US3553744A - Aboveground swimming pool construction - Google Patents

Abstract

AN ABOVEGROUND SWIMMING POOL IN WHICH A PERIPHERAL WALL STRUCTURE IS SUPPORTED BY A PLURALITY OF SUPPORT FRAMES AND A PERIPHERAL RIM STRUCTURE INCLUDING A DEPENDING SKIRT AND AN OUTWARDLY PROJECTING DECK IS SUPPORTED BY A PLURALITY OF SUBFRAMES, EACH SUBFRAME BEING AFFIXED TO A SUPPORT FRAME BY MEANS ENABLING ADJUSTMENT OF THE LEVEL OF THE PERIPHERAL RIM STRUCTURE WITH RESPECT TO A CORRESPONDING SUPPORT FRAME SUCH THAT THE PERIPHERAL RIM STRUCTURE MAY BE MAINTAINED AT A CONSTANT HORIZONTAL LEVEL WHILE THE LEVEL OF THE SUPPORT FRAMES MAY VARY.

Description

Jan. 12, 1971 3 3,553,744

ABOVEGROUND SWIMMING POOL CONSTRUCTION Filed June 23, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g INVENTOR. 0) EDGAR T. GlL L EN Jan. 12, 1971 E. T. GILLEN I ABOVEGROUND SWIMMING POOL CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 23 O INVENTOR.

EDGAR T. GlL l EN United States Patent 3,553,744 ABOVEGROUND SWIMMING POOL CONSTRUCTION Edgar T. Gillen, North Plainfield, N.J., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Playground Corporation of America, Long Island City, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed June 23, 1969, Ser. No. 835,380 Int. Cl. E04h 3/16 US. Cl. 4172.19 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An aboveground swimming pool in which a peripheral wall structure is supported by a plurality of support frames and a peripheral rim structure including a depending skirt and an outwardly projecting deck is supported by a plurality of subframes, each subframe being afixed to a support frame by means enabling adjustment of the level of the peripheral rim structure with respect to a corresponding support frame such that the peripheral rim structure 'may be maintained at a constant horizontal level while the level of the support frames may vary.

The invention relates generally to swimming pools and pertains, more specifically, to swimming pools which rest upon the ground and are known as aboveground swimming pools and which are readily erected and dismantled for ease of storage and for portability.

Aboveground swimming pools have become increasingly popular, primarily because of their relatively low cost, their ease of installation and their ability to be readily dismantled and removed from the installation site.

Aboveground swimming pools have been limited in size in view of the excessive outward pressures placed upon the walls of such pools by large volumes of water within the pool. Additionally, it has been necessary to restrict installation of such pools to relatively level sites.

It is an important object of the invention to provide an aboveground swimming pool having an improved wall support structure which can withstand the pressures imposed by the large volumes of water contained in a relatively large pool.

Another object of the invention is to provide an aboveground swimming pool which may be installed successfully on ground which is not completely level.

A further object of the invention is to provide an aboveground swimming pool including a wall support structure which is simple in construction and readily erected with minimum effort and without special tools or skills.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a wall structure as set forth above which is selectively adjustable to compensate for variations in the level of the ground surface at any particular installation site.

The above objects, as well as further objects and advantages, are attained by the invention which may be described briefly as an aboveground swimming pool comprising a peripheral wall structure including a base portion at ground level and a vertical wall portion extending from the base portion upwardly to an uppermost peripheral edge, a plurality of support frames spaced along the wall structure, each support frame including a forward vertical member juxtaposed with the vertical wall portion externally of the pool and a horizontal base member extending outwardly at ground level, means for attaching the peripheral wall structure to the support frames, a peripheral rim structure including a depending vertical skirt portion overlapping the uppermost peripheral edge of the peripheal wall structure, a plurality of rim support sub-frames, each sub-frame including a rim support portion, means Patented Jan. 12, 1971 for aflixing each sub-frame to a corresponding support frame with the rim support portion at any selected one of a plurality of levels with respect to the ground level such that the rim support portions of all of the sub-frames are at the same horizontal level independent of any variations in the level of the base portions of the support frames, means for afiixing the peripheral rim structure to the rim support portions, the peripheral rim structure being horizontally level by virtue of the horizontally leveled rim support portions, and a pool liner juxtaposed with the peripheral wall structure and the overlapping skirt portion of the peripheral rim structure.

The invention will be more fully understood and still further objects and advantages thereof will become apparent in the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an aboveground swimming pool constructed in accordance with the invention, with portions being cut away for illustrative purposes;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the swimming pool;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view of a portion of the swimming pool illustrating the wall support structure;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the various component parts of the peripheral wall and its support structure.

Referring now to the drawing, and especially to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, an aboveground swimming pool constructed in accordance with the invention is illustrated generally at 10 and is shown erected upon the surface of ground 12.

Pool 10 has a peripheral wall structure 14 which includes vertical wall portions 16 extending upwardly from the surface of ground 12, the wall structure 14 preferably being in the form of metal sheets. A plurality of support frames 18 are placed upon the surface of the ground and spaced along the Wall structure. The wall structure 14 is aflixed to the frames 18 to establish the lateral boundaries of the swimming pool.

A peripheral rim structure 20 is located around the uppermost extent of the wall structure 14 and includes an outwardly projecting deck 22 extending around the perimeter of the pool. A pool liner 24, preferably fabricated of flexible plastic sheet material, provides the pool bottom 26 and pool sides 28 and extends outwardly along the deck 22 at peripheral liner portions 30. A deck pad 32 is placed over the peripheral portions of the liner to provide a peripheral walking and seating area around the perimeter of the pool. The deck 22 is surrounded by a protective railing 34 and access to the deck and the pool is provided by way of a staircase 3 6 between the deck 22 and the surface of the ground 12.

Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 4, as well as to FIGS. 1 and 2, the peripheral wall structure 14 includes a base portion in the form of inwardly directed flange 38 which rests upon the surface of ground, and the vertical wall portion 16 extends upwardly from the flange to an uppermost peripheral edge 39.

Each support frame 18 is seen to be fabricated from ordinary angle stock and includes a forward vertical member 40 juxtaposed with the vertical wall portion 16 externally of the pool, and a horizontal base member 42 extending outwardly at ground level and resting upon the surface of the ground. A first brace member 44 extends between the forward vertical member 40 and the horizontal base :member 42, the first brace member 44 being afiixed, as by welding, for example, to the forward vertical member 40 at 46 and to the horizontal base member at 48.

A rearward vertical member 50 extends upwardly from the base member 42 and meets with an uppermost horizontal member 52 which interconnects the rearward vertical member 50 with the forward vertical member 40 such that the support frame 18 is in the form of a rectangle. A second brace member 54 is afiixed at one end 56 to the rearward vertical member 50 and at the other end 58 thereof to the uppermost horizontal member 52 to enhance the rigidity and effectiveness of the support frame 18 without the addition of an excessive number of structural members and without requiring an excessively heavy construction.

The vertical wall portions 16 of the peripheral wall structure 14 are removably attached to the foreward vertical members 40 of the support frames 18 by nut and bolt assemblies, each including a bolt 60 passing through the respective elements and a nut 62. Thus, the combination of the support frames 18 and the peripheral wall structure 14 flfllXCd thereto provide adequate lateral support for the pool liner 24 and will easily withstand the outward forces imposed by the pressure of the water within the pool. In order to enhance the ability of the support frames 18 to resist being pushed outwardly along the sur face to the ground 12 by the force of the water within the pool 10, each support frame 18 is positively interconnected with a corresponding support frame 18 at the opposite side of the pool by means of a cable 64 affixed at each end 66 thereof to a respective opposite support frame 18. All of the cables 64 extend below the pool liner 24.

Pool is constructed for erection at a wide variety of sites, many of which may not be totally level. Pool 10 is readily erected at sites where the level of the surface of the ground may vary, by virtue of the independent nature of each of the support frames 18. Thus, each support frame 18 need not necessarily be installed precisely at the same level as any other support frame 18, and all of the support frames will rest upon the surface of the ground despite the variations in the level of that surface. However, it is important to keep the peripheral rim structure at a constant level even where variations in ground level are present. Hence, the peripheral rim structure 20 is supported by a plurality of rim support subframes 70, each subframe 70 being afiixed adjacent the top of a support frame 18.

Each subframe 70 includes a rim support portion provided in the form of the upper surface 72 of an inverted U-shaped configuration which includes a horizontal deck support member 74 and depending vertical legs 76. The depending vertical legs 76 are juxtaposed with the forward and rearward vertical members and 50 of a corresponding support frame 18 and means are provided, in the form of nut and bolt assemblies 78, for afiixing each depending leg 76 of a subframe 70 to a correspond ing vertical member 40 or 50 of the support frame 18. Each bolt of the nut and bolt assemblies 78 passes through a matching pair of apertures chosen from a series of apertures 80 in the depending legs 76 and a corresponding series of apertures 82 in the vertical members 40 and 50. A suflicient number of such apertures 80 and 82 are provided so that the level of each sub-frame 70 may be selectievly varied with respect to the support frames 18 upon which the subframe is affixed by merely matching selected apertures 80 and 82. In this manner, the level of the peripheral rim structure 20 supported by the subframes 70 may be kept constant and horizontal while the elevation of the various support frames 18 may vary.

The peripheral rim structure 20 includes a depending skirt portion 84 which overlaps the uppermost peripheral edge 39 of the wall structure 14. The skirt portion 84 is moveable with respect to the peripheral edge 39 so that as the peripheral rim structure is raised or lowered with respect to the peripheral wall structure by the raising or or lowering of a subframe 70 with respect to a corresponding support frame 18, the amount of overlap between the skirt portion 84 and the Wall structure 14 may change; however, sufiicient overlap is provided to assure that the pool liner 24 is always backed-up by a continuous support surface provided by the wall structure and the skirt portion.

A horizontal deck portion 86 extends outwardly from the skirt portion 84 and is removably affixed to the horizontal deck support member 74 of the subframe 70 by means of nut and bolt assemblies, each including a bolt 87 and a nut 88. Proper location of each subframe 70 with respect to its corresponding support frame 18 will assure that the deck portion '86 remains horizontal and level throughout the perimeter of the pool 10 even through the ground level may vary. The pool liner 24 extends over the horizontal deck portion 86 and is removably adhered to the deck portion 86 by an adhesive or by an adhesive tape (not shown). The deck pad 32 overlies the peripheral liner portions 30 and the horizontal deck portion 86 to complete the deck 22 and is removably adhered to the peripheral liner portions 30.

At least some of thesubframes 70 are provided with a rearwardly placed upwardly extending upright column 90 which, together with vertically adjustable corner posts 92, support horizontal rail members 94 to provide the peripheral protective railing 34.

Pool 10 is readily assembled by merely erecting the support frames 18 and peripheral wall structure 14, adjusting the subframes 70 with respect to their corresponding support frames 18 to level the peripheral rim structure 20 and placing the pool liner 24 and deck pad 32 in their proper positions. The pool is readily dismantled and transported or stored since no single structural element is so heavy or bulky that it cannot be handled with ease. Additionally, ordinary tools may be used for assembling or disassembling the various nut and bolt assem bies to erect or dismantle the pool. The above described pool construction may be employed in very large pools as well as in relatively small pools. Thus, standard size pools employing the above described construction have been made approximately seventy-five feet long, forty feet wide and four feet deep. Large pools have been constructed up to approximately one hundred and sixty-five feet long by forty feet wide by four feet deep and even larger pools are feasible by merely multiplying the number of component parts employed.

It is to be understood that the above detailed description of an embodiment of the invention is provided by way of example only. Various details of design and construction may be modified without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An aboveground swimming pool comprising:

a peripheral wall structure including a base portion at ground level and a vertical wall portion extending from the base portion upwardly to an uppermost peripheral edge;

a plurality of support frames spaced along the wall structure, each support frame including a forward vertical member juxtaposed with the vertical wall portion externally of the pool, and a horizontal base member extending outwardly at ground level;

means for attaching the peripheral wall structure to the support frames;

a peripheral rim structure including a depending vertical skirt portion overlapping the uppermost peripheral edge of the peripheral wall structure;

a plurality of rim support sub-frames, each sub-frame including a rim support portion;

means for affixing each sub-frame to a corresponding support frame with the rim support portion at any selected one of a plurality of levels with respect to the ground level such that the rim support portions of all the sub-frames are at the same horizontal level independent of any variations in the level of the base portions of the support frames;

means for affixing the peripheral rim structure to the rim support portions, the peripheral rim structure being horizontally level by virtue of the horizontally leveled rim support portions; and

a pool liner juxtaposed with the peripheral 'wall structure and overlapping skirt portion of the peripheral rim structure.

2. The aboveground swimming pool of claim 1 wherein each support frame includes a brace member extending between and affixed to the forward vertical member and the horizontal base member.

3. The aboveground swimming pool of claim 1 wherein each support frame is rectangular and includes a rearward vertical member extending upwardly from the base member and an uppermost horizontal member interconnecting the forward and rearward vertical members above the base member.

4. The aboveground swimming pool of claim 3 wherein each support frame includes:

a first brace member afiixed at one end thereof to the forward vertical member and at the other end thereof to the base member; and

a second brace member affixed at one end thereof to the rearward vertical member and at the other end thereof to the uppermost horizontal member.

5. The aboveground swimming pool of claim 3 whereeach subframe has an inverted U-shaped configuration including a horizontal deck support member and depending vertical legs, the depending vertical legs of each sub-frame being juxtaposed with and affixed to the forward and rearward vertical members of a corresponding support frame by said afiixing means, the deck support members of all of the subframes being at the same horizontal level by virtue of said affixing means; and

the peripheral rim structure includes a horizontal deck portion extending outwardly from the depending skirt portion, the deck portion being level by virtue of the horizontally leveled deck support members.

'6. The aboveground swimming pool of claim 5 wherein each support frame includes:

a first brace member affixed at one end thereof to the forward vertical member and at the other end thereof to the base member; and

a second brace member affixed. at one end thereof to the rearward vertical member and at the other end thereof to the uppermost horizontal member.

7. The aboveground swimming pool of claim 6 where in at least some of the subframes include a rearwardly placed upright rail-support column.

8. The aboveground swimming pool of claim 1 whereeach subframe includes a deck support portion extending outwardly with respect to the peripheral wall structure, the deck support portions of all of the subframes being at the same horizontal level by virtue of said atfixing means; and

the peripheral rim structure includes a horizontal deck portion extending outwardly with respect to the depending skirt portion, the deck portion being level by virtue of the horizontally leveled deck support portions.

9. The aboveground swimming pool of claim 8 wherein each support frame includes a brace member extending between and afiixed to the forward vertical member and the horizontal base member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner H. K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner US Cl. X.R.

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