Under-the-cabinet appliance having a unitary mounting bracket and method for assembling the same
First Claim
1. An under-the-cabinet appliance, comprising:
- a housing for operating parts of the appliance having a front wall, a rear wall, and a pair of sidewalls, each of said sidewalls having;
an outwardly-opening groove extending from said front wall toward said rear wall, each of said grooves further having a forward end opening to said front wall, and a substantially planar outwardly-facing side surface;
a mounting bracket including a pair of bracket arms having mutually-confronting support rails projecting therefrom configured to be slidably received by said grooves, said bracket arms further having outermost side surfaces substantially coplanar with said outwardly-facing side surfaces of said housing when said housing is assembled on said mounting bracket.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An under-the-cabinet appliance includes a housing for operating parts of the appliance having a front wall, a rear wall, and a pair of side walls. Each sidewall has an outwardly-opening groove extending from the front wall toward the rear wall. Each groove also has a forward end opening to the front wall. A mounting bracket has a pair of bracket arms having mutually-confronting support rails that project from the bracket arms. The support rails are configured to be slidably received by the grooves so that the housing may be assembled on the mounting bracket by orienting the housing so that the forward ends of the grooves are aligned with rearward ends of the rails and then moving the housing forwardly relative to the mounting bracket. To facilitate assembly, the rails and grooves are tapered so that they decrease in height from their forward ends to their rearward ends. Additionally, the bracket arms also have outwardly-facing surfaces that are coplanar with outwardly-facing surfaces of the housing when the appliance is assembled on the mounting bracket.
29 Citations
21 Claims
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1. An under-the-cabinet appliance, comprising:
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a housing for operating parts of the appliance having a front wall, a rear wall, and a pair of sidewalls, each of said sidewalls having; an outwardly-opening groove extending from said front wall toward said rear wall, each of said grooves further having a forward end opening to said front wall, and a substantially planar outwardly-facing side surface; a mounting bracket including a pair of bracket arms having mutually-confronting support rails projecting therefrom configured to be slidably received by said grooves, said bracket arms further having outermost side surfaces substantially coplanar with said outwardly-facing side surfaces of said housing when said housing is assembled on said mounting bracket. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An appliance adapted to be mounted to the underside ,of a cabinet at a location thereon spaced from a structural wall which extends generally vertically behind the cabinet and supports the cabinet, comprising:
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a housing for operating parts of the appliance having a front wall, a rear wall opposite said front wall and confronting the structural wall supporting the cabinet when said appliance is mounted to the underside of the cabinet, and a pair of side walls extending between said front wall and said rear wall, each of said side walls having an outwardly-opening groove extending from said front wall toward said rear wall, each of said grooves also having a forward end opening to said front wall; and a mounting bracket adapted to be secured to the cabinet including a pair of bracket arms having mutually-confronting support rails projecting therefrom configured to be slidably received by said grooves so that said housing may be assembled on said mounting bracket by orienting the housing between the mounting bracket and the structural wall supporting the cabinet with the forward ends of said grooves confrontingly aligned with rearward ends of said rails and then moving said housing away from said structural wall and forwardly relative to said mounting bracket. - View Dependent Claims (15, 21)
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16. An under-the-cabinet appliance, comprising:
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a housing for operating parts of the appliance having a front wall, a rear wall, and a pair of side walls, each of said side walls having an outwardly-opening groove extending from said front wall toward said rear wall, each of said grooves also having a forward end opening to said front wall, said housing having an upper surface and a cavity opening to said upper surface, said cavity being bounded in part by said front wall; and a mounting bracket including a pair of bracket arms having mutually-confronting support rails projecting therefrom configured to be slidably received by said grooves so that said housing may be assembled on said mounting bracket by orienting the housing so that the forward ends of said grooves are aligned with rearward ends of said rails and then moving said housing forwardly relative to said mounting bracket, said mounting bracket further comprising a spring stop having a forwardly-facing surface portion located within said cavity and in confronting alignment with a rearwardly-facing surface of said front wall when said housing is assembled on said mounting bracket, said forwardly-facing surface portion preventing removal of said housing from said mounting bracket by rearward movement of said housing relative to said mounting bracket. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for mounting an appliance to the underside of a cabinet at a location thereon spaced from a structural wall which extends generally vertically behind the cabinet and supports the cabinet, said appliance having (i) a housing for operating parts of the appliance having a front wall, a rear wall opposite the front wall and confronting the structural wall supporting the cabinet when the appliance is mounted to the underside of the cabinet, and a pair of sidewalls extending between said front wall and said rear wall, each of said side walls having an outwardly-opening groove therein extending from said front wall toward said rear wall, each of said grooves also having a forward end opening to said front wall, and (ii) a mounting bracket including a pair of bracket arms having mutually-confronting support rails projecting therefrom each configured to be slidably received by a corresponding one of said grooves in said housing, said method comprising:
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securing said mounting bracket to the underside of the cabinet; orienting said housing so that it is located between said mounting bracket and the structural wall supporting the cabinet with the forward end of each of said grooves confrontingly aligned with a rearward end of the corresponding support rail of said bracket arm; and moving said housing away from the structural wall supporting the cabinet and forwardly relative to said mounting bracket until each of said grooves slidably receives the corresponding support rail of said bracket arm.
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Specification