Under-cabinet Radio

Abstract

A radio receiver specially designed for support on the lower surface of a cabinet, such as a so-called hanging kitchen cabinet, in combination with mounting means therefor. Downwardly projecting pins are detachably secured to the bottom wall of the cabinet while the radio housing is provided with female means adapted to receive said pins together with manually operable means for detachably engaging said pins. Provision is made for selectively locating the radio at a predetermined elevation relative to the bottom wall of the cabinet.

Description

Our invention relates to portable household radio receivers, and has to do more particularly with a portable radio receiver housing specially designed to be detachably mounted on the under face of an elevated cabinet, such as a kitchen cabinet of the "hanging" wall type.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

There is a desire on the part of many housewives for a portable radio which may be used in a kitchen and, when desired, carried into another room for disposition on a table or cabinet. However, in the modern kitchen, surface space is at a premium when the housewife is at work preparing food, and little or no area is available for even a small portable radio. Furthermore, if placed on a working surface adjacent a food-preparation area, there is a risk that food may be inadvertently splattered onto the radio housing, which must then be laboriously cleaned.

It accordingly occurred to us that this need may be satisfied by providing a portable radio receiver and mounting means therefor whereby the receiver may be detachably mounted on the under face of a so-called hanging wall cabinet as commonly employed in modern kitchens. The receiver is thus disposed in a position elevated above the working area and will be out of the way of the housewife in the course of preparing food.

It is accordingly an object of our invention to provide a new and improved housing for a portable radio receiver specially designed for detachable mounting on an under surface, such as that of a hanging cabinet, in combination with mounting means designed for detachably securing such a housing to the cabinet undersurface.

Another object is to provide a combination of such a housing and mounting means for same which is simple and inexpensive in construction, attractive in appearance, adapted to be conveniently set up by a mechanically unskilled person without tools, and conveniently detachable when it is desired to move the radio to another room or to remove same for cleaning.

Although my invention is particularly described and illustrated in connection with mounting a radio receiver on a kitchen cabinet, it will of course be understood that our invention is not limited to such an environment, it being within the purview of my invention that a radio receiver and mounting means for same may readily be mountable to any suitable undersurface.

Various other objects and advantages will no doubt suggest themselves to those skilled in the art as the description proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the drawings forming a part of this specification and illustrating a preferred embodiment of our invention,

FIG. 1 is a more or less schematic section-elevation showing a portable radio receiver and mounting means for same attached to the lower surface of a wooden type of hanging kitchen cabinet;

FIG. 2 is a similar view on a larger scale in conjunction with a metal cabinet, the mounting means being shown in somewhat greater detail;

FIG. 3 is an exploded front perspective view of the elements of the combination seen in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a mounting plate constituting one of the mounting elements;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially along line 5--5 of FIG. 2, showing certain details of the mounting means;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, on a somewhat reduced scale from that of FIG. 5, along a line 6--6 of FIG. 3, normal to FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, partially exploded perspective view from the rear with parts cut away for added clearness, showing parts of the radio housing in combination with the mounting means;

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are fragmentary plan views of a portion of a slide bracket constituting part of the mounting means at various stages of engagement with the supporting means;

FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional view showing another preferred embodiment of my invention;

FIG. 12 is a bottom plan view of the same;

FIGS. 13, 14 and 15 are sectional views taken substantially along lines 13--13, 14--14 and 15--15, respectively, of FIG. 11;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along line 16--16 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the radio housing top plate of FIG. 11, and

FIG. 18 is a plan view of the latch slide of FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

C and C' represent so-called hanging cabinet of wood and steel types, respectively, in current fashion for kitchens, disclosed in elevated relation to a waist-high cabinet or table B, on the top surface of which may be disposed any desired appliance A for handling or operating upon food.

A suitable radio receiver R is mounted on the lower surface S of cabinet C. The housing for radio R which may be specially designed for purposes of our invention may be of molded plastic or other suitable material. Said housing is preferably relatively thin in its vertical dimension and the entire receiver is preferably of relatively light weight for convenient disposition under cabinet C.

Our invention is applicable to a cabinet C, C' formed of either wood or metal. If of metal, a pad 10, provided with so-called "self-sticking" adhesive of a character well known in the art may be applied directly to the lower surface S of cabinet C', and a mounting plate 12 attached thereto. Said pad 10 may conveniently be of generally triangular configuration, although not necessarily so, and may be formed of any suitable material such as fiber board or any other suitable composition.

In case cabinet C should be of wood, or at least the bottom wall thereof, wood screws 15 (FIG. 3) may be employed for direct attachment of plate 12.

Mounting plate 12, in the embodiment shown, likewise may be triangular, conforming in shape and size to pad 10.

A templet T may be supplied to the customer to facilitate attachment of the mounting means to the hanging cabinet.

Mounting plate 12 is provided with a plurality of female, interiorly threaded bosses 20 for the purpose of receiving and retaining threaded ends 22 of mounting pins or studs 25.

It will be noted that pins 25 are provided with a plurality of equi-spaced annular grooves 27 which serve as detents to retain a split stop ring 30, formed of resilient metal, which may be snapped into engagement on a selected one of said grooves 27 for limiting the upward movement of radio housing R with reference to mounting plate 12, in order to insure a space between the top of said housing R and the bottom surface of cabinet C. Thus, adequate space is provided for manipulation of the cabinet door, for the operation of the radio controls, etc. Also, in case it is desired to mount the radio under a wooden cabinet, a depending lip is usually found on such cabinets under the door, which requires spacing the radio below the bottom face of the cabinet a distance at least equal to the depth of such lip.

Radio receiver housing R, if molded as in our preferred embodiment, comprises a lower portion 35 and a mating upper portion 36 (FIGS. 6 and 7), said elements having interengaging rabbeted portions 39. Lower housing portion 35 is provided with socket elements 42, preferably molded integrally therein, and of such size and proportions as to receive pins 25, and having a shoulder 43. Upper housing portion 36 has circular bosses 47 keyed to said socket elements 42.

A portion of socket members 42 is cut away to provide a horizontal slot 45 adjacent shoulder 43 to receive a locking plate 48, said plate being disposed between the mating housing members 36 and 38 and riding on shoulders 43. Said plate has attached thereto at the rear of the radio housing a manipulating member 55, top housing member 38 being cut out as at 57 to provide space receiving said manipulating member.

A resilient ring 60 is secured on each of said socket members 42 immediately above locking plate 48, so as to retain the latter firmly in position against shoulders 43.

Adjacent each of said socket members 42, said locking plate 48 is eccentrically perforated, approximately one-half of said perforation, as indicated at 57, conforming approximately to a semi-circumference of upper portion 44 of socket member 42, the opposite portion 58 of said perforation being recessed approximately in conformity with the circumference of one of the grooves 27 of pin 25.

Locking plate 48 is spring-biased normally into locking condition with regard to pins 25 by means of a coil spring 62, one end of which is attached to said plate as at 65, the other end being secured to a post 68 which may be molded integrally with lower housing portion 35.

To install the device, as stated above, mounting plate 12 will be secured in the desired position on the lower face of the overhanging cabinet either by screws, if desired, in case the cabinet is of wood, or by use of an adhesive pad 10, a templet T being used to facilitate this operation if desired.

The studs or pins 25 are screwed into the socket portions 20 of the mounting plate. Stop rings 30 are then secured at the desired level on pins 25 to adjust the level of the radio receiver.

The radio receiver is then lifted by both hands, a finger of one hand reacting against manipulating member 55 to urge locking plate 48, against the action of spring 62, into a position of disengagement from pins 25. The receiver is then brought into a position where pins 25 will register with the openings in bosses 47 of top member 36, and the receiver is then moved upwardly until stopped by rings 30, whereupon pressure is released from member 55, allowing spring 62 to move locking plate 48 into locking engagement with pins 25. The radio receiver is now securely retained in position under the cabinet.

To remove the radio receiver, a reverse of the sequence of steps just described will be performed, whereupon the receiver may conveniently be carried to any other desired location for disposition on a table or other suitable supporting surface.

Referring now to FIGS. 11-18, inclusive, I show here another preferred embodiment of my invention which incorporates the same principles as the embodiment described hereabove, in this case using a single supporting stud.

To hanging cabinet C is attached, as by screws or other suitable means, a supporting plate 12' from which depends a stud-like member indicated generally by numeral 70. Stud 70 and plate 12' may be molded integrally from a suitable synthetic resin plastic, hard rubber or other suitable material.

It will be noted (FIG. 12) that stud 70 is eccentric in cross-section, i.e., polygonal, preferably rectangular, and may be largely hollow for the sake of economy of material. As in the case of studs 25 of the previously described embodiment, stud 70 is provided with a series of spaced rib-like detents 72 on the rear face and teeth 72' at the front corners for the same purpose as the detents formed on studs 25. A reinforcing transverse bar 73 is molded integrally in stud 70 approximately mid-way of the length thereof. (FIGS. 11, 14.)

A suitable stop disc 75 is arranged on stud 70, as in the first-described embodiment, for fixing the upper limit in positioning the radio receiver on the stud. Said disc 75 has a slot therein whereby it may be slipped into one of the grooves between a pair of detent ribs 72 and teeth 72'.

A suitable latch means is provided on the under face of top wall 77 of the radio receiver housing, to engage detachably with stud 70, as in the first-described embodiment. Such latch means comprises a horizontally slidable latch member 78 having a manipulating member 80 extending rearwardly of the radio receiver housing so as to be readily accessible for grasping by the operator, said latch member being secured to the inner top wall of the housing as by straps 82, 82'.

Carried by latch member 78 is a plate 85 having a generally T shaped cavity 87 therein, said cavity being so formed as by neck 88 and notches 89 as to cooperate with ribs 72 and teeth 72' of stud 70 to provide a three-point support.

Latch member 78 is spring biased outwardly by means of a compression spring 90 disposed in a cavity formed in latch member 78 and seated in a socket 91 formed on the latch member and abutting against strap 82, said spring being retained by a pin 93.

It will be understood that spring 90 normally urges latch member 78 into locking engagement with stud 70, whereby the radio receiver will be fixedly secured on said stud at the desired level under the cabinet. When it is desired to attach or to disengage the radio receiver from the stud, latch member 78 will be urged outwardly (to the right in FIGS. 11 and 12) against the action of spring 90, in which position plate 85 will be free to clear the detents and teeth of the stud member.

The eccentric character of stud 70 results in a positive positioning thereon of the radio, with no tendency to rotate, thus serving as effectively as a plurality of studs, as in the first embodiment. Thus, I may employ a single supporting post, or a plurality thereof.

Various changes coming within the spirit of our invention may suggest themselves to those skilled in the art; hence, I do not wish to be limited to the specific embodiment shown and described or uses mentioned, but intend the same to be merely exemplary, the scope of our invention being limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

We claim:

1. In combination, a radio receiver and mounting means therefor adapted for mounting said receiver on the underside of a cabinet,

a. said mounting means comprising

i. plate means attachable to a downwardly facing surface and

ii. at least one male support member detachably mounted on said plate means in a downwardly extending position, said male support member provided with a plurality of longitudinally equispaced detents, and

b. said radio receiver comprising a housing having

i. socket means for receiving said downwardly extending male support member,

ii. engaging means carried by said housing for detachably engaging said male support member received within said socket means by engaging at least one of the plurality of detents therein by moving said engaging means horizontally into engagement therewith, and

iii. manually operable means also carried by said housing connected to said engaging means for releasing said engaging means from engagement with said male support member upon actuation thereof.

2. A combination as in claim 1 wherein said engaging means is spring-biased into normal locking relation with said support member with said engaging means being urged into engagement with said one of the plurality of detents of said support member.

3. A combination as in claim 1 wherein said mounting means has stop means adjustably positioned on said support member for selectively limiting the vertical positioning of said receiver relative to said cabinet.

4. A combination as in claim 1, wherein

a. said mounting means comprises a plurality of male support members provided with a plurality of longitudinally equi-spaced detents, said members depending from said plate means, and

b. said engaging means comprises a spring-biased horizontally slidable release plate normally urged into locking engagement with an adjacent pair of said detents on each support member.

5. A combination as in claim 1, wherein

a. said male support member is eccentric in cross-sectional configuration, and

b. said engaging means is shaped to mate with said support member, whereby relative rotation therebetween is inhibited.

6. A combination as in claim 1, wherein

a. said male support member is generally polygonal in cross section

b. said equi-spaced detents being provided on three sides thereof.