Pool Skimmer Insect Trap with Luminescent Exit Path
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Solution Overview
Problem
Swimming pool skimmers often trap insects, which can lead to their suffocation or inability to escape, and existing solutions do not provide an effective exit path or guidance for insects to leave the skimmer basket.
Innovation Solution
A cylindrical container and basket cover plate system that allows insects to crawl out through apertures and is guided by luminescent rings, replacing the original skimmer basket cover, with the cylindrical container hanging into the pool water to facilitate insect escape.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If insects are trapped in the skimmer basket, then they are collected and removed from the pool, but they suffocate or cannot escape
Solution Approach 1:
The skimmer basket is segmented into multiple functional zones: an inner chamber where insects are collected, an outer chamber where they escape, and a connecting passage. This segmentation allows insects to be trapped in the inner chamber while providing a separate escape route through the passage to the outer chamber, preventing suffocation while maintaining collection effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
A water passage acts as an intermediary medium between the inner and outer chambers. This passage allows insects to transition from the trapping zone to the escape zone using water flow as a mediator, enabling them to escape without direct contact with harmful conditions in the trapped chamber.
2Ease of manufacture
If a traditional skimmer basket cover is used, then the basket is simple and easy to manufacture, but insects have no exit path
Solution Approach 1:
The basket cover is designed with multi-functionality: it serves as both the structural cover for the skimmer basket and as the housing for the insect escape mechanism. The cover integrates the outer chamber, passage, and trapping chamber functionality, maintaining manufacturing simplicity while enabling insect escape capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner chamber is nested within the outer chamber, with the passage connecting the two. This nested structure allows the complex insect escape functionality to be incorporated within the existing basket cover form factor without requiring a completely new design, thus maintaining ease of manufacture while providing exit paths.
3Ease of operation
If apertures are added to the basket cover and cylindrical container, then insects can crawl out, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Apertures are strategically positioned at specific locations where insects naturally congregate or where water flow directs them. Rather than distributing apertures uniformly, the design places them at critical escape points, reducing the total number of apertures needed while maintaining effective insect exit capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The escape mechanism utilizes the vertical dimension by creating a passage that extends from the inner chamber through the basket cover to the outer chamber. This vertical passage provides a three-dimensional escape route, reducing the need for multiple horizontal apertures and simplifying the overall structure.
4Ease of operation
If luminescent rings are added to guide insects at night, then insect attraction to exit points improves, but energy consumption and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The luminescent rings are designed to be self-activating through photoluminescence, absorbing ambient light during the day and re-emitting it at night without requiring external power sources. This self-service mechanism provides insect guidance effectiveness while avoiding continuous energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The luminescent material changes its optical parameters based on ambient light conditions - absorbing light during daylight and emitting light during nighttime. This parameter change allows the same structure to serve different functions at different times, providing guidance effectiveness without requiring separate active lighting systems.
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
Provides an effective exit path for insects caught in the skimmer basket, ensuring their safe release and utilizing luminescent guidance at night to attract them to exit points, enhancing pool maintenance and wildlife conservation.
Implementation Method 1
A plurality of luminescent rings coupled to the basket cover plate may guide the insects at night
Data Source
AI summary
The insect trap for a pool skimmer basket comprises a cylindrical container and a basket cover plate. The insect trap for a pool skimmer basket may be an insert for a skimmer of a swimming pool that provides an exit path for insects caught in a skimmer basket. The basket cover plate may replace an original skimmer basket cover with the cylindrical container removably coupled to a bottom surface of the basket cover plate such that the cylindrical container hangs down into pool water. A plurality of apertures located in the cylindrical container and on the basket cover plate may allow the insects to crawl between an inner surface and an outer surface of the cylindrical container and through the basket cover plate. A plurality of luminescent rings coupled to the basket cover plate may guide the insects at night.