Abstract:
Exemplary embodiments of a floating pool dispenser are described. In one embodiment, a floating pool dispenser includes an outer assembly, an inner assembly, an end cover, and a lid. The inner assembly contains chemicals to be dissolved in a pool. The inner assembly moves vertically relative to the outer assembly in response to the continuous dissolving of chemicals.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority from Chinese Patent Application No. 201620569152.8, filed on Jun. 13, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
       TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates to pool dispenser devices for adding chemicals to the pool, and more particularly, to a floating pool dispenser that automatically notices a user when chemicals are running low. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Pool dispensers are treatment devices used to improve water quality, and are widely used within pools. Existed pool dispensers in the art fail to provide a mechanism to inform their user when the chemicals within the dispenser are dissolved. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    An objective of the present disclosure is to solve one of the problems in prior arts by providing a reliable pool dispenser which facilitates storage of chemicals. 
         [0005]    The objective of the present disclosure can be implemented by a pool dispenser comprising an outer assembly comprising a top housing and a bottom housing removably attached to the top housing, said outer top housing having a plurality of movement guiding grooves arranged vertically; an inner assembly to be arranged within the outer assembly to store chemicals, said inner assembly having a plurality of guiding extrusions corresponding to the plurality of movement guiding grooves to facilitate vertical movement of the inner assembly relative to the outer assembly after the stored chemicals are dissolved; an end cover having a hole in the center arranged on top of the outer assembly, said hole being corresponding to an opening in the inner assembly; and a lid to be rotatably arranged within the hole of the end cover to seal the opening of the inner assembly. 
         [0006]    In some embodiments, the top housing comprises an outer surrounding bow and an inner surrounding ring, the outer surrounding bow has a first plurality of slide-proof grooves along its exterior wall, and the plurality of movement guiding grooves are arranged on the inferior wall of the inner surrounding ring. 
         [0007]    In some embodiments, the floating pool dispenser further comprises a cleansing tube in the bottom housing and a pad arranged between the bottom housing and the cleansing tube, said cleansing tube being partially inserted into the inner surrounding ring and sealed with inferior wall of the inner surrounding ring. 
         [0008]    In some embodiments, the bottom housing comprises a first plurality of slits arranged vertically along its exterior wall, the cleansing tube comprises a second plurality of slits arranged vertically along its exterior wall, and the second plurality of slits have a width less than that of the first plurality of slits. 
         [0009]    In some embodiments, the inner assembly is to be arranged inside the inner surrounding ring, and the inner assembly comprises a plurality of mounting grooves and a plurality of strengthening extrusions arranged on its exterior wall. 
         [0010]    In some embodiments, the end cover is sealed with the outer surrounding bow, the inner assembly is partially inserted into the end cover, and the end cover comprises a plurality of mounting extrusions corresponding to the plurality of mounting grooves. 
         [0011]    In some embodiments, the top housing further comprises one or more hangers. 
         [0012]    In some embodiments, the bottom housing comprises a second plurality of slide-proof grooves along its exterior wall, and the second plurality of slide-proof grooves are arranged below the first plurality of slide-proof grooves. 
         [0013]    In some embodiments, the lid comprises one or more L-shaped holding grooves on its exterior wall, and the end cover comprises one or more holding extrusions to fit into the holding grooves. 
         [0014]    In some embodiments, the lid comprises one or more arrows to indicate the holding grooves, and the end cover comprises one or more indicators to indicate the holding extrusions. 
         [0015]    Based on the concept of the above disclosure, some of the technical effects to be expected are listed as follows: the entirety of the floating pool dispenser is improved in terms of reliability. The outer assembly is configured to stabilize the floating dispenser while the inner assembly which contains chemicals notice the user whether the chemicals have been dissolved. After the chemicals exhausts, for example, as a result of having dissolved in pool water, the inner assembly rises from underwater due to buoyancy force and become higher above water surface than the outer assembly which remains motionless. The embodiments of the present disclosure further implement movement guiding grooves, guiding extrusions and mounting extrusions in assembling the outer assembly, the inner assembly and the end cover. Such a configuration facilitates the assembling process and allows reliable fixation. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]    Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which reference numerals refer to similar elements. 
           [0017]      FIG. 1  is an illustration of an embodiment of a floating pool dispenser. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  is a breakdown illustration of an embodiment of a floating pool dispenser. 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  is a breakdown illustration of an embodiment of an end cover. 
       
    
    
     REFERENCE NUMBERS 
       [0020]      10 —outer assembly;  11 —top housing;  111 —outer surrounding bow;  1111 —first plurality of slide-proof grooves;  112 —inner surrounding ring;  1121 —movement guiding grooves;  12 —bottom housing;  121 —first plurality of slits;  122 —second plurality of slide-proof grooves;  13 —cleansing tube;  131 —second plurality of slits;  14 —pad;  20 —inner assembly;  21 —guiding extrusions;  22 —mounting grooves;  23 —strengthening extrusions;  30 —end cover;  31 —mounting extrusions;  32 —indicator;  40 —lid;  41 —holding grooves;  42 —arrow;  50 —hanger. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0021]    The following description is presented to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the embodiments, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following description, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and concepts disclosed herein. 
         [0022]    As show in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 , and  FIG. 3 , a floating pool dispenser according to some embodiments includes an outer assembly  10 , an inner assembly  20 , an end cover  30 , and a lid  40 . The outer assembly  10  comprises a top housing  11  and a bottom housing  12  removably attached to the top housing  11 . The top housing  11  comprises an outer surrounding bow  111  and an inner surrounding ring  112 . The outer surrounding bow  111  is configured as a bow-like structure with has a first plurality of slide-proof grooves  1111  along its exterior wall. The first plurality of slide-proof grooves  1111  are sunken in some embodiments. The inner surrounding ring  112  is configured as a ring-like structure and is thus hollow in the center. A plurality of movement guiding grooves  1121  are arranged on the inferior wall of the inner surrounding ring  112 . A cleansing tube  13  is installed within the bottom housing  12 . A pad  14  is arranged between the bottom housing  12  and the cleansing tube  13 . The cleansing tube  13  is partially inserted into the inner surrounding ring  112  and sealed with inferior wall of the inner surrounding ring  112 . The bottom housing  12  comprises a first plurality of slits  121  arranged vertically along its exterior wall, and the cleansing tube  13  comprises a second plurality of slits  131  arranged vertically along its exterior wall. The first plurality of slits  121  have a width greater than that of the second plurality of slits  131 . In some embodiments, the inner assembly  20  is designed as a cannular structure for storing chemicals to be dispensed in a pool. The density of the inner assembly  20  is less than the density of water. The inner assembly  20  is to be arranged inside the inner surrounding ring  112 . A plurality of mounting grooves  22 , a plurality of guiding extrusions  21  and a plurality of strengthening extrusions  23  are arranged on the exterior wall of the inner assembly  20 . Each of the plurality of guiding extrusions  21  corresponds to one of the plurality of movement guiding grooves  1121 . The plurality of strengthening extrusions  23  are arranged along the upper edge of the exterior wall of the inner assembly  20 . The end cover  30  has a hole in the center and is arranged on top of the outer assembly  10 . The hole corresponds to an opening in the inner assembly  20  to allow deploying of chemicals. The end cover  30  is sealed with the outer surrounding bow  111 . The inner assembly  20  is partially inserted into the hole of the end cover  30 , and the end cover  30  further comprises a plurality of mounting extrusions  31  corresponding to the plurality of mounting grooves  22 . The lid  40  is rotatably arranged within the hole of the end cover  30  to seal the opening of the inner assembly  20 . 
         [0023]    When placed into water, the outer assembly  10  is used to stabilize the dispenser floating at water level. The inner assembly  20  which contains chemicals to be dissolved can move relative to the outer assembly  10  due to weight decrease caused by the dissolving of chemicals. After the stored chemicals are dissolved or exhausted, at least a part of the inner assembly  20  can rise upwards relative to the floating outer assembly  10  due to the decreased density of the combination of the inner assembly  20  and its contents, and eventually emerges from water level. The density of the inner assembly  20  can be chosen so that at least a part thereof can emerge from water surface or becomes higher than the floating outer assembly  10  on condition that no chemicals are present within the inner assembly  20 . Such a configuration will notice a user whether there are chemicals remaining in the inner assembly  20 . In some embodiments, at least a part of the inner assembly  20  is assigned a color distinguishable from both the environment and other parts of the dispenser, such that a user will more readily notice the position of the inner assembly  20 . 
         [0024]    In some embodiments, the inner assembly  20  and the outer assembly  10  are connected by corresponding grooves and extrusions. The inner assembly  20  and the end cover  30  are connected by corresponding grooves and extrusions. The movement guiding grooves  1121  arranged in the outer assembly  10  and the guiding extrusions arranged in the inner assembly  20  enables easier installation and reliable fixation. 
         [0025]    Further, the top housing  11  further comprises one or more hangers  50  to facilitate load and transportation of the pool dispenser. The bottom housing  12  comprises a second plurality of slide-proof grooves  122  along its exterior wall. The second plurality of slide-proof grooves are arranged below the first plurality of slide-proof grooves  121 , so user experience associated with handling the pool dispenser may be improved. Moreover, production costs are also reduced. 
         [0026]    In some embodiments, the lid  40  comprises one or more L-shaped holding grooves  41  on its exterior wall in order to facilitate mounting and dismounting of the lid  40 . For example, the lid  40  may comprise two L-shaped holding grooves  41  positioned symmetrically on its exterior wall. The end cover  30  comprises one or more holding extrusions to fit into the holding grooves  41 . In the case where two L-shaped holding grooves  41  are positioned on the lid  40 , two holding extrusions are positioned on the end cover  30  in a fashion that each holding extrusion correspond to a holding groove  41 . The lid  40  comprises one or more arrows to indicate the holding grooves  41 , and the end cover  30  comprises one or more indicators  32  to indicate the holding extrusions. 
         [0027]    As noted above, particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the disclosure should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific examples disclosed in the specification, unless the above detailed description explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the invention encompasses not only the disclosed examples, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention under the claims.