KR-20260066996-A - COOKING APPLIANCE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THEREOF

KR20260066996AKR 20260066996 AKR20260066996 AKR 20260066996AKR-20260066996-A

Abstract

An invention relating to a cooking appliance and a method for controlling the same is disclosed. The disclosed invention is characterized by: dividing a cooking chamber into a plurality of segmented areas based on an image obtained as a result of photographing the cooking chamber, and controlling the operation of a heating device so as to send hot air to a selected area based on the result of determining the state of a cooking object for each segmented area.

Inventors

이수용
박경준
양재경
곽동성
양학순

Assignees

엘지전자 주식회사

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20241105

Claims (12)

A method for controlling a cooking device comprising a main body forming a cooking chamber, a camera for photographing the cooking chamber, and a heating device that operates to send hot air to the cooking chamber, A shooting step of photographing the kitchen with the above camera; A state identification step of dividing the cooking chamber into multiple separate areas based on an image acquired from the camera and identifying the state of a cooking object for each of the separate areas; A region selection step for selecting a target to send hot air from among a plurality of the above-mentioned division areas as a selection area according to the state of the object to be cooked identified in the above-mentioned state identification step; and A heating operation control step for controlling the operation of the heating device to send hot air to the selected area; The above heating operation control step is a method for controlling a cooking device that controls the operation of the heating device so that at least one of the discharge position and the reach distance of the main body of hot air discharged from the heating device is controlled.
In paragraph 1, The above heating operation control step is a method for controlling a cooking device that identifies the position of the selected area according to the front and rear directions and controls the operation of the heating device so that the reach distance of the main body of hot air discharged from the heating device is controlled.
In paragraph 2, The above heating device includes a fan that rotates to send hot air to the cooking chamber, and The above heating operation control step is a method for controlling a cooking appliance that controls the rotation speed of the fan.
In paragraph 3, The above heating operation control step is a control method for a cooking appliance that increases the rotation speed of the fan as the position of the selected area is positioned further forward.
In paragraph 1, The above heating operation control step is a method for controlling a cooking device that identifies the position of the selected area on a coordinate plane orthogonal to the front-rear axis and controls the operation of the heating device so that the discharge position of the main body of hot air discharged from the heating device is controlled.
In paragraph 1, The above heating operation control step is a method for controlling a cooking device that identifies the position of the selected area according to the front-rear direction of the selected area and the position of the selected area on a coordinate plane orthogonal to the front-rear direction axis, and controls the operation of the heating device so that the reach distance and discharge position of the main body of hot air discharged from the heating device are controlled.
In paragraph 6, The heating device includes a fan configured to rotate in the forward and reverse directions around a front-rear axis, and The discharge position of the main stream of hot air discharged from the heating device changes according to the change in the rotation direction of the above fan, and The above heating operation control step is a cooking device that controls the rotation direction of the fan according to the position of the selected area on the coordinate plane.
In paragraph 1, The heating operation control step comprises identifying the position of the selected area according to the front-rear direction of the selected area and the position of the selected area on a coordinate plane orthogonal to the front-rear direction axis, and The above heating operation control step is a cooking device that controls the amount of heat generated by the heating device according to the position of the selected area on the coordinate plane.
A main body in which a cooking chamber is formed inside; A camera that photographs the above-mentioned kitchen; A control unit that divides the cooking chamber into multiple separate areas based on an image acquired from the camera and selects a target to send hot air among them as a selection area; and A heating device that operates to send hot air toward the above-mentioned selection area; including The above control unit controls the operation of the heating device so that at least one of the discharge position and the reach distance of the main body of hot air discharged from the heating device is controlled.
In Paragraph 9, The heating device comprises a fan cover having a first front discharge port and a second front discharge port, and a fan that rotates around a front-rear axis. On a coordinate plane that is orthogonal to the rotation axis of the fan and has its origin positioned on the rotation axis of the fan, the first front discharge port and the second front discharge port are positioned at different locations, and The above fan rotates in a forward direction to discharge the main stream of hot air from inside the heating device through the first front discharge port into the cooking chamber, or rotates in a reverse direction to discharge the main stream of hot air from inside the heating device through the second front discharge port into the cooking chamber. The above control unit is a cooking device that controls the rotation direction of the fan according to the position of the selected area on the coordinate plane.
In Paragraph 10, The first front discharge port and the second front discharge port are cooking devices disposed on the front of the fan cover.
In Paragraph 10, A cooking device in which, among the quadrants of the coordinate plane divided by a front-rear axis and an up-down axis meeting the origin, the first front discharge port is disposed in at least one of the second quadrant and the fourth quadrant, and the second front discharge port is disposed in at least one of the first quadrant and the third quadrant.

Description

Cooking appliance and method for controlling thereof The present invention relates to a cooking appliance, and more specifically, to a cooking appliance equipped with a camera for photographing the interior of a cooking chamber and a method for controlling the same. Cooking appliances are household appliances installed in a kitchen space to cook food according to the user's intentions. Such cooking appliances can be classified in various ways depending on the heat source or form used, or the type of fuel. When classifying cooking appliances according to the form in which food is cooked, they can be classified into open and closed types based on the shape of the space where the food is placed. Closed cooking appliances include ovens and microwave ovens, while open cooking appliances include cooktops, hobs, and griddles. A sealed cooking appliance is a cooking device that shields the space where food is placed and cooks the food by heating that shielded space. A sealed cooking appliance is provided with a cooking chamber, which is a space that is shielded when food is placed and cooked. This cooking chamber effectively becomes the space where the food is cooked. A sealed cooking appliance is provided with a rotatable door that selectively opens and closes the cooking chamber. The door is rotatably installed on the main body by means of a door hinge provided between the main body, which has a cooking chamber formed inside, and the door. By rotating the door around the part connected to the main body through the door hinge, the cooking chamber can be selectively opened and closed. A heat source is provided to the interior space of the cooking chamber that is opened and closed by the above door to heat the cooking chamber. A gas burner or an electric heater may be used as such a heat source. Recently, sealed cooking appliances equipped with automatic cooking functions are being developed. These sealed cooking appliances can acquire information, such as the appearance or weight of food contained within the cooking chamber, and use this acquired information to control the cooking operation of the appliance. In such appliances, the type, size, thickness, and weight of the food must be accurately identified for the automatic cooking function to be provided effectively. In addition, recently, enclosed cooking appliances equipped with built-in cameras are being developed. Such cooking appliances can acquire images related to food contained within the cooking chamber through the built-in camera. The images acquired by the built-in camera can be used to display them on a display equipped in the cooking appliance or on a user's smart device, and can also be used as data for controlling the cooking operation of the cooking appliance. When an image acquired by an internal camera is used as data for controlling the cooking operation of a cooking device, the cooking device can analyze the food-related image acquired by the internal camera to determine the type of food or the degree of cooking progress of the food, and control the cooking operation of the cooking device based on the information analyzed in this way. In a cooking appliance that provides an automatic cooking function as described above, the determination of the cooking progress of the food, that is, the degree of doneness of the food, can primarily be performed by determining the surface color of the food. In this case, the cooking appliance can determine the overall doneness of the food through images related to the food acquired by a built-in camera, and can control the cooking operation of the cooking appliance based on the information thus determined. Meanwhile, the above-mentioned cooking device may also determine the cooking status of the food by each part using food-related images acquired by a built-in camera. For example, the cooking device can determine how the cooking status differs between the front and back parts of the food, and how the cooking status differs between the top and bottom parts of the food. However, even if the cooking appliance can determine the cooking status of each part of the food, if it cannot concentrate heat on the target area of each part, it becomes very difficult to ensure uniformity in cooking quality. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a cooking device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the door open state of the cooking appliance illustrated in FIG. 1. Figure 3 is a side cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the cooking appliance illustrated in Figure 1. FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view showing the mounting state of the rack illustrated in FIG. 3. Figure 5 is a side cross-sectional view showing the structure of the convection device illustrated in Figure 3. FIG. 6 is a front perspective view showing the fan cover shown in FIG. 5 separated. Figure 7 is a front view showing the fan cover shown in Figure 5 separated. Figure 8 is a front view sho