Patents by Inventor Steven L. Wolff
Steven L. Wolff 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).
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Patent number: 11674700Abstract: A humidifier includes a container for containing a fluid; a cartridge for nebulizing the fluid, the cartridge configured to be fixed inside the container, the cartridge including a cartridge housing including a bottom side that is configured to contact a bottom of the container, a top side opposite to the bottom side; a back side; a front side; a left side; and a right side; and a handle on the top side of the cartridge housing, the handle projecting upward and away from the cartridge housing.Type: GrantFiled: May 6, 2020Date of Patent: June 13, 2023Assignee: Ademco Inc.Inventors: Brett Vandenbussche, Tarik Khoury, Steven L Wolff, Pavel Marak, Jonathan Erbacher
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Publication number: 20210348778Abstract: A humidifier includes a container for containing a fluid; a cartridge for nebulizing the fluid, the cartridge configured to be fixed inside the container, the cartridge including a cartridge housing including a bottom side that is configured to contact a bottom of the container, a top side opposite to the bottom side; a back side; a front side; a left side; and a right side; and a handle on the top side of the cartridge housing, the handle projecting upward and away from the cartridge housing.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 6, 2020Publication date: November 11, 2021Inventors: Brett Vandenbussche, Tarik Khoury, Steven L. Wolff, Pavel Marak, Jonathan Erbacher
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Publication number: 20210293420Abstract: In some examples, a device is configured to add moisture to an air stream of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system configured to regulate one or more parameters of a space within a building. The device includes a housing that defines at least part of an air path, where the air path is configured to carry the moisture to the air stream of the HVAC system, where the housing includes a bottom housing formed as a single unit and a top housing configured to be attached to the bottom housing.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 19, 2020Publication date: September 23, 2021Inventor: Steven L Wolff
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Patent number: 10941960Abstract: An HVAC actuator configured to actuate an HVAC component may include a rotatable output shaft having a range of rotation between a first end position and a second end position, a drive mechanism configured to selectively drive the output shaft, and a housing for housing the drive mechanism. The HVAC actuator may include a position indicator viewable from a front side of the housing that moves as the output shaft is rotated such that the position indicator indicates a current position of the output shaft. The position indicator may include an indicator wheel that is directly coupled to the output shaft of the HVAC actuator and may rotate with the output shaft. The indicator wheel may have one or more markings that move with the indicator wheel. The one or more markings may include a line extending in a radial direction from a rotation axis of the indicator wheel.Type: GrantFiled: December 18, 2013Date of Patent: March 9, 2021Assignee: Ademco Inc.Inventors: Jack Du, David J. Emmons, Steven L. Wolff, Stephane Joseph Pierre Beland, Kevin Graebel, Bin Wang, Jie Zhang
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Patent number: 10760816Abstract: An illustrative damper system includes a damper blade that is configured to be positioned within a duct, such as a bypass duct of an HVAC system. A shaft is in communication with the damper blade, and an actuator or force adjustment mechanism is in communication with the shaft. The actuator or force adjustment mechanism may include a housing and a spring therein, where the spring is in communication with the shaft. The shaft, the damper blade, and the spring may be configured such that the shaft may affect movement of the damper blade about a rotation axis offset from a diametrical axis of the damper blade.Type: GrantFiled: August 15, 2017Date of Patent: September 1, 2020Assignee: Ademco Inc.Inventors: Pavel Marak, Steven L. Wolff, David J. Emmons, Eric Barton
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Patent number: 10697554Abstract: An illustrative damper system includes a damper blade that is configured to be positioned within a duct, such as a bypass duct of an HVAC system. A shaft is in communication with the damper blade, a torsion spring is in communication with the shaft, and a force adjustment mechanism is in communication with the torsion spring. The shaft, the damper blade, and the torsion spring may be configured such that the shaft may affect movement of the damper blade about a rotation axis and the torsion spring may provide a bias force to the shaft for biasing the damper blade toward a desired position (e.g. closed position).Type: GrantFiled: April 4, 2019Date of Patent: June 30, 2020Assignee: Ademco Inc.Inventors: Pavel Marak, Steven L. Wolff, Paul Schwendinger, Eric Barton, David Emmons
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Patent number: 10490955Abstract: An electrical connector includes a housing having contact channels with electrical contacts received therein each having a poke-in spring beam configured to engage an electrical wire when poked-in to the housing. The electrical contact is movable between a resting position when no wire is present in the wire channel and a clearance position where the electrical contact allows the electrical wire to be removed from the wire channel. Pivot levers are held by the housing and are coupled to corresponding electrical contacts with a pivot end pivotably coupled to the housing and a push button end having a push button pressed to move the corresponding electrical contact to the clearance position. When the electrical wire is loaded into the wire channel, the electrical contact is positioned in a pinching position in which the spring beam pinches against the electrical wire in physical contact with the electrical wire.Type: GrantFiled: June 21, 2017Date of Patent: November 26, 2019Assignee: Ademco Inc.Inventors: David J. Emmons, Travis Read, Steven L. Wolff, Eric Barton, Ladislav Janovec
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Publication number: 20190249893Abstract: A thermostat that is configured to be releasably secured to a wall mountable connector, wherein the wall mountable connector includes a jumper switch that permits an installer or other professional to easily form an electrical connection between different wiring terminals of the wall mountable connector in accordance with how particular field wires are connected to the wiring terminals of the wall mountable connector. The thermostat is further configured to automatically determine the position of the jumper switch of the wall mountable connector, and in some cases, change the control of at least some functionality of the thermostat and/or HVAC equipment depending on the position of the jumper switch.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 14, 2019Publication date: August 15, 2019Inventors: Josef Novotny, Petr Adamik, Steven L. Wolff, Ladislav Janovec, Tomas Rezny, David J. Emmons, Michal Sicner, Jiri Sapak, Tarik Khoury
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Publication number: 20190234523Abstract: An illustrative damper system includes a damper blade that is configured to be positioned within a duct, such as a bypass duct of an HVAC system. A shaft is in communication with the damper blade, a torsion spring is in communication with the shaft, and a force adjustment mechanism is in communication with the torsion spring. The shaft, the damper blade, and the torsion spring may be configured such that the shaft may affect movement of the damper blade about a rotation axis and the torsion spring may provide a bias force to the shaft for biasing the damper blade toward a desired position (e.g. closed position).Type: ApplicationFiled: April 4, 2019Publication date: August 1, 2019Inventors: Pavel Marak, Steven L. Wolff, Paul Schwendinger, Eric Barton, David Emmons
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Patent number: 10302207Abstract: An illustrative damper system includes a damper blade that is configured to be positioned within a duct, such as a bypass duct of an HVAC system. A shaft is in communication with the damper blade, a torsion spring is in communication with the shaft, and a force adjustment mechanism is in communication with the torsion spring. The shaft, the damper blade, and the torsion spring may be configured such that the shaft may affect movement of the damper blade about a rotation axis and the torsion spring may provide a bias force to the shaft for biasing the damper blade toward a desired position (e.g. closed position).Type: GrantFiled: June 14, 2012Date of Patent: May 28, 2019Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.Inventors: Pavel Marak, Steven L. Wolff, Paul Schwendinger, Eric Barton, David James Emmons
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Patent number: 10208972Abstract: A thermostat that is configured to be releasably secured to a wall mountable connector, wherein the wall mountable connector includes a jumper switch that permits an installer or other professional to easily form an electrical connection between different wiring terminals of the wall mountable connector in accordance with how particular field wires are connected to the wiring terminals of the wall mountable connector. The thermostat is further configured to automatically determine the position of the jumper switch of the wall mountable connector, and in some cases, change the control of at least some functionality of the thermostat and/or HVAC equipment depending on the position of the jumper switch.Type: GrantFiled: February 12, 2016Date of Patent: February 19, 2019Assignee: Ademco Inc.Inventors: Josef Novotny, Petr Adamik, Steven L. Wolff, Ladislav Janovec, Tomas Rezny, David J. Emmons, Michal Sicner, Jiri Sapak, Tarik Khoury
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Patent number: 10190799Abstract: An illustrative damper system includes a damper blade that is configured to be positioned within a duct, such as a bypass duct of an HVAC system. A shaft is in communication with the damper blade, and an actuator or force adjustment mechanism is in communication with the shaft. The actuator or force adjustment mechanism may include a housing and a spring therein, where the spring is in communication with the shaft. The shaft, the damper blade, and the spring may be configured such that the shaft may affect movement of the damper blade about a rotation axis offset from a diametrical axis of the damper blade.Type: GrantFiled: May 1, 2017Date of Patent: January 29, 2019Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.Inventors: Pavel Marak, Steven L. Wolff, David J. Emmons, Eric Barton
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Patent number: 10054326Abstract: A wall mountable connector may be secured to a wall in order to provide mechanical and electrical connections to a thermostat. In some cases, the wall mountable connector and the thermostat may, in combination, be configured to permit the thermostat to attach to the wall mountable connector only when the thermostat is in a particular orientation relative to the wall mountable connector. In some cases, the wall mountable connector includes a plurality of pin terminals that are configured to accommodate a plurality of pins extending from the thermostat. The interaction between the pins and the pin terminals may provide a lock and key arrangement between the wall mountable connector and the thermostat.Type: GrantFiled: February 12, 2016Date of Patent: August 21, 2018Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.Inventors: David J. Emmons, Travis Read, Eric Barton, Steven L. Wolff, Sriharsha Putrevu
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Patent number: 9960581Abstract: An adapter plate may be used to secure a wall mountable connector to a junction box by engaging mounting features of the wall mountable connector. In some cases, the wall mountable connector may be directly secured to a wall via fasteners that extend through the same mounting features of the wall mountable connector. In some cases, the adapter plate may be configured such that the wall mountable connector can be secured to the adapter plate simply by pressing the wall mountable connector into position on the adapter plate, where mounting latches of the adapter plate engage the mounting apertures of the wall mountable connector. The wall mountable connector may be an HVAC wall mountable connector that provides an electrical connection between a plurality of field wires of an HVAC system and corresponding terminals of a removably mounted thermostat.Type: GrantFiled: February 12, 2016Date of Patent: May 1, 2018Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.Inventors: Ladislav Janovec, Steven L. Wolff, David .J Emmons, Tarik Khoury
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Patent number: 9941183Abstract: A wall mountable connector assembly with an optional wall covering plate is disclosed. The wall mountable connector provides electrical connections to each of a plurality of field wires and is configured to provide electrical connections to a thermostat secured to the wall mountable connector. The optional wall covering plate is configured to fit over the wall mountable connector and provide a pleasing appearance.Type: GrantFiled: February 12, 2016Date of Patent: April 10, 2018Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.Inventors: Travis Read, David J. Emmons, Steven L. Wolff, Eric Barton
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Publication number: 20180010821Abstract: An illustrative damper system includes a damper blade that is configured to be positioned within a duct, such as a bypass duct of an HVAC system. A shaft is in communication with the damper blade, and an actuator or force adjustment mechanism is in communication with the shaft. The actuator or force adjustment mechanism may include a housing and a spring therein, where the spring is in communication with the shaft. The shaft, the damper blade, and the spring may be configured such that the shaft may affect movement of the damper blade about a rotation axis offset from a diametrical axis of the damper blade.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 15, 2017Publication date: January 11, 2018Inventors: Pavel Marak, Steven L. Wolff, David J. Emmons, Eric Barton
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Publication number: 20170288347Abstract: An electrical connector includes a housing having contact channels with electrical contacts received therein each having a poke-in spring beam configured to engage an electrical wire when poked-in to the housing. The electrical contact is movable between a resting position when no wire is present in the wire channel and a clearance position where the electrical contact allows the electrical wire to be removed from the wire channel. Pivot levers are held by the housing and are coupled to corresponding electrical contacts with a pivot end pivotably coupled to the housing and a push button end having a push button pressed to move the corresponding electrical contact to the clearance position. When the electrical wire is loaded into the wire channel, the electrical contact is positioned in a pinching position in which the spring beam pinches against the electrical wire in physical contact with the electrical wire.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 21, 2017Publication date: October 5, 2017Inventors: David J. Emmons, Travis Read, Steven L. Wolff, Eric Barton, Ladislav Janovec
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Patent number: 9780511Abstract: A wall mountable connector for securing a thermostat to a wall may include a plurality of wiring terminals as well as structure enabling an installer or other person to easily electrically connect (e.g. jumper) two or more of the wiring terminals in order to accommodate different equipment installations. For example, in some cases there may be a desire to electrically connect (e.g. jumper) or disconnect certain wiring terminals that correspond to transformer input terminals, which in some equipment installations are intended to be independently powered while in others they are not. In some cases, the wall mountable connector may include a slider with a cam that selectively lifts a conductor to disconnect two or more wiring terminals. The wall mountable connector may also include structure that helps prevent electrically connecting field wires to particular wiring terminals in error, depending on the position of the slider.Type: GrantFiled: February 12, 2016Date of Patent: October 3, 2017Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.Inventors: Ladislav Janovec, David J. Emmons, Eric Barton, Steven L. Wolff
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Patent number: 9748708Abstract: An electrical connector includes a housing having contact channels with electrical contacts received therein each having a poke-in spring beam configured to engage an electrical wire when poked-in to the housing. The electrical contact is movable between a resting position when no wire is present in the wire channel and a clearance position where the electrical contact allows the electrical wire to be removed from the wire channel. Pivot levers are held by the housing and are coupled to corresponding electrical contacts with a pivot end pivotably coupled to the housing and a push button end having a push button pressed to move the corresponding electrical contact to the clearance position. When the electrical wire is loaded into the wire channel, the electrical contact is positioned in a pinching position in which the spring beam pinches against the electrical wire in physical contact with the electrical wire.Type: GrantFiled: October 14, 2014Date of Patent: August 29, 2017Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.Inventors: Matthew Edward Mostoller, Edward John Howard, Christopher George Daily, David J. Emmons, Travis Read, Steven L. Wolff, Eric Barton
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Publication number: 20170237246Abstract: An adapter plate may be used to secure a wall mountable connector to a junction box by engaging mounting features of the wall mountable connector. In some cases, the wall mountable connector may be directly secured to a wall via fasteners that extend through the same mounting features of the wall mountable connector. In some cases, the adapter plate may be configured such that the wall mountable connector can be secured to the adapter plate simply by pressing the wall mountable connector into position on the adapter plate, where mounting latches of the adapter plate engage the mounting apertures of the wall mountable connector. The wall mountable connector may be an HVAC wall mountable connector that provides an electrical connection between a plurality of field wires of an HVAC system and corresponding terminals of a removably mounted thermostat.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 12, 2016Publication date: August 17, 2017Inventors: Ladislav Janovec, Steven L. Wolff, David .J Emmons, Tarik Khoury