Patents by Inventor Dale A. Mueller

Dale A. Mueller 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: 10202719
    Abstract: A vertical axis laundry treating appliance including a chassis defining a chassis interior, a tub disposed within the chassis interior and defining a tub interior, and a perforated wash basket disposed for rotation within the tub interior, wherein the tub includes a lower tub portion, an upper tub portion, and a flexible intermediate portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Benjamin E. Alexander, Prakash S. Amte, Brent M. Burgess, Michael K. Cluskey, Nicholas C. Fugal, Christopher A. Jones, Dale Mueller, Michele A. Paustian, Brenner M. Sharp
  • Patent number: 10100452
    Abstract: An impeller with vanes extending above the upper surface of the impeller base plate along with a sweeper which extends beyond an outer periphery of the base plate. The sweeper pulls clothes from the basket that may have become stuck or lodged in a wet state back in toward the center of the impeller and in turn pushes them up by the impeller vane design.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Brent Burgess, Dale Mueller, Nicholas Vaive
  • Publication number: 20170268147
    Abstract: A vertical axis laundry treating appliance including a chassis defining a chassis interior, a tub disposed within the chassis interior and defining a tub interior, and a perforated wash basket disposed for rotation within the tub interior, wherein the tub includes a lower tub portion, an upper tub portion, and a flexible intermediate portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 17, 2016
    Publication date: September 21, 2017
    Inventors: BENJAMIN E. ALEXANDER, PRAKASH S. AMTE, BRENT M. BURGESS, MICHAEL K. CLUSKEY, NICHOLAS C. FUGAL, CHRISTOPHER A. JONES, DALE MUELLER, MICHELE A. PAUSTIAN, BRENNER M. SHARP
  • Publication number: 20170211220
    Abstract: A laundry treating appliance for treating laundry according to an automatic cycle of operation and including a cabinet defining an interior, an imperforate tub located within the interior and having a peripheral wall with an upper portion and a bottom end closed by a base, and a structural support provided within the interior adjacent at least a portion of the imperforate tub.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2016
    Publication date: July 27, 2017
    Inventors: BENJAMIN E. ALEXANDER, BRENT M. BURGESS, MICHAEL K. CLUSKEY, CHRISTOPHER A. JONES, DALE MUELLER, MICHELE A. PAUSTIAN, BRENNER M. SHARP
  • Publication number: 20170107653
    Abstract: An impeller with vanes extending above the upper surface of the impeller base plate along with a sweeper which extends beyond an outer periphery of the base plate. The sweeper pulls clothes from the basket that may have become stuck or lodged in a wet state back in toward the center of the impeller and in turn pushes them up by the impeller vane design.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2015
    Publication date: April 20, 2017
    Inventors: BRENT BURGESS, DALE MUELLER, NICHOLAS VAIVE
  • Publication number: 20070107138
    Abstract: Methods for laundering a textile wash load in a washing apparatus comprising the steps of pre-treating a textile wash load using methods that include a detection step selected from an airlock detection step, a water log detection step and combinations thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2005
    Publication date: May 17, 2007
    Inventors: Flavio Bernardino, Mary Zeitler, Dale Mueller, Erik Farrington, Leon Spindler
  • Publication number: 20070084000
    Abstract: An improved method for treating textiles such as clothing with a concentrated solutions in an automatic washer by alternating the speed of rotation of the automatic washer wash basket from a low spin speed to a high spin speed and applying the concentrated solution to the textiles when the wash basket is spinning at the low spin speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2005
    Publication date: April 19, 2007
    Inventors: Flavio Bernardino, Mary Zeitler, Dale Mueller
  • Publication number: 20050011917
    Abstract: A clothes hanger is provided. The clothes hanger includes a first main arm connected with a second main arm. Each main arm forms an adjustment element and a primary track. The clothes hanger also includes first and second adjustable arms each movably and pivotally connected with one respective main arm. Each adjustable arm includes a locator element engageable with a respective adjustment element and a primary sliding member received in each primary track.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 17, 2003
    Publication date: January 20, 2005
    Inventors: Casey Tubman, David Cockrell, Michael Dirlam, Dale Mueller
  • Patent number: 6215831
    Abstract: A decoder circuit includes a probability circuit which generates branch metrics using bit-wise probabilities representing frame-to-frame correlation relationships. The branch metrics are input to a decoder which outputs decoded data bits as a function of the bit-wise probabilities for at least predetermined bit positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Michael Nowack, Bruce Dale Mueller
  • Patent number: 6111923
    Abstract: A system and method for calculating survivor metrics in a Viterbi equalizer of a receiver, such as a receiver operative to receive a PSK-modulated signal, for example, a .pi./4, differential, phase-shift-keying, modulated signal. The state transition metric, defined as a function of two successive states, is converted into a function defined by pairwise differences between allowable symbols of a PSK-modulated signal. When operative to receive the .pi./4 DQPSK-modulated signal, the number of calculations required to calculate state transition metrics is reduced significantly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2000
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce Dale Mueller, David Edward Borth, Kevin Lynn Baum
  • Patent number: 6058106
    Abstract: A network protocol method (300), access point device (600) and peripheral devices (700, 800) provide an efficient centrally coordinated peer-to-peer wireless communications network wherein the access point device: (1) broadcasts a block assignment that specifies a wireless source peripheral device and a wireless destination peripheral device; (2) receives, from the wireless destination peripheral device, sequence information; (3) determines whether the sequence information represents one of: a negative acknowledgment and a positive acknowledgment with a sequence number; (4) forwards an acknowledgment to the wireless source peripheral based on the sequence information, and repeats steps (1)-(4) until N blocks of data, N a predetermined integer, have been transferred from the wireless source peripheral to the wireless destination peripheral.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 1997
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2000
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Conrad Cudak, Bruce Dale Mueller, James Robert Kelton, Brian Keith Classon
  • Patent number: 5752183
    Abstract: A method and apparatus reduce power consumption in a subscriber unit of a communication system. The subscriber unit has a processor (10) for processing non-voice messages received from the communication system. The method includes the steps of receiving a communication signal (18) at the subscriber unit, detecting a presence or an absence of non-voice messages (20) in the communication signal, and disabling the processor (24) in response to detecting the absence of non-voice messages in the communication signal. The apparatus includes a receiver (12), a message detector (14) and a controller (16) for carrying out the foregoing steps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 12, 1998
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce Dale Mueller, Michael Russell Mannette, James Robert Kelton
  • Patent number: 5640396
    Abstract: A method of synchronizing a fixed access unit (16) into a time division multiple access (TDMA) system (10). The method includes the steps of receiving a first timing advance channel time slot (86) at the fixed access unit (16), sending a message advanced in time by an offset value over a second time slot (88), receiving an acknowledgment from the TDMA system (10) that the message was received, and advancing a subsequently transmitted communication based on the offset value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 17, 1997
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Conrad Cudak, James Robert Kelton, Bruce Dale Mueller
  • Patent number: 5334095
    Abstract: A mechanical rotary coupler for first and second coral shafts having slotted ends proximate one another, the coupler being formed of an elongated blade of resilient material longitudinally slit and folded on itself transverse to the slit to provide first and second resilient V-shaped strips connected by bridging portions at the ends of the blade, the strips respectively being adapted to engage the slots in the ends of the first and second shafts at regions on the strips spaced from the bridging portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 1993
    Date of Patent: August 2, 1994
    Inventors: George J. Colling, Dale A. Mueller
  • Patent number: 4684060
    Abstract: A furnace fan control for providing operation of the fan after the termination of the furnace burner in an adaptive manner to provide for longer fan operations after the burner turns OFF, as the burner ON time increases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 1986
    Date of Patent: August 4, 1987
    Assignee: Honeywell Inc.
    Inventors: John T. Adams, Dale A. Mueller
  • Patent number: 4502625
    Abstract: A furnace control apparatus for a downflow forced warm air furnace uses a microprocessor and thermostat to initiate and control the start-up of the furnace. During the initial start-up operation, the microprocessor receives an input signal from the thermostat indicative of the need for a furnace operation and produces an output signal for controlling, in combination with the thermostat which responds to the temperature of the space to be heated, an actuation of a gas valve to supply gas to the furnace. Subsequently, an analog temperature sensor in an air supply duct is used to supply another input signal through an analog-to-digital converter to the microprocessor representative of the air temperature in the duct. The microprocessor stores the value of the air temperature following the start-up of the burner and subsequently turns on an air circulator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1983
    Date of Patent: March 5, 1985
    Assignee: Honeywell Inc.
    Inventor: Dale A. Mueller
  • Patent number: 4407138
    Abstract: A defrost control system for a reverse cycle refrigeration system wherein the outdoor coil is defrosted as a function of the operation of a demand type control for initiating the defrost mode of operation. The control system further includes a means for monitoring the frequency of defrost cycles. If too frequent defrosting is detected then the demand system is overriden and subsequent defrosting occurs only after the heat pump has been operating in the normal heating mode of operation for a predetermined length of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1981
    Date of Patent: October 4, 1983
    Assignee: Honeywell Inc.
    Inventor: Dale A. Mueller
  • Patent number: 4373349
    Abstract: A defrost control system for a reverse cycle refrigeration system wherein the outdoor coil is defrosted when outdoor coil temperature is equal to or less than the product of a preselected constant N.sub.1 and the outdoor air temperature and controller means are provided to calculate a new value of N.sub.1 after each defrost operation, the calculation being based on stabilized values of outdoor air temperature and outdoor coil temperature for clear coil conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1981
    Date of Patent: February 15, 1983
    Assignee: Honeywell Inc.
    Inventor: Dale A. Mueller
  • Patent number: 4352079
    Abstract: A high voltage transformer is formed by a unitary core mounting a primary winding being inserted in a cavity of a bobbin that mounts the secondary winding. The secondary winding is placed in alternate bays of a multibay structure to isolate the windings from one another to avoid high potential breakdown. The assembly is complete by the mounting of the core within the cavity of the bobbin, but can be supplemented by covering the entire unit with a protective housing that further aids in mounting the transformer to an insulating surface, such as a printed wiring board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 1981
    Date of Patent: September 28, 1982
    Assignee: Honeywell Inc.
    Inventors: Dale A. Mueller, Timothy P. Sperry
  • Patent number: 4332141
    Abstract: A control system for a refrigeration system for controlling the defrosting of one of the heat exchange coils thereof; the control system comprising a nozzle element positioned adjacent to one side of the evaporator coil at a point where frost may build up on the evaporator coil; compressed air means connected to the nozzle through valve means and controllable to selectively permit air to be discharged from a nozzle against the coil; air flow sensor means positioned on the other side of the evaporator coil in register with a nozzle, the sensor means including switch means adapted to be actuated upon said sensor being impacted by a stream of air; and controller means adapted to periodically actuate the valve means so as to cause periodic pulses of air to flow from the nozzle through the evaporator coil, said controller further functioning to place the system into a defrost mode of operation upon said sensor switch means being unactuated for a period of time exceeding the cycle period of the actuation of the val
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 1980
    Date of Patent: June 1, 1982
    Assignee: Honeywell Inc.
    Inventors: Dale A. Mueller, Robert T. Ruminsky, Stephen L. Serber, Rodger C. Wolfgram