Patents Examined by Marc Norman
  • Patent number: 10203139
    Abstract: The present invention provides precise temperature control of a cooling chamber and comprises: a cooling chamber; a refrigeration circuit having a compressor, a condenser installed at the outlet side of the compressor, an evaporator, installed between the outlet side of the condenser and the inlet side of the compressor, for cooling the cooling chamber, and a decompression means installed at the inlet side of the evaporator; and a refrigerant control unit which has a refrigerant control valve installed between the condenser and the evaporator, and which adjusts the refrigerant flow rate that flows into the evaporator by controlling the opening/closing time of the refrigerant control valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Makoto Kobayashi, Tomoharu Iwamoto, Manabu Motegi, Ryota Aoki, Isamu Takatsuki
  • Patent number: 10190788
    Abstract: An auto changeover mechanism for a thermostat. A heat and cool mode auto changeover with single or crossed setpoints may be an approach for doing a single setpoint auto changeover, an approach that can handle auto changeover with separate heat and cool setpoints that do not require the cool setpoint to always be higher than the heat setpoint, and also an approach that does not necessarily require a dead band between the setpoints. A hysteresis may be associated with switching to the other mode. The thermostat having the auto changeover mechanism may have a display of a mode that automatically changes between heat and cool.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Robert J. Schnell, Steven C. Nichols
  • Patent number: 10194562
    Abstract: A dew point of air entering an information handling system is determined based on the temperature and humidity of the air. Also determined is a temperature of facility cooling water entering the information handling system. A condensation mitigation procedure is activated if a difference between the temperature of the facility cooling water and the dew point temperature is less than a first threshold value. The condensation mitigation procedure includes reducing a flow-rate of the facility cooling water to a liquid manifold using a valve. The liquid manifold is in thermally-conductive contact with a heat-generating component included at the information handling system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: Dell Products, LP
    Inventors: Austin M. Shelnutt, Edmond I. Bailey, John R. Stuewe
  • Patent number: 10184692
    Abstract: A method to control a fixed-sequence dual evaporator cooling system including providing a recurring cooling cycle cooling system wherein each recurring cooling cycle comprises first and second cooling cycles for cooling respective first and second interiors, a pump-out cycle for returning coolant to a condenser, and an idle cycle, and providing a processor to establish exceptions to the recurring cooling cycle. A step includes the processor monitoring first and second actual temperatures of the respective first and second interiors, selecting predetermined first and second control temperatures for the respective first and second interiors, and selecting a command input signal to supply to a compressor, the condenser fan, the first and second evaporator fans, and the valve of the cooling system during the recurring cooling cycle based upon the first and second actual temperatures and the predetermined first and second control temperatures to initiate the established exceptions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Alberto R. Gomes, Andrew D. Litch
  • Patent number: 10184681
    Abstract: An HVAC actuator coupleable to an HVAC component is disposed in or at an insulated duct. The HVAC actuator may include a housing and a taping flange. The taping flange may be spaced from the outer surface of the duct and adjacent to an outer surface of an insulated layer of the duct when the HVAC actuator is coupled to the HVAC component, and may be configured to facilitate taping of the HVAC actuator to the outer surface of the insulating layer. It may be shaped to provide a front-facing surface that is suitable for receiving tape to provide a seal between the taping flange and the outer surface of the insulating layer. In some cases, the taping flange may extend outward from the housing around the entire perimeter of the housing. The taping flange may be formed integrally with the housing, or it formed separately and coupled to the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Jack Du, Kevin Graebel, Bin Wang, David J. Emmons
  • Patent number: 10183551
    Abstract: A vehicle air conditioning apparatus is provided that can prevent temperature variations of the air after the heat exchange in a radiator to reliably control the temperature of the air supplied to the vehicle interior. During the heating operation and the heating and dehumidifying operation, target degree of supercooling SCt when target air-blowing temperature TAO is a predetermined temperature or higher is set to SCt1 that is greater than SCt2 when the target air-blowing temperature TAO is lower than the predetermined temperature. When amount of air Ga supplied from indoor fan 12 is lower than a predetermined value, the target degree of supercooling SCt is corrected, which is set such that the degree of supercooling is lower than target degree of supercooling corrected when the amount of air Ga supplied from the indoor fan 12 is a predetermined value or higher.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: SANDEN HOLDINGS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenichi Suzuki, Atsuo Inoue, Hidenori Takei
  • Patent number: 10180269
    Abstract: There is disclosed a refrigeration device in which a cooling capability and efficiency can be improved by controlling a high pressure side pressure of a low stage side refrigerant circuit into an optimum value. A refrigeration device 1 includes a high stage side refrigerant circuit 4, first and second low stage side refrigerant circuits 6A and 6B, and cascade heat exchangers 43A and 43B to evaporate a refrigerant of the high stage side refrigerant circuit 4, thereby cooling high pressure side refrigerants of the low stage side refrigerant circuits 6A and 6B, and carbon dioxide is charged as the refrigerant in each of the refrigerant circuits 4, 6A and 6B, and in the device, there are disposed pressure adjusting expansion valves 31 to adjust high pressure side pressures of the low stage side refrigerant circuits 6A and 6B.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2019
    Assignee: Sanden Holdings Corporation
    Inventors: Kosuke Miyagi, Junichi Suda, Yusuke Hiji, Masataka Hayakawa, Kazuhiro Omote
  • Patent number: 10175704
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a thermostat system, to a thermostat unit, as well as to a method for managing power supply in a thermostat unit. A thermostat unit is connected between a power supply and a resistive heating element. Input power is received at the thermostat unit. A temperature difference is calculated between a target temperature and a current temperature. The input power is controlled by operating a power supply module between a heating mode wherein in the input power is channeled to the output port for feeding the resistive heating element based on the temperature difference and a regenerative mode wherein the input power is channeled to an energy storage device for charging said energy storage device in order to supply power therefrom to electronic components of the thermostat unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Assignee: APPAREILS CONNECTÉS CASA LTÉE
    Inventors: Martin Fassier, Patrick Pépin
  • Patent number: 10174978
    Abstract: A system or a method for performing capacitive sensing of humidity/liquid, primarily in conductive or non-conductive liquid/gas mixtures, having a control unit and at least first and second sensor electrodes, the capacitance between the first and the second electrodes being measured. To measure humidity/liquid in a circulating gas/liquid mixture at least one of the sensor electrodes is formed as a tube which is placed in the liquid/gas mixture. Based on the capacitance measurements, a calculation of at least one dataset for control of a second system is performed. The tube can be more or less filled up with liquid or gas and the capacitance can be measured as it depends on the content around or inside the tube, and if a dry gas is there will be one value of capacitance and in a situation where the gas is being replaced by liquid, the capacitance value will change rapidly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Assignee: HB PRODUCTS A/S
    Inventor: Michael Elstrøm
  • Patent number: 10168092
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a container refrigeration apparatus (10) for cooling air in a container (11). The container refrigeration apparatus (10) includes: a gas supply device (30) which produces nitrogen-enriched air having a higher nitrogen concentration than outside air and supplies the nitrogen-enriched air into the container (11) via a supply passage (44); an oxygen concentration sensor (51) which measures an oxygen concentration of the air in the container (11); and a controller which controls the operation of the gas supply device (30) so that the oxygen concentration measured by the oxygen concentration sensor (51) reaches a target concentration. The container refrigeration apparatus (10) is provided with a measurement passage (88) which guides part of the nitrogen-enriched air passing through the supply passage (44) to the oxygen concentration sensor (51), and an on-off valve (82) is provided for the measurement passage (88).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: Daikin Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naohiro Tanaka, Noritaka Kamei
  • Patent number: 10156395
    Abstract: The present application provides a cooler. The cooler may include an outer frame, a product space within the outer frame, and a number of shelf assemblies positioned within the product space. The shelf assemblies may include an evaporator and a phase change material therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2018
    Assignee: The Coca-Cola Company
    Inventors: Jurgen Roekens, Roberto Horn Pereira, Abram C. Knip, Jacobus P. M. Dessing
  • Patent number: 10151501
    Abstract: A thermostat includes a control unit, a plurality of connection ports, and a user interface operatively coupled to the control unit an having an electronic display. The control unit may be configured and programmed to operate the wire insertion sensing circuits to identify a set of the plurality of connection ports into which corresponding ones of the plurality of HVAC wires have been inserted; cause the electronic display to display a photograph of the plurality of connection ports as they actually appear to a user; and cause the electronic display to visually highlight the set of the plurality of connection ports into which the corresponding ones of the plurality of HVAC wires have been inserted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2018
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Anthony Michael Fadell, Yoky Matsuoka, Matthew Lee Rogers, David Sloo, Michael Plitkins, Rangoli Sharan, Joseph Adam Ruff
  • Patent number: 10145578
    Abstract: A zone control panel that is easy and intuitive to use and to program. In some embodiments, a zone control panel may be configured to have an easy to use, single level menu structure with, for example, a configuration mode and/or a checkout mode. The configuration mode may, if present, include a number of menu screens sometimes without any sub-menu levels. Likewise, the checkout mode may, if present, include a number of menu screens sometimes without any sub-menu levels. A mode selector may be provided to select a particular mode, after which, the menu screens that correspond to the selected mode may be sequentially displayed to the user. Other features and aspects are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2018
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Steven Hoglund, Paul G. Schwendinger
  • Patent number: 10139125
    Abstract: An air-conditioning apparatus includes at least one system including a heat-medium conveying device, a heat-medium flow regulator, and a heat-medium flow control device, as a heat medium system capable of regulating a flow rate of a heat medium supplied to a heat source device-side heat exchanger exchanging heat between refrigerant and the heat medium. The air-conditioning apparatus switches each of a plurality of use-side heat exchangers to a cooling operation or a heating operation in accordance with a control command to perform a cooling and heating simultaneous operation. The refrigerant is caused to flow through the heat source device-side heat exchanger depending on a ratio of a total cooling capacity and a total heating capacity of the plurality of use-side heat exchangers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2018
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Koji Azuma, Hirofumi Koge, Osamu Morimoto, Kensaku Hatanaka, Kazuyoshi Shinozaki
  • Patent number: 10137763
    Abstract: A refrigerant/heat medium heat exchanger that heats a heat medium which circulates in a heater core of an HVAC unit is provided in a discharge pipe of a cooling refrigerant circuit, a heating bypass circuit that extends to a receiver is connected to a downstream side of the refrigerant/heat medium heat exchanger through a switching means, a second circuit having a second decompression means is provided between an outlet of the receiver and a first end of a vehicle exterior heat exchanger, and a third circuit having a solenoid valve is provided between a second end of the vehicle exterior heat exchanger and an intake circuit. In a vehicle air-conditioning system, a heating refrigerant circuit is configured by an electric compressor, a refrigerant/heat medium heat exchanger, a switching means, a heating bypass circuit, a receiver, a second circuit, a vehicle exterior heat exchanger, and a third circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2018
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES THERMAL SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Nobuya Nakagawa, Hirotsugu Kohigashi
  • Patent number: 10132510
    Abstract: A system for heating water to improve safety and efficiency. The system may have normal operation measured in time. After a time of normal operation, a water temperature setpoint may be checked. If the setpoint is not at a certain level, normal operation may continue. If the setpoint is within the certain level, water temperature may be measured. If the water temperature is less than a desired level, one or more draws of water may be measured for a preset temperature drop. If the draws do not meet the temperature drop, a return to check the setpoint may be made. If the draws meet the temperature drop, the setpoint may be reduced and a time of normal operation may be measured to determine whether a burn cycle occurs within the time. If not, normal operation may continue; but if so, a return to check the setpoint may be made.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: David Heil, Ravindra Khosla, Frederick Hazzard
  • Patent number: 10126027
    Abstract: A control device, and a method for operating the control device, optimizes cooling of a high-voltage accumulator using an air-conditioning system in a vehicle. A coolant flow which is insufficient is detected by an evaporator for the high-voltage accumulator and, as a result, heat losses inside a condenser of the air-conditioning system are reduced for increasing the flow of the coolant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Karsten Berg, Alexander Meijering, Marc-Thomas Eisele, Sebastian Siering, Nicolas Flahaut
  • Patent number: 10126032
    Abstract: A system for cooling and controlling a cooling system having a variable speed compressor, a condenser, a variable flow regulator, a metering device, an evaporator, and a refrigerant. The system includes controlling the speed of the variable speed compressor by transmitting a control signal to the variable speed compressor such that the speed of the variable speed compressor is based on the control signal and lowering the speed of the variable speed compressor results in a lower flow rate of the refrigerant and thus a reduced rate of cooling. The system also includes selectively opening or closing the variable flow regulator such that a closed variable flow regulator restricts the flow of the refrigerant through the evaporator and thus reduces the rate of cooling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: TESTEQUITY LLC
    Inventors: Peter Kesselman, John Riddle
  • Patent number: 10126011
    Abstract: Various arrangements for controlling multiple environmental zones are presented. A first zone specific device may be configured to alter an environmental condition of a first environmental zone of the multiple environmental zones. The first zone specific device may include a rechargeable power source for at least partially powering the operation of the first zone specific device. The first zone specific device may include a communication interface for communicating with other devices of the system. Also, a central controller may be present that is configured to communicate with the first zone specific device to determine a power status of the rechargeable power source of the first zone specific device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventor: Lawrence Kates
  • Patent number: 10101054
    Abstract: The disclosure discloses a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) air conditioning system with dual control over temperature and humidity and a control method thereof, in which the VRF air conditioning system includes multiple indoor machines, an outdoor machine and a controller; the outdoor machine is provided with a first connector and a second connector; each indoor machine includes an indoor throttle valve, a first heat exchanger, a second heat exchanger, a first solenoid valve, a second solenoid valve, a third solenoid valve, a temperature detector and a humidity detector; the controller controls the VRF air conditioning system by controlling the indoor throttle valve, the first solenoid valve, the second solenoid valve and the third solenoid valve in each indoor machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignees: GD MIDEA HEATING & VENTILATING EQUIPMENT CO., LTD., MIDEA GROUP CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Zhao Huang