel has a heated inclined surface portion inclined with respect to the vessel 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 configured to be detachable from the washing sink.

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