Patent ID: 12207764

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereafter, a fryer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG.1is a schematic diagram illustrating one example of the fryer. This fryer1includes an oil bath2at an upper part of a fryer body (not shown). A pulse combustor3is provided at a bottom part in the oil bath2as a heater including a combustion chamber4and a tail pipe5.

The oil bath2includes a first cooking part6formed into a deep bottom shape and provided with the pulse combustor3at the bottom part of the oil bath2, and a second cooking part7positioned on the upper side of the first cooking part6. The first cooking part6has a square cylindrical shape wherein an opening area is not changed vertically. The second cooking part7is formed into a reverse tapered shape longitudinally and laterally expanding from an upper end of the first cooking part6toward the upper side.

Further, an oil tank8containing cooking oil is provided on the rear side of the oil bath2and at an upper part of a fryer body. The oil tank8is for refilling the cooking oil stored in the oil bath2, and is provided with a delivery tube9to supply oil inside the oil tank8to the oil bath2. The delivery tube9can be opened and closed by an oil refilling valve10serving as an electromagnetic valve.

The oil tank8is connected to an oil container11such as an eighteen liter drum etc. provided at a lower part of the fryer body via a supply pipe12. The oil container11contains solid oil, and the solid oil inside the oil container11can be melted with an electric heater13provided on the outside including a bottom part of the oil container11. The melted cooking oil can be supplied to the oil tank8with an oil supply pump14provided in the supply pipe12. Further, an oil level sensor15for detecting a position of an oil level is provided inside the oil tank8. At least an oil amount corresponding to a difference between the first cooking part6and the second cooking part7of the oil bath2can be stored in the oil tank8. An observation window28that allows visually confirming a residual amount of the cooking oil is provided in the oil tank8.

An air chamber16is provided on a front-side outside of the oil bath2, and a gas conduit17is connected to a mixing chamber that is provided inside the air chamber16and communicates with a combustion chamber4to supply fuel gas. Further, an air supply pipe19connected to a fan18provided on a bottom surface of the fryer body is connected to the mixing chamber to supply combustion air.

The tail pipe5of the pulse combustor3is arranged in a meandering state at a lower part of the oil bath2, and then the tail pipe5is connected to an exhaust pipe20drawn out of the air chamber16. The exhaust pipe20is arranged to be brought into contact with the oil tank8in a meandering state or winding state on the rear side of the fryer body, and then the exhaust pipe20protrudes upward so that combustion exhaust gas can be exhausted.

A filtering tank21with a filter at a bottom part is provided at a bottom part of the fryer body, and the cooking oil inside the oil bath2can be discharged from an oil discharge pipe22connected to the bottom part of the oil bath2to the filtering tank21. The oil discharge pipe22is provided with a manually operated oil discharge valve23.

Further, a filtering pump24is provided at the lower part of the fryer body. A suction side of the filtering pump24is connected to the bottom part of the filtering tank21via a suction pipe25, and a discharge side of the filtering pump24is connected to a lower rear surface of the oil bath2via an oil supply pipe26. An oil supply valve27serving as an electromagnetic valve is provided in the oil supply pipe26.

A controller30as a control means is provided at a front lower part of the fryer body. The controller30monitors a temperature of the cooking oil detected from a temperature control thermistor31provided inside the oil bath2and performs ON/OFF control of the pulse combustor3in accordance with a menu selected with an operation panel (not shown) provided on a front surface of the fryer body to cook an object to be cooked such as potatoes etc. This cooking is described based on a flowchart inFIG.2.

An amount of an object to be cooked at one time has two kinds of amounts, i.e. a first rated amount (for example, 680 g) and a second rated amount (for example, 900 g) larger than the first rated amount. Firstly, when an object to be cooked in the first rated amount is cooked, the oil bath2stores the cooking oil (about 35 lb) up to the upper end of the first cooking part6(L1illustrated inFIG.1). When an operation switch of the operation panel is turned on in this state in Si, the controller30rotates the fan18for a prescribed period of time to supply outside air, and then mixed gas is intermittently burned inside the combustion chamber4to operate the pulse combustor3. That is, the mixed gas is ignited by an ignition plug provided inside the combustion chamber4to be explosively burned inside the combustion chamber4and combustion exhaust air is forcibly exhausted to the tail pipe5due to pressure increase inside the combustion chamber4following the burning. Meanwhile, the fuel gas and the combustion air are sucked into the combustion chamber4having a negative pressure due to the exhaustion of the combustion exhaust air. The operation of forcibly exhausting the combustion exhaust air and sucking the fuel gas and the combustion air (ON/OFF operation) is repeated to heat the cooking oil stored in the oil bath2.

Next, the controller30monitors the detection temperature obtained from the temperature control thermistor31, and a display that cooking can be started (“cooking OK”) is output on the operation panel as information for a cook after confirming that the temperature of the cooking oil has reached the prescribed cooking temperature (for example, 180-182° C.) in S3.

When this information is given to the cook, the cook puts a basket including an object to be cooked into the oil bath2. At this time, since a small amount of the object to be cooked of the first rated amount is put into the first cooking part6, the object to be cooked is entirely immersed in the cooking oil, which is below an oil level of the first cooking part6.

In S4, a cooking mode according to the operation of the operation panel is discriminated. When a first cooking mode is selected and a cooking start button provided on the operation panel is pushed in S5, the controller30heats and cooks the object to be cooked with a first heat quantity of the pulse combustor3and a first cooking time preset corresponding to the first rated amount in S6. When the time is up in S7, cooking completion is informed by sounding an alarm in S8. The cook pulls the basket out of the oil bath2. When cooking is continuously performed in the first rated amount, S5and the following processes are repeated by putting the object to be cooked into the oil bath2and pushing the cooking start button.

When the object to be cooked in the second rated amount larger than the first rated amount is put into the oil bath2in a state where the first cooking mode is selected, the object to be cooked is exposed from the oil level of a small amount of the first oil amount stored in the first cooking part6. Accordingly, the operator can immediately grasp that the amount of the object to be cooked put into the oil bath2is a wrong, and then cooking can be restarted after correction.

When the object to be cooked in the second rated amount is cooked, it is necessary to store the cooking oil (about 45 lb) up to an upper end of the second cooking part7in the oil bath2. At this time, when the second cooking mode is selected in S4, the controller30opens the oil refilling valve10in S9, and then the cooking oil inside the oil tank8is supplied to the oil bath2via the delivery tube9to feed the cooking oil up to the upper end of the second coking part7(L2illustrated inFIG.1). It can be confirmed whether the oil amount reaches the second cooking part7by an oil level thermistor32provided inside the oil bath2.

Next, the controller30monitors the detection temperature obtained from the temperature control thermistor31, and a display that cooking can be started (“cooking OK”) is output on the operation panel as information for the cook after confirming that the temperature of the cooking oil reached the prescribed cooking temperature (for example, 180-182° C.) in S10.

When this information is given to the cook, the cook puts the basket including the object to be cooked into the oil bath2. At this time, since the object to be cooked in the second rated amount is put into the second cooking part7having a larger oil amount, the object to be cooked is entirely immersed below an oil level of the second cooking part7. Since the second cooking part7is expanded into the reverse tapered shape even if the oil amount is large, hardly feeling that the level of the oil surface rises.

When the cooking start button is pushed in S11, the controller30heats and cooks the object to be cooked with a second heat quantity of the pulse combustor3and a second cooking time preset corresponding to the second rated amount in S12. The second heat quantity is larger than the first heat quantity in the first cooking mode. When the time is up in S13, cooking completion is informed by sounding an alarm in S14. The cook pulls the basket out of the oil bath2. When cooking is continuously performed in the second rated amount, S11and the following processes are repeated by putting the object to be cooked into the oil bath and pushing the cooking start button.

The controller30monitors a position of the oil level inside the oil tank8with the oil level sensor15during operation. When the oil level inside the oil tank8is below the prescribed position by refilling the oil bath2with the cooking oil, the solid oil inside the oil container11is melted by operating the electric heater13, and the melted cooking oil inside the oil container11is supplied to the oil tank8by operating the oil supply pump14. At this time, when after the oil supply pump14is operated, a detection signal at a prescribed position cannot be obtained from the oil level sensor15even after a lapse of prescribed time, the controller30determines that the solid oil inside the oil container11runs out and stops the oil supply pump14to give the cook this information.

When the second cooking mode is shifted to the first cooking mode having a small cooking amount, a pipe to a spare tank (not shown) may be connected to the oil discharge valve23, and the cooking oil inside the oil bath2may be discharged to the spare tank until the oil level lowers to the upper end of the first cooking part6by operating the oil discharge valve23serving as a three-way valve. Alternatively, the cooking oil inside the oil bath2may be discharged to not the spare tank but the filtering tank21.

Further, when the cooking oil in the oil bath2is filtered, the cooking oil inside the oil bath2is discharged to the filtering tank21by operating the oil discharge valve23after the operation switch is turned off. When a filtering switch of the operation panel is operated, the filtering pump24starts operating and sucks the cooking oil discharged to the filtering tank21from the suction pipe25to return to the oil bath2via the oil supply pipe26. Thus, the cooking oil can be filtered with a filter provided on the bottom surface of the filtering tank21.

As described above, according to the above-mentioned fryer1, the controller30can perform the first cooking mode wherein an object to be cooked is cooked by controlling the pulse combustor3with the prescribed first heat quantity when the cooking oil contained in the oil bath2is in the prescribed first oil amount and the object to be cooked is in the prescribed first rated amount, and the second cooking mode wherein an object to be cooked is cooked by controlling the pulse combustor3with the prescribed second heat quantity larger than the first heat quantity when the cooking oil is in the prescribed second oil amount larger than the first oil amount and the object to be cooked is in the prescribed second rated amount larger than the first rated amount. Accordingly, the stain of the cooking oil is suppressed and the span for exchanging the cooking oil can be made longer by cooking the object to be cooked in the first rated amount with the small amount of cooking oil. Meanwhile, lowering in the temperature of the cooking oil due to the cooking can be prevented since the object to be cooked in the second rated amount is cooked with the large amount of cooking oil at the relatively high calorific heating value during the busiest periods. Thus, even if the object to be cooked in the second rated amount is continuously cooked, the object to be cooked can be smoothly provided without degrading the cooking quality. That is, cooking a large amount of food materials can be realized even during the busiest periods such as the lunchtime while maintaining the advantage in cooking with the small amount of cooking oil (keeping the cooking oil well for a long period).

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the controller automatically refills the oil bath with the cooking oil to cook with the second heat quantity and the second cooking time when the cook shifts the first cooking mode to the second cooking mode on the operation panel. However, the cooking oil can be refilled manually. That is, the oil refilling valve is manually operated to refill the second cooking part with the cooking oil, and then cooking may be performed with the second heat quantity for the second cooking time set by selecting the second cooking mode.

In contrast, the oil refilling valve and the oil discharge valve may be changed to electric-powered valves for the shifting operation of the modes to be fully automatic. In such a fully automatic operation, the controller automatically operates the oil refilling valve to execute the second cooking mode when the first cooking mode is shifted to the second cooking mode while the controller automatically operates the oil discharge valve and discharges the cooking oil in the second cooking part to execute the first cooking mode when the second cooking mode is shifted to the first cooking mode.

Alternatively, the first cooking mode and the second cooking mode may be executed fully manually. That is, while the cooking oil is in the first oil amount by manual operation of the oil discharge valve to cook an object to be cooked with the first heat quantity of the pulse combustor when the object in the first rated amount is cooked, the cooking oil is in the second oil amount by manual operation of the oil refilling valve etc. to cook an object to be cooked with the second heat quantity of the pulse combustor when the object in the second rated amount is cooked.

Further, since the oil tank and a refilling means using the oil tank are not always necessary in the invention according to the two cooking modes, the cooking oil may be refilled up to the second cooking part from the outside eighteen liter drum etc. when the second cooking mode is executed manually. In order to increase heat quantity in the second cooking mode, auxiliary heat sources such as the electric heater and the gas burner etc. may be employed other than increase in the heat quantity of the pulse combustor. When the second cooking mode is shifted to the first cooking mode, the heat quantity can be gradually decreased, for example, decreasing the heat quantity depending on temperature change of the cooking oil.

As another heater, the gas burner and the electric heater other than the pulse combustor can be employed, and the second cooking part in the oil bath is not limited to the reverse tapered shape, which can be appropriately changed.

According to the above-mentioned fryer1, the fryer1includes the oil container11containing the solid oil, a heater for solid oil (the electric heater13) to heat the solid oil inside the oil container11, and an oil refilling means to supply the cooking oil inside the oil container11liquefied by heating to the oil bath2. In the fryer, the oil refilling means includes the oil tank8provided above the oil bath2, a supply path (the supply pipe12) to supply the cooking oil inside the oil container11to the oil tank8with the oil supply pump14by connecting the oil container11to the oil tank8, a delivery path (the delivery tube9) to supply the cooking oil inside the oil tank8to the oil bath2by connecting the oil tank8to the oil bath2, and an opening/closing means (the oil refilling valve10) to open and close the delivery path. In the above configuration, a substantial amount of solid oil can be stored in a liquefied state in the oil tank8provided above the oil bath2. Accordingly, it is possible to cope with volume reduction in the cooking oil in the oil bath2immediately, and cooking can be performed without hindrance by transferring the cooking oil from the oil container11into the oil tank8at a timing when the amount of the cooking oil contained in the oil tank8remains to some extent. As a result, since there is no need to always operate the electric heater13, the running cost can be reduced. In addition, deterioration in the cooking oil due to heating with the electric heater13can also be suppressed.

Especially, since the oil tank8is provided with a visual confirmation part (the observation window28) in which a storing state of the cooking oil can be visually confirmed, the cook can notice that the cooking oil inside the oil tank8runs out. Accordingly, the oil tank8can be refilled with the cooking oil at an appropriate timing, and thus delay in refilling the tank8with the cooking oil hardly hinders cooking.

Further, since exhaust heat from the pulse combustor3is transmitted to the oil tank8, liquefaction of the cooking oil inside the oil tank8can be maintained by effectively utilizing the exhaust heat.

Furthermore, a detection means (the oil level sensor15) to detect the storing state of the cooking oil is provided inside the oil tank8. The controller30confirms that the cooking oil inside the oil tank8is a prescribed amount or less with the oil level sensor15, and then the oil tank8is appropriately refilled with the cooking oil by operating the electric heater13and the oil supply pump14.

In addition, when after the oil supply pump14is operated, the cooking oil inside the oil tank8does not exceed the prescribed amount even after a lapse of prescribed time, the controller30informs the cook that the oil container11becomes empty, and thus the cook can refill the oil container11with the solid oil quickly.

The controller30can perform the first cooking mode wherein an object to be cooked is cooked by controlling the pulse combustor3with the prescribed first heat quantity when the cooking oil contained in the oil bath2is in the prescribed first oil amount and the object to be cooked is in the prescribed first rated amount. Further, the controller30can perform the second cooking mode wherein an object to be cooked is cooked by controlling the pulse combustor3with the prescribed second heat quantity larger than the first heat quantity when the cooking oil is in the prescribed second oil amount larger than the first oil amount and the object to be cooked is in the prescribed second rated amount larger than the first rated amount. The oil tank8can store the cooking oil of at least the difference between the cooking oil necessary for the object to be cooked in the first rated amount and the cooking oil necessary for the object to be cooked in the second rated amount. Accordingly, since the cooking oil put into the oil bath2can be refilled from the oil tank8when the first cooking mode is shifted to the second cooking mode, the first cooking mode can be shifted to the second cooking mode immediately.

In the invention according to the oil refilling means, the pump to supply the cooking oil from the oil container to the oil tank may be operated manually at an arbitrary timing, or the oil refilling valve may be opened/closed automatically/manually. The oil tank may be removable.

Further, not only the observation window but also a water gauge etc. can be employed as the visual confirmation part.

In addition, when there is a plurality of oil baths, the cooking oil may be refilled from one oil tank to each of the oil baths, or each of the oil baths may be provided with one oil tank. The oil container may be provided not only for each oil tank but also for the plurality of oil tanks. Structure of the filtering can be omitted.

According to the above-mentioned fryer1, the oil bath2includes the first cooking part6formed into the deep bottom shape to store the first oil amount and the second cooking part7formed on the upper side of the first cooking part6to store the second oil amount, and the second cooking part7is formed into the reverse tapered shape expanding in a circumferential direction from the upper end of the first cooking part6toward the upper side. Therefore, the volume when the first cooking mode is shifted to the second cooking mode can be ensured without increasing the volume of the oil bath2so much. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the increase in size of the oil bath2for cost reduction even if cooking can be performed in both of the first cooking mode and the second cooking mode. In addition, the cookability and the maintainability are not impaired.

When the object to be cooked in the first rated amount is put into the oil bath in a state where the cooking oil in the first oil amount is stored in the first cooking part6, the object to be cooked is entirely immersed in the cooking oil while when the object to be cooked in the second rated amount is put into the oil bath, the object to be cooked is exposed above the oil level of the cooking oil. Accordingly, the cook can obtain information that the object to be cooked in a wrong amount is put into the oil bath, thereby minimizing cooking time loss.

In the invention related to the shape of the oil bath, structures of the oil tank, the oil container, and the filtering are not always necessary, and structure of the fryer is not limited to the above-mentioned configuration if the first and second cooking modes having different rated amounts of the object to be cooked can be performed in one oil bath.

FIG.3illustrates a variation of the invention according to the two cooking modes, and a fryer1A includes an electric heater35as an auxiliary electric source in addition to the pulse combustor (gas burner)3as a heater. Although the electric heater35is provided, for example, from the bottom surface of the oil bath2to a side surface thereof outside the oil bath2, the electric heater35may be provided over the entire surface of each surface, or a plurality of heaters may be provided with a prescribed space.

In the fryer1A, the delivery tube9is connected between the upper end of the first cooking part6and the upper end of the second cooking part7, and the supply pipe12from the oil container11is connected to not the oil tank8but a position on an upper side of the second cooking part7in the oil bath2. The supply pipe12is provided with an oil adding valve36, and the cooking oil melted inside the oil container11can be directly supplied to the oil bath2by opening the oil adding valve36and operating the oil supply pump14.

Further, the oil supply pipe26from the filtering tank21to the oil bath2branches from a downstream side of the filtering pump24, and a branched second oil supply pipe37is connected to an upstream side of the oil refilling valve10in the delivery tube9. The second oil supply pipe37is provided with a second oil supply valve38.

In the fryer1A, the controller30executes each of the cooking modes based on a flowchart almost the same asFIG.2as illustrated inFIG.4. However,FIG.2andFIG.4are different from each other. In the control ofFIG.2, heat cooking is performed with the second heat quantity by operating the pulse combustor3only in the second cooking mode. In the control ofFIG.4, oil is supplied up to the upper end of the second cooking part7by manually or automatically opening the oil refilling valve10in S9, and the electric heater35is operated to perform the heat cooking with the second heat quantity along with the pulse combustor3in the second cooking mode.

In addition, in the fryer1A, the controller30monitors the position of the oil level (temperature at the oil level) with the temperature control thermistor31or the oil level thermistor32in both of the first cooking mode and the second cooking mode. When the oil is below the oil level set in each of the cooking modes, the oil adding valve36is opened to operate the oil supply pump14, and the cooking oil in the fixed amount melted inside the oil container11is automatically supplied to the oil bath2. The controller30monitors the residual amount of the oil by measuring a weight etc. of the oil container11, and information that the residual amount reaches a certain value is given to the cook from the operation panel.

In filtering of the cooking oil, when the filtering pump24is operated, both of the oil supply valve27and the second oil supply valve38are opened, and the filtered cooking oil is returned to the oil tank8via the second oil supply pipe37while returned to the oil bath2via the oil supply valve26.

As described above, also in the fryer1A related to the variation, the stain of the cooking oil is suppressed and the span for exchanging the cooking oil can be made longer by cooking the object to be cooked in the first rated amount with a small amount of cooking oil. Meanwhile, lowering in the temperature of the cooking oil due to the cooking can be prevented since the object to be cooked in the second rated amount is cooked with the large amount of cooking oil at the relatively high calorific heating value during the busiest periods. Accordingly, even if the object to be cooked in the second rated amount is continuously cooked, and the object to be cooked can be smoothly provided without degrading the cooking quality.

Since both of the pulse combustor3and the electric heater35are operated in the second cooking mode, even if the temperature of the cooking oil becomes lower when the large amount of objects to be cooked are put into the oil bath, a prescribed cooking temperature can be reached quickly.

In this variation, the gas burner is not limited to the pulse combustor (pulse burner), and the gas burner provided on a lower side of the oil bath to heat the oil bath with a flame generated by combustion of air-fuel mixture can be also employed.

As in the case with the former embodiment of the fryer, the cooking oil may be refilled from the oil container in the second cooking mode without the oil tank. In this case, the second oil supply pipe and the second oil supply valve are removed, and the filtered cooking oil can be returned to the oil bath only.

It is explicitly stated that all features disclosed in the description and/or the claims are intended to be disclosed separately and independently from each other for the purpose of original disclosure as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed invention independent of the composition of the features in the embodiments and/or the claims. It is explicitly stated that all value ranges or indications of groups of entities disclose every possible intermediate value or intermediate entity for the purpose of original disclosure as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed invention, in particular as limits of value ranges.