Patents by Inventor David A. Eckhardt

David A. Eckhardt 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: 20240053018
    Abstract: Pellet grills including a control system that implements, manages, and/or controls various ignition-based protocols are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes a cooking chamber, a burn pot, an ignitor, and a controller. The ignitor extends into the burn pot and is configured to ignite pellet fuel located within the burn pot. The controller is configured to detect a temperature pattern of the cooking chamber corresponding to a flame out condition of the burn pot. The controller is further configured, in response to detecting the temperature pattern, to command the ignitor to activate during a first duration. The controller is further configured to determine, following expiration of the first duration, whether a temperature of the cooking chamber increased during the first duration. The controller is further configured, in response to determining that the temperature has not increased during the first duration, to command the ignitor to activate during a second duration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2023
    Publication date: February 15, 2024
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, Ethan Albrecht, David Eckhardt, Laasya P. Vadlamani
  • Patent number: 11885499
    Abstract: Pellet grills including a control system that implements, manages, and/or controls various ignition-based protocols and/or processes are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes a cooking chamber, a burn pot, an ignitor, and a controller. The ignitor extends into the burn pot and is configured to ignite pellet fuel located within the burn pot. The controller is configured to command the ignitor to activate during a first duration. The controller is further configured to determine, following expiration of the first duration, whether a temperature of the cooking chamber has reached a threshold temperature. The controller is further configured, in response to determining that the temperature has not reached the threshold temperature, to command the ignitor to activate during a second duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Weber-Stephen Products LLC
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, Ethan Albrecht, David Eckhardt, Laasya P. Vadlamani
  • Publication number: 20230204216
    Abstract: Pellet grills including a control system that implements, manages, and/or controls various ignition-based protocols and/or processes are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes a cooking chamber, a burn pot, an ignitor, and a controller. The ignitor extends into the burn pot and is configured to ignite pellet fuel located within the burn pot. The controller is configured to command the ignitor to activate during a first duration. The controller is further configured to determine, following expiration of the first duration, whether a temperature of the cooking chamber has reached a threshold temperature. The controller is further configured, in response to determining that the temperature has not reached the threshold temperature, to command the ignitor to activate during a second duration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2023
    Publication date: June 29, 2023
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, Ethan Albrecht, David Eckhardt, Laasya P. Vadlamani
  • Patent number: 11624505
    Abstract: Pellet grills including a control system that implements, manages, and/or controls various ignition-based protocols and/or processes are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes a cooking chamber, a burn pot, an ignitor, and a controller. The ignitor extends into the burn pot and is configured to ignite pellet fuel located within the burn pot. The controller is configured to command the ignitor to activate during a first duration. The controller is further configured to determine, following expiration of the first duration, whether a temperature of the cooking chamber has reached a threshold temperature. The controller is further configured, in response to determining that the temperature has not reached the threshold temperature, to command the ignitor to activate during a second duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: WEBER-STEPHEN PRODUCTS LLC
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, Ethan Albrecht, David Eckhardt, Laasya P. Vadlamani
  • Patent number: 11371712
    Abstract: Pellet grills and associated methods of operation are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes a burn pot configured to combust pellet fuel received within the burn pot. The pellet grill further includes an auger configured to deliver the pellet fuel to the burn pot. The pellet grill further includes an auger motor operatively coupled to the auger. The pellet grill further includes one or more processors configured to determine whether a shutdown sequence of the pellet grill has been initiated. The one or more processors are further configured, in response to determining that the shutdown sequence has been initiated, to command the auger motor to reverse a direction of rotation of the auger. The reversal is to cause pellet fuel which the auger has not yet delivered to the burn pot to be purged in a direction away from the burn pot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: WEBER-STEPHEN PRODUCTS LLC
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, David Eckhardt
  • Patent number: 11359817
    Abstract: Pellet grills and associated methods of operation are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes a one or more processors configured to detect an improper shutdown of a control system of the pellet grill. The one or more processors are further configured to generate a notification in response to the control system regaining power following detection of the improper shutdown, the notification indicating that the control system was improperly shutdown. The one or more processors are further configured to cause the notification to be presented at a user interface of the pellet grill.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: WEBER-STEPHEN PRODUCTS LLC
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, David Eckhardt
  • Patent number: 11248799
    Abstract: Pellet grills and associated methods of operation are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes a main body defining a cooking chamber. The example pellet grill further includes a burn pot located within the main body. The burn pot includes an upper end, a lower end located opposite the upper end, and a sidewall extending between the upper end and the lower end. The sidewall has an opening. The example pellet grill further includes an ignitor extending into the burn pot through the opening of the sidewall. The example pellet grill further includes an ignitor carrier removably coupled to the ignitor. The ignitor carrier extends away from the burn pot and is accessible from outside the main body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: WEBER-STEPHEN PRODUCTS LLC
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, Ethan Albrecht, David Eckhardt, David A. Larson
  • Patent number: 11248801
    Abstract: Pellet grills and associated methods of operation are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes an ignitor configured to be activated. The ignitor has a duty cycle associated with a number of activations of the ignitor. The example pellet grill further includes one or more processors configured to determine whether the duty cycle has violated a threshold. The one or more processors are further configured, in response to determining that the duty cycle has violated the threshold, to generate a notification indicating that the threshold has been violated. The one or more processors are further configured to cause the notification to be presented at a user interface of the pellet grill.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: WEBER-STEPHEN PRODUCTS LLC
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, David Eckhardt
  • Publication number: 20210293413
    Abstract: Pellet grills including a control system that implements, manages, and/or controls various ignition-based protocols and/or processes are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes a cooking chamber, a burn pot, an ignitor, and a controller. The ignitor extends into the burn pot and is configured to ignite pellet fuel located within the burn pot. The controller is configured to command the ignitor to activate during a first duration. The controller is further configured to determine, following expiration of the first duration, whether a temperature of the cooking chamber has reached a threshold temperature. The controller is further configured, in response to determining that the temperature has not reached the threshold temperature, to command the ignitor to activate during a second duration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 10, 2020
    Publication date: September 23, 2021
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, Ethan Albrecht, David Eckhardt, Laasya P. Vadlamani
  • Publication number: 20200237153
    Abstract: Pellet grills and associated methods of operation are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes a burn pot configured to combust pellet fuel received within the burn pot. The pellet grill further includes an auger configured to deliver the pellet fuel to the burn pot. The pellet grill further includes an auger motor operatively coupled to the auger. The pellet grill further includes one or more processors configured to determine whether a shutdown sequence of the pellet grill has been initiated. The one or more processors are further configured, in response to determining that the shutdown sequence has been initiated, to command the auger motor to reverse a direction of rotation of the auger. The reversal is to cause pellet fuel which the auger has not yet delivered to the burn pot to be purged in a direction away from the burn pot.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Publication date: July 30, 2020
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, David Eckhardt
  • Publication number: 20200237150
    Abstract: Pellet grills and associated methods of operation are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes an ignitor configured to be activated. The ignitor has a duty cycle associated with a number of activations of the ignitor. The example pellet grill further includes one or more processors configured to determine whether the duty cycle has violated a threshold. The one or more processors are further configured, in response to determining that the duty cycle has violated the threshold, to generate a notification indicating that the threshold has been violated. The one or more processors are further configured to cause the notification to be presented at a user interface of the pellet grill.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Publication date: July 30, 2020
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, David Eckhardt
  • Publication number: 20200237148
    Abstract: Pellet grills and associated methods of operation are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes an auger and an auger motor operatively coupled to the auger. The example pellet grill further includes one or more processors configured to determine whether the auger is jammed. The one or more processors are further configured, in response to determining that the auger is jammed, to command the auger motor to modify a direction of rotation of the auger.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Publication date: July 30, 2020
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, David Eckhardt
  • Publication number: 20200237149
    Abstract: Pellet grills and associated methods of operation are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes a main body defining a cooking chamber. The example pellet grill further includes a burn pot located within the main body. The burn pot includes an upper end, a lower end located opposite the upper end, and a sidewall extending between the upper end and the lower end. The sidewall has an opening. The example pellet grill further includes an ignitor extending into the burn pot through the opening of the sidewall. The example pellet grill further includes an ignitor carrier removably coupled to the ignitor. The ignitor carrier extends away from the burn pot and is accessible from outside the main body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Publication date: July 30, 2020
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, Ethan Albrecht, David Eckhardt, David A. Larson
  • Publication number: 20200237154
    Abstract: Pellet grills and associated methods of operation are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes a one or more processors configured to detect an improper shutdown of a control system of the pellet grill. The one or more processors are further configured to generate a notification in response to the control system regaining power following detection of the improper shutdown, the notification indicating that the control system was improperly shutdown. The one or more processors are further configured to cause the notification to be presented at a user interface of the pellet grill.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Publication date: July 30, 2020
    Inventors: Brian C. Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, David Eckhardt
  • Patent number: 8667001
    Abstract: A distributed database system has multiple compute nodes each running an instance of a database management system (DBMS) program that accesses database records in a local buffer cache. Records are persistently stored in distributed flash memory on multiple storage nodes. A Sharing Data Fabric (SDF) is a middleware layer between the DBMS programs and the storage nodes and has API functions called by the DBMS programs when a requested record is not present in the local buffer cache. The SDF fetches the requested record from flash memory and loads a copy into the local buffer cache. The SDF has threads on a home storage node that locate database records using a node map. A global cache directory locks and pins records to local buffer caches for updating by a node's DBMS program. DBMS operations are grouped into transactions that are committed or aborted together as a unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Sandisk Enterprise IP LLC
    Inventors: Darpan Dinker, Andrew David Eckhardt, Darryl Manabu Ouye, Brian Walter O'Krafka, Earl T. Cohen, Thomas M. McWilliams
  • Publication number: 20120259889
    Abstract: A distributed database system has multiple compute nodes each running an instance of a database management system (DBMS) program that accesses database records in a local buffer cache. Records are persistently stored in distributed flash memory on multiple storage nodes. A Sharing Data Fabric (SDF) is a middleware layer between the DBMS programs and the storage nodes and has API functions called by the DBMS programs when a requested record is not present in the local buffer cache. The SDF fetches the requested record from flash memory and loads a copy into the local buffer cache. The SDF has threads on a home storage node that locate database records using a node map. A global cache directory locks and pins records to local buffer caches for updating by a node's DBMS program. DBMS operations are grouped into transactions that are committed or aborted together as a unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2012
    Publication date: October 11, 2012
    Inventors: Darpan Dinker, Andrew David Eckhardt, Darryl Manabu Ouye, Brian Walter O'Krafka, Earl T. Cohen, Thomas M. McWilliams
  • Patent number: 8229945
    Abstract: A distributed database system has multiple compute nodes each running an instance of a database management system (DBMS) program that accesses database records in a local buffer cache. Records are persistently stored in distributed flash memory on multiple storage nodes. A Sharing Data Fabric (SDF) is a middleware layer between the DBMS programs and the storage nodes and has API functions called by the DBMS programs when a requested record is not present in the local buffer cache. The SDF fetches the requested record from flash memory and loads a copy into the local buffer cache. The SDF has threads on a home storage node that locate database records using a node map. A global cache directory locks and pins records to local buffer caches for updating by a node's DBMS program. DBMS operations are grouped into transactions that are committed or aborted together as a unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: Schooner Information Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Darpan Dinker, Andrew David Eckhardt, Darryl Manabu Ouye, Brian Walter O'Krafka, Earl T. Cohen, Thomas M. McWilliams
  • Publication number: 20090240664
    Abstract: A distributed database system has multiple compute nodes each running an instance of a database management system (DBMS) program that accesses database records in a local buffer cache. Records are persistently stored in distributed flash memory on multiple storage nodes. A Sharing Data Fabric (SDF) is a middleware layer between the DBMS programs and the storage nodes and has API functions called by the DBMS programs when a requested record is not present in the local buffer cache. The SDF fetches the requested record from flash memory and loads a copy into the local buffer cache. The SDF has threads on a home storage node that locate database records using a node map. A global cache directory locks and pins records to local buffer caches for updating by a node's DBMS program. DBMS operations are grouped into transactions that are committed or aborted together as a unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 24, 2008
    Publication date: September 24, 2009
    Applicant: Schooner Information Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Darpan Dinker, Andrew David Eckhardt, Darryl Manabu Ouye, Brian Walter O'Krafka, Earl T. Cohen, Thomas M. McWilliams
  • Patent number: 6158899
    Abstract: A solution to the problem of I/O card faults caused by spurious RF energy induced by ESD related currents in the vicinity of an aperture in a chassis is to reduce the efficiency of the radiating antenna created by the aperture and decouple any remaining spurious RF energy from any would-be receiving antenna in the I/O card. A conductive boot covers the I/O cable as it emerges from the chassis. The boot is physically attached and AC coupled (as well as probably ohmically connected) to the chassis at one end and tapers down to a small aperture at a distal end to permit egress of the I/O cable. The aperture at the distal end is considerable smaller than the aperture at the chassis, which is no longer visible to ESD induced currents anyway, since its edge has been replaced by the surface of the boot. The smaller aperture is a less efficient antenna at the frequencies of interest and it is now further removed from components that might act as receiving antennae.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2000
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company
    Inventors: Ronald K Arp, Matthias A Lester, David A Eckhardt
  • Patent number: 5619502
    Abstract: A communication subsystem is disclosed including a static scheduler and a dynamic scheduler. The static scheduler accesses a scheduling list that specifies either a virtual circuit or a dynamic scheduling indication for each cell slot on a communication link. The static scheduler selects the virtual circuit specified by the scheduling list if the scheduling list specifies the virtual circuit for the cell slot and the dynamic scheduler selects a virtual circuit from a dynamic scheduling list for transfer of the outbound communication cell if the scheduling list specifies the dynamic scheduling indication for the cell slot. The communication subsystem also includes a counter that counts if an idle communication cell is transferred over the communication link due to an underrun such that the virtual circuit specified by the dynamic scheduling list is skipped if the counter indicates the underrun.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 8, 1997
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Kevin Kahn, David Eckhardt