EP0053523B1 - Cooking apparatus - Google Patents
Cooking apparatus Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0053523B1 EP0053523B1 EP81305717A EP81305717A EP0053523B1 EP 0053523 B1 EP0053523 B1 EP 0053523B1 EP 81305717 A EP81305717 A EP 81305717A EP 81305717 A EP81305717 A EP 81305717A EP 0053523 B1 EP0053523 B1 EP 0053523B1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- cooking
- oven
- microwave oven
- control data
- microwave
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
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- 238000010411 cooking Methods 0.000 title claims description 86
- 235000013305 food Nutrition 0.000 claims description 14
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 claims description 8
- 238000001514 detection method Methods 0.000 description 12
- 239000000654 additive Substances 0.000 description 10
- 230000000996 additive effect Effects 0.000 description 10
- 230000006870 function Effects 0.000 description 4
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000001816 cooling Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000000523 sample Substances 0.000 description 2
- 241000005398 Figaro Species 0.000 description 1
- 230000003213 activating effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000994 depressogenic effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000977 initiatory effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000009958 sewing Methods 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
- H05B6/00—Heating by electric, magnetic or electromagnetic fields
- H05B6/64—Heating using microwaves
- H05B6/6435—Aspects relating to the user interface of the microwave heating apparatus
- H05B6/6438—Aspects relating to the user interface of the microwave heating apparatus allowing the recording of a program of operation of the microwave heating apparatus
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
- H05B6/00—Heating by electric, magnetic or electromagnetic fields
- H05B6/64—Heating using microwaves
- H05B6/6447—Method of operation or details of the microwave heating apparatus related to the use of detectors or sensors
- H05B6/6458—Method of operation or details of the microwave heating apparatus related to the use of detectors or sensors using humidity or vapor sensors
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
- H05B6/00—Heating by electric, magnetic or electromagnetic fields
- H05B6/64—Heating using microwaves
- H05B6/647—Aspects related to microwave heating combined with other heating techniques
- H05B6/6482—Aspects related to microwave heating combined with other heating techniques combined with radiant heating, e.g. infrared heating
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a microwave oven.
- a gas sensor element having a resistance value which changes in response to the cooking condition of foodstuff disposed in a cooking apparatus has been developed.
- a microwave oven including a gas sensor element is described in our U.K. Patent Application No. 7930612, "COOKING UTENSIL CONTROLLED BY GAS SENSOR OUTPUT", published on August 28, 1980, the publication number being GB-A-2,040,502.
- the cooking sequence program is stored in a microcomputer system included in the microwave oven and, therefore, only a limited number of automatic cooking operations are performed. It was difficult to determine a suitable cooking constant, which determines the completion of cooking in combination with the output signal derived from the gas sensor element, for each of the various kinds of cooking operation.
- a cooking apparatus which includes a cassette tape player system for audibly announcing an explanation concerning cooking.
- a microwave oven having a cassette tape player system is described in our European Patent Application No. 80303308.3, "CASSETTE TAPE CONTROLLED COOKING APPARATUS", published on April 1, 1981, the publication number being EP-A2-0,026,094. This specification is prior art only by virtue of Article 54(3) of the European Patent Convention.
- the cassette tape carries digital data for controlling the cooking operation in addition to the audio information for providing the audible announcement of an explanation concerning cooking.
- the digital data includes time data for determining a cooking time period.
- GB-A-2026726 discloses a microwave oven which is controlled in accordance with data on a card.
- the data represents the power levels used during respective periods within the cooking operation.
- a temperature probe is used, the output of the probe selecting the appropriate power level data.
- US-A-4097707 discloses a microwave oven in which a first cooking operation proceeds until the humidity near the food being cooked reaches a predetermined value selected according to the nature of the food. Cooking is then continued for a time period calculated by multiplying the measured cooking period of the first cooking operation by a coefficient which is again set according to the nature of the food.
- EP-A-0017749 discloses a sewing machine which includes a cassette player system for providing audible instructions of numerical data representing a sewing program.
- a microwave oven comprising microwave energy generating means for cooking food in a compartment of the oven, a tape player system for reproducing audio information recorded on a magnetic tape in order to provide audible cooking instructions and for reproducing control data also recorded on said magnetic tape, and control means coupled to the tape player system for receiving the reproduced control data and for controlling the microwave energy generating means, said control means being operable also to control the tape player system in response to said control data wherein there is also provided sensing means for producing an output signal indicative of the condition of the food, and wherein the control means is also coupled to said sensing means and is responsive to said output signal reaching a value corresponding to a reference level which is set in accordance with said reproduced control data for terminating a cooking operation.
- an additional cooking operation is carried out after the first mentioned cooking operation, the period of the additional cooking operation being determined by a time-representing value derived by the control means from the reproduced control data.
- the microwave oven incorporates a supplementary, electric heater.
- a gas sensor is disposed in the oven for detecting the cooking condition of a foodstuff disposed in the compartment of the oven.
- the magnetic tape carries digital data related to a cooking completion condition for the first mentioned, or main cooking operation.
- the cooking constant data read by the cassette tape player system is stored in a control system included in the oven.
- the cooking constant data is used to obtain a reference level indicating the cooking completion condition, which is compared with the output signal derived from the gas sensor, whereby a cooking completion instruction signal is developed from the control system when the output signal derived from the gas sensor reaches the reference level. Thereafter, an additional cooking operation is carried out for a period determined by the product of the period of the first cooking operation and a further constant derived from the reproduced control data.
- a microwave oven of the present invention which combines a microwave energy generating means and a supplementary electric heater, is shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, and comprises a housing 1 and an oven compartment, or cavity, 2 surrounded by oven walls.
- a sheath heater 3 is disposed in the oven cavity 2 for grilling the foodstuffs, and a magnetron 4 is secured to the oven wall for microwave cooking purposes.
- the microwave energy generated by the magnetron 4 is supplied to the oven cavity 2 through a waveguide 5.
- a power supply circuit comprising a high voltage transformer 6 and a condenser 7 is secured to the housing 1 for supplying the power to the magnetron 4.
- a blower fan motor 8 is associated with a blower fan 9 which functions to cool the magnetron 4.
- the control panel 11 includes a keyboard panel 12, a digital display unit 13, a tape cassette inlet 14 for accommodating a tape cassette 15, and a heater position control knob 40 for adjusting the heater location in the oven cavity 2.
- the keyboard panel 12 is used to introduce numerical information such as a set temperature, a set cook time period, and cooking commands. That is, the keyboard panel 12 is an input unit for performing a digitally controlled cooking operation.
- a typical construction of a digitally controlled microwave oven is disclosed in US-A-4,255,639, "MICROWAVE OVEN WITH A PROGRAMMABLE DIGITAL CONTROL CIRCUIT", issued on March 10, 1981.
- the heater position control knob 40 is used to select the heater height between "High”, “Middle” and “Low”.
- a typical construction for shifting the heater location in the oven cavity is shown and described in US-A-4.,137,442, "HIGH-FREQUENCY OVEN HAVING A BROWNING UNIT", issued on Jan. 30, 1979.
- a cassette tape player system 18 is disposed to confront the tape cassette inlet 14.
- the cassette tape player system 18 comprises a tape drive motor 16, and two magnetic reproduction heads 17a and 17 b .
- a printed circuit board 19 is disposed behind the keyboard panel 12 for supporting the control circuit of the microwave oven.
- First and second relays 20 and 21 are connected to the control circuit for controlling the operation of the magnetron 4 and the sheath heater 3, respectively.
- a speaker system 24 is associated with the cassette tape player system 18 for providing audible instructions derived from the cassette tape player system 18. More specifically, cooking instructions are recorded on the tape in the cassette 15, and the tape drive motor 16 drives the cassette tape at a desired timing for generating the audible instructions.
- FIGURE 3 schematically shows a control system of the microwave oven of the present embodiment. Like elements corresponding to those of FIGURES 1 and 2 are indicated by like numerals.
- a capstan 25 is connected to the tape drive motor 16.
- a pinch roller 26 is depressed toward the capstan 25, the magnetic tape 15a in the cassette 15 is driven to travel in the direction shown by arrows in FIGURE 3 for reproduction purposes.
- the two magnetic reproduction heads 17a and 17 b are in contact with respective tracks recorded on the magnetic tape 15a for reproducing recorded information.
- FIGURE 4 shows the recording tracks on the magnetic tape 15a.
- a first track 151 and a second track 152 are assigned to the forward direction drive, and a third track 153 and a fourth track 154 are assigned to the reverse direction drive.
- audio information is recorded through the use of analog recording techniques for providing audible cooking instructions.
- digital information is recorded through the use of a saturation recording technique such as the phase encoding technique for providing digital data which controls the cooking operation performed by the microwave oven.
- the magnetic reproduction head 17a contacts the first track 151 or the fourth track 154.
- the audio information output reproduced from the magnetic reproduction head 17a is applied to an audio amplifier 27 for activating the speaker system 24.
- the magnetic reproduction head 17 b contacts the second track 152 or the third track 153.
- the digital information output derived from the magnetic reproduction head 17 b is introduced into a read-out amplifier 28, whereby the digital information output is converted into a binary code signal and applied to a digital control system 29.
- the digital control system 29 comprises a central processor unit 291, a read only memory 292 and a random access memory 293.
- the binary code signal applied to the digital control system 29 is processed in the digital control system 29, thereby providing a control signal for controlling the operation of the microwave oven in accordance with a preselected program sequence.
- a motor driver circuit 30 is associated with the digital control system 29 for driving the tape drive motor 16 at a desired timing. More specifically, the digital control system 29 develops a start signal for initiating the rotation of the tape drive motor 16, and a stop signal for terminating the rotation of the tape drive motor 16.
- a display driver circuit 31 is associated with the digital control system 29 for driving the digital display unit 13 in accordance with the digital display data derived from the magnetic reproduction head 17 b . More specifically, the digital display unit 13 is caused to display the programmed cooking period or the programmed cooking condition in a digital fashion.
- a buzzer driver circuit 32 and a buzzer 33 are associated with the digital control system 29.
- a tape start button 34 is disposed on the control panel 11 for controlling the cassette tape drive.
- the start signal is developed from the digital control system 29.
- the first relay 20 is associated with a first control switch 35 which is disposed between the high voltage transformer 6 and an AC power source 37.
- the high voltage transformer 6 functions, in combination with the condenser 7 and a diode 38, to energize the magnetron 4.
- the second relay 21 is associated with a second control switch 36 which is disposed between the sheath heater 3 and the AC power source 37.
- the relays 20 and 21 are controlled by control signals developed from the digital control system 29.
- the microwave oven of the present embodiment further comprises a gas sensor 42 of which a resistance value changes in response to the concentration of the gas developed from the foodstuff disposed in the microwave oven.
- a preferred gas sensor is "TSG #813" manufactured by Figaro Engineering Inc.
- a detection characteristic of the gas sensor 42 is described in the above copending GB-A-2040502.
- the gas sensor 42 is connected to a resistance-to-frequency converter 43 implemented with an astable multi-vibrator.
- the frequency of an output signal derived from the resistance-to-frequency converter 43 changes in response to the variation of the resistance value of the gas sensor 42.
- a preferred circuit construction of the combination of the gas sensor 42 and the resistance-to-frequency converter 43 is described in our copending U.K. Patent Application No. 8123276 "SENSOR CONTROLLED COOKING APPARATUS", filed on July 28, 1981, a copy of which was forwarded to the European Patent Office when this application was filed.
- the digital information recorded on the second and third tracks 152 and 153 includes cooking program data for determining the sequence of cooking operations, the cooking time period, the cooking heat source, etc., and, in addition to that, cooking constant data which is used to determine a reference level which is compared with the output signal derived from the resistance-to-frequency converter 43.
- the cooking constant is a particular value determined for each of the plural kinds of cooking operation.
- FIGURE 5 shows an essential part of the digital control system 29.
- FIGURE 5 only shows the digital control system related to the automatic microwave cooking operation controlled by the output signal derived from the gas sensor 42.
- the digital control system 29 comprises a main processor 50 and a subprocessor 90.
- the subprocessor 90 controls the drive of the cassette tape player system 18 and the read out operation of the digital data recorded on the cassette tape 15 ao More specifically, the subprocessor 90 includes a first detection unit 92 for reading out a cooking constant A, a second detection unit 94 for reading out an additive cooking coefficient N, a first power detection unit 96 for reading out microwave power data for the main cooking operation, and a second power detection unit 98 for reading out microwave power data for an additional cooking operation in which additive cooking is carried out.
- the main processor 50 comprises a first comparator 52 which functions to compare the output signal derived from the resistance-to-frequency converter 43 with a reference level determined in the main processor 50 and to develop a first control signal when the output signal frequency of the resistance-to-frequency converter 43 reaches the reference level.
- a second comparator 54 is included in the main processor 50, which develops a second control signal when the additional cooking operation is performed for a preselected period of time.
- the microwave oven When the cook start instruction is developed in the microwave cooking mode, the microwave oven is first placed in a cooling period to.
- the gas sensor 43 detects the concentration of the gas within the oven cavity.
- the frequency of the output signal developed from the resistance-to-frequency converter 43 varies as shown in FIGURE 6 in response to the variation of the detected gas concentration.
- the main processor 50 includes a minimum frequency memory 56 for storing the minimum frequency F o detected during the cooling period to.
- a detection frequency F derived from the resistance-to-frequency converter 43 varies in response to the detected gas concentration.
- the cooking constant A recorded on the cassette tape 15a and read out by the first detection unit 92 included in the subprocessor 90 is introduced into a reference level calculation unit 58 included in the main processor 50.
- the reference level calculation unit 58 calculates a reference level A-F o through the use of the minimum frequency F o obtained from the minimum frequency memory 56.
- the thus obtained reference level A.F a is introduced into and stored in a reference level memory 60 included in the main processor 50.
- the microwave cooking is conducted at the microwave power determined by the first power detection unit 96.
- the detection frequency F 1 detected by an output frequency detection unit 62 reaches the reference level A-F o contained in the reference level memory 60
- the first comparator 52 sends a first control signal to a cooking control signal generator 64 in order to terminate the main cooking operation.
- a period counter 66 and a timepiece 68 are included in the main processor 50 for detecting a main cooking period T 1 .
- the microwave oven of the present embodiment is constructed to conduct additive cooking at a microwave power read by the second power detection unit 98 for a preselected period of time T 2 .
- the main processor 50 includes an additive cooking period calculation unit 70 which functions to calculate the additive cooking period T 2 in response to the main cooking period T 1 obtained from the period counter 66 and the additive cooking coefficient N recorded on the cassette tape 15a and read by the second detection unit 94.
- a modification factor AN is introduced, at an operator's choice, from the keyboard panel 12 into the additive cooking period calculation unit 70.
- the additive cooking period T 2 is determined in accordance with the following equation: When the additive cooking is performed for the additive cooking period T 2 , the second comparator 54 develops a second control signal to terminate the additional cooking operation.
- the main processor 50 is implemented with a microprocessor "IX2058YA” manufactured by Sharp Corporation
- the subprocessor 90 is implemented with a microprocessor "IX2057YA” manufactured by Sharp Corporation.
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Description
- The present invention relates to a microwave oven.
- A gas sensor element having a resistance value which changes in response to the cooking condition of foodstuff disposed in a cooking apparatus has been developed. A microwave oven including a gas sensor element is described in our U.K. Patent Application No. 7930612, "COOKING UTENSIL CONTROLLED BY GAS SENSOR OUTPUT", published on August 28, 1980, the publication number being GB-A-2,040,502.
- In the above-mentioned microwave oven, the cooking sequence program is stored in a microcomputer system included in the microwave oven and, therefore, only a limited number of automatic cooking operations are performed. It was difficult to determine a suitable cooking constant, which determines the completion of cooking in combination with the output signal derived from the gas sensor element, for each of the various kinds of cooking operation.
- On the other hand, a cooking apparatus has been developed which includes a cassette tape player system for audibly announcing an explanation concerning cooking. A microwave oven having a cassette tape player system is described in our European Patent Application No. 80303308.3, "CASSETTE TAPE CONTROLLED COOKING APPARATUS", published on April 1, 1981, the publication number being EP-A2-0,026,094. This specification is prior art only by virtue of Article 54(3) of the European Patent Convention.
- In the above-mentioned cassette tape controlled microwave oven, the cassette tape carries digital data for controlling the cooking operation in addition to the audio information for providing the audible announcement of an explanation concerning cooking. The digital data includes time data for determining a cooking time period.
- GB-A-2026726 discloses a microwave oven which is controlled in accordance with data on a card. In one arrangement, the data represents the power levels used during respective periods within the cooking operation. In another arrangement, a temperature probe is used, the output of the probe selecting the appropriate power level data.
- US-A-4097707 discloses a microwave oven in which a first cooking operation proceeds until the humidity near the food being cooked reaches a predetermined value selected according to the nature of the food. Cooking is then continued for a time period calculated by multiplying the measured cooking period of the first cooking operation by a coefficient which is again set according to the nature of the food.
- European published specification EP-A-0017749 discloses a sewing machine which includes a cassette player system for providing audible instructions of numerical data representing a sewing program.
- It would be desirable to provide a microwave oven which permits cooking of a very large variety of foodstuffs with consistent results, which is simple to operate, and which is particularly (although not exclusively) suited for use with a gas sensor.
- According to the present invention, there is provided a microwave oven comprising microwave energy generating means for cooking food in a compartment of the oven, a tape player system for reproducing audio information recorded on a magnetic tape in order to provide audible cooking instructions and for reproducing control data also recorded on said magnetic tape, and control means coupled to the tape player system for receiving the reproduced control data and for controlling the microwave energy generating means, said control means being operable also to control the tape player system in response to said control data wherein there is also provided sensing means for producing an output signal indicative of the condition of the food, and wherein the control means is also coupled to said sensing means and is responsive to said output signal reaching a value corresponding to a reference level which is set in accordance with said reproduced control data for terminating a cooking operation.
- Although different types of food may require many different reference levels for proper cooking to be carried out (particularly when the desired sensor output at the end of the cooking operation varies according to the food type), all these kinds of food can be cooked without the requirement for the user to remember the various levels because the data needed to set the level for any given type of food can be derived from the magnetic tape.
- In a preferred embodiment an additional cooking operation is carried out after the first mentioned cooking operation, the period of the additional cooking operation being determined by a time-representing value derived by the control means from the reproduced control data. With such an arrangement it is possible to obtain more consistent cooking results over a larger variety of foods than with the arrangement described in GB-A-2026726, wherein the cooking is carried out either solely in accordance with a predetermined timing sequence or solely in accordance with the change in temperature of the food.
- In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the microwave oven incorporates a supplementary, electric heater. A gas sensor is disposed in the oven for detecting the cooking condition of a foodstuff disposed in the compartment of the oven. The magnetic tape carries digital data related to a cooking completion condition for the first mentioned, or main cooking operation. The cooking constant data read by the cassette tape player system is stored in a control system included in the oven. The cooking constant data is used to obtain a reference level indicating the cooking completion condition, which is compared with the output signal derived from the gas sensor, whereby a cooking completion instruction signal is developed from the control system when the output signal derived from the gas sensor reaches the reference level. Thereafter, an additional cooking operation is carried out for a period determined by the product of the period of the first cooking operation and a further constant derived from the reproduced control data.
- An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
- FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a microwave oven of the present invention;
- FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the microwave oven of FIGURE 1;
- FIGURE 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a control system included in the microwave oven of FIGURE 1;
- FIGURE 4 is a schematic chart for explaining a recording condition on a cassette tape which is loaded on a cassette tape player system included in the microwave oven of FIGURE 1;
- FIGURE 5 is a block diagram of part of the control system of FIGURE 3; and
- FIGURE 6 is a graph for explaining an example of operation performed by the microwave oven of FIGURE 1.
- A microwave oven of the present invention, which combines a microwave energy generating means and a supplementary electric heater, is shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, and comprises a
housing 1 and an oven compartment, or cavity, 2 surrounded by oven walls. Asheath heater 3 is disposed in theoven cavity 2 for grilling the foodstuffs, and amagnetron 4 is secured to the oven wall for microwave cooking purposes. The microwave energy generated by themagnetron 4 is supplied to theoven cavity 2 through awaveguide 5. A power supply circuit comprising ahigh voltage transformer 6 and acondenser 7 is secured to thehousing 1 for supplying the power to themagnetron 4. Ablower fan motor 8 is associated with ablower fan 9 which functions to cool themagnetron 4. - An
oven door 10 and acontrol panel 11 are disposed at the front face of thehousing 2. Thecontrol panel 11 includes akeyboard panel 12, adigital display unit 13, atape cassette inlet 14 for accommodating atape cassette 15, and a heaterposition control knob 40 for adjusting the heater location in theoven cavity 2. Thekeyboard panel 12 is used to introduce numerical information such as a set temperature, a set cook time period, and cooking commands. That is, thekeyboard panel 12 is an input unit for performing a digitally controlled cooking operation. A typical construction of a digitally controlled microwave oven is disclosed in US-A-4,255,639, "MICROWAVE OVEN WITH A PROGRAMMABLE DIGITAL CONTROL CIRCUIT", issued on March 10, 1981. The heaterposition control knob 40 is used to select the heater height between "High", "Middle" and "Low". A typical construction for shifting the heater location in the oven cavity is shown and described in US-A-4.,137,442, "HIGH-FREQUENCY OVEN HAVING A BROWNING UNIT", issued on Jan. 30, 1979. - Behind the
control panel 11, a cassettetape player system 18 is disposed to confront thetape cassette inlet 14. The cassettetape player system 18 comprises atape drive motor 16, and twomagnetic reproduction heads 17a and 17b. A printedcircuit board 19 is disposed behind thekeyboard panel 12 for supporting the control circuit of the microwave oven. First andsecond relays magnetron 4 and thesheath heater 3, respectively. Aspeaker system 24 is associated with the cassettetape player system 18 for providing audible instructions derived from the cassettetape player system 18. More specifically, cooking instructions are recorded on the tape in thecassette 15, and thetape drive motor 16 drives the cassette tape at a desired timing for generating the audible instructions. - FIGURE 3 schematically shows a control system of the microwave oven of the present embodiment. Like elements corresponding to those of FIGURES 1 and 2 are indicated by like numerals.
- A
capstan 25 is connected to thetape drive motor 16. When apinch roller 26 is depressed toward thecapstan 25, themagnetic tape 15a in thecassette 15 is driven to travel in the direction shown by arrows in FIGURE 3 for reproduction purposes. The twomagnetic reproduction heads 17a and 17b are in contact with respective tracks recorded on themagnetic tape 15a for reproducing recorded information. - FIGURE 4 shows the recording tracks on the
magnetic tape 15a. Afirst track 151 and asecond track 152 are assigned to the forward direction drive, and a third track 153 and afourth track 154 are assigned to the reverse direction drive. On the first andfourth tracks third tracks 152 and 153, digital information is recorded through the use of a saturation recording technique such as the phase encoding technique for providing digital data which controls the cooking operation performed by the microwave oven. - The
magnetic reproduction head 17a contacts thefirst track 151 or thefourth track 154. The audio information output reproduced from themagnetic reproduction head 17a is applied to anaudio amplifier 27 for activating thespeaker system 24. The magnetic reproduction head 17b contacts thesecond track 152 or the third track 153. The digital information output derived from the magnetic reproduction head 17b is introduced into a read-out amplifier 28, whereby the digital information output is converted into a binary code signal and applied to adigital control system 29. - The
digital control system 29 comprises acentral processor unit 291, a read onlymemory 292 and arandom access memory 293. The binary code signal applied to thedigital control system 29 is processed in thedigital control system 29, thereby providing a control signal for controlling the operation of the microwave oven in accordance with a preselected program sequence. Amotor driver circuit 30 is associated with thedigital control system 29 for driving thetape drive motor 16 at a desired timing. More specifically, thedigital control system 29 develops a start signal for initiating the rotation of thetape drive motor 16, and a stop signal for terminating the rotation of thetape drive motor 16. Adisplay driver circuit 31 is associated with thedigital control system 29 for driving thedigital display unit 13 in accordance with the digital display data derived from the magnetic reproduction head 17b. More specifically, thedigital display unit 13 is caused to display the programmed cooking period or the programmed cooking condition in a digital fashion. Abuzzer driver circuit 32 and abuzzer 33 are associated with thedigital control system 29. - A
tape start button 34 is disposed on thecontrol panel 11 for controlling the cassette tape drive. When thetape start button 34 is actuated, the start signal is developed from thedigital control system 29. Thefirst relay 20 is associated with afirst control switch 35 which is disposed between thehigh voltage transformer 6 and an AC power source 37. Thehigh voltage transformer 6 functions, in combination with thecondenser 7 and adiode 38, to energize themagnetron 4. Thesecond relay 21 is associated with asecond control switch 36 which is disposed between thesheath heater 3 and the AC power source 37. Therelays digital control system 29. - The microwave oven of the present embodiment further comprises a
gas sensor 42 of which a resistance value changes in response to the concentration of the gas developed from the foodstuff disposed in the microwave oven. A preferred gas sensor is "TSG #813" manufactured by Figaro Engineering Inc. A detection characteristic of thegas sensor 42 is described in the above copending GB-A-2040502. - The
gas sensor 42 is connected to a resistance-to-frequency converter 43 implemented with an astable multi-vibrator. The frequency of an output signal derived from the resistance-to-frequency converter 43 changes in response to the variation of the resistance value of thegas sensor 42. A preferred circuit construction of the combination of thegas sensor 42 and the resistance-to-frequency converter 43 is described in our copending U.K. Patent Application No. 8123276 "SENSOR CONTROLLED COOKING APPARATUS", filed on July 28, 1981, a copy of which was forwarded to the European Patent Office when this application was filed. - The digital information recorded on the second and
third tracks 152 and 153 includes cooking program data for determining the sequence of cooking operations, the cooking time period, the cooking heat source, etc., and, in addition to that, cooking constant data which is used to determine a reference level which is compared with the output signal derived from the resistance-to-frequency converter 43. The cooking constant is a particular value determined for each of the plural kinds of cooking operation. - FIGURE 5 shows an essential part of the
digital control system 29. For the purpose of simplicity, FIGURE 5 only shows the digital control system related to the automatic microwave cooking operation controlled by the output signal derived from thegas sensor 42. - The
digital control system 29 comprises amain processor 50 and asubprocessor 90. Thesubprocessor 90 controls the drive of the cassettetape player system 18 and the read out operation of the digital data recorded on thecassette tape 15ao More specifically, thesubprocessor 90 includes afirst detection unit 92 for reading out a cooking constant A, asecond detection unit 94 for reading out an additive cooking coefficient N, a firstpower detection unit 96 for reading out microwave power data for the main cooking operation, and a secondpower detection unit 98 for reading out microwave power data for an additional cooking operation in which additive cooking is carried out. - The
main processor 50 comprises afirst comparator 52 which functions to compare the output signal derived from the resistance-to-frequency converter 43 with a reference level determined in themain processor 50 and to develop a first control signal when the output signal frequency of the resistance-to-frequency converter 43 reaches the reference level. Asecond comparator 54 is included in themain processor 50, which develops a second control signal when the additional cooking operation is performed for a preselected period of time. - An operation mode of the
digital control system 29 will be described with reference to the FIGURE 5 block diagram and an output frequency variation shown in FIGURE 6. - When the cook start instruction is developed in the microwave cooking mode, the microwave oven is first placed in a cooling period to. The
gas sensor 43 detects the concentration of the gas within the oven cavity. The frequency of the output signal developed from the resistance-to-frequency converter 43 varies as shown in FIGURE 6 in response to the variation of the detected gas concentration. Themain processor 50 includes aminimum frequency memory 56 for storing the minimum frequency Fo detected during the cooling period to. - As already discussed above, a detection frequency F, derived from the resistance-to-
frequency converter 43 varies in response to the detected gas concentration. The cooking constant A recorded on thecassette tape 15a and read out by thefirst detection unit 92 included in thesubprocessor 90 is introduced into a referencelevel calculation unit 58 included in themain processor 50. The referencelevel calculation unit 58 calculates a reference level A-Fo through the use of the minimum frequency Fo obtained from theminimum frequency memory 56. The thus obtained reference level A.Fa is introduced into and stored in areference level memory 60 included in themain processor 50. - The microwave cooking is conducted at the microwave power determined by the first
power detection unit 96. When the detection frequency F1 detected by an outputfrequency detection unit 62 reaches the reference level A-Fo contained in thereference level memory 60, thefirst comparator 52 sends a first control signal to a cookingcontrol signal generator 64 in order to terminate the main cooking operation. - A
period counter 66 and atimepiece 68 are included in themain processor 50 for detecting a main cooking period T1. The microwave oven of the present embodiment is constructed to conduct additive cooking at a microwave power read by the secondpower detection unit 98 for a preselected period of time T2. More specifically, themain processor 50 includes an additive cookingperiod calculation unit 70 which functions to calculate the additive cooking period T2 in response to the main cooking period T1 obtained from theperiod counter 66 and the additive cooking coefficient N recorded on thecassette tape 15a and read by thesecond detection unit 94. In a preferred form, a modification factor AN is introduced, at an operator's choice, from thekeyboard panel 12 into the additive cookingperiod calculation unit 70. The additive cooking period T2 is determined in accordance with the following equation:second comparator 54 develops a second control signal to terminate the additional cooking operation. - In a preferred form, the
main processor 50 is implemented with a microprocessor "IX2058YA" manufactured by Sharp Corporation, and thesubprocessor 90 is implemented with a microprocessor "IX2057YA" manufactured by Sharp Corporation.
Claims (9)
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP17165080A JPS5795528A (en) | 1980-12-03 | 1980-12-03 | Cooking apparatus |
JP171650/80 | 1980-12-03 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0053523A1 EP0053523A1 (en) | 1982-06-09 |
EP0053523B1 true EP0053523B1 (en) | 1987-08-26 |
Family
ID=15927137
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP81305717A Expired EP0053523B1 (en) | 1980-12-03 | 1981-12-03 | Cooking apparatus |
Country Status (5)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0053523B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JPS5795528A (en) |
AU (1) | AU528472B2 (en) |
CA (1) | CA1172706A (en) |
DE (1) | DE3176397D1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPS62135398U (en) * | 1986-02-19 | 1987-08-26 | ||
EP0397397B1 (en) * | 1989-05-08 | 1995-01-11 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Automatic heating apparatus |
JPH06137561A (en) * | 1992-10-26 | 1994-05-17 | Toshiba Corp | Heating cooker |
Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4097707A (en) * | 1975-05-20 | 1978-06-27 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Apparatus for controlling heating time utilizing humidity sensing |
EP0023971A2 (en) * | 1979-07-11 | 1981-02-18 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Heating control apparatus for cooking oven with vapor sensor, and cooking method |
EP0024798A2 (en) * | 1979-07-20 | 1981-03-11 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Method of food heating control and apparatus therefor |
EP0025513A1 (en) * | 1979-08-17 | 1981-03-25 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Heating apparatus with sensor |
Family Cites Families (8)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB949178A (en) * | 1960-04-26 | 1964-02-12 | Wickman Ltd | Means for controlling the actions of machine tools |
US3569656A (en) * | 1969-07-24 | 1971-03-09 | Bowmar Tic Inc | Automatic cooking cycle control system for microwave ovens |
JPS5388249A (en) * | 1977-01-12 | 1978-08-03 | Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd | Cooking equipment |
JPS5388248A (en) * | 1977-01-12 | 1978-08-03 | Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd | Cooking equipment |
JPS5425381A (en) * | 1977-07-27 | 1979-02-26 | Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd | Home-use electric appliance |
US4162381A (en) * | 1977-08-30 | 1979-07-24 | Litton Systems, Inc. | Microwave oven sensing system |
GB2026726B (en) * | 1978-06-28 | 1983-03-09 | Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co | High frequency heating apparatus |
CH636389A5 (en) * | 1979-04-19 | 1983-05-31 | Dorina Naehmasch | Sewing machine. |
-
1980
- 1980-12-03 JP JP17165080A patent/JPS5795528A/en active Pending
-
1981
- 1981-11-26 CA CA000390979A patent/CA1172706A/en not_active Expired
- 1981-12-01 AU AU78126/81A patent/AU528472B2/en not_active Ceased
- 1981-12-03 EP EP81305717A patent/EP0053523B1/en not_active Expired
- 1981-12-03 DE DE8181305717T patent/DE3176397D1/en not_active Expired
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4097707A (en) * | 1975-05-20 | 1978-06-27 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Apparatus for controlling heating time utilizing humidity sensing |
EP0023971A2 (en) * | 1979-07-11 | 1981-02-18 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Heating control apparatus for cooking oven with vapor sensor, and cooking method |
EP0024798A2 (en) * | 1979-07-20 | 1981-03-11 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Method of food heating control and apparatus therefor |
EP0025513A1 (en) * | 1979-08-17 | 1981-03-25 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Heating apparatus with sensor |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
AU7812681A (en) | 1982-06-10 |
EP0053523A1 (en) | 1982-06-09 |
DE3176397D1 (en) | 1987-10-01 |
AU528472B2 (en) | 1983-04-28 |
JPS5795528A (en) | 1982-06-14 |
CA1172706A (en) | 1984-08-14 |
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