Did You Know...
...that the video game, Pong, was invented by a guy who graduated at the bottom of his engineering class? Nolan Bushnell spent more time running the games at a local amusement park than he did on his studies at the University of Utah. His dreams of working for Disney's amusement empire were dashed when the company wouldn't hire him. Taking a boring job, Nolan daydreamed about electronic versions of popular games. He invented Pong, the first video game, and went on to found Atari Co.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7690421 | Low humidity detection system and method thereof A system and method for detecting low levels of humidity (i.e. less than 10%) inside an automotive vehicle is provided whereby the total absolute humidity inside the vehicle is determined by multiplying the number of occupants in the vehicle by an absolute humidity ... | 04/06/2010 |
| 7413007 | Vehicle air-conditioning system A vehicle air-conditioning system includes an air-conditioner and an air outlet for opening and closing an opening formed in a rear part of a vehicle body. A control unit causes the air outlet to open and close the opening in accordance with changes in air condition... | 08/19/2008 |
| 7389812 | Vehicle air conditioning system having non-contacting temperature sensors When a front-passenger seat occupant detecting sensor indicates absence of an occupant in a front-passenger seat, an air conditioning control ECU adjusts a temperature measurement measured with a non-contacting temperature sensor for measuring a surface temperature ... | 06/24/2008 |
| 7147168 | Zone control of space conditioning system with varied uses A space conditioning system for a building including production and occupied spaces provides precise control of exhaust and space conditioning equipment by taking into account multiple conditions and by using predictive control. The control method and system are ill... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7013656 | Vehicle ventilation and deodorization system A ventilation and deodorization system includes a door lock switching unit for performing a locking and an unlocking of a vehicle door, an air conditioner which introduces outside air of a passenger compartment of the vehicle and blows the introduced outside air int... | 03/21/2006 |
| 6991029 | Architectural dynamic control: intelligent environmental control and feedback system for architectural settings including offices A smart, adaptive control system that monitors and influences physical conditions of an architectural setting. The architectural setting in which the system is deployed typically includes a plurality of private spaces and at least one community space. The individual... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6971446 | Intelligent vehicle air conditioning control system An air conditioning control system for controlling the air conditioning system of a vehicle. The air conditioning control system is capable of determining the occupancy status of various locations in the vehicle interior. The air conditioning control system alters t... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6892807 | Seat with temperature control and ventilation and safety system for a vehicle Methods and apparatus for controlling the temperature of a seat such as a vehicle seat are disclosed. The apparatus includes an electrical heater disposed in the seat, a cooling unit such as a cooling element and a fan, a detector for detecting the temperature assoc... | 05/17/2005 |
| 6843068 | Method and apparatus for adjusting the temperature set point based on humidity level for increased comfort Methods and apparatus for using humidity level to adjust the temperature set point of an HVAC system for increased occupant comfort. In one illustrative embodiment, the temperature set point for the inside space is moved downward when the humidity of the inside spac... | 01/18/2005 |
| 6827284 | Vehicle air conditioner with automatic air-conditioning control A vehicle air conditioner controls the air-conditioning automatically based on a control characteristic. The control characteristic, such as a blower voltage calculation map, is selected from plural control characteristics, or obtained by a calculation based on the ... | 12/07/2004 |
| 6454178 | Adaptive controller for an automotive HVAC system A multi-zone climate control system and method for a vehicle. The system comprises a passenger seat occupancy detector at each of a plurality of passenger seats for generating a respective seat occupancy signal indicative of an occupancy condition of a re... | 09/24/2002 |
| 6196468 | Air conditioning and heating environmental control sensing system A device for controlling an HVAC system in which opening a door or window for more than a shutdown delay period causes the fan and compressor to be deactivated, but opening and closing the door or window for less than the shutdown delay period does not af... | 03/06/2001 |
| 6094926 | Electricity storage type air conditioning apparatus and cooling/heating source device therefor To obtain an electricity storage type air conditioning apparatus which is capable of coping with the improvement in performance of the air conditioner or the needs for increase in cooling load and additional equipment to be installed afterward, by which i... | 08/01/2000 |
| 5934362 | Combination bath fan, register box, air conditioning and heating boot A combination bath fan, register box, air conditioning and heating boot requires one opening on the wall or the ceiling of the bathroom, thus reducing the installation and maintenance costs associated with the ventilation of the bathroom. The combination ... | 08/10/1999 |
| 5933085 | Environmental control lock system The electric lock system combines an electric lock with an energy control unit such that when a guest key is used in the lock, the lock communicates with the energy control unit to move from an unsold state to a sold state. Optionally, the guest key has i... | 08/03/1999 |
| 5819840 | Thermostat with occupancy detector An energy saving controller for an air conditioning system comprising a temperature sensor or sensing and measuring the temperature in an area to be controlled, a memory device for storing a first set and a second set of reference temperatures, each set o... | 10/13/1998 |
| 5785243 | Climate control sensor apparatus An apparatus for activating climate control systems in response to the entry and/or presence of person(s) in a dwelling. An interior sensor apparatus includes a motion or thermal energy detection unit which emits a signal in response to the presence of pe... | 07/28/1998 |
| 5682949 | Energy management system This document describes an energy management system in which microprocessor based thermostats are used to control individual room temperatures in a multiple room building in accordance with the known occupancy status of the room. The occupancy status info... | 11/04/1997 |
| 5637040 | Infrared object detector An infrared object detector, especially for an air conditioner is provided with a light receiving unit including a light block between a pair of hemispherical Fresnel lenses arranged in parallel on a printed circuit board, so that light receiving views in... | 06/10/1997 |
| 5634846 | Object detector for air conditioner An object detector for an air conditioner has a signal detection input unit in which a light block is provided between a pair of Fresnel lenses spaced in parallel by a predetermined distance on a printed circuit board, thereby defining substantially three... | 06/03/1997 |
| 5395042 | Apparatus and method for automatic climate control An apparatus and method for controlling the operation of (HVAC) equipment or other climate control equipment. The method is executed by a conventional computer with a memory storing a program. The system determines whether the space is not occupied and if... | 03/07/1995 |
| 5390728 | Air conditioner for use in a vehicle The present invention provides an air conditioner for use in a vehicle that gives a comfortable air-conditioning feeling even when only one passenger is seated in a vehicle cabin, and the air-conditioning load of a heat exchanging means such as an evapora... | 02/21/1995 |
| 5261481 | Method of determining setback for HVAC system A method of air conditioning an environment with an HVAC system. The method comprises the steps of: determining an environment to be either occupied or vacant; determining a mode of operation for the HVAC system to be heating or cooling; determining a hea... | 11/16/1993 |
| 5165465 | Room control system Rooms in a building each have a heating, ventilating and air conditioning system (HVAC), a room control unit having a temperature controller, and various sensors. The control unit monitors the presence of persons in the room, determines the season, sets b... | 11/24/1992 |
| 5156203 | Air conditioning system The present invention relates to air conditioning systems and more particularly to an air conditioning system which provides air conditioning in each of a plurality of spaces. The air conditioning system according to the present invention divides a space ... | 10/20/1992 |
| 5097672 | Spot air-conditioner A blow-off duct is rotatably mounted on an air-conditioner. A human body detection device is provided at the blow-off duct in order to detect the presence of a person to be air-conditioned and then to identify the moving direction thereof. Comfortable loc... | 03/24/1992 |
| 4969508 | Wireless thermostat and room environment control system An environment control system permitting the occupant of a room or space in a multi-room building sharing a common air supply conduit with other rooms to control the environment in his or her room selectively and/or automatically. The system =includes a s... | 11/13/1990 |
| 4723593 | Room temperature control unit responsive to occupancy The room temperature control unit is provided with a switch for determining whether the room is vacant or occupied and if required with a switch for determining whether the room is cooled or heated, so that the room temperature is controlled while the roo... | 02/09/1988 |
| 4671458 | Air conditioning apparatus In an air conditioning apparatus of the separate-type, an indoor unit is mounted on a wall of a room. The indoor unit is provided with an infrared ray detection unit which has an infrared ray sensor for sensing infrared rays, a temperature sensor for sens... | 06/09/1987 |
| 4485864 | Occupancy responsive temperature control system A room temperature control system includes a transmitter-receiver unit for producing an acoustic standing wave pattern in a room and for producing a signal when that pattern is disturbed by motion in the room. A logic circuit provides timing signals and i... | 12/04/1984 |
| 4410131 | Heating and air conditioning system A heating system for an inhabitable enclosure having a first heating system that maintains a first temperature in the absence of persons in the enclosure and a second heating system that maintains a second elevated temperature using outside fresh air with... | 10/18/1983 |
| 4382463 | Air conditioning system for motor truck An air conditioning system for a motor truck for establishing thermally confortable conditions for an occupant sleeping on a berth provided in a driver's cab. The system includes an air duct for distributing part of the conditioned air to vicinity of the ... | 05/10/1983 |
| 4101886 | Apparatus for conserving energy in electrical appliances An apparatus for connecting and disconnecting appliances to an electrical supply, responsive to door activated switch means. A transmitter responds to entrance into a room by causing a receiver to activate a connecting means supplying an appliance with el... | 07/18/1978 |
| 4018266 | Building fresh air ventilator system A fresh air ventilator system for a building or the like having a conditioned air plenum and a return air aperture communicating interiorly of the building, respectively, for circulation of conditioned air within the building, characterized by a ventilato... | 04/19/1977 |
