Patent Application
20240375838
Not Applicable
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The disclosure relates to appliance facing protection devices and more particularly pertains to a new appliance facing protection device for preventing the marring of an appliance's exterior surface during its movement for the purposes of installing the appliance.
The prior art relates to appliance facing protection devices that are used primarily during the transportation of the appliance from the manufacturer to its final destination. However, once at the destination and before installation of the appliance, the protective wrapping and packaging of an appliance is removed for two reasons. One is to ensure that the appliance will fit through standard doorways, while a second is to prevent the mess that can be caused by the removal of cardboard, polystyrene foam, and other packaging materials. However, once this protective wrapping is removed, there is a danger of damaging the exterior surface, i.e. the facing, of the appliance and such damage could lead to the consumer demanding a replacement. While moving blankets have been used for protecting the appliance during the installation process, they neither fully protect the front face of the appliance, which is most prone to damage, nor do they remain in place on the appliance during its movement and can interfere with the wheels of a hand truck.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising an appliance having an outer vertical surface including a front face, a pair of lateral faces, and a rear face. The front face and the rear face each have a width dimension and the lateral faces each have a length dimension. A protective panel has a first side, a second side, an upper edge, a lower edge, a first lateral edge, and a second lateral edge. The protective panel is comprised of a flexible material and has a rectangular shape. The protective panel has a height from the upper edge to the lower edge that is equal or greater than a height of the appliance. The protective panel is positioned on the outer vertical surface such that the first side abuts the outer vertical surface and at least covers the front face and the pair of lateral faces. A securing member is attached to the protective panel and is engaged to releasably retain the protective panel on the appliance.
In another embodiment, a method of protecting an appliance includes selecting a protective panel having a size such that its height is no greater than 20% of the height of the appliance onto which it is to be positioned. A protective panel is positioned on an exposed outer surface of the appliance such that a front face and a pair of lateral faces are completely covered with the protective panel and a rear face of the appliance is only partially covered with the protective panel. The protective panel is releasably retained in place with one or more straps attached to the protective panel such that the one or more straps extend across the rear face of the appliance and that the one or more straps bias a first lateral edge of the protective panel toward a second lateral edge of the protective panel. The appliance is then moved to or adjacent to an installation position and the protective panel removed from the appliance.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A protective panel 22 is provided which has a first side 24, a second side 26, an upper edge 28, a lower edge 30, a first lateral edge 32, and a second lateral edge 34. The protective panel 22 is comprised of a flexible material which is most often a cloth material that may include natural and synthetic materials or a combination thereof. The material chosen will most often be a non-abrasive material. The protective panel 22 has a rectangular shape, but the size of the protective panel 22 will depend most often on the size of the appliance 12 being installed. That is, the system 10 contemplates the provision for multiple protective panels 22 and specifically one sized for counter height appliances 12 such as dishwashers and cooking stoves (as shown in
The protective panel 22 is positioned on the outer vertical surface 14 such that the first side 24 abuts the outer vertical surface 14 and at least completely covers the front face 16 and at least a portion of each of the lateral faces 18 so that the decorative portions of the appliance 22 are protected covered. In one embodiment, the protective panel 22 has a width from the first lateral edge 32 to the second lateral edge 34 that is greater than a summation of the length and width dimensions of the front face 16 and the pair of lateral faces 18. However, the width of the protective panel 22 is less than a summation of length and width dimensions of the front face 16, the pair of lateral faces 18, and the rear face 20. This will ensure that the protective panel 22 fits tightly against the appliance 12 as will become apparent below.
A cushioning material 36 is positioned within the protective panel 22 and is positioned between the first 24 and second 26 sides of the protective panel 22. The cushioning material 36 is spaced from the first 34 and second lateral 36 edges and has a size such that the front face 16 is covered by the cushioning material 36 when the protective panel 22 is positioned on the appliance 12. In some embodiments, the cushioning material 36 extends laterally within the protective panel 22 a distance no more than 12.0 inches greater than the width dimension of the front face 16. This will ensure that the front face 16 receives additional protection as it is the side of the appliance 22 most apt to be damaged during movement thereof and is also the side most visible once installation of the appliance 22 is completed. By not extending the cushioning material 36 to the first 32 and second 34 lateral edges, the protective panel 22 will be more easily bendable and will also not increase the width of the appliance 12 along its entire length during its movement. The cushioning material 36 will usually have a rectangular shape and comprise a resiliently compressible material. Foam elastomers, for example, may be one material used for the cushioning material 36.
A securing member 38 is attached to the protective panel 22 and is engaged to releasably retain the protective panel 22 on the appliance 12. In one embodiment, the securing member 38 includes a plurality of straps 40 extending between and biasing together the first 32 and second 34 lateral edges of the protective panel 22. Typically, therefore, the straps 40 extend across the rear face 20 of the appliance 12 when the protective panel 22 is positioned on the appliance 12. As can be seen in the Figures, the straps 40 may include a first end 42 secured to the protective panel 22 adjacent to the first lateral edge 32 and are extendable through loops 44 attached to the protective panel 22 adjacent to the second lateral edge 34. Hook and loop fastener 46 secure the straps 40 to themselves when folded as shown in
In addition to the securing member 38, a plurality of magnets 48 may be attached to the protective panel 22 for magnetically attaching the protective panel 22 to the appliance 12. The magnets 48 may be positioned between the first 24 and second 26 surfaces, or on one of the first 24 or second 26 surfaces and positioned adjacent to one of the first 32 or second 34 lateral edges. The magnets 48 are vertically spaced from each other and can be used to temporarily hold one of the first 32 or second 34 lateral edges in place against the rear face 20 of the appliance 12 as the protective panel 22 is wrapped around the appliance 12.
In use, the appliance 12 will typically be unpacked from its packaging that will usually include a box and protective foamed plastics. The protective panel 22 is then selected based on its size, such as a smaller one shown in
While the panel 22 is most often to be used with appliances 12 because appliances 12 are most often clad in a metallic facing that is highly susceptible to dents and scratches, the panel 22 may also be used with other large items having a generally rectangular footprint and which are the same size and shape of a conventional appliance. Therefore, items such as clothes dressers, firearm safes, cabinets, desks, and the like may also be protected with the panel 22. Not only will the panel 22 protect those objects from damage, but will also protect areas such as doorways through which the object being moved is passed.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded.
A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
