Patents Examined by Jonathan Bradford
  • Patent number: 11788739
    Abstract: An evaporator coil system includes a segmented evaporator coil. The segmented evaporator coil includes a primary segment and a secondary segment. A first plurality of evaporator circuit lines are fluidly coupled to the primary segment and a second plurality of evaporator circuit lines are fluidly coupled to the secondary segment. A suction line includes a first connection fluidly coupled to the primary segment and a second connection fluidly coupled to the secondary segment. A valve is arranged in fluid communication with the secondary segment so as to selectively restrict refrigerant flow through the secondary segment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Lennox Industries Inc.
    Inventors: Rakesh Goel, John N. Tran
  • Patent number: 11781804
    Abstract: A refrigerator appliance or door assembly may include an enclosing body, a liquid reservoir, a level sensor, a water valve, and a liquid dispenser. The enclosing body may define an exterior surface and an interior surface. The liquid reservoir may be defined within the enclosing body between the exterior surface and the interior surface. The level sensor may be mounted to the liquid reservoir. The level sensor may be configured to detect a water volume within the liquid reservoir. The water valve may be mounted upstream from the liquid reservoir to selectively direct water thereto based on the detected water volume. The liquid dispenser may extend from the liquid reservoir and through the interior surface to an outlet aperture to selectively dispense water from the liquid reservoir.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
    Inventor: Brian Culley
  • Patent number: 11781791
    Abstract: A method for operating a heat pump (20; 300) includes operating in a cooling mode wherein heat is absorbed by refrigerant in the indoor heat exchanger (26) and rejected by refrigerant in the outdoor heat exchanger (24). The heat pump switches to operation in a heating mode wherein heat is rejected by refrigerant in the indoor heat exchanger, heat is absorbed by refrigerant in the outdoor heat exchanger, and there is an ejector (60) motive flow and ejector secondary flow. In the heating mode a refrigerant pressure (PH) or temperature (TL) is measured and, responsive to the measured refrigerant pressure or temperature, at least one of a fan speed is changed and a needle (132) of the ejector is actuated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: Carrier Corporation
    Inventors: Ahmad M. Mahmoud, Jinliang Wang, Frederick J. Cogswell, Parmesh Verma
  • Patent number: 11781795
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus includes a first indoor unit and an outdoor unit in a single refrigeration cycle and connected via a first refrigerant pipe. The first indoor unit is provided with a first refrigerant leakage sensor configured to detect leakage of refrigerant and a concentration of leaked refrigerant, and the outdoor unit includes a compressor, a first flow control valve configured to adjust a flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through the first refrigerant pipe, and a control unit configured to stop the compressor and fully close the first flow control valve when leakage of the refrigerant flowing through the first refrigerant pipe is detected by the first refrigerant leakage sensor, and configured to change an opening speed of the first flow control valve to a speed less than an opening speed of the first flow control valve adopted before the leakage of the refrigerant is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventor: Koji Yamaguchi
  • Patent number: 11781794
    Abstract: A refrigerant recovery management system includes a display and a computer. The computer executes a data input program to present a screen on the display. The screen is configured for a user to input information regarding refrigerant that has been recovered from refrigerant use equipment and is to be sent to a refrigerant treatment practitioner that conducts a refrigerant treatment on the refrigerant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: Daikin Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Mai Mimura, Kazuma Koyama, Miki Yamanaka, Satoru Fujimoto
  • Patent number: 11774153
    Abstract: This application relates to an apparatus for generating refrigeration. The apparatus may include a cooling collector configured to collect cooling energy at a predetermined cooling collection temperature. The apparatus may also include a cooler thermally coupled to the cooling collector so as to cool the cooling collector. The apparatus may further include a refrigeration gate configured to block and release the collected cooling energy. The refrigeration gate may refrigerate a target region by releasing the collected cooling energy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: RECENSMEDICAL, INC.
    Inventor: Gun-Ho Kim
  • Patent number: 11774126
    Abstract: A refrigerant leak management system includes a return inlet assembly and a purge exhaust outlet assembly. The system also includes a sensor configured to detect refrigerant proximate an air handling enclosure of a HVAC unit. The system further includes a controller configured to control the system to drive air from a conditioned interior space of a building into an external environment via the purge exhaust outlet assembly when the sensor detects the refrigerant proximate the air handling enclosure by: actuating the return inlet assembly to close the return inlet assembly, actuating the purge exhaust outlet assembly to open the purge exhaust outlet assembly, and activating a reversible supply fan of the HVAC unit in a reverse direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: JOHNSON CONTROLS TYCO IP HOLDINGS LLP
    Inventor: Jamie Weinert
  • Patent number: 11768031
    Abstract: A refrigerator appliance may include a cabinet, a door, a humidity sensor, and a controller. The cabinet may define a chilled chamber. The door may be rotatably hinged to the cabinet to move between an open position and a closed position. The humidity sensor may be mounted to the cabinet within the chilled chamber. The controller may be operably coupled to the humidity sensor. The controller may be configured to initiate an operation routine. The operation routine may include detecting a first humidity level within the cabinet in response to the door being in the open position, detecting a second humidity level within the cabinet when the door is in the closed position following detecting the first humidity level, determining an ambient humidity level outside of the cabinet based on the first and second humidity levels, and transmitting the determined ambient humidity level to a secondary appliance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Goodman Schroeder, Stephanos Kyriacou
  • Patent number: 11767989
    Abstract: An air conditioning indoor unit includes a central fixed air blowing portion in a raised portion having an elliptical shape in a plan view in which a part of a decorative panel is raised toward an air conditioning room. Movable air blowing portions are included on both left and right sides of the indoor unit. Each movable air blowing portion includes a truncated cone-shaped rotation unit rotatable about an axis orthogonal to the decorative panel or the ceiling of the room. Semi-circular portions are formed at both ends of the raised portion by a part of the rotation units, and an air blowing opening is formed on each side surface of the fixed air blowing portion and the movable air blowing portion, so that the conditioned air is blown out from the air blowing opening over a wide range as the movable air blowing portion rotates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: FUJITSU GENERAL LIMITED
    Inventor: Mitsuo Fujioka
  • Patent number: 11761686
    Abstract: An integrated air conditioning system having a first air conditioning unit having a first evaporator with a first input and a first output; a second air conditioning unit having a second evaporator with a second input and a second output; a first conduit fluidly connecting the first input with the second output; a second conduit fluidly connecting the second input with the first output. The first and second conduits and the first and second evaporators form a working fluid circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2023
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: CARRIER CORPORATION
    Inventors: Batung Pham, Pierre Delpech, Philippe Rigal
  • Patent number: 11754326
    Abstract: An HVAC system includes a compressor, condenser, and evaporator. A sensor measures a value associated with the refrigerant in the condenser or the evaporator, and a controller is communicatively coupled to the compressor and the sensor. The controller determines, based on an operational history the compressor, that pre-requisite criteria are satisfied for entering a sensor validation mode. After determining the pre-requisite criteria are satisfied, an initial sensor measurement value is determined. Following determining the initial sensor measurement value, the compressor is operated according to a sensor-validation mode. Following operating the compressor according to the sensor-validation mode for at least a minimum time, a current sensor measurement value is determined. The controller determines whether validation criteria are satisfied for the current sensor value. In response to determining that the validation criteria are satisfied, the controller determines that the sensor is validated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Lennox Industries Inc.
    Inventors: Rakesh Goel, Siddarth Rajan, Edward Robinson, Patric Ananda Balan Thobias
  • Patent number: 11747836
    Abstract: This cartridge comprises a housing, a base, attached to the housing and enclosing a chamber for mixing a cold fluid and a hot fluid, a thermostatic control system, arranged in the chamber and capable of controlling the temperature of the mixture leaving the chamber to a setpoint temperature, and a flow rate adjustment system, suitable for adjusting the flow rate of the mixture from outside the housing. This adjustment system comprises both a control member, which is able to move at least partially inside the housing in such a way as to vary the flow rates of cold fluid and hot fluid supplying the chamber, and an adjustment ring, which is arranged outside the housing and is centred on an axis (X-X) around which this ring is able to rotate relative to the housing, the ring being connected, through the housing, to the control member, by a connecting member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: VERNET
    Inventor: Axel Belair
  • Patent number: 11747052
    Abstract: A CO2 based refrigeration system and a method of operating the CO2 based refrigeration system. The system includes a condenser configured to transfer heat from a CO2 refrigerant of the refrigeration system to an air stream. The system also includes an indirect evaporative cooler arranged to cool an ambient air stream without changing its moisture content and to supply the cooled ambient air to the condenser to facilitate the transfer of heat from the CO2 refrigerant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Inventor: Julian Hudson
  • Patent number: 11741424
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method of storing food in an artificial intelligent refrigerator including obtaining an image of a storage chamber through a camera installed in the storage chamber of the refrigerator; transmitting the obtained image to a server; receiving a recognition result of food newly stored in the storage chamber through AI image processing in the server from the server; and displaying notifying information related to the food in a display unit of the refrigerator based on the received result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventor: Hyojoon Im
  • Patent number: 11739996
    Abstract: A system for controlling or optimizing the performance of a vapor compression system by modifying the actuator commands via an output interface, that realizes thermofluid property functions and their derivatives as spline functions which are represented in a coordinate system that is aligned with a fluid saturation curve. The system includes an interface configured to receive measurement data from sensors, a memory configured to store thermofluid property data and computer-executable programs including a B-spline method, and a processor for performing the computer-implemented method. The processor is configured to take as input two thermofluid property variables, and compute a coordinate transformation in which one axis of the coordinates is aligned with the liquid and vapor saturation curves. In the saturation-curve aligned coordinates, a spline function represents the thermofluid property function, with coefficients and knots stored in memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher Laughman, Scott Bortoff, Hongtao Qiao
  • Patent number: 11739509
    Abstract: A method adjusts a regulated temperature in a faucet that includes a spout, a faucet body, a hot water valve and a cold water valve. The method includes regulating a maximum water temperature of water provided to the spout using a thermostatic valve cartridge to add cold water that bypasses the cold water valve to the water provided to the spout as a function of water temperature inside the thermostatic valve cartridge. The thermostatic valve cartridge is affixed to the faucet body and external access to the thermostatic valve cartridge is inhibited by at least one element. The method also includes removing the at least one element to expose at least a portion of a thermostatic valve cartridge, and rotating a rotatable portion of the thermostatic valve cartridge to adjust the regulated maximum water temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Inventor: Scott E. Dolgos
  • Patent number: 11739993
    Abstract: A heat pump may include a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant, a first temperature sensor configured to detect an outdoor temperature, a second temperature sensor provided in heating pipes connected to a heating device, and a controller. Based on a first sensing value of the first temperature sensor, the controller may be configured to control a compressor, control power to a boiler, and/or calculate an expected efficiency of the heat pump. Based on the expected efficiency and/or a second sensing value of a second temperature sensor, the controller may be configured to control power to the boiler.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Jihyeong Ryu, Eunjun Cho, Minsoo Kim, Youngmin Lee, Hojin Seo
  • Patent number: 11732939
    Abstract: An apparatus and a method for detecting refrigerant leakage in an air source heat pump system. The method for detecting refrigerant leakage in an air source heat pump system includes the following steps in a cooling mode: S110: obtaining a running parameter of an air source heat pump system, wherein the running parameter at least includes a compressor rotational speed; S120: comparing the running parameter with a preset running parameter range; S130: updating a cumulative score when the running parameter falls within the preset running parameter range; and S140: when the cumulative score exceeds a predetermined cumulative score, determining that refrigerant leakage occurs, and when the cumulative score does not exceed the predetermined cumulative score, return to step S110.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: CARRIER CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hui Zhai, Runfu Shi, Xiangyu Gao, Guangyu Shen, YuHui Kuang, Yu Zhu
  • Patent number: 11732961
    Abstract: A refrigerator including a main body including a storage room, a door coupled to the main body and rotatable in front of a side of the storage room, and including a display on a front surface of the door, a camera disposed to capture the storage room, and a processor configured to acquire an augmented-reality object corresponding to a food included in an image captured by the camera using a trained artificial intelligence model, to control the display to display the acquired augmented-reality object and the captured image as being overlapped with each other, and based on a user input being acquired while the acquired augmented-reality object is displayed, to provide a response to the user input based on the acquired augmented-reality object. The refrigerator can utilize an artificial intelligence model trained according to at least one of machine learning, neural network or deep learning algorithm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kye Young Jeong, Minjeong Kang
  • Patent number: 11725661
    Abstract: Variable volume ratio compressors may be controlled using a switching parameter based on compressor speed and suction density to improve the matching of compressor volume ratio to desired discharge conditions. Delay periods may be implemented in the determination of when to change volume ratio to control the frequency of changes to the volume ratio. The switching parameter may be a product of the compressor speed and suction density. The volume ratio of the compressor may be controlled by switching valves directing pressure to a piston of a variable volume ratio system of the compressor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: TRANE INTERNATIONAL INC.
    Inventors: Christopher Espelien, Scott M. Branch