WO1998053163A1

WO1998053163A1 - A swimming pool cleaning apparatus and a method for selectively raising or sinking a hose of the apparatus in a swimming pool

Info

Publication number: WO1998053163A1
Application number: PCT/AU1998/000369
Authority: WO
Inventors: Patrick Michael Mccullagh
Original assignee: Real Guardian Pty. Ltd.
Priority date: 1997-05-19
Filing date: 1998-05-19
Publication date: 1998-11-26
Also published as: AUPO684197A0

Abstract

There is provided a cleaning apparatus (10) for cleaning a swimming pool (12). The apparatus includes a hose (18) for the passage of water (24) from the pool and deformable means (28, 38) able to be deformed from a resting state to a working state by a pressure differential produced when water is drawn through the hose from the pool, such that the buoyancy of the hose is altered to enable the hose to float. The deformable means is adapted to be able to automatically return to the resting state from the working state to thereby cause the hose to sink when the pressure differential has been removed. There is also provided a method for selectively causing the hose of the cleaning apparatus to rise or sink in the pool.

Description

A SWIMMING POOL CLEANING APPARATUS AND A METHOD FOR SELECTIVELY RAISING OR SINKING A HOSE OF THE APPARATUS IN A SWIMMING POOL

Field Of The Invention

The present invention relates to a swimming pool cleaning apparatus of the type having a hose which is able to be selectively caused to float in the vicinity of the surface of the water in the pool or to sink from the floating position. Background Of The Invention

It is known to use the flow of water through the suction hose of a swimming pool cleaner to produce a pressure differential between the interior and exterior of a bladder to thereby increase the buoyancy of the hose so that it is able to float, and reference is made to Australian Patent No. 608985 in this regard. The hose is able to sink if the buoyancy of the hose is reduced by removing the pressure differential.

In cleaner arrangements disclosed in that patent, the bladder is arranged within the hose and is connected to a conduit in the form of a breather tube which passes through the side wall of the hose and opens to the atmosphere. When the water is drawn through the hose, air is simultaneously drawn from the atmosphere into the bladder through the breather tube to thereby increase the hose bouyancy. In order to achieve the sinking of the hose, the free end of the breather tube is inserted back into the hose downstream of the bladder so that the air is drawn from the bladder with continued flow of the water. However, the need to do this can be bothersome. The hose is also able to be caused to sink in the pool by stopping the filter pump or otherwise halting the flow of water through the hose. By halting the flow of water, the pressure differential between the interior and exterior of the bladder is removed allowing a small depth pressure effect to act to force air from the bladder and so reduce the bouyancy of the hose with time. However, the time required for the hose to sink can be relatively long which is undesirable as the presence of the hose in the vicinity of the pool surface can obstruct free use of the pool. The bladder is also generally attached to the side wall of the hose via the breather tube at a downstream end of the bladder. However, frictional and pressure forces imparted on the bladder by the water flowing through the hose act to buckle the bladder. This requires the bladder to also be anchored to the wall of the hose at an upstream end of the bladder which increases manufacturing difficulty.

A further problem with such an arrangement is that it is possible for debris which has been drawn into the hose to become trapped by the presence of the bladder, particularly at the points where the bladder is secured to the hose. This is highly undesirable since once trapped, additional debris tends to accumulate which may ultimately cause significant blockage of the hose. Summary Of The Invention

It is an aim of the present invention to ameliorate one or more problems of the prior art.

In a first aspect of the invention there is provided a cleaning apparatus for cleaning a swimming pool, and including: a hose for the passage of water from the pool; and deformable means able to be deformed from a resting state to a working state by a pressure differential produced when water is drawn through the hose from the pool, such that the buoyancy of the hose is thereby altered to enable the hose to float; said deformable means being adapted to be able to automatically return to the resting state from the working state to thereby cause the hose to sink when the pressure differential has been removed.

In a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of raising and sinking a hose of a cleaning apparatus for cleaning a swimming pool, involving: causing water to be drawn through the hose from the pool to thereby produce a pressure differential sufficient to cause deformable means to deform from a resting state to a working state, and alter the buoyancy of the hose such that the hose rises in the pool; said deformable means being adapted to be able to automatically return to the resting state from the working state when the pressure differential is removed and the method further involving; removing the pressure differential so that the deformable means automatically returns to the resting state to thereby cause the hose to sink in the pool.

The deformable means may be formed from any material deemed suitable and will typically comprise at least one enclosure vessel. The enclosure vessel may be in the form of a bladder arranged within the hose. Alternatively, the enclosure vessel may be a sealed reservoir arranged exterior to the hose and which opens into a bladder arranged within the interior of the hose.

Usually, the deformable means will be caused to return to the resting state from the working state due to the resilience of the material from which the deformable means is formed.

As the deformable means is able to automatically return to the resting state once the pressure differential has been removed, the buoyancy of the hose is able to be reduced rapidly compared to the prior art and so facilitate the sinking of the hose in the pool in a shorter period of time.

The invention will now be described with reference to a number of preferred, non-limiting embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. Brief Description Of The Accompanying Drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a cleaning apparatus of the invention arranged in a swimming pool;

Figure 2 is a transverse cross-sectional view of an enclosure vessel of the cleaning apparatus shown in fig. 1 in its resting state; Figure 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the enclosure vessel shown in fig. 2 in its working state;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of another enclosure vessel of a cleaning apparatus of the invention in its resting state;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the enclosure vessel shown in fig. 4 in its working state; Figure 6 is a schematic view of another embodiment of a cleaning apparatus of the invention arranged in a pool;

Figure 7 is a schematic view of a yet further embodiment of a cleaning apparatus of the invention arranged in a pool; and Figure 8 is a schematic view of still another enbodiment of a cleaning apparatus arranged in a pool. Best Mode Of Carrying Out The Invention

In fig.l there is shown a swimming pool cleaning apparatus 10 in a swimming pool 12 and having a suction head 14 attached to an inlet end 16 of a suction hose 18. An opposite outlet end 20 of the hose is in turn secured to an inlet to a filter pump 22.

Water 24, algae and debris such as leaves that may be present in the pool are drawn into the suction head 14 and through the hose by filter pump 22 in use, prior to the water being passed through a filter (not shown) and being recirculated back into the pool through recirculation outlet 26.

As can be seen, a bouyancy bladder 28 is located within the hose 18. A leading end region 30 of the bladder is secured to the hose to inhibit the bladder from buckling due to pressure and frictional forces resulting from the flow of the water through the hose. A trailing end region 32 of the bladder opens into a conduit in the form of a breather tube 34 which in turn opens to the atmosphere. If desired, the breather tube may be supported by a float 36 for maintaining the conduit in communication with the atmosphere or alternatively, open into a sealed air filled reservoir 38 as indicated in phantom outline in fig. 1.

As the water is drawn through the hose 18 by the filter pump 22, a decreased pressure relative to the interior of the bladder 28 is produced in the hose. The pressure differential causes air to be drawn from the atmosphere in the instance where the breather tube 34 opens directly into the environment, or alternatively from reservoir 38, so that the internal volume of the bladder 28 increases. This results in an increase in buoyancy of the hose 18 and causes the hose to float in the vicinity of the surface of the water as shown. When the flow of water through the hose is halted, the pressure differential is removed and air moves back into the atmosphere or the reservoir 38 as the case may be. As such, the buoyancy of hose 18 is reduced and the hose is caused to sink in the pool under the effect of the weight of the hose. Generally, discrete weights will be attached to the hose in order that the hose be sufficiently weighted to enable it to sink once the pressure differential has been removed.

The hose 18 is weighted so that it does not sink to the bottom of the pool unless the pool is reasonably shallow. This ensures that depth pressure effects are able to be overcome and the hose is able to be raised and hence return to its floating position when the water is drawn through the hose.

In embodiments of the invention, either the bladder 28, the reservoir 38, or both the bladder and the reservoir may be adapted to inherently and automatically return to their resting state so that the hose sinks relatively quickly once the flow of the water through the hose has been halted. If desired, the bladder may be formed as shown in fig. 2. In this instance, the bladder has a crescent shaped cross-section lying in a plane extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the bladder, and incorporates a logitudinally extending wall region 40 having a thickness that is substantially reduced compared to the remainder of the side wall 42 forming the bladder. When the pressure differential is produced between the interior 44 and exterior of the bladder indicated by the numeral 46, air is drawn into the bladder as it inflates causing wall region 40 to preferentially balloon outwardly relative to the remainder of the side wall as shown in fig. 3. Upon removal of the pressure differential when flow of the water through the hose 18 is halted, the wall region 40 is forced to return to its resting position due to the action of a restoring force resulting from the resilience of the material from which the side wall 40 and 42 of the hose is formed. This results in the air being forced from the bladder reducing the buoyancy of the hose so that the hose thereby sinks in the pool.

As indicated in fig. 4, reservoir 38 of an embodiment may also incorporate a region of reduced wall thickness 50 relative to the remainder of the wall 52. In this case, air is drawn from the interior 54 of the reservoir into conduit 34 in response to the pressure differential produced between the interior 44 and exterior 46 of the bladder when the water is caused to flow through the hose under the action of filter pump 22. As a result, the reservoir 38 collapses and adopts the shape shown in fig. 5 while at the same time, the buoyancy of the hose 18 is increased so that the hose is able to float in the vicinity of the surface of the water as illustrated in fig. 1.

When the flow of water through the hose is halted, the pressure differential is removed and a restoring force resulting from the resilience of the material from which the reservoir is formed acts to return the reservoir to its resting state. As the reservoir returns to its resting shape air is drawn from interior 44 of bladder 28 so that the buoyancy of the hose 18 is reduced causing the hose to sink in the pool.

It will be understood, however, that it is not necessary for the reservoir 38 or the bladder 28 to incorporate regions of reduced thickness 40 or 50 to achieve the return to the resting state following deformation and more particularly, restoration to the resting state may be achieved solely by the bladder or the reservoir being formed from a material having sufficient resilience to be self restoring upon removal of the pressure differential.

In the cleaning apparatus 10 shown in fig. 6, the breather tube 34 extends from the leading end region 30 of the bladder and passes through the hose at which point the tube is also secured to thereby anchor the bladder in position within the hose. By doing this, it is not necessary for the trailing end region 32 of the bladder to also be secured to the hose. This makes for easier manufacture of the cleaning apparatus 10 and furthermore, reduces the possibility of debris that may be drawn into the hose through the suction head 14 becoming trapped and accumulating within the hose since the bladder is able to swing as necessary about the point of attachment to the hose to facilitate the passage of the debris.

Yet another cleaning apparatus 10 is illustrated in fig. 7. Here, the breather tube again extends through and is secured to the side wall of hose 18. However, rather that being attached to holder 62 at pool side 60 as in the fig. 6 embodiment, the breather tube is supported above the surface of the water by float 36 or alternatively, opens into reservoir 38 as shown.

In the cleaning arrangement 10 depicted in fig. 8, deformable means is in the form of a membrane 64 arranged within a substantially non-collapsible housing 66 so as to divide the interior of the housing into first and second compartments 68 and 70. As can be seen, the housing is open to the interior of the bladder and at least the first compartment is filled with water. In its resting state, the membrane 64 extends unstretched across the housing's interior. However, when water flows through hose 18 the resulting pressure differential causes the membrane to balloon inwardly into second compartment 70 as illustrated in the figure. At the same time, air is drawn into the first compartment 68 through breather tube 34 which opens to the atmosphere. As a result, the buoyancy of the hose 18 increases so that the hose is able to float in the vicinity of the surface of the water 24.

When the flow of the water through the hose is halted and thus the pressure differential between the compartments of the housing removed, the inherent resilience of the material from which membrane 64 is formed causes the membrane to automatically return to its resting state forcing the air from the first compartment 68 and allowing the hose to sink in the pool.

The breather tube 34 of the embodiment shown in fig. 8 wraps around the exterior of hose 18 and accordingly, there is nothing located within the hose to obstruct the passage of any debris that may be drawn into the hose with the water when the cleaning apparatus 10 is in operation.

If desired, rather than membrane 64 being provided in the interior of housing 66, the breather tube 34 could instead open into a bladder able to function in the same manner as the membrane.

For convenience, the breather tube 34 has been shown in a number of the accompanying drawings as being relatively short. However, it will be appreciated that the breather tube will be of a length to allow the hose to sink sufficiently in the water to allow substantially unobstructed use of the surface region of the pool and permit inlet 58 of the breather tube to remain above the water surface. Similarly, in forms of the invention provided with a reservoir 38, the conduit 34 will generally be of a length to allow the hose to sink to the desired depth while the reservoir remains floating on or in the vicinity of the water surface.

Although the present invention has been described hereinbefore with reference to a number of preferred embodiments, further variations and modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the following claims.

Claims

The Claims Defining The Invention Are As Follows:

1. A cleaning apparatus for cleaning a swimming pool, and including: a hose for the passage of water from the pool; and deformable means able to be deformed from a resting state to a working state by a pressure differential produced when water is drawn through the hose from the pool, such that the buoyancy of the hose is thereby altered to enable the hose to float; said deformable means being adapted to be able to automatically return to the resting state from the working state to thereby cause the hose to sink when the pressure differential has been removed.

2. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the deformable means is formed from resilient material and wherein the resilience of the material is sufficient to be able to cause the deformable means to automatically return to the resting state from the working state.

3. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the deformable means comprises at least one enclosure vessel.

4. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the enclosure vessel is defined by a wall surrounding an interior space, and the wall incorporates at least one region having a reduced thickness compared to the remainder of the wall and which is able to be preferentially deformed relative to said remainder of the wall.

5. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 3 or 4 wherein the vessel is a bladder arranged such that the pressure differential is able to be produced between the interior and the exterior of the bladder.

6. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the bladder is arranged within the interior of the hose.

7. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the hose has an inlet end for entry of the water into the hose and an opposite outlet end for passage of the water from the hose, and the bladder is attached to the hose at a desired point, and wherein substantially the entire bladder is located to one side of said desired point in a direction toward the outlet end of the hose.

8. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 5 or 6 wherein the bladder is open to a sealed gas containing reservoir arranged externally of the hose, and gas is able to be drawn from the reservoir as the bladder deforms from the resting state to the working state, and be forced from the bladder as the bladder returns to the resting state.

9. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 5 or 6 wherein gas is able to be drawn from the atmosphere to thereby alter the buoyancy of the hose as the bladder is deformed from the resting state to the working state, and be forced back into the atmosphere as the bladder returns to the resting state.

10. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 3 or 4 wherein the enclosure vessel is a reservoir located externally of the hose and which opens into a bladder, and wherein the bladder is arranged such that the pressure differential is able to be produced between the interior and the exterior of the bladder to cause gas to be drawn from the reservoir as the reservoir is deformed to the working state, and wherein gas is able to be withdrawn from the bladder by the reservoir as the reservoir returns to the resting state.

11. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the bladder is arranged within the interior of the hose.

12. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the deformable means comprises at least one membrane extending across and dividing an interior of a housing into a first compartment containing water and a second compartment in communication with the interior of the hose, wherein the pressure differential is able to be produced between the first and second compartments and gas is able to be drawn into the first compartment to thereby alter the buoyancy of the hose as the membrane is deformed from the resting state to the working state.

13. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 12 having a conduit for passage of the gas from the atmosphere into the first compartment of the housing.

14. A method of raising and sinking a hose of a cleaning apparatus for cleaning a swimming pool, involving: causing water to be drawn through the hose from the pool to thereby produce a pressure differential sufficient to cause deformable means to deform from a resting state to a working state, and alter the buoyancy of the hose such that the hose rises in the pool; said deformable means being adapted to be able to automatically return to the resting state from the working state when the pressure differential is removed and the method further involving; removing the pressure differential so that the deformable means automatically returns to the resting state to thereby cause the hose to sink in the pool.

15. A method according to claim 14 wherein the deformable means is formed from resilient material and wherein the resilience of the material causes the deformable means to return to the resting state from the working state.

16. A method according to claim 14 or 15 wherein the deformable means comprises at least one enclosure vessel.

17. A method according to claim 16 wherein the enclosure vessel is a bladder and the pressure difference is produced between the interior and exterior of the bladder causing gas to be drawn into the bladder and hence the buoyancy of the hose to alter.

18. A method according to claim 17 wherein the gas is forced from the bladder as the bladder automatically returns to the resting state when the pressure differential is removed.

19. A method according to claim 16 wherein the enclosure vessel is a reservoir located externally of the hose and which opens into a bladder, and wherein the pressure differential is produced between the interior and exterior of the bladder so that gas is drawn from the reservoir when the pressure differential is produced and is withdrawn back into the reservoir due to expansion of the reservoir as the reservoir automatically returns to the resting state from the working state upon the removal of the pressure differential.

20. A cleaning apparatus for cleaning swimming pools substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

21. A method of raising and sinking a hose of a cleaning apparatus for cleaning a swimming pool, substantially hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.