Patents Examined by Cassey Bauer
  • Patent number: 8132423
    Abstract: Disclosed is a refrigerator having an ice making apparatus installed at a cooling chamber door that opens/closes a cooling chamber. The refrigerator includes a body having a cooling chamber therein, a cooling chamber door to open/close the cooling chamber, and an ice making apparatus installed in the cooling chamber door to make ice. An ice making evaporator is provided in the ice making apparatus to independently supply the ice making apparatus with cooling air and an ice making evaporator chamber, in which an ice making evaporator is installed, is provided adjacent to the cooling chamber door while being partitioned from the cooling chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2012
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Alexei Tikhonov, June Kee Min, Chang-Hak Lim, Won Jae Yoon
  • Patent number: 8020403
    Abstract: An improved bottom mount refrigerator is provided with water and lighting systems housed in a space adjacent the top of the fresh food compartment between a false ceiling and the top wall of the liner. The water system includes a filter manifold, filter cartridge, storage tank, and valve mounted to a bracket. The lighting system, including the fixtures and wiring harness, are also mounted in the bracket. The water and lighting systems are pre-assembled on the bracket, which is then secured to the liner. The false ceiling includes a tank cover, a pivotal filter cover, and a removable light cover. The false drop ceiling hides the water and light systems and the mounting bracket. A front façade closes the gap between the ceiling and the liner. The ceiling and façade provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance for the upper portion of the fresh food compartment of the refrigerator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Chad J. Rotter, David A. Stauffer
  • Patent number: 7992407
    Abstract: A refrigerator having an ice bank includes a rotation shaft to which a transfer unit for transferring ice pieces in the ice bank is connected, and having a coupling groove on an outer circumferential surface of the end thereof; a joint penetrated by the rotation shaft; a driving shaft connected to the joint, and transmitting a driving force of a motor to the joint; and a coupling ring coupled to the coupling groove of the rotation shaft penetrating the joint. Since the coupling ring is locked by the joint, the rotation shaft is prevented from being arbitrarily separated from the joint. The rotation shaft can be rotated in forward and backward directions. Furthermore, since the rotation shaft has a length shorter than a rotation shaft having screw threads and nuts, the motor can have a compact configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2011
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Seong-Wook Kim, Si-Yeon An, Il-Wook Joung
  • Patent number: 7987681
    Abstract: A subcool flow control valve useful in a refrigerant system includes an enclosure having a fluid flow pathway for a controlled fluid between an inlet and an outlet. A thermally conductive flexible wall forms a sealed cavity within the enclosure for carrying a controlling fluid. A metering orifice operable between the pathway and the outlet port controls an amount of metered fluid passing through the outlet port in response to movement of the flexible wall toward and away from the metering orifice in response to temperature changes of the controlled fluid transmitting temperature and thus pressure changes to the controlling fluid in the sealed cavity. Inverse thermal feedback means is formed as part of the valve for stabilizing valve operation thus providing means for transmitting a thermal signal from the metered controlled fluid back to the controlling fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: Earthlinked Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Robert W. Cochran
  • Patent number: 7984621
    Abstract: An air conditioning system for communication equipment. An indoor module has expansion valves installed on refrigerant pipes, brine coolers each having heat exchange tubes to which the refrigerant pipe extending from each expansion valve and a separate brine pipe are connected, compressors for compressing refrigerant, an indoor heat exchanger having a heat exchange tube to which the brine pipe extending from the brine coolers is connected, and an indoor blower. An outdoor module has circulation pumps connected in parallel to the brine pipe extending from the indoor heat exchanger, outdoor heat exchangers connected in series with each other while facing each other and each having a heat exchange tube to which the brine pipe extending from the circulation pumps is connected, condensers facing each other and having tubes to which the refrigerant pipes extending from the compressors are connected in parallel, and an outdoor blower.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2011
    Assignee: Chang Jo 21 Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hee Tae Park
  • Patent number: 7980088
    Abstract: A modular system comprises an appliance, an adapter removably coupled to the appliance, and a consumer electronic device removably coupled to the adapter. The adapter can supply at least one wireless service between the adapter or the appliance and the consumer electronic device. The adapter can be removably coupled to a door of the appliance. A standardized service interface can couple with the adapter to supply the service between the appliance and the adapter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2011
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Douglas D. LeClear, Richard A. McCoy
  • Patent number: 7975503
    Abstract: A refrigerator includes a main body which forms an external appearance and has a storage chamber to be opened at a front side, and an ice making device which is disposed in the storage chamber to make ice. The ice making device includes an ice making tray which has ice making grooves for making ice, an ejector which rotates and separates the ice made in the ice making grooves, blocking members which are disposed at an upper portion of one side of the ice making grooves to prevent the ice separated from the ice making grooves through the other side of the ice making grooves from returning to the ice making grooves, and a guide member which is disposed above the other side of the ice making tray to guide the ice separated from the other side of the ice making grooves by the ejector toward the blocking members.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jae Hoon Lim, Dong Nyeol Ryu, Jong Dal Lee, Ji Hoon Kim, Myung Hoon Cho
  • Patent number: 7966843
    Abstract: A cool air supplying apparatus is provided for a refrigerator. The cool air supplying apparatus includes a box fan motor integrally having a fan that blows cool air generated by an evaporator to a freezing chamber or a refrigerating chamber and a motor that drives the fan, a first passage that supplies cool air generated from the evaporator to the box fan motor, and a second passage that supplies cool air blown by the box fan motor to the freezing chamber or the refrigerating chamber. Since the box fan motor does not interrupt a cool air passage, energy loss may be decreased. Further, since the motor does not protrude towards the inside of the refrigerator, a capacity volume of the refrigerator may be increased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2011
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Soo-Kwan Lee, Jun-Ho Bae, Chang Joon Kim
  • Patent number: 7931075
    Abstract: In an air conditioner for a vehicle, a blower of a blower unit includes a double-axial motor having a rotation axis positioned approximately in a vehicle top-bottom direction, a pair of centrifugal fans located at two sides of the double-axial motor in an axial direction, and a pair of scroll casings in which the centrifugal fans are accommodated, respectively. The two air outlet portions are arranged in the vehicle top-bottom direction, and are adjacent to be joined to an air inlet portion of the air conditioning unit, substantially as a single air outlet. Furthermore, the two air outlet portions are located approximately at the same height position as that of the air passing portion of the cooling heat exchanger, and have a height dimension (H2) at its downstream end side that is approximately equal to a height dimension (H1) of the air passing portion of the cooling heat exchanger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2011
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Koji Ito, Yoshihiro Goto, Yoshihiko Okumura
  • Patent number: 7921662
    Abstract: A hydrogen fuel automobile has a heat medium passage through which a heat medium which can exchange heat with a drive portion and can be supplied to a heat medium pipe for a hydrogen tank flows. An air cooling apparatus has a compressor for compressing a refrigerant gas, a condenser, an evaporator and a refrigerant circuit. The hydrogen fuel automobile is provided with a bypass passage which branches from the refrigerant circuit so that expanded refrigerant liquid detours the evaporator so as to be drawn into the compressor. A switch portion can switch between a state where the refrigerant liquid passes through the evaporator so as to be drawn into the compressor and a state where the refrigerant liquid detours the evaporator so as to flow through the bypass passage. The hydrogen storage material cooling portion cools the hydrogen storage material in the hydrogen tank using the refrigerant liquid that flows through the bypass passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2011
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hidehito Kubo, Daigoro Mori
  • Patent number: 7895857
    Abstract: An indoor unit of an air conditioner wherein a pipe retaining member retaining auxiliary piping connected to a heat exchanger is disposed near both a lateral side and an underside of a mounting frame. The pipe retaining member is bent in an L-shape, and its short plate is exposed on the underside of the mounting frame. The pipe retaining member can be removed only by slightly separating a lower part of the mounting frame from a wall in the fixed state of the indoor unit to the wall. Since the heat exchanger can be separated from the mounting frame without disconnecting the auxiliary piping from communication piping, maintenance work such as washing of the heat exchanger is efficiently performed without requiring much time and effort for separating the auxiliary piping from the communication piping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2011
    Assignee: Daikin Industies, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Inoue, Katsuhiro Wakihara, Toshiaki Yamada, Ikuhiro Yamada, Shiro Kashiwa
  • Patent number: 7891208
    Abstract: A refrigerator including an ice making device to make ice and a control method of the refrigerator. The refrigerator includes the ice making device to make ice, and an ice reservoir disposed below the ice making device to receive the ice made by the ice making device. The ice making device includes an ice-full state sensing lever installed, in a vertically pivotally rotatable manner, at one side thereof to sense whether or not the ice reservoir is full of ice, and a lever cover to cover a side surface of the ice-full state sensing lever. With the use of the lever cover, even if the ice is caught between a wall surface of an ice making compartment and the ice making device, the ice is caught between the wall surface of the ice making compartment and the lever cover. This has the effect of assuring a stable operation of the ice-full state sensing lever.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2011
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ji Hoon Kim, Jae Koog An
  • Patent number: 7870753
    Abstract: An appliance comprises a cabinet, a door movably mounted to the cabinet and having a peripheral edge, and a standardized service interface located on the peripheral edge. The standardized service interface is configured to supply at least one service for use by a consumer electronic device. The peripheral edge can be the top edge of the door and the standardized service interface can receive the service from the use environment of the appliance. A connector can be incorporated into the standardized service interface to selectively supply the consumer electronic device with the service. The appliance can comprise a refrigerator. The service can comprise mechanical, power, or data communication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2011
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Henry Orlando Marcy, V, Richard A. McCoy, James W. Kendall
  • Patent number: 7861551
    Abstract: A method and device for producing ice droplets on-demand in a refrigerator is provided wherein small water droplets are dropped from a valve through a supercooled chamber where the water freezes and forms ice pieces, such as in the form of pellets, while free-falling through the chamber, with the ice being directed to a dispenser assembly. The size and dispensing rate of the droplets can be selected by a user and regulated by a controller. The method and device eliminates the need for bulk ice storage and dispensing components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2011
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventor: Gregory Gene Hortin
  • Patent number: 7861892
    Abstract: A portable draft bar has an insulated chamber with an open top, an insulated cover for the open top, and a horizontal shoulder on the inside wall near the top. A rigid panel fits on the shoulder. At least one beverage tap mounted on the panel extends above the open top, with a drip tray below the tap outlet. A cooling coil within the chamber connects the tap inlet to a pressurized beverage container, with chamber ice cooling the coil. When not in use, the panel may be inverted and returned to the shoulder. With the cover in place and the container disconnected, the device is secure and transportable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2011
    Inventors: Richard W. White, Robert J. White
  • Patent number: 7849705
    Abstract: An air conditioning system, comprising: a channel to carry a flow of refrigerant, and a first noise reducer to change at least one property of the refrigerant as the refrigerant flows through the channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2010
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Hyuk Soo Lee, Young Hwan Ko, Byung Soon Kim
  • Patent number: 7841195
    Abstract: A refrigeration apparatus includes a condensing unit, a flow distributor, and an evaporator connected to the condensing unit via the flow distributor. A pressure detector is configured to detect condensation pressure of the refrigerant. A calculation unit is configured to calculate a target condensation pressure of refrigerant necessary for the refrigerant to be an evaporation temperature in the evaporator. A controller is configured to control the condensing unit so that the condensation pressure of the refrigerant becomes equal to or more than the target condensation pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2010
    Assignee: Nakayama Engineering Company Limited
    Inventor: Junya Nakayama
  • Patent number: 7836721
    Abstract: A cooling system (10) comprises a first (40) and a second (50) cold storage tank, a first refrigerator (41) cooling water in the first cold storage tank (40), a first thermal load (92) disposed in a first circulating passage (43) extending from the lower to the upper part of the first cold storage (40), a second thermal load (93) warmer than the first thermal load (92) disposed in a second circulating passage (44a) also extending from the lower to the upper part of the first cold storage tank, a second cold storage tank (50) disposed in the second circulating passage, a second refrigerator (51) cooling water fed from the upper part of the second cold storage (50), wherein a cooling output temperature of the second refrigerator (51) is set to be higher than that of the first refrigerator (41).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2010
    Assignee: Suntory Holdings Limited
    Inventors: Yoshinori Nishiwaki, Tsuneo Nakama, Shigeru Sakashita
  • Patent number: 7836719
    Abstract: An ice supply device is capable of supplying cubed ice, sliced ice, and grinded ice. The ice supply device is configured to supply cubed ice, sliced ice, or grinded ice based on a speed and direction of rotation of a rotary blade included in the ice supply device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2010
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Kyung Han Jeong, Wook Yong Lee
  • Patent number: 7832225
    Abstract: A cooling device includes a cooling arrangement having a refrigerant dispenser. In an illustrated example, the dispenser includes an aerosol container containing the refrigerant and a dispensing valve fitted to a fixing cup which crimps onto the aerosol container. The aerosol container is at least partly housed inside an outer jacket, and a dispensing channel is engaged on the dispensing valve. A cover is mounted on top of the dispensing channel. The cover has an inside face that is impermeable to the refrigerant and at least part of the cover, preferably an outside face of the cover, is made of a material having a thermal conductivity greater than or equal to 1 Wm?1K?1. A method of applying a cosmetic product to a body surface is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2010
    Assignee: L'Oreal
    Inventor: Marcel Sanchez