Patent ID: 8201285

Claim:
A protective pool covering system for diverting undesirable debris and fluid away from a top surface of a pool, said protective pool covering system comprising: an inflatable body adapted to be removably positioned over the entire top surface of the pool, said body including a top most layer spanning over an entire surface area of said body, said top most layer further having a flexible lip continuously extending along an entire outer perimeter of said body such that said lip is adapted to be continuously abutted along an entire outer perimeter of the pool, and an inflatable bladder formed from buoyant material, said inflatable bladder being statically connected to said top most layer and situated therebeneath; and means for selectively inflating said body with air such that said bladder and said top most layer are simultaneously inflated to a dome shape when said body is adapted to an inflated position; wherein said body is formed from buoyant material and adapted to float on the top surface of the pool while disposed at the inflated position; wherein said bladder is dome shaped and occupies an entire volume of said body; wherein said lip comprises: a plurality of fasteners spaced along an entire circumference thereof for maintaining said top most layer and said bladder at a substantially stable position during extended periods of time; wherein a bottom-most region of said bladder is adapted to directly float on the top surface of the pool while a top-most region of said bladder remains elevated and thereby defines an apex of said bladder; wherein body inflating means comprises an air valve directly connected to said top most layer and said bladder respectively, said air valve having a central orifice formed therein and passing through to an interior of said bladder; an air pump communicatively coupled to said air valve; a user interface communicatively coupled to said air pump; and a power source communicatively coupled to said user interface; wherein said air pump is selectively adapted between alternate operating modes upon receiving a user input signal from said user interface; wherein said bladder includes a main cavity for receiving and holding air during when adapted to the inflated position, said bladder further including a plurality of walls located inside said main cavity, said walls being configured in such a manner that a plurality of passageways are formed within said main cavity, each of said passageways being in fluid communication with said main cavity such that air is selectively distributed through an entire surface area of said cavity after entering said bladder through said air valve.