Patents Assigned to U-Line Corporation
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Patent number: 7380410Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: September 9, 2005Date of Patent: June 3, 2008Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Thomas W. Rand, Lawrence D. Moye, Andrew J. Doberstein, Jack L. Vaughn
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Patent number: 7296433Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: July 31, 2006Date of Patent: November 20, 2007Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: 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.
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Publication number: 20070251263Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: April 27, 2007Publication date: November 1, 2007Applicant: U-LINE CORPORATIONInventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck, Jennifer U. Straszewski
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Patent number: 7228704Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: February 28, 2005Date of Patent: June 12, 2007Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph E. Braun
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Patent number: 7082783Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: September 19, 2003Date of Patent: August 1, 2006Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: 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.
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Patent number: 7062936Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: November 21, 2003Date of Patent: June 20, 2006Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck
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Patent number: 6935712Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: February 14, 2002Date of Patent: August 30, 2005Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: William A. Reed, Thomas W. Rand, Dean G. Byczynski, Joseph E. Braun, Andrew J. Doberstein, Lawrence D. Moye, Jack L. Vaughn, Jeffrey A. Ziminski
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Patent number: D506870Type: GrantFiled: September 19, 2003Date of Patent: July 5, 2005Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Philip J. Uihlein, Jennifer U. Strazewski, William A. Reed, Thomas W. Rand, Joseph E. Braun, Ami M. Verhalen, Richard A. Nelipovich
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Patent number: D520239Type: GrantFiled: March 31, 2005Date of Patent: May 9, 2006Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Thomas W. Rand, Jack L. Vaughn
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Patent number: D550726Type: GrantFiled: March 31, 2005Date of Patent: September 11, 2007Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Thomas W. Rand, Jack L. Vaughn, Andrew J. Doberstein
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Patent number: D551264Type: GrantFiled: August 29, 2006Date of Patent: September 18, 2007Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: William A. Reed, Jack L. Vaughn, Joseph E. Braun, Thomas W. Rand
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Patent number: D556793Type: GrantFiled: August 29, 2006Date of Patent: December 4, 2007Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Joseph E. Braun, Jack L. Vaughn
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Patent number: D556794Type: GrantFiled: August 31, 2006Date of Patent: December 4, 2007Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Jack L. Vaughn, Jennifer U. Straszewski, Lawrence Moye
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Patent number: D563998Type: GrantFiled: August 29, 2006Date of Patent: March 11, 2008Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck, Jack L. Vaughn
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Patent number: D563999Type: GrantFiled: August 30, 2006Date of Patent: March 11, 2008Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck, Thomas W. Rand, Jennifer U. Straszewski
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Patent number: D564000Type: GrantFiled: August 31, 2006Date of Patent: March 11, 2008Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Joseph H. Zyduck, Andrew J. Doberstein, Thomas W. Rand, Jennifer U. Straszewski
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Patent number: D565063Type: GrantFiled: August 29, 2006Date of Patent: March 25, 2008Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck
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Patent number: D569881Type: GrantFiled: July 18, 2007Date of Patent: May 27, 2008Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Thomas W. Rand, Jack L. Vaughn, Andrew J. Doberstein
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Patent number: D570885Type: GrantFiled: April 28, 2006Date of Patent: June 10, 2008Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck, Jennifer U. Straszewski
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Patent number: D571828Type: GrantFiled: August 30, 2006Date of Patent: June 24, 2008Assignee: U-Line CorporationInventors: Joseph E. Braun, Jack L. Vaughn, Thomas W. Rand