Rear bracket for shelf assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11555647-B2
Application number	US-202016773198-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 27, 2020
Priority date	Jan 27, 2020
Publication date	Jan 17, 2023
Grant date	Jan 17, 2023

Abstract

A rear bracket for a wall-mounted, appliance shelf assembly includes a central portion that defines a plurality of receiving wells. A first mounting portion extends parallel to the central portion and is configured to align with a first wall of an appliance cabinet. A second mounting portion extends perpendicular to the central portion and is configured to align with a second wall of the appliance cabinet. The second wall is positioned perpendicular to the first wall. A first fastener is configured to couple the first mounting portion with the first wall. A second fastener is configured to couple the second mounting portion with the second wall.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A rear bracket for a wall-mounted, appliance shelf assembly, comprising:
a central portion defining a plurality of receiving wells;
a first mounting portion integrally formed with and fixedly attached to the central portion, the first mounting portion configured to align with a first wall of an appliance cabinet and having a planar extent that extends parallel to a planar extent of the central portion;
a second mounting portion extending forward of the receiving wells and integrally formed with and fixedly attached to the central portion and the first mounting portion, the second mounting portion configured to align with a second wall of the appliance cabinet and having a planar extent that extends perpendicular to the planar extent of the central portion, wherein the second wall is positioned perpendicular to the first wall;
a first fastener configured to couple the first mounting portion with the first wall;
a second fastener configured to couple the second mounting portion with the second wall; and
first and second central extensions that extend from the central portion and that are positioned to space the central portion away from the first wall.

2. The rear bracket of claim 1 , wherein the first mounting portion includes a foot to space the first mounting portion away from the first wall.

3. The rear bracket of claim 1 , wherein the first mounting portion extends from one of the first and second central extensions.

4. The rear bracket of claim 1 , wherein the first and second fasteners are weld studs.

5. The rear bracket of claim 1 , wherein a longitudinal extent of the first mounting portion is parallel to a longitudinal extent of the second mounting portion.

6. A wall-mounted shelf assembly for an appliance, comprising:
a rear bracket operably coupled with an appliance cabinet, the rear bracket including:
a central portion defining a plurality of receiving wells;
a first mounting portion integrally formed with and fixedly attached to the central portion, the first mounting portion aligned with a first wall of the appliance cabinet and having a planar extent that extends parallel to a planar extent of the central portion; and
a second mounting portion extending forward of the receiving wells and integrally formed with and fixedly attached to the central portion and the first mounting portion, the second mounting portion aligned with a second wall of the appliance cabinet and having a planar extent that extends perpendicular to the planar extent of the central portion, wherein the second wall positioned perpendicular to the first wall; and

a shelf configured to be operably coupled with the rear bracket, wherein the shelf includes a hook configured to be received by one of the plurality of receiving wells.

7. The wall-mounted shelf assembly of claim 6 , further comprising:
a first fastener configured to couple the first mounting portion with the first wall; and
a second fastener configured to couple the second mounting portion with the second wall.

8. The wall-mounted shelf assembly of claim 7 , wherein the first and second fasteners are weld studs.

9. The wall-mounted shelf assembly of claim 6 , wherein the first wall is a rear wall of the appliance cabinet.

10. The wall-mounted shelf assembly of claim 6 , wherein the shelf is configured as a bottle rack.

11. The wall-mounted shelf assembly of claim 6 , further comprising:
a cover operably coupled with the second mounting portion and configured to at least partially conceal the rear bracket.

12. The wall-mounted shelf assembly of claim 11 , wherein the cover is configured to match an interior surface of the appliance cabinet.

13. A wall-mounted shelf assembly for an appliance, comprising:
a rear bracket operably coupled with an appliance cabinet, the rear bracket including:
a central portion defining a plurality of receiving wells;

a first mounting portion fixedly coupled with the central portion, the first mounting portion being operably coupled with a first wall of the appliance cabinet and having a planar extent that extends parallel to a planar extent of the central portion;
a second mounting portion fixedly coupled with the central portion and the first mounting portion, the second mounting portion being operably coupled with a second wall of the appliance cabinet and having a planar extent that extends perpendicular to the planar extent of the central portion;
first and second central extensions extending from the central portion and positioned to space the central portion away from the first wall; and
a support extending from the second central extension proximate the central portion of the rear bracket;

a shelf configured to be operably coupled with the rear bracket; and
a cover configured to be positioned over the second mounting portion to at least partially conceal the rear bracket.

14. The wall-mounted shelf assembly of claim 13 , wherein the shelf is configured to be at least partially received by one of the plurality of receiving wells.

15. The wall-mounted shelf assembly of claim 13 , wherein the cover is generally L-shaped.

16. The wall-mounted shelf assembly of claim 13 , wherein the shelf is at least partially flush with the cover.

17. The wall-mounted shelf assembly of claim 13 , wherein the cover is operably coupled with the second mounting portion.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Dehury Ratikanta
• Krishna Sai B
• Kulkarni Mandar G
• Marathe Vishal S
• Shete Gaurav R

Classifications

• F25D25/02 Primary

  by shelves · CPC title

• F25D23/067 Primary

  Supporting elements · CPC title

• A47B73/008

  with attachment means for fixing in another cupboard or rack · CPC title

• A47B57/06

  with means for adjusting the height of the shelves (A47B57/04, A47B57/30 take precedence) · CPC title