Patents by Inventor Kurt Devlin

Kurt Devlin 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: 10458687
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) system that includes a refrigerant loop, a compressor disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to circulate refrigerant through the refrigerant loop, and an evaporator disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to place the refrigerant in thermal communication with a cooling fluid, where the refrigerant surrounds a tube bundle disposed in the evaporator, the tube bundle is configured to flow the cooling fluid, and the evaporator has a height based at least on a target height of a liquid level of refrigerant in the evaporator, the evaporator includes a discharge configured to direct the vapor refrigerant from the evaporator to an inlet of the compressor, and an interface between the discharge and the inlet is without a bend.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Jay A. Kohler, Patrick Christian Marks, Ian Michael Casper, Kurt Devlin
  • Publication number: 20190128578
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) system that includes a refrigerant loop, a compressor disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to circulate refrigerant through the refrigerant loop, a heat exchanger disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to place the refrigerant in thermal communication with a cooling fluid flowing through tubes of a tube bundle within the heat exchanger, an inlet of the heat exchanger configured to direct the refrigerant into the heat exchanger, a trough of the heat exchanger configured to receive the refrigerant from the inlet, and a perforated baffle of the heat exchanger disposed downstream of the trough and configured to direct the refrigerant from the trough over the tubes of the tube bundle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2018
    Publication date: May 2, 2019
    Inventors: Jay A. Kohler, Patrick Christian Marks, Ian Michael Casper, Kurt Devlin
  • Patent number: 10088208
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) system that includes a refrigerant loop, a compressor disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to circulate refrigerant through the refrigerant loop, a heat exchanger disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to place the refrigerant in thermal communication with a cooling fluid flowing through tubes of a tube bundle within the heat exchanger, an inlet of the heat exchanger configured to direct the refrigerant into the heat exchanger, a trough of the heat exchanger configured to receive the refrigerant from the inlet, and a perforated baffle of the heat exchanger disposed downstream of the trough and configured to direct the refrigerant from the trough over the tubes of the tube bundle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Jay A. Kohler, Patrick Christian Marks, Ian Michael Casper, Kurt Devlin
  • Publication number: 20170191714
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) system that includes a refrigerant loop, a compressor disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to circulate refrigerant through the refrigerant loop, and an evaporator disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to place the refrigerant in thermal communication with a cooling fluid, where the refrigerant surrounds a tube bundle disposed in the evaporator, the tube bundle is configured to flow the cooling fluid, and the evaporator has a height based at least on a target height of a liquid level of refrigerant in the evaporator, the evaporator includes a discharge configured to direct the vapor refrigerant from the evaporator to an inlet of the compressor, and an interface between the discharge and the inlet is without a bend.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2017
    Publication date: July 6, 2017
    Inventors: Jay A. Kohler, Patrick Christian Marks, Ian Michael Casper, Kurt Devlin
  • Publication number: 20170191713
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) system that includes a refrigerant loop, a compressor disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to circulate refrigerant through the refrigerant loop, a heat exchanger disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to place the refrigerant in thermal communication with a cooling fluid flowing through tubes of a tube bundle within the heat exchanger, an inlet of the heat exchanger configured to direct the refrigerant into the heat exchanger, a trough of the heat exchanger configured to receive the refrigerant from the inlet, and a perforated baffle of the heat exchanger disposed downstream of the trough and configured to direct the refrigerant from the trough over the tubes of the tube bundle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2017
    Publication date: July 6, 2017
    Inventors: Jay A. Kohler, Patrick Christian Marks, Ian Michael Casper, Kurt Devlin
  • Publication number: 20170191718
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) system that includes a refrigerant loop, a compressor disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to circulate refrigerant through the refrigerant loop, an evaporator disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to evaporate the refrigerant into refrigerant vapor, a condenser disposed along the refrigerant loop and configured to condense the refrigerant vapor into liquid refrigerant, a first conduit fluidly coupling the evaporator and the condenser to one another, a first expansion valve disposed along the first conduit between the evaporator and the condenser, a second conduit fluidly coupling the evaporator and the condenser to one another, where the first conduit and the second conduit are separate from one another, and a second expansion valve disposed along the second conduit between the evaporator and the condenser.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2017
    Publication date: July 6, 2017
    Inventors: Jay A. Kohler, Patrick Christian Marks, Ian Michael Casper, Kurt Devlin