General Electric Company

Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.

Gregory Michael Thomas

Brice Alan Bowley

John Keith Besore

Jeff Donald Drake

Michael F Finch

Natarajan Venkatakrishnan

Timothy J Shellenberger

Jonathan D Nelson

John Joseph Roetker

Eric Kent Watson

Steven Keith Root

Philip Ames Barber

Timothy Ray Jackson

Meher Prasadu Kollipara

Robert William Jewell

Eugenio Gomez

Howard Richard Bowles

Brian Patrick Lenhart, Jr

Almir Begovich

Scott Alan Horning

Kresimir Odorcic

Robert Jules LaFleur

Cecilia Maria Blanchard

Patrick David Galbreath

Jimmy Nelson Knight

Craig Lung-Pei Tsai

John Michael Todd

Timothy Francis Powell

Robert Lafleur

Kalakuntla Sagar Rao

Tom C Zimmer

Tim N Johnson

Eduardo Miguel Paz Calvopina

Shinichi Hirose

Masanobu Amazutsumi

Tohru Ariga

Mark Dilip Shah

A low profile spring bracket for a heating element of a cooktop appliance includes features that allow the bracket to move along the axial direction in a smooth fashion with minimal force. In this way, a temperature sensor attached thereto can maintain contact with a cooking utensil placed on the heating element.

Spring bracket for a cooktop appliance

Cooktop temperature sensors and methods of operation are provided. An example cooktop appliance includes a cooktop element and a cooktop temperature sensor assembly. The cooktop temperature sensor assembly includes three springs providing support for a platform upon which a cooking vessel rests. The cooktop temperature sensor assembly includes a resistance temperature detector electrically connected to at least two of the three springs. The cooktop appliance includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include obtaining from the cooktop temperature sensor assembly a plurality of samples of a temperature. The operations include projecting a future temperature based at least in part on the plurality of samples of the temperature. The operations include controlling the cooktop element based at least in part on the projected future temperature.

Cooktop temperature sensors and methods of operation

A system for protecting an electrical junction having a first pin and a second pin is provided. The system includes a first circuit protection device coupled to the first pin and configured to sense at least a first current and a second circuit protection device coupled to the second pin and configured to sense at least a second current. Each of the first circuit protection device and the second circuit protection device includes a trip mechanism configured to interrupt current flowing through a respective circuit protection device and a trip unit operatively coupled to the trip mechanism. The trip unit is configured to activate the trip mechanism based on a determination that a respective current exceeds a predetermined threshold.

System and method for protecting an appliance junction

An appliance for conditioning air of a room comprises one or more power consuming features/functions including a temperature controlling element for one of heating and cooling air. A controller is operatively connected to the one or more power consuming features/functions. The controller is configured to receive and process a signal indicative of a utility state. The controller operates the appliance in one of a plurality of operating modes, including at least a normal operating mode and an energy savings mode in response to the received signal. The controller is configured to at least one of selectively adjust and deactivate at least one of the one or more power consuming features/functions to reduce power consumption of the appliance in the energy savings mode.

Energy management of household appliances

An electric heating module for a room air conditioning system and methods are presented in which the duty cycle of the electric heater banks are controlled to limit the inrush current during the startup phase of the heater or to supplement the heat generated by the heat pump when the heat capacity of the heat pump nears the heat loss of the room being heated.

Triac control of positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heaters in room air conditioners

A control system for an oven includes a first and a second temperature sensor, and a controller. The oven has a first cavity and a second cavity and includes, a first electrical heating element positioned within the first oven cavity, and a second electrical heating element positioned within the second oven cavity. The first temperature sensor is configured to detect a temperature within the first oven cavity, and the second temperature sensor is configured to detect a temperature within the second oven cavity. The controller is operatively coupled to the temperature sensors and the heating elements. The controller is configured to receive signals from the sensors and energize both the first and second heating elements by allowing energy to be supplied to only one of the first and second heating elements at a given time.

Method and apparatus for controlling the energization of a cooking appliance

A detection circuit includes a first power line, a first signal conditioning module operationally coupled to the first power line, a neutral line (N) operationally coupled to the first signal conditioning module, a second signal conditioning module operationally coupled to the first power line, a second power line operationally coupled to the second signal conditioning module, and an analog to digital (A/D) converter operationally coupled to the first and the second signal conditioning modules.

Power supply methods and apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Louisville, KY, United States of America

Gregory Michael Thomas