Title: Composite cooking apparatus and method of controlling the same
Abstract: A composite cooking apparatus, which may perform a heating operation using a plane heater and an induction heating operation using high frequency current together. A composite cooking apparatus of the present invention includes a plane heater and an induction heater installed below a heat resistant glass plate, as a composite heat source. The present invention may automatically determine material of a cooking container, and perform heating and cooking using a heat source suitable for the material of the cooking container. Further, if a rapid cooking mode is set, cooking is performed at high output power using both the two heat sources, thus shortening a cooking time.
Patent Number: 6,906,294 Issued on 06/14/2005 to Yang
| Inventors:
|
Yang; Ha-Yeong (Suwon, KR)
|
| Assignee:
|
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Suwon-si, KR)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
691708 |
| Filed:
|
October 24, 2003 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| May 07, 2003[KR] | 10-2003-0029103 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
219/620; 219/622 |
| Intern'l Class: |
H05B 006/12 |
| Field of Search: |
219/620,622,621,601,623,624,627,630,632,635,675,677,494,510,398
126/299.D,21.R,37.R
363/136,124
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 3790735 | Feb., 1974 | Peters, Jr.
| |
| 4996405 | Feb., 1991 | Poumey et al.
| |
| 6008482 | Dec., 1999 | Takahashi et al.
| |
| 6660981 | Dec., 2003 | Ogata et al.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 01070619 | Mar., 1989 | JP.
| |
| 02213086 | Aug., 1990 | JP.
| |
Other References
Patent Abstract of Japan, Publication No. 4-055626, Publication Date Feb. 24, 1992.
|
Primary Examiner: Van; Quang T.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Staas & Halsey LLP
Claims
1. A composite cooking apparatus comprising:
two different heat sources to heat food in a cooking container, wherein the heat
sources are a plane heater and an induction heater, respectively;
a controller to control operations of heating and cooking the food by operating
one or both of the two heat sources according to an operating mode; and
a heat resistant glass plate to allow the cooking container to be seated thereon,
wherein the plane and induction heaters are mounted below the heat resistant glass
plate.
2. The composite cooking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an
air discharge duct to discharge heated air to outside of the composite cooking
apparatus, wherein the plane heater is mounted on a top of the air discharge duct,
and the induction heater is mounted below the air discharge duct.
3. The composite cooking apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a
cooling fan motor mounted in the air discharge duct to forcibly blow air heated
by heat radiated from the plane heater.
4. The composite cooking apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a
heat insulating material mounted to come into contact with the plane heater in
a face-to-face manner to block heat radiated from the plane heater.
5. The composite cooking apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the heat insulating
material is made of heat resistant material.
6. The composite cooking apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the heat insulating
material is heat resistant up to a temperature of approximately 500° C.
7. The composite cooking apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the heat insulating
material is made of material which transmits a magnetic field.
8. A composite cooking apparatus comprising:
two different heat sources to heat food in a cooking container, wherein the heat
sources are a plane heater and an induction heater, respectively;
a controller to control operations of heating and cooking the food by operating
one or both of the two heat sources according to an operating mode, wherein the
controller operates both the plane and induction heaters if an operating mode for
shortening a cooking time is set;
a power supply unit to supply driving power to the plane heater;
an inverter to supply driving power of a predetermined frequency to the induction
heater; and
a current detecting unit to detect current of the inverter,
wherein the controller selectively determines at least one of the two heat sources
suitable for material of the cooking container depending on the current detected
by the current detecting unit.
9. The composite cooking apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the controller
determines that the cooking container is suitable for induction heating if the
detected current is equal to or greater than a set value, while the controller
determines that the cooking container is suitable for plane heating if the detected
current is less than the set value.
10. A method of controlling a composite cooking apparatus, the composite cooking
apparatus including a plane heater and an induction heater, the method comprising:
setting a cooking command;
heating and cooking food in a cooking container by operating one or both of the
two heaters according to the set cooking command;
detecting current of an inverter which supplies driving power the induction heater;
and
heating and cooking the food selectively using at least one of the plane heater
and the induction heater suitable for the cooking container depending on the detected
current.
11. The composite cooking apparatus control method according to claim 10, further comprising:
heating food in the cooking container in an induction heating manner if the detected
current is equal to or greater than a set value, while heating the food in the
cooking container in a plane heating manner if the detected current is less than
the set value.
12. The composite cooking apparatus control method according to claim 10, further
comprising discharging air heated by the heater to outside of the composite cooking
apparatus by driving a cooling fan motor at the time of heating and cooking using
the heaters.
13. A composite cooking apparatus on which a cooking container containing food
is to be placed, comprising:
a plane heater;
an induction heater; and
a controller that determines whether the material of the cooking container is
suitable for induction heating depending on a detected current in the induction
heater and operates
the induction heater if the detected current in the induction heater is equal
to or greater than a set value, and
the plane heater if the detected current is less than the set value.
14. The cooking apparatus according to claim 13, wherein during a normal cooking
mode, one of the plane and induction heaters operate.
15. The cooking apparatus according to claim 14, wherein during a rapid cooking
mode, the plane and induction heaters operate.
16. The cooking apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a cooking
command setting unit on a front thereof.
17. The cooking apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising a heat resistant
glass plate on an upper casing of the cooking apparatus.
18. The cooking apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the plane heater and
the induction heater are below the heat resistant glass plate.
19. The cooking apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the plane heater is
on a top of an air discharge duct.
20. The cooking apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the induction heater
is below the air discharge duct.
21. The cooking apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the induction heater comprises:
a working coil to generate high frequency current depending on driving power
supplied from an inverter; and
a support to support the working coil.
22. The cooking apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the working coil is
separated from the plane heater.
23. A method of controlling a composite cooking apparatus, including a plane
heater and an induction heater, the method comprising:
setting a cooking command;
detecting current at an inverter which supplies driving power to the induction
heater;
inductively heating food if the detected current is equal to or greater than
a set value; and
plane heating food if the detected current is less than a set value.
24. The method of controlling a composite cooking apparatus according to claim
23, further comprising discharging air heated by the heater to outside of the composite
cooking apparatus by driving a cooling fan motor at the time of heating and cooking
using the heaters.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2003-29103, filed
May 7, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which
is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a composite cooking apparatus and
method of controlling the same, which performs heating using a plane heater and/or
induction heating using high frequency current.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a cooking apparatus which heats and cooks food using a plane
heater or other electric heater is advantageous in that it is not relatively affected
by the type and material of a container, but it is disadvantageous in that thermal
efficiency is poor. A method of heating using a heating element, such as a plane
heater, is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 11-121156.
In a cooking apparatus which performs induction heating using high frequency
current,
thermal efficiency thereof is better than that of a cooking apparatus using an
electric heater, but heating may not be performed or thermal efficiency thereof
is poor in the case where a glass container or aluminum container is used. Thus,
the use of an electrically conductive container is required to enable induction
heating to be efficiently performed.
As described above, the cooking apparatus employing a single type of heat source
is problematic in that it is restricted by a cooking container if thermal efficiency
is to be high, and thermal efficiency is low if it is not restricted by a cooking container.
Further, in the case where a single type of heat source is used, an output
power control function is insufficient, such as the output power control function
being performed only within a limited range, thus causing the dissatisfaction of
a user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a composite
cooking apparatus and method of controlling the same, which improves thermal efficiency
at the time of heating and cooking, and it is not restricted by a cooking container.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a composite cooking
apparatus
and method of controlling the same, which may perform a normal cooking mode in
which cooking is carried out at normal output power using a single type of heat
source, and a rapid cooking mode in which cooking is carried out at high output
power using a composite heat source including different types of heat sources.
Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in
part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description,
or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are achieved by providing
a composite cooking apparatus including two different heat sources to heat food
in a cooking container, and a controller to control operations of heating and cooking
the food by operating any one or both of the two heat sources according to an operating mode.
The heat sources are a plane heater and an induction heater, respectively.
The composite cooking apparatus further includes a heat resistant glass plate
to allow the cooking container to be seated thereon, and the plane and induction
heaters are mounted below the heat resistant glass plate.
The composite cooking apparatus further includes an air discharge duct to discharge
heated air to outside of the composite cooking apparatus. The plane heater is mounted
on a top of the air discharge duct, and the induction heater is mounted below the
air discharge duct.
The composite cooking apparatus further includes a cooling fan motor mounted
in the air discharge duct to forcibly blow air heated by heat radiated from the
plane heater.
The composite cooking apparatus further includes a heat insulating material mounted
to come into contact with the plane heater in a face-to-face manner to block heat
radiated from the plane heater.
The heat insulating material is made of heat resistant material.
The heat insulating material is heat resistant up to a temperature of approximately
500° C.
The heat insulating material is made of material capable of transmitting a magnetic field.
The controller operates both the plane and induction heaters if an operating
mode to shorten a cooking time is set.
The composite cooking apparatus further includes a power supply unit to supply
driving power to the plane heater, an inverter to supply driving power of a predetermined
frequency to the induction heater, and a current detecting unit to detect current
of the inverter.
The controller determines a heat source suitable for material of the cooking
container depending on the current detected by the current detecting unit.
The controller determines that the cooking container is suitable in induction
heating if the detected current is equal to or greater than a set value, while
the controller determines that the cooking container is suitable in plane heating
if the detected current is less than the set value.
The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are achieved by providing
a method of controlling a composite cooking apparatus, the composite cooking apparatus
having a plane heater and an induction heater, the method including setting a cooking
command, and heating and cooking food in a cooking container by operating any one
or both of the two heaters according to the set cooking command.
The composite cooking apparatus control method further includes detecting current
of an inverter which supplies driving power to the induction heater, and heating
and cooking the food using a heater suitable for the cooking container depending
on the detected current.
The composite cooking apparatus control method further includes heating food
in the cooking container in an induction heating manner if the detected current
is equal to or greater than a set value, while heating the food in the cooking
container in a plane heating manner if the detected current is less than the set value.
The composite cooking apparatus control method further includes discharging air
heated by the heater to outside of the composite cooking apparatus by driving a
cooling fan motor at the time of heating and cooking using the heaters.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent
and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments,
taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
FIG. 1 is a view showing an example in which a composite cooking apparatus,
according to an embodiment of the present invention, is used;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the composite cooking apparatus of FIG. 1, according
to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the composite cooking apparatus of FIG. 1, according
to another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the composite cooking apparatus of the
present invention; and
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method of controlling the cooking apparatus of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments
of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying
drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The
embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring
to the figures.
FIG. 1 is a view showing an example in which a composite cooking apparatus
100,
according to the present invention, is used. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the
composite cooking apparatus
100, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The composite cooking apparatus
100 is capable of cooking using a composite
heat source, and is arranged on a top of an auxiliary table
300 which provides
a receiving space that receives kitchen utensils. The composite cooking apparatus
100 is provided with a cooking command setting unit
110 arranged
on a front thereof to set cooking commands using buttons and knobs. A user may
set a desired cooking mode using the cooking command setting unit
110 at
the time of heating and cooking.
Heat resistant glass plates
120 are mounted on an upper casing
101
of the composite cooking apparatus
100 to allow a cooking container
103
to be seated thereon to perform heating and cooking, and outlets
105 are
formed in a back of the composite cooking apparatus
100 to discharge heated air.
The composite cooking apparatus
100 of the present invention may perform
a heating operation using a plane heater and an induction heating operation using
high frequency current together. As shown in FIG. 2 illustrating a sectional view
taken along line A—A, the composite cooking apparatus
100 has a plane
heater
140 and an induction heater
170 arranged below each of the
heat resistant glass plates
120, as a composite heat source. The plane heater
140 is mounted on a top of an air discharge duct
102, and the induction
heater
170 is mounted below the air discharge duct
102.
Respective heat sources are independently supplied with driving power.
A power supply unit
130 supplies driving power (Alternating Current (AC)
or Direct Current (DC) power) to the plane heater
140. The induction heater
170 includes a working coil
172 and a support
171. The working
coil
172 arranged on the support
171 generates high frequency current
depending on driving power of a predetermined frequency, supplied from an inverter
160, and heats food in the cooking container
103 using the high frequency
current in an induction heating manner. When the induction heating is performed,
a conductive container is used as the cooking container
103.
When the plane heater
140 is operated, the plane heater
140 heats
the cooking container
103 seated on the heat resistant glass plate
120
in a plane heating manner, and downwardly radiates heat. Preferably, the working
coil
172 is mounted to be spaced apart from the plane heater
140.
More preferably, a cooling fan motor
150 is disposed at a portion of the
air discharge duct
102 and is driven under the control of a controller,
which will be described later, to allow heated air existing in an air path
104
to be forcibly blown, thus preventing the deterioration of the working coil
172
and consequently increasing a life span thereof.
One end of the air discharge duct
102 is connected to the outlets
105,
and heated air is guided to the outlets
105 through the air discharge duct
102 to be discharged to the outside of the composite cooking apparatus when
the cooling fan motor
150 is operated.
In a normal cooking mode, any one of the two heat sources
140 and
170
may be independently operated to perform heating and cooking, while, in a rapid
cooking mode, both the heat sources
140 and
170 may be used to perform
heating and cooking. This rapid cooking mode is mainly used when a cooking time
is required to be shortened. In the rapid cooking mode, the cooling fan motor
150
is preferably driven together with the two heat sources
140 and
170.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a composite cooking apparatus, according to another
embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals are used to designate
components performing the same functions throughout different drawings.
Referring to FIG. 3, the composite cooking apparatus
100 further
includes a heat insulating material
180 mounted below the plane heater
140
to block heat radiated from the plane heater
140.
The heat insulating material
180 comes into contact with the plane heater
140 in a face-to-face manner, so the heat insulating material
180
should be made of material having excellent heat resistance and is capable of transmitting
a magnetic field generated by the induction heater
170, that is, high frequency
waves. In this embodiment, a heat resistance temperature is approximately 500°
C., but it is not limited to 500° C.
FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the composite cooking apparatus of the
present invention.
The composite cooking apparatus of the present invention includes a controller
190 which controls an entire operation of heating and cooking food using
the composite heat source. An input terminal of the controller
190 is connected
to the cooking command setting unit
110 which sets cooking commands of the
user, and a current detecting unit
200 which detects current of the inverter
160. An output terminal of the controller
190 is connected to the
power supply unit
130 which supplies driving power to the plane heater
140,
the inverter
160 which supplies driving power of a predetermined frequency
to the working coil
172, and a cooling fan motor driving unit
210
which drives the cooling fan motor
150.
The controller
190 performs the normal cooking mode or rapid cooking mode
according to a cooking command received from the cooking command setting unit
110.
The normal cooking mode is an operating mode in which the cooking container
103
is seated on the heat resistant glass plate
120 to perform heating and cooking
using any one of the two heat sources, that is, the plane heater
140 or
the working coil
172. In this normal cooking mode, if the material of the
cooking container
103 is not suitable for induction heating, heating and
cooking by the plane heater
140 are automatically performed, while if the
material of the cooking container
103 is an electrically conductive metal,
the induction heating is automatically performed.
The controller
190 determines whether the material of the cooking container
103 is suitable for induction heating depending on current detected by the
current detecting unit
200. That is, when a cooking command is set, the
controller
190 controls the inverter
160 to supply driving power
of a predetermined frequency to the working coil
172, so high frequency
current is generated by the working coil
172. If the current detected by
the current detecting unit
200 varies to be equal to or greater than a certain
value, the controller
190 determines that the cooking container
103
is made of electrically conductive material and is suitable for the induction heating.
On the contrary, if the current detected by the current detecting unit
200
is less than the certain value, the controller
190 determines that the cooking
container
103 is not made of electrically conductive material and is not
suitable for the induction heating.
If the rapid cooking mode is set by the user, the controller
190 simultaneously
operates both the plane heater
140 and the working coil
172 to heat
and cook food in the cooking container
103. Further, the composite heat
source including the two heat sources is used to perform heating and cooking at
high output power, thus shortening a cooking time.
A method of controlling the composite cooking apparatus of the present invention,
having the above construction, is described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
First, the user seats the cooking container
103 on the heat resistant
glass plate
120, and then sets a desired cooking command through the cooking
command setting unit
110 in operation
1.
If the cooking command is set by the user, the controller
190 controls
the inverter
160 to supply driving power of a predetermined frequency to
the working coil
172 to perform induction heating. Thereafter, the controller
190 determines whether the cooking container
103 is a metal container,
that is, whether the cooking container
103 is made of electrically conductive
material, depending on current detected by the current detecting unit
200
in operation
10. If it is determined that the cooking container
103
is not a metal container, the controller
190 operates the plane heater
140
to heat and cook food in the cooking container
103 in operation
50.
At this time, the controller
190 controls the cooling fan motor driving
unit
210 to drive the cooling fan motor
150 to perform an operation
of discharging heated air through the outlets
105. The operation
50
is suitable for the normal cooking mode, but it may be performed even when the
user seats the cooking container
103, not made of metal material, on the
heat resistant glass plate
120 and sets the rapid cooking mode due to the
carelessness of the user.
If it is determined that the cooking container
103 is a metal container
in operation
10, the controller
190 determines whether the rapid
cooking mode for heating and cooking food at high output power to shorten a cooking
time is set in operation
20. If it is determined that the rapid cooking
mode is not set, the controller
190 controls the inverter
160 to
supply driving power of a predetermined frequency to the working coil
172
to heat food in the cooking container
103 in the induction heating manner
in operation
30. At this time, the controller
190 controls the cooling
fan motor driving unit
210 to drive the cooling fan motor
150 to
perform an operation of discharging heated air through the outlets
105.
If it is determined that the rapid cooking mode is set in operation
20,
the controller
190 supplies driving power of a predetermined frequency to
the working coil
172 through the inverter
160, and supplies driving
power to the plane heater
130 through the power supply unit
130,
thus heating and cooking food in the cooking container
103 using both the
two heat sources
140 and
170 in operation
40. At this time,
the controller
190 controls the cooling fan motor driving unit
210
to drive the cooling fan motor
150 to perform an operation of discharging
heated air through the outlets
105.
As is apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a composite
cooking apparatus and method of controlling the same, which improves thermal efficiency
and is not restricted by a cooking container by using a composite heat source at
the time of heating and cooking food, thus increasing the convenience in use. Further,
the present invention is advantageous in that it may perform heating and cooking
using a heat source suitable for material of a cooking container, and perform cooking
at high output power using the composite heat source including two heat sources
to shorten a cooking time in the case where a rapid cooking mode is set.
Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and
described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may
be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of
the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
*
