Pool Safety Device

Abstract

The pool safety device includes a front wall and a rear wall connected together by a cylindrical shaped main section and a tapered section to form an outer shell with an interior. The front wall has a center hole sized to receive a standard flexible pool vacuum hose and a front door sized to cover the same when the hose is not connected to the device. A rear mounting pipe is connected to the rear wall at a rear opening such that the rear mounting pipe is in fluid communication with the interior of the pool safety device. The front door, front wall and tapered section are fitted with a plurality of holes which act as inlets to the interior of the pool safety device. Similarly, the cylindrical shaped main section has a plurality of main section slots which act as inlets to the interior of the pool safety device.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pool equipment including drains and wall mounted automatic vacuum systems are well known potential hazards in a residential or commercial pool. Wall mounted automatic vacuum systems typically have an underwater vacuum connected to the interior plumbing of the pool by way of a flexible hose at a wall fitting in the wall. Strong pumps draw water from the pool and through the vacuum and flexible hose. The diameter of these hoses at the wall fitting are often 1% inches or less. The flexible hose can easily become dislodged from the wall fitting by swimmers during use. Under such circumstances, and because of the small diameter of the wall fitting, a dangerous condition arises which could result in the entrapment of a swimmer under the waterline. Young children are particularly at risk of injury or drowning in such a circumstance.

A common safety device in use is a lock safety wall fitting equipped with a spring-loaded door. When the hose is dislodged from the wall, the spring quickly acts on the door causing it to close and block the flow of water into the interior plumbing of the pool. However, a significant drawback of such a device is that pool systems will continue to run causing cavitation within and damage to the pump and potentially other system components. Although there are anti-entrapment vacuum release systems available in the art, such systems are expensive and many older pools have not been equipped with such devices. As a result, many older pool systems are not well suited to use lock safety wall fittings. In addition, even systems with anti-entrapment vacuum release systems can and do experience failures in their ability to auto-shutoff. Even the spring-loaded door assembly can fail in a lock safety wall fitting resulting in a potentially dangerous condition.

Drains address the dangerous condition through use of anti-entrapment covers which comprise numerous outlet holes coupled with a curved profile, thereby limiting the suction power of any one outlet. Such anti-entrapment covers are typically used at the drain outlet at the bottom of the pool or spa. These anti-entrapment devices are effective at reducing the risk of entrapment, should a swimmer come into contact with the surface of the device, because the profile of the device precludes a swimmer from blocking too many outlets simultaneously, thereby ensuring a steady flow of water through the unblocked outlets. However, a drawback to conventional anti-entrapment covers is that that cannot be used in combination with wall mounted automatic vacuum systems. Another drawback of such systems is that they often are not robust and can fail, resulting in the same unsafe condition.

As a result, there is a need for an anti-entrapment device which can be used in combination with wall mounted automatic vacuum systems. There is a further need for an anti-entrapment device which works with older pool systems which do not have anti-entrapment vacuum release systems. Finally, there is a need for an anti-entrapment device which is robust and also low-cost relative to anti-entrapment vacuum release systems to provide a commercially reasonable alternative to such anti-entrapment vacuum release systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a pool safety device configured to work in combination with a conventional wall mounted automatic vacuum system. Broadly, the pool safety device has an outer shell with a hollow interior and a plurality of holes, a front opening sized to receive a flexible hose, and a rear mounting pipe for connecting the pool safety device to an exterior wall of the pool.

A rear opening is formed in the rear wall and the rear mounting pipe is connected to the rear wall and encircles the rear opening. The rear mounting pipe is sized to receive a hose tip of a flexible pool hose such that a fluid seal is formed between the rear mounting pipe and the hose tip. When so positioned, the flexible hose is in fluid communication with the internal plumbing of the wall mounted automatic vacuum system and the plurality of holes is not in fluid communication with the internal plumbing of the wall mounted automatic vacuum system. However, when the flexible hose is dislodged from the safety device, the plurality of holes is in fluid communication with the internal plumbing thereby allowing the continued flow of water into the plurality of holes without a risk of entrapment.

The outer shell of the pool safety device is formed with a front wall separated from a rear wall by a main section and a front tapered section. Preferably, the main section is cylindrical in shape and the front tapered section is conical in shape. The front wall has a front opening sized to receive a flexible hose of a conventional wall mounted automatic vacuum system. A rear mounting pipe is connected to and extends away from the rear wall. Threads are placed on the exterior of the rear mounting pipe to allow for a secure connection to an internal pipe of the pool system at the pool wall. The rear mounting pipe has a rear mounting pipe interior in fluid communication with the interior of the outer shell. The rear mounting pipe has a rear mounting pipe inner diameter which is sized to securely receive the hose tip sidewall so as to create a fluid seal between the flexible hose and the rear mounting pipe.

The outer shell of the pool safety device may be equipped with a front door such that the front door may close the front opening when the flexible hose is disconnected from the pool safety device. The front door may be spring loaded to automatically close when the flexible hose is removed from the device. The door is rotatably attached to the front wall of the outer shell and is fitted with a locking system to ensure the door remains closed when the vacuum system is not in use.

In a preferred embodiment, the front wall is equipped with front wall perimeter holes and the front tapered section has front tapered section holes. The front wall perimeter holes are passed perpendicularly through the front wall. The front tapered section holes are parallel to the front wall perimeter holes and are therefore not parallel to the front tapered section. This configuration allows for a larger number of front tapered section holes with closer spacing, as compared to the front wall perimeter holes, without compromising structural integrity of the outer shell.

The main section is fitted with a plurality of main section slots which are formed at a uniform slot angle with respect to the tapered section. The plurality of main section slots are grouped into main section slot sections. Although numerous configurations are embraced by the invention, the main section slots are preferably grouped into five slot sections separated by four main section unslotted surface areas. The uniform slot angle coupled with the main section unslotted surface areas ensure that the main section is structurally strong while still allowing for substantial flow of water into the main slot sections.

The geometric configuration of the front tapered section combined with the main section ensure that the pool safety device has non-planar surfaces which each have holes for the passage of water. As a result, a person coming into contact with the pool safety device with the flexible pool hose dislodged cannot simultaneously contact all non-planer surfaces. Therefore, numerous holes and section slots remain unobstructed allowing free flow of water into the pool safety device. This free flow of water precludes the build up of suction force within the device dramatically reducing the risk for entrapment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The nature, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the following detailed description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the pool safety device with a body formed with a front wall, a tapered section and a main section formed on a rear wall with the front wall formed with an opening to receive and secure a front door;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the pool safety device showing a plurality of door holes centered on the front door center hole, a plurality of front wall perimeter holes centered on the door, and a plurality of front tapered section holes on the front tapered section;

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the pool safety device showing front cylindrical slots and a rear mounting pipe connected to and extending away from the rear wall;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the pool safety device showing a rear opening in the rear wall accessible from the rear mounting pipe interior;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the pool safety device with the front door removed and showing the hollow interior of the body, along with the front opening and rear opening;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the front door of the pool safety device with a locking mechanism;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the pool safety device along the lines 7-7 shown in FIG. 1 and showing the locking mechanism of the front door engaged with the front wall of the pool safety device;

FIG. 8 is a right side view of the pool safety device showing the front tapered section combined with the main section with main section slots formed at a slot angle with respect to the rear wall;

FIG. 9 is a front isometric view of the pool safety device showing the front door open with the rear mounting pipe having a rear mounting pipe diameter;

FIG. 10 is a left isometric view of the pool safety device with a flexible hose ready to be inserted into the pool safety device;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the pool safety device mounted on a pool wall with a plaster surface and showing the connection between the pool safety device and the existing in-ground plumbing pipe of a conventional pool vacuum system with the front door closed;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the pool safety device shown in FIG. 11 and showing the front door open and ready for insertion of a flexible pool hose; and

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the pool safety device shown in FIG. 11 and showing the hose tip of the flexible hose securely positioned within the rear mounting pipe creating a fluid seal between the flexible hose interior and the in-ground plumbing pipe of a conventional pool vacuum system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring initially to FIG. 1, the pool safety device 10 is shown having an outer shell 11 formed with a front wall 12, a front tapered section 16, a main section 18 and a rear wall 19. The main section 18 is adjacent to the rear wall 19 and is connected to the front wall 12 by the front tapered section 16. Front wall 12 is shown equipped with a front door 14 rotatably connected to the front wall 12.

Referring next to FIG. 2, the front door 14 has a front door center hole 20 centered on a front door recessed area 21. Front door 14 is further equipped with a plurality of front door holes 22 which encircle the front door recessed area 21. The plurality of front door holes 22 are equally spaced from one another. Both the front door center hole 20 and plurality of front door holes 22 each act as inlets to the hollow interior 17 (shown in FIGS. 5 and 7). Front door 14 is disposed within the front wall 12 and the front wall 12 has front wall perimeter holes 24 partially encircling the front door 14. The front wall perimeter holes 24 also act as inlets to the hollow interior 17. Front door holes 22 are bored perpendicularly to the front door 14. Similarly, front wall perimeter holes 24 are bored perpendicularly to the front wall 12.

Front tapered section 16 tapers from the main section 18 to the front wall 12. The front tapered section 16 combined with the main section 18 ensure that the outer shell 11 has non-planer surfaces which reduce the likelihood of entrapment. Front tapered section 16 has a plurality of front tapered section holes 26 which are equally spaced from one another and act as additional inlets to the hollow interior 17. Front tapered section holes 26 are bored at a bore angle such that the front tapered section holes are parallel to the front door holes 22 and front wall perimeter holes 24. The bore angle allows for closer spacing of the front tapered section holes 26 without compromising the structural integrity of the outer shell 11.

Turning to FIG. 3, the main section 18 is shown with main section slots 28 which act as further inlets to the hollow interior 17. Main section slots 28 are placed such that the members forming the slots act as a parallelogram truss system, allowing for larger slot sizes. The larger slot sizes increases the flow capacity and volumetric flow rate of the inlets, which in turn maximizes the anti-entrapment functionality of the safety device 10.

A rear mounting pipe 30 is connected to and extends away from the rear wall 19. The rear mounting pipe 30 is preferably fitted with threads for mounting into an existing inground pipe 50 (shown in FIG. 12) of a conventional pool vacuum pump system.

Turing to FIG. 4, the rear wall 19 has a rear opening 36 to the hollow interior 17. The rear mounting pipe 30 is centered on the rear opening 36 such that the rear mounting pipe 30 is in fluid communication with the hollow interior 17. Mounting threads 32 are shown to facilitate the secure connection of the rear mounting pipe 30 to an existing inground plumbing pipe 50 of a pool vacuum system as shown in FIGS. 11-13. The rear mounting pipe 30 has a rear mounting pipe inner diameter 34 which is sized to securely receive the hose tip 64 of a flexible pool hose 60 as shown in FIG. 12. The rear wall 19 is shown in a circular configuration to accommodate the cylindrical configuration of the main section 18.

Turning to FIG. 5, the front wall 12 of the outer shell 11 is shown with a front opening 15 formed with a recessed door mounting surface 40 sized to receive and support the front door 14. The front opening 15 itself is sized to receive the hose tip 64 and hose collar 62 of a flexible pool hose 60. The front opening 15 has door pin 42 positioned within a connection aperture 44 opposite a locking aperture 46.

Next referring to FIG. 6, the front door 14 is shown with a pin receiver 43 sized to rotatably connect to the door pin 42 formed in the front opening 15 of the front wall 12. The front door 14 is further formed with a locking mechanism 45 with a deformable tab 47 and a lock aperture 49.

Turning to FIG. 7, a cross-section view shows the pin receiver 43 is shown connected to the door pin 42 with the front door 14 is the closed and locked position. In use, the deformable tab 47 is deformed sufficiently until the lock aperture 49 is positioned against the sidewall of the front opening 15. Once so positioned, the lock aperture 49 is released to its original position thereby causing the sidewall of the front opening to be secured in the lock aperture 49 and precluding the front door 14 from opening, as shown in FIG. 7.

Turning to FIG. 8, the plurality of main section slots 28 are grouped into a slotted section 25. The pool safety device 10 shown in FIG. 8 has four slotted sections 25 (two of which cannot be seen from the view) separated by four unslotted surfaces 27. The unslotted surfaces 27 provide additional structural reinforcement to the main section 18 of the outer shell 11.

The main section slots 28 are positioned within each of the slotted sections 25. All main section slots 28 are made up of slot section members 23 which are positioned with respect to the rear wall 19 at a slot angle 29. The slot angle 29 is uniform with respect to the front tapered section 16 across the 360-degree profile of the front tapered section 16. As a result, the ends of the slot section members 23 on slotted section 25 face the rear wall 19 at an opposite angle compared to the angle the ends of the slot section members 23 in the slotted section 25 face the rear wall 19 on the opposite side of the main section 18. This configuration allows for larger sized main section slots 28 without compromising structural integrity of the main section 18. The number of slotted sections 25 is not meant to be limiting although it is preferred that there are at least two slotted sections 25 on opposite sides of the cylindrical main section 18 to improve the structural integrity of the main section 18 of the outer shell 11.

The larger slot sizes achieved through the use of slot angle 29 increases the inlet flow capacity and inlet volumetric flow rate, which in turn maximizes the anti-entrapment functionality of the safety device 10. The shape and size of the main section slots further reduce the likelihood of hair entrapment.

Turning to FIG. 9, the pool safety device 10 is shown with the front door 14 positioned in the open position to fully expose the rear opening 36 which is open to the rear mounting pipe 30 in order to receive a hose tip 64 of the flexible pool hose 60. In FIG. 10, the flexible pool hose is shown positioned with the hose tip 64 of the flexible pool hose centered on the rear opening 36.

Turning to FIGS. 11 through 13, the method of use for the pool safety device 10 is generally set forth with the pool safety device 10 shown in the same cross-sectional profile show in FIG. 7. The pool safety device 10 is shown connected to an existing inground plumbing pipe 50 of a conventional pool vacuum system at mounting threads 32. The rear wall 19 is flush with the pool plaster surface 80 of a conventional reinforced concrete pool 82 built into the ground 84. In conventional systems, the hose tip 64 of flexible pool hose 60 would be placed directly in the existing inground plumbing pipe 50 or into a lock safety wall fitting equipped which in turn is connected directly to the existing inground plumbing pipe 50. An entrapment hazard is created when the pool vacuum system is running, but the flexible pool hose 60 is disconnected from the existing inground plumping pipe 50. Under such conditions, water is drawn into the existing inground plumbing pipe 50 at high velocity by a pump system downstream creating an entrapment risk at the narrow entrance of the existing inground plumbing pipe 50. The pool safety device 10 is used as a safer alternative to such conventional connections and minimizes the entrapment risk.

In FIG. 11 the front door 14 is shown in the closed position. When in the closed position, when the pool vacuum system is running, water passes through the front door center hole 20, the front door holes 22, the front wall perimeter holes 24, the tapered section holes 26 and the main section slots 28. The number and placement of holes 20, 22, 24, 26 and slots 28 coupled with the geometric configuration of the outer shell 11 make it extremely difficult to get trapped to the pool safety device 10 as a result of the suction force created by the pump system of the pool vacuum system. It is very difficult, if not impossible, for the human body to contort to the non-planar geometric profile of the outer shell 11, thus ensuring that some combination of the holes 20, 22, 24, 26 and slots 28 remain unobstructed allowing water to continue to flow into the pool safety device 10 and into the existing inground plumbing pipe 50.

Turning to FIG. 12, to use a conventional pool vacuum with the pool safety device 10, first, the front door 14 is unlocked by deforming the deformable tab 47 such that the locking aperture 46 of the front door 14 disengages with the sidewall 13 of the front opening 15 such that the front door 14 can freely rotate about the door pin 42 into the open position. Once in the open position, the pool safety device 10 is ready to receive the hose tip 64 of the flexible pool hose 60.

Finally, turning to FIG. 13, the flexible pool hose 60 is shown properly inserted into the pool safety device 10. The hose tip 64 is inserted through the rear opening 36 into the rear mounting pipe interior 38 of the rear mounting pipe 30 such that a fluid seal is created between the exterior sidewall 66 of the hose tip 64 and the internal surface of the rear mounting pipe 30. The suction force provided by the pool vacuum system holds the hose collar 62 of the flexible pool hose 60 firmly against the rear wall 19 of the pool safety system 10. Once so placed, no fluid is drawn into the pool safety device 10 through any of its inlets 20, 22, 24, 26 or 28, and instead fluid can only be drawn from the flexible pool hose 60 itself. In the event that the flexible pool hose 60 is accidentally removed from the pool safety device 10 while operational, the front door 14 will close automatically and water will continue to flow into the pool safety device at inlets 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 without any interruption in water flow to the existing inground plumbing pipe 50 or downstream pump system.

Where reference is made herein to a method comprising two or more defined steps, the defined steps can be carried out in any order or simultaneously (except where the context excludes that possibility), and the method can include one or more other steps which are carried out before any of the defined steps, between two of the defined steps, or after all the defined steps (except where the context excludes that possibility).

While there have been shown what are presently considered to be preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited as except by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A pool safety device comprising: a front wall and a rear wall connected together by a main section to form an outer shell with a hollow interior wherein the front wall has a plurality of front wall holes spaced relative to one another at a front wall hole spacing;a front opening formed in the front wall sized to receive a hose tip and hose collar of a flexible pool hose and a plurality of front wall holes formed in the front wall;a plurality of main section slots formed in the main section; anda rear opening formed in the rear wall and a rear mounting pipe connected to the rear wall and encircling the rear opening wherein the rear mounting pipe has a rear mounting pipe inner diameter sized to receive a hose tip of a flexible pool hose such that a fluid seal is formed between the rear mounting pipe and the hose tip and the rear mounting pipe is in fluid communication with the flexible pool hose.

2. The pool safety device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of main section slots are formed in one or more main section slot sections.

3. The pool safety device of claim 1 further comprising a tapered section connecting the front wall to the main section.

4. The pool safety device of claim 3 further comprising tapered section holes in the tapered section wherein the tapered section holes are spaced relative to one another at a tapered section hole spacing wherein the tapered hole spacing is less than the front hole spacing.

5. The pool safety device of claim 4 wherein each of the plurality of main section slots are formed at a slot angle with respect to the tapered section.

6. The pool safety device of claim 5 wherein the slot angle is uniform for each of the main section slots.

7. The pool safety device of claim 1 wherein the pool safety device is made from a single cast uniform material.

8. The pool safety device of claim 1 further comprising a front door sized to cover the front opening of the front wall and wherein the front door is rotatably connected to the front wall.

9. The pool safety device of claim 8 further comprising a locking mechanism on the front door enabling the front door to be secured in a closed position.

10. The pool safety device of claim 9 further comprising a self-closing mechanism enabling the front door to automatically close when the flexible pool hose is not placed within the pool safety device.

11. A pool safety device comprising: a front wall and a rear wall connected together by a main section to form an outer shell with a hollow interior wherein the front wall has a plurality of front wall holes spaced relative to one another at a front wall hole spacing;a tapered section connecting the main section to the front wall and having tapered section holes in the tapered section wherein the tapered section holes are spaced relative to one another at a tapered section hole spacing and wherein the tapered hole spacing is less than the front hole spacing;a front opening formed in the front wall sized to receive a hose tip and hose collar of a flexible pool hose and a plurality of front wall holes formed in the front wall;a plurality of main section slots formed in the main section wherein the plurality of main section slots are formed in one or more main section slot sections and wherein each of the plurality of main section slots are formed at a slot angle with respect to the tapered section; anda rear opening formed in the rear wall and a rear mounting pipe connected to the rear wall and encircling the rear opening wherein the rear mounting pipe has a rear mounting pipe inner diameter sized to receive a hose tip of a flexible pool hose such that a fluid seal is formed between the rear mounting pipe and the hose tip and the rear mounting pipe is in fluid communication with the flexible pool hose.

12. The pool safety device of claim 11 wherein the main section is cylindrical in shape.

13. The pool safety device of claim 11 further comprising a front door sized to cover the front opening of the front wall and wherein the front door is rotatably connected to the front wall.

14. The pool safety device of claim 13 further comprising a locking mechanism on the front door enabling the front door to be secured in a closed position.

15. The pool safety device of claim 9 further comprising a self-closing mechanism enabling the front door to automatically close when the flexible pool hose is not placed within the pool safety device.

16. The pool safety device of claim 11 wherein the slot angle is uniform for each of the main section slots.

17. The pool safety device of claim 11 wherein the pool safety device is made from a single cast uniform material.

18. A pool safety device comprising: a front wall and a rear wall connected together by a main section to form an outer shell with a hollow interior wherein the front wall has a plurality of front wall holes spaced relative to one another at a front wall hole spacing and wherein the main section is cylindrical in shape;a tapered section connecting the main section to the front wall and having tapered section holes in the tapered section wherein the tapered section holes are spaced relative to one another at a tapered section hole spacing and wherein the tapered hole spacing is less than the front hole spacing;a front opening formed in the front wall sized to receive a hose tip and hose collar of a flexible pool hose and a plurality of front wall holes formed in the front wall;a front door sized to cover the front opening of the front wall and wherein the front door is rotatably connected to the front wall;a plurality of main section slots formed in the main section wherein the plurality of main section slots are formed in one or more main section slot sections and wherein each of the plurality of main section slots are formed at a uniform slot angle with respect to the tapered section; anda rear opening formed in the rear wall and a rear mounting pipe connected to the rear wall and encircling the rear opening wherein the rear mounting pipe has a rear mounting pipe inner diameter sized to receive a hose tip of a flexible pool hose such that a fluid seal is formed between the rear mounting pipe and the hose tip and the rear mounting pipe is in fluid communication with the flexible pool hose when the flexible pool hose is connected to the pool safety device.

19. The pool safety device of claim 18 further comprising a locking mechanism on the front door enabling the front door to be secured in a closed position and a self-closing mechanism enabling the front door to automatically close when the flexible pool hose is not placed within the pool safety device.

20. The pool safety device of claim 18 connected to an inground pipe of a pool system at a pool sidewall wherein the flexible pool hose is in fluid communication with the inground pipe when the flexible pool hose is connected to the pool safety device.