Flexible submersible pool panel consisting of hollow, elongated, modular parts and the use thereof.
The present invention relates to a flexible submersible pool panel, particularly for swimming pools, consisting of modular hollow, elongated parts assembled together.
More precisely, it relates to a panel consisting of parts comprising a water inlet at one end and a water outlet at the other, said openings located on the forward sides facing the panel being connected either directly or indirectly by a distributor tube.
Swimming pool covers that float between two bodies of water and that consist of hollow parts connected with specially shaped connectors to fulfill this function have already been described in German patent DE 33 24 406 (G. Stifter).
According to the above-mentioned patent the hollow parts comprise a cover, a base and continuous uprights to define the hollows. Furthermore, the cover is connected to a reversible pump that is in fact an hydraulic pump.
Consequently, the function of these hollow parts is to provide water currents internally in one direction and then the other. This is illustrated by the special shape of the connectors consisting of flexible pipes that constitute not only the hydraulic but also the mechanical joint with small serrated sleeves made of an elastic material.
Consequently, the panels are torn off if excessive force is applied.
It is therefore necessary to use small hollow parts. In order for the cover to be large enough to cover a pool said cover always includes several of these small hollow parts connected end-to-end via said elastic connectors. Consequently, the cover includes a multitude of joints between said parts.
The movements of each hollow part result from the internal, random water currents. The density of the hollow parts is therefore approximately the same as or greater than that of the pool water and the movements are opposite to one another. This leads to a risk of tearing occurring at the joints, or at least relative movement between the hollow parts. The use of elastic connectors is required in addition to the small hollow parts.
In as far as the covers are concerned this leads to difficulties in ensuring the safety of the pool. The small hollow parts, the density of which is approximately that of water, are unable to bear a child""s weight, particularly in or around the joints. These parts are therefore only used as a cover and do not protect against drowning.
The second problem with known covers is that they are difficult to clean. In the event of the covers being fastened elastically end-to-end each joint defines a groove on the surface of the cover. Incomplete cleaning of the grooves enables bacteria to proliferate. Furthermore, repetitive complicated cleaning movements lead to wear on the cover.
Also, for all movements, whether ascending or descending, as the hollow parts are supplied with water the entire distributor tube is located under the cover in order to connect said cover to a pump fitted in a specific housing at the bottom of the pool, with all the building difficulties this implies.
The aim of the invention is to provide a panel capable in itself of withstanding a child""s weight to ensure safety, that is fitted easily without requiring any work at the bottom of the pool to embed a turbine and enable effective cleaning of the surface by means of compressed gas being distributed, particularly air from a pump such as a tube, a section of which passes above the hollow, elongated, modular parts of the panel of the invention and above the surface of the pool and another section of which passes under the surface of the pool. In particular, the means for distributing gas comprise an aerial distributing tube section that may be connected directly to a submerged tube section for introducing compressed gas that may be connected directly to the hollow, elongated, modular part. This joint, which may be direct, is disposed underneath or on top of the sides of the modular part. The edges of said panel more or less match the walls of the pool to constitute a pool cover in the upper position and at least one bottom in the submerged position.
Panels constituting covers of this type are described, for example, in European patent application No. 0 044 104. These known submersible panels consist of several hollow, modular parts fastened together. According to one version the hollow part of each section defines a floodable, leaktight cavity. The cavity fills with water from the pool increasing the weight of each part and causing the panels to sink. The cavities of the various parts are connected to a source of compressed air that enables the water to be drained from the cavities under the pressure of the air. The drainage of the water lightens the parts and causes the panels to rise to the surface. The panels that float to the surface constitute a cover for the pool when the water is drained away from said cavities.
The panels have the advantage of stirring the water when they are submerged which homogenizes the water, provides a constant temperature and removes the bacteria that usually accumulate in the corners and at the edges. In the out-of-the-water position, i.e. when it constitutes a cover, the panel insulates the pool water from the outside air thus maintaining the pool temperature and economizing energy.
However, these known panels have drawbacks, particularly in as far as cleaning is concerned, as they are fastened to the fixed bottom of the pool by cables and various mechanisms, the lower surface of the panel possibly being provided with hinged feet to enable the panel to stop in an intermediate position on said unfolded feet. All these mechanisms impede the passage of cleaning robots and require access under the panel for them to be put into operation. They also complicate panel assembly by requiring special fittings.
In order to avoid special fitting work and to eliminate bacteria while enabling effective cleaning of the pool to be performed without wear, the upper and lower horizontal surfaces of said panel according to the invention are flat and free. The measurements of said upper horizontal surface are more or less equal to the length of the pool and said surface is suitable for constituting the cover in the upper position and at least two bottom levels of the pool in the submerged position.
In order for the panel in the lower submerged position to cover the bottom of the pool and avoid a smooth external coating being applied, such as tiling for swimming pools, including pools with several levels, for example for swimming pools with large and small pools separated by a sloped plane, the parts of the panel are connected end-to-end by at least one hinged, mechanical joint that is double-mounted with at least one flexible pipe that constitutes a leaktight connection between the hollow section of said parts.
This avoids the panel, in its position of covering the fixed bottom of the pool, having a bulge at the edge indicating the change of the pool bottom level, a bulge which would create a siphon effect in the pool water.
To this end, as the pool is sufficiently large to have several bottom levels, the measurements of a single horizontal panel are more or less equal to the length of the pool and can constitute the pool bottom in a lower position, each individual part or one that is assembled end-to-end has at least one other part that constitutes the length of said panel.
According to another characteristic the panel joint comprises a horizontal axle that is locked and fastened in two flanges that extend the end of a part such that it is fixed, said axle being held such that it is free to rotate and prevented from performing a translation movement in the aperture of another flange that extends the next part such that it is fixed and such that, when in the lower position, the panel assumes the shape of the pool bottom on either side of the edge marking the change in level.
The air entering the cavities must be sufficiently compressed to force out the water. The air has a tendency to be distributed along one side of the panel if said panel is wide. This raises the side in which the air is directed while the other side remains full of water. If the pool is three meters deep the panel tips and the lower section is subjected to considerable pressure of three bar, the air-filled section is raised and the panel breaks as it rises to the surface.
In order to avoid the panel from tipping and breaking, it consists transversally of at least one fixed assembly of several hollow, modular parts in which the forward side of the panel comprises a manifold to supply each of the parts of an end of the panel with gas from at least one nozzle connected by a central pipe to the tube that introduces compressed gas, the horizontal piping of the manifold comprising a water inlet and/or outlet opening at each end and comprising at least one valve capable of adjusting the flow-rate of fluid of each of the end openings.
Maintaining the panel in a horizontal position enables it to stop at an intermediate level to create a shallow pool, despite the absence of feet under the free lower surface.
To enable the panel to rise and remain horizontal under the pressure balance between the air and water present in the cavities, the manifold, which is capable of supplying each part of an end of the panel with gas, is itself supplied with at least two sources of compressed gas such that it creates two fluid circuits, a valve being disposed on the central pipe between the two fluid circuits such that it homogenizes the pressure between the two circuits.
In order to simplify manufacture and provide the panel with a plane surface up to the wall of the swimming pool the central pipe and pipe supply nozzles of the manifold are disposed horizontally in the axis of the hollow, modular parts and are protected with a cover such that the panel is constituted by the modular parts and the manifold.
In order to facilitate maintenance and enable the use of the entire surface of the panel a bracket-shaped cover that protects the manifold and maintains a downwards opening is fastened to the surface of the parts by at least one screw.
The invention also relates to a vertical guiding device for any of the submersible, flexible panels described above. The device is characterized in that, working from the bottom of said pool, it extends above the surface of the pool and constitutes at least one concave ridge, in particular constituted by rigid tubes, above said pool. The vertical section of the device has an external surface that constitutes a free, smooth guiding surface to enable the panel to rise. The device is fastened to the ground near the pool.
This device, with its free guiding surface and stop, guides the panel when it rises without said panel damaging the walls and edge of the pool by falling back once it has emerged.
According to other characteristics:
the rigid sections of the device constitute at least two stops that are more or less aligned at the same level above said pool,
the panel constituting a submersible pool cover is characterized in that the tube for introducing compressed gas has a rigid section that constitutes the guiding and stop section of a device in compliance with that described above,
the panel comprises rigid, vertical guiding means with a stop comprising a rigid, vertical submersible section positioned symmetrically to the section including the tube for introducing compressed gas along the same forward wall of the pool.
The invention also relates to a method for guiding the rising of a panel that constitutes a submersible cover such as those described above, characterized in that the cover rises in the pool full of liquid when it is filled with compressed gas that evacuates the liquid contained in the hollow, tubular parts and is guided freely by sliding on an external surface of at least one rigid vertical part that extends from the surface to the bottom of the pool, said cover emerging out of the liquid and being stopped by a stop disposed on the vertical part above the surface of the pool and then falling back onto the surface to cover the liquid.
The invention also relates to the use of a panel, in compliance with those described above, for regulating the pressure in said submersible panel by means of valves such that said panel stops to constitute the bottom of the pool at the required depth.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds