Patents by Inventor Preston Gilmer

Preston Gilmer 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: 20180023826
    Abstract: Methods and systems for setting up HVAC controllers for a particular installation site are disclosed. In an example, an HVAC controller may be configured to control at least part of an HVAC system in accordance with an algorithm that includes equipment information pertaining to operation of the specific HVAC equipment forming the HVAC system as well as comfort information such as desired temperatures. In some cases, the HVAC controller may be configured to enable display of certain of the equipment information in a read-only fashion, and in some cases, certain of the equipment information that would be of interest to an building inspector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2016
    Publication date: January 25, 2018
    Inventors: Jaymeson Tucker, John B. Amundson, Preston Gilmer, Sriharsha Putrevu
  • Publication number: 20170234566
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates generally to systems, methods and tools for coordinating the activities of a contractor and a user during a setup process of a building control system. In some instances, an application program for a mobile device may provide contractors and users with different user experiences when configuring a building device, where the contractor is provided with additional features and functionality.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2016
    Publication date: August 17, 2017
    Inventors: Riley Gerszewski, Preston Gilmer, David Quam, George Mcleod, Sriharsha Putrevu
  • Publication number: 20170234569
    Abstract: A wall mountable connector configured to facilitate a user in removing a first thermostat from the wall mountable connector and installing a new, different second thermostat on the wall mountable connector without having to do any wiring work. The field wires remain coupled to the wall mountable connector, and the wall mountable connector provides the appropriate electrical connections between the field wires and the first and second thermostats. In some cases, the wall mountable connector may include a memory for storing data communicated by a first thermostat, and to communicate the stored data to a subsequently installed second thermostat. In some instances, the first and second thermostats may be selected from a line of compatible thermostats.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2016
    Publication date: August 17, 2017
    Inventors: David J. Emmons, Travis Read, Tarik Khoury, Jaromir Cechak, Preston Gilmer
  • Publication number: 20170237210
    Abstract: A wall mountable connector to provide mechanical and electrical connections for a thermostat. The wall mountable connector may include a field wire receiving cavity, with a first column of wiring terminals and a second column of wiring terminals, with each of the wiring terminals configured to receive a field wire. Each of a first column of pin terminals may be electrically coupled with each of the first column of wiring terminals and each of a second column of pin terminals may be electrically coupled with each of the second column of wiring terminals. In some cases, the first column of pin terminals may be spaced a distance of 3 to 20 millimeters from a first side edge of the housing, and the second column of pin terminals may be spaced a distance of 3 to 20 millimeters from an opposing second side edge of the housing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2016
    Publication date: August 17, 2017
    Inventors: Travis Read, David J. Emmons, Preston Gilmer, John Amundson, Heidi Finch, Eric Barton, Jiri Sapak
  • Publication number: 20170234558
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates generally to systems, methods and tools for coordinating the activities of a contractor and a user during a setup process of a building control system. In some instances, a contractor may install a building device and then partially configure the building device. The contractor may then leave a message at the building device for a customer. The message may including an instruction on how the customer can take action to further configure the building device. In some cases, the message may include an electronic message displayed on a display of the building device. In some cases, the message may be on a cling that is releasably secured to a face of the building device and/or may be on a hang tag that is releasably secured to the building device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2016
    Publication date: August 17, 2017
    Inventors: Riley Gerszewski, David Quam, George Mcleod, Sriharsha Putrevu, Preston Gilmer
  • Publication number: 20170237576
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates generally to systems, methods and tools for coordinating the activities of a contractor and a user during a setup process of a building control system. In some instances, a contractor may install a building device and then partially configure the building device. The contractor may then send an invite, such as an electronic invite, to a customer that invites the customer to complete the configuration of the installed building device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2016
    Publication date: August 17, 2017
    Inventors: Riley Gerszewski, David Quam, George Mcleod, Sriharsha Putrevu, Preston Gilmer
  • Patent number: 9735518
    Abstract: A wall mountable connector to provide mechanical and electrical connections for a thermostat. The wall mountable connector may include a field wire receiving cavity, with a first column of wiring terminals and a second column of wiring terminals, with each of the wiring terminals configured to receive a field wire. Each of a first column of pin terminals may be electrically coupled with each of the first column of wiring terminals and each of a second column of pin terminals may be electrically coupled with each of the second column of wiring terminals. In some cases, the first column of pin terminals may be spaced a distance of 3 to 20 millimeters from a first side edge of the housing, and the second column of pin terminals may be spaced a distance of 3 to 20 millimeters from an opposing second side edge of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Travis Read, David J Emmons, Preston Gilmer, John Amundson, Heidi Finch, Eric Barton, Jiri Sapak
  • Publication number: 20150369503
    Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be controlled by an HVAC control system. The HVAC control system may include a communications block, a controller and a user interface. The communications block may receive sensed data from sensing devices located within spaces of a building. The sensing devices may be located at different spaced sensor locations within the building. The controller may receive the sensed data from the communications block and based, at least in part, on the received sensed, determine recommended setting changes to the HVAC control system. The user interface may display the recommended setting changes to a user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2015
    Publication date: December 24, 2015
    Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer, David Emmons
  • Publication number: 20150369507
    Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be zoned into one or more zone. The HVAC system may include HVAC components, sensors, and one or more register vents that may include vent dampers (e.g., electronically controllable vent dampers or manually operated vent dampers). Opening and closing of the vent dampers may facilitate creating zones or sub-zones in the HVAC system configuration. An HVAC control system may receive a request for conditioned air in one or more of the zones, determine a damper setting for at least one of the vent dampers, communicate the determined damper setting to a vent damper or user interface, determine which HVAC components should be active, if any, and/or provide controls signals to activate or keep active the HVAC components that are determined to be active.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2015
    Publication date: December 24, 2015
    Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer
  • Publication number: 20150369504
    Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be zoned into one or more zone. The HVAC system may include one or more register vents that may include vent dampers. The HVAC system may be controlled by an HVAC control system including a communications port or block, a controller operatively coupled to the communications block, and a user interface. The controller may receive sensed data received at the communications block from sensors of the HVAC system. Based, at least in part, on the received sensed data, the controller my determine recommended settings for at least one of the manually adjustable register vent dampers and display the recommended settings on the user interface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2015
    Publication date: December 24, 2015
    Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer, David Emmons
  • Publication number: 20150370927
    Abstract: A system for developing HVAC system configurations for a building may develop suggested HVAC system configurations based, at least in part, on obtained building information. A user interface may accept building information that at least partially defines an interior or exterior of a building. The building information may include, among other information, current HVAC system configuration information for an HVAC system of the building including current locations of register vents within the building. A processing module in communication with the user interface may determine one or more suggested HVAC system configurations based, at least in part, on building information accepted at the user interface. The user interface may display the suggested one or more HVAC system configurations to a user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2015
    Publication date: December 24, 2015
    Inventors: James Flaherty, Nathaniel D. Kraft, Preston Gilmer, David Emmons
  • Publication number: 20150053781
    Abstract: An HVAC controller may be controlled in response to a natural language audio message that is not recognizable by the HVAC controller as a command, where the natural language audio message is translated into a command recognizable by the HVAC controller. The HVAC controller may be a thermostat including a housing that houses a temperature sensor, a microphone, and a controller. The controller may identify a trigger phrase in an audio stream provided by the microphone. In response to identifying the trigger phrase, the controller initiates processing of the audio stream to identify a command following the trigger phrase and to generate a command understandable by the thermostat that instructs the controller to perform the identified command. The controller then executes the generated command understandable by the thermostat. A user may communicate with the thermostat via the microphone of the thermostat and/or a remote device having a microphone.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2014
    Publication date: February 26, 2015
    Inventors: Jay Nelson, David Bures, Petr Kasparik, Soumitri Kolavennu, Roman Konecny, Amit Kulkarni, Daniel Becvar, Martin Adamek, Juraj Buno, Steven Hoglund, Libor Horky, Jan Malek, Adam Nemcek, Martin Skala, Tomas Losak, Josef Novotny, Thomas Gessner, Preston Gilmer, Ix Ix, Hari Thiruvengada, Christopher Goh, Robert D. Juntunen, David Mulhouse, Bas Timmers
  • Publication number: 20150053780
    Abstract: An HVAC controller may be controlled in response to a natural language audio message that is not recognizable by the HVAC controller as a command, where the natural language audio message is translated into a command recognizable by the HVAC controller. The HVAC controller may be a thermostat and may include a housing that at least partially houses a control module, a microphone, a speaker, a display, and a voice recognition module. The voice recognition module recognizes a predetermined audible trigger from a recorded voice message or streamed voice message, and in response, provide one or more audio clips via the speaker and/or video clips via the display to assist users in operating the thermostat. A user may communicate with the thermostat via the thermostat and/or a remote device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2014
    Publication date: February 26, 2015
    Inventors: Jay Nelson, Hari Thiruvengada, Preston Gilmer, Thomas Gessner, Martin Adamek, Martin Skala, Juraj Buno, Soumitri Kolavennu, Max Peterschmidt, Libor Horky