FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to the general field of swimming pools, and more particularly to an underwater platform installation that utilizes existing components of an existing swimming pool.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A “swim out” is a flat platform, bench or seat in or along the walls of a swimming pool that allows a swimmer in the deep end of the pool to stand or sit without getting out of the pool or going to the shallow end. Installation of a conventional swim out in an existing pool is very expensive and time consuming, since it requires that the pool be drained and one or more of its walls reconstructed. The present invention provides a quick and inexpensive retrofit swim out installation for existing in-ground and above-ground swimming pools.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention modifies the existing pool ladder structures of an existing swimming pool to support an underwater “swim out” platform structure. In some embodiments of the present invention, the treads of the existing pool ladder are removed and replaced with the underwater platform structure, while the ladder rails and other remaining structures of the existing pool ladder and its attachments to the pool deck are retained. In other embodiments, the existing pool ladder rails are replaced with new tubular platform rails specifically designed to support the underwater platform structure. Some embodiments of the present invention are designed to be installed at a corner of an existing swimming pool or along a curved side wall of the pool. One embodiment is designed for installation in an above-ground pool.
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.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A-1C are perspective, side profile and front elevation views, respectively, of an exemplary conventional pool ladder of an in-ground pool;
FIGS. 2A-2C are perspective, side profile and plan views, respectively, of a first embodiment of the present invention, which is adapted for installation in a rectangular in-ground pool;
FIGS. 3A-3C are perspective, side profile and front elevation views, respectively, of the first embodiment of the present invention, with LED light bars on the side gussets of the platform structure;
FIGS. 4A-4C are perspective, side profile and front elevation views, respectively, of a second embodiment of the present invention, which is a low profile installation for a rectangular in-ground pool;
FIGS. 5A-5C are perspective, side profile and front elevation views, respectively, of a third embodiment of the present invention, which is a bench-style installation for a rectangular in-ground pool;
FIGS. 6A-6C are perspective, side profile and plan views, respectively, of a fourth embodiment of the present invention, which is adapted for installation in a round in-ground pool;
FIGS. 7A-7C are perspective, front elevation and plan views, respectively, of a fifth embodiment of the present invention, which is adapted for installation at a corner of an in-ground pool; and
FIGS. 8A-8C are perspective, side profile and plan views, respectively, of a sixth embodiment of the present invention, which is adapted for installation in an above-ground pool.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A conventional pool ladder 1 of a typical existing in-ground pool is depicted in FIGS. 1A-1C. The existing pool has a surrounding deck or patio IA, into which two existing ladder rails 2L 2R are conjugately secured by two corresponding existing anchor sockets 4L 4R. The ladder rails 2L 2R are typically tubular stainless steel, but they can also be a tubular corrosion-resistant pvc material. In this example, the pool ladder 1 has three treads 3A 3B 3C connected by tread hardware 6 between the two rails 2L 2R. The two rails 2L 2R are mutually parallel and are both oriented perpendicular to a pool wall 1C, and they terminate below the water in a resilient bumper 5A which vertically engages the pool wall 1C and any pool liner that covers the wall.
An exemplary first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2C and FIGS. 3A-3C. In this embodiment, the existing ladder rails 2L 2R, with their treads 3A 3B 3C removed, are retained in the swim out installation, and their upper socket ends 20 remain secured to the conjugate existing anchor sockets 4L 4R. In place of the removed ladder treads 3A 3B 3C, a swim out platform structure 7 is installed between the vertical support sections 21 of the rails, using the existing connective hardware apertures 6, at a submerged platform position 23.
The platform structure 7 comprises an underwater platform 7A, a rigid vertical platform panel 9, which supports from below an interior edge 24 of the platform 7A, and two rigid, substantially triangular side gussets 8L 8R, which support from below two side edges 25L 25R of the platform 7A. Optionally, the side gussets 8L 8R may support LED light bars 10 for night time illumination of the platform structure 7.
The underwater platform 7A is horizontal, flat, and substantially rectangular in shape, and is preferably fabricated from a rigid pvc plastic, as are the vertical support panel 9 and the two side gussets 8L 8R. Because the underwater platform 7A has a platform width 26 which is greater than the socket offset 27 separating the existing two anchor sockets 4L 4R, the orientation of the two ladder rails 2L 2R can no longer be mutually parallel and perpendicular to the pool wall 1C, as it was in the original pool ladder configuration shown in FIGS. 1A-1C. The rails 2L 2R are, therefore, rotated outward from the parallel orientation to a splayed configuration.
The lower terminal ends 22 of the two rails 2L 2R are capped with resilient bumpers SB, which vertically engage the contiguous pool wall 1C, so as to protect the wall 1C and any pool liner that may be covering it.
An exemplary second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4C The structural elements are the same as those described above for the first embodiment, except that the existing ladder rails 2L 2R are replaced by two low profile platform rails 11L 11R. The platform rails 11L 11R have a substantially horizontal upper socket end 20, as compared to the arched upper socket ends of the first embodiment (20 in FIG. 2B).
An exemplary third embodiment of the present invention is depicted in FIGS. 5A-5C. In this embodiment, the platform structure is simply the flat, substantially rectangular underwater platform 7B. The two existing ladder rails 2L 2R of the first embodiment are replaced by two platform rails 12L 12R having arched upper socket ends 20 and lower terminal ends that form horizontal support sections 22A, between which the underwater platform 7B is supported from below at the submerged platform position 23. The horizontal support sections 22A terminate in two resilient end caps 13 to cushion collisions with swimmers. Each of the vertical support sections 21 has a resilient bumper SC facing the pool wall 1C to protect the wall and any pool liner.
An exemplary fourth embodiment of the present invention is depicted in FIGS. 6A-6C. The elements of this installation are the same as those of the first embodiments shown in FIGS. 2A-2C, except that this fourth embodiment is designed for a pool with round walls 1D and surrounded by a round deck/patio 1B. Accordingly, the interior edge 24 and an exterior edge 28 of the underwater platform 7C form convex and concave curves, respectively, to conform to the curvature of the pool wall 1D. As in the first embodiment, the existing ladder rails 2L 2R are used to support the platform structure 7.
The fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention, shown in FIGS. 7A-7C, utilizes the existing ladder rails 2L 2R to support a platform structure 7 adapted for an installation in a corner of a rectangular pool, where two pool wall 1C meet. In this case, the underwater platform 7D is substantially shaped as an irregular pentagon, having an interior vertex 29 and an exterior edge 28 opposite the interior vertex 29. The exterior edge 28 is supported from below by a rigid vertical platform panel 15, which, along with the underwater platform 7D, comprise the platform structure 7. Although a right-angled pool corner is illustrated here, this embodiment is also adaptable to an acute, obtuse or curved corner, by adjusting the shape of the interior vertex to be congruent with the contiguous pool walls 1C.
FIGS. 8A-8C depict a sixth embodiment of the present invention, which is adapted for an installation in an existing above-ground pool. This embodiment uses the ladder rails 16L 16R of an existing above-ground pool ladder with its treads extracted. The arched upper support ends 20 of the rails 16L 16R engage a deck or border 1E surrounding the pool, while the lower terminal ends 22 of the rails 16L 16R are conjoined by a flat, horizontal base plate 17 which rests on the bottom of the pool 18. A platform structure 7, comprising a flat, substantially rectangular underwater platform 7A and two supporting side gussets 8L 8R, is horizontally secured between the two vertical support sections 21 of the two ladder rails 16L 16R at a submerged platform position 23.
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.
Patent Application
20200032539
