Pool cleaner

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6601255
  • Patent Number
    6,601,255
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, February 28, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 5, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
A push side pool cleaner (1) has a spheroidal overall shape, within this shape two outer segments (9, 10) serve as wheels and a central zone (8) carries a suction passage (33) and a debris collector (32) also located entirely within the overall shape. The wheels are driven directly by water jets (44, 45) without any gears or other transmission. A flow splitter is provided in the cleaner (1) to divide push side water flow between the jets (44, 45) which drive the wheels and jets (43) which provide impulsion to the suction passage (33).
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




This invention lies in the field of pool cleaners which are driven by water circulated by a pump. The invention is not necessarily limited to “automatic pool cleaners”, depending on what precisely is understood by this term, but the term “automatic pool cleaners” is often used in the context of pool cleaners with which this invention is primarily concerned. Although the words “pool cleaners” will be used for convenience in this specification, they are to be interpreted broadly, as not limited to cleaning of domestic pools, but to include other bodies of water in which a cleaning and/or stirring action is required. The art in this field is divided into two parts, namely suction side cleaners and push side cleaners, referring to the suction and push sides respectively of a pump system which circulates water in the pool. The present invention lies primarily though not exclusively, in the push side part of the art, the term “pressure side cleaners” is also used to refer to the same push side cleaners.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Push side pool cleaners are distinguished from suction side cleaners, for various reasons known in the art; an example of a push side cleaner is described in South African patent 85/0648, granted to Alopex Industries, marketed as the “POLARIS” (trademark).




Whereas suction side cleaners have an effective wiping or rubbing action on the pool surfaces, this is a shortcoming with push side pool cleaners of the present art which run on wheels with a venturi passage passing over the pool surfaces with a clearance between the mouth of the venturi and the pool surface.




Again, whereas suction side pool cleaners have few moving parts, the cleaner moving over the pool surfaces under impulsion of intermittent water flow caused by an oscillating tongue, or a suction tube whose wall collapses intermittently, for example, certain push side pool cleaners of the art have the disadvantage that they are moved by means of a water turbine driving the wheels through a drive train consisting of many gears and shafts.




Also, whereas suction side cleaners remove very small particles from the pool because the particles picked up are passed through the main pool filter, push side pool cleaners of the art do not pass particles through the main pool filter, but through a bag filter attached to the cleaner; dust size particles pass the apertures of bag type filters to re-enter the pool water, so that these cleaners must rely on stirring up these dust size particles so that they remain sufficiently in suspension to be drawn into the pool weir and thence to the main pool filter.




Whereas suction side cleaners are “add on” products, which the owner of an existing pool and filtering system can add on without technical assistance, most push side cleaners of the present art are initially set up by a technically capable person, where they are connected to a booster pump in the main pool filter circulation system, or into a dedicated water circulation system. Hence push side pool cleaners of the art tend to be sold via contractors who are building a pool and circulation system.




Although push side pool cleaners do have potential for less interference with the desirable randomness of movement over the pool surfaces, due to a smaller diameter hose being acceptable, than suction side cleaners, much of this potential advantage is lost by the wheeled drive of these cleaners of the push side cleaner art which tend to provide straight line travel. The POLARIS cleaner has three wheels asymmetrically arranged to try to reduce this effect, for example. There is a continuing need in the art for better randomness of movement of the cleaner over the pool surfaces, leading to better cleaning.




The push side water flow is given a bypass valve at the pool side allowing water flow to the cleaner to be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the bypass, so as to get an acceptable speed of movement of the cleaner over the pool surfaces. A disadvantage of this arrangement of the art is that the energy of the bypassed flow is discarded.




Finally, all present pool cleaners have limitations as to the shallowness at which they will operate and as to their ability to negotiate formations like stairs in pools without becoming stuck in one position. It is desirable that pool cleaners work in shallower regions and thus negotiate formations like stairs better.




Thus there exists a need to address these limitations and problems in push side cleaners of the art at least to some extent.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention provides a push side cleaner which is generally spherical or prolate or otherwise spheroidal in the shape of its outer surfaces (or otherwise expressed, the cleaner outer surfaces conform with a conceptual outer envelope of spherical or prolate spheroidal shape). The invention can also be implemented in an outer shape which conforms to two truncated cones both tapering outwardly from a central region of the cleaner, for convenience the term “bi-conical” will be used in the description and claims to briefly refer to this shape. The invention can also be implemented in a cylindrical shape.




These shapes can comprehensively be described as a family of solids of revolution and other similar shapes, lying between the spherical/spheroidal, conical and cylindrical are also accommodated within the scope of the invention. In this description the term spheroidal only will henceforward be used for convenience, comprehending within its scope also the meaning indicated in the preceding sentence.




A central zone of the spheroidal shape bounded by two segments of the spheroid on each side will form the total outer shape. The central zone will have a push side hose connected to it and the two segments will be rotatively driven on either side to provide impulsion to the cleaner for moving it over the pool surfaces to be cleaned. The central zone will have a clearance from the pool surfaces and will accommodate a venturi or other suction passage for drawing in debris from the pool surfaces.




The two segments may be independently driven, or there may be advantage in linking them by a shaft so that they rotate being fixed relative to each other.




Thus a feature of the cleaner of this invention is that the spheroidal surfaces of the two segments will provide impulsion to move the cleaner over the pool surface, wherever these surfaces engage the pool surfaces and in whatever orientation the cleaner happens to be. In this sense, then, the cleaner of this invention is capable of providing impulsion to the cleaner in three dimensions; by contrast, the pool cleaners of art, both of the push side and of the suction side types, are confined to impulsion only in two dimensions. The cleaners of art must remain oriented with their wheels or foot against the pool surfaces, if they capsize, they are, like a conventional vehicle, unable to move, until righted. By contrast the cleaner of this invention can turn any way round relative to the pool surfaces, be they horizontal or vertical, and still provide impulsion. Furthermore, this three dimensional character of the motivation capability of the cleaner of this invention provides a dramatic enhancement of the ability to achieve more random movement over pool surfaces. The spheroidal surface interacts with the pool surfaces with an additional dimension of randomness i.e. the third dimension in addition to the two dimensions of the pool surface. The cleaner is in fact more unstable than one on wheels or a foot (a foot is used in suction side cleaners) and gives better randomness. For example, when the cleaner engages a wall of the pool surfaces, it has the capacity for the axis on which the two segments were rotating over the pool floor, to swing with three dimensions of freedom to a new orientation, giving enhanced randomness of movement. In a practical embodiment which has been subjected to extensive testing, the three dimensional movement can be described to occur with respect to an axis of the push side hose connection : these are, firstly around the axis, secondly swinging the axis to left and right and thirdly swinging the axis up and down. The randomness of movement is known in the art to be important, in order to result in cleaning of all of the surface to be cleaned, over a period of time, non-random movements leave “dead” spots which remain uncleaned.




Portions of the spheroidal surfaces of the segments may have brush like formations, e.g. bristles, on them, to give a brushing effect.




Preferably the pool cleaner having the features of this invention is made with a specific gravity closer to 1 than is appropriate in cleaners of the art. This is made possible by the three dimensional character of the movement of the cleaner of this invention.




The effective or net force acting on the cleaner, when the cleaner is under water, may be made to pass through a point located on the opposite side of the axis of rotation of the cleaner as a mouth of the suction passage. This may be done with floats, e.g. sealed volumes containing air) located on the same side of the axis of rotation of the cleaner as the mouth. The cleaner may still have a centre of gravity when outside water which centre is on the same side of the axis as the mouth. However, when submerged, the buoyancy of the floats reverses the position of the net force acting on the cleaner to the opposite side of the axis as the mouth. The effective or net force acting on the cleaner when submerged can be assessed by constructing the vector sum of the gravitational forces and the buoyancy forces.




This counter intuitive approach results in a less stable device under water, which is tolerable by virtue of the spheroidal shape of the cleaner of this invention. The lower stability results in more random movement over the pool surface which in turn gives the advantage, as mentioned, of less tendency for the cleaner to repeatedly miss some areas, leaving them uncleaned.




A feature of this invention, whether the floats are used, or not, is that the centre of gravity is made closer to the axis of rotation of the cleaner than is appropriate in cleaners of conventional design. This feature again reduces stability and as a result brings the beneficial advantage of greater randomness than is achieved in conventional cleaners. This is possible simply for the reason already stated, that spheroidal shape gives the advantage that the cleaner can not “capsize” into a position in which it can no longer move, like a conventional vehicle.




The degree of buoyancy of the hose may be selected, for example, to achieve a desirable balance between a tendency to work well on the bottom surfaces of the pool, on the one hand, and also on the wall surfaces, on the other.




The cleaner of this invention may be given a jet which impels the cleaner against the pool surfaces with a mouth of the suction passage in proximity to the pool surfaces, achievable both on upright as well as horizontal parts of the pool surfaces.




Preferably the passage is given a direction, at least near the mouth of the passage, which has a tangential component as well as a radial component. In other words, the venturi passage, at least near its mouth, is preferably not normal (at right angles) to the spheroidal outer surfaces of the cleaner. The passage is oriented so that the mouth is directed in the direction in which the cleaner moves. This gives a degree of scooping action, helpful to lifting debris from the pool surfaces. Jets which provide the suction action in the suction passage, given this tangential component of direction, also assists in the forward impulsion of the cleaner, by jet reaction forces.




This invention further provides a pool cleaner which is driven by direct impulsion of water jets from the push side supply onto vanes on wheels of the cleaner. No drive train is provided or required, there are no gears or drive shafts transmitting a drive to wheels. The spheroidal shaped cleaner, as described above, provides the wheels in the form of the outer segments of the spheroidal shape.




Preferably, this drive feature is provided in the cleaner having a spheroidal outer shape, as described above. The vanes are provided at an inner edge of each segment, with the water jets issuing from nozzle formations provided on the central zone. Low energy losses giving more efficient use of the water energy can be achieved by the judicious application of this aspect of the invention. An advantage that is achievable as a result is that more of the total water energy available from the push side supply can be devoted to the suction function while still leaving sufficient for impulsion of the cleaner. Wearing parts in a drive train are eliminated.




A further feature of the invention, which is preferably implemented with the features described above, is the location of a debris collector inside the spheroidal shape of the cleaner. Conveniently, the debris collector is confined to within the central zone, because this makes it simple to lift the debris collector out of the cleaner to empty it, from time to time. Thus the suction passage leads to the debris collector which is located in the central zone. The debris collector can includes a sump region and must include sieve or screen surfaces to allow the water to exit the collector and retain the debris. The suction passage is therefore preferably curved, leading from the mouth which is oriented with a tangential component of direction, to the collector.




A still further feature of the invention relates to the splitting or division of the water which is supplied to the cleaner via the push side hose between the jets which provide the suction action within the suction passage and the jets which provide the direct impulsion onto the vanes on the wheels. In accordance with the invention, a water flow splitter is provided which comprises two passages which have adjacent entrance mouths, a movable occluding element which is movable to selectable position settings in which one entrance mouth is occluded more or less than the other entrance mouth. The preferred structure for the adjacent entrance mouths is a circular tube with a diametral dividing wall and for the occluding element a cylindrical cup shaped element rotatable in the tube with a bottom of the cup located against the diametral dividing wall and the bottom having a semicircular opening and movable by rotation of the cup shaped element. The occluding element can have markings on it to indicate various optional settings which provide different splits between the driving jets and suction generating jets. There may be grooves and ridges on the occluding element and the adjacent mouths to retain selected settings and the manufacturer or supplier may provide a selected setting to the user.




These splitting arrangements still allow for the water supplied by the push side hose to the cleaner to be provided to a third use, namely the jet which issues external to the cleaner to provide an impulsive force assisting the forward motivation of the cleaner and/or the attachment to a surface to be cleaned.




A beneficial effect of a pool cleaner designed according to this invention, is that a positive pressure is created inside the spheroidal cleaner other than in the suction passage, so that debris which might otherwise accumulate in unwanted spaces does not do so.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The invention will more fully described by reference to a non-limiting example shown in the drawings.




In the drawings :





FIG. 1

is a schematic view showing a pool cleaner of this invention in a pool,





FIG. 2

is a side elevation of a pool cleaner of this invention,





FIG. 3

is a rear elevation of a pool cleaner,





FIG. 4

is a front elevation of the pool cleaner,





FIG. 4



a


is a front elevation of an alternative shape for the cleaner,





FIG. 4



b


is a front elevation of another alternative shape for the cleaner,





FIG. 5

is an isometric view of the cleaner,





FIG. 6

is an isometric view of the inner surfaces of a segment of the cleaner,





FIG. 7

is an oblique view of the outer surfaces of a segment of the cleaner,





FIG. 8

is a side view of the cleaner with the near side segment removed to show a side view of the central zone,





FIG. 9

is an oblique view of the cleaner with the near side segment removed to show a central zone and parts of the inner surface of the far side segment,





FIG. 10

is an oblique view to show only the central zone of the cleaner,





FIG. 11

is an oblique view to show the suction passage of the central zone of the cleaner and the far side segment,





FIG. 12

is an oblique view of the suction passage of the cleaner,





FIG. 13

is an oblique view from another angle of the suction cleaner of the central zone,





FIG. 14

is an oblique view of the debris collector,





FIG. 15

is a similar oblique view of the debris collector with the sieve portion partially lifted off from the sump portion, and





FIG. 16

is an enlarged view of water flow distribution passages with an outer cover removed for convenience of illustration and description.





FIG. 17

is a rear elevation of a flow splitter for the cleaner,





FIG. 18

is a side elevation of an occluding element of the flow splitter, removed from the splitter,





FIG. 19

is a front elevation of the occluding element, removed from the splitter,





FIG. 20

is an isometric projection of the occluding element, removed from the splitter,





FIG. 21

is an isometric projection of a connector to a push side hose (not shown),unscrewed from the splitter,





FIG. 22

is an axial cross section on section


22





22


shown in

FIG. 17

, of the splitter including occluding element and connector, all connected,





FIG. 23

is a cross sectional view on section


23





23


shown in

FIG. 24

, of a movable lip for the mouth of the suction passage, removed from the passage,





FIG. 24

is a plan view of the movable lip, removed from the passage,





FIGS. 25 and 26

are elevational views of a float used on both sides of the cleaner (see

FIGS. 8

,


9


,


10


and


11


).











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS





FIG. 1

schematically shows a push side cleaner


1


located on a bottom surface


2


of a pool


3


. The pool cleaner


1


has a hose


4


connected to the push side of a water circulation system which circulates and filters water for the pool. The pool cleaner


1


has a nozzle


5


which jets water rearwardly of the pool cleaner so as to assist in propelling it along the pool surface and the nozzle is mounted in a ball joint so that it can be angled, or it can be manufactured in a fixed angle position, as shown by reference numeral


85


in FIG.


17


. The angle of the nozzle may be made suitable also to press the pool cleaner to some extent onto the surface of the pool along which it is moving. The pool cleaner moves by rotation of the outer segments of the cleaner in the direction indicated by the arrow


6


so that the pool cleaner moves along the pool surface in the direction indicated by the arrow


7


.




As shown in

FIGS. 2

,


3


and


4


the push side pool cleaner is generally spheroidal in shape of its outer surfaces. The pool cleaner comprises a central zone


8


bounded by two segments


9


and


10


. The central zone


8


has the push type hose


4


connected to it and the two segments


9


and


10


are rotatively driven as indicated again by the arrow


6


. The central zone


8


has a clearance


11


from a pool surface


12


on which the cleaner moves. The mouth has added to it a movable lip


81


(

FIG. 23

) which is hinged to the mouth and has a plastic formation


83


which acts as a spring to urge the lip downwards to tend to bear against the surface to be cleaned, as the cleaner moves over the surface. The central zone


8


also accommodates a venturi


13


which has its mouth shown in

FIG. 4

directed forwardly in relation to the direction of motion


7


of the cleaner in use. The two segments in this example are independently driven, as will be described below. The center of gravity is located at a position


14


of the cleaner thus below the axis of rotation


15


in the orientation that the cleaner will normally assume along a bottom surface of the pool. Because of the lightness of the cleaner and because of the spherical surfaces which can provide the impulsion for the cleaner, however, it is relatively unstable, can swing and rotate and the axis


15


oscillate in three dimensions so as to provide a high degree of randomness of the movement over the pool surfaces. This would occur particularly, for example, where the cleaner, moving over the bottom surface


2


of the pool would contact a wall


16


of the pool. (FIG.


1


). Because of the jet


5


and the specific gravity close to


1


the pool cleaner will climb up the wall


16


but also in many instances one segment may lose contact while the other retains contact and this will result in a rotation of the pool cleaner about an axis approximating to the axis of the hose


4


where it is connected to the cleaner, for example. This and many other relatively acrobatic gyrations of the cleaner are possible. The hose


4


and/or its connection to the cleaner has a rotational coupling to allow this freedom. If the cleaner lands on the pool bottom surface upside down or some other orientation this does not matter because of its spherical shape and that all of the surfaces which can touch the pool surfaces are rotating so that the cleaner undergoes twisting and turning in a highly random manner.





FIG. 4



a


shows another shape for the cleaner which is two truncated conical segments


9




a


and


10




a


, tapering outwardly.





FIG. 4



b


shows yet another shape for the cleaner in which the two segments


9




b


and


10




b


are cylindrical




Turning to

FIG. 5

the main features of the pool cleaner in its exterior surfaces can be seen and the same reference numerals as have been used in the preceding figures are shown in FIG.


5


. In addition the nipple


17


is seen to which is connected the hose


4


. The jet


5


in a ball joint connection is seen in more detail with the ball


18


visible. Furthermore a manifold


19


is seen which serves to distribute the water supplied at the connection


17


from the hose


4


. The manifold's purpose is to distribute the water on the one hand to two jets inside the cleaner (which will be described below) each of which drives one of the two segments


9


and


10


and to distribute water to a jet or jets in the suction passage. The water jets in the suction passage have an entrainment and/or venturi effect which results in the suction passage drawing water in from the general body of water of the pool just ahead of the mouth of the suction passage and also to draw in debris as the pool cleaner moves forward. As can be seen in

FIG. 4

this mouth is directed in the direction in which the pool cleaner moves. The view of

FIG. 5

also shows a gap


20


between the segment


9


and central zone


8


on the one hand and


21


between the segment


10


and the central zone


8


on the other hand. The view also shows a slotted circular hole


22


in the segment


9


and a similar circular slotted hole (not seen) is provided in the segment


10


. These openings allow water which has been drawn into the suction tube, has passed into the debris collector and then moves out through the sieve walls of the debris collector, to exit from the pool cleaner as a whole. This aspect of the cleaner design of this invention results in the interior of the cleaner, apart from the suction passage, being under positive pressure, i.e. slightly higher pressure than the ambient water. This is advantageous, of course, in that there will not be tendency for debris to be sucked into interior regions of the cleaner, other than the suction tube. The holes


22


also allow escape of air from the cleaner should air enter it, e.g. due to the cleaner breaching the water surface.





FIGS. 6 and 7

show a segment of the pool cleaner, the segments are identical with each other on each side.

FIG. 6

shows the interior of the segment and the important formations inside the segment include the vanes


23


arranged on the interior surface of the segment near the edge


26


of the segment. It is on to these vanes that a jet of water impinges in order to drive the segment rotatively and which provides the motivation for the pool cleaner to be driven forward. The view also shows the important feature of the bush


27


having in it splines


28


into which a shaft (to be described below) is inserted. This establishes the axis of rotation of the segment in use. The view also shows the slotted aperture


22


and a plurality of flanges


29


provided for structural purposes. Prototype trials have shown that the splines can be omitted and instead a fairly firm friction fit used between shaft and wheel. The friction fit allows the connection to give way if an excessive torque is applied so that the shaft is not broken.




The view of

FIG. 7

shows the outer surfaces of a typical segment


9


or


10


. The outer surfaces have a highly flexible polymer applied in a pattern


30


which is designed to give improved traction of the segment against surfaces of the pool and it has aesthetic aspects as well. However, a region


31


of the segment near its axis of rotation has bristles


32


designed so as to provide a brushing action when this region


31


engages surfaces of the pool. The segment itself would be, for example, moulded from a suitable other polymeric material, e.g. an engineering plastic.




The view of

FIG. 8

allows a side view of the central zone of the cleaner since the near side segment has been removed. Reference is at the same time made to

FIG. 9

which is an oblique view with the front segment removed and to

FIG. 10

which is an oblique view with both segments removed.




These figures show that the central zone of the pool cleaner comprises two major components, a debris collector and a suction passage. The debris collector is indicated generally by the arrow


32


and the suction passage generally by the arrow


33


, the debris collector is shown also in the views of

FIGS. 14 and 15

and the suction passage is shown also in the views of

FIGS. 11

,


12


and


13


and more detailed description will be given with reference to these figures below. The suction passage includes integrally a support structure


34


which supports a housing


35


which carries bearings


56


for a shaft


36


(

FIG. 9

) which projects at both ends from the housing


35


so as to be inserted into the splined holes of the outer segments of the pool cleaner. This allows for rotation of the two segments with respect to the central zone on an axis lying along the centre line of the shaft


36


and in this example the two segments must necessarily rotate at the same speed as they are both splined onto the same shaft. This splines may be replaced by a friction fit to allow slipping should large forces arise. As supplied to the customer the two segments will be fixed to the shaft


36


and hence will not usually be removable from the suction passage


33


and structure


34


which carries the housing


35


in which the shaft is journalled. However, the debris collector


32


can be lifted out from the pool cleaner by means of the handle


86


being grasped, the tab


37


being pushed so as to disconnect a latch on the suction passage structure. At the other end of the debris collector, formation


50


of the suction passage structure engaging detent


58


of the debris collector structure provides for a hinging action initially after which the debris collector comes free from the suction passage structure and can be lifted out of the pool cleaner for cleaning out of the collected debris. The suction passage


13


presents its mouth


39


(see

FIG. 10

) on the forward side of the pool cleaner relative to its direction of advance


7


and water and debris ingested at the mouth


39


passes along the curved suction passage


13


into the debris collector


32


. The debris collector consists of a sump


40


, which is partitioned by the necessity of the bush


35


, and a portion


41


having gauze which is provided on both sides for escape of water but retention of debris inside the debris collector, (the gauze is not shown in FIG.


9


).




The manifold


19


extends across the width of the central zone so that water entering it from the connector


17


can enter a passage


41


on the near side of the suction passage structure which is seen in these views and also a similar passage on the other side of the structure which is not visible. The passage


41


connected to a passage shown in the structure


42


(

FIG. 9

) which carries this water also to the other side of the structure and applies thus water equally to two nozzles which are located inside the suction passage


13


. One of these nozzles, nozzle


43


can be seen in the view of

FIG. 10 and a

similar nozzle on the other side of the inner surfaces of the suction passage


13


is similarly supplied with water. These two nozzles direct water jets in a suction passage


13


and they entrain surrounding water and draw it into the mouth


39


and along the passage


13


into the debris collector as well as then entraining debris from the pool surfaces. The passage


47


similar to the passage


41


on the other side of the structure similarly leads to a connecting passage (not seen) which brings the water equally to both sides and thence to two nozzles on the outside of the structure each of which directs a jet on to the mains of the outer segment so as to drive these rotatively. In these views the outer nozzle


44


is visible in

FIGS. 8 and 9

and a similar nozzle


45


is provided on the other side (FIG.


10


). Thus the nozzle


44


drives the outer segment which has been removed in these views and the other similar outer nozzle drives the segment


9


which is visible, for example, in the view of FIG.


9


.




This manner of directing the water flow allows for a structure to be provided inside the manifold


19


which can be used to adjust the division of water between the two inner nozzles which direct their jets into the suction passage


13


on the one hand and the two outer nozzles which drive the outer segments which serve as wheels on the other hand. This structure is not shown but can comprise some convenient partitioning or metering structure such as, for example, are known in other arts such as mixing taps and the like. The sieve part


41


of the debris collector is clipped on to the sump part


40


by the action of a clip which can be released by pressing a tab


46


.




Moving on to

FIGS. 11

,


12


and


13


the suction passage


33


of the debris collector is shown more effectively in these views. In

FIG. 11

it can be seen how the sump part


33


has the structure


34


integrally moulded with it supporting the housing


35


in which the shaft


36


is journalled and the far side outer segment


9


is seen on the shaft. As mentioned the assembly of this sump unit shaft and both outer segments is normally not disassembled by the user.




The views


11


,


12


and


13


show rather well the curved suction passage


13


with the open mouth


39


of this passage. The views of

FIGS. 12 and 13

also show the second of the outer jets, the jet


45


which is a mirror image of the jet


44


seen in previous views. The views also show the passage


47


which is a mirror image of the passage


41


. The internal connection of these two passages are, however, as mentioned such that the passage


41


feeds both internal jets and the passage


47


feeds both external jets. The suction passage


13


with its mouth


39


directed forwardly relative to the direction of movement


7


in use curves upwardly to an exit


48


of the suction passage


13


. It is this exit


48


which discharges water and debris into the debris collector as has been described previously.




Moving on to

FIGS. 14 and 15

, these show the debris collector as it appears when removed from the pool cleaner. This will be done by the user of the pool cleaner at intervals when it is necessary to clean out the debris collector. As can be seen and has been described the debris collector comprises a sump


40


having the indentation


49


to allow for the space needed by the bush


35


. The clip


37


can be seen by which the unit as shown in

FIG. 14

comprising the sump


40


and the sieve portion


41


clips into the pool cleaner, the other end having a detent


58


into which is locked a turnover flange


50


of the pool cleaner in the central zone (see

FIGS. 11

,


12


and


13


).




The exit


48


(

FIGS. 11

,


12


,


13


) of the suction passage


13


thus connects to the debris collector and discharges its water and debris at the position indicated by the arrow


51


into the debris collector. The water and debris then follows paths indicated by the arrows


52


. Certain debris will thus settle into the sump areas


40


while the water will then exit sideways out of the sieve mesh at


41


. The water flow is circular, sweeping past the sieve surfaces, so there may be a self-cleaning effect, at least near the exit


48


of the suction passage


48


. It will be noted that the debris collector has a width which is confined to the central region which means that once unclipped it can simply be lifted straight out of the pool cleaner in a convenient way.





FIG. 15

shows how, once the tabs


46


are pressed the sieved portion


41


is released from the sump portion


40


and can initially be hinged upwardly as indicated by the arrow


53


and then disconnected entirely from the formations


38


which hingedly hold the other end initially. The sieved portion sump portion can then be separated entirely to facilitate thoroughly cleaning.





FIG. 16

shows a detail of the passage


41


with the outer cover of that passage removed for purposes of illustration. This shows how the manifold


19


which receives water from the connection


17


distributes that water to left and right. On the left hand side it enters the passage


41


and moves to the region in which there is a transverse passage


42


which takes the water across to the other side of the central zone in addition to the side on which the passage


41


is located. This water is then fed via the hole


54


to the internal jet which is not seen but which is a mirror image of the jet


43


inside the suction passage


13


. Water which has entered from the manifold


19


in the other passage


47


(see

FIGS. 10

,


12


and


13


) comes across to the side of the central zone shown in

FIG. 16

via the passage


55


. In this way the water is supplied to both sides of the central zone to the two outer jets being the jet


44


and the jet


45


.





FIGS. 17

to


22


show a water flow splitter means of the cleaner, seen as a view in the direction of arrow


60


shown in FIG.


5


. The water flow splitter comprises two passages


61


and


62


with adjacent or contiguous mouths


63


and


64


, respectively. The two passages and mouths are formed by a diametral dividing wall


65


in a circular tube


66


.




An occluding element


67


shown separately in

FIGS. 18

,


19


and


20


, is cup shaped and rotatably fitted in the tube


66


. The bottom


68


of the cup shape is rotatably against the dividing wall


65


and has a semi circular opening


69


. A small tab


70


allows the cup shaped element to be lifted out of the tube


66


by finger and thumb. A set of five grooves


71


allow the cup shaped element to be fitted into the tube


66


in anyone of five selectable rotatory positions, which adjusted the division of water between the passages


61


and


62


.




A connector


72


is screwed onto an external screw thread on the tube


66


and holds the occluding element in operative position, as shown in

FIG. 22. A

flanged formation


74


allows the connector to be used as a handle to lift the cleaner. The connector has a spigot


73


which is shown on a swivel


77


, but could be directly onto the connector


72


, if preferred.





FIG. 22

shows a swivel connection comprising a flange


75


in the connector


72


and a co-acting groove


76


in a swivel


77


which provides the spigot


73


for connection of a push side hose (not shown). The swivel connector is best located in the connector


72


, as shown in

FIG. 22

, rather than in the pipe or at the pool wall, as is the case with the prior art.





FIG. 22

shows a nozzle


85


which is an alternative, being fixed, to the nozzle


5


described above.





FIGS. 23 and 24

show a structure


80


which provides a movable lip


81


for the mouth of the suction passage. The structure has a shaft


82


which is journalled in the mouth of the cleaner so as to be hingedly mounted. A thin finger-like formation


83


presses against the roof of the mouth when installed and acts as a spring to urge the lip downwards so as to bear against the surface being cleaned. The flow of water inwardly through the structure is indicated by the arrow


84


in FIG.


23


. The structure fits in the mouth


39


, e.g. as seen in

FIGS. 10 and 12

.





FIGS. 25 and 26

show a float


86


of which two are attached to the cleaner, at a position below the axis of rotation of the axle


36


of the cleaner (see FIGS.


8


,


9


,


10


and


11


). The float is a moulding in plastic which creates a sealed void filled with air, thus giving a buoyancy force when immersed in water. With two located below the axis of rotation of the axle and hence the wheels of the cleaner (related to the cleaner moving over a pool bottom), they give a force which raises the effective centre of gravity of the cleaner above the axis of rotation, reducing stability under water, creating greater randomness and hence more thorough cleaning.




The floats


86


have grooves


87


on either side and a catch


88


, for a sliding fit into the sides of the cleaner and to be retained in position.





FIGS. 5 and 14

show a weight


89


in the form of a rectangle of lead (or similar heavy material), located at the top of the cleaner, relative to its position with its mouth against a pool bottom. This weight raises the centre of gravity of the cleaner to just below the axis of the shaft


36


. This high weight combined with the buoyancy forces created by the low floats, one gets the resulting effects which have been described above.



Claims
  • 1. An automatic pool cleaner defining a central axis and having only a single pair of rotatable motive elements which are symmetrically disposed about the central axis, the pool cleaner comprising (a) a debris collector and (b) at least one jet directing water onto at least one of the pair of rotatable motive elements so as to cause it to rotate.
  • 2. A pool cleaner as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of brush-like formations present on at least one of the rotatable motive elements.
  • 3. A pool cleaner according to claim 1 in which the debris collector is removable so as to facilitate cleaning of collected debris therefrom.
  • 4. A pool cleaner which comprises two outer segments and a central zone located between these two segments, the central zone connectable to a push-side hose which can deliver water to the cleaner, the central zone capable of moving over a surface to be cleaned and accommodating a suction passage for drawing in debris from the surface to be cleaned and delivering it to a debris collector, in which jets which provide a suction action in the suction passage are provided in the passage, the two segments comprising wheels which can run over the surface to be cleaned, the wheels being rotatively driven by water impinging directly thereon.
  • 5. A pool cleaner as claimed in claim 4, in which nozzles are provided in the suction passage, with water exiting the nozzles having a tangential component of direction which assists in the forward impulsion of the cleaner by jet reaction forces.
  • 6. A pool cleaner which comprises two outer segments and a central zone located between these two segments, the central zone connectable to a push side hose which can deliver water to the cleaner, the central zone capable of moving over a surface to be cleaned and accommodating a suction passage for drawing in debris from the surface to be cleaned and delivering it to a debris collector, the two segments comprising wheels which can run over the surface to be cleaned and rotatively driven, the wheels being rotatively driven by water jets which impinge directly onto vanes on the wheels.
  • 7. A cleaner as claimed in claim 6, in which the two wheel are joined by a shaft so that they rotate being fixed relative to each other.
  • 8. A pool cleaner which comprises two outer segments and a central zone located between these two segments, the central zone connectable to a push side hose which can deliver water to the cleaner, the two segments comprising wheels which can run over the surface to be cleaned and rotatively driven, the central zone capable of moving over a surface to be cleaned and accommodating a suction passage for drawing in debris from the surface to be cleaned and delivering it to a debris collector, in which the debris collector is confined to within the central zone, capable of being lifted out of the cleaner to empty it.
  • 9. A pool cleaner which comprises two outer segments and a central zone located between these two segments, the central zone connectable to a push side hose which can deliver water to the cleaner, the two segments comprising wheels which can run over the surface to be cleaned and are rotatively driven, the central zone capable of moving over a surface to be cleaned and accommodating a suction passage for drawing in debris from the surface to be cleaned and delivering it to a debris collector, in which the debris collector is confined to within the central zone, capable of being lifted out of the cleaner to empty it, and in which the suction passage has a mouth adjacent the surface to be cleaned and the mouth has a movable lip which is biased to tend to move into contact with the pool surface.
  • 10. A pool cleaner which comprises two outer segments and a central zone located between these two segments, the central zone connectable to a push side hose which can deliver water to the cleaner, the two segments comprising wheels which can run over the surface to be cleaned and are rotatively driven, the central zone capable of moving over a surface to be cleaned and accommodating a suction passage for drawing in debris from the surface to be cleaned and delivering it to a debris collector, in which the debris collector is confined to within the central zone, capable of being lifted out of the cleaner to empty it, and in which the debris collector comprises two separated sump regions and sieve surfaces to allow the water to exit the collector and the debris to be retained in the two sump regions.
  • 11. A pool cleaner which comprises two outer segments and a central zone located between these two segments, the central zone connectable to a push side hose which can deliver water to the cleaner, the central zone capable of moving over a surface to be cleaned and accommodating a suction passage for drawing in debris from the surface to be cleaned and delivering it to a debris collector, in which jets which provide a suction action in the suction passage are provided in the passage, the two segments comprising wheels which can run over the surface to be cleaned and rotatively driven, the wheels being rotatively driven by water jets which provide motive force to drive the wheels, in which a water flow splitter is provided located in the cleaner, which flow splitter which comprises structure having two passages which have adjacent entrance mouths, a movable occulding element which is movable to selectable position settings in which one entrance mouth is occluded more or less than the other entrance mouth the two passages leading each to the jets in the suction passage and the jets which drive the wheels, respectively.
  • 12. A pool cleaner as claimed in claim 11, in which the structure for the two passages and the adjacent entrance mouths is a circular tube with a diametral dividing wall and for the occluding element a cylindrical cup shaped element rotatable in the tube with a bottom of the cup located against the diametral dividing wall and the bottom having a semi-circular opening and movable by rotation of the cup shaped element.
  • 13. An automatic pool cleaner defining a central axis and having only a single pair of rotatable motive elements which are symmetrically disposed about the central axis, the pool cleaner comprising a central region intermediate the pair of rotatable motive elements, the central region defining a suction passage having a mouth, the portion of the suction passage adjacent the mouth being oriented other than normal to the pair of rotatable elements.
  • 14. A pool cleaner according to claim 13 further comprising a debris collector in fluid communication with the suction passage.
  • 15. A pool cleaner according to claim 14 in which the debris collector is positioned within the central region.
  • 16. An automatic pool cleaner defining a central axis and having only a single pair of rotatable motive elements which are symmetrically disposed about the central axis, the pool cleaner comprising:a. a central region intermediate the pair of rotatable motive elements and defining a suction passagel; b. a plurality of water jets, at least one water jet providing suction action within the suction passage and another jet impinging water on at least one of the rotatable motive elements; and c. a flow splitter for selectively varying the flow of water to the plurality of water jets.
  • 17. A pool cleaner according to claim 16 in which the flow splitter comprises a moveable occludable element.
  • 18. A pool cleaner which comprises two outer segments and a central zone located between these segments, the outer segments having outer surfaces, the shape of the outer surfaces being spheroidal, the two outer segments comprising wheels which run on a surface to be cleaned and are rotatively driven, the central zone connectable to a push-side hose which can deliver water to the cleaner, the central zone capable of moving over the surfaces to be cleaned and accommodating a suction passage for drawing in debris from the surface to be cleaned and delivering the debris to a debris collector.
  • 19. An automatic pool cleaner defining a central axis and a rear and having a pair of rotatable motive elements which are symmetrically disposed about the central axis, the pool cleaner comprising:a. a debris collector; b. a jet positioned at the rear and which, in use, directs water rearwardly of the pool cleaner to assist its propulsion; and c. means, positioned at the rear, for attaching a hose which, in use, is connected to a water circulation system.
  • 20. A pool cleaner according to claim 19 in which the hose attaching means comprises a nipple.
Priority Claims (3)
Number Date Country Kind
98/04346 May 1998 ZA
98/09806 Oct 1998 ZA
98/02896 Apr 1999 ZA
PCT Information
Filing Document Filing Date Country Kind
PCT/US99/11035 WO 00
Publishing Document Publishing Date Country Kind
WO99/61727 12/2/1999 WO A
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