Cooking appliance with clip

Abstract

A cooking appliance with a cooking area such as a stovetop or an oven can be utilized to prepare and cook food items. The cooking appliance includes a chassis forming a frame for the cooking appliance. A console couples to the chassis for operating the cooking appliance, such as including knobs or other controls for operating the stovetop or the oven. A clip removably couples the console to the chassis. The clip has a body including a spring finger for securing the console against the chassis between the spring finger and the chassis by a spring force.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A cooking appliance with a cooking area, the cooking appliance comprising:
 a chassis;   a console coupled to the chassis for operating the cooking appliance; and   a clip coupling the console to the chassis, the clip having a body including a spring finger;   wherein the spring finger secures the console against the chassis between the spring finger and the chassis by a spring force.   
     
     
         2 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the clip further comprises a chassis attachment portion for coupling the clip to the chassis. 
     
     
         3 . The cooking appliance of  claim 2 , wherein the spring finger is offset from the chassis attachment portion by an angle. 
     
     
         4 . The cooking appliance of  claim 3 , wherein the angle is greater than or equal to 1-degree and less than or equal to 25-degrees. 
     
     
         5 . The cooking appliance of  claim 2 , wherein the clip further comprises a center wall spacing the chassis attachment portion from the spring finger. 
     
     
         6 . The cooking appliance of  claim 5 , wherein the clip further comprises a first attachment region defined between the center wall and the chassis attachment portion, and wherein the chassis is received within the first attachment region when the clip is coupled to the chassis. 
     
     
         7 . The cooking appliance of  claim 6 , wherein the clip further comprises a second attachment region defined between the center wall and the spring finger, and wherein the console is received within the second attachment region when the clip is coupled to the console. 
     
     
         8 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the spring finger is shaped such that a force required to attach the console to the clip is lesser than a force required to remove the console from the clip. 
     
     
         9 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the console further comprises a protrusion sized to be received by the spring finger. 
     
     
         10 . The cooking appliance of  claim 9 , wherein the protrusion meets the spring finger at a lap joint. 
     
     
         11 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising a pair of extensions spacing the spring finger from a remainder of the body. 
     
     
         12 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising an alignment tab extending perpendicular from the body. 
     
     
         13 . The cooking appliance of  claim 12 , wherein the chassis further comprises a slot receiving the alignment tab when the clip is coupled to the chassis. 
     
     
         14 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising a pair of wings extending from the body to define a span among the pair of wings. 
     
     
         15 . The cooking appliance of  claim 14 , wherein the chassis includes a depression having a width that is less than the span among the pair of wings. 
     
     
         16 . A clip for coupling a console to a chassis for a cooking appliance, the clip comprising:
 a body;   a spring finger portion including a spring finger; and   an extension spacing the spring finger portion from a remainder of the body;   wherein the extension is arranged at an angle relative to a remainder of the body that is greater than or equal to 1-degree and less than or equal to 45-degrees.   
     
     
         17 . The clip of  claim 16 , wherein the extension is one of a pair of extensions spacing the spring finger portion from the remainder of the body, defining an opening between the pair of extensions. 
     
     
         18 . The clip of  claim 16 , wherein the body further comprises a chassis attachment portion. 
     
     
         19 . The clip of  claim 18 , wherein the clip further comprises a center wall spacing the chassis attachment portion from the spring finger portion. 
     
     
         20 . The clip of  claim 19 , wherein the center wall meets each of the chassis attachment portion and the spring finger portion at a curved junction to define a first attachment region between the center wall and the spring finger portion and a second attachment region between the center wall and the chassis attachment portion.