Patent Application
20240271443
This invention relates to equipment principally for use in connection with water-containing vessels such as swimming pools and spas and more particularly, but not necessarily exclusively, to equipment for handheld cleaning of a swimming pool or spa.
Swimming pools and spas require continuous maintenance to ensure water quality. Some types of equipment may autonomously move within swimming pools and spas. The most common of these devices are APCs, which often are either hydraulic or robotic in type. Hydraulic cleaners vary water flow for movement, while robotic cleaners typically employ electric motors to cause motion. Hydraulic APCs, furthermore, subdivide into “pressure-side” and “suction-side” cleaners, with pressure-side cleaners being fluidly connected to outputs of pumps of pool water circulation systems and suction-side cleaners being fluidly connected to inputs of such pumps. While autonomous equipment is useful, there may be portions of the swimming pool or spa that the equipment cannot reach, such as but not limited to at and/or above a waterline of the swimming pool or spa, and such areas require manual or handheld cleaning. Additionally, or alternatively, a user may desire to spot clean an area of the swimming pool or spa without requiring operation of automatic cleaners. Existing equipment for such manual or handheld cleaning offer limited cleaning and are labor intensive to use.
Embodiments covered by this patent are defined by the claims below, not this summary. This summary is a high-level overview of various embodiments and introduces some of the concepts that are further described in the Detailed Description section below. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of this patent, any or all drawings, and each claim.
According to certain embodiments, a manual scrubber device for a swimming pool or spa includes a housing, a pad support, and a motor within the housing. In certain embodiments, the motor may move the pad support relative to the housing.
According to various embodiments, a cleaning system includes a rod, a holder on the rod, and a manual scrubber device. In some embodiments, the holder may receive a portion of the housing of the manual scrubber device within a receiving area.
According to various embodiments, a manual scrubber device for a swimming pool or spa includes a housing, a pad support, and a motor. In some embodiments, the motor may move the pad support relative to the housing based on linear movement of the housing relative to the pad support.
According to certain embodiments, a method of cleaning a swimming pool or spa with a manual scrubber device includes activating the motor from a deactivated state to a standby state by actuating a button and activating the motor from the standby state to an active state by applying a force moving the housing towards the pad support.
Various implementations described herein can include additional systems, methods, features, and advantages, which cannot necessarily be expressly disclosed herein but will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. It is intended that all such systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within the present disclosure and protected by the accompanying claims.
The specification makes reference to the following appended figures, in which use of like reference numerals in different figures is intended to illustrate like or analogous components.
Described herein are manual or handheld scrubber devices for swimming pools or spas. The scrubber devices described herein may be used for waterline cleaning and/or deep cleaning of a surface of the swimming pool or spa as desired. The scrubber devices may be waterproof devices. In certain embodiments, the scrubber devices described herein allow for cleaning where an automatic cleaner has difficulty reaching, such as but not limited to at a waterline of the swimming pool or spa. The scrubber devices described herein may facilitate cleaning by providing one or more of (i) a pad support that may carry a plurality of types of pads, (ii) an onboard power source, and/or (iii) activation of a motor causing movement of the pad based on the application of a force (e.g., a pressing force). Various other advantages and benefits may be realized with the systems and methods described herein, and the aforementioned benefits should not be considered limiting.
In certain embodiments, the housing 12 is waterproof such that the housing 12 may be submerged within a swimming pool or spa. In various embodiments, the housing 12 includes one or more gripping features 16 that a user may engage to grip and/or otherwise handle the scrubber device 10 in use. The housing 12 may house a motor and one or more power sources (e.g., one or more batteries) within the housing 12. In various embodiments, and as best illustrated in
The pad support 14 is movable relative to the housing 12, and the motor within the housing 12 may selectively move the pad support 14 relative to the housing 12. In certain embodiments, the motor causes rotation of the pad support 14 relative to the housing 12 and as discussed in detail below. In various embodiments, and as discussed in detail below, the motor may be adjustable between a plurality of modes, such as but not limited to a deactivated mode, a standby mode, and/or an activated mode, among others. One or more pads 22 may be supported on the pad support 14 as desired. In certain embodiments, the pads 22 are removably connected to the pad support 14 using various features or mechanisms as desired and such that the pad 22 on the pad support 14 may be removed and/or replaced as desired. The removable pads 22 may allow for different types of pads 22 to be utilized with the scrubber device 10 as desired.
As mentioned, the motor may be in various modes. In some embodiments, the housing 12 includes a switch or button 24 for controlling a mode or status of the motor. As a non-limiting example, the button may be movable between a first position, in which the motor is in a deactivated mode, a second position, in which the motor is in a standby mode but may be activated to rotate the pad support 14 in a clockwise direction, and a third position, in which the motor is in standby mode but may be activated to rotate the pad support 14 in a counterclockwise direction. Additionally, or alternatively, the button 24 may control the motor to be in an activated mode, in which the motor is actively moving (e.g., causing rotation of) the pad support 14.
In some embodiments, the scrubber device 10 requires a first action for changing the motor between the deactivated mode and the standby mode and a second action for changing the motor between the standby mode and the activated mode. In the example illustrated, the first action may be a positioning of the button 24, and the second action may be the application of force on the housing 12 and/or linear movement of the housing 12 relative to the pad support 14 between an expanded position and a compressed position relative to the pad support (see
In some embodiments, the scrubber device 10 may be directly handled by a user for performing a cleaning operation (see, e.g.,
Exemplary concepts or combinations of features of the invention may include:
These examples are not intended to be mutually exclusive, exhaustive, or restrictive in any way, and the invention is not limited to these example embodiments but rather encompasses all possible modifications and variations within the scope of any claims ultimately drafted and issued in connection with the invention (and their equivalents). For avoidance of doubt, any combination of features not physically impossible or expressly identified as non-combinable herein may be within the scope of the invention. Further, although applicant has described devices and techniques for use principally with pools and spas, persons skilled in the relevant field will recognize that the present invention conceivably could be employed in connection with other objects and in other manners. Finally, references to “pools” and “swimming pools” herein may also refer to spas or other water containing vessels used for recreation or therapy and for which cleaning of debris is needed or desired.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/445,183, filed on Feb. 13, 2023, and entitled SCRUBBING DEVICE FOR SWIMMING POOLS AND SPAS, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63445183 | Feb 2023 | US |
