Patent Application
20210381187
The present invention relates to the general field of systems for anchoring tie-downs of a swimming pool cover, and more particularly to such systems as applied to in-ground pools surrounded by stone or concrete pavers.
Conventional systems for securing tie-downs of in-ground swimming pool covers typically embed the anchors in the material comprising the deck or curbing which surrounds the pool. Such systems have the disadvantage of requiring the replacement of the anchors when the deck or curbing is repaired or replaced. The present invention avoids this problem by providing footings below the deck which pass through apertures in the deck material and reveal threaded openings into which threaded couplers can be screwed.
The present invention is a method of anchoring multiple tie-downs of a pool cover of an in-ground swimming pool which is surrounded by stone or concrete pavers. The method uses a tubular footing member with multiple flange plates laterally extending along its length. The flange plates include a base flange plate which encloses the distal end of the footing member and one or more medial flange plates surrounding the tubular circumference of the footing member between its proximal and distal ends. The proximal end of the footing member is open and this proximal opening has interior threading which conjugately mates with the threaded shank of a coupling screw. Preferably, the inner circumference of the proximal opening is beveled to match the downward taper of the screw head, so that the coupling screw is countersunk when fully threaded.
Each of the footing members is installed by first lifting one of the pavers to expose the substrate beneath it, which will typically be the sand and/or gravel fill which surrounds the pool. A circular hole is drilled through the paver, with the paver hole circumference slightly greater than the tubular circumference of the footing member, so that the proximal end of the footing member can be snuggly inserted through the paver hole. Next a footing pit is excavated in the substrate below the paver and is filled with poured concrete. The footing member is then set vertically in the footing pit, so that the base flange plate is above the bottom of the pit, and the proximal opening of the footing member extends above the top of the pit by a height equal to the paver depth.
Next the paver is replaced over the footing pit, so that the proximal end of the footing member extends through the paver hole with its proximal opening flush with the top surface of the paver. The coupling screw is then partially threaded into the proximal opening, so that only the screw head extends above the top surface of the paver. After one of the tie-downs is secured to the head of the coupling screw, the coupling screw is further threaded into the proximal opening until the tie-down is flush with the top surface of the paver.
The foregoing process is repeated for each of the tie-downs.
The foregoing summarizes the general design features of the present invention. In the following sections, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in some detail. These specific embodiments are intended to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing the present invention in accordance with the general design features discussed above. Therefore, the detailed descriptions of these embodiments are offered for illustrative and exemplary purposes only, and they are not intended to limit the scope either of the foregoing summary description or of the claims which follow.
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Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many additions, modifications and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the accompanying claims.
