Stand stations for swimming pools

Abstract

One or a plurality of weighted pillows are deployed at the bottom of a swimming pool for a child to stand upon in water when tiring, with the height of the pillow selected so that the child's head would extend above the swimming pool's water line.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

A Provisional Patent Application covering the invention described herein was filed Nov. 16, 2006, and assigned Ser. No. 60/859,110.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Research and development of this invention and Application have not been federally sponsored, and no rights are given under any Federal program.

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

NOT APPLICABLE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to swimming pools, in general, and, more particularly, to in-ground and above-ground swimming pool constructions affording measures of protection and safety, especially to young children.

2. Description of the Related Art

As is well known and understood, children are learning to swim at ever younger ages. With teachings beginning now at less than one year old, it is not uncommon to find measured degrees of proficiency at ages 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. This, however, oftentimes presents a problem with above ground swimming pools whose depths are usually 48 inches or 52 inches—sometimes augmented still further by digging into the ground where the center of the liner is to rest, another 6 or 7 inches. The problem arises with the realizations that children of this age are usually shorter than the water level of the pool, and that they can tire when swimming from one edge of the pool to an opposite edge. With above ground pools extending as much as 36 feet across, the child can easily tire before reaching the opposite side—a possibility which likewise can result were the pool to be other typical diameters of 18 feet, 24 feet, 27 feet or 32 feet across. For purposes of protection and safety, then the child often ventures only partway from the edge of the pool, before turning back, or to the pool's ladder to hold onto, rather than attempting to swim entirely across.

(Although the situations of a child's tiring before getting all the way across also exists with an in-the-ground pool, the problem is not there so severe since the water depth frequently slopes to only 3 feet at one end, a location where the 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 year old child could then stand with its head above the water.)

As is also well known and understood, the standard approach to afford safety protection to the child entails the use of such items as tubes and “swimmies”, i.e., arrangements whose purpose is to try to keep the child's head above the water's surface. Experience has shown that not only are such devices cumbersome to put on and take off, but the children don't like them to begin with, even if they are adequately designed so that they stay on. Simply stated, these devices become “add-ons”, ungainly to begin with, and restrictive of their range of motion.

As will be appreciated, then, it would be desirable to continue to provide some method of safety protection to those still learning to swim and to those able to swim only limited distances—and to do so without restricting the swim stroke. It would also be desirable to provide such safety features just to allow their increased fun in participating in pool activities with other young children, or together with teenagers and adults in water games.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As will become clear from the following description, the present invention differs from those safety devices presently available by working up from the bottom of the pool, in keeping the child's head above water. As will be seen, the present invention envisions the use of “stand stations” around and about the pool, whether the pool be of the above-ground variety, or of the in-ground type.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the present invention will be more clearly understood from a consideration of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying Drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1a and 1b are side and top views, respectively, of a swimming pool hassock or pillow constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration helpful in an understanding as to how the hassock or pillow may be utilized in providing the protection afforded;

FIG. 3 is a pictorial illustration of an above-ground pool with the hassocks or pillows in place.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The hassock or pillow of the invention preferably is of round configuration, although rectangular or square designs could be implemented almost equally as well. Constructed, for example, of the same heavy vinyl material as the liner of the pool so as not to be affected by any chlorine or chemical added to the pool's water, the hassock or pillow 10 may be 12 inches, 14 inches, or 16 inches high, and a few feet across. Closed at the top 12 and preferably brightly colored for ease of visibility in locating, the bottom 14 of the pillow 10 may be weighted if desired to generally fix the pillow in position once in place within the filled pool (FIG. 3).

As more particularly shown in FIGS. 1a and 2, the pillow 10 is further provided with a fill plug 16, dimensioned to accept a garden or like hose for filling the pillow with water as it is set on the liner, before the pool is filled—or placed in a pool already having some water in it and then filling the pillow with water from the hose to set it. Once the plug 16 is closed (as by a thread screwing, for instance), the pillow would take the shape shown in FIG. 2 in allowing the child to stand upon it if tiring when swimming, thereby keeping the head above the water, as illustrated. (The pool level is shown at 18, with the sides and bottom being represented at 20, 22, respectively.)

FIG. 3 shows the pool's ladder at 30, its filter at 32, and three positioned pillows 10 arbitrarily placed at different locations on the pool's vinyl liner. Being brightly colored, the pillows can be easily spotted for standing upon, and or easily avoided by anyone in the pool merely walking from one of its edges to another, and towards/or from the ladder 30. Being only some 12-16 inches high, additionally, the pillow stands can easily be swum over in those constructions where the pool is the usual 48 inches or 52 inches deep. Being filled with water, moreover, the pillow stands 10 remain relatively soft so that little if any physical damage results by accidently swimming into them, or knocking into them when moving about. As will be appreciated, the weight of the water filling the pillow 10 holds it in place not only so that they will not float to the top, but also so that they will not readily move about once in position. When the pool is drained, then, the plug can be removed to drain the pillow as well, allowing the pillow to be stored for subsequent use a following season, or years later when grandchildren come to visit and wish to swim in the pool with their parents or grandparents.

Providing these “safe spots” in and about the pool allows the young swimmer to participate in various pool fun activities, while providing a station to stand upon and rest, instead of having to get to the ladder or pool's edge to gain one's breath or to revive one's strength for further swimming.

While there have been described what are considered to be preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the teachings herein. For at least such reason, therefore, resort should be had to the claims appended hereto for a true understanding of the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A stand-upon station for a swimming pool comprising:

a pillow composed of brightly colored, high visibility material;

a removable filler plug at a surface of said pillow for opening to accept a hose for filling said pillow with water for use and for draining said pillow for storage, and for closing once said pillow is filled and after said pillow is drained; and

means for setting said pillow in place on the floor of said pool prior to completely filling the pool with water;

and wherein said pillow, when filled with water, is of a height of substantially 12″-16″ for securing said pillow in place below the water level of the pool when filled.

2. The stand-upon station of claim 1 wherein said pillow is composed of a material which is substantially unaffected by chlorine or chemicals in the water filling the pool.

3. The stand-upon station of claim 2 for a swimming pool having a vinyl liner, wherein said pillow is composed of the same vinyl material as said liner.

4. The stand-upon station of claim 3 wherein said pillow is one of a round, rectangular and square configuration.

5. The stand-upon station of claim 4 wherein said pillow is of a major dimension 5′ across.

6. The stand-upon station of claim 5 wherein said pillow includes a weighted bottom for securing said pillow in place in the pool.

7. A stand-upon station configuration for a swimming pool comprising:

a plurality of pillows composed of brightly colored, high visibility material;

a removable filler plug for each pillow at a surface of said pillow for opening to accept a hose for filling said pillow with water for use and for draining said pillow for storage, and for closing once said pillow is filled and after said pillow is drained; and

means for setting each of said pillows in place on the floor of said pool prior to completely filling the pool with water;

and wherein each of said pillows, when filled with water, is of a height of substantially 12″-16″ for securing each of said pillows in place below the water level of the pool when filled.

8. The stand-upon station configuration of claim 7 wherein each of said pillows is composed of a material which is substantially unaffected by chlorine or chemicals in the water filling the pool.

9. The stand-upon station configuration of claim 8 for a swimming pool having a vinyl liner wherein each of said pillows is composed of the same material as said vinyl liner.

10. The stand-upon station configuration of claim 9 wherein each of said pillows is of one of a round, rectangular and square configuration.

11. The stand-upon station configuration of claim 10 wherein each of said pillows is of dimension 5′ across.

12. The stand-upon station configuration of claim 11 wherein each of said pillows includes a weighted bottom for securing said pillows in place in the pool.