Patents Examined by Joseph L. Perrin
  • Patent number: 12123127
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for breaking a unit dose package in a chamber within a post located in a basket of a laundry washing machine. The method includes filling the basket and the chamber, increasing a rotation speed of the basket and/or the post to raise the water level in the basket and lower the water level in the chamber to cause a unit dose package within the chamber to move downwards; reducing the rotation speed to lower the water level in the basket and raise the water level in chamber to cause the unit dose package within the chamber to move upwards; and repeating the steps of increasing and reducing the rotational speed to cause the unit dose package to break open and at least partially dissolve. A laundry washing machine configured to perform this process is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Assignee: Electrolux Appliances Aktiebolag
    Inventors: Yihong Li, Anthony Lufkin, Allison White, Terry Anderson
  • Patent number: 12123122
    Abstract: A method controls a washing machine including a drum rotatably provided in a tub that receives water, at least one nozzle spraying water into the drum, a washing motor rotating the drum, and a circulation pump circulating water within the washing machine. The method includes: controlling a rotation of the drum by operating the washing motor to rotate the drum at a first rotation speed in a first rotation direction, and to maintain a rotation of the drum at the first rotation speed in the first rotation direction so that laundry in the drum maintains contact with an inner circumferential surface of the drum; and controlling a pump speed of the circulation pump by operating a circulation pump motor in the circulation pump to accelerate and decelerate at least once while the washing motor rotates the drum at the first rotation speed in the first rotation direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Hwanjin Jung, Myunghun Im, Jaehyun Kim, Junghoon Lee, Kyungchul Woo
  • Patent number: 12116710
    Abstract: Washing machine appliances and methods of operating the same are provided. Such methods may include, and/or appliances may be configured for, receiving a command to commence an operating cycle of the washing machine appliance and filling the wash tub with wash liquid from a fluid circulation system configured for providing fluid to the wash tub via an inlet of the fluid circulation system in response to the command. Methods may further include and/or appliances may be configured for, obtaining one or more images of the inlet of the fluid circulation system during the fill step using a camera mounted within the cabinet. The camera is positioned and oriented with the inlet within a field of vision of the camera. Based on the one or more images, a determination is made whether a water pressure provided to the fluid circulation system is above a predetermined minimum water pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
    Inventor: Nicholas Matthew Dillon
  • Patent number: 12116713
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a drain pump driving apparatus and a laundry treatment machine including the same. A drain pump driving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a controller configured to drive a motor, during drainage, based on an output current and a direct current (DC) terminal voltage with a first power when a lift is at a first level and to drive the motor with the first power when the lift is at a second level that is greater than the first level, wherein the lift is a difference between a water level of a water introduction part through which water flows into a drain pump and a water level of a water discharge part through which the water is discharged out of the drain pump. Accordingly, water pumping can be performed smoothly even if the lift is changed during the drainage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Jungmoon Je, Chungill Lee, Kiwook Lee
  • Patent number: 12104310
    Abstract: An additive auto-feeding device, including a water supply flow channel; a liquid storage box containing an additive; a suction structure capable of sucking the additive to the flow channel and transferring the additive to a water outlet; and an anti-back suction device at a pressure adjusting opening of the flow channel. When water enters the flow channel, under the pressure effect of flowing water, the anti-back suction device closes the pressure adjusting opening; and when negative pressure is generated in the flow channel, the anti-back suction device opens the pressure adjusting opening for adjusting the pressure in the flow channel. The pressure adjusting device automatically adjusts opening and closing of an air hole to correspondingly adjust the pressure in a tube and avoid existence of negative pressure in the tube, thus achieving a backflow prevention function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignees: QINGDAO HAIER DRUM WASHING MACHINE CO., LTD., HAIER SMART HOME CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tao Huang, Yuliang Jiang
  • Patent number: 12104304
    Abstract: A method of operating a laundry treatment apparatus includes receiving a tangle-free selection signal corresponding to a tangle-free option distinct from a default option, adjusting one or more parameters of an agitation cycle according to the tangle-free option in response to receiving the tangle-free selection signal, and initiating a washing operation incorporating the one or more adjusted parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
    Inventor: Nicholas Matthew Dillon
  • Patent number: 12104305
    Abstract: A capacitive proximity control device (28) for a domestic washing machine (10) or other domestic electrical appliance is proposed. In some embodiments, the proximity control device comprises two planar sensor electrodes (34, 36) arranged on a door (20) of the washing machine at a spatial distance from one another. An electronic assembly is connected to the two sensor electrodes, which electronic assembly is adapted to generate, in association with each of the two sensor electrodes, an electrical sensor signal which is representative of a change in a capacitance associated with the sensor electrode in question. By mutual correlation of the two sensor signals, the electronic assembly is able to determine a proximity operation of the control device. A shielding electrode can be arranged in the spatial region between the two sensor electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: EMZ-HANAUER GMBH & CO. KGAA
    Inventors: Lukas Schade, Martin Brabec, Manfredi Signorino, Josef Irlbacher, Günter Zühlke
  • Patent number: 12098492
    Abstract: A laundry treatment agent storage and dispensing device comprises a storage device and a dispensing device which are integrally arranged. A storage cavity or box stores laundry treatment agent. The dispensing device has a hollow cavity, and a flexible separator is hermetically installed in the hollow cavity to divide the hollow cavity into a water inlet cavity and a liquid storage cavity. The liquid storage cavity has a liquid inlet end and a liquid outlet end; the liquid inlet end communicates with the storage cavity or box. Inlet water of the washing machine flows into/out of the water inlet cavity, the flexible separator is squeezed to deform towards the liquid storage cavity to enable the laundry treatment agent accommodated in the liquid storage cavity to be discharged through the liquid outlet end. The laundry treatment agent is stored and automatically dispensed by the storage device and the dispensing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2024
    Assignees: CHONGQING HAIER DRUM WASHING MACHINE CO., LTD., HAIER SMART HOME CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Zhiqiang Zhao, Peishi Lv, Sheng Xu, Yujing Xing, Huacheng Song
  • Patent number: 12091799
    Abstract: A dynamic imbalance detection system capable of whether a washing machine is in a dynamically imbalanced position by using big data and executing an AI algorithm or a machine learning algorithm in a 5G communications network environment built for IoT. The system includes a washing machine and a server communicating with the washing machine. The washing machine includes a vibration sensor attached to a washing machine cabinet and a controller receiving a vibration signal detected by the vibration sensor during the operation of the washing machine and processing the vibration signal into vibration data. The server receives the vibration data from the controller and trains a machine learning algorithm on a training dataset that is obtained by processing one or more features among a displacement magnitude, a displacement ratio, and a displacement phase, and determines result values of dynamic balance and dynamic imbalance labeled with the one or more features.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Ju Hyoung Lee, Bon Kwon Koo, Sang Hyun Lee, Hyun Ji Park
  • Patent number: 12091802
    Abstract: A laundry treating appliance having a treating chamber and a bulk dispenser and a user interface configured to provide an indication to the user related to the bulk chemistry dispenser and a controller coupled with the user interface and the bulk treating chemistry dispenser and configured to execute an operating cycle including controlling the treating chemistry meter to dispense the predetermined amount of treating chemistry and determine a number of doses of treating chemistry available in the bulk treating chemistry dispenser and method of determining the number of doses and the types of a treating chemistry available in the bulk dispensing system, and providing an indication of the determination on a user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2023
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Karl David McAllister, Michael T. Dalton
  • Patent number: 12082762
    Abstract: A dish treating appliance includes a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber with an access opening. A door is movable relative to the tub between closed and opened positions to selectively close and open the access opening. The dish treating appliance further includes an air supply circuit. The air supply circuit includes an air inlet and an air outlet with an opening that faces an upper portion of the access opening. An air channel fluidly couples the air outlet to the air inlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2023
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Mateusz Michal Wolowicz, Philip J. Czarnecki, Subhash Nivrutti Varvate, Pawel Krzysztof Kolodziej, Justyna Zuzanna Kepinska
  • Patent number: 12076762
    Abstract: An apparatus for cleaning industrial components which has a liquid container defining a liquid enclosure for containing a cleaning liquid and ultrasonic transducers having an operating frequency and a wavelength in the cleaning liquid and secured to at least a portion of the liquid container at a spacing of between 2 and 10 wavelengths. During operation, the transducers generate a larger power density in the component-receiving area of the liquid container than an average power density of the liquid container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2024
    Assignee: TECH SONIC LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
    Inventors: William Lash Phillips, Shawn Smith, Byron Kieser
  • Patent number: 12075959
    Abstract: A dishwasher includes a tub, a door, and a drying device configured to supply air to a washing space in the tub. The drying device includes a condensing duct disposed outside the tub, a cold air supply module that is disposed outside the tub and defines a heat exchange flow path part adjoining the condensing duct, and a fan configured to cause air flow in the condensing duct. The condensing duct includes an upstream portion communicating with the inlet port and extending above the inlet port and then downward, and a heat exchange portion connected to the upstream portion and extending downward to the heat exchange flow path part. A height of an upper end of the heat exchange flow path part is equal to or larger than a height of a lower end of the inlet port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2024
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Doo Hyun Kim, Seungyoun Kim, Hyung Man Park, Min Jae Jeong, Youngsoo Kim
  • Patent number: 12076764
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for scarifying the interior surface of pipes, such as a sewer pipe, the apparatus including a chassis, a carriage coupled to the chassis to reciprocate along a longitudinal axis of the chassis, a shaft capable of indexing rotation coupled to the carriage, and arms extending radially from the indexing shaft and tipped in high-pressure nozzle assemblies. The method includes positioning the apparatus in a pipe and alternately reciprocating the carriage and indexing the shaft so as to scarify successive longitudinal swathes of the pipe surface until the desired circumference of the pipe section is scarified. The apparatus is then repositioned in the next section of pipe and the method is repeated until the desired length of pipe is scarified. The apparatus may further include a separable propulsion unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2024
    Assignee: Mac & Mac Hydrodemolition Inc.
    Inventors: Gerard J. MacNeil, Jesse MacNeil, Brett MacNeil, Gordon MacNeil, Vernon Bose
  • Patent number: 12071718
    Abstract: A laundry washing machine having: a casing; a washing tub in the casing; a rotatable drum mounted within the washing tub; a door to provide access to the drum; a receptacle having a volume configured to receive a unit dose package comprising a water soluble pouch containing a dose of cleaning product; a tub supply pipe connecting the receptacle to the washing tub; one or more protrusions movably mounted to the casing to move between a first position in which the one or more protrusions are not located within the volume configured to receive the unit dose package, and a second position in which the one or more protrusions are located within the volume configured to receive the unit dose package; and a motor configured to move the one or more protrusions from the first position to the second position. Methods for operating a laundry washing machine are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2024
    Assignee: Electrolux Appliances Aktiebolag
    Inventors: Allison White, Yihong Li, Oscar Madalena
  • Patent number: 12070173
    Abstract: A pump sends washing water and generates steam in order to wash the dishes or the cooking utensils, and a dishwasher including the same. The pump includes a housing, an impeller disposed inside the housing and configured to flow washing water, and a heater coupled to a lower side of the housing and configured to generate steam by heating the washing water in the housing. The housing includes a pump lower portion configured to receive the washing water based on rotation of the impeller, and a pump upper portion configured to discharge the washing water based on rotation of the impeller and to discharge the steam generated by the heater.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2024
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Sangwoo Woo, Minseong Kim, Hyungman Park
  • Patent number: 12064076
    Abstract: The present invention is a drinking straw washing machine with a washing region, a sanitizing region, a straw retaining track, and a motor assembly. The washing region comprises a washing cogwheel rotatably positioned therein that receives straws via the straw retaining track. The washing cogwheel and sanitizing cogwheel are oriented parallel to the straw retaining track. The motor assembly is mechanically coupled to the washing cogwheel and thereby rotates the washing cogwheel to guide straws along the straw retaining track and through a cleaning solution included in the wash region. the sanitizing region comprises a sanitizing cogwheel rotatably positioned therein that receive straws from the washing region via the straw retaining track. The motor assembly is mechanically coupled to the sanitizing cogwheel and thereby rotates the sanitizing cogwheel to guide straws along the straw retaining track, through a sanitizing solution in the sanitizing region, and out of the sanitizing region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Inventor: Wylen Stone William Ford
  • Patent number: 12053135
    Abstract: A method of assembling a dishwashing appliance includes selecting one fan cover from a plurality of fan covers. Each fan cover of the plurality of fan covers is configured to be removably mounted in a vent conduit. The plurality of fan covers are each interchangeable with every other fan cover of the plurality of fan covers. The method also includes mounting the selected fan cover removably in the vent conduit. Such mounting results in the formation of a flow path for air from an ambient environment outside of the dishwashing appliance through the vent conduit and the fan cover. The flow path for air from the ambient environment is partially defined by a wall of the fan cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2024
    Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Tal Abraham Ohayon, Brian Steven Riddle
  • Patent number: 12054873
    Abstract: Methods of operating a washing machine at a remote user interface device in wireless communication with the washing machine appliance may include obtaining an image of the wash basket, generating an overlay representing one or more operating parameters of the washing machine appliance, and displaying the image and the overlay simultaneously on a display of the remote user interface device. The method also includes receiving a control input at the remote user interface device and directing the washing machine appliance based on the control input received at the remote user interface device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2024
    Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Stannard Nathan Phelps, Joshua Reeves, Sean Simpson, Mary Joy Frances Cardilino
  • Patent number: 12048453
    Abstract: A cleaning device for cleaning a catheter lumen of a tissue removal catheter has a flushing chamber with distal and proximal seals and an inlet port. The proximal seal is a duckbill seal that includes a pair of opposing duckbill members that slidingly accept the distal end portion of a catheter body to form a seal about the catheter body proximal to a proximal opening in of the catheter lumen. Fluid is directed in the inlet port, into the flushing chamber, into proximal opening in the catheter body, and through the catheter lumen to discharge tissue contained in the catheter lumen. In some embodiments, the cleaning device is preloaded on the catheter body. The cleaning device can have an internal stop that engages with an external stop on the catheter body when the cleaning device is positioned in an operative position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2024
    Assignee: COVIDIEN LP
    Inventors: Ethan Guggenheimer, Zachary Garvey, Lucas Schneider