FR2787820A1 - Floating skimmer for liquid recovery from swimming pool free surface has variable buoyancy float with permanently submerged lower opening and passage linked with atmosphere above liquid surface - Google Patents

Abstract

Floating skimmer (1) has skimmer (4) and variable buoyancy float (13). Float is composed of enclosure (14) extending either side free surface and has large section lower opening (15) permanently submerged in liquid through which liquid can freely flow. It has upper constricted passage (16) in permanent communication with atmosphere above liquid surface. Variation of level of liquid inside enclosure when device is subjected to vertical wave movement is braked by restriction of air flow through constricted passage. Floating skimmer then follows vertical movement of liquid free surface (7).

Description

Floating device for collecting liquid on the free surface

of a basin.

  The present invention relates to improvements made to floating devices for collecting liquid on the free surface of a pool, in particular a swimming pool,

  connected to pumping means, these devices include

  while or being constituted by a skimmer provided with an orifice

  inlet to be kept immersed immediately in-

  below the free surface of the liquid.

  The interruption of the arrival of liquid in a skimmer can lead to a defusing of the pumping means to which it is connected and, the re-priming often not taking place automatically, it can result in a

  damage or even destruction of the pump.

  It is therefore necessary that the liquid inlet orifice of the skimmer is permanently supplied with liquid and, in the case of floating skimmers more particularly targeted in the present invention, it is necessary that this liquid inlet orifice remains submerged beneath the surface

free of liquid.

  Also so that the skimmer can ensure correct

  Its drainage function of the liquid present on the free surface with entrainment of floating debris and impurities, it is necessary that the inlet opening of the skimmer is permanently maintained immediately below

of the free surface of the liquid.

  However, there is a problem when the pool is a pool in which people bathe

  while the water filtration circuit is in operation-

  ment. Indeed, the presence of bathers generates waves on the surface of the water and, although the skimmer ensuring the withdrawal of water is of the floating type, its structure certainly gives it the buoyancy required to float in a correct position on a calm liquid surface, but does not give it buoyancy making it able to perfectly follow the movement of the waves. In these circumstances, it is therefore possible that the water inlet orifice of the skimmer is exposed in a hollow of the wave and that this results in dangerous defusing of the pumping means, or even that the orifice entry of the skimmer is immersed too deep in the liquid and is no longer able to drain the liquid superficially

  with the debris and impurities which float there.

  The object of the invention is therefore to remedy the drawbacks

  nients which have just been exposed and to propose improvements capable of modifying the buoyancy of the device on a stirred liquid surface so that the device perfectly follows even rapid movements of the liquid and that the liquid inlet orifice of the skimmer

  remains permanently submerged at the required depth.

  To this end, it is provided, according to the invention, that the device comprises at least one variable buoyancy float constituted by an enclosure which extends approximately above and below the free surface of the liquid, - which has , lower, an opening of large section permanently immersed in the liquid and through which liquid can flow freely, - and which has, upper, a choked passage in permanent communication with the atmosphere overcoming the

free surface of the liquid.

  Thanks to this arrangement, when the liquid level varies rapidly around the float (wave), the corresponding variation in the liquid level within the float is hampered by the insufficient cross-section of the air passage which prevents the volume of air above the liquid in the float to vary quickly enough. Under these conditions, when the float is placed in the presence of the rising edge of a wave (level of liquid rising around the float), the level of liquid inside the float rises more slowly, with a volume above it significant air which contributes to increasing the buoyancy of the device and makes it able to substantially follow the rising level of the front edge of the wave. On the other hand, when the float approaches the descending flank of the wave (level of liquid descending around the float), the level of the liquid inside the float drops more slowly, with a reduced volume of air above it: the relatively large volume of liquid in the float weighs down the device which is thus led to substantially follow the level

  descending from the posterior front of the wave.

  As a result, even in the presence of relatively rapid variations in the level of the free surface of the liquid, the device is able to follow these rapid variations and the water inlet orifice of the skimmer remains submerged at a substantially constant distance under the free surface: the skimmer is thus able to ensure its function despite the agitation of the surface of the liquid and in addition, even in the hollow of a wave, it spreads, or at least it significantly reduces the risk that the water inlet or

  discovered and that the pumping means are defused.

  Advantageously, the device can include several floats with variable buoyancy distributed peripherally. In order for the device to have sufficient buoyancy in all circumstances, it is desirable that it be provided with main floats having a fixed buoyancy capacity, for example in the form of closed air pockets or masses of a material having a density less than 1 (foam for example). It is then preferable to balance the upward vertical thrust exerted on the device by alternating the main floats and the

  variable floats according to the invention.

  In a preferred embodiment of the device of the invention, the variable floats are provided on a

  floating support arranged to support the skimmer.

  The invention will be better understood on reading the

  detailed description of a given preferred embodiment

  by way of non-limiting example. In this description

  tion, reference is made to the accompanying drawing in which: - Figure 1 is a schematic sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the invention, and Figures 2A and 2B are partial views, in section, of a part of the device of Figure 1 illustrating

  the operation of the device according to the invention.

  In FIG. 1 is shown a floating device for collecting liquid on the free surface 7 of a basin, and, to fix ideas, it is a device for collecting

  of water floating on the surface of a swimming pool.

  This device is, in the example considered, consisting of a floating support 1, which can in particular be fitted with floats 2 made of a material having a density less than 1 (synthetic foam or closed pocket for example). The device 1 is equipped below with a

  base 3 suitable for supporting a skimmer 4.

  The skimmer 4 can be of any type capable of ensuring the function of collecting the surface water from the pool and the debris floating thereon. In general, the skimmer 4 comprises a skimmer body 5, container open upwards, into which water comes from the surface of the pool, and provided below with a nozzle 8 passing through the base 3 and to which is fixed a tube 9 of

  connection with pumping means and filtering means

  tion of water (not shown). The skimmer body 5 supports on top a coarse filter 6 intended to retain the

  the most important debris (leaves, branches, pa-

  piers, ...). Finally, the skimmer body 5 is capped by a floating bowl 10 provided with an axial opening 11 which constitutes the water inlet of the skimmer; this floating bowl 10 can slide freely vertically on the skimmer body 4 so as to remain immediately below the surface 7 of the water so that the water from the surface of the pool passes in a lamellar flow through the axial orifice 11 and falls into the skimmer body (the level of water therein is designated by reference 12), from which it is sucked up by the

pumping means.

  To help the device follow rapid variations in the level of the free surface 7 (waves) so that the orifice 11 of the skimmer 4 remains permanently submerged at an approximately constant distance from the surface 7, provision is made to add to the floating support. one or more

  auxiliary floats 13 arranged as follows.

  The float 13 is constituted by an enclosure 14 which extends approximately vertically both above and below the surface 7 of the water. The enclosure 14 is widely open below at 15, so as to provide a free passage to the water. At the upper part of the enclosure, the wall which delimits it is pierced by a constricted passage 16 in permanent communication with the atmosphere surmounting the

free surface 7.

  Thanks to this arrangement, the enclosure 14 is partly filled with water in its lower zone 17 and partly

air in its upper area 18.

  When the surface 7 of the water in the basin is not agitated (absence of a wave), balancing the pressures inside and outside the enclosure leads to the surface 19 of the water inside the enclosure is at the same level as the surface 7 of the water in the

pelvis (Figure 1).

  When the surface 7 of the water in the basin is agitated (waves), the arrival of an ascending flank of a wave (fig. 2A) moving in the direction indicated by the arrows results in the elevation of the level of the water around the float 13. Inside the enclosure 14, the level 19 of the surface also tends to raise it (arrow 21) to balance the hydrostatic pressure. However, the volume of air 18 which surmounts the surface 19 escapes (arrow 22)

  through passage 16 while being braked due to the constriction

  ment presented by said passage 16. As a result, the rise in the level 19 of the water in the enclosure occurs more slowly than the rise in the surface 7 outside

  of the enclosure on the rising edge of the wave.

  The float 13 therefore contains an excess volume of air 18 which increases the buoyancy of the support 1 and which therefore allows it to rise more easily on the rising edge of the wave while optimally following the elevation of

level of it.

  It will be noted here that, if the elevation of the surface 19 of the water inside the enclosure 14 is braked, it is however not blocked and it continues while the device rises on the side rising wave and

crosses the crest of the wave.

  Once crossed the crest of the wave, the device

  tif approaches the falling side of the wave and the level of the surface 7 of the water outside the float 13 decreases (fig. 2B). The level 19 of the water in the enclosure 14 also tends to lower (arrow 23), but this lowering is

  braked there too, by insufficient air flow penetrating

  trant (arrow 24) in the enclosure 14 through the constricted passage 16. Consequently, the level 19 of the water in the enclosure is situated above the level 7 of the water at

outside the enclosure.

  The float 13 therefore contains an excess volume of water 17 which reduces the buoyancy of the support 1 and which allows it to descend more easily on the decreasing flank of the wave while optimally following the lowering of

level of it.

  Under these conditions, the arrangement of the device according to the invention eliminates the inertia which would prevent the device from faithfully following the rapid variations in the level of the free surface 7 of the basin and the use of one or more buoyancy floats. variable automatically in correlation with the direction of vertical movement desirable keeps the orifice 11 water inlet of the skimmer in a substantially identical immersion situation under the surface 7 of the basin. This ensures optimal maintenance of the skimmer's operating conditions: it prevents the orifice 11 from being too deeply submerged (suppression of the suction effect on the surface) or can be discovered (risk of defusing the pumping means and risk of damage,

or even destruction of these).

  To balance the vertical thrusts exerted on the device, it is advantageous to implement

  several auxiliary floats 13 regularly and symmetrically

  only distributed around the periphery of the support 1.

  In addition, in the case where the device does not have an intrinsic buoyancy and where it must be done

  call to main floats 2 of traditional structure-

  nelle with constant buoyancy (in air or in light material), the main floats 2 and the variable or auxiliary floats 13 can advantageously be arranged in an alternating structure as shown in FIG. 1, or alternatively structurally associate the floats 2 and 13 by pairs. In the preferred embodiment which has just been described, the variable floats 13 are integral with the

  floating support 1 supporting the skimmer 4 proper.

  However, other configurations are possible without

depart from the scope of the invention.

  It will also be noted that the constricted passage 16 may have a predetermined constant section, or may also have a variable section, either manually pre-adjustable, or automatically adjustable by means

appropriate (flow regulator).

Claims (7)

  1. A floating device for collecting liquid on the free surface (7) of a basin, in particular a swimming pool, connected to pumping means, this device comprising a skimmer (4) provided with an inlet orifice ( 11) to be kept immersed immediately below the free surface of the liquid, characterized in that it further comprises at least one variable buoyancy float (13) constituted by an enclosure (14) - which extends approximately at -above and below the free surface (7) of the liquid, - which has, below, an opening (15) of large section permanently immersed in the liquid and through which liquid can flow freely, - and which has, above, a constricted passage (15) in permanent communication with the atmosphere surmounting the free surface of the liquid, whereby, when the free surface of the liquid is agitated by waves, the variation in the level of the liquid at the inside the enclosure when the device undergoes the vertical movement of the waves is braked by the restriction to the flow of air through the constricted passage, so that, the float being lightened on a rising edge of a wave and being weighed down on a falling edge of a wave, the device substantially follows the vertical movement of the free surface of the liquid and maintains the orifice of the skimmer in immersion at a substantially constant depth   under the free moving surface of the liquid.   2. Floating device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises several floats with   variable buoyancy (13) distributed peripherally.   3. Floating device according to any one of   previous claims, characterized in that it comprises   further main floats (2) having a capacity fixed buoyancy.   4. Floating device according to claim 3, characterized in that the main floats (2) and the variable floats (13) are arranged alternately. 5. Floating device according to any one of   previous claims, characterized in that the   variable floats (13) are provided on a support   floating (1) arranged to support the skimmer (4).   6. Floating device according to any one of   previous claims, characterized in that the   constricted passage (16) is of predetermined fixed section.   7. Floating device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the passage   constricted (16) is of variable section.