Swimming pool cover

Abstract

A swimming-pool cover is composed of a series of sets of profiled sections connected to one another over the length by flexible connection element (2), each set being composed of two rigid longitudinal end profiled sections (3, 4). The rigid end profiled sections (3, 4) are assembled by a forced watertight fitting together (5) of the complementary male (3) and female (4) ends.

Description

The present invention relates to a swimming pool cover composed of a series of sets of profiled members connected to one another over the length by a flexible connection element, each set being composed of two end rigid longitudinal profiled sections with at least one central rigid longitudinal profiled section.

Such a cover is known from the patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,428. This document discloses slats connected to one another by alternating flexible fasteners making it possible to fold the cover in a concertina. The top of the join between the slats between which the fasteners are situated is covered with a flexible membrane such as self-adhesive material. This type of cover resolves a major part of the disadvantages of the majority of swimming pool covers. This is because, generally, covering and uncovering the swimming pool is an operation that is so difficult and tiresome that the owner no longer covers the swimming pool. Consequently the long periods of dormancy of the cover result in the accumulation of isolated coloring, algae and lime, which then require the use of chemical products to remedy the deterioration of the cover. This use of chemical products is obviously not to be recommended in the environment of a swimming pool. Covers suspended on rails generally procure mediocre insulation against the loss of heat. The patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,428 counteracts all these disadvantages by offering a floating insulating cover which remains in place whilst withstanding the inevitable small waves on the surface of the water by virtue of the flexible connections and which can easily be used and is easy to manipulate on a daily basis, consequently assisting its use and avoiding the “long periods of dormancy”.

Nevertheless, one drawback of this cover, even if it is available in preassembled units, is that it does not procure easy installation for a person skilled in the art, who must lay the slats on the water and cut them to the width of the swimming pool before assembling them. This is because assembling the fasteners on the edge of the slats of the cover, synchronizing the alternation of fasteners between the preassembled units in order to maintain the folding of the cover in a concertina and then again laying the flexible membrane on the top of the fastener between two successive slats are tasks which are complicated and difficult for a person skilled in the art. In addition, manufacturing such a cover requires various operations such as the manufacture of the slats, the preparation of the preassembly, the manufacture of the fasteners and packaging in an assembly kit.

One objective of the invention is to mitigate these drawbacks, whilst procuring the same advantages, by procuring a swimming-pool cover in the form of sets of preassembled profiled sections whose installation does not require easier intervention, and whose manufacture and preparation are simplified.

This is because the invention procures a swimming-pool cover wherein the said rigid end profiled sections comprise respectively a male longitudinal end and a female longitudinal end, said rigid longitudinal end profiled sections of two consecutive sets being assembled by a forced watertight fitting together of the complementary male and female ends, said flexible connecting element between said profiled sections in a flexible polymer possessing an interface on each side with the rigid profiled section.

Assembling the cover according to the invention consequently entails easy cutting to size (to the width of the swimming pool) of several profiled sections in one go and fitting together which is simple for a person skilled in the art. In addition, the manufacture of the swimming pool cover according to the invention is a relatively simple step, for example, which comprises only a single molding and more particularly extrusion step. The watertight forced fitting together of the complementary ends avoids any accumulation of lime or algae which might occur.

The state of the art, in particular in the patents DE 19646117 C and EP 1 233 125 A1, also reveals covers for swimming pools consisting of hollow slats, generally comprising internal profiled sections, the hollow slats each possessing a male coupling at one end and a female coupling at the other end. The male and female couplings are designed to be slid into each other and procure in this way a well known and easy assembly of the cover. It must nevertheless be remarked that the assembly area of the swimming-pool cover fulfils the role of a join and that this area must consequently have a certain flexibility of movement in order to be able to follow the movement of the waves on the surface of the water. This type of assembly, although easy, through its very nature has the disadvantage of not being watertight so that water accumulates around the assembly area and sometimes stagnates inside the profiled sections when the ends are not plugged. This causes an accumulation of lime and impairs the flexibility of the assembly at the connection.

When the swimming pool has access steps integrated in a rounded shape, the hollow slats constituting the cover must be cut either aslant or in steps. In the case where the slats are cut aslant, it is possible to block the ends with prefabricated obturation elements since, according to the cutting angle, the stoppers will have to have different dimensions. This approximation used to follow the curvature of the edge of the swimming pool presents, in addition to the disadvantage of complicating the plugging of the slats, another major disadvantage. The slats, slipped into one another at the time of assembly, are not fixed to one another. As soon as the cut is made and the slats are assembled they are always free for a reciprocating movement. The contour that the assembled cover must consequently describe is not the one obtained as a final result because of the longitudinal sliding of the slats with respect to one another. In the case where the slats are cut perpendicularly with respect to the length, it is possible to plug the ends with prefabricated obturation elements. The major disadvantage of the sliding of the slats with respect to one another is however still present in this case and the cutting of the cover results once again in a lack of finish due to the approximation used to follow the curvature of the edge of the swimming pool. In both cases of cutting profiled sections, the fact that the profiled sections are not fixed to one another does not make it possible to ensure that an oblique or perpendicular cutting line produced across various consecutive profiled sections will be maintained since nothing ensures the alignment of at least one of the profiled sections.

In some cases, these slats are procured from transparent plastic on the top surface (in contact with the atmosphere) and black plastic on the bottom surface (in contact with the water). This arrangement of two colors of plastic makes it possible to profit from a greenhouse effect in order to heat the water in the swimming pool. Unfortunately, the fact that the plastic on the top surface of the slat is transparent also causes an increase in algae in the profiled sections when the ends of the hollow slats are not plugged and at the assembly area and the appearance of condensation. This accumulation of algae occurs in places which are not very accessible to cleaning, impairs the aesthetic appearance and presents a risk of contamination of the water in the swimming pool.

The swimming-pool cover according to the invention does not suffer from an accumulation of algae at the assembly area. This is because the assembly of the cover according to the invention is a forced fitting which procures a watertight assembly area in which no accumulation of algae or lime is possible. The joint having the role of resisting the movement of the waves on the surface of the water is provided in the swimming-pool cover according to the invention not by the assembly of the male and female fittings but by the flexible connection elements between the rigid longitudinal profiled sections.

In a particular embodiment in which the profiled sections of the swimming-pool cover according to the invention are solid, cutting aslant no longer poses any problem. In addition, the profiled sections being fixed to one another, no reciprocating movement in length is possible. This enables the cut made on various consecutive profiled sections to keep its profile.

In another particular embodiment, the sets of profiles connected to one another by the flexible connection elements are obtained by molding and preferably by extrusion. These two manufacturing techniques given by way of example embodiment of the invention are well known and very simple techniques which can also be automated. Through such a manufacturing method, the swimming-pool cover does not have to be packaged with these assembly elements. Consequently the swimming-pool cover according to the invention is a cover fabricated in a single step, which does not require any packaging step and which is simple to store.

In addition, in a preferential embodiment of the swimming-pool cover according to the invention, at least one of said rigid longitudinal profiled sections having a first surface (Sa) and a second surface (Se) situated on each side of the horizontal plane joining the flexible connection elements, will have said first surface smaller than said second surface. Typically said central rigid profiled sections and preferably the end rigid profiled sections will also have a first surface smaller than the second surface. This asymmetry in the surfaces enables the rigid profiled sections to fulfill the role of solar collectors and to heat the water in the swimming pool.

The rigid profiled sections used in the swimming-pool cover according to the invention will be hollow or solid and preferably made from polyvinyl chloride. The flexible connection elements will for their part preferably be made from polyurethane. The aforementioned materials are materials suiting very well the manufacture of rigid profiled sections and flexible membranes, in particular in the context of co-extrusion, and being particularly well suited to the application of the swimming-pool cover according to the invention.

Other characteristics, details and advantages of the invention will emerge from a reading of the descriptive memorandum made with reference to the accompanying drawings given by way of non-limiting example and in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in section of a set of profiled sections of the swimming-pool cover according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a view in section of an assembly of sets of profiled sections illustrated in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a view from above of a swimming pool which presents a non-limiting example of application of the embodiment of swimming-pool cover according to the invention.

A preferential embodiment of a set of profiled sections according to the invention is represented by a view in section in FIG. 1. This set comprises solid profiled sections connected to one another over the length by a flexible connection element (2). The set is composed of two rigid longitudinal end profiled sections (3, 4) and a succession of five rigid longitudinal central profiled sections (1). The rigid end profiled sections (3, 4) comprise respectively a male longitudinal end (3) and a female longitudinal end (4). The assembly as such sets is illustrated in FIG. 2. The end longitudinal rigid profiled sections (3, 4) of two consecutive sets are assembled by a forced watertight fitting together (5) of the complementary male (3) and female (4) ends.

FIG. 2 also presents the assembly of the preferential embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 in which the surfaces situated on each side of the horizontal plane joining the flexible connection elements are not identical. The surface in contact with the water Se (the lower surface with respect to said plane defined above) is larger than the surface in contact with the atmosphere Sa (the upper surface with respect to said plane). During the day, the sun heats, to a temperature Ta, the surface Sa, which in this case fulfils the role of heat absorption surface. The rigid profiled sections will preferably be dark in color in order to increase the heat absorption capacities of the rigid profiled sections. The temperature of the water designated here Te is less than the temperature of the atmospheric air Ta during the day. This temperature gradient creates a heat flow which moves towards the surface having a lower temperature, in this case Se of temperature Te, obeying the well known laws of heat transportation and diffusion. The surface Se is in this case what is referred to as the restoration surface. This transfer of heat from the surface Sa to the surface Se is possible only if the surface Sa is less than or equal to the surface Se. During the night, the contrary case presents itself, the temperature Te is greater than the temperature Ta. On the other hand the surface Sa is always less than the surface Se. Consequently the transfer of heat from the surface possessing the highest temperate (Se to Te) cannot take place towards the surface possessing a lower temperature (Sa to Ta) since Sa is smaller than Se. In this case, Sa therefore does not fulfill the role of restoration surface. It must obviously be remarked that zero loss of heat is impossible to obtain in absolute terms given the physical phenomena of diffusion and the thermodynamic laws which govern every real system. The cover according to invention therefore has the dual advantage of being able to pick up the heat procured by the sun in order to transmit it to the water when the external temperature is greater than the temperature of the water (daytime) and to reduce the loss of heat during the night.

It is obvious that this surface ratio example is given by way of non-limiting example and that the top surface can be equal to the bottom surface, whether or not the profiled section is symmetrical with respect to said plane.

Another application of the swimming-pool cover according to the invention would consist of procuring hollow profiled sections, not closed at the ends, in order to heat the water in the swimming pool by simple circulation of swimming-pool water in the profiled sections.

FIG. 3 presents a particular application of the swimming-pool cover according to the invention. In this figure, the advantage with regard to the finish afforded by the swimming-pool cover of the invention (3B or 3C) emerges clearly compared with the finish procured by a swimming-pool cover of the state of the art (3A). The swimming-pool cover according to the invention can comprise various types of rigid profiled sections. These may be hollow (3B) or solid (3C), the assembly can comprise an alternation of sets of hollow and solid profiled sections whatever the number of consecutive hollow sets or consecutive solid sets. In order to afford a solution to the problem of finish at the edges of rounded swimming pools, the cover may be composed of a series of consecutive sets comprising hollow profiled sections all along the rectangular part of the swimming pool and a series of consecutive sets comprising solid profiled sections in order to facilitate the finishing of the rounded part, as described above.

The swimming-pool cover according to the invention can also comprise narrower profiled sections (3B or C) than that which was achievable for other swimming-pool covers belonging to the state of the art (3A) given that the joins between the profiled sections of the state of art all took on water. Consequently it was impossible to ensure the floatation of very narrow profiled sections which would have been able to procure a better finish in the rounded parts. The swimming-pool cover according to the invention makes it possible to fabricate very narrow profiled sections since the elastic junction between the profiled sections is perfectly watertight and therefore increases the bearing surface of the cover on the water, consequently making it possible to obtain an approximation as close as possible to follow the curvature of the swimming pool.

Claims

1. A swimming-pool cover composed of a series of sets of profiled sections connected to one another over its length by a flexible connection element, each set being composed of two rigid longitudinal end profiled sections, said rigid end profiled sections comprising respectively a male longitudinal end and a female longitudinal end, said longitudinal rigid end profiled sections of two consecutive sets being assembled by a forced watertight fitting together of the complementary male and female ends, said flexible connection element between said profiled sections being a flexible polymer possessing an interface on each side with the rigid profiled section.

2. A swimming-pool cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein a central longitudinal rigid profiled section is disposed between two end longitudinal rigid profiled sections.

3. A swimming-pool cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sets of profiled sections connected to one another by said connection element are obtained by molding.

4. A swimming-pool cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sets of profiled sections connected to one another by said connection element are obtained by co-extrusion.

5. A swimming-pool cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of said longitudinal rigid profiled sections possessing a first surface and a second surface situated on each side of the horizontal plane joining the flexible connection elements has said first surface smaller than said second surface.

6. A swimming-pool cover as claimed in claim 2, wherein the central rigid profiled section is hollow.

7. A swimming-pool cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the end rigid profiled sections is hollow.

8. A swimming-pool cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein said central or end longitudinal rigid profiled section is solid.

9. A swimming-pool cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein said central longitudinal rigid profiled sections and said end longitudinal rigid profiled sections are made from polyvinyl chloride.

10. A swimming-pool cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flexible connection elements are made from polyurethane.