Patents by Inventor Thomas W. Rand

Thomas W. Rand 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: 10364992
    Abstract: A ventless fume hood is integrated with an oven to anticipate a conclusion of the cooking schedule executed by the oven and in this way to provide direct venting of the oven cavity before the oven door is opened. Proper venting of a multimode combination oven may be thereby performed and the door may be opened up immediately upon conclusion of the cooking schedule without the delay otherwise required to collect cooking fumes escaping through the partially open door.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: Alto-Shaam, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Janus Bartelick, Kim J. Menominee, Deborah E. Cukjati, J. K. Raghavan
  • Publication number: 20150059595
    Abstract: A ventless fume hood is integrated with an oven to anticipate a conclusion of the cooking schedule executed by the oven and in this way to provide direct venting of the oven cavity before the oven door is opened. Proper venting of a multimode combination oven may be thereby performed and the door may be opened up immediately upon conclusion of the cooking schedule without the delay otherwise required to collect cooking fumes escaping through the partially open door.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2013
    Publication date: March 5, 2015
    Applicant: Alto·Shaam, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Janus Bartelick, Kim J. Menominee, Deborah E. Cukjati, J.K. Raghavan
  • Patent number: 7878009
    Abstract: A cooling unit includes a cabinet with a cooling chamber, a refrigeration system including an evaporator mounted, a compressor, a condenser, and a controller for controlling the cooling unit. The controller has a memory, a processor and an output interface. The controller monitors at least one parameter of the cooling unit, logs in the memory data corresponding to the at least one parameter, and outputs the logged data via the output interface. The cooling unit can include a sensor that monitors a parameter that is logged in memory. The sensor can be a temperature sensor. The logged data can be compared to stored error conditions to detect whether an error condition has occurred. If an error condition has occurred, an error code is logged in memory and can be outputted via the output interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Andrew J. Doberstein, Thomas W. Rand
  • Patent number: 7874176
    Abstract: A drawer refrigerator has a partitioned cabinet with one or more pull-out drawers. The pull-out drawer(s) can have an adjustable divider fence for dividing the storage space of the drawer. The divider fence can have two dividers each defined by two spaced apart elongated rods that are coupled together at a hub and have end pieces with flat surfaces that abut inside surfaces of the drawer walls. A hand operated screw knob mounted to the hub can be used to lock the position of the divider fence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2011
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Philip J. Uihlein, Jennifer U. Straszewski, William A. Reed, Thomas W. Rand, Joseph E. Braun, Jack L. Vaughn, Andrew J. Doberstein, Ami M. Verhalen, Daniel R. Bullis, Jr.
  • Publication number: 20090133434
    Abstract: A drawer refrigerator has a partitioned cabinet with one or more pull-out drawers. The pull-out drawer(s) can have an adjustable divider fence for dividing the storage space of the drawer. The divider fence can have two dividers each defined by two spaced apart elongated rods that are coupled together at a hub and have end pieces with flat surfaces that abut inside surfaces of the drawer walls. A hand operated screw knob mounted to the hub can be used to lock the position of the divider fence.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2009
    Publication date: May 28, 2009
    Inventors: Philip J. Uihlein, Jennifer U. Straszewski, William A. Reed, Thomas W. Rand, Joseph E. Braun, Jack L. Vaughn, Andrew J. Doberstein, Ami M. Verhalen, Daniel R. Bullis, JR.
  • Patent number: 7464566
    Abstract: A cooler unit has a control housing that is mounted to a floor of a cabinet liner that is sloped in a downward direction toward the opening of the cooler unit. The control housing retains consumable items that are stored on the floor of the cabinet liner so that the items do not fall out of the cooler unit. Particularly, the control housing can retain wine bottles. The control housing houses a controller that controls the operation of the cooler unit. The control housing can include a display and user inputs so that a user can easily manage the cooler unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck, Jennifer U. Straszewski
  • Patent number: 7429091
    Abstract: A refrigeration unit with improved storage and accessibility features has a thermally insulated cabinet and door defining a storage space with a plurality of support elements. The support elements include easily removable door shelves and horizontal cabinet shelves that can be removed or repositioned without the door being fully opened due to dished regions adjacent the shelf supports that allow the shelves to be pivoted and removed rather than slid straight out of the cabinet. Indicia on one of the shelves follows the contour of one of the door shelves to indicate approximately the shelf space occupied by an adjacent door shelf and thus where items can be set without interfering with the closure of the door. The refrigeration unit also includes a cam assembly at the lower door hinge which biases the door closed when open approximately 35 degrees or less. The refrigeration unit also includes features for attaching an overlay panel to the door easily.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: William A. Reed, Thomas W. Rand, Joseph E. Braun, Andrew J. Doberstein, Lawrence D. Moye, Jack L. Vaughn, Jeffrey A. Ziminski
  • Publication number: 20080129167
    Abstract: A drawer refrigerator has a partitioned cabinet with one or more pull-out drawers. The pull-out drawer(s) can have an adjustable divider fence for dividing the storage space of the drawer. The divider fence can have two dividers each defined by two spaced apart elongated rods that are coupled together at a hub and have end pieces with flat surfaces that abut inside surfaces of the drawer walls. A hand operated screw knob mounted to the hub can be used to lock the position of the divider fence.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2007
    Publication date: June 5, 2008
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Jack L. Vaughn, Andrew J. Doberstein
  • Patent number: 7380410
    Abstract: A wine cooler unit has a refrigerated cabinet housing two pull-out assemblies, each having a door panel and one or more wine racks. One rack can be mounted to the door panel, and one or more follower racks can be extended and retracted by movement of the door panel mounted rack, or by independent manual movement thereof. Two or more racks can be pulled out from the cabinet in a staggered or cascading fashion in which an upper rack extends from the cabinet to a lesser extent than a next lower rack to provide access to the bottles on each rack. The door panels can be made of a glass thermopane allowing visual inspection of the contents inside the cabinet. The cabinet can be cooled by a refrigeration system having two evaporators, which provide two independent cooling zones, one for each pull-out assembly. A capacitance-operated control can be provided under the glass front of one door panel for controlling the temperature zones inside the cabinet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Lawrence D. Moye, Andrew J. Doberstein, Jack L. Vaughn
  • Publication number: 20080092569
    Abstract: A cooling unit apparatus and method for controlling a defrost cycle using a multi-parameter defrost control system. The unit includes a refrigeration assembly with a compressor and an evaporator, a defrost temperature sensor that senses a temperature related to the defrost cycle, a controller configured to control a defrost cycle based on an elapsed defrost time and the defrost temperature. The controller is programmed with a defrost set point and a maximum defrost time. The controller ends the defrost cycle when the elapsed defrost time is greater than the maximum defrost time or when the defrost temperature is greater than the defrost set point, whichever occurs first.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2007
    Publication date: April 24, 2008
    Inventors: Andrew J. Doberstein, Thomas W. Rand
  • Publication number: 20080092566
    Abstract: A combination refrigerator/freezer unit with an insulated cabinet defining a refrigerator section, a freezer section and at least one air passage between the freezer section and refrigerator section. A single evaporator is disposed in the freezer section. A controller controls operation of the refrigeration system. The controller receives input signals from freezer and refrigerator sensors and controls the refrigeration system to pass refrigerant to the evaporator in the freezer section according to at least one temperature parameter of the refrigerator section sensed by the refrigerator sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2007
    Publication date: April 24, 2008
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein
  • Publication number: 20080092567
    Abstract: A clear ice maker unit has a clear ice maker mechanism with a cascading water evaporator configured to make clear ice during ice making cycles. A controller uses fuzzy logic to control the clear ice maker and determine whether to initiate a next ice making cycle based on input signals from a thermistor in the ice storage bin. The controller will prevent initiation of an ice making cycle when the ice bin is at or below a threshold temperature. The controller will also prohibit ice making when the ice bin is at or below a second, slightly higher temperature for more than a prescribed period of time. In this way, the clear ice maker can recognize an uneven distribution of ice and maintain an optimal amount of ice in the bin.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2007
    Publication date: April 24, 2008
    Inventors: Andrew J. Doberstein, Thomas W. Rand
  • Patent number: D569881
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Jack L. Vaughn, Andrew J. Doberstein
  • Patent number: D570885
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck, Jennifer U. Straszewski
  • Patent number: D571828
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Joseph E. Braun, Jack L. Vaughn, Thomas W. Rand
  • Patent number: D573614
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: William A. Reed, Jack L. Vaughn, Joseph E. Braun, Thomas W. Rand
  • Patent number: D577746
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck, Jennifer U. Straszewski
  • Patent number: D578143
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas W. Rand, Andrew J. Doberstein, Joseph H. Zyduck, Jennifer U. Straszewski
  • Patent number: D583214
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2008
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: Joseph E. Braun, Andrew J. Doberstein, Jennifer U. Straszewski, Thomas W. Rand
  • Patent number: D604141
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2009
    Assignee: U-Line Corporation
    Inventors: William A. Reed, Jennifer U. Straszewski, Thomas W. Rand, Joseph H. Zyduck