Patent Abstract:
A free floating canopy shade system for use in a pool or at a beach. The canopy has four legs each leg supported by an open top float, each float having an outer tapered cylindrical wall and an inner cylindrical wall, the inner cylindrical wall being sized to receive a leg, an attachment to attach the leg to the float. The float being water tight and open at the top. Wherein an open shaded area is created beneath the canopy bounded only on four corners by each float.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Applicant claims priority under 35 USC 119 c to provisional application 61/212,169 filing date Apr. 8, 2009. 
     
    
     STATEMENT AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
       [0003]    It is known to provide shade for people in the water by providing inflatable floatation devices with shade. These are typically very small and intended for individual use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,255 is an example. The result is very limited shade that does not even cover one entire person. The shade further requires that the person remain on the floatation device. 
         [0004]    Patent application 2003/0046755 discloses a somewhat larger arrangement but the shade is very confining. A person has to remain laying down. Also the shade takes up a large area so that others in the pool have little space to move around and enjoy the pool. 
         [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,645 discloses a one pole sun shade with a drink holder and anchor 13. This patent allows for greater movement but still provides a small area of shade and is very prone to blow over in a strong wind. 
         [0006]    As can be seen, there is a need for an improved system for providing shade for people in the water. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention is directed to a free floating canopy shade system for use in a pool comprising a canopy having four legs each leg supported by a float. Each float has an outer cylindrical wall and an inner cylindrical wall, the inner cylindrical wall being sized to receive a leg. An attachment to attach each leg to the float, the float being water tight and open at the top. Wherein an open shaded area is created beneath the canopy bounded only on four corners by each float. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  shows a view of the present invention in use, 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  shows details of a portion of the invention, 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  shows details of a portion of the invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  shows an alternate embodiment of the invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  shows an overhead view. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0013]    In accordance with the present invention,  FIG. 1  shows a view of the portable canopy shade system  100  in use. The canopy shade system  100  includes a frame  102  with four legs  104  and a canopy  106  stretched on the frame  102 . The canopy system  100  also includes four corner floats  110  each cylindrical corner float  110  supports a leg  104 . As can be seen the canopy system  100  can float in a pool  120 . The light weight canopy system  100  will weigh less than 100 pounds so that the corner floats  110  can take up less than one square foot of pool surface area per supported leg  104  and less than one cubic foot of pool water is displaced by each float. Many commercially available four leg canopies are less than 50 pounds. The result is a canopy  106  that can provide a large area of shade perhaps 8 ft by 8 ft (64 square feet) while taking up a very small area of the surface of the pool (less than 4 square feet) for example. Further because the sides are open the canopy system  100  provides uninterrupted, unobstructed access to the pool in and out of the shaded area. The system  100  floats with the corner floats  110  nearly on top of the water line WL. The system  100  is designed so that it can use a conventional shade canopy  106  that are available for use now on patios. The canopy frame  102  might bolt together or fold up. The system  100  can be installed by first assembling the canopy  106  and legs  104  like it would be used on a patio. Then moving one person gets in the water with the 4 floats  110 . The person on the edge of the pool  120  can move the canopy  106  so that the first 2 legs  104  hang down into the pool  120 . Corner floats  110  are placed on these legs  104  then the first two legs can be floated out into the pool  120  until the person in the water can place corner floats  110  on the other two legs  104 . The canopy system  100  can be removed from the pool  120  by reversing the process. Alternatively the floats  110  can be attached to the legs  104 , using ties or clips to retain the corner floats  110  on the legs  104  while it is placed in the pool  120 . 
         [0014]      FIG. 2  shows details of a corner float  110  with a leg  104  in place. The float  110  includes a cylindrical wall  150  shown partially cut away to show the inside of the corner float  110 . The float  110  includes a solid bottom  152  and an open top  154 . The cylindrical side wall  150  can be slightly tapered from top to bottom to allow the floats  110  to nest together for shipping for example the open top can have a 10 inch diameter and the bottom  152  can have a diameter of 9 inches. A float  110  includes an attachment point such as an eye  160  on the bottom surface  152  such that an anchor weight can be attached if desired. 
         [0015]      FIG. 2  shows that the inside of the corner float  110  includes an inner cylinder  170  that is generally concentric with the outer wall  150  and that includes an opening in the top  172  ( FIG. 3 ) sized to receive leg  104 . The inner cylinder  170  can include molded support walls  174 . The corner float  110  can be molded in one piece or the inner cylinder  170  and supports can be assembled into the float  110 . Each corner float  110  can include an attachment such as a tie  180  that allows the float  110  to be tied to the leg  104  or some other point on the canopy  102 . The float  110  can be retained on the leg  104  if the leg fits tight in the inner cylinder  170 . 
         [0016]      FIG. 3  shows the corner float  110  interior with the leg  104  removed. The outer wall  150 , bottom  152  and radial supports walls  174  can form 4 pie shaped sections  190 . The pie shaped sections  190  can be water tight such that a section  190  can be used to contain items such as drinks or personal items such as a shirt, watch or billfold. It is also possible to fill one or several pie sections with water, sand or other material such that the canopy system  100  has more weight such as might be required on a windy day or if the canopy system  100  were to be used at the beach. The float  110  can also be filled with ice and used as a cooler so it is possible to have one corner float  110  for a cooler and another of the four floats for dry storage. 
         [0017]      FIG. 4  shows an alternate embodiment of the corner float  210  where the float  210  is a closed container. The closed container float  210  also includes an opening  220  which can be the top of a closed cylinder sized to receive the leg  104  within the float  210 . The closed corner float  210  includes a side wall  222 , a top  224  and a bottom surface  226 . A top attachment point  230  allows the float  210  to be tied to a leg  104  and a bottom attachment point  232  allows for the attachment of an anchor. A third embodiment of the corner float could be achieved by leaving off the bottom surface  226  and simply allowing the float to float on air trapped in the float by the wall  222  and top  224 . The top  224  can include a recess  226  such as a drink holder. 
         [0018]      FIG. 5  shows a plan view of the pool  120  with the area (S) shaded by the canopy  106  indicated by dashed lines L. As can be seen the corner floats  110  provide access for a person to move in and out of the shades area S with unobstructed movement. The open lines L between the corner floats  110  allow for the pool  120  to be used in any way that it could without the canopy system  100  in place. The floats  110  take up only about ½-2% of the area contained between the floats  110 . 
         [0019]    Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. As such, it is understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the claims. 
         [0020]    It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the claims in the formal application and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4