Cooking appliance and operation method thereof

Abstract

A cooking appliance and an operation method thereof are disclosed. A cooking appliance according to at least one of various embodiments of the present disclosure may comprise: an image sensing device acquiring an image of a cooking chamber containing an object to be cooked; a door lighting device emitting light in the direction of the cooking chamber; a cooking chamber interior lighting device disposed inside the cooking chamber and emitting light; a heating unit heating the object to be cooked; and a control unit controlling the on / off of the door lighting device and the cooking chamber interior lighting device according to an operation state of the image sensing device.

Description

Cooking appliances and their operating methods

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a cooking appliance and a method of operating the same.

[0002] Cooking appliances like ovens are widely used in homes. These appliances can cook various ingredients in a variety of ways.

[0003] However, the cooking appliance requires the user to manually operate the appliance for cooking and also check the cooking status frequently.

[0004] Accordingly, cooking appliances capable of automatic cooking are being developed, but existing cooking appliances only perform the cooking method manually input by the user.

[0005] For example, conventional cooking appliances had the problem of not being able to respond to various events that could occur during the cooking process outside of the set routine.

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the present disclosure aims to provide a cooking device and an operating method thereof that can process a cooking object from a high-resolution image so that the cooking object can be well recognized.

[0007] In order to achieve the above-described purpose, a cooking appliance according to at least one of various embodiments of the present disclosure may include an image sensing device that acquires an image of the interior of a container containing food to be cooked; a door lighting device that irradiates light in a direction inside the container; an interior lighting device that is disposed inside the container and irradiates light; a heating unit that heats the food to be cooked; and a control unit that controls on / off of the door lighting device and the interior lighting device according to an operating state of the image sensing device.

[0008] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can control the door lighting device to be turned on when the image sensing device is operating.

[0009] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can control the high-intensity illumination device to be turned off when the image sensing device is in operation.

[0010] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can control the door lighting device to be turned off when the image sensing device is not operating.

[0011] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can control the high-intensity illumination device to be turned on when the image sensing device is not operating.

[0012] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can control the operation of the image sensing device by detecting whether the door of the cooking appliance is opened.

[0013] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can control the image sensing device to be turned off when the door of the cooking appliance is opened.

[0014] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can control the door lighting device to be turned off when the door of the cooking appliance is opened.

[0015] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can control the high-intensity lighting device to be turned on when the door of the cooking appliance is opened.

[0016] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can determine whether a lighting control command is input, and if the lighting control command is input, determine whether to process the lighting control command based on the operating state of the image sensing device.

[0017] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit may ignore the lighting control command when the image sensing device is operating.

[0018] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can control to provide guidance for non-execution of the lighting control command when the image sensing device is in operation.

[0019] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can control a button for a lighting control command to be activated or deactivated depending on the operating state of the image sensing device.

[0020] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, the control unit can control a button for a lighting control command to be deactivated when the image sensing device is in operation.

[0021] A method of operating a cooking appliance according to at least one of various embodiments of the present disclosure comprises the steps of: detecting a door closure; detecting a food to be cooked inside the oven; starting cooking of the food to be cooked; and taking a picture of the food to be cooked using an image sensing device, wherein the on / off of the door lighting device and the interior lighting device can be controlled according to the operating state of the image sensing device.

[0022] According to at least one of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, there is an advantage in that the recognition rate of a cooking object from an internal image can be increased, thereby increasing the accuracy and convenience of using a cooking appliance.

[0023] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cooking appliance according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the door.

[0025] Figures 3 and 4 are control block diagrams of a cooking appliance according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIGS. 5 to 10 are flowcharts illustrating a lighting control operation in a cooking appliance by a control unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. When designating components in each drawing, it should be noted that, where possible, identical components are given the same reference numerals, even if they appear in different drawings. Furthermore, when describing embodiments of the present disclosure, detailed descriptions of related known structures or functions will be omitted if they are deemed to hinder understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] Hereinafter, various embodiments of a cooking appliance and its operating method according to the present disclosure are disclosed. Such a cooking appliance may include an oven.

[0029] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cooking appliance according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] Fig. 1(a) illustrates a cooking appliance (1) employing a single door, and Fig. 1(b) illustrates a cooking appliance (1) employing a dual door. However, the cooking appliance (1) according to the present disclosure is not limited to the examples illustrated in Figs. 1(a) and 1(b).

[0031] A cooking appliance (1) may have a storage space (or a cooking chamber or a kitchen) in which food (F) may be placed inside. A door (50, 70) may be arranged in front of the storage space so that the storage space may be opened and closed. Here, the front may refer to a direction toward a user when the user is positioned in front of the cooking appliance (1) (for example, the X-axis direction in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b)). In FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), the Y-axis direction may refer to the width direction of the door (150, 170), and the Z-axis direction may refer to the height direction of the door (150, 170). The following description will be made based on these directions.

[0032] A cooking appliance (1) employing two doors (50, 70) will be described as an example, and each door may be named a first door (50) or upper door (50) and a second door (70) or lower door (70).

[0033] The door (50, 70) may include an image acquisition unit (100). The image acquisition unit (100) includes at least one image sensing device (170) and can acquire an internal image of the storage space (hereinafter referred to as an “interior image”).

[0034] The door (50, 70) includes at least one lighting device (hereinafter referred to as “door lighting device”) (180) so that the internal illuminance of the storage space can be controlled.

[0035] The image acquisition unit (100) may be installed inside the door (50, 70) or may be detachably attached to / on the door (50, 70). The image sensing device (170) may include at least one image sensor, such as a camera sensor. The door lighting device (180) may be implemented with a light emitting diode (LED) or an LED array.

[0036] The image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) can be combined and named as an image acquisition unit (100).

[0037] Referring to Fig. 1, the main body (10) of the cooking appliance is implemented in a hexahedral shape, but is not limited thereto and may be implemented in various shapes.

[0038] In Fig. 1(a), the main body (10) of a cooking appliance employing one door (50) is illustrated. At this time, one or more storage spaces may be arranged within the door (50).

[0039] In Fig. 1(b), the main body (10) of a cooking appliance employing two doors (50, 70) is illustrated. In this case, the doors (50, 70) may be arranged at different heights. The doors (50, 70) may open and close and / or shield different storage spaces, respectively.

[0040] Referring to FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), a panel (15) may be provided on the upper portion of the cooking appliance (1). At this time, an operation unit (16) may be provided on the panel (15). Various information that can be provided by the cooking appliance (1) may be displayed on the operation unit (16). For example, information on the manual cooking state or automatic cooking state of the cooking appliance (1), information on the recommended menu, information on the on / off or brightness level control of the image acquisition unit (100), etc. may be displayed on the operation unit (16).

[0041] The first door (upper door) (50) and the second door (lower door) (70) can be operated in a pull-down manner in which the upper portions rotate up and down around their lower portions. As another example, the first door (50) and the second door (70) can be operated in a side swing manner in which they open sideways.

[0042] Referring to FIG. 1(a) or 1(b), the front surface (51) of the first door may have a structure that allows the first storage space to be viewed. For example, the front surface (51) of the first door may have a glass panel structure, allowing the user to observe the interior of the first storage space through the front panel (G1a) of the first door (50).

[0043] As another example, the front surface (51) of the first door may be made of a dark material or coated with a separate film so that the first storage space is not visible from the outside. Each door (50, 70) may be equipped with a handle (55, 75) for opening and closing the corresponding door (50, 70).

[0044] Referring to Fig. 1(b), the second door (70) can be placed below the first door (50). Through the front of the second door (70), the second storage space can be seen.

[0045] The second door (70) may be provided with a transparent portion (V). The transparent portion (V) is for viewing the second storage space from the outside and may be made of a transparent material. The transparent portion (V) may be viewed as a part of the second front panel (G2a) forming the front of the second door (70). The transparent portion (V) may be provided at the center of the second front panel (G2a). For example, the edge portion of the second front panel (G2a) may have a material with a high surface roughness, unlike the transparent portion (V), or a separate opaque film may be applied to the edge portion of the second front panel (G2a). In this case, the edge portion of the second front panel (G2a), excluding the transparent portion (V), makes it impossible to view the second storage space.

[0046] As another example, the second door (70) may be made of a dark material or coated with a separate film so that the storage space is not visible from the outside.

[0047] As another example, the second door (70) may omit the second door panel, which will be described later, and the front may be formed by an opaque metal or non-metallic plate. In this case, the second storage space may not be visible from the outside.

[0048] The interior of the storage space can be photographed by the image acquisition unit (100).

[0049] At this time, the storage space can be photographed by the image sensing device (170) constituting the image acquisition unit (100) or the illumination level can be adjusted by the lighting device (180) constituting the image acquisition unit (100). In the above, when the storage space is photographed by the image sensing device (170), the door lighting device (180) is operated together according to the internal illumination level, so that a clear image of the food (F) within the storage space can be obtained.

[0050] The image acquisition unit (100) may be configured to include at least one image sensing device (170) and at least one door lighting device (180).

[0051] Referring to FIG. 2, the image acquisition unit (100) is configured to include one image sensing device (170) and two door lighting devices (180).

[0052] Referring to FIG. 2, the image sensing device (170) may be placed in one area of ​​the image acquisition unit (100). In this case, the one area may represent the center area of ​​the image acquisition unit (100) or the door (70).

[0053] Two door lighting devices (180), that is, the first door lighting device and the second door lighting device, may be respectively positioned at corresponding positions on both sides centered on the image sensing device (170). Each door lighting device (180) may include at least one LED. In FIG. 2, each door lighting device (180) includes, for example, two LEDs (180a, 180b). At this time, the first door lighting device and the second door lighting device basically form an incident angle so that light is irradiated toward the storage space, but each LED (180a, 180b) constituting each door lighting device (180) may be installed to face different directions. In other words, the incident angles of the four LEDs may be determined so as to minimize or eliminate shaded areas where light does not reach the storage space.

[0054] The areas or ranges where light is irradiated into the storage space by the door lighting device (180) may overlap each other.

[0055] Depending on the embodiment, all LEDs constituting the door lighting device (180) may be turned on, but only some may be turned on to irradiate light into the storage space.

[0056] According to another embodiment, the first LED (180a) constituting the door lighting device (180) may be designed with an angle of incidence such that light can directly reach the object (F) within the storage space. Accordingly, the illumination level of the object (F) area located at the center of the storage space may be relatively higher than the surrounding area. The first LED (180a) may be turned on and operated only when the image sensing device (170) is activated.

[0057] According to another embodiment, the second LED (180b) constituting the door lighting device (180) may be turned off and not operate when the image sensing device (170) is activated. In this case, the second LED (180b) may be turned on and operate even when the image sensing device (170) is activated when the illumination level within the storage space is below a threshold level.

[0058] The first LED (180a) forms an incident angle so that light can directly reach the location where the main object (F) is placed within the storage space, and the second LED (180b) forms an incident angle so that light can first reach the side wall of the storage space. However, the light emitted from the second LED (180b) can be emitted into the storage space along various paths according to the reflection angle after reaching the side wall, so that the overall illumination level of the storage space can be evenly increased.

[0059] The door lighting device (180) can be activated together with the image sensing device (170) to increase the illumination level of the storage space and assist in obtaining a clearer image. Meanwhile, the door lighting device (180) can operate independently even when the image sensing device (170) is deactivated.

[0060] Meanwhile, the direction in which the second LED (180b) irradiates light may be set differently from the direction in which the first LED (180a) irradiates light, based on the up-down direction (the Z-axis direction in FIG. 1). Specifically, the second LED (180b) may be controlled to irradiate light in a direction that is biased toward the floor of the storage space compared to the first LED (180a). Accordingly, the first LED (180a) and the second LED (180b) can irradiate light to a wider area based on the up-down direction (the Z-axis direction in FIG. 1), thereby minimizing or eliminating shaded areas.

[0061] In addition, the area where the second LED (180b) irradiates light and the area where the first LED (180a) irradiates light in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction in FIG. 1) may overlap each other. The area where the light of the first LED (180a) irradiates overlaps at least partially with the area where the light of the second LED (180b) irradiates, so that an area with high illuminance can be created at the center of the storage space in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction in FIG. 1). Since the food item (F) is arranged at the center of the storage space in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction in FIG. 1), the door lighting device (180) can illuminate the food item (F) more brightly.

[0062] Below, the structure for illuminating the interior of a storage space and acquiring an image through the image acquisition unit (100) will be described in detail. In this specification, the term "image" may include either or both a moving image and a still image. However, this may be determined by context.

[0063] For convenience of explanation, FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the second door (70) of FIG. 1(b), for example.

[0064] The front surface of the door (70) may have a rectangular planar structure. For example, the surface of the front panel (G2a) may constitute the front surface of the door (70).

[0065] A transparent portion (V) may be provided at the front center of the door (70). The transparent portion (V) may be made of a transparent or translucent material so that the storage space can be observed from the outside. A portion of the center of the front panel (G2a) may be the transparent portion (V). The transparent portion (V) may not be formed as a separate object from the front panel (G2a), but may be a part of the front panel (G2a).

[0066] The door (70) can be largely composed of a front frame portion (72) and a rear frame portion (80).

[0067] An image acquisition unit (100) may be installed inside the door (70). The image acquisition unit (100) may acquire an internal image of the storage space and display it in real time or generate an image to provide it to the user. For example, the generated image may include a time-lapse video.

[0068] The image acquisition unit (100) may be arranged outside the viewing section (V) inside the door (70). Here, the outside refers to a portion surrounding the edge of the viewing section (V). Referring to FIG. 2, the image acquisition unit (100) may be arranged in an installation area (T1-T4) outside the edge of the viewing section (V), that is, an external area of ​​the front panel (G2a). As another example, the image acquisition unit (100) may be arranged on an edge inside the front panel (G2a), for example, on the left and right sides or the lower part of the viewing section (V).

[0069] Referring to FIG. 2, the image acquisition unit (100) can be attached to the rear of the second front panel (G2a) facing the storage space or the installation area (T1).

[0070] Figures 3 and 4 are control block diagrams of a cooking appliance according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0071] Fig. 3 shows a control configuration block diagram of the single oven shown in Fig. 1(a). Fig. 4 shows a control configuration block diagram of the double oven shown in Fig. 1(b).

[0072] First, referring to FIG. 3, the cooking appliance (1) may include at least one of a power supply unit (310), a heating unit (320), an image acquisition unit (100), a storage unit (330), an internal lighting device (340), a panel (150), an operation unit (160), a control unit (350), etc. The operation unit (160) may be equipped with a lighting on / off button (165). Here, the lighting on / off button (165) may be capable of not only turning the lighting device (180 or 340) on / off, but also controlling the illuminance level, etc.

[0073] The power supply unit (310) supplies power for driving the cooking appliance (1). The power supplied in this way can be supplied, in particular, to the heating unit (320), which is a heat source for heating the food (F).

[0074] The heating unit (320) can heat the food (F). The heating unit (320) may include at least one heater. At this time, the heater may include a convection heater. The heater may be an infrared heater that radiates infrared rays. The heater may be configured as a combination of a heating wire and an infrared heater. The heating unit (320) may further include at least one RF (Radio Frequency) module (not shown) that heats the food (F) using RF. The at least one RF module may replace at least one heater.

[0075] The heating unit (320) can perform a preheating operation up to a set temperature when preheating is required depending on the food (F) under the control of the control unit (370).

[0076] As described above, the image acquisition unit (100) may include an image sensing device (170) and a door lighting device (180).

[0077] Meanwhile, the above cooking appliance (1) may also include a lighting device installed inside the oven, i.e., an interior lighting device (340), in addition to the already acquired unit (100). In this case, the interior lighting device (340) may be, for example, a lamp, but is not limited thereto.

[0078] The operation of the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) refers to the contents described above in FIGS. 1 and 2, and redundant description is omitted here.

[0079] The storage unit (330) may store various information required for the cooking device (1) in advance, or may store in real time, when information related to the cooking of the food (F) or the food to be cooked (F) is collected. The information stored in the storage unit (330) may include, for example, information on ingredients or menus related to the food (F), information on automatic cooking or / and manual cooking, various information generated before, during, and after menu cooking (including events), control setting information for the image sensing device (170), the door lighting device (180), etc.

[0080] The panel (150) can output various types of information.

[0081] The control unit (160) is configured to receive various setting information related to the operation of the cooking appliance (1) by the user or to receive information for controlling the cooking operation, and may be configured or include a device such as a physical control button, a dial-type switch, or a wheel. For example, if a touch panel (or touch screen) is employed in the control unit (160), the physical control button, etc. may not exist separately and may be implemented and provided in the form of a touchable icon.

[0082] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the control unit (160) may include a lighting on / off button (165). The lighting on / off button (165) may also be provided as a physical button or in the form of a touch icon. The user may manually control the on / off of the lighting device (180) by accessing the lighting on / off button (165). However, as described below, even if the lighting on / off button (165) is accessed by the user, the door lighting device (180) may not always be turned on / off by the access.

[0083] Additionally, the light on / off button (165) is not always activated, and may be deactivated, for example, when the image sensing device (170) is in operation, as described below. Depending on the embodiment, the light on / off button (165) may also be used to control the on / off of the lamp (340).

[0084] The control unit (350) controls the overall operation of the cooking appliance (1), including the operation of each component described above, and can transmit control commands to each component shown in FIG. 3 for this purpose.

[0085] The control unit (350) can perform control, for example, when the cooking appliance (1) further includes a microphone (not shown) for information input or a speaker (not shown) for information output. The control unit (350) can control a pairing or connection operation with an external display or speaker (e.g., an artificial intelligence speaker) through at least one of wired / wireless communication protocols such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), Zigbee, 3G / 4G / 5G / 6G, and can control various types of information or alarm signals therefor to be output through the paired or connected external display or speaker.

[0086] Meanwhile, the control unit (350) can obtain illuminance data from an illuminance sensor (not shown) installed on the cooking appliance (1) or its exterior. Based on the illuminance data, the control unit (350) can control the door lighting device (180) to irradiate light of a predetermined amount (luminous flux) into the interior.

[0087] Meanwhile, the door lighting device (180) may be a flash. Alternatively, the flash may be separately provided in the image sensing device (170). The flash provided in this manner may operate when taking a picture in the image sensing device (170). The flash may operate together with at least one of the door lighting device (180) and the interior lighting device (340) or may operate independently. According to one embodiment, the flash may operate together with the door lighting device (180) to contribute to obtaining a clearer image of the object (F) when taking an interior image.

[0088] FIGS. 5 to 10 are flowcharts illustrating a lighting control operation within a cooking appliance (1) by a control unit (350) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Meanwhile, in describing FIGS. 5 to 11, FIG. 3, in which a single door is adopted, will be used as an example for convenience, and it will be apparent that the same or similar method can also be applied to FIG. 4, in which a dual door is adopted.

[0089] In this specification, "activation" may indicate a state in which a configuration performs a requested operation or is ready to perform the operation, and may include a turned-on state. On the other hand, "deactivation" may indicate a state in which a configuration has completed a requested operation but remains turned on, or a turned-off state.

[0090] The following FIGS. 5 to 11 illustrate embodiments in which, for example, the control unit (350) of FIG. 3 controls the image sensing device (170), the door lighting device (180), the indoor lighting device (340), etc. In this case, the control unit (350) can control the aforementioned configuration(s) when a preset event occurs in the cooking appliance (1) or when there is a lighting control-related input from the user. In the above, the lighting control-related input can be obtained through the aforementioned lighting on / off button (165) or the user's terminal (FIG. 3).

[0091] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) may be turned off when the door (70) is open, and may be turned on when the door (70) is closed. However, the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) may not always be turned on even when the door (70) is closed, and may be turned on only under certain conditions. Here, the certain conditions may include, for example, a case where the image sensing device (170) is capturing the interior of the house. The door lighting device (180) may be turned on together when the image sensing device (170) is capturing the interior of the house. Meanwhile, the door lighting device (180) may be turned on so that the interior of the house is visible when there is a user lighting control input through a door on / off button (165), etc. In the above, when the image sensing device (170) is activated, even if the user's lighting control input is obtained through the door on / off button (165), etc., it may be ignored or filtered out. The high-intensity lighting device (340) may be turned on only when the door (70) is open or when there is an individual request from the user.

[0092] Fig. 5 may be an example of a state in which the cooking appliance (1) is turned on, but before cooking. Accordingly, in this case, both the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) of the cooking appliance (1) may be turned off.

[0093] In operation S110, the control unit (350) can detect the door closing. This is to control the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) not to be activated when the door is opened by the control unit (350). The image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) are both provided on the door (50, 70) and, when the door is closed, photograph the interior of the house or irradiate light toward the interior. However, when the door (70) is opened, the image sensing device (170) cannot photograph the interior of the house and the door lighting device (180) can no longer irradiate light into the interior of the house. Therefore, it may be desirable for the control unit (350) to control both the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) to be deactivated, i.e., turned off.

[0094] In operation S120, the control unit (350) can detect a contaminated object (F) inside the chamber when door closing is detected in operation S110.

[0095] In operation S130, if a high-temperature food (F) is detected, the control unit (350) can start cooking. At this time, if there is a cooking request for the detected food (F), the control unit (350) can start cooking.

[0096] In operation S140, the control unit (350) can control the image sensing device (170) to capture the food (F) that has started to be cooked. At this time, the control unit (350) can control the operation states of the door lighting device (180) and the interior lighting device (340), for example, whether they are turned on or off, according to the operation state of the image sensing device (170). For example, when the operation state of the image sensing device (170) is on, the control unit (350) can control the door lighting device (180) to be turned on and the interior lighting device (340) to be turned off.

[0097] On the other hand, when the operating state of the image sensing device (170) is off, the control unit (350) can control the door lighting device (180) to be turned off and the interior lighting device (340) to be turned on. However, the control unit (350) may not always control the door lighting device (180) to be turned off or the interior lighting device (340) to be turned on when the image sensing device (170) is off. For example, when the door is open, the control unit (350) can control the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) to be turned off and the interior lighting device (340) to be turned on, as described above.

[0098] In operation S120, when a high-temperature object (F) is detected, the control unit (350) can identify the detected object (F) to provide information to at least one of the panel (150) and the operation unit (160).

[0099] In the above operation, at least one of the detection and identification of the object (F) may be performed through a separate sensor (not shown). In some embodiments, at least one of the detection and identification of the object (F) may be replaced by a user's cooking operation request input.

[0100] Meanwhile, in the above operation S120, at least one of detection and identification of the internal object (F) may be performed through the image sensing device (170). In this case, when the image sensing device (170) is activated, the door lighting device (180) may also be activated. The above operation is a separate operation distinct from the operation S140, and may precede the operation S130.

[0101] Next, referring to Fig. 6, the operation of the control unit (350) is described as follows.

[0102] Referring to FIG. 6, in operation S210, the control unit (350) can control the image sensing device (170) to be turned on to take a picture of the interior.

[0103] In operation S220, the control unit (350) can control the door lighting device (180) to be turned on and the interior lighting device (340) to be turned off. In the above, the door lighting device (180) can perform a function of assisting the image sensing device (170) when the image sensing device (170) is turned on to capture the interior of the refrigerator, for example, to clearly identify the food (F) located inside the refrigerator or to clearly identify the cooking state of the food (F) being cooked inside the refrigerator. On the other hand, the interior lighting device (340) is for illuminating the interior of the refrigerator when the door lighting device (180) is turned off, such as when the door is opened, and can be controlled to be turned off in the above because the door lighting device (180) is turned on and operates.

[0104] Meanwhile, in operation S230, the control unit (350) can control the lighting on / off button (165) on the operation unit (160) to be deactivated when the image sensing device (170) is turned on in operation S210 and when the door lighting device (180) is turned on in operation S220. This is to prevent the user from making lighting control input through the lighting on / off button (165) in the above case. In the above case, since it can be seen that the interior is being photographed through the image sensing device (170), this may be to prevent the user from intervening in the photographing or to prevent the user from intervening in the photographing.

[0105] Although the user may input a lighting control command through the lighting on / off button (165) provided on the cooking appliance (1) in the aforementioned Fig. 6, the user may also perform lighting control input through another device or voice input, etc. held by the user. In such a case, the operation of the control unit (350) is described in Fig. 7.

[0106] In the S310 and S320 operations, the operation of the control unit (350) is as shown in FIG. 6 described above.

[0107] However, in operation S330, the control unit (350) can determine whether a user's lighting control command is input.

[0108] In operation S340, if the control unit (350) determines in operation S330 that a user's lighting control command has been input, the control unit (350) may ignore the user's input lighting control command or provide a guide indicating that the input lighting control command cannot be performed depending on the current operation of the image sensing device (170) (i.e., indoor shooting, etc.).

[0109] In the above S340 operation, ignoring or providing guidance for the lighting control command input from the control unit (350) may be to ensure the operation of the image sensing device (170) (and door lighting device (180)) such as indoor photography, as described above. In this case, when the control unit (350) provides the ignoring or guidance, it may also provide information on the point in time when the lighting control command is possible through the panel (150) or the user's terminal (not shown), information on the cooking status of the food (F), etc. The cooking status information of the food (F) may be provided by an image acquired from a portion (current or previous frame) of an image being captured by the image sensing device (170), or the image and text may be provided together.

[0110] Referring to FIG. 8, in operation S410, the control unit (350) can determine whether a lighting control command has been input from the user.

[0111] In operation S420, if a lighting control command is input from the user in operation S410, the control unit (350) can determine whether both the current image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) are operating. Here, depending on the embodiment, operation S420 may be replaced with determining whether the image sensing device (170) is operating.

[0112] In operation S430, if the control unit (350) determines that both the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) are currently operating as a result of operation S420, it may ignore the previously input user's lighting control command or provide a guide indicating that the user's lighting control command cannot be performed depending on the operation of the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180).

[0113] On the other hand, in operation S440, if the control unit (350) determines that both the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) are not currently operating as a result of operation S420, the control unit (350) can control an operation according to the user's lighting control command. Here, the operation according to the user's lighting control command can refer to, for example, one of acquiring a still image of the object (F) inside the room using the image sensing device (170), turning on the door lighting device (180), or controlling the illumination level of the turned-on door lighting device (180).

[0114] Referring to FIG. 9, in operation S510, the control unit (350) can determine whether the door is open.

[0115] In operation S520, if the control unit (350) determines that the door is open based on the judgment result in operation S510, the control unit (350) can check the activation status of the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) (S520). When the door is open, the cooking appliance (1) basically stops shooting because the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) provided on the door do not face the inside of the oven. Therefore, when the door is open, it is preferable that both the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) be turned off. However, when there is an abnormality in the cooking appliance (1), such as not being able to detect that the door is open, at least one of the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) may be turned on even though the door is not opened or the door is opened, so it is preferable to check this. This can also be used as a reference for determining whether or not the cooking appliance (1) is abnormal.

[0116] In operation S530, if at least one of the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) is activated as a result of the confirmation in operation S520, the control unit (350) can turn off the activated device and control the interior lighting device (340) to be turned on when the door is opened.

[0117] The control unit (350) may not always control the high-intensity lighting device (340) to be turned on even when the door is opened, as in operation S530 of FIG. 9. For example, the control unit (350) may operate as in FIG. 10.

[0118] In FIG. 10, operations S610 and S620 may correspond to or be identical to operations S510 and S520 of FIG. 9 described above.

[0119] However, in operation S630, the control unit (350) may control the image sensing device (170) and the door lighting device (180) to be turned on, as in operation S530 of FIG. 9 described above, but may not control the interior lighting device (340) to be automatically turned on, unlike operation S530 of FIG. 9.

[0120] In operation S640, the control unit (350) can determine whether a user's lighting control command has been input. Here, the lighting control command may be, for example, a turn-on command for the high-intensity lighting device (340).

[0121] In operation S650, the control unit (350) can control the indoor lighting device (340) to turn on and illuminate the indoor area accordingly if, as a result of the judgment in operation S640, a user's lighting control command is input.

[0122] In the above, operation S640 may be performed, for example, before operation S630. In this case, if the control unit (350) determines in operation S640 that a user's lighting control command has been input, the control unit (350) may perform operations S630 and S650 together. This is because, in the above, when the door is open, the user's lighting control command is preferably viewed as an input to the indoor lighting device (340) rather than a command to the image sensing device (170) or the door lighting device (180).

[0123] Referring to Fig. 4, the control configuration of a cooking appliance (1) employing a double oven may include a power supply unit (310), a heating unit (320), an image acquisition unit (100), a storage unit (330), an internal lighting device (340), a panel (150), an operation unit (160), etc. At this time, the operation unit (160) may include a lighting on / off button (165). The lighting on / off button (165) may be capable of not only turning the lighting device (180 or 340) on / off, but also controlling the illuminance level, etc.

[0124] Unlike the cooking appliance (1) employing the single oven of FIG. 3, in the control configuration of the cooking appliance (1) employing the double oven of FIG. 4, the heating unit (520) may include a plurality of heating units, for example, a first heating unit (521), a second heating unit (522), etc., and the image acquisition unit (100) may include a first image sensing device (170-1), a second image sensing device (170-2), a first door lighting device (180-1), a second door lighting device (180-2), etc. In the above, the first heating unit (521), the first image sensing device (170-1), and the first door lighting device (180-1) may be operated for the first oven (e.g., the upper oven), and the second heating unit (522), the second image sensing device (170-2), and the second door lighting device (180-2) may be operated for the second oven (e.g., the lower oven).

[0125] Meanwhile, in FIGS. 3 and 4, the server and the terminal can each perform data communication with the control unit (350). The server can obtain and store data (e.g., still images, moving images, etc.) from the control unit (350). The server can process the data obtained and stored from the control unit (350) and transmit control commands generated based on the processed data back to the control unit (350). The terminal is a terminal held by the user or registered with the cooking appliance (1) or the server, and can transmit various inputs of the user to the cooking appliance (1), i.e., the control unit (350). The terminal can receive feedback on various inputs of the user, various data (still images, moving images, etc.), guides, etc. from the control unit (350), and provide them to the user.

[0126] The operations in the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 10 described above may be performed simultaneously depending on the embodiment, or may be performed in a different order than that illustrated.

[0127] The above description is merely an example of the technical idea of ​​the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains will appreciate that various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the essential characteristics of the present disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure are not intended to limit the technical idea of ​​the present disclosure, but rather to explain it, and the scope of the technical idea of ​​the present disclosure is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present disclosure should be interpreted by the claims below, and all technical ideas within a scope equivalent thereto should be interpreted as being included in the scope of rights of the present disclosure.

[0128] The present disclosure provides a cooking device and an operating method thereof for processing a cooked food from a high-quality image so that the cooked food can be well recognized, and has industrial applicability.

Claims

1. In cooking equipment, An image sensing device for acquiring an image of a cavity containing a substance; A door lighting device that irradiates light in the direction of the above-mentioned interior; A high-temperature lighting device placed inside the high-temperature and irradiating light; A heating unit for heating the above-mentioned food; and A control unit that controls the on / off of the door lighting device and the interior lighting device according to the operating status of the image sensing device. Cooking appliances.

2. In claim 1, The above control unit, When the image sensing device is in operation, the door lighting device is controlled to turn on. Cooking appliances.

3. In claim 2, The above control unit, When the image sensing device is in operation, the high-intensity illumination device is controlled to be turned off. Cooking appliances.

4. In claim 3, The above control unit, When the image sensing device does not operate, the door lighting device is controlled to turn off. Cooking appliances.

5. In claim 4, The above control unit, When the image sensing device is not operating, the high-intensity illumination device is controlled to turn on. Cooking appliances.

6. In claim 1, The above control unit, Controlling the operation of the image sensing device by detecting whether the door of the above cooking appliance is opened, Cooking appliances.

7. In claim 6, The above control unit, When the door of the above cooking appliance is opened, the image sensing device is controlled to turn off. Cooking appliances.

8. In claim 7, The above control unit, When the door of the above cooking appliance is opened, the door lighting device is controlled to turn off. Cooking appliances.

9. In claim 8, The above control unit, When the door of the above cooking appliance is opened, the above high-intensity lighting device is controlled to turn on. Cooking appliances.

10. In claim 1, The above control unit, Checking whether a lighting control command is input, and if the lighting control command is input, determining whether to process the lighting control command based on the operating status of the image sensing device. Cooking appliances.

11. In claim 10, The above control unit, When the above image sensing device is in operation, the lighting control command is ignored. Cooking appliances.

12. In claim 10, The above control unit, When the above image sensing device is in operation, the control provides guidance for non-execution of the lighting control command. Cooking appliances.

13. In claim 1, The above control unit, Depending on the operating status of the image sensing device, a button for a lighting control command is controlled to be activated or deactivated. Cooking appliances.

14. In claim 1, The above control unit, When the above image sensing device is in operation, the button for the lighting control command is controlled to be inactive. Cooking appliances.

15. In the method of operating the cooking appliance, Step for detecting door closure; Step of detecting the presence of a substance in the body; A step of starting cooking the above-mentioned cooked food; and Including a step of photographing the cooked food that has started to be cooked using an image sensing device, The on / off of the door lighting device and the interior lighting device is controlled according to the operating status of the image sensing device. How to operate the cooking appliance.

Images