CA1104770A - Self propelled drivehead for automatic swimming pool cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
An improved drivehead for an automatic swimming pool cleaning system includes a circular wheel member mounted for free rotation around a platform member. The platform member carries a water jet nozzle which urges the wheel member into rolling contact with and along the sides of the pool. A flexible water supply hose connects the platform member to a pressurized pool water in-let. The water jet nozzle and supply hose cooperate, when the drivehead en-counters an obstruction, to cause the platform member to rotate within the outer wheel member to move the drivehead around the obstruction. Such a drive-head requires a minimum amount of maintainance, operates reliably, and is "self-freeing" when it encounters an obstruction.

Description

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1 This invention relates to an automatic swimming pool

2 cleaning system. More particularly, the invention concerns an

3 improved drivehead for the system.

In another aspect, the invention relates to improved 6 drivehead of simplified construction which requires only one 7 water jet reaction nozzle to move the arivehead around the 8 periphery of the swimming pool and to cause the drivehead to 9 clear obstructions, e.g. ladders, steps, etc. and other discon-10 tinuities in the inner periphery of the pool.

12 Numerous systems have been devised for automatically 13 cleaning swimming pools. The most commonly used systems employ 14 one or more cleaning hoses which randomly oscillate in response 15 to water ejected from the free ends thereof under pressure. The 16 randomly oscillating hoses and the water ejected therefrom abrade 17 the inner surfaces of the pool to dislodge particulate material 18 and maintain it in suspension in the pool water. The suspended 19 particulate material is then removed from the water by the 20 conventional pool water filtration system.

22 Typically, the pool cleaning systems which employ 23 flexible cleaning hoses, as described above, utilize some sort 24 of drivehead to move the inner fixed ends of the cleaning hoses 25 to different locations within the pool to effect and insure random 26 contact between the oscillating hoses and the water ejected there-27 from with substantially all of the interior surfaces of the 28 pool. Typical examples of such drivehead-motivated cleaning 29 systems are described in U. S. Patent No. 3,170,180 issued to 32 1.

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1 Winston on February 23, 1965; U. S. Patent No. 3,265,079 issued 2 on August 9, 1966 to Blumenfeld; U. S. Patent No. 3,295,540 3 issued on January 3, 1967 to Ortega; U. S. Patent No. 3,291,145

4 issued on December 13, 1966 to Arneson; and U. S. Patent No.

5 3,718,148 issued on February 27, 1973 to Gibellina.

7 The typical systems described in the above mentioned 8 patents vary in degree of complexity from the complex mechanical 9 drive system of the Arneson patent, which employs a water motor-10 gear train combination, to the relatively more simplified system 11 described in the Gibellina U. S. Patent No. 3,718,148, which 12 utilizes simple water jet reaction nozzles to move the drivehead 13 around the pool.

However, each of these prior art systems involves some 16 degree of mechanical complexity and, to that extent, it would be 17 highly desirable to provide a more simplified drivehead arrange-18 ment in order to reduce the maintenance expense and improve 19 overall operating reliability. It would be particularly desirable 20 to provide a drivehead device for an automatic swimming pool 21 system which employs only a single water jet nozzle to furnish 22 the motivation force for moving the drivehead around the sides of 23 the pool and which, nevertheless, is adapted to prevent the drive-24 head from stalling when it encounters obstructions or discon-25 tinuities in the walls of the pool, e.g. those presented by 26 ladders, steps, skimmers, etc.

28 It is therefore an object of one broad aspect of the29 present invention to provide an improved drivehead ior an 32 2.

1 automatic swimming pool cleaning system of the type employing 2 randomly oscillating cleaning hoses.

4 An object of yet another aspect of the invention is to 5 provide a drivehead of the type described which is of simplified

6 and relatively inexpensive construction.

8 An object of still another aspect of the invention is 9 to provide a drivehead of the type described which is of 10 simplified and relatively inexpensive construction.

12 An object of still another aspect of the invention is 13 to provide a drivehead for such a system which requires a minimum 14 amount of maintenance, which operates reliably, and which is "self freeing" when it encounters such obstruction.

17 By an aspect of this invention, a drivehead is provided 18 for an automatic swimming pool cleaning system, which system 19 includes, at least one elongate flexible cleaning hose having an 20 inner fixed end and an outer free end, means for supplying water 21 under pressure to the inner fixed end of the cleaning hose to 22 cause the hose to randomly oscillate, thereby abrading the inner 23 surfaces of the swimming pool to dislodge particulate material therefrom and maintain the particulate material in suspension in 25 the pool water for removal by the pool water filtration system, 26 and drivehead means operatively associated with the cleaning hose 27 to move the inner water receiving end thereof to different 28 locations within the pool to effect random contact between the 29 oscillating hose and substantially all of the interior surfaces ~ r~

1 of the pool, the drivehead comprising: (a) a horizontal plat-2 form member; (b) a circular wheel member mounted horizontally 3 for free rotation on the platform member, the periphery of the 4 wheel member extending laterally beyond the periphery of the 5 platform member; (c) a water jet nozzle carried by the plat-6 form member, disposed to eject a stream of water therethrough,

7 the reaction force of which urges the wheel member into

8 rolling contact with and along the sides of the pool; and (d)

9 means for connecting a flexible water supply hose to the nozzle

10 for effecting fluid communication between the nozzle and a source

11 of water under pressure, the water jet nozzle and the supply hose

12 cooperating, when the drivehead encounters an obstruction, to

13 cause the platform member to rotate within the circular wheel

14 member, to move the drivehead around the obstruction and continue

15 its normal movement in rolling contact with and along the sides

16 of the pool.

17

18 Briefly, in accordance with an embodiment of this invention a drivehead is provided for a typical automatic 20 swimming pool cleaning system. The typical system includes at 21 least one elongate flexible cleaning hose having an inner fixed 22 end and an outer free end. Means are provided for supplying 23 water under pressure to the inner end of the cleaning hose to 2~ cause the hose to oscillate randomly. Drivehead means are 25 provided which are operatively associated with the cleaning hose 26 to move the inner water receiving end thereof to different locations within the pool. The oscillating hoses abrade the 28 inner surfaces of the swimming pool to dislodge particulate 29 material therefrom and thus maintain the particulate material in 30 suspension in the pool water for removal by a filtration system.

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1 The drivehead moves the inner ends of the cleaning hoses to 2 different locations in the pool to insure random contact between 3 the oscillating hoses and the water ejected therefrom with sub-4 stantially all of the interior surfaces of the pool.

6 The improved drivehead of an embodiment of the present 7 invention comprises a horizontal platform member, a circular wheel 8 member mounted horizontally for free rotation on the platform 9 member, a water jet nozzle carried by the platform member and a 10 means for connecting a flexible water supply hose to the nozzle 11 for effecting fluid communication between the nozzle and a source 12 of water under pressure. The periphery of the wheel member 13 extends laterally beyond the periphery of the platform member.
14 The reaction force of the water jet nozzle urges the wheel member into rolling contact with and along the sides of the pool. The 16 water jet nozzle and the supply hose cooperate, when the drive-17 head encounters an obstruction, to cause the platform member to 18 rotate within the circular wheel member, to move the drivehead

19 around the obstruction and continue its normal movement in

20 rolling contact with and along the sides of the pool. When the

21 drivehead encounters an obstruction and is momentarily stopped,

22 the platform member rotates around its axis until the jet provides

23 directional force to rnove the drivehead around the obstruction.

24 In the accompanying drawings, 26 Fig. l is a perspective view of a swimming pool with a 27 typical "cleaning hose" type automatic cleaning system installed 2X therein, which utilizes the improved drivehead of an aspect of 29 the present rvention;

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I E'ig. 2 is a perspective view of the drivehead of an 2 aspect of the present invention, viewed from below;

4 Figs. 3a and 3b are sectional views of the drivehead of Fig. 2 taken along section line 3-3 thereof;

7 Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the platform member por-8 tion of the drivehead of Fig. 3 taken along section line 4-4 9 thereof; and 11 Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the drivehead of Figs. 1-4, 12 shown floating in a swimming pool, and attached to a water 13 supply hose.

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1 Turning now to the drawings, Fig. 1 depicts a con-2 ventional swimming pool, generally indicated by reference charac-3 ter 10, which includes inner sides 11, side walls and bottom 4 (not shown) defining a large water type reservoir. The water system of the pool includes a pump 12, the suctlon side 13 of 6 which withdraws water from a pool filter system 14 which filters 7 pool water 15 containing suspended particulate material. The 8 discharge ].6 of the pump 12 returns water under pressure through 9 a fixed conduit 17 to a hose connection 18 located in a side wall 10 11 of the pool 10. A flexible hose 19 provided with suitable 11 swivel connections 20 delivers water from the pump discharge 12 connection 18 through the flexible hose 19 to one or more assem-13 blies 21 consisting of a float member 22 and depending scouring 14 hoses 23 which function in the manner generally described above 15 to dislodge and maintain particulate matter in suspension in 16 the pool water 24.

18 The flexible supply hose 19 is connected at its outer end to a drivehead assembly 34 which will be described 20 in greater detail below. The drivehead 34 serves to propel 21 the float members 22 and the depending scouring hoses 23 to 22 random locations within the pool so as to insure that the 23 scouring hoses 23, over a period of time, effect random contact 24 with substantially all of the interior surfaces of the pool.

26 The drivehead 24 of Fig. 1 is depicted in greater 27 detail in Figs. 2-4, in which like reference characters identify 28 common elements in the several views. The drivehead consists 29 oi a horizont ly disposed platiorm member 21. A hollow circular 32 7.

1 wheel member 22 is provided with a depending vertical axle 23 2 threadedly secured on its lower end by means of a hand tightened 3 nut 44. The axle 23 is journaled for free rotation in an up-4 standing bearing 25a integrally formed with the platform member 21. Proper vertical spacing of the wheel member 22 above the 6 platform member 21 is maintained by the spacer bushing 25.

8 The platform member 21 is provided with a threaded9 hose connection assembly, generally indicated by reference character 26, for attaching the flexible supply hose 19 to a 11 conduit 27 which supplies water under pressure to a nozzle 28.
12 The nozzle 28 is mounted upon a threaded nipple 28a which is 13 rotatably engaged with threads in the elbow portion 27a of the 14 conduit 27 and threads in the upstanding boss 28b such that the angular orientation of the nozzle 28 with respect to the center 16 line of the conduit 27 can be varied to adjust the direction of 17 the stream of water issuing from the jet 28 to compensate for 18 various lengths and weights of the flexible supply hose 19.
19 The hollow cavity 29 formed in the circular wheel member 22 20 provides sufficient buoyancy to cause the entire assembly 34 21 to float upon the surface of the pool water 24.

23 The operation of the drivehead 34 is shown schemati-24 cally in Fig. 5. As the drivehead 34, indicated by dash lines,

25 moves in the direction of the arrow A along the side wall 11 of

26 the pool, the outer circular wheel member 22 rotates freely on its

27 axis 45 around the platform member 21, propelled by the reaction 29 to the pressurized water exiting the water jet nozzle 28.

~2 1 As the outer periphery of the wheel member 22 contacts 2 the next adjacent side wall lla of the pool, platform member 21 3 rotates upon the axis 45 to the position shown by the solid 4 lines with the water jet issuing from the nozzle 28 now pointed 5 in the direction of the arrow B. The entire assembly is then 6 urged along the side wall lla of the pool in the direction of 7 the arrow C. Thus, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the forces acting upon the drivehead 34 are the thrust 9 of the water jet 28 in the direction of the arrow B and the 0 drag provided by the existence of the supply hose 19 in the direction of the arrow B result in a resultant force in the 12 direction of the arrow C tending to urge the entire assembly 34 13 against the side wall lla and propel it along the side wall in 14 the direction of the arrow C. By utilizing the forces 16 generated by the drag of the supply hose l9 and the reaction 16 force generated by the water issuing from the nozzle 28, the 17 entire assembly is urged against the side walls of the pool and, 18 when it encounters an obstruction or discontinuity in the side 19 walls of the pool, the platform 21 rotates within the free-20 wheeling wheel member 22 until the vector result of the forces 21 causes the entire assembly to rotate around and clear the 22 obstruction.

24 As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the 25 above described automatic swimming pool cleaner drivehead is 26 clearly distinguishable from the prior art in several functional 27 and structural respects. It has only one moving part, is water

28 powered, no booster pump is required, and the pressurized water 230 supply entering the apparatus does not contact any bearings or 32 9.

~ '7~0 1 other surfaces which have relative movement during operation, such 2 that grit or other Eoreign matter in the water supply does not 1 il:erfere with the operation of the single moving part.

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Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A drivehead for an automatic swimming pool cleaning system, which system includes, at least one elongate flexible cleaning hose having an inner fixed end and an outer free end, means for supplying water under pressure to the inner fixed end of said cleaning hose to cause said hose to randomly oscillate, thereby abrading the inner surfaces of the swimming pool to dislodge particulate material therefrom and maintain said particulate material in suspension in the pool water for removal by the pool water filtration system, and drivehead means operatively associated with said cleaning hose to move the inner water receiving end thereof to different locations within said pool to effect random contact between said oscillating hose and substantially all of the interior surfaces of said pool, said drivehead comprising:

(a) a horizontal platform member;

11.

(b) a circular wheel member mounted horizontally for free rotation on said platform member, the periphery of said wheel member extending laterally beyond the periphery of said platform member;

(c) a water jet nozzle carried by said platform member, disposed to eject a stream of water therethrough, the reaction force of which urges said wheel member into rolling contact with and along the sides of said pool; and (d) means for connecting a flexible water supply hose to said nozzle for effecting fluid communication between said nozzle and a source of water under pressure, said water jet nozzle and said supply hose cooperating, when said drivehead encounters an obstruction, to cause said platform member to rotate within said circular wheel member, to move said drivehead around the obstruction and continue its normal movement in rolling contact with and along the sides of said pool 12.