The present invention relates to swimming pools, and more particularly to above-ground prefabricated swimming pools in which common components can be used to construct pools of different sizes.
In the design and construction of prefabricated above-ground pools, the cost of fabricating standard components is a major consideration. It is necessary to provide pools of a variety of sizes to accommodate the available space and the diverse desires of consumers, and the variety of components necessary for the construction of such pools is thus very large. Accordingly, the cost of manufacturing the prefabricated pool components is increased because production runs are shorter. Additionally, distributors and retailers of pools must carry large inventories, a problem which is particularly acute in areas where the sale of pools is highly seasonal.
In swimming pools of the character indicated, a flexible liner which contains pool water is backed by upstanding wall structure which includes one or more elongate rectangular sheet-metal panels secured in end-to-end overlapped relation to complete the peripheral continuity and generally cylindrical contour of the pool. It has been the practice to reinforce each of the ends of such panels with a relatively thick metal bar or strap which is preassembled to the panel end, as by grommets. The sheet metal of the panel ends is usually folded back on itself to define a double-thickness hem, and the reinforcement bar is preassembled to one side of the hem at one longitudinal end of the panel, while the other reinforecement bar is preassembled to the other side of the hem at the opposite longitudinal end of the panel.
It is vitally important to the ultimate hoop-stress integrity of a pool having walls completed by connection of such reinforced ends that the lap of the ends which are secured shall be with a sheet-metal to sheet-metal interface, so that securing bolts through aligned spaced apertures in the lapped reinforced ends may seat directly upon the reinforcing bars and thus use the bars as clamps for the effectively uniform distribution of clamping effort along the length of the lapped panel ends. For this reason, instructions furnished with kits of prefabricated pool parts are so clear and emphatic regarding the correct method of ultimate assembly that the manufacturer's guarantee on the finished pool will be voided if this instruction as to cylindrical wall assembly has been disregarded.
To make a claim under such a guarantee, the customer must return the allegedly defective part, and the "defect" will be clear if the pool has a ruptured metal wall at the region of the bolted overlap of panel ends. If rupture occurs, the very great probability is that the assembly instruction was not heeded, meaning that the lapped-end interface was reinforcement-bar to reinforcement bar, rather than sheet metal to sheet metal as instructed. Actually, the "defect" will be demonstrably the fault of a person (often the ultimate customer) who disregarded the instructions.
While it is easy to avoid a guarantee when the cause of damage is attributable to the customer and not to the product, it is nevertheless bad business to avoid a guarantee, whoever is at fault.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds