Patents Examined by Cassey D Bauer
  • Patent number: 11262097
    Abstract: An indoor unit includes an air-sending fan, an air inlet through which air of an indoor space is sucked in, and an air outlet located above the air inlet and through which the air sucked in through the air inlet is blown out to the indoor space. A control unit activates the air-sending fan when leakage of the refrigerant is detected. When M [kg] represents an amount of charge of the refrigerant in a refrigeration cycle, LFL [kg/m3] represents a lower flammable limit of the refrigerant, A [m2] represents a floor area of the indoor space, and Ho [m] represents a height of the air outlet above a floor surface of the indoor space, the amount of charge M, the lower flammable limit LFL, the floor area A, and the height Ho satisfy a relationship of M<LFL×A×Ho.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Suzuki, Takao Komai, Akira Maeda, Mitsuru Kawashima
  • Patent number: 11248808
    Abstract: An outdoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus includes a housing, a heat exchanger provided in an upper part of an inside of the housing, and a control box disposed in the housing and configured to control the outdoor unit. The housing includes a base on which the control box is disposed and that is provided with a water drainage groove and a water drainage hole for draining defrost water generated on the heat exchanger to an outside, the base has three surfaces located at different heights that are, in order from top, a first surface, a second surface, and a third surface that is a bottom surface of the water drainage groove and is provided with the water drainage hole, and the control box is disposed on the first surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventor: Misaki Koda
  • Patent number: 11248832
    Abstract: Provided is a negative pressure release port that can prevent freezing in a channel. This negative pressure release port comprises: a cylindrical member made of a pipe in which a fluid can pass through and a base; a heating element disposed on one end inside the pipe; a retaining member that retains the heating element; a rib that connects an inner wall face of the pipe and the retaining member; and a check valve that is provided inside the base provided more toward the other end than the heating element, that allows air passing through the interior of the base to flow from the other end to the one end, and prevents flow from the one end to the other end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: PHC HOLDINGS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tadashi Okada
  • Patent number: 11243017
    Abstract: A plumbing system for an ice maker may include a supply line extending to a dispense point and a dispense valve coupled to the supply line. An ice maker is coupled to the recirculation line, and a pump is also coupled to the recirculation line. The pump is operable to recirculate liquid through the ice maker via the recirculation line. The plumbing system also include features for draining water from the recirculation line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Gregory Sergeevich Chernov, Bradley Nicholas Gilkey
  • Patent number: 11236938
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a recessed refrigerator supported on a supporting surface, the refrigerator including a cabinet, a door movably disposed at a front side of the cabinet, a compressor compartment formed in a rear lower portion of the refrigerator and a compressor and a heat dissipating fan located in the compressor compartment, the cabinet including a bottom plate, the bottom plate being disposed apart from the supporting surface, and the bottom plate including a compressor compartment bottom plate located below the compressor compartment, the compressor compartment bottom plate being formed with a main air inlet and a main air outlet communicating the external with the compressor compartment, air from the external, driven by the heat dissipating fan, entering the compressor compartment through the main air inlet and then flowing to the external through the main air outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: QINGDAO HAIER CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Chun Yang, Lisheng Ji, Enpin Xia, Hao Zhang
  • Patent number: 11236936
    Abstract: A black ice generating device for generating black ice on a specimen, with dimensions of length X, width Y, and height Z, to be used for experiments on black ice, comprising: a housing; a specimen loading part, for accommodating at least a height h of a water layer, wherein the specimen loading part is formed in the housing and configured as a depression with dimensions of at least length X, at least width Y, and at least height Z+h; and one or more strap loading parts formed with recesses of a depth D1 and a depth D2 respectively from a first side surface of the depression and a second side surface thereof, wherein the recesses are to accommodate one or more straps, and wherein the depth D1 and the depth D2 are larger than a size of a cross-section of the straps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Inventors: Hyoung Gu Nam, Mi Eun Park, Baek Jo Kim
  • Patent number: 11221170
    Abstract: An ice compartment of a household cooling appliance has a driving unit for driving an ice storage container of an ice maker. The driving unit has a drive housing and at least one drive motor. A first receiving duct accommodates a first fastening part and extends completely through the drive housing. The drive housing can be fastened by the first fastening part to an inner liner wall of the refrigeration compartment. The first receiving duct extends across the entire depth of the drive housing and is open at a front end and a rear end. A second receiving duct extends completely through the drive housing. The drive housing can be fastened by the second fastening part to the same inner liner wall of the refrigeration compartment. The second receiving duct extends across the entire depth of the drive housing and is open at a front end and a rear end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
    Inventors: Mathias Sigl, Jorge Carlos Montalvo Sanchez, Nilton Bertolini
  • Patent number: 11215389
    Abstract: A gel pack kit for keeping beverage bottles cool during transport includes a plurality of gel pack parts. The parts include notches allowing the parts to be attached perpendicular to one another and assembled into a gel pack divider. The divider includes a plurality of bottle cooling areas being the spaces between the adjacent gel packs in the assembled divider structure. A method of utilizing the gel pack divider kit to keep beverage bottles cool during transport includes assembling the gel pack kit to form the gel pack divider and then refrigerating the assembled divider. After purchasing bottled beverages such as multiple bottles of wine in a box, an original cardboard divider provided in the box is removed and replaced with the chilled, assembled gel pack divider. The bottles sit in the bottle cooling areas and the gel pack divider provides a cooling effect during transport in the original box.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: Wine Warden Ltd
    Inventor: Benoit Gosselin
  • Patent number: 11209203
    Abstract: To provide an ice making device including an ice making tray, a drive unit configured to turn over the ice making tray, a frame including a frame body, the frame configured to support the ice making tray, and a fan motor configured to send wind to the ice making tray. The frame includes a block unit configured to contact a part of the ice making tray turning over to partially disturb the turning over of the ice making tray, and the fan motor is fixed only to a first frame part including one of a plurality of frame parts constituting sides surrounding a periphery of the ice making tray in a plan view of the frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: NIDEC SANKYO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shunji Saito, Akihiro Ito, Takaji Harata
  • Patent number: 11199352
    Abstract: A countertop appliance, as provided herein, may include a dispenser casing, a water path, a water filter, a dispenser valve, an output storage tank, an internal storage valve, and an ice maker. The dispenser casing may define an interior cavity. The water path may be enclosed within the interior cavity. The water path may define a water inlet and an assembly water outlet. The output storage tank may be disposed along the water path to hold a preset volume of water upstream from the assembly water outlet. The internal storage valve may be disposed along the water path and configured to maintain the preset volume of water within the output storage tank. The ice maker may be downstream from the output storage tank to receive water therefrom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
    Inventor: Samuel Vincent DuPlessis
  • Patent number: 11187443
    Abstract: A machine for making liquid/semi-liquid food products includes a container for the product; a dispenser connected to the container which allows or inhibits dispensing of the product; a mixing stirrer rotatable about an axis of rotation and mounted inside the container; a thermal system including a circuit with a heat exchanger fluid and an evaporator operatively associated with the container and including an inlet aperture for the fluid, a discharge aperture for the fluid, a first tubular element and a second tubular element coaxial with the first tubular element and having an axial direction of extension and a radial direction of extension, the second tubular element extending along an axial direction parallel to the axis of rotation and being disposed inside the first tubular element to define an annular chamber for circulating the fluid and defined by at least one microchannel, the microchannel having a hydraulic diameter of 3-13 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: ALI GROUP S.R.L.—CARPIGIANI
    Inventors: Andrea Cocchi, Roberto Lazzarini
  • Patent number: 11179999
    Abstract: A heat pump system includes a compressor that compresses and discharges a refrigerant, a decompressor that decompresses the refrigerant, an outdoor unit that exchanges heat between the refrigerant and an outside air, an evaporator that evaporates the refrigerant, a condenser that condenses the refrigerant, an internal heat exchanger, an accumulator that separates the refrigerant into a gas refrigerant and a liquid refrigerant, and a flow pathway changing portion. The internal heat exchanger includes a high-pressure passage through which a high-pressure refrigerant flows, and a low-pressure passage through which a low-pressure refrigerant flows, the internal heat exchanger exchanging heat between the refrigerant flowing through the high-pressure passage and the refrigerant flowing through the low-pressure passage. The flow pathway changing portion that switches between a cooling pathway and a heating pathway. According to this heat pump system, a cooling capacity and a heating capacity can be improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroshi Mieda, Ryohei Sugimura, Masaaki Kawakubo, Yuichi Kami
  • Patent number: 11168930
    Abstract: An expansion valve with an improved vibration isolation mechanism includes a valve body, a valve element, a biasing member that biases the valve body toward a valve seat, an actuation rod that contacts the valve element and presses the valve element in a valve opening direction against a biasing force of the biasing member, and a vibration isolating spring that suppresses vibration of the valve element. The actuation rod is inserted into an actuation rod insertion hole in the valve body. The vibration isolating spring includes a leg spring having a base portion and a plurality of leg portions extending from the base portion. The leg spring is arranged in the valve chamber such that a center axis of the leg spring is non-coincident with a center axis of the actuation rod insertion hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: FUJIKOKI CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi Mogi, Kouhei Kubota, Ryo Matsuda, Shin Honda, Kurato Yamasaki, Shigeki Ito
  • Patent number: 11168905
    Abstract: A method for conditioning air, the method comprising flowing a first air flow within a first ventilation system past a first cooling coil, which is connected to a cooling system with a cooling fluid and a cooler, characterised in that the temperature of the first air flow, when passing the first cooling coil, is lower than the temperature of the cooling fluid flowing through the first cooling coil and that the first air flow is heated and the cooling fluid flowing through the first cooling coil is cooled, when the first air flow passes through the first cooling coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Inventors: Tom Ascough, Sean Ascough
  • Patent number: 11162692
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) unit that includes a condenser fan assembly. The condenser fan assembly includes a support frame having an opening and a condenser fan that is coupled to the support frame and configured to force air through the opening. The condenser fan assembly is configured to translate between an operating position and a service position. The HVAC unit also includes a brace that is configured to extend from an enclosure of the HVAC unit to the condenser fan assembly to hold the condenser fan assembly in the service position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Ravindra B. Salunkhe, Swapnil V. Mohite, Ritesh D. Rokade, Shridhar V. Vernekar
  • Patent number: 11154074
    Abstract: A refrigeration subsystem removably received within a base machine to cool an object. The subsystem includes a body with an opening that receives the object. An evaporator thermally communicates with the object, which is cooled by refrigerant flowing through the evaporator. A compressor receives the refrigerant downstream of the evaporator and increases a refrigerant pressure. A condenser receives the refrigerant downstream of the compressor, which cools the refrigerant. An expansion device receives the refrigerant downstream of the condenser and decreases its pressure, the evaporator being downstream from the expansion device. A refrigerant circuit fluidly couples the evaporator, compressor, condenser, and expansion device such that the refrigerant flows therebetween, all of which are coupled to the body and move together therewith. The refrigerant circuit forms a closed loop that remains unbroken when the body of the refrigerant subsystem is removed from the base machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Cornelius, Inc.
    Inventors: Jacob C. Greenberg, Zachary Dresser, Austen Siwiec, Sandip P. Chougale
  • Patent number: 11156395
    Abstract: A refrigerator includes a thermoelectric element module disposed at a wall of a storing chamber and includes a heat-absorbing sink and a heat-dissipating sink; a supply duct disposed at an inner case to discharge cold air, which has exchanged heat in the heat-absorbing sink, to a storing chamber; and a cold air accumulation agent disposed in the supply duct and cooled by the cold air flowing through the supply duct.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Minkyu Oh, Yongnam Kim, Yanghwan No, Seongwoo An
  • Patent number: 11137194
    Abstract: Provided is a refrigeration appliance including a storage compartment and an evaporator that cools the storage compartment. The evaporator includes a plurality of evaporator fins. A defrost heater is mounted at a bottom edge of the evaporator fins. The defrost heater includes a first section and a second section. The first section is in physical contact with the evaporator fins. The second section is spaced a distance away from the evaporator fins. The first section has a relatively higher power output than the second section A method of defrosting an evaporator of a refrigeration appliance is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
    Inventor: Edmund Scott Richardson
  • Patent number: 11137189
    Abstract: An ice dispenser assembly for an ice maker is provided. The ice dispenser assembly includes a dispenser housing defining at least one side wall having a dispenser and an opening in fluid communication with the ice maker. The ice dispenser assembly also includes an ice door covering the opening. The ice door is rotatable between an open position permitting ice from the ice maker to be received through the dispenser and a closed position restricting cooled air from escaping from the ice maker. The ice dispenser assembly also includes rotatable arm coupled to the ice door for rotating the ice door between the open position and the closed position. The rotatable arm extends across the opening between a first end and a second end. The first end includes a cam. The ice dispenser assembly further includes a first torsion spring engaging the cam in the open position and the closed position, wherein a torque of the first torsion spring against the cam is greater in the closed position than the open position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
    Inventor: Daryl Lee Reuter
  • Patent number: 11131490
    Abstract: The refrigerant device includes a refrigerant circuit, an injection circuit, an inlet temperature sensor, an outlet temperature sensor, and a controller configured to control the operation of the refrigerant circuit. The controller includes an evaluation value calculation unit and a refrigerant amount detection unit. The evaluation value calculation unit calculates an evaluation value indicating a capability of a subcooling heat exchanger in accordance with an inlet temperature detected by the inlet temperature sensor and an outlet temperature detected by the outlet temperature sensor. The refrigerant amount detection unit determines whether there is a shortage of refrigerant in accordance with the evaluation value calculated by the evaluation value calculation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kohei Ueda, Abastari, Hiroshi Sata