| WO/1999/031336 | SWIMMING POOL STEPS |
| DE2144195A1 | 1973-03-08 | |||
| DE1559177A1 | 1969-06-26 | |||
| DD60627A | ||||
| US3302825A | 1967-02-07 | |||
| US3193847A | 1965-07-13 |
| 1. | An aboveground pool comprising a continuous base member defining a wall receiving groove, a continuous wall formed from an elongated flexible tensilestrong sheet having a seam extending verti¬ cally at the ends of the sheet when the wall is assembled on the base and a continuous, rigid coping member defining a continuous groove for receiving the top edge of the wall in a snug manner to provide an erect selfsupporting aboveground pool consisting of a base, a wall, and a continuous coping. |
| 2. | An aboveground pool comprising a frameless structure including an endless base having a groove, a continuous wall formed from an elongated flexible tensilestrong sheet with a seam formed at the ends of the sheet and a continuous, rigid coping member including a continuous groove for receiving the top edge of the wall in a snug manner whereby to provide stability to the assembled pool. |
| 3. | An aboveground pool as defined in claim 1, wherein the continuous coping is made up of a plural¬ ity of coping sections, each section having a ledge portion and downwardly extending coextensive legs forming a narrow groove therebetween for receiving the wall in a snug manner, and the ends of the coping sections each have cooperating locking means adapted to mate and lock with cooperating locking means on respective ends of the adjacent coping section. |
| 4. | An aboveground pool construction as defined in claim 1, wherein the tensilestrong sheet mounts joint members at each end thereof adapted to be joined together to form a continuous wall. |
| 5. | An aboveground pool as defined in claim 4, wherein the continuous coping member is made up of a series of identical coping sections each having a groove to receive the top of the wall in a snug manner and having cooperating buckle members at the end of each section adapted to engage the locking buckle members of an adjacent coping section so as to connect and lock the ends of the coping sections together in one continuous circular coping. |
| 6. | An aboveground pool as defined in claim 5, wherein openings are provided in the ends of each of the coping sections for receiving elongated dowels. |
| 7. | An aboveground pool as defined in claim 5, wherein the locking buckles include overcenter lever devices with one part of the buckle thereof on one end of the coping section, and the mating part of the locking buckle being provided on the other end thereof. |
| 8. | An aboveground pool as defined in claim 4, wherein the joint members each include a folded strip having a U shaped cross section attached to each end of the sheet and includes spaced apart loops inter digitaded with the loops on the strip on the opposite edge and a rod is adapted to be inserted into the interdigitated loops to lock the so formed seam. __DNDED ___AIMS [received by the International Bureau on 5 May 1992 (05.05.92); new claim 9 added; other claims unchanged (1 page)] . |
| 9. | An aboveground pool consisting of an endless base member, a flexible, tensile, strong, flat strip forming a wall, and an endless coping extending above the top edge of the wall with a flexible liner on the interior of the pool, the endless base member defining a wallreceiving groove, the wall member in the form of a flat strip having parallel top and bottom linear edges and laterally extending ends, a seam extending vertically at the ends of the strip when the wall is assembled on the base, and an endless rigid coping member made up of a plurality of coping sections of constant cross section, each' section having a top portion and downwardly extending coextensive legs with parallel opposed second surfaces forming a narrow groove therebetween for receiving the wall in a snug manner such that the second surfaces of the grooves are in intimate contact with the side surfaces of the wall, the ends of the coping sections each having cooperating locking means adapted to mate and lock with cooperating locking means on respective ends of adjacent coping sections, a continuous hookshaped ledge mounted on the inner of the downwardly extending legs, the hookshaped ledge open towards the top, and the liner being provided with a bead adapted to engage in the hookshaped ledge so that when water is provided in the pool, the liner will pull down on the hookshaped ledge thereby securing the endless coping on the top edge of the wall. |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a swimming pool, and more particularly, to an above-ground pool.
BACKGROUND ART
Above-ground pools typically have a continu¬ ous base with a groove for receiving a flexible sheet metal wall which has a seam joining the wall end to end. Spaced-apart vertical posts or rigid ribs extend upwardly from the base, and a continuous coping sits on the posts to receive the top edge of the wall. A plastic liner covers the ground and the interior of the wall to provide a leak-proof reservoir. The wall is, in fact, held stable by means of the frame formed by the base, posts, and coping. These structures have stood the test of time and are extremely popular.
Such pools are usually marketed as do-it- yourself projects, but, because of their size and number of parts (almost two hundred fasteners), the installation thereof can tax even a professional installation crew. It has been the aim of designers in recent years to at least reduce the number of parts in order to simplify the installation of such pools. It is evident that if the posts were eliminated, many such parts would be eliminated.
U. S. Patent 3,193,847, 1965, Mashura, is one such attempt. However, Mashura utilizes rigid steel wall segments placed on a base. The Mashura solution is not practical for most applications since the handling of large rigid steel wall segments and
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the tie rods may not be practical from the shipping and handling point of view.
U. S. Patent 3,302,825, 1967, Schleeweiss, suggests a flexible metal side wall strip formed with parallel ribs, without a base (other than a reinforced but flexible bottom edge) , and a coping which may be flexible. It is evident that any force exerted on one segment of the flexible wall and coping could cause wave motion to be built up in the water contained in the reservoir, and ultimately the walls could collapse as a result of the movement of the water on the flexible wall.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
It is an aim of the present invention to provide an above-ground pool which is simple in construction and is an improvement over such known pools.
It is a further aim of the present invention to provide an above-ground pool having a flexible side wall but without posts, yet avoiding the inherent disadvantages of the above-mentioned prior art.
A construction in accordance with the present invention comprises an above-ground pool having a continuous base member defining a wall receiving groove, a continuous wall formed from an elongated flexible tensile strong strip having a seam extending vertically at the ends of the strip when the wall is assembled on the base, and a continuous rigid coping member including a continuous groove for receiving the top edge of the wall in a snug manner whereby the coping provides stability to the assembled pool.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by way of illustration, a preferred embodiment thereof, and in which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an above- ground swimming pool in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged exploded perspective view of a detail of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a vertical end view of a detail shown in Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical cross- section, taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3;
Fig. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal cross- section, taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 3, showing the detail of Fig. 4;
Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view of a further detail of the present invention; and
Fig. 7 is a fragmentary enlarged horizontal cross-section, taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 6.
MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
As shown in Fig. 1, there is an above-ground swimming pool 10 having a base 12 on which is mounted a continuous wall 14, a coping 16, and a liner 18 covers the interior of the wall 14 and the ground surface on which the above-ground pool 10 is erected.
As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the wall 14 is made up of an elongated strip of sheet metal. The base 12 is made up of extruded U-shaped sections 19a, 19b... connected together by joints 22 and defining a continuous slot or groove 20 to receive the bottom edge of the wall 14.
The coping 16 is made up of a series of coping sections 17a, 17b... joined together end to end as will be described. A coping section 17 includes a length of extruded plastic material extruded at a predetermined radius corresponding to the size of the pool as is required. The coping section 17 includes a ledge portion 30 and overhanging flanges 32. A pair of legs 36 and 38 extend downwardly from the ledge portion 30. The legs 36 and 38 define a narrow slot 40 therebetween. This slot 40 snugly fits over the upper portion of the wall 14.
Bores 42 are formed during the extrusion process and extend parallel to each other in the ledge portion and upper portion of the legs 36 and 38. When the coping sections 17 are joined end to end, dowels 44 are inserted in bores 42.
In addition, and as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, locking buckles 48 are provided underneath the ledge portion 30. The locking buckles 48 have an over- center feature with a hook element 48a thereof on one end of the coping section 17a and the other portion 48b on an end of the coping section 17b. These locking buckles 48 serve to lock the coping sections 17a and 17b end to end to form the continuous coping 16. The coping sections 17 are made up of suitably rigid plastics material which has been extruded as mentioned previously. Along the leg 38 a hook-shaped rib 46 may be provided for anchoring the upper edge of the liner 18.
Referring now to Figs. 6 and 7, there is shown a typical seam 28 joining the ends 24 and 26 of the wall 14. This seam is formed as an interdigital joint 50 having clamp strips 52 and 54 attached to the ends 24 and 26 by means of rivets 62. To the clamp strip 52 is a series of spaced-apart eyes or loops 58
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while placed alternately on strip 54 are loops 60. A rod 56 is adapted to pass through the aligned loops 58 and 60 when the joint 50 is being formed.
A cover plate 64 can be snapped on to the joint in order to protect the liner 18 from the joint. A cover plate 64 could also be added to the exterior of the wall 14 to provide a smooth appearance.
The kit to form the above-ground pool 10 would include a rolled-up coil of sheet metal to form the wall 14 to which the clamp strips 52 and 54 have already been riveted on the ends 24 and 26 thereof. The sheet metal strip is unrolled and in association with the base 12 is formed to a circular enclosure.
The base 12 is formed by placing base sections 19a and 19b end to end and on the bottom edge of the wall 14 by joining these base sections 19a and 19b by means of joints 22. The joint 50 is then closed by passing a rod 56 through the loops 58 and 60. The coping sections 17a and 17b... are then placed one by one on the top of the wall 14 with the top edge of the wall being snugly received in the groove 40. Each coping section 17a and 17b is joined end to end by means of the dowels 44 and the locking brackets 48, forming the coping 16 as a rigid endless ring. The liner 18 is mounted on the interior of the enclosure to form the water reservoir, and water is pumped into the reservoir.
The combination of the endless rigid coping 16 and the endless sheet metal wall 14 provides a stable upstanding wall, particularly when water is received in the reservoir. Accordingly, posts are unnecessary since the wall 14 and coping 16 are self-supporting and thus the above-ground pool is a frameless pool. The advantage of this frameless pool is the reduction in the number of parts required to
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mount the above-ground pool. As can be seen, no fasteners are required for the assembly of the base or the wall 14, and the only fasteners required for the coping are the locking brackets which are integral with the ends of the coping sections 17a, 17b.... The dowels 44 are easily fitted into the ends of the coping section 17a, 17b.... The dowels 44 can be fixed to one end of a coping section 17 and slid into the other end.