Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6409917
-
Patent Number
6,409,917
-
Date Filed
Thursday, August 2, 200122 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, June 25, 200221 years ago
-
Inventors
-
-
Examiners
- Simmons; David A.
- Prince; Fred
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 210 169
- 210 232
- 210 4162
- 004 496
- 004 507
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
Servicing of a water treatment system of a swimming pool is facilitated by an accessory that is placed over the intake/return port of the water treatment system to fluidically isolate that intake/return port from the water in the swimming pool. The accessory is held in place by water pressure exerted thereon and water in the accessory is drained so water from the swimming pool will not flow into the water treatment system when the accessory is in place. The accessory can be used with above-ground pools as well as other pools.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general art of swimming pool accessories, and to the particular field of accessories used in servicing a swimming pool.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Today, many homes and recreational centers have swimming pools. Some of these pools are in-ground and others are above ground. These pools generally have some form of water treatment system which generally includes a pump for moving water from the pool via a skimmer system to and through a filter system. Water moves through this water treatment system and debris as well as impurities and contaminants are removed from the water before it is re-circulated back into the swimming pool. Water treatment chemicals are also injected into the water during the water treatment process.
Sometimes, the water treatment system, itself, must be serviced. This service can include servicing individual parts of the system, cleaning the system, replacing parts of the system, conducting emergency repairs, and the like. Often, servicing the water treatment system requires dismantling all or part of the system. Water cannot flow through the system or even be located in the system if the system must be even partially dismantled.
At the present time, before servicing a water treatment system, many pools require draining at least some of the water from the pool so the water level of the water remaining in the pool is below the level of the intake/return port of the water treatment system so water does not flow from the pool into the water treatment system during servicing of the water treatment system. This may be costly and wasteful. Since the level of the water must be lowered, a large pool may lose thousands of gallons of otherwise useable water, which then must be replaced after the water treatment system is placed back on line. Not only is the water wasted, any chemicals in the water will be wasted, and energy may be wasted in reheating the newly-filled pool back to a desirable temperature. Not only is water wasted when water is removed unnecessarily, water is wasted in replacing the removed water.
Therefore, there is a need for an accessory that can be used in connection with a water treatment system of a swimming pool that will permit servicing that water treatment system without requiring the draining of a large amount of water from the swimming pool.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is a main object of the present invention to provide an accessory for a water treatment system of a swimming pool that can be serviced without requiring the draining of a large amount of water from the swimming pool.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an accessory for a water treatment system of a swimming pool that can be serviced while requiring the removal of only a very small volume of water from the swimming pool.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an accessory for a water treatment system of a swimming pool that can be serviced without draining the pool to a level below the level of an intake/return port of the water treatment system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an accessory for a water treatment system of an above-ground swimming pool that can be serviced without requiring draining of a large amount of water from the swimming pool.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These, and other, objects are achieved by an accessory that fits over the intake/return port of a swimming pool water treatment system in the manner of a dam to fluidically isolate that intake/return port from the body of water in the swimming pool. The accessory prevents swimming pool water from flowing to the intake/return port and thus permits the water treatment system to be dismantled if necessary.
Accordingly, the water treatment system can be serviced without requiring lowering the water level in the pool to below the level of the water treatment system intake/return port. Water that normally would be drained and then replaced will not be removed from the swimming pool.
The accessory, itself, is simple, lightweight and easy to place and remove thereby making it economical and easy to use.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is an elevational view of a swimming pool which includes a water treatment system and an accessory embodying the teaching of the present invention.
FIG. 2
is a top plan view of the accessory of the present invention in place on a side wall of a swimming pool.
FIG. 3
is a perspective view of the accessory of the present invention.
FIG. 4
is a side elevational view of the accessory of the present invention.
FIG. 5
is a view taken along line
5
—
5
of FIG.
3
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
The accessory embodying the teaching of the present invention places a dam around the intake/return port of a swimming pool water treatment system to fluidically isolate that intake/return port from the body of water remaining in the swimming pool during servicing of the water treatment system. Thus, only the water located between the accessory wall and the intake/return port needs to be drained prior to servicing the water treatment system. This small amount of water can be easily replaced, or if not replaced, is so small as to not be missed when the water treatment system is returned to service.
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a swimming pool
10
is shown as including a side wall
12
and a bottom wall
13
that co-operate to contain a body of water
14
in a manner well known in the art. Body of water
14
has a level
15
that is set according to the desires of the swimming pool operator.
Swimming pool
10
also includes a water treatment system
16
for maintaining proper clarity, purity and chemical balance of the water in swimming pool
10
. Water treatment system
16
includes a port
20
that can be covered with a screen or the like, and serves as an intake/return port for the water treatment system
16
in a manner known in the art. As shown, water treatment system
16
includes a pump
22
which moves water
14
from the swimming pool
10
into the water treatment system
16
, through the water treatment system
16
and back to the swimming pool
10
. Water moves from intake port
24
through a water line
26
and then through a filter
28
before being returned to the swimming pool
10
via return line
30
and return port
32
.
Under circumstances existing prior to the present invention, to service water treatment system
16
, water level
15
had to be lowered beneath the level of intake port
24
, and probably beneath the level of return port
32
as well. This lowering of level
15
was necessary to prevent water from entering the water treatment system
16
and may have involved the loss of a great deal of water that would otherwise be retained in the swimming pool
10
.
The present invention overcomes this drawback by fluidically isolating the intake/return port system
20
from the body of water in the swimming pool during the overall process of servicing the water treatment system
16
.
As shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, the present invention is embodied in an accessory which includes a dam
34
releasably fixed to swimming pool side wall
12
adjacent to intake/return port
20
of water treatment system
16
, with dam
34
fluidically isolating intake/return port
20
of water treatment system
16
from water
14
in the swimming pool. As shown in
FIGS. 3-5
, dam
34
includes a first planar wall
36
having a top rim
38
and an arcuate side and bottom wall
40
that extends down from top rim
38
when dam
30
is in place on side wall
12
of the swimming pool. A unitary and monolithic seal
42
is fixedly attached to wall
36
and releasably mounts first planar wall
36
on swimming pool side wall
12
surroundingly adjacent to the intake/return port
20
of water treatment system
16
. Preferably, seal
42
is rubber, but other materials can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. A fluid port
43
is defined through first planar wall
36
and is located to be in fluid communication with the intake/return port
20
of water treatment system
16
. Port
43
thus is in fluid communication with intake port
24
and return port
32
. Port
43
covers essentially the entire area of first planar wall
36
so water freely flows to and through port
43
when desirable.
Dam
34
further includes a water-impervious wall
46
fixed to first planar wall
36
. Water-impervious wall
46
is in the approximate shape of a quarter-sphere so water pressure exerted thereon by water
14
will be distributed on wall
46
in a manner that will force wall
46
toward swimming pool side wall
12
to hold dam
34
in place on side wall
12
by means of static pressure associated with the water in the swimming pool
10
. This static pressure is indicated in
FIG. 1
by arrow
14
S and works in conjunction with seal
40
to securely hold dam
34
in place adjacent to intake/return port
20
once the dam
34
is placed on the swimming pool side wall
12
. The quarter-sphere shape of wall
46
distributes the static pressure in the manner necessary to work in conjunction with the seal
42
to securely hold wall
46
in place on swimming pool wall
12
. Wall
46
preferably is plastic and includes corrugations
50
to make the wall light, yet strong with the corrugated ribs strengthening the overall structure. Wall
46
has a top rim
52
which is arcuate and extends radially away from top rim
38
of wall
36
when the dam
34
is in place adjacent to the intake/return port of the water treatment system
16
. Top rim
52
defines a fluid opening
54
that is fluidically connected to fluid port
42
of dam
34
. As can be seen in
FIG. 1
, top rim
52
is essentially co-planar with rim
38
of wall
36
and is located above water level
15
and bottom rim
54
of wall
36
is located below the level of intake/return port
20
to enclose the intake/return port
20
and fluidically separate that port from the body of water
14
.
Use of dam
34
can be understood from the above description, and thus will only be briefly discussed. Dam
34
is placed surroundingly adjacent to intake/return port
20
of the water treatment system
16
and held in place while water is drained out of the dam
34
with the pump
22
disconnected, or by means of pump
22
if the pump remains connected. Once water is removed from the dam
34
, static water pressure will keep the dam
34
in place adjacent to the intake/return port
20
. The water treatment system
16
is thus fluidically isolated from the water in the swimming pool by the dam
34
. Once work on the water treatment system
16
has been completed, dam
34
is simply lifted out of the swimming pool
10
and fluid communication between the water in the swimming pool
10
and the water treatment system
16
is re-established via intake/return port
20
. Water can also be removed from dam
34
by simply opening return port
32
and draining the water from dam
34
.
In one form of the dam
34
, the dimension of top rim or edge
38
between sides
38
S
1
and
38
S
2
is
32
″, the dimension of the dam between the top edge
38
and the bottom
54
is
18
″ and the radius
52
R of top edge
52
is
16
″ as measured between the plane containing port
42
and top rim
52
. Top rim
52
can be a rolled configuration if suitable.
It is understood that while certain forms of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangements of parts described and shown.
Claims
- 1. A swimming pool accessory comprising:a) a planar first wall that abuts a swimming pool side wall adjacent to a water treatment system intake/return when said first planar wall is in position, said planar first wall including (1) a port which is fluidically aligned with the intake/return of the water treatment system when said planar first wall is in position, and (2) a seal on said planar first wall in surrounding relationship with said port, said seal including a linear top rim and a semi-circular side rim, b) a second wall fixed to said planar first wall, said second wall being approximately quarter-spherical in shape and being fixed to said planar first wall along a first peripheral edge of said second wall and extending radially outwardly from said planar first wall along a second peripheral edge of said second wall, said second wall being fluidically interposed between water in the swimming pool and the intake/return of the water treatment system when said second wall is in place; c) a top edge along the second peripheral edge of said second wall, said top edge being co-planar with the top rim of said seal; and d) a fluid flow path being defined between said top edge and said port.
- 2. The swimming pool accessory defined in claim 1 wherein said second wall is corrugated in shape.
- 3. The swimming pool accessory defined in claim 2 wherein said seal is constructed of rubber.
- 4. The swimming pool accessory defined in claim 3 wherein said port covers essentially the entire first wall.
- 5. A swimming pool water treatment system comprising:a) a swimming pool side wall; b) a body of water contained by said swimming pool side wall and having a water level; c) a water treatment system fluidically connected to said body of water and including (1) an intake/return port in said swimming pool side wall, (2) a filter fluidically connected to said intake/return port, (3) a pump fluidically connected to the filter; d) a dam releasably fixed to said swimming pool side wall adjacent to the intake/return port of said water treatment system, said dam fluidically isolating the intake/return port of said water treatment system from water in said body of water, said dam including (1) a first planar wall, (2) a seal releasably mounting said first planar wall on said swimming pool side wall surroundingly adjacent to the intake/return port of said water treatment system, (3) a fluid port through said first planar wall and located to be in fluid communication with the intake/return port of said water treatment system, said fluid port covering essentially the entire area of said first planar wall, (4) a water-impervious wall fixed to said first planar wall, said water-impervious wall being in the approximate shape of a quarter-sphere and being corrugated and having a top rim which is arcuate and defines a fluid opening that is fluidically connected to the fluid port of said dam, the top rim of said water-impervious wall extending radially away from said first planar wall, (5) said top rim being located above the water level of said body of water, and (6) a bottom rim on said first planar wall located beneath said intake/return port.
US Referenced Citations (11)