KR102001299B1 - Microwave oven and method for controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a microwave oven and a microwave oven control method, and more particularly, to a microwave oven and a microwave oven control method that can realize cooking performance equally. The microwave oven includes a cooking chamber in which a cooking object is accommodated, a magnetron for generating a microwave applied to the cooking object through the oscillating operation, an inverter for providing a control signal for controlling driving of the magnetron, The control unit includes controlling the inverter to start the oscillation operation after receiving the oscillation preparation completion information from the inverter.

Description

Microwave oven and method for controlling same [

The present invention relates to a microwave oven and a microwave oven control method capable of equally realizing cooking performance of a product.

Generally, a microwave oven is a device for heating food by irradiating electromagnetic waves. The microwave oven is rapidly heated at the same time by the frictional heat generated between water molecules due to high frequency electromagnetic waves generated when a high voltage power is applied from the magnetron which is a high frequency oscillating tube and disturbing water molecules inside the food. .

Specifically, a microwave oven is one of devices using a high frequency as a cooker using a dielectric heating method. The dielectric heating method is a method in which water molecules of water included in the food are vibrated by heating the food into an oven and radiating microwaves. At this time, unlike ordinary heating cooking utensils heated from the surface of food, the inside of food is first heated. For this purpose, a typical microwave oven uses a microwave whose wavelength is about 1/10 shorter than the TV wave.

The heating source that generates these microwaves is a special two-pole vacuum tube called a magnetron. The magnetron heats the microwave through the output antenna and heats the food.

However, the magnetron takes a predetermined time from when the operation signal is applied until it oscillates stably. Accordingly, although the magnetron receives the same operation signal, there is a problem that the output varies depending on whether the magnetron is in a stable oscillation state.

For example, when an operation signal is received while the magnetron is normally oscillating, and when an operation signal is received before the magnetron is normally oscillated, there may be a difference in cooking performance of the microwave oven.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a control method of a microwave oven and a microwave oven which can realize the same output of a product by controlling the magnetron to start oscillating operation according to a cooking algorithm after confirming whether or not the preparation for oscillation of the magnetron is completed .

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects and advantages of the present invention which are not mentioned can be understood by the following description and more clearly understood by the embodiments of the present invention. It will also be readily apparent that the objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cooking chamber in which a cooking object is accommodated, a magnetron for generating a microwave applied to the cooking object through the oscillating operation, an inverter for providing a control signal for controlling driving of the magnetron, The control unit includes a control unit for controlling the inverter to start the oscillation operation after receiving the oscillation preparation completion information from the inverter.

Further, the oscillation preparation completion information may be included in the state information data of the inverter, and the state information data may be included in the data packet received from the inverter by the control unit.

In addition, the inverter can determine whether or not the magnetron is prepared for oscillation based on the voltage or current measured in the magnetron.

In addition, the control unit may receive the data packet from the inverter every predetermined period.

The data packet may include size data of the data packet, the status information data, input power data input to the inverter, transmission error checking data of the data packet, and error correction data.

The control unit may further include an interface unit for receiving a cooking course from a user, and the control unit may include a memory unit for storing a cooking algorithm corresponding to the cooking course.

Also, the control unit waits for a control command for the cooking algorithm to be transmitted to the inverter until the oscillation preparation completion information is received, and when the oscillation preparation completion information is received, Can be transmitted to the inverter.

Further, the control command includes a PWM signal for turning on / off a plurality of switches included in the inverter, and the inverter can control the oscillation operation of the magnetron based on the control command.

In addition, the cooking algorithm may include operation information on a cooking method for fermentation or keeping warm the object to be cooked.

A method of controlling a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention includes receiving a user input to a cooking course through an interface unit in a control unit, receiving status information data of a magnetron from an inverter in a control unit, Determining whether or not the oscillation preparation is completed based on the control signal received from the control unit, transmitting a control command for the cooking algorithm corresponding to the cooking course input from the control unit to the inverter when the preparation for oscillation of the magnetron is completed, And controlling the magnetron to start the oscillating operation.

 The step of receiving the status information data of the inverter may include extracting the status information data from the data packet received from the inverter, and the status information data may include information on whether or not the inverter is ready to oscillate .

The method may further include generating the state information data on whether or not the magnetron is prepared for oscillation based on the voltage or current measured by the magnetron in the inverter.

The receiving of the status information data of the inverter may also include receiving the data packet from the inverter at predetermined intervals

The step of transmitting the control command for the cooking algorithm to the inverter may include receiving the information about the preparation for oscillation preparation of the magnetron by the control unit and outputting the cooking algorithm corresponding to the cooking course stored in the memory unit And communicating a control command to the inverter to perform the cooking algorithm.

Further, the control command includes a PWM signal for turning on / off a plurality of switches included in the inverter, and the inverter can control the oscillation operation of the magnetron based on the control command.

In addition, when the oscillation preparation incomplete information is received from the inverter, the control unit may wait for the control command for the cooking algorithm until the oscillation preparation completion information is received.

The control method of the microwave oven and the microwave oven according to the present invention can realize the same output of the product by controlling the oscillation operation according to the cooking algorithm to be started in a state where preparation for oscillation of the magnetron is completed. This makes it possible to achieve the same performance in the same product. In addition, it is possible to increase the reliability of the performance of the consumer product and increase the satisfaction of the consumer. In addition, it is possible to reduce the consumer's claim and the return rate according to the output deviation of the product, and it is possible to reduce the cost required for the AS of the product.

1 is a perspective view showing a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the microwave oven of Fig. 1. Fig.
3 is a block diagram showing the connection relationship of the components of the microwave oven of FIG.
4 is a diagram for explaining a data packet received by the control unit of FIG.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as limited to ordinary or preliminary meaning and the inventor shall properly define the concept of the term in order to describe its invention in the best possible way It should be construed in accordance with the meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention. It should be noted that the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not represent all the technical ideas of the present invention, It should be understood that various equivalents and modifications are possible.

Hereinafter, a microwave oven and a microwave oven control method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Figs. 1 to 5. Fig.

1 is a perspective view showing a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cabinet 10 forming an outer appearance, a course input unit 20 formed to set a cooking course, a cooking chamber 30 housing a cooking object, And a door 50 formed to open and close the cooking chamber 30.

The cabinet 10 forms the overall appearance of the microwave oven 1. In addition, a cabinet (not shown) for applying microwaves or electromagnetic waves to the cooking chamber 30 may be provided in the cabinet 10.

The course input unit 20 may be configured to input one of a plurality of cooking courses. That is, the user can input one course among a plurality of cooking courses through the course input unit 20. [

At this time, the plurality of cooking courses may include a thawing course, a warm course, a baking course, a fermentation course, and a warming course. In addition, the fermentation course may include a yogurt fermentation course, a bread fermentation course, and a Sikhah fermentation course.

The course input unit 20 may be formed in a dial shape capable of rotating operation or may be formed of a touch panel capable of touch input. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

The cooking chamber 30 may be formed to provide a space for accommodating the object to be cooked. That is, the cooking chamber 30 may be formed to occupy a certain space in the cabinet 10. [ The cooking chamber 30 may be part of the inner space of the cabinet 10. [

The display unit 40 may be configured to display various kinds of cooking information. For example, the display unit 40 may display the input cooking course, the output according to the cooking course, the cooking time according to the cooking course, and the remaining cooking time.

The door 50 may be provided in front of the cabinet 10 and may be formed to open or close the cooking chamber 30. A transparent portion 51 may be provided on a part of the door 50 so that the cooking chamber 30 can be seen. In addition, a shielding portion for preventing electromagnetic waves from diffusing to the outside may be formed on a part of the door 50, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, other components for driving the microwave oven will be described.

Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the microwave oven of Fig. 1. Fig.

2, a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cooking chamber 30 provided in the cabinet 10, a magnetron 60 configured to apply a microwave (or an electromagnetic wave) to a cooking object, And a controller 100 for converting the AC voltage supplied from the supply source 80 into a DC voltage and supplying the DC voltage to the magnetron 60.

At this time, the controller 100 may include an inverter device for controlling the magnetron 60. That is, the microwave oven according to the present invention may be an inverter microwave oven including the controller 100.

The cooking chamber 30 may be provided at one side of the cabinet 10 and the magnetron 60 and the controller 100 may be provided at the other side of the cabinet 10. At this time, the magnetron 60 may be arranged to provide microwaves into the cooking chamber 30.

The magnetron 60 can generate microwaves (or electromagnetic waves). Specifically, the magnetron 60 is composed of a bipolar tube, and the microwave can be concentrated on the cooking object through the output antenna.

For example, when the microwave is radiated to the object to be cooked, water molecules of water included in the object to be cooked are vibrated, so that the object to be cooked can be heated. In this case, unlike the conventional heating cooking apparatus in which heating is started from the surface of the object to be cooked, the interior of the object to be cooked can be heated first in the case of a microwave oven.

Since the heating method of the object to be cooked using the magnetron 60 is generally known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

The controller 100 can control the voltage supplied to the magnetron 60. [

Specifically, the controller 100 can convert a commercial AC voltage supplied from an external power supply source 80 into a high output DC voltage and supply the converted DC voltage to the magnetron 60.

The controller 100 can selectively apply or cut off the DC voltage to the magnetron 60 and can control the magnitude of the DC voltage applied to the magnetron 60 (i.e., the output of the magnetron 60). That is, the controller 100 can control the oscillation operation of the magnetron 60.

3 is a block diagram showing the connection relationship of the components of the microwave oven of FIG.

3, the controller 100 of the present invention includes an interface unit 110, a control unit 120, a memory unit 125, and an inverter 130.

Here, the interface unit 110 is substantially the same as the course input unit 20 that receives the cooking course from the user described in FIG.

The interface unit 110 can receive inputs for various cooking courses from a user and can transmit information about the cooking courses inputted to the controller 120. [

The control unit 120 can control the operation of the inverter 130 by providing a control command to the inverter 130. [

For example, the control unit 100 can control the driving method of the inverter device 70 based on the cooking course input through the interface unit 110.

The memory unit 125 may store a cooking algorithm corresponding to the cooking course received from the interface unit 110. [ The memory unit 125 may include a volatile or non-volatile memory, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The memory unit 125 may provide the control unit 120 with a cooking algorithm corresponding to the cooking course called in the control unit 120 when the control unit 120 is called.

The control unit 120 may generate a control command for controlling the operation of the inverter 130 based on the cooking algorithm received from the memory unit 125 and provide the control command to the inverter 130. [

The inverter 130 can control driving of the magnetron 60 based on the received control command.

Although not explicitly shown in the drawing, the inverter 130 may include a plurality of switches. The inverter 130 may selectively turn on / off a plurality of switches according to a control command received from the controller 120, thereby generating a driving power for driving the magnetron 60.

At this time, the control command may include a PWM signal (hereinafter, referred to as a PWM signal) for turning on / off a plurality of switches included in the inverter 130.

For example, the control unit 120 may generate and modulate a drive pulse width (i.e., a PWM signal) based on a cooking instruction (e.g., a cooking course) input by the user and provide it to the inverter 130 .

The plurality of switches may be configured to change the frequency of the power source applied through the power source (80 in FIG. 2) according to an input control command.

At this time, the output of the magnetron 60 may be changed based on the switching frequency changed in the plurality of switches. Since the configuration of the plurality of switches is generally known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

The driving power generated from the plurality of switches can be transmitted to the magnetron 60. The operation of the magnetron 60 can be controlled by the driving power supplied from the inverter 130.

However, the oscillation operation of the magnetron 60 requires the oscillation preparation step.

For example, when the magnetron 60 receives an oscillation command in a state where preparation for oscillation is not completed, the magnetron 60 can perform a normal oscillation operation after a predetermined time. In other words, the magnetron 60 requires a certain period of time until it normally oscillates.

If the magnetron 60 receives an oscillation command in a state in which preparation for oscillation is completed, the magnetron 60 can immediately perform a normal oscillation operation. On the other hand, when the magnetron 60 receives an oscillation command in a state in which preparation for oscillation is not completed, a normal oscillation operation can be performed after a predetermined time.

That is, even if the magnetron 60 receives the same oscillation command, different outputs can be generated depending on whether the magnetron 60 is ready for oscillation.

Therefore, in the conventional microwave oven, when the control signal is received when the magnetron 60 is normally oscillating, and when the control signal is received before the magnetron 60 is normally oscillated, there is a difference in the cooking performance of the microwave oven I could.

However, the microwave oven of the present invention transmits information to the controller 120 to determine whether the magnetron 60 of the inverter 130 is ready for oscillation. The control unit 120 may transmit an oscillation command to the magnetron 60 through the inverter 130 after the magnetron 60 is normally prepared for oscillation.

Hereinafter, how the control unit 120 determines whether or not the magnetron 60 is ready to oscillate will be described in detail using a data packet received from the inverter 130. [

4 is a diagram for explaining a data packet received by the control unit of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 4, a data packet received from the inverter 130 by the controller 120 may be composed of a plurality of bytes. For example, one data packet may be composed of 7 bytes, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, an example in which one data packet has seven bytes will be described.

The data packet may include data on the size of the data packet, state information data on the magnetron 60, data on input power input to the inverter 130, transmission error checking data of the data packet, and error correction data. have. Each of these data can be represented by one byte. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

The order of the data included in the data packet shown in FIG. 4 is arbitrary, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

Here, the state information data of the magnetron 60 may have eight bits consisting of one byte.

One of the bits included in the state information data may include information on whether or not the magnetron 60 is ready for oscillation.

For example, when the last bit b7 of the status information data is '1', the oscillation preparation of the magnetron 60 is completed. When the last bit b7 is '0', the oscillation preparation of the magnetron 60 May be incomplete. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

The control unit 120 can extract the status information data from the received data packet. Then, the control unit 120 may acquire information about completion of oscillation preparation of the magnetron 60 included in the state information data. Accordingly, the control unit 120 can determine whether or not the preparation of the oscillation of the magnetron 60 is completed.

In addition, the inverter 130 may determine whether the magnetron 60 is ready to oscillate based on the voltage or current measured at the magnetron 60.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, it is possible to determine whether or not the magnetron 60 is ready for oscillation based on the magnitude of the driving voltage or current supplied to the magnetron 60 in the inverter 130.

Based on this, the inverter 130 can generate state information data including information on whether or not the magnetron 60 is ready for oscillation, and a data packet including the state information data.

In addition, the inverter 130 may transmit the generated data packet to the control unit 120 every predetermined period. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the control unit 120 may transmit a data packet to the control unit 120 in response to the call.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, a control method of a microwave oven according to an embodiment of the present invention includes receiving a user input of a cooking course through the interface unit 110 in a controller 120 (S110). For example, the user can select any one of the thawing course, the warm course, the baking course, the fermentation course, and the warming course through the interface unit 110. In the memory unit 125, corresponding cooking algorithms may be stored in advance for each cooking course.

 Then, the control unit 120 receives the state information data of the magnetron 60 from the inverter 130 (S120).

Here, the state information data of the magnetron 60 may be included in the data packet.

The data packet may be generated by the inverter 130 and provided to the controller 120 at predetermined intervals. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a data packet may be provided from the inverter 130 in response to a request from the control unit 120.

A detailed description of the data packet has been given above, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

Next, the control unit 120 determines whether or not the preparation of oscillation of the magnetron 60 is completed based on the state information data (S130). At this time, the control unit 120 can determine whether or not the oscillation preparation is completed based on the information about the preparation for oscillation preparation of the magnetron 60 included in the state information data.

When the oscillation preparation of the magnetron 60 is completed, a control command for the cooking algorithm corresponding to the cooking course input through the interface unit 110 is transmitted to the inverter 130 (S140).

Here, the control command may include an oscillation start command of the magnetron 60. In addition, the control command may include a PWM signal for turning on / off a plurality of switches included in the inverter 130. [

At this time, the cooking algorithm corresponding to the cooking course may be stored in advance in the memory unit 125 as described above.

The control unit 120 may call a cooking algorithm corresponding to the cooking course stored in the memory unit 125. [ The control unit 120 may convert the cooking algorithm received through the call into a control command. The converted control command may then be communicated to the inverter 130.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the control unit 120 may call a cooking algorithm corresponding to the cooking course previously input before the preparation of the oscillation of the magnetron 60 is completed, and convert the cooking algorithm into a control command. At this time, the converted control command is not immediately provided to the inverter 130, and can be stand-by or held until the magnetron 60 is ready for oscillation.

Subsequently, after the oscillation preparation of the magnetron 60 is completed, the standby or held control command may be transmitted to the inverter 130. [

Subsequently, the inverter 130 performs a cooking algorithm operation based on the control command received from the control unit 120 (S150). That is, the inverter 130 may control the magnetron 60 to perform the oscillation operation according to the cooking algorithm.

On the other hand, if the oscillation preparation of the magnetron 60 is not completed, the controller 120 repeats steps S120 to S130 described above.

That is, the control unit 120 checks whether the data packet received from the inverter 130 includes the preparation preparation information of the magnetron 60. [

The control unit 120 may wait for the control command for the cooking algorithm until the oscillation preparation completion information of the magnetron 60 is received. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

Accordingly, the microwave oven of the present invention can control the oscillation operation of the magnetron 60 in accordance with the cooking algorithm to be started when the preparation for oscillation of the magnetron 60 is completed. Accordingly, the output of the microwave oven of the present invention can be implemented in all products equally.

Therefore, the microwave oven of the present invention can realize the same performance in the same product. Through this, it is possible to increase the performance reliability of the consumer's product and increase the satisfaction of the consumer. In addition, it is possible to reduce the consumer's claim and the return rate according to the output deviation of the product, thereby reducing the cost required for the AS of the product.

It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the scope of the present invention will be indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing detailed description. It is intended that all changes and modifications that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims, as well as any equivalents thereof, be within the scope of the present invention.

60: Magnetron 80: Power supply
110: interface unit 120: control unit
125: memory unit 130: inverter

Claims (16)

A cooking chamber in which a cooking object is accommodated;
A magnetron for generating a microwave applied to the cooking object through an oscillating operation;
An inverter for controlling driving of the magnetron; And
And a control unit for providing a control command for controlling the operation of the inverter,
The inverter determines whether or not the magnetron is prepared for oscillation, transmits the state information data including the oscillation preparation completion information to the controller according to the determination result,
Wherein the control unit controls the inverter to drive the magnetron by providing the control command to the inverter when the oscillation preparation completion information is received from the inverter.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the state information data is included in a data packet received from the inverter by the control unit.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the inverter determines whether or not the oscillation of the magnetron is ready based on a voltage or a current measured by the magnetron.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the control unit receives the data packet from the inverter every predetermined period.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the data packet includes size data of the data packet, the status information data, data on input power input to the inverter, transmission error checking data of the data packet, and error correction data.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising an interface unit for receiving a cooking course from a user,
Wherein the control unit includes a memory unit that stores a cooking algorithm corresponding to the cooking course.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein,
Waiting for a control command for the cooking algorithm to be transmitted to the inverter until the oscillation preparation completion information is received,
And transmits a control command for the cooking algorithm to the inverter when the oscillation preparation completion information is received.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the control command includes a PWM signal for turning on and off a plurality of switches included in the inverter,
And the inverter controls the oscillation operation of the magnetron based on the control command.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the cooking algorithm includes operation information on a cooking method for fermenting or keeping warm the object to be cooked.
A microwave oven control method for controlling the operation of a magnetron for generating microwaves,
Receiving a user input for a cooking course through an interface unit in a control unit;
Determining whether the magnetron is prepared for oscillation in the inverter, and transmitting state information data including oscillation preparation completion information to the controller according to a determination result;
Receiving from the inverter the oscillation preparation completion information of the magnetron;
Determining whether the oscillation preparation is completed based on the oscillation preparation completion information;
Transmitting a control command for a cooking algorithm corresponding to the cooking course input from the controller to the inverter when it is determined that the preparation for oscillation of the magnetron is completed; And
The inverter controlling the magnetron to start oscillating operation in accordance with the control command
Control method of microwave oven.
11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the step of receiving the oscillation preparation completion information of the inverter includes extracting the state information data and the oscillation preparation completion information from the data packet received from the inverter.
12. The method of claim 11,
And generating the state information data on whether or not the oscillation of the magnetron is ready based on the voltage or current measured in the magnetron in the inverter.
12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the step of receiving the state information data of the inverter includes receiving the data packet from the inverter every predetermined period.
11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the step of transmitting a control command for the cooking algorithm to the inverter by the controller comprises:
Wherein the control unit receives information about completion of oscillation preparation of the magnetron,
Calling the cooking algorithm corresponding to the cooking course stored in the memory unit,
And transmitting a control command for performing the cooking algorithm to the inverter.
15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the control command includes a PWM signal for turning on and off a plurality of switches included in the inverter,
Wherein the inverter controls the oscillation operation of the magnetron based on the control command.
11. The method of claim 10,
Further comprising waiting the control command for the cooking algorithm in the control unit until the oscillation preparation completion information is received when the oscillation preparation incomplete information is received from the inverter.

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