Heating cooker

A heating cooker is provided with: a container for housing food; a housing unit for housing the container; a discharge port for discharging air in the lateral direction towards the inside of the housing unit, the discharge port being provided at the upper part of a side wall of the housing unit; outlet ports through which air in the housing unit flows out, the outlet ports being provided to the housing unit; an airflow duct communicating the outlet ports and the discharge port to each other; an airflow fan for channeling air flowing into the airflow duct towards the discharge port; and a duct heater, which is a heating unit for heating the air channeled into the airflow duct.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a heating cooker that cooks an object to be heated.

BACKGROUND ART

A conventional heating cooker is disclosed in Patent Literature 1. This conventional heating cooker includes a container that accommodates food as an object to be heated, a housing unit in which the container is housed, a lid that is openable/closable with respect to upper-surface openings of the container and of the housing unit, an airflow fan that forces heated air into the container, and a heating unit. The container has a shape of a so-called frying pan and is circular in plan view, and it has therein a stirrer member configured to rotate in a horizontal plane along an inner bottom surface of the container to stir food.

This heating cooker cooks food by forcing heated air into the container while rotating the stirrer member. This enables cooking to be performed with a small amount of oil, which helps save oil, shorten cooking time, make cleaning simple, and avoid risk of using a large amount of oil.

CITATION LIST

Patent Literature

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Technical Problem

However, in the conventional heating cooker described in Patent Literature 1, air forced to flow by the airflow fan disposed in a main body flows through a duct in the lid, to be discharged through a discharge port provided inside the lid downward through the upper surface opening of the container. The duct is formed inside the lid so as to extend from an outer side to an inner side, in a diameter direction, of the container which is circular in plan view. That is, air that is forced by the airflow fan to flow flows from the main body side toward the lid. Thus, there is a high possibility of air heated for cooking flowing out through a gap between the main body and the lid, and thus the conventional heating cooker may disadvantageously suffer from degradation of heating efficiency.

Further, the provision of the duct in the lid makes the structure of the lid complicated, and an increased number of members are required to form the duct. This causes a problem of, for example, increase in cost and number of production steps. Furthermore, if higher heat resistance is required of the structure of the duct, it may disadvantageously cause further increase in cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a heating cooker capable of improving heating efficiency while reducing increase in cost.

Solution to Problem

To achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, a heating cooker includes a container an upper surface of which is open, and that accommodates an object to be heated, a housing unit for the container, an upper surface of the housing unit being openable/closable with a lid, a discharge port that is disposed in an upper portion of a side wall of the housing unit, and that discharges air laterally toward an inside of the housing unit, an outlet port that is disposed in the housing unit, and through which air inside the housing unit flows out of the housing unit, an airflow duct that allows the outlet port and the discharge port to communicate with each other, an airflow fan that forces air flown into the airflow duct to flow toward the discharge port, and a heating unit that heats air flowing through the airflow duct.

According to this configuration, air forced by the airflow fan to flow inside the airflow duct is laterally discharged from the upper portion of the side wall of the housing unit toward the inside of the housing unit. This reduces the possibility of air heated for cooking flowing out through a gap between a main body and the lid. Furthermore, there is no need of providing a duct inside the lid. Accordingly, such material as would be necessary to form a duct inside the lid can be omitted, and thus it is possible to reduce increase in cost and number of production steps.

In the heating cooker configured as described above, the discharge port may be disposed above an upper end of the container.

The heating cooker configured as described above may further include an airflow guide panel that directs air discharged from the discharge port downward in the container.

In the heating cooker configured as described above, the outlet port may be disposed above the upper end of the container.

In the heating cooker configured as described above, the airflow guide panel may be disposed inside the lid.

In the heating cooker configured as described above, the container may be detachable/attachable with respect to the housing.

The heating cooker configured as described above may further include a stirrer unit that is configured to stir the object to be heated.

In the heating cooker configured as described above, the stirrer unit may be a drive unit that is configured to directly rotate the container.

In the heating cooker configured as described above, an inner bottom surface of the container may be inclined with respect to the horizontal.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a heating cooker capable of improving heating efficiency while reducing increase in cost.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference toFIG. 1toFIG. 7.

First, descriptions will be given of a heating cooker according to a first embodiment of the present invention, referring toFIG. 1andFIG. 2, focusing on a structure and heating operation of the heating cooker.FIG. 1is a schematic vertical sectional side view of the heating cooker, andFIG. 2is a block diagram showing a configuration of the heating cooker. Note that white arrows inFIG. 1show a passage along which air flows and a direction in which air flows.

The heating cooker1includes a main body case2having, as shown inFIG. 1, a hemispherical external shape that has a curved surface in a lower portion thereof, and the main body case2includes a housing unit3, a lid4, a container5configured to accommodate food as an object to be heated, an airflow duct6, an airflow fan7, and a duct heater8as a heating unit.

An upper surface of the main body case2is constituted by a horizontal flat surface, and the housing unit3in the main body case2is formed as a depressed portion depressed downward from the upper surface. The housing unit3is a depressed portion that is circular in plan view and an upper surface of which is open, and this upper surface is operable/closable with the lid4. The container5is put in the housing unit3through the upper surface opening of the housing unit3. The main body case2is supported by a stand2awith a curved external bottom portion of the main body case2supported on the stand2awhich is in contact with a floor surface.

The housing unit3is provided with a discharge port9and an outlet port10in a side wall thereof. The discharge port9is an opening formed in an upper portion of a side wall of the housing unit3, and air is laterally discharged from the discharge port9toward an inside of the housing unit3. The outlet port10is an opening formed in a lower portion of the side wall of the housing unit3, and air inside the housing unit3flows out through the outlet port10.

The outlet port10includes two outlet ports10provided at two positions. One of the two outlet ports10is an external outlet port10A which is open with respect to an exhaust duct13that communicates with an outside of the main body case2. Thereby, part of air inside the housing unit3is emitted to the outside of the main body case2through the exhaust duct13. The other of the two outlet ports10is a circulation inlet port10B which is open with respect to the airflow duct6such that part of air inside the housing unit3returns to an upstream side of the later-described airflow fan7in the airflow duct6with respect to an airflow direction. Thereby, part of air inside the housing unit3circulates via the circulation inlet port10B. Here, the outlet port10may be disposed at one single position such that one airflow path for emitting air to the outside of the main body case2and another airflow path for returning air to the upstream side of the airflow fan7with respect to the airflow direction branch off from the outlet port10.

The container5has a cookpot-like shape that is circular in plan view and an upper surface of which is open. The container5is housed in the inside of the housing unit3, and is fixed to an inner bottom surface of the housing unit3. Food is to be put in the container5as an object to be heated. The container5is provided with a substantially annular flange portion5aalong a rim of its opening. The container5is further provided with a window portion5bwhich is formed in a side wall of the container5. The window portion5bis an opening formed at a position in an upper portion of the side wall corresponding to the discharge port9. Thereby, air laterally discharged from the discharge port9toward the inside of the housing unit3flows through the window portion5binto the container5.

Here, a tray11may be placed inside the container5. The tray11is provided with a plurality of through holes11a to allow air to easily circulate between above and below the tray11.

The airflow duct6is disposed inside the main body case2but outside the housing unit3. The airflow duct6is provided with an inlet port12through which to take in air from the outside of the main body case2. The airflow duct6allows the inlet port12and the circulation inlet port10B of the outlet port10to communicate with the discharge port9. The airflow fan7is disposed in the airflow duct6.

The airflow fan7is a sirocco fan, for example, including a fan motor7aand an impeller7bdriven by the fan motor7a. The impeller7bis disposed inside the airflow duct6such that an unillustrated air inlet portion of the impeller7bfaces the inlet port12and the circulation inlet port10B-side of the outlet port10. When the impeller7bis driven to rotate by the fan motor7a, air flows in the airflow duct6. That is, the airflow fan7forces air flown into the airflow duct6from the inlet port12and the circulation inlet port10B to flow through the airflow duct6toward the discharge port9. Here, although the airflow fan7is a sirocco fan in the present embodiment, the airflow fan7may be of any other type including a propeller fan and a turbofan.

The duct heater8is disposed inside the airflow duct6, at a position downstream side of the airflow fan7and upstream side of the discharge port9with respect to the airflow direction. The duct heater8is constituted as a coil, for example, for heating air flowing in the airflow duct6. Note that the heating method of the duct heater8is not necessarily limited to a coil, and air flowing in the airflow duct6may be heated otherwise.

Furthermore, the heating cooker1also includes a bottom heater14disposed at a bottom portion of the housing unit3. The bottom heater14is disposed between the inner bottom surface of the housing unit3and an outer bottom surface of the container5such that the bottom heater14directly heats the bottom portion of the container5to thereby conduct heat to food put in the container5.

Furthermore, as shown inFIG. 2, for the purpose of controlling operations of the heating cooker1, a control unit30is provided in the main body case2. The control unit30is constituted by an arithmetic unit, a storage unit, and other electronic components, which are not illustrated; the control unit30controls the airflow fan7, the duct heater8, and the bottom heater14according to programs and data stored and input in the storage unit, for example, and thereby achieves a series of cooking operation.

In the heating cooker1configured as described above, when an instruction is given via an unillustrated operation unit to start cooking, the airflow fan7, the duct heater8, and the bottom heater14are driven. Thereby, airflow is generated and forced to flow through the airflow duct6toward the discharge port9from the inlet port12and the circulation inlet port10B.

Air inside the airflow duct6is heated by the duct heater8to a temperature between 40 and 230° C., for example. The air heated by the duct heater8is laterally discharged from the discharge port9toward the inside of the housing unit3. The air discharged from the discharge port9flows into the container5via the window portion5b,and heats food placed in the container5as an object to be heated. It is also possible to heat food in the container5with the bottom heater14via the bottom portion of the container5.

Air flown in the inside of the container5is forced to flow over the flange portion5aprovided along the rim of the container5into a gap outside the container5between the container5and the housing unit3. Air forced to flow into the gap between the container5and the housing unit3flows through the outlet port10to the outside of the housing unit3. Air flown through the outlet port10to the outside of the housing unit3is partly emitted to the outside of the main body case2through the exhaust duct13, and partly flows through the airflow duct6to be reused to heat the food.

Here, if heated hot airflow is completely emitted to the outside of the heating cooker1, and air taken in anew from the outside is heated from the beginning, there is a concern that heating efficiency might be disadvantageously degraded. Thus, in the heating cooker1, hot airflow is basically circulated inside the main body case2. And, for adjustment of humidity inside the housing unit3, part of the circulating hot airflow is replaced with outside air by taking in air from the outside and discharging part of heated air to the outside.

Next, a heating cooker according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference toFIGS. 3 to 5.FIG. 3is an external perspective view of the heating cooker as seen from obliquely above a front portion of the heating cooker,FIG. 4is a schematic vertical sectional side view of the heating cooker, andFIG. 5is a block diagram showing a configuration of the heating cooker. The basic configuration of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described with reference toFIGS. 1 and 2, and thus such components as are common to both the first embodiment and the present embodiment are identified with the same reference signs as those used in the first embodiment, and illustration thereof in the figures and descriptions thereof will be omitted. InFIG. 3, the lid4and the tray11are not illustrated.

The heating cooker I according to the second embodiment includes the main body case2having a hemispherical shape as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4, and the main body case2includes the housing unit3, the lid4, the container5, the airflow duct6, the airflow fan7, the duct heater8, an airflow guide panel15, and a rotary drive unit16.

The housing unit3is provided with the discharge port9and an outlet port17both formed in its side wall. The discharge port9is an opening formed in an upper part of the side wall of the housing unit3, and air is laterally discharged from the discharge port9toward the inside of the housing unit3. The outlet port17is open on both sides of the discharge port9in a circumferential direction in an upper part of the side wall of the housing unit3(seeFIG. 3), and air inside the housing unit3flows out through the outlet port17.

The outlet port17is provided at two positions. The outlet port17provided at one position is an external outlet port17A which is open with respect to an exhaust duct18that communicates with the outside of the main body case2. Thereby, part of air inside the housing unit3is emitted to the outside of the main body case2through the exhaust duct18. The outlet port17provided at the other position is a circulation inlet port17B which is open with respect to the airflow duct6such that part of air inside the housing unit3returns to the upstream side of the airflow fan7in the airflow duct6with respect to the airflow direction. Thereby, part of air inside the housing unit3circulates via the circulation inlet port17B. Here, the outlet port17may be provided at one single position such that one circulation path for emitting air to the outside of the main body case2and another circulation path for returning air to the upstream side of the airflow fan7with respect to the air circulation direction branch off from the outlet port17.

The container5has a cookpot-like shape that is circular in plan view and an upper surface of which is open. The container5is disposed in the housing unit3and formed to have a shape and a size such that the rim of the container5is located below that of the housing unit3when in the housing unit3. And the discharge port9and the outlet port17are located above an upper end of the container5. No such window portion as has been described in relation to the first embodiment is not provided in the container5of the present embodiment.

The airflow guide panel15is disposed on an inside of the lid4, that is, on the housing unit3side of the lid4such that it is located inside the housing unit3when the lid4is closed with respect to the housing unit3. The airflow guide panel15has a flat panel shape, for example, and formed to be located at a position corresponding to the discharge port9so as to extend from an outer side to an inner side in a diameter direction of the container5. An inner end portion of the airflow guide panel15in the diameter direction of the container5is bent downward at a predetermined angle. Here, the place to dispose the airflow guide panel15is not limited to the inside of the lid4, and it may be disposed in the housing unit3.

The rotary drive unit16is disposed in a lower portion of the main body case2, that is, specifically, at a position below the housing unit3, corresponding to a center portion of the container5in the diameter direction of the container5. The rotary drive unit16includes a motor19and an unillustrated reduction gear. The reduction gear is not an indispensable component of the rotary drive unit16, and it may be omitted. A rotary shaft20, which receives rotary power from the motor19, is disposed at a position corresponding to a center of the container5in its diameter direction, and extends upward in a substantially vertical direction. The rotary drive unit16is capable of rotating the container5in a horizontal plane about the rotary shaft20by driving the motor19.

That is, the rotary drive unit16functions as a stirrer unit that stirs food by directly rotating the container5. The stirrer unit may be constituted as, for example, a stirring blade configured to rotate independently of the container5to stir food.

At a position at a center of the outer bottom surface of the container5in its diameter direction and corresponding to an upper end of the rotary shaft20, a coupling21is provided. Via the coupling21, the container5and the rotary shaft20are detachably/attachably coupled to each other. Thereby, it is possible to detach the container5from the housing unit3and take it out of the main body case2.

The control unit30is constituted by an arithmetic unit, a storage unit, and other electronic components which are not illustrated; the control unit30controls the airflow fan7, the duct heater8, the bottom heater14, and the rotary drive unit16according to programs and data stored and input in the storage unit, for example, and thereby achieves a series of cooking operation.

In the heating cooker1configured as described above, when an instruction is given via an unillustrated operation unit to start cooking, the airflow fan7, the duct heater8, the bottom heater14, and the rotary drive unit16are driven. Thereby, airflow is generated and forced to flow through the airflow duct6toward the discharge port9from the inlet port12and the circulation inlet port17B.

Air inside the airflow duct6is heated by the duct heater8to a temperature between 40 and 230° C., for example. The air heated by the duct heater8is laterally discharged toward the inside of the housing unit3from the discharge port9that is disposed above the upper end of the container5. The air discharged from the discharge port9flows from the discharge port9to pass above the upper end of the container5, and hits the airflow guide panel15, which directs the air toward a lower portion of the inside of the container5. The air directed downward in the inside of the container5by the airflow guide panel15flows inside the container5, and heats food as an object to be heated. It is also possible to heat food with the bottom heater14via the bottom portion of the container5.

When the rotary drive unit16is so controlled as to drive the motor19, the container5rotates in a horizontal plane. Thereby, the heating cooker1stirs food in the container5while heating the food.

The air flown into the container5from the discharge port9flows from the outlet port17disposed above the upper end of the container5to the outside of the housing unit3. The air flown to the outside of the housing unit3from the outlet port17is partly emitted to the outside of the main body case2through the exhaust duct18, and partly flows through the airflow duct6to be reused to heat the food.

Next, a heating cooker according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference toFIGS. 6 and 7.FIG. 6is an external front view of the heating cooker, andFIG. 7is a schematic vertical sectional side view of the heating cooker. The basic configuration of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first and second embodiments described above, and thus such components as are common to these embodiments are identified with the same reference signs as those used in the first and second embodiments, and illustration thereof in the figures and descriptions thereof will be omitted. InFIG. 6, the lid4and the tray11are not illustrated.

As shown inFIGS. 6 and 7, the heating cooker1of the third embodiment is supported by the stand2asuch that the main body case2having a hemispherical shape is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane. A back side (right-hand side inFIG. 7) of the main body case2is lifted, so that the main body case2is inclined at a predetermined angle such that the upper surface of the main body case2faces frontward to some extent. That is, in the heating cooker1, an inner bottom surface of the container5is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane.

Thus, the heating cooker1includes the container5the upper surface of which is open, and that accommodates food as an object to be heated, the housing unit3for the container5, the upper surface of the housing unit3being openable/closable with the lid4, the discharge port9that is formed in the upper portion of the side wall of the housing unit3, and from which air is laterally discharged toward the inside of the housing unit3, the outlet ports10and17that are provided in the housing unit3, and through which air inside the housing unit3flows out of the housing unit3, the airflow duct6that allows the outlet ports10and17to communicate with the discharge port9, the airflow fan7that forces air flown into the airflow duct6to flow toward the discharge port9, and the duct heater8as a heating unit that heats air flowing through the airflow duct6. Thereby, the air forced by the airflow fan7to flow through the inside of the airflow duct6is laterally discharged from an upper portion of the side wall of the housing unit3toward the inside of the housing unit3. Thus, it is possible to reduce possibility of leakage of air heated for cooking to leak through a gap between the main body case2and the lid4. As a result, heating efficiency is improved. Furthermore, there is no need of providing a duct inside the lid4. Accordingly, such material as would be necessary to form such a duct can be omitted, and thus it is possible to reduce increase in cost and number of production steps.

Also, in the heating cooker1, the discharge port9is disposed above the upper end of the container5. Thereby, it is possible to prevent air discharged from the discharge port9from being blocked by the container5. Thus, it is possible to supply the container5with air heated for cooking, without any loss. As a result, heating efficiency is improved.

Also, the heating cooker1includes the airflow guide panel15that directs the air discharged from the discharge port9downward in the container5. Thereby, it is possible to actively apply heated air to food placed inside the container5. Thus, it is possible to achieve improved heating efficiency.

Also, in the heating cooker1, the outlet port17is disposed above the upper end of the container5. Thereby, it is possible to allow air flown inside the container5and used for cooking to smoothly flow out of the housing unit3. Thus, it is possible to generate a preferable flow of air inside the container5. As a result, heating efficiency is improved.

Also, in the heating cooker1, the airflow guide panel15is disposed on the inside of the lid4. Thereby, the airflow guide panel15can be retreated from the upper surface of the container5when the lid4is opened. Thus, the airflow guide panel15does not hinder cleaning of the inside of the container5or removing of the container5from the housing unit3, for example. Thus, it is possible to improve operability as well as heating efficiency.

Furthermore, in the heating cooker1, the container5is detachable/attachable with respect to the housing unit3. Thereby, it is possible to take the container5out of the housing unit3to clean the inside of the container5or to take cooked food out of the container5. Thus, it is possible to improve operability as well as heating efficiency.

Furthermore, the heating cooker l includes the rotary drive unit16as a stirrer unit for stirring food as an object to be heated. Thereby, it is possible to apply heated air uniformly to the food inside the container5. Thus, it is possible to improve heating efficiency.

Furthermore, in the heating cooker1, the stirrer unit is the rotary drive unit16that directly rotates the container5. Thereby, food inside the container5rotates as a whole. Thus, it is possible to apply heated air uniformly to the whole food inside the container5. As a result, even more improved heating efficiency is achieved.

In addition, in the heating cooker1, the inner bottom surface of the container5is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane. Thereby, it is possible to effectively prevent unintended maldistribution of food inside the container5. Thus, it is possible to apply heated air intensively to the whole food inside the container5. As a result, heating efficiency is further improved.

And according to the configurations of the embodiments of the present invention discussed above, it is possible to provide a heating cooker1capable of improving heating efficiency while reducing cost increase.

The foregoing has described the embodiments of the present invention. The present invention, however, is not limited in scope thereto and can be implemented in variously modified forms within the spirit of the invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention is applicable to heating cookers.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

2main body case

10A,17A external outlet port

15airflow guide panel