Abstract:
A plenum chamber mounted to the underside of a filter cover of a portable spa provides a source of constant water flow for a waterfall. The plenum chamber is fed by a line from a water flow system of the portable spa. The plenum chamber has a shaped exit that causes a predetermined waterfall effect. A light source located at the shaped exit lights up the waterfall. Another light source is located in the filter housing to create backdrop lighting for the waterfall. The light sources are preferably fiber optic or arrays.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates generally to improvements in portable spas, and more particularly, pertains to a new and improved water feature for a portable spa. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   In the field of portable spas, it has been the practice to utilize a variety of entertainment devices appealing to both the visual and the aural senses, besides providing the soothing, warm, bubbly, massaging waters. Thus, the prior art has devised means of providing music at the portable spa and means of changing the color of the water in the portable spa, for example. In order to appeal to the visual senses, certain prior art has provided waterfall features in the spa. However, such waterfall features tend to take up room in the portable spa that could be better used for additional seating. The present invention provides a waterfall feature without requiring the use of any space in a portable spa that could be used for seating. U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,568 is directed to a waterfall apparatus combined with a skimmer. Although its combination does not use space that could be used for seating, the waterfall feature provided is lacking in aesthetic elegance. The present invention overcomes these shortcomings. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A waterfall feature is built into the underside of a filter cover for a portable spa by providing a plenum chamber mounted to the underside of the filter cover. The plenum chamber is fed water at an inlet by a line from one of the water flow systems of the portable spa. A shaped exit to the plenum chamber provides a shaped waterfall with a constant flow. A light source located at the exit of the plenum chamber lights the waterfall in a desired color. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The objects and many of the attendant advantages, as well as the exact nature of this invention, will be readily appreciated upon consideration of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the figures thereof and wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a top perspective of the waterfall apparatus of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a side perspective of the waterfall apparatus of the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  is a front perspective of the water exit of the waterfall apparatus of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a bottom perspective of the waterfall apparatus of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective of the inside of the plenum chamber used in the waterfall apparatus of the present invention. 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective from the inside of a portable spa showing the spa filter housing. 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective of the spa filter housing of  FIG. 6  looking through the opening in the housing. 
       FIG. 8  is a top perspective from behind the filter housing of  FIG. 7 . 
       FIG. 9  is a top perspective of an alternate embodiment of the plenum chamber according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 10  is a bottom perspective of the plenum chamber of  FIG. 8 . 
       FIG. 11  is a top perspective of the plenum chamber of  FIG. 9  with light cabling. 
       FIG. 12  is a bottom perspective of the plenum chamber of  FIG. 11  with a light array. 
       FIG. 13  is a bottom perspective of a light shoe cover for the light array of  FIG. 12 . 
       FIG. 14  is a bottom perspective of the plenum chamber of  FIG. 11  with the light shoe cover in place over the light array. 
       FIG. 15  is a front perspective of the plenum chamber showing the exit gap for water flow and placement of the light array. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   The filter cover waterfall apparatus  11  of the present invention is illustrated from a top perspective in  FIG. 1  which shows a ribbon stream of water  17  falling from underneath a filter cover  15  into a main body of water  13  of the portable spa (not shown). 
     FIG. 2  illustrates a closer view of the ribbon waterfall flow  17  exiting from underneath the filter cover  15  through a slot  21  formed by a bottom lip  19  and the bottom edge  23  of filter cover  15 . 
   Referring now to  FIG. 3  for a closer look at the shaped exit slot  21  out of which the waterfall  17  flows, one can see that the lower lip  19  and the upper lip or edge  23  in the filter cover define the elongated slot out of which waterfall  17  exits. The lower lip  19  is uniquely shaped to extend slightly beyond the upper lip  23  and to have a pair of upstanding walls sections  48  along this extension. Lower lip  19  is shaped to be inclined in an upward direction, causing water that exits at upper lip  23  to flow slightly uphill until it falls over lower lip  19 . 
   In this embodiment, lower lip  19  has a depression  25  along a major portion of its length. Depression  25 , as will be more fully explained herein, receives a planar array of light conductors used to inject light into the water flowing over lower lip  19 . 
     FIG. 4  illustrates the bottom side of filter cover  15  which has a plenum chamber  27  attached. Plenum chamber  27  is fed by a waterline  31  at its inlet  28  and allows water inside the plenum chamber to exit at slot  21  by flowing over (lower lip) edge  19  of plenum chamber  27 . The inlet  28  to plenum chamber  27  may be connected to waterline  31  by a standard plastic coupling well known in the art. The waterline  31 , in turn, is attached to a water flow system of the portable spa (not shown) by another coupling  33 . The spas under consideration here have two water flow systems, each driven by a separate pump. One system is the jet pump system. The other is the circulation pump system. The jet pump system is connected to the spa jet nozzles. The circulation pump system is connected to the filtration system for the spa. The waterfall feature of the present invention is preferably connected into the jet pump system. 
   In addition to receiving water, plenum chamber  27  receives a cable  38 , which may be any convenient light-conducting material connected to a threaded coupling  35 ,  36 . Cable  38  and coupling  35 ,  36  need not be, but may be watertight. Cable  39  extends beyond the perimeter of filter cover  15  and connects to light conducting cable  38 . 
   Cable  37 , which consists of a bundle of fiber-optic light conducting strands, connects to light connector  53  ( FIGS. 6 ,  7 ) in the interior  41  of plenum chamber  27  and is laid in a groove  45  located along one wall of plenum chamber  27  ( FIG. 5 ). The end of cable  37  is formed into a lighting shoe  47  that contains a linear array of the light conducting strands that are layered flat and stacked, as desired, to produce a narrow band of light along edge  19 . 
   The lighting shoe  47  forms a smooth platform, along with the remaining length of lower lip  19 , over which water from plenum chamber  27  flows to drop into the main body of water  13  in the spa. Looking at the underside of plenum chamber  27  reveals the inlet aperture  43  through which water is fed into the chamber. The plenum chamber is sealed off along flat flanges  30  by the underside of the filter cover  15 . The lip  23  ( FIG. 3 ) of filter cover  15 , along the exit gap  21 , fits into depressions  46  on the outside walls  48  of plenum chamber  27  to define the distance between the upper lip  23  and lower lip  19  of the waterfall exit slot  21 . 
   Referring now to  FIG. 6  which illustrates the filter housing  50  formed into the side wall of the portable spa by looking through the opening  52 , a water connector  51  and a light connector  53  is shown located in the back wall of housing  50 . The water  13  in the spa  12  is illustrated as low enough so that the filter recirculating aperture  55  for the spa filter (not shown) is above the waterline. In operation, however, the level of the water  13  in spa  12  will be almost to the ridge  49  within housing  50 . Ridge  49  supports the filter cover  15  ( FIG. 1 ) with the plenum chamber  27  attached to its underside. Water connector  51  connects to coupling  33  ( FIG. 4 ) to feed water to the inlet aperture in the plenum chamber  27 . Light connector  53  connects to cable  39  and waterproof cable  37  which is connected to the light shoe  47  in plenum chamber  27 . 
   A closer look at these connection points is provided in  FIG. 7  which shows the housing  50  within which the filter for the portable spa is located. The spa filter (not shown) is used to continuously filter the main body of water  13  by drawing it through the filter and out the filter flow aperture  55 . 
   Looking at the filter housing  50  from the top at the closed end, towards its opening  52 , a pair of light sources  63  and  65  can be seen mounted on walls  59  and  61 , respectively, at the edges of opening  52  of filter housing  50 . These light sources, which are preferably the ends of fiber-optic cables, or a similar cable, are located in filter housing  50  to light up the water in filter housing  50 . The color used may be the same color as the color of light being injected into the waterfall  17  as it exits the plenum chamber  27 , thereby providing a colored backdrop for the waterfall. 
   An alternate preferred construction for the plenum chamber  27  of the present invention is illustrated in  FIGS. 9 through 15 .  FIG. 9  shows the plenum chamber  27  which is fastened to the bottom of filter cover  15  by flanges  30  having a trench  71  with an aperture  73  in its end wall directed to lower lip  19 .  FIG. 10  shows the bottom of plenum chamber  27 , and specifically the location of inlet aperture  43  in the underside of plenum chamber  27  in relation to the trench  71  with its exit aperture  73 . 
     FIG. 11  shows the placement of the fiber-optic cable bundle  37  within trench  71  of plenum chamber  27 .  FIG. 12  illustrates the underside of plenum chamber  27  with cable  37  located in trench  71  of plenum chamber  27  and coming out the exit aperture  73 . The end of cable  37  is an array or shoe of fiber-optic strands  47  that are formed into a linear array of stacked fiber-optic ends  81  which eject a narrow band of light along the underside of lip  19  of plenum chamber  27 . 
     FIG. 13  illustrates the cover  75  for the light shoe  47  shown in  FIG. 12 . The cover  75  is glued to the underside of plenum chamber  27  over cable  37  and light shoe  47 . A recess  77  has been formed in cover  75  to receive the cable  37  and light shoe  47 . An additional recess  79 , which is thin and long, is formed at the exit edge of the light shoe  75 .  FIG. 14  illustrates the light shoe  75  in place on the bottom of plenum chamber  27  over the cable  37  and light shoe  47  with the exit recess  79  aligned with the lip  19  of plenum chamber  27 . 
   The combination, as can be seen in  FIG. 15 , produces an exit gap  21  just as in the embodiment described above, formed by the upper lip  23  of the filter cover and the lower lip  19  of the plenum chamber. The difference between the two embodiments is that the ends  81  of the fiber-optic strands that eject light into the water coming from the exit gap  21  are located below the lower lip  19 , rather than above the lower lip  19  as in the previous embodiment.