SAFETY SWIMMING POOL APPARATUS

Abstract

Apparatus usable with a safety swimming pool incorporating a buoyant submersed rescue floor is described. In one instance, a winch coupling a gear motor to a cable drum via an electrically disengageable clutch is used as a device to re-deploy the buoyant floor to the bottom after a rescue. In another instance a solar powered dedicated power supply is used to power the trigger/sensor subsystem. In yet another instance an electro-mechanical circuit for sensing and triggering a rescue episode is described.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to safety devices to prevent drownings in swimming pools.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to new apparatus elements compatible with the basic concept of a buoyant rescue floor in a pool which rises to bring a person up and out of the water when an automatic or manual trigger switch is engaged to release it from the bottom. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,389,615 and 6,493,885 of Gregory Perrier describe the basic concept as well as details of hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuators used to re-deploy the buoyant floor to the bottom (ie. to submerge it).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Although the Perrier '615 and '885 patents cited above do describe electro-mechanical means to accomplish the submerging function as a number of specialized motor-driven timing belt actuators dispersed around the pool periphery, no discussion of the application of a winch mechanism as an alternative was discussed. This invention describes the use of winches with electrically disengagable clutches between the motor and cable winding drum. Upon command, the drum is disengaged from the motor to permit the buoyant floor to rise freely in an emergency. All such clutches (one for each of the winches used) would be simultaneously disengaged. Until the clutch is disengaged, the cable is under tension holding the floor down through a direction reversing pulley near the pool bottom. The motor/gear friction prevents backwinding by floor tension; incorporation of at least one stage of worm gear drive is one way to ensure this function. Only uni-directional motor drive is required for inexpensive AC induction motor use. Note that since only slow submersion is required, low power actuators such as this winch mechanism, can be used even though the submerged rescue floor stores significant potential energy for rapid release upon triggering. Since the winch described here uses many similar components from ordinary winches which are available in large volume, it will be less expensive to implement than an equivalent timing belt actuator described in the cited prior art (see FIGS. 7 and 8 of Perrier Pat. Nos. 6,389,615 and 6,493,885). For a very small pool, a single hand cranked winch (no motor required) with electrically disengageable clutch can be used to redeploy the buoyant floor with a centrally attached cable; a miniature demonstration model of this design has been built.

A solar-powered power supply with storage battery and AC back-up is also described to supply power to the sensor/trigger system to deploy the rescue floor in an emergency. The prior art had called for an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) which would back up the AC (or other power equivalent outside of the United States) during a short power failure. Recent experience with the use of solar panels to power parking kiosks, road hazard signs, and parking lot and road lighting has proven the reliability of these systems. Since this is a potential life and death application, an additional AC back-up for the storage battery/solar panel subsystem is included. The only remaining exposure is gross component failure or the simultaneous AC power outage with solar/battery failure.

A low cost circuit for an electro-mechanical sensor/trigger circuit is described. Although sophisticated pool sensors using acoustic and optical techniques exist, a simple floating tilt sensor (such as a ball-in-cage or mercury switch) may be more reliable. This can be used alone or in conjunction with a manual direct or remote control trigger switch circuit.

Optionally the trigger switch circuit can alert emergency rescue telephone number 911, which has an automatic address (if from a land line call) or uses cell GPS for location, where location coordinates are calculated from GPS signals received by a GPS chip set. Therefore an emergency response team can be sent to the address of the swimming pool having an emergency rescue situation requiring medical attention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can best be understood in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the invention is not limited to the precise embodiments shown in drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a swimming pool with a prior art submerged buoyant swimming pool safety net.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation in partial crossection of a pool section with a winch of this invention used as a buoyant rescue floor submersion mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the major winch components.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of the solar power supply for the sensor/trigger subsystem.

FIG. 4 is an electro-mechanical sensor/trigger circuit diagram of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THIS INVENTION

A winch can be used as an actuator to submerge a portion of the buoyant rescue floor. FIG. 1 shows winch 1 attached to the inside top edge pool edge above the water line as a compact pod. A structural or safety down tube 2 encloses the cable 5 and isolates it from contact with swimmers. If no penetrations to the pool liner wall 8 or bottom 7 (below the water line) are desired, bottom pulley 3 is then attached to down tube 2 (as shown) which must have structural integrity. Alternatively, pulley 3 can be attached to the pool bottom 7 or wall 8 near the bottom. Cable 5 loops around and attaches to bracket 4 which is attached to rescue floor 6. Other features shown are pool deck level 9 and pool water 10. FIG. 2 shows the three main components of winch 1. Gear motor 15 (or hand winch with worm gear drive) is coupled to an electrically releasable clutch 16 which is attached to cable drum 17. Cable drum 17 can be released during an emergency to de-couple from motor 15 and turn freely while rescue floor 6 rises. Clutch 16 can be manually reset or electrically reset depending on type used. Both dog clutches and wrap-spring clutches are available in either design. In any case the resetting is not performed during an emergency phase.

A solar power supply for the sensor/trigger subsystem is shown in FIG. 3. Here, even if the pool is not in an area supplied with AC mains, the solar charged battery section can function without the AC back-up portion. However, in most cases the AC connection is available as it will probably be required (except for very small pools as described) for the re-deployment of the rescue floor to the bottom.

Solar panel 25 is used to charge battery 27 through a solar battery charger 26 designed to safely keep it at an optimal state of charge for long reliable operation. Without the desire for AC back-up of the solar portion, it can function to supply a low DC voltage (12-24 volts as designed) which, by virtue of the storage battery, can supply short bursts of relatively high current to supply the needs of solenoids which may be used in the trigger circuits. Only components 25-27 would be needed.

To improve the reliability and overcome battery or solar panel malfunctions, the rest of the circuit is used to provide AC back-up. The AC input 30 can be the typical 120 or higher AC mains voltage locally available (or other power equivalent outside of the United States). A directly wired supply is recommended. Solid state relay 31 is normally off, but it will be triggered on by low-voltage sensor 28 (denoting a problem with the solar supply). When triggered on, step-down transformer 32 is powered supplying low voltage AC to diode 33 and filter capacitor 34 creating an alternate source of low voltage DC which turns on relay 29 with a single-pole-double-throw contact arrangement, thereby substituting the AC supplied DC voltage at output 35 for the normally solar supplied voltage and current.

FIG. 4 shows a circuit for a low-cost sensor/trigger to deploy the rescue floor upward. The input voltage is 12-24 volts DC as compatible with the components used (or other power equivalent outside of the United States). System switch 40 (which may be a key switch) enables the system when on. Next, the flow (using a set of dots) shows a series connection of all of the limit switches 41 (one for each re-deployment actuator) which detect if each actuator has reached its bottom floor limit. This can be implemented in a variety of ways by attachments to the cable or by cable tension or by submersed waterproof limit switches. At this point, if switch 40 is ON, then status indicator LED 43 (through resistor 42) should be glowing unless one or more actuators have not reached their limit; if so, corrective action must be taken before the circuit is armed to detect an emergency or respond to a manually detected emergency. Sensor 44 is a momentary contact floating tilt switch which detects ripples on the water surface denoting a substantial entity entering the water. Alternatively or in addition, manual emergency switches can be wired in parallel with sensor 44. Relay 45 is used to latch the intermittent signal from sensor 44 into a solid signal via feedback contacts as shown. The main contact drives the parallel circuit of triggering solenoids 46 (each with a snubber diode). There is one solenoid for each actuator which releases a clutch for an electro-mechanical type actuator, or it releases a valve for each hydraulic actuator. In the case shown, the solenoids have manual resets.

In the foregoing description, certain terms and visual depictions are used to illustrate the preferred embodiment. However, no unnecessary limitations are to be construed by the terms used or illustrations depicted, beyond what is shown in the prior art, since the terms and illustrations are exemplary only, and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention.

It is further known that other modifications may be made to the present invention, without departing the scope of the invention, as noted in the appended Claims.

Claims

1. A swimming pool safety device to prevent drownings in swimming pools wherein a buoyant safety rescue floor is released after a sensor detects the presence of a person in danger in the pool or a manual switch is engaged, wherein a trigger associated with said sensor causes said release of said buoyant safety rescue floor in a pool to bring the person up and out of the water, comprising:

a power unit powering at least one low power winch actuator submerging the buoyant safety rescue floor downward to the pool bottom prior to use;

said at least one low power winch actuator incorporating an electrically disengagable clutch between a cable winding drum and said power unit;

said at least one low power winch actuator holding said buoyant floor to a position at a bottom of the pool, wherein, upon command, said low power winch actuator is disengaged from said power unit to permit said buoyant safety rescue floor to rise freely in an emergency after the alarm signal signifies the presence of the person in danger in the pool.

2. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 1 wherein said power unit is an electrical motor.

3. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 1 wherein said at least one low power winch actuator is a plurality of winches dispersed around a periphery of the swimming pool wails, wherein each said respective clutch of each said respective winch of said plurality of winches is simultaneously electrically disengaged.

4. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 3 wherein until each respective clutch is disengaged, the cable is under tension holding said buoyant safety rescue floor down through a direction reversing pulley near the pool bottom.

5. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 4 wherein power unit/gear friction associated with said power unit prevents backwinding by floor tension.

6. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 1 wherein said power unit/gear friction associated with said power unit preventing said backwinding by floor tension is a worm gear drive.

7. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 2 wherein said power unit is a uni-directional AC induction motor used to provide slow submersion of said safety floor wherein said at least one low power winch actuator, is used even though said submerged buoyant safety rescue floor stores significant potential energy for rapid release upon triggering by said trigger.

8. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 1 wherein for a small pool, said power unit is a hand crank cranking said at least one low power winch actuator, said at least one low power winch actuator being a single band cranked winch with an electrically disengageable clutch usable for deploying said buoyant floor downward to the pool bottom with a centrally attached cable.

9. (canceled)

10. (canceled)

11. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 1 wherein said at least one winch is a compact pod attached to an inside top edge pool edge above the water line of the swimming pool.

12. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 11 wherein a down tube encloses said cable, isolating said cable from contact with swimmers.

13. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 12 wherein a bottom pulley is attached to said down tube.

14. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 12 wherein said pulley is attached to the pool bottom of the swimming pool.

15. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 12 wherein said pulley is attached to a vertical wall near the pool bottom of the swimming pool.

16. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 1 wherein a cable loops around and attaches to a bracket attached to the buoyant floor.

17. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 3 wherein each said winch includes a gear motor coupled to an electrically releasable clutch attached to a cable drum, said cable drum being releasable during an emergency to de-couple from said motor and to turn freely while said buoyant rescue floor rises.

18. The swimming pool safety device as in claim 8 wherein said hand winch includes a worm gear coupled to an electrically releasable clutch attached to a cable drum, said cable drum being releasable during an emergency to de-couple and turn freely while the buoyant floor rises.

19. A high reliability solar power supply to service the modest needs of a sensor/trigger subsystem of a swimming pool having a permanently buoyant safety rescue floor releasable by said trigger controlled by said sensor sensing the presence of a person in danger in the swimming pool, said solar power supply comprising, a solar panel and a storage battery to permit emergency pool rescue indefinitely even during an extended power outage of utility supplied AC power, wherein said solar panel charges said battery through a solar battery charger safely keeping said battery at an optimal state of charge, said battery supplying a low DC voltage capable of supplying short bursts of relatively high current to operate devices used in circuits controlled by said trigger.

20. The solar power supply as in claim 19 further comprising AC back-up with an AC input of 120 or higher AC mains voltage locally available, wherein a solid state relay is normally off, but said relay is triggered on by a low-voltage sensor denoting a problem with said solar/battery supply, wherein further, when triggered on, a step-down transformer is powered, supplying low voltage AC to a diode and a filter capacitor circuit creating an alternate source of low voltage DC substituting the AC supplied DC voltage at an output for the normally solar/battery supplied voltage and current.

21. A sensor/trigger circuit incorporating a sensor and a trigger deploying releasing a buoyant rescue floor of a swimming pool upward, comprising a circuit having an input voltage of 12-24 volts DC, said circuit further comprising a system switch enabling the system when in an ON state, wherein, further, a series connection of limit switches each associated with a respective low power submerging actuator, which detects if each actuator has reached its respective bottom floor limit in the swimming pool, wherein further, if said switch is ON, then a status indicator glows unless at least one of said low power actuators has not reached its limit; and if so, corrective action is taken before said circuit is armed to detect an emergency, wherein further said sensor is a momentary contact floating tilt switch which detects ripples on the water surface denoting a person or other substantial entity entering the water.

22. The sensor/trigger circuit as in claim 21 wherein manual emergency switches are wired in parallel with said sensor and a relay is used to latch the intermittent signal from said parallel arrangement of said sensor and said manual emergency switches into a solid signal via feedback contacts, wherein fluffier a main relay contact drives the parallel circuit of respective triggering devices associated with each said submerging actuator.