Patents by Inventor Carl R. Offutt

Carl R. Offutt 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: 6349717
    Abstract: A rack system for an oven wherein the oven includes an oven cavity having top, bottom, rear and side walls, the side walls including a plurality of support runners arranged as associated pairs on the side walls of the oven cavity. The oven cavity has an open frontal portion and an associated width defined by the lateral distance spanning the side walls. The rack system including a lower rack having a width substantially equal to the width of the oven cavity such that the upper rack may be supported by one of the runner pairs provided on the side wall of the oven cavity. An upper rack assembly is provided having a width substantially equal to the width of the oven cavity, the upper rack being supported on one of the runner pairs provided on the side wall of the oven cavity. The upper rack includes a main rack and an insert rack. The main rack has a width substantially equal to the width of the oven cavity and has a platform area and a cutout area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2002
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Joseph E. Thompson, Steven M. Schatz, Carl R. Offutt, Franklin P. Hayba
  • Patent number: 4429204
    Abstract: A seal for sealing a stirrer motor shaft in a microwave oven structure. The seal is provided by a bushing bearing journaling the motor shaft and receiving in a non-circular-hole in the wall of the cabinet defining the microwave oven cavity. The bushing is threaded and receives a threaded securing element cooperating with a shoulder on the bushing to clamp the bushing against the portion of the wall member of the cabinet defining the opening. The bushing is electrically connected to the wall member to define a ground for the motor shaft. The motor includes a housing secured to the bushing to be in spaced relationship to the cabinet wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 1981
    Date of Patent: January 31, 1984
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Howard R. McGuire, Carl R. Offutt
  • Patent number: 4308445
    Abstract: A microwave oven structure wherein a movable food support is selectively positionable in any one of a plurality of preselected different discrete positions. The support may be moved to the different positions during the cooking cycle as by a programmed timer. Alternatively, the support may be moved as a function of a sensed condition of the food being cooked, such as a temperature differential occurring therein. The movement of the support may be limited so as to permit the use of a probe inserted into the food being cooked without damage to the wires connecting the probe to the control of the oven. The support, in the illustrated embodiment, is a turntable which is controlledly rotated less than a full turn in repositioning the food being cooked.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 1980
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1981
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventor: Carl R. Offutt
  • Patent number: 3962617
    Abstract: A current limiting impedance network for a dryer control in which a controlled conduction device, such as an SCR, is connected to shunt an AC motor to selectively prevent operation of the motor, in which a current limiting, power dissipating resistor is replaced by a lower value and lower power rating resistor and a capacitor connected in series with the resistor. The capacitor has a capacitive reactance of a value approximately twice the inductive reactance of the motor to provide substantially the same magnitude of circuit impedance as with the current limiting power resistor and cause operation of the circuit with a leading rather than a lagging current phase angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 1975
    Date of Patent: June 8, 1976
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Carl R. Offutt, Roque Denis Marcade