Patents by Inventor Wallace J. Elston, III

Wallace J. Elston, III 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: 20160028556
    Abstract: An appliance network comprising a networked appliance and capable of communicating with a consumable such that information related to the consumable is communicated to the networked appliance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2015
    Publication date: January 28, 2016
    Inventors: MATTHEW P. EBROM, WALLACE J. ELSTON, III, MARK E. GLOTZBACH, LAYNE E. HEILMAN, ANTHONY E. JENKINS, STEPHEN D. KREFMAN, RICHARD A. MCCOY, JAMES P. O'SHAUGHNESSY, RANDY A. VOSS
  • Patent number: 9164867
    Abstract: An appliance network comprising a networked appliance and capable of communicating with a consumable such that information related to the consumable is communicated to the networked appliance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Matthew P. Ebrom, Wallace J. Elston, III, Mark E. Glotzbach, Layne E. Heilman, Anthony E. Jenkins, Stephen D. Krefman, Richard A. McCoy, James P. O'Shaughnessy, Randy A. Voss
  • Patent number: 9122788
    Abstract: An appliance network has a network binder accessory to establish a private network among nodes that might be on different networks, using “one-click”.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Wallace J. Elston, III, Anthony E. Jenkins, Richard A. McCoy, Michael A. Morrell
  • Patent number: 8849430
    Abstract: An appliance network has a networked appliance configured to perform a food preparation operation on an article and a cooking sensor accessory in communication with the networked appliance and configured to sense a state of at least one of the article, the cooking sensor accessory, and the networked appliance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Wallace J. Elston, III, Layne E. Heilman, Anthony E. Jenkins, Richard A. McCoy
  • Patent number: 8816828
    Abstract: A recipe wand reads meal plans and recipes for a recipe book, and with data about the appliance and one or more cycles of operation, sends data about a consumable to the appliance to automatically create and selectively commence a cycle of operation oh the consumable according to the recipe book.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Matthew P. Ebrom, Wallace J. Elston, III, Layne E. Heilman, Anthony E. Jenkins, Richard A. McCoy, James P. O'Shaughnessy, Randy A. Voss
  • Patent number: 8786412
    Abstract: An appliance network has messaging protocol to establish communication between a first networked appliance and a remote user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Matthew P. Ebrom, Wallace J. Elston, III, Layne E. Heilman, Anthony E. Jenkins, Richard A. McCoy
  • Patent number: 8655995
    Abstract: Devices, systems and methods for commissioning a home network and inhibiting unaffiliated wireless communication devices that are physically proximate to each other from forming a wireless network. A wireless communication device may include a transceiver capable of communicating with at least a second device, a non-volatile memory capable of storing a network name, a controller, and a user input acceptance element capable of placing the controller in a network set-up mode. The controller may have a plurality of modes including the network set-up mode, as well as a status indicator for providing an indication of whether the device is operating with one of a parent status and a child status. A method for joining a wireless network may include entering a network set up mode, and scanning for a second device operating with a parent status. If the second device is operating with the parent status, the network name of the second device may be adopted as the network name.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2014
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Wallace J. Elston, III, Anthony E. Jenkins, Gregory S. Lieto, Richard A. Mccoy, Michael A. Morrell
  • Patent number: 8426777
    Abstract: A method of controlling a cooking appliance is disclosed which includes receiving an input corresponding to a staged cooking function, retrieving a preselected parameter set from a data library, the preselected parameter set defining the staged cooking function and including a first heating element behavior parameter and a first temperature parameter, selecting a first heating element behavior from a control library based upon the first heating element behavior parameter, and operating one or more heating elements according to the first heating element behavior and the first temperature parameter. An oven and a tangible, machine-readable medium are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2013
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Wallace J. Elston, III, Anthony E. Jenkins, Patrick J. Marciniak
  • Publication number: 20110284518
    Abstract: A method of controlling a cooking appliance is disclosed which includes receiving an input corresponding to a staged cooking function, retrieving a preselected parameter set from a data library, the preselected parameter set defining the staged cooking function and including a first heating element behavior parameter and a first temperature parameter, selecting a first heating element behavior from a control library based upon the first heating element behavior parameter, and operating one or more heating elements according to the first heating element behavior and the first temperature parameter. An oven and a tangible, machine-readable medium are also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2010
    Publication date: November 24, 2011
    Applicant: WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION
    Inventors: WALLACE J. ELSTON, III, ANTHONY E. JENKINS, PATRICK J. MARCINIAK
  • Patent number: 8040234
    Abstract: An appliance network has a service key accessory to facilitate remote diagnosis and service of an appliance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Matthew P. Ebrom, Wallace J. Elston, III, Mark E. Glotzbach, Layne E. Heilman, Anthony E. Jenkins, Richard A. McCoy
  • Patent number: 7831321
    Abstract: An appliance configured to perform an operation cycle to effect a physical operation on an article, the appliance includes at least one component configured to effect the physical operation, and a cycle engine on the component. The cycle engine can build a cycle structure for the operation cycle to enable the component to perform the physical operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2010
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Matthew P. Ebrom, Wallace J. Elston, III, Mark E. Glotzbach, Anthony E. Jenkins, Donald E. Maynard, Richard A. McCoy
  • Publication number: 20100180019
    Abstract: Devices, systems and methods for commissioning a home network and inhibiting unaffiliated wireless communication devices that are physically proximate to each other from forming a wireless network. A wireless communication device may include a transceiver capable of communicating with at least a second device, a non-volatile memory capable of storing a network name, a controller, and a user input acceptance element capable of placing the controller in a network set-up mode. The controller may have a plurality of modes including the network set-up mode, as well as a status indicator for providing an indication of whether the device is operating with one of a parent status and a child status. A method for joining a wireless network may include entering a network set up mode, and scanning for a second device operating with a parent status. If the second device is operating with the parent status, the network name of the second device may be adopted as the network name.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2009
    Publication date: July 15, 2010
    Applicant: WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Wallace J. Elston, III, Anthony E. Jenkins, Gregory S. Lieto, Richard A. Mccoy, Michael A. Morrell
  • Patent number: 7742951
    Abstract: A method of enabling adaptable demonstrations of a household appliance comprising providing consumer-specific updates to a demonstration software at a location remote from an appliance and downloading the consumer-specific updates to the appliance over an information network in response to a determined characteristic of the consumer or enabling a video conference over multimedia interface during the demonstration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2010
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Matthew P. Ebrom, Wallace J. Elston, III, Mark E. Glotzbach, Anthony E. Jenkins, Richard A. McCoy, Phillip A. Molloy
  • Publication number: 20080287121
    Abstract: An appliance network has a service key accessory to facilitate remote diagnosis and service of an appliance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Publication date: November 20, 2008
    Applicant: WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Matthew P. Ebrom, Wallace J. Elston, III, Mark E. Glotzbach, Layne E. Heilman, Anthony E. Jenkins, Richard A. McCoy