Celebrity Inventors
Glam girl Heddy Lamar may have used her good looks to good effect on the silver screen, but she put her smarts to better use as an inventor. During World War II, she co-patented a frequency-switching system for torpedo guidance that was considered years ahead of its time.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8172155 | Thermal sensation determining apparatus and method, and air-conditioning control apparatus using thermal sensation determination result A thermal sensation determining apparatus includes a skin temperature detecting unit configured to detect a skin temperature of a peripheral site of a subject's body, a variation state determining unit configured to determine a variation state of the skin temperatur... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8091794 | Thermostat with usage history The present disclosure pertains to thermostats that assist users in monitoring and/or controlling their utility consumption habits and patterns. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a thermostat that includes a housing and a controller located within the... | 01/10/2012 |
| 7984860 | Regulation control system of air conditioning equipment A regulation control system of air conditioning equipment is provided according to the present invention; the regulation control system mainly interconnects an entrance guarding device and/or a human body movement detecting device with an air conditioning control de... | 07/26/2011 |
| 7954726 | Thermostat with utility messaging The present disclosure pertains generally to thermostats that are adapted to assist utilities in communicating with its customers. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a thermostat having a display, a controller and a receiver that is coupled to the cont... | 06/07/2011 |
| 7918406 | Override of nonoccupancy status in a thermostat device based upon analysis of recent patterns of occupancy A thermostat system with a thermostat control program is disclosed for controlling a Heating Ventilation and/or Air Conditioning (HVAC) system which incorporates a mechanism for detecting activity or occupancy in a room, area or conditioned space served by the HVAC ... | 04/05/2011 |
| 7556206 | Temperature compensated clock delay closed loop circuit Embodiments of the present invention provide a temperature compensating circuit. The circuit generally includes a clock element operable to provide an adjustable clock signal, a buffer element coupled with an analog-to-digital converter and operable to receive the a... | 07/07/2009 |
| 7364093 | Thermostat having default curtailment temperature settings A thermostat capable of receiving signals transmitted by a utility provider communicating a usage rate schedule or a request for a load curtailment period, and controlling one or more systems based on the information communicated by the utility. The thermostat chang... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7364353 | Dynamic correction of sensed temperature A thermostat (10) for sensing the ambient temperature in an environment includes an enclosure (100) housing a temperature sensor (20) for sensing the temperature within the enclosure, a temperature display device (30), a liquid crystal di... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7360717 | Graphical user interface system for a thermal comfort controller A graphical user interface system for a thermal comfort controller. The user interface system has a central processing unit coupled to a memory and a touch sensitive display unit. The memory stores a temperature schedule data structure and perhaps a temperature hist... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7354005 | Variable capacity climate control system for multi-zone space A climate control system having two or more stages of cooling operation or heating operation is provided for supplying conditioned air to a plurality of zones within a space, where the climate control system comprises a plurality of controllable zone dampers for con... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7356548 | System and method for remote monitoring and controlling of facility energy consumption A method for remote monitoring and controlling of energy consumption of a facility includes receiving energy consumption data associated with the facility at a processor disposed remotely from the facility. The method also includes receiving environmental data assoc... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7349765 | System and method for managing utility consumption A system, method, and apparatus are disclosed for managing utility consumption. An embodiment is disclosed for reducing peak demand for a utility by staggering requests for that utility. Another embodiment is disclosed in which sensors monitor utility consumption th... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7343226 | System and method of controlling an HVAC system A system and method manage delivery of energy from a distribution network to one or more sites. Each site has at least one device coupled to the distribution network. The at least one device controllably consumes energy. The system includes a node and a control syst... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7340509 | Reconfigurable appliance control system A reconfigurable appliance control system includes a dedicated appliance control (DAC) for controlling operation of an appliance. The system further includes an appliance communication control (ACC) for communicating with at least one appliance. The system includes ... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7325748 | Ventilation system with humidity responsive ventilation controller A method of controlling ventilation including determining a current gradient, comparing the current gradient to a threshold and activating a device coupled to a ventilation controller if the current gradient is greater than or equal to the threshold. ... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7327245 | Sensing and analysis of ambient contextual signals for discriminating between indoor and outdoor locations Methods and systems that determine automatically the likelihood that a device is inside or outside of a structure or building. The system uses one or more sensors to detect ambient conditions, and make the determination. The inference can be used to save power or su... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7310559 | Timed control system with shifted time features A control system with a clock or calendar based control has two time frames defined for assigning control events during different days of the week. The weekday time frame is defined as Sunday noon through Friday noon, while the weekend time frame is defined as Frida... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7306165 | Graphical user interface system for a thermal comfort controller A graphical user interface system for a thermal comfort controller. The user interface system has a central processing unit coupled to a memory and a touch sensitive display unit. The memory stores a temperature schedule data structure and perhaps a temperature hist... | 12/11/2007 |
| 7302959 | Low-power wireless inflatable bladder damper for forced air heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems A low-power, wireless, inflatable bladder damper device for controlling the flow of air through an airflow channel, and a method of operation for the same. Rather than requiring power supply and/or control wiring for operation of a wireless damper device, a low-powe... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7302642 | Thermostat with touch-screen display A thermostat is programmable by entering input through a large-format touch-screen display. The touch-screen display displays different sets of icons depending on the mode the thermostat is in. A set of icons is displayed in one mode that allows the user to put the ... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7301897 | Method and apparatus for managing congestion in a data communication network A method for managing data congestion and/or contention occurring at a point-of-traffic concentration. The method includes reading a time value associated with a data packet, the time value being representative of when the data packet entered the network. The time v... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7284382 | Apparatus and method for controlling a fan, cooling unit and a fresh air damper of an air conditioner through use of a Capno-Switch A fresh air controller interfaces directly with the electromechanical circuit of an air-conditioner to control its operating settings based upon detected Carbon Dioxide (CO2) level in Parts-Per-Million (PPM) using a “Capno-Switch” which is in essence a specially... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7258606 | Modular retrofit heating, ventilating and air conditioning system A modular heating, ventilation and air conditioning system including a rectangular sleeve that can be secured through an exterior wall of a building for moving air between an exterior of the building and the interior of the building, an electrical outlet fitted with... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7246499 | Adaptive automotive climate control with variable learning rate An air conditioner for an automobile having a passenger compartment comprising is provided, including an air control system to control a property of air entering the passenger compartment, a manual setting member through which the property of the air is manually con... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7243503 | Method for controlling operation of air conditioner A method for controlling an operation of an air conditioner having an inverter compressor and a regular velocity compressor includes: setting an upper limit threshold and a lower limit threshold based on a desired temperature set by a user, measuring a room temperat... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7243044 | Method and system for assessing energy performance A computerized system and method for benchmarking energy performance in a building are provided. The method includes receiving utility use data for the building, receiving weather data for the building, and computing a best thermodynamic break-even temperature for t... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7243004 | Self-configuring controls for heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems A system for self-configuring complex HVAC systems has each of several units provided with a microprocessor control. The several units are each available in various optional styles, sizes, etc. The microprocessors provide information to a central control of the part... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7240853 | Emergency shower with automatic stagnant water flushing system Emergency showers can go through extended periods of disuse, allowing for the growth of bacteria and other substances in the stagnant water in the supply passages. Water dispensed from such the shower head can come into contact with or be consumed by a user. Embodim... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7240854 | Eyewash with automatic stagnant water flushing system Eyewash stations can go through extended periods of disuse, allowing for the growth of bacteria and other substances in the stagnant water in the supply passages. Water dispensed from such the eyewash station can come into contact with or be consumed by a user. Embo... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7240852 | Drinking fountain with automatic stagnant water flushing system Drinking fountains can go through extended periods of disuse, allowing for the growth of bacteria and other substances in the stagnant water in the supply passages. Water dispensed from such the drinking fountain spout can come into contact with or be consumed by a ... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7240851 | Thermostat fan and boiler timer A programmable timer circuit that can be connected directly to the fan switch of any thermostat with a forced air heating and/or cooling system that includes a blower fan for circulating air throughout the home. A programmable timer circuit that can be connected dir... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7234312 | Variable speed, electronically controlled, room air conditioner A variable speed air handling system for cooling and/or heating a room including a sleep mode. The system includes a fan assembly to transport air from the system into the room, the fan assembly having a substantially continuously adjustable speed within a range of ... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7237134 | Backup power module for industrial control and monitoring network A technique is provided for applying secondary or backup power to a networked device in the event of a loss or malfunction of network power. In a control and monitoring network. Various devices may receive both power and data signals from a network cable. In the eve... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7228429 | Multimedia network appliances for security and surveillance applications Network appliances for use in combination with a network based full service, multi-media surveillance system provide a wide range of monitoring techniques utilizing digital network architecture. The appliances may be connected to the surveillance system for transmit... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7225089 | System and method for remote identification of energy consumption systems and components A system for remote energy consumption system identification of a facility includes a processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The system also includes an energy consumption database accessible by the processor. The energy consumption database includes aggr... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7225171 | Air conditioning equipment operation system and air conditioning equipment designing support system A control server includes a device information database storing device characteristic data constituting the air conditioning equipment, a fuel/power rate database storing price and rate data regarding gas, oil, power and the like, a device characteristic and price d... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7216015 | HVAC control system Systems and methods are described for a HVAC control system. An apparatus, includes: a microcontroller; a digital temperature sensor coupled to the microcontroller; a liquid crystal display coupled to the microcontroller; a set of cursor buttons coupled to the micro... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7216016 | Failure mode for HVAC system A HVAC system provides a central control which detects failed stage(s); removes the failed stage(s) from the staging sequence used by the controller; and later checks the failed stage periodically to see if the failed stage has become functional so that the no prope... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7210995 | Roof air make-up for exhaust of fire smoke A system for introducing make-up air into a building from above the roof for smoke control includes air shafts extending from the roof into a space in the building below a layer of smoke. The air shafts can be rigid or can be made of a flexible material which folds ... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7212887 | Service and diagnostic tool for HVAC systems An HVAC system includes a portable controller unit which communicates with an indoor HVAC component and an outdoor HVAC component over a digital communication bus. A multiple of docking stations each in communication with the data bus are located at a multiple of lo... | 05/01/2007 |
