Oven cooking device

Abstract

To provide an oven cooking device which shortens a preheating time without forcing a user to perform a complicated operation.SOLUTION: In an oven cooking device, a controller of an operation panel performs, as preheating control, heating at maximum power that can be output to lower and upper heaters until the inside of a firing furnace reaches a specified temperature, prior to main heating control in which heating is performed on the basis of preset temperature or a thermal power level of the lower and upper heaters which are input or pre-programmed from the operation panel as an operation input. After the inside of the firing furnace reaches the predetermined temperature, the control is switched to the main heating control. By the above, since the inside of the firing furnace is heated at maximum power of the lower and upper heaters until the inside of the firing furnace reaches the predetermined temperature, it is possible to increase the temperature inside the firing furnace in a short time compared to when the inside of the firing furnace is heated at heater power which is the same as the main heating control. Also, after the inside of the firing furnace reaches the predetermined temperature, the control is switched to the main heating control, and thus, it is possible to heat the inside of the firing furnace at the thermal power level of the lower and upper heaters planned by the user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an oven cooking apparatus for baking foodstuffs such as bread dough.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a deck oven (oven cooking apparatus) for baking bread dough. This type of deck oven is often used for commercial purposes such as bakeries, and many have a large oven space. Before using the deck oven, it is necessary to raise the temperature inside the oven to a set temperature suitable for baking by means of a preheating function. However, due to the large oven space, depending on the temperature conditions of the surrounding environment, the preheating time (hereinafter referred to as "preheat time") may take about several tens of minutes to one hour.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Generally, by increasing the output of the heater for heating the inside of the oven, the rate of temperature rise increases, so the preheat time is shortened. Therefore, it is considered that the above-described problems can be easily solved. However, for this purpose, the user has to be forced to perform the following complicated operations. (1) An operation of increasing the output of the heater immediately after turning on the power of the deck oven to a value higher than the normal setting, and (2) an operation of returning the output of the heater to the normal setting when the temperature inside the oven reaches the set temperature suitable for baking. It is necessary for the user who wants to shorten the preheat time to perform these two operations.

[0005] However, since preheating is often carried out during the preparation stage before using the deck oven, that is, during the opening preparation before the store opens for business or during the preparation time earlier than that, it is difficult to force the user to perform the above two operations during such a busy time period. Also, if the user forgets to perform the operation in (2) above due to being too busy, the heater will not output the expected power, so the assumed baking color may not be applied to the surface of the bread dough, and there is a risk of baking failure when baking the object to be cooked such as bread dough at a heater output higher than the setting. The object of the present invention is to provide an oven cooking device that shortens the preheating time without forcing the user to perform complicated operations.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes a baking furnace for baking an object to be cooked, a heater disposed in the baking furnace so as to be heatable, an input unit for receiving a user's operation input, and a control unit for performing heating control of the heater based on the operation input. The control unit, before the main heating control in which heating is performed based on the output setting information of the heater input from the input unit as the operation input or programmed in advance, as preheating control, heats the heater at the maximum power that can be output until the inside of the baking furnace reaches a predetermined temperature, and after the inside of the baking furnace reaches the predetermined temperature, switches to the main heating control An oven cooking device, wherein preheating start information for instructing the control unit to start preheating control can be input from an input unit as an operation input or can be programmed in advance, and is interlocked so that preheating start information for instructing the start of preheating control can be output from a dough conditioner that performs a pre-stage process of heating an object to be cooked by main heating control in a baking furnace, and is controlled so that preheating control starts based on the preheating start information input from the dough conditioner at the timing when the final process of the pre-stage process of the dough conditioner is completed. and provides an oven cooking device characterized by the above.

[0007] In the oven cooking device configured as described above, before the main heating control for heating based on the output setting information of the heater input from the input unit as an operation input or programmed in advance, as preheating control, the heater is heated at the maximum power that can be output until the inside of the firing furnace reaches a predetermined temperature. Then, after the inside of the firing furnace reaches the predetermined temperature, the control switches to the main heating control. As a result, until the inside of the firing furnace reaches the predetermined temperature, since the heater heats the inside of the firing furnace at the maximum power, the temperature inside the firing furnace can be raised in a shorter time compared to the case where the inside of the firing furnace is heated with the same heater power as the main heating control. Also, after the inside of the firing furnace reaches the predetermined temperature, since the control switches to the main heating control, it becomes possible to heat the inside of the firing furnace with the output setting of the heater planned by the user. Therefore, the preheating time can be shortened without forcing the user to perform complicated operations. Also, Preheating start information for instructing the control unit to start preheating control can be input from an input unit as an operation input or can be programmed in advance, and is interlocked so that preheating start information for instructing the start of preheating control can be output from a dough conditioner that performs a pre-stage process of heating an object to be cooked by main heating control in a baking furnace, and is controlled so that preheating control starts based on the preheating start information input from the dough conditioner at the timing when the final process of the pre-stage process of the dough conditioner is completed. As a result, at the timing when the final process of the dough conditioner is completed, preheating in the baking furnace is completed, and the object to be cooked that has undergone the pre-stage process in the dough conditioner can be immediately baked in the baking furnace where preheating is completed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

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Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the oven cooking apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the oven cooking apparatus 10 of the present invention heats and bakes dough for bread or baked confectionery (object to be cooked) in a natural convection baking furnace 20, and by opening a door 21 provided at the front portion of the baking furnace 20, the object to be baked can be carried into and out of the baking furnace 20 through a front opening 20a. The oven cooking apparatus 10 is installed above equipment such as a table, a counter, or a dough mixer 90 described later for business use in a store, a workshop, etc., and can be installed in multiple stages vertically as necessary.

[0013] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the oven cooking apparatus 10 includes a casing 11 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. A machine room 12 is provided on the right side inside the casing 11, and a baking furnace 20 is disposed in the remaining portion inside the casing 11. The casing 11 includes a base plate 13 corresponding to the bottom wall, a frame body 14 provided so as to partition the upper side of the base plate 13 into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a panel 15 covering the front, rear, left, right, and upper surfaces partitioned and formed by the frame body 14.

[0014] The frame body 14 includes front and rear frame members 14a and 14b provided in front of and behind the base plate 13, and beam members 14c connecting the left and right sides of the front and rear frame members 14a and 14b. Each of the front and rear frame members 14a and 14b has a U-shaped cross-section with an open bottom, where a column portion stands on both the left and right sides of the base plate 13, and the upper portions of the left and right column portions are connected by a beam portion. The beam members 14c on both the left and right sides are fixed to the upper end portions of the column portions of the front and rear frame members 14a and 14b, and connect the left and right sides of the front and rear frame members 14a and 14b.

[0015] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a front panel 15a is provided on the front side of the firing furnace 20 in the casing 11, and a rear panel (not shown) is provided on the rear side of the rear frame member 14b. A left panel 15e is provided on the left side between the front frame member 14a and the rear frame member 14b, and a right panel 15f is provided on the right side between the front frame member 14a and the rear frame member 14b. An upper panel 15g is provided on the upper sides of the front and rear frame members 14a, 14b and the left and right beam members 14c.

[0016] The front panel 15a includes a front lower panel 15b that covers only the lower part of the front of the firing furnace 20, and a front main panel 15c that covers the upper part above the lower part of the front of the firing furnace 20. The front lower panel 15b covers the lower part where the lower heater 41 of the front opening 20a of the firing furnace 20 is arranged. A pair of left and right brackets 16 for supporting the door 21 are fixed to the front lower panel 15b. In order to be able to carry in and out the object to be cooked through the front opening 20a of the firing furnace 20, the front main panel 15c has a substantially U-shaped cross-section that is open at the lower side when viewed from the front, and covers the upper part of the front opening 20a of the firing furnace 20 where the upper heater 42 and the steam generation unit 47 are arranged.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 3, in the machine room 12 in the casing 11, an electric control box 17 is provided for housing electrical components (electronic components constituting a control device 70 etc. described later) that control the lower and upper heaters 41, 42, the water supply valve 48 of the steam generation unit 47, etc., which will be described later. Electrical wiring etc. is provided so that AC power supplied from an external commercial power source can be supplied to the heater systems such as the lower and upper heaters 41, 42, and so that DC power converted from AC can be supplied to the electric control box 17. The electric control box 17 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape with electrical components housed inside, and leg portions 17a are provided at the front and rear of the lower part of the electric control box 17.

[0018] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the baking furnace 20 bakes objects to be cooked such as bread dough and confectionery dough, and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape with a front opening 20a for loading and unloading the objects to be cooked formed on the front surface. A heat insulating material 22 made of glass wool is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the baking furnace 20, and an outer plate 23 made of a stainless steel sheet metal member is further provided on the outer peripheral surface of the heat insulating material 22 (see FIG. 3). The heat inside the baking furnace 20 is less likely to be transmitted to the surroundings including the casing 11 and the machine room 12 by the heat insulating material 22. As shown in FIG. 3, a groove portion 22a extending in the front-rear direction is formed on the left side portion of the upper surface of the heat insulating material 22 covering the upper side of the baking furnace 20, and various components of an exhaust mechanism 30 of the baking furnace 20 described later are disposed in this groove portion 22a.

[0019] On the right side surface of the baking furnace 20 on the machine room 12 side, lighting windows (not shown) are provided at substantially the central portions in the vertical and front-rear directions, and a concave portion (not shown) is formed in the heat insulating material 22 covering the outer peripheral surface on the right side of the baking furnace 20 on the machine room 12 side at a position facing the lighting windows. As shown in FIG. 3, an in-furnace lamp 24 using LED lighting for illuminating the inside of the baking furnace 20 is attached to the outer plate 23 using a bracket 25. The on-off of the in-furnace lamp 24 is controlled by a controller of an operation panel 50 described later. In this embodiment, the in-furnace lamp 24 lights up from after the power of the oven cooking apparatus 10 is turned on until it is turned off.

[0020] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a door 21 is provided on the front side of the baking furnace 20 so as to be openable and closable, and the door 21 is rotatably supported around a horizontal axis by a bracket 16 provided at the lower portion of the front panel 15a. As shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, a ceramic furnace floor plate 27 is provided at the lower portion of the baking furnace 20, and a tray containing an object to be cooked can be placed above the furnace floor plate 27 inside the baking furnace 20. Left and right guides 28 extending in the front-rear direction are provided at both left and right edge portions of the furnace floor plate 27, and a guide 29 extending in the left-right direction is provided at the rear edge portion of the furnace floor plate 27.

[0021] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, an opening / closing mechanism 34 for opening and closing the exhaust passage 31 is provided above the firing furnace 20. The opening / closing mechanism 34 includes a shutter 35 movably provided back and forth above the upper end opening of the exhaust pipe 32, an operation bar 36 provided in the groove portion 22a of the heat insulating material 22 for moving the shutter 35 back and forth, and an operation knob 37 provided at the front end portion of the operation bar 36 on the front side of the casing 11. The shutter 35 covers the upper end opening of the exhaust pipe 32 in such a manner that the opening degree can be adjusted. At the position of the shutter 35 shown in FIG. 5, the upper end opening of the exhaust pipe 32 is in a completely closed state. When the shutter 35 is moved forward to a position not directly above the upper end opening of the exhaust pipe 32, the upper end opening of the exhaust pipe 32 is completely opened.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 5, a heater 40 is provided in the firing furnace 20. In this embodiment, a lower heater 41 is provided below the furnace floor plate 27 at the lower part of the firing furnace 20, and an upper heater 42 is provided at the upper part of the firing furnace 20. The lower and upper heaters 41 and 42 are formed of heater elements made of substantially U-shaped sheathed heaters with open right sides. The lower heater 41 is arranged by arranging three heater elements side by side in the front-rear direction, and the upper heater 42 is arranged by arranging four heater elements side by side in the front-rear direction. The AC power supplied to the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42 is controlled to be turned on and off by semiconductor switches, and the control is performed by a control device 70 described later.

[0023] A lower temperature sensor 43 is provided at the lower part of the right side surface inside the firing furnace 20, and an upper temperature sensor 44 is provided at the upper part of the right side surface inside the firing furnace 20. The lower temperature sensor 43 is disposed between the foremost heater element and the second heater element from the front of the lower heater 41, and is used to control the lower heater 41. Further, the upper temperature sensor 44 is disposed at a position between the second heater element and the third heater element from the front below the upper heater 42, and is used to control the upper heater 42. A guard member (not shown) is provided on the upper part of the right side surface of the firing furnace 20 in front of the upper temperature sensor 44. In FIG. 5, since the upper heater 42 and the upper temperature sensor 44 appear in front of the A-A cross-sectional line shown in FIG. 1, they are represented by imaginary lines (two-dot chain lines).

[0024] A steam generation part 47 is provided at the upper part inside the firing furnace 20, and the steam generation part 47 is arranged above the upper heater 42 inside the firing furnace 20. The steam generation part 47 heats the water supplied from the water supply source through the water supply pipe 49 by the upper heater 42 to vaporize it and generate steam inside the firing furnace 20. The steam generation part 47 is mainly composed of a steam generation dish, a heat storage plate, a water supply part (all not shown), etc. The water from the water supply source is sent to the upper side of the heat storage plate and vaporizes by contacting the heat storage plate and the steam generation dish to become steam. The vaporized steam rises upward, hits the ceiling surface of the firing furnace 20, and then flows into the lower part of the firing furnace 20 or the front part of the firing furnace 20 through the passage between the steam generation dish and the inner side surface of the firing furnace 20. A water supply valve 48 is installed in the machine room 12 in the water supply pipe 49, and the water from the water supply source is sent to the upper side of the heat storage plate through the water supply pipe 49 when the water supply valve 48 is opened.

[0025] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a machine room panel 18 is provided on the right side of the front surface of the casing 11, and the machine room panel 18 includes an operation panel 50 and a buzzer unit 19. As shown in FIG. 6, the operation panel 50 includes a display unit 51, six operation buttons (steam button 52, home button 53, return button 54, operation on / off button 55, start / stop button 56, timer extension button 57, jog dial 58), and a controller (not shown). The controller is a microcomputer having, for example, a CPU, a RAM (storage unit), a ROM (including EEPROM), a clock function (timing unit), etc., similar to the microcomputer of the control device 70, and functions as a control unit in this embodiment.

[0026] In this embodiment, the display unit 51 uses a liquid crystal panel (LCD panel), and is controlled by the controller to appropriately display the operation state of the oven cooking device 10, various setting states, the detected temperature in the baking furnace 20, etc. The six operation buttons 52 to 57 and the jog dial 58 are also connected to this controller, and based on their inputs, the controller is configured to control normal operations (manual operation and program operation), reservation operation, and various settings related thereto, which will be described later. In this embodiment, the input information of these operation buttons 52 to 57 and the jog dial 58 is input to the controller by hardware interruption. The buzzer unit 19 is also connected to the controller of the operation panel 50 and is controlled to output a predetermined buzzer sound in accordance with operation control, etc. Further, an external device such as a doucon 90 is connected to the controller of the operation panel 50 via an external input terminal 59. In this embodiment, the external input terminal 59 is configured to be able to perform serial communication with an external device such as a doucon 90. For example, a two-wire communication cable is connected between the external input terminal 59 and the doucon 90, and data is transmitted by serial communication.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 7, the oven cooking apparatus 10 includes a control device 70, and the control device 70 is connected to a lower heater 41, an upper heater 42, a lower temperature sensor 43, an upper temperature sensor 44, a water supply valve 48, and an operation panel 50. The control device 70 has a microcomputer (not shown), and the microcomputer includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM (including an EEPROM), a timer, and a clock function (a timekeeping unit) (all not shown), which are respectively connected via a bus. In this embodiment, the control device 70 mainly controls the power supply to the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42.

[0028] By configuring the hardware of the oven cooking apparatus 10 in this way, the controller of the operation panel 50 or the control device 70 executes the main control process according to the main program shown in FIG. 8. In this embodiment, the case where the controller of the operation panel 50 executes the main program will be exemplified and described. Note that this main program is stored in the ROM of the controller. Also, the commercial power supplied to the oven cooking apparatus 10 is converted into DC power and supplied to the operation panel 50 and the control device 70 even in the power-off state by operating the operation panel 50 (standby state). Therefore, it should be noted that in this specification, turning on or off the power by operating the operation panel 50 of the oven cooking apparatus 10 means turning on or off the power supplied to the heater system such as the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42.

[0029] [Main Control Process] As shown in FIG. 8, when the controller of the operation panel 50 is activated in the standby state, first, by the initialization process in step 10, the work area, flags, etc. secured in the RAM are set to their initial values, or each setting information regarding the manual operation stored in the previous power-off process (S22) is read from a non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM. The first-time flag, which will be described later, is also provided in the RAM of the controller, and is set to on (that is, it indicates that the oven cooking apparatus 10 has just been activated) by this initialization process. Also, a reception buffer for receiving the serial data sent from the doucon 90 in the doucon interlock is secured in this RAM, and is cleared by the initialization process.

[0030] Thereafter, the controller determines in step 11 whether there is an operation start input. The operation start input is information input, for example, when the user continuously presses the operation on / off button 55 of the operation panel 50 for 1 second or more. If there is an operation start input by the operation of the operation panel 50 (power-on), after determining "YES", the process proceeds to the normal operation process in step 12. The normal operation process (S100) will be described in detail later.

[0031] On the one hand, if there is no operation start input in step 11, since the user has not yet operated the operation input / switch button 55 of the operation panel 50, the controller of the operation panel 50 determines "NO" and determines in step 13 whether there is a reserved operation, that is, whether the setting of "performing" the operation reservation is made. The reserved operation is an operation mode in which the oven cooking device 10 performs the manual operation process (S200) described later at the preset start date and time and end time of the operation, and is performed when the operation reservation "performing" is set in the operation reservation setting process (S430) of the device setting process (S400) described later. If there is a reserved operation, after determining "YES" in step 13, it is further determined in step 15 whether the start time estimated by the preheating start time estimation process (S190) in step 14, that is, whether the reserved date and time has arrived. In this determination process of step 15, the current date and time information output from the clock function of the controller of the operation panel 50 is compared with the reserved date and time information, and when the current date and time matches the reserved date and time or has passed the reserved date and time, it is determined "YES" and the process proceeds to the reserved operation process in step 16. This reserved operation process (S150) will be described later with reference to FIGS. 21 and 22.

[0032] If there is no reserved operation in step 13 or if the current date and time has not reached the reserved date and time in step 15, it is determined "NO" in those steps and the process proceeds to step 17. In step 17, it is determined whether there is tofu curd linkage. The tofu curd linkage is an operation mode in which operation information is directly input (hardware interruption) from the tofu curd 90 to the controller of the operation panel 50 via the external input terminal 59, so that the tofu curd 90 can operate the oven cooking device 10 in the same way as the user operates the operation panel 50.

[0033] In this embodiment, a bit string is sent from the doorknob 90 via the external input terminal 59 by serial communication (serial data transmission). The serial data represented by the bit string is configured according to a predetermined communication format. For example, the data includes an operation identifier that can identify the final process of the operation currently being executed by the doorknob 90, and information such as the remaining time until the completion of the final process. This serial data is temporarily stored in a reception buffer secured in the RAM of the controller. Therefore, in this embodiment, the serial data sent from the doorknob 90 is decoded (deciphered) in the next step 19 via the reception buffer, and the decoded information is passed to the doorknob interlock process (S170) in step 20 for information processing. Note that the doorknob interlock process (S170) and the work processes that the doorknob 90 can perform will be described later with reference to FIG. 26.

[0034] On the other hand, when there is no doorknob interlock in step 17 or when there is no doorknob input in step 18, it is determined as "NO" in those steps, and it is determined in step 21 whether there is an operation end input. The operation end input is operation end information input when operation end processing (S140, S153, S158, S175, S181) is performed in the normal operation process (S100), reservation operation process (S150), or doorknob interlock process (S170) described later. If there is an operation end input (operation end information), after determining as "YES", the power switch that supplies power to the heater system such as the lower heater 41 and the upper heater 42 is turned off by the power-off process in step 22. Then, after storing (storing) each setting information (set temperature, timer time, etc.) regarding the currently set manual operation in a non-volatile memory such as EEPROM, the process returns to step 11.

[0035] On the other hand, if there is no operation end input in step 21, since the oven cooking device 10 is not operating (before operation start), it is determined as "NO" and the process returns to step 11 to determine whether there is an operation start input (operation of the operation input / output button 55). That is, the controller of the operation panel 50 repeatedly performs the determination processes of steps 11, 13, and 17 described above until it shifts to any one of the normal operation process in step 12, the reservation operation process in step 16, and the dough conditioner interlock process in step 20.

[0036] [Normal operation process] Next, with reference to FIG. 9, the normal operation process according to the normal operation program will be described. In this embodiment, the normal operation program is stored in the ROM of the controller of the operation panel 50. As shown in FIG. 9, the controller first displays a home menu on the display unit 51 of the operation panel 50 in step 110. As shown in FIG. 6, the display screen 60aa of the home menu is composed of, for example, a home icon 61, a manual operation bar 62, a program operation bar 63, a device setting bar 64, and an inspection bar 65. Note that 12:34 shown in the upper left of the display screen 60aa is a 24-hour format display of the current time (12:34) by the clock function of the controller.

[0037] The home icon 61 is a pictogram that visually and intuitively indicates to the user that the display screen 60aa is the home menu. The manual operation bar 62, the program operation bar 63, the device setting bar 64, and the inspection bar 65 are item bars that can be selected by the user rotating the jog dial 58 of the operation panel 50 in the circumferential direction. The item bar in the selected state has a white frame displayed around it (in FIG. 6, the manual operation bar 62 is in the selected state). The selection of the item bar in the selected state is determined when the user presses the jog dial 58 in the axial direction.

[0038] When the controller of the operation panel 50 determines that the manual operation bar 62 has been selected and determined by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 (S110; "Manual operation"), the process proceeds to the manual operation process in step 200. The manual operation process (S200) will be described later with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. Then, when the manual operation process in step 200 ends, it is determined in the next step 120 whether the operation is turned off. If it is not determined that the operation is turned off, it is determined as "NO", and the process returns to the manual operation process (S200) again. If it is determined that the operation is turned off, it is determined as "YES" and the process proceeds to the operation end process in step 140. The operation is turned off when the user continuously presses the operation on / off button 55 for 1 second or more and the information is input. Although not shown, if it is determined in step 120 that the user has pressed the home button 53 or the return button 54, the process returns to step 110 and the home menu is displayed on the display unit 51.

[0039] When the controller of the operation panel 50 determines that the program operation bar 63 has been selected and determined by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 (S110; "Program operation"), the process proceeds to the program operation process in step 300. The program operation process (S300) will be described later with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14. When the program operation process ends, it is determined in the next step 130 whether the operation is turned off. If it is not determined that the operation is turned off, it is determined as "NO", and the process returns to the program operation process (S300) again. If it is determined that the operation is turned off, it is determined as "YES" and the process proceeds to the operation end process in step 140. Although not shown, if it is determined in step 130 that the user has pressed the home button 53 or the return button 54, the process returns to step 110 and the home menu is displayed on the display unit 51.

[0040] In the operation end process (S140), an operation end input is output to the main control process by the main program described above. When the operation end process (S140) ends, this normal operation process ends and the process returns to the main control process (FIG. 8) by the main program.

[0041] When the controller of the operation panel 50 determines that the device setting bar 64 has been selected and determined by the operation of the jog dial 58 by the user (S110; "Device Setting"), the process proceeds to the device setting process in step 400. The device setting process (S400) will be described later with reference to FIG. 15. In step 400, as will be described later, the device setting process is repeatedly executed until the home button 53 on the operation panel 50 is pressed.

[0042] When the controller of the operation panel 50 determines that the inspection bar 65 has been selected and determined by the operation of the jog dial 58 by the user (S110; "Inspection"), the process proceeds to the inspection process in step 500. In this inspection process (S500), for example, the error information and notification information currently occurring in the oven cooking device 10 are displayed in a list on the display unit 51 as inspection items. The error information is, for example, abnormal information of the lower temperature sensor 43, the upper temperature sensor 44, the controller board, etc. The notification information is, for example, the detailed content of the error information and a message prompting the user to contact a service company, etc. In step 500, the display screen by the inspection process is repeatedly executed until the home button 53 on the operation panel 50 is pressed.

[0043] [Manual Operation Process] Next, with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, the manual operation process by the manual operation program will be described. In this embodiment, the manual operation program is stored in the ROM of the controller of the operation panel 50.

[0044] As shown in Fig. 10, the controller of the operation panel 50 first performs a judgment process in step 201 prior to the start of preheating. This judgment is to confirm whether or not the rapid preheating mode has been set to "ON" in the rapid preheating mode setting process (S470) of the device setting process (S400) described later, and whether or not the current preheating is the first preheating to be performed since the oven cooking apparatus 10 was started. Whether or not the current preheating is the first since the start is judged based on whether or not the first flag is set to ON. Since the first flag is set to OFF after the rapid preheating is started in step 304, it can be determined that the current preheating is the first preheating if it is set to ON.

[0045] Then, if rapid preheating is present and it is the first preheating in step 201, the answer is determined to be "YES" and rapid preheating is started in step 202, whereby instruction information (rapid heating start information) is sent to the control device 70 to start heating by the lower and upper heaters 41, 42 in rapid preheating mode. The rapid heating start information includes information on heating power level 5 for supplying maximum output (maximum power) to the lower and upper heaters 41, 42, information on the set temperature, information on the timer time, and the like. The heating power level is a step display that allows the output to be set discontinuously for each of the lower and upper heaters 41, 42, and in this embodiment, the ratio (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, 100%) to the maximum heater output can be set in six steps from level 0 (0%) to level 5 (100%).

[0046] However, when the set temperature of the firing furnace 20, which is the target temperature during preheating or the temperature to be maintained during main heating, is relatively low (for example, less than 100°C), heating at the maximum output of the lower and upper heaters 41, 42 is likely to cause an overshoot in which the temperature continues to rise for a while after the set temperature (target temperature) is reached, even with strict heating control. Such an overshoot during preheating is more noticeable (larger) the lower the set temperature, and is likely to cause temperature unevenness (temperature irregularities) in the firing furnace 20 immediately after the end of preheating.

[0047] Therefore, even when there is rapid preheating and it is the first preheating, if the set temperature is set to less than 100°C, it is determined as "NO" in step 201 and normal preheating is started, so that it becomes possible to suppress the generation of temperature unevenness in the firing furnace 20 immediately after the preheating is completed. Note that the set temperature includes the respective setting information (set temperature, timer time, etc.) regarding the previous manual operation stored in the non-volatile memory by the controller in the power-off process (S22 in FIG. 8) described above, and thus is obtained by reading from the non-volatile memory.

[0048] On the other hand, when the controller of the operation panel 50 determines as "NO" in step 201 because there is no rapid preheating, it is not the first preheating, or the set temperature is less than 100°C, normal preheating is started in step 203. The start of this normal preheating also sends instruction information (normal heating start information) for starting heating by the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42 to the control device 70. This normal heating start information includes the respective setting information (set temperatures of the upper and lower fires, fire power level, timer time, etc.) regarding the previous manual operation stored in the non-volatile memory of the controller, and these respective setting information are obtained by reading from the non-volatile memory. The normal heating start information is the fire power level, set temperature, set time of the timer, etc. of the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42.

[0049] When receiving such heating start information, the control device 70 turns on the power switch that controls the power supply to the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42, supplies power corresponding to the preset fire power level to these heaters 41 and 42, and starts temperature control for the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42. As a result, since the temperature in the firing furnace 20 starts to rise, the lower temperature information and the upper temperature information output from the lower temperature sensor 43 and the upper temperature sensor 44 are obtained via the control device 70 by detecting the upper and lower temperatures in step 204. Then, the lower and upper temperature information and the like obtained in step 204 are output to and displayed on the display unit 51 of the operation panel 50 in step 205.

[0050] In step 205, the controller of the operation panel 50 displays, for example, the display screen 60ma shown in FIG. 11(a) on the display unit 51. On this display screen 60ma, as information immediately after the start of normal preheating, "Preheating", "M Manual Operation", the current temperature of 30°C, the set temperature of 200°C, and the heating level of 5 for the upper fire (the upper side inside the furnace), the current temperature of 30°C, the set temperature of 200°C, and the heating level of 3 for the lower fire (the lower side inside the furnace), the timer time of 10 minutes 00 seconds, etc. are displayed. When rapid preheating is started, since "Rapid Heating" instead of "Preheating" is displayed on the display unit 51, the user is informed that the oven cooking device 10 is currently performing rapid heating and the preheating of the baking furnace 20 will end faster than usual.

[0051] Then, the controller of the operation panel 50 determines whether the temperature inside the baking furnace 20 has reached the set temperature in step 206. In the baking furnace 20 of this embodiment, since the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42 are provided inside the furnace, when the temperatures detected by the corresponding lower and upper temperature sensors 43 and 44, that is, both the lower temperature and the upper temperature are equal to or higher than the set temperature, the controller determines that the temperature inside the baking furnace 20 has reached the set temperature.

[0052] When both the lower temperature information and the upper temperature information output from the lower temperature sensor 43 and the upper temperature sensor 44 have reached or exceeded their respective set temperatures and the controller determines "YES", the preheating ends. Therefore, in step 207, for example, the "Standby" display screen 60mb shown in FIG. 11(b) is displayed on the display unit 51, or the buzzer unit 19 is sounded with a predetermined beep sound to inform the user that the preheating has ended. On the other hand, when either the lower temperature information or the upper temperature information has not reached the set temperature and the controller determines "NO", it returns to step 204 again.

[0053] When the preheating is completed and the control shifts to the main heating, it is determined at step 208 whether there is an input to the start / stop button 56. That is, since the temperature inside the baking furnace 20 has reached the set temperature, the user opens the door 21 of the oven cooking device 10 and carries a tray containing the object to be cooked such as bread dough into the baking furnace 20. Then, when the door 21 is closed, in order to start a timer that measures the preset baking time (10 minutes 00 seconds in the example of FIG. 11(c)), the user presses the start / stop button 56 on the operation panel 50.

[0054] If it is determined as "YES" at step 208 that there is an input to the start / stop button 56, the countdown of the timer is started and, at the next step 209, for example, the "Cooking" display screen 60mc shown in FIG. 11(c) is displayed on the display unit 51. In this example of the display screen 60mc, until the remaining time of the timer, 9 minutes 59 seconds, reaches zero, that is, until the time is up, the lower temperature information, the upper temperature information, and the remaining time information are sequentially updated and the display continues (at S210, "NO").

[0055] When the controller of the operation panel 50 determines at step 210 that the remaining time of the timer has become zero and is "YES", at step 211, for example, the "Cooking Completed" display screen 60md shown in FIG. 11(d) is displayed on the display unit 51 or the buzzer unit 19 is sounded with a predetermined beep sound to inform the user that the cooking is completed. As a result, since it is highly probable that the object to be cooked inside the baking furnace 20 has been baked, the user opens the door 21 of the oven cooking device 10 and takes out the tray containing the baked object such as bread from the baking furnace 20.

[0056] After that, the controller finishes the manual operation process and returns to the normal operation process (Figure 9). If it is determined as "NO" at step 120 that the operation is not turned off, it will shift to the manual operation process (S200) again. That is, when the user does not press the operation on / off button 55 on the "Cooking Completed" display screen 60md, the manual operation process (S200) is executed again. As a result, when the temperature inside the firing furnace 20 drops below the set temperature due to the opening and closing of the door 21 caused by the unloading of the object to be cooked, etc., after the start of normal preheating in step 203, preheating is performed until the set temperature is reached (S204~S206). Therefore, the display screen 60ma is displayed on the display unit 51 (Figure 11(a)), and when the set temperature is reached, the display screen 60mb is displayed (Figure 11(b)).

[0057] [Program operation process] Next, with reference to Figures 12 to 14, the program operation process by the program operation program will be described. In this embodiment, the program operation program is stored in the ROM of the controller of the operation panel 50.

[0058] The manual operation process (S200) is carried out while inheriting the operation conditions such as the set temperature and timer time at the previous manual operation. In contrast, in this program operation process (S300), from a plurality of set temperatures, timer times, etc. preset by the user, an arbitrary operation condition (which is the cooking setting program, and hereinafter, when simply referred to as "program", it means the cooking setting program) is selected and the process is carried out based on it. That is, except that the user can select the cooking setting program in advance, in the program operation process (S300), the process with substantially the same content as the above-mentioned manual operation process (S200) is carried out. Therefore, here, the process different from the manual operation process (S200) will be mainly described.

[0059] As shown in FIG. 13(a), on the display screen 60ab of the home menu, when the program operation bar 63 is selected and determined by operating the jog dial 58, as shown in FIG. 12, the controller first displays a program menu or the like on the display unit 51 of the operation panel 50 in step 301. For example, as shown in FIG. 13(b), on the display screen 60pa of the program menu, for example, on the first page, "P program operation" and the information of each of the program numbers "1" to "3", the set temperature and heating level of the upper burner, the set temperature and heating level of the lower burner, and the timer time are displayed. In this menu example, program number 1 is set to a set temperature of 200 °C and a heating level of 5 for the upper burner, a set temperature of 200 °C and a heating level of 4 for the lower burner, and a timer time of 10 minutes 00 seconds.

[0060] Up to nine programs can be registered (rewritable) at most and are stored in the non-volatile memory of the controller. Since up to three programs can be displayed per page on the display unit 51, when a maximum of nine programs are registered, the display screen 60pa as shown in FIG. 13(b) is displayed for three pages. As with program number 1 shown in FIG. 13(b), the selected program has a white frame displayed around it. The user can select an arbitrary program by turning the jog dial 58 and can press the jog dial 58 to determine the selection.

[0061] When the controller of the operation panel 50 determines that a program has been selected and determined by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 and the selection is complete (S302; YES), the process proceeds to the determination process of step 303. The program menu is displayed on the display unit 51 until the selection is determined (S302; NO). Each subsequent process is substantially the same as the manual operation process (S200). That is, steps 303 to 313 correspond to steps 201 to 211 of the manual operation process (S200) shown in FIG. 10, and the same information processing as in the case of the manual operation process is performed, so the description is omitted here.

[0062] However, for the information on the set temperatures of the upper and lower heaters used in step 304, and the information on the set temperatures and the heating power levels of the upper and lower heaters used in step 305, the information preset in the program selected in step 302 is used. Also, the display screen displayed on the display unit 51 is different from that in the case of the manual operation process. For example, in step 307, the display screen 60pb in Fig. 13(c) is displayed, in step 309, the display screen 60pc in Fig. 13(d) is displayed, further in step 311, the display screen 60pd in Fig. 13(e) is displayed, and in step 313, the display screen 60pe in Fig. 13(f) is displayed. The point that each is displayed as "P program operation" is different from the manual operation process.

[0063] In addition, in Figs. 14(a) to 14(f), display screens exemplifying the program setting procedure are shown. When the program number 4 is selected and determined by the jog dial 58 on the display screen 60pf in Fig. 14(a), the screen transitions to the display screen 60pg in Fig. 14(b). Therefore, when the upper heater is selected and determined by operating the jog dial 58 from among the three of the upper heater, the lower heater, and the timer, the upper heater temperature can be set as shown in the display screen 60ph in Fig. 14(c). When the jog dial 58 is pressed, for example, a numerical value representing the default set temperature is displayed as shown in the display screen 60pi in Fig. 14(d). When the jog dial 58 is turned left or right (clockwise to increase the numerical value, counterclockwise to decrease the numerical value), an arbitrary numerical value (temperature) can be selected as shown in the display screen 60pj in Fig. 14(e). When the jog dial 58 is pressed, the selected numerical value is determined as the set temperature. When the selection and determination of all numerical values, etc. of the upper heater, the lower heater, and the timer are completed, it is displayed as shown in the display screen 60pk in Fig. 14(f), for example.

[0064] [Device Setting Process] Next, with reference to FIGS. 15 and 17, the device setting process by the device setting program will be described. In this embodiment, the device setting program is stored in the ROM of the controller of the operation panel 50. As shown in FIG. 17(a), when the device setting bar 64 is selected and determined by operating the jog dial 58 on the display screen 60ab of the home menu, as shown in FIG. 15, the controller first displays a device setting menu on the display unit 51 of the operation panel 50 in step 401.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 17(b), on the display screen 60sa of the device setting menu, for example, setting items such as "Doucon linkage", "Operation reservation", "Steam time", "Rapid preheating mode", "Timer extension time", etc. are displayed on the first page. Although the pages after the second page are hidden below the screen and not shown, items such as "Screen brightness", "Buzzer volume", "Buzzer type at end", "Buzzer interval at end", "Buzzer length at end", etc. are also displayed by page switching.

[0066] When the controller of the operation panel 50 determines that the item "Doucon linkage" has been selected and determined by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 (S401; "Doucon linkage"), the process proceeds to the Doucon linkage setting process in step 410. This Doucon linkage setting process (S410) will be described later with reference to FIGS. 24 and 25.

[0067] When the controller of the operation panel 50 determines that the item "Operation reservation" has been selected and determined by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 (S401; "Operation reservation"), the process proceeds to the operation reservation setting process in step 430. This operation reservation setting process (S430) will be described later with reference to FIGS. 18 to 20.

[0068] When the controller of the operation panel 50 determines that the item "Steam time" has been selected and determined by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 (S401; "Steam time"), the process proceeds to the steam time setting process in step 450. In this steam time setting process (S450), when the user presses the steam button 52 on the operation panel 50, the time for generating steam (steam time) is set in the range of 1 second to 5 seconds.

[0069] When the controller of the operation panel 50 determines that the item "Rapid preheating mode" has been selected and determined by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 (S401; "Rapid preheating mode"), the process proceeds to the rapid preheating mode setting process in step 470. The rapid preheating mode setting process (S470) will be described later with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17.

[0070] When the controller of the operation panel 50 determines that the item "Timer extension time" has been selected and determined by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 (S401; "Timer extension time"), the process proceeds to the timer extension time setting process in step 490. In this timer extension time setting process (S490), when the user presses the timer extension button 57 on the operation panel 50, the time for extending the timer time (timer extension time) is set in the range of 10 seconds to 60 seconds.

[0071] Note that the description is omitted for the cases where items such as "Screen brightness", "Buzzer volume", "Buzzer type at end", "Buzzer interval at end", and "Buzzer length at end" are selected. When each of these setting processes (S410, S430, S450, S470, S490, etc.) is completed, the process returns to step 401, and the display screen 60sa of the device setting menu is displayed again. When the home button 53 is pressed, the display screen 60ab of the home menu is displayed.

[0072] [Rapid Preheating Mode Setting Process] Next, while referring to FIGS. 16 and 17, the rapid preheating mode setting process by the rapid preheating mode setting program will be described. In this embodiment, the rapid preheating mode setting program is stored in the ROM of the controller of the operation panel 50.

[0073] As shown in FIGS. 17(b) to 17(d), when the item of "rapid preheating mode" is selected and determined by operating the jog dial 58 in the device setting menu, the display on the display unit 51 transitions from the display screen 60sa → the display screen 60sb → the display screen 60sc. Then, as shown in FIG. 16, after the controller of the operation panel 50 displays the rapid preheating mode setting on the display unit 51 of the operation panel 50 in step 471, if it is determined in step 472 that the rapid preheating mode is to be set (S472; YES), after selecting "enable" for the rapid preheating mode in step 473, it is determined in step 475 whether to determine the setting content. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 472 that the rapid preheating mode is not to be set (S472; NO), after selecting "disable" for the rapid preheating mode in step 474, it is determined in step 475 whether to determine the setting content. Note that in FIG. 16, there are steps where the notation of "mode" is omitted.

[0074] As shown in FIG. 17(d), on the display screen 60sc, "enable" is selected for the rapid preheating mode. When the selection of whether to enable the rapid preheating mode is completed, the user selects whether to determine the setting content by pressing the jog dial 58. If the controller of the operation panel 50 determines in step 475 that the setting content has been determined (S475; YES), the information (setting information) of the setting content is stored (memorized) in a non-volatile memory such as the EEPROM of the controller in step 476. Also, if it is determined that the setting content has not been determined even after a predetermined time has elapsed (S475; NO), the process returns to step 471 and the display screen 60sb shown in FIG. 17(c) is displayed again.

[0075] When it is determined in step 475 that the setting content has been determined (S475; YES), the display screen 60sd shown in FIG. 17(e) is displayed on the display unit 51 in step 477. The display screen 60sd shows an example of the display when the setting content is "set to rapid preheating mode". After that, the process returns to the device setting process (S401 in FIG. 12), and the display screen 60se of the device setting menu as shown in FIG. 17(f) is displayed. This allows confirmation that the rapid preheating mode has been set to "on".

[0076] [Operation reservation setting process] Next, with reference to FIGS. 18 to 20, the operation reservation setting process by the operation reservation setting program will be described. In this embodiment, the operation reservation setting program is stored in the ROM of the controller of the operation panel 50.

[0077] As shown in FIGS. 19(b) to 19(d), when the item "operation reservation" is selected and determined by operating the jog dial 58 in the device setting menu, the display on the display unit 51 transitions from the display screen 60sa → the display screen 60sf → the display screen 60sg. Then, as shown in FIG. 18, the controller of the operation panel 50 displays the operation reservation setting items on the display unit 51 of the operation panel 50 in step 431. In the display screen 60ra of the operation reservation setting items as shown in FIG. 19(e), the setting items of "operation start date and time", "operation start time", "operation end time", and "determine" are displayed. These are selected and determined by operating the jog dial 58. The "operation start date and time" is the month and day information of the start timing of heating. The "operation start time" is the time information of the start timing of preheating. The "operation end time" is the time information of the end timing of main heating. Note that instead of the "operation start time", it may be configured such that the user can input the information of the end time of preheating (preheating end time (preheating completion time)) by changing it to the "preheating end time". In this case, the start timing of preheating is obtained by the preheating start timing estimation process (S190) described later, and it is used in the determination process (S15) of the arrival of the reserved date and time.

[0078] When the controller determines that the item of "operation start date" has been selected and determined by the operation of the jog dial 58 by the user (S432; "operation start date"), a display screen 60ra as shown in Fig. 19(e) is displayed, and the input of the date (operation start date) to start the reserved operation is enabled in step 433. When "-- / --" is displayed as the date, it indicates that no date is set as the default value and the date has not been input. As shown in the display screen 60rb in Fig. 19(f), the selection of the date to be input can be achieved by turning the jog dial 58 left and right (the date advances clockwise after the operation date, and returns within the range after the operation date counterclockwise) (S434; NO), and the date selected by the user is determined by pressing the jog dial 58 (S434; YES).

[0079] When the controller determines that the item of "operation start time" has been selected and determined by the operation of the jog dial 58 by the user (S432; "operation start time"), a display screen 60rc as shown in Fig. 20(g) is displayed, and the input of the time (operation start time) to start the reserved operation is enabled in step 435. When "--:--" is displayed as the time, it indicates that no time is set as the default value and the time has not been input. The selection of the time to be input can be achieved by turning the jog dial 58 left and right (the time advances clockwise and returns counterclockwise) (S436; NO), and the time selected by the user is determined by pressing the jog dial 58 (S436; YES). After the determination, the display returns to the display of the set items, and a display screen 60rd as shown in Fig. 20(h) is displayed.

[0080] When the controller determines that the item of "operation end time" has been selected and determined by the operation of the jog dial 58 by the user (S432; "operation end time"), similar to the case where the item of "operation start time" has been selected and determined, the input of the time (operation end time) to end the reserved operation is enabled in step 437, and the selection and determination of the time by the jog dial 58 are enabled (S438). After the determination, the display returns to the display of the set items, and it is displayed as shown in the display screen 60re in Fig. 20(i).

[0081] And when at least the driving start date, driving start time, or driving end time is input (S439; YES), the display screen 60rf as shown in FIG. 20(j) is displayed and the selection of "Determine" becomes possible. That is, if either the driving start information (driving start date and driving start time) or the driving end information (driving end time) is input, the selection of "Determine" becomes possible. As a reserved operation, it is also possible to set only the driving start date and time or only the driving end time.

[0082] When the item of "Determine" is selected by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 (S432; "Determine") and the controller determines that it has been determined (S440; YES), the reserved information input and determined is stored (memorized) in the non-volatile memory of the controller in step 441 (S441). After that, after displaying the display screen 60rg as shown in FIG. 20(k) (S442), the process returns to the device setting process (S401 in FIG. 12) and the display screen 60sd of the device setting menu as shown in FIG. 20(m) is displayed. Thereby, it can be confirmed that the operation reservation has been set to "do".

[0083] Although not shown in the figure, it may be configured to be able to reserve multiple sets of the set of the driving start time (start time information) and the driving end time (end time information) on the same date. For example, a morning set with a driving start time of 05:30 and a driving end time of 09:30 as the time zone for preparing and providing breakfast such as a morning set, a lunch set with a driving start time of 10:30 and a driving end time of 15:30 as the time zone for preparing and providing lunch such as lunch, and a dinner set with a driving start time of 16:30 and a driving end time of 21:00 as the time zone for preparing and providing dinner such as dinner. It may be configured to be able to reserve 3 sets (3 time zones) or 4 sets (4 time zones) or more.

[0084] For example, in the setting item display in step 431, make multiple "driving reservations" (for example, "driving reservation 1", "driving reservation 2", "driving reservation 3", etc.) displayed under "Doukon linkage", and configure to display "steam time" and below there. Further, for each of the multiple "driving reservation 1", "driving reservation 2", "driving reservation 3", etc., configure to be able to set the driving start time and driving end time, for example, like "make driving reservation 1", "do not make driving reservation 2", "make driving reservation 3", etc. The setting (selection and determination) of the driving start time and driving end time is performed in the same manner as in the display screens 60ra and 60rb in FIGS. 19(e) and (f) described above, and the display screens 60rc to 60re in FIGS. 20(g) to (i).

[0085] Note that, as described above, the reserved operation is an operation mode in which the oven cooking device 10 performs the manual operation process (S200) at the preset start date and time and end time of the operation. Therefore, even if it is configured to be able to make multiple sets of reservations on the same date, the same set of manual operation processes with the same settings will be performed for any set. However, as in the example described above, in the morning set, noon set, or night set, the usage purpose of the oven cooking device 10 may be different. That is, the oven cooking device 10 is mainly used to bake bread in the morning set, while in the noon set including tea time, the oven cooking device 10 may be used to bake baked goods such as cookies. Therefore, it is more convenient for the user to configure so that a program operation process that can select different settings can be performed.

[0086] Therefore, for example, in the selection item in step 432, configure to add and display the item of "program number" above "driving start date" or below "driving end time", and further configure to be able to select an arbitrary program from a maximum of 9 programs that the user can perform in the program operation process described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14. The setting (selection and determination) of the program is performed in the same manner as in the display screen 60ra etc. in FIGS. 19(e) etc. described above.

[0087] [Reserved operation process] Next, with reference to FIGS. 21 and 22, the reservation operation process by the reservation operation program will be described. In this embodiment, the reservation operation program is stored in the ROM of the controller of the operation panel 50. The reservation operation process is activated when the normal operation process is not performed (S11 in FIG. 8; NO), the operation reservation is set to "make" (S13 in FIG. 8; YES), and the reserved date and time has arrived (S15 in FIG. 8; YES) by the main control process (FIG. 8) by the above-described main program. In the case where the information on the end time of preheating (preheating end time (preheating completion time)) is input by the above-described operation reservation setting process by changing to the "preheating end time" instead of the "operation start time", the time to start preheating is obtained by the preheating start time estimation process described later, and when it is determined that the reserved date and time has arrived in step 15 (S15 in FIG. 8; YES) based on the estimated time (start time of preheating) and the "operation start date", the reservation operation process (S150) is performed.

[0088] Note that in this embodiment, two reservation operation processes S150a and S150b shown in FIGS. 21(a) and 21(b) are executed in parallel. The reservation operation is an operation mode in which the oven cooking device 10 performs a manual operation at the preset start date and time and end time of the operation. It is necessary to start the manual operation process (S200) when the start date and time of the operation (reserved date and time) arrives, and to end the manual operation process when the end time of the operation arrives.

[0089] First, the reservation operation process S150a in Fig. 21(a) will be described. The controller of the operation panel 50 first performs the process of starting the manual operation in step 151. As a result, the manual operation is started. The details of the manual operation have already been described with reference to Figs. 10 and 11, so they will be omitted here. Then, after the manual operation process in this step 151 is completed, it is determined whether the operation stop information has been input. The operation stop information is input when the user continuously presses the operation start / stop button 55 for 1 second or more. When the operation stop information is input (S152; YES), after performing the operation end process (S153), this reservation operation process S150a is terminated and the process returns to the main control process (Fig. 8). If the operation stop information is not input (S152; NO), the process returns to the main control process (Fig. 8) without performing the operation end process (S153). In the operation end process (S153), an operation end input (operation end information) is output to the aforementioned main control process.

[0090] On the other hand, in the reservation operation process S150b in Fig. 21(b), the controller of the operation panel 50 first calculates the remaining time until the operation stop time in step 154, and then determines whether the remaining time is 3 minutes. If the remaining time is 3 minutes, it is determined as "YES" and the display screen 60rx shown in Fig. 22(a) is displayed on the display unit 51 of the operation panel 50 in step 155. On this display screen 60rx, as "notification" information, it is displayed that the operation is currently in the process of transitioning to "operation reservation setting" in the reserved operation state, and that there are "3 minutes 00 seconds remaining until the operation stop time" due to the reserved operation, etc. Also, a button (default is "do not") that enables selection of whether to cancel the operation reservation is displayed.

[0091] The selection of whether to cancel the driving reservation is made by turning the jog dial 58, which alternately displays "Do not" and "Do" as shown on the display screens 60rx and 60ry in FIGS. 22(a) and 22(b). Also, the confirmation of the selection, that is, the determination, is made by pressing the jog dial 58. When the controller determines that "Do not" has been selected and determined by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 (S156; YES), the driving reservation will not be cancelled. Therefore, when the remaining time becomes zero (S157; YES), the driving end process (S158) is performed, and after finishing this reserved driving process S150b, the process returns to the main control process (FIG. 8). In the driving end process (S158), a driving end input (driving end information) is output to the aforementioned main control process.

[0092] On the other hand, if the controller determines that "Do" has been selected and determined by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 before the remaining time until the driving cut-off time becomes zero (S157; NO) (S156; NO), the driving reservation will be cancelled. Therefore, the display screen 60rz shown in FIG. 22(c) is displayed on the display unit 51 of the operation panel 50 to inform the user that the driving reservation has been cancelled. Then, after finishing this reserved driving process S150b, the process returns to the main control process (FIG. 8).

[0093] [Preheating Start Time Estimation Process] Next, the preheating start time estimation process will be described with reference to FIG. 23. This process is executed in step 14 of the main control process (FIG. 8) when, as described above, in the driving reservation setting process, "preheating end time" is changed instead of "driving start time" and information on the end time of preheating (preheating end time (preheating completion time)) has been input by the user. The preheating start time estimation program that enables the execution of this preheating start time estimation process is stored in the ROM of the controller of the operation panel 50.

[0094] As shown in FIG. 23(a), the controller of the operation panel 50 first acquires the preheating end time in step 191. This preheating end time is stored in the non-volatile memory of the controller as reservation information (including the preheating end time) in step 441 of the operation reservation setting process when the user inputs the information of the preheating end time (preheating completion time) in the above-described operation reservation setting process (S430). Therefore, in step 191, the information of the preheating end time is read out and acquired from the non-volatile memory of the controller. In the operation reservation setting process (S430), reservation information including the preheating start time may be stored in the non-volatile memory of the controller. In that case, although not shown, the preheating start time acquired in step 191 is directly output in step 195 without performing the processes of steps 192 to 194. The information of the preheating start time and the preheating end time are stored in the memory of the controller in an identifiable manner respectively.

[0095] The controller of the operation panel 50 acquires the current lower temperature information and upper temperature information output from the lower temperature sensor 43 and the upper temperature sensor 44 through the control device 70 by detecting the current upper and lower temperatures in step 192. Since the firing furnace 20 has not started preheating yet, except for the case of restarting immediately after stopping the operation of the oven cooking device 10 (heating of the firing furnace 20), the temperature detected here is lower than the set temperature. Therefore, as can be seen by referring to the temperature characteristic diagram shown in FIG. 23(b), when the temperature gradient (preheating temperature gradient) during preheating is obtained in advance, the time required to reach the set temperature can be calculated from the current temperature (current temperature) inside the firing furnace 20 detected in step 192.

[0096] Therefore, the time required to reach the set temperature by step 193 (preheating required time) is calculated. For example, the preheating required time can be obtained by the formula: preheating required time = (set temperature - current temperature) / preheating temperature gradient. In FIG. 23(b), the solid curve indicates the characteristics of the upper furnace temperature in the firing furnace 20 detected by the upper temperature sensor 44, and the dashed curve indicates the characteristics of the lower furnace temperature in the firing furnace 20 detected by the lower temperature sensor 43. In this characteristic diagram, from the temperature gradients in the ranges where the temperature rises linearly (7 - 14 minutes for the upper furnace and 3 - 7 minutes for the lower furnace), it can be seen that the preheating temperature gradient of the upper furnace (upper heater 42) is 9.9 °C / min, and the preheating temperature gradient of the lower furnace (lower heater 41) is 6.6 °C / min.

[0097] When the preheating required time is obtained, by subtracting the preheating required time from the preheating end time input by the user, the time to start preheating, that is, the preheating start time, can be obtained. Therefore, in step 194, the preheating start time is calculated in this way, and in the next step 195, the information of the preheating start time is output. For example, it is output to the main control process (FIG. 8) via a work area in the memory of the controller or the like. As a result, in the main control process, by acquiring (reading) the information of this preheating start time from the memory of the controller, it becomes possible to determine whether the reserved date and time has arrived in step 15 as described above. Note that the preheating start time may be calculated by subtracting the time obtained by adding a margin time of about several minutes (5 - 7 minutes = α minutes) to the preheating required time calculated in step 193 from the preheating end time. Thereby, errors in the detected temperature and the like due to temperature changes caused by the ambient temperature of the oven cooking device 10 and the inflow of outside air due to the opening and closing of the door 21 can be absorbed.

[0098] Note that the characteristic diagram shown in Fig. 23(b) is for the case of the heating levels 5 (output 100%) of the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42. Therefore, based on the characteristic diagrams for each of the heating levels 1 (output 20%), heating level 2 (output 40%), heating level 3 (output 60%), and heating level 4 (output 80%), after obtaining the preheating temperature gradients of the upper and lower fires corresponding to each heating level, it is necessary to use the preheating temperature gradient selected corresponding to the outputs (heating levels) of the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42 for the above calculation. However, when using the preheating start time estimation process only in the case of the rapid preheating (100% output) described above, since it is not necessary to select a preheating temperature gradient, the algorithm can be simplified.

[0099] Also, the preheating start time estimation process may be made independent of the main control process or the like and executed in parallel with the main control process. In this case, for example, a control program can be configured to sequentially detect the current temperature and calculate the latest preheating required time by the above formula, and start the preliminary heating by the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42 at the timing when the latest preheating required time becomes less than or equal to (or less than) a predetermined time. Thereby, when the user inputs information on the preheating end time (preheating completion time) from the operation panel 50, or when the air conditioner 90 inputs information on the preheating end time (preheating completion time) from the outside, the user or the like does not need to calculate the preheating start time, and the preliminary heating of the firing furnace 20 by the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42 can be started.

[0100] [Air conditioner interlock setting process] Next, with reference to Figs. 24 and 25, the air conditioner interlock setting process by the air conditioner interlock setting program will be described. In this embodiment, the air conditioner interlock setting program is stored in the ROM of the controller of the operation panel 50.

[0101] As shown in FIGS. 25(b) and 25(c), when the item of "Doucon linkage" is selected and determined by operating the jog dial 58 in the device setting menu, the display on the display unit 51 changes from the display screen sa to the display screen si. As shown in FIG. 24, the controller of the operation panel 50 displays the Doucon linkage setting on the display unit 51 of the operation panel 50 in step 411, and then, if it is determined in step 412 that it is in Doucon linkage (S412; YES), after selecting "Do" for linkage in step 413, the operation menu is displayed in step 415. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 412 that it is not in Doucon linkage (S412; NO), after selecting "Do not" for linkage in step 414, it is determined in step 419 whether to determine the setting content.

[0102] As shown in FIG. 25(d), on the display screen 60da of the operation menu, "M Manual Operation" and "P Program Operation" are displayed. When the controller of the operation panel 50 determines that the item of "M Manual Operation" is selected and determined by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 (S416; YES), manual operation is selected in step 417, and when the controller of the operation panel 50 determines that the item of "P Program Operation" is selected and determined (S416; NO), program operation is selected in step 418. When "P Program Operation" is selected, the user selects an arbitrary one from up to nine pre-registered cooking setting programs by operating the jog dial 58.

[0103] After the selection of whether to have Doucon linkage and the selection of the operation item are completed, the user selects whether to determine the setting content (selected content) by pressing the jog dial 58. If the controller of the operation panel 50 determines in step 419 that the setting content is determined (S419; YES), the information (setting information) of the setting content is stored (memorized) in the non-volatile memory such as the EEPROM of the controller in step 420. If it is determined that the setting content is not determined even after a predetermined time has elapsed (S419; NO), it returns to step 411 and the display screen 60si shown in FIG. 25(c) is displayed again.

[0104] When it is determined in step 419 that the setting content has been determined (S419; YES), the display screen 60db shown in FIG. 25(e) is displayed on the display unit 51 in step 421. The display example when the setting content is "linked with doukon" is shown on the display screen 60da. Then, the process returns to the device setting process (S401 in FIG. 15), and the display screen 60sj of the device setting menu as shown in FIG. 25(f) is displayed. Thereby, it can be confirmed that the setting has been made to "link with doukon".

[0105] [Doukon Linkage Process] Next, with reference to FIG. 26, the doukon linkage process by the doukon linkage program will be described. In this embodiment, the doukon linkage program is stored in the ROM of the controller of the operation panel 50. The doukon linkage process is activated when the normal operation process is not performed (S11 in FIG. 8; NO), the operation reservation is set to "not do" (S13 in the same figure; NO), and the doukon linkage is set to "do" (S17 in the same figure; YES) and there is a doukon input (S18 in the same figure; YES) by the main control process (FIG. 8) by the main program described above.

[0106] In this embodiment, either one of the two doukon linkage processes S170a and S170b shown in FIGS. 26(a) and 26(b) is executed. That is, in the display screen 60da of the operation menu displayed on the display unit 51 by the above-described doukon linkage setting process (S410 in FIG. 24), when the item selected and determined by the user's operation of the jog dial 58 is "M Manual Operation", the doukon linkage process S170a in FIG. 26(a) is executed, and when it is "P Program Operation", the doukon linkage process S170b in FIG. 26(b) is executed.

[0107] First, the dough conditioner interlocking process S170a in the case of manual operation shown in FIG. 26(a) will be described. The controller of the operation panel 50 first obtains, in step 171, the information sent from the dough conditioner 90 (the information decoded in step 19, hereinafter referred to as "dough conditioner information"). As described above, the dough conditioner information includes, for example, a process identifier that can identify the final process of the work currently being executed by the dough conditioner 90 (at the time of data transmission), information such as the remaining time until the completion of the final process, and the like.

[0108] The work processes that the dough conditioner 90 can perform include, for example, a freeze process (a process of temporarily storing the dough in a state where fermentation is stopped), a retard process (a process of resting the dough at a low temperature in the middle), a preheating process (a process of applying heat before final fermentation to eliminate the temperature difference of the dough), a proofing process (a process of finally fermenting the dough), etc. Depending on the type and manufacturing method of the food to be cooked such as bread dough, any of these processes can be the final process in the dough conditioner 90, and the oven cooking apparatus 10 can be used as the next process. Therefore, in the oven cooking apparatus 10, currently, when the final process being executed by the dough conditioner 90 is completed, the preheating ends (that is, the inside of the baking furnace 20 has reached the set temperature), or the baking furnace 20 is heated under operating conditions such as the set temperature and timer time that match the final process, thereby improving the convenience for the user.

[0109] Therefore, in this embodiment, based on the remaining time information included in the dough conditioner information, in step 172, it is determined whether the timing to start the manual operation has arrived. If it is determined that the start timing has arrived (S172; YES), the process proceeds to the manual operation process (S200) in step 173, and if it has not arrived yet, it waits (S172; NO).

[0110] And after the manual operation process in step 173 is completed, it is determined whether the operation cut-off information has been input. The operation cut-off information is input when the user continuously presses the operation on / off button 55 for 1 second or more. When the operation cut-off information is input (S174; YES), after performing the operation end process (S175), the main body control process S170a is terminated and the main control process (Figure 8) is returned to. If the operation cut-off information is not input (S174; NO), without performing the operation end process (S175), the main control process (Figure 8) is returned to. In the operation end process (S175), an operation end input (operation end information) is output to the above-mentioned main control process.

[0111] In the case of the main body control process S170b in the program operation shown in Figure 26(b), almost the same process as the main body control process S170a in the case of the manual operation is performed. However, before shifting to the program operation process, the only difference is that in step 178, the information of the program set under the operation conditions such as the set temperature and timer time that conform to the final process of the main body 90 is acquired. Therefore, the process of acquiring the main body information in step 176, the process of determining that the timing to start the program operation has arrived in step 177, and when the operation cut-off information is input (S180; YES), after performing the operation end process (S181), the main body control S170b is terminated and the main control process (Figure 8) is returned to, etc. are the same as in the case of the manual operation.

[0112] In the program information acquisition performed in step 178, for example, among the maximum 9 programs registered in the oven cooking device 10, the information of the program associated in advance with the process identifier (process ID) of the final process included in the main body information is obtained, or the information of the program that most conforms to the various conditions (set temperature, heating level, timer time, etc.) set in the program is obtained based on the indispensable conditions derived from the characteristics of the final process specified by the process identifier, their priority order, weighting, etc.

[0113] Note that the program operation process in step 179 is slightly different from the program operation process (S300) described with reference to FIG. 12 in the normal operation process (S100). In the program operation process (S300) in the normal operation process (S100), the process is performed based on an arbitrary one selected by the user from up to nine pre-registered cooking setting programs, whereas in the program operation process (S300') executed in this step 179, the process is performed based on the cooking setting program for which information was acquired in the above-described burdock root interlock setting process (starting from S303 shown in FIG. 12). To clarify such a difference, in FIG. 26(b), the program operation process in step 179 is labeled with S300' as the symbol in parentheses.

[0114] In the oven cooking apparatus 10 configured as described above, before the main heating control that heats based on the set temperatures and heating power levels (output setting information) of the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42 input from the operation panel 50 as operation inputs or programmed in advance, as preheating control, the inside of the firing furnace 20 is heated with the maximum power that can be output to the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42 until the inside of the firing furnace 20 reaches a predetermined temperature. Then, after the inside of the firing furnace 20 reaches the predetermined temperature, the control switches to the main heating control. As a result, until the inside of the firing furnace 20 reaches the predetermined temperature, since the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42 heat the inside of the firing furnace 20 with the maximum power, it becomes possible to raise the temperature inside the firing furnace 20 in a shorter time compared to the case where the inside of the firing furnace 20 is heated with the same heater power as in the main heating control. Also, after the inside of the firing furnace 20 reaches the predetermined temperature, since the control switches to the main heating control, it becomes possible to heat the inside of the firing furnace 20 with the heating power levels (output setting information) of the lower and upper heaters 41 and 42 planned by the user. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the preheating time without forcing the user to perform complicated operations.

[0115] Also, in the oven cooking device 10 configured as described above, even when dough information (preheating start information) is input from the dough conditioner 90 as an operation input, it is possible to instruct the controller of the operation panel 50 to start preheating control. In particular, when the oven cooking device 10 and the dough conditioner 90 adopt an interlocking configuration (dough conditioner interlocking), the preheating of the oven cooking device 10 is automatically started when an operation input or dough information is input from the dough conditioner 90. Thereby, the preheating of the oven cooking device 10 can be started at the timing when an operation input is input from the dough conditioner 90 or at the timing indicated by the dough information.

[0116] Also, in the oven cooking device 10 configured as described above, the controller of the operation panel 50 starts preheating control based on the preheating end time (desired preheating completion time) input by the user. Thereby, the user can end the preheating at that time just by inputting the preheating end time to the operation panel 50, without having to subtract the preheating time from the preheating end time to obtain the preheating start time or input an operation input waiting for that preheating start time. Therefore, the convenience of the user can be improved.

[0117] Also, in the oven cooking device 10 configured as described above, the controller of the operation panel 50 stores a plurality of sets of start time information and end time information in the memory of the controller, and starts or ends preheating or main heating at the scheduled times for each of these multiple sets. Thereby, the user can start or end preheating or main heating at each time without inputting an operation input for each of the multiple sets. Therefore, the convenience of the user can be improved.

[0118] Incidentally, in the above-described oven cooking apparatus 10, the case where the controller of the operation panel 50 executes each of the above-described control processes and the like has been described as an example. However, the main control process (FIG. 8), the normal operation process (FIG. 9), the manual operation process (FIG. 10), the program operation process (FIG. 12), the device setting process (FIG. 15), the rapid preheating mode setting process (FIG. 16), the operation reservation setting process (FIG. 18), the reserved operation process (FIG. 21), the preheating start time estimation process (FIG. 23), the tofu connection setting process (FIG. 24), the tofu connection process (FIG. 26), etc. may be configured to be executed by the control device 70. Even in such a configuration, technical actions and effects similar to those of the controller of the operation panel 50 described above can be obtained by executing each of the above-described control processes and the like.

[0119] Further, in the oven cooking apparatus 10 of this embodiment, the case where two upper and lower lower and upper heaters 41 and 42 are provided as heaters for heating the inside of the baking furnace has been described as an example. However, it may be configured to heat the inside of the baking furnace 20 with one heater (lower heater 41 or upper heater 42). Also, regarding the sensor (temperature detection unit) for detecting the temperature inside the baking furnace 20, the case where two upper and lower lower temperature sensors 43 and upper temperature sensors 44 are provided has been described as an example. However, it may be configured to detect the temperature inside the baking furnace 20 with one sensor (lower temperature sensor 43 or upper temperature sensor 44). Even in such a configuration, technical actions and effects substantially the same as those described above can be obtained.

[0120] Furthermore, in the oven cooking apparatus 10 of this embodiment, the case where serial data is received from the tofu 90 connected to the external input terminal 59 via a communication cable as an external device has been described as an example. However, the communication method may be any of wired communication (RS-485, RS-422, RS-232C, USB, etc.), wireless communication (wireless LAN (IEEE802.11 series), short-range wireless communication (Bluetooth, ZigBee)), and optical wireless communication (IrDA, etc.). Note that "Bluetooth" and "ZigBee" are registered trademarks.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0121] 10…Oven cooking device, 20…Firing furnace, 41…Lower heater (heater), 42…Upper heater (heater), 50…Operation panel (input unit), 70…Control device (control unit), 59…External input terminal, 90…Dou conditioner (external device).

Claims

【Claim 1】 A baking furnace for baking an object to be cooked, a heater disposed in the baking furnace so as to be heatable, an input unit for receiving a user's operation input, and a control unit for performing heating control of the heater based on the operation input, wherein, prior to the main heating control in which the control unit heats based on the output setting information of the heater input from the input unit or programmed in advance as the operation input, as preheating control, the heater is heated at the maximum power outputtable by the heater until the inside of the baking furnace reaches a predetermined temperature, and after the inside of the baking furnace reaches the predetermined temperature, it is an oven cooking device that switches to the main heating control, wherein preheating start information for instructing the control unit to start the preheating control can be input from the input unit as the operation input or can be programmed in advance, and is interlocked so that the preheating start information for instructing the start of the preheating control can be output from a dough conditioner that performs a process in a previous stage of heating the object to be cooked in the baking furnace by the main heating control, and the preheating control is controlled to start by the preheating start information input from the dough conditioner so that the preheating ends at the timing when the final step of the process in the previous stage of the dough conditioner is completed. An oven cooking device characterized by

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