Automatic cooking device

Abstract

Provided is an automatic cooking device that, in a more realistic and sophisticated manner, reproduces the trained skill of a cooking person in terms of a stirring operation. A container-holding unit 200 for rotatably holding a cooking container 300 that has a bottomed cylindrical container body 310 for accommodating an ingredient I and a stirring member 320 for stirring the ingredient I accommodated in the container body 310 includes: a container rotating shaft 222 that is engaged with the container body 310 to transmit container rotational torque to the container body 310 and cause the container body 310 to rotate about a container body center axis AC; and a stirring member rotating shaft 225 that rotates independently of the container rotating shaft 222. There is configured a magnet coupling mechanism for contactlessly transmitting the stirring member rotational torque between the stirring member rotating shaft 225 of the container-holding unit 200 and the stirring member 320 of the cooking container 300.

Description

Automatic cooking equipment

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic cooking device, and more particularly to an automatic cooking device that stirs and cooks ingredients contained in a cylindrical cooking container with a bottom.

[0002] In recent years, the food service industry has been moving toward automation of cooking operations due to various factors, such as securing chefs, maintaining cooking skills, and improving the cooking environment. Conventionally, an automatic cooking device has been known that includes a container holding unit that holds a cylindrical, bottomed cooking container, a rotation unit that rotates the cooking container held by the container holding unit between a front area and a rear area of ​​a cooking table, and a control unit that drives and controls the container holding unit and the rotation unit, and at least stirs and cooks ingredients contained in the cooking container, in which the cooking container has a stirring member attached to the inner bottom or inner surface of the container body that protrudes into the interior space of the container body (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-175791

[0004] However, in the above-mentioned automatic cooking device, since the stirring member rotates integrally with the container body, there is room for further improvement in reproducing the skilled stirring technique of a chef.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, and the object of the present invention is to provide an automatic cooking device that more realistically and highly reproduces the well-trained stirring technique of a chef.

[0006] The invention of claim 1 is an automatic cooking device that comprises a cooking container having a bottomed cylindrical container body for containing ingredients and a stirring member for stirring the ingredients contained in the container body, and a container holding unit that holds the cooking container so that it can rotate freely, and that stirs and cooks the ingredients contained in the cooking container, wherein the container holding unit has a container rotation shaft that engages with the container body of the cooking container and transmits container rotation torque to the container body, causing the container body to rotate around its central axis, and a stirring member rotation shaft that rotates independently of the container rotation shaft, and thereby forms a magnetic coupling mechanism that transmits stirring member rotation torque non-contact between the stirring member rotation shaft of the container holding unit and the stirring member of the cooking container, thereby solving the above-mentioned problem.

[0007] The invention of claim 2 solves the above-mentioned problem by, in addition to the configuration of the automatic cooking device described in claim 1, forming a convex portion on the bottom surface of the container body that is inserted into the concave portion of the stirring member, and by detachably attaching a ring-shaped resin plate that slides against the stirring member around the convex portion of the container body.

[0008] The invention of claim 3 further solves the above-mentioned problem by, in addition to the configuration of the automatic cooking device described in claim 1, forming an anti-rotation protrusion on either the container body of the cooking container or the container rotation shaft of the container holding unit, and forming an anti-rotation groove that engages with the anti-rotation protrusion on the other of the container body of the cooking container or the container rotation shaft of the container holding unit.

[0009] The invention of claim 4 further solves the above-mentioned problem by, in addition to the configuration of the automatic cooking device described in any one of claims 1 to 3, the container body of the cooking container is formed from a side made of a magnetic material that is induction heated by the container heating unit, and a bottom surface that includes a non-magnetic material area.

[0010] According to the automatic cooking device of the invention of claim 1, the container holding unit has a container rotation shaft that engages with the container body of the cooking container and transmits container rotation torque to the container body, causing the container body to rotate around the central axis of the container body, and a stirring member rotation shaft that rotates independently of the container rotation shaft.A magnetic coupling mechanism is formed that transmits stirring member rotation torque non-contact between the stirring member rotation shaft of the container holding unit and the stirring member of the cooking container, allowing the stirring member to rotate independently of the container body.Therefore, by rotating the stirring member faster or slower than the container body, the stirring member can be rotated more realistically and to a higher degree, thereby reproducing the chef's well-trained stirring skills, and a wide variety of dishes can be cooked. Furthermore, by configuring a magnetic coupling mechanism that transmits the rotational torque of the stirring member non-contact between the stirring member rotating shaft of the container holding unit and the stirring member of the cooking container, the bottom of the container body has a simpler shape than when the stirring member is fixed to the container body with screws, etc., which eliminates ingredients from remaining at the attachment point between the stirring member and the container body, and also makes it easy to attach and detach the stirring member to the container body during maintenance.

[0011] According to the automatic cooking device of the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effects achieved by the automatic cooking device of the invention of claim 1, a convex portion that is inserted into a concave portion of the stirring member is formed on the bottom surface of the container body, and a ring-shaped resin plate that slides against the stirring member is removably attached around the convex portion of the container body, thereby reducing the sliding resistance between the container body and the stirring member, and allowing the stirring member to rotate more reliably and at higher speeds relative to the container body.

[0012] According to the automatic cooking device of the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effects achieved by the automatic cooking device of the invention of claim 1, an anti-rotation protrusion is formed on either the container body of the cooking container or the container rotation shaft of the container holding unit, and an anti-rotation groove that engages with the anti-rotation protrusion is formed on the other of the container body of the cooking container or the container rotation shaft of the container holding unit.Therefore, the cooking container and the container holding unit are positioned and held relative to each other simply by engaging the anti-rotation protrusion with the anti-rotation groove, and the container body rotation torque can be reliably transmitted from the container holding unit to the container body of the cooking container with a simple structure.

[0013] According to the automatic cooking device of the invention of claim 4, in addition to the effects achieved by the automatic cooking device of the invention of any one of claims 1 to 3, the container body of the cooking container is formed from a side made of a magnetic material that is induction heated by the container heating unit, and a bottom surface that includes a non-magnetic material area.Therefore, the magnetic circuit formed by the side of the container body and the container heating unit is separate from the magnetic circuit formed within the magnetic coupling, so that it is possible to reliably achieve both rotation of the container body and stirring member by the container holding unit and induction heating by the container heating unit.

[0014] 1A is a perspective view of an automatic cooking device 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. An assembly diagram of a main portion of the automatic cooking device 10 shown in FIG. 1. A partial cross-sectional view of the left side of the automatic cooking device 10 shown in FIG. 1. An enlarged view of IIIB in FIG. 3A. A schematic diagram showing a magnetic circuit formed in the automatic cooking device 10 shown in FIG. 1. An enlarged view of IVB in FIG. 4A. An exploded view of the stirring member 320 shown in FIG. 2. A schematic diagram showing ingredients added to a cooking container. A schematic diagram showing the stirring member stirring the ingredients. An assembly diagram of a main portion of the automatic cooking device 10 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. A partial cross-sectional view of the left side of the automatic cooking device 10 shown in FIG. 7. An enlarged view of VIIIB in FIG. 8A. An exploded view of the stirring member 320 shown in FIG. 7.

[0015] The automatic cooking device of the present invention is an automatic cooking device that comprises a cooking container having a bottomed cylindrical container body for containing ingredients and a stirring member for stirring the ingredients contained in the container body, and a container holding unit that holds the cooking container so that it can rotate freely, and stirs and cooks the ingredients contained in the cooking container, wherein the container holding unit has a container rotation shaft that engages with the container body of the cooking container and transmits container rotation torque to the container body, causing the container body to rotate around the central axis of the container body, and a stirring member rotation shaft that rotates independently of the container rotation shaft, and forms a magnetic coupling mechanism that transmits stirring member rotation torque non-contact between the stirring member rotation shaft of the container holding unit and the stirring member of the cooking container, and the specific embodiment can be any as long as it reproduces the well-trained stirring skills of a chef more realistically and to a higher degree.

[0016] For example, the automatic cooking device of the present invention is mainly installed inside a restaurant, but the installation location of the automatic cooking device of the present invention is not limited to this and may also be installed in a convenience store, food court, business establishment, home, etc.

[0017] For example, the ingredients cooked by the automatic cooking device of the present invention may be any food ingredients such as rice, noodles, vegetables, fish, grains, and various seasonings.

[0018] For example, the automatic cooking device of this embodiment may have a container heating unit that inductively heats the cooking container to heat and cook the ingredients contained in the cooking container, but it may also be possible to simply stir and cook the ingredients contained in the cooking container without heating them. In this case, if the ingredients contained in the cooking container are simply stirred and cooked without heating them, the cooking container may be made entirely of a non-magnetic material.

[0019] For example, the rotation axis of the stirring member of the cooking vessel of the present invention may be the same as or different from the central axis of the vessel body.

[0020] An automatic cooking apparatus 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6B.

[0021] 1. Basic Configuration of Automatic Cooking Device First, the basic configuration of an automatic cooking device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 1, which is a perspective view of the automatic cooking device.

[0022] First, as shown in Figure 1, the automatic cooking apparatus 10 is movably placed on a floor surface F. The automatic cooking apparatus 10 comprises a cooking counter 100 serving as a base, a container holding unit 200 placed on the cooking counter 100, cooking containers 300 rotatably held by the container holding unit 200, a container heating unit 400 placed on the cooking counter 100 and induction-heating the cooking containers 300, a container washing unit 500 and a scraping unit 600 disposed on the cooking counter 100, a cover 700 that opens and closes the opening of the cooking containers 300, and a control unit 800 placed on the cooking counter 100 and providing integrated control of the entire automatic cooking apparatus 10, and automatically cooks ingredients contained in the cooking containers 300 to prepare a dish.

[0023] Cooking table 100 has a plurality of casters 110 on the bottom surface, a sink 120 formed in the front region of top surface 100A, and a plate stand 130 that opens and closes sink 120 and on which plates and the like are placed. Plate stand 130 slides left and right to close the opening of sink 120 and has a serving plate 131 on which plates for serving ingredients after stirring and cooking are placed, and a plate storage member 132 that houses serving plate 131 and on which plates and the like are temporarily placed.

[0024] The container heating unit 400 is placed on the rear side of the sink 120 and heats the side surface 312 of the cooking container 300 by induction heating.

[0025] The container washing unit 500 is provided inside the sink 120 and sprays rinsing water and the like into the cooking container 300 .

[0026] The scraping unit 600 is provided inside the sink 120 and removes stains such as burnt food adhering to the cooking vessel 300.

[0027] The cover 700 is rotatable about a central axis extending in the left-right direction. Most of the cover 700 is made of a mesh so that the inside of the cooking vessel 300 can be seen when the cover 700 covers the opening of the cooking vessel 300.

[0028] The control unit 800 has an operation panel 810 for operation and an emergency stop button 820 for urgently stopping the cooking operation of the automatic cooking device 10, and controls the operation of each unit based on input to the operation panel 810.

[0029] The control unit 800 further includes at least a processor, a main memory device, an auxiliary memory device, and a network interface (not shown). The components of the control unit 800 are connected via buses, which are data transmission paths between the components. The processor is implemented by a central processing unit (CPU) or a graphics processing unit (GPU), and executes various processes according to programs stored in the main memory device or the auxiliary memory device. The main memory device is implemented by a static random access memory (SRAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or a flash memory, and temporarily stores data required for arithmetic processing by the control unit 800. The auxiliary memory device is implemented by a removable medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or a memory card, or a read-only memory (ROM), and includes a recording medium. The network interface communicates with other terminals, systems, etc. via a communication network, including the Internet.

[0030] 2. Details of the Container Holding Unit and Cooking Container Next, details of the container holding unit 200 and cooking container 300 will be described with reference to Figures 2 to 5. Figure 2 is an assembly diagram of the main parts of the automatic cooking apparatus 10 shown in Figure 1, Figure 3A is a partial cross-sectional view of the left side of the automatic cooking apparatus 10 shown in Figure 1, Figure 3B is an enlarged view of IIIB in Figure 3A, Figure 4A is a schematic diagram showing a magnetic circuit formed in the automatic cooking apparatus 10 shown in Figure 1, Figure 4B is an enlarged view of IVB in Figure 4A, and Figure 5 is an exploded view of the stirring member 320 shown in Figure 2. Note that in Figure 2, the serving plate 131 slides to close the opening of the sink 120.

[0031] 2 and other figures, the container holding unit 200 has a base 210 provided on the top surface 100A of the cooking table 100, a rotating part 220 that is rotatable in the front-to-rear direction relative to the base 210, and a handle 230 (see also FIG. 1 ) attached to the rotating part 220 and held by a user of the automatic cooking apparatus 10. Therefore, in this embodiment, when a user of the automatic cooking apparatus 10 holds the handle 230 and moves the rotating part 220 back and forth relative to the base 210, the cooking container 300 held by the container holding unit 200 rises and falls back and forth.

[0032] The rotating unit 220 holds the cooking container 300 rotatably about a container body central axis AC extending in the container depth direction of the cooking container 300. As shown in Fig. 3A and other figures, the rotating unit 220 has a housing 221 connected to the base 210 (see also Figs. 1 and 2), a cylindrical container rotation shaft 222 inserted into the housing 221, an oil seal 223 provided between the housing 221 and the container rotation shaft 222 and supporting the container rotation shaft 222 rotatably relative to the housing 221, a first drive unit 224 that rotates the container rotation shaft 222, an agitator rotation shaft 225 that is inserted into the container rotation shaft 222 and is arranged concentrically with the container rotation shaft 222 so as to rotate independently of each other, and a second drive unit 226 that rotates the agitator rotation shaft 225.

[0033] The container rotation shaft 222 has a flange 222a on the front end side, and this flange 222a is formed with a rotation preventing projection 222a1 that projects in the circumferential direction as shown in FIG.

[0034] The first drive unit 224 is composed of a first drive motor (not shown), a timing pulley 224a attached to the rear end of the container rotation shaft 222, and a timing belt 224b that is stretched between this timing pulley 224a and the first drive motor (not shown) and transmits the power of the first drive motor to the timing pulley 224a.

[0035] A magnetized, disk-shaped driving-side ferromagnetic body 225a is attached to the front end of the agitator rotation shaft 225. N and S poles are alternately arranged in the circumferential direction on this driving-side ferromagnetic body 225a. That is, in this embodiment, the driving-side ferromagnetic body 225a has four pairs of N and S poles. The axis of the agitator rotation shaft 225 coincides with the axis of the container rotation shaft 222.

[0036] The second drive unit 226 is composed of a second drive motor (not shown), a timing pulley 226a attached to the rear end of the stirring member rotation shaft 225, and a timing belt 226b that is stretched between this timing pulley 226a and the second drive motor (not shown) and transmits the power of the second drive motor to the timing pulley 226a.

[0037] 2.2. Cooking Container The cooking container 300 has a container body 310 that contains ingredients, and a stirring member 320 that is attached to the container body 310 and stirs the ingredients contained in the container body 310.

[0038] 2.2.1. Container Body As shown in FIG. 2, the container body 310 is formed from a disk-shaped bottom surface 311 and a cylindrical side surface 312 connected to the outer periphery of the bottom surface 311 .

[0039] 3A , the bottom surface 311 is formed of a circular magnetic region 311a made of a magnetic material and continuous with the side surface 312, and a disk-shaped non-magnetic member (non-magnetic region) 311b welded to the inner peripheral edge of the magnetic region 311a and structurally integrated with the magnetic region 311a. That is, the bottom surface 311 of the container body 310 of this embodiment includes a non-magnetic region.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 2, the non-magnetic member 311b has a cylindrical tubular portion 311b1 extending outward from the container body 310 (i.e., toward the container holding unit 200). As shown in FIG. 2, the cylindrical portion 311b1 is formed with a rotation-preventing groove 311b2 that engages with the rotation-preventing protrusion 222a1 of the container holding unit 200. Therefore, when the rotation-preventing protrusion 222a1 of the container rotation shaft 222 engages with the rotation-preventing groove 311b2 formed on the container body 310 of the cooking container 300, the container rotation torque is transmitted from the container rotation shaft 222 to the container body 310, causing the container body 310 to rotate about the container body rotation axis CA shown in FIG. 3A and other figures. That is, the container rotation shaft 222 engages with the container body 310 of the cooking container 300 and transmits the container rotation torque to the container body 310, causing the container body 310 to rotate about the container body central axis AC.

[0041] 2, 3A, and 3B, the non-magnetic member 311b has a cylindrical protrusion 311b3 that protrudes inward from the container body 310. The center of this protrusion 311b3 coincides with the central axis AC of the container body. As shown in FIG. 3B, the spherical body 313 and the spherical body fixing member 314 are held on the upper surface of the protrusion 311b3, with a portion of the spherical body 313 protruding beyond the protrusion 311b3.

[0042] The side surface 312 is formed of a magnetic material and is composed of a cylindrical surface 312a and a truncated conical inclined surface 312b connecting the cylindrical surface 312a and the bottom surface 311, as shown in Fig. 2. When stirring and cooking ingredients contained in the cooking container 300, the inclined surface 312b is induction-heated while being disposed facing and spaced apart from the top plate 410 of the container heating unit 400, as shown in Fig. 4B. That is, the inclined surface 312b on the side surface 312 of the container body 310 in this embodiment is made of a magnetic material and is induction-heated by the container heating unit 400.

[0043] 2.2.2. Stirring Member As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the stirring member 320 is formed of a cylindrical base 321 attached to the container body 310 and a spatula 322 attached to the side surface of the base 321.

[0044] As shown in Figures 3A, 3B, 5, etc., the base 321 has a base main body 321a consisting of a peripheral side surface and a top surface, a magnetized, disk-shaped passive ferromagnetic body 321b inserted into the internal space 321a1 of the base main body 321a, a fixing screw 321c that fixes the passive ferromagnetic body 321b to the base main body 321a, a flat plate 321d that is inserted into the recess 321b1 of the passive ferromagnetic body 321b that inserts the protrusion 311b3 of the container body 310, a sealing member 321e that is interposed between the flat plate 321d and the fixing screw 321c, and an annular sliding bearing 321f that is press-fitted into the recess 321b1 of the passive ferromagnetic body 321b.

[0045] When inserted into the base body 321a, the passive ferromagnetic body 321b is positioned relative to the base body 321a. The passive ferromagnetic body 321b has alternating north and south poles arranged circumferentially, with the same number of north and south poles as the driving ferromagnetic body 225a. The recessed portion 321b1 of the passive ferromagnetic body 321b is formed in the center of the passive ferromagnetic body 321b. Therefore, when the recessed portion 321b1 of the stirring member 320 is inserted into the protruding portion 311b3 of the container body 310, the stirring member 320 rotates about the central axis AC of the container body.

[0046] Flat plate 321d is disk-shaped and, as shown in Fig. 3B, is in point contact with spherical body 313 of container body 310. Slide bearing 321f is inserted into cylindrical portion 311b1 of container body 310, as shown in Fig. 3B. Therefore, agitating member 320 not only faces but also rotates and slides relative to cylindrical portion 311b1 of container body 310, as shown in Figs. 3A and 3B.

[0047] 2.3 Magnetic Coupling Mechanism As explained above, the automatic cooking apparatus 10 in this embodiment has a magnetic coupling mechanism that transmits the stirring member rotation torque in a non-contact manner between the driving ferromagnetic body 225a provided in the container holding unit 200 and the driven ferromagnetic body 321b provided in the cooking container 300. Therefore, the container body 310 and stirring member 320 of the cooking container 300 are capable of rotating independently about the container body central axis AC.

[0048] 4A, an attractive force MF due to the magnetic field is generated between the container holding unit 200 (drive-side ferromagnetic body 225a) and the stirring member 320 (passive-side ferromagnetic body 321b). The attractive force MF due to the magnetic field causes the stirring member 320 to press the container body 310 against the container holding unit 200.

[0049] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 4B, the bottom surface 311 of the container body 310 is composed of a magnetic region 311a and a non-magnetic region 311b, so that the magnetic circuit MC1 formed between the driving side ferromagnetic body 225a of the container holding unit 200 and the passive side ferromagnetic body 321b of the stirring member 320 and the magnetic circuit MC2 formed between the side surface 312 (inclined surface 312b) of the container body 310 and the induction heating coil 420 of the container heating unit 400 are independent and separated.

[0050] 6A and 6B, a description will be given of stirring cooking by the automatic cooking device 10, which takes advantage of the independent rotation of the container body 310 and the stirring member 320 of the cooking container 300. Fig. 6A is a schematic diagram showing the state in which ingredients have been added to the cooking container, and Fig. 6B is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the stirring member is stirring the ingredients.

[0051] As shown in Fig. 6A, after the ingredient I is added to the container body 310, in this embodiment, the container body 310 rotates counterclockwise about the container body central axis AC, and the stirring member 320 rotates clockwise about the container body central axis AC. As a result, as shown in Fig. 6B, the spatula 322 of the stirring member 320 stirs the ingredient I added to the container body 310. The rotation speeds of the container body 310 and the stirring member 320 are variable and can be set according to the dish to be cooked.

[0052] 4. Effects of the Automatic Cooking Apparatus 10 According to the automatic cooking apparatus 10 of the first embodiment of the present invention described above, the container holding unit 200 has a container rotation shaft 222 that engages with the container body 310 of the cooking container 300 and transmits container rotation torque to the container body 310, causing the container body 310 to rotate about the container body central axis AC, and a stirring member rotation shaft 225 that rotates independently of the container rotation shaft 222. A magnetic coupling mechanism is formed between the stirring member rotation shaft 225 of the container holding unit 200 and the stirring member 320 of the cooking container 300, which transmits the stirring member rotation torque in a non-contact manner, allowing the stirring member 320 to rotate independently of the container body 310. Therefore, by rotating the stirring member 320 faster or slower than the container body 310, the stirring member 320 can be rotated independently of the container body 310, thereby more realistically and to a higher degree reproducing the stirring technique that a chef has trained, and enabling the cooking of a wide variety of dishes. Furthermore, by configuring a magnetic coupling mechanism that transmits the stirring member rotation torque non-contact between the stirring member rotation shaft 225 of the container holding unit 200 and the stirring member 320 of the cooking container 300, the bottom of the container body 310 has a simpler shape than when the stirring member 320 is fixed to the container body 310 with screws or the like, which eliminates ingredients remaining at the attachment point between the stirring member 320 and the container body 310, and also makes it easy to attach and detach the stirring member 320 to the container body 310 during maintenance.

[0053] Furthermore, the spherical body 313, which is in point contact with the recess 321b1 of the stirring member 320, is held on the upper surface of the convex portion 311b3 of the container body 310, and the bottom surface 11 of the container body 310 and the stirring member 320 are arranged facing each other at a distance, thereby reducing the sliding resistance between the container body 310 and the stirring member 320, and allowing the stirring member 320 to rotate more reliably and at higher speed relative to the container body 310.

[0054] In addition, an anti-rotation protrusion 222a1 is formed on the container rotation shaft 222 of the container holding unit 200, and an anti-rotation groove 311b2 that engages with the anti-rotation protrusion 222a1 is formed on the container body 310 of the cooking container 300.Therefore, the cooking container 300 and the container holding unit 200 are positioned and held relative to each other simply by engaging the anti-rotation protrusion 222a1 with the anti-rotation groove 311b2, so that the container body rotation torque can be reliably transmitted from the container holding unit 200 to the container body 310 of the cooking container 300 with a simple structure.

[0055] Furthermore, since the container body 310 of the cooking container 300 is formed from a side surface 312 made of a magnetic material and inductively heated by the container heating unit 400, and a bottom surface 311 including a non-magnetic material region 311b, the magnetic circuit MC2 formed by the side surface 312 of the container body 310 and the container heating unit 400 and the magnetic circuit formed within the magnetic coupling mechanism (magnetic circuit MC1 formed between the container holding unit 200 and the stirring member 320) are separate, so that it is possible to reliably achieve both rotation of the container body 310 and the stirring member 320 by the container holding unit 200 and induction heating by the container heating unit 400.

[0056] An automatic cooking apparatus 10 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figures 7 to 9. Figure 7 is an assembly diagram of the main components of the automatic cooking apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, Figure 8A is a partial cross-sectional view of the left side of the automatic cooking apparatus 10 shown in Figure 7, Figure 8B is an enlarged view of section VIIIB in Figure 8A, and Figure 9 is an exploded view of the stirring member 320 shown in Figure 7. The automatic cooking apparatus 10 of the second embodiment is a modified version of the cooking container 300 of the automatic cooking apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, and many elements are common to the automatic cooking apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, so a detailed description of the common features will be omitted.

[0057] 7, the cooking container 300 has a container body 310 that contains ingredients, a stirring member 320 that stirs the ingredients contained in the container body 310, and an annular resin plate 330 that is detachably attached to the inner bottom surface of the container body 310.

[0058] 8B , unlike Example 1, the container body 310 is not provided with a spherical body or a spherical body fixing member. That is, in Example 2, no spherical body is held on the upper surface of the protrusion 311b3 of the container body 310.

[0059] 1.2. Stirring member The stirring member 320 is fixed by welding or the like to a groove formed in the container body 310. As shown in Fig. 7 , the stirring member 320 is formed of a cylindrical base 321 attached to the container body 310 and a spatula 322 attached to the side surface of the base 321.

[0060] As shown in FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 9, the base 321 includes a base body 321a having a peripheral side surface and a top surface curved away from the bottom surface 311 of the container body 310, a magnetized disk-shaped passive ferromagnetic body 321b inserted into an internal space 321a1 of the base body 321a, a fixing screw 321c for fixing the passive ferromagnetic body 321b to the base body 321a, and a screw 321c for inserting the protrusion 311b3 of the container body 310. The base 321 has a flat plate 321d inserted into the recess 321b1 of the passive ferromagnetic body 321b, a sealing member 321e interposed between the flat plate 321d and the fixing screw 321c, an annular flanged plain bearing 321g pressed into the recess 321b1 of the passive ferromagnetic body 321b, and an annular metal plate 321h interposed between the passive ferromagnetic body 321b and the flanged plain bearing 321g to form the bottom surface of the base 321.

[0061] The annular metal plate 321h is a flat plate made of a non-magnetic metal, and is fixed to the base body 321a by abutting against the flange portion of the flanged plain bearing 321h, as shown in Fig. 9 etc. Furthermore, the gap between the base body 321a and the annular metal plate 321h is sealed to prevent liquid seasonings and the like from entering between the base body 321a and the annular metal plate 321h.

[0062] 8B , the annular resin plate 330 is in contact with the agitating member 320 when the agitating member 320 is attached to the container body 310. Therefore, when the agitating member 320 rotates independently of the container body 310, the annular metal plate 321h of the agitating member 320 slides against the annular resin plate 330.

[0063] <2. Effects> In addition to the effects of the automatic cooking device 10 of the first embodiment configured as described above, the automatic cooking device 10 of the second embodiment has the following advantages: the protrusion 311b3 inserted into the recess 321b1 of the agitating member 320 is formed on the bottom surface 311 of the container body 310, and the annular resin plate 330 that slides against the agitating member 320 is removably attached around the protrusion 311b3 of the container body 310; therefore, the sliding resistance between the container body 310 and the agitating member 320 is reduced, and the agitating member 320 can be rotated more reliably and at higher speeds relative to the container body 310. Furthermore, since the annular resin plate 330 is removably attached around the protrusion 311b3 of the container body 310, the annular resin plate 330 can be easily replaced when it becomes worn, which not only improves the maintainability of the cooking container 300, but also makes it possible to easily remove the annular resin plate 330 from the container body 310 when cleaning the cooking container 300, thereby making the cooking container 300 cleaner.

[0064] <Modifications> Although the automatic cooking device according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the automatic cooking device according to the present invention is not limited to the automatic cooking device 10 according to the embodiment described above.

[0065] For example, in the above-described embodiment, four pairs of north and south poles were arranged circumferentially on the driving side ferromagnetic body 225a of the container holding unit 200 and the passive side ferromagnetic body 321b of the cooking container 300, but the number of north and south poles can be any number as long as it is possible to form a magnetic coupling mechanism between the driving side ferromagnetic body 225a of the container holding unit 200 and the passive side ferromagnetic body 321b of the cooking container 300.

[0066] For example, in the above-described embodiment, anti-rotation protrusion 222a1 was formed on container rotation shaft 222 of container holding unit 200, and anti-rotation groove 311b2 was formed on container body 310 of cooking container 300, but it is also possible to form anti-rotation groove on container rotation shaft 222 of container holding unit 200, and anti-rotation protrusion on container body 310 of cooking container 300.Furthermore, while there were two pairs of anti-rotation protrusions and anti-rotation grooves in this embodiment, there may be one pair, or three or more pairs.

[0067] For example, in the second embodiment described above, the annular metal plate 321h of the stirring member 320 slides against the annular resin plate 330, but it is also possible that the annular metal plate 321h is not provided and at least one of the base body 321a or the passive side ferromagnetic body 321b of the stirring member 320 slides against the annular resin plate 330.

[0068] DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Automatic cooking device 100 Cooking table 100A Top surface 110 Caster 120 Sink 130 Plate placing stand 131 Serving plate 132 Plate storage member 200 Container holding unit 210 Base 220 Rotating part 221 Housing 222 Container rotation shaft 222a Flange 222a1 Anti-rotation protrusion 223 Oil seal 224 First drive unit 224a Timing pulley 224b Timing belt 225 Stirring member rotation shaft 225a Drive-side ferromagnetic body 226 Second drive unit 226a Timing pulley 226b Timing belt 230 Handle 300 Cooking container 310 Container body 311 Bottom surface 311a Magnetic region 311b Non-magnetic member (non-magnetic region) 311b1 Cylindrical portion 311b2 Anti-rotation groove 311b3 Convex portion 312 Side surface 312a Cylindrical surface 312b Inclined surface 313 Spherical body 314 Spherical body fixing member 320 Stirring member 321 Base 321a Base body 321a1 Internal space 321b Passive ferromagnetic body 321b1 Recessed portion 321c Fixing screw 321d Flat plate 321e Sealing member 321f ... Plain bearing 321g ... Flanged plain bearing 321h ... Annular metal plate 322 ... Spatula 330 ... Annular resin plate 400 ... Container heating unit 410 ... Top plate 420 ... Induction heating coil 500 ... Container cleaning unit 600 ... Scraper unit 700 ... Cover 800 ... Control unit 810 ... Operation panel 820 ... Emergency stop button F ... Floor surfaceI: Ingredient MF: Magnetic attraction MC1: Magnetic circuit formed between the container holding unit and the stirring member MC2: Magnetic circuit formed between the container body and the container heating unit AC: Central axis of the container body

Claims

1. An automatic cooking device comprising a cooking container having a bottomed cylindrical container body for containing ingredients and a stirring member for stirring the ingredients contained in the container body, and a container holding unit for holding the cooking container so that it can rotate freely, and which stirs and cooks the ingredients contained in the cooking container, wherein the container holding unit has a container rotation shaft that engages with the container body of the cooking container and transmits container rotation torque to the container body, causing the container body to rotate about its central axis, and a stirring member rotation shaft that rotates independently of the container rotation shaft, and which comprises a magnetic coupling mechanism that transmits stirring member rotation torque non-contact between the stirring member rotation shaft of the container holding unit and the stirring member of the cooking container.

2. The automatic cooking device described in claim 1, characterized in that a convex portion that is inserted into the concave portion of the stirring member is formed on the bottom surface of the container body, and a ring-shaped resin plate that slides against the stirring member is removably attached around the convex portion of the container body.

3. The automatic cooking device of claim 1, characterized in that an anti-rotation protrusion is formed on either the container body of the cooking container or the container rotation shaft of the container holding unit, and an anti-rotation groove that engages with the anti-rotation protrusion is formed on the other of the container body of the cooking container or the container rotation shaft of the container holding unit.

4. An automatic cooking device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the container body of the cooking container is formed from a side made of a magnetic material that is induction heated by the container heating unit, and a bottom surface that includes a non-magnetic area.

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