This Application claims priority from Chinese Application CN202420055207.8, filed Jan. 9, 2024 in China, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present application relates to the technical field of above-ground pools, and particularly relates to a hard-body pool with thermal insulation.
Above-ground pools are leisure and entertainment products used in outdoor open spaces, for example, it can be installed in a home's courtyard, garden or other open spaces for multiple adults and children to play together. These kinds of pools are widely popular with people due to convenient installation and a good use effect. In some usage scenarios, in order to improve the comfort of the pool during use, users need to inject hot water to a water storage cavity of the pool or heat cold water in the water storage cavity to a temperature suitable for human body by using heating equipment, so as to make it convenient for the users to use. However, during use, the heat inside the water storage cavity will dissipate over time, especially in cold seasons or cold regions, the heat dissipates faster. Therefore, it becomes increasingly important to insulate the heat of the water in the water storage cavity of the pool.
Example embodiments may address at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above. Also, example embodiments are not required to overcome the disadvantages described above, and may not overcome any of the problems described above.
The following summary is exemplary and explanatory only and is not necessarily restrictive of the claimed invention. The summary is intended to present general aspects of the present embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of at least some salient features. This summary is not an extensive overview of all possible embodiments. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the present application or to delineate the scope of all embodiments. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the embodiments in a general form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.
Further, it should be noted that in various embodiments, description is made with reference to figures, in which like reference numerals refer to similar or identical items in the drawings. However, certain embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specifically identified details, or in combination with other known methods and configurations. In the following summary and detailed description, numerous details are set forth, such as specific configurations, dimensions and processes, etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. In other instances, well-known processes and conventional hardware have not been described in particular detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure the present embodiments. Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment” or the like means that a particular feature, structure, configuration, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or the like in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment of the invention. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, configurations, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
An objective of the present disclosure is to solve the problem of heat loss of water in the existing pools. The present disclosure provides a thermally insulated non-inflatable pool, which is capable of insulating the heat of the pool, so as to reduce the heat loss of the water in a water storage cavity of the pool.
In order to solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a thermally insulated non-inflatable pool. The thermally insulated non- inflatable pool includes: a liner, having a water storage cavity; a frame, surrounding a perimeter of the liner; a connection member, fixing the liner to the frame; and a thermal insulation structure, at least a part of which is arranged between the liner and the frame, where at least a part of the thermal insulation structure is attached to one or more of an outer surface of the liner, and inner surface of the frame.
In an exemplary embodiment, the thermal insulation structure comprises a cylinder defined by a wall and presenting upper and lower ends. An inner side surface of the cylinder approximates the outer surface of the liner, and an outer side surface of the cylinder approximates the inner surface of the frame. In various implementations, the upper end of the cylinder is provided with an opening, while the lower end of the cylinder may or may not be provided with an opening.
In an exemplary embodiment, the inner side surface of the cylinder is adhered to the outer surface of the liner, and/or, the outer side surface of the cylinder is adhered to the inner surface of the frame.
In an exemplary embodiment, the wall thickness of the cylinder presents a wall thickness that gradually increases from with a preconfigured thickness gradient from top to bottom, therefore from the upper end to the lower end, in a depth direction of the thermally insulated non-inflatable pool. In various aspects, the thickness gradient may increase in one or more of a linear, exponential, or stepwise manner.
In an exemplary embodiment, the thickness gradient is preconfigured so that when the water storage cavity is filled with water, and the liner is compressed by the water, the water storage cavity assumes a relatively uniform inner diameter.
In an exemplary embodiment, the thermal insulation structure includes a plurality of thermal insulation units between the liner and the frame; and the plurality of thermal insulation units are spliced to each other, or the plurality of thermal insulation units are arranged at intervals, or, some of the plurality of thermal insulation units are spliced to each other and other thermal insulation units are arranged at intervals.
In an exemplary embodiment, the thermal insulation structure includes a plurality of thermal insulation units, the thermal insulation units being arranged in one or more of the following configurations: the plurality of thermal insulation units are spliced to each other, the plurality of thermal insulation units are arranged at intervals, the plurality of thermal insulation units are arranged in a plurality of overlapping layers; and some of the plurality of thermal insulation units are spliced to each other and other thermal insulation units are arranged at intervals.
In an exemplary embodiment, the thermal insulation structure further includes a bottom sheet arranged under a bottom wall of the liner.
In an exemplary embodiment, the bottom sheet is adhered to the lower surface of the bottom wall of the liner.
In an exemplary embodiment, a material of the thermal insulation structure includes one or more of pearl cotton, expandable expanded polyethylene (EPE), expanded polystyrene (EPS), fiberglass batting, elastomeric foam, polyurethane (PU) foam, sponge, and silk wadding.
In an exemplary embodiment, a top region of the frame is provided with a first extension portion extending outward with respect to the water storage cavity, and the first extension portion is provided with a first protrusion; a top region of the liner is provided with a second extension portion extending outward with respect to the water storage cavity, and the second extension portion is coupled to the first extension portion and covers the first protrusion to form a second protrusion; and the connection member clamps the second protrusion together with the first protrusion.
In an exemplary embodiment, a material of the liner comprises any of flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane (PU), a PVC mesh material, and a PU mesh material.
In an exemplary embodiment, the frame is constructed from one or more of: a structurally supportive plastic, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS).
The thermally insulated non-inflatable pool proposed by the present application adds a thermal insulation structure between the liner and the frame, and optionally underneath the liner, which effectively prevents the heat dissipation in the water storage cavity of the pool, prolongs the heat preservation time of the water in the water storage cavity, and reduces the heat loss in the water storage cavity, thereby providing users with a better experience during the use. The pool having the thermal insulation structure is easy to use, has low costs and a simple manufacturing process, and is applicable to pools in various application environments.
The above and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of example embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Implementations of the present disclosure are illustrated below by way of specific embodiments, and those skilled in the art would have readily understood other advantages and effects of the present disclosure from the content disclosed in the description. Although the description of the present disclosure will be introduced in conjunction with preferred embodiments, it does not mean that features of the present disclosure are limited to the implementations. On the contrary, an objective of introducing the present disclosure in conjunction with the implementations is to encompass other options or modifications that may be extended on the basis of the claims of the present disclosure. The following description contains numerous specific details in order to provide deep understanding of the present disclosure. The present disclosure may also be implemented without these details. In addition, in order to avoid confusing or obscuring key points of the present disclosure, some specific details will be omitted in the description. It should be noted that the embodiments and the features thereof in the present disclosure can be combined with each other without conflicts.
It should be noted that in the description, like reference signs and letters denote like items in the following drawings. Therefore, once an item is defined in one of the drawings, it is not necessary to further define and explain the item in the subsequent drawings.
In the description of the present embodiments, it should be noted that the orientation or position relationships indicated by the terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “inner” and “bottom” are based on the orientation or position relationships shown in the drawings or the orientation or position relationships in which a product of the present disclosure is customarily placed during use, and are only intended to facilitate description of the present disclosure and simplify the description, rather than indicating or implying that the apparatus or element indicated must have a specific orientation or be configured and operated in the specific orientation, and therefore cannot be construed as limiting the present disclosure.
The terms “first”, “second”, etc. are only intended to distinguish the description, and should not be construed as indicating or implying the relative importance.
In the description of the embodiments, it should also be noted that the terms “arrange”, “connected”, and “connection” should be understood in a broad sense, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited. For example, the connection can be a secured connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; or may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; and can be directly connected, or indirectly connected by means of an intermediate medium, or communication between interiors of two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meaning of the terms mentioned above in the embodiments should be understood in specific cases.
In order to make objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present disclosure clearer, the implementations of the present disclosure will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in
In the embodiments illustrated in
The frame 3 is shaped to enclose at least part of the liner 2: in the illustrated embodiment, the frame 3 is configured to surround a perimeter of the liner 2, so that the liner 2 may be arranged inside the frame 3. In more detail, the frame 3, in various aspects, comprises a closed side wall 306, having an inner surface 300 and an outer surface 307 and a top region 304 surrounding a top opening of the frame 3. In an alternate implementation (not illustrated), the frame 3 may also be provided with a bottom wall. The side wall 306 of the frame 3 defines a space inside which the liner is housed. The outer surface 204 of the side wall 200 of the liner 2 is disposed to approximate the frame 3: in particular, the outer surface 204 of the side wall 200 of the liner 2 faces the inner surface 300 of the frame 3.
In the illustrated embodiment, the connection member 5 is exemplified in a form of a fixing clamp ring 50. A bottom region of the fixing clamp ring 50 is provided with a recess 500 in the depth direction of the thermally insulated non-inflatable pool (shown by a Z direction in
To recap, in this embodiment, the second protrusion 303 formed by the second extension portion 203 of the liner 2 and the first protrusion 302 of the frame 3 is clamped by the fixing clamp ring 50, so as to realize the fixed connection between the liner 2 and the frame 3, and accordingly, the liner 2 is supported by the frame 3.
Those skilled in the art will understand that the connection member 5 may also be arranged in other forms, such as a hidden buckle, a clip, a hook or other connection methods known in the art.
With continued reference to
In a radial direction of the thermally insulated non-inflatable pool 1 (shown by a U direction in
The cylinder 40 is configured to be attached to both the outer surface 204 of the liner 2 (that is, the outer surface 204 of the side wall 200) and the inner surface 300 of the frame 3. That is, the inner side surface 400 of the cylinder 40 of the thermal insulation structure 4 is attached to the outer surface 204 of the liner 2, and the outer side surface 401 of the cylinder 40 of the thermal insulation structure 4 is attached to the inner surface 300 of the frame 3. To put it another way, the frame 3 approximates and slightly presses against the cylinder 40 in the radial direction (shown by the U direction in
The thermal insulation structure 4 comprises a wall 42 defining the cylinder 40. Referring to
Since the liner 2 expands under water pressure when the water storage cavity 202 assumes a filled state, the cylinder 40 of the thermal insulation structure 4 proximate the liner may also undergo elastic deformation due to the pressure. As the pressure gradually increases from top to bottom in the depth direction of the pool, the pressure applied to the thermal insulation structure 4 gradually increases from top to bottom, and thus the degree of deformation thereof gradually increases. By providing a thickness gradient and accordingly increasing the wall thickness of the thermal insulation structure 4 from top to bottom, deformation of the thermally insulated non-inflatable pool may be reduced. Accordingly, a predetermined thickness gradient of the thermal insulation structure may be provided so that after the thermally insulated non-inflatable pool is filled with water, it has a relatively uniform inner diameter (as shown in
Referring to
The cylinder 40 of the thermal insulation structure 4 is made of a material with thermal insulation properties, such as pearl cotton (expandable expanded polyethylene (EPE)), expanded polystyrene (EPS), fiberglass batting, elastomeric foams, polyurethane (PU) foam, sponge-like material, silk wadding, etc. Those skilled in the art will understand that in other embodiments, the cylinder 40 of the thermal insulation structure 4 may also be made of other materials with thermal insulation effects, such as a foam material, a three-dimensional fabric, etc.
Those skilled in the art will understand that in alternate embodiments, the cylinder 40 may be attached to one or both of the liner 2 and the frame 3. In exemplary implementations, the inner side surface 400 of the cylinder 40 may be attached to the outer surface 204 of the liner 2, and there may be a gap between the outer side surface 401 of the cylinder 40 and the inner surface 300 of the frame 3; alternatively, the outer side surface 401 of the cylinder 40 may be attached to the inner surface 300 of the frame 3, and there is a gap between the inner side surface 400 of the cylinder 40 and the outer surface 204 of the liner 2.
In some additional embodiments, the inner side surface 400 of the cylinder 40 may be adhered to the outer surface 204 of the liner 2, and the outer side surface 401 of the cylinder 40 is adhered to the inner surface 300 of the frame 3. That is, the liner 2, the thermal insulation structure 4 (the cylinder 40) and the frame 3 may be fixedly connected using an adhesive sheet or a hook and loop fastener. In alternative implementations, the cylinder 40 of the thermal insulation structure 4 may be attached to only one of the liner 2 and the frame 3. In other words, the cylinder 40 may be attached to only the outer surface 204 of the liner 2 through its inner side surface 400, or the cylinder may be attached to only the inner surface 300 of the frame 3 through its outer side surface 401, both of which may realize the thermal insulation effect on the water in the water storage cavity 202. Those skilled in the art will understand that the cylinder 40 may also be attached and connected to the liner 2 and the frame 3 by using other methods, such as welding, and other connection methods known to those skilled in the art.
In the illustrated embodiment, the bottom sheet 41 is arranged under the bottom wall 201 of the liner 2, and is attached to a lower surface 205 of the bottom wall 201 of the liner 2. Compared with the thermal insulation structure 4 (i.e., the cylinder 40) covering only the side wall 200 of the liner 2 in the foregoing embodiments (as shown in
In this embodiment, the cylinder 40 of the thermal insulation structure 4 is configured to be connected to the bottom sheet 41, and the bottom sheet 41 configured to completely cover the lower surface 205 of the bottom wall 201 of the liner 2. Those skilled in the art will understand that it is also possible to not connect the cylinder 40 of the thermal insulation structure and the bottom sheet 41, that is, the two are regarded as two independent elements proximate one another. The cylinder 40 is arranged in the chamber 100 formed by the liner 2 and the frame 3, and the bottom sheet 41 is arranged below the bottom wall 201 of the liner 2.
The plurality of thermal insulation units 410 mentioned above may be of one material, or may be of any combination of various materials with thermal insulation properties. For example, in an embodiment, 10 thermal insulation units 410 are attached to the outer surface 204 of the liner 2, and all the 10 thermal insulation units 410 may be made of pearl cotton; or, 5 of the 10 thermal insulation units 410 may be made of pearl cotton and the other 5 may be made of sponge (or sponge-like material); or, 3 of the 10 thermal insulation units 410 are made of pearl cotton, 3 are made of sponge (or sponge-like material), 4 are made of silk wadding, or any combination of any number of thermal insulation units 410 made of any thermal insulation material.
Further, as shown in
The plurality of thermal insulation units 410 shown in
Identical to the cylinder 40, the bottom sheet 41 may also be arranged as an integrally formed circle as a whole, or as a plurality of independent thermal insulation units. The plurality of thermal insulation units may be spliced to each other, or arranged at intervals, or several of the plurality of thermal insulation units are spliced to each other, and several other thermal insulation units are arranged at intervals. For details, reference may be made to the arrangement of the plurality of thermal insulation units shown in
Although the present disclosure has been illustrated and described with reference to some preferred implementations of the present disclosure, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the above contents are further detailed descriptions for the present disclosure with reference to specific implementations, and it cannot be assumed that the specific implementations of the present disclosure are limited to these descriptions. Those skilled in the art can make various changes in form and details, including several simple deduction or substitutions, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202420055207.8 | Jan 2024 | CN | national |