System and method for mounting undercabinet ventilation hood
09897330 ยท 2018-02-20
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
Y10T29/53
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
Y10T29/49623
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
F24C15/205
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
Y10T29/49948
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
F24C15/2042
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F24C15/2071
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
Y10T29/49826
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
F24C15/2035
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
B23P19/10
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
F24F13/0254
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
International classification
A47B77/08
HUMAN NECESSITIES
F24C15/20
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F24F13/02
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
Abstract
A ventilation hood is mounted to an underside of a cabinet, including a bottom panel and a lower support frame positioned above a cooking appliance, by first and second brackets secured below the cabinet at spaced positions aligned with outermost edge portions of the lower support frame and at least one fastener assembly secured to a front portion of the ventilation hood. Multiple embodiments are disclosed for the at least one fastener assembly, including tabs bent from a housing of the ventilation hood, feet threadably attached to the hood, mounting blocks including snap connectors, threaded fasteners, and pinned bolts.
Claims
1. A system comprising: a ventilation hood; a cabinet including a bottom panel and a lower support frame positioned above a cooking appliance; first and second brackets mounted below, and not attached to, the cabinet at spaced positions aligned with outermost edge portions of the lower support frame, each of said first and second brackets including a projection, each projection engaging and supporting a rear portion of the ventilation hood; and at least one fastener assembly attaching a front portion of the ventilation hood to the cabinet.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second brackets are fixedly secured to a wall, against which the cabinet is mounted, at positions directly below the cabinet and aligned with the outermost edge portions of the lower support frame.
3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the ventilation hood includes a housing from which are bent spaced flexible tabs which form part of the at least one fastener assembly, each of the flexible tabs being secured directly to the lower support frame of the cabinet.
4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the housing of the ventilation hood includes enlarged openings formed, at least in part, upon bending the flexible tabs, said at least one fastener assembly being further formed by threaded fasteners securing the flexible tabs to the lower support frame, with the enlarged openings providing access to the flexible tabs through the housing.
5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one fastener assembly includes a pair of feet members adjustably attached to and projecting up from the ventilation hood and mechanical fasteners extending through the bottom panel of the cabinet and into the feet members.
6. The system according to claim 5, wherein each of the feet members includes a threaded body portion having a bore extending entirely there through.
7. The system according to claim 6, wherein each of the feet members also includes an upper portion, having a head configured to receive a tool, and a lower portion, and wherein the bore at the lower portion is polygonal in shape.
8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one fastener assembly includes mounting blocks, from which first and second connectors extend, the mounting blocks being secured at frontal corner portions of the lower support frame with the first and second connectors projecting downward from the mounting blocks and being attached to the ventilation hood.
9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the first and second connectors are snap-connected to the ventilation hood.
10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one fastener assembly includes first and second mechanical fasteners interconnected by a plate, each of the first and second mechanical fasteners extending through both the bottom panel and the ventilation hood, while the plate is positioned against the bottom panel.
11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one fastener assembly includes zip strips, with each zip strip including a head portion positioned against the bottom panel, an elongated body portion extending through both the bottom panel and the ventilation hood, and a fastener element ratcheted onto the elongated body portion.
12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one fastener assembly includes bolts extending through both the bottom panel of the cabinet and the ventilation hood.
13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the at least one fastener assembly further includes pins extending through transverse holes in the bolts.
14. A system comprising: a ventilation hood; a cabinet including a bottom panel and a lower support frame positioned above a cooking appliance; first and second brackets mounted against a wall underneath the cabinet at spaced positions aligned with outermost edge portions of the lower support frame, each of said first and second brackets including a projection, each projection engaging and supporting a rear portion of the ventilation hood; and at least one fastener assembly attaching a front portion of the ventilation hood to the cabinet.
15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the first and second brackets are fixedly secured to the wall, against which the cabinet is mounted, at positions directly below the cabinet and aligned with the outermost edge portions of the lower support frame.
16. The system according to claim 14, wherein the ventilation hood includes a housing from which are bent spaced flexible tabs which form part of the at least one fastener assembly, each of the flexible tabs being secured directly to the lower support frame of the cabinet.
17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the housing of the ventilation hood includes enlarged openings formed, at least in part, upon bending the flexible tabs, said at least one fastener assembly being further formed by threaded fasteners securing the flexible tabs to the lower support frame, with the enlarged openings providing access to the flexible tabs through the housing.
18. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one fastener assembly includes a pair of feet members adjustably attached to and projecting up from the ventilation hood and mechanical fasteners extending through the bottom panel of the cabinet and into the feet members.
19. The system according to claim 18, wherein each of the feet members includes a threaded body portion having a bore extending entirely there through.
20. The system according to claim 19, wherein each of the feet members also includes an upper portion, having a head configured to receive a tool, and a lower portion, and wherein the bore at the lower portion is polygonal in shape.
21. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one fastener assembly includes mounting blocks, from which first and second connectors extend, the mounting blocks being secured at frontal corner portions of the lower support frame with the first and second connectors projecting downward from the mounting blocks and being attached to the ventilation hood.
22. The system according to claim 21, wherein the first and second connectors are snap-connected to the ventilation hood.
23. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one fastener assembly includes first and second mechanical fasteners interconnected by a plate, each of the first and second mechanical fasteners extending through both the bottom panel and the ventilation hood, while the plate is positioned against the bottom panel.
24. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one fastener assembly includes zip strips, with each zip strip including a head portion positioned against the bottom panel, an elongated body portion extending through both the bottom panel and the ventilation hood, and a fastener element ratcheted onto the elongated body portion.
25. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one fastener assembly includes bolts extending through both the bottom panel of the cabinet and the ventilation hood.
26. The system according to claim 25, wherein the at least one fastener assembly further includes pins extending through transverse holes in the bolts.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
(15) With initial reference to
(16) Within the scope of the invention, cooking appliance 2 can take on various forms, including all fuel type ranges and built-in cooktops. However, in the exemplary embodiment illustrated, cooking appliance 2 is illustrated as a range including a cabinet or shell 30 which supports an oven cavity 33 located behind a door 35 having a handle 38 and a window 40. In a manner known in the art, door 35 can be pivoted to access oven cavity 33. Also, as shown, cooking appliance 2 includes a lower drawer 44 for use in storing pans and the like. In addition, cooking appliance 2 includes an upper control panel 51 having a central oven control section 54. Furthermore, control panel 51 is shown provided with a plurality of control knobs, one of which is indicated at 57, for regulating operation of upper cooktop heating elements or burners, such as that indicated at 61.
(17) Particularly with the inclusion of the heating elements or burners 61, operation of cooking appliance 2 can produce smoke, grease or other airborne byproducts. To counter the potential detrimental effects of these cooking byproducts, it is desired to mount a ventilation hood 70 above cooking appliance 2, specifically to the underside of central cabinet 25 and between side wall cabinets 22 and 23, to draw in and either exhaust or filter and re-direct the associated flow of air. Certainly, ventilation hoods employed for this purpose is known in the art, but the present invention is particularly directed to a system and method for mounting ventilation hood 70, specifically various mounting arrangements which enable a single installer to readily and efficiently secure ventilation hood 70 to central cabinet 25.
(18) In general, the operation of ventilation hood 70 is also known in the art. Therefore, apart from particular details set forth hereinafter, it should be recognized that the actual construction of ventilation hood 70 can vary from that depicted. Therefore, although ventilation hood 70 is shown to include a housing 72 and control knobs 74 and 75 for a fan and light (not shown) respectively, the invention is equally applicable to a wide range of other configurations. In connection with the mounting of ventilation hood 70, it should also be recognized that central cabinet 25 is also of known construction. That is, although the exact materials and construction can vary, central cabinet 25, as shown in
(19) In accordance with one aspect of the invention, support brackets are initially mounted at spaced locations beneath central cabinet 25. More particularly, for the left side of cabinet 25 as shown in
(20) With this information in hand, the first step in connection with the mounting method for ventilation hood 70 is to mount the support brackets 94 at predetermined positions based only on the construction of lower support frame 82. More specifically, in the embodiment shown, a first mechanical fastener 107 is positioned at upper hole 102 to mount support bracket 94 to rear wall 20 upon aligning a side edge 110 of bracket 94 with outermost edge portion 89 of side flange piece 86 and with upper edge 111 of bracket 94 extending directly along rear flange piece 85. Again, a similar mounting is done on the other lower side of cabinet 25.
(21) As shown in this figure, ventilation hood 70 has a rear portion 120 established by a rear panel 122 which is formed with a slot 124 and a hole 125. Actually, although hole 125 is shown spaced below and generally aligned with slot 124, slot 124 could also be further elongated (shown in dotted) for a corresponding purpose as will become fully evident below. As illustrated, rear panel 122 is attached to a side panel 127 of the housing 72 of ventilation hood 70. Of particular note is the fact that rear panel 122 actually has corresponding structure at an opposing end portion (not shown in this figure) of rear panel 122 and the lateral spacing between the slots 124 is preset based on the known mounting positions for support brackets 94. More specifically, each slot 124 is positioned such that rear portion 120 can be readily supported by the mounted brackets 94 with each projection 100 extending through a respective slot 124. Therefore, at this early mounting stage, after the two spaced support brackets 94 are secured, ventilation hood 70 can be basically hung on support brackets 94 and easily supported by a single installer. The next step then concerns the manner in which a front portion of ventilation hood 70 is mounted. However, before detailing various embodiments to carry out this aspect of the invention with reference to the remaining figures, it should be realized that
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(24) Extending through each of lower portion 193, threaded body portion 187 and head 191 is a bore 196 (particularly see
(25) At this point, two main assembly avenues can be followed. In accordance with one avenue, ventilation hood 70 can be taken off of support brackets 94 to enable the installer to secure each foot member 189 to bottom panel 79 with a mechanical fastener 215. As perhaps best represented in
(26) In the alternative, feet members 189 can be initially threaded to top panel 153 to an extent which enables top panel 153 of ventilation hood 70 to abut the underside of cabinet 25 and then, after supporting ventilation hood 70 on brackets 94 and tilting the front end against cabinet 25, mechanical fastener 215 can be threaded into bore 196 while tool 222, or an installer's fingers, is used to prevent each foot member 189 from rotating. In either scenario, it should be recognized that the bores 196 not only establish a convenience and accurate guide for drilling of holes 208 and 209, but also enable mechanical fasteners 215 to be easily threaded therein. Most preferably, feet members 189 are formed of molded plastic. In addition, feet members 189 advantageously occupy the filler space between bottom panel 79 and top panel 153 to establish a very solid mounting arrangement which can still be readily performed by a single installer without the use of any paper template and filler strip measuring or cutting. At this point, it should be noted that tool 222 can take various forms in correspondence with the shape of bore 196. For instance, conventional hex keys could be utilized. Also, an outer surface of lower portion 193 could actually be configured to receive a tool instead of shaping bore 196.
(27) As indicated above, the disclosed mounting system takes advantage of the fact that the lateral distance spanning the outermost edge portions 89 of the lower support frame 82 is standard for a given width cabinet 25 such that, with a corresponding ventilation hood 70, slots 124 can be pre-formed in rear panel 122 for accurate alignment with projections 100. In a related fashion,
(28) As depicted, each mounting block 230, 231 includes an upper plate 234, a back plate 237 and side plates 240 and 241. In one embodiment, mounting blocks 230 and 231 are formed of metal, but could also be formed of other materials, including plastic. In back plate 237, holes 244 and 245 are formed. In addition, projecting downward from and fixedly secured, such through a threaded connection, a welded connection or the like, to upper plate 234 is a connector 247 which is shown to include a shaft 249 and a conical tip 250. Each mounting block 230, 231 is configured to be mounted along a respective side flange piece 86, through mechanical fasteners one of which is shown at 255, while abutting front flange piece 233. The configuration of mounting block 230, 231 is predetermined such that shaft 249 will align with a respective through hole 260, 261 which is pre-formed in top panel 153 of ventilation hood 70. In accordance with this embodiment, once both support brackets 94 and mounting blocks 230 and 231 are secured in place, the rear portion of ventilation hood 70 can be easily supported on brackets 94 and then the front portion can be tilted upward toward the lower support frame 82 such that conical tips 250, which are preferably formed from an elastomeric material, extend into holes 260 and 261 such that connectors 247 are snap-connected to ventilation hood 70. Therefore, at least in situations where the interior lateral dimensions of lower support frame 82 are known, the positioning of holes 260 and 261 and the construction of mounting blocks 230 and 231 can be predetermined to enable mounting of ventilation hood 70 in a quick and easy fashion by a single installer.
(29) Related to the embodiment of
(30) In the embodiment represented in
(31) A modified embodiment which is not depicted in the drawings basically represents a configuration based on the embodiments of both
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(33) Again, as indicated above, once aligned holes 260 and 265, as well as aligned holes 261 and 266, are established, various different types of fastener assemblies can be utilized in connection with securing the front portion of ventilation hood 70. Two additional potential arrangements of this type are represented in the embodiments of
(34) Although described with respect to preferred embodiments of the invention, it should be readily apparent that various changes and/or modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. For instance, although the discussed embodiments refer to separate first and second support brackets, as well as first and second fastener assemblies, it should be noted that the invention can be carried out with the first and second support brackets interconnected into an integral member, as well as actually employing one or more fastener assemblies. In addition, based on the above, it should be readily apparent that the invention can employ various different fastener assemblies in connection with an overall system and method for mounting a ventilation hood to an underside of a cabinet, including a bottom panel and a lower support frame, positioned above a cooking appliance. Each embodiment employs the initial mounting of brackets, either separately or an integral member, below the cabinet, against the wall and aligned with outermost edge portions of the lower support frame, with each bracket including some type of projection for engaging and supporting a rear portion of the ventilation hood. In connection with this aspect of the invention, it should be realized that each bracket could be provided with an additional flange to permit an attachment directly to the cabinet support frame, while the bracket is still positioned against the wall. This mounting arrangement could be particularly advantageous when the alternative is mounting the bracket only to drywall mounting between adjacent wall studs. Furthermore, each embodiment employs one or more fastener assemblies attaching a front portion of the ventilation hood to the cabinet. Each of the embodiments is designed to assure that the ventilation hood can be mounted in an easy and efficient manner by a single person, without the need for measuring, cutting and installing filler strips as common in the art.