Patent Application
20060021125
The present invention relates to swimming pools for use by infants and young children. There is a continuing need to develop innovative swimming pools for young children that are entertaining, safe from the sun's rays, and easy to use.
The present invention is a swimming pool comprising a pool member having an outside annular channel portion and a sunshade member rotatably engaged about the pool member. The sunshade member comprises a sunshade body portion and an annular tube portion. The annular tube portion is rotatably engaged and retained with the annular channel portion of the pool member. In use, a person may rotate the sunshade body portion about the pool member without having to move the pool member filled with water.
The swimming pool 10 generally comprises an inflatable sunshade member 12 rotatably engaged about an inflatable pool member 14. The pool member 14 generally comprises a lower inflatable tube portion 30 having an air valve 32 and an upper inflatable tube portion 34 having an air valve 36. The pool member 14 further comprises a continuous annular channel or raceway portion 38 formed by the lower and upper tube portions 30 and 34. The pool member 14 further comprises a floor portion 40 sealably engaged with the bottom of the lower inflatable tube portion 34. The floor portion 40 may be a single flexible sheets or have one or more bladders with air valve to provide inflation to desired areas of the floor for cushing.
The sunshade member 12 generally comprises an inflatable annular tube portion 14 and an inflatable body portion 16. The end portions of the annular tube portion 14 are sonic welded to the side portions of the inflatable body portion 16. The relative diameters of the tube portions 14, 30 and 34 are such that when inflated, the annular tube 14 is retained and rises within the annular channel or raceway portion 38 formed by the lower and upper tube portions 30 and 34 thereby allowing the inflatable body portion 16 to be rotated anywhere along the pool member 14 and moved to block the sun without having to move the pool member 14 which may be filled with water. The sunshade member 12 further comprises an air valve 24 for inflation. In addition to acting as a sunshade, the inflatable body portion 16 may one or more toys or other amusement articles for play by children in the pool member 14. By way of examples only, the inflatable body portion 16 may comprise a window or opening 18 which may be covered and uncovered by a blind or flap 20 by conventional means such as velcro fasteners 22. When open, a person may toss a ball or other article there thru the opening 18. A further example would be a plurality of ring toss supports 26 to receive one or more toy rings (not shown).
The pool member 14 and sunshade member 12 may be made from well known conventional flexible polymer sheet materials and die-cutting and welding manufacturing processes. In the embodiment shown, rolls of vinyl material are laid out on a cutting table and the vinyl is die-cut to the shapes of the various pool components. Thereafter, decoration is silk screened on the vinyl. The cut-rings are heat sealed into tube shapes and sealed together. The floor is heat sealed to the bottom of the tubular ring assembly.
The foregoing description is intended primarily for purposes of illustration. The present invention may be embodied in other forms or carried out in other ways without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/581,080 filed on Jun. 18, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60581080 | Jun 2004 | US |
