Heating cooker

Abstract

To provide a cooker capable of securing convection of cooked food and preventing boiling-over without depending on the size of a container to be heated.SOLUTION: A cooker comprises: a mounting unit that mounts a container; one or more heating units that are arranged below the mounting unit, and heats the container; an infrared sensor that is provided substantially above the heating unit, and has a plurality of pixels for detecting a temperature of the container above the mounting unit as temperature information; a container size measuring unit that measures the size of the container based on the temperature information; and a heating control unit that controls heating energy applied to the container by the heating unit based on the size of the container.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, cooking devices that prevent overflow by varying the strength of heating power are known.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 describes a cooking device that includes a heating unit, a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the container or the food inside the container, a heating power change instruction unit that instructs a change in the heating power of the heating unit, and a cooking control unit. The cooking control unit is configured to switch the heating power of the heating unit between a first heating power and a second heating power that is less than the first heating power, and to change only the first heating power of the first and second heating powers when an instruction to change the heating power of the heating unit is given by the heating power change instruction unit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-234929 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The cooking device described in Patent Document 1 switches between strong and weak heating power to boil noodles and controls to prevent overflow. However, this cooking device switches the heating power without considering the size of the container being heated, so overflow may occur when a small container is heated. Also, when a large container is heated, the amount of heat may be insufficient and the water may not boil sufficiently. In such cases, convection of water cannot be ensured within the container, and the noodles, which are the food to be cooked, do not move within the water, which may result in insufficient boiling, such as uneven heating.

[0006] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a cooking device that can ensure convection of the food being cooked and prevent overflow, regardless of the size of the container being heated. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The heating cooker of the present disclosure comprises a placement section for placing a container, one or more heating sections arranged below the placement section for heating the container, an infrared sensor arranged approximately above the heating section and having a plurality of pixels for detecting the temperature of the container above the placement section as temperature information, a container size measuring section for measuring the size of the container based on the temperature information, and a heating control section for controlling the heating energy applied to the container by the heating section based on the size of the container. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present disclosure, a cooking device can be provided that can ensure convection of the food being cooked and prevent overflow, regardless of the size of the container being heated. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a cooking device according to an embodiment; [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a cooking device according to an embodiment; [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing communication connections of a cooking device according to an embodiment; [Figure 4] A flowchart showing a heating control process by a cooking device according to an embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a part of a visual field detected by an infrared sensor of a cooking device according to an embodiment; [Figure 6] FIG. 6 shows the temperatures sensed for the viewing area shown in FIG. 5. [Figure 7] Graph showing an example of temperature change detected by an infrared sensor of a cooking device according to an embodiment [Figure 8]Graph showing an example of output from a heating coil of a cooking device according to an embodiment [Figure 9] Schematic diagram showing dimensions used to calibrate container size [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terminal according to an embodiment; [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an installation position input program displayed on a terminal. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the configuration described below is merely an example of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited to the following embodiments. Even if it is not an embodiment, various modifications can be made according to the design, etc., as long as it does not deviate from the technical idea of ​​the present disclosure.

[0011] (Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a cooking device 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the cooking device 1 as viewed from the side. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a container (pot) 2 is placed on the cooking device 1. The container 2 contains a food item 3 to be cooked. Below, the configuration of the cooking device 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described mainly with reference to FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, the X-axis direction indicates the longitudinal direction of the cooking device 1, the Y-axis direction indicates the front-rear direction, and the Z-axis direction indicates the height direction. The positive direction of the X-axis is the right direction, and the negative direction is the left direction. The positive direction of the Y-axis is the rear direction, and the negative direction is the front direction.

[0012] The cooking device 1 according to the present disclosure is capable of preventing overflow of the food when heating a container containing food containing a large amount of water, such as noodles, while ensuring the generation of convection of the food. The overflow phenomenon occurs due in part to volume expansion caused by the starch, etc., dissolved from the food forming a film on the water surface, which makes it difficult for bubbles generated at the bottom of the heated container to disappear on the water surface. If the heating power is simply weakened to suppress the overflow phenomenon, the boiling of the food in the container is suppressed, the generation of bubbles is suppressed, and the convection of the food is difficult to generate, which may result in insufficient heating of the food. Therefore, in order to prevent overflow of the food, it is important to control the heating energy provided to the container based on the size of the container and control the generation of bubbles, rather than simply increasing or decreasing the heating power for heating the container. It is also important to control the generation of bubbles from the bottom of the container in consideration of the energy density of the heating energy provided to the bottom of the container by heating. The heating cooker of the present disclosure controls the heating energy applied to the bottom of the container based on the size of the container, thereby controlling the generation of bubbles at the bottom of the container, thereby ensuring convection of the cooked food by boiling it while preventing the cooked food from boiling over.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, the cooking device 1 includes a main body 4, a top plate 5, heating coils 6A to 6C, an infrared sensor 7, a communication circuit 8, an operation panel 9 and a control device 20.

[0014] The main body 4 has therein heating coils 6A to 6C and a control device 20. The main body 4 also has a top plate 5 on its upper surface and an operation panel 9 on its side.

[0015] The top plate 5 is a mounting portion on which the container 2 can be placed. The top plate 5 is disposed on the upper surface of the main body 4. The top plate 5 is made of a material, such as glass, through which the magnetic fields generated by the heating coils 6A to 6C can pass.

[0016] The heating coils 6A to 6C are heating units that heat the container 2, and are disposed below the top plate 5. When a high-frequency current is supplied to the heating coils 6A to 6C, they generate an induced magnetic field. The heating coils 6A to 6C use the magnetic field to heat the bottom surface, etc., of the container 2 disposed on the top plate 5, thereby heating the food 3 contained in the container 2.

[0017] As shown in Fig. 1, by providing three heating coils 6A, 6B, and 6C, the cooking device 1 can simultaneously heat and cook three food items 3. Fig. 1 shows an example in which one container 2 containing the food items 3 is placed on the heating coil 6A.

[0018] The infrared sensor 7 is a temperature detection unit that detects infrared rays emitted from the food 3 in the container 2 and detects the temperature of the food 3 from above as temperature information based on the infrared rays, and may be, for example, an infrared camera, a thermal imaging camera, or the like. Similarly, the infrared sensor 7 can detect the temperature of the top plate 5 as temperature information by detecting infrared rays emitted from above the top plate 5. Hereinafter, the infrared sensor 7 detecting the temperature of an object based on the infrared rays by detecting infrared rays emitted from the object is simply referred to as detecting temperature by the infrared sensor 7. The infrared sensor 7 is provided approximately above the top plate 5 so that the food 3 and the top plate 5 can be detected from above. The infrared sensor 7 is connected to a communication circuit 8 and outputs the acquired temperature information to the communication circuit 8.

[0019] In this embodiment, the viewing area of ​​the infrared sensor 7 is divided into, for example, a plurality of grid-shaped areas (for example, 1024 areas of 32×32). Each area is a temperature detection area where the temperature is detected by an infrared detection element (i.e., pixel). The viewing area of ​​the infrared sensor 7 may be divided into other areas.

[0020] The communication circuit 8 is an interface device that transmits temperature information detected by the infrared sensor 7 to a communication circuit 22, which is one of the components of the control device 20, via a wired or wireless communication line.

[0021] The operation panel 9 is an input device for operating the cooking device 1. The operation panel 9 is provided on the front side of the main body 4. A user of the cooking device 1 uses the cooking device 1 by operating the operation panel 9. Information input by the operation panel 9 is output to the control circuit 21 of the control device 20 and processed by the control circuit 21. The operation panel 9 may include a display 10 that displays information required for using the cooking device 1, such as power on / off of the cooking device 1 and the output (i.e., heating power) of the heating coils 6A to 6C. The operation panel 9 includes an operation input unit 11, and can operate a predetermined mode that is set in advance, for example. The cooking device 1 includes at least a mode that heats noodles or the like to boil, and automatically controls the heat power to prevent overflow due to heating. In addition, for example, a mode that controls the heating coils 6A to 6C with an appropriate heat power depending on the dish may be included.

[0022] The cooking device 1 according to the present embodiment also includes a plurality of operation input units 12A-12C and a display unit 13 for the user to operate each of the heating coils 6A-6C. The display unit 13 is disposed in front of the top plate 5 of the cooking device 1, and displays the output of the heating coils 6A-6C. The operation input units 12A-12C are disposed in front of the display unit 13 on the top plate 5 of the cooking device 1. The user controls, for example, the output of the heating coils 6A-6C by operating the operation input units 12A-12C. The operation input unit 12A corresponds to the heating coil 6A, the operation input unit 12B corresponds to the heating coil 6B, and the operation input unit 12C corresponds to the heating coil 6C. In response to an operation instruction from the operation input unit 12A, the heating control unit 24 described later controls the start or stop of heating by the heating coil 6A. The operation input units 11, 12A-12C may be physical buttons or touch panels.

[0023] As described above, the container 2 is placed on the top plate 5. The container 2 contains the food item 3 to be cooked, and is heated by any of the heating coils 6A to 6C disposed below the top plate 5. The container 2 may be made of a metal material such as iron, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, etc.

[0024] 2, the infrared sensor 7 can detect infrared rays radiated from the food 3 in the container 2 and having energy E1 according to the emissivity of the food 3. Therefore, the control circuit 21 of the cooking device 1, which will be described later, can perform heating control based on the temperature detected from the food 3.

[0025] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the communication connections of the above-mentioned components and the control circuit 21 of the control device 20.

[0026] As described above, the infrared sensor 7 is connected to the communication circuit 8. The communication circuit 8 is connected to the communication circuit 22 of the control device 20 housed in the main body 4. The control circuit 21 is connected to the communication circuit 22, and acquires temperature information detected by the infrared sensor 7 via the communication circuits 8 and 22.

[0027] The control device 20 includes a control circuit 21, a communication circuit 22, and a storage device 23.

[0028] The control circuit 21 is a computer and includes a heating control unit 24, a container size measurement unit 25, and a cooking status determination unit 26. The control circuit 21 may include an attachment position determination unit and a container size correction unit, as described later. The control circuit 21 includes a general-purpose processor such as a CPU or MPU that executes a program to achieve a predetermined function. The control circuit 21 calls and executes a calculation program stored in the storage device 23, for example, to achieve various processes in the control device 20, such as a heating process by the heating control unit 24 and a measurement process by the container size measurement unit 25. The control circuit 21 is not limited to a mode in which hardware and software work together to achieve a predetermined function, and may be a hardware circuit designed specifically to achieve a predetermined function. That is, the control circuit 21 can be realized by various processors such as a GPU, FPGA, DSP, ASIC, etc., in addition to a CPU or MPU. Such a control circuit 21 can be composed of, for example, a signal processing circuit that is a semiconductor integrated circuit. The hardware configurations of the heating control unit 24, the container size measurement unit 25, the cooking status determination unit 26, the attachment position determination unit, and the container size correction unit are also similar to the control circuit 21.

[0029] The heating control unit 24 can control at least one of the heating output and the heating time that the heating coils 6A to 6C give to the container 2 and the food 3 by controlling, for example, the magnitude of the current flowing through the heating coils 6A to 6C, the time for which the current flows, and the like. The heating control unit 24 may be configured to start the above control when the cooking status determination unit 26 determines that a predetermined condition has been reached. The heating control unit 24 controls the output by, for example, setting the output of the heating coils 6A to 6C to one of a plurality of predetermined strength levels. The heating control unit 24 can set the above-mentioned plurality of strength levels by, for example, the amount of power such as 2000W, 1450W, 1000W, 700W, etc., or by relative output such as "strong", "medium", "weak", or "1" to "9", etc. The heating control unit 24 may be configured to continuously change and control the output. The control circuit 21 may display the output of the heating coils 6A to 6C set by the heating control unit 24 on the operation panel 9 or the display unit 13. Furthermore, the heating control section 24 can control the output and heating time of the heating coils 6A to 6C based on instructions inputted through the operation input sections 11, 12A to 12C as described above.

[0030] The container size measuring unit 25 measures the size of the container 2 heated by each of the heating coils 6A-6C from temperature information based on the temperature detected by the infrared sensor 7. For example, the container size measuring unit 25 sets a predetermined threshold, determines that an area containing pixels that detect a temperature higher than the threshold is the container 2, and measures the area of ​​the container 2 based on the number of such pixels. For example, the container size measuring unit 25 may measure the size of the container 2 depending on whether or not the detected temperature exceeds the threshold after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of heating by the heating coils 6A-6C. Furthermore, when one of the temperatures detected by the infrared sensor 7 exceeds another threshold set to a temperature higher than the threshold, the container size measuring unit 25 may be configured to measure the size of the container.

[0031] The cooking status determination unit 26, which will be described in detail later, determines whether the food 3 in the container 2 has reached a predetermined cooking status based on temperature information based on the temperature detected by the infrared sensor 7. The predetermined cooking status is, for example, the boiling of the food 3, the inflow of the food into the container 2, etc. ingredients When the cooking status determination unit 26 determines that the cooking status has reached the above-mentioned state, it outputs the information to the heating control unit 24.

[0032] The communication circuit 22 is provided inside the main body 4 below the top plate 5, and is connected to the control circuit 21. The communication circuit 22 receives temperature information acquired by the infrared sensor 7 from the communication circuit 8, and outputs it to the control circuit 21.

[0033] The communication circuit 22, like the communication circuit 8, is an interface device that receives data from the communication circuit 8 via a communication line, either wired or wirelessly. The communication circuits 8 and 22 may be connectable to other devices via a communication line. The interface device is capable of performing communication in accordance with a wired communication standard, such as USB (registered trademark) or Ethernet (registered trademark). The interface device is also capable of performing communication in accordance with a wireless communication standard, such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or a mobile phone line.

[0034] The storage device 23 is a storage medium capable of storing various information. The storage device 23 stores the temperature information received by the communication circuit 22, and the control circuit 21 can use the stored information. The storage device 23 is realized, for example, by a memory such as a DRAM, an SRAM, or a flash memory, an HDD, an SSD, or other storage devices, or by an appropriate combination of them. As described above, the storage device 23 stores a program for implementing various processes performed by the control device 20 through the control circuit 21. The storage device 23 can store the output of the heating coils 6A to 6C, the heating time by the output, the temperature detected by the infrared sensor 7, and the like. The storage device 23 may store a table showing the relationship between any information, such as a table showing the relationship between the measured size of the container 2 and the volume of water contained in the container 2, as described later. The storage device 23 may also store a calculation program for calculating the relationship between any information, such as a calculation program for calculating the volume of water from the measured size of the container 2, as described later.

[0035] 4 is a flowchart showing the heating control process performed by the control circuit 21 of the cooking device 1 according to this embodiment. First, the control circuit 21 causes the heating control unit 24 to pass a current through the heating coil 6A to heat the container 2 (S1). Next, the control circuit 21 acquires the temperature detected by the infrared sensor 7 as temperature information (S2), and measures the size of the container 2 by the container size measurement unit 25 (S3).

[0036] When the control circuit 21 measures the size of the container 2, the heating control unit 24 determines the heating energy to be input to the container 2 based on the size of the container 2 (S4). When the control circuit 21 determines that the heating state inside the container 2 has reached a predetermined state (S5), the control circuit 21 starts heating control by the heating control unit 24 so as to maintain the determined heating energy within a predetermined range (S6).

[0037] The cooking device 1 according to this embodiment performs heating control during heating of the container 2 so as to maintain the heating energy determined based on the size of the container 2 in this manner, thereby preventing overflow due to heating.

[0038] FIG. 5 is an example of a part of the field of view detected by the infrared sensor 7 of the cooking device 1 according to this embodiment. FIG. 6 is an example of the temperature detected by the infrared sensor 7 for the field of view shown in FIG. 5. The temperature shown in FIG. 6 indicates the temperature detected from the container 2 in a state heated by the heating coil 6A. The control circuit 21 measures the container size from the temperature information of the temperature by the container size measurement unit 25. For example, in this embodiment, the container size measurement unit 25 determines that the pixel whose temperature detected by the infrared sensor 7 is 80 degrees or higher is the region of the container 2. Thereby, the control circuit 21 determines the region T1 shown in FIG. 6 as the size of the container 2 by the container size measurement unit 25. As shown in FIG. 6, the infrared sensor 7 can detect the temperature of the region corresponding to the food 3 in the container 2 according to the heating state of the food 3, so that the control circuit 21 can determine the pixels of the region corresponding to the container 2 by the container size measurement unit 25.

[0039] Based on the pixels determined to be the area of ​​the container 2, the control circuit 21 measures the size of the container 2 by the container size measurement unit 25. For example, a table showing the relationship between the number of pixels and the area of ​​the container 2 is stored in the storage device 23. The control circuit 21 may measure the area of ​​the container 2 from the number of pixels determined to be the area of ​​the container 2 by referring to the table. The position in the height direction where the infrared sensor 7 is attached is known, and the average height of the container can also be determined in advance. The above-mentioned table can be created by determining the relationship between the number of pixels of the container and the area of ​​the container 2 when photographed under these conditions.

[0040] FIG. 7 is a graph showing an example of the temperature change detected by the infrared sensor 7 of the cooking device 1 according to this embodiment. The above temperature indicates an average value of the temperature of at least a part of the area in the container 2. As shown in the graph of FIG. 7, when the control circuit 21 heats the container 2 by the heating coil 6A, the temperature detected by the infrared sensor 7 rises. When the food 3 contained in the container 2 contains a lot of water, the temperature rise of the food 3 saturates at about 100 degrees. Therefore, when the cooking status determination unit 26 detects the saturation of the temperature from the output of the infrared sensor 7, the control circuit 21 can estimate that the water contained in the food 3 is boiling. Since the temperature detected by the infrared sensor 7 may have some error from the actual temperature, the saturation of the temperature detected by the infrared sensor 7 may occur at a temperature other than 100 degrees.

[0041] In the graph shown in Fig. 7, the timing indicated by arrow A indicates the timing at which saturation of the temperature rise is detected. When saturation of the temperature rise is detected, control circuit 21 may start a heating control process to prevent overflow by heating control unit 24. When the heating control process to prevent overflow is performed, as shown after the timing indicated by arrow A, after the temperature rise saturates, infrared sensor 7 may acquire a temperature waveform in which the temperature repeatedly rises and falls.

[0042] Moreover, the control circuit 21 may start the heating control process at a different timing. Another Timing An Example is the timing at which ingredients to be cooked in container 2 are added. In the graph shown in FIG. 7, a temporary, steep drop in temperature is detected at the timing indicated by arrow B. Control circuit 21 detects the drop in overall temperature of food 3 caused by adding ingredients whose temperature is lower than the water that has reached its boiling point in container 2 as the temperature change. For example, control circuit 21 may determine that ingredients have been added when cooking status determination unit 26 detects a temporary drop in temperature that is greater than a predetermined threshold. Cooking status determination unit 26 may set any value, such as 20 degrees or 30 degrees, as the predetermined threshold.

[0043] The control circuit 21 of the cooking device 1 according to the present embodiment controls heating of the container 2 by switching the output of the heating coil 6A between a first heating energy, which is a large energy given to the container 2, and a second heating energy, which is smaller than the first heating energy, within a predetermined period. FIG. 8 is a graph showing an example of the output of the heating coil 6A set by the heating control unit 24. As shown in FIG. 8, the peak value of the output of the heating coil 6A having the first heating energy indicated by the arrow C is 1450 W. The output peak value of the heating coil 6A having the second heating energy indicated by the arrow D is 1000 W. The predetermined period T means a certain period when the output of the heating coils 6A to 6C is repeatedly changed to a certain peak value at a certain time, as indicated by the arrow E in FIG. 8.

[0044] With reference to FIG. 8, an example of heating control by the cooking device 1 according to this embodiment will be described. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the control circuit 21 switches the output of the heating coil 6A between the first heating energy and the second heating energy every 50% of the cycle by the heating control unit 24. The time for heating with the first heating energy and the time for heating with the second heating energy do not need to be the same, and the control circuit 21 may switch the time for heating with each heating energy at an arbitrary ratio. The cooking device 1 according to this embodiment can operate the heating coils 6A to 6C with a peak output having at least any of 500W, 700W, 1000W, 1450W, 2000W, and 2500W by heating control to prevent overflow, but is not limited thereto.

[0045] In this embodiment, the control circuit 21 performs heating control processing to prevent overflow of the first container having a diameter of 18 cm by the output of the heating coil 6A shown in FIG. 8. When the first container is heated with the output of 1450 W, the food 3 contained in the first container boils vigorously, and convection occurs in the food 3 due to bubbles generated at the bottom of the first container. In this embodiment, the food 3 is water and noodles, but is not limited to this. In this embodiment, the food 3 is contained in the first container so that the water level is about 60% of the height of the first container. About 1000 g of water is contained in the first container so that the water level is as described above. The noodles boiled in the first container move inside the water due to the flow of convection and are heated evenly. When heated with the output of 1450 W for a certain period of time or more, the food 3 foams due to bubbles generated in the food 3 due to boiling, and the bubbles on the food 3 increase, which may cause overflow. Therefore, in this embodiment, as described above, after heating at an output of 1450 W for a predetermined time, the output is switched to 1000 W, which is lower than 1450 W, to prevent overflow. In this embodiment, after heating at an output of 1450 W for about 8 seconds, the output is switched to 1000 W.

[0046] When the first container is heated at an output of 1000 W, the food 3 boils more gently than when heated at an output of 1450 W. This suppresses the generation of air bubbles in the food 3 from the bottom of the first container, suppresses bubbling on the surface of the food 3, and reduces the amount of bubbles that increased when heated at an output of 1450 W. Because the amount of bubbles decreases when heated at an output of 1000 W, the cooking device 1 can prevent overflow.

[0047] However, when heating at an output of 1000 W, the convection currents generated within the food 3 are weak, and the noodles do not move as much due to convection as when heating at an output of 1450 W. Therefore, if heating is continued at an output of 1000 W, uneven heating may occur, with only some of the noodles being heated. Therefore, after heating at an output of 1000 W for a predetermined period of time, when the amount of bubbles generated by heating at an output of 1450 W has decreased, the control circuit 21 of the cooking device 1 switches to an output of 1450 W to effectively heat the food 3. In this embodiment, the heating is continued for about 8 seconds.1000 When heated at an output of W, 1450 Switching to W.

[0048] As described above, the cooking device 1 according to the present embodiment controls the heating of the container 2 by switching the output of the heating coil 6A between a first heating energy, which is a large energy, and a second heating energy, which is smaller than the first heating energy, at a predetermined time. By performing such heating control, heating cooker The pot 1 can effectively heat the food 3 by convection while preventing the food 3 from boiling over.

[0049] If the output power used in the above embodiment is used for a container 2 having a different size, it may not be possible to achieve both effective heating that ensures the generation of convection in the food 3 and prevention of overflow as in the embodiment. For example, if the container 2 is larger than 18 cm used in the embodiment, the output power of 1450 W may not be enough to heat the food 3, and the above-mentioned convection may not occur. Also, if the container 2 is smaller than 18 cm, heating with an output power of 1450 W may generate a large number of bubbles, which may cause overflow immediately. Furthermore, even if heating with an output power of 1000 W, the generation of bubbles in the food 3 may not be suppressed, and many bubbles may be generated, causing overflow.

[0050] Therefore, the control circuit 21 of the cooking device 1 according to the present disclosure measures the size of the container 2 and changes the peak value of the output of the heating coils 6A to 6C based on the measured size. As a result, the control circuit 21 changes the heating energy provided to the container 2 so that the energy density of the heating energy provided to the container 2 is the same. The energy density means the heating energy per unit area and unit time provided to the container 2. The control circuit 21 can perform heating control with an appropriate output by changing the heating energy provided to the food 3 by heating the container 2 with the heating coils 6A to 6C. Therefore, the larger the size of the container 2, the larger the heating energy provided to the container 2 by the control circuit 21. Conversely, the smaller the size of the container 2, the smaller the heating energy provided to the container 2.

[0051] For example, when controlling the heating of a second container with a diameter of 22 cm to prevent overflow, the area of ​​the second container is 121πcm 2 In contrast, the area of ​​the first container with a diameter of 18 cm is 81πcm 2 Therefore, the area of ​​the second container is about 149% of the area of ​​the first container. The control circuit 21 calculates, based on the difference in size of the containers, that the output of the heating coil 6A having an energy density equivalent to the energy density of the first heating energy for the first container is 2160 W by the heating control unit 24. As described above, the heating cooker 1 according to this embodiment can operate the heating coil 6A at any of the predetermined outputs. Therefore, the control circuit 21 selects an output of 2000 W, which is close to 2160 W, as the first heating energy by the heating control unit 24, and heats the second container.

[0052] Similarly, the control circuit 21 calculates, by the heating control unit 24, that the output of the heating coil 6A having an energy density equivalent to the energy density of the second heating energy for the first container is 1490 W. Therefore, the control circuit 21 selects, by the heating control unit 24, an output of 1450 W, which is close to 1490 W, as the second heating energy to heat the second container.

[0053] In addition, when controlling the heating of the third container, which has a diameter of 14 cm, to prevent overflow, the area of ​​the third container is 49π cm 2 Therefore, the area of ​​the third container is about 60% of the area of ​​the first container. In the same manner as above, the control circuit 21 calculates that the output of the heating coil 6A having an energy density equivalent to the energy density of the first heating energy for the first container is 870 W by the heating control unit 24. Therefore, the control circuit 21 selects an output of 1000 W, which is close to 870 W, as the first heating energy by the heating control unit 24, and heats the third container.

[0054] Similarly, the control circuit 21 calculates, via the heating control unit 24, that the output of the heating coil 6A having an energy density equivalent to the energy density of the second heating energy for the first container is 600 W. Therefore, the control circuit 21 selects, via the heating control unit 24, an output of 700 W, which is close to 600 W, as the second heating energy to heat the third container.

[0055] In this way, the cooking device 1 according to the present embodiment can vary the energy density of the heating energy applied to the container 2 based on the size of the container 2 by changing the peak value of the output of the heating coils 6A to 6C. By adjusting the heating energy, the control circuit 21 can adjust the energy density of the heating energy applied to the container 2 by the heating coils 6A to 6C. Heating energy The energy density can be controlled to fall within a predetermined range, as described below, regardless of the size of the container. As a result, the cooking device 1 can effectively heat the food 3 by convection, with an appropriate output according to the size of the container 2, while preventing the food 3 from boiling over due to heating.

[0056] In addition, when the food 3 is placed in the second and third containers described above so that the water level is about 60% of the height of each container, as in the first container, the second container contains about 2250 g of water. The third container contains about 620 g of water is stored in the second and third containers. As described above, the output of the heating coils 6A-6C is controlled based on the size of each container, so that the second and third containers are provided with heating energy having the same energy density as the first container. Therefore, by varying the period of time for providing heating energy according to the volume (i.e., capacity) of the food 3 to be heated, the cooking device 1 according to this embodiment can perform heating control processing to prevent overflow.

[0057] The volume of water contained in the second container is about 225% of the volume of water contained in the first container. In the heating control for the first container, the heating time with the first heating energy and the heating time with the second heating energy are each 8 seconds. The heating control unit 24 switches the heating energy at a cycle of 16 seconds. Therefore, if the heating energy is switched at a cycle of 36 seconds for heating the second container about every 18 seconds, the same heating control as the heating control for the first container can be performed. It is not necessary to heat at the calculated time. For example, since the volume of water contained in the second container is about twice the volume of water contained in the first container, the control circuit 21 may control the heating coils 6A to 6C to switch the heating energy at a cycle of 32 seconds. By performing such heating control, the heating cooker 1 can effectively heat the food 3 by convection while preventing the food 3 from boiling over, similar to the heating control for the first container.

[0058] The volume of water contained in the third container is about 62% of the volume of water contained in the first container. As described above, in the heating control for the first container, the heating time with the first heating energy and the heating time with the second heating energy are each 8 seconds. The heating control unit 24 switches the heating energy at a cycle of 16 seconds. Therefore, when the heating control unit 24 heats the third container by switching the heating energy at a cycle of 10 seconds about every 5 seconds, it is possible to perform heating control similar to the heating control for the first container. As described above, for example, since the volume of water contained in the third container is about half the volume of water contained in the first container, the control circuit 21 may control the heating coils 6A to 6C to switch the heating energy at a cycle of 8 seconds. By performing such heating control, the heating cooker 1 can effectively heat the food 3 by convection while preventing the food 3 from boiling over, similar to the heating control for the first container.

[0059] The volume of the food 3 contained in the container 2 can be estimated, for example, from temperature information detected by the infrared sensor 7. The control circuit 21 may detect the water level in the container 2 and the height of the container side from the acquired temperature information, and calculate the volume by combining the water level information with the area of ​​the container 2. The storage device 23 may also store a combination of the size of the container 2 and the volume of the food at that size. In this way, when the control circuit 21 detects the size of the container 2, it can select the volume of the food 3 contained in the container 2, calculate the heating time based on the selected volume, and control the heating time by the heating coils 6A to 6C. Furthermore, the volume of the food 3 can be calculated and estimated from the output of the heating coils 6A to 6C and the rate of temperature change in the acquired temperature information.

[0060] Furthermore, the storage device 23 may store a combination of the size of the container and the heating time period for that size. In this way, when the control circuit 21 detects the size of the container, it can select the period based on the size and control the heating time period by the heating coils 6A to 6C. As described above, the larger the size of the container 2, the larger the capacity of the food 3 contained in the container 2, so the control circuit 21 lengthens the period. Conversely, the smaller the size of the container 2, the smaller the capacity of the food 3 contained in the container 2, so the control circuit 21 shortens the period.

[0061] In this way, the cooking device 1 according to this embodiment can change the period and thus the heating time in addition to changing the peak value of the output of the heating coils 6A-6C based on the size of the container 2 or the volume of the food 3 contained in the container 2. As a result, the cooking device 1 can control the generation of bubbles at the bottom of the container 2 with an appropriate output and heating time according to the size of the container 2, and can effectively heat the food 3 to ensure the generation of convection, while preventing the food 3 from boiling over.

[0062] In the above embodiment, the output of the heating coils 6A to 6C is configured to be able to heat with a predetermined output, but is not limited to this. For example, the control circuit 21 may be configured to be able to continuously change the output of the heating coils 6A to 6C by the heating control unit 24. By configuring in this way, the control circuit 21 can heat the container with heating energy having a more appropriate energy density based on the size of the container.

[0063] In the above embodiment, the heating time for the volume of water contained in the first container is calculated based on the volume of water contained in the first container as a reference and the heating time for that volume, and the output of the heating coils 6A to 6C is switched based on that heating time, but this is not limiting. For example, a table showing the relationship between the size of the container 2 and the volume of water may be stored in the memory device 23, and the control circuit 21 may measure the size of the container 2 and obtain the volume of water by referring to the table.

[0064] The first heating energies for the first, second and third containers described in the above examples were about 5.70, about 5.92 and about 6.50 W / cm, respectively. 2 The second heating energies for the first container, the second container, and the third container described in the above example have energy densities of about 3.93, about 3.82, and about 4.55 W / cm, respectively. 2 It has an energy density of

[0065] Therefore, when heating energy having at least the energy density of the above-mentioned first heating energy is applied to the container 2, the heating coils 6A-6C can apply heating energy that generates convection in the food 3 contained in the container 2. When heating energy having at least the energy density of the above-mentioned second heating energy is applied to the container 2, the heating coils 6A-6C can apply heating energy that can heat the food 3 while suppressing the generation of bubbles on the surface of the food 3.

[0066] From the above, the control circuit 21 may perform a heating control process by setting a predetermined value among the energy densities included above as a reference energy density, and varying the energy density of the heating energy based on the reference energy density, using the heating control unit 24. The control circuit 21 may also perform a heating control process by setting heating energies having an energy density larger and smaller than the reference energy density as the first heating energy and the second heating energy, respectively. Thereby, the control circuit 21 can perform a heating control process that controls the generation of bubbles at the bottom of the container 2, effectively heats the food 3 to ensure the generation of convection, and prevents the food 3 from boiling over.

[0067] As described above, the cooking device 1 according to the present disclosure performs heating control by controlling the output of the heating coils 6A to 6C so that the energy density of the heating energy applied to the container 2 becomes a predetermined energy density based on the size of the container 2. Therefore, it is important to appropriately measure the size of the container 2.

[0068] The cooking device 1 according to this embodiment measures the size of the container 2 based on the temperature detected by the infrared sensor 7. Since the infrared sensor 7 may be attached to any location when the cooking device is attached, the field of view detected by the infrared sensor 7 changes depending on the mounting position of the infrared sensor 7. When the field of view changes, the size of the container 2 measured based on the temperature detected by the infrared sensor 7 and the pixels of the infrared sensor 7 also changes. Therefore, in order to perform heating control processing with appropriate output, the control circuit 21 needs to correct the measured size of the container 2 based on the positional relationship between the infrared sensor 7 and the top plate 5.

[0069] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram showing information related to the positional relationship required to correct the size of the container 2. Fig. 9 shows the top plate 5, heating coils 6A and 6B, and the infrared sensor 7. For simplification, the heating coil 6C is omitted, but the size of the container 2 placed on the heating coil 6C may also need to be corrected as described below.

[0070] The control circuit 21 of the control device 20 further includes a container size correction unit to perform the above-mentioned correction. The container size correction unit has the same hardware configuration as the control circuit 21. The container size correction unit can correct the size of the container measured by the container size measurement unit based on the top plate 5, the mounting position of the mounting part of the infrared sensor 7 described below, and the mounting angle of the movable part of the mounting part.

[0071] Further, the infrared sensor 7 includes a mounting portion for mounting the infrared sensor 7 substantially above the top plate 5. The mounting portion can be mounted, for example, on a wall surface of the kitchen on which the cooking appliance 1 is disposed, or on a part of a ventilation device disposed substantially above the cooking appliance 1. The mounting portion needs to adjust the viewing area of ​​the infrared sensor 7 according to the mounting position. Therefore, the mounting portion includes a movable portion with one or more axes for adjusting the imaging angle of the infrared sensor 7. The movable portion is, for example, an angle adjustment mechanism such as a latch that can adjust the imaging angle of the infrared sensor 7 in the vertical and horizontal directions.

[0072] Dimension X shown in Figure 9 0 indicates the difference in distance in the X-axis direction between the midpoint between the centers of the heating coils 6A and 6B and the center of the heating coil 6B. 0 indicates the difference in distance in the Y-axis direction between the rear end of the top plate 5 in the front-rear direction and the center of the heating coil 6B. 0 ,Y 0 is a dimension determined by the type of cooking device 1

[0073] Dimension X 1 indicates the difference in distance in the X-axis direction between the midpoint between the centers of the heating coils 6A and 6B and the mounting position of the infrared sensor 7. 1 indicates the difference in distance in the Y-axis direction between the rear end of the top plate 5 in the front-rear direction and the mounting position of the infrared sensor 7. 1 indicates the difference in distance in the Z-axis direction between the upper surface of the top plate 5 and the mounting position of the infrared sensor 7.

[0074] The above dimensions X 0, Y 0 , X 1 , Y 1 , Z 1 By acquiring the dimension Z, the control circuit 21 can determine the mounting angle of the mounting portion of the infrared sensor 7 by the mounting position determination unit. 1 Dimension X for 1 Angle θ is the angle that represents the magnitude of X and dimension Z 1 Dimension Y for 0 and dimension Y 1 Angle θ is the angle that represents the magnitude of the sum of Z For example, the angle in the vertical direction of the movable part of the mounting part of the infrared sensor 7 is determined as angle θ Z The angle in the left and right direction is angle θ X By adjusting the mounting angle, the infrared sensor 7 can be mounted so as to have an appropriate imaging angle.

[0075] The control circuit 21 corrects the size of the container measured by the container size measurement unit 25 using the container size correction unit based on the acquired mounting position and the determined mounting angle. For example, the storage device 23 may store a table showing the relationship between the size of the container 2 measured by the container size measurement unit 25 when the infrared sensor 7 is attached at a predetermined mounting position and mounting angle and the actual size of the container 2. By storing this information, the control circuit 21 can calculate the rate of correction to be made by the container size correction unit based on the mounting position and mounting angle, and correct the size of the container. For example, Table 1 shows an example of a table showing the relationship between the rate of correction to be made for a predetermined mounting position and mounting angle.

[0076] [Table 1]

[0077] The table shown in Table 1 is created with the infrared sensor 7 attached at the attachment position and attachment angle shown in No. 1 as a distance that does not require correction for the size of the container 2. The attachment position shown in No. 2 has a dimension Z1 has been changed, which results in the angle θ Z The distance between the infrared sensor 7, which is placed at the mounting position shown in No. 1 of Table 1, and the center of the heating coil 6A is calculated to be 754.2. In No. 1, the infrared sensor 7 is placed in the center between the centers of the heating coils 6A and 6B in the X-axis direction. 6B The distance between the centers of the heating coils 6A and 6B is calculated to be 754.2. Therefore, the area between the heating coils 6A and 6B is the same. The left-right ratio represents the ratio of the area of ​​the heating coil 6B to that of the heating coil 6A. The size of each of the heating coils 6A and 6B means the area of ​​a ring mark (not shown) that is written at a position corresponding to the heating coils 6A to 6C written on the top plate 5 and has the same size as each of the heating coils 6A to 6C.

[0078] When the infrared sensor 7 is attached at the attachment position shown in No. 2, the distance between the infrared sensor 7 and the container 2 becomes longer than when the infrared sensor 7 is attached at the attachment position shown in No. 1. The distance between the infrared sensor 7 and the center of the heating coil 6A, calculated in the same manner as above, is calculated to be 921.3. As a result, the size of the container 2 measured by the control circuit 21 based on the temperature detected by the infrared sensor 7 is about 67% of the size of the container 2 measured at the attachment position shown in No. 1. The area ratios (left side) shown in Table 1 are the ratios of the area of ​​the heating coil 6A measured by the infrared sensor 7 at the position shown in No. 2 to the area of ​​the heating coil 6A measured by the infrared sensor 7 at the position shown in No. 1. The area ratios (right side) shown in Table 1 are the ratios of the area of ​​the heating coil 6B measured by the infrared sensor 7 at the position shown in No. 1 to the area of ​​the heating coil 6B measured by the infrared sensor 7 at the position shown in No. 2. Therefore, when the infrared sensor 7 is attached at the attachment position shown in No. 2, the container size correction unit corrects the size of the container 2 taking into consideration that the size of the container 2 measured by the container size measurement unit 25 is reduced to approximately 67%. For example, the correction can be made by dividing the measured container size by 0.67.

[0079] The mounting position shown in No. 4 is dimension X with respect to the mounting position shown in No. 1. 1 ,Y 1 has been changed, which results in the angle θ X ,θ Z The mounting position shown in No. 4 has been changed to the dimension X as shown in Table 1. 1 is different from 0, and is attached at a position other than the center between the centers of the heating coils 6A and 6B in the X-axis direction. Therefore, there is a difference in the distance between the infrared sensor 7 and each of the heating coils 6A and 6B. When the infrared sensor 7 is attached at the position shown in No. 4, the area ratio (left side) is 0.97 and the area ratio (right side) is 0.66. Therefore, when the infrared sensor 7 is not attached at the midpoint between the centers of the heating coils 6A and 6B in the X-axis direction, different corrections must be made for the heating coils 6A and 6B.

[0080] In the above example, a table is stored in the storage device 23, and the control circuit 21 performs correction processing by referring to the table using a container size correction unit based on the acquired mounting position and the determined mounting angle, but this is not limited to the above. For example, the control circuit 21 may acquire the mounting position of the infrared sensor 7 from an arbitrary terminal as described below, and calculate the mounting angle and the distance between the infrared sensor 7 and the container 2 from the dimensions based on the mounting position. In this case, for example, a calculation program for performing the above calculations may be stored in the storage device 23.

[0081] The control circuit 21 can perform the above correction by the container size correction unit by acquiring dimensional information from, for example, an arbitrary terminal 30. The terminal 30 may be a mobile terminal. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the terminal 30. As shown in FIG. 10, the terminal 30 has a control circuit 31, a communication circuit 32, a display 33, a camera 34, and a storage 35.

[0082] The control circuit 31 is, for example, a computer. The control circuit 31 can be realized by various processors, etc., similar to the control circuit 21. The control circuit 31 also realizes various processes, such as input processing of dimensions by a mounting position input program 40, which will be described later, by calling and executing a calculation program, etc., stored in the storage 35, for example.

[0083] The communication circuit 32 is an interface device that transmits and receives data to and from the communication circuit 8 via a communication line, either wired or wirelessly. The communication circuit 32 may be capable of connecting to other devices via a communication line. The interface device is capable of performing communication in accordance with a wired communication standard, such as USB (registered trademark) or Ethernet (registered trademark). The interface device is also capable of performing communication in accordance with a wireless communication standard, such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or a mobile phone line.

[0084] The display 33 is a display device formed of, for example, liquid crystal or organic electroluminescence (EL). The display device is also provided with an input device such as a touch panel that is integrated with the display device. The terminal 30 may be provided with physical buttons separate from the display 33 as an input device, instead of a touch panel. The above dimensions can be input by the input device.

[0085] The camera 34 is an imaging device including an imaging element such as a CCD or a CMOS, and is capable of capturing an image of the cooking appliance 1 as described below.

[0086] The storage 35 is realized by, for example, a memory such as a DRAM, an SRAM, a flash memory, an HDD, an SSD, another storage device, or an appropriate combination of them. The storage 35 may store an attachment position input program 40, etc. The storage 35 may store a program for determining the attachment angle of the movable part of the attachment part of the infrared sensor 7 based on the input dimensions, as described later.

[0087] Fig. 11 is an example of the mounting position input program 40 displayed on the display 33 of the terminal 30. As shown in Fig. 11, the mounting position input program 40 includes a dimension input section 41, a cooking device selection section 42, a set angle display section 43, an angle calculation section 44, and an erasure section 45.

[0088] The dimension input unit 41 inputs the dimension X using the display 33. 1 ,Y 1 ,Z 1 The cooking device selection unit 42 can select the model information of the cooking device 1 to be used in the installation. 0 ,Y 0 Since the dimension is determined by the model of the cooking appliance 1, the above-mentioned dimension X can be obtained by selecting the model information. 0 ,Y 0 can be automatically entered. 0 ,Y 0 is the dimension X 1 The dimensions may be manually inputted as follows. When the angle calculation unit 44 is selected, the control circuit 31 calculates an appropriate mounting angle of the movable part of the mounting part of the infrared sensor 7 from the inputted dimensions, and displays it on the set angle display unit 43. A table showing the relationship between each dimension and the mounting angle may be stored in the storage 35 in advance, and the control circuit 31 may select the mounting angle based on the inputted dimensions. The set angle display unit 43 can display the calculated appropriate mounting angle of the movable part of the infrared sensor 7, as described above. When the deletion unit 45 is selected, the above inputted dimensions and calculated angles are deleted, and the dimensions, etc. can be inputted again.

[0089] The control circuit 31 of the terminal 30 may transmit the input dimensions to the control device 20 of the cooking appliance 1 via the communication circuits 32, 8. Similarly, the control circuit 31 may transmit the calculated mounting angle to the control device 20 of the cooking appliance 1. The control circuit 21 of the cooking appliance 1 can obtain information for correcting the size of the container in the container size correction unit from the received dimensions and mounting angle.

[0090] With this configuration, the installer of the cooking appliance 1 can easily grasp the mounting angle of the movable part of the mounting part of the infrared sensor 7 from the distance information of the infrared sensor 7 relative to the top plate 5. heating cooker The infrared sensor 7 of the cooking device 1 is attached at an appropriate angle, and the control circuit 21 of the cooking device 1 can perform heating control processing based on appropriate information.

[0091] Alternatively, instead of inputting the dimensions as described above, the camera 34 may capture an image of the cooking device 1, and the control circuit 31 of the terminal 30 may acquire the dimensions from the captured image. For example, the control circuit 31 may acquire the dimensions X from the shape characteristics of the body 4 of the cooking device 1. 0 ,Y 0 The control circuit 31 may obtain the dimensions by receiving model information of the cooker 1 from the control device 20 of the cooker 1. Similarly, the control circuit 31 may be configured to obtain the dimensions of the position where the infrared sensor 7 is attached to the top plate 5 of the cooker 1 from the captured image. Also, the captured image may be transmitted to the control device 20 of the cooker 1, and the control circuit 21 may obtain each dimension from the captured image.

[0092] With such a configuration, the installer of the cooking device 1 can obtain distance information of the infrared sensor 7 relative to the top plate 5 by capturing an image, without measuring the dimensions, and can easily grasp the mounting angle of the movable part of the mounting part of the infrared sensor 7. heating cooker The infrared sensor 7 of the cooking device 1 is attached at an appropriate angle, and the control circuit 21 of the cooking device 1 can perform heating control processing based on appropriate information.

[0093] The above embodiment describes a method for acquiring information for adjusting the mounting angle of the movable part at a predetermined mounting position after mounting the infrared sensor 7 at the predetermined mounting position, and information for the control circuit 31 to correct the size of the container by the container size correction unit, but is not limited to this.

[0094] For example, after placing the main body 4 of the cooking appliance 1 in a predetermined mounting position, and before attaching the infrared sensor 7, the top plate 5 of the cooking appliance 1 and the planned mounting position of the infrared sensor 7 may be imaged by the camera 34 of the terminal 30. By imaging the top plate 5 and the planned mounting position of the infrared sensor 7 in this manner, the control circuit 31 may be configured to clearly indicate an area where the infrared sensor 7 can be attached on the captured image displayed on the display 33. Furthermore, the control circuit 31 may superimpose the area where the infrared sensor 7 can be attached on the image captured by the camera 34, like so-called augmented reality (AR), and display it on the display 33.

[0095] With this configuration, the installer of the cooking appliance 1 can easily ascertain the appropriate mounting position of the infrared sensor 7 by checking the captured image or video. As a result, the infrared sensor 7 is mounted in an appropriate mounting position and at an appropriate mounting angle using the above-mentioned method or the like, and the control circuit 21 of the cooking appliance 1 can perform heating control processing based on appropriate information.

[0096] (Summary of the embodiment) The cooking device according to the present embodiment described above may be configured as follows.

[0097] (Mode 1) A heating cooker includes a placement section for placing a container, one or more heating sections arranged below the placement section for heating the container, an infrared sensor arranged approximately above the heating section and having a plurality of pixels for detecting the temperature of the container above the placement section as temperature information, a container size measuring section for measuring the size of the container based on the temperature information, and a heating control section for controlling the heating energy applied to the container by the heating section based on the size of the container.

[0098] This allows the cooking device to measure the size of the container based on the temperature detected by the infrared sensor and control the heating energy based on the size, so that the cooking device can apply appropriate heating energy to the container based on the size of the container to be heated.

[0099] (Aspect 2) In the heating cooker of aspect 1, the heating control unit may calculate an energy density of the heating energy that the heating unit applies to the container based on the size of the container, and control the heating energy so that both the energy density when the container is large and the energy density when the container is small are within a predetermined range.

[0100] This allows the cooking device to calculate the energy density of the heating energy to be applied to the container based on the size of the container, thereby controlling the heating energy so that the energy density is constant based on the size of the container, and allowing appropriate heating energy to be applied to the container.

[0101] (Aspect 3) In the cooking device of aspect 2, the heating control unit may vary the energy density of the heating energy with a predetermined reference energy density as a reference.

[0102] This allows the cooking appliance to control the generation of bubbles at the bottom of the container, thereby ensuring convection of the food due to boiling and preventing the food from boiling over, and performing heating control.

[0103] (Aspect 4) In the heating cooker of Aspect 3, the heating control unit may control the heating energy by switching between a first heating energy having an energy density greater than the predetermined reference energy density and a second heating energy having an energy density less than the predetermined reference energy density.

[0104] This allows the cooking appliance to control the generation of bubbles at the bottom of the container, thereby ensuring convection of the food by boiling it using a first heating energy having an energy density greater than a predetermined standard energy density, and performing heating control to prevent the food from boiling over using a second heating energy having an energy density less than a predetermined standard energy density.

[0105] (Aspect 5) In the heating cooker of aspect 3 or aspect 4, the predetermined reference energy density is 4 to 6.5 [W / cm 2 ] may also be used.

[0106] As a result, the cooking device can control the heating energy based on the standard energy density, thereby controlling the generation of bubbles at the bottom of the container, thereby ensuring convection of the cooking food by boiling it and preventing the cooking food from boiling over.

[0107] (Aspect 6) In the heating cooker of any one of aspects 3 to 5, the heating control unit may control the heating energy at a predetermined period, and vary the energy density by changing only the peak value of the output and the period of the heating energy, or the peak value of the output.

[0108] This allows the cooking appliance to control the generation of bubbles at the bottom of the container, or the generation and duration of bubbles, thereby controlling heating to ensure convection of the food due to boiling and to prevent the food from boiling over.

[0109] (Aspect 7) In the heating cooker of any one of Aspects 1 to 5, the heating control unit may control the heating energy at a predetermined period, and the larger the container, the longer the period of the heating energy by the heating unit may be set, and the smaller the container, the shorter the period of the heating energy by the heating unit may be set.

[0110] As a result, the cooking device can lengthen the cycle of the heating energy controlled at a predetermined cycle as the size of the container to be heated increases, and can shorten the cycle as the size of the container to be heated decreases. Thus, the cooking device can control the heating energy to be applied to the container at an appropriate cycle according to the size of the container, and can appropriately heat the food contained in the container.

[0111] (Aspect 8) In the cooking device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 7, the container size measurement unit may measure the size of the container based on the number of pixels that detect a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value.

[0112] This allows the cooking device to measure the size of the container based on the temperature information detected by the infrared sensor. Therefore, the cooking device can calculate the heating energy to be applied to the container using an appropriate container size for heating control. In addition, the cooking device can measure the size of the container without adding any additional parts.

[0113] (Aspect 9) In any one of aspects 1 to 8, the heating cooker may further include a cooking status judgment unit that judges the heating state inside the container from the temperature information, and the heating control unit may start controlling the heating energy of the heating unit when the cooking status judgment unit detects saturation of the temperature change inside the container.

[0114] This allows the cooking device to control the heating when the food in the container starts to boil, and therefore the cooking device can prevent the food from boiling over due to continued boiling.

[0115] (Aspect 10) In any one of aspects 1 to 8, the heating cooker may further include a cooking status judgment unit that judges the heating state inside the container from the temperature information, and the heating control unit may start controlling the heating energy of the heating unit when the cooking status judgment unit detects a temporary temperature drop inside the container that is greater than a predetermined threshold value.

[0116] This allows the cooking device to control the heating when ingredients are placed in the container as the food to be cooked, and therefore the cooking device can prevent the food from boiling over due to continued heating of the food.

[0117] (Aspect 11) In any one of aspects 1 to 10, the heating cooker may further include a mounting portion for the infrared sensor having a movable part on one or more axes, a mounting position determination portion for determining a mounting angle of the mounting portion by acquiring distance information between the placement portion and the mounting portion, and a container size correction portion for correcting the size of the container measured by the container size measurement portion based on the distance information and the mounting angle, and the heating control portion may control the heating energy based on the size of the container corrected by the container size correction portion.

[0118] This allows the cooking device to attach the infrared sensor at an appropriate angle based on the attachment position of the infrared sensor attachment part, and the size of the container can be corrected based on the attachment position and attachment angle. Therefore, the cooking device can control heating using more appropriate information about the size of the container.

[0119] (Aspect 12) The cooking device of aspect 11 may further include a communication circuit capable of communicating with a terminal having an input unit via wired or wireless communication, and the mounting position determination unit may obtain the distance information input to the terminal.

[0120] This allows the cooking device to acquire distance information between the placement unit and the mounting unit of the infrared sensor based on the distance information input to the terminal, which allows the cooking device to appropriately correct the size of the container using the mounting position determination unit and the container size correction unit, and allows the heating control unit to appropriately control the heating energy based on the size.

[0121] (Aspect 13) The cooking device of aspect 11 may be provided with a communication circuit capable of communicating with a terminal equipped with an imaging unit via wired or wireless communication, and the mounting position determination unit may obtain the distance information from an image captured by the terminal of the placement portion and the mounting portion.

[0122] This allows the cooking device to obtain distance information between the placement unit and the mounting unit of the infrared sensor based on the image captured by the terminal, which allows the cooking device to appropriately correct the size of the container using the mounting position determination unit and the container size correction unit, and allows the heating control unit to appropriately control the heating energy based on the size.

[0123] (Aspect 14) The cooking device of aspect 11 may be provided with a communication circuit capable of communicating with a terminal equipped with an imaging unit via wired or wireless communication, and the mounting position determination unit may have information on the distance range in which the mounting unit can be mounted relative to the placement unit, and the cooking device may transmit information on the distance range in which the mounting unit can be mounted to the terminal.

[0124] This allows the cooking appliance to transmit distance information about the range in which the infrared sensor mounting part can be attached to the placement part to the terminal, thereby allowing the cooking appliance to present an appropriate mounting position for the infrared sensor mounting part.

[0125] The cooking device described in the present disclosure is realized by cooperation between hardware resources, such as a processor and a memory, and software resources (computer programs). [Industrial Applicability]

[0126] According to the present disclosure, a cooking device can be provided that can ensure convection of the food being cooked and prevent overflow regardless of the size of the container, and therefore can be suitably used in the industrial field of this type of cooking device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0127] 1 Cooker 2 containers 3 Cooked food 5 Top Plate 6A, 6B, 6C Heating coil 7 Infrared Sensor 20 Control device 21 Control circuit 24 Heating control section 25 Container Size Measurement Section 26 Cooking Status Judgment Department 30 Terminals 31 Control circuit

Claims

1. A placement section for placing a container; One or more heating units arranged below the placement unit and configured to heat the container; an infrared sensor having a plurality of pixels that is provided substantially above the heating unit and detects a temperature above the placement unit of the container as temperature information; a container size measuring unit that measures the size of the container based on the temperature information; a heating control unit that controls heating energy applied to the container by the heating unit based on the size of the container; Equipped with A mounting portion for the infrared sensor, the mounting portion having a movable portion on one or more axes; an attachment position determination unit that determines an attachment angle of the attachment unit by acquiring distance information between the placement unit and the attachment unit; a container size correction unit that corrects the size of the container measured by the container size measurement unit based on the distance information and the mounting angle, The heating control unit controls the heating energy based on the size of the container corrected by the container size correction unit.

2. a communication circuit capable of communicating with a terminal having an input unit by wire or wirelessly; The cooking device according to claim 1 , wherein the mounting position determination unit acquires the distance information input to the terminal.

3. A communication circuit capable of communicating with a terminal having an imaging unit by wire or wirelessly; The cooking device according to claim 1 , wherein the attachment position determination unit acquires the distance information from an image captured by the terminal of the placement unit and the attachment unit.

4. A communication circuit capable of communicating with a terminal having an imaging unit by wire or wirelessly; the attachment position determination unit is provided with information on a distance range in which the attachment unit can be attached to the placement unit, The cooking appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the cooking appliance transmits information on the distance range in which the attachment portion can be attached to the terminal.

Images