Alignment features for a panel assembly of an appliance

Abstract

An oven appliance including a plurality of sidewalls defining a cooking chamber within a cabinet; a door movable between an open position and a closed position to selectively open and close the cooking chamber; a bottom panel selectively received within the cooking chamber; a panel bracket provided at a bottom of the cabinet; and an elastic member provided between the bottom panel and the panel bracket, wherein the elastic member is configured to selectively bias the bottom panel toward a front of the oven appliance.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An oven appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, the oven appliance comprising:
 a plurality of sidewalls defining a cooking chamber within a cabinet;   a door movable between an open position and a closed position to selectively open and close the cooking chamber;   a bottom panel selectively received within the cooking chamber;   a panel bracket provided at a bottom of the cabinet; and   an elastic member provided between the bottom panel and the panel bracket, wherein the elastic member is configured to selectively bias the bottom panel toward a front of the oven appliance.   
     
     
         2 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the elastic member is a first elastic member provided at a first lateral side of the panel bracket, and wherein the oven appliance further comprises a second elastic member provided at a second lateral side of the panel bracket opposite the first elastic member. 
     
     
         3 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the elastic member is a cantilever spring attached to the panel bracket. 
     
     
         4 . The oven appliance of  claim 3 , wherein the cantilever spring comprises a fixed end and a free end, and wherein the fixed end of the cantilever spring is integral with the panel bracket. 
     
     
         5 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the panel bracket forms a burner housing provided beneath the cooking chamber, and wherein the elastic member is provided within the burner housing. 
     
     
         6 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sidewalls comprises a rear wall, the bottom panel being at least partially received under the rear wall in an installed position. 
     
     
         7 . The oven appliance of  claim 6 , wherein the rear wall comprises a bottom flange protruding forward along the transverse direction, wherein the elastic member is provided below the bottom flange along the vertical direction. 
     
     
         8 . The oven appliance of  claim 7 , wherein the bottom flange overlaps the bottom panel along the vertical direction for a predetermined length. 
     
     
         9 . The oven appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the bottom panel is selectively coupled to the oven appliance via one or more fasteners provided at a front of the bottom panel along the transverse direction. 
     
     
         10 . A cavity assembly for an appliance, the cavity assembly defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction, the cavity assembly comprising:
 a plurality of sidewalls defining a chamber;   a bottom panel removably provided within the chamber;   a panel bracket provided at a bottom of the chamber, wherein the bottom panel and the panel bracket collectively form a housing below the chamber; and   an elastic member provided between the bottom panel and the panel bracket within the housing, wherein the elastic member is configured to selectively bias the bottom panel toward a front of the appliance.   
     
     
         11 . The cavity assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the elastic member is a first elastic member provided at a first lateral side of the panel bracket, and wherein the cavity assembly further comprises a second elastic member provided at a second lateral side of the panel bracket opposite the first elastic member. 
     
     
         12 . The cavity assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the elastic member is a cantilever spring attached to the panel bracket. 
     
     
         13 . The cavity assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the cantilever spring comprises a fixed end and a free end, and wherein the fixed end of the cantilever spring is integral with the panel bracket. 
     
     
         14 . The cavity assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of sidewalls comprises a rear wall, the bottom panel being at least partially received under the rear wall in an installed position. 
     
     
         15 . The cavity assembly of  claim 14 , wherein the rear wall comprises a bottom flange protruding forward along the transverse direction, wherein the elastic member is provided below the bottom flange along the vertical direction. 
     
     
         16 . The cavity assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the bottom flange overlaps the bottom panel along the vertical direction for a predetermined length. 
     
     
         17 . The cavity assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the bottom panel is selectively coupled to the panel bracket via one or more fasteners provided at a front of the bottom panel along the transverse direction. 
     
     
         18 . The cavity assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the appliance is a cooking appliance, the chamber is a cooking chamber, and the housing is a heating element housing in which one or more heating elements are provided.