Company patents
THERMO KING LLC
THERMO KING LLC's patent strategy reveals a surprising shift away from its core "Vehicle Heating / Cooling" domain, which constitutes 60.9% of its portfolio but has seen a significant decline of -27.3% so far in 2026, following a -29.0% drop in 2025. Concurrently, the company is demonstrating an emerging focus on "Batteries & Fuel Cells," with a remarkable 400.0% year-over-year growth in 2026, indicating a strategic pivot towards energy storage technologies.
Patent Trend by Technology Area
Yearly patent publications since 2023
Product themes
Product-level themes inferred from filings since 2023, with category chips showing where each theme appears. Select a theme to filter the patents below.
169 US filings (since 2023) · 12 categories · 25 themes
Specialized refrigeration systems for temperature-sensitive cargo in vehicles or containers, focusing on power management, energy storage (e.g., swappable batteries), and environmental sensing for cargo preservation.
Advanced systems for maintaining passenger comfort and air quality within the vehicle cabin, including features like condensation prevention, remote control, after-blow functions, and air purification.
Utilization of heat pump cycles, often with natural refrigerants, for efficient heating and cooling of the vehicle cabin and/or thermal conditioning of high-voltage components like battery modules.
Systems designed to manage the temperature of multiple components in electric or hybrid vehicles, such as batteries, electric motors, power electronics, and the passenger cabin, often using shared or interconnected cooling/heating circuits.
Design and control strategies for improving the efficiency, stability, and operational flexibility of refrigerant circuits, including component integration, flow management, phase separation, and pressure regulation.
Techniques and mechanisms to optimize the performance, energy consumption, and operational range of compressors in refrigeration and heat pump systems, often involving variable control of compression parameters like volume ratio or speed.
Technologies for efficiently delivering power to electric vehicles, encompassing fast charging, wireless charging, and smart grid integration, alongside vehicle-side control and management of the charging process.
Integration and control of electronic components within the vehicle, including power distribution, thermal management for integrated circuits, and advanced user interfaces such as voice assistants, often involving specialized housings or trim.
Methods and circuits for controlling the power electronic converters (inverters, bridges) that supply current and voltage to electric motors, including switching strategies, voltage command generation, and multi-phase configurations.
Focuses on novel circuit configurations for DC-DC, DC-AC, or AC-DC conversion, often involving resonant operation, multi-level structures, or switched capacitors to improve efficiency, power density, or voltage conversion ratios.
Systems for precisely directing and controlling chilled air within a refrigerator, often creating distinct temperature zones or optimizing cooling efficiency for different compartments.
Methods and components for optimizing the performance, efficiency, and control of electric motors, inverters, and power converters within electric vehicle and hybrid vehicle drivetrains.
Design and control of power supply architectures that combine multiple power sources (e.g., AC grid, DC battery, generators) or modular battery units, often featuring switching, conversion, and redundancy for enhanced reliability and flexibility.
Novel designs and configurations for heat exchangers that improve heat transfer efficiency, compactness, or enable specific phase change or separation processes within refrigeration and heat pump cycles.
Self-contained or portable units designed for maintaining specific temperatures for food, beverages, or sensitive items during transport, often incorporating active cooling or smart monitoring features.
Engineering and diagnostic aspects of individual heating, ventilation, and air conditioning components, such as PTC heaters, air ducts, flow control valves, and compressor monitoring.
Non-traditional refrigeration and heat pump systems that utilize principles other than vapor compression, such as magnetocaloric effects, thermoelectric effects, absorption cycles, or thermochemical reactions.
Techniques and circuits designed to regulate output, manage input variations, mitigate resonance, or ensure stable operation of power converters under diverse load and source conditions. This includes adaptive, predictive, or fault-tolerant control schemes.
Systems and methods for transferring electrical energy without physical contact, often utilizing inductive or resonant coupling, including antenna design, resonance tracking, and control mechanisms for efficient power delivery.
Integration of power converters with energy storage devices (batteries, supercapacitors) or grid interfaces, often involving AC/DC conversion, power flow management, and fault handling for hybrid power systems or specific applications like EVs or PV.
Strategies and circuits for optimizing the supply and consumption of electrical power for motors, including current limiting, regenerative energy handling, battery integration, and managing power quality.
Technologies that enable automated or mobile device-controlled access to a vehicle, including keyless entry, remote functions, and power-assisted steps or pedals designed to facilitate easier ingress and egress.
Software, algorithms, and associated hardware for monitoring, controlling, and optimizing battery performance, safety, and lifespan, including charge/discharge cycles, thermal regulation, and system integration.
Devices and structural elements within the vehicle cabin or attached to the vehicle body designed to organize, secure, or support various articles, equipment, or even pets, often featuring customizable compartments or robust attachment mechanisms.
Design of refrigerator interiors with reconfigurable, detachable, or specialized compartments, bins, and accessories to optimize storage, organization, and accessibility of items.
Patents
Showing 1-7 of 7
Airflow & Temperature Zone Control