Deformable Pool Cover Tile Buoyancy Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pool covers are insufficiently buoyant, posing safety risks and failing to comply with regulations, and they lack effective mechanisms for easy installation and removal.
Innovation Solution
A pool cover system comprising deformable tiles with a buoyancy control mechanism that adjusts volume by introducing or removing air, featuring a deformation sensing system to manage air flow and prevent excessive deformation, ensuring safe and compliant operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the pool cover is made floatable to enable easy installation and removal, then ease of operation is improved, but safety is worsened due to insufficient buoyancy to support persons who fall onto the cover
Solution Approach 1:
The pool cover incorporates a buoyancy control system that dynamically adjusts the air volume in chambers to change the cover's buoyancy. When a person falls on the cover, the system detects the deformation and automatically increases air volume to enhance buoyancy, providing safety while maintaining ease of operation during normal use.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameter of buoyancy by controlling the volume of air in the cover's chambers. The buoyancy control system adjusts air volume based on detected conditions, transforming the cover from a simple floatable structure to an actively regulated safety device that adapts its buoyancy characteristics.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the tile body is made deformable to allow buoyancy adjustment, then adaptability is improved, but structural stability is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The tile body incorporates flexible, deformable walls that can expand and contract to accommodate varying air volumes. These flexible structures maintain structural integrity while allowing the enclosure volume to change, enabling buoyancy adjustment without compromising overall structural stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable tile body works in conjunction with the buoyancy control system to dynamically adjust structural characteristics. The flexibility of the tile walls allows adaptation to different buoyancy states while the controlled nature of the deformation maintains structural stability during operation.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If air is continuously supplied to the enclosure to maintain buoyancy, then safety is improved, but energy consumption is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The buoyancy control system incorporates deformation sensing that provides feedback about the cover's state. Based on this feedback, the system intelligently controls air supply, providing air only when buoyancy adjustment is needed rather than continuous supply, thereby reducing energy consumption while maintaining safety.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of continuous air supply, the system uses periodic or event-driven air delivery based on detected conditions. The buoyancy control system activates air supply only when deformation thresholds are met, transforming continuous energy consumption into periodic action that reduces overall energy usage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides enhanced safety by maintaining adequate buoyancy to prevent drowning and easy installation/removal, while complying with regulations through controlled buoyancy adjustments.
Implementation Method 1
a ballast having a density greater than water
Implementation Method 2
at least a portion of the tile body that defines the enclosure is deformable
Data Source
AI summary
In one of its aspects, the invention provides a cover for a body of water, the cover comprising one or more tiles. Each tile comprises a generally flattened tile body floatable atop the body of water to cover a surface area thereof. The tile body defines an enclosure wherein at least a portion of the tile body that defines the enclosure is deformable. Each tile also comprises a ballast having a density greater than water and a port for conveying a fluid having a density less than water into and out of the enclosure. Upon conveying the fluid into the enclosure via the port, the portion of the tile body deformably expands to increase a volume of the enclosure and increase a buoyancy of the tile and, upon conveying the fluid out of the enclosure via the port, the portion of the tile body deformably contracts to decrease the volume of the enclosure and decrease the buoyancy of the tile.