US2895143A - Swimming pool cover - Google Patents

Description

July 21, 1959 File d. Oct. 23, 1956 Fig.'/

- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m M r s m Katherine B. 89/!) IN V EN TOR.

BY M v July 21, 1959 K. B. SEITZ.

swxmmc POOL COVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 2a, 1956 kathgrine 8.- Se:

INVENTOR.

United States Patent SWIMMING POOL COVER Katherine B. Seitz, Eggertsville, N.Y.

Application October 23, 1956, Serial No. 617,790

4 Claims. (Cl. 4-172) This invention relates to covers and more particularly to a cover for a swimming pool.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cover which is easily manipulable in order to form a closure for the top of a swimming pool whereby it functions to provide family protection and safety, preventing the inadvertent or accidental falling into the pool, this being particularly true in connection with small children.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a cover which will function to prevent the accumulation of foreign material on the water surface and in the water or in the empty pool.

Although the majority of pools are rectangular, it is well within the purview of the invention to provide a cover of any shape, for example, the cover would be oblong for oblong pools, square, round, oval, kidney shaped and other shapes, depending on the shape of the pool.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide a closure for a swimming pool wherein there are a plurality of sections that are preferably hingedly connected together so as to be capable of folding to one end of the pool in a compact position. In this way they may be subsequently unfolded with equal facility and returned to a position for covering the pool.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of a swimming pool having thereon a cover which typifies the invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Flgure 3 1s an enlarged, fragmentary sectional v1ew showing a hinge connection between a pair of sections and taken on the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of Figure 1 showing the means of locking the cover in place over the pool;

Figure 5 is an elevational view showing the cover in the folded position;

Figure 6 is an end view of the cover in Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 1 and showing one of the rollers by which to support the cover.

In the accompanying drawings there is a swimming pool cover 10 which is constructed in accordance with the invention. This swimming pool cover may be made of any shape as discussed previously, this being governed by the shape of the swimming pool 12. As in most swimming pools, the illustrated embodiment of the invention is operatively connected with a pool that has a pair of ladders 14 and 15 extending in a customary manner into the pool.

Cover 10 is made of four rectangular panels 16, 17, 18 and 19 respectively. Each panel is made of a wire or "ice other material frame, for example see the construction of panel 19where the rectangular wire frame has sides 20, 21, 22 and 23. Wire mesh covering 24 is welded or otherwise rigidly attached to the frame in order to form the panel 19. Side 21 has two hinges 26 and 28 connected to it, these hinges being attached to one end of the swimming pool 12. A single piano hingeor a plurality of hinges 30 are used to connect the side 20 of panel 19 with the side 31 of panel 18. In a like manner, hinges 33 connect the sides 34 and 35 of the panels 17 and 18 respectively. Hinges 37 connect the sides 38 and 39 of the panels 17 and 16 respectively, thereby interconnecting all of the panels of the cover 10.

The end 44 of the panel 17 frame is formed with recesses 45 and 46 to allow passage of the ladder 14 when the closure 10 is in the pool closing position. The longer side 47 of the frame of panel 16 has like recesses 48 and 49 to accommodate the ladder 15. Handles 50 are attached to the ends of the panels in order to make it easier to lift and handle the panels when both applying and removing the cover 10. When cover 10 is in the closed position, it may be locked by the use of padlocks fitted between hasps and 56 and their keeper plates 57 and 58 respectively. The hasps are anchored on the pool upper edge, while the keeper plates are welded or otherwise fixed to the panel frames so as to be registered with the keepers when the closure 10 is in the closed position.

Panels 17 and 18 are provided with pairs of wheels 63, 64 and 65, 66, respectively, with the tread of one pair being wider than the other. Wheels 69 and 70 are welded onto small axles, for example, axle 71 for wheel 70, and the pair of Wheels 69 and 70 are attached to the panel 16. The wheels function to reduce friction to a negligible quantity when applying and removing the cover from the swimming pool.

In use of the invention, it is assumed that the cover is in the open position (Figure 5) where it will rest on posts and 81 anchored firmly in the ground near one end of the pool. The panels may be lashed or otherwise secured to the posts if this is deemed necessary. Handles 50 are pulled, thereby rolling the panels of the cover to the pool closing position, this operation being depicted in Figure 2. In order to lock the pool, padlocks are applied as described previously. When removing the cover from the pool, it is merely lifted and slid to the folded position shown in Figure 5, and if desired, lashed to the posts 80 and 81.

It is understood that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the scope of the appended claims. For example, the panels of the cover need not necessarily be hinged or of the folding type. It may be constructed so as to roll on wheels and the panels or partitions in connection therewith slide either over or under. When the panels are either folded up or slid under each other, they may then be folded back in their entirety to rest on the ground. Moreover, the materials of construction are optionally selectable in accordance with manufacturing expedience and tastes.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An extensible and retractible cover for swimming pools comprising more than two generally rectangular panels disposed in side-by-side relation, hinges connecting the adjacent edges of adjacent panels whereby the panels may be folded upon themselves in a retracted position to uncover the pool and may be disposed in planar alignment to cover the pool, each panel including a wiresion and retraction of said cover, some of said panels having recessed portions in the edges. of their frames to receive ladders disposed in said swimming pool, a lock means on the frames of an intermediate panel for securing the cover in'extended position of a pool, handles 0 the opposite sides. of each panel.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the pairs of supporting wheels have axles, said axles being positioned at adjacent ends of adjacent panels, the adjacent wheels on adjacent edges of adjacent panels being in laterally offset, overlapping relation when said cover is in re tracted position, v

3. In combination with a swimming pool having a walk with anunbroken flat surface on each side of the pool, a ladder inlsaid pool at one side thereof, an extensible and retractible cover comprising more than two articulated panels hinged at their adjacent edges extensible from a retracted folded position atone end of thepool to an extended position covering the pool and with the panels in flat, planar alignment, pairs of supporting wheels mounted at the adjacent ends of adjacent panels and at the outside edges of the latter and rolling upon said unbroken flat surface to facilitate extension and retraction of said cover, each pair of wheels being mounted on an axle at one edge of its panel, one of said panels having recessed portions in its edge to receive said ladder in the extended position of the cover, lock means on the side of an intermediate panel and on a side of the pool for locking the cover in extended position.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said pairs of supporting wheels are disposed laterally oflset for overlapping relation when the cover is in its retracted position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,205,707 Cahill Nov. 21, 1916 1,351,229 Bombelli Aug. 31, 1920 1,746,983 Barr Feb. 11, 1930 2,754,900 Karobonik et al July 17, 1956 2,788,849 Lingard Apr. 16, 1957 2,838,767 Matlock June 17, 1958 2,870,454 Schippert Jan. 27, 1959

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