Method for acquiring temperature data

Abstract

In a cooking appliance equipped with an infrared sensor having multiple detection units, the amount of data handled is substantially increased. [Solution] The method for acquiring temperature data in the embodiment is a method for acquiring temperature data in a cooking appliance comprising an infrared sensor having a plurality of detection units that non-contactively detect the temperature of a plurality of areas on the bottom side of a heating chamber containing food to be cooked, and a control means, wherein the control means swings the infrared sensor in a predetermined direction, and for each temperature detection angle, each of the detection units detects the temperature of the target area and outputs temperature detection data, and the infrared sensor transmits the temperature detection data from each of the detection units as a single data unit to the control means as temperature data, with header information including a destination address.

Description

【Technical Field】 【0001】 Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method for acquiring temperature data. 【Background Art】 【0002】 Conventionally, in ordinary households, workplaces, etc., heating cookers (oven ranges, microwave ovens, etc.) that heat cooked foods (food and drink) placed in a heating chamber (cooking chamber) are widely used. Range heating refers to heating by vibrating water molecules contained in food with microwaves. 【0003】 In such a heating cooker, for example, an infrared sensor is used as a temperature detection means for the cooked food or the like. As the infrared sensor, for example, there is a so-called 8-eye sensor in which 8 detection units are arranged in a row. When detecting the temperature of the cooked food, for example, the 8-eye sensor is swung in a predetermined direction a few times, and a plurality of temperature detection data are acquired for each detection unit and each angle, and the average value is used as the average temperature detection data. Then, the average temperature detection data for each of all the detection units from the infrared sensor is transmitted to the control means. 【Prior Art Documents】 【Patent Documents】 【0004】 【Patent Document 1】 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-84401 【Summary of the Invention】 【Problems to be Solved by the Invention】 【0005】 In infrared sensor temperature detection of food being cooked, a shorter swing time (time for one round trip) is preferable because it reduces the temperature detection interval at the same location, making it easier to capture temperature changes in the food being cooked. A shorter swing time also means stricter constraints on the data acquisition time allowed per angle. Furthermore, a larger number of detection units is preferable because it allows for more detailed detection of the temperature distribution of the food being cooked. For these reasons, the inventors of this application are considering a 16-eye sensor, which has 16 detection units arranged in a row. 【0006】 However, increasing the number of detection units increases the amount of data handled by the infrared sensor. Therefore, for example, if the swing time is the same, and an 8-eye sensor can acquire average temperature detection data with a maximum of 8 averages, then using the same data processing method with a 16-eye sensor would result in double the amount of data, meaning that average temperature detection data could only be acquired with 4 averages. Thus, there is room for improvement. 【0007】 Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention have been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object is to provide a method for acquiring temperature data that can substantially increase the amount of data handled in a cooking appliance equipped with an infrared sensor having a plurality of detection units. [Means for solving the problem] 【0008】 The method for acquiring temperature data in the embodiment is a method for acquiring temperature data in a cooking appliance comprising an infrared sensor having a predetermined number of n detection units arranged in a row for non-contact detection of the temperature of multiple areas on the bottom side of a heating chamber containing food to be cooked, and a control means, wherein the control means swings the infrared sensor in the front-rear direction of the heating chamber, and for each temperature detection angle provided m times on the forward path of one swing and k times on the return path, each detection unit detects the temperature of the target area, and outputs n × (m + k) temperature detection data in one swing, and the temperature detection data is, When the temperature detection data is transmitted with header and footer information added,In a time less than or equal to the minimum interrupt unit time of the control means This is only one temperature detection data. Sendable Then, a predetermined amount of wasted time occurs. The data is such that, in one swing, the infrared sensor uses the temperature detection data from the n detection units as a single data unit, and header information and footer information The data is then transmitted to the control means m + k times as temperature data. [Effects of the Invention] 【0009】 According to the temperature data acquisition method of the present invention, it is possible to substantially increase the amount of data handled in a cooking appliance equipped with an infrared sensor having multiple detection units. [Brief explanation of the drawing] 【0010】 [Figure 1] Figure 1 is an external perspective view of the oven range according to the embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows a view of the oven range from the front when the door is open. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the oven range, seen from the side. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows the oven range as viewed from the front with the cabinet and oven rear panel removed. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the microwave generator and its surrounding components, seen from the side of a microwave oven. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing the internal structure of the oven range. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the main parts of a microwave oven, specifically the food temperature detection means and its surrounding area. [Figure 8] Figure 8 shows the detection element of the first sensor in the microwave oven, viewed from the front. [Figure 9] Figure 9 shows the detection element of the second sensor in the microwave oven, viewed from the front. [Figure 10]FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the oven range and the viewing field of the first sensor. It is a perspective view showing the viewing field of the sensor. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the main electrical configuration of the oven range. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically showing the bottom surface of the oven range and a plurality of regions for temperature detection. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of data for word reading. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of data for block reading. 【MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION】 【0011】 Hereinafter, embodiments of the cooking appliance of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In all the drawings, common parts (configurations) are denoted by common reference numerals. 【0012】 FIGS. 1 to 11 show the configuration of an embodiment when the cooking appliance of the present invention is realized by an oven range. First, based on FIGS. 1 to 6, the overall configuration of the oven range will be described. The main body 1 configured in a substantially rectangular box shape includes a metal cabinet 2 as a member that covers the outer shell of the oven range as a product. The oven range also includes a door 3 that can be opened and closed provided on the front surface of the main body 1. 【0013】 At the upper part of the door 3, a handle 4 for opening and closing operation is provided to be used when opening and closing the vertically opening door 3. Next to the door 3, an operation panel unit 5 for display, notification, and operation is provided. The operation panel unit 5 includes a display means 6 for displaying the set contents and progress status of cooking. 【0014】 In addition, the operation panel unit 5 includes an operation means 7 that enables various operation inputs related to cooking. The operation means 7 is, for example, keys, buttons, or a touch panel provided on the surface of the display means 6. Note that inside the door 3 and on the rear side of the operation panel unit 5, an operation panel PC (Printed Circuit) is arranged for controlling the display means 6, the operation means 7, etc., although not shown in the figure. 【0015】 At the lower part of the main body 1, a water supply cassette 8 and a water receiver 9 that can be detached from the front of the main body 1 are respectively arranged. The water supply cassette 8 is a bottomed container for containing water in liquid form as a supply source of the mist ejected from a mist supply device 43 described later. The water receiver 9 is a bottomed container for receiving food scraps, water droplets, steam, etc. from the main body 1. 【0016】 The cabinet 2 forming the left and right side surfaces and the upper surface of the main body 1 is provided between an oven front plate 12 forming the front surface of the main body 1 and an oven rear plate 13 forming the rear surface of the main body 1 so as to cover an oven bottom plate 11 forming the bottom surface of the main body 1 and thus the bottom surface of the oven range. Further, the main body 1 is provided with a cooking chamber 14 (heating chamber for containing the object to be cooked) for containing the object to be cooked S to be cooked inside, and a thermistor 15 which is a temperature detection element for detecting the temperature of the cooking chamber 14. The front surface of the cooking chamber 14 reaches the oven front plate 12 and is opened for taking in and out the object to be cooked S, and this opening is configured to be opened and closed by the door 3. Further, the thermistor 15 which is the inside temperature detection means is arranged in the vicinity of the door 3 inside the cooking chamber 14. 【0017】 The surrounding walls forming the inner surface of the cooking chamber 14 consist of a ceiling wall 14a, a bottom wall 14b, a left side wall 14c, a right side wall 14d, and a back wall 14e. The back wall 14e of the cooking chamber 14 has an intake port 16 in its center, and multiple outlet ports 17 are provided around the intake port 16. Opposite the dome-shaped ceiling wall 14a, which forms the upper wall surface of the cooking chamber 14, an upper heater 18 for the grill is provided on the upper part of the main body 1 to radiate heat the food to be cooked S from above the cooking chamber 14. At the bottom of the main body 1, a microwave generator 19 (microwave heating means for microwave heating food to be cooked) including a magnetron is provided to supply microwaves, which are radio waves, into the cooking chamber 14. As a result, the heat radiation generated by energizing the upper heater 18 grills the food to be cooked S inside the cooking chamber 14 from above, and the operation of energizing the microwave generator 19 radiates microwaves to the food to be cooked S inside the cooking chamber 14, thereby microwave-heating the food to be cooked S. 【0018】 The left wall 14c and right wall 14d of the cooking chamber 14 are provided with a pair of shelf supports 22, arranged in two tiers, to suspend and store a metal rectangular plate 21 inside the cooking chamber 14. The rectangular plate 21 used here consists of a housing portion 21A that is bottomed and concave with an open top surface and otherwise non-perforated, and a flange portion 21B that extends horizontally outward from the upper end of the housing portion 21A. The flange portion 21B also has a ventilation hole 21C that allows hot air to circulate through the rectangular plate 21. Figure 2 shows the state in which the flange portion 21B of the rectangular plate 21 is placed on the lower shelf support 22 inside the cooking chamber 14, and the food to be cooked S is placed on the housing portion 21A, but it is not limited to this. For example, depending on the cooking, the rectangular plate 21 may be placed only on the upper shelf support 22, or two rectangular plates 21 may be placed on the upper and lower shelf supports 22 respectively. Alternatively, another accessory, such as a grilling rack (not shown), may be used instead of the rectangular tray 21. Furthermore, in microwave heating using the microwave generator 19 described above, the food to be cooked S can be heated inside the cooking chamber 14 in a microwave-safe container (not shown) without placing the rectangular tray 21 or grilling rack inside the cooking chamber 14. 【0019】 The oven range includes a hot air unit 24 for oven heating, located inside the main body 1, extending from the rear outside the cooking chamber 14 downwards. The hot air unit 24, as a means of heating the food to be cooked S, is generally composed of a convex casing 26 attached to the back wall 14e, a hot air heater 27 for heating air, a hot air fan 28 for sending and circulating heated air into the cooking chamber 14, an electric hot air motor 29 for rotating the hot air fan 28 in a predetermined direction, and a transmission mechanism 30 for transmitting the driving force from the hot air motor 29 to the hot air fan 28. The heating chamber 31, formed in the internal space between the back wall 14e and the casing 26, located at the rear outside the cooking chamber 14, houses the hot air heater 27 and the hot air fan 28, respectively. On the other hand, the hot air motor 29 is located in the lower space 32 between the cooking chamber 14 and the oven bottom plate 11, which is formed inside the main body 1. Then, the oven rear plate 13 is positioned at the rear of the main body 1 so as to cover the entire hot air unit 24 from the rear outside. 【0020】 The hot air fan 28 in this embodiment is a so-called centrifugal fan that takes in air axially and expels it radially perpendicular to the axial direction by centrifugal force during rotation, and the tubular hot air heater 27 is arranged to surround the hot air fan 28 in the radial direction. The hot air heater 27, which is also the heat-generating part, can be a sheathed heater, mica heater, quartz tube heater, halogen heater, or the like. The aforementioned intake port 16 and hot air outlet port 17 function as ventilation sections that connect the cooking chamber 14 and the heating chamber 31. 【0021】 In this embodiment, when the hot air motor 29 is energized, the hot air fan 28 rotates, and air drawn in from inside the cooking chamber 14 through the intake port 16 is blown out radially by the hot air fan 28, heated by the energized hot air heater 27, and the hot air passes through the outlet port 17 and is supplied into the cooking chamber 14. This creates a path for circulating hot air inside and outside the cooking chamber 14, and the food to be cooked S inside the cooking chamber 14 is heated by hot air convection. 【0022】 Next, the microwave generator 19, which serves as a microwave heating means for heating the food to be cooked S, and the detailed structure of its surroundings will be described. The bottom wall 14b of the cooking chamber 14 is constructed by covering the upper opening of a concave antenna housing 35 formed in a metal plate 34 with a microwave-permeable bottom plate 36, such as a ceramic plate. The microwave-impermeable metal plate 34 integrally forms not only the periphery of the bottom wall 14b, but also the left wall 14c, the right wall 14d, and the back wall 14e. The inner surface of the cooking chamber 14, excluding the bottom plate 36, is entirely made of a microwave-impermeable material. 【0023】 The microwave generator 19 mainly consists of a magnetron (not shown) which is a source of microwaves, a waveguide 37 in the lower space 32 inside the main body 1 that guides the microwaves oscillated by the magnetron to directly below the antenna housing 35, an antenna motor 38 disposed below the waveguide 37, an antenna holder 39 whose lower end is located inside the waveguide 37 and is attached and fixed to the rotation axis of the antenna motor 38, a cylindrical cable shaft 40 inserted and fixed inside the antenna holder 39, and an antenna 41 to which the upper end of the cable shaft 40 is attached and fixed to the center and which is rotatably provided inside the antenna housing 35. When the top opening of the antenna housing 35 is closed with the bottom plate 36, the entire antenna 41 is positioned parallel to the bottom plate 36, facing the flat bottom plate 36 that forms the bottom wall 14b of the cooking chamber 14. 【0024】 The mist supply device 43, which sends mist into the cooking room 14, includes, in addition to the water supply cassette 8 mentioned above, a nozzle 45 that atomizes the supplied liquid water into a mist, a water supply pipe 46 connected between the water supply cassette 8 and the nozzle 45, a water supply pump 47 that guides the water from the water supply cassette 8 to the nozzle 45, and a plurality of mist ejection holes 44 that communicate with the inside of the nozzle 45. As a result, while the mist supply device 43 is in operation, the water from the water supply cassette 8 is sent to the nozzle 45 by the water supply pump 47, the water supplied by the nozzle 45 is atomized, and the mist is supplied into the inside of the cooking room 14 through the mist ejection holes 44. At this time, if the temperature inside the cooking chamber 14 is higher than 100°C at atmospheric pressure (hereinafter, temperature values ​​will be the temperature values ​​in Celsius at atmospheric pressure), this mist instantly vaporizes inside the cooking chamber 14 to become superheated steam, thereby quickly and evenly heating the food to be cooked S placed inside the cooking chamber 14 with an appropriate amount of water molecules (superheated steam). 【0025】 Figure 7 shows the cooking temperature detection means and its surrounding components. As shown in Figure 7, a first sensor 55 and a sensor motor 56 are positioned between the cooking chamber 14 and the main body 1, facing outwards from the raised member 52 including the window 53, while a second sensor 58 is positioned facing the window 54. The sensor motor 56 and the second sensor 58 are mounted and fixed inside the main body 1, while the first sensor 55 is attached to the rotatable rotating shaft 59 of the sensor motor 56. 【0026】 The sensor motor 56, which is the drive device for the first sensor 55, is composed of a stepping motor or the like and has a rotating shaft 59 that swings the first sensor 55 back and forth inside the main body 1. The first sensor 55 mainly consists of a hollow sensor case 61 attached and fixed to the rotating shaft 59, a sensor substrate 62 housed inside the sensor case 61, a plurality (for example, 16) infrared detection elements 63 mounted on the surface of the sensor substrate 62, and a lens 64 attached and fixed to the sensor case 61 facing the infrared detection elements 63. 【0027】 In this embodiment, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, multiple infrared detection elements 63 (non-contact temperature detection means having multiple detection units (CH1 to CH16 in Figure 12) that non-contactly detect the temperature in a predetermined area on the bottom side of the heating chamber) are arranged along the vertical direction of the cooking chamber 14. In this embodiment, when the sensor motor 56 receives a motor drive signal from the control means 71 (see Figure 11), which will be described later, and rotates its rotation axis 59 back and forth by a predetermined angle in the forward and reverse directions, the first sensor 55 swings, and the field of view of the multiple infrared detection elements 63 that reach the bottom wall 14b of the cooking chamber 14 (hereinafter also referred to as "multiple areas") swings repeatedly in a fan shape around each infrared detection element 63. In other words, as an example, the non-contact temperature detection means is a 16-eye sensor in a 1x16 arrangement (Figure 8), and the control means 71 swings the 16-eye sensor back and forth in a predetermined direction. The 16-eye sensor then detects 16 temperatures (CH1~CH16) in multiple regions: 16 at each predetermined point (each angle: Ang) on ​​the forward path and 16 at each predetermined point (each angle: Ang) on ​​the second predetermined point (each angle: Ang) on ​​the return path. 【0028】 Here, Figure 12 schematically represents the bottom surface of the oven range and multiple temperature detection areas. The number of multiple areas is, for example, 256, which is obtained by multiplying the 16 field of view portions (CH1 to CH16) corresponding to the 16 infrared detection elements 63 by the 16 angles (angles Ang0 to 7 on the forward path, and angles Ang8 to 15 on the return path) resulting from the oscillation of the first sensor 55. 【0029】 Furthermore, as shown in Figures 7 and 9, the second sensor 58 mainly consists of a hollow sensor case 66 mounted and fixed inside the main body 1, a sensor substrate 67 housed inside the sensor case 66, a single infrared detection element 68 mounted on the surface of the sensor substrate 67, and a lens 69 mounted and fixed to the sensor case 66 facing the infrared detection element 68. The second sensor 58 is mounted and fixed inside the main body 1 such that the field of view of the infrared detection element 68 always reaches the center of the front, back, left, and right sides of the bottom wall 14b, through the window 54 from the center of the right side wall 14d in the vertical and front and back directions. 【0030】 The first sensor 55 and the second sensor 58 are both infrared sensors and constitute the food temperature detection means 65 of this embodiment. The food temperature detection means 65 here detects the temperature distribution throughout the cooking chamber 14 using the swinging first sensor 55 and the fixed second sensor 58, and detects the temperature of the bottom surface and the surface temperature of the food S in a short time from the amount of infrared radiation emitted by the bottom surface and the food S. 【0031】 Figure 11 illustrates the main electrical configuration of the oven range of this embodiment. In Figure 11, the control means 71 is composed of a microcomputer and, as is well known, includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) as a means of calculation processing, memory as a means of storage, a timer as a means of timing, and input / output devices. 【0032】 In addition to the aforementioned key and touch panel operation means 7 and food temperature detection means 65, the input port of the control means 71 is electrically connected to the following: an internal temperature detection means 72 including a thermistor 15 for detecting the temperature inside the cooking chamber 14; a hot air motor rotation detection means 73 for detecting the rotation speed of the hot air fan 28; a door open / closed detection means 74 for detecting the open / closed state of the door 3; and an antenna position detection means 75 for detecting the origin position of the antenna constituting the microwave generator 19. 【0033】 In addition to the display means 6 mentioned above, the output port of the control means 71 is electrically connected to the following: a microwave heating means 78 including a magnetron and its driving means; a heater driving means 79 such as relays for switching the power on and off to the upper heater 18 for grill heating, the hot air heater 27 for oven heating, and the evaporation heater for steam heating; an antenna driving means 80 for operating the antenna motor 38 that rotates the antenna 41 that radiates microwaves into the cooking chamber 14; a hot air motor driving means 81 for rotating the hot air motor 29; a sensor motor driving means 82 for rotating the sensor motor 56 in forward and reverse directions; and a pump driving means 83 for operating the water supply pump 47 of the mist supply device 43. 【0034】 The control means 71 receives operation signals from the operation means 7 and detection signals from the food temperature detection means 65, the internal temperature detection means 72, the hot air motor rotation detection means 73, the door opening / closing detection means 74, and the antenna position detection means 75. Based on timing from the timing means, it outputs control signals for driving the microwave heating means 78, the antenna driving means 80, the heater driving means 79, the hot air motor driving means 81, the sensor motor driving means 82, and the pump driving means 83 at predetermined timings. It also outputs control signals for display to the display means 6. These functions are realized by the control means 71 reading a program recorded in the memory, which serves as a storage medium. 【0035】 Here, with reference to Figure 13, the conventional technology will be explained. Here, an 8-eye sensor will be used as an example. Figure 13 is an explanatory diagram of the word read data. In the conventional technology, temperature detection data was transmitted from the infrared sensor to the control means using the word read method. The word read method is a method of transmitting data in units of words of a predetermined length. 【0036】 As shown in Figure 13(a), the word read data WD consists of a header (destination address, command, etc.), word-size data (temperature detection data), and a footer (error checking data (PEC (Packet Error Checking), etc.)). Such word read data WD is created for the temperature detection data of each detection unit. 【0037】 As shown in Figure 13(b), the infrared sensor transmits word read data WD1 to WD8 (data from the first detection unit to the eighth detection unit) to the control means (e.g., the CPU) at every communication unit time UT (e.g., the minimum interrupt unit time of the microcontroller, 200 μs (microseconds)). However, in this case, a dead time WT (e.g., 60 μs) occurs for each word read data WD (e.g., 140 μs). Also, each word read data WD includes a header and footer, and there is room for improvement in efficiency. Therefore, in this embodiment, a temperature data acquisition method that can substantially increase the amount of data handled is described. 【0038】 In this embodiment, a block-read method is adopted instead of a word-read method. The block-read method is a method of transmitting data in units of blocks, which are groups of multiple words. 【0039】 Figure 14 is an explanatory diagram of block lead data. The control means 71 receives the detection result from the detection unit via the infrared detection element 63 and controls the microwave generator 19 to heat the food to be cooked based on the detection result. 【0040】 In this case, the control means 71 swings the first sensor 55 (infrared sensor: 8-eye sensor, 16-eye sensor, etc.) in a predetermined direction. Then, for each temperature detection angle, each detection unit detects the temperature of the target area and outputs temperature detection data. The first sensor 55 (infrared sensor) then takes the temperature detection data from all the detection units, adds header information including the destination address, and transmits it to the control means as temperature data. 【0041】 Specifically, it is as follows: As shown in Figure 14(a), the block read data BD consists of a header (destination address, command, etc.), data 1 to 8 (temperature detection data from the first detection unit to the temperature detection data from the eighth detection unit), and a footer (error check data (PEC, etc.)). With such a block read data BD, the number of times the header and footer are transmitted can be greatly reduced compared to the word read data WD (Figure 13) (8 times in Figure 13(b) compared to 1 time in Figure 14), and since there is no wasted time WT for each word read data WD, the amount of data that can be handled can be greatly increased. Note that Figure 14 illustrates the block read data BD for an 8-eye sensor, but the same applies to a 16-eye sensor. 【0042】 Returning to Figure 11, for example, the control means 71 swings the first sensor 55 (infrared sensor) multiple times in a predetermined direction. Then, for each angle, each detection unit (CH1 to CH16 in Figure 12) detects the temperature of the target area and outputs temperature detection data multiple times. The first sensor 55 (infrared sensor) then calculates the average of the multiple temperature detection data for each of the detection units (CH1 to CH16 in Figure 12) to obtain average temperature detection data, and transmits all of the average temperature detection data as a single data unit, with header information added, to the control means as temperature data. 【0043】 Furthermore, with the conventional word read method, data for each channel is acquired from the sensor one by one, and PEC is checked each time. Therefore, even if an error occurred in the data, it was easy to identify which channel the problem (error) occurred in. In addition, the acquired data was stored in a buffer of, for example, two bytes, which had the advantage of being easy to handle later. 【0044】 On the other hand, the block read method acquires temperature detection data for all channels in a single communication. Therefore, PEC checks are not performed for each channel, making it impossible to directly identify the location of an error. Furthermore, in the case of a 16-eye sensor, a buffer is required to store, for example, 38 bytes of data including the header, making data management complex. To address this, for example, the acquired 38 bytes of data can be temporarily placed into 2-byte buffers for each channel. This makes the data easier to handle, similar to the word read method. 【0045】 Furthermore, 16-lens and 8-lens sensors may look exactly the same. It's also possible they are produced on the same manufacturing line and could be mixed up and assembled incorrectly. Conventional programs cannot distinguish whether a 16-lens or 8-lens sensor is installed. If a sensor is assembled incorrectly, it could affect the cooking menu. Therefore, we are considering a control program that can identify the sensor type. 【0046】 Assume that the 8-lens sensor does not support block read communication. In that case, for example, if communication with the 8-lens sensor is performed using the block read communication method, the temperature detection data and PEC may become 0xFF (data with the hexadecimal value (0x) which is "FF"). 【0047】 Furthermore, a PEC and temperature data value of 0xFF is considered an impossible value under normal communication conditions. In this case, by utilizing this specification, if a model using an 8-eye sensor performs block read communication for a certain period during inspection mode, the data will be 0xFF if an 8-eye sensor is installed, and the correct temperature detection data will be acquired if a 16-eye sensor is installed. This is determined during inspection mode; for example, if the temperature data is 0xFF, it is considered OK, and if normal temperature detection data is obtained, it is considered NG. In this way, by making it possible to distinguish between 16-eye and 8-eye sensors, it is possible to detect assembly errors. 【0048】 Thus, in this embodiment of the microwave oven, the infrared sensor transmits the temperature detection data from each detection unit as a single data unit to the control means, with header information including the destination address added. In other words, by adopting a block read method instead of the conventional word read method as the data transmission method, the amount of data that can be handled can be substantially increased. 【0049】 For example, the infrared sensor calculates the average of multiple temperature detection data for each detection unit to obtain average temperature detection data, and transmits all of this average temperature detection data as a single data unit, with header information added, to the control means as temperature data. As a result, for example, even if, under the constraint of the swing time for one round trip for a 16-eye sensor, the word-read method would only allow for the calculation of average temperature detection data using an average of 4 readings, the block-read method allows for the calculation of average temperature detection data using an average of 8 readings. 【0050】 Furthermore, the program executed by the oven control means 71 of this embodiment can be provided as an installable or executable file recorded on a recording medium readable by a computer device, such as a CD (Compact Disc)-ROM (Read Only Memory), a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R (Recordable), or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk). Alternatively, the program may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. 【0051】 While embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications are permitted without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as within the scope of the claims and their equivalents. 【0052】 For example, the number of infrared detection elements 63 (Figure 8) is not limited to 16, but may be any other number. [Explanation of Symbols] 【0053】 1...Main unit, 2...Cabinet, 3...Door, 4...Handle, 5...Operation panel, 6...Display means, 7...Operation means, 19...Microwave generator, 55...First sensor, 63...Infrared detection element, 71...Control means

Claims

[Claim 1] A method for acquiring temperature data in a cooking appliance comprising an infrared sensor having a predetermined number of n detection units arranged in a row for non-contact detection of the temperature of multiple areas on the bottom side of a heating chamber containing food to be cooked, and a control means, The control means swings the infrared sensor in the front-to-back direction of the heating chamber, In the swing of 1, for each angle where a first predetermined number of temperature detection points are provided m times in the forward path and a second predetermined number of k times in the return path, Each of the detection units detects the temperature of the target region and outputs n × (m + k) temperature detection data in one swing. The temperature detection data, when transmitted with header and footer information added, is data in which, within a time less than or equal to the minimum interrupt unit time of the control means, only one temperature detection data can be transmitted, resulting in a predetermined dead time. A method for acquiring temperature data, wherein, in one swing of the infrared sensor, the temperature detection data from the n detection units is treated as a single data unit, header information and footer information are added, and the data is transmitted to the control means m + k times as temperature data. [Claim 2] The aforementioned n items are 16 items. The infrared sensor is a 16-eye sensor in which 16 of the detection units are arranged in a row, The method for acquiring temperature data according to claim 1, wherein the m times and k times are each 8 times. [Claim 3] The aforementioned temperature detection data is 38 bytes. The temperature data acquisition method according to claim 1, wherein the control means does not perform error checking for each of the n data from the detection units in the acquired temperature detection data, and instead places each of the n data from the detection units into a 2-byte buffer. [Claim 4] The control means swings the infrared sensor multiple times in the front-to-back direction of the heating chamber. For each of the aforementioned angles, Each of the detection units detects the temperature of the target area and outputs the temperature detection data multiple times. The method for acquiring temperature data according to claim 1, wherein the infrared sensor calculates the average of a plurality of temperature detection data for each of the detection units to obtain average temperature detection data, and transmits all of the average temperature detection data as a single data unit, with the header information added, to the control means as temperature data.

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