Patent Publication Number: US-6210568-B1

Title: Skimmer and waterfall apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to the field of pools and spas, and more particularly, to a combination skimmer and waterfall apparatus for use with a pool or spa. 
     Recreational water devices such as pools and spas are well known in the art. The term pool generally applies to larger bodies of water useful for swimming, while the term spa generally applies to smaller bodies of water useful for soaking. While pools may be heated to avoid chilling effects, the water in a spa is generally heated to an elevated temperature in order to produce a warming effect. A self-standing spa capable of being heated to an elevated temperature may also be referred to as a hot tub. A spa may be constructed adjacent a pool such that pool water that is recycled through a filter/heater may be reintroduced to the pool through the spa. Pool/spa combinations are often constructed to include a waterfall there between. Waterfalls of various designs have been used with pools and spas because of their pleasing aesthetic effect. It is also known to provide decorative lighting in combination with a waterfall in order to provide a pleasing visual effect. 
     Any structure containing a body of water is prone to collect debris along the surface of the water. Various designs of skimmers are known in the art for drawing a portion of the water from proximate the surface of a pool or spa through a filter in order to collect such floating debris. Current skimmer designs typically utilize a small compartment formed adjacent to the wall of a pool or spa. A floating inlet structure is provided within the skimmer compartment and is connected to a pump in order to draw off a flow of water from near the surface of the pool or spa. Access to the skimmer interior is normally provided via a top opening which is covered with a lid during normal operation of the skimmer. Although the lid may provide a pleasing appearance when viewed from above, the appearance of a skimmer when viewed from at or near water level, or from the opposite side of the pool/spa, is less appealing due to the appearance of the mechanical structures located within the interior of the skimmer. Furthermore, some skimmer designs produce a displeasing sound pattern resulting from the movement of the floating intake apparatus. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Thus, there is a particular need for a skimmer for a pool or a spa that has a more pleasing visual design. Accordingly, an apparatus is disclosed herein apparatus for use with a spa or pool, the apparatus comprising a housing defining an interior cavity; a skimmer inlet opening formed in the housing and operable to permit a flow of water into the interior cavity when the housing is disposed proximate the surface of a body of water; a skimmer outlet opening formed in the housing, the skimmer outlet opening operable to permit a flow of water out of the interior cavity; a waterfall supply opening formed in the housing and operable to pass a flow of waterfall water into the interior cavity; and a channel having a first edge disposed proximate the waterfall supply opening and a second edge disposed proximate a top portion of the skimmer inlet opening, the channel operable to direct the flow of waterfall water to form a waterfall proximate the skimmer inlet opening. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when read with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a water spa incorporating a skimmer having a waterfall feature. 
     FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the skimmer of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the skimmer of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a water apparatus  10  incorporating a structure  12  adapted to contain water  14  within its interior. The structure  12  may be any such structure known in the art, such as a pool, spa, hot tub, etc. The structure  12  may be a prefabricated fiberglass unit as is known for use with small spas, or it may be a large masonry or plastic unit that is assembled in place, such as is known in the field of swimming pool construction. 
     A skimmer/waterfall assembly  16  is disposed proximate the structure  12 . The assembly  16  includes a housing  17  that may be a prefabricated unit or may be assembled in-situ during the construction of structure  12 . Housing  17  has a skimmer inlet opening  18  in fluid communication with the water  14  contained within the structure  12 . A pump  20  is connected to have its inlet  22  in fluid communication with both the structure  12  and the housing  16 . Pipe  24  is connected between the pump inlet  22  and a drain opening  26  formed in the bottom of structure  12 . As may be seen more clearly by viewing FIG. 1 together with FIG. 2, pipe  28  is connected between the pump inlet  22  and a skimmer outlet opening  30  formed in housing  17 . A floating extension tube  31  is used to place skimmer outlet opening  30  in fluid communication with the surface  33  of water  14  within the interior cavity  32  of assembly  16 . Other weir types may also be used, such as a floating hinged weir, a floating guillotine weir, or a stationary slotted weir. A filter  34  may be placed upstream of the inlet  22  of pump  20  in order to remove undesirable particulate and/or chemical matter from water drawn through pump  20 . A filter  34  may alternatively be placed in any one or more of the lines  24 ,  28 ,  38 ,  42 . The outlet  36  of pump  20  is connected by pipe  38  to an opening  40  in structure  12 . Opening  40  may be used to create a desirable whirlpool effect for applications where the structure  12  is a spa or hot tub. The outlet  36  of pump  20  is also connected via pipe  42  to a waterfall supply opening  44  formed in the housing  16 . Pipe  42  is operative to deliver a flow of waterfall water  46  through the waterfall supply opening  44  to the interior cavity  32  of the housing  16 . The flow of waterfall water  46  is directed within the interior cavity  32  to the upper portion  50  of skimmer inlet opening  18 , where it drops by gravity to form waterfall  48 . A channel, such as plate  52 , is used to direct the flow of waterfall water  46  within the interior cavity  32 . In other embodiments, not shown, the channel may be a tube, a conduit, a half pipe, or other structure providing a means for conveying the flow of waterfall water  46  from the waterfall supply opening  44  to the top portion  50  of the skimmer inlet opening  18 . 
     Skimmer housing  16  may include a top access opening  52  which is removably covered by lid  54 . Advantageously, plate  52  may be attached to and supported from lid  54  by one or more supports such as support plate  56 . A pair of support plates  56  may be attached between the lid  54  and the plate  52  along opposed edges of plate  52 , thereby providing an unobstructed flow path for the flow of waterfall water  46  to travel along a top surface  58  of plate  52 . As may be seen more clearly in FIG. 3, which is a front view of assembly  16 , plate  52  may have a generally trapezoidal shape having a first smaller edge  60  disposed proximate the waterfall supply opening  44 , and a second longer edge  62 , generally parallel to edge  60 , disposed proximate the top portion  50  of skimmer inlet opening  18 . By providing a smooth, upwardly sloping and expanding surface  58  for conveying the flow of waterfall water  46 , plate  52  is effective to provide a nearly laminar flow of water at edge  62  to form waterfall  48 . Lid  54  may further have a downwardly curved edge  64  disposed proximate the plate second edge  62  to further direct the flow of waterfall water  46  in a downward direction to form the waterfall  48 . 
     A source of light may be installed within the skimmer/waterfall assembly  16 . An end  66  of an end-emitting fiber optic cable  68  may be disposed within the interior cavity  32  to direct light upon a rear surface of the waterfall  48 . As may be seen in FIG. 3, a plurality of such fiber optic cable ends  66  may be provided in order to create a pleasing lighting effect upon the waterfall  48 . Although fiber optic cables  68  have certain known advantages for use near a recreational water structure, other sources of light may be used to provide any desired lighting effect. For example, low or high voltage versions of incandescent or halogen lamps may be used, or any type of light emitting diode (LED). 
     The flow of water throughout apparatus  10  may be controlled by one or more automatic or manual valves  70 , 72 , 74 , 76  and by the control of pump  20 , as may be seen in FIG.  1 . Automatic valve  70  and/or manual valve  72  may be disposed in pipe  38  or structure opening  40  to control the flow of water through pipe  38 . Similarly automatic valve  74  and/or manual valve  76  may be utilized to control the flow of water through pipe  42 . Valve  76  may be installed directly into waterfall supply opening  44  in the form of a spa outlet nozzle as is known in the art. Such a nozzle is operable to vary the flow from unrestricted to completely restricted by a simple manual turning operation. Access to waterfall supply opening  44 , and valve  76  installed in the opening  44 , may be obtained by simply removing lid  54  and its attached channel apparatus  52 ,  56 . 
     Pump  20  may be operable at a plurality of speeds and may be controlled by appropriate control signals generated by user-operated controller  78 . Controller  78  may be used by an operator to control the speed of pump  20  as well as the position of valves  70 ,  74 . One may appreciate that the apparatus  10  may thereby be operated in several modes of operation. Pump  20  may be operated at a low speed to provide a periodic filtering of water  14  and simultaneously to provide a pleasing aesthetic effect by opening valves  74 ,  76  to generate a waterfall. The skimming effectiveness of assembly  16  may vary as a function of the rate of the flow of waterfall water  46 , the height of the waterfall  48 , and the relative widths of the waterfall  48  and the skimmer inlet opening  18 . The second edge  62  of plate  52  may have a smaller width than the width of the skimmer inlet opening  18 , thus, the width of waterfall  48  may also be less than the width of skimmer inlet opening  18 . In this manner, floating debris will be able to bypass the waterfall  48  and be drawn into the skimmer outlet opening  30 . Thus, during this mode of operation, a pleasing visual and audible waterfall effect may be provided during the routinely necessary filtering periods. 
     Pump  20  may also be operated at a high speed to provide a desired whirlpool effect within water  14  proximate opening  40 . As the speed of pump  20  is increased, the corresponding increase in the flow of waterfall water  46  may be utilized in full, or it may be reduced by at least partially closing at one of valves  74 ,  76 . One may appreciate that the functionality of automatic valves  70 ,  74  and manual valves  72 ,  76  are somewhat overlapping, and therefore in some embodiments, not all of these valves may be provided. Thus, during this mode of operation, a pleasing visual waterfall effect may be provided to occupants of the spa structure  12 , thereby blocking the less pleasing view of the interior  32  of assembly  16 . 
     In any mode of operation, a pleasing visual effect may be created by the operation of the source of light  66  in order to direct light upon the waterfall  48 . White or colored light, or a combination thereof, may be used in a static or dynamic display. 
     While the preferred embodiments of the preferred invention have been shown and described herein, it will be obvious that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Numerous variations, changes and substitutions will occur to those of skill and the art without departing from the invention herein. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.