Means for temporarily hanging a cabinet on a wall surface prior to permanent attachment of said cabinet

Abstract

Means for temporarily hanging a cabinet on a wall surface prior to permanent attachment of said cabinet, which comprises a cabinet having a back or rear wall and a top cover which serves as the top of the cabinet, the back wall having a cutout at the top and a downwardly extending rear flange on the cover which partially extends over the cutout, and a separate bracket with an upstanding portion, which bracket is first secured to the wall so that the upstanding portion is spaced from the wall surface, and when the cabinet is hung on the bracket the rear flange engages the upstanding portion and the bracket occupies the space of the cutout to temporarily support the cabinet prior to permanently securing the cabinet to the wall.

Description

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In connection with hanging a cabinet or the like on a wall surface, particularly where the cabinet is of a substantial length, two persons usually are required to hang such a cabinet to a wall surface, one person holding the cabinet in proper position and the other applying the screws or other fastening elements to secure the cabinet to the wall. This increases the cost considerably for such an operation.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide means whereby such a cabinet can be hung on a wall and connected thereto by one person, thereby reducing in half the personnel required for such an operation and the cost of labor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet with a section broken away, which cabinet is adapted to be hung, and showing the bracket secured on the wall prior to hanging the cabinet, which serves to temporarily hold the cabinet in hanging position.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2--2 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a rear view partly broken away showing the cutout in the rear wall of the cabinet, the rear flange, and the manner in which the bracket supports the cabinet; and

FIG. 4 is a rear plan view showing the bracket supporting the cabinet.

The cabinet forming this invention is generally designated by the numeral 10 and is shown as a bathroom cabinet to be hung on a bathroom wall W and comprises a top cover 12, a bottom wall 14, spaced side walls 16 and a back or rear wall 18. The top cover 12 is provided with downwardly extending flanges 20 along the front, sides and rear, and the top cover is suitably welded to the sides 16 and back 18, and the rear flange 20 of the top cover extends over the top portion of the rear wall, as shown in all of the Figures. The bottom 14 is likewise welded to the side and back.

The rear or back wall 18 of the cabinet adjacent the top and centrally of the length of the back wall is provided with a rectangular-shaped cutout 22 having a bottom edge 24 and side edges 26 and is open at the top. Thus when the top cover 12 is secured to the back wall 18 the rear flange 20 overhangs the top edge of the back wall and the upper portion of the cutout 22 in the back wall is covered by the overhanging rear flange 20, with the lower portion of the cutout 22 open above the bottom edge 24 and the sides 26 of the cutout.

The front of the bathroom cabinet is adapted to be closed by three separate mirrors 30, each supported in a frame member 32 which is pivotally or hingedly secured to the cabinet by the hinge means 34. Said hinge means are the subject matter of a copending application. The mirrors 30 and their supporting frame members 32 are adapted to close the front of the cabinet and the adjacent side edges of the mirrors and frames are positioned in an edge to edge relationship when the mirrors are closed to present a continuous and uninterrupted mirror surface. The interior of the cabinet is divided into three sections with storage shelves, each section being accessible independently of the others by opening the particular mirror into open hinging position.

The bracket which serves to temporarily support the cabinet in hanging position is generally designated by 36 and is formed preferably of a 24 gauge galvanized steel, although not limited thereto, and comprises a plate having a bottom planar section 38, a forwardly extending horizontal portion 40 which continues upwardly at a slightly inclined angle to form an upwardly inclined portion 42 and then continues forwardly at an inclined angle to form the inclined forwardly extending lip 44. The bracket has a pair of spaced openings 46 in the lower planar section 38 whereby the bracket is secured to the surface of wall W by fastening screws 48 or the like.

In accordance with this invention, the bracket 36 is first secured to the wall W at the appropriate location, centrally of the length of the cabinet where it is desired to hang the cabinet, the bracket 36 being secured by the screw or fastening means 48 so that the upper portion 42 and the lip 44 of said bracket will be spaced forwardly of the wall surface, as best seen in FIG. 2. After the bracket has been applied and secured to the wall W by one person, the cabinet can then be lifted by the person so that cutout 22 in the back wall 18 of the cabinet is in registry with the bracket and with the cabinet positioned so that the downwardly extending rear flange 20 of the top cover is above the lip 44 of the bracket 36. The cabinet is then lowered slightly so that the rear flange 20 of the top cover of the cabinet is positioned rearwardly of the lip 44 and the upper portion 42 of the bracket. In this position the top edge of the lip of the bracket will engage the underside of the top cover and the bracket will thus temporarily support the cabinet sufficiently so that a single person can permanently secure the cabinet to the wall.

The back wall 18 of the cabinet is provided with suitable spaced openings 50 through which fastening screws 52 are passed for permanently securing the cabinet to the wall. Thus, while the bracket 36 serves to temporarily support and hold the cabinet for a sufficient period of time until the other permanent fasteners are applied, it additionally serves to support the cabinet in conjunction with the other fastening elements.

While the cutout 22 in the back wall 18 is in effect an opening in the back wall of the cabinet, the cutout area 22 is closed by the upper portion 42 and lip 44 of the bracket which extends therewithin so that in effect the bracket serves to close the cutout 22 of the back wall of the cabinet to prevent any dust or the like from entering the cabinet through the rear wall thereof. The length of the bracket 36 is substantially the length of the cutout 22 so that when the cabinet is hooked to the bracket the back wall is in effect closed. The forwardly extending inclined lip 44 of the bracket which is spaced from the supporting wall surface permits the downwardly extending flange 20 of the cover of the cabinet to be inserted thereon and the rearwardly inclined section 42 of the bracket will tend to urge the rear wall of the cabinet towards the supporting wall surface W.

With this invention a cabinet may be hung by one individual thereby decreasing the cost of hanging such a cabinet.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. Means for positioning and temporarily hanging a bathroom cabinet on a supporting wall surface prior to permanent attachment of said cabinet comprising, a cabinet having a housing forming a hollow compartment for storage purposes, said cabinet having a vertical rear wall, spaced horizontal top and bottom walls and spaced vertical side walls all connected to said vertical rear wall and front closure members for opening and closing the front of said cabinet, said front closure members being hingedly secured by hinge means to the cabinet with each closure member adapted to be independently opened and closed and with the closure members having front mirror surfaces whereby said closure members when in closed position have an edge to edge relationship to form a front planar wall for closing said cabinet, said top wall having a downwardly extending rear flange, said vertical rear wall of the cabinet having a single cutout adjacent to the top edge of said rear vertical wall, with said cutout positioned centrally of the length of the cabinet with the top of the cutout extending upwardly of said downwardly extending flange and with said cutout providing bottom and side wall surfaces adjacent the cutout, and with said downwardly extending flange forming a vertical top rear wall surface adjacent said cutout, a single integrally formed bracket for initially positioning and temporarily supporting said cabinet in a hanging position, said bracket having a bottom planar portion continuing with an intermediate forwardly extending portion and with an upwardly extending portion terminating in a forwardly inclined top lip providing the top edge to provide a greater spacing at the top of the bracket between the top lip and the supporting wall surfaces, said bottom planar surface having a plurality of spaced openings, means for initially securing said bracket to the wall surface by a plurality of fastening means having shanks passing through said openings in said bottom planar surface and secured to the wall surface, subsequently positioning said cabinet with respect to said single bracket so that the upwardly extending portion of the bracket is positioned in the single cutout of the back wall with the upwardly extending portion of the bracket engaging the downwardly extending flange adjacent said cutout to temporarily support the cabinet before it is permanently affixed to the wall surface, said top lip of said bracket positioned below the top horizontal wall of the cabinet and covered by said top wall and invisible when viewing the top of the cabinet but with said top lip engaging the underside of the top wall of the cabinet, said single bracket having a length substantially that of the length of the cutout so that when the cabinet is secured to the bracket the cutout is substantially closed, and additional fastening means passing through the back wall of the cabinet to be secured to the wall surface to permanently secure the cabinet to the wall.