FR3047033A1 - UNIVERSAL FLOATING COVER - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention describes a floating blanket (1) characterized in that it has at the periphery removable filtering grids (2) that can be mounted and dismounted by means of dismountable fastening means (3) such as grommets and magnetic fabrics , hooks, snaps.

Description

Universal Floating Blanket

TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to floating pool or pool covers in order to provide protection against the heat losses of the water of the pool during the summer and to also provide protection to maintain the water quality. of this basin during the wintering period.

State of the art

In order to maintain the quality of the water in a swimming pool there are several types of floating blankets.

Semi-rigid PVC or hinged panel shutters are a first category, and they provide both isothermal protection in the summer and most often safety against falling people in the pool. These shutters are not effective in maintaining the quality of the water during the wintering period, so they are associated with a winter protection screen, or a wintering cover. The protection screen for wintering consists of a fabric opaque to light that is placed on the shutter and carried by it, and has at its periphery rainwater filtration grids and means for fixing the rainwater. this screen to the semi rigid structure of the shutter. Patent FR2840937 describes such a type of screen that arises on the floating structure of the shutter and is worn by it because this screen does not float. The peripheral filtration grids are always integral with the screen and are integral with said screen permanently, these grids being either sewn, or welded, or glued to the screen film of the protective structure, with which they form a single surface therefore a mono product, screen and grids being inseparable. This screen also has periphery means for fixing said screen to the shutter. This patent also describes a floating structure which directly integrates the opaque screen and the filtering grids to form a body with this floating structure, a screen assembly plus grids then constituting a single surface easier to achieve. In addition, although very effective shutters have the major disadvantage of being very expensive due to their complexity.

There are also floating blankets, made of polyethylene film with air bubbles distributed under the surface. It is a tarpaulin placed on the water and floating, it covers the inner surface of the basin and its role is to limit thermal losses by evaporation. It can be opaque or translucent to sunlight for better water heating efficiency, and never has a peripheral filtration filter impurities, indeed they would be useless because these tarpaulins are used exclusively in summer season bathing. Because of their lightness and buoyancy they are very manageable therefore compatible with daily use and therefore very easy to set up and remove, an operation that can take place several times a day. For the winter season these tarpaulins are not suitable because all the debris, leaves, insects and pollution that fall on the cover during the winter are immediately found in the water of the basin in the first rain, and pollute it.

During the winter when the pool is not used, specialized wintering tarpaulins are used that overflow the edges of the pool and are stretched and fastened by peripheral peaks anchored in the concrete beaches. These tarpaulins protect the basin from any intrusion of debris or pollution in the water of the basin, which is sought during the winter. These tarpaulins are relatively heavy and difficult to install (for example it takes two hours to two people to install a winter cover over a pond of average size). These tarpaulins are not floating, and are not used in the summer because inappropriate. During the winter season these tarpaulins often have a safety function due to their robustness and their permanent presence on the pond.

There are also other types of pool covers that are suitable for all seasons and consist of fabrics stretched on curbs and supported by crossbars regularly spaced pelvis. An example of this device is described in patent EP2418339A1. All these pool covers, known as 'bar covers', are not floating and are difficult to handle.

The patent FR2653811 describes a floating and non-floating cover that can be adapted according to the periods of the year, summer or winter, by varying the dimensions of the cover by means of extension bands provided for this purpose and arranged in the central part of the cover. Thus, the bands are closed, that is to say not deployed in summer and thus define a coverage area equal to that of the pool, and they are open, that is to say, deployed in winter and define and a coverage area greater than that of the basin, to fix this tarp on the perimeter of the basin on the beaches, the major disadvantage being the prohibitive handling times the material is quite heavy, the need to put pegs on the beaches for holding in "winter" position, as well as the difficulty of realization.

Appreciation of the technique:

The "summer" floating tarpaulins fulfill the "summer" function of maintaining the temperature of the pond, and thanks to their buoyancy they are of a very simple and easy use for everyday use, moreover they are very economical. However, they do not perform the functions of the wintering covers to maintain the quality of the water during the winter. In the same way the wintering tarps satisfy this function of wintering but they are impossible to use daily in the summer during the period of use of the basin, by their great difficulty of setting up and withdrawal. The automatic shutters when they provide mainly the functions "summer" and safety, and they must add a wintering accessory to winter the pool, the flap remains a complicated product and very expensive.

For the device described in the patent FR2653811, there is a heavy manipulation to switch from the "summer" function to "winter", more this device requires to install pitons on the beach for its fixation, and its manufacture is also complex.

In the case of tarpaulins said bars, they are also a very tedious handling for medium sized basins and become unusable for larger basins (example 6 x 12 m), especially the summer for a daily use or repeated several times a day.

TECHNICAL PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED The invention describes a floating blanket that has both the functions of specialized blankets for the summer, that is to say having the great maneuverability of floating tarpaulins and also ensuring the isothermal basin on the one hand, and to have the functions of the specialized tarpaulins for wintering, that is to say, to preserve the quality of the water of the basin during this period, on the other hand, all in the same device constituting this new cover object of the invention, realizing these two quite different functions. The difficulty to solve will be to move from the "summer" function to the "winter" function with a minimum of handling time, while having a structure and characteristics of materials compatible with these two modes of use, modes that are very different seasons, and also have significantly lower costs of ownership than the tarpaulin set "summer" plus tarp d 4 "winter" necessary to ensure the effective protection of the basin throughout the year.

The general object of the invention is to respond at least in part to this need by choosing technical solutions that are easily achievable and inexpensive.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention starts from a floating cover consisting of a floating structure of which an opaque screen film is integrated into the surface of this floating structure. A dark or dark blue colored polyethylene film, for example, under which another film forms bubbles filled with air, which allows a high buoyancy and good opacity in the light of the assembly to reduce to a maximum, will be retained as fabric. photosynthesis in the pond water and therefore the proliferation of algae. Such a fabric is commonly referred to as a 'bubble cover', for example high quality 500 micron thick fabrics from Plastipack (proper name), this fabric is perfectly adapted for the summer function of the floating blanket. This function has not required peripheral filtration grids which must not be present as they are unnecessary, and moreover they would hinder the maneuvering of such covers, especially since these maneuvers can be repeated several times a day, sometimes with a specialized winder whose length corresponds to the internal width of the basin and therefore to the width of the summer floating blanket.

In 'wintering' period, floating tarpaulins are not used because they do not protect the pond water against various pollutions. In order to achieve this function, it is associated with the floating cover of the peripheral filtration grids sewn, welded or glued to said cover and forming part of it in order to produce a single surface for a single product. This permanent and simple method of fixing does not give any satisfaction when one wants to use this floating tarpaulin without its filtration grids during the summer season.

According to the invention, peripheral filtration grids are associated with the floating cover and are characterized in that these peripheral filtration grids are removable and connected to the floating cover by means of removable fasteners making it possible to easily and quickly separate the grids from filtration of the floating blanket, as well as to secure these same filtration grids to the floating blanket.

In addition, these same filtering grids are characterized in that they can be constituted for manufacturing purposes of a plurality of independent filter grid unit elements, of smaller size.

This floating blanket is also characterized in that the removable fastening means consist of at least two parts, a first part fixed the floating blanket, and a second part fixed to the peripheral filtration grid, these two parts being in correspondence. from each other after mounting the removable filter grids on the floating cover, in order to assemble for assembly and to be disassembled for disassembly of said grids.

In some embodiments described below, it is necessary to have a link which connects the first part of the removable fastening means, to the second part of the removable fastening means.

One of the difficulties to be solved is to ensure that even if the filtration grids are not integral but consist of a plurality of elements, the quality of the rainwater filtration must be ensured and maintained in all circumstances. .

To ensure this filtration quality requirement, these removable fixing means are distributed over the periphery of the floating blanket and their number is such that said means always ensure that the space between the floating blanket and the filtration grid after fixing the said means is always lower in all cases of figure to 0.5 millimeter.

In order to ensure this quality of filtration and after assembly and assembly of the filtration grids on the floating blanket, the width of these grids will be such that each of the grids must sufficiently cover the floating blanket so that there is always at least one grid zone in continuous contact between the floating blanket and the part of the filter grid which covers it.

In order to be able to simply and quickly connect the filtration grids or filter grid elements to the floating blanket, the invention proposes a non-exhaustive list of fastening means among which may be mentioned: pressure buttons associated two by two, composed of two parts facing each other, one of which constitutes a first part attached to the floating cover and the other part is a second part attached to the filter grid. . magnetic fabrics, consisting of two parts facing each other one of which will be fixed on the floating cover and the other will be fixed on the filter grids. These fabrics may be welded or glued or sewn on the corresponding support fabrics. . Velcro-type fastening fabrics (trade mark) consisting of two parts facing each other, one of which will be fixed on the floating blanket and the other will be fixed on the filtering grids. These fabrics may be welded or glued or sewn on the corresponding support fabrics. . eyelets, one of which is on the floating cover and the other on the filtering grid, these two eyes facing each other after assembly are connected by a link comprising at each end a passer which can be slip in each eyelet.

According to an advantageous variant embodiment, one of the ends of this link is directly attached to the filtering grid, which eliminates the eyelet on this grid.

In order to handle the floating blanket without any risk of deterioration, said floating blanket is characterized in that at least one longitudinal traction strap is fixed by fastening means over all or part of the length of the floating blanket. However in practice there will be at least two longitudinal pull straps installed on each side of the floating blanket. Each strap thus fixed protrudes from the floating cover and is terminated by a handle at each end of said strap. These fastening means of the straps can be continuously all over the entire strap, or be discrete means and arranged discontinuously, and thus allow the rapid disassembly of these straps.

Advantages provided by the invention:

This invention makes it possible to achieve in the same cover at the same time a floating cover of use 'summer' and having the same characteristics as the covers specialized 'summer' of the type floating tarpaulins, and to realize with this same cover the function 'winter' thanks to the quick installation of removable filtration grids transforming the summer cover into a winter cover, this being made possible thanks to the use of compatible floating fabric. The winter cover thus produced has many advantages compared to specialized winter covers, because it allows in a unique way:. to have exceptional maneuverability by the buoyancy of this tarpaulin, so greater ease of handling with reduced installation time on the basin,. it can therefore be used for large pools, whereas conventional winter tarpaulins can not. to be able to cover free forms of pond, very difficult possibility to realize by a classic wintering cover. . to have a lower cost of ownership than the acquisition of a winter cover and a summer cover 'separated.

Brief description of the drawings. Other advantages will appear better on reading the description given below as an indication and without limitation, and with reference to the drawings of which: - Figure 1 shows a top view of the floating blanket (1) with filter grilles (2) at the periphery and where are positioned detachable fastening means (3). Also shown are two longitudinal traction straps (12) with a positioning means (13) for attaching the straps to the floating blanket. FIG. 2 represents an exploded sectional view of a filter grid element fixed to the floating cover by means of various means (7), (8), or (9) respectively press studs, magnetic tissue elements, Velcro-type fastening fabric element (trade mark) whose part (6) is attached to the filtering grid and whose part (5) is attached to the floating cover. - Figure 3 shows an exploded sectional view of a filter grid member fixed to the floating cover with a link (11) terminated by a passer which can slide in an eyelet (10) integral with the floating cover. FIG. 4 represents an exploded sectional view of a filtering grid element fixed to the floating cover by means of an example of a semi-rigid and deformable link (14) fixed on the filtering grid and being able to slide into the filtering grid; eyelet (10) after deformation by a manual action for elastic shrinkage of said link (14).

Description of at least one way of carrying out the invention:

With reference to FIG. 1, a device according to the invention represents a floating blanket (1) which has removable peripheral filtration grids (2). These grids are connected to the floating cover by means of removable fasteners (3) to easily and quickly disconnect the filter grids (2) of the floating cover, as well as to secure these same filter grids (2) to the cover floating. Typically, these filter grids (2) are mesh fabrics whose mesh is sufficiently narrow to retain the impurities fallen on the floating blanket (1).

These grids are formed integrally on each length and each width of said cover (1), or are advantageously constituted by a plurality of independent unit elements (4), filter grids of smaller size .

In order to ensure that the filtration quality of the grids is assured under all circumstances, there must not be any significant space between one of the grid sections (2) and the floating cover (1). For this purpose the number and the position of the removable fixing means (3) will be such that they always ensure that the space between the floating cover and the filtering grid (2) after mounting and fixing said grid, that this space is always inferior in all cases to 0.5 millimeter.

For the same reason of homogeneous quality of filtration, the width of the filtration grids (2) will be sufficient so that after assembly and assembly of said grids on the floating cover thanks to the removable fixing means (3) these filtering grids (2) sufficiently cover the floating blanket so that there is always at least one continuous contact area between the floating blanket and the filter grid part covering it.

In order to removably attach the filtering grids (2) to the cover (1), the invention uses demountable fixing means (3) arranged at the periphery, which means consist of at least two parts, a first part (5) attaches the floating blanket, and a second portion (6) attached to the peripheral filtration grid, which portions (5) and (6) are in correspondence after mounting the removable filtration grids (2) on the blanket floating (1), in order to assemble for assembly and to disassemble for disassembly said grids.

According to a first embodiment of these dismountable means (3) and with reference to FIG. 2, the invention proposes, for the embodiments described here, three versions of assembly devices for the means (3), versions numbered 7, 8, and 9.. in a first version, the detachable fastening means (3) consist of two-by-two press-fit elements (7), or one element constitutes a first part (5) and the other element constitutes a second part (6). . . in a second version the dismountable fixing means (3) consist of magnetic tissue elements (8) associated in pairs, or an element constitutes a first part (5) and or the other element constitutes a second part (6). ). . in a third version the detachable fastening means (3) consist of elements associated two by two Velcro type hanging fabric (9) (proper name), or an element constitutes a first portion (5) and or l another element constitutes a second part (6).

The two elements of Velcro-type hook-and-loop (name proper) and magnetic fabric strips will be attached to the grids (2) and to the cover (1) by a sewing method preferably.

According to a second simpler embodiment and with reference to FIG. 3, the dismountable fixing means (3) consist of: an eyelet (10) fixed on the floating cover and constituting the first part (5),. and a link (11) fixed to the filtering grid and constituting the second part (6), which link is terminated by a passer which can slide into the eyelet (10) in correspondence.

According to a third more economical embodiment and with reference to FIG. 4, the dismountable fixing means (3) consist of: an eyelet (10) fixed on the floating cover and constituting the first part (5),. a semi-rigid and deformable link (14) fixed to the filtering grid and constituting the second part (6), a central section of said link is wider at rest than the inner diameter of the eyelet (10), link (14) slidable in the eyelet (10) in correspondence after narrowing said link (14) by manual elastic deformation of its central section, under the action of a force F. Other types of semi links rigid and deformable not shown here and having a wider central section at rest than the inner diameter of the eyelet (10) can also be retained.

We can cite : . links whose central deformable section is oval shaped,. links whose deformable section is in the form of a pointed arrow, point directed downwards. For this third embodiment, mass production of these deformable links (14), will provide a very important gain on the assembly time and the total cost of these means.

With reference to the disclosure of the invention and to Figure 1 it is installed at least one longitudinal traction strap (12), strap secured by fastening means (13) on all or part of the length of the cover floating. However advantageously for the floating blankets of larger dimensions, it will be installed as shown in Fig 1, a longitudinal strap on each side of the cover. Each strap (12) thus fixed protrudes from the floating blanket and is terminated by a handle at each end of said strap. The fastening means (13) of the straps can be disposed continuously over all over the strap, or discontinuous and removable and thus allow the disassembly of these straps.

This arrangement makes it possible to handle the floating blanket without any risk of deterioration, especially if it is of large size, because the traction forces during the positioning on the basin are thus distributed along straps.

According to a first embodiment, the fastening means (13) are permanent and are made by continuously stitching the straps (12) on the floating blanket.

According to a second simpler embodiment, the fastening means (13) are permanent and are made by discontinuous stitching of the straps (12) on the floating blanket.

According to a third embodiment, the attachment means (13) are permanent and are made by a plurality of rivets arranged along the straps (12) to ensure the attachment of the straps to the floating cover.

For aesthetic reasons during the wintering period where the floating blanket is no longer handled, the traction straps can be removed, for this purpose the means (13) are removable and allow the assembly and joining of each of the straps (12) to the floating blanket as well as their disassembly. These removable attachment means (13) use the methods already described for fixing the filter grids (2) on the floating cover, or other known methods for mounting and dismounting these straps.

For simplification of embodiment, the length of each strap (12) may be less than the length of the floating blanket, so each strap (12) has a variable length and is fixed to the floating blanket by the means (13) on any or part of the cover.

Claims (16)

1) Floating cover (1) covering a pool or pool, consisting of a floating structure, and having at its periphery filter grids (2), characterized in that the peripheral filter grilles (2) are removable and connected the floating cover by means of removable fasteners (3) for quickly and easily disconnect the filter grids (2) of the floating cover, as well as to secure these same filter grids (2) to the floating cover. 2) Floating cover according to claim 1 characterized in that the removable peripheral filtration grids (2) consist of a plurality of independent unit elements (4) of filter grids (2) of smaller size. 3) Floating cover according to the preceding claims characterized in that the removable fixing means (3) consist of at least two parts, a first portion (5) fixed to the floating cover, and a second portion (6) attached to the peripheral filtering grid, these parts (5) and (6) being in correspondence after mounting the removable filtration grids (2) on the floating cover, in order to assemble for assembly and to be able to disassemble for disassembly of said grids. 4) Floating cover according to the preceding claims characterized in that the number of removable fastening means (3) is such that these means always ensure that the space between the floating cover and the filter grid (2) after mounting and fixing is always lower in all cases at 0.5 millimeters. 5) Floating cover according to claims 1 to 4 characterized in that the removable fixing means (3) consist of pressure buttons (7) associated in pairs, composed of two elements, one element constitutes a first portion (5) and whose other element is a second part (6). 6) Floating cover according to claims 1 to 4 characterized in that that the removable fixing means (3) consist of magnetic tissue elements (8) associated in pairs, or an element constitutes a first part (5). ) and whose other element constitutes a second part (6). 7) Floating cover according to claims 1 to 4 characterized in that that the removable fastening means (3) consist of Velcro type fastening cloth elements (9) (proper name) associated two by two or one element constitutes a first part (5) and the other element constitutes a second part (6). 8) floating cover according to claims 1 to 4 characterized in that that the removable fixing means (3) are constituted:. an eyelet (10) fixed on the floating cover and constituting the first part (5),. and a link (11) fixed to the filtering grid and constituting the second part (6), a link terminated by a passer which can slip into the eyelet (10) in correspondence. 9) floating cover according to claims 1 to 4 characterized in that that the removable fixing means (3) are constituted:. an eyelet (10) fixed on the floating cover and constituting the first part (5),. a semi-rigid and deformable link (14) fixed to the filtering grid and constituting the second part (6), a central section of said link is wider at rest than the inner diameter of the eyelet (10), link (14) slidable in the eyelet (10) in correspondence after narrowing said link (14) by manual elastic deformation of its central section. 10) floating blanket according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the width of the filter grids (2) is such that after assembly and mounting on the floating cover with the removable fixing means (3), said grids filter (2) sufficiently cover the floating blanket so that there is always at least one continuous contact area between the floating blanket and the filter grid portion which covers it. 11) floating blanket according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one longitudinal traction strap (12) is fixed by fastening means (13) over all or part of the length of the floating blanket, this strap (12) protruding from the floating cover and being terminated by handles. 12) floating blanket according to claim 11, characterized in that the fastening means (13) are permanent and are made by stitching continuously straps (12) on the floating blanket. 13) floating blanket according to claim 11, characterized in that the fastening means (13) are permanent and are made by discontinuous stitching between the straps (12) and the floating blanket. 14) floating cover according to claim 11, characterized in that the fastening means (13) are permanent and are formed by a plurality of rivets arranged along the strap (12) to ensure the attachment of the strap to the floating blanket. 15) floating cover according to claim 11, characterized in that the fastening means (13) are removable and allow the mounting and the fastening of the straps (12) to the floating cover and their disassembly. 16) floating blanket according to any one of claims 11 to 15 characterized in that each strap (12) to a variable length and is fixed to the floating cover by the means (13) on all or part of the cover.