Abstract:
A floating debris capture device and method which can be employed by those who have a normal pool cover which does not have a debris capture system. The device is located under the side regions of a floating pool cover, where debris is either washed or swept from the cover as it&#39;s reeled onto a spool during the cover removal operation. The device comprises a floating frame and a mesh screen. Extending from the side of the device adjacent to the pool wall is a positioning wing flap, which serves to anchor the device to the corner edge of a pool, and retain the device in proper position to catch debris as a pool cover is rolled up onto a spool.

Description:
[0001]    The applicant for utility patent coverage in the U.S. for the invention taught, enabled, and claimed in this application for Patent, hereby incorporates by reference herein, and under 37 CFR 119(e) claims the benefit of priority of the respective filing date accorded the following provisional patent application earlier filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, namely:
       U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/843,468 filed Sep. 7, 2006 and entitled “Debris Collection Accessory for Swimming Pool Covers”       
 
     
     FIELD OF INVENTION  
       [0003]    The present invention relates to a device to provide an economical and efficient means for capturing and removing fallen debris scattered atop a floating swimming pool cover, as it&#39;s rolled up and removed from the surface of the pool. 
       BACKGROUND  
       [0004]    Many floating swimming pool covers are rolled onto a spool as a convenient means to remove and temporarily store them each time the pool is used. One person can easily remove and deploy a large cover in this manner. Debris that has fallen and scattered over the surface of the cover while it is deployed has to be addressed during the cover removal process. At the spool end of the pool, as the cover makes the transition to a near-vertical orientation when it is rolled up onto the spool, the debris tumbles downward and accumulates at the curve in the cover where it leaves the surface of the pool. As the last few feet of the cover approach the spool and turn upward, away from the pool surface, the accumulated debris falls off the end of the cover and into the water. This debris must then be manually removed quickly, as portions of it may sink to the bottom or float farther out onto the pool surface. Alternatively, if the operator wishes to prevent debris from being rolled up with the cover, he may use a garden hose to wash debris downward from the vertical portion of the cover, as it&#39;s rolled up. This accumulation of water on the surface of the cover has a tendency to run off the sides of the cover as it&#39;s rolled up, carrying debris with it onto the pool surface near each side of the pool. The route of this water/debris runoff is largely unpredictable, as it finds its own path among the changing contour of the moving cover. The runoff path does, however, remain mostly within a few feet of the spool end of the pool. 
         [0005]    Previously, pool covers have been described which include a mesh material as a part of the cover to capture debris, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,286 by Foster, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,351 by Hinsperger. However, in each of these prior attempts, the debris capture is performed by an integrated portion of a specialized pool cover, which does not provide any help for those who already have a pool cover which does not include an integrated debris capture system. Currently, no separate, after-market device is available to mitigate this problem of debris from the top of a pool cover falling into the pool water when the cover is roller up onto it&#39;s spool. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The principal object of the present invention is to provide a floating debris capture device and method which can be employed by those who have a normal pool cover which does not have a debris capture system, and wish to also have a debris capture system. The inventive device can be used in conjunction with many types of standard pool covers. 
         [0007]    The device presents a debris capture basin to be located under the side regions of a floating pool cover, where debris is either washed or swept from the cover as it&#39;s reeled onto a spool during the cover removal operation. 
         [0008]    In operation one or more devices are employed, either at one end of a pool cover, or with a device under both ends of a pool cover. Each comprises a floating frame and a mesh screen. The frame is preferably comprised of a relatively stiff, floating material, such as a buoyant type of foam, which defines and maintains the overall shape of the device, holds screen mesh material in proper orientation, and keeps the device afloat. 
         [0009]    Extending from the side of the device adjacent to the pool wall and beyond the frame is a wing flap, such as an anchoring flap, which serves to anchor the device to a desired location at the corner edge of a pool, and retain the device in proper position to catch debris from a pool cover when it is rolled up onto a spool. Attached to the outer region of this wine flap is a weighted anchoring material to help keep the device in position relative to the sidewall of the pool and the floating pool cover. 
         [0010]    In use a device is placed in the water in each corner of a pool ender the spool end of a deployed, floating pool cover. The wing or flap of screen is then flopped up, onto the pool deck and held in place on the pool deck by the attached weighted material. With the device(s) deployed in this manner, the cover is then cranked onto the spool, as it&#39;s removed from the pool surface. 
         [0011]    If water is being used to wash debris from the cover as it&#39;s reeled from the pool surface, the wash water will travel downward and outward towards the pool edges, picking up debris along its path toward the edge of the cover. As the cover is reeled from the pool surface, the continuous flow of water and debris moves toward and off the side edge of the cover, where it&#39;s captured and contained by the device. The function of the wing or flap deployed onto the pool deck is to prevent this debris-laden water from escaping beyond the outer edge of the device and into the pool. 
         [0012]    If water is not used to wash debris from the cover, as it&#39;s reeled from the pool surface, most of the debris will tumble down and collect in a line in the region of the cover, where it makes the transition from horizontal to vertical. If the cranking operation is temporarily stopped with approximately two feet of the cover remaining on the pool surface, the accumulated debris can be swept with a broom along the surface of the cover and off its edge into the device. The flap on the pool deck prevents debris swept along the surface of the pool cover from escaping beyond the outer edge of the device and into the pool. 
         [0013]    Upon completion of the debris collection process, the flap is flopped onto the main body of the device partially covering the captured debris; the front end of the device is lifted upward, over and dropped down upon the opposite end adjacent to the spool. The operator can then grasp the two sections of the device and lift and remove the debris-laden device from the pool. 
     
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  depicts a debris capture device in the corner of a pool. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  depicts the cover in its deployed orientation with the debris capture device inserted under the side edge of the floating cover, in the corner of the pool adjacent to one end of the cover spool. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  depicts the floating pool cover rolled up on the spool except for the final two or three feet and with accumulated debris washed laterally across the surface of the floating cover into the corner of the cover. The flap deployed on the adjacent pool deck captures debris that otherwise could have overshot the edge of the device and landed in the water. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  depicts the floating pool cover rolled up on the spool except for the final two or three feet and with accumulated debris being swept from the pool cover into the debris capture device. Also shown, is a combination of flaps deployed onto the pool deck along one side and into the corner area of the pool. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  depicts the debris capture device deployed in the corner of the pool, floating adjacent to one end of the cover spool in its rolled up orientation. All the debris from the pool cover is shown transferred onto the debris capture device 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  depicts the first step in removing the debris-laden capture device from the surface of the pool, with the wing flap flopped back over onto the device and partially covering the captured debris. 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  depicts the second step in removing the debris-laden device from the surface of the pool, with the outer end of the device being flopped or folded toward the back wall over the inner end of the device, further covering and containing the captured debris. 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  depicts the carrying handles and shows where an operator would pick up the device to remove it from the pool. 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  depicts a detail in the frame area of the device, showing the frame material contained within a sleeve of the screen material and further showing a break or space in the frame material which facilitates folding one part of the device back upon itself. 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  depicts a cross section of a portion of the device, showing the frame material sewn, bonded, or otherwise contained with a pocket formed by the screen material. 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  depicts a cross section of a portion of the device, showing the frame material sewn, bonded, or otherwise contained with a pocket formed by the screen material, and also shows the cross section of the wing flap and weighting material. 
           [0025]      FIG. 12  depicts a top view of the device, showing the frame around the perimeter, the portion of the screen within the frame, the side flap, handles, along with approximate dimensions. 
           [0026]      FIG. 13  depicts another embodiment of the device having an enlarged version with two parts spanning the end of the pool adjacent to the cover spool and overlapping in the center area. With this embodiment, accumulated debris need not be swept or washed into the corner areas, as it can fall off anywhere along the width of the cover and be captured by the enlarged device, as the end of the cover exits the water. 
           [0027]      FIG. 14  depicts a further embodiment of the device, where flaps extend beyond two sides of the device and are deployed onto the pool deck at the sides and along the spool end of the pool, where they overlap. 
           [0028]      FIG. 15  depicts an embodiment of the device containing two folds, one along each axis of the device. 
           [0029]      FIG. 16  depicts how the device could be used in a kidney shaped pool. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0030]    Provided is an inventive debris capture device  10  which is shown in  FIG. 1 , primarily for use in capturing debris which falls from a swimming pool cover when such cover is retracted. The capture device  10  comprises a water permeable fabric mesh screen  12 . The mesh screen  12  is made of a flexible fabric through which water can flow, yet which has a tight enough mesh size so that leaves, grass clippings and most debris found on a swimming pool cover cannot pass through. Common nylon or fiberglass bug screen such as used in household window screens has most of the qualities desired and could be used for the water permeable fabric of the screen mesh  12 . In a preferred embodiment a water permeable fabric mesh screen could be made from one or more layers of perforated fabric such as the types of nylon fabric used for athletic sports equipment and athletic shirts and jerseys. 
         [0031]    The capture device  10  is made to float on the pool water surface. In a preferred embodiment, capture device  10  is made in a rectangular shape, such that the screen mesh  12  is attached to a frame  14  and supported on three or more sides by perimeter floatation  16 , such as with elongated pieces of buoyant foam. Such foam used for perimeter floatation  16  can be made of strips of durable floating foam such as used in common swimming pool floating tubes known in the arts as “noodles”. Many types of floatation  16  could work although one preferred type of material for floatation  16  would be high density expanded polyethylene. Such foam strips for floatation  16  can be preferably ¾″ in cross section, although this dimension is not critical. The important factor in preferred embodiments of the perimeter floatation  16 , is that such floatation  16  is water resistant, durable, safe for usage and storage in vicinity of swimming pools, inexpensive, and possesses sufficient buoyancy to support the weight of the screen mesh and debris collected in usage such that the debris is not allowed to become loose into the pool. 
         [0032]    The perimeter floatation can be made in a variety of embodiments including continuous elongated shapes, or independent segments of buoyant material. In some preferred embodiments the entire frame  14  can be comprised of elongated strips of perimeter floatation  16 , to encompass most all of the full perimeter of the screen mesh  12 . In some such embodiments, as shown in  FIG. 10 , the screen mesh  12  can be attached to the frame  14  by folding the edges of the screen mesh  12  around the frame  14 , and securing such as by stitching with a durable water resistant and sunlight resistant thread  18 . 
         [0033]    In another, preferred embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 11 , the perimeter floatation  16  can be contained within a separate piece of fabric casing  20 , made of a tough material like nylon. This nylon casing  20  protects the floatation  16  from degradation from exposure to sunlight. 
         [0034]    Extending from the side of the device  10 , attached to the frame  14  on the pool adjacent side  22  as shown in  FIG. 1 , is positioning wing flap  24  which is used to connect to the edge of the pool in such a way as to keep the device  10  in proper position to capture debris as it falls from the pool cover when the cover is rolled onto a spool. The positioning wing flap  24  comprises a vertical position  26  which rises up the vertical edge of the pool, and a horizontal portion  28  which flops up onto the nominally horizontal edge of the pool deck. The vertical portion  26  is attached to the perimeter frame  14  such as by stitching, as shown in  FIG. 11 . 
         [0035]    The horizontal portion  28  of the positioning wing flap  24  preferably further comprises a weighted anchoring material  30  which further helps keep the device  10  in proper position. The weighted anchoring material  30  can be made using any number of dense materials as known by those skilled in the arts, such as a sand bag, a water bladder, or any such dense material sufficient to properly weight the positioning wing flap  24 . 
         [0036]      FIGS. 2-7  show a sequence of how the device  10  can be used. In use a device  10  is placed in the water in each corner of a pool ender the spool end of a deployed, floating pool cover. A schematic of such a corner placement is shown in  FIG. 2 . The positioning wing flap  24  is then flopped up, onto the pool deck and held in place on the pool deck by the weighted anchoring material  30 . With the device  10  deployed in this manner, the pool cover is then cranked onto the spool, shown in  FIG. 2 , as the pool cover is removed from the pool surface. 
         [0037]    If water is being used to wash debris from the cover as it&#39;s reeled from the pool surface, the wash water will travel downward and outward towards the pool edges, picking up debris along its path toward the edge of the cover. As the cover is reeled from the pool surface, the continuous flow of water and debris moves toward and off the side edge of the cover, where it&#39;s captured and contained by the screen mesh  12  portion of the device  10 . The function of the positioning wing flap  24  deployed onto the pool deck is to prevent this debris-laden water from escaping beyond the outer edge of the device and into the pool. 
         [0038]    If water is not used to wash debris from the cover, as it&#39;s reeled from the pool surface, most of the debris will tumble down and collect in a line in the region of the cover, where it makes the transition from horizontal to vertical as shown in  FIG. 4 . If the cranking operation is temporarily stopped with approximately two feet of the cover remaining on the pool surface, the accumulated debris can be swept with a broom along the surface of the cover and off its edge into the device  10  as shown in  FIG. 4 . The positioning wing flap  24  on the pool deck prevents debris swept along the surface of the pool cover from escaping beyond the outer edge of the device and into the pool. Thusly the debris is transferred from on top of the pool cover, into the screen mesh portion  12  of the device  10  as shown in  FIG. 5   
         [0039]    Upon completion of the debris collection process, the positioning wing flap  24  is flopped down onto the screen mesh portion  12  of the device  10 , partially covering the captured debris, as in  FIG. 6 . The front end of the device  10  is lifted upward, over and dropped down upon the opposite end adjacent to the spool as shown in  FIG. 7 . The operator can then grasp the two sections of the device  10  and lift and remove the debris-laden device  10  from the pool, as shown in  FIG. 8 . A debris capture device  10  can be made further comprising one or more handles to facilitate ease of removal from a pool. 
         [0040]    The capture device  10  is made such that it can be folded up as described above, and as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 .  FIG. 8  shows how the perimeter frame  14  can be made with a gap  32  in the floatation  16 , so that the device  10  is easy to fold up. 
         [0041]      FIG. 12  shows that a good size for a basic embodiment of device  10  would be approx.  18  inches by  36  inches.  FIGS. 13 and 14  show how two of said device  10  can be made in a larger sized format, such as to overlap and fit across the width of a pool.  FIG. 15  shows how in one embodiment, a device  10  can be made to fold in a first direction and then in a second direction, which is useful when a device  10  is made in a large sized format.  FIG. 16  shows how a plurality of devices  10  can be deployed, such as to work with odd shaped pools such as kidney shapes 
         [0042]    The device can have numerous embodiments and can be manufactured in various sizes and can function as described in various configurations and shapes. Materials used to manufacture this inventive device can be metal, plastic, rubber, screen, fabric or any material suitable for construction of the device. In a currently preferred embodiment described for example herein the components can be made using flexible screen, molded plastic, foam and fabric as are well known in the industry. Additional methods of manufacture can include molding, welding, milling, screwing, bonding, gluing, friction or any method suitable for construction of the device. The device may contain other attached or attachable devices or pieces. Any applicable feature of any version of the device may be employed on any other version.