H-Shaped bracket with slidable reinforcing nut

An adjustable mounting bracket for small horsepower motors, such as those used to drive fans in refrigerators, or the like, in the form of an H-shaped bracket having a plurality of longitudinally extending slots therein with the endmost slots having an open end to facilitate entry and exit of a fastening bolt, machine screw, or the like. The slotted bracket also slidably receives a nut, such as a sheet metal nut, or the like, which may be in the form of a clip that is longitudinally adjustably supported on the bracket and serves as a reinforcement when used in conjunction with the open end slot. The H-shaped bracket can be easily deformed or bent into a desired configuration to accommodate a fan blade, or the like, having a very deep pitch to avoid interference between the bracket and such a fan blade. The bracket may be associated with the existing motor and mounting screws in various arrangements with the slots in the bracket capable of being manufactured in different sizes to closely receive different size machine screws.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention generally relates to an adjustable and versatile 
mounting structure for small horsepower electric motors, such as fan 
motors for use in refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and the like, 
which has preformed holes therein receiving mounting screws or which has a 
casing or housing with threaded studs projecting therefrom with the 
mounting structure of the present invention including an H-shaped bracket 
combined with a nut in the form of a clip which is slidable along the 
bracket to rigidify and reinforce an open-ended slot with the supporting 
screw for the motor extending through the nut and slot and/or a C-shaped 
washer which can be slid under a nut or bolt head without removal of the 
nut or bolt which is necessary when assembling an annular washer with a 
nut and bolt assembly. 
2. Description of the RELEVANT INFORMATION 
In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,196, issued Feb. 28, 1978, and U.S. Pat. No. 
4,174,821, issued Nov. 20, 1979, and in my co-pending application Ser. No. 
050,503, filed June 20, 1979, there is disclosed bracket structures for 
mounting electric motors by the use of various types of brackets. The 
disclosure in these patents and co-pending application is incorporated 
herein by reference thereto and the prior art cited during prosecution of 
the applications is also incorporated herein by reference thereto. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide an H-shaped mounting 
bracket for small horsepower electric motors in which the bracket 
structure includes longitudinally extending slot-like openings with at 
least one of the slots being open-ended and the slots adjustably slidably 
receiving a nut in the form of a clip, such as a Tinnerman nut, which 
receives a supporting screw that also extends through the slot in the 
bracket and which may be associated with preformed mounting holes in the 
motor or may be a threaded stud projecting from a motor casing. 
Another object of the invention is to provide an H-shaped mounting bracket 
of sheet metal construction having sufficient rigidity to effectively 
support a small horsepower electric motor such as those used as a fan 
drive motor in refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and the like, 
with the bracket being capable of being bent or deformed to enable it to 
be used in a versatile manner depending upon the installational 
requirements encountered, such as when replacing a motor which has a 
different supporting arrangement from the original motor. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a mounting bracket in 
accordance with the preceding objects in which the slots may have 
different widths to receive different sizes of standard supporting screws 
or bolts used in supporting small horsepower electric motors from 
partition walls or other supporting structures. 
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an H-shaped mounting 
bracket with a slidable reinforcing nut mounted thereon and/or a C-shaped 
washer which can be slid laterally onto a bolt, which is simple in 
construction, capable of use in many and varied installations and quite 
inexpensive to manufacture. 
These together with other objects and advantages which will become 
subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation 
as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to 
the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals 
refer to like parts throughout.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now specifically to the drawings, a conventional small horsepower 
fan motor 10 is disclosed which includes an output shaft 12 connected with 
a rotor and including a stator 14 having preformed openings 16 for 
receiving mounting screws, or the like, and bearing brackets 18 are also 
provided through which machine screws or other supporting screws 20 extend 
with these screws also extending through the stator in a well-known 
manner. The H-shaped bracket of the present invention is generally 
designated by numeral 22 and includes a slidable sheet metal nut 24 
thereon, such as a Tinnerman fastener, which is longitudinally slidable 
along the length of the bracket. 
The bracket 22 includes an elongated sheet metal strap member 26 having 
sufficient rigidity to support the motor 10 and being generally in the 
form of a rectangular member having planar surfaces and opposite edges 
which are parallel as indicated by numeral 28 and a plurality of slots 30 
are provided in the strap member 26 with the slots 30 being along the 
center line thereof and longitudinally spaced with endmost slots 32 and 34 
being open-ended with the slot 32 being slightly wider than the slot 34 in 
order to receive different sizes of standard machine screws. For example, 
the wider slot 32 may receive a No. 10 machine screw, while the slot 34 
may receive a No. 6 machine screw. 
The nut 24 is of generally U-shaped construction and includes spaced walls 
36 and 38 interconnected by a bight portion 40 with the wall 36 including 
an aperture 42 and the wall 38 including struck-out tongues 44 which 
terminate in edge portions 46 that engage the screw threads on a mounting 
screw 48 in a well-known manner with the nut 24 being conventional in and 
of itself and slidably supporting itself on the strap member 26 with the 
inherent resiliency of the metal from which the nut 24 is constructed 
serving to adjustably and frictionally retain the nut 24 in longitudinally 
adjusted position on the strap member 26. 
FIG. 2 illustrates the use of the H-shaped bracket 22 to support a motor 10 
from the supporting partition, wall, or the like, 50 with the motor shaft 
12 projecting therethrough and receiving a fan blade, or the like, not 
shown. In this arrangement, the screw 48 extends through the wall 50 and 
is retained rigidly thereon by a retaining nut 52. Also as illustrated in 
FIG. 2, the mounting screw 20 for the motor 10 extends through a nut on 
the opposite end of the H-shaped bracket. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the 
H-shaped bracket 22 is straight, but in the illustration in FIG. 5, the 
H-shaped bracket 22 has been deformed to provide an offset between the 
ends thereof which facilitates use of the bracket with a deep pitch fan 54 
on the shaft 12 so that the bracket and fan blade will not interfere with 
each other. FIG. 4 illustrates a C-shaped washer 56 with a laterally 
extending notch 58 therein which enables the washer 56 to be slid 
laterally onto a bolt or stud 60 under a head 62 or nut by merely 
loosening the nut rather than completely removing the nut or bolt as when 
placing a conventional annular washer on a bolt. The shape of the washer 
56 may vary as long as notch 58 will receive the bolt. 
The H-shaped bracket is quite versatile in use and may be easily inserted 
under the head of any mounting screw by merely loosening the screw and 
sliding the open-ended slot under the screw head or under any retaining 
nut on the screw. The slot construction provides for longitudinal 
adjustment of the mounting screws and pivotal movement of the brackets in 
relation to the mounting screws so that the mounting screws such as those 
extending through the open-ended slots can swing in an arc about another 
screw and the bracket and/or screws can be adjusted to adjust the 
effective distance between the mounting screws or length of the bracket. 
Also, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the bracket 22 may be used with a motor 64 
of the type having a cylindrical housing or casing 66 with threaded studs 
68 fixed thereto and projecting therefrom in generally parallel relation 
to the drive shaft 70. The mounting bracket is very easy to install in the 
field and enables various field installation problems to be overcome and 
the open-ended slot eliminates the necessity of completely removing a 
machine screw to place it through a mounting bracket. The bracket can be 
used with various types of Tinnerman nuts or other sheet metal nuts or any 
other conventional nuts. Further, the bracket 22 may be constructed of 
requisite strength to support various types of motors and may be provided 
in various lengths so that substantially all installation requirements may 
be satisfied with a minimum number of brackets. 
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the 
invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily 
occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the 
invention 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 invention.