EP0279140B1 - Technical module for swimming pools - Google Patents

Abstract

Arrangement of technical elements and accessories for swimming pools, comprising especially a filtration system, a system for pumping and recirculating water, accessories such as a footbath, a balneotherapy system, a contra-flow swimming system, an underwater lighting system, a paddling pool system for children, a shower, wherein all these elements are integrated into a prefabricated autonomous module 1 comprising steps (2) forming an access ladder, a filtration unit 4 and a technical unit 3, the whole being submerged in the pool and connected to the water inlets and outlet as well as the power means. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to accessories for swimming pools and more particularly the technical elements which are usually added to the basin proper to cover different filtration, safety or amenity functions.

The current technique consists in making a technical block near the basin in the form of a small room which includes the circulation and supply pumps, as well as the filters. A multitude of other accessories can be added to the level of the basin and its immediate environment, such as stairs, underwater lighting devices, footbaths, counter-current swimming systems, showers, wading pools for children, balneotherapy devices, all these elements require for their installation arrangements on the basin itself and earthworks which are expensive and difficult to reach in the event of repair.

An attempt to bring back an independent module in a swimming pool and to group together all the external or submerged elements that form the water circulation systems and the accessories of the swimming pool in the dimensions of a staircase has already been described in EP- A-0 145 619, which relates to a modular assembly intended to be associated with a swimming pool, and comprising a system for filtering the water coming from the swimming pool and a recirculation system intended for recycling towards the swimming pool the water coming from said swimming pool filtration system, said systems being integrated in a module ready to be adapted to the swimming pool, said modular assembly comprising a filtration tank in which the filtration system for water coming from the swimming pool is housed, and a technical tank, in which is housed a system for recirculating the water coming from the filtration tank, said tanks being housed in independent portions of said module, said seems modular comprising steps to access the swimming pool, the steps being immersed in the swimming pool, this set comprising means for extracting water from the swimming pool through the filtration system, means for recycling the water thus filtered so as to supply the pool with filtered water, and discharge means housed in the technical tank.

However, the modular assembly thus described in EP-A-0145619 did not include steps allowing its adaptation for sporting purposes or for therapeutic purposes.

We have well described such steps provided for such purposes in US-A-3952338, but independently of any modular assembly installation comparable to the subject of the present application.

The present invention proposes to allow the arrangement of all the technical elements and optional accessories of a swimming pool, for a competitive cost price and under a rational and unprecedented aesthetic.

To this end, the invention relates to a modular assembly of the aforementioned kind, in which the module containing all the constituent elements of the installation is prefabricated in plastic, the filtration system is constituted by filter cartridges, the tank filtration adjoins the technical tank, the steps constitute a stepped staircase occupying the rest of said module, the filtered water delivery pipes are housed under this staircase, at least one of these steps (2) is oversized to receive a subject in the extended position, the filtration tank is covered by a footbath supplied by the pool water, and it contains the filtration cartridges, the means extraction and recycling are constituted by one or two pumps so as to draw water from the footbath and through said filter cartridges, arranged below said footbath, the discharge of filtered water to the pool is carried out by delivery nozzles, balneotherapy nozzles and counter-current swimming nozzles and in that the nozzles are distributed on the vertical walls of the stair treads, the balneotherapy nozzles being placed in the upper wall, while the nozzles discharge are placed in the bottom wall and the counter-current swim nozzles are placed in the vertical wall of an intermediate step.

• la pompe d'extraction et la pompe de recyclage constituent une seule et même pompe à la sortie de laquelle une vanne multi-voies oriente l'eau de sortie vers les buses choisies ;
• la pédiluve comporte un volet de sécurité destiné à éviter tout désamorçage de la pompe en cas de manque d'eau ;
• la partie horizontale de la marche surdimensionnée comporte une paroi articulée pour pouvoir être placée en position verticale et délimiter un bassin de balnéothérapie ou une pataugeoire pour enfants,
• et enfin l'ensemble modulaire comporte sur la tuyauterie de balnéothérapie une prise d'air permettant de moduler l'apport d'air dans le circuit afin d'oxygéner et d'émulsionner l'eau.

According to subsidiary features of the invention,

• the extraction pump and the recycling pump constitute a single pump at the outlet from which a multi-way valve directs the outlet water to the chosen nozzles;
• the footbath has a safety flap intended to prevent defusing the pump in the event of lack of water;
• the horizontal part of the oversized step has an articulated wall so that it can be placed in a vertical position and delimit a balneotherapy pool or a paddling pool for children,
• and finally the modular assembly comprises on the balneotherapy piping an air intake making it possible to modulate the supply of air in the circuit in order to oxygenate and emulsify the water.

The present invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings which show by way of example a non-limiting embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 is a first top view of the partially broken away technical module.

Figure 2 is a second top view of the module highlighting other details.

FIG. 3 is a section along AA ′ in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a section along BB 'in FIG. 1.

Figure 5 is an elevational view of the module.

According to Figure 1, we see the module 1 which is formed of a prefabricated assembly preferably made of reinforced polyester resin and which includes a staircase formed by several steps 2 which adjoin a technical tank 3, and a filtration tank 4 The technical tank 3 contains the supply and circulation pump 5 and the various taps. The filtration tank 4 contains several filter cartridges made of pleated rot-proof fabric ensuring better filtration and this tank is surmounted by a weir making a foot bath 7 and comprising a water shortage safety device 8 to avoid any defusing of the pump. The steps 2 of the staircase include the discharge nozzles 9, and can receive various accessories such as balneotherapy nozzles, submerged projectors, a gantry system delimiting a paddling pool, nozzles for swimming against the current. In the upper part of the module, at the level of the water, an overflow hole 10 is arranged to avoid overflows due to precipitation.

According to Figure 2, we see in more detail the piping of the circulation system, the balneotherapy system, counter-current swimming, and the evacuation of wastewater. We see the sealed tank 4 which contains the filter cartridges 6 connected by a pipe 11 to the pump 5 contained in the technical tank 3. This technical tank 3 accommodates in addition to the pump a multi-way valve 12 which makes it possible to orient the water at the pump outlet, either to the discharge nozzles 9 placed in the last steps 2 of the staircase, or to the balneotherapy nozzles 13, or to the counter-current swimming nozzles 14, or to a waste water disposal 15.

An air intake 16 fixed on the balneotherapy tubing modulates the supply of air into the circuit in order to oxygenate and emulsify the water.

According to FIG. 3, we see the module 1 comprising the steps 2 of the staircase which receive the discharge nozzles 9, the counter-current swimming nozzles 14, the balneotherapy nozzles 13, as well as the adjustable air intake 16 of said balneotherapy system which is located just above the body of water 17. We also see the weir-foot bath 7 which can also receive a shower 18. The second step 2 'of the stairs can receive a grid 19 articulated in 20 on the sides of the module, thus making it possible to define a paddling pool for children.

According to Figure 4, we see the module 1, the sealed tank 4 which contains the filters 6, the pipe 11 for supplying the pump with filtered water, the sealed box 3 which contains the pump 5 and the multi-way valve 12, l filtered water being injected through the discharge nozzles 9 at the risers. A security system 8 consisting of a floating floating shutter fixed in a notch in the weir, avoids the lack of water supply to the pump when the level in the pool drops below the upper level of the weir. The flap lightened in the upper part by a floating material is fixed to its base by a horizontal axis. Under the vacuum effect of the pump, the flap tilts more or less towards the inside of the footbath, in proportion to the water flow required to supply the pump.

According to Figure 5, we see the module 1 in elevation, comprising the sealed tank 4 surmounted by the weir-footbath 7, the water shortage safety system 8, the steps 2 of the stairs which receive the discharge nozzles 9 , the counter-current swim nozzles 14, the balneotherapy nozzles 13, the submerged lighting 21.

The device thus described operates in the following manner for filtration: the water level is located 1 or 2 cm above the overflow edge when the pump is stopped, when it starts up, it causes by suction a drop in level in the footbath, which results in the creaming of dust and other dirt that may be on the surface of the water, towards the weir, where they fall with the water on the bottom of the footbath which includes a grid to stop large impurities such as dead leaves, etc ...

The water then passes through the filter cartridges which are placed upstream of the pump allowing a very low clogging threshold of the latter. In addition, the large filtration surface makes it possible to obtain a slow speed of passage of running water with better filtration.

The present invention will advantageously be used to replace the usual technical blocks for swimming pools.

This prefabricated module will lower manufacturing costs and significantly reduce installation time.

To prevent any untimely operation of the device according to the invention in the event of an unexpected, accidental or excessively rapid drop in level of the water in the swimming pool, a level regulating system can advantageously be housed in a free space of the module 1 and control the level of the water level 17 in the tank 7.

Claims (5)

1. Modular system adapted to be associated with a swimming pool, of the type comprising a system for filtering the water from the pool and a recirculation system adapted to recycle the water from the filtration system back to the pool, these systems being integrated in a module (1) ready to be fitted to the pool, this modular assembly comprising a filtration tank (4) which houses the system for filtering the water from the pool, a technical tank (3) which houses a system for recirculating the water from the filtration tank, the tanks (3) and (4) being housed in separate portions of the module (1), the modular assembly comprising access steps (2) for the pool, which steps are immersed in the pool, means (5) for extracting water from the pool via the filtration system (4) and means (5) for recycling the water filtered in this way so as to supply the pool with filtered water and delivery means (9) housed in the technical tank (3), which modular assembly is characterized in that the module is prefabricated from plastic material, the filtration system is formed by filter cartridges (6), the filtration tank (4) is adjacent to the technical tank (3), the steps (2) form a staircase occupying the remainder of the module, the delivery pipes for the filtered water are housed below this staircase, at least one of the steps (2') is larger so as to receive a person in a lying position, the filtration tank is covered by a footbath supplied with water from the pool and contains the filter cartridges, the extraction and recycling means are formed by one or two pumps (5) so as to suction the water from the footbath (7) and through the filter cartridges (6) disposed below the footbath (7), the delivery of the filtered water into the pool is carried out by delivery nozzles (9), balneotherapy nozzles (13) and countercurrent swimming nozzles (14) and in that the nozzles are distributed over the vertical walls of the steps of the staircase (2), the balneotherapy nozzles (13) being disposed in the upper wall, while the delivery nozzles (9) are disposed in the lower wall and the nozzles for counter-current swimming (14) are disposed in the vertical wall of an intermediate step.
2. Modular assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the extraction pump and the recycling pump form a single pump from the outlet of which a multi-way valve (12) orients the water output to the selected nozzles.
3. Modular assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the footbath (7) comprises a safety flap (8) adapted to prevent any deactivation of the pump (5) in the event of a lack of water.
4. Modular assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the horizontal portion of the larger step (2') comprises a wall (19) which is articulated so that it may be placed in a vertical position and form a balneotherapy tank or a paddling pool for children.
5. Modular assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that it comprises, on the balneotherapy piping, an air intake (16) allowing the air intake into the circuit to be modulated so as to oxygenate and emulsify the water.

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