Accessory for use in a water treatment system of a swimming pool

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6409917
  • Patent Number
    6,409,917
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, August 2, 2001
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 25, 2002
    21 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Simmons; David A.
    • Prince; Fred
    Agents
    • Schoonover; Donald R.
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.
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Number Name Date Kind
4092746 Harris Jun 1978 A
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4960514 Paskert Oct 1990 A
5059314 Beckman Oct 1991 A
5259076 Voight et al. Nov 1993 A
5279728 Weiss Jan 1994 A
5350508 Van der Watt Sep 1994 A
5948245 Hodak Sep 1999 A
D433152 Masciarelli Oct 2000 S
6128791 Brocking Oct 2000 A
D433760 Masciarelli Nov 2000 S