Patent Abstract:
A drain for a swimming pool. The pool has an opening adjacent a lower surface of the pool and a plug on an inner surface of the pool to close or open the drain. A hose is connected at one end to the opening adjacent a lower surface of the pool and the other end of the hose has a discharge tray connected thereto.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates, in general, to drains, and, in particular, to drains for swimming pools. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     In the prior art various types of pool drains have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,084,236 to Babb discloses a container for water which has a drain line connected at the bottom, outside surface of the container. The drain line has a valve to open or close the drain line. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 2,838,768 to Fischett discloses a wading pool which has a detachable plug in the bottom for draining the pool. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,296 to Beaumont discloses a wading pool which has a drain in the lower portion of the side of the pool. The drain has a valve which turns on and off the water in the drain. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,508 to Counts discloses a water container which has a drain in the side of the container near the bottom which can be controlled remotely from the top of the container. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a drain for a swimming pool. The pool has an opening adjacent a lower surface of the pool and a plug on an inner surface of the pool to close or open the drain. A hose is connected at one end to the opening adjacent a lower surface of the pool and the other end of the hose has a discharge tray connected thereto. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved drain for a swimming pool. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved drain for a swimming pool which can be adapted to any type of pool. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved drain for a swimming pool that will distribute the drain water without damage to lawns or shrubbery. 
     These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent from the following description, when taken in connection with the annexed drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is perspective view of the present invention attached to a swimming pool. 
     FIG. 2 is a partial view of a portion of the inside wall of the swimming pool. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the discharge tray used with the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, FIG. 1 shows the present invention  1  secured to a swimming pool. The pool has outer side walls  1 , a top  3  a bottom  4 , and inner side walls  5 . It should be noted that the pool, as shown in FIG. 1, is merely for illustration purposes and should not be considered the only type of pool that the present invention could be used with. For example, the pool does not need to be circular. The pool could be virtually any shape and size, and made from any conventional swimming pool material. 
     In the conventional swimming pool it is necessary to provide a drain such as  6 , usually positioned at a lower portion of the pool. The drain is to allow an owner to drain water from the pool if the water is no longer clean. Also, if the owner decides to move the pool, it will be necessary to drain the water from the pool in order to make it light enough to move. However, even a relatively small swimming pool will hold many gallons of water. When this water is drained, it will dump all of the water onto the surface of the lawn or other surface that the pool is on. This will cause a large pool of water to be dumped onto the lawn, which could cause damage to the lawn, or at the very least, leave a pool of water on the lawn until it evaporates. 
     In order to avoid this problem, the present invention is designed to attach to any conventional swimming pool and to spread any drained water  17  away from the pool in wide dispersal pattern. 
     In order to drain water from the pool a fitting  11  is placed in the inner wall  5  adjacent the bottom  4  of the pool as shown in FIG.  2 . The fitting  11  has an aperture  12  which is connected to a passageway  18  which leads to a fitting  6  on the outer wall  2  of the pool. The fitting  11  has a plug  14  attached by a lanyard  13  which can be inserted into the aperture  12  in order to keep water in the pool. 
     A hose or conduit  7  is secured to the outside fitting  6 . As shown the hose  7  is secured to the fitting  6  by a friction fit, however, other means of attachment can be used. For example, a conventional garden hose fitting can be used, and a garden hose can be screwed onto the garden hose fitting in order to secure a garden hose to the pool drain. 
     The opposite end of the hose  7  is connected to a discharge tray  8 ,  9 ,  10  which is designed to discharge the water  17  drained from the pool over a wide area. The discharge tray has a fitting  8  which will be connected to the hose  7  in any conventional manner including, but not limited to, a friction fit, or a conventional garden hose fitting. 
     The fitting  8 , as shown in FIG. 3, has an aperture  16  connected to a passageway  15  which leads from the aperture  16  to the floor  10  of the discharge tray. On opposite sides of the floor  10  are positioned walls  9  which taper away from the fitting  8 , in order to make the discharge tray wider at the remote end and narrower at the end adjacent the fitting  8 . 
     This tapering of the tray will allow the water  17  drained from the pool to be dispersed over a wide area, which will allow the water to drain from the pool with little or no damage to the lawn or surrounding areas. 
     Also, it should be noted that the tray  8 ,  9 ,  10  is shown in the drawings as a single piece, however, this is not critical. The tray can be made in plural pieces which would allow a narrower or wider tray  9 ,  10  to be attached to the fitting  8  depending on the size of the pool (and therefore, the amount of water that will be drained from the pool). 
     In order to use the present invention, the pool owner would first attach the hose  7  to the outside fitting  6  on the pool. Next, he/she would attach the discharge tray  8 ,  9 ,  10  to the other end of the hose  7 , and position the discharge tray in a position to do a minimum of damage when the water  17  is drained from the pool. The flexibility of the hose  7  will allow the owner to place the discharge tray  8 ,  9 ,  10  in virtually any position he/she so desires. Next, the plug  14  will be removed from the inside fitting  11  on the inner wall  5  of the pool. This will allow the water, inside the pool, to drain (by gravity) through the aperture  12 , through the passageway  18  into the hose  7 , and finally into and out of the discharge tray  8 ,  9 ,  10 . 
     Although the Recyclopool and the method of using the same according to the present invention has been described in the foregoing specification with considerable details, it is to be understood that modifications may be made to the invention which do not exceed the scope of the appended claims and modified forms of the present invention done by others skilled in the art to which the invention pertains will be considered infringements of this invention when those modified forms fall within the claimed scope of this invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4