Patents Examined by Derek S. Boles
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Patent number: 6394361Abstract: In a device including a first calibrated or adjustable orifice and a second orifice located downstream of the first orifice, the opening of the second orifice is adjusted by a valve whereof the position is controlled by apparatus displacing the valve depending on the pressure difference prevailing between upstream and downstream of the first orifice and by apparatus producing a displacement depending on the temperature of the premises wherein the device is located. The device is mounted in two separate bodies, mutually linked, a first body corresponding to the first orifice and a second body corresponding to the second orifice. The device enables to produce both automatic hydraulic balancing and thermostatic control.Type: GrantFiled: June 25, 2001Date of Patent: May 28, 2002Assignee: COMAPInventors: Pierre Fridmann, Jacky Leger, Jean Philippe Robin
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Patent number: 6390755Abstract: In a single cleanroom (200) for first (230) and second (240) wafer processing machines, an exhaust device (260) surrounds the second machine (240) that temporarily produces exhaust gas (250) which is detrimental to the processes in the first machine (230). Additionally to a first directed air flow (220) available in the cleanroom (200), the exhaust device (260) generates—in the proximity of gas leakage openings of the second machine (240)—a second air flow (270) that prevents the exhaust gas (250) from further being moved by the first air flow (220) to the first machine (230).Type: GrantFiled: April 6, 2000Date of Patent: May 21, 2002Assignee: Motorola, Inc.Inventors: Leroy Grant, Gunter Hraschan
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Patent number: 6386965Abstract: An automatic airflow system for a vehicle interior is provided according to the present invention whereby air is automatically directed to the regions of the interior passenger compartment where occupants are seated. This is accomplished generally by including occupant sensing devices within the vehicle interior. When the sensing devices detects the presence of a body, a closing means such as a door behind appropriate air outlet members is opened thereby allowing air to flow through these outlet members and into the vehicle interior where one or more occupants are seated.Type: GrantFiled: December 20, 2000Date of Patent: May 14, 2002Assignees: Delphi Technologies, Inc., General Motors CorporationInventors: Pamela Sue Greenwald, Marc Schins, Angie M. Fulmer
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Patent number: 6386966Abstract: In a blower unit for a vehicle air conditioner, an inside/outside air switching door opens an inside air introduction port and closes an outside air introduction port when an inside air introduction mode is set. Plural ribs for irregularly reflecting an air-blowing noise generated by a blower fan are provided on an inner surface of the inside/outside air switching door, and top ends of the ribs are arranged along a main flow of inside air introduced from the inside air introduction port during the inside air introduction mode. Thus, the blower unit effectively reduces a reflected noise on the inner surface of the inside/outside air switching door, and effectively prevents a disturbance noise of the main flow of inside air.Type: GrantFiled: September 5, 2000Date of Patent: May 14, 2002Assignee: Denso CorporationInventors: Kazutoshi Kuwayama, Manabu Miyata
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Patent number: 6386969Abstract: A garage ventilation system for ventilating fumes from a garage. The garage ventilation system includes a garage door having a first side and a second side. A housing has a generally open front wall, a back wall and a peripheral wall extending between the front and back walls. The back wall has a plurality of openings therein. The front wall has a peripheral edge. The housing is positioned in an aperture in the garage door. A plurality of fans is mounted in the housing and each is directed toward the front wall such that the fans draw air into the housing through the back wall and expel air outward through the front wall. A power supply is operationally coupled to the fans. A control is operationally coupled to the fans. A plurality of switches is operationally coupled to the control for manually turning the fans on or off.Type: GrantFiled: September 21, 2001Date of Patent: May 14, 2002Inventor: Robert D. O'Brien
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Patent number: 6383071Abstract: A differential mechanism is provided between first output shaft, to which the rotation of the drive motor is transmitted, and second output shaft, to which the rotation of first output shaft is transmitted, for adjusting the relative positions of these two output shafts. An air-mix door is connected to first output shaft, and a blowout mode door is connected to second output shaft. The rotation of the drive motor is used to operate the air-mix door and the blowout mode door in linkage, and the blowout mode door is designed to be able to be independently operated by the operation of movable lever of differential gear mechanism.Type: GrantFiled: October 20, 2000Date of Patent: May 7, 2002Assignee: Denso CorporationInventors: Tokuhisa Takeuchi, So Hibino, Teruhiko Kameoka, Koichi Ito
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Patent number: 6382518Abstract: In a vehicle air conditioner, an air conditioning case has a center face opening through which air is blown toward a center upper side of a passenger compartment in a vehicle right-left direction, a side face opening through which air is blown toward a side upper side of the passenger compartment, and a defroster opening through which air is blown toward a front windshield of the vehicle. The side face opening is provided between the center face opening and the defroster opening in an arrangement direction of the center face opening and the defroster opening within a width dimension of the center face opening in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction. Thus, a dimension of the air conditioning case in the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction becomes smaller, while operation force of a door for opening and closing the center face opening is reduced.Type: GrantFiled: October 10, 2000Date of Patent: May 7, 2002Assignee: Denso CorporationInventors: Kazuji Shibata, Yoshio Yoshida, Masato Inuzuka
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Patent number: 6378777Abstract: The invention relates to a water heater comprised of a cylindrical tank 18 which has a central flue 20 that is mounted with the cylinder axis 40 vertical. The water heater further includes a gas burner 22 provided the base of the tank 18, which burns a gaseous fuel so as to discharge heated gases up through the central flue 20 from the base to the top of the tank 18. A housing 12 surrounds the exterior of the tank and is spaced away from the domed top 34 and side walls of the tank 18, to thereby define a generally annular cylindrical space 36 between the radially outer surface of the tank 18 and the radially inner surface of the housing 12. The annular space 36 is in gas flow communication with the upper end of the flue 20 and is provided with a discharge outlet 48 located at or adjacent the lower most end of the tank 18.Type: GrantFiled: April 28, 2000Date of Patent: April 30, 2002Assignee: Southcorp Australia Pty Ltd.Inventors: Zoran Valcic, Geoffrey Mervyn Whitford
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Patent number: 6375562Abstract: The invention relates to a sliding door with two outer side-pieces extending from a building wall and surrounding a building entrance/exit, with at least one moving panel associated with the two side-pieces which closes or opens an entrance/exit as a result of its movement into a closed or open position, and with a ventilation system which, by means of at least one blower nozzle that is located so that it can pivot between the interior and exterior of the building, blows air into the building entrance/exit area, whereby the blower nozzle is coupled with a air speed indicator so that the pivoting angle of the blower nozzle can be adjusted as a function of the outside pressure on the outside of the building as measured by the air speed indicator.Type: GrantFiled: July 11, 2000Date of Patent: April 23, 2002Assignee: Dorma GmbH + Co. KGInventor: Christian Hein
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Patent number: 6375087Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for self-programmable temperature and usage control for a hot water heater. A plurality of user entered selections are received. Idle periods of a set time duration are detected and stored. Responsive to an idle period start time, a control temperature is set to a lower than normal temperature. Responsive to an idle period end time, the control temperature is set to a normal temperature. A sleep mode is automatically started responsive to idle times, and a vacation mode is automatically started responsive to an identified number of days of no water usage. In the sleep mode, the control temperature is set to a lower than normal temperature. In the vacation mode, the control temperature is set to a substantially lower than normal temperature or the water heater is turned off. The user entered selections can include a normal temperature, a sleep temperature for the idle periods, and a vacation temperature.Type: GrantFiled: June 14, 2000Date of Patent: April 23, 2002Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Paul Reuben Day, Mark William Theuer
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Patent number: 6375561Abstract: A switch cupboard with devices for cooling the hot air present inside the same. At least one vertical face is closed off by a double-walled wall element whose outer and inner wall panel form an air duct with an extensive surface. The inner wall panel has several openings spread out from each other. The openings can be covered either with cover plates, fans which operate in two directions of rotation or connecting plates with sections of hose.Type: GrantFiled: April 28, 2000Date of Patent: April 23, 2002Assignee: Rittal-Werk Rudolf Loh GmbH & Co. KGInventors: Walter Nicolai, Adam Pawlowski
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Patent number: 6371381Abstract: In a heat generator for a vehicle according to the present invention, an operation chamber defined in the heat generator is composed of a heat generation area (7) which receives therein a rotor, a storage area (8) which contains viscous fluid, and a boundary opening (9) of a relatively large surface area, which connects the two areas. The boundary opening is provided with a pair of transfer openings (35A, 35B) in a point-symmetric arrangement with respect to the rotation axis C of the rotor. Guide portions (41A, 41B), each corresponding to each of the openings, are provided in the storage area. With this structure, since at least one of the transfer openings and the guide portion corresponding thereto are located below the surface level L of the viscous fluid regardless of the attachment angle of the heat generator, the exchange and circulation of the viscous fluid can be carried out between the heat generation area and the storage area, in accordance with the rotation of the rotor.Type: GrantFiled: January 8, 2001Date of Patent: April 16, 2002Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyoda Jidoshokki SeisakushoInventors: Masami Niwa, Shigeru Suzuki, Hidefumi Mori, Tatsuyuki Hoshino
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Patent number: 6371847Abstract: A ridge ventilation system includes a plurality of ridge vent sections joined together in end-to-end relationship covering the open ridge of a roof. Each ridge vent section has a laterally flexible central panel flanked by ventilation grids and wind baffles. Attachment means are formed on the ends of each ridge vent section for attaching the sections together and a drain trough on one end of each ridge vent section is configured to underlie the junction between two attached ridge vent sections to drain water that may seep into the junction away from the open ridge of the roof. Buttresses that support the wind baffles are configured to hold nails for use in attaching each section to a roof.Type: GrantFiled: April 2, 2001Date of Patent: April 16, 2002Inventor: J. Charles Headrick
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Patent number: 6367703Abstract: A heating system for a building that includes a furnace having a water jacket surrounding a burner unit. Heated water is circulated from the water jacket to a heat exchange system in the building such as radiators and the water is returned to the water jacket through a return conduit to be reheated. Water from the jacket is also circulated through supplemental conduit through a gas tube water heat exchange apparatus located at the exhaust flue from the furnace for recovering heat from the exhaust gases. Water heated from the exhaust gases returns to the primary circulation system. More specifically, water flows from the cooler portions of the water jacket and/or the return conduit of the main circulation system to the gas-to-water heat exchange unit. Water flows from the gas-to-water heat exchange unit to the relatively warmer portions of the jacket and/or to the primary conduit that delivers water from the jacket to the heat exchange system of the building.Type: GrantFiled: April 7, 2000Date of Patent: April 9, 2002Inventor: Christopher G. Morosas
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Patent number: 6364213Abstract: An integrated fluid recovery reservoir and thermostat assembly 12 for use within an engine cooling system 10. The integrated fluid recovery reservoir and thermostat assembly 12 includes a coolant reservoir housing 26 which is mounted directly to the engine 14 and which includes inlet ports 28, 30 for receiving coolant 38 from engine 14 and an outlet flow portion or module 46 which is fluidly coupled to the radiator 18. The assembly 10 further includes a flow control module and thermostat assembly 42 which is attached to the reservoir housing 26 and which selectively and fluidly communicates with the reservoir housing 26, with the coolant pump 20 and with the radiator 18. A thermostat valve 72 is attached to and/or within assembly 42 and cooperates with assembly 42 to selectively control the flow of the coolant 38 through the engine cooling system 10.Type: GrantFiled: April 18, 2001Date of Patent: April 2, 2002Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, Inc.Inventor: Gene Frederic Baltz
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Patent number: 6364212Abstract: The invention relates to a heating device, especially for a motor vehicle, with a burner, to which fuel is supplied from a tank via a fuel line by means of a pump, especially a piston pump, and with an electronically controllable valve means which is inserted into the fuel line and which can be controlled by a control means. To ensure problem-free feed of fuel to the burner independently of the pump pressure, a pressure reservoir is assigned to the valve means, fuel being delivered by means of the pump controlled in a clocked manner by the control unit, to the pressure reservoir and from the latter to the burner, without the action of the pump.Type: GrantFiled: November 26, 1999Date of Patent: April 2, 2002Assignee: Webasto Thermosysteme GmbHInventor: Fritz Widemann
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Patent number: 6361429Abstract: A reduced noise automotive ventilation system uses two blowers, a front mounted blower that pulls outside air in, and a rear mounted fan that exhausts interior air from the cabin space. By pulling and pushing in series, the speed of each blower is reduced, and the attendant blower noise is considerably reduced. In addition, a closed floor duct routes recirculated air from the rear to the front blower, eliminating the conventional open blower noise path to the vehicle interior in recirculation mode.Type: GrantFiled: May 7, 2001Date of Patent: March 26, 2002Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc.Inventors: John Lawrence Pawlak, III, Steven Patrick Capp
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Patent number: 6361427Abstract: The present invention relates to an extracting system for exhaust gases from motor vehicles (5), which is provided with a winch (16) for the transportation of a carriage (2) along an extraction channel (1) and the winding up of a hose (14) to a rest position. The winch has only one line (24) which is arranged to run freely through the extraction channel and through control means (26, 28) and coupling means (35)in the carriage. By this means it is possible to hoist up the hose (14) with the use of just one line for the winding and to secure the hose in its rest position and move the carriage (2) from an end position (6) to a start position (4) by means of said line.Type: GrantFiled: May 24, 2001Date of Patent: March 26, 2002Assignee: Plymovent ABInventor: Krister Sjoberg
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Patent number: 6361434Abstract: A baffle adapted to be rolled with a ridge vent is comprised of an L-shaped configuration having first and second legs. The first leg is adapted to extend under the ridge vent. The second leg is adapted to be oriented at an angle relative to the first leg and some distance from the ridge vent when the baffle and the ridge vent are installed. The first leg is also adapted to be rolled. The second leg is adapted to collapse when the first leg is rolled. The invention is also directed towards a ridge vent in combination with the baffle and a method for forming the baffle.Type: GrantFiled: March 30, 2000Date of Patent: March 26, 2002Assignee: Owens Corning Fiberglas Technology, Inc.Inventor: Ralph Edwin Brandon
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Patent number: RE37636Abstract: A demand radiant heating system includes an elongated radiant heating tube and a burner operatively connected to the tube and a fuel regulator connected to the burner for providing fuel to the burner at a plurality of fuel pressures to provide demand heating.Type: GrantFiled: October 10, 1996Date of Patent: April 9, 2002Assignee: Detroit Radiant Products CompanyInventors: Joseph B. Wortman, Cory A. Weiss