Swimming Pool Coping Chute for Deformation Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing swimming pool structures with wooden copings face issues such as deformation due to climatic variations, irreversible geometric changes, and unsightly junctions between slats, leading to customer complaints and installation complexities, while also requiring adequate seating and secure attachment.
Innovation Solution
A swimming pool structure that allows the covering material to be fixed along the entire length of the chute, using materials like wood, tiling, resin, or synthetic materials, with a chute made of synthetic or metallic materials, featuring a horizontal profile and recesses for finishing profiles, and incorporating features like skimming device holes and light housings, enabling user choice and reducing geometric variations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If wooden copings are used for the swimming pool structure, then the aesthetic appearance and natural material quality are improved, but the copings deform and undergo irreversible geometric changes due to climatic variations
Solution Approach 1:
The coping is divided into multiple individual slats that are separately mounted on the pool structure. This segmentation allows each slat to be treated independently, reducing the cumulative geometric variations that would occur in a continuous wooden coping. The gaps between slats accommodate individual movement without affecting the overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses composite construction by combining wooden slats with a supporting framework. The wooden slats provide the aesthetic appearance while the underlying support structure (made of more dimensionally stable materials) provides geometric stability. This composite approach allows each material to fulfill its primary function without suffering from its weaknesses.
2Strength
If multiple fixings are used to constrain the wooden coping, then the attachment strength is improved, but the installation complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The coping slats are pre-assembled into complete sets (such as complete circumferential assemblies) before being installed on the pool. This preliminary assembly allows for quality control and adjustment to be performed beforehand, simplifying the on-site installation process while ensuring strong attachment through pre-positioned fixings.
3Quantity of substance
If traditional wooden copings are used, then the material availability and cost are improved, but the junctions between slats become unsightly and accentuate geometric variations
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies different qualities to different parts of the coping system. The visible upper surfaces of the slats maintain the natural wood aesthetic, while the junction areas and undersides incorporate design features (such as hidden fasteners, rounded edges, or decorative end caps) that mask the joints and create a more uniform appearance from viewing distances.
4Ease of operation
If the coping is made wider to provide sufficient seating, then the seating comfort is improved, but the structural attachment becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The wider coping is achieved through segmentation by placing multiple parallel slats side-by-side rather than using a single wide piece. This allows the width to be increased for comfortable seating while maintaining the simplicity of attaching individual narrow slats to the pool structure, avoiding the complexity of attaching a single large-wide component.
Data Source
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AI summary
A swimming pool structure (100), which can be above-ground, semi-inground, or inground, comprising vertically extending support legs (1), vertical outer walls (P) fixed between the support legs (1), and a top coping. The invention is characterized in that it further comprises a horizontal intermediate support (21), which is mechanically fixed to an upper portion (19) of the support legs (1) and is outside the walls (P), and the coping (15) comprising a gutter (151) with an upward-facing opening (152) fixed to the intermediate support (21) and defining an upper compartment (153) suitable for being filled with a lining material.