Patent ID: 7047575

Claim:
An invented hinge coupling three buoyant-slats pool cover sections together comprising in combination, a) at least three adjacent, aligned, longitudinal, hinge slats having uniformly spaced, and registering hinge bays perpendicularly cut into one longitudinal side of each slat, and having a longitudinal, cooperating coupling means on a side opposite the hinge bays for coupling to a complementary longitudinal cooperating coupling means on a side of an end buoyant slat of a buoyant-slat pool cover section, each hinge bay penetrating though a wall of a longitudinal side flotation chamber of the particular hinge slat; b) hinge plates each having coupling apertures, each being received within the registering hinge bays of the three, adjacent and aligned longitudinal hinge slats with a portion of the coupling aperture extending beyond the walls inside each of the side floatation chambers of the three adjacent, aligned hinge slats; c) at least three longitudinal hinge pins each located inside the side flotation chamber of one of the hinge slats penetrated by the hinge bays, each hinge pin passing through the portion of coupling aperture of all the hinge plates extending beyond the wall inside of the side floatation chambers pining the three, adjacent and aligned hinge slats together for pivoting about three, angularly spaced, longitudinal axes parallel to the hinge slats established by the longitudinal pins.