Patent ID: 8869337

Claim:
A cleaner for cleaning surfaces of a pool containing water and having a plurality of elements, including a housing directing a flow of water, the housing having a water inlet and a water outlet, said plurality of elements being composed at least partially of materials having a density greater than water, said cleaner having a center of gravity, comprising: a plurality of buoyant elements including at least one buoyant element having a density less than water, said at least one buoyant element being positionable at a selected position of a plurality of alternative positions relative to the center of gravity of said cleaner, said at least one buoyant element being retained in said selected position while said cleaner moves over the floor and side walls of the pool until being selectively repositioned at another of said plurality of alternative positions, said at least one buoyant element exerting a buoyancy force contributing to a biasing of said cleaner toward at least one specific orientation when said cleaner is in the water; and said cleaner having an overall negative buoyancy.