Patents by Inventor Christian Rittner

Christian Rittner 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: 10222111
    Abstract: An ice maker for fitting into a door of a cooling or freezing device includes an ice-making tray which is arranged to be rotatable about an axis of rotation, has a plurality of ice-piece-making cavities and a side wall arrangement which extends upwards beyond the ice-piece-making cavities and runs along the periphery of the tray. The ice maker further includes a drive unit for driving the ice-making tray in rotation about the axis of rotation. At least one slot is formed in the side wall arrangement and passes through the side wall arrangement over its entire wall thickness. Alternatively or in addition, at least a portion of the side wall arrangement is made of a different material than a bottom tray part on which the ice-piece-making cavities are formed. Both measures improve the twistability of the ice-making tray for breaking frozen ice pieces away from the tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: emz-Hanauer GmbH & Co. KGaA
    Inventors: Albert Dirnberger, Josef Bauriedl, Christian Rittner
  • Publication number: 20170176080
    Abstract: An ice maker for fitting into a door of a cooling or freezing device includes an ice-making tray which is arranged to be rotatable about an axis of rotation, has a plurality of ice-piece-making cavities and a side wall arrangement which extends upwards beyond the ice-piece-making cavities and runs along the periphery of the tray. The ice maker further includes a drive unit for driving the ice-making tray in rotation about the axis of rotation. At least one slot is formed in the side wall arrangement and passes through the side wall arrangement over its entire wall thickness. Alternatively or in addition, at least a portion of the side wall arrangement is made of a different material than a bottom tray part on which the ice-piece-making cavities are formed. Both measures improve the twistability of the ice-making tray for breaking frozen ice pieces away from the tray.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2016
    Publication date: June 22, 2017
    Inventors: Albert Dirnberger, Josef Bauriedl, Christian Rittner
  • Publication number: 20130098949
    Abstract: An ice chute arrangement that includes a fixed frame adjacent to an ice passageway. A flap is pivotal upon the frame between a first flap position and a second flap position. The flap blocks the ice passageway when the flap is in the first position, reveals the passageway when the flap is in the second position and transitions through an intermediate position. The arrangement includes a paddle pivotal upon the frame between a first position and a second position. The paddle causes the flap to pivot from the first position to the second position as the paddle pivots from the first position to the second position. The arrangement includes a first spring that biases the flap toward the first flap position while the flap is in the first flap position and biases the flap toward the second flap position while the flap is in the second flap position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2011
    Publication date: April 25, 2013
    Applicant: EMZ-HANAUER GMBH & CO. KGAA
    Inventors: Albert Dirnberger, Matthias Bauer, Christian Rittner