US 6,854,287 Cooling system
8 defendants · 11 suits · updated October 6, 2026
Also cited as U.S. Patent No. 6,854,287 · US6854287B2 · US 6,854,287 B2 · 6854287 · the '287 patent
Valtrus Innovations Ltd. has filed 11 patent-infringement suits on US 6,854,287, "Cooling system" since July 9, 2026, 4 of them in the E.D. Tex., against 8 distinct defendants including Prime Data Centers, LLC, Ark Data Centers, LLC and CONTINENTAL BROADBAND, LLC. The patent was granted February 15, 2005 on a priority date of August 2, 2002. Its abstract opens: "A system and method for cooling a room configured to house a plurality of computer systems." The examiner cited 2 references during prosecution.
- Assignee
- Valtrus Innovations Ltd
- Priority date
- August 2, 2002
- Granted
- February 15, 2005
- Expires
- August 2, 2022
- Status
- Expired - Lifetime
- Claims
- 22 (5 independent)
- Inventors
- Chandrakant D. Patel, Cullen E. Bash
- Full text
- Google Patents
The suits
11 cases · E.D. Tex. (4) · W.D. Pa. (2) · S.D. Tex. (2) · E.D. Cal. (1) · D. Mass. (1) · E.D. Va. (1)
| Filed | Defendant | Plaintiff | Court | Docket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-09 | Prime Data Centers, LLC | Valtrus Innovations Ltd. | E.D. Cal. | 2:26-at-01158 |
| 2026-08-18 | Ark Data Centers, LLC | Key Patent Innovations Ltd. | W.D. Pa. | 2:26-cv-01734 |
| 2026-08-18 | CONTINENTAL BROADBAND, LLC | Valtrus Innovations Ltd. | W.D. Pa. | 2:26-cv-01736 |
| 2026-08-18 | FifteenFortySeven Critical Systems Realty, LLC | Valtrus Innovations Ltd. | S.D. Tex. | 7:26-cv-00382 |
| 2026-08-18 | Markley Network Services LLC | Valtrus Innovations Limited | D. Mass. | 1:26-cv-13811 |
| 2026-08-18 | Sabey Data Center Properties LLC | Valtrus Innovations Limited | E.D. Va. | 1:26-cv-02641 |
| 2026-08-18 | TRG Datacenters, LLC | Valtrus Innovations Ltd. | S.D. Tex. | 4:26-cv-06818 |
| 2026-09-08 | CONTINENTAL BROADBAND, LLC | Valtrus Innovations Ltd. | E.D. Tex. | 2:26-cv-00793 |
| 2026-09-08 | Markley Network Services LLC | Valtrus Innovations Limited | E.D. Tex. | 2:26-cv-00792 |
| 2026-09-09 | Compass Datacenters, LLC | Valtrus Innovations Ltd. | E.D. Tex. | 2:26-cv-00800 |
| 2026-09-14 | FifteenFortySeven Critical Systems Realty, LLC | Valtrus Innovations Ltd. | E.D. Tex. | 2:26-cv-00820 |
Docket links open the public record on CourtListener. Filing dates are the complaint's.
Independent claims
What is actually asserted, verbatim.
1. A method for cooling a room configured to house a plurality of computer systems, said method comprising: providing a plurality of heat exchanger units configured to receive air from said room and to deliver air to said room; supplying said plurality of heat exchanger units with cooling fluid from an air conditioning unit; cooling said received air through heat exchange with the cooling fluid in the plurality of heat exchanger units; sensing temperatures at one or more locations in said room; controlling at least one of the temperature of said cooling fluid and said air delivery by said plurality of heat exchanger units to said room in response to said sensed temperatures at said one or more locations; and wherein the step of controlling said air delivery by said plurality of heat exchanger units comprises individually manipulating a mass flow rate of the cooling fluid supplied to each of the plurality of heat exchanger units.
10. A system for cooling a room containing one or more computer systems, said one or more computer systems being housed in a plurality of racks, said system comprising: a plurality of heat exchanger units configured to receive cooling fluid through a cooling fluid line from an air conditioning unit for cooling the cooling fluid, said plurality of heat exchanger units being further configured to receive air through openings in the plurality of heat exchanger units, wherein said air is cooled through heat transfer with said cooling fluid in the plurality of heat exchanger units; said plurality of heat exchanger units having at least one fan configured to cause air to flow into and flow out of the heat exchanger unit; a heat exchanger controller operable to control a supply of said cooling fluid to said plurality of heat exchanger units and operable to control the speed of the at least one fan; one or more temperature sensors for sensing temperatures at one or more locations in the room; an air conditioning unit controller configured to operate the air conditioning unit to vary the temperature of said cooling fluid delivered to the one or more locations in the room; and a plurality of pumps configured to control cooling fluid delivery to respective ones of said plurality of heat exchanger units, wherein said heat exchanger controller is operable to control said plurality of pumps to thereby individually control the mass flow rate of cooling fluid delivered into each of the respective heat exchanger units.
14. A system for cooling a room containing one or more computer systems, said system comprising: a plurality of heat exchanger units configured to receive cooling fluid through a cooling fluid line from an air conditioning unit for cooling the cooling fluid, said plurality of heat exchanger units being further configured to receive air through openings in the plurality of heat exchanger units, wherein said air is cooled through heat transfer with said cooling fluid in the plurality of heat exchanger units; said plurality of heat exchanger units having at least one fan configured to cause air to flow into and flow out of the plurality of heat exchanger units; a heat exchanger controller operable to control a supply of said cooling fluid to said plurality of heat exchanger units and operable to control the speed of the at least one fan; one or more temperature sensors for sensing temperatures at one or more locations in the room; an air conditioning unit controller configured to operate the air conditioning unit to vary the temperature of said cooling fluid delivered to the one or more locations in the room; and a plurality of valves configured to meter the flow of cooling fluid through each of said plurality of heat exchanger units positioned along respective cooling fluid lines generally upstream of respective heat exchanger units, wherein said heat exchanger controller is operable to individually control the mass flow rate of said cooling fluid through said plurality of valves.
16. A system for cooling computer systems housed in one or more racks, said racks being maintained in a room, said system comprising: means for receiving air from the room, said means for receiving air being located at a plurality of locations of the room; means for cooling the received air in the plurality of means for receiving air, said plurality of means for cooling including means for receiving cooling fluid from an air conditioning unit; means for delivering cooled air to said computer systems; means for measuring temperatures at one or more locations in said room; means for controlling delivery of said cooled air through said means for delivering cooled air in response to the temperature measurements; means for controlling the temperature of said cooling fluid; and means for individually manipulating a mass flow rate of the cooling fluid supplied to the plurality of means for receiving air, wherein the means for individually manipulating varies the mass flow rate of cooling fluid supplied to each of the plurality of means for receiving air in substantially independent manners.
20. A computer readable storage medium on which is embedded one or more computer programs, said one or more computer programs implementing a method for cooling a room configured to house a plurality of computer systems, said one or more computer programs comprising a set of instructions for: supplying a plurality of heat exchanger unit configured to receive air from the room and to deliver air to the room with cooling fluid from an air conditioning unit; cooling said received air through heat exchange with the cooling fluid in the plurality of heat exchanger units; sensing temperatures at one or more locations in said room; controlling at least one of the temperature of said cooling fluid and said air delivery by said plurality of heat exchanger units to said room in response to said sensed temperatures at said one or more locations; and individually manipulating a mass flow rate of the cooling fluid supplied to the each of the plurality of heat exchanger units.
Art before the examiner
5 references of record, 2 cited by the examiner.
Everything listed here was before the Office and is what a challenge must go beyond. Art the examiner never saw is where an invalidity search starts.
Examiner-cited
- US5946926A — Variable flow chilled fluid cooling system (Hartman; Thomas B.)
- US6276152B1 — Chiller capacity control with variable chilled water flow compensation (American Standard International Inc.)
Applicant-cited and other (3)
- US6283380B1 — Air conditioning system and air conditioning method
- US6374627B1 — Data center cooling system
- US6557624B1 — Configurable system and method for cooling a room
Classification
- H05K7/20745primary — Forced ventilation of a gaseous coolant within rooms for removing heat from cabinets, e.g. by air conditioning device
- F25B2600/0253 — Compressor control by controlling speed with variable speed
- F25B2600/112 — Fan speed control of evaporator fans
- F25B2600/2515 — Flow valves
- F25B2700/2104 — Temperatures of an indoor room or compartment
- F25B2700/2117 — Temperatures of an evaporator
- F25B49/02 — Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices for compression type machines, plants or systems
- F25B5/02 — Compression machines, plants or systems, with several evaporator circuits, e.g. for varying refrigerating capacity arranged in parallel
- Y02B30/70 — Efficient control or regulation technologies, e.g. for control of refrigerant flow, motor or heating
Family
- US6854287B2 — B2 (2005)
- US20040089011A1 — A1 (2004)
- US20040118136A1 — A1 (2004)
- US20040118137A1 — A1 (2004)
- US6826922B2 — B2 (2004)
- US20040089010A1 — A1 (2004)
- US20040020225A1 — A1 (2004)
- US6817199B2 — B2 (2004)
- US6886353B2 — B2 (2005)
Abstract
A system and method for cooling a room configured to house a plurality of computer systems. A heat exchanger unit is configured to receive air from the room and to deliver air to the room. The heat exchanger unit is supplied with cooling fluid operable to cool the received air in the heat exchanger unit. At least one of the temperature of the cooling fluid supplied to the heat exchanger unit and the air delivery to the room may be controlled in response to temperatures sensed at one or more locations in the room.
Also asserted by Valtrus Innovations Ltd.
- US 6,868,682 — Agent based control method and system for energy management (8 defendants)
Named in one of these suits? A prior-art search is commissioned once and serves every defendant who shares it. The examiner's own search record is free on the tools page, and your first preliminary search is free — one claim, back within 24 hours — so you know whether there is art the Office never saw before anyone pays for more. Flat fees: $2,500$899 for the independent claims, $5,000$1,500 for every asserted claim.
This page is assembled from public records — federal court dockets and the patent's own file — and is updated as the case list changes. It states what the record shows and is not an opinion on the validity or infringement of any claim. Patent data via Google Patents; docket data via CourtListener.