Pool Deck Lid Lift System with Cantilever Brackets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pool cover systems face challenges in providing static support for deck-lid structures over below-deck troughs, leading to bending or flexing under load, and fail to prevent water loss and ensure safe access due to hydraulic systems' reliance on square engagement and risk of fracture from debris.
Innovation Solution
A pool deck-lid lift system featuring a static, longitudinally seated structure with cantilever brackets and hydraulic/pneumatic actuation, allowing the deck-lid to be lifted and re-seated on a bond beam for unencumbered travel of pool covers, while preventing water splashing through a C-channel leading edge beam.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If hydraulic systems are used to support deck-lid structures over below-deck troughs, then the pool cover can be extended and retracted, but the system relies on square engagement that is prone to fracture from debris and lacks static support
Solution Approach 1:
The deck-lid structure is divided into modular components including cantilever brackets, support arms, and lid plates that can be independently positioned and secured. This segmentation allows the structure to be assembled in a manner that distributes loads and prevents localized stress concentrations that could lead to fracture from debris.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-positioning the deck-lid structure in a static, supported state before pool cover operation begins. The cantilever brackets are pre-installed and secured to the trough back wall, and support arms are pre-positioned to bear the full weight of the lid plates, ensuring stable support is established beforehand and eliminating the need for continuous hydraulic support during cover operation.
2Ease of repair
If modular lid plates are used to cover below-deck troughs, then access to pool cover machinery is enabled, but the lid structures bend or flex under load without static support
Solution Approach 1:
The system counteracts the weight of the modular lid plates and any personnel using the deck-lid structure by installing cantilever brackets with support arms that extend into the trough. These support arms are positioned to bear the full weight of the lid plates, providing upward counterbalancing force that prevents bending or flexing under load while maintaining access to the machinery below.
3Ease of operation
If pool wide slots are provided for pool cover travel, then the cover can move freely, but the slots detract from pool aesthetics and present tripping hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The system moves the pool cover travel function from a horizontal plane (wide slots in the pool deck) to a vertical dimension by using below-deck housing troughs. The pool cover travels vertically within the trough housing, eliminating the need for large horizontal openings in the pool deck and thus removing tripping hazards and aesthetic compromises while maintaining full cover travel capability.
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 stable, unencumbered access and prevents water loss by ensuring the deck-lid is statically supported and securely engaged, reducing the risk of fracture and ensuring safe operation of pool cover systems.
Implementation Method 1
hydraulic/pneumatic actuator mechanically coupled to the common longitudinal box beam for lifting/pivoting the cantilever bracket structure
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a system for sequentially supporting, opening and closing a pool-deck lid covering below-deck troughs housing coordinated with the operation of powered pool cover systems housed in the troughs. In certain embodiments the system comprises in combination: a front, longitudinal seating structure, an upwardly movably, cantilever bracket structure, hydraulic/pneumatic means, and a hydraulic/pneumatic actuation control means.