Cooking apparatus with weighing device

• US 4,673,800 A
• Filed: 03/06/1986
• Issued: 06/16/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/1984
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakano, Chikao, Watanabe, Kenji, Kodama, Satoru, Hirai, Kazumi, Akiyoshi, Mitsuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Leung, Philip H.
• Application Number:
  US06/836,717
• Time in Patent Office: 467 Days
• Field of Search: 219/10.55 B, 219/10.55 F, 219/10.55 E, 219/518, 219/10.55 R, 177/83, 177/84, 177/229, 177/230, 177/244, 177/245, 99/325, 99/DIG. 14
• US Class Current: 219/518
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 7/08 Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 7/085 on baking ovens
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 6/6411 the supports being rotated
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 6/6464 using weight sensors

Abstract

A cooking apparatus comprising a rotary table disposed inside a heating chamber so as to mount food to be heated, and a motor which rotates the rotary table. The rotary table and the motor are integrally supported in a floating state by a resilient member, thereby allowing the food and the rotary table to vibrate or move vertically. This vertical vibration or movement is measured by employing a detector, and the weight of the food is measured from the output of the detector. The rotary table is provided with a biasing means interlocked with a door for regulating the height of the rotary table or stabilizing the same when the door is opened. In the case where the vibration of the rotary table is particularly detected, the rotary table is forced to vibrate by the action of the biasing means thereby allowing highly accurate measurement of the weight of the food. The output of the heating source, the heating mode and the heating time are controlled in correspondence with the measured weight of the food, and it is therefore possible to improve the cooking apparatus such that it is conveniently used and to realize a finely controlled heating operation.

Claims

1. A cooking apparatus comprising:

a heating chamber for housing an object to be heated;

a heating source for heating said object;

a rotary table disposed inside said heating chamber for supporting said object;

a driving device for driving said rotary table, said driving device being housed in the space defined between the bottom surface of said heating chamber and the bottom of the body of said cooking apparatus;

first and second mounting blocks;

a vibration mechnaism including a plurality of leaf springs supporting said rotary table, each of said leaf springs having a first end attached to said first mounting block and a second end attached to said second mounting block for mounting said leaf springs parallel to each other, the vibration frequency of said plurality of leaf springs varying with the weight of said object; and

a detector having an output signal for detecting the vibration of said rotary table, whereby the weight of said object is calculated on the basis of the output signal of said detector, and the output of said heating source, the heating mode and the heating time are controlled in correspondence with the calculated weight of said object.

2. A cooking apparatus comprising:

a heating chamber for housing an object to be heated;

a heating source for heating said object;

a door for opening and closing said heating chamber;

a rotary table disposed horizontally inside said heating chamber for supporting said object, said rotary table being displaceable to at least first and second vertical positions;

a detector for detecting the movement of said rotary table;

a resilient member supporting said rotary table; and

means for biasing said resilient member, said means operating in interlocked relation to said door whereby, when said door is opened, said biasing means displaces said rotary table from said first to said second position.

3. A cooking apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said biasing means comprises a door arm for supporting the opening and closing motion of said door, and a lever interlocked with said door arm.

4. A cooking apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said biasing means comprises a quick-acting mechanism which biases said rotary table when said door is opened and causes said rotary table to return with a quick action when said door is closed.

5. A cooking apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said biasing means comprises a cam interlocked with the opening and closing operation of said door, and a lever contacting said cam and sliding thereon in the radial and thrust directions of said cam, said lever being employed to bias said rotary table and to slide on said cam with a quick action when said door is closed.

6. A cooking apparatus including a weighing device comprising:

a heating chamber for housing and heating an object to be heated;

a heating source for heating said object;

a rotary table disposed horizontally inside said heating chamber for supporting said object, said rotary table being movable in the vertical direction;

a driving device for rotating said rotary table;

a resilient member integrally supporting said rotary table and said driving device, said resilient member including a plurality of leaf springs which in combination constitute a Roberval mechanism; and

a detector for detecting the vertical movement of said rotary table, said driving device and said resilient member, said detector detecting the weight of said object on said rotary table by detecting said vertical movement, the operation of said heating source being controlled by the output of said detector.