Abstract:
Forms for building and assembling water containment holders such as but not limited to inground spas, pools, manmade ponds and fountains. The forms can have an L-shape with downwardly protruding members for allowing the forms to be placed about a base foundation having receiving openings for the protruding members. Lower walls, seats and backrests can be placed about the forms to assemble the water containment holder. All the components including the base, the forms, the seats, lower walls, and backrests can be modular components that are easily transported and assembled by an individual installer.

Description:
This application is a Div of Ser. No. 10/026,409 filed Dec. 19, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,162. 

   This invention relates to water containment holders such as spas, pools, manmade ponds and fountains, and in particular to methods and apparatus for building and installing the water containment holders from modular components. 
   BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART 
   Various methods and construction materials have been used to build pools and spas within the ground. A popular technique for building spas in the ground as required the use of a large elaborate steel type cage such as a large and heavy hexagon cage that is manufactured at remote locations and then transported as a whole piece to remote sites where the spa is to be installed. The large and heavy cages require trucks to be transported. At the installation site, installers assemble the spa by positioning pre-made sections about the cage. Finally, the areas around the cage are backfilled to complete the installation. 
   In addition to being heavy and difficult to transport, the cages can be damaged during the transportation process and have to be replaced. Also, the size of the cages requires more than worker to move them and more than one worker at the installation site which also adds extra labor expenses to the installation. The size and weight of the large and heavy hexagon cages are also difficult to maneuver at the installation sites, and can also become further damaged if moved at the site. Furthermore, since the metal cages are buried, the cages can be prone to rust and decompose unless rust resistant materials such as galvanized metal and/or coatings are used, which can add further expense and labor to the spa installation. Finally, any variation in the desired overall shape of the spa other than a hexagon shape requires an elaborate and expensive customization expense to the cost of installing the spa. 
   Various patents have been proposed over the years for assembling and building spas and pools. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,335,430 to Schwarz et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,085 to Bukaitz et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,217 to Kessler; U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,337 to Holcomb; U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,694 to Janosko et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,978 to Wood; U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,457 to Donaton; U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,644 to Cornelius; U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,421 to Watkins et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,938 to Hodak. However, none of the patents adequately overcomes the problems with assembling and installing spas as described above. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A primary objective of the invention is to provide a modular system for building and assembling water containment holders such as spas, pools, manmade ponds and fountains. 
   A secondary objective of the invention is to provide a method and components for building and assembling water containment holders such as spas, pools, manmade ponds and fountains, that does not require plural workers. 
   A third objective of the invention is to provide a method and components for building and assembling water containment holders such as spas, pools, manmade ponds and fountains, that is inexpensive and easy to assemble. 
   A fourth objective of the invention is to provide a method and components for building and assembling water containment holders such as spas, pools, manmade ponds and fountains, that does not require the transportation of large components that can be damaged during transport and installation. 
   A fifth objective of the invention is to provide a method and components for building and assembling water containment holders such as spas, pools, manmade ponds and fountains, that can be accomplished by a single installer. 
   A sixth objective of the invention is to provide a method and components for building and assembling water containment holders such as spas, pools, manmade ponds and fountains, without using large and heavy metal cages. 
   A seventh objective of the invention is to provide a method and components for building and installing water containment holders such as spas, pools, manmade ponds and fountains, that can be versatile to be used for building various shapes such as hexagons, rectangles, ovals, circles, triangles, and the like. 
   The preferred embodiment is described for using modular components such as novel L-shaped forms with additional modular components for building the water containment holders such as spas, pools, manmade ponds and fountains for both inground and above ground use. 
   Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       FIG. 1A  shows a side view of a novel L-form used in constructing a spa. 
       FIG. 1B  shows a top view of the L-form of  FIG. 1A  along arrow A 1 . 
       FIG. 1C  shows a bottom view of the L-form of  FIG. 1A  along arrow A 2 . 
       FIG. 2  shows the initial assembly step of providing a foundation base for the spa. 
       FIG. 3  shows a second step of installing the lower wall sections on the base of FIG.  2 . 
       FIG. 4  shows a third step of installing the L-forms of FIGS  1 A- 1 C on the base of FIG.  3 . 
       FIG. 5  shows a fourth step of installing the seat sections onto the L-forms in FIG.  4 . 
       FIG. 6  shows a fifth step of installing the backrest sections with the L-forms of FIG. S. 
       FIG. 7  is a side view of the assembled spa of  FIG. 6  along arrow B 1 . 
       FIG. 8  is a top view of the assembled spa of  FIG. 7  along arrow B 2 . 
       FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the assembled spa of  FIG. 8  along arrows C 1  with backfill around the spa. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the particular arrangement shown since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. 
     FIG. 1A  shows a side view of a novel L-form  1  used in constructing an inground water containment holder such as a spa, pool and manmade pond.  FIG. 1B  shows a top view of the L-form  1  of  FIG. 1A  along arrow A 1 .  FIG. 1C  shows a bottom view of the L-form  1  of  FIG. 1A  along arrow A 2 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1A-1C , the L-shaped form  1  can include a vertical leg  10  having a substantially vertical planar back surface  12  having a height of approximately 17 inches, a flat horizontal top end  14  of approximately 3 inches, and a downwardly forward sloping front surface  16 . Form  1  can include a horizontal leg  20  having an inclined rear back surface  22  (having an incline of approximately 45 degrees) being approximately 16.75 inches long, a flat planar horizontal longitudinal top surface  24  being approximately 16.5 inches long, and a vertical planar front surface  26  approximately 12 inches in height, with a lower flat planar tip end  28  approximately 8 inches in length. L-form  1  can have a uniform width of approximately 3.5 inches, and can be entirely formed from a single pre-cast material such as concrete, and the like, and include reinforcement members  30 ,  40  therethrough, such as but not limited to rebar, and the like. 
   One reinforcement member  30  can have an upwardly slightly forward bending upper end portion  32  within the vertical leg  10 , an angled mid portion  34  passing through the portion where vertical leg  10  and horizontal leg  20  meet, and a lower horizontal end portion above the flat tip lower end  28  of horizontal leg  20 . A second reinforcement member  40  can have an upper end portion  42 , and horizontal mid portion  44  and lower extending end portion  46  having a seat shape inside the L-form  1 , which follows the contour of the forward sloping front surface  16  of vertical leg  10 , flat planar horizontal longitudinal top surface  24 , and vertical planar front surface  26  of horizontal leg  20 . Extending beneath lower flat tip end  28  of the horizontal leg  20  can be a downwardly protruding portion  49  of the reinforcement member  40 . Alternatively, the L-shaped form can be pre-molded and shaped with a protruding portion  49  extending downward from the form without having to use any interior reinforcement members, and further sealing material and bonding materials can be used during the assembly which is described later. 
     FIG. 2  shows the initial assembly step of providing a foundation base  60  for the water containment holder. Foundation base  60  can be disc shaped and be formed from a pre-cast material similar to that of L-form  1  previously described. Foundation base  60  can have a circular exterior surface  62  and an interior cutout pattern  64  that can be shaped like a hexagon. While the circular exterior shape and the hexagon interior shape is shown, both the exterior shape and the interior shape can have different configurations, such as but not limited to circular, oval, rectangular, square, triangular, polygon and the like. Inside the interior hexagon cutout pattern  64  of base  60  can be a lower ledge edge  66 . Arranged about the perimeter of the upper surface of the base  60  can be openings  69  whose relevance will be described later. The foundation base  60  can be positioned over a selected surface where the water containment holder is to be installed such as but not limited to against a ground surface. 
     FIG. 3  shows a second step of installing lower wall sections  70  onto the base  60  of FIG.  2 . Each lower wall section  70  can be formed form a pre-cast material similar to the L-forms  1  and base  60  previously described. Lower wall section  70  can be rectangular shapes having a lower side  76  which can be positioned in the direction of arrow I 1  onto each ledge surface  64  inside the base  60 , and have inwardly angled sides  74 ,  78  for allowing each wall section  70  to be placed close against one another one after the other. 
     FIG. 4  shows a third step of installing the L-forms  1  of  FIGS. 1A-1C  on the base  60  of FIG.  3 . One after another each of the L-forms  1  can be placed about the base  60  by inserting the downwardly protruding portion  49  of the reinforcement members  40  in each L-form  1  (shown more clearly in  FIG. 1 ) into the openings  69  about the upper surface perimeter of the base  60 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , there are twelve openings  60  shown in the base  60  and in  FIG. 4 , there are twelve L-shaped forms  1  that are held in place by these openings  69  which support the L-shaped forms  1 . Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 4 , when the L-forms  1  are in place, each vertical planar front surface  26  of each horizontal leg  20  of the L-forms abuts against the exterior surface  75  of each wall section  70   
     FIG. 5  shows a fourth step of installing the seat sections  80  onto the L-forms  1  in FIG.  4 . Each seat section  80  can be formed from a pre-cast material such as those previously described. The seat sections can have a C-type shape having upper and lower angled leg sections  82 ,  86  about a mid-leg section  84 . The interior facing portion of the seats  80  can include an overhang portion  83  which is sized to fit over the upper side  72  of each lower wall  70 , and the outside edge of each seat  80  can include an indented ledge portion  85  whose relevance will be explained later. Each seat  80  can be placed top of the horizontal planar surface  24  of the horizontal leg  20  of each form  1  in the direction of arrow J 1  one after another until all the seats  80  are in positioned in place. In  FIG. 5 , three seat portions  80  are shown but more or less seat sections can be used as needed. 
     FIG. 6  shows a fifth step of installing the backrest sections  90  with the L-forms  1  of FIG.  5 . Each backrest section  90  can be formed from a pre-cast material previously described. Each backrest section  90  can be an enlarged version of the lower wall sections  70  and can include rectangular shapes having a lower side  96  which can be positioned onto each ledge surface  85  of seat section  80  (shown in  FIG. 5 ) and leaned against forward sloping front surface  16  of each L-form  1 . Each backrest section  90  can have inwardly angled sides  94 ,  98  for allowing each wall section  90  to be placed close against one another, one after the other, similar to the placement of lower wall sections  70 . 
     FIG. 7  is a side view of the assembled water containment holder  100  of  FIG. 6  along arrow B 1 .  FIG. 8  is a top view of the assembled water containment holder  100  of  FIG. 7  along arrow B 2 .  FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the assembled water containment holder  100  of  FIG. 8  along arrows CI with backfill  120  filled in around the water containment holder  100 . As shown in  FIG. 9 , base  60  can be initially placed on a ground surface  110  after which the water containment holder  100  such as the spa is assembled followed by the backfill  120 . In the final assembly, water lines  130  can connect to side ports  135  in the spa  100 . 
   Additionally, all joints where any component meets another component can be separately caulked and/or grouted and/or scaled as needed to form a final waterproof seal and bond between the components. Finally, the spa  100  can be ready to be filled with water and used. 
   Although the preferred embodiment describes using the novel invention to build inground water containment holders, the invention can be used for above ground applications. Furthermore, the water containment holders can be used in other applications such as but not limited to a novel constructed spa being assembled in a preexisting pool, and the like. 
   While the preferred embodiment shows building a hexagon shaped spa, the invention can be versatile to build any other shapes, such as but not limited to oval, circular, triangular, rectangular, square, polygon, and the like. 
   Although the preferred embodiment describes the invention for building spas, the invention methods and components can be used to build other water filled cavities such as but not limited to pools, manmade ponds, and fountains. For example, the Figures can also be described for building these other water containment holders. 
   Although concrete type pre-cast material has been described, the invention can be practiced with modular components using any natural or manmade materials that can be formed and/or molded, such as but not limited to rocks, wood, plastic, fiberglass, foam, and the like, and composites, and the like. 
   While the invention has been described, disclosed, illustrated and shown in various terms of certain embodiments or modifications which it has presumed in practice, the scope of the invention is not intended to be, nor should it be deemed to be, limited thereby and such other modifications or embodiments as may be suggested by the teachings herein are particularly reserved especially as they fall within the breadth and scope of the claims here appended.