Quotables
"To place a man in a multi-stage rocket and project him into the controlling gravitational field of the moon where the passengers can make scientific observations, perhaps land alive, and then return to earth--all that constitutes a wild dream worthy of Jules Verne. I am bold enough to say that such a man-made voyage will never occur regardless of all future advances."
Lee deForest, American radio pioneer ; 1957
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7806683 | Safety valve supply circuit for the ignition of a gas burner A safety valve supply circuit for the ignition of a gas burner is disclosed. Said safety valve is directly supplied by a flame-detecting thermocouple, and said supply circuit comprises a supply capacitor that is charged from an alternating mains voltage, obtaining f... | 10/05/2010 |
| 7387089 | Water heater with cross-sectionally elongated raw fuel jet pilot orifice A radiant gas burner within the combustion chamber of a water heater has a pilot flame created using a cross-sectionally elongated raw fuel jet that impinges on an interior surface portion of a flame holding outer burner wall portion, representatively of a metal wir... | 06/17/2008 |
| 7361830 | Polymer encapsulated micro-thermocouple A thermocouple produced by removing insulation from a distal end of each of at least first and second thermocouple conductors, forming a thermocouple junction at the distal ends of the at least first and second thermocouple conductors, placing the thermocouple junct... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7319577 | Safety shut off for water heaters A water heater includes a gas valve and a solenoid to operate the gas valve. A thermocouple of the water heater is heated by a pilot light to provide a current source to maintain the gas valve in an open position. A sensor activated switch switches current from a se... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7256344 | Electrothermal device for ignition and flame detection in gas burners A single thermoelectric device designed to operate both as an igniter and flame detector for gas burners is described. Ignition is performed via heating, by Joule effect, of a conductor which can have, preferably, catalytic activity on the combustion while the flame... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7252502 | Method and system for combined standing pilot safety and temperature setting The method and apparatus provides a controller (which might comprise a microprocessor) that can control gas flow to a pilot burner in fluid communication with a manual pilot valve and an automatic pilot valve. The exemplary embodiments can comprise a selectable inpu... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7207346 | Hydrostat for portable gas range Provided is a hydrostat for a portable gas range, which prevents the explosion of a gas container by automatically discharging overcompressed gas from the gas container when the inner pressure of the gas container increases to an explosion pressure. The hydrostat in... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7170762 | Low voltage DC-DC converter A direct current to direct current voltage converter (DC-DC converter) in accordance with the invention comprises a transformer coupled with a voltage source and a self-starting oscillator that includes a secondary winding of the transformer, a capacitor; and a firs... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7162980 | Water heater burner clogging detection and shutdown system A fuel-fired water heater has main and pilot burners disposed in its combustion chamber. All of the primary combustion air utilized by the main and pilot burners during firing thereof is supplied thereto via an enclosed path extending to the burners from outside of ... | 01/16/2007 |
| 7128466 | Dual thermometer system The invention provides a dual thermometer system for the measurement and display of temperature data taken at two separate locations within an oven. In one aspect, the invention provides an elongated probe connected with a flexible electronic cable. The probe houses... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7044729 | Gas burner control for a bake oven The system (1) for controlling the combustion (7) of a cooking oven burner (2), comprises in combination a thermostat valve (3) with a rotary hand knob (4) and a non-electric temperature sensor (6) for modulating the burner ... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7032542 | Apparatus and methods for controlling a water heater A gas-powered water heater includes means for stepping down a line voltage from a receptacle remote from the tank, means for using the stepped down voltage to provide a low voltage, and means for using the low voltage to sense conditions pertaining to the heater and... | 04/25/2006 |
| 7028642 | Water heater having raw fuel jet pilot and associated burner clogging detection apparatus A radiant gas burner within the combustion chamber of a water heater has a pilot flame created using a raw fuel jet that impinges on an interior surface portion of a flame holding outer burner wall portion, representatively of a metal wire mesh material, and is mixe... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7021925 | Safety module for fuel-burning appliance, and appliance using such a module The invention provides a safety module for connection to a fuel-burning appliance. The safety module connects to the existing circuitry of the appliance and triggers an alarm response when certain predetermined conditions are met. The safety module includes a CO sen... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7018200 | Combustion detection device with a thermoelectric generator The apparatus (1,1′) for the detection of gas combustion in an domestic gas heater or a water heater is designed as an independent installation unit mounted on a shared support bracket (8,8′), provided with a thermoelectric generator assembly (4... | 03/28/2006 |
| 6973819 | Differential compensated vapor sensor Vapor sensing systems and methods are disclosed. An appliance such as a gas water heater, clothes dryer, and the like can be associated with a controller for controlling the appliance. A vapor sensor is also associated with the appliance, such that the vapor sensor ... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6966315 | Smooth surface gas cooktop having an electric ignition/turndown system A cooking appliance includes smooth cooking surface having at least one cooking zone, a base frame section, at least one gas burner assembly located between the smooth cooking surface and the base frame section, and a control unit. A wire filament coil, electrically... | 11/22/2005 |
| 6959876 | Method and apparatus for safety switch A circuit in accordance with the invention includes a safety switch device coupled with, and between, a thermally activated voltage source and a primary switch. The circuit also includes a safety switch control circuit coupled with the safety switch device and a con... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6955301 | Water heater and control An improved heater and method of controlling the same is provided. The water heater has the combination of a tank for holding water, a heater for heating the water, a controller having logic to regulate the heater, and first and second sensors. Each of the sensors d... | 10/18/2005 |
| 6935108 | Heat fan assembly and method of controlling a fan A fan assembly comprising two fans (4, 10) for supplying combustible gases to two burners (5, 9) respectively. The flow parts from the first and second burners are combined in a common manifold. Temperature censor (6, 11) detect the temperature ... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6920377 | Self-sustaining control for a heating system A self-sustaining control for a heating system, having conventional operational modes and pilot burner assembly, is disclosed. A controller directs operation in accordance with a need-based protocol and monitors the condition of a storage device, which provides syst... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6910496 | Gas conversion assembly A gas conversion assembly generally has a gas inlet and a gas outlet. The assembly includes a control mechanism for regulating the flow of gas from the inlet to the outlet. The control mechanism is constructed and arranged to adjust from regulating the flow of a fir... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6910880 | Ignition controller of barbecue grill An ignition controller has a pressure controller having a housing with a first inlet and a first outlet, an ignition adjustor having a housing with a second inlet and a second outlet and an adjusting assembly. The second outlet is connected to the second inlet and t... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6893253 | Fuel-fired heating appliance with temperature-based fuel shutoff system A gas-fired water heater is provided with a combustion shutoff system which precludes further combustion within the water heater's combustion chamber in response to a combustion temperature therein reaching a predetermined level correlated to and indicative of a pre... | 05/17/2005 |
| 6881055 | Temperature controlled burner apparatus A system for controlling temperature in an enclosure operates in a low heat or a high heat mode with flame always present. The presently intended use is for providing a cooking grill with a controlled temperature cooking space. An electrically controlled valve havin... | 04/19/2005 |
| 6851948 | System and method for draft safeguard A gas furnace responsive to a thermostat includes a thermal switch wired in series between the furnace power supply and the thermostat. A microprocessor connected to the thermal switch detects when the switch opens and closes, carrying out prearranged programs in re... | 02/08/2005 |
| 6766820 | Field adjustable pilot guard An improved pilot guard for controlling the flow of gaseous fuel to both a pilot burner and a main burner, the pilot valve comprising a housing having an inlet port, a pilot port and a main burner port; a bore extending through the housing between the pilot port and... | 07/27/2004 |
| 6749124 | Damper control device A damper control device is disclosed comprising a mounting plate, a motor assembly coupled to the mounting plate and having a shaft extending therefrom, and a single circuit board coupled to the mounting plate, comprising relay control circuitry which rotates the sh... | 06/15/2004 |
| 6701874 | Method and apparatus for thermal powered control A system in accordance with the invention includes a thermo-electric device that is physically proximate with a thermal energy source, where, in operation, the thermo-electric device generates a voltage potential. The system further includes a power conve... | 03/09/2004 |
| 6684821 | Energy sustaining water heater The present invention is directed to a water heater that sustains energy during the standby mode so that it can power energy saving devices while e minimizing energy loss and controlling the stored water temperature. The present invention may include an o... | 02/03/2004 |
| 6648627 | Gas appliance with a burner in the lower part, equipped with safety means, and resulting water heater The invention relates to a gas appliance (1), with a gas burner (4) in the lower part of the said appliance and in the vicinity of an underlying surface (6), further comprising: an atmosphere control pilot light (12) fitted with a primary air inlet orific... | 11/18/2003 |
| 6644957 | Damper control device A device for controlling a damper in an appliance is disclosed comprising a motor having a rotatable shaft extending therefrom which is operatively connected to a plate of the damper, a control circuit which transmits current to the motor to rotate the sh... | 11/11/2003 |
| 6561138 | Water heater with a flame arrester A water heater is arranged with the hot water storage chamber R1 at the top and the combustion chamber R2 at the bottom within the body 11 which is a container. The combustion chamber R2 is equipped with the air supply inlet 13a, and the flame arrester 27... | 05/13/2003 |
| 6522235 | Switch structure for a heating device A switch structure for a heating device having a passage formed within the main body of the structure, an air inlet, a main flame air outlet, a second air outlet and a thermocouple insertion hole connected to the passage being formed on the main body, and... | 02/18/2003 |
| 6428308 | Electronic fuel convertibility selection An apparatus for and method for providing easy and rapid conversion from a first fuel to a second fuel in a gas appliance. The gas appliance has a variable fuel valve controlled by a microprocessor. A table stored in non-volatile memory has an entry for e... | 08/06/2002 |
| 6364656 | Gas burner A gas burner includes a gas valve block having a gas input control part connected to a fuel gas source and a gas output control part connected to a flame tube and gas nozzle for producing an igniting flame for burning fuel gas outputted through the flame ... | 04/02/2002 |
| 6354830 | Control circuit for gas burners A first object of the invention is to provide a control circuit (1) for gas burners with a fail-safe system. The circuit (1) includes a microcontroller (2) that acts on at least one valve (4), flame detector circuits (50) and tap opening detector switches... | 03/12/2002 |
| 6352428 | Valve arrangement for controlling a gas fireplace Valve arrangement (1,2) for automatically controlling the gas flow in the burner of a gas fireplace appliance, comprising a manual flow regulating tap (1) connected to the gas supply and provided with a rotary control knob (1a), a gas switching servovalve... | 03/05/2002 |
| 6346789 | Motor step-less speed control with active feedback of phase detector An apparatus for and method of controlling the circulating fan of a gas appliance. The circulating fan is powered by an alternating current electric motor. An electronic circuit, powered by the heat of the gas appliance, determines the rotational speed of... | 02/12/2002 |
| 6257871 | Control device for a gas-fired appliance A device for controlling a gas-fired appliance having a thermoelectric device such as a thermopile is provided and, particularly, for controlling a damper and a main burner valve within a gas-fired appliance. The device includes a motor having a shaft ext... | 07/10/2001 |
