Patents by Inventor Brian Lange

Brian Lange has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 12382554
    Abstract: A microwave cooking appliance having power management. The appliance may include at least one cord positionable between at least one stowed position to at least one deployed position. The appliance may include one or more strain relief members stopping the deployment of the cord. The microwave cooking appliance may include a cord housing. The microwave cooking appliance may include a pulley engaging the cord. The microwave cooking appliance may include a biasing member engaging the pulley and/or cord. The microwave cooking appliance may include a pin and slot engagement engaging the pulley and/or cord.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2025
    Assignee: MIDEA GROUP CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Daniel J. Trice, Brian Langness, Eric Scalf
  • Publication number: 20250221564
    Abstract: A drip coffee maker includes a controller that regulates a water/coffee contact time for coffee produced in a brew basket by controlling an electronically-controllable dispense valve disposed downstream of the brew basket in response to an output of a dispense rate sensor that senses dispense rate from a brew basket. In addition, in some instances the dispense rate sensor may be implemented as a weight sensor that senses the weight of the brew basket, and may additionally be used to sense the amount of coffee grounds dispensed into the brew basket by a grinder.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2025
    Publication date: July 10, 2025
    Inventors: Simon Fowler, Ryan Persaud, Brian Langness
  • Publication number: 20250187192
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method of identifying at least one deployed robot in a group of robots, differentially commanding the identified robot, and initiating a remote shutdown or disablement of at least one robot selected from a group of robots.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2023
    Publication date: June 12, 2025
    Inventors: Andrew Abate, Daniel Alvin Bennett, Bambi Roberts Brewer, Ryan James Domres, Bradley Stewart Hamner, Sean Cambell Hunter, Jonathan Hurst, Brian Kirby, Brian Lange, Krupal Thakolal Patel, Alejandro Tomas Perez
  • Publication number: 20250189962
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method of identifying at least one deployed robot in a group of robots, differentially commanding the identified robot, and initiating a remote shutdown or disablement of at least one robot selected from a group of robots.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2023
    Publication date: June 12, 2025
    Inventors: Andrew Abate, Daniel Alvin Bennett, Bambi Roberts Brewer, Ryan James Domres, Bradley Stewart Hamner, Sean Cambell Hunter, Jay David Jasper, Brian Kirby, Brian Lange, Krupal Thakolal Patel, Alejandro Tomas Perez
  • Patent number: 12239223
    Abstract: A mounting bracket assembly for an appliance, such as an over-the-range cooking appliance, for mounting to an underside of a wall cabinet, where the cooking appliance includes having at least a rear-facing side and a top-facing side. The assembly includes a wall bracket configured to be secured to the wall near the wall cabinet and configured to support the enclosure on a ledge. The assembly also includes a cam rotatably mounted to the housing to rotatably engage a surface of the ledge to raise the appliance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: MIDEA GROUP CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Daniel J. Trice, Brian Langness
  • Patent number: 12225652
    Abstract: A microwave cooking appliance for increasing visibility into the cooking cavity. The microwave cooking appliance may include a door. The door may include a conductive mesh layer. The door may include a frame supporting the conductive mesh layer. The door may include a conductive and/or sealing engagement between the conductive mesh layer and the frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2025
    Assignee: MIDEA GROUP CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Daniel J. Trice, Brian Langness, Pierce Woodling
  • Patent number: 12219017
    Abstract: A system and methods are provided for aggregating communication connections. Multiple users connect to a system (e.g., a web-based system) that hosts an application or service for exchanging communications. Users who exchange communications among themselves may be considered “associates.” When one user who is on-line with the application sends a communication through the system for an associate, the system determines whether the associate is on-line or off-line. If the associate is off-line, the system crafts and sends toward the associate a notification regarding the communication, including an address of the communication server to which the one user is connected. When the associate's device receives the notification, the application may attempt to connect to the specified address. In this way associated users' connections will aggregate or gravitate toward the same communication server, thereby eliminating the latency and cost of exchanging users' communications between multiple communication servers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2025
    Assignee: WhatsApp Inc.
    Inventors: Jan Boris Koum, Bryan Dennis O'Connor, Brian Lange Acton
  • Patent number: 12200849
    Abstract: A microwave cooking appliance for increasing visibility into the cooking cavity. The microwave cooking appliance may include a door. The door may include a conductive mesh layer. The door may include a frame supporting the conductive mesh layer. The door may include a conductive and/or sealing engagement between the conductive mesh layer and the frame. The door may include a leak detection device. The leak detection device may be adjacent the conductive and/or sealing engagement. The door may include a user interface display and/or a touch screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2025
    Assignee: MIDEA GROUP CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Daniel J. Trice, Brian Langness, Pierce Woodling
  • Publication number: 20250009129
    Abstract: A mounting bracket assembly for an appliance, such as an over-the-range cooking appliance, for mounting to an underside of a wall cabinet, where the cooking appliance includes having at least a rear-facing side and a top-facing side. The assembly includes a wall bracket configured to be secured to the wall near the wall cabinet and configured to support the enclosure on a ledge. The assembly also includes a cam rotatably mounted to the housing to rotatably engage a surface of the ledge to raise the appliance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 5, 2024
    Publication date: January 9, 2025
    Inventors: Daniel J. Trice, Brian Langness
  • Patent number: 12166357
    Abstract: An under-cabinet wireless power system is mountable to an underside of a wall cabinet that is positioned over a countertop and includes a wireless power transmitter capable of powering a wirelessly powered appliance positioned proximate thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignee: MIDEA GROUP CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Daniel J. Trice, Brian Langness, Clayton James O′Donoghue, John Kenneth Hooker
  • Patent number: 12064033
    Abstract: A mounting bracket assembly for an appliance, such as an over-the-range cooking appliance, for mounting to an underside of a wall cabinet, where the cooking appliance includes having at least a rear-facing side and a top-facing side. The assembly includes a wall bracket configured to be secured to the wall near the wall cabinet and configured to support the enclosure on a ledge. The assembly also includes a cam rotatably mounted to the housing to rotatably engage a surface of the ledge to raise the appliance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: Midea Group Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Daniel J. Trice, Brian Langness
  • Patent number: 12038196
    Abstract: An anti-tip bracket assembly for a window air conditioning unit is disclosed, and more particularly, an anti-tip bracket assembly that pertains to securing a window air conditioning unit within a window assembly while allowing a user to open and close the window assembly in a safe and convenient manner is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2024
    Assignee: MIDEA GROUP CO., LTD.
    Inventors: David Leezer, Adam Schultz, Brian Langness
  • Publication number: 20240213801
    Abstract: An under-cabinet wireless power system is mountable to an underside of a wall cabinet that is positioned over a countertop and includes a wireless power transmitter capable of powering a wirelessly powered appliance positioned proximate thereto.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2022
    Publication date: June 27, 2024
    Inventors: Daniel J. Trice, Brian Langness, Clayton James O'Donoghue, John Kenneth Hooker
  • Publication number: 20240147584
    Abstract: An over-the-range cooking appliance for mounting to an underside of a wall cabinet, where the cooking appliance includes: an enclosure with a cooking cavity for food and where the enclosure includes at least a rear-facing side and a top-facing side; a wall bracket configured to be secured to the wall near the wall cabinet and configured to support the enclosure; and a cabinet bracket to support the enclosure from the underside of the wall cabinet. The cabinet bracket includes a first and second cooperating latch member, where the first cooperating latch member is mounted on the underside of the cabinet and the second cooperating latch member is mounted on the top-facing side of the enclosure. The cooperating latch members are respectively configured to latch to one another when the enclosure is supported on the wall bracket proximate the bottom of the rear-facing side thereof and tilted upwardly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2023
    Publication date: May 2, 2024
    Inventors: Eric Scalf, Brian Langness, Daniel J. Trice, Guo Jun Zhang, Jared Speichinger
  • Publication number: 20240108161
    Abstract: A drip coffee maker includes an electronically-controllable variable valve to regulate water/coffee contact time in a brew basket. In some instances, the electronically-controllable variable valve may be movable within a continuous range of positions and may be disposed downstream of the brew basket to regulate the flow rate of coffee produced in the brew basket to a brewing container. In addition, in some instances, the electronically-controllable variable valve may include a valve member that projects through a port and moves along a first axis to vary a fluid flow rate through the port, and a wedge body that moves along a second axis and includes an inclined surface capable of causing movement of the valve member along the first axis in response to movement of the wedge body along the second axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2022
    Publication date: April 4, 2024
    Inventors: Simon Fowler, Brian Langness
  • Publication number: 20240080949
    Abstract: A microwave cooking appliance for increasing visibility into the cooking cavity. The microwave cooking appliance may include a door. The door may include a conductive mesh layer. The door may include a frame supporting the conductive mesh layer. The door may include a conductive and/or sealing engagement between the conductive mesh layer and the frame.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 10, 2023
    Publication date: March 7, 2024
    Inventors: Daniel J. Trice, Brian Langness, Pierce Woodling
  • Patent number: 11882231
    Abstract: Exemplary embodiments relate to techniques for transmitting ephemeral content messages. A sending client may establish an end-to-end encrypted session with possible recipients of the message, using a first decryption key during initial session setup. The client may send an ephemeral content message, including encrypted content and a second key, to the recipients through a server. The server may be unable to retrieve the encrypted content due to a lack of the second key. The server may filter a list of intended recipients, and may forward the ephemeral content message to the recipients on the filtered list. The recipients may retrieve the second key from the message, and use the first and second keys to decrypt the encrypted content. The sending client may change the second key each time the recipient list changes from the perspective of the sending client, as determined at the time the ephemeral content message is transmitted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: WhatsApp LLC
    Inventors: Randall Sarafa, Eugene Fooksman, Brian Lange Acton, Jan Boris Koum, Michael B. Donohue, Ehren Andrew Kret
  • Publication number: 20240015861
    Abstract: A microwave cooking appliance for increasing visibility into the cooking cavity. The microwave cooking appliance may include a door. The door may include a conductive mesh layer. The door may include a frame supporting the conductive mesh layer. The door may include a conductive and/or sealing engagement between the conductive mesh layer and the frame. The door may include a leak detection device. The leak detection device may be adjacent the conductive and/or sealing engagement. The door may include a user interface display and/or a touch screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2023
    Publication date: January 11, 2024
    Inventors: Daniel J. Trice, Brian Langness, Pierce R. Woodling
  • Patent number: 11864296
    Abstract: An over-the-range cooking appliance for mounting to an underside of a wall cabinet, where the cooking appliance includes: an enclosure with a cooking cavity for food and where the enclosure includes at least a rear-facing side and a top-facing side; a wall bracket configured to be secured to the wall near the wall cabinet and configured to support the enclosure; and a cabinet bracket to support the enclosure from the underside of the wall cabinet. The cabinet bracket includes a first and second cooperating latch member, where the first cooperating latch member is mounted on the underside of the cabinet and the second cooperating latch member is mounted on the top-facing side of the enclosure. The cooperating latch members are respectively configured to latch to one another when the enclosure is supported on the wall bracket proximate the bottom of the rear-facing side thereof and tilted upwardly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: MIDEA GROUP CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Eric Scalf, Brian Langness, Daniel J. Trice, Guo Jun Zhang, Jared Speichinger
  • Publication number: 20230404260
    Abstract: A mounting bracket assembly for an appliance, such as an over-the-range cooking appliance, for mounting to an underside of a wall cabinet, where the cooking appliance includes having at least a rear-facing side and a top-facing side. The assembly includes a wall bracket configured to be secured to the wall near the wall cabinet and configured to support the enclosure on a ledge. The assembly also includes a cam rotatably mounted to the housing to rotatably engage a surface of the ledge to raise the appliance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2023
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Inventors: Daniel J. Trice, Brian Langness