Patents Examined by Kun Kai Ma
  • Patent number: 11674729
    Abstract: A refrigeration appliance includes a fresh food compartment for storing food items in a refrigerated environment having a target temperature above 0° C., a freezer compartment for storing food items in a sub-freezing environment having a target temperature below 0° C., a system evaporator for providing a cooling effect to at least one of the fresh food compartment and the freezer compartment, and an ice tray assembly disposed within the fresh food compartment for freezing water into ice pieces. The ice tray assembly includes an ice mold with an upper surface comprising a plurality of cavities formed therein for the ice pieces, a heater disposed on the ice mold and an ice maker refrigerant tube abutting at least one lateral side surface of the ice mold and cooling the ice mold to a temperature below 0° C. via thermal conduction and a cover having a water fill cup integrated into the cover and an outlet aligned with an inlet of the ice mold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhuochen Shi, Thomas W. McCollough
  • Patent number: 11674725
    Abstract: A device for heating by absorbing latent heat of solidification of water, including a compressor (1), a condenser (2) and multiple evaporators (E1, E2) connected in parallel, each evaporator (E1, E2) has an electronic expansion valve (D1, D2) at its inlet, a solenoid valve (V1, V2) at its outlet; after the evaporators (E1, E2) are connected in parallel, outlets of the evaporators (E1, E2) are connected to an inlet of the compressor (1) and inlets of the evaporators (E1, E2) are connected to an outlet of the condenser (2); an outlet of the compressor (1) is connected to an inlet of the condenser (2); the compressor (1), the condenser (2) and the multiple parallel evaporators (E1, E2) form a closed loop system through pipelines; there are circulating refrigerants in the closed loop system, and heating and deicing processes are realized through a circulation of refrigerants; the solenoid valves (V1, V2) at the outlets of the evaporators (E1, E2) are switched between opening or closing to realize switching betwee
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Inventor: Ji Yang
  • Patent number: 11668503
    Abstract: A compression refrigeration system includes a switch to select between a plurality of operation modes of a metering device that controls a rate of flow of a refrigerant to an evaporator of the compression refrigeration system. Each operation mode is associated with a respective refrigerant. Further, the compression refrigeration system includes a reference database that comprises pressure-temperature data associated with a plurality of refrigerants. Furthermore, the compression refrigeration system includes a valve adjustment engine that is communicatively coupled to the switch and the reference database. The valve adjustment engine controls the metering device based on an operation mode of the metering device that is selected using the switch. The operation mode is selected based on a refrigerant with which the compression refrigeration system is currently charged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: RHEEM MANUFACTURING COMPANY
    Inventors: Harshad Inamdar, Christina Hughes, Derek Brasuell, Sivakumar Gopalnarayanan, Swapnil Khaire
  • Patent number: 11668325
    Abstract: A blower mounting assembly of a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system includes a bracket assembly including a base panel, a plurality of mounting flanges extending from the base panel, and an alignment flange extending from and transverse to the base panel. The blower mounting assembly includes a first mounting aperture extending through the base panel in a first direction and includes second mounting apertures extending through the plurality of mounting flanges in a second direction transverse to the first direction. The blower mounting assembly includes a bolt configured to extend through and slidably engage with an aperture of the alignment flange and a blower mounting skid such that the bolt limits movement of the blower mounting skid relative to the bracket assembly. The aperture of the alignment flange extends through the alignment flange in a third direction transverse to the first mounting aperture and the second mounting apertures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Vinay Nanjappa, Nitin C. Dabade, Tejas S. Pujare, Snehal S. Bhandare, Vishal S. Jagtap
  • Patent number: 11669722
    Abstract: According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an artificial intelligence refrigerator includes an inner door, an outer door having a transparent display on a front surface of the outer door, one or more cameras provided in the outer door, a sensor configured to detect an opening, a closing and an opening angle of the outer door, and at least one processor configured to determine whether the opening angle of the outer door is a preset angle when closing of the outer door is detected, photograph the inner door when the opening angle of the outer door is the preset angle, obtain a storage state of food items stored in the inner door, and display food management information on the transparent display based on the obtained storage state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Hyunseok Shin, Suho Cho
  • Patent number: 11662126
    Abstract: Example implementations relate to a leak mitigation (LM) system. The LM system may include a collection tank, a first valve unit coupled to the collection tank, a second valve unit coupled to a cooling loop carrying a coolant, and an LM pump coupled between the first valve unit and the second valve unit. Moreover, the leak mitigation system may also include a controller operatively coupled to the first valve unit, the second valve unit, and the LM pump to operate, in an event of a leak of the coolant from the cooling loop, the first valve unit, the second valve unit, and the LM pump to transfer at least a portion of the coolant to the collection tank from the cooling loop via the second valve unit and the first valve unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
    Inventors: John Franz, Harvey J. Lunsman, Benjamin Kufahl
  • Patent number: 11656012
    Abstract: A cooling system uses P-traps to address the oil return issues that result from a vertical separation between the compressor and the high side heat exchanger. Generally, the vertical piping that carries the refrigerant from the compressor to the high side heat exchanger includes P-traps installed at various heights to capture oil in the refrigerant and to prevent that oil from flowing back to the compressor. As oil collects in the P-traps, the refrigerant begins to push the oil upwards until the oil reaches the high side heat exchanger. Multiple piping of different sizes may be used depending on a discharge pressure of the compressor. When the discharge pressure is higher, a larger piping may be used direct the oil and refrigerant to the high side heat exchanger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: Heatcraft Refrigeration Products LLC
    Inventor: Shitong Zha
  • Patent number: 11654749
    Abstract: A heater control device controls an electric heater which includes a plurality of heat generating portions. The heater control device determines whether a total energization current value, which is a current value to be supplied to the electric heater when all of the plurality of heat generating portions are energizable, exceeds a predetermined current limit value. The heater control device is configured to, when it is determined that the total energization current value exceeds the current limit value, energize the electric heater while switching, among any or all of the plurality of heat generating portions, those to be turned to a non-energizable off state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kimitake Ishikawa, Hideaki Kako, Hiroyasu Oide, Shiro Bando, Hidenori Arai
  • Patent number: 11654746
    Abstract: Disclosed is an element for cooling the air in a motor vehicle, including a composite phase-change material (40) made of at least one first material which is a phase-change material (42) and one second material (44) of which the structure forms a support matrix for the phase-change material (42), the composite phase-change material (40) being covered with a heat-conducting protective layer (46).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: Valeo Systemes Thermiques
    Inventors: Georges De Pelsemaeker, Kamel Azzouz
  • Patent number: 11650638
    Abstract: A dual redundant cooling system for a container is provided. The dual redundant cooling system includes a first cooling unit and a second cooling unit. The first cooling unit is positioned in a first cabinet attached to the container. The first cooling unit includes a first controller operating a first cooling loop to cool an interior of the container. The second cooling unit is positioned in a second cabinet attached to the container and adjacent the first cabinet. The second cooling unit includes a second controller operating a second cooling loop to cool the interior of the container. The first cooling unit and the first cooling loop are separate from the second cooling unit and the second cooling loop. The first controller and the second controller communicate a switch signal between each other so that either the first cooling unit is a primary cooling unit operating the first cooling loop or the second cooling unit is the primary cooling unit operating the second cooling loop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: Klinge Corporation
    Inventors: Allan Klinge, Henrik Klinge
  • Patent number: 11649993
    Abstract: Particular embodiments described herein provide for an electronic device that can be configured to include a hybrid thermal management system. The hybrid thermal management system can include a heat source, an air mover, a heat sink coupled to the air mover, a thermal electric cooling device (TEC), and a heat pipe. The heat pipe can couple the heat source to the heat sink and to the TEC and transfer heat from the heat source to the heat sink and to the TEC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Gavin Sung, Gerry Juan, Harish Jagadish, Ivan By Wang, Jason Y. Jiang, Sammi Wy Liu, Tim Liu, Jeff Ku
  • Patent number: 11639818
    Abstract: A thermal management system includes a receiver configured to store a refrigerant fluid; a refrigeration system having a refrigerant fluid path that includes the receiver, and at least one evaporator disposed in the refrigerant fluid path. The refrigeration system is configured to receive the refrigerant fluid from the receiver through the refrigerant fluid path. The at least one evaporator is configured to receive the refrigerant fluid and to extract heat from at least one heat load having a specified thermal inertia that is in at least one of thermal conductive or convective contact with the at least one evaporator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
    Inventors: Igor Vaisman, Joshua Peters, Kevin McMurray, Max Salopek, Jacob Swain
  • Patent number: 11639800
    Abstract: A dehumidification system includes an evaporator, a condenser positioned next to the evaporator, and a drain pan including a mist eliminator. The drain pan is disposed at least partially below the evaporator and the condenser. The drain pan at least includes a basin disposed at least partially below the evaporator. The basin includes a sloped bottom, a first rib disposed on the sloped bottom, a second rib parallel to the first rib and including a central gap, a third rib positioned between the first rib and the second rib, and an angled rib attached to the second rib. The third rib is parallel to and shorter than the first rib. The third rib is configured to at least partially block the central gap of the second rib. The angled rib is inclined towards the third rib and configured to change a velocity vector of the air flowing through the drain pan. The mist eliminator is configured to remove water droplets from the air.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: THERMA-STOR LLC
    Inventor: Grant M. Lorang
  • Patent number: 11635236
    Abstract: An operational efficiency apparatus comprising a sensor connected to a heat transfer system to detect efficiency of system and a display electrically connected to the sensor for indicating efficiency of the system based on data detected from the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: Intermatic Incorporated
    Inventors: Zachary Lowe, Charles Murphy
  • Patent number: 11629901
    Abstract: Thermal management systems are described. These systems include a refrigerant receiver configured to store a refrigerant fluid, an evaporator, a closed-circuit refrigeration system having a closed fluid circuit path, with the refrigerant receiver and evaporator disposed in the closed fluid circuit path, and the closed fluid circuit path including a condenser and compressor. These systems also include a modulation capacity control circuit configured to selectively divert refrigerant vapor flow to the condenser from the compressor by diverting a portion of refrigerant vapor flow (diverted flow) from the compressor to the refrigerant receiver in accordance with cooling capacity demand.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2023
    Assignee: Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
    Inventors: Igor Vaisman, Joshua Peters
  • Patent number: 11624539
    Abstract: An illustrative example refrigerant system includes a compressor configured to pressurize a refrigerant fluid. The compressor includes a sump portion. A heater is situated to heat at least the sump portion. A controller is configured to selectively operate the heater to apply heat to at least the sump portion while the compressor is off to establish and maintain a superheat condition in the compressor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: CARRIER CORPORATION
    Inventor: Charles A. Cluff
  • Patent number: 11619433
    Abstract: A refrigeration system includes a compressor, a condenser, a heat transfer component, and a refrigerant loop arranged to allow a flow of a refrigerant fluid. The compressor, the condenser, and the heat transfer component are connected in the refrigerant loop. The system further includes a bypass path extending between an output side of the compressor in the refrigerant loop and an input side of the heat transfer component in the refrigerant loop. A bypass valve is connected in the bypass path. A control circuit is in communication with the bypass valve. The control circuit is configured to open the bypass valve to allow the refrigerant fluid to pass to the heat transfer component thereby increasing the refrigerant fluid provided to the heat transfer component and artificially increasing a load on the refrigeration system. Other examples refrigeration system and examples methods are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2023
    Inventor: Madhavi Pamaraju
  • Patent number: 11619429
    Abstract: A valve includes a shaft having threads along at least a portion of a length of the shaft. A travel limit member (e.g., a coil spring, a washer, etc.) is disposed within one or more of the threads. The travel limit member may comprise a coil spring configured to be movable within the threads along the shaft when the shaft is rotated relative to the coil spring. The coil spring is configured to be operable for providing: a safety stall or hard stop for a fully open position of the valve when the coil spring is within the top thread and/or runs out of the threads after having traveled upwardly along the shaft within the threads; and a safety stall or hard stop for a fully closed position of the valve when the coil spring contacts a stop after having traveled downwardly along the shaft within the threads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2023
    Assignee: Emerson Electric Co.
    Inventors: Gregory E. Sisk, Jeffrey N. Arensmeier, Christina M. Gilliam, Joseph B. Sutton, III, Thomas Stoneking, Jacob Ridderhoff
  • Patent number: 11614261
    Abstract: A duct is provided and includes a tubular member having an inlet portion, an outlet portion and a central portion interposed between the inlet and outlet portions and a tributary tubular member fluidly coupled to the tubular member at the central portion. The tributary tubular member includes first and second torus sectors defining first and second apertures, respectively, through which an upstream end of the central portion extends. The second torus sector is disposed within the first torus sector to define a sectioned toroidal annulus about the first and second apertures and between an exterior surface of the second torus sector and an interior surface of the first torus sector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND CORPORATION
    Inventors: Donald E. Army, Frederick Peacos, III
  • Patent number: 11613154
    Abstract: Secondary loop air conditioning and heat pump systems include a reservoir with a capsule holding a phase change material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Jing He, Loren John Lohmeyer, III, Angelo Patti, Manfred Koberstein