Patent Application
20160010352
The present invention relates to a skimmer for swimming pools, namely for saltwater swimming pools made of metal. The skimmer of the present invention solves the problem of rust corrosion around the skimmer's mounting holes in the pool wall. This is accomplished by not mounting a skimmer using pre-drilled holes in the pool wall, and using clamping force of the skimmer assembly to the wall instead.
Salt water has gained popularity as a sanitary alternative to chlorinated water. However, most saltwater pools are made of metal, and when holes are drilled into the wall to mount accessories such as a skimmer, the bare metal exposed by these holes is susceptible to corrosion. Notwithstanding all waterproofing efforts, salt water makes its way along a mounting screw's threads and corrodes the metal wall in proximity of the screw's hole, significantly shortening the lifespan of the pool. Once corrosion sets in, it is not long before the entire pool has to be replaced.
The majority of pools are shipped with a standard-sized rectangular opening for a skimmer. This is done so that the installer can use any manufacturer's wall skimmer and be reasonably assured that it will fit. The installer does not have to act as a tin smith and cut the opening to the correct size of the skimmer. Holes are pre-drilled for standardized skimmers.
A typical freshwater pool skimmer, U.S. Pat. No. D671,192 is attached by screws to a pool's wall. The skimmer's face abuts the pool wall on the outside of the pool, and a faceplate is attached with screws from the inside the pool, through holes in the pool wall, to the skimmer.
However, more than half of the screws are underwater, and the cited patent is not practical for a saltwater pool with metal walls due to the fact that any exposed through-hole in the pool's metal wall will result in corrosion of the wall's proximate area near the hole. Once corrosion takes place, repair is difficult and expensive, and sometimes the only option is to throw out the old pool and install a new one.
The present invention resolves this problem by attaching the skimmer to the pool wall without the need for through-holes. If a skimmer is not mounted using through-holes in the wall, there is nothing to corrode. This is accomplished by mounting a skimmer assembly using clamping means.
The present invention permits installation of a pool skimmer into a metal saltwater pool. No through-holes are required, thus substantially allaying inevitable corrosion of the wall and prolonging the pool's lifespan. This is the advantage of the present invention. The present invention also covers up pre-drilled through-holes to arrest their corrosion.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the skimmer attaches to the pool's through-holes only at the top of the skimmer where the wall is not constantly immersed in salt water. This embodiment of the present invention uses only clamping or pinching power to immobilize the underwater portion of the skimmer. In another embodiment, none of the through-holes are used to mount the skimmer, and only clamping or pinching power of the skimmer assembly immobilizes the skimmer inside the cavity of the pool wall.
Clamping or pinching power is accomplished through novel face and faceplate designs, wherein the skimmer's face has a smooth and continuous exterior and interior lip portions adapted to clamp onto the pool wall cavity that is cut in a pool wall for the skimmer.
In the second embodiment the grip onto the pool wall by the skimmer is accomplished with a faceplate tightly screwed to the skimmer through both lips from inside the pool. These screw-holes are just inside the pool wall cavity, not affecting the wall's integrity, yet holding the skimmer tightly on the pool wall by the clamping force exerted by the lips on the pool wall.
The present invention relates to the pool attachment portion of a pool skimmer for saltwater pools made of metal. This invention permits attachment of a skimmer inside a metal pool without compromising the integrity of the pool wall with through-holes, thus inhibiting corrosive decay of the pool. Secure attachment is accomplished by clamping force of the skimmer to the part of the pool most susceptible to corrosion.
The key to the present invention is a means that exerts consistent pressure to maintain a skimmer's grip on the pool wall. The present invention accomplishes this grip by configuring the elements that contact the pool wall to be as flat as possible to spread out the clamping pressure as evenly as possible.
Faceplate 10 is a flat, substantially rectangular frame with a rectangular opening 11 inside said faceplate 10. Faceplate 10 has an inner edge 21a extending around said opening 11 and adapted to abut edges of pool's cavity 24. Along said faceplate 10 are formed through-holes 9 that are at identical locations and at identical intervals as through-holes 8 in face portion 4. Bottom portion of faceplate 10 comprises a flat rear lip 21 formed around lower portion of faceplate 10. Double-gasket 14 has holes 15 only through the top for installation of screws through pool wall 22's through-holes 26, and bevel 30 is installed over faceplate 10 for aesthetic purposes. Gasket 14 is provided with a skirt 17 extending around the outer perimeter of said gasket 14.
Skimmer 2 is positioned in such a way that front lip 20 is outside pool 1 and rear lip 21 is inside pool 1, thus sandwiching wall edge 22 from pool 1's outside and inside respectively. Screw holes 8 of face 4 are aligned with installation holes 8 made in skimmer 2. A flat resilient liner 16, substantially identical in configuration to faceplate 10 is applied to the inner wall of pool around cavity 24. A flat resilient two-layer gasket 14, substantially identical in configuration to faceplate 10, is installed so that it envelops a contact periphery of walls 22 and 23 inside and outside cavity 24, thus abutting face portion 4 of skimmer 2 from pool 1's outside, and abutting face plate 10 from pool 1's inside. Gasket 14 has a water-arresting skirt 17 through which screw 12 is passing. All elements 16, 10, 14 and 10 should be aligned using assembly holes and screws. Finally, a bezel 30 snaps onto face plate 10 to cover up the screws. Bezel 30 is purely a cosmetic element and shows the user where the water level should be.
Faceplate 10 comprises a substantially flat surface on its outside surface. Upper portion of faceplate 10 is screwed with screws 12 through its holes 9, through gasket 14, liner 16, through face 4's holes 8 and through pool wall installation holes 26 that form an upper mounting means.
The bottom of faceplate 10 is attached to skimmer 2 with screws 12 in such a manner that the tension exerted by the screws going through holes in faceplate 10, gasket 14, liner 16, front lip 20 and rear lip 21 causes lips 20 and 21 to tighten and squeeze, clamp or pinch wall 22, thereby immobilizing the skimmer inside the lower part of cavity 24 through clamping force. The front lip 20 and rear lip 21 form the lower mounting means.
It must be emphasized that the mounting means are located just inside cavity 24 and by no means infringe the integrity of the walls of swimming pool. This is novel feature of the present invention.
