Patents Assigned to U-Line Corporation
  • Patent number: 7380410
    Abstract: A wine cooler unit has a refrigerated cabinet housing two pull-out assemblies, each having a door panel and one or more wine racks. One rack can be mounted to the door panel, and one or more follower racks can be extended and retracted by movement of the door panel mounted rack, or by independent manual movement thereof. Two or more racks can be pulled out from the cabinet in a staggered or cascading fashion in which an upper rack extends from the cabinet to a lesser extent than a next lower rack to provide access to the bottles on each rack. The door panels can be made of a glass thermopane allowing visual inspection of the contents inside the cabinet. The cabinet can be cooled by a refrigeration system having two evaporators, which provide two independent cooling zones, one for each pull-out assembly. A capacitance-operated control can be provided under the glass front of one door panel for controlling the temperature zones inside the cabinet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Lawrence D. Moye, Andrew J. Doberstein, Jack L. Vaughn
  • Patent number: 7296433
    Abstract: A drawer refrigerator, including an evaporator, compressor and condenser, has a partitioned cabinet with two vertically stacked pull-out drawers having drawer bins. A single evaporator is located adjacent both drawer cavities and is partitioned to keep the temperature in both drawer bins approximately equal. The pull-out drawers can have a bottle bin with recesses holding the necks of wine, soda or like bottles. The bottle bin slides on the top edges of the drawer bin at its sides and can be moved front to back. The pull-out drawers can have an underside compartment opening at both sides of the drawer containing a removable storage bin. The pull-out drawers can also have an adjustable divider fence with pairs of lateral and transverse divider rods extending between the side walls and between the door panels and the rear walls of the drawer bins. The rods are coupled by a hub having a hand operated screw knob for locking the position of the fence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2007
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Philip J. Uihlein, Jennifer U. Strazewski, William A. Reed, Thomas W. Rand, Joseph E. Braun, Jack L. Vaughn, Andrew J. Doberstein, Ami M. Verhalen, Daniel R. Bullis, Jr.
  • Publication number: 20070251263
    Abstract: A cooler unit has a control housing that is mounted to a floor of a cabinet liner that is sloped in a downward direction toward the opening of the cooler unit. The control housing retains consumable items that are stored on the floor of the cabinet liner so that the items do not fall out of the cooler unit. Particularly, the control housing can retain wine bottles. The control housing houses a controller that controls the operation of the cooler unit. The control housing can include a display and user inputs so that a user can easily manage the cooler unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2007
    Publication date: November 1, 2007
    Applicant: U-LINE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck, Jennifer U. Straszewski
  • Patent number: 7228704
    Abstract: A drawer refrigeration unit provides two distinct zones of cooling in a single cabinet for two pull-out drawers. The refrigeration system includes an evaporator, a compressor and a condenser. The single evaporator system is aided by a damperless air circulation system to maintain the temperature zones at a temperature differential that is at least 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The present invention can thus be used as a combination refrigerator and freezer drawer unit using only one evaporator in a cross-ventilated cabinet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2007
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph E. Braun
  • Patent number: 7082783
    Abstract: A drawer refrigerator, including an evaporator, compressor and condenser, has a partitioned cabinet with two vertically stacked pull-out drawers having drawer bins. A single evaporator is located adjacent both drawer cavities and is partitioned to keep the temperature in both drawer bins approximately equal. The pull-out drawers can have a bottle bin with recesses holding the necks of wine, soda or like bottles. The bottle bin slides on the top edges of the drawer bin at its sides and can be moved front to back. The pull-out drawers can have an underside compartment opening at both sides of the drawer containing a removable storage bin. The pull-out drawers can also have an adjustable divider fence with pairs of lateral and transverse divider rods extending between the side walls and between the door panels and the rear walls of the drawer bins. The rods are coupled by a hub having a hand operated screw knob for locking the position of the fence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2006
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Philip J. Uihlein, Jennifer U. Strazewski, William A. Reed, Thomas W. Rand, Joseph E. Braun, Jack L. Vaughn, Andrew J. Doberstein, Ami M. Verhalen, Daniel R. Bullis, Jr.
  • Patent number: 7062936
    Abstract: A compact refrigerator has a split cabinet defining insulated refrigerator and clear ice maker sections. Its refrigeration system includes one external compressor and condenser and two evaporators, one for each section. The condenser is coupled to the inlet of the ice maker evaporator by a capillary tube and the evaporators are connected in series via a line having a refrigerator valve. The compressor receives return refrigerant from the outlet side of either the refrigerator evaporator or the ice maker evaporator depending on the state of a bypass valve, which is closed when the refrigerator valve is open, and vice versa. Refrigerant is thus routed to the ice maker evaporator to make ice and to both the ice maker and refrigerator evaporators when the refrigerator needs cooling. A hot gas bypass valve allows pre-condensed refrigerant exiting the compressor to bypass the condenser and be routed to the ice maker evaporator for harvesting the clear ice cubes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2006
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck
  • Patent number: 6935712
    Abstract: A refrigeration unit with improved storage and accessibility features has a thermally insulated cabinet and door defining a storage space with a plurality of support elements. The support elements include easily removable door shelves and horizontal cabinet shelves that can be removed or repositioned without the door being fully opened due to dished regions adjacent the shelf supports that allow the shelves to be pivoted and removed rather than slid straight out of the cabinet. Indicia on one of the shelves follows the contour of one of the door shelves to indicate approximately the shelf space occupied by an adjacent door shelf and thus where items can be set without interfering with the closure of the door. The refrigeration unit also includes a cam assembly at the lower door hinge which biases the door closed when open approximately 35 degrees or less. The refrigeration unit also includes features for attaching an overlay panel to the door easily.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2005
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: William A. Reed, Thomas W. Rand, Dean G. Byczynski, Joseph E. Braun, Andrew J. Doberstein, Lawrence D. Moye, Jack L. Vaughn, Jeffrey A. Ziminski
  • Patent number: D506870
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2005
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Philip J. Uihlein, Jennifer U. Strazewski, William A. Reed, Thomas W. Rand, Joseph E. Braun, Ami M. Verhalen, Richard A. Nelipovich
  • Patent number: D520239
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2006
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Jack L. Vaughn
  • Patent number: D550726
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2007
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Jack L. Vaughn, Andrew J. Doberstein
  • Patent number: D551264
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2007
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: William A. Reed, Jack L. Vaughn, Joseph E. Braun, Thomas W. Rand
  • Patent number: D556793
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2007
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Joseph E. Braun, Jack L. Vaughn
  • Patent number: D556794
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2007
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Jack L. Vaughn, Jennifer U. Straszewski, Lawrence Moye
  • Patent number: D563998
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck, Jack L. Vaughn
  • Patent number: D563999
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck, Thomas W. Rand, Jennifer U. Straszewski
  • Patent number: D564000
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Joseph H. Zyduck, Andrew J. Doberstein, Thomas W. Rand, Jennifer U. Straszewski
  • Patent number: D565063
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck
  • Patent number: D569881
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Jack L. Vaughn, Andrew J. Doberstein
  • Patent number: D570885
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck, Jennifer U. Straszewski
  • Patent number: D571828
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Joseph E. Braun, Jack L. Vaughn, Thomas W. Rand