Patents by Inventor Nathaniel D. Kraft
Nathaniel D. Kraft has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 11846438Abstract: A Heating, Ventilation, and/or Air Conditioning (HVAC) controller configured to control at least part of an HVAC system of a building. The HVAC controller may include a user interface and a controller. In response to a selection by a user at the user interface, the controller may assemble and present via the user interface an output that encodes settings in a machine readable form. The controller may display the encoded settings on the display with fixed segments of a fixed segment display. An application program code on a remote device may be utilized to capture the displayed fixed segments that encode the settings in an image. The captured image of fixed segments may be decoded at the remote device or may be sent to a remote computing device for processing and/or decoding.Type: GrantFiled: October 22, 2021Date of Patent: December 19, 2023Assignee: Ademco Inc.Inventors: Nathaniel D. Kraft, Bernard T. Geary, Ajay Pai, Michael Albright, Sharath Venkatesha, Jeffrey Boll
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Patent number: 11692730Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be zoned into one or more zone. The HVAC system may include HVAC components, sensors, and one or more register vents that may include vent dampers (e.g., electronically controllable vent dampers or manually operated vent dampers). Opening and closing of the vent dampers may facilitate creating zones or sub-zones in the HVAC system configuration. An HVAC control system may receive a request for conditioned air in one or more of the zones, determine a damper setting for at least one of the vent dampers, communicate the determined damper setting to a vent damper or user interface, determine which HVAC components should be active, if any, and/or provide controls signals to activate or keep active the HVAC components that are determined to be active.Type: GrantFiled: February 8, 2021Date of Patent: July 4, 2023Assignee: Ademco Inc.Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer
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Publication number: 20220042697Abstract: A Heating, Ventilation, and/or Air Conditioning (HVAC) controller configured to control at least part of an HVAC system of a building. The HVAC controller may include a user interface and a controller. In response to a selection by a user at the user interface, the controller may assemble and present via the user interface an output that encodes settings in a machine readable form. The controller may display the encoded settings on the display with fixed segments of a fixed segment display. An application program code on a remote device may be utilized to capture the displayed fixed segments that encode the settings in an image. The captured image of fixed segments may be decoded at the remote device or may be sent to a remote computing device for processing and/or decoding.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 22, 2021Publication date: February 10, 2022Inventors: Nathaniel D. Kraft, Bernard T. Geary, Ajay Pai, Michael Albright, Sharath Venkatesha, Jeffrey Boll
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Patent number: 11156375Abstract: A Heating, Ventilation, and/or Air Conditioning (HVAC) controller configured to control at least part of an HVAC system of a building. The HVAC controller may include a user interface and a controller. In response to a selection by a user at the user interface, the controller may assemble and present via the user interface an output that encodes settings in a machine readable form. The controller may display the encoded settings on the display with fixed segments of a fixed segment display. An application program code on a remote device may be utilized to capture the displayed fixed segments that encode the settings in an image. The captured image of fixed segments may be decoded at the remote device or may be sent to a remote computing device for processing and/or decoding.Type: GrantFiled: July 22, 2016Date of Patent: October 26, 2021Assignee: Ademco Inc.Inventors: Nathaniel D. Kraft, Bernard T. Geary, Ajay Pai, Michael Albright, Sharath Venkatesha, Jeffrey Boll
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Publication number: 20210165926Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be zoned into one or more zone. The HVAC system may include HVAC components, sensors, and one or more register vents that may include vent dampers (e.g., electronically controllable vent dampers or manually operated vent dampers). Opening and closing of the vent dampers may facilitate creating zones or sub-zones in the HVAC system configuration. An HVAC control system may receive a request for conditioned air in one or more of the zones, determine a damper setting for at least one of the vent dampers, communicate the determined damper setting to a vent damper or user interface, determine which HVAC components should be active, if any, and/or provide controls signals to activate or keep active the HVAC components that are determined to be active.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 8, 2021Publication date: June 3, 2021Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer
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Patent number: 10915669Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be zoned into one or more zone. The HVAC system may include HVAC components, sensors, and one or more register vents that may include vent dampers (e.g., electronically controllable vent dampers or manually operated vent dampers). Opening and closing of the vent dampers may facilitate creating zones or sub-zones in the HVAC system configuration. An HVAC control system may receive a request for conditioned air in one or more of the zones, determine a damper setting for at least one of the vent dampers, communicate the determined damper setting to a vent damper or user interface, determine which HVAC components should be active, if any, and/or provide controls signals to activate or keep active the HVAC components that are determined to be active.Type: GrantFiled: June 19, 2015Date of Patent: February 9, 2021Assignee: Ademco Inc.Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer
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Publication number: 20200116375Abstract: A method for automatically generating an HVAC schedule for a building includes storing a thermal model for the building, the thermal model including an indication of the energy efficiency of an HVAC system of the building, receiving a weather forecast predicting future weather at the location of the building, receiving a cost estimate for energy that will be supplied to the HVAC system, receiving from a user a desired budget for a cost of operating the HVAC system over a future period of time, using the thermal model, the weather forecast, the cost estimate for energy and the desired budget of the user to generate an HVAC schedule covering the future period of time that is predicted to meet the desired budget of the user and controlling the HVAC system using the generated HVAC schedule.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 10, 2018Publication date: April 16, 2020Inventors: CHRISTOPHER HEINTZELMAN, NATHANIEL D. KRAFT, WENDY FOSLIEN
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Publication number: 20190376708Abstract: A damper system is configured for placement within a ductwork system having a duct that supplies conditioned air through a register boot to a register vent within a room of a building. The damper system includes a damper that is configured to be secured within the duct of the ductwork system upstream of the register boot and is rotatable between a closed position and an open position. The damper system includes one or more sensors and a control module that is operably coupled to the damper and the one or more sensors and is configured to be secured within the register boot downstream of the damper, the control module including a controller configured to control operation of the damper and to report one or more sensed conditions to a building controller located outside of the ductwork system.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 12, 2018Publication date: December 12, 2019Inventors: David J. Emmons, Nathan Carlson, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Robert Bick, Patrick Gonia
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Patent number: 10242129Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be controlled by an HVAC control system. The HVAC control system may include a communications block, a controller and a user interface. The communications block may receive sensed data from sensing devices located within spaces of a building. The sensing devices may be located at different spaced sensor locations within the building. The controller may receive the sensed data from the communications block and based, at least in part, on the received sensed, determine recommended setting changes to the HVAC control system. The user interface may display the recommended setting changes to a user.Type: GrantFiled: June 19, 2015Date of Patent: March 26, 2019Assignee: Ademco Inc.Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer, David Emmons
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Patent number: 10151502Abstract: A system for developing HVAC system configurations for a building may develop suggested HVAC system configurations based, at least in part, on obtained building information. A user interface may accept building information that at least partially defines an interior or exterior of a building. The building information may include, among other information, current HVAC system configuration information for an HVAC system of the building including current locations of register vents within the building. A processing module in communication with the user interface may determine one or more suggested HVAC system configurations based, at least in part, on building information accepted at the user interface. The user interface may display the suggested one or more HVAC system configurations to a user.Type: GrantFiled: June 19, 2015Date of Patent: December 11, 2018Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer, David Emmons
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Patent number: 10126009Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be zoned into one or more zone. The HVAC system may include one or more register vents that may include vent dampers. The HVAC system may be controlled by an HVAC control system including a communications port or block, a controller operatively coupled to the communications block, and a user interface. The controller may receive sensed data received at the communications block from sensors of the HVAC system. Based, at least in part, on the received sensed data, the controller my determine recommended settings for at least one of the manually adjustable register vent dampers and display the recommended settings on the user interface.Type: GrantFiled: June 19, 2015Date of Patent: November 13, 2018Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer, David Emmons
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Publication number: 20180023837Abstract: A Heating, Ventilation, and/or Air Conditioning (HVAC) controller configured to control at least part of an HVAC system of a building. The HVAC controller may include a user interface and a controller. In response to a selection by a user at the user interface, the controller may assemble and present via the user interface an output that encodes settings in a machine readable form. The controller may display the encoded settings on the display with fixed segments of a fixed segment display. An application program code on a remote device may be utilized to capture the displayed fixed segments that encode the settings in an image. The captured image of fixed segments may be decoded at the remote device or may be sent to a remote computing device for processing and/or decoding.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 22, 2016Publication date: January 25, 2018Inventors: Nathaniel D. Kraft, Bernard T. Geary, Ajay Pai, Michael Albright, Sharath Venkatesha, Jeffrey Boll
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Patent number: 9768564Abstract: A wall mountable connector is used for securing a thermostat to a wall. The wall mountable connector provides an electrical connection between a plurality of field wires of an HVAC system and corresponding terminals of a removably mounted thermostat. The wall mountable connector includes a plurality of mounting features that are configured to provide good securement of the wall mountable connector relative to the wall, and in some instances facilitate aligning at least one of the mounting feature of the wall mountable connector with a stud within the wall.Type: GrantFiled: February 12, 2016Date of Patent: September 19, 2017Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.Inventors: Travis Read, Anthony P. Uttley, Eric Barton, Jonathan Sartwell, Heidi Finch, David J. Emmons, Nathaniel D. Kraft
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Publication number: 20170237211Abstract: A wall mountable connector may be used for securing a thermostat to a wall. The wall mountable connector may provide an electrical connection between a plurality of field wires of an HVAC system and corresponding terminals of a removably mounted thermostat. The wall mountable connector may include a plurality of mounting features that are configured to provide good securement of the wall mountable connector relative to the wall, and in some instances facilitate aligning at least one of the mounting feature of the wall mountable connector with a stud within the wall.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 12, 2016Publication date: August 17, 2017Inventors: Travis Read, Anthony P. Uttley, Eric Barton, Jonathan Sartwell, Heidi Finch, David J. Emmons, Nathaniel D. Kraft
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Publication number: 20150369504Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be zoned into one or more zone. The HVAC system may include one or more register vents that may include vent dampers. The HVAC system may be controlled by an HVAC control system including a communications port or block, a controller operatively coupled to the communications block, and a user interface. The controller may receive sensed data received at the communications block from sensors of the HVAC system. Based, at least in part, on the received sensed data, the controller my determine recommended settings for at least one of the manually adjustable register vent dampers and display the recommended settings on the user interface.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 19, 2015Publication date: December 24, 2015Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer, David Emmons
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Publication number: 20150369503Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be controlled by an HVAC control system. The HVAC control system may include a communications block, a controller and a user interface. The communications block may receive sensed data from sensing devices located within spaces of a building. The sensing devices may be located at different spaced sensor locations within the building. The controller may receive the sensed data from the communications block and based, at least in part, on the received sensed, determine recommended setting changes to the HVAC control system. The user interface may display the recommended setting changes to a user.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 19, 2015Publication date: December 24, 2015Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer, David Emmons
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Publication number: 20150370927Abstract: A system for developing HVAC system configurations for a building may develop suggested HVAC system configurations based, at least in part, on obtained building information. A user interface may accept building information that at least partially defines an interior or exterior of a building. The building information may include, among other information, current HVAC system configuration information for an HVAC system of the building including current locations of register vents within the building. A processing module in communication with the user interface may determine one or more suggested HVAC system configurations based, at least in part, on building information accepted at the user interface. The user interface may display the suggested one or more HVAC system configurations to a user.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 19, 2015Publication date: December 24, 2015Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer, David Emmons
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Publication number: 20150369507Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be zoned into one or more zone. The HVAC system may include HVAC components, sensors, and one or more register vents that may include vent dampers (e.g., electronically controllable vent dampers or manually operated vent dampers). Opening and closing of the vent dampers may facilitate creating zones or sub-zones in the HVAC system configuration. An HVAC control system may receive a request for conditioned air in one or more of the zones, determine a damper setting for at least one of the vent dampers, communicate the determined damper setting to a vent damper or user interface, determine which HVAC components should be active, if any, and/or provide controls signals to activate or keep active the HVAC components that are determined to be active.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 19, 2015Publication date: December 24, 2015Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer