Swimming pool installations are commonly provided with one or more skimmers adjacent the sidewall of the pool. Each of the skimmers has an upper chamber with a skimming inlet for receiving water from the surface of the pool as controlled by a floating weir therein and a lower chamber with a leaf basket therein and a suction outlet on the bottom thereof which is connected by a line to the inlet of a pump-filter assembly located adjacent the decking of the pool. It is also common practice to provide a main drain suction outlet on the floor of the pool which is connected by a line to the inlet of the same pump-filter assembly used for the skimmers. A control valve in the line from the main drain is manually set by the pool operator to regulate the amount of vacuum of the pump that is provided at the suction outlet of the skimmers and at the suction outlet of the main drain during normal operation of the swimming pool.
Thus, when the pump is running, during normal operation of the swimming pool, water from the surface of the pool carrying leaves and other floating debris is drawn into the skimming inlets of the skimmers and passes through the leaf baskets located within the skimmers which collect the floating debris before the water is discharged through the suction outlets of the skimmers to the pump-filter assembly. Simultaneously, the water drawn from the floor of the pool carrying silt and other debris is discharged down through the main drain suction outlet to the same pump-filter assembly. After this water is passed through the filter, it is recirculated back into the swimming pool by way of a line leading to inlets provided on the sidewalls of the pool.
When it is desired to vacuum the floor and sidewalls of the above-described swimming pool installation, it is common practice for a pool technician to completely close the manually controlled valve in the line from the main drain suction outlet and also to plug off the suction outlets of all but one of the skimmers. In this way all the vacuum supplied by the pump is made available at the suction outlet of one skimmer that is selected for use. The pool technician then places on the floor of the pool a portable vacuum cleaner having connected thereto a flexible vacuum hose with a cuff on the end thereof. The pool technician, after submerging the cuff to fill the flexible hose with water, holds onto the end portion of the flexible hose with the fingers of his one hand and pushes the cuff through the skimming inlet of the skimmer so that by reaching his other hand down into the top opening of the skimmer he can grab hold of the cuff and then further extend his hand in the water in the skimmer, usually up to his elbow or higher, so as to engage the cuff into-the suction outlet on the bottom of the skimmer. This need for the pool technician to extend his hand up to his elbow in the water of the skimmer is a great inconvenience and is especially a problem in the winter months when the water in the pool can be very cold. It should now be clear that it would by highly desirable and less of a nuisance if the pool technician were to have at his disposal a tool that would enable him to remotely engage the cuff on the end of the flexible vacuum hose to the suction outlet of the skimmer without having to submerge his hand up to his elbow in the body of water in the skimmer.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds