DESCRIPTION

Field of the invention

5 The present invention relates to a system for mounting a kitchen extractor hood that forms part of kitchen furniture, as well as a mounting method using the system, as defined in the preamble of claims 1 and 4, respectively.

The invention particularly also relates to a system for mounting a kitchen extraction hood to a vertical wall of a kitchen between a pair of hanging cabinets.

0 Background art

As is known in the art, wall-mounted kitchen hoods comprise a casing that can have various configurations including an inverted T configuration, with the horizontal bar of the T shape configured to contain the filter devices for filtering the extracted air and the vertical stem of the T shape configured to contain the extraction motor unit and the channel for 5 ejecting the extracted air which is conventionally designed for connection with the inlet of the chimney.

If the gas- or electrically-operated cooking household appliance is placed against the wall, next to other household appliances or worktops, a well-known problem consists in fixing its extractor hood above it.

0 US4614177 discloses a system for wall-mounting an extractor hood as defined in the preamble of claim 1. In particular, according to the system as disclosed by US4614177, a first frame is secured to the wall of the kitchen, and the casing of the extractor hood is fixed to the first frame by means of screws and bolts.

Prior art drawbacks

5 The above problem is further exacerbated in that kitchen furniture includes a series of hanging cabinets overhangingly arranged on the same wall of the kitchen and the kitchen hood has to fit between two contiguous hanging cabinets and, due to aesthetic reasons, its front part should be aligned with the profile of the contiguous hanging cabinets, so that its surface is coplanar with the doors of the latter.

0 The system as disclosed in US4614177 for wall-mounting an extractor hood does not always afford quick and easy mounting of the hood. This system requires at least two persons for hood installation. This is because, once the first frame has been secured to the kitchen wall, a first person should fix the hood casing to the first frame using screws and bolts and a second person should carry and hold the hood in the desired position. As a result, the extractor hood might require a very long installation time.

Object of the Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a system for wall positioning of a kitchen extractor hood between hanging cabinets of a kitchen that affords alignment thereof with the hanging cabinets to form a substantially coplanar front surface therewith.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a system that affords easy and quick wall positioning of the extractor hood.

An object of the invention is also to provide a method of wall positioning of the kitchen extractor hood between hanging cabinets so that its front will be coplanar therewith.

These and other objects, as better explained hereafter, are fulfilled by the system for mounting a kitchen extractor hood to a vertical wall of a kitchen as defined in claim 1 hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

The invention will be now described in greater detail with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, given by way of illustration and without limitation, and shown in the annexed drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of the first wall-mounted frame positioned between two conventional kitchen furniture hanging cabinets;

- Figure 2 shows a schematic perspective view of an enlarged detail of the frame of Figure 1;

- Figure 3 shows a schematic perspective view of the second frame of the apparatus and the structure of the hood containing the extraction motor, as they are being positioned in the first frame;

- Figure 4 shows a schematic perspective view of the casing of the hood as it is being positioned on the second and the first of said frames of the apparatus, between two hanging cabinets;

- Figure 5 shows a schematic perspective view of the extraction hood mounted between two hanging cabinets thereby forming a coplanar front surface;

- Figure 6 shows a schematic perspective view of a wall-mounted extractor hood fitting among a plurality of hanging cabinets, illustrating the coplanar aligned arrangement so achieved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the above figures and particularly to Figure 1, numeral 1 generally designates the wall of a kitchen furnished with conventional hanging cabinets, referenced

2 and 3, mounted to the wall 1.

As is known in the art, these cabinets have a depth H of projection from the wall 1 that ranges from 50 to 60 cm, but is quite variable in its actual wall-mounted value.

Under the hanging elements 2 and 3, kitchen furniture typically includes various household appliances, not shown, or conventional cabinets with an overlying worktop, also not shown.

In the illustrated example, a space S is formed between the hanging elements 2 and

3 for receiving a wall-mounted extractor hood associated with underlying cooker, not shown.

According to the invention, the system for mounting a kitchen extractor hood to a vertical wall of a kitchen includes a hood comprising filter devices for filtering the extracted air, referenced 5 in Figure 6, an extraction motor unit with its extractor fan and a channel for ejecting the extracted air toward the chimney, generally referenced 8 in Figures 3 and 4.

The hood comprises an inverted T-shaped casing, as schematically shown in Figure 4. Such casing comprises a horizontal bar 4 configured to contain the filter devices 5 for filtering the extracted air and a vertical stem 7 configured to contain the extraction motor unit 8 and the channel for ejecting the extracted air.

According to the invention, the system for mounting a kitchen extractor hood to a vertical wall of a kitchen comprises a first frame, generally referenced 9, as shown in Figure 1

Said frame 9 is composed of right-angled elements 10 and 11 whose long vertical sides are adapted to be secured to the wall 1 by conventional means such as, for example, expansion bolts, schematically shown by the arrows 12, 13 and 14.

Therefore, the short sides 15 and 16 of the right-angled elements 10 and 11 project perpendicular to the wall 1 , when the frame is secured thereto, and form a bracket 17 for the extraction motor unit 8.

The position of the unit 8 on the bracket 17, relative to the wall 1 and thus based on the depth H of the hanging elements 2 and 3, is adapted by providing an adjustable projection 18 on the first frame 9 between the right-angled elements 10 and 11, near the bracket arms 15 and 16.

More preferably, the adjustable projection 18 is placed between the short sides 15 and 16 of the right-angled elements.

Such adjustable projection 18, as shown in an enlarged scale in Figure 2, is formed, according to one embodiment, as a flat fin composed of a set of parallel adjacent segments defined by predetermined failure grooves, for removal of one or more of such segments, so that the projection of the fin relative to the right-angled elements 10 and 11 may be adjusted to obtain proper positioning of the motor unit 8 on the bracket 17 relative to the wall 1, based on the depth H of the hanging cabinets, as better explained hereinafter.

According to the invention, a second frame, generally referenced 19, is connected to the first frame 9.

The second frame 19 is connected to the frame 9 using conventional screw means, not shown, between the vertical elements 10 and 11 of the first frame 9 and the vertical elements 20 and 21 that compose the second frame 19.

The position of the second frame 19 relative to the first frame is determined by the requirement to accommodate and fix the casing of the hood that covers the motor unit 8 as a housing when the unit is already placed on the bracket 17. More preferably, the position of the second frame 19 relative to the first frame is determined by the requirement to accommodate and fix the vertical stem 7 of the casing.

With the provision of a first frame 9, a second frame 19 and the projection 18 on the first frame 9, whose depth dimensions are determined during installation of the frame on the wall 1, the position for the extraction motor unit 8 on the bracket 17, relative to the wall 1 , may be determined with a high degree of accuracy, and the casing of the hood, more preferably the vertical stem 7 of the casing, may be later positioned while ensuring coplanar arrangement thereof with the front surface of the hanging elements 2 and 3 as shown in Figures 5 and 6.

Advantageously, the bracket 17 affords quick and easy positioning of the motor unit 8, whereby the motor unit 8 may be fixed to the first frame 9 by a single person. Also, the second frame 19 affords quick and easy positioning of the casing, whereby the casing may be fixed to the second frame 19 by a single person. This is because fixation of the motor unit 8 on the first frame 9 and fixation of the casing on the second frame 19 do not require the use of screws and bolts whereby, once the first 9 and second 19 frames have been secured to the vertical wall 1, the hood may be quickly mounted to the vertical wall 1 of the kitchen.

Those skilled in the art will obviously appreciate that a number of changes and variants as described above may be made to fulfill particular requirements, without departure from the scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims.