Midea Group Co., Ltd.

Whirlpool Corporation

Paul R Staun

Robert M Digman

Eric Scalf

Mark Wayne Wilson

Daniel J Trice

Bryan T Snook

Robert M Weir

Scott Harold Wilson

Stephen Dylan Berry

Brian M Langness

Larry J Manson

James R Mulder

David Nelson

Thomas H Buckleitner

Gene A Sparks

Pamela Sue Rogers

Dean R Sommerfeld

Michael D Goslee

Clayton James O'donoghue

William F Ory

Steve A Flam

Bob A Taylor

GuoJun Zhang

David J Hoyh

Ziqiang Hu

A method and apparatus for a cooking appliance. The cooking appliance may include air frying in one heating compartment and steaming in another heating compartment. Each heating compartment may include at least one food container. The food container may be a drawer. One or more heating devices may be in communication with the one or more heating compartments. One or more circulating devices may be used to circulate air. A controller may be used to heat the contents of the one or more heating compartments and circulate the air.

Method and apparatus for a cooking appliance

A tamper for an appliance. The tamper may include one or more tamping cycles. The tamper may include a motor. The tamper may include one or more mixing mechanisms. The mixing mechanism may be a vibration mechanism. The mixing mechanism may be a blade mechanism. The tamper may include a motion limiter. The tamper may include one or more locking mechanisms releasably engaging the blender. The tamper may include a blender.

Method and apparatus for a tamper

A multi-purpose handheld kitchen appliance includes a controller configured to customize various aspects of the appliance based upon a type of attachment coupled to the appliance, e.g., to controllably vary a motor speed, to selectively disable an activation control, and/or to rotate a display based on a type of attachment and/or a gyroscope input.

Multi-purpose handheld kitchen appliance

A method and apparatus for an air fryer cooking appliance. The air fryer cooking appliance may include an upper body and a lower body configurable between at least one stowed position and at least one deployed position. The upper body may include a heating device and an air circulating device. The lower body may include a food container. The food container may receive the upper body in the stowed position.

Air fryer cooking appliance

A washing apparatus (e.g. a laundry washing machine, dishwasher, etc.) and method configure a wash cycle in part based on spectral data obtained from a spectrometer positioned with the washing apparatus and analyzed in a remote cloud service.

Washing apparatus including cloud connected spectrometer

A sous vide device and method of using the same may include a body that is fully submergible in a container of water and may wirelessly communicate with an external device, e.g., to control an external heating element during sous vide cooking. Further, a sous vide device may include a rechargeable battery capable of being wirelessly recharged from a charging dock. In addition, a sous vide device may include a moisture sensor for use in changing the activation state of a heating element and/or a turbidity sensor for use in changing the activation state of a water circulator of the sous vide device.

Fully submergible sous vide device

A variable fluid dispenser for a refrigerator utilizes a variable control suitable for varying the rate of fluid dispensing by the dispenser. In some instances, the variable control may include a rotary control actuator that varies the fluid dispensing rate of the variable dispenser, and in some instances, the variable control may include a variable control actuator movable between a range of positions that includes a home position at which the variable dispenser is deactivated. In such instances, movement of the variable control actuator away from the home position both activates the variable dispenser to dispense fluid and increases the fluid dispensing rate of the variable dispenser.

Refrigerator with variable fluid dispenser

A microwave oven may include a temperature sensor to sense temperature in a cooking cavity, and a controller that can initiate a sous vide cooking cycle in response to user input after placement of a sous vide container (with a water bath and a food item to be cooked inside) into the cooking cavity, monitor a temperature of the water bath contained by the sous vide container during the cooking cycle using the temperature sensor, and control the microwave cooking element in response to the monitored temperature.

Sous vide feature in a microwave oven

An appliance includes a microwave oven and a toaster oven apparatus in combination, the toaster oven being contained entirely within the interior of the microwave oven.

Microwave oven with toaster

An apparatus and method of a storage compartment for detergent items in a dish washing appliance. The dish washing door may include one or more storage compartments in a variety of locations. The storage compartment may be out of registry with a dispenser for the dish washing tub. The storage compartment may include a safety feature. The storage compartment may include a sealing mechanism.

Dishwasher with detergent storage

The specification discloses a basin disposed in a top portion of a drying appliance, the basin having a fluid drain therein connected to a basin drain line. The appliance includes a water valve in fluid communication with a water source having an outlet in fluid communication with the basin and a tee connector disposed in a drain line of a washing appliance for draining fluid from the basin.

Clothes pre-wash compartment for an appliance

A microwave oven is described herein. In some instances, such a microwave oven may include a housing; a rotating turntable assembly disposed in a cooking cavity of the housing; a probe powered by the turntable assembly, where the probe is configured to measure an environmental condition during a cooking cycle and where the probe is configured to transmit a signal regarding the environmental condition; and a controller disposed in the housing and configured to receive the signal regarding the environmental condition from the probe. A method of operating a microwave oven for sous vide cooking is also disclosed.

Growing community of inventors

Louisville, KY, United States of America

Paul R Staun