Under-the-cabinet appliance having a unitary mounting bracket and method for assembling the same

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:

• 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.

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 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.