Patents by Inventor Bruce M. Wiatrak

Bruce M. Wiatrak 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).

  • Publication number: 20240287722
    Abstract: Inferring the laundry cycle type for a load of laundry items is provided. Measurements are performed of a laundry load in a drum of a laundry appliance during a pre-rinse cycle, the measurements including one or more of an absorption ratio of the laundry load, a retention ratio of the laundry load, a dry mass of the laundry load, a wet mass of the laundry load, or a spun mass of the laundry load. A model is used to determine load parameters based on the measurements. The load parameters are used to determine a laundry cycle type for the laundry load.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2022
    Publication date: August 29, 2024
    Inventors: Michael B. DALY, Seth HERNDON, Bruce M. WIATRAK
  • Publication number: 20230392796
    Abstract: A cooking appliance having a cabinet including an insert within the cabinet to define cooking chamber with an access opening and a door selectively closing/opening the access opening, the cooking appliance comprising at least one of a first cooling flow path through a back wall of the cabinet, over a top wall of the insert, and out a side wall of the cabinet, a second cooling flow path through a bottom wall of the cabinet, along the bottom wall of the cabinet, and out a side wall of the cabinet, and a third cooling flow path through a bottom wall of the cabinet, out a front wall of the cabinet, into the door, out of the door, into a front wall of the cabinet, and out of a side wall of the cabinet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2023
    Publication date: December 7, 2023
    Inventors: ALEXANDER L. CLAYTON, VINCE HUANG, XIANGXU LIU, KEN LEI, HANKS HU, JUAN CHEN, TRACY YU, JACK LI, ROY QIU, SETH HERNDON, DONALD JOHN GILMORE, CRISTIANO VITO PASTORE, DICK GE, PALLAVI MANJREKAR, BRUCE M. WIATRAK, ANDREA FERRISE, BLAKE CARTWRIGHT, RICHARD J. HUGHES, JOEL FLETTY, WYNDHAM F. GARY, JR., JOSHUA G. ABDOO, COLLIN A. STIPE, NICHOLAS BRENN, CASEY L. MCCUAN, CHRISTOPHER L. CARPENTER
  • Publication number: 20230375182
    Abstract: A method for controlling a heating process may include recognizing a food class of a food item, defining a target doneness score for the food item based on at least one of the food class and a desired doneness level, receiving a food humidity level, receiving a cavity humidity level, receiving a cavity temperature, determining a current doneness score of the food item according to the food humidity level, the cavity humidity level and the cavity temperature, and utilizing the current doneness score and the target doneness score to control a heating system to cook the food item.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2022
    Publication date: November 23, 2023
    Inventors: Blake W. EHRENBECK, Seth HERNDON, Chia-Hua LIN, Bruce M. WIATRAK
  • Patent number: 11767983
    Abstract: An automatic oven having a controller and a sensor assembly for automatically determining a food type for a food item placed in a cooking chamber of the automatic oven, and cooks the automatically determined food item according to a cooking profile selected based on the determined food type, while optionally accommodating a user input on the determining of the food type, and the cooking profile, including an optional degree of doneness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Alexander L. Clayton, Vince Huang, Xiangxu Liu, Ken Lei, Hanks Hu, Juan Chen, Tracy Yu, Jack Li, Roy Qiu, Seth Herndon, Donald John Gilmore, Cristiano Vito Pastore, Dick Ge, Pallavi Manjrekar, Bruce M. Wiatrak, Andrea Ferrise, Blake Cartwright, Richard J. Hughes, Joel Fletty, Wyndham F. Gary, Jr., Joshua G. Abdoo, Collin A. Stipe, Nicholas Brenn, Casey L. McCuan, Christopher L. Carpenter
  • Publication number: 20230018647
    Abstract: A food class of a food item is recognized. A target doneness score is defined for the food item based on the food class and a desired doneness level. A recurrent model is utilized to determine a current doneness score of the food item according to sensor data captured of the food item. The current doneness score and the target doneness score are utilized to control a heating system to cook the food item.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2021
    Publication date: January 19, 2023
    Inventors: Michael B. DALY, Blake W. EHRENBECK, Mohammad HAGHIGHAT, Seth HERNDON, Bhargav M. JAIN, Jason Y. LEE, Saqib N. SHAMSI, Sunil S. SHASTRI, Bruce M. WIATRAK
  • Publication number: 20210262670
    Abstract: An automatic oven having a controller and a sensor assembly for automatically determining a food type for a food item placed in a cooking chamber of the automatic oven, and cooks the automatically determined food item according to a cooking profile selected based on the determined food type, while optionally accommodating a user input on the determining of the food type, and the cooking profile, including an optional degree of doneness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 13, 2021
    Publication date: August 26, 2021
    Inventors: ALEXANDER L. CLAYTON, VINCE HUANG, XIANGXU LIU, KEN LEI, HANKS HU, JUAN CHEN, TRACY YU, JACK LI, ROY QIU, SETH HERNDON, DONALD JOHN GILMORE, CRISTIANO VITO PASTORE, DICK GE, PALLAVI MANJREKAR, BRUCE M. WIATRAK, ANDREA FERRISE, BLAKE CARTWRIGHT, RICHARD J. HUGHES, JOEL FLETTY, WYNDHAM F. GARY, Jr., JOSHUA G. ABDOO, COLLIN A. STIPE, NICHOLAS BRENN, CASEY L. MCCUAN, CHRISTOPHER L. CARPENTER
  • Patent number: 11047578
    Abstract: An automatic oven having a controller and a sensor assembly for automatically determining a food type for a food item placed in a cooking chamber of the automatic oven, and cooks the automatically determined food item according to a cooking profile selected based on the determined food type, while optionally accommodating a user input on the determining of the food type, and the cooking profile, including an optional degree of doneness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Inventors: Alexander L. Clayton, Vince Huang, Xiangxu Li, Ken Lei, Hanks Hu, Juan Chen, Tracy Yu, Jack Li, Roy Qiu, Seth Herndon, Donald John Gilmore, Cristiano Vito Pastore, Dick Ge, Pallavi Manjrekar, Bruce M. Wiatrak, Andrea Ferrise, Blake Cartwright, Richard J. Hughes, Joel Fletty, Wyndham F. Gary, Jr., Joshua G. Abdoo, Collin A. Stipe, Nicholas Brenn, Casey L. McCuan, Christopher L. Carpenter
  • Publication number: 20200217512
    Abstract: An automatic oven having a controller and a sensor assembly for automatically determining a food type for a food item placed in a cooking chamber of the automatic oven, and cooks the automatically determined food item according to a cooking profile selected based on the determined food type, while optionally accommodating a user input on the determining of the food type, and the cooking profile, including an optional degree of doneness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2019
    Publication date: July 9, 2020
    Inventors: ALEXANDER L. CLAYTON, VINCE HUANG, XIANGXU LI, KEN LEI, HANKS HU, JUAN CHEN, TRACY YU, JACK LI, ROY QIU, SETH HERNDON, DONALD JOHN GILMORE, CRISTIANO VITO PASTORE, DICK GE, PALLAVI MANJREKAR, BRUCE M. WIATRAK, ANDREA FERRISE, BLAKE CARTWRIGHT, RICHARD J. HUGHES, JOEL FLETTY, WYNDHAM F. GARY, JR., JOSHUA G. ABDOO, COLLIN A. STIPE, NICHOLAS BRENN, CASEY L. MCCUAN, CHRISTOPHER L. CARPENTER
  • Patent number: 8848880
    Abstract: In one aspect, a communication system allows telephone users to roam between cellular and broadband domains and obtain equivalent level of service and features in the broadband network as in the cellular network. For example, such users can make use of Push-To Talk service, as well as continuous telephone call service, independent of which domain they are connected through. In another aspect, users can pass messages, including voice messages, or establish two-way voice communication between disparate push-to-talk (PTT) or messaging and/or voice systems. For example, a user on a cellular network using a PTT service is able to communicate with a user on a data network using an IM service. In addition, information is passed between the systems to provide coordinated presence information for users. For example, a user can have presence information in multiple networks enabling users form different networks to communication with that user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Bridgeport Networks, Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce M. Wiatrak, Ivan Dean Bogdanovic
  • Patent number: 7809381
    Abstract: A telephone system supports communication with user devices over both a cellular radio network as well as over an Internet Protocol (IP) network, and enables roaming and active call handoff between cellular and IP domains. Approaches to detecting presence of a user near a suitable IP network are used in controlling transitions between the domains, for example, enabling automatic transitions between domains, and delivery of calls to a mobile user to data network devices in the vicinity of the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2010
    Assignee: Bridgeport Networks, Inc.
    Inventors: Justin A. Aborn, Karl E. Freter, Sanjay S. Jhawar, James D. O'Brien, Jr., Mats A. Samuelsson, Bruce M. Wiatrak, Andre De Verteuil, Ivan Dean Bogdanovic