Patent Application
20160362904
The present disclosure relates to inflatable swimming pools, and more particularly to inflatable pools incorporating media that display luminous visual images in response to ultraviolet (UV) light.
Inflatable swimming pools or wading pools for the backyards have been commercially available for years. Most existing inflatable pools have similar shapes and colors. Some pools may have sidewalls with images, for example, of fish, turtles, sea urchins, or other animals. But the floor panels of most currently available inflatable pools comprise solid colors, for example, either blue or white. As products that are used mostly by children and young people, these pools are unattractive and mundane. Accordingly, a need therefore exists for inflatable pools that not only have more aesthetic appeal, but are also interactive.
An interactive inflatable pool is provided. In one example, the pool includes a floor sheet and an inflatable wall coupled to an outer periphery of the floor sheet. The inflatable wall includes an inner sidewall and an outer sidewall. The floor sheet and the inflatable wall define a tub for holding water. The pool further includes a panel coupled to the floor sheet. The panel includes light emitting material that is activated when exposed to ultraviolet light. When the panel is exposed to ultraviolet light, luminous or glowing visual images may appear, for example, temporarily, on the surface of the panel to enhance the user's pool experience.
A method for fabricating a panel for coupling to a floor sheet of a pool is further provided. The method includes impregnating a noctilucent powder into a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin or paste polymer comprising PVC particles suspended in a liquid plasticizer. The resin or paste polymer may be heated to form a gel stock. The gel stock may be calendered using a series of heated rollers to form a continuous sheet of desired thickness. The sheet may then be cooled by passing the sheet around one or more water-cooled drums.
It should be noted that the inflatable pool disclosed herein may be an inflatable swimming pool, or may be an inflatable wading pool. In some implementations, the pool described herein may be non-inflatable.
Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the disclosure will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
In order to better appreciate how the above-recited and other advantages and objects of the inventions are obtained, a more particular description of the implementations briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific implementations thereof, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. However, like parts do not always have like reference numerals. Moreover, all illustrations are intended to convey concepts, where relative sizes, shapes and other detailed attributes may be illustrated schematically rather than literally or precisely.
In the following description and in the figures, like elements are identified with like reference numerals. The use of “e.g.,” “etc,” and “or” indicates non-exclusive alternatives without limitation, unless otherwise noted. The use of “including” or “includes” means “including, but not limited to,” or “includes, but not limited to,” unless otherwise noted.
In general, terms such as “coupled to,” and “configured for coupling to,” and “secured to,” and “configured for securing to” and “in communication with” (for example, a first component is “coupled to” or “is configured for coupling to” or is “configured for securing to” or is “in communication with” a second component) are used herein to indicate a structural, functional, mechanical, electrical, signal, optical, magnetic, electromagnetic, ionic or fluidic relationship between two or more components or elements. As such, the fact that one component is said to be in communication with a second component is not intended to exclude the possibility that additional components may be present between, and/or operatively associated or engaged with, the first and second components.
Referring to the drawings,
In some implementations, the panel 202 may include a sheet of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) impregnated with a phosphorescent material, for example, a noctilucent or fluorescent powder.
In some implementations, the panel 202 may include a sheet or film of material formed by mixing noctilucent powder with a PVC blended powder. In these implementations, the panel 202 may be constructed by impregnating noctilucent powder into a PVC resin or paste polymer comprising PVC particles suspended in a liquid plasticizer. The suspended PVC resin, or plastisol, is then heat treated, which caused the plastisol to gel. The heated gel stock may then be calendered, or hot pressed, using a series of heated rollers to form a continuous sheet of desired thickness, which is subsequently cooled. Final cooling may be achieved by passing the sheet around a number of water-cooled drums which are controlled at decreasing temperatures.
In some implementations, the panel 202 may include a substrate, for example, a layer of white PVC film, overlaid with a fluorescent material that is applied over the substrate, for example, an ink coating including noctilucent or fluorescent powder. To protect the fluorescent material from abrasion due to touch during use, a transparent layer, such as a resin, may be applied as a coating over the fluorescent material.
In other implementations, the panel 202 may include a substrate and a plastic film applied onto the substrate. The substrate may include a layer of white PVC film. The plastic film may include a PVC paste resin and plasticizer mixed and baked with a noctilucent powder. In some examples, the plastic film may have a weight of 2 to 3 si (a unit of weight equal about 0.0005 grams).
As described herein, the pool 100 may have an elongated contoured, elliptical shape. Many other shapes are also contemplated including an oval, circular, rectangular, square or various other regular and irregular polygons and shapes. In some implementations, the panel 202 may also have a shape that corresponds to the shape of the pool 100. In some implementations, the panel 202 may have a shape that is independent of the shape of the pool 100, for example, a rectangular shape having dimensions of, for example, approximately 1000 millimeters by approximately 680 millimeters.
In some implementations, the panel 202 may produce “glowing” graphical images, by the use of fluorescent materials to emit light under optical excitation to produce images, by absorbing excitation UV light and emitting colored light in the visible light spectrum. In these examples, the light emitting material of the panel 202 may permit “glowing” or illuminated figures and characters to be displayed on the surface of the panel 202.
In some implementations, the floor sheet 104 may include one or more fixedly coupled fluorescent color graphic images 204. In other implementations, the graphic images 204 may be removably coupled to the floor sheet 104. In some implementations, the floor sheet 104 may comprise an upper surface of an air-inflatable bottom chamber of the pool.
The bottom ring 304 includes an outer wall 406 sealingly attached at its upper edge to a bottom edge of the top ring 302 outer wall 402. The upper edge of outer wall 406 may be coupled to the bottom edge of outer wall 402 by suitable coupling techniques, such as radio-frequency (RF) welding, hot-air coupling (e.g., melting or welding), adhering (e.g., gluing) or other means known in the art.
The outer wall 406 of the bottom ring 304 is constructed to a substantially rectangular shape (in an inflated state) that defines an inflatable lower air chamber 408. An air valve 308 (
Referring back to
In some implementations, users may generate images by selectively illuminating the panel 202 with UV light, for example, by applying UV light directly onto the panel 202 without a stencil 502 to draw letters, characters, or images on the panel 202.
In some implementations, the light source 108 may include a device having a waterproof or water resistant casing enclosing a power source such as a battery coupled to at least one light emitting diode that emits UV light through a clear lens of the waterproof casing. The device may also include a button or switch which allows a user to turn the at least one light emitting diode on or off.
When the light emitting material of the panel 202 emits visible light in response to the UV light, a down-conversion physical phenomenon occurs. Specifically, UV light has a shorter wavelength and higher energy than visible light. As a result, when the light emitting material of the panel 202 absorbs the UV light and emits lower energy visible light, the UV light is down-converted to visible light because the UV light's energy level goes down when it is converted into visible light.
In other implementations, the light source 108 may include a device having multiple light-emitting diodes (LEDs) emitting different wavelengths of UV light. As such, they can cause different down-conversion effects and different visible colors can appear on the panel 202. At least one switch or button may be provided to enable different settings by providing power to specific LEDs while withholding power to others.
In still other implementations, the device of the light source 108 may also have a directional feature, such as an open-ended cylindrical cover, for directing light in a specific location. This can provide users with greater control over the size of the area they wish to illuminate. In some implementations, the LEDs may have luminous intensity rating of at least 5000 mcd to 8000 mcd.
It should be noted that, in some implementations, the peripheral wall 102 of the pool 100 may be non-inflatable.
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific implementations thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the reader is to understand that the specific ordering and combination of process actions described herein is merely illustrative, and the invention may appropriately be performed using different or additional process actions, or a different combination or ordering of process actions. For example, this invention is particularly suited for inflatable swimming pools; however, the invention can be used for any pool in general. Additionally and obviously, features may be added or subtracted as desired. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.
The present application claims benefit of priority with U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/175,124, filed Jun. 12, 2015, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62175124 | Jun 2015 | US |
