Abstract: Calibrated methods and systems for protecting refrigerant motor/compressors against overload and loss of refrigerant conditions, independent of compressor and system size, while avoiding the need for a plurality of sensors. The disclosed methods and systems are generic in the sense that they may be employed in a variety of different air conditioner or heat pump models of different sizes and capacities, without being specifically tailored for a particular model, although a factory calibration adjustment is required. The disclosed methods and systems sense loading on the compressor motor, and make control decisions based thereon. A permanent compressor motor reference loading is established when the refrigeration system has a known correct refrigerant charge and the motor/compressor has a known load. This is typically accomplished in the factory after a predetermined stabilization interval has elapsed following initial start up of the motor/compressor.

Abstract: A clamp assembly including a tubular elongated member having a portion of its circumference relatively smooth and a portion having a fin array comprising fins formed along a base line of the tubular elongated member. The fins extend radially outward from their attachment to the elongated member and are bent alternately to diverge away from each other. A clamp device having a base and at one end from the base it is fastened to a structural panel member and the other end from the base has two legs with a first portion spaced apart a distance sufficient to receive the tubular elongated member therebetween. The legs have a second portion diverging outwardly from the first portion, a third portion reversely bent relative to the second portion and forming inwardly directed resilient fingers converging toward the base and each other with the fingers having free ends and inwardly directed projections located near the free end.

Abstract: A conveyor system including a first horizontal trackway having a flat movable flexible chain extending between a plurality of work stations with the trackway having at one end thereof a loop section. There are a plurality of pallets movable by frictional engagement with the chain for carrying work pieces along the trackway between the work stations. A second trackway is provided adjacent the first trackway loop section and has a continuous flat flexible chain, the second trackway has an upper level section and a lower level section with the upper level section being in the same horizontal plane as the first trackway. The second trackway has two legs connected by an intermediate section with both legs in pallet transfer communication with the first trackway.

Abstract: A method of reinforcing a structural assembly having an elongated panel with spaced front and rear thin metal walls. One of the panel walls is lanced to form a tang transverse to the elongated panel and attached at one end to the wall and having its opposite end free. One of the panel walls is also lanced to form a resilient tang spaced from the transverse tang and longitudinal to the elongated panel which tang is attached at one end to the wall and its opposite end is free. Both tangs are bent away from their respective walls. A reinforcing member is formed having a length slightly less than the distance between the spaced tangs and a thickness slightly less than the distance between the front and rear walls of the panel.

Abstract: An icemaker including a freezer mold having a front side and a back side with a plurality of partitioned walls disposed within the mold to define a plurality of cavities along the longitudinal central axis of the mold in which water is frozen to form ice pieces having a crescent shape with a flat side and an arcuate side joined to form two edge portions. A stripper member is disposed longitudinally along the front side of the mold and has a portion thereof above the cavities. An ice piece ejector is rotatable in only one direction and has its axle along the longitudinal central axis of the mold. An ice piece ejector guide is secured to the back side of the mold and located above the cavities longitudinally along the mold, aid guide extending laterally from the rear of the mold past the axle of the rotating ejector and spaced from the rotating ejector axle a distance slightly greater than the maximum thickness of the ice piece.

Abstract: An air flow system for a refrigerator having a refrigeration system including a condenser, evaporator, compressor, and thermostatic control. A freezer compartment is located at the top of the refrigerator and a fresh food compartment is located below the freezer compartment with the compartments being separated by a partition. An area above the fresh food compartment contains the evaporator and a fan for circulating air through the evaporator, which fan cycles on when the compressor is operating and off when the compressor is not operating. The air flow system includes an air duct having an upper end to receive cold air from the evaporator and a lower end having an air flow control assembly located in the fresh food compartment for discharging cold air into the fresh food compartment.

Abstract: An improved vacuum forming process for forming a deep drawn plastic article with a flange in an area of high forming stresses wherein a mold mounted on a base forms the shape of the article. A sheet of hot plastic material is placed over the mold and a vacuum is drawn to form the plastic sheet into the shape of the mold to form the article. The improvement is forming a character in the mold portion that forms the flange in the area of the high forming stress, said character having dimensions such that properly heated plastic sheet material will be imprinted with a predetermined clarity during the molding operation. A heated sheet of plastic material is placed over the mold and a vacuum is drawn to draw the plastic material around the mold including the mold portion that forms the flange in an area of high forming stresses. The plastic material is then solidified and removed from the mold. The flange is visually inspected to determine if the imprinted character has the predetermined clarity.

Abstract: An excitation system structurally compatible with a low profile streamlined microwave oven appliance configuration, comprising a generally planar antenna member disposed between the bottom wall and a support shelf centered laterally in the oven cavity and extending over a substantial portion of the bottom wall. An open peripheral region is defined between the front, back, side and bottom oven cavity walls and the peripheral edge of the antenna member. A plurality of radiating apertures are formed in the antenna member and arranged in a triangular fashion such that straight lines connecting the centers of any three closely adjacent apertures intersect to define an equilateral triangle.

Abstract: An improved electronic power control arrangement for a cooking appliance equipped with an automatic surface unit operable in a Fry Mode to heat a utensil to a steady state temperature range corresponding to the temperature setting selected by the user. Two error signals are established by the electronic controller as functions of the difference between the user selected temperature and the sensed utensil temperature. The controller controls energization of the automatic surface unit as a function of the first error signal during the heat-up phase to rapidly bring the sensed utensil temperature to the selected steady state temperature range and as a function of the second relatively larger error signal during operation in the steady state phase to rapidly return the sensed utensil temperature to the selected range if it should drop below the selected range during steady state operation.

Abstract: Precipitated silica is mixed with a fly ash material and is employed as an insulating material having a low thermal conductivity. The mixture of precipitated silica and fly ash material is dried, compressed, placed in an evacuable pouch, and evacuated. The resulting board-like insulation configuration is used directly as insulation. The board-like material which is produced may be used as insulation in household refrigerators and freezers by placing it in an insulation space between the inner liner and the outer case and encapsulating the board-like material with a foamed insulating material.

Abstract: An apparatus for preventing tilting of an appliance relative to a wall including a pair of rigid support members mountable on the wall which cooperatively engage stop means on the appliance when it is positioned adjacent the wall. Each support member includes a first portion secured to the wall with a plurality of fasteners such that the rear face thereof firmly engages the wall, and a second portion extending substantially perpendicular to the first portion including stop means. Openings in the rear wall of the appliance include second stop means which are aligned with the stop means on the second portion of the support member when the appliance is positioned adjacent the wall to thereby prevent tilting of the appliance.

Abstract: A hermetically sealed rotary refrigerant compressor, comprising a compression chamber, a roller eccentrically rotatable in the chamber, and a vane slidably mounted in a slot in the wall of the chamber dividing the chamber between a low pressure suction side and a high pressure compression side including means for modulating the pressure differential between the low pressure suction side and the high pressure compression side of the vane at a preselected time in the compression cycle so as to minimize the frictional forces between the vane and vane slot caused by the pressure differential in the chamber.

Abstract: An automatic boil point prediction arrangement for a cooking appliance having an automatic surface unit, in which the surface unit is operated at a predetermined power level at least until the sensed utensil temperature rises to a predetermined threshold temperature. The heat up time required for the sensed utensil temperature to reach the threshold temperature is measured and an estimate of the additional completion time required for the water in the utensil to reach its boil point is established as a function of the heat-up time. A signal is generated upon expiration of this completion time to inform the user that boiling has begun.

Abstract: Disclosed are apparatus and methods for controlling the defrosting of the outdoor heat exchange coil of a heat pump. In general, the disclosed apparatus and methods use the differencee between the outdoor heat exchanger and the outdoor ambient temperature to determine when to initiate a defrosting operation. Only a single sensor is employed, this single sensor being positioned at least proximate the outdoor heat exchanger such that the sensor responds to ambient temperature when the heat pump is first started and the heat exchanger is free of frost, and such that the sensnor becomes surrounded with frost as frost builds up on the heat exchanger during operation. At the beginning of a run the sensor is employed to read the ambient temperature, which is memorized. As frost builds, the sensor begins to reflect the temperature of the heat exchanger as the sensor becomes increasingly insulated by the frost from the surrounding air.

Abstract: A refrigerator cabinet including a storage compartment having an access opening surrounded by a face portion of magnetic material. A door is hingedly mounted on said cabinet for closing and opening said access opening. The door comprises an outer panel and an inner panel, said panels having thermal insulation therebetween. There is provided a sealing gasket of resilient material mounted on the door adjacent the peripheral edges and including a base portion and a cabinet engaging portion integrally joined to the base portion and including a magnet to provide the sole means for holding the door in a closed position. The base portion has a web parallel to the door and also has an upwardly extending rigid projection with a terminal end intermediate the ends of the web.

Abstract: Disclosed are refrigeration system control systems and methods for compressor motor protection and defrost control. The disclosed systems and methods are generic in the sense that they are self-calibrating and so may be employed in a variety of different air conditioner or heat pump models of different sizes and capacities, without being specifically tailored for a particular model. The disclosed systems and methods sense loading on the compressor and evaporator fan motors, preferably by sensing the voltage across the capacitor-run winding of an AC induction motor and normalizing with respect to line voltage. The self-calibrating capability is implemented by taking advantage of the changing loads as a function of time on both the compressor and fan motors during both normal and abnormal operation of a refrigeration system. In overview, a reference value of motor loading is established for each motor at certain times during an ON cycle.

Abstract: Plastic molding apparatus including a horizontal molding press with two platens and a mold having an ejector mold half and a cover mold half that form a mold cavity, each mold half being secured to a platen with at least one platen movable horizontally relative to the other platen to and closed positions. The molding press has longitudinal rails along the top thereof parallel to the direction of relative movement of the platens. There is an elongated horizontal gantry structure supported solely by the press and movably secured to the rails with the longitudinal axis of the gantry structure being oriented normal to the rails and the gantry is movable along the rails. There are two arms, one of which depends from one end of the gantry and the other depends from the opposite end of the gantry, and these arms are movably secured to the gantry for back and forth movement along the longitudinal axis of the gantry.

Abstract: A refrigerator having an outer case, an inner liner with thermal insulation therebetween, and a storage compartment having an access opening surrounded by a face portion of magnetic material. A door is hingedly mounted on said cabinet for closing and opening said access opening. The door comprises an outer panel and an inner panel with a peripheral edge portion and terminal end, said panels having thermal insulation therebetween. Elongated channel member sections having top, bottom and side walls are located adjacent the peripheral edges of the door on all four sides and have spaced screw openings in the bottom and top walls with the screw openings in the bottom wall being countersunk. An open slot in the top wall interconnects the screw openings along the length of the channel member sections.

Abstract: A high side portion of a refrigeration system is supported on a support member which includes a drop-in rotary compressor mounting arrangement wherein the compressor is resiliently supported in a containment area with its axis in a vertical position. The mounting arrangement includes a vibration isolating support member located in the containment area having a plurality of spring cylinders which when interposed between the compressor and support member results in a desirable bulging of the cylinder walls which provides torsional and vertical vibration isolation of the compressor.

Abstract: An apparatus for molding a plurality of articles of hardenable material such as plastic which requires each article to be maintained under heat and pressure for a cure interval. A molding press is utilized wherein there is placed a first open mold assembly having spaced die halves between supporting mold platens. At least one of the die halves has a resilient pressure pad between the die and the mold platen supporting the die half. The press is closed to maintain the mold platens in a first force applying position having a slight gap between the die halves and locking the platens in the first position. The mold assembly is removed while in its first locked position from the press and gas from the curing material is evacuated through the gap between the die halves while heating the material.