Patent ID: 7806490

Claim:
An appliance elevator apparatus installable within an interior cavity of a piece of furniture, the furniture being of the type having a rear wall and a hinged top, the hinged top being located above the interior cavity and being hinged to move relative the rear wall between an open position and a closed position, for supporting an appliance and for selectively (i) moving the hinged top from the closed position to the open position and raising the appliance from a storage position within the furniture to a use position and, (ii) lowering the appliance from the use position to the storage position, said apparatus, comprising: a lift mechanism having an electric motor, an appliance support for supporting the appliance, and a drive unit mechanically interposed between said motor and said appliance support, said drive unit having a body to which said appliance support is coupled to move relative said body for selectively: (i) raising said appliance support along a line of travel from the storage position to the use position and, (ii) lowering said appliance support along said line of travel from the use position to the storage position, said drive unit being in a lowered position when said appliance support is in the storage position, said lift mechanism further having a component which is mechanically coupled to said drive unit to move with said appliance support; and a mounting panel which defines a mounting plane, said mounting panel having a front surface and an opposed rear surface, said lift mechanism in an at least substantially fully assembled form being affixed to said mounting panel with said body of said drive unit being attached in positionally-fixed relation to said front surface of said mounting panel such that said line of travel is oriented substantially parallel to said mounting plane, at least a portion of said mounting panel extending beyond said body of said drive unit in at least one direction oriented substantially perpendicular to said line of travel, said extending portion of said mounting panel being attachable to the rear wall of the furniture by way of at least one fastener to install said mounting panel and said lift mechanism within the interior cavity of the furniture such that substantially the entire mechanical load on said lift mechanism when the lift mechanism is in use is transferred to the furniture by way of said mounting panel and such that said component of said lift mechanism is capable of acting on the hinged top of the furniture to move the hinged top of the furniture from the closed position to the open position in response to said raising of said appliance support to the use position.