Rear alignment and support system for a cooking appliance cooktop
AssigneeMaytag Corporation
InventorsWade A. Atkinson, Val Briedis, Charles Looney, Mark A. Pickering
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cooking appliance includes a cabinet, defined by at least front, side, bottom and back panel portions, a pair of laterally spaced end caps provided at an upper rear portion cabinet, and a range top mounted upon an upper portion of the cabinet. At least two sets of alignment components, with each set of alignment components being defined by cooperating first and second sets of alignment elements, are provided on the end caps and range top respectively. When the range top is mounted upon the cabinet, the sets of alignment components become interengaged to automatically, laterally center and mount the range top with respect to the cabinet.
Claims20
A cooking appliance comprising:
- a cabinet including at least a front portion, opposing side panels, a bottom panel and a back panel, said cabinet being adapted to rest upon a substantially horizontal supporting surface;
- a range top including front, rear and opposing side portions;
- a plurality of heating elements arranged about the range top;
- a pair of laterally spaced end caps provided at an upper rear portion of the cabinet;
- and
- first and second sets of alignment components, each of the first and second alignment components including cooperating first and second alignment elements, said first alignment elements being provided on the laterally spaced end caps and said second alignment elements being provided on the range top wherein, when the range top is mounted upon the cabinet, said first and second alignment elements of each of the first and second alignment components become interengaged to laterally position and mount the range top with respect to the cabinet.
A cooking appliance comprising:
- a cabinet including at least a front portion, opposing side panels, a bottom panel and a back panel, said cabinet being adapted to rest upon a substantially horizontal supporting surface;
- a range top including front, rear and opposing side portions;
- a plurality of heating elements arranged about the range top;
- a pair of laterally spaced end caps provided at an upper rear portion of the cabinet;
- and
- alignment means provided on each of the range top and the laterally spaced end caps for automatically, laterally centering the range top as the range top is mounted on the cabinet.
A method of aligning a range top on a cooking appliance having a cabinet and a pair of laterally spaced end caps provided at a rear portion of the cabinet comprising:
- placing the range top on an upper portion of the cabinet;
- sliding the range top toward the rear portion of the cabinet;
- and
- automatically, laterally centering the range top on the cabinet by engaging first alignment elements on the laterally spaced end caps with second alignment elements on the range top.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.