US3501783A - Swimming pool cover - Google Patents

Description

March24, 1970 s. BROADMAN SWIMMING POOL COVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oqt. 24, 1967 INVENTOR. IRA 5. Bea/worm.

UQMx -M ATTORNEY March 24, 1970 I. s. BROADMAN SWIMMING POOL COVER Filed Oct. .24, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 II/ III/III I NVENTOR.

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I Armin/Ex United States Patent U..S. Cl. 417Z.14 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mechanically operated collapsible folding cover for a swimming pool arranged to slide out over and retract from immediately above the water surface to maintain the pool clean and keep the pool safe from against someone falling in the pool when not in use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1) The field of this invention lies in a pool cover, and particularly a cover which may be mechanically extended over or retracted from over the surface of the pool.

(2) Heretofore, swimming pool covers were cumbersome and difficult to install and remove from the pool surface and presented a serious problem of storage when the pool was in use. Many of the prior covers rested or floated on the water surface and were not sufficientl rigid and sturdy to safely support a persons weight and prevent accidental drowning.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a pool cover which may be mechanically applied over and removed from the top of a swimming pool and which stows itself out of the way when the pool is in use.

Still another object is to provide an accordion folding cover for a pool which provides a rigid support cover over the pool surface suflicient to support a person from falling into the pool and becoming injured.

And a further object is to provide a durable and weather-resistant cover for a pool which can be quickly moved to extended closure and retracted positions with manual or power actuation so as to render the cover highly efficient and usable on short notice to immediately move the cover to closed position against sudden storms or to render the pool usable quickly while normally keeping the pool covered.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a pool cover incorporating the features of this invention, showing the cover in retracted position for normal use of the swimming pool.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the cover in extended closure position over the pool.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view particularly showing the actuating mechanism for operating the pool cover.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 5, but showing the cover in partly retracted position.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view on the line 7-7 of FIGS. 6 and 2.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view on the line 88 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As an example of one embodiment of this invention there is shown a swimming pool 10 having sides 11 and ice 12, and ends 13 and 14 terminating in the usual surrounding walk 15. Secured to and imbedded in the walk 15 are guide tracks 16 comprising box-shaped rails 17 having a bottom 18 and upstanding sides 19 interconnected by a horizontal dividing partition 20. Formed integral with the inwardly facing side surfaces 21 are the horizontally inwardly projecting guide strips 22.

Sliding guide shoes 23 have bottom surfaces 24 which are supported on and slide on the top surface 25 of the horizontal dividing partitions 20. The sides 26 of the shoes 23 are slidingly engaged by the surfaces 21 of the tracks while guide strips 22 slidingly engage in slots 27a of the shoes 23 to maintain the shoes in operative position in the guide tracks 16.

Bridging longitudinally of the guide tracks 16 between the top surfaces 27 of the shoes of each guide track 16 are pairs of hinge plates 28 pivotally connected together at their upper outer ends by a suitable hinge pin 28a and pivotally connected at their lower ends by suitable hinge pins 29 to shoe plates 30 fixed to the top surfaces 27 of the shoes 23. Extending laterally across the pool from between the guide tracks 16 are the upwardly bow-shaped ribs 31 whose integral end pieces 32 are fixed to the top surfaces 33 of the shoe plates 30.

Extending over the top of the ribs 31 is the cover 36a which is secured at its side edges to the hinge pieces 28 by suitable rivets 34 and to the shoe plates 30 by suitable screws 35 which also secure the ends 32 of the ribs 31 and the shoe plates 30 to the guide shoes 23. The guide shoes 23a. FIG. 8, are clamped immovably to the inner ends of the guide tracks 16 by suitable bolts 36 while the opposite outer end 37 of the cover is free to move relative to the fixed inner end 38.

Mechanism is provided to move the free end 37 relative to its fixed end and includes a draw cable system comprising a drum 39 fixed to an operating shaft 40 journaled in suitable pillow blocks 41 fixed to the walk surface 15 and which shaft may be reversibly rotated by a suitable hand crank or drive motor, not shown. An operating cable 42 has each end 42a and 42b secured to the periphery of the drum so that one end wraps up on the drum while the other unwraps. The cable 42 extends from the drum 39 over an idler pulley 43 over a tensioning pulley 44 of a suitable adjusting and tensioning device 45. It then passes over an idler pulley 46 and through the longitudinal passageway 47, FIG. 8, in the guide track 16 on one side of the pool and is rigidly attached by a suitable set screw 48 to the outer movable end guide shoe 23, then over an idler pulley 49 and back through the lower passageway 50 of the guide rail back to idler pulley 51. The cable 42 then extends laterally to another idler pulley 52, through the lower passageway 50 of the other guide track then over the idler pulley 53 and then is clamped to the other outer free end moving guide shoe 23, then back through upper passageway 47 over idler pulley 54 thence over tension pulley 57, over idler pulley 58 and back to the drum 39 Thus, by rotation of the drum 39 the cover 36a may be drawn over or withdrawn from over the pool surface. As the outer free end 37 moves toward the fixed end 38 each pair of hinge elements fold up successively as in FIG. 6 until all are folded up against the fixed end as in FIG. 1. As they are extended, each hinged portion 28 successively unfolds until the cover has been extended over the pool as in FIG. 2. It is important to note that around each hinge pin 28a is provided a torsion spring 55 and the hinge plates never swing down to a horizontal position of dead-center alignment of hinge pins 28a and 29, but always stay slightly above as in FIG. 5. A suitable cover case 56 may be provided for the drum 39 and associated mechanism.

While the apparatus herein disclosed and described constitutes a preferred form of the invention, it is also to be understood that the apparatus is capable of mechanical alteration without departing from the spirit of the invention and that such mechanical arrangement and commercial adaptation as fall within the scope of the appendent claims are intended to be included herein.

What is claimed is:

1. An extendable and retractable protective and safety cover structure for swimming pools and the like, comprising:

(a) a cover of flexible foldable material;

(b) a pair of guide tracks respectively extending along opposite sides of said pool;

() a plurality of elongate support members for said cover, said members extending between said tracks above said pool and occupying a generally upright cover supporting position;

(d) means movably connecting the respective ends of.

each of said support members with the adjacent track for movement therealong with the support member maintained in said upright position;

(e) means successively connecting the adjacent ends of the support members along each track enabling movement of the upright supports into closely adjacent relation and spaced apart relation; and

(f) actuating means for selectively applying oppositely directed forces at one end of the cover to move the upright supports into said closely adjacent positions in which the cover is retracted, and to move the upright supports into said spaced apart relation in which the cover is extended.

2. A pool cover according to claim 1, wherein the fiexible cover is attached along said supports, and is adapted to hang in a folded loop between the upright supports when in said closely adjacent relation, and to be substantially tensioned therebetween when in said spaced apart relation.

3. A pool cover according to claim 1, wherein the support at one end of the cover is anchored at one side of the pool against movement along said track, and the actuating means are connected with the movable support at the opposite end of the cover.

4. A pool cover according to claim 3, wherein the actuating means comprises a looped cable system having a cable run extending along each of said tracks; means connecting said cable runs respectively to the ends of the movable support at said opposite end of the cover; and means for selectively reversably driving said cable runs in the same direction to actuate the cover to retracted and extended positions.

5. A pool cover according to claim 4, wherein the looped cable is trained over an idler pulley of a tensioning device.

6. A pool cover according to claim 1, wherein the means successively connecting the adjacent ends of support members comprises in each case a pair of hinge members having pivotally connected ends, the other ends of said hinge members having pivot connections respectively with the adjacent ends of said supports, said hinge members being adapted to hinge upwardly at their connected ends to permit movement of the upright supports into said closely adjacent relation, and hinge downwardly to a substantially aligned position along the adjacent rail to permit movement of the supports into said spaced apart relation.

7. A pool cover according to claim 6, wherein spring means operatively associated with each pair of hinge members normally acts to hinge them upwardly.

8. A pool cover according to claim 7, wherein said spring means prevents movement of the hinge members into a dead-center position extending along said track.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,788,849 4/1957 Lingard 4l72 XR 2,958,083 11/1960 Shook et al 4l72 2,990,556 7/1961 Bender 4l72 3,019,450 2/ 1952 Karasiewicz 4l72 3,118,148 1/1964 Taylor et a1. 4l72 3,277,498 10/1966 Kleinbard 4l72 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner HENRY K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner

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