CA1141503A - Swimming pool construction - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A swimming pool wall, for placement in an excavation, is made up of a series of bendable plates having only vertical flanges for stiffening while permitting shaping the wall to a selected outline. A resilient coping strip embranes the upper edge of the wall and houses a rigid metal bar to retain the upper edge of the wall in the desired configuration while other braces, at the lower edge of the wall extend from the plates to the outer edge portions of the flanges to securely maintain the lower edge of the wall in the desired configuration. Vertical Z-shaped bars are secured to certain of the plates to further stiffen them and further braces, secured to the flanges, ex-tend diagonally upward into a concrete apron, selected ones of the diagonal braces carrying a form plate for defining the outer edge of the apron. Rigid bars are used to hold corner plates to a desired curvature during assembly of the pool wall and its placement in the excavation. After back-filling and forming the apron, those bars are removed.

Description

:1141503 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the ficld of swimming pooLs.

This application is a division of Application No. 356,789.

In constructing a popular form of swimming pool, an excava-tion i~ first made at the site, and an upstanding wall is erected to define the desired outline of the pool. The wall must be sufficiently self-sus~aininy to hold its shape and of the desired outline even before an~ backfilling occurs around the outer periphery of the excavation. It is also desirable to form the upstanding wall of as inexpensive material as possible, and it is customary to construct such walls of sheet metal or the like. However, in erecting the wall it is essential that its outline be accurately maintained and to insure such accurate outline, it has been customary to provide the plates of the wall with upper and lower flanges and in most cases end flanges to bolt the unit~'togekher. Such units, h'owever, are'of a predetermined and fixed shape, which cannot be altered to construct'pools of different owtlines See, for exam-ple, U.S. Patents 3,518,704, 3,798,857, 4~109,324 and 4,124,907.
The above patents all disclose swimming pools of the general type mentioned in which the wall units are provided with either upper and lower flanges or are pan-shaped having flan-ges all the way around. Patent No. 3,518,704 also discloses the use of braces to support a deck extending outwardly fro~'~
f'~

`` 1141503 the upper edge of the pool.

The present invention provides means for forming a swimming pool of any desired shape from identical modular units, each comprising a sheet of metal having a single flange at one vertical edge to extend outwardly of the pool, and thus provides vertical stiffening. The plates are thus bendable to any desired shape. To maintain the plates in their de- ~
sired configuration until final completion of the pool, applicant provides a stiffening coping extending around the upper edge of the pool wall which coping not only provides a finished edge, but provides by means of a steel or other rigid bar therein, stiffening to maintain straight sections of the pool wall truly straight, and curved sections in the desired curvature. The pool is also provided with an out-wardly extending deck around the upper edge which is bracedto the sidewalls of the pool by means of bracing secured to the sidewalls and particularly the rearwardly extending flan-ges. It is preferred that a pair of braces, vertically spaced, be provided at each flange, the upper ends of those braces being adapted to have a mould plate secured thereto to define the outer edge of a concrete deck to be poured later. The invention also contemplates the provision of bottom braces to hold the bottom edge of the upstanding wall in the desired accurately maintained shape during construction of the pool.
Applicant also contemplates the provision of additional Z-shaped bars which may be attached to the modular plates in-termediate the main flanges of the pool wall to further assist in stiffening the same and a novel means and method is contemplated for maintaining curved sections to the desi-red ¢urvature, without influencing adjacent modules, untilthe pool has been rigidly secured in place in its excavation.

~141S03 ~_ 3 _ More particularly the present invention provides for an arrangement for maintaining a predetermined curvature during construction of a portion of a swimming pool having a .
plurality of integral bendable wall modules secured togetner in end-to-end relation by means of fasteners extending through adjacent portions of adjacent modules, at least one of the wall modules being bent under tension to the pre-determined curvature, the arrangement including at least one rigid member extending chordally of the curved module and having its opposite ends secured by the fasteners to thereby maintain the one module in the predetermined curva-ture under tension until substantial completion of the swimming pool.

Also more particularly, the present invention relates to a method of forming and maintaining a desired curvature in a portion of a swimming pool wall, comprising the steps of applying forces to oppo~ed ends of an integral bendable module in a manner to cause the module to assume a desired curvature under tension; securing opposite en~ o,f a rigid bar to the opposed ends of the curved module to ex-tend chordally thereacross for maintaining the module in the desired curvature; securing additional modules to the curved module to complete the swimming pool wall in a desired con- -figuration; rigidly securing the upper and lower edges of the wall; and removing the rigid bar from the curved module.

BRIBF DESCRIPTION OF TEIE DRAWINGS

Figure l is a fragmentary plan view of the swimming pool of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, ' 30 taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a further enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;
~"' . ' 1141~03 -3a-Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the framework structure of Figure 2, the concrete decking being omitted for purposes of clarity;

Figure 5 is a further enlarged fragmentary horizontal - 5 sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragme~tary vertical sectional view through the coping showing particularly the Z-shaped reinforcing brace;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the framework struc-ture at a corner of the swimmingpool, on a reduced scale;
.

. ,, '''`' ' 1~41S03 Figure 8 is an elevational view of the corner of the pool, partly in section, showing the struts for temporarily hol-ding the curved corners, taken Gn the line 8-8 of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary isometxic view taken at a panel joint, showing the slot in the rearwardly extending flange to receive the depending leg of the coping; and Figure 10 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken on the line 10-10 of Figure 9.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Figure 1 is a plan view of the end portion of an exemplary swimming pool wherein the upstanding wall of the pool is provided with a coping 2 extending the entire length thereof to provide a finished corner edge between the upstanding sidewall and a concrete apron 4 extending outwardly therefrom.
, The pool wall is constructed of modular plates 6, of sheet me~al or other suitable material, each having a rearwardly extending 1ange 8 ben~ therefrom (see Figure 9). Each flange 8 is at the edge o a stepped portion 10 of the adjacent end of a plate 6 which stepped portion is substantially egual to the thickness o a plate 6, so that when the plates are assem-bled with the type of joint shown in Figure 9, the innsr sur-faces o~ those plates define a continuous coplanar surface.

The free edge of one plate 6 is seated in the step 10, and bolted to the adjacent plate by means of fasteners 12 seated in embossed recesses 14. The recesses 14 are provided in both the plates 6 by pressing a small area of the plates outwardly and serve to house the fasteners 12 without pro-trusions in-wardly of the pool.

According to the present invention, the upper edge of the up-standing wall defined by plates 6 is capped by a resilient coping member 16 (Figure 6), having a recess therein to receive and hold the bead 18 of a flexible pool liner 20.
The use of such liners is conventional and need not be des-cribed further. The coping 16 is provided with depending flanges 22 and 24 embracing the upper edge portions Or the plates 6 and a rearwardly extending portion defining an up-wardly facing channel in which a rigid steel bar 26 is placed to rigidify the structure. AS shown, the rearwardly exten-ding portion containing the bar 26 rests directly on the reinforcing flanges 8 previously described and on any Z-shaped bars which will be describPd. The coping me~ber 16is also,provided with an upper curved corner defining portion and a depending flange 28, which may be interlocked with any suitable deck structure, such as the concrete slab 30 shown in Figure 6. As best seen in Figure 9 the upper end portion of step 10 and flange 8 are notched, as' at 31 to accommodate the continuous outer flange 24 of the coping 16. Numeral 17 designates a connector element spanning the joint between abutting ends of lengths of coping 16.

Referring now to Figure 2, numerals 32 and 3~ denote stakes that may be provided and driven throuyh openings i~ the flange 8 for the purpose of anchoring the edges of those flanges to the ground while the pool i5 being constructed.
Also shown in Figure 2 are diagonally upwardly and rearwardly extending braces 35 and 36. These braces are shown as being o sheet metal and of channel shape, and are bolted to the flanges 8 to extend upwardly and Learwardly in substantially parallel relation and a tension member 38 secured to each of the braces principally to support brace 35,, when present, since it is a longer cantilever than brace 36. At their up-per ends, the braces 35 and 36 are configured to define ~er-tical end faces 40, which may be in the form of flanges extending from the sidewall of the braces and in constructing the pool, concrete reinforcing rods 42 are extended throuyh-out the upper ends of the braces to provide metal reinforce-ment for the concrete slab 30. The vertical faces 40 andthe braces serve to selectively position a form plate 44 constituting an outer mould surface for the concrete slab 30, thus determining its width. The form plates may be selec-tively mounted on the brace 35 for a slab of maximum width or may be mounted on the end of brace 36 and brace 35 may be omitted when an intermediate width slab is desired. Also, both braces 35 and 36 may be omitted and plate 44 mounted directly on the rear edges of flanges 8 when a narrow apron is desired.

To maintain the lower edge of the upstanding wall of the pool in the desired configuration during construction, appli-~ant also provides generally V-shaped braces 46 (see Figure 4), having their central portions bolted to the plates 6 at approximately their mid regions and having arms extending diagonally and rearwardly therefrom to the rear edge portions of the flanges 8. At their rear ends, the braces 46 are secured to the flanges 8 and thus constitute a rigidifying means which can be adapted to positive]y hold the lower edge of the pool wall in any desired configuration during construc-tion, either straight or curved in either a horizontal or ver-tical plane, or both. Figure 4 also shows a generally Z-shaped stiffener bar 48 having its forward edge secured tothe ~lates 6 and having a rear narrow flange 50. Thus, the bar 48 serves to further rigidiy and stiffen the sidewall plates. As shown in Figure 4, the lower end of the reinfor-cir.g or stiffening bar 48 may have an anchor rod 52 at its lower end to be embedded in concrete as will be described later.

It is also customary to form swimming pools of this type with curved rather than square corners, such as shown at 54 in Figure 1. In initially constructing the swimming pool wall with such curved corners, it is difficult to maintain the corner at the proper curvature, without transmitting bendiny forces to the adjacent plates of the sidewall which should be maintaine~ in straight condition and truly tangent to the curve. Figures 7 and 8 herein depict applicant's method and means for properly forming the curved corner por-tion 54. As shown, a plate 6 to be curved is secured to adjacent plates 6 intended to extend tangentially from the ~141S03 _7_ curved plate in the finished pool without residual curvature in those plates. To effect proper forming of the corner, applicant secures the three plates together, the middle one of which is to be curved and by applying forces to the outer plates, the curvature of the plate 6 in the middle is pro-duced. To maintain that curvature while relieving the end plates of all stress, applicant provides a strut or bar 56 having end portions 58 provided with openings through which fastening means 12 may pass to secure the strut to the ends of the middle plate 6 after it has beerA curved in the desired amount. Thereafter, the stress on the bending forces on the adjacent plates 6 may be relieved and they will then assume a true straight line configuration tangent to the curve of the median plate 6. Those struts are held to the structure by selected fasteners 12 which are also employed to secure adjacent plates together. After the pool has been completed, as will be described, the struts 56 may be remo~ed and the selected fasteners 12 repl~ced in the plates and the desired curve at the corner of the pool is maintained. As shown in Figure 8, at least two of the struts 56 are employed, an upper one adjacent the upper edge ~f the wall and a lower one adja-cent the lower edge thereof.

In constructing a swimming pool of the type described herein, an excavation is first formed at the site, the excavation be-ing large enough to provide excavatea areas outside theintended position of the pool wall. Thus, the builder has room ta work in that region outside of the wall to assemble the various plates as described. When the entire pool wall has been assembled as described herein, it can be placed on suitable blocks 60 (see Figure 2), or otherwise supported, for maintaining the waJl at the desired elevation and level, concrete may be poured about the l~wer edge portion of the pool, such as shown at 62 in Figure 4. This concrete then permanently and positively rigidifies the lower edge of the pool wall and holds the same riyidly in the desired configu-ration. Thereafter, earth backfill 64 may be placed (see Figure 2) to back up and further support the plates 6 on -- 114~S03 their outer sides. Therea:Eter, the concrete apron 30 may be poured and the pool is then completed.

While a single specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, the same is merely illustrative .
of the principles involved and further embodiments may be adopted within the scope of the appe~aed claims.
. .

Claims (2)

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

1. An arrangement for maintaining a predetermined curvature during construction of a portion of a swimming pool having a plurality of integral bendable wall modules secured together in end-to-end relation by means of fasteners extending through adjacent portions of adjacent modules, at least one of the wall modules being bent under tension to the predetermined curvature, the arrangement including at least one rigid member extending chordally of the curved module and having its opposite ends secured by the fasteners to thereby maintain the one module in the predetermined curvature under tension until substantial completion of the swimming pool.

2. A method of forming and maintaining a desired curvature in a portion of a swimming pool wall comprising the steps of:
a) applying forces to opposed ends of an integral bendable module in a manner to cause the module to assume a desired curvature under tension;
b) securing opposite ends of a rigid bar to the opposed ends of the curved module to extend chord-ally thereacross for maintaining the module in the desired curvature;
c) securing additional modules to the curved module to complete the swimming pool wall in a desired configuration;
d) rigidly securing the upper and lower edges of the wall; and e) removing the rigid bar from the curved module.